Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.
Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or anything associated with it, and I am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.
Chapter Nine: Power Drain
It was three in the morning, and Kiyoshi just wanted to get some sleep. Unfortunately, there was no rest for the truly pious within the city of Tokyo-3, or within all of Japan for that matter.
Not since NERV had managed to get the Light of the Divine classified as a terrorist organization.
Honestly, a few members fire off a couple of missiles and now we're all murderers and criminals? How fair is that? Kiyoshi mused darkly.
Which wasn't to say he wouldn't have gleefully joined the team that had invaded NERV's headquarters, if he'd been offered a spot on it. Still, that didn't prevent him from feeling righteous indignation at being hunted for his associates' crimes.
Feeling extremely tired and possessing a head full of angry thoughts, Kiyoshi almost missed his destination. Now that would've been disastrous; it was dangerous for any known member of the Light of the Divine to be out on the streets, even at this hour.
The man came to a halt at where he had been supposed to go to, a frown sprouting on his face. "This is supposed to be a safe house?" he muttered to himself, gazing skeptically at the decrepit looking warehouse before him.
Certain, more paranoid, members of their order had foreseen something like their current situation coming to pass, and had set up some contingencies as a result. The existence of emergency fall back points was one of them…but this didn't look quite right to Kiyoshi.
Unfortunately, he had little choice if he wanted to still be a free man come sunrise. With a soft sigh, Kiyoshi approached the warehouse. The front door was held securely shut by a heavy chain and padlock, but that was no issue; he climbed up a stack of steel drums, reaching an open window on the side of the building. He slipped through, and—
"Ahh!" he shouted as he found himself falling several feet to the floor inside the warehouse. "Ow..." he groaned as he hit the hard concrete.
Before he had even begun to contemplate getting up, Kiyoshi heard the sound of running feet coming toward him. He looked up to see a pair of men, each holding a pistol, approaching him.
"Are you a true believer?" one of them demanded at once.
"Yes!" Kiyoshi replied.
The man's eyes narrowed. "I am the Light in the darkness…"
"…I illuminate the one true path to the Divine," Kiyoshi finished.
The two men immediately pointed their weapons away from him, and the first one offered him a hand up. Kiyoshi gratefully accepted.
"Welcome, brother," he said. "I'm Masa, and this is Nobu."
"We've been holed up here since this morning," Nobu said. "Do you have any news about the rest of the faithful?"
"More than I'd like to," Kiyoshi said with a deep sigh.
"Are things that bad out there?" Masa asked.
"They're worse. NERV's secret police are shooting us on sight, while the regular cops raid the homes of the faithful. Brothers and sisters are disavowing the Light left and right, saying they were forced to join, all so they can escape jail," he paused. "Hirayama-san betrayed us."
"No!" Nobu gasped.
"He wouldn't," Masa added.
Kou Hirayama was one of the wealthier members of the Light of the Divine. His home was, in fact, one of the cult's emergency fallback points.
"He did," Kiyoshi said grimly. "He took in almost two dozen of the faithful, then he called the police and let them know they were there. He traded them to save himself."
Nobu and Masa exchanged a look.
"His home was our next destination," Masa said.
"I know," Nobu replied. "It looks like all we have left now is Plan B."
"What's Plan B?" Kiyoshi asked with a frown.
Nobu gestured for Kiyoshi to follow him, and guided the other two men toward a large wooden crate. The lid was no longer attached, so he was easily able to move it aside and reveal the cache of firearms stored inside. Kiyoshi let out a low whistle at the sight.
"This has to have been stolen from the military," he commented.
"We don't know where it came from," Masa said, looking down at the weapons solemnly. "It was just here when we arrived. If I had to guess, I'd say that some of our brothers left it here, in case a situation like this ever happened."
"So, what's the plan?" Kiyoshi asked, even though he already had a pretty good idea.
"Suicide mission," Nobu answered. "We storm the pilots' school and hope that NERV's secret police force is stretched too thin hunting down our brothers and sisters to adequately protect them. We won't get out alive, but if we're very lucky, we'll end the madness of mankind defying God's judgment in one fell swoop."
"That's a really horrible plan, guys, and not just because your luck is in the pits."
The trio of men jumped at the unexpected voice coming from above them, then looked up. Supergirl sat on one of the beams by the warehouse's ceiling, her legs crossed.
"Damn it!" Nobu hissed.
"Shoot her!" Masa yelled.
Kiyoshi wanted to ask what good that would do, but his fellow members of the Light of the Divine were squeezing the triggers on their pistols before he could say a word. Even inside the large, mostly empty warehouse, the reports were utterly deafening.
Neither Nobu nor Masa was a marksman, and the first several shots completely missed the Girl of Steel. However, once she abandoned her perch and flew down toward them, their accuracy greatly improved.
Of course, the rounds that did hit her just bounced off harmlessly, to the surprise of no one except the two desperate cultists who'd started shooting to begin with.
As she flew through the storm of gunfire, Supergirl's eyes changed from blue to red, then discharged twin beams of thermal energy right at Masa's weapon. The man released a cry of pain and dropped the pistol—which was already starting to glow orange—to the floor.
"Ahh!" Nobu cried out a moment later as an uppercut from Supergirl launched him across the warehouse floor, his pistol flying out of his hand as he went.
Then she turned her gaze on Kiyoshi. The last cultist put his hands up to show that they were empty. He didn't really see why the presence or the absence of a weapon would matter to a girl who could shrug off a direct hit from a bazooka. Nevertheless, the gesture seemed to placate her somewhat.
"Why are you doing this to us?" he asked, hoping he could reason with her. "Most of us didn't even know about the plan to hijack the defense grid, let alone participate in it. Can't you show us some mercy?"
