Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.
Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or anything associated with it, and I am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.
Chapter Four: The Blue and the Green
Flying through the air, Ritsuko Akagi—now also known as the Blue Beetle—realized that she had an incredible talent for getting herself into bad situations.
First, she'd ended up working alongside her mother, with whom she didn't exactly have the best relationship in the world. Then, after her mother had committed suicide, she'd started up a loveless and less than healthy relationship with the man her mother had been sleeping with. Then, she'd happened upon some bizarre piece of alien hardware, which had begun a symbiotic relationship with her and occasionally seized control of her body for brief moments.
And now, as the coup de grâce, she had attracted the attention of the Green Lantern while trying to use the power that piece of alien hardware had given her for good, and the emerald superwoman was probably seeing red.
Scarab, we have to get away from the city before we can engage the Green Lantern, she told it, daring to look back at the point of jade light which was streaking after her far too quickly for comfort. We need to get to the mountains—now. I don't suppose this thing has afterburners or something?
While normally the scarab might have made some smart remark in response to such a query, or at least have let slip the mental equivalent of a smirk, with the Green Lantern on their tail it was all business. A pair of jets sprouted from the bottoms of Blue Beetle's boots, and suddenly she was rocketing through the air at nearly mach one.
Blue Beetle let out a yelp of fright at the abrupt explosion of speed, and if the scarab hadn't assumed control of their flight, she would have sent them out of control with the panicked flailing her body wanted to do.
(I thought you said you wanted to go faster.) The scarab said.
Sorry, Blue Beetle responded sheepishly, I just wasn't expecting to go this fast.
The scarab just let out a sort of mental grunt in response, and Blue Beetle realized that it was trying to cover up its acute fear behind irritation—not that it could succeed in such an endeavor; it couldn't hide its true emotions from her.
Almost to the mountains, she thought, knowing that the true trial would begin once she reached a place that was safe for her and her opponent to fight.
A lance of jade light suddenly cut through the air from above her, and Blue Beetle was barely able to see it and get out of the way before it sliced through her. She looked back with wide eyes, amazed to see that Green Lantern was only a very short distance behind her, even with how quickly she'd been moving.
Not for the first time since she'd decided to fight the Green Lantern rather than flee from her, Blue Beetle wondered if she wasn't biting off a lot more than she could chew.
Then her resolve hardened; she wouldn't be able to do any good at all if she constantly had to worry about Green Lantern showing up and trying to kill her for no good reason.
You started this, but I'm going to finish it, Lantern, Blue Beetle thought. Prepare to have your glowing green ass handed to you!
Clutching onto that glowing ember of perfect rage and defiance like it was a talisman, Blue Beetle whipped around to face her enemy, and silently told the scarab what she wanted, not bothering to put her thoughts into the form of mere, clunky words.
The armor covering Blue Beetle's hands transformed into a pair of wicked looked energy weapons, but that wasn't all she brought to bear. Several multi-jointed, insectoid arms sprouted from the armor on her back, each one ending in another weapons emitter. Now bristling with guns, she took aim at Green Lantern.
Fire! Blue Beetle commanded.
Over two dozen beams of electric blue light erupted from the various weapons the Beetle and the scarab had called into being, all of them merging into a single, radiant column of glowing destruction as they shot toward the green gladiator. The Lantern had just enough time to encase herself in a bubble of emerald light before the beam hit her like a battering ram.
For a moment that stretched out into infinity as Blue Beetle's attack clashed with Green Lantern's protective field, there was a second sun in the sky over the mountains. Even with the scarab's attempts to filter out the excess light, Blue Beetle found that she couldn't look and had to close her eyes.
A few seconds later, a series of loud, crashing sounds met Blue Beetle's ears, accompanied by a low, deep rumbling. Driven by curiosity, she opened her eyes a crack, careful not to look directly at Green Lantern. She gasped at what she saw.
Part of her energy attack had been deflected and had crashed into the mountains, and what looked like thousands of tons of solid rock had been dislodged and were now tumbling down the mountainside. Far beneath her, the ground was trembling.
My god, she thought, awed and more than a little scared by the sheer destructive force she'd just unleashed. It's a good thing I thought to get away from the city before having this fight!
The guns on her armor finally ceased their assault, and the blinding corona of light quickly faded. Blinking away spots, Blue Beetle ordered the armor to put away the extra guns and looked hopefully at where Green Lantern had been; surely not even the luminous superwoman could have withstood that attack. It was just impossible. No one could have done it.
But Green Lantern had. Blue Beetle could see the jade champion tumbling downwards, seemingly unconscious but still surrounded by a halo of emerald light. As she continued to watch, the other superwoman appeared to come back to her senses, halting her descent.
Then Green Lantern began to flying upwards, right toward her.
(Uh-oh.) The scarab commented.
Blue Beetle didn't reply. She was caught in the grip of terror and surprise and could only watch as her enemy's fingers balled up into a fist, emerald light bursting forth from the Lantern's ring.
Fortunately, the scarab was quicker on the draw in such straits than she was, and the beetle wing shaped shields that had already seen so much use burst into existence, ready to stand against any blast of energy.
Unfortunately for Blue Beetle, Green Lantern didn't opt for a simple beam attack. Instead, the energy she'd unleashed took on the shape of a giant, green boxing glove. The ring construct crashed against Blue Beetle's shield, and the armored heroine went tumbling through the air, letting out a loud "ooph!" from the force of the impact.
Green Lantern didn't give her time to recover. Well before Blue Beetle could reorient herself, a great jade hand wrapped its fingers around her, pinning her arms to her sides.
"Who are you?" Green Lantern demanded, bringing Blue Beetle up to face her. "What's your plan?"
The insectoid superwoman blinked beneath her helmet, feeling some strange flicker of recognition; the other superwoman's voice sounded familiar. She wanted to tell the scarab to stop throwing warning messages and various bits of information onto her HUD so she could see Green Lantern clearly.
Then the glowing hand that encircled her entire torso began to squeeze her harder, and all thoughts of unraveling the mystery were forgotten as pain shot through her.
"Talk!" Green Lantern barked. "What are you planning?"
"Well first," Blue Beetle spoke through gritted teeth, "I thought I'd deal with you."
