Pressure
Please Read and Review. I'd like to know what I'm doing right (to keep doing it), and what I'm I doing wrong (to correct it).
Tokyo-3
Katsuragi Apartment
Friday, Early Morning
Shinji awoke full of nervous energy. The previous day had been the first time he had been shown the previous world, full of wonder and hope, but he had also been witness to the end of an Age. And he was determined to do all he could to keep his own world from being destroyed. He realized that he had forgotten to ask the Phantom Stranger the questions he had prepared, but hoped there would be another chance soon, preferably before the next Angel attacked. According to the Stranger, it would be a matter of days, at most. But for now, he wanted to share an idea with his colleagues.
Tokyo-3
Katsuragi Apartment
Friday, Breakfast Time
"You know, I think we should have our own call signs, like the Air Force pilots do." Shinji said, while serving breakfast to his co-workers.
"Yeah! I like that! You are all veterans with successful sorties, so you have earned it." Misato yelled enthusiastically. She had already emptied her second can of beer of the day. She leaned on her elbows, conspiratorially. "But no one gets to choose their own call sign! It's traditional." She smiled as she poured a generous serving of the deadly slop she called curry sauce over her rice.
Rei picked up her chopsticks, furrowing her brow for a moment. "I'm not familiar with call signs; explain, please."
Asuka put her coffee mug on the table with a 'thunk!' "They are basically nicknames, Wonder Girl." She paused, looking at Rei. "Hey, that sounds good. I vote Rei's call sign be Wonder Girl"
"You like it, Rei? It's a very good name, and it has been used twice, by very respected heroines." Shinji added. Actually, it was Asuka calling Rei Wonder Girl during their synch training what had given him the idea.
"It has?" Asuka raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. The first Wonder Girl was part of the Teen Titans, and the second was with Young Justice. It was before we were born."
Asuka rolled her eyes. "Of course, you and your metas. Misato, can you do something about this?"
"I get no vote, Asuka," Misato raised her hands conciliatorily, "as your commanding officer, I can't interfere; unless the name is demeaning or obscene. And I can only veto them, at most."
Shyly, Rei looked at Shinji. "Do you have any pictures?"
"Sure. Let me get the magazines."
Shinji chose two magazines from his collection, old issues of Newstime, a magazine published in America, it used to have a decent coverage of the activities of many metahumans, especially those based on Metropolis. The publishing house went broke soon after Second Impact, after the publisher disappeared mysteriously from his apartment in downtown Metropolis.
Shinji opened the oldest issue, it had a double page spread of the then recently reorganized Teen Titans, it was from around the time they occupied the Titans Tower. "This is the first Wonder Girl, with the costume she wore for most of her career." He pointed at a tall girl with long black hair, she looked to be late teens to early twenties. She wore a sleeveless skin tight leotard, that hugged her body like a layer of red paint.
While Rei looked at the picture, Shinji noticed the disapproval in her furrowed brow; he didn't know the cause, but he guessed Rei would tell it when she was ready. Quickly, he opened the other magazine, looking for a picture of the second Wonder Girl. She smiled proudly, hugging two other teen heroes, Impulse and Superboy, who looked quite surprised at the moment. She was a short teenage girl, maybe 13 or 14 years old, with shoulder length black hair and googles. Her black t-shirt had the two stylized golden Ws of Wonder Woman, with a red G below, over her heart. She wore a black leather jacket over her t-shirt, and pale blue gloves, almost white; but the picture didn't show the rest of her costume.
"I like her." Rei nodded, satisfied.
"Motion accepted, what about you two?" Misato pointed first at Shinji and then to Asuka.
Asuka put her nose in the air, with all the self-importance she could. "I vote for Wonder Boy for you, Third."
Shinji smiled. "Nice, but I'd like to propose a little change."
"Whut?"
"Robin is my favorite hero. Boy Wonder was his nickname. So, if I get to be called Robin, you'll still have chosen my call sign."
Rei raised her hand "I agree. It would also reduce possible confusion in case of comm problems."
Asuka rolled her eyes again, but still raised her hand. "Great, you corrupted Rei. Ok, Robin it is. But outside the EVA, you are the Boy Wonder, understood?." Shinji nodded.
"Now, what about me? I want a cool name, a really cool one." Asuka's eyes brightened.
Misato looked at the trio with undisguised interest. They were bonding nicely. At first, she had feared Asuka would disrupt the dynamic between Shinji and Rei, who were a very good team. Interestingly, Shinji had relinquished most of the operational leadership to Asuka, pointing that she had actual training. That didn't mean he was completely submissive; far from it, whenever he considered it was necessary, he did push back. He proved that during the two battles against the Seventh Angel, and Asuka's respect for him had grown quite a bit, to Misato's relief. The good captain had feared the redheaded pilot would steamroll both Shinji and Rei, but she had settled on a friendly rivalry with Shinji; and apparently, had taken Rei under her wing. The bluenette was a little bit more open now. She almost was a different person. But Misato didn't expect any miracles.
