From: Adrian Wong <7ahw@qlink.queensu.ca>
I'm not subbed to the list, please email C&C to <7ahw@qlink.queensu.ca>.
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T h e H e a r t ' s B a t t l e g r o u n d
A Ranma 1/2 and Neon Genesis Evangelion crossover by Adrian Wong
Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi while Evangelion belongs to Gainax
Productions.
" " Japanese dialogue
< > thoughts
[ ] Chinese dialogue
/ / Illusory sounds, memories
***Kevin "Lord Talon" Wible*** and ***Andrew Huang*** are the honorable
pre-readers for this fic!
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Part 1
Year 2017, Japan.
Inside a dimly lit conference room, Soun Tendo, the Commander of
NERV, was looking out the glass window with a somewhat complex
expression on his face. He was a man in his forties, with shoulder
length long hair and a Mustache that hides much of his upper lip.
Right now, the only available Eva pilot, the first child was
still recovering from that injury that he got when his synchronization
test with Eva 00 failed. But no matter, another pilot has been
summoned. Even though Soun had tried to delay having to ever face her
again, the fact that NERV needs her remains. He can only hope that he
would be able to get her to go along with this in this little time that
he had left.
Idly, he stared at his own bandaged hand as he wondered how the
daughter that he hadn't seen for twelve years had turned out to be.
* * * * *
Meanwhile, at the back of Furinkan High's school building . . .
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"
A shorthaired, tomboyish looking girl was glaring at a tall,
arrogant looking blond girl with a huge banquet of white lilies on her
back. Standing behind her was a gang of girls with bats and hockey
sticks in their hands. They looked suspiciously like her sidekicks.
Tilting her chin upward, she stared down at the shorter girl.
"I said, that starting from this day on, Furinkan High's girl
gang will no longer be under you. After all, with my immense wealth and
famous background, it is only fair that I, Asuka of the White Lilies,
rule over this territory instead of some nameless nobody."
"I'm NOT the leader of the school's girl population, newcomer.
But I will Tell you this: no one calls Akane Tendo a nobody. Apologize
right now!"
The girl snorted, looking faintly amused as she plucked a white
lily out from her back and held it to her nose, inhaling its sweet
scent.
"Me? The heir to the greatest florist chain this side of Japan,
apologize to a lower class NOBODY like you? I don't think so-"
Before she could have finished the sentence, the "nobody" rushed
forward and socked her one on the jaw, sending the taller girl flying
back. Her Sidekicks, all thirty of them, immediately rushed her with
their weapons raised. Ducking, blocking, leaping over and breaking them
all in a combinations of defensive and offensive kempo moves, Akane
proceeded to land some rather solid blows on those unfortunate enough to
be close to the enraged girl. Within a minute, half of them were
twitching painfully on the ground as the other half were scrambling away
for dear life. Akane stomped over to the blond girl and dragged her up
by the front of her shirt as she glared into her frightened eyes.
"Listen, you white lily b___! I don't care how rich and
powerful you think you are, or how lowly and inferior I am compared to
you. If you ever, ever call me a NOBODY again, you'll get much worse
than a simple beating. GET IT?"
The girl whimpered incoherently, and Akane roughly threw her
onto the ground. She scrambled up and ran away as fast as her dainty
little legs could carry her. Dusting off her hands, Akane hmphed
contemptuously. It was then that the sound of clapping caught her
attention.
"You're really good!" A long-haired, scantly clad, voluptuous
looking woman clapped as she leaned seductively over her car. She was
staring at Akane with an amazed expression on her beautiful face. "Now
if only we can train you to do the same thing in Unit 01 . . ."
"Excuse me, but who are you?" Akane asked.
"Oh, me? I'm Hinako Ninomiya! I'm here to pick you up to your
father so that you guys can 'catch up' a bit," she said cheerily.
Akane stiffened. "You know my father?"
"Of course, Akane-chan! I work for him."
"I see . . . and just what makes you think that there is even a
NEED for me to catch up with a total stranger who has neglected me for
12 years?!" Akane growled as Hinako backed away a bit.
"Now, Akane-chan, your Daddy misses his little girl . . ."
"Well then . . .TELL DADDY THAT HIS LITTLE GIRL CAN DO VERY WELL
ON HER OWN WITHOUT HIM-"
Just then, a distant but loud explosion was heard, cutting her
off. "What that-hey!"
Hinako had caught her by her hand, and before she knew it, Akane
was in the car with her. Before Akane could jump out of it, it was
already traveling at 70 km/h and still speeding up.
"What do think you're doing!?"
"Look to your left, and you shall find out."
Akane did as was told, and gasped as she saw a humanoid giant
crushing Buildings like Legos in the distance. Her view was obscured as
a strong wind tossed Hinako's thigh length hair all over her face.
"What is that thing?! And just where the HELL do you think
you're going?!" Akane screeched as she blushed Hinako's hair out of her
face. "This is NOT the direction of the emergency shelter!"
"Chill out, Akane-chan." Hinako said as she sped up to 150 km/h.
"We're heading for a much saver place: the NERV headquarters."
"The place that Daddy works at?!"
"Right. He'll explain everything to you there."
The car went into an underground tunnel.
"Damn, Daddy won't call me there just to see me . . . I bet he
probably wants something or another from me."
Hinako sweated as Akane's words hit home. Akane sighed as she
realized that she was right.
A handbook was suddenly being put into her hand; it said NERV on
the cover.
"Ah, you might want to read this." Hinako said uncomfortably.
Suddenly, the platform rushed out of the tunnel they were in and
started moving through a vast underground cavern. Akane gasped.
"A Geo-Front?" she exclaimed, looking out the window with wide
eyes.
"That's right, Akane-chan. THIS is Tokyo-3."
Akane continued to stare at everything in awe. High overhead
hung the buildings of Tokyo-3, like some eerie mirroring of the city
above. Orange light filled the cavern and reflected off the water far
below.
