Whoa! Part six! Did anyone figure out what I was talking about last chapter at the end? Did anyone even care enough to think about it? It wasn't as obvious as it seemed. I did get a theory that it had to do with his sync ratio or that it was because he was stronger than what his body could handle… That was good and it did give me some ideas for later but… I'm afraid not… Keep reading and I'll let you know what it was…
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"How are you feeling, Shinji?" Misato asked him. It was a few weeks after the fifth angels attack but she had not seen him since then. The reason for that was because he was locked in his hospital room the entire time, as well as being tied to the bed for trying to escape… seven times… the first three days…
"Well… at least I'm out of that damned hospital… so I can't complain too much… Who am I kidding! Of course I'm gonna complain! Damn you Ritsuko! It's all your fault I was stuck there!"
"My fault!" Ritsuko shouted at him. "If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead already!"
"What the hell are you talking about! I didn't die in battle and there was no way I'd die after the damned thing was over!"
"Are you stupid! Did you really think that something that serious wasn't going to kill you! In fact, I'm surprised your even conscious right now… let alone walking around and yelling as loud as you do… You freak!"
"Me a freak! I go out, save the world, and how am I rewarded? I get tied to a bed for weeks on end, called a freak and… ack!" his complaining was brought to a stop by the introduction of Rei's bag into the back of Shinji's head.
"You should stop yelling, Ikari. You have only recently been released from the hospital. Shouldn't you be acting at least a little bit more… weak?" She said.
"Oh, hello Rei." Misato called out to her. "Glad you're finally here. Maybe you can keep Shinji quiet for a minute so I can tell you what we brought you guys here for."
"Oh that's right!" Shinji exclaimed as he picked himself up from the floor. "Why am I here?"
"Now that we're finally on topic… We wanted to show you this video." Ritsuko told them as it began running on the large screen at the back of the room.
"This was recorded off the coast of New Yokosuka at 3:00 PM." She went on.
"The United Pacific Fleet?" Shinji asked when he saw the armada of boats making their way across the ocean.
"Uh… yes… how did you know?"
"Well… they're a Fleet in the Pacific that's United, right?"
"Sometimes I don't know if you're a genius or an idiot…" she sighed.
"Maybe both?" Misato said.
"No. You are wrong." Rei interrupted them.
"Oh? Defending him, are you Rei?" Misato asked, smirking at her.
"He's an idiot." She said, ignoring Misato's reaction.
"You're probably right…"
"That boat just exploded!" Shinji interrupted. "Hey! Another one blew up!"
"Oh yes. That was the whole purpose of watching this… can't believe I nearly forgot… As you can clearly see. The fleet was attacked. Torpedoes were fired at the attacker with no effect. It was later confirmed that it was in fact, the sixth angel."
"Question." Shinji called out.
"What is it?"
"Why does the government insist on wasting millions of dollars of munitions attacking the angels when it never seems to have any effect on them in the first place?"
"Uh… I have no idea… Anyway, watch what happens when it attacks the large transport ship." As soon as she finished, the events which she told them about began to unfold. The large angel in the water attacked the ship, and as the ship exploded, a shrouded giant leapt from it. It soared through the air, the cloak trailing behind it as it landed on a nearby ship. It stood there facing the oncoming wake with its right arm hanging limply by its side while the left held its cloak draped over itself.
"Wow…" Shinji muttered.
As the giant crouched down, the long cloth that covered the blood-red Eva swirled around it. It then leapt forward again, allowing its cloak to fall to the wayside. It landed on the aircraft carrier then, pulling out a knife from its shoulder, faced the oncoming enemy. The angel jumped out of the water and attempted to crush it; however, the momentum of its flight and the leverage the Eva had allowed it to aid the angel on its voyage over the ship and tossed it over the side. Before it had time to recover, two nearby battleships opened fire on it at point-blank range, annihilating the target.
"True she had help from the Pacific Fleet -- But she defeated the angel within thirty-six-seconds… Before the internal batteries could run out. Evasive maneuvers, decision making, piloting skills -- Whatever you look at, she's perfect. Hard to believe the second child's abilities surpass even the rumors…" Ritsuko said once the video was over.
"But why was the angel there…?" Misato wondered.
"It could have been after Unit-02. It was being transported."
"And where's 02 now?"
"Cage no. 5 -- cold storage. Asuka's checked into a hotel."
"Wow…" Shinji repeated himself. "I had no idea that could look so awesome…"
"Impressed, Shinji?" Misato asked him.
"Ritsuko!" he shouted suddenly.
"Ye… yes?" she replied, thrown off balance by his sudden shout.
"I demand a cloak for my Eva!"
"What! What are you talking about!" Misato shouted. "I thought the battle would have been what would impress you!"
"It was interesting, but all she really did was jump around and toss a big fish over the side."
"Well… I suppose so but still…"
"No buts! I want a cloak for my Eva!"
"Why would you want something so useless, Ikari?" Rei asked.
"Sure, you can complain it's useless, Ayanami, because your Eva isn't bright purple!"
"It seems like a waste of money…" Ritsuko muttered.
"Hey, is your life worth a bit of money!"
"What? Of course not!"
"Then stop complaining and go get me one! It shouldn't be that expensive, should it? You could even throw in a bunch of crazy inventions you've probably though up of but have no way to implement!"
"I'm not sure about this…" Her voice was wavering, implying that her resolve was breaking.
"Come on! What's the point of saving the world if you can't look cool doing it?"
"Oh, Fine! I'll get you your damn coat!"
"All right!" he shouted in triumph. "By the way, what's the pilot like?"
"Oh? Interested now? You're going to make Rei jealous!" Misato taunted.
"The hell? She's gonna fight with us, right? I really would be a complete idiot if I went into battle with unproven comrades."
"She's very bright, that's one thing. Graduated from a German University at fourteen." Ritsuko told him.
"Oh? That's impressive…" he said, quickly loosing interest.
"Hmm…" Misato said as she stared at Shinji and Rei. Then told them, "She could be the most normal of the bunch."
"You included, right Misato?"
"Hey! Stop turning my words against me!"
"Ha ha ha! Way too easy!"
"Well, I'll introduce you to her tomorrow, after we go through the official procedures. Come to HQ as soon as school lets out, okay?"
"Okay." He said as he walked out.
"So there were more Eva's out there?" Shinji asked Rei as they rode the elevator.
"Yes." She replied.
"You knew the whole time, didn't you!"
"Yes." She said again.
"And you never once told me!"
"Yes."
"Why not!"
"Yes."
"You're not even listening, are you?"
"Yes."
"Hey, did you know that idiots say yes?"
"Ye…" she managed to say as she realized what he had told her.
"Ha ha ha!" he laughed until Rei hit him in the face with her bag.
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"See you later Ikari. I'll go on ahead." Rei called out to Shinji after school the next day.
"Oh, okay Ayanami. See you later." He answered as she left.
"Hey Ikari! What was dat about, huh?" A voice called out to him. He turned and saw the guy he had beaten up a while ago facing him.
"Huh? Umm… Toji, wasn't it?"
"What! How could ya forget me like dat, eh?"
"Right… Anyway, what was what about?"
"Ayanami!" Toji's sidekick, Kensuke, said.
"What about her?"
"Well, she talked to you! She's never just said something for no reason before, right?"
"Something happened between youse, didnnit?" Toji demanded.
"Like what?" Shinji asked, still not getting his meaning.
"Dammit, Ikari gets all the good parts. Can't you just be satisfied with a beauty like Misato…?" Kensuke complained.
"Ya better treat us ta somethin'!"
"What the hell are you talking about? Wait… how the hell do you know about Misato!"
"Uh…" Toji stammered before being saved by Kensuke.
"Hey Toji -- look!" He called out, smiling creepily as he did so. The two walking behind him stopped and looked towards where he had directed them.
What had caught his Kensuke and Toji's attention was a red-headed girl playing with one of those rigged crane-thing games; UFO Catcher it was called.
"Whoa, whadda babe!" Toji said.
"Totally my type." Kensuke added.
"Whoa!" Shinji said while thinking 'Isn't one of those dolls in the thing a character from Nadia!'
"Ikari! Yer not allowed ta look!" Toji shouted and grabbed his head.
"Argh! Damn you, let go!"
'Ooh, I can almost… almost see…' Kensuke thought to himself, crouching down.
'God damn these guys are perverted… No wonder I don't hang out with them…' was Shinji's thoughts on the whole matter.
"Ach!" the girl shouted and kicked the game shouting. "Scheiβe! What's wrong with this damn machine!"
'I was right! I see a Nadia doll right there! And is that…Is that supposed to be me! What the hell! If Misato is making money off of me she's gonna pay!'
"Now, too bad about her personality." Toji said.
"Just once, I wish a girl like that would order me around♥!" Kensuke drawled.
'What the hell! That's just plain creepy! How the hell did he talk with a heart in his voice!' Shinji asked himself. The group, sans Kensuke, began walking away slowly when they noticed her turn around.
"Hey! What are you guys looking at?" She demanded.
"Huh?" Toji exclaimed.
"Oh Nuttin'…" Toji frantically exclaimed.
"Oh wow, she's spoken to me…♥" Kensuke fervently muttered.
"Hrmph!" she huffed, facing them with her arms crossed.
"Gimme 100 yen." She then said after a moment of thought.
"Huh? 100 yen?" Toji asked, nervous at having Kensuke's creepy-smiled heart-eyed face so close to his own.
"I'm out of tokens. It's not much -- 100 each." She explained.
"You crazy? Why do we have ta…" Toji began shouting. Now that Kensuke was a safe distance from him, he was able to become angry.
"Cool. She's shaking us down!" Kensuke blathered on.
"It's a peeping fee. You saw my panties, didn't you?" She asked.
"N-not yet!" Toji said.
