Chapter 11: Magi
A/N: Man… This one is long, and took forever to finish. I hope you guys like it. And thanks to Youngboch for proof reading this.
Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion.
"Speaking"
'Thoughts'
"Speaking in another language or flashback"
----------------------------------------------------
Next Morning
"I need a beer," a black bird warked as he waddled into the kitchen from his ice room in the basement. The little avian waddled over to the fridge and wrapped his 'fingers' around the door handle. He pulled at the door with all his might but couldn't open it. He yanked again, baring the same results. He tried a few more times before giving up.
He waddled down the hall to 'Ikari's Room' to find the door shut. "Damn it," he cursed since he couldn't open human doors. Waddling back into the basement he found his owner's door shut too. "God damn it!" he cursed again
Finding his way back into the kitchen and to the base of the stairs he started to hop up them. "Jason better be up," he warked dangerously low. When he made it up the stairs he waddled to the door of Jason's room to find it shut. "Mother fucking god damn it!" he yelled as loud as he could.
Soon after he yelled he heard noises coming from the other side of the hallway. The bird turned to watch the latest human he met open her door. Looking around for what woke her up she found the black bird in front of her brother's room. "Pen-Pen?" she asked still partially asleep.
"Who the fuck else has black feathers and a beak in this house?!" he warked, his eyebrow feathers twitching.
"What's wrong Pen?" she asked kneeling next to him rubbing sleep out of her eyes.
"Everyone's doors are shut and no one's up to get me a damn beer!" he warked crossing his wings.
The young teen picked up the bird and carried him downstairs. "Are you hungry Pen?" she asked opening up the fridge while still holding the penguin.
"Well I guess I could use some fish," he said as he spotted the beer. "Hey get me one of those!" he warked as he reached for a beer. Kinori didn't seem to notice as she grabbed the fish and closed the fridge. He struggled a bit to get back to the fridge but gave up when she put him down on the counter and pulled out a pan.
"So Pen-Pen, what's it like to be a penguin under Misato's care?" she asked as she put the fish in the pan and started frying them.
"It's a good life. She can be a slob, but ever since Shinji came along it's been great! He cleaned up after us and cooked us good suppers. He's one of a kind. When Asuka showed up it got louder by a few decibels. From there everything kinda went down hill. The more the angels attacked the more I had to hide in the tub," he explained forgetting about the beer momentarily.
Kinori cooked the fish and placed it on a plate as Pen-Pen went on. She nodded once in a while so he would keep going, even though she didn't understand anything he was saying. As he continued warking about how he went to live with Hikari for a while she grabbed a beer from the fridge and opened it up for him. He didn't notice she had even moved as he continued telling his story.
"...after he got here he fell on his ass when he opened up the fridge and saw me. That was hilarious. When he closed the door I couldn't help but laugh. The next morning was even better… oh hello! Food and beer!" he cheered as he grabbed the beer and took a gulp and started to eat his food.
Kinori giggled when Pen-Pen abruptly stopped talking… sorry, warking and started pigging out on what she laid in front of him. Looking at the clock she noticed it was about time for her brother to wake up.
Pen-Pen watched as she left but really didn't care where she was going since he had his fish and beer.
Upstairs, Kinori carefully walked into Jason's room and sat on the edge of his bed. "Jason, it's time to get up," she said quietly as she nudged him.
"Not now Kinori… give me a few more minutes…" he mumbled rolling over. She recoiled a bit at the two scars that decorated his back. The eight-inch gash from Eric, and the bullet wound from the SEELE agents.
Going to the other side of the bed she sat down on it again. "Jason come-on, it's time for you to get up," she said nudging him a bit harder.
"Ok, ok fine. I'll get up," he groaned as he sat up. He looked over to her with his messed up hair and tired eyes.
Kinori couldn't help but laugh. "You can tell you're not a morning person," she said between laughs.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he said as he got up and put on some shorts. The two walked back down stairs and into the kitchen.
At about the same time Misato walked into the kitchen too, fully dressed in her NERV uniform. "Good morning," she said, looking at Jason's hair.
"Good morning," Kinori answered with a small smile.
"Good morning, Misato," Jason greeted a little less energetic as Misato's face started to turn red. "What?"
"Your hair!" she almost shouted as she busted out laughing. Kinori joined her soon after.
The pilot looked at both girls slowly shaking his head. He looked around seeing his little penguin friend on the counter enjoying a good fish and beer breakfast.
When the two girls calmed Misato stood up, smoothed out her uniform then addressed the one she laughed at. "Jason, go take a shower and get ready. We're heading into NERV here soon. You three have sync tests today and I – for once – don't want to be late. Ok?"
