Chapter 7: A New Face
{{*** Now talking in #Rosengärten.
*** Topic is 'Where RoterRitter is moving! || Song of the Week: Johann
Sebastian Bach – II Air'
* Ebondragon suddenly has a vision of Yoda back in his adolescence. *SHUDDER*
Momoku Moving? Where to?
Tchernobyl Don't know yet. She still wants to talk to you, for something. If
you get my drift ;) *wink wink nudge nudge*
Momoku ?
Tchernobyl Come on, what are you two lovebirds talking about?
Momoku It's not like that!
Coyotegirl: YodaDrunk: Slap that bitch's ass I will, hrmmmm? Skanky-ass
leather pants she has!
Shenalia .... AAAGH
Ebondragon Ew!
Bishop O_O
JS bwahaha
Tchernobyl Momoku: Suuuuure. She basically ignores us now when you're on,
and doesn't stay around very long when you aren't.
----
Shinji blinked again, as he had been for the last few minutes. It was an
ongoing habit of Tchernobyl to insinuate things between him and RoterRitter,
but Shinji couldn't imagine anything actually happening. . . although Tcher was
bringing up some valid points. . .
----
Ebondragon Clearly when Yoda said "Deal with dark side, forever dominate
your destiny it will." he was speaking from experience.
* Coyotegirl falls over giggling
* Ebondragon also ponders the idea of a light-ridingcrop instead of a
light-saber. *FLRRD*
Shenalia .....
Shenalia that would HURT
Momoku ??? Flrrd?
Tchernobyl Typo of flees. By yours truly. I'm not called the typo king for
nothing!
Coyotegirl bwahaaa
* Ebondragon chuckles
Momoku . . ..right.
JS YodaStoned: All around us the Force is... feel it I do... from every
living being it emanates, powering the universe it does. (Wait, does anyone
else notice that Yoda stoned would jabber on the same way he was when he
wasn't stoned? Or maybe... we haven't seen him sober...)
* Ebondragon facepalms. "Dear lord, I can see it now, yoda wearing tie-die,
sunglasses, and a peace medallion.
* Shenalia ....
* Shenalia suddenly has a vision of Mace Windu, in Pimp gear.
Ebondragon Heh.
Ebondragon: Learning you are.
* crazyfurries winces. "Let's NOT venture to what princess Amidala will be
wearing."
Shenalia nonono
Shenalia we already had Leia in the Jabba slavegirl outfit
crazyfurries point
*** RoterRitter has joined #Rosengärten
Tchernobyl Anyway, Momoku, I'm sure your girlfriend will tell you ALL about
it soon enough.
Tchernobyl . . ..like now, for instance. Time for me to run again.
*** Tchernobyl has quit IRC (Quit: RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!)
JS She'd be wearing something?
JS that sorta takes the fun outta her
RoterRitter . . ..
RoterRitter and WHAT are you hentais talking about??
Ebondragon Besides, if we had Amidala it'd take hours just to do her
hairstyles. :P
Coyotegirl Fuzzy green plush pants and a tube top. I'd say she'd be more the
Ecstasy type.
RoterRitter Ah. Star Wars. Leave it up to you guys to distort anything into
hentai stuff. . .
----
Star Wars? Never heard of that. . . Shinji typed his message to RoterRitter, and
sent it off while she was distracted by the ongoing discussion.
----
Momoku You're moving?
RoterRitter Wha?
RoterRitter Oh. Yeah! In a week or two.
Momoku Where to?
RoterRitter I was getting around to that :-P I'll be in @*(&_)
Momoku It did it again.
RoterRitter What?? Those symbols again?
Momoku Yeah.
RoterRitter Damnit! Ah well, I can say it indirectly. I'll be in your
country soon.
----
WHOA. She's coming to Japan?? Shinji felt a huge grin spread on his face,
until a thought struck him.
----
Momoku That's great, but. . .
RoterRitter But? BUT? We finally might get a chance to meet each other, and
you say BUT???
Momoku It's not that!
RoterRitter What is it then?
Momoku Why are you moving here, when there's $@&)(*& attacking?
