Chapter 27: Let's do the odyssey.
Gendo: Stop being a baby son and man up. The past is in the past and your mother will never come back. Now get your self-esteem in issues together and start following my orders properly.
Shinji: I will dad. But you first please. Stop trying to kill everyone just so you can have mum back.
She gave her life solely so that we could all live so I think what you are trying to do is the most disrespectful thing possible.
You can't tell me to improve my self-esteem when you keep on taking insulting jabs at me every day even when I've done nothing wrong.
Follow your orders? When you want me to kill everyone who doesn't deserve your wrath?
If I do that then I truly do have no self-esteem since even I'm not going to lower myself to such a depth.
Self-belief means knowing when to say no sometimes dad. So sorry. But with great regret. No.

Ritsuko Akagi: What is it that makes Yui so irreplacable anyway, commander sir?
Gendo: She's quiet and bookish instead of unrefined and rowdy like most of my employees. Like me, she loves science and the wondeful possibilities it holds (though I only care about the part where I take over the world). I also like the tint of brown in her hair.
Ritsuko: If I take off my blonde hair dye, I'd also have brown hair. In terms of bookish people...I didn't sleep one day last week because I stayed up late every night to go over the entire collection of textbooks that you haven't sold or burned yet. As for the sciences... I have five degrees.
Yui only had one. She only had a b grade. I have straight A's.
It can't be any of the reasons you just specified. So please. At least stop lying.
Also. My name's not Ritsuko. It's miss doctor professor Ritsuko to you.

Asuka POV

Oh, Stupid Shinji.
I majestically sing out as I grit my teeth and grip the controls of my now smoothly soaring Evangelion with all my might.

If only I could join there in the air
Floating free without a care
I wish I could fly
And see things with a different eye

My rage only intensifies as I climb past a field of fluffy clouds. Oh, commander Ikari how I praise your foresight to high heavens and beyond.
You truly are the greatest genius your disgraceful son truly failed to learn a thing from.
Shame on him for not appreciating your magnificent virtues that I promise to emulate as best I can. I'll prove I will make the best daughter in law, you could ever find.

I would fly. So very high. And touch the sky.
And never have to ask why it is? That I can't fly

But now I can fly. Thanks to the lovely figure of authority merciful enough to grant me so many second chances.
You stalled me for quite some time thanks to that pretty impressive nuclear missile and me not knowing this amazing new Evangelion had so many brand-new features.
But now I know you've got nothing more to offer.
I'm homing in on your puny little scrap heap of a flyer right now.

Don't worry my beloved idiot. My fists are still ready and my temper is still sharp.
You've not extinguished my tension, merely added to it.
There you are right now.
This time I won't even bother to waste time with a greeting.

My fantastic Evangelion. Time to show these fools what we are truly made off.
Go, go gadget. Precision accuracy grappling hook.
Such a bewildering spectacle of modern scientific marvel that my country helped create.
Such a jaw-droppingly precise accuracy rate. Look at it. 99.9 %
You could not avoid it if you tried.

It will drag you straight into my Evangelion's metal hands where I can proceed to selectively pick you apart.

Mari POV
"My go. My go. Please Shinji come on. One more song. We love you and your cello so much."
I plead with all my heart as I unstrap my seatbelt to offer a curtsey that nearly knocks me off my feet, even with the steady course this high-tech jet is cruising with.
As deep and emotional as everyone else's songs have been, I feel that my much more jovial number that's been stuck in my mind from the moment this makeshift karaoke begun will make a welcome addition.

"Yes Shinji. Come on please. Do it for me. Mari is my good friend who gave me the courage to confess my feelings for you in the first place. We both owe it to her for getting this far."
Rei helpfully adds with a set of puppy dog eyes that he does not even try to resist.

"Yeah, otouto I've a feeling this will be fun." Lieutenant of NERV Maya Ibu...Er pardon my rubbish French. I meant Sniper of Team fortress 3, Maya Ikari puts in with a goofy grin.

"How can I say no to my eternal Waifu and the greatest onee-chan to ever walk the face of this planet, no, the entire universe itself."
The god of string and bow instrumentality gratefully answers as his eyes glint gold with the offer.
"Any requests."

I saunter over to him and whisper something in his ear.
His ensuing nod is so vigorous that his head near snaps from his neck.
With a quick flex of his slightly worn fingers and a brief stretch backwards and forwards, he has regained all the strength he needs to begin yet another cello-style raising of the roof.

Paul POV
Bowsette. You truly have crossed the threshold of irredeemable this time.
It was one thing to hold the governors of the mushroom kingdom for a hefty ransom but now you've straight up turned into an abomination even more despicable than the Angels themselves.

I understand that money is shiny and that everyone wants it. But you don't want money. You want blood. You want to paint the mushroom fields red and runny.
You knew that one day when I'd finally saved enough money to become somewhat decent of a partner to my many times saviour, Maria, that I would overcome my uncontrollable shyness and confess the truth of how I treasured her as more than just a friend.