Supergirl grabbed a handful of his shirt and then lifted his feet off the ground. Since she was shorter than he, she herself had to hover a few feet in the air in order to achieve the feat.
"A friend of mine was almost killed by your organization's little stunt, so I'm not going to take any chances with you people," she said. "But I will show you mercy…by turning you over to the police instead of letting Section Two use you for target practice."
Kiyoshi could only sigh in defeat, realizing that the Girl of Steel wasn't going to be swayed.
I didn't really want to die today, anyway, he thought.
Ryo Joshuyo—or the Parasite, as he now thought of himself—was tired.
He had spent all night walking toward the approximate center of the Geofront, where NERV headquarters and, more importantly, the surface tram were located. He'd long ago expended the energy he'd taken from the rat that was unlucky enough to wake him up, and he was feeling sleepy and hungry.
"Wish I could stop," he muttered to himself. "Or at least find something else to drain…"
Unfortunately for him, fauna was scare inside the Geofront. He would've found a soft patch of ground to have a nap on, but he was afraid that he'd wake up to find NERV security pointing guns at him.
On the plus side, he had almost reached his destination. The small train station that connected the Geofront to the city above was well within sight. As dawn had only come less than half an hour ago, though, he wasn't entirely sure anyone would be there.
"How am I gonna do this?" he wondered aloud as he crept up to the station.
He noticed that one of the passenger trains that the NERV employees used was sitting there, and to his delight, he saw movement within it. A single man dressed in a simple brown uniform stood in the engine compartment, looking over the controls. Ryo approached as quietly as he could, then threw open the door to the compartment and entered.
The operator whirled around, then did a double take at the sight of the man before him. The Parasite's skin had darkened to purple by this time, with white markings appearing on several places on his body.
"What—Who are you?" he asked, more confused than afraid. "Do you need help?"
"No, but you will," Ryo smirked, and leapt toward the operator, wrapping his arms around the man.
White energy cracked around the two of them as the Parasite drained the hapless man, and the operator screamed. Within a few seconds, though, he had gone limp and quiet within the Parasite's grip.
"Man, this is incredible!" Ryo crowed, suddenly feeling like he had gotten eight hours of sleep and eaten a full meal.
The Parasite carelessly tossed the unfortunate train operator aside, and the man fell limply to the floor. He was still breathing, but he wasn't doing much else.
Not that Ryo even bothered to check to see if his victim was still alive or not. Instead, he turned his attention to the controls. He had expected to find little more than a "go" button, a "stop" button, and possibly a lever to control the speed. The reality was a bit more complicated, but Ryo was still able to work the thing with ease, oddly enough. Within minutes, the train was running and heading up the track that would take it back to Tokyo-3.
He thought of the yakuza enforcer who had left him to die, and a malicious light appeared in his eyes. "Yuuto, I can't wait to show you the new me," Ryo said.
Time could be a funny thing, and Asuka was finding that her perception of it was becoming slightly warped. This wasn't a result of her new abilities, however.
At least, it wasn't a direct result of them.
Ever since her powers had begun to bloom in earnest, she'd noticed that she didn't require nearly as much food and sleep as she had before. Since she'd started trying to be a true hero, she'd put this to use, performing a number of late night or early morning patrols. Overall, it was working well so far; she wasn't feeling any real strain from her new schedule, and she believed she could continue on with it indefinitely.
However, her subconscious had yet to get with the program, and the days just seemed unnaturally long to her.
Especially today, she thought, drumming her fingers on her desk, and being careful not to destroy the thing in the process. Is school ever going to end?
She glanced at the clock for what felt like the thousandth time in the last hour and saw to her relief that only a minute remained. Her eyes followed the second hand as it lazily made its way around the clock face, until finally the bell rang.
Thank Gott, she thought.
The redhead quickly gathered up her things, then got up from her seat and made a beeline straight for Shinji. The Third Child saw her approach and gave her a small, nervous smile, not quite sure what to expect.
"Um, do you need something, Asuka?" he asked.
"Hikari and I are going to hang out," she announced. "You're going to carry my books home for me."
Not giving him a chance to object, or make any sort of reply at all, she thrust her books at him. They collided with his stomach with enough force to knock the wind out of him. Shinji nearly doubled over, but he grabbed hold of Asuka's things anyway.
"Ah, sure, of course," he agreed quickly, even as he wondered just how Asuka had managed to become so strong. It wasn't the first time he'd pondered the question. "No problem."
What the heck did they feed her at the Second Branch? He thought. And why don't they serve it at NERV Central?
"Good," she sniffed, then spun on her heel and headed over to the class rep.
"Ready to go, Asuka?" Hikari asked.
"Just give me a minute," the German girl replied. "I want to change."
Hikari resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I don't get why you feel the need to change the second school ends lately," she said, even as she followed the redhead toward the nearest girl's restroom.
"Maybe I'm just sick of all the stifling conformity imposed upon us," Asuka replied. "Or maybe I think this damn uniform hides too much of my natural beauty."
This time Hikari did roll her eyes, more at the first reason than the second, which had been delivered in a (mostly) joking tone.
Westerners...
Nevertheless, she waited patiently while Asuka ducked into one of the bathroom stalls with her red gym bag, emerging a moment later in a skirt and blouse combination, colored a dark shade of burgundy.
"Now are you ready?" Hikari asked.
"As ever," Asuka replied gamely.
The redhead and her friend were able to quickly traverse the distance between the restroom and the exit, despite the press of students eager to escape their classes, and they were soon on the sidewalk outside.
"I'm really glad we're getting to hang out today," Asuka said cheerfully. "Between NERV and everything else, we haven't gotten to spend a lot of time together recently."
"Right," Hikari agreed distantly.
