<Lurker and Hikaru appear in the theater, and take their seats.
Lurker looks rather pale, and is occassionally licking a small block
of salt.>

Hikaru: Anou...Lurker-kun? What's wrong?

Lurker: <shudders> Saw that...that...*thing*...you wrote last
night...too much sugar...

Hikaru: <sweatdrops> Ah...heh heh...

Like they were a pair of gunmen in the days of the Old West, Eva-01

and

the Third Angel faced off.  The silence of the moment was

oppressive as

Rei stared fearfully at the alien visage which, somehow, appeared

to be

staring back.  

Lurker: Was it high noon?

Hikaru: <groan>

The sensory aparatus that was in the upper part of it's hulking

body 

seemed to blink at her in surprise.

Lurker: It was thinking: "Who the hell painted that thing?"

Hikaru: <giggle>

"Walking," Rei murmured, and the Eva tentatively lifted up its foot

and

almost fell forward onto the foot, like a child walking for the

first

time.  "Walking."  The Eva brought forward its other foot, and with

a

little more grace took another step.  Rei felt a bit of triumphant
elation.  

Hikaru: Who says you have to crawl before you can walk?

"OK," she reported to Ritsuko as she began to take a third step, "I

think

I've got i-aaaiiiIIIEE!!"  The Eva's foot snagged on a parked car,

and

began to topple forward.  Almost automatically, Rei brought her

arms up

to stop herself from hitting the street, and the Eva mirrored her

action,

landing on its hands and knees.  "Ooops."

Lurker: EVA fall down go boom.

Hikaru: <whaps Lurker> Cut that out.

"Rei, get up!" Misato yelled.  "Get out of the way!  The Angel-" If

any

more words were said, Rei didn't hear them as the Angel grabbed the

head

of Eva-01 and lifted it off the ground.  With its other arm, the

Angel

grabbed Eva-01's left arm and began to stretch and twist it.

Lurker, Hikaru: OUCH.

"My arm!" Rei screamed, grabbing said appendage as the pain

exploded from

it.  "It's breaking my arm!"

Hikaru: Hey, it could be worse. It could be breaking your heart.

"We're losing harmonization!" Maya yelled.  "Synchronization at

37%, 32%,

29%..." she trailed off and watched, horror-struck, as the Angel

lifted

the Eva higher in the air and powered up the energy lance in its

arm.

"Rei, MOVE!" Misato screamed.

The Eva dangled like a doll as the Angel began to pound over and

over on

the head of Eva-01, the lance's point striking exactly on the

plastiglass

that covered the right eye.  As the command crew watched, the armor
covering the head began to crack and splinter.

<A meter-high rat in a kimono dodders in on a walking stick, mutters
something about kids, and dodders off>

As if on cue, the Angel dealt one final blow to Eva-01, the lance

driving

clear through the purple robot's head.  The robot flew back,

carried on

the lance that impaled its head and crashed against a building.  It

slid

down a few dozen feet and lay there limply.

Lurker: Ouch. 

Hikaru: Double ouch.

Unit 00 staggered a few steps, the cement shattering under its

emmense

Lurker: immense

weight.  With a groan, Shinji regained the robot's balance, and it

stood,

its left arm hanging limp while the right arm pulled a huge knife

out of

the sheath that hung over its shoulder.  Shinji depressed the

trigger

inside the entry plug, and the edge of the blade began to glow

white-hot.

 A high-pitched whine eminated from the blade as Shinji sent Eva-00

into

a charge.

Lurker: So, he depressed it, and it whined? Must be related to
Usagi...

Hikaru: <giggle>

The Angel brought up both its arms and held them together.  The

energy

lances glowed as they were brought back, and then they flew forward
together, slipping through the AT field to strike Eva-00 in the

chest. 

The giant robot staggered backward and fell onto it's back.  Like a

cat,

the angel pounced on it and drove the lances into the Eva's chest

again,

this time right about where a human's collarbone connected into the
sternum.

Lurker: <wince> That has *got* to hurt.

"The left arm has been regenerated."

"AMAZing," Ritsuko breathed.

Lurker: Isn't this the point where Umi would say something about not
stopping to be impressed by the enemy in a fight?

Hikaru: <nods> Yep.

As they watched, Unit 01 reached to the sheath under its shoulder

and

drew its Progressive Knife.  They could barely see the edge of the

knife

begin to glow before the giant lifted the knife over it's head and
brought the blade down in a stabbing motion, only to bounce off the
orange hexagonal field that sprung up.  Once again, the Angel

brought its

arms together to strike at the Eva through the field.  The energy

lances

it carried in its arms glowed brightly as they pulled back, ready

to

hammer the mecha.

Lurker: <Angel voice> Evangelion no BAKA!

Hikaru: <sweatdrop>

"Unit 00 and Unit 01 are BOTH deploying their AT fields!" Maya

cheered. 

"The Angel's phase space is being completely nullified!"  She

looked at

the synchronization readings and gasped.  "Ristuko, look at this!"

"Not now, Maya," Ritsuko barked, absorbed in her own console.

Lurker: Once again, Ritsuko is displaying her true nature through her
actions...

