Yann-kun: Great, now we are as far as we were before…

Kenuyasha: Why didn't you stop him?

Yann-kun puzzled: Hey, why me?

Kenuyasha: You are his best friend, aren't you?

Yann-kun: Does 'being best friend' include 'stopping from harm himself'?

Kenuyasha: Yes, it does.

Yann-kun slowly: Okay, I'll remember for the next time.

Kenuyasha: Now what?

Yann-kun: I can read his mind... go on, type what I say!

Yann-kun begins to mumble some gobbledegook.

Kenuyasha typing: Okay... We owe nothing, not Evangelion, not Gainaxx and not -CENSORED- ... "this" is in speech and 'this' in thought; -:this:- is some doing while having a call; --this-- is some seamless doing in a sentence (or something like that...) ...

Chapter thirteen: Who Is The Bad One?

In the depths of NERV HQs Garages, there she was: Asuka Sohryu Langley, the second Children and designated pilot of the Evangelion Unit 02. Triumphant she posed herself, grinning satisfied.

"We will be right there --breaking the call-- um... Asuka? Are you done here?" Misato asked unsure.

"Yep... I came, I saw, I am done."

"Okay guys, pick this thing that once was Toji Suzuhara up and get your rears going. We are still under attack!"

Shinji and Kensuke had pitiful expressions as they picked up her friend, carrying him on their shoulders.

"Hey Shinji, the doctors at NERV, they can get him fixed, right?"

"Usually I'd say 'yes', but in Toji's case… I am not sure. I mean, treating wounds an angel caused is easy, wounds caused by a demon are another case..." Shinji said that last part silently; he didn't want to burden Kensuke with his own body as well.

"Did you say something, SHINJI?" Asuka asked from the front, her expression showing a lot of suspicion.

"Me? Oh, just how great you look today." He said with the fakest grin a human has ever seen.

Asuka glanced into his eyes, distrust written all over her face.

'I should have known... why did I open my mouth in the first place?' Shinji thought still fake-smiling.

'Should I stop Asuka? After all, we need Shinji for that angel... but I value my life... damn... BEER!'

'Not another comrade... please god, don't let him die...'

'I am on the tropical beach! I am only watching, not interfering...'

"OF COURSE I AM BEAUTIFUL! --common relieved exhaling-- I am ALWAYS beautiful..." Asuka spoke out loud before she moved on.

'I thought I was gonna die...'

"Keep on moving, we are here for work, not for dumb standing!" the major said, mostly referring to Asuka.

"...said the beer woman..." Asuka stated with disrespect.

"Wanna pick up a fight?" Misato yelled challenging.

"Say goodbye to your life, old woman!" Asuka said before darting at Misato.

"Another catfight..." Rei said shaking her head barely as both women began to fight each other.

--- HQ, Command Centre ---

"Um... procedures force me to say it... so... --inhales and summons courage-- ETA 18 minutes!"

"DAMN, I wrote most of those procedures myself, so SHUT UP or I swear, you won't receive any payment this year!" Ritsuko yelled annoyed.

"Sempai, major Katsuragi just called. She is already here, somewhere in the garages, she'll be up here in five minutes. The pilots are with her!" Maya said to save Shigeru's ass.

"About time she got her drunken butt here. Prepare all Evangelion Units for combat!"

"Hai... most preparations were done already, Plugs are ready, Medical Teams on Standby, NATO Troops in position."

"What do they want anyway? They can't do a single thing against an angel..."

"Just let them be..." Misato said as she arrived.

"Hell that was fast...!" Ritsuko said surprised.

"Status?" Misato asked and took a look at the main screen.

Shigeru, realizing that this would be his one chance to express himself, spoke first.

"ETA, 17 minutes!" he said proudly.

'DIE A PAINFUL DEATH!" Ritsuko thought with a twitching eye.

Shigeru suddenly felt very uncomfortable, as if someone wished him a very painful death.

"What do we know about the angel?"

"Still under water, we actually know nothing but the speed."

"Great, how are the pilots doing?"

