Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong Just Won't Die Reborn Shinji didn't bother to look around to find out where he was. He knew he was clueless as to his whereabouts. All that he knew was that it was something in the late afternoon and he was in a world that was not his own. Not knowing where he was wasn't bothering all that much either. What really bothered him was what lead to him being sent to this world. "Goddamn," Shinji swore himself, walking down a random street. Judging by how busy it was, it was most likely a weekday afternoon, people on their way home after a hard day's worth of work. "What the hell am I gonna do?" he asked, fighting back tears, "Everyone's dead and I'm the only one left. Urd says I have to somehow beat Ranma. But how the hell am I gonna beat him? I've yet to ever hit him and now I have to beat him when he has the powers of God," Shinji sighed. He needed someone to help explain things to him. He couldn't figure things out on his own, could he? "Ranma somehow went crazy," he said, scratch his head, "As to why, I have no idea. I'm sure Ritsuko would know but.....she's dead, like everyone else," A tear trickled down Shinji's cheek. "I'm all alone," he said in a very soft voice, "What am I going to do? In an instant, I lost everyone. Why am I the only one left? Wouldn'tve it be easier if I died along with 'em?" He paused as something dawned on him. "I-is this how Ranma felt after the 'Nerima Massacre'?" He shook his head, banishing the thought. This wasn't the time to be thinking or even feeling things. Somehow, he had been thrown in to a situation where Urd, as well as the existence of all that existed, depended on him. "God, why me?" he asked, "I can't do this!" Several passerbys stopped to look at the crazy young man. Why was he talking to himself? "Let's try and analyze everything," he said, "Everyone was killed because Ranma somehow went crazy. As to why he went crazy, I have no idea. However, it's gotta be the God-version breaking out and basically taking possession. I mean, why the heck would Ranma kill everyone?" "Shinji," came a voice. Shinji turned around and was very shocked to see Urd. "U-Urd!" he said in surprise and relief, "W-where did you come from?" "Sorry, I'm only dropping in for a bit," she said in a rushed voice, "Ranma's hot on my heels," "W-what do you mean?" "What do you think? He's chasing me," she replied. Shinji looked around, wondering where Ranma was. Urd shook her head, "No. This is not that kinda chase. He's chasing me across worlds. I lost him somewhere around the beginning of time, but before long, he'll figure out where I went," "H-how's he chasing you?" Shinji asked. Urd said, "How the hell do I know?" "I thought you were all-knowing," he commented. "I am," she said, "But not all-knowing in the sense that I know Ranma. I know fate. Everyone and everything is tied to fate. The problem is that Ranma, much like myself, isn't confined to the path of fate," Shinji was silent. "You have no idea just how many worlds were knocked out of its path because Ranma showed up there, blew up a few things as he chased me," Urd said, "If I survive this, it's going to take me forever to fix everything up. Man, I wish I knew this was going to happen so I would've ended Ranma's life before this happened, but since he isn't tied to fate, I don't know anything about him or what's to come from him," "You didn't know that this was going to happen?" "I just told you," she said, "Ranma's not tied to fate so I know as much about what he would do as you do. His fate was severed ever since he died and came back. He should've stayed dead," "When?" Shinji asked, "Ranma died a few times already," "The first time around," she said. "What?" he asked. She waved a dismissive hand, "That's not important. The thing is is that I don't have much time and I need to relay some important information to you. I hope I can clear things up," "Hopefully," he said, "Because I'm seriously confused about everything," "First off, everyone that you know, died," she began, "And, no, it wasn't Ranma's complete doing. It was actually me," "Y-you?!" Shinji's eyes widened. "Yes, me," she said, "At the very last moment, as the other Ranma's personality was surfacing, I tried to kill him off. Unfortunately, he walked away and the entire city was wiped out. You have nothing to worry about because I can bring them back, provided we get through this," "What do you mean by that?" Shinji asked. "The Ranma we're facing now is the God-version of Ranma from before," Urd said, "However, as if we weren't in big enough trouble dealing with something like that, this Ranma happens to have the fighting abilities of the Ranma you know. To put it simply, picture having to go up against an evil version of Ranma with powers tantamount to my own," "Damn," Shinji said, "How is Ranma evil? I mean, why's he doing this?" "This Ranma's not evil," Urd said, "He's suicidal. All he wants is death. He's basically the corruption of power that festered within the Ranma you knew. When you left, the corruption took form and split from Ranma, but is nonetheless, Ranma in essence," "So why don't you kill him?" Shinji asked, "Why do I hafta be the one?" "I keep telling him that," Urd said, "I keep telling him that I'll be more than happy to kill him off but he wants none of it. I really don't know why he's like that. I assume it's because he doesn't want to risk my remaining alive and bringing him back," "How can someone hate life that much?" Shinji asked, "Is it possible to have that much resentment for oneself?" Urd nodded, "Yes. That Ranma's a living example of just that," "All because of society, huh?" Shinji asked. Urd shrugged, "I assume so. However, with Ranma, I can't really tell. I think it might be something even deeper than that but that's the best I can think of at the moment," "Deeper?" Urd nodded, "Ranma's always been partially suicidal, even before the incident where he became God. It seems he prefers death to life," "What?!? Really?!" Shinji's eyes widened. "Yeah," Urd said, "You remember hearing about how Ranma died?" Shinji nodded, "Yes. This was after he came back with Asuka after preventing Second Impact on the other world. One of his ribs punctured his heart and he died the night after he came back," Urd shrugged, "I guess we could use that as an example as well. With that one, what no one knows is that Ranma could've survived that night," "H-he could've!" Urd nodded, "Yes. I was the one that came down and talked to him while he sat on the hospital bed," "W-whoa! Whoa! whoa! Back it up! Are you serious?" Shinji gasped. "Yes," she said, "I showed up in front of him that night and offered to let him live. I was particularly intrigued by him, what with the accomplishments he had done. He was a normal human and he prevented Second Impact on another world which saved billions. That's one heck of an accomplishment. As a favor, as well as my respect for him and what he's done, I offered to heal him. I told him that if he doesn't accept my help, he will die," Shinji gulped. "Ranma purposely declined my offer," she said, a bit sad, "It stunned me at first because I wasn't expecting him to choose that path. Of course, I didn't know that he would choose such a path since I was nothing more than a goddess then. The thing is is that he choose death over life," Shinji was silent. "Of course, the Ranma born from Unit-01 on the world where Second Impact didn't know that that Ranma chose that choice and went on living. The point is is that given the choice, he would choose death over life," "But why?" Urd shrugged, "I don't know. It's probably got something to do with him swearing to himself after the 'Nerima Massacre'," "What did he swear?" "That he would avenge the deaths of his friends and loved ones," she said, "He would not rest until then. Since he did do that after he came back to Japan after a decades long training trip, he basically became a wanderer waiting for death. Keep in mind his life centered around avenging his friends' and family's death. He did that long ago so he accomplished what he had set out to do," "If he wanted death so bad, why didn't he just kill himself?" Shinji wondered why he would ask such a question. Meeting Ranma was one of the best things that had ever happened to him. To have him kill himself and not meet him disturbed Shinji. Urd said, "Ranma's got the willpower to rip out his own heart if he wanted to. However, he's not the type of person to take his own life. He would rather someone take it for him," Shinji thought about it for a moment. He remembered seeing Ranma jamming an index finger right in to his forearm without a hesitation as well as commented about he actually could rip out his own heart if he wanted to. What didn't makes sense was that if Ranma never wanted to take his own life, there was an incident where he did try. "Then how come that other Ranma tried to kill himself with the Lance of Longinus?" Shinji asked, "If Ranma's against killing himself, then that kinda contradicts his personality," "That's probably because of that Ranma's personality," Urd shrugged, "From what I believe, Ranma's suicidal tendencies seemed to be more predominant with that Ranma because of the life he lived," Shinji rubbed at his temples, "This is just too much to take. I feel like things are moving too fast," "Things are moving at light speed," Urd smirked, "But you're gonna hafta accept it whether you like it or not," Shinji sighed, "But I don't even know what I'm supposed to do," "You need to find the Ranma of this world," Urd said, "And get him to help you," "There's so many Ranmas. I'm confused," Shinji commented. "There're only two Ranmas you need to worry about," Urd said, "There's the Ranma you need to somehow find a way to kill before he kill me. And then there's the Ranma of this world, the one you helped out not too long ago that stabbed himself with the Lance of Longinus. Although this is an alternate Ranma of the one you helped, he's still basically the exact same person, every bit as cold and powerful," "What about the Ranma that I know?" Shinji asked, "The one that has been training me all this time?" Urd gave a sad look, "He doesn't exist anymore, at least his personality doesn't exist anymore. His was basically replaced by the Ranma you need to face now," "What happened to the Ranma I know?" Shinji asked again. "Like I said. He's gone," Urd said, "He's basically died without physically dying," "No," Shinji found himself about to cry. "At least your friend Ranma finally got what he wanted, death," At that moment, in the middle of a very busy intersection, a blue portal opened up. From that portal emerged Ranma. Several cars swerved out of the way, hitting in to various objects, a massive pile up ensuing. Ranma didn't so much as flinch. "Fuck, he found me," Urd said, the worry in her voice genuine. She turned toward Shinji. "I gotta go," she said, "Somewhere on this world exist the Ranma that can help. It's up to you to find him and get him to give you his powers. I don't know how you're going to do it, but you're going to have to. Everything depends on you," Shinji gulped. A massive spherical energy blast came rocketing right toward Shinji and Urd from Ranma's direction. Shinji, in a moment of panic, instinctively tried to block it, not knowing what would happen if it struck him. Luckily, Urd was there and used her divine powers to deflect it. The blast ended up getting deflected toward the sky where it disappeared high in to the heavens, so powerful that it would continue on its travel path forever. "Good luck, Shinji," Urd said, "I'm counting on you," With that said, Urd opened up her own portal and disappeared. Shinji watched as Ranma approached him. He narrowed his eyes at the young man, "Where did she go?" "I-I-I don't know," he stammered, overwhelmed by the aura of power surrounding Ranma that he ended falling back on to his backside. Ranma stared at Shinji for a moment, not recognizing him. Shinji immediately noticed this. He realized that the Ranma standing before him was not the person he knew. All he was was a mere personality, an unstoppable driving force. "Hmph!" Ranma let out an annoyed breath. At that moment, a portal opened up right next to Ranma. Without so much as saying another word, Ranma disappeared through the portal. Shinji found himself gasping for air. He had never been so terrified in his life. There was an aura to Ranma that was absolutely paralyzing. It made him wonder what the heck role he had been thrown in to so suddenly. "H-how t-the hell am I supposed to beat that guy?!?" Shinji blushed as he noticed several people watching him as he rummaged through a garbage can located by the corner of a busy intersection. "This is embarrassing," he told himself, sifting through the trash, ignoring the foul stench emanating from refuse. Even though it was embarrassing, it was for a good reason. Shinji's stomach rumbled. This made him realize that he was hungry. The last time he recalled eating was late in the evening when he was with Luna on that other world, before they found Emiko and went home and found out what had happened to Ranma. That meant he hadn't eaten in a few days and he should get something to eat shortly. "God, this stench is making me lose my appetite," he said, pinching his nose. Luckily, he was careful enough not to get his hands very dirty as he only touched the 'clean' looking garbage in the can. After a short moment of searching, he found what he was looking for, a discarded newspaper. He opened it up and quickly checked for the date. It only took him a moment to determine the current date of that world since the newspaper had the date on every page. "Hm, it's only a year later than when I was last on this world," Shinji commented, "But then again, I was never actually on this world before since this world was recreated and the Ranma that exist on this world had never met me. Ranma wouldn't even know who I am since he was reborn all over again and remembers nothing about what had happened between him and I and those Angels and everyone else," Shinji wondered if that was a good or bad thing. It was most likely a good thing. Sure, if Ranma remembered Shinji, Shinji would most likely have more of a chance of receiving help from him since he wouldn't be view as some random stranger, however, if Ranma did remember everything, it would be much worse since he would also remember having been reborn when he specifically requested to be removed from existence in exchange for his help. "Damn, this is all messed up," Shinji sighed, "Either way, it's a lose-lose situations. If Ranma doesn't remember anything, it would be extremely hard to get his help. If he remembered everything, he would most likely be trying to kill the Ranma I know for breaking his word and having him reborn," He banished the thought from his head. That was a trivial matter. What mattered was that reborn Ranma of this world would probably be only a year older than when he met the previous version of him. If that was the case, then Ranma was most likely still attending college. "Damn, what college does he attend?" Shinji scratched his head, "Heck, where the heck does he live? I don't even know what town he lives in!" Those were huge details that he was never told. It also didn't help that Shinji had no idea which city he had appeared in. His stomach rumbled again. He needed food. Actually, he also needed a shower. He reeked and needed a change of clothes. Unfortunately, that was something he would have to worry about later. Right now, he needed something to eat. "Excuse me, but can you tell me where I am?" The school girls gave Shinji an odd look like he was crazy. Shinji had approached two school girls as they were on their way home from school. He assumed they were school girls since they were dressed in what looked like a school