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Chapter Three✷ At Each Other's Throats
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The sun was now rising and everyone sat in the lab recollecting what had happened only a few hours ago.
Camden still wore his black button-up shirt as he hung his head in exhaustion with his arms resting against his legs.
"All our work is gone. Ultron cleared out. He used the Internet as an escape hatch." Bruce stated.
Steve looked towards Bruce and Tony, "Ultron."
"He's been in everything. Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other." Natasha said.
Camden closed his eyes and clenched his fists tightly to the point where his nails dug into his skin, leaving crescent moon marks.
"He's in your files, he's in the Internet. What if he decided to access something a little more exciting?" Rhodey said as he paced.
Maria, who had been getting the glass out of the bottom of her feet, looked at Rhodey, "Nuclear codes."
"Nuclear codes." Rhodey agreed.
"Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can."
"Nukes? He said he wanted us dead." Natasha recalled.
Steve shook his head, "He didn't say 'dead.' He said 'extinct.'"
"He also said he killed somebody." Clint reminded everyone.
"There wasn't anyone else in the building."
For the first time, Tony spoke up, "Yes, there was." He said as he walked and revealed a destroyed Jarvis.
Camden looked up from the floor and stared at the hologram.
"This is insane."
"Jarvis was the first line of defense. He would have shut Ultron down. It makes sense."
Bruce continued to stare at the destroyed Jarvis with wide eyes, "No. Ultron could have assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy. This is rage."
Just as Bruce had finished speaking, Thor angrily made his way towards Tony. The God grabbed ahold of the billionaire's throat and lifted him off the ground. Camden stood up from his spot in shock as everyone exclaimed.
"Come on, he's your words, buddy," Tony said, his voice strained.
"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark."
Steve took a step towards them, "Thor. The Legionnaire." He said, prompting Thor to release Tony from his grasp.
"Trail went cold about a hundred miles out? But it's headed north. And it has the scepter." The God stated.
Steve sighed as Thor went on, "Now we have to retrieve it, again."
"Genie's out of that bottle. Clear and present is Ultron." Natasha said.
Camden turned his head as Dr. Cho began to speak, "I don't understand. You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?" She asked. And Camden had the same question.
He looked towards Tony with furrowed eyebrows as the man began to chuckle. Bruce looked at Tony with disappointment and shook his head while Camden glared at the Stark man, "You think this is funny?"
Tony turned back towards them, "No. It's probably not, right? This is very terrible. Is it so," He laughed again, "is it so...it is. It's so terrible."
Thor took a step towards him, "This could have been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand."
"No. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this." Tony said as he now stood face to face with Thor.
Bruce spoke up from behind Tony, "Tony, maybe this might not be the time." He said, hesitantly.
Tony turned back to Bruce, "Really? That's it? You just roll over, show your belly every time somebody snarls?" He said.
"Only when I've created a murder bot."
"We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?" Bruce pursed his lips.
"Well, you did something right. And you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than S.H.I.E.L.D." Steve spoke up once again as he walked over to Tony.
"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" Tony asked.
Camden rolled his eyes, "For God's sake." He muttered under his breath.
"No, it's never come up. Never heard that." Rhodey said, sarcastically.
"Saved New York? Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it. We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the livelong day. But that up there, that's...that's the endgame."
Camden stared at the billionaire with crossed arms as he continued to go on with his speech, "How were you guys planning on beating that?"
"Together."
Tony took a step towards Steve, "We'll lose."
"Then we'll do that together, too."
The two stared at each other in silence for a moment before Steve spoke again, "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."
