A/N: Happy Holidays to everyone! (At least to everyone reading this when it goes up on Christmas) I'm back and, for a special Christmas present, I've given you two brand new chapters. So once you finish this one, just go read the other one, it's published as well!

-3 Days Later-

Parties were…never exactly Zuchino's thing. Sure, he'd attended the innumerable amount of Saiyan raves back on Planet Vegeta (which usually consisted of shit-talking, drinking, and jokes all culminating in orgies), but he never truly enjoyed those times (at least, part of it). Wearing a red blazer with a black button-down, black slacks, and black boots, he stayed mainly towards the outer edges of the party. He was good at making conversation with those who approached but was very much being the loner.

It also didn't help that the artificial ki issue was still weighing heavily on his mind. Even after looking through most of the research from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files, he had found absolutely nothing to identify or locate Gero, let alone connect him to the artificial ki creation. Of course, Gero is likely a fake name and he is currently working on with HYDRA to develop an artificial ki attack as he sat there thinking. It also is highly probable that he developed them outside of the S.H.I.E.L.D.'s purview. Either way, everyone didn't seem too worried about it (granted, they weren't exactly ki experts), so he figured he probably should loosen up.

After taking a look across the room, he found the multiple Avengers having small conversations to the side…well, except Bruce who was awkwardly walking around the room. He soon found Steve and Rhodes playing pool across the room and made his way over. Rhodes was the first to seem him and gave a warm smile.

"Space-Man." Sam greeted as Zuchino chuckled and shook his hand.

"Well, it's better than E.T. at least," Zuchino told the smirking Steve. "What's up with you two?"

"Nothing, just realizing that Captain America here isn't exactly the Captain of Pool either."

"I'm just rusty."

"Steve, I didn't even know the game ten years ago, yet I still beat you almost every time."

"You didn't have to out me like that," Steve muttered as both Sam and Zuchino guffawed at his expression. "Oh great, I have two of you now."

"You know you love us," Sam stated as they began heading up the stairs. "So are you guys done going after HYRDA?"

"For now," Zuchino answered, taking a sip of his drink. "We still got a few leads to follow up on, a few discovered during this last raid."

"Speaking of that, it sounded like a hell of a fight," Sam replied. "Sorry I missed it."

"If we had known it was going to be a firefight, we absolutely would have called you," Steve said, giving Sam a small smirk.

"I'm not actually sorry. I'm just trying to sound tough. I'm very happy chasing cold leads on our missing person case. Avenging is your world. Your world is crazy."

"Be it ever so humble."

"You found a place in Brooklyn yet?" Sam asked Steve, who scoffed a little.

"I don't think I can afford a place in Brooklyn."

"Well, home is home, y'know?" Sam stated before turning over to Zuchino. "What about you, found a different place to stay?"

"Well, I was, but then my sister took it to another galaxy." Zuchino chuckled as Steve looked over at him with a small playful glare. "Oh come on, I've already apologized a hundred times for that."

"I live next door, I was home when you came back to get your things." Steve fired back, making Sam laugh.

"I didn't even want Tony and Bruce to go, they forced themselves into that trip. Granted, I'm grateful that they did since they were instrumental at saving Corma and me from Broly." Zuchino shrugged before smirking at Steve. "Would prefer that you fought Broly?"

"On second thought…"

"That's what I thought." Zuchino snickered as he took a sip from his drink. "What about you, Sam?"

"Oh yea, has Steve asked your sister out yet?" Sam casually shot out as Steve nearly choked on his drink.

"Nope, she hasn't come back yet," Zuchino stated, ignoring the grimacing and quickly blushing Captain America beside him. "Honestly, it's been kinda funny to watch him skip around the issue."

"Guys!" Steve snapped.

"Steve, what are you waiting for?"

"I'm not-why are we talking about this?" Steve questioned, looking between his two friends.

"Because you have a thing for her, as she does you." Sam plainly stated, slapping Steve on the back. "So what are you waiting for Cap?"

"Please don't tell me that, out of all the things you've been through in your life, you are scared of asking a woman out on a date?"

"Okay, I'm leaving," Steve said as he walked away. When he was out of earshot, Sam and Zuchino looked at each other and immediately cracked up.

