[Eva][FanFic] Neon Exodus Evangelion 3:2 - The Gift of the Magi

[Benjamin D. Hutchins]

Heyo...

I've got a wedding to attend next weekend (not mine :), and some
people have brought it to my attention that they will be off-net for
Otakon that same weekend (and thus not able to catch NXE 3:2 on its
originally (re-)scheduled release date. So, since I finished it a bit
ahead, here it is early.

Enjoy!

--G.

/* Genesis "Land of Confusion (Live)" _The Way We Walk_ */

EYRIE PRODUCTIONS, UNLIMITED
presents

NEON EXODUS EVANGELION

EXODUS 3:2 - THE GIFT OF THE MAGI

Inspired by NEON GENESIS EVANGELION created by Hideaki Anno, Gainax,
et al.

Most characters created by Hideaki Anno and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
except

DJ Croft created by Benjamin D. Hutchins
and
Jon Ellison created by Larry Mann

Additional material and inspiration cadged from TOMB RAIDER by Core
Design, Ltd., X-COM: UFO DEFENSE and sequels from MPS Labs (whoever
owns them nowadays), THE X-FILES created by Chris Carter,
A NIGHT TO REMEMBER by Walter Lord, and 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
by Arthur C. Clarke

Written by Benjamin D. Hutchins, Larry Mann, and MegaZone

Aided and abetted by the Eyrie Productions, Unlimited crew
and special-guest-for-life Phil Moyer

Researcher: Kris Overstreet

(c) 1998 Eyrie Productions, Unlimited

/--
All the boats are full, down and away. I have no illusions:
that means that, although the ship still floats, practically everyone
who will survive this night has already been saved.
I am not among them.
It's strangely calm on the ship now. There are many people -
so many! - still trapped aboard the ship, sliding slowly closer to
death, and yet there is no panic. We all seem possessed of the same
paralytic calm. Perhaps it's just that we have seen and absorbed so
much terror already this evening that our capacity for reacting to it
is drained. After all the anticipation, the bustle of loading the
boats, the brief panicked rush on Boat D, the stark horror of First
Officer Akagi's suicide, and all the rest, maybe we're all just too
tired to be afraid any more.
Someone up in the superstructure is still firing rockets, but
there is no one to see them. The wireless operators are still
working. In the first-class smoking room, John Trussell is standing
like a man in a trance, staring at the painting over the fireplace. I
don't know where Captain Katsuragi went after the rush on Boat D -
back to the bridge, I expect. Down in the engine room, Chief Engineer
Ibuki and her crew are still valiantly working to keep the lights on
and the pumps running, buying us as much time as they can - and buying
it with their lives. I don't know if I'll have that kind of courage
when my time comes, but I'll find out soon enough, I suppose.
Here on the poop deck things are as placid as the glass-smooth
ocean. A knot of first-class men, left behind by the boats, stand
around near the band with brandy and cigars in hand, talking about
finance. In their tuxedos they look comically like penguins. In
fact, I notice with faint detachment that one of them -is- a penguin.
Across the after well deck, Jon and Rei stand at the boat deck rail,
their hands linked, silent and impassive as they look down at the
ocean they will soon meet first-hand. I wish to God at least one of
them had been saved, but this evening, it seems, God isn't concerned
with what I wish for.
"Feels terrible, doesn't it?" asks a quiet voice behind me. I
turn to see a tall, dark, dapper and handsome man. He's dressed like
a first-class passenger, in tuxedo and tails, but I don't recall
having seen him before. He has coal-black hair, ruddy skin, a
neatly trimmed beard and the greenest eyes I've ever seen. A thin
cigarillo smolders at the corner of his wide, elegant mouth, and when
he smiles sardonically, his eyes twinkle.
I don't recall having seen him before, and yet, he looks
familiar. I could swear I've looked into those eyes before.
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" I inquire.
"Very well," he replies, tapping some ash from the end of his
cigarillo, "but you don't know that you know me."
I scowl. I'm not really in the mood for word games with
strangers tonight.
"Forgive me," he says, sensing my irritation. With a sweeping
gesture he removes his top hat and bows deeply from the waist. "I
have an unfortunate tendency toward the dramatic. We will speak
again."
Then he turns, and before I can stop him, he melts into the
crowd.
Gone.
--/

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2015

The mood in the control room was one of tense optimism. Maya
and John hovered over their controls. Ritsuko looked stern and
detached. Rei and Jon looked on from the sidelines. Misato was
missing from the control room only because she stood outside on the
catwalk by the EVA. Commander Ikari was entirely absent.
"Maya, John, are you ready?" Ritsuko asked.
They shared a glance, then Maya answered for both of them with
a nod.
"SHODAN, are you ready?"
"Ready, Doctor."
"Do the Magi concur with the plan?"
"Yes. Our chances of success still stand at 5.4%."
"Very well. We may as well get this over with. SHODAN,
begin reclamation process."
"Beginning reclamation process now. Charging LCL to recorded
levels. Begin synchronization stimulation."
"Running dummy plug code DJC-05. Bringing synchronization
levels up." Maya watched the gauges intensely. "Simulation at 21.4%
and climbing."
"Energy levels climbing." John gingerly adjusted the
controls. "Stablizing at predicted levels."
"System proceeding as predicted, Doctor," SHODAN added in her
mellow voice.
"Continue," Ritsuko instructed impassively.
"Sync levels at 48.7% and climbing."
All eyes were fixed on the synchrotron as the level climbed
slowly higher.

/--
The ship is at an extreme angle now. It's becoming hard to
hold position on the deck. Some of my less dexterous fellow
passengers are already sliding, falling, tumbling down toward the
after well deck. Soon the water will engulf the boat deck. Once it
does, the ship has only minutes left.
As I think it, so it happens, and a wave of humanity comes
running aft along the deck, pursued by a larger wave of water. Most
of the people are caught and sucked away. Around me, people scream,
shocked out of their automaton resignation by the suddenness of the
occurrance. I cry out in anguish; from my vantage I can see that Jon
and Rei are among the lost.
As the ship tilts further, I know my only chance is to reach
the after rail. There I can hang on, until it goes under itself.
People are starting to jump - stupid of them, with the aft end of the
ship so high in the air, they'll just plunge to their deaths - but
they must be afraid that if they stay on the ship until she goes down,
she'll suck them down with her. I reach the rail near the flagpole,
wrap my right arm round it, and hang onto my right forearm with my
left hand, facing aft, which at the moment is akin to facing up.
Behind me, below me, there is a terrific juddering crash, the
most incredible noise I've ever heard. It's the sound of millions of
loose objects crashing forward as the tilt of the ship finally upsets
them. Wine bottles, luggage, jewelry, dishes, boilers. I squeeze my
eyes shut and try to block out the thought of poor brave Maya Ibuki
and her crew, dying down there in the dark and the din. I can't hear
myself over the roar of the dying ship, but I know I am screaming.
Then there's a strange springing sensation, and the bottom
drops out; for a moment I think the ship is plunging down, then I
realize that I'm actually leveling off a bit. I open my eyes and
spare a glance over my shoulder, and see the reason why. The noise
was a bit more than just things falling - over half of the ship is
gone. It's a stunning sight, this great ship torn asunder; her
forward end vanishes as the after part settles back, and then she
begins to slide forward, picking up speed like a train leaving the
station.
This is the end.
In minutes I'll be in the water, which is below freezing.
Minutes after that, I'll probably be dead. I close my eyes and wait
for the shock.
No.
No, damn it, I won't die like this! I won't! Oh, I'll die,
but it won't be cowering with my back to my killer. Eyes open, I
climb up, my limbs driven with new energy, and stand balanced on the
rail, looking down as the black water rushes up at me. The screams of
those around me fade from my hearing. There's only me, the great
failed machine beneath my feet, and the ocean, rushing up in its glee
to try and murder me.
"Come on, then!" I cry. "Take your best shot!"
--/

