Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Crossroads ❯ New Lessons ( Chapter 6 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Crossroads, An Evangelion Rifts Crossover


Neon Genesis Evangelion is used without permission. It is copyright by
Gainix (wonderful folks!). Rifts®, Palladium Books®, Mechanoids® The
Mechanoid Invasion®, Rifts®, Megaverse®, RECON®, and After the Bomb®
Are registered trademark owned and licensed by Kevin Siembieda and
Palladium Books, Inc. Cyber-Knight(TM), Coalition States(TM), Triax(TM)
Nightbane(TM), Nightlands(TM), Heroes Unlimited(TM), Villains Unlimited(TM),
Beyond the Supernatural(TM), Boxed Nightmares(TM), Ninjas & Superspies(TM),
Mystic China(TM), Palladium Fantasy RPG(TM), Mindwerks(TM), Vampire
Kingdoms(TM), The Juicer Uprising(TM), Phase World(TM), Wormwood(TM),
Psyscape(TM), Mega-Damage(TM), S.D.C.(TM), I.S.P.(TM), P.P.E.(TM), SAMAS(TM),
Splugorth(TM), Cyber-Knight(TM), Glitter Boy(TM), Juicer(TM), Mind Melter(TM),
Psi-Stalker(TM), Coalition States(TM), Northern Gun(TM), Erin Tarn(TM),
Naruni(TM), ... and other names and titles are trademarks owned and licensed
by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books, Inc."... and are also used without
permission. Please don't sue me; I am a poor college student! If you sue
me I won't be able to waste my money on your wonderful products! 8^)


Welcome, once again, to Crossroads. As you might remember from
last time, Shinji has finally begun his training with the Rifters.
Because of this, his Synch-Ratio has also begun to steadily rise as he
gains more control and confidence with his newly realized powers.
However, all is not well in Eva Land. Commander Ikari is becoming
suspicious of his son's new friends and has given the agents of Section
2 the duty of watching them. The Rifters have translated and are
starting to study the prophesies of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and don't
like what they are finding. To make matters even more complex, another
group of sell swords has taken the journey across time and space, from
the Earth of Rifts to the Earth of Evangelion. They have been sent to
retrieve the unopened case, and the artifact it contains, the case that
started this whole fic in the first place. What will happen now?
Well, I guess you're just going to have to read and find out!


CHAPTER NOTE: In this chapter I introduce the Nightbane (from
another RPG, of the same name, put out by Palladium Books). So that
you, my readers, know what I'm talking about, here is a brief rundown
on Nightbane's. First off, they are a sub race of humans that are
natural shape shifter; however they only have two, static, forms. The
first is the façade, this is their human form, and is the one they are
born with. Because of this, many Nightbane live out normal lives,
never knowing what they could be. The second from is called the
Morphus. The Morphus form is the alien shape that most Nightbane
consider to be their true form. The Morphus is almost always inhuman,
and many times it is horrifying to boot, (pieces of exposed bone or
shards of glass sticking out are two examples of some of the more
unsightly manifestations). A Morphus often contains animal,
mechanical, insectoid, and other outright unnatural pieces and combines
them into a unified whole. For example, you could have a Nightbane
who, in his Morphus, had the compound eyes of an insect, in the head of
a warthog, four arms (two of them shaped like crab claws, but made out
of riveted metal), the lower body of a snake, and wings like an eagles.
(This would take some incredible roles on the random generation tables,
but it is possible!) Now, besides from having an unnatural shape,
Nightbane's have supernatural strength, endurance, fighting ability,
and senses, as well as natural magic like abilities. Nice, ne? Of
course, their enemies are not nice either...



Chapter 6: New Lessons


Alister, Kyle, and a tall black man (a polymorphed Ferris) walked
the streets of Tokyo-3. They were in the bar and club district, even
though it was several hours before things would really become lively,
and all three had a rather downcast look on their faces.

["Forty bars, forty, and every last one had one of those damn
machines..."] Ferris mumbled savagely.

["I wonder if we should just settle for a place where it's
broken?"] Kyle asked, ["I'm sure it can't be fixed before we leave."

["I asked; the repairman was going to be there by tonight."]
Ferris said.

["We can't lose to the girls again. The last time was bad
enough. Right Kyle..."] Alister said pointedly.

["Hey, you can't blame me, that place was new."] The last city
they had been in was where he had grown up and trained. ["Besides,
before Pasantic we were in Lazlo and lost then too,"] Kyle said, the
edge of annoyance creeping into his voice. ["I still can't believe the
girls keep finding these great bars..."]

["All that can change if we can just find a bar without a karaoke
machine," Alister reminded his friends.

They had been at it for another hour and were beginning to up
hope when fate decided to play her fickle hand.

["Excuse me, sir."] The three turned to see a plain looking,
middle-aged, man standing behind them. He was of mixed descent and
wore an expensive, three-piece suit and carried an elegant cane,
although he plainly didn't need it to walk. He was looking intently at
all three of them in turn and finally he shifted his gaze directly to
Alister.

Alister was slightly taken aback by this and responded with a
cautious ["May I help you, sir?"]

["Yes, I believe that we practice the same, how should I say
this, Arte?"] he said in concise, and slightly accented, English.

Alister blinked and looked at the other. He smiled and held out
his hand in greeting upon seeing the swirling colors and crackles of
blue energy that are unique to the aura of a mage. The newcomer took
Alister's hand and shook it warmly.

["Well met Brother, well met! Now, unless I miss my guess, you
and your friends,"] with this he indicated Ferris and Kyle with a nod
of his head, ["are not from around here."]

["Quite astute. We are travelers from inexplicably far, yet at
the same time, not all that distant." Alister replied.

["Truly? You mean... through a rift then? Incredible. But, this
is not something to be discussed here. I own a, drinking
establishment, not far from here. It's rather exclusive for very good
reasons. I take it by your companion that you can see beyond the,
surface, of people?"]

["Where we come from, being open-minded is almost a
requirement."] Alister replied.

["Wonderful! Follow me then. It will be nice to have a few new
faces about. The name is Andrew Gallimard, by the way." He extended
his hand first to Ferris and then Kyle, who introduced themselves in
turn.

The four began to walk down the streets of Tokyo-3, Alister and
Andrew quietly discussing aspects of their craft while Kyle and Ferris
casually scanned the streets around them. After a few minutes, Andrew
led them down a side street and after another block a clean, but badly
lit, alley. Kyle edged his mirror shades down a hair to see better
where they were being taken. The alley dead-ended after about 50
meters at a wall set with a reinforced steel door. Andrew used his
cane to tap out a quick code on the door. Almost instantly, a panel
opened and a pair of cat-like eyes looked them over. "Hey boss, they
with you?"

