Chapter: 45
[You have completed your mission! You have leveled up! You have received the reward: Perfected Extremis Formula! The Perfected formula is a combination of the super-soldier serum and AIM's Extremis formula.]
Nice! I could either take the formula myself or save it for someone else. I was considering the latter because I didn't exactly need the formula. With Gamer's Body and Twilight Healing, I could already heal from any injury, and the boost to strength wasn't anything groundbreaking for me. If I gave this to someone like Natasha, though, she'd be a force to be reckoned with.
[Congratulations! Angelic Mastery has reached level 3! Light Manipulation has reached level 4! You now have access to Angelic Teleportation and can survive in a vacuum environment indefinitely. Light Magic now costs even less MP to cast!]
That would be incredibly useful for me in the future! Especially for when I'd start venturing out into space! Light Magic being even cheaper was also a big powerup. I was hoping Lightshields cost a lot less now. They were what really drained my MP the most. It made sense though, considering an average Lightshield was basically the size of 25 to 30 Lightspears lined up together.
I checked my current stats to see where I was sitting. One thing I'd figured out was that I grew an extra pair of wings whenever my total MP doubled. For example, I started with 100 MP, but as soon as it hit 200, I became a four-winged Fallen. At 400 MP, I gained another pair of wings. From that, I deduced that at 800 MP, I would gain another pair.
[Name: Layla of the Fallen]
[Title: Angel of Hope]
[Level: 5]
[HP: 3100]
[MP: 560]
[Vigor: 110]
[Strength: 20]
[Intelligence: 56]
[Luck: 20]
[Skills: Observe 1, Angelic Mastery 3, Acting 2, Light Manipulation 4, HP→MP Conversion]
[Perks: Never Tell Me the Odds, Mana Siphoner]
[Drawbacks: Sin of Lust]
[Available Free Stat Points: 10]
Even if I dumped my 10 free stat points into Intelligence, I'd still be only at 660, which was a ways off. Ever since figuring out that Strength also included things like agility and speed, I'd decided not to neglect that stat either. The Winter Soldier's strength stat was at least at 40. He was almost twice as fast as me. I decided to split my free stat points between the two, bringing Strength up to 25 and Intelligence up to 61.
'Hey, System. How exactly do I go about using angelic teleportation?' I asked in my head. The advantage of Angelic Teleportation over the sling ring was that, like apparating, it was instantaneous and could be used mid-combat. Even the best masters of the mystic arts still required a few seconds of concentration to use their sling rings. Doctor Strange had sort of used them in his fights, but it was borderline gimmicky and really only worked because of the plot.
[You simply think about where you want to go and will yourself there. Keep in mind, the further the distance, the more MP will be required. If you use all your MP, you will draw on your HP due to your HP→MP Conversion skill. Don't teleport too far and accidentally give yourself a game over.]
I chuckled at the system's warning. I'd be sure to practice my jumps and make sure to figure out the distance to MP ratio.
"Hey, Layla. You done spacing out over there? What do you want to do with these guys?" Tony asked me as he pointed to the downed Winter Soldier and Aldrich Killian. Everyone else was either dead or had run off. "Also, just so you know... a whole bunch of police are coming to storm this building." Iron Man's faceplate lifted up to reveal Tony's face. He looked a bit worried.
"What's the problem with that?" I asked.
"We kind of just had a full-on battle that involved the deaths of multiple war veterans." Tony explained. "It's not going to be a good publicity look for us. We killed US war heroes… on US soil. Even if they were joining Hydra they hadn't joined yet. The police are absolutely going to try and take us into custody and throw the book at us. Well mostly me actually. You–they'll probably have no idea how to deal with." Tony explained to me. "They might use this as an excuse to try and take my suit from me though." He looked a bit worried.
