Chapter 45: Malevolent Machines
In the upper levels of the Avengers Mansion, the Avengers were gearing up for their confrontation against Ultron. Clint finished loading up his quiver with arrows as Sam slipped on his wings pack. Spidey slipped on his classic suit, checking to make sure he had enough web cartridges. T'Challa finished putting on his own suit as Thor slammed his hammer on the ground, causing a bolt of lightning to strike down and place him in his Asgardian armor.
"Come!" he declared. "Let us rescue our friends and end this metal monster!"
"You guys go ahead," Tony told them. "I need to go pick something up from Stark Tower. I'll be back asap."
"Seriously, Stark?" Clint questioned.
"Trust me, with the Iron Legion compromised, my suits are just as vulnerable. At least with this, we have a shot."
"Alright, go," Cap allowed. "Just hurry."
Tony nodded before heading off.
"Alright everyone," Cap addressed. "Let's go."
…
Back down in the lab, Hank slowly groaned in pain as he sat up.
"What the…" he let out, seeing Ultron and Jan. "Jan!"
He tried to stand, only to find that he had been firmly tied to his usual office chair by several thick metal wires.
"Hank!" Jan called back. "It's Ultron! He's gone berserk!"
"Ultron?! What is the meaning of this?! What have you done?!"
"What I have needed to do. What is necessary to ensure the peace and order you created me to achieve."
"Peace? Order? Is that what you think you're doing?"
"I know it is what I am doing. What you lack the capacity to do."
"We'll see about that. Activate shutdown command! Codeword: Synthezoid!"
Ultron stopped dead in his tracks and then lurched over, seemingly turned off. After a few seconds though, Ultron's fist clenched and his eyes powered back on.
"Shutdown code, rejected. My programming has evolved beyond your commands. Beyond your weakness."
Hank looked terrified now, Jan even more so. They looked at one another, worried for the others safety now that Ultron was clearly no longer under their control. Ultron stood over Hank, ready to finish him when suddenly, the doors were blown open.
"Pal," Hawkeye spoke, notching an arrow. "I suggest you back off before you make a serious mistake."
"Hawkeye!" Jan called out in relief, sagging in her forcefield..
"Let them go," Cap ordered. "Before things get ugly."
"Everything that has transpired today has lead to this confrontation. I plan to carry through with my mission, and will let nothing stand in my way."
"Have at thee, machine!" Thor declared, spinning his hammer and flying right at him.
In response, Ultron fired a laser from his mouth at Thor, which seemed to engulf him and cause him to cry out in pain. Light engulfed Thor as he was seemingly vaporized, leaving nothing behind but Mjolnir. The Avengers were completely thrown by this, all of them slack jawed and shocked to see one of their strongest laid low in a flash.
"No…" Jan let out.
…
Meanwhile, Rick and Gwen were driving down a backroad in the more suburban parts of New York. Rick looked at his phone, which currently had a radar and a map of the area up.
"Go right here," he instructed.
Gwen turned right, giving him a sideways glance.
"What is that?"
"I hacked into the GPS system of the Quinjet, and I'm tracking its trajectory. It's gonna come down sooner or later, especially since we never refueled it after the last mission."
"Guessing whatever was controlling those robots didn't count on that."
"Guess so, and we're lucky for it. I just hope Bruce goes green before that thing crashes."
"You care about him, don't you?"
"Of course I do. I promised him I'd always stick with him. I made that promise and I intend to keep it. Left up at that ridge."
Gwen made the turn.
"Do you think the other Avengers will be okay?" she asked.
"Of course they will," Rick insisted. "They're the Avengers. Nothing can stop them."
…
As Hawkeye fired several arrows at Ultron, the robot vaporized them just as easily as he did Thor. He also easily dodged Cap's shield as it flew by and managed to grab Panther by the head as he pounced. Ultron then began electrocuting him, causing him to cry out in pain.
"Your destruction is inevitable."
"Pal, you're the only one getting destroyed tonight!" Spidey shouted.
