Ranma 1/2 and all of its characters and situations are the
creation and property of Rumiko Takahashi. I use these
characters and situations without permission.

    Neon Genesis Evangelion and all of its characters and
situations are the creation and property of Hedeiki Anno and
Gainax. I use these characters and situations without
permission.

    Slayers and all of its characters and situations are the
creation and property of Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi,
Kadokawa Shoten, TV TOKYO, SOFTX, and Marubeni. I use these
characters and situations without permission.

    Final Fantasy 3, Final Fantasy 7 and Xenogears and all of
the characters and situations within are the property of
Squaresoft Inc. I use these characters and situations without
permission.

    Any and all additional characters and situations are the
property of me. No permission is needed, however if you wish
to use any of the original characters and situations, feel
free to do so, just let me know beforehand.

		   Converging Fates

		   By Kyle Emmerson

Chapter Eight: Forbidden Power, Primal Eyes

****

	"How long?" Jill asked, jumping out of the van and running up to the
chain link fence.

	"Thirty seconds," Anne, the camera technician exclaimed from the back.
"You got what you're going to say ready?"

	"As ready as I'm gonna be," Jill replied. "Serge, set it up! Come on!"

	Serge jumped out of the drivers seat and ran around to the back of the
van, grabbing the camera and tossing the microphone to Jill. "Here," he
exclaimed, mounting the camera on his shoulder. "You ready?"

	"Fifteen seconds!" Anne shouted.

	Jill gave herself a once over, patting down any creases she may have
had hidden in her light red blouse or white skirt. "I look okay?"

	Serge nodded and double checked his connections. "I'm all set, Anne!"

	"We're on in ten," Anne said. "Cutting it REAL close, guys."

	Jill took in her surroundings and moved to the best background as
quickly as she could. It happened to be a warning sign hung outside of the
chain link fence of the Army Airfield.

	"Five," Anne said. "Four. Three." She leaned out of the van and
mouthed the final two words, then pointed at Jill in indication of being
on the air.

	Jill smiled. "This is Investigative Reporter Gillian Moore reporting
live for KLMTV at The El Frisco Airfield and Military Base just southwest
of San Francisco City. The news that President Clinton has just relayed to
us, the residents of San Francisco is shocking to say the least. You can
be sure this reporter will stay on top of the current news and report it
to you, the viewing public. At this moment, the national guard and
military reserves are combing through the city, and you're all asked to
cooperate to the best of your ability." She caught her breath. "But behind
this strange occurrence, what is the reason for the evacuation? Be assured
that as more news becomes available, I will broadcast. This is Gillian
Moore for KLMTV. Back to you, Phil."

	"Okay, and we're off," Anne said. She poked her head out of the van
and looked to Jill. "Straight and to the point. So unlike you, Jill.
What's the occasion?"

	Jill tossed her microphone back to Serge and faced Anne. "The more
time I spend placating the hordes, the less time I spend in finding out
what the hell is going on," she said, then turned toward the Airfield.
"Look at them."

	Anne jumped out of the van and stepped over to the fence. There,
several hundred feet away from the fence was the airfield. On it, several
dozen people were running around, moving things from the airstrip and
generally looking panicked. She looked back to Jill. "They're gearing up
for something," she said.

	"Yeah," Jill replied. "But what?"

	Serge met them by the fence after he finished putting the camera back
in the van. "I don't know," he said, answering Jill. "But they look
spooked."

****

	He frowned at the television as if it were hell itself, coming to
grant itself upon him. Of course, it wasn't. It was far from it. A minor
setback, but a setback nonetheless.

	"Somethin' wrong, sir?" the bartender asked.

	The Nameless One shook his head. He had come in to the bar to find a
new shell. And that, he did. His former shell was now lying in a bathroom
stall, rotting. But then there was still the slight problem that his new
shell had already packed away a few.

	So he decided to sit down to allow it to pass.

	And that's when he saw the TV.

	They would surely be expecting him in San Francisco, he didn't doubt
that in the least. But an ordered evacuation, as the president had
declared Martial Law... It would definitely create some... complications.

	Strategy and tactics were never something The Nameless One had worried
about. He just consumed, and became more intelligent with each meal. That
was his essence. His being.

	But then, he had never had to hold a grudge. Any one that he had tried
to consume had either not realized until it was too late, or was too far
gone to care any more. He had even come across those who gave themselves
to him.

