[An again-messy dorm room.]

Andrew: [mechanically] I'm. Back.

Nanami: But not all here.

Gaspode: Woof.

Andrew: [regaining usual composure] Eh.... I'm supposed to be doing some
Fourier transforms right now, but...who cares.

[Warhammer comes from the light.]
	WH: I believe a man once said, "You should keep your friends close... 
and you enemies even closer." Who'd of thought that this would hold so 
true?

Gaspode: Sounds like an Ephebian again.

Andrew: Who _did_ say that, anyway?

Nanami: Not my brother, likely. Not like he could keep anyone very close
to him at all, except for those Bugs.

Teknos Warhammer presents

Seraphim's Judgment:
Part 8:
Angel in Demon's Clothing

	Misato remembered the saying about the butterflies in the stomach. 
Well, whatever it meant, they were in full swing within her gut. No 

Gaspode: Wot? Oh, right. Human term, means--

Andrew: How most people feel when they smell you coming.

Gaspode: Oh, har, har.

matter what she said or did, Asuka's demeanor had just dropped from sad, 
to just downright depressed. Her synchro rates fell to the point where 
she couldn't evenstart an EVA. She couldn't forget what happened. 

Nanami: Poor Asuka.

[Andrew nods.]

<Flashback>

	"COME ON! WORK!" Asuka screamed at the top of her lungs. The charts 
showing her synchro rates barely even went past the 1% level. She'd be 
lucky if she could even get the EVA to blink, if it had eyes. 

Andrew: EVAs do have eyes; in fact, 02 has four of them. Of course, the
equivalent of an Evangelion blinking would be the light behind them going
out momentarily. They don't have eyelids, as such.

Gaspode: Get on wif it.

Andrew: Shut up.

	"Asuka, calm down. We're just seeing if you're still alright." Ristuko 
said, trying to console the pilot. 

	" I AM CALM!" The pilot screamed back. A screen to her right opened up, 
showing Rei's emotionless face. 

	"Open your mind to the EVA. It will follow through." She said calmly. 

	She got as near to the screen and she could and screamed, "What does it 
_LOOK_ like I'm doing you reject from an Ann Rice book!" As usual, Rei 
took no offense for she didn't know about where Asuka's insult came 
from. 

Andrew: Aside from the fact that I have no idea what Ann Rice has written,
I doubt that Asuka would, either. I wouldn't take her to be an American
literature type person.

Nanami: Is Ann Rice American?

Andrew: Heck if I know. I've only heard of the existence of a writer named
Ann Rice.

Gaspode: P'rhaps I should be paid by the minute in biscuits.

	Even words of encouragement from both Shinji and Touji were of no help 
at all. When it seemed she was not going to get anywhere at all, Asuka 
shut off the comm to and from the EVA and allowed herself to cry again. 

<Flashback end.>

	Misato's inattention to the road proved almost to be fatal as she 
swerved to avoid an incoming car. She made a note to reminisce about bad 
things when she wasn't driving. She looked to see the address of the 
newest pilot and found a boy about fourteen waiting for her. 

	His hair was a gentle silver that waved loosely in the breeze. His 
gentle red eyes accentuated the good humored smile that adorned his 
face. He was dressed in a school uniform somewhat similar to Shinji's, 
yet hung a bit more what said something about his lean physique. 

Nanami: Ooh. He's cute.

[Andrew says nothing, and twitches gently. Gaspode tries to smirk, but
being a dog, he can't quite make it.]

	Stopping, she opened her door, stepped out and asked, looking at the 
boy. "Ano... are you Kaworu Nagisa?" 

	The boy said chuckling, "I certainly hope so." 

Andrew: Ack. That line is somewhat reminiscent of DJ Croft in NXE.

*************************************************

	In the waiting room of NERV, the four Children were told to wait. 
Asuka, for one, was starting to get restless. Touji was talking with 
Shinji, and whispering about his concern for Asuka. Rei was sitting on 
one of the chairs, deep in thought. 

	The door opened and the attention of the Children was caught 
immediately at Misato and her companion. 

	"Everyone, I would like to introduce the Fifth Child, Kaworu Nagisa." 
Had any of the four been paying attention, they would have noticed the 
apprehension in her voice.

	Shinji's eyes widened, "Hey! You're the guy I met a while ago!" In 
response, Kaworu smiled and nodded. 

