The quinjet landed in the field near a farmhouse in a clearing of the woods surrounding them, morning finally arriving. After getting out of the ship, the Avengers began making their way through the field to the porch of the house while examining the property. Natasha had injured her ankle while fighting the Maximoffs, so Clint helped her up the stairs and into the house.

"What is this place?" Thor muttered.

"Safehouse." Tony guessed that made Clint dryly chuckle.

"Let's hope."

They entered the house and went left into a living room. It was very nicely furnished, which slightly confused the Saiyan. No safe house he's ever visited was this nice. Zuchino heard Barton call out, "Honey? I'm home." That was when he figured it out: this was a safe house because it was his house. He didn't even know Clint was married, let alone living in a house so far away in the countryside, but it also sense for an Avenger to keep loved ones somewhere far out of the public eye. A woman walked around the corner carrying markers and colored sheets of paper and slightly stopped as she saw the battered Avengers in her home.

"Hi. Company. Sorry I didn't call ahead," Clint said as he walked forward and she smiled before kissing him.

"This is an agent of some kind." Tony stated as Zuchino looked at him with a 'seriously' stare. He shrugged as Zuchino shook his head and looked forward.

"Gentlemen, this is Laura." He smiled.

"I know all your names." She explained awkwardly as Zuchino smiled and waved his hand in greeting to her. A few footsteps came from the foyer as Clint rushed to the door.

"Incoming." He started as a little boy and girl came from the foyer and immediately hugged who Zuchino deduced was their father.

"And what are they? Little agents?" Zuchino muttered to Tony, who glared at him.

"How was I supposed to know Barton had a family?" He fired back as Zuchino shrugged.

"Maybe because we never asked?"

"Did you bring Auntie Nat?" The little inquired as Natasha smirked and leaned down behind her.

"Why don't you hug her and find out?" The little girl ran to the redheaded spy, who picked her up with a big smile on her face (perhaps the biggest smile Zuchino has ever seen from her).

"Sorry for barging in on you," Steve stated and Laura waved him off.

"It's nothing, I promise. I've been anticipating this day for a long time."

"We would've called ahead, but we were busy having no idea you existed," Tony added as Zuchino nodded.

"Yea, Fury helped me set this up when I joined," Clint explained with his arms around his wife and son. "He kept it off S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files, I'd like to keep it that way. I figured it's a good place to lay low."

"Your secret is safe with us, you know that," Zuchino said with a small smirk. That's when there was a crunch behind him. He and Steve looked back to see Thor had stepped on a child's toy house. Thor looked at the two for help, but they just stared at him with judgmental amusement. Embarrassed, he tried scooting it under the nearby couch while they watched him with the same stare.

The little girl walked up to Thor, staring up at him with a hurt look. She must've seen the entire thing. He looked down at her before something flashed through his face and he stormed out. Zuchino looked over at Steve, who nodded before going after him. Zuchino crouched down to reach the confused little girl's line of sight.

"Sorry about him, he's…feeling a bit sick." Zuchino stated before smiling at her. "What's your name?"

The little girl returned the smile and stated, "Lila."

"Wow, Lila, that's a pretty name." Zuchino smiled.

"And you're…Zucchini?" She stated innocently as Natasha and Laura snickered as Zuchino internally screamed, but his smile never faulted.

"Zuchino." He corrected kindly as she nodded.

"Zuchino."

"There you go." He stated as he ruffled up her hair a bit, which made her laugh. Then it happened, as quick as a flash of lightning. Instead of the little human girl, it was a small boy of some type of wolf species being held in his hand. Zuchino could feel his neck snapping in between his fingers. It was almost real that the second he flashed back to reality, he fought against gasping and possibly scaring the little girl.

"Mr. Zuchino?"

"Yes." He answered with the smile still painted on his face.

"Why did you kill all of those people?" The words weren't the little girl's, it wasn't even in the common language. It was…Freeza's.

"I'm sorry?"

"I said what's your favorite color?" She repeated, a bit confused. Best to attempt to play it off.