"Oh, puh-lease! Don't tell me you don't have any money on you. Of course, if you are broke, that could explain the way you dress. Pathetic."
'Damn she's mean…' Shinji thought.
"Ya bleach-brained bitch! Whadidyasay?" Toji demanded, now fully enraged.
"H-hey, Toji!" Kensuke said. Finally snapping out of his daze.
"Dontcha get on no high horse 'cause ya think yer cute!" he shouted, grabbing her arm.
"Ewww! Don't touch me, Monkeyboy!" She shouted right back. Then, as she pulled her arm away from him said, "Let me go!" Her arm was released, crashing into the back of the guy behind her with a loud BONK.
KAPOW the machine said as the simulated plane was destroyed.
"OH, NO!" the guy shouted out.
"Oops! Sorry." She apologized.
"You think sorry's gonna cut it! Finally got to the last level! Whatcha gonna do 'bout that, huh!" he shouted at her.
"This guy talks like the monkey too." She muttered.
"Toji, do something. He's got your accent!" Kensuke demanded.
"What does dat haveta do widdit!" he asked. Shinji watched over the whole thing, highly entertained at this turn of events.
"Yeah, you gonna be sorry!" he threatened and grabbed her face.
'Big mistake!' Shinji thought. He was proven right as a split second later, her left foot came up and struck him squarely in the face, knocking him back and to the ground.
"Y-y-you… Bitch!" the guy shouted. "Hey, guys! Wanna come get some?" at his words, a group of six men walked out of the arcade and faced her.
"All right." They answered.
"Calling for backup against a kid…!" she said to herself. "Oh, look!" she shouted, pointing at the sky. While they were distracted, she threw a kick at one of the men's groin. Unfortunately, he noticed and grabbed her leg mid kick.
"Heh heh heh… Sorry, princess." The man told her. "That's not gonna work against me!"
"I think that's about enough." Shinji said. Noticing the disadvantageous position the girl was in.
"Who the hell are you!" Another asked. "We're a little busy right now so beat it kid, before we hurt you!"
"Now, now…. There's no need for violence." He told them in a condescending voice. "Just drop your wallets and leave, and I won't have to hurt you."
"What the hell! You bastard!" he shouted and punched at him. Shinji easily sidestepped and grabbed the man's arm. "If that is the way you wish for things to be…" he said then struck him in his outstretched arm, just a single punch. Surprisingly enough, the man fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Damn…" Shinji said as he pulled out the fallen guy's wallet. "Only 800 yen…"
Sensing an opportunity, another guy swung at Shinji with a length of pipe. Shinji ducked under it, and delivered a right elbow to the solar plexus, another knock out.
'What the hell is up with this kid!' the first guy thought to himself. We can't beat him going one-on-one…' "Gang up on him!" was his order.
Two more guys struck at him but hit nothing but air. He had stepped between and behind them and, with a swift turn, knocked them both out with a strike to the base of the skull. The next two came at him with drawn knives. They slashed and stabbed at him but missed every time. It was after one of them missed with an extremely wide slash that he was able to enter his range and deliver an uppercut to the neck, just above the actual throat. Hitting a nerve point at the base of his jaw, making him pass out as well. The sixth lunged at him with his knife extended before him like a sword. Shinji ducked backward and, with one leg raised, delivered a front thrust-kick to the chest, a sixth consecutive victory for him.
'Wh-what the hell!' the last and first guy thought to himself. 'H-he took out all my guys!'
"As fun as this is," Shinji told him as he searched through the pockets of the fallen victims, "I have somewhere to go so, if you don't mind, I'd rather have your wallet than your life." He extended his hand towards him and the guy, loosing all remaining courage, dropped his wallet and ran.
"No sense of loyalty…" he said as he retrieved it. "Hmm? Not bad, 12000 yen…"
"Who the hell are you!" the girl demanded, once the shock had worn off.
"Me?" he asked. "I am no one of importance. Just a shadow passing through, so if you'll excuse me..."
"What the hell!" She shouted as a powerful gust of wind blew into her face, blocking her vision. When she looked again, he was nowhere in sight.
"Wow… now that's an exit…" Kensuke muttered to Toji.
"How do ya think he pulled it off…?"
The girl was about to demand from the two who were left who the hell that guy was when a sound stopped her short. Police sirens, and close by…
"Ach, crap!" she shouted.
"The cops!" Toji shouted.
"See ya! Must run!" she yelled out.
"She's so fast… so cool." Kensuke began drawling again.
"Not now, Kensuke!" Toji shouted. "Run!"
As the girl and both guys ran off, Shinji stepped out of the store he had ducked into and looked around. 'Damn, I'd better get out of here too…' he though to himself and ran into an alley.
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'Well, that was fun…' Shinji thought as he arrived at NERV. 'Maybe I should go out and mug street punks more often, I forgot how much fun that could be!' Shinji's reminiscence was cut short when he heard a familiar screech.