The guns at the end of her arms quickly shifted into a pair of circular saw-like weapons and the blades began to spin with a loud whirring sound. They rapidly started slicing through the green hand, which quickly came apart, changing into a green smoke that quickly dissipated to nothing.
The armor over Blue Beetle's hands finally reverted to normal, and she unleashed a burst of crackling energy from the emitters at her fingertips that sent Green Lantern reeling.
But not for long, though. Almost immediately regaining command of herself, Green Lantern fired a punch at her enemy, the white gloved fist solidly impacting the side of Blue Beetle's face.
Damn, she's pretty strong, Blue Beetle thought dazedly, even as she chastised herself for not realizing that if her enemy could survive her initial assault without a scratch, she'd be able to shrug off the little attack she'd just administered with no difficulty.
She suddenly felt something wrap itself around her ankle and looked down. A glowing green lasso was tied to her leg.
"Crap," she said, just before a sharp tug on the luminous rope sent her careening toward the ground.
Help me! She mentally screamed at the scarab as the solid rock of a nearby mountain rapidly came closer and closer.
(I'm trying!) It responded, and she could feel it struggling to get control of their descent and stop it.
Unfortunately, it was having no success so far. Blue Beetle squeezed her eyes shut, but then visions of herself smashing against the mountainside began to flash through her eyes. Grey stone filled her field of vision completely, and she realized that she was going to die.
And here she'd foolishly thought she could save the world.
Blue Beetle could hear the scarab screaming inside her mind as it exerted one last, desperate effort, even as she gave in to the inevitability of her demise.
And suddenly, she came to a halt, not twenty feet away from the mountain she was certain she was about to crash into.
There was a moment of perfect silence.
"I'm alive," Blue Beetle finally spoke in a tone of perfect surprise.
(MOVE!) The scarab bellowed, then, unable to wait for its host to regain her composure, it seized the reigns and sent her flying off at speeds that rivaled those of a bullet leaving the barrel of a gun.
And it was none too soon; a lance of green energy crashed into the ground just below where she'd been, sending pieces of stone flying everywhere.
Okay, maybe confronting Green Lantern like this wasn't such a good idea, Blue Beetle conceded. Maybe we should retreat to the Bleed now.
(Don't be so hasty.) The scarab replied. (I've managed to analyze Green Lantern's powers…and her weakness.)
She has an Achilles' heel? Blue Beetle asked hopefully.
If the scarab had had a face, it would have grinned viciously. Blue Beetle could feel it.
(Yellow laser ready.) The scarab said as the armor over Blue Beetle's right arm changed into another energy weapon.
"This better work," Blue Beetle said as she took over toward Green Lantern again.
(It will.) The scarab assured her, its usual confidence having finally resurfaced.
"Hey, Greenie!" Blue Beetle shouted. "Try this on for size!"
She fired, and a blast of golden light surged forward. Green Lantern projected another shield of emerald light before the bolt of energy had even left the weapon's barrel. However, when she saw the beam that was coming toward her, she sharply moved out of the way, just managing to dodge the attack.
But she didn't move quickly enough to get her hastily created shield out of the way, too, and Blue Beetle saw how her beam went through it without slowing down.
The armored superwoman smiled. She can't block that like she blocked everything else.
(No, she can't.) The scarab spoke up. (Green Lanterns are powerless against the color yellow. I…I think I should have remembered that for some reason.)
"You figured it out quickly enough," Blue Beetle congratulated her partner, while flying after Green Lantern and unleashing a barrage of yellow energy.
The emerald heroine retreated, the first time she had done so in the face of the Blue Beetle, and retaliated with a volley of green energy blasts, which Beetle avoided easily.
The two continued to trade shots for several moments, and it quickly became clear to Blue Beetle that the confrontation wasn't going to come to any quick end unless one of them figured out a new tactic. They were both excellent shots, but they were both also pretty small targets and damn quick to boot. If neither of them came up with a good idea, the fight would just drag on until one or the other got lucky.
Blue Beetle didn't trust luck; hers had always been lousy.
Scarab, one of your functions is the ability to project an invisible protective bubble around us, right? She asked.
(That's right, but it would never stand up to a Green Lantern's power.) The scarab answered.
I know that, she replied. What I want to know is, does it have to be invisible?
The scarab immediately caught onto her plan, and she could feel it smile. (No.)
A second later, a bubble of golden light flared into existence around her. It might have just been Blue Beetle's imagination, but she though she heard Green Lantern gasp as she launched herself at the emerald superwoman, firing blasts of yellow energy as she closed the distance between them.
Somehow, the Green Lantern managed to avoid all the laser blasts, but she couldn't dodge the Blue Beetle. The armored superwoman crashed dead on into the emerald champion, and the two of them went careening toward the ground.
(Uh, Ritsuko…)
Keep the protective field at maximum! She ordered.
Blue Beetle and Green Lantern crashed into one of the few patches of grass to be found in the mountainous area outside the city, rather than into solid rock, but it was still a violent landing. Both of them let out yelps of pain as they hit the ground and then went bouncing, the two of them finally separating as they went flying in different directions, both of them eventually coming to a stop on the ground.
Blue Beetle groaned loudly as she slowly got up. Even though she was now in possession of a body that was in peak physical shape and had been pulled back from the brink of thirty, she knew there was no way she wasn't going to feel that tomorrow.
Oh god, why didn't you stop me? She asked the scarab as she got to her feet.
(You had a pretty firm hold of the steering wheel at the time.) The scarab answered.
Trudging over to her opponent, Blue Beetle saw that Green Lantern was still conscious. However, she looked even more groggy than the insectoid heroine felt, and she had yet to make any effort to get up.
"All right," Blue Beetle said, still surrounded by golden light. "Now, you're going to tell me who you are, what your plan is, and why you're so damned determined to kill me."
Green Lantern looked up at her with a deadly gleam in her piercingly emerald eyes, and Blue Beetle again felt that flicker of recognition, not at the color of those orbs, but at the steely determination within them.
"How about no?" the jade superwoman asked.
Dozens of tendrils of emerald light abruptly shot out from her large ring, each one seizing upon one of the rocks that had been sent tumbling when Blue Beetle's opening attack had caused a landslide. Before the armored superwoman could react, all those rocks were flying directly toward her. The emerald light holding the stone projectiles evaporated as soon as they hit the sphere of yellow light surrounding the Beetle, but momentum kept them going until they struck her.
