are there any Haruko fan's in the house? any at all? ah well... goes it's just me. oh and this chapter is dedicated to FireDragonBL who still reads my shit, no matter how lame it is. /priest/

/Boss Ikari/

- lawless priest -

11 - Unexpected interventions

My name is Nandaba, Naota Nandaba and ever since I turned 19 and my father kicked me out of the house/bread shop and got hired by that bastard Keel, aka Skeletor, I've had to deal with weird alien women, an ass kicking, slightly dumb flying TV set and other weird robots trying to steal my guitars, along with crazed smurfs for god's sakes. And it's only gotten weirder since I came to this whacked out city men called Tokyo - 3.

I stepped out of the cab with my shades on, my suit case in hand and immediately gave the sun the finger as I pulled my gray hoody down. It was hot, really hot.

"You know it's not smart to where a hoody in this city, kid?" The cab driver said as he leaned out of the window to take his fee. I would have given him the finger too, but I wasn't in the mood, so I just paid the man and went on my way.

I liked hoodies, especially this one. It was rather dark to fit my mood and long the way I liked it. I used to where a light cyan colored one back in the day, but that thing just had too many bad memories to go with it, so I had ditched it ages ago.

And my life has been better ever since.

But that's a out right lie. Hell, I wouldn't even be in this city if it that were the case, but whatever. At least I didn't have to worry about Medical Mechanica or the IIB getting in my way here.

..sigh, Like a fresh start.

A glance across the street toward my destination almost made me frown. Ok, maybe not so much as a fresh start, but more of a new direction, I figured as I pulled out a pack of Never Knows Best menthol cigarettes and lighted up.

In the end it was all the same, so I didn't hesitate to cross the street and knock on the door of the place.

'The faster I get this done, the better.' I thought.

A few minutes passed. There was no answer.

I did frown then and after a few unsuccessful attempts at trying to rouse the attention of the supposed people within proved to be a failure I opted for plan B.

A zippo flipped out and a man smiled.

'This is going to be fun.'

/BI/ Shinji's POV

"Well that was a waste." Suzuhara was saying in the back of the car.

"Yeah who knew that Mana wouldn't be able to help us out? I mean, she's supposed to be working for us, right?" Aida agreed.

"I was talking about the money I spent on that burger I just bought. I could have gotten two at that other joint for the same price and they had more stuff on their's."

"Shut up, Toji! You need to start thinking with your head not your stomach."

"Whatever man, so Kirishima couldn't help out, so what? The army probably has their hands full trying to get ready for their assault, so of course they're going to need her there with them."

"That's not the point."

"Yes it is."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not!"

"Will you two shut up! I'm trying to drive here." I yelled into the back of my Skyline. Today had just not been my day. First the old man and then now this.

Toji and Ken were still giving each other weird looks as I glanced in the rear view mirror.

Bakas.

I gave Rei a look in the passenger seat to try and convey my annoyance to her but she wasn't paying me and mind. She of course had her attention out the window as always.

Whatever.

Mana not being able to help us out had been a real downer, but it didn't mean we were out of the game. We all just needed time to regroup and rethink, I figured.

Besides, Asuka and the girls had gone with Kaji to try and convince his brother to help out and that looked promising.

'So things weren't too bad.' Or so I thought as I turned onto the street leading to the bar.

Or at least where the bar should have been.

We all sat in the car in a stunned silence as we looked upon the ruins of our once proud home.

/BI/

It was hours later after numerous cops who were trying hold in their laughter as they interviewed us. They were all probably happy that the rampant crime in the city had finally come back around and bit us in the ass, considering we were the ones who usually gave them a hard time with our own bit of foolishness.

Now I was just standing there with Rei at my side as we ... I don't know what we were doing. I just couldn't believe that someone had burned down my place.

That someone had done it and that it was no accident was a given. This whole thing just had arson all over it. But who? Why?

We hadn't screwed with anybody since the Kodamas and I doubted that that Nagisa guy would pull this. That would call Keel's attention and he wouldn't want that, so what was the deal.

"Hey Boss! Did the pigs show you this?" Toji called from somewhere inside the rubble.

"Show me what?" I replied as I went to him with Rei following behind.

"One of the cops showed this to me earlier but I told him that it had been there so he wouldn't get suspicious." The S2 agent said as he pointed at something written on a slightly less burnt part of a wall as if the the fire had shied away from that area.

"I'm not sure what it means, but I didn't want them getting involved is all."

"It's cool, Toji. You did good."

"Are you aware of what is says Ikari-kun?"

"Hmm... it's English. I think. Hmm... F. L. C. L. P!."

"What the hell does that mean?" Asuka asked as she joined us with the other girls coming in as well. Kensuke had called them a while ago about what had happened.

