Story: Tainted Gestalt: Only Impossible if You Think It So!

Well, I got a bit sidetracked on Ranma Meme because I decided to write this monster instead. Guess which anime I watched recently to win a cookie.

Disclaimer: No cookies can be given as digitally transmitting physical objects has yet to be realised, and I somehow doubt anyone would freely volunteer their address simply to receive a cookie in the post. I mean, seriously come on have you seen the kinds of scams that are running out there these days? Get off facebook, people! Scammers can use it to look up your personal details and use it to spoof their way through security questions!


 So this is what it’s like to go completely off the rails? Funny. Shinji figured it was the type of thing that happened without you even knowing it. He always figured there would be a kind of sense to the voices in the head, seeing things that were obviously not there. Stuff like that. Of all things to break his brain, a giant monster rampaging through the city… Unless that was a delusion that he had actually managed to rationalise? Well, there was the problem, really. If he was insane then his senses were lying to him, and since a person’s ability to judge what’s going on in the outside world is entirely based upon sensory input, how would he ever know the difference?

After all, to his thinking there was little distinction anymore. If he started dismissing sensory input left and right then he might as well ignore the fact that he was being driven to meet his father by a rather intimidatingly gorgeous woman that apparently (at least, if his senses and memory were to be trusted) worked for his dad.

“Are we going to meet my father?”

Strange to think that a question like that would be what kept him grounded to sanity for the time being.

“Well, yes. Yes, we are!” Misato answered. “Oh, that’s right. Did your father send you your identification?”

He had indeed. Shinji fumbled around in his pockets while trying to ignore the fading sounds of the futile skirmish with the monster -

For a split second the interior of the car melted away, replaced by some sort of metal coffin full of blinking lights and buttons and levers and <i>can’t move! Can’t breathe!</i>

“We seem to be able to share memories,” a young girl said. The voice seemed to be coming from where his own mouth was, but - “I haven’t figured how to do it consciously but I just got a flash of your last few moments.”

Shinji felt dizzy, and jerked back to reality - What was it, a cockpit of some kind? Had he somehow actually been in an entirely different world? What was this? What was happening to him? Why him? Why now?

“Hey, are you okay?” Misato said. “You kinda zoned out there for a second.”

“I’m fine,” Shinji lied. His head felt like it was about to burst. “It’s just… A lot’s happened today. It’s a lot to take in all at once.”

Misato chuckled to herself. “Oh, I hate to break it to you, kid, but we’ve only just skimmed the surface. Look over there!”

Shinji did just that and gaped in awe at a sight. Anyone that didn’t the first time they saw this marvel surely needed their heads examined. Shinji’s mouth felt dry as the scope of it all, the sheer overwhelming size washed over his unreliable senses. A Geofront. They were entering an honest to goodness Geofront. Somehow it made him forget the dull pain in the back of his head, or the slight whispers that crept into his head from time to time. It had his attention by the balls and refused adamantly to let go, no matter what.

“That's right,” Misato said. “This is our secret base, Nerv Headquarters. It's also the foundation for the rebuilding of the world and a fortress for the human race.”

And his father was in charge of it all. There was a tiny, rational part of Shinji’s mind that whispered, “no wonder he was so busy,” but the voice was quickly squashed by the neuroses lurking in his unconscious mind that had accumulated over the years. Though it still didn’t answer the question of why his father wanted to see him now of all times. Especially since -

“Are you ready?”

He was staring at a kinda cute girl in a gi, standing with her legs firmly planted on the floor and her arms raised to protect her head and body. The spectacular sight of the Geofront had been replaced wholesale by some form of wooden hall. Walls, ceiling. The floor too. Shinji could feel it beneath his bare feet. Hold on. Wait a minute… That was the wrong pronoun. Her feet.

Suddenly the girl in front of Shinji dove forward with a straight punch. Shinji barely had time to see it coming before ducking just barely out of reach, and even less time to realise the girl had made another series of blows which had all been avoided faster than the blink of an eye. Th-this girl was attacking him out of nowhere! Even more amazing, somehow Shinji was dodging the attacks without even trying!

<i>“Not bad. Could use a little work. Probably not had a tough enough opponent to really push her. It’ll be fun helping Akane improve!”</i>

“… Are you going to fight back or what?” the girl asked, body tensing up for another flurry of attacks that Shinji wasn’t sure could possibly be avoided this time. A kick came in at gut level -

“I’m sure it was this way,” Misato said. “Or was it over here…? Terribly sorry for not being familiar with the layout yet. I only transferred here recently myself.”

Which - unfortunately - set the tone for the next twenty minutes as they wandered around and around in circles, with Shinji sometimes finding himself staring at the front of one classroom or another, at that same girl in the gi except completely naked save a towel, that strange cockpit again -

Could anyone remotely blame him for trying to linger on that second to last one a little longer?

<i>“Not me! Hey, check her out! Chick’s got a figure an hourglass would envy.”</i>

Great, now one of his split personalities was planning to hit on Misato. As if things weren’t already complicated enough for him right now. Something not entirely helped when they entered another elevator, followed by a blonde woman in a wetsuit.

