Bucky Presents

An 'Other Side' production

Old Friends, New Enemies

Chapter 13: I hate Spiders

Deep beneath the fortress city of Tokyo-3, amongst the pipes and cables of the world's most advanced city, shadows lingered in the dark. Moving quickly and silently the four figures swept through the access panels and into the very depths of the government installation of NERV.

Taking care not to trip the laser sensors that bounced across the hallways, the figures moved along leaving nothing but the faint splash of water beneath their feet. The tunnels were small and getting tighter, their ceilings were lined with electrical cables that had enough electricity coursing through them to power the world for months. The walls were laced with moldy residue from where pipes had burst and leaked their coolant liquids.

Darkness reigned in this place. There was no light, save for the faint glow of the ominous red beams that guarded the still hallway. The figures reflected the behavior of their location, evidence of the night camouflage, their heads masked and hooded. Despite the low visibility the four moved swiftly and skillfully around the defenses, keeping in mind their ultimate goal.

They moved quietly until the walls began to enlarge and the ceiling grew higher. Clearly, they had entered a large room. There was light provided by a few wall lamps and the dim green glow of the machinery that resided there. The four men moved around the room in formation, one moving ahead, pausing then signaling for the next to move up.

Only now their semi automatic machine guns, MP5 models, were revealed. With their sweep completed and the room secured they proceeded to remove items from around their waists and small unnoticeable backpacks. Three of the men moved out and secured the entrance to the room while the one remaining gathered the items that were left on the ground for him.

"Keep it locked down," the item clad form said quietly, yet with a stern and commanding voice. He placed a hand over his left shoulder and squeezed the tiny communications device, "Bravo team are you in position?"

There was a crackle and a buzz then a fuzzy voice from over the receiver, "Bravo team in position, awaiting your command."

"Roger that, stand by," there was a certain amount of relief in the man's smooth voice. He flicked the switch again "Delta team status report?"

"Delta here, all clear."

"Roger, ETA, one minute," the operative removed his hands from the device and pulled out a small pair of wire cutters. He stepped up to a machine in the corner of the room and began to snip wires, one by one the lights in the room began to fail. It wasn't long until the intruders' surroundings were plunged once again into darkness, "all teams, engage."

With the order given the three emergency backup systems were unable to cut in, due to 'Technical' difficulties. The man smiled and pulled his goggles up to reveal his face in the faintly lit chamber. He grinned and ran a finger along the stubble on his chin and whispered to himself, "So it begins."

****

Doctor Ritsuko Akagi moved through the crowds of people that had accumulated in the subway station, the result of rush hour. She was now in a hurry. Her alarm had gone off an hour late so she overslept which meant she would be late for her Synch tests with the children.

After chatting with the slightly drunk – okay, completely smashed - Misato Katsuragi, she had returned home for some sleep. Though she only slept for a half the day, the good doctor was now ready to put in another 32 hours at NERV HQ. She was for lack of a better word, buzzed. The commander had finally agreed to allow the testing of nanotechnology that would be integrated into the LCL.

Using this newly discovered technology the E-Project could achieve staggering benefits. The nano-machines inside the LCL would enable the pilots to recover from blows better during battle, making for a quick response to an attack. Also the 'nanites' would prove crucial to the regeneration of the Evangelion's tissues and organs that could become severed in battle.

Nothing excited Ritsuko more than to test out newly developed, highly experimental technology. It was tested and proven safe for use on humans and on Evas, the designers were unable to complete a field test due to the fact that they didn't have a working Evangelion or pilots for that matter, but only a prototype husk.

There was a sudden outburst of cursing; groans and mumbling as the stations occupants reviewed the departure board. The blond scientist looked suspiciously at the board as the LED lights began to fade one after another. The backlighting also flickered and died. 

In mere seconds the lights in the subway failed and the man made cavern was plunged into darkness. There were no lights running even the sounds of approaching trains had ceased. Ritsuko fumbled through her lab coat pocket. Being the cautious worry wart, she always had a flashlight somewhere. She could hear the worried gasps and blind tumbling around as people tried to find a way out or a light that still worked.

Ritsuko gripped her back pocket and smiled mischievously to herself as her hand drew out her prize. The small gold plated flashlight was a birthday gift from her protégé, the tech bunny known as Maya Ibuki. She flicked the switch and immediately jumped out of shock when someone was about to collide with her.

Two more beams of light sprang forth as three of the railway staff made their presence known. One of the men stood on the steps that led to the outside world and called for quiet, "Please everyone! Remain calm. We are currently experiencing some power difficulties. We assure you that the problem is only temporary as the backup generators will be on in a few moments."

Ritsuko looked at the small pudgy man with a frown, "the backups should have kicked in already, something is wrong." Noting an uneasy feeling growing in the pit of her stomach the head of Project-E started her way through the mass of humanity towards the exit.

As she neared the stairs a hand lightly touched her shoulder followed by an unfamiliar voice, "Excuse me miss, you'll have to wait a minute until things are sorted out."

Ritsuko turned to see one of the men with the flashlights. She aimed her light in the man's face and growled, "Out of my way I'm with NERV!" The man seemed to grimace as he removed his hand from the doctor's shoulder and stood aside leaving her a clear path out.

The completely aggravated, slightly tipsy, and most defiantly cranky woman exited the subway station know one thing.

There was something wrong in the city of Tokyo-3.

****

Shinji Ikari walked calmly down the streets of the city which he had come to call his home. With Asuka Langley Soryu, his girlfriend beside him, and the other whom he hoped was his friend, Rei Ayanami in tow. He had been living there for quite a while now and the city had been good to him. So far, he wasn't dead, and that was well enough for him.

The young Ikari closed his eyes and breathed in a mouthful of natures good half clean air, taking it in like he wouldn't get another chance for hours. Dr Akagi could find ways to keep the children cooped up in entry plugs for hours and hours at any time. Who knows when he would finally get to his friends house, or if he would even go for the night. If it became too late he would ring in and tell Toji that he would meet them at the beach. Hopefully he wouldn't have to.

He glanced over at Asuka who was walking right along side him; barley an inch separated them, which said a lot about her mood at the moment. She wore a mask of mixed emotions. There were elements of anger, fear, concern and contemplation.

Shinji hadn't spoken as not to disturb her thoughts. He guessed that she was too preoccupied with something important to speak. Hoping to break the uneasy silence Shinji turned his head a little and spoke, "Hey, Ayanami."

Rei was brought out of her own private musings by the sound of her name being called. "Yes Ikari?" she replied in her flat tone.

