Pity to the Angels - Written by Laqjr
- A Ranma/Eva fusion from
Nighthawk's ideas page
Disclaimer: Ranma1/2 and Neon Genesis Evangelion
are used without
permission. Ranma1/2 is copyright Viz, and Neon Genesis
Evangelion is
copyright Gainax.
I prefer the Ranma manga and Eva
Anime, but as this is a fusion, I'm
not staying faithful with the Ranma
timeline. This is my third rewrite.
This story begins in Ranma book 12,
p96, where Ranma had just beaten
Happosai and landed with Akane safely on the
ground...
Prologue
覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧
"...
only to learn that the shred of the chart with the cure to the
Ultimate
Weakness Moxibustion had not been found, most likely having
been
destroyed by the tremendous whirlwinds caused by Ranma's Hiryu
Shoten
Ha!" Nabiki stood at the low table, holding a microphone in her
left hand
and pointing to the sky with her right index finger. If one
looked
closely, images of sunlight rays and cherry blossoms could be
seen
disappearing into the mists of the afternoon.
For Ranma, this
meant Nabiki was mocking him. "Would you please stop
that?" he cried,
kneeling as he was at the low table, his arms
draped over the table as he
glared at her petulantly.
"In any case," Ranma said, crossing his
arms and looking out at the koi
pond, "there's no reason for me to stay
here anymore. I can't run the
dojo without my strength, so I'll just have
to train to get it back."
To Nabiki, it seemed Ranma would always
hold onto his ego, even if he
lost all his pride. He knelt there, holding
his right fist at face level
and closed his eyes, seemingly deep in
thought. A tear slipped from an
eye and slowly made its trek down his
face. Is it because he would miss
the Tendo household? Or anguish over
losing his strength?
In the next moment, he had his arms
outstretched on the table and his
forehead resting on the edge, looking
depressed. Nabiki turned on the TV
and ignored him. An extra special
episode of Maison Ikkoku was supposed
to show tonight. According to
Sataro, the main characters were going to
confess their love in this
episode (Nabiki couldn't remember their
names). Not that she believed
Sataro, but if it happened, she didn't
want to miss
it.
Just then, the phone rang, and seeing as Ranma was not going
to pick it
up, Nabiki got up to answer the phone.
"Moshi
moshi. Ranma?" Ranma did not even look up. "He's unavailable for
the
moment. ... May I ask who's calling? ... Really? Can I take a
message?
Mhm, mhm. Do you have a number I can call you back at? ... Are
you sure?
He may not be back for a while. ... Okay, well, have a
good day."
*Beep*
"Ranma, the woman I spoke to on the phone was a Captain
Matsushira of
the Japanese Defense Forces, currently working under the
jurisdiction of
Nerv. She says she must speak with you immediately, so
she's on her way
here now."
"Hmm?" Ranma didn't move from
her awkward position at the table.
Kneeling on her cushion,
Nabiki sat down in time to see the screen
flash, then stay green,
displaying the Nerv and UN logos in the upper
and lower right corners of
the screen, respectively, and a message
begin to scroll. It was
announcing that those who were within the Tokai
district of Tokyo-3
should evacuate to the nearest
shelters.
"..."
Apparently, the recent disarmament
talks and Anti-Nerv campaigns were
for naught, as the television calmly
announced to the world that the
Angels are here.
The
Angels are real.
The thought swam briefly through her head. Why
now of all times? Earth
was most prepared two years ago, before the UN
began cutting support
from Nerv's private investors and nations forced
Nerv to close all its
branches.
All but one, the one in
Tokyo 3.
And they wanted Ranma.
Nabiki stood at
the door now, a slightly frazzled and incompletely aware
Ranma standing
next to her, looking haggard from her recent fight. Ah,
his drink had
spilled on him, changing his form.
At the door was a tall woman
with a soft face and long purple hair. She
wore a short black skirt and a
dark blue blouse. She held a red jacket
which was draped over her left
shoulder as she stood there, holding a
pair of sunglasses in her other
hand.
"Hello, I'm Captain Misato Katsuragi from Nerv, is your
father or Ranma
Saotome at home now?" Nabiki looked pointedly at Ranma,
and after a few
moments, she stumbled away.
"You're not
the woman I spoke to on the phone, I'm sure of it," Nabiki
said. She
watched the woman suspiciously.
"Listen, I need to talk to your
father right away, girl. The Angel
could reach the GeoFront at any
moment, and I can't let that happen.
Where is he?"
"He's
not home right now. He went to the supermarket with my older
sister to
buy groceries for the week. He won't be back for two hours at
least. Is
there something I can help you with?" Nabiki wasn't sure what
to make of
this woman. She seemed frustrated and very irritable. Her
day must not
have gone too well.
Ranma walked down the stairs then to stand
near Nabiki at the door.
