The Invisible Coder (Natasha x OC)

Chapter 18- Vision

"WAIT-" Bruce yelled, but Thor brought the hammer down on the cradle. Lightning and sparks emitted from the cradle as the power levels rose to the maximum. 

We all stared in shock as the lightning ceased.

A split-second afterward, the cradle exploded, sending Thor flying up and smashing into the ceiling. 

My suit avoided me from getting cut by the glass that flew through the air, so I quickly covered Ava, the person closest to me.

When the smoke cleared, a red, humanoid-like figure crouched on top of the cradle. The red parts appeared to take the shape of human muscles, and in the very center of its forehead was a strange, orange stone. It began to stand, slowly, taking in the room around it.

Suddenly, it lunged at Thor, who instinctively tossed it through the window. It smashed through the walls but somehow managed to stop, floating midair in front of the window to the outdoors.

We all rushed towards it, silent and tense. When we reached it, Thor set his hammer down on a table and examined the thing curiously.

It gazed out the window, its hand out in front of it almost as if to touch the window, but it did not make contact. 

Slowly, the thing spun around, a grey, fabric-like material spreading over its skin.

The scarlet-colored figure came to land on the ground. 

"I'm sorry," it said. "That was... odd,"

The "thing" sounded a whole lot like JARVIS, so at least we knew that JARVIS was in there, somewhere.

"Thank you," the thing(JARVIS?) said, turning to Thor.

"Thor," Steve finally managed to speak as a cape of some sort formed around the thing's shoulders and draped down it's back, "You helped create this,"

"I had a vision," Thor informed us. "A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its center..." Thor pointed to the orange stone upon the thing's head. "is that."

"What, the gem?" Bruce asked, stepping forward.

"It's the mind stone," Thor told him. "It's one of the six infinity stones; it's one of the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities,"

"Then why would you br-" Steve began, frustratedly.

"Because Stark is right," Thor explained. 

"Oh, it's definitely the end of times," Bruce muttered.

"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron," Thor admitted. 

"Not alone," said the thing. 

"Why does your vision sound like JARVIS?" Steve asked, untrusting as the thing started to approach us.

"We configured JARVIS's matrix... to create something new," Tony explained.

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

"You think I'm a child of Ultron," said the thing. 

"You're not?" Steve questioned incredulously.

"I'm not Ultron," the thing informed us. "I'm not JARVIS, I'm... I am..."

The thing trailed off.

"I looked in your head," Wanda told it, approaching it. "and saw annihilation,"

"Look again," the thing prompted.

Clint scoffed. "Her seal of approval means jack to me,"

"Their powers, the horrors in our heads, Ultron himself, they all came from the mind stone, and they are nothing compared to what it can unleash," Thor said. "But with it on our side-"

"Is it?" Steve interjected. "Are you? On our side,"

The thing thought for a moment. "I don't think it's that simple,"

"Well, it better get real simple real soon," Clint told him.

"I am on the side of life," said the thing. "Ultron isn't. He will end it all,"

"Then what's he waiting for?" Tony asked softly.

"You,"

"Where?"

"Sokovia," Clint interjected. "He's got Nat there too,"

Bruce approached the thing. "If we're wrong about you..."

He drifted off. I approached the thing with cautious eyes. 

"That stone," I started, "That stone was the power source for the scepter,"

The thing looked at me, a bit of sadness on its face. 

"That stone is the reason I have nightmares," I admitted slowly. "That stone is the reason I can't sleep at night over how many people I have brutally murdered without wanting to,"

Images flickered before my eyes, but I shoved them away. 

"That stone took my life and flipped it upside down," I declared, coming to a halt in front of the thing. "...but... with the stone now placed in your head..." I pondered my next words carefully. "I can no longer be controlled by it. Because of that... I am willing to trust it,"

The thing nodded. "Thank you, Bryce,"

I backed up a bit. The thing looked around the room for anybody else to say the same, but everyone was silent.

It sighed.

"I do not want to kill Ultron," it admitted. "He's unique... and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the Earth... so he must be destroyed. Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net... we have to act now," The thing looked at each one of us. "And not one of us can do it without the other,"

The thing turned to Steve last, looking to him hopefully.

"Maybe I am a monster," the thing said, examining his arms and hands. "I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are," it turned to face away from us. "I'm not what you intended... so there may be no way to make you trust me,"

The thing spun around, Mjolnir in its hand. It handed the hammer to Thor as it said, "but we need to go,"

Dumbfounded, Thor took his hammer from the thing. We all stared in silence as it walked away, preparing for our next mission.

With no other choice left, we started after it.