SEELE is setting up their next plan. A lot of complicated steps here, which means a lot of things can go wrong. Let's see how they do with this next one. Disclaimer: I don't own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Evangelion, or Anarchy Reigns.
Cruel Angel's Thesis Chapter 19: A Spy Among Us
"Everything is set up as we instructed," SEELE-04 said. "Excellent," Lorenz replied, "The sad fact of the matter is that for all of our study and testing, our EVAs are inferior to the ones created at NERV. So our hand-picked pilots need every advantage we can give them. Of course, our primary concern is early warning on when our facilities will be attacked again. It is easier to prepare for an assault when you know one is coming." "Our spy seems convinced she won't be able to find out much," SEELE-03 noted, "She has little experience dealing with people. But her handler has assured her that the pilots are more sociable than her other classmates in the past." Lorenz smiled. "And that will be their undoing…"
The next day at class, the teacher spoke up. "Students, we have a new transfer student starting here today." The young girl with long black hair and glasses entered the room. She looked down at the ground. "Hello… I am Mayumi Yamagishi…" Kensuke felt his heart skip a beat. Sure, he had seen beauties like Asuka, Rei, and Aigis, but something about Mayumi resonated with him. Maybe it was the fact that she seemed so similar to him, making her seem almost attainable. Of course, this didn't go unnoticed by Toji, who was smirking. "A crush on the new girl already?"
Kensuke, knowing it was pointless to deny anything given the ribbing he had given Toji about his own crush. "Well… Yeah…" He then blushed even redder when he realized Mayumi had been seated right next to him. "Sorry," she said, "It's just that there was a free chair here." "Oh, don't worry about it," Kensuke replied, "I'm Kensuke Aida." Mayumi looked a little surprised. Kensuke was giving her a genuine smile, something she was unused to. However, right behind her, Aigis was narrowing her eyes, her internal sensors spotting a dangerous anomaly inside this new girl.
"Are you sure about this?," Naoko asked as she lookout at the readout Aigis had printed from her sensor log. "I'm afraid so," Aigis replied, "It seems that growing within Mayumi is an S2 engine. Given she has not had contact with NERV, I can only assume this is the result of SEELE's experiments. They've had Adam long enough that they can start reverse engineering the S2 engine, and I wouldn't put it past them to test them on a human, just because they could." Naoko had to agree, this was definitely something SEELE would pull off, even if they would learn nothing from it.
"Luckily, thanks to Kensuke we've invited her into our social circle," Aigis said, "That should allow us to keep an eye on her, and hopefully have the S2 engine removed." Naoko rubbed her chin. "But to do this without SEELE wanting to cut her off as a loose end, she'd need to be in a safe region. And I can only assume she was selected to be an unwitting spy for SEELE. I need to report this to Gendo. I think it's high time we liberate another sector from SEELE's control." She looked at the small die on her table. "Nu, could you keep a close eye on Mayumi in the meantime? Find out what's she trying to learn." Nu, who had shape-shifted into the die, replied, "Very well. It shouldn't be too difficult."
Mayumi was a little surprised. She had expected the pilots to be too busy with saving the world and everything. Heck, one of them was too old to be in school and another went to school over in Japan proper. Yet even Mari and Keebo had become fast friends with Mayumi. It was rather bittersweet to her. On the one hand, she was finally starting to get friends like she always wanted. On the other, it meant she had to deal with SEELE telling her to get on with her job now that the pilots had warmed up to her. Of course, what really surprised her more than anything was that Kensuke, who wasn't even a pilot, had thought of her as attractive.
"Most guys wouldn't even give me a second look," she noted. "Well, then most guys are idiots," Kensuke noted, "Personally, I found myself getting a crush on you from the first moment I laid eyes on you." Mayumi blushed. "Thank you… No one else has ever said anything like to me. Well, without meaning it at least." Kensuke chuckled nervously. "Man… I'm glad we met up when we did." "So where are the others?," Mayumi asked. "They wanted to give us some privacy," Kensuke said, "You know, try and convince me to admit my feelings."
That was true, but not the whole truth. In reality, the group had been told about a new mission and that Mayumi was being coerced into being a spy. This meant they had to make things as difficult for SEELE to wrench information out of Mayumi as possible, to help buy time until her condition could be dealt with. Despite what she had been told, SEELE wasn't the only group that could cure her condition, because NERV knew perfectly well what it was and how to deal with it. The real problem was doing so in such a way that SEELE couldn't interfere or enact repercussions afterward.