Andrew: Hmm...I wonder where Kaworu was in the anime before he showed up
in episode 24. It seemed like he was nowhere near Tokyo-3.... Eh.

	"Yep. I'm sorry I didn't move out of the way fast enough." He walked 
forward, took Shinji's hand, and shook it like an old friend. 

	Touji, on the other hand, seemed to keep his distance as the other two 
boys re-acquainted themselves.

	Stepping forward, Asuka asked, "Oi! Misato, we only have four EVAs. If 
he's the fifth child then what's he going to..." Her eyes widened with 
horror at the realization. This boy was... her replacement. Her fists 
clenched and started to quiver with anger. 

Gaspode: Wossname hitting the fan.

Nanami: Why are you so fond of that phrase?

	"Sorry to say Soryu-san... but it's true." Kaworu answered with a sad 
grin. That only made Asuka madder as she stepped forward and struck 
Kowaru on the side of the face. After that, she ran out, not wanting 
everyone to see the tears that developed. 

Andrew: Actually, I suppose I could imagine Asuka hitting Kaworu for
this....

	The others were shocked at the development. Misato had hoped that 
Kaworu's introduction would go a little smoother. Looks like it was a 
little too much to hope for.

	Touji stepped up and said with evident disapproval. "That wasn't real 
nice you know... you have no clue what she's been through." 

	The albino boy merely shrugged as he rubbed the sore part of his face. 
"Truth is not always easy. Despite whatever happened beforehand."

	Touji's frown grew larger, turned to the doorway, and went after Asuka. 
Misato sighed and leaned against the wall, what else could go wrong? She 
shrugged and ran behind Shinji. . 

Andrew: Geez...this guy says that he's not sure about setting something up
between Asuka and Touji--but if he doesn't, I'm gonna whup his butt.
[glances at Gaspode] Or maybe send the Wonder Dog to go bite him.

Nanami: Wouldn't that violate some sort of biological warfare laws?

Gaspode: Laff all you want. I'm proud of my diseases, right, I am.

	Rei's face remained neutral as the other two left. With the absence of 
everyone else, the white and red of Kaworu's eyes exchanged colors and 

Gaspode: Now that's a funny fing to look at.

Rei's own eyes followed suit. Her face formed a scowl, turning to 
Kaworu. The boy simply smiled and spoke in the inhuman whisper.

	{[<You know why I am here. >]}

	{[<How could I not Tabris? The taunts of you and the others gave enough 
fair warning. >]}

Andrew: Uh oh....

Nanami: [confused] What's going on? And what do you mean, "uh oh"?

Andrew: I'll wait for the rest of this sequence.

	{[<You never really did have much of a sense of humor, did you? >]}

	{[<I am in no mood for games Tabris, you know what my answer is going 
to be. You do not know what you are trying to do. >]}

	{[<More than what you seem to know... freak. You construct of another. 
You don't even have a race to call your own. Instead you side with these 
self-absorbed apes that would treat you no better. >]}

	{[<That's where you and the others are wrong. Unlike with you, I am 
cared for here. There are those who think about me. >]}

	{[<Ah yes, your precious Commander Ikari, the man who made you in the 
image of his 'late' wife. Yet, because of his desire to create his own 

Andrew: And the thoughts of Lolita come along, eh?

Nanami: What?

Andrew: Never mind.

Impact, he made you and used a part of Adam. A thing to be used, and if 
his precious wife did return, you would be no more. >]}

	{[<Enough Tabris. No matter what you and Armisael may do or think, you 
both WILL be stopped. In one way or another, whether it is someone else 
or I. >]}

Andrew: Armisael...that would be--[digs out a notebook]--the sixteenth
Angel. Duh, it's the one still hasn't shown up.

	{[<And who's going to stop us? You? Don't even try to make me laugh. 
You're too sterile when it comes to talking with others, you could never 
help to tell anyone. And who would believe you? I am just about as human 
as you are... in fact, I am more human than you are. >]}

Tabris/Kaworu began to laugh as his eyes changed color to normal and 
left the room. Rei was still fuming after he had left. The main reason 
being that he was right. Even if she could tell anyone, how could she 
prove it? The only time when she could was when he showed his power as 
an angel. Even she couldn't force such a thing.  

Nanami: Ack. That would suck, huh? [thinking] Kind of like how Galus knew
about Makoto pretending to be Fatora, but couldn't talk about it....

