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 Fifteen
While not what one would call a stick in the mud, Kodama Horaki really didn't have much of a sense of humor. If she was funny, it was more often than not unintentional, and it was quite a rare thing for her to burst out into laughter.
So the fact that she was all but rolling on the floor with uncontrollable giggles really said something.
"Okay, that's enough!" Hikari snapped at last, switching to full angry matron mode. "It's not that funny!"
"Oh, I think it's hilarious!" Kodama chuckled, though she was calming down, much to Hikari's relief. "You…you had to get Nozomi to spy for you…to find out that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach!"
With that, Kodama succumbed to a fresh gale of laughter, and Hikari gave her a deadly scowl. Even if Kodama had been able to see it through the tears of mirth in her eyes, the effect would have been ruined by Hikari's crimson cheeks.
"I didn't send her to spy for me!" Hikari protested. "She just did that on her own! In fact, I tried to stop her!"
In truth, though, Hikari was secretly quite grateful for the information Nozomi had skillfully extracted from Mari Suzuhara. She found the knowledge that no one ever really cooked for him to be very interesting indeed, even though she knew she didn't have the nerve to just hand him a bento box for no apparent reason one afternoon. Still, if an opportunity presented itself…
"The whole situation is just so…kawaii!" Kodama squealed. "My little sister Hikari is finally showing real interest in boys, and my little sister Nozomi is helping set her up! It's just so precious!"
"Enough!" Hikari barked. "I…I know where you sleep!"
The empty threat was almost enough to send Kodama into yet another laughing fit, but she suddenly remembered Hikari's inability to sleep for more than four hours a night.
Do not meddle in the affairs of insomniacs, she thought, recalling something she'd seen on a bumper sticker once. For they are cranky and can get you while you sleep.
That usually worked in her favor, but relative to Hikari, she was an easy sleeper.
Not that Kodama believed for a moment that Hikari would ever actually harm her in her sleep, but there were plenty of merely embarrassing things a revenge-minded person could do to a sleeping victim, after all.
"All right, all right, fine," Kodama said, holding her hands up in a placating gesture. "I'm going up to my room. Call me when it's time for dinner."
Still smirking, Kodama headed up the stairs.
"I guess I shouldn't have mentioned it to her, huh?" Nozomi asked with a slight grimace.
"No, you shouldn't have," Hikari said sternly. "In fact, you shouldn't have gone poking into my personal affairs like that at all."
Just because Nozomi had managed to glean some potentially useful information, it didn't mean that Hikari was about to encourage the little girl's meddling. After all, who knew what disaster could occur if she tried it again?
"Gomen," Nozomi said, looking sullen.
Hikari sighed. "I do appreciate the effort, Nozomi-chan, really I do. But it's just not your business."
Nozomi nodded, looking less snubbed. "So, what's for dinner, nee-chan?"
"Well, it doesn't look like Shinji's little brush with disaster the other day has done too much damage," Ritsuko commented. "His sync ratio has remained stable. Even with the marginal increases in Asuka's score, he's still on top."
Misato sighed as she looked out at the test plugs. "Hopefully it'll do something to help rebuild his confidence."
Ritsuko considered reminding Misato what had happened the last time Shinji had become confident but decided against it. The boy really was in a slump, after all; you only had to look at him to realize that. Besides, she doubted that the knowledge that he was still on top in the harmonics scores would do much for his mood, anyway.
Misato didn't seem to be expecting much either, judging by her obviously lack of enthusiasm as she opened up the channel to the Unit One test plug. "Hey, Shinji-kun."
"Hi, Misato," Shinji replied.
"Good news," she said with forced cheerfulness. "You're still number one!"
"Yatta," Shinji said, obviously not feeling it.
"All right, the test is over," Ritsuko put in, informing all three pilots. "You're free to go."
The test plugs opened and the Children exited and made their way to their locker rooms to change.
What is the good of being on top in the sync tests if I screw up in the real battles? Shinji wondered. Nothing. Asuka was right.
The news that Shinji still had the best score might not have done anything for the Third Child's mood, but it certainly had an effect on that of the Second Child. It served as one more thing fueling her current sour demeanor.
But really, everything about Shinji had been irritating Asuka lately. The fact that he still had the highest sync score was only a part of it. The way he'd been behaving like a kicked puppy for days, in what apparently only she could see was a pathetic means of getting people to feel sorry for him annoyed the hell out of her. The fact that he had allowed himself to become even more of a pushover than ever generated nothing but contempt in her. And that she still owed the idiot for what had happened back at Mount Asuma utterly infuriated her.
Everyone always coddles him, she thought bitterly. Even Hikari took his side. He was the one who acted like an idiot during the last engagement!
"Asuka?"
The Second Child started, jolted from her thoughts by the quiet voice. She turned to see Rei, who had already finished changing into her regular clothes, regarding her curiously.
"Are you all right?" Rei asked in her usual soft voice. "You have been standing there staring at your locker for several minutes now."
"I'm fine!" Asuka snapped, then checked herself. "Sorry. I have a lot on my mind right now."
