Umm, please send me C&C? Pretty please? It'd really help. 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. Big thanks to my pre-readers for this chapter: David Menard, James Merritt, Philip Chan, Thomas Hackwood. Corwin (ely7@inter.net.il or corwin@virtuallyjeannie.com) http://www.virtuallyjeannie.com/ranma.html * Previous chapters can also be found at: http://members.xoom.com/phu_lam/index.htm http://tannim.anifics.com/rfics.html http://ranmaxovers.tripod.com -- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar -- -- File: acoa-ch9-draft2.txt A Couple of Angels Chapter 9 Ranma-chan walked into the classroom, looking like hell. She silently took her seat, gently setting her head on the table. The class went silent for a few moments, but soon enough conversations resumed throughout the room. Hikari watched the red-head from her seat with growing concern, but couldn't find any reason to approach her, without incurring her wrath. Groaning, Ranma covered her head with her hands, and tried to go to sleep until the pain went away. However, the constant buzzing in her ears wouldn't let her relax. After spending a few minutes trying to analyze the foreign sound, Ranma came to the conclusion that her classmates' conversations were the only things between her and her much- desired nap. Groggily raising her head from the desk, the red-head asked her classmates to be quiet, barely managing to stop herself from shouting, lest she worsen her headache. Trying to conclude her request with a glare and failing miserably when her bloodshot eyes didn't narrow like she wanted them to, Ranma frowned instead and tried to get some sleep. Jumping atop his school desk, Toji whipped out a now familiar bokken, and shouted, raising it high in the air, "The headache must be a sign that the sorcerer's control over the Pigtailed Goddess is slipping! If we all attack her at once, we might..." "Shut the fuck up! How freakin' hard can it be?!" Ranma exclaimed, shooting a small ki blast that singed Toji's hair. As the entire class froze, Ranma frowned and added, "Next time, I'll aim lower... much lower..." This time Ranma got five whole minutes of uninterrupted silence. Alas, even that bliss was cut short when the teacher arrived and presumed in his infinite nerve that he had the right to talk, starting the next round of whispering among the students. Most of them were betting on how soon their poor teacher would join his ancestors. Ranma's head rose once again from her desk, drawing frightened whimpers from students sitting in the surrounding area. Two glowing orbs slowly focused on the teacher, who was about to lecture the few brave students that whispered him to be quiet, effectively capturing his eyes. A low growl escaping from her throat, Ranma rose from her seat and took a step towards the frozen teacher, like a predator stalks its prey. At that moment, alarms went off all over Tokyo-3, as the pilots' phones all rang in unison. Growling in irritation, Ranma crushed her phone in her glowing hand, throwing the rapidly disintegrating pieces angrily on the floor. Not waiting for anyone, she jumped out of an open window and started making her way for Nerv's headquarters. Asuka glanced at her teammates, before putting her phone away and running out of the door, with Shinji and Rei in hot pursuit. When the trio finally reached Nerv, Ranma was already in her plug suit and on the way to Unit 03. Out of breath, Asuka ran up to Ranma, and put a hand on her shoulder. Ranma whirled around with a snarl, but her face softened when she saw the other red-head. "What is it, Asuka?" "I was just thinking about those anime movies you've shown me and Rei the other day," Asuka said, before sighing. "It's too bad those cool martial arts moves don't exist for real, since we could've just taken all the Angels out ourselves, without using weapons." "Who said they can't be used?" Ranma asked dumbly. "No offense, Wonder Girl, but singing that dork's hair hardly compares to having an Evangelion throw a real Dragon Slave." As Misato ordered Asuka to go and get suited, Ranma boarded her EVA 03, taking her time this time. A smile slowly made its way to her lips, as the oxygen-rich LCL and the thought of trying out new techniques overrode her hangover... -------------------------------------------------- In the meanwhile, a conference was taking place on a highly secure channel in virtual reality. "The plan is progressing according to schedule," Seele 05 noted with satisfaction, glancing at the data in front of him. "The revised plan, you mean?" Seele 03 corrected his colleague. "Introduction of unpredictable elements causes changes in plans," Seele 05 replied, putting the papers he was holding back on his desk and crossing his arms in front of him. "Mr. Keel's implementation of the necessary changes is remarkable," Seele 02 said, trying to avert yet another long and pointless discussion about whose plan was better. Seele 04 nodded in