A few minutes later, the platform stopped and they exited the
vehicle. Hinako led Akane through several hallways to an elevator.
Akane skimmed through the NERV document, but she only understood about
half of it.
They entered the elevator, which used an odd mechanical device
that clicked to mark passage from one floor to the next. The elevator
stopped, and a woman wearing a stylish, black Chinese skirt with a lab
coat draped over her shoulders got on. Akane looked curiously at her
flame-toned red hair, which was styled into a simple but stylish beehive
that showed off her beautiful profile.
Akane
thought.
"Nodoka, Akane-chan is here." Hinako said.
Nodoka simply nodded. "And not a moment too soon. Commander
Tendo is waiting for you both." She extended a hand to Akane. "Nodoka
Akagi, NERV Technical Expert."
"Nice to meet you . . . umm, is Daddy that high ranking?" Akane
wondered aloud, then noticed the look that Nodoka is giving her.
"Forget what I said."
Leaving the elevator, the group entered a dark cavernous room,
and the doors snapped shut behind them. "Hey!" Akane yelled, a bit
startled. The lights snapped on again, and Akane found herself face to
face with a giant beast.
"AHHHHHHH!" Akane shrieked and leapt backwards, almost falling
off the catwalk they stood on. "Wha-what is that ugly thing?!" Seeing
that the thing wasn't moving; she took a few steps closer and examined
it more thoroughly.
It was the head and shoulders of a giant robot, submerged from
then on down in a strange orange-pink liquid. It colored a familiar
yellow - the same color that Akane likes on her dresses. The giant head
had a large horn sticking out of it, on a line with the rest of the
forehead like the start of a crest. The eyes of the giant were of a
darker yellow and seemed to be staring blankly ahead in a perpetual
scowl.
"That is the Test Type model of the artificial lifeform
Evangelion," Nodoka said with a hint of pride to her voice. "Unit 01."
"And it's mankind's last defense against the Angels," Hinako
smirked.
"Hmm. So Daddy build this, huh?" Akane asked speculatively as
her initial shock wore away.
"Yes, Akane, I did. And you will pilot it," said a man's voice
from a nearby speaker. Hinako and Nodoka turned around and looked up.
Following their gaze, she saw her father looking down at her from a
booth high overhead.
Akane coolly stared up at her father, then wilts under her
father's impassive gaze. She turned her head and glanced at the
Evangelion. "Pilot that thing that you gave up all your time to?" She
asked, then snorted. "You Actually THINK I will do that?"
"Yes." Soun answered sternly. "Like it or not, you are the
third child eligible to pilot an Eva, and you will pilot it. Be
grateful that it happens to be painted in your favorite color."
"This is ridiculous!" Hinako exclaimed. "She has no chance of
piloting that thing! It took Mousse almost half a year to synchronize
with his Eva, how is she going to do it now? She doesn't even have any
training!"
"Calm down. She doesn't have to do anything, only sit in it and
follow our instructions," Nodoka returned casually.
Meanwhile, father and daughter are still locked in a visual
combat. "I'm not your doll, I won't have to listen to you!" Akane spat.
Soun raised an eyebrow. "Not even if all of humanity is at
stake?"
Akane was taken back. "I . . ."
Soun smiled coldly. "Fine, you can go then. I hope you can
sleep at night knowing how you have neglected your duty to the human
race." He turns to his assistance. "Bring in Mousse."
As Akane's face burned with anger and shame, a tall, longhaired
young man was pulled in with a gurney. Even with chalk-white complexion
and blue hair, he was excessively handsome. Akane's heart ached as she
saw the bandages covering him from the legs down, the cast on his right
arm, and the gauze on his head that covered his right eye. Attached to
the gurney was an IV bag that dripped fluid into his left arm.
The boy opened his eyes, and Akane felt herself blush as she
looked into the blood red pupils. Somewhere in the back of her mind she
felt an attraction to the boy unlike one she had ever felt before, a
strange attachment to him. The boy blinked his eye once, and for just a
moment she thought she saw some tenderness flickering in it.
Looking away, the boy began to struggle to a sitting position,
his face twisted in pain and effort as he worked himself up. The
medical technicians at his side removed the IV from his arm.
"Commander," he breathed out in a quiet, emotionless voice. "I
am ready.
Soun surprises Akane by suddenly having a tender look on his
face as he spoke softly to the boy.
"You'll do fine, Mous-"
Just then an earthquake shook the catwalk, and the med. Techs
immediately fled the catwalk, leaving Mousse to drop down painfully onto
his knees. Akane immediately rushed to his aid.
"Come back!" Hinako yelled. "The girders are breaking!"
"Why else do you think I'm helping him up for?!" Akane yelled
back as she scooped the much larger Mousse up into her arms with no
effort at all and leaps away from the mass of metal falling on them.
Just then, however, the Catwalk gave way and snapped, and the two fell.
Hinako covered her eyes in fear.
A gasp from Nodoka opens her eyes, and she saw that the hands of
Eva 01 had shifted from the suspension liquid to hold the teens in its
palm. Soun looked pleased and nodded his head.
"Impressive . . ." Nodoka said. "The Eva apparently likes her a
lot."
"Are you okay?" Akane asked. Mousse simply stared blankly at
her and nodded. She then looked up to her father.
"You will have him pilot in his state if I didn't pilot it,
won't you?" She hissed.
"Right." Soun said.
"All right, then! You win! I'll pilot the damn thing!" She
yelled back in frustration. Mousse had a curious look on his face as he
stared at her.
* * * * *
Dressed in a ridiculously tight yellow plug suit, with a pair of
synchro hairpieces on her head, Akane felt extremely self-conscious at
he new "look". The fact that she had to breathe in an oxygen medium
that Nodoka had called LCL wasn't helping much as Akane was launched out
from the underground base before she was even ready.
