"That guy is most likely an enemy!" Natasha was a bit depressed. She had planted a bug on Peter, but she couldn't understand the language he spoke, making her feel her scheme was laughable.
Bella patted her shoulder. "Be confident. Drop the 'most likely.' With a smile that insidious, he's definitely an enemy!"
She stretched lazily, unconcerned.
"Are you gonna shower? If not, I'm going first."
"Go, go!"
After a nice, refreshing shower, Bella began trying on the new clothes she bought today.
Wearing a backless evening gown, she walked a circle in front of Natasha.
"Does this dress make me look skinny?"
"Uh-huh."
A moment later, she changed into a pleated skirt.
"Is this skirt a bit short? No! It's just that my legs are too long!"
The little beauty had a pen in her mouth, using her portable laptop to track Peter's phone signal. Occasionally she drew a circle or two arrows on the map, nodding at Bella's questions without even looking up. "Yeah, yeah."
Seeing Natasha working so seriously, Bella lost the fun of teasing her. She changed back into her original clothes and lay on the sofa, staring into space.
She didn't think there were any enemies in France who could threaten her, but she didn't relax her vigilance. Mages were squishy, after all.
She checked her pistol, then took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and steadied her nerves.
Natasha was making similar preparations, though she strapped a dagger to her leg.
The two lay on the sofa, feet to feet, waiting.
"Trouble always follows you!" Natasha muttered, curling her lips.
Bella raised her chin. "Most likely you attracted the enemies. You've been acting so mysterious lately."
She spoke pointedly. Mentioning this, Natasha wasn't so sure anymore. Maybe these people really were coming for her? S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't a monolith; it wouldn't be strange if she had stepped on someone's toes and attracted enemies.
However, she still retorted stubbornly, "Can't compare to you. With your weird abilities, it's hard to guarantee someone won't find out and drag you back to a lab for experiments!"
Put that way, Bella felt a bit uneasy too. The medieval Church could distinguish between ordinary people and witches; maybe modern society had high-tech means to scan her psionic fluctuations. If this were her previous Earth, that would be absurd, but in this world, she wouldn't be surprised.
"Should I go get some heavy weapons?" she asked tentatively.
As a former British agent, 006 had operated in France for a long time. When he first defected from Britain, he had turned to the French. He had a lot of manpower, weapons, and intelligence channels in Paris.
The little beauty hesitated, checking her magazine. "I have fifteen rounds. If the other side is on my level, it would take at least five or ten enemies to subdue me."
Bella was harder to gauge; she couldn't accurately measure her own combat power. "I should be about the same. Let's wait and see. If we can't handle it, we run. I have a friend here; covering our retreat won't be a problem."
She trusted 006 relatively well. That Cossack was a man of his word; unless it was a critical moment, he wouldn't easily sell her out.
In contrast, Natasha didn't trust S.H.I.E.L.D. that much. You couldn't look too closely at such large organizations; if you did, there were simply too many contradictions and loopholes.
They chatted casually. As they talked, Bella suddenly stopped speaking. Natasha immediately went on alert.
Bella held up one finger pointing outside the door, then raised a second finger.
Just two enemies?
Natasha didn't know what method her stepsister used to judge, but she believed Bella wouldn't joke with her.
Natasha pointed out the window, then upstairs and downstairs, asking: Are there enemies in these places?
Bella focused her empathic sense, carefully feeling for hostility. There were residents upstairs, but they were strangers with no hostility.
No one downstairs. As for outside the window? This was the fifth floor!
After repeated confirmation: just two enemies outside the door.
Click.
The lock was picked. The two girls hurriedly closed their eyes, pretending to sleep.
With extremely light footsteps, two burly men carrying a fierce aura walked into the room.
They wore hideous grins, each holding a dagger.
They pointed at the sofa, then one went left and one went right, approaching slowly.
The burly man on the left was about six feet (1.8 meters) tall, with a blue-black tattoo on his arm and a full beard. He looked at the sleeping figures of Bella and Natasha with greed.
The next moment, his eyes widened violently.
Natasha leaped up. Like a gymnast on a vault, she braced her hands on the coffee table, spun her body a full circle in mid-air, and brought her left leg down like a battle axe onto the burly man's neck.
This move carried her body weight, acceleration, and a special force-generating technique from her waist and legs. Even though their body sizes were completely disproportionate, the burly man didn't even make a sound before he was knocked to the ground.
Spinal damage. In the future, he might have to spend his life in a hospital bed.
Bella's movement was also extremely fast. She had no martial arts and knew no exquisite force techniques; she simply relied on her immense strength and speed. Her figure was as fast as a ghost, leaving a blur behind her as she slammed an elbow into the other burly man's chest.
Her bench press could reach one ton. In reality, a normal strike didn't use that much force, but a casual hit still far exceeded the level of professional boxers.
The burly man never expected the "lamb" in his mind to fight back, let alone with such force.
Several sternum ribs shattered instantly. The broken bones pierced his internal organs; his injury was even more severe than the guy next to him.
Natasha lay on the window and scanned outside. "There's another car outside. There's a driver inside."
"I'll go deal with him."
Bella made no attempt to hide this time. She pushed open the window, tapped her toes lightly against the wall, and parkoured down from the fifth floor.
It was a gray Peugeot. The driver wasn't worried about his companions failing at all; he was currently enjoying music comfortably.
However, this person's vigilance was quite high. Bella's jump from the fifth floor happened to flash across the rearview mirror. The driver glanced inadvertently, then looked as if he had seen a ghost.
"Hi, Peter. What a coincidence. Not resting so late? Waiting for someone?"
Bella looked at this 'Good Samaritan' who had been so enthusiastic during the day.
She seemed to be smiling, but her expression was actually very cold. The malice of these guys was simply too obvious!
Peter's reaction was fast; he reached for his gun. But Bella was faster. Through the car door window, she grabbed Peter's left hand, then twisted it in the opposite direction.
"ARGH—!"
Peter, who had a bit of a handsome air, cried out in pain. He subconsciously slammed on the gas. The Peugeot lunged forward violently, forcing Bella to let go and step back.