GREEN LANTERN NEW GENESIS: RECHARGED
Chapter 4: Caped Crusaders
Few days had passed since the Doctor Polaris incident, with the news about "Kid Lantern" quickly spreading like wildfire throughout the media. Hal delivered his promise as thanks to his "friend" he managed to create an identity for Shinji, who now was a son of JSSDF's pilot who send his son to study in America thanks to his double American/Japanese citizenship and was staying with Hal indefinitely. Thanks to his now forged papers Shinji could attend High School, being enrolled to a local district school by Hal.
"Well, here we are."-Hal said as he turned towards Shinji, who was holding his backpack and put his IPod to his pockets.
"Thanks Hal, I'll get back on my own after School."-Shinji said as he jumped out of the car, but before he could leave for the school door he felt his right hand before being grabbed by Hal.
"You know, it would be better to take off the ring, put it in your pocket or something."-Hal said as Shinji raised his eyebrow before taking off his ring.
"The problem is I don't know English without it."-Shinji said in fluent Japanese with Hal only nodding.
"Point taken…have a good day out there."-Hal said as he watched Shinji leave, as he started his car in order to make his way towards his workplace he felt his phone buzz. A message from "B" appeared on his phone screen. 'We need to talk.'-the message read out as Hal quickly typed in a response. 'If it's about having a young partner then you have no right to talk me down, you were the one who started this trend anyways.'-Hal typed in as a response arrived. 'Tonight, I'll send the coordinates.'-the final message said as Hal drove off. 'I just hope Shinji will have a good day.'-he thought as he speeded though another red light.
"Attention class, from today we will have a new student attending. This is Shinji Ikari, a transfer student from Japan, now you can sit down mister Ikari."-The teacher said as Shinji obliged and found himself an empty seat. The day flew as if It was flying though interspace, with the same questions appearing from fellow students, he hasn't watched any of the popular anime so he didn't understand references people were making when talking to him, he neither could answer on how Tokyo looks and how cool is living there, he has only been in the old Tokyo once during the Jet Alone incident, and it was all dust and wrecked after WW3, so he always replied that he lived in Hakone, and it worked for most of the time. It was finally break time as Shinji stood under the tree with his IPod, some things just never change, he did sometimes eavesdrop what his other peers were talking about, and for the world filled with superheroes and the larger universe Shinji saw while stationed on Oa all of it seemed down to Earth, with occasional talk about Green Lantern and…Kid Lantern appearing and taking out another villain, most recently being a guy calling himself the Javelin, who's superpower was literally throwing yellow Javelins, and for Shinji's ring that worked on yellow the mercenary quickly found himself traveling back to Bell Reeve. His legs weren't made out of steel however as he found himself looking for a spot to sit down, one that had as little people as possible, and he just located it. A bench that was just nearby his current spot still caught in a shadow of the tree.
"Excuse me, can I sit here?"-Shinji asked as the only occupant of the bench slightly nodding from behind a book. It was a girl, definitely an American, with a slender build and a white T-Shirt with blue arms, the book covered her dirty messy blond hair. The girl then slightly turned towards Shinji allowing him to see her deep purple eyes covered by purple trimmed glasses.
"Uhm, sure."-The girl said as she turned back to her book, Shinji only nodded as he sat down next to her, reaching out for his IPod and continuing his mundane task of looking at fellow students, and it went on for minutes. Before as if a thunder struck even though his headphones he could hear the girl making an attempt at conversation.
"So, you're new here? The Japanese student?"-The girl asked as Shinji suddenly turned nodding.
"Uhm,hm yes!"-Shinji said as the girl turned back towards him taking off her glasses amused.
"Ok…I'm Amy by the way."-Amy introduced herself as Shinji once again nodded.
"Ika-Shinji."-Shinji introduced himself, still getting used to using his first name to introducing himself. Being in a country that felt like a polar opposite to his own.
"So, what are you reading?"-Shinji asked trying keep up the conversation, his first and probably last throughout his whole school day.
"A book on programming."-Amy said as she passed the book towards Shinji, who for someone who couldn't read a word in English without using his ring tried his best to pretend he could understand anything.
