Interludes After the Tenth Angel, Part 1
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).
Earth Orbit, LaGrange Point 3
Emerald Citadel; 1 Hour After Sahaquiel Impact
Kyle Rayner created a very detailed tracker for the Phantom Stranger. The small device was a little bigger than a deck of cards. The screen on it showed distance and direction of its target in a holographic display hovering above it.
The youngest Green Lantern stepped back into the green, glowing prism, at the same time the Phantom Stranger stepped out. The mysterious man took a moment to recover. He had had many weird experiences during his extremely long life, but being part of a gestalt consciousness was something new.
"(You have my thanks, Emerald Guardian. It is my hope your long watch will soon come to an end.)"
The prism spun slowly, revealing Allan Scott´s face. "(So do we.)" three voices chorused.
Hal Jordan showed his face in the next facet of the giant crystal. "(But we will stay in our post until we are no longer needed.)"
The Stranger tipped his hat respectfully.
The rotation of the prism showed Kyle Rayner´s face. "(The tracker will guide you to the asteroid you showed us. Once you are there, it will dissolve back into green energy.)"
"(Recovering the Spear of Fate will be a great step into restoring the planet.)" The Stranger nodded his thanks, and soon, the soft noise of his footsteps was the only sign of his departure from the floating green citadel.
Outskirts of Tokyo-3
Sahaquiel Crater, Unit-02 Plug
Two minutes After Sahaquiel Impact
"Robin. Wonder Girl. Report." Asuka´s voice betrayed her stress. After the apocalyptic explosion, all comms were filled with static. An image began to form in her holoscreens. A shadow tried to resolve in her screen. It was a broken silhouette full of static snow. It was barely recognizable as the face and upper torso of Rei Ayanami.
"Wo—er G-rl h—-." Rei´s voice crackled in her comm."I´m reas-bly -kay." Asuka sighed in relief. "Glad to hear you, Wondy. Any sign of Robin? Repeat, Glad to hear you, Any sign of Robin?"
"Indi—ec- cont-c. No c-mms. -eat, in—rec- co—act."
"Clear that, Wondy. Indirect contact? Repeat, clear that."
"Uni- On- ssss in con—ct wi—Unit Ze-. Tapp- code."
Asuka paid attention to her ears. She could hear some distant tapping under the residual noise from the detonation.
"Robin. Can you hear me? One tap for yes. Repeat, Confirm, Tap once if you can hear me."
A single gong-like sound.
Asuka breathed easier. "Good to hear you, Boy Wonder. Now, you two, get comfy, It will be a while until the recovery crews get here. Put your EVAs on stand-by. Repeat, go to stand-by."
"Recei—d and con—rmed." Rei´s voice cut through the static noise.
Another tapping from Unit-01 answered for Shinji.
Asuka settled down on her seat, pushing several buttons on the control yoke. Unit-02 knelt on the bottom of the crater, assuming a stable position, as the recovery protocol dictated. The outer view went dark, and soon, all the systems of the giant mechanoid were on minimal output.
Even the inner lights of the plug dimmed until she could barely see around.
A little smile appeared on her face. Once again, the trio had won a hard victory in the face of adversity. She laid back on her seat, and laced her fingers over her belly. It would be better to be comfortable, it would be a long wait.
1948, May the 6th, Unplotted Island, Pacific Ocean
(Somewhere Between Hawaii and the Continent)
Codename Wild Lands, Future Site of Project Mureau
A tall, thin man in a US Army uniform yelled at the squads of soldiers who maneuvered heavy crates on the top of a hill. "(Okay, boys, I want you to set the prefabs right there. The brass needs us to make the next generation of heroes, and I won´t be found lacking!)"
"(Jeesh, Dr. Grant, you gonna bust something. We know wattadoo, juss let us do it!)" A tall, muscular man slapped the first man´s back with enough force to make him tumble. He took a big cigar from his mouth, and used it to gesture at the construction site. "(Worry not, good sir. Ma boys an´ me will have yoor research center up to specs in no time. We are well ahead of schedule; and, weather permitting, yoor lab will be up and running in a couple a´months, tops. These new prefab buildings are a hoot to assemble. I always liked puzzles, but building them babies up is more fun.)"
