From: "James" My first official FanFiction. Please, PLEASE post responses to jcrolli2@yahoo.com My website: http://www.geocities.com/jcrolli2/index.html *The following story contains characters and events related to the Japanimation series "Neon Genesis: Evangelion." All characters are Óand a Gainax. All Rights Reserved.* **This story may also contain spoilers for the series which you may not yet be aware of. Read at your own risk.** ***SS indicates Side Story. This particular SS takes place somewhere between Episodes 17 and 19 of the series. Of course with "NG:E" following such a tight storyline it is difficult to fit a story in at all, but we'll forgo the run-around and let go of "reality" for a little "pretend" all for the sake of entertainment. Shall we?*** Neon Genesis: Evangelion SS Written by James Rollins (jcrolli2@yahoo.com) "It's Only A Matter of Time" "WhoooooooHaaaaa!!!!" Sitting bolt upright in his bed, Shinji jerked his head around the small room, headphones from his SDAT dangling from his left ear and eyes wide open. The fierce howl of a wounded animal echoed again through the small apartment and a realization occured to the young man. Shaking his head he collapsed back onto the bed and drifted back into unconciousness. The door to his room flew aside and a fiery blaze of red came stomping as noisly as possible in. "Ohhhhhhhh nooooooo you don't Shinji Ikari!!" Asuka bellowed into his face. "Get your butt up! I'm NOT going to be late to school again because of you!" Shinji sighed, opened one eye and stared at the blurry image hovering above him. "You're not even dressed!" he moaned, seeing that she still wore the skimpy tee and way to short shorts she slept in. "Leave me alone, please?" He made to roll over and cover his head with a pillow but suddenly found that he was moving! With a thud Shinji found himself on the floor, Asuka staring him down as she clutched his blanket in one hand while the other rested on her hip. "Oh no, Mister! I can be ready in two minutes! Now get dressed so you can carry my books!!" With a huff she tossed aside the blanket and left the room. Making sure he was alone, Shinji muttered under his breath, "Two minutes my --" "I heard that!" Asuka shouted through the apartment. Kensuke stood waiting on the sidewalk in his usual garb: a white short-sleeved button up with a red t-shirt underneath, glasses on the tip of his nose, black slacks and his video camera slung over one shoulder. The other shoulder barely managed to support the bookbag he carried but somehow both managed. As his friends exited the apartment complex Kensuke offered a cheery greeting only to receive a disdainful glare from Asuka and an eye roll from Shinji. "She's starting early, eh?" he asked his dark haired friend. Shaking his head and watching the sidewalk Shinji sighed. "When doesn't she? So where's Toji?" Making a feeble attempt to push the glasses up, Kensuke watched Asuka stop up ahead to harass a poor boy accusing him of staring at her breasts. "Ah, you know him. He has to walk with Hikari every now and then. Keeps her happy." Both boys flinched as Asuka proceeded to slug the boy ahead in the jaw, sending him tumbling onto the grass crying. "You get that equation down lastnight?" Shinji asked, passing the fallen and injured boy, looking both ways before passing the street. * * * * * * Chin resting in the palm of her hand, elbow propped on the cafe's table, Misato Katsuragi tapped the fingers of her free hand rythmically on her mug of steaming black coffee. She stared at the window at the bustling streets of Tokyo 3 while Ritsuko Akagi sat across from her ignoring the beautiful day. "You know," Ritsuko said, taking a glance out the window herself and seeing nothing of great importance. "If you don't stop tapping your fingers I'm going to break them off one by one." She paused and waited for the annoying behaviour to stop, but was disappointed. "So, I take it you've fallen for him again. Or, did you even have to fall again?" At that Misato snapped her head around and scowled at the blond doctor. "What is THAT suppose to me? If you're insinuating --" "I'm just saying!" laughed Ritsuko, throwing up her hands in defense of the verbal assault. "I can still see it in your eyes when he's around. You still love him." "Maybe." "No ... you do." Ritsuko sighed and held her own cup of java in both hands, sipping gingerly at it with a serene smile on her face. "He is cute, but remember, he's also a ladies man. Don't get burned again, my friend." Sighing and swirling the coffee around in its topless prison, Misato nodded. "I know, Ritsuko, I know." Both women jumped as their cellphones rang simultaniously. Each grabbed for their purses and produced the small standard issue Nerv digital phones. "Talk," Misato snapped as she kicked into her military mindset. "Major." It was Aoba on