EVA: Shinji Ikari Returns from Tiga

Chapter 18 Shinji, can I...really do it?

“No! Absolutely not…! Absolutely not!!”

As expected, Katsuragi Misato's strategy was strongly rejected by Asuka.

"Asuka! This is an order! The weapons you have now are not enough...Asuka!!"

Misato Katsuragi's words were full of panic... But for Asuka, whose mind was fundamentally shaken by the meaning of her existence - to pilot the EVA and defeat the Angels... she no longer cared about orders or not.

I can't drive an EVA as well as this second-generation official... I can't defeat the apostles... Then what is the meaning of my existence? Where is my place?
“Uooa ...

A voice came, Asuka's voice.

It sounded like a battle cry, a passionate cry, a cry to fight the apostles to the death...

It also seems to be crying and grieving, as if crying loudly to the mother.

Shinji Ikari should dissuade her. From a tactical and strategic perspective, they should obey Misato Katsuragi's arrangements no matter what, temporarily avoid the limelight, and then formulate the next tactics based on various data analysis.

But, if that happens... the heart of the girl named Shikinami Asuka Langley... will also be torn into pieces.

Hearing the roar of a helpless howling child through the headset, Shinji Ikari was unable to utter any words of dissuasion.

The ammunition of the rifles on both sides ran out at the same time. Unit 01 slammed the weapon switch on the floor and equipped itself with a new medium-to-short range high-frequency particle nail gun.

"Go! Asuka! Just like the strategy we made from the beginning... I'll cover you! You go and defeat Him!!"

"Shinji-kun!? Why are you also...!"

"I'm sorry, Miss Misato! Just trust Asuka and me this time!"

As he spoke, Shinji Ikari took the initiative to sprint towards the Sixth Angel.

As ammunition ran out, the suppressive rifle fire ceased. Seizing this void, the Sixth Angel began to wriggle once more, transforming.

However, this time it wasn't the defensive barrier mode of the cube, nor was it the particle acceleration mode with fully specialized attack power...

In addition to the center, four pseudo-cores appeared in the four directions of up, down, left and right, turning it into a cross-like shape full of distorted religious meaning.

And just now, the single-direction particle cannon that could only be fired by the core, because of the appearance of the pseudo-core... four beams of purple-brown destructive death light, were charging at the same time!

“…Damn it!”

Even the usually gentle and easy-going Shinji Ikari couldn't help but curse when faced with the sudden turn for the worse in the battle situation.

But even if I curse, I can neither stop thinking nor stop taking action——

First, we changed the route as much as possible and went around to a place where there were no large residential buildings behind us... We had no time to take care of more. All that was left was to hope that Kaji Ryoji could complete the evacuation properly.

“AAAAAAA——————”

Accompanied by an eerie tune like the chirping of an orchestral instrument, four pseudo-core purple-brown lasers aimed at Unit-01's head and chest, shooting out without mercy.

Emergency evasion—! Having anticipated the oncoming attack, Shinji Ikari braked suddenly to avoid the first beam of light, which had been predicted, and then jumped into the air to avoid the second and third beams.

"Ugh——!"

However, the movements are limited in the air... You can dodge one, two, and three, but you can't dodge four.

The fourth laser blast grazed Unit-01's abdomen. It only grazed it, but it had already gouged out the armor and a large piece of flesh from Unit-01's flank...

Through the horrific wound, one could even see the tender and still wriggling organs inside Unit-01.

"Severe flank damage! 12000 pieces of armor destroyed! Pilot nerves overloaded! Impulse nerve reversal! Pilot's blood pressure increased! Tachycardia!"

Just by listening to Maya Ibuki's report on the situation of Unit-01, because EVA is connected to the pilot's neural circuit, Misato Katsuragi could guess that Shinji Ikari was in great pain.

But this intense pain did not stop Shinji Ikari from taking action——!
When the light swept through them... they retaliated! Pulling the trigger, the high-frequency weapon, a weapon with the same anti-AT properties as the positron cannon and the N2 mine... the high-frequency nail gun aimed at the central core and fired, engaging the AT in a fierce confrontation. But, even at this distance... it was just a stalemate... unable to penetrate.

——So what?
It was not originally the responsibility of Unit-01 to defeat the Angels.

"Go! Asuka--!!!"

Following Shinji Ikari's roar, the beautiful fiery red figure, EVA Unit 02, which had been waiting for an opportunity, jumped out from behind Unit 01 like a ghost.

As mentioned at the beginning...Shinji Ikari's purpose is to contain.

Consume the opponent's counter-attack weapons, consume the opponent's AT force field, and reduce the opponent's condition to the extreme as much as possible... Then, this little girl who is more arrogant than anyone else and more fragile than anyone else will be the end of everything.

"...Shinji, can I...really do this?"

In the trance of life and death, Shinji Ikari heard a faint murmur like a dream.

Clearly, out of willfulness, he disobeyed Misato's orders. Clearly, out of arrogance, he insisted on fighting the apostles and even dragged him into it.

But...when it really came to this, I cowardly sought his approval...How despicable I am!

"Oh, of course... You can do it, Asuka."

This seems to be the first time Asuka calls her own name.

Facing the confused girl, Shinji Ikari smiled and gave a positive answer.

This smile gave Asuka great strength.

"…Thanks."

In a flash of interaction, the fiery red EVA leaped high, aiming at the AT force field that had already developed some cracks under the attack of Unit-01's high-frequency nail gun, and swung the spear in her hand, risking everything.

————Mom, please bless me...

"AT stance——————Full open!!!"

In an instant, everything in the world seemed to stop.

Both Ikari Shinji and everyone in NERV held their breath and stared intently at the spear that embodied the life values ​​of a girl named Shikinami Asuka Langley.

It pierced into the core of the Sixth Apostle with incredible precision.

Penetrated through the blood-red core.

"become…!"

Asuka smiled beautifully, but—

"No!! It's a pseudo-nuclear!!!"

The moment he realized it, Shinji Ikari roared and drove Unit-01 forward rapidly!
The moment the spear touched the core, the Sixth Apostle's shape twisted again... from a cube to a fluid, and from a fluid to a rotating sphere.

The final result was that the position where the core was originally located was replaced by the pseudo-core that had just been used to attack Unit-01 due to the rotation of the sphere.

The spear tore the pseudo-core apart and caused damage to the apostle... Yes, it only "hurt" Him, not "killed" Him.

"Alert!! Inside the target! High energy reaction—!"

"Shinji-kun, Asuka!! Get out of the way..."

There was no time for Misato Katsuragi to wail before the purple-brown light of destruction engulfed the two EVAs and... the hope of humanity.

(End of this chapter)