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Thor held Tony by the throat when Steve stepped between them.
"Thor, that's enough. This isn't the time."
Thor looked at him, then lowered his arm. Tony dropped to the floor and caught his own throat. A laugh escaped him before he could stop it. Bruce moved beside him and gestured toward Tony's neck, telling him to stop.
Adam stayed where he was and let the argument pass. Tony had caused the disaster, so Thor was angry. Nobody in the room was ready to let it end quietly.
Adam said, "We need to find Ultron first because things have become more complicated than we thought."
Tony looked at him. Steve did too. Adam had worked with them while they were trying to create Ultron, so nobody could pretend he was a stranger to the project.
Steve nodded and said, "He's right. We find Ultron before we argue about the rest."
The Avengers moved toward the screens and the tables covered with files. Tony pulled up the first message left at Strucker's base.
"A message," he said. "Ultron killed Strucker."
The image showed the mark Ultron had left behind. Natasha studied it while Steve looked through the computer records.
"Why leave a message after giving us a speech?" Natasha asked.
Steve looked at the screen. "Strucker knew something Ultron wanted us to miss." The files connected to Strucker had been wiped. Searching the network would only tell Ultron that they were looking for him, so the team turned to the physical records instead. Nobody trusted the network now that Ultron had escaped into the internet.
Steve spread the folders across the table while Natasha and Bruce searched the remaining pages. Tony kept one eye on the dead screen as Adam quietly turned through the folder, already knowing where Ultron was headed and what Klaue had but choosing not to interfere.
Bruce stopped at a photograph and passed it to Tony, who recognized the man before Steve asked who he was.
Tony held up the photograph and identified Ulysses Klaue, a black-market arms dealer who worked off the African coast. Steve looked at him, so Tony added that he had met Klaue but never sold him anything; Klaue had been searching for a game changer, and the whole story felt like Ahab to him. Steve did not look convinced, but the photograph stayed on the table as Thor pointed to the mark on Klaue's neck.
"That is no tattoo," Thor said. "It is a brand."
Bruce moved closer and studied the mark through the computer. His eyes narrowed as the translation appeared.
"It means thief," he said. "In an African dialect."
"Which one?" Steve asked.
Bruce tried to read the word. "Wakanada... Wakanda."
Tony looked from the photograph to Steve's shield.
"If Klaue got out of Wakanda with their trade goods..."
Steve understood the rest. "The strongest metal on Earth."
Adam kept the folder open in his hands. The others had found the place they needed, and the next part of the story was already moving toward that salvage yard now.
Far away, on the African coast, Klaue stood inside his salvage yard and shouted into a phone.
"I sent you six short-range missiles, and you sent me a boat full of rusted parts. Make it right, or the next missile comes faster."
He ended the call and immediately started another one. Before he could continue, every light in the yard went out.
The workers looked around. The darkness did not last long. Wanda and Pietro walked into the office while the noise outside faded behind them. Klaue turned from the phone and watched them enter without any guards at their side.
Klaue looked from one twin to the other.
"The enhanced. Strucker's prize pupils."
He picked up a dish from his desk and held it toward them.
"Candy?"
Pietro moved too fast for the eye to follow and took one. Klaue flinched, then smiled at the twins.
"Sorry about Strucker," he said. "He knew what kind of world he was helping create. Human life is not a growth market."
Wanda watched him without blinking.
Klaue leaned back in his chair.
"Is this your first time intimidating someone?"
"Everybody is afraid of something," Wanda replied.
Klaue kept talking about the fish in his story. He kept speaking until the fear in the room stopped belonging to him.
Then he pointed at the twins and watched for any change in their faces.
"If you are going to get inside my head, I know you are not here to do business. I deal with the person in charge."
"There is no person in charge," Wanda said.
Ultron entered behind them. His metal body moved badly, but his voice stayed calm.
"Let's talk business."
Klaue stared at him. Ultron sent the payment through the account Klaue had given him. The transfer appeared on the screen beside the desk, and the numbers made Klaue's expression change. Klaue watched the account balance change in front of him.
"Vibranium," Ultron said.
Klaue smiled and led him toward the storage area. The metal was worth billions, and every piece was tied to the secret trade that had brought it out of Wakanda. Klaue showed Ultron what he had, then explained why it mattered to him.
Ultron looked at the display.
"Now so are you."
He opened a transfer screen and spoke as if he were giving financial advice.
"Keep your friends rich and your enemies rich. Then wait to see which one is which."
Klaue stopped smiling.
"Stark," he said.
Ultron turned his head.
"What?"
"Tony Stark used to say that. To me."
Ultron's hand moved before Klaue could step back. Metal fingers closed around Klaue's arm, and the next movement cut through it.
Klaue screamed and fell against the table. Wanda and Pietro watched as the blood spread across the floor.
Ultron looked down at the severed arm.
"Don't compare me with Stark."
Then a red-and-gold figure descended through the open roof.
Tony Stark landed above them.
"You're gonna break your old man's heart."