Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Guest Performance ❯ Actors Strike! ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: I'm not Gainax. Eva is not mine. Thank you for your attention.




Time seemed to pass at a snail's pace that evening at the Katsuragi apartment. At first, Anja had tried to get into contact with President Takudo whenever Misato wasn't around. She had talked to Pen-Pen again and again until she felt like a complete idiot. And if she had interpreted the look in the animal's eyes correctly, the penguin had come to the same conclusion.

To distract her thoughts from the coming day the actress had begun to read one of Misato's books. Not surprisingly, considering Masaki's claims earlier in the day, Evangelion fanfiction was the only kind of literature in the household.

Anja had chosen some sentimental Ryoji/Misato romance, but not before scanning through the pages to make sure that it didn't contain any descriptions of Angel fights. One could see that the book had been read very often. The pages with the sex scenes looked especially well-thumbed.

But Sadao had made other plans.

He placed himself on the floor, leaning against the couch Anja was lying on and started to watch an action movie. Anja wasn't able to discover any plot worth mentioning in this film. To her it appeared to be just a sequence of Angel attacks, one after another stopped by Unit 01, always after Rei's and Asuka's mechas had been taken out within the first few seconds of the fight. Concentrating on her book became increasingly difficult.

Finally, the redhead placed it aside. "Do we really have to watch that stuff? This evening?" she asked rhetorically and began to study the TV guide.

"Huh? Yes, Schatz." Sadao was nibbling on his fingernails and staring at the screen, apparently not really paying attention to her.

Anja was still browsing through the TV magazine. "What about a Maya/ACC romance comedy instead?" she tried. She knit her brows. "Who is ACC?"

Suddenly Sadao turned around and put his arms on the couch left and right of Anja. He brought his face close to hers. "What about some serious NC-17 S/A romance instead?" he whispered seductively.

Anja sighed. "What about no?"

"What about ..."

Three things happened in rapid succession. The door to the living room opened. Sadao hit the ground after being pushed away. Anja grabbed the remote control.

Misato stepped into the room. She was wearing her uniform and ready to go somewhere. "Shinji? Asuka? I wanted ..." she began.

"I don't need your advice in finding a TV program, idiot," Anja yelled at a perplexed Sadao who was lying to her feet and rubbing his backside.

"Children," Misato stated in a resigned tone and shook her head. "What are you looking for, Asuka?"

Anja tried to remember some things she had seen in the TV magazine. "There is a thriller about a mysterious psychopathic killer murdering the NERV staff." She was sure that Asuka would like that film.

"That's not an appropriate movie for a young girl," Misato muttered, again shaking her head. She obviously still had problems with the concept of a grown-up Asuka. Anja was already fearing that after a few more days she too would begin to believe that she was only fourteen years old as well.

The Gainaxian woman took the magazine from the couch. She grinned broadly. "On ABC you mean? Sorry to spoil it for you, but the 'mysterious psychopathic killer' is probably you."

"What?"

"ABC is the Asuka Bashing Channel. Just press button 1."

Anja did so. The only thing on the screen though was a message indicating that the program couldn't be broadcast 'for technical reasons'.

Misato stared worriedly at the screen. "That was to be expected."

"Expected?" Sadao asked.

"There have been ... tensions since you arrived here. Bashing the pilots on TV would only make things worse at the moment." She studied the program again. "There should be an A/S romance series running now. Asuka, would you please switch to channel 9?"

Again the same message.

Misato grunted something unintelligible and threw the magazine back on the couch. "What I was going to tell you when I came in is that I wanted to personally check-up on the security team. I'll soon be back."

"Are we in danger?" Anja asked, perhaps hiding her fear a little bit less well than Asuka would.

"Don't worry too much." Misato left the room.

Suddenly something came to Anja. She jumped to her feet. "MISATO! Why did you put the Asuka Bashing Channel on program 1 of your TV?"

All she could hear was laughter and the opening and closing of the front door.

Sadao stood up too. "So, where did we leave off?" He attempted to wrap his arms around Anja's waist.

Anja pushed him away, albeit gently. "I said no, Sadao."

Sadao raised his hands in a mock surrender. "Okay, okay. I just think you should relax a bit. Misato said we shouldn't worry too much. And I tell you we should follow that advice." He grabbed the remote again and let himself fall onto the couch.

"Relaxing, yes," Anja mumbled and licked her lips. "I need a cigarette. Urgently. I haven't smoked for how many days now? Two?"

Sadao shook his head and put on a disappointed face. "I thought you quit."

Anja ignored him. "I need a cigarette," she repeated to herself.

"Your cigarettes are probably still on Earth."

Earth. Japan. This was the first time Anja was thinking about home since she had realized that they had been abducted. She asked herself what the people would think about their mysterious disappearance. What would they say when they went back? Would they go back?

"Let me think." Didn't the movie Misato smoke? When had that been? Which scene ... Anja snapped her fingers. "Misato's bedroom!" She turned around and left the living room.