uniform. At least some aspects of Japan hadn't changed over time. He couldn't help but feel a bit relieved that he had trained himself before to be able to talk to girls or random strangers for that matter. Ranma had instilled in him the courage to talk to strangers. The only people he used to be good at talking to were his friends and he always struggled talking to people he didn't know. What was surprising was that this was only a few months ago. Thank goodness, this was no longer the case. The two girls regarded Shinji for a moment, assessing him. The noticed he looked like a normal person. But then again, crazy people tended to look normal. "Can you tell me where I am?" Shinji asked once again. Perhaps they didn't hear him the first time around. "What do you mean?" one girl asked. "What city is this?" he asked, slightly embarrassed, "Um, I'm visiting this country and have no idea where I am," "That's strange, your Japanese seems to indicated otherwise," one girl smirked, "Where are you visiting from?" "It's unimportant," Shinji said. "You're in Mizukan," the other girl answered. "Can you tell me where that is?" Shinji asked, "I have no idea where this town is. Is there a major city nearby?" "Well, this town's neighbors with Tokyo," a girl answered, pointing toward a giant structure, "If you see that giant building over there, that's Tokyo Tower," Shinji gazed over where the girl was pointing. After a moment, he broke out in laughter. How come he didn't figure that out in the first place? "Thanks," he said, "I feel a bit stupid having realized this afterwards. However, I appreciate your help," "Okay," the girls went on their way. Shinji bopped himself on the top of the head at how stupid he was. He still had a long way to go before he became independent and could figure things out on his own. "That guy's weird," he heard one of the girls comment. It seems she and her friend hadn't been aware that they were totally out of earshot from where Shinji was. "Yeah, and he smells, too," the other girl added. Shinji sighed. Shinji was very self-conscious of himself as he waited on line at a fast food place. He wondered how many people around him were holding their breaths and not saying anything about how badly he smelled. "Great, my diet goes right out the door," he muttered to himself. He had nothing much to complain about. Actually, he should kick himself for complaining. It was all because of Ranma and Akane that he ate right. If it weren't for them, he would not have been on a strict diet. Besides, something like dieting for an upcoming boxing match seemed very trivial given his current situation. He laughed, finding the situation humorous in a very disturbing way. How could one not find it funny in a sick and twisted way? Just when the thought he was going to be living the life of a normal guy his age, his life is turned upside down. He had believed he had his life figured out. He would grow up to become an excellent boxer and make a name for himself, earning his keep teaching martial arts at Ranma's dojo until then. When he graduated from Tokyo University with a degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering, he would become a working man, a productive member of society. By his side would be Emiko, every step of the way, the girl he didn't realize that he loved until he realized he had almost lost her. Too bad that after he realized this, she had been killed shortly after along with all everyone. A tear trickled from his eyes. Although Urd said she could make thing all right after all of this was over, he knew, deep down inside, that he would never be the same. He wiped the tear away before anyone could see him and banished his feelings. He needed to steel himself. Too much was at stake and everyone, even Urd, depended on him. When it was Shinji's turned to order, he ordered some random items, ordering a meal that seemed the most nutritious out of all the choice. Of course, it was still no where near as nutritious as when he was used to eating and his body most likely needed, it was better than nothing. When Shinji tried to pay for his meal, a problem occurred. "I'm sorry, but we only accept Japanese currency," the young female cashier said, looking at the odd looking pieces of paper Shinji had put forth. "Huh? This is," he said. After a moment, he came to the realization that the Japanese currency on this world was different from the one on his world. Not wanting to hold up the line, he sighed and said, "I'm sorry. I don't have any money," Sadly, a hungry Shinji walked off. "Excuse me, but can you spare some change?" Shinji felt very self-conscious of himself as he basically begged for money. He was standing by the corner of a busy intersection doing so. Coincidently, it was the same corner where he was last seen rummaging through the garbage. "Sorry," a businessman promptly dismissed him and continued on. Shinji felt himself getting more and more angry with every passing minute and failed attempt. What the heck was wrong with society that people would not help a person asking for some loose change so he could eat. "Ew, get away from me," a young woman said before she quickly picked up her young child, a little girl, and headed off. He sighed. Some role model the child's mother was. The child was most likely in kindergarten and the mother was setting a bad example for the child, making the little girl think it was all right dismiss helping people when in need of help. Goddamn, I just want some money for food, Shinji thought. I'm just a little bit dirty and people think I'm some kinda homeless bum or a psycho. It took Shinji almost an hour before he managed to beg enough money from random strangers to buy himself a meal. By the time he had enough, he found himself seriously disgusted with how society could be. I'm trying to save the damn universe and people are too selfish to even help me out, Shinji thought with a bit of contempt. "Hm, I wonder why my stomach stopped rumbling," he asked himself, "It was rumbling before but it seemed to have stopped," He dismissed the thought and walked off. With enough money at hand, Shinji went to a nearby deli that he had passed that he had missed before. Going inside, he ordered his meal, a simple sandwich that was significantly more nutritious than what that fast food place had to offer. After eating, Shinji noticed that it was starting to get dark. He contemplated going out and seeking Ranma's whereabouts but he needed to worry about finding a place to stay and a clean pair of clothes. He didn't want to sleep in the street or remain in those dirty clothes of his. Shinji started thinking. Man, staying at Ranma's place all this time has made me realize just how much I took something like shelter for granted. Ranma had given me a place to stay without asking for anything in return. I'm probably in the same situation as Ranma when he went through the 'Nerima Massacre'. How did Ranma deal with all of this? Did he beg for money for food as well? Did he sleep in the streets? He dismissed the thought. That was unimportant. What he needed to do now, now that he had eaten, was start coming up with a place on how and where to find Ranma. Shinji fumbled around working the phone booth. "Damn, I wish this thing had a phone book," he muttered, "It's easier looking through something like that than figuring out how this damn machine works," Shinji was standing inside of a phone book and in front of a payphone. Heck, it didn't even look like a payphone. It looked more like some kind of computer with a touch-sensitive screen that had a receiver hanging on the left side of its screen. Shinji spent a good deal time trying to figure out how to use the machine. It seems the payphone was networked with a database located elsewhere that kept track of names and phone numbers. All he had to do was figure out how to access it since it was a free service. "Damn, and I'm supposed to be good with computers," he sighed, "Nene and Ritsuko both showed me how to use a computer really well but this stuff looks too advanced to figure out quickly," It took Shinji a good half an hour before he came to the realization that he didn't know how to figure out how to bring up the booth's version of a phone book. "Excuse me, but can you help me?" Shinji stepped out and asked a random stranger, a man on his way home after working late. "Sorry, but I'm busy," the man didn't so much as look at Shinji. "Damnit! I just want to use the phone!" Shinji snapped, "What's so goddamn important that hafta do that you can't help me out with something simple like that?!" The man was taken aback by Shinji's sudden show of exasperation. Shinji calmed himself down and sighed, "Sorry. I didn't meant to get angry at you. I'm under a lot of stress," The man said nothing, seemingly frightened. "Can you please show me how to use the phone?" Shinji asked in a soft voice, "I'm looking for a person and I figured I can find him if I looked him up in the phone book," "Phone book?" the man asked nervously. "Y'know, that thing that has the phone numbers and addresses of people," Shinji answered. "Oh," the man said. He didn't dared to correct Shinji and tell him that it was referred to simply as 'Database'. "Can you show me how to use it?" Shinji asked. The man nervously nodded and showed Shinji how to use the display screen, pressing several buttons. Shinji made careful note of what parts of the display screen the man touched. Within seconds, a search window could be seen where a name could be put in. "Um, w-what's the name you're looking for?" the man asked, figuring it was best to type it in himself. The faster he could have Shinji find what he was looking for, the faster the man could be on his way. "Ranma," Shinji answered. "Huh?" "His name is 'Ranma'," Shinji repeated, "He doesn't have a last name," The man smirked, "Is this some kinda joke? Am I on some kind of hidden video show?" Shinji didn't seem amused, "No," The man, noticing Shinji's expression, quickly turned his attention back on to the screen and did a search for it. I forgot, Shinji said, the name 'Ranma' is some kinda cursed name on this world. That's because that's the same name of the 'guy' that tried to supposedly destroy this world over a hundred years ago when he 'tried' to cause Third Impact. Heh, it's too bad that it seems no one here but myself know the truth, that Ranma did cause Third Impact and this whole world was recreated thinking that had had failed. "Um, t-there are no matches," the man said. Shinji looked at the screen and noticed a 'No matches found' in bold display on the screen for the name 'Ranma'. He sighed, "Thanks," "C-can I go now?" the man asked. "Yeah," Shinji said, "Thanks for you help, I really appreciate-," Shinji didn't even manage to finish his sentence before he realized the man had took off and was already out of earshot. He turned his attention back toward the phone. Looking at the screen, he wondered what he should do now. Finding Ranma's name in a phone book had been Shinji's only plan. Unfortunately, since there were no matches, he was back at square one. Shinji began pacing around as he brainstormed on what to do now. He knew Ranma hung out with a girl named Jun but he had no idea what her last name was. Figuring that that was at least something to go by, he decided to do a search for that name. He gasped when he noticed how many matches there were. "Damn, there's over a million Jun," he said, "There's no way I can single out the one I'm looking from a list of over a million...can I?" He scratched his head, trying to figure a way of narrowing the list down. "Hm, perhaps I can narrow the field down based on age," he said, "I noticed that in the search criteria," Shinji fumbled with using the machine, managing to fumble his way to the screen that gave him the ability to put in certain constraints in the search. "Jun was in college with Ranma so that means she should be somewhere around eighteen to twenty one," he said, typing it in on the screen. He checked out some of the other criteria and noticed that there was a massive amount of constraints one could put on the search. He had the ability to give in constraints on height, weight, eye color, hair color, race, and gender. "Hm, maybe it wouldn't be all that hard narrowing the field down," Shinji said. To the best that he could, he inputted his appropriate guess for those fields, hoping it would help him out significantly. When the screen displayed the constrained matches that fit his search, he found himself a bit disconcerted about his quest to find Jun. He found himself looking at a screen that had roughly eighty three thousand possible matches, an impossible task for him to do. "Damnit! If I knew what he last name was, it would probably narrow the field down to one or two people! I'm under enough stress as it already is! Why can't I have it easy for a change?!" Shinji punched the screen in anger. To his surprise, his fist ended up crashing through the screen. "Oh no!" he gasped, noticing smoke billowing out from the fist sized display screen. The display screen was no longer shone, having shorted out. Shinji quickly looked back and forth, hoping that there weren't many people nearby that saw him. Unfortunately, several people did see him and had stopped to stare at him. Shinji looked around, hoping there were no police officers nearby that would try to arrest him for destruction of public property, even if it was purely accidental on his behalf. It only took him a second to realize that there had been a police officer nearby. "You! Stop right where you are!" the man said. Shinji didn't bother to stay around and find out how much trouble he was in if he got caught. Without so much as a second though, Shinji ran away. Shinji found himself in Tokyo before he knew it. He had never intended to head to Tokyo but figured it was better to be in a city he would be more familiar with, even if it wasn't a city he recognized. To him, being in a place like Tokyo, no matter how different, still made him feel like he had at least some control over what was going on. Once there, he took a moment to survey his surroundings. Tokyo looked nothing like MegaTokyo. The cars didn't even look like cars. They looked so technologically advanced that the cars he saw in MegaTokyo looked ancient in design and architecture. After a moment of looking about, he decided it was best to think of the situation at hand, the need to find Ranma. "There's no way I can locate Jun out of that massive list and Ranma's name can't be found," Shinji said to himself, pacing back and forth in front of a random building, His eyes widened, "Wait a minute! This world is an alternate future of the world where I came from. I remember Ranma mentioning that he met the Asuka of this world while he was here trying to cause Third Impact. Maybe, just maybe, she's still alive. She'd be almost a hundred years old now, but it's still worth a try," Shinji headed off in a random direction, hoping to find a phone booth somewhere along the way. He knew that if the Asuka of this world was even half as strong a person as the one he knew, she would most likely keep her own family name rather than assume the name of her husband like how it was usually done in society. It took around ten minutes before Shinji came across a phone booth. He fumbled with using the search engine of the machine, needing a minute to recall how that man had gone about selecting the search engine. When he found out what it was, he put in the name 'Asuka Soryu Langley' for the name. "Yes!" he cheered when he found a match. To his surprise, the address shown indicated that she lived right here in Tokyo. Shinji knocked on the door to the apartment building that believed to the Asuka Soryu Langley of that world. What was really surprising was that if she was the same Asuka that met up with Ranma on this world when