Earth
Tokyo-3, Japan
The city's loudspeakers broadcast nonstop: "All residents of the Central Kanto Region, please proceed to your nearest shelter immediately upon hearing this announcement. We repeat... At noon today, the Japanese government declared a state of emergency. All residents of the Central Kanto Region..."
A boy wearing a white shirt and carrying a green backpack stood at a phone booth, trying to make a call. "Due to the current emergency, all numbers are unavailable..."
The boy frowned and muttered in a voice that still held a childish note, "It won't connect... Why aren't they here yet?"
"I knew I shouldn't have come just because of a letter."
The boy began to question his decision. He had come to Tokyo-3 because he thought his father needed him.
This boy was the protagonist of this cruel world: Shinji Ikari, fourteen years old, a middle school student.
When he was very young, his mother, a scientist, had died in an accident during an experiment he knew nothing about. His father, who cared nothing for him, had simply dumped the young Shinji with relatives and left on his own, never contacting him once as he grew up. From then on, Shinji had lived under someone else's roof and never again experienced the warmth of family.
Some time ago, his father, who had been absent for years, had suddenly sent him a letter. There were no greetings, no concern, not even basic courtesy. The letter contained only two words-"Come here"-and the rest was blacked out.
Clinging to the idea that his father needed him, Shinji had left the relatives' home where he had never wanted to stay anyway and come to Tokyo-3.
He still held out hope for his father. He longed to see his own father again.
According to the postcard sent along with the letter, the person coming to pick him up was a woman dressed... rather boldly... He had been standing there like an idiot for ages, but she still hadn't arrived.
"Forget it. I'll head to a shelter first. The phone won't connect anyway."
Although he had no idea why an evacuation order had been issued, he knew for certain that staying here wasn't safe.
Suddenly, for an instant, he saw a blue-haired girl standing in the road, but when he tried to get a closer look, she disappeared.
Just as he was about to leave, he heard the thunderous footfall of a gigantic creature.
Boom!
The surrounding buildings shook violently, and the earth trembled. Shinji looked up and saw... a terrifying creature.
Military attack helicopters appeared in the sky, marked with the English letters "UN," identifying them as United Nations forces. As the helicopters continued to retreat, a gigantic creature dozens of meters tall came into Shinji's view. It had a humanoid shape, its body primarily dark green, with parts covered in a white shell that might have been armor. Its head sat level with its shoulders, and a pair of long... spikes...? protruded from its elbows. A massive core sat in its chest. Its little head had a pointed mouth, and its two dark, hollow eyes blinked from time to time. It looked nothing like any creature known to humanity.
The Third Angel-Shamshel
At a base far from the battlefield, a report came in: "The unidentified object is moving toward the base." The target's image was confirmed and projected onto a screen. An elderly man and a middle-aged man wearing glasses and gloves, with his hands seemingly welded in front of his mouth, watched the monster.
"It's been fifteen years."
"There's no doubt. It's an Angel."
What the hell is that?!!! The sight of such a terrifying monster filled Shinji with instinctive fear.
United Nations weaponry went whoosh, whoosh! Two missiles streaked over Shinji's head and exploded against the Angel, but it seemed to suffer only a slight jolt. "All missiles have hit the target! Aah!" A laser shot from the Angel's hand and blew up a helicopter.
After a brief hesitation, Shinji dropped his luggage and ran. He could already feel the shock waves and heat from the exploding missiles. He didn't want to die here.
Back at the other base, the United Nations commanders anxiously monitored the battle. "The air force can't stop that thing's advance!" "Launch an all-out attack! Send in every unit!" "Forget the losses! Destroy the target at any cost!" As he spoke, one of the commanders snapped the pencil in his hand.
The vehicle-mounted missile launchers on the winding mountain road fired in unison, and the fighter jets overhead launched enormous air-to-ground missiles at Shamshel. Shamshel caught a missile bare-handed and crushed it, setting it off. No matter how the military attacked, Shamshel remained unharmed.
"Impossible! Every attack hit the target!" "Damn it! The tank regiment's been wiped out, and missiles and artillery aren't working either! What kind of monster is this?"
"It's an AT Field. I told you conventional weapons wouldn't work against it," the middle-aged man seated at the highest position said confidently.
A military commander swiped the card he carried to unlock a telephone. "Prepare the N² Mine! Have the troops lure it toward..."
"It won't work..." the middle-aged man murmured mockingly. This man was Gendo Ikari, commander of this base, NERV-and Shinji Ikari's father.
"Unexpected development!"
A technician shouted in panic, "A large red sphere has penetrated the atmosphere and is descending at Mach 5! We're also detecting energy levels beyond measurement!" Even the unflappable Gendo Ikari frowned at this. "Something outside the script?"
Meanwhile, a blue car raced through the city.
"Not being able to find him at a time like this... What a headache."
Inside the car, a young woman wearing a black dress and sunglasses grumbled as she looked around the streets, which were already in chaos.
She was the person from the postcard: Misato Katsuragi.
She rolled down her window and happened to look up. Then she froze and took off her sunglasses.
"You've got to be kidding..."
She saw an enormous red sphere plummeting toward the ground, apparently on course to land on the Angel.
Inside the red sphere was, of course, our very own Zero!
"What is that thing?!"
Zero quickly ran through all the monsters, super beasts, aliens, and Space Beasts he had fought in his mind. None matched this creature. But when he saw it destroying the city, he decided without hesitation to eliminate it.
I'll knock it out of the city first! Then I can finish it off without worrying about anything, Zero thought.
Meanwhile, Shinji stopped running and stared in astonishment at the red sphere rapidly descending overhead.
Another monster? Suddenly, a series of distressed cries interrupted his thoughts.
Near a crashed helicopter, he saw a kitten pinned beneath chunks of rubble from a building.
"It's still a life..." After wrestling with himself, Shinji rushed over and pulled the kitten free. He was afraid of dying, but he couldn't bear to leave it to die either. Yet he had barely run any distance when Shamshel leaped into the air and stomped on the helicopter, blowing it up.
Shinji felt death closing in. Instinctively, he shielded the kitten with his body and curled up tightly.
Zero witnessed this and rammed into the Angel in fury, sending it flying far away. Shamshel landed in an open area.
The Angel lay on the ground, gravely injured, struggling to get up. Cracks had already begun to form in its core.
It's this weak? Zero watched in surprise.
"Maybe I should try ramming it to death."
With that, Zero went full throttle and charged into it inside the red sphere!
The Angel exploded, and a cross-shaped beam of light shot into the sky, shining before everyone watching.
Before you continue