"Ah…did you happen to take some notes during math?" Shinji mentally patted himself on the back for the quick save he didn't really have anything to say he just wanted the silence to end. "I…kind of…fell asleep, heh."

"I…do not," she hesitated, looking away to hide a slight blush. Rei had no idea why it was there, but it most certainly was awkward. Once the redness in her cheeks had dissipated she turned back to the boy who walked in front, "I am not required to take notes."

"Oh." after a moment more of silence Shinji turned to Asuka once again, this time he spoke, "Did you take any notes Asuka?"

"Of course not!" Asuka declared her face had contorted from the earlier one and now bore her usual confident smirk. "I am the GREAT Asuka Langley Soryu; I don't need to take notes due to my high intellect."

The young Ikari cracked a small smile, "In other words you fell asleep too." He soon regretted that as his girlfriend gave him a firm whack over the back of his head, "HEY what was that for?"

"You were implying that I would fall asleep in class," she harrumphed and stuck her nose up, while crossing her arms over her chest. It was true though of course, she had fallen asleep somewhere between getting the words "Algebra" and "Exercise 1" down on her work paper. How was she to stay awake through such a menial task? It was so easy; a monkey with a typewriter could do it.

There was another cold silence as the three companions continued their way to another round of 'Mad Akagi's' tests. It was surprising they hadn't dropped dead from the thought of sitting around in a liquid that smelled funny and made their hair sticky for hours. Any normal teenager would have, but these three weren't normal.

As the entrance to Central Dogma came into view on the horizon the pilots, like always, began wishing they had stayed in bed but knew it was too late now. They approached the small building that housed the elevators that led into the depths of NERV.

As usual Rei was the first to swipe her card in the magnetic reader that would soon grant them access, but it didn't. The usually monotone girl looked down at the electronic device and frowned. Once again she swiped her card through…nothing, no confirming beep, no mechanical cogs or parts moving and no door opening.

"What's wrong Ayanami?" Shinji asked, stepping up behind the confused first child "Is there a problem?"

"My…card, it is malfunctioning" Rei answered, keeping her eyes fixed on the red card she held in her palm. The corners were still well rounded, the magnetic strip still unscratched; she had not used it to open locks like she had seen the Second Child do on a few occasions. So why did it not work?

Shinji looked at her card then pulled his own from a small wallet that he carried around with him, "Mind if I try?" Promptly, Rei stepped aside to grant him access. Once clear Shinji pulled his card up and swiped it through, nothing. "HUH?" he swiped again, nothing, then again, and still nothing.

"Oh great!" a certain redhead yelled from behind the two stumped pilots. "Get out of my way, I'll get it working."

Asuka moved up and pulled out her card, 'this will be good.' Her thinking pattern was along the lines of Rei being embarrassed due to not being able to open the door and grinned to herself, but winced a little when she remembered that Shinji couldn't do it either.

A few swipes of the card later and Shinji and Rei had to deal with a screaming young German girl who was trying to beat the door down with physical strength, "DAMN stupid thing WORK!!"

****

"Bravo, this is Alpha. Pull back to the LZ, I repeat pull back to LZ," the words echoed throughout the cavernous man made tunnels below the earth. The concentrated team of commandos were making their way back along the same path they had taken to get to the objective. It had been ten minutes since Bravo teams' last communication and the man with the stubble was beginning to suspect the worst.

Acting quickly on a hunch he changed the channel, "Eagles nest, this is Alpha team, do you read?" There was nothing but static from the other end. They were to remain in radio silence for the duration of their mission, but had reached the point where that was no longer a necessary precaution. Was there some deeper meaning to the blaring static that emanated from within his palm? He had no answers, and he didn't pretend to hide that fact. Something felt wrong.

The team ran with great speed, with security measures disabled, they didn't have to worry about the lasers or sensors to alert anyone of their presence. After a while of nothing but the echoes of footsteps the commander slowed down, prompting his comrades to emulate him.

"Sir, what is it?" a softly puffing soldier asked as he hunched over trying vigorously to replenish his lungs with air. His question was unanswered, as the commander with the stubble remained silent. He lifted his arm signaling his men to gather in formation, and they complied.

"Sergeant," the commander called out in a faint whisper, "was there a hallway up ahead when we came through here earlier?"

"No sir."

"Then how come there is one now?"

Ahead of the group there was a small section of passageway that was lit by a red light of some kind, most likely an emergency backup measure. Beneath the dull illumination was a newly opened doorway that led into a previously unexplored area.

Slowly the team closed in towards the new opening, keeping their guns at the ready in case of any…surprises. The commander held up his hand and opened two fingers then pointed at the door. On cue, two armed soldiers took up positions on opposite sides of the door. They both rolled out and checked the corridor in sweeping fashion.

Once the all-clear signal was given the commander and Sergeant moved up and began their short journey down the new hall. It was lit by small red lights every five feet and unlike the previous passages this one was kept in good condition, in other words it had no rust or mold.

It was only a short distance from the junction to the end of the tunnel; it opened up into what looked like a huge replica of Antarctica. It was a giant dome shaped cavern in witch five or six Evas could stand one-another's shoulders and still not touch the ceiling.

The team began sweeping out in different directions while the commander stood there examining the surroundings. Why did this place look like Antarctica? The ground wasn't ice it was sand so why did it look like the former continent?  He walked over the top of a small dune that obscured his view. In that instant his breath left his body and he was frozen with disbelief.

"Commander," one of the men shouted trying to snap the dazed commander out of his current state. He received no reply so he decided to approach his superior officer and shake him or something. Upon reaching the top of the dune the soldiers' legs froze and he too was entranced by the view.

"It looks as if NERV…" the previously silent leader began, "has been keeping too many secrets from us."

"What is that thing, Kaji?"

"I don't know…but I'm going to find out."

****

"Why the HELL doesn't anything work?" Asuka was for lack of better words pissed off. The pilots had been sitting in the entrance building for the last fifteen minutes trying any and every door, switch and phone.

Rei turned towards the Second Child and looked at her quickly. Asuka was at that time trying to see if she could pull one of the airtight security doors open by force.

"I do not believe that you have sufficient strength to open that door."

"What do you know Wondergirl?" the aggravated girl snapped back, "you never know unless you try." She then returned to 'trying' to force the door open, to no avail of course.

Being stuck with the first child alone was enough to make her skin crawl and her anger rise to a pleasant boiling point. Shinji had gone out to see if he could make contact with NERV, as his cell phone had no reception inside. There were several pay phones around the building but none were functioning, just like the doors. The lights weren't working either. Luckily, the sun was still high.

