Chapter 3
Ceres slammed into a tree hard, causing her vision to spin. By the time she had returned to her feet, Proserpine was already up and fighting the goddess. Proserpine had apparently decided magic was going to be no use and was trying to defeat the goddess using only her fists. The goddess however was well trained, and easily avoided Proserpine's punches. The goddess barely ducked a particularly vicious punch, knocking her helmet slightly askew. The goddess came right back with a force bolt. With a loud bang, Proserpine flew threw the air, landing hard on the ground next to Ceres. The goddess reached up and adjusted her helmet back.
"We have to go." muttered Ceres, "We're forbidden to fight and goddesses remember?"
"I don't care!" hissed Proserpine, "It's been too long since I had the blood of a goddess between my fingers. I want that feeling again." Proserpine flew back at the goddess.
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"This way!" shouted Hyosuke as he ran through the forest.
"Hyosuke!" shouted Matagu, ducking under a branch, "Is this really a good idea? We don't know what made that fireball. It could be anything."
"That's why I want to find out!" replied Hyosuke, "I missed seeing the UFO the first time, I don't want to miss whatever this is!"
Matagu sighed and continued to follow Hyosuke. Suddenly Hyosuke stopped.
"What is.." Matagu began to ask before his mouth was covered by Hyosuke.
"Shh." He whispered, "Look."
In the clearing stood two woman. One wore a black outfit, complete with a cape and had red slash marks upon her forehead. The other was in a blue and white outfit, long brown hair flowed out from beneath the helmet upon her head. Matagu only saw the outfits for a second before a saw something else.
The woman were tossing fireballs at each other.
"Dammit! Proserpine! We have to go!"
Matagu looked over to see another woman in black standing off to the side of the clearing. The woman also had red slash marks on her forehead. She seemed nervous, constantly scanning the sky while she called out to her comrade.
"Proserpine she can't be alone! More will be here any second! Let's go Proser." The woman was cut off as Proserpine was hit by a fireball in her chest. She flew backwards and slammed into the one calling out to her. Both lay on the ground for several seconds, stunned.
"Whoa!" whispered Hyosuke loudly, "That was so cool!"
All three combatants then turned and spotted them.
"Hyosuke you idiot!" hissed Matagu as the three continued to stare at them. "Now you've done it!"
Proserpine stood up. "We'll goddess, I'd like to stay and continue our discussion, but as Ceres here said, we have other business. But we can't have you following us so.." Proserpine pulled out a small round object. "...Here's something to remember us by." She tossed the object at Matagu and Hyosuke.
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Sayoko frowned at the object when Proserpine had pulled it out. But after her little speech, it dawn on Sayoko just what Proserpine had just tossed.
"Shit!" swore Sayoko. She turned and flew at the mortals. Both were staring stupidly at the object spinning towards them. Out of the corner of her eye, Sayoko saw Proserpine vanish with a very evil grin on her face. Ceres disappeared a second later. Sayoko slammed into the mortals, knocking them to the ground.
"What the.?" one started to say.
"STAY DOWN!" shouted Sayoko. She held both mortals down and started to form a shield when everything went white.
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Kei and Mizuho stood on their balcony, looking out at the forest. A section of it glowed red in the night.
"Meteor shower?" asked Kei.
Mizuho shook her head. "Marie would have warned me about a meteor shower. After all, my ship is within 20 miles of the forest there."
"Then what was that?"
"I don't know." Mizuho then leaned into Kei, "But it is kind of pretty."
Kei felt Mizuho pressing herself into him. "Uhh...yeah.." he stuttered slightly, "It is."
"Kei..."
"Mizuho.."
"EWWWW STOP IT!"
Mizuho and Kei leap away from each other and looked behind them. Maho stood there glaring at them.
"Just because I've accepted the fact your together," said Maho with a glare, "doesn't mean I have to watch you two get all mushy"
Kei groaned. Mizuho glared at her sister.
"And just why are you here? I thought you were back on the home planet or with Mom."
"Mom thought it was time for a visit." A look of disgust then appeared on Maho's face. "And she said something about grandkids..."
"GRANDKIDS?!?!" shouted Kei and Mizuho together.
Before Maho could explain further, they were blinded by a bright white light from the forest.
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The Next Day.
