Neon Slayers Evangelion


	Disclaimer:  None of these characters belong to me.  I�m 
just having a little fun with them.

	It had been another typical adventure for the Slayers gang.  
Run into bandits, beat them up, take their treasure, hear rumors of a 
magical idol with mysterious powers while scarfing down a large 
meal.  The idol was of course hidden high atop a mountain in a 
treacherous cavern and guarded by all sorts of horrible monsters.
	Lina daintily stepped over the litter of monster corpses to 
reach the pedestal where the idol stood, Gourry at her side.  
Zelgadis and Amelia were watching the entrances in case some of 
those monsters who had fled summoned enough courage to try 
again.
	Before Lina could claim the idol for her own, Gourry said, 
"I don't know about this, Lina.  It almost seems too easy."
	Lina snatched up the idol and smiled.  "See?  No problem."
	That was when the idol began to glow with a sickly purple 
light.
	"Lina, get rid of it!" Gourry said in alarm.  "Now it's going 
to explode or something!"
	Gourry tried to take the idol from her, but Lina's grip was 
still firm.  "This is probably just one of it's 'mystical' powers, 
Gourry.  It's nothing to worry about."
	"You have to get rid of it!" Gourry insisted as he tugged on 
the idol.
	"No way!" Lina told him, tugging back.  "This is mine, I 
found it fair and square!"
	Then there was a sudden flash, blinding the both of them.

	A moment ago, Lina and Gourry had found a mysterious 
idol, but now they stood in the middle of what had to be the 
strangest city they had ever seen.  The buildings were huge!  And 
they were all made of glass and metal.  This place made Atlas City 
look like a hovel.
	They didn't get much time to look around when they saw 
what had to be a monster.  It was larger than the buildings and 
looked like Shabradingo's ugly cousin.  A blast from the creature 
incinerated a building right near where they stood.
	"Do something Lina!  It's going to kill us!"  Gourry 
demanded as he cowered in fear behind her, peeking at the creature 
from around her shoulder.  'That was the strange thing about 
Gourry,' thought Lina, 'he could be brave as a lion one minute and 
cowardly as a chicken the next.'
	A monster this big, Lina thought, isn't going to taken out by 
just a fireball.  "Darkness beyond twilight," she began chanting as 
the monster proceeded to wreck the city for no obvious reason (but 
then it's a monster so what to you expect?), "crimson beyond blood 
that flows, buried in the flow of time.  In the name of darkness, I 
pledge myself to thee.  Let the fools who stand before us be 
destroyed.  Dragon Slave!!!"

	Misato was just about to order Shinji and Asuka out in their 
EVAs when a massive energy blast stuck the angel.  "What the hell 
was that?" she demanded.
	"An incredibly powerful energy beam of some sort," Maya 
stated the obvious while checking the instruments, "It's actually 
broken through the angel's AT field!"
	"Amazing!" Ritsuko added as she checked the readings 
herself, "Its like no other energy form I've seen before.  What could 
possibly generate so much power?"
	"I want the blast traced to its source," Misato demanded.  
"Launch Units 01 and 02 to take care of that Angel."

	Lina couldn't believe that there was anything left of the 
monster, but not only was it whole, it was starting to get up and it 
seemed to be looking in their direction.  She couldn't read any 
expression on its 'face', but had a feeling that it was pissed off.
	"Wow Lina, you hit that thing with the Dragon Slave and 
it's still coming!"
	She nodded.  "I think that I wounded it pretty badly though.  
Well, looks like its all up you now Gourry," Lina said, giving the 
blonde swordsman a smile and a pat on the back. 
	"Up to me?" he asked, scratching his head in confusion.
	"Use the Sword of Light, you dolt!"
	"Oh," Gourry replied and drew out his hilt, "Light come 
forth!"

