Four Leaf Souls
Chapter 5
Discovery
Disclaimer: I don't own NGE or Clover. Wish I could, though!
June 15th, 2140 hrs Test cage No.6, Simulation Plug #3, NERV Geofront
"Shinji, you're going to have to concentrate harder." Said pilot could only grimace. "Sorry Dr. Akagi. I'll try." Ritsuko sighed. 'His scores have fallen like rocks ever since the Seventeenth,' she thought. '34%, that's only just above startup. Not good.' "Maya-kun, shut down the test plugs. We're going to try testing with the real thing to see if things come up differently. Shinji-kun, we're going to try in Unit-01, so you can relax for a little." "Alright." After closing the channel, Shinji relaxed his tense body as the LCL began to drain. 'Will this ever end?' the boy thought to himself. 'Is this all I have to live for?'
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------
With his release officially confirmed, Kazuhiko Fay Ryu walked the few blocks to Gingetsu and Ran's apartment. Upon arrival, he found Ran connected to the 'Net. "Find anything?" The slow sideways motion of Ran's head gave all the answer he needed. That and Ran couldn't spare the mental capacity for anything much more complex so great the strain of the connection. Sighing, he sat down on a spare bed. "Don't worry," said Ran's voice from a tinny loudspeaker next to the apparatus. "We'll find something." "I hope you're right..."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------
2205 hrs, EVA Cage No.5, NERV Geofront
The familiar low vibration seemed to flow through him as the startup sequence played out. "Stages 154 to 3157 cleared, Sempai." "Activation in 32 seconds, Dr. Akagi." The control room chatter faded into the background as Shinji synchronized with the biomechanical beast he was sitting in. "How is everything, Ikari-kun?" "Everything seems normal, Dr. Akagi," he answered with no small hint of anxiety. "Oh and Shinji-kun?" "Yes Dr Akagi?" "Major Katsuragi and the bridge crew thought it would be best for a less formal atmosphere."
Knowing that her link to the plug was audio only, Ritsuko smiled slightly to herself as Shinji's face brightened considerably. "Now remember that this is still a test environment, so you and your friends will have to behave themselves," she said, both to the pilot and the small group of 8th graders that had gathered at the large armored window. "I...I...." The blond boy stood, mouth open wide, staring at the single most feared war machine in history. "Ey, Ken! Snap out of it!" shot the taller boy next to him, smacking the back of his head. "Kensuke, are you ok? What's wrong with Kensuke, Touji?" asked Sue, who was next to an open-mouthed Hikari. "Ken's just died an' gone ta heaven. He's been waiting almost a year and a half to see Unit-01 up so close," he said, gesturing with his artificial arm out the huge armored window.
"Why does everyone think that baka hentai is so special anyways? I'm the best pilot," came a very familiar voice. Asuka, Rei, and Ora stood next to Misato and Ritsuko.
"How long did it take you to complete basic EVA-OPS training, Second Child?" Touji, Sue, and Misato flinched knowing that Ritsuko only used that tone of voice when she was annoyed. "Seven years and two months," mumbled Asuka. "Did the Third Child have the advantage of basic training when he got here?" "No." "There, you just answered your own question."
"Startup in ten seconds..." Shinji tightened his grip on the controls as the last ten seconds counted down. "Things look good to go, Shinji-kun," came Ritsuko's voice from a small video window that had opened. Scanning those assembled, Shinji's eyes wandered to Ora, standing behind Rei. As he gazed at her smiling face, he noticed something. Just as the countdown reached zero, he noticed a small tattoo of a four-leaf clover just below her breastbone...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------
Ran's scream brought both Gingetsu and Kazuhiko running. They were having a semi-casual conversation over green tea, so both their coats now held stains. "RAN!" The three-leaf had fallen out of his chair and was clutching his head and attached headset in a silent scream of convulsive agony. Both the kludged together unit and the wireless transceiver seemed to glow. "Ran, what's wrong!?" Touching the youth, Gingetsu was blown back by a powerful shock, and hit the far wall. "RAN!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------
2205 hrs, EVA Cage No.5, NERV Geofront
"Sync rate climbing! 297%!" "It's going berserk!" The violet beast called Evangelion tore free of its bindings, its steel jaw open in a silent scream of agonized rage. "Everyone, away from the windows!" A steel arm jerked both Ritsuko and Hikari away as a massive fist struck the wall just above the window, causing it to shatter. "Maya, eject the plug!" "No response! The command wasn't accepted! Command override overridden!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------
Somewhere above the Sea of Dirac
The sea of LCL seemed to stretch on to infinity. The mirror-like surface of Dirac as serene and peaceful. As such, nothing noted the two essences passing through each other from portals of light...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------
"...Ran? Ran, wake up."
