Chapter 292: Must Villains Always Talk So Much?
Clint Barton was currently piloting the Quinjet, with Natasha Romanoff sitting beside him.
"I see them. We're tailing them right now!" Clint shouted as he maneuvered the jet to keep eyes on Pietro below.
"This isn't good..." Natasha noted, noticing the train station ahead. It was packed with people.
Outside, Silas gave an order: "Alpha, give me the coordinates for Barton and the others."
"Searching... Positioning successful," Alpha replied with lightning efficiency.
"Time to work!" The thrusters on Silas's back fired at full capacity, propelling him toward the Quinjet. Since he currently only had the Rooster Talisman, he still relied on mechanical thrusters to reach high speeds. Once he obtained the Rabbit Talisman, he wouldn't need such things.
The Station
Wanda looked anxious, clutching the Scepter tightly. She had wrapped it in strips of cloth to make it look less conspicuous.
"Above us," Pietro said, looking up.
Wanda followed his gaze and saw the Quinjet circling in the sky.
"Hurry!" she urged.
"Got it!" Pietro scooped her up and, just as the train doors were closing, blurred into the carriage.
"Ah!" The passengers were startled by the sudden appearance of the twins.
Pietro scanned the room. "Where to now?"
"Once we lose the Avengers, we go to the old place. Ultron's primary body is there," Wanda said.
"Understood." Pietro sat down, breathing heavily. Running was exhausting enough, let even more so when carrying Wanda.
The train soon departed, gradually picking up speed along the tracks.
Inside the Quinjet
"There are civilians down there," Natasha said, looking through the cockpit window.
"Not a huge problem," Silas said, stepping out of a Shadow Portal he had just opened inside the cabin.
"I think it's a pretty big problem," Natasha countered, feeling the pressure.
Silas simply smiled. He understood why Natasha was so worried; she didn't know Pietro and Wanda's true nature yet. They weren't bad people; they were just being manipulated by Ultron, blinded by their own past.
"Want to join me?" Silas opened a Shadow Portal connecting the Quinjet directly to the train carriage.
"Whoa~" Natasha blinked in surprise.
On the Train
Wanda and Pietro were resting when a black circle manifested in front of them. A man and a woman stepped out.
"Wanda, I'm starting to think his power is really practical," Pietro said, standing up immediately.
The surrounding passengers shrank away into the corners. Those first two kids were strange enough, but these two were even weirder—all in black, with one wearing a terrifying mask. They looked like the classic definition of villains.
"Alright, kids. Had enough fun? Hand over the Scepter," Natasha said, extending her hand. She spotted the long, cloth-wrapped object in Wanda's arms.
Wanda hugged the Scepter tighter, her large eyes filled with defiance. "Never."
"Then this might get a little messy," Natasha said, pulling out her batons.
"See you later!" Pietro's stamina had mostly recovered. He took off, and for a split second, time seemed to stand still. He blurred toward Natasha, snatched her weapon, and hurled it at Silas.
Bzzzt!
Electricity surged. At the critical moment, Silas relied on his instinct to open a Shadow Portal to his right, letting the strike pass through into the void.
By the time Natasha realized what happened, her weapon was gone. "I didn't mean to lose that," she apologized to Silas immediately.
Silas shook his head. "I don't mind. But our little mice have scurried off again."
He looked at the empty space; Pietro had already carried Wanda into the next carriage.
Elsewhere
Boom!
Ultron's fist slammed into Steve's shield, the vibration sending both of them flying backward.
"I don't have time for this!" Ultron had received word from the twins that they needed backup.
"I never thought we were playing!" Steve shouted, hurling his shield.
Ultron spun around, swatting the shield away with a pulse blast before smashing through a window and flying out. Steve caught his shield on the rebound and ran to the window, sighing as he watched Ultron retreat. He couldn't fly.
"Captain!" Clint piloted the Quinjet past the window. He had realized he couldn't do much inside the train, so he had turned back to support Steve.
Steve timed his jump perfectly, grabbing onto the landing gear Clint had lowered for him. "Don't let him get away!" Steve yelled over the roar of the wind.
"On it," Clint accelerated.
Steve, buffeted by the hurricane-force winds, squinted as he tracked Ultron ahead. Clint fired a volley of missiles.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Ultron skillfully wove through the explosions. As he focused on dodging, the Quinjet overtook him. Steve looked down at Ultron, let go of the landing gear, and plummeted onto the robot's back.
"Stop right there!" Steve locked his arm around Ultron's neck and hammered his shield into the robot's back.
The heavy impact sent Ultron spiraling toward the ground. "You are so incredibly annoying!" Ultron snarled. He twisted his body mid-air, intending to use Steve as a human landing pad.
Steve anticipated the move and fought for control. The two tumbled through the air before crashing into a market stall.
Crash!
Fruit juice sprayed everywhere as the stall collapsed. People screamed and scrambled for safety.
Thud.
A mechanical arm pushed a durian aside as Ultron slowly stood up. He was a mess, sparks jumping from his chassis with a loud crackle.
Thud.
Steve kicked aside the crates of fruit on top of him. He looked no better than Ultron. Although he had used the shield and Ultron to break his fall, the impact from that height was no joke. He felt as if his internal organs had been shaken to their limit.
Ultron turned stiffly toward him. "You... your... life... only... once... and I... am eternal..."
His voice was distorted and glitchy; the fall had damaged his vocal processors. But he was a machine; he could always find a new body.
"Good... bye," Ultron muttered, his hand trembling as it began to glow with the charge of a pulse blast.
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