Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Guest Performance ❯ The Human Convention ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: I'm not Gainax. Eva is not mine. Thank you for your attention.

Author's notes: This story is a light crossover between the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion and a certain sci fi movie comedy. I call this a 'light' crossover because the only important connection between this movie and my story is that they share the same main idea. No knowledge about the movie is needed to understand the story. There are only two specific plot elements I stole from the movie, both in the first chapter. The first one is the fact that the very first scene is not what it seems but ... you'll find it out. The second one is that the main part of the chapter is placed in the middle of a ... you'll find it out. Which movie is Puddle talking about the whole time? You'll find it out.

Only the full moon and a strange red ribbon intersecting it illuminated the deserted coast and the gigantic white creatures hanging crucified in the red ocean. The moonlight made a solitary human figure cast a shadow onto a wooden, makeshift tombstone. The post was only the first in a long row. The shadow slid from post to post as the figure walked along, observing the names that were carved into them.

The first one carried the name Toji Suzuhara.

The next one, Kensuke Aida.

Then Hikari Horaki.

Here, the shadow stopped for a few seconds before continuing its movement.

Ritsuko Akagi.

Misato Katsuragi.

A cross shaped pendant was nailed to this one.

Rei Ayanami.

Asuka Langley Soryu.

The shadow stopped again. A slender leg, clothed in red plastic, kicked down the slat.

"Dummkopf."

And then, everything went black.

Within a large hall, a girl with a blue wig on her head was standing on a stage. The large screen behind her that had just displayed the apocalyptic scene was now black. A tight, white plastic suit emphasized the girl's rather corpulent figure. Below her, a crowd of a few hundred people, mostly wearing similarly eccentric clothes, cheered and whistled as the presenter prepared to speak.

"Yeah! Please applaud to thank Gainax for providing us with this famous little scene that didn't make it into the final movie of the original Eva tetralogy!" the girl demanded.

The cheers and whistles became even louder.

"Why ..." The girl interrupted herself to raise her hands to calm down the audience. "Why do we love Eva?" she asked rhetorically.

"Because of Ayanami's boobs!" a young man in a tracksuit shouted and high-fived a friend in a beige uniform. The whistling started again.

The presenter gave the man a glare of death, absolutely misplaced for the character she tried to impersonate. This was her hour. She had worked for so long in the Really, Really Official (And We Mean It) Ayanami Fanclub to get this chance. And certainly too long to allow some nerd to louse up her scene. As long as the VIPs weren't on stage - and she would take care that it would stay that way for another while - this was her convention. Finally, she would be able to explain to the ignorant masses what Eva was really about. She cleared her throat. "Ahem. What makes Evangelion special? Its main characters aren't some two-dimensional flawless super-human beings. They are emotionally unstable children forced to fight a war ..."

Backstage, two women in their mid-twenties were listening to the host's sermon.

"Blah blah blah blah... that'll take a while," one of them, a European girl with long red hair muttered, "Do you want another beer?"

Her blue-haired Asian companion was worried. Her friend had been in a foul mood for the whole day, ever since they had met at the train station. This was becoming typical of her on Eva conventions and was getting worse year by year. But today she seemed to be even more down than one should have expected. There was undoubtedly another factor at work here, the 'Sadao Inoguchi' factor in all probability, but she couldn't be sure. "That is already your third, Anja," she replied accusingly, hoping to provoke more than a monosyllabic answer.

"So what? Three beers don't make you drunk. And even then, I could still play my part," the girl called Anja sighed. "It's my only role after all."

The young women were sitting next to each other in a small, windowless room on old and ragged but comfortable looking armchairs, resting their legs on a low table in front of them. The beer Anja was talking about sat in a crate below.

"That's not true, Anja. There were other films."

Anja put her feet on the ground to grab a new bottle. After assuming her previous position and opening the bottle she took a sip. "You are so right, Rinako," she said sarcastically. "I played the bitch in some crappy sci fi video releases." She fumbled in a handbag that was lying next to her chair until she found a cigarette packet. "Want one?"

Her friend took one. "I thought you quit."

