Later that night after discovering Nicholas had been informed by Maria about what we went through, we were all gathered in Clint's kitchen to discuss what to do next. "Ultron took you folks out of lay to buy himself time. My contacts all say he's building something" Nicholas says to us as Lila brings Natasha a picture she drew, and Natasha takes it smiling at her. "The amount of vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing" Nicholas goes on to say.
"What about Ultron himself?" Steve asks him.
"Oh, he's easy to track. He's everywhere. The guy is multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit" Nicholas comments. "It still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans, though" he adds.
"Is he still going after launch codes?" Tony asks as he throws darts at the dart board.
"Yes, he is" Fury says cutting his sandwich. When I see him cutting it in a diagonal, something in the back of my mind makes me remember him say that he doesn't like doing that, but I push it aside. "But he's not making any headway" Nicholas tells him.
"Tony was able to crack the Pentagon's firewall when he was in high school on a dare" I say to them.
"Well, I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that" Nicholas says to me.
"Nexus?" Steve asks.
"It is in Oslo and it's the world Internet Hub" I tell him.
"Every byte of data flows through there, fastest access on Earth" Bruce adds.
"So, what did they say?" Clint then asks as he prepares a dart to throw.
"He's fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed" Nicholas says.
"By whom?" Tony asks as a dart goes flying past his face, and he looks over at Clint who just shrugs his shoulders at him.
"Parties unknown" Nicholas tells him.
"Do we have an ally?" Natasha asks him.
"Ultorn's got an enemy, that's not the same thing. Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is." Nicholas says to her.
"I might need to visit Oslo, find our unknown" Tony says.
"Well, this is good times, boss, but I was kinda hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that" Natasha says to Nicholas.
"I do, I have you. Back in the day, as Willow knows I had eyes everywhere. Ears, everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream up. Here was all are, back on Earth, with nothing but our wit and out will to save the world" Nicholas says to us. "Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission. And whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction. All this, laid in a grave" Nicholas says meaning us, and we all avoid looking at him. "So, stand, outwit the platinum bastard" he adds.
"Steve and Willow don't like that kind of talk" Natasha says looking at Steve and I.
"You know what, Romanoff?" Steve jokes with her and she smirks at us.
"So, what does he want?" Nicholas then asks.
"To become better" Steve says to him.
"Be better than us, he keeps building bodies" I say to the group.
"Person bodies, the human form is inefficient. Biologically speaking, we're outmoded, but he keeps coming back to it" Tony says to me and Steve.
"When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed" Natasha says looking between Bruce and Tony.
"They don't need to be protected, they need to evolve" Bruce says looking at the picture Lilia had brought Natasha. "Ultron's going to evolve" he adds looking at the rest of us.
"How?" Nicholas asks.
"Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?" Bruce then asks the group.
After trying to get in contact with Helen, and being unsuccessful, Steve and I decide that we would go check on her. Steve and I gear up, and I place my quiver on my back as Steve places his shield on his, and Tony comes into the room, "We'll take Nat and Clint" I inform Tony.
"All right, strictly recon. I'll hit the Nexus, I'll join you two as soon as I can" he says as we make our way out of the house.
"If Ultron's really building a body..."Steve starts to say.
"He'll be more powerful than any of us, maybe all of us. An android designed by a robot" Tony says to us.
"You know, I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was the two of us" Steve says smiling at me.
"I'll drop Banner off at the tower. You mind if I burrow Ms. Hill?" Nicholas comes up to us asking as he puts his jacket on.
"She's all yours, apparently" Tony says as Nicholas looks at him, "What are you gonna do?" Tony then asks.
"I don't know, something dramatic, I hope" Nicholas says as he walks away. Steve and I then make our way toward the jet, and we do so sitting down, waiting for Clint and Natasha to board.
"You going to be okay?" Steve ask looking over at me.
"I think I will" I tell him.
"If we see the twins, what should we do?" Steve then asks.
"Nothing, they don't understand what they are doing. Ultron has manipulated them into thinking they are getting revenge. I want them to know we aren't a threat, so I will not fight them back" I say to him.
"And if she makes you see things again?" Steve asks.
