Nabiki smirked as she watched the fiancées complain about the various women that seemed to be being drawn to Ranma. It was all she could do to not roll on the floor laughing hysterically at the irony of Shampoo calling someone a purple-haired slut. As it was, she had to viciously pinch the back of her upper arm in an effort to keep commentary about pots, kettles, and the color black safely in her mouth. It was going to be interesting to see their reaction in the next episode when, unless he manages to avoid it somehow, Ranma ends up in a compromising position with Rei. A small giggle escaped Nabiki's lips as she calculated the odds of Ranma NOT ending up in a compromising position with a girl. Experience had shown they were too long to consider. The fathers had been amazingly silent, aside form the occasional outburst of indignation from Genma when his name was mentioned in a not very pleasant light and her father's occasional bouts of tears about the schools not being joined. Even Kasumi seemed to be intrigued by the show even though the original series was not to her liking. As everyone settled down and returned from getting more tea or restroom visits, Nabiki mashed the play button. (oO\O/Oo) Misato entered Gendo's office to see the man sitting, as usual, behind his desk, hands bridged in front of his face as if he had never moved from that position since the last time she was in here. Coming to attention in front of the desk she waited for him to speak. "Captain Katsuragi reporting as ordered, Sir," Misato said after an uncomfortable silence. She was afraid he might be asleep. It was hard to tell with the lighting and his glasses obscuring his eyes. "You and the Third Child are having difficulties," Gendo stated. "Well, maybe a little," Misato hedged. "Nothing I can't handle, Sir." "You will refrain from causing the Third Child undue stress," Gendo commanded. "I have little desire to be the source of my son's stress relief any more than is absolutely necessary." Misato's mind boggled. Did the Commander just order her to make up with Ranma and ignore the fact that the boy refused to follow orders? More bizarre, did the Commander just acknowledge Ranma as his son? She stood, dumbfounded, for what could have been several minutes before she realized the Commander hadn't said anything else. "Um...yes, sir," Misato said. "Was that all, Sir?" "Yes, you may go," Gendo said, thankful that his typical sinister posture covered the fact that he couldn't move without wincing. (oO\O/Oo) Ranma sat in the grass on a hillside bordering the athletic field. He was currently watching the distant blue-haired girl as she too sat apart from her classmates in the girls swim class. She looked very alone as she sat on the pool deck leaning against the fence. There was an open area around her as if the other girls were afraid to get too close to her. Ranma's heart went out to her as he too was familiar with being shunned and unable to relate to other people. "Hey, Ranma, what's up?" Toji said, flopping down beside the pigtailed martial artist. "Staring at the girls?" Kensuke teased. "Hey, you're watching Rei aren't you? Are you in loooove?" "Nah, it ain't like that," Ranma said defensively. "I just feel sorry for her. Look at how alone she is. My old man musta really fucked up her head. It pisses me off. It's like he tried to turn her into some sort of emotionless, order-following machine." "She is a really odd girl," Toji agreed. "It's like she's there, but not. As if the world goes on around her without noticing she's there." "Well, she really needs a friend and I'm gonna help her," Ranma vowed. "So Ranma, are you going to try out for any of the Athletic clubs?" Toji asked. Ranma gave him a wry look. "Do ya think it'd be fair to everyone else?" Ranma said with a smirk. "Maybe not, but who cares as long as we win?" Toji grinned. "Too big a hassle," Ranma commented. "I got bigger responsibilities like savin' the world and stuff." "There's that," Kensuke agreed. "I wish I could pilot an Eva." "Ken, you're a real moron, you know that?" Ranma laughed. "No kidding," Toji shuddered. "After seeing what it was like for Ranma, I don't want any part of that shit. I'm still having nightmares of hearing Ranma scream." Ranma shot him a sympathetic look, knowing that the boy would be faced with just the situation he wanted no part of and it wasn't going to go well. Silently, Ranma vowed to try to make the outcome less unpleasant for the boy. (oO\O/Oo) Rei lay on her futon, as she most always did when not required to be at NERV or school. Her red eyes stared blankly at the dingy ceiling of her squalid apartment. Not that she noticed the fact that it was squalid. Such things were not worthy of her notice most times, but certainly now more than ever. While her body seemed unnaturally inactive, lying very still with only the