Work of fanfiction that is making me precisely no money. Don't sue.

NERV: ANGEL DEFENSE AGENCY

"We didn't need this new paint job," grumbled an admiral, looking at the bright red, arterial blood the dying Angel had sprayed all over the George Washington's flight deck. The seas were equally red, dyed by the life blood of an alien entity. He sighed and raised his binoculars. The EVA had done its job, if messily. It was time for clean-up. Scanning the flight deck of the Kiev, he saw tracer fire spraying out at fast-moving beasts. Cherubim and the Gears made to kill them.

A Gear fired a large autocannon into a cluster of the ice-demon Cherubim, far and away the most common type. But certainly not the only. As the Frosties, as the Gear pilots called them, died in a maelstrom of 3-cm bullets, another Cherub tried to blindside the Gear. It was an Eddy. Wicked metal claws in the place of fingers, extremely long arms, and a vicious segmented tail gave it the appearance of an Alien with the hands of Edward Scissorshands. It was about double as nasty in melee fighting as fighting a pair of samurai when you were armed with a tanto. And that was when you were in a Gear.

The Eddy moved in close enough to render the cannon's fire useless. The cannon still had a lot of mass, though. Proved when the Gear batted the Cherub off of the deck. The Eddy's partner however, sprang from behind a pile of corpses, robotic and organic alike, and jammed both sets of claws into the V-engine. Both combatants went up in the ensuing blast.

"Last straw," proclaimed the admiral as he lowered his binoculars again. "Get me the CAG."

"Yes sir! Alright boys, form up on me. We're going to do a bit of strafing. Rockets, then guns." The CAG banked his F-22D and set up for an attack run on the Kiev's deck. The supersonic fighters had proved to be very effective at sweeping the skies of Cherubim. Since missiles and stealth were of limited utility against Cherubim, the fighters were refitted with large internal ammo stores, replacing the original missile bays and pylons under the wings carrying rocket pods. The CAG, callsign Boxer, bared his teeth in a feral grin as he selected rockets for his first run. He placed the pipper on the deck and throttled back. Gears leapt to other ships, raining death upon the deck as they arced up and away to the other ships in the fleet.

Then the fighter run began. Rockets streamed in sheets towards the deck. Death covered the deck. And then came the gun pass. Blood of all colors spattered the torn-up deck.

It was nice out, reflected Raziel. And heck, it was also probably good for her not to see Ker for a couple of days.

"Oooh, Cohen, that out fit does nice things for your body. Though personally, I don't see the point in wrapping art."

Yasamoto. She hated Yasamoto. Thankfully, salvation was at hand. "Hey Raz!" Ben did have that uncanny knack for showing up at the right time, and his sunny disposition was generally welcome. Even if he did have that annoying habit…

"Hey Ben. What's up?"

"Not much. You seen Ker?"

"He's going to be out for a while. Couple of days."

"Always when I need to ask him a favor."

"Can I help?"

"No. My little sister is coming into town soon, and I figured since I wouldn't be there that I'd ask him to show her around. You know, someone her age."

Raziel stood slack-jawed. Ker's 16. Isn't he say, 17 years too old to be her age? "Why?"

"Well, you know. She's just so sweet and innocent. I don't want her to be all alone. I mean, someone might try to take advantage of her…"

I walked right into that one.

"…and I trust Ker enough not to do anything like that. Besides, if she needs protection, he's hardly a bad choice, right?"

You have no idea.

"I guess I just don't want her to get hurt. You know…"

Yep, his habit was really annoying. That little sister of his had to be the most sheltered child on the planet. Smile and nod, smile and nod.

"Hey Shinji. Who you looking at?" asked Kensuke as he leaned back against the embankment Touji and Shinji had been resting against after finishing their run. "I know Touji's looking at the class rep."

"Shut up!" yelled a crimson-cheeked Touji.

"But who are you looking at?"

"No one!" lied a blushing Shinji.

Both Touji and Kensuke sighed. "Shinji, every boy in the class is looking at some girl or another up at the pool," Touji informed Shinji. "You can at least tell us who you think is hot. Come on."

"Ayanami," answered Shinji meekly. "She doesn't seem to have any friends."

"You're right," mused Touji, "She doesn't. She's on speaking terms with Sel…Ker, but as for friends, I don't think she has any."

"She's pretty quiet though," said Kensuke, "almost as if she likes being a loner."

"Hey, if you want our help in getting together with her, we're here for ya."

Shinji blushed again. "I probably won't be asking for that."

"Right," drawled the two other Japanese teens.

"Captain?"

"Yes, what is it Gunny?" asked Misato as she put her feet up on the piles of paperwork on her desk.

"Ma'am, you're wearing a skirt," pointed out the Gear pilot.

"Heh heh. Whoops." Misato took her legs down and leaned forward, duplicating the Commander's trademark pose. "So what is it?"

