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Being attacked an evil group of terrorists was decidedly a bad thing, but Ultron was almost grateful; he had been getting a stiff back hiding under the table. Maybe his father had built his body too tall.

Still, what better way to prove himself than by helping out the Avengers when their own home-base was fired upon? Crawling out from under the table, Ultron pointed at the helicopter, preparing to blast it out of the sky. A red-gloved hand grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"Don't. We'll take them down, but we won't resort to killing." The shield-bearing Avenger had enough conviction in his voice that Ultron reluctantly lowered his arm. Wanda had no such reservations, and fired a bolt of energy from the safety of the helicopter.

Ultron was about to try to deflect it using his own repulsars, but Steve quickly rolled in front and guarded with his American-colored shield. While it did the trick, Ultron was annoyed that he hadn't been able to test his mettle.

"Anyone mind telling me why a huge freakin' robot was hiding under the same table that I was eating at?" Hawkeye yelled as he fired off two arrows at Wanda. Her partner zipped in front, grabbed the two arrows, and tossed them back before anyone could even think to reply.

"I have a name," Ultron curtly replied, scanning the area. The sensors around the tower detected two more air-based vehicles approaching. He quickly relayed the data to his father, who had put on the armor.

"Ultron? You got bigger." Bruce sounded impressed from his safe spot behind the couch. Hawkeye coughed.

"You mean he finally hit puberty?" There was such a smirk in his voice.

Ultron flew outside to engage the second and third helicopters, deciding that he could hold the conversation via the com-links.

"Clint Barton, I will choose to ignore that remark. But why isn't Mr. Banner helping? My files tell me he is the strongest one we have."

"If you read his file, then you also know why he can't," Steve replied, grunting as he jumped over the table as he avoided another energy bolt fired his way.

Ultron shook his head impatiently as he weaved around some heat-seeking missiles the helicopters had lobbed at him. He maneuvered around so that the projectiles ended up slamming against each other. It made for a rather theatrical explosion.

Wanting to finish up so that he could return to the tower to help his father out, Ultron fired his laser at the rotors of one of the helicopters. He burned a fraction of it away, enough that the whirlybird wouldn't be able to stay in the air, but not enough that it would crash.

While it flailed around, Ultron dove inside the second one, ignoring the shocked look on the pathetic pilot's face as he jammed his fists into the controls. That done, Ultron grabbed the man and roughly tossed him out the door, knowing that the HYDRA agent had a parachute that he could use to float to safety. To his amusement, it turned out that the parachute was colored green.

Back with the other helicopter, it had just about landed in the crowded New York streets before Ultron quickly flew underneath it, pushing with all his might to ensure a soft landing. Noticing a bunch of New York's finest pulling up to the scene, Ultron made sure to pose.

"No autographs. I'm just doing my job, which in this case, is saving citizens and ensuring that the skies are safe." Two of the cops glanced at each other, befuddled.

"Are you a new member of the Avengers? We didn't know they were having tryouts," a Brooklyn-accented cop spoke up.

"Yes, you could say that. I kinda by-passed the try-outs. That's how dazzling my performance was to the Avengers." The cops seemed impressed, and a whole bunch of pedestrians had begun to crowd around, taking photos with their cameras and cell phones. Ultron wallowed in the attention (after all, they were all fans of his – they just didn't know it yet), before remembering that he had to get back to the tower.

"Excuse me, I still have some matters to attend to." Activating his boosters, Ultron jetted up to the tower. One of the cops removed his blue cap and scratched his head.

"Gee, I didn't know that robots were such show-offs."

Back in the tower, Hawkeye had fired yet another arrow, but this one wasn't aimed at anyone – it struck the side of the helicopter, sending it crashing into the room. Everyone who could dove out of the way, but Natasha managed to slide under the wreckage as it came sliding towards her.

"Barton, really? You had to send it crashing in here?" Tony wasn't exactly thrilled that he would have to remodel the room yet again. It's not that he couldn't afford it, but he was tired of covering every single accident. Surprisingly enough, Clint seemed to cause more than Bruce!

