[Ranma][NGE][HPL][AMG][Fusion][Fanfic] Sic Semper Morituri Chapter 14 -
Unbending Heaven, Movable Hell
Disclaimer:
I do not own any of the characters from Ranma 1/2, Neon Genesis Evangelion,
Ah My Goddess, or the Lovecraft Cycle involved in these stories. And I'll
put them back when I've finished with them.
C&C , MSTs are welcome
E-mail: dan_s.comments@worldnet.att.net
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(these are the revised versions)
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(these are the original versions)
What has gone before:
About Book 11, Akane and Soun Tendo throw Ranma out of the house,
Nabiki, in the guise of a wish, follows him. They meet EVA pilots Shinji
Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Soryu Langley and Jeffery Davis.
SEELE arranged for General Tembris, the Meliorist's nemesis, to arrive
in the waking world. The pilots react to the aftermath of the dreams and
their battle against the Tulzscha.
Ranma get some insights into his troubles, his odd dreams return.
Asuka completes her design for new weapons for the EVAs.
The repercutions for Misato castigating Asuka for her unauthorized and
highly successful batte and rescue are felt. The healthy pilots are
spending time together, Ranma tells off Nabiki for her behavior.
TheScholarly Dragon arrives in the Waking World, by unknown means.
Ritsuko faced an impossible challenge, even Nabiki and Maya can help
her, tutoring Ranma. The Scholarly Dragon meets with Asuka, and gives her
plans for a campaign against Misato.
During a Sunday picnic, the pilots are mortared, Nancy Thompson is
killed, Asuka is slightly injured.
While she is recovering from surgery she urges Rei to kiss Shinji,
after showing her how.
The coastlands have seen and are afraid, the ends of the earth tremble;
they have drawn near and come. Every one helps his neighbor, and says to
his brother, "Take courage!"
Isaiah 41: 5-6
Chapter 14 - Unbending Heaven, Movable Hell
Siren Call
Admiral Simson walked around the damaged hillock, the trees had been
shorn of their leaves, some had splintered, they should have filled the
clearing with whirring fragments that should have killed everyone trapped
within.
Except the first rounds hit far enough downslope, that the fragments
went over the pilots' heads, and the later rounds merely sought to cut off
any thought of escape. The kids did exactly the right thing, they hunkered
down and stayed put. As an assassination attempt on the pilots, it was a
damned strange one.
"What do you think?" Simson asked General Tomlinson and his experts.
"The pattern is a modified box barrage, to isolate an area from
outside support. They were practicing pinning the pilots down, holding
them somewhere. For what purpose, I can only guess."
It jibed well with what Admiral Simson had thought on hearing the
initial reports, he couldn't believe them, so he had to see for himself.
"I can think of a lot of reasons you wouldn't want your targets to
move. Not the least of which is once you get them immobile, then cover
this entire clearing with fire," Simson told the General.
"Professionals would have done that already, it's something else,"
Tomlinson nodded to an approaching British ordinance officer.
"Sirs," the British major handed the General a clipboard, "It was
definitely one of your 107 mm's, what you call a four-deuce mortar. What
concerns us is this one." The Major walked over to the blast that killed
Nancy Thompson and wounded Asuka. "The charge in this one, was perhaps a
third of normal, very strange. Almost as if the attackers wanted to
minimize the risks to Pilot Langley, 'strodninary."
The two American General officers exchanged looks, that confirmed it,
they wanted the pilots alive. Neither wanted to consider the possibilities
that entailed, that the `kids` had a `normal` life was supposed to be an
imperative, keeping them under the necessary security to keep them safe and
alive, seemed to preclude that. They had to _find_ these people, and
punish them, publicly.
----------------------------------------
Misha sat in the captain's cabin of his crystal ship and wearily swept
the last of the powder into the bottle. He set the bottle with its
brothers ,in the chest. Once it was locked, he pulled out another, similar
chest. More old comrades, with a spell they would return from the grave to
serve Rodina motherland and World Socialism again. In a few years, he
could bring the 1st crew back, he lamented that his mistake forced him to
return them to the essential salts they had been resurrected from, but they
were technically, already dead. He wasn't, and he desperately wanted to
stay that way. They would have to report his lapse into religiosity, and
there would be a firing squad that followed. He would find a way to make
it up to them, when it wasn't life and death, his.
He sighed, considered the efforts of training and breaking in a new
crew, after he had calmed them down from their revivification. Explaining,
they had been dead, explaining how much time had passed, explaining their
new mission, and the new realities of the Dreamlands.
Better that Stalin had never been born, but SEELE needed him and that
Austrian painter for their plans, Misha considered the bottle and wondered
if that was why the Germans had gone to such extents to hide his body, as
the Russians had Lenin's. Their reappearance would cause problems to the
great world order SEELE had prepared.
Misha poured the contents of the first bottle on the floor, and began
his spell.
----------------------------------------
Ritsuko looked over the last of her three patients. Rei was almost
ready to be released, amazing considering the injuries she'd suffered.
Jeff was virtually unchanged, fever, coma, medicine seemed able to do
nothing. Asuka was another story.
"No, I don't care if you feel fine, you can't leave. Just rest,
you'll heal quicker."
"It's not right," Asuka pouted as she looked around the hospital room,
"You won't let me work, I'm not an invalid."
"I don't want you pulling your stitches. After last night, I could
hardly expect you to stay quiet."
"Last night?" Asuka seemed puzzled, then covered her face with her
hands, "Gott in Himmel! I can't believe I actually kissed Spineless, in
front of Wondergirl no less. I've gone mad! My life is over!"
"So are you sure you don't want to hide out here?" Ritsuko teased, "I
can keep them out, even Kaji if you like."
Asuka flopped back in the bed, "It wasn't a dream, it was all a
nightmare. Please don't let Kaji know."
"I'm afraid Rei already told him. Walked up to him and Commander
Ikari, and asked about researching a procedure, since Kaji was the
acknowledged expert. 'The Second Children considered important.'"
Asuka squeezed her eyes shut, and covered her fame with the pillow.
"It isn't the end of the world, I think both of them appreciated your
efforts to educate Rei." After the Commander quit being shocked and Kaji
quit laughing himself silly, Ritsuko thought.
The moan from Asuka convinced her to stop, "It's not fatal, and Rei
did tell them you were still under anesthesia. I don't think you've
alienated Kaji forever." Ritsuko smiled, she doubted Asuka would be eager
to leave her bed any time soon.
----------------------------------------
Ritsuko walked the corridors to her office. The Marine guards
challenged her several times. They seemed relieved she cooperated, she'd
heard Misato complaining 'You know who I am!' Ritsuko also knew that there
was something out there that could take on the appearance of two of the
pilots. That didn't bode well, she was worried about the possibility of
infiltration.
She entered her office, and found Nabiki and Ranma waiting for her.
"Have you told him what you saw?" Ritsuko asked.
Nabiki nodded.
"All right, then get suited up, meet me in the gym."
"What for?" Ranma asked.
"Because the fact that one of you, us, might not be one of us in the
future, we should be able to defend ourselves, and each other. Frankly,
I'm not that worried about you two on that score." She had expected that
would brighten Ranma's attitude
It didn't, "I don't hit girls."
It was an indication how depressed Ranma was, that Ritsuko caught him
without him successfully dodging. She tossed the stunned martial artist in
the air, caught him, and tossed him in the air again. "Let's just say I'm
not a girl, or you can help Nabiki teach me." She set the boggled boy
down, then impulsively hugged him, "Agreed."
Ranma nodded, wide-eyed. Nabiki gulped, and stood to follow Ritsuko
and Ranma to the gym.
----------------------------------------
Ritsuko hit the mat again.
As fast and strong as she is, Ranma, actually Ranko, thought, She
might as well be a training dummy for Nabiki. Ranko stood ready to
intervene. Neither Ritsuko nor Nabiki were willing to admit defeat, and
Nabiki seemed to be showing off for him, which irritated Rit-chan. Girls,
Ranko lamented.
Ranko considered that Rit-chan was taller, heavier, stronger and
faster than Nabiki, those characteristics weren't giving her any advantages
over Nab-chan's training.
"Okay!" Ranko separated them before they started to hurt each other,
she glared at both of them, when they seemed unwilling to accept the fight
was over.
"Okay, Nab-chan, she needs to know how to fall, to start with, then
how to throw a punch. I don't think I need to tell you how to _take_ a
punch." Ranko watched the pair warily, she'd never seen either as intense
as they had been, she wondered if she _could_ separate them, without
hurting them. She sighed as they drew apart. She watched Nab-chan go
through the same moves that she'd taught to Shinji and Rei.
----------------------------------------
Asuka looked up on hearing the approaching squeak, as it got closer
and closer to her room, she felt her teeth go on edge as it approached at
its own pace. "Just drag your nails across a chalkboard and be done with
it!" she shouted.
Wondergirl backed into the room, pulling a squeaking cart with her, it
was filled with books.
"I do not have one," Wondergirl said as she began removing the books
from the cart and stacking them on a table within Asuka's reach. "These
may be of more use, many are in English."
"Thank you," Asuka said grudgingly.
"You are welcome," Wondergirl said stopped, stared at her.
"Can I help you, Wondergirl?"
"I can find no research on the subject, the experts are not helpful,"
Wondergirl told her as she continued staring.
"The subject?" Asuka was terrified that she knew exactly what
Wondergirl was asking about, she'd never been so embarrassed in her life.
"'Practice makes perfect'," Wondergirl said.
Asuka sighed, thought of just telling Wondergirl off, but she had
brought her the books, "There's no research, because it's personal, you
can't read about it, you just have to try it," she grinned at Wondergirl,
"That's why practice, practice, practice."
Asuka was shocked that Wondergirl actually blushed, "You're afraid of
kissing him?!" Asuka couldn't believe it.
Wondergirl turned and left. Asuka felt a little bad, laughing at
Wondergirl that way, but it was too ridiculous. Asuka reached out and
picked out one of the books and started reading. She did wonder where
Wondergirl got all these books, and why she didn't want to read them.
----------------------------------------
Shinji watched Nabiki-san, Ritsuko-sensei and a thoroughly angry
Ranko-san going through the same basics Nabiki-san had taught him. He
wondered how Ranma-san in a room deep inside NERV HQ, managed to get
splashed with cold water. Nabiki-san and Doctor Akagi looked almost as
angry.
He wondered if they'd ever get to go back up to the surface, see the
sunlight again. He hated being below ground for what seemed like forever,
he didn't know for certain how long they'd been down here. Maybe just a
day, maybe longer.
He kept walking, wondering where Ayanami-san had gone to.
----------------------------------------
Nabiki heard Ranko rub her hands together, then she touched her back,
the friction-induced heat eased the knotted muscle some, then Ranko really
got to work.
Nabiki was enjoying the easing of the knots her muscles seemed to have
transmuted themselves into. As Ranko worked, Nabiki glared at Ritsuko,
"How is it, you aren't as stiff and sore as I am?"
"I know enough to properly warm up, you expected to just kick the old
lady around."
"I did warm up," Nabiki winced as Ranko found a particularly hard
knot.
"Maybe," Ranko told her, "Maybe it wasn't the exercise."
Nabiki frowned, she understood what Ranko was implying, all the
troops, the wary looks, everyone was on edge. With Nabiki, it manifested
physically, "I'd rather have a few knots, instead of an ulcer."
"You need to let go of it," Ranko counseled.
"Let go of what?" she asked sweetly, Ranko's answering sigh hurt, Give
up my anger, she realized, and that Ranma was tired of dealing with it as
well.
"What do you suggest?" she asked, "If no place is safe, if no _one_ is
safe . . . what am I supposed to do? Shinji isn't back on the combat
roster, Asuka and Raccoon are out of commission."
"So is Rei," Ritsuko added.
"That means it's just you and me," Nabiki said, "How can I relax, not
worry about that?"
"I didn't say 'don't worry', I said, you need to let go of your anger.
If a battle is going to happen, it's going to happen."
"I can't think like that, there's got to be something I can do."
"You can't," Ritsuko sat next to Nabiki and Ranko, "You can be ready,
but not all the time, for everything. Eventually it will happen, but all
our plans and preparations are just that, not guarantees. If you're
looking for certainty, you won't find it."
I can't just let go and drift, Nabiki considered, "Don't you wish you
could _do_ something?"
Nabiki felt Ranko's hands stop, Ritsuko looked embarrassed.
"What, what could we do?" Nabiki sighed, I'm just complaining, I don't
have any more real answers than they do, she realized.
----------------------------------------
A Slender Reed
Rei stood in the Dreamlands again, she watched Alwyk receive the
reports, that the Scholarly Dragon had not been seen anywhere in the
Dreamlands.
"If you do not have the device," Rei patiently told Alwyk and Anna,
the chief of Scouts, "The Scholarly Dragon will not return to the
Dreamlands. He is in the Waking World." She let them react, while she
carefully selected her next words.
"That's impossible! If he used a gate, we'd know!" Anna replied.
Then the Meliorist walked in, and froze at the sight of Rei, "What is
that doing here?"
Even Rei could tell she was angry, and afraid.
"I make it back from Ulthar, and find you consorting with, her?!" the
Meliorist demanded of her allies.
"The Scholarly Dragon is in the Waking World," Rei told her, "He
should not be there, he should be here."
"Okay," the Meliorist's knuckles whitened, as she clutched the long
polearm, that was her symbol as much as her long, red hair, "What's that to
us?"
"She wants the urn," Alwyk told her, "She seems to believe it can open
a gate."
"No, without it, he cannot return here."
"Are you holding us to ransom?" the Meliorist marched over, she
stopped short of the edge of the rug that held Rei within it, "Are you?!"
she demanded, then laughed, "You don't even know what it does."
"I have some idea," Rei admitted.
Rei watched the other woman pace the room, Rei wanted to ask why she
was disturbed by her presence, what she was afraid of, why she was. She
suspected that there would only be violence as an answer, unfortunately.
"Give it to her," the Meliorist ordered, "Then get her out of here."