"That's really creepy."

"Awww, big, bad Gear pilot scared of me?"

"Just the pose," sweatdropped Ed.

"What? Oh!" Misato switched poses again. She stretched out and put her hands behind her head. "Carry on."

"Well, did you notice how there weren't any Cherubim? With the last Angel, I mean."

"You complaining about not getting anything to do?"

"Hell no. But the other two Angels we've encountered recently have had large entourages of Cherubim…"

"Wait, other two Angels?"

"The fleet delivering Lockheed/Ingen's Unit 02 came under Angel attack."

"How bad were the losses?"

"Four battleships, ten cruisers, a carrier, six destroyers, four fleet tenders, the transport ship, thirty-seven Gears, and God-knows-how-many people. Oh yeah, and the Kiev is almost a gutted hulk. But there were a bunch of Cherubim with it. None with Mr. Energy Whips. That leads to the question: Where are they?"

"Damn."

"My thoughts exactly."

"Right. Send out patrols in the general area, try and find those things. If you do find them, kill them. Kill em with a passion."

"Right. We'll get right on it."

"And station a rapid deployment squad near each pilot residence and the school. I want you on those squads."

"Yes ma'am."

"Keep those kids safe. You know what they're worth."

"Yeah. And I gotta say, I kinda like the two guys. Don't worry about them. Excuse me." The big Gear pilot walked out of Misato's office.

"Hey, Shinji."

"Yes Misato?" Shinji looked up from his homework. "What is it?"

"Ker's on the phone." She handed the cordless to him.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Hey Shinji. What's up?"

"I'm doing homework."

"He spot checks it. Just bullshit it. Once I wrote down 'a tasty treat for you to munch on'. He never caught it."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Ker yawned. "Hey I'll be up and around after school. Want to go to the arcade?"

"Sure."

"Invite the others."

"Who do you mean?"

"Touji and Kensuke. Ben and Raz don't really like them, and she's been acting really strangely lately. I kinda wonder what it is."

"Ben and Raz?"

"Seniors. Couple of friends of mine. Raziel works at NERV. She's a tecchie. Works on the AVA's weapons storage systems."

"The really beautiful girl with short hair?"

"Yeah, she's real pretty. Israeli." Ker yawned hugely.

"You sure you'll be okay? You sound a bit shaky."

"Tomorrow after school? I'll be…" He said something in English that Shinji wasn't familiar with.

"What?"

"Damn." He thought for a bit. "Doubleplusgood. Sorry, I've been reading 1984. I'll be fine, assuming I sleep well."

"Bye."

"See ya tomorrow. Remember, bullshit!"

Shinji laughed and hit the end button. He started writing again. A…tasty…treat…for …you…to…munch…on. I like this.

"You got finished with that quickly. Smart Shinji. I think it's your turn to cook."

"No. You were going to make your "World-Famous Curry Rice". I'm serving. Remember, Ritsuko's coming over."

Little did Shinji know how much that correction would cost his taste buds.

"So, how's school?" asked Misato as she went to the kitchen. "Made some friends?"

"A few."

"Found a girlfriend?"

Shinji blushed mightily. "MISATO!"

She grinned like the Cheshire cat. "You're too easy to tease. Come on, you're a 16-year old. You should at least think about it."

"I think about it," muttered Shinji.

"Shinji, you're in a good position for it."

"Nani?"

"You're a pilot. Everyone swarmed you when that came out right?"

"Kinda."

"Yes they did. I know exactly what happened. I'm glad you two straightened it out."

"Oh…I don't know. Ker doesn't want the fact that he's a pilot to get out."

"Yeah." Misato started cooking the rice. "Well, Ker's got this thing about the whole hero worship deal. He also doesn't seem to like being one of the 'popular' kids. I suppose it goes with his past."

"Hmm?"

"Ask him if you want to know."

"Maybe. But why would I want someone who only goes out with me because I'm a pilot?"

"Would you? Look, Shinji, I seriously don't want you doing this, but you probably could go playboy on your class, sex and all."

"Isn't that…hollow?"

She nodded as she started on the curry. "Like a balloon. But, in the face of the Angels, never knowing when you're going to die, it could be tempting."

"I don't think I'll ever do that."

"I hope not. I think you need to find someone who isn't worshipful of your pilot status. And you'll need to have an attraction to them…"

"I'm not entirely naïve, Misato," sighed Shinji, "I've already had one relationship."

"Good one?"

"No."

"Well, I hope you find a good one here. It's the least life could do for you, with your job." The doorbell rang. "That must be Ritsuko. You mind getting it? I'll be done soon."

"Sure." Shinji got up and walked to the door to let in Ritsuko, who was wearing a modest, but nice, tank top and vest combo in dark blue and white. "Hello Dr."

"Hello Shinji. Just call me Ritsuko."

