Public C&C. Private C&C. I must have them both! Disclaimer time: Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty and Viz Communications own Ranma 1/2. Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Gainax and ADV Films own Neon Genesis Evangelion. Thanks are due to my pre-readers: David Menard, Eric Oh, James Merritt, Thomas Hackwood. Corwin (ely7@inter.net.il or corwin@virtuallyjeannie.com) http://lavender.fortunecity.com/friday/573/anime.html * Previous chapters can also be found at: http://members.xoom.com/phu_lam/index.htm http://home.earthlink.net/~tannim/rfics.html http://ranmaxovers.tripod.com -- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar -- -- File: acoa-ch4-draft2.txt A Couple of Angels Chapter 4 "Whoa, ugly!" Ranma-chan exclaimed at the sight of the monstrosity. "It is, isn't it?" Misato agreed with her companion. "Yeah," Ranma replied, checking the Jet Alone robot from head to toe. "And taking those Evangelions of yours into account, that says a lot." "Yes... HEY!" Misato growled. Ranma shrugged her shoulders, and ignored the purple-haired Captain from that point. Besides, her favorite playmate has finally decided to join them. "There you are!" Ritsuko exclaimed tiredly, nearing Misato and Ranma. "Hey Rit-chan!" Ranma greeted the scientist warmly, waving her hand. "Don't call me that!" Ritsuko shot at the red-head angrily. "Why is that, Rit-chan?" Ranma replied innocently, staring at her with one of her cutest expressions. 'Arrg!' Ritsuko Akagi mentally shouted, pulling at her hair. On the outside, however, she projected a calm image and pointedly turned away from Ranma to face Misato. The red-head's smirk didn't go unnoticed by her, and it took the Doctor all of her willpower not to explode at that point. Chanting the mantra 'She's the Fourth Child. Mustn't kill the Fourth Child.' repeatedly in her head, Ritsuko waited for the presentation to begin. -------------------------------------------------- "Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you for attending this exhibition of Nippon Heavy Industry Solidarity. You will be observing the official demonstration from the control room. Are there any questions? Before Ritsuko could say anything, Ranma's hand shot to the air. "Yes?" "Why's that thing so damn ugly?" Ranma asked, looking curiously at the announcer. As the latter scrambled for words, Ranma continued, "I mean, if it's to scare off the Angels, it ain't gonna work. Look at the EVAs! They're butt ugly, but those Angels keep on coming!" "Um... yes," the speaker stuttered in reply. "Well, I... I think it d- doesn't work because t-the Angels, as a rule, are usually u-uglier..." "And the colors..." Ranma continued, uninhibited by the lame response. "Man, the awful paint job! It's painful to the eyes, I tell ya! Who was the guy that designed that atrocity, anyway?" "That would be me," the curt reply came, cutting into Ranma's speech. "Nabiki," the red-head whispered, locking eyes with the older woman. Looking around Ranma, Nabiki Tendo noticed the two women standing next to the brash girl who had just spoken, and announced aloud, "Ah, it seems we have guests from Nerv. Would you like to receive a guided tour?" Not waiting for an answer, Nabiki signaled her assistant, who quickly made his way towards Ritsuko and Misato. "Stay here and don't touch anything!" Ritsuko warned Ranma, before going with Nabiki's assistant. "Sure, Rit-chan!" Ranma exclaimed to the immense annoyance of the Doctor, before shrugging, and turning away to look at the sky. She stayed there for a couple of minutes, until a woman in her thirties came to stand next to her. They stood together in silence for several long moments, until Ranma commented, "Nice weather, isn't it?" Nabiki sighed, and nodded her head, saying, "Yes". "You let your hair grow," the red-head continued in the same emotionless voice as before. "It looks nice on you." "Thanks... Ranma," Nabiki replied hesitantly, holding her breath. Her mind kept telling her that it wasn't possible, that Ranma couldn't be here because he died all those years ago... but her heart insisted on the opposite just as vehemently. "No problem, Nabiki. You were always cute, you and your sisters," Ranma replied, letting a bit of longing into her voice this time. "Ranma Saotome... saying a thing like this to me voluntarily," Nabiki shook her head, and chuckled. "And I didn't even have to blackmail you first!" "Hey, what can I say? I changed, we all have. And it's not like there's anyone here to pound me when I say something stupid," Ranma