Sadao followed her.

"What do you want there?" the actress asked.

"I'm just curious."

"I bet." She opened the door and looked into the room. "That was to be expected."

There was no square centimeter that wasn't covered with dirty clothes, empty beer cans, or empty fast food boxes. Anja tiptoed towards a bedside table next to Misato's futon.

Sadao lifted a pair of panties with two fingers. "If I would sell these in my fan shop ..." he thought aloud.

"Yuck."

"In a clean state, of course! Or ...?"

"Sa-da-o." Anja contemplated for a moment. "One second ... You never sold my underwear to fans, did you?" she asked, her eyes narrowed.

Sadao realized that his attempted joke began to backfire on him. "Of course not!"

"Swear it!"

"I swear! I swear!" Sadao cried.

Although not fully convinced, Anja's thoughts returned to the task at hand. She opened a drawer of the bedside table and rummaged through the contents. She indeed found the cigarettes but also a document with the words "TOP SECRET" printed in red across the first page. "What's that ..."

"All those panties Rinako permanently puts secretly into my pockets on the other hand ..." Sadao, not any wiser, decided to take another crack at the moment but noticed that his girlfriend - ex-girlfriend in Anja's and only Anja's opinion - wasn't paying attention. She sat down on the futon, reading a paper.

"Sadao, come over here. You should see this."

Sadao followed the same tortuous path to the futon Anja had taken and sat down next to her.

"This," Anja explained, "seems to be a kind of classified document."

"In Misato's bedroom?" Sadao asked doubtfully.

"She also spied around in the movies, right?"

"Only after Kaji's death. A Kaji doesn't exist here, does he?"

"Details," Anja retorted. She turned pages back and forth, trying to pick up the main parts of the long document as fast as possible. "It's about the Angels. NERV ... the government ... they seem to think that there is something fishy about the return of the Angel."

"Fishy? What do you mean?" Sadao intervened.

"I don't know. There's so much text ... Here is another hint that the Evas had been sabotaged. Their souls shouldn't have been so independent ... And nobody understands why they are using The Pilots ..."

Suddenly, the two actors heard the opening of the front door.

"Shinji? Asuka? I'm back!" Misato shouted from the corridor.

Anja stuffed the document back into the drawer. "We have to get outta here."

Sadao shook his head. "She will see us."

Steps could be heard from the corridor, heading for the bedroom.

"Quick," Anja demanded, "give me a plausible reason for us being here."

"You were looking for cigarettes."

"Give me a reason for us being here and not opening the drawer, dammit."

"We ... we ..." Sadao began.

"Misato's futon is rather broad," Anja said, giving him a strange look.

Sadao didn't understand this cryptic comment at first. "Yes," he replied hesitatingly, "much broader than my ... Hney! Nlet my nose gno ... nmpf."

When Misato Katsuragi opened the door to her room she was greeted by the view of a very red-faced Shinji Ikari pinned down on the futon by his fellow pilot Asuka Langley Soryu, who was holding his nose and kissing him fiercely. The view was slightly surprising - but not too surprising for somebody who knew the Holy Movies as well as Misato.

"Oh, I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" she teased them.

Anja broke the kiss and covered Sadao's mouth with her other hand to prevent him (or Shinji) from saying something stupid. This was one of the rare occasions where the Asuka inside her head fully agreed with Anja.

"Misato!" she shouted, giving a good performance of the bad performed embarrassment she expected Asuka to show in such a situation. "This perverted monster was trying to rape me!"

"And why are you lying on top of him ..."

"I was just defending myself."

"... and French kissing him?"

"I ... I ... eh ... because he tried to ... eh ..."

"... to put his tongue into Rei's mouth instead?"

Anja was very proud of her ability to blush on command. "MISATO!"

"Perhaps you should allow Shinji to breath now," Misato advised her. "His face is assuming a very interesting color."

"Oh." She removed her hand from his mouth.

Sadao took a few deep breaths. "Cnould nyou nalso nlet my nose gno?"

"Oh."

Misato sighed. "I'm too tired to think about an adequate punishment now. Asuka, you will go into your room and you will not leave it anymore today. And you better try to sleep. Tomorrow is your big day."

Anja stomped out of the bedroom, playing the sulking fourteen years old girl as good as possible for a twenty-seven years old woman. "Of course you're on his side!" she complained before she shut her door.

Inwardly, she was relieved. Misato seemed to enjoy the whole situation too much to think about why 'Shinji' couldn't 'rape' her in another room. And somehow Anja enjoyed it too.

Sadao and Misato sat down on the couch, trying to find another program. Even the action movie Sadao had watched before had been interrupted by now. It took less than ten minutes until Anja's shrill voice sounded through the apartment. "Shinji! Come here, I need your help!"

Misato couldn't possibly have amused herself more. "Oh Shinji, if you had just said something I would have stayed away for longer," she said between two gulps of beer.