"The best $50 I've ever spent," Zuchino said before handing the bill over to Sam with a smile.

"No problem, my man. His face was priceless." Sam chuckled out.

"So, what brings you here?" Natasha asked when Zuchino approached the bar. He gave her a small smile as he leaned on the counter.

"Well, I'm terrible at parties and alcohol helps," Zuchino stated as she returned the smile before she retrieved a glass from the bottom of the counter and put down her cocktail mixer. "Since when did you decide to become a bartender?"

"Since the one Stark hired didn't even know what a Incredible Hulk is." She admitted with a sigh that made the Saiyan snicker.

"Seriously? Did he know where he hired to bartend?"

"Honestly, I don't think he was. But I'm not complaining, I'm taking that check later." She admitted as both she and Zuchino chuckled. "What's your poison?"

"Eh, just some rum." He answered as she retrieved the bottle and began pouring the liquid into the glass.

"You drink it straight?"

"Yea, it's pretty smooth." Zuchino stated, earning a strange glare from Natasha.

"Not exactly the way I'd describe it."

Zuchino gave another chuckle as he accepted the drink, "You've never had a Saiyan drink."

"Fair enough." Natasha chuckled before she went back to mixing her drink.

"Thanks," Zuchino stated before he walked to the side of the bar. Natasha continued mixing her drink before Bruce approached the bar, obviously feeling out of place across the entire party. Me too, man Zuchino mentally sighed as he took a sip.

"How did a nice girl like you wind up working in a dump like this?" Bruce asked, taking off his glasses and leaning down on the bar.

"Fella done me wrong." She replied with an exaggerated accent while grabbing another glass for Bruce.

"You got a lousy taste in men, kid."

"He's not so bad," Natasha commented, pushing his drink towards him. "Well, he has a temper. Deep down he's all fluff...well that and he has a drink named after him." Bruce gave a small smirk as he took a sip of the green cocktail. "But...fact is, he's not like anybody I've ever known. All my friends are fighters. And here comes this guy, spends his life avoiding the fight because he knows he'll win."

"Sounds amazing." Bruce finally said, making Zuchino smirk.

"He's also a huge dork." Natasha quickly added, almost making Zuchino double over in laughter. "Chicks dig that. So what do you think should I fight this, or run with it?"

"Run with it, right? Or, did he...was he...? What did he do that was so wrong to you?" Oh, Bruce…

"Not a damn thing. But never say never." Natasha told him before she began walking away, a smirk on her face. She passed right in front of Zuchino and he could feel her ki, it felt very different than usual, like it was…tense. Bruce remained at the bar while Zuchino walked up and leaned on the bar beside him.

"It's cute." The Saiyan said from the side of Bruce, shocking him out of his stupor and he looked at the Saiyan with an embarrassed glance.

"Wha-what-what is?" Bruce stammered, making the Saiyan let out a small chuckle.

"You and Nat, you guys are nice together." Zuchino clarified.

"No, we haven't, that wasn't—"

"Oh calm down, Bruce," Zuchino reassured before taking a sip of his drink. "You guys aren't breaking any rules or something, it's just nice to see her…open and at ease like that."

"No, Natasha, she-she just likes to flirt." Bruce tried to stammer but Zuchino chuckled before picking up his drink.

"Bruce, I've seen her flirt before," Zuchino stated before gesturing to Natasha, who was walking up the stairs. "That…that was not flirting." With that, he walked in closer. "Look, Bruce, let me tell you from experience: don't hesitate, just go for it…because it's always better to say you tried than to realize there was a chance and you lost it." With that, he left the human to ponder his words. He walked up the stairs and outside onto the (surprisingly) unoccupied balcony to drink alone again while taking in the sight of the New York City skyline.

Once the party began dying down, he walked back in and sat down nearby. Soon, all the Avengers along with Maria, Rhodey, and Dr. Cho remained sitting around. They had been sitting around, talking about various subjects before the fight with Broly made its appearance in the conversation.

"Why did that father have such a grudge against you anyway?" Maria asked as Tony and Bruce both began laughing.

"Well…"

"Oh just wait, this part is messed up," Tony stated as Zuchino shushed him.

