AN: I guess I need to address a couple of points that have been raised about how the story is progressing. First, yeah, I did deliberately skip the 10th and 11th angels. I couldn't see Ranma affecting the outcome of those events and I really didn't want to rehash the NGE story any more than I already am. I meant to mention that they had appeared and were dealt with, but I wasn't able to work it in. Sorry, my bad. Another point that was mentioned was that Ranma didn't seem to be changing the last couple of events much with his foreknowledge. There are three reasons for this. One, Ranma has to keep this knowledge close to the vest to prevent Gendo and SEELE from becoming suspicious. Two, Ranma realizes that he can't change things to a great extent just yet or his foreknowledge will become useless. Therefore, he's operating under the premise of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it.' The third reason is simply because, as was stated earlier, if events are given half a chance to happen the same way, they most likely will. This will begin to change soon, starting with this chapter. Once again, thanks for reading and all the wonderful reviews! --------------------------------------------------------------------- The following afternoon, the group gathered together to view the fourth tape. The fiancées were at once both lighter-hearted at the prospect of Ranma getting to return, and depressed over the fact that Ranma had not only fallen in love with the two female characters in the show, but had also been intimate with them. Cologne and Nodoka were anxiously waiting to see the story through to the end. They had both picked up on the fact that Bastet had said that Ranma could very well die before it was over. The others ignored that bit of information as it was, to them, inconceivable. Ranma didn't lose after all. After everyone settled down, Nabiki started the tape. (oO\O/Oo) Ranma awoke once again sandwiched between Rei and Asuka. While ostensibly he still had his own room, the three had continued to sleep together because they found it kept the nightmares at bay, letting them get a better night's sleep. The pigtailed martial artist carefully worked his way free of the two sleeping girls who moaned in protest at the loss of warmth. He smiled as he watched them move together, cuddling up to each other as he made his way to the furoba to begin his morning. In his head he was working on trying to figure out how he was going to save Toji later today. While Rei and Asuka were certainly far better pilots than they had been in the original series at this time, he knew that taking the angel on one at a time would be impossible if they wanted to save the pilot. No, it was going to take a team effort. (oO\O/Oo) "The Fourth Child has arrived, Ma'am," one of the Matsushiro techs informed Ritsuko and Misato as they sat in the cafeteria drinking coffee. "Alright, get him suited up and ready for the activation test," Ritsuko said. "We'll be up in the control room momentarily." "Yes, Ma'am," the tech said. "Well, I guess this is it," Misato said nervously. "Really, Misato, you would think you'd be more excited," Ritsuko teased. "When the activation tests are complete, Unit 03 will be assigned to your command. You'll be getting a lot of responsibility." "Yeah, with four Eva's under someone's command they could like...take over the world or something," Misato laughed weakly. Ritsuko grimaced at this, knowing what she did about Gendo's plans. "Still have a bad feeling?" Ritsuko asked as they headed for the control room. Misato nodded. (oO\O/Oo) Toji admired his black plug suit in the mirror of the locker room. He looked better than Ranma, he concluded with a wry grin. He wondered how Hikari would react seeing him like this. He grinned at the thought, but he was interrupted by a tech coming in. "Let's go, Kid, it's time," the tech said. Toji followed the tech out to a platform where his control chair was waiting. Climbing into his chair, he gave the tech a thumbs-up and the chair was raised up and inserted in the entry plug. Once the plug was sealed, Toji was left to wait in the dim emergency lighting inside the plug. (oO\O/Oo) Up in the control room, Ritsuko gave the order to insert the entry plug. As the nerve connections began to appear on the status board everyone held their collective breath as the indicators approached the activation threshold. The last light before the threshold mark flickered dramatically