"Jesus Christ." Satoru quipped. "Your lord and savior."
Satoru's words hung in the air for a moment. Clint didn't lower his bow, and a segment of Tony's armor came flying and attached itself on his palm, the repulsors whining. The Avengers stood alert at the sudden appearance of a teenager.
The silence was broken when the elevator doors hissed open. Maria Hill burst through breathless. She scanned the room and saw Satoru perched on a window sill casually in the line of fire.
"Lower your weapons!" Hill commanded, still trying to catch her breath.
Steve Rogers was the first to lower his guard, though he didn't look convinced. He glanced at Hill. "Hill, what is this? Who's the kid?"
Hill stepped into the lab, straightening her tactical vest. "Fury requested aid from a specific organization. This is who they provided. His name is Satoru Gojo, and he's here to help us with Ultron."
"Fury asked for a kid?" Clint asked, finally unnotching his arrow but keeping his bow ready. He looked Satoru up and down. "Since when does he do field trips?"
"Not exactly," Hill replied, her eyes briefly meeting Satoru's before returning to the team. "The organization was the one who sent him. He claimed he's the right fit for the problem. I still have to report the specifics to Nick, but for now, he's an ally."
While they talked, Satoru didn't say a word. He got off from the window frame and levitated towards the lab, then landed softly on the floor with his gaze sweeping slowly across the room.
Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Thor, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton… Then, his eyes drifted toward the back of the room, settling on the Maximoff twins.
He looked over the boy, Pietro, whose energy he perceived with his Six Eyes was a high-frequency blur, constantly twitching.
But then his eyes paused on the girl, Wanda.
Behind his sunglasses, Satoru's eyes widened slightly. Within the girl's silhouette, he saw something that made him pause.
It wasn't just power; it was a chaotic crimson energy that seemed to bleed into the air around her. It was a familiar sensation—reality manipulation.
'I've read about this type of energy before in 'Maxim's Primer'.' Satoru thought. 'Reading about it is one thing, but seeing it for the first time… it's peculiar."
For a brief second, Satoru felt a flicker of genuine caution and he became a bit intrigued on how this girl managed to attain such magic. 'However… It's a shame. Such interesting energy, but she hasn't the slightest clue how to actually use it.'
Even with his shades on, it's still enough for his Six Eyes to perceive that the crimson energy wasn't contained properly.
He adjusted his sunglasses slightly, he smirked. 'Hmm. Should I teach her a thing or two after I finish here?'
As he fell into his own thoughts, Wanda felt his gaze. She looked back with a frown of curiosity, staring directly into the dark lenses of his glasses.
She tried to reach out and catch a glimpse of his thoughts, but the moment she did, she felt a strange, lightheaded sensation. It was like reaching for a wall and finding only empty sky. She blanked out for a second.
Satoru's smirk widened into a playful knowing grin, he sensed what she was trying to do. However, because of his constant application of RCT on his eyes, his brain was in a state that would make his mind difficult to probe, especially at such a blatant rookie manner.
"You know, you're a bit too young to be that curious about what's going on in my head," Satoru said, his voice smooth and teasing. "Usually, I like to get to know a girl before I let her get that close."
Pietro's eyes narrowed, his body tensing as if he were ready to dash across the room, while Clint and Steve exchanged a confused, slightly awkward look.
"Seriously?" Tony broke the silence, lowering his armored hand but looking thoroughly annoyed. "We're in the middle of a global crisis, and Romeo here is already working on his dating life. Hill, tell me you can return him for a refund."
Hill rubbed her temples, exhaling a long, tired breath. "Gojo, focus."
Satoru chuckled, finally turning his attention away from Wanda to the rest of the group. "Relax, Stark. I'm just being polite. Besides, she started it."
He didn't want to explain what she tried to do. Although, those that had been a victim of her power seemed to catch on as Bruce, Tony, and Clint narrowed their eyes suspiciously at Wanda.