There, she saw the angel staring at her robot with undisguised
malice in what she thought was its eyes. Akane flinched.
"What do I do now?!" She yelled at communication link.
"Just concentrate on walking for now." Nodoka said from the
control booth. "Let your mind flow with the Eva."
"You can do it, Akane-chan!" Hinako said encouragingly. "Your
synchro-rate is already at 41.5 . . . very good for a first timer!"
Akane had no idea what the hell that meant, but it sounded
reassuring none-the-less. "Alright! I'll start by flexing my legs . . .
hey, I did it!"
Everybody in the control booth sweated as Eva 01 did a warm-up
exercise right in front of the startled angel. Soun was the only one
who managed to look as stiff as usual.
"Amazing . . . and this is her first try!" Nodoka said. "She
could have been born to pilot a Eva."
Akane, with her confidence boosted, charged the angel. "Now to
get the job done . . . HYA!"
Eva 01, aimed a center-kick at the angel, but it caught the leg
and flung the Eva into a building. Akane gasped as pain rippled through
her body.
"What-?!"
"Don't panic!" Hinako yelled, "It isn't real pain, it's just the
reflex of the Eva! Don't let it-"
CRASH!!
"Oh my, she got another hit!" Kasumi Ibuki, Nodoka's assistant
exclaimed.
Now straddling the Eva 01, the angel began hitting it on the
chest as Akane screamed in agony. Suddenly, she was back in the first
grade again, and was being hazed by some bigger girl and her gang.
/Take that, geek girl!/
/Akane has no parents, Akane has no parents,/
/Hohohohohohohoho./
/He won't come, geek girl!/
/She won't come either! Ha!/
/You are NOBODY, you hear?/
/You are NOBODY cause you have NOBODY!/
"SHUT-UP!!"
Suddenly, the angel found it's fist being caught, and before it
knew it, it was flat on its back, with the Eva pounding its fists into
its head.
"NOBODY! NOBODY CALLS ME A NOBODY! TAKE THAT BACK! TAKE THAT
BACK!!!"
"Oh, my! The Eva's entered a berserker mode!" Kasumi exclaimed.
"Amazing, the Eva is now more powerful than ever!" Nodoka said
with an undertone of excitement as Hinako stared at her incredulously.
"Don't you find this a hint . . . disturbing?"
Suddenly the Eva was pushed away as the angel set up a strange
energy field around itself.
"The Absolute Terror field!" Hinako exclaimed.
The Eva 01 continued to pry at the AT field but it wouldn't give
way. Enraged, it held its hands together, and a giant mallet suddenly
appeared out of nowhere, between the two of them.
"The Eva is growing its own weapons!?" Nodoka said.
"Dear lord . . . during the 1 second that she was whipping that
mallet out, Akane's synchro-rate had risen to 97%!" Kasumi exclaimed.
"AMAZING . . ." Nodoka breathed. "Sou- . . . Commander Tendo
will be pleased to hear about this."
The mallet shattered the angel's AT field and began pounding on
the angel's red core. The angel exploded, burning off the armor around
Eva-01's face and left arm. Hinako leaped up in joy.
"YES! Akane-chan, you did it! Akane? Akane?!"
"The pilot had passed out." Kasumi reported.
"Eject the entry plug and rescue her!"
* * * * *
Drifting out of a violent, restless dream, Akane slowly opened
her eyes and sat up. Feeling her chest, she was puzzled by the fact
that it didn't hurt at all. She pulled down the front of her shirt to
take a peek inside . . .
"You are unharmed."
The calm, detached voice shocked Akane into pulling up her shirt
again as she looked beside her to see the bandaged Mousse staring at her
with his one red eye.
"Oh, Mousse . . . that's your name, isn't it? I thought I would
have died."
"But you didn't. You suffered a traumatic experience instead."
Mousse replied calmly.
Akane sweated as she stared at the boy due to his odd,
emotionless reply. Mousse stared back at her for a moment, then spoke
up again. "What made you decide to pilot the Eva?"
"Well . . . I . . . I eh . . . Daddy was trying to make YOU
pilot the thing, and I saw your wounds and how you can't even stand
. . . so I say to myself: why not? No use at getting back at Daddy only
to have you hurt."
"You piloted the Eva for me?" Mousse asked, as he stared
straight into her eyes. Akane blushed as she averted her glance.
"I . . . I guess you could say that . . ."
"Thanks." Mousse said, as a pleased but subtle smile spread on
his flawless face, giving it life. "You're the second person who had
sacrificed for my sake. For that, I feel happy."
"I . . . I'm glad," Akane said, still red as a beet. "Um . . .
so who's the first?"
Just then Hinako stepped in cheerfully. "You woke up,
Akane-chan! What a marvelous job you did today. Oh, and Mousse, the
Commander called for you.'
Mousse nodded and left. Hinako raised an eyebrow as she noticed
Akane staring after the boy.
"Got a crush on him already?" Hinako teased.
Akane shook her head rigorously. "Um-NO! What are you doing
here?!"
"Well, starting from today, you're a member of NERV, and as
such, your Father has asked me to take you under my care!"
Even though Akane didn't like Soun much, she still couldn't help
but ask: "I thought he would at least consider letting me stay with
him . . ."
Hinako looked apologetic. "Um . . . your father is kind of busy
man, and eh . . . there are other concerns . . . But hey, don't worry,
I'm a fun housemate! C'mon, I've got all your stuff transferred to my
apartment already, just wait till you see it . . ."
Akane sighed as she followed the overtly upbeat woman to accept
her new life.
* * * * *
Inside a private conference room in NERV, Soun and Mousse were
sitting across a table facing each other.
"So, Mousse, how do you feel about Akane?"