"Yeah, but then I started putting on weight. No good. Damned plugsuits." She pulled at the tight red dress she was wearing.

The blue-haired woman grinned and finally took a beer for herself. She raised it towards Anja in a toast. "To the damned plugsuits. Cheers."

Both women drank, lit their cigarettes, and smoked in silence for a minute.

"Rumor has it they're planning a HERZ movie," Rinako broke the silence.

Anja stared at her feet on the table. "They won't."

Her friend stubbed out her cigarette. "How do you know?"

"Because the last two films were a loss. There are enough stalkers to give us a hard time, enough fanboys to fill the hall out there, but not enough movie goers anymore to fill the cinemas. Their last try ..." Anja grimaced. "Well, I'll show you the script."

"Huh? What script?" The blue-haired actress looked at her friend, confused.

The redhead opened her handbag again. She took out the folded script. "Here, read it."

Her friend took the script and began to read. "Shinji, Asuka, Shinji. Where am I?" she mumbled and skipped a few pages. She blinked and turned a few pages back, then forth. "That's ... pretty hard core stuff."

"It's disgusting," was Anja's only comment.

Rinako read on. "Oh ... wow." She blushed.

The redhead extended her critique a bit further. "It's fucking disgusting."

Rinako giggled. "Fucking ... yes. Does your stupid lover already know about it?"

"EX-lover," the other actress insisted. "Our agent had enough decency to ask me before asking you, and will ask Sadao only after we say yes."

So the problem was Sadao and this script Rinako concluded. She assumed an emotionless face perfected in years of practice. Only a hint of mischief glimmered in her eyes. "And? Shall we do it?"

Anja narrowed her eyes. "I don't see the humor here."

Rinako laughed and put the script on the table. "Come on! I'm just trying to brighten you up. Just throw that script into the dustbin and get over it."

Her friend stared at the ceiling. "That's nice, but futile." She was silent for a moment. "It's not the script. It's what it stands for. Eva is past. All they come up with now is porn. Our career is over ... at age twenty-seven. Well, looking back, my career was already over at age fourteen."

Rinako sighed. "You take everything too seriously. That was always your problem."

"You mean I should become more like Sadao," her friend concluded.

"No need to go to extremes," Rinako countered. "Anyway, since you don't like Eva anymore ..."

"Hey Paleface!" a male voice interrupted her. "It seems like you're making my girlfriend depressed."

The women's heads turned to the door. A young man of their age was leaning against the door frame, his arms crossed, a bag over his shoulder. He was dressed in a similar suit like Anja and Rinako. The newcomer looked like an average handsome Japanese man except for the dark blue color of his eyes, caused by contact lenses. He smiled at Anja. "Hi Schatz."

"She is not making your EX-girlfriend depressed," Anja snapped.

Sadao went over to the table. "EX-girlfriend, yeah yeah. I hope my EX-girlfriend and my EX-girlfriend's best friend are doing well today." He grinned and made a little dance step at each "EX".

Putting down his bag he took a seat in an armchair opposite of his two female colleagues. "Something new?" he asked, curiously eyeing the script on the table.

He took it. "What's it about, this ..." Sadao read the title. "... Trinity?" He stared enquiring at the two actresses.

The two women quickly exchanged a terrified glance before looking at him. "None of your business," both shouted in unison. Anja grabbed the script out of Sadao's hands and stuffed it back into her bag.

Sadao crossed his arms. "Okay," he replied pouting before grinning again. "I have new stuff. You must see this!"

He took a number of small black rectangular blocks out of his bag and began to arrange them carefully into a circle.

Rinako sighed. "The little child is playing with building bricks."

"No, no." Sadao waved his pointer finger in front of Rinako's eyes. "These aren't building bricks." He pushed one of them into Rinako's face. "Read!"

Text was printed on one side. "SEELE 07 - Sound only," Rinako read obediently. "And?" She wasn't impressed.

"These are action figures."

"You ... you call a block of plastic an action figure?" Rinako stuttered.

"Sure. The newest additions to the set. The fans will love it. How can you play Eva without the Sere council? 990 Yen each, all twelve for ..."

"For the umpteenth time: It's pronounced Seele," Anja mumbled. No one was paying attention to her.

"You take 1000 Yen for a block of black plastic?" Rinako asked indignantly.

"Okay, I get the picture. You don't like them." Sadao put the twelve conspirators back into his bag and took out another item. It was a figurine of about 30 cm in height, resembling a younger Rinako. "What about that? Look: When I press the button on her back ..."

"I am not a doll," rattled the doll.

Sadao beamed at Rinako. "Isn't she cute?"

"Irresistible," Rinako deadpanned.

If Sadao detected any sarcasm in her voice, he pretended that he hadn't. "See, I knew you'd love her."

"You surely have an Asuka version as well, right?" Anja asked, not even trying to sound as if she cared.

"Of course!" Sadao replied cheerfully. "But I left her outside. I thought bringing an Asuka doll with me would be kind of ... cruel." He winked at her.

Anja rolled her eyes and turned to Rinako. "What were we talking about?"

"You were whining about your life."

"I wasn't whining! I was just trying to point out some facts!"

Sadao still toyed around with his doll. "This world is overflowing with sorrow," it said at the moment.

"Okay. You're fed up with Eva," Rinako stated. "Then do something else."

"I can't do anything else than acting. I don't want to do anything else than acting. Being an actor was my dream since I was eight years old. But they won't let me play the real roles. What else should I do?" Anja shouted.

"Do you want to become one with me?" said the doll.

"Eva will soon be forgotten. You'll get other roles," Rinako declared with conviction.

Anja found it increasingly difficult to concentrate on her argument with Rinako, thanks to the little doll's side remarks. "Are we both talking about Neon Genesis Evangelion here?" she asked rhetorically. "The tetralogy that made Beethoven popular in gay discos all around the world? That made the name Shinji the most favorite boys' name in the U.S., France, and Russia for four consecutive years? That Eva?"

"Is this a tear? Am I crying?" the doll added.

Rinako faced Sadao, anger in her eyes. "Two adults are having a conversation here. About your girlfriend's problems." ("EX!" Anja intervened.) "Could you please stop playing with your toy before I thrash it?"

Sadao pressed the button on the figurine's back once more. "Even if I die, I can be replaced."

Rinako jumped to her feet. "That is good for you." She quickly took the toy out of Sadao's hands and dropped it to the floor. With a crushing sound, the doll's existence ended under her right foot.

Sadao smiled. "You owe me 14,900 Yen."

Anja began to giggle. Her two colleagues stared at her. Rinako looked confused, while Sadao had a faint smile on his lips. Anja stopped and put her hand in front of her mouth. "Sorry," she mumbled.

Rinako stood up. "Hmpf. I think I'll go before I hurt somebody. And I'll have to find my contact lenses. I'm sorry, Anja. We'll talk about this later." She went to the door. Before leaving the room she stopped and looked once again at Anja. "Believe me. If you really want it, then one day you'll get all the roles you wish."

Sadao also stood up and turned towards the door. "Poor girl. I think she's desperately in need of some serious ..." He spreaded his arms a little bit and began to rock his hips back and forth.

"Sa-da-o. Don't," Anja pleaded. If it wasn't for her, her boyfriend - ex-boyfriend, she corrected herself mentally - would make himself look like a fool everywhere and always.

Without stopping the rhythmic motion the young man turned his head back, grinning. "What? Don't you think your EX-boyfriend should put the moves on her?"

"Oh, shut up."

When he turned his head back, he became aware of an older man in a strange uniform just about to enter the room. Both of them stared at each other for a moment before Sadao noticed that he was still thrusting his pelvis in and out. He stopped.

The old man smiled. "I love you too, Sadao. Just not that way."

"Gonkuro! Finally!" Anja jumped to her feet and embraced the newcomer.

"Hello, little one," he replied teasingly.

Anja broke the embrace and scowled. "Hey. Your little one grew up quite some time ago."

"Yes, of course you have. How are you and your boyfriend doing?"

