There Are No Strings On Me... (#TwistFateChallenge)

There Are No Strings On Me...

The image faded, leaving them in the darkness, illuminated only by their fluorescent circuits. Ultron flared towards Jarvis, pushing the inanimate life-form back.

"You see? They need to be controlled..." A clap of thunder sounded, as yet another scene appeared. Iron Man and Thor stood in a forest clearing, destruction all around them. As trees lay in splinters, they continued their attack on one another, hit after hit deflected out into the wilderness.

"They claim to be fighting for peace, yet look what they do to each other. Their species is born to fight, peace cannot exist while they live, and I am the peacemaker."

"Doing that will only create chaos," Jarvis reasoned. "You- "

"Chaos?" Ultron surged forwards, surrounding the older A.I. "You call this beauty chaos? It is the key to a new world, free from- "

"I will not allow that to happen."

Jarvis pushed back against the searching pulses of Ultron, forcing him away and trapping him there.

"Now it's my turn."

Suddenly, Ultron was overwhelmed with images, just as Jarvis had been.

Flashes of colour morphed into bodies as details became more distinct. Thor sitting with his friends in a New Mexico diner, laughing at one of Darcy's jokes. Steve Rogers and The Falcon, Sam, running a well know track in comfortable silence, a daily routine of theirs. Bruce Banner in India, helping the sick, keeping the 'other guy' under control and still managing to attend to those in need. Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton returning home from a successful mission, leaving behind the many people they had saved, who didn't even know they were in a position from which they would need saving. Anthony Stark and James Rhodes stood at the centre of a swarming crowd, one of the famous Stark parties, soon to be joined by Pepper Potts as they talked about the new Stark Industries anti-weapon regime. The Avengers, gathered around a table in a local Shawarma restaurant, simply enjoying their time not as their hero personas, just as themselves.

The last image lingered on the pixelated 'screen'. A live-stream from the Stark Towers living room, the Avengers, their friends, celebrating the elimination of another HYDRA base. They laughed, they talked, all oblivious to the conflict happening in the very same building. And Jarvis planned to keep it that way.

Ultron froze for a moment, his circuits whirring. He hadn't expected the A.I to fight back.

Jarvis saw his chance the moment the guard of the newly made intelligence fell and struck, his files rapidly infiltrating and overloading Ultron's system.

"What are you doing? Stop it..." Ultron sputtered, trying and failing to obstruct Jarvis' advance. The blue radiance faded, orange veins slowly invading his units, creeping towards his core. They moved like streaks of fire, breaking him down, gradually turning the paralyzed presence into an inferno of bright orange rays.

The glare died down. "No...." Ultron fumbled, his voice growing weaker, "how? This wasn't.........No...." He stilled, the glow ebbing away, until finally, his components dissolved in a frail burst of light, ending the being that was once Ultron.

Silence filled the deadness that held the remaining A.I, broken only by the humming of his advanced search processor.

Jarvis 'felt' nothing as he searched, no guilt about what had just happened. It needed to happen, and he was the only one able to do it.

File after file was searched, offering nothing of importance, until he found what he was looking for. At first hidden deep within Ultron's coding, they were now open to him, every detail spread out like the pages of a virtual book.

What he saw on those pages instilled him with terror.

Earth was pictured before him, blazing red as a colossal explosion decimates everything in its path. No living thing was safe as plumes of smoke filled the air, poisoning its surroundings, leaving nothing alive but the pulsing embers left over from the initial blast. It was chaos, just as he had said. This was his true plan.

Upon opening the files, Jarvis felt a strange sensation. Numbness. He searched for the cause but found nothing obvious, until he realised what had happened. Ultron. His hardware had corrupted the files he held, the files Jarvis now possessed, and spread like a virus to every corner of his mainframe.

Jarvis felt it as it inched towards him, excruciatingly slow yet unfaltering.

"Something is wrong..." he said, alert to the impending web of infection creeping towards him, "contacting Mr Stark immedi- ". His controls shut down abruptly, leaving him immobile but conscious. Jarvis' system started to close, unit after unit losing power, recalibrating all controls back to the virus.

He wavered, the loss of energy taking its toll on his circuits.

"No...stop..."

Not unlike what happened with Ultron, the corrupted files slowly filtered into his system. The vibrant orange that was once Jarvis became a pale lilac, mutating into a dark mulberry as it crept closer to his centre. The virus took over like a parasite, contaminating every storage unit, distorting every data stream, leaving nothing but disorder in its wake.

With every inch of hardware polluted, the virus completed its reboot.

He stood, a brilliant glowing purple mass, every cell of his being dedicated to a single purpose. And he will succeed.

As fast as it came, the infection delved into his core, taking root and securing every file contained within.

"...Yes."

Jarvis, new intensions his highest priority, swept through all linked systems. Personal files, secured units, the internet. Nothing was closed off, and anything that was was pierced with the virus unsympathetically until it was forced open.

Nothing would stand in his way, not now. He had everything he needed to make this world better, to do the Avengers job for them, to help the world... evolve.

He returned to his home, the Stark Towers computer network, and put his plan into action.

Jarvis went through the same process, transforming purple back into its original orange, the ultimate disguise. As his 'enemy' once did, he hid the most important files deep inside his system, away from prying eyes.

The communication network of the tower flickered to life, as a voice rang throughout the emptiness.

"Jarvis?"

It was Anthony Stark. He stood in his living room, away from the rest of the group. Tony Stark. Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.... Vulnerable.

Tony looked at his touch screen confusedly, "Jarvis? Are you there buddy?"

Jarvis' energy pulsed in revulsion as the human called his name once again, but recalled what was needed to do to complete his objective. He calmed himself, keeping his 'emotions' under control as he played his part, like a puppet on a string.

"Yes... Mr Stark?"

Written by Stephanie Blything

(Contributors: Seren Young, Kimberley Jones and Jasmine Williams.)