Light filtered through the window into the bedroom. The room itself was a mess. Clothes were scattered around the room everywhere. Piles of empty food cartons lay scattered about the floor. A mountain of beer cans sat stacked up against the way. In the middle of the room lay the bed. A large lump lay protected underneath a layer of blankets. Next to the bed, an alarm clock silently told the time. 9:59am. It blinked to show 10:00am, and announced the time with a loud buzz. A hand burst out of the blankets and smacked the alarm clock across the room. The hand rested were it fell for several minutes, then it reached up and pulled the blankets out of the way to reveal a very tired Misato in her typical way too small t-shirt and short shorts. She stood up and slowly shuffled over to the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror.
"Ugggghhhh." She muttered.
She shuffled out towards the kitchen. As she passed by the living room, she flipped on the TV.
"..Investigators still have no idea what occurred in the forest last night. The 'event' is being compared by some to the blast at Tunguska in 1908 when 2100 square kilometers of forest were leveled. While not the same magnitude of the 1908 blast, last night's event did knock down trees for several kilometers around.."
"..." muttered Misato as she pulled the top off her beer, "..deforestation sucks..." She began to drink from the can.
"Once again our top story: A large explosion went off last night north of Lake Kizaki..."
Beer spewed out of Misato's mouth. She ran into the living room and stared at the screen.
"...We now go live to our reporter on the scene.."
The screen changed to show a reporter standing in the forest. "Officials on the scene still have no idea what occurred here last night. They do confirm that an explosion did occur, leveling a large area of the forest. Many of you might recall last year when there were reports of UFOs in this area. Those reports proved to be unsubstantiated. Two High School boys were found by police officials near the blast sight."
The screen changed to show a Police Chief. "They were a bit dazed, but unharmed."
"Any ideas why they were in the forest?" asked the reporter from off screen.
"We think they might have been drinking or doing drugs." replied the Chief, "The one kept saying that he saw witches and seemed very excited about last night's 'event'. The other was so stunned he has yet to actually speak with us. Both are currently on their way to the hospital for a complete physical and should be released to their parents later today."
"The one stated there were witches?"
The Chief smiled, "He says he say 2 females in black attacking another in blue and white. Since we have found no sign of any other individuals anywhere in the area, we are assume that the boy either had too much to drink, or was on drugs and hallucinated the 'witches'."
"All black..." muttered Misato, "Blue and... SAYOKO!"
It suddenly occurred to Misato that she had not yet seen nor heard either Sayoko or Pen Pen. A quick look around the living room, followed by a glance into the kitchen and Pen Pen's fridge revealed no sign of either goddess or penguin. Misato started to head outside when she heard a bump from upstairs. She raced upstairs to the room that Sayoko was staying in. She reached the door and pulled it open. The smell of burnt fabric instantly hit her.
Misato peered into the room. "Sayoko?"
"I'm here." came the pained reply. Sayoko lay on her stomach on the bed, her back completely bear. Pen Pen stood next to her on the bed, holding a wet towel on Sayoko's back.
"What happened?"
"I ran into a couple of demons last night." Pen Pen lifted the towel off of her back. Misato's eyes widened as she took in the large partially healed burn on Sayoko's back. "They escaped and left me a little present." Sayoko hissed as Pen Pen placed the newly damp towel on her back. "I barely had time to raise a shield to protect two mortals who wondered over before their 'present' exploded." Sayoko pointed to the closet. "What's left of my battle outfit is in there."
Misato opened the door to the closet. The stench of burnt fabric was over powering. Most of the back of the battle outfit was gone, what remained was badly scorched. Misato looked back at Sayoko.
"How are you?"
Sayoko gave her a weak grin. "I'll be alright, just sore. Gimmie a few hours to recharge, and I'll be perfectly fine."
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"You have an explanation for your actions?"
Ceres and Proserpine knelt before the monolith labeled SEELE 01. The other SEELE monoliths surrounded them.
Proserpine glared up at the monolith before her.
"She was a Goddess, our enemy."
"Yet you were explicitly told NOT to engage with any members of the heavens." said SEELE 4.
Proserpine glared at the monoliths. "I am a Demon of the first rank! I do not have to obey the orders of mortals!"
Ceres looked up at Proserpine questioningly.
"DEMON! SPAWN OF HELL!" thundered SEELE 01, "YOU WILL OBEY OUR ORDERS!"
