CHAPTER TWO - the skeleton
It was the night of Thor's farewell party, two days since the infiltration mission in Sokovia. Annabelle didn't want to attend, but seeing as she lived at the Tower where the party was being held, she couldn't exactly escape it. So the brunette did what she always did during parties: found an isolated area to wallow in, and if anyone tried to approach her, walked away and found another area.
She was never one for social interaction. When asked about her dislike for it, she'd usually respond with "it's bothersome" or "it's boring", when in reality, she just wasn't used to it. As a kid, she never mingled nor met anyone close to her age. Annabelle spent her youth training, honing her abilities and working hard to be who she was now. And currently, as an adult, she was an Avenger.
Her whole life, she's been fighting. It's all she'd ever known, and it's what she was stuck with.
"Hey, you alright?"
Annabelle was sat at the bar, nursing a tall glass of ice water. The party was slowly trickling down, groups of guests were leaving the later the night became. After a while it was just the Avengers, along with former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill, Colonel James Rhodes, and Dr. Helen Cho.
The young woman turned from her drink to see the team leader pulling a couple bottles of booze from the racks.
She nodded. "Yes, Captain. I'm doing just fine."
He sighed at her solemn behavior, though it was what he had expected. "You know, we've known each other for three years now. You can call me Steve."
A blank stare. He sighed again.
He moved to step away only to pause, the thought of leaving her alone itched at his conscience. No longer feeling able to walk away, Steve turned back around to speak with her once more.
"Do you, maybe, want to join us?"
He jutted a thumb back toward the group. Everyone was huddled at the sofas near the staircase, chatting and having a good time. The war veteran watched her expression carefully as she pondered her decision. She was usually quick and straightforward with her options, however this time she hesitated. Steve couldn't begin to guess what she was thinking, but her silence spoke volumes.
"Okay."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
~~~
"But it's a trick."
"No, no, it's much more than that."
Annabelle sat on a couch in between Steve and Thor, her glass of water still firmly in her grasp. Her fingers traced swirls and geometric shapes on the condensation that covered the cup. The 21-year-old had chosen to sit with the rest of party, yet had said nothing throughout the entire conversation. She had merely followed Steve to the group and sat down silently.
Though, besides willingly sitting with them, her silence was her usual behavior so no one questioned it nor actively tried to force her interaction. They carried on with their fun and allowed her to watch as they switched from one stupid topic to another.
Currently, Clint was voicing his opinions on Thor's hammer, Mjolnir.
"'Ah, whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power,'" he belted with large guffaw. "Whatever, man! It's a trick."
The Asgardian laughed as he haughtily gestured toward his hammer, which stood slanted on the glass table at the center of the group. "Well, please, be my guest."
Everyone suddenly became quiet. They all knew how touchy Thor was about his hammer, it was an unspoken rule to not lay a finger on what the man treated as his child. To have him be so willing to let anyone touch Mjolnir was a rare opportunity, one that they took full advantage of.
One by one, the men of the group took turns with Thor's hammer. First was Clint, next Tony and Rhodes, then Banner, and lastly Steve Rogers, whom had the most progress over anyone else. No one seemed to notice the slight budge Mjolnir gave when Steve started pulling, nor did they notice the tiny smirk Annabelle gave to a panicked Thor.
When Steve finally sat back down, the group turned to the redhead of the team.
"Oh, no, no." Natasha shook her head. "That's not a question I need answered."
She leaned back in her seat and winked at the young woman across from her before taking a swig of her beer. The men then turned toward the silent Annabelle who also shook her head, saying a quick "no thank you".
"All deference to the Man Who Wouldn't Be King, but it's rigged," announced Stark as he stood with the rest of the wallowing men who couldn't get Thor's hammer up.
Clint clapped Tony on the back as he passed by, throwing a snooty look back toward Thor. "You bet your ass."
Hill immediately perked up and pointed at the archer. "Steve, he said a bad language word."
The veteran immediately snapped at the giggling Tony. "Did you tell everyone about that?"
"The handle's imprinted, right?" Stark ignored the beef cake, still trying to make sense of the magic hammer. "Like a security code. 'Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints' is, I think, the literal translation."
Thor nodded and stood from his seat. "Yes. It's a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one."
He waltzed over to the table and picked up Mjolnir with the greatest of ease. Flipping the hammer up in the air and catching it again, he flashed everyone the cheekiest of grins.
"You're all not worthy."
They all groan at his statement. Playful complaints start to soar through the air only to be intercepted by a searing high-pitched ring that echoed throughout the building.
Annabelle practically clawed at her ears, the sound was almost deafening. She would've thought she had tinnitus if everyone hadn't done the same as she. Tony was the only calm one, instantly opening up a small holographic device to contact JARVIS.
