Neon Senshi Evangelion
Chapter 31
Of course, even with the Angels and everything else, life went on...
"Wait, they're doing what?" Yui Ikari blinked as the family met for dinner.
"Fan-Con," Misato looked at her oddly as she said, "it's a manga, anime and fandom event. You've never heard of it?"
"It's not really my thing," Yui waved it off.
"Don't lie dear," Gendo offered mildly, "I remember you liked Doctor Who back when we studied in England."
"Ugh," Yui looked embarrassed.
"Seriously?" Rei had to ask.
"She especially liked the Paul McGann version, she followed the series religiously," Gendo added impishly.
"Well, YOU were a fan of Top Gear," Yui pointed out.
"Cars are cool," Gendo shrugged.
Shinji looked amused, "I saw that... the three hosts doing crazy stunts?"
"Anyway," Misato jumped in, "I don't expect trouble, but I could imagine mecha fans trying to get into NERV."
"Ugh, really?" Yui looked pained.
"You have to admit, the Evangelions are cool," Shinji added.
Gendo addressed Misato, "We'll probably have to increase security for a few days, at least..."
"Hmm," Misato agreed, "I want a staffer there keeping a eye on things, too. Just in case."
"You always were a fan of Sailor V," Rei pointed out, "you just want to go dressed as her."
"No comment," Misato said. "There's something else we need to be worried about."
"Oh?" Yui asked.
"Japan Heavy Chemical Industries are going to be there," Misato said, "with a display on their Jet Alone."
"What," Gendo blinked.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"What," Naoko Akagi blinked.
They were at the headquarters of Japan Heavy Chemical Industries, and it was several days before the convention.
"The Board of Directors wants us to run a display at the Tokyo-3 Fan-Con," Kodama Horaki noted mildly.
"WHAT," Naoko repeated.
"Now now," Shingo Tsukino said, the businessman more or less running the meeting. "It does make a certain kind of sense."
"Seriously?" Naoko sighed.
Haruka Tenoh, who was sitting in on the meeting, noted, "Well, we want to promote Jet Alone for broad use, once the Angels are defeated, so..."
"Point," Naoko sighed.
"Obviously ordinary folks won't be buying them, but corporations and such," Shingo agreed. "So, we'll bring a scale model over..."
"We need something to stand out, though!" Kodama added excitedly.
Naoko was a bit surprised at how into this the younger woman was.
"Put a model in that new plugsuit," Haruka suggested impishly.
"I think the event frowns on near nudity," Shingo noted.
"Have you seen some cosplay?" Kodama laughed. She fiddled with a internet connected tablet to find images, "Here..."
"Eep," Shingo gasped at seeing a very shapely model in what boiled down to three hankies and some thread.
"ANYWAY," Naoko frowned at the two of them, "I'm declining to be involved in this... silliness. Besides, there are tests to run on Jet Alone's AI."
"That's fair," Shingo said quickly.
"Not it, too," Haruka added. "I'm busy here with security issues."
"We can manage something," Kodama smiled, as she looked at Shingo thoughtfully.
"Errr...," he blinked, looking a bit worried.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"This is going to be SO COOL!" Kensuke Aida declared.
It was friday, classes were over, and a lot of the students were planning to attend the con. Especially a military otaku like Ken.
"I guess," Shinji Ikari said dubiously.
"Totally! Just think of all the booth babes!" Toji declared.
Hikari Horaki calmly smacked her boyfriend.
"Are you going?" Ken asked Rei.
"Mana is going along with the Japan Heavy Chemical Industries team," Rei explained, "I promised to see her."
"Oh HO," Toji said.
Shinji elbowed him, knowing that Rei was NOT ready to discuss her crush on the other girl.
"And Gendo decided that NERV would be there too," Rei added, "so..."
"Can they get us in free?" Ken suggested.
"Ha. No," Shinji told him.
They split up not long after that, and Rei and Shinji got dressed in street clothes, before heading to the convention center.
"Wow, look at the line-up," Rei blinked.
There were a LOT of cosplayers and such around, along with regular folks. Anime and manga production had slowed after Impact, but there was still a LOT of content out there, inspiring fans to dress up and so on.
A Inu Yasha strode by, and a Cardcaptor Sakura twirled her staff gracefully. Several VanDread girls were posing in their bikinis, and a Alucard from Hellsing loomed dangerously.
"Hey, there's a Sailor V," Shinji pointed. "We should get a photo for Misato."
"Wait, I think that's..." Rei started as Shinji hurried over to the woman.
The blond wig and mask looked VERY accurate, as did the sailor outfit and skirt. The obly think that was 'off' was her height and age...
"Miss, could we get a photo," Shinji called, then stopped.
"MISATO?!" Rei yelped.
"Busted," the wigged and masked Misato sighed.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Asuka Langley was wearing her plugsuit as a 'costume' and had been congratulated on how good the cosplay was. And she had seen a 'Rei', 'Shinji' and several adult women in skintight latex painted as plugsuits.
"Why me, ugh...," Satsuki Ooi groaned, the 'Bridge Bunny' manning the booth NERV was running. She was in her uniform, fending off nerdy young men.
"AHEM," Gendo loomed, startling the boys and driving them off.
"Thank you, sir," Satsuki sighed.
"I'm REALLY wondering if this was a good idea," Asuka sighed.
"Well, we've sold out on the NERV branded t-shirts," Gendo noted.
Sarsuki just LOOKED at him.
"Do you need me to stay and help?" Asuka checked. "I'd like to look around."
"Go ahead," Gendo nodded, "Kaede and Yuna will be coming later to relieve us."
"Good luck," Asuka waved and headed into the crowds.
At almost the same time, Hotaru Tomoe was also arriving, dressed in a Gothic Lolita style dress. It wasn't actually 'cosplay' but no one was noticing. "Well, first I need to check in with Haruka and Michiru-mommas, then..."
A tall woman in Sailor Fiki and long blond hair strode bt, her tiara glittering gold.
"Sailor Moon?!" Hotaru choked out.
Misato turned, recognizing the young woman from the arcade. "Hotaru, right?" she smiled, "It's Sailor V, actually."
"Right, right," Hotaru smiled, "I caught the re-runs. You look really good, too."\
"Thanks," Misato smiled, unaware that she now uncannily resembled the heroine Hotaru had named, and only seen pictures of.
"Want to look around together?" Hotaru suggested.
Misato paused a second then nodded, "Sure, why not?"
To be continued...
Notes: Canonly Paul McGann only appeared in the Doctor Who movie, books and audio dramas, so him getting a season is a divergence. Also one wonders how Top Gear went after Impact hit.
The anime series mentioned were all around when Impact hit. I'm assuming a gap of a few years after Impact, then anime started being made again... In the Sailor Moon series, we saw a episode where there was a Sailor V anime being made. I'm assuming it aired in this universe.