Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Project A-Ko Fan Fiction ❯ The OFF series ❯ Asuka Versus Herself ( Chapter 3 )

Asuka Versus Herself

Neon Genesis Evangelion OFF series #3

By Austin Covello

Based on the characters created by GAINAX

Asuka Langley Soryu sighed contentedly as she wiggled to get more comfy in the entry plug that was inserted into Unit 02. She drank in the sweet taste of LCL on her tongue as well as the sense of welcome from her long absence. "I missed you too, pumpkin," she said to the big red robot in which she rode.

It was good to be back in her Eva again, even if only for an equipment test. Once back from Graviton, Dr. Akagi had announced that Unit 02 was going to be the test subject for a new internal battery prototype which-if successful-would allow the Eva two more minutes of activation time in the minimal gain mode and ten more seconds at full power. The downside to that was Unit 02 being completely inoperable while they installed the prototype. But it shouldn't have taken that long, right?

It had taken a whole month. A whole month just to change a stupid battery.

While Unit 02 underwent its upgrades, Asuka had spent the time in the Command Center, pestering Misato and Hyuga to spend their idle hours teaching her more on battle tactics. It had been hard, but both the Major and her aide were a wealth of experience in that regard, so it had been well worth her whining. Their advice had been an enormous supplement to her already existing knowledge, consisting of ideas which separated the bumbling amateur from the seasoned general. But even so, her sabbatical had been damn boring.

But it had been all worth it. Because, even though she had always known that her Evangelion was the best, now she had physical, tangible proof. Now Rei would turn green with envy! And Shinji, too, she added as an afterthought.

In the control box, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi took a pink bunny with sun glasses and a bass drum out of a paper bag and placed it on the windowsill. Beside her, Shinji Ikari frowned. "I think I like the cats better," he said. Asuka had invited Shinji to the test to show him "how it ought to be done."

Ritsuko gestured at the bunny. "Oh, this? This is a good luck charm. It comes from an early 1990's battery commercial. Somewhat appropriate, if I say so myself."

Major Misato Katsuragi disdainfully regarded the plush rodent. "It looks pretty annoying and out of place if you ask me."

Lieutenant Maya Ibuki rose from her console and turned toward the door as it slid open to reveal Commander Gendo Ikari. "Commander on deck!" she announced. Everyone rose to attention as one.

"As you were," said Ikari as he made his way toward the front of the box. "We will now commence the Unit 02 reactivation and internal battery prototype test," he declared.

As the glowing nimbus surrounded the entry plug, Asuka felt the familiar melding of awareness that fused her being with that of Unit 02. She looked down to see the floor one hundred and fifty feet below, and once more sighed with contentment. She was whole again.

"Absolute borderline clear. Unit 02 has been activated," reported Maya.

"Confirmed," added Asuka.

"Excellent," murmured Ikari. "Proceed with phase two."

"Yes sir! Proceeding with phase two," Ritsuko responded. "Insert secondary power cable to battery outlet."

"Roger," said one of the techs. "Battery charge at five percent…" the tech began to count down to full power.

"Pilot status?" inquired Ritsuko.

"All readings nominal," replied Maya. "Harmonics and synch ratio are at normal levels."

Shinji contacted Asuka. "Hey Asuka, is everything okay in there?"

"Of course everything's okay," answered Asuka pertly. "This is a cake walk."

"Internal battery is fully charged. Detaching secondary power cable," reported the tech.

Commander Ikari smiled as he pushed his rose-tinted glasses further up on his nose. "Detatch external power!" he ordered.

The umbilical cable dropped from Asuka's back, and shockwaves began to wrack her brain, sending a thousand volts of electricity to the base of her skull. Asuka screamed as the LCL began to boil in the entry plug. The last thing she heard before the blackness took her was the sound of Shinji calling out her name.

***

"Asuka!" cried Shinji as he saw her twitch violently in the frothing liquid and then lay still.

"The pulses are moving backward!" Maya reported frantically.

"Pilot status!" barked Misato.

"Brainwaves are erratic. Her pulse is thready, fading."

"Increase LCL oxygen content by five percent! Give her a heart massage!" ordered Ritsuko. On the communications window, Asuka's unconscious form gave a violent jerk.

"She's stabilizing," said Maya. Then she gasped. "Unit 02 is beginning to move!"

Misato's jaw dropped. "What did you say?"

In the testing area, Unit 02 negligently ripped from its restraints and began to move toward the control box.

"Unit 02 is out of control!" cried Maya.

