AN: Did anyone catch the joke with the school teacher's name in the previous chapter? Anyone? Anyone? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Throughout dinner, discussions were held about what they had seen on the video and those that knew the story were telling the others what was going to be facing Ranma in the later episodes. It was Kasumi that made an observation that guaranteed the fiancées would be an avid audience, that being that the audience was privy to Ranma's inner thoughts many times. The chance that Ranma would inadvertently reveal his true thoughts of them ensured they wouldn't miss a minute of the show that had become the pigtailed martial artist's life. Throughout dinner, Akane gave Ryoga the evil eye, though the bandana'd boy appeared oblivious to this, looking away every time her head turned in his direction. For Ryoga's part, he was desperately trying to work up the courage to ask Akane for a date now that his hated nemesis was out of the picture. Finally, as the dishes were being cleared, Ryoga managed to work up his nerve. "A-Akane? I-I wonder, w-would you l-like to go out for s-some ice cream to c-celebrate," his eyes darted toward Shampoo and Ukyo before continuing, "y-your freedom from R-ranma?" Ryoga was now beet red and looking at the floor in shyness. Akane was gaping at him in disbelief. "Are you asking me out on a date?" Akane asked incredulously. Ryoga turned a darker shade of red but bobbed his head without looking up. Another piece of the puzzle of why Ryoga was always attacking Ranma fell into place. In fact, it was beginning to look like a rather familiar puzzle in the shape of a bokken wielding moron. "Have you no decency?" Akane erupted. "Ranma thought of you as a friend, but here you are practically dancing on his grave! In case you haven't noticed, you are the only one here who is happy that Ranma's gone. And then you have the nerve to ask me out when it's not even certain that we can't get Ranma back? And even if we can't, he was my fiancé, and you're showing an amazing lack of respect to me by hitting on me so soon after he disappeared!" "The world is a dark, cruel place," Ryoga mumbled as he began to glow green with his depression. "Idiot!" Akane yelled, smashing him with her mallet, knocking him out. "Don't you dare fire one of those Shi Shi Hokodan's in my house!" Ryoga lay on the floor twitching with his hands in classic 'evil be gone' gestures as his eyes swirled around in his head. Shampoo held up a sign reading 9.7, Ukyo's read 9.9, Cologne gave her a 9.5 (she's old and harder to impress), Kasumi and Nabiki both gave her a 9.8, while Soun gave her a perfect 10. Mousse and Genma refrained from voting, as they were trying to keep a low profile. After that, they all settled down to watch the next episode of the show. (oO\O/Oo) "Man, Toji, that new guy is awesome," Kensuke said. "He could have so kicked your ass. You're lucky he seems to be an alright guy." "Shut up, Kensuke," Toji sulked. "He just caught me by surprise, is all." "Yeah, right, like I'm gonna believe that," Kensuke laughed. "Hell, I didn't even see him move and suddenly he had you locked up and at his mercy. Aw, man, they're jamming the news feeds of the battle again." "Big deal, they'll show it later," Toji sighed. "Yeah, the censored version where they took out all the good stuff," Kensuke said. "We have to go watch." "No, we don't," Toji disagreed. "We have to stay here in the shelter or we'll get in trouble." "Aw, come on, Toji, you owe it to the guy to see him in action," Kensuke smirked. "After all, you were pretty ungrateful. Maybe you hurt the guy's confidence or something." Toji snorted at that. The guy seemed to have enough confidence for an army. "You just wanna see one of those robot things in action," Toji retorted. "Well, yeah, but still," Kensuke wheedled. "You're not gonna shut up about this until I agree to go are you?" Toji asked in exasperation. "Nope," Kensuke grinned triumphantly. Toji rolled his eyes. "Hey Class Rep! Kensuke and I have to use the restroom," Toji called. "You should have thought about that before you came in," Hikari responded in a superior tone. "Aw, come on, we did, but we've been down here a long time already," Toji argued. "Very well, but make it quick," the girl relented. Soon the two boys were out of the shelter and headed toward 'the perfect' vantage point that Kensuke happened to know about. (oO\O/Oo) "Stupid Janitors and their mop buckets," Ranma groused as she was shot toward the surface on the catapult. "What are they doin' mopping the floor during an attack anyway." Thanks to an incident involving a wet floor, Misato, and a janitor's mop bucket full of cold water, Ranma was about to experience her first battle in female form. The doors rolled open on the catch cage and the locks released Unit 01, allowing Ranma to step forward. Grabbing a short makeshift spear, little more than a reinforced steel shaft with a prog knife attached to the end, out of a nearby storage bin, Ranma tested the weapon. With the progressive blade extended it barely came up to the shoulder of her Eva, but it gave her a little more reach than the prog knife alone. Pausing briefly, she shifted the spear to her off hand and picked up an assault rifle-looking weapon as the squid-shaped angel came into view. 