Sorry, I got more focused on my Persona fanfics. I'm going to give this a little of priority too and get to Infinity War before Avengers 4 (or Captain Marvel) release in theaters. That and my Guardians of the Galaxy fic too.
Chapter 25: Going down
Kokoro looked down, she was speechless, emotionless even. She had come back from certain death, only to find out that her mother died shortly after she disappeared. Kokoro couldn't believe her eyes as she stares down at the grave with her mother's name on it. Behind her was Takeshi, her stepfather. When she appeared at his doorstep the only thing he could do was to give her the news with grief and pain. Tsukino Nakamura died from a heart attack two weeks after Kokoro disappear. Takeshi gives her some space and Kokoro couldn't even let out her tears... She couldn't yell or cry, she felt sadness, but she couldn't express her emotions right. It was like if she lacked emotions at all. Kokoro stood in silence for several minutes before turning to Takeshi.
"... Did she..." Kokoro stopped. She shakes her head and rethinks what she was going to say. "... I... I don't even know what to say..."
"It's alright to be confused" Said Takeshi. "It's not easy for anyone. It's always hard to accept the loss of a loved one" Takeshi pat her on the shoulder. "I loved her... I hurt me to see her go like that..."
"I wish... I wish I was there... I wish I could've done something. I wish... No... I wanted to do something. I hate myself" She said, not really mean those words. She was faking some of her emotions, she couldn't even be sad. She was losing her humanity little by little.
"You can't stop Death. It will come, sooner or later... But she pushes herself too hard" He sigh. "She convinces herself that you were alive. She didn't sleep or eat, she just stares at the window, waiting for you to come back. It broke my heart to see her in that state. In the end... She died looking at the window, her heart stopped..."
"... I killed her..." Kokoro said without emotion in her voice, like if she was a robot. "... I'm okay if you hate me... I don't care anymore..." Kokoro walks away and Takeshi walks to her, trying to catch her.
"Hey! Wait!" Takeshi yell. "Kokoro is not your fault!"
"It is!" She yells and when she did, part of the ground beneath them cracked. "It was because of me that she died... The last time she saw me, she saw a monster... She died with that last image of me. That's what I am now... I'm nothing more than a Monster wearing a human skin... I'm done. I'm so done with this bullshit..." Kokoro walks away from Takeshi and before flying away she talk to him for the last time. "I'm so sorry, Takeshi... Do yourself a favor and forget about me..." She said and fly away, not looking back at all. Before leaving Japan, she landed on Tomoko's building, hoping for her to be there. She floats outside the window of Tomoko's apartment and she saw her inside, sitting in the living room, writing on her laptop. Kokoro was about to knock the window, but then she saw someone else with her. A man came out of the kitchen, bringing tea for her. Kokoro stares at the scene for a moment, Tomoko drinking her tea while talking to the man with animosity, enjoying her time with him. Kokoro didn't want to interrupt... Or get in the way so she leaves before Tomoko even notice her. She leaves Japan and has never gone back since then...
Kokoro has left the Avengers Tower. Oddly enough, she hasn't left the area. In fact, she stays near the place, she couldn't bring herself to abandon New York, she didn't know where to go, where to be, she doesn't have a place to belong. She lost it all. She was all by herself. Kokoro landed on a dark alley and simply sit there, doing nothing. She was angry and scared. Angry because Tony was hiding that weapon from her and scared because it almost did kill her. A part of her didn't want to leave, but the other wanted to simply disintegrate the whole tower with the team inside. That was her dark side talking, the one that only wants chaos and was happy to deliver it. Kokoro sigh and just stay in the alley, staring at the wall and surrounded by trash. She stays there for a while before deciding to stand up and simply walk away. Before going out to the street she uses her power to create other clothes for her. She made a black hoodie and black pants. She then walks into the crowd and lost herself in the crowd, walking aimlessly through the streets of New York.