"Abort the test," ordered Ikari. "Utilize the battery cutoff failsafe."

"It's not working!" yelled Maya.

"Force-eject the entry plug!" ordered Misato. "Get Asuka out of there, now!"

"Engage SmartPlug remote. Steer her as far from the Eva as possible," added Ritsuko.

As soon as the entry plug was ejected, Shinji ran as fast as he could out of the control box, screaming Asuka's name.

"Shinji, get back here!" cried Misato. Just what does that idiot think he's doing?

Unit 02 had reached the control box, and was now attempting to walk through it as if it were blind.

"Start the bakelite suppression system!" ordered Ritsuko.

As the red liquid sprayed onto Unit 02, Commander Ikari watched with a sense of déja vû as his son raced toward the LCL leaking entry plug and touched the hatch, reflexively jerked back, and then twisted it open, all the while screaming the pilot's name.

Oh God! thought Shinji as he peaked his head in to see the limp form of Asuka Langley Soryu as she slid off of her seat, blood trickling out of the corner of her barely parted lips. There was no movement in her chest. She wasn't breathing.

She. Wasn't. Breathing.

No longer thinking, only reacting, Shinji went into the entry-plug. It took all of his strength to lift Asuka and carry her out.

"Somebody, please! Get a doctor!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

***

At Tokyo-3 Central Hospital, paramedics raced the gurney carrying Asuka down the hall. They had been able to restart her respiratory system, but they had to get her to the emergency room before her heart and lungs gave out again. Misato and Shinji looked on with concerned eyes as the stretcher rolled into the ER ward. As the doors slammed shut and the emergency light came on, they both knew that the battle for Asuka's life had begun.

Misato turned to see Ritsuko striding down the hall. "Well, so much for your good luck charm," said Misato sourly.

"Actually, it could have been worse. At least the control box wasn't destroyed this time," replied Ritsuko.

A red haze clouded Misato's vision as she grabbed Ritsuko and shoved her against the wall. "That little girl may die in there, and all you're worried about is that fucking control box?" she screamed. "I was against testing the new battery this early on to begin with! But no, you just went ahead and installed it anyway, without even trying to work out the bugs!"

"As head of Technology and Development, I…"

"Stow that line of crap! Because of you and your desire to play with your new toy, Asuka's lying in there half-dead! If she dies, it's on your conscience!"

"If we're going to defeat the Angels, we need to have the Evas running at top performance as soon as possible. That means we need new equipment. You of all people should appreciate that, Major."

Misato let Ritsuko go. Her eyes softened and slowly began to tear up. "Maybe so, but not at the expense of others."

"Our job is to prevent Third Impact no matter what the cost, Major. No matter what the cost! That means if Asuka, Shinji, or Rei die in the line of duty, then so be it. If you can't handle that, then you shouldn't be with NERV!"

"Perhaps you're right," said Misato softly. "I don't know how I sleep at night working for an organization so heartless." With that parting shot, she and Shinji walked down the hall away from Dr. Akagi.

***

Two hours later, Commander Ikari sat in a conference room adjacent to his office along with Vice Commander Kouzou Fuyutski, Misato, and Ritsuko. They had gathered there to review the test data and find out just what went wrong during the activation.

"So mental instability on the part of the pilot wasn't a factor?" inquired Ikari.

"That's correct sir," said Ritsuko. "The pilot's reading indicates that her harmonics were well within the tolerance levels. According to the data that was recorded, the problem was with the battery. Instead of running for an extended period of time at normal power, the prototype created a massive power surge throughout the Eva. The fact is, Unit 02 didn't so much go berserk as it attempted to walk off the excess energy to prevent an overload, in accordance with its power flux failsafe."

"Thank you, Dr. Akagi. Major Katsuragi, what are your recommendations?" asked Ikari.

"My analysis concurs with Dr. Akagi's, sir," replied Misato. "However, it is my recommendation that Unit 02 be put into cryo-stasis for a period of no less than ten days, just to be safe. Furthermore, I strongly suggest that you reinstall Unit 02's original battery as soon as possible, as there could be electric residuals within the prototype…" her tone made the word a curse, "…that could cause problems with the Eva."

Ikari turned to Ritsuko. "Doctor, make it so."

"Yes sir," replied Ritsuko crisply and walked out of the room.

"Thank you for your time, Major Katsuragi. Your suggestions were appreciated. You're dismissed."

"Thank you, sir," replied Misato. She stood up and turned to walk out of the room.

"Oh, Major? One last thing."