'Might as well give them some proof on how effective these things are," Ranma thought as she sighted in on the angel and opened fire. Taking care to move in an arc around the angel and not repeat Shinji's mistake of losing sight of it in the smoke from the HE rounds detonating against the it's AT field, Ranma spent the entire payload of ammo on target. As she had expected, the angel wasn't even scratched. Ranma dropped the spent rifle and had to leap back as one of the Squid-angel's glowing ribbon like tentacles snapped through the space Ranma had just occupied. The way the ribbons moved reminded Ranma a lot of that psycho, Kodachi. Shifting her grip on her prog spear, Ranma began to move in on the angel using buildings and such as foils against the waving ribbons. Using moves not unlike the ones she used with Kodachi, Ranma quickly closed range with the angel. Deflecting one ribbon with her spear, she spun in and made a successful counter slash, removing the bit of the angel's body that the ribbon was attached to. However, in doing so, she had momentarily lost track of the second ribbon. Ranma screamed as the ribbon snaked around the waist of Unit 01 and a searing pain flared into life around her own waist. The angel picked her up off the ground and began to slam the Eva into buildings, overpasses, the street, anything that looked hard. Struggling against the pain and manhandling, Ranma finally managed to cut the ribbon holding her. Unfortunately, this also cut her own power cable and led to a short uncontrolled flight into the vary hillside she had been trying to avoid. Some things didn't want to be changed, apparently, given half a chance for them to happen. Ranma looked over and sure enough the two boys crouched between the outspread fingers of the Eva. "Ah, hell, Misato, we got a problem," Ranma said. "What is it, Ranma?" Misato's face appeared in a window on Ranma's display. "It's an unsettlin' issue demandin' a solution or decision, but that's not important right now," Ranma quipped. "What is important are the two boys that I just missed turnin' into a red smear on the ground that are currently cowerin' between the fingers of the Eva's left hand." Ranma heard Misato gasp as she got a video feed of the two in question. "Um...I need a decision here pretty quickly, the angel is moving in and the clock is ticking on power," Ranma said as the angel, its missing tentacle regenerated, approached. "Ranma, we want you to partially eject the entry plug and get those two in there with you," Misato said. "When they're in, you are to disengage from the angel and retreat into the Geo-front." "Roger," Ranma said. She did as instructed and ejected the entry plug to its field entry position, draining the LCL and opening the hatch. "Hey, you idiots, get in here, like NOW!" Ranma yelled at them while fending off the first of the angel's ribbons with the spear. "Huh?" Toji blinked, seeing a redheaded girl piloting the machine instead of Ranma. "Hey, where's that Ranma guy?" "I am that Ranma guy!" Ranma snarled urgently. "Now get your asses in the goddamn plug before you get us all killed!" The two guys finally got a clue and ran to get in the plug. As they piled in behind Ranma's command chair, Ranma closed the hatch and reinserted the plug. "Look, I'll explain later about who I am but right now the plug's gonna flood," Ranma said. "Don't panic, you can breathe the stuff, as disgusting as it is." The plug flooded with LCL and Ranma glanced at the count down time on the battery power. "Okay, I got the guys, but I got a problem," Ranma said as she got the Eva to its knees. "I ain't got enough time to make it back. If I get held up for even a second, we're all dead. I gotta take this thing out." "Negative, disengage and return to base," Misato ordered. Ranma ignored her and grabbed one of the flailing ribbons. Screaming as her hand erupted in a searing pain, she lined up the spear and yanked as hard as she could on the ribbon. The angel flew toward them and the progressive blade of the spear struck true on the angel's core. Ranma bore down on the shaft of the spear forcing the blade into the core while pulling back on the ribbon she held. Just as the time zeroed out the blade of the spear punched through the angel's core, killing it. In the emergency lighting of the entry plug, Ranma collapsed across her controls, breathing heavily, her throat raw due to screaming from the intense pain generated by the angel's flailing tentacles. "Aw, man, I think this stuff ruined my camera," Kensuke whined. Toji cuffed him in the back of the head. (oO\O/Oo) "So you see, it's a curse. Cold water; girl. Hot water; boy," Ranma finished explaining and demonstrating the curse to the two flabbergasted boys. "And before you ask, no, I ain't into guys when I'm a girl. I'm still the same person in my head even when my body is a girl. So don't even think about makin' a pass at me or I'll make you hurt real bad. By