[Ranma][NGE][HPL][AMG][Fusion][Fanfic] Sic Semper Morituri Chapter 54
- Eagles Grow From Eggs

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I do not own any of the characters from Ranma 1 / 2, Neon Genesis
Evangelion, Ah My Goddess, or the Lovecraft Cycle involved in these
stories.

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But How Many Ships Do you Reckon My Presense To Be Worth?
Antigonus

Send Me An Angel - Music: Rudolf Schenker
Lyrics: Klaus Meine

Wise Man Said Just Find Your Place, In The Eye Of The Storm
August 9, 1947
Nabiki looked around the bowels of the carrier. Among the
machines and pipes, the spirit of an element was waiting. Her legs
ached from the hard use, as did her underarms from the chaffing of the
crutches. Why hadn't it turned and attacked? she wondered as she
cautiously advanced, Why did it stop occasionally to make mischief,
allowing me to keep up? She heard several groups of men wandering
around, calling her name, searching for her. She ignored them.
Jeff ran to her, at the edge of the site. "Do I need to lecture
you on precautions?" He moved ahead gingerly, in and among the pipes
and machines.
"I saw you summon an element spirit to bind to the rune," Nabiki
admitted as she followed him, picking her way through, "It was so
easy, I thought I could do it, I took all the precautions to summon
one friendly to my cause," she explained. And he's barely listening,
she thought.
Jeff turned to glare at her, then sighed. " 'Every mage must
find his own path.' Now I know how the sorcerer felt with _his_
apprentice." He turned back before he could see her stick her tongue
out at him. "Did it ever occur to you that I might not have told you
absolutely _everything_?_" He extended a hand, guiding himself toward
the escaped elemental spirit.
"Her own path." She put one fist on her hip and one hand behind
her head, to show off her curves, "I am a girl you know."
Jeff didn't even look. " 'All mages are inherently male.' Which
was why they tossed me and the Scholarly Dragon out of the order.
Teaching human girls, just isn't done," he told her apathetically, "So
you aren't the only one who does dumb things for the best of reasons."
Nabiki was horrified. "I guess, I guess I really owe you, I
didn't mean for _that_ to happen."
"And I didn't count it for pay, or tell you beforehand, the
second reason they threw me out. Relax, since I can't get into the
Dreamlands and most of the order never leaves there, it really doesn't
mean much. Besides, they actually threw me out before the lessons
started," he told her as he looked around, waving his hand in front of
him., "For thirty bonus points, you can guess the third and final
reason they threw me out." He looked up. "It's up top. It hasn't
attacked, just run away?"
"Yes, and it never let me lose sight of it, until I got here.
It's really weird." Nabiki glanced at the huge machine, and at the
`ladders` that lead to the top. She considered climbing to the top.
Terrific, she thought, Ritsuko will kill us if she catches us up
there. She thought of the moving equipment and the steam. I don't
even know what this is, she thought as Jeff started climbing.
"You may have done a better job summoning it than you know. The
danger of summoning elements is they're uncontrolled, wild spirits,
that have a very restricted view of the universe, and everything in
it, very Elemental." Nabiki winced as she started following, Jeff
continued to talk as he climbed, "I think this one is trying to help
you, it just doesn't know how." Jeff headed up the ladders that
climbed the steel shell of the machine, Nabiki reluctantly followed,
wincing at the steam and watching the exposed moving parts.
"Why were you able to summon and bind the first element spirit
you gave me? I did everything you did, I even did all you said wasn't
really necessary, to summon a friendly spirit, and it ran away,"
Nabiki asked as she climbed.
"First." Jeff helped her onto the top, both had to duck to avoid
rapping their heads on the pipes and duct work overhead. "Mages,
fully-fledged mages, bind themselves to one or two elements as an
anchor. They usually pick elements similar in personality to their
own. This anchor allows them to summon any kind of elemental and bind
it." He looked around, seeking their target.
At least there's a solid floor, all fenced in up here, Nabiki
thought of the claustrophobic confines, I don't like the idea of
balancing on beams, dodging steam, while facing a skittish elemental.
The small tornado was visible at the far side of the machine, "Second,
if you were a friendly, conscientious sort of person and somebody
pulled you out of your world, dropped you in a powerful pentagram and
politely asked for help, wouldn't you think there was major trouble
about? It's a Wind spirit, probably fairly intelligent. That implies
a guardian or master sort. Not bad for your first attempt."
"Yes." Nabiki didn't want to tell him that was _exactly_ the
source of two of his comrades. "So it's trying to help?"
Jeff drew a rune in the air and motioned with his other hand,
another much smaller whirlwind appeared, and cautiously approached the
first, the one Nabiki had summoned. "What worries me, is that it
perceived a great enough danger, to break the pentagram I'm sure you
were using. Either it's very strong, or it was very agitated, or
both. We'll find out soon enough."
"What did you call up?" Nabiki asked, as the two seemed to be
conversing, "Another elemental?"
"Sort of, more like an elemental homonculus," he dropped into a
distracted, lecturing tone, "It will enhance my understanding of what
it's saying."
They waited and watched. It's like he's not there, she thought as
they waited. She couldn't hear the searchers anymore.
I wish he'd just yell at me, Nabiki thought, I hate waiting for
the other shoe to drop. Almost as much as I hate knowing how much I
owed, and he never mentioned one word of it!
The smaller whirlwind approached them, followed sheepishly by the
larger one. Nabiki tensed, not knowing what to expect. Jeff pulled a
parchment card from his vest pocket. "Use this, walk up to it, and
say the binding spell."
He didn't even look at me, kept staring at the elemental, she
thought as she took the card, I guess he really _is_ pissed or
worried. How badly did I screw up? Nabiki approached the larger
whirlwind, holding the square at arms length, she began the chants
when the whirlwind lunged forward. She retreated to the railing.
"Jeff help!"
---------------------------------------------------------
By the end of the lunch break, Jamie had shocked the others, who
were once of Nyogtha, to their core.
"The doomsday cultists that have nothing to do with the Mythos
remain a constant threat," Eriko, one of the Sixth's agents, said in a
wrung-out tone, "Our `master` often `hunted` monsters and sorcerous
enemies, but this . . . " her voice trailed off.
