EVA: Shinji Ikari Returns from Tiga

Chapter 4 Water of Life
"Ah, Shinji-kun, I didn't realize you're quite good at making girls happy."

Just as I drilled into the plug to restore communication, I heard Katsuragi Misato's teasing.

“…Didn’t I cut off the radio?”

"Yes, but Rei's car was open and we heard everything you said to her. I won't lose, so just take a good rest. You're so manly! If I were ten years younger, I'd definitely be fascinated by you, Shinji-kun!"

Even Shinji Ikari, who had lived two lives, felt embarrassed and ashamed after being publicly executed in such an exaggerated manner by the entire base.

"...Miss Misato was just terrified by the apostle, yelling and screaming over the radio. How did she recover so quickly? And she even has the leisure to tease me."

"I'm not scared at all! It's just... the apostle who only appeared once every fifteen years before suddenly appeared here in less than three weeks, so I'm a little nervous."

In order to stop Misato Katsuragi from mocking him further, Shinji Ikari chose to turn from defense to offense and successfully changed the subject.

This also allowed Shinji Ikari to obtain information that no one had told him before - the last time an Angel appeared was fifteen years ago...

"Captain Katsuragi. The UN Military Commission has been completely defeated and has withdrawn from the front lines. They have already submitted formal procedures to transfer command. I beg you to intervene. EVANGELION, please attack!"

"What a nagging guy... If they had withdrawn earlier, we would have taken action. What a waste of taxpayers' hard-earned money."

The atmosphere that was slightly warm a second ago suddenly became solemn. Just through the radio, Shinji Ikari could feel the tension and sense of crisis in the command room as if a disaster was about to happen.

...Is that so? This is the first time that humans in this world have truly fought against the apostles.

The last time, the Fourth Angel was still resisting the UN forces, he was eliminated by himself after transforming into Tiga. So the last time NERV did not have the feeling of fighting with the Angels.

This time... since I am here, Tiga naturally cannot appear.

The conventional forces of the United Nations have been defeated by the threat of the apostles, and the last hope of all mankind... is only this EVA Unit-01.

"Shinji-kun, the future of mankind...is in your hands."

Misato Katsuragi's words were more serious than ever before.

"Insertion plug inserted! Fixation complete! LCL solution injected!"

As the voice of data observer Maya Ibuki sounded, Shinji Ikari felt the cockpit he was in was slowly filled with turbid and sticky liquid.

LCL – Water of Life.

That's what Misato Katsuragi and Ritsuko Akagi call it. It's an essential component for driving an EVA, a connector that tightly connects the driver's nerves to the EVA.

Since I had always used simulated cockpits for virtual training before, this was the first time I was actually submerged in this liquid with a fishy smell like rust... I really wouldn't drown, right?
"?!"

it hurts--

Felt the pain.

This liquid should be completely harmless to humans... but when it soaked into Shinji Ikari's body, it brought a burning pain.

"The driver's nerve function is elevated! Intracranial pressure is rising! Cortisol secretion is increasing!"

The situation that shouldn't have happened made Misato Katsuragi pale. This shouldn't have happened, right?
The biometric monitoring panel showed that Shinji Ikari was in great pain, but he was only drenched in the LCL solution and hadn't even begun fighting the Angel yet...

This unexpected situation happened before she even left home for her maiden battle, causing Misato Katsuragi to waver between starting the battle directly or using conventional forces to delay the battle.

"Shinji-kun! Calm down! You'll get used to it soon. Didn't you say you wouldn't lose..."

"I'm used to it. What a fuss! Just fire me out."

I originally wanted to comfort Shinji Ikari, but Shinji Ikari interrupted me first.

However, this kind of bravado that was obvious at a glance could not fool Misato Katsuragi.

His biological signs were still disordered, his face was pale, he was sweating profusely, and even his brave lines were trembling slightly.

Something bad definitely happened to Shinji Ikari, but with a powerful enemy at hand, Unit 01 had to go fight the Angel, and there was no time to look for the cause.

"Katsuragi."

Ritsuko Akagi next to her pointed at the screen and motioned for Misato Katsuragi to look.

"Synchronization rate... 78.3%!?"

Katsuragi Misato's face was filled with disbelief. She had initially thought that Shinji Ikari would be in a bad state due to the sudden incident, but she hadn't expected the synchronization rate to reach a value far exceeding that of the previous simulation. "Send Unit-01."

"commander?!"

Ikari Gendo had returned to his throne at some point, ruling over the entire NERV.

"Since he can still use it, there's no need to worry. Launch."

"Commander! Shinji-kun's condition is clearly not right..."

Misato Katsuragi's final indecision was easily cut off by Gendo Ikari.

"Only by defeating the apostles can humanity have a future. To achieve this, we must do so at any cost."

After gritting her teeth in silence, Misato Katsuragi made the decision.

"EVA Unit-01! Launch!!"

At the command, Shinji Ikari felt a huge impact.

Under the effect of inertia, the LCL solution poured into Shinji Ikari's body more violently, causing sharp pain that almost made him faint.

I felt dazed for a moment, and actually felt a little nostalgic... Is that so? Is that so... I seemed to have remembered it.

This nauseating burning sensation is the same as it was back then.

The scourge of Gatanjea...surrounded by black fog, robbed of light, swallowed by darkness...transformed into a cold stone statue and plunged into the depths of the sea.

The feeling is exactly the same as it was back then.

In that case, it doesn’t matter!
Ikari Shinji smiled.

It is a strong smile that faces the current difficulties, accepts them and overcomes them.

I have already overcome the pain once, and have already overcome the difficulties once...how can I possibly stop myself again!

The moment I made up my mind... I don't know if it was a psychological effect, but the burning sensation from LCL seemed to be much weaker.

The originally unclear vision suddenly became clear.

The sky was still a refreshingly blue, while the sea was as red as blood.

Above the sea, it seemed as if a foreign object from the other side was slowly floating towards Shinji Ikari.

The appearance is completely different from the last apostle. The last time it at least had a human form... This time it is completely a giant purple-red worm.

The center of the exposed pale ribs is the apostle's weak point... the blood-red sphere known as the core.

Just break this... and you win.

Before he entered the opponent's attack range, Shinji Ikari drove Unit 01 to take action first.

He skillfully grabbed a rifle that popped up from a nearby building, aimed at the core, and fired three shots in rapid succession.

The movements were precise and done in one go. The three ferocious bullets avoided the protection of the bones with incredible accuracy and were about to touch the apostle's core.

However, with a flash of red light, the three warheads were split into two at a close distance.

It was clearly a special armor-piercing bullet for the Apostles that traveled at three times the speed of sound, but the opponent just casually swept it with its fluorescent tentacles like playing table tennis, splitting all the bullets.

"Shinji-kun! Neutralize the enemy's Absolute Territory [AT Field] before attacking, otherwise the effect will be extremely... eh!?"

Misato Katsuragi's combat order came, but it suddenly turned into doubt mixed with despair.

The reason Katsuragi Misato was surprised was because according to the detection data from NERV's Operations Command Center...

Now EVA Unit-01's absolute domain is very weak, very weak.

It can even be described as not existing at all!

(End of this chapter)