“What were you doing, Captain Katsuragi? We are short on both hands and time!” the woman scolded, right around the same point one woman dropped her towel and leaned right over to give Shinji a peek into heaven while another girl leaned the other way to flaunt her towel-clad butt.

<i>“Whoa! Hey, be back in a bit. I gotta check this out. Priorities, you know!”</i>

“Nice to meet you,” the woman said. Shinji flinched a little bit and was rather grateful the pervert in his head wasn’t speaking up right then.

“He’s a lot like his father,” Misato remarked. “Not particularly sociable.”

It occurred to Shinji that Misato might very well need to learn a little bit here and there about tact. He didn’t like being compared to his father at the best of times, but learning they were similarly antisocial wasn’t entirely a comforting thought. Still, he followed them on, a walk only marred by a brief moment when he suddenly came to a stop and looked around outside his own power.

“Great,” Shinji said. “Where am I now?”

“Think of it as a hangar,” Ritsuko said. “As for what it’s a hangar for, you won’t find it in that booklet you’re holding. This is something quite spectacular.”

<i>“H-Hey! Cut it out!”</i> Shinji screamed. <i>“Give me my body back!”</i>

<i>“Huh? Oh… Sorry, I drifted off in class. It was so boring!”</i> a girl’s voice replied.

<i>“Well, if I were to chastise you for that it would make me quite the hypocrite,”</i> a boy’s voice said. <i>“Still, you might want to concentrate on not moving the guy’s limbs. I distinctly remember you not liking when I started correcting your notes for you.”

<i>“Well, I guess that was a little bit rude of me. Hey, Kyon! Hey, doesn’t this all look interesting? What is all this stuff?”

“… Must you call me by that infernal nickname? But you are right. If Shinji wouldn’t mind, we could stay around for a little while? It’s certainly much more interesting than anything happening in class right now.”</i>

“Sure,” Shinji whispered. Ah! Back in control over his body again! That was… chilling! Terrifying! To lose complete autonomy over his own form - But then, was it really his own form if someone else was in the driver’s seat? Hey… This room was pitch black? Why would they have the lights out? No sooner was the question asked than it was answered. It was the setup for a dramatic reveal. Standing before Shinji was a colossus. Purple. Metal. Kind of ugly.

<i>“Kind of cool! That’s amazing! It’s a giant mecha!”</i> Usagi cooed, and Shinji could all but see the stars in her eyes as she gushed over the metal monstrosity.

<i>“Though its expression is as intimidating as its size, I feel compelled to agree with Usagi wholesale!”</i> Kyon said. <i>“To be able to build something that large, and for it to be able to even move under its own weight… Truly a technological marvel above all others!”</i>

“This is the Multi-purpose Humanoid Fighting Machine EVANGELION,” Ritsuko proudly declared. “A sort of manmade god, I suppose you could say.”

“This is Father’s work,” Shinji said, barely even aware the words had passed his lips. It was every bit as awe inspiring as the Geofront itself, but not just awe. Fear as well. What could something this large do in the wrong hands? A weapon. That’s what it was. A weapon, made to fight things like that monster out there.

“That’s right,” a familiar voice said. A voice he had not heard in four years. A voice that instilled so many contradicting feelings in the young Ikari that he could almost feel Usagi and Kyon bow out of his head to let him have some privacy for his own thoughts. “It’s been a long time.”

Standing at the very topmost platform in the room was Gendo Ikari. Standing up there and staring down upon the room like a king does at the peasants. Above them. Better than them. His father’s focus shifted towards Shinji and the young boy could feel the whole weight of it crashing down upon him. A gaze that could see into a man’s soul and strip out all of its secrets, leaving them bare and defenceless. Now he would find out the answer to at least one of the questions that had been plaguing him today. Why had he been brought here? What did his father want with him?

“Move out,” his father said. Two short and simple words, echoing throughout the room like a gunshot.

“Move out?” Misato asked. “But Unit 00 is still frozen. You can’t mean that you’ll activate Unit 01! You don’t even have a pilot!”

“We have no other choice,” Ritsuko nodded towards Shinji. “And our pilot has just been delivered.”

They wanted him to pilot that thing. They wanted him to climb inside, and use it to fight that monster. This was the reason his father wanted him here. He needed a pilot, and for whatever reason Shinji was the only one qualified to do it. For that reason. For no other reason.

<i>“Shinji…”</i> Usagi said, and the pity in her voice made him sick to his stomach. He didn’t deserve pity. He was nothing. Less than nothing.

<i>“To place all of this on one person…”</i> Kyon began. <i>“I can’t imagine what it must be like to bear such a strain. Shinji -”</i>

“Shut up!” he yelled. Anything to make the voices stop! “I can't do this. I've neither seen nor heard of this before. Why do you say I can?!”

“If you're going to do this, don't waste time,” his father said dismissively. “Otherwise, leave!”

<i>“Wow. And I thought my dad was a bit of a tool, the way he and Mom carry on about wishing I’d never been born. This guy is</i> such<i> an ass.”

“Not the time, you freaky perv! Oh no, you’re not getting anywhere near my body with that sick mind of yours!”

