Chapters 11-15

Chapters 11-15

-Interlude-

Natasha Romanoff was one of the best spies in the world. At least, that was her opinion. The Black Widow was a well known and terrifying legend to powerful politicians and businessmen alike. It should have been no surprise then when the order came down from on high to get rid of her. There was apparently such a thing as being too good at her job. Thankfully for her, the agent sent to eliminate her, Clint Barton, had a kind heart and chose to spare her. She was then 'offered' a job for the up and coming spy agency that he was a part of. It was known as SHIELD. She had been working for them for about a year now.

Earlier that day, Natasha had received a notification from the organization's leader. He had a new assignment that he would be briefing her on personally. That was why she was currently outside his office door.

"Agent Romanoff." Director Fury acknowledged her as she entered his private office. It was located in their current 'temporary base.' A deep bunker on the edge of New Jersey just outside New York. Natasha's clearance wasn't yet high enough in the organization to know about the details of their upcoming new base. She had Barton and Fury's confidence (she thinks) but the other agencies still didn't trust her.

"You wanted to see me sir?" She asked as she entered Fury's office.

"Damn right I did. A... weird situation has popped up on our radar in London." Fury said.

"Weird how?" She asked. Shield was pretty much built to deal with weird situations.

"A man was admitted to the emergency burn ward in Surrey today. His entire lower extremities were burned away and cauterized..." Fury explained with a grimace. That was a horrifying fate for any man...

Natasha smirked to herself as she reminisced about doing something similar to some of her targets in the past... "I'm assuming his attacker is what makes this situation weird?" Natasha asked.

"You assume right. Our best sketch artist put this together from the victim's description of the attacker." Fury said as he pressed a button on his desk and a pencil drawing of a beautiful woman appeared on the tv behind fury. Natasha assumed that was the subject. What Natasha found odd about the sketch was that the beautiful woman had 4 black angel wings...

"Are those wings... real?" Natasha asked.

Fury shrugged. "We're not sure yet. They are according to Vernon Dursley and his hysterical wife. According to them, the attacker identified herself as Layla of the Fallen. We've been running her face through every camera in London all morning trying to find a match.

"Did we find her?"

"Oh, we found her alright? Our algorithm picked up a woman with her exact likeness, minus the wings, on a few street cameras in the heart of London." Director Fury pressed another button on his desk and the image on the screen changed. On it was a photo of probably the most beautiful woman Natasha had ever seen. Layla of the Fallen had a gorgeous heart shaped face free of any imperfections. A perfect hourglass figure, long black hair that almost reached her waist, and hypnotic purple eyes. "Meet Layla of the fallen... allegedly." Director Fury spoke out as he pointed to the real picture.

"A Fallen Angel?" Natasha questioned with some doubts. "I wasn't even aware angels were real."

"No one was aware Angels were real. But if they are..." Fury trailed off as he didn't have to explicitly state the revelations of such a discovery. That would pretty much confirm the world's main religions were real. Natasha didn't know how to feel about that, since the Red Room had raised her to not believe in anything but completing the mission at all costs.

"So how did she burn away the man's...bits? And why?" Natasha asked.

Fury sighed. "According to Mrs. Dursley, Layla apparently created a lightsaber in her hand and threw it at Vernon. As to the why... that's another matter entirely. The man clammed up, but we've been thoroughly sweeping over his house. The family was supposed to have Mrs Durley's niece living with them after her parents died in a car crash over a decade ago. There was no sign of the girl anywhere. Her room has been sitting empty for what we speculate has been months now. When we swept it, we also found old blood stains, among other things." Fury said somberly. Natasha noticed that his fist was clenched hard. They came across a lot of fucked up people in their lines of work.

Natasha also grimaced as she was painting a picture in her own mind about what happened. "So Vernon assaults and murders his niece, and a few months later an actual angel comes and delivers retribution upon him? That sounds like something out of a fairy tale..."

Fury just shrugged. "Believe me, I've seen stranger things..."

"We need to put the squeeze on Vernon to confirm what happened to his niece." Natasha stated.

Fury grimaced. "That was the plan... Until Vernon Dursley vanished an hour ago along with his wife. The camera's in the hospital they were in went completely dark for around 20 minutes. When they came back online, the pair were gone and the hospital room was completely empty."

