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 the 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 Four: Yellow

Gendo Ikari never had enjoyed meeting with the SEELE council. The old men hid behind their holographic monoliths and their distorted voices, putting him at an inherent disadvantage. He was, of course, more than equal to them despite this, but that didn't mean he had to like dealing with the handicap, or them for that matter.

Today the ordeal was especially unpleasant.

"The events that occurred during the most recent battle were unacceptable, Ikari," SEELE-04 began without preamble.

"Shall I go back and change them, then?" Gendo asked in a perfectly controlled voice.

"Don't get smart with us, Ikari," SEELE-11 growled. "You allowed NERV to be outperformed and completely humiliated by a completely unknown entity. You must answer for this."

"The Green Lantern is not a completely unknown entity any longer," Gendo said.

As he'd hoped, this stirred the council's interest and diverted their attention away from the topic at hand.

"What do you mean?" SEELE-01 asked. "What have you discovered?"

"I had the MAGI search for any information on this Green Lantern, on the off-chance something would come up. Something did," Gendo said. "There have been previous incidents where beings who wore the same emblem that the Green Lantern has were seen, wielding strange powers that involved green light."

"Go on," SEELE-01 said.

"There are two old legends, one from the American Old West and the other from ancient China," Gendo said. "In the legend from the States, a man who was or managed to pass for a Native American fought and eventually defeated a strange criminal known only as 'Traitor.' In the Chinese legend, a dragon-like creature carved himself a small kingdom out of the countryside."

"All well and good, but have you actually learned anything useful?" SEELE-07 grumbled.

"If there's any truth to the legends, then the Green Lantern is not invincible," Gendo said. "The one in China was killed, and the one in America was badly wounded."

"How?" SEELE-07 asked. "How can she be hurt?"

This, unfortunately, was where Gendo began to run out of steam. "The means by which the Chinese Green Lantern met its end are… unclear. The legend of the one in America is more coherent, though multiple versions still exist. Apparently, that Green Lantern was wounded with the use of special bullets."

"'Special bullets'?" SEELE-02 asked.

"Most versions of the story state that the bullets were made of silver," Gendo said.

SEELE-10 snorted derisively. "Silver bullets? Is the Green Lantern a werewolf?" he scoffed. "Stick to realities, Ikari, not silly tales."

"Realities like the way the Green Lantern single-handedly defeated an Angel that NERV refused to even engage," SEELE-09 said, bringing the conversation back to where it had been, much to Gendo's displeasure. "The whole thing has been a public relations nightmare for NERV."

"In order to function effectively, NERV requires more money than most countries expend in a decade," SEELE-11 said. "Do you think it's easy to keep that kind of money flowing into your coffers, even for us?"

"It's not," SEELE-03 spoke up, apparently unwilling to let his colleague's rhetorical question hang for even a moment. "And you making NERV look utterly impotent doesn't make it any easier."

"I would remind the council that NERV did not evacuate Tokyo-3 on my orders," Gendo said. "I was in the Antarctic at the time, acquiring the Lance. The decision to abandon the city was made by the Operations Director."

It was as subtle reminder to the council that Gendo now controlled yet another of the crucial elements for invoking a controlled Third Impact, and a not-so-subtle attempt to shift the responsibility to Kaji.

Unfortunately, the members of SEELE were having none of it. "You were the one who appointed the new Operations Director," SEELE-04 snapped. "And regardless, as the Commander of NERV, it is you who are ultimately responsible."

"In any event, we are left with little choice but to slash NERV's auxiliary budget by ten percent," SEELE-01 spoke up.

"That could delay the Instrumentality Project," Gendo said, playing his last card and hoping it proved effective.

It didn't.

"In that case, Ikari, I suggest you make sure the next victory against the Angels belongs to NERV," SEELE-01 said. "This meeting is adjourned."

With that, all the SEELE monoliths disappeared, leaving Gendo seated in a dark room all by himself. The Commander of NERV sat at his desk motionlessly for several seconds, as though waiting for them to return. A few moments passed in complete silence and stillness.

And then he abruptly slammed his fist against the top of his desk, indulging in a display of emotion he never would have allowed himself if someone was watching.

Immediately regaining his composure, Gendo stood up and departed the room where he had his virtual meetings with SEELE. Both Fuyutski and Ritsuko were waiting outside the door for him. No matter; the chamber was soundproofed, so there was no way either of them could have heard him striking his desk in his brief, explosive outburst.

"Well?" Fuyutski prompted.

"The old men have cut our auxiliary budget," Gendo said curtly as he began to head down the hall.

"By how much?" Fuyutski asked as he and Ritsuko felt in step with the Commander.

"Ten percent," Gendo replied.

Fuyutski let out a low whistle. "That will curtail our research."

Ritsuko nodded in agreement. "We'll have to delay the planned experiment to gather data for the autopilot system with the dummy bodies," she said grimly. "I suppose I'll have time to oversee patching up the shoddy work done on the Sigma Unit now, though."

Of course, a patch job is all it'll be, Ritsuko silently added. Oh well, it's not like it needs to last all that long anyway.

"I still want the Dummy System to be ready as soon as possible," Gendo said. "Don't allow the budget cuts to hamper you more than is inevitable, Doctor."

"Of course not, sir," Ritsuko said, silently working on the best way to evade the Commander's wrath.

"Fuyutski, I need you to go to the city council meeting later today in my place," Gendo said.

The older man sighed. And here I thought I might get out of the boring job for once.

"And what will you be doing?" Fuyutski asked.

"I'll be having a…talk with Captain Kaji," Gendo replied.


"Are you all right, Kaji?" Misato asked him some time later. "You don't look too hot."

The new Operations Director, his tactical consultant, and the Project-E Chairperson were all gathered in the control room to one of the EVA test chambers, along with several technicians. The moment they'd entered, Misato had noticed that Kaji was looking a bit pale and drawn, and she'd eventually become curious enough to ask him why.

"Oh, I'm fine, Misato," Kaji said, though he didn't sound it. "I must have just eaten some bad fish or something."

"Or maybe you're still suffering from the chewing out the Commander gave you," Ritsuko said with a smirk.

Misato's eyebrows went up and she smirked. "You got chewed out by the Commander?" she asked, and then in as innocent a tone as she could muster, she added, "Whatever for?"

Kaji gave her a look warning her to drop it, and Misato did, since Kaji was now firmly above her in the chain of command. A big part of military planning was choosing one's battles, after all.

"Are we ready to begin the second cross-compatibility test yet?" Ritsuko asked her underlings.

"Not quite yet, ma'am," Maya said. "We still haven't finished establishing the baseline."

"Well, let me know when you're done," Ritsuko said.

"I still don't think this whole batch of tests is a good idea," Misato said. "When did you come up with the idea for them, anyway? This morning? I haven't heard anything about these experiments."

"These experiments were planned a long time ago," Ritsuko said. "We're just doing them a bit earlier than we expected to."

"Why?" Misato asked.

"Because SEELE cut our budget, and Ikari told me not to let it slow down our research too much," Ritsuko said. "So I need to do something or he'll chew my ass off."

"And that's a good reason to do this experiment early," Misato said sarcastically. "Are you sure you haven't skipped some of the necessary prep-work or something in your rush to show the brass you're not just sitting on your ass doing nothing?"

Ritsuko rolled her eyes. Misato could be such a mother hen at times. She never would have guessed that taking in Shinji and then Asuka would have such an effect on the woman.

"Yes, Misato, we're sure everything's ready," Ritsuko said, exasperated. "I'd explain why we're not gambling with the Children's lives, but it would take too long."

Misato rolled her eyes. Ritsuko, like most people who were far more intelligent than the average person, could be arrogant at times. And that arrogance made her behave condescendingly without even realizing it on occasion.

"Besides," Ritsuko added, "the test with Rei in Unit One had no problems. There's no reason to believe that Shinji in Unit Zero will go poorly."

Misato just gave a soft, noncommittal grunt in response and crossed her arms over her chest.

"We're ready to begin the test, ma'am," Maya announced.

"Good," Ritsuko said. "Initiate the first and second-stage nerve connections."

The technicians got to work, and though an Evangelion wasn't fully activated until the third-stage connections between the machine and the pilot were achieved, data began to stream across numerous screens in the control room.

"How's he doing?" Ritsuko asked.

"The sync ratio's a little lower than when he's in Unit One," Maya reported. "Also, his heart rate and blood pressure and slightly elevated."

"He's jumpy," Hyuga put in.

"I guess all that's to be expected," Ritsuko said with a small nod, and then she pressed a button on one of the control panels, opening up a communications link to Shinji. "How does it feel to be piloting Unit Zero, Shinji?"

"It feels… kinda weird," the Third Child replied in an uncertain tone.

"Like incompatibility?" Ritsuko asked.

"No," Shinji said. "It's just that Unit Zero's entry plug…"

Shinji trailed off, apparently unable to put words to what he was experiencing.

