𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 | ʜᴇʟᴍᴜᴛ ᴢᴇᴍᴏ

𝟒 ᴀɴɢᴜɪꜱʜ

cleveland, ohio

2016

Sitting on a bench outside of the rental agency, Helmut ran cold fingers through his hair, as he attempted to settle himself from the flight. The blood had pooled out of his hands and into his feet as his nerves started to kick in. He refused to shut his plan down, the rage inside him boiling at the edge of eruption. He was a calm and calculated man, but his emotions were pushing him past the point of no return.

He had lost everything: his home, his life, his family. Nothing made sense anymore and nothing would stand in his way. Helmut would destroy the Avengers, just like they had destroyed his world.

Twirling a string that dangled off his shirt, he let out a heavy sigh that filled the air with the grief he held inside. Every fabric of his being was being torn apart, but his composure remained still, as he had learned to do so easily during his time in EKO Scorpion. He had been taught to never let his enemy see his cards, and he would take that mentality with him to his next task. The first part of his calculated plan: find the dossier that would give him the fuel to drive a wedge in the Avengers. The next pieces would fall into place, but he would have to tread lightly if he wanted to succeed.

He had joined the EKO Scorpion team because of the Avengers, and the threats they posed upon the world as they appeared out of thin air in the early 2000s. With the chaos that Iron Man and the Hulk had brought upon the United States, Helmut had felt obligated to protect the home he had once loved because of the emerging powers. This was before they had assembled as a team, but the specifics did not matter: the supers were the reason he had felt such a strong civil duty to his people.

This decision had obliterated his life with Kalina, the one constant that he chose to walk away from, all because the Avengers became a reality. He had lost the other half of his soul due to his selfish bravado to protect Sokovia from the threats of the world. Look at Sokovia now, he thought to himself, desperate to push down the memories of his home. Up to a point, he had blamed himself for his past failures, and as much as he wanted to continue this self-loathing for causing Kalina so much pain, he now redirected his anger and shame at the Avengers.

Kalina, who had been his whole world was now a distant memory, he didn't even know where she was. Maybe she had been miles away from Sokovia, maybe she was a passerby on the street in the middle of the battle. All Helmut knew was that she was no longer his, and could not stomach his own inability to take care of her when he had the chance and the responsibility.

Since the battle of Novi Grad, Helmut had been consumed with anger and desperately sought retribution for the crimes against his country. Everything the Avengers stood for, peace, honor and protecting others, they had completely turned away from while they allowed Novi Grad to be destroyed in another one of their targeted efforts to save the world. He had lost Kalina, and then Sokovia, and finally he had lost his second chance at happiness, all at the hands of the Avengers.