2010-04-30 - XII: Leliel - Part One

'He strode through the streets, rejected and alone. Despite his many years of military service, handling blunt machinery that could kill a man fifty times in a row and still have juice for fifty times more, even Kensuke Aida, National Commando, could not escape the icy-cold grip of the human condition.'

'Only the knowledge that the blunt instrument in his pants was capabale of filling a woman fifty times in a row and still have juice for fifty times more kept our hero from turning his weapon on himself, like many National Commandos before him.'

'His rippling pecs pulsated as he walked, threatening to burst through his school uniform, announcing to the world, "Pay Attention! This man eats rainbows for breakfast and shits Serious Business for lunch". And as Kensuke Aida approached the street corner, his eyes met those of the woman with the red hair. They felt the lust instantaneously, as the woman's eyes bore down into Kensuke's soul and saw his everything, naked, bare, tanned, moist.'

Thus Kensuke Aida narrates his life. Walking through the streets of Tokyo-03, the young boy sighs. A video camera is held up to his face, but Aida doesn't seem to care. His wrist is limp, the camera held at an awkward angle. The boy doesn't even bother looking through the lense while recording his empty journey through the city.

Kensuke's friends hardly seemed to have any time for him nowadays. As the Angels started appearing with growing frequency, Shinji spent more and more time either at NERV, or at home playing his dating sims. And ever since Toji got taken away for mysterious special training... ugh!

Why did they pick Toji over Kensuke? What did Toji have that Kensuke lacked? Why was life so cruel and unfair? Kensuke and Toji used to do everything together. They'd take pictures of the girls together, sell the pictures together, split the profits 50/50. They'd even get in trouble together! By all rights, KENSUKE SHOULD HAVE BEEN PICKED OVER TOJI!

..or, they should have been picked together, that would've worked as well.

The woman with the red hair, for the record, didn't even notice Kensuke. She simply crossed the street, ignoring him and living up to none of his fantasies.

'Kensuke shook his head. "It's better for you if we stayed apart, babe", he said to the woman. "I live a life of danger and malice. You could get hurt. I don't know how I could... live with myself... if you got hurt".'

'The woman (her name was Honey) swooned. Kensuke was everything she wanted in a man and more. Her red hair whipped around her head in a slow, sensual gallop, as her chest heaved and contracted, knees bucking and stretching her skirt to reveal the plump backside of her innermost--'

Kensuke stops at a red light. Even with no cars in sight, the boy stands with a slouch, conforming to authority. If only Toji was there, the jock would cross without a second thought, dragging Kensuke with him. But there was no one there to drag Kensuke now. What was he going to do?

He could go to the arcade - try and beat Toji's record in Pretty Pretty Princess Ass Pony. But ehhhh, what's the use. There's nothing more sad than going to the arcade alone. Maybe he could try re-organizing his military stamp collection for the 100th time... or go through his files on the members of NERV's 3066.

Oh, those 3066ers, how Kensuke envied them. Hard men and women of the military, the best of the best of the best, with honors! They were handpicked by NERV to fight the Angels alongside the Evangelion units, fulfilling a destiny far greater than anything Kensuke could ever hope for.

If only Kensuke was born as Amuro fucking Ray, or Char fucking Aznable, or Leo fucking Stenbuck, or Johnny fucking Domino. He'd even settle on simply fucking Misato!! ..literally..

'Misato pressed the full length of her body against Kensuke. Her tight, firm breasts played footsie with his decorated nipples. Opening her lush lips, the woman breathed into the National Commando's ear, "I hope the gun poking into your thigh isn't causing you any... discomfort, soldier".'

'Kensuke, unable to lose his cool ever since the bloody battle at the Bay of Neo Pigs, remained unfazed. "I like my guns the same way I like my women", he replied. "Cold, hard, and semi-automatic."'

'Misato gasped. This was too much for her. "Oh god", she moaned. "Kensuke, take me. Take me now!" Suddenly they were both naked.'

Speaking of suddenly - was that black and white orb floating high above Kensuke always there? Or did it just blink into existence?

Kensuke stares at it, taking a full three seconds to grasp what he is seeing. Then he blinks. Then he blinks again. Then he adjusts his grip on his video camera, zooming in on the weird manifestation. What the fuck was that?

Oh holy shit, could this be another Angel? Oh holy shit! HOLY SHIT!

A hollow siren begins echoing throughout Tokyo-03. Rising and falling in a slow rhythm, the klaxons cause the boy's heart to quicken its mambo. A woman's voice is heard a few moments later.

"This a general evacuation alert," it says. "This is not a drill. Please relocate to the shelter nearest to your current position. This a general evacuation alert. This is not a drill."

Kensuke does not budge. Like hell was he going to run for cover and miss what was about to transpire! There was an Angel here, right above Kensuke, and the boy was NOT GOING TO FUCKING MISS IT FOR THE WORLD WAHOOOOOO!!

A mechnical whirr heralds the opening of various missile ports built into hills and buildings at the outskirts of the city. Aida squeals in excitement, moving his camera from one missile port to the next in a blurred frenzy. He's trying to catch everything all at once.

"This is not a drill," repeats the woman's voice. "Please relocate to the shelter nearest to your current position."

A barrage of missiles fires, loud and bright. Again and again, an explosive carpet of tiny warheads is launched at the monochomatic orb, an unassailable onslaught. Kensuke sweats, very nearly losing control of his bowels. And then the moment of impact!!

The missiles are absorbed into the orb.

No explosion. No nothing. The warheads disappear without a trace, as if swallowed by a ball of tar.

POOF -- the orb disappears. Kensuke panics. Where did it go? Where did it go?! A moment later the boy realizes that various buildings, along with a chunk of the scenery, are... sinking. The young boy watches this, slack jawed and buggy eyed. In less than a minute, every missile port has been swallowed up into oblivion.

The orb reappears in the sky. Kensuke feels as if he had just touched God. When the orb begins floating towards the center of Tokyo-03, the young boy gives chase.

"Wait, wait!", he cries out. "Eat me! Hey, HEY! EAT ME! EAT MEEEEE!!"

BELOW, IN CENTRAL DOGMA

Misato stares at the holographic screens displayed before the bridge. An array of street cameras are focused on the Angel, giving everyone a good view of the advancing threat from multiple angles. However, Captain Kasturagi isn't paying attention to the Angel.

In fact, no one is paying attention to the Angel. Everyone present, from Maya to Shigeru to Makoto, is paying attention to the tiny form of Shinji's friend, seen chasing the orb on foot. Zooming past the bottom of CAMERA 52, Kensuke reappears at the left corner of CAMERA 37, only to jog right past CAMERA 21 and into view of CAMERA 19.

"Eat meeeeee," his tiny voice is heard through the speakers.

Misato facepalms in a manner most composed and professional.

"Somebody call a recon team," she says. "Tell them to get him the fuck out of there."

Gendo, watching the proceedings from up above, is unimpressed. "Captain," he intones. "Are you going to handle this emergency, or will you be playing with children all day? Whatever happens to that individual is immaterial. Now is the time to issue..."

NERV ORDER NUMBER 3066

STARRING

SHINJI IKARI as................REI AYANAMI

REI AYANAMI as.................SHINJI IKARI

ASUKA LANGLEY SHIKINAMI as.....ASUKA LANGLEY SOHRYU

THAT GIRL as...................NORIKO TAKAYA

HER FRIEND as..................JUNG FREUD

MULIAN BASTARD CHILD as........AYATO KAMINA

SOME HOBO WE PICKED UP as......RYOUMA NAGARE

LATOONI SUBOTA as..............HERSELF

BOBBY DICE as..................JOHNNY DOMINO

SPECIAL GUEST STAR

NATHAN FILLION as..............LEO STENBUCK

The black and white orb hangs in sky, letting out a weird electronic rumble as it harmless floats toward the center of Tokyo-03. And then it just stops, hanging there in the sky as it just continues to rumble harmlessly. What is this Angel up to?

Down below, the Nerv command center is going ballistic, as scans reveal nothing about this Angel. Ritsuko Akagi groans as she slams her fist on the computer. "How is it doing that?"

"Ma'mm, we just lost another of our defense grids....," an unnamed technician says to Nerv's chief scientist.

"What? It didn't -do- anything. Great. We're going to have to go into this one blind. Commander Ikari." Ritsuko turns her head, freezing when Ikari's gaze meets her. To the uniniated observer, Dr. Akagi just seemed intimidated by Gendo Ikari. For those who had been on staff longer, it was reading much differently.

Ritsuko finally gathers her words, never losing her cool, collected expression. "Launch the Evangelions. We'll have to learn as much as we can on the field."

Gendo Ikari simply nodded, issuing the command to send in Order 3066 and all availible Evangelions.

"Shinji...We're launching you in a moment. We don't know much about this Angel so be cautious." Misato spoke to the pilot of Unit 01, looking at his blank expression. She does not mention Kensuke for the moment.

"Right. I'll do my best." Shinji took in a deep sigh, feeling his Evangelion wheeling toward the launch platform.

A second later, the Evangelion fires toward the surface, coming to a stop with a sudden jolt.

The Angel continues to 'rumble' joyously, doing nothing but hover in the sky.

SOME TIME AGO

Leo Stenbuck steps off a shuttle that has just landed at Riksent; he is on his way to visit Latooni Subota, now that she is back from rampaging around the galaxy. Latooni's comment about the evidence of Ralla's death being suspect has only worsened his already fragile mood; after all of that, he doesn't want to get his hopes up that maybe Ralla is, in fact, okay, only to have them dashed when it's revealed that oh, no, wait, she actually was dead, our bad.

But... if she /is/ alive... Leo grits his teeth, and resolves to ask Latooni more about her suspicions.

SOME TIME LATER

The door to Latooni's room bangs open, and Leo backs through it, carrying Latooni. They are making out, which has basically everything to do with why Leo did not, in fact, ask her about the Ralla evidence. Or ask her how she was.

Or... or say hello.

Leo kicks the door shut and continues backing up, until he bumps into Latooni's bed and collapses onto it, pulling her with him. He'll ask her about Ralla in a few minutes, he tells himself.

SOME TIME LATER

Having, once again, totally failed to initiate conversation about Ralla - or stop making out - Leo rolls over on Latooni's bed, flipping its owner onto her back and-

o/` Fly me to the moon, o/`

o/` and let me play among the stars~ o/`

o/` Let me see what spring is like o/`

o/` on Jupiter and Mars~ o/`

Without even looking, Leo digs a hand into one of his pockets, withdraws his ringing NERV-branded cell phone, and throws it across the room. It cracks into one of the walls and falls neatly into a waste basket.

NOW

Leo Stenbuck has never been so upset that Latooni Subota is a responsible young woman.

EARLIER

Latooni did, in fact, find some discrepancies in the evidence of Ralla's death. She called Leo basically immediately... and then felt as if she possibly jumped the gun. She decided to sit on it overnight.

Fortunately, Leo is, as it turns out, pretty distractable. She didn't even have to work at it or show him pictures or anything, just let him pick her up. Even if she was never going to do more than that.

SLIGHTLY LATER

o/` Fly me to the moon, o/`

o/` and let me play among the stars~ o/`

o/` Let me see what spring is like o/`

o/` on Jupiter and Mars~ o/`

RIGHT NOW

Latooni sits in the cockpit of Jade Knight, trying not to pull very far ahead of the 1 Gundam. Her face is still slightly red despite having been in transit for a little while, her hair looks even messier than usual from a sudden landing, and she never bothered to get a flight jacket - she's in her casuals, which is an awful way to pilot. At least she put her helmet on.

"Leo," Latooni says, "are you still with me?" She checks the radar and very slightly slows down; the biggest problem with Jade Knight is that it is much faster than just about anything else the EFA or A-LAWS fields, and that means it can get awfully lonely if something decides to shoot you.

But it's not shooting, she thinks, looking at the weird ball. It's just moving, like a balloon - and taking some of the terrain down in its path. Gravitational control? Latooni thinks to herself. No, mostly it's just sitting there.

Weird.

SOME TIME AGO

Asuka Langley Sohryu is finally out of detention, where she spent the past few days there under Misato Katsuragi's orders. Asuka, naturally, was none-the-pleased to spend her days in a cold cell. If that stupid bitch Rei hadn't attacked her, none of this would have happened! Why did everyone always have to side with HER?! Was this any way to treat Nerv's elite Evangelion pilot?!

