Okay, this has been a while in the making. If you want to read the first part again, just drop me a line, and I'll repost it.

C&C welcomed!





The Whack Pack

Part 2

By Matthew Harrison

*****

Certain Characters and Situations property of Gainax, Inc.Not used for Profit in any way.

*****

The door quietly clunked shut as Shinji returned to the house. There was noone about; it was, as Misato called it, "silly o'clock in the morning". And everyone was, as they should be, fast asleep.

And the, just as he was about to slip into his room, someone put their hands over his eyes.

"Guess who?"

"WAAGH! I mean, don't scare me like that!"

"Awww, I couldn't help it, Shinji. But what were you doing out so late?"

"Asuka... what's up?" The freindly, bouncy nature of the second child was unnerving.

"I guess some of Misato's rubbing off on me."

Shinji had the presence of mind not to dwell on the image that that summoned.

"Anyway, what are you doing up?"

"I... had some things to deal with."

"Like Hida and his friend?"

Shinji looked stunned. "How... what... eh?"

"You really thought you could trust Kensuke to keep silent? Baka. He checked on what you wanted him to access, and then had a quiet word with me to make sure you didn't do anything silly."

"I see."

"So what did you do?"

"You don't want to know."

Her eyes narrowed. "You obtained a gun. You weren't just going to wave that around, now were you? AND you've had a shower- not to mention that the bag you had isn't with you."

"I..." Shinji trailed off, and slumped.

"Out with it. Or I'll tell Misato exactly what you asked of Kensuke."

He told her.

"What...?"

He told her again.

"Shinji... you killed them?"

"Yes." He looked down. "I'm not proud of it," he mumbled.

"You did the right thing, Shinji. There was a debt to be paid."

"I just couldn't let them get away with... with..."

*****

Asuka watched in vague horror as Shinji trailled off, his eyes filling with tears. She thought he might have been bottling things up a bit, and maybe, just maybe, Shinji's emotional state was more of a can of worms than she had thought. He hadn't cried at the funeral, come to think about it...

Introductory psychology from college came back to her. Closure. He hadn't been able to grieve properly until he felt closure.

And there was no more definite closure, she felt, than executing the murderers of a girl he seeemed to have loved.

The tears seemed to be flowing, now, and his shoulders began to shake. Asuka did the only thing she felt she could do.

*****

Shinji was barely aware of Asuka's arms as she pulled him to her, resting his head on her shoulder. He was just glad of the company; if he'd started thinking about what he'd done, and what had happened, and what they'd done to Kaede- he hadn't been there, but in his minds eye he could see the two leering as they thrust into her under a tree at night, then fastening the belt of her dress round her throat-

He didn't realise it, but he was crying quite loudly now. Out of instinct, his arms went round Asuka, and he fell into his grief.

*****

Asuka held Shinji tight as he cried, and the sobs slowly reached a crescendo. It was painful, she realised. She thought of him as a compatriot, a fellow soldier, and felt that he had bottled up more than just the past three weeks. She knew how much losing someone very close felt... best not to go there now.  But all she could do was hold him, and wait for him to recover. 'Big Boys Don't Cry', was the maxim, but in every rule had an exception. And this was definitely an exception...

Eventually, the sobs tailed off, and Shinji staggered out of her arms, into his room and into restless sleep.

*****

Rei awoke that morning to the sound of her alarm. It would surprise noone that her radio alarm was set to the news channel; at six thirty there was generally an accurate weather forecast, and there was a good chance of being alerted to incoming angels before NERV became aware of it. (The reasons for this latter item eluded her; she had no idea how their intel was better than NERV's. She could only assume that NERV's byzantine beaureacracy resulted in a delay in the dissemination of information.) However, as she lay in bed for a few minutes- her only vice was her bed, as she felt reluctance to leave it first thing in the morning.

But this morning was different... she heard names she knew.

Apparently Hida and Subari had been murdered in a club in the city that evening. Security cameras were useless, as some virus had wormed its way into their system and destroyed the video files.

She had also heard Doctor Akagi talking about a very specific MAGI hack, using passwords known to them- into the electronic locking systems.

There could only be one logical explanation for all this.

The Third Child.

He was one of the few with MAGI passwords. His clearance was nowhere near hers, but he would have been able to access the locks. He also had a motive; he had been very close to the girl that the two boys had supposedly killed.