"Well, shit..." I said. I had forgotten about this point in time. We were still technically in the middle of Iron Man 2 timewise. The US government was trying to take his suit so they could weaponize it. The only reason they didn't in the movies was because their lead man, Justin Hammer, harbored a terrorist that ended up siccing a bunch of murder bots on New York City. Now that Whiplash was dead, Tony wouldn't be able to beat him and 'save the day.'
"Can't we just call SHIELD to tell the police to back off?" I asked.
"SHIELD's kind of in the dog house in the US right now. They've lost a lot of their sway after Alexander Pierce ended up being a confirmed traitor. You know the guy was friends with Peggy Carter and my old man for decades... I never actually knew what SHIELD was, but I still saw the man from time to time at upper echelon social galas." Tony trailed off with a grimace. I wondered if Tony would ever make the connection that Pierce was probably the one to off his parents? It's possible Pierce even tried to subtly have Howard Stark join Hydra and was turned down. That would have led to Howard being 'silenced.'
"We'll just have to sneak out of here then," I said. 'This is where I really could use a stealth skill...' I thought with some expectation.
[I can't just give you a skill unless you're doing something involving it. If you want a stealth skill, go try and steal some things without getting caught.]
'Fine.' I supposed it couldn't be that convenient.
"Yeah. I guess we could try and sneak out of here. I can have Jarvis delete all the security footage." Tony suggested. "I can actually hear the sirens now though. We better leave fast." Tony was correct, the police sirens did sound close. And it sounded like there were a lot of them. There were a whole lot of explosions coming from this building a few minutes ago to be fair…
I had an idea. I pulled out my sling ring and hoped that with my intelligence now over 60, I could get that damn thing to work. "I'm going to try opening a portal a few blocks away from here," I explained. "I don't know how long I'll be able to hold it open for you, so run through with the soldier and Aldrich. I'll follow after."
Tony nodded and slung the two of them over his shoulders. I started going through the circular hand motions that had failed me numerous times in training. Thankfully though, they weren't failing me now. The portal was forming slowly and shakily, but it was forming. It took about 20 seconds, but I eventually made it large enough for him to pass through.
"Go now!" I shouted, and Tony bolted through with the pair. I jumped through the portal right after him. A split second later, the shaky thing collapsed. "Whoo! Teleportation! That's what I'm talking about!" I cheered out loud. We exited in a back alley a few blocks away from AIM's headquarters. I could still hear the sirens in the distance, but we were well out of their current police cordon perimeter.
Tony just gave me a deadpan look. "You're gonna have to work on that. You were barely able to open a portal a few blocks away and were supposed to be going to other planets at some point."
I pouted in response. "Now that I've gotten it to work in the first place, it shouldn't take long before I can start opening portals all over the world. Just you wait; pretty soon I'll have this ability mastered."
Tony nodded. "I'll hold you to it then. Happy is on his way with the limo. I'll throw the two Nazis in the trunk and make our inconspicuous getaway. I already have Jarvis establishing an alibi for us as we speak."
A few minutes later, Happy showed up with the limo. I healed the Winter Soldier up a bit before we tossed him in the back with Aldrich. I didn't want him dying from the final stab I hit him with. He was completely out of stamina to heal it.
"All right then," Tony said as he and I hopped in. "Next stop... huh? Where should we go?" He turned and asked me.
I took a second to ponder. "I guess we can head to the Sanctum. The Sorceress Supreme should be able to help the Winter Soldier break Hydra's mind control."
"The Winter Soldier is under mind control?" Tony asked.
"Yep, allow me to introduce you to Sergeant Bucky Barnes." I exclaimed and laughed at Tony's shocked look. As we drove to Bleeker Street I started explaining Bucky and Steve's story to Tony. I tried to make it as compelling and tragic as possible. In the event that Tony ever found out Bucky killed his parent's, maybe he'd hesitate and not immediately try to get revenge on the man. Was I being a bit manipulative here with my friend? Yes, but I knew if I didn't do this we'd end up in Civil War which was the last thing any of us needed.
[Acting has Leveled up to 3!]
XXX
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