Well, part 2 as promised. With a few more explanations.
Okay, well, not that much. ^^;
The Gods Within
A Neon Genesis Evangelion elseworlds fanfic by Scriviner
Part 2: Visiting Aliens to Immigration
The room was dark. It always was during these
things. The only light was right above him, pinning him
in a spotlight in the center of the room. He stared
straight out into the darkness, suppressing slight
shivers. It always creeped him out when the Doctor did
these things. Such a normal person in all other things,
but the debriefings were always deadly serious. Deadly,
being the operative term. Rumor had it at least eight
staff members who had displeased the Doctor were no
longer connected with NERV. Or with their heads. Well,
that was par for course when working with a Special Ops,
Super-Secret Government controlled research facility.
What a job.
So much for his 'nerves of steel', he chuckled to
himself. The Doctor could always scare the living
daylights out of him, for no reason he could pin down.
The crisp voice resumed speaking. "Major Kaji, you
are contending that releasing Unit 01 in a metropolitan
area was a suitable decision? You've faced L-types
before." The soft rustle of paper in the darkness. "In
fact you personally destroyed five of them in your
previous operation without calling for assistance from
01."
"True. However, Let me point out that not only did
I not have two hours to rig up a warehouse with booby
traps, I couldn't get the flame thrower from my trunk
while I was driving and, honestly, I would've called 01
in on that last operation if they hadn't been jamming my
phone. Additionally, I was concerned about getting
Asuka--"
"Unit 03."
He recovered smoothly, "I mean, Unit 03 to the
base as quickly and as safely as possible."
There was a snort of derision. "Excuses."
"Valid ones."
"Granted. The idea of Unit 01 going out into the
field, does not sit well with me, however."
"He has to do so sometime. The simulations are all
very well, but he needs field experience."
"Perhaps in controlled conditions..." There was a
glint of light reflected off of dark glass, "But this
was a brawl."
"With all due respect, he won't have controlled
conditions all the time. Also, he's been deployed
previously with no problems."
"But not in a metropolitan area. What if 01 had
used Nova Flux after all? Or if he'd simply decided to
throw the car into orbit?"
"But he didn't. He showed perfect restraint,
limiting collateral damage to the absolute bare
minimum."
"Granted. Perhaps it is about time, 01 be sent out
a bit more."
"Our time table calls for a public appearance
within the next quarter--"
The voice cut him off, "Not until Accounting
clears the media budget."
"Ah. Well."
"As for Unit 03, she apparently manifested
something similar to 01's Compression technique?"
"Unit 01 said that did appear to be the case."
"You are becoming careless, Major. If she hadn't
spontaneously manifested, you would be dead."
He couldn't help a sheepish grin from forming on
his features, outlined as they were by the harsh light,
"I try my best, but I can't be ready for everything.
Certainly not a sniper from an unknown position.
Especially one sitting in wait in an area I wasn't even
supposed to be passing through."
"Part of your job is to make certain. We would
hate to have to train a replacement for you."
"Of course."
The voice softened slightly, "Major... I want your
opinion. What do you think of her?"
"She seems like a nice, perfectly normal girl.
Shy, though. Nervous and edgy when I met her, but that's
understandable. Her home town is nowhere near as crowded
as Tokyo and she's still adjusting to the loss of her
parents. I don't think there will be too many problems,
though."
The voice snapped, "That will be noted. You're
dismissed."
"Thank you." He turned about face stiffly and
proceeded to step out of the spotlight when a cough
caught his attention.
"By the way--"
"Yes?" Kaji asked over his shoulder.
"Who's making dinner tonight?"
"It's my turn, I believe. Is sukiyaki alright?"
"Again? Ah, well. That will be fine. Thank you."
As the door slid shut behind him, in the darkness,
the Doctor turned to a slender figure standing in the
shadows, "Well?"
"Well, what?" The voice snapped.
"Don't you have something snide to say about him
this time?"
"Personally? Yes. I still can't stand that man.
Professionally? He's too much into the whole movie
secret agent thing. Thinks he's James Bond or something.
Too eager for adventure" There was a disgusted snort,
"But I have to admit, he didn't screw up too badly this
time."
"Damning him with faint praise, dearest?"
There was a faint chuckle, "Don't get me started
about 'damning' him."
"You really have to let it go, you know. You're
going to have to live with him."
"No I don't! She might have to, but I don't."
The Doctor's voice was soothing, "Now, now,
dearest. Don't be like that. He's not that bad."
"The man is a pox and a pestilence in my life,
sweetheart."