Finally giving up, the redhead backed away from the door and kicked it only to recoil in pain and agony. "Oww," she mumbled under her breath while rubbing her now sore right foot. She sat down up against a nearby wall and began thinking idly; she wasted no time in voicing her opinion, "Maybe the powers gone out."

"That would be improbable," Rei answered calmly as she began searching through her school bag for something. Upon pulling a small booklet out, she began to cite a passage, "There are three backup systems. It is impossible for all to cease at once."

"Did I ask you that?" Asuka snapped. Seconds passed, but no response was offered, "No I didn't think so. So shut up Wondergirl, I don't want or need your GREAT input," she looked around for a second, "Hey what's taking Shinji so long?"

"Perhaps Ikari has gotten lost?"

"Hey!" Asuka jumped to her feet ignoring the stinging pain from her right foot, "he's not that stupid you doll! He wouldn't get lost around here, he's been here longer than me and he probably gets around more than you, so shut up."

"I did not imply that Ikari is stupid, I merely stated a possibility."

"Well it's not a possibility, got it?!"

"Yes," Rei turned away from her aggravator and closed her eyelids into slits as she whispered one last comment, "and I'm not a doll."

The Second Child resumed her waiting but this time she sat up against the very door she wished to open. Meanwhile Rei went back to examine the object she had produced from her bag. It was a small laminated card which had the logo of NERV printed on one side and a lot of small writing on the other.

"Asuka, Rei!"

Both girls shifted their eyes to the approaching figure of Shinji Ikari. He was running fast, really fast. Asuka stood up and Rei put her card back into her book bag while Shinji tried to regain his breath.

"You're…not…going…to" he started, his words were slowed by his panting, "You're not going to believe what I just saw…"

"What? What was it Shinji?" the redhead inquired as she placed her hand on the boys shoulder.

"A giant spider."

"That's it? Don't tell me you're afraid of spiders!"

"Not just any spider…it's an Angel!"

****

EARLIER

The residents of Tokyo-2 went about their daily business completely unaware of the events that were about to unfold. People walked noisily down the streets, talking in groups or conversing with others via cellular phone. Stores were either closing up or getting ready for the afternoon rush. Bars opened awaiting their usual after-work patrons.

Swimming pools started admitting swim teams for their routine training sessions, some were even competing. Children of multiple ages made their way home on trains or busses, some just walking enjoying the peaceful sunny day.

While the usual activities happened on the streets a group of men, inside a military installation, were assembled before a large view screen. The five men's faces were grim as they reviewed the information in front of them.

"This isn't good," one of the men said pensively.

"Has there been no contact with NERV or Tokyo-3?" another inquired.

"No, we haven't been able to reach them for the last half hour."

"What do we do?" the third began in a half-panic.

"Conventional weapons are no use against it, maybe we should evacuate," the fifth suggested.

"We have no choice. Continue trying to contact NERV, meanwhile begin evacuation."

As the five men turned to return to their posts a young man around 23 ran into the room, "Sir! It's changing course it's headed for Tokyo-3!"

"Hmmm…cancel the Evacuation. We must warn Tokyo-3."

"But how Sir?"

"We fly there ourselves!"

In the city the calm flow of traffic on the streets had become one of hysteria, people had been terrified when things started smashing around them. The citizens ran for their lives as the eight huge legs crashed down into the ground one after the other. Two people jumped in time to escape a spiked leg as it crushed the blue car they had hoped to escape in.

After several minutes of absolute chaos the creature left the limits of Tokyo-2 and headed off towards its ultimate target leaving a trail of smoldering green acid that melted the very ground it touched.

****

"What do you mean an ANGEL?!" Asuka yelled disbelievingly, "that's like two in less than a week! Don't they ever get tired or take a break? I mean we're pilots but we're still human!"

"I don't think they care about that Asuka," Shinji half panted as he was still a little wheezy from his mad dash. "Did you have any luck with the doors? I had none with my cell-phone all lines in are dead."

Rei once again turned her attention back to her book bag she yet again produced that very same card she was inspecting earlier. After closely reading the Emergency Manual again the, she spoke softly, "With an Angel present we will need to make contact with NERV headquarters directly."

"What are you, stupid?" Asuka exclaimed, "The power's obviously out and all the doors are automatic. How the hell are we supposed to open them and reach HQ? Idiot."

"Asuka, you don't have to be so mean to Ayanami, she's just giving a suggestion," Shinji stated calmly. There was something wrong with his girlfriend today she just seemed more venomous towards the First Child. He just assumed it was 'THAT time of the month again' either that or it was something more…complex.

Rei in return to Shinji's defense blushed a little, although only the most masterful of trained eyes could tell. She nodded her head solemnly at Shinji then set out to dispute the Second Childs remarks, "Thank you Ikari. I am not stupid pilot Soryu, I am aware that the doors are fully automated and that a loss of power would be cause for their functions to cease."

Asuka began to grin triumphantly but Rei wasn't finished, "However we may reach NERV by using the remote access hatch down the corridor from here. The remote access doors are not powered but are manually operated. Any person with a level three key can open these hatches."

"And where do you propose we get a level three key?" the redhead inquired smartly, she was grinning so broadly that if the wind changed and her face became stuck she would have to get a job as a circus clown.

The First Child dug her hand deep into her left dress pocket and produced a small old style key dangling on a shinny silver chain. Asukas smile dropped and was replaced by a frown and an eyebrow that decided to twitch erratically. "Smart ass" she murmured.

With a game plan worked out the trio set off to make direct contact with NERV HQ, hoping that the Eva's could be launched without power. With an Angel approaching they could only hope that NERV had some form of emergency plan or at least would fix the generators by the time they arrived.

****

"I never thought I'd have to use one of these emergency tubes to get INTO Central Dogma," a seriously annoyed director of operations grumbled. Her good friend Doctor Akagi had waked Misato up very rudely, almost an hour ago. She had just got back home from her little drinking episode earlier in the morning and was starting to sleep it off.

Now the woman with scruffy looking violet hair, droopy facial features and big black circles under her eyes was climbing down a forty-story ladder. Following closely behind was a slightly nervous Ritsuko Akagi, "well I always wondered why we needed these things in the first place. I thought they were just holdovers that we kept for our piece of mind, now I know there's actually a use for them."

"Yeah great now we know how to break into NERV," Misato joked sarcastically, "so why did the power go out anyway? Isn't there three backup systems that are supposed to kick in?"

