Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from the fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.
Chapter Eleven
"And then I realized that the reason the Angel's core was standing up to the progressive knife was because the heat was distending the Angel's molecular structure!" Asuka bragged. "So I cut my coolant hoses, shoved it into the monster's mouth, and then was able to use the prog knife to kill the Angel!"
"Brilliant," Hikari said.
"Yeah, I guess it was," Asuka said, all but buffing her fingernails against the front of her dress.
"Then what happened?" Hikari asked.
Asuka's level of enthusiasm with the story visibly dropped a few notches. "Then my cables began to go and the D-type armor started to collapse under the pressure," she said. "I thought I was done for, but Shinji jumped in and grabbed me."
The Second Child quickly plowed ahead before Hikari could comment. "I'm sure Misato ordered him to save me. After all, it just makes sense that my survival and the survival of Unit Two would be high priorities, since I'm the top pilot and have the best EVA."
Hikari just nodded and held her peace. Ironically, Asuka's version of the battle included more of Shinji's heroics than Shinji's own telling of it. In his version, Unit One's jump into the lava was almost totally glossed over and he apparently did little more than throw his progressive knife down to her.
It was only when Rei told the story that Shinji sent Unit One plunging into the lava against Misato's orders and saved Asuka. And while the First Child hadn't actually been there, Hikari somehow suspected that Rei's story was the most accurate depiction of events.
"So, Shinji mentioned something about going to a hot springs resort afterwards," Hikari prompted.
"Yeah," Asuka said with a grin. "It was really nice. You wouldn't think a hot bath would be enjoyable after going magma diving, but it was great! Of course, after missing the trip to Okinawa, not to mention killing the Angel, I naturally deserved a little R and R."
Hikari just nodded, letting Asuka go on. She had a feeling that it would be better just to let the Second Child get all the EVA related news out of her system than to try and steer her to a different topic.
She had been surprised, to say the least, to discover that NERV had fought an Angel during the school trip. At first, Hikari had felt terrible about how the pilots had had to face the Angel without her because she felt the need for a vacation. Then she'd gotten the details of the engagement and realized she couldn't have done a thing even if she had stayed home, which had dispelled her guilt.
Spirit was not immune to lava, after all.
"So, how did you manage to remember your physics lessons in the middle of a battle?" Hikari asked.
Asuka flinched slightly before regaining her composure. "Oh, you know, it just came to me. I did graduate from college, after all," she said dismissively.
Somehow Hikari suspected that there was more to it than that, but she decided not to press.
Which was probably better for everyone concerned.
"So, I've heard that the Committee agreed to restore the auxiliary budget back to its former levels in the wake of the last battle," Kaji commented.
"Indeed," Gendo replied. "The old men had to be reminded of a fact that's been plain since the Fifth Angel: Spirit is incapable of defeating all of the Angels. Keeping NERV adequately funded is essential to the continued survival of the human species."
Kaji allowed a very small smirk to appear on his face. Gendo just stared back at him in way of reply.
The two men might have seemed like complete opposites, but there was one thing they had in common: they were both experts at hiding their emotions. At the moment, Kaji couldn't help but be somewhat intimidated by "the lair" but didn't show it. By the same token, Gendo was mildly annoyed that his cavernous office wasn't visibly throwing Kaji off balance but didn't show it.
A conversation between the two had almost as many subtexts as Gendo's meetings with the Human Instrumentality Committee.
"Yes, that young lady came from quite far out of left field," Kaji commented. "If I may be so bold, sir, I feel I should warn you that the Committee's patience is growing increasingly thin on that issue."
"The old men can moan and complain all they like," Gendo replied. "They will not be so quick to cut NERV's budget again, thanks to this reminder of Spirit's limitations."
"Hmm, yes," Kaji agreed. "Yet despite this, you seem to be awfully interested in neutralizing her."
It was an obvious attempt to get Gendo talking on the subject of the winged girl and they both knew it, but extreme subtlety wasn't really necessary. Kaji knew that Gendo was far too clever to be goaded into revealing information he wanted to keep to himself by a few well chosen words. If he wanted SEELE to know something he couldn't say in a more official setting, he would tell Kaji, with only a relatively minimal amount of the necessary dancing around the subject.