"EX-boyfriend. EX! EX!" Anja almost shouted. Sadao, standing behind her, mimicked her silently.

Gonkuro grinned. "That's the ... sixth time now that you've broken up with him?"

"I'm serious this time!"

The older man ruffled Sadao's hair. "You should eventually start growing up, young man. Some day she'll really mean it."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm ..."

A young woman entered the room. Anja recognized her, she was the president of the Japanese Sadao Inoguchi fanclub.

"Sadao? Anja? Gonkuro? Three minutes!"

"We're coming."

The three actors left the room and entered a dimly lit corridor, standing now almost directly behind a curtain that separated them from the stage. Rinako was already there, her eyes now blood red. She nodded welcomingly at Gonkuro.

Sadao left for his dressing room to get rid of the bag with his toys. Anja checked her appearance for one last time in a small mirror on the wall. She then looked at Gonkuro. Something was wrong with him. Then she saw it.

"Gonkuro?" she whispered.

"Yes?"

Anja pointed at his left trouser pocket. He looked down. A pair of white gloves was stuffed into it. He took them and put them on. Then he stared at her. "Is everything in order now, Pilot Soryu?"

"You look like a cold-hearted bastard, Commander."

"Your opinion has been noted, Pilot Soryu."

After suffering through the long and boring lecture of the host, the audience became more and more excited again as the first highlight of the 12th Japanese Eva convention was approaching: the entrance of the stars.

The blue-haired presenter began announcing them with a hysterical voice. "Our first guest for today is none other than the famous commander of NERV. Please welcome Gonkuro Itagaki, better known as Gendo Ikari!"

The warmhearted, friendly Gonkuro Itagaki from a few minutes ago had vanished. The man who entered the stage stared coldly at the booing fans. After a few seconds he turned towards the host. "I have no further use for you at the moment."

The girl shrugged at the audience and left the stage, smiling wanly. She'd had her fifteen minutes of fame.

Gonkuro went to a large desk on the left side of the stage and sat down behind it. He folded his hands in front of his face, just above his mouth. The actor waited motionless until the booing stopped. "Your disapproval is irrelevant," he declared, provoking new sounds of rejection.

After waiting a few more seconds he finally began with the announcement of his fellow actors. "I brought some of my subordinates with me that might prove to be useful in this situation. The first one is my descendant Shinji Ikari, the Third Child and pilot of Eva Unit 01, Sadao Inoguchi."

Sadao's transformation was as radical as Gonkuro's. He hesitantly entered the stage, and placed himself behind one of three microphones, a mixture of sadness and fear in his eyes. He was apparently feeling uneasy facing such a large crowd of people. "I ... well ... hello," he stuttered, trying to avoid looking directly at the audience.

There was laughter and applause.

"The next guest is also an Eva pilot," Gonkuro continued. "She has, for reasons incomprehensible to me, apparent feelings for my son." Sadao blushed. Whistles came from the audience. "Please welcome Anja Siebert, also known as Asuka Langley Soryu, the Second Child."

Anja jumped onto the stage and pushed Sadao aside. "Hi fans!" she yelled making a victory sign.

Most of the audience was cheering by now but there were also a few catcalls. "BIIIITCH!" somebody yelled from behind.

In one fluid motion Anja dropped one of the two erected fingers and turned her hand around. "Fick dich, du Arsch!"

The jubilation from the more submissive part of the crowd became even louder.

"Ms. Soryu is said to be the most beautiful woman in Tokyo-3," the 'Commander' explained. Anja nodded with a content expression on her face.

"A statement that can easily be disproved," Gonkuro added, disdainfully.

The redhead gritted her teeth. Gonkuro looked at her. "Is something the matter, Pilot Soryu?"

More laughter from below the stage. "LIES!" somebody screamed.

Inwardly, Anja felt a mixture of fascination and fear as always when she played her part. The fans didn't want Anja Siebert, they wanted Asuka Langley Soryu; so she gave them Asuka Langley Soryu.