RoterRitter It didn't come through. . . but I think I know what you mean. After
all, there's only one thing attacking your country right now :-P
RoterRitter To answer your question, it's a student exchange thing. Don't
worry, I don't think the school would put me anywhere NEAR the attacks.
----
Asuka grinned to herself for coming up so quickly with such a perfect excuse,
although she didn't want to lie to him. . .but she couldn't help it, NERV being
the super-secretive agency it was. She couldn't talk about much concerning
the Evas, the Angels, or anything NERV, for that matter.
Now to see if he actually bought the excuse.
----
Momoku Ah. . .still. Why this country of all places?
RoterRitter The school over there is run by the brother of my school's
director, so it's a matter of convenience, really.
RoterRitter But that aside, we'll have to try to plan a meeting :)
Momoku Yeah! If they let me out of here, that is. . .
RoterRitter What do you mean by that?
Momoku Nothing much. . .I just have so much to do, I'll be hard pressed to
actually schedule something. . .}}
She had left to pack soon after that. . .and if she was already packing a few
WEEKS ahead of time, then she must have a LOT of stuff, Shinji mused. . .
The curious thing was that the next morning, Misato had mentioned to him that
the Second Child and her Evangelion, Unit 02, were being transferred to
Tokyo-3 from Nerv Third Branch in Germany.
HER Evangelion.
Meaning that the Second Child was female.
From the Third Branch. In Germany.
Female. From Germany. Being transferred to Japan.
To the mind of anyone other than one Shinji Ikari, they might have jumped to
all sorts of conclusions. He, however, saw the notion that crept into his
mind as a downright impossibility. First off, RoterRitter had said that she'd
be transferred somewhere far from Tokyo-3, as to keep away from any Angel
attack. . .and an Eva pilot would be sent directly to the fortified city.
Still, people would most likely transfer out of the city, even the country if
possible, as a lot of his classmates had done. After all, no one wanted to
live in a war zone. RoterRitter was braving this anyway. Shinji would have to
ask Misato a bit more about transfer students. . .
But if he took in the coincidence factor, there would be a small, nay, a tiny
possibility that his online correspondent would be the Eva pilot coming
NERV's way.
Which was why he should have been glad that Misato had taken him along to pick
up the Second Child, although he didn't know exactly where that would be.
One small detail reined in his enthusiasm, however.
"A Mig-55 D Transport Helicopter! I never thought I'd have the chance to fly
in one. Thank God I have buddy like you, eh Shinji?"
"Eh??" Above the din of the spinning blades, Shinji hadn't heard a word his
friend had said. He eyed his other friend with a jaundiced eye as he made a
fool out of himself, talking about the hat he had bought, supposedly "for
this occasion." As if Toji could've predicted this. . .Shinji sighed as his
friend apparently fell for Misato's "date" ploy. He thought back to one of
his earlier questions, and faced his superior officer once more. "Where are
we headed?"
"We'll take a little jaunt across the Pacific on that gorgeous cruiser."
A cruiser, which turned out to be anything but gorgeous to anyone except his
Army Nerd friend.
"Wow! Five aircraft carriers and four battleships! What a fleet!"
Some others were less impressed. "That's your 'gorgeous cruiser'?"
"She sure is! The pride of the U.N, the 'Over The Rainbow'"
"Sure is big. . ."
"Hmph," grunted the mauve-haired leader of the group. "I'm surprised that such
a relic is still afloat."
"Are you crazy?" Cried out the outraged Kensuke. "It's a vintage model from
right before the Second Impact."
**********
Down on the deck, a figure stood against the railing, it's almost waist-length
hair flowing in the draft caused by the descending helicopter. She had been
told the Third Child, the one who had already single handedly destroyed three
Angels would be here as well. She imagined what he would look like.
Mmmm. . .a much younger version of Kaji, she mused, giggling to herself. As the
helicopter landed, she abruptly turned around and headed towards the deck
itself.
**********
Shinji stretched, letting himself being guided towards the one figure that
seemed to be misplaced on this massive ship.