Misato turned back to face the commander. "Yes sir?"

"If the pilot of Unit 02 is conscious, please give her my… regards."

Misato's eyes widened. Damn. The bastard may actually have a heart after all. Unless he's hiding something… "I will, sir," she replied and then walked out of the room.

Fuyutski turned to Ikari. "Well, that was close. It took a lot of fast talking to get her to rescind her resignation."

"Indeed. It's remarkable how much she cares for those children."

"This is the worst fiasco in the history of NERV. If SEELE finds out about this…"

"They won't. Major Katsuragi's recommendations will act as an effective cover up. As for the new battery prototype, the equipment test will be postponed. Indefinitely."

"Dr. Akagi won't be pleased about that."

"I'm not concerned with what pleases Dr. Akagi. I want that thing dismantled."

"And the pilot?"

"If she lives, fine. If not, I've already got the letters to her next of kin written. She was killed in action during an Angel attack. If necessary, we can replicate the damage to Unit 02."

Fuyutski frowned. "Pray that she survives."

"I already am. As for Major Katsuragi, monitor her closely for the next few days. She's upset and may stumble on to something. I'd hate to have to… lose her. She is, after all, a model soldier and an example of the best NERV has to offer."

"And that's why we haven't let her in on the Human Instrumentality Project. Or Adam."

"Of course," replied Ikari.

***

Asuka Langley Soryu raced down the dark pathway. There was nothing. Nothing but blackness; above her, below her, in front of her, or in back of her. What had brought her to this horrible place? Why was she here? Why was she running? Was she running from something? Some unknown terror that was chasing after her? No, that couldn't be it. She had to be running to someplace. She was in a hurry to get there. Only, why was she in a hurry? If she stopped running, would she be late?

Laughter peeled off along the corridor. Laughter coming from all around her. Laughter at her. It was a terrible sound. High pitched and mocking, it was all she could do to from screaming for whoever it was doing it to stop. She ran faster.

Abruptly, she stopped. This is ridiculous, she thought. I may not like the sound of this laughter, but damned if I'm going to be driven away by it! "That's enough!" she shouted. "Why don't you come out where I can see you? Show yourself, damn you!"

Suddenly, a form started to materialize in the darkness. The form strode confidently toward her, eyeing her disdainfully. Asuka's eyes widened in shock at the redheaded, blue-eyed girl that came out of the darkness. She strode up to Asuka with a disgusting, mocking expression on her face.

Asuka screamed as her own mirror image began to laugh at her once more.

***

At Tokyo-3 Central Hospital, Misato and Shinji listened to Dr. Sadamoto as he explained Asuka's symptoms to her. "Her condition is critical. She's taken massive electroshock trauma to her head area," he read from the medical chart. "In fact, I'd say it's a miracle that she wasn't brain damaged. Nonetheless, her prognosis is unknown. If she survives the next twenty-four hours, I'd say she's got a fighting chance. But there are also complications."

"Complications?" repeated Shinji dubiously.

"Yes. Your… ward is in a coma, and there's no telling when she could come out of it. For all we know, she may never come out." The young medical doctor put down the chart and narrowed his eyes at Misato. "Just what the hell do you do with these kids down at NERV? If I didn't know better, I'd swear you had her strapped to an electric chair!"

Misato winced visibly. "I… I'm sorry," she whispered, her eyes tearing up.

"It wasn't anyone's fault! It was an accident!" Shinji cried at the doctor with uncharacteristic heat.

Sadamoto's shoulders sagged. "You're right, Shinji. It was an accident, and I was out of line. Look, from what you tell me, Asuka's a tough little girl. If anyone has a chance of pulling through this, it's her. Now, I want you to go home, and get some rest, okay."

"I guess you're right," said Misato. "Come on, Shinji. You'll call if her condition changes, won't you, Doctor?"

"Can… can I stay? I mean… you know how they say you can hear people if you're in a coma? I thought I'd…" Shinji trailed off.

"Certainly, you can stay," replied Sadamoto. "Assuming it's all right with the Major."

"Of course, Shinji," answered Misato. "I think she'd like that."

Shinji took a seat by Asuka's bed as Misato and Dr. Sadamoto left the room. He looked at the oxygen mask over her face. Then his eyes trailed to the IV needle sticking out of her right hand. And then the to the heart monitor, giving off a monotonous beep-beep that represented her beating heart.

