Void, Part 2
Note, the parenthesis indicates 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 am doing wrong (to correct it).
Tokyo-3, Japan
GeoFront
NERV HQ
Analysis Room
"What?" Dr. Ritsuko Akagi hissed. "Maya, come here, please. Check this reading. Looks familiar?"
Lt. Ibuki looked at the graph, it took her a few seconds to finally recognize the pattern. "The anomaly!"
"Yes, the Anomaly." Akagi looked as if she had just swallowed something really bitter.
"Well… three of three. Now all pilots have shown it. That means it's something in the system itself, doesn't it?"
"It would if this were Rei's readings. But we don't have so much luck. This is the energy reading from EVA-00's core!"
Maya froze. "What does that mean, then?"
"I don't know." She shook her head and lit a cigarette. "Unit-00 was the first working prototype. It should have been the first to manifest a quirk."
Maya tapped her shin, thinking. "Not necessarily, Dr. Akagi. Actually, EVA-02 would be the one. It has been in testing more times than the other two Units combined."
"You may be right." Akagi exhaled a could of smoke. Suddenly, she sat straight and began to tap on the keyboard. "Let's see. If there are more instances of the Anomaly showing up in the other cores readings, then we can rule that it is a bug in the system. It will be a gruelling job to track the source."
"Could it be an inherent characteristic of the cores? I don't know, maybe when some factors coincide, the core emits this signal?"
"That could be the solution, but we must be sure it is the reason. I'll have to report this to Commander Ikari."
"I hope we won't have to disassemble the EVAs, what if an Angel attacks in the meanwhile?"
A beep from the computer interrupted the discussion.
Both scientists hurried to look at the screen. Akagi tapped on the glass surface. "Who would have guessed? The Anomaly manifested in EVA-02's core too."
"What about Unit-01?"
"Nothing so far. But keep in mind it's the one with more combat time. It will take a bit longer."
The analysis ran its course a few minutes later. "No, EVA-01 doesn't have any instances of the Anomaly."
"Then, the Anomaly has showed up in the readings of two pilots, Asuka and Shinji; and two EVA units, 02 and 00. But not in Rei nor Unit-01."
"Right. A strange pattern if I ever saw one."
Dr. Akagi sighed, "Maya, prepare a summary of our findings. Copy to a data-stick and put this under Need To Know protocols. This stays between you, me, and Commander Ikari." She also made a mental note to request a copy of the readings NERV Nevada had of Unit-04 and the Fourth Child. 'What a mess…'
Tokyo-3, Japan
GeoFront
NERV HQ
Terminal Dogma
Main LCL Plant: Circulation Line No 3
(Depth 2008 meters)
"You're late." Special Inspector Ryoji Kaji said without turning. "Feeling better?"
"Very sober now, thank you." Major Katsuragi answered, sincerely. "You got a funny way of leaving clues, Kaji. I am not some kind of mind-reader! It takes time to decipher a code, and I bet you know it, Mr. Double Agent. I did some digging myself, and imagine my surprise when I realised you are not only working for NERV's Special Inspection Department, but also for the Japanese Department of Interior. And still have problems getting to ends meet. What do you do in your free time?"
"Would you believe me I have a watermelon patch in the GeoFront? Remind me to show it to you sometime." He smirked at her, as she rolled her eyes. "Say, did Commander Ikari put you up to it?"
"No, my sole initiative, no one knows I know about your part-time job. Kaji, if I could find that data, NERV can do it too. If you keep doing this other job, you'll get a bad burn." Her voice cracked a bit at the end.
"Commander Ikari has some use for me, Misato. As long as I don't get in his way, I'm more or less safe. But, let me apologize for bringing you in too, not just as Misato, but in your role as Major Katsuragi."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well… things are rotten in Denmark, you know. Commander Ikari and Ristuko are hiding something. Something that smells really, really bad. And unless I am very much mistaken… the stench is coming from behind that door." He showed her the card, and with a swift movement, he swiped it in the electronic reader.