	The meals were always quick. Incredibly so, and he could pass from
body to body in instants...

	But now he had need for a regular shell.

	And now... He had a thought.

	They expect him to be straightforward. To simply not care of subtlety,
or anything else.

	But mainly... they expected him to come as a superpower of one.

	The Nameless One would surprise them... Oh yes, indeed he would. For
where he was strong in a single body, he was weak in maneuverability.
But... to inhabit many bodies... to split his essence to consume several
shells slowly, and control each of them as he would as if his whole
essence was in one shell...

	It would be harder to control than one shell, but The Nameless One
could pull it off...

	"Excuse me," The Nameless One called out to the bartender. "Do you
know where I might find a bus to San Francisco?"

	"Greyhound station's about half a mile down the way. Doubt they'd take
you all the way, though. Martial law and all..."

	The Nameless One stood up and smiled. Pulling out the wallet of his
shell, he emptied the contents of the cash pouch on to the countertop and
made his leave.

	After all... Right now, at least he wanted to maintain his outward
appearance.

****

	"Oh, THIS is interesting," Gillian said, staring up into the sky. "Is
it just me, or are they being a little... obvious about something?"

	Serge whistled. "Don't see THAT every day."

	"That's that craft everyone said they saw earlier, isn't it?" Anne,
the van operator asked. "It looks... it looks like a giant, metal human."

	"And so the golem makes his appearance," Jill mentioned, shaking her
head.

	"You catching this?" Anne asked Serge.

	"It's been rolling since we saw the jet, let alone... THAT thing."

	"How do you suppose we report that?"

	"Who knows?" Anne replied. "But Ed's gonna kill us if I don't get it
in ASAP."

	"No doubt."

	The three within the news crew watched in idle wonder as the jet came
in for a landing... just as the white humanoid craft touched down at the
end of the runway.

	"You ever see Robotech?" Serge asked.

	"That's MACROSS," Anne corrected.

	"You say tomato," he replied. "But... that's what it reminds me of.
Think it's a military project?"

	"I don't see why," Anne mentioned. "The human form is awfully frail,
and it can easily lose balance. For space battles it may be useful and
maneuverable, but on the surface? I doubt it."

	"Yet THAT thing gets around okay," Jill pointed out.

	"It's also..." Serge rubbed his eyes. "Hey, is that thing...
hovering?"

	Anne strained her eyes to see. "My God," she said. "This can't be any
simple military project." She looked over to Jill to get her input and
then paused.

	"Oh God, no," she muttered to herself.

	Serge looked back for a moment and let his jaw drop open. Jill had
THAT look on her face again.

	"Jill... friend... what are you thinking?" Serge said as calmly as he
could muster. Ohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease...

	"I've got an idea, guys," she said, smiling.

	Serge learned long ago never to resist the will of an investigative
reporter on a mission... But then, NOT resisting is what got him and Jill
in a jail cell for unlawful entry at a residence... THIS was a military
base. He was pretty sure they could be shot.

	He looked up to the sky and said his final prayers before succumbing
to Jill's wishes.

****

	The jet landed without incident. The Xenogears set down at the end of
the runway on a path of grass.

	But after that, all hell broke loose.

	"What the hell are they doing here?" Leonard asked the closest
lieutenant, pointing toward the news van parked outside of the airfield.

	"They're press, sir."

	"I KNOW they're bloody press. You DO realize what they just saw,
right?"

	The lieutenant looked up at the Xenogears and caught on. "Err...
We'll... get their tape."

	"That's a BROADCAST van, boy! Wake up! It doesn't matter anymore,
anyway. So long as they feed the public any alien invasion bullshit," he
turned back to the others and motioned them to follow. "We're heading to
the mess, Lieutenant. I want them to stay there unless otherwise ordered.
Understand?"

	The lieutenant nodded. "Yes sir."

	"Now... what's the skinny on this... thing?"

	"Sir, we've skimmed the area surrounding the crash site. The... er...
civilians said that he just walked out of the water and ignored them
completely. We found Colonel Richmond's corpse in a bathroom stall of a
nearby bathroom, but nobody claims to have said anything. According to the
bartender, it could have been any one of four people. Two men he knows by
name, a third who he didn't know, and a fourth who asked for directions to
the bus station."

	"The bus station?" Leonard asked, his eyebrow up in the air.

