Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Problem Child ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Third chapter so far and it seems like this story isn't getting out of my head anytime soon. So far the reaction has been very positive to this story. The main thing I was worried about was if the idea had been used before seeing as NGE has been around for so long. Please, read and review. Good reviews are awesome, bad reviews with criticism force me to try harder.

Disclaimer: First chapter…. Look it up.
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"I'm sorry sister, I have to leave. Something sensei said finally made sense. Our father only has interest in me as a tool. I've been studying just to be used by him later. I should have known when me and him met over two years ago at mother's grave, maybe I did. All my life I had been just doing what other people told me too. Play the cello, do your school work, don't question why you do this, your father can't see you because he is doing something for the good of the world. It was all a lie."

"A week ago my sensei drank a little too much and had a talk with me after I was finished practicing my cello. It surprised me how much he revealed about what was expected of me. I was nothing to my father anymore, just someone that would be used and discarded after I had done my job. He kept tabs on me secretly, giving sensei instructions on exactly what I was supposed to learn, how to mold my reactions and keep me emotionally starved. Along with these revelations I learned there was no escaping from this. If I ran away, father was powerful enough to find me and drag me back. I was trapped, but I finally figured out the way out."

"I'm sure that you will have heard the news of my choice by the time this letter gets to you so I'll say again, I'm sorry. We only talked on the phone occasionally and through letters but you were more family to me than anyone else I knew. You would watch the DVDs I sent you of the concerts I was in and give me encouragement to keep playing. Every photo I enclosed you kept and thanked me for. I feel guilty living a more active life through you. Listening to your band recordings you sent me made me wish I could be more active in a group then just the person in a crowd. The pictures you sent me of you and your friends doing almost insane activities made me wish I had the fortitude to pull off a crazy stunt and not worry if I was caught or not, but that was never me and never meant to be."

"The check enclosed in this letter is the money I got from selling my cello. I remember in your last letter that your guitar was damaged at your last show, so use this money to get a new one. When you play it, remember me and know that I'm free at last."

Love your brother, Shinji
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Yuko looked around her at the white expansion of void she floated in. First thing she noticed was the lack of clothing. Not normally a big thing, even more so as she didn't seem to be falling. This left two different options before her. One, she was dead, which would suck. Granted, if she was dead, she didn't die a virgin, which would really suck, but she had only been with two other people and both she liked, but never fell in love with. Dying without falling in love was defiantly on the low list. Then there was number two, she was alive and having a dream sequence, which would suck as well. Dreams always had way too much introspection for her taste. She knew what she was, while satisfied with it; she still preferred not to see it.

There were a few more bright flashes and Yuko was standing on a grassy plain… still naked. Across from her was her brother. Shinji looked almost exactly as she remembered in the last video he sent her. He wore a white button up dress shirt, black slacks and an almost sad look in his brown eyes as he stared across at her. "Sister, I'm sor-" The statement was quickly cut off as Yuko strode forward, unmindful of her state of dress and slapping the boy hard enough to make his head whip to the side and spit fly out of his mouth. Yuko did take pride that even in her dream, a slap like that could make a nice red mark.

"Every god damn time! 'I'm sorry' don't cut it anymore brother!" Shinji looked shocked as his sister shook with rage. He went into even more shock when said girl suddenly hugged him and squeezed him for all her worth. "You're stupid brother! We don't see each other for nearly ten years and you go and leave! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

Shinji numbly wrapped his arms around his sister and held her as she soaked his shirt with tears and verbally ripped into him. Yuko always did have a colorful vocabulary.

Yuko sniffled a bit and used the hem of his shirt to clean her nose, much to his disgust. She pulled from him with her arms still holding on to his sides and looked up. "Ok, I feel better. Now, why are you here?"

"First, do you remember what happened sister? When you fought Sachiel?" Shinji raised his hand up to her cheek cupping it slightly. Smiling, Yuko presses into the hand, enjoying the contact even if it was only a dream.

"I'm not sure. I remember the kiss I gave that Rei girl." Shinji turned crimson at the casual mention of his sister kissing another girl. "Yah, keep your thoughts to yourself brother."

"Wh-what about after the k-kiss?" Yuko snickered. Even in a dream her brother was almost so shy it hurt.

It felt like a something lit up inside her head. "I remember..."
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"This stuff tastes like shit!"