"Okay. Dinner will be ready soon. I'm going to go check on it." Shinji walked into the kitchen where Misato was microwaving something…a cup of instant ramen?

Pen-pen tugged at Shinji's pant leg and 'warked' at his empty food dish. "Don't worry Pen-pen, you get to share food with us tonight." He was completely unprepared for the water fowl's response to the news as Pen-pen 'ducked and covered', warking up a storm. Shinji sweatdropped. Misato's cooking hadn't been horrible all those time he had tried it before. Then, it had been instant. He shook his head. No big deal. His stomach was ironclad. His 'uncle' couldn't cook well either.

"So Ritsuko, how've you been?"

"Busy. You know the feeling."

"Oh yeah."

Shinji served Ritsuko, Pen-pen and himself. "Misato?"

"Oh. Here, pass me the curry." Shinji handed it over. Misato started pouring it in her ramen. "This is how curry ramen should be! Thick like a sludge." She broke her chopsticks apart. "Let's eat!"

Ritsuko and Shinji took their first bites at the same time, and both got the same grimace. "Misato cooked, didn't she?" asked Ritsuko in a strained voice.

"You can tell?" Shinji's voice was having the same troubles.

"Of course." They heard a thump from in the kitchen. "What was that?"

Misato sucked in a thick curtain of 'curry with ramen'. "Don't know." She chugged her first can of Yebisu. "Good stuff."

I beg to differ, thought the other two humans. The penguin would've too, had it not been out cold.

"Hey, Shinji, would you get me another Yebisu?" asked Misato. Shinji nodded and got up, bringing back the fresh can and another pair.

"Cute how you have him as an errand boy," commented Ritsuko, "Oh, I almost forgot again. Shinji, can you get this to Rei?" She dug around in her purse.

"What is it?" Ritsuko handed him a pair of mag swipe cards.

"Rei's permanent security card. Yours too."

Shinji stared at the pair of cards, slightly fanned, reading the information and looking at the pictures, interested. "Hmm, Shinji, I think we've found the one."

"What!?"

"You were staring at Rei's picture."

"I was not!" He sat down abruptly, looking across the table at the drunken Misato. "Stop teasing me!"

"But I love too. You're so easy to tease."

"Just like Misato back in our college days."

"What!?"

As the old college friends bickered, Shinji took another look at the cards, pictures next to one another. Maybe. She did say she wanted to talk with me some more.

"Yeah, sure we'll come. We'll meet you outside the gates after school."

Shinji smiled. "Good. Hey, guys, I've got to go talk to someone. You mind?"

"Go," said Kensuke, "It's not a big deal. Go pick from your harem."

Maybe Misato's right, thought Shinji as he walked away, noticing the stares of quite a few people, most of them female. He shook his head and continued walking towards where he heard Rei Ayanami ate.

It wasn't too hard to get to, but you did have to be fairly observant to notice the roof access stairwell. Besides, it was considered to be Ayanami's 'territory'. No one wanted to mess with her. Something about her just seemed…well…no one quite knew. She was an enigma. And one that Shinji had a little inroad in.

"Hello, Ikari."

That was really creepy, but he bet Ker could do that too. Maybe he could too after a while. "Hello, Ayanami."

The girl turned around to face him. "What are you doing here?"

Shinji dug the card out of his pants pocket. "Ritsuko asked me to give you this. Your security card. I also thought we could…talk now. You said…"

"Yes, I think I might enjoy that."

Silence. Shinji scuffed his shoe, not knowing what to say.

"Why are you not sitting?"

"You didn't invite me."

"This is public property."

"But it wouldn't be polite."

Rei nodded to the roof near her. Shinji got it and sat down. "What do we talk about?"

"I don't really know. Should I tell you something about myself?"

"Why?"

"We're both EVA pilots. Wouldn't you feel better if your life was in my hands if you knew something about me?"

"I do know something about you," she stated matter-of-factly.

Shinji was surprised. "What?"

"I read NERV files."

"Isn't that boring?"

"Yes. But I don't have anything better to do, and they are potentially helpful."

"But wouldn't you rather do something fun?"

"I am sorry, Ikari, but 'fun' has not been much of a factor in my upbringing. Maybe." There almost seemed to be something behind that statement.

"Would you stop calling me Ikari?"

"Why?" asked an incredulous Rei.

"It makes me sound like I'm my father."

"You do not like that?"

"Why should I?"

"He is your father, is he not?"

"Not a very good one," muttered Shinji.

"Excuse me?"

"What, you think he's a good father?"

"He is the only one I know."

"What?"

Rei handed him back her card. The text after 'Guardian' read 'Ikari, Gendo'. Shinji just stared in disbelief. "I have no other to compare him with." 

"Wh…why? Did he remarry?"

"No. I was adopted at six."

"But why?"

"To make amends."

"Hardly amends," spat Shinji bitterly, "Ayanami, would you like to do something fun?"