Rei nodded. She could guess what had Asuka in such a bad mood, but after Hikari's failure to make the Second Child realize that she was partially responsible for Shinji's foolish actions, Rei had no desire to bring up the subject and possibly get Asuka angry at her as well. "If you are all right, I will take my leave then. Good day."
"Bye, Rei," Asuka said and turned back to the task of dressing.
Nozomi Horaki had a dilemma.
Somehow, her older sister, who could confront potentially world destroying monsters without blinking, was too timid to approach a boy she liked. Nozomi just knew that she could get the ball rolling between them, but her sister had quite specifically told her to butt out. Hence the problem.
Let's see, if I do something, nee-chan will get mad at me, but it'll help her get together with this guy and she'll be happy, Nozomi thought, trying to estimate how angry Hikari would get and if it was worth it for her to interfere. Did she really want to be that selfless? To do a kind act that she knew would be repaid with anger?
The idea that she might blunder somehow never once occurred to her.
At that very moment, Hikari came into the kitchen carrying a bento box, which she placed in the fridge.
"Don't feel like eating lunch today?" Nozomi questioned.
"This is an extra. Almost all the recipes I have serve four, and Dad forgot to take his…again," Hikari said, a note of exasperation in her voice. "Hopefully somebody will eat it at some point. I'd hate for it to go to waste."
Nozomi grinned as Hikari left.
Well, that's a sign from the kami if I ever saw one! Nozomi thought cheerfully as she took the bento and tucked it away safely in her school bag.
She somehow managed to not to start giggling as she and Hikari walked to school, instead keeping up the usual conversation between them. The moment they had parted ways at the school, Nozomi sought out Mari.
"Ohayo, Mari," Nozomi greeted her new friend cheerfully.
"Ohayo, Nozomi," Mari replied with a smile. "How are you?"
"I'm good, thanks," Nozomi said. "But I was wondering if you could do just a little favor for me?"
"What is it?" Mari asked.
Nozomi took out the bento box. "Give this to your brother and tell him it's from my sister Hikari."
A wicked grin sprouted on Mari's face, matching the one Nozomi was sporting exactly. "It would be my pleasure, Nozomi," she said, accepting the box.
NERV-02
Nevada, USA
"Today's the day that we finally remind the world that there are NERV branches outside of Japan," said Commander Summers, smiling as he pushed his red tinted glasses up his nose.
From her place behind him, a redheaded woman in a NERV uniform shook her head. "I still believe that we should do further testing before attempting to bring the Super Solenoid engine that Central obtained from the Fourth Angel online in Unit Four. We're playing with things we don't understand."
"You worry too much, Commander Grey," said a man in a white lab coat. "This test will go flawlessly. I guarantee it."
"With all due respect, Dr. Logan, I'm sure that a member of the Katsuragi Expedition said something similar before they poked the First Angel with a stick," Vice Commander Grey replied, narrowing her eyes.
Summers held up a hand to silence his two subordinates. "I admit that we've taken fewer precautions than I'd like, but the activation test must go on as planned," he said. "The Committee and the Security Council are both breathing down my neck, demanding results."
Not to mention all the harassing I get from Ikari about it, he added silently. Bastard thinks he's emperor of NERV or something.
"The experiment is scheduled to begin in two minutes," spoke Lieutenant Worthington, one of the Second Branch's bridge techs.
"Very well," said Summers, taking his seat. "Proceed."
"Rate of chemical reactions are increasing inside the S2 engine."
"Engine temperature is rising steadily, well within expected parameters."
"Bio-harmonics are nominal. Error margin is within 0.002."
Dr. Logan grinned confidently as he listened to the technicians spout techo-jargon as they gradually brought the S2 engine online, already picturing himself at the Nobel Prize presentation ceremony. Commander Summers just stared intently at the image of Unit Four on the main screen. The Vice Commander, a former scientist herself, glanced anxiously over Worthington's shoulder to look at his displays.
"The S2 engine should come on line in 3…2…" Worthington said.
Grey's eyes suddenly widened as she realized what had been niggling at her about this activation test for so long. "Abort the test!" she ordered. "Do it—!"
She was a second too late. The S2 engine embedded inside of Unit Four came online.
And then the world turned red.
Some of the escalators in the Geofront seemed like they went on forever, which usually annoyed Misato. At the moment, however, she was more than fine with this part of the base. It meant that Ritsuko couldn't really escape her as they rode down together, following a brief meeting concerning the bizarre disappearance of the Second Branch.
"So what about EVA Unit Three?" Misato asked.
"The First Branch was unaffected, so Unit Three is still intact," Ritsuko said. "The Americans are going to send it to us. I don't think they want it anymore."
"They insisted upon building Units Three and Four, but now they're dumping it on us? They've got a lot of nerve!" Misato said indignantly.
"After the tragedy that occurred today, I can't honestly blame them," Ritsuko said softly.
"Will you use the Dummy Plug for the activation test?" Misato asked.
"I'll decide soon," Ritsuko replied.
The two women fell silent after that. Once they finally reached the bottom of the escalator, Ritsuko gave Misato a polite bow before quickly walking off, looking to avoid further questions. Such dodges and escapes had become far too frequent for her ever since the Angels had returned.
