Disclaimer
The series, Neon Genesis Evangelion, from which this work of fiction is based, is owned by GAINAX. Characters presented in this document that come directly from the series are also owned by GAINAX. "Lady Pheaura" owns Madison Timlitt. I own all other original characters.

Evangelion: Primum Revelation
Chapter 16: Ungainly
Written by T.S. a.k.a. "Kain Tempest"
German Translations by "Steve Vader"

"What the Hell do you want?" Asuka growled, the boy remained silent. "Just tell me and get it over with." Silence. "Now you're just pissing me off. Why are you always following me?" He didn't answer, watching some people pass by, talking loudly. "Hey! I'm talking to you."

"I am aware of it. However, there are so many things I want to know about you however, I am unsure of what to say to actually have you listen and speak with me."

"What's that supposed to mean? Is that some kind of come on?"

"No. You are offended by what I said?"

"What?"

"My wish to know more about you, Second Child. It offends you? You are the Second Child, am I right?"

"God, you're just as weird as Wonder Girl." The boy tilted his head to the side, but still looked amused.

"'Wonder Girl', you refer to a female counter part who you think stands out because of positive qualities. You admire her?"

"Of course not! Sure she stands out, but it's not in a good way."

"Then why do you use a word of admiration to speak of someone that you find distasteful in what they lack? Or perhaps, it's because they
have something that you lack."

"You looking to lose your front teeth, ass hole?" She snarled.

"Why would looking for something cause me to lose my front teeth? And since a rectum does not need to chew, why would it have teeth to begin with?" Asuka turned away; he was being a witty little pest.

"Just leave me alone."

"Everyone is alone. No matter how many people you have around you, you are fundamentally alone."

"Yeah, yeah, I don't need your angst, kid."

"You try and fill up the emptiness you feel by piloting the Evangelion, isn't that right?" She stopped and turned to face him. She squinted her eyes, analyzing him. This creepy transfer student had shown up to her school less than a couple of hours ago and he knew this much. Either she had to commend the gossip hotline, or he was here in this war zone for a reason.

"Who are you?" His smile widened and he gave a curt bow of his head.

"I am Koaru. Koaru Nagisa. You are Asuka Langley Sohryu, the Second Child, and pilot of Evangelion Unit-02."

"How do you know all that?"

"I know everything about you, Miss Sohryu, and as much as I can about the First and Third Child as well."

"What are you, some kind of fan boy?" He shrugged, always with that strange smile on his face.

"You might be able to call me that."

"Fine, I'm leaving."

"Where? May I come along?"

"No! Not with you! I just want to stay away from you!" She ran, hoping to escape him.

Leaving the school, Asuka realized that the strange boy, Koaru, had delayed her so much that it was already dark out. What was it that Shinji had warned her about him? Was he the one that was supposed to replace her? What a preposterous notion.

Even the darkness, she knew the cobblestone streets for a good portion of her life. This older part of Berlin was never going to change, unlike the booming section around the E-NERV headquarters. Asuka knew a shortcut home across an old train yard. Climbing a chain-link fence, Asuka landed in the dusty gravel and knee-deep mist. There was no life in Berlin anymore, the only ambiance of the city coming from the distance streets and lights of the new city. There was so much history, and it was thrown away for novelty, how pitiful.

In the distance she could hear someone talking. Curious, she approached. Four figures surrounded three others, the second group of which were kneeling and looking at one of the persons standing. She approached and saw burlap bags were on the heads of those who knelt, and black military uniforms signified that their captors were soldiers, and not the kind that Asuka wanted to bother. Each wore a red beret, the fourth of their posse stood to one side, in a black robe. Stepping behind a receiving platform, the red head watched as events unfolded. One of the soldiers was speaking a prayer in German, wishing that God would accept these pitiful souls and take them to their place of belonging. He was resting the length of a pistol's barrel on his forehead as he spoke.

