*Disclaimer: I own nothing of Gainax, Khara, or the material and discography of Mr. Alfred Matthew Yankovic. For further purposes of humor, the events below are to be imagined in the art and animation style of J.G. Quintel (Regular Show, Close Enough). This one-shot was originally intended to be published on December 4th, Asuka's birthday.*
"I got that she made it, okay?!" Asuka said vehemently into the phone. "Dammit, Misato, don't keep calling me over every little thing!"
Asuka slammed the phone back onto the receiver, and collapsed face-first onto her bed. Her room was an utter mess, a result of her earlier tantrum. A coffee mug lay broken in pieces, a couple of magazines had been torn to shreds, and one of her throw pillows had been ripped, the stuffing leaking out. Asuka had really gone to town on her room, all because of her anger both at everything going on her life, and at Shinji. Anger she couldn't even vent at him...because presently, he wasn't around. In the battle with the 14th Angel that occurred weeks ago, once again she tried to prove her worth as a pilot. She gave everything she got in facing the beast, and all it got her was her EVA's arms and head sliced off.
"To think..." she lamented. "To think I couldn't do anything! I can't believe I lost to that stupid Shinji!"
Once again, Shinji came to the rescue, his sync rate having climbed beyond the threshold. The resulting berserk EVA-01 completely eviscerated the Angel, but at a great cost, as the staff at NERV found after bringing the EVA back to HQ. Shinji's sync had caused him to be absorbed into the EVA's very core, and since then, for the better part of two days, every effort had been directed at trying to get him out; it was going to take a while. Misato hadn't been back to the apartment for all that time, and probably wouldn't be, since she was the most worried for Shinji. Asuka was left alone, her mood swinging between more than a few extremes. She'd always been hard on other people, especially the Third Child. Truthfully though, there was only one person she'd been harder on the most: herself. She'd felt humiliated by her loss against the Angel, and her self-confidence took a dive; the fact that it was Shinji again who saved her, took the kill, the glory that should be hers due to her experience and superior skill, served to pour more salt in the wound.
"I hate this!" she cried to no one, seeing how, aside from Pen-Pen, she was the only one in the darkened apartment. And the worst part of it?
Like another famous fictional redhead, it seemed that everyone had forgotten her birthday.
Before Asuka could resume her sulking, her phone rang, much to her continually-growing ire. Almost reluctantly, she answered it.
"I told you to stop calling me over every little thing, Misato!" Asuka irately yelled into the phone.
"Asuka, get down here, right away," Misato ordered, a hint of concern in her voice. "It's urgent!"
"Define 'urgent'," Asuka bit back through gritted teeth.
"A large package was found in the middle of the EVA cages," Misato explained. "Asuka, please get down here and see it."
"Why should I?!" the redhead barked.
"There was a note attached to it," Misato answered concernedly. "'Only the birthday girl gets to open this.' Seriously, Asuka, we have no idea what it is, and you're the only one whoever put it there wants opening it. We've already swept it for anything that might be explosive, it's harmless-but we're still erring on the side of caution here."
All that served to stir Asuka's curiosity somewhat. "...*SIGH* Fine, I'll be down there," she said before hanging up the phone.
Moments later, thanks to some swift transportation from Section-2, Asuka dashed into the EVA cages, where she saw that almost all staff were present and still studying a very large box that was set in between the gantries for both her Unit-02 and the still-being-repaired Unit-01. Even the commanders, Kaji, and Rei were present, as they too had grown quite curious over this strange development.
Asuka walked up to where Misato and Dr. Akagi were standing. "So this is what's got everyone paranoid?" she asked bitterly.
Dr. Akagi nodded. "In spite of all that we've experienced for most of this year, it was the strangest thing-one minute we're in the middle of repairs to Unit-01 for the salvage operation, the next minute this big box, for lack of a better term, suddenly appears right here."
"And with that note I mentioned to you," Misato added as she pointed to the note in question. Asuka walked up and noticed a cord underneath the note, and, with a bit of hesitance, yanked it towards her. The box started to shake, causing her and the others to slowly back away, until finally, each side of the box fell outward and revealed the contents within.
To the surprise of everyone, what was in the box was a gigantic birthday cake, with 'Happy Birthday Asuka' written across its three tiers in icing. A projector also appeared from behind the cake and started to warm up. Everyone who saw this couldn't have been more stunned, especially the birthday girl in question.
"...Huh. Someone actually did remember," Asuka muttered. Then, to everyone's further surprise, the sound of a drum set began filling the air, soon followed by an electric guitar and a bass guitar, and then by...an accordion?
Suddenly, someone with curly brown hair and wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt popped out of the top of the cake, playing the accordion with a big, toothy grin on their bespectacled, mustached face. It didn't take long for someone among the crowd to recognize them.
"...'WEIRD AL' YANKOVIC?!" Asuka said, dumbfounded. The jaws of the others merely hung open, shocked as they were by the least likeliest of people to ever appear in NERV HQ, let alone the Geofront. As for the visitor of the hour, he soon launched into a song that proved quite fitting for the day, just as the projector behind the 'cake' fully turned on...
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to YOU!
['Al' points to Asuka, who in turn points questioningly to herself.]
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to YOU!
['Al' jumps out of the cake and starts manically dancing around while singing and playing his instrument.]
Well, it's-time-to-celebrate your birthday, it happens every year!
[Shoves a sprig of broccoli into Rei's mouth and drops a metal keg into Misato's arms, surprising both.]
We'll eat a lot of broccoli and drink a lot of beer!
You should be good and happy that there's something you can eat--
A million people every day are starving in the street!
[Projector shows an image of Asuka's father with her stepmother.]
