The Pools.

By Kevin McHorney

The Gehirn VSTOL landed on a small cliff overlooking

the mysterious valley. A wide cargo door opened in the back of

the aircraft and armored men leapt to the ground. They landed

in a crouch and scanned the surrounding terrain, their assault

rifles ready to eliminate anything that constituted a threat.

One of the men paused as he listened to his headset then

pointed to three men and motioned them towards a small, nearby

hut. The three men ran towards the hut and rushed inside.

The soldier who had signaled held his earpiece closer

to his head, then he tapped his throat and said, "This is

Sergeant Hanabishi. The area is secure, Sir. One male in

structure, no other humans detected."

A door on the side of the aircraft opened and swung to

the ground to form a ladder. Gendo Ikari stepped down the

ladder followed closely by Kozo Fuyutsuki. They stepped to the

edge of the small cliff and surveyed the valley.

"Interesting," Ikari said. "Every one of the pools has a

bamboo pole in it's center?"

"Yes, all of them. This valley was at one time a

martial arts training ground. However this supposed curse has

kept people away for decades now."

"Yet it survived the second impact and continues to

give off an unusual energy signature. Perhaps there is

something to this curse, Professor."

"Magic, Ikari? I didn't think that you would be one to

believe in it."

Ikari used his index finger to slide his glasses back

onto the bridge of his nose and smiled. "I don't. But after

all, there are more things on this Earth than are contained in

all your books and philosophies."

"Hamlet?" Fuyutsuki said as he raised an eyebrow. "An

odd time to be quoting Shakespeare."

Ikari let his comment pass and signaled to Sergeant

Hanabishi. "The Professor and I are going down to this

valley."

Sergeant Hanabishi saluted and said, "Yes, Sir." He

turned and started barking orders to his troops as Ikari and

Fuyutsuki walked down the narrow path to the valley floor,

followed by two soldiers.

At the edge of the field of pools Ikari signaled to the

soldiers to remain where they are as he and Fuyutsuki walked in

among the pools. Ikari stopped and stood besides one of the

pools, looking into it's depths. "What kind of curse was

placed on these pools?"

"Actually, we don't know." Fuyutsuki said. Ikari

looked up at him in surprise and Fuyutsuki continued, "We only

know that its name is the cursed training ground of Jusenkyo

and that it's the pools themselves that are cursed." He paused

as if weighing his words, then said, "Are you sure you want to

be sitting so close to it?"

"Curses, Professor? I didn't think that you would be

one to believe in it," Ikari said, throwing Fuyutsuki's own

words back at him. "I'm sure that..." Ikari's words were cut

off as the ground he was standing on crumbled, pitching him

into the pool. He came sputtering back to the surface and

grabbed onto the edge.

Fuyutsuki held out a hand to help Ikari out of the

water, then paused. Something about Ikari looked different.

His glasses hadn't changed, but they didn't make his face look

quite as omniscient as they usually did. There were other

changes in his expression and the way he stood as he got out of

the pool. There was othing Fuyutsuki could put his finger on,

however something had changed about his friend. "Ikari, are you

alright?"

"Never better, Fuyutsuki my friend, never better."

Professor Fuyutsuki's eyes nearly popped out of his head as

Ikari smiled. This wasn't his usual closed smirk, but the open

grin of a man who hid nothing. "Hmm, my son is almost five. I

need to get him back from that teacher and start training him

properly," Ikari said to himself as he walked back to the

VSTOL, Fuyutsuki trailing behind him. "A training trip should

turn him into a real man. Maybe I should arrange a marriage

for him, giver him something to look forward to after he

becomes a man. I think Professor Soryu has a daughter about

Shinji's age."

Inside the hut the Jusenkyo guide sighed and shook his

head. "Poor man, fall into spring of drowned martial arts

father."

End.

I was re-reading Kevin Hammel's 'Honor and Love' series when

I got the idea for this little story. Not much more to say

about it. As always, please send comments to

stormwalker628@usa.net

Disclaimer: this story is in no way a challenge to the

ownership of any ideas or characters from either Neon Genesis

Evangelion or Ranma 1/2 and was written for entertainment

purposes only.