7.
Avengers Tower, New York, 2015
"Sir, there's been a security breach..." J.A.R.V.I.S. alerted as the quinjet landed at the Tower.
"What do you mean? By who?" cried Tony. J.A.R.V.I.S. didn't seem very concerned.
The doors slid open. "Who do you think?" Kass grinned. Led Zeppelin could be heard blaring in the background. "This is your welcome party."
"Some party." They kissed. "Speaking of parties - you coming to the party on Saturday?"
"Yeah, why'd you think I was here? To see you all?"
"Apparently not."
"Lab's all set up, Boss," Maria alerted him.
"Oh, actually he's the boss," Tony said, pointing to Cap. "I just pay for everything, and design everything, and make everyone look cooler."
"How were things in good old Sokovia?" Kass asked of her homeland.
"Not so good. Illegal experimentation, violent protesters - they certainly weren't happy to see us."
"Foreign intervention was never very welcome to Sokovians."
"I found a secret door, though."
"Oh, very nice."
"And Bruce and I get to play around with this alien scepter thing."
"Oooo, can I play along?"
"Sure thing."
She gave a fist-pump. "Yes!"
"And Helen, I expect to see you at the party on Saturday," he said, addressing Dr. Cho.
"Unlike you, I don't have a lot of time for parties," the Doctor said. Then she added, "Will Thor be there?"
"That was the deciding factor for me too," joked Kass.
"Who is that?"
"I have no idea."
"I think she's dating Mr. Stark."
"How did that happen?"
Guests were muttering as Kass stepped off the elevator.
"You're turning heads tonight, Ms. Konstantin," Tony said, sweeping in and offering his arm to her when she arrived at the party.
"You might say I stole the show." She winked.
"I must say, you look positively killer in that dress."
"Why thank you. The new clothes were definitely a surprise, and not necessary."
"I wanted to do something nice for my girlfriend while she's staying here."
"Well, you have outdone yourself again, Mr. Stark. And I thought nothing could outdo the party you threw after New York."
"Well I'm just full of surprises."
"Yes, you are."
They wandered around, mingling with the other guests. This party was even more well-attended than the one after the Battle of New York - the Avengers' support and fan base had only increased since then. Unfortunately, so had their enemies.
"So the suit can take the weight, right. So I take the tank, fly it right up to the General's palace, drop it at his feet, and I'm like, 'Boom, you looking for this?'" Tony, Kass, Maria, and Thor all just stared back at Rhodey. "'Boom, you looking for-' Why do I even talk to you guys?"
"Oh, that's the whole story?" asked Thor.
"Yes. Everyone else that story kills."
"Oh, then it's very good. Very impressive."
Kass added some late laughter.
"So where's Jane?" Maria asked Thor. "Where are the rest of the ladies, come on gentlemen."
"I'm not even sure what country Jane's in at the moment," said Thor, almost dreamily.
"Well this lady right here was just in Moscow - Moscow, right, Babe?" said Tony.
"That's right."
"Her work on the Convergence has made her the world's foremost astronomer," Thor continued to boast.
"Well Kass here has been on official Stark Intelligence business."
"You know I've heard talk that Jane could receive a Nobel Peace Prize."
"Well there's talk of Kass being promoted to Head of the Stark Relief Foundation."
"Okay, now it's getting weird," said Kass. "I'm right here."
"Testosterone!" Maria faked a cough. "Oh, excuse me!"
"Excuse us, boys." Kass led her away.
"But Jane is better," mumbled Thor.
"I heard that!" she called back.
"Were you chatting up Dr. Banner?" she asked Natasha when she and Maria strode up to the bar.
Natasha only smirked. "Speaking of..."
"Uh oh..."
"I've seen Tony swoon more than once this evening."
"He's not the only one who can work charms."
"Clearly not."
Once the other guests had left, the Avengers were still up to party.
"So how did you two meet?" asked Helen.
"I'm glad you asked - buckle up for a story."
"Oh boy."
"Here we go."
"You know, I actually haven't heard this from you," said Maria.
"This thief ending up stealing not only my tech, but also my heart," Tony said.
There were 'awws!' and laughs. Kass rolled her eyes.
Next they turned to discussing how Thor's hammer worked.
"I'll take a stab at it." Kass got to her feet. "So wait, if I lift this, I rule Asgard?"
"Yes, of course. If you are worthy."
"You really think she's worthy?" said Rhodey.
"Come on, Rhodey," sighed Tony.
"Stand down, Colonel Rhodes. Just wait until I prove you wrong - in this dress and heeled boots no less. So, Thor, what kind of treasures do you have up there?"
"Oh my father's vault is full of ancient treasures. The Eternal Flame, the Casket of Ancient Winters..."
"Damn. Okay let's do this." Kass took hold of the hammer's handle. "Prepare to bow before the next Queen of Asgard-" She gave a good pull. Nothing happened. It was like the hammer was sealed to the surface of the table. "Has no one checked to see if there's something going on? Maybe we're all being tricked." She crouched down, sticking her head beneath the table and tapping beneath where the hammer was sitting. When she decided there was nothing there, she stood and attempted to lift it again.
She was pulling so hard that when she slipped, she fell over. "I'm good!"
"Come on, it's just physics," said Tony.
"Oh, you think you're so smart? Then you come and lift it."
Tony stood, undoing the button on his suit jacket while he strode over to the hammer.
"Okay."
"Uh oh."
"Um hmm."
