After seeing Ryoga off to the hospital via mallet-sama plus 5 vs. perverts, the group gathered together in the family room. Genma was whining about how dishonorable his son was to have not told his fiancée about the pig in her bed while Soun was wailing about his daughter's honor being sullied due to Genma's dishonorable son. "What panda-man and human-flood talking about?" Shampoo asked angrily. "You both know about pig-boy's curse but you not say anything to kitchen-destroyer so Ranma be jealous. Ranma no say anything because give word before pig-boy become pet. What your excuse?" Both men froze as three battle aura's burst into existence. All three Tendo sisters were glowing a furious blue and glaring at the two men. "Is this true, Daddy?" Nabiki asked in a deceptively sweet voice. "Did you allow that pig to take advantage of your own daughter just to make Ranma jealous?" "Now, Nabiki," Soun waffled. "You see it wasn't..." "DON'T LIE TO ME!" Nabiki shrieked, breathing heavily. "How DARE you! It was bad enough that you abandoned us as a father. It was bad enough that you stopped bringing in income when you stopped teaching classes. But now we learn that you don't even have the common decency to tell us when we're being taken advantage of? I bet if one of us was being raped you wouldn't lift a finger to help, would you?" "WHAAAAA, my daughters hate me!" Soun wailed. "SHUT UP!" Akane screamed. "I've had it with your stupid games. The act isn't working anymore, Soun Tendo!" Soun screamed like a woman as Mallet-sama plus 5 vs. perverts slammed down in the space he was sitting in a fraction of a second before. Genma opened his mouth to defend his friend but instead, he also screamed like a woman as the Saotome family honor blade passed through the space his neck had been occupying a mere heartbeat before. Both men looked at each other and ran for their lives. "Perhaps we should return later, Tendo, once they've cooled off a bit," Genma huffed. "Quite right, Saotome, quite right," Soun puffed. Everyone else settled back down and had a little tea to calm themselves before beginning the tape again. (oO\O/Oo) "This is so awesome!" Kensuke gushed as he shot video out the window of the massive transport helo that he, Toji, and Ranma were currently riding in. Ranma smirked as she tuned the overly enthusiastic boy out. She looked out the window and mentally prepared herself to meet the pilot of Eva Unit 02. Ranma had to handle the girl carefully if she wanted to get past the inflated ego and arrogance of the mask the girl wore. Too much and she would alienate the other girl. Too little and the girl wouldn't respect her. This was going to be one of the hardest things she had ever done because she was going to have to carefully consider each of her actions beforehand. "So where are we going, Misato?" Toji asked. Misato looked over her shoulder from her position in the right-seat of the helo. "Well, I thought you guys might be tired of being cooped up in the mountains so I thought I'd take you on a date to that cute little boat down there," Misato smiled. Toji's mind locked up at the thought of being on a date with Misato and he began blubbering hormone-induced gibberish. Kensuke looked out the window and freaked out. "Oh my god! Look, look, look!" Kensuke shrieked excitedly. "One, two, three, four, five aircraft carriers and four battleships! It must be the entire UN Pacific Fleet down there!" "Cute little boat?" Toji asked, coming out of his hormone-induced fit and sweat-dropping as the helo approached the biggest carrier. "Yeah, it is sort of amazing that this rusty old relic still floats," Misato commented. "But this is the Over The Rainbow!" Kensuke protested. "She's the pride of the Pacific Fleet, a pre-Second Impact super carrier!" As the helo began powering down, Kensuke exploded onto the flight deck, videoing everything while excitedly listing all the military hardware like some sort of techno-phile. Toji chased after his hat, which had blown off when Kensuke opened the door of the helo's passenger compartment. Ranma followed Misato, looking bored and unimpressed, while Misato looked chagrinned at Kensuke's weird enthusiasm. Toji caught up to his hat when a small foot in a red shoe came down on it. Looking up, Toji blinked as he saw Ranma standing there wearing a pretty yellow sundress. "Hey Ranma, what the hell are you wearing and when did you change?" Toji said, reaching down for his hat. He tugged on it but Ranma didn't move her foot. "Yo, Ranma, you can get off my hat now." This only prompted the redhead to grind her foot on top of the hat. Being Toji's brand new hat, Toji became angry. He took a swing at the redhead, fully