She knew that such a day was coming. She had many chances to pick between President Peach, vice president Daz and even Grand Moff Rosslyn.
They all owed their lives to her as much as I did.
She was a patient paragon. She was job like in the suppression of her desires in the name of saintly selflessness. Bowsette. If you only knew.

Now I ain't a smart boy, Bowsette. But I know what love is.
Maria. I have one thing I have to say to you as I blow the entirety of the savings, I've racked up in my scraping life's work as a humble showman of a rundown pub without even electrical lighting or refrigeration for the drinks on the biggest bazooka the town pawn shop has in stock.
I trade the spring shoes you gave to me as a memento for a bulletproof vest and a set of heavy duty rubber boots.
My red stage hat with the rose is given away for a Kevlar visor that obscures my rather girlish face and curled brown hair.

That one thing is this.
I don't know if what you told me was right. That we all have a destiny.
Or if we really are just floating by like leaves in the wind.

But you know what I think, Maria?
I think it's both. We may indeed have a likely end point that will eventually be reached without intervention. But with the right combination of sheer willpower and the right cause worth dying for, we can shift that point perhaps not in the way we always want.
But we can certainly at least make the attempt. So that when we take our last breaths and life flashes before our eyes, we can at least in earnest admit to ourselves that we tried.

For lack of a better choice Bowsette, it is time.
Time for you and this humble performer to tango down.

Mari POV
Let's do the odyssey

Here we go. Off the rails.
Don't you know it's time to raise our sails?
It's freedom like you never knew

It really was. Evangelions for all their oversized glamour could not fly.
They could leap distances and even that was no concern to us.
It may have tragic but at least that nuke fired by Setsuko had surely put down Asuka for good.
I took great pain to pinch myself till a proper tear could be shed for my former colleague who took great joy in insulting me and my nationality at every turn.

Don't need bags. Or a pass.
Say the word, I'll be there in a flash
You could say my hat goes off to you

People often called me unusually skilled for a beginner pilot.
That was only because I had played Shinji and Rei's battles that the rebels recorded from their secret cameras on repeat more times than I could count.
Shinji and Rei were my Kakashi and Iruka Sensei.
Though they were so much less mean spirited and passionate than those two apathetic jerks.

This flight was free. These rebels were willing to help us and ask nothing in return.
They knew that not everything needed a monetary reward and that the best reward of all in life sometimes, was a bit of fun and excitement.
Ask any human to summarize their life. I could promise you they would not once bring up the countless hours stuck in traffic driving to a dead-end job that bored them out of their minds, and taxed their body to its absolute limit. Nor the time wasted binging crappy shows they'd seen a thousand times already.

They'd tell you only the really exciting bits. The day they got their first raise. Found the love of their life. Had their first child. Bought the mansion they always dreamed of.
Such a summary usually took in less than a year of time they'd actually be alive.

Which begged the question of whether or not this was definitive proof that a somewhat shortened life was really the fearful injustice many feared?
Alexander the Great was said to have lost all happiness from his smile, the day there were no more territories for him to conquer and no more life-risking struggles for him to risk his neck.

It could take a lifetime to work up the courage confess to the love of your life. But to cut to the chase would take but a few seconds. I was so glad Shinji and Rei were able to get this procrastination out the way so quickly and so young. Perhaps the sense of danger that either might die at any moment as an EVA pilot or through sadistic domestic abuse gone too far, formed the necessary sense of urgency that this was not something that could wait forever.

There they went getting close to each other again.
They were readying their lips. They were becoming quickly more courageous enough to do this frequently rather than only on special occasions.
Well, let me do what I can to make the experience even more enjoyable.

Spin the wheel. Take a chance
Every journey starts a new romance
A new world's calling out to you

Take a turn, off the path
Find a new addition to the cast
You know that every captain needs a crew

The more the merrier. It was a shockingly misunderstood statement that even the greatest kings and presidents of the past had forgotten to their own detriment.
Another friend never hurt anyone.

Perhaps this was why Asuka frequently complained of loneliness despite being literally surrounded by glory, every waking moment of her existence.
Not so much that she didn't have the choice to have friends but rather chose to keep herself tightly closed off so that she could continue building her walls every higher.
No one could help her with that. Not even Shinji.

Asuka's limitations were the shackles she bound to herself.
She didn't want friends. She wanted the sense of being better than anyone.
Well Asuka if that is what you want.

We can zoom all the way to the moon.
In this great wide, wacky world
Jump with me, grab coins with me, oh yeah

Take it in stride as you move from side to side
They're just different points of view
Jump with me, grab coins with me, oh yeah

You don't like being judged so harshly Asuka?
Please stop doing this to us then. Human nature dictates that we return the treatments others give to us back to them. We can resist through perseverance for a time but eventually even the willpower of the most determined evangelist will die away through constant chipping.

It's not a simple fact of good and evil.
The Germans believed they were heroic for giving their country so much more land and workers while they saw their foes as obstacles to the success, they felt they were owed.
Side A will always try to paint side B as the enemy in the tides of war and vice versa.
If only they too knew the wisdom of Christmas Kitty, that the joy you give to others is the same joy that comes back to you.

