Disclaimer: Well, Gainax is still the owners of NGE but I bought some shares so technically I own a little bit of them which in turns makes me own a little bit of NGE… no not really, I never bought any shares because I'm too poor…sniff.
A/N: anything following one of Pen Pen's Wark's is the translation.
Chapter Five- The Earth Elemental
The next morning when Rei woke up she found that she had a massive headache. Holding her head she slowly got out of bed and when she tried to stand up, she collapsed onto the floor. With a cry of pain she looked down at her ankle and found that it was bandaged, yet she could not remember anything from yesterday.
Realizing that she couldn't walk, she reached out and snagged her bags, shoulder strap and pulled it towards her. After fishing through it she finally found her cell phone and dialed a number, hoping that he was awake.
-o0O()O0o-
Shinji awoke early that morning to find that he needed to take care of business. Slowly extracting himself from underneath his redheaded goddess, he made his way to the bathroom with a small smile, remembering how they got Misato to let them sleep together.
-o0O(FLASHBACK)O0o-
Asuka and Shinji had just got back from a date, and found Misato sitting at the table apparently asleep. Tiptoeing past her they both made their way to their respective rooms.
Before long, as Shinji was laying down listening to music, he heard a faint knocking on the door. Before he could reply, the door opened and shut quickly. Next thing he knew he was being shoved over to the side of the bed, and the person slipped under the covers.
"Asuka, are you alright?" Shinji asked while wrapping his left arm around her.
"No…I had a nightmare," She said. "Can I sleep in here with you?" she asked in a cutesy innocent voice.
Shinji chuckled a little before replying. "I think I'm going to have a hard time trying to get you out of here considering you have a death grip on me."
Asuka smiled and snuggled up against him before falling asleep. Shinji smiled and brushed some hair out of her eyes before allowing sleep to claim him as well.
The following morning Shinji awoke with an ominous feeling hanging over him. After blinking away the tiredness, he looked up at the ceiling only to find Misato leaning over him. Jumping out of the bed, he collided with his guardian and both of them fell in a heap on the floor. This woke Asuka who stared at the two before giggling sleepily, stopping when she realized where she was.
"Both of you in the kitchen in five minutes, no arguing." Misato ordered after she disentangled herself from Shinji.
"Yes Misato." Both teens said in unison.
After this they had argued for the better part of the morning until finally Misato had threatened them with separate apartment and only see each other at work and school should anything ever happen.
-o0O(END FLASHBACK)O0o-
After he got done with business and was about to start breakfast, Shinji heard his cell phone start to ring. Wondering whom it was that would be calling this early, he walked into his room and answered it before Asuka could wake up.
"Hello?"
"Ikari?"
"Rei?"
"I require your assistance, for it seems that I cannot walk on my left leg." She said in a calm yet pain filled voice.
"Why? What happened to your leg? Did someone try to hurt you Rei?" he asked.
"No Ikari, I cannot seem to remember what happened to me as of last night. All I remember is walking home from the grocery store with sustenance, and then I seemed to have blacked out. Please hurry on your way over here."
"No problem Rei, I think I know what happened to you yesterday. Asuka and I will be right over to help you out." With this he hung up the phone before she could ask why he was going bring Asuka.
Shinji set the phone down and walked over to the bed. Climbing in, he gently shook Asuka awake while softly calling her name.
After five minutes of this, he finally got life out of her and suppressed the urge to shout out with success.
"Shinji? What the hell did you wake me up for?" Asuka asked groggily.
"It's about Rei, I think we have the third elemental now. So get up and get dressed in some running clothes, because you're coming with me."
She nodded and slid out from under the covers, as Shinji walked into the kitchen to make some toast and grab some bottled water.
-o0O()O0o-
Five minutes later both of them were running down the path to the First Child's residence. Another five minutes showed that both of them reached her apartment with out any difficulties excepted for being out of breath. When Asuka went to ring the doorbell, Shinji stopped her.
"Don't bother, it doesn't work." He said as he knocked on her door, and then opened it.
On the way over here, Asuka couldn't help but wonder why Rei would live in a rundown, and barren place like this, but when she saw the inside of her place, her fashion sense went off. Before she could say anything about it though, she saw Rei on the bed, and Shinji removing the bandage from her ankle.
"Well there isn't any marks or anything under it, but we might know who did this and why." Shinji said after examining it. Shinji then proceeded to explain everything that has happened to him and Asuka and both followed up with him making all three of them float, and Asuka creating a fireball in between her hands.
Rei, fascinated with what she was told and saw, soon asked questions.
"Do you know what element I will be controlling, Ikari?"
"Not yet Rei, unfortunately it will be a couple of hours until your leg is better, and then we'll test you. In the mean time I can fix up either a bath for you or place a chair in the tub for you to use to take a shower."