With a ponderous noise, the heavy doors opened, revealing a gigantic chamber, barely lit by lights set in the chamber floor, adding an extra layer of eeriness to the scene.
Misato gasped as she saw the content of the vault. A colossal white figure, nailed by the hands to a crimson cross. It was a monstruous parody of the human form. The arms hung from the shoulders as if there was no skeletal structure under the flabby tissue. A strange red lance with two prongs nailed into the torso. Under the waist, a cluster of globules, almost like tumours; from which small, malformed pairs of legs hung limply. The nightmare's head was shaped almost like an egg, with rudimentary ears. Its face was covered by an oval purple mask. Two vertical rows of eyes at each side, tree at the left, four at the right. The mask had a series of craters at the upper edge, and an upside-down triangle almost touching the perimeter. Behind it, a steady flow of orange ichor flower down, into a collecting tank.
"Kami…" Misato gasped. "Is that and EVA..?" She tried to look into the painted eyes of the mask, there was no way real eyes could look so geometrically perfect, the curves above and below the dark pupil were perfectly symmetrical. She had a sudden feeling that the eyes were both under the mask and painted over it. She averted her own eyes.
Kaji looked upwards, also disturbed by the sight, but somehow managing to keep his nerves under control. His voice echoed in the distant walls of the chamber."No. It is the source of everything since Second Impact hit. This is… Adam?"
A series of images ran through Misato's brain, memories from a decade and a half earlier. A bright figure standing impossibly tall in the cold Antarctic wind, destroying everything around it with its mere presence.
"N-no. that can't be Adam." She closed her eyes. "The shape is all wrong. Adam looked almost like an Evangelion."
"It is. At least I think so. I brought it here." He shrugged. "Well, not exactly here, I delivered it to Commander Ikari. That was the special package I had been ordered to deliver, back on the Over the Rainbow, remember?"
"But why would you bring the First Angel here, Kaji? Why?"
"Orders from NERV."
Misato paced around, thinking. "You're right, Kaji. They are hiding things from me. What could they want from this… this monster?"
"That's what I want to find out, Misato." He checked his watch. "We better make ourselves scarce. Our safety window is limited, and if we are still here in two minutes tops, we will be found out."
Misato nodded, shocked to the core.
As they arrived to a safe place, Kaji smirked at her, "Told you I had a surprise for you."
She just glared at him.
Smallville
Kansas, USA
Kent Farm
"(Family Reunion! Family Reunion!)" Donnie Fite (1), a dark-skinned boy of close to 16 years old ran around the place, alerting everybody. "(At the old barn! Everybody to the old barn.)"
Ten minutes later, everybody at the Kent Farm had gathered inside the barn. A few adults, and a lot of teenagers, all of them very much in shape. Most of the adults sat on chairs or benches. The kids milled around, looking at each other, silently asking if any of the others knew what was going on.
Ma and Pa Kent (2) were the last to enter, they closed the doors once they had seen everybody was present.
"(Pa? Whats going on?)" A tall and gangly girl with very pale blond hair asked.
He looked around for a moment, clearing his eyeglasses to gather his thoughts. "(Take a seat, Rennie (3). Our guest will explain everything.)"
"(Who?)" Her father, ex-police Captain Brian Arsala (4) asked.
As if summoned by magic, a shape coalesced from a place there was no one a moment before. "(Men call me the Phantom Stranger.)" Rennie Arsala could swear the temperature inside the barn had dropped at least ten degrees. "(I am one of the protectors of this planet. As your mother was, as the fathers and mothers of most of the young people in this place were, years ago.)" His cloak flared in an inexistent wind.
Traya Sutton (5), once a timid girl, stood at the back. "(And where are they now? Second Impact or the Impact Wars took them away!)"
The Stranger nodded. "(Yes. It did. They fought to keep the world alive. For you. Your own adoptive father fights still.)"
"(He's alive? Why hasn't he tried to contact us.)"
"(He can't.)" the Stranger waved a hand, and an image filled the center of the building. A human chain of colorful figures, floating around a gigantic woman. "(Red Tornado, along with his fellow elementals, and many magic users, focuses his energies into keeping alive the very soul of this planet.)"