Andrew: Anyway. My objection to this sequence is that it presumes that the
Lillith portion of Rei II is somehow awake. I never got the impression
from the anime that Rei herself really did understand all that was going
on. [shrug] But again, this is slightly alternate. I guess I can't fault
it all that much.

	In one of the lesser-used sections of NERV, a girl was sobbing in the 
darkness. Asuka curled her knees to her chest and placed her face to her 
knees, so the tears would probably vanish sooner. 

	Asuka felt like her world was falling apart, and she could do nothing 
to stop it. What was worse was the one thing that made her feel strong, 
was being taken away to be given to another. Now, nothing mattered 
anymore. She lost her zest for life when her own past caught up with 
her. 

Andrew: Anno-sensei was really cruel to Asuka. Hells, he was cruel to all
the characters of that show, except perhaps the NERV techies, Fuyutsuki,
and Aida. I'd like to kick Anno's butt a little.

	So, with Kaworu coming, she was of no use whatsoever to the safety of 
the world. One of the greatest fears she ever faced yet never overcame, 
had ended up beating her. The Fear of Failure. 

	A hand tapped her shoulder. She looked up to see Touji standing right 
beside her. She could see pity in his face. Pity for her, the failure of 
the four children. 

Nanami: You're right. If Touji and Asuka don't end up together, this all
will be very strange, I think.

	"Leave me alone!" she hissed as she put her face on her knees again. 
>From the differences in light, she could tell that he never left. More 
agitated, she looked up and repeated her order. 

	"I said leave me alone!" 

	"No. I won't." he said, crouching beside her. 

	"Why?"

	"Cause I don't like seeing people I know wallowing in their own 
self-pity, when I can do something about it."

	Her frown deepened as she snapped back, "Well, stop trying to play the 
white knight alright? I don't need your pity!"

	"You think this is pity? Get real Soryu, I'm not doing this because I 
feel sorry for you."

	"What? Why then?"

	"'Cause I know that you're better than this. Sure, you're a 
self-absorbed, self-centered, competitive, loud-mouthed jerk, but you're 
also a great pilot. That's one of the reasons why I admire you a lot. 

Andrew: I dunno about Touji really admiring Asuka.... But--

Nanami: [bored] --this is an alternate timeline, right?

Andrew: Hey.

You're great! And when something like this happens you're ready to give 
up? Come on. I know for a fact that the real Asuka can still continue to 
being the pilot that she is no matter what happened." Touji ranted.  

Andrew: This is taking it a little too far, though, I think.

Asuka looked back with evident disbelief, "What are you getting at 
Suzuhara?"

Touji leaned against the wall, gathering his thoughts. What Asuka didn't 
know was that Touji's next words were a big gamble that would greatly 
help or hinder.

"You, are NOT Asuka."

Gaspode: He's talkin' like an Ephebian.

Andrew: Good line, though.

*SLAP*

Touji staggered from the blow given by the standing and growling German 
girl. Her face twisted with anger at Touji's choice of words. 

"I! AM! ASUKA SORYU-LANGLEY! AND IF YOU SAY THAT AGAIN, I'LL HURT YOU TO 
THE POINT WHERE YOU'LL WISH YOUR MOM ABORTED YOUR BIRTH!" she screamed 
as she stomped past him. 

Andrew: O_O That's...pretty extreme....

A few seconds after Asuka went out of sight, Touji regained his 
bearings. He felt the cheek that received the brunt of Asuka's wrath. 
Somehow, Touji had expected this. Then he realized that the usual Asuka 
would have done that. A hurting smile crept across his face.

If the mark on his face meant the old Asuka was back, it looked like his 
attempt was successful. He blinked a few times, then said to himself, 
"Man, I'm good. OW OW OW!" he winced and held the sore part of his face. 
One thing for sure, she could slap with the best of them. 

Nanami: I'd agree with that, from the looks of episode 8.

	Confusion took over Shigeru as he looked over the scanner to see if it 
was correct. Then, he reset the scanner again and checked. It must have 
been malfunctioning. There was a cold front developing in the northern 
part of the continent, heading south.  

	"Hey, what's wrong?" Makoto asked turning his seat. 

	"Say, you know what usually comes with a cold front with clouds?" 
Shigeru said turning to meet his friend. 

	"Oh, let me think... snow? No way. The closest thing we get to that is 
weak sleet. The weather now-a-days doesn't let those kind of things 
happen... do they?"