"I have never taken a bath before," Rei told them to their disbelief. "Is it something that I might enjoy?"
"Of coarse you'll enjoy it Rei!" Asuka exclaimed and then ran into the bathroom to draw it up.
Rei blinked in confusion, and turned to Shinji for and explanation.
"She's just shocked that you've never had a bath before, and about where you live." He said before remembering something. "Speaking of which, the apartment building that we live in has nobody else living there, and I was thinking that you could move in next to us."
"Why? These living quarters are enough for me to pass my time with." She said with even more confusion.
"This way you don't have to wait like ten minutes if you ever need my help again." Shinji replied.
Rei thought this over before getting the urge to move in next to him, which may have been helped out by the fact that she remembered his cooking. She frowned suddenly when this idea hit a brick wall called Commander Ikari.
"The Commander will not like me to move out of this building."
"Tell him that by living next to us, he can have all three pilot arrive at the same time, instead of at different times thus improving the chances of one thing or another." Shinji said. "You know him just stroke his ego a little, say some fancy words that he thinks he knows the definitions to and your good to go!"
Rei thought more about this and found that Shinji was right. "Very well then I will do it." As she said this Asuka came out of the bathroom and called Rei to her bath, making Shinji carry her into the bathroom, then hit him because she thought that he wasn't leaving fast enough.
-o0O()O0o-
The next day Rei talked to the commander, and like Shinji said, all she did was butter him up (A/N: Ew…disturbing images, have to go to church to try and purge the evilness out of my mind now.) and he allowed it. So that afternoon, Asuka, Misato, and Shinji began to set up things for their new neighbor's house warming party.
"Okay Rei gets home in a little more than four hours due to special testing at NERV so in that time we have to set up everything, have food cooked, and get the others down here." Misato said to the two teens.
"Asuka you're in charge of getting Hikari, Kensuke and Touji down here. Start with Hikari so Shinji can have some help cooking everything." Misato ordered. With a quick nod Asuka pulled out her cell phone and began to call the three.
"Shinji, you're in charge of snacks, and the meal. Make enough so that Touji can eat without having to steal from other people. Also don't forget to make some items for Pen Pen to enjoy as well. Also can you please make your oh so delicious beer battered shrimp?" she begged with a puppy dog face.
"Sure Misato," Shinji began. "But if you truly want them then you're going to have to go down to the store to pick up some shrimp.
With out another word Misato took off down the building and flew into her car. By the time she was back, Shinji had started on vegetarian snacks and a meal for Rei.
"I'm back, also I saw Hikari walking over here so I decided to pick her up!" Misato said cheerfully. Hikari slowly walked into the kitchen on trembling knees and sat down at the table. Shinji got a glass of water and some motion sickness pills, which she accepted greedily.
-o0O()O0o-
Between the six of them, they had cooked the food, moved everything of Rei's and added some new pieces as well, and set up decorations. Misato, who was standing watch at the front windows suddenly shouted. "She's coming turn off all the lights and mask the smell of the food, hurry!" Everyone scrambled to get this done and find a hiding place, so by the time Rei pulled out her key card, everything was silent.
With a soft hissing sound, her new apartment door opened and the first thing that Rei noticed was the smell.
'It smell's like fresh cut daisy's by a babbling brook with a hint of lemon.' She thought before stopping. 'What in the world did I just say?' shrugging she ventured farther into her home and just as she was about to turn on the lights they switched on and everyone jumped out yelling "SURPRISE!"
Rei jumped and let out a small squeak of fear, and though only two people know how it happened, it got really humid in the apartment.
"Well Rei I hope that you enjoy this whole party, because it's just for you!" Misato cheered as she pumped her fist in the air, while slurring her words a little.
"Th-thank you…" she muttered, still unused to giving gratitude to everyone. Pen Pen walked over to her carrying a dish and placed it in her lap. Looking down she saw that it was one of many vegetarian appetizers, created by Shinji and Hikari.
"Pen Pen here thinks that you should get the first thing to eat since it is your apartment." Shinji explained to Rei who looked a little confused.
"Wark!" 'Yup and hopefully I can get an image of me being useful so that you'll hold me unlike the redhead.'
Rei picked up a small square of veggie pizza and bit into it, and enjoyed how it tasted. She motioned for everyone else to enjoy the food as well and thus the party had started.
-o0O()O0o-
Seven hours later showed Shinji, Rei, and Asuka out on the rooftop of the building talking, while everyone else was either passed out or feel asleep naturally downstairs.
"So you're saying that I will be able to control any form of moisture?" Rei asked.
"Yup, I mean how else do you explain the humidity in the apartment today when you got surprised?" Asuka asked her while smiling a bit.
