Thanks to my pre readers : James Lee, Lord Talon, Thomas Scroggs, Angeline Jacoba, Alfred Tsang, Octavian, Murmur
Evangelion/Ranma 1/2 : Past/Future Chapter Six Created by Long Ngo Started May 11, 1998 Finished May 26, 1998 Revised May 27, 1998 Revised May 31, 1998 Revised June 2, 1998
*Why does it have to be water?* Ranma inwardly moaned. *I'm stuck in a test tube and I'm naked, Arg!*
"Are you ready Ranma?" Ritsuko asked.
"I hate tests. I hate hospitals. I hate this stupid stuff I'm in. I would rather eat Akane's cooking than be surrounded by this stuff." Immersed in his own thoughts, Ranma didn't notice that he was shouting.
Big sweat drops appeared behind Ritsuko and Maya's head. *Who is Akane?* they both thought.
"Uh Ranma? Ranma? Ranma!" Ritsuko having no success getting Ranma's attention. *This is pointless. There is no way of getting an accurate sync reading when he's like this.*
"May I try ma'am?"
"Go ahead Maya."
With a mysterious grin, Maya opened a channel from her console to the plug Ranma was in. *I don't want to embarrass Ranma too badly. Better give him another chance.* "Ranma? Ranma!" Maya getting no response, *Guess he asked for it.* "You know something Ranma? Your birthday suit is so attractive. What will Asuka and Rei think when I tell them about how muscular you are under all those everyday clothes?"
Inside the plug, Ranma was still not obvious to the real world. "I still can't believe I'm naked," Ranma muttered. *Your birthday suit is so attractive? Nani? What am I thinking? What will Asuka and Ayanami think ...* "Ack!!!" suddenly realizing that he wasn't the one saying that. Looking into the control room, he saw Maya grinning. "What are you doing peeking in here?" Ranma shouted.
"He's all yours ma'am." Maya was still grinning.
"Thank you Maya. What did you say to get his attention anyways?"
"I paid him a compliment on his natural attributes."
"Oh?" Ritsuko was a little curious.
Ranma was now blushing beet red. *Can't believe there are so many weird females in the future,* he complained to himself.
"Now that I have your attention, lets start the tests."
"Yes ma'am," Ranma replied sarcastically.
"Ranma!" Ritsuko was getting a little mad.
"I'm sorry! Can we please start the tests now?" *I don't want to stay in here any longer than I have to.*
"Start the test Maya," Ritsuko instructed.
"Yes ma'am. Starting synchronization tests. Amazing!! You have to look at this ma'am."
"What is it?" Ritsuko went to look at the readings. "My God!" In front of her were the relative sync rate readings for Ranma. Using pressure and small electromagnetic burst in the LCL to determine the extent each pilot's psych could handle, the information was then sent to the Magi to determine the hypothetical synchronization rate. This process was very successful having only a 0.00001% error rate. Looking at Ranma's sync rate, Ritsuko knew something wasn't right. *How can his readings be this high? How can Ranma be at 95%?*
"Is something wrong?" Ranma was curious at the reactions from Ritsuko and Maya. After talking to Rei about why his Eva wasn't performing as well as hers, she explained that his sync rate, being 28%, was extremely low. The bare minimum being 25%. *I can't have gotten worse, can I?*
Looking up at Ranma, "Everything is fine. You are done for today." Ritsuko was still a little stunned at the results. *What is he?*
"Yatta!"
After 5 hours of tests, some which he never knew existed or wanted to remember, he was finally free.
* * * * *
"Why are we throwing a party for him?" Asuka fumed.
"You mean Ranma?" asked Shinji. "Well, Misato wanted a party and I want to make Ranma feel welcome." *Especially after hearing about the last Angel attack. Can't let Asuka know about Ranma's sync rate. Still can't believe it was only a 28%*
"I never got a party," Asuka complained. *How come that insensitive jerk gets a party and I didn't?*
"I didn't like you then. I also thought you were arrogant." *You still are.*
"What? Why would I care if liked me or not?"
