Okay, here is the next part of Paradise Lost... as usual, the whole
thing (well, the sixteen parts completed so far and the beta of part 17,
anyway) is available at http://members.tripod.com/~AvatarHR/pl.html for
your convenience.

Of course, C&C is most appreciated... heck, MST the thing if you're a
masochist. ;p

---

Ryoga stepped out of the dojo. Odd, really... a month ago, even THINKING

of Ranma and Akane together made his stomach churn. Today, though, he
had actually forked over the money for their engagement ring, and now
he was taking Rei and Asuka away so that they could be alone together.

Actually, Rei was taking him away, and it had been Asuka�s idea to make
themselves scarce in the first place, and he sure couldn�t think of
what ELSE he�d spend his ridiculously high salary on... but it still
held. Ryoga couldn�t shake the feeling that something had gone
fundamentally wrong with his world.

But he couldn�t change his mind, now could he? It would be so easy...
and
it wouldn�t change anything about his original decision. He still
wasn�t safe to be around, he still destroyed everything around him, and
he still wasn�t sure that he�d come back from the next Angel attack.
All in all, it was better this way.

It still hurt.

He was shaken out of his reverie by something tugging on his bandana.
Not hard enough to actually make him turn his head, but he did anyway...

Rei was hanging from the back of his head, her shoes dragging on the
concrete. He realized that he was running, had been for several blocks.
Behind him, just behind the last hill, he could see Asuka�s hair and
the neural sensors that she used as barrettes.

He slowed down, heard Rei shouting over the wind noise, "...down! You�re

running the wrong..." Rei released his head and hopped off as he came to

a stop. "Where were you going, Ryoga?"

"Um... nowhere in particular, I guess..." He scratched the back of his
head. "Where ARE we going?"

"You said that we should go home." Rei looked at him with a vaguely �
VERY vaguely � puzzled expression.

Asuka managed to catch up to the pair, and leaned against a nearby
lamppost, breathing very heavily. "You... where... did... you...
think... you..."

Ryoga looked around. They were still in Nerima, it couldn�t have been
too far with him carrying Rei and Asuka able to catch up that quickly...

ah. He spotted the Nekohanten out of the corner of his eye. "Hey,
Asuka, hungry?"

Asuka took a deep breath, nodded, said, "Um, sure, I guess. Your
treat."

Feh. Like he needed money anyway. "No problem." He turned around,
headed off toward the noodle shop... and felt Rei tugging at his
headband
again. He let her guide him in the other direction.
---
Paradise Lost, part 13
Fan Fiction by Andy Kent
All characters copyright Gainax or Rumiko Takahashi
---
Cologne looked up from the counter as the three entered her home. A
smile split her ancient features as she recognized the first two.
Ryoga, while depressingly dim and na�ve, was always a lark and easy to
manipulate too... and Rei, whatever she was, was something new in a life

of old and familiar things.

The third one, though, now SHE looked interesting as well. Brown hair,
almost reddish, though not the shocking red of her son-in-law. Very
ornate, if cumbersome, barrettes. She couldn�t have been older than
fourteen or fifteen, and wasn�t a fighter... but she moved with the same

unbeatable confidence as Ranma. Cologne chuckled to herself. Digging
out secrets and the like was one of her favorite, and most useful,
hobbies.

The three sat down at the counter. "Hey, how�s it going, baasan?" Ryoga
was not quite smiling, in that depressed manner of his. Rei, who had
taken the seat next to the young wanderer, winced a bit at the last
word. Again, an interesting observation.

"Well, you know, at my age the mere fact of going is an
accomplishment." She allowed herself a dry cackle. "My, my, Ryoga. Keep
this up and you�ll have a regular harem going. Who knew your tastes ran
to younger women?"

Both Ryoga and the new girl went scarlet at those words, exactly as
planned. Rei, however... was that a blush? Cologne cursed her
inexperience at reading the faces of emotionless albinos before she
remembered that she had never MET any emotionless albinos. Besides, if
it WAS a blush, then it just meant that Rei had an excellent poker
face, an admirable trait. Another trait that would have to be drummed
into her son-in-law...

"WHAT are you talking about, you shriveled MONKEY!" The new girl shot
up from her seat, made a reaching motion... oh ho! THIS was new...
Cologne
lashed out with her staff, knocking the mallet... she looked away as the

mallet... ceased to exist? One of these days, she would have to sit down

with Mousse and find out just where all of those things came from,
anyway. Sometime FAR in the future.

"Now, you didn�t really expect for that to work, did you, dearie?"

Ryoga placed a hand on the hilt of his umbrella. "Asuka, no. You really
don�t want to get in a fight with Cologne."

"Good to know that I have some respect from SOMEBODY around here."

"Respect?" Ryoga snorted. "You play dirty, that�s all."

"Just to win, boy. Just to win. And I DON�T come into people�s houses
and insult them while trying to ambush them without introducing myself
first." Cologne turned to Asuka, who had retaken her seat and was
shaking her right hand. Well, that counter probably DID sting quite a
bit. "I take it that you�re an Eva pilot, too?"

Rei glanced at Ryoga, then back to Cologne. "I don�t remember Ryoga
telling you that."

"Of course he didn�t have to tell me. How many OTHER people get picked
up by NERV helicopters at your age? Not to mention how the big purple
one was wandering around yesterday. And I HOPE that you don�t think
that I can�t recognize my own techniques." She nodded at Ryoga. "Though
that certainly was a... different way of using it, to be sure."

"Um, thanks, I think." Ryoga fished inside of his bandana. "Can we get
some lunch?"

"Put your money away, boy. Go spend it on your girlfriend." Turning to
fetch three bowls, Cologne didn�t see the two gaping mouths, nor Rei�s
sudden burst of silent laughter, nor the burst of hand gestures that
Ryoga used to calm the other two down.

"Three, then. No meat on yours, right?" Rei nodded. "And what about
you... Asuka?"

"Double meat." Asuka looked at Ryoga. "Exactly WHAT kind of place is
this, anyway?"

"Oversized ramen stand, really. Cologne calls it the Nekohanten."

Well! Oversized ramen stand! "You�re certainly cheeky today, boy."