For an instant that felt like an eternity, Blue Beetle's existence was enveloped by perfect pain as she nearly every inch of her body was struck by a chunk of rock.
She remained standing for a few seconds after the assault, wobbling on her feet. Then she fell limply to the ground, barely clinging on to consciousness any longer. She could feel blood tricking down the side of her head from a gash in her forehead. A pebble pressed into the soft skin of her cheek.
Wait a minute…my cheek? She thought, then realized that she could feel the cool mountain air on her face. Her helmet had been utterly destroyed by the rocks. Oh, shit.
Nearby, Green Lantern was getting to her feet, doing so with far less obvious pain in her movements than Blue Beetle would have expected. Damn, that woman was tough.
"All right," the Lantern said, "now, you and I are…"
She trailed off, and Blue Beetle moved her eyes to get a glimpse of her foe's face. A look of utter shock and disbelief was written all over Green Lantern's face.
"No way…Ritsuko?"
Oh, wonderful, she knows who I am, the blonde thought. This day just keeps getting better and better.
As she continued to watch wordlessly, Green Lantern retreated away from her prone form by a few paces. Then to her surprise, she took to the air and began to fly away, jade light trailing her as she went.
(She let us go.) The scarab said after a few moments. (Why did she let us go?)
"I have no idea," Blue Beetle said as she somehow managed to sit up. "Hopefully not to go and blab my identity to the media."
She could just see the headline now: Blue Beetle Unmasked!
At the moment, however, she was too exhausted and in too much pain to care about that very much.
"Regenerate the armor, scarab," she said quietly. "Let's go home. I think it's time to call it a day."
As Ritsuko was returning home to collapse onto her bed and into an exhausted, dreamless sleep, Green Lantern was likewise heading back into the city, her mind in turmoil.
Ritsuko. The Blue Beetle, the alien infiltrator that her ring had been so insistently warning her about and telling her to destroy…was her best friend.
"Well, this changes things," she grumbled to herself.
Spotting a convenient rooftop, the luminous superwoman landed lightly, then looked down at her hand, where the ring that gave her all of her stupendous powers sat.
"All right, ring," she said, "you and I are going to have a very long talk."
As Ritsuko had feared, her muscles were all exceptionally sore and stiff when she reluctantly rolled out of bed the next morning.
"I guess I have to pay the price if I want to play superhero," she grumbled to herself, still half asleep as she stumbled to her feet and stretched hugely.
Her eyes suddenly popped open fully as she abruptly finished waking. Now that she was no longer exhausted and on the verge of collapse, the Green Lantern knowing who she was seemed like a very big problem indeed. The woman could have already exposed her secret identity. For all she knew, Section Two could be on their way to her home at that very moment to attempt to take her into custody.
All aches and pains instantly forgotten, the blonde raced out of her bedroom and to her computer. Booting the machine up, she quickly ventured to a corner of cyberspace she had never expected to visit: the Tokyo Tattler's website.
Her fears were allayed somewhat as she saw that the current top story was not that the Blue Beetle's identity had been revealed. Instead, the most prominent article was about the light show she and Green Lantern had put on with their battle.
"And of course, the Tattler sees a flashy and unexplained phenomenon, so they decide to say that extraterrestrials are responsible," Ritsuko rolled her eyes after quickly skimming the story.
(Well, you know, it's not like they're entirely wrong.) The scarab spoke up. (Unless, that is, you think I'm terrestrial in origin.)
"No," Ritsuko said, "if there's one thing I do feel that I do know about you for sure, it's that you're not from around here."
(So, anyway, does this mean we're safe?) The scarab asked. (Green Lantern would've told the media who you are already if she wanted to expose your identity, right?)
"Maybe," Ritsuko sighed, and suddenly she wanted a cigarette very badly for some reason. "But we can't just assume that. She could just be lazy about getting the information out, or maybe she intends to blackmail me with it. Or perhaps…"
She trailed off, her mind revisiting the memory of Green Lantern's reaction to seeing her unmasked. The emerald superwoman had seemed shocked and almost scared. Or perhaps appalled. Or something. She did not sound like a woman who'd just found that she had the key to prime blackmail material or her enemy's ruination in her hands.
"But why would someone so damn gung ho about attacking me stop after finding out who I am under the helmet?" she wondered aloud.
For once, the scarab had no remark, smart mouthed or otherwise.
You're a scientist, Ritsuko, she told herself. Focus on what you know for sure, and then work from there. Don't waste time with speculation.
As always happened when she distilled the contents of her mind down to the hard facts, she found herself surprised by how little she was certain she knew.
Fact number one: Green Lantern knew who she was.
Fact number two: As a result of fact number one, Green Lantern could expose her identity at any time she liked.
Fact number three: Green Lantern had apparently not exposed her secret identity—yet.
Fact number four: If Green Lantern did expose her, her life would become very…unpleasant.
(They can never catch you, you know.) The scarab reassured her, having picked up on her thoughts. (So long as you have me, not even Green Lantern can ever hope to catch you.)
"That's true," Ritsuko said, "but if it becomes public knowledge that I'm the Blue Beetle, then my life as I know it is over."
And if that happens, then I can't exactly ruin Gendo's scenario from within anymore, she thought. My best bet then would be to just rush into his office with guns blazing and kill him.
(I'm okay with that.) The scarab said cheerfully.
Ritsuko rolled her eyes. "I bet you are," she said.
Sensing how deep its host's black mood really was, the scarab's thoughts likewise lowered. (Are you all right?)
"Yes…no…I don't know," she said. "Everyone could know I'm the Blue Beetle by this time tomorrow, but I don't know for sure that they will. I feel like I've got the Sword of Damocles hanging over my head. My course of action would be pretty clear if I was sure it was going to drop, but since I'm not, I don't know what to do."
(Really? It seems obvious to me.) The scarab said, not unkindly.
"Is that so?" she asked.
(Well, yeah. You have to use what time you have to the fullest, without doing anything that would make you unable to face the people you know tomorrow if it turns out that Green Lantern doesn't want to expose your identity.) The scarab said.
