Neon Senshi Evangelion
Twenty Seven
Asuka broke the surface of the lava pool, then hauled the Angel to the shore where Unit 00 and 01 were waiting. Misato watched anxiously, hoping that things would go well.
'WHY do I have this weird feeling I'm being watched?' Misato found herself wondering. It was a odd itch on the back of her neck feeling. She could almost feel eyes on her.
If Misato had been asked to point, she would have indicated the ridge where Setsuna, Haruka, Michiru and Hotaru were watching. Sadly no one asked, and anyway, there were more important things to deal with...
"Be ready to add your AT Fields to support containment," Misato reminded Rei and Shinji.
"Right!" Rei sounded amused, Shinji eager.
"Ritsuko, is cold storage ready," Misato double checked.
"We'll be freezing it as soon as Asuka gets it into the container," Ritsuko confirmed.
They were using the same method as when a Evangelion went out of control. Hopefully the process would halt the Angel's development...
"Yui, any signs of activity from the Angel?" Misato checked that too.
"Reading unchanged," Yui said cautiously.
"Brace yourself, we're adding our AT Fields," Rei told asuka, and all three pilots grabbed the angel.
They moved the awkward 'egg' towards the specially built container, as Misato watched warily. She almost thought the Angel was shifting a bit inside there, but...
"Dropping it in," Asuka related. "Everyone, release it from the AT Fields."
Everyone held their breath nervously as the containment system kicked in. A few seconds passed...
"Angel's reading are declining," Yui noted, "I think we've got it."
There was a loud cheer, and loud sighs of relief.
"Now we take it to the remote research site," Ritsuko noted.
"Not taking it to NERV HQ?" Asuka teased.
"You think we're nuts?" Ritsuko replied.
"No comment," Misato snarked.
"Oh, gee, thanks," Yui chuckled.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Oh thank goodness," Michiru puffed out a breath as they saw that the Angel baby was now safely contained.
"Is it safe?" Haruka asked Setsuna.
"In theory," Setsuna answered with a sigh. "I don't think anyone has tried capturing a Angel like this before."
Hotaru asked tentatively, "Can't you check the Time Gates?"
Setsuna sighed as she said, "No, I learned my lesson about using them after Sailor Moon died. They only show me the most likely future... million to one chances like what actually happened aren't predictable."
"Ah," Hotaru winced.
"So what do we do now?" Haruka checked.
"You three stand down for now," Setsuna said, "I'll closely watch, and call if these idiots can't keep this under wraps."
"We'll keep our phones handy," Michiru promised.
"Where is Mari, by the way?" Hotaru wondered.
"Taking advantage of NERV being distracted," Setsuna said mysteriously.
Haruka frowned at her, then sighed. "All right, I'll drive everyone back, then I need to check in with work," she noted.
"Right," Setsuna agreed as they all climbed into Haruka's car and drove off.
"Thank you," Hotaru waved as she was dropped off at the arcade, and Setsuna got out to walk to her nearby NERV issued apartment.
"What do you think Mari is up to?" Michiru asked as Haruka drove her over to their apartment.
"Knowing Venus, something illegal and covert that we don't need to know about," Haruka observed. "Here's hoping it doesn't blow up in her face."
"Which has happened once or twice," Michiru sighed as she got out. She went around to the driver's side and kissed Haruka, "Have fun at work!"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Mari Illustrious Makinami checked her appearance in the mirror.
The gorgeous blond stared back, dressed in a slinky gown, high heels and makeup. A very low cut gown too, that made her cleavage pop. Alas, padding... but it LOOKED good.
"Ok, weapons ready," Mari murmured as she twirled, "now to go get the target."
They arranged to meet at a pick up bar in Tokyo-3, not THAT far from NERV. Apparently, NERV staffers liked to drink.
(Which, really, Mari couldn't blame them for. If your average person knew the fate of the world depended on teens piloting biomechanical abominations, you'd drink heavily too. Anyway...)
Mari swept into the dimly lit bar, then swished gracefully over to the corner booth the victim was waiting at.
"Oh wow," the blonde woman blinked, then recovered. "Mina, right?" she smiled.
"Miss Hosho," Mari smiled back.
"Please, call me Yuna," the midlevel NERV staffer replied shyly.
"I'm SO glad we matched on the site," Mari smiled charmingly as she sat across from her.
"Me too," Yuna blushed brightly.
Mari poured on the charm, as well as vamping it up just a little. The woman ate it up, and eventually suggested they go somewhere else.
"I know a hotel nearby," Mari purred. "I can't wait to be alone with you."
"Please!" Yuna blushed again.
They got a room, and headed up to the suite together. "Sorry," Mari said as they entered the bedroom.
"Hmm?" Yuna started before Mari pushed the injector against her neck, giving her a fast acting sedative that in moments knocked her out. Mari made sure she was breathing easily and had no adverse reactions, then laid her out on the bed while grabbing her NERV ID and wallet.
Mari quickly switched wigs, to one that matched Yuna's, then took out a NERV uniform she had stashed there earlier. Within minutes, she was the spitting image of the other woman. She gave a faintly regretful look at Yuna, then headed out, locking the door behind her.
It had been surprisingly easy to find a NERV employee on the dating site that had the same basic height and build. She felt a LITTLE guilty for catfishing the poor woman, but it was all for a good cause.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The next day, everyone was back at school like nothing happened.
"Is it true you dug a angel out of a volcano?!" Kensuke Aida demanded excitedly.
"You KNOW we can't talk about it," Shinji noted.
"Awww," Ken sighed.
"Could you please settle down?" Hikari asked, the class rep frowning.
"Sorry," Toji apologized.
Mana Kirishima had watched footage of the Angel grab, over at Japan Heavy Industries. The idea of diving into a lava pool gave her the willies...
"All right everyone, settle down," Miss Michiru walked in and ordered. "I'm filling in for Miss Haruna, who's sick."
EVERYONE pretty much sighed dreamily at seeing her. The young music teacher was gorgeous, nice and hugely popular.
"Ahem," Hikari scowled at Toji, who pretended he hadn't been staring.
"All right, first," and Michiru ran through the lesson plan for the day.
Lunch rolled around, and everyone sat down with friends to eat.
"May I?" Mana asked Rei.
Rei blushed slightly, "Sure!"
Both girls opened their bento boxes, then Mana noted quietly, "Was Asuka okay? I saw footage... it looked scary as heck."
"Everything went okay," Rei reassured her, "and Shinji and I were there as backup."
Mana munched on some rice, "I'm glad you didn't have to go in there."
"Yeah, well," Rei shrugged.
"I was thinking... we could maybe go to a cafe or something after school? If you're not busy," Mana added quickly.
Rei smiled, "Study session?"
"No, just... I'd like to spend time together," Mana admitted.
Rei beamed, "I'd like that."
To be continued...
Notes: Obviously, in the original Sailor Moon, Sailor Pluto didn't help out because the writer hadn't created her yet. But to explain why in this fic she didn't help, I went with this. Now, in canon I don't think the time gates work like that, but...