Otaku Reflected Episode Three, Eva Revolution Part Fifteen Dual Slayers! Impact! The Eva of Menacing Battle! by Jared Ornstead ===== The slightly scorched scientist stood serenely in his command office, speaking to the boy who'd lightly charbroiled him. Jared, whose hair was streaked with white, was chowing down on a table full of food brought up from the cafeteria, plates of rice, noodles and meat disappearing at Inverse speed. There was a reason his sisters ran a restaurant, and it wasn't the tips. Mitsuki was off changing out of that awful olive drab uniform. He had to admit, though, her costume had been more effective than his, measured strictly by how long they'd lasted. At first the scientist was rather taken aback by the boy exploding him, but then he'd bounced back nicely after an apology and a moment ogling the diamond golems now patrolling his base headquarters. No, it had been discovered he was not a pervert. He was the base commander. Well, okay. In Gendo Ikari's case there wasn't a difference. The only reason he didn't sleep with mules was because they would look awkward on the command staff and he couldn't think of another reason to have them on base where he worked (though on the occasional trip to the countryside...). This, however, was Ken Sanada. Big difference. The same one as between a volcano and an iceberg. Or rather, it was Ken Sanada's duplicate on this world. And in neither place was he perverted. Just so ever slightly eccentric, which served to make him lovable and friendly. He'd hauled Jared in to his office in that rather eccentric way in spite of a light roasting and, having appeased for the moment his scientific curiosity concerning the golems, was posing and speaking to Jared in glee, having bounced back nicely from the scorching. "You've been through quite a lot, haven't you? First, you get sent into some strange world, then you meet your sister, to whom you don't exist. That must have been quite a shocker. That's right, I haven't introduced myself yet, have I?" Sanada went on, talking a mile a minute. "I am Ken Sanada. I've never met you before, but you've met me. Argh! This is complicated." Sanada's head dropped and he rubbed his upright hair. Just like his duplicate in the other world, he moved with all of the energy of a crazed weasel, but this one at least seemed to be a crazed weasel who'd taken a load of etiquette courses. Jared smiled calmly, having forgiven the older man. He put down the bowl of freshly devoured rice. "It's not really. No more so than some performer meeting a fan of his works. You see it happen all the time. The one knows the other, and the other doesn't know him." He gave a small shrug. "It's resolvable." The scientist was in his face again, stopping the boy from reaching for a ham, and in his delight exclaiming. "That's what I like - Adaptable! You show almost no concern at being taken from all you know." Jared's gaze darted between the newly returned Mitsuki and her scientist dad who was now pacing the far side of the room. ~How does he MOVE like that?!!~ "But I wasn't really." Jared said, quite reasonably. "I'm sure Mitsuki's told you all she knows of me. I've been seeing this world for weeks, even wrote a book on the technological world from a magical standpoint." He gave a smile of growing confidence, reaching for the potatoes and gravy. "To tell you the truth it's actually quite calming to see those visions weren't the result of an unhinged mind." "Hm." The scientist gave a small nod of agreement, then he was back in Jared's lap, nearly upsetting his attempt to devour a roast leg of beef. "The difference between me and the me you know is that *I* am commander of the Earth Defense Forces. And YOU!!" Ken Sanada threw his arms high, spinning out of the way. "WAHAAA!" Ken Sanada danced and capered about like a weasel that had *forgotten* its load of etiquette courses, and just wanted to have fun. Party hats and balloons figured prominently in this, then all of a sudden disappeared. The commander grinned like the Creature That Ate the Titanic, pointing a *triumphant* finger at Jared's nose. "YOU! Are the most perfectly wonderful Core Robot pilot the world has ever known! Ahahaha!!" He froze, rubbed his forehead, then sniffed despondently. "I want you to know that I won't force you into anything." Jared smiled weakly, strained at this guy's antics. "Perhaps if I knew the situation better." He compromised, convinced that this was the job the Agency'd sent him here for, but playing for information. He reached for another helping but discovered that he'd already massacred the army of supper. The redhaired boy searched desperately around, but there was no more food to be had. He bit back a tear. Mitsuki munched quietly on a chicken leg, listening to her dad. "Hm." The scientist grudged. "It might interest you to know, for starters, that you don't exist in this world. I checked the data bank thoroughly. There's no record of a Victor Inverse to be found. You are a complete dimensional anomaly." Why didn't this surprise Jared? He eyed one of the potted plants hungrily, wondering if it was good to eat. Ken Sanada posed with a huge smile, fists clenching as a wave crashed behind him. "This just serves to convince me *even more* that a parallel world really does exist beside our own!!" Jared winced, convinced that this was the part where he now had to submerge who he really was in order to take the place of whatever spineless wimp (he replaced spineless wimps more often than not, so it was a fair guess) was *actually* supposed to be doing all the Giant Robot Piloting around here. Then the boy discovered that he didn't *want* to. Ken Sanada ceased his antics and now stood still, which seemed almost unnatural for him, considering all Jared knew of the man. The man cleared his throat, nervously. "Oh?" Jared asked, preoccupied. Was this seat cushion good to eat? No way to know without trying it, he was certain. But just as he reached for it his mind overcame the Inverse stomach for a moment. Eating furniture was not allowed, generally. He'd find some fast food later. Like whenever this guy stopped talking. Mister Sanada mistook the boy's gravity. His own guilty conscience leading him to suspect the boy had already guessed the bad news. "I would love to return you to your own world; however, that isn't possible." Sanada groaned, looking ashamed, directing his gaze at the floor and crossing his hands thoughtfully behind his back as he admitted, "As I'm sure you've already guessed, seeing Mitsuki here, I've not perfected the device that could send you to your own world." He raised his eyes to contemplate the wall, avoiding looking at Jared, who was at this time wondering what boot leather tasted like. "The theory has been established, but every time I try and test it, something backfires." The man dropped the stoic act and began to cry into his coat sleeve. "Ever since I became Commander of the Earth Defense Forces I've had no time to devote to research!" "Aww, spit." Jared stood up, waving his hands to cancel this topic, hunger driving all patience with this from his mind. "Look. I'm sorry about your research, but it really doesn't