"Now Nabiki has joined the fraternity," another boy, one of
Nabiki's, said, "But as the Brothers, will she accompany him, or usurp
him?"
He wants to know how the god's relations influence ours, Jamie
thought. "Can we concentrate on the more mundane threats?" This is
not the time for such speculations, she thought.
"People who would lay poison in the trains they took, throw a
Molotov cocktail into the apartment or school," Mihiro, the girl who'd
been the first to join her, on the first day, commented in shock,
"They didn't act as inefficiently as this attack has seemed."
"Our enemies have only been lucky once," Jamie said, "But their
victory yielded nothing. Typically, arrests were made, yet nothing
has happened. Nobody knows, not us, not the `legitimate`
authorities."
"Security troops have `leaked` the identities of the attackers,"
Mihiro said, "To send people to look where and at what NERV and the
U.S. needed to look at/for. But no one has found anything. It is as
if the entire operations simply struck and vanished, like a lightning
bolt."
Jamie looked at Mihiro, wondering what was being held back. By
NERV and her uncertain allies. She and I will have to work out a few
modifications to our search plan, Jamie thought, Although even with
the plan worked out, what next? There has to be an inciting incident.
Something the Second did directly, or something that caused someone to
give the release order. But what? We're _all_ missing something.
"We shall just go out and see, don't take chances, don't try to
be a hero. We need information," Jamie told them, "Then we'll drop
the whole world on them." I'm warning the others, she thought, As
much as I'm warning myself. I _want_ to hurt them.
"So do we tell our yakuza `friends`?" Eriko asked, "Mirei is . .
.. quite disturbed by events."
"No, let them come of their own free will. Let them be pricked
by their honor," Jamie said quietly, she looked at the people, her
allies.
"Rei and Shinji have stayed close to Asuka, as have many of her
friends," Mihiro said, "A few have wanted to know what they could do
to help, what to watch for." She smirked. "I am certain Nabiki would
tell them."
But she isn't here, Jamie thought, Nor is Davis. We must make
do. "Are you going to tell them what the threats were?" Jamie asked
neutrally, "Then explain how _we_ know?"
"They need to know what, but not how, also it will make them a
little angry, a little anger will go a long way, as will a touch of
shame," Mihiro answered confidently.
----------------------------------------
Jeff leaned over the railing. "Complete the binding ritual!"
Jeff shouted over the thunder and wind that emanated from the
whirlwind as Nabiki hung suspended within it, some 15 feet off the
deck. I suspect Miss Tendo has done a better job than she knows, he
thought as he watched, If it hadn't been for the elemental, I would
have noticed the real problem earlier.
"Can't breathe!" Nabiki gasped.
"The sounds are only a focus, the words and runes form in your
mind! Use them! It doesn't know it's hurting you." And it isn't, he
thought, You only think you're smothering because you're
hyperventilating. Keep your head, you can do this. Jeff prepared a
banishment, in case Nabiki panicked and had to be rescued. In a
moment, the winds died down noticeably and Nabiki's gasping became
easy breaths. He heard her chanting the words, then the whirlwind
vanished within the parchment and she dropped. Jeff's AT field caught
her and eased her to the ground. Her expression on contacting it was
completely unreadable. Probably going too many different ways, he
thought as he climbed down the ladder to the deck where Nabiki sat,
hugging her legs.
"I did it," she gasped, looked up at him as she held out the
parchment as part of it crumbled away to ashes, "The card! It's all
burned!" She peered at it.
Jeff turned her hand to see the burns in the cardboard, careful
not to touch the card itself. He noted how she froze when he touched
her. Worry about it later, he told himself. "It's enruned, not
burned. Wind burn not heat burn. The elemental bound itself as much
.. . . " Jeff felt the cold under her sleeve, he rolled up the sleeve
of her blouse, there was an almost identical set of burns, much
smaller, on her upper forearm opposite the elbow. "I was going to say
'as much as you did it,' but it went further. It bound _you_ as you
bound it. Quite an honor."
"What?" Nabiki stared at the tiny, elaborate runes that formed
the burns. She rubbed at them as if to wipe them off. "What do we
do? I didn't intend for this to happen! How do I get rid of it?" the
questions came rapid fire.
"I'll let you figure out why," he said in his best `fatherly`
voice, "We're deep in the ship. What do you smell?"
Nabiki looked at him as if he'd lost his mind, then sniffed. Her
expression went from cross to frightened as she took a deep breath
through her nose. "I can't smell them! But this is where they
_should_ be."
Jeff walked underneath where the elemental had been waiting on
the machine, there was a dead straight line incised in the steel
bulkhead. Jeff peered into the gap and then motioned Nabiki over.
"What do you see?"
Nabiki lifted her eyes from the burns as she walked over, then
she peered into the slit in the metal at the containers within the
room beyond. "It looks like . . . scattered around," she said, then
it hit her, "They're all open! They escaped!"
"Right," Jeff agreed as he looked around, "Let's get to the
flight deck and see what we can see." They headed for the hatchway
leading to the ladders.
----------------------------------------
"It, the elemental, calls itself 'Coffee'," Nabiki explained, "I
think it wanted to 'wake me up', and that's what it took from my mind
as its name. It's offering to carry us both, and seems pleased we
were so eager to fight this abomination."
She saw Jeff nod as they climbed. "NERV business make a hole!"
he shouted at the base of each ladder, and troops got out of their
way.
My little wheelchair chase has probably got everybody talking,
Nabiki thought as she followed him, So they're already primed to
accept this. "What is the human name for these things? I know the
Chaugnaroid word, and . . . the Winds see it as totally inimical to
their race. Since humans generate little winds to stay alive, it
would be dangerous for us too."
"Something that prevents us from breathing?" Jeff wondered,
"Doesn't sound familiar. They're called the Flying Polyps. The Great
Race fought them endlessly. Cthulhu's people and The Elder Things
fought them off and on, so I can't imagine Ritsuko doesn't know about
them."
