Ritsuko sighed in joy as she pulled a can of beer away from her lips after taking a long sip.
"Gimme." Misato waved her hand at the woman as she had finished putting on her new uniform after the chief science officer had given her a thorough physical examination.
Risuko pushed an unopened can of beer to Misato's hand, and she punched the lid before drinking the entire can in one go.
NERV-affiliated troops had boarded, extinguished, apprehended, rescued, and searched through the aircraft carrier 'Over the Rainbow', or rather, the aircraft carrier's wreck that was currently located in Geofront, tilted to one side after having dug a massive trench on the underground 'woodland', and was currently belching plumes of smoke as firefighters were extinguishing the ship's many fires
The UN staff that had been still alive on board the carrier had been given first aid and sent to Tokoy-3's hospital, and NERV-affiliated staff aboard the carrier had been transferred over to Central Dogma's medical facilities.
Unit-02 had been recovered, as well as it's pilots, and the engineering corps were currently busy moving the EVA to the pens where a new leg and fingers could be fitted into the massive biomechanical walker. And also fix the burn that had almost cracked the EVA's Solenoid Engine.
"So, how'd I do?" Misato asked as she put the beer can aside. "I feel great, by the way."
"Hm… How do I put this…" Ritsuko seemed to be thinking quite hard. "Let's put it this way- Do you remember that one time in college when you, me, Kaji, and a couple of the others got shit-faced drunk and started to pick a fight in a bar?"
"I wish I could forget." Misato groaned. "It didn't go too well…"
"Yeah, you got stabbed and Kaji had to drag you off before you'd spill your intestines. It also damaged your intestinal tract to the point the doctors had to cut part of it off." Ritsuko noted a bit dryly.
"Yeah, I remember that you were assisting the doctor at the time… Or at least insisting that you wanted to operate on me, with tears in your eyes. Which normally I wouldn't have problems with, nowadays anyway, except that back then you were as shitfaced as I was. And also just a medical intern." Misato noted equally dryly and Ritsuko coughed to her hand a bit. "What about that though?"
"The intestine. It's healed. Completely. As well as a bunch of other scrapes and scars you had on your bio." Ritsuko waved her hand at the monitor. "Moreover you had a broken bone over here in the past, which had reattached a bit misaligned… And it's healed as well. What exactly happened to you aboard that carrier, Misato?"
"'Second' happened." Misato told the doctor. "It poured something red on me. I don't think it was blood, it was too runny. Perhaps more like a really concentrated LCL. It was bright red and opaque at any rate."
"Hm… Curious." Ritsuko leaned back while scratching her chin. "LCL does support life and oxygenates cells, allowing humans to breathe in it. But I never expected it to have that kind of an effect. That, or the liquid is not LCL in the first place."
"Hm?"
"We don't exactly have any samples of Angel blood. The First was gnawed to bits, the Second is Second, the Third blew up, and Fourth blew you up." Ritsuko counted with her fingers.
"And the actual First and Second Angels?"
"...Are something you aren't supposed to talk about. I know you were near the Second Impact's origin-site, but that information is classified."
"...But we do have a sample of an Angel, right? Surely something was left after the Second Impact?" Misato narrowed her eyes, and Ritsuko gained an eerily Gendo-like expression as her eyes were obscured behind her glasses reflection when she turned to look at Misato.
"It would be best for both of us if we don't continue this line of talking." Ritsuko told Misato quietly and tilted her ear just slightly towards one of the walls. "And it would be best if you forgot what you might have assumed. My dear old friend."
'Walls have ears in Central, yeah, I know… And the fact Ritsuko is acting dodgy means something fishy is going on in here.' Misato shrugged and reached for another beer that Ritsuko had on her desk, and Ritsuko leaned to give her the can before she could reach it. 'In other words, I'm onto something that I really shouldn't know. Got it.'
A part of Misato wanted to keep digging deeper, but at the same time, she wasn't sure if she wanted to learn what she'd find. Or the consequences of finding that kind of information.
"Thanks." Ritsuko told Misato quietly.