With a sigh, she reached a pair of elevators and slid her ID card into the reader. Instantly, one of the elevator's doors opened and Ritsuko stepped inside, heading for Terminal Dogma, home to the darkest and most dangerous secrets within NERV.
After several minutes of descending down the incredibly long elevator shaft, Ritsuko finally came to her destination. It was an enormous room, which had only two rows of fairly small lights along the ceiling. They had slightly more effect than the glow of a cigarette would inside an empty and otherwise pitch dark warehouse.
Almost the moment she stepped out of the elevator car, Gendo Ikari emerged from the shadows like a wraith. "Dr. Akagi," he said in terse acknowledgement.
Ritsuko forced herself not to scowl too openly. Though there was no concrete proof of it, Gendo attributed Spirit's powers to the dumping of the EVA sedative and LCL mixture she had foolishly done. As the girl grew to be a greater and greater pain in NERV's side, Gendo's irritation with the Project-E chairperson had increased proportionately.
The worst part was that she really couldn't honestly disagree with his assessment that her blunder was far and away the most likely responsible for Spirit.
"This is a prototype Dummy Plug," Ritsuko said, gesturing to a red plug that was suspended from the ceiling by a pair of enormous clamps. "We've transferred what we could from Rei, but the human mind cannot be digitized. This is nothing but a fake that mimics the pilot's signal."
"It transmits a signal to EVA and tricks it into activating," Gendo said. "That's all that is necessary. Install the data into Units One and Two."
"Sir, there are still problems to be worked out," Ritsuko warned, afraid that he would activate the Dummy Plugs before they were ready and make her work look like a joke.
"Do it. It's sufficient," Gendo commanded in a voice that brooked no argument.
"Yes, sir," Ritsuko said.
Gendo gestured, and Ritsuko fell in step behind him as he headed for one of her least favorite parts of NERV: the upload room. Within it, Rei Ayanami floated in a tube of LCL that was connected to a large supercomputer core, which was similar to the MAGI in that it was capable of making imprints of a person's memory and personality.
"The UN is handling the transport of Unit Three," Gendo said to Ritsuko as he gazed up at the naked girl inside the tube. "It should arrive this weekend. I want you to handle the activation test."
"Yes, sir," Ritsuko said. "I'll handle the activation at the Matsushiro facility."
"And the test pilot?" Gendo asked.
"The Dummy Plug is still dangerous," Ritsuko said. "One of our pilot candidates will be…"
"Chosen as the Fourth," Gendo finished.
"Yes, sir," Ritsuko agreed. "There's one child whose core can be ready immediately."
"Then make it so," Gendo replied.
Ritsuko cleared her throat nervously. "Actually, sir, I think you need to know the candidate's identity," she said, handing Gendo a folder.
Most people wouldn't have detected the trace annoyance displayed in Gendo's movements, but Ritsuko knew the Commander better than anyone save Fuyutski. But irritated or not, he took the folder and looked inside.
"Him?!" Gendo exclaimed, showing greater surprise than he had in years.
"I'm afraid so, sir," Ritsuko said, trying not to cringe.
"Can't you get someone else to be the Fourth Child?" Gendo asked.
"Certainly, but selecting a different child would result in having to delay the activation test," Ritsuko said. "This boy is well suited for the personal data pattern that's currently loaded into Unit Three. We'd have to write a new RAM for a different pilot."
Gendo inhaled deeply through his nose, forcing his anger and frustration to subside. He could afford to show no weakness to SEELE, not after the Eleventh Angel had invaded headquarters. Not with Spirit still out of his grasp.
Perhaps this could even be fortuitous, he mused. He will refuse to act against Spirit, but so would most of the candidates, thanks to the popularity she has acquired. People will draw connections where none exist. It will be an excellent red herring to distract the spies SEELE has within NERV.
"Very well, you may appoint Suzuhara the Fourth," Gendo said at last.
Neither the scientist nor the commander noticed Rei's eyes shoot wide open before she caught herself and closed them again.
"Hey, class rep…Hikari-san," Toji said, approaching the pig-tailed girl as everyone was packing up to go home.
"Uh, what is it, Suzuhara?" Hikari asked, his use of her name causing her to forget everything else for the moment.
"I, uh, wanted to return this to you," he said, holding out an empty bento box, one which Hikari immediately recognized.
Nozomi! She thought, instantly figuring out how it had come to be in Toji's possession. I'll kill her! I specifically told her not to do this kind of thing!
"A-Arigato," Hikari said, taking the box.
"Um, I also wanted to thank you for lunch," Toji said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I usually buy food from the school store, so it was a real treat."
"You're welcome, Suzuhara," Hikari said, barely able to contain the sudden swell of excitement. She hesitated for a moment, then decided to plow forward. "You know, I often have extra food. There are a lot of recipes that serve four, but I only have three to cook for. If…if you'd like, I could bring you the extra. I wouldn't want it to go to waste, after all."
"That…uh, that would be great, Hikari-san," Toji said. "I'd be glad to help."