"Yes, and they have my welcome to enter." Andrew replied
cheerily.

"OK Boss." The panel slid shut and the door opened silently on
well-oiled hinges.

["Right this way, my friends."] As Andrew led the mercs, through
he suddenly began to change. His nose and mouth elongated into a beak.
His short, neatly trimmed, hair became black, down-like feathers. His
hands took on a more claw-like appearance. Finally, what appeared to
be a pair of antennae grew from his head. As it had begun, Alister
laid a restraining hand on his two companions. After it had ended,
Alister whispered, ["Incredible, a Nightbane..."] then in a slightly
louder voice, ["I've read about your kind before, but I never thought I
would actually meet one in person, much less one that's a fellow
mage!"]

Andrew smiled (difficult with a beak, but he pulled it off),
["Wonderful, this makes the task of explanations that much simpler!"]
He turned and opened another door leading to a moderately lit hallway,
the sound of moody jazz and the buzz of conversations echoed from
further within. Walking down the hallway, they soon arrived in a
large, open area, dominated by a bar on one side, and a raised stage
(where a four-armed, doll like, women covered in stitches sang to the
music of a live band) dominated the wall opposite where they were now
entering. In the center was a now vacant dance floor, around which
were rows of well-spaced tables. On the opposite side of the room from
the bar was a raised area with more tables, these larger then the ones
on the floor. The club was well populated by a group of strange
looking beings, each one was unique, and each looked inhuman, some even
grotesque. Andrew turned to the Rifters and raised his arms proudly.
["Welcome my friends, welcome to Club Freak!"]


After the initial silence following the entrance of the non-
Nightbane, the music started up and a table was found for Kyle and
Ferris. Alister and Andrew were going to the Bane's study to compare
notes; Kyle and Ferris knew from experience that this would probably
take hours. A waitress, human, came by and took their orders: a bottle
of good whiskey for Kyle and a pint of Guinness for Ferris. About a
half hour later, Ferris was on his second pint and Kyle was about a
quarter through his bottle; that's when a shadow fell over the table.
The two mercs looked at each other, grinned, polished of what was left
in their glasses, and turned to face the newcomer. As expected, it was
a Nightbane. This one stood a little over six and a half feet tall.
He was one of the more alien-looking varieties present, an insectoid
with four legs, four arms, bat-like wings, and eyes that glowed like
they were aflame. Both sets of arms were crossed and he was glaring at
the two of them.

["What do you think you're doing here?"] The Bane asked in
heavily accented English.

["Drinking..."] Kyle drawled in response.

["Smart ass. Think you're tough? Is that it?"] The bane snarled
in response.

["Guess..."] Kyle again drawled.

["Prove it then."] The Bane reached around, grabbed a chair from
another table and sat down facing Kyle. He then extended his upper
right arm at an angle, his elbow resting on the table, challenging an
arm wrestling match. Kyle rolled up the sleeve on his cybernetic arm
and locked his hand with the Bane's.

["Let's go,"] Kyle said.


Four hours, 10 pints, and 2 bottles of whiskey later, Kyle and
Ferris were officially welcome in the Nightbane community of Tokyo-3.
Ferris was more then a little intoxicated and was flirting with one
Bane with the morphus of an attractive wolfanoid, Kyle was just tipsy
from trading 'war stories' with the first Bane he had arm wrestled that
evening, Tai.

["Ya know what?"] slurred Ferris, looking around the club.

["What's that?"] Kyle answered, much more steadily.

["There's no karaoke machine here. We are SO going to win!"]
With that Ferris lifted his mug and Kyle, laughing, held up his shot
glass to toast their victory.


["OK Alister, tell me again, why can't you just magic him
lighter, or better yet, home?"] Kyle asked across the sleeping form of
Ferris that the two carried between them.

["First off, I feel no desire to waste the magic energy that
either plan would require. Secondly, I am a little too, intoxicated,
to try at the moment..."] Alister speech was more then a little slurred.

["Good point."] It was late. Very, very late, so late that most
people would consider it early. ["So, is Shinji coming by later?"]
Kyle asked.

["Yes, I believe he is..."] Alister responded weakly.

["It's going to be one of those days, huh?"]

The trio got home a little before Anika and Melissa were going to
leave for their run with Shinji, and also right after the polymorph
spell on Ferris expired as well. Hector caught the falling Wolfen
telekinetically and floated him to his room. Melissa, playfully
scolding Alister, helped him to their room. Kyle stretched out and
walked to his room without a stagger. As he left, Anika looked at him
for a moment before abruptly turning to wait next to the door. A
minute or so later, Melissa joined her and the two left to meet Shinji.
As they were walking out the door, Anika took one last look at the now
closed door to Kyle's room and mumbled, ["I wish I didn't know how he
did that..."]


Shinji was waiting in front of his apartment complex and was
doing some leg stretches when the girls arrived. After the run, while
Shinji was waiting for the elevator, Melissa suddenly called out, "Hey,
Shinji, wait a minute." The elevator had already arrived, so Shinji
put his foot in to keep it from leaving without him. After Melissa ran
up to stand beside him, she continued. "The guys were out drinking all
last night, so if you get a chance, give 'em hell!" She then waved
goodbye and ran to catch up with Anika.

Shinji chuckled and stepped into the elevator. "I wonder if I
could actually get away with it?" he said to himself. "Now all I have
to do is find someplace to stay on Saturday night."


"Well Shinji, I'd like to help but I'm going with Mari to see a
specialist in Tokyo-2 about her legs. My dad wanted to go along but he
can't get off of work till late and we both don't want her going with
only my cousin. Hey, if you want, you can come too! Ken's already
coming along, and the more the merrier!"

Kensuke was nodding his head, "Yeah, it'll be great. We're
taking the bullet train there and back, and we should have some time
for sight-seeing too!"

"I'd love to, but I don't know if I'd be allowed to. Section 2
has fits when I ask to go camping right outside the city limits..."
Shinji slumped into his chair.

"Not meaning to pry or nothing, but why? The Red Devil getting
you down?" Touji asked sympathetically.

"No, not really. It's her birthday this week and she wants to
have friends over Saturday night," Shinji replied.

"So, in other words, she's kicking you out," Kensuke said matter-
of-factly.