A young but tall girl waited, one of her hands on her hip, her reddish-orange
hair flowing all over due to the breeze, as was her sundress, which left
little to imagination about her body. Sky blue eyes gazed out from a face
that was set in a smirk, seemingly gazing at those in front of her with
contempt and superiority. He blinked a few times, his mouth dry. Every part
of her was different from what he was used to in school. . .it made her, for lack
of a better word. . .intriguing.
"Hello, Misato! How have you been?"
"Fine, How 'bout you? You've grown some, haven't you?"
"And how! I'm not just taller, my figure's filled out as well." Shinji's
eyebrow rose at this. She's certainly quite full of herself. . .sounds like
someone else I know, he mused, hiding a grin. He'd figure out today if this
whole menagerie was just a big coincidence or not. Shinji shook the thought
out of his head and paid more attention to Misato as she introduced his
future colleague.
"This is the pilot of Evangelion Unit 02, the Second Child, Soryu Asuka
Langley."
Before anything else could be said, the wind decided to add it's own piece of
mind, blowing the red haired girl's sundress to some rather indecent heights,
offering everyone looking a view of her underwear.
She followed this up by formally introducing her right hand to the three boys'
faces.
Damnit! Talk about bad first impressions, she raged inwardly, and glared at
all three boys.
"What did you do that for?!" She eyed the jock as he yelled at her. He had
caught an even closer look at her panties, as he had been trying to pull out
his hat from under her foot.
"That's the viewing fee. Quite a bargain, don't you think?" Honestly, this guy
had no decency.
She didn't know how right her statement would prove to be.
"What? You think it's worth that?! Here, take a look at mine."
Eh? He wouldn't dare. . .
He did.
*SMACK* "YOU PERVERTED DORK!" She smirked in satisfaction at his downcast
expression, and both slap marks visible on his face. Now then, back to
business. . ."So, which one is the famous Third Child?" She asked, looking at the
two boys in front of her. A nagging doubt surfaced in her head, as she turned
to look at the jock, her voice dripping with disgust. "Don't tell me it's
him. . ." Gods, she could never live down the humiliation. . .
"Don't worry, here he is."
So, here was the famous Third Child. The boy who had defeated two Angels
single-handedly and a third with only a minor assist from the First Child.
Funny. . .somehow, she had expected him to be. . .taller. Hell, he was shorter than
her! She sure hadn't expected a body builder, but at least some a bit
more. . .physically fit. Like the jock. Thankfully, he wasn't Pilot material, as
she had first classified him to be.
She did have to admit the Third Child was kinda cute. . . but not in the same
league as Kaji-sempai. Didn't seem to talk much, either, unlike her recent
online friend. . .talking with him was no problem at all. She blinked, wondering
where that thought had come from, and looked into the boy's eyes. . .a deep, dark
blue, like an ocean holding more in its depths than you see at first glance.
She shook off the strange feeling, frowning at the boy.
"Well, he looks kinda dull. . ."
Just as she had suspected. Not so much as a squeak in his own defense, just a
frown.
So, this kid, this so called "Third Child" – defeater of Angels, the
designated pilot of Evangelion Unit 01 of whom Kaji-sempai had spoken so
highly – was the shy, silent, submissive type.
In other words, a wimp.
It could be worse, she though, as she once more passed a disgusted eye over
the jock
Shinji paid close attention to those around him as he listened to the Captain
talk with Misato, glancing over at the pilot of Eva 02. . .Asuka, if he
remembered her name correctly. She swelled with pride as the Captain
mentioned her, even if it was only for a brief moment. She seemed very full
of herself, and her attitude down on the deck didn't point any differently.
Exactly like RoterRitter, come to think of it. . . although he couldn't really
believe his online friend was this. . .beauty standing next to him. Something
like that would just never happen to him. Yet one could always hope. . .the
journey was still far from done, he would find out more about EVA 02's pilot.
**********
Although he'd have to be alone, for that. . .tea with the group wasn't exactly the
best place to find out more about people. In fact, it was pretty silent the
whole time. Everyone seemed to be waiting for the adults to say something. . .
"I understand you're living with Katsuragi here, aren't you?
"Yeah."
"Is she still wild in bed?" Shinji blinked as he watched everyone pull back in
horror.