"All right," Hikari said with a smile.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, then," Toji said, bowing politely. "Sayonara."
Okay, so maybe I'll just maim Nozomi, she thought with a grin as she watched Toji leave the classroom, feeling thrilled that she had finally, finally managed to get his attention with something that Hikari did. After all, it wasn't Spirit who cooked.
The image of herself bustling about the kitchen in her costume and with her wings out suddenly appeared in her head, and Hikari almost laughed out loud at the idea.
Then she remembered what she'd been thinking before he had approached her and groaned. I forgot to tell him to take Rei's printouts to her!
She nearly ran after him to do just that, then decided against it, feeling an irrational fear that she would somehow ruin the progress she'd just made if she did. Besides, she hadn't really spoken to Rei in a while and she didn't have to walk Nozomi home, since her little sister was going to visit a friend after school.
I wonder if she planned that in order to be out of my reach when I found out what she'd done? Hikari mused. Probably.
With a sigh, Hikari picked up her bag and headed out of the classroom.
"So, what are you so busy with?" Misato asked as she leaned against Ritsuko's desk.
"I'm making the arrangements for the Unit Three activation test at Matsushiro," Ritsuko answered, idly wondering why Misato tended to hang out in her office. "We're going to conduct the test using the Fourth Child."
"The Fourth Child's been found?" Misato asked, immediately turning to look at the bottle blonde.
"Yesterday," Ritsuko said.
The Ops Director's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I haven't received a report from the Marduk Institute yet."
"The official documents will arrive tomorrow," Ritsuko answered evenly.
"Are you keeping secrets from me again?" Misato demanded.
Ritsuko didn't even bother denying the fact that she'd kept secrets from Misato before. "Of course not," she lied.
"Fine," Misato sighed. "So who is it?"
She looked over Ritsuko's shoulder at her computer screen, then recoiled in shock after she saw the name. "Him?! Are you serious?"
"There's no one else," Ritsuko answered.
"Oh, sure, and this has nothing to do with capturing Spirit, right?" Misato asked sarcastically. "Hasn't NERV screwed with that boy's life enough already?"
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," Ritsuko said.
Inwardly, the scientist sighed. How many lies had she managed to get her old friend to accept since the Angels had started coming? But now Misato would never believe that Suzuhara's selection had been coincidental, even though that was the truth. The irony might have even been funny under more auspicious circumstances.
"Of course not," Misato growled before she turned and left the scientist's office without so much as a good-bye.
There's not a chance in hell this isn't involved with Spirit somehow, Misato thought angrily as she stomped through the halls.
She knew there was no chance of Ritsuko telling her what was going on, which meant that she just had to hope that Kaji knew something.
"Rei?" Hikari called, knocking on the door to Ayanami's grungy apartment. "Are you home? It's me, Hikari."
She heard someone approaching and turned, seeing Rei drawing near. "Hello, Hikari," the blue haired girl said.
"I brought you your printouts," Hikari said, holding up the small stack of papers.
"Arigato," Rei said, accepting the papers. "Please, come in. There is something I must tell you."
Hikari nodded and Rei opened her door, gesturing for the class rep to enter.
The place was in somewhat better condition than Hikari remembered, though that wasn't saying terribly much. Garbage was no longer scattered on the floor, and the mailbox wasn't overflowing with neglected junk mail any longer. Rei had also tried to decorate the place a bit, but the way she'd done it would make people think she was schizophrenic. A picture of Mount Fuji was hung on one wall, and a Hello Kitty figurine stood on her bedside table. Her plain alarm clock had been replaced by one that looked like a Gundam, and a bright green bed skirt had been placed under her mattress.
Really, the only thing that looked like it belonged was the small trophy Rei had won at one of the school swim meets, which sat atop her dresser. Hikari realized she couldn't remember if she'd ever congratulated Rei on that win; her life had just become too crazy of late. Considering that she had been the one to encourage Rei to compete, Hikari fervently hoped she had.
"So, what did you want to tell me, Rei?" Hikari asked.
"NERV will soon be receiving Evangelion Unit Three from the United States," Rei said. "It has been decided that Toji Suzuhara will be named the pilot."
Hikari's eyes widened, the lingering joy and excitement from the events of earlier that day rapidly draining away and leaving her feeling cold. "W-Why?" she asked.
"He was the most suitable candidate," Rei answered. "As improbable as it may seem, his selection was coincidental. The Commander did not even wish for him to become the Fourth Child, but he had no choice."
"So it's not another trap?" Hikari asked, feeling her panic starting to ebb. "They're not going to put him in danger to try and get to me?"
"No," Rei answered.
"All right, good," Hikari said. "At least there's that. Thank you for telling me this, Rei."
"I thought you should know," Rei said.
She wondered if she should also tell Hikari that the Commander was spending a lot of time in the secret laboratories within Terminal Dogma and that nobody—not Fuyutski, not Akagi, nor she herself—knew the reason for it.
In the end, Rei opted not to mention it. She didn't know Commander Ikari's reasons for venturing down there so frequently, so telling Hikari about it would just serve to worry her.
"You'll look after him, won't you?" Hikari asked, pulling Rei from her thoughts.