Proserpine crossed her arms. "And if I don't?"
"I will punish you." From the shadows behind the monoliths, a female demon with long brown hair appeared. Ceres and Proserpine went white with fear. Proserpine quickly bowed her head low.
"Your orders shall be obeyed." She said quietly.
"The rest of this conversation does not concern you." SEELE 1 again. "Remain where you are for further instruction."
"Yes sir." replied Proserpine and Ceres together. They then vanished.
"They are reaching the end of their usefulness." said SEELE 10.
"When something is no longer useful, it should be discarded." added SEELE 6.
"But they still have a use." replied the brown haired demon. "The last objective is in that very town."
"The last piece that is required for our revenge to begin." said SEELE 2.
"Where the fathers have failed, the sons and daughters will succeed." added SEELE 5.
"Your intentions?" asked SEELE 1.
"I will go there and personally command those 2." replied the demon, "I will of course inform you when the objective has been received."
"And the goddess?"
"All will be taken care of." The demon replied with an evil grin.
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The Principal stared out the lounge windows. Smoke could still be seen rising in the distance. He listened quietly as his teachers discussed the current lack of interest of their students.
"This is just going to make the students worse." said one teacher, "Remember the UFO incident last year? That's all they were talking about for weeks!"
"So what are we going to do?" asked another.
"Why not make it a learning experience?" said another.
"How so?"
"Well, this apparently was a meteor strike."
"They still aren't sure about that."
"...we can use this to give them an idea about what second impact was like."
Silence.
"Most of us were not even born when second impact occurred." said one teacher.
"Isn't there some confusion about what actually occurred there?" said another, "I thought I heard that the whole meteor hit on Antarctica was lie, part of a government conspiracy?"
"It was?" asked another.
"Yeah, a conspiracy that originated with a small select group of men and NERV."
"Isn't that kind of ridiculous? After all, NERV did save the planet."
"But it's still possible. That's what the UN is reporting happened.
"Regardless, every time we talk about second impact, my class goes to sleep."
"Maybe it's the way you're teaching it."
"I like that idea."
Everyone stopped talking and turned towards the Principal.
"Sir?"
The Principal turned and looked at the teachers.
"The idea of combining this event with Second Impact and even the Third." The Principal said. "I'm sure the students would find personal experiences very interesting."
"But sir," began one teacher, "Most of us were not even alive when Second Impact occurred, or were too young to remember. And Third Impact has never been fully explained, nor why Tokyo-3 is abandoned and quarantined even after all these years. How can we use personal experience for that?"
The Principal smiled. "I never said your personal experience. We get a guest speaker to talk to the entire school."
"When do you plan to do this?"
"Tomorrow when school reopens."
"But who are you going to get on such short notice? We're a long way from the capitol of Tokyo-2."
"Fortunately," replied the teacher, "I know of one who lives much closer and fills the requirement nicely."
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Later that evening.
"So how is Misato?" asked Asuka.
"She's fine." replied Sayoko. She was sitting in front of her laptop computer. On the screen was an image of Asuka Ikari and Hikari Suzuhara.
"Still drinks hmm?"
"Oh yeah. And she still can't cook."
"Lucky you." A serious look then appeared on Asuka's face. "What about the demons? You need help? I can ask if the council will deploy us."
"No." said Sayoko, "I think there gone for now. The rogues don't usually stay after causing trouble."
"But Misato.."
"Hey, I'm here. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to her. What else is new?"
"Well, Kirika joined the band at school." said Hikari.
"Oooo What instrument? "
"Cello."
Sayoko smiled, "Bet that makes her godfather happy."
"Oh yeah. Shinji was thrilled." said Hikari.
"Yeah, now he has a practicing partner." added Asuka, "I still think violin would be better."
"But she liked the cello." argued Hikari, "You're still mad that Touji wanted Rei as Kirika's godmother instead of you."
"HEY!"
Asuka and Hikari turned back to look at Sayoko.
"I wanted to talk, gossip a little." said Sayoko, "Not listen to the same argument I've heard over and over."
"Sorry." said Asuka.
"I'm sorry too." added Hikari. She then got a wicked grin on her face. "So Sayoko, date any cute guys?"
Sayoko went red. "NO! I haven't dated anyone in years."
"Really? When was your last date?"
