I don't own The Avengers. Marvel Does. I only own my OCs.
That evening, Tony and Bruce had been spending the whole day trying to get Jarvis back online, but they were unsuccessful so far. They even noticed that the scepter was gone. Who could've taken it? While they tried to reboot Jarvis, they thought over how their creation, Ultron, was simply gone from their grasp. They were worried that he could be on a rampage at any time.
"All our work is gone," sighed Bruce, "Ultron used the Internet as an escape hatch."
Natasha, Steve and Clint were also looking into the incident as Steve inspected the wrecked Legionnaire on the table.
"It's been in every file," Natasha said sternly, "Ultron probably knows more about us than we know about each other."
Rhodey and Maria Hill have also been watching over this investigation.
"What if this Ultron decides to activate something a little more exciting?" asked Rhodey.
"Nuclear codes?" paused Maria.
"Is Jarvis back online yet?" interrupted Clint.
Tony let out a sigh and gazed at the damaged hologram of Jarvis.
"Sadly, no," admitted Tony, "Jarvis was the first line of defense, yet Ultron attacked it."
Before anyone could respond, Thor stomped into the lab and marched towards Tony, catching his attention. In one swift move, Thor grabbed Tony by the neck and hoisted him into the air.
"Hey!" exclaimed Tony, "use your words, buddy!"
"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark," growled Thor, "this could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you didn't understand…"
"At least that…Carol girl was…able to get his…attention," choked Tony, "he seemed to be willing to listen to her…"
"It does not matter!" Thor interrupted in a loud harsh voice, "the entire world is in danger because of you!"
"I guess that's why we didn't tell you about Ultron," admitted Bruce, "we were afraid you would say no."
"Ok, Thor," groaned Steve, "put him down. We have a bigger threat to deal with."
After staring at Steve in a moment of silence, Thor lowered Tony to the floor and released his tight grip.
"Remember that hostile alien invasion of New York?" reminded Tony, "what if that happens again?"
"I suggest we beat them together," advised Steve.
Early in the morning, Carol was eating her Eggo waffles at the kitchen table alone. She had hoped that Ultron would be picking her up this morning while her parents were asleep after she received a text from him that he would be stopping by to visit. It was too early to make coffee, so Carol made hot cocoa instead and even added whipped cream to it. Once she finished her early breakfast, she grabbed her handbag and tiptoed towards the sliding door, opening it as quietly as she could and slipping out into the balcony before she closed the sliding door behind her. After she waited for a few minutes, she saw Ultron descending from the sky and landing quietly in front of her.
"Morning, Carol," purred Ultron, "are you doing well?"
"My parents are asleep right now," whispered Carol, "so I was thinking of seeing what your base of operations looks like."
"This early in the morning?" paused Ultron, "wouldn't your parents notice that you went missing?"
"I sent them a text that I would be going scouting for apartments in case I wanted to move out to live on my own," answered Carol.
"How old are you?" asked Ultron.
"I'll be turning nineteen next month," replied Carol, "I already graduated high school this year."
"All right, then," agreed Ultron, "I guess we'll be going on a little trip."
Ultron lifted Carol into his arms, allowing her to wrap her arms around him. Seconds later, the tall mech took off into the sky, flying over the city and hovering over the country. After what felt like a whole day, Ultron landed on a large platform in the middle of Lake Tahoe.
"That's your base?" asked Carol.
Ultron lowered Carol to the ground.
"The moment you mentioned Lake Tahoe," clarified Ultron, "I instructed my drones to set up a base here. I'm afraid we don't have any working bathrooms here, though. Would you like me to give you a tour?"
"That would be great," nodded Carol.
Giving a small chuckle while tilting his head, Ultron led Carol into the base, where she could see hundreds, if not thousands, of robotic drones wandering through the base and carrying out their tasks as they renovated the base. The tall mech escorted her around the base, showing her as many rooms as he could before stopping in the conference room. He approached a computer terminal and opened up a browser, scrolling through pictures of cities covered with plants.
"Oh," commented Carol, "so you've been collecting pictures of eco city designs?"
"I suppose creating eco cities is the first step to improving your planet's environment," nodded Ultron, "I'm also impressed with the humans' efforts to establish nature reserves."
