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Forgotten Truth
William stared at his arm in silence. They were going to capture an arms dealer named Klaw who had supposedly stolen Vibranium from Wakanda successfully. If he had, and Ultron took it, he could make at least one of his bodies, of which he apparently had multiple, virtually indestructible. After a moment, Olivia slipped her hand into his prosthetic one. She was the only person he'd told what his prosthetics were made of, though he was sure Natasha and Steve both knew, maybe Barton, possible Tony.
"Everyone ready?" Tony asked.
"Ready," Thor nodded.
"Ready," Steve nodded.
Tony nodded and the back of the Quinjet opened as they were passing over the ship where Ultron currently was. The three who'd been chosen to fight directly first dropped onto the building first, followed quickly by the others. William and Olivia slipped into a door inside instantly as the others all found a different entrance. As they headed through the ship, Olivia drew her laser sniper, glancing at William.
He smirked. "Don't give me that look, it takes me less time to form a bow and fire accurately than it takes you to aim the first time."
It was Olivia's turn to smirk. "Right. That's why I always beat you when we fought."
"I would have had you after SHIELD interrupted our jobs if Master hadn't intervened," William said.
"Keep telling yourself that," Olivia snorted.
"Don't compare me to Stark!" Ultron's voice snapped from below as they both stopped on a catwalk above Ultron. "It's a thing with me! Stark is...He's a sickness!"
"Oh, Junior," Tony said, flying down behind Ultron where Thor and Steve were standing. "You're gonna break you old man's heart."
Ultron turned, as did the Maximoff twins beside him. Wanda and Pietro Maximoff were a pair of enhanced Strucker had created using the scepter. Pietro was super fast, and Wanda had telekinesis and telepathy.
"If I have to," Ultron said.
"Nobody has to break anything," Thor said.
"Clearly you've never made an omelet," Ultron said.
"He beat me by one second," Tony said.
"Ah, yes, he's funny, Mr. Stark," Pietro said. "He's what? Comfortable?" He looked down and to the side at a pile of missiles. "Like old times?"
"This was never my life," Tony said.
"You two can still walk away from this," Steve said.
"Oh, we will," Wanda said.
"I know you've suffered," Steve said.
"Ugh," Ultron groaned, then chuckled humorlessly. "Captain America. God's righteous man. Pretending you could live without war. I can't physically throw up in my mouth, but-"
"If you believe in peace, then let us keep it," Thor said.
"I think you're confusing peace with quiet," Ultron said.
"Uh huh," Tony said. "What's the Vibranium for?"
"I'm glad you asked that, because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan," Ultron said sarcastically.
Suddenly, a magnet in Ultron's palm yanked Tony forward for a moment, forcing him to try to resist before a laser fired from each of his fingertips, blasting Tony in the chest and launching him backward into the wall. Tony and Ultron took off instantly, beginning to fight as two more robots arrived, attacking Thor and Steve. At the same time, Klaw's men opened fire at everyone. William formed a bow, firing his first arrow through one robot's chest while Olivia sent her first shot through the other's head.
Both turned to Klaw's men, dropping them quickly before Pietro suddenly shot past, slamming a punch into William's jaw. He crashed to the ground hard, rolling a few feet before regaining his feet just in time for red energy to surround Olivia, hurling her into him. He caught her easily, setting her on her feet, then spun, sending an arrow through one of Klaw's men as he was raising his gun. However, just as he did, Pietro shot past again, this time knocking both off of the catwalk. William flipped, grabbing Olivia and pulling her into his arms just in time to land on his feet, Olivia catching her gun a moment later. Then, as he set her down, Wanda stepped out beside them, red energy flowing into their heads.
William's vision blurred as he staggered forward, suddenly lacking his equilibrium, then sharpened again, only to leave him standing in the middle of a bloodbath, or rather, in the wake of it. He stared around at the corpses, the blood covering the floor. It wasn't possible. He couldn't be here. He wasn't. He'd already done this. But that was obvious, wasn't it?
Here were the corpses, all dead already. He walked forward, stopping beside his parents and kneeling. His mother was riddled with two-inch wide holes, all piercing all the way through her. She'd been his first. His father, who'd been too shocked to realize he couldn't save her, had been next. A victim of a blast, now lying on his back with the front half of his body missing, the flesh that remained around the edges peeled back to expose his bloody skeletal system.
The next was his younger sister, who hadn't understood what was going on and hugged him out of fear, seeking protection, but who had found only death. Energy had rushed from him to her at a speed equivalent in effect and lethality to electricity flowing at a speed of one hundred fifty milliamps. She'd lit up like a match the second she'd touched him, but his energy had protected him.
The guests had come after that. They'd understood what was happening. They'd tried to kill the person responsible. As a result, a pulse of energy had swept through the room, killing them all. Some were painted across the walls. Some were like his father. Some burned, others were blasted to pieces. One of them had been hit by the wave's tail end and his heart and brain simply stopped.
This had all been him. He'd done this. He'd killed them all. Everyone. He was a monster.
"There's no need to cry, son," a kind voice said behind him.
He turned, staring at the man. He was older than his father, with graying hair and a mustache. A kind smile that seemed completely out of place in that scene of carnage he stood in.
