Moments later the control room was filled with techs as the EVA's were launched. Misato was in control and speaking with the three pilots explaining the current angel to them. Kaji was slightly off to one side watching the screens and Gendou Ikari was also present quietly observing from a chair.
"Okay guys. You'll have to triple team this one. It's movements are extremely erratic and unpredictable. It's also extremely fast. From the readings I'm getting it's almost like the thing is disappearing and reappearing all over the place.", Mistao said and would have continued were she not interrupted by Dr. Akagi.
"It's just been confirmed. The angel _is_ disappearing and reappearing all over the city.", Akagi said before turning away to look at some more readings. The communications screens lit up with the face of Asuka.
"What?! You've got to be kidding me?! How are we going to get this one if it keeps vanishing?", Asuka said more than a little angry. Rei's face appeared on another screen.
"We will destroy it.", Rei said simply.
"Oh. Just like that, eh Wonder Girl? Mind explaining how we can ever get a clear shot at it when it keeps vanishing?", Asuka asked over the comm sarcastically.
"Ummm....I...uhhh...have a plan.", Shinji ventured his face appearing on the third screen in the control room.
"A plan?", Mistao asked a little surprised.
"Oh this ought to be good. Okay Shinji what's your plan?!", Asuka asked impatient. They were almost to the area the angel was occupying.
"Well I...sort of noticed a...pattern. It seems to always return to a certain place after a short while. Right there at the 314th and 32 street junction. It always comes back to that place. Why don't we...just surround that area and wait till it appears there and then....blast it.", Shinji asked a little nervous. There was a few moments of silence.
"Shinji seems to be right. It does keep appearing there.", Dr. Akagi said over the comm to the pilots.
"Right. Good going Shinji. Okay guys head to that point and get ready.", Misato said with a smile.
"Uhh....thanks.", Shinji said with a small smile. Rei complied wordlessly. Asuka switched off her screen and headed for the area as well, not quite so wordlessly.
"Big deal. So he picked out a pattern! So what? Dr. Akagi would've figured it out if he hadn't. He just got lucky is all.", Asuka said to herself grumbling but somewhere deep inside her, very very deep inside her, she was a little impressed at Shinji for figuring that out. Within moments the three EVA's were standing at the intersection. They spread out to a good distance but couldn't go back as far as they'd like, the buildings getting in their way. They stood all facing the intersection each with a rifle aimed and ready to fire. They had positioned themselves in a triangle, an EVA at each point, each facing so if the angel did disappear while they were firing none of them would accidentally shot any of the others. After a few minutes Asuka sighed audibly over the comm.
"I wish the angel would hurry up already! I'm getting tired of waiting for it!", Asuka commented to no one in particular.
"I'm sure it'll be here soon....I think.", Shinji said keeping his rifle trained and at the ready.
"Yeah well if it doesn't get here soon I'm gonna fall asleep!", Asuka said a little angry and lowered her rifle. The angel chose that moment, of course, to appear at the center of the triangle. The air shimmered and wavered for a moment and then standing there was....something. This angel didn't look like any of the others they had encountered so far. It was....almost not there....sort of. It was huge and ugly looking as the others were but for some reason the visuals of it were blurred and out of focus. There was no definite contours to it. Even when it moved it was all a blur so the three pilots were momentarily stunned when it was suddenly there standing in front of them. It was also stunned to suddenly be surrounded, if an angel could be stunned.
"What are you doing?! ATTACK!!!", Misato's voice shouted at them across the comm and shook them from their daze. All three pilots, in sync with their EVA's, raised their rifles beginning to unload blast after blast at the angel without stopping. The angel's AT field became visable from the constant bombardment from three sides. It moved trying to attack one of the three EVA's but found itself all but immobile being pressed upon from three different sides at once.
"Keep it up you guys! You're breaking through the AT field. Your almost through!", Misato shouted across the comm excited after about a half a minute of attack. This angel was hardly even a battle. That's when she got a sick feeling in her stomach. Something was wrong.
"Well we'd better break through it soon! I'm almost out of ammo!", Asuka shouted back.
"Me too!", Shinji shouted as well.
"As am I", Rei added quietly.
"Well keep it up. As soon as you are out of ammo get your knives out and all jump it at once!", Misato said back, her mind temporarily diverted for the feeling she was having.
"Got ya. Just a few more seconds of ammo left......I'm out!", Asuka said dropping her rifle and getting her knife from it's compartment, a light blue field forming around it, hardly noticable.
"I'm out too!", Shinji said dropping his rifle and getting his knife out as well. Rei merely dropped her rifle when her's was expended and got her knife out as well.
"The AT field just went down! NOW!", Mistao shouted. The three EVA's reacted and all three rushed forwards thrusting their knives at the angel. The angel staggered a bit the sudden loss of the constant attack putting it off guard. It didn't have time to defend or even get out of the way. The three knives plunged into it from three different sides. Shinji pulled up on his knife while Asuka and Rei pulled down, damaging the angel further. The three EVA's attacked for about a minute longer until the angel stopped resisting and slumped to the ground between them.
"Whew! It's dead! We got it!", Asuka said with a slight grin as her face as she looked to Misato on her screen.
"Good work you guys! Now gather up what's left of the angel and bring it back here for study!", Misato said and sighed. That bad feeling must just be from all that beer last night.
"Excellent as usual", Gendou said to himself and rose to leave.
"Wait a minute. What's that?", Dr. Akagi said to no one in particular and leaned in close to a screen.
"It appears to be a build up of energy in the angel. The same kind that built up just before it vanished.", Maya, one of Dr. Akagi's assistants said.