The Doctor gave a small lilting laugh, "I think
you're being silly."
"Silly or not, maybe he does know his job, but I
don't have to like him."
"Now you're being childish."
"Hmph!"
The Doctor reached up and lightly caressed her
lover's face, "Are you coming to dinner?"
"Not to that man's cooking, I won't." The face
hidden in the shadows softened a little, "Besides I have
some diagnostics to run through tonight and I can't
leave it to Ibuki."
"Alright, if you really must. Just make sure to
try and get some sleep."
There was a smirk in the darkness, "If you'll let
me."
The two shared a laugh, as only the oldest and
closest of friends could.
- - -
Asuka's eyes fluttered open. A half-forgotten
dream, which brought the faint smile to her face as she
woke, was fading even as she stared up at the unfamiliar
ceiling.
There had been a noise. She remembered something
sounding like a badly tuned car backfiring, before
grinding itself into so much scrap metal against a
cinderblock wall. Although how she knew what something
like that sounded, she had no idea.
Where am I? The next thought asserted itself.
She studied the ceiling above her. White.
Flourescent lights. No clues there. The bed was actually
rather comfortable, more comfortable than what she was
used to certainly, except for that fuzzy thing that was
distracting her. She blinked and tried to get her
thoughts to focus properly. What fuzzy thing?
She gently took it from off her chest and held it
up. She smiled as she realized that someone had tucked
her in with Dieter. That at least was familiar. The
little bear's lopsided smile and beady little black eyes
were a welcome sight. A jarringly familiar one in such
an unfamiliar place.
"What's the time, little bear?" She whispered to
him.
The bear replied distinctly, but in a small
childish voice, "Seven twenty three in the evening,
Asuka."
She clutched it to her chest and heaved a sigh.
"At least you're still normal, Dieter."
The fuzzy little bear squirmed slightly and gave a
muffled giggle into her arm. "That's me!"
"That still doesn't tell us where we are, though."
She told him gently.
She tried to sit up, but a wave of nausea forced
her back into bed. She ached all over. But that wasn't
the worst part. Her thoughts were a messy tangle. The
last clear memory she had was of that boy in the red
cape asking her... something... and the bullets... She
closed her eyes forcing herself to calm down again. She
did not catch that bullet. Those men did not keep trying
to kill them after he'd had his head blown open. Kaji-
san... didn't shoot them, grinning like a lunatic the
whole while. That had to have been just a dream. Just a
bad dream...
She opened her eyes once more, this time, turning
to one side to find something else familiar to latch on
to. The room, now that she saw more of it, looked like a
hospital room. The walls were that vague greenish-
bluish-off-white that was supposed to be soothing, but
wasn't very. The air had that muted antiseptic smell
hospitals always had, with just a hint of lemon and the
crisp scent of freshly laundered sheets. It was quiet.
Well, it was quiet up until she heard that
terrible noise again. Now though, while fully awake, it
wasn't half so harsh or metallic as it had been filtered
through sleep. In fact... it sounded more like a snort
followed by a long intake of raspy breath. She started
in surprise, sending another wave of nausea rippling
through her.
She glanced in the direction of the noise. It was
a woman. Sound asleep and leaning back in a flimsy
looking foldable chair. Her long dark hair was draped
over the backrest and her short black dress looked
rumpled from having been slept in. The red headed girl
clutched her little bear closer and couldn't help but
marvel at the regularity, range and power of the woman's
snoring, even given that there was a book over her face
to muffle it. With every inhalation, her lightweight
chair tipped back just a fractional increment more.
Asuka was about to say something to wake her up
and hopefully avert an accident when it happened. With
the slow inevitability of a tree in a forest
encountering a chainsaw, she watched helplessly as the
chair's front legs lost contact with the floor... the
slight overbalancing as the woman took her next
breath... then the slow arcing fall that ended up with
the woman slamming her head on the floor.
Asuka winced partly at the noise and partly in
sympathy as the woman, no longer asleep, yelped in pain
and tried to hop back onto her feet, which only resulted
in her legs becoming entangled with the chair and sent
her tipping over and falling down onto the floor again.
The book she'd had on her face had somehow ended up
falling onto the bed. Asuka took one look at the cover,
which prominently featured a half-naked man, a fully
clothed woman and the words "Passion's Unfailing
Promise" in big flowery type. She decided she was better
off not knowing.
Asuka leaned over the edge of the bed and asked
tentatively, "Um... are you okay?"
"Yup... fine, fine. Just great!" The woman smiled
cheerfully up at her, rubbing the back of her head. She
certainly didn't seem to be embarrassed at all about
ending up as a sprawled heap on the floor. She took a
long moment to disentangle herself from the chair and
stood up very slowly.