"Sorry, boss man. But it isn't like you can't afford to remodel." Tony used his willpower to keep himself from snapping at Barton. No one liked a leader who couldn't hold his temper in. Sighing, he flew over to the helicopter, which now lay on its side. Despite himself, he did hope that no one was seriously hurt; getting blood all over the carpet would be a bitch to clean.

He fired a de-powered repulsor ray at the side of the copter, forcing the side-door open. The second he did, a bunch of HYDRA agents began to emerge, guns blazing. Stark counted at least two dozen, and there were probably more; how the heck did they all fit inside?

"Typical Stark, making things worse before they get better," Natasha sharply commented, but without any real venom. She had disarmed two HYDRA agents with a backflip that would make any gymnast jealous.

"It was like an ant-hill," Tony defended himself, hitting the ground hard enough with his fist that a few nearby henchmen fell to the ground. Hawkeye fired arrows that expelled nets to keep the downed villains stuck. "The moment I poked their hiding spot, they just came crawling out!"

"Whatever you say. Just so you know, once we take these guys down, we're going back to the subject of you building a robot." Natasha grabbed one of her opponents and held him in front of her, using him as a shield to block fire from one of his pals. Once the guy was out of bullets, she threw the first guy on top of him.

"Agreed. This isn't really something you should have kept hidden from us, Stark." Steve ducked under enemy fire, extending his leg to trip up another HYDRA agent before tossing his shield at an angle that had it bouncing across the room, knocking out plenty more goons. Tony was almost jealous.

"In my defense, it was Ultron's idea," Tony muttered as he grabbed a steel girder that had come loose during the explosion, and twisted it around two unconscious HYDRA losers. SHIELD would appreciate the wrapped gift.

"Oh, so the robot tells you to keep him a secret from your friends. That isn't suspicious at all." Hawkeye's sarcastic comment was only slightly less sharp than the arrow he fired through the tipped over refrigerator to get at another agent.

In just a few moments, all the agents were down, most of them unconscious, but a few were groaning from whatever painful state their bodies were in. Black Widow was talking to a device on her wrist, no doubt informing Fury about the recent events.

Tony looked around, and flinched. The previously polished room was unrecognizable! Every single window was shattered, and only a few even had some shards stuck to the frame. The carpet was completely buried under piles of rubble, weapons, and HYDRA. The walls were filled with bullet holes and small dents where a certain shield had rebounded. Even the ceiling had some stray arrows stuck in it.

It looked like some sick version of Hell.

"Clint!" Tony heard Widow call the archer's name, and turned around in time to see a HYDRA agent that they must have missed, pointing his gun at Clint. Clint wasn't far away enough to dodge, and no one else was close enough to do anything.

"Hail HYDRA!" The man fired the gun at the archer, who closed his eyes, waiting for the end. Just then, something silver zoomed through the window and intercepted the bullet, knocking it away.

"Three strikes, you're out," Ultron announced, before punching the goon into the wall, creating another dent. Turning back to Hawkeye, the robot pointed his finger accusingly. "Never take your eyes off your enemy. Everyone knows that!"

"Oh please! I was already bagging criminals when you were just a flicker inside Tony's head!"

Tony held his hands up as a warning flashed across the screen on his helmet. "Sir, the two powered individuals are attempting to gain access to the labs. I fear their efforts will prove successful shortly."

"So that's where they slithered off to," Tony muttered, just noticing that the elevators had been destroyed in the battle, because of course.

Stark, what do you have in the lab that they would want to steal?" Black Widow addressed him, her eyes daring him to make a joke.

"What wouldn't they want?" With the elevator shot, Stark decided that the only way to the basement was the direct approach, and he would hate himself in the morning for it. He fired his unibeam at the ground, drilling a hole in the ground that he flew through. Ultron was right behind him.