"It is nothing like any other type of energy i've seen. It's almost....temperal in nature.", Dr. Akagi said facinated but also worried.
"I don't care what it is! Shinji! Asuka! Rei! Leave the angel and get away from there NOW!", Mistao shouted at Akagi and then to the three pilots over the comm.
"What?!", Asuka asked at the sudden shout.
"Why what's wrong?!", Shinji asked worried.
"The angel's building up energy! Get away!!", Misato shouted and turned to another screen seeing the energy build up suddenly increase exponentially. Three three EVA pilots turned, dropping the angel and started to move away as fast as they could. They didn't get one step away when the angel exploded in a huge sphere of bluish-white light, energy arcing all along it's surface. The sphere expanded quickly around the three EVA's and then stopped the energy arcing more violently and quickly and then like a vacuum it shrunk to nothing within a second. Nothing remained in the area. The angel was gone. So were the EVA's, and their pilots.
"Shinji?! Asuka?! Rei?! Answer me!!!", Misato shouted across the comm frantic. Dr. Akagi's hand was placed on her shoulder.
"Misato. They're gone."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shinji slowly woke up and opened his eyes. He immediately wished he hadn't as his head began pounded with a headache that was sure to last a while and there was an angry Asuka staring down at him.
"Great plan Shinji! I should've known better than to trust your plans. Now you see where you've managed to get us stuck!?", Asuka shouted at Shinji. Shinji slowly sat up and looked around and saw just where they were. The three pilots were in a small vacant lot, a couple of trees growing near the corners. Rei sat under one of the trees nearby while Asuka was kneeling at Shinji's side as he sat up and she was not looking pleased. All three of them were still wearing their plug suits but they were not in their EVA's. In fact their EVA's were nowhere in sight.
"Uhhh....what happened? Where are we?", Shinji asked looking around confused.
"What happened is we got caught in that blast and woke up here?! Where ever here is!", Asuka said and sighed getting to her feet.
"Tokyo.", Rei said quietly from where she sat.
"Tokyo?", Shinji asked turning and looking to Rei.
"How would you know where we are Wonder Girl?! You haven't left this place since you woke up!", Asuka asked. Rei turned and pointed at a billboard visable from the lot.
"Ucchan's Okonomiyaki. The best in all of Tokyo.", Shinji read outloud and blinked a bit. He looked to the smiling picture of the girl, who he assumed was this Ucchan lady. He smiled a bit to himself for a brief moment but stopped hearing Asuka scoff.
"Yeah yeah yeah! Okay so we're in Tokyo! This doesn't look like any district I've ever been to though. I mean look. This fence is made out of wood! Wood!! So are the buildings for that matter! If we're in Tokyo we must be in a really backwater part.", Asuka said and grumbled to herself for missing the billboard.
"I don't think there are any backwater parts to Tokyo Asuka.", Shinji said getting to his feet.
"Oh shut up! I know that! I'm just trying to figure out what's going on here! I can't expect you or Wonder Girl over there to do anything right and get us back home! Come on you two! We'd better find someplace to stay for now. We might not be able to get back for a while!", Asuka said and turned walking quickly to the exit of the lot. Shinji blinked a bit and glanced to Rei who got up and began to follow. Shinji sighed to himself and began to follow after as well. He paused a moment to glance back at the billboard and read the name silently to himself once more. For some reason the name sounded very familiar to him, but he just couldn't place it. Maybe he was imagining things.
The three pilots were soon walking through the downtown part of this district of Tokyo. Shinji had found out from a passerby that they were in a district called Nerima. That name also sounded familiar to him but again he couldn't quite place it. The stares from all the people that they passed weren't helping with his concentration. He realized they would look rather strange, three young children dressed in plug suits walking around as if nothing was happening. The stares from the other people, however, didn't seem to affect Asuka or Rei so he tried not to let it affect him either.
Asuka continued walking along grumbling to herself. It was just her luck to get stuck wherever in the world she was with these two. She stopped at an intersection and looked around with a scowl on her face. Something was wrong with this picture and she was determined to find what that was. She narrowed her eyes and slowly scanned her surroundings, making sure she didn't miss any detail no matter how small.
"Ummm...Asuka?", Shinji ventured after standing watching Asuka for a close to a minute.
"Shut up! I'm thinking.", Asuka said sharply but didn't look to him. A car passed by slowly and Asuka watched it go by. She blinked and then smirked and slammed her fist into her palm.
"That's it!", Asuka cried out.
"Uhhh....what's it?", Shinji asked.
"Shinji! Look around you moron! What do you see? Wooden buildings. People walking most everywhere. What does that tell your puny little mind?", Asuka turned to face Shinji and asked.
"Uhhhh....it tells me....ummmm....", Shinji began glancing around not understanding.
"It tells us that we have travelled back in time to the past. From the current state of buildings, the pollution content of the atmosphere and the dates on the publications we have observed the year is approximately 1995.", Rei said quietly but clearly. Shinji's mouth dropped open, his eyes wide as he tried to form words.
"Right. Like the Almighty First Child said. We're in the past. Don't ask me how, I haven't figured that part out yet but I do know one thing. We had better be careful what we do here! We don't want to cause a temporal backlash or a paradox loop or any other time anomoly that'll screw up our future. If we do we might make it so we never existed in the first place! Now, since I am the only one of us here with the proper knowledge of time travel, you all follow my lead. First thing's first. We need to find a place to stay and some new clothes. Walking around in our plug suits is going to draw unwanted attention to ourselves. Second we need to find some money and or food. I'm starving. We'll figure out the rest after we get the essentials. Follow me!", Asuka said taking on a commanding voice and whirled on her heel and set off further down the street. Rei followed after calmly and Shinji, after watching them walk for a bit, snapped out of his daze and stumbled after the two.