"You�re Cologne?" Asuka saw the nod. "Hey, Ryoga, why would Ranma say
that SHE should train Rei..." Both of the others turned to stare at her.

"What?"

"Oh ho! Now this I have to hear about. What in your tiny mind, Ryoga,
makes you think that I would take her on as a student?"

Ryoga�s eyes narrowed. "It wasn�t MY idea, baasan," and again Rei
flinched at the word... "but it�s a good idea. Rei needs some help with
her Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken technique, and you KNOW Ranma�s not very
patient..."

Cologne felt her eyes go wide open in shock. Immediately, she looked at
Rei again, this time probing with more senses than the physical. She
wasn�t strong, wasn�t a martial artist, wasn�t trained... theoretically,

it should be IMPOSSIBLE for her to even attempt such an advanced
technique... the other alternative came to mind.

A single spring took her halfway across the restaurant, sending the few
diners present scurrying under their tables and for the exit. A simple
flick of her arm leveled the staff directly at Rei... Ryoga was already
off of his stool and headed for the dubious cover of a table, while
Asuka had fallen off of hers trying to track Cologne�s sudden movement.
Rei...

Sat there. "Well?" Cologne made a beckoning gesture. "Come on, then,
I�ve seen through you. If you�re here to assassinate me, I don�t mind,
but at least come out and fight me in the open!" Rei just stared. No,
she wasn�t faking it, that was real incomprehension on that face. "You
mean that you�re NOT here to kill me?"

Rei opened her mouth, paused for a second, and stuttered, "N... no?"

Oh, dear. Cologne thought of a dozen ways to salvage the situation,
chose one. Instantly, she jumped back across the counter and started
dishing up three bowls of ramen. "Well, that�s quite all right then.
Doubtless you understand."

Ryoga picked himself up off the floor and returned to his stool.
"Understand what, baasan?" Cologne noted that Rei did NOT react to that
word, this time. Too stunned? "I mean, it�s not every day that you get
scared of something."

"Well, you learn not to take those kinds of chances at my age. After
all, if somebody DID know the Amaguriken technique, and could hide
their aura from me in such a spectacular fashion as to appear almost
normal, then it should be OBVIOUS that they are here to try to kill
me." Cologne waved her staff at Ryoga in an accusing manner. "You
shouldn�t joke around with such things, boy."

Asuka popped her head over the counter, with a predatory look on her
face. "So, are you really a secret undercover assassin, Rei? It would
explain a lot..."

"Uh..." Rei still looked shocked. Well, somewhat shocked, but given her
other emotional responses, it was a fair contrast. "I don�t think so..."

"What do you mean, joke?" Ryoga kept glancing back and forth, as if he
expected something else to happen.

"Simple, boy. There�s NO chance that she has mastered the technique. It
would take years of learning simply to get her to the level where she
could understand the method of the technique, and years more of
physical conditioning before she could successfully attempt it."
Cologne placed a bowl of ramen in front of Asuka, subtly hoping that
she would choke while eating it. She didn�t HAVE to laugh that much.

"Um..." Rei�s eyes focused on Cologne. "What are you talking about?"

Cologne threw a superior smirk at Ryoga before answering. "The
Amaguriken combat technique, child. It involves moving the hands with
incredible speed, enough to overcome ANY defense, as Ryoga will
doubtless tell you. Want to see?"

With that, Cologne popped a smoldering log from her wood-fired stove
and flipped it into the air. A second to concentrate... THERE, and her
hands exploded into motion, striking the log over and over, whittling
it down into a rather nice pair of chopsticks. "Here you go, child."
She handed the chopsticks to Asuka, who promptly ceased staring and
attacked her lunch.

Rei narrowed her own eyes... Cologne felt the concentration build before

she moved, managed to pop a second log up as a distraction before she
fell back... and Rei attacked that log. FAST. Cologne looked on in
awe...
well, no. As far as things went, it was a very poor sort of Amaguriken,
the hands were barely blurring for that matter, and her form and
balance were ALL wrong... but as Rei let her arms drop to the counter,
and the air conditioning unit snatched the last of the sawdust from the
air, a rough pair of chopsticks clattered into Rei�s bowl.

Cologne recovered first. She closed her mouth, swallowed, and turned to
stare at Ryoga. "Where, boy, are we and what did you do to my reality?"

Her words shocked him out of his own trance. "You�re asking ME that
question? It�s real, though. I don�t get it myself."

Cologne busied herself with preparing Ryoga�s bowl of ramen. "Well,
child, I must say that that was impressive. Where did you learn that?"

Rei drooped on the counter, obviously tired. "I... saw Ranma do it
twice."

"TWICE?"

"Yes, twice." Rei flexed both hands, which both were scraped as if
she�d tried to use them to chop wood. Which, in essence, she just had.
"Is it right?"

"Er, no, not quite yet, child." Thoughts danced madly inside of
Cologne�s head. Here, a girl, with the raw potential to perform a
difficult technique and the learning curve of a master... one that had
no
knowledge of the art, of the sacrifices that it entailed... it was
horrifying. It was an abomination to everything that her tribe had
stood for in three thousand years of history.

It was PERFECT! She felt a childlike glee at the thought. Finally, a
student that could learn ALL that she had to teach. And she couldn�t
even be blamed for doing it, after all, Rei would need to know these
things to defend humanity from those strange invaders... pity about her
physical conditioning, though. Cologne wasn�t USED to dealing with
unconditioned novices.

She felt the silly grin on her face and decided not to hide it. "I
would very much like to show you a few things, then... if you don�t
mind."

"Um... no, I don�t mind." Rei started to eat her ramen.

"You�re serious, baasan? That�s GREAT!"

Cologne felt her natural suspicion returning. "And why are YOU so
enthusiastic about the idea, boy?"

He leaned over the counter, whispered, "Well, you know how it is around
here... I don�t mind looking after her and all, but I still get worried,

you know?"

"Ah. Of course." She placed Ryoga�s bowl in front of him. "Well, eat
up. After all, you should preserve your strength for fighting those
things."

"I don�t use MY strength against those things," Ryoga said, around a
mouthful of noodles. "It�s the Eva."

"Well, there IS that. So, how on Earth did they pick YOU to pilot one
of those things?"

