"I've got no strings to hold me down..."

The sound of machinery echoed through Ariana's ears, cold stone beneath her prone form, breathing in the damp air. It took her a moment to remember what had happened before here. It was fuzzy in her brain, like an old memory you can't quite remember.

"...I had strings, but now I'm free..."

Ultron.

He hummed and sang the tune in his eerie, mechanical voice, making the tone of the beloved song...creepy. The notes he sang were soft but on the wrong major, like playing horror music on a piano. Ariana shuddered; her eyes fluttering open in the dim light. She saw Ultron, not too far from her, tinkering and fiddling with something. He didn't seem to notice that she was conscious, as he continued to work and hummed his tune. Ariana had barely lifted herself when a sharp pain from her ribcage rushed through her body. She grabbed her side and yelped. She covered her mouth quickly, hoping she hadn't made too much noise. Unfortunately for her, Ultron noticed. He turned to face her and locked eyes.

"I was wondering when you'd wake...or actually, I didn't think you'd wake at all." He said. Ariana growled,

"It takes a lot more than this to kill me. What did you bring me here for?"

He sighed, "Well, let's just say, you didn't exactly make it out of the last fight. Oh, and your friends? The Avengers? They left you. You're stuck with me now." Ariana remembered the last fight, something about an Infinity Stone and... An artificial being? She couldn't recall. Ultron glanced at her rib. "Uh…and that, don't ask me how you got it because I wasn't there to see it." She ignored his last comment.

"They wouldn't have left me." She shot back, the pain in her rib eased; she pulled herself up slowly, flinching from sudden waves of pain radiating from her body. She clenched her teeth together to stop herself from screaming. Ultron nodded in approval. She heard him mutter something but she couldn't quite catch what he said.

"Are you sure they wouldn't leave you? You would not be here now if that were true. Besides, I wanted to show my newest form to someone. I was hoping it would be you." Ariana walked over to him, he seemed to be quite aimable, at least she hoped. Not only did Ultron exceed her height and strength, but she also wasn't in any state to battle. Ariana stood beside him, keeping her distance. What lay in front of her was, the body of the newer, evolved Ultron. The metal was thicker and more deadly, more sinister than his current form. When he upgrades he would be almost unstoppable. Her face must have betrayed her shock because Ultron seemed pleased.

"I created this with the strongest metal in the world, and humans used it to make the ultimate Frisbee…What do you think?"

"It looks, beyond amazing, Ultron. You've outdone yourself!" She tried her best to disguise her sarcasm, though if she were truthful; it really was an impressive robot.

"So glad to impress you, my greatest thanks." He bowed until their heights were level. She fought the urge to attack him while he was least expecting it. He rose. "Such a pity that your Avengers took my creation… it would have been so much more superior than..." He waved his hand towards his future form. "...this hunk of metal." She heard the annoyance in his voice. "When I get my hands on them..." he turned his face towards her sinisterly.

"I'm not an Avenger. I never was." She blurted out. "I would never belong with them." He laughed,

"Then why do you fight with them? You don't have a place among them." She let the words sink in, they tore at her.

"I fight with them because it's the right thing to do. They believe in hope just as much as I do." Ultron kept silent for a while. He studied her, as if he were trying to reach into her thoughts.

"Hope... hope is a lie." He walked towards her; she backed away after every step he took. His voice grew at every sentence "How pathetic of you, I always thought you were better than...those stupid humans. Better than Stark. You have so much potential." His red eyes twisted and turned within his gears, locking onto her.

"I am better than them. You just can't see that in me. You're blind Ultron, you need someone to open your eyes." she felt herself growing in annoyance, smoke rose from her hands.

"Oh, I can see… right through you, actually. The pain and fear inside. That feeling that you'll never be accepted by your brethren. I understand you more than you think, girl. You've been impossible to trace, I've searched everywhere for you, you don't add up, you are impossible."

"Shut. Up." She spoke. "You don't know a thing about me. You're no better than the Avengers, you underestimate me!" She screamed. Ariana shot her fist, buried in white hot flames towards Ultron. Effortlessly he caught her hand in mid-punch.