"Right…interesting."-Shinji said before returning the book back to Amy, before the bell finally split them off as Shinji continued his day of gathering education. The science subjects weren't much of a problem for him. Math, Physics and Chemistry were all the same everywhere and for someone who didn't do much other than study or play his cello it was quite easy for him, the trickier part was English language, History and Geography, with him not even knowing about Japan in this world it was expected that he didn't know anything about the united states, much less all those countries on the map, Markovia, Vlatawa and the whole Rheelesia peninsula that existed in the place of Korea. For someone who knew the map of the universe patrolled by the Corps it seemed laughable that Shinji couldn't get his mind together for something so "mundane." With the fact that he couldn't tell anyone he couldn't talk or read in English and not look like an complete idiot in front of the entire school . But he pushed through the entire day as the final bell rang, with Shinji letting out a sigh of relief. Returning via bus to the really nice apartment he was sharing with Hal, backpack full of English and History homework. He took off his shoes before placing them in the nearby drawer and taking a look throughout the apartment, it was fairly large and probably bigger than Misato's, although the number of rooms were smaller consisting only of a single bathroom, two bedrooms and a kitchen mixed with a living room. Shinji made his way towards his room, unpacking his notebooks and reached out towards his English and History notebooks, all written in Japanese made out of rough translations of what his teacher's said. He then turned towards his books as he still didn't seem to understand a thing, and that could mean one thing, his ring was on fumes…Shinji sighed as he then walked towards his drawer, opening it to reveal his power battery. Shinji raised his ring before putting inside.
"In Brightest Day…In Blackest Night, no Evil Shall Escape My Sight. Let Those Who Warship Evil's Might. Beware My Power, Green Lantern's Light!"-He recited as he felt the energy pouring into his ring before returning to his homework. Sitting down in his chair, ring with now enough power to translate all the words, focusing as hard on the English book in front of him, willing himself to understand the text and the language itself, as if knowledge was shot at his brain like a bullet, himself being quickly paralysed as his head felt onto the table, unable to move as the information was flooding his brain, it seemingly being close to explode with Shinji feeling he was close to going insane or that he would just die. With that thought he passed out on the table, ring glowing.
"Shinji, Shinji! Hey there wake up, come on."-Shinji finally regained consciousness and saw Hal's worried face in front of his.
"Geez, you gave me quite a scare there kid, what happened?"-Hal asked as Shinji pointed at his books.
"Homework happened, I was trying to read my English book, I was trying as hard as possible to get though the translation before suddenly I felt a massive headache, and it was then I passed out."-Shinji explained as Hal then pointed at the open drawer allowing the power battery to shed its light over the room.
"And before you did it you recharged your ring right?"-Hal asked as Shinji looked up towards his battery and then towards his ring.
"Yes? Why does it matter?"-Shinji asked Hal sighed before pointing at Shinji's ring.
"I'll explain it in a minute, for now wait here."-Hal said as he left Shinji's room before returning with tablets and a glass of water.
"Take these, if you already felt your head explode then feedback is probably coming as we speak, if it didn't return already."-Hal said just as Shinji felt another nasty sting inside his head, he quickly grabbed the glass and tablets before swallowing them and drinking the entire glass in one go.
"You know, you should've said you can't read English."-Hal said as Shinji wiped the sweat of his forehead before looking towards his superior.
"I didn't want to complain."-Shinji replied as Hal turned head.
"And try to hide the crucial part of being able to attend school? You do realise it wouldn't last very long right?"-Hal asked as Shinji raised his eyebrow.
"And what would you do?"-Shinji asked as Hal wiped the back of his head.
"I dunno, but I could've think of something, I'm your guardian and your superior in the corps, and if you have a problem it's my job to help you solve it."-Hal explained as Shinji nodded.
"Right, sorry…"-Shinji said as Hal then pointed out of the room.
"So, you want me to heat up dinner? I got us some Chinese Take-out."-Hal said as Shinji turned his head before pointing at the open book.
"I still need to finish my…homework."-Shinji said looking at the book and…seemingly understand every letter, word and sentence as if he could read Kanji, he wiped his eyes before taking off his ring to see that he could still understand it, still shocked Shinji flipped throughout other books to see that he could understand what was written in them as well.