"Sync levels at 56.3% and..." Suddenly warning indicators
flashed across the board, cutting Maya off.
"Process control lost," SHODAN calmly reported amid the clamor
of sirens.
"Shut it down now!" Ritsuko commanded.
"I repeat: process control has been lost."
"Smartass computer! Maya, John, cut the power."
Both worked feverishly at the controls, with negligible
results. Maya turned to face Ritsuko, her face drawn in dawning
terror. "It's no good, it's out of our hands now."
All eyes turned to watch the EVA just outside the control room
window.
The process continued uncontrolled, error piling upon error,
alarm upon alarm. Finally, the safety systems blindly acted to
preserve the safety of a pilot who was no longer present. The entry
plug popped free of the EVA and sprayed LCL across the catwalk as
Misato watched, horrified. When the venting stopped there was a long
pause; then DJ's jacket, soaked with LCL, fell wetly to the catwalk.
That was all Misato could take; she fell to her knees, wracked with
sobs, and gathered the wet jacket despairingly into her hands.
Up in the control room Ritsuko's eyes widened for an instant,
then narrowed, her face becoming dispassionate, as events transpired.
Maya buried her face in her hands, sobbing gently; Truss slid his
chair close by her side and placed his arm over her shoulders, crying
with her.
Ritsuko gathered herself and spoke, quietly. "Well, I knew
that wouldn't work. He's gone." She sighed, rubbing at the bridge of
her nose. "I guess somebody had better call his mother and let her
know."
Rei Ayanami made a small, sharp sound of anger in the back of
her throat, startling everyone present, and her red eyes flashed with
a depth of feeling no one would have thought her capable of a few
months before as she glared hotly at Ritsuko.
"I won't accept your attitude or your excuses, Doctor," Rei
growled with carefully controlled menace. "We'll deal with this
ourselves. Come on, Jon."
Jon nodded silently, favoring Ritsuko with a glare of his own
as he and Rei left the command center, leaving everyone else to stare
after them in confusion.
After a moments pause Ritsuko herself also left, shoulders
slumped.

/--
The last little bit of the ship disappears, and I plunge.
Not into icy blackness... but into light.
That was quick, I remark to myself. I expected I'd linger on
for a few minutes, anyway.
The well-dressed, bearded stranger is back. He taps the ash
from his cigarillo, then smiles at me. He has a black walking stick
with a ruby-eyed silver skull for a knob. I find that most appealing
for some reason.
"You didn't give up," he observes.
"What?"
"You didn't give up," he repeats. "Once before, while you've
been with me, you were in a similar situation and you gave in to
despair. It took Rei to save you that time. This time, though, you
faced it. You beat it."
"Who -are- you?!" I demand.
"Your friend," he replies. "Now it's time for you to go.
I've found out what I wanted to know - and you've found out what -you-
wanted to know."
The whiteness grows intolerably bright, blotting the bearded
man out completely, and in the instant before it all goes dark I
realize that he's right.
--/

Through eyes hopelessly blurred with tears, Misato looked up
to see two others standing on the catwalk, in front of EVA-01.
Blinking to clear her vision, she saw that the people were Jon and
Rei. They stood there, holding hands, looking up at the EVA.
"Lucifer..." they said in perfect unison.
And Unit 01 moved. It would have been imperceptible had
Misato been on the wrong side of the Evangelion, but from this side it
was easy to spot: the exposed right eye swiveled around, focusing
directly on the children.
Again, in perfect unison, Jon and Rei looked back into the
EVA's eye and spoke: "Please... give us our friend back. We need
him."
The three sub-pupils on 01's right eye sprang open and the jaw
moved ever so slightly, emitting a faint rumble. Then the EVA's
exposed core glowed red for a moment, and in the next distended and
warped as an unclothed human form was extruded from its surface and
fell unglamorously to the catwalk with a muted splat.
DJ.
Rei and Jon looked back up at 01 again. "Thank you," they
said, more quietly.

Asuka Soryu-Langley sat in bed, bored and tired. She was out
of traction, but so weak she could barely stand up; she spent her days
alternating between despair, frustrated rage, and enervated boredom.
Only the visits from Misato, Jon, Rei and Maya kept her on anything
resembling an even keel. Gendou Ikari never visited, but that was
fine with Asuka. Depending on the time he stopped by, she would only
have ignored him, spat in his face, or, in her more ambitious moments,
tried to claw his eyes out.
There was a bit of a commotion in the hallway. Asuka scraped
together some interest and looked out the windows built into the side
of her room, but didn't see much of anything - there were too many
green-smocked medtechs crowded around the gurney being wheeled by.
I haven't heard an alert, she thought to herself. Did I miss
one? God - has Jon been hurt, or Rei?
She got no further with that line of thought; the door burst
open and in came Maya Ibuki, beaming, still teary-eyed with joy.
"He's alive!" she cried. "DJ's alive!"
For a moment Maya's words failed to register; then Asuka's
blue eyes widened as she felt the first feeling of genuine happiness
she'd felt since before EVA-02 had slipped out of her control, over a
month before. No - not happiness - it was pure white joy, washing
away the residual pain in her weak, stiff limbs, the weakness and
helplessness, the isolation.
DJ is alive.
Asuka reached out and took Maya's hand in the firmest grip
she'd mustered in a month.
She held the thought firmly in her mind - DJ is alive.

Jon found Misato Katsuragi wandering around the Lower Wedge,
not really watching the eyecatches on the game machines. Tears still
tracked her cheeks, but they were no longer tears of sorrow, and
though she still clutched DJ's damp motorcycle jacket in her hands, it
was no longer a grip of despair, but one of hope.
"Major - Misato?" asked Jon tentatively. "Are you awake?"
Misato sat down in one of the chairs in the T5K observers'
gallery, grinned absently and replied, "You know, I'm not sure," with
a slight giggle.
Jon sat down next to her and smiled a small grin. "It's not a
dream."
"It feels like one. I'm afraid, y'know," Misato said, not
really looking at him. "I'm afraid I'll wake up and lose him again."
"You won't lose him again."
"Are you sure? I have, every morning for the last month. I'm
not sure I could take it if it happened again today."
Jon mulled that over for a moment, then said, "Well, then go
stay with him. If you don't believe me, believe your own eyes. He's
not going to leave us again."
"... Yeah... I think I will." Misato stood up, then looked
at, and really focused on, Jon for the first time in the conversation.
"Jon... I don't know how you and Rei did what you did, and I don't
really care. But... " She kissed his cheek, whispering, "Thank you."
Jon blushed a little and replied, "It was the least we could
do."