"Asuka? What....how do you about time travel?", Shinji asked curious in the least.
"Hmmm? Oh simple. I took a Temporal Dynamics course in collage. It was all thoery and speculation from what was known already, but it did give certain guidelines you should follow should you find yourself in the past. Rule one is to interact with as few people as possible. Rule two is not to change any historical events. Rule three is to not tell anyone of the future. Rule four is to get back to the future as soon as possible. All we have to do is follow these rules and we should be alright.", Asuka said smirking to herself. She was in control now. She was the most experienced one with time travel, even though all her experience had been in a classroom and only on paper. It was more than the other two had done.
"Oh. Okay.", Shinji said, a little more confused now than ever. He made sure he committed those four rules to memory though. They were good rules after all. The three walked along in silence for a few more minutes only stopping to look around a school yard and find out the name of it. Asuka said it'd be a good idea to map out the area and find several easily spottable landmarks. They had only found two so far as they walked along. One was the high school, Furinkin High School, and the other was a clinic of some sort. Asuka checked the hours and thought it'd be a good idea to remember where this was in case one of them got hurt.
Shinji walked just behind Asuka and beside Rei. The other people had thinned out around this area he noticed. Right now there was nobody else to be seen on the street except for the three pilots. He glanced back at Asuka and smiled a little bit. Usually her attitude only got Shinji yelled at among other embarrassing things. Now, however, it seemed.....to fit. The way she was acting. In charge, taking control, leading. It just seemed to fit for some reason. She seemed to truly know what she was doing and working _with_ him and Rei and not just trying to out do them. It was a....nice feeling.
"What are you smiling at you pervert!?", Asuka growled at Shinji having turned around and saw him smiling. Shinji started and turned his face away blushing.
"Uhh...no....nothing.", Shinji stammered out. Asuka just growled and turned around starting off walking again.
"Hey. Ayanami.", Asuka said a little cooly.
"Yes?", Rei said in her cool even voice.
"You remember where that lot we woke up in is at? I lost track of it with our scouting.", Asuka admitted and kept walking not looking back.
"Yes.", Rei said simply.
"Good. As soon as I get the proper equipment....make that _if_ I can get the proper equipment I want to go back there and scan the place.", Asuka said and simply kept on walking. After a few moments she stopped and sighed exasperated.
"Where are the hotels?! How are we going to find a place to stay if there are no hotels?! I don't believe this!", Asuka growled out more to herself. Shinji blinked a bit and was about to say something when another shout cut him off.
"You....YOU.....JERK!!!", the voice, female, shouted from just behind the wall the three were standing by. All three blinked and looked to the wall. Asuka noticed a set of doors in the wall with a sign by it. She turned back and gestured to the two and they all quickly moved down to the doors and read the sign.
"Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts Dojo?", Shinji read and blinked.
"Anything Goes? What kind of a stupid name is that?", Asuka asked. Another shout, this one male, shouted out from behind the doors and sounded closer.
"Akane!! Cut it out!? It's not my fault you can't cook?! I just don't want to die alright?!", the male voice said.
"RANMAAAAAA!! DIE!!!!", the female voice, Akane, cried out and the ground lightly shook along with sounds of a heavy object hitting the ground.
"What's going on in there a war?!", Asuka asked as she listened. Suddenly there was the sickening sound of wood hitting flesh hard. The doors were suddenly knocked wide open, Shinji and Rei barely dodging them. Asuka wasn't as lucky, however, as she saw a young man with black hair in a pigtail, Ranma, fly out through the doors at her. She could only fling her arms up in defense as he crashed into and the two toppled to the ground landing in a jumble of limbs. Akane stalked out the doors after him carrying her large wooden mallet. She stopped and blinked a bit seeing Ranma laying on top of Asuka in her skin tight plug suit. Her face contorted in anger as she raised her mallet to slam it down on him.
"RAAAAAANNNNNMMMMMAAAAAAA!!!!", Akane shouted as Ranma was trying to get up off Asuka as quickly as he could. Unfortunately for him his hand brushed lightly close to her breasts. Asuka's face went red from embarrassment and anger.
"YOU PERVERT!!!!", Asuka shouted and sat up knocking Ranma off her. Ranma froze like a deer caught in the headlights as Asuka brought her fist back and then slammed it forwards into his face. Ranma dug a small trench into the ground as he slid back along the ground from Asuka's punch not stopping until he crashed into the house, breaking through the wall partially. Asuka pushed herself to her feet and grabbed the mallet out of Akane's hands.
"Now he dies!", Asuka said and grinned starting towards Ranma, who hadn't moved since.
"Uhh...Asuka?", Shinji asked very nervous after what he just saw.
"WHAT?!!!", Asuka said turning and glaring at him, daring him to try and stop her.
"I think he's unconscious.", Shinji said and swallowed hard. Asuka had gotten a LOT stronger.
"SO?! He's not dead yet!!", Asuka bellowed at Shinji.
"And you certainly aren't going to kill him!! Who are you people?!", Akane shouted at Asuka, having had enough of being ignored.
"I am Rei Ayanami. She is Asuka Langrey Soryuu. He is Shinji Ikari.", Rei said to Akane and blinked slowly. Akane could only stare back and blink a bit, her anger vanishing.
