Neon Genesis Evangelion Higher Learning Strike Fiss, 2001 Forty-Second Lesson: "Chalk Outline" The heat of the day was unnatural. Sounds of helicopters and machines buzzed louder than the cicadas of the old summertime. Orange suits animated through the dense trees to where a large, burnt scar cut across their path. Mist unlike anything they had ever seen blanketed the area with heat that could have boiled you alive if you were bare skinned. Luckily, the NERV emerg teams were not so foolish. Ritsuko sighed as she looked across the landscape...now much different with a disturbingly large portion of Tokyo 3 now a crater. Most of the buildings destroyed were commercial and armament. The numbers of casualties would probably be much less than expected. The number of people who would no longer have homes, work, or place in the city, however, would be much higher. "We found it!" She followed the team to the end of the burnt groove in the trees. The vaguely familiar cylinder of an Entry Plug was embedded in the earth. It was only a few moments until the entire team was surrounding it. EVA-00 it read on the side. "Open it." She said. One of the men in big orange suits began to unseal the plug. A long, orange hiss of steam added and swirled into the humidity. The man stumbled back, a bit surprised, but did not seem to be hurt by it. Of course, Rei hadn't been wearing the big, orange anti-radiation suit. "Holy mother of..." Ritsuko just sighed and looked inside herself. The figure inside was not really that horrible...mostly intact...except for the blisters. "Well, at least she didn't suffer." As she leaned inside to make sure, she noticed a small smile on Rei's face. A quick check of a non-existent pulse, and it was done. "Burn it." She sighed, then walked away. To the comm. channel she said: "She's dead." A small sigh on the other end. Gendo. "Prepare the Third." "Hai." Ritsuko replied, then turned off the power. She smiled. [ten hours ago] In the old sector of the city, the traveling market moved again. Inside contacts at NERV had told the shopkeepers about various new developments in military and angel attacks. They were now pushed back to nearly the end of the city limits. Rei watched from one of the alleys. She had found some old blanket, and was using it like a cloak to hide her white and blue school clothing in the shadows. She smiled to herself as she found the shop she was looking for. The kids around the area called this shop the Dirty Boot shop. Boot, as in Bootlegs. It was a music store...or rather some kind of a traveling kiosk version. As for the Dirty part, it referred to the owner. Nobody knew his name, but he was old, smelly...and he liked it when little school girls came nearby. Old Dirty Hentai Man. But, hey, he had some very hard to find music. Rei grinned as she watched the old pervert step out into the street to ogle some younger girls who were walking by. She ran over to the little booth and before anyone saw her, had grabbed a handful of MiniDisks and a tiny silver player that had been on his bench. Her heart raced as she ran down the street, shedding her cloak only after finding herself a few blocks away and entering the New City. Just before the cracked pavement gave way to newer armored plasticement, she stopped and hid in another alley. It took her a moment to find out how the controls worked, and another to get the right disk ready, but soon, she... Had found she had no headphones. Rei slumped, then looked around. There had to be somewhere she could get a pair from. She looked around and spotted a footprint. Well...one of Eva-01's footprints. The building under it hadn't faired too well. The police tape and barriers were still up from weeks of ignoring the smaller areas of destruction around the city. She saw the flattened sign of a Sony store and gasped happily, running under the police tape to literally dive into the rubble. Minutes of searching finally paid off, and she returned to the surface with a battered, dusty box containing three hundred dollar headphones. She sat down in the midst of the rubble, popped in a disk, and adjusted the headphones. The volume was too loud...but she didn't care. A rich symphony of sound like she had never heard before began to flood through her mind as she closed her eyes and lived it. Maybe it was the mood she was in, but she didn't mind the way the dust was everywhere around her. And how the sunset wasn't spectacular like some days. Maybe it was just the feeling of being so free for once that she forgot all about that until all she could hear was the music. Her dusty blue hair fell in front of her eyes as she rocked back and forth to the overtures and movements. It was some unnamed