the other end. "We need you at headquarters ASAP." "Is it an Angel?" There was a pause. "No ma'am, it's ... it's something else. We need you here immediately." Misato nodded and started to stand, Ritsuko already grabbing her bag. "We're on out way." * * * The twin doors hummed aside to grant access to the control room of Nerv. Major Misato Katsuragi came marching in with paperwork under her arm, a familiar stance for the young raven-haired woman. She wore her usual "uniform" of black slacks and shirt with a red jacket pulled on but open in no familiar customary dress. The usual full time crew was there, not that they ever got a chance to leave, Misato thought as she came to stand in the center of the platform. She called for a status report. Lt. Maya Ibuki, working ever so diligently at her monitoring station, snapped to life and began calling up the graphics and schematics of Tokyo 3. "Approximately two hours ago radar detected a severe thunderstorm moving into the area." Her voice was followed by motion on the viewing screen. "One hour ago it arrived over the eastern section of Tokyo 3 ... and stopped." "Stopped?" Misato questioned, seeing it with her own eyes. "Any reports of damage?" Makoto took over the debriefing. "Tons, Major. Seems it is a very heavy storm, indeed as far as its activity. Heavy rains, damaging winds and fatal bolts of lightning reported. Fifteen confimred fatalities as of three minutes ago." Shaking her head Misato tried to reason sense into the equation. "You said it wasn't an Angel ... so why is it only affecting that one small section of the city?" Ibuki did something she'd never done before and shrugged. "We don't know ..." Her voice trailed off in disappointment at the fact that she'd failed in one of her duties. "I was about to launch a recon probe. Shall I continue?" Receiving the official nod from Major Katsuragi, Maya made the necessary arrangments. "Get the pilots here too, we may need them," ordered Misato as she waited for a chopper to be readied to deliver the probe. She turned and looked even higher up and slightly back to the observation platform where Gendo Ikari always sat behind steepled fingers and watched everything around him. His trusted advisor, Commander Kouzou Fuyutsuki. Sure enough, there Ikari sat, elbows on table, fingers interlaced and covering half of his face while the cold, dark eyes peered out from behind his tinted glasses. "Chopper is in the air," Ibuki confirmed. "ETA in 15 minutes." * * * * * * Shinji stood with his back to the wall leading into the girls changing area. His arms were crossed against his chest and he stared at the ceiling while trying to remember what the homework assignment had been. Asuka was still rattling on about a new kid in class and how he was a "real" man because he was Austrailian. Then her topic changed completely setting the mood for whatever lay ahead. "So what do you think it is?" "Lieutenant Ibuki said it was a storm," Ayanami's gentle, monotone voice nearly whispered. "But it's pattern of activity dictates otherwise." "Well duh!" gasped Asuka. "It's just sitting there like a well trained dog! Of course it's not a REAL storm. I mean if it was a real storm we'd have been soaked going to the car at school!" Her boots echoed on the tiled floor as she came around the corner to glare at Shinji Ikari. "You weren't peeking were you perv?!" Losing his balance and stumbling back in surprise at her accusations (yet not really surprised at all) Shinji caught himself before he fell. "Wha?! NO!" he shouted, face slightly red at the fact that the thought had crossed his mind. "Besides, it's not like there would have been anything to see." "WHAT!! Why I oughta kick your ass Shinji Ikari!!" Drawing back to slug him a good one, Asuka's elbow came close to Rei's face, nearly busting her nose. "Oh ... um ... sorry," Asuka said, recovering. She glanced back and Shinji who had relaxed and started pounding on him. "Look what you almost made me do!!" "Ikari, Ayanami and Soryu report to the Plug Entry Chamber please." They all jumped at the sound of the intercom but quickly put aside their bickering and headed out down the corridor. "Two ... one ... " Aoba's voice trailed off as the probe entered physical contact range of the storm. The lens was hit by the rain and gave the viewers a blurred vision of what was going on. "Trying to clear up. Activating multi-spectrum range." The main screen split into a half dozen sub-screens as they were treated to infrared, heat and motion monitoring utilities.The probe hovered further in via remote control and still revealed nothing. Misato tapped her foot on the deck and finally leaned over Aoba's shoulder. "Can you move it INTO the storm? Passed those clouds and to the heart? I want to see what makes this thing tick." "Yes, ma'am." Ritsuko had joined the master crew on the