before it illuminated, followed by the next one, which would indicate a successful activation. However, as soon as the threshold was reached, alarms began to sound. Ritsuko immediately ordered the Eva be shut down, but the techs reported that the Eva wasn't responding. They watched in horror as the Eva thrashed about in its cage. "Eject the entry plug!" Ritsuko commanded. "Ma'am, we can't. It's stuck," the tech reported after attempting to eject the plug. (oO\O/Oo) A huge pillar of smoke and flame rocketed into the air from the direction of the Matsushiro test site. People back at the NERV command center were working feverishly to figure out what was going on as Gendo Ikari sat impassively from his position overlooking the command center. "Sir, we have a Pattern Orange detected," a tech reported. "We cannot confirm an angel." "Get me a video feed from Matsushiro," Gendo ordered. A window opened on the giant display screen. It showed a view of the hills in the Matsushiro area. As the people in NERV control watched, a black shape lumbered into view. "It's an Eva!" one of the techs gasped. "It's Unit 03!" "Shut it down," Gendo ordered. "Sir, it's not responding!" Hyuga reported. "What is the status of the pilot?" Gendo asked. "We are receiving life signs but..." Hyuga trailed off with a shrug. "Eject the entry plug," Gendo said. "It's no good, Sir, the plug seems to be stuck!" Hyuga said after trying. "Very well," Gendo said. "Reclassify Unit 03 as the thirteenth angel and deploy units 00 through 02." Everyone in the control room gasped. "But Sir, what about the pilot?" Hyuga asked. "The angel must be stopped or we will all die," Gendo said. "Yes Sir," Hyuga said glumly. "Preparing Eva's for air lift to Matsushiro." (oO\O/Oo) "Okay, listen up, girls," Ranma said over the comm. "We know that Unit 03 was possessed by an angel. My priority is to rescue Toji and then destroy the angel." "Your priority is to destroy the angel," Gendo cut in. "Shut up, you ole geezer, if I wanted your opinion I'd beat it out of you," Ranma snarled. "That's my friend in there and I WILL get him out before we take that angel down. Okay, Asuka, Rei, here's the plan..." Ranma explained the plan he had come up with while Gendo was raging internally at Ranma's impertinence. (oO\O/Oo) Ranma was standing in the middle of the street with his Eva's arms crossed over its chest when the possessed Eva lumbered into view. It sighted him and paused for a moment before leaping into the air to close the distance with a roar. The angel landed just out of reach before Ranma. Its arms shot out toward Ranma, elongating grotesquely in an effort to grab Unit 01. Ranma, far from surprised by this, grabbed the outstretched arms by the wrists. The plan was for Rei to go in low and take the angel's legs out from under it, but they hadn't anticipated the strength of the angel. Ranma found himself smashed into a building. Still he maintained his grip. "Rei, grab an arm," Ranma gasped as he was slammed into another building. "It's too strong for me to hold both its arms, but one of us on each might be able to hold it steady!" "Roger," Rei said, moving in and grasping one of the arms. "Okay, we've got it, move in now, Asuka!" Ranma commanded. The red Eva came charging around the corner behind the angel. "On my way," Asuka announced. It was then that Rei started screaming. Ranma looked over and could see what appeared to be veins spreading up the arms of Rei's Eva and cursed. He had forgotten about the contamination thing, which was why he had originally wanted Rei to take the legs in hopes that she could avoid that problem. (oO\O/Oo) Back at NERV Control, a tech reported that Unit 00 had nerve contamination spreading up both arms. "Jettison Unit 00's arms," Gendo commanded coolly. "But Sir, the nerve connections are still active," Hyuga said, aghast. "Do it now!" Gendo snapped. "Yes Sir!" (oO\O/Oo) Rei screamed louder as explosive charges severed both Unit 00's arms. Her back arched as she futilely clutched her shoulders and sobbed in pain. Unit 00 staggered backward and collapsed. With its now free arm, the angel punched Ranma's Eva in the head, causing him to lose his grip and go flying into a building just as Asuka reached out and got a grip on the entry plug. "I've got the plug!" the redhead announced as Ranma dug himself out of the building. Unit 01 got to its feet just in time to see the angel reach back behind it and grab Unit 02 by the head. With