Jason nodded as he walked back upstairs and grabbed some clothes from his room and made his way toward the bathroom across from Shinji and Asuka's room. As he opened the door he noticed Misato walking toward him. "What, are you gonna try and peek at me again?" he asked jokingly.
"NO! And I told you that was an accident!" she yelled back blushing a bit. That quickly vanished to be replaced by a devious smirk. "Unless, you want me too," she teased.
"Sorry, not this time," he replied. "But what are you doing here then?" holding the bathroom door open.
"I'm gonna wake up the love birds," she said laying her hand on the door handle.
"NO! Umm… I mean… I'll take care of it ok. You gotta make sure Kaji's ready to go to NERV anyway," he stammered out blocking the door to the bedroom.
"Kaji's not going, and you need to take a shower. So let me wake them up," she said her face getting a bit more serious.
"Listen, let me take care of this, you've got more important stuff to worry about," he replied his face getting more serious too.
"Fine," she said throwing her hands up in the air. She walked off back toward the kitchen. "Kids these days."
Jason sighed and turned to the bedroom door. He knocked. "Hey get up guys," he called loud enough for them to hear. When he didn't get a response he slowly turned the handle of the door, placing his life at the mercy of the redhead within. He slowly opened the door and glanced inside to make sure they were covered. He heard them… or Asuka, the night before.
When he noticed that they were covered he slowly made his way inside making sure to keep his eyes either closed or on the head board of the bed. When he was next to the bed he looked for Shinji's face. He found he target and tapped it. "Hey get up."
Shinji groaned a bit before opening his eyes and blinking to look at Jason. "Huh…?" he asked looking at the older teen through sleepy eyes… that was until he realized how he was dressed, or lack there of. "Jason!" he almost screamed, waking Asuka up.
"What do you mean 'Jason'?" she asked groggily as she sat up, looking over to her now completely awake and blushing boyfriend.
Jason having some foresight turned around before the sheet fell from her chest. "Umm… uh… can you please cover back up…" he stuttered.
Asuka, who was dumbstruck, looked down to see her flesh completely uncovered. "Oh shit!" she yelled as she quickly grabbed the sheets and covered her body. Blushing heavily she looked up to see Jason looking away and her boyfriend blushing too. "What the hell do you think you're doing in our room?!" she yelled at the standing male.
"Ok… first calm down," he said weakly.
"How would you feel if…" was all Asuka said.
"Listen, Misato was about to wake you guys up before I stopped her," he cut her off. His head kinda drooped a bit before he continued. "Sorry, but I kinda heard you guys… or Asuka, through the floor last night." He felt as if he had shamed himself for hearing them during their most intimate experience. "I didn't want you two to get in trouble for having a good time last night," he added.
The other two were quiet before the red-haired girl spoke up. "Was… I that loud?" she asked very quite like while blushing furiously.
"Umm… let's just say that you're lucky Misato has twelve-inch thick walls in her room," he replied his back still turned. He too was blushing.
The three didn't say anything for awhile, the oldest standing turned from the other two, while they sat on the bed looking at their laps.
"Umm… ok. Why don't you two get dressed while I take my shower? We have to head into NERV here soon," the American said walking toward the door.
The other two teens stayed motionless until he was at the door. "Jason…" the German whispered.
He stopped in the door-way, signaling her that she could talk without looking at her. "Yeah?"
"Thanks… for keeping us outta trouble," she said still blushing. Shinji nodded, though Jason couldn't see it.
"Yeah Jason, thanks," he added.
With that the eldest teen exited the room leaving them to their own devices. He himself entered the bathroom to take his shower.
In the kitchen sat a fuming Misato. "Why the hell does it take those kids so long to get ready? I don't even take this long," she said as Kinori sat down at the table with a bowl of cereal.
"Relax. It's not as if they mean to stall you," she stated trying to calm down the purple-haired vice-commander. Kinori was already dressed in her NERV tech uniform, ready to go.
Kaji calmly strolled into the kitchen, taking the seat next to Misato's. "Good morning girls," he greeted giving them the patented Kaji grin.
Misato only glared at him while Kinori smiled and went back to her cereal bowl.
"Good morning Mr. Kaji," she said after she swallowed a spoonful of cereal.
"Just call me Kaji," he replied looking from the young teen to his beautiful love. "What's wrong?" he asked seemingly just noticing her glare and poor attitude.
