LNCrawler

Chapter 44: Transdimensional Corridor

Neon Genesis Evangelion ANIMA — LNCrawler · All chapters

Chapter 44:
Transdimensional Corridor
S HINJI POSSESSED little information about the twin giants. The even larger Armaros held two wing-like plates on its back, but the Victors each only had one. Victor Two was the one on the right, and Victor Three on the left, and whenever they touched their plates together, and then separated them, the space between formed a window to another place. And that was all Shinji knew about the Victors’ abilities; he knew nothing about their strength in combat.
The two previous times they’d intruded into the caldera, they’d appeared to drag the bottom tips of their back plates along the ground. Armaros had only shown himself once on the moon, but his plates had also extended to the surface.
Now the Victors had arrived floating in the air, and their plates turned out not to end at their feet but extended below into a curve, becoming indistinct then fading into nothingness—probably at the boundary of this tunnel space.
Or do I have it backwards? Do the plates come out from the ground and the Victors out from the plates?
In the cockpit with him, Ayanami Rei Trois whispered sharply, “They’re moving!”
In unison, the two Victors came swooping down, ready to strike Super Eva with their staves. Because the distance between him and the Victors had remained constant in this strange place, Shinji had let his guard down, but Super Eva caught both staves with its Bizen sword, and—
Shinji grunted in pain as Super Eva was knocked backward. Bubbles formed in the LCL. The Victors were shockingly strong. Back when Super Eva was still Unit One, their attack might have shattered the Eva’s A.T. Field entirely.
“Ikari-kun!” Trois said.
Several indicators on the status panel turned red. Shinji moaned and then said, “I’m… I’m fine. It’s reconnected now.”
“What’s reconnected?”
“They broke my arm.” Shinji gritted his teeth in pain. But the injury was healing quickly, and Super Eva resumed a fighting stance, Bizen sword at the ready. Still, Shinji couldn’t get any closer to his attackers.
Not only was the enemy strong, but Shinji felt as if he were in a dream, paralyzed and struggling. He couldn’t sense if Super Eva was moving, and in reality, it wasn’t. Shinji was starting to worry.
Ayanami Trois sensed that his expression had changed. She looked behind her. The winged Angel Carriers were closing in.
Inside this space, it was impossible to perceive speed, and the more that doubt crept into Shinji’s mind, the slower Super Eva moved. Trois looked forward again and watched Shinji’s hair swaying in the LCL. She thought for a moment and then said, “Quatre is on the other side of the window.”
Shinji was caught off guard. “What?”
“I’ve reconnected with her through the mental mirror link, though the connection is very faint.”
“Do you know what’s going on out there?”
“You need to hurry!”
A sudden acceleration, and Trois’ back was pressed against the seat. She felt like the force might crush her. Once again, the LCL couldn’t contain the supersaturated gases—though this time it was due to the Eva’s own acceleration. The plug filled with white bubbles.
Picking up tremendous speed, Super Eva began trailing a band of light and burning bright orange spirals into the walls—such as they were within this incomprehensible tunnel.
Shinji had always underestimated his own abilities—or rather, he didn’t believe he possessed special talent at all—and however else he’d grown, that remained true to this day. In his present situation, he couldn’t help but doubt what he was doing. But when given an external motivation, grounded in someone other than himself, he wouldn’t let anything in the world stop him.
The Ayanami Rei clones—Trois in particular—lacked self-awareness and the ability to express their emotions, but that didn’t mean they were unable to observe emotions in others.
Sometimes, that which a person lacked, or lacked an understanding of within themselves, was more readily apparent in others. Unfortunately, those observations were like building blocks—they could only stack so high. Still, Trois had observed Shinji through her own lens, and on this day, she told her first lie.
In order to ride inside Super Eva without causing thought feedback, she was wearing mental shielding gear. Any link with Quatre was impossible.
Super Eva charged toward the two Victors, but when the giant came within range of the guardians, it suddenly changed course. The band of light maintained its momentum, crashing into the Victors and exploding in a cascade of sparks. Meanwhile, Super Eva deflected its floating field and circled around to flank the guardians.
“How do you like this?!” Shinji shouted.
Super Eva put one Victor between himself and the other. The shower of light had created an opening in their defenses, and the Eva slashed its SRL Bizen. Unable to position its shield in time, the Victor caught the blow on its staff instead.
Clang! Sparks flew.
The Bizen recoiled from the impact with its pommel facing the Victor. Super Eva switched its grip and slammed the pommel straight down onto the gatekeeper’s shoulder.
As the Victor in front crumpled, the other thrust its staff. Super Eva caught the attack with its A.T. Field-enhanced blade, but the staff kept coming. The guardian’s attack landed head-on with incredible force, sending Super Eva’s gigantic body flying backward.
As Shinji had feared, the Armaros-type giants were even stronger than their Eva-like size suggested.
“Ikari-kun,” Trois said. Her voice was strained. “It’s too much!”
As an experienced Eva pilot, Trois weathered the rapid succession of impacts, but it was still hard, even on her.
Several of the Vertex Wings’ field induction plates had been stressed beyond their limits, and a number of damage control windows popped open.
“But I have to do something!” Shinji replied.
Shinji’s back stopped moving, and his voice came from the cockpit’s speakers.
So, this is what Chief Ibuki saw, Trois realized. The scientist had explained that Shinji’s consciousness had transferred to Super Eva while his human body was left behind in the entry plug. Shinji was now experiencing time on a non-human scale, just as Maya had said; he’d hardened in place.
“Trois,” he said through the speakers. “I’m going in again!”
After being struck, Super Eva had continued to fly backward, flipping through the air. When it came upon the pursuing Angel Carriers, the Eva used its spinning momentum to force the Bizen through one of their shields.
Super Eva lifted both legs and stomped down on the Carrier. By then, the Bizen had penetrated through its body, carving a path from its left shoulder down to its stomach. The force of the Eva’s kick sent the bloodied Carrier flying—and Shinji resumed his course toward the end of the tunnel.
The Eva’s explosive dash seared the air, and once again the giant brought its long sword to bear against the Victors.
Even with all this power, Trois thought, Super Eva’s inertial mass must be getting extremely heavy. And yet, it can still maneuver this quickly.
The G-forces were beginning to cloud Trois’ consciousness, but she noticed a new window pop open on the screen—it belonged to the misconfigured shoulder-mounted positron cannon.
“Ikari-kun!” she said as Super Eva’s heartbeat raced and energy surged through the doorway to higher dimensions contained within the triangular plate in the Eva’s chest—the Center Trigonus.
The weapon within the right shoulder pylon linked with the fire control system and began its startup sequence.
“Ikari!” Trois repeated. “That new gun in your shoulder is moving on its own!”