"More or less," Shinji said with a sigh.

"You are so whipped," Touji said with a grin. "I bet she puts
out REAL GOOD though," He continued in a conspiratorial whisper.

Shinji sighed again. "You know it's not like that."

"Then why in the world do you put up with it?" Kensuke asked.

Shinji was saved from having to answer by the, indicating it was
time for class to begin. By lunch, the others had forgotten, but not
Shinji.


Shinji almost didn't dodge the blow Kyle directed at him. In
fact, he was so distracted (and when sparring with Kyle, it didn't take
much) that the only thing that was keeping him from a VERY through
beating was his Sixth Sense; and even that wasn't helping much. After
about twenty minutes of Kyle attacking and Shinji defending, Kyle held
up his hand to stop. The two bowed to each other and Kyle tossed his
student, and friend, a towel.

["So, what's on your mind kid?"]

["...what do you mean? Talk about what?"] Shinji was caught off
guard by the merc's comment.

["Come on kid, you're obviously thinking about something. I
wasn't even bothering to block there at the end..."] Kyle said with a
grin.

This was far from the response that Shinji had expected. While
Kyle wasn't a mean or vindictive teacher, he was a tough one that
expected maximum effort from his student. ["Well... I am, I guess. I
don't want to bother you with it though."]

Kyle chuckled, ["Trust me kid, it's no bother. Come on, spill."]

["Well, it's about Asuka."] Kyle leaned against the wall and
nodded his head. Shinji collapsed into a nearby chair and continued.
["You see, her birthday's this week and she's wants to have friends
come over on Saturday but she doesn't want me to be around. But,
Misato said that I had to agree and be willing to leave for the night.
Anyway, I said I would try to find someplace to stay over on Saturday
night, but Touji and Kensuke are both going to Tokyo-2 with Touji's
little sister about her legs. The thing is, when Kensuke asked me why
I was so willing to just leave because she asked. It's not like she
goes out of her way to be nice to me or anything, but I'm always nice
to her, and she's just so cute, and sometimes she CAN be nice, and,
God, I'm just confused..."]

Kyle had listened to Shinji's dialogue, nodding his head and
making none committal grunts when appropriate. After Shinji had
trailed off and was quite for a bit, Kyle said, ["Well, that does sound
like a sticky situation. Do you think she likes you too?"]

["I don't know..."] Shinji said dejectedly. ["She... oh God."]
Shinji's eyes went wide with realization. ["I like Asuka..."] With a
groan Shinji buried his face in his hands.

Kyle laughed softly, ["If you like her, why do you look like you
just swallowed ground-up glass?"]

["Because it's Asuka..."] Shinji said. ["Even if I worked up the
nerve to ask her out, she'd only shoot me down. Painfully at that..."]
Shinji leaned back and mumbled, ["I couldn't fall for a nice girl like
Hikari, or Rei. Nope, I had to fall for Asuka."]

["Sometimes Shinji,"] Kyle said quietly, ["you just don't have
much choice when it comes to your heart. No matter what you try, it's
just gonna do it's own damn thing."]

["What should I do though? She hates me..."] Shinji said.

["Well, if she just plain doesn't like you, there's not much you
can do. But are you sure she feels that strongly against you? Like we
said before, the girl's probably got some issues, and that usually
means emotional baggage. Who knows what goes on in her head? We all
have issues to work through. I think we're helping, at least a little,
with yours. Maybe when she works through some of hers, things will get
better. Until then, show her what a good guy you are. If she doesn't
come around, that's life."]

["Thanks Kyle..."] Shinji paused for a second, then continued.
["How do you know all this?"]

["Well, I made a lot of mistakes in my life, and I was lucky
enough to learn from them."] They were both sat there silently for
quiet awhile after this. A little after it had become an awkward kind
of quite, Kyle spoke up again, ["Well, if you need someplace to crash
on Saturday night, we can find room for ya."]

["Really? You won't mind?"] Shinji said happily.

["Hell no. Our place is your place. Now, think you can keep
your mind on sparring?"] Kyle said, walking over to one end of the
practice mats.

["I think so,"] Shinji said, smiling. The rest of the evening
passed rather quickly and Shinji left with some new bruises and a much
cheerier mood.

After Shinji had left, Kyle walked into the other apartment where
Melissa was working at the computer array she had set up there.
Alister was in the corner performing some sort of ritual. ["We're
digging in here,"] Kyle realized with a start. ["This is becoming more
of a home then a safe house... but is that good, or bad?"] Kyle shook
his head and continued over to were Melissa was working. ["Hey,
Melissa,"] he said.

She turned to face him and smiled. ["Yeah?"]

["Listen, I was wondering if you could get as much background
info on that Asuka girl as possible. For that matter, on Shinji and,
Rei was it, also. They're pilots so it might be a little beyond my
hacking abilities,"] Kyle answered.

["Sure thing, Kyle."] Melissa said, a little confused. ["Any
reason why?"]

["Just curious. Thanks Melissa."] Kyle looked over to where
Alister was still working, tracing mystic symbols on the wall and doing
other, magicie things. ["What's he doing by the way?"]

["Oh, he's working on a spell/ritual thing to make a magic gate
to the warehouse. Least, I think that's what he's doing..."] Melissa
said of handily.

["Oh... Cool. Thanks for the help."] With that, Kyle went to his
room to get some sleep.


Kyle and Ferris (again polymorphed to be a tall, black man) were
walking the streets of Tokyo-3. They had no true destination in mind:
Club Freak wasn't open yet, Shinji was still in school, and they had
not yet discovered malls. Their walking eventually led them to a
stretch of road on the far edge of the city. This particular stretch
of road was lined with several car dealerships. The two machine freak
mercs couldn't be happier. After walking through a Nissan and a Mazda
dealership, they came upon one that sold high quality imports. BMW's,
Mercedes-Benz's, Porsches, Renaults, and even some higher-end Fords and
Chevrolets. They were looking at a 2016 Mercedes sedan convertible
when a familiar voice spoke up behind them.

["Well, well, well. Didn't expect to see you two here."]

The two turned to see a young (twenty-something) and well-groomed
Japanese man standing behind them. Neither Kyle nor Ferris recognized
him, but there was something...

["My name is Tai, I'm a sales representative here, and what can I
do to see you in this fine piece of automotive engineering?"]

["No way! Tai? Tai from the Club."] Kyle said, stunned.

["One and the same! This is my façade, what you saw at the Club
was my morphus,"] Tai said with a wry grin.