"Yes but they didn't come online," Ritsuko answered as the two continued their decent. "Perhaps they were sabotaged deliberately for some reason?" she thought out aloud. The Doctor continued to ponder this fact privately to herself so much that she almost didn't notice Misato stop climbing down.

Misato halted at the base of the pipe they had been descending. There was a small round hatch on the floor that would hopefully lead them right into the command room - hopefully. Leaning down the violet haired woman twisted the handle a few times then kicked the hatch down. With a loud creak and a following crash the two exhausted women were finally there.

Commander Ikari glanced up as two figures dropped out of the emergency escape tube and started dusting themselves off. "Nice of you to join us Capitan Katsuragi, Dr Akagi."

"S-sorry Commander Ikari," Misato blurted as she stumbled to give off a half decent salute. This was not a good thing the commander was being sarcastic to them, which was never heard of so it had to be bad "Any word on the power generators sir?"

Sub Commander Fuyutsuki stepped up behind Gendo and replied, "The engineers have just reported there is major damage to the backup systems. We will have to wait a while for the main power to be returned. Until then we are using life support power to maintain the Magi."

"Is there anyway we can dispatch an Eva?" everyone turned to the new presence in the room, it was a very tired looking Makoto followed by Shigeru, both men crouched over and leaning their hands against their knees.

The commander studied them for a moment then shook his head, "there is a diesel generator but it is to be used in an emergency only. For what reason would we dispatch an Evangelion?"

"Angel…outside," Shigeru panted a few times almost choking on the words as they exited his mouth. The room was silent for the briefest of moment before it exploded into a cacophony of sounds of people rushing to earn their paychecks.

****

Today was not shaping up to be a good day for Shinji Ikari. First thing when he woke up this morning he had no idea that he would be knee deep in what looked like slime crawling through a shaft no taller than 16inches and no wider than your average teenager. Now this was only one thing, another was that his hands were beginning to itch, most likely from the rash the green goo was causing.

Then there was the fact that he was crawling behind a girl in whom he had never thought of in any more ways than a friend and if he looked up he would get a lovely view of…well you have an imagination. That's enough. Also to add to his demise the young Ikari had his irate girlfriend right behind him telling him that if he so much as peeked at the First Childs panties he would never live to remember the sight. So he was pretty much crawling around in the dark following a girl without looking at her and trying not to glance up for fear of safety.

At this point one would think his life couldn't get any worse. Unfortunately, the fact that there was a giant spider-like Angel, that for all they knew was trashing the city above, was outside wanting a fight. The poor pilot of Unit 01 could not win today.

As the trio made their way slowly through the long, small, dirty ventilation shaft, a thought crossed Shinji's mind; a question that he had never even wasted his time deliberating. But at this point it seemed relevant to find out the views of his fellow pilots. Taking a deep breath he asked, without looking up to see Reis panties, "Why do we fight the Angels?"

He received as much as he thought he would from the First Child ahead of him, nothing but silence. Though Asuka was a little more forthcoming with her answer, "Are you serious? Damn you can be dense sometimes Shinji, but I never knew it was this bad, you've spent way too much time with that idiot Suzuhara."

"What? Huh…that's not very fair," Shinji retorted, "Toji's not an idiot, well…not much anyway. And I don't think I asked your opinion of my friends, I wanted to know why exactly we are fighting Angels."

"Why would you want to know that? It's not like we started it you know."

"Well I don't know I just think it's strange that we're fighting them," the cramped boy answered as he continued to crawl along. "Angels are messengers from god, so why are we fighting Angels?"

"Shinji!" the redheaded pilot behind him sighed in exasperation, "THEY attacked us, and if they hadn't started attacking then we wouldn't have to fight them. If these things were sent by god, if such a person exists, then he is one cruel bastard," Asuka rolled her eyes. "Don't you think we have a right to defend ourselves from extinction? Or would you rather just lie down and give up; just let you and the rest of our race fade away."

Shinji sighed he hadn't meant to get Asuka riled up like this she seemed very passionate about what they were doing here, even if he couldn't. "Is that why you're here, why you pilot the Evangelion?" he inquired. That had been one question he had tried hard to figure out for himself, perhaps hearing another's reason would give him a new view of his own meaning in this life that was Shinji Ikari.

"One of the reasons yes, the other…" the redhead paused as she contemplated her true reason for piloting, could she really tell someone else even if it was Shinji her most trusted friend? Why the hell not, she thought to herself, "Um…I don't know, why do you?"

Somewhere through Asukas moment of silence Shinji had stopped crawling he stared ahead deep in thought. Something had hit him a new desire found, something he had never known existed inside of him, the desire to be seen. That was one reason that he could pilot for, the desire to be seen but not by just anyone or everyone, just one and the realization scared him.

"Shinji, Shinji. SHINJI!!!!"

The young Ikari saw his train of thought shatter into a million pieces as he heard the most terrifying yell from behind. Asuka was absolutely fuming when he turned his head to look at her, he was slightly confused as he asked "ah…w-what…is it?"

Hearing this seemed to make the redhead, dubbed by his friend Toji the redheaded demon, even more annoyed. "WHAT IS IT? WHAT IS IT you say? Ooooohhhh, I told you NOT to look up the First Childs dress and what do you do? STARE RIGHT AT IT!!!!!"

"WHAT…AHHH? I-I was n-not," Shinji denied as he shook his head back and forth trying to indicate his innocence. It wasn't until now that he realized that he was looking at Rei's panties, well to Asuka it would have looked that way, when in real life he was too spaced out to notice.

"I CAN'T believe this now you're trying to lie to ME about it!!" she screamed angrily. "I just SAW YOU staring a second ago and now you're saying that you didn't when I was here to witness it."

"What…wait n-no you…I…oh damn" Shinji was completely out of mental capacity and couldn't manage a full sentence, you know the feeling when your girlfriend just walked in on you and another girl kissing, except in this situation Shinji was innocent. A second later he felt a hand pushing his back down to the floor of the shaft, "h-hey! What are you doing? Ouch."

"Shut up you, I'm going to make sure you don't peek again," the furious girl yelled as she continued to push her boyfriend into the floor. Once he was completely pinned to the floor on his stomach she proceeded to…crawl over his back!

"AHHH what are you doing?" Shinji yelled in panic.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Asuka snapped back, "I'm going to get in front of you so that you can't peek at HER!!"

"I don't think that's a good ideaaaaaa…ouch!"

Rei Ayanami had stopped crawling quite some time ago, she had been intrigued by the constant yelling behind her and decided to investigate. To her amusement, when she turned around, the Second Child was TRYING to climb over the Third in order to stop him from peeking at her.

