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. I'd like to thank my pre-readers for their help with this. Corwin (ely7@inter.net.il or corwin@virtuallyjeannie.com) http://lavender.fortunecity.com/friday/573/ranma.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 A Couple of Angels Chapter 7 "Good morning, Captain," Ritsuko greeted, nodding to Misato. "It's Major, now," the purple-haired woman corrected her proudly. "Congratulations... Major," Ritsuko said, smiling. "I bet it's all because of Mr. Kaji's brilliant plan and my glorious performance against the last Angel!" Asuka piped in, her eyes glazing over briefly as she mentioned her idol's name. 'And what am I, dead meat?' Shinji thought dejectedly, forcing a smile on his face for Misato's sake. "Ah, they're here!" Ritsuko exclaimed, causing everyone to turn around and see Rei and Ranma-chan entering the control room together. "Hey there, Rit-chan!" Ranma cheerfully exclaimed, flashing her a smile. "Where is Commander Ikari?" Rei asked Ritsuko. "He'll join us once the tests begin," the Doctor answered, not missing the scowl that appeared briefly on Ranma's face, before the red-head returned to her previous cheerful self. Promising herself to look into that later, she asked, "Are you ready for Evangelion Unit 03's activation test, Ranko?" "Sure, bring it on!" Ranma replied, her voice wavering slightly. 'After this, there'd be no turning back...' -------------------------------------------------- A few minutes before the activation test, Ranma remembered something. Taking the blue-haired girl aside, Ranma said, tugging on her pigtail, "Rei, I've been wondering..." "Yes?" "You guys all have these sync thingies, right?" the red-head asked, shuffling her feet nervously. "Pilots have a synchronization rate with their Evangelions," Rei answered, looking unblinking at her friend. "Umm... how do you know if you have the right one?" "I do not understand," the blue-haired girl replied levelly. Ranma sighed, and tried another approach. "Look... is there a bad sync rate?" Rei looked at Ranma questioningly, waiting for the red-head to explain herself. "You know, something a pilot should have..." Ranma trailed off, sighing once again. Rei continued to look at her friend, awaiting an adequate explanation. "Geez... Never mind that, Rei." 'Oh, well, time for Plan B,' Ranma thought, saying out loud, "So, Rei, what's your sync rate?" -------------------------------------------------- Ranma, wearing a custom-made blue and black plug suit, climbed into her entry plug. Her fellow pilots watched the plug insert itself into the giant black EVA from the control room, Asuka encouraging the other red- head. The entry plug filled with LCL, and Ranma's heart rate accelerated. While everything had gone much better than she hoped for, Ritsuko decided to say, "Don't worry, Ranko, you can breathe the LCL," wondering why the girl didn't react like Shinji or Asuka during their first synchronization tests. 'No shit,' Ranma thought bitterly, frowning at the body temperature liquid surrounding her. 'Good thing Rei told me everything I needed to know about this thing.' Figuring that Ritsuko was probably waiting for some kind of reply from her, Ranma gave her a thumbs up and exclaimed happily, "I'm ok, Rit- chan!" Gritting her teeth as Misato snickered beside her, Ritsuko barked at Maya, "Proceed with the tests." Uttering, "Yes, Sempai," Maya executed Ritsuko's orders. Back in the EVA, Ranma felt something. -------------------------------------------------- A presence? "Who's there?!" Ranma shouted, swirling around. Her only answer was a faint echo of laughter, carried by an evening breeze. 'Wait a moment? A breeze? In an entry plug?!' Blinking a few times, Ranma discovered that she was standing in a field of pretty flowers. Looking around, all she could see was roses of all colors, beautiful under the light of the silvery moon. "What the...?! Where am I?" Ranma felt someone shoving her violently to the ground. Before her face could hit the ground, the red-head sprung back up with her right arm, coming out in a ready position. Feeling something against her back, she swiveled around, seeing several sets of elastic bands stretching over between two posts. Turning back to her original position, Ranma noticed that she was in a boxing ring. "Who's doing this? Show yourself!" Ranma demanded, shaking her fist in the air threateningly. A chilling laugh was her only answer. -------------------------------------------------- Several warning lights flashed inside the control room, indicating the pilot's erratic heart rate and brain waves. "Is anything wrong, Ranko?" Ritsuko asked with a hint