BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
SKREEE!
The Fish Angel ignored the battleship barrage. AT Field up. Charging straight for the flagship. Its massive body carved through the water. Waves surged. Ships rocked.
The ocean trembled. The roar shook the air. Jaws opened wide. Every tooth visible. A fatal abyss.
"This is... an Angel?" The old captain's eyes went wide. The Fish Angel bore down on the carrier. Instinct kicked in. Fear.
This thing. It's beyond anything I've ever seen.
"Rei!" Misato's voice cut through the bridge tension.
"On it!" Rei's response came instant.
The Fish Angel closed in. Orange Unit-00 vaulted over the deck. Fist cocked back. WHAM. Direct hit.
CRASH.
Unit-00's punch knocked the Angel off course. The impact echoed dull and heavy. The creature plunged back into the water. Spray erupted.
"Be careful. EVAs aren't built for underwater combat." Misato exhaled. Slight relief. Then the warning. "Stay sharp."
Ground combat. That's our strength.
Fighting a fish-type Angel in the ocean? We're at a disadvantage.
The power cables won't let us go deep.
"Understood." Rei held Unit-00 on the carrier deck. Ready. Watching for the next attack from below.
"Faster!"
"If you don't hurry, that other pilot's gonna steal my kill!"
Asuka and Shinji changed into red plugsuits. Dove into Unit-02's entry plug. Waited for the crew to insert it.
[Image: EVA Unit-02]
"So this is Unit-02's cockpit... Not much different from Unit-01." Shinji stood behind Asuka, scanning the interior.
"The cockpit's the same. The performance? You'll see the difference in combat." Asuka's confident smile flashed. "Unit-00 and Unit-01 are just test types. Unit-02 was built purely for war."
The entry plug locked into Unit-02's neck.
"LCL flooding!" Asuka's voice command activated the systems. "EVA Unit-02, launch!"
"Wait..."
"The sync ratio isn't affected?" Asuka stared at the readout. Confused.
There are two people in here.
She'd run all her activation tests in Germany. Always used German commands. But Shinji was here now. His Japanese thought patterns should interfere. But they didn't?
"What's going on with you?" Asuka turned around. Stared at Shinji.
No language interference. His personal frequency isn't affecting Unit-02 either. How?
He pilots Unit-01. He's not a civilian. He should be disrupting the sync rate. Unless his compatibility with Unit-01 is terrible?
"What do you mean?" Shinji asked back. Just as confused.
Asuka had spoken in German. Shinji's reply? Also German.
"You speak German too?" Asuka blinked. Surprised. He's more fluent than me. That's not normal.
Natsuki glanced at the Black Bangle on Shinji's wrist. Land of Light tech. Universal translator function.
"Whatever. Doesn't matter!"
"EVA Unit-02, launching!" If it didn't affect combat, that was good enough. Asuka's excitement surged. Unit-02 tore the tarp away and rose from the deck.
Crimson body. Four eyes locked on the water below the flagship.
"Watch and learn!" Asuka called back to Shinji.
THUD.
Unit-02's legs coiled. Launched off the carrier deck. High arc. Diving straight for the water.
"Wait—Unit-02 doesn't have underwater equipment!" Shinji realized the problem as the surface rushed closer.
"Nope!" Asuka's answer came fast. Certain.
"But I can still take it down underwater!"
Asuka's eyes blazed with confidence. Shinji's eyes went wide with disbelief. SPLASH. Unit-02 hit the water.
Deep blue. A dead city waited below.
Modern streets. Residential blocks. Schools. Drowned fifteen years ago.
"That's an old Japanese city?" Shinji stared at the submerged buildings.
"Yeah. Second Impact flooded it." Asuka's reply came flat.
"Don't get distracted. Enemy incoming!" Her gaze locked forward. The Fish Angel. Bigger than a carrier.
Unit-02's power cable stretched back to the surface. Limited combat zone. We have to end this here.
The shoulder armor opened. A short blade extended.
"You're planning to kill it with that?" Shinji eyed the high-frequency particle knife. In Unit-02's hand, it looked like a box cutter. "Against something that size?"
Even in Unit-01, I wouldn't have the confidence. Where does she get this courage?
Shinji wasn't the only one confused.
Natsuki couldn't quite follow Asuka's logic either.
Courage and recklessness aren't the same thing.
Then he noticed Unit-02's red paint job. Understanding dawned.
Red types. Always the reckless ones.
Taro's the prime example. Then all those warriors from other universes. Especially the ones with red forms. Every single one.
"Ugh... This thing's disgusting." Asuka positioned Unit-02 for the attack. The Fish Angel's jaws opened wide. She grimaced. "Gross."
Meanwhile. The bridge.
"Captain, radar's picking up another life sign!" The sonar tech's urgent report.
"What? Another Angel?" The captain rushed over. Checked the data.
Also underwater. Coming from an undersea volcano.
"That's impossible." Misato's voice. Disbelief.
Angels can't appear simultaneously. They never have.
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