"Speaking of which, you are acting really casual, you know? I thought you'd be a bit more nervous or something. We lost the Pacific Fleet, you know." Misato noted. "And Second is prowling somewhere."
"I could ask you the same."
"Dunno. I feel as if things are out of my hands so why worry when you can't do anything about it?" Misato shrugged, feeling depression mix into her casual existential numbness. "All EVA's in the world are out of commision, all pilots are knocked out of action, I think, and Second is as spry as ever. At this point we might as well enjoy what time we have left before our heads roll as well."
"Well, I figured that you might want to know that Second is currently taking his second history class for the day." Ritsuko's voice had a slightly hysteric undertone in it.
"Eh?"
"It… Spoke in my mind." Ritsuko paled a bit. "I heard voices in my head, the Second's voice. It told me to come to Terminal Dogma and make him a new body. That it was waiting. I could talk to Second, and he would answer. I went down there, and there he was, waiting for me while looking at- Ahem. I mean, and I fitted a new fleshy overcoat on its body."
Ritsuko seemed to catch her tongue at last moment and coughed to the back of her hand. "So that was something… I have to add mental projection to Second's already ridiculous list of things. Alongside miracle-healing."
"It seems to be immune to lasers too." Misato noted. "Battleship Illinois was turned to slag with a single shot that pierced the entire ship, and Second took a super-charged version of the same shot to his forehead and didn't even flinch. Although it did get blasted off the ship once…"
"It likely reconfigured it's AT field after the first attack to resist the laser." Ritsuko reminded Misato. "Right. Anyway… I feel the same as you. It's just too much."
"Do you think we could ask Second to just tell us all the things he can do, and give us a strategy guide to fighting like if he was a boss fight in a video game or something?" Misato joked a bit to lighten the mood.
Ritsuko paled and she dropped her can of beer from her hand.
"He's behind me, isn't he?" Misato felt a bit resigned and didn't even bother to turn around as she spoke again. "Hi, Second."
"Greetings, Captain Katsuragi." Second told her a bit coolly as he walked from behind Misato and into her line of sight. "For the record, I applaud your careful nature but I would recommend not asking me for a 'strategy guide to beating me'. And if I were to provide one to you, I'd recommend not act on what you might read- We both know the value and usefulness of misinformation"
Misato nodded numbly as the Second had seemingly materialized out of nowhere, clad in his high-school clothes that looked almost fetishistic on the huge and muscular (if synthetic) body. None of which surprised her anymore.
"Anyway, my history lessons were finished so I figured I'd drop by and check how you were doing, as well as check up on Shinji-kun and Rei-chan." The Second looked at Misato. "I can feel that they're alright as they are three doors over, so I might as well go and talk with Gendo-kun. Ritsuko, could I ask you to let Gendo know I'd like to meet him at his earliest convenience?"
"...Certainly? You can just speak to people's minds so why-" Ritsuko looked like she was pushing her luck out of academic curiosity.
"I recall that you screamed in terror for roughly half a minute when I sent you a [Message], so I feel that Gendo would be somewhat inconvinienced if I contacted him that way." The Second sighed while he rubbed his forehead lightly.
Misato looked at Ritsuko's expression which had gained an embarrassed blush. "Ahem… I'll call the commander."
.
.
An empty whiskey glass was put carefully down against a dark wooden desk by a white-gloved hand.
"You lost it."
A bottle was tilted, and the whiskey glass became full once more.
"You lost it of all things."
The empty glass was put carefully back down against a dark wooden desk.
"..." Kaji knew better than to try to argue as Gendo was on his second bottle of whiskey in a row.
Fuytsuki was next to the man and looked more than a bit worried. "Commander, perhaps…"
Gendo paused as he had been in the middle of pouring his seventh glass.
Instead he pulled another two glasses and poured a drink for both Fuytsuki and Kaji.
Kaji wouldn't turn down a drink, even more when the situation was as dire as it was. Not to mention, Gendo had more insidious ways to dispose of Kaji than poison, so he felt confident that Gendo wouldn't have smeared his glass beforehand.
Fuytsuki and Kaji tossed the drinks down their throats, and put the glasses down.