symphony. But it was live...recorded from the audience. With the digital quality of the disk and the high-end headphones, it was almost like being there. She could almost imagine it... Dressed in a long, evening gown. (Midnight blue, she supposed), with diamond ear-rings and a necklace that all the boys would be trying hard not to stare past. (that always made her blush and smile) She would be sitting there, alone in the seat of some random part of the theater, and after the music was over, she would notice (after all, fairy tales always work like this) the man of her dreams sitting next to her. They would smile, and he would be the gentleman and maybe ask her out to coffee. She would try to make an excuse, but he looked so cute to pass up when he looked so heartbroken when she tried. Glasses...yes...he'd have to have glasses. Not the ones like Gendo had, though. Just the right mix between intelligence and sharp design. For some reason, she imagined him to be blonde...maybe with a pony-tail for the 'rugged but civilized' look. Maybe a memory from a passing meeting with a foreigner...maybe that system engineer that everyone called Tyler, who had been nice that one time and offered to get her some tea, simply because he was on his way to get some too. She felt a tear roll down her cheek as reality sprung back around her. It was just a thought, she sighed. But it was a nice one. The next song was more upbeat. It had more trumpets instead of violins. She had never heard a trumpet in person...nobody in the school knew how to play one. She began to walk away from the rubble, ignoring the odd look off the street that people gave her, observing her dirty appearance and huge, super-quality headphones. She was mildly disappointed as she observed that the city around her did not move to the music. How it shifted and shivered unnaturally to the beat of humans only a century before them. The sun was almost gone now...only a sliver of the glowing red orb was left behind the man-made towers. "Red..." she whispered to herself, sitting down on a park bench she had wandered to. "I hate red..." She closed her eyes, just as the sun set. And saw red. At first, she felt the heat...a warm wave of air that rushed across her entire body, through her clothes and all around her. Curious, she opened her eyes to see she was no longer there...that the city...the park...everything...had been replaced with just blinding, red light. Scorching and horrible...that kept growing. She didn't shield her eyes, though she imagined she would have to. In the center of the explosion, she could see something...a figure that she should have known. A blue giant...one eye. A baron of hell that was hers to command. It flickered away to something else...even though the light was blinding, it could not hide what the Eva truly was. It looked right at Rei with eyes that matched her own. And smiled, just before it died. Most people would have screamed. Rei only shed silent tears as the vision left her sight. She would die tomorrow. All of this...gone. This music she could hear right now...it's rich texture and the way she felt when she heard it. It would be gone. No. No. Why did it have to go? Couldn't she keep it? Maybe. She looked up from her lap, where the disk had finished. As she pressed 'replay', the song and the image of the symphony came back to her, and she smiled as she saw her Dream Man. It was just a fantasy...but it was something belonging to her. She could be replaced. But her dreams could not. Her mind could not. Her emotions and music. Rei would be replaced. SHE, however, could not be. So...Rei did something she hadn't done for a long time. She came up with a plan. A good plan. A plan that would work. As she ran down the street, headphones and music flung away in the pursuit of speed, she kept thinking to herself... "If nobody sees Rei die...does she actually die?" A badly drawn chalk outline of the moon came to mind, and she smiled. Yes. It would work. But she needed help. [eight hours ago] Ritsuko knew this was bad. Very bad. There were too many things that could go wrong. She didn't want to destroy her friends more than she already had. And poor Maya was so innocent. She didn't deserve this. Especially after the stressful week. It was a lot to handle, she surmised. Admitting to anyone...let alone your boss...let alone your hero...let alone your fellow gender...that you loved them...well... And watching all the horrible things happening to the Evas and the Children. But mostly the gay part... Ritsuko groaned inwardly and chastised herself for labeling it like that. She didn't know if it was actually like that. Hell, she had gotten all nuts over several people before. Admittedly (though rarely admitted) both genders. She envied one of her fellow students to the point of obsession during high school. Her mom actually thought...well...ANYONE would have thought so if they saw the file Ritsuko had collected on the poor girl. She was pretty, though, so everyone assumed... She sighed. Maya was just sitting in the car next to her...with God Knows What going through her head about the situation. WHY!?? For crying out loud! It's not a big deal! She reminded herself. She had been in her apartment before. It wasn't anything new. They were just going for coffee and to talk. So why the hell was she more nervous than she had been on all the dates in her life combined? It was embarrassing. Maybe it was retribution for all the mistreatment she had dished out in her lifeti... "SEMPAI! STOPSIGN!" She gasped and slammed on the breaks. A large semi-truck just barely missed the front of the car, and the driver gave a hearty loud honk for her effort. Why was she so nervous? Maybe it was because this was the only friend she had at the moment who didn't want to use, screw, or kill her. Through some sick sense of the word 'companionship', she actually found herself reasoning that it really wouldn't be so bad to have Maya drooling...or whatever it was she did...over her so long as she wasn't alone. "Are you okay, Sempai?" Maya asked, looking on with a worried face. "I'm fine." She sighed. "Lot going through my head." "Okay." Maya said, and then resigned herself to her seat. And while many people would be shocked to know what was going on through Ritsuko's head, they would probably laugh...thinking it was impossible...that she was now considering just how nice it felt to hug Maya. Reflecting upon it, she hadn't been hugged in...well...years. Dear God! Had it been that long? Just simple human contact? She got a darkly humorous look in her eyes as she drove: thinking about Gendo. He didn't classify as human contact. Oh, he was quite a man. Shinji would probably get any, and all, of the charm from the man. But he was Gendo. It wasn't the same as how the one or two actual boy friends she had before were. He was something all demanding and consuming. The passion of the man, while hidden most of the time, was like a firestorm. It could consume anything in its path. He was simply Gendo. And, while she normally didn't want to entertain the possibilities, Maya was not. And damn...it felt good to hug someone again. It felt good to have coffee with someone real. Misato, bless the girl, was just too...too...critical. Or not enough. Never a happy medium. Maya had a life, she was begging to see, out side of Eva. One that kept her sheltered from the horrors that Ritsuko faced every day. Why would it be so bad to share in that a bit? They parked. And sat there. "Well, enough of this." Ritsuko steeled herself and got out. "I promised you coffee, and the last thing you need is watching me being eaten out from the inside by my own thoughts." Maya followed silently, though it was clear she had a lot on her mind too. Neither noticed the figure down the alleyway following them into the building. The three old men who were assembled did not bother to use the security of the monoliths this time. They were all so far into this that there was no need to hide. At least, not from each other. The other men were maybe, at best, loyalists to the cause. But none of them believed as these three did. Chairman Keel knelt at the small table all of them had. The others were empty. On his right was a man who stayed mostly silent in the day's of these final battles. The head of what was jokingly called the United Nations. On his left, reclining against his seat was his contact in Germany. "How goes the war?" Germany asked hopefully to the U.N. Keel never did ask...nor care for their names. "The same." U.N. answered. "I pray you have not been squandering the money I've been sending to you." "Of course not." Germany said, sipping his coffee. "Waste is something the German People know not how to do. Especially in these trying times." "Mmm." Keel said. "The Human Compilation Project...I suppose you could look at it like a way to solve world hunger, couldn't you." Germany smiled. "It is perhaps the most noble of selfish plans I have heard of." He raised his glass to Keel. "Therefore, I have no problem supporting it." There were no pretends here. They all knew. This was their chance. The only way they would see Heaven. Each of these men had committed horrible crimes. Each of these men had caused the world to be a slightly more terrifying place. And each of these men were only a breath's width away from death. Desperate times called for...well...extreme measures. And this, while extreme, would