"Some genius. Two mages and I get twin lectures instead of a
two-word answer." She watched amazed as the burns on her arm
vanished. Don't go! she thought desperately, then felt amusement
coming from the seemingly vanished burns on her arm. "I guess these
are . . . wind burns, they don't hurt." She closed her eyes. "How am
I going to explain this to Ritsuko-sensei?"
"Branding. You got burned by something hot, or cold," he
explained as he climbed, "As for the pain, supposedly you can brand
cattle with an iron dipped in liquid nitrogen and it doesn't hurt. I
guess that's the same principle."
They climbed the steep ladders until they reached the flight
deck. Nabiki saw and reported, "A tornado or a typhoon, but it's just
sitting there, over one area. I've also never seen storm clouds that
color." She noted a few sailors walking around the deck, only a few
looked at the odd weather, and those were staring as intently as she
was.
"Describe them," Jeff said as he looked around, more at the
sailors than the storm.
Nabiki grimaced at Jeff's idea of a `lesson`. "The swirls are
oranges and reds, flashes of blue and green, like lightning within.
The top has a normal white to an odd pinkish-gray color."
"I can't see it," Jeff admitted to her, made some gestures as if
wiping his glasses, she recognized them as the true-seeing spell Jeff
had shown her. "That's what it detected." He handed her the glasses
to look through, the image through the plane of true-seeing was
different from what she saw with her naked eyes, more angry and
malevolent. She glanced back and forth, looking at the `normal` and
the `true` image.
"We've got to call the Captain, report this," Nabiki suggested
urgently.
A police car flipping end over end from the cross street, told
them that wasn't necessary anymore, the explosion punctuated it. "And
I was going to say, 'Captain we used magic to see something that isn't
there. The best we could hope for is the booby hatch, or would you
rather have Ikari-chan start treating us like Rei'? Somehow I think
they'll believe us now." More sailors and Marines were looking at the
disturbance by the minute.
"What _do_ we do?" Nabiki asked, her unease growing, partly
fueled by the revulsion emanating from her arm, she switched to
Japanese, "Not just the Polyps. What about this binding? What am I
going to do?"
"The elemental was not only friendly, and highly intelligent, it
is also a sorcerer in its own right. Definitely a Master Elemental.
I think your first element has been chosen for you, and you've got
another teacher," he replied in Japanese.
"What happened?" Nabiki demanded, forcing herself to keep her
hands at her sides so she wouldn't strangle her fellow pilot. Coffee
may not like me denying him air, she thought, Maybe I could just beat
him unconscious. If those things get much stronger, nobody will be
looking at us.
"You summoned it, it detected this and broke your containment
with a counter spell, and led you to it, then directed you where you
could see the problem. My wind homonculus told it what we were doing,
EVA pilots fighting the good fight and the like, when you offered
binding to help us fight, it put its brute strength in the element
card and its mind." He touched the invisible burns. "Here. You'll
have to be careful, Wind elementals are playful, that will probably
carry over to you. This one also wants to stop these enemies. Just
think of it as your own Flying Tiger or Eagle Squadron pilot, a
volunteer to the cause."
"So an exorcism is out of the question?" Nabiki said glumly.
This is too weird for one day's occurrences, she thought.
"Extremely bad manners. It hasn't and won't take command of you,
but it will expect to be used and consulted."
"What happens when it finds out how weak a wizard I really am?
And the other things?" Nabiki asked worriedly, as she looked around
for eavesdroppers.
"Probably put you to school, as I said, you pulled one in a
billion out this time. And it already knows about you being one of
the Children. But, let's prove our bona fides and go after that
thing." He held out his hand for his glasses.
"How?" she asked, reluctantly returning them.
"I think Brown Bess is called for." He smiled, she wanted to
punch him so badly she could taste it.
"You're enjoying this just a little _too_ much." Nabiki glared at
him.
"Knowing you'll always have a guardian angel, is that bad?
Believe me, having that kind of an ace up your sleeve - "
She winced. I'm going to kill him, she thought, For that joke
alone.
"- is going to get you out of more trouble than you know. It's
also going to get you into a lot more trouble, but you'll get out of
it."
"Terrific," Nabiki said sarcastically, "All Akane had was Mr.
Happy Mallet. I've got a fun-loving, guardian tornado."
She looked at the sailors and Marines. Some of them had noticed
that she and Jeff had been chatting, while they'd been looking at a
loathsome desecration of their homeport. Look at their faces, Nabiki
thought glumly, 'You're a pilot, you can fix this.' But I'm only a
kid from an open-air asylum for obsessive denial and brawling. She
glanced at Jeff. He'll back whatever I do, she thought angrily, But
he's going to make _me_ get the ball rolling. Okay, go out with
style.
`Coffee` suggested a spell that would change the characteristics
of the air to carry her voice clearly to all the men on this deck and
the hanger below. She cast it effortlessly. "Listen up!" she
commanded with more authority than she felt, "If you're expecting a
St. Crispian's Day speech - go read Shakespeare, that's not my style.
Get that EVA below armed and ready for immediate launch."
"Beggin' your pardon, but we got no orders," a chief, who hadn't
been with them on the Bennington, complained.
"We'll have'em soon. And I want to be out of the hanger and
halfway to the target by the time the echo dies. Is that clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," came the answer from many. It was lackluster, but
they responded.
"Then let's move!" Raccoon added as he headed for the aft
elevator. Nabiki scanned the faces, then imperiously turned on her
heel and marched after him. Act as if they wouldn't _dare_ not follow
my commands, she thought.
---------------------------------------------------------
Seek The Roses Along The Way
As school continued, a plan percolated through Asuka's mind.
It's a cliche, but cliches are generally true and people knew they
are, she thought. "Wondergirl, have you got some cash on you?" Asuka
asked.
"Yes. Why?" Wondergirl asked, staring at her in real confusion.
"I think it's time to get you and the Fourth some new clothes, I
think Shinji will be willing to help."
"I am needed to pay?" Wondergirl asked.
"For your own, yes, and we'll need your help to get the Fourth to
accompany us," Asuka commented.
"I may have a way," Rei said.