“Oi, oi! I don’t think this is the right time for this -”</i>

Kyon and the others were cruelly interrupted when the entire room shook. The maintenance workers that had stopped to stare at the family reunion with even less shame than the intruders in his own mind clung desperately to prevent from being flung down.

“It’s found us,” Misato whispered. “Shinji… At this point, you’re our only hope. Please, if not you we have no other choice. That thing will tear through the city! Don't run away, not from your father and, above all, not from yourself.”

”I understand,” Shinji said, straining back the tears as he spoke. “But I don’t think I can do this. I’m sorry! You’ve got the wrong person!”

<i>“You know, that’s what I thought when they picked me to defend the Earth from alien invaders,”</i> the voice he now identified as Ataru said. <i>“Surely they meant someone else! I’m nothing special. Just an unlucky guy that likes chasing girls. But then I realised something, and I decided it would be best to just throw myself right into it:

“Being the guy that saved the world will get me so much tail. So much!”</i>

<i>“Idiot. And here I was thinking you were about to say something profound!”</i> Kyon said, and Shinji could almost see Usagi shaking her head in disdain.

“Fuyutsuki? Wake up Rei.”

It was mere moments after his father said that before the door to the side slid open and Shinji’s heart grew cold. It was a girl. Naked, almost save the bandages. Gasping for air in a series of painful yelps. No. He wouldn’t. He <i>couldn’t</i>.

<i>“That raging asshole!”</i> Ataru snarled. <i>“How dare he endanger such a pretty young thing - Look out!”</i>

It was the strangest occurrence. Like he was being pulled in a direction he was already walking in, at the same pace he was walking. He could feel Ataru’s conscious mind propelling him forward towards the girl on the hospital bed. He could hear Usagi’s gasp and Kyon calling his name from inside his own head, and he could feel Ataru’s very essence propelling his arms and legs in just the same manner as he intended to move them as well. Which of them was in control, then? Was it either? Both at once? Or something different? The consequence was the same either way. They crashed into the bed and he lay his body over the girl even as he tried to push her out of the way of the falling debris - Except it never landed. Shinji looked up, and saw a massive hand covering both of them. Like a protective umbrella.

<i>“Oh… My… God…”</i>

“That’s not possible!” Ritsuko exclaimed, staring up at the behemoth in a mixture of terror, confusion and awe. “It broke free of its bindings, even though the entry plug hasn’t even been inserted yet! It shouldn’t be possible for it to move!”

The girl was still writhing in agony beneath him. Helpless. The pilot he was intended to replace. Is this what happened to pilots of those things? Is this what his father wanted to happen to him?

<i>“Shinji… You can’t just let her die here, can you?” Ataru asked.</i>

“It’s impossible,” he whispered to himself. “I can’t beat that thing! I’ve never even heard of Evangelion before today!”

<i>“That thing moved even when they thought it was impossible,”</i> Ataru continued. <i>“Get it? If you think it’s impossible, that just makes it so! But if you set aside your reason, try for the unthinkable -”

“You can make a miracle!”</i> Usagi interrupted. <i>“Sailor V would never give up, no matter the odds and neither should you! Fight on! Become a warrior of love and justice!”

“Heh! Looks like I misjudged the two of you,”</i> Kyon said. <i>“The pervert and the crybaby… Who would’ve thought you’d make such great motivational speakers? Alright! If you two have his back, then so do I!”</i>

As Rei’s eyes flickered open and she stared up into his own, Shinji felt compelled to say something. Anything! “It’s alright,” he said, deliberately ignoring the rising pressure and the strange feeling in his eye. Just an adrenaline rush, that’s all. “Trust me. You’ll be alright. <b>You will live,</b> I promise you.

”I’ll do it!” Shinji yelled, still cradling Rei in his arms. “I will pilot Evangelion!”

Up above him where nobody could see, Gendo Ikari allowed himself a triumphant grin.

<hr>

A dream. It was all just a freaky, freaky dream. There was no weird lady, no giant robot thing, no voice saying what to do… Nothing but panda fur and a gawping family. Particularly the man with the moustache staring right into Ranma’s eyes, obviously a bit shaken by the intrusion of the giant panda. “You must be -”

“Ranma Saotome,” she said. “Sorry about this.”

You could tell this guy was a martial artist, given how fast he moved. The embrace was a little bit overeager and caught Ranma completely flat footed. However, it did not take long before the joyous expression he had faded away and was replaced by -

“Sorry I’m late!”

- A kinda cute girl strolling into a classroom while the boys around her acted like complete pervs without any effort to hide it. Seriously, it was times like this he was completely ashamed of his behaviour. Show a little self restraint! Quit drooling after those long, soft, inviting legs barely covered by that -

<i>“Moka... I guess she really is a vampire, then.”</i>

“Eh? Tsukune?” the girl said, leaving Ranma no time at all to think about the voice in his head before she dove forward into the second hug he’d received in as many minutes. The fact that this managed to top his high score for most demonstrations of affection in a day was not something Ranma wanted to dwell too much upon. “It’s Tsukune! We’re in the same class!” Hostile intent exploded all around him as the girl’s arms embraced his body, and -

“‘He’ is a girl,” a disappointed-sounding girl said. Ranma shook her head and blinked several times. Back at the dojo? What the hell was going on? Had the old man hit her on the head so hard she was hallucinating?