"Oh...well I'm Akane Tendo and that jerk over there is Ranma Saotome.", Akane said and glared at the unconscious Ranma, whom Kasumi was now tending to. Asuka grumbled to herself at her dying anger and tossed the mallet over her shoulder. Shinji and Akane merely blinked in shock as it flew through the air over the wall across the street and continued going disappearing over several rooftops.
"You appear to have gotten stronger.", Rei said simply to Asuka.
"Hmmm? What are you talking about Wonder Girl?", Asuka said already annoyed at not getting to kill Ranma.
"You...you just threw that mallet a good 500 meters. Without even trying!", Shinji said, totally amazed.
"I what?!!", Asuka said and turned looking for the mallet she tossed but finding no trace of it.
"Wow. You wouldn't happen to be martial artists would you?", Akane said impressed.
"Huh? Martial Artists? No! We're...uhh....pilots.", Asuka said and smiled a little fakely.
"Pilots?", Akane asked blinking.
"Uh-huh!", Asuka said and grinned more.
"Okay.", Akane said a bit hesitantly.
"Asuka? I thought you said...", Shinji began.
"Shut up Shinji. Who's the one with the brains of this outfit? Exactly!", Asuka said and agreed with his non-existant response before he could say anything. Shinji just blinked a bit and sighed lowering his head.
"Ummm....so what were you guys doing outside our doors? Are you interested in learning martial arts?", Akane asked a little hopeful.
"Uhhh...actually no. We were just looking around for a hotel or something to spend the night in. We're new in town.", Asuka said and smiled.
"Oh...well I don't think there are many hotels nearby. You don't have a place to stay?", Akane asked a little bit curious.
"No we haven't. We just kinda....dropped in unexpectedly you might say.", Asuka said in her most friendly tone of voice.
"Oh. Well if you'd like I'm sure Dad won't mind you staying here for a couple of days until you find a place. He's always saying it's a martial artist's duty to help those in need.", Akane said with a warm smile to all three of them. Their clothes looked just plain weird, almost like some kind of techno-pyjamas, but they seemed like nice people. Besides Akane just had a feeling that helping these people would be the right thing to do.
"Uhhh...well we...wouldn't want to impose or...anytihng.", Shinji said nervously and would have continued if not for Asuka hand cuffing him in the back of his head lightly.
"Shut up Shinji! Akane here has offered us a place to stay. We haven't found any other place yet and we don't have any money currently! It's rude not to accept such a generous offer. {Not to mention stupid.}", Asuka said to Shinji and added the last part to herself silently. She turned to Akane and smiled saying, "We accept your generous hospitality Akane! Just keep _that_ away from me! Okay?", Asuka pointed to Ranma as she talked. Akane blinked a bit and smiled a little slyly.
"Oh well if he does just hit him! I do. Well come on in I'll introduce you to Dad and the rest of the family.", Akane said and laughed a bit leading the three EVA pilots into the Tendo household.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After a little while the whole Tendo household had gathered in the living room along with the three children from the future. They had gotten Soun to agree to let them stay and introduced themselves to everyone. Kasumi was off getting the three new house guests some more suitable clothing. Ranma had just woken up from his Asuka-induced nap.
"Look I told you I was sorry! What more do you want?", Ranma cried out frustrated with this new girl.
"Your head on a platter would be nice! You pervert! Your even worse than Shinji!", Asuka growled out at him across the table.
"I am not a pervert! It's not my fault Akane hit me into you. There was no way I could have avoided you!", Ranma shot back getting angry at her.
"Oh so now you're saying I'm fat is that it?! I don't believe you! First you grope me and then you insult me! The more I see of you the better Shinji looks!", Asuka said iliciting a blush from Shinji. Ranma just growled in frustration and lowered his head into his hands almost on the verge of tears.
"Just apologize. You'll never win.", Shinji leaned over to Ranma and whispered.
"But I didn't do anything!", Ranma whispered back.
"I know. You still won't win. Asuka can be very stubborn.", Shinji whispered when he suddenly hit upside the head by Asuka.
"I heard that!", Asuka growled out.
"Sorry Asuka.", Shinji said and lowered his head. Asuka growled a bit but sat back down and turned back to Akane, whom she had been speaking with. Kasumi then entered with one of Ranma's outfits and walked over handing it to Shinji with a smile.
"Here you are Shinji. These might be a little loose on you but they should fit. You can use the bathroom upstairs to change in.", Kasumi said with a warm smile. Shinji blinked a bit and smiled back a little. He stood and excused himself before heading upstairs to change. Akane and Asuka were animatedly having a discussion over how perverted Ranma was while he sat glaring at the two and interjecting his comments in on his behalf. Asuka was, of course, taking Akane's side on everything. Soun and Genma were basically ignoring everyone else and playing shogi.
Nabiki watched Shinji go and then glanced to Rei. She smirked softly to herself and watched as the blue haired girl just sat in silence at the table. Every once in a while she'd take a small drink of the tea Kasumi had made. After a while Nabiki got up and moved over sitting down beside Rei. She flashed her friendliest smile only to have Rei turn her head and stare passively back, her face showing no emotion.
"So you're Rei, if I remember yes?", Nabiki asked starting off casually.
"Yes.", Rei stated back in her usual even and emotionless tone.
"You said you and your friends are pilots?", Nabiki ventured.
"Yes.", Rei responded.
"Aren't you a little young to be pilots?", Nabiki asked with a hint of amusment.