"Where am I?" Asuka asked timidly.
The woman smiled warmly. "This is NERV. Infirmary
wing." The woman paused as though about to add something
when she snapped her fingers and turned hurriedly,
"Nearly forgot!" She hopped back to the door, where a
white lab coat hung from a hook. She hurriedly struggled
into it. The whole process took longer than it should
have, largely because the woman seemed to have trouble
finding the sleeves. "Got it!" She said triumphantly as
she smoothed the still rumpled coat down. "There we go,
more official and doctorly looking, don't you think?"
Asuka blinked, "I... I guess."
With the coat on, rumpled and sleepy looking as
she was, Asuka had to admit, the woman did look more...
professional. She straightened up, pulling her hair back
into a ponytail to keep it out of the way with a rubber
band she'd pulled from one of her pockets. It was quite
a transformation. She chuckled softly, as she looked at
Asuka, "Ryu-chan said you were kind of shy."
"Who's Ry--? Kaji-san? Where is he?"
"He'll be by in a little while, he's getting
debriefed by Dr. Ikari, right now. Try not to get too
excited, dear. You've been through a bit of a strain."
She nodded and snuggled back against the covers.
It was kind of comfy here. "Yes, ma'am."
The woman laughed lightly. "Oh, no... don't call
me ma'am, you'll make me feel old. I'm Ritsuko, dear."
"Okay... Ritsuko-san. I'm Asuka." After a moment's
thought, she held up her bear. "This is Dieter."
"Hello, Ritsuko-san!" The bear said brightly.
"Oh, how cute!" Ritsuko clapped her hands together
appreciatively, her entire face lighting up. Asuka
couldn't quite tell how old Ritsuko actually was. From
her features and figure, Asuka would've guessed that
couldn't have been any older than nineteen. On the other
hand, if she really was a doctor, that meant she had to
have been at least in her mid-twenties. The way she
acted, though... Asuka blinked as she realized that
Ritsuko had been talking while she mulled it over.
"--and don't worry about Ryu-chan. He's a tough
old bastard." Ritsuko smirked.
"He's not that old!" Asuka blurted.
Ritsuko laughed, "Well, that would kind of be
shooting myself in the foot too. We are the same age.
Although all that hard living makes him look older."
Asuka stared at Ritsuko in surprise. "Really? He's
only twenty?" She couldn't keep her thoughts away from a
few possibilities... after all six years... that's not
all that much a difference, was it? No, wait... he was
her guardian. She had to stop thinking like that!
Ritsuko stared at her in confusion for a moment,
then laughed again, "Twenty?"
"You said he was your age." The girl replied
sheepishly. She couldn't tell if Ritsuko really was this
cheerful normally, or was laughing at her expense.
Ritsuko laughed harder, barely able to contain
herself, "Oh, Asuka, you are a dear! You were with Ryu-
chan only twenty minutes and you're lying to me just
like him."
Asuka just stared at her. Perhaps the woman's gone
insane? It seemed like the most logical explanation. Of
course, it wasn't a polite thing to ask, so she settled
on the next most likely question to ask, "What's so
funny?"
"Neither of us has seen twenty in a good many
years, but I appreciate the complement."
"You're that old?" Her eyes widened in surprise.
"I thought you were... I mean... I didn't mean you were
old, old... um... "
Ritsuko pulled a wry face, somewhat sobered, but
she still grinned. "Well, a lady doesn't like to be
reminded of it so much."
"Oh."
"Take my mother for instance. She's been forty two
for... hmmm... many years now. Well, in any case, I'm
here to make sure you're alright. This couldn't have
been easy for you." There was warm concern in her voice.
"Um... you know, I still don't know how I got
here." Asuka replied, prodding the subject gently. She'd
had far too many strange things happen to her today, and
there had been far too few explanations.
Ritsuko leaned down to brush some hair from
Asuka's face. "Well, you fainted after saving Ryu-chan
from getting his pretty-boy face getting blown off. He
brought you here and I tucked you in. I found Dieter in
your backpack while I was putting it away, and I thought
you could use some company."
It wasn't much, Asuka thought, but it was
something. Ritsuko continued to fuss over her. Fluffing
her pillow, straightening the sheet. It was nice, but
the idea of being waited on wasn't making her very
comfortable. "Um... Thanks."
"No, no... I should thank you, actually." Ritsuko
replied, idly tickling Dieter, who giggled back
delightedly, "I'd hate to have to start dating again.