DJ's head was swimming. It felt like an EVA had stepped on
his head. EVA! The Angel - the ship is sinking - I must defeat - !
His eyes snapped wide open and he sat bolt upright.
And promptly recoiled in agony as a laser bored its way
through his eyes. Well, if you had asked him at that moment, that's
what he thought it was, anyway. And someone was beating on his skull
with a mallet, now that he thought about it. It was only when his
head hit the pillow that he realized he was in a bed. Probably in the
infirmary; nearby he could hear someone moaning pitifully. Problem
was, it sounded like his voice.
Oh... it -was- his voice.
Other voices were burning their way through the pain. They
seemed harried yet concerned. He only caught snippets through the
haze: "...damnedest thing..." "...he's damn lucky..." "...heart rate
ok..." "...severe electrolyte imbalance..." "...vitals check..."
His unexpected lunge had startled the medtechs working on and
around him, but only for a moment. No one really knew how he would
react after his experience, inasmuch as he was first one ever to go
through it and all. But once they'd cleaned the - whatever it was -
off of him, he looked rather well. His vital signs checked out,
brainwaves looked OK, and no signs of physical damage. In fact, he
seemed to be a textbook example of a perfectly healthy 14 year old
male.
(His electrolyte balance was way off, one noted, but that
wasn't a major problem. Poor bastard probably felt like he'd been on
the bender to end all benders, though.)
DJ opened his eyes again, slowly this time, and only to the
point of being slits. That laser had apparently just been the
examination table lights, which still clawed at his optic nerves with
billions of shrieking, razor-edged photons. Medtechs were abuzz
around the table, packing their gear.
"Wha..." he croaked; his mouth felt like cotton.
"Oh good, you're awake." J. Random Medtech said as she helped
him to a sitting position. "Here, drink this. You'll feel a lot
better."
DJ did as he was told. The bitter taste was familar; it was
the same stuff Ritsuko gave him when he was recovering from his first
battle. It had the same effect this time as last - he did feel much
better. The mallet was more a ballpeen hammer now. He considered for
a moment, before asking: "May I have some more of that?"
The medtech silently complied. After a second glass the
ballpeen hammer began fading. This is marvelous stuff, he thought to
himself, they really should sell it as a hangover cure. Feeling much
refreshed his countenance brightened considerably. "Thanks... What's
your name, love?"
"Jenna," the medtech replied with a smile.
"Thanks, Jenna, you really know how to make a bloke feel
better." He gave her his trademark rakish grin.
Jenna blushed a bit. "I can see that. Are you feeling up to
a few vistors? There's a number of eager people waiting outside."
"Well, far be it from me to keep my fans waiting."
Jenna laughed. "Ok, I'll let them in."
A moment later DJ's room was full of people. There was a
moment of uncertainty as no one knew just what to say; then Maya broke
the tension by rushing forward and hugging him fiercely, tears of joy
wetting her cheeks. "It's good to have you back, DJ!"
"It's good to be back, love," said DJ, tears of his own rising
in his eyes. For some reason he couldn't name, he felt unspeakably
glad to see that Maya was alive, as though he had somehow feared she
wouldn't be. As he considered that, she stepped back to give others
their chance.
"Welcome back, DJ," said Truss diffidently. The engineer held
out his hand tentatively; DJ took it, and, feeling that same powerful
gladness, hugged him, too.
"It's so good to see you all again," he whispered as Truss,
touched but a bit confused, stepped back.
Ritsuko looked uncomfortable there, in light of what had
happened earlier. Still, she felt it only right to welcome him back.
She stepped forward, kind of stiffly, and took DJ's hand. "Welcome
back, DJ, I'm glad you're OK."
DJ's smile made its way back. "None of that, now." He used
his grip on her hand to pull her down to him, and, before she could
protest, hugged her. "It's good to be back, love. Sorry about that
whole pullring thing - I was in a rotten mood that day."
When he released her Ritsuko stood back away from the bed, a
completely confused expression on her flushed face. Maya and John
exchanged a glance and bit their lips to avoid laughing.
DJ turned his attention to Misato, who stood waiting her
turn. "Now you - erf!"
DJ was cut off as Misato pulled him into a fierce hug and
planted a kiss right on his lips. Putting his initial shock aside he
decided to go with it - how often do opportunities like this come
along? - and kissed her right back. When they came up for air almost
a minute later, Misato pulled back from him slightly, and, while
stroking his hair, spoke quietly. "Welcome back, DJ. I missed you."
Taken by the emotion clear in her eyes, and voice, DJ replied
in the same quiet tone. "If I'd known that was waiting for me, I'd
have returned sooner, love."
Misato smiled as she stood and straightened her uniform, still
streaked with LCL.
Everyone else wore looks that were part bemusement, part
shock, and part confusion.

DJ didn't need a shower. In the course of caring for him
after his abrupt reconstitution, the medtechs had washed him - though
he had been perfectly clean upon his emergence, so there really hadn't
been any need for that, either. But over the course of his career, DJ
had grown to view the act of showering as a ritual as much restorative
as it was hygienic, so he took one anyway, because it felt so good.
Afterward, he decided he was sufficiently refreshed to venture
forth. The medtechs had fished the rest of his clothes and effects
out of the entry plug and dried them, so he was dressed and shod.
Amazingly, his watch was entirely unharmed by the ordeal, giving him
yet another reason to feel profound respect for the HAL hardware
designers.
He felt remarkably well for someone who apparently hadn't
existed for the last month or so, but he did have one disadvantage.
He had no memory of anything that might have happened during the month
he spent at one with his EVA. From his point of view, the fight
with... oh, hell, he'd completely lost track of the numbers by now,
whichever Angel that was... had happened just a few hours ago. And
shortly before that, his EVA was trying to kill Asuka.
DJ sighed. Asuka.
The last time he'd seen her she was battered and bloody, still
unconscious in the infirmary. That view through the window, seemingly
just a few hours old, haunted him still... and with it came guilt.
Even though, logically, he knew it wasn't his doing, he still felt
responsibility for the whole incident. Most of his memories of early
that day - correction, he reminded himself, last month - were
disjointed fragments. Those that he could recall weren't very good at
all.
"Well," DJ muttered to himself, "no sense in putting this off
any longer."

