Interludes after the 12th Angel, Part 1

Note, the parenthesis indicates languages other than Japanese, in this case, English and German.

After careful thought, I chose to include the next Divergence as part of this chapter.

Tokyo-3
Japan
GeoFront
NERV HQ
Evangelion Unit-02's Cage

The red Evangelion stood in its cage, looking relatively peaceful, as if nothing had happened a few hours before.

Dr. Akagi's tech team ran diagnostic after diagnostic on the titanic monster. So far, the only anomaly detected was the lack of recordings taken inside the Angel, so a venue of data was closed to NERV.

On the umbilical bridge, Dr. Akagi herself supervised the procedures. Although in reality, it was Lt. Ibuki who was collating the data. Actually, Dr. Akagi and Commander Ikari discussed the last events instead. Their biohazard suits were officially a precaution against contamination, but the true reason they wore them was the encrypted comm between them. They were completely safe from eavesdroppers.

"Commander Ikari, are you feeling well enough?" She asked, her eyes darting quickly to the Commander's right hand; the Adam implant was very recent, and it was an untested procedure. For obvious reasons.

"Well enough, yes. I'm…" he looked for the right word, "…restored."

She nodded, it was useless to pry more. "Unit-02 was recovered in perfect condition, as was the pilot. My initial examinations showed no mental contamination or physical damage. The only thing Unit-02 needs is a recharge. The Second Child is resting at the hospital. Minor symptons of stress and fatigue. Nothing serious, she will recover in two or three days at the most."

Ikari nodded. It was an unwelcome development, but not unsurmountable. The bond between the pilots was still strong, but the next Angels would surely eliminate one of the pilots, either the Second or the Third would be best.

In any case, a stronger bond would result in a worse state of mind once the need for it arose.

He could wait.

Tokyo-3
Japan
GeoFront
NERV HQ
Evangelion Unit-02's Core

Two half souls slept peacefully, waiting for the next time the biomechanoid would be activated again.

Despite their differences, both had the same dream.

Tokyo-3
Japan
GeoFront
NERV Hospital, Recovery Room 3

Asuka stirred in her sleep, and woke up suddenly, taking a gasping breath. She lay back down, and looked up, at the white ceiling above her.

She breathed deeply, shaking the last remains of the awful nightmare she had been dreaming about. Something about a glass coffin and two halves of a corpse, talking with the same voice.

She took her pulse by pressing down on the angle of her jaw. Her heartbeat slowing gradually. She sighed in relief.

Memories began to play back in her mind. Whatever had happened inside the Angel, it had been the weirdest thing in the world.

Still looking directly up, she patted the bed, searching for the bed controls. She touched something warm at the very edge of the bed. She looked down, finding a mop of brown hair over a softly snoring Third Child. 'That must be the most uncomfortable position to fall asleep,' she thought.

She shook the boy until he awoke with a yawn. "Oooow… I think I got a crink on my neck…" he mumbled, still half-asleep. "Ah, Asuka! You're awake!" He smiled at seeing her.

She looked at him for a very long time, until his smile began to drop. "We have to talk." She said. "Somewhere private."

He sighed, "Okay…" for a moment, he felt just like before the Phantom Stranger appeared in his life. Small, weak, fragile. He breathed in. "As soon as you're released."

The Dreaming
Daniel's Palace

Somewhere in a place mortals visited daily but rarely deep enough to meet its most notable residents, Daniel, the current incarnation of Dream (1) wandered in his palace.

His aimless steps carried him to a new room in the ever-changing architecture left by his predecessor, Morpheus.

For a moment, he stood in from of a door, painted blue like a summer sky. Curious, he opened it, to find the soul of one of his guests. Or rather, the two halves of a soul.

"(Hello, Lady Soryu.)" He said, sitting on a very plush chair. "(I see your other half has finally arrived.)" Unlike Morpheus, Daniel had a more relaxed outlook, and ceremony was reserved for, well… ceremonies. In his own house, he preferred to keep things somewhat familiar.

"(We have, My Lord Daniel.)" The one dressed with a peculiar skin tight suit answered, while the other smiled contentedly, despite the purle bruises on her neck. "(Would you like some tea or coffee? We were about to prepare the yarn and the needles, but would like the company.)"