definitely pay off in the Heaven they sought. "You have no problems supporting it because you will no longer feel the pain of your body disintegrating under you." Keel said quietly. While he was the worst off, each of the old men were dying in various ways. All their power, money, and lies would not be able to prevent it. Until Eva was realized. "I imagine it is hardest for you." Germany said, looking Keel over. "Having nothing left to live for here. Waiting only for the Promised Day." Keel smiled and shot him a raspy laugh. "Oh? And you have so much more to live for than I?" "The thrill of the game?" U.N. offered with a smile. "Or maybe the synthetic adrenalin you mix with your coffee every morning?" Germany frowned, and suddenly looked embarrassed at his drink. "Some like caffeine. I suppose, however, with your blood so thin that caffeine would be too weak to feel." U.N. said. "Perhaps. I see no need in suffering needlessly." Germany shrugged, and then took a long sip. "I've paid my dues...and I have no illusions of penance." He reached over and patted U.N. on the shoulder. U.N. shrieked in pain and cowered away, holding his shoulder delicately, and causing Germany to laugh out loud. Keel frowned at the display, but didn't care so late in the game. "Now, let's all try to behave, Children." Keel grumbled. "You shouldn't have invited us here if we were just going to sit around and complain the day away." Germany smiled and tipped his 'coffee' back into his mouth. "If you would all mind your mouths, I DO have a purpose to this gathering." Keel said idly. "How did the test go?" Germany asked, knowing exactly what the purpose was. Keel looked at them all through his metallic eye. Then...smiled. "What the Fifth lacks in skill, he makes up for in cruelty." "Like all good Angels." U.N. nodded. "And a two-hundred percent sync-ratio can't hurt either." Germany chuckled. "The Eva Series is being assembled for the final stage." Keel whispered. "I must say...it is quite a sight to walk in the midst of those giants when they are in one room." His breath came raspy, but anxious. "It reminds me why we started this all so long ago." "A glorious revelation." Germany said quietly. "Our ascendance is assured. We've fought too hard to have it any other way." "But...The Lance?" U.N. asked. "It is of no importance." Keel said. "It was our last resort. If the Fifth fails to deliver us, the Pilot of Unit-01 shall be our savior." Keel smiled. "And if HE fails us, we will have the means to complete our goals with the Eva Series." "And we can eventually retrieve the Lance anyway." Germany nodded. "But not within our lifetimes." Keel warned. "We have barely completed THIS plan in our lifetimes." Germany smiled and sighed, leaning back on his chair. "It will be nice to leave this life for the next." They all reflected on the past, enjoying the feelings that it would all soon be a memory...not a living hell. "But." U.N. whispered. "But what?" Germany frowned. "The one the Sensei talked of..." U.N. sighed. "We still know nothing of him." "He is one unknown in a thousand variables we control." Keel said. "We will tell our Angel dignitary to take care of this...other...soon enough." "The Fifth is hardly a warrior." U.N. said. "We do not need a warrior." Keel smiled. "Only to win." The three old men nodded. Hope was a strange commodity they all shared these days. Three words can say so much. Technically, you can have a subject, a link, and an action quite easily in three words. It's really all you need. Ritsuko was trying desperately to figure out the right combination. She knew it would be three words. Her mind forced it to be simple. It told her: You can parse a three thousand gigabyte database with a biorhythm written on a napkin with big, thick crayon. Why would you need more than the minimum three words? "Three little words." She chuckled as she thought to herself. Her mother always told her that those 'three little words' could spell disaster. That men and women always screwed them up. But would it be so bad if they were just two friends? "Can I help with anything?" Maya called from the living room. "Nope! Just a second!" Ritsuko called back, remembering the tea was almost ready. The hardest thing now would be to distinguish this for poor Maya. That it wasn't a declaration of undying love. She almost felt...bad. She smirked. Then again, if ANYONE would turn her into a lesbian, Gendo was that person. But that was not something she was willing to entertain for now. Though, Maya was rather cute... She gave her brain a mental slap. Bad brain. "Bad brain!" she said out loud. "Pardon?" "Oooh, nothing!" Ritsuko sighed and picked up the tea, loaded everything into a tray, and