1.

"Hmmmm...mmmmm..." the Rei clone moaned. The last thing she remembered was being
struck by a needle or something...and now she was here. Wherever here was.

She felt like she was floating in liquid, but as her hazy vision restored itself,
she seemed to be in a perfectly clear environment - with a piece of glass
separating her from the rest of the (she presumed) laboratory. She was, in fact, in
a tank of electrified LCL. Eventually realizing this from the blood-smell, she
wondered why there was an oxygen mask over her face, as LCL ordinarily oxygenates
the blood directly.

She moved to take it off, but her hands weren't budging. It was then that she took
the time to look down at herself. She was in a kind of metallic-blue leotard, her
limbs bare, and some kind of rubbery binding around her waist, holding her wrists
together, and clamping them to her back. The same binding was also around her
ankles.

"Mmmmphh..." she exhaled, as she struggled in her restraints. Rei had discovered
that she possessed a superhuman strength, but she couldn't seem to summon it, which
was maddening as she knew she could have freed herself from her bonds otherwise.
Clearly this was the result of the gas mask over her face.

At that moment, Rei's captor walked in. Ritsuko; in white coat, glasses, and with
clipboard in hand, looking every bit the ruthless scientist she was.
"Oh, you're awake," Ritsuko said, coming up to Rei's glass prison. She looked down
at her clipboard. "Y'know for a while there I was a little worried that we'd
rescued the wrong one - that you were the original. A little poking and prodding,
however, and we found your enhancements. How Webster did what he did - I'm envious
I didn't invent it myself." She laughed sharply.

"Of course, officially, I did invent it! Turning a clone body into an actual
functioning human from scratch, not to mention augmenting your strength, your
senses, and in a few cases we don't know what Webster did. I'd win the Nobel Prize
if it wasn't a state secret!" Ritsuko came right up to Rei, practically pressing
her nose against the glass.
"Oh, there's all sorts of things we'll be able to do with you," Ritsuko said. It
was at that moment that, in her mind, Rei vowed revenge.

Days went by. Technicians and lab workers went in and out of Rei's prison, almost
always accompanied by Ritsuko. Rei was poked and prodded constantly, until she
wondered if Ritsuko was doing it just to indulge herself.

Though Rei may have looked subdued from the gas that sapped her strength, her will
never came close to cracking. She would escape. There was no question of that in
her mind. She was now just biding her time, waiting for the opportune moment.

Before she could find it for herself, however, her hand was forced. On the sixth
day after her capture, another tank was installed in the lab. A few hours later,
someone was wheeled in on a gurney, surrounded by too many people for Rei to see
them clearly.

It wasn't until the person was bound and drugged as Rei that she saw who it was -
and her heart skipped a beat. It was Asuka - the red hair, those piercing blue
eyes, even behind half opened eyelids - unmistakable. Memories of Rei's time with
Asuka flooded back into her mind. Her precious captive, continually teetering on
the edge of defiance and surrender...

Of course. This Asuka was a clone. Somehow Ritsuko had reverse-engineered her from
her studies of Rei.
"She's like you," Ritsuko said, just having entered. "Enhanced. Now that the
original is, how shall we say, proving less than useful, Gendo is hoping that this
one will act as a suitable replacement."

Despite the gas, Rei found the clarity of mind to form an AT field - weak, and
faltering, but still enough to push the mask off her face. She waited until Ritsuko
and her cronies had left, and she'd recovered some of her vigor. She promptly
snapped her bonds with her restored strength, and kicked open the tank. LCL spilled
onto the floor, and Rei jumped out, spluttering, and dripping wet.

She then freed the Asuka clone in the same manner, and she, still weakened by the
gas, fell helplessly into Rei's arms.
"Wh-who?" the new clone muttered. Clearly she'd been endowed with the power of
speech.

"Me? I'm your new best friend," Rei answered. "Now pull yourself together, okay?
We've got business to take care of." The Asuka clone recovered quickly.
"Can I help?" she asked in a small, meek voice. The contrast to the real Asuka was
so striking that it actually made Reilose her train of thought.
"What...oh, yeah, try and find me some wire," Rei said. Plans began brewing in
Rei's fertile mind, schemes of vengeance, and a desire to see a certain someone
again.

"Like this?" Asuka's clone suddenly said, a massive spool of wire under her arm.
"Where the hell did you get that?" Rei asked. Asuka pointed at a hole in the wall
which she'd clearly torn open herself.
"Huh," Rei said. "Good...job."

Rei then put her plan into action. The first step was relatively straightforward:
wait by the door. When it opened, Rei grabbed the arm of the person going through,
and tossed them onto the ground. It just so happened to be Ritsuko.

