A Stitch In Time
A Neon Genesis Evangelion/Some other series fusion
Chapter 3

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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.

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Shinji whistled softly as he stared up the crumbling cliffs in front of 
them. The rugged wall of rock rose up nearly one hundred meters 
from the desert floor. "Wow. That's a lot higher than I thought."

     Asuka rubbed her hands together. "Good. I haven't gone rock 
climbing in a long time. I need to practice."

     He gaped at her. "R-rock climbing? You do that kind of thing?"

     She regarded him with a slight upturn of her head. "Of course. 
Just one of the many exciting things I can do. Jealous?"

     Shinji looked back to the cliffs. "I.... um.... I thought you said 
you weren't much of an outdoorsman?"

     Asuka blinked. "You calling me a liar?"

     He waved his hands quickly. "No! No, nothing like that."

     She looked at him for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, if you 
must know, I was part of a rock climbing club in college. One of the 
best members they ever had, in fact."

     Typical, Shinji thought. He let his gaze travel to the top of the 
crumbling rock wall. "What're those?" he asked, pointing to a group 
of a half-dozen X-shaped black objects leaning out over the cliff 
face.

     Asuka looked up. "Hmmmm.... beats me. Doesn't look natural, 
though."

     "N-not natural? Wh-what do you mean, not natural?"

     She gave him a disgusted look. "Not natural as in not natural, 
you idiot. Artificial. Man-made. Stuff like that."

     Shinji blinked. "Man-made? You mean, there may be people up 
there?"

     "Could be. Only one way to find out." She rubbed her hands 
together gleefully. "Ready to go?"

     "Um.... do we really have to climb it?"

     "Of course we have to climb it," Asuka replied. "How else do you plan to get up there and check those things out?"

     He looked at her. "Are you sure we need to get up there? I mean, well.... isn't there another way?"

     She sighed noisily. "No, there's no other way to find out what those things are. And I don't feel like spending any more time down here when it could be better up there." She kicked up a cloud of sand and dust. "Don'
t you agree?"

     "Um, yeah." He glanced at her nervously. "But I'm not sure I can climb a cliff. I mean, I was never even able to climb to the top of the rope in gym class."

     "You're kidding," Asuka asked. Then she shook her head. "No, of course your not. Pathetic."

     Shinji opened his mouth to apologize, then thought better of it. "I.... I hate to be a burden, Asuka."

     "I'm used to it." She pursed her lips for a moment. "I suppose we could look for an easier way up."

     He let his gaze drift along the cliff face. "How about over there?" he asked, pointing to what looked like a steeply sloping trail winding its way up the cliff face.

     "Well, what do you know?" she muttered, surveying Shinji's discovery. She turned to him, eyes alight. "I guess you won't have to climb the face after all, Third Child."

    *-*-*-*

The trail turned out to be steeper than it looked, and Shinji soon found himself lagging behind Asuka, who scrambled up the rugged pathway with little problem. Trips, slips, and near falls had taken their toll upon him, l
eaving his hands, knees, and legs bloodied and torn. Only Asuka's continual barrage of multi-lingual insults and taunts kept him from giving up, even if it was only because he figured she's insult and taunt him even more 
if he did so.

     That didn't stop her from goading him on, however. "C'mon, Third Child! What's the hold up?"

     Shinji looked up, realized he had a perfect view of Asuka's skirt - or rather, the inside of Asuka's skirt - and immediately averted his gaze. He focused instead on his bleeding hands as he replied, "This is a lot ha
rder than climbing a rope."

     Asuka grunted and pulled herself to her feet. "Look at it this way, Shinji... you're almost to the top. All you have to do is make it to the unbelievably beautiful figure of womanhood that's standing on top of the cl
iff and you'll get your reward."

     "Reward? What reward?" Shinji panted, pulling himself further up the trail.

     "You'll see."

     Shinji rolled his eyes and continued climbing. After what seemed an eternity, he pulled himself over the edge of the trail and onto the cliff's top. Gasping to pull air into his burning lungs, he used what little str
ength remained in his muscles to flop onto his back.

     Asuka squatted down beside him. "Very good Third Child. I'm impressed, more or less." She held out a small yellow-and-white flower. "And here's your reward," she said, placing the flower behind his left ear. "Oh, it 
suits you. It really does."

