Interludes After Jet Alone, Part 3

Note, the parenthesis indicate languages other than Japanese; in this chapter, English, Interlac, and German. Not necessarily in that order

Germany (1953)
Kiehl Manor

"(Where did you get these magnificent artifacts, Lorenz)" Exclaimed the matriarch of the Kiehl family, Frau Elise Kiehl. A woman of close to seventy years, tall and slim. Her features were sharp. Even in her youth, she had been compared, disfavourably, with a crow, on acount of both her sharp facial features and her fire-and-brimstone fanatism. Her habit of dressing in black didn't help. She always had a rosary in her hand, and the beads were passed incessantly.

"(It was a stroke of luck, Grandmother. While the rest of the group hurried to get back to the city, to party and get drunk to celebrate the end of the course, I stayed behind, to pray at a nearby cave. Just when I was kneeling down, the sun reflected on the rainwater pooled outside, and the light revealed me this treasure, literally.)"

Over the study table were gathered a series of tablets and scrolls. They were incredibly ancient, made of an unknown substance. Lorenz Kiehl continued, while his grandmother whispered a prayer. "(Bringing them was simplicity itself. I just had to label them as props for a ridiculous science fiction movie, and no one gave them a second thought.)"

"(You will have to do penance for that, my child. Still… you did well in bringing them. They are beautiful.)" The old woman examined closely the texts. "(I don't recognize the language.)"

Lorenz waived a hand. "(Neither do I. It has some superficial likeness to old hebrew, but the structure of the symbols and their arrangement are very different. I had the box dated, and it is so old it doesn't match with any known culture.)"

Frau Kiehl dropped the scroll like it was burning "(Alien? Those heretic devil's spawns have tainted our paradise many times.)"

"(It's possible, I guess.)" Lorenz picked up the scroll and put it back on the box. "(But we found some traces of human fingerprints in one of them, they might be an OOPA. A message sent to the past.)"

Frau Kiehl stamped her cane on the floor, "(Hire the best cryptographists and linguists. The best and most discreete. I want to know what this finding of yours means. Maybe God has revealed us the means to purge those devils that walk boldly among us.)"

"(Immediately, Grandmother.)" Lorenz Kiehl bowed respectfully, and kissed her forehead before picking up the phone.

"(I will supervise your penance tomorrow. Everybody must be cleansed of their sins before any of us can earn a place in God's Paradise. Your father never understood that.)"

Smallville, Kansas
July 2000

In the kitchen of the Kent farm, a family mourned the loss of one of their own; a dear family member, not by blood, but by marriage. A big man was slumped over the table, openly crying for his wife and unborn son. Next to him, his adoptive mother hugged him awkwardly. At the other side of the table, his adoptive father carefully kept his trembling hands under the table.

"(I can't stay, Ma.)" said the man, raising his head and wiping his tears for a moment. "(I-I…)" he broke down in tears again. She just hugged him closer. He might be one of the most powerful people in the world, but his heart was as vulnerable as anyone's, maybe even more. She nodded, and shushed him softly.

"(What will you do, Son?)" asked his Father.

Clark lifted his head, gaining some control over his emotions. "(Pa… I… I will go away… There's too many memories here. Not only in Metropolis, here at home too. I just can't be Superman with so much pain in my heart. Everything reminds me of her, of them. I will get distracted; and sooner or later, somebody will die.)" He looked at his hands, at the simple golden ring in his left ring finger. "(I will ask my friends to cover for me for a while.)" He smiled sadly. "(J'Onn does a wicked impersonation of me. Remember?)"

Jonathan Kent smiled back, "(Tell him to come visit us from time to time. We will have some Chocos ready for him.)"

"(I will, Pa. I have many things to do before I go. I need to put everything in order.)" He unhooked the old-style telephone and dialed a number.

"(Hello. I'd like to speak with Perry White, please. I'm Clark Kent. Yes, I-I'll wait.)" He passed the phone to his other ear, accepting a tissue from his Mother. "(Hello, Perry. No. Not yet. I'd like to take that sabbatical now, please. Starting now if you can arrange it. Thank you, I know you will miss her too. Please say goodbye to Jimmy and Cat. I'll be traveling for a while. I don't know if I will come back. Goodbye, Perry; it was an honor working at the Planet.)"

He hung up the phone. "(I'll set things at the bank so the royalties from my novels will be deposited at your account. It will help pay the farms expenses and you can hire some extra people for next year.)"