Asuka snickered. "We�ve been asking ourselves the same question."

The door to the caf� opened, and another figure stepped through. He was
wearing a white gi, stained with mud and dirt, traveling sandals, and a
large backpack. The harsh sunlight silhouetted him against the Nerima
afternoon... light glinted off of his glasses as he pushed them against
his nose, and she could see his bandana as he closed the door.

The same pattern as Ryoga�s. Yellow background, black rectangles. Was
there a sale at the lost boy�s fabric store? She dismissed THAT as too
much of a coincidence.

The man walked up to the counter, sat down. He had to be in his late
forties, from his stance and walk, but he looked ten years older. A
weathered face. "Excuse me..." He pulled out a map of Japan. "Can you
show me where I am?"

The three pilots glanced over at him. Rei smiled. Asuka flinched. Ryoga
merely swallowed his mouthful of ramen and said, "Hey, Dad."

"DAD?" Cologne looked more closely at the newcomer. "That makes you a
Hibiki... hm... and I always thought that you were a legend."

The elder Hibiki nodded. "Whereas I have seen you before, I believe."

"Really? The wandering Hibiki was a popular tale about ten years ago in
the village. They never said anything about you settling down and
having a child, though."

"Well, that�s understandable, we never got out much after Ryoga�s
birth. Aside from the obvious, of course." A cloud passed across his
features. "Well, Rei, I should get home. Let�s go."

Cologne clucked and waved her staff. "Not until she�s done with her
ramen. She�ll need the strength and nutrition for what�s ahead."

"And who are YOU to be telling her what she needs?" Hibiki-elder�s
hands were gripping the rail of the counter.

"I�m her instructor, and I won�t stand for a busybody HIBIKI getting in
my way. What�s she to you, anyway, Hibiki?"

He growled. "She�s my da... the pilot of Eva 00, that�s who!"

Ryoga cleared his throat. "Ah, Cologne, meet my father, Gendo Hibiki.
He�s in charge of NERV. Dad, this is Cologne, queen of the Chinese
Amazons."

She immediately burst into laughter, soured slightly by the fact that
he also did the same, instantly. "Who put a Hibiki in charge of..." She
fell over from laughter. She couldn�t REMEMBER falling over, it had
been that long.

---

Gendo breathed deeply. Ah, life was good... he had just had a heaping
bowl of really good ramen, Rei was showing promise as a martial artist,
and he�d finally got the crick out of his neck. Decisions had been made
and there was work to do... he would have started whistling, but he
didn�t want to scare anybody.

And scare them it would... he realized, for the first time, that his
personality inside the walls of the NERV compound was completely
different from the free spirit carrying his backpack around now. It had
been SO LONG since he�d been able to go out and run. His soul felt
refreshed.

Only one thing could have made the day more perfect... one thing that
couldn�t happen, of course. He didn�t dwell on it. Plenty of time to
brood and sulk and generally creep out those around him when he got
back.

"So, Ryoga... it seems that you have quite a reputation around here."

Ryoga turned around, walking backwards as the group headed for the
nearest train station. "Yeah? You think so?"

Gendo nodded. "It�s been too long for people to remember me, excepting
old bats like that Cologne. Yet EVERY person I met knew, right off,
that I was a Hibiki."

"Really? How?" Ryoga grinned.

"As if you didn�t know."

---

Gendo stepped into his office. Fuyutsuki had finished repairing the
door... good. It should keep, too, since he didn�t feel like smashing
any
more doors for a while. He trudged over to his closet door, easing the
backpack�s straps from his shoulders.

No luck. He�d found the restroom.

Well, if he�d come in through THAT door, and THIS door wasn�t the
closet, then it had to be that OTHER door.

Still no luck. He�d found the hallway.

For a moment, Gendo wished that he�d put big signs up on the doors.
That would save him some time... but he couldn�t afford the humiliation.

People would try to stick signs on his rear end, next.

After three more tries, he finally opened the door to his closet. He
shucked the gi and sandals, prepared to climb into his working clothes,
and then realized that he had managed to get quite grimy indeed on his
little jaunt.

Ha! He�d outsmarted fate this time. By cleverly leaving the door to the
restroom OPEN, he could see inside it from the door to his closet and
traverse the distance easily. He permitted himself a small laugh.

---

Hyuuga hated walking by Hibiki-san�s office... in atmosphere, it was
much
like the small stretch leading from a Death Row prison cell to the
execution chamber. But it WAS situated right between the command center
and his own office, so it wasn�t really convenient to go around it...
ah,
well. Nothing to do but to head straight by, he thought.

Hm... the door�s open. Didn�t Fuyutsuki fix that? He turned his head as
he walked by, idly curious... just in time to see a nearly nude Gendo
crossing the back of the office.

Hyuuga was quite proud of his self-control as he proceeded to walk, not
run, on to his own office. Walk very, very quickly, but not run.

---

Ryoga stepped off of the train and headed for the Geofront exit. Sure,
he hadn�t had to go to class today, but damned if Ritsuko didn�t jump
on them right away for more synch testing. He barely recalled the
little, buzzing headache that those tests always gave him. Not much, as
pain goes, but still enough to annoy.

He fumbled for his identification card to open the exit door, saw Rei
swipe hers through the reader. It flashed green, and the heavy blast
door started to grind open... and stopped. The lights died for a second,

and then other, red lights came on.

Asuka chuckled. "You broke it, Rei."

"I did not..." Rei looked at her card. Ryoga finally managed to fish his

out of his backpack, a tricky task when one is still wearing said pack
and only using one arm to look, and ran his through the reader. No
response. Hm... maybe it�s dirty? He checked the magnetic strip, but it
looked to be all right.

"Idiots. Let me try." Asuka slashed her card through the reader.
Nothing. Again. Nothing. Again. Still nothing. "You really DID break
it, Rei."

Ryoga turned to look at Rei... man, she looked downright SPOOKY in red
light. "What happened to the lights, Rei?"

---

Kaji leaned against the wall of the elevator, using the break in his
daily schedule to try to sort out his thoughts. He�d have to check
further, that�s all. Besides, right now he didn�t have anything but one
hell of a crazy story to tell anybody... he didn�t believe it himself.