     Shinji blinked. "Th-that's my re-reward?" he gasped, lungs still afire.

     "Of course. What were you expecting? A kiss?" She smiled evilly at him. "Or something more?" She cuffed him lightly upside the head. "Pervert!"

     "That's not what I was thinking!" he whined. He frowned. "Wait a second. Where'd you get the flower from?"

     She pointed. "There's a whole field of them over there."

     He rolled onto his side with a groan. The ground sloped down gently from the crest of the cliffs, running rocky and barren for roughly fifteen meters before sproating a dense field of grasses and flowering plants. Th
irty meters beyond that, trees rose randomly from the flowered field. As he gazed at the scene a gentle breeze wafted over the two of them. He inhaled deeply, savoring the scene of flowers and grass and... something else.
 A vague memory tickled the back of his mind.

     He pulled himself to a sitting position. "What about those cross things?"

     Asuka rose to her feet. "Scarecrows."

     "Scarecrows?"

     "Yeah, scarecrows. You know, clothes stuffed with straw and grass to scare birds and animals away?" She held out a ragged shirt, streamers of brown grass and leaves hanging from it. "See?"

     Shinji stared at the shirt for a few moments. "People had to make that, right?"

     Asuka nodded, a small smile gracing her lips. "Absolutely right. All we need to do now is find them." She motioned towards the field of flowers. "That way."

     Shinji climbed to his feet. "You sure?" He blinked, looked at the precipice behind him, and began to blush. "Stupid question?"

     She nodded happily. "You bet. Now let's go."

    *-*-*-*

     They pushed their way through the underbrush onto a wide grassy plain surrounded on three sides by dense forest. Neatly ordered rows of meter-tall plants stretched across the plain, broken occassionally by large, gna
rled trees bearing large yellow fruit. Shinji and Asuka gaped in awe at the sight.

     "Is.... is that corn?" Asuka asked.

     Shinji shrugged. "I guess. I've never seen a corn field before, except in books. Looks like one, I suppose."

     She cocked her head. "Do you hear that?"

     "Hear what?" Shinji paused. Then he heard it - a mix of rustling and grunting. He frowned. "What is that?"

     Asuka peered across the field. Her eyes widened. "Hey! Over there! People!"

     "What? Where?" Shinji looked around, then spotted them - a sizeable group of people, both male and female, gathered around one of the fruit trees. As he watched, one of them scrambled up the tree and began plucking f
ruit from the branches, tossing the yellowish globes down to the crowd below. Shinji frowned. The man in the tree was dressed in little but a loincloth. "Asuka.... he's dressed kinda funny, isn't he?"

     "You're right, Shinji," Asuka agreed after a moment. "Let's take a closer look. C'mon." She didn't wait for a reply, pushing forward into the field.

     He blinked. "What? W- wait! Asuka, wait up!" He ran after her, moving through the path that she was plowing through the leafy green stalks. "Asuka!"

     She looked over her shoulder. "This is the first opportunity we've had to figure out where we are, Shinji. Let's not waste it."

     Shinji spared a glance at the group of people they were approaching. They were all dressed similiarly to the man in the tree - loincloths and loose strips of cloth used for clothing. Those near to the fruit tree were
 gorging themselves on fruit. The others were busy peeling pieces off of the corn stalks and stuffing them into their mouths. "B-but there's something wrong about all of this."

     She stopped. "What?"

     He came to a stop beside her. "I don't know. They way that guy's dressed, for one."

     "So he's dressed like an extra from a Tarzan movie... what of it?" she said. She began walking forward.

     Shinji walked along beside her. "Asuka, they're *all* dressed like extras from a Tarzan movie."

     Four men turned to warily watch Shinji and Asuka as they approached. After a moment's observation, they turned away and resumed foraging for food. "You know what, Shinji? You're right - there is something strange goi
ng on here."

     As if on cue, the entire group suddenly froze. Slowly, hesitantly, they began craning their heads around, surveying the field, the forest, the sky. Shinji felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise up. "I d-don't li
ke the l-looks of this...," he breathed.

     Before she could reply, a feral roar split the air. It echoed all around them, seeming to come from everywhere. As the roar faded away, Asuka turned in a slow circle. "What in God's name was that?"