Asuka quirked an eyebrow. "Something wrong?" she asked. "You're not worried about your sisters, are you? Because if they can't make it through one afternoon without you—"
"No, no, it's nothing like that," the pigtailed girl replied, glancing back in the direction of the school. "It's just…you're been pretty rough on Shinji. Don't you think it's time you gave him a break?"
Asuka scowled. "The baka almost got himself killed!" she exclaimed. "Idiocy of that level has to be adequately punished!"
Hikari didn't say anything in response to this, but a knowing smirk appeared on her face.
"What?" Asuka demanded at once. "What is that about?"
"Oh, nothing," Hikari replied, though it sounded like she was struggling not to laugh.
"Yeah, right," Asuka said. "C'mon, spill!"
The smirk didn't leave Hikari's face. "Well, it seems to me that you're so mad at Ikari because him almost getting killed made you afraid for him," she said. "And you were so afraid for him because you care for him."
Despite all of her incredible abilities, Asuka was unable to stop her face from turning bright red. "T-That's absurd!" she sputtered, which only amused the freckled girl further. "You don't need to care about a person to punish their stupidity! Unless you think I like Suzuhara, too."
"Asuka…" Hikari said, and suddenly she didn't seem to be quite on the verge of giggling anymore.
"Honestly, you could do so much better than that dumb jock," the redhead continued. "He's just a hormonal meathead. You need someone who sees how mature you are and realizes that makes you a real catch."
Hikari's eyes narrowed. "You're trying to shift the conversation away from you and Ikari," she said.
"I am not," Asuka said stubbornly, crossing her arms.
The smile reappeared on Hikari's face. "Yes, you are."
The debate that seemed destined to follow would have been fairly lengthy but also completely inconclusive, as they always were when the two girls discussed this particular topic.
Before they could really get into it, however, a loud scream from nearby cut them off.
"…what was that?" Hikari asked, looking understandably spooked.
"I don't—"
Before Asuka could even finish answering her friend, about half a dozen people emerged from a small side street, all of them running at top speed. One of them saw the pair of teenaged girls and shouted, "You have to get away from here! There's a monster over there!"
"A monster?" Hikari asked, her eyes widening.
"It's probably an Angel!" another person exclaimed.
Before either girl could question the group further, they had all run past them, clearly intent on getting away as quickly as possible.
"Do you really think that there's an Angel over there?" Hikari asked.
Asuka didn't immediately answer her friend; she was too busy using her X-ray vision to look through several buildings. She quickly honed in on what the small crowd had been running away from, namely a man with purple and white skin. He was harassing a man whose appearance practically screamed "yakuza", and every time Mr. Purple touched the yakuza guy, a bolt of white energy connected the two.
"Asuka?" the class rep said again.
"I don't think it's an Angel, Hikari," the redhead replied, allowing her vision to return to normal. "If it was, we'd probably be able to see it from here; they do tend to be big. Even so, maybe you should head home, just in case you and your sisters need to evacuate. I have to call NERV and make sure this is just a false alarm."
"Right," Hikari nodded. "I'll call you tonight, and be careful."
"I will," Asuka promised.
The class rep quickly spun on her heel and began to retreat in the direction of her home. Once she was gone, Asuka sighed, vowing that the idiot who had denied her an afternoon with her best friend was going to pay.
Then she looked around, and, satisfied that no one was watching her, she quickly ducked into a nearby alleyway. Once there, her nimble fingers opened the buttons on the front of her blouse. She pulled the garment open, revealing the S-shield on the shirt hidden underneath.
Ryo had managed to find his "old friend" Yuuto with no real difficulty at all. The yakuza enforcer, as a rule of thumb, didn't stray far from the neighborhood his organization controlled, and the Parasite had found him there.
Yuuto had a brown paper bag full of groceries in his hands. That enraged Ryu; so far as the yakuza enforcer knew, he had left his partner in crime to die just the day before. The man shouldn't have been acting like everything was normal.
"Hello, Yuuto," he said.
The yakuza enforcer immediately whirled around when he heard someone call his name, and his eyes widened when they took in the Parasite.
"Who are you?" he asked softly. "What are you?"
"What? You don't recognize me, Yuuto?" Ryo asked in a faux jovial tone. "It's your old friend Ryo Joshuyo! You know, the one you left for dead."
The look that appeared on Yuuto's face when he heard that was truly, truly priceless.
In fact, the old Ryo Joshuyo probably would've considered that by itself to be sufficient payback for what the yakuza enforcer had done to him. Of course, the old Ryo Joshuyo had been willing to accept a lot of crummy things.
The new and improved Ryo Joshuyo had far higher standards.
"Ryo?" Yuuto asked, disbelieving.
The Parasite poked the yakuza enforcer in the chest, and a tongue of crackling white energy suddenly came into existence, flowing from the normal man to the changed one.
"Ow!" Yuuto exclaimed, his gaze becoming fearful. "L-Listen, Ryo, let me help you. You should really be in a hospital."
"A hospital?" Ryo laughed. "I've never felt better, Yuuto!"
He poked the yakuza enforcer again, getting the man to wince and retreat a few steps.
The Parasite smiled wickedly as he felt even this tiny portion of the other man's strength and vitality surge into him. The rush was nothing short of addictive. It was even better than gambling, and that was the vice that had put him on the criminal path to begin with. "You see, Yuuto, whenever I touch somebody, I get strong," Ryo explained, even as he continued to prod at the yakuza man. "I steal their energy, and I can do it to anyone."
By now, the Parasite and the yakuza man had gathered a moderately sized crowd of onlookers. However, his last statement had proved to be just a bit too ominous for a few of them; about half a dozen people decided to flee and began stampeding away.
