Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Mst: Children of an Elder God ❯ ch1 ( Chapter 1 )

Standard Disclaimer!!!

It's been about a year since I last said this but... I GOT THE GREEN LIGHT!!

Yes that's correct, I got the green light for the mst of Children of an Elder God. This will be the second mst saga I'm going to do, and it will be a massive undertaking!

In chapter length and number it overshadows TOILI, so take plenty of breaks, drink plenty of fluids and keep yourself entertained!

And as always I don't own the rights to the story or eva so...don't look to me for legal matters.

Enough of this banter let the SECOND MST SAGA BEGIN!!!

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Shinji: Wow...it's been about a year since this whole movie business got started.

Misato: It been a year already, and you just keep add more to the following don't you.

Shinji: Misato-san...Not like I planned it.

Asuka: We just had a movie part and Baka finally admitted he loved the vision of beauty before him.

Rei: Yes, me.

Touji: Now Mana and Hikari too...lucky bastard.

Maya: Shinji-kun really is quite the ladies man.

Asuka: Lets have another movie party, I mean summer vacation is coming to a close, why not have another to celebrate?

Rei smiled slightly: And the others are gone.

Misato: You just want him to yourself don't you Rei?

Asuka/Rei: Why wouldn't we?

Shinji: Where are the others?

Touji: Well, Hikari and Mana took um...Rei's sister out shopping and Kensuke went to take photos'.

Maya: Photos?

Shinji blushing: They didn't say what stores they were going to did they?

Asuka: Looking for birthday presents for you baka 'smiles mysteriously.'

Misato to Maya: Still never learned what happened in my room on Rei's birthday.

Rei: I have a movie collection we could watch.

Asuka: Hell no, I don't want to watch a saga that YOU pick, just be you and MY Shinji all mushy.

Touji: Calm down devil, not like you can pry him away from her alone either.

Maya: If she did...she'd still have to fend off three others, but I have a movie.

Shinji: Really Maya-chan, thanks!

Asuka and Rei exchange looks...still not really buying the 'just friends' bit.

Misato: I say we watch it, how long is it Maya?

Maya: Well, I'm not really sure but its pretty long.

Misato: I'll call Ritsuko and tell her to cancel tests for next few days and we can take vacation time...'smiles.'

Maya: Good, I'll key up the movie.

Shinji: I'll make some snacks.

Asuka/Rei: I'll take my seat.

Touji/Misato/Maya look as Asuka and Rei take opposite ends of the couch and...defend the center seat.

Misato: Could I order them to let me sit?

Maya: They wouldn't listen.

Maya keys up the first installment as Shinji returns with drinks and popcorn...and notices the only open seat is right were the whole mess started, right between Asuka and Rei. He happily takes his seat.

Maya hits play and the movie starts.

(Look Fo! >>> to designate MY comments :) )

Children of an Elder God, Part 1March 21, 2014:

Transcript of the Last Transmissions of the Long-Smith

Expedition

Dr. Clark A. Smith: Can anyone hear me?

Home Base (Sandy Peterson): We read you, Dr. Smith.

>>>Misato: Danger! Danger Will Robinson.

>>>Kids: What?

>>>Misato/Maya: You kids don't know classic television?

Dr. Smith: We've reached the edge of the chasm reported by

that spelunker. This thing is HUGE. Dr. Long is setting up

the measuring equipment with Mr. Derleth's help. [pause]

Now where has that Carter boy run off to again...

>>>Rei: This is a horror movie is it not?

>>>Maya: How could you tell?

>>>Rei: The obvious set up and the soon to be found dead 'Carter boy.'

Home Base (Sandy Peterson): Is he acting up again?

Dr. Smith: He was so impatient on the way in here that

he nearly fell to his death four times.

>>>Asuka: If he wants to die that much why not let him fall?

>>>Misato: The forms for accidental death are enormous.

Anyway, [pause] Strange, I just heard a noise somewhat like...Ugh!

Home Base (Keith Herbert): Is something wrong?

>>>Shinji: He's dead.

>>>Touji: Wow! Body count already.

Dr. Smith: There's a veritable ocean of cave crickets

sweeping across the floor as if the hordes of Hell were

after them or something. Anyway, the caverns seem to

be made of basalt, which makes little sense, given that

Oklahoma isn't exactly noted for its volcanic activity.

Going to take a sample... [banging noises] Now I...

>>>Asuka: Oklahoma!

>>>Rest: NOOOOOOOOO! The U.S.! Barbarians!

[There are faint screams in the distance]

Home Base (Speaker unidentified): What the hell was

THAT?

Dr. Smith: Dr. Long, what's...oh, shit.

>>>Asuka: Well Maya you seem to like death a lot.

>>>Maya: About that...

Home Base (Keith Herbert): Dr. Smith? What's wrong?

Are you having a cave in?

Dr. Smith: [loudly] There's some sort of bridge across

the chasm, and something is coming across it. Dr. Long is

playing the arc light across...holy shit! How...How can

that thing support its own weight?

>>>Rei: That is disturbing.

>>>Shinji: WHAT IS IT!

Carter, come back here, you idiot!!!

[sounds of more running and screaming]

Home Base (Sandy Peterson): What is it? What's going

on?

Dr. Smith: Spiders! Everywhere! And

a...AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

[More screams, then silence except for a noise almost

like raindrops splashing on stone]

>>>Misato sets her beer down: That's a lot of blood.

>>>Asuka: I take it as mission failed?

Home Base (Unidentified voice): Dynamite the cavern

entrance.

Home Base (Sandy Peterson): But that will seal them in

with...whatever that was.

Home Base (Unidentified Voice): Do it. I'm going to

contact headquarters.

>>>Shinji: Bet that's my dad.

-*-

"So it has begun," the old man said to his younger

one-time protege, who by the whims of fate was now his boss.

>>>Misato/Maya: Gendo and Kozo.

>>>Asuka: Evil as ever.

"And the day shall come when the endless weaver

shall complete his creation and cross the abyss which

shielded the world from him and once more gaze upon the sun.

And he shall sound the call, awakening his ancient enemy

friends to come forth.

>>>Touji: Enemy friends, sounds like you two.

>>>Asuka/Rei: Never insinuate that again!

>>>Shinji cringes as the pair both shoot out and flick Touji's ears.

The heights will sink and the deeps

will rise; the veils will be parted and what is known will

be occulted; the dead shall walk and the living shall die,"

>>>Maya: Why the performance, why not just say the world will be topsy turvy?

>>>Misato: You want the Commander to downplay something?

the younger, though not young, man said, resting his chin on

a gloved hand and adjusting his glasses with the other hand.

>>>Shinji: Why doesn't he contact lens?

>>>Asuka: Or at least a strap to hold them on his face.

"If the Hippies had understood the true meaning of the

dawning of the Age of Aquarius, they would have shot

themselves."

>>>Maya: It would be odd if the hippies understood ANYTHING.

He laughed faintly and stood. "If you will

pardon me, I must write a letter."

"What should I do about the Long-Smith expedition?"

"The usual coverup.

>>>Misato: Plane crash in the Andies?

>>>Shinji: Turned into a boy-band?

>>>Asuka: Got sick of his bastard ways and quit?

And keep me informed on the transmitter. Assuming Carter did his job right."

"Well, we are getting a mobile transmission, so it

got attached to SOMETHING," the older man said.

"Get me a speed and direction estimate then. And

pray it doesn't just wander around underground for a few

months, letting the batteries run out. Good day." He

departed.

>>>Rei: The Commander seems different.

>>>Shinji: He expects to have luck.