But if there was any consolation to be found at all in the situation, it was the fact that she was, at least, not locked up with Johnny Domino.

However, that could soon change. Almost immediately after being discharged, sirens began going off in NERV Headquarters. Asuka was just toweling down her hair after a long shower in the Nerv Headquarters showers.

"A-An Angel Attack? Why NOW?!" Asuka was normally elated at the prospect of being able to show off her moves in Unit-02, but now, all she wanted to do was go home and hope Shinji had the DECENCY to tape her favorite drama, which had aired its final episode during the week.

...but Shinji wasn't there to tape it, was he?

NOW

"So, I see you're back, /Shinji/." There's a wry bitterness in Asuka's tone of voice--the sort of bitterness that can only come from discovering that your housemate did not record your favorite drama because he was off having an existential crisis. "It's just too bad they can't trust YOU to take care of this Angel!" Ever the master of coordination, she says this all while grabbing a pellet pistol from one of the nearby buildings, never missing a beat.

Her eyes turn to the target, an orb hanging in the sky. "That's an Angel?" She can hardly believe it herself. Sure, there'd been some pretty weird ones recently, but none quite as mundane as THIS ONE.

High up in the sky over Tokyo-03, a long-winged thing slides in from the heights of the stratosphere. It moves to the left, revealing --

Nothing beneath it.

The Empruss, like some majestic white bird of death, leaves red glowing hints of contrails behind it as it descends in a slow loop around the greater Hakone metropolitan area. Jung looks towards her left side, watching the strange black and white object as she descends. She does /not/ charge it to shoot it with a laser (yet).

"On site now," she reports into the radio, her tone a little clipped. "I have the target in sight. Looks like a damn Escher diagram. Empruss is fully powered, awaiting your instructions."

Her eyes go slightly down to look at the red Evangelion fussing to get a weapon. So tiny from up here! she thinks, even as the Empruss casts a hawklike shadow over the Evas for a moment.

SOME TIME AGO

Rei Ayanami and Johnny Domino ate together.

Rei smiled, and laughed.

And then, when the meal was done, the two sat in perfect silence for about half an hour, simply enjoying one another's company. They moved, eventually, from sitting on the floor to sitting on the bed -- Johnny near the head, Rei near the foot.

Somehow, they both ended up closer to the middle, and then after some deliberation -- with both parties still not actually /talking/ -- Rei decided to lean herself against Johnny. The lean turned into her eyes closing. And then her arms came up, and loosely rested around his waist. The entire display remained chaste and innocent, as far as heterosexual embraces go.

Just two people enjoying the silence.

And then their fucking phones went off.

NOW

"Rei Ayanami -- GN -- Decisive... GN... All... Weapon... Human... Decisive... Zerogouki. Lauching." Rei's voice is stumbling, almost drunken, and uncertain in the peculiar way that an unsober person sounds like they /believe/ they know what they're saying, and what they believe they're saying is something completely different from the things coming out of their mouth. "Launching," Rei repeats again, before 00X slams upward through the tunnels and explodes into open air. It takes some lurching steps forward.

Its solar furnace begins to churn and glow, and suddenly, Rei chatters: "ReiayanamiengagingangelLAUNCHING!"

Jung is silently glad she has like two miles of metal between her and the GN drives.

 Rei Ayanami transmits, "ReiayanamiengagingangelLAUNCHING!"

So last night was interesting. Noriko suddenly hustled out of the Exelion on her RX-7 - then went to the Shirogane, where she 'spent the night', for no apparent reason.

'Spent the night' consisted of a surprise and rather emotional encounter with Rei Ayanami that ended with Rei bolting to her room and Noriko standing outside as a possibly slightly pointless show of support until ship's morning. Which might explain why when Noriko finally showed up at Exelion again, she had that slightly spaced out look that indicates she hasn't really...slept. ...at all.

Which is why you should probably be worried that the fat and not terribly urban-safe RX-207 Totoro blasts through the cloud layer on twin jets of photonic thrust fire, with its twin Totoro Tomahawks firmly in hand. "This is Noriko Takaya!" Noriko yells, continuing the proud Fraternity tradition of completely ignoring callsign convention. "RX-207 is en route to provide support! And axes." er. "...right. Incoming!"

In some ways, having a whole week on the ground instead of on the Exelion is a blessing for Ayato Kamina; he didn't have any choice at all in the matter of his joint usage as an element of TERRA and the Fraternity Unit, but if he /had/ had some say, he probably would have passed. He has never been more tired in his life than he has been during the weeks he's spent aboard the Exelion, and he's still a touch uncertain of looking some of his wingmates directly in the eye lest he be wrestled to the ground in a full nelson or armbar or figure-four leglock or some other punishing military grappling hold.

On the other hand, not thirty minutes before Order 3066 sent TERRA into high gear, Captain Haruka Shitow was for some reason in what he could only imagine were borrowed gym shorts as she stretched and did toe touches right in front of him while he was trying to sketch.

Normally, he's a pretty good artist, but he ended up with a bunch of vague squiggles and blobs this time around; he'd never been so happy in his life for Order 3066's accompaniment of blaring klaxons and flashing lights, forcing him to take to RahXephon's cockpit and Captain Shitow to hurry to TERRA's command womb.

"Ayato Kam--" he tries to inform the other operatives on the frequency he was given for the anti-Angel task force; he gets little more than static, as has been the case almost /every/ time he's tried to use his radio in the middle of an Angel encounter. "Ayat--damnit..."

At least the /rest/ of the RahXephon's systems are functional; the angelic god-machine is making good time to Tokyo-03, coasting as ever on a sea of unearthly song and the occasional glittering white feather. He actually sighs with relief when the dichromatic orb looms large before him, because hey, it's just an orb; maybe it won't kill him or make him crazy or something.

Maybe.

Possibly.

Ayato clutches his control rods, quietly unsure of his willingness to lie to himself so ardently.

All Asuka gets as a response is the picture display of Shinji closing her window. Was he still angry with her? Oh yeah.The truth was Shinji was still staying with Mr. Kaji, mostly to avoid Asuka but also to really stick it to her. He knew how much Asuka liked Mr. Kaji and it was nice of Kaji to take Shinji in for the short term.

A SHORT TIME AGO

Ryoji Kaji enters Misato apartment in his usual casual manner, waving to Shinji. "Well, ready to go Shinji?" Kaji stands in front the pilot of Unit 01, eyeing him for a moment and his last box. "Whats this?"

"Oh thats my game collection. I don't want to leave it here because of her." Shinji looks back behind him at Asuka's room. She wasn't here right now.

"Oh? I used to be quite the gamer myself in college. What do you have? Halo DX? That's an old game but I really think it stood the test of time..." Kaji opens the box, nonchantly pawing through the titles. "Oh. Pretty ladies, I can respect that." Kaji begins to look more closely.

Shinji grumbles and shakes his head. "Uh...they aren't like that. I don't really play FPS'..." Shinji sighs, looking off to the side.

"Oh? Well don't worry about it everyone has a type of game they like...lets see here, you play Ryu, a high student trying to...." Kaji's brow raises ever so slightly as he just looks over the box and then at Shinji. He tosses the game calmly back into the box, coughing into his hand. "Right. Leave these here."

"But!"

"No room in the car. Tell you what Shinji, how about I take you out tonight and we meet some real girls. Then it's less of a downer." Kaji leads the boy out of the apartment after tossing the games back into Shinji's mostly empty room.

NOW

Leliel continues to just sit in it's spot and make weird noises. Even as it's executioners come into firing range, the Angel seems to do just about nothing.

For instance as Latooni rockets toward the Angel, it disappears and reappears RIGHT in front of Latooni, disappearing again just as Latooni would hit it.

As the Angel disappears, the ground under it turns black just as Rei and Asuka charge in to attack...Anyone else nearby feels the ground start to give with a strong suction...

As the ground does, buildings begin to sink into the black ooze, giving little place to find solid ground.

Unit 01 witnesses this and immediately draws it's pistol, attempting to race to save the other Eva pilots. "ASUKA, REI!" Now he remembers Asuka...

"Right behind you," Leo assures Latooni. Unlike her, his face isn't red, but his hair is equally dissheveled, his headband is slightly lopsided, and the greatcoat of his A-LAWS uniform is notably absent... and the undershirt appears to be on inside out. Whoops!

'Right behind you' might be a bit of a fib; the 1 Gundam simply can't keep up with the Jade Knight. But it's certainly trying, riding an extremely thick contrail of burnt orange GN particles as it hauls ass after the LEV.

Leo, meanwhile, is as baffled by the Angel as anyone; his gaze is fixed firmly on it, which means that when it /fucking disappears/, he becomes instantly and extremely worried. When it reappears right in front of Latooni, he slams backwards on the throttle to keep from getting any closer to it than he has to, and shouts, "Lat, heads u-"

-- and then it's gone again, and Leo just gapes for a moment... until he notices the buildings around him are sinking, and swings his eyes downwards. Oh, awesome, the ground is an infinite black abyss of death. "What the fuck is going on?!" Leo sputteres in exasperation, as the 1 Gundam draws its GN Buster Rifle. "Lat, are you okay?!"

Two parts of Asuka's brain are supplying her with conflicting information.

There is the sensible part that's telling her to get the hell out of dodge before she gets sucked up by the giant blob like everything else in the city.

And there's the egotistical part that refuses to be shown up by her fellow Eva pilots, both of who are already well into the fray.

Guess what side wins?

Asuka races towards the creature, her pellet pistol shooting a quick line of bullets--all sucked into the Angel's body in quick succession.

"W-what?! It's--It's not working!!" How are they supposed to kill something like THIS?!

Latooni Subota had nothing to do with the undershirt. Leo just fails at dressing.

Latooni switches Jade Knight into its humanoid form and jets backwards at the last moment, avoiding hitting it by about two inches and the fact that it teleported away from her. The gravity well is noted, but Jade Knight can stay up in it. For now.

"Yes," Latooni says to Leo, followed by "...I think so,", increasing the upward propulsion Jade Knight is recieving but moving upward only sluggishly; she dived awfully low to come at it. She fires a series of lasers at the spherical Angel while slowly moving upward.

Rei, too, fires her Eva's pellet pistol, orange sparkles spewing out of the vents on 00X's blue form, brighter orange panels up and down its frame lighting up and glowing radiantly -- and yet, in a way that makes the cyborg creature look even more profoundly unnerving.

Rei thinks of everything that's happened to her.

'You don't have ta trust me, or even like me. I don't mind. But if ya need someone to talk to...'

'Why do you keep looking at me?! All you do is sit there staring like some kind of doll! No matter how many times--!'

'If you have a goal you wish to accomplish, Ayanami, it is laudable that you are willing to sacrifice everything, including yourself, to achieve it. This is, in fact, the only way to truly grasp at what you seek, however...'

'...what is your relationship with Leo Stenbuck?'

'There's things you shouldn't have to deal with alone.'

'Thank you!'

"I'm not scared," Rei whispers to herself repeating it like a mantra. "Imnotscaredimnotscaredimnotscaredimntscrd--"

The pellet pistol empties, and 00X still charges, rushing toward the collapsing black hole, attempting to rip at it with its -- her -- bare hands --

"AAAAAAAA--"

"--I'M--"

"--NOT--"

--SCARED--!"

 Rei Ayanami transmits, "AAAAAAAA -- I'M -- NOT -- SCARED--!"

 Noriko Takaya transmits, "Rei!"

 Rei Ayanami transmits, "AAAAA!"

 Noriko Takaya transmits, "I'm here, I'm coming, hang on!!"

They're being eaten by some kind of black slop. "Shit!!" Jung declares, tilting the Empruss's stick /down/. The six hundred ton plane streaks downwards then, propelled by aerodynamics as well as its two big fat tau drives. Glittering red particles seem to rain outwards over the red hull as Jung adjusts a mostly unfamiliar slider, just in case of some hostile response, and then says perhaps for Takaya's benefit, "This is not what this was made to do, but -- Egner whips, deploy!"