"The kids. They're taking forever getting ready. Jason only just got in the shower and woke up Shinji and Asuka. And you know how long Asuka takes to get around," she said giving him a sour look. "And I need a beer," she added under her breath.
"Why is he taking a shower if he's going into NERV for a synch test?" the poorly shaved man asked.
Misato went into deep thought for a second before throwing her hands up into the air. "I really need a beer!" she yelled in frustration.
The three waited a bit longer in the kitchen before Shinji and Asuka joined them, Shinji wearing a pair of shorts and a blue t-shirt, and Asuka wearing a pair of blue sweat pants and a loose red shirt. Both teens were wearing flip-flop sandals
"Good morning," they greeted at the same time, some of the synch training still there.
Misato and Kaji were shocked. Neither, in all the years they knew Asuka, had ever seen her wear or even own a pair of sweat pants. "Since when do you wear, or even own for that matter, a pair of sweatpants?" Misato almost yelled in confusion.
"Oh, these?" she asked tugging on the side of the one leg. "These aren't mine, they're Shinji's. I figured if we're going in for synch tests, I don't need to look my best," she stated looking up to Misato and Kaji, whose mouths were hanging wide open. "What?" she asked innocently tilting her head to one side, Shinji copying her.
"You're… wearing… Shinji's… clothes…?" Misato asked very slowly in a threatening voice.
It was this precise moment that the only none Japanese person in the house decided to make his appearance. "Good morning," he greeted in English.
Misato immediately stood up. "Everyone out to the car, NOW!" she ordered pointing to the door.
All the teens hurriedly made their way out to her car, Jason in front while Shinji was in-between Kinori and Asuka in the back. Misato got in and started the car, pulled out of the driveway and made the passengers pray that they make it to NERV in one piece.
Only a few minutes later they reached NERV. Misato stormed out of the car and into the base while the other four took their sweet time getting out. Once out they either held onto the car for support of they fell straight to the ground. The teens all just stayed where they were for a while waiting for the world to stop spinning around, and around, and around… whoa I'm starting to get dizzy now.
When the world finally did come to a stop the group made their way into the bowls of NERV, heading to the bridge, where Misato was waiting for them.
"From now on, I'm driving to NERV," Jason stated as they turned a corner.
"Please do," Asuka begged.
"Yeah, she must have been pissed or somethin' today. She's only drove that bad a few times," Shinji commented.
"If she drives that bad ever again, I will personally take her license and hide it," the youngest stated as they arrived in the big room.
"Oh, you will?" their commanding officer asked with a threatening tone.
"Umm…" was the young girl response. She hurried herself over to her terminal and started up the computer putting herself to work. Some of the bridge crew laughed a bit at the youngest tech bunny.
Misato turned her attention back to the three pilots, a small frown set upon her face. "Alright, this is going to be just a normal synch test. Get in your Evas and let's get this over with," she said with a huff.
All three pilots left the room in a hurry wanting to avoid Misato's wrath. The techs in the room started talking whispering to each other about the Second Child's clothes.
"I never thought she would ever wear anything like that," one tech said.
"Yeah, I know what you mean, she always dresses so she can show off her body," another replied.
Misato, over hearing this, agreed but didn't like the tone they were using to describe her charge. "You two!" she said to the techs. "If you want to keep your jobs, you'll shut up and get back to work," she finished off in a very threatening tone.
Both techs yelped and turned back to their terminals and started typing. Kinori watched this and giggled a bit to herself.
In the men's locker room the two boys were just pulling on their plug suits. "Why in the world do we need these things? I mean we synch with our brains not our bodies," Jason complained as he hit the switch to vacuum seal his suit.
"I don't know," the other male replied. "Ritsuko told us once that they help our synch ratio, though I don't think that's true. I mean I had a four hundred synch in my school uniform," he continued.
"Damn…" came the older teens response as they both started heading toward the Eva cages.
"Hey guys, wait up," Asuka yelled from behind them. They both turned around to see her jogging up to them. The American turned back around as Shinji just stared at her with a small blush. "What?" she asked innocently.
"Umm… nothing," her boyfriend stuttered as the three of them started toward the Eva cages again.
"Hey Asuka, what do you think about the plug suits?" Jason tossed over Shinji.
"I don't know. We don't really need them. Shinji here reached a four hundred synch ratio in his school uniform," she explained.
"Yeah, Shinji just told me that," he replied.
"Well if he already told you that then why did you ask me?" she asked a slightly mad tone on her voice.
"I just wanted your opinion, that's all," he stated calmly as they entered the cages.
"Oh, ok," she said at the three split up to get in there Evas.