[What? Where am I?]
"His eyes are opening. He'll be okay."
"Are you sure?"
[Who are you?]
"You know I'm not about to let you loose another one, Kazuhiko."
"That was very low, Gingetsu."
[Kazuhiko. I've heard that name before...]
"C'mon, help me get him on the bed. Are you okay Ran?" He felt the soft material of the bed against his back. Trying to sit up, he suddenly felt very awkward. 'What? Did I age? This is a senior's body,' he thought, looking at his long and slender arms and legs. The white-haired man with the dark glasses spoke to him. "Ran, are you alright?" "W-Who's Ran?"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------
2210 hrs, EVA Cage No.5, NERV Geofront
"Sync has peaked at 501%!" 1st Lieutenant Maya Ibuki was in a mild state of panic; max sync was always thought to be 437%. Apparently, that was incorrect. Looking at her console monitor, she noticed the pilot stirring. "Sempai! He's awake! Shinji are you alright?" Everyone had gathered around Maya's console, fixated on the blurry image. "Can you boost the signal?" asked a girl, probably Sue. "I'll try..." A faint groan came from the speaker next to the monitor. "Shinji, what happened?" Shinji then looked up, his face towards the camera in the plug. His eyes were a light green.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------
"You're K-Kazuhiko?" Both Kazuhiko and Gingetsu were dumbfounded. Why didn't Ran recognize them? Then, Gingetsu's brows furrowed. Since when did Ran have blue eyes? "S-Sorry. One of my friends mentioned someone named Kazuhiko." Kazuhiko twitched. "Friend? Please, enlighten us," he said, his voice made hard and edgy with anxiety. Gingetsu threw him a look as if to say 'down boy!' "S-She's about my guardian's age, a-and she sings in the mornings..." "WHAT IS HER NAME!?!" Unable to remain in control, Kazuhiko was now practically throttling the poor boy. Gingetsu could only massage his forehead to ward off the threatening migraine.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------
2211 hrs, EVA Cage No.5, NERV Geofront.
He looked up at the video link seemingly floating in space. He saw them, both of them. Alive and well. "O-Ora? Sue?" He felt awkward as he got up out of the pilot's seat and drifted through the LCL towards the image. 'LCL? How did I know that this liquid is LCL? And why am I in a child's body?' "Shinji? Are you feeling alright?" asked the tall brunette. He smiled gently. "No Ora, I'm not Shinji." Her eyes widened as recognition hit her like an N2 mine. "Ran?..." "Yes, it's me. I'm glad to know that Kazuhiko was right about both of you." "Kazuhiko? You've seen him?" asked Sue, speaking for the first time. The boy nodded affirmative. "He misses you both terribly. I'm only glad our searching wasn't in vain."
So, they finally find each other (I think we could all see some kind of Evangelion-related incident coming sooner or later). So, will Sue, Ora, and Kazuhiko ever find a way to communicate directly with each other? And what will the Bastard King do when he finds out about this? Sorry I wasn't able to get and character introspection in this chapter, but things just wrapped up on their own. I will try to do so for next chapter. Maybe I'll even be able to squeeze a little Kaji in.
Until next time!
P.S: The Pairings Vote is still on. We'll see how things turn out, ne?