Even on the same side, it's not always so crystal clear.
Bosses hate to pay their workers and workers hate to be paid so little by the boss.
But if the worker became the boss, he'd pay his workers just a little.
Hypocrisy? No. The drive for survival ingrained into each and every one of us from the days we were but primal beasts.

Poor Gendo. You think there's no choice and you'd be dead wrong.
You could choose to pay your workers more.
If evolution dictates, we change our outdated view on an ever-improving world then why not advance our principles along with our technology?
Ritsuko and me will have a field day talking this over. Good thing she chose to reform and come with us.

C, crack.
What's that sound?
Wait Shinji. Stop playing for a second let me see what's.

Let me go over to the window and...
Mama Mia. No.

"Mari. What's the matter?" Shinji stops his playing to try and ask as every other member in the cabin save the two pilots begin to stand in turn.
"No. God." I merely tell them, unable to coordinate my completely blown mind.

"No god please no. No. No. NOOOO!"
Setsuko skilfully manages to move the jet in the nick of time before the metallic hook I can now see is a grapple hook can hook us in its inescapable embrace.
It is not the romantic embrace that Shinji and Rei have been forced to cease as even now, they gasp for air and rub their very sore lips while trying to recover from the sudden movement.

Oh, Asuka. Why?
Never mind that those red wings and black horns on your Eva make you look absolutely hideous and out of season.
But now you're going this length try and recapture a lover who has long declared that he is through with you and who will not come back to you unless you change your ways drastically.
You can't force him to love you. Love cannot be forced.

I know I can't. I too was beginning to develop quite the amour with this handsome Casanova who's mother I was already quite taken by, but for the sake of the experts from whom I learned my Evangelion techniques and their sacred trust in me, I relented.
We can all love Shinji even if he already chose his romantic partner. We can best show our love by accepting and supporting his personal choices.

Choices define a person Asuka more so than any other aspect.
More than age, nationality or colour.
Shinji chose Rei. If you cannot live with that then you cannot live with Shinji.

"Mari. Please keep singing and Shinji. Please keep playing"
Setsuko begs with devout ardour as she continues to evade the grapple's repeated attempts to hook our jet in the style of Neo in the matrix.
"We have this situation under control. Shinji, you and Rei may well be excellent pilots but this is not your piloting area of expertise. Let us do the work for a change and you can consider your awesome duet as our repayment. If you want to, of course. I won't force you."

I won't force you. The most important rule distinguishing true friend and foe.
Abolishing the slave trade should have made this apparent but apparently many jerks still just didn't get it.

It's time to jump up in the air
Jump up don't be scared
Jump up and your cares will soar away

And if you find your short on joy
Don't fret. Just don't forget that

I turn to Shinji with absolute seriousness and solemnity as he nearly drops his cello at the ferocity of my look.

You're still our one up boy

I shift my perspective to Rei who is still dizzy from the kiss she and Shinji managed to get off before Asuka came to crash the party.
Did Asuka see it and decide that this was the perfect time to strike? I hope she saw it because with my condolences, this is a hard truth she'll have to live with. Which I too will have to live with.
A brief blink of jealousy threatens to cut across my face but I force it back.

No Mari. Bad thoughts.
Pervert. Bastard. Jilter and betrayer. How could you!
I make the inner vow that the moment Shinji and Rei are no longer looking in my direction, I'll give myself ten smacks to the jaw for such inconsideration.
Evil is not a group but a force that exists in us all for without it, there can be no good.
The greatest, most mighty generals have failed to guard themselves against its temptation.

And if the dark clouds start to swirl
Don't cry. Don't shed a tear cause'
I'll be your one up girl

Rei. I urge you not to take the one up meaning that I completely do not intend to imply.
Do not conjure the image of a maniacally giggling me as I leap onto Asuka's Evangelion and join her at the control panel so that I can add to her already overpowering assault on our safe haven.
Please tell me you've at least played enough video games before commander Murder Mcmurderson confiscated the NES I gave you (Yes I know he has a different name but that's what he is to me), to know what a 1 up is?

If you don't. Please feel free to slap my mouth till it bleeds.
Because I want you to either grasp the true intention or completely pretend that I said nothing.

I now shift my gaze to the multitude of rebels. Angelo being pure American while Lola and his other accomplices originally hailing from Germany.
Proof that not all citizens of one country must be carbon copies of each other.
In terms of both allegiances and choice of tactics in combat, Angelo's Germanic gang stands completely apart from Asuka as well as each other.

They too deserve another round of grateful praise for persevering and sticking through with us so well.

Now listen all you boys and girls
All around the world
Don't be afraid to get up and move

No really. Setsuko and Fio are doing their jobs so well that even if you unfasten your seatbelts and treat this area as a disco, no harm whatsoever will come to you.

You know that we're all superstars
We're the ones who made it this far
Put a smile on that face
There's no time to waste oh.

I draw in a deafeningly loud gust to signal to Shinji that he needs to really give it his all for our grand finish.

LET'S DO THE ODYSSEY!