	"Well, if it is a cold front among those clouds. Don't expect it to 
snow or anything, the weather's so screwed up you can't tell the 
difference between seasons anymore. Its all summer."

Andrew: That's right. Second Impact shifted the axial tilt of the Earth. I
can't imagine what happened to the vegetation all over the Earth....

	Makoto smiled, "Well, you never know. It just might. Miracles do happen 
you know."

 	Shigeru frowned, "So that's where my _Touched By an Angel_ manga went! 
You thief!" He jumped up and made a dash to a Makoto that wasn't there. 

	"It's not my fault. You left your door open when I just needed to 
borrow your umbrella. Then I saw it, I knew you wouldn't mind since you 
don't usually..." *BAP*

Andrew: *snicker* I liked this sequence. Nice and light, while still being
important to the plot. Although, Makoto is the one usually shown with
manga--Shigeru plays air guitar in his free time. Heh. Hmm.... "Touched By
an Angel"? Oh, geez....

Nanami: Shigeru's got great hair.

[Andrew twitches. Nanami looks sideways at Andrew and smirks. Gaspode
seems to have fallen asleep.]

	That evening, Asuka remained rather quiet as the minutes turned to 
hours of an uncomfortable silence. Both Shinji and Misato had no clue 
why, but from her reactions earlier that day, they decided not to press 
the matter. Until...

	"Misato-san!" Asuka seriously announced, which made her other three 
room-mates jump," I want to try and pilot my EVA again."

Andrew: She's back!

	Getting up, Misato replied, "Are you sure? I mean, after the fight with 
the angel and all..."

	"Misato-san, I have never been so sure of anything else in my whole 
life! If what I heard about the angels is right, there's two more and I 
want a chance to get back at them." Asuka said with her fist clenched 
and a dangerous looking scowl locked on her face.

Nanami: I don't think anyone outside of NERV high command and SEELE really
knows that much about how many Angels there are. It would probably be
better to leave that detail out.

Andrew: Yeah. The one problem with this and some of the more recent
chapters is that too much information is being given away--first, the
thing about Adam, and now, this.

	At first, Misato was about to tell Asuka that there wasn't any chance 
for her with Kaworu and all. But seeing her 'recover' like this, she 
found that a logical reason for why not couldn't be found. The elder 
woman smiled and put a hand on the German girl's shoulder. 

	"All right then. Tomorrow, I am going break protocol and pull a few 
strings. Be assured, if you are as serious as I think you are... you'll 
be piloting Unit 02 in no time at all." Misato said smiling.  

	Looking on, Shinji couldn't help but feel happy for Asuka. True, they 
were not on the best of terms, but seeing her like this made the ordeal 
from earlier easier to deal with. Asuka caught him looking at her and 
just when he thought she was about to hit him for 'leering', as she 
called it, she smiled back and walked to her room.

Andrew: Good one.

	Shinji considered, he heard that sometimes good people are brought out 
from bad events. Maybe the same held true with Asuka. If it was so, then 
he was glad. Maybe things would finally quiet down a bit. He caught 
himself saying that and thought, <Fat chance of that. >  With that done, 
he went back to his book. 

[Nanami giggles a bit.]

	The next day, Asuka in her plug suit stepped into the test plug on the 
floor above the holding tanks for the EVAs. The only one in the control 
room was Maia, asked by Misato to see how Asuka would do. 

	"Though I don't know why we're doing this, get ready Asuka. Beginning 
the synchronization test." Maia said punching up the necessary sequence 
for the test. 

	Within the test plug,. Asuka took a deep breath and exhaled some of the 
LCL that had been inhaled into her body. Closing her eyes, she cleared 
her mind and remembered the words of another. 

	"Open your mind to the EVA. Everything will follow through." 

Andrew: She's quoting Rei? Wow. Asuka has changed, eh?

Nanami: I don't know if, even through all of that, Asuka would conceded
that much to Rei. You might want to write her starting to say that, then
catching herself.... Asuka may not think of Rei as a doll anymore--not
after that incident in the classroom--but I think she still dislikes Rei.

	With her breathing controlled, Asuka saw the walls of the plug change 
as always. Yet, they were a bit brighter than normal. She wondered why.