Item: He�d met Ranma Saotome. Item: The Ranma Saotome he�d met had been
a girl. A healthy girl, he recalled. Item: The Ranma Saotome he�d been
told about was most definitely NOT a girl.

Hm... what, then, were the possibilities?

Misato had lied to him? No way. He could read her fairly well, and
she�d been telling the truth back then. Really, she was a lousy liar.

Maybe she�d been mistaken? Yeah, right, and maybe Gendo was gay.

He briefly toyed with the idea of a sex change operation before the
thought gagged him. No, that wasn�t really happening either.

Kaji didn�t understand, and Kaji didn�t like not understanding. It
wasn�t good for his health, especially considering his line of work. No
other way around it; he�d just have to snoop some more. At least he
knew what to snoop FOR this time.

The elevator door dinged open. A quick glance at the counter told him
that he was on one of the administrative levels. When he returned his
eyes to the door, he noticed that he wasn�t alone in the elevator
anymore.

As usual, Misato had her effect on him. Her hair moved like a living
thing, although at this point it was a ghastly purple living thing.
When had she dyed it? He allowed himself a moment to appreciate certain
other of her attributes before clearing his throat. She spun around,
obviously she hadn�t seen him, and started.

And then her face fell. He winced, knowing that he deserved that look...

the irresponsibility of his youth had hurt her, years ago, at a time
when she really shouldn�t have been hurt. A sigh escaped his lips, and
he decided to follow it with a greeting. "Good afternoon, Misato." He
bit back the usual compliment on her appearance... it probably would
just
get him in more trouble, at this point.

Misato took a step back, as far away from him as the confines of the
elevator would allow. "Just my luck, taking THIS car."

He grinned. No WAY that he would let THAT kind of comment go
unremarked. "Rather, it is MY luck, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She tapped her fingers on her clipboard... and
the elevator stopped. Emergency lighting came on, and she dropped the
clipboard. "NO."

"Do you suppose there�s a blackout, Misato?"

"Not possible. There�s THREE different power systems. Even if the main
server goes out, there�s still the sub server. And a backup server to
boot!"

"So, now what?"

---

Gendo unfolded his hands. Well, now, he hadn�t quite expected it to
happen now... he opened his drawer, fishing blindly... ah. There�s the
box.
He pulled out a cardboard box, opened it, and dumped out a few candles
and a Ronson lighter. A few more seconds and he had one of them lit...
just as soon as Fuyutsuki lit a small paper lantern.


Ritsuko glanced around, took in the accusing glares coming from all
sides, and said, "It�s not my fault..."


Rei stopped walking at the door leading into the sub access tunnel.
Once they had decided to return to NERV headquarters and see what was
going on, she had remembered this particular walkway as being a fairly
fast way to go back... she had NOT remembered seeing this door along the

way. Without any power, it wasn�t going to open..."

"Hey, Ryoga, look... there�s a crank. Open this thing up, will you?"
Asuka gestured to the side of the door.

He grumbled as he moved to the manual release. "And why is it that I
have to do it?"

"What, are you stupid? YOU�RE the unnaturally strong one."

"Good <grunt> point. <grunt> It�s <grunt> stuck, though." Ryoga tugged
on the handle. "If I try any harder, I�ll wreck it."

"There�s an auxiliary tunnel five hundred meters behind us that should
get us around." Rei turned around... heard the sound of cracking
knuckles, and then thunder. No, not thunder... she turned back, saw
Ryoga
standing next to the smoking hole in the doorway. "Never mind."

Ryoga shook his hand. "Damn, that hurt."

"What, did the mighty Ryoga go and hurt his widdle hand?" Asuka
laughed.

"That technique�s not MADE to work on armor plate, Asuka." He extended
one finger. "Come here and I�ll show you."

"Oh, NO, you don�t."

Rei stepped through the hole, hearing the sound of metal fragments
sliding under her feet. "Come on."

---

Aoba stepped through the door, over the three NERV technicians that had
managed to pry it open... man, that must have strained something. He
could still see the bobbing flashlight held by Ritsuko as she and Maya
headed for the control room access hatch.

He sighed, patted the guitar strapped to his back. Naturally, just when
things were winding down for the day, something ELSE had to go and
happen. He hoped that his friends would be able to make the gig without
him... come to think of it, they couldn�t do much with the power out
either. Oh well.

Be just perfect if an Angel attacked now, though, wouldn�t it?

Maya dropped back, loomed up beside him, and whapped him over the head
with her clipboard. "What are you talking about? Don�t say things like
that, it�s bad luck?"

Aoba rubbed his head, careful not to muss his hair too much, and ducked
a second swing. "I didn�t SAY anything."

"But you <swish> were thinking it!"

"And just HOW do you know what I was thinking?"

Maya stopped swinging the clipboard. "Woman�s intuition. It�s SO
obvious."

"Quit it, you two." Ritsuko pulled a small lever and swung a wall panel
out into the hallway, then started up the rungs concealed behind the
recess in the wall.

"Yes, sempai." Maya hurried up behind her.

Aoba ducked through the panel, careful not to catch the neck of his
guitar, and banged his head on the first rung. "Woman�s intuition, my
butt."

---

"So, now what?" Ryoga rapped on the huge blast plate that sealed off
the tunnel. "I can�t break through this."

Rei frowned, almost imperceptibly. "There." She pointed at a small
ventilation hatch in the plate. "We can go through that to the other
side.

"It�s seven feet up!" Asuka craned her neck to see.

"So?" Ryoga jumped up, barely bending his legs, and tore the grating
off of the hatch. "Um... yeah, it goes through... but it�s too small. I
can�t get through that."

Rei leapt up next to him. "I can." She ducked through the ventilation
port, and Asuka could hear a tumbling sound on the other side.

"Are you okay?" Ryoga stuck his head into the hatch.

"Yes. It slopes downward." Rei�s voice had an unusual pitch... Asuka
guessed that it was caused by echoes. "Come on."

Ryoga shrugged. "I�m DEFINITELY too big to get in here."

Heh. Too big, was he? "Ryoga, can I borrow your canteen? I�m thirsty."

"Uh, sure." He removed it from its sling on the back of his pack and
tossed it to her. Asuka promptly removed the cap and splashed Ryoga
with a few swallows of the water.