command level and was eyeing the vital stats of the children from her monitor while listening to the probe report behind her. She didn't have to turn around to know that Misato was doing the same despite being occupied with the activity on the main screen. It was comforting to know that someone cared that much for the three pilots and didn't think of them as just part of a larger weapon. With that notion, Ritsuko glanced up at the Observation Platform and was surprised to see that Commander Ikari wasn't there. A beep from her console drew her attention back to the current situation. "LCL injection complete. Vitals are normal and holding." She nodded to the Major and sat back as the rest of the team took over. She called for a voice check from each of the pilots and they each sounded a positive response. Elsewhere in the Nerv Command Center, Gendo Ikari was having to deal with his own problems. He sat in a dark room alone and waited. Within moments a bright beam of light appeared and he was suddenly sitting at a long black table that somehow managed to reflect the light into a dozen other directions, each beam highlighting a similar black monolith which absorbed the light. "You know what this is." His words were flat and sharp, as they usually were when dealing with members of Seele. ::Is that a statement or a question, Commander Ikari?:: asked the deep, thunderous voice of an unseen member. Ikari didn't move. He sat motionless and made an inner sigh. "What have you sent us this time? Another of your failed attempts that we have to correct?" ::We never fail at our projects, Commander, we simply have minor setbacks.:: "Really?" Ikari replied. "Then why does it seem all of your 'setbacks' have one intent and purpose?" ::What would that intent and purpose be you refer to?:: "The destruction of Nerv." ::We have no further reason for contact, Commander. You will notify us when this ... situation ... is resolved.:: And he was alone again in a pitch black room. * * * "Probe is entering cloud line," Aoba narrated the events on screen. "What the hell!" He jumped as the control panel went crazy, lights flashing and an alarm going off. The main view screen went black and then turned to static as they all stood in silence ... wondering and waiting. "Attempting to regain contact," the young lieutenant jumped back to his keyboard and began typing furiously. "What's going on?" Shinji's voice asked over the communicaton relay from inside Unit 01. Misato bit at her lower lip. "We don't know, but stand by. I think you guys are about to see some action." Ibuki gasped and pointed. "Look, it's back!" Everyone watched as the screen flickered back to life and saw the probe passing back down and out of the cloud storm. "Get it back," Misato snapped suddenly. "I want to see what happened." * * * A half hour later in the main briefing room of Nerv Headquarters far below Tokyo 3 within the GeoFront, a collection of souls sat around the oblong glass-topped table. Major Misato Katsuragi, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi, Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Soryu and resident tech-geek Lieutenant Makoto Hyuga who held the data tapes from the probe in his hand. Misato nodded for him to begin details of the probe's internal recording files. "First," Hyuga started. "I'd like to apologize for the appearance of the tape. I ran the video through the MAGI multiple times, but evidently the tapes haven't been changed in awhile and ... well ... the results are disappointing as far as quality goes. "What we do have," he continued. "Is some very interesting sensory data unlike anything we've ever recorded before." Inserting the datadisc into a wall console, the young lieutenant punched in a que he'd programmed. "This is the geographical data of Tokyo 3 as seen from the probe's point of view. A wide array of graphs, temperatures, topographies and the such. This chart is before the probe entered the storm cloud." His finger hit the 'Enter' key. "This is the readings inside the cloud when we lost contact." Everything had changed. The land graphics had deformed showing hills, valleys, oceans and tides unlike anything even remotely similar to Tokyo 3. The weather conditions jumped from cold to warm to freezing and back again. It was as if a dozen different cities and regions had been dumped on top of one another to form a monsterous jumble of nonsense. "Did we get any video?" Misato asked. Hyuga grimaced. "Yes and no. The probe did record video but ... it's nonsense, much like the readings it took inside the cloud. And we can't even be sure about what is recorded because the probe's internal clock must have been damaged as well." Ritsuko leaned forward. "How so?" Shrugging, the lieutenant called up the Before readings of the probe. "See for yourself," he said, pointing at the chronometer which