chapter 272

chapter 272

Chapter: 272

–Layla–

“Hey there, Fury!” I emerged from a portal on the bridge of SHIELD’s lead Helicarrier. It was a testament to Fury's resilience that he was pretty much used to my shenanigans at this point. He barely even flinched anymore when I popped up out of nowhere, though he did always give me an annoyed look.

Fury let out a sigh. “Hello, Layla. What kind of trouble did you bring with you this time?”

Wow, he just assumes I bring him trouble every time I show up? How rude.

[You do, though...]

“What makes you think I didn't just stop by for a visit?” I asked.Rêạd new chapters at novelhall.com

Fury scoffed and gave me a look that said, "Bitch, please."

“Alright, you got me,” I admitted. “Are you aware that Albus Dumbledore escaped his prison and took over Hogwarts?”

I had never seen him do a spit-take before. He started coughing, and I ran over to pat him on the back.

“...I'm sorry... Can you repeat that?” Fury asked between deep breaths.

“Are you aware that Albus Dumbledore escaped his prison and took over Hogwarts?” I repeated. “I got a letter from one of the Hogwarts students. They had to send it by owl because the school internet was taken down.”

Fury closed his eyes in irritation and massaged his temples. He took another deep breath before shouting so loudly all the Agents on the bridge jumped in fright.

“MOTHERFUCKER!”

A few hours later, we were able to piece together what was happening, partially at least.

It turned out that Fury was not aware of what was going on in Scotland. The Agents assigned to watching Hogwarts and Hogsmeade had not reported anything abnormal; in fact, they hadn’t reported anything in over a week, which was probably not a good sign.

It was even worse for the prison that had been holding Dumbledore.

The RAFT is SHIELD’s top prison facility, its location undisclosed but somewhere in the middle of the ocean. It was supposed to be nigh impenetrable and inescapable. That was no longer the case. Every single guard and staff member in the prison had been placed under the Imperius Curse—courtesy of Dumbledore—and the entire place was now empty of all its convicts. How did Dumbledore even get a hold of a wand in a prison completely run by Muggles? No one has any idea, but Fury obviously suspects an inside job.

So yeah, this was not a great situation. On the upside, we actually knew where Dumbledore and some of the other escapees had run off to. On the downside, as Luna had already informed us, it was Hogwarts—a school full of underage children that may or may not all be hostages at this time.

“Would Dumbledore actually take all the students hostage?” I asked Fury. My world’s Dumbledore was so different from canon that I really had no idea what he would do.

Fury pulled out some folders and flipped them open, starting to summarize out loud. “The SHIELD therapists on the RAFT have been compiling Dumbledore's psych profile for over a year now,” he began. “According to their reports, Albus Dumbledore sees himself as the wisest man in the Wizarding World. He believes he's the only person who can guide his people into the Light. He's willing to employ any means necessary to fulfill his goals, and right now, we don't even know what those goals are.”

“Taking revenge against me?” I suggested. “It was because of me that he went to prison in the first place.”

Fury scoffed. “Not everything in the world revolves around you, Layla. If he wanted to go after you, he would have just gone to New York. It's not like everyone in the world doesn't know where you live. Your building in New York is more famous than the White House at this point. A simple internet search would tell him exactly where to find you.”

I couldn’t really argue with his logic, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was about me somehow. Call it a gut feeling...

[It’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you... And in your case, they’re out to get you a lot.]

“I guess I’ll just portal to Hogwarts and capture the old goat again. We can pry the answers out of him,” I told Fury. We’d already been sitting around for hours at this point, and I was feeling antsy. I stood up and did a few stretches.

“Not so fast, Layla,” Fury said, placing his hand on my shoulder. “I’d like for us to send someone in first to assess the situation at the castle. You can’t just run into a potential hostage situation guns blazing. That’s how you get people killed.”

‘Yeah, but then I can revive them if they do get killed...’ I wanted to say that out loud, but I realized how crass that would sound. Even if I could revive them afterward, Fury was right—I didn’t want to get any kids at Hogwarts killed.

[Maybe just the Slytherins...]

‘Bad, system! Even though most of the Slytherin students are ignorant assholes, I’m sure there’s... um...’ My thoughts trailed off.

[You can’t think of anything positive to say about them, can you?]

‘Not really, no... But that’s not the point!’ I thought back.

I took a second to think about how we were going to approach this situation. We needed to send one or two people into the castle to find out what was going on inside. SHIELD was a spy organization, so it wasn’t difficult to find skilled infiltrators. The problem was that none of those trained infiltrators would be able to blend in. They were all too old and none of them were magical. Satellite images showed the Castle in Scotland was once again invisible. That meant that Dumbledore had re-enabled the anti-muggle wards around the school.

