Art by OrionPax09.
Maya Ibuki was born to and of magic, but she never liked it. She was only too happy to leave it behind and become a computer technician. But unforeseen circumstances will force her to pick up her wand once more.
Superwomen of Eva 2: The Magic Touch
is an entry in the Superwomen of Eva fanfic series penned by Mike313, in which Maya Ibuki learns some disturbing things about NERV, embraces her magical heritage, and takes the name Zatanna in order to save the world.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Sexuality: Maya is stated to be bisexual in this universe, whereas in canon she's Ambiguously Gay. However, her canon attraction to/admiration of Ritsuko is left intact.
- All Men Are Perverts: Maya is beginning to develop this opinion, given that she's almost universally ignored in her civvies (except by Shinji, which she appreciates), while she's almost universally sought after as Zatanna, despite (in her words) the only difference being her wearing a set of fishnet stockings.
- Almighty Janitor: Gendo's secretary is able to stonewall Felix Faust, even though he is also "a Special Inspector to NERV from the Marduk Institute, duly appointed by the Human Instrumentality Committee, an agency of the United Nations" in addition to being, well, an Evil Sorcerer. She is, however, happy to schedule him for an appointment with Gendo at one-o'-clock...in two weeks.
- And the Adventure Continues: Just because Zatanna saved the world from the threat of Third Impact, doesn't means it's going to stay saved without her help. The epilogue has her accepting the invitation of her sister to deal with some other magical threats that have popped up in the aftermath.
- Bittersweet Ending: The world is saved and SEELE's attempt at Third Impact (and Faust's own attempt at causing Armageddon for the sake of more magical empowering) doesn't come to pass...but this means that Gendo Ikari had to sacrifice himself to save his son's soul, and will forever be remembered as an inhuman bastard. Furthermore, Asuka's own Laser-Guided Amnesia was removed by Faust, and she's left to deal with the shock by herself (although she has managed to start on the path to it by going to a therapist at Misato's insistence). Finally, Maya's father has finally passed away from his illness...although he managed to reconcile with Maya beforehand.
- Boom, Headshot!: Completely averted in terms of being a One-Hit Kill for zombies.
- Brainwashing for the Greater Good:
- Maya gives Gendo some Laser-Guided Amnesia, intending to make it at least possible for him and Shinji to patch up their relationship. On the other hand, Gendo's also forgotten everything about his job and needs Fuyutsuki to counsel him. It's also notable in that Maya doesn't make this decision at all lightly, as she essentially erased Gendo's entire identity in the hopes that he'd create a better one, and it's treated almost like crossing the Godzilla Threshold.
- Amnesiac Resonance comes into play when Gendo stumbles across a picture of Yui.
- She later gives Laser-Guided Amnesia to Asuka, after her Fifteenth Angel-caused mind rape that broke her so totally in canon, hoping that by having that day erased, Asuka will be able to resist falling to rock bottom like she did in the series proper.
- The Chew Toy: Gendo becomes this in the non-canon omakes. He’s been killed repeatedly by Maya during a talent show, subjected to a dominatrix Ritsuko, etc...In the story proper, however, he’s always treated with dead seriousness.
- Crossover: Notably averted so far. No other heroines have appeared or been referenced in this story, nor has Maya, as Zatanna, appeared in any others, barring omakes. Which is unusual, considering the otherwise frequent crossovers of at least one other heroine per story.
- Deadpan Snarker: Once the zombies show up, Shinji’s response is jaded annoyance.
- Deal with the Devil: Well, Faust has a deal with someone; we're just not quite sure who yet.
- Devil in Plain Sight: Almost everyone can tell that Klarion isn’t quite right.
- Enemy Mine: Klarion teams up with Asuka during the End Of Evangelion/SEELE's attack on NERV sequence, and fights the Mass Production Evangelions and the JSSDF forces.
- Extra-Strength Masquerade: When Klarion summons a swarm of nightmarish pixies at school, the authorities declare it to have been a mass hallucination.
- Gambit Roulette: According to the files that spurred Maya to action, everything that happens in canon through End of Evangelion is part of Gendo's plan. Including the part where Rei betrays him for Shinji. Somehow.