"That's an order," she added coldly to prevent comments, then she
turned to Rei, "If this is a trick. I'll gut you, and leave you for the
buzzards and the worms."
"I cannot promise - "
"Then be ready to die," Meliorist marched out, away from her
bewildered allies.
----------------------------------------
A few hours later, Rei had the urn in hand, and a cavalry `escort`,
including Anna, "What does it do?" Anna asked as she kept her horse
cantering alongside Rei.
"I do not know yet," Rei admitted, she had a theory, one she would
need privacy to use properly. Now she had to discover how to evade these
pursuers. She did not want to reveal what she could do, to anyone. It
would be more than unwise, it was forbidden.
----------------------------------------
Maya felt afraid, for two days, the pilots and senior staff lived
completely underground, in an endless cycle of eating, sleeping and tests.
Nabiki was finally catching up with the others in terms of testing time.
Maya knew part of it was just busy work, to keep everyone's mind off the
events of Sunday. While Nabiki was verbally glad of getting the simulator
time, she was showing the strain, as all of them were.
Maya had volunteered to go out and get some food, she had volunteers
to go help, but turned them all down. She wanted, needed, some time alone.
Capt. Everett and Lt. Thompson had been with her since the day the
Americans captured the base. She'd stood there blocking the corridor until
she had verification that the NERV staff weren't to be summarily executed.
Their governmetn `masters` had assured them the Occupation would do just
that. The two American officers, and the company of Marine Raiders backing
them, had been extremely patient, and kind. Now both were gone. Lt. Baker
and Lt. Aoba were competent officers, but neither was a substitute for her
two friends. First one, then the other, as she walked outside, she
wondered if she was next. The guards maintained a discreet distance, but
she also knew they were hoping to draw out whoever was doing this. She
didn't like being bait, even for sempai and the pilots.
She glanced up at the mast, a tripod mast scavenged from a wrecked
cruiser, it was a marker, for a number of restaurants clustered together.
That was her destination, she smiled at that. None of the pilots had
agreed what they wanted, but fortunately all the 'best place to get' what
they wanted, were in this cluster. So she'd give the orders, and come back
to pick up the finished food. She wanted to turn around and run back to
base, to sempai.
But I can't, she thought to herself, If I don't do this, I'll never be
able to go out again.
She was aware of a tall man, who had been following her, she didn't
recognize him as part of security, his Army uniform didn't necessarily mean
anything.
He never got any closer, and stayed at just the same distance. Maya
wanted to break into a run, but she wanted to master her fear. She wanted
to stop, but if she stopped, she worried she might never start moving
again.
Then she started getting angry, None of the pilots would be acting
like this, she thought, We send them out, if necessary to die, and I'm
worrying about going out to buy some food!
She turned to confront the man, he stopped.
"Excuse me ma'am," he stepped past her and continued on his way.
Maya sighed, hid her face in her hands, I'm going insane. He was just
heading to the same restaurants I am. She shook her self and started
walking again.
----------------------------------------
Ranma was enjoying sparring with Nabiki, he appreciated all the effort
she'd gone to, to make it interesting. She'd advanced, attacking with
fists, open-hand strikes, kicks and sweeps, left-right, high-low. None of
it really took much effort to dodge, but she was sneaky enough, that she
kept trying something a little different, an insult, a distraction, a
thrown marble, all of it gave him the first decent workout he'd had in
weeks. He thought Shinji and Rei throwing stuff at both of them, was going
a little far, especially if they hit Nabiki, _he_ lost. So he had to
protect someone he was fighting. That made him really push himself, since
he couldn't attack the other two. What surprised him, was that she never
acted like she got hit, then attacked. It might have worked, but she never
tried it. Of course that didn't stop her from 'bowing to the Emperor', and
yelling about monsters, or worst, saying Maya had our lunch.
That was dirty, he smiled as he thought of it, And it almost worked.
In a way, it felt like what was going on in the `real` world. Someone
randomly throwing things at them, people he couldn't touch or counter. He
remembered asking Asuka about the AT-field, and her laughter at the thought
of anyone generating one without an EVA, 'They'd be some kind of monster'
she'd assured him. That worried him, when he'd explained why he was
asking, she'd laughed at him again, 'Another of Raccoon's tricks.'
He'd play that kind of trick on Ranma, Ranma thought, But he wouldn't
do that to Ranko. But he had no way of convincing Asuka of that.
He didn't want to talk to Rei, he still hadn't figured out what he'd
done, to make her so mad. He'd even accused her of holding a grudge, and
she didn't do anything, except stare at him some more.
"Mreewr."
Ranma found himself hanging from the ceiling, shivering with
cat-fear,looking down at Rei, who was catching the marble she'd just
bounced off him. Ranma let go of the ceiling and dropped next to her,
"That's not fair."
"Maya has the food," she walked out of the room. Shinji shrugged, and
walked after her.
"Why didn't you notice she was sneaking up on you?" Nabiki was
mystified.
Ranma was embarrassed, "I didn't know she was there. That trick with
the . . . that sound, it was so realistic. I never knew she could be so
sneaky."
"You're just lucky all she had was a marble, if she'd had a knife,"
Nabiki suggested, "She could have slit you open."
That's a distinct possibility, Ranma thought. "Maybe I should
apologize."
"Why?" Nabiki asked, smiling, "What did you do wrong now?"
Ranma frowned, which made her smile more. "Whatever made her so mad,"
Ranma explained.
"I think if she was really mad, she would have hit you. I think she's
just protecting Shinji," Nabiki suggested, "Leave him alone, and you'll
find your problems go away."
Makes sense, Ranma thought, She got mad when I fought Shinji, and
again when I looked in on them. Ranma considered avoiding Shinji
altogether for a few days, what really worried him, was that Rei, and not
Nabiki, had come up with that tactic, and she _could_ have easily killed
him, and from her expression, she knew it too. More cat practice, he
thought, setting out his lessons for tonight's dreams, while he followed
Nabiki to get showered and eat.
----------------------------------------
Admiral Simson examined the new equipment: acoustic detectors, and
mortars. The plan was simple, when they heard the popping of mortar fire,
their mortars would return fire, unless their enemy was ready to fire one
volley and abandon their mortars, they'd catch a return round.
"No chance of that mortar-plotting radar I've heard the Army bragging
about?" Simson asked Colonel Stedman, who was also inspecting the
positions, most of the mortar crews were Marines.
"It isn't reliable yet, 'Give us a few months', and if it's
unreliable, well, nobody's that happy with the idea of us tossing a few
mortar rounds into their neighborhood. But nobody's willing to complain to
our faces, considering what happened to the pilots," Stedman replied.
"Is there anything we haven't done?" Simson asked.
"Yeah, send the kids to tank school, I think that's the only way we're
going to be able to transport them for a while," Stedman suggested, "Make
sure they know how to drive them, so if the driver gets hit, they can get
out."
"Pershings or Chaffees?" Simson asked.
"Chaffees, fast, light, more maneuverable. Plus, I think having them
load the 75 mm, is easier than trying to load the 90 mm main gun the
Pershing uses."
"Let them tear up the landscape a little, shoot at a few things,"
Simson considered, "I may take the Coral Sea out to a gunnery range, and
run through a few hundred 5 inch shells, get the gunners trained up."
"It couldn't hurt, with the Honolulu arriving next week, we could
probably survive with less coverage." Stedman considered the positioning
of the detectors, and the counter-battery mortars, "I saw a lot of stuff as
a mud Marine in China, and in Burma. We didn't just fight the Japanese.
Whoever did this, was a real pro, he's got us showing exactly how we'll
react. Whatever he does next, will be a complete surprise."
"Assuming it isn't a she," Simson paused, "Why do I have to think of
these things? At least the pilots only seem interested in each other. A
bunch of active teenagers putting their lives on the line, can you imagine
a simpler target?"
"As you said, fortunately, they only have eyes for the other pilots,
or Kaji. As if we can trust the head of NERV Security," Stedman laughed.
"The grand high FUBEN himself," Simson growled, "I wouldn't trust that
smarmy bastard, as far as I could throw an EVA."
----------------------------------------
"They're bait?!" Misato angrily demanded, she glared at Commanders
Fuyutsuki and Ikari, Ritsuko had the air of someone who'd argued this over
and over, and lost each time.
Misato noticed _none_ of the American Military, were at this little
staff meeting.
"We'll spread them out in different parts of the building," Gendo
assured her, "The building itself can survive several hits. And it will
provide them good protection. Besides, they'd have to launch their attack
from inside NERV property, and we have Security patrols covering anywhere
such a strike team could possibly set up. We need to draw them out."
"I doubt this has full approval," Misato argued.
"I think, Captain, you'll find it has," Gendo steepled his fingers and
stared at her.
"It does," Ritsuko admitted, "I checked when I first heard about it.
Direct from Washington, went over the Admiral's head."
"Somebody should tell them that," Misato countered.
"The orders state that it will be handled through their channels,"
Fuyutsuki seemed confident as well. This entire situation sat wrong in
Misato's mind, one more question would make it complete, "I suppose we
aren't supposed to tell the pilots either."
"That is correct. We must do nothing to alarm our quarry," Gendo told
her firmly. "And you must do nothing to interfere or alarm the pilots.
Our quarry is delicate and easily frightened."
"Yes, sir," Misato growled. She knew the meeting was over, she knew
she wouldn't be allowed to see the Children until they were in danger
again. Would throwing empty beer cans at the Admiral from the top of the
medcenter be considered 'interfering?'. She walked out to find out.
----------------------------------------
Gendo noted the glare from Dr. Akagi as she left, it didn't matter.
SEELE only wanted one of the pilots. They would return that pilot
unharmed, in a month. If Ikari agreed, the harassment would stop. He and
Fuyutsuki had decided the risk, while high, was acceptable. The risk of
losing one pilot, versus all of them, was too great.
"Do you believe them?" Fuyutsuki asked the question he hadn't brought
up in their earlier argument, and the screaming match with Dr. Akagi.
"Of course not, but we can at least discover what they desperately
want Saotome for," Gendo told his colleague, "And who the traitor is."
Fuyutsuki nodded, and left his friend alone. Both prayed this would
work.
----------------------------------------
Capitulation to the Inevitable
Rei stood atop the medical building, she had wanted to be alone. The
visitors had become wearying and wearing. She enjoyed Shinji-kun, but the
others and their false mannerisms, she could do without. Breathing was
still difficult, but she would heal soon. Now the time would come that a
solution would present itself. She couldn't resolve the hurricane of
emotions and distracting thoughts that warred within her mind.
Sometimes she longed for what she had known before the others had
arrived, other times longed for their companionship. It was something she
was having great difficulty dealing with.
She looked over the edge of the medical center, a dozen stories down
to the half-filled concrete parking lot below. As she looked down, she
came to a conclusion, that actions often solved the problems of thoughts.
She stepped off the edge of the building, enjoying the feeling of air
rushing past her, marveling that the ease with which she directed her fall.
----------------------------------------
"So Asuka," Shinji recited the lines and tone he'd practiced, "How are
you feeling?"
Probably doesn't want to get yelled at for 'Being a wimp,' Ranma
mused, Like the last time we visited Asuka. And what's up with Rei, she
actually _told_ us to leave?
"I like being above ground," Asuka admitted. Shinji mentally sighed,
it had worked.
"Can someone open the curtains? I'm sick of not being able to look
outside."
"You just want to look down on the little people," Nab-chan entered
Asuka's hospital room.
"At least I'll admit it," Asuka tossed back.
Ranma skirted the impending fight, and pulled the curtain aside. He
froze at the sight of the creature hovering outside the window. It raised
the staff it was carrying.
"Down!" Ranma yelled, he braced himself to take the blast, there was
no time to get the others under cover.
A blue streak landed on the creature from above. The bolt it fired,
burned through the window and set the ceiling on fire. Ranma ran from the
room, shouted "Fire!" at some of the guards.
He needed something, if his idea was going to work, "I'm really
guessing," he admitted, but he didn't see he had much of a choice.
----------------------------------------
Rei's kicks smashed the organ that allowed the byakhee to travel
through interstellar space, but the effort had exhausted her. She knew the
creature was climbing into thinner and thinner upper airs. Soon, she would
lose consciousness, her only solutions were to kill the creature, or allow
it to discover it couldn't get off the planet. Both were likely to end her
life. She didn't want to die, she had taken a reasonable chance, to
protect all the pilots. She'd saved them, her only regret, was there was
no one to save her.
----------------------------------------
Ranko ran up the stairs to the roof. The cold water was probably
unnecessary, but he wasn't taking any chances.
"Look," she said to Jeff's walking stick, "Rei's important to him, he
won't be happy if we let her die, right?" she smiled, I'm trying to be
charming to a stick, this is ridiculous. "I'm not asking for me. I think
he'd do it if he could."
She reached the roof, held the stick and carefully sat down on it, "I
don't know what you can do, but you dooooOOOOOOO . . . " Ranko's scream
Doppler-shifted on the flight away from the roof of the medcenter.
Ranko found that the handgrip was large enough for her to brace her
feet against, she'd wrapped herself around the rest of the dark wood and
brass missile.
"I hope you know where you're going!" she shouted at her steed, she
didn't get an answer, and she hardly expected one. She looked forward, the
wind making her eyes tear. What she could make out, was that there wasn't
just one of the things, there were dozens. Ranko smiled, byakhee were
armored, lacked any specific weak point, but they could be affected
normally, and they were in the air, her specialty. One hand held the
handgrip, the other farther down the stick to give her leverage, as she
hung beneath it, "Let's get 'em!"
----------------------------------------
The Dragon saw the veritable cloud of byakhee, and silently thanked
the Universe for providing such a tasty supper, then he saw the Iron Horse
attacking, aboard the Staff of Kavon. He decided to ignore the seeming
impossibility, and do what he could to assist. Only the Iron Horse's
unbelievable speed let her kicks land as they streaked past. Kicking a
byakhee a dozen times as she passed, reduced the creature to a morsel for
the Dragon to snap up. The target was the Little One, the Iron Horse was
on her way to rescue her.
