Collision, Part 3

Note, the parenthesis indicate languages other than Japanese, in this case, English.
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).

GeoFront, NERV HQ
Central Dogma
Last debriefing before the 10th Angel Operation.

The tech crew, the pilots, and the chiefs of operations and Project E gathered before the holoprojection, showing the best estimation the Magi had managed. The possible area of impact covered most of the map of Tokyo-3 metropolitan area and surrounding wilderness.

Maya put their dread into words. "Because of the Angel's ECM jamming, we've lost track of it."

Dr. Akagi didn't lighten the mood with her own words, "Since it's impossible to calculate the collision point exactly, the Mali's estimated a drop zone based on the data that had been collected before it was lost," she pointed at the projection, "this is it."

Shinji's stomach sank like a lead ball. Despite his own trust on both Captain Katsuragi and the Phantom Stranger, he knew catching the Angel wouldn't be easy. He tightened his right fist, and whispered his mantra once. "I will not break."

Next to him, Asuka's disbelieving exclamation hid Shinji's words, "The range is this wide?"

Undisclosed Location
Unregistered Island Near the Coast of Madagascar
Hive Base, Underground Building 2
Queen Bee's Chambers

The Queen Bee tapped the fingers of her left hand over the polished surface of the table. Next to her, Dr. Cyber fidgeted with the mask covering her whole face. Two segmented eyes looked impassively at the world, but the Queen was very familiar with Cyber's body language. "(So, did you have any fun?)"

"(Indeed I had, my Queen.)" She chuckled in response. "(Each one of your agents in Tokyo-3 was implanted with a couple of capsules full of nano-bots of my own design. By the time they are settled in the city, the nano-bots will be fully integrated in their nervous systems.)" Cyber waved a hand airily, while showing a remote control with the other. "(Should you press this nice little yellow button,)" she pushed the control towards the Queen, "(their empty little brains will fry in a flash.)"

"(Yellow?)" the Queen Bee arched her perfect left eyebrow.

"(Yes. I find red buttons so very predictable and boring, I try not to use them.)" She released the clasps that secured the mask on its place. "(But, should you simply want to remind them that they are under your constant vigilance, just twist the mauve dial and press on it. It goes up to eleven, of course.)" The mask was put aside, revealing a beautiful face, eerie in its immobility. It was almost a second mask. The treatments authorized by the Queen Bee had restored her features, but the facial muscles had been mostly paralyzed. Returning the mobility was not really a priority for Dr. Cyber, she actually liked not having to think on keeping her "resting bitch face."

"(What does it do? Causes pain?)" The Queen weighted the remote control on her palm, noting the pictures and names of each agent on a small screen. It was clear she could choose which agent would be subject to the nanobots' effects.

"(Oh, no, nonono. I have found that pain can be cause for much suspicion should they be in, say, mixed company. And a poor motivational tool in some cases. No, I aimed for a subtler effect, pressing the button makes a random muscle twitch for several minutes. Level 1 affects a muscle behind the ears, it can actually move them almost a couple centimeters back and forth. Very funny to watch I assure you. And supremely annoying for the receiving individual.)"

"(And at…)" The Queen swallowed her disgust over Cyber's newly found sense of humor, "(…say… Eight?)"

"(One of the big muscles at the lower back, can get very, very painful if you keep the button pressed for over thirty seconds. The effect will last for several hours, and it feels just like they had thrown their backs. Nothing a full night of rest will not cure. And just so you know, my beloved Queen, Eleven can break bones, I thought you would like to have that one.)"

Earth Orbit, LaGrange Point 3
Emerald Citadel; Central Chamber

For both Alan Scott and Hal Jordan, joining their awareness with the Phantom Stranger was a weird and humbling experience. Both of them had access to a power source on a cosmic level. The Phantom Stranger was both wielder and servant of an even higher source.