There was one other piece of evidence: Commander Ikari had ordered her to ignore it. Commander Ikari would, she knew, protect his son above all others. And when she considered that the Third Child had experience of killing...

It had to have been Ikari. There was no other possibility.

*****

Shinji looked through the paper as he quietly munched his toast. Noone else was up at this hour, there being nothing going on that they needed to attend to. He was only up because he had slept so badly that night. He felt better than he had- but that wasn't difficult. Anyone who watched him would have seen a slight jauntiness in his manner- though, to anyone who didn't, they'd have thought he was a gloomy teen, worse off than the others in terms of angst and would have recommended Prozac in hefty quantities.

His mood darkened slightly as he saw that a man recently charged with a murder had walked free on a technicality of law. It was suspected that he had performed at least three murders, all of children- but due to a point of law and a smart lawyer, he had escaped the law.

(A good observer might at this point have noticed that he developed a slight twitch under his left eye as he read this piece.)

However, he soon came back to the fact that he had nothing to do of any importance that day. He was broke until his father put his allowance into his account.

And then his mind waved a small card at the back of his head about the previous night.

He did have money.

Quite a bit of it.

He could go and have some fun... put some flowers on the grave... whatever he liked.

He grabbed his jacket, and, as he opened the door, came face to face with Rei, her finger on the doorbell.

"Good Morning, Ikari."

"Good Morning, Rei. What are you doing here?"

"I was coming to see you."

"What about?"

"What you did last night."

Shinji came very close to swearing. "Does everyone know?"

"I believe not."

"How do you know?"

She told him.

"I see. Well... Are you doing anything today?"

"Talking to you."

"Then come with me and we can talk some more..."

"Who else knows about what you did?"

"Asuka and the Commander."

*****

They went to a small ice-cream shop. To try to distinguish it from the others, the proprietor had given it an English name. To demonstrate his lack of learning, it was now called the 'Sundae Weak'.

Anyone watching Rei closely would have noticed a small, very faint and short-lived smile flicker across Rei's face as she read the sign.

Shinji ordered for her; she was not used to these places. He ordered an espresso, and a small sandwich, while Rei found a large bright red sundae placed in front of her.

"What is this?"

"Besides Ice-cream? It's a special of theirs. A Bloody Sundae."

"I see. What did you wish to talk about, Shinji?"

"Life. Death. And if you could do me a small favour."

"I have seen your taste in pornography, Shinji. I will not take a spanking from As-"

"NO! I mean, no. And that was Misato's. Honestly! No, I was wondering if you would mind if I stored some items at your place."

"What sort of Items?"

Shinji sipped at his espresso. It wasn't great, but it was better than most. "I'm going to obtain... a couple of things. I'm thinking of going into business."

"Business?"

"You can make good money from what I did last night."

"I don't do dead body storage."

"Not so loud! No, I just want to keep the... necessary implements at your house."

"I have a strong cupboard. Will that do?"

"I think so. Eat your sundae, Rei, before it gets... melted." He squirmed as he realised the idiocy of what he'd been about to say.

*****

They spent a while shopping. Shinji spent a large amount of money; Rei idly wondered where it was coming from, but was intrigued that he felt it was a good idea to buy a pair of sunglasses that cost twenty-five thousand yen and a leather jacket that cost, in her opinion, much more than was practical to pay for a coat.

"Why did that coat cost twenty-five thousand Yen?"

"Because... it's a good label. It's quality; you have to be prepared to pay for quality."

"And why did you pay that much for it?"

"Because I wanted it; and, to be honest, I can afford it at the minute."

"How?"

"My father." And that was all he would say about that.

*****

Shinji, after a brief visit to Kensuke's, got his handscreen working, and tuned to the right site. Kensuke had told him that what he intended was quite illegal.- but Shinji didn't care anymore.

Sure enough, There was the request he expected.

He sent three emails.

*****

Shinji walked down the street slowly. He had heard a lot about this person, the one who'd killed those girls. He was rich. He was, apparently, well connected in the Yakusa.

He would be well protected.

He was also worth three hundred million yen dead.

Shinji could see the gate ahead. It was a massive wrought iron construction.

It was easy to climb over.

*****

Gendou Ikari looked at his desk for a minute. There was nothing else he had to do that day; it was time to terrorise the bridge bunnies for a little while, and then he could go home.

