- ELEVEN -
With Ultron still bearing down over him, Klaue slowly pushes himself up off the ground. Without words, he nods his head to the left and we follow him across the boat. Since we cut the power on the boat, the only sounds to be heard are the workers in the distance and a steady drip of water from the broken pipes. Hallway after hallway, we make our way in to the hull of the ship. Metal groans beneath out feet.
Finally, we reach a door that is pulled open by a burly man that must work for Klaue. He stands at least a foot taller then me and makes direct eye contact as he slides the door open.
We're greeted with large, metal barrels. Wanda and Pietro looked shocked and the latter looks as is if he's about to ask Klaue what this is. He, though, doesn't note the hinges on the inside of the door or the metal scrapes lining it's frame. Nobody moves.
"Oh come on, we don't have all day," I sigh, marching forward and grabbing the lip of metal on the wall. I grunt as I pull it aside, my arms threatening to give out. Ulton lets out a sound of astonishment and reaches out a hand that easily pulls the rest of the room aside. I step back and admire the now visible chamber usually hidden on the boat. It's small and stuffy, with no room to even turn around.
And it's stocked floor to ceiling with Vibranium.
Klaue grabs a glowing metal tube containing the commodity and hands it gently to Ultron.
"Upon this rock I will build my church," Ultron states boldly, looking at the precious metal in his hand. I recognize those words.
More words from the bible, more words to sanctify his actions. Despite the heat, a shiver runs down my spine.
Ultron throws it up in the air and catches it, reveling at the small look of panic on Klaue's face. Again he throws it, but this time it's Pietro who catches it with his lightning reflexes and a look of pure shock in his eyes. I almost groan; somebody needs to teach him how to keep a straight face.
"You know," Klaue mutters, scratching the back of his head, "this stuff came at great personal cost. It's worth billions."
Ultron laughs deeply and tilts his head back. He's doing something but I don't know what. My own brain and eyes search him for any clues but he doesn't leave any. Not the way humans do. His bright red eyes turn back to Klaue.
"Now, so are you."
Klaue looks at Ultron, then at me, and then at the tall man who is supposedly his security guard.
I don't know how Ultron did it, but he somehow just informed the world of the Vibranium that Klaue has. That would mean his net worth is up in the trillions; so, it won't be long before somebody comes knocking on his door for it.
I keep the look of surprise and shock out of my eyes.
"Finances are so weird ," Ultron says with a tone of mock dismay, "but I always say, keep your friends rich and your enemies rich and wait to find out which is which."
"Stark," Klaue mutters almost inaudibly. I feel Wanda and Peitro tense up behind me.
"What?" Ultron asks, his voice cutting through the air.
"Tony Stark used to say that. He used to say that to me."
Klaue, with a new air of confidence, steps towards Ultron.
"You're one of his?" he asks the robot.
I can feel it all happen before it does. I quietly grab my gun out of it's holster on my leg.
"What?" Ultron yells incredulously.
He grabs Klaue's arm and twists it upwards. The guard goes to pull out his gun, but mine is already pointed at him. Before I do anything, though, red wisps encircle the hand of the guard holding the gun and force his hand back down. I look over and Wanda's brows furrowed in concentration.
"I am not one of Stark's puppets- one of his hollow men. I mean, look at me!" Ultron exclaims angrily.
"Look at me! Do I look like Iron Man?" he yells again, growing angrier by the second.
"Stark is NOTHING" Ultron shouts. With his last word, a knife protrudes from his hand and he slams it down on Klaue's arm, severing it from the elbow. Both of the twins visibly flinch.
Klaue stumbles back, all the colour draining from is face. The anger that had pierced Ultron's voice only moments ago slips away.
"Oh!" he winces, "I am sorry, I am so sorry- I'm sure that's going to be okay."
He continues with the light facade.
"I'm sorry. I guess I just don't understand," he mutters, frustration rising in his voice again. "Don't compare me to TONY STARK!"
With that, he lifts his powerful metal leg and kicks the Klaue backwards down the stairs. As if it hadn't happened, Ultron continues on his loud and crazed rant. I grip my gun tighter, even though my brain tells me that it won't help me against him. I just need something- anything- in case he turns that rage on me.