"Her interference has cost NERV valuable credibility and could easily prove disastrous," Gendo replied curtly.
In other words, you're not going to tell me why you're going after her so fiercely, Kaji thought. Well, Misato won't be pleased.
Not that Misato's request was the sole reason that he was seeing how talkative Gendo was feeling (though he had to admit that he really was very attached to his "family jewels").
No, he had his own reasons for interest in Spirit. Prior to her first very public appearance, Gendo had felt that he held all the cards. Oh, SEELE was working on changing that, to be sure, but there was little they could do that wouldn't ultimately be expected.
Then a massive wild card had entered in the form of the winged girl, and Gendo had started getting antsy, which interested Kaji.
Besides, the spy loved wild cards on principle. They kept the game interesting.
"Yes, I quite agree, we can't have a rogue running about," Kaji said, deciding he wasn't going to get anything of use from Gendo that day. "Good day, Commander."
Gendo didn't bother replying as Kaji left the huge office.
Several calm weeks passed, a sharp contrast to the turbulent period brought about by the last three Angels striking in fairly rapid succession.
At NERV, the repairs to Units One and Two were completed, though Unit Zero still lagged behind. The full armor replacement needed by the prototype Evangelion had been delayed twice already, but it was finally nearing operational status again.
For Hikari, things proceeded more or less normally. School proceeded in its regular way, nothing even the least bit out of the ordinary happening until the parent-teacher meetings drew near.
Hikari wasn't at all sure whether her father would be able to make the meeting, not with his increasingly erratic and demanding work schedule. She, like a lot of her classmates, had become what people were starting to refer to as "NERV orphans." It was a small issue, however, as Hikari wasn't among the students who were praying that their parents wouldn't be able to make the meeting.
Then, one bright and sunny day, Hikari again sensed the approach of an Angel.
The familiar feeling that one of the would-be destroyers of Tokyo-3 manifested itself near the end of the school day, and, as usual, Hikari had to struggle to avoid appearing as nervous as she felt.
At last, after an impossibly long last period, the final bell rang, releasing the students from another school day.
"Another after school harmonics test," Asuka grumbled as everyone headed out into the hallway. "I don't believe it. There's no need for even half as many tests as they do!"
"I guess they're just being careful," Hikari said, resisting the urge to go sprinting out of the classroom.
"Or paranoid," Asuka countered.
Hikari didn't reply , though she did make a mental note that the pilots would probably be in NERV already by the time the alert sounded. Whether or not that was a good thing, Hikari wasn't entirely sure, but she hoped it was.
Saying a quick good-bye to the pilots, she headed over to the elementary school to find Nozomi. Having a job to do as Spirit didn't change the fact that she still had responsibilities as Hikari, after all.
"Hey, nee-chan," Nozomi greeted as Hikari came into view.
"Hello, Nozomi-chan," Hikari said. "Let's go."
Nozomi arched an eyebrow, and after saying a quick good-bye to one of her friends, hurried off after Hikari.
"So what's wrong?" Nozomi asked softly, after they had walked far enough from the school to get away from the mass of students outside.
"What makes you think something's wrong?" Hikari replied.
"You haven't asked me how my day at school was, I can see that you're tense, and you're walking so quickly that I have to jog to keep up with you," Nozomi listed off without skipping a beat, apparently having expected the question.
Wincing slightly, Hikari slowed her pace, silently chastising herself for thinking she could fool Nozomi. Her act might have been good enough to keep her friends from noticing her nervousness, but her all too clever younger sister knew her far too well.
"Oh," was the only reply Hikari made.
"Yeah. So, what's up? Something happen at school? Boy problems? Or…" Nozomi's voice dropped to a whisper, "an Angel?"
"An Angel," Hikari whispered back. "I want to get you home before the sirens go off."
Nozomi's eyes widened, the girl seemingly caught between excitement and worry for her sister. "Do you think it'll happen soon?"
"Probably not before we can get home," Hikari answered. "It hasn't been that long since I sensed it, and they usually don't sound the alarm until a decent while after that."