Another blond jumped excitedly to the front. "(Hey! That's my dad!)" She pointed at a powerful figure, seemingly made of moss, roots and dirt.
"(Your dad is the Swamp Thing? How does that even work, Tefé (6)?)" Donnie Fite asked, tilting his head.
Tefé grinned, extending a hand, a flower grew from the palm of her hand. "(Magic, dummy.)", at the back of the room, her mother, Abigail Cable, smiled.
"(Oh, well, suuure! That explains everything.)"
He rolled his eyes, until Oshi Fite elbowed him on the ribs. "(Must I remind you how come we are on your second set of adult teeth, honey?)"
"(No, dear.)" He sat down.
Anita Fite (7), patted his shoulder. "(Easy, Dad.)" Due to weird circumstances, Anita Fite had become the mother figure for both her parents. She was about 30 years old, her time as Empress long past, but she still had the same set of skills that she commanded as a member of Young Justice. She along with her close friend "Cissie" King-Jones, who once had been known as Arrowette (8), were the only survivors of that group. The others had been lost during the Impact Wars.
Traya recovered her wits. "(What is going on? Dad used to disappear for months at a time, until somebody rebuilt his body and he could come back to Mom and me, but it's been years since he disappeared.)"
The Stranger waved his hand again, the image changed to show the south pole as Second Impact started. Shockwaves grew from the epicentre, and an impossibly large thing that looked like red wings rose from the site, only to fade after a minute. "(The world has been grievously wounded by Second Impact. A cabal of powerful men works, even as we speak, to bring forth a Third Impact. Their goal is to transform the souls of every living human being into part of a collective consciousness. An entity with the power of a god.)"
Ishido Maad (9) threw his hands to the air. "(Oh, let me guess. With Them in control, right? I thought we had gotten rid of idiots like that after the Impact Wars! Hell, the Secret Society of Supervillains got themselves atomized and I thought that was it!)"
"(There are always men who believe they have the right to decide for everybody else. The difference is that some of them acquire the means to impose their will on others.)"
Brian Arsala looked around, he fished in the pocket of his Hawaiian shirt. He pulled an old picture. It showed him, his wife Dawn, and their daughter, Renata Arsala. She had been one of the victims of the Impact Wars. "(I can see where are you going, buddy. Those guys already costed me the life of my wife, Rennie's mother. I don't want any part in it, and my daughter won't be part of it either.)"
"(Dad!)"
"(I'm sorry, honey. If only you had inherited your mother's powers, I'd think of it before saying no. but you are as human as I am.)"
Rennie hung her head. She had grown with the stories of heroes and villains that the other kids in the Kent Farm swapped when they were out of earshot of the adults.
A mixed race girl wrapped her in a hug, "(Hey! My dad was a squishy human too, and he kicked the butts of lots of villains when he was younger than us!)" Lian Harper (10) showed her tongue to Brian Arsala.
"(Children, please.)" Ma Kent intervened conciliatorily. "(Let the man explain.)"
The Stranger nodded respectfully to the old lady, "(This conflict rests in the hands of children, not much older or younger than the ones present here.)" The image changed to show three teenagers, a girl with short, blue hair, another with long red hair, and a third, a boy with short brown hair. "(These are the Evangelion pilots who fight against the invading aliens. Rei Ayanami, Asuka Langley Soryu, and Shinji Ikari. They pilot the Evangelion units at the other side of the world. They are the visible faces in this war. All of them carefully groomed by SEELE, the cabal, to play a role in unleashing Third Impact.)"
Lian exclaimed, "(Then we have to stop those pilots from doing that!)"
"(There is no need. I am working with Ikari to subvert SEELE's plans. Soryu and Ayanami will join the fight eventually.)"
"(Then what is the plan?)" Kathy Sutton (11), Traya's adoptive mother asked, wringing her hands in fear.
"(There is a traitor in SEELE. This individual plans on usurping control of Third Impact for his own goals. He doesn't want to stop it. He wants to steal it.)"