Especially at my age." She stuck her tongue out and
chuckled.
"What do you--?"
"My full name is Ritsuko Kaji." She winked and
raised her hand, flashing a gold wedding band. "I'm Ryu-
chan's old ball and chain."
"Oh!" Asuka nodded as she finally understood. Then
realized that she'd been thinking such... scandalous...
thoughts about a married man and blushed.
Ritsuko chuckled as she stood up, misunderstanding
the girl's blush, no doubt. "Well, you don't have to
call me 'Mom' any more than you'd have to call Ryu-chan
'Dad' if you don't want to."
"Okay... Ritsuko-san." Asuka looked at her
thoughtfully, "Can you answer something for me?"
"Sure thing. If I know the answer."
"How did Ryu-san know my parents?"
"Oh." Ritsuko slipped her hands into her pockets
and her brow furrowed in thought. "He never actually
said. All I got out of him was that they met in Germany
about six years ago. Somebody saved somebody else's
life. Or someone nearly got killed. He was kind of vague
about the details." She added, "He's good at that, you
know. Loves his secrets, that man."
Asuka nodded, unsatisfied, but not inclined to
press for more details. The bed was rather comfortable,
she added to herself, stifling a yawn and clutching
Dieter closer to her.
"You get some more rest." Ritsuko smiled warmly at
the girl, tucking Dieter into her arm. "It's always
tiring to use your abilities without a plugsuit if you
aren't used to them."
"Plugsuit? Abilities?" Asuka tried to rouse
herself, but the pleasant lethargy was winning.
"The plug suit is Shinji's costume... and
abilities, well, he likes to call them super powers."
Ritsuko said with a good humored smile.
Asuka sat up, the clinging lassitude falling away
from her as the subject came up. Even the nausea was
receding. "Ritsuko-san... did I really catch a bullet in
my bare hands?"
Ritsuko smiled gently, "Well, not quite bare,
dear. You were using a t-shirt. But that's what you
said. Shinji saw you do it, too."
"But how could I do that? It looked like
everything was moving at really slow motion."
The woman nodded, "That's how Shinji usually
describes it when he uses Compression."
"Compression? I remember Ryu-san saying that
term... he told that boy... Shinji, was it? Not to
forget to use it."
"Time Compression. You can make it feel to
yourself that minutes, hours, even entire days have
passed even when everyone else thinks its only been one
second. Sometimes even more. Shinji likes to call it
'super-speed', though. He usually doesn't like the names
the grown-ups come up with for what he does."
"Ritsuko-san," Asuka watched the older woman's
reaction nervously, "Just how can he do stuff like that?
What does that make me, if I can do it too? I didn't
actually see it, but if I had to guess, I'd say he can
fly too..."
Ristuko seemed amused once more, "How did you come
to that conclusion?"
"He said he was pacing our cars from above.
Considering I didn't see any helicopters and there
weren't any buildings along that stretch that he
could've been following us from." Asuka suppressed a
half-embarrassed chuckle, "The costume's kind of a dead
giveaway too."
"Yeah it is, isn't it?" Ritsuko winked, "Between
you and me, I think he's a little old to be playing
dress-up, don't you?"
Asuka bit back a giggle, "That's mean!" She
sobered and said quietly, "It still didn't answer my
questions though."
"Oh, I didn't mean to divert the topic. Let's
see... about the how that's kind of complicated to
explain. How much physics do you know?"
"Um... a little. Stuff from school..." Asuka was
uncomfortable about that topic. She knew a lot more than
a little. But admitting to it would be showing off. She
was never supposed to show off. It was wrong. It was a
bad thing.
Ritsuko reached out and gently pushed Asuka's hand
away from her mouth. She realized to her horror that
she'd started gnawing on her thumbnail again. She
blushed in embarrassment and repeated in a mumble, more
for her benefit than Ristuko's, "Only a little..."
"Well, it's probably more than I know, since I
slept through most of my physics classes, but you pick
up stuff here if you hang around enough." She paused for
a moment, trying to find a proper way to explain. "Do
you know what Planck's length is?"
"The distance below which no proper observations
can be made because the act of observation changes the
observed?"
"Very right. It's a distance on the order of
well... it's really small. In any case, research has
shown that human consciousness... thought, personal
volition, awareness... all of that seems to occur at a
level of scale below Plank's length."
Asuka nodded slowly.
Ritsuko's voice had changed slightly, not as
brightly cheerful. More focused and thoughtful, "It's
the limit at which the quantifiable laws of our physical
reality break down and there's no way to tell what goes
on at smaller levels, since it can't be observed
meaningfully, without changing what we see.