Once he was finished, he lowered the weapon and shot the first captive in the head. Asuka closed her eyes as the person fell back. Peeking one eye open, she watched as the second prisoner was also executed. She bit her lip as she saw the final prisoner practically trembling. The executioner touched the doomed man's shoulder and spoke some words of comfort, before pressing the muzzle against the burlap and firing. Putting the pistol back in his holster, the killer regarded his comrades in sombre silence. A quiet tone that was betrayed with a ruckus coming from Asuka's direction.

Asuka realized only too late that she had knocked over a pile of rusty pipes. The soldiers were staring directly at her. She turned to flee, but slammed directly into one of them, having materialized right behind her. She was shoved backwards into the arms of the other two thugs and her arms were pressed against her back. She tried to scream, but a gloved hand clasped her mouth and maintained a rigid hold, no matter how hard Asuka tried to break free. "Hush, we're not going to hurt you." Seeing her struggling wasn't doing any good, she stopped and looked up at her captors. Her eyes widened with shock as Tristan looked down at her, he gave her a kind smile, which calmed her. However, she continued to be wary. Releasing her mouth and brushing her cheek with the back of his hand. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"Why? Who were they?" She asked. The grip of the two soldiers tightened and she squirmed in discomfort, Tristan didn't seem to notice. He patted her cheek.

"Don't worry about them, my dear, it was just something I had to do." The man in black robes finally stepped up behind Tristan and the expression on the captain's face darkened. His hand slid down from Asuka's cheek and his fingers snaked around her neck. She swallowed hard and glanced at the faces of the others present, and her blood ran cold. The soldiers holding her down had blank expressions on their faces from the crimson eyes of the fan boy, Koaru, and Wonder Girl, Rei, spoke volumes about the torturous event that was about to occur. "And this is also something I have to do." Tristan drew closer but Asuka was now staring at the robed figure.

Shinji stared back at her.

Asuka's eyes snapped open and she blinked, the image of the robed Shinji fading to become Misato's jacket hanging innocently on the chair in the room. Her room. Hamburg, not Berlin. Her hand immediately went to her neck. No leather hand gripped it. The whole occurrence, that train yard execution and what the evil captain had in mind was simply a nightmare. She closed her eyes and let out a long sigh before sitting up. Only half-awake, Asuka frowned as she tried to remember what important things she had to do today and what had happened yesterday. It was all a fog, however, the nagging sense of purpose was forcing her from simply going back to bed and sleeping the day away.

Swinging her feet out of bed, she noticed that she was still wearing the slacks and shirt she had worn yesterday. Apparently she was so exhausted from... What was she doing? It would probably all come back to her after a shower. Getting up she entered the hall and stopped, something drawing her to the living room.

Curled up on the couch, arm as a pillow and jacket as a blanket, Tristan snored softly on Asuka's couch. At first she frowned, why the Hell was he here and not at home? Slowly, memories of last night came back to her. At least as many as she could recall. Silently, she left the living room and entered the kitchen. In a few moments she returned.

Even with a small amount of water, when it was cold enough, could shock most out of sleep. At least this was the case with Tristan. With a cry, he threw his body off of the couch and out of his dreams, crashing to the floor. Quickly shaking the spinning world away, he looked up to see Asuka practically towering over him with a half-filled glass of water.

"Oops." She declared dryly.

"A simple shaking of the shoulder would have sufficed." Tristan grumbled, climbing to his feet.

"Whether it was enough isn't the problem. Why were you asleep on my couch?" The captain looked down at the sofa and towards the hall.

"I admit your bed would have been more comfortable. But that wouldn't be very gen-" He stopped as the rest of the water was thrown from the glass and onto his front. He stumbled back a few paces from the cold shock and then relaxed. "Yeah I deserved that."

"You deserve to get tossed out off the roof!"

"Okay, I ended up crashing on your couch. Why are you so offended by that? It was late and I had driven you home."

"That's not the point."

"Then what is?"

"It's j- just... What is Shinji going to think if you aren't home?" He shrugged.

"I worked all night? You make it sound like he was my wife and I was cheating on him."