Well?! the Dragon could be patient, he was not maneuverable enough to
rescue the girl himself. But he'd played Catch often enough.
----------------------------------------
Ranko was within a few dozen feet of Rei, and still closing. Dozens
of the creatures had fallen, she had smashed through them. The lightning
bolt then caught her unawares.
She tried to hang on, the pain wouldn't make her let go, but they
designed the bolt to make human muscles spasm. She watched the walking
stick climb away, she knew it was really her. She was falling, and the
thinness of the air told her she was extremely high. Thin enough to have
rendered Rei unconscious.
All that meant, was she had a long time to consider what she'd done
wrong. Maybe the stick would realize she was gone, and come for her, but
would she, and it, be able to get back up and save Rei? She also wondered
if her/his ability to survive falls, would include one from thousands of
meters up.
He landed on something _way_ too early, then something blacked out the
sky.
"Feather Merchant! Get back in th'game!" something rasped loudly,
from very close.
Ranko found she was now going _up_, very much faster than she had been
going down. She risked a glance over her shoulder, and saw only a dark
hole in the sky. A hole that moved on dark wings. She waited until she
was above the first byakhee, and struck _down_, with full force, smashing
across the groups of flying creatures, closing in on Rei and the one
holding her, he caught the walking stick as it went by. "Where'd you go?"
she asked angrily.
She closed in, spotted the creature with the staff who had zapped her,
"Shoot him, or something!" she ordered. A blast from the tip of the stick
blew the byakhee to fragments. Ranko decided, in the future, to be a lot
more careful about what she asked it to do
The one holding Rei, took one look, and dropped Rei to evade Ranko.
Suddenly the stick dragged her down after the plummeting girl. Ranko
pulled herself back onto the stick, gripping the handgrip between her feet,
and the cane between her knees, to leave her hands free to grab the
plunging form.
"Little closer, little closer," she urged. The closure rate slowed as
they got close. Ranko wanted to urge greater speed, then realized Rei
could be seriously hurt, the earlier drop had already hurt her. Great, I'm
trusting a stick. Why not? It's probably done this before, went through
her mind, as her hand closed on Rei's and she pulled her against her. I
hate magic, it gives me the creeps! She got a more solid grip on Rei and
the stick.
Ranko realized that as fast as they were slowing down, probably as
fast as they could without hurting Rei further, they'd be underground
before they stopped. All her work, a last minute save, and all for
nothing. Ranko knew she might survive, but Rei's injuries would kill her
before Ranko could get her fellow pilot to medical attention.
Again something blotted out the sky. Ranko's ears popped as if she'd
suddenly climbed a great distance, Rei moaned from the strain, then they
were dropped. Above the two girls, was a pebbly darkness, that smelled of
death, reptile and lightning. Below was the roof of the medcenter, and
they were gently descending towards it.
"If you aren't here when I get back, I was never here, agreed?" the
huge Dragon told Ranko, as she landed with Rei, a moment later it was gone.
Ranko found she was shivering, that creature was more frightening than
any number of cats, and she realized it had been in Raccoon's room that
night. Ranko looked at Rei cradled in her arms, and the walking stick she
was still sitting on.
"Sorry," she pulled it free, "Thanks." She considered the insanity of
talking to a piece of wood and metal, and that she'd never felt that she'd
been abandoned by it. If Raccoon doesn't pull through, I can put it to
use, she thought. She carefully picked up Rei to return her to her room,
she was still unconscious, but her breathing wasn't as labored as when he'd
first gotten to her.
----------------------------------------
Ranko kept glancing at the stick as she returned it to Raccoon's room.
When she first saw it in there, she thought it was odd that the walking
stick had been there, when Raccoon hadn't had it with him in the plug.
Ranko remembered the black and silver walking stick in the dream, it's
affect on demons.
"Idiot!" she told herself after she'd located some hot water, pouring
it over her head.
"It was only staring you in the face," he said. Weapons weren't of
use to the Marital Artist, someone could take it away. Ranma could just
imagine the carnage that would result in taking that stick away from
Raccoon. Heck, Raccoon would probably _let_ someone steal it, then sit
back and watch the mayhem, Ranma thought, then stopped, why did getting
pounded into tofu by a heavy wooden object seem so odious? "Probably
that's how I got the head injuries," he answered, "I could have . . . Ranko
could have just asked him to make one. Everett taught me enough Savate, I
could use a cane like that." But you never asked, he chided himself. He
didn't want to be dependent on weapons, but there was a _big_ difference
between using something temporarily, and becoming dependent on it. "No
wonder they think I'm dumb," he admitted as he headed to where Asuka had
been, he'd find out where they'd gone there.
Ranma wandered the medcenter, heading generally towards Asuka's room.
He heard both Admiral Simson and Misato yelling, the Admiral in English,
Misa-chan in Japanese.
Well, at least they aren't yelling at each other, he thought as he
approached, "Rei's back her room," he announced, when nether seemed to
notice him.
The Admiral yelled something at a sergeant, and pointed at Ranma.
"Come on, son," the sergeant began in halting Japanese, then said
something Ranma didn't understand at all.
Ranma didn't argue, from the looks on Simson's and Misa's faces,
_nobody_ wanted to be around them right now.
"Pilot Ayanami is this way," Ranma told the man, from his bewildered
look, Ranma realized he had no idea what Ranma was saying, And my English
is worse than that guy's Japanese, Ranma thought, "Ayanami," Ranma
insisted, and pointed.
The man nodded, and jogged after Ranma, pausing only to get a gurney
to carry the girl on.
Once they reached the elevator with Rei, the man told him 'NERV HQ'
and something about moles. Ranma figured he could wait, they loaded him
and Ayanami into a weird looking army tank, and set off cross-country for
the headquarters.
Ranma sighed, Underground, again. For how long? he wondered. He
didn't really care. Anywhere he could practice was good enough, except the
phrase 'Practice Martial Arts in a cave' kept coming back, and the
disappointment it implied.
Ranma closed his eyes, then remembered, he'd forgotten Raccoon in all
the excitement. He told the sergeant, who pointed to him and Rei, and said
something unintelligible.
Ranma decided to wait, after all, with his faithful stick, Raccoon was
better protected than the rest of them, It was so obvious, now, Ranma
considered. He'd heard Raccoon's snide comments about someone teaching him
not to think, he was wondering if he was right, In every case, the answer's
been right in front of me. Raccoon's not afraid of those things, because
he's got weapons. He took a year to make those claymores, he probably got
them chocked full of magic, 'But Martial Artists don't use weapons,' he
thought sardonically, Well this one's going to start! Until I can do it
without.
Then he considered, If I want to pay the price of learning how to do
it without, he shook his head, his, Ranko's, `contract` with Raccoon
required he get his grades up, but even with Nab-chan, Rit-chan and
Maya-chan breaking their backs, he just didn't get it. They could explain
it five different ways, and he still couldn't understand it. I'll never be
able to keep up my end of the deal, and I'll lose the dream training too,
he thought bitterly. He wondered how he managed to get himself into these
messes, as soon as he beat down one problem, a worse one sprang up.
"Can't I ever get a break?" he asked an uncaring Universe.
----------------------------------------
Salutations from the Gloom
Even the greeting he got in the `underworld` was a mixed one.
Nab-chan practically tackled him, burying her face in his chest and making
his ribs creak with the hug.
"I was so worried," then she turned, "What did you do? What did you
think you were doing?"
Great, Nab-chan, make up your mind, do you want to kiss me or kill me?
he thought, "I saw Rei hit that thing, I had to go help her."
"With the place crawling with soldiers? Why couldn't it be them? Why
do you boys have to put yourselves at risk all the time?"
Ranma wanted to tell her it was who he was, but she'd already said
that herself. "What? Next time I should take you with? I had to do
something. I can't just stand around and - "
"And let other people do their jobs?" Nab-chan shot back.
Ranma debated telling her that unless they could fly, nobody could
have done what he'd done, he decided against it, When she's like this, I
just can't talk to her. With that, he turned around and walked away, he
just didn't want to fight with her.
As he walked down the corridor, he got both sadder and madder. He'd
been uselessly lamenting that there was no technique only to 'trip over
it,' the truth, "That's what the dream meant," he realized, Even my
subconscious knew the answer, he thought. If there wasn't a technique,
there was a tool. The EVAs were proof of that. Rit-chan could do math in
her head, if there was a Martial Arts math contest, she'd be the champ, but
she still kept a slide rule. He'd wanted to share his discovery with
someone, he'd most wanted to share it with Nab-ch . . . Nabiki. But
instead, she acted like this.
In a way, he felt sorry for her. He could understand how she felt,
even if it didn't explain why she felt it. They'd had so much fun the last
couple of days. He didn't like why the change had happened, but he could
appreciate that they could be together, practicing martial arts, even
teaching Rit-chan a little.
Nabiki was finally getting the simulator time she wanted, they'd even
managed to spar a little in the EVAs.
But that wasn't good enough for her, he thought sadly, It's never
enough for any of the girls around here. Never enough to simply be. Rei
wanted to be with Shinji, he could accept that, even if he never understood
why. Rit-chan and Maya-chan always squirreled themselves away studying
something `fascinating`, even if it was just something boring.
Misa-chan and Nab . . . iki had to control _everything_, if it didn't
run on rails they set down, they got mad, he thought as he remembered
hearing about Misa blowing up at Asuka, it was just dumb. Asuka did what
she was supposed to, you might as well punish a reflex, she'd also done her
duty, fought the enemy and protected people. How she did it, shouldn't
matter, Ranma thought as he walked through the empty corridors, walking
without any real destination or goal. The same with Nabiki. I fought, I
won, why couldn't she be happy about that? he wondered.
He walked by the room they'd put Rei in, Shinji had found it before he
had. He was sitting in a chair, holding her hand, his head was lying on
the bed next to her, because he'd fallen asleep. Maybe that's why Rei
spent time with him, girls liked that sissy, romantic stuff, he thought as
he watched Rei staring at Shinji, tracing the whorls of his hair with her
fingertip.
Weird, was Ranma's opinion, as he walked on, quietly though, so not to
disturb them. Rei was another one with a mean temper. He wondered where
he was supposed to sleep tonight, wondered if he could relax enough to get
to sleep. Nabiki really had him wound up now, worse than the fall, worse
than that dragon.
----------------------------------------
Nabiki watched Ranma walk out, not storm out in a fury, not with a
look of pity, but with a resigned sigh. She felt her world crumbling
further around her. She needed security, everyone around her moving in
predictable paths. But what had been in Nerima bonds of fear and steel,
were just gossamer here, mere shadows that anything could break, and _real_
powers crashed through her life, her plans and schemes, as if they were
nothing. Irrelevance was something she'd never had to deal with.
Moments after he was gone, she found the words, the pleas: 'I'm
frightened and lonely,' 'You are all I have left and you impulsively risk
yourself,' 'I love you, please don't leave me.'
But when she rushed out, he was gone, and she didn't know to where.
So she returned to her room, more alone now. She could have kept him with
her, if she'd held her tongue, or fallen on her knees and cried as she said
what she had said, or anything that even hinted at her true feelings, her
true fear. She knew fear, she used it, mastered it, so she thought. But
she was always the fear-maker, never the one who feared. Not in this place.
When it was ancient monsters, she could rationalize that away. When it was
other kids, she could call up superior forces.
But this latest attack, she wondered if anyone else realized the
barrage was just playing with them. All of them so terrified, but aside
from Asuka and Nancy Thompson, not a scratch, it was a game: someone wanted
the pilots, their `guardians` and their protectors to know they could reach
out and strike them, whenever, wherever they wished. There was no defense,
no counter. There was no one who could protect them, no power to shield
them. Her one attempt to get, what she'd hoped was that kind of power, had
failed miserably, and the wielder of that power, was now more helpless than
she was.
"A no-win situation," she admitted, looked around the room, a bed,
bare concrete walls, Even Rei's apartment had more personality, spoke more
of 'home' than this place. But you don't get a choice when you get thrown
in a cell, she sighed, she was trapped here, trapped in this place and
time, and she was going to have to get used to it.
Belldandy had promised, _promised_ her, that the means to protect the
pilots, Ranma especially, would be available. She hadn't seen any, not any
that would guarantee their survival.
She stood up and walked out. She needed to talk to someone about
this, someone who'd actually listen, and not laugh at her. There were only
two people in the whole place that fit that description. She'd start with
the one who might actually be able to answer back.
----------------------------------------
Rei was sleeping, her head next to Shinji's, his hand held in both of
hers, as he slept in the chair next to her bed.
Again the Universe conspires against me, she felt some jealousy at Rei
and Shinji's easy familiarity, Ranma and Akane had been together for
months, and could still misinterpret a two-word sentence. Her other
alternative wouldn't answer her, but maybe talking about it would help.
She hated the gray pallor, it seemed like he was mocking her, he
hovered near death, showcasing her helplessness for all to see. She hated
the bottles, needles and tubes, the oxygen tent, and . . . "Ranma?" she
watched him stand embarrassedly, then put Raccoon's walking stick back in
the bed where the other boy lay.
"Did you - ?" Ranma said, "I'll be going I -"
"Stay . . . please." Swallow some of your infernal pride, she told
herself, "You don't know much about my history, do you?"
Ranma shook his head.
"I want to apologize, for the way I acted, for what I said," she
stared at the floor. She'd never considered how much a sincere apology
hurt, made her so vulnerable, and she was already so impotent.
"My sister was engaged to a boy. You are a lot like him, martial
artists, all wrapped up in honor, no matter how much it hurt him. I was so
jealous of her, it hurt," she swallowed, wondered how much she should
reveal. "He was so beautiful, handsome and kind, wild and untamed. A lot
like you. For reasons too stupid to go into, my sister broke off the
engagement, she, my oldest sister, and my father, threw him out of the
house, and made sure there was nowhere else in our whole town he could go."