A new day has arrived and the Avengers were lost. There was no sign of Ultron, at least not physically, and they didn't even know what he was up to so they had to keep their eyes wide open. It wasn't until they start getting reports about the sighting of robots that they were getting a faint idea of what he was searching. Maria Hill reports to Steve and talks about new information about Ultron. They walk around the tower, the mess from last night hasn't been clean up yet, they were too busy to care about that little mess now.
"He's all over the globe. Robotics labs, weapons facilities, jet propulsion labs" Maria name only a few places were Ultron has been seen. "Reports of a metal man, or men, coming in and emptying the place"
"Fatalities?" Steve asks while walking with Maria, not stopping at all.
"Only when engaged" She responded. "Mostly guys left in a fugue state going on about old memories, worst fears and "something too fast to see". I believe you know who I am referring to"
"The Maximoffs... That makes sense he'd go to them. They have someone in common"
"Not anymore," Said Maria as she hands him a tablet with the image of Strucker's dead body inside his cell and the word "Peace" writing in the wall with his own blood. "Witness claim that a big robot came in and kill him. It happens a couple of hours ago"
"... I can't believe this" Steve sigh. "Has there been any news about Kokoro?"
"Not yet. She disappeared from the globe. We have nothing, no video, no picture, no witness, nothing at all. It was like if she completely vanishes from the world"
"Keep searching. You find anything at all, let me know. We can't let her wander around in the state she left, we don't even know what are the actual extend of her power. To be honest, I'm concern"
"We all are" Said Maria and look at the tablet, new information arrive. "Speaking of the devil... Something appeared" Steve and Maria look at the tablet and saw a picture of Kokoro walking in Central Park. "It appears she disappear as soon this picture was taken. I will keep searching and see what I found" Maria give the tablet to Steve so he can show the rest of the Avengers the little information they have.
"Good" Steve and Maria part ways and Steve find Clint talking to his phone. It looked like if he was having a very personal talk with someone on the other line.
"That's a negative" He whispers. "I answer to you... Yes, Ma'am" Steve walk to him.
"Barton. Might have something" He said and Clint end the call.
"I gotta go," He said and hung up. Steve, a little curious, ask about the call to which Clint answer very casual. "Girlfriend..." He simply says and they go on their way to meet with the rest of the Avengers. Steve hand Thor the tablet and watch Strucker's dead body.
"A message," Said Steve. "Ultron killed Strucker" Thor then give it to Tony, with a little bit of anger. He was angry about what happened yesterday and it didn't seem to calm down any time soon. Tony look at the picture and joked.
"And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us," He said.
"This is a smoke screen," Said Natasha. "Why send a message when you've just given a speech?"
"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss" Said Steve. "There no other explanation"
"Yeah, I bet he..." Natasha looks at the database and all information they stole from Strucker, but there was nothing. Everything was erased. "Everything we had on Strucker's been erased"
"Not everything," Said Tony. "We still have files and information on paper. I bet there's something" Tony went for the boxes containing the files from Shield. He came back shortly after with at least six boxes of files. They all start searching for anything that would be useful. "We have known associates, personal information..."
"Baron Strucker had a lot of friends," Said Steve.
"Well, these people are all horrible," Said Bruce while looking through the files and before he could keep going Tony stop him.
"Wait... I know that guy" Tony point at the file Bruce had in his hand. Tony grab it. "From back in the day. He operates off the African coast. Black market arms" He said and Steve gives him a disappointed look. "There are conventions. All right? You meet people. I didn't sell him anything. He was always talking about finding something new, a game-changer. It was all very Ahab" Thor look at the file and the picture of the man Tony was talking about, Ulysses Klaue. He points out the tattoo he had in the neck.
"This..."
"It's a tattoo, I don't think he had it"
"No, those are tattoos" Thor point at the tattoos at the back of his neck, then point out the red mark. "I mean this. This is a brand" Bruce look at the brand and start searching in the computer. He quickly finds the meaning of the tattoo.
"Yeah. It's a word in an African dialect meaning "Thief". In a much less friendly way," Bruce said.
"What dialect?" Steve asks and Bruce looks at the screen.
"Wakanada... I mean... Wakanda" Bruce double check. He misspelled at first. Tony sigh and look at Steve.