Anja wasn't the only one of the Eva cast who could give her face a red color when needed. "It wasn't what it looked like."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure it was much better."

"IKARI! I'M TALKING TO YOU! ARE YOU DEAF?" Anja yelled.

Misato nudged Sadao. "You better go."

"Yes, Misato." He stood up.

"When you cry for help I'll come in and defend your innocence," Misato added between giggles as he reached Anja's door.

The redhead was nervously walking up and down in her room. "Listen, Sadao," she began.

"Misato, I'm leaving for a little while. I'll return soon," Sadao shouted from the apartment door about half an hour after he had returned from Anja's room.

The Captain stuck her head out of the living room. She put on a face as serious as possible in her now already intoxicated state. "Shinji, we can't allow you to leave the building. It's too dangerous at the moment."

"No, no. I just wanted to visit Rei."

Misato grinned lewdly. "After ten o'clock? Do you think that's fair to Asuka?"

"Misato, it's urgent."

"Yeah, yeah. When I was your age it was always urgent for the boys." She hiccupped. "If you want an advice: You have to learn some self-control."

"Misato! I'll be back in a quarter of an hour."

"And I have another one: Take your time. The girls will be grateful."

"MISATO!"

Rinako was lying on her bed, her hands folded behind her head. There was nothing in her apartment that she could have used to keep herself occupied.

"Sadao?" she greeted the actor without moving or even making an attempt to stand up. "To what do I owe the displeasure of your visit?"

"Anja sends me," he answered.

"Why? I can't remember doing anything bad to her."

Despite of Anja's constant lamenting, Sadao was convinced that his ability to take things lightly was a blessing not only to him but also to her. Especially when it came to those things that couldn't be changed. But if anything could make him angry at times then it was this woman.

"Anja sends me because that Misato woman has forbidden her to leave her room and because Asuka would never visit Rei anyway. We found something out, Paleface." He recapitulated what Anja had read in the secret document. "Now we want to know what you think about all that," he concluded.

Rinako seemed to ponder for a second what Sadao had told her. "We already know that the Evas have most likely been sabotaged. And that there is something strange about the Angel ... well, that could mean anything."

"And if we just confront Misato or Dr. Akagi with this document?"

Finally, Rinako brought herself into a sitting position. "They only tell us what they want us to know. They will just deny everything else in any case."

"How do you know?"

"Just assume it's a combination of instinct and common sense."

"And if we refuse to pilot? Don't you think they will send somebody else?"

Rinako showed a smile that transformed slowly into a broad grin. "Sadao Inoguchi would refuse to pilot a really cool mecha with really cool weapons in a really cool battle against a really cool enemy? I can't believe what I'm hearing."

"Yes ... no," Sadao answered unsurely. He shrugged. "Well, that's Anja's idea anyway. She worries too much as always. You think killing the Angel wouldn't be as simple as in the movies. But I hope that it won't be as difficult as in the movies. Come on Paleface, Dr. Akagi said it would be an easy job with the positron rifle."

Rinako did not comment on Sadao's faith in the scientist's claims. "Well, if Anja refuses to pilot they will perhaps just let her go."

"Fine."

Rinako stood up from her bed. "Fine? Sadao, you obviously still don't understand what's going on here. Have you been on the balcony this evening?"

"On the balcony? Why?"

Rinako's apartment lacked a balcony, but it had a window which she opened now. "Look and listen."

The only traffic that could be seen were two tanks rolling down the street below. After they had passed by, the faint sounds of gunfire and sirens were heard in the distance.

"If you ask me, Sadao," Rinako said closing the window again, "the entry plug of an Evangelion is perhaps not the most dangerous place for us at the moment."

At half past one Sadao was lying on his bed, still fully awake. He was worried below his careless surface, more than Anja believed even if perhaps not as much as she would have wished. But he was also excited when he thought about the next day.

Tomorrow he would throw a gigantic cyborg against an equally powerful enemy. An enemy that could bring an end not only to him but to the whole planet he now was on. A planet by the way, that was not Earth but circling another sun at an unknown distance from his home planet. Anja would have claimed that she had fully realized this situation and that she would therefore be able to behave appropriately. But that certainly wasn't true, Sadao was sure. Even she wouldn't really understand it at gut level before the battle began. Perhaps not even then.

The door was opened. The woman Sadao had just thought about became visible as a dark silhouette in the doorframe. She whispered his name.

"Come in, Schatz."

She kneeled down next to his bed. "You can't sleep either, right?"

"That's because I'm missing my playstation."

Sadao knew Anja long enough to almost feel her rolling her eyes in the darkness. "Sa-da-o."

"It's because I'm missing you," he tried again.

"Probably still not the whole truth but nice anyway." She took his hand. "I haven't apologized yet," she added.

Sadao was confused. "What for?"

"For holding your breath." Anja's voice became playful. "You idiot."

