Green Lantern New Genesis
The Redline
Featuring: The Flash and Kid Flash
Since having English dumped into his mind by his ring, Shinji was doing much better in his classes, especially English. He had never seen himself as a particularly smart, especially compared to Asuka, but the work seemed easier for him than it had been back home, a place he tried to think of as little as possible as he tried to acclimate himself to his new life. His "friendship" with Amy was doing well to. They actually talked to each other as she read, and he listened to music after Hal had gotten something called an I-pod that let him download music from the computer. It was only a few words here and there, but the silence wasn't uncomfortable either. These thoughts were rolling through his mind as he finished his final assignment for the day. Closing his book, he looked at the clock. Hal had told him that his day job was as a test pilot, and that he would be working late, so had left enough money for takeout. Looking at the American currency, he had the ring transfer the amount to yen. Pocketing it he left the apartment and walked to the corner market. Having the ring translate the prices into yen he managed to buy chicken, vegetables, rice and soup stock. Taking it all back to the apartment he went to the fridge and opened it, only to see fuzzy food and beer. Looking around he saw the apartment in an equal state of mess. It wasn't quite as bad as Misato's place had been when he first saw it, which was probably why he was first noticing it, but it was still a mess. Exhaling softly, he focused and almost unbidden half a dozen images of Asuka in a maid's uniform appeared and immediately dispersed as he lost focus in shock.
"I've got to keep it together" He thought to himself trying to calm down. Once he thought he was calm enough he focused and the constructs in the maid uniform re-appeared wearing a warm smile the girl he had known had never worn. Trying not to wince or feel guilty he put them to work cleaning up the apartment, sweeping, dusting and washing the cloths. He turned to cooking which always calmed him down. He cut the chicken and vegetables, boiled the stock and cooked it all together, and in less than an hour the entire apartment was flooded with the scent of cooking. He cooked the rice and stir fried the remaining vegetables as he heard the door open. He immediately dismissed the constructs to avoid any awkward questions and plated the stir fry and rice on plates and filled two bowls with soup as Hal walked in, followed by a pretty woman with dark hair wearing a tight violet dress. For a minute Shinji's breath caught in his throat as he thought he was looking at Misato, but then he saw the woman's strong Caucasian features.
"Shinji this is my boss Carol Ferris" Hal said.
"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Ferris" Shinji said bowing.
"Nice to meet you too" She said giving Hal a strange look.
"I'm glad we decided to skip dinner because this smells amazing. I hope you have enough for three?" She asked.
"Of course," The boy said glowing from the compliment. He made up another plate and they all tucked in. Carol continued to compliment him, and he kept saying it was a simple dish made with the money Hal left him for takeout, which earned Hal another strange look. When they had finished Shinji began to gather up the dishes, only to be stopped by Carol who said that since he cooked, she and Hal would wash up, earning an irritated look from Hal. While they washed the dishes, Shinji finished the last of the housework the constructs failed to do when he dismissed them. By the time Hal and Carol were done with the dishes, he had folded the rest of the laundry and done a little bit of sweeping.
"Are you leaving Ms. Ferris?" Shinji asked as the woman was led to the door by Hal.
"I have to go in to work early tomorrow. Don't let Hal suck you into cleaning up his messes like the rest of us" Carol said grinning, drawing a surprised chuckle out of him.
"It's fine. Compared to my old roommate he's not a problem" He said and ducked his head to suppress the feelings the statement brought up. Carol took the gesture as another bow and left as Hal closed the door.
"You know, if I'd known you'd make me look this bad I'd have thought twice about taking you in" Hal said with mock seriousness, the mock going completely over the boy's head.
"I'm sorry. I didn't think I was doing anything wrong" He said, his head down.
"Jeez kid, lighten up. I'm joking" Hal said ruffling the boy's hair.
"Thanks for cleaning and making dinner, I appreciate it, but if we're going to live together, you've got to get a sense of humor" He said lightly.
"I'm going to take a shower" He said.
"Sure thing, I showered at Ferris so I'm going to hit the sack" Hal said. As Shinji lay in bed, he thought about how similar Hal and Misato were as silent tears trickled into his pillow. Now that the shock and novelty of his situation had died down, he was beginning to think more and more about the people he had left behind and wondering where they were. He wanted to ask Hal if the corps would help him find the answer, but was afraid that he would have to tell Hal everything about his time at NERV, and he didn't know what the man he had come to respect would think of him after that. The guardians knew mostly everything, and they hadn't taken his ring, but he was still scared, and fear was a green lantern worst enemy. He woke early the next morning, which was Saturday, which American kids had off along with Sunday.