matter. I've no interest in heading home, at least not yet. I'll be fine wherever I'm put. So just give up trying to acclimate me, willya?" He suddenly *reeked* of confidence, and flashed a victory sign. "I am Skysaber, Interdimensional Superspy Adventurer. And I'm not entirely new to this whole dimension hopping thing." The boy tossed his hair back, assuming an even more confident stance. "I get sent to worlds in peril of destruction, to save them when no one else can." He flicked a stray lock of red hair from out of his eyes. "So it's cool. I'll slay whatever foe is threatening this place and go on my merry way. No need to get upset about it." He clapped his hands together, licking his lips. "So now that's out of the way, where's an all-night restaurant?" Both Sanadas had jaws dropping wide open. The commander's computer pinged. Fortunately, he was right next to it. The two-way vidphone built into the monitor brought up Connie's upset face, and before she could say much of anything, the commander was already saying he'd be right there, abdicating all responsibility for dealing with the superspy to Mitsuki. The commander dove down a secret passage in the floor. Jared rounded on the the still stunned Mitsuki Sanada. "So," he spoke cheerily. "You like Italian or French better?" "Huh?" The pretty girl's wits were still scattered. He took her arm, leading her out of the room. "Dinner, silly! I'd normally go Italian, but right now I'm in the mood for something more filling. French isn't bad if you can avoid the bits of weird stuff they like to sneak in. C'mon, I'll treat you to a steak or three." Ken Sanada arrived in the bridge-style command center to receive a blistering hail from Connie. "So what kept you?" "Oh?" He walked past, mind spinning. He still replied evasively. "It's nothing." They settled in to their command duties. Mitsuki and Jared were already at the Holy Grail of bottomless appetites. They'd found an all-night, all you can eat Mongolian Barbecue. A TV was going in the background as Mitsuki *stared* at all the food Jared had managed to pile into his bowl, reaching almost to the rafters. She spoke with spoon poised, transforming into a nice smile. "I thought you had enough to eat at the base." Jared was wielding his pitchfork and had to spend several moments clearing his mouth before he could answer that. *Swallow!* "Nope! You're not all that advanced a sorceress or you'd know. Magic takes alot out of you. You've got to replace the energy, and at the higher levels of skill it makes you a total pig." He paused, remembering Gourry. "Then again, maybe it's not that clear cut." Mitsuki sipped her root beer delicately, watching him. At that point, the TV in the corner switched from whatever sport program it had been playing to a special bulletin where a girl came up surrounded with lights and crappy music. It sounded like someone had tried to do a decent trumpet fanfare using only a tinny, ancient and cheap synthesizer. The girl's outfit alone was enough to set off warning bells in his mind. Same basic fashion template as a sexy female villain, lots of touches like boots and gloves with little enough material where it counted, though to be completely honest, hers was more modest than most done in that style. The short cape alone had more material than most girls of this sort would have in their entire winter ensemble, and the way everything was done, in ways revealing a designer's efforts to soften and add some traditionally feminine feel to an outfit plainly made to advertise this girl was dangerous, made him think to double check this was an actual villain. Give the girl a skirt, erase the makeup, do something about her two color hair (bright pink and *brown*??), cut her shoulder pads to about half width and she'd make an odd, but acceptible outfit for a nonstandard heroine. No, still suspiciously villainous. Close, though. If only the colors weren't so dark. So he sought confirmation. "So this is a Rara attack trailer?" The redhead inquired of his dining companion. Mitsuki reacted with shock. She shocked delicately and made it most adorable. "How did you know that?" She asked with a hand held daintily to her chest. The lady on the TV did the ancient, honorable, and well respected loony laugh and Jared lost all doubts as to who was the villain in this piece. That would make this lady Miss Ra, spokeswoman for the Rara Army. He watched out of the corner of an eye while chasing crumbs around in the bottom of his bowl and answering Mitsuki. "Oh? I read a book. I had some time when I was waiting for you guys to contact me." She blinked, looking down at her bowl, half full. She turned her gaze back on him, a touch of soft surprise in it, but she was getting used to him. "You had that much time? You even expected it?" "Yup!" He nodded, then his emotional batteries ran out of their small charge gotten from the cuddling from the pilot he'd rescued. He sagged most visibly. "It's what anyone would've done. I had piloted your robot, after all." She hissed him to silence, glancing around, suddenly business. She leaned forward to speak to him in whispers over their table. "No one is supposed to know. I'll let you in on a little secret; Only girls are able to pilot Core Robots. Dad says no one must know about your existence." Jared had a sudden, awful, sinking feeling. He stopped teasing his bowl for the last few grains of rice, angling his head suspiciously. "You aren't going to ask me to dress up in drag, are you?" Mitsuki blinked, her face resetting to the pretty expression she normally used. "I don't think so, why?" "Why?" He placed his pitchfork down by the edge of the table and shrugged. "I dunno. It just seems something in their air... threatening. I mean, if you want to conceal my existence and yet still use me." He shook his head, groaning, and letting his head fall into his hands. "Man, I look *terrible* in drag!" Mitsuki giggled. He went on complaining. "It's like wearing leather. It's just not *me!* There's nothing about my features that's androgynous, so it can't work right anyway." Mitsuki worked hard to smother a full-blown belly laugh. She really was cute, no matter what she did. Jared sighed, standing and handing her a paper while he reached for his wallet. "Well anyway, here's where you can reach me. it's a cellphone I'll be carrying. Do you need any help getting back to the base?" Laughing, Mitsuki shook her head no. So he paid for them both and went out. There were lights on above and in back, where the kitchen was, but the internet cafe his sisters owned was closed for the night. Jared stormed right in the back doors, brushing past Martina's double in this world who was busily preparing dinner, and into the upper floor living area without knocking and right into Lina's room, interrupting her at the keyboard of an impressive, custom-made computer. "Hi, I'm your brother from a parallel world where magic exists and technology doesn't." The teenage hacker blinked at him from above the lip of a programming book. Very deliberately, he got up and sat in the middle of the air, staring at her the whole while and without saying another word. She blinked even more, eyes starting