His desk went *ping*.

He frowned at it, and he touched a small part of its surface. The screen on top flickered, and an animated face with pigtails (the damn thing had reset itself again) cheerily told him that he had mail.

He read the new mail.

He hit the button that summoned Kaji less than two seconds into it.

*****

Rei walked quickly to Misato's apartment. She'd recieved a phone call from the Commander that confirmed everything she'd suspected; He'd paid Shinji for what he'd done the night before, and was being as helpful as he could. However, he knew he wasn't as close to his son as perhaps he should be, and was a little concerned about his mental state.

So he'd wanted Rei to pop round and see how he was; and Rei was doing exactly that.

"Oh, hello, Wondergirl. Whassup?"

"Is Shinji  in?"

"No, he went out about half an hour ago. Why?"

Rei's Phone rang. She answered, and Asuka waitied patiently.

"Rei? This is the commander. Where are you?"

"At Misato's apartment."

"Is Shinji there?"

"No."

"Shit. Kaji will be over there in a minute. You're a good shot, aren't you?"

"I am."

"Good. I need you to deliver something with Kaji to Shinji."

"But  I don't know where he is."

"Kaji does. Shinji's about to get himself killed."

*****

Shinji was in trouble.

He had only brought two clips of ammunition for the spare pistol he had, and he was down to the last three rounds.

There had been more people there than he'd expected, and the video surveillance was more than he'd wanted.

And now he was in dark corridors, just waiting for this guy to kill him.

To be perfectly honest, he wasn't too bothered about dying. His experiences in the EVA had left him pretty cold to that, and at least, in a gunfight, he had a good chance of a fairly quick, clean death. He wouldn't drown in LCL.

But he still didn't want to see any more blood, and so was thankful that the lights had gone.

But he wanted to see this guy so he could kill him. The spirits of three dead children called to him.

And so here he was, crouched down behind a fallen table, looking out over a corridor, which had three people at the end of it- all of which were firing weapons of varying calibres at him. It was, he reflected, not a good situation to be in.

He could run; but then he'd probably get killed. If not, noone would ever hire him for 'services rendered' ever again.

He could crouch here, and hope they'd forget about him.

Or he could get up and start shooting again in the next pause in gunfire.

That seemed like the best option.

The shooting paused, and so Shinji leapt up, pointed the pistol at the end of the corridor, and...

*KRAK*

*CHOOM*

*VRRRRRRT*

...and he stood there, not having fired a shot, while the suited thugs at the end of the corridor fell over backwards.

"....."

"Scheisskopf! How dare you go kamikaze on us!"

Asuka grabbed him in a bearhug, clouting him on the back of the head with the HKMP5 she was holding in her hand as she ran up to him. Rei, holding an old service revolver, walked quietly past him and checked that the  bad guys were definitely dead. Over her shoulder, he saw Kaji lighting up a cigarette, a fancy-looking shotgun leaning on his shoulder.

"Good to see ya, kid. We got here just in time, it seems."

"...What are you three doing here?"

Kaji grinned round his cigarette. "It seems that the commander didn't want you dead, so he sent us round ho give you a hand. Oh, and this is for you." He handed the shotgun to Shinji. He looked at it curiously; it had a stubby magazine, and a short slide almost flush with the barrel.

"Mandrax Industries Widowmaker. Sorry I used it before you, but it looked like you were in trouble."

"I needed the help. Thanks."

"Do you need a hand?"

"I think I can take it from here."

"Oh, no you don't!"

Shinji turned back to look into the angry eyes of  Asuka. "We're in this as much as you are, now! So Rei and I, at least- I don't know about Kaji- are going to help you clean out this house once and for all. And I'm taking a cut of the bounty..."

Rei, quiet as ever, walked up behind them. "I, too, would like a cut for whatever part I play in tonight's activities."

Shinji Shrugged. "Fair enough..."

"Hey, kid."

"Yes, Kaji?"

"I'll ID these fellers. You never know- there might be a price for these guys too."

"Good thinking."

"I'll wait for you in the car."

*****

It was, after that, a fairly quiet cleanup. There were only three more guards in the mansion, and they were quickly dispatched, Shinji turning one into little more than a red mist, Rei almost absently shooting one between the eyes as she walked past his hiding place, and Asuka cutting the last one in two with her now paired MP5's (she'd pickewd up another one from somewhere).