There was actually a lot of sense to that attitude, Ritsuko realized. Basically work up a sort of abridged "bucket list," consisting of nothing she'd only do if she was certain she was about to be revealed (such as murdering Gendo).
"Thank you," she told the scarab. "Sometimes I think things through too deeply and miss the simple solution."
(Glad I could help.) The scarab replied as Ritsuko headed toward the shower, hoping that the hot water would ease the soreness in her muscles.
She was just stepping into the spray when the scarab spoke up again. (Hey! Did you just call me simple minded?)
Maya was working, which wasn't exactly an unusual phenomenon when she was at NERV. At the current moment, she was doing so in her tiny cubicle (which was all NERV was willing to give the dedicated technician as her private workspace), typing away at her laptop as she went about the task of upgrading one of the thousands of programs the MAGI ran all the time. It was a dull but important task, and as usual, the petite young woman was performing it diligently.
"Good morning, Maya."
The voice from behind her caused the techie to jump and then spin around. "Good morning, sempai," she replied, quickly regaining her composure. "I was just…"
Ritsuko waved her explanation off. "Working hard as usual, no doubt," she said.
"Er, yes," Maya said, her eyes drifting to the small box wrapped in colorful paper that Ritsuko was holding.
"Oh," the blonde said, seeming to suddenly remember that she was holding it. "This is for you, Maya."
The technician's eyes widened. "You got me a present?"
Nodding, Ritsuko handed her the box with a small smile. Maya accepted it and quickly began to tear off the paper.
"It's not exactly the most original gift in the world," Ritsuko warned. "I have the receipt if you don't want it…"
"I'm sure it's lovely," Maya said as she finished removing the paper and threw it into a nearby wastepaper bin.
Opening the lid of the small box, she revealed a coffee mug that had a small plastic bag of chocolates inside of it. It really wasn't the most original gift in the world, but the brunette was so touched by the gesture that that hardly mattered to her.
"Thank you, sempai," Maya said. "This was very kind of you. But if you don't mind my asking, what's the occasion? My birthday isn't for months."
"No occasion, Maya," Ritsuko said. "I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your work. This job would have overwhelmed me a long time ago if I didn't have a dedicated assistant I could count on."
"Oh!" Maya exclaimed, her cheeks growing flushed with embarrassment at the praise.
"I've also put you in for a raise, though knowing the skinflints in accounting, I'm not sure how good your chances—"
Ritsuko's attempt at not giving her protégé false hope was cut off as Maya abruptly jumped forward and wrapped her arms around the scientist. The blonde was so surprised that she just stood woodenly as her assistant embraced her.
(You know, if what I'm getting from your mind about this "hug" thing is right, I think you're supposed to do something here.) The scarab commented.
Knock it off, Ritsuko mentally grumbled back, but she awkwardly placed her arms around Maya all the same.
A moment later, the smaller woman pulled back, her face bright red. "Sorry about that, sempai," she said.
"It's fine," Ritsuko said, giving her assistant a reassuring smile. "Now, you get back to what you were doing. I've got some work of my own to attend to."
"Yes, sempai," Maya agreed at once, instantly plopping back down in her seat and getting back to her task with visibly more enthusiasm than she'd displayed before.
Shaking her head slightly, Ritsuko headed into the hallway. She'd expected Maya to be happy at the show of appreciation, but that was a far greater reaction than she'd predicted. It made her wonder if working under her was normally such a thankless job that what she'd done actually merited such a response.
She hugged me, Ritsuko thought, still a little shocked at that.
It suddenly occurred to her that she couldn't remember the last time anyone had hugged her before that. Gendo had always seemed to do his damnedest to make the times they had sex as cold and mechanical as possible, which of course meant never embracing her. Her mother had been dead for years, of course, and she'd always tried to maintain her personal space around Misato. Which probably meant…
(Will you stop depressing yourself?) The scarab interrupted her thoughts, irritated. (It doesn't help anything, and it affects me, too, you know.)
Ritsuko rolled her eyes, but she couldn't argue that dwelling on how devoid of genuine affection her life had been for so damn long was in any way productive.
(So what's next?) The scarab said, sensing that its host wasn't going to keep turning the matter of her loneliness over and over in her mind any longer.
Well, first I actually have to do my job, Ritsuko answered wryly. I'd like to finish early, though, so you're going to help me as much as possible without being obvious.
(Hooray.) The scarab said sarcastically.
Several hours later, Ritsuko was finishing up with work right on time.
The Children should be just finishing up with today's sync tests right about now, she thought.
(So what are you going to do now?) The scarab asked.
I should do something nice for Ayanami, Ritsuko mused. God knows I've been none too gentle when I've had to poke and prod her over the years.
(But you're not going to.) The scarab said astutely.
I still don't like her, Ritsuko replied. And she would be able to feel it. For someone who doesn't realize she's feeling an emotion unless someone tells her about it, Rei can be remarkably perceptive.
(Uh-huh.) Was the scarab's reply, and Ritsuko could tell that it didn't quite buy her excuse.
Ignoring her constant her companion, the scientist made her way toward the locker room reserved for male pilots. She got there just in time to see NERV's only male EVA pilot emerging, having showered and changed from his plug suit to his school uniform.
"Hello, Shinji," she said, getting his attention.
"Oh, Doctor…um, Ritsuko, hello," he greeted, turning to face her.
"Tell me, Shinji, do you have anyplace you need to be for the next couple of hours?" Ritsuko asked.
"No," Shinji confessed.
Ritsuko saw him wince slightly, and she could easily guess why.
"I'm not planning a marathon of tests for you, Shinji," she reassured the Third Child. "I just…wanted to do something nice for you. There's a place I wanted to show you."
He gave her a suspicious look, and now Ritsuko was the one who had to keep herself from wincing. It really shouldn't surprise her that Shinji was wary of such an offer from her; she had shown precious little warmth to any of the pilots in the past.
(I thought we established that beating yourself up doesn't help anything.) The scarab remarked.
I thought we established that I need you to be as unobtrusive as possible when I'm at NERV and around other people, Ritsuko retorted.
(Touché.) The scarab replied.
"I'm not going to drag you down to my secret lab and perform evil experiments on you, Shinji," Ritsuko reassured the hesitant boy, smiling wryly.