"Unhh...what!?"Ritsuko exclaimed, struggling to get to her feet. "How did you -

MMMPPHH!" The Asuka clone had grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth with her
hand. Rei had forgotten to tell her what they would do with Ritsuko, and was
pleasantly surprised at what was clearly the new clone's first instinct. The two
clones easily wrestled Ritsuko onto the ground, threw off her labcoat, and began to
tie her up.

The wires weren't as suited to the purpose as the ropes that Rei was used to, but
they were good enough. Rei and Asuka, working together, fed the wires around
Ritsuko's limbs, across her back, between her breasts, around and around, spinning
her like a fly in the jaws of a spider, binding her arms to her back, squeezing her
long legs together, winding the wires around her body while the blond scientist
struggled vainly.

Eventually she was wrapped up all the way from her ankles to her nose, six loops of
wire gagging her as well as binding. Rei looked at the bound-up doctor and smiled
broadly.
"Now for phase 2."

"Stage Two" turned out to be relatively simple. In order to keep the clones hidden
from prying eyes, Gendo had ordered them to be processed in a facility just outside
of Tokyo-3 and, crucially, outside of the Geofront. Within that cavelike maze, Rei
may never have been able to escape.

As it was, with no guards (the fewer people involved, the more chance the facility
had of going unnoticed) and a rudimentary automated security system, Rei had very
little difficulty in getting out of her prison. Having taken Ritsuko's keycard from
her coat pocket - a coat which was now wrapped around Rei: she was practically
naked without it - she and Asuka's clone had been able to get through every
security door - save one. That door required a retinal scan, and necessitated the
two clones' doubling back.

They found Ritsuko as they had left her: bound from head to foot in wire,
struggling desperately on the ground. When she saw the two of them return, her
struggles only increased in desperation.
"Sorry, doctor," Rei crowed, "but it looks like you're going to have to come with
us after all." She stooped to pick Ritsuko up, but stopped herself when an idea
came to her.
"Asuka," she said. The other clone didn't respond. "That's you, sweetheart," Rei
explained. "Asuka, I want you to pick her up, and carry her for me." Without
hesitation, "Asuka" obeyed.
"MMMPHHH!!"Ritsuko cried as she was lifted up, and thrown over Asuka's shoulder.
The girl's strength was grossly disproportional to her size, and Ritsuko's feet
were barely an inch off the ground.

The three returned to the security door which had hindered Rei's progress before,
presented Ritsuko before it (she worked out what they were doing only after it was
too late to resist), and went through. The room they entered was almost completely
dark, and besides them it was deserted. It looked like the reception area of a
generic office building, something almost conspicuously inconspicuous to outside
observers. A thin shaft of pale light fell through one of the windows: it was the
middle of the night, and a waning moon was low in the sky.
"Perfect," Rei said. So far, everything had been going her way.

There were few vehicles parked on the street outside, but there were enough for Rei
to be able to find something fit for her needs. A white van, as generic as the
building they'd just left had appeared to be, with enough space in the cargo
section Ritsuko, and for one other passenger she had in mind.

Forcing her way into the cab, Rei found a key hidden in the glove compartment. She
could have hotwired and driven the van - she was trained extensively by Webster
before being sent out into the field - but forcing the lock in the back would have
defeated its purpose. She hopped out, and unlocked the cargo section, before
ordering Asuka to throw their captive inside.

Ritsuko landed with a muffled squeak. She looked up to see Rei and Asuka standing
over her. The sting of embarassment bit sharply into her - how could she have been
outwitted and captured by these - things? Products, in part, of her own scientific
brilliance? In an almost amusing epiphany she realized that she was very close to
being Dr. Frankenstein. Rei then closed the door on her, leaving her in pitch
blackness.

Before locking Ritsuko in, Rei had noticed to her happiness that this was clearly
the vehicle of some practical labourer. There had been many things in the back of
the van which she could see being extremely useful; nothing that Ritsuko could free
herself with, though. Chief among these was a long, strong, spool of rope.
"Onto Phase 3," Rei said, turning the ignition, and driving off towards Tokyo-3.