"(There's no need for that, Clark. We have been doing well these past years.)"

"(I know, but I don't want that money to just gather dust in the bank. I don't know how long until I get back.)" He stood like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. "(But I promise you, I will come back. Goodbye, take care of yourselves, please.)"

"(Take all the time you need, Clark.)" Both Kents hugged their son goodbye.

He went to his old room, and changed into his costume. Clark Kent's clothes and glasses were neatly put in a drawer. He opened the window, and flew away.

Tokyo-3
Present Day
On the way to Rei Ayanami's Apartment

"How are you achieving higher rates of synchronization with Unit-01, Ikari?" Rei asked without preamble, after a few minutes of walking in silence. The question surprised Shinji so completely he stopped in his tracks for a second. He hadn't expected such a question from Rei; from the Commander or Dr. Akagi, yes, Maybe even from Lt. Ibuki. Certainly not from his quasi-sister. He gathered his thoughts. He had a nagging little suspicion about exactly from where; or better said, from whom, that question had come from.

"I am… not completely sure, Rei." A sudden inspiration hit him. He had been wracking his brain for weeks, trying to find a discreet way to get Rei to move from her practically condemned building to a better place. But he didn't want to arise suspicions, especially from the Commander. Maybe this was the chance he had been hoping for. He took a few moments to think on what to tell her and how.

"Well… I guess I'm in a much better mood since I got here to Tokyo-3." He kicked a pebble out of his way, watching it bounce along the sidewalk. "Back with my sensei, I was alone most of the time. I had no one to talk with. No one to take care of me or to take care of. It was… mind-crushingly boring too."

He kicked the pebble again. "Since I came here, I have made friends. Toji, Kensuke and Hikari are fun to talk or play with. Misato takes care of me, I help her with housework, and try to take care of her and Pen-Pen. Misato's apartment is much nicer than my sensei's house, it feels like… like home, not just a place to eat and sleep." After a few steps, he added. "And I like to talk with you. I think I feel like we are like a family."

'Wait, if the Commander hears that, he might suspect something.' he thought, and ended with, "All of us."

"I see."

They continued their walk, until they arrived to the building where Rei was the only tenant. Shinji was amazed that she still got any mail delivered, even if she didn't actually read it.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Rei."

"Yes. Thank you, Ikari." She retrieved her school bag from Shinji's hands, turned around, and went to the stairs.

As Shinji walked back home, he saw a shadow at the other end of the street, it was a tall man, his cloak flapping in the wind. As he got closer to the man, he noticed a familiar color shift around him. Just like when he had traveled through time with the Phantom Stranger.

Legion of Superheroes HQ
A Possible XXXI Century

"Any luck yet, Brainy?"

"(It's not a matter of luck.)" Answered testily the resident genius at the Legion, Brainiac 5, while checking a graphical representation of the time stream around later XXth Century and Early XXIst. "(This needs the most accurate control, the most precise instruments, and some quiet and peace! And my code-name is not 'Brainy', it's Brainiac 5.)"

"(Ok, ok; you don't have to yell.)" Superboy raised a conciliatory hand. "(I just wanted to know when I can go back home. Don't take it wrong, the XXXIst Century is a nice place to visit, but I left all my stuff back in the XXth Century, and I don't trust Rex won't sell it before a week has passed. Although Roxy will put up a fight, I hope.)" He scratched his head. "(At least for my collection of Superman Cards. I got three holofoils of myself!)"

"(Kon-El. I want to get you back to your proper place in time as much as you do. Even more.)" He rolled his eyes, having copied subconsciously the gesture from Cosmic Boy. "(But there's a chronal storm at your point of egress. If I send you back to the moment you came from, you would get erased from the time line. There's a cosmic level event happening at the turn of the XXIst Century, and another around 2015. I haven't been able to find any records of either event; and they are causing a lot of interference in the intervening years. I need to find a safe window to send you through. The best I could offer you now would be to send you back to some years after you left.)"

"(Oh. That would be bad.)"

"(Very. Now, will you please go see if Cosmic Boy or M'Onel have found you something to do while I look for a stable window to send you back?)" He adjusted a minute screw in a very complex-looking machine. "Send Linda here, I need to take some readings of her.)"

"(Uh, sure, Brainy…)" he noticed the glare in the coluan's eyes, and added, lamely "(…ac Five.)"

He got out the lab before Brainiac 5 blew a gasket. The coluan had a notoriously short fuse where Kon-El was concerned.

