Neon Genesis Evangelion: '2 before 3'
Chapter 02 - Strike and Recover
An NGE fanfic spawned from the dark regions of Kompis' mind.
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This is.. probably. .what would be refered to as a 'Derevative work' of an anime series known as 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' by the company 'Gainax'. Gainax owns all rights to their licenses, copyrights and such stuff.. and wether I or them own the specific rights for this derevative work I don't know. (Copyright laws are funny things.. uhm..)
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Bleh.. I like trying to suprise people in anything I write.. but some people don't want to read because they don't know it's comming.. so I'll make it clear here once and for all.
#1. Yes Shinji _IS_ comming into the fic.. you'll just have to wait 'til.. what.. chapter 4 or 5 something. I've got ideas for that scene pretty set already.
#2. Yes Shinji _IS_ still the hero of the universe. That's not what I intended to change. What I did want to try is giving Shinji a different angle from this whole piloting thing.. AND give Asuka a different viewpoint on Shinji.
The main thing I liked about the idea for this fanfic was the different interaction I could set up between the second and third child. And no I won't tell what kind 'til the fanfic reaches that point. I want to keep SOME suprises still hanging around..
..For those that read 'fics just for Shinjis' sake.. well.. consider the first 4-5 chapters a prologue.. or something..
Oh well.. I hope it'll end up somewhat interesting.
Happy reading. -_^
-Kompi
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The third angel was continously assaulting the dead structures of Tokyo-3 with a sort of energy blast, attempting to get past the surface and down to what it sensed below. It wasn't sentient in the way humans would describe it; it could identify itself from others, adapt to new surroundings and solve puzzles by a sort of reasoning.. But it wasn't caught up in the petty internal struggle that dominated humankind. It had a purpose and it followed it; with unquenchable resolve and deadly accuray.
It sensed something happening - there was movement.. a feeling of kinship towards one of the structures. Something walked out.. a red being, depicted in the image of their common origin. But this was not it - it was an obstacle; an enemy. Controlled by the other spawn.
It began walking towards this threat, knowing it had to be neutralized before the purpose could be met. It would feel no joy or regret doing so; it was simply something that would be done, no different than taking a step to walk.
In the distance, its red opponent picked up speed and rushed toward it.
--
Asuka kept her EVAs' weight center low and its upper body coiled in preparation for the strike. She had the whole scene laid out in her head before she even reached the angel, her trained mind already having a good idea of where was best to strike to throw the green monstrocity off balance. The angel leaned forward and tried to swipe at her before she reached it; she willed her EVA even lower to the ground and passed swifly under the blow. She made a quick smirk as her eyes found her target.
With a swift leap upwards she brought both her EVAs' fists straight into the center one of the two skeletal 'faces' of the angel, using both legs, arms and intertia to put power behind the blow. The angel actually lifted from the ground and sailed a short path before gravity did its magic and sent the green creature colliding with the road, shaking the buildings on either side. Asuka didn't allow her opponent even a moments respite and flung her EVA forward into a leap, landing on top of the downed creature. Using Unit-02s' powerful arms to propell its huge fists against the 'face' of the angel she continued her assault in a vicious rain of blows.
Somehow the angel must have gotten its legs underneath her EVA, because suddenly it managed to throw her off itself. Like a feline, she gracefully adjusted Unit-02s' weight in the air and landed in a crouch; the angel wasn't so lucky - it stumbled and seemed to have problems to reach a standing position. Asuka grinned and once again charged her prey - she would make short work of it; she'd show everyone!
With her mind set on proving herself it took a few moments before she registered that something kept her evangelion at bay. Before her glowing flat octagonal shapes hovered before her like a wall made of nothing.
"An AT-field!". Asuka recognized the voice as Dr. Akagis'; she desperately set her mind on trying to remember anything related to AT-fields - the obstacle before her. She had one of her own, didn't she?
"Unit-02 has activated its own AT-field!" a female member of the bridge staff exclaimed; Asuka ignored the voice - to her it was old news.
"The fields..! They're neutralizing eachother!" the same female added.
*Neutralizing? But they're still in place..* Asuka thought, annoyed.
"No.. they're eroding eachother..!" Akagi corrected, awe in her voice. Asuka was about to contemplate that when the angel tore through her AT-field and lunged for her.