measured rise and fall of her breathing betraying that she was in fact alive, her mind was racing with thoughts and confusion. As she had many times since it happened, she was revisiting the fight between the Commander and his son, seeking to analyze the effect it had on her. Her eidetic memory replayed what she had witnessed in detail. She recalled vividly how the two males had striven against each other and how the Commander's bare skin glistened with sweat as his wiry muscles rippled across his frame. As interesting as that was, her focus was drawn inexorably toward the younger Ikari. His fantastic speed and the fluid grace with which he moved fascinated her. More telling was the fact that he did not sweat, nor was he breathing heavily throughout the entire struggle. It was clear he was toying with the Commander, even though the older man had managed to land a few blows. As she reviewed the pigtailed boy's actions, her body began to squirm slightly. Rei became aware that her memories were causing her to feel the same sensations that she felt while witnessing the fight. It was a pleasant sensation, but it was accompanied by a feeling of undefined need that she failed to understand. "Why do I feel this way?" Rei asked softly, as she continued to visualize the younger Ikari in her mind's eye. He was so powerful and fluid, almost god-like when in battle. Why did that affect her? Examining the sensations she was feeling, she found her breathing had quickened and she felt warmer than normal. She also felt a tingling feeling of what must have been anticipation in her abdomen and a moistness between her legs. Of its own accord, her hand drifted over to the dampening area and touched it. Rei's body went rigid as she sucked a hissing breath between clenched teeth. "That was...pleasant," Rei said to herself a little shakily. Images of a bare-chested Ranma drifted through her mind's eye as the hand returned to what it was doing. (oO\O/Oo) While Rei was stumbling across the age-old art of flying solo, a very different set of events was transpiring over at the Katsuragi Asylum. Currently, the chief cook and bottle-washer, Ranma Ikari, was preparing a feast the likes of which had never been witnessed in a Katsuragi home. While Ranma worked, Misato had been hiding in her bedroom, having secured a cooler filled with beer. She had only emerged for a trip to the bathroom to make room for more of the precious golden fluid. That was until Ritsuko arrived. Now the dark-haired woman had been forced from her sanctuary by her fair-haired friend and was working on getting a drunk on of epic proportions. They were seated at the table making small talk when Ranma came in with dishes of food balanced on nearly every part of his body that could support them. The food was laid out and the trio began to eat in silence. "Wow, Ranma, I'm impressed," Ritsuko said in amazement. "This is really good. If you get tired of living with Misato you can always come live with me." "Thanks, Dr. Akagi, but I'll have to pass on that," Ranma chuckled. "I know about your thing for c-c-c-furry demons from hell." Ritsuko shot him a wry grin and continued eating. Before long the food was gone and the trio sat around the table letting their meal settle. "So I guess we need to talk," Ritsuko mentioned. "No, no," Misato waved off drunkenly. "No need for that. Already taken care of. The Commander ordered me to make up with Ranma so he didn't have to be Ranma's source of stress relief. Whatever the hell that meant." Ranma smirked and Ritsuko laughed merrily. "I guess being our star pilot and the Commander's son, he doesn't have to follow orders like the rest of us," Misato slurred with a touch of bitterness. "It's not that, Misato," Ritsuko giggled. "It might interest you to know that Ranma, here, marched right into his father's office and bodily dragged him down to the gym for a 'sparring session' to 'work off some stress'. The Commander made a pretty good impression of a punching bag from what I saw. By the way, how are the family jewels there Ranma?" "They're good," Ranma said, blushing. "I used my ki to protect them but it still hurt. I shoulda figured the old geezer would go for a cheap shot like that." Misato was gaping at the pair as they casually discussed Ranma beating the snot out of NERV's commanding officer. Ritsuko looked at her and burst out laughing. "Really, Misato, are you trying to catch flies?" Ritsuko teased. "You really beat up Commander Ikari?" Misato said in disbelief. "Well, I wouldn't say 'beat up'," Ranma smirked. "But he's gonna know I was there for the next few days." "You really don't have any respect for the command structure, do you?" Misato said in amazement. "Hey, if ya wanted someone that would run around saluting you and following orders to the letter, ya shoulda hired a soldier," Ranma snapped. "If ya