"It's going to take some getting used to having the entire weekend off" He thought as he made scrambled eggs for him and Hal who came stumbling in about an hour later for a cup of coffee.
"Aren't you lazy teenagers supposed to sleep in as late as possible?" Hal grumbled.
"And are all former military types so lazy?" Shinji shot back. Hal stared at him a moment before laughing out loud.
"So, you do have a sense of humor" He said as Shinji brought him eggs.
"We should really divide up the chores" Hal said looking at the eggs abashedly.
"It's fine. I'm used to it, and it's a way for me to pay you back for helping me. Besides, it's easy if I use my ring" He said.
"Well ring aside you don't need to repay me. You're the best roommate I've ever had, and I'm happy to have you" He said taking a sip of coffee.
"Thank you" Shinji said blushing.
"Hurry up and eat" Hal said wolfing down his eggs.
"Why?" Shinji asked eating his at a more human pace.
"I'm taking you to meet a friend of mine, another superhero" Hal said.
"Like batman?" Shinji asked timidly, remembering his experience with the black clothed man and his colorful partner.
"Hardly" Hal said as he sent a beam of energy down the hall and brought back their lanterns. "Charge up and let's go" He said putting his ring to the lantern and reciting the oath.
"What about the dishes?" Shinji asked.
"We'll deal with them later" Hal said. Shinji acquiesced and charged his ring. They locked up the apartment and flew out the window.
"Where are we going?" Shinji asked as they picked up speed, quickly surpassing the speed of sound.
"Central City" Hal said. It took them five minutes before they were flying over the bright and gleaming Central City.
"It feels, different from coast city" Shinji said.
"Does it?" Hal asked.
"So, where's this friend?" Shinji asked as they coasted over the city.
"There" the man said pointing at a red streak racing through the streets.
"Whoa" Shinji said as they saw it catch up to a swiftly moving car and moving with it circled it in a red cyclone. The car now without wheels skidded on its steel hubs, kicking up sparks before grinding to a stop.
"Not bad huh?" Hal asked and motioned for Shinji to follow him. They followed the red streak as it met up with a yellow streak and raced to a bank that was being robbed. Half a dozen bank robbers piled out of the bank only to be met by a blur of red and yellow.
"Should we help them?" Shinji asked.
"Why interrupt their fun?" Hal asked as the robbers were quickly disarmed and detained.
"Let's go say hi" Hal said and descended, Shinji following.
"Hey flash" Hal said as the blurs stopped and stood over the criminals. A tall thin man in a skintight red bodysuit stood next to a shorter boy in yellow, a mop of ginger hair sticking out over his masked head.
"Lantern, what's up?" The man asked as they shook hands.
"Nothing much" Hal said as the men shook hands. "So, this is your new sidekick. About time" Flash said.
"He's not a sidekick, he's a full lantern like me" Hal said.
"So when can I be a full flash?" The boy next to the man asked. The man just stared at him.
"The two of us have business to attend two. The two of you stay here and stay out of trouble." The Flash said.
"Back in a flash" The man said and sped off in a red blur, Hal right behind him.
"Does he say that often?" Shinji asked.
"All the time" Kid Flash grumbled.
"So, what should we do?" Shinji asked.
"I don't know. They told us to stay put, but I'm not good at standing still" Kid Flash said grinning. A cold feeling settled in the pit of Shinji's stomach. Asuka had gotten that smile when she did something particularly dangerous and painful for him.
"What did you have in mind?" Shinji asked trying not to swallow. Kid Flash shot away at high speed and Shinji followed. He watched from above as Kid Flash led them into the bad part of town. He raced down crumbling streets until he almost ran into a biker gang rumbling down the street. Shinji grimaced and extended the range of his ring to pick up the conversation.
"You're in the wrong part of town hero" The leader, a beefy bearded man dressed in a cut off leather jacket said.
"How about a race tubby" Kid flash mocked him and sped off, the bikers racing behind them. Shinji followed them not certain what to do.
"They may be criminals, but they haven't done anything wrong yet, and Kid Flash was the one who pissed them off" He thought as he watched the young speedster run down the road, the bikers trying to keep up.
