Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Neon Genesis Evangelion is owned by Studio Gainax and Hideaki Anno and Utraman is owned by Tsuburaya Productions
Chapter 7: Broken Bond
Rei and Ikari walked home from school as usual, but things are different now, as Rei successfully convinced Commander Ikari to let her relocate to the apartment besides Captain Katsuragi's. It was not an easy task, the Commander was known to be immovable, but Rei pressed on, determined to make sure that the younger Ikari was safe.
Rei stood in front Commander Ikari's desk, having just said her proposal. It didn't show in his face, but Commander Ikari was perplexed.
"This is a strange request from you, Rei."
"I have observed Ikari– Shinji-kun's relationship with Unit-02's pilot. I don't believe they could easily get along, much less on the battlefield. I suggest I should act as a neutral mediator among them, and to do so, I will have to be of close proximity to them."
"I'm sure Katsuragi can watch them well enough," he countered.
"Yes. But even so, I am a pilot like them. I can better observe them," Rei fired back. It didn't nter her mind as her feelings were too strong, but this was the closest she's ever been from defying the commander. But it didn't faze her. Ikari needed her help.
"Captain Katsuragi doesn't need the extra workload."
"If that's what you believe, then I will allow it."
Ikari took a quick detour to the payphone in order to call his father about the upcoming parents-teacher conference.
"So, what brought this about?" Unit-02's pilot, who Rei just remembered is also tagging along with them, asked.
"What do you mean?" questioned Rei
"You know? You moving near our place. What's up with that?"
"I want to be near you," Rei said mostly truthfully.
Unit-02's pilot narrowed her eyes, clearly knowing that she's hiding the whole truth. She looked at Ikari. "You two are really close, huh?"
"I'd like to think so, yes."
She looked at Rei incredulously. "I know it was only the two of you before I got here, but come on! You know you can do better than that."
"You know nothing about him," she said, not appreciating her continued insults.
Before they can continue, Ikari has returned, looking unsure.
"Is something wrong?" asked Rei.
"I don't know. The call was cut off all of the sudden."
"That's strange," Rei agreed. As strained as his relationship with his son is, Commander Ikari is not one to suddenly cut off calls.
Unit-02's pilot wasn't as bothered as they headed to base. "He's probably just busy or something."
It seems like Ikari's belief that there is a malfunction is more likely, as the gate to Geofront fail to recognize any of the pilots' cards
"This stupid thing must be broken!" Unit-02's pilot exclaimed in frustration.
They tried calling HQ directly, but none of the phones are working either.
"Let's try going to HQ," Rei suggested after consulting her NERV manual. No one objected. Unit-02's pilot suggested voting for a leader. She nominated herself.
Rei was fine letting Unit-02's pilot carry on with her delusions, and so is Ikari, it seems.
"Right! Let's go!" Unit-02's pilot cheered, turning the wrong way.
"We can go to route no. 7 over there," Rei pointed.
The trio began their journey, but the door was closed and had to be opened manually.
"Okay, Shinji! Time to do your thing." Unit-02's pilot ordered.
Rei realized what Unit-02's pilot was asking of Ikari. She won't let her abuse him as she pleases.
Rei walked towards the door to open it herself.
The other two were surprised by this gesture, but Unit-02's pilot still saw an opportunity. "Really? Letting a girl do your work, Shinji?"
Rei fired back, however. "This is logical. I am strong. Stronger than both of you."
Before Unit-02's pilot can fire back, Rei was already making her way inside, forcing them to catch up to her.
"I can't believe you're not bothered by this heat at all," complained Aoba as he and the rest of the staff struggled against the heat caused by the blackout.
"That's not true," argued Kirisaki. "I like the cold. This heat annoys me."
Aoba was right though. The heat had no physical effect on him, which allowed to him a better focus to think on the situation
An unexpected blackout. An otherwise foolproof technological marvel. This was most likely the work of a spy. To gauge how the enemy– them, will fix the problem.
When one considers recent newcomers, the culprit was obvious.
With his enhanced hearing, he knows that the commander has realized the same thing, and he is not troubled by it at the least. It's as he said, man's greatest enemy is man.
It was an interesting thing to watch unfold, the mind games that these obsessed men play, all for the sake of achieving their goals.