"I can't…believe I…have to do this. I thought I could trust you Shinji…" Asuka grumbled as she tried to squeeze her way past the squashed Ikari underneath. She was just above his back when… "Uh oh."

"UH OH, what's uh oh?" Shinji groaned, "Asuka? Uh oh's not good!"

The young German found her face gradually becoming as red as her hair, "I-I think I'm…stuck"

Shinji could see that one coming but it still didn't make him feel any better, "STUCK!!! Oh no, well…uhhh…try going back."

Asuka nodded and started wriggling in that direction, trying to free herself from the predicament she found herself in. After much wriggling and squirming she concluded one thing, she was stuck. "This is your entire fault you know."

"MY fault, you're the one who started crawling over me!"

"Only because you were peeking at Wondergirls panties!!"

"I w-was not."

"Was too."

"Not."

"TOO."

"NOT."

"TOO!!"

"No… OUCH." Shinji absently rubbed his head where a hand obviously hit him, "what was that for?"

"Arguing with me!" Asuka smiled to herself she obviously had the upper hand in this situation, "now shut up while I find a way out of here." Once again the Second child began to wriggle until she turned her head back to the front and came face to face with Rei Ayanami, "AHHH! Oh… it's just Wondergirl."

"Um Rei, do you think you could help us out?" Shinji inquired looking up at Rei with a pleading face, "please?"

"WAIT no!" Asuka snapped "Why are you asking her for help? I can get us out of this, we don't need her help!"

"Asuka! I don't think we can get out of this mess ourselves and Rei might just know a way to get us out," Shinji sighed, "unless you want to stay like this for a long time."

The redhead thought for a moment, "hmmm, well I don't know Shinji, I like being this close to you. Maybe we will stay like this."

"WHAT?! You have got to be joking," Shinji yelled as he began to wriggle around, "you're not the one pinned to the floor."

Rei looked from Shinji then to Asuka and back to Shinji again, she was willing to help the Third Child in his predicament but for some odd reason she also enjoyed seeing the fiery German stuck like that. After a second of weighing up the possibilities she decided to help "Ikari, would you be able to lift your hand?"

"Sure," Shinji did so, with some difficulty, once his hand was off the floor Rei pushed aside some of the green gunk that was there. Shinji watched on as his oft silent partner carefully picked at something, "what are you doing?"

Rei did not answer instead she continued to pick at a small well-hidden latch. A moment later, there was a click and she smiled slightly. She then gently pushed Shinji's other hand aside, not bothering to ask, and repeated the earlier process. When the click came this time she smiled more openly. Shinji saw her smile, just before the floor collapsed under them and he and Asuka fell through it and crashed to the room below with a loud thump.

****

The cages were a buzz with movement as Doctor Akagi and Operations Director Katsuragi supervised the preparations of the beasts known as the Evangelions. Misato having had time to quickly freshen up in the bathroom was now semi presentable, though she still looked like she was woken by a fog horn to the ear.

Ritsuko looked as neat and scientist-like as ever, with her omni present lab coat and that little notepad that she jotted notes on. Even now she was making notes on little things that could be altered to make another operation like this more efficient. They were doing well considering there was no power and an Eva had never been prepared, let alone launched, like this before.

But there was one slight problem, no pilots.

"Where could they be?" Ritsuko asked a little concerned, mostly due to the giant spider outside that she knew would be doing something to get to the Geo-Front. She marked down that the final phase of ejecting the termination plug was completed and units 01 and 02 were ready for the entry plug insertion.

Misato turned to face her old friend, "I don't know they were last seen heading to one of the Geo-Fronts entrances. Maybe they got in before the power went out and they're trying to get here." She smiled the way she does, like a kid, adding, "Don't worry I have complete faith that Shinji can get them here, and if he doesn't, then Asuka will certainly push them around."

"I can bet," Ritsuko chuckled lightly, "so on the subject of Shinji and Asuka, anything interesting happen lately?" The good old doctor could not pass up an opportunity to pry into other people's affairs.

"Not really, I haven't seen or heard from them all day, except this morning when they broke the news to me," Misato replied. "Although Section 2 brought me some interesting photos from the day before, here they are," the violet haired woman pulled out a packet of Kodak photos.

The first photograph was one of two girls sitting under a tree, one was recognized as Asuka the other her friend Hikari Horaki. They were talking about something serious by the looks on their faces. The next was of the same girls this time a young man easily recognized as Shinji, from his small build, standing in front of them. And the next was of Asuka pulling Shinji to the ground as he tried to walk off.

When Ritsuko saw the next photo she couldn't help but say, "Awww! That's so cute. Although this seems unusual for someone of both Asuka's and Shinji's psyche to be displaying such affection so publicly."

Misato snatched back the photos and smirked, "I guess that proves that my kids aren't just another statistic. They might just surprise us a little, I know they already have."

"Misato, you're not growing too attached to these kids are you?" Ritsuko sighed when usually eccentric friend remained silent and looked down at the floor, something she had picked up from Shinji before Asuka came. "Don't get too close. Remember what these kids do for a living and what you do. If something were to happen to them then you may be too emotional to perform your duties."

There was a loud creak from the ceiling and both women turned to see what it was, "did you hear that?" Both of them looked at each other as they had said the same thing at the same time. Once more there was a strange sound, although this one could be identified as the roof falling and two human sized objects hitting the floor, hard.

It took only a second before Misato giggled at the two teenagers lying in a tangled mess on the floor groaning from the impact of the fall. A moment later and a third person dropped out of the hole in the roof, although more gracefully, and actually landed on her feet with her arms stretched out to either side in a graceful display of gymnastics.

"Oh there you are!" Ritsuko said, while trying to hold back a wad of laughter that just begged to escape. "We were just…waiting for you," unable to hold it anymore the blonde scientist burst out laughing at the two pilots still in a tangled mess on the floor with the most painful expressions.

Rei looked towards the two women who both seemed to be having a good laugh, Misato having joined in a second after her friend erupted. She did not see what was so comical in the obvious pain of the Second and Third children. "We must launch immediately," she said calmly interrupting the two hysterical women.

"Y-Yes," Misato was the first to bring her laughter somewhat under control, "you're right Rei. Everyone get to your stations don't worry about plug suits this is an emergency and we have no time."

After finally picking herself, and her boyfriend, up off the ground Asuka turned to Misato, "what about the Eva's? I thought the power was out."