"What the?"-Shinji asked as in English as Hal nodded before pointing at his own ring.
"That was the ring downloading the entire language to your brain, after you charged it to 100% and mixed that with willing yourself to understand the language and not just translate it, the ring responded and here you are, reading, speaking and probably writing in a language you knew little to nothing about."-Hal explained as Shinji rubbed his forehead.
"No wonder my brain feels like it's going to burst."-Shinji said as Hal bent over to see Shinji's homework.
"Here, I'll help you, I may not look like it but you have to be really smart to get to Pilot School."-Hal said as he kept his word and helped Shinji get though all the English and History homework in little over an hour.
"And that's it, all done."-Hal said as they finished the last history assignment, but Shinji's attention was brought to another picture, a black and white one of a hero dated for 1940, he had a cape with a large collar and a domino mask covering his face. In this world heroes started to appear just before the Second World War and the teams such the Justice Society of America and All Star Squadron battled Axis powers during the war and were later forced to retire after being accused to be soviet spies. However what brought Shinji's attention was the symbol of a train lantern on his chest and a small glow on his right hand, it was definitely a Green Lantern.
"Uhm Hal? Who is that?"-Shinji asked as Hal peaked in before nodding.
"That's the Green Lantern from the 40s, knew him from my Grandpa's and Father's stories, he lived in Gotham before the war broke out, he vanished from the public eye after McCarthy's accusations. Nobody has seen him since."-Hal said as then Shinji turned towards him with a risen eyebrow.
"I thought you were the first human in the Corps?"-Shinji asked as Hal nodded.
"I was, in fact I was confused when I learned there was a whole Corps. Maybe I'll ask him how it happened if I meet him one day, but enough of that, dinner time."-Hal said leaving the room with Shinji following him before the two settled on swallowing the Chinese food Hal brought, with it being of vary quality, and it was obvious judging by Shinji's facial expression.
"Yeah I know it's pretty...crap, but it is enough bothers to learn how to cook."-Hal said as Shinji jugged down a Kooba Cola helping him to swallow the food.
"I still want to thank you for helping me with the homework and for bringing food."-Shinji said as Hal raised his eyebrow.
"Are you really this polite to everyone? Because it slowly starts to get quite creepy."-Hal said as Shinji sighed.
"I'm sorry."-Shinji apologised having his tick activated while looking down at the table.
"And again with apologising for everything, Kilowog said it was getting on his nerves."-Hal added as Shinji mentally punched himself in the gut to stop his mouth from saying "I'm sorry." Again.
"Listen, I'm sorry for being so harsh, it's just I'm not really used to dealing with someone so formal, especially the person who sleeps next door. Arisia was probably painting a way different picture right?"-Hal asked as Shinji's cheeks lit up a slight blush at the thought of the Graxonite and her smile.
"She did say that you mentored her…"-Shinji said as Hal chuckled.
"I think mentored is a little big word, more like giving her a direction and thanks to that and little bit of storytelling we still have a universe. Although the fact that last time I seen her she looked at me like I was her classmate."-Hal said jugging down his own Kooba Cola Diet as Shinji slightly looked down connecting the dots.
"That probably means she has a crush on you."-Shinji said in a slight sad tone as Hal spat out his drink.
"What!? I mean how did you-"-Hal asked almost choking on his drink as Shinji looked towards him.
"Let's just say I knew someone like that."-Shinji said almost on automatic tone as the thought of Asuka pierced his brain like bullet while Hal nodded carefully at his words.
"I mean, I've heard stories about girls having crushes on their teachers or simply older guys. But she is only a kid, who cares about a longer sun rotation she is your age and I'm not a paedophile. I guess talking with her is something on my bucket list when I'll be on Oa next time, getting that idea out of her head. Returning to the topic, you're a boy and you should act like it."-Hal said as Shinji felt another flashback hit his head as for a brief second he saw Misato sitting in front of him as if it was his first day in Tokyo 3. As if years had passed since he heard it, another lifetime and another world.
"I'll go get take a shower, oh…and thank you for taking me in and giving me a chance."-Shinji said as Hal sighed with an amused smile.