"Bweeeeee!" Ryoga shifted, and his (much smaller) porcine form slid
down the vent. Asuka gathered his clothing and threw it into the vent
after him, then followed it with his umbrella. (HEAVY!) After a good
bit of heavy lifting, she managed to boost the pack into the vent as
well, then pulled herself back up to follow him.

On the other side, she was confronted by a puzzled Rei holding a small,
black, and very angry Ryoga. "What? I couldn�t think of a better idea."
She opened the pack and pulled out the thermos she knew that she would
find inside. "Um, Rei, you might want to set him down and turn around."

"Why?"

"Oh, never mind." Asuka turned her head and flung a cupful of the warm
water at the pig...

"ASUKA! YOU ARE DEAD!" She snapped her head around at Ryoga�s shout...
snapped it back away as quickly as she could. "Well... as soon as..."
She
heard him scramble for his clothing. "Damn it, you could have ASKED, at
least."

"But it wouldn�t have been as funny!" She turned around, seeing a
startled Rei (well, a bit startled, but still...) and Ryoga, blushing
like two sunsets. "Let�s go."

---

"Well, what do we have to work with?" Gendo folded his arms. "Anybody?"

"Um, well..." Ibuki fidgeted as she spoke. Nice girl, really, but no
confidence. "There�s only nine of the twenty-five hundred or so power
circuits functioning. We�ve got them dedicated to Central Dogma and the
Magi. We don�t have enough left over to keep running the air scrubbers,
but there�s a lot of air in the hangars, so we�ll be okay there."

Ritsuko coughed. "None of the phones are working, and we�re too deep
for any other kind of communication with the surface. We could always
power up a line from here, there�s enough batteries for it, but none of
the exchanges are working."

"People should have made it to the shelters already; that�s standard
procedure for power loss, and they�re all well equipped for power
losses." Fuyutsuki grimaced. "However, we don�t have any way of getting
a repair team to inspect the breakers, and no way to get in touch with
one, so it�ll be a while before we�re back online."

"Wait a moment. You say that we could power a line but the exchanges
are down?" A plan formed in Gendo�s mind.

"Yeah, that�s it." Aoba looked at him, puzzled. "Why?"

"We have a dedicated line from the JDF headquarters. No exchanges at
all. We can have their headquarters relay the messages."

Fuyutsuki looked at him in shock. "But the security breach! You�re just
going to tell them that our power is out?"

"We have to minimize the time that this facility is out of action.
There isn�t any other defense against the Angels." Gendo walked over to
his station in the command center, pulled a red telephone out of a
drawer. "Besides, we..."

The phone rang, and he dropped it on the desk in shock. Aoba and Ibuki
both started laughing. He grabbed the receiver... "Yes?"

"This is JDF 3rd provisional regiment, second battalion, communications.

We�ve picked up something inbound, headed towards Tokyo-3. Odds are
that it�s an Angel. Estimated time of arrival is one hour, ten
minutes."

"Understood." He dropped the handset, turned to his staff. "Prepare for
an Evangelion dispatch. We have one hour before we are attacked."

"An Angel?" Ritsuko gasped. "But right now..."

"We can prepare the Eva by hand, if we have to. Fuyutsuki, you�re in
charge here. Everybody else, go to the hangar."

As the bridge staff left the command center, Fuyutsuki sighed. "And
who�s going to pilot the Eva, Gendo?" He thought for a second. "Wait a
minute. They�re all FOLLOWING GENDO." Immediately, he started after the
retreating group, hoping to run them down before they got lost in the
labyrinth of access tunnels. "Where is that Katsuragi when you need
her?"

---

Misato fanned herself with her jacket. Man, but it was getting hot in
the elevator... they�d been stuck for half an hour already, and nothing
had happened. The phones didn�t work, the buttons didn�t work, even a
quick prayer hadn�t produced any results.

Great. Stuck in a closed, hot elevator with Kaji for an indeterminate
amount of time. Not for the first time, she wondered if the Creator was
just a jerk or if he/she/it specifically had it in for her. At least he
was acting normal for a change.

Come to think of it, he wasn�t acting normal. He wasn�t talking, wasn�t
looking at her, wasn�t doing ANYTHING for that matter. "Hey, Kaji?"

"Yeah?" Well, at least he was as bored as she was.

"It�s hot in here, isn�t it?"

He nodded. "Yeah, very hot." He shrugged off his leather jacket, as if
he hadn�t noticed the heat until she brought it up.

"So, have you found out anything?"

He shrugged. "A couple of things."

"Like what?" She really wasn�t interested, but aside from talking to
him, there wasn�t anything else to do, and nothing safer to talk about.

"Not much... There�s a couple of things that I�ve got to tell you, but I

can�t yet. I need to find out more first..."

Misato felt her heart beat louder. No, those words were uncomfortably
close to other subjects best left undisturbed. "So, what about your old
friend Tendo? Or that redhead, Ranma?"

"Exactly those things. I�ll tell you when I�m sure..." He shifted from
where he was sitting against the wall.

"Hey, Kaji, it�s a coincidence, her being called Ranma. Right?" Of
course it was... but she would feel better when he told her that.

"I don�t believe in coincidences any more." Kaji brought his hands up,
bracing them on his knees, and rested his chin on them. "Not any more."

"What kind of crazy answer is THAT? You jerk. The moment that I think
you might, just MAYBE, get sympathetic for ONCE in your MISERABLE life,
you go and say something STUPID like THAT!" Argh! How could one man be
so annoying? How could he make her so angry?

"I give up." He stopped cupping his chin and rested his face in his
hands.

---

Rei paused at a fork in the tunnel. She really hadn�t tried to learn
all of the access tunnels, since she really hadn�t ever thought that
she might need to know, and Gendo hadn�t told her to anyway... "I think
it�s to the right."

Asuka snorted. "Yeah, right. You think? No way, we�ve been turning
right for almost ten minutes now. If we keep going like that, we�ll
just be running around in circles. I say left."

"No, it�s not that way." Rei THOUGHT that it was to the right.

"Hey, Ryoga, what do you think?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Um, I think Rei�s right, since she
knows what she�s doing. Let�s go to the right.

Asuka looked at Rei. "Left, then?"