"You already took my breath away when we became a couple."

The redhead laughed. "As literally as today, yes."

"We had to redo the scene seven times."

"Eight. Anno was cursing like hell. And I hardly understood one out of five words at the time."

"Believe me, it was better that way."

"You messed it up on purpose. Just to kiss me again and again."

"You laughed every time."

"Because of the faces you pulled. After thirteen years you could finally admit it."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," the actor replied, not with an ironic tone but in well played confusion. Now both laughed.

Anja attempted to stand up. "I'd better try to get some sleep."

Sadao grabbed her arm. "Wait, Anja," he said in an earnest tone the actress very seldom heard from him. She looked at him expectantly.

"You're worried that I could do something stupid tomorrow that would put us all in danger. You think I'm childish and irresponsible. But when it really counts I'll be there for you. Up to now it just ... never really counted."

"Sadao ..."

"Our life was pretty easy since Eva, actually it couldn't have been easier. Only you were always worrying about trifles. But I know that the fight tomorrow will not be a trifle. And I will prove once and for all that you can trust in me."

"Sadao, you are not the Invincible Shinji. Do you understand that?" Anja regretted her words almost immediately. They sounded harsher than they were meant.

Sadao didn't mind. "I know. But I can still try and do my best, can't I?"

Nobody spoke for a few seconds.

"This is the point where the heroine reminds the hero that it may be their last night alive and has hot, passionate sex with him," Sadao finally remarked.

Anja smiled and lay her hands on his shoulders. She bend down and gave him a light kiss. "Good night, Sadao." She stood up.

"You know that I love you?" Sadao asked as the red-haired woman opened the door.

He saw her silhouette turn around. "I've never doubted that," she answered warmly. The door slid shut leaving Sadao in darkness.

Again, the pilots were sitting in the entry plugs of their Evas. But this time they would go into the battle. The bakelite had been mostly removed from Unit 00 and Unit 02, although at places where it wouldn't hinder the Evas' movement spots of it were still visible on the armor-plating. It was obvious that the technicians had been in a hurry.

The feeling inside the plugs was different now. The presence of the protecting souls of the Evangelion wasn't as easy to sense anymore as before. The loud prattle of the fangirls had been reduced to an almost inaudible sulking whisper. Dr. Akagi had fulfilled her promise as it seemed.

"Rei, Shinji, Asuka?" came Captain Katsuragi's voice. "We have five minutes left until the sortie. There is somebody who wants to talk to you."

The three pilots barely had the time to make surprised or confused noises before the face of President Takudo appeared on the holographic monitors of the entry plugs. "Good morning. I didn't want to deprive myself of the honor to personally wish you good luck on your mission. Please be assured that there isn't a single Gainaxian who isn't convinced that you will be victorious ..."

"Excuse me, Mr. President," Anja interrupted him, "but we are a little bit worried about the riots in the city. Our escort this morning had been reinforced again and ..."

"Ahahaha," Takudo laughed. "I wouldn't call these riots. Some citizens are just a little bit excited about your visit to Gainax and reacted overly emotional. But our security forces have the situation fully under control." He raised his thumb. "As I already said, the whole nation of Gainax is convinced that you will win this battle and ..."

Again, the president was interrupted, this time from a bodyguard who entered the screen from the left. "Sir, if the helicopter doesn't start now the Bitchslap won't be able to lift off before the Evangelions meet the Angel."

"Is my family already on board?" the president asked. The bodyguard nodded.

Takudo turned back to the pilots. "Please excuse me now, I have an urgent appointment. Politics, you understand." The monitors deactivated themselves.

After an awkward silence, Misato cleared her throat over the comm. "The Angel is approaching from the south-east. You will advance until you reach the last power supply station, plug in there, and take cover. Shinji will destroy the Angel using the positron rifle. That's all."

"And if anything goes wrong?" Sadao asked.

"The probability that something will go wrong is 0.0000001 percent, Shinji," Dr. Akagi intervened.

"You mean something will go wrong for certain," Anja screamed.

"Whining will get us nowhere," Misato said sharply. "Launch Evas!"

"I'm not whin..." Anja began before the force of the sudden acceleration took her breath away.

Mutsuko Ishimura and Masaki Hokusai were working together with a real Lieutenant of NERV. Sugita Arakawa was still missing, and the Gainaxians didn't seem to know his whereabouts either. That was at least what Captain Katsuragi and Dr. Akagi had repeatedly claimed.

Both Gainaxian women were talking to each other in whispers. Mutsuko tried to listen but could rarely understand a thing. It seemed to her that the topic was the violent clashes between S/A and S/R factions within the population. Even the words 'uprising', 'military revolts', and 'insurrection' were dropped.

Gonkuro was sitting several meters above them at his desk, his hands folded in front of his face as it was typical for Commander Ikari. He hadn't said anything up to now.