It's even been speculated that this distance,
infinitesimally small as it is, is what keeps us
individuals. A sort of physical version of an AT Field."
"What's an AT Field?"
"Oh, that's a term we use in psychology for
autistic children. Kind of like a mental force field
that they use to keep their human contact to a minimum."
Asuka looked puzzled. "Like a real one?"
"It's not precisely physical, if that's what you
mean by real. No, just a psychological one."
"So... Plank's length is kind of an AT Field?" She
clarified.
"Yes. Er... wait, I think I wandered off on a
tangent again. Erhm... anyway, we've found that certain
people can actually manipulate Plank's length within a
limited range."
Asuka murmurred, worrying at her thumbnail, "But
what does that mean? How would that let Shinji fly? How
does that let me catch bullets?"
"Think about it... consciousness operates and
predominates in a level where there are, tacitly
speaking, no physical laws that can be predicted
directly, but only inferred, and the act of observation
changes the observed." She paused for dramatic effect,
"If you were to increase that length... increase it to
the point where the effects of the observer/observed
interactivity, the 'observer effect' if you will,
overlaps with established physical law, what do you
think will happen?"
"I... I don't know... if I had to guess, that
observer effect makes the physical law keel over every
time you look at it?" Asuka shrugged helplessly, "That
makes no sense!"
"Very good!" Ritsuko beamed winningly at her,
"Close, very close. Almost right. The observer becomes
able to manipulate the laws to act in the way they
choose. The human mind will find a structure that best
maintains the desired results."
"I don't understand... are you saying they can
manipulate reality?"
"I'm saying you and Shinji and a few other kids
can basically repeal some of the fundamental laws of
nature to do all sorts of things. Of course, you can't
change stuff around too much, cause what if you create a
set of conditions which you can't survive?"
Asuka blanched, "That's terrible!"
"That's what the plug suit is for. If it looks
like you've altered conditions to the point of fatality,
the suit detects it, and it'll help direct your mind to
establish more survivable conditions. Shinji's used to
operating without one, but it still tires him, so he
prefers wearing it. Especially after his mother agreed
to let him have the cape."
Asuka seemed amused by the idea, but then looked
up at Ritsuko, "That's the how, so what about the why?
Why can we do stuff like this?"
Ritsuko flashed a look of concern at the red
headed girl, "I can see this is upsetting you. Maybe we
should save it for later?"
Asuka shook her head, sitting up even more, "No,
please, I don't want to wait til later, I want to
understand this now." Her voice was rapid and angry. She
was getting very sick of being put off. Her brow
furrowed as she realized she felt something odd. She
could feel a thickening in the air. Kind of like what
happened before, but not exactly the same... she could
see the concern on Ritsuko's face as she leaned forward
to say something...
"Asuuuuukkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aa..." She said, in a slow drawn out bass. The pitch of
the word kept dropping as the last syllable extended
until finally... total silence. Even the buzz of the
fluorescent light and the hum of the air conditioner had
vanished. There was nothing but total silence.
Asuka winced, "I did it again, didn't I?"
"I feel funny..." Dieter, who was cradled in her
arms, piped up his arms and legs moving around vaguely.
His voice was punctuated by little pops and screeches,
as though something were wrong with his electronics.
Asuka hurriedly put down the twitching bear and watched
as he slowed to a stop also. She groaned softly, "How do
I slow down?"
She sighed, waving a hand in front of Ritsuko's
eyes even though she knew it was futile. She tried to
struggle out of the bed, but the blanket that covered
her, moved only with immense difficulty. It almost felt
like it had become sheet metal, but that was ridiculous,
it was soft and fluffy just a moment ago. She snapped
her fingers as she suddenly realized what the problem
was. Inertia. She was moving so fast that it was
actually difficult to overcome the tendency of
everything around her to stay in place. The same applied
to the air, that's why it felt so thick. And why the
sheet was so immovable.
To her chagrin, she was stuck in bed. Worse than
that... she could be stuck in this bed for years from
her perspective before Ritsuko even realized anything
was wrong.
So it was to her great surprise when the door
opened, at what she perceived to be 'normal speed'. "I
thought I heard a voice..."
Asuka looked relieved as she saw Shinji's face
poke in. He was moving at the same speed she was. "Oh!
Hi! Um..." she looked at the immovable sheet and smiled
shyly at him, "Um... I'm kinda stuck."
He gave a friendly smile as he walked up to her
bedside and said, "Oh, I used to get that problem all
the time. You're Asuka Soryuu, right?"
