A/N: Well, if there is one thing I have learned is that there are those who will try to help you, and those who want to hinder you. Know your friends, and know your foes. Anyways, here we are! Back again once more! Chapter 54 is here. Time to get rock!
A/N: Hey guys, Shran here, just a quick warning, there is a bit of physics terminology, so watch out for it. And don't ask J.G. what it means because he won't have a clue.
It was a quiet night indeed. It had been three days since Rei was set to make her full recovery. She was slowly being able to move her limbs. She could move her hands and feet, but not her arms and legs and couldn't stand up. The kids were back in school, and it seemed like things were getting back to normal. Well at least whatever Misato Katsuragi's ideals as to what normal was anyway. Last she checked on the kids, they were outside on the roof checking out one of Zack's newest toys. Apparently, Zack had recently acquired or he already had a telescope. And that was about fifteen minutes ago. That was just fine with Misato, as she could relax and enjoy her beer in peace and quiet.
As she drank her fourth beer, she contemplated over the kids' sync tests that they had yesterday. A typical boring test. No major changes to anyone's scores. Shinji and Asuka had no changes in their scores. Zack and Ivana had no changes either. Toji's score went down a few points. Elly's score went up by a few points too.
The only real difference had to have been Rei in terms of sync scores. Ritsuko wanted to know how the operation had any effects on Rei when it came to EVA. As expected, her score in particular had dropped sharply. Rei's sync was usually about 75, but her latest score was 28. Heck the Eva could barely start up. Ritsuko's reason for such a low score was since that Rei could not move neither her body nor the Eva was because her mind hadn't completely registered with her body, and thus a low score was the case.
Relaxing back into the chair, she took another sip of her can of Yebisu.
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Rooftop
It had been fifteen minutes since Zack had brought the others up here to check out the telescope. Strangely enough, tonight was supposed to be so cloudy that unless there were any lights, Tokyo-3 would be completely engulfed in darkness. However Zack, Ivana, Shinji, and Asuka were taking turns checking out the telescope and looking out into space. Right now, Zack was trying to show Shinji where the planet Mars was.
"Turn it just a bit to the left there Shinji," said Zack. "Can you see it now?"
"Yeah, I can see it," was the meek boy's answer. "Wow, so that's Mars. Unbelievable. When you look at it from here, it's strange that it's so far away. It doesn't feel that far away at all."
Zack then looked at Asuka, "Do you want to take a look at Mars? I figured that's your favourite planet." When he saw the nod from Shinji's girlfriend, he motioned to Shinji, "Why don't you let Asuka have a turn now?"
Shinji didn't seem to mind that at all, "Okay sure. I'm done looking anyway."
"Okay, just gotta make a small adjustment though." Once he made the seemingly unapparent adjustment, he called to Asuka, "Your turn." Asuka went up to the telescope, and began to take a look through the eyepiece.
After a few seconds, she was confused, "Hey! I can't see anything!"
"You gotta look a little harder," said Zack who was sporting a large grin on his face. He looked at Ivana, who was far, far away from amused.
"What in the hell are you talking about Casanova?" yelled Asuka, "I still can't see anything!"
Zack came over to check out the telescope, his grin widening every second, "Well Asuka, it helps if you take the cover off the scope," he replied taking the cap off the telescope. "I can't believe you fell for that!" said the Sixth Child who immediately burst out laughing. Asuka stood up straight, fuming. She was really angry. She tried to throw a punch at him in a blind fury, but he easily sidestepped the anger driven punch. She tried to punch him a few more times, but he easily dodged them too.
She quickly resigned to just yelling at him, "CASANOVA! I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!" she screamed and then stormed inside.
"Temper, temper," muttered Zack, "I think she could use anger management."
Now Ivana was taking a look through the 'uncovered' telescope, "That's strange," she said, "I have a good grasp of what stars are in the sky, but I have never recalled that star being there before."
"What do you mean?" asked Shinji.