Rei nodded. "As will you, I expect," she said with a tiny grin.
Hikari smiled. "Arigato, Rei," she said. "So, how have you been doing?"
"All right," Rei said, then glanced around her room. "However, my attempts at redecorating have failed to create the kind of…welcoming atmosphere I desired."
"Uh, Rei, did you just buy things randomly?" Hikari asked.
"Essentially," Rei confessed.
"That's part of your problem, I think," Hikari said. "This place doesn't feel…you. I doesn't really feel like anything because it's such a mishmash. Take the Hello Kitty and the Gundam clock. Do you like Hello Kitty or Gundam?"
"No," Rei said.
"And this bed skirt," Hikari added, touching it with her foot, failing to notice how Rei tensed when she drew near the space beneath her bed. "I don't think green is really your color, Rei."
"I do…prefer blue," Rei admitted.
"You should only have stuff that you like in your room, Rei," Hikari advised. "Things that have sentimental value, things that are useful, or just…things you think are cool."
"I see," Rei said. "I believe I understand better now. Thank you."
"Oh, it's no trouble at all," Hikari said. "Well, I have to get home and start dinner, so I'll see you at school tomorrow, all right?"
"One final thing," Rei said. "I wish to apologize. I should not have asked you to speak with Asuka in my place. You would not be estranged right now if I had done so instead."
Hikari shook her head and sighed. "Don't worry about it, Rei. I understand why you did it. It's probably better than having her mad at you, anyway. After all, I don't work with her."
Rei nodded. "I am glad you understand."
"What are you doing?" Misato demanded as she stormed into the small lounge full of vending machines.
Kaji immediately backed away from a very nervous looking Maya Ibuki, who mumbled something inaudible to Misato, clearly embarrassed. She quickly backed away from the scene and then seemingly disappeared a moment later, as if she could simply vanish from sight.
Not that the Major or the Special Inspector were paying her very much attention at the moment anyway, though.
"I'm not doing anything," Kaji answered with a smirk.
"Of course not," Misato scoffed. "Don't seduce the women around here, Kaji, especially not the innocent ones like Maya."
"You don't even want me to seduce you?" the spy asked, eyes twinkling with amusement.
"That depends on the answer you give me," Misato replied. "You know the secrets of the Marduk Institute, don't you?"
"What?" Kaji asked with a confused frown.
"Don't play dumb with me," Misato snapped. "I know you know more than you're letting on."
"I'm surprised that you're coming to me, Misato," Kaji commented.
"The Fourth Child was found," Misato said. "He's the same boy that NERV kidnapped and held hostage months ago to lure Spirit into a trap. There's no way this is a coincidence."
"Well, I don't know anything about that," Kaji said truthfully, "but I'll tell you one thing."
He stood and got very close to her, so that to anyone who got a quick glance at them, they would seem to be necking. "The Marduk Institute doesn't exist," he said softly. "It's NERV pulling the strings."
"NERV…in this case, that means Commander Ikari," Misato said. "Why am I not surprised?"
"Hey, Ikari!"
Shinji stiffened at the sound of the familiar voice as it rang across the schoolyard, demanding his attention. He briefly considered making a run for it. It was the end of the school day, after all, so he wouldn't even get in trouble for bolting. But then he realized that if Suzuhara really wanted another confrontation, he couldn't avoid it forever. Besides, the guy was a jock; he could doubtlessly run faster than Shinji.
Reluctantly, the Third Child turned to face the boy that he had been doing a very good job of avoiding until now.
"Hello, Suzuhara-san," Shinji said with a small bow, wondering what the guy could possibly want with him after so many months.
A small smirk appeared on the Osaka boy's face as he drew nearer. "Just Toji is fine, Ikari."
"Uh, sure, then you can call me Shinji," the Third Child said automatically.
Toji sighed. "Look, I want to apologize for the way I got into your face when you first came here," he said. "I was still shaken about what nearly happened to me and my sister, but there was no need for what I did. No harm, no foul and everything."
Shinji blinked, shocked that Toji would apologize to him after all this time. "Oh, that's all right. I'd almost forgotten about it, anyway," he lied.
Toji's eyes narrowed slightly. "You don't know yet, do you?"
"Know what?" Shinji asked, frowning in confusion.
"I'm the Fourth Child," Toji replied. "That's why I was called into the principal's office today."
Shinji's eyes widened. He'd heard about the disaster that had occurred at the Second Branch the previous day and that Unit Three was being shipped to Japan, but he'd had no idea that NERV had found the Fourth Child already, let alone that it was someone he knew.
"Yeah," Toji said. "I figured that I should try and get to know the other pilots, since I am going to be working with you guys soon. I am sorry about yelling at you before. I didn't just say that because I have to work with you now."
He left it unsaid that he had gone to Shinji first because the Third Child seemed by far the most approachable of the three other pilots to him.
"Oh, I didn't think that you were insincere or anything," Shinji quickly reassured the new pilot.
The son of Gendo Ikari he might be, but Shinji didn't automatically look for nefarious ulterior motives behind everyone's actions, just his father's.