<i>“Eh? Is that why you were unconscious before? Ah! Sorry for intruding! My name is Tsukune Aono. What’s your name?”</i>

“I’m Ranma Saotome,” she said. Not to the voice, mind. That would be crazy. To this poor family that got spooked by the dumbass panda, hanging back by the entrance and making absolutely no attempt at finding hot water. Dumbass. “Sorry about this.”

<i>“Um, I know this is going to sound a little weird, but since you were unconscious at the time, maybe I should try to fill you in a little -”

“Excuse me, sorry to interrupt!”</i> a new voice said. A new one! Great! <i>“You haven’t heard Usagi running around anywhere, have you? We were just talking about this whole messed up situation, and I think her attention wandered a little. Honestly, that girl needs to calm down a little.”

“Um… Sorry, Kyon. I haven’t seen her. This is Ranma, by the way. Remember? She was unconscious and -”</i>

<b>“Go away!”</b></i>

Well. Good. That seemed to do the trick. Shut them up nice and neat. Just the way she liked it. No voices in her head except her own. A hand waved in front of her face and Ranma leaped back with her hands raised. How long had she just been staring into space like that? Here’s hoping those damn voices stayed quiet! Ranma blinked and stared at the girl in front of her, clad in a gi and smiling at her.

“Hello there?” she said. “Are you alright?” Ranma nodded and dropped her guard. “That’s good. You sort of zoned out for a moment there. My name’s Akane. Want to be friends?”

“You have no idea,” Ranma felt someone else say through her mouth. Hey! What the hell was this?! “T-Today has been such a we-weird day, it’s such a relief to see a friendly face.” Stop that! That’s not right, that’s not the way she moved! Ugh! She was actually skipping, cut that out!

<i>“Oh, thank goodness. This place doesn’t seem so scary, and that girl is really nice! I think this is the body of that unconscious girl. I wonder how she’s feeling now?”

”Who the hell are you people? Get outta my head!”

“Gosh, so sorry! Didn’t realise you were awake! My name is Usagi, and -”</i>

Usagi? Hadn’t that other voice mentioned someone called Usagi? She seemed a little bit flighty, and Ranma vaguely remembered something about her attention wandering, and -

<i>“Ah! I completely forgot! Kyon and I were trying to work this thing out! So sorry! Thank you for reminding me! Bye bye!”</i>

And like that she was gone, and Ranma was back in control again. You know. When this whole thing started, she was thinking that this was obviously a sign of encroaching madness, but the more it kept on getting on the more Ranma was convinced that her old man must’ve used some sort of cursed pipe or something to knock her out earlier because that was really the only viable explanation for why the hell she was having to put up with other voices in her head. She took a few deep breaths and tried to concentrate on both maintaining control over her own body and on what this Akane girl was talking about. The visit culminated in seeing the training hall. Nice and tidy place as they went, plenty of room across all three dimensions.

Her kinda place. A place for fighting and sparring. A place she understood. It was strange, but Ranma felt sort of more relaxed here. And after another dose of magical bullshit a little bit of relaxation was exactly what the doctor ordered.

“Say, do you want to have a quick spar?” Akane asked. “It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to try out a new sparring partner, sorry if I seem a little eager.”

“Not a problem,” Ranma replied. Yes. A spar. Just the two of them, one on one. Were Ranma as socially aware as much as she were a fighter this would have been the perfect opportunity for the two of them to get to know one another. Feel out how the other fought and in so doing how they thought. There are many viable tactics one can employ within a fight. Grapple the opponent. Throw them. Strike them. Twist their bodies into a pretzel. Keep them grounded, keep the fight on the feet, lure your opponent into attacks that leave them vulnerable… The list goes on and on. From the way a person fights it is easy to tell quite a lot about him or her, but neither Ranma or Akane were adept at reading beyond the simple use of strategy towards development of a psychological profile of the one using it.

For example, Akane might have rapidly learned that Ranma liked to bait opponents into making a mistake. She might have learned from how Ranma did not block attacks, preferring instead to dodge around them. Once the adversary was suitably provoked the weakest point was struck to bring the fight to an immediate end. And so it was that Ranma treated people much the same way, to much less social effectiveness. If confronted with a contentious issue, Ranma would much prefer to avoid the awkwardness however possible and flow around it like water. In addition, the source of that awkwardness would often find itself provoked emotionally until an obvious psychological weakness reared its head, and so Ranma would strike back in a way that would hurt.

On the other side of the coin Ranma might have learned that Akane was very straightforward and spirited. Once she had devoted herself to a task she would throw herself into it with all of her considerable might and determination, regardless of whether that was the actual proper response. She was also extremely easy to provoke, and it was, on the whole, probably a bad idea to do so.