--
Misato Katsuragi stared up at the screen showing the battle, feeling almost horrified. The angel was hunched over the fallen Unit-02, the two now locked in a desperate struggle. Not long ago the angel had used its claw-like hands to tear at the evangelion below it. She could hear the second child voicing her efforts to try and combat the green monster above her.
"It's preparing to fire..!" Ibuki exclaimed, her voice sounding of some terrified awe. Misato looked up, seeing the red core below the skeletal faces starting to glow.
*Oh no..*. A frightened gasp came from Asuka Sohryu before the blast detornated straight into the evangelion, brightening up the whole scene.
"Status?!" she yelled, fighting to keep calm through everything; panic wouldn't do her - or anyone else - any good.
"No critical damage but the syncronization seems to be breaking up..!" Ibuki yelled back.
"The pilot is almost unconcious!" Huyga added, only increasing the feeling of dread in Misatos' throat.
"Asuka!" she called, trying to get the attention of the battered pilot. On the screen the angel was picking up the unresponsive Unit-02, holding its head in its massive hand. By its elbow, the protuding bone began to glow.
--
Asuka desperately tried to chase away the blackness haunting the edges of her vision. After the bright flash most of her body had hurt - really hurt. The pain was fading now but some still remained like a ghost kept alive by her memory; the pain that hadn't even been hers. Suddenly her whole vision became white and pain errupted in and around her right eye. She stiffled a scream as the pain chased away the black clouds and firmly locked her in the painful reality.
"Asuka! Defend yourself!". Misatos' voice echoed around in her aching head. Forcing herself to observe her situation she noticed the angel covered most of her head with its palm. The right side of her display went white again and it felt like someone tried to stab her eye with a thick sewing needle. She bit back the pain and concentrated on her situation. The angels arm was running away from the palm covering Unit-02s' head.
With a growl Asuka forced the evangelions arms up and grasped the arm the angel used to hold her with both hands. She used any strength she could assemble and twitched the hands different ways. There was a loud snap and suddenly she was free; she felt her EVA stumble on the ground as she tried to assume a crouch.
She once again bolted forward, this time willing her AT-field into place. The angel must have done the same, because the two behemoths once again found themselves seperated by the glowing octagonal field.
"Let's see how you like your own tricks..!" Asuka growled and tried to reach through the AT-field with the hands of her EVA. There was resistance, but she could feel it giving way. She tore through the angels AT-field and lunged for the angel, knocking it to the ground. The red stone in the monster glowed again - Asuka simply held her AT-field in place and took the blast head-on.
She didn't feel a thing. As the bright light faded she could hear awed whispers from the bridge. She reached up towards the EVAs' shoulder and grabbed the progressive knife that presented itself to her. Grabbing it with both hands she struck the red core of the angel again and again in chopping motions, cracks begining to form in the red shell.
--
It knew it had lost. It didn't really matter - it would be free either way. And the red copy of the first above it? Towering to the skies, bringing doom with swift strikes. It could free the enemy too - the copy that was bound by the ones that held the first and second. Amassing the last of its energy, it lept its mass towards its assailant, forming itself to cling against the red creation. It focused all remaining energy into its already weakening core. Soon freedom would come.
--
Red was all Asuka could see. The red core of the angel pressed up against the face of Unit-02. The darned thing wouldn't let her go!
"I'm detecting a massive energy buildup..!" Asuka heard the bridge woman yell.
"It's going to..." Asuka ignored the rest, focusing in the single objective of holding her AT-field up at maximum strength. The red orb before her eyes took on a shining - almost burning - white..
--
Misato and the bridge crew made a collective gasp as the battered Unit-02 slowly walked out of the dust formed when the angel had blown itself to smithereens. The power cable was nothing but a severed stump, but otherwise the evangelion seemed fairly unharmed.
"Asuka, are you alright?" She asked out loud.
"Of course! Just get me a way down from here." the young pilot answered, her voice full of bravado. Misato was sure it was just an act, but didn't push the matter.
"Okay. Get her a lift down to the cages! Have a medical team stand by to check her out just in case.". After a simultaneous 'yes' and the bridge crew set to work Misato allowed herself to relax.
"Exhausting day at work?" Ritsu asked jokingly, the smirk on her face showing she was trying to lighten the mood.
"Atleast we won." Misato replied, trying to shake the exhaustion. The victory had been way to close for comfort..
--
"Looks like your things already have been delivered." Misato said, nodding towards the six large paper boxes standing beside the door to her appartment. The girl walking beside her frowned.
"Only this? I packed alot more.". Now it was Misatos time to frown. 'Alot more' somehow sounded like more than her appartment could take.
"..Eh.. well.. I guess the rest will arrive tomorrow.."
"I hope so."
They had reached the appartment by now and as the door swung open Misato was suddenly remembered of the state of cleanliness - or rather lack of thereof - that her appartment was in.
"Eheh.. sorry if it's a little messy. I just recently moved in myself.". Asuka glanced into the appartment.
"A little?!". The girls face clearly reflected her words. Misato made a nervous laugh, desperately trying to figure out a way to direct the conversation elsewhere.
"Err.. Welcome to your new home, Asuka." she said as she walked through the doorway and into her appartment.
--
*Well.. so much for cleanliness* Asuka thought while taking in her surroundings. She had never been one for spotless cleaning, but the Katsuragi residence was defenately stretching her tolerance for a mess. It was simply stuffed with leftovers from instant dinners and empty beer cans.
"Oh yeah. Could you put the food in the fridge?" Misato called from somewhere else in the appartment.
*Oh sure. I have nothing better to do.* Asuka mentally replied, holding her tounge. As she was about to do her given task she was confronted with a problem - there was two fridges. Not one but two.
"Hey what's up with the second fridge?" she asked loudly so Misato would hear.
"Oh don't mind him. He's probably asleep." came the loud reply. Asuka blinked.
*_HE_ is probably _WHAT_?*. Was this woman living in some kind of dreamworld or did she really have a sentient fridge? Asuka decided not to ask.
The fridge held little in terms of food. It did have tons of japanese instant stuff and what could be called a large portion of the worlds beer supply, but nothing along the lines of the food Asuka was used to. She quickly stuffed in the extra items they had bought along the way 'home' and silently noted it was more of the same.
*Does this woman even know about proper food?* Asuka wondered as she closed the fridge and simply deposited the empty bag somewhere in the already existing mess.
--
Asuka observed the food on the table, most still in its original packaging. There was alot of it but she figured that the seemingly low nutritional value would make up for that.
"Well. Lets eat!" Misato said cheerfully. Asuka only nodded as she started to look through the wares, considering what to make a try at. She WAS quite hungry.. it had been around noon when she had arrived by flight and now it was in the evening, the darkness leaning towards night. All in all, she hadn't eaten since the meal on the aircraft some hour before she landed.
"It's all good. Even if it's just instant." the woman added like she had seen Asukas problems with deciding.
A loud sort of screaming exclaimation from Misato cut her out of the quest for edible food. She looked up at the source of the noise to see the woman holding an open can of beer and having an odd grinning expression on her face, completed by closed eyes.
"Life doesn't get any better than this!" Misato exclaimed with the grin still on her face. Asuka blinked; she had seen many different reactions to alcohol during her college days but never the kind she saw just now - this was more like a coffeine rush.
They started eating moments after that and the silence held for about a minute before Misato choose to break it once more.
"Isn't this great?". Asuka looked up from her food.
"Huh?"
"Eating with someone else.". She pondered that. At home she usually had atleast one meal a day with the rest of the 'family'.. but there it was alot like eating alone - it was like the other people simply didn't exist.. or like she didn't know them at all.. like she was eating in some strangers house. Asuka only shrugged in answer and heard Misato sigh.
"Well I think so anyway.".
--
Misato frowned slightly, looking at the layout of the paper describing who did which chore when. She had been winning alot in the begining like she had expected but Asuka had caught up and the tables had turned towards the end.
*Oh well.*. she guessed they'd just have to wait and see how it ended up. The young girl was probably a bit unsettled by so much happening in one day too.. after all, she had arrived after hours in flight just to be thrown directly into an entry plug and sent out to fight the first angel in years.
A suprised 'Ack!' took her out of her musings and she looked up towards the curtain that covered the doorway to the bathroom. She had told Asuka a bath might be good for her and the girl hadn't complained.
"Perversen Vogel!" came a roar soon after and through the curtain came a very agitated-looking Pen-Pen. Misato blinked. Of course, he had been occupying the bath. Apparently the first meeting between Asuka and her other roomate hadn't been on the best of terms.
