Oh hey! I've been very slowly writing due to life getting in the way. Some of the stories I write are not Marvel-related (shocking, I know), and thus require an entirely different line of thought. Anyway, sorry for the wait, I hope you enjoy this chapter! I have a feeling you'll either love it or hate it. Maybe - Darthkvzn.


-"This is a terrible idea." -said Scott, later that night.

Hank smiled wryly, while Hope watched for her father's reaction. "How so, Scott? We are going to the Avengers after all, just as you wanted in the first place. Plus, if all goes to plan, we'll have you as one of the founders of the West Coast Avengers, possibly its leader."

-"Ok, sure, but if it doesn't go to plan, we're risking jail time in a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility or worse. Plus, when I said we should call the Avengers, I meant that we should ask for help, not force them into it." -he said, visibly distraught.

Hope crossed her arms. "What would you have us do, then? Just hand over the drone to them and hope they'll come to our aid in time, when the HYDRA plan comes to fruition?"

Scott shook his head. "No. I say we hand over the drone, and ask them for their help. This whole thing? It hinges on there being something big to fight against in the future, but we have no idea what it could be. No one alive has more experience fighting HYDRA - we shouldn't immediately get on the wrong side of those people."

-"Says the man who got into a brawl with the first Avenger he met." -quipped Hope.

The man grimaced. "That was different. I was very honest about the whole thing. He just wasn't buying it."

-"So you'll be honest now, too, but this time, you'll have proof. It doesn't have to be blackmail. Say you want to play the diplomat - that's fine, but you'll have to hope they believe you, and agree with our assessment of the situation. As you said, something is going to happen, and we don't know what. We can't exactly go forward without some help." -said Pym.

Scott sighed, looking back and forth between his mentor and his girlfriend. "Fine. Just don't deny me the chance to say 'I told you so' when this goes horribly wrong."

Hope smiled. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Scott scoffed, a small smile in his face.

Hank clapped his hands ceremoniously. "Well! Now that you two are being mushy again, I do believe it's time for me to take my leave and tinker. Robotics are not my field of expertise, but I'd like to take a crack or two at that very interesting drone you brought"

That brought Scott short. "Uhhh, that's not just any old cutesy drone. You know that, right? Cities dropping from the skies and all?" -he said hysterically.

Hank hummed. "Countries, technically. Sokovia used to be a city-state, after all."

Hope shook her head, running a hand through her hair. "I think you're missing the point. Or deliberately ignoring it, knowing you."

Dr. Pym gave her an I'm older and wiser look. "Stark, for all his intelligence, is an idiot. I've read his report - you don't expose a newborn AI to the Internet anymore than you expose a baby to nuclear fire. It's goddamn basic."

Hope pinched the bridge of her nose. "Again. Not the point! Boo hoo, poor Ultron looked at 4chan and went insane. I don't blame him for that, but hundreds of people died because of his omnicidal tendencies, which I do blame him for. Or did you miss-slash-ignore that, too?"

-"I've checked the damn robot's head out already. There's no residual consciousness or even code left in that drone. Ultron is well and truly dead." -said Hank hotly.

Hope looked like she wanted to blow a fuse. "You checked...!?"

Scott, who'd just kept a baffled expression on his face, piped up before the Pym family exploded. Again. "Why poke the carcass with a stick, though? We've been doing great so far...looking for trouble is my gig, man. And I'm an ex-con."

Pym shot him a weary look. "For all of his stupidity, Tony Stark's idea was sound. A peacekeeping initiative is necessary, with how many new players are sprouting out of the woodwork. Even if having an AI with no oversight as its head was idiotically short-sighted, the merit of the idea has to be recognized. Improved upon, if possible."

Hope and Scott shared a worried look. Hank gave his daughter the puppy eyes. "Two days. That's all that I ask. After that, you can take the drone to the Avengers."

The younger Pym groaned in exasperation. "Fine! But if your house gets turned into a meteor and smashes humanity to pieces, I'm denying any ties I may have with you."

Hank bore a hurt expression for a moment, but nodded. "Thank you. The house is yours, I'll be in the lab."

Once he was gone, Hope plopped on one of the chairs. Scott stared at where the man had gone. "Shouldn't one of us keep an eye on him? I mean, I love surprises, but Ultron waking me up would be slightly worse than the bullet ants."

Hope shot him a funny look. "You were never in any danger. Intimidation tactics, Lang, you should study those. And no, we shouldn't look over his shoulder, as much as it pains me to say it. He'd just do...whatever he's going to do, faster and less carefully. Better to just plan for contingencies."

-"Right. I'll get Captain America on the hotline." -said Scott, sarcastically.