expecting her to avoid it like she always did so she would step off his hat. He was very surprised when his fist connected with Ranma's diaphragm and sent the redhead crashing to the deck several feet away, gasping for breath. "Yo, Toji, what the hell did ya do that for?" Ranma said, stepping around the stunned Misato and Kensuke. "Not everyone with red hair can avoid a punch like me ya know." Toji gaped as he saw Ranma in the same clothes she was wearing on the helo, a tight, midriff-baring, hunter-green top, a pair of denim shorts and a pair of thick-strapped, dark leather sandals. He looked over and saw Ranma...no, that couldn't be Ranma...the girl he had hit sprawled inelegantly on the deck, skirt blown up around her hips, gasping for air. Then it occurred to Toji that he had just hit a real girl. His mind shut down in shock. "Hey, are you okay?" Ranma said kneeling beside the girl and adjusting her skirt for modesty. "Sorry about that. Let me help you." Ranma hit a couple of pressure points to get the girl breathing again and helped her to her feet, though she was still crouched over clutching her abused diaphragm. "Thank you," the girl said faintly. "Ah, man, your pretty dress is ruined," Ranma said sadly, looking at the grime it had picked up when she landed on the deck. "Toji's a jerk sometimes, but I don't think he meant to hit you. I think he thought you were me. You want me to kick his ass for you?" It was then that the girl finally looked up at the person helping her and froze. "Who...?" the girl asked in confusion. "Oh, sorry, I'm Ranma Ikari, pilot of Eva Unit 01," Ranma smiled. "The jerk over there is Toji Suzuhara who had better be doing some apologizin' and boot-lickin' if he knows what's good for him when he gets over the shock. The little guy with the weird obsession for all things military is Kensuke Aida. And then there's my guardian, Captain Misato Katsuragi, who seems to have spaced out as usual. And you are?" "Oh, um, I'm Asuka Langley Sohryu, pilot of Evangelion Unit 02," Asuka said, a bit of her fire returning. "So you're the Third Child? I thought the Third Child was a boy." "It's a long story," Ranma smiled. "But you have to wait a few days before you get a demonstration. I'm kinda stuck like this at the moment." Asuka looked at Ranma suspiciously and then turned to Misato and gave her a questioning look. Misato giggled. "She's telling the truth, Asuka," Misato confirmed. "She's Ranma Ikari and it is a long and weird story. We'll tell you later. My goodness, Asuka, you've really grown since I last saw you. It's amazing. While Ranma might be slightly more developed than you, the pair of you could be identical twins." Asuka's eyes narrowed as she turned her glare on Ranma. Contrary to popular belief, Ranma had learned her lesson even if she didn't always choose to abide by it, particularly with Akane, whose holier than thou attitude brought out the worst in her. "She was just teasin' you, Asuka," Ranma assured her, waving her hands in a placating gesture. "Really, I'm no bigger then you are. But she is right about one thing, except my hair is a bit brighter shade than yours and I'm wearin' it differently, we could be twins. I really hope we can be friends." This was certainly not the way Asuka expected this to go. She had planned on a proud entrance where she could display how superior she was. Instead she got gut punched and the Third Child could have passed for her twin. She glanced at the girl in question who was currently bouncing the big jock around the deck like a basketball, evidently as punishment for hitting her. Soon the boy was kneeling in front of her with the pigtailed redhead standing behind him with his arm twisted around in a submission hold. "Now don't you have something to say to the nice girl, Toji?" Ranma asked sweetly. "I know you don't want me to tell Hikari what you did, do ya?" "I-I...OWW, alright already, I'm sorry for hitting you, Miss Sohryu," the boy said. "It was an accident. I thought you were Ranma and you could avoid the punch." "Very good, Toji, now kiss her shoes," Ranma smirked, forcing the boy down to Asuka's feet. "And if ya look up her skirt, I'll break your fingers." Asuka goggled as the boy kissed her shoes while grumbling about taking Ranma's guy-status away. (oO\O/Oo) After a brief pissing match between the Admiral of the UN Pacific fleet and Misato where they were introduced to Kaji Ryoji, Asuka's guardian and apparently someone Misato would have just as soon not seen any time soon, the three girls and three guys found themselves crammed in a small lift headed down to the galley. "GET YOUR HAND OFFA THERE IF YOU WANNA KEEP IT," the three females