"That's their right Nabiki. You may not accept that, but this boy was
honor-bound to accept that."
"He was honor-bound, to commit suicide," Nabiki replied coldly, "Of my
whole family, I was the only one who bothered to go look for him. I guess,
no, I know, I was the only one who actually cared for him."
She paused, Ranma was silent, vaguely embarrassed by her words.
She collected her thoughts, trying to sift through what she needed to
say, and what she desperately had to keep from him, "Eventually I wound up
here. And you are so much like him, and then you are so careless of your
health and safety, it's as if I'm just waiting for him to die, all over
again."
"I won't die," he told her.
"You don't know that!" she shouted at his typical arrogance, as the
barriers broke, "He died because of someone's thoughtless cruelty, and his
sense of honor. Our enemies are cruelty personified, and you've got the
same futile sense of honor!" She cut off his protest, "They'll kill you,
and as long as you're facing the enemy, honorably, you won't care. If
Everett walked through that door, could you just dispassionately watch him
go to his death again?"
"I don't know," Ranma admitted, "What does 'dispassionately' mean?"
Nabiki couldn't help herself, it was so typically Ranma, she started
laughing, she laughed so hard she had to kneel down or fall over, she
laughed until tears ran down her cheeks.
Ranma was, again typically, mystified by her actions. Somewhere along
the line, he came over and just held her, murmuring inanities to get her to
stop crying.
"You stupid idiot," she said softly, "I'd lose you all over again, I
just couldn't stand it."
Ranma didn't react to her revelation as she cried and laughed.
----------------------------------------
Admiral Simson was not laughing, "Lieutenant Commander, I don't care
if he's asleep, I don't care if he's with his wife. I need him on the line
_NOW_!_ If you don't get him, I'll see to it your permanent posting will
be doing polar research, on arctic survival, are you hearing me, Mister?"
The admiral turned his attention away from the long-distance argument over
the phone, to his aide, Captain Ramsey bustling up.
"They're all fine. We got lucky, again. What kind of stupidity - ?"
"They had signed orders this time, from Washington, with specific
instructions that we would be informed 'Through our own channels'," Admiral
Simson told him, waiting for someone to pick up the other phone, "What do
you want to bet, we'll never see those orders?"
Ramsey nodded.
"Go check on the defenses yourself," Simson ordered, "If they don't
get your personal approval, get them aboard the Coral Sea, and head out to
sea. She and the South Dakota are already under orders to be ready to
steam immediately. If our enemies try again, they'll be facing a lot more
than a few kids." His attention returned to the phone, "I am Vice Admiral
Simson. Now get him on the phone, Captain!"
Ramsey realized he was dismissed, he headed out.
----------------------------------------
Ramsey walked through the corridors of NERV HQ, the Marine and Army
troops challenged him more often, as he approached where the Children were.
He didn't want to think about what kind of disaster they had avoided. What
he did want to know, is how. From what he'd gathered, something tried to
attack the pilots, Ayanami attacked it, then Saotome had disappeared,
presumably to add his weight to the battle. They must have won, because
both were accounted for and uninjured.
Ramsey was angry, he was a professional, if someone was messing with
the chain of command, that professionalism could be used against him. If
what the Admiral had told him about the orders was true, then Gendo was an
idiot, blindly following orders.
Ramsey would have accepted court-martial before he followed those
orders, Hell, I would have mutinied, before I followed those orders, he
thought.
The protection around the pilots was what he hoped it would be, he
added that none of the guards was relieved until he, General Tomlinson,
Admiral Simson or Colonel Stedman relieved them, _personally_, no written
orders, no phone calls, no NERV orders. It was ridiculous to assume that
having been fooled once, they wouldn't be fooled again. He was still
tempted to load the kids and their `guardians` aboard some tanks, drive
straight to the Coral Sea, and put a 10 mile exclusion zone around them.
Anything that didn't belong, would be fired upon, no questions, no
apologies. But the defenses were adequate, and he wasn't eager to add to
the stress the kids were under.
He was aware they needed some normalcy. To that end, he considered
`drafting` a few of their friends and their families, to form a stable
group down here, and to diffuse the pilots. If Katsuragi's earlier actions
were any indication, dividing them up might be a good idea, or giving them
the opportunity to be with others.
He didn't like the idea that there wasn't an assigned Mother/Confessor
and Father/Disciplinarian figure to each Children, it would make a whole
lot more sense than two women, who'd apparently never had a long-term
relationship, suddenly getting saddled with a flock of fractious
teen-agers. That would strain anyone, but it would be better with someone
who had experience with the problems of raising a teen-ager, the
psychology, the mood swings, etc.
----------------------------------------
Kickbacks
Gendo was _not_ looking forward to this meeting, the monoliths this
time, The actual committee members, Gendo thought.
"What did you think you were doing?" Kehl quietly demanded.
"I followed your instructions. I didn't expect Rei would intervene,"
Gendo said, "I would not have expected her to move to defend Saotome."
"That explains half of it," Kehl admitted, "The other girl, who
spearheaded the attack, how do you explain her intervention? She was
reportedly, as formidable a combatant as Saotome."
What are they talking about? Gendo wondered, he'd already gathered
that Saotome had gone after Rei, for which he was grateful. He hadn't the
faintest idea who this `other` girl was they were referring to.
Gendo started to explain, "You have the data on Tendo and Langley, and
- "
"It was not either of them!" SEELE Russia angrily told him, "You are
holding information from us."
They couldn't possibly . . . ? Gendo thought desperately, "And what
did this mystery girl look like? She could have been one of their
classmates."
"The Japanese rarely have red hair and blue eyes," newly promoted
SEELE Japan commented.
They couldn't _not_ know about Saotome's curse!? Gendo was aghast,
There's only one person at NERV with the clearance to know about it, who
doesn't know. Gendo forced himself to calm down. He let the meeting
continue, he was able to divert them with promises to investigate. He was
also aware of the message that they never mentioned, the agreement that he
would surrender one pilot, for the safety of the others, and incidentally,
his project.
----------------------------------------
Commander Fuyutsuki was awaiting the outcome of the meeting. Gendo
practically ran out of the meeting room.
"Where's Simson?" Gendo demanded.
"High level discussions with his superiors," Fuyutsuki said,
remembering the shouting he'd over heard. High volume in any case.
"Where?" Gendo insisted.
He'd never seen Gendo this rattled, not since . . . "The medcenter,"
he suddenly realized who Gendo thought SEELE's next `harassment` was aimed
at.
"Come on!" Gendo broke into a jog.
"Ikari!" Captain Ramsey hailed them.
Fuyutsuki expected Gendo to evade their master's lap dog, instead, he
headed directly towards him.
"Contact the Admiral. Get the Children out of here! Get them to the
South Dakota, the Coral Sea can follow once we've embarked the EVAs.
Surround that ship with every gun, plane and ship you need."
Ramsey looked like he was going to ask a question, then changed his
mind, "Get them ready to move, we will arrange transport. Why the change?"
"I have reason to believe the traitor is within this complex, within
NERV or your guard force."
Ramsey paled, nodded, and headed off.
"Traitor?" Fuyutsuki was on the verge of panicking himself, "How?"
"The committee didn't know who Ranko was," Gendo told him.
Fuyutsuki came to the same conclusion Gendo had.
----------------------------------------
Admiral Simson walked around Ayanami's apartment, making a mental note
to get the girl better quarters, somehow. One of the 'specials' awaited
him. The `man` wore the uniform of a Chief Petty Officer, and drew Navy
pay as one.
Simson wouldn't have bet a plug nickel it was male, he wouldn't have
taken odds it was even human, despite its appearance. Simson wondered if
the idea of the 'Great American Melting Pot', extended that far.
The `man` removed a dirty metal panel from the wall, "The workmanship
is incredible. Far better than the crude runes on the walls. The
geospacing alone - "
"Please," Simson interrupted, "I can see you're impresses, so I should
be. What does it do, and how well?"
"An easier question is what doesn't it do," he indicated the hundreds
of tiny runes scratched in the concrete under the metal walls, they were
filled with a silvery metal.
"That doesn't mean anything to me."
"Sorry, Admiral, this is such an elegant solution. If a South
Dakota-type spell - well you'd need five of them to guarantee one of the
main turrets could even _find_ the target, and if they fired, there's no
guarantee the target would even be there when the shells arrived."
"It's that powerful?" Simson was impressed.
"No, that's the beauty of it. Say a cubic foot of the best armor
plate weighs a ton," the 'special' waited for the Admiral to nod, "That's
too heavy for a man to carry. However, a chunk with a cross-sectional area
of 1 square inch, a person could carry say 20 feet of it. A contact atomic
bomb might get through twenty feet of armor, but nothing less. The trick
is, making sure that 1 inch square was always in the way of an incoming
attack. That's how this works."
"So you could overcome this?"
"A dozen mages, working three hours, could eventually get a spell or
two through. A hundred mages, working half-a-day, could eventually tear
this apart. Yet, I think about the second hour, a mob of Corsairs would
drop enough napalm on them, they'd still be on fire when they arrived in
Hell."
The Admiral found something to smile about, for the first time in a
few days, "Can you duplicate this? In the other apartments?"
"Of course, once you see how it's done, it's easy. I think the
creator intended it to be. Duplicating it will be difficult, but more
painstaking than impossible. Like duplicating a fine watch, after someone
builds the first one, it's a lot easier to build the second."
"Good," the Admiral told him, "I want the other pilots' apartments
covered. This works against more mundane threats?"
"Like mortars?" the 'special' asked, "They'd miss, but by how far?"
"Admiral," the radio man entered, wearing his big backpack radio, he
shivered visibly at being in the apartment, "Captain Ramsey is sending the
Children to South Dakota. He'll discuss it with you aboard Coral Sea, as
they're embarking the EVAs. They're sending them by helicopter, with a
ground convoy as a decoy."
Simson nodded, he'd hoped NERV would be able to provide adequate
security, evidently, even with heavy reinforcements, they couldn't manage
it. And here, someone snuck in, and provided better protection then he
would have believed possible.
----------------------------------------
Nabiki lay down in the stretcher pod, they put the clear shield over
her head. The helicopters of 1947 looked like oversized dragonflies,
without space even to seat two children in the cockpit, and all the
machinery and framework hanging out in the open. They strapped her in
carefully, Asuka went in the other pod, because they had to balance the
weight carefully. Shinji and Ranma had already taken off, in another such
dragonfly. Looking up through the blades, there was veritable cloud of
fixed-wing aircraft covering the operation. Rei and Raccoon were going in
the last one. She wondered what had caused the sudden frantic activity.
Another example of panic not actually _doing_ anything, Nabiki thought.
She felt the copter lift off. She wondered how reliable it was, how safe?
Then she laughed at that, considering how `safe` a picnic was, she was
worrying about a rattletrap like this. If they blew her out of the sky, it
would be over in an instant, And Ranma would probably survive the fall.
----------------------------------------
Admiral Simson sat with Gendo. He could hardly believe that Gendo of
all people, had pulled the plug on NERV protecting the pilots. Neither was
happy about the idea there was a traitor, and Gendo was hemming and hawing
about _how_ he knew.
"Once they're aboard the South Dakota, we'll all feel better," Simson
said, Nothing short of an Angel could get at them, and they would delay an
Angel long enough to put the choppers down safely.
"Did the convoy come under attack?" Gendo asked.
He sounds worried, Simson thought, "No. We either have the enemy with
their heads down, or they didn't even try."
Ramsey suddenly ran in, "Admiral, Commander - they bailed out."
"_WHAT_!_!_!_?_" Simson and Gendo demanded.
"They jumped out of the helicopters, all of them!"
"Can you locate the bodies?" Simson asked, he'd failed, done his
absolute best, and still he'd failed.
"The chase planes scoured the area, one actually set down the last
place they were seen, the crew found nothing."
"That's impossible," Gendo said.
"The elements of the convoy's security force, are combing the area, so
are the police, civilian volunteers, nobody has found anything."
----------------------------------------
The Variform Pack
Shinji looked around the clearing, at the trees surrounding them, and
the darkness beyond. They had taken off in daylight, now, not even the
stars were visible above them. He had never been so frightened in his
life. Ayanami was padding across the clearing towards him on all fours, as
she approached she let out a high-pitched yowl, it wasn't the roar of a
tiger, but wasn't a friendly sound.
Raccoon and Nabiki-san were there, as was Ranma. None of them seemed
better able to deal with Ayanami than he was, Ranma looked absolutely
petrified. Ayanami yowled at them all, looking from one to the other, as
if picking a target.
"Ayanami-san," Shinji said. He hoped it was a soothing tone, "It's
all right, it's just us."
She sprang in answer to his words, toppling him instantly. He rolled
into a ball trying to protect his face and vitals from an attack. The
attack didn't happen. She merely stood on all fours over him, pushing him
around with her head, yowling at Nabiki-san and Raccoon.
"Don't move," Nabiki-san urged, "I don't think she's trying to hurt
you."
"She's playing with you," she added quietly.
Shinji watched the pair circling, giving Ayanami two targets. Ranma
still hadn't moved.
"Saotome, get in the - " Raccoon was interrupted by Ayanami hurling
herself at him. She bowled him over and hit him head first in the solar
plexus, stunning him.
Nabiki-san charged, and Ayanami leapt. Ayanami caught Nabiki-san's
hand, and bit down. Nabiki-san shouted in anger and pain, chopping down on
Ayanami's neck. She held on for a few seconds, then released the other
girl. Nabiki-san staggered back a few steps, then fell. Ayanami sauntered
back to Shinji, she playfully knocked him over again. Shinji froze as she
ran her face over his neck, making a rattling sound in her throat. She
only stopped when Nabiki-san regained her feet. Ayanami yowled at her,
Nabiki-san's answering roar was deeper, and full-throated. Nabiki-san
walked toward Ayanami and Shinji, she took up a defensive crouch over him,
yowling at Nabiki-san, who roared back.
