Another Angel fight, but this one happens a little differently. Especially since most ways of Iruel infecting NERV have been cut off. Instead, I made sure to have a completely different type of scenario play out. I think you'll like it. Disclaimer: I don't own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Evangelion, or Anarchy Reigns.

Cruel Angel's Thesis Chapter 18: Angel of Fear, Iruel

Durga was overseeing the installing of new software into the computer mainframe at the factory region. With him was his partner, Garuda. Garuda had a body that was largely machine, with only his nervous system running through a modified Gargoyle. "Everything's proceeding as scheduled," one of the workers noted. "Excellent," Durga replied, "By the time NERV thinks to invade this place, we'll have everything we need to repel them. Not even their precious EVAs will be able to crack this coconut open. We'll soon be ready to test the dummy plug's for the final experiment."

He didn't know everything SEELE was planning, only that it had something to do with uniting the world. He hoped he could still get work when it was all said and done. As good as the pay was for this job, retirement sounded pretty boring to a blood knight like him. What no one in the factory knew was that something was growing deep inside computer system. It was Iruel, the Eleventh Angel. "I guess I somehow missed reaching into NERV, but this is a blessing in disguise. It turns out Father in somewhere in this facility. I'll find out where, then escape and infiltrate that location and shut it down."

"Another Angel showed up?," Shinji asked, "But we didn't see anything coming in." "The alert is coming from deep within the factory sector still controlled by SEELE," Ritsuko explained, "From our scans, it's taken over their computer systems." "Iruel," Kaworu realized, "She's a microscopic Angel, and capable of rapid evolution beyond anything the rest of my siblings are capable of. But why did she infiltrate SEELE's network instead of our own?" "Come to think about it," Maya noted, "A part that we rejected in favor of a more efficient replacement was picked up by SEELE."

"So that's it," Keebo realized, "Iruel must have embedded herself in that part, intending to infiltrate the MAGI to shut us down, but wound up in the wrong network. The fact that she's taking over that network instead must mean she's realized SEELE has Adam." "Adam must be somewhere in the factory then," Mari suggested. "Either way, we're going in there," Shinji said, "We need to contain Iruel before SEELE's forces destroy her." Keebo then brought his fist into his hand. "I think I have an idea. If Iruel is microscopic, her core should be the same, right?"

The others got the idea. "Your Stand!," Mari realized, "The nanobots it produces should be small enough to retrieve Iruel's core!" "This will be the first time I've used my Stand in this manner," Keebo admitted, "But it should work. Either way, this will likely be the first Angel we've dealt with without using the EVAs. And let's not forget, we're rushing into enemy territory. They'll have defenses waiting for us. And it won't be long before they find a way to deal with Iruel, so we have to hurry." The group nodded, and headed out for the factory.

"It just came out of nowhere," Durga said to the hologram of Lorenz, "We're trying to combat it, but it keeps evolving to match our assaults." 'Such was mentioned of Iruel's power,' Lorenz admitted, 'I must confess, I never expected an Angel to attack somewhere other than the Geofront. This will put a serious target on our backs. I recommend having the engineers brainstorm a means to use the Angel's own evolution against it. Find a way to place it in an evolutionary dead end. From there, only death awaits it. And make haste. I suspect the pilots will be showing up on your doorstep before long.'

"Not to worry, Boss," Durga said with a smile, "We found something special in the labs below. Turns out that without a stable food source, some of the Mutants turned to each other for lunch meat. And one of them mutated even further. Our control methods have proven effective, but I'd still give it a wide birth when it gets set loose on a target." He pointed his thumb behind him to a large, red Mutant that looked like it was in the midst of a berserker fury. Lorenz smiled. 'Talk about an unexpected windfall. Make good use of it Durga. For now it is the only one we have.'

The group found their way into the factory and heard the angry growl of the Berserk Mutant just ahead. "That didn't sound friendly," Rei noted, "Maybe SEELE's been upgrading their experiments." The giant Mutant crashed into the room and gave a fearsome roar, trying to take a swipe at the group. Keebo moved in and blocked it by creating a duralumin shield with his Stand, letting him stand his ground against the assault. "This thing is stronger than a normal Mutant," he noted, "And a scan of its metabolic chart suggests it's been eating other Mutants to do so."

Mari breathed in. "I think it's time to unleash a real beast… Beautiful World!" Her Stand charged up, focusing on pure offense. Mari's eyes turned bright red, and she removed her glasses, tossing them aside. With an guttural growl, she rushed at the Berserk Mutant, plowing her fist right into its stomach. The increase in strength was made evident, as the Mutant actually spat up a bit of blue blood, and wound up sailing into the nearby wall. It got up quickly, shaking its head, before roaring right at Mari and charging at her, only to hit an electrical wall. Beautiful World had swapped to defense to block the attack.

Mari stood over the brute and wrenched open its jaws, letting her electric field flood inside the beast, frying it from the inside out. Once she was back to normal, Aigis handed her her glasses. "Remind me not to piss you off," Aigis noted. "Don't worry," Mari said, "Even in my feral state I'm in full control. Enough to determine friend from foe, at least. But this giant brute was just the gatekeeper. There's likely someone else waiting further inside." "One of SEELE's fake Stand users no doubt," Kaworu noted, "Let's hurry. By now they'll have determined Iruel's weakness."