Tokyo-3
A Second Off-Synch from the Present Time
On the way between Rei Ayanami's and Misato Katsuragi's Apartments

"Stranger!" Shinji exclaimed as he got near the mysterious man. He responded with a touch to the brim of his hat.

"Shinji. You are doing well, I see."

"Are you OK? I though you would appear when the giant robot went rogue."

"I'm fine, just a little busy with other matters, still related to preventing Third Impact. You handled the Jet Alone event very well." They kept walking, rounding a small park in the route between Misato an Rei's apartments.

Shinji beamed, he wasn't used to praise; and in fact, it made him feel a little unconfortable; like he was some kind of fake. He realized now that depriving him of praise was only another of the Commander's ways to bind him to his will. The Commander's praise didn't have any worth for him anymore, as he couldn't help but suspect of his motive. His friends' opinions, and especially, his own, did matter to him much more.

"You have started to free Rei from Gendo Ikari's control. But you must be careful."

"I know. I almost tipped my hand to her. I hope it doesn't cause problems later."

"I don't think so, but in any case, I'll keep watching. You have also done well about Miss Soryu. She is not so alone anymore, even so far away from you and your friends. However, her mental state is still fragile."

"I will treat her carefully."

"In a way, that could be harmful. If you always yield to her outbursts, she will end up despising you. She needs an equal she can respect, a rival to push her to do better. Take pride on your deeds, and aknowledge hers. But never, ever, belittle or humiliate her."

"I would never do such a thing. I've been on the receiving end of that enough times to hate it." He looked at the Stranger, seeking his approval for another matter. "I've been writing to her. She knows a bit about me and my friends. She wrote a little note for Toji, Kensuke, Hikari, and Rei each. I think she looks forward to meeting them."

"That is a very good start, Shinji. You three pilots need a strong web of bonds, among yourselves and with other people."

A Possible XXVIth Century
Somewhere in Nevada, USA

"(An amazing discovery, my young friend! Amazing indeed! This place is in much better condition than other ruins we have explored! There's even power!)" Doctor Canus gushed at the doors of a strange complex. Over the eroded metal doors, a weird symbol was still visible. Half a fig leaf, and a motto that read "(God… is in his Heaven… All in …Earth is Well.)" His canine features lit with the joy of discovery. He continued, reading another sign. "(NERV. …Branch-2.)" He scratched his nose, "(Shouldn't it be 'Nerve'? There's no space for another letter…)"

Near him, a young human with long blond hair stood a few steps away, looking around, alert for any danger. He only wore a ratty pair of old jeans, that barely covered half his thighs, and a pair of blue tinted leather boots. At his waist hanged an old but still working gun, recovered from some ancient ruins. His skin was deeply tanned by years of wandering the world, ever since he left the ruins of New York.

"(What does that means, Doctor Canus?)"

"(I don't know, but this was a lucky find! I'm just glad the gorillas lost our tracks before we got here. Look! It seems this was a human military base.)" An mummified corpse rested on a crumbling desk. It s clothes hung loosely from its bony frame. A metallic helmet covered its head. "(Incredible! It's very well preserved. No decay at all!)" After a brief study of the corpse, he went to the other side of the room.

"(There's a strange device near this door.)" Canus rubbed a square thing near the device, cleaning the dust accumulated. He read the strange words neatly printed on it. "(All… employees… must… wear… their… I.D. Cards…)" he rubbed his right ear, thinking. "(What does that mean? Some kind of ceremonial clothes?)"

Kamandi smiled. He knew the answer to this particular mystery. "(It was a little paper square, or… what did they call it..? Ah, yes! Plastic! The ancient ones used them to show who they were, and to get access to restricted places.)"

"(Wait. You mean they didn't tell each other their names?)"

"(I'm not sure how that worked.)" Kamandi shrugged. "(I do know those could be used to show that one was a part of an organization.)" Unceremoniously, he moved the old skeleton, finding said ID under its torso. "(Once I saw Captain Bat use one of them to enter a metal cave. He just took it, and slid it downwards a track in one of those devices. The red light turned green, and the door opened.)"

"(Let me try.)" Canus took the card from Kamandi's hands, and did as the boy had told. Nothing happened, the light stayed resolutely red. He tried again, turning the card over several times, until a beep! sounded, and the green light replaced the red one. The door opened with a hiss of cold air escaping. "(Oh, my! This place is wonderful! The Great Disaster doesn't seem to have affected it too much. And not even the pass of time has left much of a mark here.)"

