Bab 39: Chapter: 39

Chapter 39:

"So we've been sitting in this waiting room for 30 minutes already," I pointed out. It was the next day after we had landed in New York. AIM, Aldrich Killian's think tank, was set up here. Pepper had called ahead and set up a meeting between Tony and Aldrich Killian. Tony didn't yet know much about Extremis, but AIM had been scientifically paving the way with some breakthrough gene treatments apparently. I think Extremis could be a great solution to our problem if the formula was just toned down a bit. There was no reason to give everyone in the world fire superpowers after all. All we wanted was some enhanced durability and strength that would allow people to manage the increase in gravity. We weren't exactly sure what we were going to do about all the animals yet though…

"This is a power play," Tony pointed out. "He's intentionally making the great 'Tony Stark' wait to meet him." He said with a laugh. He didn't seem to be particularly bothered. According to him, this happened all the time whenever he went to meet 'important people.'

"Ugh… human politics." I said with a groan. It was just so…petty.

"Do the supernatural not do the same thing?" Tony asked.

"They're surprisingly punctual, actually." I explained. "If a powerful entity claims they will be somewhere at a certain time, then they will be there. If they don't show on time, they end up looking incompetent and weak. They don't really do fake power plays since they have actual power."

Tony nodded. "I suppose that makes sense. So I heard from Fury that angels get stronger with more wings. How strong would you say you are now?"

I grimaced a bit as I started explaining. "As loath as I am to use their power system as a basis, the devil's actually did create easy-to-understand rankings. With 6 wings, my power is essentially at what would be considered lower to middle-High Class." Angels and Fallen Angels didn't play rankings by nepotism. If you wanted to be considered High Class, you had to have 6 wings minimum. We didn't just grant the status to children at birth like noble Devils did. Tony then asked me what that meant, and I continued explaining. I told him how in the supernatural world, you weren't respected if you weren't at least High Class in power. Before that, you were seen as a subordinate or servant. High Class was where you could stand on your own.

"So it's kind of like cultivation levels in a Chinese novel?" Tony asked jokingly.

"Yep. In fact, it's almost exactly like that. The stronger you are, the less people will try and mess with you."

"So what's after High Class then?" Tony asked.

"Ultimate Class. And keep in mind there is a massive difference in power scaling between someone who just entered that rank versus someone at its peak."

"Give me an example," Tony said.

I broke it down for him. "Ok, this isn't exactly correct every time, but it's a benchmark. A good estimate of a low Ultimate Class's power though would be that they can destroy a city on their own. That doesn't necessarily mean they can one shot the whole place, but it means that, in about the span of an hour, they could level the area."

Tony's eyes widened at that. Yeah, just the lower end of Ultimates were basically walking nukes. "And at the peak?" He asked with some trepidation. He was starting to find out his invincible Iron Man wasn't as OP as he thought it was. He really needed to step up his designs.

"They can destroy entire countries in about the same time frame." I stated plainly.

"How the hell has the other Earth not been destroyed yet!?" Tony exclaimed. That was something I wondered as well.

"I honestly have no idea… frankly it's a miracle." The only thing saving the DxD world from Armageddon was the 'plot.' Honestly, if Kokabiel or Loki wanted to start a real war, all they would have had to do was attack a human city and expose the supernatural world. The nuclear bombs would have started flying everywhere and BAM—the Great War would be back on. What did they do instead? They kept attacking Rias Gremory and her peerage for no reason other than 'just because.'

Tony let out a whistle at that level of power. "Would all Gods be considered that strong?"

I laughed. The arrogant bastards wished they were. "Not a chance. Sure, some gods would be, but the majority are actually far weaker than they would like to let on. In fact, the vast majority of gods don't even qualify for Ultimate Class. Most of them are stuck in High Class. That's why the three factions are able to basically bully all the other factions. Each of the three all have over a dozen beings in Ultimate Class along with hundreds if not thousands of High Class beings as well."

"And yet the space gods out there are even stronger?" Tony asked again. He seemed nervous at that revelation. I nodded but told him that I didn't exactly know how much stronger. I just knew that every celestial was basically a planet killer in some way. And there were quite a few beings that were far more dangerous than the celestials as well.