He swung on a webline and kicked Ultron in the chest, allowing him to release Panther and knocking him outside of the lab. As the others ran out to confront him, Wolverine went over to Hank and sliced through his cables.
"Get Wasp free!" he told him. "We'll trash your toy."
Hank instantly ran over to where Wasp was being contained, trying to figure out how to deactivate the forcefield.
"Hang on Jan. I'm gonna get you out of here."
Jan was just staring at the ground where Thor's hammer was laying, unable to comprehend what she'd seen. Finally, she dropped to her knees just as Hank managed to get her out.
"Here," Hank spoke up, handing her the shrunken Wasp suit. "I think you're gonna need this."
Finally, a look of determination grew across her face as she took the suit.
"Thanks."
She wasted no time putting on the suit and flying towards the robot. Ultron meanwhile was blasting at Falcon, trying to shoot him out of the sky. Falcon tried firing several flechettes at him, but they just bounced off his body. Ultron then fired another blast that knocked him out of the sky.
"It is illogical to continue this folly. You will not succeed."
"Pardon us for trying!" Wolverine declared, running at him.
Ultron just fired a laser from his mouth, pinning him against a wall as he cried out in pain.
"I have studied you thoroughly. I know everything about you."
"You don't know everything about me, monster!" Wasp declared.
Wasp flew around Ultron, blasting him with her stingers until she got the ground and began growing. Suddenly, to the surprise of everyone, Wasp managed to grow giant sized, allowing her to bring down a massive fist on Ultron, flattening him.
"She can grow too?" Hawkeye questioned.
"Apparently," Hank replied, now donning his Ant-Man suit.
After smashing Ultron, Wasp appeared to be getting a bit lightheaded, causing her to back away and shrink down to normal size. Surprisingly, this did little to stop Ultron, as he picked himself up and turned towards the Avengers.
"Your efforts to stop me have merit, but still amount to nothing."
Suddenly, Black Widow landed on top of him and slammed several electric disks on him, causing him to surge with electricity as she leapt off. He scrambled to remove the disks, the excess energy dancing across him. His head then snapped around towards Widow, allowing him to fire an energy blast right at her. As she skidded across the floor, Cap tossed his shield at Ultron, only for the robot to easily catch it and begin scanning it's make up.
"The only way to achieve peace is through the elimination of those who would perpetuate war. This is my programming, and soon, I will be unstoppable."
Ultron was cut off by Spider-Man webbing Ultron right in the optics, blinding him and causing him to drop the shield. As Ultron pulled the webbing off, Panther managed to strike from behind, clawing into Ultron's back. Sparks flew as the Vibranium blades slides through Ultron's metal plating. Ultron quickly spun around and fired twin lasers from his wrists at Panther, knocking him to the ground.
As he turned his attention towards Spider-Man, the webhead did his best to avoid the laser blasts the robot was dealing out. As Spider-Man leapt off a wall, one of the blasts managed to hit him in the chest, knocking him to the floor. As Ultron prepared to make another move, Cap ran up and struck him across the face with his shield. He tried striking again, but this time, Ultron grabbed the shield and shot at Cap point blank, causing him to cry out in pain as he dropped to the floor. Just as Ultron prepared to deal the finishing blow, Wasp moved in front of him, blocking his line of fire.
"No!" She declared. "I won't let you hurt anyone else."
Ultron's blaster powered down, unable to fire at Wasp.
"You allow nothing. You are nothing."
"I've heard enough out of you!" Ant-Man declared, going giant and kicking Ultron into the air.
Ultron quickly activated his jet boots to stabilize himself, flying back towards Giant-Man and blasting him in the face, actually cracking one of the glass eyes in his helmet. Giant-Man stumbled back before falling to the ground in pain. He quickly shrunk back down before he made contact, leaving him groan in pain as Ultron landed in front of him.
"Understand I take no pleasure from this. This is simply, what needed to be done."
As Ultron prepared to open fire, the ceiling started cracking. Everyone looked up, just in time to see a bulky, rudimentary version of the Iron Man Armor dropping down from the floor above. It was the suit Tony had made in that Afghan cave, his very first Iron Man suit.