Nozomi didn't need Hikari to explain who "they" were, and the two sisters walked in silence for a few blocks.
They were standing at a corner, waiting for the light to change when it happened. The stoplights abruptly went dead, and the cars in the street paused, their drivers confused and nervous.
Hikari blinked. "A power failure?" she muttered.
"Isn't that supposed to be impossible here?" Nozomi asked. "My teacher rambles all the time about how Tokyo-3 is this wonderful 'city of tomorrow.'"
She said the last bit in a very mocking sort of tone.
"I think you're right," Hikari said, vaguely recalling hearing something to that effect when their family had moved to Tokyo-3. "The lights didn't even flicker during that incredible electrical storm last month…"
"So what does this mean?" Nozomi asked.
"Trouble, I bet," Hikari sighed, then added in a whisper. "I don't think NERV can launch the Evangelions without power."
"Then let's run home," Nozomi said.
Hikari nodded, and the two broke into a sprint.
While the younger two Horaki sisters were running through the streets above ground, the EVA pilots were venturing into the labyrinthine bowels of Tokyo-3, hoping to make their way to NERV headquarters.
Whether or not they would actually succeed in this endeavor was anyone's guess, however. Asuka, the member of the trio who had been in Tokyo-3 the shortest period of time and thus was least familiar with the city, had more or less proclaimed herself leader of their little band. It was only because Rei had spoken up and corrected her that they'd managed to make it to access route seven, the first leg of their journey.
"Say, can I ask you something, Rei?" Asuka asked as they made their way through the dim tunnels.
"You just did," Rei pointed out in her usual flat voice.
Shinji was unable to hold back a tiny snicker at that and Asuka's eye twitched. The Second Child decided to let that one pass, though, having seen firsthand how literal Rei could when she went shopping with her.
I still can't believe she asked why she'd want to murder anyone when I told her she'd "knock 'em dead" with the swimsuit I picked out for her, Asuka thought.
"Why do you tolerate living in that run down apartment of yours?" Asuka asked.
"It was the living space I was assigned to by the Commander," Rei answered.
"I know that!" Asuka said impatiently. "But why do you put up with it? You're an EVA pilot, for god's sake! You could demand better living conditions!"
"What for?" Rei asked, looking genuinely curious.
"What for?" Asuka echoed, gaping. "So you won't have to live in a dangerous, broken down hell hole! That's what for!"
"I do not see the need to relocate," Rei said. "My current dwelling is sufficient for my needs, and Section Two provides adequate security."
Asuka's evaluation of the First Child shifted again with that statement. Before she'd thought that Rei was just weird. Now she realized that Ayanami was genuinely screwed up. Anyone who simply didn't get why an EVA pilot—someone who was responsible for saving the world—shouldn't get better living arrangements than a broken down dump had to be messed up. For that matter, so did anyone who thought that the gang of rent-a-cops collectively known as Section Two could provide adequate security for a steak at a vegetarians' convention.
Asuka wondered who was responsible for Rei's state of mind.
"Tell me, First, have you ever had any other guardian besides Commander Ikari?" Asuka asked.
"No," Rei answered.
"Asuka, I'm not sure this is the time for this," Shinji spoke up timidly.
"Oh, stuff it, Third," Asuka snapped. "What else are we supposed to do besides talk as we walk around in the dark?"
Shinji shut up.
"I don't suppose anything…traumatic ever happened during your early childhood?" Asuka probed.
Before or after my first incarnation died? Rei wondered but knew better than to even think about asking aloud.
"No," Rei answered.
"How often did you get to associate with other children during your early years?" Asuka asked.
"Not until I entered public school," Rei answered.
"And when was that?" Asuka asked.
"Approximately two years ago," Rei said.
She was kept away from other kids until she was 12, Asuka thought grimly. The lack of socialization, and being raised by Commander Iceblock…no wonder she's so screwed up.
The whole thing reeked of intentionally screwing up Rei, too. It couldn't just be incompetent parenting or laziness on Commander Ikari's part. After all, keeping a child away from all other children took considerable effort. One would have to home school the child in question, could never send to her day care, and would either have to deal with her constantly or find other adults without children who were willing to babysit. It would be quite a task, especially on top of running a place like NERV Central.