yelled in unison. "We can't help it! There's nowhere else to put them!" the guys yelled back. "PERVERTS!" the women yelled. When the lift doors opened, three females walked out dusting their hands off and headed to the galley, leaving three twisted and broken males on the floor of the lift. "Owwie," one of them said as they crawled out of the elevator after the girls. They had mostly recovered by the time they reached the galley and sat down at the table with the women who were chatting over tea. "So you're the famous Ranma Ikari, huh?" Kaji shot the redhead in question a suave grin. "I read your profile, but I must say I was a bit dubious about it. I guess it was accurate." "Famous?" Ranma asked. "Yes, you're quite a phenomenon in the defense community," Kaji said. "So you're living with Misato then?" "Yeah, me, Misato, and Rei Ayanami share a condo," Ranma agreed. "The First Child is living with you too?" Kaji asked, a little surprised. "That's us, one big happy family," Ranma shrugged. "So tell me, is Misato still wild in bed?" Kaji smirked. Asuka goggled at her Kaji asking such a perverted question. Misato's face was turning purple with fury. The two boys grabbed their noses before they could explode in a spray of blood. "She does seem to thrash around a lot in bed," Ranma said, smirking at Misato. "She looks really cute when she comes out in the mornin' with her hair standing on end with giant cowlicks and stuff." Everyone but Kaji and Ranma found themselves peeling their faces off the galley floor. (oO\O/Oo) "So what do you think of Ranma?" Kaji asked Asuka as they leaned on the railing overlooking the flight deck. "She seems nice," Asuka said. "I don't know what the big deal is though." "The first time piloting an Eva, Ranma reached an 82 percent sync ratio with no prior training," Kaji pointed out. "Mein Gott!" Asuka exclaimed. (oO\O/Oo) Ranma rode the escalator in silence while Misato ranted about how Kaji hadn't changed a bit and was still a big jerk after all this time. The pigtailed pilot tuned her out and concentrated on why she had been feeling edgy since they landed. Then it occurred to her. It was Adam. She new Kaji was bringing Adam to Gendo. Ranma had thought about slipping into the Umisenken and finding Kaji's cabin to destroy the angel, but she eventually scrapped those plans. Her one advantage over Gendo was that she knew how events were to proceed. Unfortunately, if she killed Adam now, she would stir up a hornet's nest that might limit her options in the future. More importantly, it would change how things played out and she really didn't want to try anticipating Gendo's plans if he didn't have Adam in his possession. Besides, for all she knew, they could clone the angel again and she'd be back at square one. Ranma was shaken out of her thoughts by the appearance of Asuka at the top of the escalator. "Come on, Third Child, you're coming with me," she said arrogantly. "Sure thing, Asuka," Ranma said, giving her a smirk. (oO\O/Oo) "So what's your story anyway?" Asuka asked as they got on the transport helo to head over to another ship. "Not much to tell really," Ranma shrugged. "Pop left me with his sadistic cousin when I was six to train me in the martial arts. From then on I did nothing but train to fight and it's something I'm really, really good at. I've found I can translate most of my art into piloting the Eva and there's some techniques I can use that really improve my sync ratio. If you want, I can teach them to you. I'm already training Rei, the pilot of Unit 00." "Or maybe I can teach you how to be a real Eva Pilot," Asuka smirked arrogantly. "I am the best after all." Ranma bit her tongue, hard. She couldn’t afford to get into a verbal pissing match with Asuka at this point. It was going to be hard enough once Asuka realized that Ranma was a better fighter than her. "I'm sure you can teach me a few things, Asuka," Ranma said sweetly. 'Like the limits of my self-control,' she added mentally as they landed on the heli-pad of the transport ship. "Come with me," Asuka commanded the pigtailed redhead who began grinding her teeth. 