Shinji sighed. "Well, you've looked better," he began, and then berated himself. Great job, idiot. She's here in a coma, and you're making remarks on her looks. If she was conscious, you'd have permanent palm scars on your cheeks. "What I meant was… aw, hell. I don't know what I mean. I just wish that this didn't happen. We'd all be at home, and you'd be rubbing it in on how much better your Eva is." Shinji laughed at the image. "You've always been so proud of that Eva. I… I'm not sure what those Evas really are, but I think they're alive, in some way. And I think… I know, that if you… left us, yours would miss you." His vision began to blur. "I'd miss you. I'd miss you teasing me. That may sound weird, but I would. Not only that, sometimes you say things that just crack me up."

Shinji drew a quavering breath. "Remember that morning when you got up, and you were in this really bad mood? I mean, you were really pissed. You were grumbling to yourself, you just about tore Misato's skin off, yelling at her. You remember that? And then you sat down at the breakfast table next to Pen-Pen. And he was reading the paper, you know, the way he usually does. So you said to him, 'Pen-Pen, pass me the want ads. I want to see if the Sailor Scouts are hiring.' And it was just the way you said it, you know. That was so… funny." The tears were flowing freely now. Shinji continued talking to her to keep from crying.

***

"What are you?" cried Asuka as she looked at her mirror image. In all her years she had never seen anything to inspire the feeling of helplessness and dread that she felt now. But looking at the thing in front of her, she couldn't help but tremble.

Her mirror image snorted. "Isn't it obvious?" it said in a voice exactly like her own. "I'm your Self."

"What do you mean, my Self?"

"In each of us there exists three Selves. The Self that observes itself, the Self that others observe, and the true Self."

"Wait a minute…" said Asuka. "I know this! This is from my psychology course back in college!"

"Of course you know it, you idiot!" replied her Self. "If you didn't know it, how would I know it? I'm you, remember?"

"What do you mean, you're me? I'm the only one who's me!"

"Wrong again. We're both Asuka Langley Soryu. But we've been divided into two Selves. I'm the Self that observes itself."

"Then what does that make me?"

"The true Self, obviously. You know that the Self that others observe can't exist within the spirit. It only exists in the collective unconscious."

"Then this place is… my spirit?"

"Yup."

Asuka sighed and sat down, resting her head in her palms. "I'm dying, aren't I?"

Her Self did likewise. "Yeah." She looked at Asuka. "Do you want to live?"

"What the hell kind of a question is that?" cried Asuka.

"Do you want to live?" repeated her Self.

Asuka shrugged. "What's the difference? I don't think I've got a choice."

"That isn't like you," remarked her Self.

Asuka growled at her. Her hand moved at the speed of light toward her Self's face.

Asuka rubbed her smarting cheek. "Quit hitting yourself," barked her Self. "Do you want to live?"

"Quit asking me that!" cried Asuka. Then she sighed. "Do you think anyone will miss me?"

"Are you kidding?" snorted her Self. "After the way you've treated everyone! They'll dance on your grave! Now, do you want to live? I'm not going to ask you again."

"Yes!" Asuka yelled in her Self's face. "I want to live!"

"Why? What do you have worth living for?"

"Piloting Eva," answered Asuka confidently.

Her Self snorted. "Is that all? God, Asuka, you're going to have to do better than that!"

"Isn't that enough?"

"Shit, no! There's a lot more to life than some dumb robot! I mean, come on, you've got to have something else." Her Self's tone made it almost a dare.

Suddenly, the image welled up before her. It was a pure, perfect image. An image of a brown haired boy with hazel eyes and a serious expression on his face. Shinji…

Her Self suddenly laughed out loud. "Oh, please! That dork? What's so great about him? I'll tell you, you don't have much worth living for if that's all you have!"

"That's not true!" screamed Asuka, jumping to her feet. "Shinji is a good and decent person! Anyone would be proud to call him a friend! He's worth living for and then some, you moron!"

"Then why do you tease him?" asked her Self, also getting up.

Asuka stepped back, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open as if she'd been slapped.

"You hate Shinji. You know it. I know it. You never say anything nice to him. You're jealous of the fact that he could synch instantaneously with his Eva while it took you six months. You've tormented him every chance you get. Admit it!"

"No! It's true that I make fun of him, but I do it for his own good! I know he can be so much more than he is. I know! I always see it… whenever he's piloting his Eva."

Just then, a voice echoed through Asuka's spirit. "Don't die. Please, just don't die, okay?"

In the hospital, Shinji leaned over Asuka's body. "Don't die. Please, just don't die, okay?"

"What?" shrilled Asuka. "I thought you said that no one would miss me! You lied to me!"