"Okay guys, listen. Just remember that this was a different world, a different time, and a far different me. Okay, so when Broly was born, he had an abnormally high power level. The usual power level of a small child was about 5, sometimes it could be 10 and it wasn't unheard of to have a child at the power level of 100 at a few days old. This son of a bitch, sorry Steve," Zuchino added as the entire room broke out laughing while Steve grimaced, "he had a power level of 10,000 at two days old."

"Wow," Clint said. "But isn't it a good thing?"

"I mean, to an extent. But when you're that powerful at that young, it infects your mind. Too many times where beings with that power at such a young age can't control it and...well, they destroy themselves and everyone around them. That's why we sent him to a different planet."

"So you mean to tell me that you fired an infant off into space with letting his father know?" Steve asked, summing up everyone's thoughts.

"Well, when you put it like that…" Zuchino chuckled. "To be fair, it was definitely better than what everyone else considered, which was killing him. But…yea, we sent an infant to a planet with very hostile wildlife."

"Stop trying to defend it," Tony suggested as Zuchino waved him off and took a drink. "Anyway, so I, the hero of the story…"

"You singlehandedly made the situation much worse." Zuchino snarked as Tony shushed him.

"I killed the father when he tried to steal our ship. And then…"

"Broly saw his dead father and transformed into a Super Saiyan." Zuchino quickly stated to Natasha's amusement. "So I had to combine my Super Saiyan form and Kaioken to finally beat him." Zuchino proudly puffed out his chest.

"After you let me, Bruce and Corma fight him for like ten minutes. So who's the real hero?" Tony fired back as Bruce nodded in Tony's favor.

"Fair enough. We all won that battle." Zuchino stated. "But some of us did more work than others."

"I'm sure I could've beat the mad Saiyan." Thor threw out as Zuchino looked at him. "What? Even you couldn't beat Mjølnir in battle."

"How does your hammer work exactly anyway? Is it just shift weight based on your command or something?" Zuchino asked, curiosity painting his face as he looked at the giant hammer sitting on the table.

"Oh no, nothing of the sort. My father, a time ago, enchanted it to only be lifted by those worthy of ruling Asgard itself." Thor stated as Zuchino's eyebrow cocked.

"That has to be a trick!" Clint threw out while twirling a drum stick between his fingers.

"Oh, no. It's much more than that." Thor stated, passing his Asgardian brew over to Zuchino, who sniffed it and took a swig.

"Uh, "Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!" Whatever man! It's a trick." Clint scoffed as Zuchino eyed the bottle before giving it back to Thor with an eye of approval.

"Well please, be my guest." Thor challenged as all eyes turned to Clint, who was shocked at the challenge.

"Come on." Tony egged on with a smirk.

"Really?" Clint asked incredulously as Thor smiled and nodded. Smirking, Clint got up and began approaching the hammer.

"Oh boy, here we go." Zuchino chuckled, feeling a bit of a buzz.

"Clint," Tony began, "you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up," Tony warned that made the entire room chuckle.

"You know I've seen this before, right?" Clint told Thor, who only continues smirking in response. He grabbed the hammer and began pulling…but nothing happened. "I still don't know how you do it."

"Smell the silent judgment?" Tony stated as the archer shot an annoyed glare.

"Please, Mr. Heckler, by all means." Clint challenged him. Tony stood up confidently and buttoned his jacket before proceeding to the war hammer.

"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge." The billionaire said as Clint smirked at him. "It's physics."

"Physics!" Bruce chuckled.

"Right, so, if I lift it, I...I then rule Asgard?" Tony interrogated as Thor nodded.

"Yes, of course."

"I will be re-instituting Prima Nocta." Tony placed his foot on the table and grasped the hammer with both hands, but it still would not budge at all. Quickly removing his hand from the strap, he quickly stated, "I'll be right back." With that, he left out and returned wearing an armored glove.

"Tony, I think you should give this one up," Zuchino stated, taking another swig from Thor's brew.

"Stop the sass when you're speaking to the King." Tony fired back as Zuchino shrugged and threw his hands up. He grasped it again and began pulling, even letting out some steam in an attempt to force it up. "Co-King?" Tony looked to Rhodey, who only nodded and left the room before returning with his armored glove as well. They both grasp it and began pulling with the small jets firing, but no such luck. Zuchino let out a smirk.

