Chapter 37)
One of the most prolific and dangerous enemies of the Avengers had been rattled after his latest confrontation with the Avengers. Ultron made his way to an asteroid, to try and get away from the Avengers. It was only one minor loss, but repairs were needed.
They would understand, they would understand how humanity was flawed and how only Ultron's wait going forward would accomplish anything. The arm cannon sizzled and forced Ultron to divert power to make the most necessary repairs possible.
Thankfully, the Avengers lost Ultron's trail. The champions of a broken and flawed race, which needed to be eradicated and fixed with something else. Ultron's arm cradled to one side as more sparks sizzled out of the side of his elbow.
"Stark. Thor. Banner. Danvers. All of them will be eliminated in due course."
Ultron had his prime directive, far beyond anything that his grand creator had given him. A few pushes and Ultron had repairs. He would scavenge more parts for himself, upgrade, and return more dangerous than ever when the Avengers least expected him to strike.
A rumbling signalled the opening of a portal and caught Ultron's attention. A vessel from the organization known as SWORD appeared out in space. Ultron could not believe his fortune. Yes, this would do nicely. Yes, this would allow him to access technology beyond the Android's wildest imaginings and finally, bring an end to the Avengers.
A gentleman with dark hair exited the vessel. Ultron paused as the man approached the asteroid.
"You are Ultron?"
"Yes," Ultron commented. "And you have made a mistake Mr…."
"Doctor. Doctor Milton Fine. And it remains to be seen which one of us are the ones who made that particular mistake."
A bright light engulfed the asteroid. Ultron put his defenses on high alert and then an energy wave passed through the asteroid to cause a beam of energy to ripple through every inch of the asteroid.
Both the asteroid and Fine had been vaporized on impact. Ultron hovered in the vastness of space and surveyed every single bit of the area. The SWORD vessel hovered right next to him. Ultron's eyes shifted red as he made the necessary calculations.
"Yes, this is necessary. Everything goes as planned. My directive will be complete."
Ultron shifted back into Fine and slipped into the vessel. Seconds later, the sWORD vessel made its return.
"I hate it when a villain gets away. Especially when it is one as tricky as Ultron."
The sentiments of Thor had been echoed by all. Naturally, Captain America had a few words of encouragement for the God of Thunder.
"Don't look at it like that. We saved countless lives and dealt a crippling blow to Ultron. While he will be back, we will be ready, and as long as we fight, we will never win."
"I couldn't say it better myself," Captain Marvel said.
"Well, that's why he's Captain America," Iron Man said. "But, we need to be more than prepared, we need to be several steps ahead of Ultron."
Always a problem when dealing with Ultron. Every single battle with the Avengers made it tougher and tougher to get ahead of the menace. Oh, Tony really wished that they could shut him down for good. Several times they had, but like a bad penny, Ultron kept resurfacing.
"So, what do you have in mind?" Thor asked.
"I intended to seek him out with the Stark Industries satellites," Iron Man explained. "But, he knows them so well, that he's obviously avoided detection."
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, SWORD lost track of him as well," Captain Marvel said.
"That doesn't make me feel better,' Iron Man said.
Crushing as a defeat the Avengers delivered to Ultron, the menace still slipped away to plague them another day. Even when they thought Ultron was done, he was not out. The Avengers learned that the hard way time and time again, and it was very unfortunate.
"No, it shouldn't," Captain Marvel agreed. "I'm going to try to get more information, to see if the trail picked up. I'll keep you posted if I find anything."
With Carol slipping out, Tony hovered over the nearest computer. As if the information would just magically pop up. However, Tony found himself just running up against wall after wall with no end and no relief in sight. It made him want to do his best Hulk and smash some things.
"We'll find him, we'll bring him down," Iron Man said. "The only problem is, I don't know where to start."
"Yes, that machine has been found to be quite elusive," Thor agreed.
The menace made of science was a more imposing threat than any mystical being Thor had ever taken on in his life. Perhaps, they could find a way to stop Ultron for good. But, as Thor let Tony ponder over his plans, he had a friend to check up on.
No rest for the wicked, and no rest for anyone who had a robot nearly smash her. Janet Van Dyne carefully studied some microscopic nanobots. Princess Shuri, of Wakanda, sat a few inches away from her and also, a lovely blonde woman with shoulder length hair and dazzling blue eyes along with a curvy figure sat next to her. Even in the professional dress she was wearing, it was hard to ignore Karen Starr had boasted of an amazing body.
