Princess of Asgard

Baron Strucker is Dead

"He's not really hiding" Steve said handing Thor a tablet as he entered the room. I crossed my arms over my chest.
"What's that?" Tony asked as he strolled over his fellow Avengers. Thor handed the tablet back to Steve who then showed it to Tony.
"Another message. Ultron killed Strucker" Steve said as I looked over Tony's shoulder seeing the horrifying picture.
"But he made a pretty painting, so karmically he's clear" Tony replied. I noticed what he meant by pretty picture. Strucker's blood on the wall spelled out the word 'peace'.
"This isn't his pattern," Natasha said, "why send a message when you can just send a speech?"
"Strucker knew something" Steve replied, "Something specific- that Ultron wanted us to miss." Natasha walked over to a control center, where various digital files were up on a screen, all streaming with information, "these are the people he was in contact with most, right before we hit."
Tony pointed to someone on the screen. "I know that guy. From back in the day. Operates off the African coast. Black-market arms" the rest of us gave Tony a disapproving look.
Tony shrugged "There are conventions! You meet people. I didn't sell him anything. But he talked about finding something new, a game changer- it was all very Ahab."
Natasha turned back to the screen and began typing as more images of the man popped up. Many of them were surveillance images; then one appeared displaying a close up.
"That," Thor said pointing at the symbol on the mans neck. Tony held a device up to the symbol, took a picture, and began an image search. Suddenly, the device dinged, and Tony transferred the image to a bigger screen.
"It's a word, some African dialect" Bruce said, "means 'thief' in a meaner way."
"Which dialect?" Steve asked.
"It's from South Africa" Bruce responded. They all shard a gaze of both confusion and interest, except Steve and Tony.
"If this guy got out of South Africa with some of their trade goods-" Tony started saying.
"I thought your dad got the last of it" Steve said, I started to realize what they were talking about.
Bruce crossed his arms, confused. "I don't follow. What do they make in South Africa?"
Me and Tony give the Avengers a concern look.
"The most powerful metal on Earth" I said staring at Steve's shield.
Third Person P.O.V
"I sent you short-ranged heat-seeking missiles," yelled Ulysses Klaue, "you send me back a boatload of rusted parts-useless! You make it right or my next set of missiles will come at you much faster." Klaue slammed down the phone as his right hand man walked in with a drink.
"I told you not to deal with that guy," said the henchman. As Klaue took a sip, the lights in the office suddenly shut off. It was a semiregular occurrence.
"Go see the if it's the generator," Klaue ordered.
The henchman turned to go, but as soon as he opened the office door into the hallway, he could tell something was wrong. "Someone's inside" he said to Klaue.
"Well, find out who it is," Klaue instructed the henchman. The henchman nodded and pulled out his handgun ready to proceed down the hallway. A moment later, Klaue could hear the sounds of struggle from the corridor.
His lackey wandered back into the darkened office, but he seemed to be in a daze. Confused, he mumbled to himself and walked right into a wall. Klaue grabbed a weapon from behind his desk and pointed it at the door, but suddenly, as if out of nowhere, Pietro was in front of him, yanking the gun out of his hand.
Klaue looked down to see his gun already disassembled, the parts lined up neatly on his desk. Even the bullets were placed in a nice little row. Pietro smiled.
"Yes," Klaue said, not missing a beat, "you're the Enhanced. One of Strucker's prized pupils. I know what you can do... And what your twin can do. Do you want a candy?" Klaue pointed to a bowl of hard candies on his desk, but Pietro just rolled his eyes.
"Every day the world is crazier," Klaue continued, "the rules are now... Well, what rules, right? At some point it's just hard to be afraid anymore."
"Everyone's afraid of something" said Wanda as she entered the office.
Klaue nodded. "Cuttlefish," he said.
The twins gave him confused looks, so he went on, "Deep-sea fish. They make lights to hypnotize their prey. I saw a documentary. Terrifying.  So if you're going to fiddle with my brain and make me see a cuttlefish, then I know you don't do business and aren't in charge... And I only deal with the man in charge."
Ultron flew up behind Klaue just outside his window. Ultron blasted Klaue to the floor and got through the window. "Oh there is no man in charge." Ultron pushes him out the hallway and hovered over him.
"Let's talk business," said Ultron to Klaue.
A little while later, Klaue and a few of his workers brought Ultron over to a set of barrels . The markings on the barrels warned that the contents were toxic, so when Klaue smashed one open, Wanda and Pietro stepped back avoiding the splash.
But the substance inside wasn't actually immediately dangerous. The labels were a ruse to keep otherwise curious customs agents away. From the barrels Klaue pulled bars of a very rare metal with special properties. This is what Ultron had come here to find.
"You know, this came at great personal cost. It's worth billions," said Klaue, gesturing at the barrels, which all contained the same precious metal. Killer robot or no killer robot, Klaue was not going to give his goods away for free.
Ultron closed his eyes for a moment, briefly connecting to the Internet, and then he opened them again. "Now, so are you" he said, "I've transferred the money to your dummy holdings. Finance is so weird. But I always say: keep your friends rich and your enemies rich and wait to find out which is which."
Klaue gave Ultron a needle-sharp look.
"Stark..." He said.
"What?" Ultron asked instantly on edge.
"Tony Stark used to say that to me," Klaue said as he backed away from Ultron. "You're one of his..."
Ultron seemed to grow confused at this. "What? I'm not..." His expression darkened. "I'm not. You think I'm one of Stark's puppets? His hallow men? But I- where are you going?"
Ultron reached out and grabbed Klaue's arm, "I am.... Look at me.... I am.... Stark is nothing..." The robot sputtered, upset. But when he could see Klaue wasn't listening, he reacted in anger, he cut off Klaue's arm then pushed him into the barrels. Ultron suddenly seemed to regret the action, almost embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's going to be OK. I won't hurt you. It's..." But Klaue wasn't listening. He was already stumbling away, with his henchman supporting him.
Pietro and Wanda shared a look. The emotional outburst from their new mechanical leader was troubling.
Ultron turned and addressed the twins, trying to justify his behavior. "You don't understand," he explained. "It's just... I don't like being compared to Stark. It's a thing with me. Stark is... He's a sickness."
"Oh junior..." said a sarcastic voice.
Ultron and and the twins turned to see Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor striding in from the entrance on the far side of the hull.
"....you're going to break your old man's heart," Tony finished.