Chapter Twenty-Five;
In any other circumstance, Delaney would have loved to visit Seoul, South Korea.
The city was interesting, with so many unique buildings – and she had heard a lot about Korean barbeque. If it wasn't for the fact they were fighting Ultron, Delaney would have very much enjoyed her stay in Seoul. But there was no time for sightseeing: the mission always came first.
Their visit went downhill almost instantly, after she and Steve ran into Helen Cho's laboratory and saw her injured and bleeding on the ground, with no sign of Ultron. Apparently, the AI had taken off in a truck and they had to retrieve the gem from inside the truck.
So to retrieve it, it would involve jumping onto the truck.
She and Steve ran up the road, just above the said truck. As the team delegated missions, Delaney had at once offered to join Steve's side. They fought better as a team, and after the events in Washington, she knew she could fight alongside him easily. They understood each other.
Also, she couldn't bear the thought of him possibly getting hurt when she could've done something about it.
Steve glanced across at her. "You ready?"
Delaney responded by backing up, eyes honed in on the truck. If they miscalculated the time, she knew it could end in a disaster, but that didn't matter. They had to stop Ultron.
Together, she and Steve sprinted for the incoming truck. Delaney jumped after Steve, gasping as her body crashed on to the metal of the truck and tumbled across the narrow surface. Terror gripped her body as she lost control of herself and felt her body slip off the side. Delaney lunged out with her arms and found the edge. It took all of her upper body strength to remain hanging on to the side – already she could feel her arms start to strain.
Gritting her teeth, Delaney tensed her arm muscles as she slowly pushed herself back on to the top. Just as she hurled herself over the edge the truck shook with impact and she heard Steve's yell. Delaney's head whipped up and saw Steve had hung on to the door which had now been blasted to the side by Ultron. The door swung closed, but another blast sent Steve flying into the air and gripping on to the ramp, which emitted sparks as it scraped across the road.
"Steve!" she shrieked. Delaney produced two of her knives and ran to the end of the truck. The knives had been a gift from Tony: more advanced than average knives, they emitted an electric charge across the blade for extra damage. The blades were formed of a harder metal too, that could cut through thicker and harder objects without sustaining damage or rendering the knife useless. Apparently ever since she left, he had been developing more dangerous knives for her to use against her adversaries.
Delaney watched as Steve pulled himself to a standing position, only to be blasted off the truck by Ultron. Delaney narrowed her eyes though didn't dare to do anything – unless she wished to risk her life and fall off the back of the truck, she couldn't reach Ultron or aim at him properly.
Ultron rose, powered like Tony's Iron Man suits. Delaney had Ultron described to her, but seeing him in person for the first time, her initial image was destroyed. She had pictured a humanoid form of Tony's suits – he was different, more powerful in appearance, more human in structure than the average robotic structure.
"You know what's in that Cradle?" Ultron sent a blast their day, which Delaney had to duck to avoid. He inched slowly closer, like a predator stalking its prey. "The power to make real change, and that terrifies you.
"I wouldn't call it a comfort," Steve retorted, and hurled his shield at Ultron. He flew momentarily backward and before he recovered, Delaney ran forward and swiped at him with her knives, but he too avoided those and retailed by firing. Delaney grunted as she hit the ground to avoid the shot and barely gave herself time to recover before she was scrambling to her feet once again, just managing to hold on to her knives as she spun around. Steve had engaged with Ultron, his attacks hardly doing damage against Ultron's metal body. Delaney could almost feel the electricity that charged her blades as she ran forward and swiped her knives across Ultron's back.
She had been aiming for his neck, but had become unbalanced on the truck and hit the back of his chest instead, her blades leaving a deep rent in the metal. Ultron snarled and lashed out, his arm striking Delaney's midsection. She cried out, flying through the air. Somehow she managed to land on the truck again and control her body, forcing herself to come to a stop before she tumbled off the edge.
Panting, Delaney drew new knives and got to her feet once again. As she'd tumbled backward, her ears ringing with her pounding heart and the clatter of her body against the metal truck, Ultron had blasted Steve on to the front of the truck. Delaney ran forward and jumped at Ultron, one arm gripping his neck, her legs around his body as she dug her knives into his chest.
The blow would have caused a human being to fall to their knees – but that sort of attack was only a slight bother to a hulking robot like Ultron. Growling, he grasped her arm – Delaney cried out as he crushed her wrist in an unbreakable grip and slammed her back on to the ground. Pain exploded in her skull and she momentarily blacked out, seeing stars, her body shaking with the impact.