"Yes?" Ritsuko prompted.

"It smells like Ayanami," Shinji said.

"It what?!" Asuka exclaimed, opening up her own link to the control room and Unit Zero from her Unit Two, which she was currently doing a standard sync test with.

"It's sort of a trick of the entry plug," Ritsuko said. "It seems as though the regular pilots leave sort of 'mental residue', if you will, in their EVA's. The brain senses this but doesn't know quite how to process the sensation, so it just interprets it as a smell."

Asuka arched an eyebrow, and Misato could easily tell that the Second Child didn't quite buy Ritsuko's explanation. However, the redhead closed her communications channel without the "hentai" comment that Misato had been sure was forthcoming.

Though not displeased by this, Misato was rather confused by it. Girls far less prone to call guys 'perverts' than Asuka would have been set off by Shinji's choice of words.

Come to think of it, Asuka has been less difficult than normal lately, Misato mused, then shrugged, deciding there was no need to question small favors.

"Any problems detected so far?" Ritsuko asked.

"No, ma'am," Maya replied. "All lights are green."

"Good," Ritsuko said. "Proceed to the third stage connections."

"Affirmative," Maya replied, typing fluidly at her console. "Third-level nerve connections have been achieved. The Synchronograph reads normal. All readings are nominal."

"How are you holding up, Shinji-kun?" Misato asked.

He shrugged. "Okay, I…" Shinji suddenly stopped speaking, his eyes widening.

"Shinji-kun?" Misato asked, instantly worried.

"Something's… something's trying to get into my brain," Shinji grunted, clutching onto his head. "I can't—"

What exactly Shinji couldn't do at that moment would forever be a mystery, because the communications channel was abruptly shut down as Unit Zero released a deep, bestial roar and began to struggle against its restraints.

"What the hell is happening?" Misato demanded.

"Unit Zero is going berserk!" Maya exclaimed.

"Send the shut-down codes!" Ritsuko barked. "Deactivate the EVA down now!"

"I'm trying! The codes are being refused!" Maya replied.

"Eject the umbilical cable!" Kaji ordered.

"Roger!" Maya replied. "Unit Zero now on internal power. Deactivation in two minutes!"

"No!" Ritsuko said as she watched the blue EVA continue to go berserk. "It's the same error! The exact same one!"

As if to punctuate this alarming statement, Unit Zero managed to tear the restraint that kept its right shoulder bolted to the wall of the chamber free, shattering concrete and tearing armor-grade steel like it was nothing. It wouldn't be long before it had freed itself entirely from the feeble bonds the tiny humans had placed upon it.

No, Misato thought, remembering all too well the state that Rei had been left in after Unit Zero went berserk with her in it. The First Child had been brought right to death's doorstep, then forced to endure a long and painful recovery while wrapped in so many bandages that she resembled a mummy.

Unit Zero tore free of its remaining restraints, sending broken pieces of concrete the size of moving vans tumbling down to the floor of the test chamber. Uttering another fierce roar, Unit Zero staggered forward, its single red eye glowing with a murderous light.

Misato hadn't started working for NERV until after Rei's disastrous activation experiment had already happened, but from what she'd heard of it, this was an exact recreation of that terrible event.

Her hands balled into fists, and on her right hand, she could feel the currently-invisible power ring that rested on her middle finger. It wouldn't be too big of a challenge to extract Shinji from Unit Zero with the ring's power, but if she used the ring then…

Everyone will know, Misato thought, feeling an awful sense of indecision well up inside of her.

Word had already spread that the Committee had slashed NERV's budget because the organization had been humiliated by the Green Lantern, and that the Commander was less-than-pleased with the emerald warrior. If it became known to NERV that she was the Green Lantern, she could kiss her life as she knew it good-bye.

Yet her imagination conjured up an image of Shinji as battered and badly injured as Rei had been, and her soul recoiled in horror at the idea. He had suffered more than enough already. All the Children had.

What do I do? Misato wondered, never having felt so torn in her entire life. What do I do?

Suddenly, Unit Zero's enormous fist slammed into the thick pane of bullet-proof glass that separated the control room from the test chamber. The barrier was strong enough to survive the first blow—barely. A network of deep cracks formed all across the window, and a few shards of broken glass went flying into the control room. Misato nearly transformed into the Green Lantern on sheer instinct at that very moment.

"How much time left until it shuts down!?" Ritsuko barked, even as most of the technicians sought refuge from the flying shards of glass by diving beneath their control panels.

"Thirty seconds!" responded Maya, one of the few techs who continued to man her station.

The window probably won't last that long, Misato thought, fingering her power ring with her right thumb. If it goes, I'll become the Green Lantern, and damn my secret.

Unit Zero raised its fist for another strike, continuing to release its angry, wordless roars all the while. Before it could actually fire off another massive punch, however, the blue destroyer staggered back a step, clutching at its head as though in great pain.

"Did the EVA do this when it went berserk on Rei?" Misato asked softly as she watched the prototype Evangelion begin to slam its head against one of the walls of the test chamber, putting deep dents into it.

"No," Ritsuko answered, shaking her head.

"Unit Zero's internal battery is nearly exhausted," Maya reported. "Shut down in five… four… three… two… one."

Unit Zero's pained, angry howls abruptly ceased, and the blue behemoth's motions quickly slowed, then stopped as it deactivated.

There was a moment of tense silence in the control room, as though everyone was expecting Unit Zero to reactivate and begin its rampage at any moment.

"What are you all waiting for?!" Misato barked at the still-cowering technicians. "Somebody send a team to get the Third Child out of there! Now!"

Everyone immediately got back to work and began making frenzied calls to the emergency teams that NERV employed. Misato watched through the badly cracked window as Shinji was extracted from the now-silent Evangelion and then carted off on a stretcher toward the NERV Medical Ward.

A short eternity later, Misato was informed that while the ordeal had left Shinji unconscious, the Third Child had sustained no significant injuries.

Misato breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this. Now she wouldn't have to hate herself forever.

Also, now that she had the critical information, she felt like she was out of neutral, like she could act again and no longer needed to wait to be contacted. And for her first order of business…

"Ritsuko," Misato said. "Can I talk to you for a moment? In private?"

The bottle blonde winced but nodded in agreement, and the two left the control room, soon arriving at an isolated and out-of-the-way chamber.

"Misato," Ritsuko began, "I—"

She didn't get any further before Misato grabbed two handfuls of the scientist's lab coat and roughly pulled her forward, until their faces were mere inches apart.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Misato hissed. "You knew that Unit Zero's buggy, you knew it had gone berserk before, and you could have disconnected the internal battery so the thing would stop the moment you ejected the umbilical cable. But instead you were in such a rush to cover your own ass that you put Shinji's life in danger, Dr. It-Would-Take-Too-Long-To-Explain-Why-This-Isn't-A-Dumb-Idea."

Looking into Misato's enraged eyes, Ritsuko could only swallow. The former Ops Director was not, Ritsuko knew, a violent person by nature. She was, however, a trained soldier, and Ritsuko had little doubt that Misato could easily hand her ass to her. And she looked more than pissed off enough to do it, too.

'Mother hen'? Ritsuko thought, recalling her earlier musings. More like a mother lioness.

"Ritsuko," Misato growled, her tone one of warning.

"I'm sorry!" Ritsuko exclaimed, mostly because it was the first thing that sprang to her mind. "I never thought for a moment that that would happen, I swear! All this time, I'd felt certain that Rei's first activation experiment went to hell because of Rei, not because of Unit Zero, so I didn't expect the same error to crop up with a different pilot in the plug. Even if I hadn't rushed this experiment, I wouldn't have bothered to disconnect the internal battery from the EVA, and Misato please calm down!"

She said all of this in a great rush, making herself nearly incomprehensible.

Fortunately, Misato understood it anyway. The scientist's plea at the end of her frantic explanation brought the tactician back to herself, and she let go of Ritsuko's white coat and took a step back.

"Sorry," Misato said. "I just… lost it for a second there."

"I could tell," Ritsuko muttered, then noticed that Misato was leaving. "Where are you going?"

"Where do you think?" Misato replied.


Shinji's awakening a few hours later was not something that came quickly, or pleasantly. For several seconds as he gradually regained consciousness, no longer in the soothing dark oblivion but not quite back in the land of the living, the experiences he'd endured inside Unit Zero came back to him. Thoughts and emotions that weren't his own swirled crazily through his mind, filling him with a terror he couldn't express.

And then his eyes opened, finally bringing that nightmare to an end.

Shinji realized he was panting, and that his heart was jack-hammering inside his chest. He was relieved that he was laying down; his whole body felt limp, and he was certain that he'd have collapsed if he'd been upright.

He looked up at the bland, orderly tiles above him and sighed softly. Another unfamiliar—

"Hey, you're awake!"

The unexpected voice caused Shinji to jump, nearly sending him off the bed and causing a number of the springs in the mattress to squeak loudly as his weight came back down on them.