"And what does that make me?"

"All right, bad example. Look, he won't think anything of it. Whenever I dropped by, I told him it was a meeting."

"A meeting? He must think you're a workaholic."

"Better than him thinking that you couldn't even live on your own without dying of starvation."

"I can cook!"

"Yeah, after I started showing you. Ramen every day of the week isn't healthy. I'm amazed you weren't skin and bones over in Japan."

"You have a problem with Japanese cuisine? I am sure Shinji would love to hear what you think."

"I didn't mean it like that! Okay, he is just going to think that I worked over the whole night. He doesn't know I'm here, he doesn't know
that I've been cooking for you. He is still very naive. There is nothing to worry about." Asuka didn't respond and Tristan believed he had satisfied her. He sighed. "Why are you so angry this morning?"

"I'm not angry." She snapped. From the look Tristan was giving her, Asuka realized she probably was. She growled at herself and placed her free hand on her forehead, this was getting frustrating.

"You want me to leave? Or would like some breakfast before that?" She frowned at him. "Shinji can take care of himself." He assured her.

"I'm not worried about Shinji anymore. But what's with all this hospitality?"

"I'll tell you right after you tell me why you're so hostile."

"Look, forget it. Stay or go. I don't care. Just..." Asuka put the glass down on the couch and went back into the hall. Tristan picked it up,
studying it and then looking in the direction that Asuka went. He carried the glass into the kitchen and starting working on making a meal
for the two of them.

The strange arrangement had started soon after Asuka was settled into her apartment. Tristan, out of impulse had decided to check up on her and found her living more sloppily than most bachelors out of high school do. Just like deciding to visit, Tristan decided to cook for Asuka on impulse, just like she had said Shinji had back in Japan. In the end it became a routine to drop by every couple of days and teach her to cook, after all, he didn't intend to always be there to provide for her, after all, she was practically an adult and should have known how to keep herself.

What he was doing felt extremely strange after Asuka accidentally called him Shinji. After she had done so, Tristan had been taken by guilt. Not only had he been lying to Shinji for almost a month, but due to the circumstances between Asuka and Shinji, perhaps he was also taking advantage of it. But then, was there really a relationship between Shinji and Asuka, or even anything between him and Asuka? Apparently, she didn't find what he had said last night very seriously, even though he knew full well that he was saying the truth. Perhaps she simply misinterpreted it, or that she wasn't interested. But who could blame her? He was a stepping-stone and why would she feel guilt over that?

The sound of running water made Tristan stop and look down the hall. Asuka was having a shower when he was still in the same building? What did that mean? He shook his head; he was over analyzing things more than Shinji ever did. She had every right to have a shower, and so long as he didn't try anything, she was probably fine with him. Perhaps she had just gotten used to having him around the apartment.
Ten minutes later, Asuka came into the kitchen in fresh clothes, towelling out her copper hair.

"So you decided to stick around?" Tristan glanced over his should, not wanting to turn his back from his project on the oven. Curious Asuka scanned different bowls and ingredients he had on the counter. "What are you making anyway?"

"Griddle cakes... Cup of flour, milk, two teaspoons of powder, one teaspoon melted butter, and an egg."

"Don't you need syrup for that?"

"Jams, jelly, fruit, butter... You can put anything on them and they still taste good... Honey."

"What?" Tristan looked up at her and blinked.

"Honey. You can put honey on griddle cakes."

"Okay." There was a tinge of uncertainty in her voice, however she didn't seem to chase it. Tristan turned back to his cooking.

"You just pour another bit of batter into the frying pan and flip when the batter starts bubbling. That way both sides come out golden brown." Even though he managed to save himself, his body was still tense after making such a stupid slip. Although Asuka always thought everything he said was deliberate whenever she was around, he made mistakes, said things when he didn't. Tristan didn't know whether his mistakes were from his old infatuation with the Second Child, or if it was his anger either at himself or her that made him make such errors. But each time he only made things more difficult.

Removing one finished cake, Tristan stepped away from the frying pan.