"Asuka? Are you alright?" she asked out loud.
"Yes! But a perverted.. penguin.. just tried to peek at me!". That confirmed her suspicions.
"Oh don't worry about him! He's Pen-pen! Your other roommate!" Misato replied trying her best to supress the grin that wanted to come forward. Asuka muttered something which Misato couldn't make out before a door closed. The woman looked over at her 'pet' penguin and found him giving her a curious glance before disappearing into his fridge.
*Oh well.. I guess they'll come on better terms once the dust has settled* she thought.
--
The water was a comfortable temperature and Asuka felt almost like floating - the water neutralizing most sensory input she had. Without most of the body to worry about, her thoughts roamed free in her head, trying to come to terms with all that had happened on that one eventful day.
*..Misato is.. .. is..*. Asuka held that thought, desperately trying to realize what the woman was. 'Annoying' was the first thought that had come to mind - after all, they had been late in an emergency.. She had been forced to go through a quick medical check before the woman had been content that she was indeed as fine as she had said and above all she had simply assumed Asuka didn't want to be alone and had promptly proclaimed herself Asukas guardian. But Annoying didn't fit.. of course Misato could be very infuriating but she was also.. kind.. like she wanted to care.
Asuka sighed. Like it or not, she was now officially stuck with a woman twice her age trying to be her guardian, friend and commanding officer all at once.
*I guess it could be worse..* she thought, considering her 'family' back in germany. Of course to any observer they had looked happy and all that but Asuka knew how it really was. There was no open or shown resentment, but the fact that there was conflicts was obvious. She silently hoped things wouldn't be the same here in the Katsuragi residence.
After a few more attempts at trying to figure the confusing mix between young and old behaviour known as Misato Katsuragi - all failed - the thoughts of the second child wandered to the first child. Ayanami. Rei Ayanami. The girl had looked pretty beat-up when Asuka had seen her.. defenately not in any condition to pilot an Evangelion.. and beyond that the first child was having problems controlling her own Unit-00.. How they had thought the girl could handle Unit-02 in her condition Asuka didn't know.
What DID disturb the young pilot was how little people seemed to care about the pale first child.. She had looked weak.. almost sickly so.. And yet not even the nurses had shown her more care than they would a tool.. a robot.
*Of course, she's not as great as me. But still..*. It was disturbing. Asuka didn't like being thought of as a tool.. as a lifeless creation.. A shadow of a repressed memory burst through her mind in an instant before she could push it back down. A doll.. she refused to be a lifeless doll.
*They won't treat ME that way! I'll show them all!*.
--
A jetlagged Asuka Langley Sohryu was too tired to unpack the stuff that had arrived. The warm bath hadn't exactly made her more awake either - rather the opposite. So when Misato stepped in to talk to her new charge she found the girl in a deep sleep, not even properly under her covers. Misato slowly pulled the blanket over the girl and whispered a 'Good job today Asuka' into her ear before leaving the dark room and closing the door with a paper note saying 'Asukas lovely suite'.
While those words would unconsiously boost the pride and confidence of the young girl, they wouldn't repress the nightmares of memories hidden away comming back to haunt her during the night. But the nightmares and the memories would be long forgotten by the time the girl woke up in the morning, oblivious to what had transpired in her head during the night..
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...whew.. It took longer than I thought it would. And ended up.. well.. slightly different from my original thought.. But it's on track enough. Two more angels before Shinji arrives. fWhee.
And yes.. the first and fifth sections are from the perspective of the third angel. Really, I don't see them as having the same sort of sentience as humans.. not even Nagisa, though he was the closest one. So eh.. We'll see if I dig into the heads of more angels or not.
Oh and if you're wondering why Asuka would have a problem with the AT-field? Well, in the series even _Ritsuko_ is amazed at how Unit-01 breaches the AT-field of the angel.. so I don't think they knew how to do it earlier. (thus, Asuka probably learned how to deal with AT-fields after the berserk Unit-01 found out how). Also the third angel apparently didn't have its AT-field in place all the time; neither does the EVAs'. So it would make sense why they could trade blows before the AT-fields get involved. (Chaos knows I'll probably contradict my own words later.. blergh)
..oh well.. I hope it didn't end up too bad. I'll hope the next chapter won't take too long to write.
