GREEN LANTERN NEW GENESIS: RECHARGED
Chapter 5: the Redline
"Damn it! Couldn't Green Lantern bother with arresting us and sends his brat instead?"-One of the bank robbers said before Shinji, or Kid Lantern knocked him with a swift of an Eva fist, few days had passed ever since his meeting with Robin. So much so that the days turned into a "reutine", a reutine that to someone else could sound like a plot of a comic book or a Tokusatsu show. Go to school, study, go back home, quickly get though his homework and jump into the costume before heading out for a patrol. Since having English being dumped into his mind school stopped being such a nuisance as he got through most of the subjects, his integration with his peers though…went a lot worse. The only person that he talked with was Amy, and even then it was only a couple of words, a silent type much like him. On the contrast Shinji loved flying though the clear sky with his earbuds in and listening to some dynamic music, meanwhile looking at the city beneath him and keeping an eye out for trouble. But also looking at his reflection in the windows, and occasionally cheering when he took a massive nosedive or two, but it didnt mean he was looking for a fight were there wasnt one and always having an eye for any supervilain or a robber looking for trouble. He only wanted to live to the fullest, and he enjoyed it. He still had a mission though, and currently he was just doing exactly that. By putting an end to a bank robbery he stumbled upon.
"You talk to much, and I am a Green Lantern. Just because your local space cop is a kid doesn't mean you have to add Kid to everything right?"-Kid Lantern asked himself before he gathered up all the laying money bags from the floor and handed them back to the bank cashier. Giving only a small nod he soared up though the open sunroof leaving before any of the press would arrive. In contrast to his turf partner Kid Lantern was a man of few words, but after an "incident" revolving saving a couple of teenage girls made him quite popular among the youth population of Coast City, and the fact that he was wearing a tight body suit that showed off much of his build didn't help that. So he always chose the option of leaving before the police and the press would arrive. 'All right, patrol done, time for shopping.'-Shinji thought as he flew back to Hal's apartment, desummoning his uniform and closing the balcony door behind him. From what Hal had told him, his job was that of a test pilot and that he would be gone for most of the day, so he left him some money so that he could pick some take out for himself. But thanks to months of living with Misato and Asuka, both quite disfunctional in terms of running a household, taught him many important skills, one of which was cooking. And judging by the amount of bills left on the table it would be quite enough for decent dinner. He then took around across the rest of the apartment and realising what mess Hal had left before leaving for work. He only sighed as once again he thought of Misato and made the same connection, a professional in both of his jobs but a mess of a human being. 'That's for later.'-he thought as he walked out of the apartment with all the money stuffed in the pockets of his hoodie, earphones in and looking down to the ground. Of course he could've used his ring in order to show him the amount of American Dollars into Japanese Yen but once when he tried that he realised how much different the course of yen was compared to his own world. So he had to rely on his intuition regarding buying food, and so he did. Buying chicken, rice, vegetables and soup stock. After coming back to the apartment the first thing Shinji did was getting the food into the fridge as his current task was to clean the place up before Hal will come back. Shoving it between all the take-out, soda and beer. Once again making a silent comparison. He took out all the cleaning equipment from a nearby drawer before taking a look across the entire apartment. 'It's going to be few hours before I manage to clean it all up myself...myself, that's it!'- a small green lightbulb lit up at the back of his head. He looked at his ring before summoning several small Eva arms, it didn't hurt to have few extra pairs of hands right? But then he realised he would need to keep an eye onto all of the hands in order to see the arms to access all the spots. His constructs then suddenly merged into one to form a single one, an image of green Asuka wearing a maid uniform, the shock itself was quite enough for Shinji to startle before the construct disvolved. The sheer shock of it made him shake his head. Sitting there on the floor for a few seconds before trying again, summoning the maid again he was sure he could some form of ache in his chest as he looked at the warm and genuine smile that the person he once knew never worn once. He focused once more as he gave the Asuka several more clones, all identical to the last detail.
