Neon Genesis: EVANGELION Eva Wasn't Built in A Day. v1.0 (final 'net release) By Jared Waddell Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this work except for Goku Takagi and James Rahn. This story takes place post-episode 18. ******* WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING ******* This fanfic contains S P O I L E R S ! ! ! This fanfic contains material that may be offensive to some readers, including material of a type never covered in the Eva series. This is not a nice story; it's Eva material, so if you didn't like some of the issues present in the series, don't even think about reading this! ******* WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING ******* Chapter 2: --- Less than five minutes later, Takagi was standing on the Control Deck in Central Dogma. "Yes, Commander." "In regard to your earlier communiqué, _you_ are now the pilot for Unit-03." Though Takagi had begun to suspect this, he could only gulp politely and nod. "In addition, I need to know two things right now. One, how you will finish repairing Unit 03. Two, what are you going to do about this Angel." "I had no idea-" The Commander was angry. 'Nuff said. "You are an Evangelion pilot. I'm asking for an idea from you. An idea for what to do about this Angel. You are obviously not lacking in intelligence." Takagi slowly went rigid listening to the Commander's words, but he spoke the truth, and had done nothing wrong beside waste time (something which they now had a an embarrassing overabundance of). Takagi just got caught in the middle of something bigger then himself. Takagi wisely held his tongue in front of the Commander, and spoke. "Give me one minute." "You have _one_ minute." Takagi quickly turned to Ibuki and Makoto and began gathering information. Ritsuko looked on, wondering how Takagi was going to handle _this_ one. "Lieutenant, do we have data on the Angel's growth from the time it was discovered until now?" He hastily questioned Maya. "Umm...Yes sir." Maya said, a little confused. "Plot it here." Takagi snapped, not really angry, just impatient. He seemed deep in thought. About ten seconds later, a plot appeared on a display at Takagi's elbow. "Hmm, the growth is leveling off at what looks like a modified power of two..." Takagi muttered. "Okay. How big will it be, according to this, in... fourteen - no, fifteen days. Dawn, fifteen days from now." Maya looked slightly puzzled, but did as she was told. A series of numbers came up a few seconds later, replacing the graph. Takagi furrowed his brow and did some calculations in his head. "Commander, I have a plan, First, pull back and armor everything near the Angel while repairing the Evas until Unit 03 is finished. It can be ready for combat in just fourteen days. That leaves one day for me to synch with it and get the basics down before we use all three Evas in one simultaneous attack. If all three of us work on speed-reflex training from now until the day of attack, and we add some additional kinetic armor plating to give the Evas more endurance, we can put the Angel in a more drawn-out slugging match. Tire it. Slow it down. Get it into a rhythm, then pull something out of left field to destroy it completely. Other little details can be worked out later, or course." As Takagi went silent, so did the rest of the room. He understood the consequences of losing. Hence, he wasn't taking any chances. What was difficult to fathom was the method. The pilots would require some exceptional training to take this one down. Apparently the Commander had faith in Takagi's skill, not bothering to confirm his analysis. It was not like they had much of a choice. "Very well. Do as you must to finish Unit 03 and defeat the Angel. That is your top priority. Due to your experience in martial arts, are you prepared to accept the responsibility of training your fellow pilots?" Takagi nodded. "You have oversight of this operation. You will work with Major Katsuragi in this operation. Do not fail." With his final words, Ikari had quite literally sealed Takagi's fate. Takagi didn't even bother grumbling about how the Commander had just put him under an awful lot of pressure. "Thank you, Sir." Goku turned to Misato. "Major, please have those two report to the pilot's fitness room on level twenty-four as soon as they are out of the infirmary. And neither will be attending class for the next fifteen days either." Takagi looked a little distracted. "I need to get Unit-03's core synch replication data input A.S.A.P. I'll be somewhere in Cage 4 if you need me." Then he just straightened up and left the room. Ikari silently appreciated how quickly and ruthlessly Takagi handled