"Oh, well if I had to choose, I'd say black." The Saiyan said with a small smirk before standing back up. "I'll go see what they're doing out there." He stated as he walked out of the room as normally as he could. Once he was outside and off the porch, he took special care to lift into the air before dashing off.

He dashed around the planet several times in an attempt to calm his racing heart. Last time he felt like this was before he went on King Kai's mission. Ever since the episodes mostly lessened and he began to have more of a grip on them. Now? It felt like all the progress he felt he'd made was gone. In part thanks to his own cockiness. Underestimating a threat, one would think he'd learned his lesson against Freeza…but that dreaded Saiyan curse of overconfidence caught him in its grasps again. And now he was definitely playing the price. Once he returned, he was very happy not to be greeted with questions about his disappearance. Instead, they did ask if he didn't mind teleporting back to the tower to grab them a change of clothes. He obliged and grabbed what he and Maria could before bringing it back. As a thank you, he was the first to take a nice hot shower.

In the shower, the warm water helped put his mind at ease and soon he could begin to think a lot more clearly. The cloud had faded for now. Once he got out and dried off, he quickly changed into his blue flannel and blue t-shirt with black jeans. With that done, he made his way outside the house and found to a stump to sit while he meditated. While meditating, a few rocks began rising in the air beside him and a blue aura wrapped around his being. He managed to keep his concentration on purging himself of the bad energies in his mind when he heard Tony and Steve very pointedly talking to each other nearby.

Shit, Zuchino muttered as he opened his eyes and noted that it had turned into mid-afternoon. Walking up, he saw Clint and his son working on parts of the porch.

"Need some help?" He asked.

"Nah, it's just two pieces being fitted. Shouldn't be too hard." Clint stated before looking over at the two now-arguing teammates. "Though maybe you could pry apart Tom and Jerry over there, I'd appreciate it."

"I mean I could, but why deprive ourselves of the excellent slapstick hijinks that would ensue like Tony running face-first into a rake pole." The kids chuckled at the notion while Clint cracked a smirk.

"As much as I'd love to see that, I think it wouldn't set a good example for the kids," Clint replied as his wife nodded from the open kitchen window.

"Same here. Tell him our tractor isn't working or something." Laura suggested as Zuchino sighed and looked back to see Steve split a log with his bare hands.

"Yea, sure, throw me to the wolves." Zuchino deadpanned.

"You got this, best buddy." Clint deadpanned to the Saiyan, who threw him a playful glare before walking forward with his arms crossed.

"…innocent people die…every time." Steve finished whatever point he was making before the Saiyan stepped up to them and looked to Tony with a smirk.

"Tony, I know you won't mind, I was talking with Laura and she asked if I could get you to take a look at their tractor, it seems to have trouble starting."

"Did you volunteer me for something without my permission?" Tony fired back.

"Yes, I did. Now if you could that favor for them, I'm sure they'd be very happy for it."

"I was in the mid-"

"Tony." Zuchino snapped, turning with a smile that contained barely subdued rage. "Now is definitely not the time to try my patience. Go fix the fucking tractor, please and thank you."

"All right, I'll go give her a kick," Tony muttered before pointing the pile of wood behind him. "Don't take from my pile!" He ordered before disappearing to the farm. Zuchino sighed and ran his hand through his hair, parting it over to the other side. He looked over at Steve, who gave a little nod.

"I didn't need your help." He stated before placing another piece of wood on the stump.

"Don't flatter yourself, I didn't do it for you." He stated, nodding in the direction of the house. Steve turned to see Clint working with his children on the porch and placing another pole on the balcony fence. Clint spared a small glance at him before continuing to work. "We had thought you two fighting in front of the kids was setting a bad example when it's coming from Earth's Mightiest Heroes," Zuchino stated before grabbing a log and firing a laser beam through it, effectively splitting it in two. "Well, at least Clint and Laura don't, I was preferring to let you two lovebirds duke it out.

"Really?" Steve questioned as he split the log with an ax as Zuchino smirked at him.

