Everyone was stunned, well, everyone except Trunks of course who stood up and yelled his support of Rei and clapped, this soon encouraged the crowd to do the same, until a huge applause was in swing for Rei's victory against the odds. Smiling slightly and blushing a bit, Rei made her way back to her friends and sat down, the applause still ringing in her ears
"You did very well Rei, you should be very proud" Shinji complemented her
"Yeah, I've been waiting for someone to put that oaf in his place" Asuka called
"I agree with them all and more, you showed extraordinary skill and great cunning in battle, you are a great warrior" Goten added
Rei looked at Trunks and waited for his bit of praise
"I knew you'd win. That idiot down there never stood a chance against you; never has and never will" Trunks thought long and hard before answering
This one comment meant more to Rei than all the praise of her peers
"Thank you" she said and looked to the ring for the next battle
The Ref called the names of the next two fighters
"Shinji Ikari and Tai Araki, please report to the ring," he said
Shinji stood up and patted his sides
"Well that's me guys, I'm off to claim glory and victory" he said and jogged to the ring where he met his opponent
"So you're Shinji," the voice said in a condescending tone
"So you're a dick" Shinji shot back and climbed onto the ring
Tai growled and swore under his breath as he too climbed on to the ring. The Ref went through the quid-pro-quo before telling each fighter to go to his corner. The gong was hit and the match was on
Tai charged fast, but Shinji was faster and sidestepped, and then gave Tai a rather painful knee in the gut, doubling his opponent over. Shinji stepped to the side and allowed Tai to get up, taunting him
"Is that all you got?" Shinji asked
Tai growled and got up and began to throw punched and kicks at Shinji, who simply dodged them by moving the top half of his body; his feet did not move
"Stop playing with me, I came for a fight", Shinji mocked as he continued to dodge the attacks
"Then fight back", Tai snarled
"Okay" Shinji said, grabbed Tai's next punch and spun his body so he elbowed Tai in the stomach and hit his face with the same arm by flinging it up
The punch had enough power in it to knock Tai out; the older boy fell to his knees and went down hard, like a sack of cement. A still shocked Ref declared winner and allowed Shinji to return to the waiting area while medics took the unconscious Tai to the infirmary for treatment.
While sitting on the bleachers, Rei turned to Trunks
"By the way, thank you. Last night when you went to see the commander, agents came and made me listen to the conversation," Rei said
"Oh?" Trunks questioned
"Yes. Thank you again for standing up for me" she said, blushing
"Well, I love you and I'm not going to let some insect threaten your life" he said and grasped her hand
Match number 5 was announced and it's fighters called to the ring
"Goten Son and Mari Izumi" Ref asked
Goten shrugged and left Asuka in the middle of one of his now famous massages and went to the ring to confront his adversary: a 14 year old girl
"Ref what the fuck is this?" Goten was insulted by this arrangement
"It's how the draw was done buddy, take it or forfeit," the Ref answered
"Fine" Goten growled and looked at the girl: she seemed timid
[Better not scare her] he decided and zipped behind her and hit a pressure point on her neck, knocking her unconscious
Trunks tried hard not to laugh at the whole thing but failed and allowed a few chuckles to escape from his mouth, Asuka and Hikari did likewise while Shinji just let fly with huge guffaws of laughter, only Rei remained silent
"Winner by the fasted knock out I've ever seen, Goten Son," the Ref said: the match had been going for 12 seconds
A very disgruntled Goten jumped down from the arena and went to sit with Asuka again. Most of them were still chuckling at Goten's expense. Pouting, Goten sat beside Asuka and began to grumble about that fight being an insult to his pride
"How could they pair me with a child, a girl no less. At least they could have made sure she was like you three, brave" he said
Asuka patted his back
"There, there Goten, I'm sure your next opponent will be better" Asuka assured him
There were three relatively boring fights after Goten's, each of the fighters showed a bit of skill but it was noting impressive at all, the pilots and Saiyens got board, Hikari however kept herself occupied by going to speak with other people: she was here for fun but the others were serious contenders. The boredom was broken by some words from the Ref
"Ladies and gents, the Quarter Finals are about to begin: will Hikari Horaki and Trunks Briefs report to the ring for their match" he announced
Hikari gulped a little as she stepped into the ring and looked at Trunks: he had a small smile on his face that she couldn't place the emotion behind. She shook his hand and prepared herself for a crushing defeat
"Don't hurt me," Hikari muttered
"I won't" Trunks replied
"Thanks" she said dryly and went to her area to take ready stance
Hikari's stance was definitely Kami-Zenin style, a little low level but for someone who'd done it only a week or two, it was good and not as sloppy as most would make it look. Trunks smiled and thought about the best and least humiliating way for her to lose.
[I'll just knock her out of the ring] he decided and readied himself for the first blow
Hikari flung herself towards Trunks with a mighty roar and delivered a viscous blow to the head with her foot: the blow would have felled a lesser warrior or killed an ordinary man. Hikari got a slightly scared look when she realised that her kick hadn't hurt Trunks in the slightest. Trunks was just grinning while Hikari stood with her foot buried in his neck
"Nice technique, a little slow but no one's perfect" he said
Trunks then softly, (for him), flat palm struck Hikari in the chest, sending her flying back across the ring and skidding to a halt. He then nonchalantly walked over and kicked her out of the ring. Hikari was relieved; she knew that Trunks could pulverise her without trying it and being casually toed out of the ring was the last way she expected him to use to beat her.