"She makes me feel important, much like you do, Sir." Mousse
said as he stared at the Commander's bandaged hand. Memories of how
Soun had pulled him out of the heated entry plug flashed across his
mind, warming it.
"What else?"
"She . . . she confuses me, Sir."
Soun looked thoughtful for a moment as if considering something.
He then spoke up again. "You may leave, Mousse. I wish you a quick
recovery."
"Thank you, sir."
As Mousse had left, Soun briefly think the situation over, and
decided to wait and see what will happen between his puppet and his
daughter. But even if Akane had managed to give him a soul, he still
had lots of backups to carry out his plan.
Just then, a pair of slender, shapely arms draped themselves
around him. Without turning his head, he already knew to whom they
belonged.
"Nodoka, how was the research regarding the mallet phenomenon on
Unit 01 going?"
The shapely arms began sliding off his jacket.
"I'll tell you . . . right after this."
End part 1
Feb 15, 1998.
Part 2
Walking to her new school alone, just as she had for everyday in
her old one, Akane couldn't help but took the opportunity to let out a
sigh. While it wasn't like she was exactly hated there, she was too
different from the other meek, fragile, "kawaii" girls of her age to
become close friends with any of them. As for the tougher of them, they
all wanted to challenge her as the "leader" of a scattered gang of
delinquent girls, thus never did took the time to consider her as a
potential friend.
Then again, she always was too thin-skinned when it comes to
facing an insult . . .
She thought back to the past week, and sighed again. It had
been . . . very eventful to say the least. First, she was suddenly
dragged off from her home to see the one man that she didn't want to
see. As if that wasn't bad enough, she was then forced into becoming a
Eva-pilot. And now, she finds herself being the housemate of one VERY
sloppy woman.
########################################################################
Akane looked on at the scene in front of her in awe.
"This . . . this is . . ."
"Why, it's my apartment, Akane-chan." Hinako replied cheerfully.
"Nice place, eh?"
In front of them was a dumping ground for beer-cans and potato
chip sacks. There were Pepsi stains all over the carpet and the sofas,
and to top it all off, there were at least thirty dirty dishes piling up
on the side of the dinning table. Akane could almost feel the fleas
crawling up her legs as she stared at the remarkable display of
untidiness in front of her.
"Now, since we are to be housemates . . ." Hinako said with a
slightly evil smirk on her face, "why don't we divide up the chores with
a game of Jaken?"
Akane somehow managed to lose so badly that she ended up having
to do everything.
* * * * *
"Err . . . so this is dinner?" Akane asked, staring at the cup
of instant noodle in front of her.
"Yep!" Hinako replied as she happy sipped some down from her own
cup. "How was it? I boiled the water myself!"
"Um . . . why don't I cook up something else to add to our
meal?" Akane asked comprehensively. "Instant Noodles tend to leave you
with empty stomachs at night."
"Oh, Akane-chan, you can COOK too?! YAH!!!!!" Hinako squealed
happily. "Bless the almighty one who sent here! No more instant
noodles for me!"
Akane shook her head and sighed as she headed for the kitchen.
An hour later, sometime after the meal . . .
Standing outside of the bathroom, Akane looked inside worriedly
at the sight of Hinako puking her guts out over the toilet.
"I'm so sorry! I really didn't mean to mistake that bottle of
gasoline as the cooking wine! Honest!"
"Urk . . . on second thought . . .aRGG . . . instant noodles
ain't so bad after all . . .URRRRGGGGGKKKK"
* * * * *
"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"
Still barely recovering from Akane's cooking, Hinako staggered
into the bathroom. "What . . . what's the matter this time,
Akane-chan?"
"There is a DUCK in the bathtub!"
"Oh-OOFF!" Pressing down tightly on her stomach to prevent it
from exploding with Akane's food, Hinako struggled to reply. "Please
don't . . aRGG. . . mind it. That's just Mu-Mu Chan, a type of new,
genetically engineered, hot-spring duck with extra-hi intelligence.
Mu-Mu chan, say 'Hi' to your new roomate."
The duck raised a wing at her as if waving, and Akane
hesistantly waved Back as sweat poured down her temples.
########################################################################
The situation was funny, but it surely wasn't fun. It was
amazing that such a woman could have the military instincts to take on
her high post as the chief NERV tactician. At least her personality
seemed pleasant enough to actually make living in that hellhole
tolerable.
And now, Akane had to transfer to Tokyo-3 high and start over as
a new student. While the martial-arts training that she got from the
kempo class had paid off, the idea of moving to a new environment still
stirred up bad memories that she had before she was combat capable.
Of course not, and those who did had all gained themselves much
worse than a black-eye and a sprained ankle.
Just then, she noticed somebody walking beside her, and saw that
it was the tall, handsome albino, now clad in a boy's uniform.
"Hi, Mousse." Akane said with a shy smile. Mousse nodded.
Akane blinked as she saw that Mousse's arm is no longer in a cast, and
that only his eye is bandaged now.
"You . . . you've healed, a lot."
"I did."
Trying to at least keep a conversation going, Akane spoke up
again.
"We're taking the same route to school, what a coincidence! You
live around here too?"
"I followed you." Mousse replied.
A little bit take back, Akane stammered. "Wh . . .what?"
As if alarmed by her uneasiness, Mousse asked with a hint of
worry. "Is my presence making you uncomfortable?"
"No . . . no, not at all!"
A relieved smile blossomed faintly on his face as Akane blushed.
"I . . . I actually prefer having somebody to walk to school
with." Akane said, smiling back. "I usually have to walk to school
alone . . ."
" . . . me too."
The conversation died out as two teenagers continued to walk to
school in silence.
* * * * *
Akane sat in her assigned desk at the school, looking at her
computer screen and trying to ignore the whispers around her. Every so
often, she stared wistfully at Mousse, who was staring out the window.
"Did you hear the rumor about the new girl?"