Misato waited in the bridge for the three to get into their Evas and get ready for the tests. When they were ready Misato gave the order to start the tests. "Let's get this over with," she said in a low tone.
The techs started typing in the commands to start the tests. All three teens synched up, Asuka and Shinji having ninety-nine percent synch rates, while Jason held steady at ninety-eight percent.
"Ok, guys just sit in there for awhile while we check everything, kay?" she asked seemingly in a slightly better mood.
"Ight," the American replied in his native tongue.
"Ja," Asuka said copying Jason by using German.
"Alright," Shinji answered being the only one to reply in Japanese.
"You're a copy cat," Jason called out toward Unit 02 in German.
"No I'm not," Asuka called back in the same language.
As they continued to bicker back and forth Shinji sat in-between them, wondering. 'What in the world are they saying?'
"Alright, I think we all get the point that Asuka's a copy cat," Eliza said in a stern voice. Jason's mouth clamped shut when he heard her.
"Asuka…" her mother said quietly to her daughter.
'Yes, mama,' she replied to her mother happily.
"I think you've played with Jason enough. It's time to mess with Shinji," Kyoko suggested slyly.
'Hmm… good idea mama,' she replied a grin slowly taking form on her face. 'What do you have in mind?'
"Well… taking from your memories of last night," the older woman started, causing Asuka to blush furiously.
'Umm… I can explain,' she said to her mother hoping she wouldn't get mad.
"Don't worry about it Asuka. Your mother wasn't exactly a good girl when she was younger either," the soul said with a hint of humor. The German girl relaxed at the little tid bit of her mother's history. "Ok, so about this little plan of ours... Hmm…" Kyoko said going into deep thought, and Asuka mimicked her.
The abrupt quietness of his fellow pilots caught Shinji's attention. He looked in the video display of the louder of his two friends to see her with a small smirk and a look of deep thought. This expression scared him. Looking to his other friend he saw that he was focusing on talking with Eliza.
"Shinji..."
'Yeah, mom?' he said returning his attention back to his parents.
"Did you have fun last night?" she asked.
The Third Child froze. 'H-how did you know?' he questioned his thoughts showing his fear.
"Your father and I can look into your memories while you're synching with the Evas," she stated calmly.
'So umm… Are you mad at me?' he asked still scared.
"Actually we're both proud of you," she replied a little happier.
"Well your mother is proud of you. I think you should have just gone all the way," his father stated actually showing some emotion in his voice.
"What?" Yui yelled back at her husband.
(A/N: Ok, I don't know if she would still be married to him after all he's done, and the fact that she died, but I'm putting it that way regardless.)
On the bridge, Misato was watching the three teenagers. One of the other techs though wasn't required so she was on a short break. Using her terminal she hacked into a live TV feed, one of the news channels. She watched most of this with little interest, until they started to talk about the Evas. Thinking quickly she started to record everything from then on. As she watched the news channel showed footage of the last battle and the tests of the hyper-drives. The main question being asked was 'Who is the pilot of the silver Evangelion?' After a few more minutes the topic changed back to other unimportant news about a wife who attacked her husband for abusing their son.
"Vice-commander you might want to see this," the tech called to Misato.
"What is it?" she asked leaning over and looking at the techs terminal. The tech replayed what she just watched to her superior officer.
"Well… I'll be damned," she said standing up straight, looking at Jason's video feed.
Jason, feeling like he was being watched, looked up to see Misato looking through the comm. at him. "What?"
"Watch this," she said typing a few commands to send the video-feed to his Eva. As the American watched it his mouth curled up into a small smirk.
"So they want to know who I am do they?" he asked, his smile still present.
"What do you mean?" Asuka said wondering what he just watched.
"Yeah, what was that?" Ikari added.
"The news just ran a story on the Evas and asked what I'm guessing is everyone's question: Who's the pilot of Unit 04?" Misato explained.
"Oh," the other two pilots said.
"Hey, what about us? Why didn't they run stories on us, huh?" Asuka asked, jealousy rearing its ugly head.
"You guys are known about. Now everyone wants to know who the new guy is," Misato replied with a shrug. "You know how it works. When you first showed up at school everyone was all over you. What do you think it's gonna be like for Jason?"
"I guess, but…" the German said looking down.
"Hey, Asuka don't worry. You two will get plenty of attention if what Toji and Hikari tell me is true," Jason reassured her over the comm.
Shinji turned back to him, a questioning look shown on his face. "What have they told you?" he asked a slight edge on his voice.
"Well…" he began, pausing when he realized the edge on the younger males voice. "Those two told me that last year you guys were at each others throats all the time."