Your daddy's in the gutter with the wretched and the poor,
['Al' holds up an x-ray machine of some sort in front of Unit-02's core, revealing Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu, caught off-guard by her sudden reveal to Asuka and the others.]
Your mama's in the kitchen with a can of Cycle Four!
[Projector shows the 'bloody' waters surrounding what used to be Antarctica.]
There's garbage in the water,
There's poison in the sky,
I guess it won't be long before we're all gonna die!
Happy birthday!
[Points to Asuka.]
Happy birthday to YOU!
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to YOU!
['Al' then crouches down next to Asuka and swiftly puts a party hat on her head.]
WELL, what's-the-matter little friend, you think this party is the pits?
Enjoy it while you can, we'll soon be blown to bits!
['Al' drops a number of folders into the hands of Asuka and the other NERV staff, all labeled 'SEELE's Human Instrumentality Project'.]
The monkeys in the Pentagon are gonna cook our goose...
['Al' then pops up next to Commander Ikari and swiftly pulls off the man's right glove, revealing the embryonic form of Adam the First Angel grafted onto his palm, to everyone's great shock.]
Their finger's on the button, all they need is an excuse!
['Al' then sidles up to Misato and directs hers and Kaji's attention to the projector, which now shows images of an invasion of the Geofront by the JSSDF.]
It doesn't take a military genius to see
We'll all be crispy critters after World War III!
There's nowhere you can run to, nowhere you can hide--
[The projector then shows the nine Mass Production Evangelions landing in the Geofront, weapons at the ready.]
When they drop the big one, we all get fried!
Come on, boys and girls, sing along, okay?
Happy birthday!
['Al' points to Asuka.]
Happy birthday to YOU!
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to YOU!
['Al' tosses an electric guitar towards Lt. Aoba, who instinctively catches it with surprise.]
(WOOOOOW!)
[Aoba's hands, to his own shock, soon begin moving on their own as he shreds his way through the song's guitar solo. While that's going on, 'Al' tosses an accordion towards Rei, who also instinctively catches it and soon, much to her own astonishment, begins 'shredding' her way through the accordion solo portion of the song, ending it with a flourish as she lands in a splits position.]
['Al' begins popping up randomly among the NERV crowd.]
Well, there's-a-punk in the alley, and he's looking for a fight...
There's an Arab on the corner buying everything in sight...
There's a mother in the ghetto with another mouth to feed...
Seems that everywhere you look today there's misery and greed.
[The projector begins showing images of Third Impact as seen in The End of Evangelion.]
I guess you know the earth is gonna crash into the sun,
But that's no reason why we shouldn't have a little fun!
['Al' crouches down next to Asuka again.]
So if you think it's scary, if it's more than you can take--
['Al' hands Asuka a plate with a slice of birthday cake on it, a lit candle sticking up on the top.]
Just blow out the candles, and have a piece of cake!
['Al' leaps back onto the top of the cake he popped out of.]
Happy birthday!
['Al' points to the still-dumbfounded Asuka.]
Happy birthday to YOU!
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to YOU! (WOOOW!)
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to YOU!
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to YOU!
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" 'Al' and his unseen band all cheered as the song reached its finish with his usual kick, before he popped back into the giant cake. On the final note of the song, 'Al' suddenly popped back out and gave Asuka a mild pinch on the cheek.
"AND A PINCH, TO GROW AN INCH!" he let out, before popping back into the cake again.
Aoba and Lt. Hyuga carefully walked over to the cake and looked down the hole 'Al' had popped out of, only to find nobody there, which served to further spook everyone. Then, they suddenly remembered a more important detail, as all eyes soon turned towards Commander Ikari, looking more nervous than usual. He turned to Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki, as if asking for any suggestions.
Fuyutsuki, having long grown tired of all the secrets and lies he found himself party to because of his former student's actions and decisions, sighed, put both hands in his pockets, and gave him a tiny smirk that said 'I told you so', before he finally spoke. "As a wise bandleader might have said...Ikariii, you've got some splainin' to do."
-X-
Meanwhile, observing all this from another plane of existence were the true culprits behind Asuka's
very unusual birthday surprise: a small group of various mythological tricksters, all hanging around the water cooler as they took in the success of their handiwork. Loki of the Norse, Eris of the Greek, Sun Wukong of the ancient Chinese, Wisakedjak of the Navajo, and Anansi of Africa were all laughing heartily at what they'd just pulled off, having decided a short while ago that the world following Second Impact had just been too damn miserable for so long and needed something to shake it out of its doldrums. Hence, the weird little surprise they left for the humans battling the (not-really-)Angels. It was soon agreed among these tricksters that they'd have to do this again sometime...
-X-
In the midst of all this, within the core of Unit-01, Yui Ikari all of a sudden shuddered while in the middle of a game of mahjong with her presently-trapped son, Shinji.
"Mom? Something wrong?" he asked curiously.
"I sense a disturbance in the order of the universe," she replied, looking out towards a part of the core where she could perceive the goings-on of the outside world. "...Oh, dear."
"What? What is it?" Shinji probed.
"Let's just say that your father's comeuppance came a lot earlier than expected," she answered.
Shinji, mildly surprised by this, soon sported a look of indifference as he shrugged. "Meh, serves him right," he said before he swiftly laid down his next tile in triumph. "Mahjong!"
Yui, surprised by her son's win, chuckled a little as she began shuffling the tiles for their next game. "Heh, seems I've taught you well. Oh, I also happened to notice, apparently it's Asuka's birthday today."
Shinji's eyes widened on hearing that. "Crap--note to self, once out of the core, get her a belated birthday gift..."
END.
*"Weird Al" will return in "Super-Wackos of EVA: Rebuild of NERV Gets Weird"!*