"(Sergeant Grimm, hi. Yes, I guess I´m just a bit eager to begin.)"
"(I guess yoo don´ have enuff to occupy your mind, Doc. C´mon, le´ss do some honest woik for a change. Ya know haw to work the ´dozer?)"
"(Uh, no…)" The Seargent pulled Dr. Grant by the arm.
"(Sss no big deal, I´ll teach you. We need to clear the foliage over there and flatten da ground.)" he waved at a small hill covered with vegetation. "(As youse can see, it´s far from where ma boys are working right naw, so we can take o´r own sweet time putting ya´ up ta speed.)" He slapped the scientist´s back once more, almost knocking him down. "(Leave it to me, Doc, and yaa´ll have a whole new career reel soon!)"
Somewhere in the Antarctic Ocean
Dead Water Zone
Over the Rainbow Observation Deck
47 Minutes After Sahaquiel Impact
An orderly knocked on the observation deck door. Fujutsuki opened it, and received a single sheet of paper from the sailor. The young man saluted, "Should I wait for an answer, Sir?" His voice was exactly the right degree of insolent to not be reprimanded.
Fujutsuki read the paper with practiced ease. "Commander? There was an Angel attack while we were recovering the item."
Gendo Ikari turned around, he had actually been waiting for such news. "I see." He looked at the sailor. "All the data available will be sent to my cabin immediately, understood?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Dismissed."
The sailor saluted and closed the door behind him.
"So, I guess the situation has been solved satisfactorily." Fujutsuki commented, arching an eyebrow.
"Indeed. Otherwise the old men would be now screaming for blood." Ikari walked down the stairs, towards his cabin. "It seems Katsuragi has proven to be worthy of her station."
Somewhere in the Antarctic Ocean
Dead Water Zone
Over the Rainbow Observation Deck
Spiritual Plane
"A moment, just wait a god-damned moment!" Deadman floated around the Commander, practically screaming in the face of the most powerful man in NERV Japan. "That´s it? Not even a token show of worry?" He rubbed his face with a hand. "Man, I hope to be there when the kid kicks you right in the …"
"(Deadman.)" Next to the ghostly acrobat, the Phantom Stranger appeared without even a hint of noise.
"(Jeez, man! Don´t do that! Are you trying to give me a heart attack? You could have killed me if I wasn´t already dead!)"
"(My apologies.)" The mysterious man nodded once. "(My mission was partially successful. The Green Lanterns have located the Spear of Fate.)"
"(Good. And these guys located the biggest fork in the whole universe. Just look down, and check that baby out.)"
Over the landing strip of the Over the Rainbow, a long object rested, wrapped in tarpaulins.
"(This confirms my suspicions. SEELE had no knowledge of the Spear of Fate, or they disregarded its existence. I had feared they would try to locate the true Spear of Longinus.)" the Stranger whispered.
"(So this guy Longinus wasn't about the height of an Evangelion. What a relief. Then what in Gotham is that thing?)"
"(Last Scion´s Tine.)"
"(Who?)"
"(An entity older than the universe itself.)"
Deadman pinched his nose theatrically, and rubbed his face with both hands, up and down, "(Man, this cosmic stuff is getting too cosmically cosmic for me. Could I go and make some evil minion´s life a bit harder, please? Just a couple of hours, please. I miss that.)"
The Phantom Stranger shook his head slowly. "(Maybe later. First, I must recover the true Spear. However, there´s no need to hurry at the moment. I´ll go to Tokyo-3 before recovering the Spear.)"
"(Ooookay, you do that. I´ll keep an eye on those two. They might say something interesting when they get the report on whatever happened on Tokyo-3. Give my regards to the kid, okay?)"
At the lack of an answer, Deadman turned around, finding himself alone in the observation deck. "(Damn! He did it again!)" He chuckled. "(I wonder what the Bat said about that…)"
A Possible XXVIth Century
NERV-2 (Nevada), Recreation Room 3 (Projection Room)
4 Days After Unit-03 Reactivation, 6:30 P.M.
"(Okay, boys and pups! We have all worked our butts off setting the main systems up again, and WE DESERVE A REWARD! Let´s see if this thing still works.)" Mari Ilustrious Makinami pushed several buttons on the ancient device. A little hand-held device, black in color and full of buttons on one side. Canus eyed it with curiosity. Mari handled it like a simple tool, while he would have been too busy studying it to do anything with it.