of worry in her voice, trying to convince herself that what happened with Rei a few months ago had been an isolated incident. "Something... something doesn't feel right, Ritsuko," Ranma answered, glancing to the sides nervously. "Please try to remain calm, Ranko," Ritsuko said with as much confidence and authority that she could muster at the moment. "We'll get you out of there as soon as possible." Turning towards Maya, the Doctor told her to power down the EVA and reschedule the rest of the tests for a later date. "Continue with the tests, Dr. Akagi," the Commander ordered, looking directly at her. "B-But, Sir... the pilot's condition..." "...is of no consequence. We need to gather data about the Fourth Child's abilities, data which she had refused to provide to us by synchronizing with any of the other EVA units." Ritsuko looked like she would continue her protests, when Maya, in an attempt to save her mentor from the Commander's wrath, executed his order. "How are you feeling, Ranko?" the Doctor asked, her primary concern for the young pilot overriding the need to argue her case against the Commander. Ranma's voice filtered into the room through its built-in speakers. "Ritsuko? Are we done? Can I go now?" "I'm sorry, Ranko, but you can't go just yet. Can you describe to me what's bothering you?" "There's a... presence... here," Ranma replied somewhat shakily, before adding, "She doesn't like me." 'She?' everyone in the control room wondered. Ritsuko was about to ask Ranko what the red-head meant by that, when a whole new batch of warning lights flared to life, sirens accompanying them shortly after. -------------------------------------------------- 'I'm back to this weird place!' Ranma thought urgently, looking around for any sign of her opponent. Catching a movement out of the corner of her eye, the red-head's hand shot out to bat the incoming projectile away. This decision proved to be correct, as the offending object exploded on impact with the ground, sending a cloud of black rose petals in its wake. Only one thought went through Ranma's mind at that moment. 'Crap.' "Pigtailed Harlot!" a voice cried out haughtily. A shape formed in the opposite corner of the ring, solidifying into Kodachi in her gymnastics outfit. "Whaddya want, you psycho bitch?" Ranma answered angrily, not even trying to mask her displeasure from the recent events. 'Why did the crazy morons had to survive? Why couldn't it be mom... or Ucchan... or Ak...' "Silence, wench!" Kodachi commanded, posing dramatically. "You've enchanted my dear Ranma-sama and spirited him away from my undying love! Return him at once, and I shall allow you to live!" "Heh. Bring it on!" Ranma dared the gymnast, smirking and cracking her knuckles. Laughing madly, Kodachi twirled her ribbon in intricate patterns, making Ranma dodge it. Suddenly, the red-headed girl spotted a hole in the gymnast's defense and rushed her, trying to take her opponent out in close quarters. Ranma smiled, as she saw the expression of shock on Kodachi's face, the latter trying to cross her arms in front of her chest. As Ranma's fist connected with its target, her smile faded quickly, once she realized that Kodachi was completely unharmed by the attack. Gritting her teeth, Ranma followed up her initial attack with a high-speed combination of punches and kicks directed at the gymnast's chest and abdomen. Confused at her lack of progress, Ranma leaped away, and adopted a defensive stance, yelling, "What the hell are you?!" "Your superior, wench!" Kodachi's battle aura flared, and Ranma involuntarily shielded her eyes for a split second. That was all the time her opponent needed to send several razor hoops flying at her. Ranma managed to avoid most of them, but one managed to graze her right arm, and she cried out in pain, eliciting another laugh from the gymnast. "Suffer, unworthy trash!" Jumping high into the air, Kodachi brought her clubs down, trying to crash the short red-head. Ranma rolled away at the last moment, kicking at her opponent. Like previously, her leg was stopped a short distance before connecting with Kodachi. Gasping, Ranma asked, "Is that... an AT field?" Stopping her onslaught and replacing her clubs with her ribbon, Kodachi boasted, "You presume to hurt me? And in my own world, no less?!" "Your world?!" Ranma repeated in shock, before realization suddenly hit her. "You're the EVA's soul!" "You are incorrect. Evangelion do not possess souls. They can, however, absorb them." Dropping her stance, Ranma held out her hand and said, "Kodachi... we don't have to do this. Please, stop. I'll try to help you..." "Like you helped my Ranma-sama's family?" the gymnast