The main holographic display showed the tactical situation. The Evas had reached the surface and walked towards the Angel, using the buildings that hadn't been retracted into the geofront as cover. Soon they had reached the periphery of the inner city beyond which no power supply stations existed.

"Stay there," Misato commanded. "The Angel is 20 km away and approaching."

Anja wouldn't have guessed that the Angel was still so far away. Its enormous size made it appear much closer. Its spider-like movements seemed to be much quicker than in the movies although this could have been just an illusion due to her fear. For the umpteenth time since the Evas had been launched she tried to project an AT field, still without knowing how to and still without success. Not that it really mattered. She wouldn't have been able to face her enemy in a hand-to-hand combat. In fact she was already proud to be able to make her Eva walk without stumbling.

In Sadao's entry plug the targeting mechanism slowly came down on his face. The Angel was now less than 10 km away and almost close enough to make it harder to miss than to hit. Sadao pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.

"What are you waiting for?" Captain Katsuragi asked via the comm.

"It's not working!" He tried again to fire.

"Release the goddamned safety, idiot!" Anja shouted.

"I did already! I know this rifle. It's one of the most popular items in my fan sh..., I mean, NERV's armory."

Anja who knew Sadao suddenly had a terrible vision of Unit 01, staring into the gun barrel to find out what was wrong while fumbling around with the trigger. She had to do something.

Unit 02 jumped over to Unit 01. "Gimme that, idiot," Anja let her Asuka personality hiss. The Angel had almost reached the Evas by now.

Anja aimed and pulled the trigger. This time something happened. The positron rifle exploded in the red Eva's hands.

Anja cried out in pain and hid her hands under her ankles.

The crew of Central Dogma witnessed on the screens how Anja's mecha broke down to its knees and fell over.

"Asuka, Shinji, Rei retreat and regroup!" Captain Katsuragi ordered. Nobody reacted for a few seconds. Then the Angel was above Eva 02. Anja's screams echoed again through the giant hall as the acid the creature produced burned its way through the red armor of Unit 02's back.

"Maya, cut the neural connections, eject the plug."

Balthasar reacted. "Ts, ts." was the text that appeared on Mutsuko's monitor. "Does that woman really know the Holy Movies?"

"It's not working!" Mutsuko screamed.

"Yup."

"Shinji, Rei, retreat," Misato Katsuragi repeated.

Finally Sadao overcame his paralysis. Unit 01 left his cover and stormed towards the Angel. "Aaaanjaaaa!"

Dr. Akagi was delivering an incoherent explanation about 'Anja' being Asuka's lesser known middle name when Unit 01 ran into the Angel's AT field. The effect was the same as if it had hit a concrete wall. The Eva fell down, rose again, and attacked a second time with the same result.

Anja had stopped screaming. She was probably unconscious by now.

Unit 01 attacked a third time, and this time something was different.

"Eh ...", Balthasar typed, "you won't believe it, but ..."

"We're detecting another AT field! It's neutralizing the other one," Masaki shouted.

"What a cliché."

Sadao's mind was barely capable of rational thoughts anymore as he rammed against the invisible barrier another time. But some part of him still noted that he had broken through. Without reducing his speed he collided with the enemy that was attacking Anja. He drew his progressive knife and began to blindly stab the Angel's body again and again.

Rinako's voice brought the actor back to his senses. "I think you can stop now, Sadao," she remarked over a private channel.

Sadao looked down at the gigantic spider. The red core was shattered into pieces. Unit 02 lay half buried under the dead Angel.

"The blue pattern has vanished," Masaki's unbelieving voice came over the comm. "The target has gone silent."

"Anja? Anja, do you hear me?"

Anja found herself sitting on a chair in the middle of an otherwise empty stage. That changed as a chubby little red-haired girl appeared in front of her out of nowhere.

"Tah-dah!" she shouted and spread her arms.

"What's going on here? And who are you?" the actress asked confused, turning her head left and right.

"You have been knocked out, Anja. Your Eva-experienced subconsciousness decided that it was the perfect opportunity for some weird introspection scene. That's why I'm here. Don't you recognize me? It's me. I mean, you. Or better: your younger self."

Anja stared at the little child. "I was never that fat."

"Oh yes, you were. And you weren't constantly worrying back then."

"I'm not constantly worrying!"

"But only thanks to the efforts of your boyfriend."

"EX-boyfriend!"

The girl tapped impatiently with her right foot on the floor. "Our time is too short for this chit-chat, Anja. We have to talk about some really important issues."

"What for?" the real Anja interrupted. "I'm perfectly sane and need no pseudo-psychological advice."

"I won't comment on that. You're at least definitely quite stupid. Have you for example ever thought about ..."

Twelve very important people were surprised by the course of events.

SEELE 12 spoke. "The victory of the actors over the Angels was rather unexpected."

"Both our plan and that of our enemy has failed," SEELE 08 stated.

"And we're beginning to lose the control over the planet," SEELE 03 added. "Anarchy is spreading."