"What's wrong with this damn machine!" the voice shouted, accompanied by the sound of a foot smashing against metal after every word. "Take that! And that!"
'Where have I heard that before…?' he thought as he rounded the corner and stopped short as he saw the one making so much noise.
"They just issued this card! Why won't it take it?" the red-haired girl shouted.
'Who the hell could she be? Is she a NERV employee? Hmm…' As Shinji walked towards the gate, the girl turned around to see who was approaching her.
Hiding the look of surprise which covered her face, she said to him "Well, well! What are you doing here?" Shinji just smirked at her and kept walking towards the gate.
"Well!" she demanded. "What on earth are you doing here?"
"You'll find out soon enough…" he said and pulled out his own Id. He swiped it through the card reader and hid it in his pocket again as the gate before him opened.
"Damn you!" she shouted at him. "Don't ignore me!" He turned around once more and smirked at her again before the gate slammed shut between them.
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"Allow me to introduce Miss Asuka Soryu." Misato told Rei. "Asuka, this is the pilot of Unit-00, Rei Ayanami."
"How do you do?" Asuka said in a false cheery voice.
"Nice to meet you." Rei told her.
"Hey, wasn't there supposed to be two pilots?" Asuka asked Misato as she realized there was only one in the room.
"Yes… the pilot for Unit-01 was… delayed somewhat, but he will get here soon enough…" Misato informed her. "Speaking of which, what's his ETA Ritsuko?"
"Umm… section two reports that they lost sight of him…"
"What, again! Where is he now!"
"Right here." He called out.
"What the… Anyway, Asuka, this is the pilot for the first unit," Misato said.
"Shinji Ikari." He said
"Y-y-you!" she shouted at him.
"Indeed." He replied with a small nod.
"Oh?" Misato intervened. "When did the two of you meet?"
"Oh!" Asuka shouted and was about to say something when Shinji interrupted.
"I ran into her at the entrance earlier today."
"Oh is that it?" Misato asked. A little disappointed.
"Yes." Shinji told her. Then whispering to Asuka who was now standing next to him said "If you tell anyone I mugged those guys you'll pay for it."
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"I'm afraid it was and eventful voyage." A man said. He and another were standing in a large black room which had the Tree of Life engraved on the ceiling and floor.
"I never thought we'd run into an angel on our way here. So, was it because of this? Quite an amazing little cargo…! In suspended animation for now, but it's definitely alive. This is it, isn't it? The key to the instrumentality project…"
"That's right." The second man, Gendo Ikari, said. "You're holding the first human… Adam."
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"Grab whatever you want," Misato called out to the three pilots behind her in the NERV cafeteria, "although the pickings are slim."
"Drinking on duty, Misato?" Shinji asked.
"Shut up, Shinji! One doesn't count!" She yelled at him before turning to Asuka who sat in front of her. "Nice fight with the angel! We saw it on videotape… I'd heard rumors about an amazing second child – head and shoulders above our little newbie, Shinji."
"Oh I can't be that good. Tee hee!" She giggled in her false voice. "I mean, really… I still have so much to learn!"
"Oh man…" Shinji said, shaking his head.
"What's wrong?" Misato asked him.
"If I'm already better than her, we are really screwed over… Hasn't she been training to pilot for years? If I surpassed her in the few months I've been doing it… we're as good as dead already…"
"Why you…!" Asuka growled under her breath.
"Now, now Shinji… There's no need to be so mean to… AAK!" she screamed as someone grabbed her head from behind. "Wh--who's there? Cut it out!"
"Kaji!" Asuka squealed.
"What!" Misato shouted.
"Still drinking in the middle of the day, huh?" The man named Kaji told a stunned Misato. "Ya know… you're gonna get a gut."
"Wh - wh - what are you doing here!" she shouted while scooting onto the table away from him.
"That's a nice way to say hello when we haven't seen each other in forever." He told her. "I accompanied Asuka on a business trip from Germany."
"Aww, where've you been?" She asked, clinging onto his arm.
"Well, good for you. If you're done with business, can't you be on your way?" Misato told him.
"'Fraid not! No plans to leave for the time being." He said.
"I see…" Misato sounded disappointed and extremely annoyed.
"Are you Shinji Ikari?" He asked when he caught sight of him.
"Hmm… yeah, but who the heck are you, and how did you know my name?"
"You're famous… at least in our biz!" he told him then, patting Rei's head said, "I know Rei, too, of course." She looked up at him with extreme disinterest, just how anyone could tell when she always looked that way however, was a complete mystery indeed.
"The third child who piloted an Eva in battle -- with no prior training." He continued. "And who's defeated three angels to boot!"
"Wow…" Asuka said, trying to get Kaji's attention on her again. "But I defeated the fourth…"
"Umm… yeah…" Shinji said. "It was more like two, seeing as I just kinda stood there during the fifth's attack… I could have used the backup of two huge battleships though…"
"Hehe… You must be a prodigy then…" Kaji told him. Asuka glared at him from behind Kaji, furious at Shinji for having made her efforts against the sixth angel seem almost meaningless.