-*-

John Biles & Rod M. Present

A Neon Genesis Evangelion Elseworlds

Children of an Elder God

>>>Misato: Um...Aren't ALL God's 'Elder.'

>>>Touji: You'd think.

Chapter 1: The Stars Are Right

"How shall a man know his gods?"

"By the signs of their divinity."

"And what if thieves walk among the gods?"

"Then, indeed, how shall a man know?"

>>>Asuka: If the 'god' steals from the other 'gods' I think we found the thief.

>>>Rei: That was a medophore.

>>>Asuka: Like you'd know!

>>>Rei: Better than you would.

>>>Others look at Shinji as the two converge towards each other, all thinking that this may not be the best Idea.

--"The Aztecs" (Dr. Who, First Season)

-*-

Shinji's memories of his arrival in Tokyo-3 were

fixed in the first seconds of his arrival when a spider

landed on his nose. It had been floating through the air,

held aloft by a gentle breeze and by a tangle of webs that

bore some resemblence to a parachute made by MC

Escher.

>>>Shinji: Don't I just have the luck of the Ancients.

>>>Asuka: MC Escher...spider has odd taste.

As he stepped off the train, the breeze blew it

onto his face. Many people would have screamed or

hurriedly slapped it off his face. Shinji simply blinked

and stared at it.

>>>Rei: Has he ingested depressants?

>>>Maya/Misato: Damn spiders.

The train doors closed and it pulled out of the

station. Shinji ignored it, focused on the spider. It sat

on his cheek and stared at him.

>>>Asuka: How could a spider NOT stare at him?

>>>Touji: Wha?

>>>Asuka: It can see all around itself as ALL times.

He stared back in a

contest rigged against him, since his opponent had no

eyelids. Slowly, Shinji put down his suitcase and raised

his hand, brushing the spider onto his other hand, then

putting it down on the ground. It scampered away, and he

smiled a little smile for the first time in days.

>>>Asuka: All that effort for a creature that has a 5 day life expectancy.

>>>Shinji: Small things in life bring me joy.

"Kind to animals?" a woman's voice asked.

>>>Rei: Incorrect, the spider isn't an animal, it is an insect.

Shinji blinked and looked up. A woman was staring

at him through mirrored sunglasses.

>>>Misato: So how can he know the woman is staring at him?

>>>Shinji: Maybe I can see through mirrors?

She didn't look like

someone who would work for his father; she looked more

like an idol singer, dressed in casual, but sexy clothing,

with a figure of the kind that Shinji was just now

starting to notice.

>>>Misato smiling: It's me.

>>>Maya: With that introduction who else could it be.

>>>Shinji: 'She has a figure a unick would notice.'

It wasn't her clothing or her body that

drew his attention, but rather the strange necklace she

wore. The chain was made of gold, while the pendant

mixed silver and bronze, tracing out a sort of broken five

pointed star with a tongue of flame in the middle made

of copper.

>>>Touji: Got rid of the dumb silver cross.

>>>Misato: Suzahara, I happen to love my cross.

>>>Touji found himself unable to speak.

Shinji normally wasn't much for abstract art,

or any kind of art for that matter, but it caught his

attention and wouldn't let it go.

>>>Asuka: And the fact its right in front of her chest doesn't affect things?

>>>Shinji: NO! NO it...I didn't even notice...

Since it was hanging just above the top of her

cleavage, the woman drew the wrong conclusions from

his stare, but she just smiled. "Earth to Shinji. Come in,

Shinji."

He blinked and looked up. "That's a...what is that?"

>>>Misato: It's a sign that I've become a woman, and a sign of inadequacy in others.

>>>Maya: 'Don't I know it...it's not fair!'

"My father found it in Polynesia during one of his

expeditions. I like it."

Shinji nodded. The pendant was oddly comforting.

"You're Captain Kusanagi?"

>>>Rei: No, she preferred therm-optic camofluage.

>>>Asuka: And was a robot.

"Captain Katsugari. Captain Misato Katsugari." She

put out a hand. "Nice to meet you."

Shinji stared at it for a second, then shook her

hand. Not what he had expected at all. Much better,

really. "So why does Father want to see me?"

>>>Touji: Yes, if you think being forced into a giant robot is 'seeing.'

>>>Rei: He is enjoying the Major's company too much.

>>>Misato: It's captain right now, but men flock instinctually to me.

"Come with me, and all will be explained." She

looked around. "Where's your luggage?"

"This is it," he said, holding up the one suitcase.

Her response was cut short by her nearly jumping

out of her skin. "Aaah! Spider!" She yanked it off her

shoulder and stomped on it. "Damn bugs."

>>>Touji: Well there goes his good effort for today.

>>>Maya smiled: A dead spider is a good spider.

"You didn't have to kill it."

"I hate bugs."

Two more spiders drifted by. Shinji said, "I guess

you must hate this town, then."

"Follow me." She started to head towards the

parking lot. "They're not normally so bad."

>>>Asuka: I've never seen a flying spider in my life.

>>>Misato: Haven't been in the Geofront enough yet.

The car was nice, very nice, a sports car. It was

blue, a color Shinji liked,

>>>Rei smiled as Asuka's eyes grew narrow.

and it was probably more

expensive than the house he had lived out his life in.

Well, maybe not quite that expensive, but he was sure it

had cost more than anything he or the housekeeper who had

raised him could have ever afforded.

>>>Misato: And it's RUINED! Damn insurance company stopped coverage!

It only had one

flaw; four spiders were having a race to see who could

cover the windshield with webs faster. Misato cursed

and ran over, unlocking the car, opening the door, and

jumping in- in one fluid motion.

>>>Maya: Don't like the laws of physics much?

>>>Misato: Tell that to the spiders, how can they move that fast!

The windshield wipers and twin water jets put an

end to the spider art competition, laying waste to their

work. The artists themselves scampered for cover, and

two of them quickly fried when they foolishly fled into

the engine.

>>>Asuka: I feel 'so' sorry for them.

>>>Shinji: That help or hinder the engine?

You can't expect much from a creature whose brain is the size of a grain of sand, though.

>>>Rei: That is why nobody expects much from Suzahara, correct?

Misato kept the wipers running while Shinji got

into the car. "I think you're overreacting a little, Captain

Katsuragi," he said as he put his suitcase in the back and

buckled his seatbelt.

>>>Shinji: Never stopped her before.

>>>Maya: Overreacting seems to be her trademark.

>>>Misato: I DO NOT OVERREACT!

"You've never had a spider crawl up your nose, I

see." She frowned and put the car in gear, peeling out of

the parking lot.

"Are the spiders that common here?" Shinji asked.

Maybe Father is breeding them, he thought.

>>>Rei: If he were, why would they be loose in the city?

>>>Shinji: He may not be very good at it.

"No, not really. It happened in college." She

shivered and the car swerved all over the road, which

was rather disturbing at ninety miles an hour.

Shinji wasn't brave enough to offer a critique of

her driving, but he certainly thought it. All he said was,

"So why am I here?"

>>>Misato: To be the centerpiece of a love...heptagon.

>>>Touji: His dad would call him for that?

>>>Misato: No, it's just a side affect.

"You really don't know?" She swerved again, this

time to crush a can, and ticked off a little tiny tick mark

in the part of her brain that kept track of how many cans

she'd crushed today.

>>>Shinji/Asuka: Which turns over at least twice a day.

They roared down the road into Tokyo-3, a city that

looked like it was all downtown and nothing else. Buildings

towered around them, and many of them were increasingly

covered with webs as they moved deeper into the city. The

car was crunching more and more spiders every minute, and

now Misato had to keep the windshield wipers going in order

to see.