Misato noticed immediately that this boy fit the
description Ritsuko
gave her.
"Are you Ranma?" Ranma
nodded. "I need to take you to Nerv right away.
Just get in the car and
we'll be on our way."
"Where are we going?" Ranma
asked.
"You can't just take him!" Nabiki spoke loudly so as to
make her
opinion known.
"I'm taking you to see your father
at Nerv. Didn't you get his message?
He sent you an ID
card."
"Hold on a minute, Ranma's father couldn't possibly get
him into Nerv.
Who are you and why are you here?" Nabiki didn't like
being ignored,
and now it seemed she'd been dropped out of the
conversation.
Misato clenched her fists and closed her eyes a
moment. First, Kaji had
to show up at Nerv and annoy her all day, then an
Angel had finally
decided to attack, and now she had to deal with finding
and babysitting
the commander's wayward son and any of his friends she
couldn't shake
off. Just how was this day going to
end?
"Ranma, listen to me. I didn't want to tell you this until
we were on
our way, but you don't trust me enough to just take you to
Nerv. Genma
isn't your father, he's your uncle. Your father is Ikari
Gendo, a
well-scientist and the commander of Nerv. Many years ago, your
mother
had died in an explosion within one of Gehirn's laboratories, and
your
father, unable to take care of you, had entrusted you to his
older
brother. Genma Saotome. Not long after, you and Genma both
disappeared.
"Ranma, you weren't born a Saotome by name. Your
real name is Ikari
Shinji. You can even check your records, they all say
your name was
changed when you were four, a year after Genma took you in.
What I'm
asking you isn't easy for you, but I think you'll do it. We need
you to
come to Nerv so you can help us fight the Angels. Only certain
people
can do this, and so far Marduk has only been able to find two
before
you when its funding was cut two years ago. Nerv is falling
apart
around us, and we need to save it now before it crumbles to dust.
So
will you come with me?"
Misato's little blurb, although
bordering the unbelievable, still left
him curious about something she
said. "What is Gehirn? It doesn't sound
like a person's name to
me."
"Person?" Misato said, incredulous at the prospect of naming
a child
'Gehirn'. "Gehirn was a research company which received its
funding
from the UN, and it mostly dealt with Modern Bio-Technology. It
was
dissolved sometime after the death of Ikari Yui, Ranma's mother,
and
Nerv took its place."
"What does Nerv want Ranma for?"
It was, to Nabiki, the most important
question. Had that tornado in the
vacant lot aroused the UN's
suspicion? Curiosity? Or maybe they didn't
like the idea of a martial
artist running around with the ability to
carve his name in the Earth
using his bare hands and
ingenuity.
Misato blinked, then punched her right palm with her
left hand in a
pose which exumed thoughtfulness. "Nerv had recieved in
its final
Marduk report that Ranma is the Third Child. That was two years
ago.
Being the Third Child means that you and two others before you are
able
to fight the Angels. So you see, we need Ranma to fight the Angels
and
save the Earth."
Looking at Nabiki, Ranma said, "Well,
it is a martial artist's duty to
deal with the supernatural and inhuman.
So I guess.."
Nabiki grabbed Ranma's arm and said, "Ranma, you're
not going anywhere
yet. Besides, you can't just leave. What about Akane?
What will Saotome-
san and my father say?"
Misato leaned
in close to Nabiki and looked at her face. "Just why is
it that he can't
just leave?"
"Hn? Because my father is arranging his marriage."
Nabiki faced Ranma
and leaned in closely, causing Ranma to lean back and
look at her
wearily. "You wouldn't leave without your fianc馥, would
you?"
Ranma sweat a little at her
question.
覧覧覧覧覧覧
The entry plug flooded with
orange liquid. LCL. Eva Unit 00 stood ready
for
launch.
Commander Ikari appeared on the upper left visual screen.
He sat at his
desk, gloved hands folded under his chin. These hands had
once burned
to save her. They callused. They
smoothened.
"Ayanami, do not attempt to destroy the Angel until
its AT field has
been neutralized." His glasses had fallen down his nose
again. He
pushed them up absently with a gloved hand.
"I
understand." No more words were needed. "Eva Unit 00, launch."
Commander
Ikari disappeared from her screen.
The Evnagelion, never before
used beyond activation tests and
simulations, rose steadily on the launch
pad to an area within 30
kilometers of the Angel.
The
Angel, a gigantuous creature with a protruding red core, stood a
few
meters taller than Unit 00. It walked within the city,
destroying
buildings in its path, not caring for what lay about. Rei
pulled a
gun from a nearby shaft which had opened for her, then began
shooting
the Angel. The gun had little effect on its AT
field.
"The Second Child has arrived. Unit 02 will reach the
surface ETA 35
seconds," Hyuga reported from her lower right screen. His
image was
replaced by data from Unit 00's targeting system. The Angel was
in
range again.