"Okay…here you have the cleaning equipment. So please get to work?"-Shinji asked as the nine Asukas nodded before Shinji, trying to keep his guilt hidden in order not to lose control put the maid Asukas to work thoughout the apartment. Washing, cleaning, doing laundry, sweeping, dusting. Trying to get himself elsewere Shinji turned to cooking while occasionally glancing at the maids. In less then a hour Shinji managed to: cut the chicken and vegetables, boiled the stock and cooked it all together. His eyes focused on the small kingdom in front of him while ironing his will in order to keep the Asukas behind him in their material form. Other then playing his cello, schoolwork and crimefighting of course cooking was one of the ways Shinji tried to get his thoughts away from his own earth, the one that he abandoned to rot. If people came back from LCL? Rebuild humanity? Maybe…although he always kept those thoughts to haunt him whenever he was going to bed, trying to "enjoy" every bit of his new life, both as the american citizen Shinji Ikari and as a young corps officer and superhero "Kid Lantern". Shinji then looked around the apartment to see the apartment cleaned up as a tear, the nine maid constructs then stood facing him as if they awaited another order.
"Uhm, thank you?"-Shinji said as he dismissed the constructs, and it was then when he was struck by the realisation of what he just did. 'I've finally summoned a living construct.'-he thought as this sentence kept clouding his mind before he heard the door opening, Shinji took it as a sign and quickly prepared two plates of rice and chicken and two bowels of soup. But what surprised Shinji the most was that Hal wasn't alone. For a minute his heart skipped a beat as he thought it was Misato. She had short black hair and wore a black leather jacket thrown over a tight violet dress.
"Hey Shinji, this is my boss Carol Ferris. Carol, this is my ward Shinji."-Hal said as Shinji slightly bowed.
"It's nice to meet you Miss Ferris."-Shinji said as Carol raised her eyebrow at Hal before turning back to Shinji.
"It's nice to meet you too as well, and my I'm glad we decided to skip dinner because what you made there smells amazing, I hope you have enough for three?"-Carol asked as Shinji nodded before preparing a portion for Carol as well before the three sat down at the table. Carol kept complementing him as Shinji tried to shrug it off as it being just a simple dish he made from the money Hal had left him. As all three of them finished eating Shinji wanted to gather up the dishes, before being stopped by Carol.
"Don't worry, me and Hal will wash the dishes."-Carol said as both Shinji and Hal eyed her down.
"But I-"-Shinji was quickly cut off by Carol.
"No, you spent hours working on dinner. Allow us to take off a bit of work from your back."-Carol said as she gave Hal "the look" to which he complied. As the two adults dealt with the dishes Shinji managed to deal with the rest of housework where the Asuka maids missed and folded up the laundry. Meanwhile Carol finally saw an occasion to finally talk with Hal.
"So, do you mind explaining yourself?"-She asked as the test pilot only sighed expecting that a conversesation like this would pop up sooner or later. Of course he couldn't tell her the truth, hell she didn't he was a Green Lantern, so he chose to play dumb.
"I don't have anything to explain myself for Carol, I have a friend who I owed and asked me to take care of his son, and so I did."- Hal said as Carol wiped her forehead.
"You couldn't take care of a houseplant, hell I had to sign a colease on your car so you could get yourself to work. What made you think that you can take care of a child? Let alone a teenager."-Carol asked as Hal searched thoughout his mind for any arguments.
"Let's just say that I wanted him to have a sample of normal life without moving all the time."-Hal said as a period of silence accured between him and Carol, and it lasted for a while before Carol checked her watch.
"I gotta go."-She said as Hal complied to her request, handing her jacket and leading her to the door.
"Are you leaving Miss Ferris?"-Shinji asked peaking out from the laundry room.
"I have work tommorow morning, it was nice meeting you Shinji, and good luck in not getting sucked down by Hal's messes like the rest of us."-Carol said smirking, with Shinji only letting out a silent chuckle.
"It's not a problem, comparing him prior roomates it's like a difference between heaven and Earth."-Shinji said as he once again slighty looked down. 'Great job in exposing yourself stupid!'-his inner voice said as Carol took it as a respectible bow and bowed back before leaving with Hal closing the door behind her.
"You know, if I'd know that you are a more normally functioning adult then me I'd thought twice before agreeing on taking you in."-Hal said as Shinji turned towards him.
"I wasn't meaning on doing that."-Shinji said in a monotone voice as Hal raised his eyebrow.
"Come on Shinji, lighten up a little! I was just joking! And if we are going to live together then you should bring some of that sense of humour from the patrols back here, oh, and thanks for prepping dinner and cleaning up. At least for once this place didn't make Carol look disgusted."-Hal said ruffling Shinji's hair.