Two pods on the wings of the massive mobile-armor-type machine part, like crab claws; lashing whips of hissing red light downwards to try and lash around the body of the charging EVA-00. Jesus, Jung thinks, the way Rei's screaming; what the hell is going /on/ with them? Is everyone going increasingly mad? She throttles down the Empruss's engines.

Which unfortunately would make the Empruss really easy to pull right about now.

Noriko continues charging in - Totoro isn't really equipped to /hover/, per se, but it enters a circling pattern for a while, trying to get a feel for the situation, for the battle. "It teleports--!?" she gasps, surprised. "How'd it do that!? It just...blinked! That's totally cheating, it didn't even zwee!"

But her half-joking assessment ends when the true horror of the angel starts to manifest. "Wait," Noriko gasps. "The buildings are sinking! What's--the hell is it even doing!? Eating things on the ground!?" But Totoro can't stay up forever, she's /got/ to land, but if she doesn't...her head spins, trying to come up with options. Jumping from building to building will work for about two seconds. Especially when there's nothing to shoot /at/.

And then Rei flips out on her, and analysis goes screaming out the window: "REI!" she screams, and suddenly shifts her shoulders, weight spinning around in a way that would be impossible without the Inertial Canceler. The photon thrusters fire, and Totoro's mass shoots down among sinking buildings to try and what can only possibly be called an aerial /tackle/ on Unit-00X, Noriko's arms moving to hold the Evangelion securely while Noriko uses her control pods to dial up the thrust as far as it goes. "HANG ON!" she yells loudly - Totoro doesn't have its sublight boosters, they don't /work/ in atmosphere, she can't /go/ any faster, but it's not...moving--!

"What--" Ayato exhales disbelievingly as bullets and lasers sink harmlessly into the Angel's form. "Anyone, anyone at all, this is Ayato Kamina, if you can hear me--if /anyone/ can hear me, what do I--" he uselessly shouts.

Well--not /completely/ uselessly. The RahXephon opens its mouth as it approaches Leliel's top side; Ayato's futile desperation is transmuted into song, bombarding the Angel with sound and... accomplishing little else, save for some property damage when windows in its vicinity shatter under the pressure.

Actually, even after Ayato shuts up, RahXephon keeps right on singing, holding the same crystal-clear note of destruction without faltering.

Actually, for that matter, wasn't it supposed to fly over Leliel? Why is it--slowly descending belly first towards the sphere?

And why is the Angel singing back?

Ayato has no idea about literally any of this, probably because he's screaming again; this time, though, it's more like 'writhing on the floor of his cockpit(which is mysteriously 'a floor' instead of 'a pool of water' for the time being) in indescribably agony' screaming rather than 'my radio doesn't work' agony.

Asuka's bullets only seem to push into the black ooze and never come back out. The black puddle only pulls at Unit 02 harder and harder. Even as she would struggle, it just makes the pull that much stronger until there is nothing left.

For Latooni, not even her thrusters can pull her from the gravity pulling everything down. The Angel just seems to have a hold on her, fighting her thrusters and pulling her down.

For Rei, the Angel doesn't need to fight much as Unit 00's pilot charges in like a Spartan. And just like a spartan, she loses the war despite the valiant fight. As the Evangelion pulls as the black goo, it comes up as puddles in her hand, always finding a way to drain back into the pool. Unit 00 is pulled under with a loud 'plop.'

Yes, Jung. You just walked into the Angel's trap. As the Emprus comes in close, gravity pulls violently down on the machine, starting to pull it down.

And then Noriko dives in, receiving the same pull. As she tries to get Rei to safety, it as if the Angel suddenly grips her and yanks downward.

Leliel receives the signal and copies it. Is it trying to communicate with Ayato? Is it smart? Or is it just trying to knock Ayato away with his musical attacks? FYI Ayato: Stop singing Rent at the Angel...It prefered Phantom of The Opera. Rahxephon splashes into the goo and slowly begins decending like a rock.

So what of Shinji? Well as the Top Girls go for Rei, Shinji dives after Asuka, attempts to grab her hand...Instead, the Evangelion is just pulled down into the muck. Shinji desparately pulls at the controls but nothing stops it's full descent into the blackness.

Nerv Command watches in horror as every unit on the field begins to disappear. What the hell was this thing?!

Johnny Domino's day has gone from basically 'perfect' to 'son of a bitch'. His time spent with Rei was something the Agent sorely needed after the tense weeks spent in deep space, and to have it rudely interrupted by a fucking Angel attack...

It's infuriating.

Crouched behind a large building, Chimera kneels, laying an ambush. After the call, Domino arrived at NERV with Rei, the girl sitting with him in the cockpit of his bio-unit. Much like when they were in his quarters still, no words were exchanged between the two during the journey. The girl sat in Domino's lap, legs dangling off to the side, her head resting against his chest. The Agent was frowning, his arms lax.

Their intimate embrace from before doesn't exist anymore. Their closeness begins and ends with the practical, as there is very little room in the spongy compartment to begin with. The only words any of them eventually uttered were Domino's. Dropping Rei off at a NERV depot on the surface of Tokyo-03, Johnny bid the First Child goodbye, saying as he leaned out of the cockpit, "Let's try not to die, okay?"

Right now, these last words sound so far away. Domino's head hangs low, face buried in his hands. He can hear Rei talking like a retarded drunkard over the radio. He can't stand it. And as he waits for Misato's orders to attack, or offer cover fire, or act as bait -- anything to distract him from Ayanami's behavior -- things go wrong.

BELOW IN CENTRAL DOGMA

Maya types at her console, fingers flying like butterflies across the keyboard. "I'm getting unusual readings from the Angel," she calls out over her shoulder, eyes never leaving her screen. "It's... I don't-- oh my god! S-Senpai, this is--!"

Ritsuko is at Maya's side in an instant. Looking the readings over, the good doctor comes 28% closer to losing her shit. "What the hell..?", she breathes. "This is... this is /decidedly/ unscientific," is her shocked conclusion.

And speaking of losing one's shit, Misato has reached 110% and climbing: "SHINJI! REI! ASUKA! GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE, NOW!"

Gendo, for his part, remain perfectly calm in this hour of crisis. Sitting at his usual post, observing everything with his hands crossed in front of his mouth, the man shows not a single ounce of emotion as various people go down. At his side, Fuyutsuki similarly doesn't move, back as rigid as Madonna's neo tits. He does speak, however: "This seems troublesome, old friend."

Gendo grunts, "Perhaps. Or perhaps everything is going according to plan--" Gendo Ikari tenses. Up until that moment, his eyes stared, hard as stone, at the holographic screens showing the Evangelions in action. Then, seeing Unit-00 sink into nothing, the heartless Ikari rises from his seat, eyes wide. There is only one name on his lips. "/Rei/!"

UP ABOVE IN TOKYO-03

Johnny Domino calls out Ayanami's name a fraction of a second after Gendo does, miles beneath the surface. Chimera is already charging ahead, Domino not even remembering ordering his bio-unit to do as such. There's only one thing on his mind:

Help Shinji, and Latooni, and Noriko, and Jung, and... and especially Rei.

SOME TIME AGO

WOOP WOOP WOOP WOOP

Everyone ignores the alarm. It is the secondary alarm, meaning something bad is happening to someone else. At the Saotome Labs, you get docked pay if you care about anything other than Getter Rays, and Professor Saotome won't sign your reference sheet when you try for some grant. In summary, no one cares.

Ryouma reclines on a couch, chewing on a toothpick. When it shatters, he spits it out and starts on a new one. "Eh, isn't that the NERV signal? We better get suited up."

Hayato is currently hacking files regarding the end of the world. "We're not launching now. Getter isn't contracted for this one. The old man says we shouldn't risk it."

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Ryouma shrieks. He rolls to his feet, fists clenched. "That kid Shinji's going to get himself killed if Getter Robo isn't there!

"Does he matter to Getter?" Hayato asks. Ryouma breathes hard. He knows Hayato's approximation of Saotome's answer is correct.

MORE RECENTLY

Dozens of Getter Soldiers have surrounded the launching pad. They are unwilling to fire on the Get Machines, even as they prepare to launch. Ryouma sits in the first plane. The others have already activated their autopilot routines.

Saotome stands on a catwalk. His eyes are impassive. "Get done with your little trip. If you die, Getter will come back, and you wouldn't have been fit to pilot it."

NOW

A bright flash illuminates all darkness! There, in the sky, it's the Getter Spark!

"CHAAAAANGE GETTER-1! SWITCH ON!"

Getter Robo falls like a comet, its cape spread like broad wings of vengeance! "SHINNNJJIIIII! There is no threat that GETTER CAN'T DESTROY! With it, I'll save my untrained student! GETTTAAAAAAAAAA!"

The demonic Getter-1 plunges freely into the Angel, the light of Getter Rays fading behind it.

And now the infinite black abyss of death is eating Latooni.

/Awesome./

"LATOONI!" Leo shouts in mounting panic. The 1 Gundam points its buster rifle straight downwards and fires a massive beam of orange energy straight into the inky darkness, and the blast just... vanishes, the only sign of its passing being the shockwave and heat distortion from its firing.

"FUCK! HARO, DO SOMETHING!" the young man demands, directing the Gundam higher into the air to get away from the horrible abyss of death. The spherical robot mounted to his left begins flapping in despair, and chanting, "FANGS, FANGS! FANGS, FANGS!"

Sure enough, the 1 Gundam's Fangs erupt from its shield and curve downwards, their beam blades igniting as they dive into the void around Latooni, and... ... vanish. "Fuck! FUCK!" Leo shouts.

Thrusters work pretty well for the Jade Knight.

Until the pulling force intensifies, anyway.

Briefly, Latooni panics. She never /really/ panics, but there is definitely some alarm there; the green thruster fire intensifies, and she hovers in place for a few moments before slowly, slowly descending. "Leo, I - "

She does not get to say anything else before she slips into the void.

The GN-tau drives attempt to kick in, providing a transient spike in glowing red death-particles in the area. However, it's like a fish flopping to try to swim away when it's already been landed. Jung screeches obscene terms in Russian, cut off abruptly midway through the second synonym for 'penis' as the Empruss is drawn into the void.

Misato's suggestion is easier said than done.

"W-what?!" Asuka jerks her leg, trying to pull herself free from the darkness threatening to pull her in. "Let go of me!"

But the more she struggles, the more difficult it is to pull free; it's not unlike quicksand, pulling her in faster the more she struggles.

Asuka sends a shower of bullets into the Angel, a last-ditch attempt to weaken the creature--but it's to no avail; the creature continues to pull her with its suction as it absorbs the bullets as it did before.

Soon, there is nothing left of Unit-02 or Asuka Langley Sohryu.

NIRAI-KIRAI ISLAND

"Magnetic field build-up--K-mesons detected beneath the Angel!" shrieks one of TERRA's science officers.

"The Angel's pulse modulation is synching with the RahXephon's wave form! Ayato's life support is dropping--if this keeps up, he won't--!" another exclaims as she frantically--futilely tries to accomplish something by typing away at the keyboard before her.

Shell-shocked, Captain Shitow can't even give orders; the first thing that escapes her mouth is Ayato's name, encapsulated in a frightened sob/shout.

TOKYO-03... -ISH

RahXephon's hand is sticking out of Leliel's body, but it like the rest of the Mulian machine is rapidly disappearing into its depths. By now, the cockpit is an echo-chamber of nothingness for Ayato's pained cries.

It doesn't take long, really; in mere seconds, its fingertips have vanished, and when that happens, its song is silenced.

A single white feather floats delicately from within Leliel's body on a wispy trail of golden light, but in short order it is drawn back in.

And off in the distance, detained in the strong arms of two members from Section 9, Kensuke Aida watches in horror as pretty much everyone gets swallowed up by the Angel.

"NOOOOOOOOO," he bellows, "TAKE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

'Kensuke Aida, National Commando, bravely threw himself at the Angel. Pulsating pecs jiggling from manly exertion, the brave hero's final words, as he pushed Shinji and Asuka out of the way, were, "Don't worry about me. I've been in tighter, stickier situations, and I always... came out on top."'

Wait, no.

'"I've been in tighter, stickier situations, and I always... pulled out in time."'

Wait, no.

'"I've been in tighter, stickier situations... like your mom."'

'Asuka blushed.'

Noriko pushes Totoro, teeth gritted even as the Inertial Canceler whines at her, sparks, and dies in the gravity, Noriko yelling, "GO! TOTORO! I won't...we can't just be beaten like this!!"

Someone, somewhere, in a far off time, once said that hard work and guts could never accomplish a true miracle. Struggle, fight, and die - your voices are not heard by God.

In this dreadful moment, as the darkness devours Rei, and herself, Noriko finds this fear blooming in her heart.

Domino is the last to be pulled down after Ryouma rockets himself down into the depths of the Angel. As the Chimera fades into the void, there is a final electronic hum from the Angel.

The Angel's sphere reappears, hovering the air over the area it just absorbed. The ground is solid again and Nerv command stands in horror, watching the Angel to figure out what their next course of action should be. It is a dark day for Tokyo 03.

However, all of this was a dream. I mean giant robots? Get real. That stuff is kind of childish.

The sun is rising over the city of Tokyo. Summer Session begins today as one can tell by the warmer weather. As the sun continues to rise, the chrisp scent of summer begins to fill the air. It is the year 2013 A.D. Society hasn't gotten around to the promised future of Back To The Future 2 or Blade Runner but life is still pretty comfortable. As the sun comes over the skyline of Tokyo, people begin stirring from their beds and beginning the new day as if it was what they always did.

The Nerv Foundation Adacemy is a bizarre sight in modern Tokyo. Somehow this academy has managed to secure not only the land for a large campus but a few acres of field surrounding it, putting a dent in the large modern buildings surrounding it. The campus itself is state of the art, looking like some kind of Cathedral on the outside. Inside the entry way has a black marble floor and bone white walls. Continuing down, there is the typical layout of classrooms. Each floor represents a different year with the home rooms of that year divided among the rooms. In the center of the school is a court yard that looks like something out of a Victorian painting rather than a high school. There is trees and a garden surrounding fairly spread out tables and benches. For some reason, this area doesn't look trashed...It looks erriely well maintained. In addition to the main building, there is two addition buildings. The first, connected by a walkway is where rooms such as the art room and the music room are. Here you'll find club meeting rooms as well. The final building is the gym. Here' sports teams practice to kick balls around.

In addition to the buildings, there is a track, a pool, a soccer field, and a baseball field. You get the feeling that whoever owns this school is rich just by how much land they have in Tokyo.

So why are you here? Well Nerv Foundation Academy is one of the best schools in Japan now. Every year, thousands of kids attempt to get into the school and only a couple of hundred get the scores needed to. Others get into the school by showcasing a talent. Some can even pull a legacy card in order to walk through these prestigeous doors.

Light bends as the Angel pulls GN Evangelion Unit-00X inward. The last thing Rei Ayanami feels is the experience of going blind.

"Da--da--"

"Mom! Mom! Look! Look at me, mom! Mom-mee-eee!"

"Happy birthday, baby brother!"

"Asuka, huh? My name is Rei!"

"How did you and Mom meet?"

"SHINJI! I told you to stay OUT of my ROOM--!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

"Friends forever, Asuka."

"You'll never believe what happened, I'm going out with--"

"Shh, shh, careful, Shinji's in the next room, he'll hear-- ahn~"

"--no, see, it's pi times the radius, Noriko... yeah, like that, and then you take that and square--"

"You know, there's nothing wrong with second place, Asuka..."

"Shinji, are you okay?"

"I'll miss you, Mom. I wish you didn't have to--"

"I love you, Leo."

"You're right... we have been... drifting kind of apart..."

"Noriko, stop laughing! I said I think Domino is /cute/, is all, not-- urgh!"

"You're dating Subota? I'm not surprised, haha! --What do you mean, what do I mean by that...?"

"Where were you last night, Shinji? You woke me up coming in."

"Dad! Can we order dinner from Magi's, puh-leeease?"

"You know what, I think I /will/ run!"

"I'm home~!"

NOW

The radio clicks on at six in the morning. "I Got You, Babe" plays as Rei Ayanami Ikari stirs in her bed. "Mwuh...?" As she sits up and throws off her comforters, wearing only a teal tanktop (branded with 'A-LAWS Autonomous Fashion Force' in faux-military stenciling) and a pair of tight red boyshorts (usable only for sleeping -- they have a slight rip on one side, exposing some of her pale hip, but they're too comfortable for Rei to throw them out -- or so she tells herself), Rei gazes around her room vacantly, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She reaches over to a blue penguin plush that was sleeping next to her -- 'HUG ME' printed on its tummy -- and squeezes it, causing it to emit a tiny squeak that makes her smile.

Her room is full of little touches that mark it as the domain of a sixteen-year-old girl who was, at one point in time, every other age leading up to sixteen. Posters line the walls -- a serene painting of a theoretical moon colony, so detailed as to nearly be photographic; loud, colorful posters for the anniversary edition of Classic Gundam Fight All-Set!, and the game Gundam Fight Dream Girl X: Love Under the Battlefield; and a labrador retriever puppy that is so cute it's /retarded/. Origami cranes in bright, jazzy hues line the tops of shelves. Models rest on a shelf above her computer, an unhidden shrine to Rei's geekier side -- toys of fictional monsters and spaceships with names like 'Unit-00,' 'Chimera,' and 'Vic Viper.'

Photographs are blue-tacked to the wall between posters -- Rei passes a couple that were taken out at some shrine, she and a brown-haired young man both grinning like complete goofballs, and one or two of her and another girl, an auburn-haired one with a headband, making silly faces. A few pages torn out of magazines have been stuck up, too -- photos of her and her friend Noriko's favorite band, the Gun Fangs, and of billionaire inventor and philantrophist Amuro Ray. Rei lets the radio play on as she throws open the curtains. She loves the sun, even if she never seems to be able to get a decent tan.

It's not until Rei's half-done making breakfast that she realizes she's going to be late for school. "BYE DAD" she yelps breathlessly as she runs, before cramming a piece of toast into her mouth and gripping it between her teeth. Without putting down his newspaper, Gendo Ikari grunts.

Toast in mouth, Rei dashes the entire way to school. She should be exhausted, but sheer academic panic takes over -- she's running for Class President, 'VOTE REI' flyers (with Rei's smiling face in a less-than-professional photo taken by Noriko, and a list of her qualifications) are up all over campus, so how could she possibly be even the slightest bit tardy for anything?! Who would vote for her then?! Plus, hanging out with the jocks as much as she does -- okay, /a/ jock, and sometimes /a/ jock's other jock friend -- well, she's at least a little more in shape than she used to be.

Rei arrives to find that the only 'VOTE REI' slogans remaining are the button she has pinned to her uniform's vest, and the other button she has stuck to her backpack. Everything else has been plastered over with /other/ posters: 'VOTE FOR ASUKA' and Asuka Langley Shikinami in... a... bikini--

"UWAAAHHH--!" Rei sputters, the toast falling out of her mouth and onto the ground as she nearly jumps out of her shoes. Hastening to rip some of the offending posters down, Rei's eyes are wide with -- well, a whole range of feelings, mostly negative, but primarily shock. "That-- That-- That--!"

Asuka Langley Shikinami checks herself out in the body-length mirror on the door of her room. A few stray hairs are brushed out of her face, her bangs readjusted, and she offers her reflection her most charming smile. A quick spin in front of the mirror to check out the status of her school uniform, and Asuka is finally satisfied. It's not easy being the most popular girl at Nerv Foundation Academy--and it's almost as difficult to look the part.

Asuka's parents are both scientists at a research firm--the very research firm they had met as interns nearly two decades prior. Both are incredibly well paid, and with Asuka being their only daughter, she's immensely spoiled. Everything about Asuka reflects this: from her better-than-thou attitude to the fashion accessories she wears, it's clear that Asuka thinks highly of herself. The attitude and the fashion accessories are just there to make sure everyone else thinks the same of her, too.

"Breakfast, Asuka, darling!" A voice downstairs calls.

"Coming!"

Waiting downstairs is a meal of eggs, bacon, and toast, as well as her mother's freshly squeezed orange juice. "You're up and ready bright and early this morning," she remarks, placing a plate down in front of her.

"Well, I've got some more fliers to put up," she says, spooning some egg into her mouth.

Her father, who until now was holed up behind the paper, glances over it. "Fliers?"

"I'm running for student body president," she says cheerily. "Don't you think it'll look good on my college application?"

The entirety of breakfast is spent talking about Asuka's favorite topic--herself. Unlike most high school students, her academic effort was not the product of parental pressure, but a genuine motivation to succeed. After all, ANYONE could have the hottest fashion accessories. But not anyone could get into one of the Big 10 Colleges. Enrollment in one of the world's most elite universities would guarantee her the high social status she established at Nerv Foundation Academy in adulthood.

And given her current test scores, she'd have little trouble getting into any university of her choice. However, Asuka was not satisfied with that; she also had to be number one.

And Rei Ayanami was the one girl in school who stood in the way of that!

"I'm off, mama, papa!" she shouts as she grabs her bag from the hallway entrance.

"See you after school, dear!"

Asuka slips off her shoes and is off.

Before the first bell rings, Asuka, with the help of her legion of fanboys, has managed to plaster a 'Vote for Asuka' sign over nearly every one of Rei Ayanami's fliers. They feature a cheerful Asuka, dressed in a rather revealing bikini flashing a peace sign. It's the sort of thing that will easily attract male attention--which is exactly what Asuka wants. It's her intended voting demographic, after all.

When the first bell rings, Asuka's already sitting at her desk, waiting for class to begin.

Unlike another candidate for student council president who is currently well on track to be marked tardy.

"God, Mom," shouts Jung Freud on her way towards the door, slim Italian purse over one shoulder and clashing with her track shorts, "I said I'll fill them out AFTER the weekend! I'm going to the beach with Linda! Look, why don't you go deal with Dad, he's probably fallen in by now!!"

Then she goes out the door, shaking her head with a theatrical sigh that ripples all through her T-shirt covered breasts, seen quite clearly by the Male Gaze ambient in the area. "I swear," she says, not unfondly, before --

-- time passes, Jung walking along the path to school and holding her purse over her shoulder to let it dangle from its strap, the normal bookbag slung on her side. "Man," she says as she looks down at the long streak of blue-toned posters, mostly now covered with red. "They're taking this election shit seriously, huh, Noriko?"

Shinji Ikari didn't go to sleep last night. He didn't even go home. That's why his blue hair is a mess, spiking in just about every direction. He looks around with stern red eyes, cigarette hanging from his mouth as he slips on his school uniform jacket over his shoulder. He glares at an old woman who gives him a look. "What do you want Grandma?" He smirks, walking along until he spots the rest of his posse.

Toji waves Shinji over, smiling as he carries a bag over his shoulder. "Yo Shinji! Out all night again?"

"Pth yeah. Those jokers at Jindai think they're tough shit. Had to show them exactly what I thought of them." Shinji lights his cigarette, expelling the smoke out his nostrils. "Fell asleep in a love hotel."

Kensuke grins at Shinji. "With a girl?!"

Shinji blushes, smacking Kensuke on the shoulder hard. "HEY! Don't rub it in! I can't help it if girls don't know I'm a great guy yet..." Shinji takes another drag, blowing the smoke upward. "Tch. Whatever, I should go steal one of those girls from one of those guys I demasculined last night. Shoulda been there. Me and the rest of the guys had a hell of a fight."

"Can't. Unlike your sister, mine would practicually lock me out of the house forever if I ran off like you did, Shinji." Toji smirks at the taller boy, walking up ahead of him and Kensuke. "Come on. We don't want to miss Ms. Katsuragi's class. She's probably wearing something awesome today!"

Time passes as the trio continues on to school. Eventually the door is thrown forcefully open and Shinji and the others stroll in just as the bell goes. "Tch. They need to get that thing fixed. I'm still early by my watch." Shinji falls into his chair, a few seats down from either Asuka or Rei.

Latooni Balanga did not see her parents this morning.

This is not out of any particular failing, other than both Garnet and Giado tend to be very, very late risers and both have jobs that occasionally allow them to indulge in it - one model (semi-retired), one singer. Fortunately, she is very able to take care of herself; she made breakfast for herself and her brother Arado, left coffee to start for when they finally /did/ get up, and went to catch the bus.

Latooni ignores both sets of posters as she heads toward school, practically towered over by the backpack she has brought with more notebooks and textbooks than one student probably needs... unless she's spending time tutoring, again, which is a possibility.