"Asuka, you idiot! We lie to ourselves all the time! It's how we get through life!"

"See? Shinji would miss me!"

"I don't see why."

"Because he likes me."

"I don't think so."

"Another lie!" cried Asuka. "I don't feel like sifting the truth out of you, so how do I get out of here?"

"But that's what's required of you, Asuka," said Her Self. "All you need to do is admit the truth, and you can go. And you and I both know what it is. Three words."

The pupils in Asuka's eyes shrank. Her jaw worked without word or voice. "I…I can't," said Asuka.

"Then we'll both just stay here until we die. Which probably won't be much longer."

***

Shinji looked up from Asuka's hospital bed as he felt the presence of another watching him. Standing in the doorway was Rei Ayanami. "Good evening, Shinji," said the blue haired girl as she walked into the room.

"Hi, Rei. What are you doing here?" greeted Shinji.

Rei sat in a chair next to his. "I thought that I would look in on Pilot Soryu. I wanted to know if her condition changed."

"But I thought you two hated each other."

Rei regarded Shinji. "What would make you think such a thing?" she asked.

"Well, she always seems to make fun of you, and you're always ignoring her, so I thought you just didn't like her. And now, here you are, concerned, like the rest of us…"

"Concerned?"

"Yeah. That… that's why you're here, isn't it?"

Rei began to blush. "Maybe. Maybe that is it."

***

"What?" shrilled Asuka. "What in the hell is she doing here?"

"Making a play for Shinji, obviously," replied her Self.

"Well, it's not going to happen. Who would ever fall for such a pathetic, uncharismatic robot like her!"

"Shinji would."

"No!"

"You've seen how Shinji looks at her. You know how much he admires her. He'd like nothing better than to have Rei as his girlfriend."

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!" Asuka screamed.

"And now, Rei is finally starting to come around. Either she likes Shinji, which I doubt, or she's finally gotten desperate enough to jump his bones. Either way, you don't have a shot in hell of getting him now!"

Asuka screamed.

In the hospital bedroom, Shinji's hand slowly, unconsciously, began move toward Asuka's.

"So, your would-be boyfriend has found another girl, and you're left as the odd girl out," concluded her Self.

Asuka's voice was barely above a whisper. "All my life I've been losing everyone I love to dolls. First my mother, then Shinji. I lost Shinji… to a doll. I hate them. I hate them. I hate my mother. I hate Shinji. And I hate Rei, most of all."

"Then what do you really have to live for, if you just hate the ones that you love?"

"Nothing. I have nothing."

***

Alarms began to blare in the room as the rhythmic pulses of Asuka's cardiac monitor became a long, steady whine. "Asuka!" Shinji cried.

Dr. Sadamoto rushed in. "Flatline! We've got a code blue!" he called into the hallway.

***

A vortex opened in Asuka's spirit. Slowly, she began to feel herself being pulled toward it. "What's happening?" she yelled to her Self.

"We're being pulled in! It's the next dimension!"

"You mean… this is heaven?"

"Yeah! We oughta get a whole mess of other kids and charge 'em!"

On an impulse, Asuka glanced back. Oh God, no. It was him.

"Come to me, Asuka," said the Angel. "Come and be one with God."

***

Shinji and Rei were rushed out of the room as Sadamoto and his staff got out the shocks. "Clear!" barked Sadamoto. Asuka's heart absorbed the electricity with no effect.

"Give me twenty-five c.c.s of adrenaline!" ordered Sadamoto. The nurse quickly filled the needle and handed it to him. He stabbed it into Asuka's heart.

***

Asuka cried out in agony as a sharp, needle-like pain stabbed into her heart. She began to run away from the vortex, but it got yet another grip on her. "You can't run away, Asuka," said the Angel. "And why do you want to? You'll be loved here, Asuka. You won't need to prove anything to anyone. There won't be a Shinji to reject you, here."

Suddenly, Asuka's mouth went dry as every emotion that had been welling up inside of her exploded. How dare that little bastard throw Shinji in her face! "Shinji hasn't rejected me yet, you pervert! And people love me right where I am! Shinji loves me. It may not be in the way I want him to, but he loves me just the same!" The Angel's jaw dropped as if he'd been slapped. "Oh, so that's what you can't take, huh? Rejection? Well, I reject you. I reject your paradise, I reject your values; I reject every single thing that you stand for! And when I get out of here, I'm going to crush your head with my Unit 02!"

