This and other fics can be found at my fanfic page: List of the Demented Productions - Anime Fanfiction http://www.angelfire.com/tx/ChibiTokyoLand/ListoftheDemented.html Please enjoy, and send me all your comments (the address is at the bottom, along with all the notes) Arrigato Zoe-chan --------------- "Commander Ikari, sir?" Gendou looked up from the notes he was hastily scribbling down. "Yes, what is it?" Aoba straightened a little under the Commander's steady glare. "Phone call for you, sir." Gendou shoved the notes into a folder. "Who's calling and what do they want?" He entwined his fingers and placed them in front of his mouth; his trademark pose. Aoba referred to the phone for a few seconds before replying, "It's Kaji. He's calling from America and says it's urgent." "Very well, then. Patch it through." Pushing his glasses onto the bridge of his nose, he picked up the little red phone in the compartment next to him. "What is it, Kaji?" The voice on the other end was full of static and sounded far away. "We've just boarded the plane at Neo-San Francisco and we're already on the way over there." "And the children?" "They've already been thoroughly prepared on everything and should be ready by the time we arrive in a few hours." "Excellent. Good job, Kaji." The man on the other end laughed a little. "Thank you, sir. I do my best." Gendou nodded his head. "We'll finish this conversation later. Just make sure the 'cargo' gets here on time and in tact. I put my faith in your hands. Don't let me down." With that he hung up the phone. Commander Fuyutsuki stepped forward, "How is Project Doppelganger going?" Ikari returned to his notes. "They'll be arriving in a few hours. Everything is proceeding as planned, thus far." Fuyutsuki turned toward his superior, a small grin upon his face. "Thus far? Always the optimist, eh Ikari?" Gendou just grinned. --------------- Neon Genesis Evangelion: Doppelganger Chapter 1: Two Degrees of Separation by Zoe "L-Kom" Morales A List of the Demented Production --------------- "Shinji! Asuka! Supper time!" Misato placed the microwave dinners upon the table, waiting for the other members of the apartment to arrive. Shinji appeared first, seating himself across from Misato. Asuka came next, sitting to Shinji's left, and last, but not least, came Pen Pen. With a squawk, he hopped over to Misato's right and proceeded to chow down on his food. Asuka looked down upon the banquet of microwave foods in front of her with disgust. "You call this supper? Don't you ever get tired of eating tv dinners?" Misato opened a can of her favorite Yebisu beer. "You know, if you wanted a real dinner so bad, you could always cook one yourself." "Me? Cook? No way. It's your night to do it. Besides, that's Shinji's department." Shinji looked up from his food. "Now wait a minute! Why do you guys expect me to do _all_ the chores around here?" Asuka shoveled a good deal of food into her mouth before replying, "Becush me an' Mishato ar too bishy an' important to do that kind of shtuff. An' beshides, that'sh pretty much the only thing yer good fer 'round here." Shinji glared at Asuka. "What? And I'm not important?" He turned to Misato for support. Unfortunately, she was already plastered, just finishing her third can of beer and readily opening her fourth. "Hooo boy! Nothin' like a nice cold one at da' end of da' day, eh Pen Pen? Kanpai*!" The Onsen penguin joined her in a toast, clinking his can against hers and chugging down the frothy ale. (* kanpai = it means something similar to "To your health!" and is often said when downing alcohol) Shinji sighed. 'Why me?' Suddenly the telephone began to ring loudly. He stood up to get it but Misato beat him to the punch. "I've got it!" Bolting from the chair, she ran to the phone before Shinji could utter protest. As he sat down, Asuka turned to him and whispered, "Jeez, the way she ran, you'd think they were giving away free liquor or something." He hung his head and sighed, returning to his food. Asuka was rarely ever right, but when she was, it was scary. Misato picked up the phone and began talking into the receiver, paying no attention to who was on the other end. "Helloooo! Misato speaking. Err... that is, good evening Commander Ikari!" She straightened quickly, a tiny sweat drop forming on the back of her head. Shinji froze in his chair. Asuka nearly choked. The two children turned to watch their guardian. She had the look of a deer caught in the headlights of a monster truck. She nodded every so often, replying with an "Of course, sir," to everything. Shinji looked to Asuka, a little anxious. Commander Ikari never called them at home, especially around dinnertime. They nervously waited for Misato to end the phone call and tell them what the Commander had said. Finally, she placed the phone on its holder. Her face was as white as a ghost's as she turned back around and sat down in