"That sounds…acceptable."

After the other three had gotten over their surprise to find the azure-haired Ayanami standing with Shinji after school, they had set off, to the cadence of some good-natured ribbing.

"So Shinji," said Kensuke, nudging him with his elbow, "I see what you said about not wanting our help. You don't need it!"

"It's not like that Kensuke."

"Sure, and you didn't want to check on her in the hospital after the first battle," teased Ker.

"Oh, shut up."

"Hey, guys, we're here."

"I'll see you guys in the shooters. If anyone wants to play a dual game with me, just ask," pronounced Ker, pantomiming spinning a pistol on his finger.

"TEKKEN!" yelled Touji as he barreled towards the machine.

"That's predictable," commented Kensuke, "I'll be on Gauntlet."

Shinji looked over at the girl. "What about you?"

"I don't know. What do you enjoy?"

"Uh, DanceDanceRevolution?"

Ker spun around from where he was considering the options. "DDR? Woot!"

Rei looked at a game with an extremely large rifle in front of it. "I will try that one."

Silent Scope 2? thought Shinji. "That's kinda creepy."

"I'm sorry? What?"

"Nothing."

"Hmm, rather, that one." It was House of the Dead 3. "Will you assist?"

"Of course." They walked over and picked up the shotguns, paying their money. Ker was standing right next to them on Crisis Zone.

"Zombie blasting couple, huh?"

"Would you stop?"

Rei cocked the gun in the traditional 'bad-ass' manner, one-handed. "The game is about to start."

"Zombies to kill, Shin-man." Ker put in his money on CZ and snugged the MP-5 peripheral up to his shoulder. "And it's open season on terrorists for me."

It turned out that the NERV pilots were all damn good at shooters. The arcade had never had anyone play through the entire game on one credit.

Well, except for Touji and his beloved fighting games. "Bring it on suckers! I got plenty for you!" he crowed as he kicked digital ass and forgot the names. Kensuke, done with Gauntlet, playing solo, just watched as Touji beat on all comers.

Back in the shooting game section, Ker moved past a number of motion-capture games to find a sword-fighting simulator in the same vein. It was called Twin Swords: Path of the Warrior. It seemed it had a co-op mode, even if the title referred to the dai-sho set of the samurai. Ker shrugged and got into the cage. A workout would be good for him after being cooped up in his apartment for the better part of two days. He looked around, noticing there were a number of different bladed weapons to choose from. A fairly tall Japanese girl got into the linked cage.

"You want to play co-op?"

Ker shrugged. "Sure, but I've never played before."

"It's pretty easy if you know how to sword fight. I'm Izumi Tanaka."

"Ker Selais. Haven't I seen you at school?"

"Junior. I'm in kendo club. Pretty good, if I do say so myself."

"Sophomore. You'll definitely do better than me then, but I'll try."

"Right. Well, there are a few different weapon sets. Ninja has the ninja-to and throwing stars. Samurai is obvious."

"Dai-sho?"

"Yeah. Wanderer has the katana and a long tanto. Policemen have a saber and jo. Mercenaries have a pair of tantos and a spear. That's it."

"I think I'll use the wanderer."

"Okay. Third from the left. Medium difficulty okay?"

"Yeah. What are you going to be?"

"Samurai."

They paid and put on the helmets, picking up their weapon sets. After a short introduction, the game started. The two players were looking at the river. The samurai was tall and proud, the epitome of Japanese manliness. The wanderer on the other hand…short and red-haired. The cross-scar was cool though. Come to think of it, he'd probably be labeled bish. (A/N: Kenshin!) "Why do I have a urge to label my attacks with dragon monikers and call the school Hiten Mitsurugi?" muttered Ker, "Oro." (A/N: Rurouni Kenshin doesn't exist in this universe.) They both unsheathed their katanas and turned around, for an attack that was sure to come.

There!  A posse of men attacked, armed with jo. The katanas made short work of them. "Never played this game before, huh?"

"Never." Ker blocked a slash from a new attacker, a merc. He cut the head off the spear and then lunged in for the kill. "Bloody."

"Fun." She finished off her opponent. "Ninjas next. Then we go to the 360 fight."

"Free-for-all?"

"Free-for-all." They killed the ninjas quickly and then got into the real meat of the game.

Blades flashed and clanged. The pair battled on through odds that would be deadly in real life, but were survivable in a game. Calling out warnings, the two digital swordfighters played on, drawing quite a crowd. Grunts and cries issued from the fighter's mouths Then, the inevitable. A thrust got through Izumi's guard, killing her character. She stood motionless as her score was tallied up. A personal record, and the current high score. She took off her helmet and walked out of the cage to watch Ker continue fighting.