But what the hell was the Commander trying to achieve? Asuka wondered. Was he trying to mold Rei into…what? The perfect pilot?
She shook her head, rejecting the idea. Rei sat solidly at the bottom of the totem pole so far as piloting ability went, her sync ratio surpassed by even Shinji, the newcomer to EVA. The Commander would have had access to Asuka's progress reports with Unit Two while she was training at the Third Branch, and he would have known that any plans to shape Rei into the top pilot weren't succeeding.
So what had his aim been? What had he been trying to make Rei?
Asuka abruptly recalled footage of Operation Yashima that she'd seen while back in Germany. The way Unit Zero dove in front of the Angel's particle beam and had just stayed there, even as the shield gave out and the EVA's armor melted…it had struck her as equal parts incredible and horrifying.
The perfectly obedient pilot. That's what the Commander wanted to make Rei into…and it looks like he succeeded, too, Asuka thought grimly, feeling a swell of pity for the First Child. Thank Gott nobody manipulated my childhood.
Down in the Geofront, Gendo snickered softly for a moment, then frowned, wondering what had brought that on.
Kodama Horaki scowled as she regarded the lab equipment she'd spread out over the kitchen table, knowing much of it was utterly useless until the power back came on. Her homework was on the verge of overwhelming her, as it was wont to do despite how hard she worked, and she had planned on getting some of it done that afternoon. But she couldn't start most of it until the power came back on.
With a sigh, she took out one of her textbooks, deciding to work on an essay she had to do, even though it wasn't due for a while and she hated writing essays.
So she was confused but not exactly distressed when she was interrupted before she began, as Hikari burst into the kitchen. The middle Horaki sister was panting heavily as she walked in, carrying Nozomi on her back.
"How did you two get back here so quickly?" Kodama asked. "Your school didn't let out that long ago and the trains aren't running with the blackout."
"Ran," Hikari gasped out, crouching down so Nozomi could drop to the floor.
Kodama blinked. "The whole way?"
Hikari was too busy getting herself a glass of water to answer, so Nozomi did it for her. "Almost. We started running when the power went out. We were only a few blocks away from school at the time. But I got tired eventually, and she had to carry me," she explained, sounding sheepish as she added the last part.
"But why did you run?" Kodama asked.
"An Angel's coming," Hikari explained, placing her now empty drinking glass in the sink. "I had to get Nozomi home before I could go out as Spirit."
Kodama blinked, not sure whether she was more surprised at her sister's announcement or how quickly she'd apparently recovered from her exhaustion. She wondered if it was the superpowers or the fact that she was fourteen that allowed her to do that.
"…I see," Kodama got out.
"Take care of Nozomi," Hikari said. "You may have to evacuate. I'm not sure if the order will go out or not."
With that, Hikari rushed upstairs to change, carrying her school bag.
Once she was gone, Nozomi turned to her eldest sister. "So…how's your day going?"
Spirit soared through the skies over Tokyo-3, enjoying the feeling of freedom it always provided, despite the seriousness of the task before her. Flying was like a balm upon her soul, soothing all her anxieties. All her worries just seemed to evaporate when she flew.
…well, except for the ones caused by the enormous arachnid currently walking through Tokyo-3.
"That's the newest Angel?" she said to herself as it came into view. "Ew, gross!"
Spirit wasn't any more fond of bugs than most girls, and the Ninth Angel resembled nothing so much as a super-sized daddy long legs. Its four huge legs towered over most of the city's skyscrapers, but its central body was relatively small, not much larger than a pair of large trucks.
"At least its not hairy or anything," Spirit mused with a small shudder, hovering in place as she studied her foe.
The Angel did have a bunch of eyes, however. But those eyes weren't the kind you typically saw on insects. They were strange yellow and blue things that seemed to be all over its central body.
"No visible core," she observed. "Guess that means playing exterminator's going to be that much harder."
Spreading her wings as far as they would go with an audible snap, Spirit flew down toward the Angel, spreading her AT field. The Angel immediately ceased its casual advance toward NERV, its multitude of eyes turning in her direction.
Light began to form in Spirit's palm as she readied a cross blast, continuing her descent toward the Angel. I'll bet the core's inside its body. I'll just have to blast it to pieces.
Several of the Angel's eyes suddenly spewed out some kind of brown liquid, sending a spray of large globules of the stuff flying through the air at her! Spirit let out a cry of surprise and turned sharply to the left to try and avoid it.
She wasn't entirely successful, and a small amount of the stuff landed on her bare leg. Spirit let out a cry of pain as she felt the liquid start eating away at her flesh, but she refused to allow herself to lose control of her flight. Clenching her teeth against the agony, she ducked behind one of Tokyo-3's skyscrapers for cover and sat down on a convenient ledge to examine her wound.
A sizeable chunk of her right calf was missing, a thin trail of smoke rising from the wound as what was left of the acid continued to dissolve part of her body. The sight caused her to be seized by the need to get what remained of the horrid stuff off of her that instant, and she foolishly tried to wipe it off with her hand.
"Ow!" she groaned as the skin covering her fingers began to dissolve.
This was followed by a sudden urge to put her inflamed fingers in her mouth, but she clamped down hard on that reflex.
Fortunately, the acid had dissolved what parts of her it was going to, and her incredible healing ability kicked in the moment it had expended itself, erasing her wounds in mere seconds.
Okay, this situation is not good, she thought, getting to her feet.
Against all the previous Angels, she'd been able to use her speed and relatively tiny size to avoid their attacks with ease. But this Angel had neutralized that advantage; she couldn't dodge the hundreds of droplets of acid it could spray at her nearly as easily as she could avoid its siblings' attacks.
A sharp, acrid smell suddenly filled her nostrils and her eyes widened as she realized what it had to mean.
It's using its acid on the other side of this building!
She immediately took off again, flying around the side of her makeshift barrier to see that she had been correct. Most of the side of the building that had had to bear the Angel's assault looked melted from the abuse, and great clouds of chemical smoke were rising up into the air from it.
The instant it spied her, the Angel ceased its attack on the helpless skyscraper and fired off another blast of acid. Spirit was ready for it this time, however, and launched herself into a power dive. Not daring to fly directly at it, she followed a route that would take her within several hundred meters of one of the sides of it.
It was as quickly as she could possibly fly, and it was just a bit too fast for the Angel's acid spray to hit her. But if she slowed down even a little, the deadly liquid would no doubt get her. Fortunately, it didn't seem to be figuring out that it should aim for where she was going, rather than where she was.
Spirit was incredibly conscious of all the property damage the Angel was causing as it tried to hit her, creating a trail of acid right behind her, which promptly ate through metal, concrete, and glass with equal fervor.
Whew, if they ever figure out who I am and demand I pay for this, I'm sunk! She thought with a twitch of humor before turning her full attention to her foe.
Gotta time this just right…
The instant she was level with the Angel's central body, Spirit fired a cross blast right at it. The burst of light struck the Angel perfectly in its side, and the massive arachnid went staggering as a chunk of its body was vaporized by the energy attack. Its impossibly long legs went sliding, kicking craters into the sides of buildings and crushing cars as it tried frantically to regain its footing.
Spirit didn't bother to watch the effects of her attack. When she was only a handful of meters away from the pavement, she changed the position of her wings and abruptly shot upwards, all her momentum being converted into taking her skyward again.
It was a good thing, too, because the Angel resumed its attacks on her mere seconds later, shooting acid from its remaining eyes. With a sigh of frustration, Spirit took cover behind another building before gravity could slow her to the point that she became an easier target.
Just like I was afraid of. I can't destroy the thing with one hit, she thought.
She'd never managed to destroy an Angel's core with only one cross blast. It had always taken at least two. And she wasn't even sure where this Angel's core was exactly.
Hoping against hope that it didn't have the miraculous healing ability she and all the other Angels had had, Spirit lowered her AT field and carefully flew over to the side of the building, landing on a ledge where she could see the Angel from.
She was disappointed but unsurprised to see that the Angel was already regenerating the part of its body she'd blown away.
"Damn," Spirit cursed, wondering what she could do now.
