Fighting A New War (Book Seven of The Bad Wolf Chronicles)

Chapter Three

Bit shorter, but I don't want a story that's only seven chapters long . . . granted, that's probably how long the Tennant Specials for "The Creators Saga" will be . . .

Speaking of my Doctor Who series, there's a new one! I've posted my fourth Doctor Who series, "The Diaries of a Teenage Time Lady," and it starts with "Bad Wolf." Please, check it out? It's a lot like this series, except there's no MARVEL crossover. It's got the interludes, too. :)

Anyway, the Avengers try to catch up with what Ultron is up to, and the Maximoffs pick which side they're on.

***

"All our work is gone," Bruce rubbed his forehead as he looked through all of the computers. "Ultron cleared out, used the Internet as an escape hatch."

"Ultron," Steve muttered under his breath, shaking his head in disbelief, Martha squeezing his hand.

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

"Nuclear codes," Maria put in.

"Nuclear codes," Rhodey repeated in disbelief. "Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can."

"Nukes?" Natasha reminded him. "He said he wanted us dead."

"He didn't say dead," Steve shook his head. "He said extinct."

"He also said he killed somebody," Saleen put in.

"But there wasn't anyone else in the building," Maria frowned.

"Oh, yes, there was," the Doctor said darkly. "Who's the first line of defense here in the tower?"

Tony swallowed and brought up a 3D image of a destroyed AI consciousness. "JARVIS would've shut Ultron down," Jessie said.

"No, Ultron could've assimilated JARVIS," Bruce shook his head. "This isn't strategy. This is rage."

Thor growled and stormed over to Tony, grabbing him by his throat and lifting him into the air. "Whoa whoa whoa!" Clint ran to stop him. "It's going around!"

"Come on," Tony grunted. "Use your words, buddy."

"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark," Thor growled.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and walked over, grabbing Thor's wrist and squeezing. Thor actually winced at the Time Lord's strength and reluctantly let go of Tony. "We don't need any more violence after what we just went through," the Doctor warned him before turning back around. "Do we know what happened to that Legionnaire?"

"Trail went cold about a hundred miles out, but it's headed north, and it has the scepter," Thor rubbed his wrist. "Now we have to retrieve it. Again."

"The genie's out of the bottle," Natasha rubbed her forehead. "Clear and present is Ultron."

"I don't understand," Dr. Cho looked at Tony. "You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?"

Tony suddenly started laughing, and Jessie bristled, turning to him. "Something funny, Stark?" she asked, folding her arms, the Doctor putting a hand on her shoulder as Saleen cringed. Everyone knew when Jessie resorted to last names, she was beyond pissed. "Care to share with the class?"

"No," Tony shook his head, actually looking a bit scared. "It's probably not, right? Is this very terrible? Is it so . . . is it so . . . it is. It's so terrible."

"And it could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand," the Doctor gave him a look.

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