When Raccoon started sitting up, that broke the deadlock. Both
charged him, a moment later he flopped down next to Shinji. When Raccoon
tried to sit up, Ayanami planted her hand in the middle of his chest and
yowled right in his face.
"Nice puma," he said soothingly. Ayanami seemed to relax slightly,
she still yowled again, but nowhere near as loud, or as angrily.
Shinji was still confused, more so when Nabiki-san clumsily shoved
Ranma on top of the other two. Ayanami yowled angrily at Ranma, who froze,
and Nabiki, who roared back. The two exchanged yowls and roars for a
little while.
Shinji looked around in fear. He didn't understand any of this.
"Where's Asuka?" he asked. Silence followed the question. As Ayanami and
Nabiki-san looked around. Shinji mentally kicked himself, if she were
free, she could do something.
"Ranma?" Shinji asked, "Saotome-san? Can't you do something?"
"I don't think he's still with us." Raccoon looked around, tried
raising his head and was yowled and roared back into a supine position.
"I'm not moving either."
"Ayanami-san, what happened to her?" Shinji asked desperately,
"Where's Security, the helicopters? Maybe if we could get her to
Akagi-sensei - " The name earned him another yowl, right in his face.
"Shinji-san," Raccoon said, "Don't aggravate Rei-puma. I like my face
the way it is, and my internal organs on the inside."
"What are you idiots doing?" Asuka's voice came out of the darkness,
beyond the trees, "Get up like men, and do something!"
"Uh, Nabiki-bear and Rei-puma can wipe the floor with either of us,"
Raccoon called back, "I'd run back to headquarters, if I were you."
"Run Asuka!" Shinji shouted.
"Baka! There's nothing else out there!" she shouted back. Ayanami
began circling around her from one direction, Nabiki-san from the other.
"Stay away from me!" Asuka made shooing motions at Ayanami, then
balled her fist getting ready to hit either of the girls, who were growling
as they approached.
"If you like your hand, don't hit either of them." Raccoon watched the
tableau.
Shinji tried to rouse Ranma, with Ayanami a dozen feet away, he had
some success. "We have to save Asuka!"
Ranma tried to stand, but froze halfway up, as Ayanami yowled at him,
from 10 meters away. "I, I can't . . .."
"Asuka, don't fight them!" Shinji shouted, "I don't think they're
trying to hurt you!"
"I can't do nothing!" Asuka was fending off both of the other girls
now, who were growling and yowling, as if arguing, "I'm not you!"
"What can we do?" Shinji looked around desperately.
"What do you know about big cats and bears?" Raccoon asked, sitting up
slowly.
"Uh, they're mammals, the parents hunt alone, the - " Shinji recalled.
"That's it, solitary hunters, humans are pack hunters." He got to his
knees, both girls growled at him, "Come on Shinji-san, they can't kill both
of us."
"But they can kill one of us?!" Shinji said, then stood and followed,
"What do we do?"
"Primate grooming rituals," Raccoon suggested, as the pair approached
the pair of feral girls.
"What are they?" Shinji asked.
"I'll show him," Asuka volunteered as she sidled around Ayanami, who
couldn't decide to track Asuka or Shinji.
Nabiki-san roared at Raccoon, who still approached.
"Like this, baka." Asuka carefully picked through Ayanami's hair,
"Look for burrs, bracken, parasites, anything that doesn't belong there."
Shinji started duplicating Asuka's careful movements. Jeff was doing
the same to Nabiki-san. Both of the feral girls seemed confused by the
change in behavior. Ayanami whirled to face the pair, yowled at them.
"Keep going," Asuka urged.
Probably to keep her own nerve from failing, Shinji thought.
----------------------------------------
The tiger looked down, it should have been the leader, except the two
females fought over the wolf. He was disgusted. The bear and the coyote
had left to act as a diversion. Neither understood the clarity of a
head-on attack, strength against strength. Maybe if they were stronger.
----------------------------------------
The High Priest watched his senior acolytes. The spell had gone
horribly wrong, now they were trying to discover exactly what had happened,
at least they weren't getting swamped with Army soliders and Marines, like
the last time they'd tried the ritual.
"We should get away from here. Analyze our . . . miscalculation at
another location," the most senior whined.
"This location is secure," the priest said angrily, he suspected the
acolyte merely wanted to feed his belly.
"What is that racket?" the priest demanded.
"The neighborhood dogs," a lower level acolyte replied, too junior to
be anything other than cannon fodder, if they were raided. He was
delighting in the confusion among his seniors.
The sound was getting louder, that meant closer, or more dogs. The
priest was getting worried, enough troops or vehicles would agitate the
local animals, so would a number of other things. Some of _them_ could
have been attracted by the failed spell.
----------------------------------------
General Tembris handed the binoculars to his chief wizard, as the pair
sat in a tree near the cultists `invincible` hideout. "The wards are
down?" Tembris asked. The wizard nodded, smirking at the ease with which
they had located and disrupted the plans of this pack of morons. Both
disliked having to save them this way, but the last thing either needed was
for all the pilots to go 'splat' because a pack of stupid fools couldn't
control a simple spell. "I appreciate your sense of humor."
"Thank you, sir. If you're going to do something, a little artistry
eases the disappointment of not letting them go their way."
Tembris nodded his agreement.
"There, sir," the wizard pointed, and handed the binoculars back to
the General, who focused them on the veritable cloud of canines advancing.
Then turned, and saw groups of feral cats following the lion. "They're
quite predictable, sir, aren't they."
Tembris nodded and settled in to watch the show, he needed to know
more about the others, before he took on his real enemies here.
----------------------------------------
The dogs ran on ahead. Coyote could smell the unnaturalness here.
The dogs had better noses, it hadn't taken much promoting, Coyote was
actually disappointed how easy it was, no real hurdle for his talents. The
bear was out there, she was staying downwind, no need to distract his
`army`, she'd make herself known. All he had to do, was stampede them to
the others, it would be a great game.
----------------------------------------
"They are getting closer," the priest concluded, "Prepare to leave!"
he commanded. Then the doors burst open and dogs poured in like a barking
wave.
Cultists scattered in all directions, they sought the power of the
infinite, and feared simple animals.
Many fled the small collection of shacks, to the nearby woods, there
they heard the howls of something far larger than dogs.
----------------------------------------
The tiger watched the two legs running up the slope towards them. The
two females and the wolf were back from the ridgeline, with the small army
of cats. Let those barking fools drive the quarry straight to the waiting
line. They would have their pick of targets, and he and the barking dogs,
would close the trap behind the two legs. He was disgusted at the
maneuverings, but he waited as the first of the enemy came close.
The tiger couldn't wait any longer, he roared and sprang.
----------------------------------------
Tembris packed away the binoculars. "We have what we wanted."
Several of the dogs were sniffing their way towards him. The idiots hadn't
feared the dog pack, he knew better. A mind was controlling them,
directing them, one nearly as good as he was. It wouldn't do to get caught
before he was ready. He watched the mage banish their scent from the tree
and from their trail. The dogs would never track them now.
----------------------------------------
Dragon in Antarctica
The Dragon landed, shook the ice and snow from its wings and body. In
Japan it was near summer, here it was entering the depths of winter. An
unprotected human wouldn't last more than a minute in that cold and wind,
even he was uncomfortable.
Then go inside, you fool, he told himself. But there was something
intimidating about the place, ancient as he was, in human terms, he had
been birthed long after the last real work had been done on this city. His
memories could be measured in millennia, but this place was easily 10,000
times older.
I hope they built to last, the creature folded his wings against his
body, and proceeded through the corridors. That too was intimidating, even
in the modern cities of the United States, there were thoroughfares and
main streets his massive form wouldn't fit into. Here, in a relatively
minor walkway, he could have walked with wings extended, and touched
neither of the opposite walls. If I wanted the heat loss, the Dragon
reminded himself.
'There's always something bigger and better than you are,' This place
is proof of that, boy, the Dragon remembered the long arguments about
discretion, there was also something else that repelled him, something
inherently unclean about this place.
The Elder Things had been a great power once, this massive city, and
dozens of others dotting the globe, were all part of a minor colony. Even
the Cthulhi were forced to come to terms with them here. Then 800 million
years ago, wars annihilated half their race, wars among themselves, and
between them, the Elder Gods and the Outer Gods/Great Old Ones.
The humans could have taught them that lesson. Strength is no defense
against complacency. The Russians, British and Americans had, by any
rational measure, an insuperable advantage over Germany, Italy and Japan.
Yet the Axis had stood a hair's breadth away from taking the world to a
very dark place, because of the timidity and stupidity of prewar
`leadership`. The Elder Things had learned that their power didn't let
them stand by neutrally. While the end of their galaxies spanning nation,
had taken longer than all of recorded human history, to those ancient and
long-lived beings, it must have seemed like the blink of an eye.
A shoggoth sensed his distraction, and challenged him.
Fool, the stomach churned and he blasted forth the unearthly darkness
that was his breath weapon. Not fire, lightning or cold, to which
shoggoths were almost immune, but something out of the deepest human
nightmares, And some such things would char all but a Great Old One, the
dragon thought as he examined the dead shoggoth, that had learned that in
the last second of its existence. The Library, the Dragon read the runes
that adorned nearly every wall. Odd pentagonal patterns of holes, This
place has the most philosophical graffiti I've ever read, the Dragon turned
away from what he could feel was this abandoned city's dark heart, to learn
if anyone had bothered to record what that dark heart was. Or had it taken
even these ancient and wise beings before they could defend themselves, And
when I _do_ figure it out? the Dragon wished the boy, or better yet, the
entire Council was here, he was a warrior, a killing machine, not a
scientist or researcher, Well, you are today.
He considered the others, the Little One, did even she realize the web
of desperate expectation and once-forlorn hope she was enmeshed in?
Probably why she's so depressed.
And poor Langley, the very pinnacle of what the human race could
aspire to, he wished he could help her more, but he suspected her
tribulations would be necessary. He snickered at the thought of the boy,
"Drop him in Hell, and he'd be running the place, from the shadows, in a
month.
The thought of the Little One's paramour brought a laugh of booming
mirth, "They have no idea." He smothered the thoughts of amusement, with
thoughts of the Iron Horse. Pity rarely touched his frigid heart, but even
the boy hadn't been twisted like the Iron Horse, those who'd tried to
destroy the boy made no pretense to cover their destructive impulses. Not
so the Iron Horse, the signs were all there, if you cared to look. Maybe
saving him and Tendo would finally save the boy.
The Dragon shook his head, "Another enemy time and need deny me," he
rasped angrily.
----------------------------------------
Ritsuko Akagi walked through the cultists' little meeting place, she
entered the one little shack where Gendo and Fuyutsuki were pouring over
the notes and manuscripts that the cultists had left behind. The cultists
had been no help. Even under truth serum, they kept assuring the U.S. and
NERV troops, they didn't know how their spell had gone awry.
"Anything?" she asked, as that crazy coyote tore through the shack,
separating itself from its pursuers.
"None, so far," Gendo looked after the animal, and frowned.
Ritsuko stepped outside, and wondered if they were going to need a
menagerie, or if anyone could housebreak bears and tigers. As a platoon of
Marines and Army took after the yipping coyote, they drove it straight into
the arms of another platoon. There were crashes and thuds, and the coyote
came streaking out.
There's a cartoon in there somewhere, Ritsuko thought. She glanced
through the vehicle park of truck and jeeps, at the radio truck, the
tallest structure around, and Captain Ramsey, sitting atop it, carefully
petting the red and black tiger. Nobody had been eager to tangle with an
800 lb. Tiger. Especially after what the bear had done, a brave, clever
soldier had shot the bear with a tranquilizer gun. They'd had to sedate
the soldier to get the rifle out of his throat, where the bear had shoved
it, sword swallower-style.
Maya had easily solved what Ritsuko would have thought would be one of
their most difficult captures. Her assistant lay on the back seat of a
command car, wearing a still-breathing puma-skin rug. I'll have to
remember to let Maya handle Rei's medical testing from now on, Ritsuko
remembered that the big cat has struck at her, barely missing, On purpose,
she knew now, at the time it had been quite a shock that her antipathy for
Rei was reciprocated.
The lion stalked around the camp, examining everything, with an air of
disgust. The wolf had crawled under the command car Maya was in, and went
to sleep, or so it seemed. Except the ears and nose twitched when anyone
got close.
Colonel Stedman approached her, pulling bracken from his hair, and
brushing the dust off his uniform, "I didn't think coyotes could climb
trees."
She smirked at that, then ducked as the bear roared in anger, and
turned over a truck. "Leave her alone!" Ritsuko shouted, "Just keep an eye
on her!" Ritsuko shook her head. She'd often wondered how people would
act, with all their masks removed.
The coyote ran between her legs, she turned just in time to see a few
of the less maneuverable soldiers, coming straight at her. Their
expressions would have been comical, except . . .
"Davis! I am going to skin you alive!" she shouted from under the
pile. As she climbed free, she saw that the tiger had jumped down from the
radio truck to assist.
Oh no! she finished disentangling herself, with no concern where she
shoved with her hands or feet, as the tiger loped over. She noted that
Admiral Simson arrived with Misato and Kaji, the two looked three sheets to
the wind, with clothing disheveled. She wondered if she wanted to know
where the angry Admiral found the pair. The coyote danced just outside the
tiger's range, then he charged the tiger's hindquarters. The tiger had
lost none of Saotome's incredible speed and maneuverability, but it was a
400 kilogram, 2.5 meter long creature, against a 2.5 foot long, 40 pound
creature. In terms of close-in maneuvering, physics barely won out over
Saotome's vastly superior skill. Most importantly, the tiger misjudged his
opponent's target, as he got his tail and legs' hamstrings out the coyote's
reach. So the coyote darted underneath, and got the tiger's . . .
undivided attention.
Ritsuko nearly laughed at the look of bugeyed surprise on the face of
the tiger. Only the coyote's lashing tail could be seen from under the
huge cat. You also forgot what a dirty fighter you were facing, didn't
you, Saotome? Ritsuko wondered what they were going to do now.