to widen. He reached within his cloak and pulled out a portrait in a frame, showing him and her along with Luna, which he handed to her. Lina blinked rather alot. He stuffed it back in a pocket that looked no deeper than the thickness of the material of his cloak. The cloth didn't bulge, nor did it sag with weight. "Okaaay." Lina finally spoke, glaring at him suspiciously. "My brother, eh? So what do I like in this alternate world?" "Eating lots of food, killing bandits, and collecting vast hordes of treasure. But that was before your professional accident that effectively ended your career as a bandit hunter and demon slayer." "'Professional accident?' What happened?" "You ticked me off and I blasted you within an inch of your life and cursed you with an enchantment that turned you into a small mouse every time you tried to use magic. It felt alot like this." To Lina's astonishment her clothes fell to the chair about her, and she felt lucky to have the collar of her shirt land in a giant ring around instead of over her, leaving her standing naked and... furry? In the middle of a sea of clothes and intimate personal apparel that from this angle made her modest breast size look like her undergarments were made to contain Mt. Everest. The itty bitty mousegirl grabbed her tail and felt her mousy ears in fright. Suddenly everything was shrinking again, and it was all she could do to scramble into her clothes before she died of blood loss to fuel her blush. He waved it all away. "Don't worry. I've seen it all before. Windy mountain cottages don't allow much changing space." Lina stared at him in disbelieving shock. His return gaze was serious. There was *also* that small matter of him still floating above the floor... The redhaired hacker girl settled herself to take this serious. "Okay, bud... what was your name again?" She'd no sooner started than she came to a stop, off balance again. "You and Luna call me Victor. It's something of a special name I only allow family to use." He allowed a smirk to grace his face. Silly Agency procedures, but they'd asked for it, so that was the name he'd used. "YOU'RE the one!" Lina leveled a finger. "Some chick called us up, asking about you. I told her I'd never heard of a Victor Inverse, so she could take her silly marriage and arrange it with a monkey, for all I cared. YOU were the guy she was after!" Suddenly, the girl's cockiness became apparent. Hands went to hips and she posed, smirking. "What you do? Despoil her daughter?" "Granddaughter, and no, I didn't. I reserve full story pending your judgment on this peculiar case of misplaced identity." "Misplaced?" "I'm from a parallel world. In this one it is plainly apparent that you didn't adopt me into your family, staying two Inverses and not three." "Hmmm." Her face grew cunning. "Okay Victor, let's say this is on the up-and-up. I'll consider playing along, but..." She waited for him to guess it. He was right there with her. "You want something in return." It was *not* a question. "Right!" She confirmed he'd passed the test. "The admin passcode to the Rara army mainframe." "I'm surprised you don't already have it." He admitted, rather seriously. "If you're half the computer hacker the alternate you is a sorceress." Lina's face grew grave. "It's a set of five passwords with AI equivalent auto-protect and counter-crack software, three levels of encoded tumbler decrypt guard and an intrusion proof defense package constantly monitoring all access in a unique programming language like nothing I've ever seen before. Access is single attempt only. It takes me weeks to link to their network in such a way their defense programs think is genuine, and upon receiving a failed password combination traces autodisable any second try. Spoofing doesn't work, as these guys have taken down entire phone companies when they couldn't track a password attempt. There's no way to brute force this baby. Simple number crunching isn't an option and you could work til doomsday trying it. You've got to make every guess count, and no hacker I've ever known has beat the five distinct passwords. You've got to finesse your way in, but only the one guy knows the right combination, and that's Rara." She waved at all the papers piled about the desk and spilled untidily throughout the room, leaning back in her chair, confident that a threat that could beat *her* would stop any rank amateur on his first attempt. She smiled coldly. "So that's it. I've been researching this guy's life for three years, marking all the key words, the events, people and places that are important to him. Things he likes, everything that he could possibly think important as well as the sequences he uses. There are millions of potential passwords and the combinations are staggering. What's worse is that each of the five passwords can be of nearly infinite size. Guy's who've been picking at this think that a scanned portrait of his wife might be one of the five passwords. But if that's the case then which portrait and which scan of it? And even if you *had* that information, which one of the five passwords would it be? You either get all of them right or none at all, and if they're not in the right order you may as well have nothing. So..." Lina leaned close, deadly serious. "You want to be my brother? Fine. You tell me what the password combination is and I'll accept your story. You'll be an Inverse all over agai... Huh? What are you doing??" Lina leaned out of the crazy guy's way. He'd been holding a glowing hand to her keyboard. Then he turned an intent gaze on her. "You want to know what the password combination is?" He asked, deadly serious. "You can crack it?" She couldn't keep the excitement from her voice. He gave a grave nod. "I already have." "Whatisit!??!hangonIgottagrabapen!!" Lina went scrambling for a writing implement in among the chaos of paper. "The first stage password is 1." "1!" "It is followed by 2." "2? Uhhh." "Then 3." "@? Whaddya *mean* _3_?!" "Next is 4." "I can't *believe* this." "And finally, 5." "So the combination is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. That's stupid!!!! That's the kinda combination an idiot would have on his luggage!" Lina decried, typing it in to prove him wrong. To her amazement, she got super-user access. "Hey Lina, ya found it yet?" Martina called up the stairwell. Lina looked both ways, shamefacedly admitting in spite of herself. "Yes." "Really? That's *great!* What is it?" Martina came barreling in. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5." Lina forced herself to admit. "Wow!" Martina caroled girlishly. "That's amazing! I've got the *same* combination on my luggage!" Jared's gaze was very calm on his sister, saying kindly. "Never underestimate the power of an idiot with authority." **BOOM!