showed the time of the probe's launch. "After entering the cloud and returning, was this." He called another profile to the screen. "What the ... There's a three hour difference?" Asuka stuttered. "Geez, with all the money this operation has you'd atleast think we could afford a few batteries!" "The video," Misato said. With a nod Hyuga activated the replay mode. On the small wall monitor the group watched as images shifted in and out in flashes of light. One minute Tokyo 3 as seen from a rain storm. A flash of lightening and then they were looking at a snow covered mountain peak. Glare from the sun and they were looking at an erupting volcano filling the sky with a dark cloud of doom as fire rained down upon the population below. Darkness ...a flash of light ... and then Tokyo 3 as viewed from inside a rain storm. Back to where it had started, completing the circle. Shinji sat quiet for a moment. "How could that short of film have been recorded over three hours? Shouldn't it be longer?" "Actually, it was longer. There were pauses in between each scene we just saw," Hyuga explained. "I edited out the blank images to splice these together. There was, indeed, three whole hours of video." Silence fell over the entire room as Misato looked around. "Anyone?" she asked, a look of puzzlement on her face. Leaning back in her chair, Ritsuko shrugged. "I know this may sound crazy, but what if that is some kind of portal?" Everyone turned their heads to look at her. "Well, one minute the probe is fine here in Tokyo 3. The next minute it's showing us images of a snow capped mountain, a volcano an island paradise and what looked to be an explosion to end all explosions ... And all of that in a three hour period that didn't pass here. But what if it passed somewhere else?" Asuka grunted and crossed her arms. "Last time I heard an explaination like that I was watching the Scifi Channel!" "Time travel isn't impossible," Rei's small voice interrupted. "If the circumstances and conditions were right, it could be initiated." "But through a thunderstorm! Come on! Snap out of it!!" Asuka jumped, staring in disbelief at Rei. "I think she finally has gone overboard." Misato looked to Hyuga for his opinion. "Well ..." he shrugged. "We've faced Angels that we don't even know anything about and we're in possession of three artificially created beings known as Evangelions ... who'se to say that time travel is that far fetched?" * * * * * * ::Do you think they know?:: Seele never adjourned, it seemed. They were always there, always watching and waiting for the moment when all would come together. ::They know. Do not under estimate the intelligence of those we have selected. It's only a matter of time.:: ::Will it work? What if calculations and predictions fail us?:: Silence. Then: ::It is agreed that we can not be perfectly certain of Ikari's motives anymore. This is an alternative method of initiating the Human Instrumentality Project. Albeit unplanned for the timeframe.:: Silence. * * * * * * "What do you think of this, Major?" Gendo Ikari, Commander of Nerv, sat at his desk and stared across at the Major. All he ever did was stare, it seemed to many of the Nerv staff, and it was a very uncomfortable thing. "You have my report, " Misato replied. Ikari nodded and glanced at the manilla folder lying to the side of his left arm. "Yes. What do you think of this, Major?" Cocking her head to one side, Misato held in a sigh as she gathered her thoughts. "I think we need to close this ... 'portal' ... as soon as possible. If the probe could go through to the otherside, then its logical to assume something else could come through to us. It's a danger and a threat." "Agreed," Ikari nodded. "However, there is another purpose here that I have realized. This portal is every historian's dream come true. We shall investigate it further to see if we can discover both it's origins, and possible benefits of using it as a gathering source of information." "But --" "That is all, Major. A full document brief will be in your office when you return. Thank you." Misato sat there with her mouth open as Commander Ikari turned his chair and sat looking out a window into the hanger bay that contained the Eva Units. Finally she managed to stand and leave the man to his thoughts. Alone again, Gendo turned back to his desk and stared at a series of photos. One set had come from the probe's recon mission and displayed an arctic area of land. The other set, directly above, showed the exact same area but from various times. He allowed the rare smile of knowledge to creep onto his lips. He was looking at a very important spot in history. The same spot of snowy earth that had set the entire sequence of current events into play. And this was something he wasn't going to pass up when it could mean the beginning of a whole new step in human