the way, this is classified information. You breathe a word about this to anyone, the NERV men-in-black will arrest you and do nasty things to you." The boys would have doubted that last bit had two such individuals not been standing behind him at the time giving the boys an evil grin while cracking their knuckles. "That's so weird," Toji commented. "So what's it like being a girl?" Kensuke asked. "Which way feels better, if you know what I mean?" "Keep askin' me perverted questions like that and you'll find out for yourself," Ranma scowled. "The only thing I'm tellin' you is that I'm not quite as strong and I lose some reach, but I make up for it by bein' a lot faster and more agile. And by not as strong, I mean I can only lift 400 pounds over my head as opposed to 600 when I'm a guy and I can still punch a hole through a brick wall." (oO\O/Oo) Ranma sighed heavily as Misato was reading him the riot act about the virtues of following orders. "Do you understand that when I give you an order it's because what we are telling you to do is in your best interest?" Misato demanded. "You know what, Misato," Ranma started in, "in some cases that may be true. But I know more about fightin' than you'll ever know, and I'm more qualified than you are to know if I could have safely disengaged and made it back before the batteries gave out." "What?" Misato drew back. "I could have you brought up on charges you know." "Fine, go ahead, Misato," Ranma snorted. "Have me thrown in the brig, or the stockade, or whatever you people call it around here. You do and I'll walk right out of here and you'll never see me again." Misato goggled at his bravado, which while he could very well do exactly what he said, he knew the consequences of doing so would doom this world along with himself. Ranma sighed. "Look, Misato, I have no problems followin' orders, but you damn well need to trust my judgment when it comes to fightin'," Ranma said. "If I don't follow orders, it's for a damn good reason." "That's not the point, Ranma," Misato argued. "What if those boys had disrupted your synchronization with the Eva? What if they had been killed?" "What if I had to spend so much time avoidin' those stupid energy ribbon things that the batteries died before I got back inside?" Ranma countered. "Then we have all been killed and the angel would have been free to go to town. We can play what-if's all day, Misato. You want someone that will follow orders to the letter, no matter what, then send Ayanami out there. If you want someone that will take the initiative and improvise, adapt, and overcome, then you gotta trust my judgment and let me do my job. I may be young, but I've been in some form of combat nearly all my life. It's what I'm good at, it's all I know." "Ranma, we have more information available than you do," Misato argued. "The Magi calculated the chances of you defeating the angel were a lot lower than you making it back to safety." "And what were the chances of us making it back in time?" Ranma asked. Misato just looked away, not meeting his eyes. "I see. Fortune favors the bold, Misato. Never forget that." "Goddammit, Ranma!" Misato stood up abruptly and rubbed her temples. "Misato?" Ranma asked. "What?" Misato snapped. "I respect your authority, I really do," Ranma said. "I'm not questionin' your competence. If it had been Ayanami out there, your decision would probably been the right one. I'm just askin' you not to question mine." Misato just shook her head in exasperation and stalked out of the room. (oO\O/Oo) "I can't believe how insufferably arrogant this kid is!" Misato shrieked, venting her frustrations on the blonde doctor. "It's like he has absolutely no respect for authority!" "Can you blame him?" Ritsuko smiled in amusement at her friend's vexation. "Look at the so-called authority figures in his life. A father that he hates and hasn't seen in years. The guy that raised him was an abusive idiot, little better than a thief and a con man. It's little wonder that he doesn't respect authority." Misato blinked. Grudgingly, she had to admit Ritsuko had a point. If those were the only examples she had to go by, she had little doubt that she'd be just like Ranma. Of course she'd be in a cell under hack if she flouted authority like he did. That's the part that peeved her. It's like the kid was thumbing his nose at them, knowing that he was too valuable to them to risk antagonizing him. "He's right you know," Ritsuko commented. "He does know more about fighting than you ever will. You really should trust his judgment." "Ritsuko..." Misato growled warningly. "I'm not saying that you should let him do whatever he wants," Ritsuko waved her hands placatingly. "I'm just saying that he's not just some untrained school kid. He's a brilliant fighter with abilities I seriously doubt we've seen the extent of. The fact is, he won the fight, everyone survived, and you know as well as I do, the chances of him disengaging and making it back here safely with the angel chasing him were pretty low as well." "So you saying I should just let it go?" Misato demanded. "That I should just allow him to