For years there had been no need to fix some text before the entrance. She, Gonkuro, and Sadao were just improvising. After the Eva tetralogy, the following side and continuation stories, and countless conventions like this one Asuka had almost become a second personality. Once activated she seemed to live her own life, out of Anja's control. She knew that most of her colleagues were feeling similarly. When Gonkuro was Gendo Ikari, he could even scare her sometimes. Anja's attention went back to the outside world. Gonkuro had just finished his announcement of the First Child.

Rinako Asuhara entered with an empty look on her face and placed herself next to Sadao, opposite of Anja. The fans went wild.

The actress allowed herself the slightest of smiles. "Thank you," she whispered.

Two fans in the first row fainted. A couple of the others went running to the washing rooms.

'Shinji' looked first dreamingly at 'Rei' and then nervously at 'Asuka'.

'Asuka' gave him an angry glare. "It's so disgusting watching you two lovebirds." She grabbed him, and placed him on her other side, away from the blue-haired actress.

Although the Eva cast always attempted to keep their private lives private, it was of course well known that Sadao and Anja were a couple, and there were even rumors that Sadao and Rinako weren't exactly on best terms. Still, Shinji would never make a decision between Asuka or Rei. Too many fans just wouldn't allow for it.

"Pilot Ikari will now make a brief speech," Gonkuro announced.

Sadao, or rather Shinji, looked at him in panic. Gonkuro stared back. "You will begin now."

Sadao cleared his throat. "I ... no, well, you see ..."

Anja rolled her eyes, and the corners of her mouth went down. "Stop that!" She switched off his microphone. "What Shinji wanted to tell you is that he is pleased that you all came to this place to see me ..."

The four actors chatted for a while, playing their parts. Anja did most of the talking, interrupted every now and then by orders from Gonkuro or half-hearted, opposing remarks from Sadao. Rinako remained mostly silent.

Finally, Gonkuro closed the introduction of the guest stars. "... Autographs will be given in one and a half hours in hall II. I have given Pilot Soryu the order to stay for another hour and answer any of your questions relating to the events of the Angel War. Pilot Ikari? Pilot Ayanami?"

He stood up and left without another word. Sadao and Rinako followed him.

Anja cleared her throat and waited for the questions to come. Her colleagues loved to delegate this duty to her, partly because she could verbally punish the most stupid questioners while remaining in character and even amusing the audience. But most of all, they loved to give the job to her because then they needn't deal with it.

Anja didn't just fear the typical nerds' questions about technical details of the Evas' weaponry. There were also those completely understandable questions, to which, however unfortunately, none of the crew had a convincing answer. For example, what exactly SEELE had planned in the final movie when they had tried to initiate the Third Impact.

The fans below the stage were already raising their hands. Anja chose one of the rare individuals that wasn't costumed. "Yes?"

"I never really understood what exactly Sere had planned in End of ..."

"Seele," Anja interrupted.

"Huh?"

"It's pronounced Seele. Next one."

"But ..."

Anja impatiently waved her hand. "NEXT ONE. Yes, the ... ah ... Katsuragi look-alike?"

Three purple-haired women in red jackets began to talk simultaneously.

"No, that one over there. Yes, you."

"When I saw the scene where Rei is ... um ... sitting on top of Shinji in the sea of LCL, I noticed that her hair is orange. Does that mean that her soul is really a mixture of the red-haired Asuka's and the blonde Dr. Akagi's?"

"E-excuse me?"

After giving a few autographs to the more impatient fans Rinako and Gonkuro managed to escape to the dressing room of the two male stars.

"I was surprised to see your name on the program," Rinako said after both sat down. "I thought you would attend the Eurocon together with the bridge bunnies."

Gonkuro leaned back and folded his hands behind his head. "You mean because there I would be the star instead of 'additional cast'?"

Rinako looked hurt. "No, I ..."

"It's okay," Gonkuro interrupted her. "I just don't like those long flights, you know?" He changed the subject. "You're alone again, Rinako?"

The girl sighed. "Taro, he ..." She made a dismissive gesture. "It's just always the same, you know? The guys want Rei, not Rinako. There are two types of men who go after girls like Rei. Most of them, I scare away after some time. The others scare me away." She shrugged. "Anja has similar problems. Too boring, too quiet, and too serious, that's what they say about her."