"Girls going shopping?" Hikari asked excitedly, "At the PX, I
think I can get some money from my mom, if I agree to pick up some
things for her!"
"Good, you can get _him_ to come with as a pack-mule," Asuka
said, nodded at Toji and smiled, "I bet Yumiwashi will be delighted to
come. And Ranko's friend Mirei."
Hikari considered, "I'll work on him."
"Oh, he'll come if we invite him," Asuka said, then turned to
Ranko, "But Ranko has to come too. A few new outfits, some new
underwear. A guy may be able to wear that tattered old stuff, but a
girl needs hers clean and pretty." She smiled at Horseface's panicked
expression.
---------------------------------------------------------
"I'll handle it," Asuka said to the other girls, smiling broadly
to them.
And with malice to me, Ranma thought, and felt as if his skin and
hair were three sizes too small. He ran from the room, away from
Asuka and the other girls, and straight into the boy's bathroom.
The bun holding his red hair felt as if it was stretching his
skin. He looked at the mirror to help unwind it, when he saw the
black-haired male staring back at him. Great, he thought as he
loosened his hair, Everything I do can't change me back. The mere
hint of going shopping, and I'm back as a guy. He rebraided his black
hair, then looked up and saw Rei-chan waiting just inside the bathroom
door, leaning against it to make sure they were alone.
"Aren't you going to say something?" Ranma asked.
Rei raised an eyebrow, effectively saying 'Why should I? It is a
waste of effort.'
"You're right," he admitted as he finished the braid, "I don't
know why I'm back."
She intensified her stare, telling him she was displeased by his
lack of effort. "Okay, I don't like shopping, I don't want any of the
stuff Asuka would brow-beat `Ranko` into getting." He smirked. "So
now they can't force me to get anything," he said proudly.
Rei's expression was truly unreadable. She opened the door.
"Mirei, we will need you to model clothes for Ranko, pretty and
feminine."
"Of course, Ayanami-san," Mirei said from behind the door, "I'll
help any way I can."
Rei-chan looked at him with an upraised eyebrow, indicating her
victory. "You must learn chess or draughts, to think several moves
ahead. You depend on personal superiority to win the battle, when you
should consider winning the war." Rei-chan walked out.
Ranma stared into the mirror, and cried. "Why can't I ever
win?!"
"Because you don't plan!" Asuka and Rei shouted/said to him
through the door.
Ranma frowned. "Okay, I'm supposed to play the clown," he said
quietly to his reflection, "I might as well embrace the role."
Mirei was waiting for him outside the bathroom. She gave him a
friendly hug. "I'm glad to see you! Where's Ranko-chan?" Rei and
Asuka had departed back into the classroom.
"Uh . . . ," Ranma said.
"NERV business, Top Secret, can't talk about it. I get it," she
said, she hugged him again, then stepped away and bowed. "The
shopping trip after school, I agree that Ranko-chan needs some decent
clothes." She glanced around worriedly, stepped close to him and
whispered, "But she won't be happy with the frills and bows the others
are talking about. But girls like pretty clothes, don't try to
understand, it's a girl thing. I'll need your help Ranma-san, to pick
out some outfits she'll actually wear and enjoy wearing."
Ranma thought desperately. "She . . . she only wears my clothes.
Don't ask, it's a `Ranko-thing`."
Mirei brightened. "Then we'll get her a couple of suits and
shirts, and we'll get you a couple just like them. Maybe a tie. Even
though hers won't fit you, and yours won't fit her, she can't say
they're a not like yours." Mirei beamed at him.
Ranma couldn't find a single thing wrong with her argument. He
couldn't deny that happy face or the warmth it brought him. "Okay, I
guess," he admitted, which earned him another hug. This one he
returned, very carefully.
He kept glancing over his shoulder with anxiety. Why does this
feel so strange? he wondered, Why do I keep expecting somebody will
hurt me? He broke off the hug as Mirei happily took his hand and led
him back into the classroom.
Hikari was saying to Toji, "I thought it was a good idea, you
_are_ going to help."
"I got him to agree," Mirei told the others, then added to Asuka,
"But you are _not_ going to embarrass Ranko-chan."
"Ha," Asuka replied.
Mirei's expression darkened as she marched over to confront the
redhead. "You - will - not!"
Asuka glared back at her. "I'll - do - what - I - want."
"You - will - _not_!_" Mirei snarled at Asuka.
Tomiyo grabbed Shinji, while Sammi collected Ranma and took them
outside.
"We'll just let them decide among themselves," Sammi said, then
into her collar, "Volunteer, Sunshine, fire mission, fire mission."
"You aren't really going to use those battleships against them?"
Ranma asked.
"Too much?" Sammi asked.
"Not enough," Ranma replied.
"There you are," Hikari told them as she stuck her head out the
door, "Ayanami-san sided with Mirei-chan, so the argument is over.
What is with you boys?"
"I don't want to die," Ranma replied, "Shinji, what about you?"
"I had confidence in Ayanami-san. She'd solve the problem."
"How did you know she'd do that?" Hikari asked.
Shinji looked around, as Raccoon used to. "Evil magic."
Hikari chuckled and nodded.
----------------------------------------
Captain Miller marched onto the bridge. "Sound General Quarters,
no drill," he ordered as he raised the handset and stared out the
bridge windows at the disturbance.
"Yes, sir."
The klaxon sounded. 'General Quarters, General Quarters, all
hands man you battle stations, all hands man your battle stations.'
"Pilots, man the Eva and launch immediately," Captain Miller
said, "I say again, Pilots - "
Unit 04 leapt out of the open rear elevator well, as if fired
from a cannon. In the air, it twisted until it caught its own tail in
its mouth. When it landed in the harbor, it rolled like a wheel
towards the enemy. "Very well, all hands, make all preparations to
get underway, I say again, make all preparations to get underway."
"Sir, what about the EVA?" the officer of the deck asked.
"They have 6 hours of power," Captain Miller explained, "They can
catch up to us, or we can come back to get them."
"Yes, sir."
---------------------------------------------------------
"I think I'm going to be sick!" Nabiki complained from her seat
as they rolled along.