Ivana motioned him to come over, "Look at the Big Dipper constellation. You'll see a star in the middle of the pot portion of the constellation." Shinji did as Ivana suggested and peered through the telescope. Ivana didn't adjust it, so he looked straight at the well known constellation.
He was as equally, if not more surprised than Ivana at the sight he saw, "Wow. How did that star get there?"
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Misato relaxed back in her chair after finishing off the fifth can. It was a good thing she restocked her supply. She wondered what she would do if she had ever run out. As she was getting ready to open the sixth can, Asuka stormed in. She looked angry too.
So Misato decided to inquire. "What's wrong Asuka?"
To Misato's disappointment, Asuka completely ignored her and went towards the TV. Misato was facing the TV but she was lying back lazily in her chair so she didn't know what Asuka was doing. She had heard Asuka storm into the TV section and then she stopped as if she just noticed something, and then take a few softer steps. Misato then heard Asuka pick up something. Next was what the guardian believed was a gasp of shock followed by a buildup of pure German rage. Suddenly, Asuka stormed out of the apartment faster than she had came in.
Misato, out of curiosity decided to see what set Asuka off. Getting up from her chair, she slowly strolled over to where Zack snoozed on the couch all the while feeling the effects of the alcohol. But she was intact enough to see what horrible sight had lay in front of her on that couch: Zack's secret box. Misato noticed that it was open and a photo lay on the couch next to it. She looked at the photo and gasped. It was a picture of Shinji and Asuka sleeping together, and Shinji in the photo had his hands on her butt, and it seemed Asuka was enjoying the moment.
It then hit Misato what Asuka was going to do. Zack was likely the one that made her come storming in like she did, and now this new development would likely make the unstable Mt. Sohryu erupt.
"Asuka, I don't care what you do to him," said Misato aloud, "Just don't kill him. He doesn't even deserve death."
Misato then opened the balcony door so she could hear what was going on atop the apartment building. Just as she thought, Asuka had returned to the rooftop. She was yelling at someone whom Misato assumed was Zack. Next she heard what sounded like a struggle, and then a young male's scream of pain… then silence.
It seemed like an eternity had passed since she heard the scream. But then the door opened revealing Ivana, Shinji, and a surprisingly tranquil Asuka despite how angry she was when she stormed in and then out. After about ten seconds of the three kids coming inside to watch some television, the impaired Misato still had enough sense to ask where Zack was.
"Hey guys," she started with the evidence on her breath that she was drinking, "Where's the other guy?"
"Oh… he's around," answered Asuka curling up on the couch next to Shinji.
"Okay." Misato then went back to the kitchen and opened up the sixth can. Fifteen minutes later, Zack had not returned yet.
Shinji was getting a little worried, "It's been fifteen minutes since you did that Asuka. How hard did you hit him?"
"Hard enough to get the point across," she lazily replied, "Serves him right for what he did."
"Well you bent the telescope when you sacked him," Ivana stated, while suppressing a huge urge to break out in a fit of laughter, "I figure if we don't get him, he'll catch a cold out there."
"Well if you're that worried about him Ivana," Asuka angrily spoke, "go get the pervert."
"Fine I will." And with that, Ivana left the apartment to retrieve the fallen Casanova.
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International Space Station
"Sir, you may wish to take a look at this."
"What is it Harry?"
"You won't believe it until you see it yourself sir." Two astronauts aboard the International Space Station were using the Hubble Space Telescope to check out some of the galaxy's star constellations. Apparently, the commander's junior astronaut had found something that seemed intriguing. And so, the commanding officer took a look through the telescope.
"What am I looking for Harry?"
"Sir, check out the Big Dipper and look for a star that shouldn't be there," replied Harry. The commander did as Harry suggested. And so the telescope was programmed to face the Big Dipper. A simple constellation at best, so simple it could be recognized by young kids. There was the handle off to the left, and the pot was where it should be. But then he saw it. A star surprisingly could be seen in the middle of the pot. In all his years of space obsession, there never was a star in the middle of the pot.