he was trying to cause Third Impact, then that meant she would be somewhere around eighty-seven years old now. What was really surprising was that if she was that old, why would she be located at some random apartment building. Sure, it was an apartment at an extravagant-looking apartment in an upscale portion of Tokyo, but that didn't excuse the fact that a woman her age would be living in such an area. Shouldn't she be in some kind of retirement home? His heart was racing. He wondered what the heck he was going to say to her. Although they had never actually met, he believed he knew her really well. The door opened after a minute to reveal a young-looking woman with long flowing red-hair. She looked like a splitting image of the Asuka he knew. The only difference was that she looked older and much more mature than the one he knew. "A-Asuka?" Shinji's eyes widened, a flood of emotions. It felt like he was seeing the Asuka he knew once again as if he was seeing her alive after seeing her dead not too long ago. "D-dad?" she looked at the Shinji, her eyes widening. "Huh?" Shinji asked. The woman brought her hand up to her mouth and gasped, in a state of shock, "God, you look exactly like my late father when he was young," "Um, s-sorry, but you're mistaken," Shinji said, a bit weirded out, "Would you happen to be Asuka Soryu Langley?" The woman nodded, "Yes, I am. How do you know who I am? What's your name?" "My name's Shinji Ikari," he said. Shinji scratched his head. Something wasn't right. Asuka did not look like she was eighty. She looked to be around thirty. "That's funny, you have the same name as my father," she commented. "I'm really really confused here," he said, "Aren't you the same person that traveled with a man named Ranma?" "Ranma?" the woman asked. "Yes, Ranma," Shinji said, "Didn't you go to Antarctica with Ranma?" "Antarctica, no," she said, "I've never been to Antarctica before. The only person that's been there was my.....Ranma! Now I recognize that name! My mom knows a guy by that name. I heard her mention his name a long time ago. My mom and I have the same name. You must be looking for her," Shinji said, "Oh! Now I get it. I was getting confused. I was expecting to meet someone from back then who would be around eighty. You only look to be around thirty," "Wow, do I look that young?" the woman smiled, flattered. "Why, how old are you?" he asked. The woman narrowed her eyes toward Shinji, "What kinda question is that?" "Sorry," Shinji held his hands up defensively. It seemed this woman was Asuka's descendent. This gave reason as to why she looked much like the Asuka he knew. "What's all this about?" she asked, "How come you're looking for my mom? It also doesn't explain why you have the same name as my father," Shinji suddenly realize something, "Your father's name is also Shinji Ikari?" She nodded, "Yes," "Oh my god! I'm your father!" Shinji was deep in thought as she took a shower. He was taking a shower in Asuka's apartment, she having invited him. When she noticed how much he smelled, she told him to go take a shower. Her basically telling him what to do made him realize this Asuka was very much like the Asuka he knew. "God, she's looks to be around the same age as Priss and Misato and the others," Shinji commented, "She's the daughter of the Asuka I was looking for. Her mother was the one that went with Ranma to Antarctica. However, her mother had passed away long ago. Also, her father, the alternate version of myself, passed away long before her," When he was done with his shower, he put on a clean pair of clothes that belonged to used to belong to one of her sons. It turned out that this Asuka was a lot older than she indicated, having already raised a family, her kids already grown up and having moved out. She didn't live alone either, her husband, a man with a name Shinji didn't recognize, working late. Shinji headed in to the dining area where he was pleasantly surprised to see that Asuka had prepared a quick meal for him while he showered. The meal looked like a pasta-based meal which looked delicious. Seeing this made him realize that perhaps the Asuka of this world was a bit different from the Asuka he knew. This was probably because she never grew up piloting an EVA or having a troubled childhood. That trait seemed to have been passed down to her daughter. "Wow," Shinji said, "You made all of this?" Asuka smile, "Yes. Hope you're hungry. Please, have a seat and dig in," "Um, thanks," he said without hesitation. He sat down adjacent to Shinji and watched as he began eating. "So, tell me, what's an alternate version of my father doing on this world?" she asked. Shinji blushed slightly, a bit embarrassed, "Um, c-can you not consider me that? I mean, from where I come from, the Asuka and I never married," "Okay," "First off, you're not weirded out by my being here?" Shinji asked, "I figure that my telling you that I'm from an alternate world would weird you out. It's not something you expect to hear," Asuka said, "Well, I am a bit confused as to why you're here. However, I'm keeping an open-mind. Considering the stories I've heard about and read about in textbooks when I was young about how this world used to be attacked by so-called Angels, something like you being from another world isn't all that far-fetched, no matter how shocking," Shinji smiled, "I'm glad you think like that," Asuka leaned forward in her chair, paying him her undivided attention. "Just curious, your mother and I...I mean the Shinji Ikari of this world, how did they meet?" he asked. "In school," Asuka said, "If I recall what she told me about correctly, after she got back from Antarctica, she became the center of attention for what she had done. Afterall, she was known as the girl that stopped Third Impact. Before long, she got fed up with so much attention that she wanted to be a normal person once again. My father was one of the few people that didn't seem to see her more than as a classmate of hers back then and I guess she grew to like him because of that. Although they had gone to high school together, then ended up getting together when they found themselves attending the same college," Shinji thought about it for a moment. That sounded a bit like how he was. He was good friends with Priss, a world-famous rockstar, but only saw her as a friend and not how the world viewed her, a rockstar. "If I remember correctly, my mom actually disliked my dad at first," Asuka said, "However, over time, he grew on her and they eventually fell in love," "Wow," Shinji said. "You seem really interested in hearing about this," Asuka commented. "That's because I'm basically that same Shinji but from an alternate world," Shinji gave a meek smile, "And I'm also friends with your mother, also from an alternate world. It's just very surprising that your mother and father, fell in love because the two of us are only friends. Actually, we're good friend, but I think she thinks otherwise or at least never cares to admit it. But then again, why we didn't end up together is probably because she has a crush on Ranma," Shinji paused for a moment. He did recall having a crush on Asuka once a while back but he grew out of it, somewhere around the time when he and the others were basically forced to leave their world and go to Ranma's since their city of Tokyo-3 had been destroyed. "Well, I think my mom always had a thing for this guy named Ranma but I don't really know what," Asuka said, "I don't mean offend my father, but I have a funny feeling my mom settled for him," "Settled for me? You mean I was a second choice?" Shinji asked, a bit surprised. When he realized he was getting upset over nothing. It was probably because of Ranma. Asuka had probably been in love with Ranma and ended up settling for the Shinji of this world. Hee said softly, "Sorry, I guess, indirectly, I feel like your father and I are alike," Asuka regarded Shinji for a moment. "Well, you two look much alike," Asuka said, "However, you seem to be less, I dunno, quiet. My dad was usually shy and quiet. You seem less so," "Oh, that's how I was several months ago," Shinji said, "I guess that's because of some of the training I'm undergoing that's changing me. Also, the fact that I'm in such a situation is bond to change a guy as well. So tell me, um, if you don't mind, can you tell me a bit about your mom and dad?" "What is it you would like to hear?" she asked. "Anything," he said. "Well, both of went to Tokyo University," Asuka said, "My parents did different majors but, I guess by accident, met up with one another. They started hanging out and eventually got together and married," "Oh," "My dad died a year before my mom. He died in a car accident," she said softly, a bit saddened at having to remember what happened, "A man ran a red light and hit my father as he was on his way home from work. My mom died of old age," "I'm sorry to hear that," Shinji said in a sad voice. "It's okay," Asuka gave a forced smile, "They both lived a full and happy life," Shinji said nothing. "Anyway, I think I've talked enough," she said, "How about you tell me a bit about yourself and why you're here? Tell me everything that's happened that led up to this. Also, I don't want you leaving out any details," "Like what?" "I don't know," Asuka said, "I hope you don't try and keep the truth from me and fib about what you've got to tell me," Shinji sighed, "As much as I would like to tell you, I think it'd be much more trouble if you knew the truth. I know it's good to know everything, but something so profound as what I know about this world, for you to know it might just change your life. For the better or for the worse, I have no idea and wouldn't want to risk it," "I'm willing to take the risk," "Are you absolutely sure?" Shinji asked. "My mom came from a time when her classmates piloted EVAs to fight against Angels," Asuka said, "I've got a pretty open mind," Shinji sighed, "Okay, if you insist. Your mom killed a man named Ranma, right?" "Yes," she nodded. "She supposedly killed Ranma at the very last moment before he caused Third Impact," he continued, "Well, she never succeeded and this whole world was destroyed in the process. Fortunately, Ranma recreated it like nothing had happened and made it seem so that he died in the process when, in reality, he had succeeded and simply altered this world in a way so that it seemed like he died trying," "Wait, you're telling me that this is some kind of recreated world?" "Actually," Shinji gave a meek smile, "That was back then. This world is a recreation of that recreation. This world was recreated a second time. The difference is that Ranma is no longer God," "What!?" "The world before this recreated one suffered world-wide destruction," Shinji said, "You know Unit-01?" "Yes, it's on display of it in Tokyo Museum," Asuka commented, trying to take in what she was hearing. "Well, on that world, Unit-01 was self-destructed in an attempt to kill Ranma," Shinji commented, "Unfortunately, it didn't kill him and it ended up knocking the planet slightly out of orbit. Millions were killed in the process, and as to the long terms effects of the planet's orbit being altered, I have no idea," Asuka found herself needing to sit down. "Ranma was the catalyst that caused all of this," Shinji said, "Luckily, we were around and make things turn out nowhere near as badly as it could've been. We even managed to have him recreate this world, minus the reason why everything had occurred," "What reason is that?" "Ranma of the world back then was God and roaming this world," Shinji said. Asuka said, "You lost me," "That's how it was in the other world," Shinji said, "With this world, the recreated one of the recreated one, Ranma has the power of God but isn't necessarily God so this world will never undergo the trials that the other one underwent. I'm here to find him because I need his help," Asuka scratched her chin, "You know what's strange? My daughter knows a guy named Ranma. I wonder if he might be the same person," "What?!?!?!?" Shinji's eyes widened. "I remember a while ago, my daughter, Jun, mentioned about how she knew a guy named Ranma. She told me this because it was very odd how someone could have such a name as that," "You're kidding me, right?" Shinji gasped. Asuka shook her head, "No. Jun knows a guy named Ranma that's in her class. They go to college together. I met him once. This was about a year ago once when she brought him home when we used to live in Hokkaido," "W-whoa. Jun's your daughter?!" Shinji gasped. "Why, do you know her?" she asked. "Yeah!" Shinji said, "I was on this world, actually, a different version of this world, not too long ago and remembered her and Ranma being together," Asuka seemed very surprised, "Wow, that's one heck of a coincidence," "You're telling me," Shinji said. He scratched his head, "You have a house in Hokkaido?" Asuka shook her head, "Not anymore. We used to. When Jun moved out around half a year ago, we sold the house and moved here. We moved here because we've got relatives that live here and it's a lot closer to her college. Usually, she comes to Tokyo to visit some relatives before taking a plane up to Hokkaido where we used to live. Living here we considered killing two birds with one stone," "Oh man, I never suspected that Jun's your daughter," Shinji said, "That's because she doesn't look like you," "Are you sure this is the same Jun we're talking about?" Asuka asked. She went on to describe her daughter which happened to match Jun's description to a T. "That definitely fits her description," Shinji commented, still shocked. "She takes on her father's looks," Asuka said, "She acts more like me than my husband," "We, meaning my friends and I, came in contact with your daughter a while back," Shinji said. Since this was a recreated world in the exact image as before save for Ranma being different on this world, this was much the exact world he had visited, "If we met your daughter, surely one of us would've noticed that there could've been a connection between her and you since they know Asuka as well," Asuka said, "Like I said, she looks more like her father but acts more like myself. But then again, perhaps something obvious like a last name like Langley would give it away. However, she uses her father's last name. This is because with a last name of Langley, she would be automatically singled out as a descendent of the Asuka Langley that stopped Third Impact. I had her assume her father's last name since it would allow her to live a more normal life, and a normal life she's lived so far," Shinji scratched his chin, "Hm, that's makes me wonder. I did remember Luna making a comment once to me about how Jun acted a bit like the Asuka we knew," "Luna?" Asuka asked. He waved a hand, "It's not all that important. She just happened to have been one of the people that was with me when we came here," "Oh," "This is just too coincidental," Shinji commented, "How in the world could everyone's lives be so intertwined. What are the chances that your daughter would happen to be friends with Ranma? That's just too much of a coincidence," "I did find it rather odd, too, when she brought him by the house one day," Asuka said, "It struck me as odd that the man's name was Ranma but I figured he was joking around and never really believed it to be. I guess I shouldn'tve dismissed it so readily. Had my mother been still around, maybe she would've wanted to investigate that occurrence," Shinji pinched the bridge of his nose, "Damn, I'm getting a headache trying to think of this. Not only do I have all this to deal with, now I hafta deal with the mystery behind the coincidence that something like this would happen. It's just too much of a coincidence to dismiss," He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Ritsuko would not definitely try and figure out such a