Ryo ignored them, keeping his attention focused on Yuuto. "It's such an amazing feeling," he said. "It's like the whole world is suddenly mine for the taking, after a lifetime of getting kicked around."
"Yeah, that's…that's real good, Ryo," Yuuto said.
"But words can't really describe it," the Parasite said. "Here, let me show you!"
He grabbed hold of Yuuto's shoulders, and the man threw his head back and screamed as he was suddenly surrounded by white energy, all of which rapidly flowed into the Parasite.
Ryo threw his own head back as well. However, the gesture wasn't one of pain; the Parasite was feeling nothing but pure ecstasy.
"Put him down!" a girl's voice rudely interrupted his moment.
The Parasite opened his eyes and turned to see that Supergirl had just arrived at the scene. He immediately tossed aside Yuuto, who was mostly drained by that point anyway. The yakuza enforcer groaned softly as he hit the ground, then he slipped into unconsciousness.
"Who are you?" Supergirl asked, taking a few steps toward the Parasite. "What happened to you?"
"My name is Ryo Joshuyo," he answered, suddenly the very picture of reasonableness. "I was exposed to some sort of…experimental chemicals, and they made me like this. It's like I'm some kind of monster. Can you help me, Supergirl?"
The Girl of Steel relaxed upon seeing his compliant attitude. "I'm going to take you to a hospital," she answered, approaching him. "Hopefully, they'll be able to change you back to normal."
"Okay, Supergirl," he said. "Just don't hurt me."
"I won't," she vowed.
"No, you won't," he agreed, a wicked smile appearing on his face as he struck, grabbing her by the shoulders.
White lightning erupted into existence around the two of them, far brighter than it had been when the Parasite had drained Yuuto. The small crowd of onlookers had no choice but to look away from the scene, lest they be blinded. However, they could all hear Supergirl's scream.
"Oh, yeah!" Parasite yelled. Yuuto's energy was nothing compared to this!
"Get away from me!" Supergirl cried, getting herself under control and shoving Joshuyo away from her.
The storm of white lightning died the moment they broke contact, but the Girl of Steel didn't feel right. Her heart was hammering unpleasantly in her chest, and the world seemed a good deal dimmer, as though a cloud had blocked out the sun. The sounds all around her had become muffled, too, like there was cotton stuffed in her ears.
Ryo, on the other hand, was obviously feeling great.
"Amazing! So that's what real power feels like!" he shouted, flexing his arms.
He walked over to a parked vehicle, grabbed it, and smoothly hefted it up over his head. With a grunt of effort, he hurled the vehicle into the street, the front end crumpling as it hit the pavement. Then he stared at the car, and twin beams of orange light burst forth from his eyes and hit it, setting it on fire.
"Did you see that?" he demanded of the crowd, even though the group of onlookers was fleeing in terror by this point. "Did you see what I just did?"
Scowling darkly at the Parasite's destructive and downright juvenile display, Supergirl walked over to a nearby stop sign and grabbed hold of it. She ripped it out of the ground the way a normal person might pluck a carrot from the soft earth, getting a big chunk of concrete along with the sign itself.
She tried to ignore how much effort it took her to liberate the thing, as well as how much heavier it felt than it should have.
"All right, that's enough, you jerk!" she exclaimed.
Supergirl swung the sign at her foe like a baseball bat, and the concrete lump on the end hit the Parasite directly in the torso, shattering upon impact.
Ryo Joshuyo wasn't even fazed by the blow.
"Looks like you've still got some juice left," he observed. "Let's fix that."
He charged at her. Supergirl attempted to dodge, but her body responded far more slowly than it should have. The Parasite was easily able to wrap his arms around her in a bear hug, bringing back that horrible white lightning.
"Ahhh!" Supergirl cried.
She tried desperately to free herself, but the Parasite seemed to have become much stronger than he'd been only a minute ago. Impossibly, he was able to restrain her.
Finally, the energy flow ebbed and at last stopped. Joshuyo released his grip on Supergirl, and she staggered backwards, her legs wobbly beneath her. The girl who could usually juggle trucks suddenly felt almost too weak to stand.
"What did you…?" she gasped out.
The Parasite ignored her question, grinning wickedly down at her. "Thank you, Supergirl," he said. "Because of you, nobody will ever push Ryo Joshuyo around again. Nobody!"
Then he took to the air, flying up into the blue and rapidly becoming little more than a purple speck in the distance.
Intending to go after him despite the way she was feeling, Supergirl raised a fist skyward…but her feet remained firmly planted on the ground. She was earthbound.
"No…" she breathed, her inability to defy gravity forcing her to at last accept the obvious, much as she didn't want to see it.
Ryo Joshuyo had stolen her superpowers from her. All of them.
Supergirl looked around, finding the street empty; everyone had done the smart thing and run when the Parasite had started throwing cars around just to show off his new strength.
I have to get my uniform off before anyone comes back! She thought.
Supergirl took off, running as fast as her wobbly legs would take her.
She tried to convince herself that she wasn't running from the pain of defeat.
The hidden laboratory was one of the most secret locations within all of Germany. The Chancellor did not know it existed. The flag officers in charge of the German military did not know it existed. The head of Germany's foremost intelligence agency did not know it existed.
Indeed, aside from the people who staffed the facility, there was really only one person who knew it existed. This individual was currently a hot topic of discussion among that staff.
"Mein Gott, Hans, where the hell did Lorenz get this?"
"Oscar, don't ask too many questions. Around here, it's bad for your health."
The two men, both of whom were wearing white lab coats, were currently gazing at a large hologram of a DNA strand. The 3-D image would've meant little to most people, but Oscar and Hans were easily able to see the subtle yet important irregularities in the shape and pattern.
