Chapters 21-25

Chapters 21-25

My inventory, which had sat empty, was now filled with dozens of outfits, along with everything else that tickled my fancy during my wild shopping trip. I had shamelessly spent probably close to 20 thousand in only a few hours. That was small peanuts to Tony, though. He probably makes more than that during his bathroom breaks.

After my spree, I checked into a nearby hotel for the night. It was going to be a really long flight all the way to Europe from California.

...

Over 16 hours spent in the air. Even if Tony's private jet was the height of luxury, the flight was still way too long. I needed to either get my angelic mastery or my intelligence leveled up so I could finally teleport places.

"That sucked," I muttered as I stepped off the plane with a tired yawn. It wasn't exactly a physical tired, but more of a mental one. I don't think I've slept in over a week and even as a gamer that was probably unhealthy. I'd make sure to get a bit of sleep to mentally recharge myself when we reached the hotel. After that, we'd be heading off to the races.

The Monaco Grand Prix was supposed to take place tomorrow. Something was supposed to happen there that was unforeseen by the Ancient One. I wasn't sure what to expect, to be honest.

[Quest Initiated: Prevent a Tragedy. The Forces of Evil are planning an attack at the Monaco Grand Prix. Stop them from killing Tony Stark and causing a massacre.]

[Reward: ?]

[Failure: ?]

The forces of evil? 'Is that as specific as you can get, system?'

[Yes. I'm not allowed to spoil future events.]

This Grand Prix is going to be one of Europe's most televised events. Whoever wants to kill Tony Stark there really wants to make a statement. I wondered if Whiplash would even be there to attack the racetrack. Or would it be someone else? The racetrack is also absolutely going to be packed with people. If a large group attacks, I won't be able to protect everyone. I was going to need help, unfortunately...

Tony, Pepper, Happy, and I entered a fancy limousine that was heading towards our hotel. I pulled out my cell phone and made a show of pretending like I had just received some shocking information. I let out a fake gasp that drew the eyes of everyone in the limo.

"Layla, what's wrong?" Pepper asked in concern.

I had a worried look on my face that was about half genuine and half acting. "I just received a credible tip from an old associate. There is a very high likelihood that an attack will occur at the racetrack tomorrow." I explained.

Everyone else's eyes widened in surprise when they heard that. "An attack?" Tony asked. "I announced that I was going to be publicly attending the race. Any terrorists would have to be crazy to think that they could plan an attack while Ironman is there." Tony said confidently.

"I think that's the point." I said. "They want to kill you. But it's not just that. They want to cause a massacre, apparently."

Tony was shocked that there was anyone bold enough to try and kill him while he was Iron Man. Pepper looked mortified, and Happy didn't look happy at all. He was muttering about not getting paid enough to fight off terrorists. Wait? How much was I getting paid? Pepper just shook my hand and told me I was hired. 5 minutes later I was meeting Tony. There was no paperwork signed at all...

[She probably forgot about all that in the excitement of meeting a real angel...]

'So do I even technically work for them then?'

[Technically...no. You got a free 20 grand shopping spree out of it though.]

"Maybe we should just leave, Tony." Pepper suggested. "If we announce it publicly that you won't be attending, maybe there won't be an attack."

Tony had a contemplative look on his face before he turned to me. "You were just hired yesterday–"

Technically, I was not.

"–and while I did say you were a good hire, I'm not 100% sure of your background. Are you sure your source is credible? Who did you even work for before me?" Tony asked me.

"I trust her! She wouldn't lie about this!" Pepper exclaimed with some strong emotion. That was a large amount of her trust to give me so suddenly, even if she was still absolutely confusing me for the paragons of goodness that are my unfallen brethren. I'd do my best not to break that trust with her.

Tony seemed to trust Pepper as he relented. "Fine. I'll believe her. But I'm not running. Who's to say the attack won't happen anyway even if I don't show up?" He asked.

"Couldn't we just call off the race?" Happy asked. I wondered that as well. That would technically save everyone and complete my quest.

Tony scoffed. "You have no idea how much money is put into races like these. All we have is a vague non-credible threat. Do you even know who will be trying to kill me, Layla?" Tony asked me.

"I do not," I admitted. "Only that it is probably a decent-sized group if they're planning on also targeting the crowd." Tony sighed but thanked me for my honesty at least.