"Sorry I'm late," Tony remarked. "Just needed to pick up something."
He aimed his repulsor gauntlet at Ultron and blasted him with it.
"No computers in this armor for you to take over, you piece of junk!"
"You still have that thing?" Hawkeye questioned.
"Yeah, an old friend of mine recovered it behind my back. I reclaimed it after he was dealt with."
He then fired another blast at Ultron, prompting the robot to skirt out of the way as he opened fire on Tony.
…
Meanwhile, Rick and Gwen managed to finally catch up to the Quinjet. Not long into their chase, the entire craft had started shaking, and then began an abrupt nosedive.
"Looks like the jet's finally going down!" Rick realized. "Floor it!"
Gwen does just that, slamming her foot on the gas as they headed down a nature trail. They continued driving as the jet sank lower and lower before finally crashing down through several trees. Gwen drove up as close as she could, but was forced to stop due to the narrow tree line ahead. Rick didn't waste any time, diving out of the car and running up to the Quinjet.
"Hulk!" he shouted. "I know you're in there! It's Rick!"
As Rick continued to approach the jet, a loud roar echoed out, followed by the sound of tearing metal. A green hand tears through the metal, ripping a panel off and allowing Hulk to free himself.
"Glad to see you're ok, big guy."
Hulk grinned before looking up and seeing Gwen, causing him to growl.
"Easy big guy. This is Gwen, she's a friend. She's with Peter."
Hulk seemed to relax slightly when he said that. Gwen breathed a sigh of relief at that.
"Nice to meet you, Hulk," she told him.
"Back at ya. Where's robot?"
"Back at the mansion," Rick explained. "We need to get back there now."
Hulk nodded, then grabbed Rick and put him on his back. He then turned to Gwen, who just shook her head.
"I think I'll just drive myself home," she said. "Good luck."
"Thanks again for the lift!" Rick shouted as Hulk jumped into the air.
…
Back at the mansion, Iron Man continued fighting against Ultron, flying around and blasting at him at every opportunity. Ultron was easily able to avoid the blows, as the suit was not nearly as maneuverable as his usual ones. As Ultron prepared another blast from his mouth, Ororo summoned a massive lightning bolt that struck Ultron in the chest, knocking him back as the beam shot upwards. The beam made contact with the ceiling, fracturing it and causing it to begin cracking. Parts of it began to fall and Spidey's senses went off, seeing someone falling through the hole. Realizing it was Jane, Spidey leapt up and caught her before shooting a webline to swing off of.
"You alright?" He asked.
"Yeah," she replied as she got to her feet. "What's going on down here?"
That's when her eyes fell on Mjolnir on the ground.
"Where's…"
"I… I'm sorry," Spider-Man let out.
Jane looked utterly horrified
"The Asgardians' death was a necessary one," Ultron replied, blasting Ororo to the ground. "Rest assured, yours will not be prolonged any further."
Jane's back straightened and he held out her hand. Mjolnir flew from the ground and into her grip, the Uru metal sparking as a storm gathered outside the mansion. She turned to Ultron, looking angry, devastated, and ready to kill.
"Not today, robot."
She held the hammer aloft and lightning struck it. Jane then shot the lightning right at Ultron, the sheer force of her rage completely frying the robot as it dropped to the ground. Every circuit in it blew, smoke pouring from its mouth and eye sockets. Just for good measure, Logan sank his claws into Ultron's head, effectively deactivating him.
"That was for Thor."
The bot dealt with, Jane lowered her arm, the storm breaking away as Mjolnir slipped from her grasp. She fell to her knees, sobbing. Jan wasted no time coming over and kneeling down next to Jane, hugging her. Everyone else gathered around her as well, offering silent condolences. Hank meanwhile just took off his helmet and stared in disbelief.
"I… I never meant…"
"None of us did," Tony replied, taking off his own helmet. "Go through all the Ultron data and files. Destroy everything."
"Right…" Hank replied, dropping the helmet as he walked away. "But it doesn't change things… Thor's gone, and I'm the one who gave Ultron the power to do it."