answered, her voice turning sad at the end of her sentence. Nabiki was silent for several moments, looking at the sky with Ranma. In the background, the Jet Alone robot was being launched, the demonstration starting. "Speaking of changes," Nabiki said out of the blue, "You haven't changed a bit from what I remembered." "Look a little closer, Nabiki. I'm younger now, around fourteen I'd imagine. Though I can understand how you could miss that. How long has it been, fifteen years? Or is it twenty?" Leaning closer to Ranma, close enough to smell her, Nabiki eyed the redhead. Realizing how close she was, Nabiki back away with a slight blush. "You're right, Saotome. So, you're fourteen years old now, just like..." "Yep. Just like those precious Nerv pilots," Ranma replied, cutting in. Nabiki turned around to look at her, mentally completing the puzzle. Before she could ask, Ranma added, "I'm the Fourth Child." "Saving the world, eh?" Nabiki asked with a smirk. Ranma's smirk matched her own. "Heh, I couldn't care less about the world, or the rest of those Angels." "What is it, then? What keeps you going?" Nabiki wanted to know. "Is it your martial arts code?" "Protecting the innocents? I guess, to a degree. Although I wonder whether it applies to fighting huge otherworldly monstrosities..." Ranma answered, trailing off. "C'mon, there has to be something. What are you fighting for?" Nabiki queried. Ranma opened her mouth, before snapping it shut as an alarm sounded around the premises. 'Oh, God, not now!' she thought desperately. Turning towards Nabiki, Ranma asked, "Is it..." "Yes, it's an Angel," Nabiki answered sharply, cutting in. With that, both of them bolted towards the control room of Jet Alone. -------------------------------------------------- "Dr. Akagi," the Commander's voice came over her cell phone, "the Jet Alone objective has become secondary. Take Captain Katsuragi and return to the GeoFront at once!" "What about the Fourth Child?" Ritsuko asked, berating herself for leaving Ranko alone. 'I'm sure that brat hid somewhere just to annoy me.' "The Fourth Child isn't your concern. Leave her to her business." With that, the line went dead. Wondering at the Commander's ruthlessness, especially since he hadn't even met the brat in person and had no reason to be annoyed with her, Ritsuko grabbed Misato's elbow and dragged her towards the car they came with. 'It'd be alright,' Ritsuko tried to reason with herself. 'EVA 03 hasn't arrived yet, and Ranko would just be in the way. And at least here, she'd be safe.' Ritsuko was so enveloped in her thoughts, that she didn't see Misato get behind the wheel before it was too late. A second later, with a screech of tires, along with another, more human this time, screech, Misato and Ritsuko were on their way back to Nerv. -------------------------------------------------- As Nabiki and Ranma reached Jet Alone's control room, Nabiki's panicked assistant ran towards them. "Where're Ritsuko and Misato?" Ranma yelled, grabbing the already frightened man and dragging him down to her level. "Ranma, relax," Nabiki ordered in a relatively calm voice. Turning towards her assistant, she looked him straight in the eyes, and asked slowly, "Where are Dr. Akagi and her companion?" This worked like a charm, and the man regained his composure. Standing up, after Ranma let go of his business suit, the assistant replied, "They received a phone call and left right after the alarm sounded." "Damn! They left me behind..." Ranma seethed, clenching her fists. "And what could _you_ have done?!" Nabiki's assistant asked condescendingly. After locking eyes with Ranma for a brief moment, he backed away in fright at what he saw staring back at him from those clear, blue orbs. "Never mind that now!" Nabiki shouted. Once she had everyone's undivided attention, she announced, "This is it, people. This is what we've been working towards, our big chance. Prepare the Jet Alone for confronting the Angel!" As people scurried to their stations, typing furiously at their panels, Ranma took Nabiki away from the activity to a relatively quiet corner. "I'll be your pilot, Nabiki," the red-head said definitely. "But... Ranma... No. The Jet Alone robot is a self-sufficient machine; it pilots itself. Besides, that's our whole point - we don't want to put kids in the line of fire!" "You know I'm hardly a kid, Nabiki," Ranma whispered, smiling sadly. "Besides, your robot is not complete, yet. It won't be able to penetrate the Angel's AT field." "How do you know?" Nabiki asked, looking