Then she whirled on her Self. "And you! You lying little bitch! Just because Rei happens to be in the same room with Shinji doesn't mean a damn thing! As far as I know, Rei and Shinji are just friends!"

Abruptly, the vortex closed. Asuka wiped cold sweat from her brow.

***

Dr. Sadamoto wiped cold sweat from his brow as he finally got Asuka stabilized. "Good work, everybody. I'll need a nurse in here at all times from now on. Litako, you can let the children back in, now."

***

"Well, now we're back to square one again," said Asuka. "Are you going to say anything else to get me killed?"

"Me?" cried her Self. "You were the one who believed it, you idiot! That's what nearly got us killed!"

"Well help me get out of here, already!" said Asuka.

"I'm trying to do that! Why don't you just say it, Asuka?"

Asuka's pupils shrank yet again. "No! I can't!"

"Why not? Since when can't you do anything?"

"I…I'm afraid!"

"Afraid of what?"

"Afraid he'll reject me!"

***

There was a knock at the open door. Shinji tore his eyes away from Asuka's still form to see Kensuke Aida, along with Toji Suzarhara and his girlfriend, Hikari Horaki. "Hey Shinji, what's up?"

"Nothing new," said Shinji. He went back to staring at Asuka.

"Yeah," said Toji. "When we got the news that Asuka was in the hospital, Hikari here wanted to come see her."

"And since I figured you'd be here, I decided to tag along," finished Kensuke. "What are you doing here Rei?"

Rei looked at the mousy looking boy. "I was concerned," she said softly.

"Wow! I mean…I thought you and Asuka hated each other," remarked Kensuke.

"Why does everyone think that?" asked Rei. If it were anyone else, the tone would have been defensive. But Rei's tone was one of surprised curiosity. "I don't hate Asuka. There's no point to it."

Toji glanced to Shinji, and then to Rei, and then to Asuka's comatose form. "I guess…when all is said and done…you Eva pilots actually do stick together, huh?" He stared at the bed. "It's really weird looking at her like this. I mean… she's always moving and talking, you know?"

"What's on your mind, Toji?" asked Hikari.

"Well, there've been times when I've hated her, there've been times when I've laughed at her, there've been times when I've laughed with her; I've even… liked her, occasionally, but…I don't know. I guess I'd miss her, if she were gone."

"I know what you mean," said Hikari. "I mean, she's always been there for me, ever since she came to Japan. She's been such a good friend to me that I can't picture life without her anymore. We do just about everything together."

Toji put his arm around Hikari as she wiped away a tear from her cheek. "She isn't dead yet," said Toji in as resolute a tone as he could manage.

***

"That's your worst fear isn't it? Rejection," said her Self.

"Yes," replied Asuka.

"That's the real reason you make fun of Shinji, isn't it? You reject him, so that he can't reject you first."

"Yes…No! That's not the only reason! I was telling the truth when I said that he could be so much more!"

"Perhaps," her Self conceded. "What makes you think that he'll reject you?"

"You should know! You're me, remember?"

"Yes, but you have to say it."

"Everyone else rejected me. My mother rejected me. My father rejected me. The only reason NERV hasn't rejected me is they have a use for me."

"Shinji isn't your parents. Shinji isn't NERV," noted her Self. "Don't you think that he loves you? Hasn't he shown that already?"

Images flooded Asuka's mind.

"Boy Asuka! You really killed Godzilla. I mean, he never stood a chance!" said Shinji admirably.

"I just came to help you pack."

She walked up to Shinji and impulsively embraced him. Shinji stiffened, and then slowly put his arms around Asuka's waist with a gentle squeeze.

"I knew you'd forget lunch. You were really concentrating on your homework. So, I made you one."

"It sure has been quiet with you gone."

"M-Me and Rei? What are you talking about?"

"Welcome home."

And finally, one last memory.

Blackness took her. She felt her conscious being ripped from the Eva. Dimly, she was aware that her entry-plug had been ejected and she had coughed up blood. Such a heaviness in her chest… She felt her stomach go up to her throat and then a giant shock of impact. She heard her named being screamed. It was muffled at first, but suddenly, the voice was clear as a bell. Then there was nothing but silence as she felt herself falling, then landing on a hard surface. Then, she was being hoisted up, and she felt two warm hands under her. The eerie quiet was pierced yet again with a scream.

"Somebody please! Get a doctor!" screamed Shinji.

"He…he does love me!" said Asuka. "I love him, too! Do you hear that? I love him!" she screamed.

This time a greater, more powerful vortex opened. Without warning, Asuka was sucked in.