"So I hear you're living with Katsuragi?" he then asked Shinji.
"Yeah…" he said.
"Does she still sleep sprawled all over the bed?" At Kaji's words, all three girls' mouths fell open. Misato's in absolute shock, Asuka's in rage and surprise, Rei's with a spoon heading towards it.
"And just what do you mean by that!" Shinji asked.
"Oh? Isn't it obvious?" Kaji said.
"God damn…" Shinji said, exasperated. "This world is either completely infested with perverts, or I have the worst luck in meeting people…" he stood up, still looking annoyed and said "If you'll excuse me…" At his words there was a loud crash off to the side and when they turned to look, it was a NERV employee who had dropped his tray. They turned towards Shinji a second later and he was already gone.
"Again!" Asuka nearly screamed.
"Now that was an impressive exit." Kaji said.
"How does he keep doing that!" Misato wondered.
'Ikari runs very fast…' Rei thought.
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"Say what!" A very loud voice thundered within the school building. "She's an Eva pilot? No way!" The owner of the voice, Toji this time, shouted.
"Yeah…" Shinji muttered.
"I wonder if only weirdos get chosen to be pilots." Kensuke wondered.
"Most likely…" Shinji said.
"Hey, Shinji?" he asked.
"What is it…?"
"Do you think I'm weird?"
"Hmm…" he said at looked at him. "No. You're more freaky than weird…"
"Well… we'll probably never see her again." Toji told Shinji. Then added "But hey! It's your Jay-oh-bee, so you can't help it! I feel sorry for ya."
"And I envy you… sigh." Kensuke added.
Their conversation was cut short as the door to the classroom opened and in walked the very girl two of the three were talking about.
"Yaaaaah!" Toji shouted.
"Oh… you three in the same class?" She told them. "Losers! Nyaah!"
She walked to the front of the class and introduced herself. "I'm Asuka Langley Soryu. Nice to meet you."
"What's wid' all da kissass?" Toji muttered as she walked towards her seat and saw the whole class turning to get a better look at her.
"She- she looks so cool."
"Check out her hair! Golden-Red, and such body…"
"Seriously cute. And her legs -- so long." The muttering about her went on from every person in the class except for three places. The teacher, who was currently babbling on and on about second impact; Rei's seat, because she couldn't care less; and Shinji's, because he was fast asleep.
"God that was soooo boring!" Asuka complained loudly to Shinji as she walked to NERV once class was over. "Japanese schools are so dull. What low standards!"
"Don't tell me -- it's not my fault. Besides, that's why I always sleep through it." He told her.
"And is that teacher stupid or what? He actually bought all that government disinformation?"
"Huh?" he asked.
There was a moment of stunned silence until Asuka exclaimed, "Oh my god… don't tell me you don't know? About the Second Impact?"
Shinji just shrugged.
"Heh heh." She laughed. "You don't know anything, do you? And you call yourself the third child?"
"If you say so…" he said, getting a bit annoyed at her taunting.
"Okay. Want me to tell you?" She asked and began anyway. "Fifteen years ago… a Humanoid Object termed the first 'Angel,' was found in Antarctica. During the probe, there was an explosion of unknown origin. That was the real second impact. And, our duty, as Eva pilots, is to prevent a Third Impact from ever happening! So they kept you ignorant of most of the facts? Unbelievable!"
"Right…" he said.
"What's with that attitude!" she shouted. "I go out of my way to enlighten you and you have the nerve to act that way!"
"I never asked for an explanation. I did not know because I did not care enough to find out. It seems to me that you wanted a reason to flaunt your superiority over me, am I right?"
"Why you… How dare you talk to me like that!" She shouted before being interrupted.
"Excuse me… Could I get by?" Rei said, coming out of nowhere.
"Hey! Wait a sec, First!" she called out to her and ran forward the small distance between them.
"Now what?" she asked.
"I hear you're commander Ikari's pet… Even though you're frigid as a stone." She taunted her.
"And what business is that of yours?" She asked her before looking away.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you! Don't make a fool of me just because you're the current favorite!" She shouted as she grabbed Rei by the shoulder.
"I think that's about enough." Shinji told her.
Asuka turned around and was about to yell something at him when his eyes stopped her short. It was the same look he had when he fought those thugs. His face was smiling but his eyes were glinting dangerously.
"I see…" She said once she composed herself. "So that's how it is… First Misato, now you guys… I can't stand it!" she shouted out to both of them and was about to run off when Shinji spoke again.
"Don't be an idiot."
"Wha- who are you calling an idiot!" she demanded.
"You, of course. I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet…"
"Figured what out!"
"Heh, not even the question, huh? Look, Ayanami here is the favorite for obvious reasons."
"What the hell are you talking about!"
"Ugh… too complicated for you? Ayanami is favored over the three of us because of this: You, he doesn't know because you two have never met; Me, I've threaten to kill him before and generally take any and all chances to make him look like an idiot. That, obviously leaves only one. In the commander's position, which one would you choose?"