The gestalt consciousness worked now with an ease and precision they hadn't before. Minute adjustments on the barely visible emerald shell around Earth were made. However, while both Scott and Jordan minds worked now almost as a single entity, the Stranger's mind was not available to them. It was shrouded by a kind of mist or fog. Still, they had glimpses of strange scenes.

One was of an angel speaking to another. A real angel, not the eldritch abominations that attacked Japan in the last months. The Emerald Guardian had memories of a true angel, serving alongside Kyle Rayner in the last incarnation of the Justice League. But Zauriel had an edge to his personality, as he had experienced both innocence and betrayal. The angels in the memories didn't have that edge. One of them was even more innocent than the other.

The next images showed an old city, stricken by an earthquake. The survivors helped each other, rescuing people from their fallen houses. A white haired man worked non-stop, removing debris, feeding people, or burying the dead. His eyes were so sunk into his face that they were not visible at all.

After that, a man walked through a medieval city, hiding his face in the shadows of his hooded cloak. In his arms, he carried the dead body of a young, beautiful woman. He carried the body to the forest close to the city, and buried the woman next to a big oak tree. He knelt, and pulled the hood off his head, revealing his white hair and shadow hidden eyes, a tear fell on the ground.

Meanwhile, the Phantom Stranger received images from both Scott and Jordan. The railroad engineer who survived the sabotage of a train, receiving the power and responsibility of the green flame, the embodiment of ancient magic. His long fight alongside the Justice Society, the loos of his first wife, who abandoned before he even realized she was pregnant with twins. Both children were later adopted into very different families, but both inherited some measure of power. Todd became a living shadow, and took the name Obsidian; while his twin sister wielded a similar power to her father, power that tinted her skin and hair a vibrant shade of green. She took the name Jade, and both siblings were founding members of a group of young heroes, Infinity Inc.; most of them, heirs or wards of the Justice Society members. The siblings met their end some time after Second Impact, victims of the Impact Wars. Yet, they had died saving lives. Cold comfort for their Father, but comfort at the end.

From Jordan, the Stranger saw his self-destructive tendencies, culminating into his destroying the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians of the Universe and the conversion to Parallax. When Second Impact hit, Parallax was away, looking for some way to reverse time itself and restore not only the destroyed Coast City, but also to change many other events, both big and small. The Zero Hour event had failed, but Parallax was willing to try again. When he returned to Earth, it was to find a planet in turmoil. Apart from the armed conflicts that flared all around the globe, the planetary axis had changed, causing a drastic climatic change. His own power was theoretically enough to keep the planet from destroying itself, but even with all the power of the Green Lanterns at his disposal, he still needed to rest.

So, after a brief clash of wills, the three wielders of the emerald power had been united into a single entity, the Emerald Guardian, who watched over the whole planet, keeping the weather in balance. However, the very shell that stabilized the atmosphere also acted as a greenhouse, increasing the temperatures, and perpetuating the summer season. Keeping the temperature in a safe margin took all his/their concentration and will.

The shell had a minor, tertiary effect, it tinged all stars with a slight green shade. Most astronomers ascribed this to some floating dust released during Second Impact.

Gotham City, Wayne Manor
(Sublevel 4, Batcave)

Bruce Wayne Jr. finally cracked the code in the hidden panel behind the big grandfather clock in the ground level of the manor. It had taken a very long time to do it. Somehow, his uncle and aunt had something very interesting down there.

Now that both were out for some social event or another, it was his chance. Bruce had taken care not to do any noise that could wake up Alfred.

Cracking the code had taken a lot of planning and effort. For some reason, announcing he wanted to take advanced computing classes had amused his surrogate parents, and Aunt Barbara had smirked at Uncle Dick, like they had shared some very private joke only they would understand. Still, they had found him a tutor and encouraged him to learn all he could. Adding that class to his already busy schedule had been a big pain in the neck, especially as it came just after his physical training. Somehow, he thought, physical exercise should not be immediately followed by an intense brain exercise. But both Dad and Mom had put the foot down.