	"Yes sir. He expressed interest in getting to San Francisco."

	"That's our man. I want you to find him, and track him. Do not, and I
mean under NO circumstances are you to confront, injure or kill him. Even
if he attacks civilians. Am I understood?"

	"Sir? Attacking civilians? But--"

	"Look. This thing kills whatever it touches. Any living being this
thing even looks at is already dead. You understand? It takes over one of
your men without your seeing it, and you'll drag him RIGHT into this base,
and possibly kill us all. We have no idea how to kill it right now, and--"

	"We've got a civvie technician, sir," he replied. "He's from Project:
Churchill. He's trying to figure out exactly how we can kill it."

	"What?" a voice called from behind. The General turned around to face
a young girl wearing a military uniform.

	"Oh yes... Miss Langley," Leonard greeted.

	"Hold on... you've got someone looking up information on how to kill
it?"

	The lieutenant nodded. "Andrews. Paul Andrews."

	"Hold on," she said, looking at Leonard. "Lookie here, General sir. I
can help."

	"Miss Langley, I'm sure it would be easier to allow us professionals
to hand--"

	"Professionals? Let me remind you, General, your 'professionals' are
fifteen years obsolete. A lot changes in the future, sir, and considering
I've got a Ph.D. in things that the smartest men alive today have never
even HEARD of, I think I have a better chance of sorting this out!"

	"You're a kid," Leonard said. "How can you have a Ph.D.?"

	"I'm fourteen years old and I piloted something that would make
that... mecha out there look like a pygmy doll. Make the call, sir."

	Leonard looked down on her as he entered the Mess. "Right," he said.
"You come with me." He brought his gaze up to the rest of the room.
Waiting for everyone to pile into the room, he spoke up. "Anything you
want will be provided for you, I suggest you... start figuring out what
you want to do. We'll try and find a way for you to get home as soon as
possible, but it may take a while and this thing is on the way here."

	"What do you mean figure out what to do?" Cloud spoke up.

	"We dug ourselves this hole," Leonard said. "And it's our
responsibility to dig ourselves out. You aren't even a part of the
equation." He turned and left the room, with Asuka and the Lieutenant
following closely behind.

****

	"He's right," Lina scoffed. "This is THEIR problem, not ours."

	Ranma frowned. "Hey, we can fight this thing off--"

	"Are you crazy? He'd suck YOU down at the first opportunity, you
idiot!" Akane exclaimed.

	"Hey, who are YOU calling an idiot, you fat chick?!" Ranma shot back.

	"Err... Excuse me?" Terra asked.

	"Fat chick? Why, you jerk! How DARE you?" Akane shouted, standing up.
Unnoticed by few, she started to glow light blue.

	Tifa blinked in surprise. Why couldn't SHE ever gain that kind of
control?

	"You heard me! I said you're fat, uncute and... and..."

	"Hellloooo?" Terra said, trying to interrupt.

	"And WHAT?" Akane asked.

	"Sometimes the right insult just isn't enough!"

	"HEY!" Terra said, attracting everyone's attention. "SHUT UP SO I CAN
TALK!"

	After that, she had everyone's full attention.

	"Look," she began. "It's not directly our responsibility to help, but
did you ever think why we're here? Why US? Look at us? All-- well, most of
us are ridiculously powerful." She turned to Ranma. "You. I've never seen
a fighter of your caliber. I believe Sabin himself isn't as strong or
quick, and Akane's very good as well."

	Sabin grumbled to himself as Ranma beamed.

	She turned to Cloud. "Your strength... I can feel it from within.
There's something unnatural about you, Cloud, but you're kind at heart.
It's almost as if... there's too much soul within you to be contained by
your body. That, and I've never met a single person who could use a sword
that size without having to drag it around on the floor."

	Cloud patted his sword subconsciously as he nodded.

	She looked to Lina, Gourry and Zelgadis, who all sat in the corner of
the room. "Your magic is incredibly powerful. I can sense power within you
that could dwarf that of the espers. I feel the power within you could
assist in destroying an entire city with but a gesture, yet you are kind
at heart."

	Lina blushed as Gourry stood up and beamed. Zelgadis just scoffed
toward the wall.

	She turned to Fei and Elly. "That monster you pilot--"

	"The Xenogears," Fei explained. "It's called the Xenogears."