Also, she is texting, the screen of her digital phone reflected on the thin glasses she wears. Specifically, she is texting Leo, checking plans for tonight after archery practice; she is the sort of girl who really, really likes to be prepared for everything.

That also may explain the backpack.

NIRAI-KIRAI ISLAND

A little heart-rate monitor - what else could it be, with that numerical readout accompanied by a cartoonish, pulsating heart? - is ticking down rapidly; terrified TERRA operatives are scrambling to try and cobble together a solution that will save the young pilot's life(even if most of them are more concerned for their ability to continue pulling in those sweet A-LAWS funding dollars than they are with Ayato Kamina's specific existence).

And then the monitor hits '00'.

And the heart not only stops beating, it sprouts an 'X_X' expression, complete with a little tongue lolling lifelessly from the corner of its mouth.

TOKYO-03-ISH

Clutching his chest, Ayato Kamina curls into a tight ball and falls still.

NIRAI-KIRAI ISLAND

"Ay--Ayato is--"

Every monitor hooked into the RahXephon and Ayato's life support systems dies like a bleak drumroll.

"/The RahXephon is gone/!"

"Con--" Captain Shitow strains to command; she has to struggle hard to speak when her mouth suddenly goes dry and her throat constricts. "A--ah, con--tinue--sca--scaanning..."

TOKYO

2013 A.D.

"Mom--mom, mom, mom, oh God, mom..." Ayato Kamina desperately squeals, trying his damndest to fend off the saliva-moistened thumb daubing at a smear of charcoal on his cheek.

The two are parked right outside the Nerv Academy; they've been here a little while as his mother likes to arrive early early, so the school's front lot isn't packed with peolpe yet, but there are /enough/. A couple are actually staring, causing Ayato's face to flush with redness and a ripple of uncomfortable warmth that swiftly spreads from his cheeks down through his shoulders and chest.

"Moooom, people are /looking/," he weakly says. "I--I told you, I can /walk/, why do I even--need--you don't--have to go out of your way like this..."

"Oh, nonsense," Maya Kamina chipperly refutes as she moves on to lovingly ruining her son's carefully groomed hair. "It's no trouble at all! Besides, if I don't take care of you /now/, when will I? Now. You have your lunch? That painting you stayed up all night working on?"

"Yes, mom..." Ayato mumbles, thoroughly defeated.

Maya beams, incapable of registering embarrassment, apparently. After brushing a few locks of her son's hair aside to keep them from hanging in front of his face, she takes her hands away and turns her cheek towards him.

"What about a kiss for your mother--have you got /that/?"

"I--well--" Ayato stammers before leaning in to briskly comply. One eye is kept on the car window, just in case anyone sees him with his lips pressed to his mother's cheek--

Hey, that's Toji, Kensuke and Shinji over there--

"Ohgodgottarunmombyeseeyoulaterstayingafterschool!" Ayato shrieks. He manages to set some kind of record in the course of unbuckling his safety belt, grabbing all his stuff and tumbling from the car to sprint all the way to the school itself. His entire face is read, now, and it's a wonder he doesn't trip over himself and crush the painting in his arms.

Maya watches all of this with a good-natured chuckle; once Ayato is just about out of sight, she sighs happily and proudly, turns the key and pulls off.

Leo's mouth flaps wordlessly for a few moments as Latooni vanishes into the blackness... and then, somehow, he manages to tear his eyes away from where she used to be and glance around at the rest of the battlefield, where... the other combatants are /all/ also vanishing into darkness.

And then they're gone.

"You have got to be /fucking/ me!" the young man roars in fury. He doesn't care that the Angel probably can't understand him; he toggles his communications over to external loudspeaker and bellows, "COME ON, YOU PIECE OF SHIT! YOU WANT SOMETHING TO EAT?! WELL, EAT THIS!"

The 1 Gundam thrusts its Buster Rifle towards the newly reappeared Angel, and Leo shouts-

ELSEWHERE

SOME TIME AGO

"Hey, dickbrain," Leo Stenbuck declares, as he hustles into a kitchen made entirely out of stainless steel.

"Hey, asshole," Amuro Ray, billionare inventor and philanthropist, says without looking up. He pauses for a beat, and then says, "Have fun with Lat tonight."

Leo opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted by his phone buzzing; he digs it out of his pocket with the hand he isn't picking out an apple from the bowl with, glances at the text message he just received, and laughs, "How do you /do/ that?"

"Psychic," Amuro explains simply, as he turns the page of the newspaper.

"Of course," Leo grins, rolling his eyes. He hurriedly sends a reply to Latooni's message, finally picks an apple, grabs his bag off of the counter, and sprints out of the room. "Shit, I am /so late./ Love you, Dad!"

"Drive safe," Amuro calls after him.

NOW

A white and blue convertible 2013 Zeta, the latest Ray Automotive model, pulls up next to Latooni and slows to a gradual roll matching her speed. From where he's sitting in the driver's seat, Leo lifts his twenty thousand yen sunglasses off of his eyes and calls to Latooni, "Somebody looks like she could use a ri-ide~"

There's a voice in the darkness. A woman's voice.

"Johnny... Johnny..."

She's calling out to him.

"Johnny. Johnny Domino."

Domino doesn't answer. It feels like the voice is coming from such a great distance. She's so far away... so faint... so--

"JOHNNY J. DOMINO, YOU'RE LATE FOR SCHOOL!"

Johnny Domino stirs in bed. His blanket half-spilled to the floor during the night, and as the young boy rolls around, the whole thing gets kicked over the edge. "Mmnnnn," comes the muttering as Johnny keeps his eyes closed, still clinging to sleep. An alarm clock sits on the dresser by the window, woefully neglected. Johnny Domino never set his alarm before, and he wasn't going to start now just because he was on the verge of graduation.

"JOHNNY," again, Domino's mother calls from downstairs. The boy emits another low "mmmnum." Nothing can interrupt his sleep, not his mother, not his brother, not--

"Oof!"

Domino gasps as something heavy lands on his stomach. A black feline watches Johnny with golden eyes, head tilted to the side. "Nyaa!~"

Johnny Domino is unimpressed. "Ungh. Elly, go away," he says, waving a hand in front of the cat without so much as looking her way. The cat is just as unimpressed as its owner.

"Nyan!~"

Sticking her claws out, the little feline begins kneading Johnny's flesh through his pajamas. Johnny's pajamas, it should be noted, are very very thin. "GNK!!" The boy shoots up in bed, trying desperately to separate his cat from his skin. "Eleanor! Goddamnit, get offa me! You-- you stupid cat--"

"Nyaa?~"

Domino stops when he sees Eleanor's sparkling eyes staring up at him like pools of molten gold. After a moment, Johnny Domino sighs. "Fine, fine, I'm up, I'm up." Releasing his cat, Domino drops his legs to floor and stretches. "MmmmmmmMMMMM!" Oh, that feels good.

Blinking owlishly at the various rays of light penetrating his room through the blinds of his window, the boy peers around for his alarm clock. "What time is it?" Scratching behind his head, Domino then narrows his inquiry: "What /day/ is it?"

2 MINUTES LATER

"AAAHHHHHHHH!!"

Johnny Domino rushes down the stairs, hastily trying to put on the jacket portion of his school uniform and not understanding why his arms won't go through the same sleeve. His pants threaten to slide down, as the boy neglected to buckle his belt after throwing them on. Eleanor hops after her master, tail swishing.

"I'm late I'm late I'm late!", exclaims the boy as he bursts into the kitchen. His brother, Paptimus, looks up from the morning paper. Unlike Johnny, Paptimus is smartly dressed. His clothes are ironed, his tie is straight as an arrow, and his designer pants are to die for. That's how life is when you are an executive of an important company, though.

Putting his cup of coffee down, Paptimus smirks. "Calm down, calm down," he says. "You're not late. I set your clock forward an hour last night, that's all. Sit down and eat something."

Johnny Domino is visibly relieved. "Geh, Paptimus, don't DO that! Nearly gave me a heart attack." Settling down for some toast and orange juice, Johnny shakes his head in mock annoyance at his big brother. "So whacha gonna do this morning, Pap?"

"Ehh," shrugs Paptimus. "Got a meeting. They probably want to give me a /raise/ again. You know how it is, grandma's always looking out for us."

Grandmother Antwalker, a woman of steel and guts, took Paptimus under her wing right after his graduation. Heading the company where Paptimus works, the woman does not, in fact, ascribe to the philosophy of nepotism. Double in fact, in the past year, she had cut Paptimus's salary three times already. It's okay, though. Even if Antwalker doesn't give Paptimus a raise, every other girl in the office /does/. Aw yeah.

Johnny chuckles, rubbing Eleanor behind her ears. "Yeah, grandma loves you, doesn't she." So it goes. Just another morning at the Domino household.

"Oh, by the way," Paptimus ventures after Johnny finishes eating. "The part about setting your clock an hour forward? That was a lie."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"

Yup, just another morning.

She's gonna be tardy she's gonna be tardy she's gonna be tardy she's gonna be tardy she's never tardy WHY DOES SHE HAVE TO BE TARDY ON TODAY OF ALL DAYS--

Rei Ayanami is counting the seconds in her head like some kind of human stopwatch. Normally, all of this stuff comes so easily to her -- she doesn't even have to work at things, they just /go right/. So why did today deviate from the pattern? Maybe she stayed up too late, she thinks. Graham Aker was on one of the late-night chat shows, and she couldn't really help herself, telling herself that she was just staying up to see if Shinji came home. It worries her that she's getting so used to her brother's ways that she's using it as an excuse to stay up and watch TV. But Graham Aker's such an interesting guy, and even if people dismiss his self-help books as claptrap, Rei really feels a /connection/ to the Bushido System, ever since she borrowed the book from Leo. And then her mind snaps away from the Bushido System and to TARDINESS and /oh god/--

"Hey," a voice calls. Rei stops in her tracks, great, just when she least needs it, she's going to get a /demerit/ on top of a /tardy/ for /running/ in the /halls/--

Rei turns, her fists still full of wadded up bikini posters, and faces... a strange, slim boy. Taller than her. His eyes are the same red as hers; his hair a vivid white. He's so pretty. He's not wearing the school uniform, though. He's wearing a suit -- a black one -- a /nice/ one -- tailored, too. And a skinny black tie, and Rei just has to marvel for a second.

The boy grins. "You're Rei, right?" He steps in close and looks at the button on her vest. "Do you have any more of those buttons?"

Rei needs a second to process the question. When she does, she swings off her backpack, dropping to one knee to zip it open and rifle through it. "Oh, uh, yeah, tons," Rei says, rifling around. She pulls aside her agenda book -- she's taped over the school's crest with a picture of Roy Fokker playing some song or another with his band, the Aggressors. (Rei still remembers the time when, having pushed her and Leo's way to the front row of a sold-out show at the NERV Pyramid, he picked /her/ to come up on stage while he sang a ballad, "Zero-G Love" -- and had Rei tunelessly sing the Lynn Minmay parts. Rei nearly died. Leo nearly died, too, he was so pissed off. Rei found his jealousy adorable.)

Standing up with a 'VOTE REI' badge, Rei slowly hands it over toward the white-haired boy. "Hey... do you... go here...?"

The boy smiles. His smile is dazzling to look at. Rei doesn't know why she finds it so captivating, but-- "No," he says, pinning the button to his lapel. "Not yet."

There's a weird pause as Rei shifts her weight from foot to foot, uncomfortable as the young man unabashedly sizes her up, staring at her from head to toe. Then he speaks again: "Say hi to your brother for me, Lilith."

Then he turns and walks away, not seeming to hear as Rei protests: "But my name is--" RRRRRRIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGG

Rei /screeches/ because she is now /tardy/, literally hurtling herself into the room just as the bell winds down, and almost knocking over her desk in the course of slamming herself down into her seat. "I'M HERE!" she yelps, "I'M HERE!"

An awkward silence for a moment.

Then Healing Care, the only girl in school bitchier than Asuka, slowly golf-claps.

This morning, at an hour that would be considered 'obscene' by any right-thinking human being, Noriko Takaya swung the door of her house open and spun in place, waving as she calls, "Mama, Papa, I'm heading out now!" with her gym bag full of clothes for the dojo over one shoulder and her book bag in hand. "Papa, remember to bring your lunch! You forgot, yesterday!"