"You're a one weird kid Shinji."-Hal said as Shinji locked himself in the bathroom before washing himself, although not used to a more western type of showers without a bathtub, a bath was a laundry for the soul after all. 'I swear if one day I'll have my own apartment on this planet then bath is a first thing I'm buying.'-he thought before leaving the bathroom dressed up in his pyjamas before seeing Hal.
"Where do you think you're going?"-Hal asked as Shinji pointed at his room.
"To bed?"-He asked as Hal looked at his phone before showing the hour to Shinji.
"It's barely nine o'clock."-Hal said with an raised eyebrow as Shinji looked at him with a flat look.
"I have school tomorrow."-Shinji said as Hal chuckled.
"So do your classmates who party, drink and bang chicks until sunrise. Evil never sleeps Shinji, so summon your uniform…we are going on a patrol."-Hal said as his body was enveloped in green flames before standing in his uniform, Shinji following the orders did exactly as Hal said, allowing his body to be enveloped by his plug suit-like uniform topped off with his visor mask. Following Hal though the open balcony door they flew upwards until they had decent view of Coast City watching it over from the evening sky.
"You've been here for few days and we still haven't run though basics, so let's get to it, Ring! Give me a 3D of the entire Coast City."-Hal said as his ring let out an "Affirmative" before displaying a green model of Coast City, and although it wasn't anything gigantic it was still quite a large map.
"Right, so Coast City is… a coastal city that should be obvious. The channel that leads from the sea is called the Santa Clara Chanel and the local docking points and shipyards are frequently attacked so have your eyes opened while flying over there. Other than that we have other official districts: Northpoint, Midtown, Eastpoint, Westpoint, Presidio, Chinatown and many others. Those are the most frequently targeted by supervillains as well, got it?"-Hal asked pointing at the districts with a construct stick while Shinji carefully nodded.
"I think I do."-He said as Hal smirked desummoning the model.
"The best way you can learn as via experiencing it yourself, follow me."-Hal said as both of them took off in almost sound breaking speeds as Shinji followed Hal, who gave him a complete tour and explanation of every important point in the city while keeping eye for trouble. With them travelling to outskirts and flying over military airspace as Hal gave a salute to a pair of air force jets that were passing them. Shinji looked down to see various facilities and air fields beneath them
"This is the part where we should definitely keep your eyes open. You'll never know what you will encounter"-Hal said as Shinji raised his eyebrow.
"Like what?"-He asked as he awkwardly wiped the back of his head.
"Well, mutants, escaped robots, government experiments, nuclear missiles going rogue, stolen experimental aircraft. Those kind of things."-Hal said as Shinji looked at him with a "you serious?" look.
"You should definitely get used to weirdness around here Shinji, and that not every villain is as goofy as the Javelin. Let's get back to the main city."-Hal said turning around with Shinji following him. Flying back from the north they finally found a crime to stop, if it could even be called stopping, two muggers that were quickly send packing when both Shinji and Hal raised their rings shining their light over the two muggers who runned away on sight. However what sent Shinji on edge was the constant feeling of being followed ever since Hal begun their patrol and ever since they flew a little closer to the ground rather than above the clouds, a shadow within a shadow leaping from rooftop to rooftop, with sounds of something crashing a wall followed by a "twip" sound similar to a metal rope. The shadows following them throughout the city before they left for the desert, with the shadows returning to following them. Hearing another stomp Shinji finally stopped mid-air.
"Hal?"-Shinji asked raising his ring at the supposed last place where he saw the moving the shadows as Hal flew towards Shinji and patted his right arm.
"So, you noticed him?"-Hal asked as he and Shinji landed on the nearest rooftop of a large skyscraper.
"Noticed who?"-Shinji asked as Hal sighed.
"The person that got the paperwork for you, speaking of whom, you can come out Batman, you wanted us to see you right?"-Hal asked as suddenly a figure stepped to the light of their auras, and seeing the figure was enough for Shinji to feel a shiver throughout his uniform. The figure was dressed in a black and grey body armour, with a yellow utility belt and a long black cape that touched the ground beneath him, all topped with a black cowl with long ears and empty white eyes that only left his mouth uncovered, the cowl playing well with the bat emblem on the chest. Definitely fitting for someone named Batman, and ring or not, Shinji knew he wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alleyway in the pale moonlight.