"Uhh I uhhh...you see.."
Asuka smirked. "You're not allowed to lie. Answer the question: When was your last date?"
Sayoko let out a sigh. "10 years ago."
"How far did you get?"
"ASUKA!" Sayoko's face got even redder.
"OH MY GOD!" Hikari gasped, "SAYOKO! You're living in sin! And you're a goddess too! What kind of example are you setting for the rest of us?"
Sayoko's face was close to bursting. "It wasn't like that. Besides, I'm not THAT kind of goddess!"
"But still.to do that with some stranger."
"I did NOT do it with some stranger. And it was not some one night stand alright!" Sayoko sighed, "You two are real perverts."
Everyone was silent for several moments.
"So who did you do it with?"
"ARGHH!!!" Sayoko fumed, "I did not do it with anyone!"
Silence.
"Were you happy?" asked Hikari.
"Yes." replied Sayoko softly, "I was happy."
"Well what happened? Where is he?"
"He had his job." Sayoko said, her voice even softer, "and I had mine. It...wouldn't have worked out."
"But you didn't even try!"
"Hikari..."
"She's right Sayoko."
"Asuka.." Sayoko stared at her screen, "Just drop it alright?"
Hikari and Asuka looked at each other. Then Asuka looked back.
"Alright, we will. Remember, if you need any help.."
"I'll know who to call." finished Sayoko, "Take care."
The screen went blank. Sayoko continued to stare at it for a moment before typing in a command. After several more seconds, a prompt appear.
Yggdrasil Login:
Sayoko typed a few quick lines.
Yggdrasil Database search ?
Sayoko typed in the name Marie
Searching...... 4,057,059,595,576,243,987 entries
Sayoko sat back and turned off her laptop with a sigh. As she left her room, the doorbell rang. Sayoko was halfway down the stairs when she began to hear pieces of conversation.
"Principal....How good to....Please...in."
"Thank...Hope....not disturbing you."
Sayoko reached the bottom step and looked over to see Misato speaking to an older gentlemen in the living room. Misato looked up.
"Oh, Sayoko Morisato. This is the Principal of Taro's old high school."
Sayoko nodded. "Hello sir."
"Hello Miss Morisato." The Principal said with a smile. "Well Mrs. Ryoji, I suppose I must get to the point of my visit."
"Well, I know Taro didn't do anything this time. So what's up?"
"Recent events have raised some concern about our students." began the Principal, "Neglecting their studies, falling asleep in class. Recently a rather large stink bomb was set off in the school."
"Nothing new." said Misato, "Kids have been doing that for years. Even I did it."
"Very true." The Principal conceded, "I would like to head off any further problems."
"How?"
"To get them interested in their studies, I plan on bringing in a guest speaker to talk about Second Impact."
"Uggghhh."
Misato and the Principal looked over at Sayoko.
"Sorry. I just had a flash back to almost 7 years of Second Impact stories." said Sayoko with a blush.
"Exactly my point." The Principal looked back at Misato. "This has been the students reaction whenever Second Impact is discussed. Which is why the need for a guest speaker."
Misato had a feeling which way the discussion was heading. "And the guest speaker?"
"I was hoping that it could be you."
"Me? Why Me?"
"You Mrs. Ryoji were once highly placed in the UN and in NERV. The students know some about the events from Second Impact to Third Impact. I would like you to come and talk about them, perhaps even answer questions."
Misato leaned back in thought, then glanced over at Sayoko. Sayoko shrugged.
"It'd get you out of the house." Sayoko said. "And you can tell them how brilliant you were back then."
"I still am brilliant." muttered Misato, "Alright. We'll do it."
Sayoko and the Principal stared at Misato curiously.
"We?" asked Sayoko.
"Yes we." Misato smiled at Sayoko, "So long as I'm going to talk about my time as Head of Operations, you might as well be there to talk about being an Eva Pilot."
The Principal's jaw dropped. "Miss Morisato piloted an Eva?"
"Yep," answered Misato, "Miss Morisato was the designated fifth child, Pilot of Evangelion Unit 04." Misato looked up at Sayoko. "You up for it?"
The Principal looked up at Sayoko. "Please Miss Morisato."
Sayoko looked at the two, then let out a sigh. "Sure, why not."
The Principal smiled. "Thank you. Thank you both."
