A/N: Well can you say scaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrryyyyy? Yeah, I would be scared too if I saw what happened last chapter. Asuka and Shinji's love for each other made their EVAs fuse into one super EVA that enabled them to defeat the Black Angel. And now they're trapped inside. How will they escape? Will they escape? Find out!
Oh and LegendarySuperNamek, the plush doll thingy, I actually got that from a few hilarious looking NGE pictures I saw on the Internet.
Now on with it!
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Misato's Apartment (2 days after Shinji and Asuka were absorbed by the fused EVA)
It had been a very slow two days. It just didn't feel right at all. Zack was trying his best to stay optimistic during the time they would have to wait for news on Shinji and Asuka's fate.
Misato had just about withdrawn into a shell since the incident. She would drink so much beer that she had passed out during the day and was sleeping at the table. Zack didn't even bother waking her up.
Ivana was not her usual training self either. She had also withdrawn herself as well. Her explanation was that she was taking a few days to mourn for her comrades. Zack knew it was hurting her more she made visible to them.
Hey he was hurting too. He just as much as the others didn't want to get a phone call from Ritsuko saying that they were dead or trapped forever inside the EVA. He tried his best to be optimistic for them all.
Rei was also not herself either. She had been dead silent for the last day and a half. And if you looked hard enough, you could see a hint of pain and sorrow in her eyes. Zack knew that Rei had difficulty understanding what she was feeling, and since she didn't know how to feel, that also hurt her as well.
Zack had taken the initiative and had made up some quick and easy meals and stored them all in the fridge. He knew the others were in no condition to cook. And he knew himself that it would only be so long before cooking would be too difficult for himself.
Suddenly, the phone rang. Everyone jumped at the phone, even Misato who was having another hangover just now. Zack got to the phone first. "Hello, Katsuragi residence."
"Zack?" It was Elly.
"What's up?" asked Zack.
"Can I come over for a bit? Please!" Zack could sense the sadness in Elly's voice.
"Okay. We're not doing anything right now. Life in this house has been brought to halt since you know…" he replied.
"Yeah. Okay, I'll be there in about 20 minutes."
After he hung up, Misato asked him, "Well did she anything about those two?"
Zack bowed his head down. "No, she didn't say anything. She's coming over though, we can ask her then." Zack knew Elly was hurting too
Misato afterwards began shaking violently. "Misato?" Zack called out. Suddenly Misato threw her arms around the ladies man and began to sob loudly. 'Good god. She's not taking this well at all.'
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Somewhere…
"I wonder where we're gonna end up," said Shinji trying to stay talkative.
"Who knows? We probably only know the EVAs about 75 percent less than we should know about them," replied Asuka.
Suddenly, the sight they saw ahead made Asuka gasp. "What is it Asuka? It looks like a city in front of us, although it probably is an illusion though."
"This city," she began. "This is where I met my good and dark sides."
She took off into the city, leaving Shinji behind. "Hey wait Asuka!" he said trying to catch up.
Wherever she was going, she was going awfully fast. It was everything Shinji had to keep up with her. He chased after her for a good two minutes. He was gonna finally give up from exhaustion when he saw Asuka stop in front of something.
"What is it Asuka?" he asked. She had apparently stopped in front of a photo booth.
"This photo booth," she started. "Is where it all began."
"I see," said Shinji. "But the dark side is gone now. You don't have to worry about it anymore."
"Thanks," she said.
"Hey Asuka!" a voice suddenly called out.
Shinji and Asuka turned in the direction of the voice. It was a red-head girl who was wearing their high school uniform and had gold angel wings. She also was about Asuka's height and body size as well.
Asuka was to be shocked once more. "Hey, it's you again!"
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NERV HQ – Computer Room (3 days since absorption)
Ritsuko typed away furiously at the computer. She stopped only to sip her coffee. She had only gotten 12 hours sleep in the past few days as she worked furiously to try to find out what happened to Shinji and Asuka. And Gendo Ikari ordered that no one was to go home until the two pilots were back, dead or alive. NERV had all sleeping quarters in the facility open, so the technicians would be able to get rest there, then go back to work.
What Ritsuko had learned so far had shocked her. The MAGI had told her that the fused EVA, which Commander Ikari had classified as Unit F-01, was way more powerful than any of the other EVAs by a long shot. Its AT Field capabilities were four times greater than the AT Field produced by the 17th Angel Tabris. Also, when the EVAs fused, the entry plug slots had disappeared, leaving the only logical way of escape impossible.
The other technicians, Maya, Makoto, and Shigeru were off sleeping. And everyone else was all depressed too. It just didn't seem the same without Shinji's cheerful attitude or Asuka's constant complaining about everything.
Ritsuko could only wait until the MAGI came up with information regarding Shinji and Asuka's whereabouts. This was far more serious than when Yui or Shinji was absorbed into Unit 01, because Unit F-01 was something they had never seen before. They may as well have been working with alien technology.
Suddenly, she got some information from the MAGI. She studied it carefully. Once she fully understood the information in front of her, it brought a big smile to her face.
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Misato's Apartment
Life was going by too slowly for Misato. The three days that had passed felt like three years to her. She had gone out to get more beer. Misato had full reason to hate those EVAs. It seemed like they wanted to take whatever humanity was left in the pilots. And now that Unit F-01 had literally taken two of the most important people in her life.
She had six empty cans of beer beside her on the table. She knew she should stop drinking or risk getting blood alcohol poisoning, but for the moment she didn't care. Hopefully she would pass out before that happened again.
It seemed like without Shinji and Asuka, life in the apartment was just not right at all. No one spoke to each other, Zack had even gone as far as prepare several meals in advance since he knew no one wanted to cook. All it did for Misato was make her miss Shinji even more. Shinji could always cook wonders and any mention of food reminded her of Shinji. And Asuka, Misato missed her complaining about just about anything and remembered how she was always making threats to people to not touch "her Shinji".
Suddenly, the phone rang. Misato rushed over to it as fast as her drunken body could take her. "Hello," she said with great effort to not sound drunk.
"How are you Misato?" It was Ritsuko.
"What the fuck do you think? Those kids are trapped and we don't even know if they're dead or alive!"
"Calm down Misato," said Ritsuko. "Besides, I have some news. This EVA has no entry plug so logical escape seems impossible, and it is more powerful then any other EVA."
"I couldn't give a rat's ass how powerful that piece of shit is!" shouted Misato.
"Hey I'm not done Misato," replied the doctor. "I also have some good news as well."
"And what would that be?" asked Misato.
"From all the information we have so far, they're alive."
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Somewhere inside Unit F-01
"Well Asuka, it's been a while," said her look-alike, known as Hikari-Asuka. "I knew you were up to it. And look at you now."
Asuka began to blush a little. "Thanks. It's been great ever since you met. So what happened to the bad version of myself."
Hikari-Asuka began to laugh. "Oh it was hilarious. You must have smacked her down good. She regressed back to a child. Lacking the power she had before, she was found by the police in this world and was adopted by some family, and now she's in kindergarten learning the alphabet again!"
This news made Shinji and Asuka laugh for a good minute. So Shinji spoke up once they were done. "So you're the one who helped Asuka during the tough times."
"Yes it was me," said Hikari-Asuka. Suddenly, realization came over her. "Say, we're in the city Asuka dreamed up, so why is Shinji here?"
Asuka relayed the information on what's been going on in the real world.
"I see, then this could be a problem."
"Why is that?" asked Shinji.
"I didn't say it was, I said it could," said Hikari-Asuka. "If Shinji is here, then portions of Shinji's thoughts could be here as well. Did something happen during your last battle?"
Now Shinji relayed the information about the Black Angels to Hikari Asuka. Now she had a look of realization on her face. "I see, then it's the only explanation."
"What is?" asked Asuka.
"Your EVAs, Unit 01 and Unit 02, must have fused together," said Hikari-Asuka. "It's the only explanation for Shinji to be here." She stopped to think again. "But something mustn't be right if you two got absorbed. The fusion was a result of your love. Perhaps some sort of contamination caused some sort of impurity with your fusion."
"What kind?" asked Shinji.
"What I mean is that those Black Angels are creatures of pure evil. The slightest touch could cause taint even the strongest soul."
"So what we have to do is find the taint and we'll be able to escape," said Asuka.
"That's the most logical explanation," said Hikari-Asuka. "I'll go look around. I have wings, so I can search for you. Just be patient until I get back. Have a look around until then."
So now Shinji and Asuka were all alone. Suddenly, Shinji felt something in his hand. It was a 100-yen coin. And that photo booth they were at cost 100-yen. "Hey Asuka. I got a 100-yen coin in my hand here. Want to get some photos? I know we're wearing our plugsuits, but why not?"
"Sure why not. This world is an illusion anyway. I guess it wouldn't hurt."
So they got into the photo booth. Three pictures later, they came back out. And after a minute, the booth spat out their photos.
They looked at the first one. The first one had a picture of Asuka sitting on Shinji's lap. Simple but sweet. The second photo had them both engaged in a very deep kiss. They both blushed at the sight and quickly went to the next picture. The sight of it shocked them both. It was a picture of a little girl. It looked like a child-female version of what Shinji may have looked like.
"What does it mean?" asked Shinji.
"How do you expect me to know? This photo booth is weird. Let's go for a walk somewhere. I'm sure Hikari-Asuka will be able to find us wherever we go."
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Streets of Tokyo-3 (5 days after absorption)
Zack noticed that Misato seemed to be in slightly better spirits since she learned that Shinji and Asuka were still alive although trapped inside the EVA. Everyone seemed to be a little happier since the news.
But they now missed Shinji and Asuka greatly. It had only been five days yet it felt like they had been gone forever. Zack had spent the day so far at Tim Horton's, drinking sorrows away with iced cappuccinos. He wouldn't likely be drunk like Misato, but he sure as hell would be wired. He also felt ready to do anything to get his best buddy back… and his bud's very bitchy girlfriend too…
"Waiter, another iced cappuccino please. More chocolate milk this time."
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Ivana had been jogging most of the day. She was trying to do everything possible to clear her mind of the sad thoughts that kept penetrating her mind. She missed her comrades greatly. It took everything she had to keep herself from crying. It would show weakness and her friends needed someone to be strong. Even now Zack had reduced himself to drinking iced cappuccinos. She knew even the cheerful Elly had been crying as she had only left NERV to go visit Zack at Misato's place. To Ivana's surprise, Elly happened to be in her path.
"Hey Ivana," she started. "Do you know where Zack is? Rei said he left the apartment a while ago."
"He's at the Tim Horton's," replied Ivana. "Looks like all of this finally got to him as well. School starts soon, so hopefully we'll get those two back before then."
Ivana watched as Elly took off in the direction of the Tim Horton's. "God, if you're out there, please return our comrades back to us."
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Misato's Apartment
Rei noticed that Misato had passed out again from excess drinking. She also noticed that Misato had the plush dolls of Shinji and Asuka with her. It really showed how much Misato missed those two. This also made Rei curious of the possible events that went on while Gendo was doing experiments on her or simply when she was at her apartment.
However, for reasons unknown, a voice in her mind was telling Rei that Shinji and Asuka would be just fine. Rei wasn't sure who the voice belonged to, but it was giving her a sense of comfort. This also gave Rei a bit more faith that Shinji and Asuka would return safe and sound.
Another idea hit her. Rei decided to make a little gift for the two missing pilots once they returned. She took out a piece of blank paper and a pencil, and began to draw a picture.
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Shinji and Asuka continued to explore the city. It was a neat city, even though it was an illusion created by Asuka's mind. As they were wandering in a park, they noticed many people at picnic tables in the park.
"Man, all of these people with food are making me hungry," said Asuka. "I wish we had some money."
"Well, there's nothing we can do," said Shinji. "Unless we ask someone to spare some change."
Suddenly, a voice called out to them. "Shinji? Is that you?"
Shinji turned to face the direction of the voice. There was a woman sitting down at a picnic table by herself. Asuka noticed that this person looked a lot like Shinji. It only took Shinji a moment, but he was able to register who it was. "Mother?"
"Shinji! It's you isn't it?"
"Mother!" Shinji ran over to the woman and hugged her.
"I'm so glad you're okay," said Yui. "When you got absorbed during the fusion, I feared the worst may have happened."
"What's going on?" asked Asuka. "You're Shinji's mother?"
"So you must be Asuka Langley Sohryu," said Yui. "I've heard a lot about you."
Yui explained that although they were in Asuka's world, because Unit 02 was fused with Unit 01, many of Shinji's traces were merged into this world, including Yui herself.
"But I'm glad I got to meet you face to face," said Yui. "I've also wanted to see what Asuka looked like first-hand."
"Well I think Shinji made an excellent choice if I do say so myself," said Asuka.
"I guess so," said Yui. "Anyhow, as glad as I am to see you, I wish to help you escape. There is a taint somewhere in this city, and you two must eliminate it if you wish to escape."
"Yeah, Hikari-Asuka said we had to get rid of something that caused us to be trapped inside."
"That's it," said Yui. "Once you do, you will be able to return to the real world and your EVAs will separate." Suddenly, Shinji's mother sensed something. "Something's coming, and whatever it is, it's evil!"
Suddenly, a ghost like creature came with a message. "If you desire for Hikari-Asuka to live, come to the Movie Theatre at Cinema 7 in one hour."
This made Asuka furious. "You son of a bitch! What have you done with her?"
"One hour," the ghost said before vanishing into thin air."
"This is bad," said Yui. "If something were to happen to Hikari-Asuka…"
"Then the dark side will likely return," said Asuka.
"Then we'd better smack this thing down," said Shinji.
"Well then what are you waiting for?" replied Asuka. "Let's go!"
A/N: I got a feeling this chapter will not be among my best works. I hope you readers understand that I'm almost fresh out of ideas. But I know I must keep going. Thanks for all your support so far and I will continue to try my absolute best to keep going. Until 34, be cool!