"What, it's how Saiyans-" That's when it crossed his mind again.

"All of us…we lost because you weren't there."

Steve noticed the immediate change in the Saiyan's expression and looked at him with worry. "What's wrong?"

Zuchino immediately zapped out of it and looked at him with a smile that the super warrior saw through easily. "Nothing, just thinking." He stated, picking up another log and splitting with an energy beam again. Steve noted the Saiyan's movement seemed much more stiff like he was vastly uncomfortable. "What did you see?"

Zuchino froze and could only look at the Super Soldier. He could see the apprehension in the Saiyan's gaze but decided to press forward. It was the only way to help him. So he decided on the easiest route. "I was in a ballroom, after the war. Everyone was having a great time, celebrating and dancing, drinking and laughing. Enjoying life. And then there I was…alone there. Unneeded, unwanted. No more purpose. I felt like I wasn't needed now that there wasn't a war." Steve settled before slicing another block of wood in half before looking at the shocked Saiyan. "So, what did you see?"

Zuchino sat down on the stump and crossed his legs like a child. He didn't want to discuss it…but he remembered what he learned on the ship from Tony and Bruce. "I…lied." He muttered quietly, lowering his head to look at the ground.

"About what?"

"I lied…about Broly. I never even considered the thought of him growing too powerful and losing his mind. If anything, we could've easily raised him to be more mentally stable with his power and become a powerful warrior, powerful enough to fight Freeza and likely win. If he had fought him with the power he had, we would've won for sure. But I…I just…" Zuchino sighed before looking up at Steve with a defeated expression. "I didn't want to lose my place. I wanted him dead, I wanted to ensure that no one more powerful than I could usurp my place as King Vegeta's main counselor and Freeza's lieutenant. Because I thought if someone did that, I would lose my place and go back to the lower ranks." He stated before lowering his head.

"Zuchino, you can't change your past. We discussed that and what did I tell you?" Steve inquired, but Zuchino said nothing. "'Don't remember the faces, focus on your survival.'"

"It's not that easy, Steve," Zuchino stated, gripping at his knees while keeping his head down.

"Zuchino, how do you think I coped with what I did? I-"

"Steve, I destroyed worlds!" Zuchino finally snapped, looking up at the super-soldier. "We couldn't be more different, you did horrible things for a greater good. Tell me, what greater good was there in me annihilating innocent people across the universe? What was the greater good in me setting up Broly to become the psychotic monster he was? What was the greater good of me depriving my own race of its most powerful warrior because I was jealous! Please enlighten me. Because right now, I feel like I singlehandedly set my people on the path to destruction all because I couldn't handle the thought that there was someone better than me!" There was an awkward pause that hung in the air after that statement. The silence was broken with a sigh from Steve as Zuchino finally looked realized what he stated and looked back down, gripping his knees tighter. "I'm sorry for blowing up, I just…" He trailed off as Steve walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay. You're right, our situations are different and yes, you did horrible things…and I can only imagine what it is like to reconcile that with who you are now. But you did what you had to do what you needed to survive."

"But…I enjoyed it." Zuchino muttered, still looking down. "I craved the death and destruction. Still some times these days, I can feel my Saiyan blood crying for it and that vision…that vision had it taking over me and killing all of you. Steve…I'm scared of what happens if I give into it. If I go too far and can't come back…" He whimpered out, new tears stinging at his eyes.

Steve stay silent, caught off guard by the new revelation, before saying, "If you're trying to get me to hate you, that won't work."

That made Zuchino immediately sat up and finally looked up. "What?"

"I recognize what you're doing. You want me to hate you so that way you no longer have someone to be close to, so you don't feel attached to someone again. I mean, you got Corma, but she's fully capable of protecting herself." Steve stated plainly, his unwavering. "Well, if you want to get rid of me, you're going to need to change that strategy. I'm not going anywhere too soon. So suck it up and stop hating yourself things in your past, you can't change them and they've made you who you are today." Steve finally stated before Zuchino stared shocked at him. "What? Didn't think I was capable of tough love?"