Hikaru: <almost falls over laughing>

Holding the Angel's arms behind the creature's back in a parody of

a pain

hold, Eva-00 presented it like a gift to the other Evangelion. 

Eva-01

reached its free hand forward into the flickering AT field and tore

a

hole in it.

"It went though it like paper," Misato gaped.

Lurker: It's unwrapping its gift, then.

Hikaru: <giggle>

The image was distorted by the smoke and flames the Angel's

destruction

left in its wake, but clearly visable in the center of the screen

were

the silhouettes of two giant humaniods.  As the firestorm died

down,

details began to show themselves, first revealing Unit 00, its

armor

melted and almost useless, and then revealing Unit 01, the armor
demolished around the face and left arm, but otherwise unharmed.

"God in heaven," Makoto swore.

Lurker: I swear those things are *not* God in Heaven.

Hikaru: God's in His Heaven, all's right with the world.

Lurker: O_o

Hikaru: ^_^

"For a period of 4.7 seconds, at exactly the same time, both Rei

and

Shinji showed synchronization rates of..." she trailed off as she

checked

the scale one final time, just in case.  "...of 91%."

Their attention was brought back to the Evas as the sound of Rei
screaming came over the com-link.

Hikaru: <glares at Lurker> Don't even *think* it.

Lurker: What!? I'm not!!

"Relax, I agreed to let her roommate with me."

/YOU?!/

Misato scowled.  "Yeah, me.  Why not?  I've got this huge apartment

with

a spare bedroom."

/I've SEEN your apartment,/ Ritsuko said seriously.  /You can't

even take

care of yourself, let alone a teenaged girl!/

Lurker: <snicker>

Hikaru: <giggle>

"Gee, thanks," Misato sarcastically returned.  "What's the problem?

 She

seems like a good kid, I doubt she'll get into any trouble. 

Besides,

what do you think I'm going to do, take her out to bars?  Maybe

bring

home boys for her to meet?"

Lurker: Rent her out as a prostitute?

Hikaru: <whaps Lurker>

*This,* Rei decided, *is really, really boring.*  It was a surprise

to

her.  Her she was, alone, in an empty room with a cute boy, and she

was

bored to tears.

It didn't help that Shinji was not the world's most sparkling
conversationalist.  After having most of her attempts to start up a
discussion dwindle to nothing, she was anxiously waiting for her

father

to pick her up so they could go home.  She almost cheered when

someone

knocked on the door, but she didn't want to wake the sleeping boy.

Misato poked her head in.  "You decent?"

Hikaru: (Rei voice) Actually, I'm kinda naked right now. I'm trying
to get some kind of emotional response out of Shinji here.

Lurker: <chuckle>

"My stuff!" Rei said with a bit more cheer, grabbing the case.  "I
thought I left it at the station."  She rummaged inside it and

pulled out

a marker.  "Be right back!"  She opened the door to the room and

quietly

stepped in, returning a minute later with a slight smile on her

face. 

"OK, let's go."

Lurker: She didn't....

Gendou entered the room Shinji was resting in, and was suprised to

see

the boy sitting up in bed, obviously bewildered as he looked at the

cast

on his arm.

Lurker: <groans> She *did*...

Shinji looked up for a moment from his examination and nodded to

Gendou. 

"I am much improved, Professor.  I expect I should be able to

return to

duty on schedule, if not earlier."  Finally giving up his analysis,

he

set his arm down, and Gendou saw the writing on the cast.

"Good," Gendou said absently, his own attention now taken by the

writing.

 "What is that?"  He stepped forward, gently picked up Shinji's

injured

arm, and read the words.  'Get well soon.  Rei.'  The words were
accompanied by a little heart.  "I see," he said, frowning.

Hikaru: <giggle> How sweet...

"I could request they change the cast, Professor," Shinji offered.

"No, no, don't bother.  It's nothing important," Gendou murmured. 

"Tell

me, Shinji, what do you think of my daughter?"

Lurker: O_o

Shinji frowned as he tried to go down a thought path he had never
travelled before.  "She intrigues me," he finally said.  "I find

myself

wanting to know more about her."  He paused, looking at the words

on his

cast again.  "And she confuses me."

Lurker: That's women for you.

Hikaru: HEY!

Gendou turned away and considered what the boy had said.  It was

obvious

that Rei was bringing out the emotional side of Shinji.  He

supposed it

was better that it was by someone the boy's own 'age,' as opposed

to one

of the women in NERV, or one of the girls at the school.  At least

he had

some control over Rei.  A hint of a smile touched his face.

Lurker: Uh-oh, he's up to something.

"Professor?"  Leaving the light off, Gendou went to look down at

the boy.

 "Would it be possible for me to keep the cast after its removal?"

The darkness hid Gendou's amused smile.  "I'll speak to the

physicians." 

He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.  He

looked at

the door for a moment before chuckling softly.  *This could be very
useful,* he mused.

Lurker: Typical Gendou there.

Excellent work! Hope you get part 3 ready soon!

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---
The Eternal Lost Lurker
EternalLostLurker@worldnet.att.net
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Garden/9502

Atama karappo no hou ga yume-tsume komeru
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