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Ceres slammed into a tree hard, causing her vision to spin. By the time she had returned to her feet, Proserpine was already up and fighting the goddess. Proserpine had apparently decided magic was going to be no use and was trying to defeat the goddess using only her fists. The goddess however was well trained, and easily avoided Proserpine's punches. The goddess barely ducked a particularly vicious punch, knocking her helmet slightly askew. The goddess came right back with a force bolt. With a loud bang, Proserpine flew threw the air, landing hard on the ground next to Ceres. The goddess reached up and adjusted her helmet back.
"We have to go." muttered Ceres, "We're forbidden to fight and goddesses remember?"
"I don't care!" hissed Proserpine, "It's been too long since I had the blood of a goddess between my fingers. I want that feeling again." Proserpine flew back at the goddess.
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"This way!" shouted Hyosuke as he ran through the forest.
"Hyosuke!" shouted Matagu, ducking under a branch, "Is this really a good idea? We don't know what made that fireball. It could be anything."
"That's why I want to find out!" replied Hyosuke, "I missed seeing the UFO the first time, I don't want to miss whatever this is!"
Matagu sighed and continued to follow Hyosuke. Suddenly Hyosuke stopped.
"What is.." Matagu began to ask before his mouth was covered by Hyosuke.
"Shh." He whispered, "Look."
In the clearing stood two woman. One wore a black outfit, complete with a cape and had red slash marks upon her forehead. The other was in a blue and white outfit, long brown hair flowed out from beneath the helmet upon her head. Matagu only saw the outfits for a second before a saw something else.
The woman were tossing fireballs at each other.
"Dammit! Proserpine! We have to go!"
Matagu looked over to see another woman in black standing off to the side of the clearing. The woman also had red slash marks on her forehead. She seemed nervous, constantly scanning the sky while she called out to her comrade.
"Proserpine she can't be alone! More will be here any second! Let's go Proser." The woman was cut off as Proserpine was hit by a fireball in her chest. She flew backwards and slammed into the one calling out to her. Both lay on the ground for several seconds, stunned.
"Whoa!" whispered Hyosuke loudly, "That was so cool!"
All three combatants then turned and spotted them.
"Hyosuke you idiot!" hissed Matagu as the three continued to stare at them. "Now you've done it!"
Proserpine stood up. "We'll goddess, I'd like to stay and continue our discussion, but as Ceres here said, we have other business. But we can't have you following us so.." Proserpine pulled out a small round object. "...Here's something to remember us by." She tossed the object at Matagu and Hyosuke.
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Sayoko frowned at the object when Proserpine had pulled it out. But after her little speech, it dawn on Sayoko just what Proserpine had just tossed.
"Shit!" swore Sayoko. She turned and flew at the mortals. Both were staring stupidly at the object spinning towards them. Out of the corner of her eye, Sayoko saw Proserpine vanish with a very evil grin on her face. Ceres disappeared a second later. Sayoko slammed into the mortals, knocking them to the ground.
"What the.?" one started to say.
"STAY DOWN!" shouted Sayoko. She held both mortals down and started to form a shield when everything went white.
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Kei and Mizuho stood on their balcony, looking out at the forest. A section of it glowed red in the night.
"Meteor shower?" asked Kei.
Mizuho shook her head. "Marie would have warned me about a meteor shower. After all, my ship is within 20 miles of the forest there."
"Then what was that?"
"I don't know." Mizuho then leaned into Kei, "But it is kind of pretty."
Kei felt Mizuho pressing herself into him. "Uhh...yeah.." he stuttered slightly, "It is."
"Kei..."
"Mizuho.."
"EWWWW STOP IT!"
Mizuho and Kei leap away from each other and looked behind them. Maho stood there glaring at them.
"Just because I've accepted the fact your together," said Maho with a glare, "doesn't mean I have to watch you two get all mushy"
Kei groaned. Mizuho glared at her sister.
"And just why are you here? I thought you were back on the home planet or with Mom."
"Mom thought it was time for a visit." A look of disgust then appeared on Maho's face. "And she said something about grandkids..."
"GRANDKIDS?!?!" shouted Kei and Mizuho together.
Before Maho could explain further, they were blinded by a bright white light from the forest.
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The Next Day.