- Gratuitous Japanese: Not really enough to be a bother, but the occasional 'hai' or 'gomen nasai' does make it in.
- Identity Impersonator: In one chapter, in order to throw off suspicion from Maya, her sister dons the Zatanna outfit and fakes a battle with a dragon over the skies of Tokyo-3. Much to Maya's chagrin, she later says that she needed to bind her breasts to fit the suit.
- In the Blood: Magic runs in the Ibuki family.
- I Was Young and Needed the Money: The entire reason Maya ever consented to being a stage magician in her backstory was so that she could earn enough to pay for college, in order to learn the skills that later landed her at NERV.
- Laughing Mad: Shinji has a moment after being attacked by Klarion and saved by Zatanna, although it’s only a giggle.
- Magic A Is Magic A: Zatanna's necessity to say her spells backwards, for example. She attempts to add some spells to the Evangelions, but the hard part is needing to find out how to write computer code backwards and still making it work with the rest of the EV As' OS.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Played with. Maya actually invokes the trope, hoping that she can cheer Shinji up enough that he’ll embrace life instead of ever wanting to end it. At the same time, however, she's a strong subversion of the trope's normal character archetype.
- Necromancer: Klarion. Up to and including resurrecting the Mass Production EV As that he and Asuka killed and using them for support during the SEELE attack.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Maya gives Shinji a charm to protect him from magical assaults...which serves to make him a target for Klarion. Thankfully, Zatanna quickly resolves the issue before it gets too far out of hand. Later used again with the Twelfth Angel, when Maya combines magic and particle physics theory to blast the Angel, inverting its AT Field...and inverting the Angel in the process, meaning that now all of Tokyo-3 is inside it. On the other hand, she arguably goes on to subvert the trope, since this changes the situation in a way that she can defeat the Angel and save the day as Zatanna.
- Not What I Signed on For: Shinji’s reaction to being magically attacked. Of course, it’s immediately lampshaded.Then again, he hadn't exactly signed up to pilot EVA either, but that had happened, too.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Klarion mentions this one by name.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Western-style, intelligent, and the one that appears is friendly.
- Our Zombies Are Different: Closer to the Dungeons & Dragons-style undead automatons than any of the Romero-derived versions.
- Red Shirt: Lampshaded, regarding the Section Two agents who try futilely to stand up to the undead.
- Seen It All: With Angels and a dragon attacking the city and pixies and zombies showing up, the people at NERV are starting to get a little blase:Aoba: "Demons."Makoto: "Sure, why not? We have Angels, now we have demons, too."
- Slasher Smile: Klarion deals one out to Shinji.
- Survival Mantra: Shinji gets a new one when demonic things start scratching at Unit-01’s armor during the Twelfth Angel incident. “They can’t get in here, they can’t get in here..."
- Take a Third Option: Fuyutsuki was finally given one to take when Zatanna wiped Gendo's memory.
- There Are No Therapists: Lampshaded.Dr. Minami: "What happened sounds disturbingly like some kind of fugue, but I'm not a psychologist. The commanders refuse to get one on the staff, unfortunately."
- Defied in the epilogue. One of the signs that Asuka refuses to just lay down and allow the resurfaced Mind Rape damage to destroy her is that she has made an appointment to meet one, at first at Misato's insistence.
- Throwing the Fight: Faust fully intends to do this when he first confronts Zatanna.
- Too Dumb to Live: Subverted. Maya deliberately does this (walking down a dark alley in the bad part of the city while wearing her provacative Zatanna attire) in order to attract thugs so she can test her magic while under threat, carrying pepper spray in case it ended up going south. The lead thug even says that it was like Maya was trying to get herself raped...before she turns them all into rabbits.
- What the Hell, Hero?: During the Twelfth Angel incident, the entirety of Tech Division One is raring to go, ready to work their asses off to save the three EVA pilots...and Ritsuko's rather half-hearted about the entire thing, completely and utterly dismissing any ideas other than the “bomb it” strategy she proposed in canon. When Maya presents her with an alternative that might save the pilots and the Evangelions, she gets rebuffed with bullshit excuses and ends up taking matters into her own hands.
- Oh, he’s cute when he smiles!
