Coming Down ➢ Steve Rogers

twenty five

Chapter Twenty-Five;

In any other circumstance, Delaney would have loved to visit Seoul, South Korea.

The city was interesting, with so many unique buildings – and she had heard a lot about Korean barbeque. If it wasn't for the fact they were fighting Ultron, Delaney would have very much enjoyed her stay in Seoul. But there was no time for sightseeing: the mission always came first.

Their visit went downhill almost instantly, after she and Steve ran into Helen Cho's laboratory and saw her injured and bleeding on the ground, with no sign of Ultron. Apparently, the AI had taken off in a truck and they had to retrieve the gem from inside the truck.

So to retrieve it, it would involve jumping onto the truck.

She and Steve ran up the road, just above the said truck. As the team delegated missions, Delaney had at once offered to join Steve's side. They fought better as a team, and after the events in Washington, she knew she could fight alongside him easily. They understood each other.

Also, she couldn't bear the thought of him possibly getting hurt when she could've done something about it.

Steve glanced across at her. "You ready?"

Delaney responded by backing up, eyes honed in on the truck. If they miscalculated the time, she knew it could end in a disaster, but that didn't matter. They had to stop Ultron.

Together, she and Steve sprinted for the incoming truck. Delaney jumped after Steve, gasping as her body crashed on to the metal of the truck and tumbled across the narrow surface. Terror gripped her body as she lost control of herself and felt her body slip off the side. Delaney lunged out with her arms and found the edge. It took all of her upper body strength to remain hanging on to the side – already she could feel her arms start to strain.

Gritting her teeth, Delaney tensed her arm muscles as she slowly pushed herself back on to the top. Just as she hurled herself over the edge the truck shook with impact and she heard Steve's yell. Delaney's head whipped up and saw Steve had hung on to the door which had now been blasted to the side by Ultron. The door swung closed, but another blast sent Steve flying into the air and gripping on to the ramp, which emitted sparks as it scraped across the road.

"Steve!" she shrieked. Delaney produced two of her knives and ran to the end of the truck. The knives had been a gift from Tony: more advanced than average knives, they emitted an electric charge across the blade for extra damage. The blades were formed of a harder metal too, that could cut through thicker and harder objects without sustaining damage or rendering the knife useless. Apparently ever since she left, he had been developing more dangerous knives for her to use against her adversaries.

Delaney watched as Steve pulled himself to a standing position, only to be blasted off the truck by Ultron. Delaney narrowed her eyes though didn't dare to do anything – unless she wished to risk her life and fall off the back of the truck, she couldn't reach Ultron or aim at him properly.

Ultron rose, powered like Tony's Iron Man suits. Delaney had Ultron described to her, but seeing him in person for the first time, her initial image was destroyed. She had pictured a humanoid form of Tony's suits – he was different, more powerful in appearance, more human in structure than the average robotic structure.

"You know what's in that Cradle?" Ultron sent a blast their day, which Delaney had to duck to avoid. He inched slowly closer, like a predator stalking its prey. "The power to make real change, and that terrifies you.

"I wouldn't call it a comfort," Steve retorted, and hurled his shield at Ultron. He flew momentarily backward and before he recovered, Delaney ran forward and swiped at him with her knives, but he too avoided those and retailed by firing. Delaney grunted as she hit the ground to avoid the shot and barely gave herself time to recover before she was scrambling to her feet once again, just managing to hold on to her knives as she spun around. Steve had engaged with Ultron, his attacks hardly doing damage against Ultron's metal body. Delaney could almost feel the electricity that charged her blades as she ran forward and swiped her knives across Ultron's back.