Intrigued by this discovery, the commander zoomed in on that star. As he zoomed in on it, it began to look less and less like a star should from the zooming he had done on it. As he got close enough to it he was a hundred percent sure that it was not a star at all. It was a comet. Frantically, he started to do some calculations about it. He wanted to know how big it was compared to Earth, its speed, if it was heading on a collision course with Earth, and if it may collide with the Earth, how long until it did, and the potential damage it could do.
The information the commander had retrieved after doing his calculations completely horrified him. The comet was approximately the size of France, velocity of an unimaginable magnitude, and it would indeed collide with Earth. And if his calculations were correct, which to his dismay usually were, it would impact Earth in six days.
"Harry!" boomed the commander's voice, "Get the director of NASA on the horn, and send him the images! We have a serious problem!"
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Two Days Later
"COME ON YOU FUCKING WIMPS! RUN! RUN! RUN!" Coach Thunder was at it again with the Phys Ed class. Merciless as usual. The class was running the so-called warm-up laps, however according to the entire class; this was the opening part of the torture period.
Asuka had about enough of this jerk. It had been a month and a half and this guy's only intent so far was to make every class he had suffer until they dropped. And the suffering didn't stop.
So Asuka decided to take a stand, "Hey! Coach! What the fuck is the point of all this? You just torture us day in and day out! Is there any meaning to all this?"
"HEY BITCH! DID I SAY YOU COULD TALK? GET RUNNING YOUR EXTRA FIVE FUCKING LAPS NOW!"
Asuka knew her one-girl stand was over, but suddenly another voice spoke up, "She's right Coach! What is the point of all this? Training is one thing, but this falls under torture!" Asuka looked around to see who the third speaker was who dared to challenge the American coach. It was Shinji, who from the looks of things was using his dusty spine to stand up to the gym teacher.
"IKARI! YOU CAN JOIN HER FOR FIVE LAPS! THEN I WANT TO SEE YOU BOTH AFTER CLASS!" boomed the always-angry coach.
'Thanks Shinji', thought Asuka to herself.
Once the rest of the class had finished their laps, Coach Thunder told everyone to watch Shinji and Asuka run their laps and to shout at them to move their asses. Once they finally finished their laps, Coach Thunder had three students take out some hockey nets, hockey sticks, and goaltending equipment.
"OKAY YOU DUMB LITTLE SHITS! WE'RE PLAYING FLOOR HOCKEY TODAY! IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE RULES, THEN TOO FUCKING BAD! BODY CONTACT WILL BE ALLOWED! FOR THOSE IDIOTS THAT DON'T UNDERSTAND, THEN GET THIS: IT'S KILL OR BE KILLED! YOU WILL BE DIVIDED UP INTO FOUR TEAMS, PLAYING KING OF THE COURT STYLE! I WILL BE THE REFEREE, AND I WANT NO BITCHING ABOUT MY REFEREEING SKILLS! DO YOU GET ME!"
"Sir! Yes sir!" replied the entire class in unison.
The overgrown bastard then began to divide the class into four teams. And there would be two goalies for each goal, which happened to be Shinji and Kensuke. Zack was on one team with Elly. Toji and Asuka got another team. Hikari and Ivana got the third team, and the fourth team was made up of unknowns.
Some of the other students, like Toji and Ivana were rather somewhat good; unfortunately it happened to be the one sport Zack was like the king at. Being a native of Canada, it was a country that could go absolutely crazy over hockey. He easily dominated every one else in that class, including Ivana and Toji. And for some reason, Coach Thunder invited himself into the game to prove he was the best at hockey. But pure skill from the Sixth Child beat anything the brute tried to throw his way. And the fact that Thunder was bested by some "punk kid" from Canada, it only pissed him off even more, and his head looked like it would explode. So when it came time for Asuka and Shinji to face the music for challenging the teacher earlier, Thunder was more sour that usual.