her seat silently. Asuka, not being able to bear the tension any longer, leaned forward a little. "So?" "So what?" Misato replied, suddenly sounding and acting very sober for a woman who just downed four cans of beer. "What did the Commander have to say, of course? Why'd he call?" "Oh, that." She said, casually taking a sip of beer before continuing. "Commander Ikari said that he wanted you two to come to NERV headquarters as soon as possible. I'm also going to pick up Rei on the way over." Asuka furrowed her brow. "Why does he want us now?" She looked over to Shinji for an explanation, but he just shrugged. Misato quickly stood up and walked out of the room. Shinji called after her, "Hey, Misato. Where are you going?" A rustling could be heard in her room. Finally, a muffled reply came to them. "I'm changing into my uniform, and you should probably change too. Unless you want to meet with the Commander in your leisure clothes, that is." The children looked at their apparel and understood what she meant. Asuka had her hair down and was wearing a light, pink wifebeater* and blue track shorts. Shinji had on a pair of olive shorts and an oversized white muscle shirt with some random kanji scribbled on it. Both of them were barefoot. Quickly, they went to their rooms to get dressed, leaving their microwave feasts to grow cold on the table. (* a wifebeater is slang for a tight muscle shirt. Just clearing that up for all ya'll who didn't know. ^_^) --------------- After dressing, the trio walked down to the bottom floor together, not saying anything. Misato wore her favorite black dress with her red officer's jacket, green socks, and black boots. Her little white cross that was the only relic she still had from before the Second Impact hung around her neck. Asuka had placed her hair up in her red plug suit barrettes, wearing her yellow sun dress with the blue choker, and going sock-less in her sienna Mary Janes. Shinji had gotten a pair of jeans and a crisp white shirt on, a pair of clean socks and his white sneakers on his feet. As they walked to where the car was parked, Shinji tried to remember what Ritsuko had said so long ago about his father. He wasn't good at living, or something like that. Him and Ayanami both. They could both be so cold at times, although Rei had warmed up to him a little since the incident with the Fifth Angel. That is, if you call warming up going from ice mode to slush. But we have to accept the hand we're dealt. At least, that's what Misato says... After boarding the Major's shiny blue car, they promptly went to pick up Rei, who, being the most punctual person in the world, was already waiting outside her apartment building in her school uniform. From there they proceeded to NERV HQ, in utter and complete silence. --------------- "And this is the NERV command center. It is run not only by our wonderful staff, but by the MAGI; three Seventh Generation Supercomputers used to efficiently make precise decisions when needed. They are known as Balthasar, Melchior, and Caspar. Now, if you just follow me, we'll make our way down to the cages where the Evangelion are kept." Maya guided the two guests to the elevator that would take them down to the cages. Wasn't Dr. Akagi supposed to be giving the VIP tour, not her? In fact, she hadn't seen much of Ritsuko since the guests arrived here... Figures. Just her crafty way of getting out of baby-sitting. Oh well, just smile and continue with the tour... Picking the walkway with the best view of the EVA, she led the special guests toward it. "These are the Evangelion Units 00', 01, and 02. You should know a little about them already, but if not, don't worry. You'll definitely get the chance to be better acquainted with them later. In fact, the pilots of these EVA should be accompanying us any moment now, along with the Director of Strategic Operations and the Commander in charge of the project that created these great machines." "Umm... Miss Ibuki?" She turned toward the boy. "Just call me Maya." He adjusted his glasses. "Okay, Maya. Where are the models brought over here from America? Shouldn't they be here by now?" "Ah, you mean Units 03 and 04, right? They're currently undergoing the last stages of the protocol transaction and should be done within the hour." "Oh, ... okay." He went back to watching the EVA intently. "Any more question?" "I have one." The girl said. "Shoot." "When will we be allowed into the EVA? We haven't had sync. tests in over a month and I don't want it to interfere with our synchronization..." Maya began to explain the test schedules when a voice called from the back of the entourage, "Harmonics tests occur at least once or twice a week. However, with he way things go around here, you'll probably be allowed into your EVA as soon as they're signed over to us." Ibuki and the two guests turned to find Misato and the Children standing behind them. Misato