the situation. _He's not going to give up easily._ --- End. 11/05/98 Chapter 3: Training, What Joy! --- The air recirculators beat a soothing stream of sound into Goku's ears as he made his way slowly down a nondescript, gray corridor in one of NERV's private hospitals. He had been searching for his fellow pilots, Asuka and Rei, as they were supposed to still be in their room. His mind had chosen to wander off some time ago, and naturally, his body had followed suit. Rei and Asuka. Asuka and Rei. Goku didn't know his fellow pilots all that well, as he never had any reason to. Now, however, he needed to see them, to hear their words. Life for Goku as an Eva pilot was already complex, and he hadn't even _been_ one for more than six hours. He hadn't even stepped inside the cockpit of Unit 03 yet, and already he felt some kinship with the other young teens who had put their lives on the line for him, for the city, for the world time and time again. He just didn't know them yet, that was all. But it wasn't like he was trying to anyways, work on Unit 03 had absorbed him almost completely as reconstruction neared completion. Goku sighed, it was such a nice night, a bit hotter than usual, but the Angel was to blame for that one. The red megaton tentacle menace seemed to just ooze maliciousness with every second it sat in it's 'territory.' And there was that strange pink light that went along with it. What had they named it? Immashamel? Immersionnaol? He really didn't care, he just wanted it to go down. Pounding the freakish thing into submission when the attack was launched fifteen days from now was more and more on his mind lately. The pink light flowed slowly through the hospital's double-pane windows with an evil taint; lounging against the far wall of the corridor, eerily bathing the hall in a hellish glow. Goku refused to look at it. It was uncomfortable, really, as light reminded him of what it would be like inside the womb. He walked onward, footsteps lost on the wall paneling, made of God-knows-what; lost in thought. Rei, he had heard, was a strange one. Quiet. No emotion, except around the commander. He thought that fit nicely in his weird category, a.k.a., his 'NERV' category. But since that now encompassed most everything that went on in his life, he hardly took notice. Therefore, Rei fit in nicely. Ayanami. Yeah, nice girl. Asuka. She was something else. Strangely, she seemed the odd one out when put up against Shinji and Rei. The 'normal' one among them? Goku chuckled. Asuka was full of spark, maybe a little to much... She was more 'normal' than the others. And a royal pain in the ass, if everything he heard was to be believed. But nothing he heard could ever be taken at face value again. Ever. Goku idly glanced up at the sign labeling the junction he had wandered across. "Seventy three?" He wondered aloud, his voice strangely devoid of inflection. Since when did he get to Seventy three? Taking a second look, Goku determined that sign indicated he was at a junction of Seven and Three. Maybe, never could understand all the signs NERV put up anymore than he could all the Angel stuff. Blue Pattern? Just what the _hell_ was that supposed to mean? Goku's thoughts were about to wander again, with his body following suit, when someone who was obviously not a doctor walked up to him and started talking. "Who" The figure began. "are you." Smooth, handsome. Thought Takagi. Out loud. "Goku Takagi, Cage 4 engineer. I'm here to see Re - uh, Pilots Ayanami and Sohryu." Goku had to fight back the urge to blush as the stranger smiled. He really seemed like a nice guy, big though. Maybe six feet (Takagi was only five six himself), short dark blonde hair parted on the right, light colored skin with rouge cheeks. American. That explained everything. Everything except the NERV Head of Internal Security badge he wore. Yeah, everything. "They're in wing four." Huh? Oh. "Ummm, do you know how to get there?" Goku detested asking directions, as all males of the species did, but he honestly didn't know where he was at the moment. And of course, there was no way he'd miss the girls because he'd been out wandering around and talking with the 'Head of Internal Security' like it was his lunch break or something. "You're well on your way," Goku allowed a smile to rise a little at that, he was going the right way! "but in the wrong direction." Goku smile was crushed under his exasperation like a bouquet of daises under a pair of tank treads. "But if you go back the way you came 'til you reach the elevator, go down one floor and keep moving in the same direction, it's not far." Ah, good. Looks like he'd be meeting his teammates on time