Shinji was a special case, in her opinion. He really was very different to the sullen boy she had welcomed into her home. And she was very glad of that.
Deep in thought, Shinji tapped his chin several times with his index finger. "Well… let me think. You're German-American, right?" Asuka nodded. "Germany's premier metahuman was the Wild Huntsman, and it would be proper to honor him with your call sign;" Misato noticed Asuka had bristled for a moment, and guessed she was about to object being called Wild Huntsgirl, but somehow, Shinji avoided that particular minefield. The young man continued. " but Wild Huntswoman would be a mouthful."
His words pleased Asuka, being acknowledged as a woman was very important for her, although Misato hoped Asuka would have, or rather, give herself the chance to enjoy the last years of her, well, childhood, instead of rushing into womanhood.
Shinji paused dramatically, looking deeply into Asuka's eyes. "How about Huntress? She was part of the Batman's team, in America; and by all accounts, she was a complete bad-ass." He brought another magazine to the table. "Here's the only picture I have of her, at the back of the JLA." Asuka looked at the picture with interest, nodding approvingly. Apparently, the woman's look and body language appealed to her own pride.
"Huntress… Huntress… " Asuka tried the name on. "I like it! So it is decided." She looked first at Rei and then to Shinji. "Wonder Girl, Robin, and the Huntress as their fearless leader!"
Shinji extended his hand, palm down. "So it is. Robin, ready for action."
Rei hesitated for a moment, then put her own hand over Shinji's. "Wonder Girl. Ready."
Asuka laughed. "You are so corny!" but put her hand over her companion's "Huntress ready! Those Angels better be wary!"
Misato laughed happily too. "I'll register the call signs today. You'll be able to use them in your next sortie."
Tokyo-3
Mall Complex
Saturday, 11:00 AM
For Asuka Langley Soryu, there was no better way to spend the day. She had received notice of the impending class trip to Okinawa, and she wanted to lay a trap for the little baka hentai. She planned on getting a swimsuit so daring, it would make Shinji Ikari's inner pervert to come out to play. And then she would squash him like a little bug in front of everybody.
Pity, the runt had been steadily accumulating points since the battle against the Seventh Angel, but Asuka would never forgive him for his behavior during their first battle, together in EVA-02's plug.
The fact that she would get to spend the day with her beloved Kaji was the cherry on top, of course.
To Asuka's annoyance, it seemed Kaji still saw her as a child. He had make some of a fuss about her choice of swimwear. Of course it had to be daring and bold! She deserved to have the attention of every male in her school!
For goodness sake… Even Shinji acknowledged her as a woman! '… Uh… another point for him…' She cringed at the thought.
Tokyo-3
Katsuragi Apartment
That night.
To say Asuka had gone spare would be a diplomatic way of putting the situation. The redhead was absolutely, positively, and unmistakably livid!
The pilots, Misato had explained, were not allowed to go in the school trip. They had to stay in Tokyo-3, in case an Angel attacked.
Rei didn't even flich when an angry asuka slammed her hands on the kitchen table. Rei just drank her tea, and looked at Shjinji and Misato, awaiting for their answer. 'Interesting,' she thought, 'Captain Katsuragi seems to enjoy Soryu's aggravation.'
"I can't believe you two are okay with this!" She looked at Rei first and then to Shinji. "Be a man already, Boy Wonder! Make her see reason!"
Shinji put his cup on the table. "Erm… I actually agree with Misato. We are elite pilots. We are irreplaceable. We have no back ups. If we did, I would argue until I was purple on the face or Misato relented." He pointed up, "However, I have an idea."
Misato leaned back on her chair. "I'm listening, it better be a good one."
Shinji took breath. "I suggest one of us gets permission to go. The other two stay at the GeoFront. I mean, we have everything we could need down there. And in case an angel attacked, we could react immediately."
Misato nodded, she actually considered Shinji's idea for a moment. However, Asuka chose to make her opinion heard. "Oh, no, Third! You are not leaving me here while you go diving and sunbathing at Okinawa!"
"I'm not going, Asuka." He skewered her argument, looking at her in the eye.
"Was? But… you… the trip!" Her whole plan depended on having the Third Child around!
He shrugged. "To be honest, I can't even swim, never did learn. If I went to Okinawa, I would stay either at the hotel or on the beach." He smiled apologetically. "I'd get bored."
Asuka huffed. "Yeah, sure." She said, while thinking, 'Those harlots at school would swarm you the moment they heard that. An EVA pilot who cannot swim? Yay! Let's teach him, and then we can go for a romantic walk on the beach under the moonlight.' For some reason, that idea made Asuka feel both angry and sick.
The German pilot realized she had lost the ability to speak coherently for a few seconds, replaced by an uncanny talent for imitating a fish out of water.