"Yeah, I'm going to take a shower and go to bed, fighting crime takes a lot."-Shinji said as he made his way to the bathroom.
"Right, I already showered at Ferris so I just go catch some zzz's already, night Kid."-Hal said leaving towards his bedroom. Shinji only sighed as the door closed.
"Night."-Shinji replied as he took a shower before landing in his bed, his eyes gazing at the small window and his ring that lighly iluminated in the dark, still residing on his finger before he took it off and put it on his bedside table, it finally stopping to glow. It was finally the time where Shinji would allow himself to think and finally let the realisation how simmilar Hal and Misato were. The thoughts and the chance that he could be the last survivor of his planet were clouding his mind for a while. Well, except his mom but she was lightyears away and much similar like Yui, he already died. But it was quite poetic. Sodam Yat was the last survivor and the last green lantern of his universe who past his ring to Shinji, a last survivor himself. But he couldn't allow himself to cry over spilled milk, one day perhaps with the help of Hal and the Corps one day he could perhaps travel back and see. But that would mean spilling the beans to Hal and he wasn't ready for it, not knowing the man who Shinji came to respect and appriechate as his mentor and perhaps really the best of the best Lanterns would think of him after. Guardians knew, and for Shinji for now it was enough. He wasn't ready, he was afraid, and fear was a Green Lantern's greatest enemy, but who could he trust? Koriand'r knew some of it but technically she didn't count since she was far away and probably they would never see each other digged further and the only person he could think was the familiar face of Arisia smiling at him, she perhaps being one of the few people's smiles who Shinji had burried deep as cherised memory of seeing Rei smile. But then a sudden flash of seeing Asuka's body laying on the beach made him shiver, even though it was all an ilussion it still made him disgusted with himself. He thought that he couldn't bring himself to feel something "special" to another person, he didn't want to hurt anyone the same way as he hurt and betrayed Asuka, leaving her alone to die in the hands of the mass production Evas. 'Never Again, I can't.'-Shinji thought as he finally fell asleep allowing himself to drift away.
Fire...that was what he was feeling as it appeared he was rapidly approaching something that resembled a sun…but red. Although he felt something else, peace at himself? Calm? He flew faster then ever, as if his body was once again in possetion of Ion's powers. Then what brought him to a surprise was a voice that came from his ring, it was somehow familiar, although far more mature and expierenced, less innocent.
"Sodam what are you doing!? SODAM NO!"-The voice screamed as suddenly everything turned black. Shinji, or he thought himself to be Shinji stood in the pitch black, he wore his old school uniform and noticed his ring glowing faintly in the dark. As suddenly Asuka stood next to him.
"You think this changes anything you idiot?"-she asked as she turned towards him revealing her bondages and patched eye. She then yanked his ring hand close to his face.
"You THIS is a apology to any of us? When you ran away and ditched us in order to have your grand space oddysey, where was that will of yours when I had my mind raped? Where was it when I was eaten alive!?"-Asuka asked as she grabbed Shinji by the neck, him not being able to stutter up a reply he used what little willpower he had remaing zapped Asuka with a beam as she shattered like glass. He then opened his eyes to find himself back on the beach. He then saw Asuka, standing before turning around smirking.
"Want to witness the end?"-She asked as Shinji then felt a massive pain in his head as he then found himself standing in a crater. Now fully dressed in his Lantern uniform as it appeared he was now surrounded by the emotional spectrum entities as the universe seemed to be falling apart around him, and it was then when he allowed himself to scream before a rainbow vortex pulled him in.
Shinji jolted up from his bed, his entire body covered in sweat from the sheer power of the nightmare, that although lasting for hours felt like a rollercoaster of twists and turns punching him in the gut. 'Oh god…I need a shower.'-he thought as he quickly put on his ring, the sheer volume of the need made him summon his aura as his body jolted into the air as several small tendrils quickly corrected the bed before two reached out to his drawer for fresh undergarments allowing Shinji's power battery briefly illuminating the room. Shinji closed the door behind him and flew into the bathroom. Clean of sweat, depressing thoughts and done with. His mind and willpower now sharply focused on what this day would bring. But he couldn't do it in only his pants, so he return back to his room to slip into a pair of black shorts, a white T-shirt and a green hoodie. Now done with that he made his way towards the kitchen, turning on the TV before getting to work on breakfast. It was Saturday, with Shinji still getting used to the fact he now had two free days he could use to himself. He prepared coffee, eggs and bacon as after an hour Hal emarged from his room, letting out a jawcracking yawn.