"Just be ready to slice and dice," Raccoon replied from his
position floating at the `bottom` of the plug, as the EVA rolled
between two ships and headed towards the shoreline, "We won't be
rolling for long."
"Do you think 14 prog knives and 6 sonic glaives are enough?"
Nabiki asked sarcastically.
"Sure, you'll get to do your Asura impersonation," Raccoon
replied, "Get ready."
"Lock S-Foils in attack position!" Nabiki unlooped the EVA and
extended the `armed` legs, ready to attack. She got an impression of
murderous rage from her `armmate`. Calm down, we'll kill them all,
she replied silently.
The EVA landed and the nearest Polyps hurled hurricane force
winds against them. Means nothing! Nabiki thought as she snarled and
slashed at the tightly packed mass with many of the prog knives.
"I've got the rear," Raccoon told her as he took over 2 knives
and a sonic glaive.
Nabiki drove a prog knife into one of the collections of eyes,
fanged mouths and tentacles as it phased into visibility. The thing
dissolved into the gray dust she'd seen before. Suddenly she had to
deal with her new companion's utter revulsion at what came with such a
death. "Hey, you knew what you were getting into!" she shouted at
Coffee as its repugnance translated into her nausea.
Raccoon swung a glaive around to stab a polyp that was closing on
the EVA's eyes. "You need to swap jobs?" he asked.
"No, got it," she answered, concentrating through the fading
odium, and stabbing several Polyps in quick succession. The remaining
Polyps all faded into invisibility, while the disruption before them
continued. "They are . . . unpacking, expanding," she explained,
"That was how they were stuffed into those boxes."
"Now they're scattering," Raccoon said, "Don't look, listen, use
your ears and your wind-based senses."
Nabiki focused, seeing the faint disruptions the creatures made
as they directed the winds against the EVA. She smiled as several
targets were immediately available. And they aren't dodging, she
thought as she attacked them simultaneously, feeling their deaths.
The disruption faded, as the last of the Polyps `unzipped` and
fled.
"Now we go hunting?" Nabiki asked, "Of course we do!" she
answered her own question. She moved the EVA towards where the
machine's ears heard the loudest whistling.
---------------------------------------------------------
"You aren't doing this." Mirei planted her feet firmly on the
PX's floor, folded her arms defiantly, and tried again to stare Asuka
down.
"Mirei." Yumiwashi tried to play peacemaker. "It _is_ very
pretty."
"It's _cute_," Mirei said, as if denouncing a cardinal sin, "Not
pretty."
Yumiwashi looked to her brother for help. Toji held up his
hands. Coward, traitor, she thought. "Ranma, say something!"
The martial artist looked around worriedly. "Uh, Ranko would
never wear that."
"It's something only Sour Kraut would wear," Toji offered, "All
those bows and ribbons, might finally manage to make her look cute."
"What was that?" Asuka advanced on him.
Yumiwashi grabbed Mirei's hand and nodded to Ranma. The trio
plunged into the boys' section of the clothing area with Sammi moving
in behind them, to cut off Asuka's advance.
"Leaving your brother to Asuka-san?" Mirei said approvingly,
"Nasty."
"He wouldn't help," Yumiwashi said primly, "He paid the price."
"What's so funny Sammi-san?" Yumiwashi asked.
"Nothing, nothing," the guard replied, hiding her smile.
"How's this one?" Mirei asked Ranma as she pulled a suit coat and
slacks from a rack, holding them in front of her. It looked like they
would fit Mirei well.
"Well, Ranko's - "
Yumiwashi's kick in the ankle served warning to Ranma.
Ayanami-san warned me he speaks . . . unfortunately, she thought as
Ranma glared at her. "She's built differently," she said as much to
Ranma as to Mirei.
"Yeah, she - " Ranma glanced worriedly at Yumi, "She's real . . .
active, so the clothes have to be a little . . . loose."
Yumi gave him an approving nod. Good, don't hurt her feelings,
just because Ranko has a figure most adult women would kill for, Yumi
thought, Gently. The truth doesn't _have_ to hurt.
Mirei held up the pants in front of Ranma. "So, are her hips
wider than yours?"
Yumi thought Ranma was going to hit the roof from that question.
"Ah, wider, ah, ah lot wider," Ranma managed.
Mirei pulled his arm out and hung the slacks on it. "Okay, _you_
try these on. Make sure they fit _you_."
"Thanks," Ranma said despondently.
"What's wrong?" Mirei asked crossly, then caught Yumi's warning
glare. She softened her tone, "Ranko-chan will appreciate all your
work. Don't you want her to be happy?"
"Of course," Ranma replied hotly. "But I -"
"She's going to realize she's a girl," Mirei explained, taking
Ranma's hand, "And a _very_ pretty one. She's going to grow into a
beautiful woman. She's going to want to be a pretty girl
occasionally."
"Especially for Raccoon," Yumi teased, Mirei giggled, Ranma
turned bright red.
"Don't be angry," Yumi chided, "He's a gentleman. He won't do
anything to hurt her. That's why she likes him so much. He doesn't
act like he wants to rip her clothes off and . . . well, you're a guy,
you know."
Ranma had gone from bright red to white as a sheet. He looks
like he's going to fall over any second, Yumi thought.
"Well, the way she looks at Ayanami-san - " Mirei said, "She
might have a crush on her."
"Ranko has a crush on Rei-chan?" Ranma sounded horrified.
"Don't tease him," Yumi accused, "Ranko's just envious."
"About what?" Ranma strangled on the sentence.
Yumi turned to Ranma. "But in a good way. Ayanami-san has
always been calm, imperturbable, I think that's the word, unbothered
by events. Isn't that what martial artist try to be like? That's
what she admires in Ayanami-san."
"Yeah," Ranma said brightly, then muttered, "Not that we get it."
"That's why Ranko-san admires Ayanami-san. She _can_ maintain
it," Mirei explained, "It's just a school-girl crush, 'Oh I wish I
could be like her! She's so wonderful!'" Mirei said with her hands
clasped and dewy eyes blinking, "It's not like a boy-girl crush."
"Oh," Ranma said quietly.