Rei nodded. "Left it is." The two started off down the left fork of the
tunnel.

"Hey, what happened to going right?" Ryoga set off behind them.

---

Hyuuga sat down outside of the laundromat and sighed. Sure, there
wasn�t another soul to be seen. Everybody else had found a shelter when
all of the power went out... but did he have a shelter to go to? Nooooo.

Could he get back down to NERV, despite all of the trains being dead?
Nooooo. Did HE have any reason to be at a laundromat? Nooooo. He shook
his head at the stack of laundry that he had in his lap. And was it
Misato�s fault that he was out here in the sun instead of down in the
nice, cool, air-conditioned splendor of the command center, which
doubtless was still working perfectly? Oh, yeah.

He clenched his fist and resolved, then and there, to find a different
woman. Obviously, he�d never had a chance at Misato. He�d been helpful.
He�d been considerate. He�d been reliable. He�d been friendly. And then
Kaji, curse his soul, had shown up, and Misato was still in love with
him.

"DAMN IT ALL! What does it take to get a break around here? HUH?" He
had dropped the laundry, realized that he was screaming at the top of
his lungs in the middle of the street. Oops. Good thing nobody was
around to hear him...

A hand reached out and tapped his shoulder. "Go get help." Hyuuga
whirled around... it was a young man, short, black hair, earrings, and a

REALLY nice vest. Stylish. "I swear. You city fools. Take your toys and
your power away and you all just go to pieces!" He leapt... away.
Turning
around, Hyuuga spotted what might have been him on top of a building,
half a block away...

Ah... he�d flipped. Yeah, that was it. Mom always said that if he didn�t

get over that interest in giant robots, he was going to snap... and here

it was. He�d snapped. He hoped that NERV had a good psychologist on
staff... no, wait, he�d ask for somebody OUTSIDE of work. Yeah. Even
better.

He turned around, saw something rustling in the pile of discarded
laundry. A tiny, wizened dwarf burst from the top, chortled something
like "sweet-o!", and took off running.

Okay, no, that was TOO weird not to be real. Sanity, Hyuuga thought,
had to be something subjective.

---

Tarou laughed to himself. It was VERY pleasant, what with everybody
gone out of the city. No cars. No lights. No noises... if the city was
like this more often, he just might hang around after he hunted down
the old pervert. Of course, it wouldn�t last. Pity... it was much nicer
this way.

He briefly wondered about the odd little man in the street. Weakling. A
few hours stuck outside, and he was already crawling at the walls.
Wouldn�t last five minutes in the true wilderness. Sad, what
civilization did to people.

Come to think of it, WHY aren�t there any people around? Tarou couldn�t
make any sense of it... normally, this stinking cesspool was teeming
with
the unwashed masses of humanity. There had to be a simple and good
reason why, he surmised, or otherwise there would be more idiots still
around, like four-eyes back there.

A bass thrum sounded, then another. Another. Hm... catchy beat. He
didn�t
mind music, but detested really loud music in really small cars. They
could disturb the peace for miles, throwing natural rhythms out of
sync. And from the sound of things, the source was getting closer...
Tarou�s face split into a wide grin. He might as well take his
aggression out on a deserving target.

He leapt into the valley made by several tall buildings. At the speed
it sounded to be moving... and the direction... it should cross out over

here right... about... now.

He sprang forward, fist curled with the foreknuckles as the striking
surface, ready to tear the roof off of a passing automobile. There was
no automobile. Curious, he turned to his right... and his eyes widened
as
far as they would go.

That thing was, quite possibly, the biggest daddy longlegs that he had
ever seen. Well, that�s what it resembled. It couldn�t be that, though,
since they didn�t come in a metallic black version, and nothing natural
had THAT many eyes anyway. He could count a dozen on this side alone,
along with a very large one directly under the thing�s main body. Now
THAT was stupid design...

He looked at it for a second, his natural curiosity warring with his
sense of caution. Ah, hell with it, he was never much for caution
anyway. Besides, it LOOKED harmless. One leap took him to the base of a
long leg, and he stretched his hand out to touch...

---

"You know, I always thought that the Geofront was BELOW the city. How
come we�re going up?"

Asuka sighed as Ryoga looked at her. "Don�t ask ME, you moron."

"I still say that we should have gone left."

Rei shot her a glance... that could have been shock, could have been
humor, could just have been exasperation. As if Ryoga should be talking
to ANYBODY about getting lost. She almost wished that he would do just
that.

"Look..." Rei gestured ahead, at the glowing outline of a closed door.

"All right! See, I told you! This HAS to be it." Asuka ran forward and
slammed the locking latch back, letting the door fall open.
Immediately, she was blown backward by a blast of air and pushed down
the tunnel for a few feet.

She saw Ryoga go to the door, gaping in awe... well, that thing was
pretty impressive, even if it was creepy. Too many eyes... wait a
minute.
Ryoga wasn�t looking at the Angel at all... He turned, grabbed her and
Rei, and jumped away from the door.

Something flew through the door, striking it on the way in, and leaving
patterns of cracks on the far wall of the tunnel. It was... a guy. He
had
on a vest, something that shone when he moved, really nice looking. His
wristbands were the same stuff, a lot cooler than Ryoga�s plain black
bands. Earrings, too. And the face... well, it would have looked really
nice if there wasn�t so much smoke coming off the poor guy. "Hey,
aren�t you..."

Ryoga let them go and jumped back. "Tarou! What the hell are you doing
here?"

"uh... Fancy to meet YOU here, pig-boy. You join the Girl Scouts, or was

that fem-boy?"

Well, that had been rude. Ryoga sneered and continued. "Don�t tell me
you were stupid enough to go after that thing."

What was that name... oh yeah! Pantyhose Tarou. How could she have
forgotten a name like that?

"Look, pig-boy, that thing, it�s got some kind of barrier..." Tarou
winced.

"AT field, I know. Look, we�ll go get Eva and come back and kill it.
You just stay here." Ryoga turned his back. "Let�s go, guys. We�ve
gotta hurry."

"Are you having delusions, pig-boy? Or did you confuse your head with
your finger when you did that stupid rock-breaking trick of yours?"