"SINCE YOU TWO LITTLE FUCKERS GAVE ME SOME LIP, I'M GONNA GET SOME RETRIBUTION!" his boomed across the gym, "YOU TWO WILL BOTH RUN TWO MILES AROUND THE GYM! AND THE FIRST PERSON TO MAKE TWO MILES MUST KEEP RUNNING UNTIL THE OTHER FINISHES THE TWO! NOW GET YOUR ASSES RUNNING NOW!"
2 miles and 45 minutes later – Hot Springs
After the after school torture session, Asuka and Shinji were aching from head to toe in pain. All their muscles and joints felt like they were going to fall apart. So both EVA pilots decided to relax their sore bodies with a dip in the nearby hot springs. They decided to share a spring, but to avoid any awkward predicaments; they decided to sit back to back.
"I would really love to put my foot up his ass!" Asuka griped as she relaxed up against Shinji's back. "Like what the hell is his problem?"
"I don't know," replied Shinji, feeling Asuka put more weight on his back. "I just don't understand why someone would be so angry for… no apparent reason."
Suddenly, Asuka remembered how Shinji stood up to the jerk, "Hey by the way, why did you stand up to that guy anyway? I figured you would have stayed silent."
"He's not that scary," Shinji answered. "He just likes to yell. Now if you put Misato with her varying moods or my father with the vibes he can give off in Coach Thunder's place, then I could get terrified easily." He could feel vibrations coming from Asuka's body. It seemed like she was trying to hold in a laugh.
She couldn't hold it for long as her heartfelt laughter went out into the air, "Oh man, I wonder what it would be like if Misato was our teacher! She'd probably get drunk in the middle of class and then go throw up out the window!" They both laughed at the thought for a bit. It'd be very hard to believe that they used to be at each other's throats not very long ago.
Just then and there, in another timeline and alternate universe, a navy blue haired teacher sneezed.
Shinji then looked up at what he thought was a star out in the daylight, but then remembered it was the comet they heard about on the news, "Say Asuka, have you heard anything new about that comet?"
"Not much other than that it'll just miss hitting Earth, and the fact it'll pass by in about three days," was the answer from Asuka. "But one can't help but get that feeling that those government officials are covering something up."
"Say Asuka, don't you think we should be getting back soon? Misato may wonder where we are."
Asuka reassured him, "Stop worrying about what Misato may think. We're sitting in a hot spring together, naked I might add. And we haven't even made a sexual advance on each other. And on top of that, Section 2 is probably watching us right now and probably reports to Misato about our whereabouts and what we are doing." Asuka was suddenly silent for a moment, but then had an outburst, "And don't think I didn't see you watching us you pervert!" she yelled into the air.
Shinji looked to his left to see someone fall down the side of the roof of the facility that housed the hot springs.
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"Well you wanted him summoned so badly, and you knew it would take him some time to get here, so suck it up. One more thing, don't yell at me either."
A hooded man was standing atop the Tokyo-3 high school. And he seemed rather displeased at the moment with whoever he was talking on his cell phone to.
"There's more to this than just the potential destruction of the world you know. The world's leaders are watching the events unfold, and they are on edge. They decided to try covering up the incident, and they're realizing that people are wondering why they keep seeing that star whenever they see that star. And astronomers know it's a comet and that it may impact Earth or just miss. On top of that, NERV will eventually have to make its move once they discover who he is, and that's when the fun will begin." He listened to the speaker on the other end for a bit for a bit longer.
"Look, if you're that frustrated and can't appreciate the finer points of things, take out your frustrations on the prisoners. God sent them there for a reason, so amuse yourself with them. Don't take your impatience and frustrations out on me." He then hung up the phone and looked up into the sky.
"Well Nebuchadnezzar, it's almost time… to take our most direct attempt yet at 4th Impact. NERV will try to stop you when they realize what you are. I hope you are ready."
