Philophobia ➤ W.M.

| 09 |

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  Astrilde couldn't help her own child-like personality from showing as she crept down the halls like a spy. She had, thankfully, broken away from the twins, on her way to disable and wipe the security system of their break-in. For some reason, this particular facility had constantly changing codes, so it was easier for her to handle the system instead of Ultron attempting to. For a heavily protected fortress, the halls were vacant, though that was to be expected when the twins were causing distractions elsewhere.

  Admittedly, she had considered trying to contact the Avengers once she reached the security. However, she was most certain that she would get caught, one way or another. Also, Wanda had gone through her mind, so it was probably a good assumption that the Sokovian knew she wouldn't attempt anything.

  Uncomfortably close shouts appeared nearby. She tensed in the formerly silent hallway. The voices sounded to be in Norse, though Astrilde knew it was simply the allspeak working it's magic. The voices got louder, but she didn't pause, instead opting to pick up her pace while the sounds drowned out her own footsteps.

  Finally, she arrived at the grey door of the security room. She nearly announced she was there, before she realized that she wasn't with the Avengers, so she had no comms. Ultron hadn't thought of a way for all of them to contact each other, probably because he was always able to through the technology. However, that wouldn't work in this case.

  Astrilde pulled a gun from it's holster on her side, grimacing at the feeling. She didn't like the feeling, she had never used such a trivial weapon before. That didn't mean she wasn't skilled with the weapon however, after Ultron had taught her the basics. She proceeded to kick the door open, not caring anymore for the volume of her actions. Nobody was inside, as predicted, so she quickly wiped the drives with a fancy USB and destroyed the machines with calculated shots. She learned quickly, which was probably why Ultron had put her up to that particular job.

  Once finished, she ran out of the room, the crackle of electricity being left in her wake. The white-washed hallway filled her sight as she raced down it, her golden cape billowing behind her. She wasn't sure where she was headed, but she saw the blue blur of Pietro enter her view, so she followed him.

  Eventually, she came across a set of doors that proclaimed 'Caution: Authorized Personnel Only'. She burst through them without hesitation, the familiar sounds of fighting on the other side. Just as thought, there were several men fighting, and Wanda and Pietro were quickly taking them down. Astrilde joined, hoping to knock some people down while also minimizing the amount of casualties. She grabbed a nearby bar, not wanting to harm anyone with the gun. The familiar red of Wanda's magic flew by her as it carried an unfortunate man, throwing him against a nearby wall.

  Astrilde surveyed her surroundings before she made her move, noting the shelves of weapons that filled the warehouse sized room. She didn't have much time to worry about the abundance of weapons, though, as several guards started running at her.

  She also ran at them, her speed increasing slightly, causing the guards to be confused. Ducking at the last second, she slid across the concrete floor on her knees, using the bar she had grabbed earlier to trip the guards. Once she had slowed, she merged into a roll, arriving back on her feet. She turned her head towards the groaning guards on the floor, "Stay down. They'll be out of here quicker than you could pull the alarm."

  The guards heeded her advice, feigning unconsciousness. Of course, some of them were actually unconscious, but the others were fine. She tossed the bar lazily to the side, making sure nobody else was going to attack her beforehand. Unfortunately, she hadn't watched where she was throwing the bar, and she quickly heard a pained yelp from another guard. She cringed. Oops.

  She looked away from the newly unconscious man to view the twins surrounded. She didn't try to help them, because not long after, a flash of blue and red occured. The attackers were thrown far away from the enhanced siblings. One man even flew in the direction of Astrilde, who just barely managed to dodge before he hit her. "Watch it!" Astrilde yelled.

  "Sorry!" Pietro responded with a laugh, making his apology sound insincere. "On the plus side, we have gotten rid of the problem," Pietro added.

  "Sorry my ass," Astrilde grumbled, ignoring his other statement.

---

  Astrilde sat on one of the boxes in the warehouse-like room, letting her thoughts wander as Ultron's clones filtered through. None had bat her an eye, and the twins had vanished- most likely toward the car. She made no move to go with them, however, because this was the most time she had received alone for days.

  Anger and annoyance had consumed her. She was upset that she was starting to feel comfortable with the twins. It wasn't right to be comfortable with the enemy. Especially a woman who had caused Astrilde so much pain. Sure, Astrilde wasn't nearly as comfortable with Wanda, but they had their moments. It was sickening. It was so unlike her and Astrilde despised it. After all she stood for, and she was weakened by two horrible people.

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