Ryoga whirled on Tarou again. "That�s IT!" He grabbed the stunned Tarou
by the front of his vest and threw him out the door... towards the
Angel.
"HEY, you keep it busy until we get back, okay?"

"Are you insane?" Tarou landed, narrowly avoiding another stepping leg.
"I�m not going to fight this thing."

Ryoga was grinning. No, that wasn�t just a grin... that was a genuine
smile. A really big, smug smile. "Wanna bet..." He tugged his canteen
free from his pack. What, was he thirsty? No, he just took off the lid
and started to whirl it... "PANTYHOSE!!!!!" On the cry, he flung the
canteen out the door... drenching Tarou in the process.

OH. That was what he was doing... COOL.

Rei tugged on Ryoga�s headband. "We need to go."

---

Tarou lunged at the door, reaching a huge, hairy arm inside... no good.
The hole was too small and they were already gone. Damn! He was angry.
VERY angry. To think that the insignificant pig-boy had mocked him so!
Called him by his name in front of girls! Admittedly, young girls, but
STILL!

And then the coward had ran away. Pig-boy could have planned it this
way... no, no, he�s not smart enough. Just coincidence, and luck
favoring
the less fortunate.

Tarou flexed a wing, then the other, and then extended his tail and
tentacles to full length. Oh, well, at least he could still look for
Happosai while nobody was around... he felt a tapping at his shoulder.
He
peeked his grotesque head around, snarling something that would have
been quite foul in any human language...

The spider tapped his forehead with one long leg. Then, it lashed out
with that leg, impossibly fast for something that size... the blow
caught
Tarou in the chest, picked him up. The wall behind him didn�t stop his
flight, but buckled instead. So did several interior walls. The outside
wall on the other side only cracked when it stopped him. He considered
how much that could have hurt... well, not really badly, come to think
of
it.

A scream of tortured structural supports filled Tarou�s ears as the
building�s twenty-story height telescoped into fifteen stories. He
flung the rubble off of his body in a single sweep of his arms and
various other extremities, launching the (quite light) building
fragment at the spider-thing... only to see it shatter just before
reaching the main body of the horrid thing.

He grunted, several times, and one that was trained in the language of
gigantic winged and tentacled minotaur beasts would have interpreted
the statement as "That�s it", or possibly as "I�ve had enough", or even
as "I don�t care if I don�t have a reservation". (Regrettably, not even
the most skilled linguist has any training in the language of gigantic
winged and tentacled minotaur beasts. Not surprising, since only Tarou
himself was one, and he really didn�t talk much.) At any rate, whatever
had been said must have been in anger, as the much-aggrieved Tarou
flung himself at the spider.

---

Aoba hauled on his section of the line. Around him, a dozen orange-
suited technicians strained to load the final entry plug into a waiting
Evangelion. A final pull... THERE, it was loaded correctly, locking and
spinning into a partially-ejected configuration. He broke free from the
others and headed towards Gendo, who was using his pocket handkerchief
to wipe sweat from his head.

"Um... Hibiki-san..."

Gendo turned his head. "What is it, Aoba-kun?"

"Why are WE the ones doing all the tugging and pulling, and Maya and
Ritsuko get to stay there and press all the buttons?"

Gendo looked pensive for a few seconds. "It is simple. This is the
easiest way possible for us to reinforce the masculine stereotype in
this workplace. By exhibiting our superior physical skills, we show the
innate dominance of the male in inter-sexual relations. As an added
bonus, by remaining behind they weaken their own protests against the
modern status quo. It �may- even improve your chances of finding a
suitable mate, you know."

"Come again?"

"<sigh> Simple, Aoba-kun... we�re men, and if we want to get away with
acting manly all of the time, we have to act manly ALL of the time. Got
it?" Gendo rolled his eyes.

"Uh... sure, I guess..." Aoba dismissed the thought from his mind.
"Well,
all of the Eva are ready for launch... except for the pilots, of
course."

Gendo glanced down at his watch... funny, his lips moved when he
counted.
Five, four, three, two, one...

---

Asuka was still laughing. At him. "You mean that HE turns into that
cool monster thing and all you get is a little pig?"

Ryoga pushed himself along the painfully tight ventilation shaft. He
hoped that Rei had meant it when she said that this would drop them
right into the command center, because he wasn�t going to be able to
back up if she had been wrong. "Yeah. NOW do you see why I�m pissed at
Ranma sometimes?"

"I guess so... Hey! Are you trying to look up my skirt again?"

He questioned... again... why he had agreed to play "tail-end Charlie"
in
this particular crawl. Rei had been right, they would have had to be
able to keep going if he got stuck, but he was getting tired of this.
"I wasn�t trying the LAST time either..."

"Liar! Pervert! DIE!" Asuka�s foot sped toward his head... and bounced
off. "OW!"

He chuckled. "Told you."

A grinding sound came from the bottom panel of the shaft... As the
mounting screws gave way, and the floor fell out from under him, Ryoga
felt his senses sharpen. Only eight feet to the floor, it wasn�t any
problem, just tuck and land... and Asuka was falling head first, the
idiot. He untucked and slid his body under her... they hit the floor
together. Okay, no problem, I�m fine...

Ritsuko turned at the sound, saw the two pilots. "Finally!"

Okay, I�m fine, but I�m hallucinating, just like Tarou said... He saw
two
feet approaching... closer... closer... wait. He was looking straight
up,
that meant that the feet were... OW.

Rei folded her arms back to her sides after a perfect three-point
landing. "We saw the Angel..."

"Er... Rei..." His voice was distorted, coming as it was through layers
of
rubber and foot. "Could you get off my face, please?"

She looked down... he looked up... shut his eyes. Damn it, why did they
ALWAYS have to wear skirts? Pants were nice. They weren�t restrictive.
They didn�t get you embarrassed when somebody happened to be directly...

"Okay." She hopped off.

Ritsuko chuckled at the exchange, and helped a furious Asuka up off of
Ryoga.

"Pervert! See? I told you, Rei, he�s a pervert!"

"Asuka, now, come on, let�s just get you to the entry plug so you can
go stop the Angel..." Maya grabbed Asuka by the shoulders and steered
her
away.

Rei blinked. Three times.