["Of course, like Andrew. Damn, you didn't say you sold cars... or
did you?"] Ferris asked, slightly embarrassed.

["Nope, but that's what I do, and like I was saying, what can I
do to see YOU in this car?"] Tai said enthusiastically.

Kyle and Ferris looked at each other and grinned. ["Mind if we
take it for a test drive?"] Ferris asked.

["Let me get the keys."]


As the sport sedan screeched back into the parking lot, Tai knew
that he had a year taken off his life (no big deal, Nightbane being
nearly immortal and all), but he had also made a sale. He had never
seen a car do what Kyle had made this one do. Speed, turning,
acceleration, breaking, everything seemed to be pushed beyond their
limits with never a safety light going off, or a whine in the engine.
["So, can I get you started on the paperwork then?"] he asked almost
hesitantly.

["On one condition,"] Kyle said calmly.

["Name it,"] Tai said.

["Can I get it in turbo?"] Kyle said with a grin.

["I think we have one on the lot..."] Tai said, almost nervously.

["Kick ass. Do you take cash?"]

A few hours later, Ferris and Kyle pulled out of the car lot in a
snazzy new set of wheels. (Author's Note: I do not condone, nor
encourage reckless driving. Kyle is a trained fictional character on
the closed course of my mind. I also don't condone the purchasing of
imported cars (hell, give me a Camaro over a Benz any day!). 8^)
Thank you.)


["My godsss, I can't believe thiss..."] Hector was staring at the
Benz with wide eyes. Wide, excited eyes. ["This is without a doubt
the abssolutlley mossst wonderful machine I have ever ssseen! When do
I get to take it for a sspin?"] the overgrown snake asked excitedly.

["God. Hector, can you at least try to act your age? They just
blew how much cash on this little toy?"] Anika asked angrily. ["I
mean, can we really afford a car like this?"]

Kyle was pointedly ignoring Anika as he showed Hector the cars
finely-tuned engine, and described how they could make it even more
finely-tuned... Ferris sighed in exasperation and answered his friend.
["It cost us about twenty one thousand, nine hundred and forty-five
dollars, American."]

["Christ on a crutch. we could have bought two cars for that
much! Instead we have one that..."] Anika would have said more, but
Melissa put a hand on her shoulder.

["Anika, we can more than afford it. Besides, this is what the
two of them live for, remember? Besides, it is a nice car and it will
have a great resale value on our Earth. Besides, we have the cash,
might as well blow it on some fun stuff. I saw about eight more
accounts I can raid if we need the fundage. Let the boys have their
fun,"] Melissa said reassuringly.

Anika seemed to calm herself down after a minute before she
continued. ["I guess you're right. It is a nice car after all, and
they wouldn't buy one that wasn't high quality."] She sighed in
exasperation. ["Well, while you guys play with your new toy, I'll run
Shinji through some tactics lessons; he should be here any minute
now."]

["Thanks Anika! I owe you one,"] Ferris called back.

["Yeah, whatever."] With that, she stalked off towards the
mystic portal back to the apartments.

The others were still in the warehouse admiring the Benz when
Shinji showed up, so Anika was able to start his lessons in peace. She
was just getting into the high points of her lecture on ascertaining
weaknesses in enemy troops, monsters, and mechs (just like her father
had taught at the CS Academy for the Military Sciences), and when
Alister, Amber and Ferris got back she was so wrapped up in what she
was saying that she barely even registered their return. By the time
that the others came back, she was so far into lecture mode that she
didn't register them at all. Shinji wouldn't have noticed an Angel
siren going off. He could only wish that his combat instructors at
NERV were this good.


Wednesday passed almost entirely without incident. He had synch
test after school, he raised his ratio by almost eight percent, and was
only about twenty-some points behind Asuka. Upon hearing the results,
he got an almost grunt of approval from his father. After the synch
test, he headed over to the mercs place for some weight training with
Kyle and Ferris. He was showing a little bit of improvement here, but
the two older men warned him that building muscle mass was not a fast
process, and it would be quite a few more weeks before he saw any true
improvement. Thursday was more surprise psi training from Amber during
his math class (total recall was becoming more and more useful). After
school, Kyle took him to the park were they had made their deal all
those weeks ago for a sparring match. Kensuke, Touji, Hikari, and even
Asuka followed secretly to see what was going on. The site of Shinji
and Kyle sparring, as well as the section two agents gathering around
cheering on Shinji, was enough to give all of them pause. Even more
startling was that it looked like Shinji was holding his own against
his opponent, performing some absolutely unbelievable blocks. Even
though in the end Kyle won (much to the dismay of some section two
agents who were passing money to other, slightly happier agents), it
was still an impressive sight.

["Your forms are definitely improving, Shinji, as is your
integration and styling. However, you're still far too defensive. If
you don't learn to take an offensive stance now and again..."] Kyle let
that last comment hang in the air for a moment. ["Anyway, I'll give
you the rest of the day to recuperate. I'll be giving you a true test
tomorrow - I think that you're ready for it."]

["Really? But it's only been a few weeks..."] Shinji said
nervously.

["I know, but you already had the groundwork to build off of, and
your picking up on this stuff very quickly. Anyway, your friends are
here,"] Kyle nodded towards the bushes were the four had been watching
the fight. Shinji hadn't noticed them until Kyle pointed them out.
["So, go, have some fun. Two things: don't get drunk, and don't get
laid. Both will throw you off your test. Test is here, tomorrow, same
time as our match today. See ya then."]

As Kyle walked away, Kensuke, Touji, Hikari, and Asuka stepped
out of hiding. Shinji was blushing slightly as his friends walked
over. Touji and Kensuke had a look of stunned amazement on their
faces. Hikari was just amazed and Asuka was just stunned.

"My God Shinji, that was just so... so... cool!" Kensuke declared
loudly as the section two agents slipped out of sight. "So this is
what you've been doing huh? What style is that?"

"Yeah Shinji, looks like you're toughening up. Who'd have
thought that you were the same guy I punched a few months ago." Touji
said with a wry grin, giving his friend a hardy pat on the back. When
Touji said this, Asuka looked at the both of them and was about to say
something when Hikari butted in.

"That was very impressive Shinji. Is this some part of your
pilot training?" Hikari said.

"Well, not exactly. He's one of Melissa and Alister's roommates
and he offered to help me with my martial arts. While it'll probably
help with my piloting, it's not official or anything," Shinji said.