DJ paused outside of Asuka's room to gather his strength and
composure before entering.
It didn't help. When he entered the room and saw Asuka, still
bruised and bandaged (but not near so battered as the last time, his
brain reminded him) he couldn't hold back his tears.
Asuka heard the door latch, but didn't hear anyone
approaching. Curious, she turned to look, and had to blink a few
times to be sure of what she was seeing.
"DJ?"
DJ brushed a tear from his cheek and sniffed. "Hullo, love."
"DJ! Why are you crying?" She felt a bit silly asking, as
she could feel her own tears beginning to flow.
"I'm... I'm sorry, love. It's just... I'm... I'm sorry..."
DJ broke down and started sobbing. Asuka began sobbing too, both in
joy for seeing him, and in sympathy for the torment he obviously felt.
Ignoring the pain, she sat up in bed and opened her arms. DJ ran to
her, and they hugged like they would never let go.
"Shhh... It's OK. It's OK." Asuka combed her fingers
through DJ's hair, as much to convince herself that he was really
there as to to soothe him.
"I didn't mean... I couldn't stop it. I tried to, I really
did. I couldn't do anything. Oh Christ! I felt so bloody helpless."
Asuka cringed at the pain in his voice. "It's OK, I'm OK. I
know it wasn't you. I've seen the tape. You tried your best, it
wasn't you." Asuka's voice took on an icy tone. "It was Ikari."
DJ's body tensed at the mention of that name. "Ikari. I'm
going to kill that bloody bastard with my bare hands."
"Don't worry about that now. You're back, and that's all I
care about now."
"Sorry, love, you're right, that can wait." DJ pulled back to
look her in the eye, bringing his hand up to brush away her tears.
"Are you all right, really?"
Asuka paused for a moment. "Yeah, I'm pretty much OK. They
tell me I'll be out of here soon, maybe another week or so. I've
started with some physical therapy already. They tell me I'm doing
well. So, yeah, I'm OK..."
DJ looked deep into her eyes for a long moment. "Asuka, love,
there's something you're not telling me. What is it?"
Asuka tried to adopt an indignant facade. "And just what is
that supposed to mean?! Hmph! You think you know so much about
women! I told you, I'm fine." Asuka crossed her arms across her
chest and turned her face away from his.
DJ calmly tipped her chin up with his finger, looked into her
eyes and kissed her gently. "I don't need to know women well - I know
-you-, my heart. Please, I'm asking you as a friend -and- a lover,
what is it?"
Asuka's lower lip trembled as she fought with her emotions for
a moment. Then, with a sob, she threw her arms around DJ and kissed
him fiercely, then rested her head on his shoulder. DJ stroked her
back now, as she had his earlier. He knew better than to press her
further. She would talk when she was ready.
Neither one of them knew how long they sat that way. Each was
lost in their own thoughts, enjoying the simple contact with the
other. It was Asuka who first broke the embrace. She pulled back
and, not looking at DJ, began to speak.
"The injuries I suffered were severe. When the entry plug was
crushed it did a lot of internal damage. They were able to save my
life, and they tell me I should make a full recovery. Except..."
"Except?" DJ asked gently.
Asuka raised her eyes to meet his. "Except I will never be
able to have children."
Her face remained impassive for a long moment, as a single
tear rolled down her cheek. And then the levee broke and she threw
herself against DJ, howling, "I'll never have children!"
When she had calmed down enough to hear him, DJ spoke in
hushed tones. "I didn't realize it was so important to you."
Between sobs, Asuka answered. "My entire family is dead. I'm
the last one of my line. Ever since my parents died I'd dreamed of
someday having children. Building a family, continuing the line.
Now... now that will never happen. When I die, the Langley line dies
with me."
"Oh, my love. I'm sorry."
There was nothing else to be said, so they sat, embracing, in
silence.

Misato's blue Z pulled up in front of the modest house owned
by Ritsuko Akagi, a few blocks off Lincoln Street in northern
Worcester, and Ritsuko climbed out, then leaned into the passenger
doorway.
"Thanks for the lift, Misato." Ritsuko paused for a moment,
then brightened as an idea struck. "Hey - do you want to go for a
drink? It's been a long time since we did that."
Misato shook her head. "Sorry, Rit' - I can't. I've got some
other stuff I have to do tonight. Maybe next week sometime?"
Though feeling inexplicably depressed by the negative response
Ritsuko only shrugged. "Sure, whatever. What's important enough to
keep you out on a night like this?" she asked, gesturing at the rather
heavily falling snow and hoping to change Misato's mind.
Misato smiled, her eyes far away. "I have a promise to keep."
That cleared matters up for Ritsuko not at all, but she wasn't
in the mood to play twenty questions with her old roommate, so instead
she wished Misato a good night and shut the door.
As she unlocked the door to her house, Ritsuko turned and
watched the taillights of Misato's Z pause at the corner, then
disappear into the snowy night. She knew it was foolish, but she
couldn't shake a feeling of rejection.
"Well, how do you like that," she observed. "Soon as we know
DJ's all right, she's off to meet some guy, I'll bet. Well, I guess
at least one of us deserves to be happy tonight." Entering the house
and stamping the snow from her boots, she sighed. "I suppose I
shouldn't jump to conclusions."
As she entered her house, before she could turn on the lights,
she felt something warm and soft rubbing against her legs. "Hey there
Chandra, how's my baby?" she asked, flipping on the lights and
crouching to scratch the cat between his ears.
*Purrrr* was her answer.
"Well, looks like it's just the two of us again. You as
hungry as I am?"
*Meow*
As she made her way to the kitchen she continued talking to
the cat, a habit that had only increased as of late. "Well, I'm
feeling a little naughty tonight. What do you say we just make
complete pigs of ourselves, eh?"
Chandra just looking at her, blinking.
Five minutes later Chandra was busily devouring the can of
Fancy Feast Ritsuko had placed on his dish. Ritsuko herself was
sprawled on her couch, legs up, with the TV on and a huge bowl of
Breyer's strawberry ice cream, smothered in Hershey's chocolate syrup
and a healthy dollop of Cool Whip, in her lap. She sat in the dark,
half-watching some old B movie on cable, slowly consuming the
monstrosity, and thinking.

At length, the medtechs came by and shooed DJ out of Asuka's
room; by then she had fallen asleep, and they'd found him
contemplating her quiescent face with a sad and wistful look. Told to
leave, he didn't put up a fuss; instead, he rose from the bedside
chair he'd ended up in, placed a gentle kiss on her sleeping forehead
(eliciting a murmur and smile without waking her), and departed.
It was no night to be riding his motorcycle home, though he
felt up to it and the machine had been well cared for by the NERV
motor pool in his absence. Standing next to it in the NERV garage, he
sighed, acknowledging this fact, and then turned to go back to the
office and see about bumming a ride home from somebody.
Having turned, he found himself facing a tallish man in a
black suit. Since he recognized the man's face, though, this didn't
particularly intimidate him.
"Evening, Jon," he said. "You didn't turn up for the
autograph party in Medical, I was starting to think you didn't miss
me."
"Had some things to do," said Jon with a smile. He extended a
hand, but DJ used it to pull him into an embrace. Jon was a little
taken aback, but not too much.
"It's good to have you back," he said as they separated. He
fought the urge to straighten his tie. "For a minute there we were
afraid you wouldn't make it."
DJ shrugged. "For a minute there," he confided, "-I- was
afraid I wouldn't make it."
"How much do you remember?" asked Jon.
"Not a lot," replied DJ. "I think I dreamed, but it's all
slipped away from me." He blinked, looking a little alarmed.
"Where's Rei?"
Jon frowned thoughtfully. "I'm not sure. She left right
after the infirmary told us you'd be OK."
"But she's all right?" DJ pressed.
"Of course she's all right. I'd know if she wasn't," replied
Jon.
DJ sighed. "Of course. Never mind. I just had the most
awful feeling... " He shook his head. "I'm just a little wobbly
still, I guess."
Jon nodded. "Understandable." He pulled an object out of his
pocket and handed it to DJ, who took a couple of seconds to realize it
was a key ring. "I have to stay here for a while longer. Why don't
you take my car for the evening? I'll hitch a ride home from J when
we're done."
"You're sure?"
"Sure, it won't be a problem."
"Well, OK, then."
"Tomorrow," said Jon, "we need to talk."
DJ nodded. "I'll look for you."
Jon stood and watched his friend drive away, his face
pensive.