Toji nodded. "Hey, Shinji, I have clean up duty today, but tomorrow me and Kensuke are planning to hit the arcade after school. You want in?"
"Huh? Oh…oh sure!" Shinji said, smiling for the first time since the nearly disastrous battle against the Twelfth Angel.
Toji grinned. "All right, I'll see you then, Shinji. Bye."
For the next few days, things proceeded smoothly. Shinji finally had some male friends, and Toji and Kensuke began joining him, Hikari, and Rei at lunch. This arrangement made it significantly easier for the class rep to give the jock the bento boxes she made for him. Hikari and Asuka even managed to patch up their friendship, albeit through an unspoken agreement not to bring up what had occurred during the battle against the Twelfth Angel.
However, the feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop was undeniable as the activation test drew nearer. And when the day finally arrived, Toji's absence in class was very conspicuous.
"Worried about Toji?" Shinji asked Hikari during lunch, once he somehow managed to grab a moment alone with her.
"Wh-What?" Hikari sputtered, before grimacing. "So you know?"
"It's pretty obvious. After all, you never made me lunch," Shinji observed with good humor. "I think the only one that hasn't caught on yet is Toji. Maybe Kensuke, too. I won't say anything if you don't want me to, though."
"Arigato," Hikari said. "And yes, I guess I am worried. After all, you've told me how Unit Zero went berserk during those tests, and how Unit One did the same during your first battle."
"I'm a little worried, too," Shinji confessed. "Toji's become a good friend. But everything should be fine. Unit Three is a production model like Asuka's Unit Two, and Unit Two has never gone berserk."
Hikari nodded, grateful for the words of reassurance. "You know, Shinji, you've changed a lot from when I first met you," she commented.
"I have?" he asked.
"Yeah. I guess you're just not as deeply in your shell anymore," Hikari said. "It's a good change."
"A-Arigato," Shinji said, blushing slightly.
Hikari was about to say something else, but she was cut off by a familiar and extremely unwelcome tingling in the back of her mind.
Oh no! Not now! She thought, feeling as though her blood had changed into ice water in her veins.
She just knew that it was no coincidence that an Angel appeared during the activation test. Toji was in danger, of that she was sure.
"Are you all right, Hikari?" Shinji asked with a concerned frown. "You look a little pale all of sudden."
"I feel fine, Shinji," she lied.
It took forever for the pilots' cell phones to ring.
"The target is approaching Mount Nobe," Aoba reported, cutting into the tense silence in the command center. "It should enter visual range in ten seconds."
The assembled group of officers and technicians watched the main screen anxiously as the form of humanity's new enemy slowly emerged from behind the mountain. They all gasped in surprise as the form of Evangelion Unit Three came into view.
Well, almost all of them.
"It is as we feared," Gendo said softly. Then, in a louder voice, added, "Eject the entry plug and send the termination codes."
"Roger!" the three top technicians replied crisply, getting to work.
A series of small, carefully placed charges detonated and blew off the section of the armor that covered the entry plug. Small jets inside the plug fired, trying to send it flying out of the EVA, but a web of purplish gray goo kept it from moving more than a few meters upwards before slowly sinking back into place.
The EVA itself didn't even appear to notice that NERV had done anything. It continued to clomp forwards, seemingly as inexorable as death itself.
"Sir, we can't eject the plug, and the termination codes are being rejected," Maya reported, a distinct note of fear present in her voice.
"Then we must accept the loss of Evangelion Unit Three and its pilot," Gendo said. "Designate the EVA the Thirteenth Angel."
"B-But, sir…" Makoto protested weakly.
"Do it," Gendo hissed, ignoring the appalled looks he was getting from nearly everyone present.
"Yes, sir," Makoto said, performing the necessary change. Suddenly, he noticed something flashing on his display. "Sir! Red/blue pattern detected! Heading for the target!"
The sense of relief on the bridge was almost palpable. Surely, everyone thought, Spirit could rescue the pilot of Unit Three; the quick, relatively tiny heroine would have little difficultly getting to the entry plug and freeing Suzuhara.
It sickened Gendo. Both the adulation that the meddlesome brat received and that his subordinates would be so stupid as to believe that the Thirteenth Angel would surrender its hostage so easily.
"All EVA Units are to hold back until I give the order," he commanded.
"WHAT?!" Asuka shrieked loudly enough that everyone in the command center winced.
"This is an order," Gendo said coldly. "Disobey and I will find a new pilot for Unit Two."
The Second Child immediately fell silent.
"Ikari, what are you doing?" Fuyutski whispered. "We can't allow the girl to steal another victory from us. SEELE is already—"
"The odds of Spirit successfully rescuing the pilot are virtually nil," Gendo said confidently. "She will either be killed trying to rescue the Fourth Child or destroy both the Angel and the pilot. If it's the former, we'll be rid of her interference at last. If it's the latter, her reputation will take a huge hit, and we will have little difficulty convincing everyone, including the old men, that only we can and should handle the Angels."
"You're playing a dangerous game, Ikari," Fuyutski cautioned.
"I have been doing so for over fourteen years, Sensei," Gendo replied coolly.
