Disclaimer: I do NOT own Evangelion; Anno does...
Chapter 07: "Every! Body! Dance! Now!"
"Damn…" Shinji groaned while walking to school, his headphones firmly placed on his ears, sadly, he had forgotten his disc at home, so he was stuck with Tokyo-3's local radio shows. "Oh please! Find something!" He begged, skipping through the different stations. Finally he found something to his liking; he was quickly getting lost in the music when a sharp slap on the back of his head brought him back to earth. "OW! What the…"
"Don't you dare ignore like that me again!" Asuka said angrily. "I don't even know why I bother talking to you."
"Heh Heh Sorry…" Shinji replied nervously, still clueless about how to speak to the temperamental girl, "So, how do y…"
"She's here too, isn't she?"
"Err…who?"
"Are you doing it on purpose or is it just natural." Asuka grumbled sarcastically. "I'm talking 'bout the First Child of course!"
"Oh Rei, well yeah, she's…err…down there!" He said pointing towards the girl, who was sitting near the tennis court, reading a book. "Heh. She doesn't know what she's getting into." Shinji sighed mildly amused when Asuka went towards the blue-haired girl, followed by the students that had gathered around them.
"Hey Shinji!" called Kensuke as he and Touji approached him from within the mob.
"Hey Guys!" He replied back. "Say, what are you doing so early here?"
"Oh nothing" answered Kensuke, "Just taking care of some business."
"Would you look at that..." Touji said after watching Asuka getting ignored by Rei "I wonder if only weirdoes are chosen to be Eva pilots."
"That's a good guess." Chuckled Shinji. "If that's the case, I think Kensuke would be a good choice!"
"I'll take that as a compliment." Smiled the bespectacled boy. "By the way, we're going to the arcades later today after school, are you coming?"
"Sure! I'll be…" Shinji was interrupted by the blaring of the emergency alarm, "…There…Damn it!"
"I can't believe it…" Asuka whined in her pilot seat. Since the last battle had damaged the city's defences, both Units 01 and 02 where being transported to the shore to stop the Angel before it reached dry land. "My first battle in Japan and I have to drag him along? That's not fair!"
"Hey! It's always nice to have someone to cover your back!" Shinji said through the intercom.
"Now listen Third Child!" Asuka growled back. "If you appreciate your good health you will not get in my way. Got that!"
"Geez! Relax a bit will ya?" Shinji said before closing the connection. "Somebody should tell her the meaning of team work." Seconds later Units 01 and 02 where dropped by the air carriers. "I'll never get used to this…" Shinji muttered after landing his Eva on the beach, a few meters away from Unit-02.
"Shinji concentrate!" Misato warned. "The target may attack any second now!"
An explosion a few miles away from the coast announced the arrival of the new angel.
"Cover my back Shinji!" Said Asuka through the inter comm. moving her Eva for the attack.
"Say what?" Shinji replied stunned.
"Where are your manners?" Asuka answered back. "Ladies first y'know!"
"This isn't the time to be a show off!" Shinji shouted back firing a volley at the enemy.
"Charge!" Asuka moved forwards, using a few abandoned buildings in her path to impulse her Eva towards the Angel. Unit-02 jumped high into the air, and with a swift motion of its halberd, sliced the Angel in half. "Well, what do you think of that?" The redhead smirked proudly. "A battle should be clean and elegant. Without waste."
The red Eva started to move back from the Angel when its parts started to spasm, and suddenly, each half formed a smaller version of the original being. Shinji watched from the shore line. A thoughtful expression on his face. "…Err…hmm…That's bad…isn't it?" He muttered before a blinding flash engulfed his vision.
After the battle, both pilots had been rescued and they were now on a meeting in one of the briefing rooms. "Today at 10:58:15 A.M Unit-01 was attacked by target Alpha." Maya droned as the main screen showed a massive Eva shaped hole punched into the mountain "Twenty seconds later, Unit-02 was stopped by target Beta." The screen now showed the red Eva keeled over with its rear stuck straight into the air. "We have a comment from the Project E's chair person."
"Pathetic…"
"This is all your fault!" Shouted Asuka jumping from her seat. "You totally screwed up my debut battle!"
"So let's see…" Shinji said munching on some snacks he got on the way from the locker rooms. "You were to one jumping around like you owned the place and you were the one who sliced the thing in half…and it's my fault? Do you even hear yourself?"
"You were supposed to back me up! You pathetic excuse of a combat pilot!"
"You didn't want any help in the first place!"
"That's nothing but an excuse!"
"What?"
"At 11:03 A.M, NERV abandoned the operation and transferred command to the UN's Secondary Force." Continued Maya; interrupting the fight between the pilots.
"We've been humiliated…" grumbled sub-commander Fuyutsuki.
"At 11:05 A.M. the UN made an attack with an N2 mine."
"Now well have to redraw the map…"
"They succeeded in burning off 28 of the target's structural substance."
"So I guess they killed it…" Asuka mumbled, watching the half burned Angels on the screen.
"That's only temporal." Corrected the sub-commander. "The next attack is just a matter of time."
"Well, at least we have some time to come up with a plan." Added Kaji. "We couldn't ask for more."
"Listen you two!" Fuyutsuki stood up, addressing to the pilots. "Just what do you think your job is?"
"Pilot the Evas?" replied Asuka tentatively.
"No!" Retorted the sub-commander. "Your job is to beat the Angels, not to make a fool of NERV like you did here!" Fuyutsuki scolded before turning around and leaving the room.
"Why is everyone so angry here?" pouted Asuka once they turned on the lights.
"Because adults have a thing for credibility." Answered Kaji.
"Not to mention that we screwed up." Shinji shrugged, getting a glare from the red-head. "Where's Misato anyway?"
"As the person in charge, she has to take care of any repercussions of the battles."
"So she has a lot of paper work to do now huh?" Shinji said standing up and stretching a bit. "And that means a free afternoon!"
"Damn, today's definitely not my day…" Shinji muttered while walking back home after spending the afternoon with Touji and Kensuke and some other guys from school. "I'm gonna kill those morons!" He grumbled remembering the events at the game centre…
------------Flashback------------
The mall. One of the few entertainment places in the fortress like city that was Tokyo-3. And, like any normal mall, it had an arcade, a fact that most kids were thankful for. And Shinji Ikari, designated pilot of Unit-01 was not the exception, as he spent most of his free time in there, to the point that he have gotten very good at most of the games. However, there was one machine; one horrible machine that he just knew was inspired by some sadistic torture device from medieval ages. He downright hated it, and he was sure, the feeling was mutual.
"I said let me go already!"
"Stop moving so much!" Touji said holding Shinji from his shoulders. "You're only embarrassing yourself!"
"Yeah man! It's just a game!" Added Kensuke holding the wriggling pilot by his ankles.
The fact that his so called friends were dragging him to this 'game' wasn't helping his feeling of uneasiness. "Let! Me! Go! I hate that thing!"
"Oh! C'mon! Everyone likes Dance Dance Revolution!" replied Touji after he and Kensuke wrestled Shinji onto the Dance pad.
"I told you I can't play this thing!"
"Don't worry, it's easy!" Smiled one of the girls that had tagged along. "Here, I'll show you how."
Shinji sighed as the girl inserted the coins in the machine and selected a song. It had a slow beat, and the arrows were appearing at a relatively slow pace. "Hey! Maybe this thing isn't so bad after all!" Suddenly, the music changed, and soon, Shinji was missing almost all the arrows. "Spoke too soon!"
"Oh God…" One of the guys that had been watching the display winced when Shinji tripped and landed with his crotch connecting directly with one of the game's corners.
"Isn't that a weird way to fall?" Asked another of the girls.
"Yeah." The boy agreed. "That only makes it worse…"
"Shouldn't you help him up?"
"Nah…Ken and Touji got that covered." He shrugged as the two remaining stooges helped their fallen comrade to his feet.
----------End flashback------------
"I'm home!" Shinji called once he arrived at his apartment. "Heh…As if Pen-Pen is gonna answer me…" Shinji walked almost mechanically towards his room. "Man…I need a na-a ARGH!" He tripped and landed face first on the floor. "Ouch…What the…!" He looked around and finally noticed the piles of boxes all over his room. "What the hell is all this crap doing in my room?"
"Don't be so rude, these are my personal belongings."
Shinji turned abruptly finding none other than Asuka looming over the door, wearing only a loose yellow T-shirt and a pair of shorts. "…Ok, let me rephrase that…What the hell is all your crap doing in my room?" He shouted standing up. "Where is all my stuff too? And what are you doing here anyway?"
"Well, it happens that Misato decided to live with me. Which is the most logical choice considering my superior abilities." Asuka said as a matter of factly. "So of course, that means that you are no longer needed ´round here." She added pointing towards a cardboard box and a couple of plastic bags near a trash bin.
"Ok, now that's just mean…"
"It's not that I'm all that happy with this y'know, cuz I'd rather live with Kaji" She added dreamingly. "And these Japanese houses are just so small! And why none of the bedrooms have any locks? I don't get it."
"That's because we Japanese put the needs of others before our own."
"Misato!"
"How's it going?" The woman cheered, holding up a mini stereo over her shoulder. "Good to see that you two are getting along well!"
"What do you mean?"
"Are you blind?"
"Ok, let's get ready for your new training."
"Say what?"
"Hey Ritsu." Greeted Misato entering the command bridge. "How're you doing?"
"Pretty well." Responded the doctor. "I'm just running some tests on the Magi."
"Nothing serious?"
"Oh no, just some routine checks." Ritsuko turned towards her friend. "What about you? How's the Coordination training going?"
"So so." Misato answered, "They're getting the hang of it a little faster than I thought; they're starting to talk at the same time now, its kinda creepy." She chuckled. "They've been mimicking some of their movements too…"
"But…?" The doctor inquired.
"The dance routine…" Misato sighed. "It's not improving at all; sometimes I think Shinji has two left legs."
"Don't you mean feet?" Ritsuko corrected half amused.
"In his case it's the whole leg."
"And what about Asuka?"
"Well, she got the steps pretty easily, but she moves way to fast for Shinji." Said Misato taking a sip from her coffee. "I think she forgets that she isn't the only one in all this."
"Well, you have to fix it." Replied the doctor turning back to her work. "You know very well what's at stake here."
"Yes, I know…" Sighed the captain leaning back on her chair. "Say, where's Rei now?" She asked after a little while.
"She's at school, why?"
"Could you give her a call and tell her that I'll pick her up? I've got an idea."
"I hope this works…" Misato thought out loud while she and her blue-haired companion entered the apartment building's elevator.
"I don't see why it shouldn't Captain." Rei replied.
"I dunno, just wondering…" The woman said back. "And you don't have to call me 'Captain' all the time, Misato's fine."
"That wouldn't be a proper behaviour towards a commanding officer, Captain."
"Whatever…" Misato sighed. When they finally reached the apartment, they were faced with two freaked out stooges, an embarrassed school girl and two slightly annoyed Eva pilots. "Oh? Hello there!"
"Excuse Miss Misato." Said Touji after regaining his composture. "Care to explain all this?"
"Gee, you should've told us that sooner!" Kensuke said after Misato explained to them the operation.
"So, how's the whole coordination thing going?" Asked Hikari, who had Pen-Pen happily sitting on her lap.
"Well…" Misato sighed when the dancing pads announced yet another error.
"Ok! That's it!" Asuka yelled tossing her headphones. "There's no way I could ever sink to the level of this badly animated turnip!" She shouted pointing toward Shinji who laid face first on the dance pad. "This idea is just not possible!"
"So, you're giving up?" Asked Misato un-impressed by the red-head's tantrum.
"As if you have anyone else." Asuka smirked arrogantly.
"Rei?"
"Yes?"
"Could you give it a try?"
"Yes ma'am." Rei stood up, and after picking up the headset Asuka tossed a moment ago and positioned on the pad next to Shinji. Soon the music started again and both of them where moving along in perfect synch.
"So, what do you think?" Said Misato taking a sip from her beer. "Should I alter the operation to pair up those two instead?"
Asuka watched in disbelief how Rei and Shinji mirrored every one of their movements, even the mistakes. "No way! I can't stand this!" She stormed off the apartment, not willing to endure any more humiliation. "How dares that Misato! Making this look like it's all my fault!" Asuka strolled out of the building and went towards a little convenience store that was nearby. "And that…that, Wondergirl just coming out and…and…ARGH!" She wandered off to the cold drinks, opened the fridge door and crouched in front of it, letting the cool air wash over her for a while.
"Hey."
"Just shut up…" She grumbled, not bothering to look back at Shinji. "I know, I have no choice…I've gotta do it."
"No matter what! I'll put Rei and Misatoto shame!"
After buying some snacks, both Asuka and Shinji wandered off through the city, and ended up in the same viewing place Misato brought him on his second day on Tokyo-3. "Don't you think you're over reacting?"
"Don't be so simplistic!" She scolded taking a bite of her sandwich. "This is a matter of honour now! I have to avenge my pride!"
Shinji could help but smile at her drive. "Well, let's go then!" He said standing up from the bench they were on. "We don't have time to lose!"
She gave him a sharp look. "Are you implying that I need your help?"
"Look…" He sighed, "Like it or not, we're in this together, so we have to do this together, like a team, right?" He smiled extending a hand to her.
"I guess you're right…this time…" She took his hand and stepped of the bench. "You better not screw up all this…again."
"Oh! C'mon!"
"C'mon Shinji!" After they returned to the apartment, they re-started training on their dance routine. "Put more work on it!"
"I'm trying!" Shinji said trying to keep up with Asuka's moves. "Could you slo…ah…ARGH!" He tripped, landing on Asuka's pad. "…Ouch…heh, that didn't hurt that much…"
"It will if you don't move now…"
"What?" He raised his head and he went pale after noticing that he not only fell on her pad, but also between her legs. "A-Asuka…?"
"Ikari…" She growled, her face was flustered and her eyes filled with fury.
"Ah crap…" He gulped just before the fuming red-head's knee collided with his head.
--Two days before the attack--
"T-Tha-tha-that's all folks!"
After being training all morning, the two pilots were resting a little while watching TV. "I'm tired of this childish stuff." Asuka grumbled changing the channel.
"Hey! I was watching that!" Protested Shinji changing the channel back.
"I don't wanna see those stupid cartoons!" She replied, changing it once more time.
"And I don't wanna see those stupid soap operas!" They continued fighting and changing channels back and forth until a sudden buzzing sound interrupted their argument, they turned back to the TV to find it blank with little tower of smoke coming from its back. "Oh huh…"
"What was that sound?" Called Misato from her room.
"…I think we're…" he turned only to see a little glimpse of red entering the bathroom, "…Screwed…"
"What the hell did you do to my TV?"
"Ah crap…"
--One day for the attack--
After many hours of hard work, both Asuka and Shinji had succeeded in mirroring every one of their movements, from eating and doing the laundry, to brushing their teeth and even sleeping in the same way.
However, there was still the dance routine. "Ok Shinji, this is our last chance!"
"I'm ready." He nodded to Pen-Pen to start up the music.
They started dancing, each one of their movements in synch with one another, and when the final note ended, both teens were standing on their pads, in the very same pose, a perfect score displaying on their pads' screens.
"We made it! Yeah!"
"It was about time." Asuka agreed, trying to hiding how excited she was about it too. "I'm gonna take a bath, if you dare to…"
"…Look I'm dead. Yeah, I know…"
"Damn right!" she said walking to her room to get her toiletries. "We don't want a reprise of last time, now do we?"
"No we don't." He cringed watching her disappear into the bathroom. Seeing that there was nothing to do left for him, he went to his room to get his Discman and a comic.
"Hey, where's Misato anyway?" Asuka asked once she got out of the bath.
"At work." He answered from the living room where they have been forced to sleep the whole week. "She called earlier; she'll be there all night."
"So…we'll be alone all night huh?"
Shinji looked up from his magazine to see Asuka taking her futon back to her room.
"Huh?"
"This is the impenetrable wall of Jericho Third Child." She tossed the futon on the floor and looked back at him with an annoyed frown. "If you dare to step beyond this door you're a dead man. And now good night…child."
"Y'know. Me being four months older doesn't make you the child?"
"Just go to sleep damn it!"
"Yes ma'am."
"Off all the nights I could've gotten insomnia it had to be on this one…" Shinji lied wide awake on his futon, still on the living room. "…why am I still here anyway? Maybe I should…Huh?" He heard a soft noise from behind him, "Oh, it's just Asuka going to the bathroom…" He sighed hearing the red-head walk down the hall and then the toilet flush once. He closed his eyes trying in vain to conciliate sleep, when a he heard a sudden rapid movement right next of him, as if someone had fallen there. "What w…eeep!" He opened his eyes and found Asuka asleep right next to him. "A-Asuka?" He whispered. "Yep, she's completely asleep." He noticed how peaceful and relaxed her face looked. "If only she was like that when she's awake…nah…that would be boring…" His eyes then rested on her lips, on how soft they looked, "Almost inviting…" he slowly inched his face towards hers, "I can't believe it…" Her reflection on his eyes growing as he got closer. "I'm gonna steal a kiss from her, I'm a playboy!"
"…ama…"
"Huh?"
"…Mama…" She muttered in her sleep, a lonely tear slid through her cheek.
"I'm a bastard…" He stood up and went to sleep on the other side of the room, not before covering her with his blanket.
"The target has entered the mountains!"
The main screen in the command bridge showed the now recovered full angel making its way towards the city.
"Remember the moves Shinji!" Asuka said through the Intercom. "Full power…"
"Maximum performance!" Both Evas where already on their launching platforms, waiting or their signal to start the operation.
"Target has reached ground zero!"
"Detaching power cords!"
"Eva Launch!"
The mechas were catapulted high into the sky; each Eva tossed its lance towards the Angel slicing it in half. Both Units got their weapons and started their attack on each part, Unit-01 with a pallet riffle and Unit-02 with a proton cannon. The twin angels countered with their cross beams, but both robots back flipped out of the way to a metal barrier, then the angels used their AT-fields to propel themselves towards the mechas, but both Evas jumped out of the way before the barrier was turned to shreds. The city's battle turrets then shot all of their fire power towards the angels, then the Evas moved in to attack, with a low punch and a roundhouse kick they forced the angels to fuse into one again, The Units jumped high into the air to finish the angel of with a diving kick, but just as they were about to deliver the final blow, the Angel separated once again, making the Evas stumble heavily into the pavement.
"Shinji! Asuka! There are two power cords a few blocks from each of you, get to them now!"
They rushed towards the power cords just before the twin angels resumed their attack, the orange one blasting Unit-02 with its cross bean while its green counterpart moving to attack Unit-01 directly.
"It looks like they aren't synched anymore!" Said Shinji while dodging the attacks of his angel.
"Nah…You think?" Asuka retorted while evading her angel's beans and countering with blasts from her twin rocket launchers.
"Always so courteous…" Shinji muttered as he tried to stab the angel with his prog knife. "Dammit…Stay still!" he shouted when the angel used its AT-Field to propel itself into the air. "What's it doing now?" He wondered when the angel didn't come down. "So that's how it is now huh!" he readied his Eva when he noticed that it was preparing to shoot its cross bean, he gasped however, when he noticed that it wasn't pointing at him. "Wha…Move!"
Asuka didn't have time to react when her Eva was tackled out of the way by Unit-01. "What the hell are yo…Shinji!" She gasped when the purple Eva was blasted to the pavement by the two angels combined attack, "Shinji? You Ok? Shinji?" She felt a little relieved when she saw Unit-01 slowly stand up. "Hey! Are you ok? Answer me you dolt!" Both Shinji and his Eva's head where bowed and their arms were limp to their sides. "Is he…crying? That weakling is crying?"