"We'll go check these," Sammi said, "You see if you two can find
a couple of shirts and a few long ties to go with the coat."
"Okay," Yumi said as she and Mirei began searching.
---------------------------------------------------------
"They don't know, do they?" Ranma asked Sammi in terror.
"No," Sammi assured him, "They have a bit of a crush on Ranko,
like Ranko's on Rei. Someone strong and confident to look up to."
Ranma wished Sammi would just stab him, instead of saying things
like that. Why do I keep thinking girls being nice to me is a prelude
to pain, he wondered. He glanced over to where Asuka and Hikari were
talking to Rei.
Shinji was people watching. The three girls weren't quite having
an argument, but it was verging on it. Ranma had overheard Rei make
it clear she didn't like red, and Asuka had taken that in stride. I
guess Rei isn't as much fun to tease as I am, Ranma thought as he
wandered towards them.
---------------------------------------------------------
Just Beware Of The Thorns
Asuka was irritated by the number of times Rei had flipped her
hair out of her face. But the barrettes, hair clips, and headbands
that I suggested, and the style of haircut that Hikari suggested,
aren't making an impression on Wondergirl, she thought as she noted
Horseface wandering over, Too bad water doesn't seem to work on him
anymore, a three-way argument would be better. And Wondergirl
couldn't keep insisting she 'doesn't see the purpose of useless
accessories.'
"Undoing all your hard work?" Horseface asked politely, enjoying
her dismay. Wondergirl was having none of it.
"Excuse me." Horseface carefully pulled off Asuka's A10 nerve
clip.
"Hey!" she protested.
"I ain't gonna break it." Horseface fitted the clip on
Wondergirl. Hikari stepped up, slipping the blue hair under the clip.
"There," Asuka said, "You wear one in the EVA all the time,
Wondergirl, you can't say _that_ serves no purpose."
Wondergirl looked at her reflection in the mirror, "I do not like
red," she said quietly, but made no move to remove it..
Her other objections seemed to have vanished, Asuka thought, At
least that was something. Asuka realized she was nervously shifting
from foot to foot.
"I think you'd better give it back," Horseface whispered to
Wondergirl, grinning at Asuka, "Or Langley's going to melt."
Asuka frowned at the pair as Wondergirl took it off, and stared
at Asuka, examining her, rather than returning it. Horseface and the
two Stooges all burst out laughing.
"Lingerie!" Asuka suggested as revenge on Horseface. The look on
Hikari's face suggested she was going to look forward to heaping the
embarrassment to its very limit.
"Done!" Mirei spoiled the fun, handing a pile of boxers to
Horseface, and smiled _so_ sweetly at Asuka. Horseface sighed
happily.
"But Ranko does need some bras," Mirei said, and Horseface's
countenance fell.
Asuka smiled at Horseface. "Yes, that was one thing we agreed
on," she told Horseface, making him realize there would be no escape.
"She can't keep borrowing yours, they'll get all stretched out of
shape, and must be uncomfortably tight on the poor girl," Mirei added,
smiling brightly at Asuka, who was considering homicide.
----------------------------------------
"You dirty, rotten, evil - " Nabiki ran out of insults. None of
them are . . . comprehensive enough, she thought as the EVA peered
into the middle floor of the three story building, where a group of
Polyps had surrounded themselves with a pack of kids.
Poor kids, she thought, imagining how she and the others would
have reacted to being captured and touched by these warped, horrifying
things that oozed and glided among them. She glanced at the floor
above and below where the Polyps' winds held other groups of kids as
shields in those directions. Those kids know I'm in here, and they're
calling my name, she thought, Each time they do, it's like a stake in
the heart, when I can't save them.
"Quit thinking literally and start thinking laterally," Raccoon
told her, "You bring your pistol?"
"Ah, no," she admitted.
"Start," he told her crossly as he passed her in the plug, "Pop
the top, time for combined arms."
"What are you - ?" she demanded, but he was already disconnected
and outside.
Raccoon, his pistol at his side, walked across the building's
middle floor. The Polyps seemed uncertain.
If they were the Nerimaniacs, Nabiki thought, They'd be trying to
watch both of us.
"Frrreeeessssh - mmmeeeeeatt!" Raccoon shouted at them, eliciting
giggles from the terrified kids, then added, "Miss Tendo, if they move
out of there, squash them!"
"Covering it," she replied, found herself snarling. She saw the
expressions on the kids change. Some started shouting her name, or
Raccoon's. From scared to spectators, she thought, Something to tell
their own kids. She winced as a wind blast slammed into Raccoon's AT
field, to no effect. I wish I . . . she remembered touching the
field herself, All the feelings and emotions; fire, ice, loneliness,
resignation, rage; mine and his, I . . . I wonder if that's what
`Ranko` sees in him.
"They're just hunching down," she warned Raccoon as the Polyps
all faded out. I see you, she thought as the disturbances the Polyps
were making in the winds pointed back to them. She felt herself
coiling to spring.
Raccoon emptied his pistol over the kids' heads. Just firing
into the center of mass, she thought as two, then all three of the
Polyps were hurled across the floor.
"Move! Run!" Raccoon shouted at the kids, as Nabiki reached in
to squash the writhing Polyps. Raccoon guided the kids out of the
room.
"Not so clever now?" she said as she crushed them, giving in to
her rage, "Why didn't you just run away? No, you had to be clever!
Are you clever now?"
---------------------------------------------------------
Misato had expected a lot of things when she returned to Miss
Kraznyzamok's home after work, the sound of laughter wasn't one of
them. Asuka, Rei, Ranko, and Shinji were having an impromptu fashion
show, to the delighted applause of Mirei, Toji and his little sister,
the guards and Hiro. The last was taking pictures.
Why do I feel I'm intruding? she wondered as the laughter
subsided as she walked among them and up the stairs.
"What about you?" Misato asked Hikari, who was upstairs cooking
dinner, with Penpen on the counter `supervising`.
"I'm enjoying myself, Major," she said happily.
Major, Misato felt like someone was twisting a knife in her guts.