"Um, I can't be out for too long," Shinji said. "I have to get back to the apartment in time to cook dinner."
"That's fine," Ritsuko said. "I just have to swing by my office for a moment, and then we can go."
They did so, and the blond scientist ditched her lab coat, leaving her clad in her favorite black skirt and blue blouse combination. The outfit was professional enough for her to go to work in but nice and comfortable enough that she didn't feel the need to change out of it as soon as she'd punched out for the day.
Of course, of late, her clothing had been a bit too tight on certain parts of her body…
(His heart rate is increasing again.) The scarab informed her only a couple of minutes after she'd lost the coat, a little smirk in its voice.
Ritsuko suddenly wondered if this was the wisest idea. It was well known she didn't usually concern herself with the pilots any more than her job required her to do so. If people saw her spending time with the Third Child…
Then she rolled her eyes. With all the crimes against both man and god that she'd committed, she was worried about people whispering that she might be doing something she shouldn't with the Third Child?
"Where are we going, Ritsuko?" Shinji asked as they arrived at her car.
"An arcade," she answered.
"Oh," he answered noncommittally.
He went to the arcade all the time along with Toji and Kensuke. It was all right, he supposed, though he doubted he'd ever go to such a place on his own.
"We're not just going to just any arcade, Shinji," Ritsuko said.
The Third Child frowned. So far as he knew, there was only one arcade in the whole city; Tokyo-3's population density was just too low to support any more than that.
"Trust me," Ritsuko said, noting his skeptical look.
She drove them out of the Geofront and onto the city above. Avoiding the arcade that Shinji knew well, she instead took them to what looked like a slightly decaying office building. It was certainly the last place he ever would have looked for video games. A sign outside labeled the establishment "Whiz Kid Enterprises."
"Now, Shinji Ikari, I am going to tell you something that should be obvious to most people, but isn't very commonly known for some reason," Ritsuko said as she found them a parking space.
"What's that?" Shinji asked.
"Tech geeks have all the best toys," Ritsuko answered with a grin.
She led him into the building's small lobby, not failing to notice how the guys there stared at her while trying very hard but very unsuccessfully to look like they weren't staring at her. It reminded her of one of the reasons why she so rarely came to the place herself. The staff was over 98 percent male, so even before the scarab had given her a makeover, she was the babe around the place. Which was a novel experience, up to a point. After that, it was just unnerving.
"Hello, Yoshi," she greeted the man at the front desk.
"Ritsuko, it's so good to see you!" the guy greeted her cheerfully. "What can I do for you and your…young friend?"
"This is Shinji Ikari, one of the Evangelion pilots," Ritsuko introduced him. "I was wondering if I could show him the tank."
"Sure," Yoshi said, opening a drawer and removing a card key. "Spend as much time there as you want."
"Thanks, Yoshi," Ritsuko said, accepting the key.
Shinji looked at her inquisitively as she led him off into a nearby hallway.
"I have some kind of ties to just about everyone here," Ritsuko explained. "Either we worked together while we were undergrads in college, or we know each other from my brief time in the private sector. The people here are all brilliant, Shinji. Much of the hardware that was needed to construct the MAGI wouldn't exist without them, and the same goes for the holographic technology NERV uses."
"If that's the case, then why…?" Shinji trailed off, looking about at the rather dingy building they were in, and Ritsuko realized what he wanted to ask.
"Do they have such a seedy place here?" she finished for him. "Part of it's because the military 'seized' the rights to some of their more potentially lucrative discoveries. And part of it is that good scientists often make very crappy businessmen for some reason."
"So why are we here?" Shinji asked. "This isn't an arcade."
Ritsuko smiled. "We're about to check out one of this place's more impressive bad investments," she said. "Come on, Shinji, let me show you the tank. Or the holodeck, as they call it here."
"Holodeck?" Shinji asked.
"Like I said," Ritsuko smiled as they arrived at the right door and she swiped the card key she'd been given, "tech geeks have the best toys."
The door slid open, but Shinji's confused frown only deepened as he saw the room beyond. It was almost completely empty, with nothing but a small table by the door and some pieces of machinery he couldn't identity sitting in each of the corners.
Ritsuko picked up an obviously fake gun made of red plastic and handed it to Shinji. The Third Child immediately noted that at the end of what should have been the gun barrel was a very small light bulb, like the kind found in laser pointers.
"Stand there, Shinji," Ritsuko said, indicating a white circle that had been painted in the center of the room.
With a small shrug, Shinji did as he was told.
Ritsuko went over to a keypad on the wall and quickly punched in a code. The words "Space Invaders" appeared on the thing's small screen as she pressed the enter button.
The machinery in the corners of the room started to hum softly, and suddenly they weren't in a strange room in a slightly decrepit office building anymore.
Suddenly, they were on the moon.
"Whoa," Shinji breathed, looking around in wonder.
He realized, of course, that it was all an illusion created by holograms. However, the effect was so good that, if he'd suddenly found himself unable to breathe, he wouldn't have been entirely surprised.
"Get ready, Shinji," Ritsuko said.
"Ready?" the EVA pilot asked, still gawking at the incredibly realistic scenery. "For what?"
"For that," Ritsuko answered mildly, pointing.
Shinji turned, and his eyes widened as he saw a green-skinned creature that seemed to be all teeth and tentacles approaching him at a rapid pace.
"Ahh!" he yelped, reflexively pointing his plastic gun at the thing and pulling the trigger.
His aim wasn't very good, but Ritsuko had set the simulation at the lowest difficulty level. The creature staggered as a large hole was blown into its chest, then it collapsed to the ground. Moments after it had fallen, the thing burst into a swirling cloud of pixels, which quickly faded away.
"Wha…what?" Shinji stammered dumbly.
"I told you this place was an arcade, Shinji," Ritsuko smiled. "See if you can beat the high score. The president of the company is the one who set it, and he said that he'll give a top of the line laptop to whoever knocks him into to second place."
Several more monsters materialized in the distance as Ritsuko finished explaining, and Shinji quickly turned back and started shooting. However, the Third Child wasn't actually a very good shot. Though he'd had plenty of practice with using firearms in EVA, both in his training and real life battle experiences, he had never shot without the aid of a targeting computer and reticule before.