at the petite red-head strangely. "I know," Ranma said with absolute certainty. After having a staring match with Nabiki for several moments, she added, "Look, if you don't want me to pilot that thing, fine! But I have to be on it." "Ranma, you'd be killed!" Nabiki exclaimed, drawing a few stares. If Ranma was right, and the Angels were unstoppable without an AT field, then she was buying herself a one-way ticket for that trip. "It's the only way, Nabiki," Ranma calmly replied, lowering her head. "If you'd just get me a glass of hot water, I'd be ready to go." Nabiki stood motionlessly, thinking the request through. Something inside her mind told her that Ranma would try to follow into the battle on her own, regardless of what Nabiki would say. At least, this way the red-head would be protected somewhat inside the armor of the huge machine. Coming to her decision, Nabiki gave several final orders, and went with Ranma into an empty office, grabbing a cup of coffee on her way out. Once they were alone, Nabiki held out the cup of hot coffee to Ranma, and said, "All right, you win. But before you go, just tell me why." Ranma took the cup, splashing herself with the coffee, before making an attempt to exit through the window. Nabiki ran towards him, grabbing his sleeve. "Please, Ranma." Nabiki's heart was pounding as she fought to control her emotions; it would not do well to crack at this moment. Ranma, in the flesh, was finally right there beside her, after all those years. And the fool couldn't wait to rush into a battle with an enormous Angel and get himself killed. Ranma stopped on the window sill, turning his head towards her. 'He does look younger,' Nabiki thought absently, as she waited for his answer. Locking his eyes with her, Ranma whispered softly, "For an angel," before bolting out of the window and breaking into a run towards the Jet Alone robot, which was standing near the building. -------------------------------------------------- "Miss Tendo!" a young tech exclaimed, when Nabiki returned to the control room. "The maintenance access panel of the Jet Alone robot has been opened and someone entered through it. Security teams have already been dispatched, and..." "Cancel them," Nabiki replied calmly, directing her gaze at him. "Proceed with the operation." The tech bit down his questions at the look in her eyes, and replied, "Y-yes, Ma'am," weakly, returning to his station. 'Good luck, Ranma!' Nabiki thought while sighing deeply, before returning her mind to the task at hand. -------------------------------------------------- "Where are Captain Katsuragi and Dr. Akagi?" Commander Ikari asked from his position above Nerv's control room. "They haven't arrived yet, Sir," Maya answered, checking Magi's databases for the most recent use of their magnetic cards. "Orders?" "Ready Units 01 and 02 for launch and sortie all pilots," the Commander answered, adjusting his glasses slightly. "Yes, Sir!" Maya replied, before turning towards her task. Turning towards his former mentor, Commander Ikari asked him, "Do you think he will show up?" Fuyutsuki thought for a moment, before nodding once in confirmation. The Commander nodded himself, thoughtfully, before returning his attention to the monitors in the control room. -------------------------------------------------- Left along to his thoughts inside the giant robot, Ranma worked on his idea. When he became the Fourth Child, Ranma had learned that the Angels all had something that was called the AT field, which was impenetrable to all conventional weaponry. The EVAs used a technique that created AT fields to cancel the Angels' own to defeat them. However, while participating in the fights with the Angels, Ranma was able to hurt them. Admittedly, it wasn't much, hardly enough to stop one of those monstrosities for good, but it meant that Ranma's attacks were actually able to penetrate an AT field. >From these two facts, Ranma had been able to deduct that he was somehow using an AT field in his fights with the Angels or, at least, something close enough to it in nature to pass as one. 'This has to be that new element I felt myself using, when I called for my ki,' Ranma thought, musing over the information. 