agreement to that statement. "Yes. It is as if he had foreseen this scenario." Lorenz Keel remained silent throughout the entire exchange, letting his sightless gaze fall upon the rest of Seele. -------------------------------------------------- "Alright, guys, here's the deal," Misato addressed the pilots through the comm. "This Angel, as far as we can see, is composed of lava. Neither its surface nor its core are solid, so you'd have to hold if off with ranged weapons in the meanwhile and wait for the atmosphere to cool it enough." "Man, an Angel attack on the last day before the school trip really sucks," Shinji muttered. "At least it didn't happen during the trip, or we'd have been recalled," Asuka reminded him, before smirking arrogantly. "Not that I'll ever pass on a chance to show you all what a real EVA pilot can do!" Misato fully expected a retort of some sort from the other red-head, but the Fourth Child remained silent. Looking closely at her face through the comm, Misato blanched when she saw that Ranko's were glinting and that the Fourth Child was chuckling and cracking her knuckles menacingly. 'S-Scary...' Gulping audibly, Misato ordered the EVAs to engage the Angel. She knew she was making a big mistake by letting someone like Ranko pilot a giant war mecha, but the thought of explaining her gut feeling to the Commander scared her even more. Not by much, but it was enough for the Major to set aside her fears of cutting Ranko loose. -------------------------------------------------- Rifles emerged from the ground next to Units 02 and 00. Taking them, both EVAs made their way over to Shinji in Unit 01, who was looking at EVA 03. The black Evangelion was stationary, facing the Angel in a stance that both Asuka and Rei immediately recognized. "Hey, Rei! Asuka! Watch this!" Ranma yelled over the communication system excitedly, before EVA 03 cupped its hands at its left hip. A few moments later, the Evangelion's hands adopted a bluish glow, and a crackling sphere of pure energy started coalescing between them. As the energy gathering continued, the sphere's features became more and more pronounced, and sparks began flying off its edges. Back in Nerv's control center, Ritsuko was awestruck by the enormous energy spike the Magi had registered around EVA 03. Double checking the readings once more, she gasped and shouted over the comm, "Ranko, stop! Your EVA won't be able to handle that much energy!" Unheeding the Doctor's commands, Ranma relished in the power she had managed to gather at her fingertips. At least, it felt as if these were her fingertips, since the synchronization with Unit 03 had been an amazing experience to her, allowing the pigtailed martial artist to actually feel everything the giant EVA was feeling. With barely controlled excitement, Ranma got ready to release her blast at the Eighth Angel, exclaiming, "HADO..." An enormous explosion rocked the Evangelion, as its left arm was completely destroyed, and the right arm suffered severe damage, partially melting from the intense heat. Ranma doubled over in pain along with her EVA, barely managing to keep conscious in spite of the intense pain she was experiencing. Rei's shout of "Ranma!" was drowned out by a scream of "Wonder Girl!" coming from Asuka. Shinji, while concerned for his fellow pilot as well, kept in mind that the Angel was still out there, undefeated, and stood watch over the rest of the EVAs. "Ranko! Ranko Saotome! Fourth Child!" Ritsuko shouted into the comm, trying to get a reaction from the girl. The monitors at Nerv flashed wildly, showing the mental trauma sustained by the pilot. "Yeah," Ranma said shakily, clutching her head in pain. "I'm still here, in one piece... I think." "I knew you'd be alright, Wonder Girl!" Asuka cheered, flashing a victory sign. "Don't worry, well kick this Angel's butt for you!" "No, Asuka, wait!" Ritsuko warned the rash pilot. "Its core isn't solid yet. There's no point in attacking the Angel, and it might suck you in and try to melt your EVA's armor." As words drifted through the haze in Ranma's mind, barely registering consciously, she thought about what went wrong with the Hadoken. 'I... I must've overloaded the EVA... Next time I should try containing it with an AT field or something...' The fog in Ranma's mind began to clear, and her thoughts became more lucid. 'Yep, that's a good idea,' she commented to herself, 'but I hafta take this Angel out first! Can't let the girls... and Shinji... bail me out...' Standing up to its full height, EVA Unit 03 snarled in defiance, and focused its eyes on the lava Angel. 