Asuka.
Rei already said this about you once before your back but now requesting permission from Fio to use the radio momentarily, I will shout it with every last ounce of air in my lungs remaining after I expended it all on the most heartfelt tune I've ever sang in my life.
I'm certain that as a devoted German of unbreakable patriotism, you will appreciate this sentimental compliment.

BBBRAAAKKKAAA MONO GA!

Misato POV

"Are you still recording" I ask the camera girl who I've requested come with me and my makeshift squad as Kaji drives us down an alley where not much of the carnage is taking place.
By now, I have made the final important aesthetic adjustment that completes my declaration to turn from my indolent ways of sloth and renew my vow to fight heresy.
I've painted my purple hair raven black. I've also adopted a falsetto that at first was very difficult to maintain but has become increasingly easy as I used it more, falling practically head over heels in love with the way my once annoying and nagging noises that made even myself nauseous could sound if I simply injected a little more enthusiasm and fiery zest from my younger days back into my speech.

The years that passed between an optimistic alcohol-free teen and now, seem to melt away as I continue to talk in the fierce but captivating tone that almost threw Kaji off concentration.
He too had agreed to my cosplaying exhibition and donned a midnight black tuxedo alongside a matching hued top hat and mask.
The way his cape billowed in the wind as we rushed to his suave ride parked in the entranceway, it made my chest nearly split wide open as I internally gushed over his astounding features amplified tenfold by his new outfit.
A tuxedo and a mask. A red rose corsage on the left side of his breast.
Work it out. It was very simple.

We stop and disembark at a smaller facility quite a distance off the main part of NERV's now overrun headquarters. It is a hub of chaos as the transformed Angels tear it apart.
It seems that even in their monstrous forms, these people maintain their infernal hatred for NERV and all it stands for and are taking the chance with their newfound might to finally vent their pent-up frustrations out.
I would not blame them. I too hated NERV but because it paid for my beer, I ignored my suspicions until too late.
In a very real sense, I was cleaning up my own mess with Kaji backing me up every step of the way.

I had always wanted a battle, just one before I died, where we partied together.
Now it was happening in the best way possible but also under the worst circumstances.
I really hoped that we'd not have to kill too many of those...things.
They were still people deep below their now alien forms with human rights.

We reach a very small building that took us a long run down several alleys. I couldn't run like I used to especially with my stab wound, but "Usagi" held me
An even smaller metal doorway stands before me.
I step onto the large electrical metallic doormat that I caution my makeshift entourage to stay behind, and in the ten seconds before it can fry me to a crisp, I place my finger onto the barely noticeable scanner hidden beneath a flap on the solid door that was made of stern stuff said to be able to withstand even angel assaults. The doorway I knew, was also retrofitted with cutting lasers in the event anyone tried to jump the doormat.

My team watches me with growing admiration each second and Kaji gives a heavy nod of approval.
Being a Major was finally going to come in handy.
A lieutenant like Maya or Aoba would have been electrified to ashes had they tried this.
Even my good friend Ritsuko would not have made it through.

The door swivels opens and the high-tech projection system dies down with a dismal groan.
I take point as I lead the others down a dark set of corridors, leaning on "Usagi" and Kaji each step on account of the weakness that still remained in spite of the painkillers.
If I took more then I'd be unconscious and no self-respecting or honourable leader let herself be conked out in a time as vital as this.
Especially with the camera girl still keeping her device firmly angled on me.
I wanted to save the world. I wanted to prove to my son Shinji that I was both a loving and fun to be around parent who could put his spark of innocence that his father took from him back into place.
But I also wanted the first episode of the new Sailor Moon season when it aired to be something special. So that in spite of the censorships that had ruined Japanese media, some broadcasting company somewhere would think of the children and decide it was in their best interest.

Part of the reason I turned to alcohol was because I didn't have my favourite show running to keep me occupied in the evenings anymore. It was also why Kaji didn't smile as often as he used to despite still being the cheeriest one among us officers.

In this moment as we finally reached the "Anti Angelion special weapons closet" (ooh. Epic name Ritsuko, you really outdid yourself this time) after several stairways and floors of very dimly illuminated walkways, I told myself that Misato Katsuragi did not exist for the sake of the upcoming anime battle that I promised myself would go down in Anime history.
Neither did Kaji Ryoji who had also followed my example and pitched up his voice to sound far younger than he really was for the sake of not ruining the atmosphere as well as not sounding too authoritarian to the three girls who'd basically press ganged themselves into my platoon.

"So, um. Constable Minako" I asked as I scanned the sole shelf in the closet that had not been emptied.
"The upcoming fight we are about to take part in will be very tough. How tough are you?"
I was only now beginning to have doubts whether three girls of the tender age of fourteen were really cut out for this horrific nightmare. I didn't want even more allegations of child abuse being thrown at my door after already wronging Shinji and his Rei so badly as I did.
Yes. Minako was fourteen. NERV had long since removed the bans on child labour even before Gendo took over. In the apocalypse where each day was a fight for survival, every hand needed to be on deck.
Child labour was not wrong in the pure sense of the word. It was when the children were not paid or treated with respect where I drew the line.