"No.", Rei responded. Nabiki paused a moment to mentally frown. This girl was as good at hiding her emotions as she was. Maybe even better. She couldn't read anything from her. Nothing.
"I see. How old are you guys anyways? Fourteen? Fifteen?", Nabiki asked trying to get something out of her.
"Fourteen.", Rei answered back. Nabiki had to calm herself before proceeding. This was getting frustrating. This Rei was harder to read than Ranma's usual henscratch he called writing.
"So....what branch of the government do you work for? Air Force I would assume. Yes?", Nabiki asked with a slight smirk. If they were government employees than a few slips here and there could lead to some very influencial favors in the future.
"No.", Rei said simply.
"No? You don't work for the Air force? Then what branch do you work for?", Nabiki asked a little annoyance entering her voice.
"NERV.", Rei answered.
"NERV? Never heard of it.", Nabiki said noting the name in her memory.
"I know.", Rei responded. Nabiki was about to sigh and continue when Kasumi entered the room with two dresses, one of Akane's and one of Nabiki's. She handed one to each of the the two new girls and told them they could go and change in Akane's room. The two thanked her and headed upstairs. Asuka's laughter drifted down moments after they disappeared and soon after that an embarrassed Shinji trudged down the stairs dressed in one of Ranma's old outfits. He was wearing a pair of black pants and an orange shirt with a small red bow tie at the neck in front. The outfit was definitely loose on him as Shinji was thinner and smaller than Ranma. He walked over and sat down at the table with a sigh.
"How do you put up with her?", Ranma asked bluntly from where he sat next to Shinji.
"You get used to her. You have to.", Shinji said quietly still looking down.
"I'll bet! Man she's worse than Akane!", Ranma said and soon found his face planted into the table, Akane's hand pushing it down.
"Shut up you jerk! I don't see anything wrong with Asuka! She's a perfectly nice girl!", Akane shouted at him. Ranma soon extracted himself and glared back at Akane.
"Figures. Tomboys stick together!", Ranma said earning a fist to his face.
"Who are you calling a tomboy you pervert!?", Akane shouted back and the two soon began the usual arguement. Shinji looked at the two and swallowed a little nervously.
"Soooo. Shinji. Maybe you could answer my questions? Your friend Rei seemed a little shy.", Nabiki said sliding next to Shinji at the table. Shinji swallowed and felt like a field mouse trapped by a python for some reason.
"Uhhh...I can....try.", Shinji answered nervously. Nabiki smiled inwardly. If Rei was a vault when it came to emotions Shinji was an open book for old people with the really big words.
"Good. Rei said you were pilots with some government branch called NERV. I never heard of that branch. Can you tell me more about it?", Nabiki said smiling a little seductively at Shinji to weaken his resolve. Shinji's eyes went a little wide at that. He swallowed and laughed a bit nervously and looked down.
"Oh well...uhh....NERV's a little....uhhh....secret. I...I can't say anything about it.", Shinji said quietly hoping to ward off further questions.
"You're a pilot for a secret government branch? How interesting?", Nabiki said. Shinji gulped and then realized Akane and Ranma were also looking at him.
"Secret? You mean like a spy or something?", Akane asked curiously.
"Do you fly those top secret planes they build or something like that?", Ranma asked curious as well.
"Uhhh.....something....like that....yeah.", Shinji said sweating nervously. Where was Asuka and Rei?! What was taking them so long?!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Asuka and Rei were upstairs in Akane's room getting into the borrowed clothes of Akane and Nabiki. Rei was silent as usual and so was Asuka, for the first few moments.
"You know Wonder Girl? We're pretty lucky we found this place with these nice people. Now all we have to do is figure out how to get home.", Asuka said with a smirk. Soon as they got back and everyone found out that she had taken charge and gotten them safely home, syncronization rates and angel kills be damned. Asuka Langrey Soryuu was going to be the hero and the one everyone looked up to and she was going to enjoy it too!
"Yes. It is fortunate.", Rei said in her usual tone of voice. Asuka rolled her eyes as she pulled Nabiki's dress over her head and adjusted it to fit right. She turned and looked to Rei.
"I'll give you one thing Ayanami. You're a lot more easy to work with when you take orders instead of giving them and don't ignore me all the time.", Asuka said, getting as close as she could come to being civil with Rei. Rei paused and looked to Asuka and the two just stood staring at each other for a few moments. Rei turned around and faced the mirror zipping up the dress in the back and adjusting it slightly.
"I know.", Rei said a very _very_ small smile forming on her lips briefly. Asuka blinked a few times and laughed a bit.
"I think time travel has messed up your head a bit Wonder girl. You're actually agreeing with me!", Asuka said with a smirk. She paused a bit that line running through her head as she remembered her feat of strength earlier.
"Say? Speaking of time travel, you think that's why I got so strong all of a sudden. I mean I wasn't strong enough to do that before we got here I know that!", Asuka said thinking to herself.
"Perhaps it is a side effect of the trip.", Rei said calmly turning back around to view Asuka.
"Yeah maybe. That would explain it. What about you? You feel any different? You any stronger?", Asuka asked wanting to find an answer.
"I feel the same as I always have. I am sure I am not stronger. I could tell if I were.", Rei said simply.
"Of course I forgot I'm dealing with the Almighty First Child. But yeah I imagine you would be able to tell." ,Asuka said sarcastically at first but agreeing with her at the end. Rei merely nodded in response and began heading for the door.
"Well tomorrow we'll have to check out you and Shinji and me too to see if there's anything you guys got that's 'changed'. We'd better head back down before Shinji makes a fool of himself anymore than he already has.", Asuka said and followed Rei out into the hallway. The two headed down to the stairs and began descending them the voices downstairs becoming clearer. She didn't like what they were saying one bit.