	"You're not going to believe this," Aoba said.  It was an 
odd statement for one who regularly helped battle giant Angels 
from destroying mankind, but in this case it was true.
	"What is it now?"  Misato asked, rubbing her head to keep 
the headache from coming.  She had felt it since they traced the 
blast back to a red-haired girl and a blond man, both wearing 
strange clothes.  No way they could be the source of the blast.  The 
cannon that fired it had to be enormous.  Was the UN trying out 
some new weapon and didn't bother to tell her?  Not for the first 
time, she cursed the fact that NERV didn�t let her drink on duty.  
Dammit, coffee just didn�t cut it at a time like this!
	Aoba punched up a zoom on the Angel, only to see the 
blonde man jumping at it to attack.
	'Is this guy crazy?' Misato thought, 'and how did he jump so 
high?'  Everyone in the room was shocked when the swordsman's 
weapon cut through the angel like a glowing hot knife through 
some butter that had been in the fridge way too long.  The Angel 
exploded in a flash of light.
	"What's going on in there?"  Asuka demanded of the 
control room after hearing the explosion.  No one even 
acknowledged her, they were still staring at the screen in shock.

	'Geez that was some blast,' Lina thought as she pulled 
Gourry's head out of a building.  The explosion had thrown the 
swordsman pretty far, but thankfully only his head had been hurt 
so no real damage had been sustained.
	"What was that thing?"  Zelgadiss asked as he walked out 
of a cloud of smoke.
	"Where were you, Zel?" Lina demanded, "We could have 
used your help a moment ago, you know."
	"Forgive me, but I just arrived.  When you and Gourry 
disappeared, the idol flew into my hands.  It must have brought us 
here, wherever here is."  He looked around.  He had traveled the 
world looking for a cure for his cursed body, yet had never seen a 
city as strange as this.
	"Well, to answer your earlier question, I don't know.  But 
anything that could take my Dragon Slave and still come at you is 
trouble.  Luckily, Gourry's sword was able to finish it off because 
there's no way I could cast another Dragon Slave right now.  I sure 
hope that there aren't any more of those things around."
	Suddenly, a woman's voice sounded throughout the city 
block, saying, "You three, the redhead girl and the two guys, stay 
where you are and someone will come to get you."
	"Huh?" Gourry said as he looked all around for the source 
of the voice.  "Who said that?"
	"Gourry, you're so dense.  Someone's using a voice-
projection spell, that's all.  Really low level magic that anyone 
could manage."
	"But should we do as it says or simply ignore it?" Zelgadis 
pondered out loud.
	Lina rubbed her chin in thought.  "It's obvious that they're 
using some sort of claravioent spell as well, so its no good hiding.  
Why don't we take up some defensive positions behind that rubble 
over there and wait for whoever it is to show up?  They could be 
the defenders of the city, but they could also be the ones who sent 
that monster.  Either way, we'll be prepared."
	"And you want to make sure you get to collect a fee for 
destroying the monster, right Lina?" Zelgadis asked.
	Lina covered her embarrisment by changing the subject.  
"Let's take up our positions, they could be here any second."
	Zel decided that it was best not to argue and got behind the 
rubble, mentally preparing a spell.
	The three were a little stunned when a horseless carriage 
rode up, to stop in the middle of the street.  Out of which stepped a 
woman with purple hair and strange clothes.
	"More magic, Lina?" Gourry asked, indicating the carriage 
that seemed able to pull himself.
	Lina nodded.  "A variation on the levitation spell that I use, 
not really all that difficult.  That probably means that she's a 
sorceress of at least some ability, though it's hard to tell just 
looking at her."
	"Yeah Lina, when I first met you, I thought you were a 
helpless little girl!"
	An elbow to the gut ended Gourry's little aside.
	"She could have allies laying in wait," Zel said in atempt to 
bring the subject back to the matter at hand.  "This all could be a 
trap."
	"Hey!  Where are you guys?" the woman called out as she 
looked around, not able to spot those hidden behind the rubble.
	"Guess they can't see us after all," said Gourry.
	"Or they're pretending not to," Lina added.  "Okay, this is 
what we'll do.  Gourry, keep you hand on the hilt of your sword 
and be ready to draw it on the slightest hint of danger.  Zel, you get 
a Ray-Wing spell ready, just in case we need to get out of there 
quick.  If we all stay close together, one spell should be good 
enough for all three of us."
	"And what will you do, Lina?" Zelgadis asked.
	"I'll make sure to grab that woman there, so in case they do 
try something, we'll have a hostage."  Lina then said, "So, is 
everybody ready?"
	Gourry and Zelgadis nodded.
	"All right, let's go."

