Name?
Yeah, I gave myself one.
I'm Hiro.
Why am I Ichigo?
Because that's how your code is read. 015, for Ichigo.
That's my name?
What about me, then?
Think of one for me, too.
Within their dark, cramped nest,
they clung to one another
and waited for their parents, who would never return.
Hey...
Give me a name, too.
Sure thing!
But we believed
that great blue skies awaited us outside.
Plantation: Inner City
All done?
Yeah. They said they didn't find anything wrong.
Oh. That's good to hear.
Hey...
Ichi—
Ichigo, get ready.
Roger.
He's the first sample that's ever piloted with her and taken so little damage.
He failed to common connect with Delphinium,
but he was compatible with Strelizia, even though he wasn't conscious.
The only thing that could explain it is...
...the special specimen?
Did something happen between you two in the cockpit?
Why do you ask?
Well, Ichigo was acting a bit weird after the mock battle.
She seemed mad when I ran into her earlier, too.
She's always gotten too worked up when it comes to you.
She has?
I mean, there aren't many of you with codes in the teens. You're basically siblings.
And you've always been together, with me by your side.
It was a miracle that all three of us got assigned from the special class to here.
Siblings, huh?
Yeah, you're right.
Hey, Goro.
You're her partner. Could you tell her for me that it wasn't her fault?
Sure, I don't mind.
But what are you going to do now?
I'll try asking if I can ride with Zero Two again.
Hiro...
You've heard the rumors about her, right?
That nobody has ever piloted with her more than three times?
A rumor is all it is.
Didn't you say you saw what happened to her previous partner—
Look, Goro.
If Zero Two is the only one I can ride with,
then I have to ride with her.
Our entire purpose in life is to pilot the FRANXX. That's why we were born.
So what happened to that talk about Hiro possibly becoming a parasite?
He could only connect for a bit at the start, so I don't like his chances.
No way he's getting in with that weak shit.
I don't know about the ones who only managed a draw against that, either.
Huh? That was Miku's fault for randomly falling over.
Excuse me? Don't you remember what you said back then?
Why would I? Waste of time.
You're unbelievable.
Don't fight. It'll affect your numbers.
Either way, I don't think Papa's going to accept a parasite who can't pilot.
Yeah.
We saw so many kids disappear from the Garden due to that.
It was so sad.
Ichigo's no better, though.
Don't you think she's being too biased toward Hiro? She's supposed to be our leader.
I don't know how Goro's putting up with it as her partner.
What does Goro have to do with it?
What's this about me?
If Hiro becomes a parasite, he'll be a great help to us.
That's all there is to it.
If he does.
He still has a chance.
I'm not so sure.
He couldn't even get it done with you. I think it's over for him.
But he did pilot Strelizia.
Even if he was unconscious, he did save us back then.
I believe in him.
Ichigo...
I can understand why you'd want to stick up for him,
but given that he was unconscious, he was only taken along for the ride.
We don't know that for sure!
Sure, Hiro was special.
Even among the double-digits, he was a cut above.
We were all certain that he'd be our leader and show us the way.
But reality had other ideas.
Hiro couldn't become a parasite.
He's not who he used to be.
We must give up and cut our losses.
I don't want to see this pathetic side of Hiro anymore.
Darling, you pervert.
Quit staring.
S-Sorry!
It's fine. The doctor said parasites are better off being a little pervy.
Still, why does that make me a pervert?
I was tired of waiting for you.
Let's go.
Huh? Go where?
We children have restrictions on where we're allowed to go.
Nearly all of this area is off-limits to us.
Oh?
Is that an S-class ID?
Wh-What are you doing?
If we go through together, like this...
I got in!
See? Piece of cake, right?
Wow!
How'd you know about this place?
All the plantations have similar designs.
This is nothing special.
Really? But I've never set foot in the city before.
We've only ever known the birdcage and a few other facilities.
Why are you staring at me again?
I'm trying to think up a name for you.
A name?
I'm really good at naming people.
Huh... Well, I'm fine with Zero Two.
But doesn't it feel kinda lame to go by your code number?
Hup!
Huh? Wha—
Wait, don't!
Once we die, we'll only be a statistic. It won't matter what we were called.
Just look at this lifeless city.
There are no skies or oceans here.
It's isolated on a one-way street to nowhere, a dead end of life.
Look, that's not safe! Get back here!
Say, darling.
Wanna run away with me?
I can get you out of here, darling.
Just kidding.
We've received sortie orders from HQ.
Huh? W-We're going out to fight already?
Don't get so nervous.
You won't have to fight klaxosaurs like the one from before right off the bat.
Thank goodness.
We would've liked to ease you in,
but we can't afford to, unfortunately.
You'll be facing a Conrad-class klaxosaur.
It's a bit smaller than a FRANXX.
Klaxosaurs are attracted by magma-energy reactions and appear in their vicinity.
And lately,
they've been showing up deep in a Level 8 mine on the outskirts and wreaking havoc.
Even the automatic bulwark systems can't keep up with them.
Also, Strelizia won't be a part of this mission.
You'll have to defend Plantation 13 by yourselves eventually.
If you can't eliminate this klaxosaur,
you won't be able to handle any in the future.
So focus on the task at hand.
Ichigo and Goro will have field command.
Roger.
That's all.
All hands, prepare to board.
Is the mock battle still bothering you?
We're going into actual combat now. Switch gears.
I know.
Hey...
I'll do my best as leader. Take care of the handling.
Sure. Let's do this.
My first battle at last!
You'd better not go crazy by yourself again, you hear me?
Relax! I got this!
I'm not sure you've got anything.
