Here is all that currently exists of the 2nd chapter of my Evangelion 
fusion. What I'm really looking for in regards to this is C&C on the 
characterizations (or lack thereof) of Shinji and Asuka, as well as 
any thoughts you may have on how to make their interaction more 
believable/in-character. Especially Shinji - I'm finding it more 
difficult than I thought to bring him across accurately, at least 
to my mind. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

The revision of this - at least, the rest of this chapter - should be 
done by tomorrow evening, I would think. For those of you who've 
been asking where the hell the next chapter was  ^_^


On with the show!

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A Stitch In Time (tentative title)
A Neon Genesis Evangelion/Some other series fusion
Chapter 2

    *-*-*-*

DISCLAIMER

Neon Genesis Evangelion and all characters thereof are the sole 
property of Gainax. They own the copyrights, and the appearance 
of their characters in this work of fiction is not intended to overly 
infringe upon their copyrights.

    *-*-*-*

Shinji groaned.

     Every bone, every muscle, every nerve in his body ached. He 
forced open his eyes to find himself lying flat on his back, staring 
up into a cloudless blue sky bordered on one side by broken cliffs. 
He blinked. "Well, at least it's not another ceiling," he thought to 
himself., levering himself to a sitting position. A quick glance 
around brought one fact to his attention - he wasn't in Tokyo-3 any 
more. At least not unless Tokyo-3 had suddenly become a barren, 
broken wasteland of parched earth and jagged outcroppings of 
rock. A very hot and dry wasteland, he realized as sweat began 
beading on his brow. He felt the first familiar twinge of panic caress 
him as he wondered where he was.

     A groan from behind him interrupted that chain of thought. He 
turned and saw Asuka lying prone behind him, face-down on the 
ground. Shinji scrambled to his feet and ran over to her. "Asuka? 
Asuka, are you alright?" She groaned again and Shinji rolled her 
onto her back. He saw that she had a ragged gash on her forehead 
that was freely leaking bright red blood down her face. He 
swallowed against a lump that had formed in his throat and gently 
shook her shoulder. "Asuka?"

     Her eyes fluttered, then slowly opened, accompanied by a 
throaty moan. She blinked several times as her pupils contracted 
against the light. "Vas... vas ist?" she mumbled. Her eyes focused 
on Shinji, who shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "Shinji? What 
happened? I... the angel?!" Asuka sat bolt upright, then clutched 
her head and toppled forward into the arms of a very suprised 
young boy.

     Shinji blinked at the unexpected action. He resisted the near-
overwhelming urge to pull away from her, repeating his familiar 
mantra of "I mustn't run away," over and over again. "As.... A.... 
um.... I," He swallowed again, forcibly calming himself as he did 
so. "Th- the angel's g-gone, I think." He glanced around. "At least, I 
don't see it any more." That he didn't see much of anything he left 
unsaid for the moment.

     Asuka rolled back to a sitting position. She regarded Shinji for a 
moment, deciding whether she wanted to get mad at him now or 
later. She decided to delay the decision and let him worry as she 
slowly looked around. "Mein Gott," she breathed.

     They were sitting in a vast rolling plain of sand and rock that 
sprouted jagged pillars of stone that stretched towards the sky like 
gnarled fingers.  It reminded Asuka of nothing so much as pictures 
she had seen of the American badlands, except that this particular 
landscape was a lot less colorful - everything was painted either 
dingy brown or muddy gray or a faded mixture of the two. They 
were in the shadow cast by a particularly large and rugged-looking 
column of rock, and Asuka was glad for that - it was hot enough 
without having to deal with a pounding sun.

     She spun to face him. "What the hell have you gotten us into 
now?"

     Shinji blinked, his fear shifting to defensiveness. "What do you 
mean 'what have *I* gotten us into'?" he fired back. "You were the 
one who said she knew where she was going!"

     "What, you're saying this was my fault?" Asuka fixed him with 
a withering gaze. "The great 'First Child' trying to shift the blame? 
Who would've believed it?" She stabbed a finger at him. "What 
would everyone think of you now, hmmm?"

     He felt a ripple of anger at that, but it faded quickly. He looked 
away from her as he said quietly, "I'd ask them myself, if I knew 
where they were."

     Asuka frowned, her anger modulating. "What was that?"

     "Well, do *you* know where we are?" he asked, "Because I 
sure don't."

     "I..." Asuka was shocked to learn that she was at a loss for 
words. Shinji was correct, although it galled her to admit it, and 
she felt her anger drain away completely, if reluctantly. Sighing 
noisily she climbed to her feet and stretched the kinks out of her 
back. "Well, what do we do now, First Child?"

     Shinji's eyebrows shot up at her sudden change of attitude. "I... 
I don't know," he admitted, rising to stand beside her. "I'm not 
much of an outdoorsman."

     She couldn't help but smile. "Really? I never would've guessed."

     He blinked in surprise, then smiled back at her. "I hide it well, 
don't I?" His smile faded. "What do you think happened?"

     Asuka mulled it over for a few moments. "It must've been the 
angel. It must've done something to us." She reached up and 
dabbed gingerly at the cut on her forehead.

     Shinji fished a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to 
her. "I suppose. We're sure not in Tokyo-3 any more." He kicked at 
the ground, throwing up a cloud of sand and dust. "Not nearly 
enough water, for one thing."

     She smirked. "Figure that out on your own?"

     He ignored her. "I suppose we should... um... try to find a way 
back."

     "Back? Back to where?"

     "What? B-back to Tokyo-3." He looked around. "Got any 
ideas?"

     "Now you're asking my opinion?" she asked loudly. She paused 
for effect, then shrugged. "Not really. I'm not much of an 
outdoorsman myself."

     He couldn't pass up the opportunity. "Really? I never would've 
guessed."

     "Very funny." She stuck her tongue out at him. "Do you have 
any ideas?"

     Shinji sighed. "We walk, I guess."

     Asuka raised an eyebrow. "Which direction?"

     Shinji once again surveyed the surrounding landscape. One 
direction seemed as good as another, he supposed. He found 
himself longing for Kensuke's advice in the matter. Being the 
survival buff that he was, surely he would have had something 
valuable to contribute. Shinji blinked back an unexpected tear and 
pointed in a direction that he guessed was away from the direction 
of the sun. "That way."

     Asuka stared in the direction he had indicated. "Any particular 
reason?"

     "None at all," he replied, shaking his head.

     "Oh, well, in that case," she began, dusting off her skirt, "Let's 
get going." She smiled sweetly at him. "After you, fearless leader."

-----------------------------------------------------------

End of Chapter 2

Any and all comments about this fanfic, good or bad, are freely 
welcomed. If you want to archive this fanfic someplace (such as a 
web page or similar) please let me know beforehand, if only so that 
I'll know where it's wound up.



Derek Sherman
doppleganger@pipeline.com
mondomage@aol.com