"I will know to fight it" I say as I take his hand in mine, "because I will know it's not real, that you would never think of me as a failure" I smile.
"You two lovebirds ready to go?" Clint asks as him and Natasha board the Quinjet.
"Let's get this show on the road, Laura okay with you coming?" I ask him as he sits in the pilot seat.
"You know her, she knows it part of the job, and I always promise her I'll come back in one piece, I am coming back in one piece right?" he smirks at me.
"Just get us to Dr. Cho" I comment at him as he starts the jet up.
Clint lowers the jet and Steve and I jump out, "Two minutes, stay close" Steve tells Clint through the communication links. We look toward Dr. Cho's building, and I look at Steve nodding as the two of us take off for it. Entering the building we see a room that has been attacked, and find employees scattered all dead. "Dr. Cho!" Steve shouts as we see her leaning against a group of cases. I pick up a piece of cloth nearby and hold it onto her wound.
"He's uploading himself into the body" she informs us.
"Where?" I ask her, as I go to reach for something to help her, she grab my arm, "The real power is inside the Cradle. The Gem, it's power is uncontainable. You can't just blow it up. You have to get the Cradle to Stark" she tells us.
"First, we have to find it" Steve tells her.
"Go" she says to the two of us.
"Are you going to be okay?" I ask her.
"I will, just go stop Ultron" she groans.
"Did you guys copy that" Steve asks Clint and Natasha as we make our way out of the room.
"We did" Clint responds.
"I got a private jet taking off across town. No manifest. That could be him" Natasha informs us.
"There, it's a truck from the lab. Right above you Artemis, Cap. On the loop by the bridge" Clint says to us. "It's them, you got three with the Cradle, one in the cab. I could take out the driver" he adds.
"That's a negative Barton, if that truck crashes, the gem could level the city" I inform him as Steve and I climb a nearby ladder, up the side of the highway.
"We need to draw out Ultron" Steve adds as he helps me up. We cross the road, and see the truck coming, "Ready" Steve says looking at me, and I just nod at him as I run, with him following and we both jump down, landing on top the truck.
As Steve and I try to get to the truck doors, a blast comes at us out of nowhere, and the door Steve was on, swings open, making him get hit against the truck. "Steve!" I shout as I hear him groan, and he swings the door back. Just then both doors are blasted at and we jump up before landing back down on the broken doors of the truck.
"Well, he's definitely unhappy" Steve says to the others back on the jet.
"We better try and keep him that way then" I add looking at Steve as we try to get up.
"You're not a match for him Cap, Artemis" we hear Clint say to us in return.
"Thanks for the confidence, Barton" I reply as we manage to stand up on the broken door piece. Looking we see Ultron standing in front of us as he raises a hand, sending a blast of energy that causes us to fly back and crash onto a nearby car. We quickly recover and using a passing vehicle we jump off it and back toward the truck landing on the top.
"You know what's in that cradle" we hear Ultron say to us as he tries to send a energy blasts and Steve covers me blocking it with the shield on his back. "The power to make real change and that terrifies you two" Ultron says to us.
"I wouldn't call it a comfort" Steve says as he takes his shield off his back and tosses it at Ultron, as I fire arrows at the bot. Ultron blocks the hits, and Steve's shield flies back at him, and he catches it as he uses it to deflect Ultron's blasts. I roll out of the way of another blast as I send an electric arrow at Ultron and it hits him in the chest at the same time as Steve's shield.
"Stop it!" Ultron shouts at us, as he knocks the shield out of his chest and it falls onto the road below. Ultron then hits both Steve and I in the chest, and Steve grabs me as we fly off the truck top. He manages to grab a hold of the front of the truck, and we try to swing ourselves back.
"If it's not Willow it's me always picking up after you boys" we hear Natasha say into our links and I give a quick smile at her remark. Steve and I make our way back onto the truck and continue to fight off the evil bot. I shoot arrows at Ultron and he deflects each one, as Steve wraps his arm around Ultron's neck trying to pin the bot down. I go to help, but Ultron blasts at me and I fly off the truck and roll across the ground. As I race back toward the jet, I hear a motorcycle engine behind me and I see Natasha coming up with Steve's shield attached to the front of her cycle. I jump on to the bike behind her, as she races it toward the truck, where we see Ultron has his hand on Steve's throat. As she gets us closer, Natasha grabs the shield tossing it at Steve, and I jump off the bike landing back on the top. Steve uses the shield to knock Ultron's hand away, and we both continue fighting the bot once again.