Ritsuko pinched the bridge of her nose. Why couldn't she get some compliant pilot instead of an angry complainer? "LCL is there so you can properly sync with the EVA. It's oxygenated so you should be able to breathe it just like normal air. You'll get used to it."

"Couldn't you like flavor it? I like raspberries and chocolate. Hell, I would pilot it more often if you can get this shit to taste like that." Ritsuko stared down the snickering bridge staff at the sounds coming over the com.

"Ok, we are going to begin sync up. Just relax Yuko; it should only take a moment." As Ritsuko started to instruct the bridge bunnies Yuko hunched down in the control couch. There seemed to be handles that didn't move and some weird hair clip things for controlling the robot, nothing else. How the hell did someone steer this thing?

"Yuko! Relax! You not syncing up because you're too tense. Try emptying your mind." Ritsuko's voice coming over the com broke the girl from her thoughts. The doctor was right though, she was tense. Way too tense for a fight.

"Let me try something." Yuko closed her eyes and calmed her breathing down. After a moment when her breathing evened out she imagined a stone in her mind. The flat, oval shape of the stone would be perfect for skipping across a lake or pond, the surface was smooth, but slightly gritty in its touch. It had indents on its surface, but that enhanced its perfection instead of taking away from it. Opening her eyes, Yuko could see the LCL had somehow cleared up around her and she had a view screen to the outside.

Ritsuko was amazed. "Yuko, you're syncing in at 58%. I've never seen anyone do that their first try. What did you do?"

"Ancient Chinese secret. Must snatch the pebble from my hand if you are to master it, Grasshopper." Ritsuko gave the bridge bunnies another harsh look to stop the laughing.

"Let's get this show going people. Unit-01, prepare for launch!" Misato ordered the staff.

"For great Justice!" came over the com.

Misato rarely needed to face palm, but at this time, it seemed proper.
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When the sliding bay doors opened up and released the EVA Yuko was at a loss. In front of her was the angel, a bit changed with an extra face looking like it was trying to push out of the first bone face but still the one she remember running from a few hours ago. All she had to do was take the big robot she was in and stomp the shit out of it. Slamming the control sticks forward she yelled out a battle cry.

Unit-01 stood there.

"Not to keep complaining, but you retards stuffed me in here without telling me how to drive!" Yuko ground her teeth together at them and herself for not bothering to ask.

"It's ok, just concentrate on walking. The EVA will respond to your thoughts." The calm in Ritsuko's voice was annoying considering this was a life or death battle.

"Got ya. Walk. So, I'm going to go take the angel in hand and stroll around the city until it dies of boredom." Needless to say, Yuko's voice was just dripping with sarcasm.

"You have to start out slow. Get use to the commands and… What the FUCK are you doing!" Ritsuko watched in horror as Unit-01 gripped the sides of the elevator and got into a runner's stance. With a large burst of speed that destroyed the elevator and left the asphalt in the street ripped to pieces in the wake of the charge the giant shoulder rushed the angel, slamming it into another sky scraper behind it and causing both monsters to go flying apart in an uncontrolled fall.

Yuko shook herself up. She felt that entire hit. Her right shoulder was sore from striking the angel and her body felt like it was bruised all over from the rough landing. "Ok, why did I feel all of that? That fucking hurt." Grimacing through the pain she started to force the EVA to move again. The actions felt sluggish, like there was a delay and something was fighting her with every command.

Misato was the one to answer her question this time. "Syncing up to the EVA makes it like an extension of your body. All the pain it feels you will feel as well as ghost pains. You are not actually injured, but your mind says you are." The purple haired girl looked at a screen in front of her. "YUKO MOVE! It's not dead yet and heading for you!"

Yuko looked up just in time for the angel to grab her by the throat and grip her left arm. She screamed as the monster tried to pull her arm out of her socket until she heard a loud snap. She looked to her left arm and saw that it was ok, but on the screen it showed the EVA's forearm broken. She could swear that her own arm should be hanging limp but what her eyes told her was different. That was about the time it felt like something jabbed her in the throat. The angel's strange spike thing on its arm was drawing back and slamming into the EVA's throat. It didn't take her long to figure out that was a bad thing.

"Motherfucker!" The bridge crew winced at the raspy voice that came through the com.