'What attack do I have, that I'd be able to execute in my present condition?' Ranma mused, eyeing the battle wearily. EVA 01 had been hit square on its chest and flung back several hundred meters, its frontal armor scorched. EVA 02 was slashing at the Angel with its progressive knife with no apparent effects, while Rei was shooting at it from the side, careful not to hit Asuka. "Rei, Asuka, get away!" Ranma yelled, breaking into a run towards the Angel. "Get as much distance between yourselves and me!" "Ranko! What are you going to do?!" Ritsuko shouted from the command center, worrying about the young pilot. The Fourth Child was very irritating to be around at times, but the Doctor didn't want her to die pointlessly. "No! It's not worth it!" Ritsuko yelled desperately, finally getting Ranma's attention. "Ranko, don't do it!" "Don't do what?" the red-head asked, puzzled, looking at Ritsuko's image on a monitor in her cockpit. "Weren't you going to get close to the Angel, and use your self-destruct mechanism to take it out along with most of Tokyo-3?" Dr. Akagi queried. "Um, no?" Ranma said, scrunching her forehead. 'This robot's got a self- destruct thingy as well?! Not again!' Returning her attention to the view screen in front of her, Ranma asked, "Why would I do something stupid like that?" Ritsuko sighed, finally deciding to give up on trying to understand the Fourth Child. A small portion of her mind rejoiced at that, muttering, 'It's about time!' before getting its much-needed rest. EVA Units 02 and 00 stared at the crippled EVA 03, as it approach the Angel without any weapon only to stop a short distance away from it. "Didn't I tell you girls to fall back?" Ranma asked, irritation slipping into her voice. While she normally quite enjoyed their company, these weren't normal circumstances. On top of it all, the fact that Ranma was only staying conscious by sheer willpower was limiting the time available to her to execute her plan. "I will cover you," Rei announced quietly, her EVA pointing a rifle towards the Eighth Angel. "No, Rei. Not this time," Ranma said, shaking her head. When Rei didn't move, Ranma sighed and her expression mellowed. "Please, Rei... trust me," she asked softly. After a long moment, Rei inclined her head slightly in acknowledgement, and moved away to wait by EVA Units 01 and 02. Inside her EVA's cockpit, Ranma cracked her knuckles and sneered at the Angel. "Let's rock!" Deciding to use one of her school's secret techniques to help her in the battle, Ranma opened the announcement system on her EVA, and put the speakers' volume to the maximum. Taking a deep breath, she proceeded to rain every possible insult on the lava Angel she was facing. "HEY! A stupid and uncute Angel thinks it can defeat ME? Tomboy! Slow- poke! Built like... well, like Jet Alone! Yeah, that's it! Come an' get me!" The EVA then proceeded to its best imitation of a raspberry at the Angel with only one functioning arm. The small portion of Ritsuko's mind, that until recently had been busy trying to analyze the Fourth Child, breathed in relief that it didn't have to worry about this development. Instead, it went into shock, and the Doctor fell off her chair. Just as she was getting back into her seat, Ritsuko barely managed to hold on to it this time, witnessing something truly amazing. The Angel had apparently taken insult of the EVA's ramblings, and was currently chasing it in circles. 'What the hell is that stupid girl trying to do?!' Ritsuko thought agitatedly, before noticing a pattern to the EVA's evasive maneuvers. 'Could it be...' Just then, Ranma's voice sounded clear over the com system, yelling, "Get down!" As the three Evangelions hit the deck, EVA 03 stopped, and allowed the Angel to close the distance between them. "Hiryu..." Ranma drew out, knowing that since the Angel's core wasn't solid, the only other option was to disperse the monstrosity completely. "...Shoten..." And the only way to do that was to allow her EVA to be absorbed by this Angel. The lava covered the front of Unit 03, subjecting Ranma's body to unbearable heat, especially since she couldn't use her AT field while executing her attack. Blocking the pain for the time being, Ranma completed the move, shouting, "...HAAA!" Strong hurricane winds picked up and gathered around EVA 03, tearing at the Angel. Slowly, its body began succumbing to the force of the storm, and started crumbling away. Bit by bits, the Angel's mass was being drawn into the hurricane, separating from the main body and being cooled off dramatically by Ranma's cold ki in the process. A few long minutes afterwards, nothing remained standing in a hundred-meter-wide radius, except a battered EVA holding an arm in an uppercut. Unit 03 slowly lowered its right arm, the appendage falling off shortly thereafter. The EVA plunged into the ground, face first, a few seconds later, as Ranma finally let the darkness claim her. -------------------------------------------------- Ranma found himself lying on the ground, surrounded by darkness, and male. Groaning and rubbing his left hand, which hurt like it'd been blown off, the pigtailed boy looked around, or tried to. "What the hell is going on?" he wondered, squinting his eyes in an attempt to pierce the darkness. Suddenly, a spotlight lit up and centered on Ranma's