As he drove up the S490, DJ considered his options for the
evening. It seemed to him that he should be tired, and want nothing
more after his ordeal than to go home and sleep, but he wasn't and he
didn't, particularly. To the contrary, he felt peculiarly energized.
Not wired, as if he'd had too much coffee or anything like that, but
rested and refreshed. Part of it, he mused, might be because of the
snowfall; he had always enjoyed snow.
He shivered a little and turned up the Avenger's heater, then
smiled as an impulse struck him. As the car reached the surface, he
took the turnoff for Gold Star Boulevard instead of staying on I-290,
and headed for the Greendale Mall.
Twenty minutes later, he emerged, whistling a happy tune,
swinging the bag that held his old clothes around his free hand as he
fished the keys to the Avenger out of the pocket of his new gray wool
overcoat. Here was a point at which his opinions and those of his
mother diverged: Lara Croft had never had much use for clothes other
than to keep the important bits covered. DJ, though, had some small
appreciation for the elements of style. Sometimes, if it wasn't too
much trouble. One of the reasons he liked cold weather was because it
gave him an excuse to wear bulky overcoats, scarves, and those cool
commando sweaters with the cloth bits on the shoulders and elbows. He
was especially fond of those sweaters.
Now, as he drove homeward, he was struck by another impulse.
Since it seemed to be the evening for obeying impulses, he turned off
before Lee Street and instead worked his way up the hill, and ended up
in front of Bancroft Tower. Here, he stopped the car and got out.

/* L. van Beethoven Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor 'quasi una
fantasia', Op. 27, No. 2 ("Moonlight") */

Standing next to the black car, looking out through the
falling snow at Worcester-3, DJ took a deep, cold breath and blew it
out again in a great cloud of vapor, feeling so good just to be alive,
however crazed the world had become.
He turned and crunched over the newfall across the parking
area to the gates of the tower complex. As he did so, he realized
that he wasn't alone. His eyes flicked up to the rim of the miniature
turret standing on the right side of the walkway to the Tower, to see
Rei Ayanami standing there.
He climbed the steps to the inside of the turret, walked
around the stone 'table' in the middle of it, and stood facing Rei for
a few seconds. Neither of them spoke as the moment stretched taut.
Then, silently, she stepped forward and hugged him, her arms
slipping inside his unbuttoned overcoat and crossing his back as she
pressed the side of her face to his chest. He smiled and closed his
own arms over her shoulders, drawing the coat closed around them.
They stood, a pool of warmth on a chilly night, for almost ten minutes
before Rei spoke.
"I'm sorry," she said softly.
"What?" said DJ.
"I never told you all you needed to know," Rei murmured. "I
was... I was selfish. I was afraid you would draw away if you knew
the truth. I'm sorry."
DJ held her silently for a few more seconds, then said gently,
"Rei, do you remember when we fought the Fifth Angel?"
"Of course," she replied.
"Do you remember what I told you afterward?"
Rei looked up at him, tears tracking her face. "Which part?"
"The part where I said you never needed apologize to me."
"I remember... but... "
"You know, there was a time when I actually resented the
connection you and Jon have," said DJ abstractedly, his eyes focused
in the middle distance. "I thought... thought I knew you better, had
known you longer... deserved you more. I was completely smitten with
you from the moment I first saw you, dreadful as the situation was."
"I - " said Rei.
"You're about to apologize again," said DJ; she stopped and
looked abashed. "It's all right, I got over it. Well, the resentment
part, anyway. I think I'll always be smitten with you," he added,
grinning. "But I've had to face facts. You and Jon... well, not to
put too fine a point on it, you -were- made for each other."
"Jon... " Rei stopped, and a little color came into her
cheeks. "Jon wouldn't mind sharing."
DJ laughed, a sound not of scorn but of pure merriment. "I
bet he wouldn't at that," he said, his eyes twinkling, "but it's not
the way I'm wired. I... " He paused, his amusement slipping a
little. "I'm not sure -what- Asuka is to me, or I am to her, but
until we know, to do anything else would be foolish. Besides - you
two are the brave new world, I'm afraid, and I'm much too
old-fashioned to keep up with you." He tightened his arms around her
for a couple of seconds, then added, "I do reserve the right to do
this from time to time, though."
"Any time you like," she replied.
More minutes passed in silence.
Then, softly, regretfully, Rei said, "I have to go."
"Can I give you a lift?" asked DJ.
"No, that's all right," she said. "I have my own way."
"Of doing just about everything," he added, grinning; then he
kissed her on the forehead and let her back out of his coat. "I'll
see you tomorrow, though, yes?"
"Of course," she replied. "Good night, DJ."
"Good night, Rei."
He watched her walk away down the hill, stood looking at the
city for a while, then went back to the Avenger and drove off the
other way.
Behind and above the spot where DJ and Rei had stood, at the
top of Bancroft Tower, Kevin Nelson stood, hands in his coat pockets,
the wind whipping his coattails around picturesquely.
Kevin smiled to himself, and then, without apparent effort,
jumped from the Tower to the top of a tree at the edge of the
clearing, his landing amid the topmost branches not even shaking off
the snow. From there, he jumped to another tree, thence another,
thence a rooftop, until he was gone, vanished into the snowy night.

DJ parked the car by the curb in front of his apartment
building and rode up in the elevator, keyed his way into Apartment
3-D, and discovered it quiet and empty. Pen-Pen's refrigerator was
shut; the bird was probably sleeping. Asuka was, of course, in the
infirmary, and Misato was nowhere to be found; but there was a piece
of paper on the kitchen table, and DJ picked it up, unfolded it, and
read:

DJ -

Please go to the Crowne Plaza Hotel downtown. There's something
important there you need to see. All will be explained.

- M

Folded into the paper was a plastic keycard with the logo of
the Crowne Plaza printed on one side.
Puzzled, DJ tucked the keycard into the inside pocket of his
jacket, looked around the kitchen in confusion, and then left the
apartment.