The others were voicing their agreement with Hikari's comment
when she looked down at her watch. "Oh my God, it's almost a quarter
to five. Sorry guys, but I've got to go. See you later Asuka. Bye
Touji, bye Kensuke, bye Shinji, good luck with the training." With
that, the girl turned and began walking quickly towards home.

"Yeah, I better get going too. My dad wants to talk to me about
the trip to Tokyo-2. Hey Ken, you want to come over too? I think my
dad wanted to talk to the both of us about some stuff before we leave
tomorrow morning anyway," Touji said as he turned to leave.

"I might as well. My dad's working the late shift tonight
anyway. See you later Shinji. Later Asuka," Kensuke said as he began
walking away next to Touji.

"Yeah, see you guys in school Monday. Cool moves Shinji, good
luck with the test tomorrow." With that, Touji and Kensuke walked off.
After they had left, Asuka turned to face Shinji.

"Who knew the stooge's English was so good?" Asuka said, plainly
impressed despite herself. ["Or yours for that matter. By the way,
since when did you start taking private martial arts lessons?"]

["Thanks, and not that long, just a few weeks now,"] Shinji
said, blushing slightly. ["Kyle's a really good teacher, I think I'm
learning a lot from him."] They walked in silence for some time, and
during almost all of it, Shinji was looking at Asuka out of the corner
of his eyes. His silent study was interrupted by its subject.

"So, Shinji," Asuka said, switching back to Japanese, "what did
Touji mean by that 'punched a few months ago' comment?"

Shinji suddenly began to intently study the ground. "Nothing, it
was nothing."

Asuka stopped and looked at him. "Misato's right, Shinji. When
you say nothing like that, you are screaming that it's something. So
come on, tell me, why would your fellow stooge hit you?"

"I really don't want to talk about it, Asuka, OK?" Shinji said
softly.

Asuka, for one of the first times in her life, got the hint and
decided it wasn't worth the effort. "Fine, fine. Sheesh, you don't
have to get so defensive about it..." Besides, Misato will probably tell
me if I ask her, Asuka decided. The rest of the walk home was spent in
silence.

The two of them barely beat Misato home, which was a good thing
because then Shinji could start dinner before their guardian decided to
be helpful. After a mostly quiet dinner Shinji excused himself and
went to take a bath before going to bed. As Asuka and Misato were
putting away the now clean dishes from the evening's meal, Asuka said,
"Misato, I have a question for you."

"Fire away," Misato said cheerily as she shelved some plates.

"Did Touji ever punch Shinji? The stooge mentioned he had, but
Shinji wouldn't say anything about it," Asuka asked as she was drying
some glasses.

"If Shinji doesn't want to talk about it, I don't know if I have
any right to tell, you Asuka," Misato replied, a serious tone entering
her voice.

"So Touji did then. I thought that he was joking for a minute.
Come on Misato, tell me. They get in a fight over how spineless he is
or something? Or maybe to see who was top stooge in the pack?" Asuka
said, growing tired of the evasions.

Misato sighed. "You're not going to give up on this, are you?"
Asuka shook her head. "Well, if you must know, it was about Touji's
sister, Mari."

"The one in the hospital right? Hikari talks about her sometimes
when she is going on about how Touji is this sensitive guy and stuff.
What does Mari have to do with anything?" Asuka said as she put some
glasses away.

With the dishes done, Misato had retrieved a beer from the fridge
and was sitting at the kitchen table. "Well, have you ever wondered
why Mari is in the hospital?" Asuka again shook her head as she sat
down across from Misato, a soda in hand. "Well, it was during the
battle with the Third Angel, Shinji had never piloted an Eva before,
but his father manipulated him into it. Shinji only won because Unit
01 went berserk. Anyway, the citizens weren't as versed in emergency
procedures then, there were some deaths from collapsing buildings and
such, most of which was caused by the Angel, but one building that Unit
01 trashed, well, parts of it landed on Mari. When Touji found out
that Shinji was the reason that his little sister would never walk
again, he decided to try and get back at Shinji, so he hit him.
Afterwards they were able to work things out and are now friends. Any
other traumatic secrets you'd like to know about your fellow pilots?"
Misato finished quietly.

Asuka sat quietly for a little while, letting this sink in.
"Did... anyone die?"

"In the battle or because of Unit 01... and Shinji?"

"You know which."

"Twelve people died when the building partially collapsed when
Unit 01 hit it. They couldn't get to a shelter in time. Mari was the
only survivor. And yes, Shinji knows. His father made sure of that."

"Oh... I was always told that there had been no casualties."
Asuka said, very softly.

"NERV PR did a very good job with that. Now, I have some reports
to work on, and you have some homework." As Asuka got up, Misato
asked, "So, how many people are going to be coming over on Saturday?"

"Five, is that ok?" Asuka replied evenly, regaining some of her
composure.

"Sure, no problem. I hoped you thanked Shinji." Misato then
pulled some papers out of her briefcase and began to read through them.

"Yeah, sure..." With that, Asuka walked to her room to study and
think.


Friday was another long, boring day of school. Shinji was more
than a little on edge about the test after school that day, and it was
all he could do to even meditate a little during lunch to TRY and calm
down, even a little. After school, he walked towards the park
accompanied by Asuka, Hikari having school-related duties that she
couldn't get out of being the class representative. The two again
walked in silence. However, this time it was Asuka stealing little
peeks at the gi-clothed, slightly nervous boy walking next to her.
Asuka was beginning to question just who the Third Child was.

When they arrived at the clearing, they found Rei sitting in the
shade of a tree, calmly reading. The other two pilots were more than a
little bit surprised to see her there. "Hi Rei. What are you doing
here?" Shinji asked.

"I am here to observe your test, pilot Ikari. Is that all
right?" Rei asked in her quiet monotone.

"Sure, I don't see why not. As long as Kyle doesn't mind, I
guess I don't either." Shinji said.

Rei nodded and went back to her book. A few minutes later Kyle,
Ferris (polymorphed of course), and Amber (her ears covered by a
headband) entered the clearing. They looked at the two girls curiously
but voiced no objection. Kyle let his trench coat drop to the ground.
Underneath it he wore a gi of his own. He took off his mirror shades,
quickly put on a pair of tinted goggles, slipped out of the loose-
fitting shirt and took off his boots, giving the other two pilots (and
section two for that matter) a good look at his bionic arm. In only
the gi pants, he stepped into the center of the clearing. Ferris
motioned for Shinji to step forward. He did so, stopping about ten
feet from his Sensei. Ferris stood between them and announced the
rules.