"Stark" he mutters through clenched teeth (or if you could even call his metal veneers that). "Tony Stark is a sickness!".
Wanda flinches again.
Before he can go on further, though, a whirring noise echoes through the hull of the ship. I recognize the sound of his suit before I see it.
"Ah junior," Iron Man sighs from behind us, "you're going to break your old man's heart."
He lands on the ground just as Captain America and the Asgardian, Thor, break out of the shadows. If Ultron could smile, in that moment, he would have. The three others turn and walk towards the "heroes". I use the distraction to slowly back into the dark edge next to the stairs. The Avengers don't travel alone, so where are the others?
"Only if I have to," I hear Ultron say.
"Nothing has to get broken," a deep voice- Thor- replies.
"You've never made an omelette, then," Ultron laughs in response.
Before they quarrel some more, I take the stairs up for higher ground. In the corner of my eye, I see Hawkeye drawing an arrow. He looks like he has healed well, at least.
My only advantage now it that they don't know I am here.
"What did you do with the girl?" Tony asks skeptically.
Damn it .
"It's funny," Pietro laughs, "you pretending to care about somebody other than yourself. Are you comfortable here?"
The speedster nods his head towards the weapons that line the walls and the floors of the entire ship.
"This was never my life," Stark mutters, his voice laced with disappointment.
"You two can still come away from this," comes the Captain's deep voice. I pear out of the dark to see him step forward, hand raised gently. I knew he was lying. People never leave unscathed. Once the Avengers were done, why would they care about the Maximoff twins?
"Oh, we will," Wanda interjects, seeming to have gained back some semblance of confidence.
"I know you've suffered," he continues, but Ultron cuts him off with a loud groan.
"Ah, Captain America- God's righteous man," he shakes his head as if in dismay. "Look at you, pretending you could live without war. I can't physically throw up, but-"
Thor cuts him off.
"If you believe in peace, let us keep it."
"I think you're confusing peace with quiet," Ultron chides.
"Ya. Sure. So then what's the vibranium for?" Stark asks, unimpressed.
"I'm glad you asked," Ultron replies. I see his demeanor change; he raises his hand slightly and I know it's my queue to move. I cock my gun quietly and keep an eye on the spy on the upper level across from me.
"Because I was going to use this time to explain my evil plan."
Without hesitation, a blast of light shoots from Ultron's hand. I don't wait to see the damage, but instead run towards Hawkeye. He loads an arrow and before he releases, I shoot a bullet. It clips the front of his arrow, knocking off the metal tip. His eyes search fervently to see who took the shot, but have no success as I race down the stairs.
It is a flurry of loud noises and flying metal. Running into the centre, I slide across the floor, sweeping the Captain's legs out from underneath him.
"We keep on meeting like this don't we?" he comments, as I dodge a roundhouse kick. I spin around and bring my elbow into his side, knocking him into a railing. Behind me, the Asgardian is tearing apart some other flying robots that must've been the creation of Ultron with some sort of hammer.
I flip backwards, dodging the Captain's metal shield, and we end up in a narrow hallway.
"I don't want to fight you," he grunts, throwing a swift punch that catches the side of my face. I duck low and take a knife out of a holster on my leg. I've never had a conversation with my opponent before.
"Good. This will be very easy then," I mutter, slashing the blade downwards. He avoids it by a millimeter.
"I'm serious," he says in between breaths. "Come back with us," punch "you don't know what you've gotten yourself into," kick "we can help you!"
I almost falter for a split second. Almost. They can't. Nobody can. I'm dead if the Red Room finds me and dead if they don't. My life was always meant to end this way; I am an invisible spot on a huge canvas.
"We passed the point for help along time ago, Captain," I mutter again, ducking under another punch. I rip my gun out of it's holster.
"No hesitation," I hear her yell in my ear. I side step and duck low to hit just below his shield.
My finger moves to pull the trigger, but red light envelopes the small corridor and everything goes black.
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Hello! Thanks so much for holding out for this chapter. I know it's not a totally exciting one, but I've already started the next one (hopefully it'll be ready for a quick update) and it should have some major changes in it!
As always, thanks for any support I can get on this story, feedback is gladly welcomed.
Thanks so much and hope you enjoyed,
Brynn xo