"Kid Lantern, let me introduce you to the Batman, the current hero of Gotham City."-Hal said walking forward to face the Dark Knight, and it was obvious to Shinji that the two had history.
"Hey! Don't forget about me!"-Suddenly a young high-pitched voiced as another figure leaped in to the light, a boy around Shinji's age and jumped to Batman's side, contrasting to Batman's dark presence the boy was dressed up in a loud reds and yellows, wearing a scarlet body armour with a small black circle with a large yellow "R" on the right side topped off with a yellow utility belt, black leggings and a yellow cape that was black on the outside, all topped off with a black domino mask that covered his eyes and only showed his grin and black hair.
"And Robin, the Boy Wonder, Batman's sidekick."-Hal added as Robin extended his hand.
"Yo, Kid Lantern right? Nice to meet you."-Robin said as Shinji who buried deeply within his dissatisfaction that he was now known as Kid Lantern across the entire country judging by Gotham's place on the map. So he shook his hand with an awkward smile.
"Yeah, nice to meet you too."-Shinji said as then Robin looked at Hal.
"So GL, KL is your new sidekick?"-Robin asked as Hal turned his head.
"We prefer the term "Turf Partner", and no. Kid is his own full-fledged officer in the Green Lantern Corps in his own right, he is only assigned to me."-Hal explained as then Batman turned towards him.
"I didn't think the Corps authorised under aged recruits."-Batman said as Hal wiped the back of his head, knowing definitely what kind of "talk" Batman called him for.
"He's an exception, besides I already explained that it is the ring who chooses the recruit, the ring picked him and slipped onto his finger."-Hal explained staring down Batman. 'Yeah, except Arisia, but it's better not to mention it now.'- he thought as Batman begun to talk.
"And this is why took him in? Because he is an exception?"-Batman asked as Hal…just like 75 percent of the times he was talking to Batman was getting close to punching him.
"I took him in because he doesn't have anywhere else to go."-Hal flatly explained as Batman eyed him.
"And what about his family?"-Batman asked as Shinji joined the conversation.
"I'm an Orphan, and I am still here."-Shinji said lying as Batman turned his intimating, stone cold gaze towards him.
"Who are you really?"-Batman asked as the piercing look he gave Shinji was reminding him of his own father, similar tone of voice and demeanour that felt as if he was brought back to the day when he ordered him to pilot the Eva.
"If you wanted to know so badly then why forging his identity without asking any questions?"-Hal raising his eyebrow beneath his mask.
"Because you never told me how young he was."-Batman said as Hal sighed before summoning a construct of a CRT TV.
"And do you even watch TV? I believe that it made it obvious the Kid in "Kid Lantern", besides it's not my problem that you didn't bothered to ask."-Hal said as he desummoned his construct.
"I trusted the Corps wouldn't recruit a young child."-Batman said again as Hal sighed.
"And I say again that it is the rings who chose new Lanterns, and like said before, you have no right to judge the fact that I wanted him to have a semblance of normal life rather than let him spend the rest of his days on Oa."-Hal said as meanwhile Shinji felt a slight touch on his shoulder, he turned around to see Robin with his everlasting grin.
"Why don't we leave the two alone to talk before they kill each other?"-Robin asked as Shinji then turned towards the adults.
"But they are talking about me."-Shinji replied as Robin only turned his head.
"Yeah but they're talking over you rather than with you. Come on KL! I hardly get a chance to work in a different city, you've gotta show me around!"-Robin said in jokingly pleading tone as Shinji then turned towards Hal talking with Batman and then back at Robin, before a small smirk appeared under his mask.
"Alright."-Shinji said as Robin shot him a grin.
"Wait about 30 seconds and meet me on that rooftop."-Robin said pointing at a building before suddenly vanishing from behind him.
"So, if you won't need me then I'll go patrol on my own."-Shinji said as Hal gave him a salute of approval. It was enough to make Shinji take off to the sky as Batman eyed Hal.
"You let him off without supervision?"-Batman asked as Hal pointed at the lantern emblem on his chest.