DJ wondered, as he entered the Crowne Plaza, just which room
he was supposed to be going to. There was nothing printed on the
keycard to tell him, and he'd feel a right git going to the front desk
to ask. It occurred to him, though, that most high-end hotels like
this used the keycards to access the elevators as well as the rooms -
if that were the case he'd at least end up on the right floor. So he
didn't bother asking, and just went to the elevator and slotted the
card.
With a soft chime, the button labeled P, all the way at the
top of the control panel, lit up. DJ looked at the keycard in
surprise. The penthouse suite?
The elevator arrived on the twenty-fifth floor in a few
seconds, and the doors opened onto a short corridor leading to a
single unmarked door. His curiosity raging, DJ went to the door,
slotted the card into the security panel next to it, and watched with
satisfaction as it showed a green LED and unlocked the door.
He hung up his overcoat and took off his boots out of habit in
the foyer that door opened into, then proceeded into the living room
of the suite, a large and comfortably appointed room with a row of
windows that looked out over the downtown area, a big flatscreen TV, a
wet bar and all the trimmings.
Of course, he was paying attention to none of that.
For, standing in the middle of the room and waiting for him,
was Misato Katsuragi, impeccably attired in her black NERV dress
uniform, its double row of silver buttons polished to a bright gleam.
She wore no makeup, but her bright eyes and the light flush on her
cheeks made it unnecessary in any event.
"Hi, DJ," she said with a smile. "I'm glad you came."
"What's this all about?" DJ wondered.
Misato glanced down and said, almost shyly, "I wanted to make
this night as special for both of us as I could... "
["When I get back, you owe me an evening of your -undivided-
attention, love."
"You'll get it. I promise."]
The kiss earlier. The look in her eyes.
["I missed you."]
DJ gasped.
"Misato - !"
Misato went to the overstuffed white leather sofa and sat down
at one end, patting the cushion next to her. "Have a seat... let's
talk for a while. Room service ought to be along any minute."
For the next couple of hours, they sat, ate, and talked -
about the past month, the indeterminate future, the others, current
events, everything, nothing at all. Constantly their eyes would meet;
constantly each would feel the sparks - and yet they were relaxed,
letting events flow at their own pace, savoring the buildup. Both
knew this sort of circumstance was unlikely to happen again.
"On Christmas Eve," he said softly, a sentimental smile
forming on his face, "Mum always lets me open one of my gifts early."
Misato grinned. "Maybe we should go shopping, then."
He leaned back and slipped an arm behind Misato, smiling as
she nestled warmly against him. "No, I'm not greedy... and I've one
great gift already." His smile turned sly as he added, "One I intend
to take my time unwrapping... "
Misato chuckled and leaned closer, her hair brushing against
his ear; she met his eyes with her own and smiled happily.
"DJ?" she murmured.
"Yes, Misato?" he replied, his voice equally subdued.
"I... " She hesitated, then chuckled at her own nervousness.
You've come this far, she told herself, the time for hesitation is
long past... and anyway, there's nothing to hesitate about. You have
nothing to fear from the truth.
"I love you," Misato said.
DJ had known it for quite a while, of course, but he'd never
heard her say it before. He felt his eyes filling as a wave of
emotion swept over him - pure, sweet, untainted love for this
beautiful woman who had formed the cornerstone of his life here in
Worcester-3 from the very beginning. Friend, foil, protector,
protected, leader, follower... their roles had meshed together in such
intricate ways that no one had ever truly understood their
relationship but they themselves.
He took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers, and kissed
her gently before replying, "I love you, too."
Then he grinned. "Now! Let's get down to business."

Two hours later, the clock approached midnight.
Misato's jacket lay draped across the arm of the couch where
it had been haphazardly tossed.
On the television screen, no one was watching a tape-delayed
re-run of an Australian Touring Car race.
From the next room came the faint sounds of people greatly
enjoying themselves:
"Aha! Take -that-, smartass! 92 points."
"What?! That's an illegal play!"
"No it's not, it's perfectly valid."
"You can't take a triple word score or -any- word score with
bloody 'Evangelion'."
"And why not?"
"Well it's a bloody proper noun, isn't it!"
"No it isn't."
"Besides, it's not in the dictionary."
"So? It's a real word anyway."
"Look, if you don't retract that play immediately I shall be
forced to lodge a formal complaint with the National Scrabble
Association."
"Oh, stop whingeing."
"'Whingeing'?"
"What can I say, you're turning me into a Brit."
"My revenge for you turning me into an American. I can't
believe I prefer my beer cold now."
"Tragedy."
"Oi, Pen-Pen, -that- isn't even a word!"
"Waugh!"
"... I'll be damned, it -is- a word."
"DJ, the penguin's beating both of us."
"Humbling, isn't it... "

/* J. Pachelbel Canon in D Major */

At the stroke of midnight, as the snow continued to fall on
the sleeping city of Worcester, Jon Ellison arrived home to an
unexpected but certainly welcome doorway hug by Rei Ayanami, who he'd
expected to have retired for the evening by now.
Otto Keller was on the telephone with his father and mother in
Germany, where it was early morning. Admiral Keller was asking after
the health of the young people he'd met at sea that summer, and it
gave the Colonel considerable pleasure to be able to tell the old man
they were fine.
Ritsuko Akagi sat on her couch at home, scratching Chandra and
watching an old movie on cable. She wished briefly for an angel to
come and show her what the world would have been like had -she- never
been born.
John Trussell and Maya Ibuki were at Truss's apartment,
watching the same movie. They held hands, and Maya leaned against
Truss's shoulder, and Truss couldn't help but feel that all was as it
was supposed to be.
Ken Stanfield and Jim Edwards were in a booth at the Kenmore
Diner, savoring the chili and the momentary lack of any pressing need
for action.
Hal exchanged situational data with the triumvirate of 9000
Series computers at X-COM Halifax.
Kevin Nelson stood at the top of the highest point in
Worcester - the very tip of the radiotelecommunications antenna atop
the Fleet Tower downtown - with his hands in his coat pockets, and
smiled contentedly.
Gendou Ikari sat in his office, staring dispassionately at the
framed photo of his estranged son that sat, incongruous amid the
severe sterility of purpose that was Gendou Ikari's life, on the
corner of his desk.
DJ Croft, Misato Katsuragi and Pen-Pen remained engaged in
gleeful cruciverbalism.
And Asuka Soryu-Langley, free of casts, wires, and despair,
slept the sleep of the just.
For a moment, if only just, NERV's slogan came close to being
true.

/* The Ventures "Blue Moon" _Walk - Don't Run_ */

NEXT EPISODE:

Information-sharing, a bit of B&E and the return of an old familiar
face...

NEON EXODUS EVANGELION 3:3
THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION
8/14/98

[PRODUCTION NOTE FROM GRYPHON: Personally, I prefer the Don Dorsey
arrangement of Beethoven's Sonata No. 14 for the appropriate cue; I
feel that it fits the slightly futuristic tone of the setting best.
YMM, as always, V. Also, only the first movement (the Adagio
sostenuto) should be used in the cue.]

** AND NOW... **
EYRIE PRODUCTIONS, UNLIMITED proudly presents:
NEON EXODUS EVANGELION BONUS THEATER!!

[COMMERCIAL]

[INTERIOR DAY. JON ELLISON sits in a makeup chair, getting ready for
a shoot. As he talks, makeup people brush back his hair and apply
foundation to his face.]

JE: Well, yes, we're one of the more popular fan fiction series
currently out, but I'd say we're handling fame well. It certainly
hasn't gone to our heads, or anything.

[EXTERIOR DAY. Outside the Eyrie studios. A long line of beautiful
young females is standing, autograph books in hand, waiting eagerly
for something. The camera pans slowly up the line, showing girls of
every body size and shape (but all attractive), finally panning up to
the head of the line, where a flipper guides a pen across a glossy
photograph of Pen-Pen looking particularly non sequiturish.]