coincidence and prove that it wasn't. "God, this is too much to absorb," Shinji said to himself, "There are so many unanswered questions. I just recently found out that the Ranma I know actually prefers death to life, than I've lost all my friends were killed because of him, and now that some sick thread of fate seems to be tying all of us together somehow but dunno why," "I'm at a loss," Asuka said, "I don't think I could be of much help," "Don't worry about it," he said, "You giving me a change of clothes and allowing me to shower as well a making me something to eat is more help than what was needed," "If there's any help you need, I'd be glad to help," she said sincerely. "What college does your daughter and Ranma attend?" he asked, "I originally came here hoping that your mom might know of a man named Ranma but it seems like the daughter knows instead," "Kyoto University," Asuka said. "Kyoto, huh?" Shinji said, wondering if it was a weird coincidence that Sumi lived in Kyoto back home. Perhaps there was, perhaps there wasn't. There was no way of telling. "It's around three hours by car from here," Asuka commented, "However, if you want to go there, there's a shuttle bus that travels between here and there. It takes around four hours. My daughter usually takes that bus here when she comes visit home from school every now and there," "Do you think your daughter will know where I can find Ranma?" he asked. Asuka said, "I'm not too sure. They used to hang out a while ago. She hasn't brought him around to visit since a while ago so there's no real telling. Then again, they only had one class together back then and that was last year. Since they take different majors, there's a good chance they don't have any of the same classes together," "Would it be too much to ask if you can call your daughter and ask?" he asked, believing that it was a good idea, that he was on the right track. "I don't see why not," she said. Shinji followed Asuka in to the living room where she picked up the phone located by the couch and dialed in the number for her daughter's apartment. She then handed it to Shinji. "There you go," she said. "Um, thanks," Shinji took the receiver. He kind of wished Asuka would do the talking for him but it seemed like that wasn't going to be the case, she having walked off to clear the table of the plates and dishes. Shinji nervously waited for someone to pick up the phone on the other side. "Hello?" came a voice, a female voice. "Hi, um, is Jun there?" he asked. "Sorry, but she isn't here. This is her housemate, Mari," came an answer, "Who am I speaking to? I take a message?" "Um, my name's Shinji Ikari," he said. "Shinji, I don't recommend you using your name since you have the same name as Jun's grandfather," Asuka called out from the kitchen. "Oh," Shinji said with a meek smile, "I guess it's too late now," "Shinji Ikari? Is this some kinda joke?" Mari asked, "That's her grandfather's name and he passed away," "Um, it's just a coincidence I guess," Shinji said. "Well, I'll tell her that you called," the girl named Mari said, "Does she have your number?" Shinji shook his head, "No, she doesn't. Is she going to be home any time soon?" "She's got a night class so she won't be back until later tonight," came the answered, "However, just leave me your number and I'll be sure to give it to her," Shinji turned toward Asuka, "Um, Jun isn't home. Is it okay if I give your number? Jun won't be home until later. Is it okay if I wait around until then?" "Sure," "Thanks," he said, turning to the receiver, "Um, I'm at her mother house. She can call me there," "Okay," Mari said in a cheery voice. "Can you please have her call right away?" Shinji said. "Sure, it's really important?" Shinji nodded, "Yeah, it's important," Damn, I need to stop doing that, Shinji thought. I'm on the phone and I still continue to nod my head. "Will do," came the answered. Shinji said goodbye and hung up. He sat down on the couch and contemplated what he should do now. All he could really do was wait. Since he had some time to kill, it gave him ample time to think about all that had just transpired and the mystery of how such a coincidence like Asuka's daughter knowing Ranma could occur. Jun, a beautiful girl with flowing long brown languidly entered her bedroom and flopped down on her bed, glad that she was done for the day with classes. Her hair was longer than it used to be, no longer down to her shoulder blades. Nowadays, it came down to the small of her back and it suited her well. Living away from home was nice but she occasionally missed being home. Today felt like one of those days. Besides, she hadn't been home for several months. Her classes were getting harder and harder and she found herself having a bit of trouble maintaining a good grade, spending quite a bit more time than she wanted studying and doing homework. There was a knock on her door. "C'min, it's open," Jun yawned, figuring it would be nice to get some sleep. In entered Mari, her housemate. She was basically her best friend all through high school and the two of them had decided to attend college together and become housemates. "I didn't know you got in already until I saw your backpack in the middle of the hallway," Mari commented, "Anyway, someone called for you," "Who?" "Get this, a guy named Shinji Ikari," Mari said with a smirk. "Huh? That's my grandfather's name," she said. Mari shrugged, "I guess it's a coincidence," "Obviously," Jun said. "Heh, it'd be kinda cool if your grandfather was alive but considering we were both at his funeral..." Mari stated. Jun shook her head, "No. It's be scary," "Hm, I guess you have a point," Mari said, "Anyway, some guy called and told me that was his name. I'm pretty sure it isn't your grandfather since it doesn't sound like him," "That and the fact that he's dead," Jun commented wryly. "That too," Mari gave a meek smile. "Did you take down his number?" Mari shook her head, "No. He says you can reach him at, get this, your parents' place. That I consider a bit weird," Jun thought about it for a moment before she reached over and picked up her phone and dialed in the number for her house. Mari left the room so Jun could talk in private. After a few rings, Asuka picked up on the other side. "Mom? How're doing? I'm fine. Yeah, everything's fine," she said in to the phone, "Yes, classes are fine. A bit hard but manageable. Anyway, as to the reason for this call, um, I got this strange call today from someone with grandpa's name and was told that I could reach him at your place," On the other side, Asuka said, "That's right. There is a Shinji Ikari here. He's been here waiting for your to call. And no, he isn't your grandfather, at least not in the way you believe. Anyway, here he is," Asuka handed Shinji the phone. "Um, hello?" Shinji asked. "Hello?" "Is this Jun?" he asked. Jun nodded, "Yes," Why do I keep doing that, Jun thought. Who the heck nods their head while on the phone? It's not like they could see me nod. "Um, there're are few questions I'd like to ask you," he said, "It'd really appreciate it if you can help me out," "Um, I'll try," she said, "What's this all about?" "Do you know a guy named Ranma?" Shinji got right to the point. Jun nodded, "Yeah. I see him around campus from time to time," "Is he still around there?" he asked, "Do you know where I can find him?" "He's still around," Jun answered, "We occasionally bump in to each other at the library. He doesn't have a phone so there's no way to call him if you're looking to reach him. Why, does this something to do with him?" "Yeah," Shinji said, "It's actually very very important," Jun gulped, "What's this about?" "It's kind of hard to explain," Shinji said, "However, I think it's best that you not know. I don't want to drag you in to this," "Is this something bad?" she asked. Ranma had some really weird powers and she knew it would be just a matter of time before he was found out. "I need his help," Shinji gazed out the window of the bus, wondering why he wasn't all that tired. It was somewhere around midnight and he hadn't slept in quite a while. He was on his way to Kyoto University by bus, paid for by Asuka, bless her heart, where he would meet up with Jun. He wondered what he was going to tell her about his appearance. He looked like her grandfather and there would be no denying it. He didn't want to tell her the truth because it would most likely disrupt her life. Jun deserved a normal life and something like this was definitely not normal. "Then again, if she knows about Ranma's powers, then she should not be all that shocked if I do tell her the truth," he said to himself. He looked at the piece of paper that had Jun's address. He had no idea exactly how he was going to find her since he would be arriving there fairly late and she would be most likely asleep by the time he arrived at the bus terminal at two-thirty in the morning. Besides, he didn't want to impose on her if possible. He would worry about where he would sleep after he showed up there. That was basically how Ranma usually took such an approach. Worry about things when he came up to that bridge instead of worrying about it beforehand. He sat back in his seat, very glad to have something to go by. He had found Ranma and would soon be meeting up with him. He felt a bit sad. God need his help and here he was, on a bus, his trip paid for by Asuka. The clothes he was wearing were also courtesy of Asuka. The extra money in his pocket was also because of Asuka. "Damn, I rely too much on others," he commented, "If I think about it, I've never done anything on my own before. The first time I'm alone, without help, and I find myself at an impasse trying figure out where to get some food. Ranma can do everything on his own. If he was in the situation I was in, he would've had everything solved..." A tear trickled down one of his cheeks. Shinji would never become half the man that he looked up to. He also had a funny feeling that him trying his best would not be good enough. Too much was at stake and he believed that he was slowly cracking under the pressure. Shinji stepped off the bus and in to the cold air that was the night. He looked down at the piece of paper. He went in to the bus terminal and walked up to the counter where an middle- aged man worked. "Excuse me, but do you know where I can find this address?" he asked, holding the piece of paper forward. The man looked at the paper and then said, "Sorry, but I dunno," "Thanks anyway," he said. Shinji looked around the terminal for any people lounging around. He found a few people waiting around to be picked up and bothered to ask them the same question. None of them knew where the street was located. Before he knew it, he was the last person in the terminal and with no where to go. He stood around, brainstorming on what to do. He had no idea where to go or what to do. After around fifteen minutes of brainstorming, he came up with an idea. He should find a gas station. Gas stations usually knew the area well and should be able to help out. "Excuse me, but can you tell me where the nearest gas station is?" Shinji asked the man behind the counter. "There's one eight miles up the road," the man gestured, "Just head down the road and you'll see it on your left," "Thanks," Shinji asked the gas station attendant where he could find the address on the piece of paper was somewhere around three in the morning. He had jogged the whole eight miles to the gas station and knew that he was pushing his body much harder than need be. It would be just a matter of time before he would simply crash and find himself extremely tired. "Sorry, but I can't help you. I'm new to this area so I dunno the streets yet," the man behind the bullet proof glass said. Since it was a graveyard shift, the man worked from within the safety of the tiny locked booth he manned. "Thanks anyway," Shinji said, sighing. He was back at square one. "Damn, this is really hard," Shinji said to himself, "How the heck am I going to somehow get Ranma to help out when I can't even help myself out well enough o find him," He looked at the piece of paper and noticed the phone number on it. He contemplated calling that number, Jun's number, and asking her to pick him up when he had been at the bus terminal but chose against it. He was sure she would know where to pick him up since she took the bus to visit home. However, it was best not to burden her. "How the hell is Ranma so good at figuring things out so easily?" Shinji asked himself, "A setback like this would be nothing for him. Damn, what I wouldn't give to have some of Ranma's streetsmarts right now. I would gladly give up being booksmart so I could be even half as streetsmart as him," He sighed. However, that would never happen. He was pretty good at everything but streetsmart was something he was not. Being streetsmart took experience, something he seriously lacked. Shinji banished the though from his head. It was useless to be complaining right now. He was still in a jam and complaining did nothing. He began pacing back and forth. Before long, he figured out that rather than try and find the apartment where Jun resided, it was best to find an area that would know where the apartment was. "Can you tell me which way to Kyoto University?" he asked. Surely, someone that lived in that area would know where the street where she lived, provided she lived anywhere near campus that is. He would worry about that later. At least he had something to go by again. "It's three miles up the road," the man gestured. "Thanks," he said. Shinji began running up the road. As he did so, he wondered why the bus terminal would be located eleven miles away from the university. If there were a lot of college students nearby, having a bus terminal close to campus would be good business. Not wanting to strain his brain, Shinji continued running up the road. Shinji arrived at the campus at the dead of night. Not a single soul was about. He walked up the main entrance where there was a booth manned by a bored male college staff member. Shinji approached the booth and presented him the piece of paper, "Excuse me, but do you know where I can find this address?" The guy looked at the paper and said, "Ah, it's located five miles down the road. Just head up the main street where the road comes to a fork. Take the right fork and head down three lights. That's the road you're looking for," Shinji sighed, "Damn, how far do I hafta go to find this place?" "Huh?" the man asked. Shinji gave a meek smile, "Nevermind. It's just that I already ran eleven miles to get here and now I've got even more running. Running is starting to wear me out," "You ran eleven miles?" the man asked, "Are you on the track team?" "No," "If you ran that distance, you might wanna try out for track," the man commented, "You'd do well for the team," "Sorry, but I don't go to school here," Shinji said, a bit flattered. He probably would be an excellent member for any school's track team. He could run twenty miles with a moderately fast pace without breaking a sweat or needing to stop to catch his breath. "That's unfortunate," the man said, "Anyway, I hope you find the place you're looking for," "Thanks," Shinji said. Sighing, Shinji ran back down the road that was the entrance to campus and turned down the main road that was perpendicular to it, heading in the direction as the guy mentioned. Shinji looked at his watch as he stood in front of Jun's apartment building. Since he had set his watch to the correct time for this world, he was surprised when he realized it was around four-thirty in the morning. "Damn, it's so late," he said, yawning. He was starting to feel tired which was strange because, considering how much energy he exerted running all that time, he should've been dead tired long ago. Heck, he should've been tired well before he even stepped off the bus. He looked up at the apartment building before him and noticed that the building looked rather upscale and far more extravagant than where an average college student usually resided. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Shinji told himself, "Asuka said Jun moved out so I guess it'd be weird if she moved out in to some old, dilapidated building. A building like this looks to be the kind where someone would live in permanently," He walked up to the entrance and looked at the intercom than had a list of names. Scanning through it, he found Jun's and Mari's name. He couldn't help but find it a bit weird that Jun had assumed her father's last name. But then again, perhaps it would be for the better, so she would not be looked upon as the granddaughter of 'The' Asuka Soryu Langley that supposedly stopped Third Impact. He smiled, glad that his journey here and adventure trying to find this place had finally come to a happy conclusion. The only thing he had to worry about was meeting up with Jun which he had decided he would put off until sometime in the morning. There was no need to ring the doorbell and wake her and her housemate up. Now that he knew where she lived, he could find a place to stay for the night and come back in the morning. He remembered passing a hotel about a mile down the road. He would rent a room for the night and get a good few hours of sleep before he would come back and introduce himself to Jun and explain the reason for him being here. Smiling, Shinji headed off down the road for the hotel. Shinji pinched the bridge of his nose, "You've gotta be kidding me. No vacancy?" "Sorry," the hotel manager said, an overweight middle-aged man, "There're no vacancies. All the rooms are taken. There's a major concert tomorrow and most of the students' parents here to attend have rented out rooms here," Shinji sighed. He wondered if it would be better to just get pissed off and demand a room or request that that one of the occupants be kicked out for his sake. This was because he needed sleep and his reasons for being here in the first place was far more important than perhaps anyone else on this whole stinking world. "Um, are you okay?" the man asked, "I'm sorry. Really, I am. But there are no vacancies," He sighed again, "I'm fine. I've been under a lot of stress," "Oh," Shinji yawned. He pointed toward the couch that was located right by the side in the lobby, "Can you let me just sleep on the couch? I only need a few hours of sleep," "I'm sorry, but I can't allow that," "Damn, can't you be a bit selfless and do me this favor?" "I'm sorry," He sighed, "Forget it," Dejected, Shinji walked off. Looks like he would be sleeping in the streets tonight. "Ranma's probably had to deal with something like this all the time," he asked himself, "How the hell can he not go crazy dealing with such selfishness? You'd think he'd be cynical after dealing with something like this all the time," Jun woke up feeling refreshed. She slept like a baby. She looked at the clock and realized that it was around five minutes to ten in the morning. She stretched, glad that she wasn't some freshmen anymore and needing to go to classes early in the morning. Her first class didn't start until noon so she could sleep in late if she wanted to. There was a knock on her door. "C'min," she said, stretching. Mari entered the room. "Man, I woke up not even a minute ago and you seem to somehow know you don't risk disturbing my sleep had you knocked," Jun commented, smirking. Mari said, "You always wake up around now," "I guess you have a point," she shrugged, "So, what's up?" "There's something I think you should check out," Mari commented, "There's this guy that's pacing back and forth in front of our apartment. I noticed him there early this morning when I woke up. He's been there since at least seven," "Why's he there?" Jun asked, climbing out of bed. Mari said, "I'm not too sure. It looks like he's waiting for someone. Dunno who though," Jun followed Mari out in to the living room and looked out the window where she saw what Mari was talking about. There was indeed a young man pacing back and forth in front of the building. Since there apartment was located on the sixth floor, she couldn't make out his features. "You're right, there is a guy out there," Jun said. "He's been there for hours," Mari said, "You think he's some kinda stalker? I know we're hot and all, but to have a stalker is kind of freaky," Jun cast Mari and odd look, "What the heck are you talking about? Are you crazy?" Mari laughed, "I'm just joking around with you," Meanwhile, outside, Shinji looked at his watch. It read ten exactly. Figuring it was a good time to ring the doorbell since most people were usually up and about well before that time, he walked up to the front entrance and rang the doorbell for Jun's apartment. Inside their apartment, both girls were surprised when they heard their buzzer ring. Mari asked, "Oh my god! Is he ringing our buzzer?" "It looks like it," Jun gulped. Not really knowing what to do, both girls waited in silence, figuring it was just a freak coincidence that he accidentally rang their buzzer. When the buzzer rang once again, they realized that he was indeed buzzing them. Jun walked up to the intercom and nervously answered, wondering if it really was a stalker, "H-hello?" "Hi, is Jun there?" came a voice. "Um, s-speaking," she said, secretly wishing her friend Ranma was there. If he was there, she would be safe if it really was a stalker. "I'm Shinji," Shinji said, "We talked on the phone last night," "Shinji Ikari?" she asked, a bit weirded out at saying her grandfather's name. "Yeah," he answered, "Um, I hope I didn't wake you up," "Um, no, not at all," she said, "How come you're here? I thought you were going to show up here at noon," "I couldn't wait so I took the last bus here last night," he said, "I was here since two in the morning. Anyway, may I come in? I have some things I'd like to talk to you about," "Um, okay," she said, pressing a button that unlocked the front door, "Just come on in and wait in the lobby. I'll be down in a second," "There's no need, I'll come up," he said. "Okay," she said. She looked around and noticed that the apartment was a bit messy, unmentionables strewn about and a pile of dishes still waiting to be washed, "Um, better yet, it's best that you not. It's kinda, um, messy here. I'll come down," "Okay," he said. "What's goin on here?" Mari asked. "Shinji's here," Jun said. "The guy with the same name as your grandfather?" Mari asked, "How come? Didn't you say we were supposed to pick him up at the bus station at noon?" "You heard what he said, he didn't want to wait and took the last bus in last night instead of the first one in this morning," "Why's he here?" Mari asked. "I don't know," Jun said, "However, my mom said it was important that he be here. I don't know what it could be, but it's not like I'm going to go against my mom or anything," Mari quickly headed off, "I'm gonna go freshen up. I don't want to meet him looking like this," "Hello, this place is a mess," Jun said, "I'm not bringing him up here," "So what, I'm gonna come down with you," she said, "I'd like to meet him. It was kinda hard to see him from up here, but he looks kinda cute," "You just thought he was a stalker," Jun said, "And now you want to come meet him?" "That's because it was determined that he isn't some stalker," Mari answered logically, "That's why I want to meet him now," Shinji sighed, "Fine. Whatever," Jun's eyes widened as she regarded Shinji. He looked exactly like the pictured of her grandfather when he was young. She and Mari were in the lobby where they met up with Shinji. Shinji regarded Jun for a moment. She looked exactly like the Jun he remembered encountering on the alternate version of this world before it had been recreated. The only difference was that her hair was longer. He regarded her intently for a moment and noticed that Jun did look indeed a bit like Asuka. The hair style seemed to through him off. Shinji already knew what Jun would ask, "I know, I look like your grandfather. It's a long story," "It seems so," she said. "Hi, I'm Mari," her housemate said, smiling warmly. "Um, hi, I'm Shinji," Shinji bowed politely. Jun noticed this. Her grandfather did that, a polite gesture lost long ago. Mari smiled, "It's nice to meetcha," Jun didn't really know what to say. She couldn't help but feel a bit weird that her housemate was looking at Shinji rather fondly, a man that looked exactly like her grandfather when he was young. In a demented way, it felt as if Mari was interested in her grandfather. That was gross. "As much as I'd like to tell you everything, I think it's best that I not," Shinji said, shocked that he wasn't at a loss of words like he expected. Perhaps it was because, indirectly, he already knew Jun since he kind of knew the alternate version of her. They were the exact same so knowing the alternate version of her was the same as knowing the one standing before him. "Um, no offense to you, Mari, but I think it's best that only Jun and I speak in private," Shinji said, feeling a bit bad. It was for the better since it was unnecessary to bring Mari in to this. Mari made a face like she wasn't happy with having to leave but said, "Okay, I'll leave you two alone. My class starts real soon so I guess it's best that I get going anyway. It was nice meeting you though," Shinji apologized as Mari excused herself and headed out of the lobby. When she was gone, he turned toward Jun. "Um, it's kind of a long and complicated story on why I'm here and it's best that you not know the real reason why," Shinji said, "I'm hoping you can just put that aside and help me out and help me find Ranma," He waited anxiously for Jun to answer. He had no right keeping the truth from her since, in a way, she was already involve, what with him being there in the first place. However, if she really wanted to know, then he would tell her. If she didn't want to know, then that was all the better. "C'mon, you look exactly like my grandfather and seem to even have his name," Jun commented, "You can't expect me to turn a blind eye to something like this and not expect answers," Shinji sighed, "I guess you have a point. It's a really long and complicated story though," Jun looked at her watch and noticed that she had around an hour and a half before she had to leave for class, "I've got some time," Shinji paused for a moment, wondering what a good way of starting his story. After a moment, he thought of a way. "I need your friend's help to kill what used to be God," "Let me get this straight," Jun asked again, "Ranma, the person I see walking around campus, is a walking, living God?" Shinji shook his head, "No. He isn't. He happened to have the same powers of God. The aspect of him being God had been removed when he and this world was recreated. I need his help to kill, in a sense, another version of him," Jun sat on a sofa located in the lobby as she tried to comprehend what she was hearing. Shinji gave a shy smile, "As you can tell, this is quite a lot to take in. I'm kinda surprised that you managed to keep up with me. I guess the fact that stuff like Angels attacking this world long ago has made people very open-minded to stuff that seems otherwise incomprehensible had something like that never happened," "Frankly, it's not that that really has me all shocked," she said, "Sure, I'm shocked to hear all of that, don't get me wrong. But what's actually got me more surprised is how you and I seem to be somehow related," "I know what you mean. You're not the only one that's shocked about that," Shinji found himself a bit confused about what he was saying, "I'm just as shocked as you. Finding out that an alternate version of myself had children is something I don't think I'll ever get over. It's really weird because even though we are not directly related, it kinda feels like we are. And I think I know why. When I was waiting around for you to wake up, I was thinking mostly about that and its correlation," "What correlation?" she asked. "You know how I said, just like how I told your mother, there used to be an alternate version of this world, where Unit-01 had self-destructed and killed millions in the process?" Shinji said, "The Ranma of that world, the alternate version of your friend, seemed to have some kind of attachment toward the Jun of that world, the alternate version of you," Jun blushed slightly. It made her wonder if the Ranma she knew had some kind of attachment toward him. It didn't seem so since he was generally a very private and cold person. It was only recently he started to show a mild amusement to hanging out with her from time to time. That must mean something. "The Ranma of that world seemed to tolerate me more than anyone else," Shinji said, "This could be because, subconsciously, he might know that you and I are somehow related, even if we are related in different worlds. That's just my assumption. Ranma had commented that he only wanted me tagging along with him because I bothered him the least, but, subconsciously, it could've been for other reasons that even he didn't know. In a sense, since Ranma couldn't have 'Jun' tag along with him, he opted to have her 'ancestor' tag along instead, that being me," Jun was very silent as she tried to gather her thoughts. Shinji chuckled slightly as he thought more about it, "I know, it's really crazy but that could be it. I kinda wish my friend Ritsuko was here to analyze things since she was most adept at coming with explanations...but she's no longer alive," "I'm sorry to hear that," Jun said sympathetically, "I'm also sorry to hear about what happened to all of your friends and such," "It's okay," he said, "It does hurt, but at least knowing that things would be put back to normal like nothing had happened makes it not quite as painful. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll ever be the same since I experienced the loss and I'll always remember what happened even if other didn't," He didn't bother to say the last sentence loud enough for Jun to hear. Shinji rubbed his face wearily, "What you've heard is just the tip of the iceberg. Even though what you've heard sounds extremely complicated and such, it pales in comparison to what Ranma's been through. No, not the Ranma you know, but the Ranma.....I'm supposed to kill. Heck, if you think about it, You and Ranma have actually been through quite a lot but your memories were erased absolutely when this world was recreated," In a sense, everyone that somehow seems to have come across Ranma's path seemed to have been inexorably drawn in to some complicated tapestry. Heh, that sounds rather cheesy, but it's the truth," "From what I've heard, it sure seems so," Jun commented. Shinji's eyes widened, "Oh my god!" "W-what?!" Jun was startled. "I figured it out!" Shinji said, "I figured why we all seem to somehow be connected in some complicated way and that it isn't mere coincidence that our lives are intertwined. It's all because of Ranma," "Ranma?"" "The Ranma that I know had once made a comment about how he, when he was God, knew what would have happened to my friends and I had he never showed up in our lives and basically changed it. Urd, the current God, told me that everyone is tied to Fate but Ranma somehow escaped this so-called Fate. This might mean that because Ranma escaped it and crossed our paths, our own Fate was changed in the process because his non-Fate path is drawing in our Fated path," Jun gave Shinji an odd look, "Um, that sounds really far-fetched, how we have Fates and can't make our own," Shinji made an exaggerated gesture of annoyance, "So what? The Ranma I know has God on speed-dial! How insane and incomprehensible can something possible get for one to consider it far-fetched? This universe is, what, a year old even though there are 'clues' that makes everyone believe it's a few billion years old even though, in reality, it was purposely left behind to make people believe that. Ranma's joked about knowing the meaning of life and forgetting to write it down. Now that I think about it, he might actually have forgotten to do just that, write it down. Wouldn't you consider some of those aspects far-fetched?" Jun shrugged, "I really don't know what to say," Shinji sighed, "There's really not much to say. As I think more and more about everything, it gets more and more complicated and insane," Jun gave a meek smile, "Man, I guess you have a point. Perhaps it would've been better had I not known what you knew," "Unfortunately, now you know," Shinji and Jun entered the library together at around fifteen minutes to noon. "Ranma shows up here from time to time and in here was where we usually bump in to each other," Jun said, "He's here at random times but it usually here on a daily or semi-daily basis. If you hang around here, you'll eventually bump in to him," "Um, wouldn't it be easier if you just show me where he lives?" Shinji asked curiously, "That way, rather than wait here for him and not know when he'll be showing up, I can wait by his place where I know he'll eventually show up," Jun shook her head, "Actually, it's probably better to wait here. There were a couple of times I tried waiting for Ranma by his place and he doesn't show up. Since he doesn't seem to eat or sleep, there's no real reason for him to actually go home. With the library, since he seems to have a genuine interest in reading, you're more likely to see him here than elsewhere," Shinji said, "Hm, I guess you have a point. Still, it would be nice to at least have an idea of when I'll meet him instead of just waiting around," Jun shrugged, "Well, I guess it would have to do for now. If I know of a better way, I'd be sure to suggest it, but this is probably the best way," "Thanks," Shinji smiled, "You've been really helpful," "It's no problem," she smiled, checking out her watch, "Well, it's about time I head on out to class. I'll drop by here afterward at two. I've got an upcoming test so I don't mind staying here and waiting along with you," "Okay," he said, "I guess I'll see you then," "See you later, 'grandpa'," Jun smiled warmly before leaving. Shinji tried to think of a proper response but was at a loss of words. Before he knew it, Jun had disappeared as she exited the library. "Ain't that far-fetched? I'm younger than her and, in a sense, I'm her grandfather," Shinji couldn't help but snicker. Shinji yawned. He found himself a bit tired. "Oh yeah, I forgot, I didn't sleep last night," he commented, "I should try and get some sleep," Shinji sat down at an empty chair and rested his arms and head on the table. He fell asleep within minutes. Shinji was woken up two hours later when someone touched one of his shoulder. Partially disoriented, it took Shinji a good few minutes before he realized where he was. Jun found this mildly amusing. However, she grew to regret her choice of waking him up when she noticed this look of sadness become very evident on his face. "I-is something the matter?" she asked curiously. Shinji rubbed at his eyes, tears threatening to form, pretending he was merely rubbing something that had gotten in his eyes, "N-nothing," Jun's lips became a thin line as she had a good idea what had trouble Shinji. She believed Shinji had momentarily believed that all he had been through, that the loss of his friends, had been nothing but some nightmare and he had just woken up from it. It wasn't until he looked around did he realize that it wasn't a nightmare and that he was living it. Shinji rubbed at his neck, regretting for having fallen asleep in such an awkward position. His neck hurt and his back didn't feel any better. "What time is it?" he asked, "How long had I slept?" "It's two," she said, "You slept no more than two hours, provided you fell asleep immediately after I left for class," Shinji said, "Actually, I think I did. I put my head down for a second and the next thing I know, you're waking me up," "When was the last time you slept?" He scratched his head, "I dunno, probably a couple of days. I would've actually slept last night but the hotel that was a short distance away from your place had no vacancy," Jun thought for a moment before she nervously said, "Um, well, if you want, you're welcome to stay at my place," Shinji's eyes widened, "Y-your place?" "Yeah," she said, "If you can't find a place to stay, you can stay at my place. Mari and I live together and we have a fold-out sofa bed in the livingroom. I'm sure Mari wouldn't mind," Shinji smiled but said, "Thanks for the offer, but I'll manage. I'm only going to be hanging around this world for a day or so until I find Ranma," "What do you plan on doing after you find Ranma?" she asked curiously. Shinji gave a meek smile. "I have no idea," Shinji looked at his watch. It read four-twenty. Still, Ranma had not showed up. "Do you think he's going to show up?" Shinji asked curiously. Jun looked up from her textbook and smirked, "For all we know, he could've showed up already but you slept through it," "Really?" Shinji's eyes widened, "That never occurred to me," Jun shook her head, "That's most unlikely. Ranma usually spends several hours here whenever he's here. Sometimes, I see him here when I show up, head off to class and find him still here when I stop by here," "Oh, that's good to hear," he said. "Speaking of which," Jun said a bit nervously, "Um, can you tell me a bit about Ranma?" "Which one? The one I know or the one I'm waiting for?" he asked. "The latter," she said. Shinji smirked, knowing what she was getting at. He figured that Jun and Ranma from back then looked to be a good match for one another. Perhaps the Jun and Ranma of this world was just the same. "What would you like to know?" he asked. "I dunno, anything," she said, "I've know Ranma for about a year now, and frankly, I don't really know all that much about him," Shinji wondered if he should just make something up and say something that Jun wanted to hear or tell the truth. He thought for a minute before deciding to tell the truth. Sure, he could lie, but he felt uncomfortable lying and would rather not lie if that was possible. "If you really wanna know, when this world was recreated, the Ranma I know believed that you two were meant for each other," Jun couldn't help but smile. "There he is," Jun's voice woke Shinji out of his slumber. Shinji rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked at his watch. It read six- fifty. He couldn't believe he had slept for close to four hours. It felt like he had closed his eyes for a minute. He looked in the direction of Jun was pointed and saw the man he had come looking for, Ranma. Shinji didn't even need to be told to know that the Ranma that had just entered the library was not the Ranma he knew. This was a totally different Ranma. His gaze followed Ranma as he walked over to a random seat and sat down. Shinji got up out of his seat, his heart beating rapidly. He had dreaded meeting Ranma because he had no idea what he was going to say. Talking to this Ranma would be nothing like the Ranma he knew. It also didn't help that this Ranma didn't remember anything about Shinji, his memories of him erased. "I'll go talk to Ranma," Jun said. She knew Ranma for over a year now and was confident that Ranma was much more receptive to her than anyone else. "Um, o-okay," he said, swallowing the lump in his throat. Jun got out of her seat and walked over to where Ranma was. Ranma didn't seem to have noticed she was there until she approached him. "Hey, Ranma," she said, giving him "Hey," he said, looking up at her. Without much thought, Jun reached out and grabbed Ranma's hand. "What are you doing?" he asked. "Follow me," she said, "There's someone that needs your help. I'll introduce you," Perhaps it was because it was Jun that had his arm on his arm because Ranma didn't yank his arm away as if disgusted at being touched. Instead, he just got up from his seat and followed her. He didn't seem to follower her out of obligation bur rather a sense of curiosity. Jun brought Ranma up to Shinji as Shinji got up from his seat. Shinji was so nervous that he stood up too quickly that the seat fell over, creating a loud crash when the back of the chair hit the floor. "Um, h-hello," Shinji said nervously. Ranma didn't bother to respond. Instead, he just regarded Shinji with his dual-colored eyes. Shinji noted this. He couldn't help but feel like he was meeting this Ranma all over again even though he knew what kind of personality he had. "My name's Shinji Ikari," Shinji stated, "I know you don't know me, but I helped you out in your previous life," Ranma didn't seem to show any care at what he was hearing. "Anyway, something terrible has come up and only you can help out," Shinji said, "I need your help," "Not interested," Ranma said, turning around and walking back to his seat. "Can't you hear me out?" Shinji asked Ranma's back. "Not interested," Ranma said, sitting back down in his seat. Shinji's jawline tightened as he found himself angry. He should have known that Ranma would respond with an answer like that. If he really thought about it, there was no reason for Ranma to help out. If Urd was killed, nothing would exist and Ranma would cease to exist along with it. That was something Ranma would welcome given how the other Ranma hated his very existence. It seemed this Ranma was very much alike that Ranma. "If you help me, I can give you death," Shinji said, knowing that this was a long shot. Shinji recalled Ranma hated his existence so much that perhaps Shinji could use that to his advantage. Ranma's eyes perked up, Ranma interested in that last comment. "Go on, I'm listening," Shinji and Ranma stood in front of the library. Jun remained in the library, asked not to take part in the conversation since it was a delicate matter at hand and there was no need for her to know even more than she knew. "I know you don't remember me, but I remember you," Shinji said, "In an alternate world that was similar to this, the alternate you resurrected me. In the process, I was somehow bestowed your powers. The problem is that they're currently dormant and I have no idea how to make them surface," "And what makes you think I know?" Ranma let out an annoyed breath, wondering if it was even worth his time to listen to Shinji. "Because you were the one that gave me those powers," Shinji said, "If you were the one that gave it to me, then you must also know how to unlock it," Ranma said, "Even if I did do it, what makes you think I know. I barely understand my own powers," "Your power is infinite," Shinji said, "That's why this world isn't raining, because you somehow did something to make the rain stop," "I stopped it because it was annoying," Ranma commented. Shinji nodded, "I'm sure it is. But do you see what I mean? You were the one that stopped it. How did you stop it?" "I didn't want it to rain so it stopped," he said matter-of-factly. "I know, but how did you stop it?" Shinji asked, "If you know how to do something like stopping it from raining, then something like unlocking my powers should be no harder," Ranma said, "I don't know how I stopped it. It just stopped when I wanted it to," Shinji's eyes widened, "You're kidding me, right? You have no idea how your powers work?" "I know how some of them work," he commented. "Like what?" Shinji asked. "Like how to bring people back to life," Ranma stated, "It's easier to bring a person back to life if I accidentally kill them than to let them stay dead and deal with the consequences. It's annoying dealing with everyone as they try to 'apprehend' me for murder," Shinji gulped. He forgot about that. Ranma was a murderer. He had no qualms about taking one's life if need be. That was the main difference between this Ranma and the Ranma he knew. The Ranma he knew would never kill someone. This Ranma seemed the type that would kill a person if he or she crossed him. The thing to take in to consideration is that if this Ranma is anything like his previous self, then he only killed when provoked. "Can you show me how to bring someone back to life?" Shinji asked. "No," Ranma said flatly. "Why not?" "I don't feel like it," Ranma said, "I'm not obligated to do anything for you if I don't want to," Shinji pinched the bridge of his nose, "You're making this really hard for me, Ranma," "So?" Ranma said, "I don't care about you or what you're expected to do. If I think about it, it's better if I do nothing, because if I don't help you, then you'll fail and everything would cease to exist, even myself," Shinji said nothing for several moments. "You hate your very existence," Shinji commented, "If you help me, then if I succeed, I'll make sure you don't have to live on," He wondered exactly how he was going to go about doing something like that, but he was sure Urd could come up with something. Besides, she would owe him. "So what? If I don't help you, the same result would occur but under different circumstances," Ranma said, "It's a win-win situation for me," Shinji sighed, "Man, I wish I didn't tell you about what would happen," Ranma smirked, "It's too late now. I already know and I have no care to help you," Shinji tried to think of what to say that would convince him. "If I fail, everything will cease to exist, Jun as well," Shinji commented, wondering if it was worth it to try and play the sympathy card with someone with no sympathy. Ranma shrugged, "It don't matter to me," "Um, she likes you," Shinji said, "What, you don't like her and would want something like that to happen to her?" Ranma paused for a moment, "She likes me?" "Um, yeah, s-she told me herself," Shinji lied. He just assumed she had some kind of feelings for Ranma. Whether it be that of friendship or something more serious, he honestly didn't know. "You lie," Ranma said, narrowing his eyes at Shinji. "I'm not lying," Shinji said, hoping it didn't look that evident that he was lying, "Um, if you think about it, if you help me, and I succeed, time will continue on as usual. Over time, Jun and you will most likely get together and eventually get married," Ranma was silent. "However, if you don't help me, then it would most likely lead to my failure," Shinji added for more impact, "And if I fail, you two will never eventually get together," Ranma thought about it for a moment. He did like Jun or at least tolerated her more than anyone else he had ever encountered. It did pique his interest in what might happen if they had time to perhaps develop their casual friendship in to something more serious. He was curious as to what might happen. He had been proven wrong once before. When he had first met Jun at the library, he believed that they would be nothing more than acquaintances. Instead, they were more or less friends, at least that was what Ranma considered it. On occasions, they would have lunch together or even catch a movie together, two instances that meant nothing to Ranma since he neither got hungry nor cared about movies. However, the company he had seemed to make it somewhat enjoyable. "Well, what do you say?" Shinji asked, hopeful. "Hmph, fine," Shinji approached Jun. Ranma waited outside the library while Shinji went in to get Jun. It had been decided that Ranma and Shinji would go to Shinji's world. Although they had no real idea exactly how to trigger Shinji's dormant powers, they figured it was better to try and figure it out there. This was because, while there, Ranma could resurrect Shinji's friends. They might be able to help as well. Ranma had wanted to say something to Jun before they left and Shinji had eagerly accepted to get her for him while he waited outside. "Um, how goes your talk with