As soon as they got into the city, Rei remembered the way to Hikari's residence.
She was sure Asuka - the real Asuka - would be there. Looking at the clone sitting
silently next to her, she was reminded why she longed for the real thing. This one
was passive to the point of banality, completely obedient - no fun, in other words.
Asuka was precisely the opposite of that. Still, this clone would be an
exceptionally useful tool, if Rei kept her wits about her.
Seeing her destination, Rei pulled up in a nearby alleyway. She hopped out,
ditching the coat to aid her stealth, and beckoned her new servant follow, treading
lightly on bare feet. Taking the spool of rope from the van's hold - and taking a
moment to check Ritsuko's bonds - Rei readied herself for the task at hand. The two
clones sprang up the fire escape of Hikari's apartment complex like squirrels up a
tree, leading them right to the window through which Rei had come the first time
she and Asuka had met. She forced it open, and stepped through, the Asuka clone
following swiftly behind.

Rei found Asuka soon enough - she'd almost felt guided to her - and when she saw
her lying alone, vulnerable, ripe for the taking, a wave of something more than
pleasure washed over Rei. She crept up to her favorite victim, took the corner of
her duvet, pulled it away -

And Asuka shoved a chloroform-soaked cloth right over Rei's mouth. Rei let out a
squeal, her red eyes wide with shock and alarm. She grabbed Asuka's arm with both
hands, but the difference in their strengths was rapidly reversing.
"I knew you'd escape, you blue-headed freak," Asuka hissed, as Rei's eyes started
drooping. She had some resistance to the drug, but she was not immune.

"Now I'm going to give you a - HMMMPPHH!!" Asuka was cut off mid-sentence by a
thick, cloth gag that had been forced between her lips. The clone had sprung into
action to rescue her companion. Before the original could do anything to resist,
her arms were seized, and forced behind her back, the cloth falling from her hand.
Rei, recovering almost instantly, then grabbed Asuka's legs, pulling them out in
front of her, and preventing her from kicking.

Asuka soon felt rope being looped around her body. Her arms, legs, chest, all bound
fast, the two assailants rendering her completely helpless.
"Well wasn't that clever of you, Blue-Eyes?" Rei said, tying the last knot of the
ropes around Asuka's ankles. "I guess you didn't figure I'd have a friend." The one
who had gagged Asuka walked round, and stood with Rei. In the darkness, however,
Asuka couldn't see a face. Not until a shaft of moonlight broke through the clouds,
illuminating a figure with bright red hair, and deep blue eyes.

"Mmph?" she squeaked. What Asuka saw at that moment made her forget her situation.
The one standing next to Rei was completely identical to herself.
"Surprised, Blue-Eyes?" Rei said. "So was I, let me tell you! She isn't my doing,
though. I just...took advantage." She laughed. "I can't wait to think of all the
fun the three of us are going to have together!" To emphasize her point, she ran a
finger over Asuka's cheek.

"Hmmmmphh..." Asuka whimpered, as the old ambivalence began to settle over her like
a steel mesh. Asuka felt very aware of her characteristically sparse nightclothes
- a baggy cream shirt which exposed one of her shoulders and much of her chest, and
peach colored briefs which left her legs completely bare. It was only upon
considering her own attire that Asuka noticed her captors', and wondered why they
were both in leotards.

As if sensing this, Rei looked over to the wardrobe that Asuka had taken as her
own. She opened it, and took a number of items, more or less at random. As she did
this, Asuka's clone stared at her. It was surprisingly unlike looking into a mirror
- there was an uncanny sense of other-ness from this clone. Asuka could not
immediately see any emotion in her, but it was hard to be sure.

"Asuka," Rei said. Both with a claim to the title looked at her. "Not you, Blue-
Eyes," Rei explained. Then, looking directly at the clone, she said: "See if you
can find more of the chemical on that cloth." She pointed to the offending object.
The Asuka clone grabbed it, took a cautious sniff, and nodded in affirmation. She
left Rei and her originator alone.

"Oh, I've missed you, Blue-Eyes," Rei said, pulling Asuka up to a standing
position. She planted a kiss on her neck, and the redhead blushed brightly.
"You still taste wonderful," Rei said. "And I don't mind you blushing, I suppose.
Goes well with those eyes of yours."

In the room next door, the other clone had found something. Another sleeper, with
brown hair in pigtails, and a delightfully freckled face. Forgetting her mission
entirely, the clone was seized by an impulse, and climbed into the sleeper's bed.
"Hmm..." Hikari mumbled, as she half-woke. She felt the warmth of Asuka's body
against her own. "Oh, Asuka," she murmured sympathetically. On the worse nights,
when Asuka had clearly been having nightmares, this would sometimes happen. It was
infrequent enough, so Hikari tolerated it.

She got the sense that this time was different, though. Normally she'd feel Asuka
trembling with silent tears. Now, however, Asuka's breathing was slow, calm. She
also felt a pale arm draped around her chest. This wasn't usual. Perhaps it had
been a particularly bad nightmare. She also felt Asuka's nose lightly brushing the
back of her neck.