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NERV HQ
The staff at NERV were watching the comet situation very closely. Gendo Ikari had been in contact with officials around the world as how to deal with this matter. The reason NERV was involved was that they may be asked to use the EVAs somehow to deal with this incoming comet that was only two-and-a-half days away.
As precautionary measures, Ritsuko had her workers analyze everything they had on the comet. This was so that if they were called to action, which was the likely case, they would be prepared for it.
"So what do we have so far?" asked the doctor to her flunkies.
"Nothing unusual so far," reported Makoto.
"Except for the fact that it is a rather large comet," put in Shigeru. "It's about the size of the France, mass is undeterminable at this point."
"The only thing that differentiates it from every other comet is its velocity," said Maya. "It's moving towards us at an alarming rate. The comet only passed Mars just a few minutes ago. I can only guess the acceleration, but if it's as high as I believe it is, we could be talking about possibly to the force in somewhere between the power of 9, to the power of 12, possibly 13, Newton's."
"I see." Ritsuko began to ponder the developments in her mind. There was the thought of sending missiles into space to blow it out of the sky. Knowing how big it was, it wouldn't be hard to hit. If NERV was to do the task, they would likely send Zack and Unit 05 into space because it could use the E-Type Equipment to go into space to plant an N2 mine inside the comet and blast the thing into bits. However there was the possibility that some unknown force could possibly increase the acceleration of the comet, thus increasing its speed. Such a contingency not only would decrease the time, but also would increase the likelihood of ripping the planet into pieces. The rate of descent at this point would already blanket Earth. Destruction was only the most likely result, should the force be any greater.
Right as Ritsuko planned to go take a break and tell her employees to keep analyzing the comet as best they could, Maya spoke up, "Doctor, I'm getting something from the MAGI."
"What is it?" asked Ritsuko.
"Apparently, that comet is giving off some strange vibe according to the MAGI. They're examining it right now," reported Makoto.
"Good," said Ritsuko. "Report back to me when the MAGI is finished analyzing. I'm going to step out for a bit. And tell Elly she's to be making dinner soon."
"Yes Doctor Akagi," answered Maya.
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Gendo Ikari's Office
It had been a rather eventful day for one of the most powerful men in the world. Gendo rather preferred a busy day to a dull day anyway. This comet issue was the subject of every meeting and discussion he had been in for the last 48 hours. And as the talks continued, the more evident it got that the whole world was preparing to dump the task on NERV again. The Americans even opted out of using the NASA space shuttles to put astronauts on the comet to blow it up. Russia also did not wish to use their cosmonauts either until they had more information on how to approach this task.
Along with his global agenda, there were local issues too to pile up. According to the Section 2 agents, the EVA pilots' Phys Ed teacher who went by the name of Coach Thunder was expressing unnatural cruelty towards the kids. He made a note of it sometime in the future to speak with this muscle bound blockhead and give him a stern walkthrough on how the EVA pilots were to be treated.
And now according to the information he had just received from Ritsuko's staff, the comet was showing some readings that made it somewhat different from the other comets. They also said the MAGI were analyzing it to see what it was. He had a hunch as to what it was, but decided to let the MAGI make the final decision. Patience would be the necessary virtue here.
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NERV Lounge
"Ah, nothing feels good like a break in work," Ritsuko said aloud as she prepared to sit down and have a quick cup of coffee. What a tense day it had been so far. And now with the help of her coffee, it offered her what she hoped could be a temporary escape from all of this. Right as she was about to take the first sip, her phone went off.
Sighing in frustration, she answered her phone, "Hello?"
"Doctor, we have a serious problem over here!" said Maya who apparently was the caller, "It's about the comet!"
"What about the comet?" asked Ritsuko, somewhat frightened as to what the answer may be.
"The comet is emitting a black waveform pattern!"
A/N: And there it is. The next Black Angel, on a collision course with our beloved earth. How will our heroes and heroines stop this looming threat? Can I come up with a less corny question? Find out in the next chapter! Until 55, be cool!
A/N: That by far is one of the corniest things I've read.