"It is not certain yet that our plan has failed," SEELE 05 disagreed. "It is very likely that our enemy will send another creature."

"Indeed," SEELE 01 supported the last speaker. "If NERV's latest reports are true, we will have another opportunity to carry out our plan even sooner than expected."

The crew of Central Dogma was celebrating their victory since the external scanners had confirmed the death of the Angel. Misato was walking around, giving out beer cans like a proud father does with cigars. These cans were apparently coming from a gigantic reservoir she had hidden somewhere deep inside the Magi computers.

"Will they take us back home now?" Mutsuko Ishimura asked Dr. Akagi who was looking at the main monitor. It showed the Evangelions entering the Geofront. Unit 02 was on its feet again but got support from the two others.

"Yes. After your job is finished," the doctor replied.

"Finished? But the Angel is dead."

"This Angel is dead, yes."

"You aren't trying to say ..."

"Look." The blonde pointed at several scales on Mutsuko's console. "That means that the sensors have detected another blue pattern."

"Oops. Unfortunately, that's true." Balthasar added.

Dr. Akagi looked at the happily celebrating crowd. She knew that her next sentence spoken over the comm would abruptly ruin the day of several dozens of people. Such opportunities were one of the reasons why she loved her job.

"Another Angel?"

Anja was again lying in the infirmary. Sadao and Rinako had just entered the room and were now standing on opposite sides of the bed.

"Yes," Rinako nodded. "It looks like the 14th. And it's much faster than the last one. The Akagi clone said it would arrive here in a few hours. She swears that the rifle will work this time."

"Two employees are missing," Sadao added. "Misato thinks that they've sabotaged the rifle."

Anja tried to stand up. She was feeling a little bit dizzy, but her legs seemed to carry her weight. The doctors had told her that she hadn't received any physical injuries. There weren't even any new effusions. She sat down again as Misato Katsuragi entered the room.

"Are you okay, Asuka?" the Captain asked.

Anja wasn't surprised about Misato's visit since she had asked the doctors to call her. During the time of her unconsciousness her younger self had called her attention to a few interesting points.

"Hello, Misato. It's good that you are here. I have a few questions."

The Captain looked bemused. "Questions?"

"Yes. To start with: Why doesn't NERV use their own pilots to fight the Angels?"

"SEELE said ..." Rinako began.

"We've seen NERV in action," Anja interrupted. "Apart from the sabotage it looks like a perfectly working organization to me. It seems unbelievable that they don't have trained pilots." She looked at Misato. "Right?"

Misato was obviously beginning to feel uneasy. "You wouldn't want us to send some rookies into the battle when we can use the combat experienced real pilots, like the great Asuka Langley Soryu." She looked back into Anja's eyes. "Right?"

Anja shook her head. "Misato, you're NERV's director of operations and have access to classified documents you hide in your bedroom - legally or not. Stop giving us the holy pilots crap."

The Gainaxian Captain took a seat next to Anja's bed. Her voice became business-like. "Okay, Ms. Siebert. You've got me."

Sadao stared at her, surprised. "You knew the whole time who we were?"

Misato shrugged and smiled. "I just thought that living together with Shinji and Asuka for some days would be more interesting than living together with Sadao and Anja. No offense."

Rinako grunted amused. "I wouldn't describe Sadao as uninteresting. In the same way I wouldn't describe a bludgeon to my head as uninteresting."

"I love you too, Paleface," Sadao replied sarcastically.

"Okay," Misato interrupted the beginning quarrel. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything you know," Anja just answered.

"That isn't as much as you might think. Yes, NERV has pilots but they disappeared shortly before you arrived. Yes, I know what SEELE told you regarding their reasons to kidnap you but that doesn't make sense. It would've been possible to clone copies of you within hours to fool the public, you know? Fourteen years old and equipped with souls that have a fitting ... mentality, even. And no, I don't know who sabotaged the Evas twice. Have I forgotten something?"

"What was so unusual about the Angel?" Sadao asked.

"Apart from the fact that it appeared a millennium after the last one? The patterns weren't exactly like they should be. There were theories within NERV that it was a new construction, not a regenerated Angel. And now, after a new one appeared within minutes after you had beaten the first it's at least clear that somebody sends them. More questions?"

"Sugita Arakawa," Anja simply said.

Misato looked at her feet. "I really don't know what happened to him, believe me. But I don't have high hopes."

The three actors said nothing for a few seconds. Sadao clenched his hands into fists.

"Could it be that somebody sabotages our efforts to force SEELE to bring back the pilots, the real pilots? And even tries to kill us?" he finally asked. Anja and even Rinako gave him a surprised and impressed look.

"If SEELE has the pilots and doesn't use them, for whatever reason, then they're playing a dangerous game, no doubt," Misato replied reluctantly. "They would put the whole planet at risk. You don't have to be a bad person to try everything to bring the pilots back. Even if it means to kill you all. I was already thinking along the same lines, Sadao. But still, it's just a theory."

