A/N: Okay! The rescue operation is on! On with it!
NERV HQ – Briefing room
"I could get in," said Kaji. "But I'd need to bring…"
"Bring what?" asked Misato.
"Hot women to please the guys there!" Kaji finally said.
Misato buried her head in her hands. "Great. I end up having to use my body to make sure Kaji gets inside the facility. How degrading."
"I have a better idea," said Fuyutski.
"What would that be?" Gendo inquired.
"I'm sure we have plenty of appealing women in this facility. It would be better if Major Katsuragi wasn't the only woman going with Kaji. It would be less… intimidating."
"That is true," replied Gendo. "Kaji, you will also have the assistance of Dr. Akagi and Lt. Ibuki as well."
Now it was Ritsuko and Maya's turn to gulp as they knew they were also going to the hellhole where Elly was being held captive. Well, it was better that three women were going and not just one.
Gendo then continued. "Kaji, it will be your job to get yourself, and Major Katsuragi, Dr. Akagi, and Lt. Ibuki inside the facility. Then, the women are to do as they are told by the others inside the facility." He paused for a moment, and then continued. "If you wish to stall your ordeal inside, you may do so as long as possible. Kaji will get as close to the Seventh as he can, then he will plant a homing device. That device will send a signal to the waiting Section 2 Agents. Exactly 45 seconds after the device has planted, the agents will storm the facility and ensure a swift rescue. I advise you all to take cover as the agents are ordered to be on Level 3 engagement."
Misato knew what that meant. Level 3 engagement meant they were to shoot anyone they thought would be a danger to themselves and the mission. At least it wasn't Level 4 where they would shoot everything that moved.
Kaji had a question. "And what about the Ron? He and the Pimp Ring aren't likely the type to give up easily. He may try to escape. Or even fight back for that matter."
Gendo answered his question. "I do not care for what happens to the Ron. As long as he is brought back here dead or alive, I could not care less for what happens to him. If he violates and/or kills the Seventh because of your failure, it will be on your heads."
Gendo then looked at Misato, Ritsuko, and Maya. "I advise you three to change into… the appropriate attire to ensure this mission's success. This mission will begin as soon as possible. You are dismissed."
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Misato's Apartment
"I still can't believe Zack left like that," said Shinji.
"Well if he's lucky, he'll die quickly," replied Asuka.
"Asuka! How can you say that?"
"Well, how would you feel if the guy was making sexually driven jokes at you 24-7? And with that prank this morning, that was it."
Shinji had a question. "Speaking of this morning, what did Misato mean by blood, or a mess?"
Turns out Shinji didn't know as much about that sort of thing as Asuka thought he would. "You'll figure it out someday," she finally said. "Do yourself a favour and not worry about it."
"Dinner is almost ready," called Rei from the kitchen. Since Ivana had left with Zack, Rei decided she would take Ivana's place that night.
"Okay Rei," replied Shinji. His thoughts went back to what had happened earlier. "Still, it kind of bold on Zack's part to do what he did."
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Flashback – Misato's Apartment
"Zack! Are you mad? You just can't go!" said Ivana. Having her share of combat experience, she knew what he was doing was suicide.
"I don't care Ivana," said Zack, who had now taken out some ammo clips for his 9mm. "I have to go. If I don't at least try, I'll never forgive myself. I may have never been in actual combat, but I know I am qualified. Even if I die, I'll take as many of those pricks as I can with me."
Ivana looked Zack directly in the eyes. She could see the pure determination. She then began to laugh at him.
Now Zack was confused. "What's so funny Ivana?"
Ivana finally stopped laughing. "It's funny what love can do to people. It can totally blind them at times. And since I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let a blind fool go by himself." She took out her own 9mm. "I'm coming with you." She motioned to her room. "Come here for a minute."
So Zack followed Ivana into her room. "What for?" he asked.
Ivana opened her dresser door. Zack gasped at the sight he saw. Her dresser was loaded with all sorts of weaponry from machine guns to combat knives to grenades! "If we're going to storm a pimp convention, we had better be properly prepared."
"Okay!" said Zack with determination. "Let's lock and load!"