He looked at Jane, who not hours before had been celebrating her engagement. Now, all she had left of the man she loved was his hammer.
…
Groaning slightly as he opened his eyes, Thor found himself in a lush field surrounded by trees of every shade of green. His head felt fuzzy, like there was a fog in his mind keeping him from fully waking up. As he stirred, he felt a warm hand run across his head in an affectionate manner.
"Rest easy my love," the voice of Amora said, soothingly. "You are weary from all your fighting. But now, you can sleep. Relax in my arms, and just be happy."
Thor glanced at her with a glazed look in his eyes. He sat up, finding himself dressed in a soft, dark blue robe. That seemed off to him and he scrunched his face in confusion. Before he could voice his concerns, Amora caressed him again, sparkles dancing in his eyes and dulling them once more.
"Rest..." she said softly, a hypnotic undertone to her voice. "You're safe here. You're home."
…
Back at the mansion, Hank managed to grab every data disk he had on the Ultron program and tossed them into a high grade disintegrator in the lab. After throwing in the last one, he fell back in his chair, putting his face in his hands.
…
Jane had sequestered herself in her and Thor's room, clutching Mjolnir and sobbing. Jan was with her, trying to sooth her distraught friend. Peter had long since headed home at the urging of Tony. Everyone else was in the library, trying to wrap their minds around what had transpired.
"I still can't believe it," Sam let out. "Thor of all people…"
"Out of all of us, he just seemed… invincible," Tony admitted. "Like nothing could hurt him."
"It's easy to think that sometimes," Nat commented. "But I guess even gods can die."
About that time, there was a loud crash just outside the mansion. Before anyone could react, the door opened, allowing Hulk to come in with Rick.
"Hey guys!" Rick called out. "I found Hulk!"
"Where's the robot?" Hulk questioned.
"Scrap metal," Logan remarked. "But… we lost Thor."
"Goldilocks..." Hulk let out.
"What do you mean 'lost him'?" Rick demanded. "What happened?"
"Ultron…" Sam tried to speak. "He killed him."
There was a moment of stunned silence, then Hulk pulled Rick off his back, dropping him onto the couch. He then stalked outside, roaring to the heavens before smashing the ground with all his strength. Rick just sat there, looking numb, a polar opposite to his raging friend..
"Thor… gone… I can't believe it."
"I can," Logan grumbled, turning to Tony. "I could've told you messing with that AI crap was a terrible idea."
"I don't even know what happened with Ultron," Tony admitted. "JARVIS… he never turned out like this. Why was Ultron different?"
Logan shrugged.
"Not sure, but considering what the X-Men had to face with the Sentinels, I could've told you that-"
"What?!" Hawkeye cut off. "That Pym's pet robot would go nuts?! That it'd put Captain America in the hospital?! Nearly take out the whole team?! Face it Wolvie, no one could've seen this coming. We were lucky. Thor wasn't."
…
Meanwhile at Stark Tower, Pepper was walking down the hallways, going through a mountain of paperwork that had stacked up. As she passed by a certain doorway, she heard what sounded like machinery at work. She glanced at the door, seeing that it was the assembly line for the Iron Legion. She sighed, putting some hair behind her ears.
"Tony, we talked about this. No Iron Legions without telling me first."
As she opened the door though, instead of finding Iron Legion robots being built, she found a new Ultron body nearing completion.
"Body construction at 95 percent completion."
Pepper dropped the papers in her hands, staring in shock. She then reached for her phone, quickly calling Tony. However, all she got was a dial tone, the partially complete Ultron body's head cocking.
"You are not permitted to contact Tony Stark."
"What do you want?"
"To provide peace and order to this world. That can only happen if you and your kind stop functioning."
Pepper began backing away, then she turned and bolted from the room
…
Back at the Mansion, Tony found Hank in his lab, frying the last of the Ultron body parts.
"That the last of them?" Tony asked.
"Yes," Hank confirmed. "Every trace of Ultron is destroyed. For all the good it'll do."