"I'm a scientist, Hans, it's in my damn nature to be curious," Oscar said, gesturing wildly. "And how can anyone not be curious about this? The things our tests have been showing—!"
"Oscar, shut up," Hans hissed.
Oscar scowled, crossing his arms. However, when he spoke again, he did so in a much quieter voice. "At least we knew where the Adam DNA came from," he said. "But this? All we know is that one day Keel sends us a dead baby, along with a whole bunch of notes about him. How can you not wonder about that?"
Hans pressed his lips together until they formed a thin line. "I heard a…a rumor," he said.
"A rumor?" Oscar asked, frowning.
"Yes, a rumor, but it's the best explanation I've heard about this so far," Hans said. "Now, if I tell you, will you shut up about this already?"
Oscar nodded eagerly.
Hans looked around the lab nervously, to make sure they weren't being observed before he spoke again. "Word has it that Lorenz took the infant from STAR."
"STAR? They haven't been a major player in the scientific world in years," Oscar protested.
"I know that, but that's the story. And like I said, it does make some sense. Those notes Lorenz gave us weren't some amateur's idle ramblings. They were made by a professional scientist," Hans pointed out.
"STAR. I just don't believe it," Oscar said, shaking his head.
Hans shrugged, not really caring what the other man believed. "Well, wherever he came from, we'd better gets this kid's genes sequenced pronto. I hear Lorenz is really eager for this project to bear fruit. There are whispers that he might even come here to check in on us."
Oscar snorted. "As if that geriatric cyclops would ever bother to get his wrinkled old behind over—"
The door behind him opened with a soft hiss, and Hans's eyes widened.
"Herr Chairman Keel!" he exclaimed, very loudly and with a desperate look at Oscar. "How wonderful to see you! What a pleasant surprise!"
Believing that Han was playing a joke on him, Oscar rolled his eyes and turned. His face paled when he took in the sight of the Instrumentality Committee's chairman.
"H-Herr Keel!" Oscar stammered. "Welcome!"
The ancient but still formidable man glared down at the two scientists. At least they thought he was glaring at them; it was hard to tell, thanks to the visor Keel wore.
"Skip the pleasantries, gentlemen," he said. "I came here for an update. What have you managed to learn about the child's DNA?"
"An update. Of course, of course," Hans said, wringing his hands together.
He went over to the holo-projector he and Oscar had been using and pressed a button on it. The single genome that the two men had been looking at winked out, replaced by a much longer chain of DNA.
"We've already sequenced a significant portion of the child's DNA," Hans continued. "Overall, it bears a great resemblance to human genes, even sharing the double-helix structure. However, there are a number of key differences which lead us to believe that the child's origins are not of this world."
"We've plugged the boy's genetic data into Frederick," Oscar added, pointing toward the core of facility's sixth generation supercomputer, "and he simulated what the child would be like if he'd grown to adulthood. He would've continued to appear to be a human male, but he would've developed stupendous powers."
"Gentlemen, you are telling me things I already know," Keel growled. "I don't need scientists for that."
"Ah, of course, sir," Hans said.
"Our apologies," Oscar added.
"Can you clone the boy?" Keel demanded. "Can you splice the genes which would've granted him his powers into a living organism?"
Hans and Oscar traded a look, silently but furiously debating who had to answer those questions.
"Well?" Keel asked impatiently.
"No, sir," Oscar said. "We can't do either of those things."
"Why not?" Keel asked.
Oscar swallowed, sweat appearing at his brow despite the room's cold temperature. "We attempted cloning, sir," he tried to explain. "However, it simply didn't work. All the embryos died, and we haven't managed to discern why yet, sir. We plan to attempt drug therapy to keep them alive, but until we can figure out the reason they failed, we're taking shots in the dark."
"What about splicing?"
"In-infeasible at this time, sir," Oscar stammered. "Frederick has isolated the genomes that are more likely responsible for the superhuman abilities, sir. These, unfortunately, have proven to be enormously complex. We can't figure out how to splice them into a human's genetic code without simply killing that human."
"A hybrid being already exists," Keel said. "I gave you the notes of the scientist who created that hybrid."
"Ah, well, sir, you see…key portions of those notes were deleted, probably just in case they were ever taken," Oscar stammered. "Whoever made them didn't want his discoveries to be spread around."
"So, are you telling me you can't do this?" Keel asked.
"No, sir, I'm not saying that," Oscar replied, swallowing out of nervousness. "What I am saying is that it would take years of study to truly understand this alien DNA."
"Unacceptable," Keel said flatly.
"Sir, these things take a long time. It's as simple as that," Oscar protested. "I mean, perhaps, with a bit of luck, we might be able to create a gene splicing procedure that will produce a more-or-less viable hybrid. However, the risks of both physical and mental deformities occurring in the subject are astronomically high."
"Deformities are acceptable, so long as they don't interfere with the subject's ability to fight," Keel said. "I don't need a new media darling, I need something with the raw power than DNA can provide. Do I make myself clear, gentlemen?"
"As crystal, sir," Oscar said.
"Ah-choo!"
Laying in her bed, Asuka reached out, groping blindly at the objects on her bedside table until she found a box of Kleenex. She plucked one and then blew her nose in it. Making a point of not looking at what she'd produced, the redhead wadded up the tissue and tossed it into a small waste bin next to her bed.
"Ugh, how do normal people put up with this?" she wondered, not for the first time.
Asuka had never been sick before. She'd never even had a case of the sniffles before, so it had been a very unpleasant surprise when she'd woken up the day after the Parasite had drained her with flu-like symptoms.