"Davis!" Admiral Simson ordered, "Let him go! Now!"
Tail down, ears flattened back, the coyote pulled back, the tiger spun
on his small tormentor.
"Saotome!" the tiger froze at the Admiral's voice, "Go back to the
truck!"
After failing to stare down the Admiral, the tiger turned with the air
of one reminded of what he had in mind the entire time. He ambled back to
the radio truck and leapt atop it, landing without a sound, except the
protest of the truck's springs.
"Where do you think you're going?" the Admiral asked.
The coyote had been trying to sneak away, now it turned to face them
with an expression of aggrieved innocence.
"Get over there and apologize for all the trouble you've been
causing." The Admiral pointed at Ritsuko and the four platoons of infantry
he'd been running ragged for half an hour.
The coyote was a picture of abject misery, tail between his legs, head
down, ears flat. The lion roared, she shook herself and sat down, watching
expectantly.
'Anybody cuffs that coyote, is dealing with me,' interesting, Ritsuko
glanced at the others, for signs of interest in their colleague's downfall.
The tiger watched from above, lashing his tail. For the others, it was of
momentary interest.
The coyote sat in front of her, tail wagging, looking hopeful.
"Teenagers occasionally need to have their chain yanked, or they think
you don't care." Admiral Simson glanced with distaste at Misato and Kaji.
Ritsuko nodded, she patted the coyote's head, "Go wait with Shinji,"
she said sternly. The coyote slunk over to the command car, and climbed
under. Peeking around the rear tire at her. Ritsuko understood that
despite that the body and mind were different, the personalities remained
the same. She considered the relationships and insights.
Gendo approached from the shack, "I think that at sunrise, the spell
will be broken."
Ritsuko looked at the starlit sky, then to the pilots, I hope so.
----------------------------------------
Body Bag
Ranma pulled the blanket tighter around his restored human form, and
watched the battle. It was a purely physical contest, he would have been
excellent at it, except he didn't understand the nuances of the moves, and
an ignorant battler would . . . be unwelcome to say the least. But the
fight was life and death, so he couldn't walk away.
Head tipped back, Asuka's lips met Raccoon's, and she exhaled,
"Breathe! Dammit!"
Nab-chan had both hands on his breastbone, shoving down with rhythmic
thrusts, "One, two, three, four, five."
On 'Five' Asuka would repeat the odd kiss, then check Raccoon's pulse.
Nab-chan would never pause her strange action, even when it dislodged the
blanket she'd been covered with, when she'd regained her human form.
Ranma thought she'd been attacking Raccoon, after he collapsed.
Especially after he heard her popping his ribs with this, but Asuka had
rushed over to help.
"Clear," Rit-chan ordered, waited until Nab-chan pulled her hands
away, then shoved a needle in Raccoon's chest, pumping all the contents of
a _big_ syringe into him.
Asuka and Nab-chan switched places, and began the ritual again, Asuka
crushing his chest to a rhythm, and Nab-chan breathing for him.
Shinji and Rei also stood and stared from the sidelines, both wearing
U.S. Army coats, they held hands, glanced at each other, then returned
their attention to the battle. Ranma could see Asuka and Nab-chan were
losing, whatever they, and Rit-chan were trying, it wasn't working. All
three were nearly exhausted, and he didn't know enough to take over and let
them rest, and this wasn't magic or Mythos monsters, it was as physical and
precise as a kata, and evidently required even less skill, but it was a
skill he didn't have.
----------------------------------------
Another needle, I hate needles, he thought, he wanted to tell them to
go away, another breath, equally useless. In another context this might
have been laughable, Nabiki's unashamed nakedness, Asuka wearing only a
jacket that she hadn't bothered to button, both sweat-soaked, flushed and
panting. Except all he really wanted was to tell them to go away, he'd be
fine. Arrogant stupidity, he thought, listening to his friends and people
he cared about fighting a battle he knew they'd lose. Then he'd be back,
hale and hearty, making a mockery of their pain and efforts. That was the
real nature of the curse, yes it gave him effective immortality, but it
also exposed people to this. At least when he'd been shot, they left the
body there, he'd had time to recover, and walk out without having to
explain how.
"That's it," he heard Doctor Akagi lament, "Mark the time. I don't
know what we're going to tell his family."
Don't tell them anything just yet, he implored as they moved his body
from the ground to a stretcher. A maudlin thought occurred to him, What
would happen if I were cremated? Would the little pieces of dust all crawl
back together at the end? As the skin and muscle and ribs were doing now,
he hoped it didn't show outside, or attract attention. The nature of his
curse was not one he wanted to share with others, `immortality` was not all
it was cracked up to be, lying on a cloth stretcher watching the lightening
sky pass over head, passing through the ambulance doors, and the ITCH, as
the tissues healed.
The worst was the sounds. Some of his more deluded classmates
lamented that it would take death for anyone to pay attention to them, that
if they just died, _then_ people would feel sorry. Sorry, been there, done
that, you did everything you could to avoid hurting people you really cared
about this way. Listening to people you worked with, and cared about
reacting to the news, Well it is a curse after all. If it was a gift you'd
go to sleep and wake up without all the memories of coming back together
and people reacting to it. And his `friends` wondered why he was odd,
Maybe I should just tell them. Yes, an ancient god cursed me to 'Live
until the Last Days, but not to see the end of them.' Oh, I already did,
and they didn't believe me. Doing it again would go over like a bag of wet
cement, if he didn't spend the rest of his existence in a lab somewhere,
probably in pieces, then he'd never have people treat him, except as a
monster.
The ride to the medcenter was a quiet one. Getting loaded into a sack
was an ignominy he could have done without, he wanted to be able to see
where he was going. The cold metal and the sensation of rolling told him
part of it. Lifting the sack up, nobody wanted to touch him, another cold
metal surface and a different sensation of rolling. A metallic clang, then
silence, and cold. The distant, faint hum of machinery as his senses
adapted to give him something else to focus on, something other than what
his body was doing to itself.
El Nureenen, you were one sadistic piece of work, he cursed the dead
demigod, and waited for the process to complete itself. He had a decent
idea of the hurt he was inflicting on the others, and he could only lie
here and imagine it. You want to stack your `curse` up to a real one,
Saotome? he asked silently.
----------------------------------------
Ranma glanced down at her, Nab-chan had her head in his lap as they
drove home. Her tears had already soaked through his borrowed NERV SAR
coveralls, and she still sniffled occasionally, pulled the blanket tighter
over her coveralls. Asuka sat in the corner of the troop-carrying tank, in
the same coveralls as the rest of the pilots, she glared at anyone who said
a word to her.
Ranma remembered the earful asuka had given Misa-chan when she'd come
over to the girls, after they hauled the - corpse, away. Asuka had told
her clearly, to shut up and quit talking about it. If he, Shinji and Rei
hadn't led the pair away, Asuka and Nab-chan would have torn Misa-chan
apart, when she didn't take the hint.
Somewhere else, that fight may have been funny, not here, not now.
Ranma had gotten the message strong and clear, he wasn't about to say
_anything_, as they drove back to NERV. He doubted he was feeling as
defeated as Nab-chan and Asuka, but he still took the loss personally. He
also hoped the cultists had been behind the mortar attack, if they were,
things could return to . . . Well, what passes for normal around here, he
admitted. He stroked Nab-chan's hair, he didn't know what else to do, and
she didn't react or complain.
----------------------------------------
The drawer's release catch was hard to open, with light and his hands,
it would have been easy. In total darkness, using his toes, it proved
impossible.
You're as stubborn as Saotome, he cursed himself, as he used more of
what he'd learned and absorbed to reverse himself in the morgue `drawer`,
no contortionist could have duplicated the feat. He wasn't sure if he
should be pleased with this skill.
Without refrigeration, he thought, These might be useful for all my
books and papers. A tiny witchlight, and he saw the catch.
Opening the drawer, he poked his head up, looked left and right,
Nobody here. He glanced along his naked length, Clothes first, or
something.
He headed for a supply cabinet, and selected a long lab coat and scrub
pants. That taken care of, he thought about what to do next.
This isn't going to be easy, he sighed, stumbled as a wave of weakness
passed through him. "Terrific, just back from the dead, and all you want
is a nap."
"Is anyone there?" someone called.
Well, might as well get the ball rolling, he walked towards the voice.
He looked at the Navy corpsman in a matching lab coat, "Somebody's idea of
a joke, real funny."
The corpsman dropped his coffee cup, and ran off screaming.
"Okay, let's find a mirror and see what I look like, I didn't expect
that." He snagged the rest of a box of donuts as he walked out of the
morgue.
----------------------------------------
Admiral Simson sat with the pilots outside Asuka's hospital room, in
the medcenter. The sun was shining, the birds were singing to welcome what
promised to be a glorious new day.
Ranma thought you could cut the gloom with an axe, a knife wouldn't be
enough.
"Well, we've determined you can return to your apartments, that at
least is over." If he was expecting some reaction, he didn't show it.
He stopped, Ranma wondered if the American Admiral wanted to say some
of the stupid things Rei and Asuka had warned Ranma _not_ to say.
What _do_ you say? Ranma wondered, wondered if there were some special
words at a time like this, when all he really wanted was to get a cup of
water, then let Ranko cry her eyes out. Instead, he sat here, seemingly
calm, but inside he was still all tightened up, like the last punch in the
fight hadn't been thrown. Maybe Asuka's part of that, he reasoned.
Raccoon and Asuka hadn't been close, Hell, `Sour Kraut` isn't close to
anybody. But she and Raccoon could be found with their heads together,
discussing/dissecting things, at the strangest times, usually in a language
Ranma didn't even recognize. When 'Tiger-Ranma' had charged
'Coyote-Raccoon', 'Asuka-Lion' had charged over. The tiger had been
_certain_ he was going to have to take on both of them, simultaneously, Is
that why he was able to . . . , Ranma still shuddered at the memory, But
she isn't reacting to this, it's almost as if she's waiting for something.
Holding despair off by force of will, or won't.
"Admiral," an officer rushed up to the man, told him something. The
Admiral went white, then blood-red.
"If this is a joke," the Admiral growled, "He'll find out how funny 20
years at hard labor in Leavenworth is," he stormed off.
Nab-chan stirred in his lap, staring at Rei and Shinji, she'd
obviously understood what the officer had told the Admiral. Ranma didn't,
his English wasn't good enough.
Asuka walked out of her hospital room, "Wondergirl, you're with me.
Spineless, go find Captain Katsuragi and Ritsuko, tell them he's wandering
around. Tendo, you and Saotome."
Shinji nodded and headed off.
"What's going on?" Ranma asked. Nab-chan was sitting up, wiping her
eyes.
"Didn't you hear?" Asuka rolled her eyes, "In Japanese: Somebody stole
Raccoon's body, from the inside." When she saw he still didn't understand,
"It's walking around."
----------------------------------------
Ranma was in the lead, as he and Nab-chan closed in on their wanderer.
The lab coat Raccoon wore, seemed oddly appropriate. He stared at them
owlishly, as they closed in.
"Good afternoon," Raccoon said in English.
"Good afternoon!?" Ranma said, "You scared the crap out of us, you
know that? And all you can say is 'Good Afternoon'?"
"You have me at a disadvantage, sir," Raccoon matched Ranma's
Japanese.
"Only you could be that loony," Ranma said, while Raccoon seemed to be
examining the fronts and backs of his hands. Ranma glanced to Nab-chan,
who seemed less perplexed, and a lot more worried. Rei and Asuka had
arrived by this time, with Maya in tow, but no others yet.
"What's the idea of biting me?! Especially there!" Ranma demanded, he
couldn't imagine a guy doing that, especially to another guy.
"You are all human, aren't you?" Raccoon acted as if he hadn't heard
Ranma's question.
Ranma was getting a bad feeling about this. He wished he had
Raccoon's stick, if this thing changed into something . . .
"I think I am also human," Raccoon said softly, "Fascinating."
Ranma looked at the shocked expressions on Nab-chan and Asuka, and the
terror on Rei and Maya's faces. Shinji and Rit-chan were just arriving, so
were a dozen security men, that worried Ranma.
Maybe Raccoon _had_ died, what did they have here?
"I am Doctor Akagi," Rit-chan announced in her most official sounding
voice, "Do you know where you are?"
Raccoon looked at the emblem on his lab coat and on the Security
troops' uniforms, "NERV headquarters, in Tokyo, guessing from the default
language used," he said, "I believe I have discovered something else."
Ranma watched the others exchange looks, he'd caught a slight change
in the other boy's posture. If he's going to attack, Ranma realized, It'll
be now. Ranma wasn't sure how to react to an attack: Get the others to
safety, help Security subdue this thing, kill it?
"You're all as gullible as I remember," Raccoon smirked.
Nab-chan and Asuka advanced with a shout, playfully punching him and
tousling his hair.
"I got you all!"
Ranma sighed, he wasn't sure it was good or bad news that Raccoon was
back to normal.
----------------------------------------
Confidences
Ritsuko noticed Jeff was fidgeting as she and Maya performed their
tests. She knew the other pilots, and the Commanding officers, were
waiting for her results. She was extremely worried about them herself.
"You normally aren't this skittish," Ritsuko asked, "Is there anything
wrong?"
"Well, the fact you're using warm instruments arouses my concerns.
No, not wrong," Jeff sighed, "The night after the concert, I had some, well
strange would be putting it mildly, but strange dreams. I dreamt I was
Ranko, and Ranma. Well Nabiki Tendo was there, except she was a little
older, and looked like you, as a teenager; Maya was there, Nabiki's younger
sister Akane," he looked at Maya, "And she acted like Captain Katsuragi
with a permanent toothache."
Maya giggled at that.
"And Captain Katsuragi was there, as a teenager, and she acted about
as opposite from our dear Captain as you can imagine, a pleasant nonviolent
person, good cook, good housekeeper, in the years I saw her, I think she
drank only wedding toasts."
"How does that have any effect on anything?"
"Well, Nabiki, that is you, we courted and got married."