"Uh… I guess…" she muttered.
"Besides, what kind of idiot would want to actually spend time with that bastard?" he smirked at the confused Asuka and the angered Rei, angry because he indirectly called her an idiot, and walked off past them. They turned to find him gone.
"Argh! Next time I find him, I am so forcing him to tell me how he does that!" Asuka ranted and stormed off.
Rei stood there and waited until she was out of sight before calling out, "She's gone…"
At her words, Shinji jumped down from where he had climbed up in the split second before Asuka had turned.
"So who's an idiot!" she asked him.
"Umm… heh heh… Anyway, what do you think about the new pilot?"
"She seems a bit stuck up and it appears as though it will be hard to work with her…"
"Yeah well… I thought the same about you when we first met…"
"What?"
"It's true… at first, no matter what I said or did, you didn't seem to react in the slightest. Then again, living as long as you did with the commander would have driven most people insane…"
"Yes… compared to now… those times seem awfully bleak."
"But in truth," he lightly held her chin in his hand, leaned close to her and whispered "who would have realized that behind such a cute face lay so much… sadism." He saw the shocked expression on her face at his words as well as the crimson blush across her features and, smiling slightly, turned and walked away.
As Rei's mind frantically tried to reboot, the part that was still conscious thought over his words. It's when she got up to the 'sadist' part that she acted.
"Why you!" she shouted at him and threw her bag at him. Surprisingly enough, it reached him and slammed, corner first, into the back of his head, possibly knocking him out.
----------
"Still a world class workaholic, eh, Ritsuko?" Kaji asked as he wrapped his arms around her neck as she sat in her lab, examining the latest Eva test readouts. "By the looks of things, you don't even have a boyfriend yet, do you?"
"Ah, Kaji. Long time no see." She told him once she confirmed his identity.
"The guys at NERV have surely lost theirs -- to leave a rose like you lonely."
"Ha, ha… you haven't changed a bit!"
"Perhaps I should be the one…?" He asked her and turned her face to look at him.
"You say that, but you don't mean it. So... best to move that hand… because there's a scaaaary lady watching us." She said as Kaji noticed Misato was in the room.
"Unbelievable!" She shouted at him. "Why are you always like this! You never learn!"
"Take it outside…" Ritsuko complained.
"It's my prerogative!" Kaji protested. "Besides, what do you have to get mad about? I thought there was nothing more between us. Unless… you haven't gotten over me?"
"F YOU!" She shouted and punched the wall to the left of his head, leaving a crater which could have easily been mistaken as being caused by artillery or other similarly large caliber weaponry."
"Even if I was young, it was the worst mistake of my life to go out with you!"
"Don't get so upset -- you'll get wrinkles." Kaji counseled.
"SHUT UP!" She yelled and was about to keep going before she was interrupted by the alarm.
"Now what?" Kaji wondered, looking towards the speaker on the wall.
"An enemy attack!" Misato shouted.
----------
"Cruiser Haruna on watch reports a large submerged object off the Kii peninsula."
"Sending data now." The reports came in and it was confirmed that the seventh angel had arrived as a tech said "Pattern blue. It's an angel!"
"Level one battle stations!" Fuyutsuki commanded.
"All Eva pilots!" Misato's voice blared though the speakers. "Prepare to sortie!"
Asuka turned towards the speaker from which the voice came from and thought to herself. 'Alright! My first battle in Japan! I'll show those other two that I am indeed the greatest!'
Likewise, Shinji and Rei noticed as well. Shinji was still laying on the floor with blood oozing around his head while Rei poked him with her foot to gauge whether she had really killed him or not. "Damn. Time to work…" Shinji said and stood up.
"Tokyo-3's Intercept System is still under repair from the last alert! We're only at 26 effectiveness…" the soldier reported to Misato "For tactical purposes that's Zero"
"We've got to intercept the target on the waterfront -- before it gets ashore!" Misato commanded. "Understand!"
"Unit -01 and 02 will attack the target in turns. Close combat regs." She then said, turning to the two pilots.
"Why isn't Ayanami fighting with us?" Shinji asked.
"That's because her Eva, while not damaged during the last attack, still has some errors and it would not be safe to deploy it in combat."
"Oh, alright."
"We'll power up the Evas when you reach the surface."
"Okay! Sure thing, Misato!" Asuka replied in her fake voice.
"Oh great -- personality #2!" Shinji complained to himself.
"I heard that." She said on the small image next to Shinji's head. "I'm really all they need for this. Try not to get in my way, maggot."
"Fine. If we lose, it'll be your fault." He said as he cut communications with the red Eva.
"Shinji!" Misato shouted, angry because he seemed to have cut off the bridge as well.
"What?" he said, surprising her.
"Umm… never mind…"
"Unit-01 and 02, lift off from linear route 26!"
As the purple and red behemoths reached the surface, they reached down towards the ground and connected their power cables to themselves. "Umbilical cables connected! Begin power transmission!"