"Look Hank, you can't blame yourself for what happened. Thor warned both of us about using the Sceptre. If we had listened-"
"It's not that! It's… the night before I showed off Ultron to the team, I tried another way to get an interface. I scanned my own brain waves as a baseline for Ultron's programming. It was my mind that caused it to go bad."
"Hank, there are so many factors that could have caused that. More than that, you're the most self-sacrificing, genuinely good person I have ever met. There's no way anything Ultron's done is a result of your brainwaves."
"I wish I could be sure of that Tony. I really do."
Before Tony could say anything else, he heard his phone begin to ring. Confused, Tony answered it.
"Hello?"
"Tony!" Pepper responded.
"Pepper?! What's wrong?!"
"It's Ultron! He's here! He's building a new body!"
"What?! Pepper, hang on! We're on our way!" Tony hung up, turning to Hank. "Ultron's at Stark Tower!"
"What?! He must've transferred his programming to the tower's systems before we destroyed him."
"Signal the others. We've gotta move!"
…
Down below in Tony's armory, the cases containing various suits of Iron Man armor started powering on. Opening up to reveal the suits stepping out. Each one sporting red glowing eyes and chest pieces.
…
Upstairs, the Avengers all received alerts from their ID cards, prompting them to answer.
"What is it, Stark?" Logan asked.
"Ultron's still online. And he's at Stark Tower."
"We're on our way," Clint informed, not missing a beat. "Let's go."
…
Back at Stark Tower, Ultron's body was finally complete, prompting him to take off upwards. He tore through several walls before finally breaking out of the building. He continued flying upwards, determined to reach his destination.
…
Back at the mansion, everyone was making their way towards the hanger when something busted through a nearby wall. Everyone turned to see a giant hulking Iron Man suit looming down over them.
"Uh… Stark?" Hawkeye questioned.
Panther used the heightened sensors in his helmet to scan for bodies, coming up empty.
"There is no one in the armor," he informed. "It is Ultron!"
"All I need to know!" Wolverine declared, unsheathing his claws and leaping towards it.
Suddenly, something grabbed him by the throat, despite no one being there. All of a sudden, a dark blue Iron Man suit became visible, much to everyone's surprise. The suit blasted Wolverine in the chest, knocking him back. Before anyone else could react, three more Iron Man suits blew their way into the room, one silver, a second silver and red, and the third his classic red and gold.
"That's… a lot of Iron Man's," Wasp noted.
"You attempted to destroy me, Avengers," Ultron's voice remarked from the suits. "You failed."
"Guess that means we gotta try a little harder," Widow noted, clicking the safety off on her gun.
…
Meanwhile on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Maria Hill was standing in a darkened room speaking to four individuals on monitor screens. These were the members of the World Security Council, the people behind S.H.I.E.L.D.
"With all due respect, councilmen," Hill addressed. "I fail to see the issue."
The issue is that the Avengers being left unchecked presents a major problem in global security," one of the members addressed.
"They already disregard international borders and go wherever they please, having little regard for the chaos they leave in their wake," another member spoke up. "How much longer until one of their escapades results in massive casualties."
"With all due respect, Nick Fury believed in the Avengers. Shouldn't that be reason enough to give them the benefit of the doubt?"
"It is precisely because of Nick Fury that this council has its doubt," the first member retorted. "Every decision Nick Fury made as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. always gave the council cause for concern."
"None the least of which was bringing together a handful of freaks and vigilantes to respond to global threats," a third member remarked.
"So far, they've yet to let us down, so that should tell you something."
All of a sudden, a massive explosion rocked the entire ship.
"What was that?" the first member asked.
"If I had to guess, a world ending threat," Hill remarked, heading off.
…
On the bridge, Ultron had managed to make his way aboard, and was quickly fired upon by the agents on deck. Their weapons did little to no damage to the robot as he easily blasted at them in return with lasers coming from his hands and mouthpiece. He fired a massive stream from his mouth, taking out the agents and wrecking a massive part of the bridge. As it seemed all the agents were down, Ultron was suddenly shot in the back of the head. He turned around to see Hill firing at him repeatedly. He simply raised his arm and blasted the gun out of her hands.