Light filtered through the window into the bedroom. The room itself was a mess. Clothes were scattered around the room everywhere. Piles of empty food cartons lay scattered about the floor. A mountain of beer cans sat stacked up against the way. In the middle of the room lay the bed. A large lump lay protected underneath a layer of blankets. Next to the bed, an alarm clock silently told the time. 9:59am. It blinked to show 10:00am, and announced the time with a loud buzz. A hand burst out of the blankets and smacked the alarm clock across the room. The hand rested were it fell for several minutes, then it reached up and pulled the blankets out of the way to reveal a very tired Misato in her typical way too small t-shirt and short shorts. She stood up and slowly shuffled over to the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror.
"Ugggghhhh." She muttered.
She shuffled out towards the kitchen. As she passed by the living room, she flipped on the TV.
"..Investigators still have no idea what occurred in the forest last night. The 'event' is being compared by some to the blast at Tunguska in 1908 when 2100 square kilometers of forest were leveled. While not the same magnitude of the 1908 blast, last night's event did knock down trees for several kilometers around.."
"..." muttered Misato as she pulled the top off her beer, "..deforestation sucks..." She began to drink from the can.
"Once again our top story: A large explosion went off last night north of Lake Kizaki..."
Beer spewed out of Misato's mouth. She ran into the living room and stared at the screen.
"...We now go live to our reporter on the scene.."
The screen changed to show a reporter standing in the forest. "Officials on the scene still have no idea what occurred here last night. They do confirm that an explosion did occur, leveling a large area of the forest. Many of you might recall last year when there were reports of UFOs in this area. Those reports proved to be unsubstantiated. Two High School boys were found by police officials near the blast sight."
The screen changed to show a Police Chief. "They were a bit dazed, but unharmed."
"Any ideas why they were in the forest?" asked the reporter from off screen.
"We think they might have been drinking or doing drugs." replied the Chief, "The one kept saying that he saw witches and seemed very excited about last night's 'event'. The other was so stunned he has yet to actually speak with us. Both are currently on their way to the hospital for a complete physical and should be released to their parents later today."
"The one stated there were witches?"
The Chief smiled, "He says he say 2 females in black attacking another in blue and white. Since we have found no sign of any other individuals anywhere in the area, we are assume that the boy either had too much to drink, or was on drugs and hallucinated the 'witches'."
"All black..." muttered Misato, "Blue and... SAYOKO!"
It suddenly occurred to Misato that she had not yet seen nor heard either Sayoko or Pen Pen. A quick look around the living room, followed by a glance into the kitchen and Pen Pen's fridge revealed no sign of either goddess or penguin. Misato started to head outside when she heard a bump from upstairs. She raced upstairs to the room that Sayoko was staying in. She reached the door and pulled it open. The smell of burnt fabric instantly hit her.
Misato peered into the room. "Sayoko?"
"I'm here." came the pained reply. Sayoko lay on her stomach on the bed, her back completely bear. Pen Pen stood next to her on the bed, holding a wet towel on Sayoko's back.
"What happened?"
"I ran into a couple of demons last night." Pen Pen lifted the towel off of her back. Misato's eyes widened as she took in the large partially healed burn on Sayoko's back. "They escaped and left me a little present." Sayoko hissed as Pen Pen placed the newly damp towel on her back. "I barely had time to raise a shield to protect two mortals who wondered over before their 'present' exploded." Sayoko pointed to the closet. "What's left of my battle outfit is in there."
Misato opened the door to the closet. The stench of burnt fabric was over powering. Most of the back of the battle outfit was gone, what remained was badly scorched. Misato looked back at Sayoko.
"How are you?"
Sayoko gave her a weak grin. "I'll be alright, just sore. Gimmie a few hours to recharge, and I'll be perfectly fine."
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"You have an explanation for your actions?"
Ceres and Proserpine knelt before the monolith labeled SEELE 01. The other SEELE monoliths surrounded them.
Proserpine glared up at the monolith before her.
"She was a Goddess, our enemy."
"Yet you were explicitly told NOT to engage with any members of the heavens." said SEELE 4.
Proserpine glared at the monoliths. "I am a Demon of the first rank! I do not have to obey the orders of mortals!"
Ceres looked up at Proserpine questioningly.
"DEMON! SPAWN OF HELL!" thundered SEELE 01, "YOU WILL OBEY OUR ORDERS!"