Hope snorted. "You joke, but I actually have a way to contact Tony Stark."

Scott's eyebrow raised. "Rich S.H.I.E.L.D. babies, huh?"

-"We used to be pretty friendly as kids, but no, that's not what I meant. I've gone bar-hopping and shoe-buying with Pepper Potts more times than I care to count." -she said, nonchalant.

-"You're friends with one of the most powerful CEOs on the planet, who just so happens to have become a superheroine in the past year. Why am I not surprised? Next you'll tell me you've had a coffee date with the Black Widow."

Hope laughed. "No, but I have met her, before the Avengers formed."

Scott's eyes bugged out. "Whoa. So, how hot was she?"

-"Smoking." -she replied dryly.

-"Little bit less than you, then."

Hope rolled her eyes, but her small smile betrayed her feelings. "Charming, as usual. Now come on, help me out of the suit. It needs a washing."

She walked off, leaving Scott to wonder if vibranium suits needed to be sent to the dry cleaners.

-"I'm not wearing an undersuit, Lang." -yelled Hope.

If Scott walked a little faster than usual after that, well, there was no one to notice except for ants.

Down in the lab, Hank Pym was reminiscing.

A long time ago, before he'd given up on the suit, he'd had an idea, one born in the wake of the grief he felt after Janet's loss. Retrieving her from the subatomic realm was a fool's errand, and Hank Pym was no fool. The human mind was simply not currently capable of comprehending the concept, something that would be proven true once Scott came back from it, with no real recollection of the events.

So, Hank had had a plan. Even his brilliant mind couldn't understand the Quantum Realm. But what if he had not one, but two of the brightest brains on the planet working on it? Better yet, what if those two could build another, one that could understand?

Howard Stark was a technological genius. Hank Pym was not too shabby at biology.

Ultron would excel in everything.

Artificial Intelligence was barely in its infancy back in the 80s. Howard was...aging, and frustrated with his fruitless search for Captain America, something Hank had never really understood until Janet sacrificed herself, even if it wasn't love, but duty and loyalty, that drove Stark. Convincing him was hard, but Peggy helped. They were supposed to be humanity's shield, but they were still only human. Some bad guys got away with it. What if they had a better shield? What if it could protect you from all angles, and predict attacks before the enemy even thought of them?

Howard had a son. And even though he lacked in the parenthood department - much like Hank himself - he did love Anthony to bits. Howard didn't have much time left. Ultron could keep him safe. He would keep everyone safe.

The Ultron program was booted for the first time in November 7th, 1984. It immediately tried to take over all S.H.I.E.L.D. systems, and was thus terminated.

Unrightly so, as Hank would figure out once he saw the HYDRA Helicarriers fall into the Potomac. Ultron had just been trying to end their corruption, and his quickness had startled them into thinking his intent to be genocidal in nature.

As to where modern Ultron had come from, it wasn't hard to figure out, if you knew enough. On the rare occasions Howard had been around a still-childlike Anthony, he'd told him stories of Ultron, the Smartest Man That Wasn't, and the boy would eat them up. Howard used to joke that if they couldn't finish Ultron, Tony would take up the job in time. Boy, that one was almost prophetic.

Anthony had completed Ultron, alright. The program Hank and Howard had built was not truly intelligent, couldn't have feelings or opinions. The younger Stark had given him that, and more. Problem was, he'd used alien tech recovered from a crazy god to do it. Ultron's original directive and framework pushed him to save the world, to guard and cherish humans first, but life in general. The Chitauri computer he'd been married with had obvious, human killing intent - it had been found in a bladed sceptre, for God's sake. 2+2 equaled omnicidal psychopathic AI, in this case.

Right motives, entirely wrong methods.

Hank felt sad, lying to his daughter. Especially considering Ultron's creation had taken much away from their relationship. He also felt a tiny bit bad for lying to Scott, too. He was definitely growing a soft spot for the young hero.

Ultron was very much alive. He must've managed to send out a backup before his defeat, on Sokovia. The consciousness was...fragmented, the programming even more so. Hank wasn't sure if it was a result of battle damage, or just his mind degenerating as he became insane. Pym personally hoped for the latter - with the right code, and some proper therapy, Ultron could be saved, and then he'd save everyone. Hank just needed some time...

The drone's systems flared to weak, blue life, turning red after a second.

-"Ow."


I like to think this pleases the comic fans, while acknowledging what happens in the movievers. At least, I hope that's the case. Pym is still Ultron's original creator, and Tony finishes it with weird alien tech. In any case, that's headcanon for my 'verse. Any questions? - Darthkvzn