***

"Oh my God!" cried Kensuke. He pointed at Asuka's life signs. They had almost gotten to the conscious level. "She gonna wake up!"

The entire group watched, transfixed, as the red lights got higher and higher. Suddenly, they changed to green. Shinji hovered over the bed as Asuka slowly opened her eyes.

Summoning all of her strength, Asuka reached up and put her arms around Shinji, pulling him down in a rough embrace. Tears began to run down her cheeks. "I love you, Shinji," she whispered in his ear, following it up with a kiss on his cheek.

She must be delirious, thought Shinji. "I…I love you, too, Asuka," he said, more to appease her than out of any real conviction. But I do love her, don't I?

"Of course you do. Idiot," she murmured, as if in answer to his silent question.

Toji smiled as he and Hikari looked on. "Looks like the newlyweds are at it again!" he laughed.

To Be Continued

Next Episode:

Katherine "Katty" O'Malley, a potential Eva pilot candidate from the United States, is coming to Tokyo-3. But she has her heart set on more than just becoming an Eva pilot, and much to Asuka and Rei's dismay, she begins to court Shinji! Will Katty be able to synch with an Eva and keep Shinji's interests, even as the most powerful Angel yet hits the scene? It's in the next episode:

Shinji's Girlfriend

Afterword:

I got the idea for The Asuka Vs. Trilogy when I saw how much Godzilla '97 was being over promoted at my local mall. I can't stand Godzilla. I've never been interested in any of those movies, not even on MST3K. One day I was ran into some Godzilla merchandise, and had Neon Genesis: Evangelion on the brain. I thought, "You know, Shinji and Unit 01 would kill Godzilla." Then I thought about all of the fanfic that portrays Asuka as this "damsel in distress" pilot (not entirely accurately either) and I said, "I'll even go out on a limb and say that Asuka could even beat Godzilla!" And then bingo! The idea for Asuka Versus Godzilla was born.

After that, I was watching Project A-ko with Asuka on the brain (this is just about how all my crossover fics start out, watching something while having something else on the brain.), and I realized that Asuka would fit in so perfectly in Graviton. Not only that, an Evangelion is probably the only that has a snowballs shot in hell of ever beating A-ko. I got the idea that somebody could make a whole fanfic trilogy out of Asuka versus anime characters. And it wasn't like I had anything else planned for that time, so…

I started laying groundwork for Asuka Versus Godzilla. The main problem was that I wanted to do a fic where Asuka just kicked the crap out of Godzilla. I mean really one-sided. The problem with that is that one-sided battles being told in detail are boring, and I wanted people to read this stuff. So I had to give Godzilla some time with the upper-hand. I guess it's sort of like rigging a wrestling match. You've got to make it so that your audience doesn't loose interest.

But a Neon Genesis: Evangelion fanfic needs to have more to it than just some dumb battle sequence. You need humor, drama, and character development. Well, I knew that Asuka was going to be the main character of the series. She was going to hold her own against mean ass opponents, and in so doing break out of that "damsel in distress" image that she got toward the end of the series and in certain fanfics. Then I thought "Ah-ha! Why don't I try developing her even further by exploring her relationship with Shinji? That sounds good!"

My take on the Asuka and Shinji relationship has always been this: Asuka likes Shinji, but she thinks that Shinji likes Rei. That would explain why she's so hostile toward Rei all of the time. Shinji, meanwhile, probably considers Asuka as sort of an annoying sister that nags him all of the time.

With all of this in mind, I made a story with three plots: Asuka preparing to fight and then fighting Godzilla, Asuka attempting to come to grips with her relationship with Shinji, and a comic relief plot involving Rei. I admit that using Rei for comic relief is a bit unorthodox, but this was my first Evafic, so I wanted to use all of the special children, and there was nothing else left for Rei. Rei's plot derives directly from one of the last scenes of the first episode of Babylon 5, where the security chief and the Minbari Ambassador are watching cartoons and eating popcorn. The Ambassador doesn't even know what popcorn is, and politely asks the security chief to explain it to her again. I just looked at it and said, "That is so Rei!" and I had to use it.

Another angle that I did was between Asuka and Kaworu. (Yes, if you didn't figure it out, that is supposed to be Kaworu.) I've always wondered how they would have gotten along if they had ever met. When I first started the trilogy, I was trying to keep it in the original storyline, so the only way I could have them meet was in a dream. I thought it might be a cool idea in my fics to have him pop up once in a while and bug Asuka. Unfortunately, the downside of it was that he was really OOC. I re-watched episode 24, and I realized that he wasn't nearly as malevolent as I had made him out to be.