"Oh well, I got out with all my bones intact" she said to herself while getting up and returning to the stands to her friends and Shinji.
After all the usual things from the ref, the second Quarter Final was match was called
"Rei Ayanami and Shinji Ikari, report to the ring please" the speaker bellowed
"Well, that's us" Shinji said to Rei as he jogged down to the arena
Rei was more reserved about her entrance and walked slowly downstairs to join her friend
"Fight well" Goten called, Asuka and Hikari chiming in too
"Be prepared to accept defeat, Shinji" Trunks called and smiled at Rei, his soul mate
Goten turned a puzzled look upon his friend
[You're hiding something from us Trunks, I wonder what it could be?] Goten wondered
The usuals were performed on the ring and the match was opened. All parties knew this would be a good match. Shinji went first and began blitzkrieg strikes at Rei. But she blocked them, each and everyone was blocked and it began to annoy Shinji.
"Come on Rei, I know Trunks has trained you. Show me if you're better" he requested
"Okay" she answered and punched him hard in the stomach, making him stagger back
"Ooooh, now this is more interesting" Shinji said and powered up as much as he could; for a human it was an impressive power level, nearly u p to a 3rd class Saiyen
Trunks just smirked wider and waited: all Rei had to do was tap the resources like he taught her, and Shinji would be carted off that ring in a stretcher, no matter what
[Go on; show him] Trunks thought
As if Rei heard his request, she gave that small smile Trunks was usually favoured with it spread across her face; she squatted, concentrated and then, they felt for the power
"AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH" the usually quiet Rei screamed as she powered up, her level quickly surpassing that of Shinji and most of the crowd put together
"Holy shit!" Hikari gasped at the magnitude of Rei's power
"Kai-O-Ken 20" Rei said and a red field surrounded her, breaking up part of the ring
****************
The crowd weren't the only ones to sense this power; Gendo was able to feel it, and it disquieted him immensely: but he knew that if acted rashly then the whole thing would fall apart at the seams.
"I'll use the very interesting information Mr. Aide got for me. I'll have my best men analyses at it and construct some kind of suppressor" Gendo reasoned that if he could control Trunks, then he could control Rei
He picked up his phone and dialled the operator of Nerv and asked to be put through to the special weapons division; after a few minutes the head of said division answered the phone
"This is Yamaki," he answered
"Yamaki, this is the commander" Gendo began
"Sir!" Yamaki snapped to attention
"I will be sending some details to you; I want your best bio-chemists to look over it and try to devise a neutralising agent for it" he started
"I'll need physical and computerised samples, sir" Yamaki said
"They will be provided" Gendo assured him
"Very well sir, we'll begin work as soon as the samples arrive" the man responded
Gendo simply hung up and allowed his evil smile loose on the small private room he was in, momentarily forgetting about the power surge from his 'weakest' pilot
*********************
Goten stared slack jawed at this spectacle and then turned his attention to Trunks
"You knew", he said
"All along, amigo" Trunks replied and watched as Rei began her attack
Shinji had no chance as Rei zipped in at him, striking hard and fast every time and making him feel each blow.
[Where in the hell did she get all this power?] Shinji wondered as he was kneed in the guts
He fell to the ring floor groaning and Rei walked over to him, in a strange dainty sort of way
"This situation is interesting: not more than a few weeks ago you said I would never be as strong as you" she began
[If I didn't know better I'd say you were taunting me] Shinji thought
"But due to someone who saw something in me, of which not even myself saw or even dared to bring it out, you have now been defeated by me" she finished
Shinji looked up and he realised that it was true: no one really had faith in Rei's ability as a Ki warrior: but Trunks had come along and brought her power to forefront; making her stronger than Asuka, Hikari and himself combined. Gone was the weak Rei he met a few weeks ago, now a powerful and formidable Rei stood before him. She was now a force to reckoned with
"I see" he croaked and staggered to his feet
Rei decided that the match was over: she'd proved her point and made quick knee strike into Shinji's guts, jumped up and with a spinning kick motion, shot him out of the ring and into the ground
"Ladies and gentlemen we have a winner!" the Ref cried: the crowd went wild
"YEAH REI!" Trunks cried louder than anyone else in the whole school
Shinji blinked and opened his eyes, slightly stunned. Rei was leaning over him offering him a hand to help him up; he took it
"Thanks" he said and with her help, got up.
As those two made their way back to the seating area, the dreaded noise of Tokyo3 blared across the city, making all that heard it look up in terror
"Asuka, we need to go" Shinji said and along with Rei, turned and ran to the nearest entry to Nerv
As the other children evacuated to their shelters: Goten and Trunks went to the hills to wait and watch. They saw it once on the peak of the hill: a giant diamond shaped creature; a definite change from the one from last time: the 5th Angel was here, and his name was Ramiel, Angel of Thunder.
*****************************
Author's Note: This was a filler chapter before bringing in the 5th Angel. Thanks to Drakon for pre-reading this chapter and pointing out some OOC-ness with the characters: he was a great help