"Yuko, you have to fight back!" Misato was horrified. Her first live combat and she didn't know what advice she could give. With every slam of the spike against the EVA's throat they could hear Yuko cry out. Misato closed her eyes waiting for the next sound of the spike slamming into the EVA. It never came.

"That is quite enough asshole." Misato looked back up to the screen and saw that Yuko had managed to catch the spike as it retracted in her right hand at the angels elbow. Unit-01 put a foot against the angel's chest and pushed off, ripping the large spike from the angel's forearm in a spray of gore and freeing it from the monster's grasp.

"Yuko! Are you ok?" Misato sobbed in relief.

There was some slight coughing over the com then the voice, still scratchy came over. "Weapons."

Misato blinked the tears out of her eyes in surprise. "Umm… what?"

There was a little more force in the next request. "Weapons. Where are this things weapons?"

"Only one you have on board and ready is the prog knife in the shoulder. If you give us a moment we could send up an assault rifle." There was a hiss and clank as the prog knife deployed from the EVA's shoulder armor.

Yuko's voice was grim. "Nope, I'm not going to let this thing live long enough to shoot it." Grabbing the knife in her right hand the EVA got into a stance and charged the angel again. There was a blast of light in the shape of a cross. Everyone on the bridge gasped as Unit-01 took the blast head on. Ritsuko turned her head away from it just in time to see the sync rate.

"Oh my god! Tell her to stop!" Misato turned toward the blond scientist at the sound of her shout.

"What's going on?" Misato looked down at the screen. "Is that even possible? Her sync rate just hit over 98%!"

"Major, Sempai, look at that!" Maya, the one female bridge bunny pointed up at the screen. The blast cleared up and showed Unit-01 standing with both of its arms crossed over its chest in a guard position. In front of the mech was a hexagonal barrier that stopped the blast from hitting the EVA. The crew watched in amazement as the left arm seemed to regenerate before their eyes. In one single movement the EVA's left hand grabbed hold of the horn on the top of its head and the right hand with the prog knife sliced it off. With a swift throwing motion the horn flew across the battle field and hit the angel right in the face that was pushing out from the main face. Almost immediately after the horn went flying the EVA charged forward with the prog knife cocked back to strike. Another barrier sprang up in front of the angel, preventing the strike.

"Guess what dipshit? Heh he he. I can do that fancy trick too!" Misato looked at Ritsuko in worry. Yuko's voice sounded like she was giggling in the last transmission and the laughter was still carrying over the speakers in the room.

"Do you think there might be mental contamination? Should we eject the plug?"

"I'm not sure what the damage will be if we do sever all the connections right now. We might end up killing the girl."

"Leave her be. Let's see what she can do at this level." The two women looked up at where Gendo was watching the battle from. "If the girl wins this then we have a powerful pilot, if not then we will get another."

"Yes sir." Misato and Ritsuko turned away, both not fully feeling happy about the Commander's order.

"Unit-01's AT field is expanding! What is she doing?" Misato and Ritsuko turned toward where Maya was observing the EVA's battle monitor.

On the main screen everyone watched as Unit-01's jaws opened in a loud roar. A hexagonal field seem to form on the back of both of its hands. With a sweeping motion with both of its arms the angel's AT field was torn apart in a flash of flickering light. Not wasting any time, the EVA rushed in the hole it made and stabbed the core of the angel with the prog knife. In a final act of defiance, the angel slammed the EVA in the guts with its only arm it had left. Everyone watched in horror as the spike in the arm drew back and fired forward, impaling the EVA in the lower torso.

While this was going on the giggling over the speakers got louder along with a chant coming from Yuko. "die, die, die… DIE YOU FUCKER!" With a final twist the prog knife cracked the core. The angel, sensing that it was done, wrapped around the EVA and exploded to the shock of the bridge.

"Status on Unit-01! Is it still operational?" Misato betrayed her worry in her voice.

Maya looked down on her screen. "Still waiting for interference to clear up… Wait, I have a signal. On the screen now."

Walking out of the blaze left by the explosion was Unit-01. Parts of its armor were falling off and it looked a little worse for wear, but it was moving. "Yuko! Can you hear me? Are you ok?" Everyone on the bridge waited for the reply from the young girl.

"I'm alive Misato… Where do I drop off the ride, I could use a break." Gone was the almost insane laughter from her voice earlier, now it was subdued and very tired.

