DARK || Avengers Fanfiction

Chapter 4: Thanks, Cap

It was the next morning and the Avengers were still recovering from the events of last night. Currently, Steve and Maria Hill exited the elevator and began to walk around and up the stairs, discussing the threats regarding Ultron.

"He's all over the globe. Robotics labs, weapons facilities, jet propulsion labs. Reports of a metal man, or men, coming in and emptying the place," Hill explained.

Steve glanced at her. "Fatalities?"

"Only when engaged. Mostly guys left in a fugue state going on about old memories, worst fears, and "something too fast to see."

"Maximoffs." Steve affirmed. "That makes sense he'd go to them. They have someone in common."

"Not anymore." Hill stated as they reached the top of the stairs. She handed him a tablet that showed a picture of a crime scene, with the word "peace" written in blood on the wall.

Steve made his way down the hall and recruited Clint, who was on the phone with his "girlfriend" to come with him.

They entered the lab and approached the rest of the team. Steve handed the tablet to Thor.

"What's this?" Tony asked, walking over to him and Steve.

"A message. Ultron killed Strucker."

Thor roughly handed Tony the tablet. "And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us," Tony sighed. Bruce and Natasha came over.

"This is a smoke screen," Natasha said. "Why send a message when you've just given a speech?" She asked.

Steve folded his arms. "Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss."

"Yeah, I bet he... "Natasha typed on the computer and waited until it beeped. "Yeah. Everything we had on Strucker has been erased."

"Not everything," Tony said.

The team were now looking through old boxes containing files and documents of information.

"Known associates. Baron Strucker had a lot of friends."

"Well," Bruce started. "These people are all horrible."

Tiny stopped him. "Wait. I know that guy." He reached out his hand and Bruce gave him the file. "From back in the day. He operates off the African coast. Black market arms."

Steve narrowed his eyes on Tony. "There are conventions. All right? You meet people. I didn't sell him anything. He was talking about finding something new, a game-changer. It was all very Ahab."

"This?" Thor pointed to the document.

"Ah, it's a tattoo, I don't think he had it," Tony confirmed.

Thor looked over the photos again. "Those are tattoos, this is a brand."

Bruce scanned and confirmed what it was on the computer. "Oh, yeah. It's a word in an African dialect meaning "thief." in a much less friendly way."

"What dialect?" Asked Steve.

Bruce looked at the word and did a double take. "Wakanada. Wa- wa-," He stammered. "Wakanda."

Tony and Steve looked at each other. "If this guy got out of Wakanda with some other triad goods."

"I thought your father said he got the last of it," Steve said.

Bruce got up. "I don't follow. What comes out of Wakanda?"

They all follow Tony's gaze. "The strongest metal on Earth."