brought it out. Maya sat nervously, like she was scared to do or touch anything. Ritsuko prayed she was doing the right thing. After all... "Here you go, Maya." She said, pouring the tea for her friend. "It should be better than the stuff we get at NERV, I hope." She smiled. "I'm sure it will be, Sempai." Maya accepted gratefully, taking a sip after letting it cool in her hands for a moment. "Domo!" "Mmm. Good." Ritsuko agreed. It had been a while, but at least Tea was not something one could easily screw up on. "So." "So." Ritsuko sighed. "Maya..." "Sempai?" Maya leaned forward a bit. "Is your tea..." she shook her head. "Grrr! No! What I meant to say is..." It was hard to continue under the big, puppy-dog eyes of Maya. "I need you." Maya blinked, but was still in 'puppy dog eyes' mode. "Really??" "Y..." she blinked. "You're not disappointed?" Maya blushed furiously. "Why would I be disappointed?" "Well...Uhm....I just thought that you might have wanted me to say something else..." Maya smiled brightly. "Sempai...sure, I suppose I was hoping for something else, but being told that you need me is just as good." Ritsuko blushed...something she hadn't done to this extent in a long time. "Oh...that's good then!" "Oh Sempai!" Maya finally lost it and leapt at her, arms wrapping around in a tight hug. Ritsuko sighed, then smiled and hugged back. Why not enjoy it? I mean, it's not like anyone was watching... "If you want, I can come back later." Both women screamed as they realized there was a third voice. Maya leapt behind the chair, terrified, as Ritsuko just glared and shook, recovering from the shock of seeing Rei pop out of nowhere wearing headphones and covered in dirt. "W...w...what are you doing here?" Ritsuko gasped, praying she would have a heart attack to get over the surprise. Rei blushed terribly, then bowed deeply. "Gomen! Gomen nasai!" I didn't mean to intrude!" Ritsuko finally took in the situation and sighed. "No, it's okay, Rei- chan!" she smiled warmly. "Would you like some tea?" It took both Maya and Ritsuko a moment to realize Rei was crying. Maya stood and walked over to her as Ritsuko quickly put the tea off to the side so Rei could have a seat. "What's wrong, Rei-chan?" Maya asked softly. "Are you hurt?" "No." Rei replied softly. "But..." Ritsuko blinked. "But?" "I think..." she shook her head. "I'm going to die tomorrow." Maya looked to Ritsuko worriedly. "An Angel?" "Hai." Rei nodded and sat down on the floor. "I will die tomorrow." She looked up at Ritsuko. "Unless you help me." Ritsuko swallowed hard. She already knew how. Maya looked at her, wondering what was with the odd look on her face. "Sempai?" She knelt down in front of Rei. "Rei...you want to stay you. Don't you?" Rei nodded quickly. "Hai." "How...do you know you're going to die tomorrow?" "I don't know." Rei whispered. "I just do." Ritsuko turned to Maya. "I know I just said so...but I need you." Maya nodded without hesitation. "Of course, Sempai!" "We need to go to the lab." Ritsuko stood...then, almost like an afterthought: "Rei...do you know what this could mean?" "Hai." Rei whispered. "It could mean Unit-00's destruction." "Or us all." Ritsuko sighed. "No." she looked up. "Ikari-kun will make sure everything is okay." Ritsuko sighed, then nodded. "Okay." She turned to Maya. "We have to make a new Rei." Maya blinked. Ritsuko cringed. She had never hoped to involve her friend in this far. "We have to go to Central Dogma." She closed her eyes. "Where all the other Reis are kept." Maya's eyes widened at the thought. "O...other?" "I'll explain on the way." She said. At first, she thought it was a show of good faith...but she knew that to be false. Ritsuko hugged Maya warmly, catching the younger woman off guard. "We should go." Rei blushed and bowed her head. "Domo, arigato, mina-san." "You can thank me when we're still all alive tomorrow." Ritsuko huffed, and went to get their coats. [now] Gendo supervised from afar, watching Rei III resuscitate to life. It was an odd thing to watch. For a few moments, he wondered if he risked too much. But, after a moment, the good Doctor had cleared the LCL from her lungs and she was soon breathing air for the first time. His Rei was now pure again. The white, shivering body on the bed made him think back to the first two times this had happened. The second being almost an exact copy. How far they had come. It only took one body this time. Almost perfect, except the fact it had to be done in the first place. He pressed the intercom button, and was greeted by the gasping and crying of Rei. Ritsuko and her medical team worked furiously to keep Rei stable those first critical moments. He ignored the noise. "Alert me when she is