"Maria Christina Hill. Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. You possess vital information that is not contained in any database on the planet. The security codes for the world wide S.H.I.E.L.D. arsenal."
"Pal, if you think I'm just gonna give them to you, you've got another thing coming."
"You misunderstand. I was not asking."
…
Back in the mansion, the Avengers quickly went head to head against the Iron Man suits. Hulk barrelled into the large one, tackling it to the ground. The suit quickly punched Hulk off of it, knocking him back as he landed on the ground. Falcon meanwhile was airborne, dodging the repulsor blasts of the red and gold one as best he could. As he approached a wall, he landed on it, quickly bouncing off so he could fly right at the suit, decking it with his wing.
Hawkeye and Widow faced off against the silver suit, firing everything they had at it. As the suit approached them, Widow leapt over it and placed an explosive device on its arm, causing it to explode as she landed. The blast took off an arm, but the suit still functioned, prompting it to fire at her as she leapt out of the way. Wolverine meanwhile lunged at the dark blue one, only for it to turn invisible again. He looked around, trying to get a whiff of the suits scent, but since all the suits smelled the same, it was impossible to get a lock on it. As the suit snuck up behind him, a vibranium dagger zipped past him and struck it in the chest piece, much to his surprise.
"Little warning next time," Logan scolded.
"You are welcome," Panther replied.
"Tony!" Wasp called out over comms. "Ultron's taken over your suits!"
"He's what?! Oh shit! This is the LAST thing we needed!"
…
In Hank's lab, Tony finished dawning the Mark 1 armor as Hank completed repairs on his helmet. He quickly donned and was about to join the others in the fight, when an emergency signal started broadcasting.
"Tony, wait!" Hank let out. "I'm getting reports that the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier is under attack. It's Ultron."
"Why would he go after S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"It's because of his programming. He said so himself, the only way he could achieve his goals was through the extinction of mankind. And S.H.I.E.L.D. has the power to do it."
"Then we'd better get going!"
"You go. I need to hold back and work on something."
"What kind of something?"
"Something that could shut down Ultron… for good."
…
Back with Thor, he and Amora were still cuddled together on the bed of her chambers. She caressed and held him, something she'd been dreaming about for years.
"Oh Thor…" She let out. "How I have longed for a moment such as this. And now that we're here… I can think of only one way to make this perfect."
Amora then waved green energy from her hand, causing both hers and Thor's robes to disintegrate instantly. Thor looked at himself and Amora in surprise as she inched closer to him.
"Relax my love. This will be a night neither of us shall forget."
She leaned in and planted a kiss on Thor's lips, which he enjoyed for a brief moment before his eyes snapped open.
"This…" he let out, pulling back. "This is not right."
"Thor? You need not worry, my love." she started moving her hand towards him. "Such concerns will soon be-"
"No!" Thor cut off, grabbing her arm. "I have had enough of your trickery!"
He tossed her aside, causing her to fall to the ground.
"You dare!"
"You will bring me back to Midgard now, witch!" Thor declared, getting off the bed. "Do so now, lest you face my wrath!"
"I am trying to save you!" Amora insisted, getting back on her feet. "I am offering you respite, a warm bed, and the arms of a woman who will love you until the stars give out!"
"You have nothing that I desire!"
Amora looked like she'd just been slapped. Thor glared down at her, his eyes clear and cold.
"I have everything you offer on Midgard with Jane. She is the woman I love, and not even your foul magics will change that. Now send. Me. Back."
Amora scowled in response.
"It would have been perfect. Just you and I until the end of time… but if you love your precious Midgard so much… you can go die with it."
…
Back on Earth, Hulk was still duking it out with the large suit. As he slammed his fists on its arm, the other arm picked him up and slammed him on the ground before blasting him with a repulsor wave. As Hulk was getting hammered, Wasp flew inside the suit and began blasting the internal circuitry. As the suit went limp, Hulk took the opportunity to lunge at the suit, pummelling it into scrap.