["This is a best of seven point bout. No pads, open style, open
abilities. This is not to the death. The only weapons you have are
your bodies and your minds. This is a test of heart as much as skill,
as it should be, as Headhunters should always test. It ends when the
seventh point is scored. Begin."] With that, Ferris stepped to the
side and sat beside Amber. Rei stood up at this point and walked over
to stand beside Asuka.

The two combatants began to circle each other. Shinji knew ahead
of time that psionic abilities were more then allowed, so he began to
channel his somewhat limited psi powers in to summon inner strength,
and resist fatigue. He barley had time to do this before Kyle
attacked. With blinding speed Kyle lunged forward with a back fist
that Shinji only narrowly ducked to avoid, followed by an elbow drop
that he did not avoid. As he dropped to the ground he quickly rolled
out of the way to avoid the downward stomp of Kyle's bare foot. Shinji
sprang to his feet and immediately was onset again by a series of snap
kicks that he smoothly blocked taking the time to spin in and almost
land a blow on Kyle, who only blocked at the last minute.

Rei and Asuka were watching quietly on the side. After a few
minutes, Rei whispered to Asuka, "He is fast."

"Who, the other guy, Kyle?" Asuka answered in a whisper of her
own.

"Yes, he is, but so is Shinji," Rei replied.

Asuka watched Shinji for a minute before she realized what the
other girl meant. "Yeah, it does look like he's blocking and dodging
the punches before the other guy even throws them."

Shinji was in fact using his sixth sense to anticipate the others
blows, but sometimes he wasn't fast enough. Kyle had already scored
two more solid hits, while he had only gotten the one. He could almost
see the disappointment in Kyle's eyes. Not disappointment at Shinji
losing, disappointment because Shinji wasn't truly pushing himself. No
one was more surprised when Shinji suddenly sprang forward into an
offensive stance then Shinji himself. He began to try and push
attack as much as he could; he spent less time dodging and more time
attacking. He caught Kyle so off guard that he was even able to
score a solid hit on him. After a few minutes of this, Shinji realized
that he still couldn't win, eventually he would tire and Kyle would
capitalize on it and score the last hit he needed to win. That's when
he realized that his inner power, the fuel for his psionic abilities
was quickly running out. Shinji reached down into himself as deep as
he could, looking for another few drops of strength, anything to help
him. Then he found it. As Kyle came in with a hammer kick that would
probably be the nail in the coffin, Shinji did something that caught
the merc completely by surprise. Shinji simply caught his foot at the
ankle and threw him. As Kyle hit the ground, and rolled, he suddenly
found Shinji racing towards him, his foot striking down where his
Kyle's head had been a moment before. ["The hell..."] Kyle mumbled as
he sprang to his feet, only to meet Shinji fist rabbit punching him in
the kidneys. Kyle rolled away from the blow and began to take a
defensive stance against Shinji.

Rei studied Shinji carefully as he reversed the tide of the fight
in his favor with a viciousness that stunned her despite herself.
Asuka didn't know what to think as she saw this new, viscous Shinji
attack his opponent without mercy or quarter. "It looks kinda like the
footage I saw of when Unit 01 went berserker against the third angel..."
She whispered to Rei, briefly forgetting that she and Rei didn't have
conversations like this.

"Yes, it does," Rei said in reply.

Somehow, Shinji had gotten fast. Really, really fast. Faster
then most ordinary humans. Kyle gritted his teeth and pulled out all
the stops. He sprang forward into a fast and furious series of kicks
and punches accompanied by blocks and lightning fast dodges. Shinji
countered and blocked blow after blow, putting in his own kicks and
punches for good measure, a viscous snarl rumbling in his chest. Kyle
suddenly fainted a hammer fist and dropped into a sweeping kick that
caught Shinji off guard, knocking him to the ground. With speed
that was purely inhuman, Kyle suddenly was on top of Shinji, the mercs
legs pining the young Eva pilots' arms. With a palm strike to the
chest, Kyle ended the fight. Shinji snarled in rage and attempted to
catch Kyle's neck with his feet, but Kyle reached back and caught
Shinji's feet as he tried. ["The fight's over kid. Calm down. SNAP
OUT OF IT!"] Shinji seemed to stop for a second then shuddered and
went limp. Kyle stood up unsteadily and offered his hand down to the
boy.

["What... what was that?"] Shinji asked, a hint of fear in his
voice. ["I could have hurt you."]

["Why do you think we do this without pads? 'It's not a real
test with the safeties on' my dad used to say. As for what that was,
I'd say that was fighting with ALL you heart."] Shinji took the merc's
hand, and Kyle gently pulled him to his feet. ["I might have scored
four hits, but you passed. Welcome brother."] With that, Shinji was
wrapped up in a bear hug first by Kyle, and then by Ferris, who was
letting out a victory whoop.

["Way to go pup!"] Ferris declared as he let Shinji go. ["I
knew you could pull it off!"]

There was a scattering of applause from the members of Beta,
Charlie, and Sigma team who had all gathered around to watch the fight,
and more then one was calling out "Way to go Shinji!"

Asuka was truly impressed. She had never seen Shinji display so
much backbone outside of his Eva; hell, the times he showed this much
spine IN his Eva was rare enough. "I'm impressed Shinji, that was
incredible. Maybe you do have some guts hidden in there somewhere."

"Thanks Asuka," Shinji said with a slight blush. He then turned
to face the section two agents. "Thanks a lot, everyone." He then
turned and bowed respectfully to Kyle, ["Thank you. But I don't
deserve this praise. I... I... I lost control. I could have hurt someone,
or forced you to hurt me,"] Shinji said, shame plain in his voice.

["Nonsense,"] Amber said gently. ["If you were truly out of
control then Kyle wouldn't have been able to calm you down."]

["What it sounds like is a bad case of combat high. It gets more
manageable with experience."] Ferris said. ["Now, you deserve some
real time off. Normally we would be celebrating tonight, but since
you're going to be coming over tomorrow night, we'll just do it then."]
Ferris continued, ending with a sly wink.

"An excellent match, Shinji. This has made quite a bit clear. I
am expected at headquarters. Goodbye." Rei said simply, then turned
and walked unhurriedly away.

"I wonder what she meant by that?" Shinji mumbled to himself as
he waved goodbye. He didn't have a chance to think much more about it
as various section two agents came forward to give him a pat on the
back and such.

In the midst of all the congratulations, no one noticed a lone
shadow break away from the rest and slip away.