"Jarvis," Tony spoke out loud. "Please get one-eyed-willy on the line for us. I need to talk to him."

"Connecting the call now, sir." Jarvis's voice echoed throughout the limo's backseat. A holographic screen popped up, and a moment later a stern-looking man with an eyepatch popped up on the other side of the screen.

"Stark, what a surprise for you to call me." The man who could only be Nick Fury said.

"Alright, listen up Patchy. I got a tip about..." Tony went on to explain the vague warning I'd given him.

Fury scowled over the line. "A major terrorist attack is the last fucking thing I need right now. Fine, I'll send as many agents as I can. Unfortunately, I can't call all hands on deck. A tip off from a strange source has me cleaning house a bit." Fury said. I could tell from the way he avoided directly looking at us that he was underplaying whatever was going on at SHIELD.

"This tip didn't have to come from an unbelievably beautiful girl with long black hair and purple eyes, did it?" Tony asked jokingly as he winked at me. I almost did a spit take! So did Fury on the screen!

"How the hell do you know about Layla of the Fallen?" Fury asked.

"WHAT!?" I exclaimed out loud in panic. How the hell does SHIELD know about me!? I only gave Natasha my first name. Even then, I had no official documents at that point so I figured they'd chop it up to being a fake name. I never gave her my full title though...

The screen turned towards where I sat off to the side and I could tell Fury now noticed me. "Layla of the Fallen, I presume. Why am I not surprised that you're at the heart of this mess? You've caused a lot of trouble for me." He said accusingly.

"What kind of trouble could I have possibly caused you?" I asked sarcastically.

"You killed over 50 ninjas in the middle of London and just left their corpses for SHIELD to clean up." Fury stated. The other three people in the Limo gave me shocked looks at hearing that.

[You did do that...]

Oh... right. That was probably really gross to clean up. The sorcerers only took away the demon's body.

"Ninjas?" Tony asked. "Ninjas are still a real thing?"

"Unfortunately." I muttered in reply.

"You also broke into a man's home and castrated him with a lightsaber." Fury said again. Tony and Happy unconsciously placed their hands protectively over their legs as they both suddenly gave me weary looks.

...How was that more terrifying to them than me killing 50 ninjas...UppTodated from nô/v/e/lb(i)n.c(o)/m

XXX

Tony didn't ask any more about me or my title the rest of the limo ride to the hotel. To make them less nervous, I did give everyone a run down on the Dursley situation. I just left out the magic parts of the story. They seemed to take it in stride. Pepper actually gave me an approving look. We reached the five star hotel that had been booked for us a bit later. There weren't any SHIELD agents waiting for us, but I didn't think there would be for a few hours. SHIELD was deficient, but not that efficient. Everyone was still jet lagged so we headed to our rooms to crash. A small detail I noticed was that Pepper and Tony had separate rooms.

Even with never ending physical energy, I hadn't slept in over a week. I was mentally drained and that plane trip had pushed me over the edge. I conked out in my hotel room as soon as my head hit the pillow.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

I was awoken from my nap by some incessant pounding on my door. With a final yawn, I raised myself from the amazingly comfortable bed and went to answer it.

A familiar redheaded spy was standing on the other side of the door. She looked just as radiant as the last time I saw her. Standing next to her was another agent. One I could somewhat recognize as her usual partner Clint Barton. He didn't look exactly like his MCU counterpart. He was noticeably hardier and he had quite a few notable scars. This was a man who had been sent to war zones across the world with nothing but a bow and arrow and always came back victorious.

"Hello again Natalie whatever-you-made-up-last-name-was. Interesting seeing an agent of MI-5 in Monaco. Aren't you a little far from your jurisdiction?" I said to her with a smirk before I turned to Clint Barton AKA Hawkeye. "And greetings to you as well. I'm Layla of the Fallen."

He let out a small laugh. "Right now you look more like Layla of the Bedhead." He said jokingly. I reached my hands up to my hair and could feel various strands sticking up all over the place. I blushed slightly at my less than immaculate appearance before I invited them inside. I headed to the washroom to clean myself up.

A bit later, I exited the restroom. The two agents were sitting at a table looking perfectly content. I internally scoffed. While I was in the restroom, they had probably placed listening bugs all over the hotel room. I sauntered over to them and sat down at the table with them. Neither of them batted an eye, but with my enhanced vision I could see their muscles tense. They were both ready to spring up and attack me if I made a move.