"It was all done by hand," Ritsuko butted in causing Misato to get peeved off for being beaten to it. The blonde glanced to one of the Eva cages that held Unit-01 awaiting the entry-plug. Her eyes fixed onto a man with a black beard and a pair of amber tinted glasses who was pulling on a rope holding the plug up, "the commander did it."

Shinji stopped brushing himself off and followed the women's gaze, he too saw the man with the tinted glasses and this surprised the boy. "M-my father did it?" he stumbled.

This time the violet haired loud mouth decided to get in first, "Yup, he believed in you so much that he went and prepared everything himself." As she finished Misato stuck her tongue out at Ritsuko and pulled one of her eyelids down with her finger.

The commander looked over to where the three pilots stood waiting. He glanced to his left, then right, receiving a nod from the technicians on both sides. With the readiness confirmed he lifted his left hand, "prepare for manual entry!"

****

A short moment later and Shinji found himself surrounded by that all too familiar stench; the stench of LCL; the stench of blood. With no power, the start up sequence had to be initiated manually from within the Eva, this was no problem but it would have been easier, and had less chance of screwing up, if the Magi could initiate contact with the Eva.

The orange liquid finished filling the plug and he took his first agonizing breath of the fluid. He had gotten used to it but he still didn't like the stuff. Once the plug was full he pushed the switch on top of the butterfly controls, the environment changed from black to pink then a cascade of colors until it finally settled on the view of the dimly lit cages.

The digital counter began to flow backwards as his internal batteries began pumping electricity throughout the bio-mechanical beast. "Unit-01 activation complete, everything seems okay," he told Maya through the makeshift comm system she had set up to run through her Laptop that was plugged directly into the Magi.

Inside of Unit-00 Rei Ayanami went through a similar procedure starting up her Eva and confirming the activation. Today, she felt as if she could conquer this battle on her own. Something deep inside seemed to tease this inclination.

Asuka was her usual cheery self. There was nothing like getting into a robot that could squash a truck with the mere lifting of its foot. Although the idea of running on backup battery packs that made the Evas less maneuverable, not to mention a fashion disaster. "Well I'm ready," she smiled into the comm channel, "it's time to add another angel to my kill count!"

An image of Shinji appeared in the bottom corner of the redheads' screen, "Asuka it's not a competition to get the highest amount of kills you know."

"Is too."

"Not"

"Too."

"Not."

"Oh look the newlyweds are fighting," Misato giggled into the channel as both teens faces turned bright red, somewhat resembling a tomato. "OH you should have seen the looks on your faces. Anyone would think that you were married! HAHAHA!"

"Misato!" to everyone's surprise it was Ritsuko who seemed to be telling the Major off, "If you don't mind we are running on a very tight schedule. Now Shinji, Asuka, Rei you will have to remove the primary restraints yourselves then use the vertical shaft to reach the surface, is that clear?"

"Right," all three pilots answered in unison. Ritsuko waved to a technician who then ran off in the direction of the manual release for the secondary restraints.

Commander Ikari stepped up to the edge of the gangway that led to the Evas' entry plugs, "Sever the primary restraint's hydraulics." His order was obeyed within seconds as technicians took to the rubber pipe with axes and other sharpened objects. Once confirmed Gendo looked in the opposite direction, "Release secondary locks."

Once again the order was carried out by technicians on all three Evas with the restraints removed the rest was up to the pilots and their Evangelions.

Shinji and Unit-01 were the first, using the mighty Evas superior strength Shinji pushed against the restraint that was loosely pinning him to the wall. The metallic object offered little resistance and began to grind its way across the floor, allowing Unit-01 a little bit more movement. Unit-00 and 02 followed suit as they both pushed at their own restraints. All three pilots were rewarded at last, as the Evas were freed and ready to kick Angel ass.

Maya Ibuki kept a close eye on the status of the children with her laptop. Misato, having nothing left to do but wait, sat on the floor behind.

"So how are they?" Ritsuko asked it was customary to review all activation data even if it was routine it still had to be done.

"I'm getting a minor thought interruption from Unit-02s entry plug. It's only minimal so it might be a bug in the system," she reported pointing to a specific graph.

Ritsuko leaned in to get a better view and rightly commented, "I think there's something in there. It probably isn't anymore than a mouse or something small. It shouldn't interfere but how did it get in there without us knowing?"

"I can answer that ma'am," Maya popped up "usually when the Evas are activated the cages and plugs are well lit. But with no power to light the area it was dark, now mice and small creatures like that love the dark so that would allow it to move around unseen. Then there's the LCL, Shinji has constantly complained that LCL smells like blood this smell would attract smaller animals looking for food. Well that's what I think anyway."

"Hmmm….good deduction Maya," Ritsuko smiled at her protégé's wit.

"Thank you ma'am," the Bridge Bunny replied beaming "shall I inform Asuka?"

"No need for that, it won't interfere so we'll just deal with it later."

****

"This is pathetic," a whiney redhead yelled through the comm. The three Evas had made it halfway up the vertical access shaft and were nearing the surface. Apart from the fact that they were climbing up a shaft meant for no more than one Eva, while carrying a spare battery pack, each, and their pallet rifles, they were doing quite well.

"The vertical hatch is in sight," Rei reported as her Eva was the first in the line of climbing mechas. Planting her feet deep into the steel rim of the shaft to steady herself the First Child used her fist to pound on the hatch. After a few blows, the metal doors buckled and flew off of their hinges.

With access to the outside world, Rei flipped her Eva out of the shaft and on to solid ground, followed closely by Asuka then Shinji. The city was quiet. All three pilots surveyed the area for their target, but there was no Angel to be seen.

"Are you sure there was an Angel out here Shinji?" Asuka asked a little confused and annoyed, "because there isn't anything here."

"Well it's not my fault if we can't see the thing," Shinji answered back just as confused, "maybe it's gone." The only thing the young Ikari saw was a flock of birds fluttering out of a park in the distance, it was his only warning. In a sudden flash of movement something struck Unit-01s faceplate and sent it flying to the ground. Shinji cried out in pain as his Eva easily leveled two city blocks by sliding along the ground until his trip had ended in a parking lot.

Asuka's first instinct was to jump to her boyfriend's rescue by attacking whatever attacked him. But there was nothing to attack, no sign of an angel anywhere. "Shinji are you okay?" she called out.

Shinji was still rubbing his aching face when he received the message, apart from a sore head and a slight back ache he was fine, "Yeah I'm…okay I guess. Anyone see that, where did it come from?" Unit-01 shakily rose to its feet using what was left of the parking lot to steady itself as it stood.