"Arent you supposed to be a lazy teenager sleeping off the school week?"-Hal asked as Shinji turned towards the veteran lantern.
"I dunno, and arent you former military types supposed to be uptight and running since dawn?"-Shinji sarcastically asked as Hal smirked before pointing at him.
"so you DO have a sense of humour, good to know."-Hal said as Shinji handed him down a plate of eggs, bacon and a cup of coffee as Shinji looked towards the tv showing Kid Lantern stopping a bank robbery from yesterday and aperhanding the robbers.
"We should really split up the chores."-Hal said as he took a sip of his coffee and just realised how good it is.
"Eh, we don't need to and it also serves as a payment for allowing me to live here and act as a normal person rather then be Kid Lantern all the time, besides with the ring at my disposal I can probably quadruple the effort."-Shinji said as he prepared a plate for himself before sitting down as well, the two continued to eat before Hal's phone begun to buzz.
"Wait kid, gotta pick it up, hey Barry!"-Hal said as he picked up the phone before walking away from Shinji. But knowing and being able to read though moods Shinji could see that Hal's mood quickly turned more grim.
"What? But how? He's in prison, what do you mean you saw him? Right we'll be there soon, of course I'm bringing him along, with those two we will need any help we can get."-Hal said as he ended the call.
"Eat up quickly, we are leaving soon."-Hal said as he wolfed down his eggs much to Shinji's confusion.
"Why?"-Shinji asked as he drinked his coffee.
"We're going to meet a friend of mine, another superhero, and don't worry he is not like Batman."-Hal said as he sent out a tendril of light bringing Shinji's power battery. As he handed it over to Shinji he then summoned his own Power Battery.
"Come on, charge up."-Hal said as both recited the oath before being engulfed in their uniforms.
"But what about the dishes?"-Shinji asked as Hal smirked.
"We'll deal with that later."-Hal said as both Lanterns flew out from the apartment in soundbreaking speeds.
"We are we going?"-Shinji asked as he noticed the shifting on the sun, meaning they entered a different time zone.
"Central City."-Hal replied as after few minutes they found themselves floating above Central City, Kansas. Hal gestured for them to dive down into the city as Shinji couldn't help but look around himself and try to compare it to Coast City or even Tokyo 3.
"It feels, different then Coast City."-Shinji said as Hal turned towards him.
"Does it?"-Hal asked as they flew next to the streets with people waving at them.
"So, where is this friend?"-Shinji asked as suddenly a red and yellow streak flew past them, managining to pick up their hair upwards.
"Wow."-Shinji said as he couldn't believe the streangth of the wind the two created, especially since he and Hal were still floating in the air. Hal only smirked as they looked where the streak left.
"That's the Flash for ya, come on…lets go say hi."-Hal said as Shinji followed him, with the two landing in front of an empty robbed bank that was being analyzed by the police and another pair of superheroes.
"Hey Flash."-Hal said as he and Shinji turned towards the pair of peculiar superheroes. The taller one wore a sleek full red bodysuit with yellow boots and yellow lightining motif on the chest and belt area. He also wore a mask with white eyes and small lightining bolts on the sides. The smaller one wore a suit in reverse colour combination with red boots and gloves and yellow bodysuit with a red lightining bolt. In contrast to his mentor his mask was open allowing his red hair to be visible. His mask also didn't have white pupils allowing his green eyes to be visible. Above his eyes there resided a pair of red goggles to shield his eyes while running in high velocities.
"Hey GL, so this is your new sidekick? It's about time you joined our little club."-Flash said as he shook hands with Hal who only shook his head.
"Nope, he's not a sidekick, he's my partner and a full fledge Green Lantern like me."-Hal explained as the younger of Central City's heroes popped up.
"So when can I be a full Flash?"-he asked as Flash gave him "the look" before turning back to Hal.
"Right, you two don't get in trouble, we have a team-up to stop."-Hal said as he shot out into the sky in a green beam.
