VENGEANCE | MAXIMOFF TWINS

↪six.

VENGEANCE

( CHAPTER SIX) 

When we walked into the city square it seemed like things had more of an order to them. There was less chaos and screaming. In fact, everyone was pretty much silent. I frowned in confusion, holding onto the hands of both the twins as we moved to join the crowd, trying to figure out why everyone was so quiet.

That was when we noticed the man standing in front of city hall. He had a monocle, and no hair. He had his hands clasped behind his back as he watched the rioters with a look of intent interest. He seemed really intrigued by the people, even as they shouted curse words right in his face. But he didn't appear to be someone from the government. No, he looked like he worked for some sort of fancy organization, but not the government. His jacket had patches on the shoulders, a skull surrounded by tentacles. It was interesting.

"What is that man doing there?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I kept my eyes on him. Pietro tore his gaze away from the man, looking down at me. He merely shrugged, and Wanda did too. He didn't look like he was trying to stop the rioters. He just...watched them. Like they were lab rats of some sort. 

As we stared on, the man began to speak. "Ladies and gentlemen," he began, unclasping his hands and spreading his arms wide to address us properly. "I understand you experience rage toward your government for the bombings that happened."

"We're mad at SHIELD! Not the government!" a man shouted, shaking a raised fist. I let out a soft breath. He was right. We were mad at SHIELD for having killed our families. The Avengers mainly, or, to narrow it down even further--Tony Stark. It was his bombs that killed our people. 

"Ah, yes. SHIELD." The monocled man's smile grew sinister, as if his mistake had been on purpose. He watched all of us, interest glinting in his eyes. "Now, I may not really be able to help you against your government, but SHIELD, I can help you all with them."

I felt a tight grasp on my hand and looked up to see Wanda. She had a little bit of fear in her eyes, as if she didn't understand what this man was saying. How could this bald man help us take SHIELD down? They were an entire organization complete with weapons and superpowers, and we were just citizens. I squeezed her hand to let her know that everything would be all right. She smiled gently at me, and I smiled back before looking up at Pietro. He was staring at the man with a look of almost intent. I could tell he was focusing on what this man said, really taking it all in. When Pietro was focused he got this little crease between his eyebrows and he bit down on the right corner of his mouth, both of which he was doing right now. I took his hand and squeezed it gently, but he didn't break concentration.

"How can you help us?" one woman asked, clearly skeptical.

"Why would you want to help us?" a man sneered.

The bald man merely chuckled, as if unfazed by their statements. Which he probably was. "I can give you the resources you need to fight against them. The power. The weapons. All you could ever need to defeat SHIELD, I have access to." I scowled. That didn't sound right. How could this man have tons of resources to take down SHIELD? And where did he get them from? 

"Why should we trust you?" Wanda spoke up. She didn't seem convinced, and neither was I. This all just didn't seem right. Her arm jerked and I noticed Pietro was leaning over and pinching her arm to quiet her. 

The bald man turned to scan the crowd, as if looking for the person who had spoken. He smiled again, and I shivered at how scary his smile was. It was terrifying. I wanted to flinch away, or even run away from him and go home, burrowing under the covers of our bed. "Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea. I'm the only one with the resources to help you. You have no one else.

"Now, I'll be taking a few volunteers to achieve this power. I wish I could take all of you, but unfortunately that isn't possible. There's only so much power I can give you." He chuckled softly. "You all have three days to think it over. I will be choosing five volunteers." The bald man then turned to walk away, smiling as he listened to the excited cheers of the people behind him.

I looked up at the twins, my eyes wide. "We're not volunteering for this, are we?" I asked, wringing my hands. This sounded scary and untrustworthy. There was no way on Earth this would go right. I had no idea how it would work, but it didn't sound like it could go correctly.

Pietro had a grin on his face, one that almost exactly mimicked the bald man's. "Of course we are," he said in a tone I didn't recognize. It was weird, hearing it from his lips. "If we want to get revenge for our parents, we're going to need powers, won't we?"

"Piet," Wanda said in a tone of worry, shaking her head. "We can't go through with that. Do you know how dangerous that could be?" She tugged on his sleeve, something she did when she was worried or scared. 

"Wanda, we live for danger." The only boy out of three kids chuckled, half of his lips curving up into a grin. "If we want revenge, this is how we're going to get it." Still not convinced, Wanda and I exchanged looks of worry. This wasn't going to go well.