Ready, Ichigo?
Yeah. Come to me.
What's wrong, Chlorophytum?
Doesn't look like Ikuno can do this.
I'm nearly there! Just give me a bit!
Don't bother. It's over.
Chlorophytum's para-capacity is below required levels and dropping further.
No go, huh?
Chlorophytum will stay behind. The other three are to head out without it.
Roger that.
This might be tough.
What a big hole. How far down does it go?
This is nuts. It's a monster pipe.
They used these to extract the magma reserves, huh?
Head down to Level 8.
As you're well aware already,
in order to completely neutralize a klaxosaur,
you must extract its core, which is essentially its heart,
and shatter it using your customized magma-energy weapons.
Shatter the core and finish off the klaxosaur without fail.
Got that?
Roger!
Heading to objective.
Follow behind Delphinium, both of you.
Understood.
And Miku?
Understood!
What happened?
Are you not feeling well?
No, that's not it.
Very well. You have always been a bit unstable.
We'll run some tests on you tomorrow, just in case.
If I may... Maybe the two of us have compatibility issues?
A lot of parasites experience this at first.
It isn't grounds for splitting you two up.
Is that so?
We have visual on klaxosaur. FRANXX spreading out.
In position.
Commencing operation.
Huh, it's smaller than I thought it'd be.
What a relief.
Stay alert. We'll do this as planned.
Gotcha!
Way to go, Zorome!
They did it!
Not yet.
Zero Two?
See? That's what I'm capable of!
Hey, cut it out. You're embarrassing me.
It's not over yet! Destroy the core at once!
I-I know, I know.
For a klaxosaur, this thing wasn't a big deal.
Miku?!
Hey, Miku? Miku!
Damn you!
Hey, Miku! You okay?
Miku!
You okay, Miku?
There was another one?
Uh, wait a second...
How...
How many of them are there?
Let's get away from here for now!
Yeah.
This is bad.
They've attracted several klaxosaurs by releasing their magma energy.
See what I mean? You should've sent me right from the start.
You...
Are you sure about this? They're all gonna die, you know.
Send Zero Two and me to help!
That's not happening.
You're not an official stamen. I can't give you permission to board a FRANXX.
This is no time to stick to the rules.
This plantation's squad is about to be wiped out again.
Just send me out already.
Let me ride with my darling.
You will not be allowed to sortie.
If Hiro can't do it, I guess I'll have to go.
Mitsuru?
She's right. They're all going to die if we don't send Strelizia.
And I'm the only stamen parasite here right now.
Then I have to go, right?
Strelizia is no ordinary FRANXX. If you aren't used to its connect—
I'll be fine.
Even Hiro here could ride it,
so there's no way I couldn't.
Can you ride with Mitsuru, Zero Two?
Uh, did you not hear me?
I said I want to ride with my darling.
You feel the same, right, darling?
Zero Two...
Go with Mitsuru.
You really want me riding with someone else?
Please.
Hmm...
If you say so.
Got it.
Don't come crying to me when you regret the goody-two-shoes act later.
I'm going to prove that I can pilot Strelizia better than you did.
There may have been a part of me that hoped she would refuse.
Huh?
Mi...
Miku!
Wh-What's gotten into you?
Miku came back to life!
Thank goodness!
I never died!
Miku, are you o—
I'm fine!
But we won't last much longer.
Strelizia's coming to back you up. Can you hold out until it arrives?
All right! If we can just hang in there until then...
Yeah!
Who is it? Who's piloting it?
Hey, Ichigo! Focus!
Why'd she suddenly get so heavy?
Ichigo!
H-Hey!
What's gotten into you?
We can't stay here!
Run to the center!
We have to hang on until Strelizia gets here.
What's wrong?
We can't handle this many!
Hey, Leader...
What're we gonna do about this?
If I hadn't let my mind drift to stupid thoughts back there,
things might not have come to this.
Strelizia would've made it on time, too.
I've failed as a leader.
Strelizia!
Hiro?
Is it you, Hiro?
All of you get back.
Huh? That voice... Is that you, Mitsuru?
All units, let Strelizia handle things there and evacuate.
Roger.
Let's go, Ichigo.
Y-Yeah...
This is amazing!
I feel the power! I feel like I can do anything!
I'm amazed changing partners could make such a difference.
I knew I wasn't the problem!
I'm just as good as Hiro!
Hiro!
Are you watching this? We're in perfect harmony!
I can pilot Strelizia as I please, without losing consciousness!
If you want,
I don't mind becoming your official partner.
We'd make the greatest duo, don't you think?
Oh, really?
I guess I can try going all-out for a bit, then.
Huh?
Strelizia, that's enough. The other units have evacuated.
Get out—
I'm gonna have some more fun before I leave.
No! Return at once, Zero Two!
That girl...
Prepare to retrieve Strelizia and its stamen at once.
"Retrieve"?
Strelizia saved us all again, huh?
I never expected Mitsuru to be the one piloting it.
I'm sorry. That was my bad.
Don't be stupid. It doesn't matter whose fault it was.
We're partners, right?
Mi... Miku!
You're actually a nice girl!
What's wrong? You're not acting like yourself.
Gross! Stop it!
Sorry. I guess I got careless once I heard help was on its way.
Get your act together!
Oh, they're back.
The hand she held out and the smile she offered to me alone came at a price.
Mitsuru?
The rumors were true.
Mitsuru's wretched state was all the proof I needed.
Yeah, this guy really isn't cut out to be my darling.
My darling is you and you alone.
And I thought back to what she said before:
"I can get you out of here."
Episode 3
Fighting Puppet