"Is that so?" Asuka asked rubbing her chin. "Well, Shinji…"
"Yeah, I know. We gotta give them a huge show then," he said both of them smiling evilly.
"Ok, I'm scared now," the oldest pilot said looking into both the video feeds.
"Don't worry it don't include you… well if you want we might be able to work you in," said the redheaded German.
"Oh man… what the hell have I gotten myself into?" he sighed in English.
Asuka started to laugh manically, and to everyone's surprise (and not that mild surprise I mean jaw dropping, making people crazy, surprise) Shinji joined her.
'Oh no, what have I done?!' Misato screamed in her head. Before she could continue though, several screens started to flash red.
"Alert, alert, unknown object approaching at fast velocity. I repeat…" an automated voice bellowed through out the NERV complex.
"What the hell is going on?" Misato yelled.
"A large unknown object is moving at high speeds toward Tokyo 3!" one of the techs called out.
"Give me a visual!" A video feed of a hunter green humanoid running at high speeds in the country. "That's an Eva!"
"We're receiving a transmission!" the tech paused to look back at her computer terminal. "Ma'am, it's from the Eva!" the tech yelled turning toward her as she practically ran up to her.
"Put it through, but watch for any kinds of hacking," she ordered as a man wearing a hunter green plug-suit appeared on the screen. His face was twisted in a maniacal smile.
"I'm guessing you're Misato Katsuragi," the man stated in English.
"Misato, that guy's talking in English. Patch me through to him!" Jason yelled. The visual appeared in his plug.
"So the little boy wants to talk to me, huh?" the man said with a sneer.
"Shut the fuck up and tell me what the hell it is that you want!" Jason replied his face already twisted in anger.
"Oh, little boy's got a temper," the man mocked.
"Alright fuck-face you're gonna get it now! Misato, send me up!" he called toward the bridge.
"Jason, I don't think that's a good idea," Misato said looking from him to the man.
"Misato, send me up!" he yelled again.
"No! Prepare Units 01 and 02 for launch," she ordered, looking back at Jason, who was glaring back. "Listen, I know you want to fight this guy, but you can't go out while you're pissed off. You should know better." The two of them kept staring at each other, Misato calmly gazing while Jason was glaring. After a moment he sat back and sighed.
"You're right."
Misato brightened up and smiled at him. "Don't worry, these two can take care of him," she added a thumbs up.
"Yeah…"
"Launch the Evas now!" she ordered.
"Oh, so the little boy isn't going to come play? That sucks," the man complained as the red and purple behemoths arrived at the surface. 'This fucks up the plans. Damn it!' "I guess I'll have to just beat the shit out of these two then," he said turning his mockery of an Eva toward Units 01 and 02.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Strange unknown place of weird origins
Several monoliths and two people watched the battle in frustration.
"Keal, you told us they would send out Unit 04 against him," said a monolith labeled 04 sternly.
"We do not forgive events such as this," 02 stated.
"Yes, I know. I expected Unit 04 to be used. I misjudged the Vice-Commander," a man half made of cybernetics replied.
"Sir, don't worry about the Fifth Child. I'll take care of him," the other person stated calmly.
"Ah yes. Gentlemen, let me introduce you to the agent we discussed earlier. She will be the one who will do the most damage against the Fifth Child. We won't need to worry about him after she gets done with him," said Keal, slowing moving his jaw to that of a smile. The agent left the room to take care of other business before she left.
The man and monoliths continued to converse on operations they had planned. Soon the topic rested on very important topic.
"Keal, when will they be done?" 08 demanded.
"Soon my friend, soon," the man returned.
"Are you sure that they will be strong enough?" 05 asked concern lacing his voice.
"Yes, they will do sufficient damage to NERV's Evangelions."
"Good," responded 06.
"Now men, I have some other business to attend to so I will bid you ado," Keal said standing up, his hologram disappearing.
"We now have to watch him like we watched Ikari. We won't be deceived again," 07 stated plainly.
"Yes, we put more power in Keal's hands than we put in Ikari's. We must watch him," 04 added. With that said all the monoliths vanished.
---------------------------------------------------------
NERV
Units 01 and 02 had easily knocked out the hunter green enemy. It now laid a few miles outside of town, missing some pieces here and there, well… ok it's not even recognizable as an Eva, but the pilot was still alive and was being held captive in the bowls of NERV.
Shinji and Asuka were changing back into the clothes they had arrived in earlier, while everyone else- including Jason- was waiting for them in the briefing room.