** "Aww, Lina that was pathetic! The other you would be ashamed to throw a fireball that measly!" Jared complained, having gotten nicely sweaty from their workout in the early morning light. Lina, for her part, was drenched and trembling with fatigue. Shaking in every limb, she said. "But I'm *not* the other me, you overgrown dishrag!" Jared smirked in reply. "Ah, but you wouldn't be calling me by that childhood insult if you weren't *becoming* like the other you. I'm glad the spell is working." Lina, again, was more than a bit astonished. He'd *told* her it would work, but that was a different kettle of monsters entirely from HAVING it work. Jared was smirking again. "Why the long face? You agreed." The hacker turned sorceress felt her knees grow weak and would have fallen if he'd not caught her on the way down. Sure, it was one thing to tell him she'd like to have the skills and spells of her double, but to actually be recalling the memories?!? She was treated with the image of herself running from a group of bandits as her first period interrupted her ability to cast spells, only to have disaster thwarted when her brother, *THIS* brother, come after them to her rescue. "Easy now." Jared laid his sister gently on the small grass lawn behind the restaurant where he'd stayed the night. "I told you it would be a little unsettling. You'll have to go easy and not fight it or it'll drive you mad - not that I think that's a danger. You're a very strong girl, Lina. Just relax, let it flow. You'll get over the strangeness soon enough." The teenage girl shuddered a little as she recalled the empty faces of a few bandits ripped in half by a spell of hers - or her double's, actually, but she was being treated to the memories. "Tell me again what's happening?" She asked weakly, just to reassure herself it was all going according to the plan. Jared understood. He repeated. "A copy can be created with all of the power, skills, and memories of the original. We Inverses always carry a lock of each other's hair with us, as insurance against losing one of us in our dangerous profession. My idea, I'm afraid. With the lock of hair, taken only days ago, actually, I can create a copy of the other Lina with all of her abilities up to the point at which the sample was taken. I just combined the ability to create a copy with the science and... Actually, what you call science is radically different than what I've been using the term for. They use the word differently on magic worlds. Anyway, to cut all the terminology out of it, you can create another of a person with one school of magic, and you can blend several creatures into a single being using a different. I've just combined the two and I am making a copy of my magical sister while at the same time blending her with you. So you are going to have the memories and skills of *two* lives. Hers and yours. I figure I'll be less lonely here. And you'll be happier, too." The distraught young girl looked up into her brother's face and could remember that those windy mountain cottages *hadn't* left much changing room, and that particular sword cut both ways. Treated to images of him changing clothes left her blushing and uncertain in his arms, even if he was her brother. Adopted brother, she reminded herself. They'd been really fond of each other as kids. It made her blush to get an outside perspective on her treatment of him, though. Gaining the memories fresh she had a chance to examine them in detail and had to wonder why she'd been such a pill sometimes. "Victor?" "Yeah?" Lina sighed, breathing to steady herself. "For what it's worth, I'm really sorry the other me treated you so badly." His steadying arms became a hug. "Thanks, sis." She was surprised to feel him sob against her, saying into her hair. "It means more than you can easily know." Lina wasn't all that comfortable with the touchy-feely stuff, but knew enough not to deliberately spoil an obviously precious moment. It was enough for her to sit still and let him hold her while inwardly debating whether she shouldn't be returning the hug or something. She had no experience to guide her, and so did not. From the way the hug ended she guessed she'd goofed. This guy had a kind of a Silly Switch where one moment he was all personable, friendly, fun and warm, and the next all business standing behind shields stronger than the battlements of Sailuun... When had she ever seen Sailuun?? Jared, back to being all business, stood up and let Lina lie bodily on the grass, no longer holding her. "Get up. We've got alot to do, training you to use powers you've never touched before. The bandit slayer Lina part of you knows them well, but we've got to train your technological half or they'll always feel awkward. It helps your two parts meld together that we're doing it now, while the magic bit of you is still growing. Try it again." Lina forced herself up on her feet. Bandits didn't care if you weren't in best shape when you met them. You either fought when you had to or suffered for it. Still, there was training and then there was going overboard. Her limbs felt like rubber, so her devious mind sought a distraction. "Say, aren't you supposed to be at that base learning about the battle tomorrow?" "Huh?" Jared shrugged, recalling that he'd told her about the robot stuff. There were things you kept from your sisters and things you didn't. Battling with giant robots was one of the didn'ts. "I don't think so. They haven't called me." Lina grinned, remembering enough about him to make this work. "Maybe they lost your number or something. Those guys haven't been winning a ton of fights lately, and you scrambled their enemy like eggs when *you* tried. They're more likely to have forgotten or something than not *need* you." He frowned, dealing with the thought. "You're right." Then he sighed. "Okay, I'll go check on them, see if anything's wrong." Lina sagged, weak as rubber. Oh goody! Rest! She collapsed. *** Asuka played with Shinji, teasing him her entire first day at school and glorying in her popularity (even if these schoolboys were well below her standard), and making Rei an offer to be friends - just so she could have the entire Eva Pilot team under her lovely thumb! Meanwhile, Kaji was proving himself just the jerk he always was, groping Ritsuko in the labs of the Geofront. Misato was about to give the pervert a piece of her mind when the alert sirens went off and emergency signals began flashing from all monitors. "Huh!? Enemy attack!?!" Fuyutsuki stood in the Nerv control center, reports were already hurtling in even as the pilots and personnel hustled to their stations. Behind him, Gendo was as calm as ever as information poured in on their latest threat, location, and the fact that it was an Angel. The man was always there, like a monolith. Misato arrived at her station long before any of the pilots. Even though she'd been deep in the Geofront labs, well away from the chief targets and therefore the command center, it was still less than half the travel time the pilots had to take, using trains to get from school. Misato stared out at the vast bulk of the defeated cube Angel, still not cleared away from the ruins of Tokyo 3. Activating the communications, she called their pilots. "Listen up. We have restored only 26% of Tokyo 3's defense capability since the *last* attack here, so you'll have to intercept and destroy the Angel as far from here as possible." All of a sudden the Magi went *nuts!