"Come on Shinji you can tell us. We won't tell anybody. I promise.", Nabiki said coyly.
"Nabiki quit pestering him. If it's a secret organization he could get in trouble for telling us!", Akane said.
"Can't you tell us anything about this NERV place? You can at least tell us what type of planes you pilot right?", Ranma asked casually, being genuinely curious about the planes.
"Uhhh...I....I can't...I...I really....", Shinji stammered out nervously as he sat feeling three pairs of eye intently staring at him. It had been a few minutes since Nabiki had started questioning him but it felt like it had been hours. He tried to keep his answers simple and hopefully they would ward off more questions but Nabiki kept asking and wanting greater detail. He felt like he was being interrigated. Ranma's questions weren't as probing as Nabiki's but to Shinji, who was already nervous at being left alone, they were little pushes to go along with Nabiki's bigger ones. Also hanging over Shinji was the constant gentle pushing of keeping the secret of where they were really from. All these pushes combined had him right up to the edge of breakdown, teetering and struggling to maintain his balance.
"Shinji!!", Asuka shouted at him as she reached the bottom of the stairs, the shout a warning to keep his mouth shut. Unfortunately to Shinji that shout was just what was needed to push him over the edge.
"Alright alright I confess we're not from the government we're from 20 years in the future and we work for NERV an organization which protects the earth from giant creatures called angels which keep appearing to destroy us and we are the only ones so far able to pilot the EVA's which are giant artifically living beings that are the only things able to fight the angels!!", Shinji suddenly blurted out all at once and then slumped forwards onto the table gasping for breath and feeling as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. Ranma, Akane and Nabiki just all blinked, in unison, at Shinji, shocked at his words.
"The future?", Akane asked still in shock.
"Wow.", Ranma responded.
{This could be....._very_ profitable}, Nabiki thought to herself while yen signs danced in front of her eyes. Asuka's shock wore off leaving only blind and unrelenting fury in her. With a feral growl she lept across the table at Shinji and tackled him to the ground. She then proceeded to strangle Shinji while beating his head into the floorboards and screaming at him.
"SHINJI YOU IDIOT!!! How could you do that after I specifically told you not to say anything about the future!!? Do you know what you could have done to us you idiot?! You might have messed up the timeline!! There might not be any NERV to go back to!! We might not exist! You moron!!! If we get back home and find out we never existed I'm going to kill you!!! You hear me?!! ANSWER ME!!!!", Asuka bellowed at Shinji putting his head through the floorboards fairly early into her rant but not stopping there. She did stop, however, when a hand was placed upon her shoulder. She dropped Shinji and turned to look at Rei.
"He's unconscious.", Rei said calmly causing Asuka to blink. She turned and looked at Shinji who was indeed unconscious. She sighed and growled at the same time and stood up slowly.
"Pathetic! Can't even take a simple beating!", Asuka said and ran a hand through her hair trying to calm down.
"Ummm....Asuka?", Akane said a little hesitantly, not wanting the girl's wrath upon her.
"Yeah?", Asuka said turning to face Akane.
"You're....from the future?", Akane asked.
"Uhhh....yeah. Stupid Shinji! I told him not to say anything! We can't risk contaminating the timeline and destroying out future! Alright! I can't tell you everything that happens in the future but yes what the moronic lump on the floor over there said is true. We're from the year 2015 and we are earth's only line of defense against the angels. Extremely few children are able to pilot an EVA, which is what we use to fight against the angels. Wonder Girl here is the First Child, meaning she was the first found that was able to pilot an EVA. I am the Second Child and the moron is the Third Child. We had just finished a fight with an angel and destroyed it, or so we thought, when we got sent back in time somehow. This particular angel was appearing and disappearing all over the place. Once we had beaten it we were getting set to bring it back to base when our commander told us to evacuate the area. We just started to when the thing exploded in a ball of some kind of energy. We all blacked out and woke up without our EVA's in a vacant lot here and now! That's all we can tell you I'm afraid.", Asuka said to Akane, Ranma and Nabiki.
"That is correct. The energy was of a spatial/temporal distortion. Do you know of anything capable of producing such an energy?", Rei said in her chillingly cool voice. Asuka looked over to her wondering how she knew that but didn't ask.
"Uhhhh....well....the NanBan Mirror could I guess. It'd be able to get you home easily.....but it's broke. Sorry.", Ranma said apologetically.
"A mirror? How could a mirror get us home?", Asuka looked at Ranma asking with some hostility.
"Well it's...magic. It takes you to where your heart desires to be if a tear falls on it when you're holding it. The freak used it and took us back in time to China a while back. When we got back home Nabiki stepped on it and broke it by mistake.", Ranma explained.
"You expect me to believe in magic?! What are you nuts?!", Asuka lightly shouted at Ranma.
"Hey! It's true! Besides it's just as unbelievable a story and three children pilots from the future!", Ranma shot back with a glare. Asuka just growled at him.
"Hold on Asuka! Maybe this will help convince you!", Akane said and with a grin grabbed a glass of water off the table and splashed Ranma in the face with it. Asuka and Rei watched as Ranma's form blurred and shifted to that of a red-headed girl, somewhat shorter than Ranma. Rei merely kept staring, seemingly unshocked while Asuka's mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. Ranma-chan, on the other hand, turned and glared daggers at Akane.
"What did you do that for?!!", Ranma-chan shouted at Akane.