Minako (who refused to reveal her "real" name stating that neither I nor the viewers this would soon be broadcasted before had any business knowing and that It'd spoil the drama)
seemed almost take this concerning question over her welfare as an insult instead.
She bared her teeth as her eyes instantly lit up with undiluted authority.
"How tough am I? How tough am I!? I had a bowl of nails this morning for breakfast"

"Um. Er. Yeah so?" I stammered in great terror. I needed her to be completely certain that she was prepared to risk her neck and sanity to a foe that might not even grant her and her friends the mercy of death when it was done with her.
I knew that Shinji had already been crushed by these monstrosities and their mind tricks. I did not want more raving lunatics weighing on my conscience.

"Without any milk!" She ragingly roared as without any warning, she loosed off a right hook like a piston at a nearby thick wall of concrete, leaving a gigantic set of cracks and rocking the entire underground bunker briefly.
"Usagi" quickly jumps forward, dissatisfied with how her friend is the only one to get a chance to show off her talents.

"That's nothing." The moon princess of the long-destroyed moon kingdom quickly cuts in.
"I'll have you know that I stubbed my toe last week while watering my spice garden. And I only cried for 20 minutes."

"Wow" I shake with several spasms at Usagi's claim to hardiness. That was indeed godlike levels of power. The best Asuka managed when once she gave herself a mild papercut so tiny it would be invisible if she didn't show it to clearly me, was two hours.
Asuka really wasn't the hard nut everyone believed. She had made me promise that I'd tell this to no one but now I think I would.

Kaji fills in for the now completely scared me as he looks the remaining Sailor Guardian of Mercury, blue haired Ami Mizuno with an air of scrutiny.
"Angels are very agile creatures who can bring death in the blink of an eye to an unprepared fighter" He sullenly warns trying to sound as frightening as possible before the shy bookworm with blue contacts.
"Now tell me. How is an out of shape student like you going to keep up with the rest of us. Eh?"

He wasn't trying to be mean. He just didn't want to send helpless kids to a needless death where they regretted their poor life decisions in the final second.
He just wanted to give our amazing recruits a chance to back out in case they did not feel up to it.
Just because this was the end of the world, it did not justify us being completely insensitive to the needs of our crew.

He soon chokes on his words as with lightning pace, Ami drops all her usual meekness as she springs upon him and soon has her arms around his neck.
You did not need strength for this. Only speed and a knack at manoeuvring your body with great precision. As well as a solid knowledge of tactics and spotting an opening in the concentration of one's opponents. She had been on him in a flash without so much as giving him a chance to guard himself.

"Do not think to insult the pretty guardian of Mercury who fights for love and intelligence"
She sadly states as following his silent apology of tapping out, she just as quickly releases him.
"The answer to your completely insensitive inquiry should be completely obvious considering my status as the bender of the water element among the guardians. "

"How did you move so fast?" Kaji dumbly utters as he massages the point at which her chokehold threatened to squeeze all air from his airway like a fish out of water. He straightens the mask obscuring his face in a vain attempt to regain composure.

"Do you not already know, Tuxedo mask? For if you are truly this clueless, then we truly have no future with your bumbling incompetence."
Ami crossly lectures, stabbing a pointed finger at him in the manner of an impatient schoolmaster scolding her delinquent student.
This girl really was not someone you wanted to test the patience of.
"I will say this once and once only. I can go faster than anything underwater."

She puffs up her next words so that they send shivers up the spine of us all.
Ami was a sea goddess in human form. Forget Sailor Neptune, Mercury was the true aqua master.
"I'm...HYDRODYANMICALLY DESIGNED!"

"Do you still doubt our great prowess, oh fearless and respectable leader whose lives we trust in your hands?" Minako impatiently spurts as she stamps her feet with impatience. It's obvious that she wants to get to the fighting quickly and that if I do not oblige her that she will unleash her wrath right here.
"Do you think we'd have come specifically to seek you out if we were not ready to lay down our everything in a similar manner to the meek and selfless son you cruelly drove away with your neglect and indifference."
Her finishing words are razor sharp and jagged to their very intonation, causing me to shudder.

"No Sailor Mars. Or should I say. Major Misato the mean. We as a group have absolutely no respect whatsoever for you and your dirty misdeeds that brought this disaster upon our once peaceful city.
It is only because of the great hero Shinji Ikari, and his equally fantastic heroine Rei Ayanami, and the fact that they once served under your command that we did not choose to bring you in, the instant we set eyes on you.
We're not here for a friendly meeting, but to make you repent and pay penance for the ungodly blasphemies you as a believer have committed."

Kaji doesn't try to protest. As much as he cares for me, even he has no choice but to admit that this no-nonesense constable is telling the complete truth.

"Our sole purpose now is to make sure that Shinji and Rei have a home to return to when all this is over. So that not all the loved ones they were forced to leave behind on account of your disgusting neglect will be gone by the time they choose to return, if they choose to return at all."
The officer unsheathes the nightstick she has kept hidden until now and points it squarely at my still sore chest.
"So that they need not bear another unnecssary guilt on their already forever ruined conscience, when they eventually find out about this horrible mess."