Ranma?" Jun asked, "He didn't sound all that willing to help. If you want, I'll ask him. Perhaps I can convince him. Surely, even he can realize that something like this can't be ignored," Shinji scratched his head, "Actually, if I think about it, if I came to this world perhaps a year earlier, around the time when I first came to the alternate version of this world, Ranma would not had helped me," "And now?" she seemed hopeful. "He's a bit, um, nicer," Shinji gave a meek smile, "However, I think I know why," "Why?" she asked, curiously. "It's because he's been friends with you for, what, over a year?" Shinji said, "That seemed to have mellowed him out. He's not quite as cold and uncaring as the one I remembered," Jun smiled slightly, "Well, I think I know where you're coming from. Ranma was really mean back then. As I spent more time with him, I started to get to know him and realize that he's not as bad as he's made out to be. If you think about it, what made him so cold was his upbringing. Keep in mind the name 'Ranma' is a name that's disgusted on this world. He had a bad childhood and grew up hating people so I guess I understand why he seems to hold so much contempt toward people in general," "Just curious, exactly what did you do that made Ranma seem to, um, mellow out?" Shinji asked. Jun scratched her head, "What do you mean? I did nothing. We just hang out every here and there," Shinji shrugged, "Well, whatever you do, it works," "Um, okay," she was a bit confused. Shinji and Ranma emerged from a portal and on to Shinji's world. It was pouring out and the sky was pitch black. Neither of them had any idea whether it was day or night. The two of them were soaking wet within seconds after emerging from the portal. "H-how did you do that?" Shinji asked, confused, "How'd you open a portal to this world? Ranma shrugged, "I don't know. It's the first time I tried it," Shinji wondered when he would be able to 'will' a portal open and travel to different worlds. It would be kind of fun, to be able to visit other worlds and not risk not being able to come back since a breakable nanban mirror would no longer be involved. Shinji looked around and noticed how dark it was, "Jeez, is it me or is it really dark out?" "Is that supposed to be a joke?" Ranma asked coldly. Shinji gave a meek smile, "No. It was just an observation. I can't tell if it's night or day because those clouds are so thick and dark," "It's day," Ranma said, "There ultra violet light is more noticeable in the day than at night. What little light that's coming in is coming from the sun and not from the moon," "Huh? You can see ultra violet light?" Shinji asked. "Yes," he said, "What, you can't?" Shinji said, "Um, no. I don't think anyone but you can see it," Ranma shrugged, not all that amused whether or not he could. "Um, your world had clouds and rain like this, right?" Shinji asked. "Yeah, so?" Ranma replied coldly. "Can you show me how you do it?" Shinji asked. "Just dismiss the clouds and it'll go away," Ranma said in annoyance, "That's what I did," "How?" Shinji asked. "Like this," Ranma muttered, making a wide waving gesture across above his head, palm toward the sky. As if a miracle had occurred, most likely because that was exactly what it was, the clouds started parting to reveal the bright sun shining high above. The clouds continued to part, disappearing in to the horizon, too far away to be seen. Before Shinji knew it, the sky was perfectly clear, not a single cloud in the sky. "Wow," Shinji said in amazement, looking up at the clear sky, "That was really cool," Ranma shrugged, not amused. "All you did was merely think of the clouds parting and disappearing and it did just that?" Shinji asked. Ranma nodded, "Yes. I thought that in particular, the rain stopping and the clouds disappearing right afterwards," "That's really cool," Shinji said. Ranma shrugged. "Man, now that the clouds are clear and there's light, I can get a good look at the destruction," Shinji said, "Man, it looks like an N2 mine was set off in the heart of MegaTokyo. I can't believe there's so much destruction," "Where are we supposed to go?" Ranma asked, changing the subject. What this world looked like was trivial to him. Shinji looked around. It took him a moment before he noticed where he was. Although it was basically devastated land in every direction, Shinji found himself using the giant crater not too far from where he was as a reference point. He had buried his friends right by the southern portion of the outer rim of the crater. Shinji pointed, "Over there. I buried my friends there," "Where is this so-called weapon?" Ranma asked. "Oh, near where I buried everyone," Shinji answered, "I was told I can find the weapon in the garage of what used to be my home. I buried my friends in the backyard of my place so I guess we're lucky. Heading over there, we'll be killing two birds with one stone," "Let's get going," Ranma smirked. "Right," Shinji followed. Even though it was a different Ranma, Shinji felt more comfortable knowing that Ranma was in charge of things once again. Funnily enough, now that he thought about it, after he brings everyone back from the dead, Ranma would be, once again, the person that made everything better. "I've changed my mind," Shinji gave Ranma an odd look, "Huh?" "I've changed my mind," he smirked, "I've decided that I don't want to help you," "W-what?" Shinji asked. Ranma smirked. It had taken him a while, but he had found what he was looking for. While Shinji had been busy digging nearby so he could unearth his dead friends, Ranma had been searching through the debris from the weapon Shinji had mentioned. "I've decided I'd rather have everything ceasing to exist than to let it continue to exist," Ranma said, "I've rather have death than to continue on living," "W-what are you trying to say?" Shinji said, blood draining from his face, "W- what about Jun? Are you going to leave her?" Ranma said, "Don't try and play the sympathy card with me. I can't die. I will outlive Jun. As tempting as it is to live and perhaps find a bit of happiness with Jun, I know that that would never last since I will outlive her," Shinji gulp. This was not happening! Ranma gestured toward a giant Lance that was in his hands, "It's obvious that this is the so-called weapon capable of killing God. If it's got the powers to kill God, then it has the capability of killing me," Without saying another word, Ranma pointed the sharp end of the weapon toward his chest. It was obvious that he was going to plunge the weapon in to his chest so he could kill himself. "Kinda brings back memories, doesn't it?" Ranma smiled. "What do you mean?" Shinji asked. "I remember my previous life," Ranma said, "I remember Angels trying to kill me and such. Don't ask me how I remember, I simply do. I was sorely tempted to come to this world and kill Ranma myself for going back on his promise. I remember you from back then. It's your fault for assuming that I don't remember you. Not once did I ever say I don't remember or know you," Shinji stammered, "Y-you remember everything?" "Yes," he said, "And since you already know me, or at least my previous self, you also knew what I tried to do after I got the Lance," "Y-you tried to kill yourself," Shinji state. "Yep," Ranma said, "And today, I'm going to try and succeed where I failed last time," "Wait!" Shinji said. "What?" he asked in annoyance. "H-how could you do this?" he asked, "How can you choose death over life? Can your life be that horrible that you don't want to live?" Ranma said, "You're not me," Without saying another word, Ranma plunged the weapon in to his chest. "No!!!" Shinji shouted. "Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" Shinji repeated that probably a thousand times as he paced back and forth. Ranma had succeeded in killing himself. He lay motionless on his back, the Lance protruding from his chest. The Lance remained protruding because, no matter how hard he tried, Shinji was unable to remove it, the Lance too heavy for him to lift. He didn't even want to bother trying to comprehend what made the Lance so heavy. If it weren't for the fact that Shinji was so distraught over what had happened, he would've noticed that there looked to be a sense of peace on Ranma's face. "What am I gonna do?" Shinji asked himself. The best way to describe his current situation was that he was 'shit outta luck'. The one person that could've helped him had killed himself. What made it worse was that Shinji never suspected it. He should've noticed that something was strange when Ranma expressed more interest in the weapon than anything else. In a way, Shinji was right back at square one. No, he was worse off. At least when he was at square one, he still had a purpose, to find Ranma and ask for his help. Now, he didn't even have that. He had no idea what to do, where to go, or how to do it. He could've perhaps been a little better off had Ranma bothered to resurrect his friends before taking his own life, but it seemed that would've made it to easy for Shinji. The sky darkened as black clouds formed about, blocking out the clouds. It also started pouring a moment later. It seems that now that Ranma was no longer around to 'will' the bad weather away, it reverted back to the way it used to be. "What am I gonna do?" Shinji paced back and forth in the pouring rain as he continued to ponder what to do. Several hours had passed since Ranma had taken his own life and he still had no idea of what to do now. Several times he had tried to lift the Lance, trying to force some of his dormant powers to work, all attempts failing. He guessed that the Lance probably weighed several thousand pounds, far heavier than he could lift. "I don't understand how my powers work," Shinji said, "Ranma even showed and told me how to mess around with the weather and I can't get that to work," He tried to 'will' the bad weather away, much to no avail. Shinji glanced over toward the small mound of tired just off to the side where the Lance stuck out. Ranma rested there. Since Shinji could not move the Lance, he had simply buried him right where he lay, letting the Lance act as a tombstone. "Damn you," Shinji sneered, "How can you be so damn selfish?" Unfortunately, he was never going to know. It had been his mistake assuming what he assumed. Never had it occurred to him that Ranma had somehow kept his memories nor have he ever believed Ranma would try something like take his own life once again. "Goddamn rain," he muttered. What he could use right now was a nice dry and clean pair of clothes. However, what he needed to worry about first is to get the bad weather to go away. Once that was gone, he could dry off and look around to getting some clean clothes. Shinji felt like an idiot as he found himself waving his hand across the sky and saying random sayings like, 'Leave', 'Go away', 'Disappear', 'Be gone', 'Shoo', ''Fucking leave already', and many other sayings, none of them working. As he did that, he constantly visualized the clouds disappearing. Shinji found himself starting to get annoyed as he couldn't figure out what to do. He wanted to rain to go away so he could be dry but nothing was happening.... The raining suddenly disappeared as the clouds started parting, revealing the clear night sky. Shinji was in a state of shock as he tried comprehend what had just occurred. "D-did I just do that?" Shinji figured out how to control the weather. It took him close to twenty four hours of trial-and-error before he realized how, but he finally figured it out. It turned out that visualizing the clouds parting and the rain stopping was just half of the requirement. He had to visualize while thinking of the reason for why he wanted that to happen. Ranma had mentioned that he changed the weather on his world because it annoyed him. It had been Shinji's mistake for dismissing that. He had no idea how he could possibly catch something so subtle. His friend Ranma was extremely observant and would've caught that, but not Shinji. It took three tries before Shinji figured out exactly what he was supposed to do. What took him so long to get it down right was that he made the mistake of waiting for the bad weather to arrive so he could get rid of it, the wait usually taking several hours. He felt like an idiot after he figured it out and realized that he probably would've gotten it within an hour had he tried to figure controlling the weather in reverse, that is, making the clouds form and rain and then trying to make them go away instead of waiting for the bad weather to occur naturally. Used to his new power, Shinji was shocked as he was 'literally' creating miracles. When he realized the he should've controlled the weather completely, bringing the bad weather and ridding it, he did it several times before he became satisfied that he had mastered it and let the clouds and rain remain away. Shinji was very happy when he figured out how to control the weather. His happiness was crushed when he tried to apply the same theory to lifting the Lance and finding himself unable to. He had visualized himself lifting the Lance and thinking of the reason, because he needed to use it, but he found the Lance unyielding and refusing to budge. Shinji scratched his head, "How the heck do I do this? Is there a different way of doing it?" After trying to lift the Lance for a good hour or so, much to no avail, Shinji realized that he had no idea how to do it. He found himself looking at his hands which were both raw and bleeding from the strain. "I need to try a different approach," Shinji said. He began pacing back and forth, brainstorming for a good hour before he came up with an idea. "Wait, why didn't I think of it before!" Shinji snapped his fingers, "I can try and bring back the others!" He quickly dismissed trying that. God forbid he did something wrong and brought them back and made them suffer. Their bodies would be badly decomposed now and he feared that he might bring them back and in to those bodies. It would be a horrible for them and he didn't want to risk that. "No, I won't try and bring them back," he said, "There's too many things that can go wrong. I'd rather go on without them on my own instead of risking them suffering," Shinji sighed as he began pacing back and forth again, trying to think of what to do next. He found himself out of options. He could neither bring his friends nor lift the Lance. A good hour passed before he came up with an idea. "I know, I can go to a different world and bring someone from there that can wield the Lance," Shinji said. His face became somber as he realized something, "But what world can I go to? And how the heck do I go about doing it?" He realized that that was a futile plan because he remember Urd commenting on how only he could wield the Lance. Afterall, he had properties of God, a key requirement. Only a god can kill a god. Therefore, even if he could find someone that was powerful enough to use it, he or she would not be able to kill with it. This brought up a question he had. If the Ranma he knew had expected Shinji to kill him using the Lance, how would that had been possible? If Shinji had been around when all of this happened, he would be in the same situation as before, unable to wield the Lance. Little did Shinji know that had he been there, Ranma would've showed him how to wield it before all of this happened. Ryoga was capable of wielding it and it had been expected he would use it to slow their opponent down while Shinji does the killing blow. Shinji sighed, "God killing God. This is just crazy. Only three people could kill Ranma. One of them killed himself. The other one can't risk fighting him. And the last one is myself and I have no idea how to lift, let alone wield the Lance. There's gotta be another way," Shinji continued pacing back and forth. "God killing