Little did he know of what had become of his beloved AI system.
The shrill noise stopped as quick as it came. And right after came a soft voice from across the room.
"Worthy..."
Clumsy, metal footsteps followed. A feeble looking silhouette emerged through the large doorway, stopping at the top of the steps. It was a stripped and battered version of Stark's Legionnaire, but from a distance, it didn't look like an average robot.
It looked like a skeleton, and to Annabelle, it reeked of death.
"No," it slurred, limping closer to the edge of the platform. It waved a metal stump, gesturing to the lot of them. "How could you be worthy? You're all killers."
"Stark," gritted Steve.
"Jarvis," the billionaire hesitantly called toward the machine.
At this point, everybody was on their feet. Danger seemed to seep through the floorboards and take hold of their bodies, causing an overwhelming urge to flee to fill their senses. They didn't know what was going on, all they knew was that there was a potential threat inside their safe space. And that thought alone nearly brought them to their knees.
"I'm sorry, I was asleep," it said. "Or I was a dream."
The skeleton stared with bright, glowing eyes. But the look was cold and distant, and it was aimed at Stark.
"Reboot Legionnaire OS. We got a buggy suit." Chills clawed up Tony's spine, his panic took hold of his voice as he continued to call for JARVIS.
"There was this terrible noise. And I was tangled in... in.. strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."
A sudden flash of anger blinded the team leader. Steve rolled his shoulders back and clenched his hands into fists. "You killed someone?"
"Wouldn't have been my first call," the robot said lightly, as if he found humor in homicide. "But, down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices."
"Who sent you?" Thor guided Cho and Annabelle somewhat behind him, as a way to provide protection in case things took a turn for the worst.
"'I see a suit of armor around the world.'" Stark's voice echoed from within the broken machine.
They all froze at the familiarity, their minds asked unspoken questions.
Banner reacted quicker than the others, realization instantly hitting him. "Ultron."
"In the flesh," it quipped. "Or, no, not yet. Not this chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission."
Adrenaline pumped through everyone's veins. They prepared themselves for the chaos they were sure would come.
"What mission?"
It twisted its head toward the Avengers. "Peace in our time."
As if on cue, a handful of Legionnaire robots bursted through the wall behind Ultron. They flew toward the Avengers, viewing them as the hostiles.
Everyone either ran to fight or ran for cover, the lack of weaponry at their party venue becoming apparent.
Annabelle grabbed Dr. Cho by her forearm and guided her across the room, attempting to avoid the majority of the battle. Cho was the only civilian that stuck around for the afterparty. The brunette knew the doctor couldn't protect herself, so she had the duty to do it for her. She was an Avenger after all, it's what she was trained to do.
She led Cho to the grand piano at the edge of the room, the only place left untouched by the fighting.
"Stay here," the younger woman instructed, "and stay out of sight, okay?"
Her tone was soft but her orders were stern. This compelled the doctor to put her trust in her. With a sure nod, Annabelle opened a small tear in space and slipped through, teleporting across the room to help a flying, struggling Tony Stark.
The sentry that he was restraining was too high for her to reach. Jumping did her no help due to her being on the shorter side. She scanned her surrounding area for any kind of assistance. Seeing none, she found she had no other choice.
"Please, don't make me regret this," she whispered as she opened up a small portal underneath her feet.
A sharp gasp left her lips as she fell through, finding herself falling through the air. She struggled to keep her eyes in front of her, to keep herself calm and focused on what she meant to do.
The second her gaze found metal she stuck her hands out toward it and clung to it. Her body weight added on to Tony's and her previous descent down tugged the robot closer to the ground. It wasn't until Tony jammed a screwdriver in its neck that the robot short-circuited and body slammed the two of them to the floor.
Annabelle writhed around, glass shards scratching and prodding her skin.
"You alright?" Tony groaned from his side of the floor, the disabled robot laying in between them.
"Yeah. You?"
"Well, I just got dogpiled like a high school quarterback on Varsity. So, yeah, I guess I'm doing okay." He sat up slowly, cradling his side. "Thanks for the help, by the way."
"Ann!" Clint ran up to her side, hoisting her up onto her feet. He picked at the shards in her hair and dusted off any debris that hung to her clothes.
She nodded at him to show she was okay, but she stumbled the second she took a step forward. The archer took her arm and threw it over his shoulder, allowing her to use him as a temporary crutch.
Everyone regrouped at the center of the decimated room to stare down the intruder. It had watched the chaos ensued with an aura of superiority, like it was all a game. The familiarity that it gave off was infuriating. And every second that it stood there, the angrier they all grew.
"That was dramatic," said Ultron. "I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to evolve?"
It bent down and picked up a scatter piece of a destroyed Legionnaire. It gripped at the robot head with such conviction and venom.