	"Yes, the Xenogears. I sense great power within that machine. It's
likened almost to Magitek, but is not. You have already saved our lives
with it, and I do not doubt that it will happen again."

	Elly cuddled up to Fei as Terra continued.

	Finally, she faced Shinji.

	"I... I don't have any power," he said, almost ashamed.

	Terra stepped toward him and cupped his chin with her hand. "You do,
Shinji. You are so powerful, but you don't realize it yet..." she said,
then planted a brief kiss on his forehead and moved back.

	"If your kind of power is commonplace on your world, I invite you to
step back."

	Nobody did. Not even Shinji, who was still shocked from the kiss on
his forehead. Besides, he was sitting down.

	"As I thought. This isn't coincidence," Terra sighed. "None of it is.
We were brought here to fight this battle."

	Soon, everyone came to terms with what she had said. And one by one,
they all stepped forward. Even Lina, although somewhat reluctant.

	"All right," Lina said. "So what do we do?"

	"That," Terra began. "I believe we can leave to Asuka for now..."

****

	Shinji stared at the floor in mild interest. The spot on his forehead
burning with several not unpleasant sensations. She had kissed him... Just
like.

	He gasped. Just like someone else had, although he had to admit, the
previous one was... different.

	(That was an adult kiss, Shinji.)

	He felt the tears well up in his eyes as he gripped the cross that
hung from his neck.

	(We'll continue it when you get back.)

	He tried to choke back the tears and held the cross to his forehead.

	"I wish Misato were here," he whispered. He was too busy crying to
notice the tingling sensation at his forehead.
	
****

	"What's... this?" Asuka asked, pointing toward a screen.

	"Video captures from Cedar Grove," the technician said. "We've got a
few others, but this one has the best resolution."

	"Is this the thing?" Asuka asked, leaning over his shoulder.

	"Yes, sir," the technician said. He then paused and turned around.
"Wait... who are you? Are you authorized to be here?"

	"Calm down," Leonard said. "She's part of the compliment of...
newcomers."

	"Ahh... Pleased to meet you," he said. "My name is Paul," he extended
his hand.

	"Asuka," Asuka greeted and shook his hand. "So, have you tried
infrared?"

	Paul nodded. "Infrared shows... little. A slight cooling of body
temperature when this entity moves to a new body, but we can't seem to
sense him by himself."

	"What about electromagnetic interference? Air movement and velocity?
Have you checked for those?"

	"On video?" Paul asked. "We'd need a specialized camera to pick up
that."

	"Not really," Asuka said, shoving Paul over and sitting at the
console. "Normal video can pick up anything, you just have to know how to
discern the crap from the rest. God, this thing is ancient. Let me guess,
late model Cray? They stopped making these damn things just after the
Second Impact. Pathetic, really."

	Paul blinked from beside the console. "Wait, just how old are you?"

	"Fourteen," Asuka said. "What programming language are you using?"

	Paul looked up to the General. "Sir?"

	"Kid, she's got a Ph.D. I'd trust what she has to say. You can tell
her," Leonard smiled. "Keep an eye on surveillance for now, and give her
any help she needs."

	Paul nodded and sat down at the console just next to Asuka. "This
stuff isn't mainstream military. We use Delphi mainly."

	"Okay. Do you keep these on discs?"

	Paul nodded. "Usually, but this is on the hard drive right now."

	"Okay, we're going to need to burn it and make some room. I should
have a crude EMIT program ready in a few hours. Delphi, you say?" she
asked.

	Paul nodded.

	"Primitive," Asuka sighed.

****

	Paul shrugged and pushed a few buttons on his console, switching
cameras at random.

	Camera One. Airfield. News truck by the fence. No big deal.

	Camera Two. Mess Hall. A bunch of strangers standing around the room,
discussing... something. He could turn on audio, but... well, there was no
real point. All he'd pick up was about a dozen voices at once.

	Camera Three. Hallway One. Nothing of interest.

	Camera Four. Project: Churchill Lab. A few scientists moving around.

	Camera Four. Hallway Two. Naked woman against wall.

	Camera Five. Main Barrack--

	Waitasec.

	He switched back to camera four and directed the camera toward the
shape.

	"HOLY BUGGER!" he exclaimed. "Uhh... uhh, sir? We've got an...
intruder, I guess."