Her musing were cut off by the distant screeching of tires, and she snapped her gaze downward just in time to see a car slamming into the Angel's AT field, the wall of orange light flashing for a second as the vehicle hit it. The Angel's eyes all shifted to look at the little metal nuisance, and Spirit groaned as she realized what she had to do.
She spread her AT field again, instantly regaining the Angel's attention and saving the people in the now ruined car from its wrath. Spirit let out a squeak and took to the skies once more, only mere centimeters ahead of the new spray of acid it shot out at her.
Damn, damn, damn! I guess the JSDF didn't manage to get out the word to everyone about evacuating with their little flyover, she thought, recalling the plane she'd spotted on her way to the battle that had been announcing the Angel's presence.
She dove behind another building, noting with annoyance that a drop of acid had landed on the heel of one of her shoes, eating away part of it.
Spirit didn't waste time observing the damage to her footwear for long, keenly aware of the fact that the driver of the car and any passengers he might have were undoubtedly still close enough to the Angel to be in serious danger.
She broke cover, firing another cross blast the moment she got a clear shot, but her target wasn't the Angel's central body this time; it was one of its legs. The energy blast sliced cleanly through the massive but fairly thin appendage, and what looked like more of that acid began to gush out of the severed limb. The Angel staggered, thrown badly off balance. Its aim had been thrown off as well, and the acid it had shot at her when she'd emerged again missed by a mile.
Seizing her chance, Spirit flew down toward the street, easily spotting two figures fleeing from the destroyed car as she did. Flying low, she seized them both by the collars and then took off away from the Angel, hearing both the people she'd rescue yell with surprise and fright as they were lifted off the ground.
"Gomen," Spirit said, "but I wasn't sure I had time to ask if you were afraid of flying."
"Hey! You're her! Spirit!" cried a young voice.
Spirit looked down at the two people she'd pulled out of the warzone, a man and a young girl, and for bizarre moment believed that she'd rescued Toji and Mariko Suzuhara again.
Then the moment passed. The man she was carrying had to be at least thirty, she realized, and while the girl was roughly the same age as Mari, her skin and hair were both several shades lighter than the Suzuhara girl's.
"Yes, that's me. You know, you really shouldn't be out right now. Forecast predicts Angels, with a 100 percent chance of acid rain. Bad weather for driving," Spirit quipped, flippant in a way Hikari could never be.
"I, uh, didn't know," the man replied sheepishly.
Spirit grinned. "I guess that's understandable, since the sirens never went off. I'm just glad I was here and you only lost your car."
"I-Indeed," the man stuttered, not quite able to believe what was happening. "Arigato."
"You're welcome!" the winged girl replied cheerfully.
Judging she was far enough away from the battle, Spirit put them down on the ground, waved jauntily, and then flew off toward the Angel again.
By the time she had rejoined the battle, the spider-like beast was standing steady on its feet again, all four of them. Spirit noted with some surprise that rather than regenerate the severed part of the injured leg, the Angel had grown a new one right next to the one she'd cut.
Before she had time to ponder this development, it noticed her and sent another barrage of acid her way. Spirit took cover behind another building.
I need to end this, now, Spirit thought. The evacuation obviously wasn't complete, and the longer this goes on, the better the chance of somebody getting killed. Plus, I'm getting really sick of that damn acid!
Deciding to try something, the winged girl brought her hands together, then invoked the feeling of power as strongly as she had when she did the double cross blast against the Seventh Angel. But a double cross blast wasn't what she was hoping for.
Light formed between her hands, and Spirit broke cover, flying directly at the Angel. As she'd expected, it immediately turned its multitude of eyes at her and spat more of its acid in her direction. The deadly liquid flew straight at her, but the winged heroine didn't alter her flight path.
"Take this!" Spirit roared, releasing the built up energy.
A blast that was like a cross blast but not like a cross blast erupted from her hands. The energy attack had a ring of energy around the top, and the arms which sprouted from it from it looked like blazing wings.
A certain NERV technician who enjoyed comic books too much would later christen the attack the "Halo Wave."
