An Age of Metal

Them vs. Us

A Few Moments Before 

Klaue, a man proclaiming bad taste and worse morals, sat in his office. Well, not so much an office as much as a dingy room on a dirty cargo ship packed with workers. He was on the phone with someone of equal character. 

"Don't tell me your men swindled you." He spat, like a threat. "I sent you six short-range heat-seekers and got a boat full of rusted parts. Now, you will make it right, or the next missile I send you will come very much faster." 

He ended the call and quickly connected to another.

"Now, minister, where were we?" He said, meaning business.

In the next moment, the lights of the ship flickered off, causing a commotion in the salvage yard. In that confusion, the twins slipped into Klaue's "office". Klaue grabbed a gun and fired it at Pietro. 

That was his first mistake.

Pietro caught the bullet in mid-air and set it down on his desk, leaving nothing but a blue blur. He folded his arm and stood next to his sister.

"Oh. The Enhanced." Klaue realized.  "Strucker's prize pupils." 

He sat in his chair and put the gun down.

"Do you want a candy?" He asked, rattling an old bowl full of  cellophane wrapped sweets. 

Pietro sped to it, popped one in his mouth, and still didn't say a word.

"I was sorry to hear about Strucker. But then, he knew what kind of world he was helping create. Human life. Not a growth market." Klaue continued.

The twins looked at each other.

"You...you didn't know?" He questioned rhetorically.

"Is this your first time intimidating someone?" He added. "I'm afraid I'm not that afraid."

"Everybody is afraid of something." Wanda spoke.

"Cuttlefish." Klaue stated.

Wanda tilted her head, and Pietro looked confused.

"Deep sea fish." He went on.  "They make lights, disco lights...to hypnotize their prey, and then... I saw a documentary. It was terrifying. So if you're going to fiddle with my brain... and make me see a giant cuttlefish, then I know you don't do business. And I know you're not in charge. And I only deal...with the man in charge." 

As if on cue, Ultron shattered the glass window and knocked a shocked Klaue onto the floor.

"There is no man in charge." Ultron stated coldly. "Let's talk business."

Klaue lead the trio into another room, and handed Ultron a container of silver liquid. Pietro and Wanda stood behind Ultron, on guard.

"Upon this rock, I will build my church. Vibranium." He said.

"You know, it came at great personal cost. It's worth billions." Klaue told him.

Ultron let out a mechanical laugh and filled Klaue's bank account.

"Now, so are you. It's all under your dummy holdings. Finance is so...strange. But I always say, 'Keep your friends rich and your enemies rich and wait to find out which is which.'" 

"Stark." Klaue said suddenly.

The twins bristled at the name.

"What?" Ultron demanded. 

"Tony Stark used to say that. To me. You're one of his." He said.

"What? I'm not...I'm not. You think I'm one of Stark's puppets? His hollow men?" Ultron's voice grew in volume as he grabbed Klaue. "I mean, look at me. Do I look like Iron Man? Stark is nothing!"