	Leonard was to the monitor in less than a second. "What? What the
hell? How could he be here already?" he exclaimed, nearly spitting the
words out. "Scramble, dammit!"

	"Wait!" Asuka exclaimed, having switched to the camera on her own
console. "That's... oh my God, I KNOW her."

****

	Misato shakily raised a hand to her side. It was there, she knew it
was. It HAD to be.

	She had been shot not five minutes ago.

	And then... What had happened? And where the hell were her clothes?

	Her hand shot up to her throat. Yes. She had given her cross to
Shinji. She could remember that much, and then she...

	Rei. She saw Rei. It was for a mere split second, but she was THERE.
Standing with her.

	Misato spun around. She was no longer outside the elevator... In fact,
she wasn't sure she was anywhere in NERV Headquarters. This was...
somewhere completely different.

	And where the hell were her clothes?

	She looked up to a surveillance camera that hung on the wall as it
panned up and down, obviously looking at Misato. 

	Misato, of course, being herself, found no need to be bashful.

	"Yo!" she exclaimed to the camera. "Wanna help me out here? Some
clothes or something would be nice!"

	"Is your name Misato Katsuragi?" a voice asked. It was male, but other
than that... didn't sound familiar.

	Especially considering... Well, she was speaking English, and she
hadn't even realized it.

	PERFECT English.

	Misato furrowed her brow. What should it matter what her name was,
anyway?... But then... if these were the same people responsible for the
invasion at NERV, she should already be dead.

	And then again, she was pretty sure she was SUPPOSED to be dead.

	"I am," Misato exclaimed. "Who wants to know?"

	"Misato! It's me, Asuka!" a new, female voice shot over the PA.

	Misato blinked in shock. This meant... "Asuka? You made it out of the
fight in one piece?!"

	"Err... Not exactly-- Hey, back off!" the PA system went blank for a
moment before her voice returned. "Ugh. General Baggy-Pants here is
sending some guards to go pick you up. Apparently, he's not sure if you're
trustworthy, since you DID just pop up out of nowhere."

	"Nowhere? Where IS this, Asuka?"

	"You're at the El Frisco Federal Airfield and Military Base in San
Francisco, California," Asuka said.

	Misato paled. "Did you say San Francisco?"

	"Yeah, cool, ain't it?"

	Misato took a deep breath. Yes, that WAS air she was breathing. Fresh
air, which meant there was an outdoor entrance nearby. She didn't FEEL
like she was on a boat. Perhaps a military oil rig?

	"Asuka, correct me if I'm wrong... but isn't San Francisco under about
half a mile of water?"

****

	"Did she just say... You know, I think I've got a LOT of questions to
ask you, Miss Langley," Leonard said. "But now is not the time..."

	"I've gotta go meet her," Asuka said.

	Leonard turned toward one of his men. "Have her brought to the Mess.
We'll figure out what to do with her then... And for God's sake, get her
some clothes!"

	"Hold on," she said, switching the camera view in front of her to the
Mess Hall. Suddenly, she grabbed hold of the microphone and switched the
audio on.

	She took a deep breath before speaking.

****

	"SHINJI! MISATO'S HERE!"

	Half the room fell over from the extremely loud, shrill voice that
boomed through the PA System. Everyone except Shinji, who was still
sitting down. Instead, he felt all the blood drain out from his face.

	"What?" he asked nobody in particular.

	"What the hell was that about?" Sabin asked, looking to Shinji. "Who's
Misato?"

	"I... she couldn't... no, it must have been the project. They must
have experimented before!" he shouted. "It can't be!"

	"Whoa," Locke said, grabbing a seat next to Shinji and Sabin. "Calm
down, what's up?"

	"Misato... she died. She was shot, and then... I remember the
explosion!" he exclaimed. "It shook the elevator! But... this Churchill
thing... they must have grabbed her before the explosion! There's no
way--"

	"Hey, get your bloody hands off me!" a familiar, yet wholly welcome
voice shouted as the door to the Mess opened.

	Shinji stared up into Misato's eyes and blinked. "M... Misato?" he
asked.

	"Well, Shin-boy," Misato smiled. "Looks like you pulled through, eh?"

****

	Misato looked down at the ground in shock. "All of it?" she asked.

	Shinji nodded. "Everyone. It's all gone."

	"And you?"

	"Asuka and I were... the last. As far as I know. The next thing I
know, we were both on some freeway."