It was at that moment that Steve pivoted the topic into something they should focus on. Captain America stepped forward, his expression grave. "If Fury sent you, we'll trust his judgment for now. Look, Gojo, was it? This isn't a game. People are dying, and a lot more will if we don't move. Can you actually fight?"
"Can I fight?" Satoru repeated the question as if it were the funniest thing he'd heard all day. He addressed Steve in his hero name. "Captain, don't worry. I'm not here to play hero with you guys."
He didn't need to say more than he felt necessary. He'd rather do the work than explain himself.
Hill checked her comms, the blue light of the tablet reflecting in her eyes. "I'm heading out. Director Fury is setting up a support net for whatever plan you come up with. I'll be reporting in on our... new arrival as well." She shot a pointed look at Satoru, who just gave her an innocent smile.
As the elevator doors closed behind her, Steve turned back to the holographic table. "Alright, let's look at the board. Ultron is heading for the NEXUS in Oslo. It's the central hub for the world's data. If he gets into those data banks, he can control the nuclear silos before we even touch down."
"Last known coordinates were Seoul," Tony added, swiping through the chaotic data streams. "But we don't have a lock on him now. He's ghosted us."
"We might have more time than we think," Bruce said, leaning over the console. "Before Natasha was taken, she managed to drop a disruptor into the Cradle's cooling loop. It wouldn't stop the integration, but it would cause structural instability in the synthetic tissue. Ultron won't risk a full upload while his new body is glitching. He's going to fix himself first, and he'll be expecting us to stop him on his way to the NEXUS Internet Hub."
At the mention of Natasha, Clint, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, finally spoke up. His voice was low. "Tony. Do you have anything on her? A tracker, a signal, anything?"
Tony shook his head grimly. "Her comms are dark, Clint. I'm searching, but—"
"She's in Sokovia," Pietro interrupted. He was leaning against a pillar, his arms crossed. He didn't look at Clint, his gaze fixed on the floor. "The old HYDRA research base. It's the only place left with the power grid capable of sustaining the Cradle while he works on it. He's likely keeping her there as leverage."
Satoru leaned back against a nearby lab table, checking his fingernails. "Or," he cut in, his voice cutting through the heavy mood, "he's just keeping your teammate there as a distraction."
Every head turned toward the teenager, Clint's brow furrowing into a deep scowl.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Clint asked, his voice tight.
Satoru shrugged, looking up at the ceiling. "Think about it. You guys said he's aiming for the 'NEXUS' thing, right? If he knows you're coming for him, the smartest move isn't to hide. It's to give you something else to chase so you're too busy to look at what's actually happening." He tilted his head toward Clint. "If I were a sentient toaster trying to delete the world, that's exactly what I'd do. Throw a bone to the dogs so they don't notice I'm at the dinner table."
"We're not dogs, and Natasha isn't a bone," Thor commented, though his eyes betrayed a flicker of doubt.
"Doesn't change the fact that we can't ignore either threat," Tony interjected, swiping the holographic displays to split the map. "He's right about the distraction part, but we can't just leave Romanoff behind."
Steve nodded, his leader persona taking over as he formed a plan. "We need to split up. Clint, Pietro, Bruce—you head to Sokovia. Get Natasha out of that base."
"I'll call Rhodey," Tony added, tapping his comms. "He can provide air support for the extraction. War Machine should even the odds on whatever Ultron left behind."
Steve turned to the rest of the group. "Tony, Thor, Wanda, and I will head for Oslo. We need to intercept Ultron at the NEXUS before he uploads his consciousness into the data banks." He glanced at Satoru. "And Gojo. You're with us."
Wanda's face fell. "No," she interjected, stepping toward her brother. "I am not leaving Pietro. We stay together."
Steve remained firm. "Wanda, we haven't been back to that HYDRA research base since the scepter was taken. We don't know what Ultron has added to the defenses. Clint and Bruce need Pietro's speed and his knowledge of the layout to get in and out quickly."