"FLCl...? Hmm..." I thought out loud, trying to figure out what the weird acronym could possible mean.

"Wait a minute? Why does that seem so familiar, as if I've heard it before?"

"Could it be a new gang or something?"

"I don't think so Touji. Maybe it's..." I trailed off while the others speculated on the mysterious writing except for Rei who just gave me a silent expectant look, waiting for me to finish.

"Fucking shit!" I yelled out suddenly, silencing everyone else's conversations.

'Damnit! And the whole P! thing too. I should have known.'

"That... bastard!" The others were giving me weird looks, but I didn't care.

"Fooly Cooly my ass! I swear man! Agh, I am so kicking him in the balls for this!"

"You know who did this, Ikari-san?" Hikari asked me in that timid voice of hers.

"...sigh, yeah. I know who did this." I replied as I walked back outside.

"Hey, where are you going Third?" the German called out as she caught up with me.

"HQ." was my curt reply.

"Why, Ikari-kun."

"The usual reasons Ayanami, the usual reasons." The girls piled in my car althe while trying to coax me for more info without success, much to their annoyance and Ken and the Kodamas rode with him as he headed to the base.

"So, are you going to tell us anything about the guy Boss Ikari?"

"Don't worry about it Horaki, we'll deal with that later."

"You seem rather calm Ikari."

"Indeed, Souryu is correct. Your behavior is oddly composed, sir." the blue haired girl at my side joined in.

I didn't bother answering. If it wasn't one thing it was another.

"Fooly Cooly, my ass!"

/BI/ Naoto's POV

'Strange place.' I thought as I rode the elevator up the side of the pyramid office building, watching as the world slowly fled away from me. A feeling that I was quite used to.

Haruko had left me. Mamimi had left me, even Tasuku, my own brother. ...sigh. It's no wonder I turned to a life of delinquency, but I wasn't blaming them. What was the point?

The past was the past. I had a new future now and a new job. All I needed was a place to crash.

PING.

The elevator car chimed its little alarm as I put out my cancer stick and stepped out. It didn't take too long for me to reach the receptionist's desk and after a brief buzz to the man inside I was sent through those oppressing doors and into a room that would have stolen any sane man's nerve, but it didn't really bother me.

This place was not new to me.

"I take it this is not a social call?"

'As if. Who would be crazy enough to want to socialize with you?' I thought to myself.

The man behind the richly made desk waited silently as I stopped in the center of the room. I had always secretly believed that there had to be some kind of mental hypnosis, mind controlling device, spells or something in the room that always made visitors here only make it this far.

Or maybe it was a self conscious thing.

"No, I'm afraid not." I called back.

"So why have you come?" His tone was that old familar dead weight I had remembered from before.

"I need a place to stay while I'm in the city. And I might need some equipment." Had to keep it professional and to the point with this nut job. I couldn't let him sense any weakness.

"Why didn't you go to Shinji for this?" Did he just call his son by his first name? ... naw. It was just my imagination. But thinking about the question brought a smile to my face for the second time that day.

"He wasn't home." was my sarcastic reply.

"I see."

The room was silent for a while.

'Why does he always do this? I knew I should have just found the professor and asked him, but nooo... I had to go to the devil himself and...'

"Agreed, but you will keep me informed of your progress."

"Progress? And why would I do that?"

'So he knew who I was working for. Not surprising, but I figured he'd catch an attitude... ok, maybe not. This is Gendo Ikari here, but still, it's the principle of the matter.'

"For the usual reasons. Besides, keeping up with Keel through his employees keeps me up in the game." The Commander was saying as I felt the urge to light a cigarette.

"That just means that you don't know what he's up to..." I began.

"Naoto..." he called softly in as soft a voice as Gendo Ikari could get which of course sounded like a dying horse with a bit more bass in the undertone.

"... and that you're trying to use me to do your dirty work and..." I continued, my past druging itself back up at being another's toy.

"Naoto..." He said a little louder, just as calm as before, without even a hint of impatience.

"... you know how I feel about people trying to use me and..."

"NAOTO!" His shout was timed with the thunder of his hands slamming on his oak desktop.

"Um... what?" I blushed a bit in embarrassment. Guess I got carried away.

"You will do as I ask you while you are in MY city. Is that understood?"

"..."

"I asked you a question."

"... yes Uncle."

"And besides... you should have come to me first rather than that old bastard. Now, how's Kamon?"

"Father's fine." I sighed.

'Should have gone to the professor.'

/BI/ Shinji's POV

PING.

Asuka and Rei filed out behind me as we headed for the Commander's office in silence. We had left the others in the lobby again until we came back. There wouldn't be a need for them here most likely.

It was easy to tell that the two behind me were still angry with me even though neither had said anything to me the whole trip, but I knew the signs.