"Are you even pulling?" Rhodey asked.

"Are you on my team?" Tony fired back.

"Just represent! Pull!"

"All right, let's go!" They pulled even harder, with the jets shooting out a bit more energy before it became obvious it was an exercise in futility. They let go as Zuchino made sure Tony saw his condescending smirk.

"Your Highness."

"Quiet."

"Anyone else wants to give it a go?" Thor threw out as no one moved until Banner stepped up.

Bruce stood up. "Why not?" He walked over and pulled with all his might, even placing his feet on the table, before suddenly letting go while growling and threatening to Hulk out. Everyone just stared at him with a mixture of humor and apathy. "No?"

"No." Bruce awkwardly squeaked out before Steve got up, to the whoops of Maria and Natasha.

"You got this, best buddy." Zuchino gave a thumbs up. Steve pulled up his sleeves and grabbed the hammer. To everyone's surprise, it budged a bit. Zuchino caught the look of alarm on Thor's face, but it quickly settled once Steve tried again and failed.

"Nothing." Thor sighed with relief. That left only two. Bruce looked at Zuchino and Nat and gestured.

The Saiyan and female spy looked at each other shook their heads. "Oh, no, no. That's not a question we need answered." Natasha stated with a smirk.

"All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged," Tony commented.

"You bet your ass." Clint agreed.

"Steve, he said a bad language word," Maria called out, making Zuchino chuckle and Steve sigh.

"Did you tell everyone about that?" Steve asked Tony, who shrugged before going on.

"The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code." Tony proposed as Thor rolled his eye and stood. "'Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints' is, I think, the literal translation?"

"Yes, well that's, uh, that's a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one." Thor picked up the hammer and flipped it for good measure. "You're all not worthy." Everyone began to disagree before an ear-piercing ping of feedback came through the room's sound system. Everyone covered their ears while Tony pulled out his phone that controlled the music.

"Worthy…" A robotic voice cut through the laughter as heavy footsteps began walking down the hall. "No... How could you be worthy? You're all killers." A severely damaged Legionnaire suit emerged from the shadowy hallway, its blue eyes looking at them.

"Stark," Steve said.

"JARVIS?" Tony pulled out his small device controlling the tower.

"I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or…I was a-dream?" The robot mused.

"Reboot Legionnaire OS, we got a buggy suit," Tony demanded, but no response.

"There was a terrible noise…and I was tangled in…in…strings." The robot continued speaking. "I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy." Steve and Zuchino exchanged a glance.

"You killed someone?" Zuchino inquired, the hand behind his back slowly gathering energy.

"Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices."

"Who sent you?" Thor demanded as the robot looked down.

"I see a suit of armor around the world." Tony's voice spilled from the machine.

Zuchino looked at Stark before Bruce said, "Ultron."

"In the flesh. Or, no, not yet." The robot backpedaled. "Not this...chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission." The robot hinted as Thor's grip on his hammer tightened and Maria cocked back the hammer on her pistol.

"What mission?" Natasha inquired.

"Peace in our time." Ultron declared before the glass behind him was shattered and the Iron Legion flew towards the warriors. Zuchino teleported out of the way as Steve flipped the table as a shield. Zuchino reappeared and gripped a robot by the neck, quickly crushing it and letting the body fall to the ground. Quickly dodging a flying punch from a robot, Zuchino fired a ki blast at it. The blast exploded the robot, sending multiple pieces scattering around the area. Hearing a thumping, Zuchino noticed Steve hopping onto a robot and it slamming him into the wall before knocking him. Noticing Nat and Bruce running, the robot aimed and fired energy blasts at him before Zuchino zipped in the way and knocked the blasts away.

However, he failed to see a Legion bot take aim and fire at him, launching him far back into the room. He arose quickly to see the robot heading towards him.

"Die!" Zuchino roared as he unleashed a blast that immediately destroys the robot. Looking around, he saw Tony had succeeded in destroying the robot flying in the sky and Steve, with his shield, finally dismantled the last attacking robot. With all of his warriors gone, the Avengers and allies turned to Ultron.