"Maya will guide you to an elevator. Do you need anything when you get there?" Something about the girl's voice didn't seem right.

There was a pain filled grunt. "Yup, a doctor. I thought these injures were just phantom. There is a hole in my gut right now…"

Ritsuko spoke up. "It is also based somewhat on your sync ratio. You peaked at nearly 100%. I'll be there with a medical team when you arrive. Try to stay conscious."

"No promises."
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When the medical team arrived, Yuko was leaning up against the EVA holding her hand over her stomach, blood oozing out between her fingers. Her eyes looked up at the blond doctor and smiled. "I think I broke your toy. That is a pretty big hole in its belly."

Ritsuko sighed. "Get on the gurney girl. Let's take a look at you and get you to the medical wing. I'll reprimand you later for being reckless and stupid. Misato will want her turn yelling at you as well."

Yuko winced as she lay down on the rolling bed and dimly felt the doctor move her hand to look at the wound. "How long I got doc?"

Ritsuko scowled at the girl. "Hush you, hold the jokes for now." A few moments of wiping the wound clean showed a small puncture just in the side of the muscle. "Well, blood looks clean and from the depth you might have avoided your intestines and other major organs. Still, let's get you checked out and patched up before I get more optimistic." A quick compress tied to the wound and the gurney started to move away.

"Wait; take me a back for a sec. I gotta get something." Pointing to just under the EVA's chin she waved the medical people to wheel her over. Ritsuko watched in wonder as the girl sat up and grabbed something on the face of the giant. "Almost forgot my gum."

Medical personal face vaulting is never a good sign.
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"I think I passed out after that…" Yuko looked back up at her brother. "The EVA isn't a robot, is it?"

Shinji sighed. "No, it is not. You felt what it was like inside it. Trying to do what you want and the EVA fights you, but if you let go then the monster takes over." He pulled the shorter girl back in his arms. "I should be there for you sister. I'm sorry."

The boy's breathe gasp out of him as Yuko's fist punched into his gut. "I told you, stop saying you're sorry all the time." Looking back at him from the side she looked at him with hooded eyes and a sly smile. "One thing that is better about you now is the fact you don't seem so flustered around girls. Bad boy, grabbing your naked sister and hugging her like that."

Shinji turned bright red and tried to find somewhere else to look besides his sister. "Well, we are related so there isn't any reason to feel bad about it." Yuko giggled at the lack of strength in his words. He was this easy to tease in life and she was glad that hadn't changed here.

"Shinji, what is father planning? You know that this 'save the world' thing is bullshit. Was this the reason you did what you did?"

The boy seemed to sag. "You see… it is about mother…"

The plain of grass slowly faded back to white. Yuko watch in horror as her arms passed through her brother as the world around her disappeared. "Wait! What about mother? Shinji!"
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Yuko woke up looking at a white ceiling. Silently she wiped the tears that coming down her eyes. 'Fucking dream.' Sitting up she felt her stomach muscles tug at the wound she got earlier. In her arm was an IV line and there was different monitors hooked up to keep track of her vitals. She gave a sour look to the hospital gown she was wearing, pulling slightly at the neck. Her hand brushed against something soft making her look down. Sitting next to the bed with her head laying on it was Misato, fast asleep. Brushing some hair away from the older girl's face, Yuko sighed.

'Wonder why she hung around. I defeated the angel so everything should be cool.' It was an interesting puzzle the purple haired woman gave her. Absentminded, she moved so Misato's head was more comfortable in her lap and started stroking the long purple hair. 'What do I do now?'

The door to the room opened up and Ritsuko walked in with a tray laden with food. She stopped at the scene before her with a blank look. After seeing the position Misato was in, murmuring something about beer into Yuko's bare lap, she couldn't help but start laughing. Mistato sat up with a start, looked at where she was last laying and the smirking face of Yuko before going completely crimson.

"I… Y..you're awake! I'm sorry I was just lappin- LAYING down my head waiting f..for you to get up!" Ritsuko and Yuko busted out laughing before Yuko grimaced and gripped her side in pain, still giggling.

The blonde doctor was quick to react. She left the tray and helped Misato move the girl back to laying down as she still giggled in obvious pain. "The stab wound was shallow, but it tore some abdominal muscles. Try to relax and lay down. You've been unconscious for the last 18 hours but I would like to keep you one more day before I release you." She pushed the tray over the girl. "Eat, it will help."

