Review Responses:
Russell1: Asuka won't be any superhero; otherwise it'd be superhero overload. Rei will have interesting powers though – I didn't honestly think of a Green Lantern but that's a good idea, although Rei will be her own original superhero.
Ikari Zero: I'll give you a hint: It's something to do with that machine…
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Shinji accidentally bumped into the class rep as he walked out the door. "Oh! I'm sorry, Horaki!" He blurted out quickly.
Hikari laughed it off. "Don't worry about it, Shinji – and please, call me Hikari."
"Okay…I'm sorry." Shinji turned and began to walk off.
"You don't always have to say sorry, Shinji," the girl said.
Shinji flashed her a smile. "But it's polite. I have to go eat lunch, I'll see you later."
She frowned. Did Shinji just smile and act…casual?
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"Ayanami, we must talk," Shinji said as he found her sitting by herself on a bench. "It has been two weeks, and you promised to tell me."
Rei looked up at him. "You may address me as Rei, Ikari."
"Then you may address me as Shinji," The former pilot replied.
"Very well, I will tell you," Rei said as she looked down again. "Will you eat with me?"
"Uh…okay," Shinji replied in genuine surprise, his shy act over.
As he sat down beside her and took out his food, it was Rei that asked the first question.
"How does it feel…to be greater than others?"
Shinji was taken aback a little by the seriousness of the question. Regaining his composure, he thought for a moment. "That's a hard question to answer. I don't really know since I've never thought about it, but I feel happy that I can use them to help others."
Rei nodded in satisfaction. Even with these powers his selfless nature is unchanging.
"Will you tell me how you knew?" Shinji asked again.
"It was a simple matter. I noticed that as you talked, you held more confidence in your voice than when you act around your friends. Although I couldn't pinpoint why, as I saw you fly by as Superman I made the comparison of your new height and confidence to his before I finally saw through the deception."
"You have an odd choice of words," Shinji noted. "Deception…you make it sound bad."
"Is not deception what it is?" Rei asked. "How else can I express it?"
"I understand," Shinji replied.
Both finished eating their meal before standing up.
"It was good we could talk, Rei," Shinji said.
"I feel likewise, Shinji," Rei replied.
Suddenly Shinji snapped his head. "I must go now, Rei. There's a man screaming for help several kilometres away." And in a blur, he disappeared.
You have exceptional speed, Rei noted.
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Several days later – the attack of the 14th Angel (A/N: May be different to original battle – well duh)
Asuka gave a scream of pain as the 14th Angel wrapped its paper-like arms around her arms, breaking them with a sickening snap before sending her flying away.
Rei fired her rifle, emptying the entire clip but to avail as they bounced harmlessly off its AT field.
The Angel stretched out, firing a cross-shaped beam that struck Unit-00 before it had a chance to activate its AT field.
"Rei!" The commander yelled from his desk at headquarters.
"Both Unit-00 and Unit-02 have been disabled!" Makoto shouted. "There's no way they can fight anymore!"
On the screen, the NERV crew watched in horror as the Angel pounded on both Units, tearing apart their defenses before finally sending them flying away into cliffs.
"ASUKA! REI!" Misato screamed. "Get them on the channel, now!"
Maya quickly typed in the appropriate commands only to have red signals flashing all over her monitor. "Negative! The Evas are completely out of contact!"
"Damn it," The commander growled. "Get me the Third Child!" He snapped tersely, playing his last option.
"We can't! Section 2 lost track of him several minutes ago!" Maya shouted.
What are we going to do?! Misato thought.
"Major! A huge energy pattern has appeared on the screen!" Maya announced.
Misato smiled. Here comes the heavily artillery.
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Superman dodged one of the Angel's paper arms, gathering his breath and blowing it out as frozen air.
The arm froze, as expected but the Angel fired out another beam of light which blew across the Man of Steel's invincible skin, although not injuring him certainly blowing him back quite a fair bit.
Superman gritted his teeth as he slowed himself down before using his speed and flight to attack the Angel like a comet, catching it unawares and giving it no time to put up its AT field as he pierced it, coming cleanly through the other side.
That'll slow it down, Superman thought as he flew to the two Evangelion units' aids.