	"Oh my..." Maia gasped. At first, the meter only went barely above 1% 
like the last time, but this time it went more than 10%. Even if it was 
below the level to pilot an EVA successfully, the sheer number of points 
she had increased in one day was staggering. Now Maia understood where 
the German girl got her bragging rights. She was good enough to prove 
it. Now it looked like she was getting her second wind. 

	When the test concluded, the lid on the test plug opened. Asuka poked 
her head out of the side to see a smiling Maia.

	"Well Langley-san, I've got good news and bad news. Which do you want 
first?"

	Asuka frowned, she always hated it when someone did this. "I'll take 
the bad first."

Gaspode: Ah. Of course. Bad, then good. Why do you humans do that?

Andrew: You're awake?

	"Well, the bad news is that your level still isn't high enough to pilot 
the EVA yet. The good news is that at this rate of improvement, you will 
be capable of piloting an EVA within a week or so."

	Asuka jumped for joy and in the throes of it all, hugged Maia. Asuka 
was able to recognize Maia's apparent lack of oxygen and released in 
time. 

	Just then, the alarm screamed. Maia looked up to the code red and 
started down to Central Dogma, while Asuka ran to the shelter. Yet, 
still made a note to grab her clothes from the locker room. 

Andrew: Wak. What timing.

	Taking her seat beside Makoto, Maia punched up the beginning sequences 
for the remaining three pilots in their EVAs. 

	"What's up?" She asked her fellow officer.

	"Look up there. That's what." Makoto, with a bandage on his head, said 
pointing at the screen for a second. Maia turned to see what the next 
angel looked like and blinked.

	It appeared to be a double helix arranged in a circle. Within the 
outside of the 'circle' an orange light seemed to glow from no apparent 
source. 

	While within their EVAs, the three pilots got a look at it. While the 
boys wondered what exactly the type of angel it was. The only one that 
was different was Rei, and she was scowling at the sight of the next 
angel. She whispered a single word into the LCL.

	"Armisael."
End of part 8

Andrew: Oh, dear....

Nanami: [small voice] Is Rei going to....

Andrew: She'd better not. Right, boyo? Talkin' to you, Warhammer....

[Warhammer comes out again.]
	
	WH: Now, I think people who have seen most of EVA know that Asuka was 
mind-raped and went through a depression that prevented her from 
piloting her EVA. This is what they should have done if she wanted to 
bounce back. To me, Asuka would have done that anyway... but thanks to 
Anno-baka, she didn't. 

Nanami: Sounds good.

	I do believe that Touji does respect Asuka for being a good pilot, but 
never really liked Asuka as a person that much. If you saw the episode 
where they first met, you know what I mean. In fact, Touji went through 
a little D j  vu in this chapter. [snicker]

Andrew: Well...all right.

Now, I only read the scripts for the last 6 episodes and have seen 
episodes 1-20. I have not seen Kaworu in action. Against the angels or 
not, and also, his friendship to Shinji, I have not seen a thing. But I 
wish I did. [pouting]

Andrew: Those episodes...bad. Baaaad.

Nanami: Yeah...not very happy at all.

For the scene with Makoto and Shigeru, that was used as foreshadowing 
something in the future. Also, other than his guitar, we know barely 
anything about Aoba-san. The same goes for Makoto and his manga. Also, 
the title for Shigeru's manga was NOT intended to be the same as the 
other fanfic that was written a short while back. I thought of it first, 
but wasn't fast enough to put this chapter out. 

Andrew: Wait, which fic was that? I don't remember that one....

Now, the details on Armisael appearance are rather sketchy for me at the 
moment, so if I did this right or not, let me know. 

Andrew: You got it just fine.

Once more, the title is not exactly the best I could come up with but it 
does kinda say something about the chapter itself. And if you think that 
this one is lame, you should see the next one! Oh brother.

Gaspode: Wot, you _really_ can't think of anything better?

Finally, will everyone at NERV discover Kaworu's dark secret? Can Rei 
find a way to prove her claim to Kaworu's being? Will Asuka be able to 
raise her synch levels in time for the next battle? Can Touji fully 
recover from the wrath of Asuka? Will Kaworu succeed where the other 
angels failed? Find out in the next chaper. 

Andrew: Get it out soon.

Gaspode: And wot about your writing, Mister Andrew?

Andrew: Shut up, already....

>From Andrew Huang, brought to you by his computer, Oddzilla
Oddzilla says, "Mmmmm...Evanjellydonut...."
http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~alhuang/
Harvard Anime Society, Secretary