She narrows her eyes in the most frightening gesture I have ever seen from anyone ever. A low-ranking member of the nearly bankrupt police force was talking down a high-ranking major who normally would be considered completely above suspicion or legal action.
What a spectacle the boys and girls this would soon be aired to, would get to witness.
So much better when what you watched actually happened and wasn't just faked with props and editing. Her words cause yet another spasm in my heart which causes me to slump down uncontrollably as my jaw drops but only pained gasps come out.

"Our aid does not come without a price, Major. Once this is all over, I will personally turn you in and you will be tried for your part in Shinji and Rei's inhumane parental abuse. As well as the reckless endangerment of countless pedestrians and drivers alike with your drink road hog attitude which you have refused to amend despite countless warnings. It is only because the streets are in turmoil and we require your assistance and keen sense of strategy to lead us through these trying times, that I did not immediately place you under arrest the instant I tracked you down."

She furrows her brow.
"But once this is over and the innocent who you and your superiors endangered, are saved..."

She draws from her belt a small set of cuffs that sparkle in the dim underground light with her free hand
"And if you try to run..."

She pounds the nightstick into the already cracked section of wall her fist smashed into earlier, this time totally breaking apart the entire section toughened mortar into tiny pieces that soon disintegrates into a pile of stony soot.
I merely bow and raise my head to let the devoted enforcer see my truly genuine tears, now truly sorry for everything I've done.
"I understand and I am grateful. Minako. It is about time I answered for my sins against heaven and the kingdom of god. I will not try to resist. I sincerely promise."

"Then if that is clear. Assign us our weapons and roles for the confrontation. Mars.
You know our strengths and weaknesses better than any of us and we will follow your orders to the letter. But do not try to trick us. We will know"
Minako continues to stare me down as I take a careful look at the remaining trove of varying gadgets that the good doctor Ritsuko had been developing before her funding was cut by Gendo once again to fund his lavish lifestyle.
She had long before me, been wondering whether the Evangelions were really necessary at all considering the heavy loss of life they were not able to prevent in spite of their apparent strength.

The Camera girl has a field day capturing every shot as I grant each sailor guardian the weapon, I know they will wield to perfection while giving a brief explanation of what each does.
A trivial decision seemingly but one I know from the years I was actually competent at my job as a major, must be an exact science.
Only Minako can lift and thus take the two-handed laser canon (spelled Lazercannon) which is the easiest weapon of all to decide a wielder for.
It works by scrambling the DNA of any living being caught by its thin but deadly ionising ray.
However, it requires a very precise aim and steady hands-on account of the thinness of each shot and the bolt action nature of a grand invention that was never finished beyond its prototype stage.
Each shot must therefore count, especially when factoring also the sheer recoil comparable to a sawn-off shotgun. The future was here but it was not yet perfected. Never stop believing doctor.

Usagi lost her parents to a Yakuza raid.
So much money had been siphoned away to deal with the Angels that Japan forgot about the myriad of human scum that needed to be addressed, and were running rampant thanks to the sheer amounts oversight and corruption caused both directly and indirectly by the massive spending NERV demanded.
They were put down according to her with fully automatic assault rifles when she was just 3.
She was able to flee out the back but from that day, she'd developed a crippling phobia of all types of firearm or anything remotely resembling one.

Usagi could best be seen as a cleric of sorts. In the sense that even with she was forced into a thief gang later in life to not starve, she never used a gun of any kind.
Instead, she resorted to all manner of thrown weapon to keep her opponents at greater distance since her poor diet that she was forced to withstand all the way till her teenage years made her very emaciated and as easy to swat aside as a feather once her opponents closed in.
Throwing knives, boomerang and shuriken were her means of self-defence on the cold, harsh streets of Shibuya. She was widely feared by the other crime gangs and yet, the very sound of a gunshot made her drop everything to cover her ears.

The obvious fit for the mighty moon princess was naturally the razor poison filled discs.
Each one took only the flick of a switch to activate and when thrown, used a self-propulsion system to extend their flight far beyond the distance at which a human throw could manage.
Their diamond edge and titanium main body could easily puncture even the skin of an Angel in their search for never-ending vengeance.

Ami also did not have great upper body strength, having spent most of her life being pushed into exams and theorems she hated under the threat of being deprived of food and spanked to near-death otherwise. She was not even allowed to hang out with anyone and was firmly bound to the rule of speak only when spoken to till she could take it no longer and ran away.

She did however, have very fast fingers from countless hours spent scribbling notes to memorize like crazy so that she could keep up the straight A's which would spare her unspeakable disciplines she preferred not to recount. Messed up families these days. But then that was rich coming from me.

She was given the sonic pulse emitter. A pistol like device that emitted a set of signals to confuse and confound any Angel within the vicinity with a frequency only they could detect.
There were three available settings.
One that made everything seem smaller and further away to the Angels. One that created a near infinite number of illusions for any object the Angels saw and one that simply caused a terrible ear and headache which while not harmful enough to kill, would be invaluable in keeping the creatures stunned and off guard for a finishing move.