"Rei!" Superman shouted, floating up to the front of the blue Evangelion's face. "Are you alright?"
His super-ears picked up her soft voice in no time. "I am unharmed."
"Great," He replied, turning to Unit-02. "Asuka?"
"I'll be alright…" The redhead growled.
"Stay here, I'll take care of this thing." Superman blasted off, curving around to face the Angel.
It was badly wounded, with a large, gaping hole where Superman had pierced it. However, as the hero thought, it was slowly regenerating.
But he wouldn't give it that time.
Superman flew underneath it, dodging its pathetically slow paper arms. Using his incredible strength, he pushed the Angel upwards.
And upwards.
And upwards.
"Gahh!" Superman grunted, throwing the Angel into space.
But he knew that wouldn't stop it.
So with amazing speed, he flew towards it, ramming into it like a spear and greatly increasing its speed.
"You may have an AT field, but I doubt even that will stop you from being burnt by the sun," Superman said with a grin, pushing it ever more and more closer to that burning star.
By now they were so close that the searing heat was scorching the edges of Superman's cape.
But he didn't notice that. As he was this close to the sun, he felt completely re-energized, far more powerful than what he usually was.
"Heave…HO!" He spun around, throwing the Angel in a beautiful arc into the searing sun, watching as its body burnt to a crisp.
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"Put your hands in the air, Superman!"
Superman groaned as he floated down to the earth. "Uh, guys? I kinda defeated that Angel for you."
Instead of a hero's welcome, all Superman had received were threatening warnings and several companies of soldiers and tanks.
"The commander wishes to see you. It would be unwise not to comply. Failure to comply will result in you being shot!"
The Man of Steel shrugged. "Seems like a simple choice."
He then floated upwards, gently flying away.
"FIRE!"
A volley of cannon shells and bullets flew towards him, immediately making contact and blowing into a large volume of smoke.
But Superman's sleek black and silver suit remained unscathed. "That tickles!" He laughed, giving them a wave. "Bye!"
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"It appears our assumptions of our new enemy were correct," The commander said from behind his desk.
"A transmission is coming in from SEELE, commander," Maya said.
"Send it in," The commander replied.
The phone on his desk rung. He swiped in his access card, picking it up.
"Yes?"
"Commander Ikari, we have witnessed Superman in action and aren't planning to stay and find out what he wants," The voice of SEELE-01 said. "We're sending in a…device that, according to our calculations will greatly diminish the power of our new enemy."
"Tell me everything," Gendo replied.
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"Doctor Akagi?"
"Rei," Ritsuko acknowledged. "It's time."
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"What do you think of the old men's plan, Ikari?" Fuyutsuki and the commander both watched the Evangelion units as they were being repaired.
And to the side, stood Evangelion Unit-01. It seemed to be in mourning, as if missing something…
"It has less than ten percent chance of working," Gendo replied. "But we've had worse odds."
"What I don't understand is…"
"It is more than likely that our staff is crawling with moles. I have reasons to suspect several of them, but this is a minor setback. They have been able to produce quicker results than Dr. Akagi, which leads me to suspect that they are far more interested in Superman than they are letting on."
"Why would that be?"
"Their motives are unclear at this point. However, be sure, everything will become clear in the end."
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"Misato?"
"Yes, Shinji?"
"Are you alright?"
The major frowned as she fingered her necklace. "I'm not sure…it's just like everything's happening so fast, it's incredible. You resigning from NERV but still living here…Superman our new resident Angel-killer and military outlaw…"
"Why does father want to kill him?" Shinji asked in confusion. "Isn't he helping us?"
Misato sighed. "Not everyone considers Superman a hero. No matter how hard you fight, no matter how much glory you obtain…not everyone will love you."
"Then who are the real heroes?" Shinji asked.
Misato didn't answer that as she walked off.
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Shinji stood by the sea in thought.
Not everyone will accept Superman. Not everyone will love him. But…heroes aren't meant to do what they do for praise, do they? Is Superman a true hero? Am I doing this because of something else other than helping others? Something selfish?
A slow, pleasant humming started beside him.
Shinji instantly recognized it as 'Ode to Joy'.