Five minutes later, she waved her access pass to the guard as she dashes out of the JSDF military housing complex and makes full speed for her dojo.

One hour later, Noriko Takaya, with her hair just a little messier and her uniform having the look of a uniform that was put on from, say, a gym bag rather than a coat hanger, trots along next to Jung with her eyes glued to the posters with a BIG BAD FROWN on her face. "I can't believe she did that!" Noriko huffs, angrily. "We worked really hard on those posters!" (rei worked hard, noriko ate pocky) (and read manga) (and briefly held a camera) "That Shikinami girl really gets on my nerves, you know? Where does she even get off!?"

She growls, and breaks contact because LOOKING AT THEM IS WHAT SHE WANTS, stalking along with eyes locked ahead and her shoulders squared. "I bet Rei's gonna be heartbroken..." she says, with more real sadness, before finally swinging the door to their classroom open and stepping inside - dropping her bag under her desk and pulling her books out. "...hey," she wonders, looking at the clock. "Where.../is/ Rei? It's not really like her to be--"

RIIIIIIIIIIIIING. Late!? And only then does Rei blast through the door, Noriko's eyes widening. "Ah! She's here!" she says, happy to take the possibility of Rei being actually assaulted by Asuka off the list of possibilities.

Healing Care golfclaps. Asuka rolls her eyes. They wanted THIS girl to be student council president? She could barely manage her own life, let alone an entire student body.

"Probably on one of the rich boys' motorcycles," Jung answers Noriko, before sniggering slightly at her own wit, before rolling her head and looking back at her: "Ah, it'll be OK! She can play the victim card, that mean bitch is just digging her own grave." She plops down, to the left of Noriko, and slouches rather than getting her books out; she has nothing to prove.

She is a SCHOOL COMBAT GENIUS.

Her head swivels for a moment. "Oi, Ayanami!" she calls out amiably, "did the time change mess you up too?"

Time change? she wonders faintly, before it fades into the background.

Ryouma Nagare, supreme fighting student, clenches his fists. Around him are the bodies of half a dozen rabid dogs. Their necks are broken, every last one.

"Tsk... the city should be paying me for cleaning up this mess. Yet, I am paid in martial excellence!"

The boy that some call 'the infinite dragon of destruction' picks up his book bag and walks down the alley that he cuts through to get to school. This day, something tells him... to take... a detour.

"RYOUMA NAGARE!"

Five teens in uniforms from another school block his path! They raise their fists! Energy is storming with all the intensity of gale-force winds! Ryouma leans forward, shocked!

"Agh! You bastards! What are you doing here, blocking my path?!"

"Ryouma Nagare, you father shut down the martial schools we attended! Your underhanded tricks broke the law of Japanese excellence!"

"Hahaha... hahaha!" Ryouma giggles, putting a hand to his head. "Do you think there's some kind of law for martial arts? You fools, I'll show you that in fighting, there's no honor!"

"I'm Chokuro Munenaka! I wield the iron claws as if they were my owm hands!"

"I'm Tosaburo Hiroshige! My staff is an extension of my hatred for you!"

"I'm Dairokuro Morimochi! My steel boots will crush your evil heart!"

"I'm Choichiro Moritsune! Try my invincible defense and see how weak your convictions are!"

"And I'm the leader, Dajiro Tamemori! You'll never escape our divine judgment!"

Ryouma spits. He runs a hand along his lips. "Doesn't it tip you off that all of you had to come at me at once? You're no match for my father's style!" He throws his bag to the side, ripping off his shirt! The boy's muscles gleam in the early morning light! He is truly 'someone that has become a man before their time!'

"COME AT ME!"

Choichiro Moritsune gasps. His voice catches his in throat. He tries to speak, but not even words can face the strength of the youth, Ryouma Nagare! All around him, his friends are broken and bloodied, writhing on the ground! Moritsune reaches into his pocket, withdrawing a knife!

"Ryouma! You've forced me to this!"

Moritsune dashes forward. The two collide! Ryouma looks up, his eyes locking on to the other boy! Between our hero's hands is the dishonorable knife: blood flows freely, but he does not care! "Why don't you push or pull?! You'll have to get your knife back somehow!"

"OOOORRRRAAAAAAAA!"

Choichiro goes flying! He blubbers, failing to respond, and runs away! Ryouma tosses the knife away. "You fools! Don't you know that my father's techniques will eternally defeat weaker spirits? That's the power of Getter Style!"

END CHAPTER 1

Latooni Subota has never asked how Leo was allowed to drive at his age.

She honestly doesn't care.

"Thanks," she says, smiling big; it's not a terribly rare expression on Latooni and it lights up her face. She slips into the passenger's seat, bag on her lap. The ride is pleasant, if a little unremarkable because it's not long enough for her to start a conversation.

She gives Leo a peck on the cheek when she gets out, because she doesn't like to do any more in public than that - and then she tears up to the classroom. If she's very, very lucky, she will make it just before the bell rings. (Leo will probably not be far behind.)

Shinji looks over at Healing when she golf claps, giving her the look. He then proceeds to avert his eyes to avoid one of Rei's looks. He looks forward, smirking when Toji makes a stupid face in the 'girl's' direction. Man, that Healing Care was going to piss him off someday. Oh well. Shinji does the most respectful thing and leans back in his chair as he places his feet on his desk. Not like anyone would care until Ms. Katsuragi got into the class room.

He yanks his headphones out of his pocket and turns on his HARO MP3 player. It was time to listen to some Aggressors rock music...maybe switch it to Revive and Revivals next.

Rei looks frazzled as she recovers from 'nearly crashing into her desk like the 2013 crashing into someone in Waverider mode.' Then again, anyone who's known Rei for more than four seconds knows that she can never keep what she's feeling off of her face (nor does she ever even try to hide it).

"H-Hey!" she says, quietly, throwing a wave over to Jung and Noriko, before shooting a stray glance down at Shinji to ensure that he is not, you know, dripping blood or missing an arm or something. That Nagare kid isn't even in yet -- Rei figures this means she might have half a chance to actually /talk/ to her brother. But for now--

Rei uncrumples one of the bikini Asuka posters and turns it toward Noriko, jabbing a finger at it with an indignant look and very clearly mouthing 'Can you believe this?!'

The creepy business in the hallway is forgotten. For now, anyway.

Ayato doesn't really need to sprint so much once he's safely indoors, so at that point he settles into a leisurely stroll and tries to pretend that yeah, he's sweaty and out of breath because he /meant/ to be sweaty and out of breath.

It only takes one set of looks exchanged between he and a clearly disbelieving pair of second year girls who've looked up from gossiping to stare at him for this facade to crack; with one final, gusty sigh he sags and drags himself the rest of the way to the art room.

Dropping his assignment - a painted recreation of the cover to glam-rock group Celestial Being's latest album 'Raising The Bar (Innovations)' - off is easy enough, so by the time Rei explodes into the classroom, he's already comfortably seated in his desk and glancing sidelong to the empty seat to his left that's been devoid of his steady Reika for like a week now.

He jolts upright when Rei enters (and Healing mocks her), and then he sinks into his seat, rubs the back of his neck and mumbles an apology way too quiet to be heard as a wave of sympathy-embarrassment washes over him.

Jung gives Ayato a rather flat look, before silently pulling out her phone below the desktop and sending Healing Care a cryptic text message to see if she managed to buy the cigarettes she already paid for.

Leo is, in fact, behind Latooni... but not /right/ behind; he gets flagged down by the school nurse, Ribbons Almark, so that he can be passed a refill on the multivitamins he's been taking ever since he fucked up his rotator cuff one inning away from pitching a perfect game against the Wing Memorial High School Zeroes last year.

Then, of course, he has to exchange gibes with Masaki Andoh when they pass in the hall... and then, since he's /right there/, he has to say hi to the Special Ed kids he works with (you know, just to be a swell guy), Carris and Ralla and Soma.

It's almost a full minute after the bell when Leo makes it to the classroom... and there's a boy with white hair and red eyes waiting for him, leaning against the wall, smiling oddly. Leo slows to a halt just outside the door, and shoots a glance back and forth down the suddenly deserted hallway.

"T-Bone," he says quietly, after a moment. "Aren't you a little early?"

"T-Bone?" the boy teases, eyes sparkling.

Leo sniffs indignantly, and assures him, "I'm getting into character. So sue me." He glances down the hallway again, and mutters, "You're not helping. Get lost."

When he turns his head again, the boy is gone, like he was fucking Batman or something. Leo rolls his eyes and slides open the door to the classroom.

When he steps inside, there is a brief moment of slow motion, and he's backed up by a background of pastel colors, bubbles, and bishounen sparkles. It is metaphorically (and literally ) magical.

Leo calmly shuts the door behind him, walks over to his desk - situated between Latooni's and Rei's - and sits down. No one comments on the fact that he's, like, two minutes late, because...

... well, because he's /Leo Stenbuck./

A horrible shiver runs down Ayato's spine(and a comically oversized sweatdrop runs down the back of his head); he didn't actually /see/ that flat look, but for some reason he can just--tell that he should maybe turn and, maybe, like, greet Jung, or something.

He gets about as far as holding a hand up and beginning to wave before his tentative smile melts gradually melts away.

He sinks into his seat a little as he looks away and tightly folds his hands atop his desk.

Jung glares at Ayato.

A small fruit fly in the air is vaporized.

Noriko snorts at Jung, because she is a dumb jock and despite her maidenly integrity you have to learn a certain vocabulary to hang out with Jung. "Sounds right..."

She grins a little, tipping her head. Thanks, she doesn't say, because she has just realized they are in the presence of the enemy.

And then Ayanami shows up, and Noriko brightens up, wiggling fingers at her friend. And frowning when she shows her that poster, and nods vigorously. Mouths: 'Seriously!!!' Her mouth flattens into an unhappy :I, but there's not really much to be said of it until later - where they can hopefully escape the devil woman. And plan a totally sweet ad campaign. Maybe with karate chops!!

Rei returns the :I and then, with a theatrical but silent sigh, crumples the poster back up and jams it into her backpack. She's getting her agenda book out when she sees a small fruit fly get /vaporized/. "Wh--" Rei's eyes go wide.

Blinking a few times -- she must be seeing things today -- she turns back to face front, which is about when Leo strolls in. As he sits down between her and Latooni, Rei smiles easily. "Hey," she offers to Leo casually, before leaning forward to look past him to Latooni. "Hey," she repeats, with a tiny wave.

God, Rei thinks.

They are so /cute/ together.

Oh God oh God oh God oh God oh God oh God oh God, Ayato thinks as a fruit fly just drops dead at his feet.

I should've had more than a Mazin Powerbar for breakfast--she's gonna /kill/ me.

Latooni Subota kind of makes it to 'cute' without trying hard. It's the glasses. Why did you think she was still wearing them? There's nothing wrong with her eyes.

"Hello," she says, with a much smaller smile as she starts digging stuff out of her backpack. Pencils, notebook, all that kind of stuff; she makes a very neat pile on her desc and then sort of squares it for no real reason, given it was already plenty straight enough.

She looks up again afterwards, over toward Noriko and Jung. She slides her chair just a tiny, tiny bit further away from them. It serves no real purpose whatsoever.

Ryouma Nagare, supreme fighting student, bursts through the door! He is wrapped in bandages, his school jacket draped over his shoulders. A long piece of grass sticks out from between his lips.

"Tch! Sorry for being late, teach, I had to give a math lesson to another prefecture's students!"

He spits out the blade of grass. His hand raises, and Ryouma tightens the bandage around his wrist, using his teeth!

"...one is greater than five! Hahahaha!"

Ryouma staggers to a nearby seat and sits down. Blood drips onto the ground.

RYOUMA NAGARE, THIRD YEAR STUDENT, HAS ARRIVED... FEW KNOW THE TRUE POWER IN HIS BODY! A TRUE HAVOC WILL VISIT THIS SCHOOL BECAUSE OF HIS IMPETUOUS MUSCLES!