"No…actually." Zuchino chuckled while wiping his eyes. "You've always been the nice one…at least, the nicest out of all of us."

"Being nice means I can dish it out when I need to. Look, Zuchino, you're one of the rare ones I can actually call my friend. And I don't even want to think about what could've happened if you weren't here to fight those like Broly or the Chitauri. You're not a villain anymore, you're a hero to so many people." Steve said soothingly. "Don't let her destroy what you've done."

Zuchino sighed and looked over, "You're right." Steve smirked that nonverbally said , "I told you so!" and slammed the ax down into the stump, leaving it standing.

"All right, well I'm heading inside to get some water. You want anything?" Steve asked as Zuchino shook his head.

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks though." Zuchino said and Steve walked into the house. "Steve?"

"Yea?" Steve called back as Zuchino turned with a small smirk on his face.

"Thanks. I needed that."

"Anytime, bud." Steve stated before turning back to the house. Zuchino watched him enter before turning back to the horizon. He closed his eyes and, once again, began meditating and focusing his mind inward. With Steve's words echoing through his mind, it definitely seemed to help more and more against the internal battle of his mind.

"Oh, Zuchino. I actually do have a favor to ask you."

"Sure, what's up?" Zuchino asked, turning around on the stump and to see Clint and his kids running up and plastering on a fake smile. He really wanted to finish his meditating schedule, but that didn't seem like it was going to be done today.

"Cooper and Lila have been begging me all day to play with you. I may have told them about you so much, don't tell Nat, but I think you've become their favorite Avenger."

"Oh, is that so?" Zuchino stated as the blushing children look away.

"It is. So I hope you don't mind, but it is okay if you played around with them a bit?" Clint asked as Zuchino chuckled.

"No, I don't mind at all. Actually, I have an idea. Wait here." Zuchino stated as he pressed two fingers to his head and, after a few seconds, teleported away. Clint and his kids blinked and finally processed that the Saiyan had…teleported away.

"I knew he was fast, but not that fast," Clint stated before he appeared in front of them…with a floating yellow cloud at his side. "Um…care to introduce your friend?"

"King Kai had shown me this, but I forgot to pick it up when I was there originally," Zuchino stated as he knelt to the kids' eye level. "So, this is the Flying Nimbus. It will allow anyone pure of heart to ride it anywhere they want. You guys want to give it a whirl for me?" Zuchino smiled as the kids' faces practically lit up with excitement.

"Yea!"

"Well, climb on," Zuchino stated as the kids quickly clamored to the cloud and climbed on. They waited a few seconds before their smiles widened, realizing they could ride the hovering cloud.

"It's safe, isn't it?" Clint whispered to the Saiyan.

"Of course, King Kai stated that once someone climbs on it, it has an almost like magnetic grip on the rider while flying. They could ride upside down the entire way if they wanted and never fall off." Zuchino explained as Clint nodded in amazement.

"And why didn't you ever give it to one of us?" He inquired as Zuchino chuckled.

"Pure of heart, remember? Hell, I doubt I can even ride the damn thing." Zuchino stated as Clint thought for a few seconds and nodded in agreement.

"All right kids, make sure to stay near Mr. Zuchino and don't get too far out of his sight."

"Yes, sir."

"You guys ready?" Zuchino chuckled and kids nodded with big smiles. He charged a blue aura around him and took off, Nimbus immediately flying after him with the kids screaming in pure joy. Clint smiled while watching the figures disappear from view before walking back to the house.

"Always something."

After coming back from their flight across the planet (seeing multiple world-renowned sights as well), the kids were practically gleaming about their adventure.

"Mom, Dad!" The duo ran into the house as Zuchino landed and smiled at Nimbus.

"I think the kids like you." He stated before he began walking to the house himself.

"Giving kids joyrides these days, huh?" A familiar voice asked from the side. Zuchino sighed and looked over to Fury with a smile.

"Nick, it's been some time. How's death been?"

"Great, been getting the vacation I never knew I needed." Fury stated, walking over and clapping the Saiyan on his shoulder.