Knocking Ultron back he shoots at us, and we both fly off the truck crashing onto the traffic below. Ultron then uses his powers to break the road ahead and it makes the vehicles near us crash, making us jump out of the way. "This bot is really getting on my god damn nerves" I say looking at Steve.
"Language" he says to me as we make our way once more back toward Ultron, jumping back on the top of the truck. Steve and I continue to fight Ultron, when the quinjet comes into view and Clint starts to fire at the bot. Ultron makes two sentinel bots go after the jet and Clint has to fly off, as I aim two arrows at Ultron, trying to electricfy the evil bot, but to no prevail. Steve manages to grab Ultron, and tosses him toward a nearby bridge post. The bot makes contact before flying himself up, and looking back down at the two of us. Ultron flies at us, and Steve grabs him, as I watch the two of them go crashing into the train that was going past us on the nearby tracks. I then take a leap off the truck, and follow them through the destroyed hole they had made in the train.
I stand up beside Steve, as he tosses his shield again at Ultron, who deflects it back at us. Ultron makes an advance toward us, and we both jump over him landing behind the bot. He sends another blast our way, and Steve tries to protect us in time but we both fall back from the impact.
"Cap, Artemis can you keep him occupied?" we then hear Natasha asking us.
"What do you think we've been doing" Steve responds breathless as we get up once again to fight the annoying bot. As Steve and I continue to fight the bot, out of nowhere Ultron is knocked away from us, and we fall back. As the bot stands up, I see the red wisps of Wanda's powers as she makes the metal from the overhanging block Ultron.
"Please, don't do this" Ultron says to her.
"What choice do we have?" she says to the bot. Ultron then blasts at the metal bars knocking Wanda back, as he blasts a hole in the side and front of the train, and we see him fly off.
"We lost him" Steve says into our comms as we both make our way to the front of the train. Steve and I see that the driver is gone, and the train controls are burnt out. Looking out the front of the train we see that it is going to go off the tracks.
"Cap, Artemis have you seen Nat?" we hear Clint say to us.
"If you have the package, get it to Stark! Go!" Steve orders him.
"Do you have eyes on Nat?" Clint asks us once again.
"Just go!" I order him.
Steve and I then look at Wanda and Peitro, "Civilians in our path!" he says to Peitro, who takes off running.
"Do you think you can stop this thing?" I then ask Wanda, who looks at me, unsure if she can. Steve and I then stumble as the train collides with items in its way. As we look out the broken window Steve sees that we are about to crash through a brick wall, and he holds his shield up to protect the two of us, as it collides. Within impact of the wall, we are both sent back, getting knocked down from the collision, as we get back up, I see Wanda using her abilities to try and slow the train down. After a few brief minutes the train begins to slow, before finally coming to a stop.
Steve and I then unboard the train as we see Wanda checking on her brother, "I'm fine, I just need a minute" we hear Peitro saying to her.
"I'm very tempted not to give you one" Steve says to him.
"Steve" I say to him and he just looks at me before looking back at the twins.
"The Cradle, did you get it?" Wanda then asks us.
"Stark will take care of it" Steve tells her.
"No he won't" she says concern in her voice, and part of me knows that she is telling the truth.
"You don't know what you're talking about" Steve says to her, "Stark's not crazy" he adds.
"He will do anything to make things right" Wanda says to us, and Steve can see the truth behind her words, as he then looks at me, and seeing my expression he knows that I believe Wanda as well.
"Stark, come in" Steve then says to the communication links, "Stark" he says not getting a reply.
"Anthony" I say into my comm link and I don't get a reply either, "is there anyone on the comms?" I then ask.
"Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it." Wanda says to the two of us, "Where do you think he gets that?" she asks us. I look up at Steve, and we both can tell that she is right, that Tony will not destroy what Ultron was trying to do, but he will try and change it to benefit his idea.