The blast vaporized the deadly acid that was heading for Spirit effortlessly, and then slammed into the Angel's central body. Two thirds of it simply ceased to exist, burned away by the sheer destructive power of the white inferno.
What remained of the Angel fell to the ground, its legs going limp and no longer holding it up. Spirit sighed with relief as she felt the tingling at the back of her mind that the Angels caused vanish.
"I guess that's another one down," she said, panting slightly as she hovered by the defeated Angel's corpse.
"We're going up again," Shinji noted as the pilots continued their trek through the tunnels. "Are you sure we're going the right way?"
"Of course I'm sure!" Asuka snapped irritably.
Shinji decided to refrain from pointing out that Asuka had been sure multiple times and had only succeeded in getting them lost and turned around each time.
The Second Child had vacillated strangely between taking Rei's advice one moment and then outright rejecting it the next because she was suddenly "sure" she knew where they were going. Her behavior puzzled Shinji, but that wasn't exactly a new thing.
"Ah," Asuka said, spying one of the armored access doors. "This has got to be the Geofront this time!"
She opened the lock and then kicked the door open…then nearly fell to the ground as she saw the massive form of the Ninth Angel.
"Take this!" a girl's voice cried.
Blinding white light filled the pilots' vision, and now Asuka did fall down, tumbling backwards, her legs kicking up into the air for a brief moment as she landed. She quickly regained her feet, blinking spots out of her dazzled eyes.
"I guess that's another one down," the same voice from before said, now full of weary triumph and relief.
Asuka stepped outside the tunnel, onto the street, and looked up. Her eyes widened when she saw the familiar winged girl hovering not far away.
"You!" the Second Child snarled.
Spirit actually flinched at the molten glare Asuka directed at her. The super heroine's mouth opened and closed several times before she seemed to give up on saying anything to the Second Child and flew off, soon disappearing from sight.
Asuka looked at the dead Angel for several seconds, never moving. Then she balled her hands into fists and began to visibly shake with rage.
"Asuka…" Shinji said, hoping to avert the inevitable explosion.
He gave up after that, though, realizing it was a lost cause. Though he would later tell himself it had just been his imagination playing tricks on him, at the moment, he swore that he could detect the scent of brimstone emanating from Asuka.
The Second Child drew in a deep breath. Shinji took a few steps back. Rei calmly covered her ears.
It was said that all of Tokyo-3 heard Asuka's scream that day.
"Where have you been?" Ritsuko demanded the instant she saw the pilots casually stroll into the command center. "There's an Angel out there! We've had Units One and Two ready for manual launch for over an hour!"
"There's no need to launch the EVA's," Shinji said, sounding weary.
"The Angel has already been destroyed," Rei agreed.
"What? How?" Ritsuko demanded.
"I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count," Asuka growled, crossing her arms.
Fuyutski sighed. "I suppose it's not much of a surprise that she beat us to this one," he grumbled. "After all, it's not like the blackout would inhibit her."
"Prepare to launch the EVA's!" Gendo commanded, shouting to make himself heard by the technical crews. He turned to the pilots. "We're moving out."
"What? But why?" Asuka asked. "We just told you that the Angel's dead!"
Shinji's eyes narrowed. "You're going to tell everyone that NERV killed this Angel, aren't you?" he asked. "But no one will buy it if the EVA's never leave their cages, so you're making us take them outside for the sake of appearances."
Gendo's eyebrows rose a few fractions of a centimeter, actually slightly impressed with his son for once. So, the boy does have a functioning brain. He can even use it when he stops focusing on his petty problems for two seconds.
"Correct," he replied, the look on his face daring Shinji to object.
The Third Child didn't rise to the challenge. Instead he sighed and headed for the locker rooms, so he could change into his plug suit. "Come on," he said to Asuka, "let's get this over with."
"This is so stupid," Asuka grumbled as she followed him.
"Sir," Rei said, turning to Gendo. "My EVA is still inoperable. What should I do?"
"You may go, Rei."
Rei nodded and left without another word.
"Ikari, do you really believe we can get away with this?" Fuyutski asked softly once all the pilots were gone.
