"Huh? What do you mean, what's wrong with me? Nothing's wrong!"
Little Zero's tiny projection put on a brave front, forcibly lifting the nearby glass with psychokinesis and pumping it like a dumbbell, pretending he was fine.
"I'm just out of energy right now. It's nothing serious. Give me a little time, and I'll recover soon enough."
But Shinji's face was full of disbelief.
"Zero, just tell me the truth."
"I want the truth. I heard some of it earlier..."
Before waking up, Shinji had hazily heard the Mother of Ultra's voice saying things like "life-threatening," "must return to the Land of Light," and "cannot transform."
Thinking of the injuries they had suffered this time, along with their past experiences, Shinji couldn't help growing suspicious.
As time passed, his fusion with Zero allowed Shinji to sense that some of Zero's responses were gradually weakening...
The scars on Zero's chest and waist, in particular, were undeniable evidence.
The signs had begun to show in his own body, too. The mildly superhuman physique he had gained from sharing a body with Zero had now almost vanished.
In its place came ever-worsening exhaustion and a growing sense of helplessness.
For instance, he would get out of breath after running only a short distance, and he was unusually exhausted after a battle.
All of this made him consider one frightening possibility.
Was Zero's body really about to give out?
As for his own body, he wasn't nearly as concerned.
Little Zero's tiny projection fell silent for a while. Knowing he couldn't hide it anymore, he flew back onto the rim of the glass, then sighed.
"All right, I admit it. I'm in terrible shape right now."
"My battles with all those enemies did enormous damage to my body. Now I'm losing energy faster and