"Recall everything you remember." Gendo asked for the third time, and Kaji wondered for a while if the alcohol was getting to the commander and making him forget that Kaji had told him everything he remembered already.
"I received orders to lay low, shot two navy men in the back of the head after they apprehended me, went to shut down the ship's nuclear engine after the initial Angel's attack almost sliced me in two while I was inside the ship, got the engine down, snuck off, something grabbed me and I woke up in Central Dogma without the briefcase." Kaji rattled off. "That's all I remember. And my head feels like it'll break when I think about what happened."
"Haa…" Gendo sighed as he put his glasses to the side and rubbed his face. "And the Sixth Angel is still approaching… Adam must have arrived alongside the carrier's wreck, as elsewise the Sixth would have gotten to it and already initiated their version of Third Impact, destroying us all. NERV's troops didn't find Adam on board the carrier, and MAGI is silent as well. In other words, by deduction, there is only one thing that could have it."
"So we just go and grab it back?" Kaji was fairly certain it wouldn't be that easy, but he asked the question anyway. "Who has it?"
"The Second Angel. Or rather, Fourth, if we go by their actual numbers. And you're free to try and 'snatch' Adam from it, if you can cross dimensions. The Second likely has Adam stored in the same pocket-universe where it has the Third and Fifth Angels." Gendo looked like he'd rub his hand right through his face as he seemed to have the mother of all headaches. "Alright. The fact Second hasn't initiated the Third Impact already tells me that he is SEELE's puppet. I had suspected the possibility. Or it might still be independent and is trying to mislead me, and has a goal of it's own- Wait."
'Well, talk about a load of valuable information… Gendo-kun is not in the habit of blurting out things, so losing Adam to whatever the 'Second' is must have- Wait.' Kaji's whiskey-glass dropped from his numb fingers as his brains processed something. 'Asuka is 'Second Child', so does Gendo mean 'Second' as in 'Second Angel'? Since Gendo spoke about it causing Third Impact… Don't tell me, The Second and Third, or rather, Fourth and Fifth, didn't wipe each other out after all?!'
'I fucked up…' Kaji started to realize just why exactly Gendo was so nervous.
Gendo seemed to fall into deep liquor-induced contemplation while he put his glasses back on his face, obscuring his eyes behind a ominous reflection and equally ominous aura. "Nine's Own Goal… The message… The nine's… own… goal… German…"
Kaji reached for the whiskey and drank from the bottle directly, while Gendo had streaks of sweat on his temple from thinking, or perhaps from the alcohol starting to show its effects on the commander.
"Sir?" Fuytsuki asked after a while.
"...Hmng… No, I cannot decipher Second's intention. I lack a vital clue to solve the image in the picture that the Second is painting. Something is missing, something that is needed to complete the image… But…" Gendo looked like he had run out of mental processing power and leaned his head against his hands in resignation, surprising both Kaji and Fuytsuki.
The phone on Gendo's desk rang and the commander snatched it and put it against his ear before Kaji's eyes properly registered the movement.
"...I see. Tell him that it will be so. I'll be in Terminal Dogma." Gendo paled a bit and reached to swipe the sweat off his brow before putting the receiver of the phone down. "Fuytsuki. The Sixth Angel is still alive, so do what you can to prepare Geofront for it's invasion. The Second has either betrayed us or has chosen not to slay it's brethren, so expect the worst."
"What exactly am I supposed to do about the Angel? The Eva's are not operational." Fuytsuki looked a bit resigned and had a faint tint of red on his cheeks from the whisky. "Or the clone-Angels that Second has made, and JSDF reports having engaged over the last few days? The JSDF reports quite high number of casualties, and it seems that they have been effective at whittling down the clones, to my great surprise."
"Ask Katsuragi for a plan. And tell JSDF to not engage the clones. Just keep an eye on them" Gendo looked quite tired even though his posture regained a good degree of forced confidence. "I am fairly certain Second has a plan… It is likely planning to use that as a test and as a ultimatum, and thus force NERV to shoulder blame for its actions if people learn that Second is working with NERV… for now."
