ULTRON RETURNED TO HIS UNDERGROUND BASE, THE MAXIMOFFS IN TOW. Rows upon rows were a trail of bots, like a factory in motion, several machineries building themselves. Even in the dark, Ultron managed to create a whole army of himself, multiplied far more than what Tony could build. He was becoming more than what Wanda had imagined, and it was magnificent; alarming, but Wanda was intrigued.
Eszter stared out into the open factory, watching as the train would move and piece a bot together, then moving onto the next one. Man-kind could never. Ultron was more than she had expected; Eszter hadn't thought of the realization of Ultron being robotic, the wide range that he can explore. A weapon made from fear, slowly turning into something more alive, Ultron was growing. Maybe the line of fire will be easier for the Maximoffs with Ultron as their ally, a way to get them closer to the defeat of the Avengers.
Loyalty was only a thought that doesn't cross their minds, one that doesn't stick thick and strong with one side; it wasn't like the love and loyalty the siblings shared. No, this is different. They could be with Hydra one minute, then with Ultron in a second, but they wouldn't think too much before leaving him for themselves. Family is everything, and they're always there for you.
"We'll move out right away," Ultron assures. Eszter forces her eyes away from the bots and onto Ultron's larger form. "This is a start, but there's something we need."
"All these are . . ." Wanda stares at the several bots ahead of them.
"Me. I have what the Avengers never will. Harmony," Ultron grabs a chain before floating off the ledge. "They're discordant, disconnected. Stark's already got them turning on each other. And when you get inside their heads . . ."
"Everyone's plan is not to kill them," Pietro mutters.
Eszter recalls the moment, back in Hydra, Strucker made it clear he didn't plan on killing the Avengers. Frustrating as it was, Eszter wasn't sure whether or not she was upset at the request. But all she could wonder is why? What did Strucker want to prove that he wanted the Avengers to live to tell?
"And make them martyrs? You need patience. You need to see the little picture."
"I don't need a big picture. I have a little picture," Pietro sneers softly, getting emotional. As if she knows where this is going, Eszter jerks her chin towards her brother, glaring at him warningly. "I take it out and look at it every day."
Ultron tilts head like a curious cat, the machine inside whirls. "You lost your parents in the bombings. I've seen the records."
"The records are not the picture," Pietro fires back, defensive.
The topic had always been difficult to bring up, and Eszter has never liked the hear it. A memory that was scorched in her mind, even at a young age, Eszter remembered the terrifying feeling. She remembered eating in front of the TV, as normal as can be, and in a split second, everything changed; Eszter could still reminisce the feeling of the strong force that pushed her and how everything went dark. The ringing in her ears and the smoke that filled her little lungs. Eszter recalls the anxiety she felt under the bed, staring directly at one of the bombs that killed her mama and papa.
Eszter forces herself to look away when overwhelming grief smacked her, instantly filling her eyes with tears until they were burning heavily. The dark hole in her heart remained open, deprived of the joy and happiness she once felt, filling her with dread, fear, and anger. When Pietro brings up the memory, Eszter hates the constant reminder that it felt like a nightmare that never ends.
"Pietro," Wanda warns. The girl narrows her eyes before motioning to Eszter, but Pietro couldn't be silent.
"No, please," Ultron insists.
Eszter looks up until she's looking at Ultron, wondering how something so robotic could be so soft. Ultron spoke, and though he lacks the facial expressions, Eszter wondered if he actually did. Maybe it was only for trickeries or false concern, but it managed to catch Eszter's attention.
Just as Pietro relives their past, his gaze slowly lowers until they bounce between Eszter and Wanda. "We were ten-years-old, Essie was only seven; we were having dinner while watching TV, the five of us," the memory hurt; Pietro could feel it in his chest, but he carried on. "When the first shell hits, two floors below, it makes a hole in the floor. It's big." Pietro notices, and maybe he wasn't, Eszter swipes her hand over her cheekbone. "Our parents go in, and the whole building starts coming apart. I grab them, roll under the bed, and the second shell hits."
Mustering the courage and with a heavy heart, Eszter continues. "But it doesn't go off," her voice was low and raspy, throat thick as she swallows the lump. Sighing shakily, Eszter found it difficult to compose herself when flashes of memories burned in her mind, the enhanced mutters. "It just sits there in the rubble. Three feet from our face. Could you imagine? Hiding under a bed as a shell sits in front of you and waiting to die."
Ultron shifts his gears, staring at Eszter with no emotions, but his red lights glowing down at the enhanced. There was a part of him that felt bad for the trio, he couldn't tell, but Ultron had done his research. The fear and horrors from a child's view, Ultron could say it makes him feel unsettled. From his research, Ultron has read about death, and from what he'd seen, it can be both beautiful and terrifying.
"And on the side of the shell is painted one word . . ."
"Stark," Wanda sneers as if the name was poisonous, her eyes flared a threatening reddish color.
Pietro reaches up and lays a comforting hand on Wanda's shoulder. "We were trapped for two days."
"Every effort to save us, every shift in the bricks, I think, 'this will set it off,'" Wanda's demeanor changes. "We wait for two days for Tony Stark to kill us."
Pietro nods. "I know what they are."
"I wondered why only you three survived Strucker's experiments," Ultron nods, voice somehow full of sympathy. "Now I don't. We will make it right."
"How?" Eszter interjects.
Ultron looks at Pietro. "You and I can hurt them," but as he looks between Wanda and Eszter. "But you two will tear them apart . . . from the inside."
Eszter shakes her head, unsure. "I don't have the sort ability? Wanda does. I can move things."
"From what the files said, you can do a lot more than lift things with your mind," Ultron informs, glancing at Eszter. The enhanced stood there in silence, not seeming to understand what he had meant; Ultron realizes Eszter doesn't know. "I'm sure you had to have noticed."
