A Cat's Soul

     All characters from Neon Genesis Evangelion and Cultural 
Catgirl Nuku Nuku are owned by GAINAX and Yuzo Takada, 
respectively.  This was written for entertainment purposes only, 
and no profit was made with it.  Thanks yet again to CyMage for
all the proof-reading.

     Tabyk     (tabyk@tabyk.net)     (www.tabyk.net)

     * * * * * * * * * *               * * * * * * * * * *

     -AUGUST 17th, 2015-

     Tears streamed down her face as she frantically dashed down 
the hallway.  Finally reaching the entrance to the men's suiting 
area she paused only long enough to kick the reinforced door, 
sending it flying off of its hinges with a metallic scream and 
crash, before running inside.  And through this all, only one 
thought occupied her mind...

     She had to stop him.

     He was all she had left.

     Six more steps and she spotted him still in the process of 
putting his plugsuit on, his new limbs giving him trouble, even
as he turned towards her and the sudden sound.  Another five
steps and she was able to grab him, almost crushing his body
against her own as she cried out, "Ryu!  No!"

     He struggled a moment, his strength only a tiny fraction of 
her own, before he finally stopped and held her as she cried.  
After a long moment she heard him quietly say, "Nuku.  I have to
go."

     "No!  You can't go!  You'll get hurt again!  I won't let 
you!  I won't let you die!"

     Holding her tightly now he replied, "I have to go.  They
might need me.  Shinji and Asuka might need help.  Nuku... 
please.  I have to help them."

     She shook her head, not wanting to hear his words.  She 
couldn't let him go.  Not again.  She had been so scared, so 
utterly scared the last time, and he had almost died.  She would 
no let him go again.

     "Nuku, you have to understand.  If the Angel isn't stopped, 
a lot more people are going to die.  Like... like Mom, and Dad.  
This has to be done.  Please."

     He was going to go anyway.  She understood, or at least she 
thought she did, but... but she couldn't let him.  She WOULD NOT 
stand aside and watch the last of her family die.

     Looking at him, vision still blurry from her tears, she let 
go her grip on him and nodded.  And he smiled at her, smiled that 
smile that make her heart ache before giving her another hug 
saying, "Thank you, Nuku.  I'll be careful, I promise."

     Again nodding she watched as he turned back towards his 
locker... before shoving him inside it and slamming the door.

     Sparing only a second to smash the lock with her open hand, 
ensuring that he couldn't get out, she whispered, "I'm sorry 
Ryu," before she took off running once again.

     Ten seconds later and she was bashing her way into the 
woman's suiting area, where she tore her clothes off and began 
ripping open lockers one by one, her years of painstaking 
experience at avoiding accidental property damage now completely 
gone.  Halfway through the second row the sound of halting 
footsteps at the entrance made her pause.

     Whipping around she found herself facing... Rei?  The quiet 
girl stood there, looking at her a moment, before stepping 
inside.  Approaching a locker that Nuku herself hadn't reached 
yet she opened it, and withdrew a plugsuit.  Then turning towards 
Nuku she held it out.

     Taking a hesitant step towards the first child she gently 
took the offered item and clutched it a moment before saying, 
"Thank you."  It only took her a few seconds more to climb into 
it and then press the button that Ryu always did, making it fit 
right.  After that, she again took off running.

     Running out into the staging area she didn't even bother 
with the scaffold elevator, and instead made use of her cyborg 
body.  Three leaps and she was up onto the entry plug platform.

     Popping open her advanced sensors she brought her formidable 
ECM suite online, intentionally killing the audio and video 
feeds, as she then climbed inside the entry plug.  Sitting down 
into the only chair available she then waited.

     *

     Inside the control tower Maya paused in her frantic duties 
as the new Eva Unit 05 suddenly showed an occupancy.  Blinking 
only once she turned and informed Ritsuko, as Misato was already 
occupied with desperately trying to coordinate the Second and 
Third Childs attempt at fighting the 14th Angel.

     Things were looking grim.

     "Dr. Akagi, I'm showing a ready pilot in Eva 05."

     "Is it Ryunosuke?"  Everyone present could hear the surprise 
in her voice.

     "I... I think so.  I'm not getting a video feed, but the 
entry plug just closed up."

     Right then a scream ripped through the room while Misato 
yelled out, "Asuka!"  Everyone watched as Eva 02 was literally 
cut into pieces.

     "Maya, I want you to load Eva 05 to the launch platform 
right now.  We'll start activation on the go."  Then under her 
breath the Doctor added, "Even with only a 29% synchronization 
rate, the Eva will still move."

     Nodding Maya quickly worked the system in front of her, 
seconds ticking by as she tried to track everything 
simultaneously, before announcing, "Eva Unit 05, ready for 
launch."

     Glancing over her shoulder to see Misato yelling at Shinji 
over the comm-line she said, "Begin synchronization, and launch."

     Again nodding she began the quick sync program that they'd 
developed just for such situations, and just as the system came 
online-

     -all hell broke loose.

     * * * * * * * * * *               * * * * * * * * * *

     General Notes:  As usual I keep coming up with all these
scenes, but am having a hard time writing the rest of the story.
I have a good idea of how to end this, but writing the beginning
up to this scene is being quite a pain.  Any ideas/suggestions
as well as C&C would be greating appreciated.

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