It was amazing to watch, his style flipping between many different stances, far more than the four in kendo. Tanaka played with her ponytail, as she had a habit of doing when watching a match. That was how he flipped stances so easily! He held the sword by the base. Extremely flexible, and she realized, he was damn fast. The game had quite a bit of trouble taking him down, finally requiring fourteen swordsmen, all on high-level schools. When he finally was killed by a number of cuts, he nearly slumped to the ground, his breathing so heavy that it drowned out the music in the background.  He got the high score, without a doubt, a well-deserved one. He entered KER, instead of initials. When he finally caught his breath, he stepped out of the cage, smiling widely. "Guess I tried too hard, huh?"

She looked at him, astounded. It wasn't often that people didn't gloat over beating her. "You thought about joining kendo club?"

He shook his head. "That was hardly kendo."

"We now do free-fighting with all kinds of practice weapons. More like a swordsperson club."

"I'm not that good."

"Bullshit."

"Hey Touji," deadpanned Ker.

"That was frickin amazing. When did you learn to do that?"

"When do you think?"

Touji shut up. Izumi looked a little confused, but shook it off. "Suzihara here is right. You are amazing."

"Okay, I'll ask the counselor."

"Screw that, I'm vouching for you. Next Tuesday after school, okay?"

"Sure. See you then."

"Bye." Izumi walked off.

"So, gypsy-boy, deciding to sample one of one of Japan's fine kendo girls?"

"You have to be kidding me."

"Sure looked like it," said Kensuke, walking up. "Nice moves with that sword, man."

"Well, Veras taught me well. Where's Shinji?"

"DDR," answered the other two.

Ker got a face-splitting grin. "This I gotta see."

Shinji had quite a crowd too, maybe not as large as the one that had been at Twin Swords, but it was not often you found a person with that much sword skill. On the other hand, it wasn't often you found a person with as much skill at DDR as Shinji. It was a new version, but the Shin-man was scoring full perfect on the hard songs, first time through. And he didn't neglect his upper body, like some DDR players. It was fully into dance mode too. No Riverdance for the Ikari clan. The applause was thunderous when he finished a song. Ker looked at Touji and Kensuke and nodded at Rei, mouthing: "Ayanami needs to dance."

The other two nodded and they made their way through the crowd towards the azure-haired girl, who seemed almost entranced by Shinji's masterful dancing. Touji and Kensuke grabbed her and lead her out to the space around Shinji as he decided what song to do next. Ker walked alongside. "Hey, Shinji!" yelled Ker, catching the other boy's attention, "Ayanami here wants to learn."

Shinji blushed. "Su…sure," he said as Kensuke and Touji positioned Rei on the pad.

Ker paid for her and stepped back, turning around. "Nothing to see here, folks, just a little lesson." The crowd dispersed, grumbling a little. "Let's play some pool." The others walked away, leaving the 'sensei' and student alone.

"Okay Ayanami, do you know how to play at all?"

"No."

"The object is to hit the correct footpad at the right time, as shown by the screen."

"I understand."

"The point is to dance as well as one can in the form it gives you. So just don't use your legs. Do what feels natural around the steps you're told to do."

"I understand."

"We'll do 'My Little Samurai'. It's an easy song that doesn't use the back pad."

"Right."

Kensuke was really, really good at pool. He had some uncanny knack to calculate the most perfect shots. Ker and Touji got themselves whipped two times each, before Ker took a look over at where they had left Ayanami and Shinji. They were talking, and it looked like there was a tinge to Rei's cheeks. Ker smiled and got back to the game he was playing against Touji. They had finally convinced Kensuke to pick on some other people so they could play a game in which they had a sporting chance. Touji was actually the better of the two, but Ker was having a good day. Kensuke decided just to watch them, sitting on a bench. Then he noticed a girl. "Whoa. Hey, Touji."

"Eight ball, side pocket." He potted the ball in. "What is it, Ken?"

"Look at her," he breathed, nodding at the girl.

Touji looked. And liked. Shoulder length auburn hair, shapely long legs, a gorgeous body, and a great-looking face. She was wearing a yellow sundress and hunched in determination over a crane game.

Kensuke just stared. "Oh, totally my type."

"Looks about our age, too." Touji handed off the cue to Ker. "What do you think about her, Ker?"

"She's…hot," he commented in a tone that made it clear he was paying lip service.

The tone was totally lost on the other two boys. "Let's go over there! Maybe she'll be nice," said Kensuke, tempting fate.

"I'm surprised you two aren't trying to see her panties," stated Ker sarcastically, "What with this area being sunken and all. Guess you two aren't really perverts like the girls sa…I take that back." He sweatdropped.

Kensuke and Touji thought this was a grand idea. Ker pushed up his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Oy vey."

"Damn. Can't see em," complained Kensuke, "C'mon, let's go."

Touji and Kensuke walked towards the girl as Shinji and Rei walked up behind the slowly following Ker. "What's going on?"

"They couldn't see her panties, so now they're going to talk to Big Red up there."