smiled. "My name is Major Misato Katsuragi, head of the Strategic Ops. Department. Besides directing most all of the major aspects of a confrontation, I also place the pilot as top priority. It'll be nice working with you." She smiled at the two. Maya turned to her guests. "Major Katsuragi is a very nice woman, and we've never lost a fight with her." Asuka placed her hands on her hips, stepping forward. "And just what are we? Yesterday's leftovers?" The control tech. sweated a little. "I was just getting to that. These are the three current Evangelion pilots. That's the First Child, Rei Ayanami. She pilots Unit 00'. "At this, she pointed to Rei and continued with her little speech. "This fireball of a girl is Unit 02's pilot, Asuka Langley Sohryu. She's the Second Child." And she pointed to Asuka briefly before moving on. "And that young man standing behind the Major is the Third Child, Shinji Ikari. He pilots Unit 01." The two guests, who's faces were partially hidden behind Maya, exchanged bewildered glances. Shinji couldn't see very well from his vantage point behind the three women, but from what he could make out, one of the guests was a boy and the other was a girl. Asuka, wasting no time in introducing herself, approached the girl first. "Hi, I'm Asuka. What's your name?" She extended a hand, smiling broadly. The girl stepped forward, revealing herself for the first time. She accepted the hand, returning the smile as well. "Pleased to meet you, Asuka. I'm the Fifth Child, Kaede Ikari. I'll be piloting Unit 04." Asuka looked a little surprised at this. "Hey, did ya' hear that, Shinji? This girl's got the same last name as you. You two could even pass for brother and sister." Shinji moved from behind Misato slightly, looking at the girl. It was true; they did look as if they were related. The girl had gray eyes, long brown hair, and a somewhat motherly smile. She wore a pair of old blue jeans and a white t-shirt with the words "Halloween in the Streets of Neo-San Francisco, Fall of 2010" printed on it. Around her neck was a small silver locket on a matching chain. Kaede looked at Shinji closely, and then ran over to the boy, who was still standing behind Maya. She began to tug on his arm enthusiastically. "Shyn! Shyn! You've gotta check this out!" The boy tried to pull his arm away from her, but not before he was dragged into full view. "Cut it out, Kaede! Stop pulling me! Ow!" Once she had removed him from his place of hiding, she let go of his arm and rushed behind him, pushing him so that he and Shinji stood face to face. Shinji, not used to having people just shoved in his face, jumped back. "What are you doing?" Kaede smiled, hands on her hips. "I would like you all to meet my twin brother, Shynji Jonas Ikari. He's the Fourth Child and the pilot of Unit 03. Just call him Shyn* for short." (*small Japanese play on words here. 'Shin' means 'new', henceforth, when you call him Shyn, you're calling him 'New Ikari') Shynji glared at his sister. "Do you mind? I can introduce myself." Shinji stared at the Fourth Child in shock. He wore a pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt, with a green, plaid, long sleeved shirt over it. His short brown hair and soft gray eyes were almost exactly like Shinji's. And, despite the fact that he wore a pair of steel-rimmed glasses, he looked to be the exact replica of Shinji. They even had the same name. "You ... you're me." --------------- Author's OBLIGATORY Notes: FINALLY! I have written up and started Doppelganger! I feel so relieved! Like this giant, cumbersome weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Well, I'm using the Romanized versions of their names (where the first name goes before the surname) because it just makes it easier on me. I know, I'm so lazy. Oh well. You want to read my weird little stories, don't ya? Oh, and I finally spell checked the silly thing (I just found out that AOL has a spellchecker. Can we say "I feel like a moron"?). Oh well. And before I forget: Neon Genesis (Shin Seiki) Evangelion is copyright of GAINAX, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, NAS/Tv Tokyo, Kadokawa Comics, Viz Comics, and ADV Films. I own none of these characters, save for Kaede and Shynji J. and I should be hit upside the head with an entry plug for even thinking of using them. Anyway, comments, presents, cash orders, flames, etc., should be sent to my "fanfiction" address. If you know my other one, kudos for you, send it to me. And be expecting the next chapter sometime next month. Goodness, my work is NEVER done... You wanna send me mail? How sweet! EVAsuka_02@hotmail.com Coming Soon from The List of the Demented Productions: Neon Genesis Evangelion: Doppelganger Chapter 2: My Thinking Time, My Downtime "My first impression of him was that he was a total son of a bitch." ~ Kouzou Fuyutsuki (on meeting Gendou for the first time) ---------------