"Why isn't he going any faster? Is he toying with them?" He wondered. But the bikers pulled up beside him, the leader swinging an iron chain at his head. Kid Flash barely avoided it, and Shinji saw that he was moving more desperately, and realized he couldn't go any faster. Reacting quickly and trying not to panic he swooped down and caught kid flash up in an energy sphere. The bikers stopped after racing another few feet and looked up. When they saw him they began shaking their fists and one even pulled a shotgun from behind his seat and took a shot at them, but Shinji was already flying as far away as possible back to the safer side of the city, where he set them both down on a rooftop.
"Thanks for the help, finally" Kid Flash snapped at him as soon as the shield vanished.
"Me? How was I supposed to know you were going to pick a fight with a biker gang, who hadn't done anything wrong?" Shinji snapped back.
"Who cares? They were a biker gang in the bad part of town; of course, they did something wrong" Kid Flash told him matter of fact
"You can't be serious?" Shinji asked.
"Are you sure you're a green Lantern, because all I'm seeing is yellow" Kid Flash said scornfully.
"Find your own way down" Shinji said and turning flew off the roof.
"Hey, you can't just leave me here" Kid Flash called after him, but Shinji ignored him.
"He's just like Asuka. Arrogant, hardheaded, thinks he knows everything, thinks he's invincible, nothings ever his fault" Shinji ranted in his head as he flew back home. He went grocery shopping, and then began making dinner to help calm his nerves. He was so focused on cooking that he hardly noticed when Hal walked in until he spoke.
"Did you leave Kid Flash stranded on a roof?" He asked sternly.
"He picked a fight with a biker gang for no reason" Shinji said.
"That doesn't matter. Kid look at me" Hal said gently but firmly. Shinji turned and looked at his roommate who had a stern and somewhat disappointed look on his face.
"This line of work is dangerous kid, and the one thing that makes it safer is that we have each other's backs, no matter what kind of stupid stunts some of us pull" Hal explained smiling from experience.
"You may not like Kid Flash personally, but professionally you need to watch his back no
matter what, understand?" He asked.
"I understand" Shinji said trying not to grimace.
"Good, now what's that you're cooking?" He asked. They ate and Shinji did his homework before bed. However, he couldn't sleep, considering Hals words. Getting out of bed he put on his uniform and flew to central city.
"Ring find me the address of Kid Flash" Shinji said. He didn't expect the ring to actually give him the information, until an address popped up.
"Wally west?" He thought reading the address. He flew to the right neighborhood and landed behind the west home. He dismissed his costume and producing a glowing green finger tapped on the window.
"Who's there?" Kid Flashes voice asked as the window shifted open.
"It's me, kid lantern" Shinji said.
"Dude, you used you're ring to find my house?" The boy asked.
"Yeah, I wanted to apologize for leaving you on that roof today" Shinji said.
"Can you come around to the front?" Kid Flash asked.
"Sure" Shinji said and using his ring flew quickly to the front of the home. He waited for a few moments before a boy opened the door. He had a mischievous freckled face with red hair and was wearing a red jacket
"You're Kid Lantern?" Kid Flash asked, somewhat skeptically looking him up and down. Shinji showed him the green ring on his finger. "Dude, you look twelve" He said. "I'm fourteen" Shinji said deadpan. "Right" The boy said rubbing the back of his head. "About you leaving me on that roof. You don't need to apologize. It was stupid of me to pick a fight with those bikers. It's just that flash keeps me on such a short leash most of the time and it gets so annoying" He said exasperated. "He's just trying to keep you safe" Shinji said. "I know it just chafes sometimes" Wally said. "Must be nice having a guy as cool as Mr. Jordan as your mentor" Kid Flash said startling the other boy. "You know his name?" Shinji asked. "Sure, he's not that discreet with it as he likes people to think" Kid Flash said. "So, it must be pretty cool" He said again. "It's alright. I mean he's not that responsible, and he's a slob to boot" Shinji complained. "But he lets you do what you want without looking over your shoulder all the time" Wally said admiringly. "Sometimes I wish he would" Shinji sighed.
"Dude, are you kidding?" Wally asked giving him a strange look.
"I don't know" Shinji said looking away. An awkward silence followed.
"So, see you around?" Wally asked holding out a hand.
"Um, yeah" Shinji said taking it. Wally went back inside as Shinji flew away.
This chapter was a bit hard, balancing Wally's immaturity and recklessness with Shinji's maturity and responsibility. I like the flash, Green Lantern pairing, so any advice on how I could make the pairing better, let me know.