"...And there was an information leak regarding Second." Fuytsuki reminded Gendo. "It's been dealt with, but the leaked footage was enough to show the Second's appearance to the world. We're lucky nothing more than that got out. Do you think that has something to do with it?"
"I'll find out soon enough. To your posts." Gendo waved Fuytsuki's concerns off while he walked into a elevator, although his steps were more uncertain than before
"Right, so… I'll be off. I need to check up on the Second Child, since she'll be the sole defender of Geofront once the engineers get Unit-02 fixed." Kaji walked off as well while waving his hand at Fuytsuki who sighed and headed for the command center.
.
.
Momonga was thinking quite hard.
'Well, it doesn't surprise me that Katsuragi seeks my demise… It's a bit upsetting that she's like that after I used a valuable healing potion on her, but I suppose you can't impress everyone.' Momonga sighed. 'Hm… That Angel will prove to be a difficult opponent. It can penetrate my [High-Tier Magic Immunity III] with each attack, and has such ridiculous engagement envelopes that I can't really fight it without sacrificing consumables. I suppose I can just ignore it, but if I do that, I won't have a favor to trade in exchange for searching Nazarick… '
He quickly checked his 'connection' of sorts to his undead creatures, which was akin to the feeling of hundred or so strands of spider-silk floating just on his mind. 'Not to mention that a solid three quarters of my Death Knights from earlier have been destroyed… I got a good amount of combat data from them, but I should consider that my search will slow down quite a bit once the noisy distractions are gone and my actual search teams are discovered…'
He looked at the floating bodies in jars inside Terminal Dogma as Gendo had apparently wanted to meet him there. 'The decor is a bit homey, if I'm honest… Feels like being back in Neo-Japan…'
Momonga decided to explore a bit and cast [Detect Life], and picked up a large health-sign. 'I sensed that the first time I was down here, as I was chain-casting [Detect Life] all around, but I didn't feel like poking at it in case it was this world's raid boss-equivalent. Just in case… But I should probably at least get a look, since Katsuragi's blurted-out opinion has made it clear that NERV is already moving the pieces on the chessboard to eventually oppose me.'
A few blast-doors were bypassed with simple teleportations, and Momonga nodded as he entered a huge room that he could only describe as a 'boss arena'. 'Figures they'd have a boss stuck down here… It's some kind of gigantic upper body crucified to a cross, with multiple lower bodies growing from cancer-like tumors? It looks like it's almost twice as big as those mechs… Hm, it's bleeding too… Ah, I guess that's what is making all the creepy blood-like liquid.'
Momonga scratched his chin as another mystery seemed to clear. 'I'm guessing that it is dormant, so I should stay clear of it's immediate reach in order to not pull it… Assuming that raid bosses work like they used to. Then again, this place is reality even though game-logic applies to a degree, so I should not lax my guard down too much either way…'
The flesh-coated Overlord detected a small health-sign approaching him, and recognized it as Gendo, so he didn't bother to turn around until he heard the blast-door behind him open.
"So you were here, Second." Gendo said as he walked beside Momonga to look at the crucified half-person with a seven-eyed mask. "It is quite an impressive sight, no?"
"Indeed. The fact you've managed to chain one down here is quite impressive as well." Momonga told the man half-heartedly. 'Catching Raid Boss can't be easy…'
"One of- hm…." Gendo looked quite shocked for a brief moment before he seemed to refocus. "So… You have It. And you wished to talk to me. The fact we're here can only mean one thing… So tell me. The cards are down- Whose Instrumentality are You?"
'Crap.' Momonga realized that Gendo had probably overestimated how much he knew once again. 'Should I just tell the truth? Or [Control Amnesia] him? That could be useful, come to think of it… But that would also signal that I've become hostile to NERV, since I know from experience that this entire facility is bugged, microphoned, and camera-recorded to hell and back and there's no way I can catch all of the footage before it gets circulated…'
'Haa… In other words, random bullshit is a go. Actually, this might also be useful…' Momonga got an idea. 'If I can get Gendo to unleash the raid boss against the Angel, I should be able to cast [Sword of Damocles] on both in the ruckus and loot the remains of both… Hmmm…'
"...I'm on my own side." Momonga tried to sound mysterious, and Gendo seemed to wobble a bit from side to side. 'Is he drunk?'