"Whoops, looks like I startled you there. Sorry, Shinji-kun," Misato said with a smirk, not looking or sounding apologetic at all.

"Uh, that's all right," Shinji said. "What are you doing here, Misato?"

"I thought I'd sit with you until you woke up," Misato said, and Shinji noticed her setting an automotive magazine down on the bedside table. "One of the benefits of not being the Operations Director anymore is that I'm not stuck on the command center for hours after every crisis or mishap."

"Well, I'm glad you're here," Shinji said, genuinely touched by the gesture. It was very nice to not be alone upon waking up in this place, for once. "What exactly happened, anyway?"

"Unit Zero went berserk right after the third-stage connections were completed," Misato said. "When we got you out, you were unconscious."

Shinji nodded. "I remember now," he said softly.

"Shinji-kun, I'm sorry," Misato blurted out.

The Third Child blinked. "Huh? But why?" he asked. "It's not like you could have done anything."

That's what you think, Misato thought.

Not using the ring had been the logical choice, and even in hindsight, the correct one. Yet she couldn't shake the guilt at having allowed Shinji to endure more suffering, despite what he'd gone through today being negligible compared to some of the ordeals he'd experienced.

"I knew something stank about that experiment the minute Ritsuko announced she was going to be doing it," Misato said. "I should have put the brakes on it, but I let her convince me that it was all fine."

"You couldn't have known for sure that it would go wrong," Shinji said quietly.

Misato smiled weakly and looked down at the boy who was trying to get her to stop blaming herself for what had happened to him, the boy who was the only great drive she had to fight the Angels which didn't involve her old hatred of the terrible monsters. In a way, he was the source of her super-powers, but she had failed to exert those powers on his behalf.

Of course, he didn't know that, and she wasn't going to tell him, which meant that he wasn't going to give up on trying to console her unless she pretended to be good and consoled.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Shinji-kun," Misato said. "Now, why don't you get dressed so we can head home?"


Meanwhile, light years away from the planet Earth and her petty problems, a single point of golden light floated in the vast blackness of outer space. This lone yellow one was on the hunt, as he had been since his father had escaped the trap that should have ended him.

"Ring, scan for Abin Sur."

"Unable to locate," his yellow ring replied.

"Damn you!" Amon Sur hissed.

"Unable to follow directive," the ring said.

"Shut up," Amon spat.

"Silent mode engaged."

The Sinestro Corpsman rolled his eyes at this. His power ring's sudden inability to track his foe was maddening, and he was half-tempted to return to Qward to have it inspected. However, he had sworn that he wouldn't return without his father's ring, plucked from the man's cold, dead finger, and he intended to keep his vow.

Yet how could he, if his father continued to elude him?

"Ring," he said, "disengage silent mode."

"Silent mode disengaged."

"How much space traffic goes through this area?" he asked.

"Minimal levels," the ring answered. "This area of Sector 2814 is home to few races possessing faster-than-light drives."

"Then it might still be possible to follow the ion trail of father's ship," Amon reasoned aloud. "If no other vessel has disrupted it…"

It would be a long and painstaking task, even with his ring's assistance. Following a ship's ion trail was a laborious chore with no guarantee of success at the best of times, which was why Amon hadn't even considered it until now. The trail would surely have deteriorated badly after so much time.

Yet what other choice did he have with his ring so stubbornly refusing to aid him in tracking down his father? Amon couldn't even guess at the reason for its stubbornness, or at least, so he told himself.

"I guess it's time to follow the ions," Amon grumbled, not looking forward to the task at all.


Several days of relative quiet followed the disastrous cross-compatibility experiment, which eventually stretched into weeks of relative quiet. Everyone concerned put the debacle behind them, though of course they didn't forget the event, and life took on an unusually normal pace for the people who worked at NERV.

It was on one of these abnormally normal days that Misato found herself and Ritsuko discussing another surprisingly normal event that was coming up.

"Have you bought a gift for Yumi's wedding yet?" Ritsuko asked.

"Nope. I'll have to go pick something up after work," Misato said, then sighed. "All these weddings are murder on my bank account."

"Tell me about it," Ritsuko grumbled. "It seems like everyone's getting married all at once. I guess everyone wants to get hitched before they turn thirty."

Thank you, I needed to be reminded that I'm on the verge of being old—or at least, not young anymore—and that it's looking like I'll be left sitting on the shelf, Misato thought, rolling her eyes.

"So have you decided what you're going to wear yet?" Misato asked, wanting to shift the conversation to happier subjects.

"Probably that old green dress of mine," Ritsuko said. "I can't really afford to get a new one right now. What about you?"

"Hmm," Misato muttered, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "The blue one's too worn to wear to something as nice as a wedding. I guess I'll wear the orange one."

"The orange one?" Ritsuko frowned, surprised. "The orange one still fits you?"

"Like a dream," Misato said smugly, running her hands down along the sides of her slim waist. "I tried it on just last night to be sure."

Ritsuko's eyebrow twitched. "Let me get this straight: you live off a diet of beer and instant junk—"

"Hey, I don't eat nearly as much instant stuff as I used to since Shinji moved in," Misato interrupted.

Rolling her eyes, Ritsuko continued, "You lived off a diet of beer and instant junk for years, and now you live off a diet of beer and slightly less instant junk… and you can still squeeze into that dress?"

"No squeezing involved," Misato said. "I told you, it fits like a dream."

"Bitch," Ritsuko grumbled.

Misato smirked, enjoying Ritsuko's envy. "So, how are things going around here? With the science stuff, I mean."

Ritsuko had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at having what she did being reduced down to "science stuff."

"All right, I guess," she said. "The delays in the major projects caused by the budget cuts have given me some time to get around to a number of minor tasks that have been left undone for too long."

Misato nodded. "Hey, Ritsuko, you know what tomorrow is, right?" she asked, changing the subject once again.

"…Yumi's wedding?" Ritsuko replied, confused by the question.

"Well, yes, but I meant for Shinji, and the Commander, too, I suppose," Misato said.

"The anniversary," Ritsuko said, understanding what Misato was getting at now. "Yes, I know about it."

"Shinji's been getting more… I don't know, distant, I guess, the closer we get to it," she said. "He's really dreading going to the grave with his father. I don't know what to do."

"I wouldn't do anything," Ritsuko said. "The situation between Shinji and the Commander is incredibly complex, in the way that only human emotions can be complex. I don't think there's much of a chance of anyone, including the two of them, understanding it. And if you can't understand the situation, you can't make it better."

"Maybe," Misato said softly.

"Besides, the whole thing will pass tomorrow, one way or another," the scientist added. "Just a wait a day and this'll all blow over."

"Logical advice," Misato said.

Pity I don't think I'll be able to take it, she added silently.


Familiarity breeds contempt, or so the old saying goes. It was an idiom whose meaning had mostly eluded Shinji Ikari, but that day, he was starting to figure it out.

He pressed the stop button on his SDAT, tired of listening to the classical pieces that had been his only constant companions throughout his life. Ordinarily impressed by the music, today he was merely tired of it.

He'd been listening to it a lot lately, more and more as the anniversary approached, and, loathe though he was to admit it, he was starting to get rather sick of it.

Still, Shinji had long ago ceased to listen to the music purely for the sake of enjoyment. These days, his primary reason for starting his SDAT was to be distracted from the outside world and its trials and tribulations for a little while.

He sighed softly. The Third Child was laying on his side on the bed in his room. He turned over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling.

It's been years since I went to Mother's grave with Father, he thought. How am I supposed to face him… or her? I ran away the last time and never had the strength to go back.

Suddenly, he heard voices from outside his room.

"Hey, Misato," Asuka spoke. "Welcome home. Can I borrow some of your lavender perfume for my date tomorrow?"

"No," Misato replied. "That stuff's not for kids."

Even through his door, Shinji could hear Asuka "hmph" in response to that.

"Where's Shinji?" Misato asked.

"In his room," Asuka said. "He's been moping a lot more than usual lately."

"It's the… thing he's supposed to do with his father tomorrow," Misato said. "It's worrying him."

"I don't see why having to spend a few hours with his father is such a big deal for Shinji, even if he hates the man," Asuka replied.

"Shinji doesn't hate his father," Misato said, then added something that the Third Child didn't catch.

He heard the sound of feet approaching his room, so he was unsurprised when it slid open, revealing Misato, still dressed in her NERV uniform. "Hi, Shinji," she greeted him.

"Hello, Misato," he replied.

She walked over to the side of his bed and then squatted down until she was roughly eye level with him. "Listen, Shinji-kun, about tomorrow…"

She trailed off, and Shinji turned his head to face her. "Yes?"

"I know you're anxious about the whole thing," Misato said, "but you can't let your fear overcome you, and worrying won't get you anywhere. You have to confront even the most awkward and uncomfortable situations, because running away just makes things worse. What will be, will be. Just remember tomorrow that you have nothing to be ashamed of, you've saved the world, and any sane parent would be proud to be able to call you their son."