* "Energy surge in Sector 11 of Tokyo 3's main defense perimeter!" Hyuga called. "That's confirmed!" Maya added, desperation in her voice. "AT Field type properties hard to pin down, but unmistakable!" "*Two* Angels attacking at once?" Fuyutsuki wondered. "This was not in our predictions." Gendo Ikari muttered. "Are the pilots ready yet?!" Misato demanded, getting desperate. They weren't _ready_ for this yet!! "Pilots are still changing into their plugsuits." Aoba reported. "Estimated time to Eva launch is still two minutes!" "Focus in on the disturbance." She commanded. The command center monitors only just switched to reveal a huge, wavering field of energy at the borders of Tokyo 3 when said field ignited in a pyrotechnic display and all the sensors monitoring it burned out. "Get it back!" Misato demanded. "Sir!" Hyuga pivoted in his chair to meet Misato's face as he delivered this bit of highly unusual information. "We're picking up communication on the Eva frequencies!" "What?!!" Surprise came from all corners. Gendo Ikari thinking that SEELE had jumped his own predictions of their plans, Fuyutsuki noting that his former student did not seem as surprised as the rest of the command center, and those less in the loop not knowing what to think. "Put it on speakers." Misato demanded, wondering if she could sneak a beer to calm her nerves. "Archer Units! Deploy!!!" "Blaze Knight, I'm not picking up anything on the J-scanner. How about you?" "Negative, Star Queen. Royal Knights, fan out. We don't want any surprises while we're looking. Snow Queen, any readings on the locale?" "I'm checking, Fire Queen. So far the geography and topography are similar, yet show extensive battle damage. Look at the city." "Mein Gott!!" "Look, they've done *nothing* to preserve that fallen Dark Angel!" "Are they just letting it go to waste? What kind of fools *are* they?!" Hearing such familiar voices coming over the speakers had paralyzed the majority of the command staff. Aoba turned in his chair to address the stunned Misato. "Pilots are ready in their Evas, Major." Major Misato Katsuragi shook herself out of shock induced stupor. "Launch Evas!" "What was that?!" "Royal Knights, someone is tapping into our communications!" "Tracing their transmission, establishing visual." The Eva launch cages arrived armed at the surface just as windows from the various cockpits, from both sides, lit up in the mecha and command areas. Everyone froze still as they accepted information no one was prepared for. A fourteen year old Misato Katsuragi wearing a black plugsuit in the green painted Forest Knight, looking out of the monitors at her twenty-something double, was the first to say something. "Man, I look so *old!*" The Misato standing dumbfounded in the command center found her anger and her voice. "Hey! Who are you calling 'old' you flatchested.... err..." The fourteen year old Misato smiled appraisingly at her older double. "Having a bit of trouble? I'm not surprised, sounds like you're the same lost and fallen person they tell me I was, once. Wow! Look at those age lines, and the sagging! I guess drinking and hard living really are that bad to you." "Who _are_ you?!" The older Misato croaked a plea. The rest of the command staff was too blown away to do even that much, and were merely watching this conversation. Younger Misato smirked confidently, a gesture she'd copied from Jared. "*I* am Magical Soldier Cutie Emerald! Code Name Earth Queen, pilot of the mystical combat mecha Forest Knight, and True Love of Jay-chan!" Any reply that *might* have been given was cut off when Pen Pen swam up in to the field of view and shouted. "That's right! You tell her, Cutie Emerald!" Maya fainted out of her command chair. Rei's from Eva Unit Zero expressionlessly called up the command center. "What are our orders, commander?" Rei's display was shoved aside by *another* Rei Ayanami, who was obviously looking at her double. "No way! Look at the zombie!" "Zombie?" The native Rei croaked out, surprised for the first time in her life. She was raspberried by the newcomer, who pulled down an eyelid to make it more effective. Native Rei blinked in a *most* surprised manner. The newcomer laughed, giving forth a radiant smile. "So *that's* what kind of person Jay-chan found me as! No *wonder* I hadn't any friends! She's about as cute and sexy as a bathtub!" Cute and Sexy mattered to anyone in pursuit of Jay-chan. The native Rei's face screwed up in what might even approximate anger. The Rei in a soft rose colored plugsuit who'd been teasing her found this amusing. She laughed, a sound which stunned those natives listening. The cute and confident Rei posed in her pilot's seat. "*I* am Magical Soldier Cutie Ruby! Also known as Snow Queen! Pilot of the wondrous Frost Knight, and beloved of Jay-chan, who's not really my brother so it's okay for me to lust after his hot and sexy bod." Aoba fell with a thud, fainting out of his console's seat. Fuyutsuki cleaned the trail of blood flowing from one of his nostrils. Native Asuka was laughing so hard at these two Reis that she nearly choked. *Her* double appraised this, smirking. "Well, my twin doesn't look so bad. But who's the twerp? And what is he doing in the prototype Thunder Knight?" "Twerp?" Shinji flinched. Now he was being teased by *two* Asuka's? What was it he'd done to deserve this? Doctor Ritsuko Akagi had to clutch her breast and step back when *she* had a twin appear on the monitors. Said fourteen year old newcomer in yellow mecha and plugsuit was already addressing the rest of her friends and teammates. "Royal Knights, I think I've identified the J-factor of this universe. This is how we'd all be if Jay-chan had not entered our lives." "No way!" "Ach, du Lieber!" "Eek! I'd be ugly!" "Ugly! Look at Miss Frigid!" "Frigid?" The Rei of this universe reacted unkindly to the insults. She brought her Eva's rifle up to bear, actually appearing angry. When she fired, though, the bullets sparked off a force shield and did _nothing_ to her double's pale blue mecha. Cutie Emerald bent close to Frost Knight's screen. "Hey there, Cutie Ruby. I think you upset the clone." "Clone?!!" All of the natives reacted with shock, for different reasons. Cutie Ruby blinked in her own viewscreen, shocked they would be shocked by this. "Yes, clone. Don't tell me none of you knew I was a half-alien clone of Shinji's dead mother? Well she isn't... or is she?" The girl pouted in cute confusion totally at odds with her native twin's blank looks. "It sounds like the native you didn't tell anyone." Cutie Emerald confided over the open channel. She posed thoughtfully herself. "So that means there wouldn't be fifty of her running about all the time." "Fifty!" The native Asuka stopped her laughter in dismayed shock. "Don't tell me they've got *fifty* of wonder-girl stashed away somewhere?!!" That thought wasn't funny. "Yes, fifty." Cutie Ruby replied, astonished they knew nothing of it. Asuka Langly Soryu, also known as Jay-chan's female lead, shrugged into Blaze Knight's pickups. "Well, you shouldn't be too surprised. I mean, look at them! They're still wearing first generation plugsuits for crying out loud! And they've not got a single Elemental level Knight among them!" Gasps of surprise and astonishment