>>>Asuka: That is a lot of insect blood.

>>>Maya: Window cleaners are going to have a very bad day.

The rear window and the side ones were starting to

vanish beneath grey-white webs. "Has Father been

experimenting with spiders?"

She frowned. "I have no idea why we're getting all

these...shit."

Shinji blinked, and then he realized why she was

cursing. There was a spider the size of a small dog in the

road.

>>>Touji/Shinji: That's natural.

>>>Maya: Feel sorry for Sempai's cats.

It went flying off the road when Misato plowed into

it, but it left a dent in the bumper, and Misato cursed.

Then the sirens started going off all over the city.

"Great! First my car, then the first attack happens

while I'm driving!" She started trying to dial her

cellphone with one hand, but then it simply rang. She

started driving one handed, swerving wildly as she talked.

>>>Rei: In the current situation that is suicide.

>>>Shinji: No, actually she's driven in much worse just using her legs.

"Yes, I noticed the damn spiders! I'm putting the damage to

my bumper on my expense account." Pause. "This is official

business, dammit! Yes, I have the Third Child."

Shinji blinked. I have siblings?

>>>Asuka: If you want to get...

>>>Rei: We discussed this at length, you are NEVER to refer to me as such.

>>>Touji/Maya: Kowaii (scary).

I thought I was the only child. Why didn't anyone ever tell me? I wonder

what their names are.

"He's just fine, but I hope he's not allergic to

bugs. How the hell did so many of these things get into the

city so quickly?" Pause. "How did so many EGGS get into

the city, then?" Pause. Swerve.

>>>Misato: Leave it to Ritsuko to lecture me during an emergency.

>>>Maya: Sempai can't abide incorrect logic.

Shinji saw a man setting

himself on fire to get dozens of spiders off of him.

>>>Shinji: Rather extreme isn't it?

>>>Touji: He he he stop drop and roll man!

"Ahh,

so it's finally shown up. With all its little kids, no

doubt. Send the bombers to slow it down." Pause. "Ahh,

they're already on the way. How soon?" Pause. "Shit."

"Are we going to be bombed?" Shinji asked. It

seemed like the sort of day that he would get blown up and

eaten by spiders. Most days he saw his father were like

that.

>>>Rei: How did you survive multiple angel encounters with the commander before?

>>>Misato: Could be worse, Makoto wanted to pick you up, you'd have died with a man instead of a ravishing beauty.

"Not directly, no," Misato said to Shinji, then

turned back to the phone. "I know this is what we've been

preparing for, but I wasn't expecting to get my new car

destroyed today!" She squealed the car to a halt. "Get

out!"

"What?"

She grabbed Shinji and jumped into the ditch along

one side of the road. Then the N-2 bomb went off on the

horizon.

>>>Shinji: What are the long-term effects of being that close?

>>>Misato: You'll be better off not knowing.

-*-

They had to walk the rest of the way to HQ. The N-2

blast scared most of the spiders into hiding and killed the

rest with the shockwave. However, as Shinji soon found

out...

>>>Asuka: It gave him superpowers!

>>>Touji: He became...MEGA-PLAYBOY with powers far exceeding that of normal playboys.

>>>Shinji and Rei shake their heads: Not this again.

"The N-2 bomb seems to have stunned it. We have a

few hours before it gets back up and comes after us," Dr.

Ritsuko Akagi said. She was blond and somewhat attractive,

with short hair, glasses, and an odd habit of wearing a blue

one-piece bathing suit and a lab coat as her work uniform.

>>>Misato: Blond...Shinji-kun you need to look at the roots of someone's hair.

>>>Asuka: Why DOES she wear that bathing suit?

>>>Maya blushing: Um...she likes to...um...swim a lot.

It wasn't much stranger than the whole place was to

Shinji, who thought the place virtually screamed 'James

Bond'. He wondered if his father was now a spy.

>>>Shinji: No, he'd be a Bond villain, cooped up in his giant fortress.

>>>Touji: Making odd plans to take over the world.

>>>Rei:...'Mental note- The commander IS like a 'James Bond' villain.'

The giant humanoid head, attached to a giant

humanoid body, which he was standing next to was bizarre as

well. It looked like a giant badly made plastic doll of odd

colors with bits of mishapen armor. The words 'Unit01' were

painted on the armor on the left side of the thing's neck.

>>>Shinji: So you didn't play the 'lights out' game with me?

>>>Misato: Must not have had the time to.

It creeped Shinji out. It was wrong. He didn't want to be

anywhere near it, but everyone else seemed to see it as

perfectly normal. "What is going on?"

>>>Maya: You're about to get a lot closer to it than you've ever wanted.

Shinji's father, a man named Gendo Ikari, looked

down at him. He was tall and broad with a short dark beard,

neatly trimmed hair and small glasses. "I have brought you

here to pilot this. The world is under attack, and only we

can stop the menace.

>>>Shinji: And be 'we' he means 'me.'

>>>Misato: So he flipped the 'm' upside down.

If we do not act, the world will be destroyed."

Shinji stared at his father, who hadn't changed a

bit except for the beard, from his cold stare to his brief

and inadequate explanations. 'Why is grass green?' 'Because

it's not blue.' 'What's for dinner?' 'Food.' 'Why do I have

to live away from you, father?' 'It's for your own good.'

>>>Asuka: Lot like talking to Rei, Commander must have 'taught' her.

>>>Rei: I prefer my method to screeching like a harpy.

>>>Misato/Shinji: Lets pay attention to the movie and not fight...please?

He

didn't even get a hello. He wanted to say hello, but as he

looked at Gendo, his resolve melted. Questions died unasked

on his lips. He and his father stared at each other

silently, his father grimly, while he wilted under the gaze,

which seemed to tug away his will.

>>>Asuka: Look at me Shinji.

>>>Shinji does so and wilts under Asuka's gaze.

>>>Asuka: Wow, it does work, you are under my power you will...

>>>Maya: QUIET AND WATCH THE MOVIE!

"This is the creature." Ritusko pointed to a view

screen in one wall of the chamber. It showed a creature

that resembled a huge spider, hundreds of feet tall, lying

on its side, its legs working the air feebly.

>>>Touji: I'm going to be sick.

>>>Shinji tilts his head: It's a parade float?

It was

surrounded by a charred cocoon of spider silk and the

corpses of countless spiders. However, more were erupting up

from the ground and forming from its blood, which was

puddled around it.

>>>Misato: I'm going to throw up now.

Further more, the charred marks on its

exterior were fading, and ichor was no longer leaking from

it. "The enemies we fight are known as Angels, and the one

out there today is designated as Matriel.

>>>Shinji: I have a harder time believing that is an angel than the freaky things we DO fight.

>>>Rei: That must be the "Elder God" from the title.

Our current

estimate is that we have about a half hour before it fully

recovers, and another half hour before it reaches the edge

of Tokyo-3. How long it will take to reach us is not yet

predictable."

Shinji stared at the screen. The creature was even

more repulsive to him than the strange simulacrum of a human

they were all standing next to on a platform over the huge

tube it was kept in. It wasn't possible. Anything that big

should collapse under its own weight.

>>>Asuka: How do YOU know that, you don't understand thermal expansion!

Shinji was better

educated than the average fourteen year old. His father had

seen to that, if not much else. And he had worked hard,

with some vague impulse of hope to please his father or at

least to get noticed by him.

>>>Maya: You have his attention now, how do you feel?

>>>Shinji: Like I've wasted my life trying to appease him.

Even anger would have been

better than being ignored. "Shouldn't that thing collapse?

I mean, there's no way those spindly legs can support its

weight if it's that big." It wasn't just the size.