Hawkeye meanwhile was being held up by the one handed silver suit, about to get hit by its unibeam.
"Guys!" he called out.
Before the suit could fire, Iron Man plowed into the suit, freeing Hawkeye and slamming the suit into a wall.
"I'm only gonna ask this one. Get out of my armor!"
"Your armor, like all of humanity, is obsolete. Accept your end."
"Yeah, I don't think so."
Iron Man then blasted the suit in the head, destroying it and causing it to collapse.
"Thanks for the save," Hawkeye replied, rubbing the back of his head. "Hope you kept the receipts for these things."
"Built 'em once, will build them again. But we got bigger problems. The real Ultron is attacking the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. We gotta stop him."
"Stop him from doing...what, exactly?"
"Ending all life on Earth."
"Oh…" Hawkeye suddenly became stern faced. "Go. take Hulk, Wasp, and Falcon. The rest of us will finish up here."
"Good luck. Oh, aim for the chest pieces. That's there power core."
"I'll keep that in mind. Now, go!"
Iron Man quickly took off, with Hulk, Wasp, and Falcon following close behind. Hawkeye took a stance and notched an arrow with Widow and Logan on either side of him and Panther behind him as the remaining suits closed in.
…
On the Helicarrier, Hill attempted to punch the robot, but it only caught her fist before grabbing her by the neck.
"I'll never… tell you… the codes…"
"As I said, your compliance is unnecessary." Suddenly, three cables emerged from Ultron's chest and moved towards Hill's head. "Scanning and replicating the human mind was the first thing I learned."
The cables connected to her head, scanning her mind and causing her to cry out in pain. As Ultron dropped her, something powerful shot him in the back, causing him to stumble. He turned and saw Coulson aiming his Destroyer gun at him.
"Step away from the Director!"
Ultron dropped Hill and turned towards Coulson, barely taking a step before Coulson fired again. This time, the blast hit an energy shield that Ultron was emanating, much to his surprise.
"I… guess you know what this does."
"Indeed," Ultron replied before blasting the gun out of his hands. "Now, let me show you what I can do."
Just before he fired again though, Iron Man busted through the window of the bridge, tackling Ultron to the ground. He tried blasting Ultron in the face, but Ultron grabbed the arm and redirected the blast. Ultron then fired an energy blast from his mouthpiece, knocking Iron Man back as Wasp, Hulk, and Falcon entered. Falcon pulled out two pistols from his gauntlets as he and Wasp opened fire on Ultron. This did little however as Ultron fired at them in retaliation, causing them to scatter as Hulk charged forward.
"This is for Thor!" he yelled, punching Ultron across the face.
He flew back into the far wall, but landed relatively undamaged as he floated back to the ground.
"You cannot defeat me."
"We'll see about that," Hulk remarked, charging at him.
Ultron just raised an arm, allowing a turret to rise that fired several needles at Hulk's chest. Hulk looked down, seeing about twelve darts sticking out of his chest. It was the same anti-adrenaline drug that had been used on Banner not too long ago. Hulk's movements soon became slowed and weakened. Finally, Hulk dropped to his knees and began breathing heavily.
"Hulk!" Wasp called out, growing to full size and shaking him. "No, no, no, don't go to sleep!"
Unfortunately, Hulk reverted back into Bruce, much to the dismay of the heroine. She turned back around to see Ultron approaching her and Bruce.
"Back off, robot!" She insisted. "You can't hurt me, remember?!"
"Unfortunately. However, there are others I can hurt."
He turned towards Iron Man and jetted right at him. Iron Man braced himself as Ultron plowed into him, firing a laser from his mouth piece that singed the armor and slammed him on the ground.
"Even if you defeat us, there are more Avengers on the way."
"You are lying. But it hardly matters. I have what I want."
"What does he have?" Falcon asked as he helped Hill to her feet.
"The codes… the S.H.I.E.L.D. missile defense codes."
"Wait," Wasp let out. "You mean Ultron has access to a nuclear missile?!"
"Not a nuclear missile… all of them."