He smiled weakly at her. "I'll try," he said.

Misato smiled back him. "Good."

Her piece spoken, his guardian left the room, sliding the door shut behind her. Once she was gone, Shinji sighed softly, then, after a moment of consideration, pressed the play button on his SDAT.

He mused over what Misato had said as Bach flooded his ears. She was correct in saying that worrying wasn't doing anything for him; it would be simpler and probably less unpleasant to just confront the situation head on. So, all in all, Misato's advice had been quite sound.

Pity I don't think I'll be able to take it, he thought.

If she was in his place, Misato would have been able to walk into that graveyard with her head held high, unashamed and unafraid of Gendo Ikari. He, however, was another story, and just knowing that his anxiety served no purpose wasn't enough to release him from it.

He wasn't strong like Misato was.


The next day, Misato headed out for the wedding, not very much looking forward the experience. She hadn't seen much of Yumi since college, and in any case, the whole event just served to remind her that nobody was going to be marrying her any time in the foreseeable future.

However, she did what she always did in such situations, namely sucking it up, forcing a smile onto her face, and attending. She was just glad that space limitations in the church meant that she only had to go to the reception.

"Hello, ladies," Kaji greeted Misato and Ritsuko as he approached the two women. "I hope I'm not late for the party."

"No. Actually, you're right on time," Ritsuko said, sounding surprised.

Kaji gave her a lopsided grin. "I guess becoming Operations Director is actually making me a responsible figure. Imagine that."

Of course, responsibility had nothing to do with why Kaji had arrived at the reception on time. He was supposed to have met with one of his contacts beforehand, but with his new duties and the increased scrutiny from NERV that came with it, it just wouldn't have been wise to keep that particular appointment.

Have to hand it to Ikari, he thought. Bastard outmaneuvered me but good. Still haven't figured out how to get back into the game yet.

"Let's find a table, shall we?" Ritsuko suggested.

The three sat down, making largely meaningless small talk as they ate. Eventually, the bride and groom had the first dance, and the floor was open and available to any other couple that wished to use it.

Kaji smiled roguishly at Misato as a slow song started up. "Care to dance, Misato-chan?"

"I appreciate the offer, but no thanks," Misato replied in a dry tone.

"Why not?" Kaji pressed. "You're just sitting there, looking rather lonely."

"Maybe I don't want to be seen dancing with the man who was willing to surrender the city to the Angels without firing a shot," Misato replied, which instantly killed Kaji's boyish grin.

She'd been bring that up a lot lately. Part of her knew it was unfair, but it wasn't fair of him to have come back into her life after so many years and start trying to pursue her all over again either, not when she (mostly) didn't want that. So lately she'd been countering Kaji's advances with reminders of his recent humiliation.

Unfair or not, it always killed the mood.

"Again with this?" Kaji asked. "Misato, I did what I thought was right."

"And you were wrong, dead wrong," Misato said. "We could've lost the whole city because of that."

"Okay, so maybe I made a mistake," Kaji scowled. "At least I didn't run away from the position over it."

"What?!" Misato snapped. "I did not—"

"Would you two please shut up?" Ritsuko hissed. "You're making a scene."

Misato and Kaji looked about, both realizing that most of the other guests nearby were looking at them. They must have been speaking more loudly than they'd realized. The two awkwardly turned away from the multiple stares.

"Look," Ritsuko said, "why don't you two both just calm down, have a drink, and promise not to talk about work anymore today?"

"Actually, I think it would be better if one of us left," Misato said, "and I'm volunteering. I'll see you at work."

"Wait, Misato, that's not necessary," Ritsuko said.

"Maybe not, but it's probably for the best," Misato replied, grabbing her handbag.

With that, she slipped out of the reception hall, nobody taking much notice of her exit, as she'd expected. It was probably petty of her to just bail like that, but she couldn't bring herself to care much at the moment. She just hadn't been able to take being around the blissful bride and groom, as well as the happy guests, and having to pretend to be happy herself even when the whole thing was just making her feel miserable and lonely. Having her old flame there, having him be able to see right through her mask, and trying to take advantage of her loneliness to rekindle something that was better left in the past didn't help matters, either.

Geeze, what's wrong with me? She wondered. I'm usually not this gloomy.

Misato shook her head in an attempt to clear it as she stepped outside the reception hall and onto the parking lot. She was surprised to discover how low the sun was in the sky. She'd been in there for longer than she'd realized.

Shrugging, Misato got into her car and peeled away, heading for home.


"It's time. I'm leaving now," Gendo announced.

"Father, I'm, um, I'm glad I got to talk to you today," Shinji said nervously.

"…I see," Gendo replied, then got into the VTOL that had come for him.

Shinji stood and watched as the aircraft took off, its downdrafts blowing harshly at him and kicking up clouds of dust. For just a moment, the Third Child spotted Rei in one of the windows of the VTOL. She offered him a small, sympathetic smile, but Shinji still felt an ugly spike of jealousy shoot through him.

Then the plane took off into the sky, and Shinji was alone.


In the present time, Shinji lay on the couch in the apartment, which was currently empty save for himself and Pen-Pen. He couldn't get how the scene at the graveyard had played out from his mind. It had not gone as badly as he'd feared, but it had gone about as poorly as he could have realistically expected, he realized.

Shot me down again, he mused with a sigh. Maybe I'm just an idiot for trying.

It wasn't the first time he'd had this particular thought.

Shinji sat up and turned to Pen-Pen. "What do you think, boy?" he asked. "Is it a pointless cause?"

"Wark!"

Shinji sighed. "Yeah, that's about what I thought you'd say."

He leaned against the couch, allowing his mind to drift, this time toward his mother. It was ironic how much he missed the woman, considering that he couldn't even remember what she looked like. She represented a mostly forgotten but still happier time in his life.

Shinji realized then that his hands were itching for his cello, probably because it was the only thing he had of his mother. He rose from the couch to go and retrieve the instrument.

And it was at that exact moment that the door to the apartment opened, and someone walked in.

"I'm home!" he heard Misato call out.

Shinji went toward the front door to greet his guardian. "Hello, Misato. I didn't think you'd be back so…" he trailed off as he walked into the short hallway that linked the front door to the rest of the apartment.

Misato was wearing a stunning orange dress with a plunging V-neck that showed her figure to perfection. Not that the purple-haired woman had ever made any effort to conceal her curves, but she had never worn anything that displayed them nearly so well around Shinji before.

"Hi, Shinji-kun," Misato replied, not noticing his stunned look. "How did it go today?"

Being reminded of the trip to the graveyard with his father was like being dunked in a bucket of ice water, making it easy for Shinji to take his attention off of Misato's figure.

"Um, all right, I guess," he lied.

Misato clearly didn't believe him, but to Shinji's relief she decided not to pursue the matter. "Well, at least it's over, right?"

He noticed a certain sadness about her, quite unlike her usual boisterousness. "Why are you back so early?" he asked.

"Oh, well something came up," she answered vaguely. "Just as well, really. I don't enjoy formal functions all that much."

"Oh," was his noncommittal reply.

"So, what were you up to?" she asked.

"Nothing really," he answered, neglecting to mention that he'd been about to get his cello before she showed up.

He was too embarrassed to play when somebody was actually listening, and knowing Misato, she'd probably insist upon a private performance.

"Okay, then," Misato said. "I'm going to get changed."

Shinji nodded and headed back to the couch. Given the mood he was in, which was not exactly a sociable one, it probably would have made more sense for him to head to his room. However, he felt rather worried about Misato; being gloomy was situation normal for him, not for her. So he felt strangely compelled to remain and keep an eye on her.

Why he felt this, he couldn't fathom; it wasn't like he could actually do anything if she needed to be comforted or something. He'd always been useless in such situations.

And yet he stayed. To make it look like he was doing something, Shinji put on his SDAT player's headphones, but didn't press play. He'd finally listened to enough classical music to have grown well and truly sick of it, at least for a while.

Misato returned a few minutes later, clad in her usual denim shorts and a loose T-shirt. She glanced at Shinji, then headed over to the fridge and grabbed herself a can of Yeibisu, which she cracked open and began to sip with less than her usual level of gusto.

Minutes dragged. Misato nursed her can of beer. Shinji pretended to be listening to music. Pen-Pen lay on the couch, the only occupant of the apartment who was currently content with his lot in life.

Finally, Misato could take the stifling quiet no longer. "Hey, Shinji-kun, let's do something."

"Huh?" he replied, probably too quickly for someone who was ostensibly listening to music.

"Well, it's like last time, except this time both of us are bummed, not bored," Misato said. "C'mon, Shinji-kun, what do you say? You had fun last time, didn't you? With the exception of the whole armed robbery and stuff, of course." She quickly added.

