Allies of the Superwomen of EVA #5: Power Girl II
"In the days that followed the Final Battle of Tokyo-3, work began on decommissioning NERV facilities all over the world. While assisting in the efforts at the central facility in Tokyo-3, Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu (aka Strange Visitor) and Ritsuko Akagi (aka Blue Beetle) were summoned to the Third Branch in Berlin, Germany after a discovery was made by the decommissioning team there. Upon arriving there the following day, the two scientists (along with Kyoko's daughter Asuka (aka Supergirl)) were presented with the find in question: a fully-formed clone of Asuka, though with subtle differences, such as strawberry blonde-colored hair in contrast to Asuka's full red. Data from the computers within the secret lab the clone was found in revealed that the clone was the only successful one created after a number of failures, all as part of Project: Shikinami, a top secret initiative begun when intelligence on the Ayanami series had been leaked to one of the more unscrupulous scientists at the Third Branch.
Kyoko and Asuka were given custody of the clone, found to be alive but with an unstable genetic makeup that threatened to dissolve her upon removal from her LCL-filled capsule. A solution to the dilemma was found when Ritsuko discovered the clone needed a blood transfusion from the original, and based on her reevaluation of Rei Ayanami (aka Wonder Girl) after learning of her origins, Asuka willingly volunteered for the transfusion, which was then carried out successfully.
The clone awakened the next morning in the medical ward of NERV-Central, with Kyoko and Asuka at her bedside. Thanks to the memory implants she'd been given, the clone expressed stark confusion over seeing her mirror image, until both Sohryus explained everything to her. Shocked by a number of revelations, the clone began rambling on what this meant for her purpose in life, unintentionally floating four feet above her covers as she did to the surprise of both Kyoko and Asuka; it wasn't even a minute until the clone herself realized what she was doing, shocking her even further.
A week later, Kyoko and Asuka took the clone with them for a 'vacation' in the countryside to help her adjust to her new powers, as well as get her better acclimated into their family while also learning more about her and Asuka's Kryptonian ancestry. By the time they returned to Tokyo-3, they had settled on a cover story of the girl being Asuka's cousin (even if they were more like sisters), with the clone taking the name 'Karin Shikinami'; Asuka mused that she probably took it from their favorite Street Fighter character of the same name.
Inspired by the newfound purpose her 'sister' took to as she grew into a hero, Karin decided to join Asuka on the crimefighting scene. Asuka immediately came up with a costumed identity for Karin by handing her the previous one she used when she started out: Power Girl. (In her own words, who says Supergirl and Power Girl can't exist side-by-side?) Encouraged to make the role her own, Karin took it with pride.
At one point, both Asuka and Karin were given sets of glamour charm earrings made by Maya Ibuki (aka Zatanna), which when rubbed with their fingers would magically change their hair and eye colors to further disguise them (which also saved them the further trouble of continuing to don blonde wigs any time they went out on patrol).
Later on, Karin would venture west for her college career, majoring in computer sciences. While studying in New York, she began dating a fellow student, journalism major Andrew 'Andy' Vinson, and ended up joining the reorganized Justice Society of America, acting as a sort of 'liaison' between them and her sister's team, the Justice League."
*Author's Note(s)*
Those who've read Mike313's "Lone Heir of Krypton" know how Asuka, as she discovered her newfound powers, started out her 'side-gig' as Power Girl before the act of learning more about her Kryptonian heritage from Professor Emil Hamilton gave her the inspiration to adopt the mantle of Supergirl. Even though her 'Rebuilt' counterpart Asuka Langley-Shikinami appeared in one of the second-to-last omakes of that story (where she was depicted wearing an outfit inspired by Superboy/Conner Kent/Kon-El), I kept thinking of the idea of her taking up the Power Girl mantle since Asuka Sohryu was no longer using it-and again, given precedent in the comics, who says Supergirl and Power Girl can't coexist in the same place? Hence (for the Deviation) my recoloring of a number of portions of the original Asuka-as-Power-Girl depiction crafted by OrionPax09.
While my vision for the second SWOE Power Girl takes a couple of cues from Kon-El (and to an extent, the Power Girl analogue Galatea from Justice League Unlimited), I added in details from Power Girl's own long and fascinating publication history. Among other things:
-Karin's name retains the initials of PG's comics alter-ego, Karen Starr.
-Karin being in NY comes from the city that never sleeps being the setting of PG's 2009-11 ongoing series.
-Andrew Vinson originated from PG's three-issue run in Showcase #97-99 in 1978 (by writer Paul Levitz and artist Joe Staton).
-Karin joining the JSA of course comes from PG's long and storied association with the team going back to their Earth-Two days. The 'liaison' bit is borrowed from the 2001 John Ostrander-penned miniseries JLA: Incarnations; in the first issue, it provides a Post-Crisis/Post-Zero Hour explanation for how Hawkman and Hawkgirl joined the Justice League, acting as 'liaisons' between the JLA and the JSA.
And as the final word on a couple of details when it comes to Karin's future: when she gets older, she dons a new outfit based on the Power Girl from the short-lived anime/manga-inspired Ame-Comi DC line, AND she develops a figure more akin to Karen Starr's...