Two things happened at once that made Hikari realize she was in trouble. One was
that Asuka's limbs suddenly wrapped around her body, holding her in a vice-like
embrace. The second was Rei entering the room.
"Oh n-MMPHH!"Hikari moaned, as Asuka clamped her hand over her mouth.
"So," Rei said. "I send you off to get some pharmaceuticals, and I find you
indulging your baser instincts." She was smiling. "I didn't know you had any."
Hikariswivelled her eyes up to see that Asuka was smiling as well, a wide grin.
"It's...delectable," the clone said. Hikari suddenly realized that this Asuka was a
doppelganger. Her mode of speech, her tone, even her accent were too different from
her friend's.
"I'll bet it is. She's a pretty little thing. What do you want with her?"
"To hear her...whimper," the clone hissed. Rei laughed again.

"Well aren't you taking to this like a pro? I'll give you a hint: if you want to
make her whimper, just press that cloth over her mouth." Asuka obeyed, and Hikari
found herself breathing in a numbing vapor. As Rei had promised, she whimpered in
dismay as she grew weaker and weaker, eventually passing out entirely, and hanging
limply in Asuka's grip.
"We can't take her along, I'm afraid," Rei said. "But don't worry. You'll have
plenty of fun with the other two." Asuka looked up at her, still tightly coiled
around Hikari. For a second, there was a flash of defiance, but it was blown away
with one look into Rei's piercing red eyes.
"I saved you, so you have to do what I say," Rei reminded her. Her servant nodded.

Asuka saw the two clones enter her room again from her position on the floor, where
Rei had dropped her. Her counterpart was carrying the container of chloroform that
Asuka had acquired. Rei seized her suddenly, and stood her up again, her chest
pressing against Rei's back.
"When you wake up, you won't have to worry about anything," Rei whispered, pressing
the damp cloth over Asuka's face. It seemed as if Rei was sucking the strength out
of her directly, turning her again into a powerless plaything. She fell to her
knees, suspended in a moment outside time before, after a tiny eternity, she fell
into darkness.

2.
A narrow, dim shaft of light fell through the almost totally blacked out window of
the stolen van, slightly illuminating the hold, and stirring Asuka out of a
chemical sleep. She awoke gradually, strength gradually returning to her muscles,
clarity slowly coming back to her mind. The light told her that it was now morning,
and for one brief moment, she hoped that being captured by Rei - again - had been a
nightmare. She really, really hoped.

It had not, of course, been a nightmare. None of it. Not Rei, not her doppelganger,
not the thick cord wrapped around her body. She'd felt the ropes as soon as she'd
stirred.
"Mmmphh..." That's right. She'd been gagged as well. Again.

Her vision had now recovered to the point where she was able to see with the
pathetic light filtering through the windows. She was in a moving vehicle - that
she felt from bumps and jostles - in the hold of a van, with nothing in it besides
herself, and a large shape her hazy vision could not immediately place.

With a sudden, horrifying moment of realisation, however, Asuka saw that it was
RitsukoAkagi, one of NERV's top scientists. The blond was wrapped up from head to
toe in wire; even her mouth was bound. She was wide awake, but had not yet noticed
Asuka's return to consciousness.

"Rphskphh!" Though Asuka's attempt at saying "Ritsuko" hadn't come out quite as
she'd hoped, she nonetheless drew her fellow captive's attention. Ritsuko looked
over, but didn't make any further attempts at communication for a few moments. She
seemed to be deep in thought. She then rolled over to Asuka, making sure the two
were very close before, to Asuka's surprise, pushing out the wire in her mouth with
her tongue.

"Not a sound," she whispered. "I don't want...them to know that I can do that." She
leaned over to Asuka, their faces almost touching, and grabbed her gag with her
teeth. She then yanked it out of Asuka's mouth.
"If you have to say anything," Ritsuko reminded her, "keep it quiet."

"Why are you here?" Asuka demanded. "What do they want with you?"
"Nothing in particular," Ritsuko replied. "Not anymore, anyway. They captured me
when they were escaping. Now they just don't know what to do with me. The real
question is: why are you here? Rei went out of her way to get you. What does she
want from you?"
"I don't know," Asuka lied. She knew full well, but Ritsuko didn't need to. "My
wrists are tied, but I think I can still use my hands. I might be able to unwrap
you." She shifted herself so that the two of them were back to back, then began
searching blindly for a knot to untie. She soon found one, and was able to undo it
with relative ease, the slick material helping her to do so. She tried to pull the
wires away from Ritsuko's chest, perhaps giving her some freedom for her arms, but
it was slow going to say the least.