Maya switched from giggling to laughing.
Ritsuko was having a hard time keeping her composure, keeping the
detached air she thought the subject required, "All right."
"You don't understand, Doc. We had kids, a bunch of kids."
Maya shifted to raucous laughter, as Ritsuko blushed.
Ritsuko grimaced, put on her most austere Doctor Akagi face, "I
understand as you said, it was a dream. Young men often," she swallowed,
"Have fantasies. I am rather flattered you chose me as yours, but -"
"No, Doctor Akagi, you really _don't_ understand what I'm saying."
----------------------------------------
Nabiki hadn't expected Maya's clamorous laughter as she ran from the
examination room. Doctor Akagi looked like she'd swallowed something, and
was now discovering it was still alive and moving. Raccoon knotting his
tie and looking terribly embarrassed completed the picture.
What worried Nabiki was that Maya kept looking at her, and Misato, and
laughing even harder.
"So what do you remember?" Nabiki asked.
"Not much."
"When we were in the spell, you said you were 'Walking the dark
places, in and out, to and fro,'" Ranma said, "What did you mean?"
"I meant what I said, and vice versa. Without a common reference, I
can't really explain it."
"You mean we have to die to understand?" Ranma asked.
"No, you need a scientific understanding, with some psychological
training."
Ranma frowned at that, "You still didn't answer my question!"
"You think I'd enjoy that?" Raccoon replied, "You trying to spoil my
fun, cooped up for days and days, and just as I'm starting to get a decent
workout, you had to interfere. I don't interfere with your workouts.
Besides, you should talk to Akagi-sensei about washing yourself. Yuck,
nasty flavor."
Nabiki hid her smile, clearly, Ranma hadn't meant _that_ question, he
would probably preferred if nobody ever raised the subject again. He
couldn't decide if he should press the issue of his actual question, or
not. The laughter from the others told him he shouldn't have brought any
of it up in the first place.
"What are we going to do to keep this from happening any more?" Asuka
asked.
"Well, this last on was a spell," Raccoon said, took a step, nearly
stumbled. He managed to catch himself with his walking stick, "I don't
quite know what to do. I do have a few ideas."
And how did that thing get past us? Ranma stared at it. He was going
to get some answers.
"From walking the dark places?" Rei asked. Something in the way she
said it, gave everyone shivers.
"Maybe, so what's been going on?" Raccoon asked. For nearly an hour
they discussed the events of the past weeks, including Asuka's battle, and
the death of Nancy Thompson. The last brought the discussion to a halt.
Sensing the grim mood, "We need to have a party," Misato announced,
and was greeted with stony silence and a volley of icy stares.
"I'm afraid both our hospital cases need rest, after last night, and I
want to keep them under observation," Ritsuko said, ushering Raccoon and
Asuka away.
The others took the opportunity to disperse, before Misato could urge
another party. Nabiki found Ranma following her.
"Do you want to collect the other two, and do our usual Sunday thing?"
he obviously didn't understand her quickly hidden smirk.
"Yes, I'll head back home, you hunt down Shinji and Rei. Or you want
to trade?" Nabiki asked.
Ranma shook his head, he wasn't eager to cook and clean. He headed
out, to locate the other two.
----------------------------------------
Ritsuko and Maya had dropped off Asuka in her room, the girl was
tired, exhausted really, but wouldn't admit it, even under torture. There
were some things you couldn't hide from a doctor. Maya stayed behind for a
moment to get Asuka settled.
As she walked along the corridor, she thought Jeff was a better actor,
but she could tell he was acting, he'd stumbled a few times during the
walk, caught himself with his cane. Both had been adamant about not using
wheelchairs.
All pilots are stubborn, Ritsuko thought, as she followed closely.
She was tempted to let the two of them run around, just to see how far
their pride really would take them, when their bodies and minds desperately
needed rest. That was the real reason she wanted those two to stay at the
medcenter, their egos would force them to keep up with the other pilots,
and that would be harmful to their recovery.
"I don't think I need a chaperone, I know how to sleep," Jeff told
her, his usual politeness was strained through.
"Really? Did you study it at college?" she knew she was needling him.
She was also curious about his seemingly impenetrable reserve, almost
nothing could put him off-center, for more than a few moments, "Or is it a
natural talent." She caught herself when he stumbled against the doorjamb
to the hospital room.
"Very expensive tutors," he sighed, "Please close the door behind
you."
"The others are going to find out eventually," she told him as she
helped him off with his jacket. The weight of the thing still amazed her.
He was unknotting his tie, "Not if I can help it. They have plenty of
other things to worry about."
That, coincidentally, was the other reason she wanted to talk to him.
"What you said, why me, why Nabiki?" She looked at him, he stopped.
"Are you amazed I'd be lonely? Or are you wondering why I'd to turn
to someone like you and Nabiki?" he set his walking stick aside stepped
closer, lowered his voice, "My other choices: Maya with all her gentleness
and love of life shorn away, or Misato? With either, I'd spend the rest of
my life wondering when I'd married an axe murderer. No, I didn't settle.
You and Miss Tendo have convinced yourselves nobody could ever love you.
You're both wrong. Maya would agree, so would both Ranma and Ranko." He
frowned, rubbed his leg.
"Thank you for that." She looked at Maya, entering and closing the
door behind her. "I, don't necessarily agree with your assertions, but I
think we disagree on the degree, not the underlying premise." She was
embarrassed about talking in front of Maya, and that all three of her
charges had been pointing out Maya's attraction. As a hypothesis, it fit
the data a little too well.
"Let's just say my training for military intelligence gives me some
insights. I've also seen the real thing," he started to turn, and cried
out as his leg collapsed under him.
Ritsuko caught him before he could bash his head on the bed or the
floor, Ritsuko grunted as she felt the deadweight.
He hissed in pain, "It just Charlie-horse, a cramp, I'll be fine."
"Maya!" Ritsuko shouted, Going from fever to clammy, you are not
`fine`! You're going into shock.
The two were able to set him flat on the floor. Ritsuko was glad
she'd given him a tongue depressor to bite on, instead of her fountain pen,
especially when he bit through it. She hated how much they were hurting
him, and felt very guilty about letting it go this far.
She waited for him to quiet down once he was on the ground. She and
Maya covered him with his coat and the blankets off the bed. Well, that
answers that question, Ritsuko thought, They'll push themselves until they
collapse and go into shock.
"Sorry about this," Jeff whispered painfully, "I felt the twinges, but
I ignored it. I thought . . . "
"You thought you'd ignore it, and what?" Ritsuko asked, "Have a couple
of bananas for breakfast, and expect it to go away?"
"Something like that," he whispered.
"Maya, Potassium Iodide solution, salt pills and some tea, cold is
okay," Ritsuko told her. Maya nodded and left.
Ritsuko rolled up her sleeves, "It still hurts, doesn't it?"
"Yes."
"Next time, maybe you won't be so stubborn, and you'll remember how
the old lady let you outmaneuver yourself." She started trying to work the
cramps out on his legs.
Jeff hissed in pain, pounded the floor.
"Sorry, I wish Ran . . . ko was here, she's very good at this,"
Ritsuko told him.
"Please, just finish," he replied, "I can take it. I remember a
conversation with Rei, she seemed to think she was expendable, as if there
were dozens of replacements. It made me angry, with you and the Commander.
She later made it sound like there was an assembly line somewhere, turning
out pilots. I thought that was funny."
"Why is that funny?" Ritsuko was near panic, He couldn't _know_, could
he?
He hissed through clenched teeth as she found a particularly sore
spot.
"Engineers know even washers coming off an assembly line, out of the
same stamping machine aren't the same. That's why there are tolerances,
they aren't the same, just close. More complicated machines would be even
more different from each other."
Ritsuko relaxed as she worked, He was just following the implications
of what Rei told him.
"I haven't decided one thing: was it all you, all Miss Tendo, or some
of both."
"What's that?" Ritsuko asked, regretted it immediately.
"I waited until Maya was gone, but I discovered Ritsuko-Nabiki had a
very - sensual side, she liked to touch and be touched, by certain,
specific people. She was extremely choosy about who, typically people who
were likely never to hit or hurt her physically. As violent as `Maya` was,
she didn't let her or those like her get close, but those within the
`circle` usually got very different treatment."
"oh," Ritsuko hoped he hadn't heard her voice crack, again, things
were hitting close to home.
"The day I showed up, Ritsuko-Nabiki took me to her room to 'see how
complete the change was.' Along with some very good, clear advice on,
let's call it feminine hygiene. She also handled, no, fondled, my
breasts."
Ritsuko choked on that, she'd been pleased by how physical Nabiki and
Ranma were: hugs, touches, and they accepted when she returned them. A far
cry from Misato, who like this variant Maya-Akane seemed to only punch or
slap. Or the others, who never got close at all.
"You didn't object?" she was terribly self-conscious working on his
upper leg now, she considered simply leaving him untreated. She knew she
was treating an injury, but in the back of her mind, she was
second-guessing her motives. Still, when he covered his head when she
touched his leg, she decided the hurt was still too bad to leave alone.
There was a long silence after she had mulled her motives over, "I
enjoyed it. It felt enjoyable, and as between girls, i didn't think such
touching wouldn't be absolutely inappropriate. Later she showed me that
boys reacted much the same."
She felt the blush warm the skin she was working on. She smiled at
that, and was very disturbed by the implications, she wasn't sure whether
her, or Nabiki's, characteristics would have prompted such behavior.
"I'm guessing, that you didn't go into medicine because you couldn't
imagine hurting people, even to help them," he took her silence as a signal
to continue, "As one `heartless bastard` to another, you learned some
things have to be put in perspective, but not _everything_, and that just
because you caused the pain, that doesn't preclude you from trying to
soothe it away."
"Thank you," Ritsuko said.
----------------------------------------
Repayment
They had their school books on the dinner table. Ranma had found Rei
and Shinji quickly enough, at Rei's suggestion, he'd found Hiroko leaving
school, and added Toji and Kensuke, brought them back to Rit-chan's place.
"So you were animals?" Hiroko asked, "You didn't just think you were,
or you actually changed?"
"Changed," Ranma starred at the math books, it just didn't make sense.
English was worse.
"How'd you feel being a tiger?" Shinji asked.
Ranma shrugged, "How does a tiger feel?"
"A bear?" Hiroko chuckled, "A cute, cuddly, soft, little teddy bear?"
Nabiki glared at her.
"An 800 kilo, full-grown, Kodiak grizzly," Rei said.
Hiroko's eyes bugged out, then started laughing as Ranma commented on
Nabiki turning over trucks and tossing around soldiers.
Nabiki further pointed her glare, "Do you really think you should be
making me mad?"
Ranma pulled back, making a warding gesture.
Shinji, Kensuke and Toji laughed.
"I can't imagine what that was like," Kensuke said.
"It was enjoyable," Rei said, then fell silent as she became the
center of attention.
"A pack," she managed, finally finding the words.
"A fighting pack," Kensuke elaborated, "Different skills, different
abilities."
Rei nodded once.
"Strength and speed, leadership, cunning. All in different amounts,
all . . . mixed," Nabiki said. Rei nodded again.
Hiroko was intrigued, "So, if the boss was a bear, and Saotome was a
tiger, Asuka a lion, Shinji a wolf, what were you Ayanami-san?"
"A puma," Rei said.
"Okay, a tiger-light," Hiroko paused to think, then laughed, "What
about Raccoon? A wolverine? Or a wolf?"
"A coyote," Ranma supplied, he couldn't figure out why Hiroko got
white-faced at that.
"Why'd the girls turn into cats, and the boys into dogs, except you
Ranma?" Toji asked.
Ranma was disturbed by that comment.
"Bears are in the super family Canoidea," Rei said, "Like dogs."
"Okay, that means Saotome, is really a girl, and the boss is a boy,"
Hiroko said, she sighed theatrically, "And so handsome, he's even pretty."
Ranma blushed, and noticed for once, somebody had gotten Nabiki, she
was blushing too.
"So when does Sour Kraut get released to cause havoc again?" Toji
asked.
"Why Toji," Nabiki said, "I'd almost think you're sweet on her."
Toji stuttered denials and turned purple, denying any connection with
Asuka. All the others laughed at Toji's distress.
----------------------------------------
"Afraid I'm going to turn into a terrible monster?" Jeff asked Ritsuko
as they tucked him in, made sure he didn't have to move very far to get the
salt-laced tea.
"No, I _am_ curious about how you managed your little trick," Ritsuko
told him.
"Oh, that's easy. It didn't happen."
Ritsuko frowned at that.
"Did the body cool? Did brain activity cease? How _did_ you
determine you should stuff me in a freezer?"
"Heart rate and breathing ceased," Ritsuko continued her checks.
"I'm more worried about what happened while I was unconscious, and it
took a transformation spell and a near death experience to revive me. I'd
like to know what that stuff, that was L.C.L., is now."
"We saved some," Ritsuko told him, "We're doing tests, don't worry."
"_SOME_?_" he asked, "Where's the rest of it?"
Ritsuko stopped, considered, "I assume it was disposed of, when the
plug was recovered."
Jeff was not happy with this possibility, "I really think you need to
look into that."
Ritsuko made a note to do just that.
"So what else has happened?" Jeff asked, "I don't mean about what the
others told me. I mean what are you doing about it. Someone mortars a
picnic, someone sends a bunch of byakhee to kill the pilots. I don't
believe in coincidences."
"We don't have any leads," Ritsuko admitted, then to cover it, "But we
are still working on it."
Jeff filed the data, and Ritsuko's responses, for later analysis. He
also wondered why no one had managed to track the attackers by the shrapnel
they'd removed from Langley or Nancy. He wondered how difficult it would
be to get a piece, and investigate on his own.
----------------------------------------
The sound of flesh against flesh was the usual ending to an argument
against Misato, Ritsuko had plenty of experience on that score. It was
also the best indicator she was winning the argument. She remembered the
start of this `discussion`.
'I didn't think that the alternatives were better, and I couldn't find
the Tactical Commander, or the Security Director. Do I even want to know
why that is?' she'd asked.