END CHAPTER 2

Finally the teacher arrives into the class, strolling in slowly with her head down. She sighs, reaching the head of the classroom and waving her hand. "ugh...why did I double my shots last night...ugh. Ok, sit down and be quiet...My head is killing me...Is everyone here?" Misato finally looks up with squinted eyes, taking a mental count of the students in the room. She immediately notices the lack of students in certain chairs. "Anyone know where Johnny Domino is?...Or Ryouma Nagare? Whatever. We'll just go on without them....Ok, our class representive is going to tell us about the Founder's festival tommorow....Then we need to decide what we're going to do for a booth during our lunch period. Then I'm going to go take a nap in the teacher's lounge while Mr. Zombolt teaches you about some history stuff I didn't bother to look over...." Misato rubs the sides of her head, noticing all the eyes on her. "And class, if you boyfriend tells you that the jello in jello shots stops hangovers, don't do twelve in a row. That's a grown up tip from me to you..Anyway, Lelia, you're up."

From the front row a green haired girl stands and walks to the front of the class room. For a second, it's all all the attention just goes to her....It's almost eerie how interesting this girl suddenly is. She smiles pleasantly. "The Founders Festival is a celebration of the founding of the school. While most of the events are student run, the chairman usually has a huge fireworks display at the end of the night. I know a lot of you were here for last years but this year the Chairman really wants to make it like no other year. So lets do our best."

As Ryouma bursts in, Misato groans and rubs her head. She just waves for the martial artist to take his seat.

After the Festival is explained, Misato begins social studies class which covers the interesting world of politics. She doesn't seems into it so you don't have to be.

Shortly after that! Lunch!

Having realized that he really is late, Johnny Domino bursts out of his house. Eleanor runs after him, trying to leap at his bag and nab it between her paws.

"NYAN!~"

"I'll play with you later, Elly!" Domino hops on his bike, maneuvers towards the road, loses his balance, falls over, goes "GACK!", gets up again, pries Eleanor off of his head, picks up his bicycle, pries Eleanor off of his leg, and begins cycling to school.

Johnny always had this tendency to live on the edge, arriving to school at the very last moment. Very rarely does he ever arrive LATE Late. But today, the boy seems to be grossly behind schedule. Cycling past the Exelion supermarket (they sell everything from women's underwear to vegetables to vending machines), Domino takes a shortcut past Sumeragi Lee Noriega's Banana Stand - the place where the bananas aren't the only things that stand.

Sumeragi looks up from putting a little stick inside a clear liquid as Johnny rushes past. She shakes her head, then look back at her little 'chemistry' kit. The liquid has turned blue.

Sumergai blanches. "I made a huuuuge mistake," she says. Johnny is long gone by the time Sumeragi dials Allelujah's number on her cellphone.

But, alas, no shortcut is going to help Domino today. By the time Johnny Domino reaches the school gates, it is well past the morning bell. "Aw, shit," Domino mumbles, looking at the imposing form of NERV Academy. It's so quiet with everyone in class. Domino leaves his bike leaning against the wall and slowly sneaks into the bushes surrounding the academy. Peering around, Johnny wonders if he should just stay hidden until the next bell rings.

Unfortunately, the boy's thoughts are interrupted by a voice. "You're late," says Michael Trinity. Johnny Domino nearly leaps out of his skin. He turns around, catching sight of Michael in all his hunched glory, hiding in the very same bush Domino is hiding in. The braces glisten in Trinity's crooked smile, and his pocket protector is filled to the brim with pens and pencils, as usual.

Trinity continues: "Why aren't you in clath?" His lisp is atrocious.

Johnny Domino snaps right back, "Why aren't YOU in class?"

Michael is unfazed. "My thithter thayth clath ith for thuckerth!" Michael is so proud of his sister! Before Johnny can respond, a low voice is heard.

"Cutting classes, Domino? This is going to be tomorrow's headline - 'Decadence and anarchy at NERV Academy'." Oh good god, it's Kai Shiden, head of the journalist club. Shiden is ALSO hiding in the very same bushes, standing on Johnny's other side.

Johny Domino spazzes. "Jesus Christ you guys, what is this? Kai, Michael, what are you doing here together?!" These two have never ever been seen together at the same place.

"There are stories everywhere, Domino," replies Kai. "Especially the Vatican. Did you hear about what that priest did when--"

Michael Trinity doesn't let Kai finish. The poor boy emits a loud 'meep' through his braces, shaking like a leaf in the wind before crying out, "Run away!" In an instant, the two males disappear, leaving Johnny Domino to fend for himself against...

"You're standing on my turtle flowers." Yazan Gable, school groundskeeper, rises up from behind Johnny, putting a strong hand on Johnny's shoulder. "I /like/ my turtle flowers."

Oh. God.

"Hey," Leo mutters in response to Rei, shooting her a look and an easy smile. He adds more quietly, after a conspiratorial glance at Asuka Faction, "Did you see Asuka's fliers?" He lifts his hands to cup the air in front of his chest, and mouths, '/Photoshop./'

And then Ms. Katsuragi arrives, and Leo sits up straight and locks his attention on the teacher. Apparently, he's the perfect student, too. Go figure, right?

He does, however, jump in his seat when Ryouma bursts in, and his eyes flit over to the older boy... and then narrow. After a moment, he just shrugs. Different strokes for different folks, as they say. It isn't like he'll be disruptive.

Leo spends most of the class paying perfect attention to the teacher, although a few times he does reach over and give Latooni's hand a squeeze. And then, as if there had been some sort of time skip, class is over and it's ~*~lunchtime~*~.

Rather than rise out of his chair immediately, Leo turns to face Latooni, and asks, "Whatcha wanna do for lunch, babe? The roof, again?"

That girl seems fascinating for some reason, Jung thinks, looking straight ahead and hoping Healing Care hasn't stiffed her again. The presence she gives off...

Time passes, as it always does. Jung read the textbook weeks ago.

Around 11, she asks Noriko, "Did you bring 'em today or are we going to have to eat the school lunch?"

Once lunch rolls around, who finally appears at the doorway of the class? Why, it's none other than Johnny Domino!

The expression on his face is one of trauma. His hair is a mess and his school uniform is dishelved and dirty, with a few twigs sticking to his shoulders. Having finally made his fashionably late appearance, Johnny Domino says absolutely nothing. He simply makes a beeline for Leila.

Asuka Sohryu Shikinami does not consider most people her rivals. Aside from Rei Ayanami, there is only one other person she considers her rival. And that is class representative Leila. Just Rei and Asuka battled for the the #1 rank on the class rankings, she and Leila are rivals in LOVE.

Even if Leila didn't know it.

When Ryouma makes his entrance, Asuka edges her desk closer to the window. Out of all the classes she could have been assigned to this school year, why did she have to be assigned to the one with all the freaks?

The rest of the morning class period Asuka spends alternating between taking actual notes and doodling in her notebook. When lunch finally comes, she scoots her desk together with Hikari's and Healing Care's, and the three eat lunch together. Occasionally, the three will eye Rei Ayanami and snicker.

"It's just too bad Johnny Domino isn't here yet," Asuka complains. It's well-known among her inner circle that despite her large number of admirers, Asuka's only got eyes for one guy in class 2-B.

And as if on cue, Johnny Domino enters the room.

And immediately makes a beeline for Leila.

Asuka's heart is crushed--but you wouldn't be able to tell it by the scowl on her face. "I don't know what he sees in her, anyway," she snaps.

Class is easy for Latooni, even with the minor disruption of Ryouma barging in, like some kind of barger. She pays attention through all of it, though she does worse in social studies. Go figure. Maybe she's just noticed that nobody else pays attention, either. Or maybe there's just not enough math for her.

It has the highest concentration of hand-holding when nobody is looking.

Latooni spends the time right at the beginning of lunch dawdling and putting things inside her backpack. She pretends not to see Johnny Domino in disarray, but rest assured, she is both looking at you /and/ judging you. "Well, if you want to," she says, face reddening slightly at the 'babe'. "Or we can stay down here this time. I'm easy - "

It takes her a moment to realize how that might be taken, and the blush gets worse.

Ayato, who spent basically the entire class period filling his notebook with sketching(and maybe a couple lines of notes (also worked into his sketches)), ends up by Shinji's desk with a grin and shouldered pack.

"I was thinking--mom packed an extra bag of Sun Circle Chips, again, because she's basically crazy; you wanna split 'em again?" As he says this, he's trying not to be too obvious in surrepitously looking over at Ryouma Nagare, who is probably still fucking /bleeding everywhere/.

Lunch with Shinji: it's totally for his own protection.

Rei snorts quietly, withholding a laugh when Leo mouths 'Photoshop.' Leaning over slightly, Rei whispers, "We used to be on the swim team together, and..." Rei grins, and mouths 'Photoshop' right back.

And then, Miss Katsuragi.

Rei spends the entire class doing things her usual way. She can never really sit still, even though her attention never leaves the lesson -- she's always leaning forward, or leaning back, or resting her chin in her palm, or rubbing the back of her neck, or chewing on her pen, or grinning at some remembered thing in the back of her mind, or...

And yet, Rei's notes are so extensive and meticulous that she might as well be making her own textbook, and a more coherent one than the one they have, in any event. She even manages to avoid glaring at the back of Ryouma's skull as he makes a mess of the priceless classroom floor with his bodily fluids.

She mostly avoids that, anyway.

Then lunch comes. Rei is on her way to the courtyard -- when suddenly she just kind of whomps into someone, as single-minded beeline meets single-minded beeline, and Rei smacks into Johnny Domino.

Knocked onto her ass, Rei immediately goes red and prepares to die of embarassment. "Oh, uh, h-- Hi, Domino," Rei blurts, before calling, "SORRY!" way louder than she needed to.

Then Rei basically /levitates/ to her feet and hustles to her usual spot out in the courtyard, sitting in the shade of a tree, reading Romance of the Zeon Kingdoms manga while she eats. Rei's comfortable with this routine. Sometimes people join her, sometimes they don't, but she's fine either way.

It's something she does for herself.

Noriko finds Miss Katsuragi's lectures informative, in a 'how not to live your life' way. She glances Leo's way, and grins at his accusation, because /yes that is totally right/ even if Noriko is too pure and maidenly (and dumb as hell) to actually think of that one herself. She's pretty glad that he and Rei can still be such good friends...she's heard of some really scary breakups. Wasn't there one guy who was like hitting his girlfriend, a while ago? She can't even remember. Maybe that was on TV.

Ah, and there's Ryouma - she grins at him and waves, and the grin turns briefly into a smirk, because she knows exactly what he's talking about. She hasn't followed him out into the alleys for a while, that might not be a half bad way to work out the desire to punch Asuka's neck out from under her head like a Jenga block.

Ah, and there's iinchou. Noriko listens intently. Ah, the Founders Fest. That's always a fun one, she thinks. Though they'll probably end up making her do half the labor again...oh well.

Whenever later, Noriko blinks dumbly at Jung, momentarily baffled. Then her brain catches up with the universe: "Oh, lunch? Of course I did!" She grins. She'll let Rei scheme alone for a while, she thinks - lunch hour isn't enough time, and Asuka's devil spies might be watching. They say her contract with Satan lets her hear whatever is said under the shadow of jealousy.

Ryouma turns to look at Noriko.

He smiles.

He smiles with wide eyes.

REEE ROOO REEE ROOO REEE ROOO REEE ROOO REEE ROOO REEE ROOO REEE ROOO REEE ROOO

BA DA NAH DA NAH NUH NAH NUH NAH

"NOOOORIIIKKKOOOOOOO!"

Lelia looks over at Domino, smiling to him...before he crashes into Rei. She runs over, moving toward her childhood friend first because Rei always seemed more fragile. "Are you ok?!" After confirming if Rei is well, she stands over Domino, giggling slightly. "Well hello there handsome, you were only an entire class period late today. Going for the record or something?" She kneels down and looks him over. "Hope you forgot your lunch, I came prepaired for you today."

Shinji looks over at Ayato, smirking again. "Yo, kamina. Whats going on?" He is already chewing on a sandwich. "Hows that art thing going for you? I'd like to try it myself if it's like the movies. You know, paint chicks who you meet on boats." Yes Shinji saw that movie...twice.

When Latooni's blush worsens, a broad grin spreads across Leo's face. "God, you're adorable," he murmurs, discreetly slipping his arm around her waist and giving it a squeeze. He withdraws the arm after only a moment; he's well aware that Latooni isn't comfortable with public displays of affection, and respects that without fail.

