EVA: Shinji Ikari Returns from Tiga

Chapter 80 The Ninth Apostle Attacks——!
"First contact complete—!"

"The diagram is in the correct position—!"

"All links appear normal—!"

Gendo Ikari and Ritsuko Akagi stood at the highest point of the control tower, listening to the operator's report.

"... "

Ikari Gendo saw Shinji Ikari, whispered something to Asuka... and then left the command room.

What does this kid want to do? Now that Unit-01 is gone, he's just a self-righteous brat. What can he do?
——Could it be that he wants to take advantage of me being here to supervise the actual start-up test of Unit 03... to take the opportunity to disturb Rei's heart?

"Dr. Kaburagi, give Rei to—"

Just as I was about to turn around and ask something... I found that the place where Kaburagi Shinya should have appeared was now empty.

Ikari Gendo, with a frown on his face, was just about to look for Kaburagi Shinya when a sharp alarm and a blinding red light enveloped the entire Matsushiro base.

"What's wrong!?"

"…An abnormality has occurred in the central nervous system! The synchronization rate is displayed as…negative 255!!"

Ritsuko Akagi rushed forward in a panic and took over the control console herself.

"Abort the experiment...! Cut off the power! Disconnect all circuits!!"

With a bang, the umbilical cable of Unit 3 was disconnected - but there was no battery... EVA Unit 3, which should have stopped its activities immediately... became even more violently agitated.

What's chilling is... that movement is definitely not the movement of a rigid machine. Every detail... every piece of armor... is throbbing like the veins of flesh and blood.

"Warning! Warning! Unknown high-energy reaction detected!"

"The identification code is - BLUE!!!"

"Blue... could it be, an apostle...?!?"

Ritsuko Akagi was stunned by the completely unexpected situation before her... and could only stare blankly - watching the deep and unclean blue viscous substance... slowly flowing into every corner of EVA Unit 03.

Along with the blue pollution and erosion came... a light of destruction that was powerful enough to engulf the entire Matsushiro base.

Asuka witnessed everything before her, and in an instant... she was enveloped by a sense of crisis like an icicle pressing against her spine... The fear of death made her freeze in place - but, Ikari Shinji's words and trust ignited her body... allowing her to react immediately.

"Hikaru——!! Bring Sakura with you...! Hurry...!"

"Get out of here quickly!"

Then I realized... Nagisa Kaworu was already running towards Sakura, who was stunned and at a loss, with a frown on his face.

"You two! Run!!"

Kaworu Nagisa picked up Sakura and ran towards the exit with Asuka and Hikaru Toraki - however, how could a human's running speed possibly match Hikaru's?
The purple-brown light of death converged, condensed, and then... exploded!
"………………Feel sorry…"

As Asuka looked at the disaster that was so close that it was about to consume all the lives present... All she felt was a flash of guilt for the trust she had entrusted to Shinji Ikari...

“——Tiga!!!!”

At the critical moment, the purple-brown light of destruction... was suppressed by the golden holy light. Accompanied by the golden radiance, an unknown life form, a giant of light... Ultraman Tiga suddenly and inexplicably appeared at the base of Matsushiro.

With open arms, the radiant energy released... the outline of the Ultra Barrier completely enveloped EVA Unit 03, completely confining the destructive disaster within the spherical cage.

“…Tiga!! It’s Tiga…!!”

At this moment, Sakura came back to her senses from her trance, and her disbelief turned into ecstasy of joy.

She raised the necklace around her neck and called out Tiga's name loudly.

But - at this moment, Shinji Ikari didn't have the energy to respond to the children's cheers... because the rapidly flashing color timer and the strength draining away from his fingertips were telling Shinji Ikari that this time, it wouldn't be so easy.

“——————!!!”

An incredibly huge impact force came from the Ultra Barrier... The purple-brown particles almost blew up the cage created by Tiga. The power of this apostle... was far greater than any previous apostle!
"drink!!"

Realizing that he could not simply suppress the apostles' actions, Tiga simply released Ultra Telekinesis... and launched the spherical barrier surrounding EVA Unit 03 directly into the sky.

Then he flew away from the base and landed in the nearby wilderness used for EVA combat training, waiting for the enemy's return.

A deafening roar, a shockwave that shattered all the glass windows of the Matsushiro base, and... a purple-brown, deadly light that painted the entire sky a disaster...

If it weren't for Tiga who contained the power of the explosion and launched it into the sky, the entire Matsushiro base would have been wiped out by this devastating explosion... without a trace left.

“wuAAAAAAAAA————!!”

As expected, it did not disappear with the explosion... EVA Unit 3, no... it should be said that the Ninth Angel who occupied EVA Unit 3... let out a ferocious roar like a wild beast.

A red halo flashed from his eyes... his unrestrained jaw bared its fangs... malice and hostility gushed out, sweeping towards Tiga.

...It's been a long time since I last came to this world and fought against the fourth angel, the Water Angel... I haven't fought against humanoid monsters in the form of Tiga again.

Beep, beep, beep—

The shrill alarm sound is still buzzing... the colorful timer is still flashing -

Suppressing the explosion of the Angel and launching it to a location where it would not harm anything outside the base...has almost exhausted Shinji Ikari's strength. In this state...is he still going to face the Ninth Angel...and rescue Suzuhara Touji?
Clenched fists.

Of course, no problem—!
“WUAAAA!!”

With a beast roar, EVA Unit 03, which was originally dozens of meters away from Tiga... waved its right arm without moving forward.

And the right arm actually stretched out! The armor, which was originally of fixed length, was torn apart by this unnatural extension... and the broken part was filled with a blue gel-like substance.

The right claw flew towards Tiga's neck, and then... as expected, Tiga dodged it by just slightly turning his body.

He took advantage of the situation and grabbed Unit 03's right arm, turned around, and with the help of centrifugal force... he used his arm as a rope and smashed Unit 03's body hard into the wilderness.

Just because I've become weaker doesn't mean you've become stronger. No matter how weak I am, a mere apostle-level monster can't defeat Ultraman!
Looking through the observation window, seeing that Tiga not only invalidated the Ninth Angel's beam, but even suppressed the Ninth Angel with just one encounter... Ikari Gendo frowned and gave the order.

"Call the Sixth Qualified Personnel...board Unit 4 and prepare for attack!"

(End of this chapter)