"Yeah, I heard she's the new Eva pilot, the third child or
something like that."
"Like Ayanami?"
"Brrr! That albino freak scares the **&^ outta me!"
"I think he is handsome . . ."
"You chicks have weird taste."
"The new girl is actually kinda cute, though nothing as gorgeous
as Shampoo . . ."
"Talking about Shampoo, has she found out yet? She's gonna-"
Suddenly, the door to the classroom burst open, showing a short,
but still leggy Chinese girl with a rich flow of violet locks and an
hour-glass figure that showed through the school uniform. With her
large, heavily lashed eyes flashing fire, she stormed up towards the
alarmed Akane. She was followed by a frail looking girl, who was
wearing a repeatedly braided ribbon on her spiky, medium length hair.
The second girl was trying to calm the first down.
"Shampoo, cool down, it wasn't her fault! It's a war out
there!" She put her hand on Shampoo's shoulder to restrain the furious
girl, and her hand was thrown off.
"Useless idiot pilot crushed building and put great-grandmother
in hospital! Shampoo trash!" Shampoo saw Akane, who was already
standing up. "You!" She stormed over to her desk. "You nearly killed
Hiba-chan!"
Akane, who DIDN'T want to pilot a Eva in the first place, didn't
back down from Shampoo's anger. Instead, she shot her an angry look of
her own as she used the Chinese girl as an outlet for her own
frustration. "You THINK I WANT to pilot that thing?! I was forced into
the position, you know!"
"Irresponisible pilot take beating!" Shampoo growled, and aimed
a punch at Akane's stomach with amazing speed. Akane managed to block
it, but was still pushed backwards and fell on her back as she tripped
on a chair.
Just when Shampoo was trying to stamp on Akane, her leg was
kicked down.
"Don't." Mousse said flatly as he stared coldly at Shampoo with
his red eye. Shampoo was about to hit the albino with her fist, but it
was stopped by another hand.
"Class president Herb!" Shampoo hissed.
Glaring at her, the long-haired (much longer than Mousse's),
exotic looking (and extraordinarily handsome) teenage boy glared at her.
"I've allowed you to flirt with all those boys in class despite the
regulations, but I won't let you start a fight in here." In a much lower
voice, he hissed. [You're bringing a bad name to us Chinese transfer
students!]
Shampoo glared at him defiantly for a while, then yanked her
hand away from the boy's fist. She gave a dark look to the angry Akane,
then sulkily went back to her seat. Just then the teacher came in and
the lecturing began.
Akane soothed her anger and looked at her laptop computer.
There, she discovered a message waiting for her:
**Sorry about Shampoo. She's worried about her
great-grandmother. I'm sure she will cool off and apologize soon. It's
war, after all, and these things happen. -Kurumi (over your left
shoulder)**
Akane looked over her shoulder and saw the girl who was trying
to calm Shampoo behind her. She smiled at Akane, and Akane allowed her
anger to drain away and smile back and typed a reply.
***It's alright. I guess I should be sorry about her
great-grandma, but the NERV people just shoved me in that thing without
any training!***
Kurumi squealed with delight as the rumors that went around the
school were finally confirmed by her message. "YES! You really ARE a
pilot!" she yelled, "I've FINALLY gotten an answer from a Eva Pilot!".
Immediately, Akane found herself surrounded by the other students.
"What's it like?"
"How were you selected?"
"How did they train you?"
"Were you scared?"
"How come they use teenagers like us?"
"Is the pay good?"
The class president, Herb, stood up as well and began yelling at
the crowd. "Sit down, you delinquents! Class is still in session!"
"Shut up, China Boy, this is important!"
"Stop being so bossy!"
The teacher looked on with a mixture of amusement and dismay,
and almost visibly relaxed when the bell for the end of class rang.
Herb stood up and made the standard 'Rise! Bow!' commands, but
everyone ignored him to keep on grilling Akane for some juicy
top-military secrets.
Mousse appeared to be staring at his book, but every few moments
his eyes would flicker over to the crowd around Akane. A soft frown
developed between his brows.
* * * * *
Meanwhile, Hinako and Nodoka are both having coffee at the NERV
cafeteria. Hinako stared at Nodoka for a moment, and said. "Your hair
roots are darkening."
Nodoka sipped her coffee. "Are they? Guess I'll just have to
have another dye-job again tonight."
Hinako sighed. "Seriously, I think you should just make it
black again. Red just isn't the color for oriental women."
"I hate the way I look with black-hair."
"Just as you hate the way you look in a kimono?" Hinako raised
an eyebrow.
"Just as I hate the way Mother look in a kimono." Nodoka replied
evenly as she sipped on her coffee.
"You really despise her, don't you?" Hinako asked. "You'd
rather make yourself up to look like some weird cross between a gaijin
and a Chinese just to look different from her. But why? Auntie Naoko
always seems so nice towards you . . ."
Nodoka smiled disdainfully. "She seemed nice because she NEVER
takes the responsibility to criticize me for my misbehaviors. She
wouldn't care less if I got dean's honor or simply flunked out of
school. That irresponsible woman isn't fit to be my mother."
The two old friends became silent for a while. Then Hinako
sighed.
"You know, about Akane . . ."
"What about her?"
"She's a nice enough girl, and we do get along, but I've got a
feeling that she isn't exactly satisfied with my. . . err . . . my
casual living habits."
"Of course she isn't. Which living being other than yourself
and Mu-Mu Chan is?"
"Hey!" Hinako protested.
Taking a delicate sip of coffee, Nodoka continued. "Anyway,
taking care of a teenager is all about taking up responsibilities.
It'll probably be a good lesson to someone as irresponsible as you.
Why, it might even force you into a situation where you have to lead a
more . . . orderly life style. If nothing else, it should give you a
motivation to clean the place up regularly to keep it sanitary."