Before he can comment further, however, Rei runs herself directly into Johnny Domino, and he swivels to watch the fallout. Poor Rei... she's such a spaz when it comes to guys. And... lots of things. It's part of what attracted him to her in the first place; he sort of has a thing for nerdy girls.

As evidenced by Latooni.

His attention's only on Rei for a moment before it shifts to Asuka, though... and then to Lelia. Briefly, a frown flickers across Leo's features. This might become a problem that needs to be... removed.

But what Lelia says goes. She is the... class rep, after all.

At least Latooni is right about one thing; she /is/ easy. "The roof works for me if it works for you," Leo assures her, with a shrug. "Besides," he adds, lowering his voice and leaning closer to Latooni, "We'll probably be alone up there~"

Johnny Domino's experience with Yazan Gable is something the boy still has trouble digesting. When he collides with Rei, there's the faintest of 'acks', and then Domino lies there, staring at the ceiling for a few seconds.

By the time he sits up, Ayanami has jogged off. Johnny's blue eyes follow her for a bit, as he mumbles, "Bye Rei."

He's really quite out of it.

Then Leila is there by his side, and Domino feels warmth washing over him. "Hey," he manages. "Mister... mister Gable got me," he says, as if to explain why he is so late. "I was, uh, standing on his turtle flowers." Of course, Domino neglects to mention WHY he was standing on Yazan's prized Chelone flowers, but... Leila probably knows without him having to tell her. It's like that with Leila.

"He was really angry. And then I, you know, I made the penny joke." Leila always laughs at the penny joke. "He... after I made the joke he," the boy can't finish. His brain is trying very hard to suppress the memories Johnny is currently attempting to relate. Eventually he gives up and simply says, "He didn't like it."

When lunch is offered, however, Domino's mood lifts in the blink of an eye. Literally, he blinks once, the wheels in his head spinning -- did he forget lunch today? "...I /did/," he exclaims. "I DID forget lunch!"

And that makes him SO HAPPY!

"Hey, hey, what are we having today?" He smiles at Leila, his body leaning ever so slightly towards her.

"You better not have put all those peppers in this time," Jung complains when the lunch break comes around, a hand going to her abdomen as she makes a face of Eternal Suffering. "I swear, sometimes it's like you're trying to poison me!"

She gives, for no clear reason, another glaring look to Ayato --

A pack of chips emblazoned with a bright yellow sunburst on a blue background, as well as a robotic, vaguely masculine face partially enshrouded by a golden fan is tossed onto Shinji's desk, and then... Ayato takes a seat nearby, sets his sketchbook down and gets right back to drawing.

He eats sometimes, too, but mostly, he draws; his attention is split between one of the classroom windows and the book as he roughs out a nice little landscape drawn from the school's pastoral grounds.

"I--wouldn't exactly know, but hey, maybe," he offers Ikari with an uncertain grin and vaguely uneasy laugh; he's already quietly debating the pros and cons of checking up on Reika's stance on modelling, but he's mostly coming back to a distinct desire not to have any more women stare at him like death itself.

Or, oh God, maybe it'd be cool if he painted Reika while she was wearing /as much as humanly possible/; he kind of already knows why he feels like he's about to burst into flames, but he looks over at Jung anyway.

Against his better instincts, he wordlessly raises a can of Buster Cola - menacing black robot man and helpful arrows pointing towards its topside facing her, of course - as an offering. He smiles, too, but he can't really hold it for more than a second before he has to look away to the window again.

--for some reason, the ghostly reflection in the glass is a brown-haired young woman in a yellow sundress instead of, you know, his own, but by the time he's glanced from there to Shinji to Jung/Noriko and back again, he's looking at himself again.

His brow knits thoughtfully for a moment but he lets it go pretty quickly.

Noriko smirks at Jung. "I like them!" she says, as if that were not COMPLETELY OBVIOUS. "But no, it's light this time." She digs around in her bag, producing two boxes, one of which she offers Jung's way. "You just really can't figure out your way around a lunch, can you?" she asks, thoughtfully. "You're just lucky Smith keeps having break dance club during lunch break, or that'd be all his." Hum hum, she sets her own down, and then ---*

Locks eyes with Ryouma.

Eyes narrow.

C_C=============*=============@_@

"Ryouma," she returns, with slightly less psychosis.

Latooni Subota is basically the nerdiest. Rei is a lot better at embarassing herself, though; Latooni hasn't done something like that in at /least/ a week.

Okay, five days. And it was quieter but involved more pens going everywhere.

Latooni says, more quietly, "Let's go upstairs after a bit, then. I need to talk to - " Maybe she doesn't need to ask Noriko about archery practice anyway, she thinks, looking in that direction for a bit and catching the edge of Jung's evil eye. It creeps her out. She doesn't even know why. Anyway, Shine will be at archery, she can ask the exchange student instead of one of the top archers.

This doesn't sound like a good idea after all. "Noriko," Latooni finishes. "About the team. But she's busy."

Lelia does laugh at the Penny joke even it wasn't as funny the 30th time. She nudges him and shakes her head. "I mean did you really have to do that to Mr. Gable, Johnny? Just because you're late.." She shakes her head and smiles. "I made your favorite because I knew you'd forget again. Call it a hunch." She shakes her head, finding a place to sit down and open the bento box. "Dig in."

"So what do you think we're going to do for the festival tommorow?" Lelia asks, looking off into space for a moment before looking at Domino and 'his' lunch.

Shinji accepts the chips and looks over to Asuka. "You think she photoshopped herself on those pictures?" He looks back to Ayato when he answers his question about modeling. "Oh don't be shy, guy like you probably draws all sorts of models. Big ones...small ones....bouncy ones....perky ones." Shinji nudges Ayato, grinning again. "Anyway, I'd love to draw Shinikami if you know what I mean but..." Shinji mumbles something to the effect of 'it's complicated.'

"So what else is going on with you, Kamina?" Shinji begins to chew on some chips, leaning back. "I mean, you still working on that same painting?"

"Well," Domino puts a hand behind his neck in embarrassment. "Mister Gable started it."

He sticks out his tongue.

Scrambling up from the floor and next to Leila, Johnny is more than pleased to dig into his FAVORITE DISH! And by Johnny's favorite dish we actually mean Johnny's favorite dish mixed in with cucumbers. Domino doesn't like cucumbers. Leila knows it, and Johnny knows it, and they both know they know they know it. And yet it's like a game.

Domino sets about the task of picking out the cucumber bits -- which is half the fun -- piling them at the corner of the box. Leila always eats them afterwards, and picking them out for her is also half the fun.

Taking a cucumber-less bite, Domino thinks Leila's question over. "Mmm, I dunno. come what may, ya know?" This is followed by the boy giving Leila a sidelong glance that /clearly/ says, 'unless you already made plans for us'. Because this would not be the first time!

Ryouma's battle aura flares around him. People start avoiding him. The DRAGON POWER is something you want to avoid. Such... strength...

"NORIKO! Do you know how long it's been since my fists have tasted the supple, weak flesh of your face? They hunger! My punching can't stop heat-seeking you head, as if they were missiles fired upon a technologically weaker nation!"

Ryouma smirks like so wide. "Hahaha! I'll be waiting!" Then he steps backward and suddenly there are like eighteen dozen students there and he fades away dramatically in half-tones.

END OF CHAPTER 3

"Whenever you're ready," Leo assures Latooni, turning his attention to Noriko and Ryouma. "She... /is/ busy, though," he agrees, a little uncertainly. "Want me to try'n distract Ryouma for you? I bet I could do it with something shiny, or a laser pointer, or soooh there he goes."

Even as he speaks, his eyes are bouncing around the room, from person to person. In a way, he seems... detached, somehow, like he's just observing everyone go about their routines. It's mitigated, of course, by the fact that he's standing so close to Latooni.

Besides, he's Leo Stenbuck. Captain of the Baseball Club, son of Amuro Ray, all-around swell guy. It's hard to get more ingrained in the lives of... well, most people at the school, than Leo Stenbuck is. Maybe he's just giving off weird vibes today... he's probably just in a Mood, or something.

Yeah... that's it.

"Oh did he?" Lelia gives Domino a look, raising a brow before giggling again. "Well I guess it's ok then."

Yep. She added cucumbers again. She rests her chin on her hand, just watching him go to work. He was always so through with this. He couldn't miss a single one otherwise he'd make that face. In fact, in some sick way, she enjoyed the look of disgust on Domino's face when he had to eat a cucumber. This was why she always chopped the pieces extra small.

When the pile is large enough, she takes a few and tosses one into her mouth. "Maybe I did? Why you busy? It's ok. I can always ask Shinji if he wants to go to the festival with me. I mean he's partically a brother." How she could get along with that punk is anyone's guess. "Anyway, you have any idea why Shikigami gave me that look?"

Johnny Domino shakes his head, sucking on the tips of his chopsticks. "Nah, not busy." Really, Domino is never busy when Leila is concerned. There's a reason the other students say the two are inseparable, after all. And yet Leila STILL teases him by mentioning Shinji. Johnny's mouth stretches into a thin line.

"Oy, what madness is this! If you're going with that Ikari kid, then by gum, you shall need an escort to protect you from his Ikari ways. I see no better person for the job than me."

Nodding firmly, the boy pops another bite into his mouth--

urk. /cucumber/

Johnny makes The Face.

"Hey Ryouma," Jung says to Ryoma as he threatens Noriko's face-meats, having gotten used to this kind of thing. Then he goes away.

"I'm hungry! Come on," she says, nudging Noriko, "you want to head to the track or just eat here?"

"I--actually--finished it," Ayato murmurs as his desk scoots just a little closer to Shinji's. "I don't know if I like how I did Tieria's hair--he looks kind of, I don't know, girly, but it's okay otherwise."

He, too, eats a few chips from a second bag; after having hoped to just kind of ignore the commentary about Asuka, he finds himself unable to glance over at her and try to sneak a peek.

Which turns into a few peeks.

Which turns into staring for a little while because now he's genuinely curious and roughing out a sketch in his head.

"Y'know, I dnuno..." he finally, thoughtfully says of photoshopping.

The Kill Bill music dies down, and Noriko's eyes un-narrow, and she slumps back in her seat, huffing, "/That guy,/" as if that sequence could be interpreted as something other than ridiculous teenage sexual tension. "We're even! Well, he's won a /few/ more than I have, but still...I guess I'll have to go face him down after school, huh?" Hum. "Oh," she adds, at the nudge, nodding at Jung. "...let's hit the track!" she adds, with a grin.

Life seems pretty swell right now...except for that buzzing sound. Suddenly without warning there is a loud hiss that seems to have no source. Most kids don't notice it because they are playing around....For some reason, Asuka, Rei, Domino, Ryouma, Noriko, Jung, Ayato, and Latooni hear it as it starts to get semi-clearer. "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ--IS THEr--ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ-IS IS MA-ZZZZZZZZZZZZ-ALIVE?!-ZZZZZZZZZ" The noise continutes before it just vanishes as quickly as it came. Every continues to move just as normal.

Lelia's eyes narrow for a moment. "Darling, you didn't hear anything, right?" She smiles at him, wipping some stray rice from his face.

"Don't worry about, Shinji. He's harmless."

Johnny Domino blinks. For the briefest of moments he could have sworn there was--

"Huh?"

Domino's eyes, which started to drift away from Leila as the buzzing sound was heard, returns his attention to his girlfriend. "Hear what?"

He has no clue what Leila is talking about. At the comment about Shinji, Johnny gives a mock frown. He mostly trusts the Ikari kid to be harmless. After all, Domino's been friends of his sister for ages, and if Leila can get along with him... still, using Shinji as a teasing instrument is yet another one of the silly games between Domino and Leila.

"Yeah, well," he responds. "Shikinami is just as harmless, so." There's a shrug.

Johnny Domino suspects nothing.

Noriko pauses, ticking her head to the side at the buzzing in her ears. "What the," she mutters, staring off distantly into space. That was...what../was/ that. She glances around, mumbling, "Did anyone...?"

Pepole seem more confused by her than by the shrieking buzzing, so she hums, and then grabs her lunch and trots out the door. Maybe she can see Smith before lunch is out, if she hurries? That'd be great.