It didn't matter, though. Things would become quite clear soon enough as we made it to father's secretary just as the doors opened and a young man a bit younger than me came out grumbling about certain bastards and how the whole world was using him.

I didn't even give him a chance to look up before I punched him dead in his eye. I said once before that I wasn't a violent person, but sometimes, people just pissed me off.

"Oww, what'd you do that for?" He cried from the floor as he picked himself up but the gun to his temple sort of put a stop to that.

"Hello Naoto." I replied rather coldly. It was a bit of a struggle not to pull the trigger. "You know, they say two wrongs don't make a right, but the bullet I'm about to put in your head is going to fix 'everything'."

"Oh, it's you. You do know that its rude not to answer your door when people knock."

"Well that's kind of hard to do when your not there."

He smiled and I frowned.

"How's you head?"

"My face is fine." The blue eyed fool said as he rubbed the spot where I hit him.

"No, I meant how's your 'head'?"

"Oh... OH, fuck you Ikari. My head is just fine thank you!"

Now it was my turn to smile.

"You still have that Gibson EB-Zero?"

"Of course and no I'm not going to sell it to you. It wouldn't work for you anyway."

"Oh yeah, that's right. Your head's the only one that works, right Ta-kun? Isn't that what she said?"

"Fuck off, Ikari and don't call me Ta-kun!" His eyes were starting to glow with a reddish tint. They always did that when he was really pissed off and I loved to piss him off. Only because he was a whinny, annoying little bastard and no I'm not being hypocritical, that was a long time ago.

"Excuse me, but what the hell are you two arguing about?" Asuka's aggravated voice reminded me of why we were here.

"So, she's the one, isn't she?" Naoto said from his place on the floor making me only want to push my pistol further into the side of his head.

"What?" I tried to marshal the irritation in my voice.

A pair of sky blue eyes looked up at the opposing pair of ocean blue ones with a serious expression. "I said, she's the one isn't she?" My cousin's voice was all too calm for my liking.

"Which one, Nandaba? What the hell are you talking about?"

"The one you always write about, right?"

I just gave him a raised eyebrow out of confusion. Considering that both Asuka and Rei were listening with barely hidden rapt attention, it wasn't like I could just say yes or no and not come out with a bullet in my back and judging from the gleam in that punk's eye he damn well knew it too.

'I am sooo going to kick his ass for this later.'

"Yeah, Naoto, she's one of them." I figured that not specifying which girl would be healthier in the long run - why I thought this I have no idea?

"This," I said pointing to the red head. "is Asuka and this is Rei, they're two of my best people." I saw the slight up turn of their lips and knew I had just gained some brownie points.

"Yeah, but what about that hot one you said you were hooking up with, what was her name... Mana or Maya, something like..." He must have seen the rage in my eyes because he was off the floor and pumping it down the hall before my rage allowed me to comprehend that my prey was getting away.

My hesitation was short lived as my bullets gave chase, the blast from my gun echoing down the hall while I peaked around the corner firing at his fleeting form before I prepared to go after him

"Ikari." That simple word and the amount of ice put into the voices saying it gave my angry feet pause as I froze mid run.

I really didn't want to turn around, but... a man's got to do what he's got to do, right? So with the barest of inclinations, I turned toward to two women behind me. The tanned one was tapping her foot impatiently with her pistol tapping against her folded arms beneath her breast - and no I didn't put that bit in just to get you thinking about her breasts - while the paler one was in the process of loading a pair of pistols while still giving me the evil eye.

Both were calmly waiting for a response.

And so I gave them one. And as their shots and shouts followed my racing form I knew it was the wisest option.

"Come back here you coward!"

Like I said, a man's got to do what he's got to do.

Strangely, father's secretary said not a thing throughout the entire scene, but then again, I'm sure this kind of thing was nothing new to her.

/BI/ Naoto's POV

It was an hour after the incident with Ikari and we were all in one of Nerv's many Employee lounges. Except there weren't any other employees in this one because apparently Ikari's clan had claimed it as their own.

As far as lounges went, it was nice looking with its cream colored walls, black ceiling and maroon carpets giving it a spacious and roomy feel to the place that was all the more eerie since it was in Nerv HQ, which wasn't ever known quite well for its homely atmosphere. But I had to wonder, who would paint a ceiling black, but whatever, right?

I was in the process of lighting up another cigarette when I caught the eye of the blue haired Ms giving me weird looks. The red head's were more hostile so I made a habit of not looking in her direction. 'Why is it always the good looking ones who have the attitude?'

"Ayanami, was it?" I questioned the slightly older young lady.

"Hai." was her simple reply.

"Tell me, is he always so violent?" I didn't think it was necessary but I pointed to Ikari with the butt of my cancer stick.