undermine my authority?" "This time, yes," Ritsuko agreed. "If it becomes a habit then you might have to do something punitive. But also, in the future, listen to what he has to say before putting him in a position that he feels it necessary to ignore you." (oO\O/Oo) The tension at the Katsuragi Asylum for the Emotionally Disturbed was driving Ranma nuts. Misato had taken to barhopping all night and not returning until after Ranma was asleep. Mornings, if they saw each other at all, went by silently until one or the other had to leave for school or work. Frustrated, Ranma didn't know what to do about it. He needed to make peace with Misato, but at the same time, if he was to prevent the apocalypse, he needed her to trust and respect him for his knowledge and abilities. Ranma didn't think this would be achieved by backing down, which by nature was anathema to him anyway. If he gave in to what amounted to Misato's emotional blackmail, there was no way she would respect him. He was at his wit's end and that's why he was currently stalking through the corridors of NERV. "Hiya, Pop," Ranma said cheerfully as he entered Gendo's office. "What do you want, Third Child," Gendo said coolly. "I'm very busy." "Yeah, you look it too, sitting there lookin' all diabolical with your hands steepled in front of your face," Ranma observed with a smirk, while walking around Gendo's desk. "I bet you were in here busy practicing that all day, weren't ya? Well, I think you need some exercise and I got some frustrations to work off." Ranma reached out and snagged his 'father' by the lapels, hoisting him up out of his seat. "So we're goin' down to the gym and havin' a father-son bonding session while we beat the crap outta each other. Sounds fun, huh?" Not waiting for Gendo to respond, Ranma hauled the older man out of the office and through the corridors. Gendo, for his part, was unwilling to compromise his dignity by calling for help. The older Ikari also entertained the notion that it would feel good to land a few punches on the impertinent boy and show him that he wasn't the only fighter around here. Ranma hoped the old fart had something at least. He hadn't had a good spar in weeks. If not he would just settle for roughing the old geezer up a bit, nothing too harsh, just enough to make it painful for the evil prick to get out of bed for the next couple of days. Ranma couldn't help but smirk. He had always wanted a crack at what his friends had said was the most evil waste of skin in the universe. "Hey, Pop, you got somethin' to change into?" Ranma asked as they entered the gym. "I'd hate to mess up that nice tailored uniform when I kick your ass and all." Gendo said nothing, he just began removing his uniform jacket and shirt, leaving him bare-chested. "Whoa, you need a cage for that?" Ranma taunted before taking off his own shirt. Not because he was worried about it, but because he felt an over-powering urge to display how much better built he was that the old man. "You talk too much," Gendo growled, lunging at his son with a haymaker. "Whoa! That almost got me, Pop," Ranma smirked, "If I had been chained to the floor and up to my neck in concrete. 'Father' and 'Son' circled each other, Gendo occasionally probing the younger Ikari's defenses. At first, the fight appeared to be very similar to Ranma's first fight with Akane, but without Gendo getting frustrated. Instead, he gave Ranma a small smile, evil, of course. "Looks like the Third Child is afraid to take a swing...ooff!" Gendo said as Ranma darted in and landed a light punch in Gendo's abdomen. Well, it was a light punch for Ranma. Any normal person would have been on the ground with internal injuries. Fortunately for Gendo, he was no stranger to fighting. No, sir, in his college days, he would frequently show up banged up, which people assumed was the result of him having gotten into a bar fight. In reality, he had participated in his share of pit fights which his cousin Genma had turned him on to as a quick source of cash. "What was that you were sayin', Pop?" Ranma asked. "I couldn't quite make that out through your grunt of pain when I hit you." Gendo snarled at him and launched himself back into the fray. Ranma began to weave around the flurry of strikes that Gendo launched at him. Suddenly, out of nowhere a kick slammed into Ranma's side, sending him rolling across the mat. Flipping to his feet, Ranma avoided the foot stomp that Gendo had attempted to follow up with. The two fighters began circling each other again. "Seems the old man isn't as unskilled as you seem to believe, huh, Third Child?" Gendo commented with a small grin. "Good one, Pop," Ranma smirked. "Glad to see you're not completely worthless to me. If nothing else, you make a good punching bag. You do seem to be breathing awful heavy though. Old age getting' to ya?" With that, Ranma blew through Gendo's defenses and landed a series of punches along his torso followed by a thrust kick that sent the older man crashing on to his back several feet away. Ranma stood back as he watched the old fart get to his feet. He had to give the prick some credit, he was