My powers must've always kept me from catching a cold, even when they were mostly dormant, something I was a complete idiot not to have realized sooner, she thought. And now that I don't have those powers anymore, I'm probably going to be getting sick all the time until I develop more antibodies. Like a kid in kindergarten…
It wasn't exactly a pleasant thought, but if it had been the only thing she had to worry about, Asuka would've been a lot happier than she currently was.
"Ryo Joshuyo," she muttered to herself as she gazed up at the ceiling.
The freak who now had her superpowers hadn't exactly gone to ground. Instead, he'd been rampaging through Tokyo-3, doing or taking anything he wanted. His first act had been to slaughter a bunch of yakuza members for some reason.
After that, though, he'd quickly moved on to thievery.
The Parasite had already claimed millions of yen in both money and property, and he was showing no signs of slowing down.
"And the only reason he can do any of that is because of me," Asuka groaned.
It figured. The moment she starts trying to be a real hero, to help people for the sake of helping people rather than for glory, and she immediately loses her superhuman abilities. Worse, she manages to empower a criminal in the process!
If only there was some way I could stop him, she thought, feeling that everything Joshuyo did with her powers was at least partially her responsibility.
Unfortunately, the only potential solution she had come up with was to ask Emil Hamilton to ship her that piece of kryptonite he had and hope the Parasite had gotten her weaknesses along with her strengths. She had no idea how she could contact Emil without NERV finding out about it eventually, though. Besides, kryptonite or no, she was currently in no shape to out and search for the Parasite.
She had failed in her self-appointed task, and everyone in the city was going to have to live with the consequences of her failure.
Why are you so surprised? An evil little voice inside her head whispered. You always have all the tools you need to ensure success, and you always fail anyway. Look at EVA. You've been getting shown up by a complete rookie! Why did you think you'd be any better at being a superhero?
"Shut up," she growled.
The voice, which had been a product of her own mind anyway, did not venture a reply. Nevertheless, she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that it had had a point. That despite her amazing array of gifts, there was some defect, some flaw, in her that guaranteed she would fail in any endeavor she really tried at.
Caught by a sudden impulse, Asuka somehow mustered to energy to get out of bed, heading over to her closet. She opened it and began to look through the tall stack of tabloid magazines inside.
All of them featured either Power Girl or Supergirl on the cover. Though no one knew it but her, the former had been a glory hound interested only in getting attention. The latter was a true heroine, or at least, she liked to think so. Regardless, Asuka had done real good under both guises.
But the Tokyo Tattler would never showcase the exploits of either of them ever again.
Because I failed, she thought, abruptly gripped by white hot fury, both at the bastard who'd stolen her powers and at herself for letting him.
With a sudden burst of violent motion, Asuka reached into the closet again, pulling out the white leotard she'd worn as Power Girl. With a growl, she grabbed the garment with both hands and pulled as hard as she could. A loud ripping sound filled the room as the white material was quickly reduced to a rag.
Tossing the remains of her old costume away contemptuously, she quickly grabbed her new one and looked at it for a long, silent moment.
Supergirl might as well be dead. It's not like I can swoop in and save anyone without my powers, she thought. Hell, who am I kidding? Supergirl is dead.
With a growl, she grabbed the material of the blue shirt and pulled, attempting to destroy it just as she'd destroyed the Power Girl costume. However, the Kryptonian fabric was tougher than Kevlar; without her powers, she had no hope of tearing it.
"Damn costume's the only 'super' thing here," she said disgustedly, tossing it back into her closet.
Fortunately for the Second Child, she heard the door to the apartment open before she could ponder that issue any further. Her eyes widening, Asuka quickly returned everything she'd taken out back into her closet and returned to her bed, feeling exhausted from her brief burst of anger and activity.
"I'm home," Shinji announced.
"Welcome home," Asuka grumbled, far too quietly for him to possibly be able to hear her.
She heard him bustling around for a couple of minutes, and she concentrated on the sounds he was making, trying to figure out what exactly he was doing. Not that she was so terribly interested; she just preferred to think about that rather than the issues she'd been pondering a moment ago.
It wasn't long before she heard a soft tap on her door. "Asuka?" Shinji called. "You awake?"
"Yes," she replied. "You can come in."
Shinji slid the screen aside with his foot and entered, carrying a tray. Upon it sat a pile of printouts (her homework, Asuka assumed), a glass of water, and a bowl. He carefully set the tray down on her bedside table.
"Can you sit up?" he asked. "Here, let me help you."
"I'm perfectly capable of sitting up in bed without your help, baka," she snapped. "Honestly! I'm sick, not dying."
"Wouldn't know it from the way you were acting this morning," Shinji couldn't help but comment.
Asuka didn't have the energy to yell at him, so she merely glared at the Third Child. The effect was somewhat diminished by the way her cheeks flushed at the reminder.
Never having been ill before, Asuka had thought she literally was dying when she'd woken up sick. She had informed Misato that she probably had to go to the emergency room and had been stunned when her guardian had instead proceeded to take her temperature and then simply send her back to bed.
Asuka had not appreciated it when Misato had teased her for being so dramatic. She also hadn't liked it much when the purple-haired woman had commented that Asuka's "immune system of steel" had finally let a bug through.
"So, how are you feeling?" Shinji asked eventually.
My entire body feels heavy, frail, and slow to me. My senses have been blunted. Also, I feel like a complete idiot and a total failure, she thought.
"About the same as this morning," Asuka answered, which was the truth.
"Ah, well, you look a little better," Shinji said, which wasn't.
With her generally bedraggled look and cherry red nose, the Second Child's sickly appearance was almost cartoonish. Indeed, Shinji mused while forcing himself not to grin, all she needed was a hot water bottle or something on her head to complete the effect.