Suddenly, the van lurched to a halt, and Asuka and Ritsuko tried to return to their
previous positions. Ritsuko managed to get her gag back in, but Asuka could not,
and was still desperately trying to when the van doors flew open, revealing their
captors.
"Well hey there, girls!" Rei crooned. "Having a pleasant trip?" She slung her lithe
body inside, moving over to Asuka. "Now how did that get out?" she said, referring
to Asuka's gag. "I wonder..."

She looked over to Ritsuko, and saw that her bonds were partly undone.
"Crafty!" She giggled. "Oh god, I just love that! The two captives joining forces
in a desperate escape attempt...makes my spine tingle." Rei glanced at the blank-
faced clone still standing by the doors. An evil smile flickered across her face.
"Strange thing is, I really can't see any reason for you two to be so pally. I
mean, my friend over there is a walking example of why. You know who made her,
right?" Asuka looked over to the doctor. She didn't look back.
"Wasn't Webster, if that's what you were thinking. No, I'd look a little closer to
home." Before Asuka could work it out for herself, Rei blurted: "It was NERV!
Specifically Dr. Akagi junior over there."

"What?" Asuka was horrified. "You...made that from me?" Ritsuko didn't bother
objecting. "Who the hell do you people think you are?" She was far, far angrier
with Ritsuko for this outrage than she'd ever been with Rei.
"Oh, this is delicious!" Rei said. She clicked, and Asuka's clone brought over a
thick cloth pad. "I think by now you can see where this is going." She was right.
Asuka was now intimately familiar with the smell on the pad, and tried impotently
to escape it, but her mouth and nose were soon covered, and with a few whimpers she
fell once again into a drugged sleep.

"Ohh...ooohh..." When Asuka awoke, night was just falling, warm orange light
falling across her face. She smelt something burning, and to her astonishment saw
that candles were lit on a table next to her. This led her to consider the rest of
her surroundings which were, by all accounts, dingy. It was a small room, with
unpainted plaster walls: once white, now fading into green. Bare floorboards, and a
dilapidated armchair facing the one in which Asuka found herself to be sitting.

Asuka now looked down at herself. Tied up, of course, but now in white nylon rope,
her nightclothes now replaced with a strapless red minidress - the same, she
suddenly realized - as the one Rei had put her in before, when trapped at the
bottom of Webster's complex. Her feet were shod in matching red stilettos, and with
the candlelight flickering over her body she almost looked elegant.

"Sorry, Blue-Eyes, but you do just look fantastic in red." Rei had appeared on the
far side of the room, clad in a knee length blue dress that Asuka recognized as her
own.
"Where am I?" Asuka had not been re-gagged.
"Oh, this place?My old hidey-hole for when Webster wanted me to lay low, but didn't
want me to go to the complex." She looked around. "I never really got the chance to
spruce the place up much."
"What do you want?" Asuka wanted no part in any more of the clone's games. She
wanted to be to the point.
"I want to talk." Rei sat in the chair opposite Asuka, crossing her legs. "Just the
two of us."

"Well then," Asuka growled, "talk." Rei frowned.

"There's no need to be so antagonistic, Blue-Eyes. After all, we are friends,
right?" Asuka burst out laughing.
"For someone who's kidnapped me - twice - that's pretty god damned rich!"
"But don't you get it, Asuka," Rei said, some obscure emotion in her voice, "I only
did it the first time because of Webster."
"And the second time?"
"I needed you!" Rei sounded passionate. "I needed you, and that's more than you
could say about any of your other so-called friends!" She seemed insulted, almost.
"Ritsuko and NERV using you up, then throwing you away when they don't need you
anymore. That dopey boy you live with who only has eyes for my counterpart. Even
that freckled girl sees you as a burden, doesn't care how badly you need
affection."
"I-" Asuka was speechless. Rei's words were nonsense, but they were the exact same
nonsense that had been ringing inside her skull for months.

"But not me," Rei said, getting up and walking over to her. "I care enough to risk
everything to come get you. I care enough that even when fate gives me someone just
like you, but who'll obey every order I give, I still can't stop thinking about
you." Reaching Asuka, she bent down to stroke her face. "You're everything to me."
"I can't even begin to tell you how ridiculous you sound," Asuka spat. "You abduct
me, you tie me up, you play games with me like I'm your pet, and now you say you
care? I don't know how you got made, but I don't think they'd perfected the techni-
mmpphh!" Rei had seized her by the shoulders, and pressed Asuka's lips tightly
against her own.