a heave, the red Eva went flying. Asuka screamed but she somehow managed to keep her grip on Toji's entry plug and rip it out as she was thrown. As Asuka curled up around the entry plug to protect it from the coming impact, Ranma charged the angel. He was brought up short when the overly long arms of the angel managed to move around impossibly fast and grab the midnight blue and green Eva around the neck. Ranma quickly found himself pinned against the side of a near by hill as his Eva, and himself by extension, was being choked to death. He struggled to free himself but the angel was too strong. He just couldn't break the angel's grip. The pigtailed pilot was fighting to gather himself for a ki blast when suddenly the chisel tip of a prog-katana appeared extending several meters out of the angel's chest. Its grip on Unit 01's throat failed and its arms fell away limply. Then the angel's body collapsed to the ground, revealing Unit 02 standing behind it, the hilt of the katana still in its grip. "You alright, Ranma?" Asuka asked. "Yeah," Ranma coughed out. "Thanks, Asuka. How's Toji and Rei?" "I don't know," Asuka said. "The entry plug is okay, but I'm not sure how badly the bouncing around hurt Toji inside it. I think Rei is unconscious because I haven't been able to raise her on the comm." (oO\O/Oo) Misato groaned as she awoke. She lay there and listened to the cacophony of urgent voices around her as medical personnel treated the injured. Slowly opening her eyes, she blinked away the blurriness and looked around the room at the busy medics. "You’re a very lucky girl, Misato," a familiar voice said. "Kaji? How's Ritsuko?" Misato asked weakly. "Ritsuko wasn't hurt as badly as you," Kaji answered. "The Eva...?" Misato asked. "Destroyed," Kaji answered. "What about the pilot?" Misato asked. "Ranma and the girls managed to get the entry plug out before they destroyed it. Recovery teams are at the site now," Kaji gave Misato a reassuring smile. "Rest now, Misato." Misato nodded faintly and drifted back to sleep. (oO\O/Oo) Recovery teams arrived at the site of the battle and began to extract the two downed pilots from their entry plugs under the watchful eyes of two anxious Eva pilots. "Man this kid's a mess," on of the medics commented as they carefully removed the battered form of Toji from the entry plug. "How bad is he?" Ranma demanded. "He'll live," the medic answered. "He's going to be in traction for a while though. We'll know more once we get him to the infirmary and get some x-rays." "What about Rei?" Asuka asked. "She's physically fine," the medic informed them. "She's in shock from the pain of having her Eva's arms severed while the nerve connections were still active. She should be okay though." Asuka hugged Ranma in relief and Ranma held her tightly. "You did real good, Asuka," Ranma said stroking her hair. "You saved both me and Toji. I'm proud of you." "You really mean it?" Asuka asked. "I sure do, Koi," Ranma smiled, giving her a squeeze. Ranma looked up to see that he and Asuka had been surrounded by NERV security. "Ranma Ikari," the security goon stated, "I have to ask you to come with us." "What do you mean he has to come with you?" Asuka demanded, whirling on him with her hands on her hips and glaring aggressively. "The Commander ordered us to take him into custody," the man answered. "It's okay, Asuka-chan," Ranma smirked. "The old fart's just posturin' for his underlings. He ain't gonna do nothin'. You go with Rei and make sure she's alright. I'll be fine." "Are you sure, Ranma?" Asuka said, still glaring at the man. "Yeah, Koi, I'll be fine," Ranma said reassuringly. Ranma let himself be handcuffed and lead away while Asuka looked on. (oO\O/Oo) "Your report, Dr. Akagi," Gendo said from his position behind his hands. "Eva Unit 03 is a complete write off. The core was destroyed and there's no trace of the angel that possessed it," Ritsuko explained. "Unit 03's pilot is in the infirmary with two broken legs, a broken arm, and a fractured skull, as well as numerous other contusions and lacerations. Thankfully, we expect him to make a full recovery. Unit 00 is not combat effective having lost both arms. Repairs are expected to take a while. Rei is recovering from the shock. Units 01 and 02 suffered minor damage and are 100 percent combat effective." "Very well," Gendo said, dismissing Ritsuko. (oO\O/Oo) Toji awoke to a world of pain. His whole body hurt. He looked around the room and