'Mustn't run my mouth. Mustn't run my mouth. Must control myself. Must control myself,' Ranma chanted mentally as she followed the other redhead. Asuka led them over to the edge of a tarp and lifted it up, looking inside. "Well?" Asuka prompted. "Well, it's an Eva," Ranma said carefully. "It's not just an Eva! It's my Unit 02!" Asuka said snidely. (oO\O/Oo) Asuka stood perched on the top of her Eva looking as if she were the queen of all she surveyed. Ranma knew what was coming and she gathered herself to resist the urge to say something that wouldn't help the situation much. "My Unit 02 is the first production model Eva," Asuka said imperiously. "It's much more powerful than Unit 00 and Unit 01 which were the prototype and test models respectively. That's why you were able to sync with Unit 01 so easily. It's the test model so anyone could sync with it." "Or it could be that I know certain techniques that allow me to achieve a better sync ratio than someone who doesn't know the techniques," Ranma mentioned. "Techniques, I might add, that are documented and proven effective." Before Asuka could reply, the ship shook with an explosion nearby. "Mein Gott, what was that?" Asuka said as she nearly slipped off her perch. "Let's go see," Ranma said. "I hope it's not an angel." The last was added for deniability purposes because Ranma knew that's exactly what it was. The twin redheads rushed to the top deck and headed to the railing just in time to see the angel destroy another ship. "Meine Gott!" Asuka exclaimed again. "It's an angel!" Ranma yelled over the noise of another explosion. "You ready to put that tin-can of yours to the test?" "Unit 02 is not a tin-can and we'll show you what a real pilot and Eva can do," Asuka shot back. "Come on!" Asuka grabbed her bag from the Eva and led them down one corridor until she found a stair well. Ducking in, she pulled two plug suits out and tossed one to Ranma before she began to strip. Ranma immediately spun around the corner. "Hey, what are you doing?" Asuka demanded. "Hurry up and get changed!" "Asuka, you know I'm really a guy, right?" Ranma replied. "I just don't wanna hear no crap about me being a pervert because you stripped in front of me." Ranma heard Asuka laughing hysterically. "Yeah, right, you're a guy," Asuka snickered. "You sure are stacked for a guy. And it must be really tiny to be able to hide it in those shorts." "Okay, I'm a girl right now, but I was born a guy and I'll change back as soon as my period is done," Ranma snapped as she started undressing around the corner from Asuka. "I just don't wanna get accused of using this body to be a pervert when I do." "Well, you sure as hell look like a girl from here," Asuka smirked from behind Ranma who had bent over to remove her panties. Ranma 'eep'ed' and blushed, but began putting the plug suit on. Getting everything in place, Ranma hit the control that sucked the suit up tight to her body. The girls headed back toward the Eva. "So you've had your period already?" Asuka asked in an almost timid tone. "Unfortunately," Ranma said. "Started several months ago." "What's it like?" Asuka asked almost pleadingly. "It sucks," Ranma said categorically. "I get all bloated and crampy. My breasts hurt. Sometimes I get a headache. And then there's the mood swings. I can't tell you how many times I've had to hold myself back from rippin' your fuckin' head off because of that superior attitude of yours today." Asuka's eyes widened and she blinked at her companion. "Don't worry about it," Ranma said shooting her a lopsided grin. "It's bad form to rip a new friend's head off on the first day you've met. It just takes being aware of your mood and controlling yourself. Come on. We have an angel that needs killin'." Asuka nodded, a little subdued at the rather frank way Ranma had mentioned she had been resisting the urge to cause her grievous bodily harm. She had been starting to get the impression that the other redhead let people walk all over her, but this tidbit of information, that Ranma had really been trying to resist the urge to kick her ass in a fit of hormonally induced outrage, and seeing the way Ranma handled that goon Toji, Asuka had no doubt that she could, that put a whole new spin on things. Asuka grinned a little. Maybe she and Ranma could be friends after all. Hurrying up the gantry, Asuka ejected the entry plug and opened it up. "Hop in," she instructed. "Now you get to see what Unit 02 can do." Ranma got in and Asuka followed her. "Show me whatcha got, Asuka-chan," Ranma smirked. "Oh and I don't know German so you might want to start it up in Japanese and save yourself some time initiating the system." "Okay," Asuka said, beginning the start up sequence. (oO\O/Oo) "Alright, Asuka!" Misato cheered as the people on the Over The Rainbow's flag bridge saw Unit 02 stand up with the tarp that had been covering it wrapped around it like a cloak. "You in the mecha! Nobody authorized the activation of that toy!" the admiral yelled into the com. "Shut it down at once!" "Don't listen to him, Asuka," Misato said, snatching the mic from his hand. "We'll get the power cable set out for you. Just remember, you're using B-type equipment. It won't work under water, so don't fall