"I do not understand."

"Probably a good thing, Ayanami," decided Ker.

"Definitely," agreed Shinji. The trio stopped about 7 feet back from the other teens.

That was about when the prize slipped from the claw. It had already happened 12 times. Thirteen's a real lucky number, ne?

Not for a certain prize-grabber game. "SHIT! Stupid machine!" cursed the girl as she kicked it. Not a good thing to do in a light cotton sundress. It fairly floated up, giving the whole arcade a nice view. Touji and Kensuke were just the closest. Ker groaned, Shinji blushed, and Rei was impassive.

Touji had a sane thought: Too bad about her personality.

Kensuke didn't. "Cool…"

"My last token," muttered the girl in what Ker recognized as German. She spun around and jabbed her finger at the two Japanese boys. "You two! 300 yen each."

"What!?" yelled Touji.

"Cool. She's hitting us up," mumbled Kensuke in a shaky voice.

"It's a peeping fee. You two saw my panties. Quite a bargain."

"Don't get up on a high horse because you think you're cute!" yelled Touji as he grabbed her arm.

"Bets on this not ending well?" asked Ker of Shinji.

The girl ripped her arm out of Touji's grip, stumbling into the bar. She knocked a biker's drink over onto him. "Oh, sorry."

"Bitch! I'm going to teach you the meaning of pain."

She kicked him in the face, knocking him to the ground. "Don't need to. It's easy enough to read about on your face."

He sat up, rubbing his jaw. "Let's have some fun, boys. Take down all those teenagers."

Yes, in Tokyo-3, biker gangs hung out in arcades. Ker looked at the two pool cues in his hand and handed one off to Shinji, before gripping the remaining cue like a quarterstaff or jo. "Combat training, real world style," he grunted as the first of the bikers ran at him.

Wham! The thick end of the cue slammed into the lead goon's face, making a nice red mark. He flew into a Soul Calibur machine, laying in a crumpled heap. Ker snorted at the irony and moved forward, spinning the cue two-handed, switching sides of his body before going into the classic 'one-arm angled support, other arm bring-it-on' pose. Veras had taught him to grandstand too. The next goon got the skinny end in what with a spear, would be an impaling blow. He folded over the cue, and Ker axe kicked him to put the punk out cold. He moved on to the next biker, without missing a beat.

When a knot of the bikers attacked her and Shinji, Rei hip threw the first, before flipping him with a kick and punching him in the face. Shinji bent the cue, emulating something he saw in a movie, before letting go of the skinny end, whipping the biker in the side of the head. He then used his minimal jo training to slam the man over the head with the heavy end. He hit the guy exceptionally hard, as the cue broke over the guy's head. He scaled the end he was holding at another guy, before trying the sweep kick his pilot training had given him. It worked perfectly, depositing the guy on his back. Shinji delivered an elbow to the face and looked for another target.

He was attacking Rei. The biker threw a powerful haymaker that Rei lithely avoided. While the goon was off-balance, Shinji slammed his head into the nearest machine, Drummania. In a moment of rare inspiration, he quipped, "Play it again, Sam."

He thought he saw the ghost of a smile on Rei's lips. She had watched Casablanca? Go figure. Either that or Moonraker.

Touji, meanwhile, gave his opponent a powerful jab combo before rattling his teeth with a left hook, and nearly snipping his tongue of with an uppercut. He ducked a kick and delivered a right cross to the next guy.

The girl was a dervish of kicks and flips, switching between bikers quickly, before picking up a stool and bashing them with it, taunting them all the while.

Kensuke was the only one having troubles. His fighting skill was zilch, so the one guy that came after him was more than enough. He was having a hard enough time avoiding and blocking punches. It came as a relief when a pool cue slammed into the guy's head, blunt end first. Kensuke scurried in between a pair of machines.

Ker didn't even hold the throw pose for more than a second, spinning around into a kick that snapped a guy's head back, launching him into the swing of the redhead's stool. He noticed another goon threatening a blonde with her hair in a long braid. He dashed up in front of her as the guy swung, catching the incoming arm by the wrist, twisting it a certain way to break it, before driving his fist into the biker's gut and snapping his elbow up to tag the goon in the chin. A devastating move he last employed against the Fourth Angel. As the biker went down, he spun around in his crouched combat stance…only to find himself staring into a pair of rather beautiful brown eyes. He realized there were no more bikers conscious and straightened up.

"What was that?" asked the girl.

"Extension of duties, albeit an enjoyable one." Where the fuck did that come from?

"What?"

"I like to fight." Never mind that my face shows I don't, he thought, scratching the back of his head.

"Right," she said in a tone that left no doubt to the fact that she didn't believe him. "Well, thanks. Quite chivalrous." The last word had only a slight ting of sarcasm. Ker, being a longtime master of such, was the only one that caught it. She turned around and walked out of the arcade.