Something about how the legs moved were wrong. They were

too limber, too flexible, too nimble for such a creature.

And its shape...real creatures rarely have angles; they have

curves, nature doesn't produce straight lines, but this

creature was oddly angular.

>>>Misato: We have cube watermelons, maybe it was conditioned?

>>>Touji: When did spiders start having mouths?

>>>Rei: When they stopped having curves.

"Our understanding of such matters is entirely the

result of the cramped understandings derived from observing

the lifeforms of a single backwater planet, and quite likely

has no validity in the universe at large. Possibly it looks

at us and wonders why we don't collapse in on ourselves

under the weight of our atmosphere without an exo-skeleton.

Whether or not it SHOULD collapse, it is not collapsing."

She fell silent, apparently surprised with herself for going

on for so long.

>>>Misato: And boring us to death as the monster destroyed the city.

>>>Shinji: Ritsuko-san needs help learning to control her impulses to talk.

>>>Rei: Yes.

>>>Touji/Asuka: Same goes for you!

Shinji frowned. "What do I have to do with this?"

"One of our pilots is in Germany, and the other one

was injured," Misato said. "But we believe you can pilot

an EVA. You match the profile. You'll help us, won't you,

Shinji?"

>>>Asuka: Any girl can get Shinji to do ANYTHING just by asking.

>>>Misato: Talking from experience? 'smirks evilly.'

>>>Rei cuts Asuka off: No information needs be divulged about that.

>>>Asuka and Shinji just blush while Rei bolsters a tiny one.

He and EVA had a brief staring contest. EVA won.

"I don't like it."

Gendo frowned. "You don't have to like it."

"How am I supposed to pilot this thing without any

training?"

"It's thought controlled," Misato said. "You just

have to have the knack. Anyone could do it, but only those

with the right genetics could do it well."

>>>Touji: So 'anyone' can't do it.

>>>Misato: Lies are required sometimes to get desired results.

>>>Asuka/Maya: So you lie to get your own ends then?

He stared at the horrible spider thing on the

View screen again. It was wrong, an abomination. It was

impossible; there was no way it could hold itself up. Every

bit of biology he knew screamed that there had been some

kind of mistake here, but he couldn't deny his eyes.

>>>Shinji: Unless I've been taking drugs.

>>>Rei: Those come in the LCL.

It

revulsed him, even though the little spiders that had

preceded its arrival had been sort of cute, or at

least...they were right and it was not. "I'm not much of a

figher."

>>>Touji: That's an understatement, I wailed you twice and you...didn't...do...

>>>Misato/Maya: You did WHAT to him?

"It'll be just like using your own body," Misato

said with a wheedling tone in her voice. "If your body was

dozens of feet tall and superhumanly strong. Don't you want

to be a hero?"

>>>Shinji: You just want to live.

>>>Misato: True, but the former is also a valid statement.

Shinji thought about all the giant robot anime he

had seen. It always looked easy, but he was quite sure it

couldn't REALLY be that easy.

>>>Pilots: It's NOT!

It wasn't the danger stopping

him so much as the fact that the EVA was nearly as creepy as

the giant spider-thing. He turned and stared at his father,

trying to read him, even though Shinji wasn't much good at

reading people.

>>>Maya: Shinji, you couldn't read somebody if they had a teleprompter behind them.

>>>Rei: He can tell what I am feeling.

>>>Misato: That in itself is a minor miracle but...um...normal people are different.

Was this what his father had really

summoned him for? Was he responsible for all this?

His father's eyes riveted him in place, fixing him

like a deer staring into headlights. While the rest of his

face was blank, like a mask, Gendo's eyes were alive, stern

and piercing, deep as an oceanic trench. Shinji could feel

himself falling into his father's eyes, being dissected;

>>>Shinji: Again, how can I see through these peoples glasses?

>>>Touji: Don't worry about that, worry about having your fluids drained.

his

soul was laid bare. He wanted to flee that gaze, to run far

away where no one could look at him and see how much this

all scared him, how much the spider repulsed him, how much

the EVA frightened him. I must look like a scared rabbit,

Shinji thought. I wonder how he sees me.

>>>Asuka: A scared perverted rabbit.

>>>Rei: A human male.

>>>Touji: A player in training.

>>>Misato/Maya: Expendable.

In his mind's eye, he could see himself through his

father's eyes. It was a vivid vision, almost realler than

life. It was a strangely calm feeling. He had been

breathing heavily, but his body felt serene now as he put

himself in his father's place, somehow absorbing Gendo's

calm.

>>>Maya: Hope that's all he 'absorbs' from the commander.

To his surprise, he realized that his own body looked

much calmer than he actually felt. Is my father hiding

emotions as strong as my own?, Shinji wondered. He must be.

If I don't do this, he doesn't have anyone who can take my

place.

He heard himself say, "I'll do it."

>>>Misato: That's is! No having to persuade you with a near dead Rei?

>>>Rei: I feel left out.

>>>Shinji: I'm glad, Rei doesn't have to get hurt again for no reason.

>>>Asuka simply grumbles: ...damn wondergirl movie.

He didn't feel

himself saying it, but since he was busy fantasizing, as far

as he could tell, this didn't surprise him, although he did

SEE himself say it. He had been intending to say it,

anyway, having changed his mind, so it didn't bother him

much.

>>>Touji: Fantasizing about what, the two ladies by you?

>>>Rei: Us or the movie ladies?

>>>Touji: In the movie.

>>>Misato: 'Ritsuko said we should just to make sure he doesn't have any...problems.'

>>>Asuka: Over my DEAD BODY!

With that, his vision ended and he was back to

normal, seeing things from his own perspective, not from his

father's. It had been surreal, but it had happened to him

before, though not often. It was more common in his dreams.

Especially the stranger ones that made him wake up

screaming.

>>>Shinji: Ah, what would life be like without the night terrors.

>>>Asuka: Great, I'm tired of you waking us up with those damn screeches.

Misato smiled. "Excellent. Let's get you suited up and ready."

-*-

The plugsuit wasn't bad. It looked fairly snazzy

and it was remarkably comfortable for something so form-

fitting.

>>>Shinji: How is form fitting ever comfortable?

>>>Touji: Comfortable on the eyes of those that look at them…I mean…

>>>Asuka/Rei: Do we have to gouge your eyes out?

The LCL was another matter. He'd almost gone back

on his decision just from looking at it. It was a black,

gooey sludge that looked far too much like motor oil mixed

with toxic waste. It smelled like rotten food mixed with

vomit.

>>>Pilots: They made LCL even worse?

>>>Maya: Ah, the original formula…we use it to eat paint off the walls.

>>>Misato/Touji: Looks like liquid shit.

Ignoring his protests and failing to explain very

clearly why it wouldn't kill him on contact, they just keep

filling up the plug unit with it. He had expected it to be

ice cold, but it was comfortably warm, which was the only

comfortable aspect of it. It tasted hideous, like battery

acid mixed with vinegar and castor oil and sewage.

>>>Shinji: Not that I've ever ate that on accident before…never.

>>>Rei: Could human taste buds fully handle such a flavor?

Far

worse was the absolute darkness into which it plunged you;

it felt like all of the universe had been destroyed and only

Shinji remained.

>>>Asuka: What a sad world that would be.

>>>Shinji: With my luck I'd kill my only companion for some weird reason.

Then the darkness began to swirl with

patterns of light, which constantly hinted at shapes but

would not quite reveal them. He felt like he was drowning

in darkness, like it was oozing down his throat and into his

veins. Every tiny bodily sensation felt like a harbringer

of doom.