'til next time.
-Kompi
Chapter 02 - Strike and Recover
An NGE fanfic spawned from the dark regions of Kompis' mind.
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This is.. probably. .what would be refered to as a 'Derevative work' of an anime series known as 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' by the company 'Gainax'. Gainax owns all rights to their licenses, copyrights and such stuff.. and wether I or them own the specific rights for this derevative work I don't know. (Copyright laws are funny things.. uhm..)
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Bleh.. I like trying to suprise people in anything I write.. but some people don't want to read because they don't know it's comming.. so I'll make it clear here once and for all.
#1. Yes Shinji _IS_ comming into the fic.. you'll just have to wait 'til.. what.. chapter 4 or 5 something. I've got ideas for that scene pretty set already.
#2. Yes Shinji _IS_ still the hero of the universe. That's not what I intended to change. What I did want to try is giving Shinji a different angle from this whole piloting thing.. AND give Asuka a different viewpoint on Shinji.
The main thing I liked about the idea for this fanfic was the different interaction I could set up between the second and third child. And no I won't tell what kind 'til the fanfic reaches that point. I want to keep SOME suprises still hanging around..
..For those that read 'fics just for Shinjis' sake.. well.. consider the first 4-5 chapters a prologue.. or something..
Oh well.. I hope it'll end up somewhat interesting.
Happy reading. -_^
-Kompi
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The third angel was continously assaulting the dead structures of Tokyo-3 with a sort of energy blast, attempting to get past the surface and down to what it sensed below. It wasn't sentient in the way humans would describe it; it could identify itself from others, adapt to new surroundings and solve puzzles by a sort of reasoning.. But it wasn't caught up in the petty internal struggle that dominated humankind. It had a purpose and it followed it; with unquenchable resolve and deadly accuray.
It sensed something happening - there was movement.. a feeling of kinship towards one of the structures. Something walked out.. a red being, depicted in the image of their common origin. But this was not it - it was an obstacle; an enemy. Controlled by the other spawn.
It began walking towards this threat, knowing it had to be neutralized before the purpose could be met. It would feel no joy or regret doing so; it was simply something that would be done, no different than taking a step to walk.
In the distance, its red opponent picked up speed and rushed toward it.
--
Asuka kept her EVAs' weight center low and its upper body coiled in preparation for the strike. She had the whole scene laid out in her head before she even reached the angel, her trained mind already having a good idea of where was best to strike to throw the green monstrocity off balance. The angel leaned forward and tried to swipe at her before she reached it; she willed her EVA even lower to the ground and passed swifly under the blow. She made a quick smirk as her eyes found her target.
With a swift leap upwards she brought both her EVAs' fists straight into the center one of the two skeletal 'faces' of the angel, using both legs, arms and intertia to put power behind the blow. The angel actually lifted from the ground and sailed a short path before gravity did its magic and sent the green creature colliding with the road, shaking the buildings on either side. Asuka didn't allow her opponent even a moments respite and flung her EVA forward into a leap, landing on top of the downed creature. Using Unit-02s' powerful arms to propell its huge fists against the 'face' of the angel she continued her assault in a vicious rain of blows.
Somehow the angel must have gotten its legs underneath her EVA, because suddenly it managed to throw her off itself. Like a feline, she gracefully adjusted Unit-02s' weight in the air and landed in a crouch; the angel wasn't so lucky - it stumbled and seemed to have problems to reach a standing position. Asuka grinned and once again charged her prey - she would make short work of it; she'd show everyone!
With her mind set on proving herself it took a few moments before she registered that something kept her evangelion at bay. Before her glowing flat octagonal shapes hovered before her like a wall made of nothing.
"An AT-field!". Asuka recognized the voice as Dr. Akagis'; she desperately set her mind on trying to remember anything related to AT-fields - the obstacle before her. She had one of her own, didn't she?
"Unit-02 has activated its own AT-field!" a female member of the bridge staff exclaimed; Asuka ignored the voice - to her it was old news.
"The fields..! They're neutralizing eachother!" the same female added.
*Neutralizing? But they're still in place..* Asuka thought, annoyed.
"No.. they're eroding eachother..!" Akagi corrected, awe in her voice. Asuka was about to contemplate that when the angel tore through her AT-field and lunged for her.
