章 92: The Self-conceited Philanthropist

Half of the shop was blown apart. The kitchen, the shop counter, even the security office next door were blown to pieces. I just stood there, looking at my... art... I guess.

[Sir? Why don't you burn the whole building as well? Better yet, make everyone including you, suffocate from carbon monoxide.] commented Regina.

"I'm sorry, I'll try to lower the output later," I whispered, genuinely feeling bad. I was just trying to make myself look cool in front of the Magical Lady, but I guess the aftermath was a bit uhm... excessive.

<+5200>

<+2500>

<+5200>

...

But hey, at least I got a bunch of EXP, which is nice. While checking the amount of EXP I just got, my leg bumped at something. It was the corpse of the woman I shot before. Half of her head was blown away, and slowly disintegrating into dust while her other body parts were slowly dissolving into slime, a trait that was usually seen when an NMC was defeated.

The light from the fire made something at the nape of her head glimmer. Curious, I crouched down and pulled it out. It was a metallic object, kinda look like an implant. It reminded me of the Matrix trilogy where the human, both willing or unwillingly, used it to enter the virtual reality system, the Matrix.

While wondering the exact identity of the item, I heard Aya's voice. She said, "Who are you?"

Now here's the deal. I couldn't speak anything about my involvement with SHIELD until the Avenger Program was approved. My connection with Nick Fury was only known by his close comrades and his most trusted subordinates. There were still a lot of power struggle inside the Government's system that would oppose the project if something happened or known.

That was why, I should remain hidden, unless necessary.

I then turned my head toward Aya, "I'm a fan."

And the stupid me decided to answer just like that. A fan? The fuck are you saying, Edward!? I couldn't help but cringe at the answer that just came out of my mouth. I could've said, 'I'm just a passerby that couldn't stand injustice'. Wait... that's also cringing...

[Of all things, you choose 'a fan', Sir.] said Regina, adding salt to my wounds.

Aya was perplexed by my answer, not because she agreed that it was also cringe-worthy, but because unknowingly I was implying that I know her or that I had been watching her.

"How did you know me?" asked Aya.

After quick thinking, I replied, "Your name has been plastered on the newspaper. Basically, you're a celebrity now. It's just that instead of worshipping you, they were afraid that you'll become the second coming of the Mitochondria Eve."

Although it was just an excuse I thought in the heat of the moment. What I said was true. In the world of Avenger, her power might have been a blessing, but Mutants have been characterized as dangerous people. Especially, after knowing how similar she was when compared to the monster, Eve. Who knew that she wouldn't turn just like her in the future.

Aya just nodded to my answer. Her face was gloomy, but in an instant, she refocused her thought into handling the current situation. I know it was harsh for me to remind her about it, but what can I do? There's no way to turn the perception of the people unless she could prove that she was on the human side.

'Wait a minute, there is a way.'

There was a bald and eye-patched guy that could solve this problem once and for all. It wasn't like there was a limitation on how many could join the Avenger, right?

'Ah well... I'll just call him later.'

======

At the same time, Nick Fury just sneezed in his room. He glanced left and right, thinking that someone was watching him.

After seeing no one there with him, he lazily muttered, "Shit... I'm bored, I could've joined Edward if not for this endless paperwork. Who the hell assigned paperwork for the Director of SHIELD anyway?"

His door suddenly slammed opened and a woman came in while pushing a trolley full of documents and research data that must be reviewed and signed.

"Me. And stop complaining, Boss. This is partly your doing as well," said Maria Hill.

"Well, it's not my fault that some Mutants tried to overthrow the Governor in Bahama, forcing me to stay for four days and five nights," replied Nick, drowning into the stacks of paper once more.

Maria just sighed. She wanted to say that it was not his jurisdiction, but she knew it would be endless if she retorted. The only saving grace was that he finally got Killswitch's positive confirmation in joining the Avenger Program in the future.

She knew his power will be needed in the future. Just now, she received info that he's in Akropolis Tower, to suppress the second coming of the Mitochondria Crisis. There was no one that more fitting to do it other than him.

======

"Ahh... CHOO!"

I just sneezed. Either someone was missing me or talking behind my back. Should I call home?