What neither of them could have possibly learned from such an analysis was that they were both basically good people with significant character flaws. The only way to learn that was the old fashioned way: Talk to each other. Not that either of them was particularly skilled in that manner of identifying psychological traits either. But this is a digression. The spar went about the same way one might expect it to based on the above description. Akane attacked, Ranma dodged just a hair’s breadth out of the way and tried to ignore the terrified boy’s voice in his head that kept on yelping when the punch or kick barely missed. That was getting kind of old, to be quite honest, but at least he left soon enough. The spar came to an end when it became apparent that Akane was no longer screwing around, and Ranma effortlessly slipped behind her and tapped her on the back of the head.

Which is right around about when a slow clap emerged from within Ranma’s own head. She somehow resisted the urge to bow to her audience, but couldn’t stop herself from blushing when Akane looked back at her thoroughly gobsmacked.

“Wha - You are amazing!” Akane said breathlessly. “It’s a good thing you’re not a boy. Such a relief.”

… And there it was, that little thing just designed to completely ruin her good mood. Here she was establishing a solid friendship with some nice girl, then it turns out that said girl is relieved that Ranma’s not a boy.

<i>“Sorry to interrupt. Not really seeing the problem here? I mean, you kind of are a girl and all.”</i>

Ranma turned around and beheld an infinite expanse of white, and quite suddenly felt a little bit unnerved that there was absolutely no difference at all between the floor and the far off distance. At all. The only spots of colour were found within the shape of a boy about her age, about the same size as her girl form. Pretty normal looking. Short black hair, wearing a school uniform of some sort.

“Tsukune, wasn’t it?” Ranma said. “I recognised your voice from earlier. Who the hell are you and what’s going on?”

“To be honest, we’re not entirely sure,” Tsukune explained, fidgeting a little. Probably not helped by the fact that Ranma had strode forward to grab him by the scruff of the neck in about the time it took to take a breath. Which was something he was having a very slight harder time in doing.

“Like hell you’re not entirely sure!” Ranma yelled. “Listen, pal! I’ve had <b>the</b> the worst month, and I really don’t appreciate people diving in and out my head, looking in at my private thoughts! What is this all about?!”

“We- We really don’t know!” Tsukune cried, and getting a good look at the fear in the boy’s eyes made Ranma take a deep breath and back down a bit. That really wasn’t like her. Had this whole thing gotten to her that much? She was kinda private, really. Didn’t like talking about herself. Maybe the idea that other people, complete strangers, were able to root through her mind at will was getting to her a bit? “I mean, we all sort of met up for the first time while you were unconscious earlier. We compared notes and figured we all probably come from parallel universes or something like that. You know, like you see in stories all the time.”

“Others, huh? How many are there, then? And where are we right now, anyway?”

“Including both of us? There are eight. Only one other girl, I’m afraid. As for where we are, I think this is sort of like a neutral location where we can talk separately from - Um… Why are you looking at me like that?”

Why indeed. So this guy at least hadn’t looked too much into her mind, otherwise he’d have known she was not a girl at all. He would’ve known all about - Ranma blinked and stared in shock as valley walls and bamboo poles grew all around them. This place was -

“Ranma, the bath is ready!” the eldest of the Tendo sisters called, the one in the dress and apron that looked like the ideal image of a young housewife manifested in physical form. “After your long journey, don’t you think it might be a good idea for you to have a bath?”

The thought of refusing did cross Ranma’s mind, but somehow the look in her eye warned that any such gesture would be futile. Very well. Probably better to get this over with anyway. <i>“Are you still there? You should probably see this.”

“Eh?! But but but -”

“Oh, relax already. You’ll understand in a minute.”</i>

<hr>

<i>“A school for monsters, huh? I guess that makes about as much sense as my curse.”</i>

You know, now that he actually got to talking with him it turned out this Tsukune guy wasn’t so bad. He seemed about as lost with this whole thing as Ranma was, and the situation wasn’t exactly being helped by the fact that he could be killed at probably any moment by all of the monsters all around him. Hell, even Ranma wasn’t quite sure he could contend with an entire school of monsters all after him at once. Certainly not without a better understanding of what they could do. Kid like Tsukune didn’t stand a chance.

<i>“I still can’t get over that. Either of them, I mean,”</i> Tsukune said. <i>“I mean, to think that I could wind up in a school like this.”

“You could probably leave, though. Why don’t you?”</i>

An image of that girl from earlier flashed across his mind, and Ranma winced. Idiot! Risking getting mauled because he was getting close to some girl! Not that it really changed anything. If Tsukune did get into trouble Ranma would probably be able to step in and help out. Just so long as he wasn’t in the middle of his own thing. But really, it was kind of disappointing that even someone as apparently nice as Tsukune could cast aside all reason under the influence of an attractive -

<I>“Um, excuse me?”</i> a girl’s voice called. <I>“Are you Ranma? I was wanting to talk to you about this curse, and -”</i>

The separating door slid open, and all of a sudden Ranma beheld the sight of Akane Tendo with naught covering her body but a simple towel held in front of herself.

<i>“Whoa, wait a minute! What’s going on over here, now?”</i> asked another new voice. <i>“This seems pertinent to my interests! Please, continue!”</i>

“W-wait a minute,” Ranma felt the girl’s voice say through his body. “This isn’t what it looks like! I’m not a pervert! I swear!”

