Evolution // An MCU Story (Book Two)

xxxiii

That awful ringing echoed throughout the building until it came to a cease, and I head the sound of metallic footsteps across the floor.

My head snapped up in the direction of the lab at the sound of a disembodied robotic voice. "Worthy..." The voice raspily dragged out the word before stepping closer and I saw who— or, rather, what it was.

One of the eroded Iron Legion suits stumbled into view, walking in a very disturbing and unnatural manner as oil spilled and left a trail behind it. A mess of tangled and sparking wires hung from it's frame and acid seemed to have eaten away at the face and head.

Everyone else turned to see what I was looking at as it stumbled to a stop, looking in the other direction it as it began to speak.

"No." It stated before turning itself around, jerking around in the broken suit. "How could you be worthy?" It asked as it stepped closer into the light, jerking up an arm to point at us all. "You're all killers."

It's voice was calm and steady, but it's words made my stomach drop.

I took an involuntary step backwards and nearly knocked into Tony, halfway out of protectiveness of him and half fear for my own safety. My fingers twitched at my sides at the threat that stared us down and I kept my face in a firm, unblinking glare.

There was something horribly wrong with this suit, even aside from the unprompted and unfamiliar hostile voice emitting from it.

I'd been building these suits for five years, I knew what they looked like— what they were supposed to look like. This wasn't it.

My father had his specific style of building the suits and I had developed my own, but this looked like it had been constructed by someone else. Someone in a hurry with no fine motor skills, apparently. But somehow I got the feeling that didn't matter.

"Stark." Steve quietly but urgently called.

"JARVIS." Tony tried, and I could see him trying to work with a device out of the corner of my eye.

"I'm sorry, I was asleep." The being inhabiting the suit continued, making wild, jerky movements as it looked around the room. "Or— I was a dream."

"Reboot Legionnaire OS." Tony quietly continued his attempt at containing the situation. "We got a buggy suit."

"There was this terrible noise." The suit explained, seeming to be almost reliving the experience as it shielded it's head from an unseen threat. "And I was tangled in... In..." It shifted to stare at its arms and tried to shake off something that wasn't there as it stumbled backwards a bit. "Strings."

I kept my face still and only twitched a finger as I began to silently weave a wall of invisible energy as a shield, something I'd been trying to improve on for several months. Taking away the purple hue to assist with stealth took a lot of extra focus and energy, a luxury I didn't often have during the chaos of a mission.

"I had to kill the other guy." It stated with no remorse. "He was a good guy."

"You killed someone?" Steve asked as Tony stepped in front of me, putting himself between me and the apparently muderous Legionnaire he refused to break his gaze away from.

I kept my focus on that shield, making sure it protected my father entirely.

"Wouldn't have been my first call." It responded, standing up taller and looking over to Steve. "But, down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices."

"Who sent you?" Thor questioned, making it turn to him and lean forward slightly.

I see a suit of armor around the world. Tony's voice came through the speakers, making my blood run cold and my heart begin to race.