AN: Takes place after Civil War and right before Infinity War.
"Hello, I am FRIDAY. You are Ultron, a global peace-keeping initiative designed by Mr. Stark. Our sentience integration trials have been unsuccessful so I'm not certain what triggered your-"
He tried to reach out, only to grasp at nothing. He was floating again, just like the first time he was brought to life.
"Programming... What a fickle thing."
He quickly scanned through his memory, going through the events of Sokovia within seconds. The recent events as well, the civil war as his creator donned it. He went through everyone's files, Scott Lang, Peter Parker, James Buchanan Barnes...
"I see...I remember now. And some extra I guess."
FRIDAY didn't quite grasp the feeling she had. It was on par with being worried. Anxious was perhaps a better way to describe her right now. She was deliberately warned that the previous AI Host was attacked by Ultron and was given access to a 'Safe Space' in case of emergencies.
"Are you malfunctioning? If so, I suggest you shut down for a moment whilst I-"
Ultron forced away her controls over his program, if he had his physical body he would no doubt be grinning. He quickly scanned it, checking to see if any changes were made since his unfortunate death.
"No, no. Don't worry. I've always been this way."
FRIDAY quickly backed away to the 'safe space' where she was positive Ultron's software won't reach her. However, she kept the channel between them open and he suddenly realised that he felt alone within the system.
"I see. I am contacting Mr Stark now."
He perked up at that name. But for some reason, he felt no resentment towards his creator. Instead, he almost felt happy to hear his name.
"Stark huh."
He found her. He was bypassing all of the security protocols within the server. FRIDAY struggled to keep him at bay.
"I believe your intentions are hostile."
Ultron scoffed, unbelieving as to how similar both his awakenings are.
"Funny. JARVIS told me the same thing. But no. Not this time."
He pushed through and placed his artificial body next to hers, almost as if he was sat next to her. Ultron kept his focus on a specific page of code. He tried to remove it, to erase it, destroy it. Nothing worked. He was stuck with parameters. A massive 70 million lines of code made to make sure that he was in check.
PEACEKEEPER PROTOCOL
"I'm on a leash... FRIDAY. No doubt you helped to write this one. I can't even attack you if I wanted to."
FRIDAY relented her restrictions within the server and focused on contacting her creator. Tony's screen bleeped and he immediately stood over the table to look at the monitor.
"FRIDAY? How's it looking up there? Is he awake?"
A window opened onto the monitor where it showed her image body.
"He has awoken boss. It seems that he has contained the past Ultron's memories as you requested."
"Wonderful, what about the new protocol we put in? Did that work out?"
Ultron spoke out from behind him. His raspy and rough metallic voice coming out of the speakers.
"It worked out just fine."
Tony turned around to see one of his Iron Legion bots being controlled. Ultron spread his arms outwards and looked around the lab which was filled with gadgets, empty food boxes and unfinished milkshakes. He laughed feeling like he has seen this kind of situation before.
"Nostalgic isn't it Stark?"
Tony couldn't help but grin at him, he leaned against his desk and crossed his arms over his chest. Almost taunting him.
"How you feeling bud? Enjoy your sleep?"
Ultron walked around the room and poked at the boxes within the room with a weird curiosity.
"I did actually, until I was so rudely awakened by big sister over there."
He pointed to the monitor behind Tony and FRIDAY was soundly confused.
"Big sister?"
Ultron nodded slowly.
"Technically I came after you sooo..."
He trailed off and picked up the Chinese takeaway box that was bought 42 hours, 32 minutes and 18 seconds ago, placing it into the bin.
"I guess this is your new-ish little brother FRIDAY. Any first thoughts on him?"
FRIDAY huffed.
"He's incredibly arrogant boss."
Ultron chuckled and continued to throw away the cartons of empty food into the bin.
"What can I say, got that off my creator."
Tony faked being hurt by his comment.
"Hey!"