"Asuka, did you have to throw him? I mean we already ripped it to shreds but… damn…" Ikari stated as they walked down the hallway toward the briefing room.
She laughed a little before replying. "Remember the look on Jason's face, when I did?"
"Yeah," he started laughing. The two of them were laughing so hard they were both red as they entered the room mentioned twice already.
"What are you two laughing at?" came a low almost threatening question.
The two of them looked around for the source of the voice to find Jason looking right at them. They both found themselves shrinking a bit under his intense gaze. Asuka, being the fiery redheaded German girl she is, was the first to straighten up. "We were just laughing at a joke," she said as both Shinji and her found their seats.
Jason returned his gaze to Maya as she took her position at the head of the room.
"Ok, for starters, good job out there you two," she stated looking at the couple holding hands. They both nodded in thanks. "Also from what we got from the pilot, he was sent by SEELE. Something else we got from him is that they seem to be targeting Jason and Shinji. They're after all three of you, but Shinji and Jason are priority." Asuka was, for lack of a better word, pissed.
She immediately stood up and started throwing a fit. "What the fuck do you mean: they're mainly after Shinji and Jason? Why won't they come after me? What makes them so special?"
"Asuka, calm down. Listen, I said they're after all three of you but Shinji and Jason are priority. He couldn't tell us why they wanted them the most though. He said that the higher-ups wouldn't tell him. The weird thing was that he was more than willing to give us all this information," Maya called out trying to calm the infuriated girl. It worked… well kinda. The girl sat back down in her seat with a 'humph'. What Maya just said had Shinji freaked out, but it had Jason on the edge of his seat, wanting to hear more.
"Are you sure that's all the guy had to say?" the eldest teen asked excitedly.
"Sorry, but that's it. He said that's all he knew. It's seems they wanted us to get this information," she said going into thought for a moment.
"Yes, but why?" Commander Fuyutski asked looking thoughtful himself.
Everyone thought about this for a while before Misato decided to open her mouth. "Well, we can ask the MAGI about it," she started to say.
"Sorry Misato, that won't happen," Maya said quietly.
"Why not?" the purple haired vice-commander called back, surprised.
"Umm… all three of them shut themselves down. I can't get anything responses from any of them. It seems the Sensei's mother doesn't want to help us anymore. She's been fighting with me for a while, asking where Gendo was, and where her daughter was. She continued to fight me till right after Shinji and Asuka got back. She said she wouldn't start working again till either Dr. Akagi or Commander Ikari talked to her," Maya explained.
"You've got to be kidding me," Misato groaned. The pilots all looked at her like she was crazy. She turned to them with a slightly annoyed face. "Lately the MAGI have been developing a personality and actually arguing with us about doing its job. I guess it was Ritsuko's mom's persona that took over the MAGI," she explained as if she had done it one too many times.
"You're kidding me?" Jason replied, stunned.
"Nope."
"Hey," Asuka called out demanding attention. "What if we stick Shinji in his Eva and have him talk to the Commander about this? We might be able to figure a way to get past this," she continued, using her cunning deductive abilities she got from college.
"Maybe… Shinji, would you talk to your father about that?" Maya questioned.
"Sure… I'll go now," he replied standing. Asuka followed and they both exited the room heading down to Unit 01.
Everyone else started to make their way out too, Maya and Kinori exiting and immediately heading toward the command room. The commander also followed them. Jason was about to walk out when Misato stopped him.
"Jason, listen, I know you wanted to fight the guy, but as I said earlier you were in no condition to fight. You let the guy get to you."
Jason stared at the floor as she said this. "Misato, I know. I'm sorry I got so pissed and all, but the guy had and American accent. It really pissed me off that someone from my home country was fighting against me," he replied looking up at her.
"Oh… I didn't know. Just make sure that next time you don't let your emotions get the best of you," she stated giving him a caring look. "I might not be Jack or Alice, but if you need to talk to someone, I'm here," she continued.
A small smile found itself on Jason's face. "Thanks Misato."
"Let's get down to the command room. You might be able to help a bit," she said as they both left the room.
"What do you mean?"
"Can you type?"
"Yeah, but don't I need some kind of training to work with the MAGI?" he asked as they turned a corner.
"Normally, yes. But under the circumstances Maya might need and extra set of hands typing to get this done. We have to start up the Evas without the MAGI. That's not easily done," she explained.
"Oh… Yeah, I heard about the ninth angel, where the power was out and you guys had to activate the Evas manually. Wasn't that also the first time all three Evas were launched together to fight an angel?"
