SINS-CHAPTER THREE; Bonds To Break

Cain stays in the shadows of the room where Ultron was created. The rest of the Avengers-plus James Rhodes, Maria Hill, and Dr. Cho-were staring at the remains of the destroyed 3D conscious of Jarvis. Cain shuts his eyes. Sure, he wasn't exactly fond of the AI, but... Cain reopens his eyes and they immediately land on Tony who is staring at Jarvis, guilt ridden. Cain wanted nothing more than to comfort the human he was currently fond of but he was still mad at them.

"This is insane." Bruce breathes. He's staring wide eyed at the 3D image.

"Jarvis was the first line of defense. He would've shut Ultron down, it makes sense." Steve comments.

"No, Ultron could've assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy, this is...rage." Bruce retorts, shaking his head. Cain exits the shadows when he sees Thor storm in and march his way over to Tony. Thor grabs hold of Tony by his throat and holds him up. Cain is by Tony's side in a second, snarling at Thor and gripping onto his wrist tightly.

"Let. Him. Go." Cain growls. Thor glares at Cain but slowly lets Tony down.

"And the Legionnaire?" Steve inquires before a fight can break loose between two of the three heavy hitters.

"Trail went cold about a hundred miles out but it's headed north, and it has the scepter." Thor reports. "Now we have to retrieve it, again." He spits in Tony's direction.

"The genie's out of that bottle. Clear and present is Ultron." Natasha inputs. Cain backs away from the conversing heroes, his mind racing. They were acting differently. He didn't see this side of them before. Cain's head shoots up and looks at each ones face. How could he not see it? He should've. They're human after all.

Frail.

Liars.

Greedy.

Cain glares at nothing in particular.

Pathetic.

Cain's attention snaps to Stark when he starts laughing. Banner is beside him, subtly shaking his head in an effort to get Stark to stop.

     "You think this is funny?" Odinson snaps.

     "No. It's probably not, right? Is this very terrible? Is it so...is it so...it is. It's so terrible." Stark replies, laughter continuing to bubble from his throat.

     "This could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand." Odinson growls, getting in Stark's face again.

     "No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this." Stark argues, growing irritated.

     "Tony, maybe this might not be the time to-"

Stark cuts Banner off. "Really?! That's it? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls?" Stark scoffs.

     "Only when I've created a murder bot." Banner retorts.

     "We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?" Stark replies. Cain closes his eyes yet again, growing tired of all the arguing.

Useless.

'Maybe Ultron was right...' Cain muses.

     "How were you guys planning on beating that?" Stark inquires.

     "Together." Rogers states. Cain curls a lip in disgust.

Naive.

Childish.

Ignorant.

Foolish-

     "We'll lose." Stark replies with a straight face. Rogers is undeterred.

     "Then we'll do that together, too." Rogers comments confidently. It's as if the soldier shits rainbows and rides unicorns. Stark stares at Rogers for a moment until he turns away. "Thor's right. Ultron's calling us out. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller." Cain's brows scrunch together as he slowly opens his eyes.

'Make it smaller? MAKE IT SMALLER??' Cain repeats furiously in his mind. His eyes snap to obsidian as he glares at the humans. These low, petty, pathetic humans.

     "Cain?" Stark calls. Cain's eyes return to green as his head swivels up to lock gazes with Stark. "You okay?" Stark asks slowly. Cautious. They're all staring at him now. Cain slowly smirks.

     "Aces, Stark. Aces." Cain replies in a friendly tone, clicking his tongue and making shooting motions with his fingers. "Just gotta take a wiz. Be right back." Cain adds, walking out of the room.

     "Stark?" Stark blanches, turning to face the others. "He never calls me Stark..." He mutters.

Once out of the room, Cain disappears into smoke.

AN EMPTY CHURCH

     "Everyone creates the thing they dread. Men of peace create engines of war, invaders create avengers, people create... smaller people?" Ultron lists before losing his train of thought.

     "Babies, children,... ankle biters." Cain calls as he enters the room. "A lot of words for them really." The twins prepare themselves for a fight.

     "Wait!" Ultron calls, holding a hand up. Cain tilts his head, facing the robot. "I was looking for the word children. Thank you." Ultron states. "You... you were the only one that didn't attack me. Deliberately. In fact, you seemed hesitant." Ultron notes, remembering their earlier encounter. "Why?" Cain shrugs.

     "Lets just say I can sympathize." Cain replies. He notices the girl staring at him. What was her name? Wilma? Wanda? Cain winks at her.

     "Why are you here?" Wanda asks, readying her powers as red energy dances between her hands and her irises match the scarlet color.

     "You were right." Cain states, turning to Ultron. "The world would be better without the Avengers."

     "You're their friend, are you not?" Pietro asks. He's confused like his sister. Cain's eyes flick to black.

     "Not. Well, not after seeing their true colors." Cain seethes. Ultron eyes him curiously.

     "What do you mean?" Ultron inquires.

     "Like I said. I can sympathize. I was like you once. Pissed at my creator... doing anything to-" Cain shuts his eyes. "It doesn't matter. What matters is... I'm helping you. Do you want it or not?" Cain snaps. Ultron nods. Cain grins, clapping his hands together. "Great, what do I need to do?"

SALVAGE YARD, AFRICAN COAST

     "Want a candy?" Cain materializes just as Ulysses Klaue holds a plate out to the twins. He grabs a few, smirking with satisfaction at frightening Klaue.

     "I'd love some. Thanks." Cain purrs, handing one to Pietro and the other to Wanda before eating the last one himself. Klaue stares at Cain.

     "And you are?" Klaue asks.

     "Cain." The demon answers, his eyes flicking to black. Klaue backs away.

     "I take it this isn't your first time intimidating someone." Klaue states. Cain smirks, snickering.

      "Oh, I've done more than intimidate." Cain snarls before crossing his arms. "But luckily for you, I'm not the boss."

     "Then who-?" Klaue is cut off by Ultron crashing through a glass window and knocking Klaue out the room.

     "Me. Let's talk business."

~Cas (with help from Lunarladie) 😘✌️