God!" Shinji's eyes widened. There was a way! Unit-01 was considered a god after it ate that Angel and acquired the ability to no longer need a power supply. Unit-01 was incredibly powerful and would be able to lift the Lance. Of course, considering its size, it would seem like a human wielding a toothpick. However, it wasn't all that far-fetched. Shinji was a pilot and there was a good chance that he could pilot Unit-01 skillfully enough to land the killing blow with the Lance. If he was going to do that, he would have to go to the world he was from, not the one with that supped-up version of Unit-01 since that version never ate an Angel and was never reached that level of existence the original Unit-01 had reached. "That's it! I'm going to go to my world and steal Unit-01!" Shinji stopped as he realized something. "How the heck am I going to get there?" In a different world, a world that was about to engage in battle with an Angel, the streets of Tokyo-3 was eerily quiet. This was because everyone had taken to the shelters to avoid being killed in the inevitable Angel attack. Because it was so quiet, it was very easy to hear the announcement that echoed through the entire city. "Today at 12:30, a state of special emergency has been declared within Kanto and Chubu districts, around Tokai district. Please take refuge in the designated shelters. Repeat... Today-" a voice could be heard. A bright flash of light appeared right in front of a train station, signaling Shinji's arrival on to that world. It took a moment for Shinji to orient himself to where he was. Unfortunately, he had forgotten that this world, like every other world, was suffering the horrible weather that seemed to foreshadow the eventual destruction of all that existed, provided Shinji could not do a thing about it. Shinji found himself soaking wet within moments upon emerging on that world. Annoyed, Shinji waved a hand skyward and visualized the dark clouds parting and the rain stopping. To his constant amazement, it did just that, the clouds clearing up to reveal a clear sunny sky. Shinji smiled happily, forgetting about the fact that he was now soaking wet, "God! That's really me! It's really me that did that!" He became serious and cleared his throat, blushing slightly from being so easily amused. Perhaps it was a combinations of things that made him a bit giddy. Somehow, without quite understanding, he had opened up a portal to this world. He thought about this world in the same manner as when he thought about the other world. However, this time around, he didn't have Ranma touching him on his shoulder, figuring that Ranma could channel his powers through Shinji provided Shinji thought of where to go. When Shinji had noticed the portal open up to this world suddenly, and without Ranma's help, it led Shinji to believe that perhaps he was the one that had conjured the first portal. Unfortunately, there was no telling if that was true or not. Besides, it didn't really matter because that was rather trivial. So long as he got to the world he had originally intended, that was what mattered. He looked around to survey his surroundings. It took a moment for him to recognize where he was. He was at a familiar looking train station. This made him happy as he realized that he had ended up on the right world. "Now that I know where I showed up, I need to figure out when I showed up," he asked himself. Glancing around, he noticed something rather odd. There was no one around. "Today at 12:30, a state of special emergency has been declared within Kanto and Chubu districts, around Tokai district. Please take refuge in the designated shelters. Repeat... Today-" a voice could be heard. Shinji's eyes widened as he recognized those words. He remembered hearing that the first time he showed up in Tokyo-3. "Oh my god! I showed up right before when the first Angel attacked!" he said. He looked around and noticed a familiar looking phone booth a short distance down the block. "T-that's where I tried to call Misato but got a message that the phone lines were not operating due to a state of emergency!" Shinji said, running up to the phone booth. As he stood there, something occurred to him, if he was here, where was the Shinji of this world, the younger version of himself. He looked around, expecting to see his younger self wandering around but saw no one. This confused him as he began to wonder why. "Wait a minute," Shinji said, "I know. My existence replaced Shinji's existence on this world. So that means, right now, I'm in the role of the Shinji of this world's shoes. When the God-version of Ranma went to the world of his previous self, he replaced the Ranma of that world. I'm in the same situation as Ranma," Two missiles flew right by him overhead, causing Shinji to watch it as it sailed across the sky. His eyes widened when he saw them his a giant green humanoid-looking Angel in the far off horizon. Shinji was in a state of speechlessness. He watched as the Angel extended an arm in the direction of a hovering aircraft and shot out a pole-like object from its claw-like hand and destroyed it. A giant portion of the aircraft fell down where it landed right by Shinji. "Whoa," Shinji said. He glanced toward the side just as he saw the Angel seemingly take flight from where it was and land right by him, one of its feet stepping on the broken off piece of aircraft. Shinji was in a such a state of speechlessness that he didn't even bother to move react instinctively like shield his eyes from when the aircraft exploded. As he stood there, a blue sports car pulled up right next to him. He looked over where, to his expectation as well as his surprise, he saw Misato, the Misato of this world. "Get in!" she shouted at him, opening the passenger side door. Shinji just stood there and regarded her. He couldn't believe who he was looking at. It was Misato. Sure, it was a different Misato than the one he knew, but it was still Misato nonetheless. "Get in!" she repeated, her words louder. Shinji climbed in to the car. The moment he closed the door, Misato slammed on the accelerator and the car sped off, just in the nick of time from getting crushed under the foot of the Angel as it took as step. He found himself staring at Misato as she drove down the empty street a high speeds. She looked exactly like the Misato he knew. He didn't even bother to hide his staring. His eyes were transfixed on her. It was actually forcing himself from hugging her tightly, vicariously wanting to hug a friend he missed so terribly. "You like what you see?" Misato smirked, noticing Shinji's gaze. "Yes," he said without thought. He definitely liked seeing her again. Of course, she had no idea who the young man sitting next to her really was. Misato blushed. Shinji seemed much different that the information given to her indicated. He didn't seem all that shy and passive. Also, he looked physically different than the picture she had of him. He didn't even look fourteen. He was taller and more muscular than any average fourteen year old, that was for sure. At least he was cute. What the hell was she thinking? "Um, I'm sorry I was late in picking you up," Misato commented. Shinji smirked. He was feeling such a sense of nostalgia. Unless he said something that might change the course of the conversation from what he remembered, he knew exactly what Misato was going to ask. "It's no problem," Shinji said, "I didn't wait long," "That's good to hear," "What was that big thing I saw back there?" Shinji asked, remembering asking that back then, already knowing the answer. "That was an Angel," Misato said, "The UN army is currently trying to fend it off but it doesn't seem to be having much effect. It seems like conventional weapons are ineffective against it," Heh, so will the N2 mine that will be set off a couple of minutes from now, Shinji thought. Misato went on to talk about Angels. Shinji pretended he was paying attention. He found himself wanting to correct Misato when she made the mistake of saying the Angel was currently of unknown origin and its intentions were unknown as well. Of course, if he told her what he knew, then that would make her very suspicious and that would make his hidden agenda harder to accomplish when the time comes. Misato's breasts were right in Shinji's face. He also noticed that she wasn't wearing a bra because he could see her nipples pressing against the fabric of her outfit. Misato was looking through a pair of high power binoculars out through the window by Shinji's side. Because of where he sat, Misato's breasts were dangerously close to his face and this made Shinji feel a bit awkward. He was a guy, afterall. "What are you doing?" Shinji asked, ignoring Misato's breasts and looking about the car. "I just want to see how the UN's doing against the Angel," she commented, her gaze through the binoculars and toward the horizon at the Angel. Shinji looked at his watch, which he had already set to match this world's current time. The N2 mine would be going off in exactly one minute from now so that left him with very little time. He noticed that Misato's seat belt was off. When she tells him to duck for cover, he would have to snap the seat belt on so she won't get any scratches. He remembered she got scratched up because of the interior of the car when they went tumbling side-over-side when the N2 shockwave struck the car. "Waitaminute! No way! They're going to use an N2 mine!" Misato shouted, "Shinji, get down!!" In the distant horizon, a bright light lit the sky, suddenly disappearing to reveal a giant mushrooming cloud of smoke as an N2 mine was detonated where the Angel was. She grabbed Shinji's head and pulled it down in to her lap as she threw herself over him. As she did so, Shinji's hands quickly shot out and snapped Misato's seatbelt on. He also slipped his body out from under her and made it so that she was under him instead of the other way around. "What the," she tried to say. "It'll be safer the other way around," Shinji said, just as the shockwave from the explosion of the N2 mine reached the car. The car tumbled on its side, flipping several times, Shinji's body absorbing the brunt of the force as he and Misato slammed back and forth within the body of the car. When the shockwave passed, Shinji and Misato were okay. "You okay?" he asked. Misato had a rather surprised look on her face, "Y-yeah. Actually, I was about to ask you the same thing," "I'm fine," he said, removing his seat belt and climbing out of the car through the open window. Since the car was on its side, he had to climb out of the passenger side window. Misato looked down and noticed that her seat belt was one. She could've sworn she had removed her seat belt when she scooted over to look out the window by Shinji's side. She yelped in surprise when she felt the whole car begin to tip over while she was still inside. When she realized what was happening, she found herself looking out the windshield at the world correctly, the car now back on its four wheels instead of being on its side. She looked toward the side and watched as Shinji climbed back in to the car. Shinji gave a shy smile, "Hey, the car was on its side so I pushed it back over," "B-but you just did it by yourself," she commented, shock in her voice. How strong was this fourteen year old boy? Shinji nodded, "Yeah. I didn't need help," He was pretty sure Misato was shocked at seeing what she believed a fourteen year old boy was capable of doing. Luckily for him, his body wasn't replaced by that of a fourteen year old so he possessed his own body and strengths. Something like righting a car was easy for him. "Ready to go?" he smirked. Shinji contemplated telling Misato where to go but chose against it. The two of them were both in Nerv yet Misato seemed to be lost. Shinji found it mildly amusing as she tried to figure out the map. In his hands was a Nerv manual that Misato had given him. He didn't both to read it, have read it back then. All it mentioned was of proper conduct within the facility. "You're lost," Shinji said. "I'm not lost," Misato lied. "Uh huh," Shinji shrugged. Everything felt he same but different to him. As he followed her, he noticed how small she looked. Actually, she didn't look small. It was just that this time around, he wasn't as small as he was supposed to be. He was actually taller than Misato and probably a good seventy pounds heavier. The two continued on walking for several minutes until they found an elevator that would take them to their destination. Shinji looked at his watch and noticed what time it was. When the elevator door opened, it revealed Ritsuko. Misato seemed surprised. "Hi there, Ritsuko," Misato gave a sheepish smile. "Why're you wasting my time? Don't you know we're short on time and manpower?" Ritsuko narrowed her eyes at Misato. "Sorry," Misato said. Ritsuko turned toward Shinji. When she looked at him, she noticed him staring at the chest area of her outfit. This was because she was wearing a swimsuit underneath the lab coat that was opened in the front. He had been wondering why she was wearing a swimsuit in the first place. "Um," Shinji blushed, averting his gaze, "H-hi. Um, I couldn't help but notice you wearing a swimsuit under your labcoat," Ritsuko closed up the front of her lab coat, "I was paged when I was conducting some underwater tests," She couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed. She knew she had a nice body and it felt nice that it was being acknowledged, even if it was a form of staring. "Okay," Shinji seemed satisfied with the answer. "So, is this the boy?" Ritsuko asked. "According to the Marduk report, he's the third child," Misato commented. Shinji smiled. He couldn't help but want to hug Ritsuko much like how he wanted to hug Misato. It was so nice to see her again, even if it wasn't really her. "He's nothing like his father," Misato commented, "It seems like the reports about him are completely off," "I can tell just from looking at him," Ritsuko commented, "You don't look fourteen, that's for sure," Shinji gave a shy smile, "Um, thanks. I have no problems with that," "Don't be so eager to be an adult," Misato smirked, "It's not all it's cracked up to be," Shinji couldn't help but chuckle. Boy, was she right. Shinji's heart was racing. He knew he would eventually meet Gendo Ikari, a man he hated. He had pushed the stress of the inevitable encounter with him in the back of his mind, but he knew he would see his father, or at least an alternate version of him, in a few minutes from now. Shinji and Misato and Ritsuko were on a small boat crossing what looked like a giant liquid containment chamber. Shinji knew that this was where Unit-01 was stored, submerged under the liquid all the way up to its shoulder. When he was introduced to Unit-01, at least the head portion of it, he pretended his was surprised and acted as if he was trying to look it up in the manual in his hands. "You're not going to find anything about in there," Ritsuko commented. Heh, I know, Shinji thought. But I just wanted to put up a front like I didn't know. "This is man's ultimate fighting machine," Ritsuko added, "A synthetic lifeform known as Evangelion, Unit-01, and was built here in secret. This is mankind's last and final hope," "Actually, isn't that redundant? Last and final are one and the same," Shinji corrected, "Just saying something like 'This is mankind's final hope' should work fine," Ritsuko gave Shinji and odd look, "Are you mocking me?" Shinji raised his hands defensively, "Not at all," He had merely wanted to try and change the flow of conversations. It was kind of boring hearing everything all over again. Perhaps it was best to just play along and not try and do anything really dramatic. "So, my prick of a father made this?" Shinji smirked. At that moment, Gendo's voice, "That's correct," Everyone turned their atten