	Misato breathed in relief when the three finally stepped out 
from behind some rubble.  She briefly wondered why they had 
been hiding from her in the first place, but then decided that it 
didn't matter now.  She noticed that the woman wasn't the girl she 
had earlier mistaken her for, but probably a teenager a few years 
older than Asuka.  The first guy was much more impressive in 
person; tall, blonde, and muscular.  Definitely a hunk, who would 
be more appropriate on the cover to a romance novel (not that 
Misato read those sort of things) than in that silly-looking armor.  
And the second man . . . well, he just looked weird.  She could 
have sworn that it looked like his skin was made of stone.
	Whoever they were, they didn't look that friendly.  The 
blonde had his hand on the hilt of his sword, which Misato 
remembered with some discomfort was the weapon that had cut an 
Angel in half.  He kept glancing at her and the red head.  The girl 
was less openly hostile.  She too was wearing a sword, but made 
no move to use it.  Her eyes were full of suspicion though as she 
studied Misato and her car.  The second man appeared aloof, the 
eye not blocked by hair was calmly studying his surroundings with 
a clinical gaze that was uncomforably like Commander Ikari's.
	"So," Misato said to break the silence and then wondered 
what was a good thing to come after it.  She was beginning to feel 
a bit over her head.  She had seen the red head and the blonde 
destroy that Angel, which meant that together they were at least as 
powerful as an EVA.  And they didn't look particularly happy to 
see her.  How could she get them to trust her when she knew 
absolutely nothing about them?
	"Hi there, I'm Major Katsuragi of Nerv," Misato began, 
eyes on the red head who was obviously the leader.  "If you would 
just get into the car, I can take you to the Geo-front where my 
superiors would like to ask you a few questions."
	The red head was now only a foot away from Misato and 
still hadn't said anything.  She studied her a few more minutes in 
silence before she finally said, "You're not a sorceress, are you?"
	This was not at all what Misato had expected.  "What?  
You mean like with magic?"

	Lina smiled smugly.  "I thought so.  Actually, I thought at 
first that you were just really good at masking your abilities, but up 
close I can tell you couldn't even manage a light spell."
	"If she's not a sorceress, Lina, then how did she move that 
thing?" Gourry asked.
	"She called it a 'car', Gourry.  She must have had the 
enchantment placed on it by someone else."
	"However, I am detecting no enchanment on the 'car,'" 
Zelgadis stated.
	Lina shrugged.  "Must be mechanical then."
	"Excuse me," Misato very cautiously broke into the 
conversation.  "If you'd all just get in the car, I'll try to explain 
everything as best as I can."
	Lina smiled sweetly.  "Just give us one second."
	The Slayers gang huddled together to talk it over without 
Misato overhearing.
	"So what do we do, Lina?" Gourry asked.
	Lina turned to the other member of their party.  "What do 
you think, Zel?"
	"Hmm, she called herself 'Major' which means she's a 
member of the military of Nerv, which is probably either the city 
or kingdom that we're in."
	"I've never heard of any place called 'Nerv,'" Gourry said.
	"Neither have I," Lina replied.  "Must be a remote kingdom 
or something.  Considering what this place looks like, that's not 
surprising."
	"My point was that the quickest way to receive payment for 
destroying that monster would be to do as she says," Zelgadis 
continued.
	"Good point, Zel.  Besides, I'm hungry and we even know 
what they use for local currency here."

	Misato was only semi-relieved by the smile of the red head 
when she turned back around.  She was more relieved to see that 
the blonde no longer had his hand on his sword hilt.
	"I'm Lina Inverse, this is Gourry," she said, indicating the 
swordsman, then turning to point at the other man.  "And this is 
Zelgadis.  We do what you say for now, but we also have a lot of 
questions."
	Misato sighed in relief.  "Okay, what do you want to 
know?"
	"How soon can we get something to eat?"