"Anything yet?," Durga asked the technicians. "We've determined the Angel has only taken over one part of our system's binary network," the technician reported, "We've theorized it might be possible to reconfigure the other part to forcefully evolve the Angel, shutting it down within a matter of seconds." Durga nodded in satisfaction. "Excellent. Make sure the program is implemented within the hour. It will be quite the coup for our organization to defeat one of these Angel's instead of NERV." "Shame that dream will go down in flames," came Asuka's voice.

Durga whirled around and noticed the pilots right behind him. "So you managed to get past the Berserk Mutant. Well, to be fair its capabilities were never fully tested. We discovered it on accident, you see, and decided to simply stick it in front of the door. The Mutants kept here were never properly fed, you see." "That's what you get for feeding your monsters after midnight," Rei quipped. Durga actually laughed in a friendly manner. "Oh man, that was a good one! Remind me to send that to the Digest!" He snapped his fingers. "Garuda! Time to play!"

Garuda flew in using his jet mode before transforming into his humanoid mode. "Ready for combat! Tornado Drill! Engaged!" Rei smirked. "I'll deal with this overgrown tin can." Durga scoffed, but looked serious as Mari came to face him. "Hope you're ready for a real battle." Durga laughed. "You think you can step to me, little woman. I have the powers of a god!" "A god?," Mari said in a disbelieving tone, "It's been said that Stand users hold the power of gods. But your Stand is purely artificial, only tied to you by flesh. And a gatling gun in your leg with the reloader in your arm doesn't strike me as godly. Heck, this one Stand user I heard of who simply made people angry when they stepped in water is more god-like than you."

Durga growled before firing off his Revolver Cannon, only to have the bullet blocked by Mari's electrical field. Meanwhile, Rei had her Lightning Mode active. Garuda launched an attack from his Tornado Drill, but it barely phased the half-Gigan. "That all you got," Rei said, a smile on her face, "My father, the Gigan who trained me, has a Mode of Wind. Compared to the storm he unleashes, you're nothing more than a gentle Spring breeze!" She started charging to full power, her spine actually emerging from her back and crackling with electricity.

Garuda tried to run as he shifted into his hover mode, but he didn't get far as Rei coated the area in lightning. "Grand Judgement!" Several bolts struck Garuda, shutting down several of his systems and sending him crashing into the nearby wall. Durga was shocked to see this, even more when Mari charged up to her maximum and started striking at him with a ferocity that frightened even him. Mari did a few somersaults that caused her foot to plant itself right in Durga's face, before her electric field surged through him like a buzz saw. He was down on the ground within seconds.

The other pilots approached the now frightened staff. "You've just seen how strong two of our number are," Shinji noted, "Care to test the rest of us." The staff simply fled, letting Keebo approach the computer. "I'll have my nanobots swarm Iruel," he said, "Shifting their purpose every few seconds. If I do it just right, it should force her to manifest a core large enough for us to grab." It was tense, with only Keebo and Aigis able to see the struggle. Ultimately, a fist-sized core grew inside the nearby computer tower, which Keebo grabbed.

Iruel sensed the presence of Keebo's Stand and realized she had been captured. "Forcing me to evolve a larger core to overcome the nanobot forces. Quite ingenious." "Are you alright, Sister?," Kaworu asked. "As well as I can be seeing as my body just self-destructed within the computer network. Though I did get much information in the process. Father is here in this facility, kept deep underground and encased in bakelite. However, what the masters of SEELE haven't been told yet is that Father is slowly starting to regain consciousness."

"And when that happens he can awaken again," Asuka realized. "And put a stop to Lilith and her schemes," Iruel replied, "My other siblings and I have long suspected you keep her contained beneath your own headquarters. What you don't know, is that SEELE has made contact with her. And they're striking up a deal. Control of the world, in exchange for her unleashing Third Impact." "The source of Instrumentality," Shinji realized as he pounded his fist into his hand. "I wasn't in the network long enough to know how they intend to orchestrate it, but I do know that they are starting experimentation with something called a dummy plug. A sort of remote auto-pilot for EVAs."

"Lilith won't be going anywhere for a while," Kaworu noted, "Gendo and Fuyutsuki found Father's lance and Shinji used it to pin Lilith in place. It's not a permanent solution, but one that will buy us precious time." "Time enough for the rest of our siblings to arrive," Iruel said, "But unlike me, they do not know Father does not rest at NERV. They will make whatever attacks they can. And some of them have powers more dangerous than even those of you who possess Stand power." "We know what's coming," Rei assured her, "And we're preparing for the worst. But right now, our real enemy… Is SEELE."

Those of you familiar with Evangelion canon might ask why Adam is regenerating when Tabris, aka Kaworu is supposed to have his soul. There's actually a good reason why, but I'll explain it in a later chapter. For now I'll just say that right now he isn't housing Adam's soul, although he was at one point. Read and review.