-- HQ, Entrance 23 Beta --

"Listen dude, we were ORDERED here, so better let us pass or I'll use my influence so you'll be guarding some icebergs in Antarctica tomorrow!"

"You don't have clearance... I can't let you through!" The guard said calmly.

"Hmm... say, d'you smoke?"

"Yeah, why?" The guard answered unknowingly.

The grin on Bob's face was wider than usual. Al only shook his head

----- HQ, Entry Plugs -----

"Okay, I am armed and dangerous, don't cross my way!"

"Actually a good suggestion..." Shinji said bored, feeling a lot safer now that he sat in his EVA.

…­­

"Oh... are we gaining some balls? Or is it just the EVA protection?" Asuka asked with an evil grin.

"What do you think of me? That I am a bloody coward who only can stand his ground when he is protected by many tons of steel?"

Silence...

"Actually, I do!" Asuka stated flatly.

Shinji let his head sank and sighed aloud.

"Thanks a lot..."

"Are you all ready?" Misato asked over the intercom in her commanding voice.

"Actually... can I go home, take a nap, eat something, and... sleep even more?" Shinji asked with a trace of hope.

"Shinji... The health and well-being of our pilots has highest priority! Of course you are allowed to go home, take your nap and eat something!" Misato said honestly in a mother-like voice.

"Really?" All pilots asked surprised in union.

"Of course ... after you killed the angel, got checked by the doctors, went to debriefing and fuelled my car, you are free to go home, take your nap and eat whatever you consider edible!"

"I should have known..." Shinji sighed into his plug.

"Ready or not... commence mission. Evangelion Units zero, one and two, lift off!"

There it was again, that feeling Shinji didn't like at all. This acceleration which pushed him into his seat so hard, resulting this weird, tickling feeling between his belly and something below.

With a shock, he was at the surface again. The clouds were still thick and dark grey over the city, yet it wasn't raining. The streets were wet, partly the hail didn't melt.

"Proceed to the harbour, the angel will arrive somewhere between dock 15 and 25."

"Let me through, I will finish this at once!" Asuka promised with a glare of insanity in her eyes.

'I remember the last time I fought with her at the harbour... we got our asses kicked... oh please dear lord... not those dance lessons again...' Someone, whose name we will not be mentioned here, thought pessimistic.

The walk to the harbour felt like an eternity. Somehow, Shinji knew that something bad, real bad was about to happen.

----- NERV HQ, Corridor 24B East ------

"You think it was clever to drug the guard down?"

"He was in my way. No one will stop me!"

"Bob, you really start scaring me!"

"I have a mission!"

"Say... what is that mission anyway?"

Bob stopped short and so did Al.

"That, we will find out somewhere inside here."

"Figures..."

------ Harbour, Tokyo three ------

"Where is this fish?" Asuka asked in a very impatient voice.

"It ain't no fish!" Shinji said, bored again.

"It is swimming under water, it is a fish!"

"Why the holy sea-biscuit should it be a fish? The last one coming from the ocean wasn't a fish either!" He complained.

"But the one before that was one!"

"They all are angels." Rei said in her usual "I have no emotions" voice.

"See?" he said proudly.

"Oh please, don't get cocky just because Wondergirl is on your side."

"You are just a poor looser!"

"Just wait until we meet… OUTSIDE of our EVAs… you'll chew your balls!"

Shinji made a grimace of pure depression. Exactly that moment, time froze for the Third Children.

A spine-chillin' feeling caught him as the surface of the sea got broken by something ugly and very big. For some reason, he couldn't move or react. Everything moved with incredible speed, so fast that Shinji couldn't realize what happened.

As quick as it began, as suddenly it stopped.

"The effect on EVA-01's pilot is gone, Shinji is free."

"Eh?" Shinji brought out confused.

"Shinji, whatever you can do, do it!" Misato yelled over the intercom. It wasn't her usual voice. Shinji knew the way her voice sounded like and he didn't like it at all.

Shinji noticed that the harbour was mostly destroyed. He turned around. There it was, the enemy, the angel.

"What the…"

The angel itself looked like a mixture of a dinosaur and fish.

"It's not entirely a fish..." Shinji stated stubbornly.