She returned to the fashion show, she noted the diminution of the
noise as she rejoined them. Rei and Hiro had disappeared. "You all
look so good," she said cheerily, "You'll put Daibusu to shame."
"My suits are hand tailored," Ran_ma_ said as he exited his room,
closing the door behind him, a good facsimile of Raccoon in tone and
posture, "I haven't found a new tailor of the requisite quality, skill
and discretion." He brushed his `lapels`. "So I could have my
measurements taken and sent to Boston, besides I have five suits, I'll
wait for another growth spurt before I replace them."
The performance got some mild applause. Ranma bowed.
"So who paid for all of this?" Misato asked, "I know you didn't
ask for an advance." She sat down in a chair across from the others.
"Wondergirl did, some of it," Asuka replied nervously.
"She ran out of money." Toji indicated Asuka.
"I did not," Rei added as she exited her room with Hiro, "I was
carrying $500, I still have over half."
"You carry $500!" Misato was shaken.
"I should carry a reserve," Rei explained, "It is how much
Roku-kun carries. Some in various currencies, some in gold."
Rei stepped up to Shinji, "Is this correct?"
Shinji stood, and tried to speak.
Rei's wearing make up! she thought as she glanced at Hiro, who
was looking nonchalant. Misato looked closer and could understand
Shinji's, and the others', stunned expressions. She really _is_ very
pretty, Misato thought as she stared at the transformed girl.
"Hikari-chan insisted on buying Rei some cosmetics," Hiro told
her quietly, "I know how to apply them. By the way, lose the jacket,
the rank and the attitude, and they'll quit snubbing you, Katsu-sama."
He moved off before she could respond without yelling.
"Asuka had little talent," Rei said quietly, "Hiro-san is very
good, and Roku-kun left his college theater make-up."
"I've got to admit Wondergirl," Asuka said, "The difference is
startling."
"Rei." Misato was tongue-tied, the different clothes and make-up
changed Rei completely. "Ah, yes, it's, ah, very good job, it suits
you."
Rei nodded to Hiro, who bowed theatrically.
"We even bought Ranko some new clothes," Shinji added, earning a
low growl from Ranma, Shinji ignored him and continued,"If you could
get her to come out and try some of them on for the Major, we'll
promise to be nice."
Misato winced at that, but no one seemed to notice.
All eyes were on Ranma looking around like a trapped animal, from
one face to another, seeing salvation nowhere.
"It will have to wait," Hikari called from upstairs, "Dinner's
ready, if someone will - " Ranma zipped up the stairs and past her
before she finished. " - set the table." At the loud clattering,
Hikari turned around. "How did you do that!?"
They walked up the stairs. The table was set, and all the
serving dishes had gone from the stove to the table. Ranma was
sittingat his place, chopsticks at the ready.
"How did he do that?!" Hikari demanded of the pilots, "My back
was only turned for a second!"
"Hypergeometric superpowers absorbed from our foes, enabling him
to be several places simultaneously, as she took her seat, " Asuka
said, "Right, Wondergirl?"
"He is always eager to eat," Rei replied as Shinji held the chair
for her to sit down.
Hiro blocked Misato's way out of the stairwell. "Civilians
_only_," he said flatly. She removed her jacket and tossed it,
one-handed, on the couch downstairs before he let her pass. She
frowned at him for her entire walk up the stairs and to the table.
"You didn't seem happy about your promotion when you got it,"
Shinji said innocently, "Now you wear your collar tabs almost
everywhere. I don't understand."
Misato grimaced at the seemingly harmless comment as she sat down
to dinner. Why are they all picking at that particular scab, she
didn't ask aloud.
"I should have Ritsuko draft you," Misato said as she dug into
the food, "This is great." She noticed Rei, Sammi and Asuka had pause
to bow their heads, and Ranma restrained himself until they finished.
She frowned at that. Since when did _he_ learn manners? she wondered.
"Hey!" Toji protested at his suddenly empty plate, "What's goin'
on."
"Just showing Hikari-chan how I set the table," Ranma said,
digging in to the food he'd stolen from Toji.
"I'd like to see you try that again, when I'm ready."
"Not really," Asuka warned, "It took Ice Princess, Raccoon and
Ritsuko a lot of effort to train him out of that. They'll be very
angry if we let him fall back into the habit."
"I can control myself. Besides," Ranma said, pointing at the
single dumpling sitting in the middle of Toji's plate.
"Gahh! Ghosts!" Toji set his plate down. Yumiwashi removed the
dumpling more slowly but no less thoroughly than Ranma had.
"Talk or eat, I'm not wasting Hikari-san's wonderful food."
"Roku-kun's is superior," Rei said as she sampled her white rice.
"And you don't even come close, Asuka," Ranma countered Asuka's
unsaid protest.
"Hold it," Sammi interjected, "You can fight it out later. Let's
first enjoy the food."
"Rei-san can't," Shinji said as he excused himself, Yumiwashi
followed.
Hikari looked around worriedly. "Is there something wrong?" She
faced Rei. "Are you allergic?"
"I dislike meat," Rei said, "You did not know."
Hikari stammered an apology.
"Rice is fine," Rei replied as Shinji assembled something in the
kitchen.
"What about those people," Hikari asked quietly, "Have you caught
them yet?"
"They won't," Asuka said glumly.
"They can't stay hidden forever," Misato assured them, Rei and
Ranma exchanged a glance and raised eyebrows. Asuka glared at Misato,
then kept eating, staring at her food. Hikari too concentrated on her
meal. They know the truth, she realized, And they are getting as
tired of being constantly lied to as I am about this. In this case,
someone is hiding the attackers from NERV Security, that means a _lot_
of muscle.
Shinji and Yumiwashi returned to the table with a plate of
lightly stir-fried vegetables. He gave them to Rei and took his seat.
"There _are_ other avenues, enquiries are proceeding." Shinji
steepled his fingers and intoned, "We'll court-martial anyone who does
not cooperate."
"He wouldn't say it that way," Asuka sat up, steepling her
fingers, "The beatings will continue until morale improves."
"That's not right," Sammi countered, doing her own Gendo Ikari.