"Only to those deserving it." I noticed the conviction her quiet voice held as she spoke. This was a woman who was very confident, but not in the haughty, arrogantly superior way her foreign friend seem to be.

"So what are you doing here Naoto? I doubt you came all this way just burn down my place."

"I was looking for a place to stay for awhile, so I came to see you."

"And since I wasn't there when you needed me, you just burned the damn thing down?"

"Yeah... pretty much."

"You've obviously been hanging out around that Mamimi girl too much. Then again the other one's probably worse." I could only smile at that.

'Ikari, you have no idea what those two are capable of.'

"You know,' I said out load questioningly. "you never did answer my question back at the pyramid. I'm dying to meet this Maya lady."

"No, I believe you're dying to meet this bullet of mine." the young mob boss retorted, whipping his pistol up with surprising speed.

'But Ikari had always been good with a gun, even though he probably still despises them as much as he did back then, when we were kids.'

/Entering flashback mode in 5..4...3..2.. 1.

... I said 1.

Ok... umm... hey you in the back, what's going on with the flashback?

What do you mean we don't have proper funding any more? Ikari's got plenty of money. What.. are you serious? So what's wrong with the equipment then? Broken? Since when? Then fix it you half wit! I don't care. Buy a new one then.

Yo, Ikari get over here.

What do want Naoto, I'm still pissed at you, you know?

Whatever, hey listen, your flashback crew is acting up, so get on it.

What are talking about?

Ask them, I don't work here.

...sigh.. fine. Ok, so what's the problem? Really? So buy a new one, we're good for it. What do you mean you can't? Just go and find whatever piece it needs to... Time machine? What the hell are you talking about? Since when? Who? Akagi? Rits has a time machine? Ok, ok, 'had' a time machine, whatever. So what are you saying? Really, so what am I supposed to do now? What do you mean you don't care? Are you forgetting who pays you? WHAT? You can't quit? Screw you, I'm not giving you your check, you haven't even done anything yet.

Fine, fine, calm your nerves. Just chill there for a bit and I'll get it for you. Punks always trying to sue somebody, geez. I said give me a second. I'll give you want I owe you.

Click, Clack.

I'll give you exactly what I owe you. What are you running for, I haven't even done anything yet?

/Exit pre Flashback mode / Back to Naoto's Pov /

Um... what was I saying before. Mmmm... I can't seem to remember so I'll just cover all of the bases. Ikari's a prick, he's a psychotic maniac, he's got no head for women and his father suck more butt than an elephant has dung. Hmm... did I miss anything? Oh.. and I'm way cooler than him and he wishes he could be me in his dreams. There, I'm sure that just about covered all of the important stuff.

"Yo Naoto, snap out of it."

"What, huh?"

"You spazzed out on us there for a bit."

"Oh... I guess I was too lost in how much of a lame you still are after all these years."

"Righttt... this coming from the cat who let every woman in his life run him like a cheap gym mat the majority of his childhood and why the hell are you people all giving me those looks? Anyone of you got something to say? Thought so."

"Ha, that's funny coming from you Ikari considering how back in the old days you would have been too afraid to sneeze without someone else's permission. Oh wow, give a kid a gun, a body guard and a few million and they think they're a Mob Boss."

"I am a Mob Boss you baka!"

"Right, you keep telling yourself that."

"Whatever! I didn't come all the way over here to listen to you two idiots bash each other. We have work to do Ikari, so lets get to it." The red head cried with her hands on her shapely hips. I could easily see what Ikari found so appealing in her. I knew she was the one he always wrote about the first time I saw her.

But that girl Rei was a mystery. Why didn't he ever say anything about her.

While I was musing to myself the Ikari clan was in full work mode as every one of them sat around the large lounge table trading notes and plans. Plans for what I had no clue, but I needed to be on my way as well.

"I'll have to get back to you later Ikari. I've got to meet somebody."

"Whatever Ta-kun." He replied with a lazy wave of his hand while he listened to the Hikari girl go on about... smurfs? Weird people.

"Don't call me Ta-kun you bastard!" I said on my way out, but he didn't hear me, and I really didn't care.

/BI/

"You're late." were my contact's first words as I exited my car which was actually one or Ikari's but we're family right? So who cares? Him, no doubt, but whatever.

"And you're a weirdo, what's new?" Truthfully I wasn't in the mood for his usual wise cracks. That warm smirk of his always had a way of pissing me off.

"So what do you want Nagisa?"

The night was young, I was fresh in town and the freaks were already out. I never understood what people found so appealing about this whacked out city Tokyo - 3. But I was sure to have blast with Ikari around.

/AN: thing should pick up next chapter, so don't be disappointed this time around. /AN

/priest/