Natasha's eyes widened at that. That sounded like a professional abduction operation. "Was it the angel who did it?" She asked.

"No," Fury replied. "We've actually been monitoring her continually on various cameras throughout the whole day. Not once was she ever near the hospital. She seems to be wandering all around London constantly checking a weird looking compass. She's looking for something."

"I wonder if it's like the compass from Pirates of the Caribbean?" Natasha joked. Fury however did not laugh and just stared at her. Natasha rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on! There's no way magic compasses are real too!" She exclaimed.

"Once again Agent... I've seen weirder..." Fury dryly stated. "Pack your bags Romanoff, you're heading to London. Everything circles back to the supposed angel. While we still know where she is, go and investigate her."

"You got it sir." Natasha replied. An hour later her bags were packed and she was on a high speed shield jet to London.

XXX

"This stupid compass doesn't work!" I shouted out angrily as I was on the verge of smashing the damn thing. I had been walking up and down the streets of London for hours! The entire time, the compass's needle has been randomly spinning in circles.

[Gamer's don't quit when the going gets tough, host. They buckle down and grind harder!]

'I'm pretty sure a lot of gamers give up when the going gets tough. Half of the people who started Dark Souls never finished it after all.' I sniped back at the system.

[That is not the same. You're in an immortal body that doesn't get tired or hungry. So keep looking!]

"Fine!" I whined out loud as I turned down a street I'm pretty sure I'd already checked. I slowly walked down it once again while never taking my eyes off the compass.

"Mommy, what's that pretty lady doing? Is she playing pirates? I want to play!" A little boy nearby was tugging on his mothers sleeve and pointing at me.

I felt the heat go to my cheeks. I probably looked so weird to everybody right now.

"You'll have to ask her nicely if you can play too." I heard the mother say.

Excuse me! Don't just sick your child on me lady! I'm not playing a game... What does she think I'm doing out here!?

[You are playing a game though. Your whole life is a game...]

'Shut up system!' I shouted in my head.

"Excuse me, pretty lady." I let out a sigh as the little boy walked up to me. "That's a cool compass. Are you playing pirates?" He asked me.

I just facepalmed. "I'm not playing pirates. I'm playing... find the bad ninjas. This compass is supposed to point to them, but for some reason it just keeps spinning and doesn't work for me." I said with another sigh.

"That sounds cool! Can I try?" He looked at me with big hopeful eyes. He looked to be 5 or 6 at most and I guess I didn't want to be mean to a child.

"Sure kid. Give it a shot." I handed him the compass. He took it from my hands and started waving it up and down excitedly.

"Alright, compass. Point to the bad ninjas!" He shouted out and started running up and down the sidewalk. His mother nearby walked over and approached me.

"Thank you for humoring my son. Can I ask why you're walking around staring at a compass? Are you method acting and preparing for a roll? My sister works for the local theater and she does that sometimes." The woman said to me.

"It's a long story. Definitely not interesting enough to explain." I lied. She seemed to accept it easily enough. I hadn't really gotten a good look at her before but now that I did, I would say that she was quite charming. She looked to be a typical homemaker and she was giving off a motherly charm that I found myself being drawn to. I wouldn't call her beautiful by any stretch, but I definitely would like to get her alone later and maybe–Woah! 'What the fuck are these thoughts!?'

[You have the Sin of Lust as a permanent drawback. This was the first attractive person you have met so far surprisingly.]

At least my Sin only seemed to act up around people I found attractive already. 'Is there any way I can properly manage my Lust?' I asked the system.

[Get a girlfriend?]

"..."

'Great advice system! 10/10!' I thought sarcastically...

[You'll probably need multiple partners to be honest. The more powerful you get as a Fallen... the stronger your urges will get unless they are routinely taken care of. I bet your regretting not picking human as a starting race right about now ;) ]

'Fuck off system...' I pouted in my head. Multiple partners!? How the hell was I going to manage that? I'm the most sheltered angel of all time! Even Gabriel, the Angel of Innocence, had more social interactions than I did!

"..."

"Are you alright?" The woman asked. I just realized I had probably looked like I was spacing out in front of her. She was looking at me in concern.

I gave her a wry smile. "I'm sorry I just got lost in your eyes momentarily."

The woman had a look of shock that I had just said that. I was shocked I had just said that!