from the visiting crowd. "Yeah." "You're right!" "Look at it!" Cutie Emerald looked between the simple Evas facing them and the downed angel in the ruined buildings. "What I don't get is how they're able to beat Dark Warriors without a clue how to upgrade from Muscle Knights." "Muscle Knights?" The native Misato croaked, totally lost by now. Cutie Emerald had to stifle a snigger. It was her friend and team partner Ritsuko who answered, calmly explaining to the ignorant natives. "All giant robots are classed according to their main weapon." She repeated Jared's lecture from long ago. "All of them start out as simple Muscle Knights, meaning that physical attacks are the best they can do. But it seems you are totally ignorant of how to give them extra power." "Extra power?" The native Asuka leaned forward in her seat eagerly. "Elemental Crystals. They also gain internal energy sources with their first upgrade from Muscle to Elemental Knights, after their first victory." "How?? How do I do it!?? I've beaten one!" Native Asuka pressed. Her double pointed pointed Blaze Knight's finger toward the deteriorating hulk of the cube-shaped alien. "Eat that." "What??!" Snow Queen focused her gaze on the native Asuka. "You are the twin of our Jay-chan's female lead. It is your ability and privilege to be the most adaptable and capable of all women. You should know that these giant robots are based on the same biology as the invaders you fight. In order to overcome the weakness inherent in our design and increase in strength, your Knight must partake of the protein of the aliens you kill. This is accomplished through the simple act of directing your Knight in eating parts of them." The native Asuka was extremely dubious about this. "Star Queen, would you demonstrate?" "My power so far is strictly defensive. How about you, Cutie Emerald?" "Gotcha!" Magical Girl Misato brought her Forest Knight to a sentai ready stance. "Oh let's see. Carve my initials on the moon?" "Sounds good to me." Fire Queen chuckled. The green coated Elemental Knight brought its hands together and with no further warning than that a thick column of particle beam energy lanced out, following the curve of the planet for a while and striking the distant surface of the moon. The beam, however, did not leave much of a groove, having spent all its energy getting there. But there *were* her initials; M.K. in cursive script. Snow Queen shrugged. "Particle beams waste their power soon, so their range isn't hot. We'll have to acquire some better distance crystals." "Fascinating." Gendo crowed, no longer silent as he was so busy gloating, hands still clasped in front of him, fingers steepled. "WHO WAS THAT??!" "MEIN GOTT!! THEY'VE STILL GOT GENDO!??" "NO WAY!!" "AFTER HIM!!" "Whaaat???" Native Misato shrieked, finding to her surprise the visiting team spring into motion and begin storming the base. "That guy is responsible for Second Impact!" Cutie Sapphire shouted. "He's killed *hundreds* of people including my mother trying to start the Third!" She went roaring into action. "WHAT?!??" Everyone native was now scrambling, with different purposes. "Nein!" A pale Asuka was shaking her head in horror at the inflow of information. "Asuka's mother was a suicide!" Native Ritsuko shouted into the pickups, trying to avert disaster as best she could and failing. "Not until *AFTER* he'd pulled her soul out of her body with the Eva project! Her body died because she was no longer in it! That's why she went insane, it's why she could never tell me apart from a doll! He wrote it all out in his stupid book!!" "What book!?" Was all native Ritsuko could think to say. Her double flashed her a copy with Gendo's creepy face in his usual stance on the front. "Advanced Backstabbing And How To Betray Just About Anybody! Don't tell me you never *bought* a copy of that psychopath's confession!" "but..." Native Ritsuko protests to her twin died in confusion. The fourteen year old Ritsuko in yellow plugsuit drew herself into a dramatic stance. "I am Magical Soldier Cutie Topaz, also known as Star Queen, pilot of Solar Knight, Defender of Earth and Pursuer of Jay-chan. I fight for Love and Justice and will triumph over evil, and I'm telling you that scum is the worst traitor to mankind that ever lived! And if *you* won't kill him, we shall!" "That's telling him, Cutie Topaz!" "Let's make this world safe for ordinary teenagers!" "Seal the Geofront." Gendo commanded, hands steepled in front of him grimly. Nobody answered. There was a good reason for that, because at that exact time a remote repair crew isolated from all the confusion snapped connections closed, getting new outside sensors online. What they saw was good reason to pause in shock. For one, the original Evas were nothing in the looks department - unless you had a peculiar fascination with leering devil faces, strange proportions and long limbs. These new Knights (as even hardened Nerv vets now automatically called them), were something else entirely in the looks department. They were *attractive*, shapely, and... female. Oh, Boy! were they female. Not ridiculously so, just inescapably. Each one was also a seperate color and each was decorated with showy accents along its shoulders, hips and calves. The impression of beauty was not to be missed. They were lovely. Of course, that didn't matter a bit. "Evas, Attack!!" Gendo shouted to his own rarely used pickup, hands still steepled in front of him in that creepy pose. Cutie Emerald's transmission screen moved to the front, eyes disbelieving as her green and leaf patterned unit moved to a ready stance. "You'd send three non-upgraded Muscle Knights against a full sentai team of Elemental level veterans? Your people would be slaughtered uselessly. You're the same surgically altered monkey *we* knew, alright!" "What..." The native Asuka sputtered. "What's going on?!??" She pled. Her double's face appeared to comfort her, having her red unit marked with orange and yellow flame patterns put an arm out to comfort the other. "Don't sweat it, sister. This guy's as bad as they come. Just stay outta the way, we'll handle him. Say? Why don't you come back with me? You could see our mom!" "But..." All color had drained from Asuka's face. "But didn't you say..?" The newcomer shrugged. "She's dead? Sure. But Jay-chan brought her back to life. C'mon and join us! You look like the only stable one here." The pilot of Unit 2 looked at where Unit Zero, still badly in need of extra repair, was trying to attack her own double's pale blue mecha with snowy white accent patterns. This new Rei had called out "Ice Armor, Augment!" and was now crying "Frost Shield, Appear!" even as she casually evaded the strikes from Unit Zero, leaping off her back and dancing around her double like she moved in slow motion. This new Rei had obviously received some combat training in addition to all her neat tricks. Even if her Rei hit this newcomer that force screen would likely stop it. One could only guess what the ice armor stuff was, or what it would do to an attack. Suddenly a new face appeared. The battle stopped. "Yui?" Gendo stuttered, unable to believe his eyes. Time stopped... the