saw Asuka sitting next to another bed and its blue-haired occupant. "Ayanami?" Toji said weakly. "Sohryu? What happened?" "You're awake!" Asuka smiled. "I'm glad. Your Eva was possessed by an angel. We had to take it down. I managed to get your entry plug out first though. Sorry about the beating you took. The angel kind of threw me while I was removing your entry plug. I tried to protect you as much as possible, but I guess it was still a pretty rough ride." "Y-you saved me?" Toji asked weakly. "Yup," Asuka said proudly. "It was kind of a team effort. Rei and Ranma held the angel still long enough for me to grab your entry plug but before I could get the plug out, something happened to Rei and they had to jettison her Eva's arms. I guess the angel was trying to possess her too. Ranma couldn't hold the angel all by himself and got slammed into a building. That's when I got thrown just as I got you out. Once you were clear, Ranma and I took the angel out. I'm afraid your Eva was destroyed though." "It's okay," Toji said. "I didn't...want...to...be...a...pilot...anyway..." He trailed back off to sleep. (oO\O/Oo) Ranma was sitting in a cell relaxing when the guard opened the door. "Ranma Ikari, the Commander wants to see you," the man said. Ranma stood and allowed the guard to put the handcuffs on him. He had to smirk, knowing that the cuffs were less than useless if they really thought they would restrain him. The guard then led him to Gendo's office and Ranma walked in. "Yo, Pop, what'cha want?" Ranma said cheerfully. Gendo glared at him from over his hands for a while. Ranma just stood there smirking. "Your insolence will no longer be tolerated, Third Child," Gendo intoned. "Is that so?" Ranma chuckled. "Well, any time you think you don't need me anymore, you just say the word and I'm out of here. Otherwise, just get used to it. I said when I came here I was going to bust your balls every chance I got. In fact, you're lucky I don't dislocate your arms for what you did to Rei, you sadistic waste of skin." "You're in no position to be making threats," Gendo stated. "Ya think?" Ranma grinned, flexing his wrists. The handcuffs shattered under the stress Ranma put on them, shrapnel-like pieces clattering to the floor across the room. Ranma crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Gendo smugly. "Ya know, it seems to me that I could rip you apart before you could even call for help," Ranma said casually. "I can have you shot for insubordination," Gendo replied. "Good luck with that," Ranma shrugged. "It's not like I'm gonna hold still for it. Besides, you and I both know you still need me for whatever world-domination plot you got going on. When this is over, I fully expect you'll have me 'removed'. Until then, stay out of my way and let me do my job. It'll be healthier for you. Later, Pop." Ranma turned on his heel and strode out of the office. The guard poked his head in the office and looked at Gendo askance. Gendo sighed and dismissed the guard. Obviously his cousin Genma failed miserably to break the boy. In spite of himself, Gendo couldn't help but feel a bit of pride in his son's strength of will. However, it was going to be a problem eventually. Until then, Gendo would just have to put up with the insolent boy's disrespect. When push came to shove, the boy would find that Gendo knew his weaknesses and had several levers on him. First and foremost being the Second Child the boy seemed to be growing so attached to. (oO\O/Oo) Toji awoke again to the feeling of soft lips pressing against his. His eyes flickered open to see Hikari standing over him with a tearful smile. "Hey," she said. "Hey," Toji answered groggily. "How long?" "You've been out for three days," Hikari answered. "I was so worried about you." "I'm sorry," Toji said. "Thanks for being here." "Just try to keep me away," Hikari said. "How are you feeling?" "Like I went 12 rounds with Ranma," Toji said with a weak grin. "I'm just glad to be alive. I guess Asuka saved me. I'll never live that down." "See, she's not as bad as you thought," Hikari giggled. "I guess not," Toji admitted. "Oh Toji, I'm so glad you're alive!" Hikari said suddenly, tears running down her face. "I just don't know what I would have done if I had lost you!" "Hey, it's okay, Koi," Toji said, wiping away her tears with his good hand. "I'll be okay and Asuka said the Eva was destroyed so I won't have to be a pilot anymore." "I'm so glad," Hikari said, pressing his palm to her face. "I don't know if I could handle watching you go off into battle with those horrible things. At least Ranma, Rei, and Asuka go out together." "How is Ayanami? She was in here before," Toji asked. "She's fine," Hikari said. "They let her out a couple of days ago." "Yo, Toji," Ranma greeted. "Oh, hi, Hikari, should I come back later?" "No, it's okay, Ranma," Hikari said, smiling. "So how ya feelin' there, tough guy?" Ranma asked. "'Cause I ain't gonna lie to ya, ya look like shit." "That's about how I feel," Toji agreed. "I'll live though." "So they tell me," Ranma nodded. "They said you should make a full recovery. Sorry we couldn't get you out any more gently. Asuka was pretty great though. Not only did she get you out but she did her best to shield you from the worst of it when the angel tossed her like a rag doll." "I still need to thank her for that," Toji said. "And thank you for your part in getting me out." "Heh, no sweat, man," Ranma dismissed. "I promised I'd do everything in my power to keep ya safe. I just feel bad that you got as banged up as you did." "At least I'm alive," Toji said. "It could have been worse." "I guess," Ranma said, remembering how much worse it was in the original series. "Well, I just wanted to stop by and check on ya. I haven't had a chance before now because the ole' bastard had me coolin' my heels in a cell because I told him where to stick it. I gotta go check on the girls before they decide to mount a jailbreak or something. Take care, man." "Sure, Ranma," Toji said. "See ya later." "Count on it," Ranma smiled. "Later, Hikari. Take care of the big lug." "Don't worry, Ranma. He's in good hands," Hikari said, smiling down at Toji. (oO\O/Oo) "I'm home," Ranma called out, only to find himself crushed under the weight of two Amazon-class glomps as Rei and Asuka cannonballed into him. "It's about time you got out," Asuka chastised the wheezing Ranma. "We were just in the middle of planning how to spring you." "I missed you," Rei said coolly. "Air...must have...air," Ranma gasped. "Oops, sorry," Asuka said sheepishly as she and Rei eased up on their grips. Ranma sucked in a huge amount of air and his color returned to normal. "I missed you guys too," Ranma panted before turning his attention to Rei. "Rei-chan are you alright?" he asked with concern. "I am well," Rei said, giving him a small smile. "Good, I was really worried about you," Ranma said hugging the blue-haired girl. "I love you guys and I hate seeing you hurt." "Are you hungry?" Asuka asked, causing Ranma to look at her with an incredulous expression. "Oh, right, of course you're hungry. I'll make you something." "Thanks," Ranma smiled as he and Rei followed her into the kitchen. "Ya know you guys didn't have to worry about springin' me, right? I mean I could have left anytime I wanted to. I just figured it'd be easier to play along until the old man figured he made his point." "We were suffering from withdrawal," Asuka joked. "We needed our Ranma fix or bad things were gonna happen." Ranma chuckled. "I stopped by and saw Toji," Ranma mentioned. "He was awake and Hikari was with him." "He was awake? How was he feeling?" Asuka asked. She was feeling a little guilty that he was as banged up as he was. "He's okay," Ranma said. "I didn't stay long. I didn't wanna intrude on them. They're getting' nearly as bad as us." As if to make the point, Ranma ruffled Rei's hair and kissed her on the forehead. Rei blushed and practically purred at the affection. "I'm home!" Misato called out as she came in. A minute later she came in the kitchen to grab a beer. The Major was looking somewhat worse for wear. She was sporting a bandage on her head and her left arm was in a sling. "Hey, Misato, how are you feeling? I heard you got pretty banged up," Ranma said. "I'm okay," Misato said. "Nothing a beer or twelve won't take care of. It looks worse than it is. But if you want to nurse me back to health, you won't hear me complain." Misato grinned at Ranma suggestively. "Hey, step off, Floozy," Asuka chimed in with a giggle. "You've got your own man to handle any nursing you need." "True, true," Misato smirked. "But yours is so much better, especially with those rubdowns he gives." "Well, you have a point there," Asuka said. "Maybe if you're really nice to Rei and I, we might loan him out to you for an hour or so." "Hey! I'm right here ya know," Ranma protested. "Yes, you are, Liebling," Asuka said kissing