	The three breathed a collective sigh, though not one of 
relief, when they saw a familiar short, dark-haired girl standing in 
the middle of the street.  She was practically bouncing around as 
she took in the sights of the new city.
	"I guess we should stop and take her with us," Lina said as 
if it was the last thing in the world that she wanted to do.
	"Are you sure Lina?" Gourry asked in a panicked voice. 
"Couldn't we just pretend that we didn't see her?"
	Zel nodded in agreement with the blonde swordsman.
	"Are you kidding?  Do you have any idea how much 
trouble little miss justice could cause if we let her go around here 
unsupervised?"
	Zel and Gourry shuddered from the mental images this 
conjured up.
	"She a friend of yours?" Misato asked the group.
	"Sort of," Lina answered for everyone.  "Her name's 
Amelia, stanch defender of justice and all around pain in the butt."
	Misato stared at Lina oddly for some moments, but as no 
more explination was forthcoming, she shrugged and stopped the 
car.
	Amelia watched the strange contraption slow to a halt 
before her.  Before she could decide if this thing was somehow 
unjust and evil, she saw a familiar face inside.
	"Oh, poor miss Lina!" Amelia wailed.  "She has been eaten 
by this aweful beast!  Fear not for I, Amelia Wel Teslune, 
champion of justice everywhere, will save you!  Evil metal 
creature, for eating my mentor you will suffer the wrath of my 
devine punishment!  Fire--"
	"Wait, Amelia!" Lina shouted in panic.  "I haven't been 
eaten.  This is just a mechanical carriage!  There's no danger!"
	"Is that true?"
	Everyone else in the car nodded firmly, even Misato who 
wasn't exactly sure what was going on.  Lina even opened the door 
and stepped out to prove her point.
	"Miss Lina!" Amlia squealed, "I'm so happy to see you!"

	"That's it!" Lina shouted.  "We're not going to answer 
anymore questions until you feed us!"  They had been barraged 
with questions since they had gotten there, only half of which Lina 
had even understood.  Just where the heck were they anyway?
	"I think you better do as she says," Gourry stage-whispered 
to Commander Ikari, who was feeling a little uncomfortable with a 
girl who could nearly destroy an Angel by herself getting angry at 
him.  "When she gets cranky like this, you never know what she'll 
do."
	"Cranky am I?" Lina turned on Gourry and belted him right 
in the stomach, hard enough to knock the breath out of him.
	"See what I mean?" Gourry said before groaning and 
falling on the floor.
	Asuka didn't know who this strange girl was, but she liked 
her style.  'I wonder if she can teach me how to throw a punch like 
that?  Or blow up an Angel without an EVA.'
	Commander Ikari wisely decided to hold the rest of the 
interrogation in the cafeteria.
	Nerv personnel stood around wide eyed as the Slayers gang 
put away food faster that should have been humanly possible.  The 
only one eating normally was Zel, who looked apologetic for his 
companions' lack of manners.

Future Scenes:

	"I don�t think I�ll be able to help fight these Angels for the 
next couple of days," Lina told Misato softly, not really wanting to 
talk about it before so many people.
	"Oh," Gourry said, overhearing, "Guess it�s that time of the 
month again."
	As a result, Gourry wasn�t able to help fight the Angels for 
the next few days either, since he was in the hospital.
	"Jeez, you shouldn't have been that hard on him," Lina told 
the other women as she looked down on the heavily bruised 
swordsman.
	Misato, Ritsuko, and Maya all looked embarrassed.

	"Since Amelia is fourteen and our tests prove that she can 
synchronize with an EVA, Commander Ikari has made her the 
Forth Child."  Misato told Lina.
	"You mean you made her one of the pilots of those giant 
robots?" Lina asked with growing horror.
	Misato nodded, wondering about the strange reaction.  She 
was even more surprised when Lina grabbed her by the shirt and 
nearly shouted, "Are you insane?  Do you have any idea of the 
sheer scale of the damage she could do in one of those things?  Its 
worse that teaching her the Dragon Slave!"

	"Evil angel who tries to posses my vehicle of justice, feel 
the taste of my vengeance.  Megano Flare!"  Amelia shouted.

	"Angel who attacks this city without warning, the wrath of 
heaven is upon you!  Know that I, the Black Thunder of Tokyo-3, 
will destroy you!"  Amilia shouted from inside her entry plug, 
broadcasting her speech all over Toyko-3 and waving around her 
progressive knife in a threatening manner.  "Strike! Strike! Strike!"
	Back in the control room, sweatdrops hug from everyone's 
head.  "Did her speech even make sense?" one of the bridgecrew 
asked.
	"She�s been watching a lot of anime recently," Lina 
explained, "She�s really gotten into this character Kuno from the 
show Ranma �.  Wants to follow in his footsteps or something."
	The bridge crew looked horrified.
	"Are you sure it was wise to put that girl in an EVA?" 
Fuyutuski asked commander Ikari for the third time that day.
	Ikari only smiled slightly and did that thing with his glasses 
to catch the light (he spent hours in front of a mirror learning how 
to do this), it was all going according to the new plan.