"SEELE will undoubtedly find out somehow, but they will be able to prove nothing," Gendo replied. "The lower level personnel will be kept in the dark, and all we'll need to do is doctor the recordings taken by the devices within the plugs."
"That's a dangerous move, Ikari," Fuyutski cautioned.
Gendo pushed her glasses up his nose. "This entire game is dangerous, Sensei."
Author's notes: Much as I knew the Eighth Angel was going to be all NERV's as soon as I thought up this story, the Ninth Angel was always going to be all Spirit's. The massive amount of property damage, however, was something I honestly didn't see coming until I wrote this chapter. Oh well, Tokyo-3 recovered from worse in the series.
Dennisud, mathematically, there would be no more Spirits around. As noted in the prologue, the odds of someone being affected by the Angel DNA are about one in 500,000, and there's roughly that many people in Tokyo-3. Hikari was the only one affected.
NefCanuck, remember, this is set in NGE, and one of the major themes of the show was the breakdown of human communication. Since I'm trying to remain as faithful to the show as I can while still making it comic bookish, having Hikari simply telling Toji how she feels isn't an option. At least not without lots of needless angsting about it first.
Zoro, Hikari's understandably reluctant to become Spirit for anything short of an Angel attack, since she knows NERV is out to get her, so no running around Tokyo-3 at night fighting crime for her, unfortunately.
Ryousanki, I will neither confirm nor deny the fact that Silver Surfer Rei will make a cameo at some point in the future. :P
Bigdave, I did consider making this fic a Shinji/Hikari for a little while, but I ultimately decided against it. Hikari liked Toji in the show, and I'm trying to stay as loyal to the show as possible. Besides, I kind of doubt that anyone who liked Toji would become attracted to Shinji, who's almost Toji's polar opposite in many ways.
As always, thanks to all my readers and reviewers.
Omakes
Difference Between Dangerous and Stupid
"That's a dangerous move, Ikari," Fuyutski cautioned.
Gendo pushed her glasses up his nose. "This entire game is dangerous, Sensei."
Fuyutski watched as Gendo loaded a single bullet into a pistol and then pointed the gun at his own head.
"I realize that Russian Roulette is supposed to be dangerous, but don't you think that playing it with an automatic is a tad foolhardy?" Fuyutski asked.
Gendo just glared at him. Fuyutski sighed, wondering how he could best redecorate and rearrange Gendo's huge office to fit his needs.
Something's Not Right Here…
"Take that, you dastardly fiend!" Spirit shouted, slamming a fist into the NERV-bot with all her superhuman strength.
POW!
"Golly, you sure showed him!" commented her sidekick, Magical Girl Nozomi, as she watched the shattered robot fall to the ground.
"Unfortunately, some foes simply cannot be reasoned with," Spirit replied, dusting off her hands. "Now, come, Magical Girl Nozomi! We must make haste to Tokyo-3! I fear what's happened in our absence!"
"Right!"
The two heroines hurried onwards, not stopping until they'd reached the peak of the mountain and were granted a bird's eye view of Tokyo-3. Both gasped when they saw the city.
"Holy iceblock, Spirit!" Magical Girl Nozomi exclaimed. "The entire city's frozen!"
And indeed it was. At least a foot of clear ice covered everything within the valley where Tokyo-3 was situated. The entire city had been turned into a frozen hell despite the scorching heat that was usually present all year round.
Spirit clenched her fists. "No, Magical Girl Nozomi, not holy iceblock. Commander Iceblock! This is undoubtedly that villain's work!"
Magical Girl Nozomi grimaced. "Holy hostages, Spirit! Commander Iceblock's probably got Suzuhara-kun in there somewhere! We have to save him!"
"No," Spirit said, holding her sidekick back. "Not yet at any rate. Charging in there is exactly what Commander Iceblock wants us to do. We need to regroup and form a plan of attack! Quick! To the Spirit Sanctum!"
Hikari jerked awake suddenly, her brain apparently unable or unwilling to dream up the "Spirit Sanctum."
"Ugh," she groaned. "That was so weird! That's it! No more eating leftover pizza at midnight! And no more killing time at night by watching subtitled re-runs of the Adam West Batman series! Man, we get some really shows on TV here!"