Proserpine crossed her arms. "And if I don't?"
"I will punish you." From the shadows behind the monoliths, a female demon with long brown hair appeared. Ceres and Proserpine went white with fear. Proserpine quickly bowed her head low.
"Your orders shall be obeyed." She said quietly.
"The rest of this conversation does not concern you." SEELE 1 again. "Remain where you are for further instruction."
"Yes sir." replied Proserpine and Ceres together. They then vanished.
"They are reaching the end of their usefulness." said SEELE 10.
"When something is no longer useful, it should be discarded." added SEELE 6.
"But they still have a use." replied the brown haired demon. "The last objective is in that very town."
"The last piece that is required for our revenge to begin." said SEELE 2.
"Where the fathers have failed, the sons and daughters will succeed." added SEELE 5.
"Your intentions?" asked SEELE 1.
"I will go there and personally command those 2." replied the demon, "I will of course inform you when the objective has been received."
"And the goddess?"
"All will be taken care of." The demon replied with an evil grin.
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The Principal stared out the lounge windows. Smoke could still be seen rising in the distance. He listened quietly as his teachers discussed the current lack of interest of their students.
"This is just going to make the students worse." said one teacher, "Remember the UFO incident last year? That's all they were talking about for weeks!"
"So what are we going to do?" asked another.
"Why not make it a learning experience?" said another.
"How so?"
"Well, this apparently was a meteor strike."
"They still aren't sure about that."
"...we can use this to give them an idea about what second impact was like."
Silence.
"Most of us were not even born when second impact occurred." said one teacher.
"Isn't there some confusion about what actually occurred there?" said another, "I thought I heard that the whole meteor hit on Antarctica was lie, part of a government conspiracy?"
"It was?" asked another.
"Yeah, a conspiracy that originated with a small select group of men and NERV."
"Isn't that kind of ridiculous? After all, NERV did save the planet."
"But it's still possible. That's what the UN is reporting happened.
"Regardless, every time we talk about second impact, my class goes to sleep."
"Maybe it's the way you're teaching it."
"I like that idea."
Everyone stopped talking and turned towards the Principal.
"Sir?"
The Principal turned and looked at the teachers.
"The idea of combining this event with Second Impact and even the Third." The Principal said. "I'm sure the students would find personal experiences very interesting."
"But sir," began one teacher, "Most of us were not even alive when Second Impact occurred, or were too young to remember. And Third Impact has never been fully explained, nor why Tokyo-3 is abandoned and quarantined even after all these years. How can we use personal experience for that?"
The Principal smiled. "I never said your personal experience. We get a guest speaker to talk to the entire school."
"When do you plan to do this?"
"Tomorrow when school reopens."
"But who are you going to get on such short notice? We're a long way from the capitol of Tokyo-2."
"Fortunately," replied the teacher, "I know of one who lives much closer and fills the requirement nicely."
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Later that evening.
"So how is Misato?" asked Asuka.
"She's fine." replied Sayoko. She was sitting in front of her laptop computer. On the screen was an image of Asuka Ikari and Hikari Suzuhara.
"Still drinks hmm?"
"Oh yeah. And she still can't cook."
"Lucky you." A serious look then appeared on Asuka's face. "What about the demons? You need help? I can ask if the council will deploy us."
"No." said Sayoko, "I think there gone for now. The rogues don't usually stay after causing trouble."
"But Misato.."
"Hey, I'm here. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to her. What else is new?"
"Well, Kirika joined the band at school." said Hikari.
"Oooo What instrument? "
"Cello."
Sayoko smiled, "Bet that makes her godfather happy."
"Oh yeah. Shinji was thrilled." said Hikari.
"Yeah, now he has a practicing partner." added Asuka, "I still think violin would be better."
"But she liked the cello." argued Hikari, "You're still mad that Touji wanted Rei as Kirika's godmother instead of you."
"HEY!"
Asuka and Hikari turned back to look at Sayoko.
"I wanted to talk, gossip a little." said Sayoko, "Not listen to the same argument I've heard over and over."
"Sorry." said Asuka.
"I'm sorry too." added Hikari. She then got a wicked grin on her face. "So Sayoko, date any cute guys?"
Sayoko went red. "NO! I haven't dated anyone in years."
"Really? When was your last date?"
