Chapter Five: The Twins.
"Talk, and if you are wasting our time..." Wanda Maximoff trailed off, her eyes glowing a bright crimson as she threatened whoever it was that had dared contact her and her brother.
"Did you know this church is in the exact centre of the city? The elders decreed it so that everyone could be equally close to God. I like that. The geometry of belief." A voice replied, uncaring and cold.
"You're wondering why you can't look inside my head." The voice continued, causing Wanda to frown but stop her attempt at mind reading. Her eyes returning to their normal brown colour.
"Sometimes it's hard. But sooner or later, every man shows himself." Wanda replied with a shrug.
The 'man' chuckled, tossing off his cloak before standing up. Revealing his tall, metallic form. "Oh, I'm sure they do. But you needed something more than a man. That's why you let Stark take the scepter."
Wanda and Pietro were shocked. They knew something would happen, but this was beyond anything they imagined.
"I didn't expect this, But I saw Stark's fear, I knew it would control him, make him self-destruct." Wanda muttered.
Ultron nodded. "Everyone creates the thing they dread. Men of peace create engines of war, invaders create avengers, people create smaller people? Uhh, children! I lost the word there." He joked with a smirk before continuing.
"Children. Designed to supplant them, to help them...end."
Pietro decided to step forwards, his eyes narrowed. "Is that why you've come, to end the Avengers?" He asked.
"I've come to save the world. But also… yeah." He nodded, walking out of the church, with the twins following him.
~ - ~ - ~ - ~
"We'll move out right away. This is a start, but there's a few things we need to begin the real work." Ultron told his new companions as he worked on something.
He had led them to his base of operations, where dozens of his drones now flew about, doing tasks.
"So all of these are what, exactly?" Wanda asked.
"Me." Ultron replied with a small smirk.
"I have what the Avengers never will. Harmony. They're discordant, disconnected. Stark's already got most of them turning on each other, And when you get inside the rest of their heads-"
Pietro sighed. "Everyone's plan is not to kill them." He muttered with annoyance.
"And make them martyrs? You need patience. Need to see the bigger picture." Ultron told him, tapping the side of his head.
Pietro glared at him, a righteous fury and sadness in his eyes. "I don't see the big picture, I have a little picture. And I take it out and look at it every day."
"You lost your parents in the bombings. I've seen the records." Ultron nodded.
"The records are not the picture. They don't tell you everything!" Pietro seethed, hands forming into fists.
"Pietro-"
Ultron held up a hand, wanting to hear this. He knew many things, but the real reason behind them surviving the Hydra Experiments still alluded him. They had the same chances as everyone, but somehow they managed to push through where others went mad or died. "No, please." He insisted, ignoring the sorrowful look on Wanda's face.
"We were ten years old, having dinner, the four of us. When the first shell hits, two floors below, it makes a hole in the floor. It's big." Pietro explained, showing how big the hole was with his hands.
"Our parents go in, and the whole building starts coming apart. I grab her, roll under the bed and the second shell hits. But, it doesn't go off." The young man continues, closing his eyes as he remembers.
"It just sits there in the rubble, three feet from our faces. And on the side of the shell is painted one word..." Pietro smiles darkly, pain on his face and In his tone.
"Stark." Wanda growled, her eyes flashing crimson for a second before returning to normal. She then added:
"We were trapped for two days. Every effort to save us, every shift in the bricks, I think, This will set it off. We wait for two days for Tony Stark to kill us."
Pietro sighed, bringing his sister into a hug. "I know what they are, which is why we must stop them."
"I had wondered why only you two survived Strucker's experiments. Now I don't. We will make it right." Ultron said, turning to look at Pietro. "You and I can hurt them."
The AI then turned to face Wanda. "But you will tear them apart, from the inside."
"Just us isn't going to be enough. Especially when they have a Kryptonian and experienced speedster to help them." Wanda pointed out.
Ultron smirked. "Then it's a good thing I've decided to bring in a few ringers."
A flash of crimson zoomed about the room before coming to a stop near Ultron. It was a speedster. He stood at six foot seven and was wearing a form fitting, leather like suit coloured in black, yellow and red. However he does not have a helmet or mask, it seemed that his face was a part of the suit, and it was horrifying.
"Introducing reverse flash, not the original of course. This guy comes from a long dead timeline, but he hates the Avengers as much as us so he has that going for him." Ultron smirked.
The speedster didn't say a word, he just stood there with folded arms.
"Oh and here is another ally, I found him at the bottom of the ocean. He needed some upgrades and he's now completely loyal to me." Ultron smirked, gesturing to a tall Ultron drone with glowing green circuit lines and a skull like face that just landed.
"He doesn't speak?" Wanda assumed.
"No, unfortunately he has a habit of running his mouth. So I haven't yet fixed his voice box. But I will, when the time is right." Ultron chuckled, patting the drone on the shoulder.
~ - ~ - ~ - ~
((Avengers headquarters))
Maria Hill and Steve Rogers walk out of the elevator to find themselves on the lab floor where Ultron and the Iron Legion broke free from. There is debris and glass everywhere. Dumm-E and U, Tony's older helper robots (with no connection to the internet) were helping clean up by brushing the glass into a neat area. They usually just hung out in the private garage or labs. But Tony had brought them up to help while he and the team worked on finding Ultron.
"He's all over the globe. Robotics labs, weapons facilities, jet propulsion labs, Aerospace RD facilities, all of them saying the same thing. reports of a metal man, or men, coming in and emptying the place out."
Steve nodded. "Any Fatalities?"
Hill sighed. "Only when engaged, some were killed when they tried to stop him, but most of the personnel were left in a fugue state going on about old memories, worst fears, and something too fast to see."
Steve hummed. "The Maximoffs. Well, that makes sense he'd go to them, they have someone in common."
Maria winced. "Well, Not anymore."
She hands Steve a tablet showing photos of Strucker's dead body with the word PEACE written in blood behind his pulped head.
Steve felt himself feel slightly sick at seeing that. The brutality was overkill, he knew if the AI wanted to just kill him, he could have. There was a reason he did it so violently, he was sending a mission.
'You'll end up like him if you stand in my way'.
Clint seemed to be on the phone in a nearby room, and steve could hear a female voice coming from the speaker. "That's a negative. I answer to you" The archer replied, a small smile on his face.
Steve raised an eyebrow but didn't think much into it. "Barton, we might have something."
Clint Nodded and said goodbye before hanging up the phone. Steve was about to ask something but thought he better not, his friends and comrades deserved their privacy.
After gathering/calling the rest of the team, Steve shows them the photos of strucker.
Tony frowned upon seeing the gruesome images. "What's this?" he asks.
Steve sighed. "A message. Ultron killed Strucker."
"And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us." Cisco muttered, feeling sick.
Tony smirked slightly at the joke. "You beat me by one second."
Natasha Romanoff ignored them both. "This is a smokescreen. Why send a message when you've just given a speech?"
"Strucker must have known something that Ultron wanted us to miss." Barry guessed, folding his arms.
Natasha nodded, quickly logging onto the computer so as to access their database. "Yeah, I bet he-" She looks up Strucker's name and finds nothing. It's been wiped clean. "Yep. Everything we had on Strucker has been erased."
Tony's smirk widened. "Not everything."
Understanding his idea, Barry flashed out of the room and came back with cardboard boxes full of files, repeating the process until they had everything on Strucker.
Steve was looking through the box labelled: 'Known associates.' "Well, Strucker had a lot of friends, that's for sure."
Bruce was helping steve look through the list, and his eyes widened upon seeing the names and what they did. "Well, these people are all horrible." He said sarcastically, about to turn the page only for Tony to stop him.
"Wait. I know that guy."
Bruce passes him the file for Tony to double check. "Yeah, From back in the day. He operates off the African coast, black market arms."
Steve gives him an Judgemental look, causing Tony to defend himself.
"There are conventions, alright? You meet people, I didn't sell him anything. The guy's name is Klaue, He was talking about finding something new, a game changer, it was all very out there." The billionaire explained.
Thor peers over Tony's shoulder and notices a tattoo on one of the photos of Klaue. "What's this?"
Tony blinked "Uh, it's a tattoo. I don't think he had it at the time I met him.."
Thor shook his head. "No, I have seen tattoos, this is a brand."
Bruce politely asks Natasha to scoot over so he can look something up, and after he does so he confirms Thor's finding. "Oh, yeah. It's a word in an African dialect meaning thief, in a much less friendly way."
Steve frowned. "Which dialect?"
Bruce took another look at the info on the computer before turning back to reply. "Wakanada...? Wa...Wa...Wakanda." he finally said after stumbling over the word.
Tony and Steve's eyes shot open. "If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods..."
Steve narrowed his eyes. "I thought your father said he got the last of it?" He accused, making Tony laugh.
Bruce looked confused. "I don't follow. What comes out of Wakanda?" He asked.
Tony pointed towards Steve's shield, which just so happened to be leaning against a chair in the corner. "The strongest metal on earth."
"Do you have any idea where this Klaue guy is now?" Steve asks the billionaire.
-- -
((Salvage Yard, African Coast))
Ulysses Klaue, Black Market weapons and goods dealer stood in his office in the middle of an abandoned Oil tanker.