"Mmmpphhh...mmmm..." Asuka once again felt as if Rei were drawing her strength out
of her, her will fading with every second. Without breaking the kiss, Rei slid her
arms around her captive, and lifted her up like a bride. For Asuka it was a moment
of pure vulnerability, of perfect helplessness. Her body bound, Rei's hand on her
bare thighs, her legs dangling in the air, all her defences shattered, or willingly
withdrawn.

"I saved you, so you have to do what I say." Her mistress' words made Asuka - the
clone Asuka - loosen her grip around Hikari's slumbering body, and obediently go to
Rei's side. As the two clones left the room to durg and retrieve their original
target, Asuka looked back at Hikari, filled with desires, incensed at their being
frustrated.

Throwing her somnolent counterpart into the back of the van next to the squirming
scientist, Asuka became acutely aware of what she was. A copy. The sleeping girl
was the real one, and she was a fake: barely a person at all. From the scant
information drip-fed to her by Rei, she understood that the Doctor had made her,
but it wasn't until she saw Ritsuko and the original Asuka together - the beings
intimately responsible for her existence - that it had really hit home.

Feeling strangely hollow, Asuka climbed into the passenger seat, and Rei pulled
away, driving off into the darkness.
"I can't wait to think of the fun we're going to have," Rei said. "The three - the
four - of us are going to be very happy, just you wait and see." Asuka had the
distinct impression that that fourth person Rei had forgotten had been her, not
Ritsuko. Still, listening to her savior - and Rei was her savior, having rescued
her from a life of utter servility and suffering - she felt at ease. Rei, if
nothing else, gave her a little meaning. Rei continued to talk, about her plans,
about her taste in clothing, about Webster from time to time, but Asuka wasn't
paying much attention. More and more she began to be preoccupied with Rei's face,
her skin, her slim legs, and those ruby red eyes of hers.

They drove throughout the night, neither clone apparently feeling the need for
sleep. Some time after morning had broken,Rei finally pulled the van over. They
were deep in the countryside, and Rei felt confident they wouldn't be disturbed in
such a remote place.
"Let's check on the passengers," she said, hopping out of the vehicle.
Asukafollowed, wet grass soft beneath her feet. This was the first time she had
seen a forest, and it wasn't unpleasant. About thirty yards from the road, Asuka
saw a small grey building.

Rei seemed to pay no attention to the scenery at all, and threw open the hold.
Ritsuko and Asuka were inside, and were visibly alarmed.
"Well hey there, girls!" Rei slung herself inside. Asuka's clone stayed outside,
watching her mistress come alive as she taunted her captives.
"...strange thing is, I can't see any reason for you two to be so pally." Asuka
hadn't been paying attention, but Rei was now looking right at her with a fierce,
crimson stare and a dagger-sharp smile. Asuka was transfixed. So much so that she
didn't hear any of what was said until she saw her originator looking disgustedly
at her.

"You...made that from me?" The red-haired german girl's voice and face were full of
loathing. The way she spat the word "that"...like the clone was just a thing. A
freak of science.Asuka would have been hard put to disagree.

"Mmmpphh! Mmmpphh...hmmm..." Asuka watched as her counterpart was drugged to sleep,

then scooped up into Rei's arms.
"Take care of blondie for me." Rei ordered. "Blue-Eyes and I have some catching up
to do. Oh, and re-tie her. Those wires might come loose." She was taking her
towards the building Asuka had seen earlier.
"Yes," Asuka acknowledged quietly, taking a spool of rope from the floor, and
moving over to the Doctor.

It was about half an hour later that Ritsuko spoke. She was no longer wrapped in
wire, but bound in rough cord, knots biting hard against her calves, thighs and
breasts. Asuka had not, however, decided to re-gag her but it was only now that she
decided to take advantage of that fact.
"She doesn't want you." Asuka barely heard her, but the words left an unsettling
aftertaste. "She thinks you're just a tool. Someone - something - to be controlled,
to be bent to her whims."
"Wh-?"Asuka was suddenly paying attention. This was almost exactly how Rei had
described Ritsuko's intentions. But it didn't matter. It was nonsense. "That's what
you wanted," Asuka finally replied. "I was just a replacement."
"Replacement? You were, you are, a hell of an improvement. You're stronger, you're
faster, and quite frankly I prefer the quiet types," Ritsuko gave her a pleasantly
jocular smile. It was not an expression Asuka was familiar with.