--
Misato Katsuragi stared up at the screen showing the battle, feeling almost horrified. The angel was hunched over the fallen Unit-02, the two now locked in a desperate struggle. Not long ago the angel had used its claw-like hands to tear at the evangelion below it. She could hear the second child voicing her efforts to try and combat the green monster above her.
"It's preparing to fire..!" Ibuki exclaimed, her voice sounding of some terrified awe. Misato looked up, seeing the red core below the skeletal faces starting to glow.
*Oh no..*. A frightened gasp came from Asuka Sohryu before the blast detornated straight into the evangelion, brightening up the whole scene.
"Status?!" she yelled, fighting to keep calm through everything; panic wouldn't do her - or anyone else - any good.
"No critical damage but the syncronization seems to be breaking up..!" Ibuki yelled back.
"The pilot is almost unconcious!" Huyga added, only increasing the feeling of dread in Misatos' throat.
"Asuka!" she called, trying to get the attention of the battered pilot. On the screen the angel was picking up the unresponsive Unit-02, holding its head in its massive hand. By its elbow, the protuding bone began to glow.
--
Asuka desperately tried to chase away the blackness haunting the edges of her vision. After the bright flash most of her body had hurt - really hurt. The pain was fading now but some still remained like a ghost kept alive by her memory; the pain that hadn't even been hers. Suddenly her whole vision became white and pain errupted in and around her right eye. She stiffled a scream as the pain chased away the black clouds and firmly locked her in the painful reality.
"Asuka! Defend yourself!". Misatos' voice echoed around in her aching head. Forcing herself to observe her situation she noticed the angel covered most of her head with its palm. The right side of her display went white again and it felt like someone tried to stab her eye with a thick sewing needle. She bit back the pain and concentrated on her situation. The angels arm was running away from the palm covering Unit-02s' head.
With a growl Asuka forced the evangelions arms up and grasped the arm the angel used to hold her with both hands. She used any strength she could assemble and twitched the hands different ways. There was a loud snap and suddenly she was free; she felt her EVA stumble on the ground as she tried to assume a crouch.
She once again bolted forward, this time willing her AT-field into place. The angel must have done the same, because the two behemoths once again found themselves seperated by the glowing octagonal field.
"Let's see how you like your own tricks..!" Asuka growled and tried to reach through the AT-field with the hands of her EVA. There was resistance, but she could feel it giving way. She tore through the angels AT-field and lunged for the angel, knocking it to the ground. The red stone in the monster glowed again - Asuka simply held her AT-field in place and took the blast head-on.
She didn't feel a thing. As the bright light faded she could hear awed whispers from the bridge. She reached up towards the EVAs' shoulder and grabbed the progressive knife that presented itself to her. Grabbing it with both hands she struck the red core of the angel again and again in chopping motions, cracks begining to form in the red shell.
--
It knew it had lost. It didn't really matter - it would be free either way. And the red copy of the first above it? Towering to the skies, bringing doom with swift strikes. It could free the enemy too - the copy that was bound by the ones that held the first and second. Amassing the last of its energy, it lept its mass towards its assailant, forming itself to cling against the red creation. It focused all remaining energy into its already weakening core. Soon freedom would come.
--
Red was all Asuka could see. The red core of the angel pressed up against the face of Unit-02. The darned thing wouldn't let her go!
"I'm detecting a massive energy buildup..!" Asuka heard the bridge woman yell.
"It's going to..." Asuka ignored the rest, focusing in the single objective of holding her AT-field up at maximum strength. The red orb before her eyes took on a shining - almost burning - white..
--
Misato and the bridge crew made a collective gasp as the battered Unit-02 slowly walked out of the dust formed when the angel had blown itself to smithereens. The power cable was nothing but a severed stump, but otherwise the evangelion seemed fairly unharmed.
"Asuka, are you alright?" She asked out loud.
"Of course! Just get me a way down from here." the young pilot answered, her voice full of bravado. Misato was sure it was just an act, but didn't push the matter.
"Okay. Get her a lift down to the cages! Have a medical team stand by to check her out just in case.". After a simultaneous 'yes' and the bridge crew set to work Misato allowed herself to relax.
"Exhausting day at work?" Ritsu asked jokingly, the smirk on her face showing she was trying to lighten the mood.
"Atleast we won." Misato replied, trying to shake the exhaustion. The victory had been way to close for comfort..