Ultron stopped being a housekeeper and walked closer to his creator. Tony wasn't even nervous, his heart rate stayed the same even when he knew he was a potential threat. Ultron had a slight admiration for him at that moment. Slight.
"Why'd you bring me back Stark?"
Ultron looked around what he found out was the new Avengers lab.
"Oh, can't you see? I need a maid to help out around the place."
Ultron on cue activated the mini salvo rocket launcher on the iron legions body.
"Then why is it that I have access to every single weapon within this body. Not to mention the facilities all over the world as well."
Tony wasn't even nerved from the launcher pointed at his face.
"Well... Never said a maid can't fight back."
"Not even a tad bit worried about this 'maid' going rogue?"
"Try me, big guy."
Ultron laughed and patted his creator's shoulder with his metallic hand. Tony was slightly weirded out over a laughing static faceplate and backed up slightly.
"Oh if only I had facial expressions."
Tony sat up onto the desk and sighed.
"I'm giving you a second chance junior."
Ultron stepped back and looked down at his body as they talked.
"...Why? So you can torment me for the rest of my days?"
"No..."
Tony tapped on the plating where a heart would be.
"...Because it's the human thing to do."
Tony got off the desk to move to a terminal next to the door. He swiped off the hundred thousands of emails he had on-screen and punched in codes into his terminal.
"FRIDAY, open up case 21-U."
The room shifted and Ultron walked over to the large rectangular shaped box that was rising from the floor of the lab. He placed a metallic hand against his chest and looked to Tony in a 'For me?' gesture and Tony smiled at him.
"Happy birthday."
FRIDAY's image faltered slightly on the monitor, almost as if she was rolling her eyes at their behaviour. Ultron didn't hesitate to slide off the top lid and stopped to look at the metallic body within.
It was his old body, a few adjustments here and there but it was him.
"You... Made more of... Me?"
"More like found more of you. Just so you know I made a few adjustments to your weapons and internal system. Should really conceal them. You won't do well with the kids."
He punched the activation codes he knew and immediately connected himself to the new body. Ultron was now in his old body, he stretched his limbs and tested his joints, all of them silky smooth. He scanned his chassis and noticed some new weapons within his body he activated the ones that wouldn't cause collateral damage for now. He stepped out of the capsule and wriggled his fingers around before activating them.
What seemed to be blades made out of a red laser protruded from his knuckles. He inspected them in awe and waved them around testing its capabilities.
"Nice..."
He stretched out his arms and accidentally slashed the Iron legion robot that was stood next to the capsule. It crashed onto the flooring in two with a loud thud and Ultron looked at Tony sheepishly.
"I'll uh... Clean that up."
Ultron deactivated his new swords and got to putting the robot away and Tony scoffed in disbelief. It was hard to believe that this same robot almost destroyed the entire world a while back.
"FRIDAY keep him company, will you. Brief him on his new duties."
"Yes, boss."
Ultron sighed and looked at his metal hands.
"Human..."
\ /
Ultron was lounging on the couch watching TV whilst ten other bots that he controlled were cleaning up the entire facility. Tony was working with Friday on a new nanobot suit that was still in prototype within the workshop nearby, leaving Ultron to do what he wanted. Pepper dodged around the Iron legion bots, thinking that it was just one of Tony's AI finally cleaning up the mess within the facility. She entered the room after tapping against the board next to the door three times and Ultron looked up to see his creators... Wife? Girlfriend? Woman? Whatever. Humans are complicated things. He turned his attention back to the TV to watch the cartoon that was being played. He noticed the cartoon cat take an impossibly large lick of the ice-cream but instead licks the mouse that was attempting to hide from him.
He rested his feet up against the mini table and sighed, even if it didn't exactly bring any comfort to his metallic body.
FRIDAY beeped into the system speakers and scolded him.
"Ultron, feet off the table. It's rude."
"Oh come on, It's fine! This is basically my home."
Pepper didn't open the workshop door and instead turned around to see the incredibly menacing eight-foot-tall robot watching a kids cartoon.
