Asuka was surprised to discover that her synchronization rate had actually risen instead of being affected.
"That's strange. Why is this happening?"
"Hurry up, you guys. I can't hold on much longer..."
In his phantom state, Zero continued using Psychokinesis to hold the Angel in place, but doing so in this state drained his stamina rapidly.
Besides, he had to keep some strength in reserve, just in case.
In the captain's cabin, the captain watched countless missiles and torpedoes strike the immobilized Angel without leaving a scratch and burst into curses.
"Incoming transmission from the Odyssey! Eva Unit-02 is starting up!"
The captain rushed over to the communicator.
"Abort activation! Retrieve the unit!"
Misato rushed over and grabbed the microphone.
"Asuka, get moving!"
The captain shoved Misato's head down and began shouting.
"The EVA and its pilot are both under our jurisdiction! You can't just do whatever you please!"
"You're still worrying about procedure at a time like this?!"
The two argued like children.
"Preparations complete. Shinji Ikari is inside too."
"Good! Asuka, launch!"
"What if we fall into the sea?" Shinji knew that an Eva with B-type equipment couldn't fight underwater.
"Then we'll just have to be careful."
Asuka made the cloth-covered Unit-02 leap straight into the air.
Seeing the deck crushed under Unit-02's feet, Zero had no choice but to release the Angel and use Psychokinesis to soften Unit-02's impact on the warships instead.
Unit-02 landed on a destroyer. Fortunately, Zero's Psychokinesis reduced the force of the impact.
"Three o'clock! The Angel's coming!" Shinji warned Asuka.
Alarms also began sounding inside the Entry Plug. They had only fifty-eight seconds of operating time left.
Freed from restraint, the Angel charged toward Unit-02, temporarily abandoning its search for the Adam Embryo.
"We're taking off!"
"Oh my god, you little menace, take it easy!" Zero felt dizzy. Suppressing these impacts was even more exhausting than restraining the Angel.
Asuka jumped again, using the warships as stepping stones as she headed toward the aircraft carrier carrying Misato.
"Even I'm not this reckless when I use Strong Corona Form!" Zero cursed, his head spinning from the jolts.
Shinji was already on the verge of throwing up.
"External power is ready! Clear the deck and raise the protective barriers!"
The sailors on deck hurried to evacuate. Having that thing land on them was no joke.
"Brace for impact!"
Kaji, meanwhile, was quite relaxed in the lounge. Through his binoculars, he saw that the warships Unit-02 landed on hadn't suffered the damage they should have.
"Looks like that giant called Ultraman is putting in some work."
"I can't get away anyway. Might as well wait here."
"If you act this time, how many tens of seconds will you need to finish the Angel, Ultraman?"
Kaji knew the details of how effortlessly Ultraman had defeated Ramiel. He believed that, to protect the Adam Embryo, Ultraman would make absolutely sure this ship stayed safe.
"Unit-02 landing on the carrier!"
"You're off-center! Off-center!" Shinji figured that a landing like this might capsize the carrier.
"I've got it!"
The instant Unit-02 landed, Zero canceled out part of the impact, then did his best to steady the carrier as it tilted under the blow.
A large number of fighter jets slid straight off the carrier and into the sea.
"What a waste of all those fighters." Kensuke, a military enthusiast, was heartbroken enough to cry.
"If that human warrior Mebius always talks about were here, he'd definitely yell at her and ask what she'd actually protected..." Zero's phantom flickered, the strain of using Psychokinesis leaving him utterly exhausted.
"Guren would definitely get along with this little menace!"
Standing on the carrier, Unit-02 connected itself to the external power supply.
"Nine o'clock! The Angel's charging this way!" Shinji used some of his sensing abilities.
"We didn't bring a gun this time."
Asuka said confidently, "The High-Vibration Particle Knife will be enough."
She made Unit-02 draw a knife from its shoulder armor.
The knife looked just like a utility knife.
"At least Unit-01's looked like a combat knife. This one looks like a joke," Zero couldn't help commenting as he stared at the utility knife.
"Your head sluggers are still better, Zero." After the past few days of training, Shinji had grown very fond of Zero's head sluggers.
Unit-02 raised its utility knife toward the charging Fish Angel.
"The best way to defeat an Angel is in close combat!" Misato explained to the captain.
The Fish Angel, almost larger than the aircraft carrier itself, leaped out of the water, clamped its jaws around Unit-02, and slammed heavily onto the deck.
Unit-02 lost its grip on the utility knife and dropped it.
Unit-02 struggled hard against the Angel, but accidentally stepped onto the carrier's aircraft elevator, lost its footing, and fell.
The Fish Angel dragged Unit-02 into the sea between its jaws.
"Asuka, B-type equipment can't fight underwater!" Misato warned urgently.
"How do you know unless you try?!"
Zero saw that the sea was full of submerged buildings, but he had no time to worry about that now.
"Ah... it hurts..."
"Hang in there, Shinji..."
Because of their synchronization rates, both pilots felt the pain.
With Unit-02 in its jaws, the Fish Angel thrashed through the seabed, smashing the already ruined buildings to pieces. Vast quantities of wreckage floated to the surface.