"Thank you for being open with us, Misato," Anja said thankfully. "I'll be there as soon as the doctors release me. I just hope that this Angel will be the last."

"We all do," the purple-haired woman replied. "That means you will fight for us again?"

"Do we have an alternative?" Anja asked resignedly.

"Not really. But thank you anyway." Misato stood up and left the room.

Anja's resigned expression changed as soon as Misato had closed the door. "Do you believe her?" she asked her two colleagues.

"Yes," Rinako replied.

"I don't know. And you?" Sadao asked back.

Anja rubbed her chin. "I think your theory makes sense. Hell, even Misato could try to kill us if that brings back the pilots." The actress felt a bit guilty. She liked Misato and wanted to believe her. But at the moment she couldn't trust anybody. She stood up. "Where is my stuff? My dress?"

"Here," Rinako replied and handed her a bag she had brought with her. With only her and Sadao watching, Anja saw no problem in changing her clothes immediately. "I won't pilot that thing again," she said while putting on her shirt. "I'm going."

"Do you think that is a good idea?" Rinako asked her doubtfully.

"Do you have a better one?" Anja retorted.

"You're afraid," her best friend stated.

"Yes, Rinako, I'm afraid. I could have died out there. And you and Sadao too."

"That's right," Sadao supported her.

"But we haven't."

"It's easy for you to say that, Rinako. The Angel hasn't poured acid over your back."

"It wasn't your back, Anja. It was Unit 02's back," Rinako contradicted.

"Don't start splitting hairs."

Her best friend shook her head. "Do you think you can just walk out of the building? And where do you want to go? They don't tell us much, but I think the situation out there is getting worse. There are riots everywhere. The TV stations are sending just plotless happy-sappy movies. Mutsuko even heard something about revolting military. If they recognize you ..."

Involuntarily, Sadao's hand went to his throat.

"Yes, I'm going. We're all going. And Section Two will protect us." Anja took another item out of her bag that wasn't a piece of clothing.

A shrill voice sounded through the corridors of the hospital. "I SAID I WANT TO SPEAK THE MEDICAL SUPERINTENDENT! I AM A FUCKING EVANGELION PILOT. I PROTECT YOUR SORRY ASSES OUT THERE, DAMMIT!"

The chief physician arrived at the hospital room of Asuka Langley Soryu in a jogtrot. Two doctors were already standing in front of the door but the First and Second Child were refusing them entry.

"There is somebody who wants to talk to you," the redheaded pilot said, smirking arrogantly and pointing at the door.

The doctor looked around. "Who? The Third Child? Wasn't he visiting you too?"

The pilot looked at her fingernails. "He went for the washing rooms."

The room behind the door was dark. A rectangular solid was standing on the desk next to the bed, labeled 'SEELE 01'.

"I have an order for you," it thundered as the physician entered. "The pilots need the assistance of the hospital's security personnel on a secret mission."

"And?" Anja asked as the doctor had left and she and Rinako were helping Sadao up from under the bed.

"We're getting an ambulance, a driver, and four men security. And I have given him strict orders not to tell anybody at NERV about our 'mission'," Sadao answered, putting his SEELE action figure into a pocket. "He promised that they'll come for us in less than fifteen minutes."

Anja was satisfied. "Perfect. All we have to do is to hide somewhere for a few hours until somebody else fought that Angel."

The actress made a sound of relief, sat down on the bed, and looked at Sadao. She indicated him to sit down next to her. "I haven't found the time yet ..."

Rinako mumbled something about fresh air and left the room before Sadao could even blink twice.

"... to thank you." Anja smiled warily. "It seems I missed the important seconds but the doctors told me that you ..."

"I promised you that you could count on me, didn't I?" Sadao answered proudly. "Well, I also promised to show some responsibility and not to do something stupid. But it was impossible to keep both promises at the same time." He smiled and looked at her, puppy-eyed. "I hope you're not angry at me."

"Sadao, you're ..."

The actor inched closer. "That is the point where the heroine declares her eternal love to the hero and has hot, ..."

"... passionate sex with him, I know," Anja concluded. She shook her head but smiled also. She began again. "Sadao, you're ..."

He brought his face close to hers and looked into her eyes. "Yes?"

Anja leaned back to increase the distance between their faces again. "... behaving like always."

Sadao reduced the distance again. "Like the man who makes you laugh when you're worried."

Another retreat by Anja. "Or the boy."

And another approach by Sadao. "Whatever you prefer."

"Stop that, Sadao," she demanded half seriously, now already pressing her elbows into the bed to support her upper body.

"Stop what?"

"A few more centimeters and we'll be lying flat on the bed."

"Oh, really?"

The door was opened. Anja jumped into a sitting position, causing her head to collide with Sadao's.