This had been his base of operations for the last decade. He has friends in high places and employs a series of professional (and nasty) people to keep him, his merchandise and workers safe from his enemies.
Currently, he was on the phone with someone who had tried to screw him over.
"Don't tell me your man swindled you. I sent you six short range heat seekers and got a boat full of rusted parts. Now, you will make it right, or the next missile I send you will come very much faster!" He threatens, ending the call before switching the line to another contact "Now, minister, where were we?" he asks politely.
Suddenly, the lights on the ship go out for but a moment, causing a commotion in the salvage yard. Workers began to panic until the light returns.
Klaue turns around to find two particular people now standing in his office. "Ah, The enhanced. Strucker's prize pupils."
The man then picked up a candy dish and held it out to them.
"Want a candy? Oh, sorry to hear about Strucker. But then, he knew what kind of world he was helping create. Human life, not a growth market." Klaue chuckled.
The Twins turned to look at each other, confusion on their faces.
"You...you didn't know? Is this your first time intimidating someone? I'm afraid, that I'm not that afraid." Klaue smirked.
Wanda stepped forward. "Everybody's afraid of something." She growled out in her thick Sokovian accent.
Klaue nodded enthusiastically. "Cuttlefish. Deep sea fish. They make lights. disco lights. Whoom, whoom, whoom, to hypnotize their prey, then GHOP! I saw a documentary once, it was terrifying." The man said.
Pietro speeds over to pick up a candy from Klaue's desk, and Klaue jerks at the sudden movement. He knew they had powers, he just hadn't know what kind of powers.
Snapping back into reality, he turns back to look at Wanda. "So if you're going to fiddle with my brain, and make me see a giant cuttlefish, then I know you don't do business, and I know you're not in charge, and I only deal with the man in charge."
A metallic figure flies up to the office window and smashes through it, knocking Klaue to the ground.
"There is no "man" in charge. Let's talk business." Ultron smirks, hauling Klaue up before bringing him downstairs, with the twins following them.
Klaue types in a code into a seemingly innocent door locker. Seconds later the wall opens up, revealing rack after rack of containers filled with cylindrical cut ore of pure vibranium.
Klaue reaches in and takes a container our, handing it over to ultron.
"Upon this rock I will build my church." Ultron pouted as he inspected the metal.
Klaue rubbed the back of his neck, nervous while in the presence of two powered youths and an unknown robotic entity. "You know, it came at great personal cost. It's worth billions." He tried to reason.
Ultron, knowing the man didn't know his plans and could possibly be useful in the future, Decided to humour him. With his control over the world's banks, he deposited several billions into the offshore accounts of Klaue. "And now, so do you, its all in your dummy savings? Finances, so weird. But I always say, Keep your friends rich and your enemies rich, and wait to find out which is which'."
Klaue froze for a moment, recognising that quote. "Stark." He mumbled.
Ultron blinked at that, his eyes/optics narrowing. "What?" he questioned.
Ulysses swallowed the lump in his throat before making himself look taller. "Tony Stark used to say that...to me. You're one of his." He accused.
Ultron's already glowing crimson eyes got even brighter at that. "What?! I'm not-" The AI took hold of Klaue's arm in anger. "You think I'm one of Stark's puppets, his hollow men? I mean look at me, do I look like Iron Man? Stark is nothing!" He exclaimed, chopping Klaue's arm off in anger, shocking the twins, Klaue's men and even himself.
"I'm sorry. I am so—Ooh, I'm sure that's going to be okay. I'm sorry, it's just I don't understand. Don't compare me with Stark! It's a thing with me. Stark is, He's, he's a sickness!" The AI growled, kicking Klaue down the stairs and out of mind.
A pair of thrusters could be heard behind them, as well as a metallic thud.
Ultron and the twins turn to see Iron Man, Thor and Captain America stood before them.
Tony sighs dramatically. "Ahh, Junior. You're going to break your old man's heart."
"If I have to." Ultron sneers in reply.
Thor takes a step forward. "We don't have to break anything." He reasons, trying to disarm the situation.
Ultron smirks. "Clearly you've never made an omelette."
"He beat me by one second, what is it today. First Cisco and now Ultron." Tony grumbles.
Pietro scoffs. "Ah, this is funny, Mr. Stark. It's what, comfortable? Like old times?" he sarcastically jokes, gesturing to the weapons and illegal explosives around them.
Tony shook his armoured head. "This was never my life." He denied.
Steve stepped forward now, looking directly at the twins." You two can still walk away from this."
Wanda gave him a fake pouty face. "Oh, we will." She replies.
Steve sighs, still not giving up. "I know you've suffered-"
Ultron chuckles darkly. "Blurgh! , Captain America. God's righteous man, pretending you could live without a war. I can't physically throw up in my mouth, but..."