"(Certainly. Allow me,)" he pulled a cord next to his chair, and a gong rang. A moment later, two maids made of smoke and rainbows had served cups of tea to all three, and put plates of cookies at easy reach of their hands. The maids bowed silently, and vanished in a puff of smoke.

Daniel took one cookie, and bit it with discrete relish. For the next few hours, they talked of inconsequential things, and then of important things.

The Lord of Dreams decided it would be time soon to visit the Waking World again, and see things for himself. If only to see who had managed to break Despair's hold on a broken soul.

A raven flew in through the window, and landed on the top of the chair. Daniel looked at him, as the bird cawed. "(Boss, your sister is at the entry Hall, and she is pissed!)"

Daniel sighed, put his cup back on the plate, and stood up. "(I am sorry to cut my visit short, but it will be best if I keep my dear sister Despair from barging in, just as you are making so much progress.)"

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
White House, Oval Office
Washington, D.C.; USA
January 20, 2001; 11:46 P.M.

President Lex Luthor (2) leaned back on his chair. An ostentacious, ergonomic chair made exclusively for him. A nasty smile creased his face. He felt content at the moment. A long campaign, costing billions of dollars both above and under the table, had been almost derailed by the aftermath of Second Impact. For a while, there had been attempts to keep the previous President in power during the Second Impact Crisis, but some judiciously applied pressure had ensured the buffoon stepped down on time, as his health was in clear decline.

Nothing that could ever be traced back to him, of course.

And now he had in his hands the means to obtain what he wanted most.

Control.

Complete and absolute control.

Sure, managing to get the country back into shape would need a lot of effort, and for the moment he was willing to cooperate with the fools of the JLU, even with… him.

Anyway, there would be a moment to consolidate his triumph, and manipulating heroes and villains was nothing more than a game.

The time would come to erase the stain of the metahuman from the face of the Earth, but at the moment, they had their uses.

Luthor opened his humifier, and lit a very expensive cigar. He blew some rings of smoke, enjoying the moment. Idly, he wondered if there could be a way to entice that reporter, Kent, into being his official press representative. He had a very honest face, the kind Luthor himself would like to have. And despite his wife's influence, Kent was incredibly naïve, so he would be easy to manipulate, specially now that Lane herself was not around anymore.

The door opened, and his top bodyguard entered. Mercy Graves (3).

She looked around, looking for any hidden threat to her boss. Satisfied there were non, she bowed respectfully. "(Sir. You asked me to remind you of your busy schedule tomorrow morning.)"

He smiled at her, and blew another ring. "(Well done, Mercy. I'll retire for the night.)"

One last drag of smoke, and he crushed the almost whole cigar on the ashtray. "(Make sure Waller (4) arrives on time, I want to review her files about Task Force X.)"

"(I will, Sir.)"

Tokyo-3
Japan
Top of the Building where the
Katsuragi-Ikari and Ayanami-Soryu Apartments are located.
Later That Day

"No one ever comes here, Third." She said, walking around him, and then pushing him to sit on the bench. "I would think I hallucinated the whole thing, but you know who I meant with the hat thing, don't you?"

He nodded, "The Phantom Stranger. He's a friend. He was there with you, right? Inside the Angel."

"Yeah. And he showed me where my mother's soul has been. All these years. Right in Unit-02's core."

Shinji gasped quietly, but kept silent.

Asuka leaned threateningly on him. "I want the truth. Did you know it? Don't bullshit me, Ikari. Did you know it?" (5)

He stared into her cold blue eyes. "…yes…"

She grabbed him by the shirt, and pulled him up to her level. "And why didn't you tell me anything? That was my mother in there!" she hissed through clenched teeth.

He gathered his thoughts for a moment, looking her at the eyes, "Would you have believed me? And even if you had; what could you, or me, have done for her?" He seemed to fold upon himself. "Giving you hope and taking it away in the same moment? I can't be that cruel…"

Asuka released his shirt, letting him fall back on the bench. She grunted, "Your mother too, right?"

"Yeah. The Stranger told me she was there back when he showed me about… everything. And when I'm in the plug, and the synch is high enough, I can talk to her. She answers with emotions, not words."

She got rigid for a moment, her eyes wide open. "You can talk to her? From the plug?"