WOMAN: Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!! I'll treasure
this for as long as I live! Oh, you are so marvelous!!

PEN-PEN: Waugh. Waugh?

[CAPTION: This is Evangelion. (E P U)]

[END COMMERCIAL]

NEON EXODUS EVANGELION

THE OUTTAKE REEL

- -- ---- -------- ---- -- -

A moment later, there came the chime of another intercom
channel opening, and Ikari announced without preamble, "The
replacement is useless. You will do it instead."
DJ began to feel as if he had accidentally dropped through a
wormhole in time and space and into an Ingmar Bergman movie. A few
moments later, the feeling was intensified as a door at the far end of
the catwalk opened and three men in medical greens wheeled in a
gurney. On the gurney was a penguin, DJ guessed more or less his own
age, and looking rather the worse for wear. Its legs were swathed in
bandages, one wing wore a cast, and there was a loop of gauze around
its head securing a pad over its right eye. An IV in its unencasted
left wing dripped a clear solution from a bag held above it by a
bracket on the side of the gurney. It had disheveled black wings
which glinted midnight blue under the harsh lights of the bay, and the
feathers surrounding its eyes were ash-white, the palest DJ had ever
seen.
As it passed, it looked up at DJ with its good eye, and for
just an instant, their gazes - DJ's blue, wavering between residual
anger and mounting bemusement, the penguin's a deep green and
unreadable - met. As that instant stretched glassy thin, DJ felt
curiously calm and focused, as if the preternatural calm with which it
was taking these events had seeped into him through the momentary eye
contact. He felt an unspeakable kinship with the flightless
waterfowl, an undefinable longing for more and deeper contact... as if
here was someone he could happily tell all his secrets to, here was
someone who could confide implicitly in him.
Then the moment shattered, time resumed its normal pace, the
gurney was past and the feeling was swept away, and for a moment, DJ
felt quite cheated. He turned, all blank of mind, and watched as the
medtechs removed the IV and the brave bird struggled to a sitting
position, beads of sweat breaking on its forehead from the exertion or
the pain. It breathed sharply through its clenched beak, wings folded
over as if to form fists, one visible eye narrowed in obvious anguish.
DJ looked up to the booth, and the message in Ikari's
expressionless eyes was clear: do what I want, or I'll send this
penguin to die in your place. For there was no doubt in DJ's mind
that if it went out there in its current condition, it would not
survive.
Shaking his head in disbelief, DJ wheeled around to glare at
Gendou. "You people are all completely mad!" he shouted. "Send the
penguin, see if I care."
"Waugh!" concurred the bedridden bird.

Anyone who had kept a straight face up to that point lost it
completely. After five minutes, someone on the set finally regained
the composure to speak.
"My compliments to the costume department on the plug suit."

- -- ---- -------- ---- -- -

DJ flushed. "Right, that's enough, by God," he growled. "Get
out. Get out -right now-."
"You're gonna make me?" Kaji asked, taking his hand out of
Misato's partially unbuttoned blouse and standing. "In case you
haven't noticed, I'm a lot bigger than you are."
"Fine by me," DJ replied without hesitation. "I'm a lot
angrier than you are."
"All right, then," said Kaji, scowling as he pushed up his
sleeves. "Let's dance, you little snot."
"Fine," DJ said. He made as if to remove his jacket, and
suddenly his left hand was full of metal. The muzzle of his automatic
gazed unwinkingly at Kaji, as if daring him to act.
"I'll lead," said DJ humorlessly from behind his .45. "Get
out."
There was a long moment of silence as the pair stared
menacingly at each other. Then, Kaji's eyes began to flit back and
forth, focusing first on the barrel of DJ's weapon, then over to
Misato's bed, and finally on a spot on in space above and behind DJ's
head. His lower lip twisted into a frown of concentration.
"And you've forgotten your next line, haven't you?" DJ
inquired with his trademark rakish grin.
"Yep," replied Kaji, chuckling and planting is face in his
left hand, as the tension of the moment faded into bursts of laughter.
A moment later, a pillow flew from an unseen portion of
Misato's bedroom and smacked Kaji square on the head.

- -- ---- -------- ---- -- -

"Evangelion Unit 02 - launch!" Asuka ordered, and the red
machine heaved itself to its feet, head and shoulders tearing through
the tarpaulin as it raised itself out of the open hatchway.
To one side, the familiar clock display of battery power
appeared, but to DJ's consternation, it started counting at 1:00.00.
"Only one minute of battery power?" he inquired.
"The test type's five-minute batteries were deemed a
superfluous waste of tonnage," Asuka replied. "They slow the unit
down."
"Not half as much as running out of bloody power," DJ said.
"Here comes the Angel," said Asuka. "Hang on!"
With a mighty leap, EVA-02 hurled itself from the hold of the
Freitag moments before the speeding Angel knifed through her and sent
her to the bottom.

"Uh, Major Katsuragi," said Commander Mueller. "Were you
aware that EVA-02 was shipped with Type B equipment fitted?"
"Type B?!" Misato replied, aghast.

Aboard EVA-02, overhearing, DJ cast a dubious eye toward the
water speeding up below and said, "Great, so if we fall in the sea,
we've had it."
"And if we don't, we'll be fine, right?" Asuka replied, a
split second before the EVA crashed down a full five hundred feet
short of the destroyer, disappearing beneath the blue-green waves and
producing a towering backlash of water and surf which threatened to
capsize the mighty Deutschland.
"Not a -word-," growled Asuka's voice over the radio.
"'She's going for no splash,'" quoted DJ.
"'In her dreams, Bob!'" replied Misato, before breaking down
into laughter.
"Damn you! I -said-, not a word..."

- -- ---- -------- ---- -- -

[TAKE ONE]

DJ looked skeptically across at her. "You went to college?"
"Yeah, I graduated last year. That's the main reason I think
it's stupid to send us to a local high school - or at least to send
me. I already know anything they might care to teach me. Like this,
for example," she said, picking up the book and indicating the problem
Jon had been pondering a few minutes before. "Thermal expansion and
contraction. Easy stuff. Materials expand as they're heated and
contract when cooled because their temperature changes the size of
their electrons' orbits. I didn't even learn that in school."
"Very impressive," said Jon dryly.
"There are some things I do wonder about, though." She looked
curiously down at her own chest, placing her hands on either side of
her swimsuit top, and suddenly dissolved into a fit of giggles. "I'm
sorry," she finally managed to utter between gasps, "can we do this
again?"

[TAKE TWO]

"Very impressive," said Jon dryly.
"There are some things I do wonder about, though." She looked
curiously down at her own chest, placing her hands on either side of
her swimsuit top. "I wonder if that means my breasts will expand..."
That was all she managed to say before her composure crumbled again.
"Don't we all?" interjected DJ, causing Asuka to fall to the
ground.

[TAKE THREE]

"Very impressive," said Jon dryly.
This time, Asuka was unable to manage a single word. After
finally catching her breath, her face still beet red, she exclaimed,
"this line is just so -ludicrous-!"