"Now you try it." Asuka immediately took over and poured another one, carefully pouring the batter into the pan. She flipped it when he directed her to.

"This is easy." A buzzer sounded, signalling that Asuka had a visitor.

"You keep practicing, I'll see who it is."

"Yeah, yeah." Tristan stopped at the doorway and watched as Asuka poured in some more batter, humming to herself. A small smile formed on the captain's face, he wished this was how things could have been. Leaving the kitchen, Tristan approached the intercom and pressed the receiver button.

"Sohryu residence, who is it?"

"Tristan?" A cold shiver of dread ran up Tristan's spine as he recognized the voice.

"Shinji?"

"What are you doing in Asuka's apartment? Were you there all-" Shinji stopped himself.

"Were you there all night Tristan?" Came another voice. Madison's voice.

"Who is it?" Asuka asked from the kitchen. Tristan stood there in shock for several moments, debating what to do or say. Finally he hit the button to unlock the door into the apartment complex. "We might want to make more batter."

There was an awkward silence around the dining table, the griddlecakes being untouched by all present as they simply were studying their laps, breakfast, or the occupants of the other seats. This had persisted for over fifteen minutes, everyone preparing for the inevitable storm of arguing and finger pointing that would begin. All that was needed was one spark.

"So..." Tristan began, pausing as he felt three sets of eyes lock onto him. "What brought you to come here, Shinji?"

"No doubt they can ask the same of you." Asuka grumbled.

"Actually, I came because I wasn't too sure what Asuka had told me. Last night you yelled at me for five solid minutes and I was exhausted. I had no idea what it was you were trying to tell me. So I wanted to ask you when I thought you were more calm."

"Well, as I told you last night, I was only going to say it once. I don't plan on telling it to everyone present." Asuka glared at Madison. "Which reminds me, why are you here?" Madison looked down at her lap.

"I wanted to talk with Tristan, and I went over to his apartment. Shinji had said that he wasn't there all night. He said he was going to go see Asuka and I guess I thought he'd be here or you would know."

"What made you figure that?" Tristan asked.

"Since Asuka came, you were becoming increasingly busy with work, and the usual time we had to talk to each other disappeared. So I assumed that you and Asuka were seeing each other again. Since you never went back to your home nor were you working, I guessed that you were probably sleeping with Asu... Err, I mean-" That was the spark.

"What!" Asuka cried, jumping out of her seat. "Are you assuming I'm some kind of slut?"

"Asuka, she didn't mean it like that." Asuka turned her rage upon the captain.

"Then what did she mean, huh?"

"She didn't call you a slut, she just thought you and Tristan were..." Shinji fumbled for the right word.

"Lovers." Madison finished. Asuka laughed at the notion.

"We were never lovers to start with, what makes any of you think we'd start now?" Tristan closed his eyes, his reaction to the stinging remark.

"Then what were you doing over here?" Shinji asked.

"I suppose after yelling at you, Shinji, Asuka came to my office to announce her resignation from NERV." Madison and Shinji stared at Asuka in disbelief. Asuka folded her arms and looked away. "I was able to convince her otherwise."

"What makes you think I'm not going to?"

"You're still here, aren't you?" The retort. She gave a snort. "Regardless, I gave her a ride home and helped her into her apartment. I guess because I was up a solid day like Shinji and Asuka were, I ended up falling asleep on the couch."

"Oh..." Madison became silent again.

"So is that everything?" Tristan asked, regarding everyone at the table. "Is this little soap opera over?"

"You just got up?" Shinji blurted out. Tristan was slow to respond, and then gave a curt nod in Shinji's direction. The boy looked down at the griddlecakes at back up at the captain. He then looked at Asuka.

"What are you staring at?" Asuka growled. Shinji simply looked down at the plate and sighed.

"I'm not a kid, Tristan. Why did you have to keep this from me?"

"What do you mean? I had nothing to hide." Shinji hung his head.

