Space Martial Arts!

"You look ridiculous..." Zero quipped as he eyed the Day Angel, which looked like a giant bug.

But when he saw Shinji struggling so hard to suppress his fear of the Angel that he was trembling, Zero offered some reassurance.

"Don't be afraid, Shinji. I'm here with you."

Ritsuko Akagi's voice came through the communicator. "Shinji, just imagine yourself walking. Start moving slowly."

Unit-01's control system worked on much the same principle as a VR game.

A pair of tentacles resembling whips of light extended from either side of the Day Angel's body. With one vicious sweep, it left the defensive structures surrounding Unit-01 in ruins.

"Imagine walking..." Shinji gripped the control sticks on either side, took a deep breath, and took his first step.

"Good, you're moving. Don't be nervous."

Shinji's nervous mind suddenly went blank.

"Should I move my left foot first or my right?"

People could turn stupid when they were too nervous.

Bam!

Unit-01's left foot struck its right, tripping it and sending it crashing to the ground.

"Get up, Shinji! The Angel is right in front of you!" Misato had witnessed everything from the command room.

While Shinji struggled to get up, the Day Angel charged toward him. Its purple body reared upright, and its constantly writhing abdominal legs and the light whips on either side terrified him.

"Roll out of the way first! Get some distance!" Zero urged, drawing on his extensive experience fighting monsters.

Shinji made Unit-01 roll aside, dodging the Day Angel's slashing tentacle, but the power cable connected to Unit-01 could not escape. It was severed in a single stroke.

The surrounding buildings suffered again, sliced apart and sent flying.

The cockpit interior suddenly turned red.

"External power cut off! Switching to internal power. Activity will cease in five minutes!"

The electricity needed to power a robot as enormous as Unit-01 was astronomical, so it carried a cable to keep it supplied whenever it deployed.

With the cable gone, Unit-01 could only use its internal power, giving it five minutes of operation at most. Once those five minutes were up, it would be unable to move.

"We have to finish this quickly, but this is Shinji's first battle. He hasn't had any training. Can he do it?" Sweat beaded on Misato's forehead.

"Deploy the weapon!"

A rolling shutter opened on a building beside Unit-01, revealing an enormous firearm.

Misato gave the order. "Shinji, pick up the weapon and fire at the Angel!"

Angels protected themselves with a barrier called an AT Field, which was why human weapons were useless against them.

EVAs could also generate AT Fields. Once the two fields neutralized each other, an EVA could attack an Angel.

"Okay!"

The moment he spoke, the Angel swung its light whip at Unit-01.

The part of Unit-01 struck by the whip began to melt.

"Ah! It hurts!" Shinji grimaced in agony. The neural link transmitted every bit of the pain to his own body.

His former self would have chosen to run, but now he would not retreat, because he knew he was not alone. There was one "person" who would always stand behind him and keep encouraging him.

"Hang in there, Shinji!" Misato truly felt for him. She still did not want a boy of only fourteen to suffer like this.

On a distant mountain.

A boy wearing glasses and holding a camera said to his companion, "See? I told you sneaking out would be worth it."

-Kensuke Aida

"It doesn't look all that strong... What's the pilot doing?" the boy in the black jacket asked anxiously.

"Get up!"

-Toji Suzuhara

They knew the city would be finished if this giant robot lost.

Shinji barely managed to stand and was about to run for the gun when pain shot through his ankle. Looking back, he discovered that the Day Angel's tentacle had wrapped around Unit-01's foot.

The Day Angel gave a powerful yank, lifting Unit-01 before hurling it away.

It slammed heavily into the mountain, right beside the two boys.

The two boys were terrified.

Shinji was already in too much pain to move. His utter lack of experience had put him in this situation; a battle like this was still far beyond him.

He turned and saw the two boys. Feeling useless, he began to cry again.

A voice rang out.

"Compared to other warriors' first battles, especially that one-third-powered amateur's debut, you've done pretty well!"

"Leave the rest to a real warrior!"

"Okay, big brother Zero!"

While they spoke, the command room descended into chaos.

"Only three minutes left!"

"Civilians spotted at the scene!"

The technicians delivered more bad news.

"The neural synchronization rate between Unit-01 and its pilot is dropping rapidly! It's already down to five percent! We can't determine whether the pilot is alive!"

That synchronization rate was practically a death sentence for Unit-01. It should not have been able to move at all.

"It looks like the operation has failed..." Misato's spirits sank.

"No!"

Unit-01 moved again!

"Has it gone berserk?" Ritsuko Akagi guessed, knowing the secrets behind it.

Everything that had happened had completely overturned her scientific understanding. Science simply could not explain it.

Gendo Ikari frowned.

"If Unit-01 had gone berserk, it certainly wouldn't act like this..."

The Day Angel flew toward Unit-01, intent on delivering the final blow.

Bam!

Unit-01 lashed out with a kick!

The AT Field shattered, and the Day Angel went flying.

Watching Zero control Unit-01 with Ultra Psychokinesis, Shinji was astonished.

"Big brother Zero, aren't you going to transform?"

"I'll gather some information this way first." In truth, after scanning the Angel's body, Zero had decided otherwise.

Something this weak could be dealt with without transforming.

Unit-01 assumed a fighting stance.

Its right hand curled into a fist and drew back low, while its left arm extended straight forward.

Space Martial Arts!

Zero charged up to the Angel, dodged its light whip, and swept its legs out from under it. As the Angel fell, Unit-01 rolled over to the building that had opened earlier and picked up the enormous gun.

"Let's see how powerful this thing is!"

Zero aimed at the red core, having identified it as the Angel's weak point, and pulled the trigger, firing short bursts as he ran.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Since Unit-01 had not activated its AT Field to neutralize the Angel's, the bullets failed to hit the Day Angel.

"Useless!" Zero threw away the gun and continued considering his options.

"One and a half minutes left!" Misato was now wound tight with tension.

"Send me a melee weapon!"

"Shinji's" voice rang out.

"There's a high-frequency vibrating particle knife in the armor behind Unit-01's shoulder. You can use it to attack the Angel's core!" Ritsuko replied.

"Got it!" Rather than reach for the knife immediately, Zero charged at the Angel.

"That's far too reckless!" Misato snapped. Recklessness in battle usually came at a price.

Unit-01 leaped high over the swinging tentacle, somersaulted in midair, and extended its leg in a flying kick at the Angel.

The AT Field shattered on impact.

Though the barrier had cushioned the blow, the kick still slammed hard into the Day Angel.

Even the Day Angel's head cracked open.

"I'm not done yet!"

Zero brought his fist down on the Angel.

One punch, two punches, three punches, four... They came faster and faster.

"Unit-01's punches are leaving afterimages!"

"Hundred Fist!"

Unit-01's fists moved faster than the human eye could follow.

The armor on Unit-01's hands had been battered away, exposing the flesh beneath, but that did not stop Zero from continuing to punch.

The Day Angel had completely lost the ability to resist.

Seeing that the time was right, Zero drew the combat knife from the shoulder armor.

"Die!"

A precise thrust struck the Angel's core and pierced straight through.

"The Angel's vital signs have vanished!"

Hearing those words, Zero stylishly pulled out the combat knife, spun around, and returned it to the shoulder armor.

Then, with a commanding air, he placed his left hand on his hip and made Unit-01 raise two fingers on its right hand.

"You're twenty thousand years too early to beat me!"

"Power depleted."

Unit-01 ceased moving, still holding that pose.