wheezing and his body was covered with a layer of sweat, but he was getting up for more. Gendo went on the offensive as soon as he recovered his breath a little. Again he struck in a flurry of blows in an attempt to overwhelm Ranma's defenses. After the last time, Ranma was paying closer attention to Gendo's offense, aware that Gendo was attempting to misdirect his focus so as to land the unexpected blow. When it came, Ranma was actually impressed with the speed the old geezer was capable of. Ranma wasn't surprised that Gendo was going for a low blow, targeting his balls. Not expecting the speed though, Ranma was unable to block the strike or turn to avoid it. The only thing he could do was direct his ki to reinforce the vulnerable area. Ranma's eyes bulged as the force of the blow lifted him several inches off the floor. Ranma came down, instinctively clutching himself and falling to his knees coughing. He was far from incapacitated though, as Gendo soon discovered as he tried to follow up his cheap shot. Shaking off the pain, Ranma fell away from the knee to the face, then rolled to avoid a foot stomp. A quick foot sweep put the older man on the mat as Ranma rolled and landed an elbow in Gendo's solar plexus. The air exploded out of the older man's lungs as Ranma rolled away out of reach and flipped to his feet. Wincing a little, Ranma walked over to where Gendo lay on the ground gasping for breath. Dropping a knee none too gently on the old fart's chest, Ranma grabbed a handful of hair, yanking Gendo's head up. He drew back his fist and watched as the old man's eyes widened in fear. Ranma swung his fist in, stopping millimeters from shattering Gendo's cheekbone and putting the prick out. Instead, dropped the old man's head back to the mat and patted his cheek roughly. "Thanks, Pop, I needed a good spar," Ranma said, tapping a pressure point on Gendo's torso, to get his diaphragm working again. Looking up, Ranma saw they had an audience. "Oh, hiya, Rei. Enjoy the show?" The red-eyed girl just watched dumbly as Ranma went over to put his shirt on, while Gendo lay on the mat panting. Clothed, Ranma walked over to Rei, whose red eyes tracked him every step of the way. "Was there something I can do for you?" Ranma asked. Rei's eyes darted over to Gendo where he lay on the mat still. "Don't worry about the old geezer," Ranma commented. "I didn't hurt him much. I only used my basic techniques and held back most of my strength. Gotta admit, he's pretty tough for someone that sits in an office all day looking sinister." Rei's eyes returned to Ranma, studying him in detail. "D-Doctor Akagi sent me to bring you to her," Rei said uncertainly. "Well, then, lead the way," Ranma said, feeling much more chipper in spite of the slight throb still coming from his groin. It was rapidly receding though. Rei glanced again at Gendo, Ranma followed her gaze, seeing the old man still laying there. "Say, Pop, you need us to send you a nurse or somethin'?" Ranma asked considerately. Gendo waved the offer off weakly and rolled onto his side before gingerly climbing to his feet and staggering over to his shirt and jacket. Rei looked back and forth between the two as if confused about something. Ranma quirked an eyebrow at her as her eyes met his. Evidently she gave up whatever line of thought confused her because she silently turned on her heel and headed toward the door with Ranma following behind her. (oO\O/Oo) "Why did you beat up Commander Ikari?" Rei asked as they rode the elevator to the level Dr. Akagi was on. "I needed some stress relief and he needed the exercise," Ranma replied with a shrug. Rei was silent for a few moments, as if digesting Ranma's answer. "You are...stronger...than the Commander," Rei observed. "Well yeah," Ranma said as if it was obvious. "It is not appropriate to initiate combat with someone weaker than you," Rei said. It might have been a chastisement, but her tone made it seem more of an observation. "Normally true," Ranma agreed. "However, it's perfectly fine to spar with someone weaker than you. It's how they get better. 'Sides, I think he wanted to test himself against me as much as I needed a good fight." "I do not understand," Rei said. "It's a guy thing," Ranma explained. "Guys sometimes like to fight to prove their dominance over each other." "So you are dominant over the Commander?" Rei asked. "Physically, anyway," Ranma agreed. Rei had no further comment for the remainder of the trip. Her thoughts, however, were quite active as she tried to understand the effect seeing the two males in her life locked in combat had on her. Watching their muscles play over their bare torsos had sent little jolts of electricity through her belly and made her breathing quicken. It was...pleasant, though she didn't understand why. (oO\O/Oo) "You wanted to see me, Dr. Akagi?" Ranma asked as Rei departed after accomplishing her mission. "Ah, Ranma, just who I wanted to see," the blonde said cheerfully. "I thought you might like to see the new weapon R&D came up with based on your recommendation." Ranma looked out the window they were standing in front of to see a