"To prove to Asuka that magic exists you idiot!", Akane shot back. A sudden groan from Shinji got everyone's attention as he woke up and began to pick himself up out of the floor.
"What...happened?", Shinji asked, his head pounding.
"You were an idiot and told everyone we were from the future! You're lucky I was here. I fixed things, no thanks to you! From now on don't say anything unless I tell you to! Got it!?", Asuka shouted at Shinji, having recovered from her shock. Shinji winced and nodded meakly to Asuka. He paused a moment to check himself over for broken bones or anything but was surprised to find only a few small bruises.
{Asuka must've taken it easy on me. I wonder why?}, Shinji thought to himself.
"Anyways back to the problem at hand. Like Wonder Girl was asking, is there anything else that might be able to get us back home around here?", Asuka said looking to Ranma and Akane.
"Uhhh....well the only person I know who would be able to help you if it's at all possible would be the old ghoul. We can go and see here tomorrow if you'd like?", Ranma-chan said. Shinji blinked at the new voice and looked over.
"Uhhh....who are you?", Shinji said curious.
"It's me Shinji. Ranma! Uhh...I sort of turn into a girl when I get splashed with cold water.", Ranma said causing Shinji to blink several times in shock.
".......Oh.", Shinji replied merely taking it in stride. Kasumi came in a moment later and set a kettle of hot water on the table for Ranma and then left smiling lightly as she always does. Ranma proceeded to douse himself with the hot water and change back.
"Who's this 'old ghoul'?", Asuka asked after watching Ranma change back.
"Oh. Cologne. She's Shampoo's great-grandmother. She runs the Nekohanten in town.", Ranma explained with a light groan. Akane seemed to bristle a little at the mention of Shampoo. Asuka merely looked at Ranma with a raised eyebrow.
"Cologne? Shampoo? You know people named after hygiene products?!", Asuka asked almost about to laugh.
"Uhh.....yeah. Long story!", Ranma said with a nervous laugh.
"Uh-huh. Whatever. We'll go and see this Cologne tomorrow then.", Asuka said and glanced to Rei and Shinji, neither of whom argued with her.
"Asuka?", Shinji asked quietly, not wanting another beating even though it didn't hurt to much now that he thought about it. Asuka sighed and turned glaring at Shinji.
"What?!", Asuka said impatiently.
"Ummmm....did you...use all of...your new strength against me?", Shinji asked nervously. Asuka blinked, not expecting that question. She glanced to the hole in the floor Shinji had been laying in and blinked again.
"Actually....I think so. Why?", Asuka asked looking to Shinji.
"Oh...well...I was just wondering....why I'm not dead then.", Shinji asked thinking maybe he had been affected by the trip through time like Asuka had. Rei was thinking along similar lines.
"It appears the trip has had an affect on all of us. Asuka has gotten stronger. Shinji has gotten more endurant.", Rei said and would have continued had not Asuka interrupted her.
"Oh yeah? Well then what happened to you Wonder Girl?", Asuka asked with a small frown at having not noticed herself. Rei merely looked to Asuka and then to the empty tea cup she had been drinking from. Asuka followed her gaze and then watched as a brief blur occured and the cup disappeared from the table into Rei's hand.
"I have gotten faster.", Rei said simply.
"I can see that. Showoff.", Asuka said and grumbled to herself.
"Hey. You guys....got changed? If you'd like to....test yourselves we can go to the dojo.", Ranma said, a little eager to test his speed against Rei's. Asuka looked to Shinji and Rei for a moment and then to Ranma.
"Why not!? We got nothing better to do!", Asuka said with a grin and rose to her feet. Shinji and Rei did as well and the group headed out to the dojo to test themselves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kaneda Okyoshu grumbled to himself as he descended the stairs of his house, katana in hand. He sighed to himself and wished he had married a less jumpy woman. Every little sound in the night he had to go and check out. It was a wonder he got any sleep at all. He reached the bottom of the stairs and flicked on the light and looked around.
"Nothing. Just like I thought.", Kaneda muttered and turned to head back upstairs.
It lay in waiting for something, anything alive to come near enough. It had been ready to complete it's mission and destroy Tokyo-3 and was doing a good job of it when it was ambushed upon returning to the collection point. It simmered in anger as it thought of how easily it had let it's defenses down. Well, at least it had a second chance. All it needed was a body to take over and then....then it could destroy Tokyo-3 before it ever was built. Wipe it clean from history. It scanned the surroundings and wished to lash out. Nothing was near enough or substantial enough to take over. It had to move to another location.
It focussed it's power and tried to teleport to somewhere else but nothing came. It's power was drained. The wounds and the conduit through timespace had nearly left it dead. It moved and took the last power it had available and solidified part of it, to drag itself along. Three tentacles, glowing and blue, seemingly attached to a cloud of bluish vapor was all that was left of the angel. It reached out and gripped a stone ahead of itself and pulled, one tentacle had formed under a trash can however which promptly toppled over onto it.
Kaneda jumped at the crash from outside and turned swallowing hard. He gripped his katana tighter and slowly moved to his kitchen and towards the door. He paused a moment listening as he took ahold of the doorknob and unlocked it quietly. He slowly opened it and stepped outside looking around. He steeled his nerves and slid into a battle stance, his senses extending. Something was out here, but where. He whirled around at the sudden movement off to his right and nearly swung his blade but didn't. He sighed in relief as the neighbor's cat yowled and scampered off into the night.
"Stupid cat.", Kaneda muttered as her turned to head back inside. He paused, a sudden glimpse of light from over by the over turned trash can caught his eye.
