The Ultimate Angel: Changing Time Itself
Chapter 9: All Aboard the Queen
Disclaimer:...i am not saying it again and you can't make me!
A/N(as always): Dar Sel'La you may just be on the right track as to whats going to happen on Nov 8th, As for the time frame of the story it will most likely go to Christmas and then finish off with an epilogue. I do realize Rei is rather...scarce in this fic but she has very little to do with this story, as it is Asuka/Shinji so i apologize for all you Rei fans.
November 3rd-Before departure
Shinji sighed leaning against a wall as he waited for Asuka. Kouzou, Misato, Ritsuko and Maya were already aboard the helicopter but Asuka had some last minute packing. He was rather lucky Kouzou agreed to let him take a second person, but he felt it was probably because of his rank as commander. Next to him Kensuke who was currently being known as Kentari was grumbling fixing his dress slightly.
"I can't believe you dressed me like a girl..." Sighing Kensuke adjusted his glasses "Are you sure this will work?" Chuckling slightly at how ridiculous he looked if you knew who it actually was, but other wise it was pretty convincing, fooled Misato..although that wasn't saying much she was known more for looks then brains.
"Relax Kensuke..or should i say Kentari?" He chuckled at his friends glare "You said the UN didn't really get a good look at you, so you should be fine as long as you don't let that blond whig fall off. Sighing his friend nodded, Shinji didn't even need to look at him to know he was getting a Death Glare.
Finally he spotted the familiar redhead coming to the landing pad with a grin, carrying two rather large bags and didn't hesitate to force one on him "Good i'm ready...hey who's that! What the hell are you doing bringing another girl!" Shinji had to force back a chuckle "That's Kentari, an old friend of mine. Don't worry you have no competition...i don't go for those kind of girls" He was dieing to break out in laugher, but he forced it back as he watched Asuka calm down, forcing the new 'girl' to carry her other bag as they boarded the helicopter. It was obvious there was going to be some tension with Asuka around.
Ritsuko smiled her arms folded neatly across her chest "It's about time you guys got here, your eva's will be transported under heavy guard." Shinji blinked sitting down as the Helicopter began to lift off. "Why do we need the Eva's?"
Fuyutsuki spoke first "Commander Ikari, we must be prepared for anything. To have are pilots defenseless on a fortress that will do little to no good against an Angel we must take precautions." He smiled when Shinji simply nodded. "It shouldn't take more then 2 hours to get there."
The trip consisted of a few temper tantrums by Asuka, Board games that often fell over when the Helicopter moved suddenly, and uneasy silence. One of the good things though was Shinji talked with Maya for awhile and found her to quite a nice person to talk to, this of course he only did when Asuka refused to talk to him due to the fact he beat her at a board game, why he liked a girl who got THAT angry was beyond him, but she was getting better.
When the Helicopter landed on the upper landing pad he stretched following as they were all led into the instillation. At first sights the thing looked like just a regular Base, besides the fact it was on water and increased defenses. That was until they were placed in one of the four elevators which began it's decent into the water.
When they got close to the bottom Shinji was astonished with what he saw. A city fit with beautiful lights. Everything was under water protection as walkways within the beautiful Sea City had a tube like look to them.
Asuka pressed her forehead to the wall of the elevator with a slight gasp "It's beautiful! This is going to be a wonderful romantic getaway!" Shinji smiled slightly, her spirits definatly seemed to pick up since she had looked rather disappointed when they first arrived.
The Military officer who was acting as there guide smiled slightly "Welcome to the Queen, Underwater city and Military reinforced Installation. The City is split into 5 districts. The two on the far right and far left are military districts. The two in the south are residential, and the one in the north of the city is all establishments. Restaurants, artificial parks, arcades. Plenty of things."
"You are all allowed access to every part of the city except restricting Military sections unless escorted by a Military officer." As the elevator came to a stop slowly in one of the residential districts Shinji smiled "I guess we should hold off sight seeing till tomorrow and get some rest."
When Everyone agreed to it the guide smiled and nodded "Well then i will lead you to your rooms." Suddenly looking towards Kensuke he blinked "Wait theres one more then theres supposed to be...we...don't have enough rooms to accommodate anyone else."
Sighing slightly Ritsuko shook her head "I figured this might happen, someone has to take on a room mate." When silence followed Misato finally groaned "Well then, i will just share a room with Shinji then, have to protect the commander you know" Smirking slightly she waited..and waited...and just as she suspected Asuka protested.