"That is true…" The conversation leveled out into a companionable silence, with Asuka leaning against Shinji with her head on his shoulder, and Rei leaning against the railing. It was a while before someone spoke up.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" said a voice behind the three. They turned around only to find them facing an empty rooftop.
"Who's there?" Shinji called out confused.
"What can't the elementals see me?" the voice asked in a mocking manner. "Well that's just too bad."
Shinji grabbed Rei by the arm and all but dragged her over to the door that led downstairs. "Rei get to the apartments and stay there. Don't answer the door for anyone unless you hear Asuka or myself tell you something that only the three of us know." Before she could nod he shoved her through and closed it.
-o0O()O0o-
Touji stood up and felt his back pop, from sleeping on a recliner for too long. As he was about to see if there was anything to eat as a late night snack, he heard knocking on the door.
"Rei! Someone is at your door!" He called out in a slightly low voice. When she didn't show up he shrugged and opened the door himself, to find an old couple standing there.
"May I help you two?" he asked politely.
"Actually you can," the woman said before grabbing his wrist. "I'm sorry that it has to happen like this young one but there isn't time."
Touji looked at the captured right wrist before looking back up. "Time for what?"
"Surviving!" Came the short reply. Next thing that he knew he was on his back, after suffering the worst pain he had ever felt, on his arm and in his head. Slowly getting back up he barely noticed that Rei got the same head treatment from the old couple that he did.
"Go both of you, Wind and Fire can't hold them off forever." Father said once they were able to stand up without the place swaying.
"What about our-" Rei began before Mother cut her off.
"Don't worry we will watch over them for you."
With one last look, both Rei and Touji ran up the stairs and out of sight.
"Now all we can do is wait and pray Mother." Father said to his companion who nodded in response.
-o0O()O0o-
"Well now it's me against the Fire and Wind Elementals." Came the voice from the shadows.
"Yea but you know what would be much more fun? Coming out of the damn shadows." Asuka replied.
"Ahhh, but I happen to enjoy the shadows…it's one of my endearing qualities." the voice hissed now to there backs.
Shinji narrowed his eye trying to see what was speaking to them, but he couldn't make anything out through the darkness.
"Asuka, can you make some light for us to see?" he asked the young woman next to him."
Asuka nodded, then clenched her fists, just as she was about to form the fire, Shinji yelled out.
"Gotcha!"
She looked as he grabbed something in the shadows and begun to pull on it. Rushing over, she saw him give a final yank and suppressed shivering when she saw the thing.
Three feet high with a tail one-foot long, raggedy, bat-like wings, all black save for its glowing red eye's. When it breathed in she could hear a rattling sound, and when it exhaled she could see the decay in it. Its face held a long mouth that was in a never-ending grin, which showed its long sharp teeth. Its eyes were little more than slits as were its nostrils.
Shinji tossed the thing on its back, and before it could right its self he drop kicked it in the stomach. As he was raising his foot, the thing grabbed it and was pulled up to its feet. The demon drew the blade that was attached to its back and swung at Shinji slicing his shirt in the process.
Asuka next came up behind the thing and once more ignored the shuddering when she grabbed its wings.
"You don't like the light huh?" she asked rhetorically. She focused her powers into her hands and flames burst forth, connecting with the wings then spread to the rest of the body. When she let go, it tried to take flight while screaming, but Shinji stopping all current in the air, coupled with its body burning, sent it crashing to the rooftop. It twitched once before the life was sucked from it by Shinji, who picked up the things blade and jammed it through its skull.
"Well now we don't have anything to play with."
Both Asuka and Shinji spun around really fast and got in ready stances when they heard the voice. Touji and Rei both walked into their sights with small smiles on their faces.
"What do you mean that you have nothing to play with?" Shinji asked when they relaxed.
"Well downstairs I met an old man and woman, who decided to give me some kick ass powers to help you three out and everything."
"So you're…"
"Yup I'm the earth elemental."
-o0O()O0o-
After the four of them returned to the apartment, Mother and Father had already left and everyone was transferred to the rooms for the night. Shinji and Touji went into one guestroom, which had Kensuke, while Rei and Asuka went into the other, which held Hikari. They all left Misato on the kitchen table.
-o0O()O0o-
The next day everyone was running between the two apartments trying to get ready for school and work. After one hectic hour, the group of six started to walk to school an hour early due to Hikari.
"So I was thinking that once school is over next month, we could all go on a trip to a beach resort or something." Hikari suggested.
"Well, you guys can but I'm not too sure about Shinji and myself, what with NERV and all." Asuka told them.
"I'm sure that your allowed time off aren't you? I mean you would crack under all the stress after awhile!"
"Sometimes I think that's what they want…" Shinji mumbled to himself.
"What was that Ikari?"
"Nothing Touji."