"Be back in a Flash."-Flash said as he turned into a red streak before running off.
"Does he always say that?"-Shinji asked as he turned towards the boy.
"You wont believe me how many times a day. I'm Kid Flash by the way!"-Kid Flash said as he reached out his hand to Shinji.
"Kid Lantern."-Shinji, as to what Hal told him only gave his alter ego as Kid Flash rapidly shook his hand.
"So…what do we do now?"-Kid Lantern asked as Kid Flash kept looking around himself.
"I dunno, they told us to stay put but I'm not really good in standing still. Come on, lets go with the exploring."-Kid Flash said before jolting off with Kid Lantern, although confused by the gung-ho attitude and the playful smirk, his thoughts travelled towards his first time when he and Asuka faced the angel Israfel, one that could clone itself and since both were unsync it ended badly. He swallowed his bad concerns and followed the streak Kid Flash was leaving behind. As suddenly Kid Flash took a major turn before the two young Brave and the Bold found themselves in the bad part of town before Kid Flash ran into a group of Lantern Although not wanting to believe someone who was a protégé of one of the founding members of the Justice League would act so petty, with a grimace he used his ring to extend the range of the sound sensors allowing him to hear the conversation.
"You're in the wrong part of town Flashboy or however you are called."-A man in a sleeveless leather jacket said as Kid Flash extended his tounge.
"It's Kid Flash, and since I'm already here how about a race tubby?"-Kid Flash said as Shinji internally cringed. 'They may be criminals, but its him who pissed them off, and why is he running so slowly? Isnt he the second fastest on Earth? I can travel like Quadrilion kilometers per hour if I put my willpower to the max, and here its if I'm dealing with Asuka but male!'-Shinji thought was he flew closer to the street to have a better view of the situation. He saw the biker leader swing a chain at Kid Flash that he narrowly dodged, and it was then when Shinji made the realisation, he couldn't go any faster. Finally making his way down Kid Lantern cought Kid Flash in a energy sphere before flying upwards for safety. The bikers stopped for a second before looking up and they were fuming, one even taking out a shotgun but Kid Lantern carried Kid Flash to the safer part of the city. Both quickly landed on the nearest rooftop as Kid Lantern desummoned the energy sphere.
"Gee thanks, finally bothering to help eh?"-Kid Flash asked in a non chalant tone as Kid Lantern was trying his best to control himsel fand not punch Kid Flash square in the jaw, although he could probably dodge it.
"Me? Me!? It was your fault for picking up a fight with a biker gang that wasn't doing anything wrong yet!"-Kid Lantern lashed out as he tried his best impression of his father's death stare, completely omitting the fact his eyes werent visible though his mask. Kid Flash only stared him down as the tension continued to rise.
"Are you hearing yourself? Look at the facts, they were A BIKER GANG IN A BAD SIDE OF TOWN, it writes itself in that sentence. Of course they done something wrong, we, or I just made them do it quicker."-Kid Flash said as he folded his arms. Kid Lantern took a deep breath as he shook his head.
"Quicker?! You cant serious right now? What if they targetted the civilians? Would you be fast enough to save them?"-Kid Lantern nonchalantly replied as Kid Flash was also ready to throw hands.
"Are you sure you are a Green Lantern? Because all I'm seeing is yellow all over your pants."-He replied as Kid Lantern sighed before flying up.
"Find your own way down."-He said as before he could fly away his ring begun to vibrate.
"What's going on GL?"-Kid Lantern asked as he kept the codename rule.
"Hey Kid…right lets just say it we're in trouble and we need your and Kid Flash's help. I've uploaded the cords already."-GL said as currently he and Flash were currently stuck in a mirror dimension before the message cut off. Although prematurely the message with coordinates managed to get through.
"GL? GL? Can you hear me?"-Kid Lantern asked as he displayed the map of Central City with a dot signalling where Hal's ring was last recorded.
"Hey! Hey! What's going on?"-Kid Flash asked as it was then when Kid Lantern finally noticed him, and realised, although it was deep within Shinji's mind. That he didn't have a chance alone since even veterans like Hal and The Flash were captured.
"Listen, I know we don't like each other but our mentors are in trouble. I would suggest a temporary truce and dealing with it."-Kid Lantern said as he landed back down on the rooftop. Kid Flash only rapidly nodded.