"What brings you by?"

"Well, besides the robotic A.I. hell-bent on possibly destroying the planet, I wanted a good home-cooked meal. I'll explain more after dinner. Come in." He stated, walking past the Saiyan into the house. Zuchino smirked as he looked at Nimbus, which immediately flew away somewhere else.

"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time." Fury explained while washing the dishes. "My contacts all say he's building something. The amount of Vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing." Cooper ran over to give Zuchino a drawing of all three of them flying from earlier while Lila ran over a drawing to Nat. They both gave them a big smile and thanked them before they rushed off to their parents, ready for bed.

"What about Ultron himself?" Steve inquired, leaning against the wall in the kitchen.

"Ah. He's easy to track, he's everywhere." Fury answered plainly. "Guy's multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. Still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans though."

"He still going after launch codes?" Tony asked while throwing darts at the dartboard.

"Yes, he is, but he's not making any headway." Fury stated a bit absentmindedly while cutting a rice cake in half.

"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare," Tony replied.

"Same, my scouter could easily bypass all of their firewalls."

"Yeah, well, I contacted our friends at the NEXUS about that."

"NEXUS?"

"It's the world internet hub in Oslo, every byte of data flows through there, fastest access on earth," Bruce answered from the corner.

"So what'd they say?" Clint asked, eyeing the board.

"He's fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed." Fury answered.

"By whom?" Tony asked before two darts flew in front of his face, making him jump back. He glared at Hawkeye, who could only smugly shrug.

"Parties unknown." Fury answered, a bit impressed.

"Interesting," Zuchino muttered.

"Do we have an ally?" Natasha inquired.

"Ultron's got an enemy, that's not the same thing. Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is."

"Enemy of our enemy is still a friend in my book," Zuchino added as Clint nodded in his direction in agreement.

"I might need to visit Oslo, find our 'unknown.'" Tony said to himself.

"Well, this is good times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that," Natasha stated.

"I do, I have you." Fury responded before walking between the Avengers. "Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere, ears everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream of. But here we all are, back on earth, with nothing but our wit, and our will to save the world. Ultron says the Avengers are the only standing between him and his mission. And whether or not he'll admit it, his mission is global destruction. All of this, laid in a grave. So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard."

"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk," Natasha added as Zuchino snickered.

"You know what, Romanoff?" Steve stated as she smiled back at him.

"So what does he want?" Fury asked, getting their attention back to the manner at hand.

"To become better. Better than us. He keeps building bodies." Steve stated.

"Person bodies." Tony chimed in, deep in thought. "The human form is inefficient, biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it."

"When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed." Zuchino plainly stated.

"They don't need to be protected," Bruce stated, looking down at the pictures grown. "they need to evolve. Ultron's going to evolve."

"How?" Fury inquired as Bruce looked between everyone.

"Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?" Bruce asked.

Zuchino descended the stairs, wearing a black sweater and black jeans. He reattached his wrist computer and scouter before looking over to see Steve grabbing shield and placing it on his back.

"I'll take Natasha and Clint," Steve stated.

"All right, strictly recon. We really cannot use any more press about this right now." Zuchino reminded and earned a nod from Steve. "I'll hit the NEXUS with Tony, we'll join you as soon as we can."

"If Ultron is really building a body…" Steve began as Zuchino sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"An android designed by a robot who also has infinite ki resources thanks to the Gero schematics Ultron stole. He'll be more powerful than any of us. Maybe all of us."

"You know I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me," Steve stated as Zuchino nodded.

"Wish I could've crash-landed on this planet during those days, seem like simpler times." Zuchino sighed before Fury walked in, putting his coat on.

"I'll drop Banner off at the tower. Do you mind if I borrow Ms. Hill?"

"She's all yours, apparently," Zuchino muttered under his breath, earning an amused expression from Fury. "What do you got planned?"

"I don't know," Fury admitted with a small smirk at the two. "Something dramatic, I hope." He walked out of the door, leaving the Saiyan and Super Soldier. Tony soon descended down the stairs, walking over to the Saiyan.