Bruce felt a small pang of regret at doing this behind their backs, but his curiosity was overwhelming.

After long minutes of cycling through possible passcodes, the panel beeped green, only to ask for a full palm print. "Dang! If only I had brought a holoprojector with Dad's print. Oh, wait, I did!" The small holo unit flashed over the reader screen, and a new green light pit up. The locks opened one after the other. "Wow… I don't know what is behind door number one, but it must be a doozy!"

Finally, the door opened, and Bruce stepped into a narrow hall, apparently a natural formation in the rock. The only light available was the one from his small keychain lantern. Over his head, he could see a series of lamps, but he didn't find the light switch.

Finally, the narrow hall opened into a big cave, Bruce heard the difference immediately. In the far distance, he could heard some water dripping. The light of his lantern revealed a polished floor, covered in dust. All around him, tall boxes covered with dusty sheets.

Curious, he pulled one of the sheets, under it, a showcase, museum style, containing an old ventriloquist dummy, characterized as a stereotypical gangster from the 1930's, with a cigar in its mouth, a scar marring the features under its left eye, and a tommy-gun in its right hand. Bruce scratched his head. "Underwhelming, Dad." He looked closer at the dummy. "Wait, it that a real gun?" it certainly looked like.

Bruce pulled another sheet down. Under it, a female mannequin dressed with what looked like a dark green swimsuit made of leaves, with light green tights, and the drawing of an ivy branch on the sides. "Okay, this is officially weird."

He looked around, until he found the light switch. After pushing it, long unused lamps lit up, revealing a gargantuan space, a section, the one he stood presently, was full of exhibits. At the other side, what could be a gigantic computer set up. Another section looked like a garage, if the shapes of the objects under the sheets were actually cars and motorcycles.

"C'mon, Dad. Why do you keep a museum under the house? It looks like a haunted house. Whoa!" The last lights to start revealed an incredibly big replica of a coin! And next to it, something that looked like a dinosaur playing ghost. The very tip of its mouth peeked from under the biggest sheet he had ever seen. A replica of a playing card hung from the ceiling. "Why would Dad want to hang a Joker?"

During the next hour, Bruce Wayne Jr. explored the place. He didn't realize that he was being watched from afar, through several surveillance cameras strategically placed.

Gotham City, Wayne Foundation HQ
Sublevel 7 (Inactive Secondary Batcave)

"Well… He found it, just as we thought." The redheaded woman sighed. "I just wish this wasn't needed, Dick."

"So do I, honey. If I could be sure, I would spare him our old lives, but the way things are going, not preparing him would be the height of irresponsibility."

A sad sigh answered, "I know. Hard to believe there are still a few villains around, and some of them have children of their own. Killer Moth of all people is a single parent of a girl almost Brucie's age! Spoiled rotten even. Glad he took the hint and retired after the Iceberg Lounge Massacre."

"Not that him was actually too much of a menace before Second Impact." Dick shrugged dismissively.

"Ha! For a self-styled anti-Batman, he was a push-over." Barbara's smug grin told everything about her opinion of Killer Moth. "I mean, the first time I fought him, I was a barely trained amateur on a costume ball, for God's sake! My utility pouch didn't even have any batarangs, and if I had had them at the time, I wouldn't have known how to use them!"

"And you took out his men with just a bit of martial arts!" He said proudly.

"And I was quaking in my boots for a good hour after that. That was quite the adrenaline rush, that and meeting Batman."

"You know, all those times we teamed up were the best times of my teenage years." He hugged her from behind and kissed the top of her head. "By the way, did I apologize for being that condescending?" He said.

Her voice was full of warmth when she answered. "Yeah you did, in deed if not in word." She sighed with nostalgia. "A pity we didn't actually get married then."

He chuckled. "True. You looked amazing in that wedding dress. My tux was an affront to good taste."

Before she could answer, a beep from the laptop called them back to the Batcave. "Shh… He's about to uncover our mannequins."