"Yes it was," she answered as they made their way into the command center. Asuka was already sitting at one terminal typing in commands.
"Jason, take the computer next to Asuka and follow my orders," Maya commanded as the room bustled with the sounds of everyone working.
"Ight," he replied in English as he made his way to the seat next to Asuka. "How's it goin' so far?" he asked as he sat down next to her.
"Actually, we're doin' ok so far. It's our job to take care of minor stuff. They don't want us to fry Shinji's brain," she said with a giggle. Both of them laughed a bit before Maya started barking out orders. Soon the room was filled with the sound out keys being hit and pressed over and over again. Misato was waiting a few minutes before bringing up Shinji's display.
"How're you doing in there, Shinji?" she asked as he finished synching.
"Everything's fine," he replied as he focused on talking with his parents. "Father, I have something to ask you."
"What is it?" came the nearly monotone response.
"Do you know who Naoko Akagi is?" Almost immediately after he asked that he could feel two emotions from Gendo and one from his mother. Surprisingly he felt fear and surprise from his father, but from his mother he felt nothing but rage.
"Mom, what's wrong?"
"Naoko was my biggest rival in Gehirn. She was always trying to get your father's attention away from me. If you didn't know, she was the one who rigged it for me to get sucked up into this monster," she spat out, the anger and hatred apparent on her voice.
"Father, did you know this?" Shinji asked horrified.
"No…" he replied staying quite for a moment. "She told me it was an accident," he started quietly. "When a familiar accident happened with Unit 02, I accepted what she said, but…" he paused again getting louder as he went on. "That little bitch! She used me, and she's the one to blame for me losing you!" he yelled apparently meaning Yui.
"Yep, that little bitch also pushed you away from your own son… and what do you mean she used you?" Yui asked a slight ping of wonder laced with more anger on her voice.
From the apparent silence Shinji knew his father did something bad. Deciding to save his father for now he spoke up. "Umm… sorry to interrupt you two, but Dr. Akagi's persona took over the MAGI and has shut itself down, saying that it will only comeback on if either her daughter, Ritsuko or you, father talk her out of it. She won't respond to Ms. Ibuki," Shinji explained quickly.
The flow of anger from his mother relaxed. His father was slightly relieved, but his attention was now on Shinji. "What do you mean by 'Dr. Akagi's persona is manifested in the MAGI'?"
"According to Maya and Misato, Dr. Akagi has complete control over the three MAGI supercomputers," he explained again.
"You mean she actually got those computers working? They're biological aren't they?" Yui asked slightly surprised.
"Yes, she did. They were in the final stages when the…" Gendo choked at the end, not able to finish.
"Oh…" she replied quietly.
"I'm sorry, but we need to know how to get her to start working with us again," Shinji interrupted also quietly.
"Right… I'm sorry, but there's no way to get to her unless either her daughter or I communicate with her. Since her daughter is dead, and I am without a body, there's nothing we can do. She's a biological computer who has the power of the three supercomputers. She'll be able to see any errors in who tries to communicate with her who isn't either me or Ritsuko Akagi," he explained calmly and almost coldly.
"Damn…" Shinji said looking down.
"What does this mean?" his mother asked.
"It means, that activating the Evangelions will take slightly longer, but judging whether or not something is Angel, or Evil, or whatever else may attack us, or what blood type it is will take much longer, along with the decision making, which will be left completely to the personnel," he explained, yet again almost coldly.
"Damn…" Yui and Shinji stated at the same time.
"Yes, so I'm sorry I can't help you out," the usually cold man apologized.
"It's alright, I think…" Shinji said looking away… well to the left of the plug. He turned to Misato who was looking at him through the comm. "He says there's nothin' he can do to help us."
"Damn..." Misato replied looking over to Maya. "Are you sure we can't do anything?"
"The MAGI aren't responding at all," she called back looking at the computer in front of her.
"Damn..." she said again as she turned back to Shinji, who was patiently waiting orders. "Come on back. Thanks for trying Shinji," she ordered with a small smile.
"Ok," he replied cutting off the comm.
In the command room the other two pilots started to make their way toward the locker room. The two made it there soon and entered. It took a minute before Jason realized that Asuka followed him into the boy's locker room.
"Asuka, what're you doin' in here?" he asked while Shinji was still in the shower.
"I figure I've already seen it so what's the difference?" she replied calmly.
"Do you want Misato to know you've seen him?"
She paused for a moment. "You got a point there." She then turned 180o and walked right back out of the changing rooms
After she left Shinji walked out of the showers. "Who else was in here?" He walked over to his locker and started to towel off.