"I didn't respect you," he calmly explained.
"You don't respect me?" she shouted. Asuka was a little shocked at the new Shinji that sprung up over-night. She hated the fact that she hadn't been able to force Shinji to do a single thing she wanted the whole day.
"I said then! Then, meaning past tense."
It took Asuka a little time before Shinji's statement sunk in. *What was past tense? The part he liked me or the part he respected he?* "Stupid Shinji," was all Asuka could mutter.
Shinji caught Asuka's muttering and smiled. After his talk with Ranma and meeting his mother, he discovered that running away or letting other people control your life didn't solve anything. In Ranma's case, he had been stuck with four fiancées and engaged to many others he didn't know about. As for himself, he decided to be more assertive and not let people push him around so much anymore.
A knock on the door stopped the argument from going any further downhill or uphill. Opening the door, Shinji could only shake his head in disbelief. Taking the pad and authorizing the shipment, he closed the door. "Misato! Your beer is here!" shouted Shinji. *All 15 cases of beer. The only adults who were going to attend were her, Kaji, and Ritsuko. Three adults can't drink this much alcohol. Can they?*
* * * * *
Ayanami Rei, First Child and pilot of Evangelion Unit 00, was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
* * Flashback * *
"Why don't you smile more?"
"Kawaii!"
"Ki is the force within."
"Reach deep within yourself and use the emotions you find there."
"Thank you," Ranma smiled.
*Thank you. Why does those two words fill me with contentment?* Rei thought.
* * End of flashback * *
Ranma was unlike anyone she had ever meet before. Not only did he possess incredible powers but he was the only person, other than Ikari-kun, to make an effort to understand her. The difference was that Rei felt comfortable around Ranma where she did not with ikari-kun. Looking down at her hands, Rei remembered the new sensations she felt the other day.
* * Flashback * *
"Would you like me to show you how I did it?" Ranma asked. He was bored and the silenced that filled the room was making him uncomfortable.
"Hai." Rei knew that Ranma was going to demonstrate how he had saved her from the last Angel. It was the only subject they had talked about since Ranma woke up.
Cupping his hand in front of him, Ranma started to concentrate. *What are my limits now that I am younger? I can't believe I miss Ryouga.* A faint, flowing aura surrounded Ranma. Soon a blue ball of energy was emanating from Ranma's outstretched hand.
Curious, Rei started to reach out and touch it but stopped right before contact and looked at Ranma's face. Seeing him nod, Rei touched it. The faint glow that was surrounding Ranma started to seep up Rei's hand. She suddenly felt happy, sad, confident, angry and a wide range of other feelings. Realizing that these were Ranma's emotions, she closed her eyes and opened herself up to these new sensations.
* * End of flashback * *
Before that moment, Rei had never experienced any emotion other than the need to please the man named Ikari Gendou and then his son Ikari Shinji. In a way, she thought that by following their suggestions and orders, it might have brought her one step closer to understanding why the people around her behaved the way they do. Now, having met Ranma, she understood. They were governed by their emotions and desires. Ranma had showed her how powerful these new feelings could be.
* * Flashback * *
"Do you want to die?" Ranma asked angrily.
* * End of flashback * *
"Not anymore. I am now unique and I can not be replaced." Looking at her closet, Rei decided to go out and buy some new clothes for the party.
* * * * *
"Has Doctor Akagi discovered anything new about the boy?" asked Gendou.
"Yes, something very interesting has come up." Fuyuzuki answered. "It seems like the Fifth Child has a hypothetical sync rate of 95% according to the Magi."
"Truly interesting. Anything else?"
"Saotome reported that he was a martial artist of an extremely high caliber. From the tests that young Saotome underwent, I quote from Dr. Akagi, 'I wish I had his metabolism and cholesterol level.' One thing still bothers me. If the Magi says his sync rate should be 95% then why was it that his sync rate was only 28% during the last battle?"
"That is just another mystery to that needs to be solved. I want you to contact Ryoji for me. I have a job for him."
"Is that all?"
"Yes."
To be continued: