NARRATOR: IN THE LAST EPISODE, GERMANY BECAME A BATTLEFIELD. AS IN EVERY OTHER BATTLE BEFORE IT, CONFUSION REIGNED SUPREME. HAVE OUR HEROES GAINED A RESPITE, OR IS THE OTHER SHOE ABOUT TO DROP?! ======================================================================== Warnings: Plot, interesting things happening Graphic violence, use of firearms, death and dismemberment Implied sex between mystical beings/monster/demons and humans Casual use of explicit language Present-tense descriptions ======================================================================== C&C, Flames, Anything, welcome at: rick_spiff@yahoo.com Posted at Insanity Production's home page: http://www.geocities.com/rick_spiff/ ~ Begin fic ~ [Opening Music is Metallica's 'Enter Sandman' played very loudly. A montage of shots flash by to the bars of the song, mostly of the Sidestep cast and various Eva characters dressed in kick-ass clothes and shooting things out of frame. Splattered here and there among the characters are various explosions for variety.] [Music cuts out.] [INT. ED'S WORKSHOP - DAY? NIGHT?] [One of Ed's little spaces is a massive workshop with drab green walls and a concrete floor. Empty wooden crates and cardboard boxes line the walls, with several rolling tables spaced between the packaging. In the middle of the otherwise empty floor, a huge amount of firepower and high-tech equipment is carefully laid out so all items can be seen at a glance. Near the entrance of the room, James and Ed sit on bare metal stools, critically eying the spread.] [In the very center of the equipment is what appears to be a well-made black leather trench coat.] Ed: I think it needs more grenades. James: It's got twenty-eight grenades, Ed. It's fine. Well, some rope would be nice... Ed: We have room for rope. What about a second sword? James: I'm not even sure the sword is a good idea. I mean, you guys are trained, but a sword requires some above-the-norm skills. Ed: They make a useful tools. James: (snaps fingers in realization) That's it. Add some tools to the sucker. Ed: You'll have to be more specific. James: (shrugs) Goggles, wire cutters, earplugs... you know, tools! Ed: (looking at the coat thoughtfully) Yeah. A little tool kit shouldn't be a problem. James: And get rid of that one pair of the P90's. It'll give us more maneuverability on the right side. Ed: (clearly hesitant) Um... James: (I'm-the-boss tone) Get rid of 'em. Ed: (obedient) They're gone. James: More knives. Ed: ... You veto grenades but add knives? Madness! James: No, madness is that world-ender you gave me for Germany. Ed: Germany? I thought you were in Paris-2. James: You don't get out much, do you? Ed: Hold on a minute, there were Vampires in Germany? James: No, I had to use it against... well, never mind that. It's not useful for Vampires anyway. Too big, too slow. Those fuckers are _fast_. Ed: (thoughtful) Hmm... James: (looks at the coat) Give it a second Desert Eagle. Ed: Does that have enough stopping power for... you know, supernatural stuff? James: Iffy. Did you get an M249 downsized yet? Ed: Yes, but not in large numbers. James: What's the problem? Ed: (sighs) Our fabrication sucks. We can't spare capacity to make more than the testing models until Dave gets us larger machine... James: (nodding in understanding) Well, you know the term we use for when one fights a war without proper equipment. Ed: 'Paying our electric bill?' James: (frowns) Suicide. ---------- Title Flash: Episode 10: A Second Chance Comes Only Once/ Food, Drink, and Other Things to Avoid in Tokyo-3 ---------- [EXT. TOKYO-3 STREET - EVENING.] [An anonymous black sedan pulls up to the sidewalk. The sun has only just dropped below the horizon, leaving half of the sky glowing a light blue. Above the car, a street light flickers to life. Dozens of people filter by on the wide sidewalk, giving the sedan little notice. Inside the car, two very dangerous men argue over what to eat.] Trey: Dude, I'm tellin' you, they'll have something you can stomach. John: It's not the edibada... edibola... edibadabo... edibulness... edability? Look, it's whether or not it fills me up. I can stomach native food just fine, ok? Trey: If you were so worried about eating, you should have had something at home. John: I've been out of the country for two weeks, and minutes after I get home, you call. You know what you didn't say? You didn't say 'eat something, we're going to the bar.' You said, 'put on some clean clothes, we're going out to eat. Trey: (getting out of the car) It's not just a bar. They'll have something, I promise. John: (also gets out) Well, I'm down the street if I don't like the menu. Trey: That's fine with me. John: Okay, I-- (looks up) Karaoke? You took me to a Karaoke bar? [The building before them is a squat, three-story structure done in 'we were in a hurry' concrete. A wide staircase on the side allows access to the upper two floors. The sign proclaims this establishment is both a karaoke joint and a bar. A smaller sign, hung below the main affair, promises food.] Trey: Godai and Yuki said it was a decent place. John: Who and who? Trey: Tokyo-3 police. James left me to work with them before he left. [John blinks, then makes a little gun shape with his hand and mimes shooting himself in the head.] Trey: Not like that. [The two enter the building.] [INT. KARAOKE BAR - EVENING.] [The karaoke bar is pleasantly decorated with a bare wood and red carpet motif. A bar fits along one wall, with the bathrooms at the rear. The main floor is given to tables and chairs--all made of composite plastics. The rear of the room is taken up entirely by a massive sign and a normal-sized door. The sign lists the menu items and prices, as well as rates for the karaoke rooms, which apparently take up three floors. It's apparent at a glance that there's no way to get to the second and third floors from inside, and so the purpose of the staircase outside of the building is revealed.] Trey: Speak of the devils. [Trey waves to two men enjoying some tasty-looking ramen at the bar, then leads John to them.] Trey: John, this is Godai Kuno and Yuki Yamaguchi, from the Tokyo-3 Police Department. Yuki: Nice to meet ya. Godai: You work for Branch-X? John: Yes. Trey: I was just telling John that you guys fully endorsed the place. John: (grinning) Now I know who to blame. Godai: Well, the food is good, the drinks aren't pig piss and the entertainment isn't usually bad. Yuki: (smirks) That depends on who's singing, though. Trey: (smiles evilly) So, John, you ordering? John: I'll try the food, but I'm not going to sing. Trey: Hey, when in Rome... John: We aren't in Rome, and I'm not singing. [INT. PRIVATE KARAOKE LOUNGE - NIGHT.] [John sets before a massive plate of steaming vegetables, an empty ramen bowl beside it. Godai and Yuki are belting out a recent J-pop hit without a shred of embarrassment or dignity. Trey is checking the song selection with one eye and watching the police with the other. Both officers look a little tipsy. As the duo come to a roaring finish, the two Branch-X agent get to their feet and cheer on the cops. After the foursome settle down a bit...] Yuki: So, what's next? [John reaches for the song list, which Trey slaps his hand over protectively.] Trey: I've picked. John: You picked something gross. I'm not singing. Trey: (ready to bet his life on this) You're singing. [John folds his arms over his chest and huffs.] John: (to Godai) How'd you meet this bastard, anyway? Godai: James Rahn is our contact for supernatural matters. He was working on a case with us, and left us to work with Trey while he was gone. John: (to himself) Oh yeah, I was out of the country then. Yuki: Business or pleasure? John: Business. Yuki: UN-SSI? John: No. (pause) I haven't heard much about this UN-SSI thing. What did you guys hear about it? Yuki: (shrugs) It's been a while in coming. Basically a hub for coordinating on supernatural matter. Designed to keep local, national, and international departments cooperating at all levels. (blinks) I did hear there's an agency in London that already deals with freaks or something... apparently their chief is being considered for top job. What about you guys? Hear anything interesting? [John looks to Trey, who seems only mildly interested in the shop talk.] John: Just rumors that our group is supposed to be a liaison between them and the rest of NERV, whatever that means. Godai: Basically what you're doing now. (finishes off his beer) You guys are a liaison for us right now. Trey: Yeah, and hopefully we won't be buried in a mountain of paperwork after everything is said and done. [Drinks are downed. John waits a respectable moment before asking another question.] John: What did James help you out with, anyway? Yuki: (clearly a little tipsy) Nasty serial killer case. We haven't caught anyone, but James just gave us a call... was it yesterday? Godai: (nodding) It was yesterday. Yuki: Yesterday. He said the problem was demons. Apparently he's got someone on the inside or something, and he'll be meeting them real soon. I don't know if he's got a... demon police force on the case or what. John: (shrugging) Wouldn't be the first time he chose to fight fire with fire. Trey: I can only imagine what he would summon to deal with rogue demons. (to the cops) What'd they do? Yuki: Some very violent murders. We found no evidence at the sights. NOTHING! Body parts and blood, but no trace of who or what made the carnage. Godai: (nodding in agreement) James really took it in stride. Says he deals with this all of the time. What'd he do before NERV? John: He... (exchanges a look with Trey) did all kinds of things. From what I hear, he hunted demons here and there. Godai: (to Trey, but pointing at John) He's not any more helpful. [Trey shrugs and hands John the song list.] Trey: One forty-three. (to the cops) Less talk, more bad singing. [The cops grin. John sees the song and polishes off his drink. After a hearty belch, he and Trey grab the mikes. The rest of the evening becomes a haze of alcohol and painfully bad renditions of the top forty.] [INT. DARK ROOM IN NERV - NIGHT.] [Trishka Bolverez sits hunched over a keyboard, her face illuminated by the glow of the flat panel monitor before her. Endless letter sequences scroll up the screen while she watches a counter at the bottom report a series of numbers to her. She sighs and stretches in her chair, nearly bumping into the room's other occupant.] [Ikazuchi Hiranabe sits in another of the room's chairs, working at another terminal. He is short, even by Japanese standards, and looks to be in his late thirties. His hair is frosted with blond streaks and is styled so that it seems to float over his head. He wears five rings across his hands, and three ear rings.] Ikazuchi: Is your vision going? Trishka: Almost. Ikazuchi: (stops working to rub his eyes) Mine certainly is. Trishka: (staring at the ceiling) How long have we been at this? Ikazuchi: (consulting his watch) Nine hours and counting. Trishka: Theories? Ikazuchi: We will be thwarted by either genius or madness, like I said nine hours ago. [Both resume looking at their monitors, but without reaching for the computer controls. Through some unseen signal, Trishka rises stiffly to her feet and turns on the room's lights, while Ikazuchi spins in place, stretching out his legs. The room is small, with three walls lined by second-hand tables. Next to the door, steel shelves hold a number of computers. Conspicuously, there is no communications lines connected to these machines, indeed, there are none in the room. Two chairs are shoved up against the table on the far wall, with Ikazuchi and Trishka's seats nearest the door before the two large workstations on opposing tables.] Trishka: I need a minute to rest. (yawns) I'm tired... tiiired... okay, while my brain rebels against me, can you tell me what you know about Dr. Akagi? [Ikazuchi laces his fingers behind his head and contemplates the ceiling, taking a huge breath.] Ikazuchi: Bitchy redhead. A woman possessed with the certainty of her success, infatuated with fame. Reckless... Trishka: Did you ever meet her? Ikazuchi: Once. She was giving a lecture on RNAi. Most of it went over my head. Too little information--it seemed like she was more interested in showing off than really giving the crowd something useful. Trishka: She was a drama queen, then? Ikazuchi: Of the worst kind. And she was fucking Ikari. Trishka: I thought that was a rumor. Ikazuchi: That's what Ikari wants you to think. He runs NERV. It may be overseen by the government, watched by international agencies, spied on by people like us, but he _runs_ it. Trishka: (eyes clearing) And Naoko Akagi built the damn place. [Ikazuchi tips his head to one side.] Ikazuchi: Now that's a thought. Trishka: What is? Ikazuchi: Everything we have on Project E always assumes a location. No reason is given for any of them, but suppose they have a specific meaning. Trishka: Like nothing the project describes will work if things aren't carried out in the right place? Yeah, but the real question is _why_ this project won't work in any other place. Ikazuchi: (blinks, looks directly at Trishka) No, that's not relevant at all. The key is where everything is done. (he gestures to the computer screens) This is _just_ like that damn lecture; just like Dr. Akagi. She's assumed we know why this project doesn't work without the right location. Trishka: (picking up with an amazed look) And it's left us confused. So the question _is_ why does the project only apply here, in the geofront. Who do certain pieces of equipment have to be in certain places. It's like a puzzle, and we don't have a cipher. Ikazuchi: Then everything the spies stole, all of this data, is useless. Trishka: (looks tiredly at the computer systems) Then we need to find out why location is relevant. We need everything else she's got. Ikazuchi: Ikari. Trishka: (smiles) You should have been a detective. Ikazuchi: (smirks in return) Oh, I'm not good at figuring out things like this; I just know too much about NERV. [INT. HOTEL ROOM - AFTERNOON.] [Coltrane Heavy Industries might be a business, but they know when and where the penny-pinching must end. Jack and Miko are on the receiving end of some uncommon generosity with their hotel room. Burgundy curtains, thick blue carpet, and actual wood trim. The place is almost the size of James' apartments back in Tokyo-3 (any of them, but not all added together). The westward-facing windows have the blinds drawn and the lights are on low. Crimson light from the unseen sunset illuminates most of the room.] Miko: (turning on the television) So, what do you think? Jack: (turns the volume up, sips his tea) I think we're very lucky. Those agents saved our necks, I think. Miko: (faraway look in her eyes) Yeah, that was nice of them. Jack: Well, Coltrane wants to meet with me later. He promised to explain things... Miko: Are you afraid of what he'll show you? Jack: Yes and no. I mean, you know it's bad, but me, I'm not so sure. The government did a lot of things after SI that sounded good to them. Maybe Coltrane's just doing something that will piss them off. Miko: Could be. [Jack looks surprised that she's easily accepting this notion.] Jack: And... well, if it's dangerous; if it's going to hurt someone; if he's out to be a big villain, I've no qualms about shutting down his operation. Miko: (fixing Jack with a stare) No qualms? Jack: (returns the stare) No. None at all. Miko: When the time comes... Jack: I know. (looks nervously at the phone) [But we will have to wait for tomorrow to find out what Jack's talking about.] [INT. PARTIALLY-CONSTRUCTED ROOM - NIGHT.] [The work crews are gone for the day, but three men remain here, holding a most secret of secret meetings in one of the few places they know is impervious to eavesdropping.] Coltrane: So, how's the progress on the holographics? Man #1: We're about ninety percent finished with the detailed design. Probably another two weeks and we'll be ready to wrap it up. I'd say about four weeks before we can turn on the first unit. Man #2: Everything else is on schedule. The secondary wall paneling is in the marshaling yard and will installed tomorrow, leaving room for the additional electronics, of course. Coltrane: I'd prefer to hold off until we're certain the design won't change. Can you push back the installation a week? Man #2: We've got plenty to do, so yeah, that'd be no problem. Man #1: I think the organization is really going to like this room. It's a shame we won't get to see it after it's done. Coltrane: That's engineering for you. [Fade out.] [INT. ORBITAL WEAPONS PLATFORM CONSTRUCTION AREA - DAY.] [Jack Carlson and Maxim Coltrane stand in a stuffy room filled with tables and filing cabinets, the later full of paperwork and the former overwhelmed with drawings. One wall is a Plexiglas window. Jack stands before it, trying his best to appear just surprised, rather than enraged and surprised. On the other side is a trio of white cones. Big white cones. The kind you attach to gigantic rockets and shoot into orbit with taxpayer dollars.] Jack: What are they, sir? Coltrane: Call me Maxim. Jack: Okay. [Maxim steps up to the glass and looks at the cones almost lovingly. A moment of perfect silence passes.] Coltrane: They are... the future, Jack. Jack: The future? Coltrane: Jack, the world is not a perfect place. You've seen the world. You know what it's like... what it's always been like. Humanity is falling apart. The governments of the world are frothing their chops over imagined insults. World war is now only a breath away... but there is hope. Jack: (prompting) There is? Coltrane: Yes, there is a way to guide, to diffuse hostilities. There is a way to direct mankind onto a less destructive path. There is a way to correct our mistakes, Jack. Jack: What is it? Coltrane: Persuasion. Convince the men of power around the world to agree with each other. Get arguing relatives to put aside their differences. There is no need for real love. The need to save the world is an immediate one. It faces immediate threats and they must be dealt with _now_. Jack: Do you really think the governments can be persuaded? Coltrane: (smirks) I know they can... if their existence is threatened? Jack: (thinking) Terrorism? (out loud) How could we threaten them? How could we threaten most of the governments on the earth? [Coltrane seems to be more at ease once Jack uses the 'w' word.] Coltrane: Put a really big gun to their heads. Jack: Excuse me? Coltrane: (leans in close to Jack) I have a way--right now--to make them listen and obey. I can get their attention with it. I have a way to herd the sheep back into the pasture. The world is full of sheep, you know. And sheep don't run the farm. Jack: No, they don't. Coltrane: Of course not. For now, we will have to be the world's shepherds. Jack: (tries to understand) So first... we have to get them to... to what? Coltrane: (turns away from Jack and paces the window) To obey a simple command to cooperate to deal with the supernatural threats the world now faces. But that's just the beginning. We can organize farming, international trade, finish rebuilding from Second Impact... (fully zealous now) It will be like the second coming; with a sword dangling over their heads, people will have no choice but to bow before our power. And they will bow. And they will know what it can do, what it will do, if they try to destroy themselves. Jack: (thinking) You'll destroy them first. (out loud) But what power could that possibly be? We don't have anything that dangerous? Threaten the whole world... [Jack leaves the words hanging, egging Coltrane on. The old engineer eats up the attention, his eyes glinting maniacally in the dim lighting off the room. With a professional flourish, he gestures to the window.] Coltrane: These are the final pieces of my space station. An orbital weapons platform is already up there, waiting for my command. With a single, untouchable weapon, we will direct the absolution of the human race. Peace will finally reign! (looks seriously at Jack) I know this is a lot to take in, Jack. Horrible, even. But with what I've seen... what you've seen... isn't it worth the risk? Right now, we can make a difference. [Coltrane offers Jack his hand. Sincerity pours off of him in waves.] Coltrane: (quietly) Jack, will you help me save the world? Jack: (thinking) My God... I'm not an actor, but... stay cool, Jack. Just stay cool. Do NOT piss off the psychotic villain. [Jack's face registers the completion of a difficult process of considering an offer and weighing the odds. He shakes Coltrane's offered hand.] Jack: (voice breaking) Sir, I'd be honored. [INT. POSH HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT.] [Jack and Miko sit at the tiny 'bar' in their hotel room. Each has an untouched beer sitting before them. The stereo is on this time, the volume level high enough that a casual eavesdropper would hear nothing. As practically no amount of noise would fool top-of-the-line equipment, the music isn't even up to annoying levels, let alone deafening ones.] Miko: That's it, huh? Jack: (still in shock) Yeah. Miko: I don't believe this. It's like a bad action movie. [Jack spares the girl a sideways glance, then returns to staring at his beer.] Jack: Are you going to... you know, call home base? Miko: (looking up) Hmm? Yes, I'll file a report as usual. But this... do you think he really intends to use it? Jack: Miko, I don't think that's really the point. It's like pointing a gun at a bunch of squabbling kids. Someone's going to get hurt. (holds his head in his hands) A lot of someones. Miko: Well, we have to stop him. Jack: ... Thank you. Miko: No, thank you. (pause) Jack, I have a question for you. Jack: Go ahead. Miko: Don't be offended, please. Jack: (looks at her) I won't be. Miko: How did you not know your work was being used to build something like this? Jack: I was just designing an odd release mechanism. (blinks) Come to think of it, I'm not even sure if that's used on the weapons platform... (thinks back) No, it is. Coltrane said so. He's... dropping something from the platform? [Miko shrugs helplessly.] Miko: I don't know how it works. I thought you would. Jack: I don't either. But someone does. (chokes up) Another engineer. (tries to force more words out) Damn it. Who are these people? They're mass fucking murderers and I wound up working for them! Miko: Jack. Jack, look at me. It isn't like that. You're going to stop them. We're going to stop them. We're in deep and we can do it. Jack: (faces her with tears in his eyes) I want to kill him... I want to just _kill_ him. [Miko slips off her stool and wraps the big man up in a motherly embrace.] Miko: It's okay, it's okay... just keep leading him on. You won't have to kill anyone. [Jack manages to straighten up and wipe some of the tears from his face. Shaking, he grabs his beer and sits on the bed.] Jack: (sighing deeply) Yeah. Yeah, I know. [Miko, her face twisted rotten with fury, reaches for the nearest phone.] [INT. DAVE'S 'GOD' OFFICE - DAY.] [James slinks into Dave's office like a shadow looking for a dark alley to hide in. Dark circles hang under his eyes like bruises, and his coat looks like used it to scrub tank tread clean.] James: Dave. Dave: James. (whips out a piece of paper) Take a look at this. James: (eyes scanning the page) Hmm... Coltrane Heavy Industries... some kind of order. Cylocethia? What the fuck? Dave: That's just a code word. The order is for a type of dense ceramic mixed with a variety of metals. The code word refers to a specific blend, but basically it's just heavy as hell and a good insulator. The king of thing you could drop through reentry and expect to hit the ground in one piece. James: So, specifically, they're ordering ammunition for an orbital weapons platform. Dave: (nods and puts away the paper) Yes. This is just like the Legacy's inertia weapon. James: (musing) But Coltrane doesn't have Rick's Specialty. Dave: He doesn't need it. This is one order among dozens. He could build a hundred Legacy platforms with the amount of ceramic he's got laying around. [James looks closely at his friend for another minute.] James: There's something else. Dave: He's got the platform up. He's got rockets assembled somewhere. I'd bet a million bucks he'll be up there and ready to use this thing in about a week. Ten days tops. James: So, we've got to find the weapon. We've got evidence, isn't there anything we can do? Dave: I've been leaning on all my contacts for a month now. Some extremely powerful people are stonewalling us on every front. I couldn't launch a fly into orbit, let alone order a military strike against this guy. James: We're it? Dave: We're it. James: That sucks. [INT. NERV CORRIDORS - DAY.] [James strides through a random corridor large enough to drive a Mack truck through, his ear pressed against a cell phone.] James: (into phone) That's right, a space suit. Ed: (over phone) What kind of space suit? James: (into phone, steps into an occupied elevator) Make it a Coat. It'll be a special. Ed: (over phone) How many do you need? James: (into phone) I don't know. You been trained for space ops? Ed: (over phone) No. James: (into phone) Know someone who is? Ed: (over phone) Ask John. He's a space cadet. James: (into phone) I'll keep looking, thanks. Get to work on those suits. [He hangs up and turns to Lisa.] James: What about you? Lisa: (intently reading a pile of paperwork an inch thick) I am a tuna sandwich. James: (blows a raspberry at her) You're no help. [INT. NERV'S MAIN LOBBY - DAY.] [James makes the top floor and bids goodbye to Lisa, who waves without pulling her eyes from her paperwork. She fishes a cheese sandwich out of a spare pocket and quickly leaves.] James: (shrugs, notes Stef at the counter) Hey. Stef: Hey yourself, stranger. James: Do you know anybody who trained to be an astronaut? Stef: (looks for the hidden cameras before responding) No... James: Dang! Thanks anyway. [James steps outside and admires the fine noonday sun, his mind searching for a name. He spots Carrie shuffling towards the entrance. She looks like she's walked across Japan without stopping to sleep in order to get back to NERV. Shrugging, James meets her at the door.] James: Hey, old friend. Carrie: (stops to stare at James) What? James: Old buddy, old pal. I've got a minor problem. Carrie: (steps through the door) Glad to hear it. James: (following) Would you know of anyone who's been trained as an astronaut? You know, for space? Carrie: (halts after a few steps) I might. You tryin' to win a bet? James: I... need some help with an important mission. Carrie: (sighs) I've had training. James: Well, shit. That was easy. When did-- Carrie: I don't want to talk about it. What's the mission? James: (looks around the building) How about we go down to my office. Carrie: (shrugs) If there's a bare spot on the floor I can fall asleep in... James: (smiles) I'll make one if I have to. Why are you worn out? Carrie: I've just been very busy. You know Ed... I swear, that man never sleeps. James: (no clue at all) Oh. [Carrie and James slip into the elevator and descend into NERV.] Stef: (to an empty room) Space? [Fade to black.] [Cue Metallica's "Better Than You" faintly in the background as the narrator's deep, booming voice speaks over the scenes.] Narrator: NEXT TIME, ON SIDESTEP:EVANGELION! [Miko stands on a metal platform, clad in a gray flight suit with silver piping. The platform is nestled in the crook of a massive canyon, next to a rocket.] Narrator: THE BATTLE MOVES TO SPACE! [Dave's office. James whips out a huge sword and cuts Dave's desk in half, then offers the sword to the commander of Branch-X like a samurai offering his weapon to his lord.] Narrator: VOWS ARE TAKEN! [James and Dave sit in a briefing room, while Carrie stands before them, delivering a lecture.] Narrator: PREPARATIONS ARE MADE! [Sherridan and John stand in a anonymous parking lot. Anonymous except for two things: A house-sized dump truck and pieces of a Saturn-5 rocket laying nearby.] Narrator: AND... LOOK! SOMETHING CUTE! [Kat stands dumbfounded in the center of an isle of cubicles, holding a tiny white ball of fur barely distinguishable as a cat, petting it slowly while she watches James leave the cubicle farm.] Narrator: ALL IN THE NEXT EPISODE OF SIDESTEP:EVANGELION! [Ending credits:] Ranting, Sidestep, lots of other stuff: Jared Waddell, HQ Consulting: Insanity Productions Staff FFML Remarks: John Genoni, Wayward Gamer Absolutely Nothing: Andy Mucha, Lost Soul Miko Mido, the Shikima, and those with tentacles (usually) are from 'La Blue Girl.' Tokyo-3 and all things and characters present regarding Eva are from Neon Genesis: Evangelion. No copyright infringement is intended. This work is copyrighted but non-profit. Perhaps in the vein of a bizarre parody, but I'm guessing not. All other characters, unless noted, are copyright Insanity Productions. Original characters created by Insanity Productions may be used in freely in other non-profit works, without the author's prior assent (you can get it, but you don't have to). And thank you, the reader, for reading.