While offering explanations, I ought to tell you that I don't really understand what the Angels are. I'm not even sure that I'm supposed to understand. So, in my fics, I went for pure literalism. The Angels really are messengers from God and the AT Fields really are created by the ego. I'm sure that this will piss off some religious fanatics, but that's just tough.

The idea that Asuka and Unit 02 meld minds while the Eva is activated probably isn't a new concept, but for me it first acted as a shortcut. Rather than say "Asuka pulled the lever, and Unit 02 kicked Godzilla" or something like that, it was a lot easier to say, "Asuka kicked Godzilla." Then I re-read it and thought, "Hmm, maybe I've got something, here." So I decided that when Asuka is fighting in Unit 02, she thinks that she is Unit 02. It added to the fantasy element that's usually in Evangelion.

Overall, Asuka Versus Godzilla was mainly a way to get Asuka's thoughts on her relationship with Shinji out to the reader. When I got such a poor response back, I went back to my Daria writing for a while. It was only because of people like A1-I-Bus telling me to do the rest of the trilogy, that I decided write the rest of it. So, thanks for the encouragement.

Asuka Versus A-ko was mainly a humor fanfic, where Asuka goes to Graviton and we get to see it from her perspective. The title isn't really descriptive of the fic, since Asuka and A-ko only really fight once, and that's in the middle of the story. In actuality, they're friends for most of the fic. I had a lot of fun writing it, but I wanted to keep things equal between the animes. That way, if a Project A-ko fan stumbled across it, they wouldn't get mad over Asuka kicking A-ko, and I didn't feel like fielding impolite variants of "An Eva would kick A-ko, you idiot!". In that respect, it was hard. That's probably the main reason why A-ko got her ribs broken in the battle. But she did a nasty number on Asuka when she tore her AT Field to shreds.

Probably my favorite scene in that was the lunch scene. It's sort of a Project A-ko in joke, so if you didn't understand, here's an explanation. C-ko always makes lunch for A-ko, and her lunches look good, but they taste awful. Usually the recipient ends up spouting flame, which makes me think that she uses a little too much pepper. Anyway, I decided to have Asuka actually like C-ko's food (hey, she has to endure Misato's cooking, right?), and then say that it was bland, to boot.

By the time I got to where Asuka meets the aliens, I was so burnt out that I wasn't even trying to write in character. I just did a parody of/homage to a scene from Douglas Adams' Restaurant at the End of the Universe, with Asuka as the role of Ford Prefect. Then I did a scene where the cast of Robotech acts as red shirts. Literally. (Red shirts were the faceless people who got killed on Star Trek, for the Sci-Fi impaired.)

I apologize for the Honor Harrington parody. That was a complete accident. I had this image of a D-type opponent for A-ko to face, and it was shaping up to be either Honor Harrington or Maya Ibuki on steroids. But anyway, Honor Harrington is a role model Science Fiction heroine, and she deserved better than what I did to her.

Probably the most important part of Asuka Versus A-ko is the anticlimax. After all, how can Asuka come to grips with her feelings for Shinji if she's still clinging to Kaji? Of course, she can still use Kaji to make Shinji jealous…

When I got my ideas for Asuka Versus Godzilla and Asuka Versus A-ko, I knew I needed a third spot. But who could I get? I briefly considered Sailor Moon, but I got rid of that for two major reasons. One: I don't watch Sailor Moon a lot. Two: I wanted to give Asuka some competition. (Yes, I am Sailor Moon bashing this month.) Then I saw episode 16 and realized that the best opponent for Asuka would be herself. I used yet another Babylon 5 episode for my template; namely "The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari." This fanfic was more of an afterthought than anything else, but out of all of them, this one is the most true to the series. I've got Gendo scheming, Misato and Ritsuko fighting, and a lot of introspection.

And yes, you read that right, Rei and Asuka do not hate each other. Asuka's actions toward Rei at the end of episode 12 prove that. Not only that, I'm also willing to believe that Asuka does make fun of Shinji to better himself.

I'm also incorporating the trilogy into a bigger series. Toji and Hikari are dating in this series, so that's why I have them going out. However, my next Evafic will be a stand alone called Stacy Rowe: Evangelion Pilot. It will crossover Daria and NGE. After that one is done, then I'll go back to my "Original Fan Fiction" Series, which is what the next episode features. Until then, see you later.