"Nah, she fell for that Jaken trick of my, and is now doing it
all." Hinako smirked as Nodoka sweated. Hinako's smile dimmed again as
she continued to whine. "But still, easy for you to say: you don't have
to look out for none other than yourself." Hinako mutters and drowned
her coffee. "Still, I feel so incompetent! Oh, Nodoka, what should I
do?!"
Just then, a tired looking Soun Tendo walked passed the
cafeteria entrance, and Nodoka sighed. "How should I know? I feel
pretty much the same way most of the time."
* * * * *
Akane sighed as she ate alone under a tree in the schoolyard.
After satisfying their initial curiosity, they seem to want little to do
with her. She tried looking around for Mousse, but couldn't find him
anywhere.
Unknown to her Shampoo was couching on top of a tree, studying
her intensely as sweat poured down her temples. Kurumi, who was
couching by her side, looked bored.
"Well, are you going to do it or not?"
"Be quiet, Shampoo need concentrate."
"Look, I heard you made a vow to do it . . ."
"Shampoo know, Shampoo know! After all, she still have
honor . . ."
"Then what are you waiting for? Just go APOLOGIZE!"
Shampoo immediately clamped Kurumi's mouth shut. "Stupid girl!
No so loud! You not know how embarrassing this for Shampoo, especially
after she made big scene?!"
Kurumi pried the hand off her mouth. "What's the big deal?
Just tell her that you didn't realize that she hadn't had any training,
and that you're sorry for not hearing her side of the story first. You
know how much I want to be a Eva pilot myself. I WANT to make friends
with her, okay? Please do NOT screw this up for me."
"Alright, alright! Shampoo do as say!" Leaping down from the
tree, Shampoo put on her cutest smiling face. "Hiya, Akane! Nice nice
see you here . . ."
She stops as she realized that Akane had finished her lunch, and
was walking away toward the school building at the opposite direction.
"Wait, Akane-" Shampoo was abruptly cut off as somebody used the
back of her head as a spring board, driving her face-first into the
ground.
"Akane Tendo!" Mousse called out as he somesaulted in mid-air
and landed right in front of the startled girl. "Angel attack, come
with me at once!"
With that, the two ran away in the distance as Kurumi helped
Shampoo to get up.
[#^$^$%^$^$^+*!!!!!] Shampoo swore in Chinese.
Just then, Herb ran up to them. "The place is about to be
evacuated! Come with me to the shelters now!"
"Oh, can't do, class pres., we have to use the ladies' room.
Te-he!" Kurumi batted her lashes comically at Herb. Before the
confused boy could protest, she dragged Shampoo off to another direction
entirely.
"Hey! That not even school building! What Kurumi doing?!"
Shampoo asked.
"Please, just before I die . . . I . . ."
Shampoo looked bored. "Then what Kurumi take Shampoo for?!
Kurumi should take Herb!"
Kurumi looked disgusted. "NO! I want to see the battle between
the Eva and the angel!" Shampoo gasped.
"You insane! We get killed!"
"We're not much safer at the shelter anyway, C'mon! We owe it
to her to see her fight."
The Chinese girl groaned. "Shampoo have very bad feeling about
this . . ."
* * * * *
At the NERV control booth, Hinako looked nervous as Nodoka went
over the set up procedures with Akane over the communication link.
Finally, she couldn't help but ask the question.
"Should we REALLY allow Akane to take on this angel alone? I
mean, she still lacks actual experience in combat, and she hadn't been
able to do the mallet trick with Eva 01 since the last time."
"According to my experimenting on this phenomenon, the mallet
trick seemed to be a side effect of the berserker mode of Eva 01."
Nodoka replied as she shut down the communication link for a moment.
"If Eva 01 allows itself to be provoked enough and yet avoid being
destroyed, it still have a fair chance of defeating the enemy."
"According to the probability data, Eva 01 still has a high
chance of defeating our enemy on its own . . ." Kasumi supplied timidly.
Ignoring her, Hinako continued.
"But this can't be healthy for Akane in the long run. She still
hasn't fully recovered from the last time she went berserk! Why can't
we have Mousse help her out with Eva 00?!"
"Commander Soun had strictly forbidden the first child to pilot
until he has fully recovered." Nodoka replied flatly. "He said that we
can't afford to lose the pilot with the highest synchro-rate so far."
"Damn! What a monster, putting his own daughter through such a
hard battle alone . . ."
"In case you have forgotten, he's doing this for the good of the
entire human race!" Nodoka snapped. Before Hinako could retort, she
turned the communication link back on and ordered. "Launch unit 01!"
Hinako gritted her teeth as she saw Eva 01 being launched out
again. All she could do now was to do her job as the tactican to help
Akane through this.
"Okay, Akane-chan, listen to me. You still remember the
training session regarding how to use the rifle, don't you?"
* * * * *
Eva 01 was having a VERY tough time with the new angel.
It was barely humanoid, looking like some jellyfish with laser
whips as its tentacles. Even though it only had two, it was still very
effective in forcing Eva 01 to keep on dodging.
"I know how to use the damned thing, okay?!" Akane shouted to
the com link, "but how am I supposed to aim when I can't even stay still
for more than two seconds at a time? This is useless, I need to get
closer to it and take it out hand to hand-"
"Don't even THINK about it!" Hinako shouted. "The angel's laser
whips will cut you to pieces before you can even go that near! Besides,
even if you can get close enough, it will most certainly cut off your
power cord. Try to get further away from it this time then aim again!"
"Alright, I'll-WHAT THE?!?!?!"
Akane's eyes widened as she saw Kurumi and Shampoo running
towards them on the streets. Kurumi looked excited while Shampoo had
the good sense to look uneasy. The angel tried to whip at Eva 01 again,
and Akane's heart skipped a beat as she saw that the girls were going to
be in the path of the laser whip.