"Here's the basics," Gendo said as he faced the pilots, "For too long we have allowed the high school on the island to remain within SEELE territory. After they stopped their attempts to kidnap students for studying the Stand virus we saw little need. But with the fact that we can take back sectors of the island from SEELE, the fact that so many of our agents reside within the city, and the recent revelation regarding Mayumi Yamagishi, it is imperative that we remove SEELE's presence from the city and claim it for NERV's purposes."
He adjusted his glasses. "We know the only remaining presence of SEELE left in the city is a gang of Killseeker's led by one of their top agents, an artificial Stand user calling himself Oinkie." A picture of the guy, which looked piggish, got Shinji chuckling. "Nice name… I'm assuming he's more dangerous than he appears?" "Somewhat," Gendo replied, "He's no powerhouse compared to the others, but he can hold his own due to having a black belt in karate and the artificial Stand he uses, a biological agent referred to as The Juice. It's a self-replicating formula that gets injected into his body and gives him strength and stamina similar to a Mutant."
He showed more pictures of the area. "Now first things first, we need to clear out a great deal of his gang. The problem is the heavy muscle is a large number of Executioners. To clear them out, I'll be taking to the field personally using one of our assault choppers." The pilots looked surprised. "You'll really be helping us personally this time?," Asuka asked. Gendo nodded. "Let's just say I have some personal grievances against SEELE that I'd like addressed." As the operation prepared to start, Yui walked up to her husband. "Be careful out there. I might be able to survive without you, but that doesn't mean it won't hurt if you die." Gendo smiled as the two of them kissed.
Oinkie was finishing off a plate of bacon when he got the general alert. "What the heck is going on out there?" "Someone's decimating our bouncers, boss!," one of the Killseekers said, "They've got an assault chopper and they're ripping through all the hired muscle! At this rate we'll be wide open!" Oinkie took a look and got shocked at the sight of his Executioners being turned into paste. "We can't lose the city! The bosses will flip if we lose another territory! Get the boys together! We need to get ready for intruders!"
He whirled around as something caused some of his guys to be launched through the nearby door. Mari placed a hand on the door jam, her eyes glowing red. "A little late for that." She rushed into the room and started slaughtering the Killseekers. Oinkie made few nervous pig noises as the other pilots entered the room. "This ain't good… I gotta protect my interests. The Juice!" The injection system attached to his back activated, sending the pale green liquid into his body, instantly shifting it into a more muscular and scaled version of itself, making him resemble a tamed Mutant.
"What would a good analogue for this be?," Keebo wondered, "Suit Stand? Transformation Stand?" Oinkie snorted. "You wanna try me, robo boy? I hope you realize I make my living as a junk seller. And like anything worth selling, the fresher the product the more people will pay!" He charged at Keebo, who easily dodged him while tagging him with a few explosives. "Sorry, but I'm the sort of tech you can't put a price on." Oinkie squealed as the bombs went off, his hide only saved due to his increased mass. He took a karate stance and tried attacking Keebo, who countered with slashes and energized kicks.
"That nanomachine tech," Oinkie realized, "That's your Stand!" "And unlike your bio agent, which was simply bred in a lab," Keebo noted, "Machinehead was with me from the moment I gained sentience. It's the perfect irony, that a Stand created by a robot is more authentic than anything you and your cronies have! Machinehead!" His platform manifested an energy cannon, which charged up before blasting at Oinkie, who managed to dodge out a nearby window and start beating feat. 'I still have other businesses on the island! I'll just retreat to one of those!'
"We lost the city?," Lorenz asked over the phone. He had been contacted by Oinkie after he had gotten away. Lorenz was not happy, but his mood was more directed towards NERV. "They figured it out somehow… They learned about our spy. I never thought it would happen so soon." 'I just got word that most of the other agents in the city were arrested for various crimes,' Oinkie noted, 'What do you wanna do about it now?' Lorenz sighed. "Trying to take the city back would be costly and expose our desperation. For now maintain your businesses elsewhere. I'll contact you if we need you again." He hung up. "NERV now holds more than twenty-eight percent of the island. We need to keep them from getting more."
Mayumi was surprised to see NERV agents at her door. Earlier her handler had disappeared, up until now he had always made it clear that he was watching her. "May I help you?" "We're here to have you admitted for treatment for a serious condition," one of the NERV agents said, "And yes, our organization is aware of what it is. And contrary to what you have been told, we can have it treated. We'll be sure to let your friends know about this. Or rather, those that don't already know due to being involved with our group." Mayumi was shocked beyond belief. But if these people said they could help her, she knew she couldn't say no.
For those who don't know, Mayumi was a character from the Sega Saturn game for Evangelion, Second Impressions. I wasn't including any other side projects from EVA besides her and Mari, so don't expect it. And of course Aigis, being a robot, would detect Mayumi's internal problem a lot earlier than canon. Though we won't get back to her for a few chapters. Read and review.