Kamandi took out his gun, and checked there were bullets in the weapon. "(True, Doctor Canus. But I think we must act carefully.)" He nodded towards the skeleton. "(We don't want to end up like him, do we?)"

NERV
Present Day
Commander's Lair

Dr. Akagi shuffled her stack of papers to give herself some time before answering. "The Third Child might be right. He has steadily improved his synch rates since he has been living with Captain Katsuragi. While Rei´s living conditions have not changed at all, he was taken from the previous low in stimuli environment, into a much varied and chaotic one."

The Commander steepled his fingers, thinking. On one hand, following the Third's method might end up granting Rei too much independence. He had carefully cultivated the isolation Rei lived in, both physical and social. Since the Third Child's arrival to Tokyo-3, the boy had been unknowingly working to erode said isolation. The cloned girl had never even tried to get off his shadow, but that could change.

On the other hand, any combat advantage should be exploited. If having… happy… pilots increased their synch rates, and therefore, their combat efficiency against the angels, that should be used.

"I have to think on this carefully. I don't want Rei to be exposed to inconvenient thoughts. It could be dangerous to the Scenario. Still, I think the idea has merit. After all, should she become inconvenient, she can be replaced with a more pliant clone."

NERV
Present Day
Commander's Lair
(Spiritual Plane)

"Oh, man. You have no idea of just how much I hate your guts!"

Author's Notes

OOPA (or OOPArt) is the acronym for Out Of Place Artifact. Meaning something that simply couldn't exist at the time or place it is found. For example, say, the remains of a cell phone found in an archeological dig of a Medieval England church; or human footsteps among the fossilized footsteps of a dinosaur herd.

The scene in the Kent Farm was directly inspired by the Adventures of Superman Annual from 1991; however, in this version of the DCU, there was no Armageddon 2001. Let's just say that Second Impact stopped the rise of Monarch (and anyway, the sudden change in direction of that story was terrible; Monarch should have been Captain Atom) and therefore, Waverider doesn't exist.

Conveniently, there were no exact dates for the events depicted, not even for Lois Lane's death.

Although I am a reader of the Legion since the issue (reprinted in Mexico) where Karate Kid, Princess Projectra, Ferro Lad and Nemesis Kid joined the team, my favorite version of the group is the Rebooted legion (after Zero Hour), also known as the Archie Legion. Also, the clone Superboy as depicted after the Death of Superman and before the Outsiders/Titans crossover "Graduation Day" is one of my favorite characters. Having a grim, angsty Superboy just doesn´t work for me.

Linda Danvers is another time displaced character, Supergirl.

Why send them both to the future? One of my favorite stories from the DCU is Kingdom Come. As Mark Waid and Alex Ross had no idea of what to do with Superboy and Supergirl, they simply sent them, permanently, to the XXXth Century Where (or better said, When) they joined the Legion of Superheroes as full-time members. They are only seen in a single panel of the story. You just have to look for them.

DC used to have several conflicting futures. Jack Kirby´s Kamandi's was one of the weirdest. It might be described as a riff on Planet of the Apes, but with waaay more animal types. Not only apes, also dogs, tigers, bears, cheetas, snakes, dolphins, and more. Several, like gorillas and tigers, had changed their shape to a more humanoid one; others, like snakes and dolphins, only got their intelligence boosted and gained human-like speech. Several other species of animals were not changed, like horses, or changed into giant forms, like grashoppers.

A few barely intelligent humans existed as pets or slaves to the animals. Kamandi, and a few mutants were the only civilized human people on the planet. Technically, Kamandi was the last "pure" human, as his friends didn't consider themselves fully human.

Interestingly, Kamandi interacted (via time-travel) with the then present day characters, like Superman or Batman. Who, BTW, was called Captain Bat by Kamandi, in the times they co-starred in The Brave and The Bold.

The cause of such a state of things wasn´t exactly specified by Kirby, it could have been a nuclear war, or something else, as there was not enough radiation in the setting. In this story, Dr. Canus and Kamandi will eventually find out what happened, although they will probably have problems to understand it. Sure, there might be a way for them to interact directly with at least one Evangelion character, with some time-travel involved, but said character won´t be in possession of all the facts.

And yes. I am cherry-picking elements from all over the DCU. Maybe one or two things from the DCAU will show up up later.