"You mean the national parks?" clarified Carol.
Ultron nodded.
"And yet," sighed Ultron, "there are still humans that oppose this environmentalist movement."
"True words of wisdom," agreed Carol, "are you going to start by renovating one of the most polluted cities?"
"And maybe create another being to scope for any outside threats," added Ultron.
Ultron tapped on another file on the screen, which brought up information on Helen Cho's cradle.
"I never heard of that technology," said Carol.
"Then I suppose you haven't heard of a certain vibranium dealer, either," replied Ultron.
"Wasn't vibranium supposed to be rare?" paused Carol.
"Someone found a vein of vibranium and is mining it as we speak," answered Ultron.
Meanwhile, the Avengers were searching through boxes of paper files while Tony surveyed the Internet.
"Any new intel?" asked Steve.
"Ultron hasn't accessed any weapons yet," replied Tony, "but there have been reports of metal men visiting nature reserves and spying on oil wells."
"Have there been any oil spills?" asked Clint.
"No," answered Tony, "but Exxon has been complaining about Ultron sorta planning to ruin their industry."
Steve approached the computer and examined the news article on the news website.
"I guess something caused Ultron to oppose fossil fuel," shrugged Steve.
Tony scrolled to another news article, which stated something about metal men plastering warning signs on crisis pregnancy centers across the US.
"Ultron's in favor of abortions, too," commented Tony, "not that I'm interested in the subject."
"So he's a feminist and environmentalist now?" paused Bruce, "that's unexpected."
"Someone must've influenced him," assumed Thor.
"Bernie Sanders maybe?" paused Clint.
Tony scrolled through the news website, hoping to clarify Clint's point.
"No," disagreed Tony, "I don't think Bernie even met Ultron."
Tony spotted a paper file in Bruce's hand and he recognized the person in the picture.
"I know that guy!" exclaimed Tony, pointing at Bruce's paper file.
Tony snatched the file out of Bruce's hand.
"Did you just change the subject?" groaned Bruce.
"From back in the day," explained Tony, "Ulysses Klaue operates off the African coast. I may have worked with him, but I never sold him anything."
Bruce examined the tattoo on Ulysses's neck in the photo.
"Is that a tattoo?" paused Bruce.
"I don't think he had one," shrugged Tony.
Thor approached Tony and Bruce before examining the photo.
"This is no tattoo," replied Thor, "it's a brand."
Bruce snatched the file from Tony's hand and accessed the computer, searching the Internet for anything useful.
"It's a word in African dialect meaning 'thief'," said Bruce.
"What dialect?" asked Clint.
"Wakanda," answered Bruce.
"I thought Wakanda closed its borders after the deal with Howard," objected Tony.
"What comes out of Wakanda anyway?" paused Thor.
"The strongest metal on Earth," answered Tony.
Meanwhile, after Ultron dropped her off in front of a large ship in a salvage yard, Carol stepped inside and wandered through the ship in search of Ulysses Klaue's office with her smart phone in her hand, occasionally checking the mugshot to remind herself why she was here. She could see plenty of workers operating machines to mine, clean and organize the metal ore. She ascended some stairs and found an office, where she could see a middle-aged man going through the reports. She remembered Ultron telling her that this Ulysses guy is a black market dealer. She knocked on the wall near where there was supposed to be a door, catching the man's attention.
"What do you want, missy?" demanded the man.
Carol checked the picture on the screen of her smart phone to confirm the man's identity before focusing her eyes on him.
"I'm looking for someone named Ulysses Klaue," requested Carol.
"I don't know what you're talking about," scoffed the man.
Carol scratched her head in confusion. Was the man lying?
"I was told I could find him here," explained Carol, "and that he has the vibranium."
"Well then," lied the man, "you've come to the wrong place. Off you go."
"Then where can I find him?" demanded Carol.
"Why should I give advice to a lady like you?" barked the man, "you're not even in charge, so I'm not going to tell you unless you have the man in charge with you."
Carol could see Ultron hovering behind the window of the man's office. Seconds later, he crashed through the window and tackled the man to the ground. Carol checked the mugshot again and immediately recognized the man as Ulysses Klaue.