     Shinji looked around quickly. "I d-don't know, but I don't think we sh-" He was interrupted as a single gunshot rang out. The man in the tree jerked, falling out of the tree and landing on the ground with a dull thud
. This seemed to break the spell, and the group of people they had been observing suddenly broke and ran in all directions, scrambling around - and in some cases over - one another in their haste to get away. "What's happ
ening?" Shinji shouted. "Who's shooting?"

     "I don't know." she replied. She grabbed him by the arm. "Let's not wait around to find out. Run!"

     Shinji nearly fell as she yanked him into motion. "To where?"

     A stinking body rammed into them, knocking both of the children to the ground. Asuka rolled and jumped back to her feet. She grabbed Shinji and pushed him ahead of her. "Move it, Third Child!"

     Scrambling to his feet, Shinji ran. In the distance a horse whinnied. There was a sound of  galloping horses. More gunshots. He looked around wildly. The field was swarming with racing humanity, all making for the sa
fety of the forest. The forest.... a glint of light on metal. Shinji straightened. "Asuka..." A series of flashes. Something whizzed past his ear like an angry bee. Something smashed into his head with the force of a sled
gehammer. Blackness.

    *-*-*-*

     Asuka tripped and fell as Shinji crumpled in front of her. "Dammit Shinji, watch what you're doing!" she shouted, grabbing his shoulder and heaving. He rolled over and his head flopped loosely. Asuka's eyes widened a
s she spotted the blood pouring out of a large wound in his forehead and covering his face. "Shinji?" She smacked his face. "Shinji! Wake up, you idiot!" He continued to lay there, lifeless. She felt a lump form in her th
roat.

     A horse leapt over her, its hooves nearly taking her head off as it did so. "Verddamt!" she growled, sparing Shinji's body a last glance before getting up and racing for the trees. All around her she could hear gallo
ping horses and gunshots. A woman running along beside her fell amidst a shower of blood and brains. Asuka flinched away and angled for a closer section of forest, trying to distance herself from the larger group of escap
ing humanity.

     Running as fast as she could she burst into the forest, forcing her way through the underbrush as fast as she could, ignoring the thorns and branches that tore at her clothes and flesh. Leaves and twigs snapped at he
r face, forcing her to close her eyes against the assault. Her shirt caught on something, yanking her to a sudden stop. She pulled and pulled herself free, tearing her shirt as she did so. There were horses behind her, be
side her, in front of her. Gunshots all around her. She stumbled, regained her balance, continued running.

     She burst out into the open, a narrow strip of grassy land bordered by the forest she had just exitted on one side and a narrow, fast-moving stream on the other. She hesistated the briefest of moments before running 
to the stream. She was in up to her knees when a flurry of hooves and whinnies sounded behind her. She spun, a defiant curse rising in her throat. It died before reaching her mouth.

     Apes.

     The riders on horseback were apes. Four gorillas, or so it seemed. Dressed in black leather and cloth, each carrying a large rifle. Rifles that were all aimed at her. She opened her mouth, closed it, opened it, close
d it yet again. This seemed to amuse the apes, and they laughed.

     Two of them dismounted and spread a net between them while the other two kept her covered. Asuka blinked and began backing up. Much to her surprise, one of the apes spoke.

     "Better hurry up. Looks like she's getting ready to bolt." His voice was deep and gutteral.

     One of the apes on the ground snarled. "Damn net's tangled."

     Asuka took another step backwards. Instinct took over and she pivotted, preparing to run for the opposite bank. A single gunshot rang out as she did so and something tugged at her throat, which began to burn and ache
 terribly. She tasted blood. Her hand went to her throat, and when she pulled it away it was covered with blood.

     Her blood.

     She felt her knees weaken. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out except gurgling, bloodly fluid. The apes were talking excitedly amongst themselves, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. She
 felt the world tilt around her as she toppled over into the water. The water stung her throat. She felt herself floating. Saw the sky above her darken.

     Rough hands upon her, lifting her. Stinking breath in her face. She felt herself being flung bodily overtop of something. A familiar, musky smell. She suddenly realized that she had been draped over the back of a hor
se. More talking around her. The apes were talking about her, she was sure, but she couldn't make out exactly what they were saying.

     Unable to speak, Asuka closed her eyes and allowed the darkness to envelop her.

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End of Chapter 3

Yes, folks, it's a Neon Genesis Evangelion/Planet of the Apes fusion. Please don't kill me.

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 wo
und up.



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