As the two units moved forward, they walked into the flooded remnants of the old Tokyo. The red Eva had a spear while the purple one carried a rifle.
"Come and get it!" Asuka said as she stood before her enemy.
"Here it comes…" Shinji said as the wake came into view.
"I'll go first!" Asuka declared. "You better back me up!"
As the wake exploded, the angel appeared amid an explosion of water. It had a humanoid shape and its arms were long and curved, almost like a boomerang on its body. It had two cores and its face was like a mask made up of two distinct parts, much like the yin-yang symbol, only different colors.
"Begin attack!" Misato ordered. The red unit ran forward hefting her spear as Shinji aimed and fired with his rifle. The rounds did nothing as they were deflected by the A.T. field but it did cause enough of a distraction to allow Asuka to close in within melee range.
"Looks good!" Asuka shouted as she leapt up and brandished her spear. She slammed it down with the full length of her weight behind her. The immense power concentrated in that attack was enough to slice the angel in half with that one strike.
"Beautiful!" Misato shouted. "Good job, Asuka."
"Oh… it was nothing." She simpered.
"You moron!" Shinji shouted and ran towards her.
"What are you doing!" She demanded as he roughly pushed her aside. He spun his Eva around and delivered a spinning side-heel-kick to on half of the angel which was beginning to regenerate.
"Don't you ever turn your back on an enemy!" he shouted at her.
"What!" both Misato and Asuka shouted as both angel halves formed into two separate entities.
"No way! What the hell!" Asuka shouted. "No fair!"
"What the hell?" Shinji said. "Of course it's fair. There are no rules for a fight to the death!" With that he opened fire again on one of the two angels.
"Damn this rifle's useless!" he shouted and tossed it to the side. He ran forward and punched at the angel instead. It reeled back from the strike and Shinji kept hammering it, unfortunately with little to no effect seeing as how any injury he was able to cause healed almost instantly.
Asuka however, was fairing just as well as he was. She struck with her weapon but it healed just as fast.
"Asuka, aim for the core!" Misato shouted. She stabbed through the core with her spear but it healed just as fast as the rest of the injuries it had sustained.
"It's no use!" She shouted. "Now what!"
"Hng!" Shinji grunted as he was thrown up into the air
"What the?" Asuka said as she turned to see what had happened to him.
While she was distracted her Eva was also picked up by her opponent. The two angels threw the Evas at each other and mid-flight, Shinji spun around, kicked off of Asuka's Eva which was then slammed into the ground and delivered a flying kick to the one who tossed Asuka. He spun it around by its leg until releasing it in the direction of the second one. They smashed into each other and flew back a ways until hitting the ground. Unfortunately, they just stood up with no visible damage.
"Damn! Now what!"
"Shinji! Grab Asuka and get the hell out of there! We're gonna drop an N2 mine! It's on its way!"
"What the hell! You couldn't wait for us to leave!" Grabbing the leg of the disabled Unit-02, he retreated shouting "Run away!" he barely managed to dive into an emergency entry after tossing Asuka in before the N2 mine detonated.
----------
"At 4:03 AM, NERV gave up the right of command which was transferred to UN-2" The pilots were informed after the whole embarrassing situation was over.
"Tsk! Tsk!" Fuyutsuki said.
"I--I'm sorry…" Misato mumbled.
"….." the pilots said.
"At 4:05, the target is attacked with a new N2 bomb resulting in a twenty-eight percent incineration of the target."
"So they're dead?" Asuka asked.
"It only immobilized them. Their healing systems are no doubt at work." She was answered.
"You two!" The commander finally spoke.
"Yes…" they answered unenthusiastically.
"Do you know what your jobs are?" he demanded.
"To pilot Eva…?" Asuka asked.
"No." he said. "It's…"
"To defeat the angels." Shinji interrupted.
"That is correct…" he said, getting angry. "NERV does not need this sort of Negative attention."
"I would disagree on that, commander…" Shinji told him.
"What?"
"In fact, I believe that this shows exactly how difficult it is to combat the angels with limited equipment, nearly non-existent intel, and an incompetent commander."
"Is that so…"
"Yes, it is. Perhaps you truly have no idea how it feels to be ordered to fight to the death with opponents as monstrous as they are, but I assure you it is not an easy task."
"I suggest you watch your tone, pilot. I assure you that you are not as indispensable as you seem to think you are." He told him and walked out of the room.
Fuyutsuki followed, a bit shocked after this conversation, with Rei trailing behind. She looked extremely reluctant to have to be in the presence of the commander after talking with Shinji but did not see a way to get out of it.
----------
"My first battle in Japan was ruined -- because of you!" She shouted at him after they had left the briefing room.
"What the hell? How is your failure my fault?" he demanded.
"Did you forget already? It's because you stepped on my precious Eva and slammed it into the ground!"
"Hey! It was either that or get slammed into each other. We were both gonna get knocked out then so I had to choose at least one of us to be able to retreat."