Breathing slow to ease the pain in her side Yuko tested her range of motion. There were no problems if she took it slow, but there would be no back flips for a bit. "So, now that I killed the angel, everything is good right? If you don't mind then after I get out can you get someone to take me to my mom's and brother's grave before I head back?" Smiling at the two older women she grabbed a glass of water and took a drink as she waited for an answer.

The blank look both women were giving her was not reassuring. Misato spoke up first. "Um, you're a pilot now. We weren't going to be sending you back to London. There are still more angels coming and we will need pilots."

Yuko's eye twitched. She calmly set the glass down on the tray; empty of water but still in her hand. "So, I'm stuck as a pilot now? Do I get any say in this?"

Ritsuko looked nervously at the tiny volatile girl. "Well, you are under Gendo's guardianship so he has pretty much all say in your upbringing."

Both women backed away from Yuko. The glass she had in her hand shattered dramatically, covering the tray of food with shards of glass. A bit of blood dripped from a minor cut on her palm which she absently brought up to her mouth and licked off. Noticing both of the other women were a bit farther away than they were before she smiled. She then turned and looked down at her hand and gathered her breath.

"The fucking hell?"
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Omake!

"I assure you, gentlemen, everything is going according to the time table we set." Gendo hated these virtual meetings with SEELE. It was always with the stupid questions. 'Why is this costing so much?' 'Focus on the Human Instrumentality Project more.' 'Why do you always have to keep your hands in front of your mouth like that? It's gay.' Things would go a bit easier if he didn't have to deal with this club of geriatrics.

Keel, leader of the group of immortality seeking seniors spoke up. "Still, we are worried about you giving your daughter the EVA. That isn't some toy for a child to use. Plus, if information is correct, she is more willful then your son was. What if-" His statement was cut off by the sound of a door getting kicked in behind him off camera. Keel turned around at the unknown person in his office, his covered eyes betraying nothing but the sound of his voice showing his worry. "Who are you? What are you doing in my office?"

Gendo looked back at his former sensei, Kozo, who shrugged. There were murmurs from the other black blocks in the room as well wondering what was going on. Over Keel's speaker came a voice of a girl obviously faking a loud and gruff shout. "FINISH HIM!"

Everyone watch in morbid fascination as Gendo's daughter flew into Keel's viewing area mid leap. She had a two handed grip on her Fender Deluxe Precision Bass® (about 2 grand worth of guitar) in a batter position. Keel didn't even have time to fully scream as the girl swung and the guitar connected with his head with a brutal wang, the strings vibrated from the blow.

Sounds of retching could be heard from the other SEELE members as their leader's head was no longer oval shaped and no longer facing the right direction for a health neck. Bits of skull, brain matter and blood splattered over his desk and a particularly hard spray of blood covered his tattooed, pierced and multicolored hair cherub faced angel of death from head to toe in red.

Yuko shook the blood, brains and bone off her guitar and slung it behind her back. She grabbed what little hair was available to use as a handhold and lifted Keel's head up enough to face the screen. Grinning, she reached forward and pulled the mike on the dead man's commuter right up to her mouth. In grim and dark voice she said one thing before cutting the connection to the conference.

"Instrumentality!"
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Noble Beast: Dear, I got this great idea for my fanfic!

Griffyn: I told you, NGE is depressing and I don't like the series. Find someone else to bounce your ideas off of.

Noble Beast: No, it's not like that. Do you remember the old game Mortal Combat?

Griffyn with a questioning look on her face: Um, yes, but why?

Noble Beast: Ok, you know how in the original game you could kill your opponent with a finishing move when the voice cried out "Finish Him!"

Griffyn still wondering what her husband was talking about: OK… and?

Noble Beast getting more animate: Ok, now in the other games that came later in the series you could do other things besides just give them a messy death! Like turn Lu Kang into a dragon and bite the guy in half using Beast Within or turn the other guy into a baby with Infantality.

Griffyn: Ok, where are you going with this?

Noble Beast: Ok, now in NGE the big thing the big bad guys were working for was Human Instrumentality. Now, the OC I made plays the Bass Guitar, right? I was-

Griffyn: Shut. Up. Now.

Noble Beast: But-

Griffyn gives a very hard stare to Noble Beast.

Noble Beast sighs: Fine then…