>>>Maya: Foreshadow anyone?

>>>Asuka: He hasn't died yet, that's a good sign right?

Just as he felt certain he would go mad, he realized

that the reason it was so dark was that his eyes were

closed.

>>>Asuka: HA HA HA, what's next he dies because he forgets to breath?

>>>Misato: Shinji-kun, need you be so dramatic at times?

At least, they felt like they were closed, although

he didn't remember closing them. There had been a sort of

almost tugging feeling, and suddenly, his eyes were closed.

So he opened them.

He was staring at the platform on which a while ago

he had debated whether or not to do this. A small square

hung in the air in the lower right corner of his vision; it

was a video image of Misato. "Can you read me, Shinji?"

"Um, I can HEAR you." Shinji said. "And I can see

you. I don't...wait, am I seeing what the EVA sees?"

>>>Touji: Nope, you've died and you're a spirit now.

Misato nodded. "You can call up various

instrumentation by mental command, but we'll have to go over

all that when we have more time.

>>>Shinji: IF we have more time.

Try moving Unit01's arm."

It was indeed as easy as they promised, although he

couldn't move much, given the Unit was strapped to

something. "I'm rea...wait, do I have any weapons?"

While they were in a hurry, they did have enough

time to explain that, at least.

>>>Asuka: A damn knife, who the hell made the best weapon we have a knife!

>>>Maya: Ritsuko thought it would make things more dramatic and bring in more revenue.

-*-

"Synchronization rate is 85 % and rising," Maya

said. She was one of Dr. Akagi's assistants, female with

short black hair and a smiling face.

>>>Misato: Wonder why you're smiling at such a dangerous time.

>>>Asuka/Rei: Couldn't be because YOU helped him into the plug suit could it?

>>>Shinji/Maya: I/he didn't know how to put it on!

While many of those to

be found in NERV seemed to think that somberness was part of

the Orders of the Day, she was not one of them. "The Third

Child is even more of a natural at this than the Second

Child was."

>>>Asuka: THE HELL YOU SAY!

>>>Rei smirks and Touji just laughs.

Dr. Akagi nodded. "Bodily functions report?"

Another technician said, "All body functions normal.

Looks like this one won't die because his body forgot to

keep functioning while he was piloting."

>>>Shinji: Thank Kami for small favors right?

"Good. We don't have anyone to take his place,"

Gendo said.

"Well, we could try the..." Dr. Akagi began.

"Even if they were fully functional, what would they

pilot? One of our cardboard models? Unit00 is still

damaged. We'll use it if we have to, but only if it's

absolutely necessary. And if it comes down to that, we can

use Rei," Gendo said, watching the various viewscreens

intently. "Luckily, this will likely be the weakest of our

opponents."

>>>Asuka: See THAT'S why Shinji could beat it alone!

>>>Misato: The beserker rage helped a lot too.

-*-

As Shinji moved through the streets of the city, he

pondered two major questions.

>>>Misato: Who is your Daddy? And what does he do?

>>>Group: What have you been smoking?

First of all, what sort of

weirdo builds a hundred foot tall robot and only arms it

with a knife?

>>>Rei: A bleach blond scientist that likes OLD men.

>>>Maya: Hey, show a little respect.

Secondly, what sort of idiot builds a giant

robot that has to use an extension cord? Then again, it is

only a giant spider, he thought. Scary looking, but spiders

don't have a lot of offensive armnament as long as you don't

run into their web, and I doubt the web's been made that can

hold this thing.

>>>Misato: He hasn't run into a web of red tape before.

>>>Maya: How many forms have to be filled out for just ONE sortie?

He rounded a corner, stomping hundreds, maybe

thousands of spiders with every step. They ranged in size

from normal tiny ones to ones the size of a small dog.

There were webs everywhere, but he moved through them as if

they didn't exist. The Angel-Spider itself was standing on

a tank covered with webs, looking around. It spotted him

and chittered, which was somewhat creepy, but not very

communicative. I should have asked for a super economy size

can of Raid, Shinji thought. "I've spotted him," he said.

>>>Rei: The pollutant would contaminate ground water for ages.

>>>Shinji: Better that then we all get eaten by a spider, right?

"Strike for the eyes, Shinji," Misato said. "Blind

him."

Shinji nodded and Unit01 ran forward at his mental

command. Shortly afterwards, Unit01 stabbed down with the

knife, missing only because the huge spider had taken off

running the second Unit01 started its charge.

>>>Touji: So what did he hit?

>>>Maya: Um…by the mess. I'd say he just killed the Captain of the JSSDF.

Unit01 ran

after his opponent, crushing dozens of cars as it ran, and

even more spiders than before. This section of the city was

coated with webs, a sea of greyish-white sticky stuff.

>>>Touji: Remind you of Rei's birthday S…

>>>Shinji/Asuka/Rei retract their hands: Shut him up.

Bits of web coated Unit01's legs and feet.

He rounded three corners as the spider-beast

skittered through the streets, occassionally smashing into a

bank of glass windows with a stray leg and shattering them.

Finally, it darted around yet another corner and Unit01

charged right after it, right into a huge web between two

buildings. The web strands were huge, nearly a foot across

each. Unit01 was neatly caught, just like a fly. "I've

been caught!"

>>>Shinji: So much for human science to save us.

>>>Rei: You adopted the 2nd's fighting style, what else did you expect?

>>>Asuka: The rush in and attack is perfect if WELL executed.

"Generate an AT field!" Misato said.

"A what?"

"We believe the EVAs are capable of generating an AT

field like that produced by the Angels."

"So how do I do it? And what is it?"

"Actually, we're not sure how to make it generate

one."

>>>Shinji: So you really don't know if it CAN generate one at this time?

>>>Misato: If we told you how little we really knew about the Eva, you think you'd have piloted?

This was NOT what Shinji wanted to hear.

-*-

"Activate Unit00, and get Rei prepped to pilot it,"

Gendo said. "She's injured and so is her unit, but we can't

afford a defeat. Not with it right here in Tokyo-3."

"Perhaps we should use the..." Dr. Akagi began.

"We've already seen what inexperience can do for us.

I'd rather not repeat the experience."

>>>Shinji: Well SORRY! Not like I've been trained or anything.

>>>Rei: I will make my debut now?

-*-

Shinji felt claustraphobic. Unit01 was wrapped in

webbing and its eyes were half covered, so he could barely

see. Unable to act, he was becoming increasingly aware of

being trapped in a metal tube full of a cold liquid that

gave him the heebie-jeebies.

>>>Shinji: When did it get cold?

>>>Maya blushing: I would have thought your fear would have…caused it to increase in temperature.

>>>Asuka/Misato: Ew!

Misato kept giving him

soothing assurances that he didn't really believe. Many

people would have cried or blamed themselves or even blamed

others, but Shinji couldn't muster the will to do any of

those.

"Rei is coming in Unit00," Misato said. "Just hold

out a few more minutes."

Shinji laughed faintly. "I'll do my best."

>>>Asuka: Not like he can do anything else.

>>>Misato: So, an injured Rei in a crippled Unit-00 is going to save the day?

-*-

Rei was glad to be in Unit00. It was an escape from

her body, which was wracked with pain from the recent

training disaster. While Unit00 was damaged like her, it

felt no pain.

>>>Rei: Until an energy tendril shoots into it.

LCL held no terrors for Rei; it was an escape

from a body which usually succeeded only in getting in her

way. The fluid that she knew had driven at least three

potential pilots insane made her more sane, she was sure.

It held something she needed.

>>>Maya: Prozac, an Akagi special.

>>>Rei: You jest?