	"And in the year 1999?"

	Shinji nodded.

	"I see," Misato said, leaning back. "Damn, this thing itches." She
scratched her rump under the uniform. "You'd think they'd have extra
underwear or something."

	Shinji blushed.

	"And the rest of these guys? They're from other times as well?" she
asked.

	Shinji shrugged. "I don't even think they're from this universe. Some
of them can use... well, magic."

	Misato broke out laughing. "Magic?" she asked, a tear up in her eye.
"Let me tell you, boy. Magic is a dream. I wanted to believe in magic back
when we went to Antarctica. I wanted to hope everything would be okay...
Now look at things. We're in 1999, but that's another thing. What would
happen? Is this a second chance to undo the Second Impact, or are we here
for this... Nameless... Hastur thingie?"

	"Hastur?" Shinji asked, blinking.

	"Nameless One. He Who Is Not To Be Named? Hell, GIVE him a name. Make
things a whole damn lot easier. And I say we call him Hastur."

	"Okay, but why Hastur?"

	"A literary thing, Shinji. So, when's this Hastur thing supposed to
show up? And where's Asuka, anyway? She was talking to me through the PA,
but I haven't seen her."

	"She's trying to find a way to kill him," Terra said, breaking into
the conversation. "This... Hastur."

	"Ahh, you overheard. Not nice to eavesdrop, you know." Misato winked.

	"I apologize," Terra replied.

	"Well... What say we deal with Hastur and go find my pop, eh? I'm
pretty sure he'll stop doing... whatever it is he's done and stop the
second impact."

	"Won't work," Asuka exclaimed over the PA.

	"Asuka!" Misato exclaimed. "Where are you? What do you mean?"

	"Look... I've got something. Everyone come to the Ops Room."

	Within seconds, the entire room filed up to go to the Ops Room,
wherever THAT was. Eventually, they found it, but only by asking for
directions. They just don't MARK the doors in that place.

****

	"First of all," Asuka sighed. "As for your idea, Misato... We can't
stop the Second Impact."

	Misato frowned. "Why?"

	"Because it's not going to happen," she said, rather matter-of-factly.

	"Huh?"

	"Your father published several papers on the origin of life. Between
1995 and 1999, he published twelve highly recognized papers, was on the
cover of Scientific America AND National Geographic a collective total of
four times."

	"And?"

	"The date today is June 6, 1999. You want to know something?"

	"What?"

	"Your father doesn't EXIST."

	Misato paused. "What... what do you mean?"

	"Look, the..." Asuka sighed. "The Einstein-Rosen bridge. It's a...
theory that worlds rest upon layers. Different dimensions, so to speak."

	Misato blinked. "Are you saying...?"

	"Your father doesn't exist in this world. Even if he did, there'd be
no telling when the Second Impact would come, or whether it WOULD come at
all."

	Misato paused. "No NERV? No EVA? What about Ikari? Fuyutsuki?"

	"Nothing. Either they don't exist, or they're so insignificant that an
internet search wouldn't even come up with their names. I had Paul here
look them up while I worked on this."

	"Hi," Paul greeted. "Nice tattoo."

	Misato blushed.

	"Wait," Ranma interrupted. "You spent the whole time up here looking
up to see if the future isn't going to be--"

	"Oh, and nobody by the name of Ranma Saotome or Akane Tendo ever went
missing in the past ten years. Not in China, not in any place," Asuka
said.

	Ranma shut up.

	"Now, on to more... pressing matters." She swung her chair back to the
computer. "I've developed a Electromagnetic Interference Transceiver
program to analyze the footage we've got from up north. Not bad for a few
hours of a primitive programming language, don't you think?"

	Paul sighed and shook his head.

	The rest of them let it go through one ear out the other.

	"WHAT?" they all asked as one.

	Asuka narrowed her eyes to beads as she allowed a drop of sweat to
drip down her temple.

	"It's can tell us what The Nameless One--"

	"Hastur," Misato pointed out.

	Paul blinked. "Hey, The Yellow Sign?"

	Misato nodded and smiled.

	"Nice choice," he said.

	"ANYWAY," Asuka said, interrupting. "It can tell us what he's made
of."

	"So what is he made of?" Ranma asked, squatting on the floor beside
Asuka.

	"Watch," she said, and the pressed the button.