"There would appear to be nothing here," Rei observed. All that remained of an Angels presence was the large trail of rubble left behind by Unit-01s slide from a blow that came out of nowhere. "Wait!" she called, she could sense something. It was close, very close "It's coming…"

In the blink of an eye Unit-01's feet whipped out from underneath it and the mighty beast crashed to the ground, destroying anything that was left standing the last time. Once again there was no sign of an enemy only the aftermath of the attack and the painful screams of one teenage boy.

"Shinji!" Asuka screamed her finger already poised just above the trigger, "That's it! There's something here and I'm going to kill it!" She aimed her Pallet-Rifle in the direction from which the attack seemed to be emanating and pulled the trigger. A volley of hot metal raced through the air and collided into an apartment complex and other surrounding structures, "Where the hell is it?!"

Rei, who was as calm as ever, continued to examine the battlefield in search of the enemy. Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of something, it was a glimmer, as if she was looking through a glass bottle and someone moved it. The distortion resided just above Unit-01's collapsed form, "Ikari…"

With no more than a thought her pallet-Rifle kicked into action and she fired a single shot to the position she suspected. The bullet cruised through the air until it collided with the air above the downed Eva, and an agonizing moan filled her cockpit. A split second later, Rei's suppositions were laid to rest when blood began to trickle from a hole fixated in the sky.

It's cover blown, a dark form began to materialize from the space occupied above Shinji's location. Little-by-little, the form's spindly legs and awkward central region became visible, and validated the testimony that Shinji had exclaimed earlier that day: a spider. Not just any spider, certainly, but one with innumerable eyes covering its body, gleaming with the telltale sign of… tears? Add to that, the insurmountable height of the monster's legs, and one could only conclude, with a less-than-sane mind, that this was not an ordinary arthropod.

Spinning quickly, Asuka came face to… eyes with the offender in question. "Shit!" the pilot pulled her pallet-rifle up and let off a hailstorm of fire, but the defensive yellow light of an A.T field stopped any progress the bullets had made. "What the hell? Wondergirl get in there and neutralize Its A.T. field while I take it down."

Rei being the ever so obedient soldier moved in to an offensive position, taking orders but also keeping her eyes on Shinji's downed Evangelion. Spreading her own A.T field the blue Eva launched forward, both yellow fields collided in a powerful shockwave causing nearby windows to crack and shatter.

Positioning herself to take advantage of the enemies preoccupation, Asuka trained the targeting reticule for pallet-rifle at the angel's central mass. Her finger was about to hit the trigger when a flurry of movement caught the corner of her eye. What was odd was that it seemed to originate from within the entry plug. She peered round her seat to gain a better view of the commotion.

As her eyes met the creature they went wide with shock and the plug fell silent.

****

Early 2004

"Mama!"

"Look at me Mama."

"I'm an elite pilot!"

The enthusiasm of the four-year-old child was unbreakable as she ran down the corridor. She was a small girl she had red hair that went down to her shoulder, tied in twin ponytails held up with bright red hair clips.

Asuka Langley Soryu ran down the hall her voice full of joy as she would have the chance to prove to her mother that she was better than a doll. She did not slow as she approached the door the young girl merely placed her hand out in front and pushed it open.

"Mama, look at me I'm…"

The halls fell silent and, as if to suddenly reflect the atmosphere, they darkened blending with the still night outside. There would have been a loud scream had it not been for the impact of what the child saw. Her eyes were wide, staring at the limp figure hanging before her like a cloth being dried out.

The woman was of a young age, barley even her early thirties, old enough to have given birth to an only child. Her blue eyes were void, lifeless, they were the windows to her soul but there was nothing there, there hadn't been for a long time. Her dark hair was tangled and unclean, as if she hadn't showered in days. Asuka stared for what seemed like an eternity at the thing that would haunt her till the rest of her life, the terrifying smile that graced Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu's face.

When the child's eyes finally dropped away she saw that doll, that stupid doll that had taken her place, taken her mothers affection from her. The doll that was, in her mother's eyes, her, her daughter. The stitching had been ripped along the neck, and the head was torn clear off the shoulders, bleeding cotton stuffing onto the floor.

Unnoticed until now, by the girl, a small rodent had entered the room in search of food and a place to nest. It scurried its way across the wooden floorboards and into the middle of the room below the dangling figure. The mouse sniffed the air and found a scent to its liking and approached the torn doll.

She continued to watch, mortified, as the mouse began to tear the stuffing out of the dolls severed head. The doll in which represented her, her mother's doll, and her replacement. Something, deep inside of her mind, snapped and the halls were no longer silent as the terrified screams of a four-year-old girl rang out, never to be heard by another living soul.

****

"What the hell is going on?!" Ritsuko Akagi yelled, "What's the status on the pilots?"

Maya's fingers flew across her laptops keyboard and soon the comm feed was replaced by three small graphs. Each provided information on the pilot in the Eva indicated, "Shinji is down and he's getting hammered. Reis synch rate isn't that high so she must be having trouble moving and…Unit-02 has gone silent!!"

"What the HELL?" Misato exclaimed in panic, "What do you mean by its gone silent?"

"Exactly that Ma'am, Unit-02 has deactivated and there is no response from the pilot."

"How much time do they have left?"

"Less than two minutes."

Misato watched the screen helplessly, completely powerless, as the 9th Angel, designated so by the Magi, began to toy with its prey. It seemed determined to make sure the Eva beneath it remained there. This was bad for Shinji.

From within the entry plug the wounded Third Child could clearly see the belly of the beast above. The spider like angel had him pinned down for the last minute or so but it had made no effort to finish him off, until now. As Shinji tried to overcome the excruciating pain caused by the neural link with the Eva, the angels' body began to change. A thin line cut straight across the center of the creature's underside. The line began to bulge for a few seconds before slitting open to reveal a pupil and iris.

Another eye.

Shinji gasped

Suddenly, everything burned.

There were more agonizing cries from Unit-01 as it was bathed in an unholy baptism of fiery liquid. The orange acid flowed like a waterfall, burning and melting anything it touched. The purple armor belonging to the ill-fated Evangelion was slowly but surely dissolving with every last drop.

Off to the side, Unit-00 stood watching calmly, although the pilot was not the same, for the first time that she could remember, a sudden wave of adrenaline rushed through her upper extremities, and a lump formed in her throat. Not even seconds passed before something warm tickled her face, and drew a path down her cheek to stop at her chin: a tear. Something deep inside urged her to double her efforts.

 At that moment all hell broke loose.