'Hmm, this explains a few things.' Unfortunately, this also meant that the Jet Alone robot had no chance on its own. Since it was completely inorganic, Ranma didn't think it could create something similar to an AT field, which equaled to one's life- force in his eyes, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to summon it accidentally along with his ki. Once Ranma realized all that, he had to come along with the Jet Alone robot to the battle. With his AT field and the robot's firepower there was no stopping them! Frowning, Ranma remembered one fact he'd overlooked in his haste. Albeit it might look that way, the Angels didn't stand still while the army showered them with its weaponry. They fought back, and only an AT field had a chance to stop their attacks, if at all. That wouldn't do. 'What if...' Ranma thought suddenly, cheering up. 'What if I create an AT field around us all the time? It wouldn't be easy to maintain it throughout the battle, but I should be able to buy the robot a minute or two to do its thing. That should be enough for the Jet Alone to thrash the Angel.' Ranma liked that idea. His plan was perfect, no matter how he looked at it. Deciding to go through with it, Ranma started thinking how he could create an AT field. Five minutes later, he got an idea. 'When I tried to use my aura to shield me from that blast! I know I used that weird energy that time as well!' Ranma grimaced at the memory. That blast hurt like hell, and his favorite - and only, at that time - outfit had been ruined. However, he didn't have much choice. Ranma could already hear the sounds of battle from outside, and knew that they must be close to the location. If he was going to go by his plan, it was now or never. Gathering as much energy as he could and focusing it, Ranma cried out, creating a shimmering blue barrier around the Jet Alone robot, using a technique he'd seen his father and Happosai use once in a battle, where his old man actually stood up to the pervert for once. The pigtailed boy continued pouring more and more power into it, until the barrier flared bright red and settled down around the giant robot, like a majestic corona, giving it a surrealistic feel. The pair of Angels turned around to look at Jet Alone, having just thrown EVAs one and two at each other. They weren't impressed. -------------------------------------------------- "Commander! EVA 01 and EVA 02 ceased all functioning!" Maya cried out in terror, turning to look at Gendo Ikari. "Status on EVA 00?" Gendo asked, slightly adjusting his glasses. "It's still not operational, Sir. The repairs won't be over for at least another two weeks," Misato replied, turning around as well. "Tell Rei to get ready," Gendo commanded, "and prepare Unit 00 for launch." "But the replacement breastplate for EVA 00 has still not arrived!" Misato pleaded. "If we send Rei now..." "Return to your post, Captain Katsuragi," Gendo said curtly, ignoring her. "Commnader Ikari!" Maya cried out from her station. "The Magi are registering an energy spike! It's... Pattern Orange!" "Zoom in on its source and cancel EVA 00's launch," Gendo ordered, exchanging a look with Fuyutsuki. Maya began to type furiously, and a few moments later, an image appeared on the main screen of Nerv's control room. "Impossible!" Dr. Akagi exclaimed with wide eyes. "Unreal!" Misato agreed with her friend, albeit more silently. Fuyutsuki raised an eyebrow in surprise, before smirking. All over the control room, Nerv employees were shocked to see a glowing Jet Alone robot facing off against Angels 7a and 7b on their screens. -------------------------------------------------- Inside the robot, Ranma cheered. His plan was working, he could feel it. Now, all the stupid robot had to do was attack the Angel. The pigtailed boy frowned, as he realized he didn't have an idea how Jet Alone was going to do it. Punching a few keys on a nearby console caused a few screens to lit up, showing the outside view from several angles, as well as a tactical display. "What the hell?!" Ranma exclaimed, looking at the main screen. "Two Angels?!" As Ranma started punching additional keys, changing the data being shown on the displays, Jet Alone started advancing on the closest Angel, firing at the other to keep it at bay. Nabiki's face suddenly came on a side monitor. "Calm down, Ranma," she said quietly, glancing to the sides. "There are no controls inside the robot, it's fully automated." "Nabiki!" Ranma exclaimed, racing to the monitor displaying her image. "Why are there all those screens here, if you didn't want anyone to use them?" "They're leftovers from the previous design, and since they didn't interfere with anything and would've taken too long to extract, we kept them in the prototype; besides, they could be used for maintenance and diagnostics for the time when the Jet Alone is in chassis. As the project progressed, we