Wanda looked ready to argue, but Bruce stepped forward, his eyes cold and his voice dripping with a bitterness that hadn't faded with what happened in Johannesburg, South Africa.
"Look," Bruce said, his tone sharp. "Unless you're planning on coming with us and staying out of my head this time, there's nothing more to discuss. We need the runner, not the telepath. Make a choice."
Wanda flinched at the reminder of what she'd done to him, her mouth snapping shut as she looked at Pietro, who simply gave her a small reassuring nod.
Steve Rogers didn't wait for more. He checked the time on a digital readout. "Three minutes," he commanded. "Get what you need."
The lab immediately transitioned into a blur of activity. Clint moved to the armory racks, checking his bow and sliding specialized arrowheads into his quiver.
Nearby, Pietro pulled on a blue, tight-fitting suit and laced up a fresh pair of sneakers.
Tony was hunched over a terminal, his fingers flying across holographic keys. He was pushing an enhanced version of the Jarvis matrix protocols into the Oslo NEXUS nodes. He didn't know if a defensive firewall would actually work, but better safe than never. Finally, he pulled a glowing AI chip from a slot, a new backup for his suit.
Across the room, Thor, Steve, and Bruce stood in a tight circle, speaking in low tones about the tactical plan for the two-pronged mission.
Wanda was… standing still. Her gaze was fixed on Satoru, who had found a jar of candy on a nearby bar and was currently focused on peeling the stubborn wrapper.
She watched him with wonder.
Every person in this room was someone she could feel. Tony's anxiety, Steve's grimness, Bruce's urgency, Clint's simmering anger…
But from Satoru, she still felt nothing. This was her first time where she met someone she couldn't get a basic read on.
After a moment of hesitation, she walked toward him. She stopped a few feet away, her hands resting at her sides.
"You are going to fight in... this?" Wanda asked, her thick Sokovian accent heavy with skepticism as she gestured toward his designer blazer.
Satoru stopped fumbling with the wrapper and looked down at his attire. He popped the candy into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully for a second. "Oh, this? I don't really mind, it's comfortable. But if I'm going with the Avengers, I guess I should look the part, huh?"
He gave her a wink, then casually snapped his fingers.
The fabric of his clothes began to shift and bleed into new shapes, the charcoal wool transforming and reweaving itself right before her eyes. Within seconds, the blazer and trouser were gone.
He now stood in a tight-fitting black shirt layered under a white, short-sleeved haori-styled jacket. He wore white, baggy martial arts pants with a sash woven through the waist and black martial arts slippers. Around his neck hung a long, black scarf-like cloth—the Crimson Band of Cyttorak, a relic he'd found useful over the years for its versatility. Although he uses it to cover his eyes most of the time.
The sunglasses were also gone.
For the first time, everyone in the lab caught sight of his eyes. They weren't just blue, they were mesmerizing and seemed to glow with an inner light.
Wanda froze, her gaze locked onto his. She felt a strange jolt of wonder, staring at him as if she were seeing him for the first time. The sheer intensity of his eyes was enough to make her forget the question she was about to ask.
Satoru turned his head slightly, meeting her stunned expression with a smirk. "How about this?"
Wanda broke out of her daze, blinking rapidly. She looked away, her face heating up as she stammered, "I—Uh… it is more… appropriate."
A low whistle came from the holographic table. Tony Stark leaned back, looking Satoru over with a raised eyebrow. "Well, okay then. Look at those baby blues. If whatever thing you've got going on as a job doesn't work out, kid. You've got a bright future in hair-care commercials. Seriously, do they glow in the dark?"
Satoru just chuckled, reaching up to take the long black cloth of the Cyttorak relic. With a practiced motion, he wrapped it over his eyes, tying it into a blindfold that hid his eyes but seemingly did nothing to block his sight.
"Time's up," Steve Rogers called out, his voice snapping everyone back to the mission as he gripped his shield. "Let's move."