Disclaimer: Superman belongs to DC Comics which last I heard is part of Warner Brothers. Neon Genesis Evangelion on the other hand is the property of Gainax. I don't own either, I'm just playing around with them. I promise I'll give 'em back when I'm done with 'em. Really.

DC Evangelion

Chapter 1: The Stumble that Changed the World

The ground shook and trembled. Cracks formed, radiating outward as the earth split itself apart and a huge gaping chasm formed. There were screams as buildings toppled and collapsed into the new gorge.

But it was only the beginning. The beginning of the end.

Nearby, the ground exploded as a plume of superheated magma erupted, creating a gushing pillar of flame and molten rock. A short distance away, another pillar shot forth. And another. And a third. Then a fourth.

The ground buckled and heaved as it continued to crack and splinter. A mountain groaned and broke apart, creating massive landslides of rock and soil. Nearby, the earth exploded as a new volcano formed, spewing flaming rock and liquefied stone began bubbling up.

He watched until he could watch no more of the horrible sight of his world destroying itself. Of the final death throes of his planet and home. But the memory remained, etched in his mind.

He had known about his world's final fate for some time now. And unlike others who might have fallen into denial or despair, he had done neither. Instead, he had sought to try and prevent this catastrophe. And when he had failed, he had sought to find some way to allow his people to escape and survive.

And he had succeeded.

Almost.

He could not save himself nor his beloved wife. Not even his doomed race. But he could save one. Only one. His son.

Another quake, a much more powerful one buffeted his home and he stumbled, falling to his knees. He winced, feeling his ankle protest the abuse but he was running out of time as he forced himself erect and lunged for the control console.

He ran his hands over the crystalline surfaces. There was a faint hum as the machines activated themselves. He gave the various readouts a brief glance to assure himself of the systems checks and then he turned to face smooth flawless sphere. Dimly in the depth of the light refracting crystal, he saw the tiny helpless form wriggle. He reached out and caressed the smooth surface.

"You will travel far …" he whispered as he heard more people screaming and the crumbling of earth and cracking of stone and splintering echoes of crystal shattering, "my little Kal-El," and he wrapped his hand around a crystalline pyramid and twisted.

Panels retracted and from the floor arose an oblong metal shape. It split into two and wrapped itself around the precious sphere.

There was a loud cracking sound that grew in intensity and power. Krypton was dying, tearing itself apart.

He quickly keyed the final sequence. The engines of the small craft begin to pulse and throb and began to rise. Slowly at first but with increasing speed, it sped upward and higher, fleeing the death of it's doomed world and it's race damned by arrogance and pride.

He watched as the craft disappeared, becoming a glowing star of light as it raced through the upper atmosphere and continued it's upward path.

"Goodbye, my son," Jor-El whispered as he bowed his head and waited for the end.

Although Jor-El was unaware of it, his little stumble had delayed the timely launch of the craft.

And forever changed the course of history.

In many worlds, this small craft carrying it's fragile cargo would make the perilous journey through space to land in the Heartland of America. In a place called Kansas. In a town called Smallville.

There, this ship and its occupant would be found by a kindly couple and adopted as their own. They would name him Clark and would raise him to become Earth's Greatest Hero.

Instead, the ship bearing Kal-El would not land in Kansas. In fact, it sped past America entirely as it descended. Past California and across the Pacific. Where it would make planetfall in a small chain of coastal islands. In a place called Japan.

This is what happened next.

A/N: This was my first fanfiction efforts which appeared on Anime Aadventures under the name "DC Anime". I did some tinkering with it, mainly expanding and improving certain sections. In my original draft, I had intended for this to be a crossover with Ranma ½ but I got sidetracked with Evangelion and ended up with this storyline instead. Who knows? I may decide to actually write that draft out. Someday. But don't get your hopes up.