Divergence, Part 1
Please Read and Review. I'd like to know what I'm doing right (to keep doing it), and what I am doing wrong (to correct it).
Note: This short chapter is the first of the Divergence interludes. The Divergence chapters do not belong with the main story so far. They are the other story, what happens if Asuka rejects Shinji's invitation to the circus.
Bear with me, they will be important later on.
Tokyo-3
Happyland Japan (1)
Asuka Langley Soryu was not a happy customer at all.
Her date with Kodama Horaki's friend was a qualified disaster. Her worst assumptions were confirmed almost immediately. Oh, of course the guy made an effort to behave like a gentleman, but she had caught his leering thanks to a conveniently placed mirror.
Still, she didn't want to make a scene there.
So, when the pervert stood in line for the rollercoaster, Asuka excused herself to "powder her nose" and ditched the guy.
A cab ride later, and she was back home, at the apartment she shared with Wonder Girl.
The place was deserted. Everybody else at the circus, having fun. Without her.
She looked at her watch, she was sure the Third Child still had a ticket available. The main show still hadn't started, maybe she could catch them… no.
No, she wouldn't go to them, begging to go to the circus like a four years old child. She was so much mature than that.
So, she stayed home.
Fuming.
Getting angrier and angrier as time passed.
"What a stupid pervert." She growled. "And I bet the other little pervert wouldn't have been an improvement."
Tokyo-3
Japan
C.C. Haly and Norton Bros. Circus
Madame Xanadu's Tent
Madame Xanadu waited for the fated child to arrive. To her surprise and disappointment, instead of two girls, only one arrived. The one she had come so far to advice didn't arrive. She read the cards for the girl, half expecting the fated girl to come later. But she never walked into her tent.
Her fingernails tapped against the tablecloth.
By the time the last tent and stall closed, Madame Xanadu was very worried. She waited until the last possible moment, hoping against hope the girl arrived.
No such visit came.
Tokyo-3
Ayanami-Soryu Apartment
Asuka Langley Soryu went to bed early, angry at the whole world.
She refused to come out when the group returned to the building, pretending to be asleep, she had put the rarely used "Do not Disturb" sign on her door.
She ground her teeth as she heard the happy talk of Wonder Girl and the Third Child as the little pervert accompanied Rei to the door and left.
She stayed late, waiting for Misato and Kaji to come back. By then, Rei had already gone to sleep.
When she heard a car parking down the street, she got up, and walked silently in the darkness. A peek at the window revealed that it was a cab, and Kaji helped Misato to come out the vehicle.
She waited by the door, until she heard the Ding! of the elevator, just as the couple arrived to the other apartment, she opened the door.
"Oh, hello, Kaji!"
"Asuka! Hi! I though you would be asleep by now…" The man guided Misato towards the door of her apartment, grabbing her by the waist, while the Operations Chief basically zombie-walked the way to her bed. "Could you give me a hand?" He gave her an entry card. "Misato is really out of it; open the door please. I'll manage the rest."
"Hmm… sure." She slid the card in the reading slot, and the door opened with a soft hiss. Kaji and Asuka managed to guide Misato to her futon. Kaji put her down delicately, face down, and fully clothed.
Asuka didn't miss the way he looked at her. Still she tried as they went out. "Kaji? Could you stay with me tonight?"
"Oh, sorry Asuka, I need to go home and catch some sleep. And I cant go to work with these clothes, I would be laughed out!" he smiled ruefully.
Asuka grabbed him by the arm, "Please, Kaji. Stay the night."
"Sorry, Asuka. I have to go. I'll see you later, okay?"
Keeping a tight control on her emotions, Asuka watched him as he entered the elevator and waved her goodbye. She waved back as the doors closed.
She went back to her own bed, barely managed to keep herself from crying as she whispered. "He smells like lavender."
Sleep wouldn't come for a long time.
Tears came long before sleep.
Japan
On route to Tokyo-2
Two Weeks Later,
The circus continued its travel, moving to the next city in their world tour.
When the caravan passed as close to the ruins of Tokyo as possible. She lit a candle in her wagon.
Five minutes later, the caravan stopped. Their guide received word through cell phone that the road was temporarily closed. A small hill had collapsed, blocking the road. The road maintenance crews were already on their way, and clearing the obstruction would take a few hours, so the carvan stopped, and the carnies took the chance to stretch their legs and even to improvise a picnic at the side of the road.
Madame Xanadu looked at the ruins of the city, once a powerful and thriving place, now only occupied by a few brave or desperate souls. Her eyes looked around until she found what she was looking for. A particular place.
Gathering her implements, she walked towards the place.
She had time enough.
Original Tokyo Ruins
Planet Krypton (2) Japan
Main Room
Madame Xanadu entered the abandoned restaurant; some minor miracle had preserved the place from elements and looters. The old superheroes and supervillains still adorned the place in tacky displays; pictures, sketches, display cases with authentic looking tools and memorabilia. Even some mannequins wearing colorful costumes, now covered by dust and cobwebs.
Her foot nudged an old menu on the floor. Curious, she picked it up, to see the painted faces of colorful people, good and evil. There was even a plater named after the Spectre…
"This will serve." She whispered.
The immortal fortune teller placed her bag on a tablecloth patterned in red and yellow (3). Idly, she noted that the central yellow strip consisted of three yellow strips, with a big diamond right at the centre.
Before placing her implements, she pulled out the two chairs, and still standing, she performed a ritual she had not needed to use in centuries, using the menu as a focus.
After she finished, she sat to wait, her eyes looking idly around, recognizing many of the figures and items on display. Some were completely unknown to her. Like the mannequin wearing a weirdly patterned suit that wouldn't have been out of place in the clown act. (4)
The door opened, and the Phantom Stranger walked in.
"Sit, please." She gestured at the other chair at the table. "I need to talk to you."
The Stranger sat, an incongruous sight, dark and subdued, in sharp contrast to the riot of color around them.
Madame Xanadu's face betrayed her anguish. "She didn't come. I can't go to her. I fear everything could be lost."
"Yes. But things will proceed. If not in this life, in another."
"You are not the type to surrender easily, Stranger."
The man waved a hand, and all around them, the dirt and dust disappeared. "Three roads to walk. All will arrive to the same destiny. Despite what could seem now, the first one was not the one to victory and it is now closed to us. The second one, the one we are travelling now, is the road to defeat; though we must walk it to the end. The third one is the one we walk after the two other roads have been trod."
"What do you mean?"
"The road to victory goes through defeat. Our future is now set." His voice was heavy with sadness and a hint of despair. "But in this future, there will be heroes to be broken, reforged, sharpened, and prepared. When the time come, those heroes will forge a new future."
Author Notes
(1) Happyland was an amusement park first seen in Forever People, issue 4 (Sept 1971). It was a front for a sophisticated project by DeSaad, an attempt to scan Earth people in search of the Anti-Life Equation. The titular heroes are captured and tortured by the Apokoliptian forces. How? By making them part of the attractions!
In this story, the park was bought by some big conglomerate, refurbished, and eventually expanded. Happyland Japan is one of the foreign parks, there are other parks in Europe and America.
(2) Planet Krypton debuted in Kingdom Come issue 1 (May, 1996). It was a large chain of franchise restaurants, very similar to Planet Hollywood or Hard Rock Café, themed around superheroes and supervillains. All the staff worked in full costume, not necessarily flattering to the staff, BTW. And yes, the whole menu was full of awful puns, one for each dish.
(3) If you have the chance to check the Kingdom Come epilogue, you'll probably notice that the table Clark, Diana, and Bruce sit at, has a tablecloth with a different pattern. While the other tables have nice checkered tablecloths; this one is red, and the central third is a yellow strip with a diamond at the centre, patterned after Plastic Man's costume. And it turns out Plas has been there all the time! If you pay attention to the background, you'll catch him spying at the trio of heroes as they leave the place.
(4) The suit belongs to Odd-Man, an obscure character I'm quite fond of. He "debuted" in Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #2 (September, 1978). That particular series is a curious case, as it was "printed" in very limited quantity (35 books of each!) solely to establish the company's copyright. it consisted of stories that had been commissioned before the infamous DC Implosion, when DC had to cut down its line of comics. The Odd Man story was later reprinted in Detective Comics issue 487. His look is very striking, with a brightly colored suit in primary colors, with patterns of stripes, polka dots, and checks! About the only parts of his costume that match with each other are his white gloves and blue shoes. He is basically, a relatively discreet Sixth Doctor (from the TV show Doctor Who) as a superhero.