"I don't think so! If anyone is staying with Shinji it's going to be me!" Although that really wasn't her way of saying she would Misato grinned patting her on the shoulder "So you'll share with Shinji? Wonderful! Well let's go!"
Asuka watched the group head down the hall for a moment before her head processed what happened 'She completely suckered me into that...' Shaking her head she followed after them, it wouldn't be so bad, she had stayed in the same room with him before and now they were together.
Shinji awoke early the next morning stretching as he moved out of the huge bed. "They really did give me a nice room..." He wondered if everyone has the same luxury but pushed it out of his mind. He noticed the bathroom door closed and figured Asuka was wasting no time in preparing for an entire day of being spoiled by him, but it was his job after all.
Searching through his bag he found a change of clothes, once again a simple button up T-shirt and a pair of pants, if he owned anything really dressy no one really knew. Except maybe Kensuke since he had been spending nights in his closet. This thought brought up the image of him dressed as a girl and he chuckled "I can't believe he even did that..."
"Who Did what...?" Asuka had emerged from the bathroom wearing the simple dress he remembered first seeing her in, her hair just washed. "Huh? Oh nothing just thinking about some things." He took Asuka's place on the bathroom, taking a shower before getting ready.
Leaving the bathroom he sighed contently, this trip was really giving him a chance to relax a bit. Slipping into his shoes he smiled. "What did you want to do today?" Asuka grinned slightly thinking it over for a moment "I don't know, we might as well just explore the place i guess."
He briefly wondered what everyone else was planning to do today but his thoughts were promptly cut off by his arm being yanked towards the door.
Shinji had to admit the underwater city was amazing...Each tube like walkway that connected sections of the city were brightly lit along the way, different planets and flowers lining the sides. In the middle of the city they had formed a kind of lake like scenery artificially.
Unfortunately the day seemed to go by rather fast. It started simply enough, the little couple exploring the different places making a comment now and then. Although Shinji didn't remember when, somewhere along the way they ended up holding hands, which was one of the few public appearances of there relationship.
One of the most amazing things about the day was they didn't have a single real fight, a few playful scraps sure but nothing more then that. They did a lot of the things the city had to offer, anything they could find really.
Sitting by the lake Shinji smiled "This really has been a nice day hasn't it?" Turning to look at Asuka she grinned and nodded.
Looking down to her lap Asuka smiled "Hey Shinji? When you first saw me what did you think?" She had purposely worn the dress to almost recreate there first day together...or in actuality to make it different.
Blinking he smiled "I thought you were a beautiful girl...well until you hit me that is...Then i thought i wanted to get away from you before i lost a tooth..." Asuka made a small pout before smirking "And what do you think of me now?"
Tilting his head he thought about it for a moment "I think of you as someone i want to get closer to" This must have been a right answer because he found himself in a rather passionate kiss pinned down to the artificial grass.
It felt like an eternity before she slowly pulled away leaving them both panting for air. Smiling slightly Shinji finally regained control of air "W-what was that for?" With a slight Grin Asuka kissed him quickly "For not making me angry today, and for being so cute..."
The two left the lake side later that day hand in hand once again. When they arrived back at there room Asuka decided to take a nap so it gave Shinji the perfect chance to meet with Kensuke. After she had fallen asleep, looking oh so very cute he quietly left.
Knocking on 'Kentari's' door he heard an attempt at a feminine voice to hold a second. Chuckling he shook his head slowly "Don't worry it's just me" The door was quickly opened din response to that, Kensuke dressed in boys clothing except for a whig it seemed he had just hastily put on.
Slipping into the room he heard it shut behind him "So did you look around the place?" Nodding slightly Kensuke dropped onto the bed with a grunt "Yes, but the only terminals it looks like i could hack in from are in the Military districts, but to even get into them i need you to go to. I don't think i would need the ones in the restricted part...but you never know."
Groaning Shinji nodded "Alright, get ready then" Walking outside he was forced to wait about 10 minutes before his friend walked out pulling at his dress uncomfortably. Holding back the chuckle the two found there way to the east side Military district. Seeing Shinji they let them pass into the basic parts rather easily.
"So do you know where the terminals are?" Kensuke slowly nodded as they quietly exchanged information "Yeah, i hacked into a security terminal but all i got was blue prints...this way..." He led them into an empty room which held a single computer.
"Watch the door outside Shinji." With a groan he did just that waiting for his friend to hopefully finish quickly. Shifting uncomfortably under the suspicious gaze of a few people walking by caused him to hold his breath unconsciously. When the door opened behind him he let it out with a gasp.