"Yeah… just think of her and then think whatever you'd want to tell her. I don't know if your mother can answer like mine, but I hope so."

Her eyes unfocused for a long moment. "Mama…" she whispered, a small smile on her lips. She stayed like that for a moment, before snapping back. "Let me guess, to even have a chance to get them back, we have to defeat the Angels and SEELE."

"And Commander Ikari." Shinji added, the gleam in his eyes promising a reckoning. "Though the Stranger said they have been there for so long, we can't get them out, they are now a part of the Evangelions."

Asuka growled, "We will see about that. If there is a chance to get Mama back, I will find it." She snorted, The Stranger said you're training with some old guy, Wildcat. Where? I want in."

Colors dulled around them, and the Phantom Stranger appeared next to them. "Nanda Parbat." He said. "Wildcat is waiting for you, Miss Soryu."

Asuka released Shinji's shirt, dropping him on the bench. "Was?"

Nanda Parbat
A short explanation later

"(Well, well, well.)" Wildcat grumbled. "(Two fer one, uh, Stranger?)" Clad in his shiny black costume, cat-like hood thrown back, Wildcat shook Asuka's hand, a big smile on his battered face. "(Glad to see you here, Miss Soryu. I'm Mr. Grant, or Wildcat, if you prefer. Your trainer in the fine art of turning your enemies into tiny bits.)" He released her hand, and cracked his knuckles ominously. The sound was like a shot in the temple's silence.

"Is he for real, Wonder Boy?" Asuka thumbed at Wildcat.

"He is. Mr. Grant is a tough coach, but you cannot ask for somebody better. He not only knows how to fight, he knows how to teach you to fight. And fight well above your weight category."

Wildcat brushed the praise aside, laughing heartily. "(Let's begin, okay? Put on your gear and spar, free style. I'd like to train you for sporting events, but that's an option we don't have, so let me watch how you two fight. I don't want any long term damage, and that means anything you'd need at least a couple of days to bounce back; but apart from that, everything goes.)"

"Really?" Asuka's eyes shone with painful promise, "I have some issues I want to… work." She thumped her fists together in preparation.

Shinji gulped. Wildcat slapped him in the shoulder. "(You better be on your toes, kid. Some of my toughest enemies were dames (6). And one of them was the daughter of one of those dames.) (7)" He snorted, "(Weaker sex, my ass. What they lack in strength they compensate with distilled meanness.)" He mumbled.

A few minutes later, both pilots had put their protective gear, and circled each other, warily, while Wildcat watched them both.

Asuka watched Shinji's stance raising an eyebrow, "Very good, Third. Ready to pounce of retreat at a hat's drop."

"Yeah, Mr. Grant taught m- oomph!" Asuka landed a very strong punch on his belly. Shinji stumbled back. Only to be pummeled by five more hits. He managed to put some distance with a rolling retreat. He stood up again, rubbing his stomach with his left hand, and keeping guard with the right.

Wildcat's growling laughter echoed all around the temple. "Good one, Red. Distraction and strike, well done." He looked at the Phantom Stranger. "She's a little dragon, just needs some fine tuning and she will be the terror of Angels everywhere. No wonder the kid was so not bad when you brought him."

The Stranger nodded, "Unlike him, she was actually trained to be a pilot, including combat armed and unarmed, all kind of weapons."

"Yeah, well, at least in hand-to hand, she is really showing it." He cupped his hands at the sides of his mouth, "Yo, kid! Strike back! You're making me look bad!"

Shinji nodded brusquely. Feinted right, and when Asuka threw a punch, he grabbed her arm and pulled, making her fall. Once on the floor, he twisted her arm painfully, until she tapped the ground.

"(That's better.)" Wildcat smiled widely, crossing his arms over his barrel-like chest.

"Hey! That's wasn't fair!" Asuka protested.

"(Everything goes, Red. As long as there is no damage, you can do whatever you think will do.)"

"Oh, really?" She grinned a smile with a decidedly shark-like quality.

Shinji gulped.

DIVERGENCE

Tokyo-3
Japan
Katsuragi-Ikari Apartment
Shinji's Lovely Suite

Shinji Ikari sat at his desk, waiting for Deadman to answer him.