>>>Misato: Actually no, Ritsuko adds a little Prozac into yours and Shinji's.

Or perhaps it was just the pleasure of piloting

Unit00 which she liked. Few things gave her normal body any

enjoyment, but piloting Unit00 was always enjoyable.

>>>Rei: That has changed now `leans into Shinji.'

>>>Misato/Maya: So we've gathered.

She

sprinted through Tokyo-3 at speeds of which her usual body

would not have been capable. Buildings whizzed by, and a

few cars crunched under her feet; it was like running

through a forest and accidentally stepping on some beetles.

She paused to assess the situation. Unit01 was

webbed between two buildings. Her target, the spider, was

wandering around aimlessly, spinning webs and smashing

buildings. Millions of spiders danced around the area,

imitating their...master? father? leader?

>>>Asuka: Mother?

>>>Shinji: Furer?

>>>Touji: Ow…my head.

Perhaps the

pattern of the webs would mean something. She activated

Unit00's radio. "Katsugari-san, I need an aerial view of

the city."

A tiny box appeared in the right corner of her

sight, showing Captain Katsugari's face. "Yes. We've got

planes over the area. I'll have it patched through to you."

Webs which had seemed aimless from the ground took

on a different visage from above. The webs formed a roughly

v shaped pattern across the city, with some sort of oval

sigil in the middle with a dot in its midst where Unit01 was

trapped and where the giant leader of the spiders was

meandering about, clearing an open space inside the oval.

>>>Shinji: So…I'm going to die REALLY soon?

>>>Maya: Magic symbols, wow this is a cultist dream movie.

While the sigil remained meaningless to Rei, she felt it

must be some sort of meaningful pattern. Perhaps a signal

to more of these creatures, whatever they were.

Half-remembered bits of biology studies surfaced in

her mind, and she decided to experiment. Wrenching a power

line support pole loose from the ground, she hurled it down

onto the webbing, then stepped back. Sparks flew from the

damaged lines and the webbing ignited. Soon, the city was

ablaze with a short-lived fire; the webbing was highly

flammable, but burnt away very quickly.

>>>Asuka: YES! She set you on fire!

>>>Shinji: How is that a good thing?

>>>Asuka/Touji: She doesn't have any care weather you live or die.

Shinji was snapped out of his half-trance of doomed

apathy by the sudden feeling that he was on fire. Instinct

took over, and he stopped, dropped, and rolled. This was

rather more destructive when piloting Unit01 than would

normally be the case. Countless spiders burned to death,

were crushed, or combined the two death methods.

>>>Misato: And the damage reports enter the millions, yeah Shinji.

Unit00 drew its progressive knife and charged

forward while the Spider-Angel was still ringed in flame.

She hailed Unit01's pilot by radio while charging forward.

"Unit 01, attack now."

Her knife plunged down into one of its faceted eyes,

gashing it open and spewing viridescent mauve ichor onto

Unit00's hands and arms. Putting the Unit's weight into it,

she plunged the knife deeper into the creature's head,

trying to get to its brain.

>>>Shinji: Whow, now that is violent.

>>>Misato: Right to the point of the matter isn't she.

Shimmering auras of fluctuating

color began to form upon Unit00's hands, arms, and knife,

eating away at the Angel-Spider's flesh.

In her peripheral vision, she could see Unit01 was

hacking away at one of the huge spider-thing's legs, but her

attention was focused on her blade. The deeper it sank into

the creature, the harder it was to push it forward and the

brighter it shone. Perhaps it stole its color from the huge

spider-beast, which was turning grey where the shimmering

light shone upon it, its flesh flaking and crumbling away.

>>>Touji: Like vampiric or something?

>>>Maya: I'm going to have nightmares about this movie for a long time.

It struggled forward, trying to bite her, but she was

standing to one side of the mandibles and with the knife

pressing into its eye, it couldn't turn successfully to bite

her, especially with Unit01 hacking off some of its legs.

Nor could it turn to attack Unit01. Nor could it retreat,

as its legs weren't well designed for trying to move

straight backwards, and as fast as it could move, Unit00

simply pressed forwards.

>>>Misato: And missing a few legs would hurt mobility.

>>>Asuka: How is taking one of eight legs away going to help? Attack the BODY!

Far away in the subterranean monitoring chamber, a

technician announced, "The Angel and Unit00 are generating

strong AT fields, while Unit01 is generating a somewhat

weaker one, as projected."

"What about synchronization rates?" Dr. Akagi

asked, looking up at one of the monitors which showed

hundreds of seperate statuses, jumbled together confusingly.

>>>Shinji: Why do you need so many status reports?

>>>Maya: You don't think blink ratio is important?

>>>Asuka: Is that a calorie counter?

"Oddly, Unit01 is actually showing a higher

synchronization rate, although Unit00 is climbing, but is

producing a weaker AT field. It may be related to the fact

that Unit00's pilot is experiencing a higher level of

physical stress. Respiration and heartbeat are up,

adrenalin levels have gone up, etc. Meanwhile, Unit01's

pilot is only at the level of exertion of a brisk walk."

>>>Touji: Shin-man just knows how to pace himself.

>>>Rei: In affect I am doing all of the work then.

Gendo's lips quirked into a very faint smile.

>>>All: CREEPY!

Rei could no longer see her knife through the glow

of colors, but she could feel she was pressing

against...something. The exoskeleton, she guessed. "I'm

encountering resistance."

"It's generating an AT-field. Press harder,"

Misato said. "Shinji, stop playing with its legs and help

Rei."

"How?"

>>>Misato: You need to take initiative Shinji.

>>>Asuka/Rei: We tell him that all the time.

>>>Shinji: I'm just used to taking orders I guess.

"STAB IT IN THE HEAD WITH YOUR KNIFE!" Misato

pulled herself together when several staff members stared at

her.

Unit01 stood up and stabbed its knife down into the

creature's head, easily fending off its feeble and now

maimed legs. Out of the corner of his eye, Shinji could see

more spiders approaching, but all the ones nearby had burned

up. "So how did you know the fire wouldn't burn up my EVA

too, Rei?" he asked, hoping she knew more about this

creature than he did.

>>>Shinji: Please let her have a good reason.

"I didn't." Rei gritted her teeth, or perhaps it

was Unit00's teeth; there was no way to tell.

>>>Asuka: Told you, she doesn't care at all! I think I'm going to like this movie.

>>>Rei: It has just began, we have yet to even physically meet.

>>>Misato/Maya: Cold is cold.

The darkness

inside the creature was struggling with her light and

losing; more and more of its flesh was turning a colorless

grey and flaking away; the eyes were completely gone, and

the colors were swallowing up her sight.

"..." She didn't know? Shinji thought. It took a

lot to snap him out of apathy, but that did it. "You could

have killed me!"

"If I did nothing, the situation would not have

improved," Rei replied.

>>>Touji: Point Ayanami.

>>>Maya: She could have cut him free first.

>>>Rei: And waste seconds?

Misato cut in. "Are you generating an AT-field?"

"I have no idea. My arms and knife are glowing. Am

I doing that?"

"Very good, Shinji," Misato said.

"The Angel's AT-field is wavering, wavering...gone,"

the technician reported.

The Angel popped like a balloon.

>>>Maya: That would save on the disposal costs.

>>>Misato: Still trying to sell parts of the 5th to foreign countries.

A wave of grey

rushed through its already dark body and it fell apart into

huge flakes of dried flesh which began to crumble even as it

tumbled to the ground. Energy played about Unit00 and

Unit01 like Saint Elmo's fire. Both Rei and Shinji felt a

jolt like they had just stuck a fork in an electrical

socket.