asked arrogantly. "You are nothing! A worthless, stupid little girl!" Ranma's head dropped at hearing those words, tears threatening to break free. "I never asked for any of this..." she whispered, clenching her fists tightly. "Allow me to put you out of your misery!" Hearing those words, Ranma looked up only to see a club descending quickly towards her face... -------------------------------------------------- "Ranko? Ranko! Can you hear me?! Wake up!!" Ritsuko demanded urgently, typing furiously at her keyboard the whole time. "Pilot's brainwave pattern is irregular! Sync rate is increasing exponentially!" Maya exclaimed, warning messages flashing on her console. "Is the EVA rejecting her?" Misato asked worriedly. "No, it... Oh My God!" Ritsuko cried out, gaining everyone's attention. "Unit 03 is trying to absorb Ranko!" "Fight it, Wonder Girl!" Asuka yelled, balling her hands into fists. Shinji stood helplessly next to Misato, angry at himself for being powerless to help in any way, when his eyes caught Rei's. The boy shuddered, shaking his head to clear it before looking at the blue- haired girl's face again. Most of their classmates wouldn't have seen any difference in her behavior, as she stood silently, watching Dr. Akagi and her crew try to save Ranko, but he knew her better than that. Rei was listless, staring into space with dead eyes, as if she'd given up on everything. That sight was the most frightening thing Shinji had ever seen in his life. Deciding that there was something he could do after all, Shinji squeezed Rei's shoulder reassuringly, and said, "She'll be alright, I promise." Rei stared at him for a few moments, before her gaze softened slightly, and she turned to watch the rescue operation once more. "What's happening, Ritsuko?" Misato asked, looking at her friend worriedly. "If we don't get her out of there soon, the sync ratio might reach four hundred percent and Ranko's body would be transformed into its quantum components and absorbed into the LCL," Ritusko said through gritted teeth, her eyes not leaving her computer monitor for a second. -------------------------------------------------- Ranma sank to her knees, feeling utterly defeated and powerless for the second time in her life. Blood was dripping on the ring's floor from a nasty gash that was running along the length of her right hand, and her right eye was swollen. Kodachi stood proudly in front of her opponent, taking the time to raise the steel club that would deal the final blow to the red-haired girl. 'No point in fighting anymore,' she thought to herself dejectedly. 'Maybe I should let that bitch finish me off.' "I'm sorry, Rei," Ranma whispered, waiting for the strike that would end her suffering. It never came. "Pathetic!" the gymnast exclaimed, laughing snootily. "You are clearly not a match to the Black Rose, Peasant! It is no wonder that you could not save the other bimbos who tried to make a claim on my Ranma-sama!" "I... I did my best!" Ranma cried in return, some of her strength returning. "Ohohoho! So the wench still has some fighting spirit in her? Very well! I, Kodachi Kuno, shall dispose of her once and for all! And then, I shall command this creature to destroy this 'Rei' that you hold dear!" "You... will not... lay a finger on her!" Ranma warned, slowly rising to her feet, albeit unsteadily. "Ha! The mere thought that you, a mere peasant, would challenge me is appalling! I shall squash you like the cockroach you are!" Kodachi arrogantly announced, bring the club down on Ranma's head. A pair of slender arms stopped it a few centimeters away from its intended target. "I... am... not... Dead... YET!" Ranma growled, before jumping backwards and ricocheting off a corner pole directly towards Kodachi. Extending her leg, Ranma barreled into the gymnast full force, sending her tumbling backwards and at the same time springing backwards, coming to a defensive stance. "Round two, bitch!" Kodachi only sneered at the insult, wiping the thin trail of blood coming from her lip. -------------------------------------------------- "Sempai! We've got an energy spike! The emissions the Magi are registering are way off the scale!" "Is it an Angel?" Ritsuko asked worriedly, praying frantically that they won't have another crisis on their hands. "No... it's coming from inside the entry plug, and... oh my God! Ranko's heart had just stopped!" Maya shouted in panic, as a flat line appeared on of the consoles in the control room. "No! Dammit, don't do this to me!!!" Ritsuko yelled, hitting the keyboard with her fists. Turning her head towards Maya, she ordered, "Start reanimation, and get her the hell out of that EVA!" Shinji felt a chill go down his spine, and quickly looked around in fright. For a brief moment, the pilot of Unit 01 thought that he'd caught Rei looking at him, but he couldn't be sure. 