Both giants stared at each other.

"Are you ready, pilot?" Misato asked over the radio.

"Er… yes…" Shinji responded, trying not to sound too scared.

"Release the final lock," Misato instructed.

The final restraints against Eva-01 were undone, and Doctor Ritsuko Akagi stepped forward in front of the microphone. "Now, Child One, advance," she said coolly. Eva-01 staggered forward. "Good. Just focus on walking for now."

Shinji nodded. "Right. One step…"

Eva-01 took another step; the concrete under it cracked. It lifted its leg again, but somehow stumbled, resulting in Eva-01 falling onto its face. In the Entry Plug, Shinji clutched his head and moaned from the pain that had resulted from falling forward.

"Child One…" Misato began, exasperated. "Get up, and hurry."

The Angel had been still for some time, but moved again now, reaching out for Eva-01's head. Shinji watched, horrified.

"I said get up!"

Shinji screamed. The Angel had already blocked all of the view from the screen he had to the outside world. It finally made contact and drew Eva-01 up, perfectly like a machine. Shinji just watched in terror.

Then the Angel grabbed one of the Eva's arms, using it to hold the robot up. The Angel's muscles expanded rapidly, and it began to squeeze and twist on the arm.

It broke. Shinji screamed again, clutching at his own arm.

"Child One! Focus! That's not your real arm!"

Shinji did nothing except whimper as the Angel continued its assault. Real arm or not, he felt every bit of pain.

"What's happening with the defense?" Ritsuko asked back in HQ.

"It's not deploying!" Ibuki announced, looking away from the screen showing Shinji's suffering.

'What!? It's useless?" Ritsuko turned to a keyboard and began typing rapidly, ignoring the sudden sound of wires snapping.

"The left arm has broken!"

"Circuits have snapped!" Aoba added.

Ikari watched without a trace of an expression. "What is she waiting for…?" he muttered.

Ritsuko turned. "What was that, sir?"

"Nothing. Can you eject the Entry Plug?"

Misato shook her head in response. "Not yet, sir. We should see if he can snap out of this."

"Very well."

The Angel pulled Eva-01 even further off the ground.

"Child One," Misato ordered. "do something now!"

Shinji didn't move.

A red orb on the Angel's hand lit up. A bone suddenly protruded from the Angel's elbow, and then slid back in, coming out through the hand and colliding with Eva-01's face.

Shinji clutched at his own.

"Come on already! Fight back!"

The bone collided with Eva-01 twice more. Shinji covered his right eye, and tears streamed through his left. Three more times. Three more times.

"A crack is forming in the cranial armor!"

"It can't hold much longer!"

The bone slid into Eva-01's right eye and came out the other end. Then it receded again, leaving an immense hole in Eva-01's face.

"Do something!" Misato screamed.

The bone collided one more time, with so much force that Eva-01 was knocked back into a tower. It lay there, bleeding heavily.

In HQ, they watched in horror as all of the displays began to go dark.

"The circuits are disconnecting!" Hyuga cried.

"No response from the pilot!"

Ibuki pounded her fist on her keyboard in frustration.

Misato looked on, terrified. "Shinji-kun!" she cried.