"But in reality you're not that different," the Gendo actor declared.

"No, we're just ... normal, I think." She winked. "Well, deep inside I'm much stranger than you would ever guess."

Gonkuro laughed. "Well, Anja has Sadao."

Rinako suddenly looked very earnest, perhaps even a little bit worried. "Their 'separations' are becoming more frequent and lasting for longer."

"Yes ..." The older man hesitated. "Rinako, do you regret doing Eva? Would you rather not have done it?"

The actress didn't have to think about the answer. "No. It was fun while it lasted. ... Perhaps I should've avoided the main parts. Hikari, maybe?"

"You would have been a cute Hikari."

"But I was the perfect Rei. And you?"

Gonkuro laughed again. "I somehow doubt I would've been a cute Hikari."

"You know what I mean."

"Well ..." the actor began reluctantly, "Eva would of course have been better with Gonkuro Itagaki as script writer, Gonkuro Itagaki as director, and Gonkuro Itagaki as male main part." He looked very serious for a second. Then he grinned broadly. "I would have been the best Eva pilot in the world."

Rinako began to laugh. She stopped as she heard a knock at the door. The two actors exchanged a glance. Finally Gonkuro raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and stood up. He opened the door. "Strictly speaking," he welcomed the five men who were standing outside, "this area is off limits to fans ..."

Sadao was sitting in the middle of his merchandising products, waiting for customers. Alas, Anja seemed to be doing her job too well, as the occasional laughter from the hall and the small number of fans who came over to him proved. But he had means with which to counter his boredom.

"Kiss me, Asuka, I know you want it," he said, shaking the Shinji figure he was holding in his left hand.

"Oh no, no ... yes, yes please kiss me Shinji, my hero," he answered to himself in a high-pitched voice, shaking the Asuka doll he was holding in his other hand.

He brought the two toys together and made kissing sounds, accidently thereby pressing the button on the back of the Asuka doll.

"Ewww ... I should never kiss to kill time."

"Damn!" Sadao let his his fists crash onto the desk in front of him. To his right, a couple of tiny robots, some blue, some purple, some red, began to goose-step around in the large box they were contained in. Whenever they hit the walls or crashed into one another, they randomly changed their directions. Sadao watched the crazy mecha dance for a few moments before hitting the desk with his fist for a second time. Immediately the toys stood still again.

Sadao began anew. "Please Shinji," he made the red-haired doll say, "kiss me. I love you more then anything."

"Pilot Ikari?"

The two dolls disappeared almost instantly under the desk. "Erm ... yes?" a blushing Sadao replied.

In a sad parody of the world Sadao lived in, a world in which Neon Genesis Evangelion, commercially the most successful movie tetralogy in history never had existed, or - to state an even more hilarious example - a world in which this story had only been realized in form of, say, an anime series, known only to the chosen few, in such a world the man standing in front of him would have been described as dressed much like a secret agent or perhaps a kind of bodyguard.

In the real world however, almost nobody on earth would have described the man as 'much like' or 'kind of' since everybody would have recognized him as looking exactly like a member of Section Two, NERV's intelligence division.

"Pilot Ikari, your cooperation is needed," the man stated.

"Sure. Do you want a plushy perhaps?" Sadao took a plush penguin and squeezed it. The toy made a squawking sound.

The man's face partially hidden behind large sunglasses remained unmoving. "You will have to pilot the Evangelion again," he answered.

Sadao grinned. "No. I won't. Tell my father ..."

"Commander Ikari is not in charge of this operation ... yet."

This fan, Sadao decided, clearly preferred a rather dry form of humor. He shrugged. "Okay, so where's the Angel I have to slay?"

"Would you please accompany me to the dressing room in the VIP area? Commander Ikari and Pilot Ayanami are already waiting there."

Sadao asked a member of his fanclub who was standing by to look after his toys and followed the man suspiciously.