'Thanks for the belief in me, system. I really appreciate it.' I thought sarcastically.

[No problem.]

I let out a sigh as I unfurled my wings and prepared to step in. I was mentally preparing myself for a hard fight.

Voldemort waved his wand towards the side of the track. A cameraman who was there to film the race had been recording everything that had been going on so far. He was yanked from his spot and forcefully flew over to where the dark lord was near Iron Man and Whiplash.

"You will record this moment!" Voldemort hissed out. "Let the whole world witness the moment their great Iron Protector falls to me! Then they will all know that to oppose their new magical overlords will be a foolish endeavor!" The dark lord bellowed out.

"Hey you pale noseless asshole!" Tony's robotic voice called out. "I'm not dying to anyone today. Not to this whip guy, and certainly not you!" Tony leveled both of his repulsors. One pointed at Whiplash and the other pointed at Voldemort.

"I came here to kill Anthony Stark and avenge my father." Whiplash called out. "I don't need your help to do it!" He said as he leveled a glare at Voldemort.

In response, Voldemort just chuckled. "Help? You think I'm here to help you, you disgusting muggle!?" Voldemort's eyes glowed red as he hissed those words out. "Never! Crucio!" Voldemort leveled his wand and fired the Cruciatus Curse at Whiplash! The latter didn't even try to dodge out of the way. I watched as he looked smug and probably thought his energy shield would protect him like it did from Tony's repulsor. He thought wrong...

Ivan Vanko dropped to the ground and screamed in agony as Voldemort smiled over the man.

"Enough Tom!" I shouted out and drew everyone's attention to myself. My four black wings spread from my back as I took to the air and flew the short distance towards the three men.

Voldemort's eyes widened in surprise at seeing me again. Good, it seemed like he was still wary of me. Despite that, I didn't think he'd be backing down. He knew he had the whole world watching right now with that camera recording. If he fled from me here, his cause was dead in the water.

"Layla of the Fallen!" Voldemort angrily spat out my name. "Once again you appear before me and try to meddle in my destiny. And once again you will fail!"

I hovered a few feet off the air between him and Iron Man.

"Hey there Layla. Cool wings. This a friend of yours? Who is he anyway?" Tony asked me.

"Meet Tom Riddle. He's an evil wizard with delusions of grandeur who wants to take over the world." I gave a short summary. Tony nodded in understanding.

"Ah, one of those guys..."

"Don't you dare use my filthy muggle name, Angel! I am Lord Voldemort!" The dark lord screamed at me. "I killed Heather Potter and fulfilled my prophecy! Now I will kill Tony Stark to prove to the world the superiority of wizardkind! Too many of my loyal followers are afraid to rise up because of this Iron Man. I will prove to them that he is nothing!" Voldemort declared. That was some interesting information. It seemed some of his smarter followers actually kept up with world news.

I formed a light spear in my hand as I leveled it at Voldemort. "You'll have to go through me first."

Voldemort pointed his wand at me and a familiar green glow formed on it. "Gladly. You survived my follower's killing curse, but let's see how you fair against mine. Avada Kedavra!"

XXX

"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort's bright green killing curse flew right at me. I didn't make a move to dodge as Tony was standing right behind me. I didn't know whether or not his armor could block the spell. Instead I reeled my arm back and simultaneously threw the light spear I was holding at Voldemort.

I took a page out of Thanos's book and aimed for the head. Even if Voldemort had the magical power of an ultimate class being, his homunculus body was still just as squishy as any other humans. The dark lord's eyes widened upon seeing my counter attack heading towards his face. At the last second my light spear grazed his cheek as he twisted out of the way in a surprising display of agility.

"Damn you!" Voldemort hissed out in pain from the burn I'd given him on his face. A split second later his killing curse slammed into me.

[-400HP]

'400!? I thought the spell only did 200 spiritual damage!'

[This guy's magic is just built differently...]

"Are you alright Layla. That spell hit you dead on!" Tony called out from behind me. "I saw that same spell kill that innocent man in the stands instantly."

"Of course I'm fine." I lied without turning around. "That spell can't kill me!" I smirked towards the dark lord who was biting his lip in frustration at seeing me survive even his killing curse.

"Fine! If that spell can't harm you... then how about this!" Voldemort had a mad gleam in his eye as he cast his next spell. "Protego Diabolica!" A torrent of devastating blue fire shot forward towards us. That was Grindelwald's signature spell!