-o0O()O0o-
The first few hours of school passed uneventfully, which the group all played Battlefield 3, and the only humorous thing was when Touji's head hit his desk with a resounding thump, and the people around him swore they heard him chanting, 'Must stay awake, Must stay awake."
Lunchtime came around to find the four elemental off in a corner talking about things while Hikari and Kensuke went to the bathroom.
"Well, what do we do about Rei? The commander isn't going to enjoy her gaining emotions is he?" Asuka asked the group.
"For now act like you did before the change okay Rei?" Shinji asked.
"Alright but I do want some new clothes and everything. What should I do if the commander decides to visit me one day?
Shinji thought for a moment before he gained an idea. "Your kitchen wall connects to my old room, and more importantly your fridge is on that wall as well. For now we'll keep your clothes in the room, and eventually I'll cut out a secret door or something connecting the two apartments."
"What I want to know is if we tell anyone." Touji said.
"Not right now, the less people who know the better. We now know what we're fighting but we don't know the different types of demons. The one Asuka and I killed used the shadows to travel, so there might be some who can control people and things. Right now just act like you normally do okay?"
The others agreed and started to talk about random things when Hikari and Kensuke came back.
-o0O()O0o-
"Hey Ikari! You wanna come to an arcade with Ken and me?" Touji asked across the schoolyard when they got out of class. Shinji looked over at Asuka who nodded and gave him a brief kiss on the lips before dragging Hikari and Rei off in the direction of the mall.
"You know I still can't get over you and her dating man." Kensuke said shaking his head a little bit.
"Ahhh, you're just jealous that I have Asuka and Touji has Hikari, man." Shinji said smirking a little.
"That's right man jealously…What? I don't "have" Hikari!"
"Well you should get her soon because I saw some guys looking at her and talking about wanting to ask her out." Kensuke said catching what Shinji was doing.
"Y-you did?"
"Oh yeah, I heard that as well, they said that they were going to ask her out tomorrow. In fact, they even came up to me and asked me if she was single since I'm one of her friends. I told them that she was but that you wanted to ask her out, but they didn't seem to mind about that." Shinji said.
The rest of the way was quiet as Touji thought about what his two friends said, and finally decided to ask her out tonight on their way home.
As they entered the arcade, Shinji accidentally tripped over a cable and bumped into some guy who was playing a video game.
"OH, NO!"
"Oops! Sorry about that."
"You think sorry's gonna cut it? Finally got to the last level! Whatcha gonna do 'bout that, huh?"
"Whoa guy calm down it was an accident. If you like I will gladly give you 100 yen to replace the yen that I cost you." Shinji said holding up his hands.
"That doesn't matter! You think that's gonna get me back to the final level?
"Hey man I said I was sorry about it so calm down!"
"Yeah, you're gonna be sorry!"
The thug pulled his arm back and stopped there. Shinji stood waiting for the punch to come but after five seconds of waiting he noticed that something was wrong. Everyone, no… everything stopped moving, so that the only sound he heard was coming from is own breathing and heartbeat.
"Ummm, guys?" He turned around to see Kensuke frozen in mid jump going backwards, and Touji in mid step coming forward to help him.
"What the fuck is going on here?" he asked himself as he walked out of the arcade and saw the same thing as was inside.
"What happened was us, elemental." Came a raspy voice from above and behind him.
Shinji looked up to see five silhouettes in the sun's light and all of them were tall and bulky. The five jumped down from the rooftop and upon impacting the concrete, they cracked it, showing just how heavy they were. When they stood up, they measured at two meters. They wore armor that covered everything except for their faces. Strapped to their backs were bloodstained battle-axes, which looked too heavy for a normal man to carry.
Their faces held two normal sized eyes, which glowed deep green, slits for nostrils, that blew steam with every breath, and their mouths had an under bite with their top lip tucked behind their canine teeth.
"Who the hell are you guys?" Shinji asked, eyeing the huge battle-axes on their backs.
"We are a type of demon called Time Impeders…the name is pretty much self-explanatory. We were sent here to make you disappear."
"Why just me? Why not the others?" Shinji asked confused.
"Take out the leader and the others shall fall easily. You know the saying, 'United we stand, Divided we fall' right?"
"Well fuck, this is gonna suck isn't it?" Shinji said getting into a ready stance.
"For you…yes." And with that the five launched at Shinji.
-o0O()O0o-
A/N: Sorry for the late chapter. The flu decided to kick my ass around the block for a week and then when I came back from getting healed, I had to re-write everything that I wrote when I was on meds. Also I'm sorry if this was little fast paced. It wasn't my intention to rush anything, but expect the next few chapters to slow down okay? Anyways that's about all for this chapter which, by the way, was pre-read by WarShadow, who I can't thank enough.
Until next time my good people.