want someone who can come in and kick ass, then I'm your man. But you gotta let me do my job. Besides, it ain't like you ain't got your own issues with authority, little miss 'what-are-traffic-laws'. So don't get all hypocritical with me." "Now Ranma," Ritsuko said. "Misato is only upset because she cares. She doesn't want anything bad to happen to you and the only way she feels like she can protect you is if you follow her orders. And as for you, Misato," she said forestalling Misato's coming rant, "Ranma is right. He's not a soldier. He's had tougher training than just about any soldier I've ever met and like it or not, he's a brilliant fighter." "But he's just a kid," Misato argued. "Yes, he is," Ritsuko agreed. "But he's also a kid that can beat the snot out of any soldier we've got. He's also a damn fine Eva pilot and our best hope against the angels. Listen, we expect him to go out and fight like an adult, we can at least respect his judgment as we would an adult's." "Look, Misato, like I said before," Ranma added, "I don't mind followin' your orders. I respect your talent as an officer. All I'm askin' is that you respect my assessment of a situation. I know what I'm capable of far better than you do. You haven't even begun to see the full extent of what I can do." "But how can I do my job if I don't know what you are capable of," Misato demanded. "Why not ask me?" Ranma said. "I'll tell you whether I can do somethin' or not. Geez, Misato, I can change into a girl." Ranma gave her a wry smile dumped a glass of water on his head, triggering a quick gender change. "I figure that means I can do just about anything, huh?" Something about the improbability of the scene suddenly hit Misato and she started to laugh hysterically. Ranma and Ritsuko soon joined her. After sharing a good laugh the three calmed down. "Okay, Ranma," Misato snickered. "I guess you do have a point. Two at the moment." "Hey, the water was cold," Ranma said defensively, setting off another round of laughter. "Anyway, I promise I'll listen to your opinion, if you promise to follow orders," Misato offered. "Done," Ranma agreed. "Oh, before I forget, Ranma, could you drop this off to Rei tomorrow," Ritsuko asked, handing the redhead an ID card. "Hers expired and I didn't get a chance to give her the new one today." Ranma took the card and looked at it. "Aww, are you looking at Rei's picture?" Misato teased drunkenly. "Ranma's in love." "I hardly know her, Misato," Ranma said, blushing in spite of the fact that she knew that was coming. "She just seems so distant, so out of touch with the world." "Rei's not very adept at living, I'm afraid," Ritsuko remarked. "She just needs a friend," Ranma observed. "I'm sure anybody would retreat from the world if they had to spend as much time with the old geezer as she has." (oO\O/Oo) Ranma stood before the door of Rei's apartment. It was every bit as bad as he expected it to be. From the flickering of the florescent lighting in the hallway, to the dirt, grime and trash, detritus of years, collected on the otherwise bare metal floor, it was definitely a slum of the first order. Ignoring the intercom/door chime on the wall, which he knew wouldn't work, he knocked on the door. After a short wait, he knocked on the door again. Still receiving no response, Ranma decided to knock a bit harder, figuring maybe she hadn't heard him in the bathroom. No way in hell was he going in there. He remembered all too well what happened when Shinji entered this apartment the first time, so he pounded on the door in hopes that Rei would hear him. Unfortunately for Ranma, while the building was sturdy and built to take the abuse of the post-Second Impact weather patterns, the door was not designed to hold up to what some would call, a super-powered martial artist, knocking on it in an aggressive fashion. With a groan of tortured metal, the door fell inward as it succumbed to years of metal fatigue and the incessant pounding applied to it by a young man that had no intention of entering that apartment without being invited by its, hopefully, fully-clothed occupant. Ranma sweat-dropped as he watched the door fall away from his fist and crash loudly to the floor. Laughing nervously, his fist moved to scratch the base of his pigtail, as if guiltily fleeing the scene of the crime. His mind raced to think of what to do about this. "Great, Ranma, now what are ya gonna do?" Ranma muttered to himself. Well, there was no help for it. He would simply have to go in far enough to pick the door up and stuff it back in its frame. However, experience told him that as soon as he set foot across the threshold, the girl inside would appear before him sans clothing and things would be...awkward. At least she wasn't Akane, Ranma consoled himself. If she was anything like the Tomboy, he'd be a dead man as she crushed his