"I see… So not SEELE, nor me, nor that of the Angels, but yours… How many factions are there, then? Four, yet not nine. Who are the five?" Gendo seemed to get something and Momonga was quite confused, which didn't surprise him as he had planned for the occasion.
"Not for you to know, yet." Momonga, naturally, doubled down. "Regardless, I have a plan for the Angel. Would you be willing to hear it?"
"What does it matter at this point?" Gendo looked a bit curious, if so could be said of the man whose face had hardened to quite a ridiculous degree. "Do it. Finish what you started. You have all the tools, so why play this charade anymore?"
'Um… I think he's calling my bullshit… Not to mention, I did fail to deliver on my promise…' Momonga realized that he needed to speak decisively. And attempt to bribe the man before he'd get too disillusioned. 'Should I try to speak in plan words? Er… No, I've gone on with my chuuni stuff for so long that if I am frank with him now, Gendo will just assume that I had meant something else… Hm… Then again, I don't exactly need Gendo to pull the boss to halt the Angel, only that he does… Actually, I think the thing I looted first was some sort of engine for that mech, and…'
Momonga realized something.
'I don't actually need a subpar item, so I can just return this to him… I think that blue-and-green mech was NERV's, it had a similar icon on one of it's shoulders…' Momonga reached into his inventory, causing Gendo to freeze up. 'If he can fix that one, it should be enough of a distraction for the Angel. Even more so if Gendo conscripts that red mech.'
He pulled the 'incomplete S1 engine' out of his inventory. "So, in the interest of coming… cooperation… I'd like to return this to you. It was yours, correct?"
.
.
Gendo almost fell flat on his face as Second pulled Unit-01's Solenoid Organ from it's pocket-dimension. "What… Yes, it was- is mine."
'I expected it to pull Adam, and everything would be all over…' His mind wasn't helped by the alcohol that was making his thoughts sluggish, and he cursed his rare impulsiveness and lapse in self-control for the sixteenth time in the past ten minutes. It was unusual for him to indulge himself with alcohol, but he had let his self-control slip after suffering such a massive defeat by losing control over Adam.
Gendo realized what the Second was implying with it's words. 'It knows Yui's soul is in Unit-01's Solenoid Organ… After all, that is what allows Shinji to be a pilot for it in the first place… If it returns this to me, then…'
"I figured that it would be beneficial for you to have this. I believe that… that one… was one of yours, no?" The Second gave Gendo a small stare. "Now then… I believe I have a strategy for fighting this Angel you tasked me to destroy. I need you to provide me with a distraction, hold it down until I can destroy it. It has a quite fascinating ability, you see- It works with illusions."
"Doctor Ritsuko Akagi analyzed the combat-data from the aircraft carrier's records and came to the conclusion that the Sixth, sorry, Fourth is folding space and holding a fraction of it's real body in our reality, while phasing out the rest?" Gendo spoke irrelevant theories to calm his racing heart and mind as he realized how close he was to Yui, how close he was to her. Which, when he combined it with the spectacle Second had shown to Gendo of complete resurrection, was almost enough to force Gendo to go down on his arms and knees in front of the flesh-coated Angel and beg.
Almost. He knew that in doing so he would admit defeat, and any chance of pulling a deal from the Second would be lost.
"Not quite. Rather, it is fooling the world itself. If you wanted to use 'reality' as a concept to describe it, consider it as if it didn't fold reality, but rather reality is what it wants it to be, because the Angel convinces the reality that it is so." The Second seemed to be quite sure of what he was talking about, and Gendo nodded as he was fairly certain Second knew what he was talking about over Ritsuko's theory.
'An Angel would know an Angel… And by Second intending to destroy the Sixth, it indicates that it still has a plan for us… How do those clone-Angels factor into it?' Gendo knew he wouldn't get an answer if he asked, so instead he merely waited and let the Second explain a outrageous theory on how the Sixth Angel fooled the world into being what it wants to be around it's immediate vicinity.