"Bless you," said Aya. I thanked her and continued walking while clearing the perimeter. I could've left her behind and went on my way. But I can't risk her from raking in MY EXP, my beautiful dear love, somewhere else without me. Even after reinforcing her weapon, gaining only half of the EXPs pained my heart.

"I know it's late, but where are we going?" she asked. Her hands were grasping her handgun while covering my back. Whenever she started attacking, I always made sure I had the last hit.

Anyway, we've been walking in a circle, without any clear destination. Obviously, she would feel suspicious about it. I faked a cough and said, "Ahem... Well, how about going to that chapel over there."

Don't ask me why there was a church inside the building, I also don't know. Anyway, I knew the next course of the story would be entering the church and meeting the main villain of the game. But he wasn't the only one waiting for us.

Two men, one had a bear-like frame while the other one was smaller. One sat without minding the thing that had been happening around him, and the other one was standing while nervously looking around. It wasn't hard to find out which is which. Not for me, at least.

Standing in front of the entrance door, I noticed a tripwire along the edge of the door. It was well made, if any mindless monsters came in, they might have a hard time because of it.

I slammed it open, without triggering the trap, gaining the two's attention. At first, the bear-like guy was terrified, thinking I was one of the monsters outside by looking at my demonic gauntlet, but he still stood in front of his employer, protecting him. After seeing Aya walking calmly behind me, he finally regained his confidence.

"State your identity and purpose!" yelled Happy while aiming his handgun toward us. Behind him was the most sophisticated person in the world, the CEO of Stark Industries, and the future superhero of this world, Tony Stark.

He wore sunglasses even when we're indoor, I started to think that it was just his style rather than necessity. He wore a fancy suit while typing something on his laptop. I don't know what it was, but he might just have an inspiration for his new weapon trade. He wasn't as bad as I thought he would be...

Before coming in, I wondered how these two were still alive. And after I scanned the surrounding, looking for any sign of threat, I got the answer as well. This whole place was booby-trapped. Heheh... booby... boo—

Anyway, even opening that door earlier would have triggered one of his traps. To Aya, I then said, "Follow my footsteps."

She knew what I meant. Her experience as a trained soldier taught him one or two about traps. The moment she looked inside, she knew there were a lot of hidden traps.

And of course, the trap was not the only thing I also found. The main villain of this movie was called 'Number 9', an Artificial Neo-Mitochondria Creature. To put it simply, he turned himself into NMC on purpose.

'He's here...'

He still preserves some of his intelligence and his memory back when he was a human. The odd thing was, why he didn't attack Tony and Happy? He kept himself hidden up on the ceiling until now, having no intention to attack the two guys in front of me.

Also, although I could've launched a surprise attack, I kept myself oblivious to it. Even if the EXPs were tempting, if I killed him now, the storyline would not have any progress, and I would lose my oasis of EXP instantly.

While I was torn on what to do, Aya, seeing that some people made it, surviving until now, felt incredible joy in her heart. She already lost hope in finding any survivor, but now her effort allowed her to meet them.

"Stay there! Don't come over!" yelled Happy one more time, seeing that we were approaching them.

He was worried that we would harm ourselves because of the trap Tony made. Even he didn't know what or where the trap was placed. Closing in toward them, Happy kept sweating because not even one of the traps worked on us, as I kept walking without stepping on any of them.

'Are they even human?' he thought. He then turned around and ask Tony who was still typing on his laptop. Happy asked, "Boss! What should we do?"

Tony sighed and looked at Happy's face, "How do I know? You're my bodyguard. Why would I do the thinking?"

"Uhmmm... because you're smarter?" muttered Happy.

Tony knitted his eyebrows. After taking off the sunglasses, he rubbed his nose bridge, massaging it.

"Tony Stark, I believe," I said, interrupting them.

Tony turned toward me, who was already a few steps away from him.

"A fan, I suppose," replied Tony.

'Goddamn it. How can when he said it, it's not cringy?' I thought inside. Ignoring his words, I then asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Praying to God, for giving such a beautiful girl a chance to live in this world," said Tony.

Before I could begin thinking what the fuck he was saying, he walked past me and stood in front of the confused Aya. Taking out a name card, he shoves it into her hands while saying, "Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Industries. People usually call me by my title, but you can call me... tonight..."

'Motherfucker! I take back what I said about him earlier. He really is a 24/7 womanizer.'