skull with the mother of all mallets before he could even begin to explain. Even if he did get a chance to defend himself, she wouldn't have believed him anyway. Sighing, Ranma set his jaw and stepped in. "It was not locked," a soft voice drifted to his ears as he leaned down to pick up the door. "It was not necessary to remove the door from its hinges." Unable to stop himself, Ranma's head slowly turned toward the source of the voice. As he had known would happen, the apartment's blue-haired occupant, and blue was her natural color, stood before him in all her glory. Ranma's eyes widened as he froze like a deer in the headlights. She took a step toward him and Ranma, realizing he was staring, quickly spun around to face the opposite direction. Rei walked past him and picked up the door, sticking it back in the frame. Ranma watched with his peripheral vision as the otherworldly girl turned to move away from the door. She didn't notice the door began falling back in and was about to fall on her. Ranma quickly grabbed the girl and pulled her to him just before the door would have come crashing back down on her. It was only then that the flaw in that plan occurred to him. That being that he was now holding a naked girl against his body. Looking down, more than half expecting to see a look of anger, he saw she was staring disconnectedly at his chest sporting a light blush on her cheeks that was all the more luminous because of her ultra-pale complexion. "Sorry," he said and quickly released her. He picked up the door and held it in the frame pounding his head on it. Feeling a tap on his shoulder after a couple minutes of head pounding, he cautiously looked over to find Rei was fully clothed. "Could you please move?" she asked in her emotionless monotone. "Oh, ah, yeah, right," Ranma stammered as he opened the door for her. Rei walked through the opening leaving Ranma to try to get the door back in its frame from the outside. Getting it in place he turned to follow the quiet girl. Halfway down the hall, he sweat-dropped as he heard the door fall back to the floor, but kept going when Rei didn't pause in her movement. (oO\O/Oo) Rei was in a complete daze. She couldn't take her eyes off the boy sitting across from her during the entire train ride into NERV. The feeling of his body being pressed against her only added fuel to the fires of confusion within her. It had brought back the feeling she had been exploring last night that led to...whatever that was that she had done to herself. She didn't know what it was but it felt...VERY agreeable. She fully intended to research it later to find out just what had happened that left her feeling exhausted, but warm and satisfied at the same time. Whatever the effect was, it seemed to be caused by the chagrinned young man sitting across from her. Stepping off the train, her thoughts continued to be consumed by her lack of understanding as she walked to the entrance of the Geo-front. Passing her ID card through the reader, nothing happened. She repeated the process twice more with the same result before another card was passed through it and the door opened. Rei looked over to find the source of her confusion holding a card out to her. "Um...I came over to give you this," Ranma said. "I forgot about it in the confusion. Sorry." Nodding, Rei took the card from him, noting the tingle when her fingers brushed his hand. The pair then entered the Geo-front and stepped onto an escalator. "Um...good luck today," Ranma said. "Why?" Rei asked. "Well, you're doing that reactivation test thing, ain't ya?" Ranma said. "I was just hoping that this time turned out better, you know, since the first time didn't go so good for you." "Why would it not go well?" Rei asked. "Do you not trust the Commander?" Ranma snorted behind her. "Trust a guy that sees me as a tool to be used and discarded when he doesn't need me anymore? Yeah, right. That ain't happenin'," Ranma derided. "You can get angry with me about it if you want, but I've had more experience with people than you, and Gendo Ikari is not someone to trust." This gave Rei pause. She did feel anger that the younger Ikari questioned the Commander's character, but he did have a point about having more experience with people than she did. This was clear when he had correctly predicted that she would feel anger at his words. Rei's confusion grew by an order of magnitude. Further thoughts were interrupted when the pair heard a muffled curse and a cascade of water shot over the side of a mezzanine above them, thoroughly soaking Ranma and activating his change of gender. "Great," the now busty redhead grumbled. "Just great." "Sorry," a janitor called over the railing. "I accidentally spilled the mop bucket." "Great. Just great," Ranma repeated as she looked down at herself, covered in dirty mop water. Rei didn't understand