ready." "FINE!" Ritsuko yelled back, then cut the channel from her end. He walked off, smiling under his breath as he passed Misato, Shinji and Asuka, who were all waiting with worried looks. "She'll be fine." He said. They all gasped hopefully. Fools. Let's see them corrupt her again. Impossible with such short amount of time remaining. As he walked off, however, Shinji had nothing but hope in his mind. "I'm sure she made it! She had to have made it!" Asuka hugged him tightly, nodding. "I hope so." Misato just tried to relax, trying not to have a heart attack. "This is the worst week I have ever known." It took many hours. Ritsuko and Maya waited patiently besides Rei's bed. Hoping their act was convincing. Praying Rei was not hurt by the drugs or tests. "Do you think he bought it?" Maya whispered in the near darkness. Only an iridescent glow from the monitors let them see. Rei's heartbeat was music enough to pass the time. "Yes." Ritsuko sighed. "He wouldn't have left so early if he didn't think he had everyone under his control." "Oh." Maya nodded, then swallowed hard. "The...others..." "Are all gone." She nodded. "It will take him some time to find out. The body we put into Unit-00 probably never even knew her own name." She cursed under her breath. "Disgusting..." "No." They both jumped, then sighed as they realized it was Rei. The young woman looked up with hazy, but sharp, red eyes. "I talked to her." She said quietly. "She knew her name." Ritsuko looked away. "I'm sorry, Rei." "She understood." Rei whispered. "She knew why she had to die. It was okay. She thought like I used to..." They both looked down as Rei failed to choke back a sob. "She knew she was being replaced." Rei shivered, then curled around the pillow at her head. "She didn't care." Ritsuko looked up at Maya with tears in her eyes. "Still think I'm so wonderful, Maya?" Maya was still staring a hole in her lap. "Sempai..." Rei looked up at Ritsuko. "It shouldn't matter." She smiled weakly. "She is your friend. We are all forced to do bad things..." she trailed off for a moment. "But...we can redeem ourselves." Maya smiled, despite the tears running down her face. "Hai." Rei managed the strength to take Ritsuko's hand with warmth the Doctor didn't think would exist so early after her shock. "Thank you, both..." she mumbled, already drifting off to sleep. Ritsuko looked down at the frail, yet alive hand and began to cry out loud. "Thank you..." she shivered. "that's my line, Rei..." "I think it's all our line." Maya smiled softly. Rei gasped out loud as she opened her eyes. The sunlight hurt...but it was something she could have endured a million times over. Sunlight. "Hey! Sleepyhead!" She blinked away the blurriness and turned to see Toji smiling brightly at her side. "T...Toji-san?" He laughed and bowed his head. "And she remembers me! I do believe the girl's okay!" "If she can remember a BAAAKA like you..." Asuka smiled softly, then literally leapt on Rei to hug the poor girl to death. "Then I hope she remembers me." She laughed happily, though the joy was marked by tears of gratefulness. "Asuka-chan!" Rei hugged back, gasping out as she hugged a bit too hard. The redhead gasped, and backed off sheepishly, but was still smiling. "Glad to see you're okay, Wondergirl." "I...I hope you don't mind us barging in like this..." a familiar mister Shinji Ikari said behind a large arrangement of flowers with a huge balloon sticking out of them that read "GET WELL, REI CHAN!" on one side. Rei blinked, having never seen flowers of that...that...magnitude... before. "Ah...uh....wow...." They all blushed and laughed. "Well," Toji coughed. "We figured it was the least we could do to repay the girl who single handedly destroyed the Angel." "And the old School!" Asuka laughed happily. Rei gasped. "W...was anyone hurt???" Asuka blushed. "No, no...just..." she smiled sheepishly. "Well, Unit- 00 is..." She hung her head, but then looked up at them all. "It's okay. I understand." Shinji went over to Rei and hugged her gently. "Thank you, Rei. If you didn't do that...well...we might all be dead now. Some of the city is a bit damaged, but it's nothing that some repair work will handle. You saved us all." Rei blushed terribly and smiled. "I...I'm glad I could help." "Help?" Toji smiled broadly. "you kicked that angel's ASS!" he cheered. Outside the room, Misato twitched...remembering the pile of damage reports she would have to go through in the morning. "I hate my life." "Let's celebrate!" Toji continued. "I'm voting we get everyone together before they leave for the reconstruction." Rei nodded. "I want to apologize to everyone." Asuka sighed and sat down on the bed next to her. "It was