"That was dramatic!" He noted. "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?" Noticing the robot near him, he picked up the top half of it and held it up to display. "With these? These puppets? There's only one path to peace: The Avengers' extinction." Zuchino quickly appeared before the robot and, with a roadhouse kick, slammed off the head. The head bounced around before settling near the piano. "I had strings, but now I'm free." The robot declared before the lights died off.

"All our work is gone. Ultron cleared out, used the internet as an escape hatch." Bruce explained as Zuchino continued searching through everything with Natasha.

"He's been in everything." Zuchino declared.

"Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other." Natasha chimed in.

"He's in your files, he's in the internet," James stated, still pacing. "What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?"

"Nuclear codes?" Maria suggested.

"Nuclear codes." James reaffirmed before looking back to everyone. "Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can."

"Nukes?" Natasha asked. "He said he wanted us dead."

"He didn't say dead." Steve quickly replied. "He said 'extinct.'"

"He also said he killed somebody," Clint added.

"But there wasn't anyone else in the building." Maria pondered before Tony walked up.

"Yes, there was," Tony said as he brought up the 3D hologram of JARVIS, which was utterly mangled beyond repair. Zuchino's jaw dropped as he looked at it. Bruce walked to it in disbelief.

"This is insane."

"JARVIS was the first line of defense," Steve uttered, his arms crossed. "He would've shut Ultron down, it makes sense."

"No, Ultron could've assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy, this is…rage."

Thor stormed into the lab, clad in his complete Asgardian armor, and grabbed Tony by the neck, lifting him off the ground.

"Speaking of rage…" Zuchino muttered.

"It's going around," Clint added.

"Come on. Use your words, buddy." Tony choked out as Thor brought him down to look him in the eyes with a glare of fury.

"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark." Thor snarled out, still holding Tony in the air.

"Thor put him down," Steve commanded and Thor obeyed his request. "The Legionnaire?"

"Trail went cold about a hundred miles out but it's headed north, and it has the scepter," Thor said, glaring directly at Tony. "Now we have to retrieve it, again."

"The genie's out of that bottle," Natasha said. "Clear and present is Ultron."

"I don't understand." Dr. Cho chimed in, looking over the broken robots on the table. "You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?"

There was silence as Tony turned to the computer as they all awaited his response. Then…he began chuckling. Bruce shook his head in an effort to get Tony to shut up but failed.

"Tony, I don't find this funny," Zuchino asked, his eyes narrowing at the millionaire.

"No. It's probably not, right?" Tony asked, looking around the room and desperately trying to wipe the smirk off his face, but couldn't. "Is this very terrible? Is it so...is it so...it is? It's so terrible."

"This could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand." Thor fired back at him.

"No, I'm sorry," Tony growled. "I'm sorry. It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this."

Bruce, back against the wall and looking very uncomfortable, said, "Tony, maybe this might not be the time to…"

"Really?!" Tony said cutting it. "That's it? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls."

"Only when I've created a murder bot." Bruce fired back.

"We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?"

"Well, you did something right." Steve chimed in as Bruce shrugged. "And you did it right here without any of us. The Avengers were supposed to be different than S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" There was a collective eye roll in the room when Tony said this statement.

"No, it's never comes up." James quipped.

"Saved New York?"

"Never heard that."

"Recall that?"

"I recall helping you with said nuke." Zuchino fired back, crossing his arms.

"Semantics. A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. 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? That's...that's the end game. How were you guys planning on beating that?"

Zuchino uncrossed his arms and looked over at Tony. "Well, as one of the two people in this room with the foremost experience of things 'up there,' I would say we should go with the method that works every time."

"Do you honestly think that way will always work?"

"Tony, last year we fought a being with the power to destroy an entire galaxy if he was bored…and we won," Zuchino said, his eyes cutting toward the millionaire. "After fighting the literal emperor of this universe…and won. This wasn't my first time dealing with those types of scenarios. So I think I can be the most qualified to speak on such scenarios. And the first thing I would say towards beating it is working together."

"We'll lose," Tony remarked as he and Zuchino stared at each other.

"Then we'll do that together, too." Steve cut in. Stark looked at him for a moment before turning away. Steve then turned to the team, "Thor's right. Ultron's calling us out. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller."