OCTOBER 25TH
NERV HQ
STAFF MEETING ROOM
6:42 PM JST
The air in the meeting room was tense. Head Staff from all departments sat around the long table, each of them not making eye contact with one another.
Commander LeBlanc sat at the head of the table, patiently waiting for anyone to speak up. Sub Commander Fuyutsuki looked like he was about to fall asleep from the lack of activity.
Naoko sat near him, also waiting for anyone to speak up. Her new leg is still quite sensitive despite lowering the sensitivity setting. She had only been back at work for five days.
Tokita and Ritsuko sat near the Technical and RnD staff leaders. Tokita was only here since he was technically the head of JA's maintenance and RnD team, and that counted.
The four pilots sat on some chairs nearby. Each one of them sporting a different but similar mood. Everyone except Kaworu were on their phones.
"So… Just to go over what we have… We only have the costume party…"
Misato stated, rather annoyed that no one else could think of anything. Then a hand rose within the sea of employees.
It was Maya.
Misato perked up and pointed to Maya, who seemed uncomfortable being the only one actually coming up with something.
. . .
"We could Section off part of a low security sector and use it as a haunted maze?.."
. . .
There was an awkward pause that filled the air.
"I.. Suppose that could work… But it's really up to the commander and what Section Two could do to secure it…"
Jacques gave it some thought before nodding. His face breaking into a small smile.
"Yes, Yes, that seems feasible. Let's ask the Children what they think about this."
He turned to face the uninterested pilots, who gave him no time of day. He waited for a moment, before giving a cough to get their attention.
It did not work.
Sighing, he motioned to Naoko to do something, who frowned and turned to face the distracted child.
"Shinji!"
He jumped in his seat, dropping his phone onto the floor.
"Ye-W-Yeah?"
He was thoroughly surprised.
"Do you or the others have any ideas on what other events we could do for the Halloween Party? It needs to be safe and it can't be in high security areas…"
Shinji gave it some thought, thinking of what they could do within HQ and the GeoFront. He thought about what could be fun and scary…
"Hmm… Why don't we have a banquet? We can finally use the large kitchen for something other than catering meetings."
Shinji had a point there. It was mainly used for that… And the meetings themselves didn't happen that often…
"Alright, that'll work. I doubt the rest of you have any more suggestions so we can stop the brainstorming session no-"
Jacques was immediately cut off by Kaworu raising his hand.
"Yes Nagisa? Do you have something you'd like to suggest?"
Kaworu grinned as he stood up.
"Why don't we make people reflect upon their own selves? We make them think deeply about themselves. That usually makes people very scared."
. . .
. . .
. . .
The whole room was silent. Everyone had a look that screamed:
Huh?
Jacques sat there for a moment before speaking.
"Nagisa, we are trying to physically scare them. Not give them an existential crisis. People come to haunted houses for a physical thrill. We don't want to make more people go to therapy…"
Kaworu was about to speak again, but was sat back down by Shinji placing a hand on his shoulder and shaking his head.
Kaworu looked disappointed.
A brief pause before the commander spoke again.
"Alright, so.. Now it's time to plan out the logistics."
The room immediately began to chatter, with staff giving out their ideas. They talked to one another on how they would coordinate and how they would do their jobs.
"I guess NERV isn't very good at simple ideas…"
Misato muttered to herself.
"At least we got a few ideas…"
MATERNAL PROGRAMMING
SPECIAL EPISODE
"IT CAME FROM TERMINAL DOGMA!"
OCTOBER 28TH
MISATO KATSURAGI'S APARTMENT
4:32 PM JST
"That's a stupid idea. Almost every kid goes as Ultraman. Come up with something better."
Rei was right, people did dress up like him alot, and it was unoriginal.
"Then what do you have that's better? What, do we just go in our plug suits?"
Shinji countered, annoyed at her quip.
"We could try wearing something as a trio…"
Asuka suggested, thinking of the many things that come in three. Then an idea popped in her head that made her grin mischievously.
"Why don't we go as each other? We can wear a wig and wear each other's plugsuits!"
She exclaimed, clearly proud of her Idea. The other two sat in silence for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah that could work… Problem is… How will I fit in either of your plugsuits?..."
"We'll figure that out as we go!"
SAME DAY
AKAGI RESIDENCE
SAME TIME
"It's a waste of time, I'm not going."
"Come on, It'll be a good chance to get him to open up to you. Plus, you can finally get out of here and do something besides eat our food and read books."
Naoko had a point. He had been doing nothing while staying here. He hadn't had much free time as Commander, and now he has all the time in the world.
. . .
. . .
He has no idea what to do.
"Do you honestly think he'd open up to me while wearing a ridiculous costume? Stop being so naive about this."
Naoko gave him a death stare, more than he could ever produce. She was pissed, but not at what he called her.
"Listen here Rokubungi, You are going to the Halloween party. You are going to dress up. And you are going to talk to him. Do I make myself clear?..."
She wasn't playing around. The last time she used his former name in that way, was when she roasted him in front of Keel.
He gave it some thought before giving in. He let out a deep sigh.
"Fine."
Naoko's expression went from pissed to cheerful in an instant. An aura of joy was emitted from her.
"Wonderful! Now then…"
A slightly mischievous smile made its way onto her face.
"Time to pick out a nice costume for you!~"
Gendo has a bad feeling about this.
He feels like he is going to regret this fully.
"Do I get a say in what I wear?"
"Nope!~"
SAME DAY
NERV HQ
COMMANDER'S OFFICE
SAME TIME
"I can assure you Keel, having a Halloween party is essential to the scenario. It builds trust into me as their commander and thus builds trust once we begin the project."
There was a pause on the secure phone line before a sigh came through.
"I will trust you on this, However do not get close to any of them, we do not need your rather generous nature get in the way of the scenario. We are nearly there… Need I remind you of the last time you were close to someone? You got hurt. And you almost threw your career away…"
Jacques paused and thought to himself. Keel spoke truth about this. He almost did, but Keel saved him.
Did he?
"Yes of course. You can trust in me for this. But now I must go, I have some things I must do to prepare for the festivities. But I must also ask… How is my replacement?"
. . .
"Macron? He is behaving. Now go, I also have some meetings I must attend. Keep an eye out on Tabris and Ikari."
. . .
"Will do-"
Keel had already hung up, leaving Jacques talking to a disconnected phone line. He sighed, pondering his own actions. He saw the joy in the children, even as they suffer by piloting the Evangelions.
The Evangelions…
Artificial gods…
He shook his head, clearing out the intrusive thoughts. He picked up the intranet phone and made another call. This time to someone who could help him with his next dilemma…
. . .
Ring…
Ring…
Ring…
"Lieutenant Hyuga speaking, how may I help you sir?"
Jacques cleared his throat.
"I heard from staff chatter that you engage in cosplay…"
. . .
"Y-Yes sir I do…"
. . .
"Could you help me figure out a costume for the Halloween Party? I will personally pay you extra for your help."
. . .
. . .
"I'm on my way."
OCTOBER 30TH
GEOFRONT GARDENS
2:10 PM JST
"I'm too short! I can't hang it up!"
Maya kept jumping to try and reach a pole, to hang up some stringed lights. She fruitlessly tried and tried, over and over, while Ritsuko and Shigeru watched on.
It was pretty funny to watch.
But also kinda pathetic.
"Give me that!"
Shigeru was finally fed up with this sad sight, and yanked the lights from her. He straightened up and attached the strip to the clip on the pole.
"There! I don't know why we let you do this in the first place!"
Yelled Shigeru. He was already annoyed since he hurt his back carrying some tables earlier.
Maya frowned and kicked him in the balls, causing the tall man to fall over in extreme agony. Ritsuko tried to stifle a laugh, as he cried out in pain.
"That's what you get for being an Asshole."
He clutched his crown jewels, whimpering to himself.
"While he deserved that, you still can't assault Aoba, Especially kicking his groin."
Maya just chuckled.
"Sorry!"
Sigh.
"Just tell Group 2 to hurry up with the pop up stage."
"Yes ma'am!"
OCTOBER 31TH
AKAGI RESIDENCE
2:42 PM JST
"I look ridiculous."
"At least you look fearsome. I look exactly the same, Just in gray."
Fuyutsuki tugged on his suit's collar a bit, as it was very uncomfortable. He turned to face Gendo who had a helmet on, so his expression was even more unreadable.
"I think you two look adorable. And Kozo, you look very handsome in this new uniform."
Fuyutsuki rolled his eyes and chuckled, he knew she loved to joke with him.
"Yes, I know about your thing for men in Uniforms…"
He playfully retorted. While it was a goofy situation, he couldn't help but smile at the whole thing. Fuyutsuki knew Gendo was an Introvert to the extreme since Yui, but now Naoko pushed him out of that comfort zone.
He still remembers the day they all met together.
"Oh Shush, you are going to make Gendo jealous."
Teased Naoko. Gendo simply grunted and crossed his arms, his costume's leather squeaking.
"Well, I also worked quite a bit on my own costume as you can see." She gestured to herself, showcasing her own costume that Ritsuko had helped make.
"Naoko, If I may… This may be a bit too much… I have no idea how you two managed to make this quickly, but…"
Fuyutsuki was cut off by the sudden sight before him.
Standing there was Shinji…
In a red wig and Asuka's plugsuit.
Fuyutsuki's face turned from shock to confusion, and back into shock.
Gendo also saw the sight before him. If he didn't have the helmet on, you would have seen the same dumbfounded look on his face.
"What's wrong? Did it tear?"
Naoko turned around to see what exactly they were looking at.
She then saw it.
Staring back in slight fear. Shinji gave a nervous laugh.
"So… Grand Moff Kozo… Darth Ikari… And… Pilot Mom?..."
. . .
. . .
. . .
"So..."
"It's just a costume!"
SAME DAY
7:35 PM JST
GEOFRONT GARDENS
"It seems our turnout is very high! This will greatly enhance our public opinion."
Jacques stood near the stage, watching the large crowds come over from the GeoFront transit station. Most of them coming in with costumes of all kinds and sizes. From Ultraman to Ghostly Ghouls.
He also noticed a few of the command staff hanging out by a table in the corner of the area.
All of them had brilliant costumes, however one of them caught his full attention. A fully suited up man, dressed up as Darth Vader.
Jacques squinted to see if he could see it better, but then decided to investigate further. He made his way over to the gathering and towards Vader.
Gendo seemed to notice and took a step back. Fuyutsuki turned to face Jacques and gave a nervous look.
"LeBlanc, how can we help you?"
"Who is in the rather well made Vader outfit?"
He asked, immediately getting to the point.
Gendo sighed, its sound being filtered by a voice modulator. He clicked a switch in the back of the helmet, releasing the seal and allowing him to take it off.
"Ikari? I genuinely didn't expect to see you here… Especially dressed up like this."
"And I didn't expect you to be Count Dracula."
Gendo sarcastically replied, awaiting wait happens next.
"Lieutenant Hyuga helped pick this out for me. I'm assuming Naoko picked out this costume for the both of you?"
Before Gendo could answer for himself, Naoko stepped in. Jacques immediately saw what she was wearing. Her "plugsuit" was made up of a purple base and yellow details, the designation on her chest was "MOM".
"Yes I did. I also made this."
. . .
"I see. Well I can see you have put a lot of effort in these co-"
Another sight caught his eyes, It was the three pilots, although they all looked off. They all wore their plug suits, however they all had different shades of skin.
"I'm Shinji Akagi! I'm a subpar Gamer and a Mama's Boy!"
"Im Rei Ayanami, I'm a loudmouth blue haired school girl, who won't shut up about her grades!"
"Im Asuka Langley Soryu! I'm a show-off who brags constantly about beating Shinji in games, And I also leave red hair everywhere!"
The trio now looked annoyed at each other, staring daggers at one another. Naoko simply chuckled, along with everyone else, with the slight exception of Gendo, who snorted slightly.
Ritsuko soon came up to them in her cat outfit, still laughing at the whole display.
"The Haunted Halls are ready, We can send the first batch of people in."
Jacques smiled and clapped his hands together.
"Good, make the announcement to the guests."
Ritsuko nodded and headed off to the stage.
"Shin-man?"
A voice called out, causing Asuka and Shinji to turn to the source.
It was Toji and Kensuke, who were dressed up as a zombie and a soldier respectively. They both had a look of pure confusion.
"You.. Look different…"
"Yeah…"
.
.
"IT'S JUST A COSTUME!"
SAME DAY (DUH)
NERV HQ
HAUNTED HALLS
7:49 PM JST
The group of teens slowly walked down the darkened halls, every one of them (with the exception of Kaworu) sported an uneasy look.
Three of them had been down this hallway multiple times, yet this time was very different. The walls looked almost broken, despite it looking normal just a few days ago.
A few puddles on the floor looked almost like blood, surrounding what looked like bodies riddled with holes.
A sense of dread filled the group (Again, with the exception of Kaworu) as they took in the sight.
"I don't know why you guys are so afraid of this, it's just a bunch of dummies-"
As Kaworu was about finish his sentence, a body falls from the ceiling in front of him. He let out loud high pitched scream.
"GAHHHHHHHH!!!"
. . .
. . .
. . .
"You were saying?"
GEOFRONT GARDENS
8:23 PM JST
. . .
. . .
"So… You dressed up as Jet Alone…"
. . .
"Yep. Had no other ideas for what to dress up as…"
Ritsuko chuckled as she saw the rather poor quality of said Jet Alone costume. Shiro took notice and frowned.
"Oh, cheer up, at least you made yours, mine was something store bought."
"True… But why a cat?"
Ritsuko just grinned before doing a cat pose.
"Well I like cats! Nya!~"
. . .
. . .
"Please don't do that again."
"Aw…"
GEOFRONT GARDENS…
8:32 PM JST
The smell of rather cheap alcohol was in the air. The staff of NERV were enjoying themselves, drinking, laughing and eating.
Misato and Kaji were talking to Naoko, dressed up in suits with clown masks, they both carried fake guns and bags of fake money.
Maya was talking to the Commander in a rock star outfit, the lead singer from a band she likes.
Makoto and Shigeru were talking to one another in some outfits from a game, Makoto was a guy in a blue balaclava and suit, and Shigeru Was a guy in a lab coat carrying a weird looking contraption. Shigeru didn't seem to be happy with this choice of outfit.
Gendo was talking to Fuyutsuki on a bench nearby, just catching up on small things. Fuyutsuki had begun rambling on about his sister's granddaughter.
The kids were chatting at one of the banquet tables, eating and laughing to their heart's content! However Kaworu was still traumatized from the fake body falling in front of him, his angel outfit nearly soiled.
Everything is going so well, everyone is happy and cheerful.
These were peaceful times.
. . .
Peaceful times have never felt so good.
8:57 PM JST
Jacques took a look at his watch, nearly spitting out his drink. He had almost forgotten the main event of the whole party.
The costume contest!
Rounding up the necessary people, he quickly made his way over to the stage. People already took notice and began to gather around the stage, wondering if there was an important announcement to be made, before they too remembered what time it was.
Not before long, crowds of people gathered neatly in front of the pop up stage.
As soon as Jacques was given the thumbs up from the sound crew, he cleared his throat and began.
"Greetings everyone and thank you for attending the Tokyo-III Halloween Party Event."
. . .
"I am commander Jacques LeBlanc, I am the new commander of NERV HQ and your host for tonight."
. . .
"Now, this won't mark the end of the festivities for tonight, but it will mark the person or group with the best costumes! Now, I'm sure all of you have already seen our electronic tally counters near the banquet tables, but if you haven't, there they are! Our prizes for the night is a lifetime pass to DisneyLand Japan in Tokyo-II, and for the people who voted for the winner gets a large amount of candy from around the world!"
The crowd ooed and awed at the prizes.
"So, let me introduce you all to our contestants!"
He gestured to the people coming onto the stage, A few of the bridge staff and the trio of pilots came on. The crowd cheered on as the contestants got to their places.
"Our first contestant is our director of Technical RnD: Dr Naoko Akagi, with her very own custom plugsuit…"
Jacques didn't seem too enthusiastic about this one.
The older men of the crowd cheered loudly.
Gendo, under his mask, was not too happy either.
"Our next contestant or contestants are our most important employees here; Our three main Evangelion Pilots! They have all… dressed up as one another…
The children and teens of the crowd cheered on as they watched the trio step up front and center. They all bowed and posed before they got back in line.