It was still annoying though, as it halted his already slow progress with the MAGI. He was beginning to think if this whole detour with Ibuki was worth the tedious amount of work that he had to do. But he knew that he had to do it, if only to gain the satisfaction of wiping her all loving, ever so optimistic persona.
Predictably, Unit-02's pilot was not as great a leader as she claimed she was. They have been in the hallways for a while now, and what should've been a 2 minute trip was lasting longer than it should.
And then things took a turn for the worse when they heard the voice of Lieutenant Hyuga.
"An Angel is coming! I repeat, an Angel is coming!"
"An Angel!" Ikari and Unit-02's pilot exclaimed in unison.
"There's no time to waste. Let's take a shortcut," said Rei.
"Hey, I'm the leader here! Don't boss me around!" Unit-02's pilot whined, but she had no other ideas. "So, where's this shortcut?"
As it turns out, Rei meant the ventilation shaft, much to Unit-02's pilot's chagrin.
"Say, what do you think the Angels are," Ikari suddenly asked.
"Why are you bringing that up now?" questioned Unit-02's pilot
"Angels. Messengers of God. Our enemies bearing divine names. Why are we fighting each other?" Ikari wondered.
"Huh. We should probably look into that, just in case they ever turn up elsewhere," Ultraman Mebius thought to himself.
"Don't be an idiot! Those freaky things are attacking us! When you're attacked, it's only natural to defend yourself!" Unit-02's pilot argued.
The topic was dropped, and the group reached two hallways.
"Hmm… the right!" Unit-02's pilot decided.
"I think it's the one on the left," countered Rei.
"Who cares what you think?" Unit-02's pilot turned to Ikari. "What about you, Shinji?"
Ikari was at a loss, but Rei wouldn't let Unit-02's pilot boss him around, so she grabbed his hand and headed to the left. Unit-02's pilot reluctantly followed.
They reached another selection of pathways, and Rei once again chose which path to take, much to Unit-02's pilot's annoyance.
"So, I heard you're the commander's favorite."
Rei ignored her.
"Being his favorite makes you special, right, wonder girl?"
"Come on, this isn't the time," Ikari chided, but Unit-02's pilot pressed on.
"That's why you stay calm and composed all the time."
Rei once again didn't respond, causing Uit-02's Pilot to lose her patience as she forced Rei to look at her.
"Don't look down on me just because you get special treatment!"
Rei responded with a glare of her own.
"Who cares what you think?" she asked, which actually stunned Unit-02's pilot. Rei turned her back on her, but Unit-02's pilot grabbed on to her again.
"What the hell is your problem?! I thought we could be friends, but you've been so standoffish, like I don't even matter!"
"Friends?" Rei scoffed. "For how you treat Ikari-kun, I doubt you even know the meaning of the word."
A look of realization settled on Unit-02's pilot's face. "So that is what this is all about! What is he to you, anyway? You're not his mother or his sister. He shouldn't need your protection."
"He is important to me. I will do whatever I can to protect him. Especially from the likes of you."
Unit-02's pilot stared at Rei for a moment, before letting out a laugh. "I knew it! You're afraid I'm gonna steal him from you!" That's why you've had it out for me since day one!
"Wait, what?!" exclaimed Ikari, shocked at what Unit-02's pilot is implying.
"That's highly unlikely."
"You're damn right. What would I want from such a spineless wimpy guy anyway?"
It was that final insult that proved to be the last straw for Rei. Her glare hardened, and her right hand began moving towards Unit-02's pilot's face.
Unit-02's pilot, never thinking of Rei as the aggressive type, didn't have time to register what was happening, and could only stand there and prepare for Rei's slap.
It didn't happen.
To everyone, including Rei's surprise, her attempted assault on Unit-02's pilot is stopped by her own left hand.
Rei forced her right hand out of her left, but it just held on to her again.
Ikari and Unit-02's pilot watched as Rei struggled against her own hand.
"What the hell…?" whispered Unit-02's pilot. Unsure what to think of what she's seeing.
Ikari moved towards Rei.
"Ayanami, calm down," he told her.
For the moment, Rei forgot her lack of control over her own body and looked at Ikari in disbelief. "She insulted you! Time and time again! Why aren't you saying anything?"
Ikari was taken aback. He never saw Rei this emotional.
"Because she's right…" Ikari whispered to her.