Anja's interrogation session was finished. She left the stage and went through the halls, looking for her colleagues. All she found was Sadao's stand where he, as on every convention, tried to sell his memorabilia and toys he normally offered via the net and in his little fan shop in Tokyo.

One of his crazy groupies was standing behind the desk. Anja didn't remember her name.

"Oh hello, Ms. Siebert!" the girl greeted her, voice bubbling with friendliness.

"Hi ... have you seen Sadao or the others?" Anja inquired.

The fan scratched her head. "Sadao went backstage with some guy dressed as a Section Two agent. That was half an hour ago. To the dressing rooms, I suppose. Ms. Asuhara and Mr. Itagaki are also there, he said."

Anja mumbled a "thank you." and went towards the VIP area. It figured that her friends were hiding somewhere while she had to hold the fans at bay. She knocked at the door of Sadao's and Gonkuro's dressing room. There was no answer. She tried it for a second time before slowly opening the door.

Something was definitely not in order.

The fact that, for example, her three colleagues were lying on the ground, unconscious, gagged, and tied up with long ropes that were wound around their bodies at least fifty times. Three men dressed in black suits and wearing sunglasses were standing around them. One of them looked at her.

"Pilot Soryu! Your appearance here means a favorable speed-up of our plans," he exclaimed.

"W-what is happening here?" Anja stepped backwards just to bump into two other men in the same uniform-like clothing. They promptly grabbed her by the arms and hauled her into the room.

"I do apologize, but we have orders to assure your cooperation using all necessary means," the man in front of her replied. He opened a bottle and hastily splashed the liquid contained within over a piece of cloth. Then he walked towards her.

Anja struggled frantically against the men that were holding her arms down. These fans costumed as Section Two were obviously crazy and she did not want to find out what kind of 'cooperation' it was the man had talked about.

"This is stupid! There are fans all around here! Do you really think you can drug us and just walk away with us through the main humph..."

In the main hall the visitors were standing around in small groups, chatting with each other and waiting for the VIPs to return. All eyes went to the stage as a black suit appeared from behind the curtain and cleared his throat.

"Excuse me," the man said in a determined tone, "this is a NERV intelligence operation. The Children and Commander Ikari are needed for a mission of the highest importance. The nature of this mission is classified, and I'm not allowed to reveal any details as yet. We will return the said personnel as soon as possible. Thank you for your cooperation."

The man left the stage and headed towards the exit on the other side of the hall. When he entered the crowd, the fans respectfully stepped aside. Four other men followed through the so created corridor, all clothed in the same black suit and wearing identical sunglasses. Each of them was carrying a seemingly unconscious actor on his shoulder.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, the audience applauded.

Who are these mysterious agents and where will they take their victims? What fate awaits the actors? Who is pulling the strings in the background? All these questions will be answered in the amazing second chapter,

Author's notes: Well, you probably know by now which movie I was talking about and what the main idea is that I've stolen. I assure you again that my story is not just a retelling of said movie. From now on, it will be completely different. There will be no actors running around searching a new Eva core on a planet populated by hungry little green men or something like that. And prepare for a few twists at the end!

To make it clear: In the universe I describe here, Neon Genesis Evangelion never existed in form of an anime series. But the movie tetralogy has exactly the same story (and no Kate Rose as Second Child or Mary Poppins as Class Rep or the like). How this is possible with only four movies, you ask? It's pronounced Seele. Next question.

Romance is no big issue in this fic but it has a pairing. There is a basic rule of Hollywood films that applies also here: A couple that was separated before the story starts for reasons nobody really understands will be together again at the end. So this is an S/A story. Meaning Sadao/Anja, of course. That brings us to an astonishing coincidence. *wink* I hope you noticed the initials of the actors and the parts they played:

Rinako Asuhara - Rei Ayanami

Sadao Inoguchi - Shinji Ikari

Anja Siebert - Asuka (Langley) Soryu

Gonkuro Itagaki - Gendo Ikari

All Japanese names I used have no hidden meaning, at least none I'm aware of. I just blindly took them from an alphabetical list.

Finally, I would like to thank my pre-readers ChiRho, Nova, and XXXG-00W0 for helping me with this story.