"(I certainly hope it does. Kamandi has talked about one adventure of his that involved one of these devices, or something functionally similar, and I am really looking forward to seeing a working one. And with a recording of those ancient times!)"
"(Not actually a historic recording, doc. Remember what I told you. Most of these are just entertainment. And this one is a trip to the other side of the mind! You have my personal guarantee you will feel a little messed in the noggin´ before the movie ends)" Smiling, Mari looked at her friend over the frames of her glasses, before pushing them back up her nose.
"(Still. The experience should prove enlightening.)" Canus´ canine mouth curved in a big, goofy smile.
Mari pushed the last button, and the lights in the whole room dimmed. She turned back to the door, and yelled, "(Yo, Blondie! Hurry up with the popcorn! You´ll miss the beginning!)"
"(Coming. I just don´t see the point of this particular foodstuff. You yourself told me it´s not very nutritious.)" Kamandi opened the door of the debriefing roon, pushing with his back, as his arms were full of bags of popcorn and bottles of soft drinks.
"(You, my delightfully muscular friend, are a philistine! You cannot watch a classic movie like this without popcorn!)" Her smile was contagious. Kamandi put a bag of popcorn on her hands, and passed another to Dr. Canus, keeping another for himself.
"(Oh, my goodness. What´s this?)" Canus took a single popcorn and sniffed it carefully, before putting it in his mouth and chewing it appreciatively. Meanwhile, Mari was breezing through a series of menus on the screen. Finally, she selected ´Play Movie´.
"(Traditional snack, Doc. Now, shush, the movie is about to begin. Remember, don´t get alarmed, everything is under control. Mine, to be honest.)" She waved the remote control in the air, emphasizing her point. "(I control the vertical, I control the horizontal. If at any time, you feel overwhelmed, just tell me and I´ll stop the movie, oky? You too, Blondie.)" His two companions nodded.
The screen went dark.
September the 24th, 2002
Gotham City, Wayne Manor, 12:30, P.M.
Alfred Pennyworth opened the main door of the stately mansion he had worked in for so many years. Standing in the porch was a well known red-headed man, "(Mr. Dibny! A pleasure to see you again!)" Ralph Dibny shook Alfred's hand, a gesture the old butler wasn't really used to from his master's visitors.
But Dibny wasn't really one to go with many social niceties. "(Been a long time, Alfred. Sue sends her regards.)" he smiled at the old butler.
Alfred stepped aside, allowing the visitors to enter. "(Please give her my regards too, Mr. Dibny.)"
Once inside, "(Alfred, are the Graysons home? Lucius only told me Dick would have a job for me, but didn´t go into any details beyond checking some old woman´s identity.)"
"(Indeed, sir. Allow me to take your coat. Master Richard waits for you at the study. Mistress Barbara is taking care of the baby.)" Efficiently as always, Alfred took the garment, and hanged it in the visitor´s closet. He guided Dibny through the wide halls of Wayne Manor.
"(A baby? I thought…)" Ralph almost bit his tongue, he didn´t want to pry in private matters. Although the once Boy Wonder and the Elongated Man had not worked closely, both men were well acquainted with each other, thanks to several common friends. Especially, Bruce Wayne.
"(That is the case, sir. But circumstances have changed in that regard. Master Richard will explain everything to you.)" The pair arrived to the study door. Alfred knocked on the wooden panel, "(Master Richard? Mister Dibny is here to see you.)"
"(Come in!)" was the clear answer from inside.
Alfred opened the door, and allowed Ralph to enter. "(If you excuse me, gentlemen; I will go back with Mistress Barbara and see if she or the baby need something.)"
"(Sure, Alfred.)"
"(Dick! Looking good, I see married life treats you well.)"
"(Hey, Ralph. You too.)" Dick Grayson stood up with some effort, and shook Dibny´s hand, he also slapped his left shouder with the camaraderie of colleagues who know and respect each other´s work. He served two cups of coffee. "(Black with three sugars, Ralph?)"