--
"Looks like your things already have been delivered." Misato said, nodding towards the six large paper boxes standing beside the door to her appartment. The girl walking beside her frowned.
"Only this? I packed alot more.". Now it was Misatos time to frown. 'Alot more' somehow sounded like more than her appartment could take.
"..Eh.. well.. I guess the rest will arrive tomorrow.."
"I hope so."
They had reached the appartment by now and as the door swung open Misato was suddenly remembered of the state of cleanliness - or rather lack of thereof - that her appartment was in.
"Eheh.. sorry if it's a little messy. I just recently moved in myself.". Asuka glanced into the appartment.
"A little?!". The girls face clearly reflected her words. Misato made a nervous laugh, desperately trying to figure out a way to direct the conversation elsewhere.
"Err.. Welcome to your new home, Asuka." she said as she walked through the doorway and into her appartment.
--
*Well.. so much for cleanliness* Asuka thought while taking in her surroundings. She had never been one for spotless cleaning, but the Katsuragi residence was defenately stretching her tolerance for a mess. It was simply stuffed with leftovers from instant dinners and empty beer cans.
"Oh yeah. Could you put the food in the fridge?" Misato called from somewhere else in the appartment.
*Oh sure. I have nothing better to do.* Asuka mentally replied, holding her tounge. As she was about to do her given task she was confronted with a problem - there was two fridges. Not one but two.
"Hey what's up with the second fridge?" she asked loudly so Misato would hear.
"Oh don't mind him. He's probably asleep." came the loud reply. Asuka blinked.
*_HE_ is probably _WHAT_?*. Was this woman living in some kind of dreamworld or did she really have a sentient fridge? Asuka decided not to ask.
The fridge held little in terms of food. It did have tons of japanese instant stuff and what could be called a large portion of the worlds beer supply, but nothing along the lines of the food Asuka was used to. She quickly stuffed in the extra items they had bought along the way 'home' and silently noted it was more of the same.
*Does this woman even know about proper food?* Asuka wondered as she closed the fridge and simply deposited the empty bag somewhere in the already existing mess.
--
Asuka observed the food on the table, most still in its original packaging. There was alot of it but she figured that the seemingly low nutritional value would make up for that.
"Well. Lets eat!" Misato said cheerfully. Asuka only nodded as she started to look through the wares, considering what to make a try at. She WAS quite hungry.. it had been around noon when she had arrived by flight and now it was in the evening, the darkness leaning towards night. All in all, she hadn't eaten since the meal on the aircraft some hour before she landed.
"It's all good. Even if it's just instant." the woman added like she had seen Asukas problems with deciding.
A loud sort of screaming exclaimation from Misato cut her out of the quest for edible food. She looked up at the source of the noise to see the woman holding an open can of beer and having an odd grinning expression on her face, completed by closed eyes.
"Life doesn't get any better than this!" Misato exclaimed with the grin still on her face. Asuka blinked; she had seen many different reactions to alcohol during her college days but never the kind she saw just now - this was more like a coffeine rush.
They started eating moments after that and the silence held for about a minute before Misato choose to break it once more.
"Isn't this great?". Asuka looked up from her food.
"Huh?"
"Eating with someone else.". She pondered that. At home she usually had atleast one meal a day with the rest of the 'family'.. but there it was alot like eating alone - it was like the other people simply didn't exist.. or like she didn't know them at all.. like she was eating in some strangers house. Asuka only shrugged in answer and heard Misato sigh.
"Well I think so anyway.".
--
Misato frowned slightly, looking at the layout of the paper describing who did which chore when. She had been winning alot in the begining like she had expected but Asuka had caught up and the tables had turned towards the end.
*Oh well.*. she guessed they'd just have to wait and see how it ended up. The young girl was probably a bit unsettled by so much happening in one day too.. after all, she had arrived after hours in flight just to be thrown directly into an entry plug and sent out to fight the first angel in years.
A suprised 'Ack!' took her out of her musings and she looked up towards the curtain that covered the doorway to the bathroom. She had told Asuka a bath might be good for her and the girl hadn't complained.
"Perversen Vogel!" came a roar soon after and through the curtain came a very agitated-looking Pen-Pen. Misato blinked. Of course, he had been occupying the bath. Apparently the first meeting between Asuka and her other roomate hadn't been on the best of terms.