"That's the Angel?!" Spirit exclaimed, looking in horror at the dark form of Evangelion Unit Three.
With what she had been told the Eleventh Angel had been like, she supposed it shouldn't have been an enormous surprise that an Angel could possess an Evangelion. Still, it frightened her on a visceral level that the Angels could turn something that humanity had made to protect themselves against them.
And that wasn't even mentioning the fear she felt for Toji, whom she had little doubt was still trapped inside.
"Okay, you monster, now you've gone way too far," she said, a dark scowl forming on her face. "First I'm going to rescue Toji, then I'm going to blow you to pieces!"
With that vow, she flew straight toward the Angel as fast her wings would take her.
At least since this thing is mostly still an EVA, I know what it's capable of, Spirit thought as she closed the distance between herself and her enemy.
As though punishing her for tempting fate, the Angel abruptly lashed out at her, its arm elongating impossibly to allow it to hit her from what would be far outside of the range of a normal Evangelion. The monster's armored palm struck her, the force of the blow easily breaking bones and crumpling her wings like they were made from tin foil. Spirit screamed in agony as she went spiraling downwards.
She landed in a thickly forested area, where several tree branches "cushioned" her fall, slowing her down to a less bone-shattering velocity before she hit the hard ground.
They always have to have some nasty surprise up their sleeves, don't they? Spirit thought as her body began to rapidly repair itself.
The Thirteenth Angel threw back its head and roared, a horrible, unnatural sound that sent a chill up and down her spine. Then, it charged, rounding on its prey. Spirit looked up, seeing the bottom of its enormous, armored foot hovering over her, ready to crush her like an insect.
She struggled to move, but her body was still too battered. Not even she could shrug off the blow she'd taken so quickly.
Damn it! Not like this! Spirit thought, staring up in horror, nothing else seeming to exist besides the massive foot that would be her doom.
The massive form of Unit One suddenly slammed into the rogue Evangelion, tackling it to the ground with enough force to shake the earth beneath Spirit, but keeping it from crushing her into paste and feathers.
"Shinji?" Spirit wondered, managing to slowly sit up as her injuries healed.
The two huge war machines were grappling furiously as they rolled around on the ground, crushing great patches of woodlands into splinters beneath their massive weight without either even noticing it.
Spirit was finally able to get back on her feet and then into the air again, flying high above the black and purple titans. Even if Toji wasn't inside Unit Three, she couldn't fire a cross blast without the risk of hitting Unit One. And she had no chance of getting to Toji's entry plug as the two Evangelions rolled around.
Getting on top, the Angel managed to pull one of its arms free, and it slammed its fist into Unit One's head section. Unit One's grip on the Angel's other limbs loosened, and the dark EVA leapt to its feet.
White light immediately formed in Spirit's palm, but she checked herself before letting a cross blast fly.
Toji…
She could kill him if she attacked the Angel, but if she didn't, the Angel might kill Shinji, and Toji could still die.
What do I do? She wondered in dismay.
The Angel's arms shot out, stretching again as its fists sailed downward, straight toward Unit One's head.
Unit One rolled out of the way and then leapt back to its feet. The Evangelion test type leapt at the Angel, throwing its arms around it and squeezing it in a bear hug. The Angel snarled and roared furiously as it struggled against the purple EVA's hold, practically nose-to-nose with Unit One.
"Spirit!" Shinji yelled over EVA's external speakers. "I'll hold it! Get the pilot out!"
"Right!" she called back, even though she knew Shinji probably couldn't her.
Spirit flew around to Unit Three's back, easily finding the place where the armor was missing and spotting the entry plug.
"Eww," she groaned as she landed on the EVA's back, seeing the web of gunk that trapped the entry plug. "What is this stuff?"
The Angel didn't bother to explain, so Spirit grabbed a strand of the ooze that was right above the plug, intending to break it. She pulled…and found that the stuff would just not give. She might as well try to rip a steel chain in two while she was in her human form.
Scowling, she decided to try to crack open the plug and pull Toji out through the gaps in the web of gray stuff. Unfortunately, she found that her hands were now firmly stuck to the string of gunk. She looked down at it in annoyance, then her eyes widened when she saw that the stuff was growing, spreading itself around her hands!
"What the hell?!" she exclaimed, pulling frantically as the ooze continued to spread.
She instinctively tried to take a step back, only to find that more of it had grown onto her feet and trapped her legs as well. Spirit lost her balance, wobbled for a few seconds, and then fell down on her face, sprawled out over the top of the plug.
The gray gunk practically pounced on her, spreading with terrifying speed over her body.
"No!" Spirit shrieked, flapping her wings as hard as she could in an attempt to escape.
It was no good. She couldn't pull herself out, and the stuff had soon spread to her wings as well, pinning them down with the rest of her.
The only thing she hadn't tried was a cross-blast, but the palms of her hands were pressed against the top of the plug. If she used one of her energy attacks, the blast would go straight into the plug and utterly annihilate Toji.
Can't do that, then, was her final thought before the ooze covered her face and the world went black.
Author's Notes: The end.
…Okay, no, I think you'll all agree that would be about the worst ending ever. But how will our intrepid young heroine escape from this? Will the three stooges be reduced to two so soon after finally becoming friends? You'll just have to wait until next chapter to find out.
I'll try and have it out soon. I'm well aware of how evil I'm being, but I just couldn't resist and this felt like a good point to end the chapter.
Anyway, I'm sure a few of you are wondering why Toji climbed into Unit Three even though Mari is uninjured. His motivations will be explained next chapter, but for now, I'd just like to point out that Toji didn't get a front row seat to watch Shinji freak out and then break down against the Fourth Angel like he was in the series. The Toji in this story doesn't understand what it means to be an EVA pilot nearly as well as the one in the series did. Hence, it wouldn't take as much to get him to pilot.
Also, I hope I didn't disappoint anybody with Nozomi's bits. I kind of got the impression that some of you were expecting something more elaborate from her, but I had never really planned for that.
By the way, did any of the Marvel Comics fans reading this notice the little Easter egg I put in this chapter? If so, how long did it take you to notice?
Ryousanki, indeed there was a pattern going on for a while, but, as you can see, it was finally broken here.
Quatermass, dare I ask what your bizarre idea is?
Konous the grey, sadly, losing the part where Unit One goes berserk and bursts out of the Twelfth Angel was a necessary evil. I agree it was an extremely cool scene, but Unit One only goes berserk in order to allow Shinji to escape from otherwise Certain Doom™. With Spirit preventing it from coming to that, Yui keeps quiet.
Kenzie, I happen to like Asuka, too, in spite of all her flaws. However, I've found that it is very hard to plausibly prevent or halt her downward spiral (and the accompanying increased bitchiness) without some massive alterations to the plot, especially if she's not the main character and the fic isn't Shinji/Asuka.
Omakes
Must've Taken a Wrong Turn
In a large penthouse that contained more cats than Ritsuko Akagi's apartment, a tall man got dressed for the night ahead of him. His attire consisted of a dark suit, red tie, a fedora…and a domino mask.
"My city screams," he said as he exited through his window and began to jump from rooftop to rooftop.
"She is my mother," he continued, "she is my lover…and I am—"
"Seriously in the wrong place!"
"Blah!" the man exclaimed, stopping short before he ran into the winged girl that had abruptly appeared in front of him. "Who're you?"
"I'm Spirit," the girl said indignantly, placing her hands on her hips. "And like I said, you're really in the wrong place."
"What? No, I'm not," the man protested. "Look, I know this isn't Central City, but the title of this thing—"
"Is 'Superwomen of Eva: Spirit'!" the winged girl snapped. "I can understand the mix up, but you really don't belong here."
"Oh," the man said, looking crestfallen. "Hey, I don't suppose…"
"No way," Spirit said flatly. "You're an actual comic book hero, and you have a movie coming out soon. I'm a supporting character from an anime that was made in the 90's! This might be the longest Hikari-centric fanfic ever that doesn't involve me having sex with Shinji Ikari, so there's no way I'm letting you horn in on the action! Now shoo!"
"Meanie," the man grumbled petulantly before disappearing into the night.
(A/N: Not being Will Eisner, I don't own The Spirit.)
Can You Guess?
The Thunderwing streaked through the sky as Spirit and Magical Girl Nozomi raced toward Commander Iceblock's fortress to rescue Toji Suzuhara.
One might wonder why a heroine that could fly would use an aircraft. The answer was that the jet could make more of an entrance than Spirit and Magical Girl Nozomi alone could.
Unfortunately, this was usually a double edged sword.
"MGN, slow down!" Spirit screamed as the Thunderwing careened toward the ice fortress.
"I can't!" Magical Girl Nozomi screamed as she desperately pulled on the flight stick.
The mighty aircraft crashed straight through the wall of Commander Iceblock's imposing fortress. Moments later, Spirit and Magical Girl Nozomi came stumbling out, both of them wobbling on their feet.
"You know, MGN, you really need to work on your landings," Spirit slurred.
"Sure thing, S," Magical Girl Nozomi agreed while she watched all the pretty stars.
"Well, that's one way to present yourselves."
Both girls immediately cleared away the cobwebs and turned to look at Commander Iceblock. Magical Girl Nozomi growled softly as she glared at the master of all things cold and bastardly.
Spirit threw a small canister to the ground, creating a burst of white smoke. "I am the Spirit that flaps—!"
"I know who you are!" Commander Iceblock snapped, firing one of his deadly freeze beams from his hand.
"Blah!" Spirit exclaimed, then laughed when she dodged it. "Ha! Your devious and diabolical designs will always be defeated by our daring duo!"
"Yeah!" Magical Girl Nozomi exclaimed.
Commander Iceblock just shot another freeze beam, which Spirit deftly avoided. Spirit responded by pulling a strange looking gun out of seemingly nowhere.
"Suck gas, evil doer!" she shouted, pulling the trigger.
Hikari suddenly jolted awake. "Again?" she groaned. "Okay, no more watching Darkwing Duck at night, either. In fact, no more weird Western superhero shows at all!"