"No!!" Immediately Akane darted forward to save her classmates.
"Akane! What are you doing?!" Hinako shouted in horror as she
saw Eva-01 fly straight into the path of the incoming laser whip. In a
rapid motion, the Eva grabbed the stunned girls in its fist and tried to
leap away. However, before it's right leg could leave the path, the
laser whip cut through it like butter. Akane screamed in pain.
"Cut off the nerve links to the right lower leg at once!" Nodoka
barked to Kasumi, who immediately obliged. Akane's pain lessened, but
she couldn't balance herself enough to stand back up again. Holding the
girls, she quickly rolled to one side to avoid being cut in half by the
angel. Her power cord, however, was cut.
"WAAAAAIDON'TFEELSOGOODDDDDD!!!!!!" Kurumi screamed as her world
spun around in a tornado.
"THISALLBAKAGIRL'SFAULTTTTT!!!!!!" Shampoo snapped angrily as
she felt very much the same way.
"Power cord severed! Eva switched to internal battery with only
. . . Oh my, 4 minutes and 35 seconds left!" Kasumi reported.
"Akane! Retreat!" Hinako shouted.
"I . . . I'm not fast enough without my leg . . . YAHH!!!!" Eva
01 kept on rolling and scrambling on the ground to avoid the laser
whips.
"Look for an opening, Akane! Look for-"
"OH MY!!" Kasumi yelled, cutting Hinako off. "Eva 00 had been
activated!"
"What?!" Immediately, Nodoka opened up the communication link
to Eva 00. "Mousse Ayanami! What do you think you're doing?!"
"To defeat the angel . . . what else is there for a Eva pilot?"
Mousse's calm, but strangely determined voice flowed out of the
com.link, as Eva 00 flew towards the gates to the surface level where
Eva 01 was dodging the angel's attacks.
Nodoka looked furious. "Kasumi! Cut off power supply-"
"Hold!" Hinako cut her off. "Kasumi! Open the gates for unit 00
to ascend to ground level and aid unit 01!"
Seeing Eva 00 about to crush the gates, Kasumi hastily opened
it, then turn sheepishly to Nodoka. "Sorry . . ."
Nodoka sighed, then spoke to the com. link. "Fine! Mousse, go
ahead. Just do your best not to get killed out there!"
With that, Eva 00 shot out from the opening of on the ground
level and joined in the battle.
* * * * *
Inside an unlit room, Soun Tendo was seeing all this through
various motor screems. Tapping his bandaged fingers on the table, he
spoke to the empty room.
"So . . . the puppet had its own will after all, but it doesn't
matter. Kimiko, through him or the others, you will be freed all the
same, and we can be together again."
* * * * *
Akane was frantic as Eva 01 rolled and scrambled on the ground
with one arm and one foot (she was holding Shampoo and Kurumi with the
other) while narrowly avoiding the laser whips. There was only 3
minutes and 5 seconds left, and still, the whipping angel won't allow
for an opening for her to escape. Unlike the last time, however, she
was scared instead of angry, thus, she couldn't activate her mallet to
retaliate.
"The Eva can't escape efficiently `cause it's holding us!"
Kurumi said, and earned a whack on her head from Shampoo.
"This no will happen if you no want see battle! Now we drag
Akane down!"
Just then, a whirl of gigantic chains suddenly wrapped
themselves around around the startled angel, stunning it. Eva 01
immediately took the distraction to scramble away to a save distance.
Through its eyes, it saw a white coloured Eva restraining the angel with
chains coming out from its palms. Suddenly, a new voice entered the
com.link:
"Unit 01, retreat back to the underground now!"
"Mousse!"
"Unit 01, retreat!" Mousse shouted as he tightened the chains
around the angel. The angel tried to sever the chains, but failed as
the laser passed through it with little effect.
"Oh, my! The angel's laser has no effect on Unit 00's
self-created weapons!" Kasumi reported.
"The spontaneously appearing chains are apparently made of the
same sub-physical substance that Unit 01's mallet is made of. They are
generating a special protection field that can counter an angel's
attack!" Nodoka exclaimed.
Hinako's eyes widened as she saw the angel stopped struggling in
the chains, as realization came into her mind. "Mousse, jump aside!"
Mousse did as was told, and not a moment too soon, as the
enraged angel darted towards Eva 00 and whipped at it with its laser. A
large gash was formed on Eva 00's chest as Mousse hissed in pain.
Falling on its back, Mousse watched with curious detachment as the laser
whip came straight for its neck . . .
. . . and died out before it made contact, as Eva 01 had somehow
leapt over and crushed the angel's core with a gigantic mallet.
"The blue pattern is gone . . . the fourth angel has died!"
Kasumi reported excitedly. Hinako and Nodoka both let out a sigh of
relief. The latter gave out another order through the com.link:
"Go collect the carcass of the 4th angel and bring it to the
research lab. It is of great value to us."
"Hai!"
Hinako turned to Nodoka with a victorious grin on her face.
"Ha! See?! I TOLD you that we should have let Mousse help in the
battle today!"
Nodoka looked mildly peeved. "Why don't you say this to the
COMMANDER himself, CAPTAIN Ninomiya-SAMA?"
Hinako deflated immediately at the mention of the stern and
scary commander.
* * * * *
Inside the NERV hospital room, Akane was standing beside Mousse,
who was lying down on his hospital bed with his open eye staring up the
ceiling.
"Oh, Mousse," Akane spoke up in a soft, sad voice, "Why did you
have to disobey your orders for me? Now who knows what Daddy might do
to punish you?"
"I'll be alright." Mousse said. "Commander Tendo sees me as
being important. He will forgive me."
"How . . . how . . ." Akane took a deep breath and continued,
"how do you feel about me?"
"I feel . . .that I owe it to you to keep you from pain. It's
. . . it's a . . . peculiar feeling." Mousse said with a lost look on
his pale, flawless face.