why, but she felt the corners of her mouth twitch up into a small smile. (oO\O/Oo) Ranma entered the control room looking over the large room that currently contained Eva Unit 00. Stepping up to the window beside Gendo, he glanced over at the older man. "Hey, Pop. Feelin' any better?" Ranma asked solicitously, before reaching over and companionable patting his 'father' on a bruised area. Gendo flinched and made a small grunt before looking darkly at the younger Ikari. "I am quite well, Third Child," Gendo said. Ranma chuckled as he saw the old fart's jaw clench. "You realize," Ranma said soberly, "that if Rei gets hurt again that we'll be having another sparring session, right?" "She will not be harmed," Gendo said. "I am certain that this activation will be successful." "I hope so, 'cause she deserves better to be in constant traction," Ranma said, though he couldn't remember exactly how this part went. "What you did to her is even more fucked up than what you did to me. I gotta hand it to ya, Pop; I don't think there's a low you won't sink to in your master plan to take over the world and stuff." "You would do well to keep that in mind, Third Child," Gendo said darkly. "Heh," Ranma chuckled, dismissing the veiled threat as the Ikari men watched Rei's entry plug being inserted into Unit 00. "Activation commencing," Dr. Akagi announced. Techs, monitoring the various systems, began to call out status reports as the systems were powered up and nerve connections were made. Everyone in the room tensed as the tech monitoring Rei's sync ratio reported that she was approaching the threshold. "Threshold reached. Synchronization Ratio continuing to climb," the tech reported. "All systems are functioning normally," Maya Ibiki, Dr. Akagi's protégé reported. "Activation has been achieved. No anomalies." "Very well," Gendo said. "Prepare to release the locks and begin the testing." Suddenly alarms began sounding. At first Ranma thought something had gone wrong with the Rei's activation, but then an announcement over the PA allayed those fears. "Pattern Blue Detected," a male voice said. "We have an angel moving into the city." "Cancel the testing and prepare Unit 01 for launch," Gendo commanded. Ranma nodded and took off to the locker room to get into his plug suit while trying to figure out why he didn't remember this part. As he struggled into the suit, it occurred to him that this was the episode he missed the last part of because Akane had malleted him into the canal after he made a comment about Shinji being lucky that Rei wasn't an uncute tomboy or he'd have been malleted to death after the scene in Rei's apartment. Shrugging, he mashed the button in the wrist of the suit causing it to suck in tightly against his body and headed for his Eva. It would have been helpful to know what went wrong that caused Shinji to wake up in the hospital bed in the next episode, but Ranma was sure he could handle it. He hoped so because Rei was nearly killed protecting Shinji in that episode. (oO\O/Oo) "Wild Horse, ready," Ranma grinned as he announced his status. "Wild Horse?" Misato asked. "Sure, why not?" Ranma smirked. "I'm a pilot, ain't I? All Pilot's got clever callsigns. Mine's Wild Horse." "Okay 'Wild Horse'," Misato shook her head. "Eva launch!" "WOOOOHOOOOOO!" Ranma's voice was heard as the purple Eva went rocketing toward the surface. The external monitors showed the catapult catch arms extend and Unit 01 shoot up into them. "Ma'am we have a power build up coming from the angel," one of the techs reported. "It appears to be some kind of really powerful particle beam." "Ranma! Move!" Misato yelled to the pigtailed pilot. "I can't, Misato!" Ranma yelled back. "Ma'am there's a problem with the transport locks! They're not releasing!" another tech reported urgently. It was then that the angel fired its weapon, blowing through two buildings before it struck Ranma's Eva squarely in the chest. Ranma could do nothing but scream as the beam began to burn a hole through the Eva's chest armor. "Temperature in the entry plug rising!" A tech shouted over the screaming coming from the comm. "Brain wave patterns erratic! Sync Ratio fluctuating!" another tech announced. "Retract Unit 01! GET HIM BACK DOWN HERE!" Misato screamed. (oO\O/Oo) Ranma was unconscious by the time they had retrieved Eva Unit 01 and ejected the entry plug, but his vital signs were stable. Reviewing the data, Ritsuko remarked that it could have been a lot worse had it been anyone but Ranma. The pigtailed pilot had used his own massive store of ki to bolster the Eva's AT field and thus avoided a portion of the damage that could have been received. The blonde scientist determined that someone less durable than Ranma would have almost certainly went into cardiac arrest due to the feedback generated from the Eva having a hole burned in its chest. As