✓ | Darkness.

chapter fourteen

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: "YOU RISE, ONLY TO FALL"

Olive guided her siblings to the clothing racks, which also had weapons lined along them-knowing her siblings, they wouldn't be taking those.

She was still mad, and beyond frustrated. Her siblings had hurt her in more ways than one, but she couldn't deny how happy she was that they finally gained some common sense and stopped working for the enemy. Took them long enough.

"You can change into a new pair of shoes, Pietro." Olive pointed towards a rack full of shoes. "I'd imagine the souls on the pair your wearing are getting burned out."

Pietro seemed to sense the anger still bubbling within Olive, so he kept his reply short. "Thank you, Liv." She hummed, and nodded.

Next, her eyes scanned the shelves for something Wanda could wear. Her fingers brushed against a red leather jacket, and she tilted her head. She was sure that it was Natasha's, and was hoping the redhead wouldn't mind.

"Here." She tossed it to Wanda, who seemed to be stuck in a daze. The jacket caused Wanda to jump, as she was brought back to reality, her eyes gazing at the jacket before she awkwardly nodded at Olive. The younger Maximoff rolled her eyes in amusement as she followed her sister's gaze to see Vision talking to Thor, but she said nothing.

Olive kept to herself until the rest of the team was ready, passing by Tony, Steve and Bruce as she made her way to the Quinjet. She decided against joining in on their conversation, as she sat alone, her mind spiralling.

She had a lot of bad memories in Sokovia, but a lot of good ones too. She lost her parents, was forced to be experimented on by Hydra, and lost a side of herself that she had yet to get back, all in Sokovia. But there were also movie nights and family dinners, hanging out with her siblings and laughing as a family. She missed that.

It wasn't long until the others joined her on the jet. The twins sat one seat over, giving her room to herself while also making sure she was in their sight. Olive hoped that they would be able to get over this silent argument eventually, but she couldn't bring herself to forgive them just yet. It would take time, God, she knew it would. But she still loved them.

Tony walked by, silently handing her a comm so she could keep in touch while in battle. She nodded at him, before putting it in her ear and cringing at the uncomfortable feeling.

"Ultron knows we're coming." Steve began, "odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire. And that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't." He glanced at the Maximoffs. "So our priority, is getting them out. All they want is to live their lives in peace. And that's not gonna happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done. We find out what Ultrons been building, we find Romanoff, and clear the field. Keep the fight between us."

Steve paused, his eyes falling to the floor. There was a solemn look on his face, "Ultron thinks we're monsters. That we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right."

There was a heavy silence in the air, and the tension was thick. Olive felt her nerves getting the best of her. She squeezed her hands into fists, letting her nails dig into her palms, but not enough to break the skin. She didn't need to add any unnecessary injuries to the list that she was sure would be building up in the fight that was soon to come.

A hand rested on top of her own, and she looked over to see her siblings looking at her with worried looks, Wanda's arm outstretched. Olive froze, immediately seeing the regret in their eyes, but she ignored it. She inhaled sharply as she brushed Wanda's hand off, her hands relaxing and her palms aching.

They didn't deserve her forgiveness. Not yet.

Everyone had their own job. Wanda was to lead everyone out of their homes with her telepathy, Pietro was to use his speed to alert the police in no time, and so on. Olive helped guide the wandering Sokovian's who lost their way, gently nudging them into the correct direction.

Their eyes had glossed over with red, and they stared unseeingly, but they knew they needed to leave.

Olive's eyes landed on Steve, who was rushing people up a street and over to safety. She managed to weave her way through people, and direct them to where Steve was pointing. "This way!" She called out, among other words of encouragement.

Olive paused, her brows furrowing as she felt the ground begin to shake beneath her feet. Much to her surprise, a metal hand broke through the surface of the street, before reaching out for something to steady itself on. It tumbled out of the street like some sort of metallic zombie, it's glowing eyes landing on her.

The Maximoff quickly got over her shock, using the shadows around her to her advantage. She surrounded the bot with them, before letting the darkness rip it to pieces. But it didn't end there-more robots were ripping themselves through the earth, crawling around and flying through the air, wreaking havoc.

Her home was being ripped to pieces.

She paused, only for a second, but it was enough for a robot to send a blast her way. The darkness surrounded her chest like a breastplate, taking the blow, but she was knocked off her feet nonetheless.

She groaned in pain, lazily killing off the robot that had shot at her. Rude.

Olive hastily got to her feet, nearly falling over once again as the ground began to shake. She steadied herself, her breath being caught in her throat as the ground split a few feet away from her. The screams of the people around her were muffled by the bone chilling creaks and groans of the city splitting apart.

Olive's hand found her ears in an attempt to block out the noise, but it was impossible. To make matters worse, the city began to raise higher and higher, leaving the rest of the world behind. Olive was absolutely horrified.

"Do you see? the beauty of it," Ultron's robotic voice echoed around her, coming from every nearby robot. There were hundreds of them. "The inevitability. You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, you are my meteor. My swift and terrible sword. And the Earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing."

The robots didn't stop during his speech, and Olive realized just before it was too late that one of the bots was only a few feet away from her. She ducked, just managing to escape its grasp. She whipped her head around and held up a hand, letting the darkness circle it and rip it to pieces.

"When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world, will be metal."

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lizzie speaks...

am i the only one annoyed by how often i have to type 'darkness'? does anyone know any synonyms that would work bc 😭