'I just had to tell her everything will turn out fine, didn't I?' Shinji berated himself, shaking his head sadly. Rei was one girl he never wanted to hurt. 'But life rarely goes the way you want it to...' More screens flashed, displaying warning signals as the pilot's brain wave patterns became more and more erratic, before everything went black. When the emergency generators kicked in a few moments later, the system refused to boot. "It's no good, Sempai," Maya said, shaking her head. "All the output from Unit 03 must've shorted out our system and scrambled its kernel." Swearing, Ritsuko ran out of the control room, chanting to herself, "Please, Ranko... hold on. Just hold on." -------------------------------------------------- "And stay down!" Ranma growled at the battered and unconscious gymnast, before sinking to her knees. When the conventional attacks failed to inflict sufficient damage to Kodachi, Ranma decided to resort to an all-out ranged attack, and gathered as much of her life-force as she could, firing it in a concentrated beam at her opponent's chest. Even though her gamble paid off, the attack used too much of Ranma's energy to sustain her body for much longer. Already, the red-head could feel the strength leaving her muscles; feel her body growing colder with each passing moment. 'What a way to go,' Ranma thought dejectedly, supporting herself on her elbows. One of her hands gave out a few seconds later, sending the pigtailed girl sprawling on the floor. Her senses caught a hint of a presence, and Ranma used the rest of her weakening power to raise her head and look forward... directly into Rei's eyes. "I'm sorry, Rei. Looks like I'll be joining my old friends sooner than I thought... Maybe it's all for the best..." The blue-haired girl continued to stare at her, unblinking. "C'mon, don't look at me like this!" Ranma pleaded, propping herself on her elbows. "I wish... I wish I got another chance..." Sighing, Ranma dropped her head, hitting the floor with her forehead. When she looked up again, Rei was nowhere to be seen. "Do I try to get back to the real world? Do I have the energy to keep on going, consequences be damned?" Ranma mused out loud. "Or should I wait and see what fate has in store for me?" The world around her started darkening, the far away edges crumbling into the void. 'Screw this. I'll get out of here... I have to, because I have a good reason to come back! Ranma Saotome never loses, not where it counts!' Mustering all of her reserves, Ranma got to her knees, and slowly rose from the floor. The ring was the only thing remaining of the world she was trapped in, the rest already consumed by the void. As the floor gave out and collapsed into the bottomless pit, taking Kodachi's unconscious form with her, Ranma gave off a loud battle cry and leapt as high as she could, willing herself to go higher and higher... -------------------------------------------------- The EVA roared in denial, baring its teeth, before finally powering down and ejecting the capsule containing Ranma half of the way. "Get the entry plug down here on the double!" Ritsuko commanded the technicians scrambling around the chamber. A minute later Ranma's entry plug was laid out on the floor next to Ritsuko and a team of doctors. Opening the plug, Ritsuko jumped inside it, coming out with Ranma's listless body a few moments later. Not bothering to take the plug suit off, she started working on the petite red-head, alternating between supplying her with oxygen and trying to get her heart going. The medical personnel wasn't far behind, connecting Ranma to a portable respirator and a heart monitor, as well as giving her shots of epinephrine. Ritsuko tried reanimating Ranma's heart with an electric charge, but despite her best efforts, the unfortunate Pilot of Unit 03 remained unresponsive to the treatment. After several tries, Ritsuko was about to stimulate Ranma's heart once again, when she noticed through the haze that clouded her mind that the paddles weren't charged. Taking a look around, the Doctor saw that the rest of the medical team were standing a few meters away from her, alternating between glancing at her and at Ranma's body nervously. "What's the meaning of this?!" Ritsuko demanded to know hotly. "Ma'am... Pilot Saotome's heart stopped four and a half minutes ago... at this point, her chances of survival don't look..." "Screw the damn chances!" Ritsuko exclaimed angrily, before resuming the CPR on her own. "Get back to