They watched as their adoptive son pulled the sheet from the longest case. Their eyes were misty with unshed tears, remembering the companions lost to Second Impact and its consequences.

Inside, perfectly made mannequins stood up in eternal attention, their featureless faces look ahead blankly. Each one dressed with the uniform of a member of the BatFamily. A simple plaque at the bottom of the case shows each one's name: Huntress, Spoiler, the original Robin, the second, the third, Batgirl, Batwoman, Nightwing, Azrael. They were all there. Surrounding a black and blue costume, Batman's.

Another case holds a very different uniform, a black so deep it's disturbing to look at, it is also the only one without a cloak. A red bat is proudly displayed in the center of the chest. The black hood covers the face completely, the white eye slits almost seem to look at Bruce. The plaque below simply says "Prototype Stealth Suit, Mk. 3".

The teen stood there for long minutes, trying to process what he had found.

Meanwhile, Dick and Barbara Grayson held hands, lost in their memories of years past.

Author Notes

Quite short in EVA stuff this time, I know. No excuses from me. I had thought on doing a couple scenes with Deadman and the guys at the Over the Rainbow, but the others scenes ran out from me and before Ii realized it, I had covered my quota!

Next time it will be the opposite, more EVA than DC. I promise.

The images in the Emerald Citadel correspond to some events from Secret Origins (issue 10, Jan 1987). A very good read, and part of my head canon for this story.

Dr. Cyber's incentive plan by twitching muscles was shamelessly ripped from a Star Wars (Expanded Universe) novel, it's been a while since I read it (blame the sequels killing my interest in the franchise for a very long while), so I can't remember which one it was. Probably one of the Jedi Academy trilogy by Kevin Anderson (Jedi Search, Dark Apprentice, and Champions of the Force; all published back in 1994). And it was Han Solo who was subjected to the interrogatory enhancing technique of the twitching muscle, one on his cheek, specifically.

The thing about muscular spasms being able to break bones comes from one of my all-times favorite novels, Nerves, by Lester del Rey, the science is quite off from a modern perspective, but the narrative is amazingly gripping. Look for it if you have the chance!

Back in the 1970's, it was decided to return Batman to his origins, and that meant discarding or de-emphasizing some elements that had stayed for decades. One of them was Robin, who finally went from High School to Hudson University, and moved out from Gotham City and the Batcave. Other was the Wayne Manor itself, as it had been too associated with the 1966 Batman TV show. Bruce Wayne and Alfred moved to the penthouse of the Wayne Foundation building. In time, using an old abandoned subway station as the new Batcave. (How they moved the giant penny and the robotic tyrannosaur, I have no idea… Maybe the robot carried the penny.)

During this period, there was a comic book titled Batman Family, and many of the issues featured stories with Robin and/or Batgirl. As hard to believe it is, there really was a story about their wedding, and Robin wore an awfully bright red suit! With a yellow cape! At this point, the green gloves are quite subtle. (Batman Family, issue 11, May 1977)

I haven't forgotten about Starfire, she is one of my favorite characters, especially drawn by the great George Perez (I got a sketch of her when Mr. Perez visited Mexico City some time ago. It was great to watch him work on it for a few minutes!). Kory has her own tale to tell, but it's not the moment yet.

The exhibits in the Batcave are, respectively: Scarface, the dummy onto which the Ventriloquist projected his evil impulses. The Ventriloquist is a relatively little known rogue, having only a few appearances outside the comics. Both the Ventriloquist and Scarface debuted in Detective Comics (issue 583, Feb 1988). Personally, I would like to see the character in the big screen, played by Christopher Lloyd, whom I am convinced could play both characters to the hilt!

The second exhibit is the original Poison Ivy suit, of course. She was one of the first new villains who debuted during the short Batman revamp in the mid-1960's (in Batman, issue 181, June 1966). Back then, she was just a felon with an amazing ability with plants and a mind-controlling kiss. Later on, her origin and abilities were expanded, until she became a kind of a variant plant elemental, somewhat related to the Swamp Thing; and with an unhealthy fascination with the vegetal kingdom.