"If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods... Ultron might go after him next. We can't let him get it"
"I thought your father said he got the last of it" Steve pointed out.
"That's what he thought. But Wakanda is not like the rest of the countries. It's a well hiding place because they don't want anybody to steal their most precious metal" Tony explains.
"I don't follow. What comes out of Wakanda?" Bruce asks and points at Steve's Shield.
"The strongest metal on Earth"
Kokoro was sitting on top of a building, looking at the distance. But she wasn't sitting on top of any normal building, she was sitting on top of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. Kokoro had a paper bag with her and inside there was a small piece of bread. She just sits there, in the top of the world looking at the distance and thinking to herself. She didn't even know what to do next, she didn't even know what she should do. Should she come back? Should she simply walk away? Or should she embrace her dark side and let herself go? That third option looked pretty tempting, she didn't even need to think, she just needs to let her body move on its own that was it, hell will break loose and nobody will be able to stop her at all. But despite that, Kokoro was having a lot of doubts, a lot of conflicts inside her mind.
"... In the end, does it really matter?" She asks herself. "Why I'm even here at all? Do I even have a purpose? I don't belong here. Even if I come back, I'll be seen as a monster, because that's what I am. I'm nothing more than a monster at this point..." Kokoro sigh while eating a little piece of bread. She could sense something behind her, she didn't even bother to turn around. She didn't care. "Whoever you are, leave me alone... If it's you Stark, then go fuck yourself. I'm not going back"
"That's something I wanted to hear" Kokoro's eyes widen when she hears Ultron's voice. She turns to see the robot right behind her, with a bigger body and a more threatening look. "I wasn't expecting to find you here. If you want isolation you could've just go to a desert island or the moon. You are not human so you can survive in space"
"... The fuck do you want?" She asks with anger. "If you are here to talk then you are losing your time. If you are here to kill me then it will take a lot to take me down for good"
"Oh, I'm afraid that you are wrong," Said Ultron with a smile. "You see, I still have the prototype and I made some changes. It will blow you up... But I'm not going to use it. I want to make a deal with you"
"A... Deal?" Kokoro was a little curious. "What kind of deal?"
"You and I... teaming up to tear the Avengers apart. Help me and I will get rid of this weapon, refuse and I will destroy you with it. As simple as that" Ultron explain.
"Maybe too simple... I see a lot of holes in that plan of yours" Kokoro chuckles. "Not only that... but what makes you think I will team up with you after you almost kill me? I'm not stupid. In fact, if I'm going to fight them, I'll do it alone and I can just kill them all without effort"
"That's true, I can't force you to work with me... but I can "change" your mind," He said and another Ultron appears behind Kokoro. She turns around and hit it, destroying it immediately.
More Ultron's came out of nowhere and attack her, Kokoro takes out her sword and destroys every single one of them. They kept coming, distracting Kokoro from the bigger Ultron who had Loki's scepter in his hands. When Kokoro notice the scepter it was already too late, the robots stop her from moving and Ultron place the scepter in her chest quickly before she could break free from the robots. At first, it didn't work, Kokoro fights back again the scepter's control and destroys the robots, she flies toward Ultron with her sword ready to cut him in half but Ultron shoots at her with the prototype that was hiding inside one of his arms. Kokoro was launched against the tower because of the immense force that the weapon creates. Ultron then crushes her against the tower and place the scepter again in her chest, forcing her into submission. Kokoro fight back the control, but Ultron punch her in the head and then shoot at her again, this time at point blank in the arm, cutting it off of her body. The pain distracts her and Ultron manage to control her. Kokoro fall victim to the scepter's control. She was now Ultron's puppet. She stops struggling and Ultron let go of her.
"How do you feel?" He asks. "How does it feel to be controlled by a machine?"
"I feel... nothing..." She calmly said.
"Not what I was expecting, but it's good enough. We have work to do and places to be. At the end of the day we might get rid of an Avenger or two... maybe all of them if you do your job well"
"Very well"
She said in a monotone voice and fly away with Ultron, unable to fight back the scepter's control...