She nodded, flustered. He was cute up close. Not
to mention that his costume was pretty tight on him. If
the outfit really was skin-tight then he had some
seriously nice legs. And that voice... She shook her
head to clear those thoughts out. Gah... she was turning
into some sort of... something! "Yes, and you're Supe--
er... um... I mean, Shinji, right?"
He laughed pleasantly, "Yes, I'm Shinji, but you
can call me the other name too. I don't mind." He posed
heroically for her, planting his hands on his hips,
throwing his chest out so that the emblem could be
clearly seen. "I've got the 'S' and everything."
"Well... um... you're dressed up to play the part
of a hero, uh... would you mind rescuing me?" She
giggled nervously. Was it her or was it getting hot in
here? Or was it him? The nausea was coming back in
force, but the now rock-hard bed precluded any thoughts
of lying back in it.
He took another step closer, leaning down to
extend a hand, "My pleasure Asuka. Hold on."
She looked at his hand, then stared up at him,
"What're you..?"
"Hold on." He moved his hand closer to her. "Trust
me." He gave her that same smile Ryu had used earlier,
and she couldn't help but wonder if they weren't somehow
related.
She reached for it gingerly, her fingertips barely
grazing his palm. He gave a slight grin and grasped her
hand tightly. Judging from what she could feel, the
uniform was pretty skintight, at least around the
hands...
She really didn't feel good. She was pale and
sweating. She felt like she was running a high fever,
but she wasn't. Was she?
Shinji frowned in concentration. He looked at her
strangely for a moment then realized, "You're not in a
plug suit! No wonder you're having trouble!"
Asuka blinked in confusion and wiped the sweat
from her forehead, "What?"
"I'll be right back!" He said as he turned on his
heel and took a half step, before launching into the
air. He floated out of the room at about the speed of a
quick run and vanished out the open door.
"Wait!"
She sighed and tried her best to settle back on
the hardened bed. Still trapped. She was beginning to
get dizzy as well so she closed her eyes, desperately
trying to remember how she got back down to normal
speed. She could still faintly hear the last syllable of
her name as spoken by Ritsuko continuing to be drawn out
as a faint bass rumble. Ritsuko herself remained totally
still.
After a few moments, Shinji literally flew back
into the room, his cape flapping in the still air behind
him. In his hands he had a brightly colored bundle.
"I painted the designs on myself." He said
proudly, "It was supposed to be for Rei, but she's not
very good at using super-speed, so..."
Asuka stared at the bright red and gold outfit. It
seemed to be at least two sizes too large for her.
Whoever this 'Rei' was, must've been taller and better
filled out than she was. It appeared to be the same
material as Shinji's clothes, but not as precisely cut.
It seemed rather shapeless, if anything. That was fine
by her. Shinji was looking at her expectantly though.
Was he expecting her to change with him right there?
Especially with the bed still holding her stuck?
"I just want to get back to normal speed..." she
said as he placed the outfit next to her on the bed.
"Don't worry, the suit'll help you do that. Just
put it on."
Despite how badly the nausea and feverishness were
affecting her, she narrowed her eyes pointedly at him as
she blushed and pulled the blanket up higher to cover
her chest. Or she would've if she'd been able to budge
it. So she settled for sinking a little lower into the
hard bed. Cute guy or not, she was NOT changing in front
of someone she'd only met that same day. The strange
part was that his expression was totally innocent. He
did not even seem to realize he'd said anything wrong.
"What's the matter? Are you feeling too weak? I
could help you put it on if you want..." He floated a
little closer.
"No! Stop! Hold it right there!" She panicked,
managing to spring out of bed, but in the process the
hardened sheet exploded into ragged fragments and so
much fluff. The pieces hung in mid-air as she leapt off
the front of the bed and onto the floor. Her fall seemed
to take several seconds as gravity seemed to be deciding
whether or not to bring her down.
He stopped right beside her, "Okay, okay..." he
smiled contentedly and gave her that expectant look
again.
He didn't even seem to notice or care that the
blanket was no doubt ruined and in a million floating
pieces.
She couldn't take it anymore. It was almost like
his eyes were boring right into her. She cringed away
from him, backing into a corner of the room, "W-w-what?"
"Well, why aren't you changing yet? Your
condition's gonna get worse if you don't stop using your
powers or get into the plug suit."
"I don't know how to get back to normal speed!"
"So get in the suit," he said reasonably.
"I would if you'd stop looking at me."
He blinked in confusion, "Wha--? What does that
have to do with anyth--? Oh! Sorry." He turned his back,
"Is this any better?"