Shinji briefly considered it. He had enjoyed himself last time, and he really didn't see himself doing much of anything but wallowing in his melancholy if he stayed home that night.

"All right," he decided.

Misato blinked, surprised that it hadn't taken more cajoling. Then she smiled. "Great! Just let me do something real quick."

The purple haired woman headed into her room, shut the door behind her, and quickly removed her power ring, which shimmered into visibility the moment it was off her finger. Not planning on having another run-in with armed criminals, Misato decided that she might as well take the night off entirely.

Besides, ever since the disastrous cross-compatibility experiment, the ring had been serving as a silent but constant reminder of how she'd simply left Shinji to his fate because she was concerned for her own hide. Normally she ignored these feelings and wore the ring all the time anyway, but it was something she definitely didn't want to think about that evening.

Stowing her ring safely in one of her dresser drawers, she headed back out into the kitchen where Shinji was waiting for her.

"So, where are we going this time?" Shinji asked as they headed out of the apartment and toward the building's elevator.

"Well, why don't you pick?" Misato suggested.

"Me?"

"Sure, why not?" Misato said. "I'm sure you can think of a place."

"Hmm, maybe…"


Not much later, the door to the Katsuragi apartment opened, and a certain redhead strode in, wearing the relatively fancy green dress she'd donned for the blind date Hikari had set her up on.

She hadn't wanted to go that date to begin with; her friend had sort of cajoled her into it. And the whole thing had been even worse than Asuka had feared. First the guy had taken her to an amusement park, like she was some little kid. Then, to add insult to injury, the guy had spent nearly all the time they'd been together talking about one thing and only one thing only: the Green Lantern.

I know comprehending the female mind at all is simply beyond most males, but is it so difficult to figure out that when you're out on a date with a woman, it's a bad idea to keep rambling on about a different woman? Asuka wondered, not able to muster any regret for having ditched the guy halfway through the so-called 'date'.

Strolling into the kitchen, Asuka found no sign of either Shinji or Misato. What she did find was a note for her that had been attached to the refrigerator with a magnet.

"'Dear Asuka,'" the Second Child read aloud, "'Me and Shinji have decided to go out and do something. Probably won't be back for dinner. Money in cupboard for you to order out in case you didn't eat on your date. Misato."

Asuka rolled her eyes and sighed as she crumpled up the note, feeling an odd spike of resentment. Misato and Shinji had been spending an unusually large amount of time together lately, and she never got invited along.

Not that I'd want to go along, anyway, she thought sourly in an attempt to console herself that mostly worked.

Well, fine. If she was without her roommates for the night, she might as well make use of the evening, she decided, heading for her room. Once there, Asuka opened up her closet, then went rummaging through it, searching for something in the back. Eventually, she withdrew a white leotard, a red cape, red boots, red gloves, a red mask, and a blond wig.

Time to remind everyone who the number one superwoman in town is, Asuka thought as she began to change clothes, part of her mind going back to the series of events that had led to her becoming a super-heroine to begin with.

Some time around her arrival in Japan, Asuka had begun developing incredible powers, including awesome physical strength, the ability to fly, seeming invulnerability from all physical harm, and more.

Why she had developed these powers remained a mystery to her. Kaji had recently tracked down some information—without knowing precisely why Asuka had wanted that information—which might help her shed some light on the subject but with Akagi suddenly feeling the need to look useful and now the date Hikari had persuaded her into going on, Asuka hadn't had an opportunity yet to follow that lead yet.

Upon first discovering her powers, Asuka hadn't planned to do much besides hide them, fearing that such radical anomalies in her physiology would cause NERV to boot her from the entry plug. Later on, annoyance at the level of recognition another superwoman got compared to the dearth of accolades the EVA pilots received had driven her to put on a cape.

And though Asuka would have been loathe to admit it, the adulation her alter ego received was an increasingly necessary balm for her pride, which was getting wounded at NERV with disturbing regularity by the Third Child and his infuriating talent for EVA piloting.

Bad enough I have to compete with the Wonder Girl. Now everyone can't shut up about the Green Lantern, either, Asuka thought as she pulled on her gloves. I could have stopped the Angel, too, if only I wasn't stuck in the command center at Matsushiro!

Affixing her mask and then putting on her wig, Asuka finally finished donning her costume. She then quickly looked about with her X-ray vision, confirming that no one was looking at her window. With a nod, she opened said window, and then Power Girl went soaring off into the sky above Tokyo-3.


Meanwhile, hundreds upon hundreds of miles above the ground, a single figure who was sheathed in yellow light looked down upon a great blue marble.

"Ring," Amon said, "what planet is this?"

"Planet known as Earth by indigenous intelligent species," the ring answered.

"Tell me of this indigenous species," Amon commanded.

A pair of yellow images appeared above his ring: yellow constructs of a human man and a human woman. They looked quite similar to Amon Sur's own race.

"Humans," the ring said. "The dominant species on Earth. Strength level: Normal/sub-normal for beings of their stature. Notable abilities: None."

"Why would my father come to a backwater world populated by such pathetic creatures?" Amon wondered aloud.

"Unknown."

"I wasn't asking you," he told his ring.

"Acknowledged."

"Well, no matter," Amon said. "Ring, calculate where my father's ship went down."

A golden map of the Earth appeared above his ring. "Based on the ion trail, the current position of the planet, its rate of rotation, and the speed with which it orbits its star, Abin Sur's ship landed approximately here," it said, a point on a large island to the fear east starting to blink.

"What's the nearest major population center to that point?" Amon asked.

"Tokyo-3."

"My father is probably there," Amon said. "Ring, take me to Tokyo-3."

His ring obeyed as it always did, and soon Amon Sur was streaking toward the planet, leaving a brief trail of golden light in his wake. It wasn't long before he had entered the atmosphere, and soon after that, he was hovering above the city that the humans called Tokyo-3.

Who numbers cities? He wondered, before dismissing the thought and turning his mind to the task at hand.

"Ring, scan for Abin Sur."

"Unable to locate."

"Argh!" Amon growled in frustration. "The Green Lantern! Locate the Green Lantern of Sector 2814!"

"Unable to comply. The Green Lantern of Sector 2814 is not currently wearing a power ring."

Amon frowned. "Father isn't wearing his ring? But why?"

"Un—"

"I wasn't asking you!" Amon snapped.

The Sinestro Corpsman took several deep breaths. He was tired of this chase, tired of making war against his father, tired of not yet having proved that he was better than the old man, and tired of his father's resilience. He was so frustrated that he just wanted to destroy something.

Actually, that's not a bad idea, he thought.

Unable to beat him or not, his father would come and fight him if he started tearing apart these puny humans.

A malevolent grin forming on his face, Amon Sur began to fly downwards, toward the city below.

"I wonder if these humans have ever had to deal with hostile aliens before?" Amon mused as he searched for a target.

The Sinestro Corpsman eventually settled upon a wide but only one-story tall structure that he didn't know (and didn't care) was a movie theater. A great blast of golden death erupted from his ring, streaking straight toward the building.

Even the armored structures that the city bristled with while in wartime formation could had never stood up to an energy blast from a Sinestro Corps power ring. The movie theater practically exploded under the force of the attack, broken chunks of concrete flying everywhere, metal twisting and melting, and fires breaking out in a dozen different places. People screamed and went running as they saw the sudden carnage.


"Ack!" Shinji exclaimed as he was blinded by a flare of light.

"Oh, sorry about that, man," a guy with a camera in his hands said. "Didn't mean to get you in the eyes with the flash like that, but you stepped right into my shot."

"No, it was my fault," Shinji said as he blinked away the spots. "Sorry about ruining one of your nature shots."

"Eh, it's no big deal," the amateur photographer replied.

"Well, this trip to the park thing just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?" Misato teased as they walked off, leaving the cameraman to his own devices.

"I guess we should have gone to see a movie like you suggested," Shinji said.

"Don't get me wrong, Shinji-kun, I like nature as much as the next girl," Misato said, "but there isn't really much to do here except walk around and look at trees."

"I'm sorry," Shinji said.

"Hey, it's no big deal," Misato said. "I probably don't get enough fresh air, anyway, being stuck down in the Geofront as often as I am."

"I guess, but you're bored here," Shinji said.

Misato opened her mouth to make a reply, but then she spotted a small structure right next to the path and grinned. "Well, I just found something that we can do."

"What?" Shinji asked.

Misato pointed at the little building, and Shinji read the sign displayed on the front of it. "Rent roller skates?" he said. "But I don't know how to skate."

"Neither do I," Misato said, "but you see little kids doing it like pros all the time. How hard could it be?"

Without giving him further opportunity to protest, Misato headed straight for the small shop. Shinji just shook his head and followed her.

"Two pairs of roller skates for the evening please," Misato told the teenage girl working the little shop.

"What sizes?"

Misato told her, and soon she and Shinji were sitting on a nearby bench, trading their shoes for the skates. Shinji still wasn't entirely sure that this was a good idea, but at this point it felt as though protesting would have just been pointless whining, so he said nothing as laced up the wheeled footwear.