[TAKE TEN]

"Very impressive," said Jon dryly.
"There are some things I do wonder about, though." She looked
curiously down at her own chest, placing her hands on either side of
her swimsuit top, and mused, "I wonder if that means my breasts will
expand if I heat them."
Without hesitation, Jon deadpanned, "That's the dumbest
question I've ever heard."
Asuka's look of triumph warped into one of utter shock.
Now it was Jon's turn to give in to laughter, rendering him
completely unable to defend himself as Asuka shoved him off balance
and into the pool, her cry of "You -bastard-!" echoing across the
natatorium.

- -- ---- -------- ---- -- -

The beam lanced out, streaked over EVA-00, and plunged
straight through the heart of the floating Angel, blowing a great
chunk out of the diamond's back side and bringing the whole thing
crashing unceremoniously down into Institute Park.
As the brightness of the Angel's beam snapped off like a blown
light bulb, EVA-00, its orange armor sagging and smoking, stumbled,
then crashed face-first to the ground. DJ dropped the particle beam
rifle and skidded EVA-01 down the side of the mountain on the soles of
its feet, knelt it at the fallen prototype's side, latched onto the
armor plate over the entry plug, tore it off, and extracted the plug
manually. Then he shut his EVA down, ejected his own entry plug, and
climbed forth, hacking and heaving the LCL out of his lungs into the
night air as he stumbled toward the smoking Unit 00 plug, which lay
across the palm of EVA-01's outstretched right hand on the ground
before him.
"Rei!" he called, though she couldn't possibly hear him with
the power off and the hatch closed. He cursed copiously as he
wrenched at the heat-expanded dogging handles on the prototype entry
plug's hatch, not noticing as the palms of his plug suit gloves burned
away and his flesh sizzled against the hot metal; then, with a
squealing, tearing cry, the hatch gave way entirely. Propelled by
a forceful outpouring of LCL, the door flew back abruptly. DJ, still
holding the latch, was simply along for the ride. He managed to hit
the ground feet first, but the uneven footing of Mount Wachusett's
rocky slopes and the inertia of the hatch conspired to keep DJ from
remaining upright. Realizing that he was about to be crushed by the
falling slab of metal, he shoved off with all his might. With a
heavy THUD, the plug's hatch finally came to rest six inches from
DJ... who had landed painfully on a dried-up bush.
Twelve feet away, Rei got up from her seat, splashed through
the remaining LCL, poked her head out of the now-open doorway, and
surveyed the scene. Without changing her expression, she brought her
hands together under her chin, cocked her head slightly to one side,
and said softly, "My hero."
"mEDiC..." groaned DJ in reply.

- -- ---- -------- ---- -- -

"If this is a bad time - " DJ began; then she reached him,
snatching away the glasses. He tried to take a step back from the
sudden, unexpected fierceness in her eyes, but before he made it a
half-step he ran into the dresser; thus unbalanced, he had to do a
quickstep to try to keep from crashing backward with the item of
furniture, in the process making quite a mess. This was brought up
short by Rei's proximity - he couldn't complete the step without
treading on her bare feet with his boots - and, completely
overbalanced now, he toppled forward, letting out in vain an
inarticulate and too-late warning cry.
With a crash, they both fell to the floor, Rei on her back and
DJ atop her; he managed to come down on his knees, one knee between
hers, and with those and his outstretched right hand, which brushed
her left side and solidly struck the floor, kept most of his weight
off her.
For a very long moment, they remained frozen there, DJ
wide-eyed and terrified that he'd hurt her, Rei gazing
expressionlessly up at him - apparently unconcerned. His horror at
the accident faded as he looked down at her, replaced by that strange
feeling of mixed perception and longing he'd felt at their first
meeting, and as it had then, the moment stretched.
And broke as Rei smiled and sang:
"Some enchanted evening / You will meet a stranger / You will
see a stranger / Across a crowded room... "
DJ fell sideways, rolled on his back, and lay helplessly
wracked with laughter as Rei continued to sing.

- -- ---- -------- ---- -- -

Ikari flipped a page in his questionnaire. When he spoke
again, his voice carried a new tone of urgency:
"Is your partner a co-worker?"
DJ nodded. "In one! Shall we play Twenty Questions?"
"Yes," replied Ikari, his voice stony. "Is she bigger than a
breadbox?"
"Ahem... Is -what- bigger than a breadbox?" DJ replied,
slightly taken aback.
"You will answer the question."
"That's rather personal. I don't think I'm at liberty to
say," DJ replied mildly.
"It was not a request!" Ikari barked, and DJ raised an
eyebrow, clearly surprised at this outburst from the Icy Commander.
"This is a military organization, and I am your superior. You will
-stop- stealing all the best lines, you will -not- force me to perform
as your straight man in every scene." He pushed his glasses up his
nose before continuing, "Now, give me an answer."
With a casual shrug, DJ answered "Well, if you put it that
way... just a moment." He leaned back in his chair, held up his hands
in various orientations as if to gauge the size of some invisible
object, then rubbed his chin in thought. "I'd have to say 'yes.'"
Ikari's eyes widened. "Fascinating," he remarked as he
scribbled furious notes on his clipboard.
"Next question?" DJ impatiently inquired.
Ikari paused, then leaned forward. A mischevious grin on his
face, he asked, "Is it in this room?"
DJ snorted. "Oh, don't you -wish-."
Ikari slammed a fist down on the conference table. "I won't
tolerate your attempts at comedy any longer!" he declared, standing
and leaning over the table toward the boy. "You will cease your
endless one-upsmanship and follow orders, or you will be removed from
the program!"
DJ got to his own feet and replied, "The program you all but
shanghai'd me into in the first place? How generous of you! The
great Gendou Ikari, whose is the power to bind and to loose. Go ahead
and throw me out - I've half a mind to take the others with me when I
go!" He turned, and headed for the door.
"It's also the organization that clears you to drive a
motorcycle."
DJ froze mid-stride, turned around, gave Gendou the iciest of
glares, and walked back to his chair. "All right, damn you, carry
on," he muttered, leaning on the backrest as he stood.
His calm demeanor restored, Ikari continued, "Is it alive?"
"-That's- it!" shouted DJ, throwing the chair on its side.
"You can finish this without me."
Ikari followed, his cry of "I'm appalled at your conduct,
Croft!" resounding in the room before the door closed behind them and
left those working the set in a stunned silence.

"Can we use that?" asked one offstage voice.
"Absolutely -not-," was the firm reply.
"Well, if you lose that film, I'm going to hurt you."

/* J.P. Sousa "The Liberty Bell" */

NEON EXODUS EVANGELION BONUS THEATER!!
was conceived, written and performed by

Ben Hutchins
John Trussell
Rei Ayanami
Asuka Soryu-Langley
DJ Croft
Jon Ellison
Gendou Ikari
Ritsuko Akagi
Maya Ibuki
Misato Katsuragi

and featured
Pen-Pen
as himself

"This is Evangelion" ad spot #3 written by Kris Overstreet

(c) 1998

E P U (Colour)

--
_O_ Benjamin D. Hutchins, cofounder, Continuity Line Editor, webmaster
[. .] Racing enthusiast, SCCA member, and general gearhead. DTFC 6296
- Eyrie Productions, Unlimited - An AnimeTech Limited Company -><-
Cyberleader Darul says: Visit us on the Web at http://www.eyrie.net/