"Well, she wasn't drinking much last night," Shinji noted.
"You're right," Asuka said. "She only had a six-pack after the game before hitting the sack."
"So is that what she's like...without liquor?" Shinji asked.
He was moderately distracted as they moved, there seemed to be an echo around everything. It was like a hot summer day when the intense heat caused things to waver slightly when you saw them. But it wasn't all that hot, and the wavering was following very distinct patterns.
"Just a second," Asuka said irritably. "I said just a second!"
She grabbed the still moving Shinji and pulled back, nearly throwing him down the street without realizing it. Simultaneously, Shinji felt the sudden shift in motion and instinctively reached out to slow and stop his backward motion so that he kept his balance and stopped a foot or so behind the oblivious Asuka.
"There's something in my shoe," she muttered.
Asuka leaned a hand against the tree and started to bend over to take off her shoe. Suddenly she screamed out in shocked pain, snatching her hand away from the tree and waving it about frantically.
"Oww! Owww!! OWWWW!!" Asuka growled angrily pulling her shaking hand up so she could see the problem. She growled in disbelief at what she saw. "A splinter?1! I thought it was a stupid damn bee!!!"
She gingerly removed the splinter tossing it away, as Shinji watched and started making connections in his head. And then, well, thing's got a little worse mainly to Asuka's temper.
"Damn tree!" she snapped, launching out her foot to kick the offending plant.
Asuka wasn't anywhere near as strong as Toji now was, but she was plenty strong enough to deal with a simple tree. A tree whose lower trunk shattered into a multitude of splinters as the upper portion started to fall downward, towards a shocked motionless Asuka.
Shinji quickly realized one thing as it happened. If one splinter felt like a beesting to Asuka, then a cloud of splinters and a falling tree...
"NOO!!" Shinji gasped desperately trying to copy what he had done when Asuka had accidentally thrown him.
As Asuka watched, the splinters flying in her direction curved harmlessly around her and the huge club of a tree began to slow down inexorably. It crawled onward for a full second before abruptly turning in mid-fall and twisting to land well clear of her.
"Asuka!" Shinji gasped, coming up to the redhead and shaking her. "Asuka are you all right?" Asuka blinked for a moment and then...
"What the hell just happened?!!"
The redhead had grabbed him about the shoulder and started shaking him much harder than she meant to, a fact that escaped her since Shinji was currently applying his powers to dampen the kinetic energy her strength was applying so that he could survive.
****
Meanwhile.
"Me," Rei said, blinking and pointing at the other in her room. That other likewise blinked and pointed elsewhere.
"Me too," Rei-2 said, indicating a third Rei.
"This is highly irregular," the third Rei said.
"It is familiar, however," Rei-1 noted.
"The game last night," Rei-3 agreed.
"Not logically possible," Rei-2 protested.
"Then this must be a dream," Rei-1 decided.
"I've never dreamed before," Rei-2 noted, examining the surroundings carefully.
"The experience is odd," Rei-3 agreed. "Perhaps I should explore?"
"Would I need more of bodies?" Rei-2 asked.
"Irrelevant," Rei-1 spoke suddenly. "The dream parameters are obviously running off the game."
"Ahh," Rei-3 said, nodding. "Only two duplicates are possible at this level of power."
"Oh yes, other limits?" Rei-2 queried.
"Range," Rei-1 said. "I must stay within six miles of all myself."
"Time," Rei-3 noted. "We have three hours before we're drawn together again."
"Is this relevant within a dream?" Rei-1 asked.
"That remains to be seen," Rei-2 noted. "Advise one of us going on to school, others..."
"Advise locating other players from the game yesterday," Rei-3 added. "They may be necessary to the process."
"Advise one of me 'lightening up' as per Asuka's suggestion," Rei-1 completed. They looked about at each, blinked in tandem, checked there watches, and then left the apartment.
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(Posted Sun, 25 May 2003 19:07)
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