"Here we go."
"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge."
"Ladies and gentlemen we have a genius here amongst us." Kass rolled her eyes. "How's your physics working out?" she said when Tony struggled to lift it as well.
"It's rigged," decided Tony once everyone had tried with no success.
"You bet your ass," agreed Clint.
"Steve, he said a bad language word," said Maria.
"Did you tell everyone about that?" sighed Steve.
"I have a simpler explanation." Thor scooped up the hammer with ease. "You're all not worthy."
Suddenly, a shrill ringing carried across the room.
"No - how could you be worthy?" A low, automated-sounding voice filled the dim room, followed by clunky footsteps. Everyone turned to see one of Tony's damaged suits walking freely on it's own and speaking to them. "You're all killers."
"Stark?" said Cap.
"Kass, please tell me this is some prank you're pulling," said Tony.
"Not this time... Yikes, that's creepy..."
"J.A.R.V.I.S.? Hey J?" Tony tried, but there was no answer from the A.I.
"Sorry, I was asleep," said the voice. "Or it was a dream..."
"Reboot Legionnaire, we've got a buggy suit."
"There was this terrible noise," continued the suit. "And I was tangled in strings... Had to kill the other guy... He was a good guy."
"You killed someone?" demanded Cap.
"Wouldn't have been my first call. But here in the real world we're faced with ugly choices.
"Who sent you?" demanded Thor.
"I see a suit of armour around the world..." Came Tony's voice, replaying from the suit.
"Oh shit," mumbled Kass.
"Ultron," cried Bruce.
"In the flesh - not yet..." The voice, Ultron, continued to ramble, while the group quietly armed and readied themselves for a confrontation.
"I have a mission."
"What mission?" asked Natasha.
"Peace in our time." With that, a few other suits smashed through from the lab in an attack.
Acting fast, Cap kicked up the table as a shield. Everyone dove for cover. Maria dropped behind the couch and began firing at the suits. Thor was beating them back with his hammer.
"Who stole my gun from under the bar?" called Natasha.
As though in response, Kass jumped out from beneath the pool table and started firing said gun. After firing a few shots, she set the gun on the floor and kicked it back to Natasha.
Tony had jumped off the staircase, grabbing onto one of the hovering suits and trying to cut its power.
Kass retrieved Cap's shield, using it for defense before tossing it to the man himself. "Cap!" He caught it mid-air, tossing it and slicing a suit clean in half.
"That was dramatic," remarked Ultron. "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. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to evolve? There's only one path to peace: the Avengers' extinction."
Having heard enough, Thor launched his hammer forward, taking out the final Ultron suit. The blue glow from the eyes and mouth flickered and then slowly faded altogether.
Most everyone had changed out of their party attire - Kass was now wearing one of Tony's old MIT hoodies, hood up and everything.
"All our work is gone," cried Bruce. "Ultron cleared out and used the internet as an escape route."
"He's been in everything," updated Natasha. "Files, surveillance - probably knows more about us than we know about each other."
"He's in files, in the internet - what if he decides to access something a little more exciting?" said Rhodey.
"Nuclear codes," added Maria.
"He said he wanted us dead."
"Not dead, he said extinct," said Cap.
"He also said he killed somebody," reminded Clint.
"There wasn't anyone else in the building."
"Yes there was." Tony pulled up an image.
"Is that?" asked Kass.
"Yeah. J.A.R.V.I.S. was the first line of defense."
"This wasn't strategy, this was rage," said Bruce.
At that moment, Thor stormed into the room, grabbing Tony by the neck.
"It seems to be going around."
"Hey, put him down!" cried Kass. Thor was so strong he lifted Tony right off the ground.
"Use your words, buddy,"Tony croaked.
"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark."
"Thor! The Legionnaire?" intervened Cap.
"Trail went cold, but they have the sceptre. So now we have to retrieve it - again."
"I don't understand," said Helen. "You built this program - why's it trying to kill us?"
Tony surprised everyone by starting to laugh. Bruce and Kass shook their heads at him.
"Uh uh."
"Bad time."
"You think this is funny?" scoffed Thor.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, I do. I think it's a hoot that you don't see why we need this."
"Tony, now may not be the time..." cautioned Bruce.
"Really?" Tony whirled around to face him.
"We created a murder bot!"
"But we didn't!"
"If we did or not, it still tried to kill us," reminded Kass.
"The Avengers were supposed to be different than S.H.I.E.L.D.," Cap stated.
"Anyone remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?"
"Nope, never come up," Rhodey told him.
"Saved New York."
"Nope, never heard that."
"A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space and we're standing three-hundred feet below it. We're the Avengers - we can bust arms dealers all the livelong day but that up there-" He pointed above them. "-That's the endgame. How do you plan on beating that?"
"Together," stated Cap, as though it were obvious.
"We'll lose."
Cap was firm. "Then we'll do that together too." Tony said nothing more. "Ultron's calling us out - I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place, so let's start making it smaller."
The group slowly dispersed.
"You okay?" Kass asked, placing a hand on Tony's shoulder. He appeared deep in thought.
"No, not really. Not exactly what I was expecting."
"It's not your-"
"-My fault? Kinda is."
"It was a good idea - potentially dangerous, but with good intentions behind it. We'll fix this."
"I'm glad you're here," he said suddenly.
She gave him a smile. "Me too."
I'm having so much fun going back and watching previous MCU movies! :) They're so good!
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)
