The ones who needed, let their hands down once the screech deadens. Tony takes out his phone to check up on something until a heavily damaged prototype suit crashes through the wall. Everyone cautiously stands up, excluding me and Loki who are watching the scene intensely from our seats.
"Worthy... No, how could you be worthy? You're all killers."
Steve mentions Tony's last name while Tony calls out the name of his A.I. The robot takes a few steps as if he is still learning how to walk.
"I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or... I was a-dream?"
Tony starts tapping on his device. "Reboot, Legionnaire OS, we got a buggy suit."
"There was a terrible noise... and I was tangled in... in... strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."
I gulp as he mentioned killing somebody which makes me wonder why my senses didn't appear for leading the way. Unless the robot killed a man in another place.
Loki notices my unsettledness. He grabs my hands and gives me an assuring squeeze. After I nod at him, we let go. Can't have a good fight while holding hands.
"You killed someone?", Steve asks as he looks at all of us, confusion clearly written on his face.
"Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices."
"Who sent you?" Thor questions as his grip on Mjölnir gets stronger and Loki protectively searches for mine.
Once I grabbed his hand, I returned the gesture and I could feel how his nerves settled down.
The Iron Legion replays a recording. "I see a suit of armor around the world."
It was Tony's voice and I snapped my head towards him, feeling wary about it.
"Ultron!" Bruce says in realization and I frown when I notice that the science bros had something to do with it.
"You created that?" I ask pointing two fingers at them and the other hand on Ultron.
"In the flesh. Or, no, not yet. Not this... chrysalis. But you know what I mean, don't you Shadow Butcher? Your legacy is history for a reason."
My eyes grow wide as I stand up abruptly. I would have destroyed him right away before he slipped anything out but Loki holds my wrist, stopping me from doing anything. It was my story and not his, or it. He doesn't have the privilege to tell it.
"No, I don't." I yank my arm free and feel all gazes down on me.
"You and I, we are on a mission. You see, you're not ready yet. But I am and I'm on a mission."
My heart beats faster and unintentionally I hold my breath.
What the hell is he talking about?
"What mission?", Natasha asks and I nod at her, thanking her in silence.
"Peace in our time."
The walls explode, and several Iron Legion bots barge into the room. They begin attacking us but Loki and I team up and use our powers to shield us. Since melting our powers together is still new to us, it doesn't last long to hold the bots back. The shield starts to break and a few get knocked away.
Loki and I stay in the middle of the battlefield, panting and taking in the scene. One of the bots steals the scepter as all of us somehow try to fight them off or help each other from the sudden impact.
"You okay?" I finally helped Loki up after catching my breath due to the overuse of my powers.
He nods his head and takes my hand. But instead of thanking me in words, he pushes me to the side. I roll over as I hit the solid ground and show him my middle finger which I then regret. He pushed me away because an Iron Legion bot attacked us and he had just saved me.
"We are here to help," the bots say in echo and I see how Stark fights his opponent with a fondue fork.
If I had the time, I would have recorded him. But clearly, we all have some better things to do. Like stopping these damn killer robots.
I jumped up and knocked another bot that was heading straight towards Loki. He flips his hair after attempting to shut another bot down.
"Why do they keep saying they're here to help if they clearly are not," Loki says half questioning and half matter-of-factly.
I shoot him a glare after I blast one away. "I don't know, it kinda sounds familiar." Loki stops fighting, looks at me, and points at himself with his brows furrowed. "Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? Blah blah," I mock him with rolling eyes.
Loki smirks and saunters toward me. On the way to me, he stabs each of the bots who cross his way with ease.
Damn, the royal status suits him well on how elegantly he fights his way through. I wonder if I look the same? Probably not.
Though, the robots aren't completely demolished yet, at least weakened for the others to finish his job. As he is only inches away from me, he leans to my ear and whispers.
"You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."
"Ayo, Devils!" Quickly I push Loki away and we turn our heads towards the voice. "Whatever you wanted to do, save it for later!" Tony shouts and shuts his robot off with his fork.
So I teleport to the one bot who is attacking Clint. I disable it with my bare hands and he thanks me. Clint then crawls to Steve's shield and shouts his name before throwing it at him. Captain America uses his shield to dismember the last Iron Legion bot.
"That was dramatic! 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."
We all return our attention to Ultron who picks up one of the robot's heads. Breathing heavily, I send a loop of my black mist and catch Ultron's body, bringing his attention to only me.
"And what do you think about how the world needs to be protected?" I ask bitterly and pull the loop a little to tighten his body. Electricity sizzling through its wires the more I tighten my loop.
"There's only one path to peace: The Avengers' extinction." Ultron's robotic head tilts his head, adding, "And not procreate."
My breath hitches as the realization hits me. And hard.
But can it be?
The first symptoms on Asgard were the signs of my curse wearing off. It was the time when I fell in love with Loki before I even admitted it to myself. All the other symptoms with my periods first taking place and then the morning sickness. The curse was long gone. Bruce had a few blood samples from me since we were testing a cure for the serum and the aether. It doesn't mean Banner or Stark knows but Ultron knows. And that's enough for an A.I. to add 1 plus 1.
The last few weeks were symptoms of pregnancy. Without the curse, I have a functional godly human body. And if I remember correctly, Loki and I never used protection since I was naive for believing I couldn't be ever cured by my father's curse.
Still playing bold, I swallow my insecurity away and growl, "So you want to be our new villain? The bad guy?"
Sparks fly around Ultron when I pull the string tighter around his suit. I was mad. Mad at myself for being stupid and mad at this evil A.I. for figuring it out before me.
"You think you can go define what's good and evil just because you're the Goddess of Death?"
Ultron's word surprises me and the black loop vanishes. I look at everyone and see Tony's, Bruce's, Clint's, Rhodes's, and Maria's shocked faces.
"You're a Goddess?"
I hear Tony ask but it doesn't arrive in my brain to decipher. Loki grabs my shoulder but I shrug it off and walk angrily over to the robot. My heart pounding hard against my ribcage, ready to burst.
"Do you even feel remorse?"
Ultron's head snaps in a cringe way at me as my jaw clenches, trying to let him talk out before I take him down.
"Jazz, what is he talking about?" Stark asks irritated but I see Steve holding him down.
"I regret it." I whisper-shout so only the android in front of me can hear my voice. "Why do you think you can go define justice?"
"I've seen it and I've calculated. You are the most dangerous being on this planet."
"Shadow," Loki warns me and Thor shushes him.
"What have you seen?", Clint asks and I shut my eyes as those flashbacks during my time in HYDRA flood through my mind.
All these nightmares, which I finally managed to accept are filling me with guilt. The blood, the dead souls. All these souls I haven't led into the Afterworld because Anubis took over. I regret not taking my purpose too seriously. And even if I had spoken to my father a few days prior, it felt as if never was real what we had spoken about.
"Are the memories haunting you? It must be a traumatic experience that will drive you mad. How can you even think you are capable of fulfilling your purpose?"
I reopen my eyes and a green blast combined with lightning bolts destroys his body. As I hear Ultron's voice sing the Pinocchio song, I fade slowly. I break down onto my knees and tears stream down my face.
What have I done?
---------------------------------------------------
Author's Note:
Let's welcome Ultron, who in my opinion is an underrated villainy character.
Oh, and have a nice New Year's Eve or a Happy New Year! (Depends on which time zone you are in...)