"I--I don't know . . ."
"Just as Wanda can mess with people's minds, make them see their fears," suddenly, Ultron hovers his metal hand over Eszter's face, caressing the girl's cheeks lightly. "But you, on the other hand, can make them feel anything. You can make them feel guilty, fear, love, happiness. Anything you desire."
"Wait, I can't . . . I've never changed anyone's emotions, but I've . . . I could always feel them--their emotions. I knew what they felt," Eszter squints her eyes as she furrows her brows, shaking her head at the thought.
"Eszter Maximoff--darkness manipulation, telekinesis, emotion manipulation," Eszter blinks, thinking strongly about it. "It's fairly similar to Wanda's, but more with emotion."
The enhanced glances back to Ultron. "So, what you're saying is . . . I can manipulate what people feel?"
"That is emotion manipulation," Ultron nods, noticing the sly grin forming on Eszter's face.
Chuckling, Eszter glances at Wanda and Pietro. The Avengers don't know what's about to hit them.
💜
"Where are we going?"
Ultron flies back towards the Maximoffs once he had finished the last round of his bots, landing behind Eszter. "We need the strongest metal on Earth to save the world, and I know someone who has them."
"Okay," Eszter crosses her arms. "And where is this strongest metal?"
"At the Salvage Yard in South Africa."
Eszter's eyes widen. "In South Africa? We're leaving Sokovia?"
"Yes, sorry, but it's the only place where they're storing them," Ultron tilts his head, noticing the nervous look on the girl's face. "Are you afraid that something bad will happen?"
The question nearly caught Eszter off-guard. "What? Oh, uh, no--I mean, yes, I am, but . . . we've never really left Sokovia," the enhanced inhales shakily, fiddling with her shirt. "I guess I'm just a little nervous."
"Don't worry. With me, you and your siblings will be protected," Ultron promises, making Eszter stare at the robot more curiously.
"I'll never understand why you're helping us."
Ultron chuckles. "I guess you can say we're a lot alike than you think. The Avengers fear what they don't know."
"You think they will be there?"
"I have no doubt," Ultron shrugs, not bothered. "But with you and Wanda, we'll be unstoppable."
💜
The twins and Eszter managed to sneak onto the boat without being seen. With Eszter's ability to manipulate darkness, the enhanced would cover the rooms in complete darkness, easily allowing the trio to storm the boat. By the time they neared the room where Klaue was reserved, Eszter nods to her siblings before pushing out a thick layer of darkness; suddenly, the lights began to flicker as the energy coursing through the boat. Eszter began to absorb the lights just as the darkness began to consume the boat, leaving Klaue's men panicking.
Screams and cries filled the boat as the man frantically searched for their guns, refusing to go back to work as they point their guns in every direction.
Klaue looks through the glass at the commotion below, and he snarls lowly as the imbeciles that cowered in fear. Alone and barely defenseless, Klaue took this as a precaution, reaching for his gun. With his gun steady in his grip, pointing out into the dark hallway created by Eszter, the enhanced glares at the man. The end of the gun was settled on Eszter without Klaue's realization, but the enhanced tries not to falter as she knew to trust Pietro.
The trigger was pulled, and the gun rings out loudly, but a gust of wind pushes against Eszter in a quick second. Pietro snags the bullet that was slowly moving in the air, he runs to Klaue and peels the gun out of the man's hand; running towards the table, Pietro removes the magazine from the butt of the gun, taking out each bullet as he lines them up in a row.
Klaue stood still in disbelief, glancing at the gun that was once in his hand, now sitting on the table. Looking back towards the entrance, Klaue's gaze shifted towards the floor as black smoke trails into the room. Standing in front of him was a man with silver hair, and creeping inside behind him, two females with threatening glares. Klaue examines the way Eszter retracts the dark smoke back into her, disappearing into nothing.
Upon realizing who and what they are, Klaue cackles raspily. "Yeah. The enhanced. Strucker's prized pupils," Klaue sits on the side of the table, he picks up a bowl filled with candy. "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." Eszter glances at the twins, confused. "You didn't know? Is this your first time intimidating someone? I'm afraid that I'm not that afraid."
"Everybody's afraid of something," Wanda assures, moving closer to Eszter.
"Cuttlefish," Klaue says. Eszter furrows her brows, amused. "Deep-sea fish. They make lights--disco lights. Whoom, whoom, whoom! to hypnotize their prey, and then whoom!" Klaue clamps his hands shut for visual representation. "I saw a documentary. It was terrifying--" Pietro dashes across the room, snatching himself a piece of candy before passing one to Eszter, but the girl shook her head. "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 do business with the man in charge."
Eszter's eyes lift to the window when a figure floats up, but Klaue wasn't aware of Ultron lingering behind him. The enhanced smirks in triumph as she lowers her gaze onto Klaue, who seemed to have noticed the look on Eszter's face.
Klaue furrows his brows as he stared at Eszter, annoyed that she seemed to have this to her amusement. It made him uncomfortable and cautious, and as much as he'd like to shove them out of his boat, Klaue wasn't stupid enough to fight them.
Out of the blue, Ultron slams into the window as the glass shatters everywhere; Wanda instantly creates a shield. Flying past the three enhanced, Ultron slams his body harshly into Klaue, catching the man off-guard. Letting out a noise of surprise, Klaue flipped around and stared in fear when he wasn't meeting human eyes but red robotic eyes. The air in Klaue's lungs was nonexistent, and he struggled to catch his breath as he began to panic.
"There is no man in charge," Ultron threatens, stomping his foot too close to Klaue's face for comfort. "Let's talk business."