"Fine, now please get me down from here and lets get to it."-Kid Flash said as Kid Lantern begrundly agreed. Both then begun to made their way thoughout Central City, not even exchanging a glance as Kid Flash followed him. It took a little over 45 minutes as the two found themselves standing in front of their destination, an abandonded Hockey Stadium.
"Who would hide in a place like this?"-Kid Lantern asked as he tried to use his mask to locate his partner and Flash. Kid Flash only looked at him with a frawn.
"One way to find out, if you wont stop nagging me."-He said as Kid Lantern sighed before gesturing for them to enter the abandoned stadium. The two walked inside as silent as they could. Kid Lantern held his ring hand up as he ran though analysis and tried to locate GL's ring.
"Watch out!"-Suddenly Kid Flash's voice echoed as both were hit with beams of energy sending them down to the floor. Kid Flash being hit by a blue beam and Kid Lantern being hit by a green beam.
"Ring power drained-around 60% of full charge remaining." -Kid Lantern's ring AI said as he couldn't believe what he was hearing. 'How? I just charged it a little bit over an hour ago'- he thought, as the both young heroes got back on their feet they noticed two peculiar supervillains, one dressed in a orange and green bodysuit with a green face mask and holding a device resembling a pistol. The other one looked more menacing. Dressed in a black and grey suit with a matching cape and a face mask with white eyes and holding a golden device similar to a magician's wand.
"Mirror Master and-"-Kid Flash was suddenly cut off by Kid Lantern's ring.
"System Overwrite: Wiliam Hand, alias Black Hand. Enemy of the Corps, enegry absorbion powers, threat level Omega."-The AI exclaimed suddenly as the two villains eyed the young heroes.
"Oh if it isnt the sidekicks! Wishing to join your masters arent you?"-Black Hand asked as Kid Flash and Kid Lantern got back onto their battle stances.
"Screw that!"-Kid Flash said before rushing at the two villains.
"Kid wait!"-Kid Lantern said as the two villains only smirked.
"Ha! a boy trying to do a man's job?"-Black Hand exclaimed as Mirror Master chuckled before pointing his pistol at Kid Flash.
"Don't laugh Hand! Although he wont land a hit, he needs to find us first!"-He said as suddenly the whole room they were in were filled with Black Hands and Mirror Masters. Kid Lantern finally took action as he used his ring to zap though a copy after copy, while trying to use his ring and the sensors in his mask to locate the originals.
"Illusions? Magic's a ripoff! I'll just punch though you all!"-Kid Flash said as he punched another Mirror Master disintegrating him.
"Haste's a waste junior, and while you are busy, I'll get what I want from this partner of yours!"-Black Hand said before be aimed his weapon at Kid Lantern before firing.
"Lantern!"-Kid Flash exclaimed as he tried to move Kid Lantern out of the way. Not knowing that he already had a plan, he grabbed Kid Flash by the hand and flew downwards using his ability to phase though matter before the two landed in what seemed to be an abandoned locker room.
"That was a smart move…"-Kid Flash said breathing hard as he took out a candy bar from a compartment on his glove before swallowing it. Kid Lantern on the other hand wasn't in a lightly mood.
"We need a plan…"-he said as Kid Flash nodded.
"So mister space cop, what are your suggestions?"-Kid Flash asked as Kid Lantern rubbed his chin, although annoyed by Kid Flash's nonchalant tone, he still appretiated him trying to move him out of the way of Black Hand's blast. So rather than a frawn. He showed him a smirk as his ring displayed where GL and Flash were as his the building blocks of his plan were assembling.
"I think I just came up a plan..."
Kid Flash couldn't believe on what he was agreeing as he watched the future battlefield, the unfrozen skating ring. 'This is so stupid, and he calls me reckless?'-he thought as from his place of hiding he watched Black Hand and Mirror Master standing in front the pyramid-like prison in which both GL and Flash were locked inside, although himself surprised that both of them were cought in a trap like that.
"Hey Hand!"-Kid Lantern exclaimed as he brought the attention of both of the villains.