"Shinji?" Madison stood up and leaned over the table. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." He growled. Asuka rolled her eyes, expecting the melodrama to begin again. Tristan in the meanwhile leaned his arms onto the table. A small smile came on Tristan's face, almost as if he was proud of something, Asuka blinked, this more coy side of Tristan reminded her of Kaji.

"You know about the meetings?"

"They weren't meetings, were they?" The smile faded.

"Well they weren't clandestine encounters." Asuka caught on to what they were talking about and looked away out of irritation, not wanting to see the sap dribble out of the conversation. Shinji lifted his head, seeing the now more serious look on Tristan and then regarding Madison, who simply stared at him, clearly clueless of what was happening. The captain followed the boy's gaze to Madison. "Madison, I think this is a conversation between the three of us."

"Let her stay." Asuka murmured. "If she wants to stick around, I really don't care anymore." Tristan looked back at Madison.

"Do you want to stay and see this through?" The girl was hesitant but nodded. The captain looked back to Shinji. "Continue." Regarding him for a few minutes, Shinji took a deep breath.

"You business is not my own, Tristan, but after the 'complications' between Asuka and I..."

"You felt betrayed?" Tristan finished.

"A little."

"Give me a break. You are such a pitiable person that anyone would be willing to favour a worm like you in the argument. So what if Tristan sided with me? You could probably have had anyone you want side with you. Though you may not think it even Shig-" She stopped. A pained expression was passed between them.

"Who?" Madison queried.

"Shigeru Aoba. On our way out of Asia we met him, he was one of our friends... He-"

"Don't just assume he's dead you pessimist." Asuka growled.

"I- I'm sorry for you loss." Madison murmured. Asuka slammed her hand on the table.

"He's not dead!"

"Alive or dead, it doesn't really matter right now." Tristan leaned back and folded his arms. "Shinji, you are right in saying that it is my business. I don't care about the interpersonal relationships of my pilots. Enemies, friends, lovers, if it doesn't negatively impact their performance on the field I couldn't give a rat's ass about it. I just hope that we can just get over this, cut the crap and get back to doing what we're supposed to do."

"But what about the baby?" Shinji asked.

"There isn't any." The boy looked down at his lap and Asuka gave a sigh. Tristan's cell phone rang and he immediately answered it. Turning away from the table.

"A baby?" Madison blinked and looked to Tristan's back, Shinji's bowed head and then met Asuka's gaze.

"That's right." Asuka grumbled, confirming Madison's suspicions.

"Shinji, Asuka." Tristan rose from his seat and turned to face them. "We need to get to Tower Four, UNIT is sending its EVA back for a visit."

"Finally, a sortie. God how long has it been?" Asuka asked as her Evangelion lifted the rifle off of the concrete pad.

"This is no time to reminisce, Pilot Sohryu." Asuka clicked her tongue, annoyed by the captain's nagging attitude.

"Three months now." Shinji offered. He scanned around the area of the fight. A couple hundred miles to the west was probably where his first encounter with UNIT's Evangelion first took place. Shinji took his one hundredth glance at the horizon to spot a group of incoming Harriers. None came, thank God.

"Radar shows know other radar signals in the area. No Tridents, battleships, or other tangos. Some artillery strikes came ahead of the target and was probably trying to disrupt any early warning equipment we had. They managed to take it out, however a flyby revealed the target moving below the sea surface. The enemy is running on battery power and doesn't seem to have any extra support. Possibly a stealth mission. No doubt the enemy will try and take advantage of our generators should one of you be forced to eject the umbilical cable. If you must lose it, try and deny the enemy EVA access to the cable."

"Of course. You don't give us enough credit." Asuka complained.

"Shinji would already know it, but you, Pilot Sohryu are a different matter."

"Ugh. Sniping at me again in the cockpit, how lame are you?"

"Have you ever noticed that you also banter and bicker before every operation?" Quipped Septerra. Tristan looked over his shoulder and gave weak smile twisted in with the horrid realization that he was right. "It's getting old."