“Understood,” Akane said, much to Ranma’s complete shock. Huh? What? “You are not a pervert. This is not what it looks like.” His new friend blinked a few times then gasped and quickly shut the dividing door. “Sorry! Sorry! I didn’t realise anyone was in there! You must have come with the Saotomes, right?”

<i>“… Huh. That’s the second time that’s happened to me today,”</i> the girl said, and you know what? Now that Ranma was really thinking about it, something just like that happened earlier too. That tanned woman. For some reason, she’d just done exactly what he’d said without question, and come to think that same body switched from boy to girl when he’d landed in a puddle -

<i>“Eh?!”</i> Tsukune gasped. Damn, should’ve kept a tighter reign on those thoughts. This was really inconvenient for his privacy! <i>“But wouldn’t that mean your curse affects the rest of us as well?”</i>

<i>“Actually, that’s what I’m here for,”</I> the girl said. <i>“I’m Keitaro! You see, Lelouch realised your curse might affect others as well, so he asked me to look into it, and I was able to change back, but I don’t understand this thing at all! One minute water changes me back, the next it doesn’t!”</i>

“Stick around a little while,” Ranma answered as he rose from the bath. He dried himself, dressed and was out of the door before either boy could even believe the casual speed he was showing. “I get the feeling you’re going to find out all the details you could possibly want.”

<hr>

That went well. Better than he expected, certainly. Not as great as it might have gone, but certainly not quite as all-out humiliating as he expected.

<i>“This is no time to be in a huff, Ranma!”

“Not in a huff,”</i> Ranma replied. <i>“I mean, for what possible reason could I be in a huff? It’s not like I’ve been forcibly engaged to a violent tomboy or something like that.”</i> Not to mention how damn weird it was that she was so determined to argue that he absolutely was not a pervert. No, no, she was just annoyed that he lied to her about being a girl, didn’t tell her about the curse because obviously she would have believed him. Or believed that there were voices in his head from whole other universes.

<i>“You know, she’s probably a little upset you insulted her figure like that,”</i> Tsukune said, absolutely not helping at all by the way. <i>“I think maybe she was just a little embarrassed, maybe?”

“Like I wasn’t?”</i> Ranma replied. This whole thing was just a nightmare, and here he was getting counseling from the boy stuck in a monster school. Ugh! This whole thing was pissing him off so much, he just wanted to -

Which is right around the point that Ranma’s entire body started to tremble and shake as something else forced its way into his head. Something that was human, but more than that. Something familiar and alien and safe and terrible and -

Images flashed before his eyes. He saw a woman in a lab coat climbing inside a metal giant and felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity in spite of never seeing her before. This was replaced with a woman wearing a kimono, smiling serenely while carrying a large bundle. This woman looked sort of like his girl side, but older and - A woman with black, flowing hair and violet eyes that seemed to shimmer with an emotion he couldn’t read, diving in front of a young girl even as a hailfire of bullets coursed through the window - Another woman with long, sort of purple hair being angry over a test result - All women, all coming with an overwhelming sense of familiarity and yet Ranma could never recall meeting a single solitary one of them.

“What the hell was that?” Ranma gasped, clutching at his head.

“Are you alright, boy?” his father asked.

“Yeah, it’s nothing,” he replied, staggering off to find a place to sit and think about this. What the hell was going on <b>now</b>?

<i>“R-Ranma! Did you feel that as well? What on earth was that?”

“I dunno,”</i> he replied, easily putting on a more confident tone than he really felt right now. <i>“But it seems to have passed for now. Maybe it’s something to do with one of the others, I guess?”

“Good thinking! Come on, let’s take a look around, see what’s going on.”</i>

What the hell he meant by that wasn’t clear at first, at least until Ranma suddenly found himself surrounded by some weird red liquid that he was somehow actually breathing. As for where he was, he could sort of see monitors and levers all around him, and aside from the voices in his head there was something else there as well. That same human yet alien presence, lingering in the back of his mind. A body that was not his own. It was still so strange, but here he was again.

“Shinji!” a woman’s voice rang out. “Try thinking of only walking for now.”

“Walking,” a quiet voice said. Then it felt as though the earth itself were moving, and the sheer scale of what was going on became gradually apparent.

<I>“This is so cool!”</i> exclaimed a voice that was, surprisingly, very similar to that woman talking on the monitor a moment ago. Way less mature, but sort of similar. <i>“We are actually piloting a giant robot!”

“There there, little bunny!”</I> Kyon said. <i>“We still have to take down that monster over there. Come on, Shinji! You can do it! We’re all here for you.”</i>

“I can do this,” the boy whispered. “Just focus on walking. Take another step, and then - Aah!”

The sensation of falling was not a pleasant one, particularly such a spectacular distance. While Ranma could easily survive a fall that would seriously hurt most people he would typically be able to twist his body to ensure he landed elegantly enough that the impact was minimised and he could recover quickly. This was not his body. Further, this body was rather securely strapped into place, which meant that it was impossible for him to really do anything about bracing for impact… But then, it seemed as though such actions were not necessary in the slightest. Between the liquid and whatever other means they had built into this thing the fall might as well have been into a safety net held out over a trampoline.