>>>Shinji: Now how would we know what that felt like?

>>>Rei: If tingles and your body loses control.

>>>Shinji/Asuka: Tell me you didn't do that before.

>>>Rei: It was an experiment. `It caused my frazzled hair.'

While they couldn't see the changes in their own

units, they did see changes in each other's EVA. Shinji's

changed color to silver and became perfectly smooth. The

few bits of web that remained on it fell off. Meanwhile,

Unit00 sprouted protuberances around its mouth that looked

suspiciously like the creature's mouth mandibles.

>>>Shinji: I didn't think it was possible for the Eva's to look weirder but there you go.

>>>Rei: My Unit has a mouth now?

They knew

its true name now, though they didn't know how they knew.

Or what exactly it was.

The command crew could see this as well. Gendo said

to Dr. Akagi, "Has the Angel infiltrated the EVAs?"

She shook her head. "No sign of Angel presences.

As we projected, the EVAs have adapated to the battle they

have just fought. It's too early to be sure of the exact

results, but I can speculate if you like," Dr. Akagi said,

smiling.

>>>Maya: Sempai always loves battle reports…one time I found her…um…

>>>Misato: Go on.

>>>Maya: Not with children in the room.

>>>Misato: Look at them, not like its anything they haven't either seen or done.

"Save it for your report," Gendo said, and she

frowned slightly. "Do you believe it is safe to bring them

back to our base?"

"As safe as the EVAs ever are, giving what happened

during that test." Dr. Akagi shuddered slightly from the

memory.

"Good job," Misato told Shinji and Rei. "Come on

back to the base."

>>>Shinji: I can't stay in the motor oil anymore, damn.

>>>Misato: No sarcasm or I'll have Ritsuko go back to the original recipe.

-*-

"Ugh! Ack! *COUGH* Blech!"

"Oh come on. It isn't that bad, is it?"

Shinji, covered in the dark and noxious LCL fluid,

crawled out of the plug and gave Misato a dark look.

"It... is that bad?"

>>>Shinji: Why don't you jump in some day to find out?

>>>Misato: You'd have to be in the plug to…just to make sure I don't hurt myself.

>>>Rei raises an eyebrow: You have alternate motives do you not?

Shinji opened his mouth to say something, then

paused. A moment later he was spitting out black sludge

from his mouth and into the coolant liquid below.

Misato grimaced. "Ew. Okay, maybe we'd better get

you to the infirmary."

Gasping, looking a bit ill, Shinji croaked, "Need...

water."

After a brief stop at a nearby water fountain, they

made their way, Shinji on wobbly legs, and Misato frowning

about the nasty black sludge staining her dress.

>>>Maya: He just saved the earth and you complain about a dress.

>>>Misato: It's my favorite though! And that stuff doesn't look like it'll come out.

>>>Rei: The penalty for being late to Nerv.

-*-

Ritsuko smiled as the two entered her office. "Ah,

good. I was going to ask you to come here anyway. So how's

our pilot?"

"Somewhat nauseated," replied Misato.

"I think I'm getting better," said Shinji weakly.

Ritsuko nodded. "I expected as much. Your first

time in the LCL wasn't pleasant, I'm sure. Neither will the

next time. But it won't be as bad, and it'll get better as

time goes by. Your body gets used to it."

Next time? Shinji didn't even want to think about

it.

>>>Asuka: Big baby.

>>>Touji: Only a deamon would like to sit in that…stuff.

>>>Rei: You insinuating that `I' am a demon as well?

"But, as standard procedure, we have to make sure

you're all right. So if you'll step over here for a

moment..."

Ritsuko subjected Shinji to a battery of tests, put

under the light of miscellaneous machinery that he didn't

comprehend. Then various probes were stuck into multiple

orifaces, not improving his mood at all.

>>>Shinji: Um…close your eyes please.

>>>Maya: Now THAT would take a lot of getting used too.

>>>Touji: DUDE SICK! They stuck…stuck tubes in THERE!

And it didn't help that Misato was in the room too,

with an ever-so-slight smile.

>>>Misato nods: I was always sure…but helps to be reminded.

>>>Asuka/Rei: Stop staring.

>>>Misato: Shinji never let Kaji say you're less of a man than he is…ever.

"Are you done yet?" asked Shinji meekly, feeling

more probed than he thought humans should be.

Ritsuko nodded. "I'm done. Just get some rest and

the nausea should go away entirely on its own. Now if

you'll excuse me, I've got another patient to attend to."

>>>Rei: I would kill her if she tried to impliment such…procedures on myself.

>>>Asuka: Oh really, I bet she has to lock the door to keep you out.

>>>Shinji/Maya: HELL NO! Stop talking about that!

-*-

The two walked through the endless maze of corridors

of the base, their footsteps echoing through the empty spaces.

With the nausea far less severe than it was earlier,

Shinji had enough presence of mind to reflect on the day so

far.

He had...

... seen his father for the first time in years.

>>>Shinji: Big let down.

... inhaled toxic sludge.

>>>Maya: Didn't kill you did it?

... almost been killed while piloting a giant robot.

>>>Asuka: Don't see the girls complaining do you?

... and killed a giant monster.

>>>Rei: Was it not I that killed it?

On the whole, the day was far less pleasant than

that quick summary expressed. It wasn't a day he'd care to

repeat.

Except for the killing.

>>>Misato: Ah, looks like he liked his first taste of bloodlust.

There was an odd feeling that had run through him

when the creature died. As it sagged to lifelessness, he'd

felt a rush course through his body. Disturbingly pleasant.

He wondered if the battles would always end that way.

>>>Asuka: Could be hope for you yet.

Misato derailed his train of thought easily.

"Oh, I forgot to mention. You've been put in my

care, Shinji."

He blinked. "I won't be staying with Father?" He

wasn't sure if he should be angry at his father or relieved.

>>>Touji: Old man…beautiful woman…Shinji are you gay, not that anything is wrong if you are?

>>>Rei: He is NOT gay.

>>>Asuka giggles slightly: Definatly.

>>>Misato: Shinji, care to explain?

>>>Shinji: Um…thank you for taking me in Misato-san, `let her stop…please?'

Her voice was a little uncomfortable. "He's often

gone and very busy and can't take care of you properly.

Also, I have two spare bedrooms. The other one will be

occupied by the Second Child when she arrives from Germany."

"The Second Child?" he asked.

"Named in the order we recruited you. The First

Child is Ayanami Rei. The Second Child is Asuka Langley.

And the Third Child is you."

>>>Shinji: Very original.

>>>Maya: It was that or Blue child, Red Child, and Purple Child.

>>>Asuka: To `Power Rangers.'

As they passed a series of elevators, one of them

opened. Misato winced and Shinji seemed puzzled as they saw

Ritsuko wheeling a stretcher out of it.

"Quick, turn around," mumbled Misato.

"Misato? Is that you?"

The commander smiled nervously. "Ritsuko! Hi!

Just... showing Shinji around the place."

"You're lost again." This was not a question, it

was a statement of fact.

>>>Misato: Wouldn't happen if hey put maps up like I asked.

>>>Rei: Nobody else has problems Major.

>>>Misato: Well maybe not everybody has time to memorize the damn layout!

Misato scratched the back of her head nervously.

"Okay, maybe I am, a little."

Ritsuko rolled her eyes. "Don't even try to make

excuses. Just go down three intersections, take a left, go

up the elevator to level 1, and you should be back in

central."

Shinji ignored the banter bouncing back and forth

between the two. His attention was, much to his own

surprise, rivited elsewhere.

>>>Touji: Oh what?

