Soldier Boy

Finding Ultron

"All our work is gone." Bruce said. "Ultron cleared out. He used the Internet as an escape hatch."

"Ultron." Steve whispered as he stood next to me as I sat on the table.

"He's been in everything. Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other." Nat said.

"He's in your files, he's in the Internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?" Rhodey asks, holding his upper left arm.

"Nuclear codes." Hill said from her chair as she was getting glass shards out of her foot.

"Nuclear codes." Rhodey repeats softly. "Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can."

"'Nukes'? He said he wanted us dead." Nat said.

"He didn't say 'dead'." I said.

"He said 'extinct'." Steve said.

"He also said he killed somebody." Clint added.

"There wasn't anyone else in the building." Hill said.

"Yes, there was." Tony said as he walked to the middle of the room. He tapped something out of his phone. Jarvis. Jarvis was ripped apart. Steve crossed his arms.

"What?" Bruce mumbled to himself as he walked over to it. "This is insane."

"Jarvis was the first line of defense. He would have shut Ultron down. It makes sense." Steve said softly.

"No. Ultron could have assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy. This is...rage." Bruce said. Thor walked into the room in his suit. He grabbed Tony by his throat and lifted him up.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Rhodey says.

"It's going around." Clint said.

"Come on, use your words, buddy." Tony says.

"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark." Thor said. I patted Steve's arm, silently telling him to stop this.

"Thor. The legionnaire." Steve raised his voice. Thor drops Tony.

"Trail went cold about 100 miles out, but it's headed north. And it has the scepter." Thor reported. "Now we have to retrieve it, again."

"Genie's out of that bottle." Nat said. "Clear and present is Ultron."

"I don't understand." Helen says as she looks at the broken pieces of a Legionnaire. She turned to us. "You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?" Tony then starts to laugh.

"Mmm-mmm." Bruce shook his head.

"You think this is funny?" Thor asked.

"No. It's probably not, right? This is very terrible. Is it so...Is it so...it is. It's so terrible." Tony says.

"This could have been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand." Thor says.

"No. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this." Tony says.

"Tony, maybe this might not be the time-" Bruce says.

"Really? That's it? You just roll over, show your belly every time somebody snarls?" Tony turns to Bruce.

"Only when I've created a murder bot." Bruce answers.

"We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?" Tony asks.

"Well, you did something right. And you did it right here." Steve said and he uncrossed his arms. "The Avengers were supposed to be different than S.H.I.E.L.D.."