The next morning dawned bright and early, as did all other
mornings for Shinji, and started with a run. Anika and Melissa
congratulated him on winning and asked if he knew what the guys had
planned for him that night. Shinji didn't and told them as much.
Melissa seemed disappointed, in a weird, competitive sort of way, and
Anika just seemed bemused. After his run, Shinji got home to find
Asuka already up and busily cleaning for her guests, a job that Shinji
found himself conscripted into before he knew what happened. The rest
of the morning passed quickly and they were done by lunchtime.

Misato was lounging at the kitchen table when her two wards
entered and made themselves lunch. "So, Shinji. I heard you had some
sort of big important sparring match yesterday. How did you do?" she
asked.

Shinji sat down with a sandwich in front of him. "Well, I didn't
win, but I passed the test, so I guess I did good," he replied
cheerfully.

"Good job Shinji!" Misato said as she leaned across the table
and ruffled Shinji's hair, also giving him a good view of her cleavage.
"So, it's ok with Melissa and her roommates for you to go over tonight
right?"

"Yeah, they said that the guys had something special planed for
me as a reward for passing the test." Shinji said, slightly nervously.

"Well, don't do anything I wouldn't." Misato said. She then
paused for a second to consider what she had just said. "Or that I
would do for that matter... Aw hell, just be good!" Misato finally
decided.

"Like Shinji would do something the least bit exciting in the
first place," Asuka said teasingly.

"As for you, Asuka, I have to work tonight, so I want you and
your guests to behave. I'm going to have Maya stop by and check up on
things when she gets off duty, and section two is going to call me if
things get too rowdy. OK? OK." Misato informed Asuka.

"OK, Misato, we'll be good." Asuka promised solemnly, never
meaning for a minute to keep it.

"I'm sure you will," Misato answered, vowing to up security for
the night.


The rest of the afternoon passed in relative peace and quiet,
Shinji waiting for the mercs to pick him up, as Melissa said they
would, and Asuka waiting for her guests. Asuka's guests arrived first,
being dropped of by Hikari's dad en masse. After talking to Misato for
a few minutes, and assuring himself that they were in good hands for
the night, he drove off. As the girls were heaping their things into
the elevator, Shinji's ride showed up.

With a screech of strained rubber and metal a car roared over a
rise. The sound of Guns n' Roses' "Paradise City" was blaring over the
vehicles sound system. The car roared towards the apartment building
when, with a sharp turn and a neat ninety-degree turn, pulled into the
parallel parking space directly in front of Shinji. Shinji eaped as
the car stopped no more then a foot away from him.

Kyle was looking at him from the drivers seat, Alister was in
shotgun, looking a tad green about the gills, Ferris (you guessed it,
polymorphed) was sitting in the back seat.

["Hop in kid, time to get this show on the road!"] Kyle said
merrily.

"All right Shinji, have a good time and remember two things.
First off, beer before liquor, you never been sicker; liquor before
beer and you're in the clear! Secondly," this part Misato leaned over
and whispered into Shinji's ear, "No glove, no love..." She then smiled
and walked over to her car. "Have fun!!!" Misato called, as she got
into her own car, content that he was in good hands (after all, anyone
who could drive a car like that definitely earned her respect). She
then screeched out of the parking lot and headed to work.

Shinji sighed, and threw his overnight bag into the car. This
was going to be an interesting night. As Shinji got in, the Mercedes
pulled fluidly out of the parking space and roared into the night.

"So, Ferris, where are we going?" Shinji asked, looking at how
all three mercs seemed to be dressed for clubbing.

"Well, first off we're going to get you some new threads, then
the fun starts..." the Wolfen replied with a grin.

"That's what I was afraid of," Shinji said.


After a stop at the Tokyo-3 mall complex, Shinji walked out in a
set of loose fitting, but dressy, jeans, a plain shirt that was a sort
of burnt amber in color, and an oversized short sleeved silk shirt,
deep blue with silver dragon designs on the front and back (Ferris had
some odd fashion sense, but it was the best of the bunch...), they went
to the first REAL stop on their rounds.

["You can't be serious... can you?"] Shinji asked hesitantly.

["Sure we are. Since we can't get you your first metal (Author's
note: metal in this case means a cybernetic/bionic implant) on this
world, we'll get you the next best thing, your first ink job!"] Kyle
said, a grin lighting up his face. ["Don't worry, this place is
perfectly safe, the only reason that we convinced them to do this was
that I'm your legal guardian. And if you're nervous, we even passed it
with Misato. Fuck, she seemed amused as all hell by it and said that
she ought to show you hers some time. So it's all on the up and up."]

["I don't know... I mean, I heard it hurts and I don't..."] Shinji
stammered, wondering if he really wanted to go through with this.

["It best to just go along with them. If you don't see something
that suits your fancy, we'll drop the whole thing, but Kyle and Ferris
really want to modify you in some way, some weird headhunter thing. So
at least humor them. Lord knows I did."] With that he rolled up his
sleeve showing Shinji the stylized ying-yang that he had gotten years
ago. ["I've actually gotten rather used to it now..."] he said with a
chuckle.

["Well... OK. What the hell."] Shinji then let himself be walked
into the tattoo parlor. Three hours later the sun had set and Shinji
walked out with a tribal tattoo coiling around his upper right arm.
["Well, what next?"] He asked as he gingerly touched the tattoo.
["You going to try and get me an earring?"]

["Naw, would make you look to femmy... 'less you really want one,
that is,"] Kyle added hastily.

["No, this is more then enough..."] Shinji replied.

["Good, then the next stop is a club we found earlier this week.
Now this is important. We are taking you into our trust on this.
After we have brought you there, you are not to reveal its location to
Anika, Melissa, our Amber. Got it pup?"] Ferris asked gravely.

["Ahh, sure, no problem..."] Shinji asked, more then a little
confused.

["Excellent! We're off then. To the Benz!"] Kyle called with
gusto aplenty.

Club Freak was an utterly and completely new experience for the
young Eva pilot. If he had not known Ferris and Hector for so long, he
probably wouldn't have lasted long before he passed out. As it was he
was almost overwhelmed by the sensory input from the myriad of strange
and alien creatures that filled the club to the rafters. It also
helped that when word got around about who he was and what he did, he
was accepted without qualms as a freak same as the rest. It was,
without a doubt, one of the best nights of his life and Shinji was
loving every minute of it. As the slight amount of alcohol he consumed
began to catch up with his slight frame, he began to dance merrily with
even the most unusual of female banes. The throbbing techno music
(courtesy of a live Nightbane DJ), the booze and the dancing absorbed
him, and for the first time in a long time, he completely forgot about
his troubles. He wasn't so far gone that he didn't notice that he was
dancing with the same girl for the third time tonight, nor that the way
in which she WAS dancing with him. His nose almost bled, but not
quite...