"Rei saw you as a compromise for what she really wanted, Asuka." Another new
experience.Rei had never once called her by name. "Which is the Asuka who's with
her now."
"You're lying," Asuka said. But she did not attempt to silence Ritsuko, though she
easily could have.
"Am I? Hasn't everything Rei's done since you met her been devoted to her "Blue
Eyes"?"
"It..." Asuka had no answer. She'd never really assumed that not to be true. It was
only now that she realized that she cared. And she cared a great deal.

"I can tell you how to win her." Asuka was nonplussed. "Do to her what she did to
the other you. Take her. Make her yours." Asuka was suddenly overcome with emotion.
A great heat was rising in her chest, and she didn't know how to cool it.
"Shut up," she said, on the point of being overwhelmed. She dashed over to Ritsuko,
about to find some way to silence her, when she saw the chloroform-soaked cloth on
the ground. In a moment, her mind was fixed.

"Mmmphh...mhhhnn..." Asuka - the real Asuka - moaned softly, as Rei laid kiss after
kiss on her pale body. She squirmed in her bonds, scarcely trying anymore to
escape.
"It's alright, you know. You don't have to worry. Just leave everything to me," Rei
whispered. "I'll always be here."
"Hmmmphh..." Rei had once again gagged her, though for Asuka it was almost a
relief. She no longer had to argue.
"I just wish we could have got to this sooner," Rei said. "If it hadn't been for
that hag Ritsuko we'd never have been parted in the first place. I loathe being -"
It was then that she saw her captive's clone enter the room. "Interrupted," she
finished, with a scowl. She hopped to her feet, and strode over to her fellow
clone.

"What is it?" she snapped. "I was kind of in the middle of something here!"
"There's..." Asuka began to speak, but forgot what she'd been about to say.
"There's what? And didn't I tell you to watch the hag?" Asuka was on the verge of
losing her nerve entirely, almost crushed by the force of Rei's personality.
"Well?" Suddenly, Asuka smirked in a manner so similar to Rei's that the blue-
headed girl was momentarily taken aback.
"I don't think you need to worry about her. I don't think you need to worry at
all," Asuka said calmly. Behind her back, she tightly gripped the chloroform-soaked
pad. It was this force of Rei's, this strength, that reminded Asuka why she was
about to do what she was about to do.

Rei, too irritated to pay much attention, turned on her heel.

"Now if you don't mind, Blue-Eyes and I were - MMMMPHHH!!" In that moment, as Rei
felt the cloth pressed over her mouth, Asuka's arm wrapped around her chest, and as
she smelled the fumes that suppressed her consciousness, she felt a fool. She
struggled, but it was already too late, and she was too weak to free herself. She
should have seen it coming, she thought, when she saw what Asuka wanted to do to
Hikari.

Snapped out of her mental haziness by this sudden turn of events, the real Asuka
watched her captor sinking into captivity herself. It wasn't long before Rei's
piercing red eyes fluttered shut, and her body went limp. The other clone then
threw Rei over her shoulder, and took her over to one of the two chairs, gently
easing her down.

Asuka was not sure what to make of this. Bound and gagged on the floor, she wasn't
sure if she'd be able to do anything to affect the situation, let alone turn it to
her advantage.
"Sleep now, mistress. Sleep," the clone whispered, stroking Rei's face. "When you
awake, you will be mine completely." She hadn't even seemed to notice Asuka's
presence. Under Rei's watchful eye, Asuka was powerless. But now, she might be so
ignored as to be invisible to this clone who seemed even less sane than the first
one.

As a test, she began wriggling away, not paying much attention to where she was
actually going. Sure enough, her copy didn't notice. Asuka then decided to look for
something with which she could cut her bonds. The large room she was in, however,
appeared to contain nothing she could use. There was, however, a door not too far
from her current position. If she could just inch her way there...

"I did what DrAkagi said," the clone murmured. "I've taken you. You belong to me,
now. I'll take you from here and then...and then..." She hadn't exactly thought it
through. Like Rei before her, once she had the object of her desire at her mercy,
she was unable to decide what to do with that power. "I'll think of something," she
said, consoling herself.

Still unnoticed, Asuka writhed like a caterpillar through the door. To her delight,
she found herself in a kitchen, and while she doubted very much that there was
running water in this run-down shack, there were still a couple of rusted knives on
a shelf by the grimy sink. Pushing up against the wall, she forced herself to her
feet, then hopped over to the sink. Awkwardly turning herself, she groped for one
of the knives with her bound hands. Eventually, her fingers managed to get a decent
grip, and she firmly took the knife.