Touji walked up behind Ker. "She's right, you know, that was pretty chivalrous." He laughed. "Rescue the damsel in distress and you don't even get her name. Like blondes, huh?"

Ker backfisted him. "Shut up." He sighed. "I like dark hair."

"Ow," groaned Touji from the floor.

Ker pulled him up by his arm. The red-haired girl walked over. "Looks like you idiots can fight. Nice."

Ker gave her a nasty look. "You don't have to enjoy fights, you know." He walked over and retrieved the unbroken cue, bashing the biker on the head to make sure he was out. "It's safe, Kensuke."

The sandy-blonde boy stood up and walked out. "That's far too much excitement for one day."

"Tell me about it," said Touji, rubbing his cheek, "What a brawl."

"Bigger the better," said the rather annoying redhead. Ker sighed. "It's been a while since I got into a good fight like that without the cops busting up." Sirens sounded nearby.

"You are a fucking moron," deadpanned Ker, seriously considering using the cue till it broke. After that, he wasn't sure what he would do, but he was sure it wouldn't be pleasant.

The arrival of the Tokyo-3 Municipal Police (Section 2 washouts) precluded the severe beating.

"Look, I just want to know what happened. We have the whole incident on tape, but I want your report."

Ker, chosen as the spokesman, sighed. "During an argument between Touji and Big Red, which she started, he grabbed her wrist. She chose to break his grip in a forceful manner, resulting in her stumbling into a biker gang leader. He then insulted and threatened her, after which she kicked him in the face. He told the gang to take us all down. Self-defense from there. If there are any responsible except for the bikers, I can only think of Big Red."

"That hardly matters," scoffed the girl.

"I think it does," retorted the officer.

"No, it doesn't," she said with a haughty tone, "I'm Asuka Langely Soryu, and as the Second Child, an employee of NERV, am above the law in cases such as this!"

"Bitch," chorused the teenage males in the room, outside of Kensuke.

"Dear God," murmured Kensuke.

Rei shook her head. "NERV is above the law, not its members. With the amount of pilots in the city at this time, NERV might just leave you to your fate to make sure there is no further foolishness."

"And what would you know about it, you blue-haired tramp?"

"I am Rei Ayanami, First Child, and pilot of EVA 00."

"Oh. Well, that explains where you got your mediocre combat skills. Feh, relying on your boyfriend."

"This is Shinji Ikari, the Third Child."

"This is pathetic! What is NERV doing, with such a lame bunch of pilots? At least they don't waste the true combat EVAs on you." She haughtily jerked her head towards Ker. "At least he'd come close to a match to me."

Ker narrowed his eyes and leapt at her, kicking her in the thigh, before walking a series of punches up her torso. Her first attack went far too high, unbalancing her. She fell to the floor, Ker grabbing her arms and pinning them behind her back, holding her down. "Don't presume to know how well I can fight," he growled. "And don't presume to think you can at all."

That couldn't be him, thought Touji, Even before Ken and I were friends with him, he was a good-natured loner, if a sarcastic one. This guy is more like an assassin.

During the rush of action, Shinji caught a glimpse of metal underneath Ker's jacket. I wonder what that is?

The officer just looked on in amazement. "I think I'll just call NERV now."

Misato just laughed. "You got in a brawl at the arcade!"

"Yeah."

"So how was your time at the arcade?"

Shinji smiled a little smile. "Good." He remembered the 'lesson' he gave to Rei, and her reaction.

            "Thank you, Shinji."

Shinji looked at the blue-haired girl. "What?"

"Thank you, for teaching me to dance."

"I didn't teach you to dance. I just taught you to play this game." Shinji leaned against the bar on the platform. "Dancing is just a way of expressing your emotions, I guess."

"Still, I thank you. It is…fun." Her cheeks had a light pink tinge.

"You're welcome, Ayanami."

"Please, call me Rei. I think…I think I would like to be friends with you." Shinji could clearly see the blush that spread across her face.

"Okay…Rei."

Misato smiled. "So what games did you play?"

"Virtual On, House of the Dead 3 and…"

"Oh! I used to love that game! I really liked those huge shotguns. Great fun. Anything else?"

"DDR," Shinji smiled again, "DDR."

"And then you got into the fight?"

"Yeah." It was strange. Shinji had gotten in fights before, but they had always been bad memories. This one almost seemed…good. Maybe it was because he won, maybe it was…he didn't know.

"You did pretty well. All of you."

"Yeah, but Ker was the best. He's like a reluctant demon when he's fighting."

"Reluctant demon, Shinji?"

"Well, he doesn't seem to like it, but…"

"I know. You know the guy with the long blue hair, like Rei's?"

"Yeah?"

"That's Kit Veras. He once took down 25 Cherubim with a pistol, knife, katana, and his bare hands. He was an old friend of the project head at Arirx, so when he got out of the Marines, he became Ker's combat instructor."