Akane tentatively reached out a hand, and put it over Mousse's
larger, paler one.
"Where do you live?"
Mousse muttered an address, it was not too far, yet not too
close to Hinako's apartment. Akane spoke up again.
"Mousse . . ."
"Umm?"
"Starting from tomorrow, and every morning afterwards, I would
like to be there at your doorstep to walk to school with you. Would
. . ." Akane struggled to get the words out, " . . .would you like
that?"
Mousse turns his head to look at her with his uncovered red,
tender eye as his face glowed with a complete, happy smile. "I'd like
that a lot."
The two of them just stared at each other like that for a long
time, neither knowing what else to say, yet neither of them cared.
"Oh, isn't this cute?"
"Aiya! Akane defrost albino ice-boy!"
"Two Eva pilots in love, how romantic!"
Akane instinctively shot away from Mousse as the latter sat up
to look blankly at the intruders.
"What the HELL are you people doing here?!" She snapped, then
gave Shampoo such an intense glare that the Chinese girl gulped and
backed away. "And you! Wasn't it enough that you tried to hit me in
class? You almost got me killed back there!"
"Sham . . . Shampoo very sorry," she said in a wavering voice,
"She not know how Akane just being forced into job, and took out own
pain on Akane. . . Shampoo no will do nasty thing again, Shampoo
promise! Will . . . will Akane forgive Shampoo?"
Taken back by Shampoo's apology, as well as her sudden change in
attitude, Akane's anger deflated as she sighed. "Nah, cut it out! It's
alright, I might do the same thing if I were you."
Shampoo asked hopefully. "No hard feelings?"
Akane couldn't help but smile. "No hard feelings."
"Wah! Shampoo so happy! Now she have one more friend in
Japan!" The Chinese girl gave Akane a hug so strong that it was
testament to the Japanese girl's years of training to remain in one
piece.
"You know," Akane said as she pried Shampoo's hands off her.
"You were a pretty good fighter. I have been studying self-defense
kempo for years, and your punch still rocked me backwards!"
"Shampoo came from martial arts oriented village in China.
Hiba-chan village elder and strongest fighter, taught Shampoo neat
kung-fu!" Shampoo saddened for a while. "Apparently, kung-fu not good
enough in face of entire building collapsing on top of her."
"I'm sorry -"
"No, it okay. It no one's fault. Like Kurumi say, these things
happen."
The frail but cute looking girl took this opportunity to cut
into the conversation. "Oh, Akane, I didn't know what we would have
become if it wasn't for you saving us today. Thank you!"
At this point, Hinako walked in. She looked disapprovingly at
the girl, and said: "What you two did today was really stupid and
dangerous. It was truly a testament to our Eva pilot's abilities that
it didn't result in a tragedy." Kurumi lowered her eyes.
"Oh, it's my fault, I am just so OBSESSED with the idea of Evas,
and I dragged Shampoo along to see this fight . . . sorry about that.
Hey, Miss Ninomiya, you are a high ranking tactician in NERV, aren't
you?"Kurumi asked.
Hinako looked pleased. "Well . . ."
"Then, can you recommend me to pilot a Eva?!" Kurumi looked up
at her with starry eyes.
Hinako was startled as Akane looked incredulous.
"Kurumi! You don't know what you're asking! I would give
ANYTHING just to be a normal girl without having to pilot that thing!"
Akane said.
"Oh, you would? Hear that, Miss Ninomiya? Can I replace her?!"
Hinako scratched her chin. "Well, I'll talk to Nodoka do
conduct a synchronization test for you . . . wait, are your parents keen
with this idea though?"
"Oh, I'm an orphan! I live with my uncle and when I asked him,
he tells me to go right ahead and give it a try!"
"The synchonization test could be dangerous." Mousse said in his
usual calm, emotionless voice.
"I'll risk it if it means fulfilling my dream!" Kurumi
proclaimed dramatically.
"Simple-minded Japanese ditz." Shampoo muttered in a bored tone,
but the girl was too caught up in her excitement to hear her.
* * * * *
Walking through a dim, ill-illuminated corridor, she shuddered.
Damn her father! How could he place Mousse in such a run-down, almost
seedy looking place? As NERV's Chief Commander, his cheapness was truly
unbecoming.
It was then that the sound of the heavy machinery rocked the
place, as the construction workers began their work. Making herself
look as cheerful as possible, she knocked on the door.
"Mousse, I'm here!"
The door opened, revealing a completely healed, now even more
handsome, albino boy. His eye-patch was gone, allowing both of his
dramatic red eyes to shine against his pale face. He was already in his
uniform and carrying a school bag.
"Good morning." He said with a faint smile.
"Shall we go?"
"Uh."
As the two of them walked out of the building and away from the
noise, Akane felt infinitely better. No wonder Mousse is so quiet and
vacant all the time, considering he had to survive in that awful, noisy
slump of a home. Idly, she planned to ask Hinako to allow for another
house guest.
"Hey, Akane!"
"Nihao!"
Kurumi and Shampoo ran up to them.
"We thought you might want some company walking to school . . .
hmm, guess that you got some already." Kurumi finished slyly as Shampoo
elbowed Akane lightly by her side.
"Hey! It's not like that!" Akane protested.
"Like what?" Mousse asked, obviously confused.
"Umm . . . eh . . . oh hell! Mousse, just ignore them!"
"Akane nailed the ice boy, Akane nailed the ice boy,"
"I have stitches on me but I'm not nailed by anything."
"Ice-boy naive, Akane better teach him birds and bees soon."
"ARGGG!!!!!"
"I got A+ in biology last year."
"BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
And so, Akane and Mousse joined the two girls on their way to
school, all the while playfully bickering with each other.
Almost like a pair of normal teenagers.
End part 2
Feb 20, 1997.
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