Maad and Arsala exchanged a look, "(Supervillains,)" both scoffed at the same time.
The Stranger continued, "(I have worked behind the scenes to prepare a group to help the pilots fight the last battle. Gathering heroes and resources. I had hoped the Kent Farm would be a safe haven for you, until the world soul, Maya, could heal, and the heroes could come back. It was not to be so.)"
He paced around the room, everybody felt his eyes on them, even though no one could tell if he was actually looking at them, from under the shadow of his fedora.
"(This is a conflict that will affect all of us. No one is safe from it. Ignorance won't protect you. Knowledge won't save you. There is no safe place to hide nor to flee to.)"
Arsala swallowed hard. He looked around. He stood up and walked to his daughter. He hugged her tightly. "(I don't want to lose you too.)" He whispered in her ear.
She hugged him back. "(I…)" She hesitated. "(I have been training, Dad. I'm not as good as Lian or Anita, but I can hold my own in a fight.)"
"(Stranger.)" He broke the hug. "(Where my daughter goes, I go. I will make some calls and get some police or military grade gear.)"
Ishido nodded gravely. "(You get to that, Sal. I have some people who owes me a couple of favors too. Some exotic stuff. And I have my own stash of confiscated gadgets that can be of help.)" He turned towards the Stranger. "(How much time we have?)"
"(The schedule SEELE is working with has some months left. No more than eight, no less than three. The most probable date is around the turn of the year.)"
"(Very well.)" He dusted his hands. "(Let's prepare for the worst and hope for the best, then. C'mon, Sal. We have some calls to do.)"
Author Notes
1. Donald Fite, agent of the All Purpose Enforcement Squad (A.P.E.S.) was reduced to the age of a toddler, and adopted by his daughter. He debuted in Young Justice issue 1 (Sept 1998). His wife, Oshi Fite debuted in Young Justice issue 32 (Jun 2001)
2. This version of Jonathan and Martha Kent, Superman's adoptive parents debuted in The Man of Steel issue 1 (Oct, 1986). The original versions were implied, though not actually named, in Action Comics issue 1 (Jun 1938).
3. Rennie Arsala is an original character. As Armageddon 2001 didn't happen in this universe, I am assuming that the budding romance between Dawn (Dove) Granger and Captain Brain Arsala progressed into a solid marriage and the eventual birth of their daughter. The girl was named Renata in homage to a close friend of the couple, Renata Takamori, who debuted in Hawk & Dove issue issue 1 (Oct, 1988).
4. Captain Brian Arsala debuted in Hawk & Dove issue 3 (Dec, 1988). He was the leader of the Washington, DC Special Crimes Unit. The SCU was a police force, trained to deal with metahumans.
5. Traya debuted in Justice League of America issue 152 (Mar 1978)
6. Tefé is a very special case. She is the daughter of the Swamp Thing and Abby Cable. Obviously, her conception was quite complicated. And yes, there was magic involved. In short, the consciousness of Swamp Thing used the body of John Constantine to impregnate Abby. So the girl had a complex legacy. She is part human, part earth elemental, and part demon (Constantine's fault, really); she has connection to both the Green and the Red (meaning she has power over both plants and animals). She debuted in Swamp Thing issue 90 (Dec, 1989)
7. Anita Fite, Empress, debuted in Young Justice issue 16 (Jan 2000)
8. Arrowette debuted in Impulse 28 (Aug, 1997). She retired from active superheroics due to a bad decision
9. Ishido Maad used to be the partner of Donald Fite. He debuted in the same issue as his partner. They used to call themselves Fite 'n Maad. His creator, Peter David loves his puns.
10. Lian Harper is the daughter of Speedy, and an international terrorist, Cheshire. She debuted in New Teen Titans issue 21 (Jun 1986). I am not touching the events in Cry for Justice.
11. Katty Sutton debuted in Justice League of America issue 106 (Aug, 1973). She has been the human influence in Red Tornado for a long time. She is legally the adoptive mother of Traya, though both she and Traya consider Red Tornado/John Smith their husband and adoptive father, respectively.