"Get it away from me!!"

The panicked scream echoed throughout the city drowning out those of the third child, followed by a string of thrashing noises. Unit-02 had gone nuts, one moment it was sitting there, deactivated; now the Biomechanical beast was staggering backwards and smashing into the sides of buildings while holding its head.

Unit-02 slammed its hand into a building as if it were trying to scare something away; all it did was create more rubble for the city engineers to clean. A second later and the pallet rifle the Eva was holding let out a burst of fire, aimed at nothing in particular, as if under the control of a hapless child.

Rei spun round to face the Red Eva and ducked just in time to avoid a stray round of bullets. She could see that the Eva was no longer under the control of the Second Child.

It was with the next fit of screams that the First Child received her answer, "Get it away from me get that thing out of my Eva!! Leave me alone!!" The bone chilling cries were drowned out as the Eva continued to empty its clip of ammo into the city.

There was one more cry, but it came from behind Reis Eva, and it was a male voice. In the confusion a few bullets had managed to hit the Angel catching it off guard and penetrating its flesh before the A.T field was activated. But on the other hand some had been unfortunate enough to hit a target that was supposed to be left alone. Unit-01 had been on the receiving end of five pallet shells.

If the units A.T Field had been up this would not have been a problem, sadly the Eva's defenses had dropped out minutes before. Rei heard the Third Childs last cry for help before the comm went silent. Unit-02 also fell silent as it used the last of its ammo and power.

The first Child stood alone before the Angel, with less than a minute left to destroy the enemy and rescue the only person who had shown her affection. The internal clock hit 00:57, there was not much time left.

"Ikari…"

Something flashed in the back of Rei Ayanami's mind. She saw herself seated in her entry-plug, her head hung to one side, barley conscious. She could hear something going on outside, but the pain she felt compelled her to hold still. Then the sounds grew louder and she heard a voice. She heard him.

When her eyes opened the first thing that Rei saw was the worried face of a younger version of commander Ikari, his son Shinji. At that moment she knew that this boy was different than any other she had met.

Rei opened her eyes and looked darkly at the Angel hovering above Unit-01, "You will not take him." In the flash of an instant Uni-00 leapt forward, its feet kicking up dust as they lifted off the ground. Somersaulting forward the Eva kicked down with both its feet connecting with one of the angel's legs, snapping it clean in half.

Once it hit the ground, Unit-00 pulled itself up and launched forward again this time grabbing a second leg in two different spots and twisting until a blood curdling snap could be heard. In a desperate attempt to ward off its attacker, the angel raised its A.T field hoping to propel the Eva away. But Unit-00 was not so easily taken down. Instead the Eva spread its own field and cancelled out the Angels.

Once again on the offensive Rei extracted the progressive knife from its holster and slammed it hard into the enemy's belly. She violently ripped it back and forth spraying blood around like an unsteadied fire hose. The blue unit stopped as the Knife hit something hard. Using the last twenty seconds of power, the First Child stabbed at the core piercing it in one fluid thrust.

There was a pause. The Angel released a final volley of acid tears, before crumbling to the ground in a mass of flesh and blood. Unit-00 stood and fell silent. There was no movement from the beast apart from the faint white glimmer in its eyes.

****

Central Dogma was in an uproar, as information and battle data churned out by the three super computers known as the Magi. Within that very data Ritsuko Akagi found a rare occurrence that had only happened once before, and her face became shocked as she read over the bold highlighted word "Berserker."

"What the hell is going on?!" an extremely stressed Major Katsuragi yelled over the commotion, "What's happening to the pilots?" For a moment her only answer was the constant droning of machines pumping out wads of useless records. The majors eyes narrowed into deadly slits and she yelled at the top of her voice, "What's the condition of the pilots?!"

The entire command centre fell deathly quiet at the sudden outburst of the furious operations director. The first to break the silence was tech bunny Maya, "Unit-01 is severely damaged, faint signal on the pilot. Unit-00 is out of power. Pilot is in perfect health and…unit-02 is silent, battery power remaining almost a minute. Pilot status…" the young techs eyes widened "Asukas psycho-graph is off the scale!"

"Eject the entry plug on all units," Misato ordered loudly, her instincts already kicking in her brain churning out a million thoughts, scenarios, and worries at the exact same time, flooding her with anxiety. "I want a medical team out there ASAP go to full medical alert, get Shinji and Asuka down to the infirmary right away."

Once the orders were dealt out and the major knew they would be carried out properly she turned to Ritsuko, "Ritsu, please take care of the rest. I'm going to the infirmary I don't expect to be back soon." That said the worried surrogate mother rushed out of the command centre and made a quick sprint to the nearest transport-car all the while her mind was pleading for her two children to be alright.

Dr. Akagi turned in time to see her long time friend run out the door and disappear into the corridor. She turned back to her logs and checked them again. There was no doubt in her mind: Unit-00 had awakened. Faster than she could say "Evangelion Launch," her cell phone was in her hand and connecting to another. 

A gruff male voice picked up on the other end, "Yes?"

"It has happened," Ritsuko stated simply.

"Excellent."

The doctor could almost feel the evil grin of Gendo Ikari on the other end, "Record all data, enter it into the core of the prototype and begin production of the test-type."

"But sir that could be…"

"Do it."

"Yes sir."                     

****

A/N: Phew, that took me a LONG TIME, I don't know what was wrong but I just couldn't get the urge to write for a while. Then my life got a hole lot more complicated, its hard trying to juggle School, work, social and then hobby as well especially when your hobby requires a good imagination, I think I may have said this but school really sucks that away from ya.

Anyway I apologies for my tardiness in this chapter, I hope you can all forgive me Bucky bows his head in shame but if you don't……TOUGH SHIT HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Bucky sticks his tongue out Misato style ^_^ Yep you guessed it peoples I'M BACK!!! Bucky is back in da mood he is cocked, locked and ready to rock!

Well, well I wonder what's going to happen next….no really I do cause I haven't thought of it yet…………………………Got ya, had yas goin for a second didn't I? ^_~ so what will happen to Shinji, what Injuries did he sustain? What kind of physiological affects are there going to be for Asuka, and how will she take the news of her hitting Shinji in the crossfire? And also what is everyone's favorite spy up to, and no I'm not talking about James Bond -_-. Only I know so make sure u read the next chap……I haven't thought of a name for ^_^! 

Thanx again to Autophage for da pre-reading, sorry for all the mistakes and shit but I had to re-install windows XP -_- and so my MS-word's all screwy at the moment.

Seyas on da other side………………..