"And another set of contestants, our Tactical Director and Special Investigator, Captain Misato Katsuragi, and Ryoji Kaji! Both dressed up members from the Paycheck Gang!"
The two stepped up and posed, brandishing their fake and rather odd looking guns. Kaji feigned injury and yelled out an odd phrase.
"Aghhh, I need a doctor's bag!"
A good amount of people in the crowd cheered and chuckled, understanding that reference entirely. They stepped back and allowed Jacques to speak again.
"And our final but certainly not least, Gendo Ikari and Sub-Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki, dressed up as Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin!"
They did not step forward, until Naoko gestured for them to do so. Rolling his eyes under his mask, he stepped up and did a fake force choke on the crowd, with a few of them responding with faking being choked.
A smile both formed on Fuyutsuki's and Naoko's faces.
But unbeknownst to them, a very small smile appeared on Gendo's.
He was having fun.
He stepped back into line, Jacques turned to face the crowd once more.
"Now then, It is time to vote for your favorite contestants! The voting machines are now open and ready for use! Remember, you must use your ticket to vote, and you can only vote for one contestant!"
With that, the crowd began their trek over to the voting machines to place their ballots.
9:11 PM JST
About 10 minutes later, a buzzer rang, signaling the end of the voting period.
Murmurs from the crowd talked about who they voted for, and discussed who had the best costume.
Each of them wanted to get a cut of the prizes.
Jacques stepped back onto the stage, with the crowd cheering on.
He had an envelope in his hands, branded with the NERV ensignia. For once throughout this whole thing, he felt nervous, knowing that upsetting a crowd of civilians was more nerve-wracking than upsetting generals. Especially when said crowd can't be controlled by SEELE.
"So, we now have the results for the winners of the costume contest!"
The air was tense with anticipation, everyone wanted to know immediately.
"So, tonight's winner is…"
Silence.
Silence.
He opened the letter slowly, also anxious for the winner of the contest.
He slid up the paper containing the name…
His eyes widening at the results.
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
"GENDO IKARI AND KOZO FUYUTSUKI!"
The crowd went wild!
Gendo under his mask had a genuine look of surprise. He had not expected to win this.
At all.
Applause rang out all around him, from both the crowd and from the people on stage.
A surge of anxiety rose from within him, but so did a sense of pride. He couldn't help but feel some sort of pride for this.
"Congratulations Ikari, It looks like we had the best costumes."
Fuyutsuki patted him on his leather back, proud of his improvements he had tonight.
Naoko gave him a bright smile, eager to congratulate him more once they left the stage.
Is this what appreciation feels like?
What it feels to have some sort of true accomplishment?
Gendo was snapped out of his thoughts when Jacques handed him an envelope with the tickets inside.
"Enjoy yourself Ikari."
A surge of bravery surged within him, as he held the tickets up high in awkward attempt at showing off.
This was a good night.
This was the best night he had in a long time.
He felt…
Happy.
9:34 PM JST
Gendo sat on a banquet table seat, still trying to process what had just happened.
He never expected this to happen at all.
Didn't he already think that?
He shook his head, trying to get the recurring thoughts out of his mind.
An arm wrapped around him, bringing him into an embrace.
He didn't even need to look to see who it was to know who's arm it was.
"Congratulations Gendo."
She gave him a hug, which he was reluctant to return. Sighing she knew he wouldn't, he had enough excitement for one day.
"I'm going to head back home in a bit, do you want to come?"
He paused for a moment, before nodding slightly.
"Alright. I'll get you when it's time." She clapped his shoulder and headed off to talk to some more people.
However a new figure stood before him, casting a slight shadow in front of him. He looked up to face the figure, only to see his son, or was it Asuka… No it was his son.
"Congratulations father…"
Before Gendo could even say anything, Shinji walked off, presumably back to his friend group.
. . .
"I'm getting too old for all this excitement."
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR WAITING FOR THIS CHAPTER!
It took quite a bit of time to come up with and write. At times I wanted to just rush even more through and release it early. But I knew I had to be patient and take my time with this.
I thank you all for reading this chapter and being patient with me.
Have a great Halloween you guys, and I'll see you all in the next chapter!
-DerpymanMT
Deus