work!" "Doctor Akagi!" a nurse addressed her, taking a step forward. "After the brain has been so much time without oxygen... even if do we manage to save Ranko somehow... combined with the mental trauma from the activation test, she'd have extensive brain damage..." "I don't care!" Ritsuko shot back, an almost maniacal gleam appearing in her eyes. "I'm going to save Ranko, even if it means I'll have to do everything myself!" Grabbing another shot of epinephrine, the Doctor turned towards Ranma, only to stop when her eyes caught sight of a blue-haired girl kneeling next to the red-head's body. "Rei? What are you doing?" Ritsuko asked, wondering when the quiet girl arrived on the scene. Rei didn't acknowledge Ritsuko's presence, concentrating solely on Ranma's listless body. Putting a hand on her friend's forehead, she whispered quietly, "Ranma... don't go. You promised..." Getting no response, she continued administering the CPR, not acknowledging the medical team's requests to stop. Ritsuko's hand that was still holding the needle with the epinephrine dropped down, suddenly going numb as realization sank in. That was how she must've looked to everyone else, refusing to let poor Ranko leave this world in peace. "Rei," Ritsuko softly said, hanging her head. "She's gone. I-I'm sorry." "No!" Rei said sternly, locking her unblinking eyes with Ritsuko's own for a brief moment, before returning her attention towards Ranma's listless body. Ritsuko gave the distressed girl some space, idly noticing that it was the most emotion she'd ever shown towards anyone other than the Commander. She watched helplessly, as she heard what sounded like strangled sobs coming from Rei's direction. Not willing to quit, Rei took a deep breath, and placed her lips around Ranma's mouth, continuing with the resuscitation. Approaching the two pilots, the Doctor was about to turn off Ranma's heart monitor when, suddenly, it came to life. Rei gasped, when she found herself receiving a deep kiss from the red-head. Ranma's eyes fluttered, and opened to look directly into Rei's, who was staring at her friend hopefully. A moment later, Ranma pulled back with a blush on her cheeks. "I-I'm alright, Rei," Ranma croaked, trying to smile. "W-Were you worried 'bout m-me?" Rei only smiled in return, stepping away as Ritsuko and an army of other doctors surrounded Ranma. 'Was this why Ranma cried that time, after the battle with the Fifth Angel?' the blue-haired girl thought, wiping her eyes absently. Forgotten by everyone else, Rei gave Ranma one last look, making sure she was alright. Seeing that the red-head was receiving the best care possible, Rei walked away to join Shinji and Asuka, who had relocated to the test chamber along with Misato in the meanwhile. Misato looked like she was going to say something, but the look in Rei's eyes made her reevaluate that decision. -------------------------------------------------- At the end of the day, the newly appointed Major entered Dr. Akagi's office, finding the blond woman sitting behind her desk while examining several files. "Ritsuko?" "Yes, Misato?" the Doctor asked her friend tiredly. "What is it?" "How... how is Ranko doing?" the Major asked nervously, shuffling her feet. "Remarkably well, considering..." "Yeah, considering..." Misato repeated, nodding her head. "So... was there anything else?" Ritsuko asked, leaning backwards in her chair while stretching her arms high over her head. "Um, I've been wondering," Misato said, twiddling her thumbs. "You know all about that party I'm supposed to have tomorrow, right?" Ritsuko nodded, urging her friend to go on with a questioning glance. "Well, I was originally going to invite Ranko and Rei, but now I'm not too sure about that. I mean, Ranko's just come back from the dead and all!" Ritsuko laughed, getting up. "If that's your only problem, I'd give a lot to be able to trade places with you, Misato," she said, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I don't think you should worry about Ranko's condition. In fact, it's my expert opinion as a doctor that she can only benefit from coming to your party!" "Really?!" Misato asked, smiling widely. "However, serving her beer wouldn't be the smartest thing to do," Ritsuko warned, walking over to her desk to get some papers. Seeing Misato's downcast expression, she started laughing again, musing, 'Talk about a one-track mind...' "So... I'll see you at the party!" the Major said awkwardly, waving and leaving Ritsuko's office. "Yes, see you there," the Doctor replied softly, before going home with the files she's gathered from her desk. -------------------------------------------------- End of Chapter 7.