"Right..." The captain could hear Asuka snickering in his earpiece. Tristan glanced over one of the monitors seeing Asuka's synch ratio fluctuate. He frowned, recalling the training experiment. Shinji's previous connection with Unit-01 was linked by emotion, Asuka's through exacting training. He guessed that the roles were beginning to reverse with their synchronization abilities beginning to atrophy.

"Target is picking up speed." One of the lieutenants reported.

"Again?" Tristan brought the receiver to his lips. "Pilots Ikari and Sohryu, the target will be surfacing in a few minutes. No doubt they will be using a heavy weapon to try and knock you down. Keep your distance and aim for the battery packs that will be on its shoulder blades. Take those out and we can reduce its battle endurance to a few minutes. Maybe we can finally catch their pilot and get this over with."

"Roger." Shinji confirmed. Unit-06 stood up and levelled its gun towards a spot in the distance. A broad reticule came out showing the general area that the target was at. Of course, the rangefinder was not accurate with the distance and distortion of the waves. Shinji was not about to be forced to flee. Glancing to the side, he saw Unit-05 level its weapon. Shinji was once again reminded of the battle against the Seventh Angel on the beach. A failure to be sure, but this time the two were more experienced pilots and they didn't have to worry about an Angel's special capabilities. Two against one, this time it probably wasn't going to be fair. With a small taste of victory, Shinji smiled.

"Target will be breaking surface in fifteen seconds..." The captain reported, easing the two pilots into the encounter. "Ten... Nine... Eight... Seven?" The captain trailed off as the monitor picked up the same thing the pilots were also seeing.

First to break the water were a pair of black insectoid appendages ending in hooked claws. The claws were connected to high-set shoulders covered in black rubbery skin. Next came the ivory formation in the centre of the collarbone. A dense, low mound of muscle would have been where the head of a human could be between the shoulders. Said shoulders ended in two densely muscled arms and oversized hands with two fingers and a thumb to each. The torso of the creature seemed anorexic, with an almost non-existent waist and its ribs meshed and twisted together to form an organic, spherical cage under the ivory mask on the collar. Two more pairs of hooked arms came off of its back. The entire monster was carried by a set of wiry but powerful legs, balanced by a bony tail that slowly waved to and fro. An audible gurgling sound came from it's direction until gallons of red water splashed out and down from the rib cage and into the ocean. The liquid gone, the gurgle turned into a whining, high-pitched hiss.

All who witnessed the rise of the creature grew sick to their stomach, not only from the thing's alien appearance, but a few knew the connotations this monster meant.

"Confirmed." Tristan grated out, he felt light headed and nauseous. "Angel sighted. Unit-05 and 06... Engage."

To Be Continued...


Author's Note
I know better than to put an ACC with an original series character without really good reason, if at all. So put down the pitchforks and the torches ladies and gentleman. Thank you.
The first part of Asuka's dream was written based on the audio commentary of the U.S. release of NGE: Death and Rebirth. They mention that Koaru showed up about a week before everything started going wrong. This helps to explain why the practice in the concert hall was given; it's actually part of the continuity, and not part of the alternate universe. Most of the episodes near the end of the series were actually jumbled up a bit, mostly to narrate via stream of consciousness. Course, there are so many things that could contradict it, so I guess it just depends on what sources you believe.
I believe it was in June that I first decided to place PRE onto the Internet for the first time. Back then I was working at a crummy department store trying to get enough money to at least pay some of my way through college. A year later I am still writing this fic and working at a better job at another department store. Baby steps I suppose.
Many of my chapters were designed to elicit a reaction from my readers, especially with what I've done lately. No doubt many of those reactions would be antagonism towards me for breaking the unwritten laws of Eva Fan-Fickery. Course, I am also especially glad to have positive reactions to my work. Your comments, queries, thoughts, criticisms, and encouragement, have helped to give me the will to continue this fan-fic. Really, I appreciate it and I hope that PRE enjoys another year of pleasant reading for all those who love Evangelion.
To my readers and critics: THANK YOU!