unavoidable. And NERV is paying for everyone's houses and temporary shelter outside of town. Everything will be back to normal once we get rid of the Angels." Rei's eyes lit up. "C...Can we go to a concert maybe?" They all blinked. "What? You a big Death Puppies fan too?" Toji asked. "I know they're having a concert later in the year..." "Death-Puppies?" Shinji blinked. "They're a good band. Lots of drums!" Toji smiled happily. "Uhm...I mean...maybe a classical music concert?" Rei asked timidly. They all blinked, then laughed. "Of course!" Asuka said. Rei relaxed against her pillows and sighed happily. "Arigato." "Well, we should let her get some sleep." Asuka said, nudging Shinji's arm. "Oh! Right!" Shinji and Toji stood, then followed her out. "We'll come visit tomorrow, Rei!" "Okay!" Rei said happily, though it was clear she was still a bit tired. "I'll see you then." "Ja!" they all announced in chorus. As the door closed, Asuka jumped on Toji with a drop kick. "DEATH PUPPIES?? Why would she want to go see anyone called Death-Puppies!??" Toji just gasped and bled. "B...But...they hav...ve good...lyrics!" Shinji and Asuka just groaned and walked off without him. "Phhht." Toji stood and stuck out his tongue. "See if I offer YOU two backstage passes." To be continued... ======================================================================= Well well well...that should stop my roomate's complaining that I don't focus on Rei enough. ^_^ Welcome to the end of HL 42! A couple of notes this time around...This lesson is only a DAY LATE! WHEE! Also, it is nice and jam-packed full of byte-ey-goodness! Horaaa! I figured with all the suffering Rei went through to actually get a personality, it would be a shame to kill her off. ^_^ Poor Anno must be spinning in his grave. Oh...he's not dead yet? Wow! You mean he's not dead after MY take on his universe? That guy can survive anything. ^_^ Omake:----------------------------------------------------------------- [Back in the car] They parked. And sat there. "Well, enough of this." Ritsuko steeled herself and got out. "I promised you coffee, and the last thing you need is watching me being eaten out from the..." She blinked as she noticed Maya had a grin on her face. "Uh...from the..." Maya turned bright red, but her grin just increased to a toothy smile. Ritsuko glared at the writer. The writer shrugged and apologized for using the phrase 'eaten out'...but then chuckled, and kept writing. "After all, we need SOME lemon spin-offs. All good stories have them." Ritsuko began to get worried. "Are there any vats of whipped cream in the next scene?" The writer looked ahead a few pages and then nods. "Dammit!" Ritsuko sighed and began to pop some pills. "I'm lactose intolerant." Maya smiles brightly and waves her arms around happily. "I'm not!" Ritsuko growls at the author. "I'll kill you." The author is seen running into the night (laughing madly), Ranma 1/2 style with Ritsuko, then a half-naked Maya (with a lobster bib and whipped cream) running after her Sempai. ======================================================================= AND, because you've all been so nice, waiting for me during the vacation I took.... ============The Adventures Of The Missing Unit Four!!!!!!!!============ By: Rion Jun Tsurumaki sighed in boredom while resting his head in the palm of his head. Working at Tokyo-2 McDonalds was proving to a boring job, especially since he was always on drive through duty and being that most of the city traveled by mass transit he spent hours between each order just staring at the wall in front of him. Suddenly he received a small beep from his headset signaling that someone was at the box outside. "Welcome to Tokyo-2 McDonalds. May I take your order?" He recited with practiced ease. "GWARHALLLL!!!" "It's an offense to tease the box sir." "GWARHALLLL!!!" "Do you have an order or do you want me to call the cops?" "GWARHALLLL!!!" "No, I don't know which way Tokyo-3 is. Now are you going to order or not?" "GWARHALLLL!!!" "Okay. Five thousand quarter pounders, two thousand McNuggets and a large Coke." "GWARHALLLL!!!" "Sorry, Diet Coke. Would you like any fries with that?" "GWARHALLLL!!!" "Thankyou, drive through sir." The roof of the fastfood store was torn away like carpet and a large eye peered in. Jun looked up at the Eva nonchalantly. "There will be a few minutes wait on the McNuggets sir." "GWARHALLLL!!!" The roof slammed back into place. The young attendant just adjusted his cap. "Nothing interesting ever happens around here." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ^_^ strikef@bigfoot.com www.studioshinnyo.com www.geocities.com/Tokyo/9110 Strike Fiss, Studio Shinnyo 2001. Khattam-Shud, EOF.