after all. "Thanks... Mr.?" "Rahn." The figure glanced down the corridor perpendicular to Takagi's path of travel. "James Rahn. You haven't seen Mr. Ikari down here, have you?" Now that caught him off guard. "T-the commander? No sir." This guy was _up_ there. "Thanks anyway, kid. Later." Then he left. Goku just stood in place for a minute, watching Rahn's receding form. Who the hell was that? His mind wondered, but he was too tired to answer many questions, especially ones with so many unknowns. He headed back the way he came. What elevator? --- Takagi stood in front of the double room, almost able to make out the words belonging to a shrill voice on the other side, evidently unhappy about something. He unconsciously picked at the wooden buttons on the dark blue sleeveless tunic he had chosen to wear. Blue was calming, non-threatening. Of course, he'd forgotten these were Eva pilots. 'Blue pattern detected.' His mind laughed at the joke, and as a small smile rose to his otherwise peaceful (if confused) face and lifted his mood a bit. He knocked. The smile melted like wax under a blowtorch. His first impression was a veritable explosion of sound, red hair, and something vaguely female. The latter was a little indeterminate, because of the loose hospital smock she wore in the place of regular clothes. He gathered his remaining wits. This must be Asuka. "About damn time you showed up! Takagi, right?" Duh. Who else would be stupid enough to disturb you two? Takagi bit back the bitter reply, settling for a 'yes' instead. "Well, what's so important?" The red head screeched. Yes, screeched. Goku didn't think it was possible for a human voice to make that kind of... of... _noise_, yet the proof was right before him. And she looked pissed. "Couldn't you bastards at least give us our clothes back?!!" "Listen you self-centered - Aargghhh! I don't have your damn clothes!" Wait. That didn't come out right. Takagi drew a deep breath. "My name is Goku Takagi, Chief Engineer of Cage 4. Designated pilot of Unit-03," Funny how her face could freeze in place like that, the very picture of vehemence painted across her skin, hand cocked back in the requisite slap. "and personal trainer to pilots Ayanami and Sohryu." Silence. This was not good. "The fifth?" She breathed, still unmoving. "Yes." His world erupted in pain. It was not the first time he had come to blows with someone and their damn temper, but it was the first time a _girl_ tried assaulting him like that. Smack! The next hit wasn't so lucky. After all, he only had to pretend to be helpless for so long... "I see you two are getting along nicely." That had to be Ritsuko. Luckily, for Takagi, she was carrying the other pilots' clothes. "Mein Gott! Good thing your here! This, this PERVERT was trying to look at us in the nude!!!" Pervert? He'd show her... later. "I'll be outside. Rei, Asuka, Doc." His steely gaze never wavered as he let Asuka's hand drop free. Well, all things considered, that could have gone worse. Not likely, but possible. If it weren't for the good doctor's arrival, things would have definitely gotten worse with time. Somehow, they always did. --- Goku walked out of the door, containing his biting comments for a moment. Once outside, he took a deep breath, focusing on the wall in front of him. One hand defied his strict orders and rose slowly to feel the growing red hand-shaped spot on his cheek. "Damn the orders. She's _worse_ than everyone says. I have to be in CLASS with that-" He bit his tongue. His body shook with barely restrained fury. He swore he could see a big bull's eye form on the wall in front of him. His fist itched to cause damage. He focused. Wait for it... "Goku, could you come in here, please?" Ah, Ritsuko. Breaking his concentration. Always the calm one. "Are they decent?" Stupid question, Goku. Stupid! "Yes. Are you ready to talk without fighting?" Well, he was ready to talk at least. "Yeah." --- Asuka was sitting, but still glaring daggers at him. He could understand, really he could. But that didn't change the fact that he didn't keep them from getting dressed. Rei was her usual self, apparently unperturbed by his entrance, and Asuka's subsequent outburst. Ritsuko did the talking. "Goku is the new pilot of Unit 03, due to some special circumstances. He also is well-versed in the martial arts, a style that might increase our combat effectiveness against this Angel. He will be training both of you everyday, after school, in the pilot's fitness room. The attack will commence in fifteen days, at dawn." She nodded at Goku. "The three of you will have to work together to distract the Angel's attention among you and try to strike it's