"Is there anything we can do? Asuka is angry all the time."

"I am sorry, kid. I wish I had any idea of what to do, but she keeps everything bottled up… Has not spoken to anybody about why she's in a bad mood. I had thought it would be due to womanly issues, as my mom used to call it, just between you and me, she had a very short temper those days of the month, if you get my drift… But I was there when she got the results of her last exam, and she's right at the other side of her cycle."

Shinji sighed, and wrote. "I hope she gets better. I have the most dreadful feeling that things are going to get really bad."

"Trust your hunches. In this business, there are times they are the only thing keeping you alive. Or in the game, as the case may be. I'm not the only guy working on borrowed time. There was a group of humans who thought they should have died in a plane crash, and lived, according to them, on borrowed time (8). I worked with them for a while, though they didn't know I was there. They got involved in the weirdest stuff… I wonder if they are still around… They didn't join the JLU."

Indeed things got worse, as Shinji feared. The next synch test scores prompted Asuka to distance herself from him and even Rei.

The First Child had no idea of how to react to her friend's shorter temper. Her attempts to talk were always rejected.

It all came to a crash when the next Angel arrived.

Shinji had been practically forced to take point against the Angel, and got absorbed into it for long hours.

The Phantom Stranger's attempts to contact Asuka were rejected, she didn't even notice him.

In the end, and without the help of the occupants of the Fortress of Solitude, Shinji and Yui had to dial up their synch with EVA-01 to dangerous levels.

Not enough to break Shinji's Ego Barrier, but high enough to damage his soul.

Author Notes

1. The original Sandman, Morpheus, took some very bad decisions during the run of the series. At the end, he was destroyed (Sandman issue 69 (Jul 1995) and a successor was chosen. It was Daniel Hall, son of Hector and Lyta Hall. Daniel debuted in Sandman issue 22 (Jan 1991), and assumed Dream's position as an Endless in Sandman issue ()

2. The Post-Crisis version of Lex Luthor was more cunning and ruthless than the previous version. A completely amoral entrepreneur, Luthor enjoyed the feeling of control, of ownership over Metropolis, as most people there were his employees, directly or indirectly. Eventually, he decided to run for president of the USA, and won! His original platform depended on high tech, and on accusation of incompetence on the then President. Of course, Luthor had a hand in said incompetence.

3. The ironically named Mercy Graves debuted in Superman, The Animated Series, back in 1996, as Luthor's chauffeaur and bodyguard, handling quite a bit of Luthor's dirty wok. Later on, she was ported to comics, debuting in the DCU in (curiously) Detective Comics issue 735 (Aug, 1999). as part of the No Man's Land story.

4. No other than Mrs. Amanda "The Wall" Waller, a formidable politican and a nasty piece of work. Though she is nominally on the side of good, her willingness to resort to shady means makes her an anti-hero at best. She debuted in the Legends miniseries (issue 1; Nov, 1986). She is a firm advocate on the end justifying the means, and she runs Task Force X with ruthless efficiency. The team is best known by its nickname: The Suicide Squad. It is composed mainly of supervillains who are offered reduced sentences if they complete particularly difficult missions as agent of the USA government.

5. I couldn't resist to paraphrase Tony Stark's angry questions to Captain America.

6. Wildcat is referring specifically to Tigress. She debuted in Sensation Comics issue 68 (Aug 1947), as a heroine. She turned to villainy, changed her codename to Huntress (not related to any other Huntresses) and married another villain, Sportsmaster. Eventually, her daughter Artemis, became another villain.

7. Wildcat is referring to Artemis Crock, daughter of Huntress and Sportsmaster, she debuted in Infinity Inc. issue 34 (Jan 1987). She had a memorable fight against a lone Wildcat (who had a broken arm at the time!) in JSA issue 10 (May 2000). The same issue Wildcat got his toothpick.

8. Deadman is talking about the Challengers of the Unknown. A team of daredevils who survived a plane-crash, completely unscathed. They decided they were living on burrowed time, and therefore, they volunteered to extremely risky endeavours. They debuted in Showcase issue 6 (Feb, 1957). And yes, they got involved in really weird stuff. They didn't join the JLU due to the events from the Hyper-tension story arc in Superboy (issues 60 to 64, Mar to Jul 1999)