Asuka then set about cutting the ropes which bound her wrists. It was slow going,
not only because of the inherent maneuvering difficulties, but also because the
knife barely had any sharpness to it. However, she was making gradual progress.
Little by little, she felt the strands of the rope give way, until it was so frayed
that Asuka could snap it with her own strength. Her hands free, she unbound the
rest of her body manually, until she was completely free. Heading to the door, she
kept the knife in her hand.

Edging slowly out, she saw her copy's attention was still occupied. It seemed she'd
finally caught a bit of luck. She wouldn't have been able to drive the van herself,
but if Ritsuko was in a fit state to, they'd be home free. It was true, when
helpless and at Rei's mercy she'd almost felt like giving in entirely, submitting
to the will of another. But Asuka had never chosen the easy path before, and she
wasn't about to start. She'd go back. She'd pilot Unit 02 again. She'd take back
the respect she was owed. She'd -

CREAK!!

A foot in the wrong place, and the ancient, damp ridden floorboards gave out a
hideous shriek. Asuka's heart was pounding deliriously fast, for no-one in the room
could possibly have overlooked the noise. She didn't look back to see if the clone
had noticed, she just made a dash for the door. She was much closer than her copy
anyway. Maybe she wouldn't be able to get to Ritsuko, but if she could just get to
the road...
"Stop."Asuka heard the voice coming from just behind her. Somehow the other Asuka
had caught up to her. She didn't obey, but she wasn't to be given much of a choice.
The clone grabbed her by the waist, and threw her to the ground.

"Ugh..." Asuka struggled back to her feet, but the clone was quick in pressing her
advantage, and pushed her back down again. Asuka wasn't giving up, though, and
levelled a vicious kick at the clone's stomach. It just missed its mark, though,
the clone catching Asuka's foot, and pushing it away. Once again, Asuka got on her
feet, but the clone was stronger and faster than she was. She grabbed Asuka's arms
with one hand's iron grip, and used her free hand to push Asuka to her knees.

"You have to give up," the clone said. "You're the inferior Asuka. The fact that I
exist makes you unnecessary." The words were hard on Asuka's ears, but she remained
defiant.
"You...don't deserve to use that name! You shouldn't have a name at all! You're
just a - a thing!"
"If you won't give in," the clone continued, her voice taking on an ominous
quality, "then I'll just subdue you."
"MMMPHH!"Asuka felt her copy push a cloth over her face, the same one she'd used to
knock out Rei. She knew how this would go. Her limbs were slackening, her eyes
beginning to droop. She'd soon be asleep, and when she awoke, no doubt she'd be
tied up again. Helpless.
"You'll stay with us. You'll be proof to her that you're the weaker one. Since I've
decided that she should love me, and not you, I'll -" Suddenly, the clone saw a
flash of orange light in the corner of her eye. She turned towards the source, only
to be thrown headfirst into a nearby wall. Impacting with a crash, she was knocked
unconscious.
"That's my decision, not yours." Rei. Her altered body had allowed her to
metabolize swiftly the sleep-inducing poison, and she had used her projected A.T
field to strike back.

"R-Rei..." Asuka murmured. Though Rei had saved her from being made to pass out
entirely, she had still been much weakened. Drugged, on her knees and without any
strength left to fight, Asuka wondered if she was back to square one, being a
captive of Rei, rather than her own clone.

"You okay?" Rei said. She looked at the two redheads. "Looks like I saved your ass,
huh?" She stopped for a moment, appearing to be deep in thought. "Looks like I'm
going to have to teach this one some manners," she laughed, grabbing the clone and
hoisting her limp body into her arms.

"I -" Rei paused. "I'm going to be busy with this one for a while." Asuka, having
recovered a little, got up again. She eyed the door nervously.
"How busy?" she asked tentatively.
"Too busy to deal with you!"Rei cackled. It sounded forced. "And certainly too busy
to deal with that dumb blond."
"Wha-?"Asuka was frozen, unable to believe what she was hearing. It sounded like
Rei was letting her go.
"I hope you know these parts well. We're far away from Tokyo-3, and I don't want
you guys to end up getting lost." There was no mistaking it now. Asuka was about to
move towards the door, but to her horror she found that she was hesitant.
"I don't understand. Why would you release me now?"
"Don't ask questions!" Rei snapped. "Just go! Before I change my mind!"Asuka,
shocked into obedience, ran.

Rei watched her leave. Watched from a distance as she untied Ritsuko.Watched as the
two of them drove away.
"It's been fun, Blue-Eyes," she muttered to herself, a smile creeping back onto her
face. "But I've got my hooks in you now. Taking you myself is one thing...but it's
going to be something else when you come crawling back of your own free will. And
when you do, I guarantee, you'll be begging to be my captive again."