"(Just like Barry used to drink it!)" Both men laughed a bit, Ralph dropped on the comfy chair next to Dick's, and took the cup. "(Your friend Lucius said you had a case for me. Missing person?")
"(Not exactly. I know exactly who she was.)" He opened a folder on his desk, and tapped on two pictures. One was of the old woman in question, while the other was of a young woman with exotic facial features. "(Talia, daughter of Ra´s al Ghul and occasional paramour of Bruce´s.)" A sour gesture accompanied the name of the infamous terrorist.
"(I knew it! I thought it was a bit weird for you of all people to need an actual private detective, even if it was the world-famous Ex-Elongated Man.)" Dibny laughed openly.
"(I want you to help me with a smoke curtain. Let me explain.)
A couple of coffee mugs later, Dibny gathered all the documents back in the folder.
"(Then, in a nutshell, you want me to do a missing person case back to front. Instead of digging up clues, I will just travel around, pretending to follow those clues, and then present you with a nicely detailed dossier about where the baby came from. Right?)"
"(Yes. I need to establish a credible background for the baby. I have a copy of Bruce´s travel logs all around the world, you know what he was actually doing, so you can start thinking of where and when the baby could have been conceived. You´ll get to travel a lot with Sue, like a working vacation.)"
"(Let me check with her, she has been a bit under the weather lately, and I wouldn´t want to leave her alone for too long. Or drag her along through some bad places.)"
"(Really? Hmm… Hey, you could go with Dr. Thompkins for a check-up. I´ll ask Lucius to arrange the Wayne Enterprises health package for both of you.)"
"(Uh, Dick, …I wouldn´t…)"
"(It´s no bother, Ralph. You two were there for me when I needed it. If you hadn´t, I would be a complete mess right now. Making sure you are both well and healthy is the least I could do to thank you both.)"
"(Okay, kid. I accept, I´ll tell Sue as soon as I get back to our hotel.)" Ralph and Dick shook hands, sealing the deal.
Author Notes
Of course, the Phantom Stranger knows more than he says, that´s his whole schtick after all. Eventually, all will be revealed.
In the meanwhile, I had fun planning on what would Kamandi, Canus and Makinami would be doing to pass the time in NERV-2. Mari´s behavior in the Rebuild movies seemed to indicate that she would enjoy action movies, especially with outrageous stunts. I will reveal her choice of movie next time we see them. As the movie I chose also gives me the chance to play a bit with the reactions of both Canus and Kamandi.
The Elongated Man appeared in The Flash, Issue 112 (May 1960). It seems he was created only because the creative team liked Plastic Man, but didn´t know that by then, DC already had the rights to the character! Had they known, Plas could have been a member of the Justice League instead of Ralph!
I have plans for Ralph here, mostly to wipe the bad taste left from Identity Crisis. He won´t stretch anymore, due to an unfortunate side effect of Second Impact; but don´t worry, he and Sue are perfectly healthy.
According to the story-arc "The Last Boy on Earth" (Superboy, issues 50 to 53, Apr to Jul 1998 ) Project Mureau was a top secret US Army project, where intelligent breeds of animals were cremated, and later, abandoned to their own devices. The whole story was made as an homage to Jack Kirby´s creation, Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth. Back then, there was not much place for Kamandi in the mainstream DCU, and this story neatly circumvented that, by placing most Kamandi tropes in an island, and having Superboy as a stand-in for the Last Boy on Earth.
I loved that story, as it was quite good, putting Superboy at a disadvantage and having him go at life as a relatively normal human, until his powers (and memory) kicked back again. Plus, the Wild Men characters were very well defined, with three of them as an homage for the Warriors Three, friends and companions of Thor, from Marvel Comics.
That is canon for this story, and the Wild Men will have a role in future events.
BTW, Sergeant Grimm is not a DC character, but I thought it would be funny to put a doppelganger of Ben Grimm, the blue-eyed idol of millions, better known as the Thing of the Fantastic Four, in charge of building a top secret project in the universe next door. As he was also a Kirby character, I think he fits nicely in the story.