"You ready?"

"Sure, you ready to fly through hyperspace?" Zuchino smirked as Tony shrugged and the Saiyan grabbed his shoulder. "You three stay safe," Zuchino commanded as he and Tony phased out of the house.

The Saiyan and billionaire zipped to Avengers Tower, just receiving word that the mission in Seoul ended with Nat was captured by Ultron, but retrieving the cradle. Having finally figured out what was at the Nexus, they finally came to the experimenting room with a worried Bruce and Clint sitting on top of the cradle.

"Anything on Nat?" Bruce asked, walking forward.

"Haven't heard, couldn't get a reading off of my scouter," Zuchino stated, putting a hand on Bruce's shoulder. "But she's definitely alive, Ultron would be rubbing our faces in it by now otherwise."

Clint climbed off the chamber and stated, "This is sealed tight."

'We're going to need to access the program, break it down from within." Bruce stated as Clint nodded before Tony snapped his fingers and pointed at Clint.

"Any chance Natasha might leave you a message, outside the internet, old school spy stuff?" Tony suggested as Clint pondered it thoughtfully. Zuchino watched Bruce walk to the nearby computer and access the chamber's schematics.

"There are some nets I can cast. Yeah, all right. I'll find her." Clint said, walking off out of the room to cast his nets.

"I can work on tissue degeneration if you can fry whatever operational system Cho implanted. In case all that fails, I think Zuchino, in your Super Saiyan state, can fry it permanently." Both Zuchino and Tony looked at each other before turning to Bruce.

"Yeah, about that," Tony stated, rubbing the back of his head. Bruce looked back at the innocent smiles of the duo and immediately turned with shock.

"No," Tony stated, walking back.

"You have to trust me," Tony stated.

"Kinda don't."

"Bruce, just hear us."

"Good Lord, he's infected your mind too," Bruce stated as Zuchino rolled his eyes and began typing away on his wrist computer.

"Listen, our ally? The guy protecting the military's nuclear codes?" Zuchino stated before he pressed one button his wrist and an orange hologram of an orange eye floated out of it. "We found him."

"Hello, Dr. Banner," JARVIS stated while Bruce looked at the hologram stunned and at a loss for words.

"Ultron didn't go after JARVIS cause he was angry," Tony explained. "He attacked him because he was scared of what he can do. So JARVIS went underground. Okay? Scattered, dumped his memory. But not his protocols. He didn't even know he was in there until we literally pieced him together."

"So, you want me to help you two put JARVIS into this thing?" Bruce asked incredulously.

"No!" Zuchino and Tony both stated emphatically. Zuchino continued, "No, of course not! We want to help you put JARVIS in this thing."

Bruce shook his head emphatically again and the duo both sighed. "We're out of my field here. You know bio-organics better than anyone." Tony stated.

"And you both just assume that JARVIS' operational matrix can beat Ultron's?" Bruce asked.

"JARVIS has been beating him from inside without knowing it." This is the opportunity, we can create Ultron's perfect self, just without the homicidal quirks he calls his winning personality." Zuchino explained his hands on his wrist. "I can't believe I'm saying this right now, given everything that has happened in the past few days, but I think we have to do this."

"I believe it's worth a go," JARVIS stated as Zuchino gestured to him with a confident smile.

"No, I'm in a loop! I'm caught in a time loop, this is exactly where it all went wrong, just with Zuchino and JARVIS now in the mix."

"I know, I know." Tony calmed him. "I know what everyone's going to say, but they're already saying it. We're mad scientists. We're monsters, buddy. You gotta own it. Make a stand." Bruce walked away from the cradle, shaking his head before Zuchino sighed and leaned against it.

"Bruce, I know what you're feeling right now and if I thought there was any other way, I'd hop at the chance…but Tony's right-shut it!" He immediately pointed at the smiling face of Tony. "Trust me, we're not in a loop…we're at the end of the line and it's time to end this nightmare."