face, temporarily blinding him. Once his eyes adjusted to the light, Ranma could see an indistinct figure at its origin. "Who are you? What do you want?" the boy shouted, getting no response. Deciding to get to the bottom of it, Ranma broke into a sprint towards the source of the light, increasing his speed continuously once it became clear that he wasn't getting any closer to it. After running for a couple of hours at his top speed, Ranma began to tire and was about to slow down, when he heard a disembodied voice whisper in the wind "...traitor ... traitor...". Enraged, Ranma redoubled his efforts and started closing the distance between the figure and himself. When Ranma was only several meters away from his target, the figure at the source of the light shifted and became a giant of light, glowing brighter and brighter, until its light was almost tangible. The pigtailed boy felt as if his body was unprotected in the center of a nuclear explosion, his flesh and muscles melting away from the intense heat. When he couldn't hold the pain within any longer, Ranma screamed... -------------------------------------------------- "Ranko? Ranko!" Ranma moaned, and slowly opened her eyes. Blinking a few times until her vision cleared, she tried to focus on the source of the voice, and saw the concerned face of Dr. Akagi. "H-Hey there, Pretty Lady," Ranma croaked, fighting against the fog that enveloped her mind like a thick blanket. "Don't you ever do something like that again!" Ritsuko shouted, glaring at Ranma. Despite her best efforts, a slight blush was adorning her cheeks. "Yeah, yeah," Ranma said, coughing. "Rit-chan?" "Yes?" "Did you pump me with drugs again?" Blinking, the Doctor replied, "Well, you have enough painkillers in your body to knock out a horse." "Aside from painkillers," Ranma said, trying to move into an upright position. "Was there something that could've given me hallucinations?" Concern showing on her features, Ritsuko asked, "Are you feeling alright? What did you hallucinate about?" "It... it's nothing. I thought you just liked to pump all of yer patients with lotsa drugs an' stuff." "Of course not!" Ritsuko exclaimed in shock, missing Ranma's satisfied smirk. "What kind of doctor do you think I am?!" "Oh." Getting her answer, Ranma slipped back into the darkness. -------------------------------------------------- Ranma woke up again, and just laid on the hospital bed for some time, before looking around. Rei was sitting on a chair nearby, silently looking at her friend. "Hi Rei." "Hi Ranma." A couple of minutes passed, without any words exchanged between the two. Eventually, Ranma broke the silence. "I had to do it." Rei continued to stare at the red-head's face, not even blinking. "The Angel had to be destroyed at all cost." Rei shifted in her seat slightly. "You'd have done the same thing in my place!" Rei finally blinked, but continued staring at Ranma's face. "And I'm still alive, ain't I?" Rei reached into her school bag, and took out a wrapped package, which she put on Ranma's bed. "I brought you a present." "Huh?" Ranma asked intelligently, dumbfounded. "It's an anime I thought you'd like." With those words, Rei got up and left the room, leaving Ranma alone in the hospital room. The red-head took that as her sign to check out her present, and unwrapped it in record time. A smile slowly spread on her face, as she admired her collector's edition of DragonBall... -------------------------------------------------- The next day, while sitting on an air vent on the school's roof, Shinji was discussing the merits of having two mentally unstable red-heads as Earth's final line of defense with Toji and Kensuke. As he talked, he noticed that they suddenly stiffened and stared at something behind him. Fearing the worst and fighting the instinct to clutch at his crotch for protection with all his mental power, Shinji stood up. Grinding the gravel under his feet while turning, he blinked when he saw the blue- haired pilot of Unit 00 standing in front of him. "Ikari-kun." "Y-Yes, Ayanami?" Shinji stammered, trying to get his rapidly beating heart in check. "Are you busy?" Rei asked, staring directly into his eyes. "N-No," Shinji answered, shaking his head. While it had been a huge relief that neither Ranko nor Asuka caught him talking about them, but looking directly into Rei's eyes from a short distance wasn't much better. Something in them both frightened him to death and excited him, and Shinji wasn't sure what, if at all, should he do about that. "I wish to talk to you..." Rei said, before adding softly, "in private." Shinji nodded hesitantly, and it was all Toji and Kensuke needed to see to take the hint and leave the two pilots alone, muttering something about 'wish' and 'private'. "What is it, Ayanami?" Shinji asked, finally managing to relax enough to talk without stuttering. He tried to meet her eyes, but the bright sunlight coming from behind Rei kept blinding him. "I am... puzzled," Rei stated, looking away. "Puzzled?" "Yes. Ranma confuses me." "Oh," Shinji said intelligently, walking over to the roof's edge and glancing down. He idly traced the contours of the swimming pool and the faded finish line at the track. Rei followed him, unknowingly staying in the sunlight, and said, "Every time I think I understand what motivates him, he does something entirely different." "I imagine father is having a ball trying to psychoanalyze Ranma," Shinji replying, chuckling. "Commander Ikari is not concerned by Ranma's actions," Rei replied. Shinji's head whipped to look incredulously at the blue-haired girl, as he vainly tried to see her face. 