Beauty and The Beast ~ Hulk Love Story ((Book 2))

Chapter Eight

(AN: Two Chapters in Two days!? I know right! I'm just as excited as you... wanna know a secret? This isn't the last book. With both Thor Ragnarok and Infinity Wars following after Age of Ultron in the timeline, I have two more hulk books planned <3! Keep Reading and Enjoy!) 

Joyful laughter echoed around our group. I couldn't help but smile at the mismatched group around me. Outside of Natasha and Clint, I had never really felt close to anyone, not on the Hellicarrier and definitely not in the normal world. I had always been a bit disconnected from those around me. But in such a short amount of time, I had found the place where I felt most comfortable, with this group. It didn't matter that none of us were the same. Being a god, a rich billionaire, a man out of time, an assassin, or a monster meant nothing, because we were friends. No, it was better than that, we were family. The more I had thought about it the more fun the night had been. I would have to remember to accept Tony's offer to party a lot more often. Tony's rich and fantastic world was so different from the normal new york life I had been living, and even more different then the boring life of being raised on a Hellicarrier. I smiled brightly at Natasha who had been talking to Bruce and me but I hadn't heard a word she had said due to being in my own thoughts. Bruce was now happily occupying the same spot that Thor had been in a moment before. He had his hand discreetly wrapped around mine between us. There was a high pitched ringing sound that cut through our laughter. I pulled my hand away from Bruce's to cover my ears as my face twisted in pain. I was able to force one eye open to see that the others had reacted in similar ways to the sudden sound. The ringing stopped and we all glanced to Tony for some sort of explanation on what had just happened.

"No, how could you be worthy?" A robotic voice that didn't belong to JARVIS caught everyone's attention. A mangled robot from Tony's 'Iron Legion' stood not far from us. All of us rose from our seats in preparation to defend ourselves. "you're all killers," The voice seemed to be coming from the robot. Tony called for JARVIS but got no response. "I'm sorry, I was asleep... or I was a dream." The robot continued. It was dripping fluid from its mangled arm and leg. I scrunched my face watching it in disgust. Tony continued to whisper instructions to JARVIS. "There was this terrible noise," It lifted its messed up arm towards it head as if shielding itself from the 'sound'. "And I was tangled," It stumbled back a bit. "Hmm, Strings... I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy," The robot continued its odd rambling. Steve got defensive at the thought that the robot had killed someone. Thor, Steve, and Tony stood as the first line of defense against this thing. I was close behind Thor ready for a fight. "Wouldnt have been my first call, but down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices." It waved Steve off.

"Who sent you," Thor's voice was deep and threatening. He wasn't smiling or joking. couldn't see his face, but I could see the tension he was holding in his shoulders. After the small sound of a rewinding tape, Tony's voice came from the robot saying 'I see a suite of armor around the world'. We all looked to Tony. The color all but drained from his face at the thought that he had caused this. 

"Ultron?" Bruce's voice came from where he stood behind me. I quickly turned my head. Small panic washed over me as I realized whatever they had been locked away in the lab working on had caused this thing. I scanned Bruce's face as he looked to Tony in pure panic.

"In the flesh... or not yet. not this chrysalis." It didn't really make much sense. It took a couple wobbly steps. "but... I'm ready." I exchanged glances with the others around the room. Agent Hill pulled the hammer back as slowly and quietly as she could. Hawkeye narrowed his eyes at the robot. Thor twirled his hammer in his hand. Natty asked the demented robot what its mission was. "Peace in our time..." It replied in a threatening manner. Three robots came exploding through the wall behind the mangled Ultron. Out of pure instinct, I grabbed Bruce and moved him closer to the bar and out of the line of the robots. Steve kicked up the table to block the robot that flew directly at him. Thor batted another one away with his hammer. Everyone seemed to scatter about the room. The robots were shooting up the room throwing us all into chaos. I knew that standing around and watching wasn't going to help. I went diving over the bar with Bruce in tow behind me. He tumbled down off the bar landing on top of me. I let out an 'oof' of a small amount of pain.