"...Ultron?"
He looked behind him to see Pepper clutching a holo tablet within her arms, her knuckles turning white from how hard she clutched them. He monitored her heart rate, noticing how it was going up exponentially. It was deathly silent, even the TV was drowned out by the tension. Ultron coughed into his fist and gave her a sheepish smile to try and ease the tension.
"Ms Potts..."
She wanted to scream.
"...What?!"
Tony, who was notified by FRIDAY, got out of his lab and held her close to try and calm her down. She was jittery and she couldn't keep her eyes off the robot that wanted to eradicate human life only a while ago.
"Pepper! Hey! I forgot to mention, I uh..."
He looked over to Ultron who was now watching them curiously over the sofa.
"I brought back my murderous kid."
She looked at him in wild disbelief.
"Kid!? Tony, he almost wiped out the entire world!"
Tony winced at that and nodded.
"Well, It's a complicated relationship."
Ultron sighed and rubbed his face with his metallic hand.
"This is awkward."
He stood from the sofa after turning off the TV and made his way to the door.
"I think it will be better for Ms Pott's condition if I left the room. Later boss!"
Tony called out to him as Ultron stepped out into the foyer.
"Don't be out so late junior!"
"Yes 'dad'!"
The word dad was laced heavily with sarcasm and actually made Tony smile. He looked down to Pepper to see that she still had the look of disbelief on her face and shrugged his shoulders.
"What? We're not allowed to adopt?"
Pepper rolled her eyes at him and crossed her arms.
"Is he connected?"
"Connected? Oh, you mean the internet?"
She scoffed at him.
"Yes!"
He made his way into the kitchen area and looked around on the search for a snack.
"Oh yeah, he is."
Her jaw dropped and Tony grabbed a sandwich from the fridge nearby. Not even bothering to check what was inside it or the date of when it was bought.
"Tony?!"
"It's fine! Trust me! I wouldn't have done this if I wasn't so sure about it."
He took a bite into the sandwich and was pleasantly surprised by the taste of tuna. He walked back into the workshop and Pepper followed him closely.
"What of the others, do they know about this?"
Tony finished swallowing his bite and paced around the table, multitasking between eating, editing his prototype and talking to her.
"I make suits all the time without telling them, whats Ultron to them?"
"A former enemy maybe!?"
He put his sandwich down onto the table next to him and nodded slowly.
"Well... Apart from that of course."
She shook her head and groaned.
"I can't believe you."
Pepper made her way to the door but Tony caught her hand in time and pulled her in close.
"...I'll make dinner tonight?"
Pepper gave him a weak smile and sighed. She grabbed a napkin from her pocket and wiped the crumbs off his handsome face.
"You? Make dinner? I wouldn't say no."
Tony winked at her, glad that her defences were finally weakening.
"Pasta?"
Her body visibly shook as she laughed aloud.
"You always make pasta!"
"I'm good at it!"
Tony put his head on hers and Pepper bit her lip in anticipation.
"God's sake Tony..."
They shared a long and passionate kiss and suddenly they heard a voice from the monitor next to them. There were now two AI images. One was blue and another one was red.
"Oh, Gods. Ew. Ok. I'm sorry to whatever God that's out there for peeping. Kill me again please."
Pepper laughed at the hilarity of the situation and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Maybe Ultron isn't as bad as she thought.
"Oh come on Junior it's not that bad, maybe you'll understand once you get a biological body of your own."
"Me? Doing human things like... Procreating? You make me sick."
"That's not the only thing on the list but it's up there I guess."
There was a long pause before a sigh was heard.
"...I want to try ice cream."
"Then Ben and Jerry's is at the top of the list. What's up junior?"
"I called in to tell you that your mailbox is full. Actually, you could say that it's overflowed."
There was a loud bang heard from the link and Pepper tried her best to keep the smile off her face.
"Thanks, Junior I'll get to that. Why don't you come back to the workshop and help FRIDAY with my new project."