Kaji had already taken the "roses".
A set of very stylish green and red capsules, each containing a special mixture of chemicals Ritsuko knew would be deadly to humans but downright lethal to even the strongest Angel.
Someone had a twisted imagination. But in this instance, I was grateful for this quirk of hers. Little did she know that her final inventions would save our city and uncountable lives. Thank you Ritsuko for sticking it through with me even as I mistreated you to the very end.
Digitalis. Cyanide. Tear gas, the undiluted variety no longer used in the nation's army "for fear of seeming too imperialistic".
But most importantly, everyone's favourite nerve agent. Good old Chloroform.
Breath a puff and night, night.

Kaji's mask was also a gas mask. It covered his mouth as well as his eyes.
His tuxedo was poison proof. Stray chemical residue fell right off in the style of the cloaks that plague doctors in the days of old used to wear.

Which left but one final armament for me to reluctantly pick up and balance.
It required me to be closer to the mayhem than any of my team.
It was the heaviest for it included a heavy metal pack loaded with expensive kerosene that was becoming near impossible to locate, which needed to be strapped to my already groaning back.
But it was also arguably the most potent weapon in the arsenal.
A single puff of this man-made fire dragon could turn not one, but a legion of rampaging alien behemoths into a wailing funeral pyre in milliseconds.

Angels could stand the cold well but they loathed fire of any kind. Ritsuko claimed it was for a scientific reason she had yet to determine while I believed it to be related in some way to the biblical purge by fire. Whatever the reason, it didn't matter now.

"Let's go. Sailor Guardians. Time to go and save Tokyo 3 while it's still there to save." I sharply intone, getting into character even more strongly than I already had.
The Camera girl was grinning ear to ear as I also ordered her sternly.
"Cue the fight track"
She nodded in sullen appreciation as she quickly set a handheld stereo, she'd also handily carried with her to play the spine chilling Giorno's theme from start to finish.

I never liked the old theme tune for being too cheesy and unfitting of an action-packed tale of drama and bloodshed. Just as I never liked the obligatory Sailor costumes that took up far too much runtime while adding nothing to the plot.
It also reinforced collectivism and conformity. Rigid flaws that brought the moon kingdom and so many after it to their knees.
We were here to bury the past. Not to honour it.
We were here to carve a path to the bright future. To learn from the past without being consumed by it.
To prove to Shinji that this old geezer still had some fight left and that he had nothing to fear by leaving Tokyo 3 behind to be with his Rei. We'd survive. Thanks to his example, it was the least we could do.

A snarling mob of turned humans were awaiting our resurgence with dripping saliva and gaping jaws.
"Sacred flame. Shield us from these heathens and let them fall like the others before."
I empathetically pray with closed eyes and solemn frown.

I turn to my team, knowing that right after I've cleaned up this hot mess that I was directly responsible toward with my past selfishness, the cosy interior of the deepest, darkest cell awaits me.
Perhaps that will only be the best-case scenario.
Maybe the court will rule that I'm not worthy of even that base punishment and conclude that this will be the first day in an age for the guillotine to be used once more. Perhaps the audience will cheer so loud as to deafen me so that I never hear the sound of the pointed blade being released.
I'm not worried. After everything I've done wrong, that would be a light sentence which I already tried to enact on myself before the merciful hand of the loveliest angel from the heavens disrupted me.
Once again, I find myself marvelling over Ritsuko's words of wisdom that I took for granted till too late.

"To a well-organized mind" I quote in the doctor's nasal monotone. "Death is but the next great adventure."

"Fire at will." I hotly command as I dive forward without hesitation and without doubt to attain the prime position in which my fiery instrument of smiting will be of most effect.
Let god's work be done today.
May he forgive these heretics for their sins which were in no way their own fault but mine and mine alone to bear.

"Mars fire soul" I shout as I unleash my first burst of cleansing flame.
"Venus crescent beam" Minako follows in equal loudness as she lets loose a beam with her laser at the human turned Angel closest to us.
"Mercury water mirage" Ami declares as she opportunely unleashes a sonic wave to disrupt the advancing monstrosities, holding them in place as they cover their ears in futility with their razor claws, some of them swiping themselves gaping scars in their hideous faces in their desperation to defend themselves from the high-tech electromagnetic signal.
"Moon tiara action" Usagi bellows with shocking ferocity for her usual mildness as she lets off a barrage of her toxic blades with blinding quickness. So, that was what the poor girl was forced to turn to in her days on the gang-filled streets for survival. Such shattered innocence.

Kaji says nothing. He needs no words. He is far too gentlemanly for such superficiality as he lightly sprinkles a trail of his "roses" before our enemies' line of assault.
They advance one step forward. Big mistake. For them.
As they retch and gag out gallons of disgusting green body fluid, he merely bows and tips his hat.
"You activated my trap card" He eventually fails to muster the urge to prevent himself from sarcastically quipping.