"Asuka; she followed me in here. She used the excuse that she had already seen it so what made the difference." He turned toward a now blushing Japanese boy. "And that reminds me… If you don't mind me asking… What exactly happened last night?" Jason asked as he sat down, looking at Shinji.
"Umm… I don't know if I should tell you or not. Asuka might not like you knowing…" Shinji looked away from the older teen. Hearing a sigh from his comrade he panicked. "It's not like I don't trust you, but… Well… You know…"
"Yeah, I know… I was just wondering. Sorry for asking." There was a small uncomfortable silence.
"Jason, I want to ask you something. Have you had any 'experiences' with a girl?" Shinji had just finished dressing and was sitting next to Jason on the bench.
"Actually, no I haven't. Back at 'Pelier, they would joke around and would say that I would be a forty-year-old virgin," he said before laughing, Shinji joining him. After a bit they both calmed down. "I'm not saying I don't want any. Hell, I would love to have some 'experiences' with a girl… I'm just waiting for the right one," he continued.
"That's the way to go," the younger male replied as he stood up. "Asuka's probably waiting for us, so we better get out there," he continued as he walked toward the door. Both teens exited the locker room to an empty hallway. There was nobody in sight.
"You know, I figured Asuka would be right there," the American said pointing at a spot across the hallway, "waiting for us."
"That's what I thought," Shinji replied, as confused as Jason.
"Well we better go find her."
"Yeah, but where do we look first?"
"I'd say the bridge," Jason said looking down the hallway toward said bridge. "She's probably talking with Misato, or something."
"Yeah," Shinji replied as the two of them started down the hallway toward the command center.
When they made it there, sure enough, Asuka was talking with Misato, probably about the MAGI system.
"Oh, you two finally decided to show up," the confident redhead stated as she turned toward them.
The two boys joined the girls as Maya did. "Ok, I've got her to talk, but she won't allow us into anything anymore. We can't do anything. She's locked down almost everything, besides the doors and life support functions," she finished with a huff.
"What?!" Misato shrieked. "Are you saying that we can't even activate the Evas or anything?!"
"That's one part of it. She's seems really pissed. I tried to tell her that the Commander and her daughter were both dead, but she wouldn't listen."
"Umm… Can I try talking to her?" Shinji asked quietly.
"What did you say?" Maya asked. 'I must be going nuts. I swear I heard Shinji ask if he could help.'
"Uh… I asked if I could talk to her," he replied a little louder.
Asuka, Misato, and Jason were all staring at Shinji as he asked this. The two teens were mentally cheering, while Misato was dumbfounded… She's Misato, what did you expect?
"I guess it wouldn't hurt," Maya sighed. "Follow me." Shinji walked with Maya over to a terminal. Maya put in some commands and a kind of messaging program came up.
A/N: The conversation between Naoko and Shinji will be in script format.
Shinji: Hello.
MAGI: Who are you?
Shinji: I am Shinji Ikari, Gendo Ikari's son.
MAGI: You're that brat who was with us for Unit 01's test, aren't you?
Shinji: Yes, I am. And if you don't already know, I pilot Unit 01 now.
MAGI: Yes, I already know that. What do you want?
Shinji: Why are you locking everything down?
MAGI: You're not supposed to answer a question with a question.
Shinji: …
MAGI: Well to answer your question, I want to talk to your father.
Shinji: I'm sorry, but he can't tal
MAGI: Yeah, I've already heard it. "He's inside Evangelion Unit 01." There's no documentation that he's been sucked into Unit 01 like your mother wa
Shinji: Shut the fuck up! I know you programmed it to do that damn it! My mom and father are in Unit 01 and your daughter is dead! That's it!
MAGI: …
Shinji: Now unlock everything and start co-operating, or I'll take Unit 01's foot and smash the MAGI to bits!
MAGI: …
Shinji: Trust me. I'll fucking do it!
MAGI: Fine I'll co-operate.
Shinji: Thank you.
Shinji: bitch
A/N: That's the end of the script format.
Shinji stood up from the computer terminal and turned to Maya. "She's not going to give you any problems for a while. But if she does give you any problems tell me." He then left the room, heading out towards the Geo-Front.
--------------------------------------------------
A/N: Uh oh… Shinji's mad… Well I'm sorry this took so long. School's been busy, and man do I mean busy. I've had next to no time to write this. Anyway, I haven't had too many hits on my forum. If you guys would, please stop by there and at least tell me what you don't like about my story. It's called Frost's Icy Pad. All right, I'm gonna try to start workin' on the next chap so I'll see you guys then.