“We need someone who’s a teenager and also magical. Also, they need to be strong enough to defend themselves in case they get exposed...” I pointed all this out to Fury. “I'd suggest Heather but she’s the most recognizable girl in the Wizarding World.”

He furrowed his brows while he pondered. “Someone who looks like a teenager and is magical? We don’t have anyone like that.” he admitted. “What about one of your Fallen Angels in Asgard? Don’t some of them look like kids?”

That was a good idea actually. Unfortunately, my gut was once again telling me not to use any of my brothers or sisters. Something more was in play here. I suspected my siblings would immediately be caught.

[A magically powerful teenager. It just so happens that you recently recruited one to your team, didnt you.]

‘...Fuck.’ Are we really going to have to use her?

[You know anyone else who’s immediately available?]

“I might have someone who can pull this off...” I told Fury with a bit of hesitation.

...

"Whoa! This sounds serious! This is exactly what I've been training for the past year! Thank you for picking me for this important mission, Layla. I promise I won't disappoint you or your glorious Oppai!” Isane Hyoudou declared passionately once she was brought up to speed on the situation.

For the second time, I got to witness Fury do a spit take after she shouted the word "Oppai." He turned and gave me a very judgmental look since I was the one who had brought Isane on board.

I did my best not to meet his eyes.

His second-in-command, Maria Hill, frowned at Isane. "You shouldn't use those kinds of words, young lady," she tried to chastise a girl who openly had zero shame.

Isane tilted her head. "Why not?"

"Oppai is a very vulgar word! You shouldn't say it anymore," Maria exclaimed.

Isane gasped in disbelief. "You take that back. There is nothing more amazing in this world than a glorious pair of Oppai! As the future harem queen, I need to show the beautiful women of the world the true path! You have a very nice pair yourself, Hill-san. You should be proud of them!”

“Keep your weird fetishes to yourself, girl. We're here to do a job,” Frank Castle said while shooting a glare at Isane.

“Not yet,” Frank said without taking his eyes off the screen. “Something about this situation doesn’t sit right with me. Where are all his other followers?” He pressed the talk button on his headset. “Isane, do you sense anyone else nearby?”

Isane whispered back her response, but the high-tech spy device was designed to pick up things like that. “I think so. I sense a couple of powerful magical signatures coming from the room behind the Gandalf knock-off. Also, the old guy is really freaking powerful. He feels almost as strong as Yasaka!” she hissed into the mic, and all of our eyes widened.

Almost as strong as Yasaka? How? He was cut off from magic for a year; there’s no way he could have made the jump from High Class to Ultimate Class!

“I know some of you are scared to face the demon. You don't think we're powerful enough to stop her...” Dumbledore continued on speaking.

“No one's thinking that you old fuck!” Isane shouted indignantly. Thankfully she didn't blow her cover as other students shouted along with her.

“Get off the stage, we hate you!”

“Give us back the Internet! I'm missing out on my daily quests!”

“...But you have no need to fear! For I have gathered great and powerful allies who will stand with us against her tyranny! Here they are now!” he gestured behind himself towards the backroom. I think that was the room from the ‘Goblet of Fire’ movie.

The door swung open, and a large group of men started to strut out into the Great Hall. Every single one of them was unfortunately recognizable.

“Dammit!” Maria exclaimed upon seeing one of the men. “That’s Baron Von Strucker, the current leader of Hydra. We’ve been hunting for him all this time!” The Baron was flanked by two identical and very familiar men.

“Did Hydra clone the Winter Soldier?” I asked in disbelief. Two identical copies of Bucky Barnes were marching alongside Strucker.

The next man to strut out caused gasps among the student body.

“That’s Gellert Grindelwald!” One student’s yell set the rest into panic.

Students tried to get up and run out of the hall, but they were stopped. Dumbledore waved his wand and froze every single student to their seats.

“I'm stuck, guys,” Isane whispered to us. “The only way I'm going to be able to break free is if I summon the Boosted Gear!”

I quickly leaned forward and grabbed Frank's headset. “Don’t make yourself stand out! Suppress your magic power as much as possible!” I hissed into the mic to warn her.

The last two figures emerged together. One of them was the most recognizable villain from Marvel.

What the hell is the Green Goblin doing in Hogwarts!? Wasn't Norman Osborn on his deathbed? How was he suddenly healed? He was wearing his iconic green armor, which shouldn't even exist considering I had Penemue destroy all that research when we took over Oscorp. Clearly, some scientists chose to disobey her and saved the armor.

It wasn't the Goblin that gave me pause, however. It was the green-haired man next to Norman.

Ajuka Beelzebub was here! He’d somehow managed to cross over into our world without anyone knowing until now!