"Not really." She tried to reply, but the sudden
wave of heat that ran down her body and the nausea
renewed it's clutch on her stomach. She doubled over,
little frozen sparks of electricity were rising ever so
slowly from around her. She raised her eyes and realized
to her horror that even Shinji was now frozen in the act
of turning away. She was getting even faster. She
staggered up to him, waving her hand in front of his
face a few times to make certain he wasn't faking.
Unable to think of any better solution, she
hurriedly stood behind his back and took off the flimsy
paper hospital gown she'd been wearing. She hadn't
realized she's even had that on and blushed when it
occurred to her that he must've gotten a good look at
her rear when she sprang off the bed. She slipped into
the plug suit, pulled close the velcro at the back and
found it draped over her like a tent. The material was
thin and flexible, but very loose. That was enough for a
start, apparently.
She felt the heat building up inside her begin to
ebb slightly and the nausea was beginning to pass. There
was a moment of adjustment for her as she realized just
enough of her speed drained away for her to see Shinji
begin to move.
His voice was an octave or two lower than what it
originally was and he was moving with exquisite
slowness, but at least she could see his motion.
He seemed surprised, "Yoooou're eeeeeveeen
faaaassstteeerrrr thhhaaannnn Iiiiiii aaammmmm."
"It's not working!"
He raised his hands and pointed to a small button
on the cuff of his plug suit. She could tell he was
trying to say something but she couldn't make it out
through the distortion, as his voice dropped another
octave before she realized what he was trying to say.
"Push the button?" She felt along the baggy cuff
until she found the small stud and pressed it. Nothing
seemed to happen for several long seconds, during which
time she could see Shinji slow to a stop again, then
suddenly the plug suit collapsed around her, the excess
material seemed to become gathered up at the cuffs and
the back. It was almost like being vacuum sealed, as she
felt the loose outfit suddenly go skin-tight and she
could feel it was in fact VERY skin-tight.
She let out an exclamation of surprise before she
suddenly felt a hand at her elbow, holding her steady,
"It's kind of surprising when you wear it for the first
time." Shinji grinned at her.
"You didn't warn me about that!" She glared at
him. Then realized just how much the plug-suit clung to
her body. Following every single curve. It was almost
like being naked. She gave another exclamation and tried
to cover herself with her arms as best she could, but it
felt kind of silly.
"There you go." He smiled at her, "Told you so.
Feel better now?"
"Um..." she blinked. Yes... she did feel much
better. The feverishness was gone and she didn't really
feel quite so queasy as she did earlier. She blushed and
took a step back, pulling away from him.
"What's wrong now?"
"This... this... this outfit! It's very... very...
you know... um..." she tried desperately to grab the
discarded hospital gown and put it on without changing
the position of her arms. Needless to say, it was quite
complicated and not too successful. "It's not very
proper!"
He looked at her as though she'd grown a third
eye. "I don't understand, what do you mean? I think it
looks great on you!"
She blushed at him and frowned. She looked down
and tried to look at herself. It almost looked as though
it were painted onto her body. It left almost nothing to
the imagination. She blinked in surprise as she noticed
a lightning bolt insignia in a white circle on her
chest. "What's this supposed to mean?"
He said happily, "Well, that's why I figured it'd
be the perfect costume for you. I put that on myself.
Like I added this." He pointed to his own chest and
Asuka noticed that the 'S' wasn't exactly perfectly
executed. It seemed hand painted.
She stared at him in confusion, still not moving
her arms, "I don't understand..."
"Oh, I forgot... almost nobody in this country
reads them. One moment, stay right here!" He said as he
dashed out the door again.
"But..." Asuka tried to say, but he was already
out the open door. "... I just want to get back to
normal speed."
She sighed and waited. Every so often she reached
for one of the floating pieces of fluff in the air,
trying to move it away but it crumbled between her
fingers before it could go very far. She tried one of
the larger pieces and even that crumbled into smaller
pieces before she could get a good grip on it. She
wondered to herself what that meant in normal speed? She
could already see some slight but frozen distortions in
the air surrounding where the blanket had shattered. She
was reaching out to touch one when Shinji hopped into
the room once more, "Back!" In his hands he carried a
small stack of... what were those? Comic books? Awfully
thin ones. They were locked into plastic sleeves and
Asuka watched in bewilderment as Shinji carefully placed
them on a drawer.
"Um... okay, I'm going to show you these, but we
have to be at normal speed. Cause there's this tendency
to break things if we try to move them too fast."