"Dodge Tony!" I screamed out as I flew up into the air and out of the way. Behind me Iron Man did the same as he reached me high in the air.

"What the fuck was that!?" He called out as we watched the blue flames incinerate everything in their path. Whiplash's body on the ground was instantly turned to ash...

"Protego Diabolica is a cursed flame spell that turns everything that opposes its caster into ash." I explained and he whistled.

"Magic huh? Well that's new. How do we beat him?" He asked me.

"He has incredible power, but at the end of the day he's still basically a glass cannon. You just have to hit him without getting hit yourself." I explained.

"You got it, Palutena!" Iron Man called out as he turned and dove towards Voldemort. From his shoulders, small missiles sprang up that immediately fired on Voldemort.

I formed two more light spears in my hand as I pulled in my wings and dove downward to join him.

"All agents. The leader is distracted. Open fire on the masked men. I repeat open fire!" Natasha's voice called out in my ear. I couldn't focus on that right now though. I'd have to trust the SHIELD agents could take down the death eaters. At least they had the element of surprise.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The missles all slammed in the flaming track where Voldemort was standing... where he was standing. At the last second he had apparated into the sky and was right behind Tony! Voldemort's wand was glowing green as he was about to fire the killing curse at Iron Man's back.

I would let him! I flapped my wings and dove down even faster. I was upon him instantly as I raised both my spears to try and impale him. To my shock, Voldemort spun around and fired the green spell at me instead. There was a smirk of triumph on his face right before he apparated away after casting the spell. He had baited me! I was moving too fast to dodge!

It was only when the green spell hit me that I realized that was not the killing curse. My entire body burned as if I was on fire! It was the blood boiling curse!

[-500HP]

I lost complete control of my body from the pain as I couldn't stop myself and slammed into the ground hard.

[-100HP! HP currently at 1000/2000]

"Oooooooooowwwwww," I drawled out. "That really hurt..." I spat as I struggled to stand. My gamer's body had instantly healed any visible wounds on my body, but I still felt the pain. That blood boiling curse was absolute agony to be hit by!

I heard something heavy land next to me. I turned and saw it was Iron Man. "Are you okay, Layla? You hit the ground really hard..." His voice held concern. I was at half HP less than a minute into this fight... No, I was not ok.

"Hehehehe...Hahahahahah!" Voldemort's mad cackling drew our attention as he apparated in front of us silently. "Very good, Layla of the Fallen. I would have been disappointed if an Angel went down so easily. But now, it's time to stop playing around. My pathetic followers foolishly underestimated the muggles and are getting slaughtered for it. I will kill you and the Man of Iron before I wash this whole place away in a sea of fiendfyre!" Voldemort was done talking as he rapidly started firing spells at us. My eyes widened in surprise as he was casting spells as fast as a machine gun!

Luckily for me, he still believed me to be immune to the killing curse. He was bombarding us with regular curses that I was thankfully able to block or bat aside with my light spears. The light spears in my hands started to crack and weaken as I relentlessly batted away curse after curse.

"Dammit! He's gonna breach my armor!" Iron Man called out next to me. He was simultaneously being pinned down as he held his metal arms in front of himself to block Voldemort's spell armor was taking a beating and cracks were starting to form on it. I needed to do something fast.

I forced more MP into my two light spears as I willed them to grow larger and stronger!

[Light Manipulation Lvl 2→3]

The two light spears I was holding expanded and fused together. In front of me and Tony was now a giant purple shield of light! Voldemort's spells continued to collide against it for another ten seconds and yet it held strong against the barrage. In those ten seconds, Voldemort must have unleashed over 100 curses. And yet, not a single one of those curses was the same as the last. My shield held strong though.

I used up over 100 MP on that shield alone, but it was worth it seeing the enraged expression on Voldemort's face. Once again, he had been foiled. I could tell such vigorous and rapid spell casting was actually taking a small toll on him. He was starting to huff out his breaths. It was then that I realized that all of his followers had been dealt with. I glanced around and saw dozens of death eaters dead or bleeding on the ground...

"GAH!" Voldemort screamed in pain!

An arrow randomly flew down from the stands and pierced directly into the dark lord's arm! He screamed out in pain and rage. His eyes were brimming with hatred.

XXX