large naginata-type polearm with a spear point at the end opposite the blade. The blade was about twice as long as the prog knife but had the curve of a real naginata. The length appeared to be just a bit taller then an Eva. "They are still working on the sword idea, but you should be putting this one through some combat trials in the next couple of days," Dr. Akagi told him. "Cool," Ranma nodded. "It looks good." "I'm glad you like it," Dr. Akagi smiled. "So I heard you and Misato are having some issues." "You could say that," Ranma sighed. "Ever since I refused to accept her reprimand about following orders, things have been...tense...between us. I don't know what to do. I tried to be as diplomatic as I could and I let her know that I respect her authority when I told her that she needed to respect my judgment as a fighter, but I think I still offended her somehow." "I think she's feeling like she can't trust you to follow her instructions," Dr. Akagi said. "She feels like she can't do her job if she can't depend on you following orders. It also bothers her that in this case you were right." "Well, I'm not gonna cave just because she's using a little emotional blackmail," Ranma said flatly. "She'd never respect me if I did." "Agreed, and you'd probably never hear the end of it," the blonde smirked. "However, you both have to find some common ground, if for no other reason than I'm tired of listening to her whine about you." "Maybe I should just move out," Ranma said tiredly. "I can take care of myself. Rei lives alone after all." "I don't think you need to do something that drastic," Dr. Akagi said. "You're good for Misato, believe it or not. How about we have a little dinner get-together sometime and we can talk things over with me playing moderator?" "Think she'll agree to it?" Ranma asked. "She already has," Dr. Akagi smiled. "Besides, I've been hearing what a wonderful cook you are and I'm dying to try it out." "Heh," Ranma chuckled. "I like to eat too much not to know how to cook good." "How about tomorrow night?" The blonde doctor suggested. "Works for me," Ranma agreed. "It's a date then," Dr. Akagi said, clapping her hands together. (oO\O/Oo) "I bet Ranma really enjoyed beating the crap out of Gendo," Nabiki laughed as she paused the tape. "Yeah," Akane agreed. "He always did say he would love to have a shot at that guy if he were Shinji. I'm surprised he went so easy on him though." "I'm surprised Gendo didn't have him arrested," Nabiki countered. "Shampoo not like way strange blue-haired girl look at Airen," Shampoo commented. "Or that blonde hussy either," Ukyo added. "She's old enough to be his mother practically." "Nothing ever changes with Son-in-law," Cologne chuckled. "Even in a fictional world he attracts women like flies to honey." "At least we no have to worry about purple-haired slut for while," Shampoo said in a vexed tone. (oO\O/Oo) Author's Note: Since it was brought up in a review, I thought I'd take a moment to discuss my reasoning on Ranma's intelligence. Firstly, I personally believe the canon Ranma to be exceptionally intelligent but uneducated. Ignorant does not mean stupid, people. However, in this story when Ranma enters the NGE-verse, Ritsuko is very aware of Ranma's educational deficiencies, which is why she was teaching him computer skills among other things. Also, Ranma has never had the chance to learn social skills, nor was he motivated to do so given that he was being attacked constantly by rivals, fiancées, and a slew of weird martial artists. However, his life now depends on developing those skills so now he's very motivated. We all know what happens when Ranma gets motivated, right? It was also mentioned that Ranma is showing too much insight into the minds and motivations of the NGE characters. I disagree. That's the beauty of having him sent there. Anyone who has seen NGE knows that it was more of a psychological drama than a Sci-fi action series. The show delved deeply into the minds and motivations of the main players. Whole episodes were dedicated to the characters exploring their thoughts, feelings, and motivations. It's pretty much all spelled out. This was stated to be Ranma's favorite anime, and that he discussed it with Dai and Hiroshi and presumably with Akane and Nabiki as well. He doesn't NEED to make any intuitive leaps to figure out what's driving them. That doesn't mean he won't be caught off guard, or even oblivious to certain things...like female interest in him. Also, a few words on Ranma's power level. Yes, Ranma will be extremely powerful in this story...in comparison to the other characters. Ranma was trained to be the ultimate expression of a warrior. And because of the way the world was created, he will be able to do incredible things with an Eva. This is a given and it's not really what the story was meant to be about. The story is about growth. You'll have to wait and read the story to find out what that means exactly. Thanks for reading, and thank you for all the glowing reviews. I'm really blown away by the response this story had gotten.
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