him on the cheek. "Now go sit down at the table and I'll bring your sandwiches out to you. Would you like something, Misato?" "I'm good, Asuka-chan," Misato said, holding up her beer. "I must say, you’re getting quite domestic, aren't you?" "Well, it's not as if Ranma doesn't cook for us all the time," Asuka said. "Besides, it's nice to take care of the man I love." "Kaji would just act like it was to be expected if I did it for him," Misato snorted. "Kaji would probably run screaming if you tried to cook for him, Misato," Ranma called out from the other room. Misato's eyebrow twitched and she growled at him. "Ranma, that wasn't very nice," Asuka chastised. "Probably true, but not very nice." Misato stood there fuming, eyebrow twitching like mad. Ranma and Asuka both laughed at her. "We're just kidding you, Misato," Ranma said as he tucked into the heaping tray of sandwiches Asuka put down in front of him. "This is good, Asuka, thanks," Ranma said between bites. Asuka glowed under the praise. (oO\O/Oo) That night, as the trio lay snuggled up to each other, Ranma brought up what had happened to Rei. "Rei, what happened with that angel?" he asked. "I do not know," Rei answered. "It felt like the angel was trying to force its way into me through Unit 00. It was very unpleasant. I could feel it's AT field forcing its way into mine." "Hmm," Ranma said thoughtfully. "I think we need to work on somethin' you can try in case it happens again. Maybe it works both ways." Rei nodded and snuggled tighter to Ranma. "I would like that," Rei said. "I didn't know what to do and I was scared." "It's okay, Koi," Ranma said, rubbing her back. "We'll figure something out in case it happens again. It'll give you something to work on while Unit 00 is down for repair." (oO\O/Oo) "Hiya, Kaji," Ranma said as he walked down the nature trail inside the geofront. "Hello, Ranma," Kaji said. "How are you today?" "I'm good," Ranma said. "So, you're just hanging out watering your melons?" "Not much else to do now that my official cover has been blown," Kaji answered. "Bummer, that," Ranma nodded companionably. "Maybe I can help you," Ranma said. "How do you propose to do that?" Kaji asked casually. "Uh uh," Ranma grinned and waved a finger at him. "First I need to know where your loyalties lie." "Where do your loyalties lie, Ranma?" Kaji asked. "Not with Pop or SEELE," Ranma said taking a chance. "My loyalties lie with the people of Earth that will die if the Third Impact were to occur." "Commendable position," Kaji said. "One I would like to believe I share with you." "Fair enough," Ranma agreed. "Mind you, I can tell if you lie to me. So who do you work for really? The JSDF?" "Not at all," Kaji lied, causing Ranma to grin briefly. "I don't work for anyone at the moment. It seems neither of my employers trust me at the moment." "I thought as much," Ranma said. "So tell me, what would you like to know? I know a little more about things than people suspect." "So what is your father planning?" Kaji asked. "Ascension," Ranma said. "He wants to be a god and he thinks that if he controls the Third Impact he can achieve this." "Why?" Kaji asked. "He thinks if he's a god then he can bring Yui Ikari back again," Ranma stated. "And you're not with him on this? You wouldn't like to have your mother back?" Kaji questioned. "Not at the expense of everyone else on the planet and not on a world rewritten according to Gendo Ikari," Ranma denied. "SEELE, on the other hand, wants to force mankind to the next step up the evolutionary ladder. They believe that the human race has reached its peak and is stagnating." "How do you know this?" Kaji asked. Ranma looked at him with a rueful grin. "Let's just say I've seen the future," Ranma said enigmatically. "It wasn't pretty and I intend to change it." Kaji blinked at him. "You realize that sounds crazy," Kaji said. "It puts everything you are telling me in doubt." "Yeah, I realize that," Ranma nodded. "I can give you proof if you like. For instance, I know what each of the next angels will be." "Alright, I'll bite," Kaji said. "Tell me about them." "The next angel will be stocky like a giant bulldog, with paper like arms that fold up like an accordion," Ranma explained. "The arms will be extremely dangerous, able to slice through an Eva's limbs easily." "Okay, go on," Kaji said. "The fifteenth angel will attack from orbit with some sort of mind-beam that will release the horrors inside the victim's mind and drive them nuts," Ranma informed. "We won't have anything that can reach it until one of the Evas, most likely Rei, is sent to get the Lance of Longinus from Terminal Dogma. The lance will take the angel out but we won't have a way to get it back. The sixteenth angel will resemble a glowing double helix, like a strand of DNA. The Seventeenth will be an Eva pilot sent here by SEELE. The last angel will be SEELE forces when they try to overrun the NERV facility here to wrest control of the Third Impact from Gendo. They will attack with UN elite forces and nine Evas controlled by dummy plugs with the Eva pilot angel's imprints." "Alright," Kaji said, looking at Ranma dubiously. "I guess it will be easy enough to figure out if you're nuts when the next angel comes. So how is the Third Impact going to be brought about?" "You delivered the key to Gendo yourself," Ranma said. "He plans to use Adam and Lilith with Rei as the control since he believes she is completely loyal to him and will follow his every order. I don't intend to let him do that. However, there's a lot of things that could go wrong." "Why are you telling me this?" Kaji asked. "Because if we are going to stop the Third Impact, I'm going to need your help and that of the JSDF," Ranma said. "I'm pretty sure I can handle Gendo, but I need help with the forces SEELE will be sending to capture this place. NERV is a fortress as far as angels are concerned, but it wasn't designed to stop a military invasion. NERV security forces aren't equipped to hold them off either." "What about the Evas?" Kaji asked. "The JSDF can't fight against those." "Asuka, Rei, and I will handle them," Ranma said. "Asuka will have to hold them off until Rei and I handle Gendo, then we'll come up and reinforce her. If we don't come up, then the world is screwed anyway." "Who else knows about this?" Kaji probed. "Basically you and me," Ranma admitted. "Dr. Akagi, I'm not sure of. I know she was loyal to Gendo for a while and knows some of Gendo's plans, but I've been slowly working on her, hopefully to see him for what he is. I don't know if I've gotten through to her or not. I don't know if I can trust Misato. You would know that better than me. I know she's in this for the right reasons, but I don't know how she could help. I haven't said anything to the girls yet, but I know they'll follow my lead." Ranma looked away for a minute. "I love them Kaji, and they love me. I..." Ranma trailed off. "You're worried about them, aren't you?" Kaji finished. "I...yes, I am. They both run a good chance that I will lose them," Ranma said morosely. "I hadn't counted on falling in love. I wanted to befriend them, but it grew far beyond that." Kaji put his hand on Ranma's shoulder reassuringly. Ranma sniffed and visibly pulled himself together. "I know there's a good chance they'll be hurt badly before this is over," Ranma said grimly. "Especially Asuka. I'm training them as well as possible, but, like I said; so much can go wrong." "I don't know what to say, Ranma," Kaji said. "I'll be watching for the next angel. If it's like you say, I'll pass the info along with my endorsement as coming from a credible source. Do you have a time frame?" "No," Ranma answered. "I know the sequence of events, but not the timeframe. I imagine the next angel will attack soon, but as far as the final events, I just don't know how much time we have. I suggest you urge them to make the decision on whether or not to support me as soon as possible." "If it turns out like you say, I'll be in touch," Kaji said. "Good," Ranma said. "I'll be waiting to hear from you. For now, I'm gonna go find the girls. In spite of all the life and death situations, when I'm with them, I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life. I wanna have as much time as possible with them in case I lose them. I want to treasure every moment I can." "I understand," Kaji said. "Good luck." "Thanks," Ranma said as he walked off. (oO\O/Oo) There were very few dry eyes in the room when Nabiki stopped the tape. Ranma's heartfelt confession to Kaji of the pain he was in knowing that he would probably lose Rei and Asuka was heartbreaking. Even Cologne's eyes glistened with tears. Several of the women in the room were surprised to find themselves wishing that Ranma could stay with the girls he loved. Of course, the fiancées weren't counted in that group, but it was a near thing.
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