Asuka sighed, "I've been trying to ask you to get
me back to normal speed for the past few minutes."
Shinji laughed and extended a hand, "Nah, it's
only been a few milli-seconds. Here, let's slow you
down."
- - -
Ritsuko was bending over Asuka when she suddenly
saw the girl blur, seeming to vanish for an
infinitesimally small moment. That's only as long as she
got because the bed exploded at right about that time,
throwing her to the other end of the room in an
explosion of fluff and tatters.
She watched in stunned amazement as a bolt of
lightning suddenly leapt off the bed, scorching it and
begin to bounce around the room, licking at some of the
fluff, vaporizing it. The entire process was over before
it had even properly registered in her mind. She shook
her head as the last reverberations of the explosion
died down. Her ears were still ringing and she had a
feeling she knew who was responsible. She was a bit
disheveled and her hair was a mess.
She hopped to her feet, looking in the direction
of the terminus of the lightning bolt, where two teen-
agers were blurring back into visibility near the center
of the room. Shinji had a confused expression on his
face and Asuka looked surprised as the dancing bolt of
lightning suddenly struck her back and she fell forward
with a yelp of alarm. She was in a plug suit already.
Sooner than Ritsuko had intended, but no harm in it.
Shinji moved faster than her eye could follow
because one moment he was standing, the next he was
cradling Asuka gently.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, fine... just surprised. Where'd that
lightning come from?"
"I've got a better question," Ritsuko said with a
stern expression on her face, "Don't you have geometry
home work to finish, young man?"
"Erk... busted." Shinji smiled weakly at the
woman, "I was just trying to make sure Asuka felt
welcome. I was going to show her my comic books..."
Ritsuko glanced at them. Some of the prizes from
his collection. The boy was definitely trying to make a
good impression on Asuka, that certainly couldn't hurt.
She picked them up and looked at the brightly colored
covers. Superman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Martian
Manhunter, Green Lantern... I could never understand his
obsession with these things, but it does help him
control his abilities...
"Um... I'm sorry, Ritsuko-san..." Asuka said, her
head and shoulders slumped.
"No, no... it was my fault, Ritsuko-nesama! I was
showing off." Shinji stepped forward, squaring his
shoulders slightly.
She simply crossed her arms and looked at the two
of them. She couldn't help the smile quirking her
features, "Ahhh... well, we'll see who's really to blame
and find out whose allowance will get docked for the
bed."
The two winced at that.
She laughed, "It's alright. Shinji, stop looking
so grave. Asuka, relax. It was obviously an accident.
You should've seen some of the damage Shinji caused when
he was still learning how to use his powers."
The boy blushed and scratched the back of his
head, "I'm gonna be apologizing about her car til I'm
old and gray."
Asuka seemed to uncoil slightly, but she still
looked very tense, "This is more complicated than I
thought."
At about that moment, the door suddenly burst open
and Asuka found herself staring down the barrel of a
gun. A thunderous voice roared, "No one move!"
Shinji was in front of both Asuka and Ritsuko in a
heart beat, floating just a few inches off the floor and
flexing the muscles in his arms. They all relaxed as
they realized who it was.
Ritsuko smiled and reached out for the barrel of
the gun, pushing it down gently, "No need for that,
honey. Just an unforeseen accident."
"Sorry, I thought we had L-types in here again."
Kaji replied, tucking the gun into his coat. He eyed
Ritsuko for a moment, taking in the mess her hair was
in, then he grinned "Do I know you, Miss?"
She grinned back, "Of course you do, silly man.
You married me."
"I did?" he gave her a mock puzzled glance, "Are
you sure?"
"Yes, remember? I was in the white dress? You were
in the tux? We got a lot of flatware?"
"Oh yeah!" he pulled her to him and kissed her
cheek playfully. "Hey, you kids alright?" he grinned at
Shinji and Asuka.
"Um..." Asuka just blushed, her hand involuntarily
going up to her mouth.
Shinji lightly elbowed her, "Don't worry about it.
Those two are always like that." He grinned then looked
up at Kaji, "We're fine, Ryu."
"Good." He smiled for a moment, but his face
turned grim, "Hope you're ready, cause I've got some
news. Trouble's coming."
"Lemme at it!" Shinji cheered.
Asuka despite herself, couldn't help but wonder
what was going to come next.
End Part 2
-scriv.
P.S. To see the teasers:
http://www.geocities.com/scriviner/gods_in1.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/scriviner/gwi1.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/scriviner/gods_in2.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/scriviner/gwi2.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/scriviner/gods_in3a.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/scriviner/gwi3a.jpg