Chapter 5
Discovery
Disclaimer: I don't own NGE or Clover. Wish I could, though!
June 15th, 2140 hrs Test cage No.6, Simulation Plug #3, NERV Geofront
"Shinji, you're going to have to concentrate harder." Said pilot could only grimace. "Sorry Dr. Akagi. I'll try." Ritsuko sighed. 'His scores have fallen like rocks ever since the Seventeenth,' she thought. '34%, that's only just above startup. Not good.' "Maya-kun, shut down the test plugs. We're going to try testing with the real thing to see if things come up differently. Shinji-kun, we're going to try in Unit-01, so you can relax for a little." "Alright." After closing the channel, Shinji relaxed his tense body as the LCL began to drain. 'Will this ever end?' the boy thought to himself. 'Is this all I have to live for?'
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------
With his release officially confirmed, Kazuhiko Fay Ryu walked the few blocks to Gingetsu and Ran's apartment. Upon arrival, he found Ran connected to the 'Net. "Find anything?" The slow sideways motion of Ran's head gave all the answer he needed. That and Ran couldn't spare the mental capacity for anything much more complex so great the strain of the connection. Sighing, he sat down on a spare bed. "Don't worry," said Ran's voice from a tinny loudspeaker next to the apparatus. "We'll find something." "I hope you're right..."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------
2205 hrs, EVA Cage No.5, NERV Geofront
The familiar low vibration seemed to flow through him as the startup sequence played out. "Stages 154 to 3157 cleared, Sempai." "Activation in 32 seconds, Dr. Akagi." The control room chatter faded into the background as Shinji synchronized with the biomechanical beast he was sitting in. "How is everything, Ikari-kun?" "Everything seems normal, Dr. Akagi," he answered with no small hint of anxiety. "Oh and Shinji-kun?" "Yes Dr Akagi?" "Major Katsuragi and the bridge crew thought it would be best for a less formal atmosphere."
Knowing that her link to the plug was audio only, Ritsuko smiled slightly to herself as Shinji's face brightened considerably. "Now remember that this is still a test environment, so you and your friends will have to behave themselves," she said, both to the pilot and the small group of 8th graders that had gathered at the large armored window. "I...I...." The blond boy stood, mouth open wide, staring at the single most feared war machine in history. "Ey, Ken! Snap out of it!" shot the taller boy next to him, smacking the back of his head. "Kensuke, are you ok? What's wrong with Kensuke, Touji?" asked Sue, who was next to an open-mouthed Hikari. "Ken's just died an' gone ta heaven. He's been waiting almost a year and a half to see Unit-01 up so close," he said, gesturing with his artificial arm out the huge armored window.
"Why does everyone think that baka hentai is so special anyways? I'm the best pilot," came a very familiar voice. Asuka, Rei, and Ora stood next to Misato and Ritsuko.
"How long did it take you to complete basic EVA-OPS training, Second Child?" Touji, Sue, and Misato flinched knowing that Ritsuko only used that tone of voice when she was annoyed. "Seven years and two months," mumbled Asuka. "Did the Third Child have the advantage of basic training when he got here?" "No." "There, you just answered your own question."
"Startup in ten seconds..." Shinji tightened his grip on the controls as the last ten seconds counted down. "Things look good to go, Shinji-kun," came Ritsuko's voice from a small video window that had opened. Scanning those assembled, Shinji's eyes wandered to Ora, standing behind Rei. As he gazed at her smiling face, he noticed something. Just as the countdown reached zero, he noticed a small tattoo of a four-leaf clover just below her breastbone...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------
Ran's scream brought both Gingetsu and Kazuhiko running. They were having a semi-casual conversation over green tea, so both their coats now held stains. "RAN!" The three-leaf had fallen out of his chair and was clutching his head and attached headset in a silent scream of convulsive agony. Both the kludged together unit and the wireless transceiver seemed to glow. "Ran, what's wrong!?" Touching the youth, Gingetsu was blown back by a powerful shock, and hit the far wall. "RAN!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------
2205 hrs, EVA Cage No.5, NERV Geofront
"Sync rate climbing! 297%!" "It's going berserk!" The violet beast called Evangelion tore free of its bindings, its steel jaw open in a silent scream of agonized rage. "Everyone, away from the windows!" A steel arm jerked both Ritsuko and Hikari away as a massive fist struck the wall just above the window, causing it to shatter. "Maya, eject the plug!" "No response! The command wasn't accepted! Command override overridden!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------
Somewhere above the Sea of Dirac
The sea of LCL seemed to stretch on to infinity. The mirror-like surface of Dirac as serene and peaceful. As such, nothing noted the two essences passing through each other from portals of light...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------
"...Ran? Ran, wake up."