"For fucks sake…" Tony muttered. I patted him on the shoulder and told him everything would be alright. After all, the world now had a Gamer protecting it. I would surpass them all someday!

…

"Mr. Killian will see you both now," the man's secretary entered the waiting room and informed us.

"Well, here we go, I guess," I said with a sigh as I stood up to follow. From the movies, I remembered this guy was a hardcore narcissist. This was not going to be a fun meeting.

"It won't be that bad," Tony stated, with a grin. "Yeah, he made us wait for over 30 minutes for no reason, but I think he was just getting back at me for ditching him at a party a few years back. I remember this guy was a big fan of mine," Tony said with some assurance. He was about to be proven very wrong.

The secretary led us to a nearby room. Inside was a very lavish office. The man we had come to meet was waiting for us behind a large ornate wooden desk. He wasn't alone, however. He had four obvious bodyguards flanking his sides equally. Did he think we were coming to attack him or something?

Aldrich Killian himself looked perfectly healthy. That should not have been the case. I could tell he was not suffering from any health problems like he should have been at this time. When he first met Tony in the past, he couldn't even walk without a cane. Extremis had been completed much earlier than I anticipated. I could also sense some form of power coming from him and the four bodyguards. I wouldn't call them dangerous to myself, but they were well into the brackets of Low Class.

His arms opened wide in greeting as we entered. "Tony! I never thought the day would come… The day that YOU would go out of your way to request a meeting with me." He had a large smile on his face, but his eyes told a different story. I could tell that this man absolutely loathed Tony. He then turned to me. "And who's this exquisite lady you've brought with you? …Wait? Don't I recognize you from somewhere?"

"You might have seen my friend Layla here on the news recently," Tony answered for me.

One of his bodyguards leaned down and whispered something to him. His eyes went wide. Aldrich spoke again. "Of course, you're the mysterious savior Angel that's been all over the news! You stopped the 'evil mages' from burning down Monaco! That was… Marvelous. And I thank you for the display you put on!" He gave me a wide smile. I felt like it was a bit off putting.

"You're welcome I guess." I replied to him. Tony and I sat down in the seats opposite of Aldrich that had been set out for us.

Once we were seated, the pleasant atmosphere vanished. Aldrich's smile dropped as he took on a serious look. "Now then, what exactly can I do for the two of you…"

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Bab 40: Chapter: 40

Chapter: 40

[Aldrich Killian: Leader of AIM → Level 9. Has an extreme hatred for Tony Stark. Has a keen interest in the Layla of the Fallen… Recently, he has come into a partnership with !$@%@%]

Nothing particularly groundbreaking there from my "observe" skill. Although, that blurred information did have me a bit worried. His level did put him on par with an average wizard, though. The system actually registered him as being a higher level than Captain America. I supposed that made sense. Without plot armor, I had no idea how Steve would actually beat this guy in a straight-up fight. The man could regenerate from quite a bit of damage, had super strength, and could throw burning hot plasma around. Extremis was actually pretty amazing.

"It's not what you or your cute think tank here can do for us, Aldrich… It's what we can do for you!" Tony said to the man. From the slight twitch in his facial muscles, I could tell Aldrich was doing everything he could not to openly scowl at us. Tony was taking the approach as if this man was still a fan of his… that was not the case.

"Eh-em." I cut in before the man angrily kicked us out. "I apologize for Tony; that came off as rude and condescending," I said as I leveled a small glare at Tony.

Aldrich then turned his gaze to me. "Maybe you could tell me why you two are here, then? Also, are you working for Tony now?" He added with a disappointed tone.

"I wouldn't really say working for him as much as with him at this point."

He nodded at my short explanation. "Good. No reason for a woman of your talents to be working for a failing company after all."

"Hey!" Tony exclaimed. "Stark Industries stock has never been higher!"

Aldrich just scoffed. "It's all hyped-up nonsense stock. All your investors still believe that you're going to make Iron Man sellable to the military. Once they find out that will never happen, your stocks will plummet just like they did when you shut down weapons manufacturing," the man explained. Tony looked like he was going to argue back, but I subtly pinched his side, causing him to be quiet.