'I couldn't hear irritation in her voice, could I?!' The boy decided to ask, "He isn't?" instead of his other, unspoken, question, and not to risk alienating Rei, who was his only friend among the pilots. "No." Silence reigned on the roof for a few minutes. As Shinji looked around, thinking of something to say to Rei, his eyes focused on the warning siren. He walked towards it, his fellow pilot following a few feet behind him. The siren looked new, and in top condition. 'A warning system is the newest thing here.' Shinji walked past the siren and stood at the corner of the rooftop. The chain link fence here was bent at the top, as if someone once climbed it and sat there for a long while. 'I wonder who that might've been,' Shinji thought, almost missing Rei's words when she decided to speak again. "That is another thing that puzzles me," Rei finally said softly. Sighing, Shinji replied, "You and me both, Ayanami." Then, a thought occurred to him, and he decided to voice it. "Do I puzzle you as well, Ayanami?" Shinji asked, getting a blink out of his companion. "You wish to please others... to please Commander Ikari..." "That may be true..." Shinji said dejectedly. "But don't you do the same?" Rei didn't answer, averting her eyes. "You are a mystery to me just as much as Ranma is one to you, Ayanami," Shinji said to Rei, taking her hand in his. Rei gasped, but didn't pull away. "What is my father to you?" When Rei failed to answer, he added, "A friend, a parent, a mentor, a god..." Shinji stopped, when he saw Rei flinch slightly and turn away, pulling her hand out of his reach. "That's it, isn't it? You worship him like some kind of god!" he exclaimed incredulously. "Why, Ayanami? What did he do to you?!" Shinji demanded to know, balling his fists. "I owe Commander Ikari my life," Rei finally answered softly, stopping the pilot of Unit 01 in his tracks. "But... how..." Shinji stammered, before inspiration hit him. "That accident with Unit 00?" "It was no accident," Rei said quietly. "What?! Someone sabotaged it?!" Shinji cried out in disbelief. "No," Rei answered, shaking her head. "The Evangelion was responsible for the incident." "It tried to kill you?!" Shinji exclaimed, not believing his ears. "Yes." "Why?! Why would anyone want to kill you?!" Rei said nothing for a long moment, and just as Shinji was about to repeat his question, he heard her whisper, "I wanted to die." The blue-haired girl's answer stunned him, and all Shinji could do was gape openly at his companion. "Unit 00 tried to execute my heart's wish," Rei elaborated, misinterpreting Shinji's facial expression as curiosity. Finally coming out of his stupor, all Shinji could ask was, "Why, Rei? Why did you want to die?" "Before you and Ranma came, I had nothing to live for. But Commander Ikari wouldn't let me die," Rei answered, closing her eyes. "Do you... do you still want to die, Rei?" Shinji asked, fearful of the answer. "Yes." As Shinji froze in shock, the blue-haired girl continued, "But I also wish to be with you and Ranma." "You seem to know Ranma better than anyone else," Shinji remarked, relieved that it didn't seem like Rei would be trying to kill herself with both of them around. While he didn't have much love for Ranma because of his pranks and teasing, Shinji decided to put up with him, if only for Rei's sake. "Ranma wants to die as well. But someone is keeping him alive. I wonder if it is Commander Ikari as well." 'Impossible! First irritation and now...' Shinji thought incredulously, before blurting out, "Rei, do you hate my father?" "Yes." "How can you both hate and love him like that?" Shinji asked Rei, staring at her with widely opened eyes. "The same way you do, Ikari-kun," Rei softly said, giving him a semblance of a smile. Awestruck by her unusual gesture, Shinji just stared dumbly at the blue- haired girl, as she left the roof without a word, not once looking back at him. Shinji remained alone on the roof, contemplating their conversation. 'The blue-haired Moon Goddess. Pilot of the prototype Evangelion Unit 00. An enigma called Ayanami Rei.' Shinji smiled, and started walking back to class as he heard the bell. 'I think I understand you better now, Ayanami.' -------------------------------------------------- End of Chapter 9. --