"That is enough of a proof I can let him go alone, he's been trained and according to his trainer and Guardians he handled it the best among his group."-Hal said as Batman shot him another cold view.
"My point, you are being reckless, having a ward comes with responsibility, or you have been in space for so long that the word responsibility is alien to you."-Batman said as he turned away from Hal who only shot him a "You Serious?" look.
"Fuck you Bruce."
Shinji landed on the rooftop, just as his feet touched the floor Robin appeared behind him, seemingly out of nowhere stood beside him looking over the street beneath them.
"So, where should we start?"-Robin asked as Shinji summoned a map.
"Well, we're already in Northpoint but the only thing we found were two muggers, a ring's light was enough to send them running."-Shinji explained as Robin smirked.
"Then you just didn't search well enough."-Robin said leaping of the building with his trademark laugh with Shinji following him, Robin using his Grappling hook as a way of transport between rooftops, Shinji couldn't help but look with amazement at how with ease Robin moved around the city just as he could fly through the night sky.
"Cool."-Shinji said as Robin swung on the grappling hook to reach Shinji's height.
"Says the guy who is a space cop."-Robin joked as he landed on the next building with Shinji following soon.
"So, what are we looking for?"-Shinji asked as Robin pointed at a man wearing a dark hoodie standing in a corner just next to a streetlight.
"Our source, and it looks we just found it, watch and learn."-Robin said as he leaped off the building, firing his grappling hook, using it like a swing before sending a juicy kick to the man's face, using the momentum he quickly disarmed the man from his knife and gun, Shinji followed him as Robin put the man against the wall.
"Boy Wonder? Ain't you supposed to work in Gotham?"-The man asked as Robin kept his grin on his face, 'Can he really joke in this situation?'-Shinji thought as he listened to the interrogation.
"Dunno, I was visiting, seeing the sights, surfing, meeting interesting people, like your boss."-Robin said as the man quickly turned his head.
"No, there is no way I'm selling out my boss."-The man said as Robin's grin vanished.
"Oh really? Is that your final answer?"-Robin asked before punching the brick wall barely missing the man's head, that only showed an evil grin on his face.
"This aint Gotham you little shit, we aint afraid of freaks wearing costumes. We have real superheroes to worry about, with real powers, and they don't even show up most the time."-The man said as Robin threw another punch to wall, before a toothy grin appeared on his face.
"Don't show up huh? Hey Kid Lantern! Get down here!"-Robin called out as Shinji landed down towards the street, he was impressed by Robin's interrogation skills, definitely taught by Batman.
"Oh shit."-The man said as Shinji landed in front of him and raised his ring.
"Scan him for drugs."-Robin instructed as Shinji looked at his right hand.
"Ring?"-Shinji asked as the ring enveloped to hooded man in green light before letting out a sound of confirmation.
"Drugs located."-The ring's AI spoke up as a small tendril emerged from his ring, the tendril travelled to the man's pocket and returned with a bag of white powder before displaying a full chemical analysis, all written in Japanese.
"Come on, don't ya Space Cops have to measure speeds on space highways or some-"-The man didn't finish his sentence before being knocked out by Robin.
"You talk too much, KL, scan chemical contents of the drugs and match them with locations throughout the city."-Robin said as Shinji … although not being used to the street-level crime fighting did as Robin followed. A full Map appeared with several dots showing the locations of various drug dens throughout the entire city, displaying coordinates and street names….all in Japanese.
"Ok…please translate this to English and upload it in my terminal."-Robin asked as Shinji once again obliged and in a second the map appeared on a holoscreen residing on one of Robin's gauntlets.
"Let's start from here."-Robin said pointing at the nearest dot before leaping into the air, using his Grappling Hook with Shinji following him, his part was simple enough…provide a distraction. Robin evaporated from behind him just as he finished explaining his plan, 'Does he always do that?'-Shinji thought as only his laugh could've been heard in the distance. He stared down the window of an apartment that was supposed to be a drug den, as he used his infrared vision in his mask to see several men holding rifles, he swallowed air as he flew at rapid speed towards the window, knowing how much the shards of glass could pierced his plug suit-like uniform he reinforced his aura, it wasn't like he could phase threw solid matter could he? Although it couldn't help to try since his aura protected him even from suffocating in space? Shinji closed his eyes as his body flew through the window, but much to his surprise he didn't hear any shattering, he looked towards the window and saw it remained intact, and similar to his surprise were the thugs.
"Uhm, shoot."-Shinji said as they immediately opened fire, but the bullets were jumping off his protection field as he retaliated via a stun beam from his ring, it was enough of a signal for Robin to jump through the sunroof and get rid of several other thugs before all of them were laying on the ground.
"Uhm…how did you get inside? I don't say that you don't receive some kind of Black Ops training but glowing green in the dark doesn't help."-Robin asked pointing at the dreaded window as Shinji quickly touched his body to see if there was anything wrong.
"I-I don't know, I think I flew through a window without breaking it?"-Shinji said as he made a mental note about it, 'Could become useful in the future.'-Shinji thought as Robin shot a grin at him.
"Martian Manhunter powers, neat, and right here we have our proof, already contacted the cops."-Robin said as he couldn't help but internally chuckle. 'He's been on Earth for less than a week and already can go through walls better than KF.'-Robin thought as he and Shinji left towards another den. The young Lantern couldn't help but admit to himself that he had fun, Robin was lighthearted and fun, and although he took everything seriously while they fought crime together but added a little joke or tease here and there, with his laugh probably triggering PTSD in Gotham's crooks. And as hours passed and the two young heroes attacked several drug dens, in apartments, warehouses and even boats parked in the harbour, with newly discovered ability of density change it helped both of them create traps and surprises, Shinji himself even picked up some of Robin's quips like being a little more lighthearted and telling a joke once in a while before taking his next target out, noticing that his ring and taking care of bad guys wasn't only fuelling his guilt, but also his enjoyment. Thanks to that mutual understanding the two made quick work of the dens while Robin was giving police the right amount of clues to lead them to various dens. It was on their way back to Northpoint when the two stopped a robbery of a 24/7 store that also sold subs, as a thanks the owner gave each a sandwich and a cup of coffee.
"So, are you having fun yet space policeman?"-Robin asked before taking a sip of his coffee.
"Will it sound weird that I do? It is more efficient then following the procedures."-Shinji replied before taking a final bite of his sandwich.
"Maybe, but It makes the two of us."-Robin said grinning as Shinji couldn't help but do the same. All before the sound of a helicopter rotor could be heard before it revealed itself to the young heroes.
"Robin, this is the Coast City Police Department, take off your utility belt and put your hands in the air."-A female voice from the helicopter boomed out of the microphone. Robin didn't even say a word before running away and leaping from the building, Shinji quickly caught up with him as both of them were now on the run from the CCPD helicopter.
"What the hell?!"-Shinji asked as he took a deep dive with Robin.
"Batman and I aren't regarded very well in some places."-Robin explained as he landed on one of the rooftops. Their dash however was stopped by a bullet landing just in front of Robin's feet.
"Robin, that was a warning hot, surrender, we won't tell you again, Kid Lantern…you may leave alone."-The same female voice said as Shinji saw Robin slowly reaching for something in his belt, they had to run. So Shinji conjured a small green pellet, before using his ring to throw it right at the helicopter's window, and much to Shinji's surprise…although it was kind of stupid to think that blinding a pilot of a helicopter would be a good idea, the helicopter veered to right as much to Shinji's horror it was getting close to the nearby building, he launched several tendrils and tried to wrap the helicopter in a light grasp, although he could make a giant rifle he still wasn't strong to hold something as heavy as a helicopter, straining his willpower to maximum. It was this moment that Robin leaped off the rooftop before launching another grappling hook, making a 180 turn wrapping the rear end with metal cord before jumping to the nearest building and tying it, taking a bit of weight from Shinji, who with the help of Robin's grappling hook managed to lower the helicopter to the ground.
"Get out now!"-Shinji said as the crew staggered out, as he looked around to check on Robin he saw him jumping out of the rooftop.
"Wait!"-Shinji exclaimed as he poured all the remaining willpower into his aura before catching up to Robin, with him leaping from another rooftop, his colourful outfit visible thanks to Shinji's very bright aura, sending out another tendril of light at Robin's direction before it turned into a ball, closing Robin inside.