came to the decision that an AI would be more efficient than any human pilot," Nabiki answered. Smiling, she added, "Of course, we never had you in mind." Ranma answered with his usual cocky smirk, "Well, no one's perfect." Looking at something to her left, Nabiki smiled and said to Ranma, "Looks like we might even be able to handle this without you. The other robot is coming apart!" Ranma glanced at the screen showing the Angel that the Jet Alone was firing upon. One of its hands had been destroyed by the onslaught. "This looks too simple, Nabiki. I don't like it," Ranma mentioned, thinking about his previous encounters with Angels. Nabiki looked at her screen again, and paled, muttering, "Impossible..." Looking back at the main screen, Ranma saw that the Angel's arm had grown back. Squinting his eyes, he studied the Angels outside carefully. "That's it!" Ranma exclaimed, startling Nabiki. Turning towards her image, he said excitedly, "These Angels have a round thingy, just like one of the previous ones! When one of the EVAs ran a knife through it the last time, it died!" Raising an eyebrow, Nabiki decided to ask Ranma later how he knew all of that. Right now, they had two Angels to destroy. Studying their image intently, she saw the round spheres both of the Angels had, and decided to rely on Ranma's intuition, which from her personal knowledge was unparalleled in battle. "Direct all attacks on the spheres at the middle of each Angel!" she shouted to her staff, pointing out the targets on the main display. Nabiki's commands were executed to the letter, her subordinates knowing better than to argue with her, especially at a time like this. Ranma cheered along with Nabiki and her entire staff, when the bullets finally hit the distant Angel's core. It cracked, and the Angel stopped moving for a second. Just as the Jet Alone was training its guns on the closest Angel of the pair, the impossible happened. The core that had been cracked regenerated, and closed together. Nabiki gasped, cursing under her breath before regaining her senses and yelling to her staff, "Continue firing!". She'd be damned if she let a small thing like invincible Angels stop her! Inside the Jet Alone robot, Ranma gritted his teeth, growling, "It's not working!". The effort it took him to keep the AT field intact was steadily increasing with every moment. "Why isn't it working?!" The Jet Alone struck one of the Angels, getting a lucky shot in, and cracking its core. Mere seconds later, the core regenerated. 'What the hell's going on?' Ranma thought desperately. Had there been only one Angel, they would've disintegrated it to its component molecules eventually, regeneration or not. But while one of the Angels was incapacitated, its twin kept on attacking relentlessly. 'Wait! That's it!' Ranma realized suddenly, brightening up. 'What if... that 'twin' isn't a twin at all, but a part of the first Angel? In that case...' "Nabiki! Hit both of the round thingies at the same time! They're both halves of a giant one!" Ranma shouted excitedly, with urgency in his voice. His only answer was static. -------------------------------------------------- "The Jet Alone seems to be winning," Fuyutsuki remarked amusedly. "You know who's really winning the battle," Gendo replied grumpily, scowling. Hiding his displeasure from the performance of Shinji and Asuka earlier, and from the recent incident, the Commander slid his mask into place. "Jet Alone cannot be allowed to emerge victorious from this battle, no matter the circumstances." "I agree," Fuyutsuki said, nodding. "Commander Ikari," Ritsuko Akagi addressed him, cutting in. "Both EVAs have been retrieved." "Good," Gendo replied, adjusting his glasses. "Proceed towards our secondary objective." "B-But, Sir..." "Carry on," Gendo shot at the Doctor, cold eyes staring at her from behind his glasses. "Understood, Commander." Going over to an unused console, Ritsuko sat down and started setting the plan in motion. However, her mind wasn't entirely on her mission, as for the first time since she'd joined Nerv, Dr. Akagi was having doubts about making the right choice. 'Sabotaging a useless robot during a demonstration, so that Nerv would get the funding it needs to fight the Angels is one thing, but this... I hate to admit it, but Jet Alone is faring better than Asuka and Shinji out there. And if the explosion won't affect the Angels... what then? We don't have an operating EVA to hold them off...' Taking a deep breath, Ritsuko sighed and activated a command Nerv's spies programmed into the robot's AI. -------------------------------------------------- "Hey, Nabiki! What's going on?" Ranma asked, as all the screens started showing static. "Nabiki?" Warning sirens went off, red lights flashing to accompany them. "What the hell?" Ranma exclaimed, looking around frantically. A computerized voice started a countdown, as the Jet Alone robot began moving towards the pair of Angels at its top speed. 