Without warning an alarm sounded rather suddenly, thankfully no one was in the hall way at the exact moment. "Come on!" The two ran...they ran for there lives, because he knew things would be terrible for them if they were caught.
Every foot step made him jump, every sound made him scared, and When someone finally did find them the only thing he said was that they should get out of there, of course they wouldn't suspect two teens of hacking into a government terminal...it was a good thing Kensuke wore gloves.
Kensuke sighed as they reached the residential district again "I keep believe we just did that!" Panting softly Shinji leaned against the wall of the walkway "What did you find..."
Groaning Kensuke slowly caught his breath pushing up his glasses "I didn't find much...but i did find a letter saying that they planned on returning to the power the world counted on...or something like that"
Shinji sighed slightly...that information did them no good "Well thanks anyway...thanks for the help" Kensuke groaned and nodded heading off to his room. Shinji hoped that no one ended up suspecting them...it could make things seriously complicated.
Heading off into his room he smiled as he slipped into bed, cuddling slightly with the sleeping Asuka.
Waking up early the next morning to a knock at the door Shinji sighed rolling over only to fall onto the floor, which quickly woke asuka up. "Gah what are you doing Shinji!" When she heard the knock she sighed and pulled the cover back over her watching Shinji crawl over.
Standing he slowly opened the door rubbing his eyes slowly "F-Fuyutsuki? What are you doing here so early?" The old man gave him a friendly smile "You need to get ready, the conference is in an hour"
"W-WHAT! A hour? Are they insane? It's like 6 AM!" Nodding the old man placed a hand on his shoulder "I'll meet you in front of Miss Akagi's room." With that he left Shinji to his voiceless complaints.
Taking a cold shower to wake him up he turned to warm after he was at least partially awake. Even though he finished with a half hour to spare it didn't really matter. Pulling on a more dressy shirt and a better pair of pants he sighed. "I can't believe this i'm going to look like a fool..."
Leaving the room he swiftly walked to Ritsuko's room, seeing the other four members of NERV waiting for him. The small group made it's way to a place in the west military district, the only words his fellow members said were those of luck.
Arriving in a giant conference room Shinji sighed, there were already 3 of the 5 people who were going to hear his plea's in the room already. It looked almost like a court room. There were a few seats for people to watch, which his members took.
He on the other hand was told to sit in a lone seat at the front of the bunch. After about 10 minutes 2 rather profession looking people took there seats by the others. One of them gestured for him to move to the podium.
Clearing his throat the official in the middle looked rather stern "Commander Ikari, you are here to have your case for an extended budget renewed are you not?" Shifting uncomfortably he remembered something Fuyutsuki said before they got here, and that was to never just nod..always use words as a sign of respect. "Y-yes sir that is correct" he tried hard to hid his fear and nerves but it was hard.
The man to the right of the last glared slightly "We have given NERV more then enough money already and i see no reason for us to once again hand out more money when we hardly have enough to keep the UN running."
"I-i understand that sir...but Nerv is currently the only thing that is able to fight the angels...and-" He was cut off by a loud grunt from the man on the far left. "We have heard that excuse many times before, but there will be nothing left to save if we don't have the money are selves to support the people. Now if that is all..." He heard a few of them muttering about him being weak and nothing like his father and quickly felt anger boiling inside him.
Promptly slamming his fist down on the podium he caught the eyes of all 5 who were looking rather strangely at him. "I may not be my father, and i may not be as qualified for commander as he was, but i am also a pilot of Unit-01! I have seen first handed the destruction an Angel can bring and the people it can harm! You may not understand it while you sit behind a desk barking orders at those lower then you, but when your fighting something like that you understand!"
"I have also seen your troops trying to fight one, being batted around and blown up like they were simple pests. An Evangelion is the only thing that is capable of taking one of those things on, and with the increased strength of each ones we need the funding to back up the preparations that are needed." If he could see behind him he would notice a group of grinning Nerv members.
The one who had started talking about his 'weakness' cleared his throat and looked rather serious "Yes...well...we will deliberate and give you are answer in a moment" As he waited in the chair he had sat in just moments ago he was sure they would say no...but the answer never came as the entire city shook violently. "W-what in the world!"
Suddenly a soilder bursted through the doors panting heavily. "A-an angel is attacking the city, he has already cut off two of the elevators upwards and is currently destroying the 3rd fleet!"
A/N: Yes we will have some action next chapter...isn't that nice!