"If it isnt the side-kick Lantern? Still having some ring power left? Well not for long!"-Black Hand exclaimed shooting a green beam out of his weapon, Kid Lantern noticing that the power from the villain's weapon draining from Hal's ring from the prison as both GL and Flash felt their power being sucked off. Kid Lantern only smirked as he flew upwards seemingly allowing himself in Hand's line of fire. Mirror Master then turned around to see Kid Flash sprinting towards him.
"Hand! Deal with him before-"Mirror Master didn't even have enough time to fire his weapon, let alone communicate with hand before Kid Lantern sent out a large explosion of green light. Kid Flash already had his eyes covered by his goggles. Seemingly on pure instinct he rushed towards black hand and took his weapon before Kid Lantern brought back the light back to his ring.
"Well that was useless, now with all of the Flash's speed I can accelerate this little heart of yours end-MY GUN!"-Black Hand exclaimed as he and Mirror Master turned towards Kid Flash, who with a smirk held Black Hand's device.
"Looking for this? Well sorry but the thing is out of juice!"-Kid Flash exclaimed he managed to fire a beam at Kid Lantern, that recharged his ring back to 100 percent while Kid Flash used the gun on himself to restore his and his partner's full speed before either Mirror Master or Black Hand could react he rushed to the pyramid-like prison, breaking it setting GL and Flash free. The two duos then turned towards the villains before rushing at them.
"Damn it Hand! Fill your gun again!"-Mirror Master exclaimed as Black Hand hopelessy aimed his gun.
"I cant! They're moving to damn fast!"-Black Hand exclaimed before suddenly two construct fists punched him in the gut and in the head and sending him flying as GL cought his device in a construct sphere.
"Then I have an avage for you Hand, "All for one, and me for me!"-Mirror Master exclaimed as he tried to use his device to vanish to another dimension before the crimson rocket rushed and cought the device before breaking it.
"Well Mirror Master, all for one and one for all, so don't worry…you'll enjoy your partner's company on your trip to Belle Revve."-Flash said as he pressed a button in his suit signalling the authorities as GL held them in a construct cage, it was this moment where they dealt with the whole situation when Kid Lantern made his silent leave back to Coast City. Landing in Hal's apartment before desummoning his uniform and getting to work on dinner. Shinji did feal like a jerk for peacing out like that but he explained it to himself that he was fed up with Kid Flash's attitude. 'He may have his heart in a good place, but he is also just like Asuka: Hardeheaded, head-first, thinks he is invincible, nothing ever is his fault.'-he thought as he continued to stand in the kitchen before Hal appeared behind him.
"You really wanted to leave Kid Flash on a rooftop?"-he asked sternly as Shinji didn't bother turning back.
"He picked up a fight with a biker gang, endangering civilians and potentially himself. If it wasn't for your message I wouldn't look back at him."-Shinji said as Hal sighed.
"Funny enough it was the reason me and Barry were captured, too busy talking about how potentially leaving you two alone could cause a quarell like this. But now listen to me, you saw it today how much we need to watch each other's backs in this line of work, if they are lanterns or not. You may not like Kid Flash personally, but even you could see that without his help you would just join me and Flash as energy sources for Black Hand. And although he may pull off dumb stunts, trust me Flash berated him in front of me and sent running home you need to watch out for his back just as he watch out yours, and thanks to that you won. Do you got it?"-Hal asked as Shinji had to acknowlegdge the fact that Hal was right, Kid Flash was a hero, in his own unique way just as he was.
"Yes sir."-Shinji said as Hal took a sniff of the pan.
"Great, now what are you cooking?"
Shinji couldn't sleep, and this time not because of nightmares, more of guilt. He wasn't a person to look for enemies, he kept reciting Hal's words in his head thoughout the rest of the day. Even when he went on a patrol with Hal and the two busted some of the bad guys together. 'I guess I should say sorry.'-he thought as he got up and put on his clothes and ring before summoning his uniform, as he flew out of the window Kid Lantern then made his way into the continent and towards Central City.
"Ring, display me the adress of Kid Flash."-He ordered as the graph information appeared in front of his eyes. 'Wally West?'-he thought as he flew down beneath the cloud barrier and found himself in the suburbs of Central City and finding the West household, landing in a way so that he wont be seen by any of the neighbours and using his mask to scan though where Kid Flash's room resided. Kid Lantern took a deep breath as he summoned a small finger tapping on the window.
"Who's there?"-Wally asked asked before he opened the window, surprised to see the young Lantern floating in front of his window.