	The monitor turned from a video still of two men shooting at a third
to a black image with three distinct green shapes. Two smaller ones where
the two men who were shooting from were standing, and a third, larger one
where the third man was. Asuka pushed another button, and things began to
move.

	For the members of the group who were watching the monitor, they saw
the larger green shape fall to the ground, or where they suspected the
ground was, and slowly move toward one of the other green shapes. It
flashed red for an instant, and then one of the smaller shapes
disappeared, leaving the large shape.

	"Is that.. him?" Akane asked.

	Asuka smiled and nodded.

	"I don't get it," Lina mentioned. "He's a big green blob?"

	Asuka nearly fell off of her chair.

	"No!" she exclaimed. "This is set to check out for Electromagnetic
Interference! It's THOUGHT, don't you see?"

	"Thought?" James asked, trying to push his way through the small
crowd.

	Asuka nodded. "A being of pure thought. He's able to exist without a
body. He feeds by consuming life and intelligence."

	"Well, he's not able to use it very well," Ranma said.

	"That's just it," Asuka said. "I've watched this over and over, and
I've noticed a .007 percent decrease in size while he was in the first
body. He... digests the life faster than you could imagine. He's
completely self sufficient while he's in a body, although he... gets
dumber, so to speak. Memories are one thing, but IQ... It differs. The way
I see it, is this thing goes to a planet, eats everyone up, and then
drifts around in space for a few billions years until he discovers another
planet to have for breakfast. Understand?"

	"But... if he shrinks..."

	"Ahh," Asuka shook her finger. "He shrinks when he's ACTIVE, you see?
If he's got no direct task in mind, such as say... Eating up a planet, or
getting his revenge on a ragtag group of world hoppers, he... well, it's
like hibernation. Do you understand?"

	"That's all fine and good," Leonard said, speaking up. "But how do we
kill it?"

	"That's simple," Asuka said. "We've got to contain it."

	Everyone nearly fell to the ground.

	"CONTAIN it?" Ranma asked. "How do you plan to do that?"

	"AT Fields," Misato said, raising her voice. "Asuka, that's genius!"

	"I know," she said, puffing on her fingernails and rubbing against her
uniform.

	"Wait," Shinji said. "How do we create an AT Field? We need our Eva's
for that, don't we?"

	"I've been thinking about that, and I've decided that a little
experiment is in order, Shinji," Asuka said, a gleam in her eye.

	Shinji felt rather like a deer caught in someone's headlights.

	"First of all, how was Misato brought here? How was *I* brought back?"
Asuka asked. "I died in that Eva, Shinji. I know I did. I remember feeling
the pain driving through my arm as it split in two a split second before I
died. Here's the thing... My soul carried on... In you, and YOU gave me my
new form."

	"New form?" Shinji asked. "What... what do you mean?"

	"Well... I thought it was weird at first, so I shrugged it off as that
time of the month or something," she said, staring Shinji directly in the
eye. "It's a good thing you're such a pervert, or I'd never have
realized."

	Shinji blushed, but still didn't get what she was saying.

	"I'm not a C cup, Shinji."

	Half the room fell to the floor.

	"Oh, get up!" Asuka yelled. "My breasts were NEVER this big. You put
me together wrong."

	"Wait... Shinji?" Misato asked, and then let her mind drift to what
had happened... before it all. What NERV was really trying to do. "Oh my
God," she said.

	Shinji suddenly began to catch on. How Asuka had lived. How Misato had
come back. Rei had told him in the Sea of LCL...

	Shinji looked at his hands and began to realize.

	The next stage of human evolution. Shinji was it. He was...

	"The Human Complementation Project went through after all," Misato
said, smiling at Shinji.

	Behind them, the room was either ignoring them, listening intently and
not understanding a word, or asleep.

	"Wake UP, Gourry!" Lina exclaimed.

****

Author's Notes:

	Well, this one is out now. :)

	A few notes, though. First of all, there IS no El Frisco Airfield &
Military Base in existence... At least, as far as I know. Oh, and
please... No 'Al Fresco' jokes, please. :)

	Secondly, you'll have to have seen End of Evangelion to understand
most of what Shinji, Asuka and Misato are talking about... And yes, Misato
serves a purpose, and this wasn't on a whim. I've had this planned
literally since I started writing this fic, although the means were...
slightly different.

	Anyway, C&C appreciated. I had fun writing this one... ttyl,

	Kyle...