Aim first, then pull the switch. Asuka is
point. The Angel is heading
toward launch pad 4. The Angels must be
stopped. Disrupt the AT field
before destroying the
core.
Asuka appeared on her center left screen. "Alright,
Wondergirl, I'm
here. Cover me. I'm going to destroy its AT
field."
"Understood." The Angel's AT field is strong. It can be
corroded. Rei
waited for the crosshairs to align, then
fired.
覧覧覧覧覧覧
Could he really fight the
Angels? He couldn't even beat Kuno anymore.
He was weak now, and all he
could do was run away. The cure was lost,
all the pieces of the chart
scattered away in a strongly blowing wind.
It was a bad
omen.
There was nothing left for him to do. Ranma needed to
train, but there
was no way he could get the supplies he needed to
wherever he was
going. He couldn't stay in Tokyo 2, since everyone and
their ninjas
insisted on torturing him now that he was weak. If he went
to Tokyo 3,
even if he couldn't fight these Angels, he would still have
some time
for training. Maybe someone in Nerv had a cure. After all, Nerv
is a
big group with branches all over the world. Someone somewhere had
to
know the cure.
The train ride to Tokyo 3 was quiet most
of the way, with Misato
occasionally trying to break the silence. Ranma
didn't feel like
talking, so he ignored the
conversation.
Nabiki was sitting in the front and Ranma sprawled
himself across the
backseat. Although the armrest on the door made an
uncomfortable
pillow, Ranma made do and went to
sleep.
When they entered the car, Misato had given him a booklet
about Nerv,
but Ranma didn't feel like reading it, so he gave it to
Nabiki. When he
woke up halfway through the trip, he saw she was still
reading it.
Nabiki and Misato were talking about something, but Ranma
wasn't paying
attention to them. Instead, he focused on the glow he saw
ahead of
them. It looked like a well lit cave.
It was a
Geo Front! Ranma had never see one before.
Nabiki and Misato went
quiet, then Nabiki spoke in the ensuing silence.
"It's a real Geo Front.
Amazing."
"That's right. This is our secret base, Nerv
Headquarters. This may be
the key to rebuilding our world, a fortress for
all mankind."
覧覧覧覧覧覧
Ritsuko sighed as the
elevator doors opened. Misato had gotten lost yet
again. Walking out of
the elevator, she saw there were two children
with her. "Is this the
boy?" she asked.
Misato nodded. "According to the Marduk report,
he's the Third Child.
He's been living in Tokyo 2."
"Oh?
And who is the girl?" The girl made Ritsuko really curious. She
didn't
recall a new Marduk report arriving recently.
"She's his fianc馥,
Nabiki Tendo. They lived together for nearly a year
now." Nabiki looked
up from the book and greeted Ritsuko. She elbowed
Ranma to get his
attention and told him to do the same.
"They're quite an item,
don't you think, Ritsuko? And they both look so
cute!" Misato's mind
began to wander and she tilted her head and placed
her hands against her
left cheek.
"Misato, they're sixteen, and they show more maturity
than you."
Ritsuko walked off down the hallway, then led them to a
platform which
took them to Unit 01.
"Hm. What's the
status of the Angel right now?" Misato looked away from
the platform, but
very little was visible from her position.
"The battle has
progressed steadily. Rei and Asuka have practiced
together in the
simulation rooms for eight months now. It's no surprise
they fight so
well together against the Angel. It should all be over
soon now, but I
thought we'd take the opportunity to send Ranma out in
the Eva Unit 01,
just so he'd get a feel for how they work." Ritsuko
carefully stepped out
from the platform when it came to a complete stop.
"But what
about the activation tests?" asked Misato.
"Can't do them. We
have no one trained recently enough for them to go
safely, and it would
hurt the budget less to just let him go out and
see how he does on his
own. Besides, he's the Third Child, right? Since
the First Child did so
well, and the Second Child's sync ratio on
activation is even better, Mr.
Third here should do just fine foregoing
the activation procedure."
Ritsuko kept walking down the hall, Misato
following and Nabiki dragging
Ranma along behind them.
"I guess that's true, but is it safe?"
Misato glanced back to find
Nabiki and Ranma arguing over something, but
still following at a
discrete distance behind her.
"Of
course not. Activation is the safest way to make sure Eva pilots
can sync
without too many drawbacks or errant symptoms, what we term
as
'side-effects.' Without Activation, there is no guarantee our new
pilot
will even survive the syncronization procedure. It doesn't
matter
anyway. Everything we do here is dangerous. We're dealing with the
end
of the world, remember?" Ritsuko opened a door labeled
'Restricted
Access' using her keycard and stepped inside, holding the
door for the
others to
enter.
覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧覧
TBC...