in." "Roger, Misato," Asuka said cheerfully. "It's coming in, Asuka!" Ranma's voice could be heard announcing. "Yeah, I see it," Asuka said as the Eva crouched and leapt into the air just as the angel plowed into the freighter and broke it in half. The Admiral winced as the cloaked Eva came down on the top of an Aegis cruiser, buckling its superstructure. Misato grinned as Unit 02 began to jump from ship to ship, headed for the carrier. The admiral sat in his chair having an apoplectic fit as each ship the Eva landed on was severely damaged. "Ma'am, the power cable is tied into the reactor and is ready to go," a tech informed Misato. "Asuka, the power cable is ready as soon as you get here. We also brought some toys for you to play with. Ranma thought they might come in handy if we were attacked," Misato relayed. Noting that Unit 02 just landed one ship away she added, "Everyone brace for impact!" The Eva crashed down on the carrier deck moments later causing the ship to list heavily to starboard. Aircraft and equipment began to roll off the deck as Asuka stabilized herself by grabbing the island. Shifting her weight to the port side of the ship, the carrier slowly managed to right itself. As the ship stabilized, Asuka reached down and plugged in her power cable with 5 seconds of battery power remaining. (oO\O/Oo) "Grab the spears, Asuka," Ranma instructed. "They'll give you a little better range than just your prog knife." "Roger," Asuka said as she picked up the spears. "Here it comes," Ranma pointed. "Got it," Asuka said as she set herself. The angel leaped high out of the water with its mouth open wide. Ranma saw the core in its throat and was about to point it out to Asuka when she drew back and hurled a spear down the angel's throat. The spear glanced off the core, cracking it, but didn't manage to destroy it. "Good shot," Ranma commented as the angel came crashing down on the flight deck of the carrier. Asuka was forced to drop the remaining spear, which managed to slice an aircraft neatly in half, to try and grapple the angel overboard. As the angel thrashed, trying to alternately crush the Eva with its mass or bite the Eva with its huge teeth, Asuka tried to set herself to get enough leverage to dump the angel overboard. In doing so, the Eva's foot came down on one of the elevators to the hanger deck. The elevator failed as it was subject to weights and stresses far in excess of what it was designed for and both the angel and Unit 02 went over the side. The angel swam off leaving Unit 02 dangling from the power cable. "It won't move!" Asuka said with a hint of panic. "It's okay, Asuka," Ranma reassured her. "It'll move, just not a lot. However, the angel will be back in a minute and I have an idea. I'll have to take control of your Eva. Sorry, but we only have one shot at this." "No way," Asuka protested. "I'm not giving you control of my Unit 02." "I don't need you to give me control," Ranma said, beginning to infuse her ki into the Eva's AT field. The Eva resisted a little, likely Asuka's influence trying to keep control, but Ranma managed. The angel had come back around and was swimming right for them with its mouth wide open. "Stupid," Ranma commented as she began focusing her ki and the Eva's AT field into a tightly condensed ball between the Eva's hands. She waited until the angel was at point blank range and thrust the Eva's arms out shoving the ball of energy toward the angel and crying, "Mouko Takabisha!" The golden ball of AT-boosted confidence ki streaked forward, right into the angel's mouth and hit the damaged core, vaporizing it. The angel's body bubbled up and exploded violently, tossing the Eva up out of the water and back on to the flight deck of the carrier. "What the hell was that?" Asuka demanded. "That was a ki blast, boosted by the Eva's AT field," Ranma said tiredly. The blast had taken a lot out of her. "What the hell is a 'ki blast'?" Asuka asked, still in shock. "And how the hell did you take control of my Eva so easily." Ranma quickly explained the concept of ki to Asuka, showing her a weak ki ball when the other redhead doubted her. "As to how I took control," Ranma explained. "It has to do with the techniques that you were so ready to dismiss. I infused my ki into the Eva's AT field. That's how I achieve my high sync ratio. That's basically how we sync with the Eva's in the first place, but you and Rei, and anyone else who don't know the techniques, do it through the transmitters." Ranma tapped one of the transmitters on Asuka's head. "A good enough martial artist can infuse weapons with their ki to both strengthen the weapon and make it easier to control. Basically, I'm infusin' my ki