"So, having a good time?" She asked over the music.

"Well... yes, I am. This place is great!" Shinji responded with a
smile. "So... ahh... do you come here often?" He said, trying
desperately to make small talk.

"Sure do, most every Friday and Saturday night. You?" She said
with a wry grin.

"Well, no actually. Is it like this every night?" He said as
she suddenly spun and was dancing close with her back facing him. Her
tail was rubbing up and down his leg. Shinji almost passed out at this
point, but the alcohol in his system seemed to be helping to prevent
this.

"Not every night," she said over her shoulder. "On Friday it's
swing music, and the rest of the week is jazz and rock. I sometimes
show up on weeknights if I have the time, but ya know, school and
stuff..." She continued as she again spun and faced him. "By the way,
you can call me Katrina, or just Cat, for short."

"Oh, my names Shinji," he replied, slightly embarrassed.

"Nice to meet you," Cat said with a sly grin.


["So, how many has our young friend tied on so far?"] Alister
asked his friends as he joined them at their table. They watched
Shinji and the same cute, little cat-bane dance for the third or forth
time that night.

["Well, he had about a quarter of that fuzzy navel you had, some
of that piña colada that Andrew was sipping at, and then about a beer
and a half in the last two hours. He should be slightly buzzed, but
not too far gone,"] Kyle said simply, taking a sip of his whiskey.

["He looks like he's having a good time at least. He also looks
a little too far gone, even considering his size..."] Ferris said with a
pointed look at Shinji's Coke.

["I didn't put that much in... only a little splash of Captain's."]
Alister admitted sheepishly. The other two laughed, and Kyle reached
over and polished the Captain Coke off and ordered another Coke for
Shinji, this one without a kick.

["He does at that, he does at that. So, anyone know who Cat-girl
is?"] Kyle asked as he polished off another shot glass of whisky.

["Andrew knows her, apparently she goes to the same school as Shinji
does. Only a few years older too,"] Ferris answered, grinning from ear
to ear.

["Really, isn't she a little too wet behind the ears to let in
then?"] Kyle asked.

["Well technically, yes, however, she's a Nightbane, that makes
her welcome unless she does something to wear it out,"] Alister said.

["Makes sense I guess, kinda like Juicer bars,"] Kyle said.

["Precisely."] Alister then looked down at his watch. ["Half
after one already. So, how long are we going to stay? I don't know
about you two, but I am more then a little weary..."] Alister said, his
comment accentuated by a yawn. This lead to a rather lively debate
about why he was so tired and just why he would want to get home so
early.


Shinji woke up the next morning to a vaguely unfamiliar ceiling
with a splitting headache, a slightly sore arm, and a phone number in
his pants pocket. He also had some wonderful memories of dancing and
drinking. He only wished he could remember those last few hours. "Oh
well..." he mumbled. "I wonder where they keep the aspirin?" Even with
the hangover, Shinji felt good. For once, everything was starting to
look really hopeful in his life. For once, things were starting to
look up. But then, a dread feeling passed over him, and he wondered
just how long it could last.


"Yes. No, that won't be necessary, as long as the Third was not
damaged. No, there will be no formal report. Yes, continue to observe
them. That is all." With that Gendo Ikari put down the telephone
receiver, as did Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki.

"Curiouser and curiouser..." the sub-commander mumbled.

"Indeed. We must keep this from the Committee for a little
longer at least. They could easily swing the pendulum either way, and
we are walking on the edge as it is." With that, Gendo stippled his
finger and sat in quite contemplation.

"I wonder what Yui would think or her son getting a tattoo?"
Fuyutsuki commented dryly. Commander Ikari made no answer.


...to be continued

Author notes:
Another chapter done, many more to go. The next one won't be
nearly as long page wise, and I hope to get it out in about a month or
so. Despite the fact that Shinji used a new Psionic power, I'm not
going to detail it just yet, I still have more to do with it story
wise. 8^) Also, the metamorphosis spell used on Ferris is also a
little bit unique, and I'll be detailing that in a future GM's corner
as well (or maybe on my web page if I ever get that built... so much to
do, so little time!) I would like to thank everyone for the positive
feedback I've been getting so far, and I hope I won't get flamed to
badly for the introduction of Cat (if it's any consolation, know two
things: I already have the last chapter almost entirely written and
Cat was a last minute add on just to provide some depth to the Club
Freak experience. She might appear further along in the story, and she
might or might not have a major role in Shinji's life, I just haven't
decided yet...). If you need to get in touch with me, my email is:
Isamu@nerv-hq.zzn.com and isamu@evangelion.com. My ICQ is 20130664.
My email is a sure bet, and I will almost always reply if you send me
an email! Finally, I would again like to thank my wonderful prereaders:
Sarevock
Nevyn
Allan Slaughter
Jess
Vash0006
Qut Killjoy (thanx Evan!!)
And finally, my editor, Annie the Laughing Kookaburra (thank God spell
check knew that word!!!)

Rough Draft v1.0: 05-25-01
Rough Draft v1.1: 06-01-01
Rough Draft v1.2: 06-03-01
Final Draft v2.0: 06-04-01

Now, as promised, an Omake!!

Shinji was finally getting more into the dancing (the liquid
courage was helping a lot...) when something he saw something out of the
corner of his eye that shocked him. He suddenly stopped dancing and
spun around to confirm his suspicions.

"What is it?" Cat asked.

"I thought I saw... never mind, must be the booze and the
environment. Sorry..." Shinji said as he turned and continued to dance.
"Must be the booze, no way would HE be here..."

The next day at home Shinji walked into an utterly trashed living
room, where Asuka and five of her female friends were fast asleep. He
walked into the kitchen to find Pen-Pen sipping at some coffee.

Shinji looked at the bird carefully, and then shook his head.
"No way..." he mumbled to himself as he fixed something for Pen-Pen and
himself to eat.

As Shinji involved himself in his cooking, Kaji breathed a sigh
of relief. "God I hate my morphus..." The penguin-bane thought to
himself.


I hope you liked it, I barely worked at all on it, but I thought it was
funny. After all, when do you ever see the two of them together?
Coincidence, I think not!!