Thor tightens the hold on his hammer, narrowing his eyes as he senses the situation is deteriorating. "If you believe in peace, then let us keep it." He requested.
Ultron snorts. "I think you're confusing peace with quiet." The AI retorts, tilting his head.
Tony Rolls his eyes behind the visor of his helmet. "Yuh-huh. What's the Vibranium for?" he asks.
Ultron rolls his wrist around, staring directly into Tony's visor. "I'm glad you asked that, because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan—" he growls, shooting forwards to attack his 'creator'.
Ultron Drones appear our of nowhere and begin taking on the other Avengers.
Ulysses Klaue takes this time to escape, leading his men away while everyone else was distracted.
The rest of the team, including Natasha, Barton and Barry, now battle it out with Ultron's drones and the twins as Stark fights with Ultron.
Kara was left behind with Bruce, they were to be backup in case something went wrong.
Steve manages to knock down Pietro and warns him to stay down. He did not enjoy having to hurt a young person, but if they continued the way they had been, he would not have a choice. "Stay down, kid!" He pleads the speedster.
Ultron talks to Wanda using one of his many drones. "It's time for some mind games, go do what you do best." He encouraged her.
Banner hears the commotion as he waits in the Quinjet, watching from the cockpit window as hundreds of Klaue's men start to run from the Oil tanker. He also sees small explosions rocking said Oil tanker.
"Guys, is this a Code Green or Blonde?" Bruce asks, turning to look at Supergirl, who gave him an unsure look in return.
The Star team also shrugged, the comms were getting interference so they had no idea what was going on.
~ - ~ - ~ - ~
Wanda sneaks up on Thor while he is fighting some drones. She uses some of her power to manipulate his mind before disappearing into the shadows.
"Thor! Status?" Steve asks over the comms, obviously busy fighting more ultron drones.
Thor walked forwards, seemingly stalking towards a group of ultron drones. "The girl tried to warp my mind. Take special care, I doubt a human could keep her at bay. Fortunately I am mighty."
His arrogance got the better of him, as his surroundings shift to the that of a great hall, full of the warriors of Asgard. It looked like how he would imagine Valhalla to be.
He is greatly confused.
In the meantime, Wanda manages to whammy both Natasha and Steve also.
Seeing this, an ultron drones turns crimson, picking up the remaining Vibranium before flying off. "This is going very well..." it comments before fading back to its light blue coloration.
Steve meanwhile drops his shield, his mind lost in the hallucination Wanda has given him.
He was back home in the US, having parachuted from the plane before it hit the ice. He was at a 'The war is over!' party, surrounded by fellow officers and servicemen.
Peggy appears before him, dressed up in a beautiful house. "We can go home now Steve." She tells him, her smile soft.
Her face then fades away, changing into Natasha's. "Think of it." Natasha tells him, reaching out and taking his hand.
Steve gulps, nervous but also joyful and begins to dance with her. He was happy, but...he knew this wasn't real. As much as he deep down wanted it to be.
~ - ~
Natasha was struggling with her own hallucination, being reminded of her time in the red room. Back before shield, the Avengers, everything.
She was just a child. But was forced and moulded into a weapon.
She is back in the surgical room again, surrounded by other screaming girls and ghastly experiments. "The graduation ceremony is necessary." One of her teachers tells her in a soft, almost regretful voice.
Natasha screams but no sound comes out. A flash of light surrounds her and she finds herself stood in the middle of a stately home, other widow trainees stood beside her.
A trainer walks over and gives her a pistol. "Kill him." The man orders her before walking behind her.
Natasha turns to see a figure strapped to a chair, a hood over his head to hide his features. The trainer pulls off the hood, revealing Steve underneath.
'no' her mind and heart tells her, but her body moves on its own. She raises the pistol and pulls the trigger-
~ - ~ - ~ - ~
Wanda tries to sneak up behind Barton and Barry, but the speedster quickly turns and trips her up, allowing Hawkeye to stick an electrical arrow to her forehead. Temporarily shorting out her powers and tazing her.
Clint smirks. "We've done the whole mind control thing."
"Yeah, Not a fan." Barry adds with narrowed eyes. Just then, Pietro speeds in, punches Flash in the jaw and then knocks Clint down.
The speedster then picks up his sister, glares at the two heroes and then bolts off somewhere else.
"Yeah, you better run." Clint groans out.
Barry helps him up while speaking into the comm. "Whoever's standing, we gotta move! Guys?" he asks, becoming concerned upon not getting a reply.
(End of chapter five)
Things are starting to heat up!
Please review and let me know your thoughts on the story so far, I do appreciate it!