Misato, for her part, was struck speechless for a split second, then turned
beet red. "Wha. . .wha. . ..WHAT ARE YOU IMPLYING???" She yelled into the man's face,
who had identified himself as Kaji. Shinji continued blinking, not seeing why
everyone had a look of horror on their face.
"So, it is true, Mister Ikari Shinji?"
"Well. . ." he said, shrugging. That's when the man's words struck him. "Say. . .how
do you know my name?"
"Well, I ought to know you! You're pretty famous in our business. The Third
Child, who piloted in Eva in battle with no training."
Shinji shrugged again, catching a glimpse of the glare being sent at him by
the red-head. "It was just luck. . ."
Luck is right. . .there's no way someone like him could ever pilot an Eva, thought
Asuka as she glared at the boy next to her. Noticing her guardian standing
up, she followed suit, casting one last glance at the boy.
**********
"So, what do you think about Mister Shinji Ikari?" Kaji's voice pierced
through her musings as she swung on the railing.
"He's boring. That's the great Third Child? What a disappointment." He must
have had beginner's luck in the previous battles. . .
"Yet his sync ratio was well over 40% in combat with no training. . ."
WHAT? "That can't be!" She herself, all those years ago, had only started out
with a quarter of that. Right now she had the best scores, of course, but for
a newbie to start out that high. . .she had to get to the bottom of this.
**********
"That Mr. Kaji seemed pretty lively. . ."
"He hasn't changed at all, that jerk!" Suddenly, a new voice rang out in the
stairway.
"Hey, Third Child!" Shinji turned his eyes towards the top of the stairs,
where the Second Child seemed to glare down at him. "Come with me."
**********
"Red? I didn't know that Unit 02 was red." Red. . .Rot was red, in German. . .Shinji
was having a harder and harder time trying to prove his theory wrong, as more
and more facts piled up pointing towards his hunch being right.
Doesn't seem to know that much, does he. . . "The color isn't the only difference.
After all, Units 00 and 01 were created as part of a developing process,
prototype and test type. The fact that it synchronized with an untrained
pilot like you is proof of that. However, Unit 02 is a little different."
Shinji gazed up at her as she stood perched on the back of Unit 02. . .or rather,
sat on her high horse and ranted about how her Unit was the best. "Created
for actual combat conditions, this is the world's first true Evangelion. This
is the final model!" Heh. . .the others seem to work pretty well, if you ask
me. . .he stumbled, trying to keep his balance, as the whole boat shook under his
feet.
"What was that?"
"An undersea shock wave! Something exploded nearby. . ."
"What's that?" he yelled as they surveyed the rest of the fleet, and was
treated to the display of one of the ships blowing up. The explosion was
followed by a geyser of water, moving through the boats at an incredible
speed. "Is that an Angel???"
"Is it a real one?" asked his companion.
"We've got to go back and find Misato!"
"Not if I can help it. . ." grinned the redhead, and grabbed Shinji's wrist.
"C'mon!"
"Where are you taking me?" he asked, dragged along by EVA 02's pilot after she
had grabbed a duffel bag. They paused next to a flight of stairs.
"Just wait here a second."
Wha? She wanted him to wait, during an Angel attack? "I can't believe this. . ."
he gulped and sat down as he started to hear noises incredibly similar to
those of clothes being taken off. . .he waited a bit, then ventured a glance.
"Don't peep, you pervert!" she said, noticing his gaze even though she had her
back towards him.
"Gomen!" How the hell did she do that?
"Why are all boys such perverted jerks?" she grumbled, just loud enough so he
could hear her. She flipped her long hair back, and pressed the button on her
suit. Immediately, it molded itself to her figure. Now was the chance to
prove herself to everyone, to prove she was better than even the so called
great Third Child. . . "Here we go, Asuka. . ."
Shinji looked up at the redhead as the spare plug suit landed in his arms. She
only smirked at him. "Let's go."
"Wha?"
"Come with me!" she said, pointing for emphasis. First step to proving herself
to the others was to prove herself better to the only one tainting her
reputation.
"With a female plugsuit? And what are they for, anyway?"