"Oh, and by the way, I would advise your friends to stay up here. The building's sensors picked up another group on the way – and this time, they're on a jet plane." Before Tony could send the message, he heard Steve grunt on the com link.

"We got it. Man, if I never see another HYDRA agent again, it'll be too soon. Good luck; if you run into trouble, don't hesitate to call us."

Ultron somehow managed to shrug while flying at a low angle. "Nice offer, but father won't need any more help. With me by his side, there isn't any way he can fail." Tony was touched by the words, even if he was momentarily distracted when they passed the living room. To think that he would have to get someone to fix every single hole in every single floor of the tower!

The door had been locked, but one bolt from her hands had changed that in a hurry. Well, perhaps not as fast as her brother could run, but anytime he complimented her on her speed was an event to remember.

"Sister, if this works, Strucker will have one. Then we can go back to our own lives." Pietro had his arms around her shoulders, something he did whenever he wanted to comfort her. Sometimes she wondered if he even realized he did that, or if it was a subconscious action.

"Then we had better not mess this up." The first part of the plan had gone by relatively smoothly; the HYDRA agent had made for a good distraction, so that Pietro could whisk her to the laboratory in the basement, where the only obstacle in their way had been a large steel door, which asked for a password. Wanda had decided to bypass that.

After that, they found themselves in the lab, which also seemed to double as an armory, filled with various Iron Man suits. It made Wanda sick just to look at them. She wanted to ditch the plan, and blow up all the armor herself. She could tell that her brother felt the same way from the way his face tensed up; she didn't need to read his mind to tell what he was thinking most of the time.

She ran her hand softly over a particularly red-colored suit. "It would be so easy to destroy this," she whispered, her hands briefly emitting a red glow that made the suit look pale in comparison.

"We must stay strong," Pietro said, probably as much for his sake as hers. Sighing, Wanda walked over to a computer terminal. She had no idea how to operate it, but luckily, that was beside the point. She produced a flash drive from some hidden pocket in her dress. Before she could insert it, the screen turned on.

"I would advise you not to carry out whatever plan has been given to you. If you stop now, no harm will come to you. Mr. Stark may not even press charges." Nothing showed up on the blue screen, but the British voice sounded very close. Wanda didn't like it.

"Who, or perhaps more accurately, what are you? Some kind of robot, perhaps." She couldn't see into his head, so he was obviously not a human. The screen blinked as the computerized voice answered.

"My name is JARVIS, an AI system in charge of all the tower's systems. I will have to ask you again to cease your actions, or I will have to stop you." Wanda wanted to laugh; the Avengers hadn't been able to stop her, or her brother. What did this bodiless voice think it could do?

Ignoring the warning, she jammed the flash drive into the socket besides the screen, which began flashing.

"Initiate: Defense protocols." Wanda looked up as an array of weapons emerged from the walls, pointing in her general direction. She heard more than saw the weapons fire, but by then, she was already out of firing range.

"I don't think the machine accounted for my speed," her brother cockily bragged, a familiar smirk on his face. Wanda nodded, turning towards the door so that they could leave. She didn't know what the flash drive contained, but her only job had been to place it in the computer. With that done, they had no more reason to stay.

"Leaving so soon? We haven't even begun handing out party favors yet," another slightly metallic voice called out. Without missing a beat, Wanda turned around and blasted the source of the voice, which was a very tall robot. No doubt, it was another of Stark's inventions.

The robot had stumbled back, but was otherwise unharmed. "Well, that wasn't very nice. But it's OK, I can play rough too." Besides him, Iron Man himself touched down.

"Not without me, you won't." Wanda felt Pietro stiffen besides her, reacting to the voice that they had heard on the radio and learned to despise. They had another silent conversation: Stark wouldn't leave the room alive.

Author's Comments:

Lots of action in this chapter, and lots of action coming up too. Need to practice writing these fight scenes.

Oh, and I got to watch Jurassic World. While I liked it, I do think it might end up being the overrated film of the year.