core." Blank looks. "Why?" As if she had to ask. "Since long-range weapons have shown to be ineffective, and hand-to-hand combat plans have been foiled, we have decided to try something new. Each Eva will be equipped with special kinetic impact armor that will reduce damage dealt by high speed blows from the creature's tentacles. Goku has a lot of practice in high-speed, close-range combat, and we feel that some training with him will adequately increase your skill to the point where you will be able to effectively fight this new angel, and defeat it. Asuka looked about ready to say something, but Ritsuko pinned her with a stare. "This scenario has the best chances of success, and for it to work effectively, you all need to work as a team. Please." The note wasn't pleading, but she was obviously asking from the heart. Goku kept the questioning look off his face successfully. Asuka glared. Rei said "Yes, Dr. Akagi." "Like I need training in Eva combat from _this_ perverted jerk!" Ah, that was Asuka. "Asuka, if you can hit me, you don't need any training." "Ha, I've already hit you once. You want some more?" "Try me." Takagi dodged the next few swift strikes with relative ease, then closed in and made effective use of the best speed that his Wing Chun style offered. Asuka flinched, yanking her head back an inch at the final strike Goku delivered, which stopped short only a few inches from her face. He held his fist there for a second to get the point across. Luckily, the whole thing happened too fast for Akagi to do anything rash, otherwise, they would be in for a monumental reaming. Maybe they were in for a monumental reaming anyway. "I think I've proved my point." Asuka was fuming. Rei had backed away a few steps. Ritsuko stared for a second, her face the picture of shock. Dr. Akagi quickly regained her composure, though. "If you two are quite finished, perhaps we can start working _together._" "Okay, If it'll make me a better pilot." Asuka? Relenting? Goku bit back another scathing reply. Man, he hated doing that. "Of course, Doc. Let's kick some Angel butt." "And I have something to discuss with you." Goku nodded, and the pair left the room. Outside, "Since you're now a pilot, and not an engineer, you have to go to school now." Goku nodded, he'd been expecting that. "And since you'll be in school, your work in Cage 4 has been pushed onto me directly." "Sure thing, Doc. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask... and everything should be in order. Ronga and Kalme should be able to help you with anything you need." A pause. "Um, Doc?" "Yes?" "Do you think we really have a shot at this? "This _is_ the best we could come up with. If we shove an N2 mine in it's face, there's no telling where it might end up when it detonates." "No shit." "Well, we just don't have any choice, do we?" A look passed between them, a knowing glance of two professionals. Two people, exchanging a shared thought. They just had to do their jobs, but their jobs would decide the fate of billions. Takagi had another insight in to life as an Eva pilot. "Thank you, Goku" "Thank you, Doc." --- Diary of Goku Takagi. Wed, 8/12/14 How stupid can one person be? Jeeze! That Asuka is something else. Sometimes, maybe it would be better to let her go after the Angel without an Eva. Maybe a loud-speaker... Heh. She's got fire though, and potential. She just won't give up. I don't mind admitting that I'd rather have her at my back than anyone else. And that fuckin' Angel... that damn thing just doesn't stop. Minor earthquakes are starting to wrack the area, tremors much like what Japan has seen before. As if we didn't have enough problems. Hoo boy, and Ritsuko showed up just in time at the hospital today. Man, I haven't been that angry in a long time. My apartment's suffered dearly for it, too. God damn. What have I gotten myself into? Dad always said, 'fear is just a warning for your safety. Use it properly, and it will keep you well.' Personal safety was never much a concern for the Takagi family, I guess. Is that why I decided to be a pilot? Is that the reason for putting myself in harms way? Genetics? Unlikely. I'm a fool. I'm insane. I figure I'd have to be, to fight virtually immortal three hundred foot tall aliens inside an organic-mechanical war machine that MAKES YOU HURT WHEN THE THING GETS HIT. You know, it's funny how the Evas are my life. I guess after my father died, I took off in his footsteps with out being pushed that direction. Hey, it's something I like to do. So shoot me. Ritsuko, now she's a different story. Damn smart, hell of a nice person. But she's hiding something. Something big, something about the Evas. Trying