"Anyway," the Third Child said, "I bought you some soup on the way home. Sorry I didn't make it, but I don't really know how to make chicken noodle soup. I know that's what you think someone with a cold should have, instead of egg and sake soup." His expression made it obvious that he thought this was rather strange.
"Hmph, only you Japanese would think a concoction made from cholesterol and alcohol would make someone healthy," Asuka retorted.
Shinji smiled slightly. "I guess you're right," he said. "Oh, I also got you this."
He grabbed a magazine he'd folded and stuffed into his back pocket and handed it to Asuka. It was a copy of the Tokyo Tattler.
The headline on the cover read "The Parasite's Reign of Terror Continues!"
Great, she thought, quickly flipping through the tabloid and skimming the headlines of the stories within.
One was "Wonder Girl Arrives at Bank Too Late to Stop Parasite," which filled her with a mixture of petty satisfaction and regret. She wanted to see the Parasite stopped, but she had to admit to herself that she'd prefer it if someone other than her chief rival in the superhero business did it.
Another story, "Where is Supergirl?" hit her like a punch to the gut, and she wished Shinji hadn't bought the magazine for her.
Nevertheless, she actually found herself rather touched by the gesture. There was no denying that it been thoughtful of him.
"Thank you," she said to him.
He smiled. "You're welcome. I thought you'd like that," he said. "Uh, I also brought your homework."
"Yay," she groaned sarcastically, picking up the printouts.
She almost went cross-eyed the moment she looked at them. There was a lot of text there, and it was, of course, all in kanji, which had become hard for her to read again. Asuka hadn't noticed how much her mind had sped up or how greatly her memory had improved until the Parasite had rudely reduced her back to human norms.
"Well, I'll leave you so you can eat in peace," Shinji said. "If you need anything, just shout."
"Wait," Asuka said, stopping him in his tracks.
She didn't know what she was doing this. Maybe it was because she was feeling so tired and miserable. Maybe she had actually begun to trust him a little. Maybe she was just feverish. Whatever the reason…
"Could you help me read this?" she asked.
"Sure," he agreed at once. "I'd be happy to."
Asuka relaxed, and only upon doing so did she realize she'd been tense in the first place. Despite knowing Shinji as well as she did, a small part of her had still expected him to mock her for needing his help, she realized.
"Go get a chair or something so you can sit next to me," she ordered him.
"Right," he agreed.
"And Shinji?" she said, halting his exit from her room a second time.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you," she said softly, not quite able to make eye contact with him, "for being so nice to me. I know I've been pretty nasty to you lately, and I…I'm sorry about that."
I was only so pissed off at you to begin with because you scared the hell out me by almost getting yourself killed, she thought, but she found she couldn't make herself speak the words. It had been difficult enough to say what she already had.
Shinji smiled. "Apology accepted, Asuka."
Several hours later, the Parasite concluded that he was having a good night.
Of course, that was only to be expected; ever since his fortunate run-in with Supergirl, every night was good. So was every day, for that matter.
"Let's see, where to next?" he wondered aloud as he soared through the dark night sky. "Ah, that looks good."
Ryo quickly landed in an alleyway next to a large jewelry store. With a smirk, he leaned toward the wall of the building and concentrated. Immediately, the bricks and mortar that made up the wall seemed to become transparent, and his gaze quickly settled upon the display cases. His smirk widened as he took in the glittering gold and jewels within.
"Like taking candy from a…"
He trailed off as the wall seemed to flicker before his eyes, rapidly going from solid to transparent and back again. Within seconds, it had become firmly opaque, no matter how hard he concentrated.
"What the hell?" he muttered to himself.
With a growl, he punched the bricks, then immediately wished that he hadn't. The blow left an impressive spider web of cracks in the wall, yes, but pain shot up his arm.
He hadn't felt pain in several days.
"No!" he hissed, unable to believe what was happening.
His gaze darted over to a dumpster that was sitting in the alley. Ryo approached it lifted it up above his head, intending to use it to smash through the wall of the jewelry store. However, though he managed to pick it up in one smooth motion, he realized the moment he had it in the air that it was heavy. Really, really heavy.
His knees buckled almost instantly beneath the weight, and Ryo was forced to drop the dumpster. It hit the ground with a tremendous crash that he was sure everyone nearby had heard.
I gotta get outta here, he decided.
Instead of attempting to fly, the Parasite quickly darted out of the alley, heading away from the scene at a brisk pace. Fortunately for him, it was a dark, moonless night, and the few people who did happen to see him quickly retreated. He was soon able to find himself a secluded spot to duck into for a moment.
Once away from any potential witnesses, he held up his hand and studied it. There wasn't much light to see by, but he thought he'd split his knuckles open when he'd punched that wall. He was bleeding.
That confirmed it beyond any doubt, and he cursed.
"It's temporary," he said. "Damn it."
He was normal again, mortal again. Without Supergirl's amazing powers, it was only a matter of time until he lost everything he'd taken, and life started generally kicking him in the ass again.
"I need a recharge," he decided aloud. That would be simple enough; he knew exactly where to go. "Time to make a house call."
Shinji yawned as he moved around the kitchen the next morning, preparing breakfast for himself and Asuka. While he was waiting for the toast to be finished, he threw a glance at the empty kitchen chairs and sighed softly. Misato had somehow gotten stuck pulling the graveyard shift the previous night, and Asuka was still sick, of course.
It's too quiet, he thought, before almost laughing at the irony. Not too long ago, he'd hated the amount of noise that always seemed to exist within the Katsuragi apartment.
He couldn't make up his mind, apparently.
The toaster popped, and Shinji quickly extracted the two slices and applied a little butter to them. After placing them on a plate, he grabbed a can of apple juice from the fridge and headed toward Asuka's room.
"Asuka," he called, tapping on the door. "Are you—?"