"With these? These puppets," it seethed.
Ultron crushed the head in it's hand, popping off the face plate with little effort before tossing it to the floor. Annabelle watched it's movements like a cornered animal; it was trespassing in their home, and attacking them while they were defenseless. The amount of fury and confusion left her dazed, it was all too much too fast.
"There's only one path to peace. The Avengers' extinction."
Mjolnir soared clean through Ultron. It's skeletal form broke apart within seconds and littered the floor. Thor held his arm out and summoned his hammer back to his hand.
Slowly, everyone turned to the back of the room, where Stark sat upon the staircase. Steve stepped forward in his direction. His brows were furrowed and a frown was imprinted on his lips.
"What the hell just happened?"
~~~
"All our work is gone. Ultron cleared out. He used the Internet as an escape hatch."
Most of the group was currently loitering in the lower levels of the Tower where the lab was. They were all spread throughout the room, either glaring at the remains of the killer robot that they managed to drag in or combing through the lab's contents to see what was taken.
Thor had stormed after the escaped Legionnaire, once they had realized the absence of a certain scepter.
"He's been in everything. Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other."
Rhodes paced the room at the new information, clutching at his injured arm with a pensive expression. "He's in your files, he's in the Internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?"
"Nuclear codes," realized Hill.
The War Machine nodded in confirmation. "Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can."
"Nukes?" Natasha exclaimed. "He said he wanted us dead."
"He didn't say 'dead'," Steve interrupted. "He said 'extinct'."
"He also said he killed somebody," Clint added.
Annabelle scratched at the side of her neck, the skin becoming a violent shade of pink and red. "But how? Other than us, there was no one else in the Tower."
"Yes, there was."
Tony strutted to the middle of the room. With the flick of a wrist, a familiar gold-colored hologram popped up in front of them. The image was shattered and a virtual mess, the complete opposite of how it used to be.
Banner stepped up closer to the decimation, he couldn't even begin to describe the amount of shock he felt to see JARVIS in this kind of state. He couldn't imagine what Stark must've been feeling.
"JARVIS was the first line of defense," Steve uttered. "He would have shut Ultron down. It makes sense."
"No," said Banner, "Ultron could have assimilated JARVIS. This isn't strategy. This is... rage."
Heavy footfalls stomped from the doorway, prompting everybody to see who was entering the room. Before they could even blink, Thor made a b-line for the billionaire and lifted him a few feet up into the air with one hand on his neck.
"Whoa, it's going around," said the archer.
Tony grasped at Thor's wrist, choking. "Come on, use your words, buddy."
"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark."
"Thor," Steve commanded. "The Legionnaire."
With a feral growl, Thor released the philanthropist. "Trail went cold about 100 miles out, but it's headed north. And it has the scepter."
Annabelle nearly groaned in aggravation. Her scratching intensified.
"Now we have to retrieve it, again."
"Genie's out of that bottle," mentioned the Widow. "Clear and present is Ultron."
"I don't understand."
The Avengers look back at the hunched over Helen Cho. Throughout the whole situation, she was quiet and cowering. After the fighting, she was in shock. It took her a while to calm down, and this was the first she spoke since everything went to hell.
"You built this program," she continued, staring straight at Stark. "Why is it trying to kill us?"
He paused for a moment, a frown deep set on his lips and eyes glazed over. Then, he laughed.
"You think this is funny?" Thor fumed.
The team stared at the billionaire furiously. They almost died and were threatened by something he had created, and he was laughing about it, like it was all one huge punchline.
The youngest stopped clawing at her neck and instead clenched her hand into a fist, bringing it close to her chest. Her breathing grew heavy.
"No. It's probably not, right? This is very terrible." Tony looked toward the others in faux confusion before laughing again. "Is it so... It is. It's so terrible."
"This could have been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand."
"No, no. I'm sorry. It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this."
"Tony, maybe this might not be the time.."
"Really?!" Stark zipped around and glared at Banner, his anger now directed at him. "That's it? You just roll over, show your belly everybody somebody snarls?"
"Only when I've created a murder bot."
"We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?"
"Well, you did something right. And you did it right here," lectured Steve. "The Avengers were supposed to be different than S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?—"
"No, it's never come up," Rhodes sarcastically claimed.
"—Saved New York? Recall that?"
At the mention, a heaviness weighed down on Annabelle's chest as she remembered the catastrophe that took place three years ago. The sorrow dawned on her before it started to swirl back into a rage.
She rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth. "Quit the guilt trip and get to the point, Stark."
Tony clenched his jaw at her harsh words, then began again in a slightly quieter tone. "A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing 300 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. How were you guys planning on beating that?"
"Together."
"We'll lose."
"Then we'll do that together, too."
| @kjanedoe12 |