'This can't be good,' the pigtailed boy quickly decided. 'The whole thing looks like it's gonna blow... and we were winnin' too! S'not fair!' Had Ranma gotten into this situation when he'd just arrived, he'd have just sat in the robot and waited for it to self-destruct. But now, Ranma had a mission to fulfill, a new purpose in life; one that won't be served by giving his life away for nothing. After only a brief moment of temptation to let go of the pain and surrender, Ranma shook his head and ran towards the access hatch he'd entered the robot through, and opened it, jumping as far away as he could. Pushing himself to his limits and beyond, he managed to get a good distance away from the battling giants, when something felt wrong. Cursing, Ranma poured all of his remaining energy into his AT field that by now had shrunk to surround his body. And then, the world went white. -------------------------------------------------- "Come on, Kensuke! What if we get caught again?" Toji pleaded with his friend as they explored a ruin that was uncovered during the Angel fight and the subsequent nuclear explosion earlier that day. "Don't be such a coward, Toji!" Kensuke called out, searching for anything of value with his flashlight. "The Angels have been defeated, and we're nowhere near their bodies." "Yeah, but... this place gives me the creeps!" Toji said, shivering. "Just imagine all the things that could be here!" Kensuke retorted excitedly. "I think this place was buried during the Second Impact. From the size of it, I'd say someone rich lived here." Toji perked up at the prospect of finding a hidden treasure. Since there was nothing he could do to change his friend's mind, Toji decided to go along with it. Swinging his flashlight in a wide arc, he saw a large chest on a pedestal in one of corners of the chamber they were in. "Hey, Kensuke, check this out!" Toji yelled, running over to it. The two boys looked at the metal chest in awe. Something truly valuable must've been inside, if the owner chose to protect it in that fashion. "Let's open it!" Reaching the chest, the boys didn't see any locks. Aside from a keypad and a small display above it, the crate's surface was smooth. "I guess we'll have to punch in the right code to open it," Kensuke stated, going over to the keypad and entering random combinations of numbers. Two hours later, Kensuke was out of breath and frustrated, yet nowhere nearer their objective. Screaming in frustration, he hit the chest, which resulted in him jumping up and down, clutching his hand in pain. Toji yawned, and guessed it was his turn at the keypad. Thinking for a moment, he entered several numbers. The crate suddenly creaked and opened slightly, eerie green light pouring into the chamber from it. "What did you enter?" Kensuke whispered to his friend, afraid to speak up so as not to upset whatever was in the chest. "Ranko's measurements," Toji whispered back with a surprised expression on his face. The boys turned towards the chest, as the lid opened all the way up. "Greetings, fellow samurai!" a voice exclaimed loudly, as a real-size hologram appeared above the opened chest. "Thou have been deemed worthy to the contents of this crate, which I must entrust to your safekeeping. Alas, but I must halt my quest to save the Pigtailed Girl from the clutches of the evil sorcerer Saotome. Ever since their disappearance, and the fair Tendo Akane's premature demise, my condition has not been well. I fear that my time to leave this world and join my ancestors as befits a true samurai is at hand. Before I do that, I must ask of you, noble warriors, to continue my quest and vanquish Saotome, freeing the Pigtailed Girl." The hologram paused, as if collecting its thoughts, before posing dramatically. "To this end, I pass on my trusted blade to you, as well as the contents of this crate. Be well." As the hologram whisked out of existence, Kensuke and Toji exchanged a look, shrugged, and went over to find out what the chest held. "A bokken?!" Toji exclaimed, mirrored by Kensuke's cry of "A diary?!". -------------------------------------------------- End of Chapter 4.