"Sh, I wasn't finished yet. Let's not get worked up, hm?" The flames burned across her arm, her face twisted with aggression. Ultron loosened his grip, and narrowed his eyes with a confident smirk, as if to say; I'm trying to be nice, but go ahead, hit me. We'll see what happens.

Ariana extinguished the flames from her hands and loosened her fist. Ultron gave a lopsided smile and let go of her arm.

"Now then, as I was saying, you don't add up. But that's why I understand you. You have power... so much power, and the Avengers try to contain it. They imprison you in your ability. Stark and Rodgers have always known that, they so desperately need you to be kept in a cage so you can never reach your full potential at such a young age, or anytime at that. They push you away from the team, because if you truly fought as if you were one of them, you would eventually overpower them, evolve into something greater than them." His words kept tearing through her, it couldn't be true, and Tony and Steve...they were just trying to protect her. She trusted them. Ultron interrupted her thoughts,

"But me, I wouldn't do that to you. Once the humans are extinct, I will give you the freedom of power you desire. No more burdens, no more protecting. I can let you reach your full potential. Become the person you really are." Ultron put reached out his cold metal hand and touched the side of her face. "You...we, can destroy the Avengers. Our powers together, we would be unstoppable."

A twisted part of her mind wanted to join him, but she shook away the thought. How could she be so selfish? But what he said, The Avengers, they were shielding her away from herself. Ultron couldn't be wrong, all of her doubts rushed towards her. There was an intense silence, except the hum of the machinery. No strings...

"No." Ariana said. Ultron looked appalled,

"No? Come on, Ariana, you know the only way to our peace is-"

"No! I can't, I won't. Maybe you don't believe in humans, or the Avengers. Life in general, but I do. They are my path, you aren't." She swiped Ultron's hand from her and backed away. "I will never join you." Ultron's hand curled into fist.

"I see..." Without warning, Ultron sped towards her. Ariana swiftly dodged his punch and shot a fireball towards him. He was engulfed by the flame, rushing out of it and shot his burning hot fist straight into her rib. Agony washed over her as she collapsed to the ground screaming. It throbbed through her body and sent waves of anger through her. Blood ran down from the wound. Her eyes flashed as she kneeled and swiped her hand towards the stone floor. It rumbled and erupted upwards into Ultron, throwing and slamming him to the ground. The shot to her ribs exploded into a pain so powerful that her vision flickered. Ultron rose from his fall, radiating anger.

"Stupid girl," he chided, sauntering towards Ariana, before kneeling in front of her. He stopped when their eyes were level.

"Big mistake... you have such an annoying amount of determination and courage. Let's fix that."

Ariana glowed a golden aura; she gathered her strength and shot her hand skyward. Golden flames of light blasted into the ceiling. Seeping out of whatever underground place she was kept in, a signal reached into the skies. She hoped she sent it to the right people. She finally collapsed onto her arms and knees, her breathing unsteady and ragged, her vision blurring. She was at the mercy of Ultron. He raised his fist and slammed it into her back, knocking all of the oxygen from her lungs.

"I don't have to fight or kill you to break you." He said with a knowing look. He could easily guess who the signal was meant for.

"Like I said, the Avengers never will accept you." He picked her up as though she weighed nothing and tossed her into a dark room like a rag doll. "You will never find a place among them. You'll be the spare part, the forgotten one." She wanted to scream, tell him he was lying, but he wasn't. Her doubts were a reality. "You don't belong." He rolled his neck and stood triumphantly. His crimson eyes burned with malice.

"It could have been worse for you... you're broken now." His croaky, dark voice echoed through the walls, like laughter. "But, as they say, what doesn't kill you..." Ariana gasped as Ultron was torn apart. He exploded into thousands of pieces, the debris surrounding her. The eerie silence fell when a new Ultron stood in his place. He approached her menacingly with a mocking grin as he finished his sentence.

"...Only makes you stronger." He closed the prison door and sealed it shut. Ariana roared in defiance and spewed fire at him. Ultron did not even flinch, her effort not even leaving the tiniest scratch or burn. Ultron took one last glance at her. "I'm not the blind one, Ariana. You are." He walked away silently. She buried her hands in her face, hoping it was just a dream.

It wasn't.

His grim smile stayed inside her head, haunting every corner of her thoughts. His echoing words made her empty.

You don't belong.