villian slowly watching through the giant viewscreen, proof of his coming fall... his greatest desire... his greatest betrayal now returning to destroy what he had done... The new fourteen year old gave a grave nod, then spoke aside to her team. "Okay, that is definitely him." "M... mom?" Cried the previously paralyzed Shinji. Snow Queen's face filled his screen, looking at him. "Hey, is this the kid that was born without a spine?" "Yup, that's him. At least they've all been calling him Shinji, and that's who it was." Cutie Emerald felt the need to interject. "SHUTUP!!" Shinji shouted at them. Yui was doing substitute piloting of Thunder Knight. She'd been watching most of the discussion while doing her own research in the background. The backdoor she'd once programmed into the Magi still worked, and had proven fruitful in a number of ways. She nodded, having joined this appraisement of her son. "Yah, that's the kind of turd I'd expect to be the son of Gendo Ikari." "Turd..?" "A spineless weenie." She smiled charmingly through the monitors. Half the command crew blanched at Shinji's reaction. "You're not my mother... DIE!!" He attacked too fast for the naked eye to see. Thunder Knight blocked even faster, raising a shield which flung the Muscle Knight away, causing it to lose its gun in the process. Yui sent an unidentifiable blast of AT energy at it, then Evangelion Unit One died, having been pierced through the core by a laser spear and shocked through the armor breach by a few jillion volts of lightning. Yui turned Thunder Knight to her teammates. "C'mon, we've still got to destroy the dark angel they've been in keeping in the basement labs hidden from the knowledge of all. The one Gendo was using in his terrible secret experiments to devastate the entire world for his own personal gain." Native Rei's Unit Zero was now locked in a block of ice greater than its strength could break, and the entire team of Royal Knights ran past to blow open one of the launch gates and proceed to blast their way deeper in. All except Blaze Knight, which hung around, putting an arm on the shoulder of Unit Two, where her own native double sat shocked. "Don't worry about it, sister. We'll render it impossible to have Third Impact. Oh, yeah, before I forget. FIREBOMB!" She used Blaze Knight to destroy the remains of Shinji's Unit One, erasing all of its genetic trace. She shrugged her mecha beautifully. "The secret government using you guys has no way to keep genetic templates viable without drawing the attention of the dark angels. So they built them into their robots, who'd be fighting anyway. That one was the prime one for continuing their plans. It was the backup for the angel Gendo keeps in the basement. So it had to go." "But... Shinji..." Native Asuka was *stunned* at their callousness. "Hmm? Oh, you mean this." Blaze Knight held out a hand and caught the falling entry plug her double hadn't noticed. "We hit his eject frequency before it happened. You guys don't know enough to block out all external commands. I don't think you know how." Suddenly, the native Asuka found she *liked* her double! She liked their team. She liked their style, and their sheer, casual competence in all situations. They were everything she'd first hoped working at Nerv could be! These guys had class as well as power! Asuka the native smiled. "Sure, I'll go with you. By the way, you never told me who *you* are." The pilot of the red Knight smiled. "I am Magical Soldier Cutie Sapphire, Fire Queen and pilot of Blaze Knight! Who *also* happens to be the only girl whose gotten Jay-chan to be intimate with her." She lied. That was the misconception after the changing accident in the carrier, but she liked the notoriety. She'd fill her double in later. "For right now I'll be Asuka One and you can be Asuka Two, got that?" "Sure!" Asuka One helped her double pose, showing her the right way, and shouting. "We, the members of the Robot Defense Force, have sworn to defend the Earth against those who would destroy it. No matter the cost, we will triumph over evil and make the world safe for ordinary teenagers!" Asuka One spun around and posed again with a V for victory over her eyes, going slow so the other Asuka could copy her. "So in spite of the tragedy of our past, thankfully ameliorated by our beloved Jay-chan, we will fight for Love and Justice, and triumph over evil!" Getting into the spirit of things, Asuka Two chose the corniest quote she could from a childhood Tv program and, modifying it to need, posed next to her sister. "Meet now the true power in the universe, Gendo Ikari! That of an ordinary Earth teenager! Who *also* happens to have a secret identity as a Giant Robot Pilot!!!" "Yatta!!" They both shouted, jumping identically with fists in the air. The Nerv crew sweatdropped. "Err..." Native Misato's mind was a blank. She couldn't think. The rest of the sentai Eva team were blasting their way past the geofront defenses, clamoring down the launch tube. Teenaged Misato and pilot of Forest Knight spoke brightly to her elder double. "Psst! Misato." *blink* *blink* *blink* "What?" The elder groaned, her mind suspended in unreality to the extent she was beginning to hope she was dead drunk, sleeping it off and dreaming all this. Her younger double giggled. "You'll want to activate a catchy theme song at once." "What?" The drunken dream theory was getting more attractive by the moment. "A catchy theme song, just on the odd chance any of you are good guys. Whenever the good guy is in trouble, you have to play something catchy for him to get a second wind; or in this case perform a dramatic awakening to the true nature of the bad guys and do a turn about in loyalties so they start siding with the *good* guys!" Young Ritsuko's face appeared beside her. "That is correct. I'm surprised you don't know, what with you being an anime character and all." "You tell 'em, Gemstone Girls!!!" Pen Pen shouted from beside the young Misato. Gendo, hands steepled in front of him, said. "Fuyutsuki, I'll leave this situation up to you." As one of the invading Royal Knights hacked into the public address system and around the base crew, over the speakers of every base and shelter came the strains of... "Fighting evil by moonlight winning love by daylight..." *** By sheerest luck, Jared arrived on base at the same time as Mitsuki Sanada. Perfect opportunity to ask her. "Hey Mitsuki!" She turned to him, puzzled, but she was one of those girls equipped with an auto-charm feature, and it kicked in. "Hm? Oh, hi! I lost you after the restaurant last night!" His head cocked in confusion. "I thought I gave you my cellphone number?" She blinked, surprise and astonishment flitting across her face. She smiled wanly. "You mean that was for real? I thought you'd made that up based on something you saw. I didn't think you could really know what it meant, after all you only just got here. Where did you even pick one up?" He grinned. "Mitsuki, I am an interdimensional superspy. Magic and technology are the same to me. They just involve different toys." She discretely elbowed him, checking the nearby guards. "I don't think we should be talking about that here. C'mon inside, I'll let you in." "No need." He withdrew from his pouch an appropriate ID card. He noted with some amusement that the throw-away card listed him as "Emelio Gonzolas, Firewalker and Studio Backdrop Painter" and had the classic picture of George Washington on it. Funny, it listed his address as 1122 Boogey Boogey Ave. Well, no one was likely to be able to trace him from *that* anytime soon! He slid the card into the reader and got a green light, to Mitsuki's accompanying stare of disbelief. He grabbed her arm and hauled her inside. As they were walking down the corridor she openly reappraised him. "You weren't anything like this back in the other world." She commented. "Deep cover assignment. I was sent in to take care of a few things and got left on site for longer than I'd anticipated, so I was keeping a low profile... and it kind of mucked with my mind. I am not a low profile sort of person." She skipped forward to look him in the face while they were walking. "You mean all that at the school was just an act?" It was kind of hard to properly express how Mitsuki's face made every expression one that built bonds of friendship with the person she was addressing. On thinking about it, she probably did it on purpose. Did she want to be his friend? He couldn't see any of the barbs that normally told an observant watcher the girl was just trying this to further some hidden scheme. But then, he hadn't noticed before when she'd wanted to acquire him for her father as a research subject, either. So he appraised her right back, and the *first* element of that was always the threat assessment. Normally that would run down the various levels of ability in whatever brand of mayhem was common, but there was a certain prequal check that his assessment choked on. Kind of like a "is this person alive or capable of motion" check that was normally so quick to confirm it didn't even get logged as part of an assessment. The superspy came to a dead halt in the hall, astonishment written plainly on his face. Mitsuki matched his look with concern for his well-being he looked so shocked. Jared was stunned. Beyond stunned. This was so out-of-the-ordinary that he had no way of dealing with it. No way to start. He'd not even prepared to meet something like this in his wildest imaginings - because nothing had ever led him to believe that it existed. It was simple. All really profound things were. She wasn't hostile. Not as in the "attacking right now" sort of hostile, it went deeper. This was beyond a mere surface rage. She wasn't hostile - toward his gender! In all the women he'd met there was this fierce, inherent rage that said they would compete with men and win. It took different forms, and varying degrees, and some hid it better than others, but it was always, *always* there! She didn't have the use men and throw them away attitude behind the slogan "So many men, so little time." She didn't have the "I will beat you" projections common to those who felt they had to humiliate men to remain viable in their own gender. She didn't, wasn't hostile! She did not make herself an enemy to masculinity! Not in any form! Jared was set to reeling. This! Was! Unique! He had to grasp a wall to hold himself upright. This wasn't a mere case of "I won't hurt you now, but you'd better not upset me" common to most women who decided, however grudgingly, to exempt one man or a few from their predations. This was not a case of her holding a sharp tongue in check while waiting for a better opportunity. This wasn't a simple case of her not feeling like it right now but watch out later. She WASN'T LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITIES AT ALL!!! He had to close his eyes to prevent the blackness from claiming him. Mitsuki was at his side, radiating concern while trying to hold him up by an arm. She might've tried calling for help, but he wasn't able to notice, busy processing what had to be the most unique and singular entity he'd personally run across in the multiverse. She felt no rivalry with men, no need to wrest anything from them, no desire to tear them down on any level. She *didn't* view them as objects. She *wasn't* holding herself as superior. She neither caused pain, sought any, nor felt any because she did not feel the genders were at war! Jared sank to his knees as his balance collapsed, bracing himself with both arms lest he fall down further, breathing deeply to set reality to spin less. Okay, he'd had his share, or more than twice his share, of women deciding that he met their minimum specific standards and could, therefore, be exempted from a certain amount of hurting. He'd even had a few (more than a few, by most standards) accept him enough to get an eye toward acquiring him, and so offer nurture instead of hurt. But that was to him. Even some of the best of those women would still launch a wisecrack against a man generally. They were rooted in a culture where women despised men and more or less spent their days making sure the men understood that, even if they occasionally dipped their barricades enough to have sex or get married. Neither was an exemption for further hurt simply because they were men - meant to be despised. At least in womens' view. Jared squeezed tears from the corners of his eyes while his sides quaked, shaking with tears he'd not known he had in him. The world spun crazily and somehow he landed on his back. When he'd gulped enough oxygen to regain his sight he saw Mitsuki's concerned face before him, and he was in a hospital gown on a table with doctors and nurses gathered round, monitoring equipment. "Have you had these attacks often?" Mitsuki regarded him kindly and concerned. She was holding his hand. He regarded her steadily, thinking hard and furiously. Yes, she could be angry, get hurt, or all that. Even say hard words, he was certain. But that was all external, called upon at need and not lingering constantly below the surface waiting to jump out. It was the same difference between picking up a sword to defend your family or being a psychopathic killer. She was safe! It didn't matter if her giant robot could destroy cities or you gave her a machinegun to hose things with. This person was *inwardly* safe! She meant no harm. His opinion of her father went up a notch, make that two notches, and his classmates at the abbey as well. Not all girls went into this deliberately. Some did, but more were brought in when women who *did* hate men hurt them, then the hurt men went and hurt other women who in turn hated them and sought to hurt them back for it. But she was alright! She wasn't part of that! That conflict wasn't in her! Somehow he couldn't stop the tears from flowing. His smile looked rather sick and weak under them, but it was a smile all the same. "I'm fine." Her questioning expression doubted him. She bit her lip, uncertain what to say. By now Jared had gotten his faculties back and was reestablishing his center. Mitsuki was a Priceless Treasure by his standards now, and he didn't want to worry her. Actually, it became rather important to defend her! All sorts of "Preserve At All Costs" labels got stuck over his mental view of her face.