"25 Cherubim?"

"Yeah. Now, Shinji, he was going to be the AVA's original pilot."

"Why couldn't he?"

"The AVA runs on the energy of one's soul. So does the Raptor, come to think of it. The pilot powers the machine with their own spirit energy, which is amplified by the AVA. The original designs for this system were deadly. A person's soul would be sucked away in an instant. Veras was the only one to survive more than a second. The new design requires a very special kind of soul. Ker has one of them. They've only showed up in a pair of 16-year olds, and one 13-year old."

"Three people?"

"Yes. And the new design requires as specific mutation passed down through only a very few bloodlines, mostly Gypsy ones."

"Oh. So Ker learned to fight from…"

"Fate himself, or so he is called. Demon isn't the half of it. Veras was considered the perfect soldier. More like killer."

"And Ker doesn't want to be a killer?"

"Does anyone?"

"There are serial killers."

"True. But that's hardly Ker. His mind doesn't work like most humans."

"What?"

Misato sighed. "Not now. It's late, and we'd better get some sleep."

"Righ…Oh, Misato, one last thing?"

"What?"

"When Ker took that girl down, I saw metal inside his jacket. Do you know what that was?"

"Probably a K-bar fighting knife. Veras gave it to him for protection. That jacket he wears has pockets for weapons in it. I've got one too."

"Oh. Goodnight Misato."

"`Night, Shinji."

Ker lay back on his bed, clad only in boxers. What a busy day. Guess I should bring one of my shinai to school tomorrow. He got up and walked to what was meant to be the second bedroom, but was in practice the weapons room. Two katana, one wakizashi, one tanto, two ninja-to, one naginata, a kiris knife, six jo staffs, two bokken simulating a dai-sho set, five shinai of varying lengths, the two katana with no edges for practice, and the sakabato which he would never use due to his habit of bracing the blade. An impressive stock, but he would never sleep in there, for fear of some of the…'cutlery' falling on him during the night. That would be rather painful. Probably deadly too. He picked out the shinai that simulated a 29-inch blade katana and lay it next to the bag he took to school, before walking back to his bed and laying down for another night's sleep.

Ed's Gear's night vision painted the scene in black and white. It was not the traditional green-and-black gear but what Nova Industries had dubbed 'Starlight', a revolutionary new form of nightvision, up to three times better than the old gear.

Sometimes though, there just wasn't anything to see. Ed swept the barrel of his heavy anti-air cannon across his field of vision, covering for the rest of his squad. Anti-air cannon was somewhat of a misnomer. It was just a very fast-firing autocannon favored by the Shoulder Devils for its ability to take down Cherubim very quickly, even if it was a 180-proof bitch for ammo consumption. Ed also had a second cannon, in a lighter caliber and a 48-rocket pack on one of his shoulders. For desperate circumstances, he had a short vibrosword slung on one of the Gear's hips. If it got to hand-to hand combat though, he was probably screwed.

"Anyone seen anything?" he asked of the other squad members impatiently.

"Landscape," grunted another of the pilots.

"Where are they?" Ed asked of no one in particular.

"Ker! Hey Ker!"

"What is it Ben?" asked the still-sleepy Gypsy.

"Can I have a favor?"

"Sure."

"You know how I'm supervising the middle school class trip?"

"The week-long one?"

"Yeah. Well, you see, my little sister just came into town yesterday and I'm really embarrassed because…"

"You'd never have agreed to be a chaperone if you knew she would be coming into town this week," finished Ker, holding up a hand, "I know, I know. Cut to the chase."

"Well, since I can't show her round school, do you think you could? She's in your class."

"Fine."

"What's with the bamboo sword?"

"I've been invited into kendo club."

"Who by?"

"Izumi…Tana…shi? No. Shit."

"Izumi Tanaka? Damn. Gonna go out with her?"

Ker gave him a nasty look. "Do you want me to demonstrate why I got invited?"

"What is it with you and girls? Demonstrate only on someone if they threaten Lee, okay?"

"Fine. Where is she?"

"Lee! Hey Lee! Get over here!"

A blonde girl turned around and walked towards them. Wait a second! Blonde?

"Ker, I'd like you to meet my little sister, Leslie Mitchell. Lee, he'll be showing you around. Unless you want me to stay…"

Ker looked on incredulously. "Oh, don't worry, Ben," said Leslie , "I'm sure he'll be quite chivalrous."

And that's the third real story chapter of NERV: ADA. A little more revealing on Ker's part, and the start of a friendship (or two, or three). I hope you liked the scenes in the arcade. They were the most fun to write. I might write an action/romance one-shot based on the arcade events. (I cut a lot of the original text as it was something like 3 pages for Ker's biker fight alone!) Well, see you next time, for more normal life, and a fight or two.

God, I love my prereader.