Ranma’s danger sense flared up from the most vicious, hostile intent he’d ever experienced in his entire life, even as both the girl and the woman pleaded with Shinji to return the giant robot to its feet. But the boy was panicking. He’d screwed up, and it had gotten to him.

“It really is impossible!” the boy cried. “I can’t pilot this thing! I can’t! It’s impossible!”

<i>“The second you say it’s impossible is the moment you make it so!”</i> an energetic boy called out among the clamour of all of them. <i>“The first step to success is to deny that it is impossible! Then and only then can you move forward to success!”</i>

The monster loomed before them. Giant. Greenish-black body with patches of grey and white. A birdlike mask where there should be a face. This thing invoked such feelings of revulsion and terror in the pit of Ranma’s soul that he just couldn’t help himself. When it reached down towards them he reacted with his fighter’s instinct and seized the wrist before the hand could do any damage. The creature seemed confused for a single moment, before a simple twist sent it flipping onto its back.

“So I can move this giant thing as if it were my own body? Is that it?” Ranma asked. He blinked and allowed himself a cocky smirk. “Alright! Now we’re talking!”

“Shinji!” the woman shouted a great deal more calmly than she probably felt. “Quickly! You have to destroy its core! That thing won’t stop until either it’s dead or you are, so don’t hold anything back!”

<i>“Misato, everyone, I’m sorry. I can’t - I can’t fight that thing.”</i>

<i>“It’s fine, it’s fine!”</i> Ranma said. <i>“Now that I’m here, we can take that thing on no problem! It’ll destroy this city if we don’t, right?”</i> Bit different from the fights that he was used to, but whatever morality Ranma might normally have couldn’t possibly apply here. This was a fight to the death, as clear as day. Which is why his fist flew down at the monster, aimed right at the centre of mass - Except he felt a terrible resistance on the way down like he’d just hit sheet glass.

“That’s its A.T. Field!” Misato said. “You’ll have to get by that before you can attack directly.”

<i>“Please, don’t run away. Don’t run away. Don’t run away!”</i>

<i>“Who said anything about running away?!”</i> Ranma snarled back, forcing the robot to leap into the air when the monster dove for him. Too slow and telegraphed! Gonna have to do better than that! For example, projecting that force field to propel them through the air. Not really a problem for him, it was pretty simple to just land on his feet even inside this big thing.

<i>“Ranma, calm down!”</i> Tsukune insisted. <i>“There has to be some trick to beating this thing.”</i>

<i>“Oh gosh, you’re so awesome, Mister Ranma!”</i> a girl cooed in his head. Well yes, he rather was, it was nice for someone to notice. Unfortunately he didn’t really have time to bask in the limelight for too long before an invisible force slammed into him. Damn thing!

“Shinji! Unit 01 can project its own A.T. Field!” the woman said. Little late for that advice, but better late than never. “Try to concentrate on what you want the field to do, and use it to erode the Angel’s!”

Oh, was that all? Well then! Let’s give it a go! Focus on the beast… Focus on it… Nothing. Nothing was happening! Dammit, why was nothing happening?! Ranma made the robot lean back, just out of reach of a swipe with its claw. Hell, maybe he didn’t need anything like that! Another attack came through, but this time instead of dodging it he took the blow, rolled with it and had the creature pinned beneath him with its arm wrenched behind its back.

“Got you now!” he yelled, holding on for dear life even as he felt the push of that invisible field. No! He would not let go of this arm! He would not ever let go - And so he didn’t. Instead it tore off and Ranma stared at the monitor showing it with at least some satisfaction that he was able to inflict that much damage to it. Now all he had to do was go for its head, and -

The creature stumbled to its feet, grasping at the place where there used to be an arm, and began to shudder. “No way,” Ranma said. “No way! It’s regrowing its damn arm!”

<i>“You see?!”</i> Shinji screamed in his head. <i>“It really is impossible! We’re going to die here, and there’s nothing we can do!”</i>

“So it can recover from damage that quickly,” Ranma said. “So it has a personal force field. So what? The bigger the enemy, the harder it falls!”

<i>“Ranma’s right!”</i> Usagi agreed. <i>“Whenever I beat a really tough level in a game, it’s so much more rewarding than beating an easy one. You know? Like you feel you accomplished something incredible!”

“I think what the bunny is trying to say is that we shouldn’t give up so easily. Shinji! If there was really no chance of beating this thing, do you think they would have sent you up here at all?”</i>

No. They wouldn’t have done that unless they had a very damn good reason. If that Shinji kid was really the one whose body he was in, then why would they send him up here without any apparent combat training? Even his old man wouldn’t do something that stupid, and that was probably the most complimentary thought he’d had for the bastard outside of a fighting context in years. No matter! He wasn’t giving in. Not to something that ugly. Not to anything! So long as there was breath in his body, he would fight on and tear that thing apart until there was nothing else to grow back from!

<hr>

Shinji watched in awe alongside the others in the white void. Even just standing here and watching was terrifying and he could barely even stand there to watch. He looked at the others. The girl claiming to be Keitaro was struck dumb, and Usagi was positively hero worshipping the battle as if watching some television show. As for Kyon and Ataru -

“That Ranma really is something,” Ataru said. “To be able to figure out how to pilot and fight that quickly. Kind of amazing, huh?”