Misato's hand had followed, a predictable path.
What changed was Ritsuko raising her arm, catching the blow on her
forearm, the impact still stung. Better on my arm than on my face, she
thought. She had fumbled the counter that would have trapped Misato's
wrist, I'll have to thank Nabiki and Ranma for the lessons. Ritsuko looked
at Misato trying to get some feeling back in her hand.
"What are you made of?" Misato asked.
Ritsuko glared at her, and stepped towards her, "I was doing my job,"
Ritsuko told her, "By the best means that were available."
Misato grimaced, her hand still stung where Ritsuko had blocked it.
"If that isn't good enough, then be here to give us better options,"
Ritsuko continued, "I wasn't happy with the alternatives, but they were all
I had." Ritsuko walked away. It's confusing, I am eager to leave my
quiet, composed office, for the insanity I know I'll find at home, and I'm
looking forward to it. Because I find it relaxing. I suppose Misato
doesn't get the same release, Ritsuko thought as she glanced back and
watched Misato walk away.
----------------------------------------
Misato entered her apartment, "Shinji?" she got no answer, walked over
to Pen-pen's refrigerator, he wasn't there either.
She checked the other refrigerator. There was a plate of sandwiches,
a note on the kitchen counter told her Shinji was at Ritsuko's. She felt
anger welling up, then it crashed. She sat at the table, looked around the
empty apartment. No sounds beyond the noise of the city in the distance.
No noise from anything alive in the place. She got a beer, set it on the
table next to the sandwiches, "No, nothing alive here at all."
----------------------------------------
Ritsuko looked at the crowd in her apartment, she felt a little
resentment that her home had become the de facto meeting place. But Toji
had said it best, 'This place is _HUGE_!_' Ritsuko had learned that his
and Hikari's families, together, barely matched the square footage of her
apartment. If you counted the patio, you had to add Hiroko's family's
apartment to beat the space available. She and Maya were cooking food, and
Maya kept brushing against her, Ritsuko would have sworn there was enough
room in the kitchen for two. Maya still hadn't gotten over her giggles
from Jeff's admission about his dream. Maya's expression also betrayed she
thought entertaining like this was delightful. She was staying over, the
military hadn't cleared her home as safe. Ritsuko wondered what had
suddenly made the apartments safer than headquarters, she wasn't
complaining, she just wanted an explanation.
"It's nice, sempai," Maya whispered to her.
"It's noisy," she replied quietly, although she could have shouted,
and not overwhelmed the kids' conversation.
She hadn't understood how she had `inherited` Rei and PenPen, who,
having no interest in the argument at the table, were playing chess on the
patio with the door closed. She couldn't imagine when Misato would have
trained the bird to play chess, or why. Misato had little interest in the
game when Ritsuko had tried to teach her in college. The argument abated
as she and Maya put the food on the table.
Ritsuko felt guilty as Rei sat alone in the patio. She headed there
with a certain sense of dread. Rei would follow her orders, how did she
phrase it as a request, not an order, and yet get the girl to comply. She
looked back at Maya setting out the dishes, and got the impression that
Maya was intentionally not looking at her, to force _her_ to do this.
"Rei, would you like to join us to eat?"
The girl looked up from the game, Ritsuko let PenPen dart past. She
thought the penguin had been winning.
"Thank you, no."
Ritsuko glanced back at Maya, who gestured for her to continue.
"Should I bring something out here for you?"
The girl stared at the chessboard, saying nothing.
Ritsuko felt her temper flare, Rei always managed to bring out the
worst in her. "I think that Shinji and Maya would appreciate your
company."
"I'm sorry," Rei made no move.
Ritsuko's first instinct was to leave her out there, she glanced over,
realized everyone was watching her now. Now I'm the entertainment! she
centered herself. She didn't have anything to say to Rei. Rei rarely had
anything to say to anyone, except the Commander. She hoped Maya would
figure out enough to play along, Ritsuko sat where Penpen had, on the cold
concrete, and reset the chessboard.
I haven't played in years, she thought as Rei made her first move.
Maya brought two plates of food out, and a pot of tea with two cups,
as the game progressed. Ritsuko was painfully aware of the silence within,
that alarmed her, and disrupted her concentration.
"Checkmate," Rei told her.
Awfully smugly, Ritsuko thought, suppressed an urge to sweep the
pieces off the board, the girl's manner still irritated her. Instead she
set her king down as a token of surrender, "I think we need to get ready to
go to bed," Ritsuko told her, "The others need a ride home."
"I will accompany them."
That one Ritsuko felt she could counter with an order, "No, you're
staying here."
Rei looked at her, stared at her for a while, "Very well."
"You'll sleep with Nabiki in my room." Why am I doing this? she
wondered, Because of what Jeff told me, or because I don't want Maya anf
the kids disapproving? As if I should care.
"Yes, Doctor."
Ritsuko got up, stiff at having sat on the cold concrete for so long.
She saw the suppressed grins on her charges, and the other students.
Maya's wasn't suppressed, it was impish, "That didn't hurt, now did
it?"
Ritsuko decided not to toss her assistant out on her ear, or over the
railing of the balcony.
"Just for that, you're sleeping on the floor. Shinji, you'll be in
the boys' room, Nabiki, you'll double up with Rei."
They nodded, Ritsuko had the feeling they had hatched some conspiracy
while she was playing chess.
----------------------------------------
Ritsuko drove Toji home first. Maya had taken Kensuke and would pick
up a change of clothes for Rei, Ritsuko would do the same for Shinji.
Hiroko would help her, then she'd drop her off home.
Toji's family wasn't home, "Don't worry, I'm used to it. Dad's
working late, an' grandpa is out."
Ritsuko wasn't happy about that, but she couldn't do anything.
The sortie into Misato's apartment was more depressing. Misato had
fallen asleep at the table. Only a single candle lit the entire place.
Ritsuko extinguished it, before it could topple and set Misato's hair on
fire. She didn't know how Misato was going to get the resolidified wax out
of her hair. The collection of beer cans eloquently explained why she and
Hiroko carrying Misato to her bedroom, didn't rouse her.
It was also why Ritsuko didn't simply throw her over her shoulder, and
carry her there, Ritsuko didn't want her to throw up, and the clean up it
would entail.
She looked at Nabiki's factor, she knew Nabiki wouldn't `employ` the
girl, unless she was discreet.
"This never happened, do you understand?" Ritsuko asked, staring at
the girl.
Hiroko nodded, "We just got Shinji's clothes."
Good, Ritsuko thought. "You were under fire, as were the pilots. How
did you feel?" Ritsuko asked as they collected Shinji's pajamas, and a
change of clothes.
The girl looked at her, "I knew with the pilots there, I'd make it.
It isn't that they're magic talismans or something, but . . . it's like I
knew nothing would happen to me."
"But something would happen to them?" Ritsuko led her into the kitchen
to get breakfast for PenPen.
"It's like the Angel of Death would know who they were, and pass over
us."
"Be careful when referring to Angels," Ritsuko warned, "They may hear
you."
----------------------------------------
Clarion Focus
"Oh Ranma!" Nabiki sighed, "No man has the right to be so good!" her
fingers tangled in his silk-soft hair. He thrust her again and again into
the throes of ecstasy, until finally she was satiated. She cuddled him to
her naked breast and felt his gasping breaths tickling her.
"Nabiki-kun," Ranma raised his face, staring into her eyes longingly,
"I am not the Fourth."
----------------------------------------
Nabiki opened her eyes, and looked into the red eyes and the pale form
she had wrapped herself around. "Rei!"
The other girl stared at her.
Nabiki unlocked her legs from around Rei's hips and her arms from her
back. "How did you get over here?!" Nabiki looked over to Rei's futon at
the far corner of the bedroom.
"You seized me," she seemed unperturbed.
Nabiki wondered how much of her dream she'd acted out, when she was
asleep. She was also aware that her nightshirt was sodden with sweat from
her exertions. "Did I hurt you?" Nabiki asked worriedly.
Rei gave her stare #9, 'You're being inane and don't deserve an answer
you already know.' "You need a bath," Rei said, "As do I." Rei stood and
headed for the bathroom.
Nabiki had been a little disturbed that the girl wore nothing to bed.
Now she saw the red marks across Rei's back, like an embarrassed zebra. I
made those with my fingers, Nabiki was glad she kept her fingernails
trimmed short.
"Come," Rei told her.
Nabiki hoped she meant follow. She walked into the bathroom after
Rei. Nabiki picked at her flannel nightshirt that her sweat had plastered
to her.
Rei had a wash stool for herself and one for Nabiki.
As soon as Nabiki sat down, Rei pulled her shirt up and looped it
through her collar. Before Nabiki could protest, Rei started wiping her
back with a cool, damp cloth.
"Rei, what are you doing?" Nabiki tried to disentangle herself from
her shirt.
"If I do not wash your back, why would you wash mine?" Rei's gentle
strokes never faltered.
"Rei, it's a figure of speech. It doesn't actually mean . . . "
Nabiki halted as Rei stood, going to the nearby sink to fill a plastic
tumbler with cold water.
"I mean, you could just ask me," Nabiki watched Rei return, and was
shocked when Rei sat in her lap. Her shock became astonishment as Rei
puckered her lips and leaned closer.
Am I still dreaming? Nabiki wondered as she leaned back, avoiding the
kiss, This is nuts!
"Is every . . . " Ranma entered through the bathroom's other door,
wearing his T-shirt and boxers sleep wear, "OH! I'm - "
With a quick flip of the tumbler, Rei made Ranko finish the apology,
"Sorry . . . good throw, quick and unexpected."
Rei stood and walked towards Ranko.
"I said I was sorry," Ranko held up a warding hand and retreated a
step.
"Stop," Rei said firmly, Ranko subsided. Rei collected another wash
stool and Ranko's ear, Ranko decided she wanted to stay attached to it.
"You will wash Nabiki-kun's back, I will wash yours, she mine," Rei lead
Ranko back to Nabiki.
Nabiki was struggling to cover herself with her nightshirt, she did
not want to face Ranma wearing only a `collar` and a pair of damp panties.
All she managed was to get one arm loose and the other hopelessly tangled
in the sleeves, so she looked like she was impersonating the Statue of
Liberty.
"Ayanami, what happened to your back?" Ranko asked as Rei seated her,
facing Nabiki's back.
"Nabiki-kun was making love to you," Rei told her.
Nabiki gave up trying to escape her tangled shirt, I wonder if I can
just hang myself? she thought as she hung her head.
Ranko seemed to redden as much as Nabiki, as Rei gave Ranko's T-shirt
the same treatment she'd given Nabiki's flannel. Now that Nabiki had seen
what Rei did, she could disentangle herself. Ranko was getting the same
gentle, workmanlike strokes with cool water, and was obviously torn between
enjoying it, and being completely humiliated.
Ranko looked helplessly at Nabiki, then looked away.
I wonder if she wants the earth to open up and swallow her too, Nabiki
knew Rei could be direct, but this was beyond anything she'd heard the girl
even suggest.
"You are not keeping the bargain," Rei told Ranko.
Ranko took up the wash rag and started tentatively washing Nabiki's
back.
Nabiki could barely complete the triangle with Rei, she was mortified,
but somehow couldn't just run away.
"Why do you favor Ranma, over the others?" Rei asked.
Nabiki felt Ranko freeze as her own rag quit moving. Hi, I'm your
relationship councillor, Rei Ayanami, I'll be embarrassing the Hell out of
you today, but don't worry, it's very therapeutic, Nabiki thought. "Uh,
can we change the subject?" Nabiki asked plaintively.
"No," Rei said sternly, eliciting a chuckle from Ranko. "Why do you
favor him over Roku-kun, Shinji-kun, or Toji?"
Nabiki looked helplessly at Ranko, who returned the gaze double.
Terrific, Nabiki thought, she knew once Rei got her `teeth` into a
problem or question, only a direct order from the senior staff would derail
her. And calling Ritsuko would worsen the problem, or worse, she'd insist
we answer Rei's questions. "I . . . I'm . . . ," Oh, very good, Captain
Articulate. "I really can't explain it," Nabiki said weakly, saw the look
of betrayal and disappointment on Ranko's face.
"Is it his physical beauty?" Rei asked.
"Guys aren't beautiful," Ranko managed.
"If it is his beauty, why not favor the Second?" Rei ignored Ranko,
"She is more beautiful than the Fourth."
"She's a girl," Nabiki retorted.
"So `Ranko` detracts?" Rei asked.
Ranko froze, looking desperately at her and Rei.
Nabiki could see dread in her eyes. Nabiki was all too aware of the
emotion minefield Rei had thrust both of them into, If I talk about his
character, or `inner beauty` Ranma will think I am repelled by the
transformation, if I say I am attracted, Ranma won't be able to handle
that, he'll be repelled by _me_, Nabiki thought, as she searched
despondently for something to say, "Well, she's pretty, but I'm not
interested in her the way I am with Ranma."
Oh, I could have said that better, "I mean, I like boys. I don't
mind that Ranma changes into Ranko it's . . . it's not something either of
us want to explore." Having gotten that out, without hurting Ranko, Nabiki
counterattacked, "Why are you asking this? Don't you have a crush on
Shinji?" she cut herself off before she asked if Rei was interested in
Ranma, both for fear of the answer, and the betrayal of Ranma's trust. Any
answer to _that_ question, Nabiki knew, IS likely to lead to a disaster.
"Yes. I do not understand why," Rei told them, she lowered her head,
clearly confused and embarrassed, "He completes me," she paused, "I want to
be the mother of his children," she added softly, "I want to know why."
Of all the events in this awkward morning, Nabiki thought, That has to
be the worst. She couldn't think of anything to offer the girl.
"I don't think you can really explain it," Ranko said, "It just sorta
happens to a . . . "
Nabiki stared at Ranko, with raised eyebrows. But Ranko was too
embarrassed to say anything more. Rei looked from Nabiki to Ranko,
studying them.
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