"Asuka? Are you alright?" she asked out loud.
"Yes! But a perverted.. penguin.. just tried to peek at me!". That confirmed her suspicions.
"Oh don't worry about him! He's Pen-pen! Your other roommate!" Misato replied trying her best to supress the grin that wanted to come forward. Asuka muttered something which Misato couldn't make out before a door closed. The woman looked over at her 'pet' penguin and found him giving her a curious glance before disappearing into his fridge.
*Oh well.. I guess they'll come on better terms once the dust has settled* she thought.
--
The water was a comfortable temperature and Asuka felt almost like floating - the water neutralizing most sensory input she had. Without most of the body to worry about, her thoughts roamed free in her head, trying to come to terms with all that had happened on that one eventful day.
*..Misato is.. .. is..*. Asuka held that thought, desperately trying to realize what the woman was. 'Annoying' was the first thought that had come to mind - after all, they had been late in an emergency.. She had been forced to go through a quick medical check before the woman had been content that she was indeed as fine as she had said and above all she had simply assumed Asuka didn't want to be alone and had promptly proclaimed herself Asukas guardian. But Annoying didn't fit.. of course Misato could be very infuriating but she was also.. kind.. like she wanted to care.
Asuka sighed. Like it or not, she was now officially stuck with a woman twice her age trying to be her guardian, friend and commanding officer all at once.
*I guess it could be worse..* she thought, considering her 'family' back in germany. Of course to any observer they had looked happy and all that but Asuka knew how it really was. There was no open or shown resentment, but the fact that there was conflicts was obvious. She silently hoped things wouldn't be the same here in the Katsuragi residence.
After a few more attempts at trying to figure the confusing mix between young and old behaviour known as Misato Katsuragi - all failed - the thoughts of the second child wandered to the first child. Ayanami. Rei Ayanami. The girl had looked pretty beat-up when Asuka had seen her.. defenately not in any condition to pilot an Evangelion.. and beyond that the first child was having problems controlling her own Unit-00.. How they had thought the girl could handle Unit-02 in her condition Asuka didn't know.
What DID disturb the young pilot was how little people seemed to care about the pale first child.. She had looked weak.. almost sickly so.. And yet not even the nurses had shown her more care than they would a tool.. a robot.
*Of course, she's not as great as me. But still..*. It was disturbing. Asuka didn't like being thought of as a tool.. as a lifeless creation.. A shadow of a repressed memory burst through her mind in an instant before she could push it back down. A doll.. she refused to be a lifeless doll.
*They won't treat ME that way! I'll show them all!*.
--
A jetlagged Asuka Langley Sohryu was too tired to unpack the stuff that had arrived. The warm bath hadn't exactly made her more awake either - rather the opposite. So when Misato stepped in to talk to her new charge she found the girl in a deep sleep, not even properly under her covers. Misato slowly pulled the blanket over the girl and whispered a 'Good job today Asuka' into her ear before leaving the dark room and closing the door with a paper note saying 'Asukas lovely suite'.
While those words would unconsiously boost the pride and confidence of the young girl, they wouldn't repress the nightmares of memories hidden away comming back to haunt her during the night. But the nightmares and the memories would be long forgotten by the time the girl woke up in the morning, oblivious to what had transpired in her head during the night..
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...whew.. It took longer than I thought it would. And ended up.. well.. slightly different from my original thought.. But it's on track enough. Two more angels before Shinji arrives. fWhee.
And yes.. the first and fifth sections are from the perspective of the third angel. Really, I don't see them as having the same sort of sentience as humans.. not even Nagisa, though he was the closest one. So eh.. We'll see if I dig into the heads of more angels or not.
Oh and if you're wondering why Asuka would have a problem with the AT-field? Well, in the series even _Ritsuko_ is amazed at how Unit-01 breaches the AT-field of the angel.. so I don't think they knew how to do it earlier. (thus, Asuka probably learned how to deal with AT-fields after the berserk Unit-01 found out how). Also the third angel apparently didn't have its AT-field in place all the time; neither does the EVAs'. So it would make sense why they could trade blows before the AT-fields get involved. (Chaos knows I'll probably contradict my own words later.. blergh)
..oh well.. I hope it didn't end up too bad. I'll hope the next chapter won't take too long to write.
'til next time.
-Kompi
