(Note: If this is too long, feel free to skip it. This was originally material for a standalone Saberuno side story, but the author's limited ability meant it ended up here instead.)
"What?! That guy's still alive?!"
Riku Asakura was the first to step forward and question the person on the other end of the phone. Surviving an attack like that was truly beyond his expectations. After all, he had never encountered anything like it.
Asuka cursed under her breath. "Damn it..."
The Ultra Brothers' faces darkened at once, though it was not as if they had never encountered something like this before.
But Shinji fell silent. He gazed into the distance. The ruins of Tokyo-3 slowly stirred in the morning light. The destroyed streets, the buildings brought down by the Mass Production Models, the empty craters left by the D4 Ray's erasure-it was all still there.
But that was not what he saw.
He closed his eyes and called out to Zero.
"...Zero."
There was no response, but Shinji could feel that Zero was listening.
"Mr. Kaji found him." Shinji's voice was very soft, spoken within his mind. "Saberuno-Hayato Noda. He's still alive."
Silence. A very, very long silence.
Then that light trembled slightly. Not with surprise. Not with anger. It was something deeper.
"...I know." Zero's voice sounded in the depths of his consciousness, lower than the vibrations of Shinji's own vocal cords. "The moment he disappeared in space, I should have guessed that bastard wouldn't die so easily."
Faced with the enemy who had nearly killed him, Zero had even set aside his usual pride.
Shinji opened his eyes. He looked out at the ruins beyond the window, at the church spire faintly visible in the distance.
"He's waiting for us."
"Yes." Zero's voice was calm. *"He's