Tremble NERV. Shake in horror, SEELE.
When you angered my one romantic companion and intrigued him to begin an investigation into the two of you, you kicked the hornet's nest.
My man Kaji will whoop your asses, both of you.

Minako POV
No. Minako Aino was not the name I was born with.
But it's not necessary for this snake in the grass who I'm forced to fight side by side beside at least till the helpless citizens of this corrupted city are in danger no longer.

My parents were in the same manner as my friend Usagi's, hapless victim to a Yakuza assault.
Yes Japan. Watch the other countries but not your own.
Put funding in place to fight the Angels but not the far more common, and more dangerous human scum that are having the time of their life now that you've turned a blind eye with your paranoid stupidity.

I took the name Minako for the same reason my friends after I pulled strings to help them change their identities, took Ami and Usagi.
We too, despised what NERV did to the entertainment industry at least as badly as how they ran the common people's livelihoods to the ground.
But even Minako was not the name I was most referred by.

Having earnt a higher position in the remains of Tokyo 3's police department located in Juban several times over with my streak of hard-won successes, my colleagues started to think of me as some sort of messiah. Some great and powerful bringer of hope.
My decision to remain a constable on the grounds that I did not wish to be stuck in an office with paperwork while thoughtless psychopaths ran rampant on the streets, sealed my sector's unending praise for me which I did not wish for in the slightest.
They began to refer me by a complimentary nickname which I at first disdained, but soon grew to appreciate with all my heart and soul.

They called me M. Master sleuth and defender of justice, as well as a huge junkie for sugary junk food. The letter one after L and gifted me the one ring that would absorb the negative energies of any attempt by use of a death note notepad to assassinate me. I keep it on me even when I sleep.

Their positive attentions carried over to when Ami and Usagi decided to follow me into my line of work.
Policing was tough business in these dark times.

Of the 1000 wannabes who typically walk in wishing for a position:
900 leave after the first day of briefing and being shown a brief demonstration of what their duties will encompass.
90 fail the obligatory written and physical exam, of which one portion requires no less than 300 push ups in 300 seconds as tribute to the legendary king Leonidis. Some have died of exhaustion in the attempt.
Of the mere ten remaining potential recruits, only two will be considered incorruptible and worthy of bearing the burden of junior enforcer, the lowest rank in which they are considered not even deserving of an official uniform or nametag to bear a shield number.
They will not even be mourned if they do not return successfully from their first mission, one which the department deems to be the highest level of danger possible.
This is done so that their latter missions in their later career will seem simple in comparison. Life is not fair and my commissioner pulls no punches.

Their one consolation is that they will be gifted an officer rated widely to be one of the best in the force to aid them, but not pick up their slack in accompanying them.
They chose me. Oh, happy day.
At my request and with thankfully little objection, Usagi and Ami were bestowed the nicknames Near and Mello. Near to reflect Usagi's inability to combat well at longer ranges but absolutely menacing prowess in the crucible of melee point blank.
Mello to describe Ami's, well Mellowness. At least in comparison to the two of us.

It's said that of these 2 recruits, that only one in a hundred times do they return from their first assignment if at all.
Of these times, only one in a hundred times will it be both of them.

I'm determined to beat the odds, no matter what.
We've come so far in life together.
We will prove our unerring devotion to our cause and show the world that our pasts do not decide us because our pasts are not today.

Stay with me, Near and Mello.
Soon when this is over and we snatch the certain victory for being on the side of good, our bigger target will come into view.
The new Light Yagami.
Who grew out his red hair, changed his outfit and pitched up his already annoying voice to sound even more grating than ever before.

He, or she as she is called by now has already found a new Ryuk. A new Shinegami, or god of death. This one even crazier than the last if such a thing is possible. Her deluded belief of being a god worthy to rule the world despite her total lack of respect for the value of personal freedoms and the ultimate gift of life itself, has only worsened.
But the false illusion she has carefully been constructing to hide her true destructive design for humanity is mightier than ever. It will not be easy to rally the populace against one of their worshipped lifesavers who they believe will continue to be their eternal guardian for all time in her giant robot.

The first rule of justice. The protection of life comes always before the taking of it.
It is why Major Misato cannot be arrested just yet despite her being the ticket to my lifelong companion's elevation to the ranks of law and order.
Their escape route from their criminal histories that have tailed them left and right, never letting go even in their dreams.

You can fool everyone that you've really gone Light, but I see right through your ruse.
I'll catch you again just like last time. And this time, I will do it right. You won't get to shed a single drop of blood like last time.

Shinji: Dad. Please. Can you not just find another woman if you are so lonely. Or maybe spend some time with me so I can try to make you less lonely?
Gendo: No. Yui was the only one.
Shinji: But there are so many others just like her...
Gendo: A-duh-duh. I don't want to hear it.
Shinji: You know this isn't want she wanted at all.

Once again really special thanks to fictionelement777, neoWarkid4, bandiras, An enemy of the state, Fantasian, Kycosoccerref and every other unnamed guest for your kind and generous reviews.
You are all great people. Thank you so much for reading and see you all next time and bye.
Your kind reviews bring a tear to my eye.