If Aldrich wasn't willing to work with us, then we would have to use other means of getting his serum. AKA, Natasha sneaks in and robs them blind. The problem with that method was that we'd have to hire geneticists who would then have to spend a bunch of time reverse engineering and modifying Extremis for what we needed. AIM's scientists and researchers were already masters in the field and could provide what we needed much quicker.

"Ok, then. This is why we're here…" I started to explain. Together, Tony and I had come up with a somewhat plausible lie that didn't involve word of a potential apocalypse getting out. We said we were looking to start exploring other planets and that some would have substantially higher gravities than Earth. For that, we needed AIM's help creating a serum for the astronauts that made the trips.

Aldrich was a bit skeptical on how we would be traveling into space when agencies like NASA were struggling just to get into orbit. That was where my part came in, and I hinted at Angel's being capable of much faster methods of travel than requiring a spaceship. The man was a bit taken aback by me admitting I was truly an Angel and not just a mutant that looked like one. Apparently, the jury was still out on people's thoughts about me around the world. I hadn't exactly met any actual mutants yet since I'd been here, but apparently people were using me as a shiny example of what they could be. The video of Tony and me fighting off Voldemort at the racetrack and then me stopping the Fiendfyre spell had racked up over a billion views online so far.

Needless to say, though, the concept of actual teleportation and space exploration did get the man's attention. Even if he was an asshole/possible-super-villain, at the end of the day he was still a CEO. And like all greedy CEOs, I could tell that he was very interested in our lucrative idea. It also helped that it wasn't exactly a lie. What better way would there be for us to test our solutions than going to other planets that actually had higher gravities than Earth?

"Hmmm… Interesting," Aldrich said with an intrigued look on his face. "So you're going into the space sector then, Stark? And you need MY help so your astronauts don't keel over?" He remarked with a hint of sarcasm.

"That is correct, Killian," Tony said. "I know I treated you like shit the first time we met, and I would like to genuinely apologize for that. I was a drunken asshole back then, and I freely admit it." Tony said with some genuine humility.

…

-Aldrich Killian-

Aldrich took a moment to contemplate as the bastard Stark and the beautiful Angel waited for his response. Aldrich wasn't afraid to admit to himself that he was deeply intrigued by their proposal. If the Angel truly did have access to interplanetary teleportation, then that was an absolute game-changer! Her value had exponentially increased beyond her already impressive combat capabilities. Some of Aldrich's newest 'investors' had shown a genuine interest in her and her capabilities. They had even requested that he have bugs placed throughout his office so they could listen in on the meeting. That was the least he could do considering how much they had helped push his project forward time wise. They had given him incomplete, yet still incredibly valuable, research data from the old super soldier program that helped push the development of his own serum forward by years. Now, he could honestly say that he had created far more dangerous soldiers than Captain America ever was… just maybe not as skilled if the man's legendary battlefield exploits held true.

When he first received the request for a meeting with Tony Stark and the Angel yesterday, Aldrich had been nervous. He had no idea what they wanted from himself or AIM. His more paranoid thoughts strayed to Extremis, but they never actually mentioned it by name once. He could tell that they knew about it, of course. After all, nothing stays secret forever when money is involved. But all they wanted from him was a much more toned-down and reasonable product. That was something his researchers could honestly whip up in a month if they needed too. The question Aldrich had to ask himself was – did he agree to let go of his hatred and go into the space business with Stark, or did he deny them? Would his new 'investors' even allow him to work with Stark after their recent outing to the public?

"Do you two mind waiting outside for a bit? You've given me a lot to think about," Aldrich asked them.

"Sure." "No problem," Stark and the Angel said as they left his office.

Aldrich turned to his four bodyguards around him. "You four clear out as well. I need to make an important call." His guards were all extremely loyal ex-military that his Extremis formula had saved. They didn't voice any protest as they also cleared out of the room.

With that, he pulled out a secret untraceable phone from a hidden compartment in his desk that only he knew about. "Hello, Director Pierce. I'm assuming you were listening in on that whole conversation through the bugs? What do you think I should do here?"

XXX

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