Rei abruptly left the table, and shocked everyone when she
returned with a pair of Gendo's glasses, perched them on the tip of
her nose as she sat down, then she sat up straight, adjusted the
glasses one handed then steepled her fingers as she leaned forward.
"The activity here is eating, this levity serves no purpose. Return
to your tasks," she intoned. Even Hikari was shocked by the
transformation. Rei slipped the glasses in her pocket and continued
her meal.
"You _had_ to teach her to tell jokes," Asuka stage whispered to
Shinji.
"Don't worry, you're next," Shinji stage-whispered back.
----------------------------------------
The EVA dodged around the corner as the two four plane elements
laid down their cargoes of napalm. The screams that followed were
clearly not human, but within the flaming box, more Polyps waited.
Last ones, Nabiki thought as she screamed some ancient
Chaugnaroid warcry and leapt over the fires to engage her targets.
Prog knives and sonic glaives flickered around her as she lost herself
to the fight. Suddenly, it was over, the fires and gray powder
remained.
"That wasn't shooting fish in a barrel, that was dropping a
chainsaw on them," Jeff told her, "You seem to have a great deal of
repressed anger."
"It's not repressed anymore," she warned, breathing heavily as
the toll for her frenetic actions of the last few hours demanded
redress.
He glanced back around the corner. The company of riflemen were
looking for their now cubed and deep-fried quarry, and beginning to
call for help to fight the fires. "Well, that's all of them. A quick
lesson -"
Nabiki shook her head. "No, this thing's on fumes," she
explained, "We get it back aboard the carrier now." She looked
around. "Now _where_ the Hell is the carrier?"
"You could summon a spirit to guide you," Raccoon suggested.
"I won't do that again," she promised tiredly, "Until I'm ready."
"Good. There's the carrier." Jeff pointed the EVA towards the
harbor.
"No hoop snake tricks," Nabiki warned, "I'll alert the carrier
we're coming in, and we'll need the power take off as soon as we land.
As if they don't know about this." She began broadcasting. "Hello,
hello . . . Moshi moshi! Can I speak to Dr. Akagi, Analyst Ibuki,
Captain Miller?" She paused, fumed. "Those things that sound like a
bent flute, toss armored cars around like leaves and likes threatening
kids are all gone _SO_WE'RE_HEADING_BACK_THERE_AND_I_MEAN_NOW_!_"
"Well at least they can see us." Nabiki sagged. "Oh Mighty
Chaugnar Faugn, how does your magnificence keep from falling asleep,
I'm exhausted."
"I'm not gonna say 'I told you so,'" Jeff grumbled he as drove
the EVA through the harbor, rowing with the arms like a giant galley,
"I'm gonna save my strength to yell for a cab once we're aboard.
Besides, you did most of the actual fighting. I just disrupted their
spells and watched our backs."
They arrived at the carrier, the rear elevator was down, making
the hanger park accessible. "And I'm tired too. The concrete's not
out, but I think I can help, can you get this thing through the
elevator?"
"Anything that lets me get some sleep," she said as she took
command, "What are those things?"
"AT field," Jeff said distractedly, "Step down on them, no bent
deck."
"Got it." The EVA stepped down on the AT field projections.
Nabiki felt the same odd resonance. Like when I landed on the AT
field - Raccoon's AT field - back aboard the carrier, she thought
guiltily, Nobody should know that much about somebody else's innermost
being.
Inside the hanger the lights were on, men were working on
Corsairs and Avengers near the front. Nothing was parked in the EVA's
resting spot near the stern. "They must have decided to mix air-ops
with EVAs," Jeff suggested, "At least they have a spare battery in the
charging rack." Jeff indicated the long box.
Men were scattering everywhere, hiding behind the little tractors
and the huge tool boxes.
"_REAL_FUNNY_!_" Nabiki had the EVA shout at them, then on
internals to Jeff, "I lost my temper, sue me."
"I'd rather go to sleep," he replied, as he quit floating and
sagged to the deck of the plug, "The battery's fitted."
"Switching over to emergency life support." She looked at him as
the plug went dark. I don't know if I'm more angry and worried he's
over there and I'm over here, than I would be if he'd joined me, or
asked me to join him, she thought, Has Ranko ever felt it? I think
Asuka has. But . . . I need sleep. I am just _not_ thinking
straight. "Let them come get us," she said, "I don't care if sleeping
in an EVA gives you weird dreams."
---------------------------------------------------------
The guards had a driver take Hikari, Mirei and the Suzuharas
home. Hiro had wanted to walk home to think. The pilots stood around
the lower floor. "So Horseface, you are stuck as a he for a while?
She-Horseface was better company," Asuka complained, "I guess all it
takes is a mention of shopping and you change back. Maybe your curse
mutated. We say 'shopping' and you turn into a boy, all we have to do
is figure out the code-word to turn you into a girl."
"Asuka is your wife," Misato offered, trying to sound reasonable,
actually she was glad Asuka was back to fighting and arguing. Ranma
took the opportunity of Asuka's distraction to slip into his room and
close the door.
"Hey! Baka! Don't run away! I was winning!" She charged in
and let out a shriek to match Ranma's squawk. "Dummkoft! Baka!
Hentai!" she shouted as she retreated, "How come you never show any
_feminine_ modesty?!"
"Is it true he has so much to be modest about?" Shinji asked
Asuka innocently.
"Who asked you?" Asuka shot back.
Rei walked out of her room, wearing only the cold cream on her
face to remove the make up. "Is it proper to argue, rather than
sleep?" She glanced around at the stunned faces. Ranma exited his
room and immediately retreated back in, slamming the door behind him.
Rei turned to face Shinji. "Asuka has suggested I give you each a
good night kiss." Asuka walked into her room and slammed the door
behind her. Shinji escaped into his room and closed the door quietly.
Rei looked at Misato.
Misato backed up a step, expecting the naked girl to try to kiss
her.
"Tactics, Major, achieving objectives." Rei returned to her
room, and quietly closed the door.
"Our children," Sammi sighed, "They grow up so fast." She headed
up the stairs.
"Of all the places to have no beer . . . " Misato sighed as she
stretched out on the couch again.
----------------------------------------