So, in the end, Shinji didn't set the new high score. He didn't even make the top ten list. And he asked Ritsuko if he could stop about an hour after he'd begun, which was sooner than she'd expected.
Not content to leave the afternoon like that, Ritsuko then proceeded to take Shinji to a small café where she bought him a cup of tea.
"Did you enjoy yourself at the 'arcade'?" she asked after having a sip of the overpriced coffee she'd bought for herself.
"Yeah, it was fun," Shinji answered.
Ritsuko arched an eyebrow. "Well, don't blow me away with your enthusiasm, Shinji."
"Sorry," he said. "Video games just aren't really my thing. I'm sure Toji and Kensuke—my friends—would have loved it, though," Shinji added.
"You know, you can take them there, if you like," Ritsuko said. "The company will let you and anyone with you in to play the games in the holodeck, so long as I ask them to."
"Thank you," Shinji said, looking more excited at this prospect.
"So what would you do, Shinji, if it was up to you where you and your friends hung out?" Ritsuko asked.
The Third Child shrugged. "I don't know."
"Surely you must have your own pastimes," Ritsuko pressed.
"Oh, I do, but they're not exactly group activities," Shinji said. "Mostly I just listen to music on my SDAT. Speaking of that, I wanted to thank you again for those tapes you gave me. I don't understand the lectures at all, but it's…really nice to hear my mother's voice."
"I'm glad," Ritsuko said, giving him a small smile.
They lapsed into silence after that.
(Say something!) The scarab piped up after a minute.
Like what? She replied. God, what made me think I could have any interactions with him that weren't as awkward as hell?
"Ritsuko?" Shinji spoke up before the scarab could retort. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course, Shinji," the blonde said. "Ask me anything you like."
"Well, I…I just wanted to know about my father," the Third Child said sheepishly.
"Why are you asking me?" the scientist asked, carefully concealing her alarm.
Does he know that Gendo and I…? She wondered nervously. She and the Commander had always done their best to be discreet about their relationship, but if even the Third Child knew about them, then the affair was probably public knowledge.
"Well, you've worked with him a while, haven't you?" Shinji asked.
"Oh, yes," Ritsuko said, relieved. "I suppose I have. I guess the only person around here who's known him longer is the Vice Commander."
"I was wondering if you could tell me about him," Shinji said quietly. "I don't know him very well."
The EVA pilot looked so sad that Ritsuko felt her heart go out to him, and she felt ashamed that she'd ever wasted time feeling sorry for herself. They were both victims of Gendo's machinations, but she'd known what the bastard was doing. At the end of the day, she'd allowed him to do what he had done to her, had given him the power. Shinji, on the other hand, was oblivious to his father's true crimes, and Gendo had carefully orchestrated events so that the Third Child couldn't escape without abandoning the whole world to ruin.
And yet despite all the misery that had been heaped upon him, Shinji continued to not only function as an EVA pilot, but also live a relatively normal school life and take care of her slovenly friend.
The general consensus around NERV was that the timid boy who had not always been cool in the face of combat was weak, but Ritsuko realized that he had endured an enormous amount of crap, and continued to do so. It was actually quite impressive when viewed from such a perspective.
"You don't have to tell me anything about him if you don't want to," he spoke up as her silence dragged on.
"No, no, it's not that. Shinji, your father…" Ritsuko began, then trailed off, not sure what she should tell him.
She couldn't inform the pilot that his father was a monster, but it would be no kindness to lie to him and paint a rosy picture of Gendo Ikari. She took several seconds to choose her words.
"Gendo's a brilliant man, a driven man, and a cold man," she said finally. "I think he was always that way to an extent, but he became more so after, well, you know."
Shinji nodded.
"I wish I could tell you differently, Shinji," Ritsuko run, lazily running her finger along the rim of her coffee cup. "I really do."
"It's all right," Shinji said. "You just told me the truth."
They lapsed into silence again.
"Ritsuko, I think I should probably head home now," Shinji said.
"I'll drive you back," Ritsuko said, draining the last of her coffee.
Despite the scarab's prodding, the ride to Misato's apartment building was a mostly silent one.
"Well, here we are," Ritsuko said as she pulled up in front of her friend's home. "Do you mind if I come up with you? I need to see Misato for a minute."
She needed to thank the purple haired woman for being such a loyal friend to her for so long.
"Of course you can come up," Shinji said. "I'd invite you to stay for dinner, but there's barely any food in the house. I really need to go grocery shopping. Maybe you could come over some other time, though."
"I'd like that," Ritsuko said. "Um, just so long as it's a night you're doing the cooking."
"All right," Shinji said, a small smile appearing on his face.
"Good," the scientist said. "Misato's a good friend, but I could never tolerate her cooking. Once she made this thing for me that had me suffering for days. I think she called her the Katsuragi Super Special—"
"—Chili Surprise." Shinji finished for her.
The two of them both shuddered at their memories of the lethal dish, then shared a brief laugh.
"Oh, I needed that," Ritsuko said.
"Me, too," Shinji agreed as they got out of the car.
The two of them rode the elevator to Misato's floor and were soon entering the apartment.
"I'm home," Shinji called.
"Welcome home!" Misato responded from somewhere within the apartment.
The Third Child looked around. "Where's Asuka?" he asked.
"Out somewhere," Misato replied. "She'll be back for dinner."
"Okay," Shinji said. "Oh, and I brought Ritsuko with me. She wants to see you."
That immediately brought Misato out into the kitchen with them. The blonde didn't quite recognize the look that appeared on her friend's face as Misato saw her, but she didn't think she liked it.
"Hello, Misato," the scientist replied, trying to figure out what she'd done to displease the Operations Director.
"Shinji, could you excuse us for a second?" Misato asked. "I need a private word with Rits here."
The Third Child, who was already taking ingredients out of the refrigerator, quickly gave his assent. Misato led Ritsuko to her bedroom and shut the door after them.
(Wow.) The scarab said as it surveyed the piles of dirty laundry and garbage that were scattered all over the room, leaving little room to stand.
Yeah, that's Misato, Ritsuko agreed.