"Uhh I uhhh...you see.."
Asuka smirked. "You're not allowed to lie. Answer the question: When was your last date?"
Sayoko let out a sigh. "10 years ago."
"How far did you get?"
"ASUKA!" Sayoko's face got even redder.
"OH MY GOD!" Hikari gasped, "SAYOKO! You're living in sin! And you're a goddess too! What kind of example are you setting for the rest of us?"
Sayoko's face was close to bursting. "It wasn't like that. Besides, I'm not THAT kind of goddess!"
"But still.to do that with some stranger."
"I did NOT do it with some stranger. And it was not some one night stand alright!" Sayoko sighed, "You two are real perverts."
Everyone was silent for several moments.
"So who did you do it with?"
"ARGHH!!!" Sayoko fumed, "I did not do it with anyone!"
Silence.
"Were you happy?" asked Hikari.
"Yes." replied Sayoko softly, "I was happy."
"Well what happened? Where is he?"
"He had his job." Sayoko said, her voice even softer, "and I had mine. It...wouldn't have worked out."
"But you didn't even try!"
"Hikari..."
"She's right Sayoko."
"Asuka.." Sayoko stared at her screen, "Just drop it alright?"
Hikari and Asuka looked at each other. Then Asuka looked back.
"Alright, we will. Remember, if you need any help.."
"I'll know who to call." finished Sayoko, "Take care."
The screen went blank. Sayoko continued to stare at it for a moment before typing in a command. After several more seconds, a prompt appear.
Yggdrasil Login:
Sayoko typed a few quick lines.
Yggdrasil Database search ?
Sayoko typed in the name Marie
Searching...... 4,057,059,595,576,243,987 entries
Sayoko sat back and turned off her laptop with a sigh. As she left her room, the doorbell rang. Sayoko was halfway down the stairs when she began to hear pieces of conversation.
"Principal....How good to....Please...in."
"Thank...Hope....not disturbing you."
Sayoko reached the bottom step and looked over to see Misato speaking to an older gentlemen in the living room. Misato looked up.
"Oh, Sayoko Morisato. This is the Principal of Taro's old high school."
Sayoko nodded. "Hello sir."
"Hello Miss Morisato." The Principal said with a smile. "Well Mrs. Ryoji, I suppose I must get to the point of my visit."
"Well, I know Taro didn't do anything this time. So what's up?"
"Recent events have raised some concern about our students." began the Principal, "Neglecting their studies, falling asleep in class. Recently a rather large stink bomb was set off in the school."
"Nothing new." said Misato, "Kids have been doing that for years. Even I did it."
"Very true." The Principal conceded, "I would like to head off any further problems."
"How?"
"To get them interested in their studies, I plan on bringing in a guest speaker to talk about Second Impact."
"Uggghhh."
Misato and the Principal looked over at Sayoko.
"Sorry. I just had a flash back to almost 7 years of Second Impact stories." said Sayoko with a blush.
"Exactly my point." The Principal looked back at Misato. "This has been the students reaction whenever Second Impact is discussed. Which is why the need for a guest speaker."
Misato had a feeling which way the discussion was heading. "And the guest speaker?"
"I was hoping that it could be you."
"Me? Why Me?"
"You Mrs. Ryoji were once highly placed in the UN and in NERV. The students know some about the events from Second Impact to Third Impact. I would like you to come and talk about them, perhaps even answer questions."
Misato leaned back in thought, then glanced over at Sayoko. Sayoko shrugged.
"It'd get you out of the house." Sayoko said. "And you can tell them how brilliant you were back then."
"I still am brilliant." muttered Misato, "Alright. We'll do it."
Sayoko and the Principal stared at Misato curiously.
"We?" asked Sayoko.
"Yes we." Misato smiled at Sayoko, "So long as I'm going to talk about my time as Head of Operations, you might as well be there to talk about being an Eva Pilot."
The Principal's jaw dropped. "Miss Morisato piloted an Eva?"
"Yep," answered Misato, "Miss Morisato was the designated fifth child, Pilot of Evangelion Unit 04." Misato looked up at Sayoko. "You up for it?"
The Principal looked up at Sayoko. "Please Miss Morisato."
Sayoko looked at the two, then let out a sigh. "Sure, why not."
The Principal smiled. "Thank you. Thank you both."
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