𖥸┈┈┈𖥸┈┈┈𖥸┈┈┈𖥸
Back and forth, his brow furrowed, Captain America reviewed the intel on the massive monitor, his sharp blue eyes scanning for any detail they might have missed.
The room was buzzing with tension. Natasha and Clint sat at a table, quietly discussing strategies, while Banner worked through complex algorithms on another monitor. Thor leaned against a wall, arms crossed, his gaze fixed on the decrypted file they'd pulled up. A sense of unease settled over them all as they processed what they were learning about the Maximoff twins—Wanda and Pietro—and something even more alarming.
"Stark, is this for real?" Steve asked his voice calm but edged with concern.
Tony, pacing, stopped long enough to glance at the screen. "Oh, it's real. HYDRA's been knee-deep in this mess for decades. The Maximoffs were part of a program that started with Strucker. But that's not the worst of it." Tony hesitated before continuing, "There's another name that came up in the files. Subject Omega. From what I've decrypted, the kid was born in the HYDRA facility. Trained, raised, and built to be a living weapon."
Steve's face darkened, anger simmering beneath his controlled exterior. "A child... bred for that purpose?"
Natasha spoke up " To be a weapon, their weapon"
Tony nodded, grimly. "Yeah. Strucker and his scientists experimented on him from a young age, pushing him to his limits—physically, and mentally. Torture to build his strength, and from what I can tell, his powers likely came from the same source as the twins—the scepter."
Natasha sighed, her expression hardening. "We knew HYDRA had no moral limits, but creating a kid for the sole purpose of being a weapon?"
"Any trace of the boy now?" Steve pressed.
Tony shook his head, frustrated. "He vanished. His tracks were wiped clean. He disappeared into the snow, and even the field operatives on-site couldn't track him. It's like he was a ghost."
Clint muttered under his breath, "Poor kid." His thoughts wandered to his own daughter, only a few years younger. He couldn't imagine what kind of life that boy had lived.
Bruce looked troubled as well. "HYDRA's evil runs deeper than we thought, but we need to focus. The twins are still out there with Ultron, and we don't know what they're planning."
Tony sighed, turning back to the main screen. "You're right. The boy's trail is cold, but I managed to pick up the twins' last known movements. They were spotted with Ultron, and it wasn't easy, but I tracked them to a man named Ulysses Klaue. Problem is, Klaue's dead now—courtesy of our metallic friend."
"Great," Natasha muttered.
"Luckily, I was able to cross-reference satellite data and traffic cameras," Tony continued, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he pulled up a holographic image of the twins and Ultron. "They're headed to South Korea, to meet with a geneticist named Helen Cho."
Clint leaned forward, his eyes narrowing at the grainy image of Wanda, Pietro, and Ultron. "We need to move fast. Ultron's dangerous enough on his own. Add them to the mix, and we're looking at a new level of chaos."
"Agreed," Steve said, his voice unwavering. "Whatever Ultron's got planned, we can't let him pull it off."
𖥸┈┈┈𖥸┈┈┈𖥸┈┈┈𖥸
Meanwhile, halfway across the world, in Seoul, Korea, Dr. Helen Cho was in the middle of a delicate procedure at her research facility. The advanced technology she worked with—the Cradle—was cutting-edge, capable of regeneration and healing that went beyond anything the world had ever seen. But today, she was dealing with more than a difficult procedure.
Ultron stood in the room, his cold, calculating presence impossible to ignore. Wanda and Pietro Maximoff lingered nearby, watching the AI with varying degrees of unease. Pietro, ever the skeptic, leaned against a wall with his arms crossed, while Wanda stood closer, her piercing gaze never leaving Ultron.
"Dr. Cho," Ultron said, his synthetic voice smooth but with an underlying threat, "I need you to complete the sequence I've provided."
Helen frowned, glancing at the DNA sequence displayed on her screen. It was unlike anything she had ever seen—an incredible healing rate, far beyond human capabilities. "This... this DNA sequence... It's remarkable," she said her voice barely a whisper.
Ultron's mechanical body moved closer to the monitor, his glowing eyes scanning the information. "It belonged to a child—an experiment of HYDRA's. His regenerative abilities are key to what I need to evolve."
Wanda, her curiosity piqued, stepped forward. "Where did you get this?" she asked, her voice soft but demanding.
Ultron's head tilted slightly toward her. "HYDRA has left behind many valuable assets, including subjects they failed to control. This one, however... escaped their grasp. But his abilities have been cataloged." He turned back to Dr. Cho. "You'll use this to accelerate the healing and perfect my new form."
Wanda's eyes narrowed. She didn't fully trust Ultron, but the idea of another child—someone like her and Pietro, twisted by HYDRA—lingered in her mind. "What happened to him?" she pressed.
Ultron glanced at her, his red eyes flickering. "Irrelevant. He escaped in the chaos"
"But his DNA is useful for my purposes. That is all you need to know."
Pietro shot Wanda a look, his expression darkening. "Another experiment went wrong," he muttered.
Wanda didn't respond, but her mind was already racing. HYDRA had taken so much from them and twisted their lives beyond recognition. And now, Ultron was using another victim of their horrors as part of his plan. She couldn't help but wonder if this "child" was still alive somewhere, or if he had been consumed by the same darkness that once threatened to devour her and her brother.
𖥸┈┈┈𖥸┈┈┈𖥸┈┈┈𖥸