for the angel, it had moved into position directly above Central Dogma and extended a massive drill bit. It began drilling through the 22 layers of armor while the NERV command staff tried to come up with a plan. Analysis indicated that they had 10 hrs before the angel penetrated the Geo-front armor. First they tried conventional weapon systems, everything from tanks to massive railway guns. Nothing scratched the angel and everything that they attacked it with was instantly fired on and destroyed by the angel's counter fire. The octahedron-shaped angel seemed perfect offensively and defensively. Failing to mount any sort of effective offensive, they then tried to determine the angel's threat detection range. Using various Eva mock-ups, they were deployed around the city and out in the bay. Each one was quickly destroyed by the angel until they determined the maximum distance that would provoke the angel to attack. In the end it was Misato who came up with a daring plan. She had heard reports that the JSSDF was working on a new weapon, a Positron Laser. It was untested and its power requirements were ridiculously large. To power it, they would need every bit of power generated across all of Japan but it was the best hope they had. "This is the best you can do?" Fuyutsuki demanded. "Yes, Sir," Misato said. "I've run the simulations on the Magi and this plan had the highest success rate." "Very well," Gendo said. "Proceed with the plan." "Yes, Sir," Misato replied and left the room. "Do you honestly think this will work?" Fuyutsuki asked the elder Ikari. "It had better work," Gendo said. "We don't have many other options." (oO\O/Oo) "This is it?" Misato asked as she looked at the massive piece of equipment. "Yes, this is the Positron Laser, the most powerful weapon ever built," the project engineer said proudly. "We should be ready to begin testing it soon. The problem is the power requirements." "Alright Rei, load it up!" Misato called into her comm unit. "Huh?" the engineer said dumbly. "Hey, you can't do that!" "Sure we can," Misato informed him. "NERV is authorized to commandeer any equipment we need to fight the angel threat. We need it, so we're taking it." (oO\O/Oo) Meanwhile, power lines and transformers were being routed to the chosen location on the side of Futaga mountain. Huge cooling systems and capacitors were being setup to handle the ridiculous amounts of power they would need to fire the commandeered rifle. Personnel worked at a frantic pace to get everything set up before the dead line. As work progressed on the site from which they would be firing the weapon, NERV technicians worked feverishly to repair Unit 01's chest armor. Eventually, against the odds, all was in readiness...except Unit 01's pilot. (oO\O/Oo) Ranma groaned as he opened his eyes. Blinking a few times, he wondered if it was Akane's mallet that got him or if it was her cooking this time. Her cooking, he decided, given the queasy feeling in his stomach. He became aware that someone was holding his hand when they released it. Looking in that direction, his mind caught up to current events when he saw Rei sitting beside his bed. "Hiya, Rei," Ranma said weakly. "Man, I feel like I was hit with one of Ryoga's Prefect Shi Shi Hokodan's." Ranma blinked as Rei reached down and placed a plastic wrapped package in his lap. "What's this," Ranma asked. "That is your plug suit," Rei began briefing him. "In one hour, we will board the Evas and move to the launch site on Futaga Mountain where we will receive a further briefing on our mission. I recommend that you attempt to eat something before you leave." She wheeled a table with a food tray on it over to Ranma's bed. Unfortunately, the glass of water on the tray tipped over and splashed Ranma. Ranma blinked several times as she discovered all the pain was gone. "What the..." Ranma said feeling her chest. "I apologize," Rei commented before turning and heading out the door. Ranma didn't see the small smile on her lips as Rei was faced away from her. Shrugging, Ranma quickly ate her food. It didn't occur to her until she too was leaving the room that Rei had brought her the plug suit for her female form. "Why you little..." Ranma said to herself with a broad smile. "I guess you're developing a sense of humor, Rei." (oO\O/Oo) "Well, that's it for the first tape, Kids," Nabiki said as she hit the rewind. "It's getting a bit late. How about we meet tomorrow afternoon after school to watch the next one?" "That's a wonderful idea, Nabiki," Kasumi said, forestalling any protests from the Fiancée Brigade. "Okay, Sugar," Ukyo agreed. "I'll just walk over with you and Akane after school." "Shampoo be here," the Amazon fiancée announced. "I wouldn't miss it," Cologne cackled. Everyone said their good nights and headed off.
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