And they had reached the office at the top of the building. It was not, by any account, a pretty place. The carpet was green, the paint was blue, and the furniture was yellow.

And the creep sitting behind the desk was the ugliest thing of all.

"So, three at once. And it isn't even my birthday..."

Shinji worked the action on the shotgun, and levelled it. The guy laughed. "Kid, you don't have the balls to-"

*BLAM*

*****

Shinji, Rei and Asuka sat in the back of the car as Kaji drove them back to Misato's place. It was going to be a short night ahead, as it was nearing three in the morning.  Kaji had ID'd the eleven guys they'd killed, and had given Shinji the names. Shinji had eneterd them into the handpad along with confirmation of the kill that he'd initially taken on.

"So, where do we go from here?"

"I don't know, Asuka... I don't know."

"I recommend that we keep this as low a profile as possible. But it may be worthwhile taking a few more jobs on as well."

Shinji and Asuka looked at each other, and then at Rei. Kaji shrugged.

"It has already been proven that we can work as a team. There is the possibility that it may also be a good idea to recruit at least one other personage into this team. Preferably someone with a good working knowledge of firearms and computers."

Shinji nodded. "That makes sense. That way we can cover our tracks with CCTV amongst other things... and it'll make sense if we want to hiode our accounts."

Asuka chipped in. "We could well do with someone good with a sniper weapon of some sort. Waltzing in with all barrels blazing isn't always the best idea."

"Why don't we get some heavy weapon while we're at it?"

*****

The three children were nearly passed out on Shinji's bed. Each of them had their own thoughts about the evening... and the ideas passes around afterwards.

Shinji was considering hiring Kensuke permanently. The kid was good with computers and knew a lot about firearms. He might be useful- hell, he'd probably be very useful. If he could shoot straight, they could have him on the team permanently...

Asuka was thinking about Hikari. It wasn't a well-known fact tht Hikari was actually a corporal in the local OTC (and found it quite amusing that her beret badge had a maple leaf on it, representing the military unit it was afiliated with). Even less well known was the fact that Hikari was on the Marksmanship team, and, in fact, was a competition winner from eight hundred metres. That, she felt, was a pretty good skill. And if Shinji could arrange for a proper shiper's rifle...

Rei was thinking about Touji. She knew that he'd had an artificial arm and leg fitted as a result of his accident in EVA-04, and that those prostheses were actually based on military cybernetics prototypes- they had greater strength and were deeply linked into his skeleton because of that. He could almost certainly be able to heft a piece of heavy ordinance as a result. He could carry and balance it with his left arm, while actually operating it with his right. That would certainly give them the edge in a firefight...

*****

Misato was dragged back to consciousness by the sound of bleeping from Shinji's room. Stumbling into the kitchen, she saw that Pen-pen had brought in the paper, and idly noted the headline - "Massacre at Child-Killer's Mansion". Then she decided to tell Shilji to shut his bloody alarm off.

"Shinji, that alarm of yours..." She stopped, closed her eyes, and looked again.

Shinji was lying in bed, cuddling up to both Rei and Asuka. Both of them were cuddling up to him.

A little point of her mind pointed out that they were all dressed, and so there had (probably) been no carnal carnival of salaciousness the previous night (and was mildly disappointed).

Before she could decide whether to wake them up or not, she also noted that the bleeping was coming from an expensive-looking hand-held computer. Curious, she picked it up.

And nearly dropped it.

'Good Work. Total bounty 18 million yen.'

Before anything else happened, she then noted the faint smell of gunsmoke, and then spotted the small pile of hardware in the corner. One heavy-duty shotgun, one revolver, an automatic pistol, and two SMG's.

Dropping the handheld back on the bed, she went back to the kitchen, and downed three beers in quick succession.

She definitely needed to have a talk with that boy.

And then, just to freeze her mental processes completely, the headline clicked. And the deaths of the two boys that he believed had killed his girlfriend.

She DEFINITELY needed to have a talk to him... after she remembered to close her mouth and stop shaking.

End part two.

*****

What am I doing here
half asleep
and the rest of me
still in bed
making coffee
with tea bags...?


_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

         .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
           | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
           | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
           |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
           `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'