[What? Where am I?]
"His eyes are opening. He'll be okay."
"Are you sure?"
[Who are you?]
"You know I'm not about to let you loose another one, Kazuhiko."
"That was very low, Gingetsu."
[Kazuhiko. I've heard that name before...]
"C'mon, help me get him on the bed. Are you okay Ran?" He felt the soft material of the bed against his back. Trying to sit up, he suddenly felt very awkward. 'What? Did I age? This is a senior's body,' he thought, looking at his long and slender arms and legs. The white-haired man with the dark glasses spoke to him. "Ran, are you alright?" "W-Who's Ran?"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------
2210 hrs, EVA Cage No.5, NERV Geofront
"Sync has peaked at 501%!" 1st Lieutenant Maya Ibuki was in a mild state of panic; max sync was always thought to be 437%. Apparently, that was incorrect. Looking at her console monitor, she noticed the pilot stirring. "Sempai! He's awake! Shinji are you alright?" Everyone had gathered around Maya's console, fixated on the blurry image. "Can you boost the signal?" asked a girl, probably Sue. "I'll try..." A faint groan came from the speaker next to the monitor. "Shinji, what happened?" Shinji then looked up, his face towards the camera in the plug. His eyes were a light green.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------
"You're K-Kazuhiko?" Both Kazuhiko and Gingetsu were dumbfounded. Why didn't Ran recognize them? Then, Gingetsu's brows furrowed. Since when did Ran have blue eyes? "S-Sorry. One of my friends mentioned someone named Kazuhiko." Kazuhiko twitched. "Friend? Please, enlighten us," he said, his voice made hard and edgy with anxiety. Gingetsu threw him a look as if to say 'down boy!' "S-She's about my guardian's age, a-and she sings in the mornings..." "WHAT IS HER NAME!?!" Unable to remain in control, Kazuhiko was now practically throttling the poor boy. Gingetsu could only massage his forehead to ward off the threatening migraine.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------
2211 hrs, EVA Cage No.5, NERV Geofront.
He looked up at the video link seemingly floating in space. He saw them, both of them. Alive and well. "O-Ora? Sue?" He felt awkward as he got up out of the pilot's seat and drifted through the LCL towards the image. 'LCL? How did I know that this liquid is LCL? And why am I in a child's body?' "Shinji? Are you feeling alright?" asked the tall brunette. He smiled gently. "No Ora, I'm not Shinji." Her eyes widened as recognition hit her like an N2 mine. "Ran?..." "Yes, it's me. I'm glad to know that Kazuhiko was right about both of you." "Kazuhiko? You've seen him?" asked Sue, speaking for the first time. The boy nodded affirmative. "He misses you both terribly. I'm only glad our searching wasn't in vain."
So, they finally find each other (I think we could all see some kind of Evangelion-related incident coming sooner or later). So, will Sue, Ora, and Kazuhiko ever find a way to communicate directly with each other? And what will the Bastard King do when he finds out about this? Sorry I wasn't able to get and character introspection in this chapter, but things just wrapped up on their own. I will try to do so for next chapter. Maybe I'll even be able to squeeze a little Kaji in.
Until next time!
P.S: The Pairings Vote is still on. We'll see how things turn out, ne?