"...And so the best way to defeat it is to either overwhelm it to the point it has to alter reality with such a high speed that it makes a mistake and breaks its own rules, or it gets hit by an attack of such magnitude that it cannot merely convince the world 'it didn't happen'. Think of it like two children fighting and going 'nuh uh you didn't hit me' and other going 'yeah I did'- The best way to solve that would be to give one of them a pistol and that way the other side couldn't claim they weren't hit." Second finished it's utterly psychotic speech while looking a bit proud.
Gendo suppressed a shiver of terror that threathened to run up his spine. Even more so when a part of him agreed with the Angel, if just a bit. "So, either overwhelming firepower, which we aren't capable of, it the fate of the Pacific Fleet was anything to go by, or an attack with such high power that it penetrates through its defenses and kills it in one shot, correct?"
"Quite so." Second nodded. "I happen to have something that could fit the latter, but…"
Gendo saw his opportunity- He remembered plans that Ritsuko had given him about a potential 'Anti-Angel sniper rifle' for an Evangelion, except made for extreme ranges in case they were hit from orbit or beyond, and moved on his chance. 'The Second would pose another ultimatum for me, for us, if we stayed idle while it took care of the Angel… Not to mention that we haven't been able to get our hands on a S2 engine so far, all thanks to the Second removing the cores after killing the Angels. If we can have Second sit this one out-!'
Gendo knew it was a huge risk, but since Rei would likely get her Unit-00 reactivated soon and with Unit-02 at the ready, not to mention potentially getting Unit-01 operational again, he made his gamble.
"Doctor Akagi has made plans for a Anti-Angel high-energy positron rifle. That should be enough to punch through the Angel's defenses." Gendo explained.
.
.
'Darn! I can't swindle a favor from Gendo if he takes care of the Angel by himself…' Momonga almost bit his tongue out of frustration. 'I have to come up with some sort of excuse… Although that 'Positron Rifle' sounds interesting…'
"Hoo? That sounds interesting. However, sheer power is only half the battle- After all, it is not so that you must hit it hard, but you must hit it so hard that the world itself believes you overpowered the Angel's defenses. Therefore, what matters equally much is how well the attack's influence affects the word's 'perception' of the Angel being 'correct' and us being 'incorrect'. The power behind the attack is the latter half." Momonga explained while trying to make himself look intimidating and wise. He hoped that it would work, since he had spent a night just trying to make different facial expressions with his (old) fleshy body and train himself to use them.
"Hm…" Gendo's eyes were hidden behind his glasses's reflection as he looked at the house-sized S1 engine that Momonga had plopped into the boss arena. "Hearts and minds, huh… I see. Interesting. I do not know what you are planning, Second, but… Know this. NERV is not yet toothless. You may hold the key to Eden, but you have not yet entered through its gates. The fact you have not done so yet means that your plan is beyond both mine, SEELE's and the other Angels… Which makes me suspicious. We adopted the names of Angels because of the Dead Sea Scrolls referred to them as such, but…"
'Oh no.'
"...Are you truly an Angel, or a Demon?" Gendo turned to look fully at Momonga, seemingly realizing something. "The Dead Sea Scrolls do not describe anything like you. Granted, I have not seen them myself, but you are no creature come to bring us to rapture, or one to bring our end. Are you here to force us to linger on a doomed world, or are you planning on seeing our suffering continue until eternity? The Human Instrumentality Project would save us… From ourselves."
'Um…?'
"Who are you to prevent us from doing that?" Gendo took a slightly wobbly step towards Momonga while his voice was drawn out, as if he had deciphered some sort of ancient truth and everything made sense to him. "It is said that the devil deals in pacts and promises, and you indeed have fulfilled that part of the myth… Is there another Scroll beside the Dead Sea Scrolls, where your coming is prophesied- One that would not grant us judgment and release, but eternal damnation, to be forced to linger in this torment for eternity with our goals in our sight but forever out of our reach? Is the Ainz Ooal Gown, the Nine's Own Goal, the goal of six-six-six?"
Gendo took a step forward and Momonga froze on the spot, although out of extreme confusion rather than fear.
'Eh?'
"What are you after, Lucifer?"