The big penny, the mechanical dinosaur and the hanging giant joker playing card have been part of the Batcave for so long it's hard to imagine it without them. The penny debuted back in World's Finest (issue 30, Nov 1948); the dinosaur is from Batman (issue 35, Jun 1946), and the giant playing card came from Detective Comics (issue 114, Aug 1946).

The Batman suit in the case is the classic version of the costume, not the completely black suit from recent years. And the prototype is, of course, the suit from Batman Beyond. Although the Mistery of the Batwoman movie came after Batman Beyond, for my purposes, the events of that movie happened here, and that Batwoman character was retired after the movie events, Batman kept the Batwoman suit, and both reverse engineered and added to the tech, with his own improvements. It wasn't ready to use on time to face the last scheme of Ra's al Ghul, and was put on the mannequin by Alfred. Dick has continued to work on it, as a kind of hobby. (Of course, the next Batman will eventually use it.)

The Batwoman suit in the case belonged to Kathy Kane, who was closer to the original character from the 1950's than to the current version. She debuted in Detective Comics (issue 233, Jul 1956), and her niece, Betty Kane, became the original Batgirl (Batman issue 139, Apr. 1961). Both characters had a big crush on Batman and Robin, respectively, and the same taste for bright primary colors. By the time Barbara Gordon debuted as Batgirl (in Detective Comics issue 359, Jan 1967, although I think she technically debuted first in the TV show, played by the beautiful Ivonne Craig), both characters had been largely forgotten, except for a few appearances. Batwoman in the Batman titles, and Batgirl as part of the West Coast group of Teen Titans.

By the way, the references to Batgirl's first outing are from the original version of the story, although I really like the version of the events from Secret Origins 20 (Nov. 1987), I decided on the original. Mostly because the Batman in SO is kinda creepy.

After Crisis in Infinte Earths, Batwoman was erased from continuity; and Batgirl became Flamebird, still with a crush on Robin, but with a different backstory. Firebird was featured in just a few stories, as her personality was kinda annoying, and never got any popularity (the only story I've read with her was in the Hawk & Dove annual 1, 1990 ; and I got it just a few weeks ago, in digital form).

From his first appearance, Killer Moth presented himself as the criminal counterpart to Batman (Batman, issue 63, Feb 1951), not a bad idea by itself, but the execution… let's just say that it was not to the challenge.

Killer Moth's having a daughter comes directly from the Teen Titans cartoon. Kitten might show up, but not Fang, that guy is too creepy for my taste. Curiously, in the Latin-American dub, Killer Moth's voice was provided by the Batman voice actor (from Batman TAS), while Fang was voiced by the Flash's actor (from JLI/JLU. In Superman TAS, Flash was voiced by another actor)!

In my opinion, the Teen Titans tv version of Killer Moth is more interesting, having actual powers, a really nice suit, an army of mutating giant caterpillars and a very spoiler daughter with a freaky boyfriend.

And I think that's a record for number of comic book references in a single chapter!

To Okami Princess: As you can see, things are moving in the Bat-Family front! Thanks for the idea!

I'll be expanding on the background of what happened with Amanda Waller later on, and what happened to Babs that ended up involving Deadman in SEELE's plans. Waller is in the picture, but not exactly the way you think. I hope you'll like what I have planned. That will be shown in some future Interlude.

About Bruce Jr., well... I hope you'll like the amalgam of Bruce Wayne Jr (from the Supersons stories in World's Finest), and the Robin from the Young Justice cartoon). As Thalia didn't told them his western name (Ibn al'Xufasch is quite a mouthful), her son was named after his biological father. And, not having the influence of Ra's al Ghul and the League of Assasins in his life, he grew up as a happy child, instead of the self-entitled little brat he is in regular continuity.