///fwwooossshhh///“Hi, kids! How you doing? Enjoying the show?”
“M-m-Misato? What are you doing here? And where’s here to begin with? And what is that you have on?”
“Or rather DON’T have on! Quit leering at her, pervert!”
“Oh don’t be so harsh on Shinji; this outfit’s part of my new job.”
“What new job? You’re stark naked aside from whisps of vapor rotating around you! And you’ve got a bottle of booze in one hand! Why aren’t you helping us out here?! The last I remember, we were gassed in a van by that Satori woman!”
“Well, let me answer those questions in reverse order; you’re still in the van, asleep, and you’re currently linked into a cross-dimensional limbo observation gallery where you can watch what’s going on regardless. Second, I can’t help you because I’m not YOUR Misato, I’m from another universe, and I’m here to watch what’s going on. I sure hope the author of this universe gives me more scenes than the other, where I apparently spent most of your reformative years in a coma! Well, where I’m from, this is the costume of the newly-minted Goddess of Storms and Celebration.”
“Ahhhh......what?”
“You...a goddess? How the HELL did that happen?”
“You haven’t been introduced to the Fanfiction Universes, have you? Well, there’s horrors and wonders out there. One of them’s the ‘Cast in Gold’ universe where a big Exalted Sun God..Sol Invictus, I think, makes Shinji his avatar...solar powers, healing, creation, side order of combat. Well, some other gods and goddesses decided that looked fun, so they did a ‘Bet’ or ‘SuperWomen of Evangelion’ deal where they started empowering people...I kinda got a package deal of powers from Zeus and Dionysus, or their equivalents(Misato gestures down where a whisp of mini-cloud moves aside to show that her scar is now lightning bolt-shaped), so I’m now the local Goddess of Atmosphere and Alcohol, with power over both.”
“That’s ...twisted...who in their right minds would give you power like that?”
“Not questioning the gods. They give out good health benefits, and extras like this bottle of limitless spirits. Nope, not asking their reasoning.”
“Especially if they give you powers over alcohol, right? “
#KRAKA-POW!#*FZAP!*“AIEEE!!!”
”Gave me power over storms, too, including the ability to throw lightning! Neat, huh, Asuka?”
“THAT #####ING HURT!”
“It’s only a sting, and remember, this whole place is all mental anyway.”
“YEAH, IT’S MENTAL! GIVING YOU POWER TO ELECTROCUTE PEOPL-”
#krackle#“-
I’ll be good....”
“Good girl. You can learn fast. Yes, Shinji?”
“Wait, you said others? What others?”
“Well, besides Shinji the sun god, my universe’s version of Asuka’s the avatar of Fire and War...last I checked, she’s off blasting SEELE bases and looting them....I think she’s got a minor divine specialty in shopping or pillaging. Rei got kidnapped by the Queen of the Faeries and made into a Moon Goddess with control over Water. Ritsuko’s been sponsored by a goddess of the Underworld, and is the Goddess of Secrets. She’s got cats for minions. Maya, Aoba, and Shigeru have been acting funny recently too, so betting is they’ve attracted divine attention too. Don’t know yet about anybody else. We’re rather worried about Gendo, though; he’s just plain disappeared, and we’re a little worried that some Infernal or Dark God may have taken an interest in him.”
“That all is just...warped..”
“You’re new to the Fanverses..you’ll learn what warped really is.”
“So there are others worse than this one?”
“Oh yeah...”
“Unh!”
Misato looked in disbelief at the woman tightening the harness of straps around her. The fact that she was restrained was alarming enough; the fact that the restraints were the ONLY thing she had on was cause for serious concern in her mind. And the identity of the party that had ambushed her, knocked her senseless, stripped, and strapped her into aforementioned state was reason for nervous breakdown.
“-ng!” Okay, tightening THAT particular strap was hardly necessary!
“Rei, why are you doing this?!”
The black-clad albino with the combat webbing hung with various menacing-looking devices paused in her locking and tightening to matter-of-factly stare Misato in the eye. “Because there is a five hundred thousand credit bounty on you.”
“WHAT?! Who?! -WHO- put a bounty out on me?!”
“I am not at liberty to say. Surfice to say, they want you alive and undamaged.”
”Who is it, Rei?! Who? SEELE? It better not be Kaji, because if this is some sort of dumb stunt of h-urgk!”
“You talk too much.” Rei finished gagging Misato before returning her attention to her captive’s back.
“-mehw!”
To her horror, Misato felt something click into the belting and strapping at her backside, then felt herself being lifted from the floor, then hoisted out off the balcony, over the side of her apartment building, and up into the alien craft hovering overhead.
As she was lifted skyward, Misato decided now would be a good time to have her nervous breakdown. “Alien bounty hunter? Rei? Seriously?”
“Yep. Alternate universe-hopping Rei who got seriously dissed about something to do with ‘Q’ and about people were hating her or something. Headhunted pretty much everybody in NERV and SEELE. Gendo got sent to some cosmic game show along with Kihl Lorenz. My alternate self got sent to be drafted as a trophy for a galactic beer company. Asuka ended up someplace where her anger was making somebody big money. Shinji wound up a bed warmer in some alien queen’s bedroom. That universe’s Rei became some alien nation’s queen...not the same queen. Yeah, that Rei bounty-hunter made some MAJOR cash on the deal.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad.” Rei, THEIR Rei had dercided to enter the conversation.
“No, not compared to some others...”
Unfamiliar ceiling.
At least the pain was gone.
Wait a minute, the last Shinji remembered was the Angel tearing into his Evangelion Unit with its energy whips, slicing him apart-
That’s when a face suddenly eclipsed the ceiling. A wave of blonde hair halo’ed it.
It wasn’t Doctor Akagi’s , not unless Akagi had dropped a decade of age, got two giant electrodes punched into the sides of her head and a line of stitching across her petite mouth, and got dosed with an extra heavy shot of insanity.
“Hi! So you’re awake! Good! We had to operate! You were a MESS! Oh, we haven’t formally met yet! I’m the new NERV head of internal medicine, but you can call me Fran!”
Shinji lifted his head and looked down at himself...and started screaming. “Don’t throw up in the limbo gallery.”
“*urghk!* “...erm...” “...oh god...”“That’s GODDESS.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Anyways, looks like some new players in your home universe! So, popcorn?”
“*whimper*”
“Okay, maybe food not so soon after that last megaversal snippet.”