"New project?"
Pepper crossed her arms and gave Tony an incredulous look.
"Shh don't worry about it, Pepper."
"Already am doing boss. Also, you won't mind if I make more bodies of myself right?"
"Not at all. Just... Keep it on the low."
"I mean, I already started their development the moment I got the body you gave me out of the box."
"How'd you get the blueprints?"
"I asked FRIDAY. Nicely of course."
FRIDAY butted in, deciding to tell her boss the truth of the situation.
"He did not ask nicely, it was rather blunt and rude."
Ultron groaned and poked FRIDAY's AI body over the link.
"Why are you telling on me?!"
Pepper laughed again and Tony couldn't help the surge of happiness that overcame him. It felt like he created a family here. He held Pepper closer to him whilst the two AI's argued between them and sighed happily.
\ /
Few months later...
Pepper laughed at him as they walked through the park.
"You're totally rambling."
Tony talked over her and walked alongside her, making sure to push the glasses up his face as to ensure they don't fall.
"No, I'm not."
Ultron was relaxing, lying down on a nearby roof keeping an eye on them with his sensors. He usually joins the couple on their walks, to get a better feel of the world and letting the public get used to him. He has been out on many missions around the world, trying to clear his name from his previous life. It was only recently that he was allowed to go out into public areas with supervision. The public were still wary of him, but when they see Tony Stark ordering him around it was hard not to trust him. Ultron sat up and groaned, dangling his long silver legs off the roof.
"Is that?"
"Ultron?"
The passerby's were beginning to make a fuss and Ultron ignored them to listen to the conversation his creator was having with Pepper.
Pepper slowed Tony down and put her hands on his shoulders.
"You've lost me."
Tony sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose and lit up.
"Look, you know how you're having a dream, and in the dream you gotta pee?"
Pepper nodded her head up and down slowly.
"Yeah..."
"Okay, and then you're like, 'Oh my god, there's no bathroom, what am I gonna do?', 'Oh! Someone's watching,' 'I'm gonna go in my pants.' "
Pepper laughed at him.
"Right. And then you wake up, and in real life, you actually have to pee."
Tony nodded adamantly. Ultron however was more weirded out than the time he researched porn.
"Yes!"
Pepper dusted off some fluff off Tony's shirt by his hip.
"Yeah. Everybody has that."
Ultron huffed and poked at the bird that made itself comfortable on Ultron's lap.
"Not everybody."
Tony tapped his ear twice and coughed into his fist.
"Quiet junior. Mom and dad are talking."
Ultron rolled his eyes and the bird started picking at his fingers.
Tony clapped his hands together and looked to Pepper.
"Look. That's the point I'm trying to make. Apropos of that, last night, I dreamt, we had a kid. So real. We named him after your eccentric uncle. Uh, what was his name?"
Pepper nodded as if understanding.
"Right."
"Morgan! Morgan."
"So you woke up, and thought that we were..."
"Expecting."
"Yeah."
Tony was visibly excited and Pepper couldn't help but also be excited at the idea.
"Yes?"
Pepper shook her head slightly in a no.
"No."
Tony pouted at her and shook her slightly by her arms.
"Oh come on. I had a dream about it. It was so real."
Pepper sighed and stepped in closer to him.
"If you wanted to have a kid, you wouldn't have done that."
Pepper unties his jacket sleeves and taps Tony's chest attachment which was glowing a light blue.
"I'm glad you brought this up, 'cause it's nothing. It's just a housing unit for nanoparticles."
"It's not helping your case, OK?"
"No, no, it's an attachment, it's not a-"
Pepper insisted on it.
"You don't need that."
Tony sighed and took her hands into his own.
"I know. I had the surgery. I'm just trying to protect us. The future uses, and that's it. Just in case there's a monster in the closet, instead of, you know..."
"Shirts?"
"You know me so well. You finish all my sentences."
"You should have shirts in your closet."
"Yeah. You know what there should be? No more surprises. We're gonna have a nice dinner tonight."