"Oh..." Her face turned red and she actually blushed. "It's been a while since someone has come onto me..." She admitted to me. "Especially someone who looks like you do!" She said as she looked me up and down. She was not subtle.

"Come on now. That can't be true. A woman as beautiful as you must have suitors lined up around the corner." The words flowed out of my mouth once again surprising the both of us. The housewives blush deepened as she started fidgeting in place a bit.

"Well...my husband won't be back for another hour. And my little Henry could use a nap. Maybe you'd like to come over for a cuppa?" She said to me with a longing look. That moved very quickly! Since when has picking up women been that easy...

[It was 100% your looks. The world's greatest supermodels pale in comparison to the looks of most supernatural beings.]

'Are you accusing this poor lonely housewife of being shallow, system?'

[Yes.]

Fair enough. So what if she was? The compass hadn't been working and I supposed I could use a break~. I gave the woman a sultry smile that promised–

"Hey lady your compass is pointing to something, look!"

And the break was ruined! The kid ran back up to me and showed me the compass. Sure enough, it was pointing in a single direction for the first time since I've had it. It had found a trace of demonic energy nearby!

I formed a light spear in my hand as some epic drums and guitar started playing in my head. "Knock Knock you pajama wearing cultists!" I screamed out as I hurled my light spear forward and blasted the entrance door to pieces as I stormed into the lobby. Just as I expected, the inside was a lot different than the decrepit outside. Everything still looked relatively clean and up to date.

There was a group of 5 ninjas who were completely caught off guard by my entrance.

"Nani mono da!?" One of the ninja's shouted out. His only reply was my light spear blasting his head to pieces.

"Intruder! Kill her!" The four ninjas charged me at the same time.

"Bring it you evil assholes!" A purple spear formed in each of my hands as I hurled them both. Two more Ninja's dropped dead with gaping holes in their torsos. The last two Ninja's had reached me with their blades drawn. I ducked backwards to avoid getting sliced from one blade, unfortunately the ninja's blade got a lucky hit on my side.

[-10HP]

RIP!

I heard a tearing noise and looked down. The ninja's blade had sliced into my side, but more importantly... It had torn my dress! The one that Penemue had crafted for me herself...

I saw red. "You pieces of trash! This dress was a gift from my older sister!" I was going to kill them all!

XXX

[Intelligence +1]

"She is too powerful!"

"Everytime we cut her she immediately heals! Is she immortal like our demon god!?"

I was tearing my way through this base with abandon. It was honestly kind of sad. The hand was supposed to be a powerful organization, but at the end of the day, their foot soldiers were mostly all regular humans. Only their top leaders could even use chi. None of these Ninja's so far have been able to use it.

[Intelligence +1]

[Light Manipulation has leveled up! Light spells cost half as much MP!]

"We cannot let her get to the young master!"

I continued cutting and burning my way through swathes of Hand Ninja. These guys were like cockroaches. Everytime I killed one, two more would appear. They were like Hydra, but way less threatening because none of them had guns. I wasn't complaining though, this was a great farming opportunity!

[Intelligence +1]

"Ha, so this is the best the Hand can do? I'm disappointed!" I called out as I slew another two ninjas. They had gotten some hits in, every once in a while. Easily enough to have killed a regular human, but then again I wasn't human. A quick glance at my status showed I was still sitting at a comfortable 1700/2000 HP. My MP on the other hand i had to start conserving. My Intelligence was currently sitting at 26 and I had 90/260 MP left. I'm glad my light manipulation leveled up otherwise I may have run out of MP. Lights spears only cost me 2.5MP now instead of 5MP. Having to retreat because I ran out of magic would have been embarrassing.

I just finished putting down another few Ninjas when–

"ENOUGH!" A loud guttural voice echoed out through the entire theater complex. It didn't sound human. "All Hand forces retreat. You may all be useless fodder, but I can't have all my slaves dying on me can I? And to the woman attacking us, come to theater 19. There you and I will meet face to face." The guttural voice finished talking as the echoes died out. The remaining dozen or so Hand ninjas I was fighting turned in all directions and scattered away.

Dammit! I was only one more ninja kill away from 27 Intelligence! I sighed in resignation. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to settle for the level up after I kill the young master. I followed the signs on the walls and proceeded to theater 19.

...

When I reached that specific theater and entered, I almost wretched. It was foul. There were corpses piled up by the dozens in numerous places. Blood stains soaked the entire room along with various human limbs and body parts scattered about. It was a scene straight out of a horror game.