Once they had selected the weapons they had wished, they both changed into their black jumpsuits that they had but never had used before, with Zack changing in the laundry room and Ivana in her room. Zack's weapons were his issued 9mm, a knife in a shoulder sheath, another knife in a sheath on his waist, two submachine guns on his back, and several ammo clips. Ivana's weapons were her issued 9mm, several grenades on her belt ranging from explosive grenades to flash grenades, a scope on her right arm, and several ammo clips. And to top it off, a large Russian assault rifle on her back.
Zack and Ivana planned to sneak out the window. Before Zack left, he said. "Cover for us guys. And make sure to keep dinner warm. And make extra as well, because we're bringing Elly back with us."
"Understood," said Rei.
"Be careful," said Shinji.
"Whatever. Just don't get shot," said Asuka.
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End of Flashback
"I guess so," said Asuka. "But isn't NERV likely going to take care of it?"
"Most likely," replied Shinji. "But I doubt that was on his mind when he made up his mind."
"Let's leave the worrying to Ivana and Casanova. I'm sure Wondergirl has finished making dinner by now."
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Outside the Pimp Convention
Kaji, Misato, Ritsuko, and Maya were just 100 meters from where the convention was taking place. Kaji was giving some final instructions.
"Okay. Just remember, do whatever the pimps tell you to do. And for the sake of your own self-respect, try to stall as long as you can. When the homing device is planted, after 35 seconds, a beep will go off on your monitors. That's the signal to take cover or get down. You will only have 10 seconds to do so before the Section 2 agents storm the building."
"Let's do this," said Misato.
"I hope they're not too rough," said Ritsuko.
"I'll do my best," said Maya.
"Then lets go save our pilot!" said Kaji. "And show these bastards how low they really are!"
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Inside the Pimp Convention
Elly continued to watch the auctions tally up from the chair she was still cuffed to. The auction for her was now at $12,000,000 in American dollars. And the number of auctioneers had tripled after a few hours. And with every second that had passed, she was falling further and further into despair.
Just then, the Ron came in. "Ah are were enjoying ourselves here?"
"Look you sick bastard!" she yelled. "NERV is gonna be here soon! And when that happens, your balls will be completely out of commission."
"Now, now. Calm down. I don't want my product all stressed out," replied the Ron. "The convention has started. So don't get too comfortable there. You'll be sold by the end of the convention. And NERV won't be able to do a thing about it."
"I don't wanna be sold! Lemme out of here now!"
Suddenly, she felt very dazed. And a sharp pain in her arm. The Ron had stuck a syringe needle in her arm. "It's a sedative," replied the Ron. "This will help you relax. I must go attend to my convention now. A good host must be able to entertain his guests." He went to the door.
The Ron was now in the main room where his party was taking place. There were people everywhere. And it seemed like every man had at least a woman dressed in scantily clothing. When he had appeared, he was given a huge cheer by all the other pimps there. There were many different groups there, such as the Beerbuddies, the Hoes Galore, and Pimp Heaven.
"Welcome my guests," he said addressing the crowd. "We're here to enjoy ourselves, have it up with our beautiful women, and best of all, to auction off a pretty NERV EVA pilot."
This got another cheer from the crowd. The Ron took a moment before speaking again. "Whether you're here to auction, or just for the sights, all I ask is that you enjoy yourselves."
And of he went to enjoy his party.
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By now, the group had gotten to the door. There was a lone guard standing watch outside the facility. He noticed them approach.
"What are you doing here?" the guard asked.
"I came here for the convention," replied Kaji.
"Where's your entry fee?"
"I got three of them right here," said Kaji. Misato, Ritsuko, and Maya stepped out of the shadows. All three are wearing VERY questionable clothing. After taking a good look at all three women, the guard is pleased with what he sees.
"Wow! You got some hot stuff there man!" said the guard. "And three of them! You're a playa!" He went inside for a second. Then came back out. "Okay man, you can go in. But remember, we all believe that our women should be shared. So be prepared to share!"
"Gotcha!" said Kaji. He turned to the women. "Alright, I want to have a good reputation, so don't cause any trouble, or I'll have you tied up and left in the basement again!" he finished with a commanding tone in his voice.
The women knew it was a charade, and played along. "Yes Master," they said in unison.