His guardian finished putting on her skates before he did and tentatively stood up, holding on the bench as she did so.

"See, Shinji-kun?" Misato said, letting go of the bench. "There's nothing to—"

She was cut off abruptly when her right foot suddenly slid forward, causing her to lose her balance and fall flat on her back. It was only by luck that her head landed on grass rather than the park's asphalt footpath and that she didn't hit the bench as she went down.

"Misato! Are you okay?" Shinji asked worriedly, forgetting that he had skates on as well and trying to stand up in his concern.

This, of course, caused Shinji to go tumbling as well. The Third Child fell forward, landed right on Misato's stomach, their bodies roughly perpendicular to one another.

"Sorry!" he exclaimed.

I guess I should just count myself lucky that I didn't land in an embarrassing position, he thought.

"Why, Shinji-kun," Misato said, "I didn't expect you to be the kind of guy who has to be on top."

Never mind, he thought as he felt his face heating up in a blush.


"Unusually quiet out tonight," Power Girl grumbled to herself as she flew over Tokyo-3.

She needed something big, really big. A bank robbery. A bridge collapse. A random psycho armed with a machine gun. Something really bad for her to fix.

Unfortunately for her, nothing remotely like that was happening, which was unusual. Tokyo-3 was a big city, and there was more often than not someone in need of having their day saved by the likes of Power Girl. Not tonight, though.

"Well, this su—"

Power Girl cut herself off suddenly, a very distinctive sound reaching her super-sensitive ears. The sound of an explosion.

"Looks like I spoke too soon," she said. "Show time."

Throwing her fists out in front of her, Power Girl put on a burst of speed as she flew through the air, heading for the area where the sound had come from. In seconds, she found herself at the scene, which had once been one of Tokyo-3's few movie theaters, but was now a burning pile of debris. By the looks of it, everyone who had survived the destruction had already fled from the scene.

"The hell happened here?" Power Girl wondered as she flew down.

Putting the question aside for the moment, the super-powered girl inhaled deeply, and then blew out a powerful blast of air right at the fire. The flames flickered for a few seconds, then went out entirely from the force of the gust. Some of the previously burning debris now had a thin coating of frost.

"Well, that takes care of the fire," Power Girl said to herself. "Now—"

She was cut off by a loud boom! from nearby and instantly turned her head toward the source of the noise. A five story building was imploding, sending dust and rubble everywhere.

And hovering in the air near all the carnage was a bald man with unnaturally red skin. He was in a yellow-and-black uniform, surrounded by a halo of golden light.

"Hey, baldy!" Power Girl shouted, flying over to the man. "Mind telling me what the hell you think you're doing?!"

The man in yellow frowned at her, confused. "Who are you?"

"The name's Power Girl," she replied. "Now if you have a good reason why I shouldn't kick your ass, I suggest you tell me. You have about five seconds."

Amon Sur clearly wasn't impressed by the threat. "You're not the one I'm looking for," he said.

With that, a jet of yellow light streaked forth from his ring. It formed into a massive hand, which wrapped its fingers around Power Girl before the surprised super-heroine could react. Then the golden fist slammed her head-first into the street with enough force to shatter the asphalt.

"There," Amon said. "Now that that distraction is taken care of…"

He was interrupted by the sound of shifting rubble and turned to look at the place where he'd created one hell of a pothole. His eyes widened slightly when he realized that the annoyance was getting up.

"All right, now you've done it," Power Girl said as she dusted herself off, looking none the worse for the wear. "Now you've gone and made me mad."

She flew at him, her fist extended as she knifed through the air toward him, rage burning in her blue eyes. Amon barely had the time to raise his ring and unleash a blast of yellow energy.

"Argh!" Power Girl shouted as the fear energy slammed into her like a battering ram made of golden light.

"Back into the dirt, dog!" Amon shouted.

"I don't think so!" Power Girl yelled back.

Then, to Amon's shock and horror, she began to advance toward him again, even as she continued to bear the brunt of his assault.

"Damn you, girl!" the Sinestro Corpsman hissed. "I don't have time for this!"

The beam of energy he was firing changed into a long length of golden chain, which immediately wrapped itself around Power Girl's form.

"Too bad. You're gonna have to make time!" Power Girl shouted.

With one great burst of strength, she snapped the chains of light, which dissipated like smoke the moment they'd broken. Amon immediately unleashed another blast of energy at her, but this time Power Girl was ready, dodging the beam with a short burst of speed. However, the attack that was meant for her crashed into a storefront, shattering the front window and spraying glass everywhere, as well as igniting a fire within the shop.

"Damn!" the super-heroine grumbled.

As a general rule, she considered collateral damage to be a bad thing.

Power Girl could hear sirens approaching; emergency vehicles were on their way. The area, which was just about abandoned at the moment, was soon going to have people in it again.

Much as Power Girl liked having an audience, it was becoming very clear that allowing the fight to remain in the city was a bad idea.

Guess I'll just have to make sure I enjoy this, she decided.

"There's no need for this!" Amon yelled as he fired another energy blast at Power Girl, which she dodged. "You're not the one I'm after!"

"You should know better than to make a girl feel unwanted!" Power Girl yelled, punching him in the gut as she spoke the last word.

Amon Sur's mouth opened in a wordless scream of agony, and part of him realized dimly that the lone punch would have ended him if the protective field generated by his ring hadn't absorbed some of the force of the blow. Then he felt something clamp around his ankle, and the world became a blur as he was spun around at high speeds.

Then Power Girl released him, and he went soaring through the air above Tokyo-3, a golden comet with a tail of yellow light. The Sinestro Corpsman's momentum soon took him outside the city limits, into the countryside. He bounced off the grassy landscape several times like a stone skipping over the surface of a pond as he continued to travel away from the city. The badly dazed ring-slinger didn't regain his bearings until he was perilously close to the mountains outside the city.

"Ahh!" Amon exclaimed in fright, even as he raised his ring, creating constructs of several large cushions for him to impact on rather than the unyielding rock he was set for.

"I don't suppose you've had enough and are willing to surrender quietly?"

With a growl, Amon looked up and saw the loathsome little girl hovering above him. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was looking down at him a superior smirk.

Amon Sur's eyes narrowed. This girl had nothing to do with why he'd come to this primitive ball of mud, but she'd just moved to the top of his list of priorities regardless.

Now she would burn like his power.

"No surrender," Amon said, just before unleashing a hurricane of golden light from his ring.

A half a dozen beams of yellow raced around Power Girl's form, instantly transforming into constructs of an elaborate series of shackles and other bindings. The super-powered girl immediately put her incredible strength to the task of breaking free, and the constructs began to crack almost instantly, but she still wasn't able to free herself in time to evade Amon's next assault.

A half-dozen figures were formed from Amon's yellow light, each one twenty feet tall and taking the form of a warrior from an alien world. They looked like humans, but they all wore a helmet with embellishments that looked like wings on the sides, and each held what looked like a thunderbolt in one hand. As one, these constructs hurled their weapons at Power Girl.

"Ahhh!" the super-heroine screamed as the faux bolts of electricity crashed into her and exploded, somehow not damaging the chains and shackles of golden light that were draped around her form in the least.

"You will fear me before you die, girl!" Amon yelled, creating further constructs to bind Power Girl, even as he also sent constructs of several missiles flying at her. "You will look up to me with terror, and you will beg me to grant you the sweet release of death!"

Power Girl would have told Amon to go to hell if she'd been able to speak. However, enduring the constant, withering assault had momentarily stripped her of that ability. The Sinestro Corpsman was throwing everything he had at her, and it hurt. She wasn't very used to pain any more. Since her invulnerability had come to her in earnest, she tended only to feel it while she was piloting and her EVA was injured. So that this glow bug was actually hurting her was shocking.

This guy's powers look a lot like the Green Lantern's, except he's yellow. Are they related somehow? A part of her mind managed to think through her pain and surprise. And even if they are, how does that help me? Not like I know the Green Lantern's weak point or anything.

"Do you feel it?" Amon taunted, not letting up his assault for an instant. "The cold fingers of terror wrapping themselves around your heart? You must know even you can't withstand this for much longer."

Even if she hadn't been in pain at that moment, Power Girl couldn't have responded. The ever-increasing layers of restraints he was placing upon her wouldn't have let her talk. Indeed, she was so encased in Amon's constructs that she resembled a mummy, one trapped within plates of metal and chains formed from golden light rather than wrappings of cloth. Only her eyes remained exposed to the world outside her luminous cocoon.

Fortunately for her, that was enough.

Power Girl's eyes changed from pale blue to dark red, then to fiery orange. Twin beams of red-orange light arced out from her pupils, heading straight for Amon Sur. The fear soldier released a yelp of surprise, barely managing to create a shield construct to protect himself in time.