"So why did it have to be you!"
"Maybe because you have the reflexes of a dead cow!"
"A dead cow!"
"Yes! A festering old carcass!"
"Why you bastard! How dare you call me a cow?"
"Then don't act like one!"
"And what, you think you're any better!"
"You said so yourself, didn't you?"
"Well… that's because…"
"You tried acting humble, right… That just makes you look like an idiot! Acting like that's gonna get you nowhere! It just makes people think you suck! It just takes one person to make a statement like what I said to make people believe it! Besides, I did tell you that if we lost, it would be your fault, didn't I?"
"Oh, now it's my fault!"
"If you hadn't charged like the idiot you are…"
"What did you say!"
"Hey! Squabbling at a time like this?" Kaji asked from behind Asuka.
"Oh! Mr. Kaji! ♥" Asuka squealed.
"What better time than now?" Shinji said.
"Ha ha, you might have a point! By the way, that was an impressive 'conversation' you had with the commander."
"Yeah I thought so… It was either that or let someone else take the blame…"
"So you took the bullet for everyone? How noble!"
"What…? No, it was nothing that great… I just didn't want him to keep on talking…"
"I see! Okay you two -- how about dinner? You haven't eaten yet, have you?" he said and grabbed Shinji by the shoulder and led them forward.
"Yay! I'd love to go out with you! ♥" Asuka said.
"Say, Kaji… what about Misato?"
"I'll doubt she'll get any supper tonight. Being in charge sometimes means taking the heat."
----------
"That's it!" Ritsuko said, gesturing towards the mountain of paperwork currently piled on Misato's desk. "Damage reports and protest from each pertaining ministry. And here's the bill from the UN." She finished and handed her a small envelope.
"How's the Eva repair going?" She asked and threw the bill to the side.
"Five days in the shop." She said.
"And the angels?"
"Currently regenerating. Magi predict a new attack five days from now."
"So both sides are out of action for the time being…"
"Commander Ikari wasn't happy."
"I bet… You'll probably get fired the next time you fail."
"Hey don't talk like that!"
"Of course, a really bright idea might help keep your job…" She said and held up a small disk. "Say… this one?"
"An idea! For me! Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, you're amazing!" She shouted.
"Sorry -- I didn't come up with it…"
"What? Then who?" She said and looked at the disk labeled 'To my honey ♥'.
"I don't want it." She said, holding it off to the side.
"So you'd rather get fired?" She asked, still smiling.
----------
"You understand don't you, Mr. Kaji…" Asuka complained as they ate. "That that truly didn't represent my real abilities? Of course, I don't know about Shinji…"
"Hey! Incase you forgot I actually survived the attack!"
"Why you…!"
"C'mon you two -- don't get so upset. The match isn't over yet. Just work harder next time."
"Aw, but with the Evas broken, who knows when we'll get a next time?" Asuka complained.
"Would the pilots for Eva Unit-01 and 02 please report to the second conference room at once." The intercom. blared. "Repeat, would the pilots for Eva Unit-01 and…"
"See, you're wanted already. Good luck…" Kaji told him.
----------
"I wonder what the hell it is that they could want…" Shinji wondered.
"It doesn't really matter -- but you're so inconsiderate!" she shouted.
"Wha…?"
"Mr. Kaji asked me out to dinner, but I couldn't be alone with him! Why did you have to tag along!"
"Poor guy…" Shinji muttered.
"What was that!"
"You're gonna get him arrested one of these days…"
Before Asuka had a chance to reply Misato showed up and said "Shinji, Asuka. This way."
"Were are we going?" Shinji asked after a few minutes of walking.
"To prepare for your next operation. Just follow me."
"Our next operation?"
"Our supercomputer simulations have revealed that the halves of the seventh angel are operating in perfect tandem. Even divided it acts with one mind. The only way to defeat the seventh angel is to attack both cores at once. It'll take perfect timing from both Evas. We'll need complete harmony between you two or the missions a failure. Here we are. Come on in."
"Wh-what is this?" Asuka asked as they walked into a room.
"it's a regular twin bedroom…" Shinji said.
"Welcome to your new quarters! You'll be living here for the next five days."
A moment of silence and then a shout that reverberated across the whole of NERV. "WHAAAT!"
To be continued…
Alright, time to clarify some things. First, about the dolls in the crane-game-thing, they really are there. I was staring at the picture, trying to think what to write and I realized it was there! I'm guessing about the Shinji doll but it is possible… Okay then, next point, the fighting. I wasn't exaggerating about the simple seeming one-hit-KO's. I saw a program on TV on Sunday I think it was… about Martial Arts on the discovery channel and it gave me an idea as to what to do during fights… If anyone saw it then they'll get why they went down so fast. If not, then take my word for it. That's it I'm done… Oh right! Almost forgot! The reason? --- A vending machine fell on him… Seriously… look back at his conversation with that thought in mind and it makes sense. Sorry if anyone thought it was some hugely important thing or something but… just random stupidity…
Later!