"Hey!"-Robin exclaimed as Shinji flew in front of him with his arms crossed.
"What was that? Those officers treated you as if you were another random supervillain."-Shinji said as if he tried to look intimidating, it wasn't very convincing judging from Robin's facial expression.
"You probably won't get it, you are sanctioned by an intergalactic Police Force, Batman and I are vigilantes and not every Police department likes it."-Robin explained also folding his arms while Shinji settled them on the nearest rooftop.
"I thought you were superheroes?"-Shinji asked letting Robin out of the dome as it retracted back to his ring.
"We are, some people just don't like the way we do things, from the shadows and all of that, they think we're shady or something."-Robin joked as Shinji couldn't help but connect the "from the shadows." to SELLE members and what he learned during the Third Impact.
"There you are."-Hal said hovering from the sky as Batman appeared from behind the two young heroes.
"We saw a helicopter parked on a street, explain."-Batman demanded as Robin walked in front of Shinji.
"It was an accident."-Robin explained as Batman eyed his protégé.
"You know how certain authorities see us. Exactly the reason why I told you no working in other cities."-Batman scolded as Robin looked up.
"Come on! How are we will be able to change our image if world still sees us as just vigilantes wreaking havoc?"-Robin asked as Hal turned towards Batman.
"Don't be so harsh on Robin, I'll smooth things over with the CCPD. And I don't want Kid to be hunted for destroying a chopper paid by taxpayers."-Hal joked as he put his arm on Shinji's shoulder.
"You need to stop being so lenient Jordan."-Batman said as he vanished into the darkness.
"See ya KL."-Robin added also disappearing into the night leaving the veteran and the rookie alone on the rooftop.
"Sorry Hal."-Shinji said looking up to his superior as his mask vanished.
"No problem, and please don't give me those puppy eyes, it gives me the creeps."-Hal said both of them made their way back to Hal's apartment.
"Roger…"-Shinji said as Hal then looked back with concern and wry amusement.
"Hey listen, don't let Batman get in your head, he just doesn't like us Lanterns very much, and we have to stick for each other."-Hal explained as they flew over a busy street, with Shinji summoning his mask back on as people on the ground were taking pictures of them.
"Are you sure it's ok?"-Shinji once again asked before Hal once again turned towards him before stopping mid-air.
"Kid, who is your partner?"-Hal asked as they flew under a bridge.
"You sir."-Shinji replied with a smile as Hal winked at him.
"Good, then listen to me whenever I tell you to not be moody, in this line of work you need to be a bit loose or you'll die before puberty."-Hal joked grinning as Shinji had another question.
"Hal? Did you know we could phase though walls?"-Shinji asked as Hal turned towards him surprised.
"What?"
A/N: Hello and welcome back again to New Genesis: Recharged! Our first big major bite into the larger universe, some neat cameos and the first appearance of Batman and Robin. So to clear other stuff here are some things I wanted to explain from the original. First the nickname "Kid Lantern" given to Shinji by the media and even Robin and soon other heroes. It was stupid in the original as Shinji is a regular Green Lantern and not just a sidekick, so here I do plan for it to be a major part of his story arc. It is my first time writing a "coming of a hero" or "from bottom to top" story so for in order for Shinji to prepare for coming events not only his willpower will get stronger but also himself as a character and as a hero to escape the mantle of being just a sidekick and a "Kid Lantern". Henceforth for now he uses his ring in more unortodox ways compared to other Lanterns (Such us phasing.), he makes mistakes, but he always learns from them. So that one day he will proudly stand alongside Hal as one of the best lantern veterans. Also it's because I'm drafting a Spider-Man/Panty and Stocking story (shout out to my master GainaxVel3o for inspiration I love your Eva crossover) and since I work on a practice in one/perfect in other type of story writing it is also a way to see if it works out. Also because I'm a GL fanboy. For the other things, we won't be coming back to more space adventure in a long time aside from the adaptation of Chapter 11 of the original, rather than that the threats will be coming to him. But that's for the future! Until next time! And I don't own Evangelion or DC Comics, that belongs to Studio Khara and Warner Bros Discovery.