Two Gainaxians entered, wearing the typical Section Two outfit. If they were surprised by the look of two Evangelion Pilots groaning and holding their heads they didn't show it.

"Please follow us," one of them said. "The medical superintendent and Pilot Ayanami have already explained the situation. Please be assured that we will do anything to protect you on this mission."

"Eh ... Thank you," Sadao said awkwardly.

"Yeah, yeah," Anja muttered. She looked around when they reached the corridor. Two more agents were standing here. "Where's the First?"

"Pilot Ayanami is already waiting in the ambulance," the agent replied after a split second of hesitation that neither Anja nor Sadao noticed.

The two actors and three of the bodyguards entered the back of the ambulance, the forth one sat down next to the driver. Rinako wasn't there. "Hey, where is Wondergirl?" Anja yelled at the agents as they closed the door. The van started immediately.

One of the agents took a folded piece of paper out of his jacket. "Pilot Ayanami has asked us to give you this message, Pilot Ikari," he answered and handed Sadao the letter.

Sadao began to read. "What is it?" Anja asked impatiently.

"Read it," the actor said.

"What does she say?"

"Just read it," he repeated.

Anja began to read. It was definitely Rinako's handwriting.

"Sadao!

I thought it would be out of character for Rei to instruct the agents to give this letter directly to Asuka, so you'll get it. But it's of course not really for you. So please pass it over to Anja. Now. Thanks.

Dear Anja!

I'm not coming with you. I think your plan will work and you'll hopefully be safe as long as you have the bodyguards. But there are still risks. I've decided to try my luck here. A 'stupid Wondergirl' would be in order now."

"Stupid Wondergirl," Anja muttered.

"I don't think that they'll let me pilot alone if they really have trained pilots. But if they haven't then somebody has to fire that positron gun, right? I didn't tell you this personally because I didn't want you or Sadao to play the hero.

The bodyguards think that I'm on a related but more dangerous mission. I explained to them that Asuka or Shinji may try to stop me and do the job by themselves (even if for quite different reasons) and screw their own mission up. Believe me, they won't allow it.

Don't worry too much and watch after your boyfriend. Good luck.

Rinako."

An 'EX' had subsequently been squeezed between the words 'your' and 'boyfriend'.

"P. S.: If your plan has worked so far you're probably already on a car train by now."

That was indeed the case. Nobody at NERV HQ had bothered to control a leaving ambulance car.

"Have you read that, I mean all of it?" Anja asked Sadao.

"Yes."

Anja shook her head. "Stupid Wondergirl."

The agent on the front passenger seat opened a little window to the back of the van. "We'll arrive at the surface soon. If you inform us about our destination now we'll be able to avoid the most dangerous areas," he said. "I must advise you not to enter the combat zones in the eastern parts of the city if possible."

Sadao opened his mouth. He wasn't really planning to say something but he thought that Shinji should at least attempt to speak before Asuka would interrupt him. Which, of course, was exactly what happened.

Anja could only guess how these 'combat zones' exactly looked like but it was probably really a good idea not to enter them. "Just head westwards, leave the city on the shortest route, and avoid population centers," Anja answered in an arrogant tone. "You'll get more information as soon as it'll become necessary, but not beforehand."

"Yes, Pilot Soryu."

Anja and Sadao couldn't talk while the bodyguards were listening and Asuka and Shinji didn't have anything to say. So they remained mostly silent during the trip. Some time after they had left the city they suddenly felt the car slowing down.

The agent in front opened the little window again. "There is a NERV helicopter blocking the road. They're signaling us to stop."

Sadao and Anja exchanged a glance. Anja shrugged. "It could have worked," she said down-heartedly as they left the car.

Misato was standing in front of the helicopter, her arms crossed. "That was a very stupid move."

Will Anja and Sadao be forced to fight the next Angel? And is it really the last this time? What exactly is the plan of SEELE, and who is their enemy? Some of these questions will be answered in the next chapter:

Author's notes: If you didn't understand what SEELE 01 is doing in the hospital because you've read too many other fanfictions since chapter 2: Take another look at that chapter. The scene you need is near the end.

The story is now almost finished. All we have to find out is who is The Evil, what's the meaning of its symbol, who shot Sugita, who was the girl on the bed (Oh, come on!), who sabotaged the Evas, what's SEELE's plan, what's inside of room HA 1-25, and other things I don't remember at the moment. I tried to answer all these questions in a single (albeit long) chapter. It however turned out to be so long that it was better to split it. That means there will be six chapters altogether.

As always, the list:

Rinako Asuhara - Rei Ayanami

Sadao Inoguchi - Shinji Ikari

Anja Siebert - Asuka (Langley) Soryu

Gonkuro Itagaki - Gendo Ikari

Sugita Arakawa - Shigeru Aoba

Masaki Hokusai - Makoto Hyuga

Mutsuko Ishimura - Maya Ibuki

Prereading was done by ChiRho and XXXG-00W0 and I'm grateful as always.