"Anta baka?" She asked, after he had changed into the suit. "We're going out
to beat the angel with my Unit 02!"
"Don't you need Misato's approval??"
"I'll get it after I beat it."
**********
Shinji tried to hide his discomfort of wearing the suit by making notes of
everything in the plug. He didn't want to think about the suit itself, as it
was squeezing him far too tightly in some areas, and felt wide open on
others. Definitely the wrong gender for this Thing
"Beginning activation sequence, confirmed. Opening nerve-link channels,
confirmed. Engaging cardiac monitor, confirmed. Synchronization start!"
Shinji watched as the kaleidoscope of color shone around them both, as he sat
against the side of the pilot's seat. Then the plug filled with red letters,
and a familiar beeping made itself heard.
"Program error? What happened?"
"Thought noise! I told you not to disturb me!" she growled, and turned around
as he didn't seem to understand. "You're thinking in Japanese. Think in
German!"
"Okay. . .Pachelbel, Bach..."
Asuka blinked. Then frowned. "Baka! Enough already," she said, facing forward
once more. "Switch language to basic Japanese." This time, the unit
activated. "Eva 02 activated!"
This apparently caused quite a commotion on the aircraft carrier, as two
voices seemed to fight for the microphone. He did manage to decipher a small
snippet, though.
"Type B equipment? If we fall in the sea, we're done for!"
"Then we just have to not fall!"
"It's coming!"
"Launching!"
Shinji held on to the seat as the Unit leaped up from it's crouch, landing
perfectly on one of the next boats. He looked at the Unit's pilot once more,
then at his own plug suit. Damn, I have to get out of this thing, he thought.
This is already starting to hurt. . .
*******
"Major! The Third Child's sync rate just spiked past the Second Child's!"
Back on the aircraft carrier, technicians continued to monitor the Evas and
the pilots.
Had Shinji known of these events, he would probably have reined in his
thoughts a bit.
Seemingly with a mind of it's own, or rather one of the Pilot's mind, the EVA
grabbed the tarp it had kept from the transport boat, and flung it's arms
open, still clutching the tarp.
"Sync rate back to normal!"
". . ..Kensuke, please tell me you got that."
The bespectacled boy nodded, having recorded the Eva flashing the whole fleet.
This was going to be great blackmail material. . .
Inside the Eva, things didn't fare any better. Both pilots were blushing
furiously, one trying to look away from the other, who was glaring at him
with murder in her eyes.
"WHAT did you just think about? Eh? WHAT???"
"It's not like that!"
"Shinji, Asuka," interrupted Misato's voice over the com-link. "Never mind
that, keep an eye out for the Angel!"
"There it is!" Shinji yelled. Unit 02 jumped from boat to boat, finally
heading towards the aircraft carrier.
"Eva 02 landing on deck!" She yelled, and added whisper fiercely to her fellow
pilot. "And don't you think I've forgotten about that incident, hentai!" Both
held on for dear life as the whole ship rocked under the impact. Soon, the
umbilical cable was feeding power to the Eva.
"We don't have any weapons!"
"The progressive knife should be enough!" She struggled with the Angel as it
landed on deck, but slipped, causing the Eva to fall into the water. Asuka
valiantly tried to hold on as long as she could, but was forced to release
her hold as the cable's length came to an end. They both waited until the
Angel faced towards them again. "This time I'll get it for sure!" she growled
to herself, and pulled on the control grips.
The Eva remained motionless.
"Wh-what?? It isn't moving!"
"That's because it's B-type equipment."
"What are you going to do?"
"Wha?"
"You're the Third Child, aren't you, do something!"
"What the hell am I supposed to do? This isn't even my Unit!" Shinji frowned
at the girl, then looked forwards again. "Here it comes!"
The angel sped towards them, resembling a torpedo cutting through water such
as those that had already been shot at it, until it revealed a rather
frightening aspect it had kept hidden.
"A MOUTH??"
"That's because it's an Angel," whispered Shinji, moments before the whole Eva
shook under the impact of the two massive bodies colliding. When everything
settled down, the Eva was trapped, half in and half out of the Angel's mouth.
"This goes from bad to worse. . ."
"Shut up, you!" yelled the original pilot of Eva 02, until she noticed exactly
where the other pilot was. Draped all over her, for lack of a better
explanation. "Hey, get off of me already, you pervert!"
"But we've got to get free!" Why is she worrying about a minor detail like
that in this kind of situation?
"Asuka, do you read me? Don't let go of it!!"
"Eh??" both pilots blinked.
"Shinji grabbed hold of the control grips once more, after the plan had been
outlined to them. He was ready to start.
Which was more than could be said for the other pilot.
"Hey," she yelled, trying to push him off of her lap, which he had to lean on
to reach the controls. "Don't use Unit 02 without my permission!" With that,
she proceeded to pound him on the head.
"Do you guys understand the operation?" Misato asked from the aircraft
carrier.
"I'll do my best. Agh!" he yelled, as Asuka started to pull on his hair.
Mein Gott, he has got to be the biggest pervert on this planet! He's worse
than the other guy on the ship! She suddenly felt his elbow slip towards a
rather. . .sensitive place. "HEY, you're touching my. . .get off!"
Shinji was not to be distracted. "But we've got to open its mouth, or we'll be
killed!" He once more tried to control the Eva on his own, in vain. "Damnit,
it won't open!" He yelled, looking back at the redhead. She looked back at
him, their eyes meeting. Something seemed to pass between them, a feeling of
understanding coursing through both.
"No time left," she said, nodding. Shinji pulled the grips backwards, keeping
hold of them as Asuka put her hands on his. "Don't get any strange ideas."
"What?" What did she think of him, this wasn't the time for such things!
"Just concentrate on your thoughts!"
"You can say that again!"
Around them, the Eva started moving, pushing against the Angel's jaws. Both
Children willed the machine to move, their thoughts as one, as they struggled
to maintain their hold on the grips.
Open. Open. Open! OPEN! OPEN!
Eva 02 lifted its head up, it's mask seemingly splitting open. Four demonic
eyes flared as the Eva pushed the Angel's mouth open.
The battleships crashed around it, and fired into the creature's gaping maul.
It expanded, and finally erupted in a massive explosion, sending water
hundreds of feet in the air.
Eva 02 sailed through the sky, finally landing on the aircraft carrier with
catlike grace, before falling face forward as the power ran out.
The 6th angel was defeated.
**********
"It was a pretty eventful trip. Was it caused by this, I wonder?" Asked the
eternally unshaven agent, as he opened up the biohazard suitcase. He gazed at
the creature inside. "It's frozen inside dura-bakelite, but it's still alive.
This is the keystone of the Human Instrumentality Project, isn't it?"
"Correct. This is the first human being. This is Adam," answered the Supreme
Commander of NERV, smirking.
"That's what I figured. . .on a side note, I have a question. . .Why have you screened
the communications between the Second and the Third Children?"
The smirk faded. "That is no concern of yours, Agent Kaji. Dismissed."
Kaji grinned, nodded, and left the office. Fuyutsuki stepped out of the
shadows.
"Shall order section two to keep an eye on him?"
"Send the reports directly to me." Fuyutsuki nodded, and left the office,
leaving Gendo to his own devices.
**********
"Yeah, Mr. Bigshot here is still going to have to see her at headquarters,
though. I feel for you, man." Toji paused as the door opened. He fell out of
his seat, and shot back up, pointing in horror at the apparition that walked
through the door. It picked up a piece of chalk, and started to write on the
board.
RoterRitter is an exchange student from Germany. . .but not coming here. She was
in a whole different part of the country. Far away from any danger of Angel
attacks. Not in the same classroom as he.
Shinji stopped his musing as the girl turned around, flipping her hair for
full effect. "I'm Soryu Asuka Langley," she said, grinning. "Pleased to meet
you!"
**********
Shinji flopped onto his bed, and gazed up at the ceiling. RoterRitter hadn't
been online again, her computer apparently still being moved. He thought back
to the crazy notion of his that the new pilot would've been RoterRitter.
Yeah, right. Not in a million years, he thought, as he let sleep take over.