Mercifully, Misato came to the rescue.
"But I have good news for you. Both have impressed me with your grades." She showed the pilots three computer disks, labeled with the pilots' names. Misato put the beer can on the table, and leaned towards them. "Asuka, your grades have been rising since Shinji started to help you with the kanji. I guess you two have been spending a lot of time together." She enjoyed the rising color in Shinji's face and Asuka's ears.
'Of course I have spent a lot of time with Shinji! I've been trying to get a reaction out of him! But the baka is either gay, has nerves of steel, is absolutely oblivious, or simply not interested.' Asuka didn't know which alternative was worse.
Misato turned to Shinji. "You have improved a lot, especially in science. Congratulations."
Shinji smiled shyly. "I have a great tutor." He looked at Asuka, whose cheeks were uncomfortably hot by then. The young man smiled and rubbed the back of his head. He didn't say anything, but he thought that his metahuman studies had a lot to do with that. Knowing that many of their victories had come from knowing and applying obscure scientific minutia was a great incentive to learn!
"Rei, your grades are still top five." Rei nodded, satisfied.
Finally, Asuka recovered her wits. She redoubled her attack. "What about you, Wonder Girl? Don't you want to enjoy three days of fun at the beach?"
Rei raised her eyes. Without changing her expression, she said, "I'm very vulnerable to UV rays."
Asuka facepalmed, "Of course! Hyperpale skin..!"
Misato raised an eyebrow. "Knock it off, Asuka. I managed to get you three permission for the use of NERV's indoors pool for the three days of the trip. I know it's not the same, but you can swim and dive there to your heart's content."
Asuka sighed. "Okay, I guess it's something."
Author Notes
The idea for using old superhero names for the pilots came naturally to me, once I realized that Asuka does indeed call Rei ¨Wonder Girl¨, so, a Shinji who knows about metahumans would also make the same connection (he did during the synch training). Besides, one of the Superwomen of Eva stories has Rei as the Wonder Girl, she would have been Wonder Woman if she had been a few years older. (Go check Superwomen of EVA 2; Amazing Amazon, by Mike313)
Having established that Shinji uses a mental avatar of Robin to analyze both Angels and possible courses of action, it was natural to use Robin as his nickname. Asuka will still call him Baka from time to time, but with much less frequency and venom than in canon.
The first Wonder Girl was a curious anomaly back in the Teen Titans original run. Turns out that for several years, in the Wonder Woman book, they had been publishing stories about Wonder Girl, but she wasn't a separate character, she was Wonder Woman as a teen. However, when the Teen Titans books was being prepared, the people in charge thought that Wonder Girl was actually a sidekick. So, eventually they had to create a character that already existed! They retconned her as the adoptive sister of Diana, rescued from a burning building by Wonder Woman, and raised as an Amazon.
Post-Crisis, Wonder Girl also caused more editorial headaches, as a new version of Wonder Woman debuted after the Crisis ended, but Wonder Girl had been active for years before that! And therefore, she couldn't have been WW's apprentice.
In brief, Wonder Girl has been a terribly problematic character since her debut! (Only Hawkman has a more tangled continuity)
Ah, interestingly, Wonder Girl debuted in animation years before Wonder Woman! In the Teen Titans episodes shown in Aquaman (alongside with Aqualad, Kid Flash and Speedy), while Wonder Woman, AFAIK, debuted in the Superfriends cartoon. (Speedy also shares this distinction, Green Arrow was featured in ONE Superfriends episode, and forgotten until his memorable stint in JLU. While Speedy had several guest starring episodes in the second Teen Titans animated version, and one in JLU).
Newstime was a magazine used in the Post-Crisis Superman titles as competition for the Daily Planet. The publisher, Colin Thornton was actually a devil in disguise; Lord Satannus. When Second Impact hit, well… let's just say that he got suddenly very busy in some other place, and keeping the magazine dropped out of his list of priorities.
BTW, soon after the Death of Superman event, an actual issue of Newstime was published by DC as part of the event. I still have mine, somewhere. It was curious to read a magazine written in universe, dealing with the aftershock of Superman's death in action. Maybe it was the inspiration for later publishing the Flash's biography.
Back in the Pre-Crisis days, one of my favorite characters was the Huntress, Helena Wayne, daughter of the Earth-2 Batman and Catwoman (created by Paul Levitz and Joe Staton). She had a very interesting design, and developed into more than a Batman clone. Her friendship and partnership with the original version of Powergirl were nicely done in the Wonder Woman back-ups.
Post-Crisis, she was redefined, now Helena Bertinelli, she was the daughter of a mafia boss, and only survivor of her family. She took the mantle of the Huntress to get revenge, but eventually, she mellowed (a bit), and even joined the JLA for a little while.
This is the version Shinji shows Asuka. For the purposes of this fic, the Huntress died alongside the rest of the BatFamily, thwarting Ra's al Ghul's genocidal plans.