"It's me, Kid Lantern…"-Kid Lantern said as Wally raised his eyebrow.
"Dude, you used your ring to find me?"-Wally asked as Kid Lantern sighed.
"Yeah…I wanted to apologise for trying to leave you on that rooftop."-He said as Wally pointed behind himself.
"Can you come out to the front door? It must be tiring to float in the air like that."-Wally said as Kid Lantern nodded before flying towards the front door and desummoning his uniform just in time for Wally to open the door to look Shinji in the eye.
"Dude you're Kid Lantern?"-Wally asked as Shinji raised his ring hand revealing the shining ring
"You look twelve."-Wally joked as Shinji looked at him with a "You serious?" look.
"I'm fourteen."-Shinji said as Wally rubbed the back on his head.
"Right, about the rooftop incindent, you don't have to apologise to me, it was stupid of me to pick up the fight with those bikers. I should've probably expected you to react like that, your ring chose you on certain quantities and all that, should've been excepecting that you have better discipline then me."-Wally said as Shinji nodded before he also rubbed the back of his head.
"Right…I also wanted to thank you for pushing me away from Black Hand's blast, and that you were there to help."-Shinji said as Wally smirked.
"Dude! We've defeated Black Hand and Mirror Master all by ourselves! If that isnt the best first team-up then I don't know what else could be! Regarding those bikers, it's just Flash keeps me on a tight leash and rarely lets me go all on my own, it gets annoying, and if I do that I get beraded."-Wally said nervously stomping with his foot.
"He just wants you to be safe."-Shinji asked as Wally nodded sighing.
"Probably, but it must be nice to have a cool guy like Mister Jordan as your mentor."-Wally said as Shinji raised his eyebrow.
"You know his name?"-Shinji asked as Wally nodded before leaned onto door frame.
"It isnt as big of a secret as he wants it to be. So like I said it must be really cool?"-Wally asked as Shinji nodded.
"It's alright, he isnt nearly as responisble as Flash or Batman and can be a slob."-Shinji said as Wally looked at him with an acknoledging expression.
"But he lets you strive on his own and doesn't keep looking onto your shoulder all the time."-Wally said admirngly as Shinji looked at his feet.
"He wants me to do his own thing as my own hero, so that's good I think."-Shinji said as then Wally thrusted his hand out.
"And we almost forgot about proper introduction, Wally West."-He introduced himself as Shinji shook his hand.
"Shinji Ikari, and I really don't want any bad blood remaining between us."-Shinji said as Wally then raised his hand as an invitation for a high five.
"So, friends?"-he asked as he and Shinji shared a high five.
"Friends, and I should really go back to Coast City, need to catch some sleep."-Shinji said as Wally let out a yawn.
"Same, so see you around?"-Wally asked as Shinji summoned his uniform.
"See you, and good luck with Flash."-Kid Lantern said before flying away as Wally watched the green streak of light piercing though clouds. 'Rob was right afterall, he Is a nice guy.'-he thought before returing back inside.
A/N: So…in my opinion the original chapter was by far the worst regarding how much of a big disservice to Shinji's character as a whole as he seemigly forgot his second battle with Asuka. So I decided to vastly expanded upon by taking inspiration from the "Brave and the Bold." Flash and Green Lantern miniseries from 1999, where in the second issue Hal and Barry face Black Hand and Mirror Master, and right now Black Hand is still in his "Villain of the week" phase before he became the avatar of Nekron, does that mean that he will become an avatar in this universe as Well? Maybe...or maybe not. Using that story idea as basis I wanted Shinji to learn the lesson of having someone's back imedatly after the clash of attitutes between him and Kid Flash. I've also wanted to touch upon the guilt that Shinji feels and set a stage from how he will move on from it. Regarding the chapter itself, we also have few comic references to may or may not set the future plot points. And since I finally have the occasion I wanted to touch upon a point this will differ vastly from the original. Shinji is a main character, and even if he will play his role in modified events of season 1 of Young Justice, his POV will remain as the focus as he will grow and mature along side his friends as Shinji will join the panteon of the Greatest Lanterns. Until next time, leave a review if you feel like it or not. And as always I don't own Evangelion or DC Comics, that belongs to Studio Khara and Warner Bros Discovery.