"Good thing Unit-02's tough, or it'd be done for."
They had reached the seabed at a depth of over a thousand meters. Even with equipment, a human would be crushed by the immense water pressure at this depth.
Bang! The power cable reached its limit, pulling Unit-02 out of the Fish Angel's mouth.
"Eva has lost the target!"
Asuka tried to move Unit-02 again, but it wouldn't budge.
"Damn it! Why won't it move?!"
"The B-type equipment's reached its limit."
"Do you have any ideas?"
"Not right now..."
The Fish Angel appeared again, opening its enormous maw toward Unit-02 and revealing the core inside its mouth.
"Ugh! That's disgusting!" Asuka felt a flicker of fear.
The Fish Angel swallowed Unit-02 in one gulp and clamped down hard.
"Unit-02 has entered the Angel's body!"
"Doesn't that just mean it got eaten?"
The parts of Unit-02 caught between its teeth began breaking apart, then spurting blood.
The pain was transmitted directly to Shinji and Asuka.
After his special training, Shinji could more or less endure pain like this, but Asuka couldn't.
"Aaaah!" Asuka clutched her waist and screamed.
She was still only a fourteen-year-old girl, after all. No matter how strong she was, something like this would frighten her.
And this was her very first real battle.
Seeing Asuka suffering before him, Shinji decided to stop hiding the truth.
"Let's do it, Zero! So what if we expose who we are!"
"All right, get ready, Shinji!" Zero admired Shinji's courage.
Shinji deftly switched off the Entry Plug's audio and video recording systems.
"What... what are you doing?" Asuka couldn't understand.
Shinji pulled a toy-like pair of glasses out of his Combat Suit.
"Asuka, please keep what happens next a secret!"
With that, Shinji snapped the glasses onto his face.
"Let's go, Shinji!"
Light instantly flooded the Entry Plug, banishing the darkness around them.
When the light faded, Asuka saw an enormous figure in front of her force the Fish Angel's jaws apart, then kick it away.
"A giant... of light?" Asuka stared blankly at Zero.
Seeing the empty space beside her, she realized what had happened.
"That idiot... is the giant?!"
The real battle had only just begun!
Underwater, Zero made his signature taunting gesture at the Fish Angel.
"Shinji, want to take control this time and try it out?" Zero wanted to give Shinji some practice. After all, no amount of training could replace actual combat.
Besides, even if anything went wrong, he could quickly take back control and fight himself.
"Okay, Zero! I'll give it a try!"
With that, Shinji gained control of Zero's body.
During their training over the past few days, Zero had made him fight Shamshel. He had transformed into Zero and fought on his own several times in the Training Space, so he was already familiar with the process.
He had also largely familiarized himself with the power, charge times, and energy consumption of Zero's three main beam techniques.
More impressively, he had learned how to use Zero Head Blade.
The Fish Angel roared and charged at Zero, opening its huge mouth to bite him.
Zero dodged aside, then drove a vicious punch into the Fish Angel's mouth. His fist tore through the water, striking its jaws with a shock wave.
Bang! A mass of teeth shattered inside the Fish Angel's mouth. It swam away in pain, preparing for another attack.
Above them, Misato and the others finally understood what was happening below.
"The giant... he's appeared again..."
Kaji found out too, and started timing him.
Zero removed his head sluggers and held them in his hands, swimming straight toward the Fish Angel and slashing down.
The Fish Angel deployed its AT Field, but it was futile. The AT Field shattered instantly beneath the blades.
The head sluggers swept lightly along both sides of the Fish Angel's body.
In an instant, two enormous gashes appeared along the Fish Angel's flanks.
Gravely wounded, it let out a miserable howl, turning all the surrounding seawater red.
Facing the surface, Zero kicked hard against the Fish Angel, putting plenty of distance between them.
Zero snapped his head sluggers into place on either side of the timer on his chest, then held his hands to either side of his chest and began charging energy.
The surrounding seawater began boiling as its temperature rose sharply.
"The energy around the giant's entire body is rising rapidly!"
The severely wounded Fish Angel opened its enormous maw and charged at Zero again.
Just as it was about to reach him, Zero finished charging.
"You like eating so much? Then eat this! This one's got a real kick!"
"Zero Twin Beam!"
White beams shot from Zero's chest and head sluggers. The tremendous recoil blasted him out of the water and sent him flying into the sky.
The beams vaporized the seawater in their path, forming a hollow channel as huge swaths of water evaporated.
The beams shot into the Fish Angel's mouth and struck its core.
The Fish Angel's body began to swell, then exploded with a boom, bursting into fragments.
Even the air smelled of scorched flesh.
With a wave of Zero's hand, his head sluggers returned to his head.
Zero brushed his nose and flashed a peace sign.
"You're twenty thousand years too early to beat me!"
Click.
Kensuke snapped a photo of the striking Zero. He was already almost overwhelmed by how cool the giant looked.
"You did great this time. I'll give you ninety points. Keep it up next time!" Zero praised Shinji.
"Thanks for the compliment, Zero!" Shinji felt pretty cool himself.
Before you continue