However, Power Girl's counter attack still had its effects. For one thing, the beams of fiery light bounced off Amon's shield, striking two of his soldier constructs, shattering them instantly. For another, it disrupted his concentration. The barrage of missile constructs he'd been bombarding her with winked out of existence, and the integrity of the constructs that were restraining Power Girl waned.

"Raugh!" the super-heroine growled, applying every ounce of strength she had to the task of breaking free in her enemy's moment of weakness.

The layers and layers of restraints around her finally shattered, evaporating like all the rest of Amon's broken constructs. She was free.

"You're persistent, girl, I'll give you that much!" Amon practically screamed.

The yellow warrior allowed the thunderbolt-throwing soldiers to wink out, willing new constructs to leap from his ring instead. A woman who would have been attractive if not for her dagger-like teeth, surrounded by a trio of four-legged beasts the likes of which Earth had never seen. A nine-foot-tall, incredibly broad and muscular brute of a being with fangs as long as the girl's arm. A vaguely human-shaped blob of viscous liquid, in which the bones of fallen foes floated. Constructs of all these beings and more got between Amon and Power Girl. All of them wore the same symbol that was emblazoned upon Amon's chest somewhere on their person.

"This won't stop me!" Power Girl shouted as she flew straight through one of his constructs, destroying it utterly.

Damn, she's fast, Amon thought as Power Girl proceeded to tear into the rest of his constructs. She's destroying them almost as fast as I can will them into existence. Doesn't this bitch ever get tired?

Suddenly, as though the universe itself was trying to prove that it understood the meaning of irony, his power ring spoke up.

"Warning. Power levels approaching 1.0 percent."

"Damnation," he hissed, not having realized until now how much power his full-scale assault had taken up.

He needed a moment to recharge, but he doubted that his foe would allow him to have one. Perhaps it was time he employed the power that was unique to the yellow rings of Qward. Perhaps he should have done as much from the beginning.

"Power Girl!" Amon called to his foe. "What do you fear?"

"What?" Power Girl asked, just before a flash of yellow light shot out of his ring, irritating her eyes but seemingly doing little else.

Then Power Girl brought her hands up to her head. Her eyes widened. "What the hell are you doing to me?!" she shouted. "Get out of my mind, damn you!"

Amon Sur, of course, did not comply. He allowed the constructs of his fellow Sinestro Corps members to dissipate. Power Girl didn't take the opening this provided her with. She was feeling something not of her inside her mind, something alien and hungry. The world began to take on an almost dream-like quality, and suddenly she wasn't entirely sure of where she was any longer.

A new constructed form rose from Amon's ring, but this time it was no fearsome warrior, no herald of a galactic scale reign of terror. This time it was just an enlarged version of a child's toy.

"Gott," Power Girl breathed as the human-sized construct of the doll approached her, its button eyes gleaming with incredible malice. "Gott, no."

The horrible thing from her past was back. It had taken her mother from her, and now it had come for her life. It was upset at having been hanged in her place, and it intended for the right person to die this time.

Her heart thundering in her chest, Power Girl tumbled to the ground, the power of flight having seemingly deserted her. She barely noticed, so consumed with terror at facing this specter from her past.

Meanwhile, Amon Sur tilted his head, wondering why a toy would invoke such terror in his enemy. However, he quickly shrugged the question off. He needed to recharge.

A circle of yellow light formed before him, and Amon reached his hand into it, into the pocket dimension it allowed him access to. After a moment, he withdrew a lantern power battery constructed of a bright yellow metal, similar to gold but so much more lustrous. He held his ring up to it.

"In blackest day, in brightest night," he began, "beware—"

He didn't get any further before a shriek pierced the air, a shriek that came from his foe.

There was one thing that Amon Sur had, understandably, failed to take into account when he'd used his ring to try and paralyze his enemy with terror.

Beneath the mask of Power Girl lay Asuka Langley Soryu. And now, with her mind flooded with terror, Asuka did what she had always done when she was afraid.

Asuka Langley Soryu lashed out.

Amon Sur didn't have time to react as Power Girl plowed into him at top speed, not slowing down one bit after she'd rammed into him. Twin beams of orange light shot forth from her eyes. The blasts of intense heat quickly pierced his defensive shield, striking him in the chest and incinerating part of his uniform, then his skin, and finally several of his internal organs.

Then the two of them collided with one of the nearby mountains, the force of the impact striking the mighty landmark of stone hard enough that the side of the mountain cracked in a spider web pattern, and the resulting tremors were strong enough to just register on the Richter Scale. What undamaged organs Amon had left ruptured from the force of the impact. Rocks began to rain down from up above, burying nearly all of Amon Sur, leaving only his right hand exposed. A few shards of stone landed on Power Girl, but she barely noticed.

"Mein Gott," she said, propping herself up against her thighs and panting, more winded from the emotional ordeal than the physical one.

Totally lost it there, she thought. Oh well. Can't say I'll be losing much sleep over the psycho lightning bug here.

Suddenly, she heard a voice from nearby. Power Girl immediately prepared for a new fight, even though she couldn't believe that her enemy had survived what she'd done to him.

However, it wasn't Amon Sur who was speaking.

It was his ring.

"Ring status report. Sinestro Corps member 2814 deceased."

Power Girl frowned down at the thing, not at all sure why it was still doing anything with its wearer dead. Or why it felt the need to state the obvious, for that matter.

Then it removed itself from Amon Sur's finger and went flying off into the sky.

"Sector scan 2814 for replacement sentient initiated."

"Oh, hell no!" Power Girl said. "Having to deal with one person wearing that thing was enough!"

She took to the sky, in hot pursuit of the yellow bauble, very much intent on destroying it. However, it was fast, and before she could catch up to it, it was nearby back to Tokyo-3.

It's quick, but so am I, Power Girl thought, reaching out for the evil thing. She could almost touch it.

"Warning. Hostile life form in pursuit," the ring said. "Initiating counter measures."

A blast of yellow light erupted from the ring, catching Power Girl by surprise and sending her reeling. By the time she'd regained control of her flight, the ring had escaped her sight.

Scowling, she narrowed her eyes and concentrated. Instantly, her X-ray vision kicked in, and virtually all of Tokyo-3 became visible to her. However, finding one little ring in Tokyo-3 was like playing the world's most difficult game of "Where's Waldo?" and after many minutes of fruitless searching, Power Girl finally gave in, deciding she wasn't going to succeed.

She'd never read the "Where's Waldo?" books much when she was younger; they were for little children.

With a frustrated sigh, Power Girl began to make her way back home.


Shinji had bruises all over the place. His knees were scraped up in a way that was common for children half his age. His ankles ached. He had at least half a dozen mosquito bites.

He was also smiling. Despite the number of spills both he and Misato had endured in their mostly failed attempts to teach themselves how to roller skate, he'd had fun. His guardian had found their inability to do what she'd seen several children do easily to be endlessly amusing. Her nearly constant laughter was infectious enough that even he'd caught it. The whole experience had made him feel more light hearted than he had in a very long while, and certainly more cheerful than he would have believed possible on this particular day.

"I had a really good time, Misato," Shinji said. "Thank you for convincing me to go out again."

"There's really no need to thank me, Shinji-kun," she replied. "I was feeling pretty down after going to that wedding. Spending time with you made me feel a whole lot better. Heck, if anything, I should probably be thanking you."

Shinji blinked in surprise. To the best of his knowledge, he had never been able to comfort anyone or lifted anyone's spirits when they were sad before. It was something he'd just accepted himself incapable of doing, but according to Misato, he'd done it without even trying.

"B-But, you made me feel better, too," he stammered in his confusion.

Misato grinned. "That's the best way. If we're both making each other happy, then nobody's imposing."

There was definitely a certain logic to that, Shinji decided as he and Misato entered the apartment.

"Well, well, well, looks like the happy couple finally decided to grace me with their presence," a grouchy looking Asuka observed as Shinji and Misato entered the kitchen.

"Did you wait up for us?" Misato asked, surprised.

Asuka was just sitting there at the kitchen table, and had apparently been doing nothing but nursing a can of juice.

"No," the Second Child shook her head. "I was just thinking."

"Oh," Misato said. "Well, anyway, sorry about ditching you, Asuka. You're so social that I thought you'd just go out, even if your date ended early."

"Whatever," Asuka grumbled, getting up from her chair and tossing her juice can into the garbage. "I'm going to bed."

"Uh, good night," Shinji said as she walked off.

"Yeesh, who spit in her rice bowl tonight?" Misato wondered once Asuka had disappeared into her room.

"Dunno," Shinji shrugged. "She's actually been pretty mellow lately. I wonder what's changed?"

"Whatever it is, I doubt she'll tell us about it," Misato said.

"You're probably right," Shinji agreed, then yawned. "Well, it is getting late. I think I'll turn in myself."

"All right," Misato said. "Good night, Shinji-kun."