I stood in between them, hindering him from making any further move on Aya. Not that I really care though, but the current him was a bit irritating. I then asked the same question again, "Can I ask what are you doing here, Mr. Stark?"

I need to know if he had a connection with the current event. If he diverged and turned out, was involved with this event, I had to do something to straighten his path.

"Move over, Thumbelina. This is a grown-up's business," said Tony, trying to shove me out of his way, but he was too weak to even move me for a centimeter.

A vein appeared on my forehead, realizing what he just called me. I calmly said, "Mr. St— Tony, hitting on someone in this kind of situation is inappropriate, am I right?"

However, that bastard just ignored me and was about to deliver another flirting line. While fixing my left glove, I muttered, "You know what, I think I'll make an exception only for you."

I was about to hit him when suddenly, Number 9 made his move. He jumped down from the ceiling, twisting his body, and then sent a heavy punch on us. But the target was neither me nor Tony. It was Aya.

Gwaaang!

His fist caved into the ceramic floor, rupturing a worrying crack under our feet. He stood at about 200 cm tall (6'7 feet), almost dwarfing us. He had long limbs, and never stood straight, always hunching over. He wore a green and black uniform, like a soldier. He also wore a white mask resembling a hockey mask, two glowing red dots was peeking through the mask, observing Aya's body. He was the embodiment of creepiness.

"You... smell... familiar..." muttered Number 9, with his husky voice, while glancing at the stunned Aya.

At first, she thought that he was a human, but after scanning his figure, especially the glow in his eyes, she knew it was the opposite. It was her first time to meet an NMC that could speak fluently, just like Eve.

'Is he, the same as her?' wondered Aya.

While Tony was taken to safety by Happy, I flung my rifle forward and aimed the muzzle toward Number 9. Before I could pull the trigger, he waved his arm toward me. I blocked it, but it still pushed me five meters away.

'Strong!'

That was the only thing that popped into my head, but too bad, it wasn't enough to overwhelm me. I jumped and twisted my body, sending a whirling kick on him. Surprised, Number 9 evaded by jumping away, causing me to kick the bench next to his place earlier instead, breaking it apart.

"You... are strong..." mumbled Number 9 while looking at the scrapped wooden bench.

"You're not bad either, crooked slenderman," I replied while dusting my feet.

Number 9 pulled out a machete from the back of his waist, he dashed toward me while saying, "But it's not... enough..."

I didn't move even a bit, welcoming his charge while smiling. He found it odd that I could keep my cool in front of him. And then, he suddenly realized why I could stay calm like that. He triggered a trap.

Stark's technology was ahead of its time. By using a motion sensor, his device would fire small mechanical bombs and projectiles the size of a marble. It was enough to completely decimate a pack of mid-size NMC.

A thin membrane wall covered my front, protecting me from the blast. Looking back, I saw Aya stretching his hands forward, a single line of sweat could be seen flowing down her cheek. It seemed she was pushing herself to use her power.

Meanwhile, Number 9 was thrown away and landed under the statue of Jesus. He tried to recover himself, but another trap was triggered, and multiple sharp objects fell on him from the ceiling. He rolled his way out, but I started firing my M4A1 adding more damages but not bad enough to kill him. It mostly pierced through his thighs and shoulders.

Seeing that we had the upper hands, Number 9 started hesitating on what to do. On one hand, he was inclined to save himself from dying, but on the other hand, he was genuinely curious about Aya's identity.

It was then that from the entrance door, a black man appeared with a custom-made magnum in hand. He was Aya's designed partner, too bad he didn't get enough screen time in the game because of the wounds he got from facing Number 9 head-on.

Seeing the ruckus inside, Rupert aimed his weapon at the most suspicious-looking person inside. Of course, it was me.

"Freeze! Or I'll shoot!" shouted Rupert.

'Damn it, not again!' I cursed my luck for choosing this getup.

Taking this chance, Number 9 leaped and fled through the circular glass window on top of the wall behind Jesus's chiseled arm muscle.

"Oh no...! He escapes...!" I muttered, completely derived of emotion as if blaming for Rupert's distraction. It worked as both Tony and Aya gave a reprimanding gaze at the confused Rupert. Meanwhile, Happy was praying for his life, thanking the buffy Jesus for giving him a chance to live.