to hide something about the Evas from me? Ridiculous, but then again, so is my life. Training Asuka and Rei? Tomorrow may be even worse than today. --- Asuka sat in Misato's apartment alone. Starring at the wall was boring, TV was even worse, the kitchen seemed empty, the bedrooms brought too many memories... She sat on the couch, not really focusing on anything. Blatantly ignoring the fine, deep-red sunset that lit up Tokyo 3 like hellfire at the front gate. The apartment was messy, as usual, but though the apartment's cleanliness (or rather, lack thereof) was familiar, it wasn't as comforting as it should have been. She was just sitting there all alone. All. Alone. Shinji wasn't home. Shinji probably wasn't in Tokyo 3. Chances were, he wasn't even in Japan still, but that information was classified. Before, she'd been more than mildly annoyed with having to deal with Shinji every day, the little twit. Always seemed like he was trying to peep on her. Not that he could help it, being a boy and all. But as time wore on, she kind of got used to his presence. It was comforting, somehow. Not that she would admit that to anybody. Shinji was the kind of person who could be treated badly, and not expect any backlash from. That was comforting. It was a homely constant in a normally stormy world filled with angel attacks and NERV, and school, and Rei, and... Well, even if she was mean, Shinji was always nice. Nice until he was pushed. Nice until some Angel came knocking, nice until things got serious, then he... he changed. He became one of the most dangerous fighters Asuka had ever seen. He was... The young red-head suddenly bent double on the couch and choked back a sob. It was a painful, wet, nerve-wracking movement that clenched every muscle in her body in physical agony mirrored in her heart. --- Why is he gone? He did not wish to leave until Suzuhara was injured by Unit 01 under control of the dummy plug system. Is such a system safe? It was necessary. It did defeat the angel that he would not fight for the life of his friend. Why? He would fight to save all of us, yet to endanger one life, that life meant so much to him? Do friends really matter that much? Why? Why did he care? Care about others being happy? Why did he stay and fight so, only to leave now? The questions were quite beyond human ability to explain, even for someone as exceptional as Rei. Sometimes, the world just didn't seem to rotate smoothly. Most of the time, existence itself seemed to be tearing apart all those on it, pulling at their sanity. The world, simply put, was just a big confusing place. A place where everybody, sometime, somehow, carved out a niche for themselves where they could be happy. With Shinji gone, and a new person treating Rei like somebody special to him (though to be honest, he seemed to do that with everyone), Rei finally understood this crucial facet of life. She had found her niche... If he was only here to share it with her. --- Takagi drew in a deep, clean breath. One more day to put behind him it seemed. Things had been like that lately. He no longer looked forward to what was in the future with respect to what he could do, he now looked upon the future with respect to what he had done. It was, he surmised, a condition shared by Eva pilots. Thinking more of accomplishments more than plans to be made. Why plan for tomorrow when you could die today? His revere was interrupted by a door opening. He turned to see Rei and Asuka walking into the room from the main entrance. Both were wearing loose cotton gi (at his request), with a slightly upset Asuka in a white one, and Rei clad in black. They were late, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. 'Class' began. "You were both trained in basic hand to hand for being pilots, right?" "Yes." "Yeah, and I'm pretty good, too." Ah, Asuka. He was going to enjoy this. "Well, loosen up, both of you. You got five minutes. Then Asuka, meet me on the mat." Five minutes later, Asuka and Goku stood facing each other on the mat in the center of the training room. This particular room wasn't much to speak of. About twelve by twelve meters, with a four inch foam exercise mat covering a seven by seven meter square area in the center. Space was left for some exercise equipment, but the pilots had neither the desire or time to hone their physical skills, what with the constant Angel attacks and all. "Okay Asuka, I know you've been wanting to take a shot at me for some time now. Here's your chance." Asuka smirked. "The rules are simple. No death blows, no full-force blows to the face, anything else goes. Don't hold back." Takagi returned the smirk as Asuka got into a simple boxing