>>>Asuka: I don't think I want to know.

On the stretcher was a girl, probably his age. Half

of her face, including one eye, was heavily wrapped in

bandages. One of her arms was wrapped in bandages as well.

>>>Shinji: You were so hurt back then…and still you piloted.

>>>Rei: For the mission then.

With her eyes closed peacefully, her pale skin,

seemingly smooth as marble, he thought she looked rather

beautiful in a statue-esque way. He knew he was staring at

her, but couldn't stop himself. There was something about

her...

>>>Rei: You have good taste.

>>>Maya: Very detailed examination Shinji-kun.

>>>Shinji: I didn't mean anything bad!

And then she opened her eye.

His eyes met hers.

"Hey, Shinji."

"Huh? What?"

Misato smirked. "I know she's cute but we really

should be going."

>>>Asuka: Traitor!

>>>Misato: You haven't even entered the picture yet so be quiet.

>>>Rei: I am enjoying this, he finds me beautiful already.

Rei's eye shut once more, and Ritsuko wheeled her

away. Shinji, seemingly in a daze, looked back and forth

from the departing Rei to Misato. And then he realized what

she was hinting at.

"I-it's not like that!" he insisted, blushhing.

"Sure it isn't," teased Misato. "Come on, this

way."

After a few minutes of silent walking, Shinji spoke

again.

"I guess she's been training a while. She fights

very well."

"Rei? She's been training here longer than I've

been here," Misato said. "From a very early age." She

looked both ways at an intersection, then turned right. "You

like cup ramen, right?"

>>>Shinji: Only if I'm going to die of starvation.

>>>Asuka: Or if anybody but Misato makes it.

"Hmm? Yeah, it's okay."

"Good." She sounded relieved. "I really need to go

shopping one of these days, but you won't starve." She

stopped at a door and slid her ID card through the keyslot.

The door opened into a room full of plastic sacks of

garbage. "Uh oh, was I supposed to make a left turn or a

right back there?"

>>>Shinji: I am not filled with confidence.

>>>Touji: Why are garbage bags in Nerv?

>>>Maya: Sempai likes to experiment on strays.

While Misato puzzled over directions, Shinji stared

down the hall, where the squeaking of wheels marked Ritsuko

and Rei's passing.

Rei.

He had looked into the girl's eye. It was red, a

bright, vibrant red, but otherwise seemed guileless,

straightforward, and void of any particular emotion.

And he had felt fear.

>>>Rei/Asuka: WHAT!

>>>Touji: He he, guess no romance for you Shinji.

>>>Misato: Impressions can change.

-*-

Shinji hoped for his own sake that Misato's

apartment wasn't normally overrun with thousands of spiders.

Regardless of the normal status quo, however, it had far

more than its quota of spiders today. He stared quietly

about the room, shrouded in white.

Misato's eyes widened. "Damnation." She began

running through the room, stomping everything that moved.

Shinji watched quietly, until she said, "C'mon and help!"

>>>Shinji: Clean up the carcasses or stomp?

>>>Rei: Could try the fire trick again.

>>>Misato: I don't want to destroy my apartment.

>>>Maya: it looks like it has been though.

Shinji was rather surprised to see a penguin burst

out of the refrigerator as they struggled towards the

cabinet. It tried to climb up Misato and failed since

penguins are not noted for their climbing skills. Shinji

boggled for a few seconds and the spiders tried to web his

feet to the floor.

"That's Pen-pen, my other roommate," Misato said.

>>>Misato: Oh, so that's why the had me see Shinji's package earlier.

>>>Asuka: What?

>>>Misato continued despite Shinji's protest: Pen-pen scared Shin-chan out of the bath on his first night here.

>>>Rei: You exposed yourself to the Major?

>>>Shinji: It was an accident.

>>>Rei: Punishment is needed, `eyes narrow slightly and she smiles' yes you need to be reprimanded.

Shinji boggled a second time, and this time his feet

DID get webbed to the floor, but he easily broke free. "A

penguin?"

"Antarctica melted so they all migrated."

Shinji simply extended his previous boggle instead

of starting a new one.

They eventually clawed their way into one of the

cabinets and armed themselves with RAID. Misato ran wild,

using up an entire can in minutes. This drove all the

spiders out of the apartment. It also fumigated the

apartment so thoroughly that it drove Misato and Shinji out

as well.

>>>Touji: That was smart.

>>>Shinji: Whatever kills the pest kills the host.

Exhaustion finally crept up on him while he was

sitting in front of the apartment, waiting for it to air

out. It had been the strangest day of his life to date, and

he half expected to wake up in the morning and find out it

was all a dream.

>>>Shinji: Or a nightmare.

>>>Maya: That'll happen later.

-*-

"Well, that was easy," Gendo's second-in-command

said. The old man was sitting in his usual comfortable

chair, wondering why Gendo had kept the uncomfortable chair

for himself and let visitors have the nice one.

>>>Shinji: Fathers a masocist?

"We nearly lost Unit01 and we could have easily lost

Unit00 if 'Matriel' had succeeded in biting into it," Gendo

said. "The Developed Automatic Guardian Organic Navigator

hasn't been properly tested yet, nor has Diogenes found the

next Child yet.

>>>Aska: D.A.G.O.N.?

>>>Rei: That was to be my name…but the Commander thought it wouldn't suit a female.

Not that we have an EVA for a fourth child

to pilot yet, either. Things will be much better once we

have all three Children here. If it had actually broken

into our headquarters, it would have been disastrous.

>>>Misato: No Shit! And here I thought we WANTED to be invaded and destroyed.

>>>Shinji: Misato-san, sarcasm is best used subtly.

As it

is, we'll be fumigating our base for weeks." He pulled off

his glasses and began to polish them.

"Then why didn't you send Ayanami Rei out first?"

"I did not think she would be able to function so

well. While she acts as if she feels no pain, I think she

would likely behave that way if something bit off her arm.

>>>Rei: Losing an arm is nothing, they just grow back.

>>>Maya: WHAT?

>>>Rei: Arms grow back quickly.

>>>Group: Um…sure.

And she lost control of her EVA during that last test. We

couldn't afford such a lapse in battle."

"But how could you be sure the boy would do any

better?"

Gendo smiled. "The wise magician never reveals ALL

his secrets."

>>>Touji: Unless they can make a lot of money doing so.

>>>Shinji: I have an odd feeling father is a lot more evil in this movie than I real life.

-end part 1-

(end mst of part 1)

Asuka: Ok, so this is an alternate world thing?

Maya: Yes it is. Oddly though, somebody mailed it to me, I haven't watched it.

Shinji: Isn't that a weird thing to do?

Maya: I see no reason not to watch it though.

Rei: If we are to celebrate like last year, we will play games correct?

Misato: Games?

Rei/Asuka: yeah we played party games.

Touji/Shinji: Oh hell.

Rei/Asuka lean further onto Shinji: You love it.

In a act of boldness he puts an arm around their shoulders, Shinji: what the hell, lets have some fun!

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MST Author notes

There it is! The beginning! Hope you liked this chapter. I've set the premise for my mst'ers plight and I think I got a few really good jokes in there.

Yes its been about a year since I started the mst of TOILI and I think my character development has progressed nicely.

Ideas, comments, suggestions are always welcome.

Ideas for party games (or truth or dare ideas) are also welcome, just try to to keep it within an `R' rating, remember CoaEG is rated R so the mst is as well.

Well enough of this, hope you don't mind the length (37 pages total is a lot to read) and continue to read the entire series as I mst it.

Ja-mata

Zentrodie (zentrodie@secondimpact.com www.geocities.com/zentrodie.geo )