Rei's eyes widened. "No she's not! You're not a spineless coward! She doesn't know you like I do!"
"I know," Ikari said. "But even then, a part of me thinks that she has a point."
And that was when Rei realized Unit-02's pilot broke Ikari. He now thinks he's as worthless as she makes him out to be. She shot her a murderous glare.
"No. She doesn't," Rei stated coldly. "Pay her no attention, Ikari-kun. She's the one who doesn't matter." She tried to grab Ikari's hand, but realized that her left hand's still latching onto her right. Growling in frustration, she grabbed Ikari's anyway, nevermind the awkward position they are now in, and began to walk away. She decided to no longer mind Unit-02's pilot. She has nothing else to say to her.
She sensed Unit-02's pilot stay motionless for a few seconds before reluctantly following them. The rest of the trip was uneventful as Unit-02's pilot finally shut up and decided to let Rei do her thing.
They eventually made it to the base, where surprisingly, the NERV personnel, led by Commander Ikari, had manually prepared the Evangelions.
They knew this operation wouldn't be easy, not that it ever is. Without any power, they had to manually climb through the opening hatch to get outside. Unfortunately, the Angel was already there, oozing out an acidic substance that easily burns their Unit, causing them to drop their rifles and forcing them to hide and rethink their plan for now.
Neither she nor Ikari knew what to do. If this goes on any longer, she will be forced to…
"Listen up, I have a plan," Unit-02's pilot proclaimed.
Rei almost spoke up against her, but she knew better than to drag their fight to the battlefield.
One of us stays here as Defense. It neutralizes the A.T. Field and protects Offense from its acid. Support heads down. It retrieves a rifle, then passes it up to Offense. Offense then fires a volley and destroys the target. Everybody got that?"
Rei had to admit, it was a good plan. "Okay. I'll be Defense.
"I'll do it!"
Both Rei and Unit-02's pilot looked at Ikari in shock, not expecting to hear such a declaration come from him.
"It's too dangerous," said Rei. "You don't have to do it."
"I do," Ikari insisted. "Both of you have risked your lives while I just stood by and watched. I have to return the favor."
"Ikari-kun…" Rei whispered. Was this what he meant earlier?
Unit-02's pilot shook her head. "You really are an idiot. Don't worry about stupid things like that. You want to return the favor? Then get out there and kill that thing."
As much as it pains her to do so, Rei agreed. "She's right. We know you have what it takes." She gestured to the left hand that she currently has mixed feelings about but who she knows shared the same sentiment.
Ikari was still unsure, but Unit-02's pilot was impatient. "So, do you want your moment or not? We haven't got all day!"
Ikari, still unsure about this new faith that they've given him, looked at Rei, who nodded. "Alright. I'll do it."
"Great. I'll be Defense and wonder girl is Support. Is that good?"
Rei was surprised that Unit-02's pilot would offer herself as defense, but she decided to agree.
The three went to their positions. Rei went down the hole. Once she reached the bottom, she grabbed one of the rifles. Looking up, she saw that Unit-02 was still in position. Unfortunately, the Angel began leaking its acid once again, hitting Unit-02 in the process. But it remained firmly in place.
"Ikari-kun!" Rei threw the rifle at Unit-01, lying in wait all this time. It caught the rifle, and Unit-02 moved out of the way. Ikari fired at the Angel multiple times, The Angel collapsed.
The Ninth Angel has been defeated.
Night has arrived, and the three pilots decided to watch the stars while waiting for the lights to turn back on.
"I had no idea the stars were this pretty without electricity. Without artificial light. It's ironic," mused Ikari.
"Yeah, well, without those lights, the place looks deserted," countered Unit-02's pilot.
The electricity was turned back on, and Tokyo-3 shined once again.
"See? You feel safer this way."
"Man fears darkness, and so he scrapes away at the edges of it with fire," said Rei. She remembered the story of how it all happened. Their planet's sun dying. Their greatest minds creating the Plasma Spark, its light mutating their ancestors into the giants that they are today.
"How profound!" Unit-02's pilot praised. It seemed that for the time being, they are once again at a truce with each other.
"I wonder if that's what makes humanity special," said Ikari. "Maybe that's why the Angels are attacking us."
Unit-02's pilot can't help but let out one more insult. "Don't be an idiot! How can we know something like that?"