It nearly flashed in anger as the cat ran from it, sensing the danger inherent in the tentacled cloud of light. It did notice a man, not far away at all. A small flash of light and a touch on his senses....yes! He saw. He was coming closer. Yes. Close enough....to touch.
Kaneda gripped his katana with one hand and moved closer and lightly poked at the trash which seemed to be glowing from underneath. Probably a flashlight some kids left on and dropped in the trash for a prank. Still the was something there. He could....feel it almost. Something was there and he was going to find out. He moved and crouched down and reached a hand out lifting part of a cardboard box that layover the light.
It almost chuckled in glee at it felt him closing in and then lifting the cover it was under. Just a few more moments....a little closer....a little closer.....now!
Kaneda jerked back as the tentacles shot out around his arm, the cloud-like creature following. He was about to shout out for help when a wave of absolute pain slammed into him so hard he only had the time to gurgle softly before passing out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shinji groaned to himself as he lay down on the floor by Ranma. Genma was off on the other side of Ranma snoring loudly. Shinji lay there for a moment before shifting and groaning in pain. He was sore all over from the beating he had endured from Asuka, who decided to test her new strength and his new endurance at the same time. He was glad that Rei had gotten faster though. He also silently hoping these new...improvements would remain when they got back home. He smiled a bit and winced from the rather large bruise on the side of his face from a really good punch by Asuka.
"Ow. Why'd she have to hit me so hard?", Shinji whined softly to himself.
"I ask myself that question all the time.", Ranma said back with a lightly bitter laugh.
"What?", Shinji asked.
"Nothing. See you in the morning Shinji. Good night.", Ranma responded and rolled over. Shinji wondered for a moment who Ranma had been talking about but realized it wasn't any of his business and also settled in for some sleep.
Over in Akane's room Asuka was grinning at herself in the mirror and flexing. She was dressed in some of Akane's old pyjamas and was in a great mood. She was _strong_ now and she really really enjoyed it! She also got to severly beat Shinji up with little damage to him, which she thought was a definitely plus. She frowned a bit as she remembered how fast Rei had been but shrugged it off grinning again. Rei was still weak and so was Shinji. She was the strongest, the best and nothing would stop her from proving just that to everyone else back home....as soon as she found a way to get them back.
"Asuka? What are you doing?", Akane asked with a light giggle.
"Huh? Oh nothing Akane! Just admiring myself a bit. Anyways I have to say thanks again for letting us stay here and trying to help us get home.", Asuka said and walked over getting into the small cot she had claimed.
"Oh don't worry about it. It's sort of what we do around here. Helping people that is!", Akane said and smiled as she reached over and turned off the lamp.
"Good night Akane.", Asuka said.
"Good night Asuka.", Akane replied. Asuka smiled to herself. Akane was a good friend, so much like her, but also able to realize a true leader when she saw one. Tomorrow would be the start of the return home. She just hoped this Cologne could help like Ranma said....otherwise she really didn't know what she would do.
Rei had been laying in bed for some time waiting for sleep to come and listening to Kasumi get ready for bed. She had gotten used to the gentle movements and such that she was lightly startled when Kasumi spoke to her, thought her face showed none of this.
"Rei? Do you need anything?", Kasumi asked kindly.
"No.", Rei replied.
"Alright then. Good night Rei. Pleasant dreams.", Kasumi said as she climbed in her bed shutting out the lights. Rei paused for a moment as if considering what had been said. A small, almost imperceptable smile formed on her lips as she spoke back a little more warmly than she normally did.
"Pleasant....dreams....Kasumi-san."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It woke up and grinned to itself, letting a chuckle roll from its throat. It sat up and looked around, the world in a different perspective now. It rose to its feet and looked around more and then down to the katana held in its hand. It smirked and closed it's eyes reaching out with it's senses to gain a feel for the place it would soon destroy. It's eyes opened with a gasp coming from its lips. They were here. Those that caused its near death. It must have brought them back with it. How unfortunate....for them. It would search them out and destroy them....and then destroy what would be Tokyo-3. The best thing of all....in this new form...they would not even seen their death coming. It smirked, a evil and horrific look to its face, its eyes blazing with blue fire as a chuckle began to come from its throat. The chuckle slowly became a laugh which grew in volume until it was ringing out for several blocks and echoing, striking fear into the hearts of those that heard it.
Minato Okyoshu descended to stairs after her husband didn't return to say everything was alright. She held a wooden practice sword in her trembling hands. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and made her way into the kitchen. She stopped at the entrance as she saw a form in the doorway facing out. She swallowed and crept forward stopping a few feet behind it. She was about to say something when it began to laugh an awful, horrible sounding laugh. She could barely keep from running for her life and what stopped her was that it sounded much like her husband. That, perhaps, is what frightened her most of all.
"K-K-Kaneda?!", Minato asked in a trembling voice. The form suddenly blurred and then glint of light off of her husband's katana was the last thing she saw.
~~~End of Part One~~
Author's Notes:
This, like my other work Pains of the Past, was an idea I had and I just had to go with it. This will be a three part story only which I will update along with my other stories in the coming weeks. I am sorry if writing this delays any of my other works, please understand that I am a writer of inspiration. I have to write when it hits. I'll get out as much as I can on the other stories as soon as I possibly can. I have seen absolutely nothing of Neon Genesis Evangelion and I do hope I'm doing the characters justice. If not feel free to write and tell me. I plan to have a little more romance to the next part and a nice battle in part three. I hope I keep some of you entertained with this. Until next time! ^_^
