The Dark World | Book 3

Chapter 34: Cradle

The Quinjet lowered over the rooftops of houses and opened the ramp to allow Sigyn and Steve to exit onto the roofs. Several miles away stood the lab which Ultron was hiding in.

"Two minutes. Stay close." Steve ordered into the ear piece.

The two, with speed, ran across the rooftops and onto the streets, crossing the bridge to the building. They entered the lab and ran to the upper levels, finding the lab in ruins and bodies of the scientists dead.

Steve and Sigyn run towards the back end of the lab where they find Helen Cho bleeding out.

"Cho!?" Steve see's her and quickly rushes to her side. Sigyn standing above the two, examining her surroundings. Wires and cables had been pulled from the walls and were sparking, almost like something was pulled from the computer attachments.

"He's uploading himself into the body." Cho informed, her breathing ragged.

"Where?" Steve asked.

Cho shook her head, unable to answer. Steve went to stand to find something to help Cho's injuries, but she held his arm stopping him.

"The real power is inside the cradle." She says. "The gem, its power is uncontainable."

This caught Sigyn's attention, she knelt beside the women, holding her hand over her wounds and channelled her seidr.

"You can't just blow it up." Cho stated. "You have to get the cradle to Stark."

"First we have to find it." Steve replied.

"Go."

"Did you guys copt that?" Steve says into the ear piece.

"We did." Clint's voice replies.

"I've got a private jet taking off across town." Natasha informed. "No manifest. That could be him."

"There. It's a truck from the lab." Clint says. "Right above you, Cap. Sig. On the loop by the bridge. It's them, we got three with the cradle and one in the cab. I could take out the driver."

"No!" Sigyn yelled into her ear piece. "If the truck crashes that gem would level the city."

"We need to draw out Ultron." Steve says as he climbed over the side of the bridge onto the road with Sigyn behind him.

"There." Sigyn points down at the bridge below them at the oncoming truck. Steve nodded and followed Sigyn's lead. She ran to the other side of the bridge and launched herself off the side. Both Sigyn and Steve landed onto of the truck, Sigyn landing with perfect footing while Steve rolled.

"I got this one." Steve runs to the back of the truck and lowered himself onto the back door, until a blast blew open the door sending Steve into the side of the truck. He pushed himself back and another blast blew the door off. Steve flew into the air, Sigyn watching with curiosity as Steve fell back onto the door that was being dragged across the road by the truck.

"Well he's definitely unhappy." Steve informed. "I'm gonna try and keep him that way."

"You're not a match for him, cap." Clint replied.

"He isn't." Sigyn agreed.

"Thanks, guys." Steve huffed.

"But I am." Sigyn said.

"You fight him then!" Steve retorted.

Sigyn threw out her arm and her spear appeared in her hand as Steve was thrown onto the car driving behind the truck. He threw himself onto another truck driving past and then jumped back onto the lab truck. Steve finds that Sigyn wasn't on top of the truck anymore.

"Sig?" he called softly, but confused.

"You know what's in that cradle?" Ultron says as he flies up to meet Steve. He fires a shot at Steve's back which his shield blocks. "The power to make real change. And that terrifies you."

"I wouldn't call it a comfort." Steve retaliated. Sigyn then skilfully threw herself over the top of the truck, and with deadly speed and strength she whacked Ultron with her spear, cutting his metal body and sent him flying threw the air, his shot missing it's target.

Ultron regained his balance and flew back in for more. He repeatedly fired shots from his hands at Steve and Sigyn.

Sigyn rolled to the side and avoided a shot. She threw her spear at Ultron, the blades cutting deep into his arm.

"You're new to the party." Ultron commented on the white haired Asgardian. She was not with them all other times they attacked.

Steve then ran forwards and threw his shield at Ultron which rebounded and he runs house kicked it back at Ultron's chest. Sigyn summoned her spear back to her hands.

"Stop it!" Ultron grew frustrated and tossed the shield off the side of the truck. Ultron fired a shot at Sigyn to which she leaned to the side and the shot hit Steve instead and sent him flying over the front of the truck.

Sigyn ran towards Ultron, she skilfully twisted her spear and dodged Ultron's attacks which only annoyed him further. Her blades kept cutting away at his edges.

"I've been wanting to meet you." Ultron fired a shot but missed when Sigyn knocked his arm away. "Sigyn of Asgard. I know all about your adventures on Earth as an Avenger."

"Then you won't mind if I take whats in that cradle."

Steve managed to throw himself back onto the roof. This time Ultron took ahold of Sigyn's spear, but she twisted the other half and broke off. Ultron scoffed and tossed the side he was holding off the roof, but it went straight to Sigyn's hand.

"You're annoying me!" Ultron blasted another shot, but it was deflected off Sigyn's blades. Steve jumped onto Ultron's back, holding him in a head lock while Ultron struggled to throw Steve off his back.

Sigyn took the opportunity and ran towards the end of the truck, she went into a slid and stuck her blade into the truck as she dangled off the edge. Looking inside there was a cradle surrounded by three robots.

She needed to get that gem back.

They raised they're energy guns to fire at her, Sigyn's eye widened and she looked back at the car that followed, there were children inside. Sigyn allowed the shot to hit her, she groaned as it sent her flying back onto the car.

The mother and children inside screamed with fear as the windshield smashed. Within seconds, Natasha drove away on a motorbike, and Steve was thrown onto a car that drove by the side of a truck. Ultron, using a power, brought up the ground and sent a line of cars tumbling over.

The mother inside the car then hit her brakes so suddenly that the Asgardian on her car was sent flying off. Sigyn came to a roll on the road and watched as the tyre stopped centimetres from her face.

Sigyn rolled back to her feet and could do nothing but watch as the truck drove away with Steve and Ultron fighting. Sigyn cursed loudly in Old Norse, she summoned both sides of her spear back and spoke,

"Barton, I need a pick up."

"Kinda busy!" Barton replied out of breath. Sigyn shook her head and began to run after the truck.