Gendo's glasses glinted in the baleful red light of Terminal Dogma's boss-fight arena, and for a dreadful moment Momonga wondered if Gendo was the final boss after all.
'Ern…?'
Gendo seemed to trip over a bit and Momonga leaned to grab the commander of NERV as the spectacled man almost fell on his face after making his ominous statement.- And Momonga discovered that Gendo was utterly out cold.
'Um… I think he's drunk…' Momonga sweated a small river before getting an idea, teleporting to Central Dogma's infirmary through [Gate], tossing Gendo to a free bed, and then walking off while trying his best to look casual and avoid attention, albeit while he was still deep in his thoughts.
'Right…' Momonga had picked up something from Gendo's speech, and knew what he needed to do next.
'Time to swipe myself a Positron Rifle…'
Momonga blamed his loot-goblin instincts.
.
.
Shinji paused as Asuka had been tossing random items she got her hands on at the boy's direction as 'retribution for copping a feel when Asuka was stuck piloting her Unit-02'.
'But I told her that it was an accident! This is unfair!' Shinji wanted to say those words, but knew that it would just result in further aggression from the fiery redhead.
Rei merely watched as she had sat up in her hospital bed.
"Do you require assistance, Pilot Ikari?" Rei asked, as flat-toned as ever.
"He needs to repent for his actions, not your assistance, doll!" Asuka fumed. "You ruined my perfect intro! I would have so beaten that Angel if you didn't ruin my mood, Ikari! Your perverted chest-groping ways almost cost the world, you idiot! Fool! Worm-bait! Arschgeige! Lustmolch! Die!"
"Pilot Ikari's death would compromise our mission. Please don't do that, Pilot Ikari." Rei turned her flat stare towards Shinji who blushed a bit.
'They're both so pretty… But why does Asuka have to have such a bad attitude…' Shinji felt a bit angry towards Asuka's aggression, while also being embarrassed over Rei's words, which could technically, if one stretched the truth quite a bit, be considered almost affectionate.
Asuka was mid-throw as a swirling portal appeared in place of the infirmary's door.
Asuka froze up utterly while Rei tilted her head and Shinji blinked, feeling as if his eyes had malfunctioned somehow. 'What's that?'
Then Suzuki walked through the portal with Shinji's dad on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
The huge man looked somehow even huger, if that was even possible, and he tossed the unconscious NERV commander to a free infirmary bed next to Shinji.
It looked like Suzuki was thinking hard about something for a fleeting second, before he put his hands behind his back, began whistling, and practically creeped away from the infirmary. This time through the conventional door.
The fact the man hit his forehead on the door's frame and took a chunk out of it made the creeping a lot less covert than what Suzuki had likely intended.
Asuka dropped the flower-pot she had been holding.
"Wh-whawa-wahawha?" Asuka was stammering as she pointed at the doorway, then at the unconscious commander of NERV who had began snoring and looked almost peaceful if not for his sleeping face altering between relieved expression and one stuck in tormented horror.
Shinji gulped. "Um, Ayanami-san… Do you think we should tell Asuka-san about Suzuki-san? He's our, er, landlord I think? He owns the house in which we live, right?"
"That responsibility belongs to Captain Katsuragi." Rei answered simply before turning her head towards Asuka. "Please ignore what you saw, Pilot Langley."
Asuka blinked at Rei, sent one last look at the spectacled commander who had a snot-bubble forming from his nose as he snored in a drunken manner, and the teenage girl walked back to her infirmary bed.
She crawled under the bedsheets and put her head against the pillow while facing away from Shinji. "When I wake up, I am so going to be in Germany. There's no way this day was reality. This has to be a bad dream. I want to wake up."
'If only it was that simple…' Shinji sighed and decided to catch some sleep as well, since his clock showed that it was already well past midnight.
Rei looked at the two of them for a while before sliding under her sheets as well.
Then she slipped from her bed, creeped over to Gendo, took off his glasses and folded them neatly to the side-table before pulling a blanket over him, and finally creeped back to her own bed while having a small, almost nervous blush on her cheeks.
Shinji saw it and felt jealous.