"There's no need to cry," the man repeated. "This was their fault. If they hadn't forced your powers to activate, they'd be alive now."
"I don't understand," William said.
"You don't need to," the man said. "You just need to come with me. I can show you how to use your power. How to control it."
William nodded. He wanted to learn. He'd do anything to learn.
"You're going to be my favorite," the man said. "The best there ever was."
As William took a step forward, his vision blurred, only to clear and again leave him somewhere else. He was kneeling beside a girl who was sobbing into the hair of another girl. Both were naked, had obviously been raped, and the one not crying was only not doing so as a result of the bullet hole through her head. He grabbed a pair of pants lying abandoned by the wall, passing them and his own jacket to the crying girl, only for her to slap his hand away, then slap him. She began to shriek at him, hitting him over and over for a moment before turning away, sobbing into the other girl's hair again, cradling her. Finally, the master knelt beside the girl, pulling her into a hug and beginning to comfort her.
"I can take you away from here if you want," he said. "I can teach you to kill those who threaten you. You'll never be powerless again."
The girl nodded. "Please."
The master nodded. "You're going to be my favorite. The best there ever was."
William's brow furrowed. She was going to be the favorite? She was going to be the best? No. That wasn't right. That was supposed to be him. He'd proven he was the best. He always performed perfectly. He always gave his all during training. He was the best. He had to be the best. If he wasn't the best, it meant his control wasn't good enough. And if his control wasn't good enough, it might happen again.
His vision blurred.
"Well done, Olivia," the master smiled proudly. "Ingenious idea bringing the whole building down. I'm so proud of you."
"Thank you, Master," Olivia smiled.
"Master," William said, walking into the room. "I'm back from my job."
"Yes, I heard," the master said. "Once again, turned to ash. No evidence of our involvement. Exactly as I expected of you. So, Olivia, are you ready to train?"
"Not today," Olivia said. "I'm going to rest today."
"Alright, that's fine," the master smiled. "I'll train with William, then."
William frowned. She got to skip training? She'd only been there for six months. Why did she get to skip? And was Master saying he'd only train with William if Olivia didn't feel like training?
"Actually, I'm kind of tired," William said. "I've been using my power a lot between training every day and working. I could use a rest, too."
"No complaining!" the master snapped. "You will train when I tell you!"
William's eyes widened before he deflated, nodding. "Yes, Master. Of course."
The master nodded, readying himself to start with sparring, only for William's sight to blur.
"Well done, Olivia," the master said. "Another exceptional tactic. They'll never be able to figure out who the target was."
William grit his teeth, leaving. If the master wanted mass casualties, he'd give him mass casualties. He made his way to the spot he'd need to be, then focused. His current target was on the third floor, so there should be plenty of time. He focused for another moment before sending the arrow. The explosion took out the supports in the top level of the basement, and within seconds the building had come down. All dead. He grinned and all but sprinted home.
"What the Hell were you thinking!?" the master roared. "Why would you bring an entire building down just to kill one man!? Are you out of your mind!? That kind of excessiveness is unacceptable!"
"But, Master, Ripper and-"
Crack!
"Never talk back to me!" the master snapped. "You are not Ripper, and you are certainly not Olivia!"
"Yes, Master," William said, pushing himself back up to his knees. "Forgive me, Master."
His vision blurred.
"You did very well today," the master told Olivia as they finished training, William waiting outside the door for his turn. "Keep that up and you'll be the head of the organization in no time."
"What about the asshole, Master?" Olivia asked.
"He will be the organization's greatest weapon," the master said. "You shouldn't fight with him. Someday, you'll need him."
"I'll never need that waste of DNA," Olivia spat.
"You will not be the head of the organization until you learn to see the use of things, even things as unappealing as someone like him."
His vision blurred and he fell to his knees, gasping and panting, his prosthetic right arm held to his head as energy washed over him in waves. He wretched, spewing bile across the floor twice before his body calmed. He groaned, shifting to sit against the wall, struggling to catch his breath.
"William?" Barton's voice asked. "That you?"
"Yeah," William croaked, the cleared his throat.
"Welcome back to the world of the living," Barton said. "The girl messed with your mind."
"Yeah, I figured that out," William said, looking around. "We the only ones not caught in a vision?"
"Looks like it," Barton said. "I'm taking Cap out to the jet now. That just leaves you and Olivia."
William's eyes widened as his gut dropped. Whatever he'd been seeing, he knew exactly what she'd see. He stood, looking around quickly, finally finding Olivia lying a little ways down the hallway, sobbing and clutching at her shoulders, eyes still glowing red. He ran over to her, kneeling, and pulling her into his arms. He shook her gently, but she didn't stir, and he didn't want to risk using his energy to disrupt Wanda's. Not when he felt like he was barely able to keep his limbs working, and that was second nature, feeling no different than using his organic limbs had been, just with the addition of streaming energy through them, which he always did when working to increase his natural abilities.
He lifted her gently and turned, running out of the ship and to the jet, setting her in the back and sitting beside her, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Barton didn't say anything, instead turning to get the jet ready to take off whenever Tony brought Banner back, or at least, that's what William assumed Tony was doing since those two weren't present. Finally, Olivia began to return to the world, her sobbing tapering off as William comforted her, struggling not to fixate on his own nightmare.
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