She wondered when he started trembling a little. "Listen up you idiot! This isn't the time to…"
"HeHeHeHaHa…"
"S-Shinji?" Asuka gulped when he raised his head and she saw his twisted smile. "Shinji are y…"
"…Come on…" He hissed raising his Eva's arms to its side. "…Come on…I know you want to…" The Eva's palms turned upwards, teasing the Angels to attack it once more, an invitation that they didn't refuse and they blasted the purple robot with all their might.
"Status on Unit-01!" Shouted Misato.
"Unit is operational, receiving strange signals, Pilot synch rate is oscillating!" Reported one of the techs.
"So it happened again..." muttered Ritsuko quietly.
"W-where did he go?" Wondered Asuka when the smoke cleared and Unit-01 was nowhere to be seen. A feral growl called her and the angel's attention, on top of a building Unit-01 was crouching as if it was a gargoyle, the beast roared once again and jumped to one of the angel's halves before it could do anything to react, the rogue Eva graved its prey by the face, digging its fingers deep into its flesh and lifted it up into the air, it kept the Angel hanging up for a few seconds before starting pummelling it.
"Why isn't the other half attacking?" wondered Misato when the other angel was wriggling along with the hits its other half was receiving. "I though they weren't synched anymore."
"Their movements may not" Answered Ritsuko, "But they're still part of the same being, so they share the same mind. What happens to one, the other will feel it too"
"What's he doing?" Asuka wondered watching Unit-01 hitting mercilessly on its target and Shinji laughing manically. "He's not hitting the core; he's hitting everything but the core!"
Suddenly, the Ea stopped hitting the Angel, it slowly moved its arm backwards as far as it could and stayed in that position for a few seconds. "Suffer!" Unit-01 let go of its prey's face and rammed its fist violently into Angel's core with such force that the shockwave also shattered the windows of the near by buildings. The Eva grabbed the pained Angel's arm before it could fall to the ground and tossed it towards its also aching twin. Both beasts stayed on their feet for a while before Unit-01 tackled them to the ground forcing them to fuse once more.
"Shinji! What the H…"
"Shoot!" He interrupted grabbing the half fused Angel with its cracked cores facing Unit-02. "Shoot!"
"You'll get caught in the explosion!"
"Shoot!" He repeated, struggling to keep the Angel in position. "Shoot!"
"But…!"
"Attack! Attack now you coward!"
"Don't…call me…a coward!" Asuka fired the rocket launchers destroying the Angel in an immense explosion that obliterated the nearby forest and part of the city.
"First armour layer exposed!" Back at the command bridge everyone was in an uproar after the explosion knocked some of the systems. "Connection with the surface re-established!"
"What happened to Shinji?" Misato asked to Maya. "Is he alright?"
"Unit-01 is…"
"That's the way! Uhu! Aha! I like it! Uhu! Aha!"
"…fully operational…" Everyone watched dumfounded the robot's crude attempt to dance in the middle of the crater and its pilot's so called singing through the inter comm.
"Looks like everything went well, didn't it?" Said Kaji getting an annoyed glare from Misato, who decided to not answer him. "Maybe too well…"
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Asuka approached angrily with after the smoke cleared. "First you go crazy! Then you play the hero! Then you insult me! And now you're doing…doing…this! What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Oh C'mon! Can't I be happy we won?" He replied, "And you need to relax a bit y'know, you've been quite a pain in the ass lately."
"Jerk…" She grumbled, "But that didn't stop you from trying to kiss me last night!"
"You didn't complain…"
"W-W-Hat did you say!"
Shinji took a step back when Unit-02 stepped closer to him and raised its gun. "C-calm down Asuka! I didn't do anything! I stopped half...err...Didn't do anything!"
"…Ikari…"
"Ah crap!"
Back at the command bridge everyone was amused at the pilots' antics except for Fuyutsuki who could only mutter in frustration. "…I'm too old for this…"
To be continued…
Thanx to everyone who reads this thing and Dark Machine for prereading it. And as always, any comment, opinions, etc. just let me know. And if i have time i'll answer them too, just don't expect them soon for i have limited Internet access. Anyway, till nex time!