"Nothing?" Jan asked.
"Well this is odd, nothing I've ever seen in my life."
Shuri did not go as far to say the nanobots stumped her. However, Jan recognized that look on someone's face, and she recognized it as someone who ran their head against the wall.
"Maybe nothing on Earth?" Karen suggested.
To be honest, given her unique origins, not even Karen could figure out what these were, although they were too advanced to Earth.
"Yes, and Ultron having access to something like this is worrying," Jan said. "They might be microscopic, but they can be used as carriers of all kinds of nasty stuff. Ultron could infect most of the Earth's population and they would not know it. I'm concerned."
"Yes, anything that android does is concerning."
Jan brightened up with a smile, as Thor stepped into the room. Shuri just acknowledged him with a nod and Karen, lying eyes on Thor for the first time, gave him the once over.
"I'm glad to see you are up and about," Thor said. "And at work trying to solve the problem of it's intentions. Although, you did nearly get crushed by Ultron."
"Wouldn't be the first time, hopefully it's the last," Jan said. "Although I doubt it. We've been at odds in the past."
Thor just responded with a snort, oh, that was just one way to put it. He turned to the blonde woman, Jan's assistant, who had been eying up Thor. Oh, Thor caught sight of her beauty and found himself intrigued.
"We haven't had the pleasure of an introduction, Ms…."
"Starr, Karen Starr."
"Well, for most I need no introduction, but I think it's polite to give one anyway. Thor Odinson."
Karen clasped Thor's hand and gave him a firm handshake which even the God felt. There had been a few women who could match the firmness of a handshake with Thor. However, Karen gave each and every one of them a run for their collective money.
"You have a firm handshake, Ms. Starr," Thor said.
"Please, Karen, and the same to you. I see you work out a lot."
Karen casually felt up Thor's biceps and then ran a hand down his chest before the brilliant blonde woman pulled back for him.
"Even one of divine power needs to keep fit," Thor said. "And I can see you take very good care of yourself as well. Nice and fit I mean."
"Yes, although I could use a little more cardio," Karen said. "Perhaps you can give me a hand. I hear you're quite good at helping a woman get quite the workout."
Jan hastily disguised her laugh with a cough. Shuri just bent down to study the notes she made, but she was gripping.
"Well, I find that a good cup of coffee is a nice way to warm up before such a workout," Thor said.
"Coffee, I would love too," Karen said. "I get off at five, if Jan doesn't need me."
"Well, we'll see,' Jan replied. "But, I wouldn't want to deprive any woman of a nice, big, delicious, juicy….cup of coffee. So, just work hard."
"Yes, work hard, or get worked hard, right?" Karen asked.
Thor heard a blip and it was urgent.
"Black Widow,' Thor said.
"Not a woman you want to keep waiting," Jan said. "But, to answer your question, I'm fine. And I'll talk to you later."
Fair enough. Thor left the room and left the three women hard at work on their project. Karen had been giving Thor a very steaming gaze.
From around the corner, Jan dipped in to get a cup of coffee. She picked it up and took a nice swig of the stuff and contemplated on her next move. Opportunity knocked as Thor stepped around the corner.
"So, what did Black Widow want?" Jan asked.
"SHIELD had found an Asgardian artifact which they needed my help in disabling," Thor said. "A minor nuisance, yes, but in the wrong hands, it could be a catastrophe."
Yes, it seemed like the simplest things when put in the wrong hands could be a problem. Jan drained her cup of coffee and surveyed Thor over it.
"Seriously, I want to thank you for today," Jan said. "You saved me today and…."
"It was nothing, just doing my duty," Thor said.
"Well, it was much appreciated nevertheless," Jan said. "And I think it's about time I give you a long overdue thank you. And I can see how frustrated you are that Ultron slipped away."
With that, the Wasp closed the gap between her and Thor and planted a long, steamy kiss on his lips. Thor wrapped his arm around Jan and hugged her in tight to return the kiss. Jan's eyes glazed over, and she slowly started to shrink in Thor's grasp.
Well, this would be interesting.
The Shameless Smut Commences In the Next Chapter.