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Other side of the building
Due to the amount of darkness that the night can provide, nobody could notice two people using the cover of the night to sneak up to the building. Zack and Ivana had sneaked in through the back door. There were a pair of dogs there at the back that looked like bloodthirsty wolves in the night. But those dogs were nothing a rack of pork ribs couldn't handle.
Once inside, they had sneaked in through a bathroom stall. Zack was ready to raise hell. "Okay, time to kick some pimp a…"
"Hold on," whispered Ivana. She pointed at the ceiling. "Let's sneak through the ceiling. It's made of Styrofoam tiles. Then we can crawl along until we're right above them."
Zack quickly agreed. With Ivana on his shoulders, she pushed away a tile and climbed up into the unknown. A hand later came down and she pulled Zack up. Yes, she was that strong. After replacing the tile, they crawled along the ceiling, while keeping their bodies spread out to avoid putting too much pressure on the ceiling.
'I'm here Elly,' Zack said to himself.
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Gendo Ikari's Office
Gendo got the report from the Section 2 Agent. Kaji, Major Katsuragi, Dr. Akagi, and Lt. Ibuki were inside the pimp convention.
"So are they inside?" asked Fuyutski.
"Yes. Plan B is now in effect?"
"Plan B?" Fuyutski was definitely confused.
"I needed to keep Plan A a secret from all of you. Otherwise, Major Katsuragi would have compromised the plan."
Now Fuyutski was curious. "What is Plan A?"
Gendo then revealed his true plan. "If you were to check Major Katsuragi's residence, you will notice that Zack Harper and Ivana Kharlamov are not there."
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As far as Misato was concerned, the place was disgusting. A true shithole where only the male specimen would survive. She saw many different women, whom although not showing it directly, were truly hating this convention, as the men were drinking it up, acting as if they were having the time of her life. She surely hoped Kaji would hurry and get this over with. But he had to stay somewhat in character, and talk to the other girls, as he was actually looking around.
Misato checked to see what Ritsuko was up to. She seemed to be handling herself just fine, educating these lowlife scumbags with some knowledge that would take them decades to comprehend.
Maya on the other hand, wasn't doing so well. Some guys were coming on to her, and well… she was trying her best to keep away, but it was apparent that these losers would never fully understand the meaning of the word no.
Misato herself, on another hand, was trying to stay out of sight. She hadn't been asked to do dirty things… yet. And she wondered how much longer that was going to last.
'Dammit Kaji! Hurry up!'
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Zack and Ivana had been crawling for about two minutes now before coming to a stop.
"I think here would be the best place to stage our ambush," said Ivana.
"What do you propose we do?" Zack asked.
Ivana pulled a grenade off her belt. "Simple. We cut a hole in the roof big enough to drop a flash grenade through. Once the grenade goes off, we attack."
"Works for me."
Zack took his knives and began to cut a hole not much bigger than his fist. Once he was done cutting the hole, Ivana looked at him again. "Are you ready? Once we start, there's no turning back, or there's even the chance we could be killed in the ensuing gunfight."
"Bring it on," said Zack. He got out his two submachine guns, and Ivana readied her assault rifle.
Ivana pulled the pin on the grenade. Then she counted to three, then… she dropped the grenade.
Zack could have sworn he heard someone say "What the fuck?" Then one second before it went off, people seemed to realize what it was and some began to scream.
BOOM!
The grenade went off. People were screaming amongst the confusion. "NOW" shouted Ivana.
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Misato had seen it just in time to take cover. Some damned idiot had dropped a grenade through the ceiling. Thank God it was only a flash grenade. She had ducked behind a table. She began to look up and the next sight horrified her. Two people, dressed in black, suddenly smashed through the ceiling. One was armed with two submachine guns, the other with a large assault rifle.
And they began shooting at everything.
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When Zack broke through the ceiling, he didn't take time to aim. He just shot and assumed he would hit something. He heard some moans, from which he guessed he had gotten something.
Ivana knew they had completely caught everyone by surprise. She had also begun shooting at the targets she could see in all the smoke. The great feeling of combat came back to her, just like it was when she would fight against terrorists in Russia.