She heard a distant voice shout her name, but didn't pay it much attention – she was too focused on coming back to full consciousness. Pushing through the pain, she propped herself back up on her elbows and looked up. Her heart stilled to see Ultron had Steve hanging over the edge of the truck, fingers clutched around Steve's neck.
"Steve," she choked. Her head still swam, but she managed to pull her knife out and slash at Ultron's knee, leaving a deep cut that went about three quarters of the way in – one that didn't hurt or bother him whatsoever.
Then Natasha was below on her motorcycle, and she threw Steve's shield to him – he caught it and slammed it against Ultron, causing the robot to stagger back. Steve freed himself of Ultron's grasp and landed back on the truck, Delaney clambering to her feet behind him.
The world swam, and before she could recover Ultron blasted Steve off the roof. Delaney turned to face Ultron, terror gripping her heart. Her head still ached – she really wasn't in prime condition to fight, but she'd do it anyway.
Ultron laughed as Delaney produced her second-last knife from her belt. "You don't really think you can fight me in your state, do you?"
The ground shook slightly beneath Delaney's feet; she gasped, realising it was Steve, who had somehow jumped up from the road back on to the truck. "Not when she has back up."
Delaney grinned as Steve engaged Ultron while she hovered in the background, slipping in the gaps and swinging her knives, spinning and ducking in a deadly dance.
At some point Steve threw Ultron from the roof, he flew back, colliding with both of them and sending them hurtling through the window of a train. Screams tore through the air as Delaney tumbled, arms raised to protect her head as she fell.
There was no time for recovery; Delaney cast a quick glance around to ensure that no civilians were seriously injured before she was by Steve's side, both of them attacking Ultron with all their fight and spirit – Steve defending Delaney behind his shield and Delaney slipping in with her knives. Delaney didn't even need to tell Steve her moves in her mind: they worked together effortlessly, as easy as breathing.
Just as Ultron managed to gain a slight upper hand in the fight, the battlefield was changed. An unseen force crashed through the train, knocking Ultron out of the way and sending him staggering back. Before he could move forward again, debris was in front of him, lifted in a haze of red light.
Delaney viewed their new allies with widened eyes; a boy with silver hair and dressed in what looked like running gear, and a dark-haired girl dressed in red and black, her hands outstretched as though about to perform some sort of spell. Though she hadn't seen them before, Delaney knew who they were: Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, the enhanced. The twins who the others had reported were allied with Ultron.
They were now against him.
"Please," Ultron said lowly to the twins. "Don't do this."
"What choice do we have?" Wanda spat.
Seeing he was outmatched, Ultron disappeared, though not without one last parting gift: Delaney staggered as the train shuddered beneath them and sped off the end of the train line, on to concrete path. Screams multiplied tenfold as the train charged through numerous civilian stores.
Steve looked at Pietro. "Civilians in our path."
The boy nodded and in a flash of silver, vanished from view. As he disappeared, Steve turned to Wanda. "Can you stop this thing?"
Delaney glanced out of the window and saw civilians being carried off the path in a blur. Her heart faltered as she saw a brick wall fast incoming. "Steve!" she yelled.
Steve raised his shield, while Delaney ducked and gripped the back of one of the chairs. The train hurtled through the brick barrier, bricks flying in every direction. Screams filled the air as Steve flew backwards, hit by incoming debris.
Wanda thrust her hands downward, red light emitting from her palms and consuming the train, which slowly screeched to a stop. Delaney's hold on her chair didn't lessen until it came to a complete stop. Breathless, she glanced over at Steve, and followed him and Wanda off the train to where Pietro stood. The youth was bent over double, hands on his knees and sucking in lungfuls of air.
"I'm fine," he muttered, as Wanda hovered anxiously over him. "I just need to take a minute."
"I'm very tempted not to give you one," Steve said.
Delaney hung back, watching the scene unfold with wary eyes. She had no place in this conversation, having not been a part of the events previously. She didn't understand that full picture, while the other three did.
"The Cradle, did you get it?" Wanda asked urgently.
"Stark will take care of it."
For some reason, Wanda Maximoff was suddenly pale. "No, he won't," she croaked.
Steve frowned. "You don't know what you're talking about, Stark's not crazy."
"He will do anything to make things right."
Steve didn't look fully convinced, but there was something hesitant to his movements as he pressed his hand over his communicator. "Stark, come in. Stark. Anyone on comms?"
No response.
Wanda took a step forward.
"Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that?"
The world suddenly felt so much colder.