into the Eva, which allows me a much higher level of sync and a more direct link to the Eva. That's how I overrode your control." "I-I see," Asuka said faintly. "Don't worry, Asuka, you did great," Ranma said reassuringly. "That was a really good shot with the spear. You almost nailed it right there. If the deck hadn't collapsed and dumped us overboard you would have had it on the next pass. You did real good for your first time in real combat." "Um...thanks, I guess," Asuka said a little glumly. She had really wanted to be the one to destroy the angel to prove she was the best. She should have been angry with Ranma for taking that away from her, but what the other girl did...it was just unbelievable. Asuka couldn't hope to match anything like that. And yet the girl wasn't throwing it in her face either. Asuka didn't know how to react. (oO\O/Oo) "Daaamn!" Ritsuko said in awe, looking over the data as she and Misato sat in a jeep parked beside the carrier on the dock. "This is fantastic! I never suspected something like this was possible." "We got some good data on the angel, huh?" Misato said proudly. "On the angel, hell," Ritsuko disagreed. "Do you realize that Ranma took control of Unit 02 from Asuka and then projected some kind of AT energy blast to destroy the angel?" "Asuka mentioned something like that," Misato said. "That's our Ranma for you though. Doing the impossible and making it look easy." "He's the most amazing person I've ever met," Ritsuko agreed. "Christ, I want to bear his children." Misato started laughing hysterically. (oO\O/Oo) Toji and Kensuke stood at the bottom of the gangplank and watched as the bright red Eva was lowered to the dock. Toji looked back and saw Asuka riding down followed by Ranma, both still in their plug suits. Toji got an evil grin on his face. "Hey Ranma, looking good babe," Toji said. "I think you look better in her plug suit than she does." Asuka glared at him and stomped off angrily. "Fuck you, Toji," Ranma snarled. "Man, you can really be a jerk sometimes, you know that?" "What did I do?" Toji asked. "Like you don't know," Ranma said darkly. "First you hit the poor girl and then you insult her by sayin' I look better than her. Now get your ass moving and go apologize to her again or I'm gonna give you a beatdown your great grandchildren will still be feeling. Tryin' to embarrass me is one thing, but she didn't deserve that." "Shit! I didn't think about that," Toji slapped his hand to his forehead. "You're right, Ranma. I'll go apologize." Ranma and Kensuke watched as Toji ran to catch up to the other redhead. He spoke a few words to her and then she drew back and slapped him hard. "Now that, he had coming," Ranma giggled. Kensuke just nodded in agreement; glad he wasn't on the receiving end of it. (oO\O/Oo) "Man, I sure am glad we don't have to see that violent chick again," Toji said, sporting a hand-shaped bruise on his face. "Although the way Ranma was acting, I don't feel sorry for him having to work with her. Jeez, you would think she was more girl than boy." "Maybe he likes her or something," Kensuke said. "You'd stick up for a girl you liked too." "Yeah, I suppose you're right, but I can't say much for his taste in women," Toji commented. "That Asuka chick is a real female dog, if you know what I mean." "Class, we have a new student starting today," Steinakawa-sensei said, putting three students to sleep before finishing the sentence. Toji and Kensuke stiffened as they saw a head of red hair attached to the person writing on the board. Then said person turned around with a flip of her hair. "I'm Asuka Langley Sohryu," she said with a smile. Toji's eyes were wide with horror as he shakily pointed toward the new girl, mouthing 'it's her'. Kensuke cringed behind the jock. (oO\O/Oo) 'I'm impressed,' Nabiki thought as she hit the rewind button. 'Ranma actually managed to keep control of his tongue for a change.' "Oh my," Kasumi said pleasantly, echoing Nabiki's sentiments out loud. "Ranma did a very good job handling that Asuka girl. Although I'm not pleased with the language she used." "And Akane can't even accuse him of being a pervert for watching her undress," Ukyo pointed out. "Yeah, but the pervert is giving Misato nude rubdowns," Akane pointed out, still stewing over the whole Ryoga thing. "He really didn't want to though," Ukyo argued. "It was her that was teasing him. And the nerve of the blonde hussy saying she wants to bear his children." "My son is so manly," Nodoka cheered, whipping out her victory fans and doing her happy dance. Nabiki just shook her head at the silly behavior of the people around her.
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