“I suppose,” Kyon said. “But I can’t shake the feeling something’s not right here. Why can’t he use the force field like that woman said he should be able to? Ah! This is going to annoy me to no end!”

“Decided to have a noisy party without inviting me?” a new girl asked. “Honestly, this is so distracting. It seems as though you all got a little distracted by Shinji’s battle to notice my little skirmish. Right?”

“Sorry, guys,” Tsukune said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. “I decided to see if Lelouch had any thoughts about this Angel thing.”

“To be honest, the last thing I need is a distraction right now,” the new girl said. “But you can certainly rely on me, Lelouch, to give a little bit of advice. Perhaps the problem is that the rest of you are simply watching like it was a spectator sport when you should have been helping out? Or maybe it is because for whatever reason, they have coded parts of the interface to Shinji’s mind so that only he can unleash the full power of this mysterious A.T. Field. Hm. I wonder what AT stands for? That information could be really useful!”

“No,” Shinji whispered. “No, no way! It couldn’t be something like that! Why would they do something like that? I’m worthless!”

“Only as worthless as you think you are,” Ataru said. “All my life, people have been saying ‘There goes Moroboshi! Unluckiest boy on the planet Earth!’ If I believed that every time someone said it, I’d never bother doing anything! You know what I do when I get shot down? I pick myself back up and I keep on walking!”

Kyon sighed and forced Shinji to stare at the sight projected against the white void, in particular at a certain spot within, where he could see his own reflection in a monitor. Himself. His face. Breathing heavily. Eyes shining in determination. He had once heard that eyes were the windows to the soul, but see himself like this… To see himself with such impossible determination in the face of inevitability!

“People keep telling me I’ll never make it into Tokyo University,” Keitaro said. “But I keep trying. Year after year, I’ll keep pursuing the impossible. No matter what obstacles are put in my way. Shinji! If you can’t believe in yourself… If you can’t do that, please believe in us. Let our determination become yours.”

“This is so cool,” Usagi sighed. “Wish I had some popcorn.”

“I quite agree,” Lelouch said. “You are afraid that you can’t beat this thing by yourself. I believe you are wrong, but you are also forgetting that you are not alone. None of us are anymore, and that is something we can certainly use to our own advantages. Go, Shinji! Beat that monster!”

Shinji’s gaze had frozen upon a single point on the projection. The sight of the Angel. It somehow seemed so much smaller to him now than it had before, and he was only mildly aware of the dashing motion of the Evangelion. He could feel the fist being drawn back rather than seeing it, and felt something flow into it. Something wonderful and terrible and comforting and he couldn’t stop crying for reasons he couldn’t even begin to understand. A low growl began deep within his chest and crawled out of his throat, exploding into the air even as the fist collided with that invisible forcefield, and for a terrible moment he could see it. They could all see it! Another mighty blow of steel upon A.T. Field, and the latter shattered like glass! The Angel reeled backwards, and tilted whatever approximated for its head as though considering the adversary anew.

“Enemy A.T. Field has been neutralised! Ah! Look out, Shinji!”

He turned towards his friends, but found himself alone in a pool of red breathable liquid. He was back in his own body, and the Angel was running towards him at full speed. Before he could even think to react it had wrapped itself around his head, and a terrible explosion rocked the Evangelion - But no! This suicide attack was futile! They had done it! They had won! Shinji released a sigh of relief as he stood tall and proud amidst a sea of flames, only then allowing his consciousness to slip away.

<i>“Well done, Shinji! You did the impossible! Just like I knew you could!”</i>

“Thank you,” Shinji whispered. His eyes closed, and the next he knew he was staring at a very unfamiliar ceiling.

<hr>

Gendo Ikari was a man that had seen many impossible and disturbing things in his time. Even so. This report was one of the more unsettling he had received in quite some time. He would have had Akagi dragged up to his office to explain herself, had he not seen that battle with his own two eyes and heard the data coming in from the technicians. Though he had not crunched the numbers himself, this did have the air of truth about it.

“What do you make of this, Fuyutsuki?” he asked, leaning on his hands in deep contemplation. “Do you have any explanation for this?”

“None, I fear,” his old mentor and teacher sighed wearily. “It is a complete mystery. Your son appears to have multiple brainwave patterns running all at the same time. Someone less aware of the issue might mistake this for multiple personality disorder, but -”

“But we know better,” Gendo interrupted. Indeed they did. If it was a true multiple personality disorder the boy would have a single brainwave pattern. Each distinct personality would have been merely a subsection of what was already there, expressing a different kind of repressed thought process. This? It was something else entirely. And the way he fought - far too precise and practised. Even the Second Child would have difficulty with that kind of motion and she had been training for the last ten years.

“What are your instructions?” Fuyutsuki asked. A very good question. There were many possible answers he could give, but for now…

“Observe discreetly,” Gendo said. “For now, this shows no sign of direct interference with the scenario. More data must be compiled to determine whether this development is an asset or a threat.”