"So, what did you want to talk about, Misato?" the blonde asked. "I hope you don't mind that I took Shinji out for a few hours. I just thought he deserved to have something nice done for him."
"No, it's not about that," Misato said, reaching into her pocket and pulling something out. "It's more about this actually."
The purple haired woman opened her palm to reveal what she was holding, and Ritsuko's eyes widened at the sight. The scarab hissed.
It was a ring of a green metal that had a symbol the scientist was very familiar with on the top.
"You?!" the blonde gasped. "You're…?!"
"Yeah," Misato said. "Look, I'll keep mine under control if you keep yours under control."
(I don't trust her.) The scarab said immediately.
She's my best friend, Ritsuko replied firmly. She won't hurt us, so just calm down.
The scarab grumbled out something that sounded like an assent.
"All right," Ritsuko told Misato.
The Ops Director slid the ring onto the middle finger of her right hand, but she didn't change into her costume, which Ritsuko had been half expecting. The blonde could feel the scarab's hackles rise, but it didn't try to force her to attack.
"Why have you been attacking me?" Ritsuko asked.
"Hey, you shot first the first time we met up as our…other selves," Misato said defensively.
"Sorry about that," Ritsuko said. "The scarab panicked. But you've been seeking me out. You did it more than once."
Misato sighed. "What do you know about that scarab of yours, Ritsuko?"
"Not much, except that it's very powerful, and it's intelligent," she said. "It was damaged when it first…bonded to me, so even it doesn't know what it is. I assume it's alien in origin, but I don't know much of anything about it."
"Well, my ring does," Misato said.
"Tell me," Ritsuko said.
A thin shaft of green light came from the top of Misato's ring and turned into a hologram that looked just like the scarab, except it was green in color. "Those scarab things are the weapons of choice for a group of aliens called the Reach," she began.
"The Reach?"
Misato nodded. "From what I've been able to tell, they're planet brokers or something. They conquer worlds and then either sell them to the highest bidder or totally strip them of their resources. But they supposedly stopped doing that thousands of years ago."
"Why?" Ritsuko asked.
"The Green Lantern Corps went to war with them," Misato said.
The emerald hologram hovering over her ring shifted to show aliens of all shapes and sizes, all of them clad in a costume similar to Misato's, fighting with other aliens in armor like the kind Ritsuko wore as the Blue Beetle.
"Green Lantern Corps? There are more of you?" Ritsuko asked.
"There's supposed to be thousands," Misato answered, "but I haven't met any yet. Nobody's contacted me or anything so far."
"Okay," Ritsuko said. "Anyway, who won the war? The Green Lanterns?"
"It ended in a stalemate," Misato said. "As part of the peace treaty, the Green Lanterns had to leave the Reach alone, but the Reach weren't allowed to conquer planets anymore."
"Then why was the scarab on Earth?" Ritsuko asked.
"That's a good question, isn't it?" Misato replied in a meaningful tone.
Scarab? Ritsuko asked.
(I don't know.) It answered helplessly. (I don't feel like I'm supposed to conquer this world or anything.)
"If the scarab ever had any kind of 'world domination' programming, it must have been wiped when the damage it took destroyed so much of its memory," Ritsuko said.
Misato studied her eyes for a long moment, apparently looking for any sign of alien control in them. Finally, she nodded. "I believe you," she said.
And she does, too, the scientist thought, amazed at the level of trust.
She had been involved with Gendo's world--one where everyone had their own agenda and trust was always a fatal weakness--far too long, she realized.
"So all this is why my scarab reacts to your ring like it does?" Ritsuko asked, changing the subject. "They're old enemies?"
"Yeah," Misato said, absently fingering the band of green metal on her finger. "In fact, one of the Green Lanterns who wore this ring before me was killed by a Reach soldier."
"So that's why you were after me?" Ritsuko asked. "Your ring reacts to my scarab like my scarab reacts to it?"
Misato sighed. "That's part of it," she said. "But there was more. I've had this ring for a while, but I haven't been able to use it for what I want. I always have to be in the command center when the Angels come knocking. I'd step down from the Operations Director position, but I don't want to if I'm not sure this ring can kill Angels. I was going to try that time an Angel attacked when the power went out, but Kaji managed to get into that elevator with me, so I couldn't get away without letting him know about my ring."
"Okay, so?"
"So when my ring started to tell me to destroy the evil alien threat, I was too eager to do something big as Green Lantern and I pursued you way too aggressively," Misato said.
Ritsuko ran a hand through her hair. "We could have killed each other."
"I know," Misato said. "I'm sorry I let the ring run away with me."
"It's my fault, too," Ritsuko said. "Like you said, I shot first."
"So, now that that's behind us," Misato said, suddenly becoming cheerful again, "tell me what you're working on."
"What do you mean?" Ritsuko asked guardedly.
"Oh, come on, Ritsuko, I've been reading the papers," Misato said. "I know that the Blue Beetle's been a busy little bug. You're up to something. You wouldn't make the time in your crazy schedule for all that if you weren't."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Ritsuko said.
"Hey, don't be like that. Whatever it is, I can help you. I am the Green Lantern, after all." Misato said. "Don't you trust me?"
As terrible as it made her feel, Ritsuko didn't. Misato was her friend, and a good person—indeed, Ritsuko considered the Ops Director a better person than herself. And that was part of the reason why she wasn't willing to explain everything to her friend. If she told Misato she wanted to topple NERV, the purple haired woman would want to know why. And if Ritsuko explained that to her, Misato might be unable to tolerate the organization and its evils another minute, especially since the Children suffered more than anyone because of them. Misato might opt for the direct approach.
And ultimately things could only end in disaster if Green Lantern tore NERV apart brick by brick.
"Misato, I'm really not up to anything," Ritsuko insisted.
Unfortunately, her voice sounded weak even to her own ears.
"Fine," Misato scowled. "Be that way."
Ritsuko sighed. Somehow, she got the feeling that she wouldn't be coming back to the Katsuragi apartment to join the occupants for dinner any time soon.
"I'll just get out of here now," she said softly. "It was good to see you, Misato, and thanks for telling me about the Reach."
"Ritsuko," the purple haired woman said as the scientist was almost at the door.
"Yes?"
"You'll come to me for help if you get in too deep, right?" Misato asked.
"Of course," she said.
Probably not, she thought.
(Well, at least we don't have to worry about Green Lantern anymore.) The scarab said as Ritsuko headed back to her car. Then it paused and added. (We don't do we? She won't expose you because you didn't let her in on your plan, will she?)
Not a chance, Ritsuko replied. Misato doesn't have it in her to even threaten to do such a thing to one of her friends. Which means that we can move to the next phase of the plan.
(And what's that?) The scarab asked.
I thought you knew, Ritsuko replied. We need to kill us an Angel.
Author's Notes: And here, finally, we explain why the scarab and the ring reacted to one another with such extreme hostility. If the explanation seems a little wonky to you, keep in mind I pulled it right out of the Blue Beetle comic book.
Now, a few of you might be wondering why I decided not to have Ritsuko and Misato be super buddies. Well, the fact of the matter is that I really don't think Rits would go for that. To be honest, I always kind of thought that Ritsuko felt Misato was a great person to go have a drink with, but secretly didn't trust her much and thought she was a little dumb and a lot reckless (Ritsuko never really confided in Misato, and several episodes showed her clearly thinking Misato had made a very bad choice in regards to fighting the Angels, up to the point where Ritsuko once seized command). However, I'm trying to be fair to Ritsuko, so I gave her a less damning reason for keeping her plans to herself in the story.
Onto the matter of shipping. You seem pretty split down the middle on this, dear reviewers, so for now I'm just going to leave the question of how it'll turn out up in the air and see how the story develops. Please, continue to feel free to leave your two cents on the matter, though.
On the issue of Ritsuko's plan against NERV, I'll try and spell it out soon, but it's really not that complex. If you think about it for a while, and if you've been reading the other SOE and SOE2 fics, you can probably figure out the basic idea.
Animefan29, a big picture manipulator Gendo might be, but that doesn't change the fact that some of the decisions we know he made personally were dumb ones. The thing making sure Shinji was with the fleet was one example, and leaving the Dummy System on until it had crushed Toji's entry plug was another. Really, the only reason to do that was petty spite, and a master manipulator should be above such things.
NefCanuck, keep in mind that Ritsuko wasn't going around hero-ing for the sake of it. She feels that building up superhero cred will help her plan succeed.
Gunman, first, the idea that Ritsuko's oral fixation from cigarette smoking will lead her to do that to Shinji is just…kind of ridiculous. I don't want to be mean or anything, but that kind of logic only works in porn, and while the SOE and SOE2 series always had a healthy dose of fan service, they were never porn.
And I guess I have been punishing Shinji in my omakes recently. I kind of felt that punishing Gendo would get old if I didn't mix it up every now and then. And I don't know about you, but to me, pre-Thirteenth Angel Shinji always had a sort of Charlie Brown type quality where I feel this weird impulse to pile misfortunes onto him for comic purposes.
AliceMeidou, thanks for the suggestion, and it's nice to see another Asuka fan around here.
Anyway, I've rambled more than enough. Thanks as always to my readers and reviewers, and thanks to my beta reader as well. Now for some omake fun (I promise you won't need brain bleach this time).
Omake
Perchance to Dream
"So that's how you became the Green Lantern, huh?" Ritsuko asked.
The two women were seated at Misato's kitchen table. They had gotten over any bad feelings that might have existed between the two of them and were discussing the origins of their superpowers over a cup of coffee.
"That's the story," Misato confirmed, "but I have to say, I almost wish I'd gotten that scarab instead! Damn, Rits, but you've been looking hot ever since you got that bug under control!"
"I don't know what you're implying," Ritsuko said innocently.
Misato grinned mischievously, and before the blonde could react, a hand made of green light shot out from her ring and rudely grabbed hold of Ritsuko's blouse and quickly pulled it off of her, leaving her in only her bra from the waist up.
"Misato!" Ritsuko snapped, but the purple haired woman was giggling too hard to notice her friend's indignation.
"Yeah, you don't know what I'm implying," Misato teased as she looked her friend up and down. "And I'm sure you got that buff by typing."
"Misato…"
"And I know you haven't always had those," Misato said, pointing at Ritsuko's chest, "which, by the way, almost make me feel jealous."
"Oh, can it," Ritsuko grumbled, "I know you've been using that ring of yours to alter your body, too."
"Only when I'm in costume, so I'll be harder to recognize," Misato said. "The rest of the time, I'm just plain ol' me."
"Really? You switch back and forth like that?" Ritsuko asked.
"Yeah. See, I'll show you," Misato said.
She rose from her seat and then lifted her shirt enough to reveal her stomach. It was flat, but of the six pack that Green Lantern boasted, Ritsuko could see no trace.
"Wow, that's pretty wild," Ritsuko said, getting up and gently poking Misato in the stomach, as though searching for the tight muscles that should have been there.
Suddenly, the door to the apartment opened and Shinji walked in.
"I'm…" he trailed off as he saw the scene in front of him, "…home."
Oh, wonderful, Ritsuko groaned inwardly, unable to believe that she'd been caught in such a position and state of undress like this. Three guesses what conclusion he'll come up with about this.
However, instead of the stammering apology and quick retreat she'd expected from the Third Child, Shinji's next words were perfectly calm and composed.
"Well, clearly I'm dreaming again," he said dryly, then he pulled up a chair for himself and sat down. "Proceed, ladies. Just let me know when you want me to jump in, and which one of you wants to be with me first."
Ritsuko rolled her eyes. "Shinji, you're not—"
She was cut off as Misato slapped a hand over her mouth. "You know how Shinji's all nervous and timid all the time?" the Ops Director whispered. "Well, when I can convince him he's dreaming, all his inhibitions and insecurities go away. And when that happens, he is amazing."
Ritsuko moved Misato's hand away from her mouth. "Amazing? As in amazing at…?"
Misato nodded.
Ritsuko looked over at Shinji. Then back at Misato. Then back at Shinji.
"Me first!" the blonde yelled.
"No, me!" Misato exclaimed.
The two both attempted to lunge for the Third Child, only to end up landing in a heap on the floor, where the two of them began to wrestle fiercely with one another, both struggling to get to Shinji first.
"Wow," Shinji said as he observed the two of them, "these dreams just keep getting better and better!"