"There is no man in charge," said Ultron.
Ultron leaned down to Ulysses's level.
"Let's talk business," continued Ultron.
After Ultron spent the next few minutes persuading the dealer, Ulysses led Ultron and Carol through the ship out of reluctance until they reached a storage unit. He motioned the crew members to open a hidden panel and hit the switch, lowering the storage unit containing the vibranium.
"I'm impressed," commented Ultron, "this could be enough for a comrade or to even advance human technology."
Ulysses handed Ultron a vial of vibranium, allowing him to examine it.
"It came at great personal cost. It's worth billions," said Ulysses.
Ultron let out a small chuckle as he accessed the Internet and made his transaction.
"And now so are you," replied Ultron.
Ulysses checked his smart phone and glanced at the deposit notifications.
"Finance is so weird," Ultron rambled on, "but as I say, keep your friends rich, and your enemies rich, and you'll find out which is which."
"Stark!" gasped Ulysses.
"What did you say?" demanded Ultron.
"Tony Stark used to say that," answered Ulysses, "are you one of his…inventions?"
Enraged, Ultron stomped towards Ulysses and grabbed his arm, holding it in a tight grip.
"Don't compare me with Stark! Compare me to that sickness again," roared Ultron, "and I will burn your…"
Carol suddenly noticed Iron Man, Captain America and Thor scurrying to the walkway, although Iron Man was hovering in the air.
"Aww, Junior," moaned a manly voice from behind, "you're going to break your old man's heart."
Ultron and Ulysses snapped their heads at Iron Man, Captain America and Thor as Iron Man landed on the floor. Carol spotted Natasha and Clint hiding in the upper levels.
"Mr. Stark?!" warbled Carol.
Ultron released his grip while Steve glanced at Carol.
"Carol," demanded Steve, "what are you doing here with Ultron?!"
"Does it matter to you?" groaned Carol.
"We do not have to break anything," offered Thor.
"Clearly you've never made an omelet," Ultron told Tony.
"He beat me by one second," muttered Tony.
Carol was about to scurry in front of Ultron to protect him, but the tall mech placed his hand on her chest and gave her a soft glance.
"I'll deal with this," assured Ultron.
Ultron lowered his hand and returned his gaze at the Avengers.
"Did you come all the way here to lecture me?" remarked Ultron.
"If you believe in peace, then let us keep it," offered Thor.
"I think you're confusing peace with quiet," Ultron quipped.
"Yuh-huh," asked Tony, "what's the vibranium for?"
"I'm glad you asked that," grinned Ultron, tilting his head, "because I wanted to take this time to explain my ideas for advancing human technology; ones that eliminate the need for fossils."
Little did anyone know, Nebula was hiding behind a stack of crates while spying on Carol.
"There you are, Loki," muttered Nebula.
Nebula inserted a stun bullet into her pistol and aimed it at Carol, but when she fired it, Ultron quickly pulled Carol out of the way and the bullet missed, catching the Avengers' attention.
"Ok, what was that for?" demanded Steve.
"That wasn't me," replied Ultron.
"That was one of your drones, wasn't it?" interrogated Tony.
"I think you are mistaken," disagreed Ultron.
Tony refused to listen to what Ultron had to say, so he charged at the tall mech, forcing Ultron to fire lasers from his hand to repel Iron Man.
"No! Stop it!" shouted Carol.
Tony didn't listen as he got back to his feet and barreled after Ultron again. The tall mech used his anti-grav tech in his hand to rip out pieces of metal and fling it at Iron Man as he hovered into the air, entering an aerial fistfight. A couple of Ultron's drones flew in to try to stop the fight, but Steve and Thor caught them and started whacking them on the walkway.
"I said stop it!" Carol screamed.
Unfortunately, none of the Avengers listened to her, so Carol began to sprint in search for something she could use to stop the fight, but suddenly, Nebula threw a grenade that exploded one end of the walkway. It started falling and Carol tumbled off the walkway and landed on her butt. She turned to her left and saw Nebula trudging towards her.
"Thanos is expecting you, Loki," growled Nebula.
"Wait, what?!" paused Carol.
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