Zack knew the surviving pimps had begun to shoot back. He quickly ducked for cover behind a table. As he got behind the table, he noticed someone else was there. He aimed his guns at… Misato? "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I should be the one asking that!" she replied. "We'll talk later!" She now snapped her gun up and also began shooting back.
Ivana had also ducked for cover once the fog cleared. The pimps were now shooting back. The women had ducked for cover. Ivana didn't want to harm any innocents, so grenades were out of the question. She snapped her assault rifle back up and took down a few more.
Kaji had also seen what was going on. The turn of events had even shocked him. 'Had Commander Ikari planned something else all along?' He snapped his gun and also began shooting at the pimps. 'Hopefully Ritsuko and Maya are okay.'
By now, things were totally going bedlam. Now the Section 2 Agents were storming the building. It was total chaos. And now the Ron must have summoned his guards too, as there were people all over the place shooting at each other. Zack took a minute to reload, before shooting at the closest bastard he saw. "DIE YOU SICK BASTARDS!"
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Elly had heard an explosion, followed by a large amount of gunfire. As scary as a gunfight downstairs was, to Elly, it meant a sense of relief. The sedative had worn off as well. Now she knew NERV was here to rescue her. So she knew her chances of seeing all the others would improve greatly.
The Ron now came into the room, taking a moment to catch his breath. "Seems like someone is trying to get a little greedy," he said to Elly. "It seems your little friends from NERV are here to save you. Too bad they'll fail. We're leaving!"
As the fight raged on, Zack noticed that there was a staircase at the end of the room. Suddenly, a hunch came into his mind. 'That's were Elly probably is,' he said to himself. He looked at Ivana. "Ivana! Cover me!"
Ivana heard the request for backup. She saw where Zack had intended to go. To the upstairs. Knowing the danger Elly was likely in, because the Ron was likely alerted by the gunfight, making sure Zack got upstairs was of prime importance. "Kaji! Help me cover Zack!" she called out.
Kaji heard what Ivana requested, and assisted with Ivana giving Zack the cover fire he needed to advance to the next level. Zack ran across the field, shooting when he could, hiding when he had the chance. When he was told to move, he kept going. Getting closer and closer seemed like it was going to take forever. Suddenly a pimp popped up in front of him. The scare that gave him made Zack unload between eight to ten bullets into his head.
Misato looked around. She saw Ritsuko and Maya being treated by Section 2 agents for injuries that they have likely sustained when Casanova did his little stunt a while ago. She also noticed Zack was making a break for the upstairs. She also gave him the cover fire he needed.
Zack had made it past the blockade of the surviving pimps and guards. While he had the chance, he took some shots at the bastards who had the intention of having their way with the girl whom he had feelings for.
"Zack. Don't worry about them! Just save Elly!" shouted Kaji over the gunfire.
Zack quickly found the Ron's room. It really wasn't that difficult. It was the only room that was coloured gold. With one kick, the door opened. "Okay Mr. Ron! Where the fuck are you?"
Elly recognized that voice anywhere. "Zack? Is that you?"
Zack turned to his left. "Elly? Oh my god, you're okay!" He ran over to her. He noticed she was cuffed to a chair. That didn't stop him from giving Elly a hug though.
Zack noticed Elly was crying. "I was so scared," she said. "I thought I'd never see you guys again."
Zack comforted her. "Don't worry, as soon as I get you out of here, Shinji and Asuka have a big meal waiting back at the apartment for us. Watch yourself and I'll get these cuffs off."
Using his 9mm, he shot at the cuffs, however, making sure he didn't accidentally hit Elly in the process. Seven shots later, two for each handcuff and three for each leg cuff, Elly was finally free.
Elly gave him a big hug, and began to cry even harder, her sobbing drowning out all the gunfire downstairs. She was safe for the moment. Now they had to find a way to escape.
"Alright," said Zack. "Let's get out of here."
However, another voice interjected. "I beg to differ. You two aren't going anywhere!"
A/N: As for the "Zany Antics" vote. The deadline is November 5th, 2005. I will then determine the winner. Any votes that were cast for a losing bid will be carried over into the next vote. And anyone who voted for the winning bid will be able to vote for one of the others. Until 40, be cool!