---

Asuka crawled her Eva along the huge access tunnel... sure, it wasn�t
very dignified, crawling like this, but at least their resident peeping
Tom wouldn�t be excited by the sight of auxiliary battery packs. The
nerve of that guy! She resolved to hit him with one of those hammers as
soon as she had the chance.

Rei�s face popped up in a comm panel. \"There�s a vertical shaft up
ahead."/

"Got it. We only have a couple of minutes of power, remember?" Asuka
reached the end of the tunnel, and used her Eva�s leg to smash the
blast door open. Once again, she reveled in the power that she
commanded with her Eva, and the fact that her foot didn�t hurt any
more. She started up the shaft, followed by Ryoga in 01 and Rei in 00.

She looked up... the shaft was open to the sky. That in and of itself
was
wrong, they should have had to tear it open themselves... A brown blur
flew over the hole, followed by a pair of legs. The Angel must be right
on top of them...

---

Tarou heaved his bulk out of the way of another leg attack. This thing
was kind of depressing, in the intelligence department. It was
insultingly easy to read its moves. Of course, since he couldn�t seem
to get anything through that field, it really didn�t matter much... but
it was enough to keep him alive.

He heard another bass rumble... two sets. Six sets. From the pattern, it

was something below him, coming up... He decided to take another view of

the battlefield, and launched himself into the air. His wings, even
though they looked woefully inadequate to hold his huge cursed form in
the air, were enough to keep him aloft.

A red arm shot out of the hole that the spider had opened in that
really deep shaft (which he had not quite managed to trick it into
falling in, exactly...) and was followed by the remainder of a robot. A
HUGE robot. Bigger than him. WAY bigger. Ten, twelve stories, at least.
It leapt free of the hole and spider both, only to let a purple one
through. That one was followed by a blue one...

They all looked like twisted, emaciated parodies of the human form.
Kind of nice, in a stylized way, but the color patterns were just
horrid. The red one grabbed some kind of cannon off of its back and
fired it at the monster... no, now all three were. It whined and
screamed
as the bullets tore into its body and WHERE was that field thing that
pig-boy had been going on about? He briefly reflected on the relative
fairness before dismissing it as pointless.

The robots kneeled, and something popped out of the necks of all
three...
and three people climbed out, one from each robot. One very familiar
person...

---

Misato barely noticed as the power came back on. Kaji, however, HE
couldn�t get away fast enough once the door opened. She couldn�t help
but think that he was trying to get away from her. Well, serves him
right if he felt bad. It would be the first time, she thought.

Ah, well. At least the air was fresh. And cool! Air conditioning was
really the best thing about civilization, she thought. And they�d
stopped the Angel, of course. Always a good thing, that.

---

Kaji hung from a tree, taking pictures. He HAD to know the truth. The
conversations he had had in the past couple of hours were
disconcerting, to say the least. He wasn�t going home until he had
something for Misato, though. He�d promised himself.

---

"Honestly, Ranma. Why are you so grumpy?" Akane glared at her fianc�.
The idiot.

"I dunno, Akane... could it be because you threw a glass of water on me,

for no reason, and now I can�t change back because the infallible
Nabiki decided that electric heaters and ranges were more cost-
efficient than gas, and there�s no matches in the house, and I CAN�T
change back?" Ranma flounced as she crossed her arms in front of her.

"What do you mean, for no reason? You called me uncute, AGAIN."

"Did not... you were just hearing things, AGAIN."

---

Ryoga leaned back against the grass, on a small hill overlooking the
city center. Night had just fallen, and he was tired, and he wanted to
go home and sleep, or better yet just sleep right now... but as soon as
the power came back on, he was supposed to go and move 01 back into the
hangar. It made sense, so he stayed and waited.

Asuka chuckled. She was still angry about earlier, he guessed. He felt
his head, but couldn�t find a bruise from the hammer.

"It�s so empty out here, without any lights." She sighed and leaned
back herself.

"Yeah, but look up... stars. It�s great, isn�t it, how you can see so
many stars without the lights." Ryoga loved looking at the stars. What
did he need paintings or television for, when life put on a light show
for free, every night?

"The city looks like there�s nobody living there, though." At that
moment, the lights started coming on, flaring into existence and
blotting out the night.

"Mankind has always feared the darkness, so he scrapes away at its
edges with fire." The other two turned to look at Rei.

Asuka laughed lightly. "A philosopher."

"I like that philosophy." Wait a minute... that had been a guy. Ryoga
turned, saw the shine of a vest and bracers before he made out Tarou�s
face. "What was that thing, pig-boy?"

"Oh, hi, Tarou. It�s an Angel."

"So... the old man wasn�t cracked after all..." Tarou sat down next to
him.

"Um... sorry about the crack about your name earlier."

"Oh?" Tarou smiled. "And about leaving me to deal with that... Angel?"

"No, that was necessary." Ryoga closed his eyes and relaxed. Tarou
wasn�t mad, just his normal, insulting self.

"Well, I don�t appreciate being used, pig-boy."

Asuka grinned at Tarou. "Tell you what. You want to come have dinner?
It�s the least we can do, after he nearly got you killed and all."

Tarou arched an eyebrow. "Who said I nearly got killed? I�d have had
the thing in another five minutes, you know."

"Sure, whatever, Tarou."

Tarou ignored Ryoga and went on. "But, indeed, it is the LEAST you can
do. Sure, I�m hungry anyway." A cloud passed over Tarou�s features.
"You don�t plan on feeding me the cooking of that girl, do you?"

Ryoga laughed, startling the other two. "Don�t worry, Pantyhose, I
guarantee you that the cooking will be better than Akane�s." Just not
by how much.

Tarou reached over and rapped a foreknuckle off of Ryoga�s head, not
serious. "I told you to stop calling me that."

The four got up, and walked toward the town... nobody noticed the gleam
in Asuka�s eyes as she looked at the back of Tarou�s vest. After all,
dragon scale could reflect the light in such interesting ways...

---

End of part 13

As usual, questions and comments go to akent@pdq.net

Of course, if you�ve read THIS far, I don�t expect any flames, but feel
free if you like...

Andy Kent
--
"He'd been an angel once. He hadn't meant to Fall.
He'd just hung around with the wrong people."
Crowley, Good Omens