evolution. Grinning, he looked over to a picture of his beloved wife sitting at the corner of his desk. She held a much younger version of their son in her arms. He sighed and returned his eyes to the frozen wastelands of the arctic zone where Second Impact had occured. * * * "So what's the plan Misato?" Shinji asked as she entered the foodcourt. He was busy taking down a cheeseburger and fries while Asuka and Ayanami each nibbled on half a chicken salad sub and potato chips. Catching the grim look on their mentor's face, Shinji lowered his burger. "That good, huh?" Misato tossed the mission schedule onto the table and dropped into a chair, massaging her brow. Exhaling sharply she said, "We go in tomorrow. One of you will be carrying an experimental prototype fusion pack that will slightly expand your Eva's power by an extra few minutes. The rest of you will stand point as ..." Everyone listened intently as the mission was laid out before them. It was daring, dangerous and one of them might not make it back alive .... if they made it back at all. * * * * * * Rei stood completely motionless in the changing room, her mind caught in another trance pondering her existance and importance. She stared blankly off into the distance as Shinji poked his head around the corner to make sure she was dressed. He entered, unsure if he should bother her at this time but then realize she didn't even seem to see him. "Um .. Ay-- Ayanami?" he called, slowly approaching the pilot, not able to help himself from noticing how attractive she always was in the form-fitting, custom made plugsuit. "Ayanami?" he said again, reaching out to touch her shoulder. Frightened by the sudden appearance and call of her name, Rei reached out and grabbed Shinji's arm, ready to twist and flip him into the lockers behind her. Luckily she realized who it was and regained composure, releasing the boy's arm. "Ikari," she whispered. "Rei, you scared me. I thought there was something wrong." "Why?" Shinji stumbled on his words then ran his fingers through his hair. "Um, just because. You were standing there like you were in a trance .... um, or something. Sorry I bothered you." "Oh," Rei replied. She stepped past Shinji and started to leave. Not really surprised, Shinji turned and joined her, walking down the corridor. "I just wanted to say, 'be careful out there," he managed, attempting to keep step. "Why would you say that?" "Well ..." Shinji shrugged. "Cause it might be dangerous Ayanami." Rei stopped dead in her tracks. She turned to face Ikari and stared into his eyes as if looking for something, some kind of connection. "You will be there as well, won't you?" "Yeah ..." Rei nodded and turned, continuing on down the hallway. Confused, Shinji shook his head and raced to catch back up with her. "Ok you guys," Misato said from the control room. "This is serious. I don't want any goofing around today. No one plays hero, right Asuka?" "Wha? What's that suppose to mean?" came the girls voice over the overhead intercom. Misato shook her head absently and continued to speak. "Just stick to the plan, watch each others backs and lets get this insanity over with." She looked over and nodded to Ritsuko who gave a thumbs up as to the pilots vital signs. "Ok. On my mark." * * * Evas 00, 01 and 02 stood closely to one another in a wide open area of hilly land on the eastern side of Tokyo 3. Behind them the city rose up like a painting basking in the glow of a warm summer mornings sun. Where they Eva Units stood, however, was soaking wet. The giant feet sank into the mud created by the constant rainfall. Inside Unit 01, Shinji looked around as he was surrounded by the LCL. As usual the cockpit had the scent of blood and was a claustrophobics worst nightmare. He could see mini displays of both Ayanami and Asuka to the left side of his monitor and the familiar, calming voice of Misato seemed to echo all around him. The plan was this: Shinji carried on his back the prototype device Misato had mentioned. It was large, bulky and heavy even by the Eva's standards of weight and strength. He had thought about asking why they didn't use this in combat, but now it was evident. To fight an Angel with a pack on your back would mean certain death. With a massive leap, Shinji would send his Eva into the storm. About the same time he reached the apex, entering the swirling chaos the probe had detected, his powerline would then reach its limit and snap. On his own he would have 5 minutes of power in which to do what he must and go where he must. Should five minutes not be enough, then the generator would be his failsafe. His mission to accomplish was to place yet another pack he carried into whatever, wherever or as seemed more apporopriate, whenever he came to on the other side of the portal. The package he was to deliver would contain self executing