stance. "Go." The redhead tore forward and snapped out a quick jab with an almost instantaneous low right hook, trying to take out a part of Takagi's midsection. The teen just stood there, pulling his head aside the jab, and blocked the hook with his elbow. Stepping in closer, he let a backfist come for Asuka's cheek. She blocked, but was far too slow to stop his follow up blow to the stomach. Things didn't go exactly to plan as Asuka just grunted an went for the groin. Takagi jumped back out of grappling range and regarded his opponent more carefully. Asuka charged again, but from the side this time, and leading with a low kick to draw Takagi's guard. The fighting continued. It quickly became apparent that Asuka was ridiculously out matched against Goku, who had a huge reserve of skill, and a slight edge on strength. Asuka was smaller, faster, and seemed to take blows much better than the boy, but just didn't have the skill or experience to get in and do any real damage. This only served to anger Asuka, who couldn't imagine she was being beaten by some number-crunching engineer. Goku was loving every minute of it. Asuka was, of course, full of steam. She would probably be able to easily take him out if he didn't posses reflexes that years of training had granted him. His Wing Chun style was even well suited to fighting someone like Asuka. Adapted for close combat with small individuals. She was clearly fast, strong, and fairly skilled for her age. He stepped aside a cunning kick that narrowly missed his head, ducked a jab, threw a low counter, and stepped into her next movement with a kick to the ribs. She drew back for an instant, breath hissing through her teeth, sweat dotting her flushed face. Unusually strong. He wondered what kind of sport she had practiced in school, as she was obviously well conditioned. After ten minutes of sparring, Asuka was drenched in sweat, spraying salt water with every blow. Her strength wasn't sapped, but her concentration was, and Goku was laying blows on her with unerring regularity. They had already worked around the mat pretty thoroughly, keeping just within the bounds, exchanging blows at every range they could. Goku called a stop. "Rei, it's your turn." Asuka went down the hall outside in search of something to drink, having not expected the workout to be so thorough. Rei and Goku faced off. Rei got into a fighting stance, and moved in closer. Goku suddenly exploded forward, letting loose three rapid side kicks, drawing Rei's guard out. She was all over the place, and Goku winced. "Keep your hands under control when blocking." He said as he stepped into punching range with a blur of jabs. Rei dodged easily but stepped back, and Goku launched a kick to catch her unawares. Rei surprised him, however, when she caught his foot, and shot forward for a flawless trap-and-hit. Goku picked himself up with a grunt. This was going to be more of a challenge. Since Rei had nothing to get out of her system, and was ready to learn, Goku was going to teach her. The hard way. "Hands up, keep your hands up and your eyes open." A flurry of punches. "Counter. The best defense is a good offense." Another round of punches. Asuka walked in to see Rei talking and giving ground with Goku like a natural. Well, no, she was pretty sloppy, but seemed to be getting better by the minute. Goku would hit an open spot and call out a correction, and Rei would do it. Why hadn't he been doing that for her? Nearly ten minutes went by, as Goku moved rapidly to more and more dangerous and obscure Kung Fu techniques that had taken him years to master. Finally, he called match and dabbed himself off with a towel. Rei followed suit. Goku glanced down at his shirt. He had elected to wear a white tank top with black gi pants for maximum mobility, and zero chance of getting tangled in his own clothing. Besides, it was what he usually wore when working out. "Okay you two, this is how it works. We need to work on speed and technique. The Eva will provide strength and speed, but you must be able to use proper technique to harness the strength, and must get used to the added speed. I'm going to show you some alternate guards and blocks, but we'll spend most of our time here sparring and drilling to sharpen our skills. Rei is a little weaker than you Asuka," He indicated the blue haired girl, who was still panting. "But has a heck of a lot more skill, and is a quick study. Okay, we go for one and a half hours here, nonstop, then break for the showers. Got it?" "Yes." "I'm ready for anything you can give me, Goku!" She sneered the name. "All right. First off, Asuka, your kicks lack focus..." It was to be a long night.