Thankfully, I had warned Isane in time and she had properly suppressed her Draconic Power. If he got close enough to her, I had no doubt he would sense her Sacred Gear, but thankfully she had followed Frank's orders and was sitting at the very back of the hall.

We watched as Ajuka strode forward and stood next to Dumbledore. He presented the old man with a small ornate wooden case. Dumbledore eyed it with a twinkle in his eyes. He cleared his throat before turning back to the students, who were still struggling in their seats.

“As you can see, each of these great men has decided to join us in our fight! I present to you Gellert Grindelwald, Baron Von Strucker, Norman Osborn, and Ajuka Beelzebub!” Dumbledore paused to see if any students would applaud. Obviously, no one did. Most of the students were terrified.

Except for the Slytherins, of course. On the side of the screen, I could see many of them grinning maniacally. I wasn’t the only one who noticed that fact either.

“Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott. Please come forward. I have a gift for the two of you.” Dumbledore waved his wand, and they were both free to stand. Instead of doing the smart thing and running away, both boys proudly strode forward and stood in front of the old man.

He opened the small wooden case and pulled out—

“Zoom in on his hands!” I ordered loudly. Were those what I thought they were!?

Maria did as I asked, and the spy camera zoomed in even further. Dumbledore was holding two chess pieces in his hands. Two pawn pieces, to be exact. He held them up to Malfoy and Nott’s chests.

They were Evil Pieces!

“Both of your fathers were killed by Layla of the Fallen. So I present you with the power to take your revenge against her!” The Evil Pieces sank into both boys' chests. A second later, a pair of Devil wings sprang out of both boys' backs!

“Jesus Christ!” Fury swore next to me. “What the fuck was that!?” he glared at the screen in front of us with his one good eye.

“He turned them into Devils,” I said solemnly. “Ajuka himself must have turned Dumbledore into a Devil. I think he turned all of those men into Devils, actually. Norman Osborn and Baron von Strucker included.”

Dumbledore smiled at the boys and then turned back to the student body. “As you can see, Draco and Theodore here have both ascended to a new realm of power! This was but a small demonstration. In the next few days, all of you will receive this gift as well. You students have been granted the honor of becoming the glorious heroes who will fight for the freedom of the Wizarding World!” Dumbledore exclaimed cheerfully.

“He wants to turn all the students into Devils and create his own army...” I muttered in disbelief. “And with the creator of the Evil Pieces there working with him, he could actually do it.”

“You can cure them, right? Like you cured your niece, Akeno?” Fury asked me.

I shot him a small glare and he flinched. “I won't ask you how you even know about that, but yes I can. Although, Ajuka should know I’m able to do that as well. I’ll have to be careful when I do, he might have trapped those Evil Pieces.”

We watched for a few more minutes as more Slytherin Students voluntarily stepped forward to be transformed into Devils. Every single piece Dumbledore used was a pawn piece. This wasn’t a standard rating game chess set. These Pieces weren't meant for that, they were meant for the creation of a small army. I think Ajuka simply handed Dumbledore a box filled with pawn pieces.

Finally, when no more students volunteered, Dumbledore allowed all the students to stand again and sent them off to their respective house dorms. Isane blended in and followed the Hufflepuffs. I was glad she wasn’t discovered, she was strong, but she wasn’t strong enough to fight a soul eating Super Devil just yet.

Once she was out of the Great Hall and out of danger, Frank spun around in his chair to face us. He had a scowl on his face. “That went Fubar real fast.”

{Quest Started: Rescue the Students of Hogwarts and defeat the Alliance of Villains}

{Reward: Level UP X 5! Access to all of Ajuka’s research.}

“I'm calling the Avengers!” Fury declared and reached for his emergency communicator.

“Wait!” I stopped him. “The Avengers won’t be able to handle this. Thor is not even available, and the last thing we need is Tony or Andrea blowing up the school,” I said.

[And let's not even get started on letting the Hulk rampage around so many kids...]

“We're going to need a bigger team, Layla.” Frank pointed out. “I might be able to take on one of those guys with my new alien guns, but that's it. We need some people to get the kids out of there too while we're fighting.”

“At least let me call the Captain,” Fury offered and I nodded my head. A Campione would be pretty useful right now. Steve was also great with kids and knew when to use restraint.

I thought about who else I could call on for help. According to Isane, each of those men on the stage were at Ultimate Class. Jean could be pretty useful here for evacuating all the students, but I didn’t want to call on the Champion of the Phoenix Forces as the Champion of Death myself. I knew that both our patrons had a bit of a rivalry going on.

I smirked when I finally thought of who I could call on to help. I currently had two extra dimensional Maous visiting my home. Both of them were best friends with their universe’s Ajuka Beelzebub, so they should know how the one from my Universe fights and even how he thinks. An army of students couldn’t be his master plan, there had to be something else we were missing.

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