Sunshine | Pietro Maximoff

CHAPTER 11

We were minutes away from landing at Avengers Tower. I sat in silence, deep in thought. My leg bounced uncontrollably as I attempted to convince myself Tony would make the right choice.

"Are... you okay?" Pietro hesitantly asked, sitting down beside me.

I looked up from the floor and met his eyes.

"Fine." I answered.

Pietro was silent for a moment and I noticed he began to bounce his leg in time with mine. He took a composing breath before speaking once more.

"You know... We're in this together now. If you want to talk, I would like to listen."

I felt a smile turn up the corners of my lips almost involuntarily at his words.

"Thanks." I began. "It's just..."

I rubbed my face with my hands and let out a sigh.

"It's my fault Ultron even exists and if I can't stop Banner and Stark from repeating our mistake..." I trailed off, letting my hands fall to my sides.

"I thought Stark..." Pietro began, eyebrows knitted together.

"Banner, Stark and I, we... We wanted to protect the world. If we had known this would have been the result... we never would have tried in the first place."

Just as Pietro opened his mouth to speak, Steve called out from the cockpit.

"We're here." He said.

~*~

"The genetic coding tower is at 97%." I could hear Banner telling Stark. "You have got to upload that schematic in the next three minutes."

"I can't believe you two!" I yelled as I stormed into the lab

"What!? We're only finishing what the three of us wanted!" Stark retorted.

"Wanted! Past tense, Tony! Seeing the murder bot we created kinda put me off the idea!"

"I'm only gonna say this once, Tony." Began Steve.

"How about 'none-ce'."

"We failed with Ultron but the solution isn't to make another one and hope for the best this time!" I yelled.

"You don't know what you're doing." Steve added.

"And you do?" Bruce spoke up, having been silent until now." She's not in your head?" He gestured to where Wanda stood.

"I know you're angry." Wanda said, coming out from behind Pietro.

"Oh, we're way past that." Replied Bruce, in an eerily calm voice. "I could choke the life out of you and not even change a shade."

"Banner, after everything that's happened-" Steve began.

"That's nothing compared to what's coming!" Stark interrupted.

As shouts began to overlap one another, a blur of blue and silver sped around the room. All power to the cradle cut out. Pietro stopped, holding disconnected wires in his hand.

"No, no, go on. You were saying?" He asked.

Just then, the glass floor where Pietro was standing shattered, sending him crashing down. I brought my hands to my mouth in shock.

"Pietro!" Wanda called.

"I'm rerouting the upload." Tony said.

He turned to face the computer. Just then, Steve flung his shield, which bounced off the machines in the room. I ducked, covering my head from the sparks. Everyone sprang into action; Tony called his gauntlet to his hand and fired directly at Steve, while Bruce held Wanda in a choke hold.

Narrowly missing a blast from Tony, I headed to the hole in the floor Pietro had fallen through and jumped down, landing on my feet.

Pietro lay on his back amidst the broken glass. When he saw me, he sat up, rubbing his head.

"Are you okay?" I asked, reaching out my hand to him.

He took it and I helped him to his feet. I tried not to notice how he continued holding my hand once he was standing.

"I'm fine." He reassured me with a smile.

A bright flash of light came from upstairs, causing Pietro and I to turn our heads to the hole in the ceiling.

"Wait!" I heard Bruce yell.

Another flash of light followed the sound of electricity crackling.

"Please don't tell me..." I mumbled.

An explosion came from above, like the sound of something bursting through glass. My heart sank as I knew my fears were confirmed. Tony and Bruce had succeeded. Everything upstairs was eerily silent. Suddenly, something was sent crashing through the glass upstairs and across the room from us. Pietro pulled me closer, covering my head with his hand from the shards of glass that rained down. I felt my heart begin to race.

"Sorry..." He muttered sheepishly, as if he just realised what he had done.

Stark and Banner's creation stopped itself when it reached the window. It stared out over the city. I saw the rest of the team come down from upstairs, watching the android in silence. Still holding me in his arms, Pietro sped over to where Wanda stood at the foot of the stairs. The android flew over slowly, landing beside Thor.

"I'm sorry. That was... odd." The android turned his head to Thor. "Thank you." He said.

"Thor," Steve began. "You helped create this?"

"I've had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life, and at its centre is that." He pointed to the yellow stone in the android's forehead.

"What? The gem?" Bruce asked.

"It's the Mind Stone." Thor explained. "It's one of the six Infinity Stones. The greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities."

"Then why would you bring-" Steve started, yet was interrupted by Thor.

"Because Stark is right."

"Oh, it definitely is the end times..." Remarked Bruce under his breath.

"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron." Said Thor.

"Not alone." The android spoke up, stepping forward.

"Why does your vision sound like Jarvis?" Asked Steve.

"We reconfigured Jarvis' matrix to create something new." Tony answered, walking forward to meet his creation.

I felt a pang in my chest. As much as I was against the idea, I couldn't help feeling angry at how they could do something this huge without me. I thought the three of us were a team. Clearly, I was wrong.

"I think I've had my fill of new." Steve said.

"You think I'm a child of Ultron." The android observed.

"You're not?" Asked Steve.

After a moment of silence, as if he was in thought, the android spoke again.

"I'm not Ultron." He said. "I am not Jarvis. I am..."

Although he no longer held me in his arms, Pietro's hand remained in mine. Wanda stepped forward towards the android.

"I looked in your head and saw annihilation." She said.

"Look again."