"Night," he replied, then he, too, vanished into the hallway, leaving Misato alone in the kitchen.

"I really wish I wasn't too old for you," she mumbled to herself as she went to the fridge and grabbed herself a can of beer. "God, I'm turning into a broken record. It just can't ever happen. I have to deal with that."

She cracked her beer and for once didn't gulp down the contents all at once. Instead, she took a small sip, plopping down into the chair Asuka had recently vacated. She took another pull from her can, then set it down on the table.

And in doing so, she happened to notice something Asuka had drawn there in a small amount of spilled juice from the can the Second Child had been drinking from. It was a symbol, and a fairly simple one at that. At the center of it was a circle, and above that was a shape that looked vaguely like a handle. Two straight lines came out from the bottom of the circle. After a certain point, both of these lines suddenly began to curve, heading upwards.

Misato hadn't seen the symbol ever before in her life, and yet she somehow felt strangely uneasy while looking at it.

Then she shrugged and ran a hand across Asuka's "artwork," effectively erasing it. Putting the symbol from her mind, Misato finished her beer and then headed off to bed herself.


Meanwhile, halfway across the city, a certain Commander of NERV was already asleep in bed. Gendo Ikari knew that he might be called upon to confront a situation that would require all his mental acuity on a moment's notice, so he liked to be well rested whenever his schedule would permit it.

It took a lot of energy to manipulate the entire world into helping him get what he wanted, after all.

However, an uninterrupted night's sleep was not for him that evening. His slumber was rudely disturbed when a small object smashed its way through his bedroom window, the noise waking him instantly.

"What is it? Who's there?" he demanded, instantly alert.

It wasn't long before he spotted the yellow ring that was flying toward him.

"Gendo Ikari of Earth," it spoke, "you have the ability to instill great fear."

With that, the ring flew onto the middle finger of his hand before he could react to it. Yellow flames burned away the pajamas he'd gone to bed in, replacing them with a yellow and black and costume.

"You have been chosen to represent space sector 2814," the ring continued.

Gendo just stared wordlessly down at the thing. Part of him was understandably thrown for a loop by what was happening. However, another part was already calculating the possibilities this opened up, if this ring was what he thought it might be.

"You will now be subjected to physiological and physical reconditioning. Preparing to transport sentient," the ring announced.

Gendo's eyes widened. Disappearing for any length of time was unacceptable. SEELE was starting to realize he had an agenda that differed from theirs; they would pounce on any unexplained absence from him as an excuse to install one of their lapdogs into the position of NERV's Commander. If that happened, all his plans would be as dust.

He would never see Yui again.

"No," he grunted, feeling the ring pulling at him, at his very being, and resisting it with everything he had. "I won't go."

"Conflicting emotional resonance detected. Willpower overriding fear," the ring reported.

"I won't…go!" Gendo hissed.

Suddenly, there was a brief flare of orange light by his right hand—a flicker of Adam's AT field by the looks of it. Gendo felt the ring's attempts to take him away suddenly cease.

"Transport cancelled," the ring announced.

He looked down at the thing, and it spoke to him one more time.

"Welcome to the Sinestro Corps."


Author's Notes: So much to say here. I was thinking of labeling this chapter an "interlude" since Asuka's the only one who does any super-heroing here. In the end, I decided against that, since this chapter's over 25 pages long (single spaced), and because Misato's still the focus in most of it.

A few notes about the Green Lantern comic. I didn't just make up the other Green Lanterns that Gendo mentioned to SEELE. The "dragon-like" one was Yalan Gur, a character who's now defunct thanks to retcons regarding the yellow weakness. The other was Abin Sur, who visited the Old West in the Legends of the DC Universe series. His enemy, knowing of the yellow weakness, equipped his lackeys with gold-tipped bullets. I figured it wouldn't be implausible for the legend to have become twisted into silver bullets being used instead. I'd also note that the ability Amon used on Asuka at the end there isn't something the average Sinestro Corpsman has ever done in the comics, but damn it, they should. The blue lanterns can show people their hopes, and the Star Sapphires can show people their true love, so the Sinestro Corps really should be able to show people their deepest fears.

So, anyway, yeah, Gendo now has a yellow power ring. He seems an appropriate candidate to me, since he's as big a control freak as Sinestro himself. Plus, I imagine that fear is how he controls most of the people under him, if not the most important ones. It should be also noted that, since Amon's attempt to recharge was interrupted, there's next to no juice left in that ring. We'll just have to see what the bastard king can do with it.

Also, as I'm sure you noticed, I've delayed the Eleventh Angel's attack. I have plans for that one, but the pieces weren't in place yet for me to execute them, hence the delay.

One thing I'd like to clear up, because there have been a lot of questions about it in reviews on the various SOE2 fics: all the stories are in their own separate continuity. A few of the women aside from the main one in each fic might also have super powers, but in no story is every lady a superwoman. This is basically the way in works in the original SOE series as well.

D-scribe, as I noted in the last chapter, Gendo's purpose for picking Kaji was to make him too busy to snoop around, not because he thinks Kaji is some tactical genius.

As for the color thing, maybe the combination of purple and green is just a lot more evocative of Eva for Shinji than blue by itself?

Shinji being the love interest in each story is something from the original SOE series that I'm trying to honor in the SOE2 series.

As I said earlier, not every superwoman is present in these fics, and Asuka and Rei were stuck in Matsushiro while the Tenth was attacking. Plus, as Eva pilots, they can't just disappear during an Angel battle.

Gendo is more evil than the devil, and I think even he would be caught rather flat footed by something as massively out of left field as comic book superheroes showing up. Besides, Gendo tended to be incredibly lucky in the series; it wasn't like he never did dumb things, it's just they never came back to bite him. It was like Murphy's Law simply didn't apply to him until the very end. We've never really seen him in crisis mode because when his luck finally ran out, he knew it was over and didn't bother trying to stop the end from coming.

Section Two sucked in canon, losing track of one of the Children more than once for no good reason. It's no stretch that they suck here, too.

As for the evacuation, Ritsuko seemed to think that evacuating was an option, and if anyone would know, she would. I was going to throw in a line about an Eva transport flying off with a huge container that was supposed to be Lilith, but since the city wasn't actually going to be destroyed anyway, I didn't bother. The pilots didn't evacuate in their Eva's because the things can only function for 5 minutes without a power cable, and there's no reason to assume such cables are available all over the Japanese countryside. Plus it probably costs a ton of money to activate an Eva. And I don't see what really could have gone "wrong" seeing as how the plan was to let the Angel win. And there was plenty of time for evacuating, so there was no need for the Eva's to cover the people's escape.

Krow Blood, while Shinji as a Red Lantern does make sense, I just don't see it happening in the future. Also, now I need mind bleach, too. Thanks a lot for sharing.

Well, this was long and rambling. So let me wrap this up by saying thanks as always to my readers, reviewers, and thanks to my beta reader.


Omake

Some Roles Only Work With One Gender, Okay?

"Is this enough fish yet, sempai?" Misato asked wearily, displaying a construct of a huge net that was filled to the brim with sea life.

"It's never enough fish, Poozer!" Pen-Pen snapped. "Now get back to your training before I tell you that you can—"

He was cut off suddenly as something violet suddenly went streaking past them at incredible speeds.

"What was that?" Misato asked, watching the purple comet as it rapidly disappeared from sight.

"The legacy of Zamaron," Pen-Pen said grimly. "Follow me, rookie! It's time to go to work! We have to try and catch that thing before it finds a host!"

Pen-Pen flew off, Misato right behind him. Despite how dire Pen-Pen seemed to think the situation was, Misato couldn't help but smirk slightly.

Who says penguins don't fly? She thought.

The two Green Lanterns soon arrived back at land, then pursued the glowing object to Tokyo-3, and then into Misato's apartment building.

"Why is it going into my home?!" Misato demanded.

"It's found a host," Pen-Pen said grimly.

Suddenly, there was a loud scream from inside the apartment.

"That was Shinji!" Misato exclaimed, increasing her speed.

She burst into her apartment through the veranda door, and then began to frantically look about, in search of the Third Child. "Shinji-kun?" she called.

"Shinji's not here," a voice that sounded suspiciously like the Third Child replied from one of the hallways. "But I am. The Star Sapphire!"

The transformed Shinji emerged into the main room, and Misato's eyes widened. The Third Child was clad in a one piece outfit that was a light violet that was just a shade or two away from being pink. On his head sat a white tiara that had a starburst emblem in the center.

"Now, Greens Lanterns, I…"

The new Star Sapphire trailed off as both Misato and Pen-Pen collapsed to the floor in gales of laughter, clutching onto their sides as they guffawed uncontrollably.

"Hey! Super villain giving a monologue here!" Star Sapphire shouted.

"S-Sorry, Shinji-kun, but you…you…you look…" Misato got no further before she again dissolved into giggles.

Star Sapphire's shoulders slumped. "Even as I super villain, I can't get no respect…"