From across the room I saw him... No, I saw it. This was no human, but a genuine demon! I didn't think the Hand even had other demon's besides the Beast.

The demon was fat and grotesque. Its body was large and caked in obvious human blood stains. It was clear to me that they were his preference of food as the whole room was riddled with his leftovers.

"So you're the woman who almost killed all my slaves. I have to admit for once, I am not disappointed. To think such sinful beauty would willingly come to me. I am flattered. I think I'll breed you first before I devour you. It will be a true honor! My father did the same thing with my mother!" His disgusting voice spoke out as his putrid yellow eyes raked over me.

"Your father?" I questioned. "You are a child of the Beast then?"

The demon just smirked at me with its large mouth full of sharp razor-like teeth. "Yeeeeeeeessss." He hissed out with a mad cackle. "Now do you understand your mistake, mortal? You will not be leaving this place alive!"

In response to his cackling I finally called forth my four black wings. The demon immediately stopped laughing as his eyes widened in shock. "Mortal? I'm afraid you're misinformed about that." I taunted the Son of the Beast.

"Y-you..But that's impossible. Your kind abandoned this world over 1000 years ago!" The demon was now looking afraid. It appeared he could recognize I was a Fallen Angel. He must have heard about my kind from his father then.

"I suppose it has been a long time since demonic filth has been purged by Angelic Light. Allow me to rectify that!" I hovered a few feet off the floor. Thankfully, theater ceilings are all at least over 20 feet high. I rocketed a dozen feet upperward before I began conjuring light spears and raining them downwards on the creature. The demon was too blubbery and obese to fly or quickly avoid them. I was clearly the worst match up for him. My light spears would also intrinsically deal devastating damage to him because of his race.

"GAAAaahhh! Damn you, Angelic Bitch!" In the span of a few seconds, I had spent around 30 MP and rained a dozen light spears down on the demon. He looked like a light-up-porcupine with them all sticking out of him. The sizzling noises they all emitted as they burned him echoed throughout the theater.

"I honestly expected this to be harder." I taunted from the air. Though, I was surprised that he was still alive with so many light spears stuck in him. His HP must be absolutely monstrous. The average devil would be long dead after being impaled by only one or two light spears.

'Observe.'

[Marigor the Gluttonous]

[Level 16:]

[HP 5000/14000]

"Come down here and fight me!" He took a few steps forward. Every single one shook the entire theater. His weight must have been insane as well. He grabbed a nearby seat and easily ripped it from where it was bolted to the floor. He reeled his arm back and flung it at me... well he tried at least. With incredible speed the chair hurtled through the air and slammed into the ceiling where it exploded. He had missed me by a large margin. I hadn't even moved to dodge....

"..."

"Someone never played little league as a little demon tyke did they?" I taunted him again. I imagine his face would have gone red from anger if he actually had blood flowing through him. Instead it was just some kind of gross black ooze that stank to high hell.

"Fuck you! I won't miss this time." He reached to grab another chair.

Too bad I wouldn't give him the opportunity. I spent another 25 MP and rained 10 more light spears down onto him. As the demon saw his impending death, he didn't even bother to try and dodge them. "My father will avenge me!" He declared right before they impacted him.

[Congratulations! You have slain the Young Master of the Hand! You have leveled up!]

[Soul Imprint detected. The Gamer System is Purging it.... Purging complete!]

'Soul Imprint? What's that?' I asked.

[With his dying breath. The Demon tried to mark your soul as the one who killed him. His father would have known you slew his son if he ever laid eyes on you.]

'That's pointless...' A bunch of the Hand ninja escaped. They already know what I've done... Also, the only time I ever plan to meet the Beast is when I go to Japan to purge him.

[That is true. Nobody said all demons were smart.]

...

"Status." I said out loud.

[Name: Layla of the Fallen]

[Title: Angel of Hope]

[Level: 3]

[HP: 2000/2000]

[MP: 260/260]

[Vigor: 100]

[Strength: 10]

[Intelligence: 26]

[Luck: 10]

[Skills: Observe 1, Angelic Mastery 2, Acting 2, Light Manipulation 2]

[Perks: None]

[Drawbacks: Sin of Lust]

[Available Free Stat Points: 10]

XXX