As he looked closer, he saw that the angel ate something. On first view, Shinji couldn't tell what it was but after some seconds he realized that it was an arm of an EVA, a red arm.

----- Nerv HQ, Command Centre ------

"Its AT-Field is two nanometres above its skin, breaking it isn't possible at this rate."

"How about this laser sword project? Could this light-sabre break the angel's defence?"

Maya typed some stuff into her workstation.

"Even if it could, it is still not fixed..." Shigeru reminded fast.

"The MAGI says it is a 50-50 chance!"

"Tell those dorks of mechanics they have ten minutes to fix the problem!" Misato barked into the room.

"Yes ma'am!"

----- Nerv HQ, Cage 34 - experimental projects ------

A phone rang. The supervisor of this section went to the phone, knowing that whoever it was, that person would not bring good news.

"Cage 34, Uteki here -:listening:- yes, we still try to fix that issue with the heat calibration and -:looks confused:- how long? I would say a month
-:expression showing pure shock:- TEN MINUTES? -:begins to sweat:- listen, we can screw it together in 15 minutes, but I highly doubt it will work the way it should -:looking for his staff:- no listen, I am short of men anyway, this can't work out -:shaking his head:- yes sir..." The unfortunate man hung up the phone and ran into his office, looking for something.

"Manual... manual... where the fuck is it? -- finds a stack of papers-- Ah, thanks."

He ran into the cage and screamed through the entire hall:

"LISTEN EVERYONE WE'VE GOT TEN MINUTES TO SCREW THIS THING TOGETHER. UMARO AND HIS TROOP WILL TAKE CARE OF THE LOWER PART, FOSTER AND HIS MEN WILL DO THE UPPER PART!"

From one moment to the other, chaos broke loose. Men were running around like headless chicken and yelling was to hear all over the place.

"Uteki, who takes care of the Laser induction unit?"

"Shit... --sees two men coming into the hall-- you two, you will screw the laser induction unit together, here --throws the manual to one of them-- you can't fail with this!"

"Um... Sure!"

Uteki went to help Foster's team.

"I don't think we should have taken those mechanic uniforms..."

"Why not? We are disguised."

"Yes, but now we have to fix that thing up and I know shit about this!"

"We have the manual, we can't fail with this!"

"Oh Bob..."

----- Surface, somewhere where a harbour was ------

EVA-02 was pinned on the ground, missing the left arm. The angel was just above the red Evangelion, about to rip it apart.

"I CAN'T MOVE!" Asuka screamed before insulting the angel in several languages.

"SHINJI, DO SOMETHING!" Misato ordered harshly.

Shinji, not aware that this angel was stronger than it looked like, just began firing with his rifle.

"Take this you ugly shit."

"This won't harm him!" Rei said quickly. Shinji didn't know where her EVA was, but at least she sounded alive.

Shinji, realizing the severity of this situation only saw one option left.

----- NERV HQ, Cage 34 ------

"You done?" Uteki asked, not really thinking that it was finished.

"Yes sir, we fixed the Laser induction unit!"

"Great... Akemi, lend me a hand here!" He yelled, hope in his eyes.

Another man came up and they both drove the Laser induction unit to the rest of the construction.

"I don't believe we actually fixed that thing... Bob, you are a genius!"

"Don't congratulate me yet."

"Why not?" Al asked confused.

"See that box over there?" Bob said and pointed to a small box full of mechanical and electronically parts.

"Yeah, why?"

"I hate it when I fix things and have parts left..."

Yann-kun: That is what I said?

Kenuyasha: No, these are the true words of the author...

MyWay: It took long, but is it good? I don't think so... lately I don't even know the meaning of spare time... That's why I write this at work, when I not work. Lately, I had work so... it took long. I hope someone will forgive me.

Yann-kun: Forgive you? Why should someone?

MyWay: Yeah I know...

Kenuyasha: I forgive you.

MyWay: You forgive everyone and everything...

Kenuyasha: True...

Yann-kun: By the way, for how long have you been awake?

MyWay: I was telling her the whole story, while you were mumbling some useless stuff!

Yann-kun: Gah….