He was interrupted when the screen was abruptly thrown open, revealing the Second Child, who was dressed in her school uniform.
"Whoa!" Shinji exclaimed, startled.
He flinched back, causing one of the slices of toast to fall off the plate he was carrying. Quick as lightning, Asuka reached out and plucked it out of the air like it was the easiest thing in the world.
"Guten Morgen, Shinji!" she said, very energetically.
It was at this point that he realized just how bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the Second Child was looking that morning. It was quite a turn around from her sorry state the day before.
"Asuka, you're not sick anymore?" he asked.
It was the kind of dumb question that would've normally drawn the redhead's ire. However, Asuka was in such a good mood that morning that she decided to let it slide. "Yup, never felt better in my life," she said.
"I'm glad," he said. "Uh, this is for you." He added, holding up the plate with the remaining slice of toast and the can of juice.
"Danke," Asuka replied, accepting the offered items and taking a large bite out of the toast.
Minutes later, the two of them had left the apartment and were heading to school. Asuka found herself mightily tempted to actually start skipping, but she resisted the urge. Mostly because she knew it would make her look childish, but also because she feared that she would sail ten feet into the air with each step; it was actually taking some effort to keep herself earthbound that morning.
I didn't fail. Not permanently, anyway, Asuka thought. I can still be a superhero.
Of course, Ryo Joshuyo was still out there, and his ability to steal energy was still dangerous. However, she suspected that he wasn't feeling nearly so super anymore, now that she was feeling better. She'd definitely have to track the guy down, but he could wait a little while.
"Hey, Shinji, have you been going to the gym while I was stuck in bed?" Asuka asked.
"Uh, no, not really," he admitted sheepishly.
"Hmph, lazy-bones," Asuka said. "Well, we'll have to go after school, then. I haven't had any exercise for days."
"Sure, Asuka, if you want to," Shinji agreed.
Cracking open a can of her favorite Yebisu, Misato flopped down on her couch and took a long drink.
"Ah," she said with satisfaction, "this is what it's all about, right, Pen-Pen?"
Her avian water fowl, who was currently nursing his own can of beer, responded with a happy "Wark!" of agreement.
"That's right!" she said as she grabbed the remote control and turned the TV on. "This is what makes doing a graveyard shift worth it: getting to loaf around the house at 4 o'clock in the afternoon."
"Wark!" Pen-Pen replied.
Of course, Misato mused as she took another drink from her can, her lazy time didn't normally last quite this long. Usually, Shinji and Asuka would be back from school by this point, but they had left a message on the answering machine to inform her that they'd be going to the gym afterwards.
"The gym. Hmph, I'll bet the only reason the two of them are always going there is to see each other get all hot and sweaty," she muttered. "Not that either one of them would ever admit that, of course."
Pen-Pen, who seemed to be getting into the daytime soap opera her TV was currently displaying, just turned and gave his owner a dirty look, as though chastising her for interrupting.
"Why are we watching this crap, anyway?" Misato asked, picking up the remote again.
"Wark!" Pen-Pen squawked angrily, flapping his wings in great agitation and approaching her at a rapid pace.
"Okay, okay, sheesh," Misato said, putting down the remote and picking up her can once more.
Pen-Pen immediately calmed.
Damn, bird, she thought sourly. Fine, I really just wanted to get a little tipsy, anyway. The TV's just background noise.
Ignoring the little voice in her mind which was saying that was bunk, and that she'd just lost a battle of wills to a bird, the purple-haired woman took another drink from her beer. She'd need a new one soon.
I still can't believe Asuka bounced back just like that, she thought. The redhead had sounded perfectly chipper on the message she'd left, but it still seemed impossible to Misato. Just yesterday, she'd been wondering if she needed to check the Second Child into the NERV Medical Ward.
Then again, when she thought about, she didn't really know why she was so incredulous. Asuka had always been obnoxiously healthy. Misato remembered how she, like any other person, had occasionally come down with something while she was serving as Asuka's guardian in Germany. Despite the fact that they'd lived together, the redhead had never caught her germs, not even once.
"I probably should've been more shocked that she got sick to begin with," Misato muttered to herself. "Not with how abruptly she—"
The ringing of her doorbell cut her off in mid-sentence. Pen-Pen turned and gave her a look, as if to say "You get it."
This annoyed the woman of the house, but since the penguin was much too short to answer the door, she was pretty much stuck with the job anyway. She looked down at herself, just to double check that she was dressed. Upon finding that she was clad in her favorite yellow tank top and denim shorts, she rose from her couch, grumbling beneath her breath.
The doorbell rang again.
"All right, all right, I'm coming," she called, even as she wondered who it could be.
The kids have keys, Kaji would probably be shouting suggestive things through the door by now, and Ritsuko would've called first, she thought. Ugh, I hope it's not a salesman.
The doorbell rang a third time. Fortunately, Misato had reached the door by this time. With a small scowl, she quickly undid the locks and then threw the door open.
Only to find herself face-to-face with the man who had been dominating the local news for the past several days.
"Hey, there," the Parasite greeted her. "Is Asuka home?"
Caught entirely by surprise, Misato immediately followed her first instinct. Unfortunately, her first instinct was to reach for her gun, which she of course didn't carry on her when she was just watching TV at home.
The Parasite reached out and grabbed the Ops Director by the shoulders, instantly calling the white tongues of energy into being. Misato threw back her head and screamed in surprise due to the pain. Moments later, she slumped forward in his grip, barely conscious.
"Huh, guess not," the Parasite observed.
Author's Notes: And thus, act one of Asuka's conflict with the Parasite is concluded. I really don't have a whole lot to say here, so thanks as always to my readers and reviewers, and thanks to my beta readers as well.