programs that would launch probes, study the surroundings and take samples from the land. When it was finished, everything would return and await collection, which Shinji supposed meant another trip later on. Asuka and Ayanami were there to guard should an Angel decide to show itself unexpectedly. So they sat and waited for Misato to give the word. It seemed like an hour or two passed, but glancing at the controls it had only been a minute. "Now!" Shinji jumped at Misato's voice and then gathered his thoughts and directed them into the Eva. The gigantic purple beast knelt down and inside Shinji focused with all his might. He closed his eyes tightly and clenched his teeth, grinding them as he finally urged Unit 01 into giant hurdle. And then something went wrong. A bolt of lightning lashed out from the dark cloud and struck the powerpack slung over Unit 01's shoulders. It errupted in a shower of sparks and fire. Shinji heard shouts and cries coming over his intercom but couldn't make them out. He was too busy trying to make sense of the fierce howl that seemed to come from the Eva itself! There was a shudder and the power threatened to fail as the controls flickered. Misato was yelling something. Asuka was shouting back. Shinji managed to take a look outside the Eva and saw that Unit 01 would be lucky to make it back to the ground, let alone through the portal at the heart of this storm. Asuka didn't care what Misato was saying, she reached down and shut off her communications link. Taking a running start, she flung herself up and toward Unit 01, forcing the Eva mentally to reach. Unit 02 shook violently as if grabbed by a giants hand and screeched. Something was happening to the storm, the eye was growing and the power behind it becoming more violent. Reaching her Eva's arms out, she grasped Unit 01 and Shinji, holding on to her own power cable for support to keep from being sucked into the vortex that was now forming. The two Evas were caught up in the storm as unseen electricle currents shot forth from the fluctuation vortex and entangled the units. All seemed lost as Asuka's life support alarm went off. * * * "Unit 02 is losing power! It's being crushed by the energy field the vortex is pushing out!" Ritsuko shouted, jumping to her feet and staring up at the monitor. Onscreen the two Evas, purple and red were clinging together, kept immobile only by the single powercable still attached to Asuka's Unit 02. "Dammit it is an Angel!" Misato shouted, referring to the field Ritusko refered to. "No" Ibuki shook her head violently. "It isn't an AT Field! It's something else!" "It's the death of those two pilots if we don't get them out of there!" Ritsuko shouted. Misato stood frozen for a moment then quickly pointed to Hyuga. "Eject the plugs! Get them out of there. Sacrifice the damn Evas if you have to!" She saw the look of surprise on the man's face. "I'm not letting them die!" she shouted. "Ejecting Unit 02's entryplug!" Hyuga replied, tapping in the commands. Asuka didn't know what to do. They couldn't both die, Nerv and Tokyo 3 couldn't afford to lose both of them. She brought one of the Eva's arms around and grabbed her power supply cable, ripping it free from the Unit. Wrapping it around the torso of Unit 01, Asuka began to power up her ATField. The theory everyone had come up with was that if an massive surge of energy was introduced into the portal it would collapse in on itself. Of course now, having expanded into such a larger version Asuka wasn't sure if that same theory would work, but she had to try. "Unit 02's AT Field is going up! She's activated the self destruct!" "No!" Misato cried! They watched in horror as Unit 02 released its grip on the purple counterpart. Without anything to hold it, Unit 02 was pulled up into the force of the vortex, tumbling out of control. "Get her out of there!" Ritsuko begged, gripping the console with white knuckles. "Plug ejected!" Hyuga finally shouted. "Attempting to override self destruct." There was a strong thrust and then Asuka felt her mental links with Unit 02 being severed. Her controls flickered as her entryplug was shot out of the Eva. She managed to catch a glimpse of Unit 01's hand reaching out and grabbing Unit 02's foot, holding it and protecting it, attempting to keep it from harm way. "Nooo!! Shinji!!" Asuka shouted, thinking of the self destruct. But no one could hear her. Not because she had turned off her communications link ... but because her entryplug went tumbling into the vortex. Everyone sat in stunned silence. The self destruction of Unit 02 had been aborted. Asuka's entryplug had entered the vortex. The energy surges had subsided and Unit 01 with Shinji and the unmanned Unit 02 fell lifeless to the ground with a thunderous impact. All was quiet for the moment. But one of them had been lost. TO BE CONTINUED.