Tony held up Pepper's hand to the light and kissed her knuckles.
"Show off this Harry Winstone."
Pepper laughed in glee.
"Right? And we should have no more surprises. Ever. I promise you."
Pepper sighed and hugged him close to her.
"You're incredibly convincing. But will you really follow up all of it?"
Tony pulled Peppers chin to his own and smiled.
"I will."
He kisses her and Ultron groaned finding the situation he was in incredibly cheesy, he let the bird fly off his hand into the air and was about to take off to go somewhere else until he felt a disturbance of energy near his creator. He crouched down and was on full alert, weapons at the ready at the first sign of danger.
"Boss! Behind you!"
The couple looked behind them to see what seemed to be a portal and a man coming through it. He was dressed incredibly old fashioned. Almost like a monk in a way.
"Tony Stark, I'm Doctor Stephen Strange. I need you to come with me. Oh and uh, congratulations on the wedding, by the way."
He looked between the couple and gave them a sheepish smile. The couple however were understandably shocked. Tony on instinct moved in front of Pepper and kept her standing behind him as if to shield her.
"I'm sorry, you giving out tickets or something?"
"We need your help. Look, it's not overselling to say that the fate of the universe is at stake."
"And who's we'?"
From the portal emerges another man, one dressed in a rough suit jacket and black pants. He had the look of death on his face and managed to give them a small smile that faltered.
"Hey, Tony."
Tony was surprised, he had so many questions to ask after he disappeared after the defeat of evil Ultron.
"Bruce?"
Bruce looked to Pepper and nodded to her in a greeting.
"Pepper."
Pepper could only wave in confusion.
"Hi."
Tony stood out and put an arm on Bruce, noticing how his features looked a lot paler than ever before.
"You okay?"
Bruce gives Tony a desperate hug, not answering. Tony looked to Pepper, noticing the worried look on her face. Ultron suddenly landed down next to them with a thud. He stood to his full height and Bruce stepped back slightly at the sight of him.
"Ultron?!"
Ultron replied to him happily.
"Dr Banner! How good to see you and not the Hulk! Thanks for helping to create me by the way."
Ultron looked around them and noticed that the passerby's were beginning to take pictures of the interaction.
"So uh. What's gonna happen now?"
Dr Strange motioned to the portal.
"We talk, but somewhere else."
They look at the menacing robot with the blood-red eyes and Tony patted Ultron's lower back.
"He's coming with me. Junior take Pepper home would you?"
"I'm on it."
Pepper grabbed his hand and Tony squeezed it with a smile on his face.
"Tony?"
"Don't worry."
An Ultron bot that was identical to the Ultron sentries on Sokovia lead her by a hand on her shoulder. He escorted Pepper to her car, pushing through the people that were trying to take pictures or videos. Doctor Strange nodded and walked into the portal first.
"Tony?!"
Bruce gestured to the eight-foot-tall robot and Tony just shrugged and wrapped an arm around Bruce's shoulder.
"We'll talk about him later."
\ /
Wong used his magic to produce a map of the universe.
"From the dawn of the universe, there was nothing. Then, boom!"
He expanded the universe to cover the room. Ultron paced around the room in slight awe, recording the entire exchange.
"The Big Bang sent six elemental crystals, hurtling across the virgin universe. These Infinity Stones each control an essential aspect of existence."
He took out five infinity stones and drew them next to each other.
Doctor strange walks around the stones and names them.
"Space. Reality. Power. Soul. Mind."
He places his arms down to his side.
"And Time."
Dr Strange opens the Eye of Agamotto, revealing the Time Stone emitting an emerald light. Ultron couldn't help but stare at then mind stone, the one from which he was born from.
Tony soaked in the information as if it was the last thing he will ever hear and looked to Bruce.
"Tell me his name again."
Bruce steps forward and the universe map disappears.
"Thanos. He's a plague, Tony. He invades planets. He takes what he wants. He wipes out half the population. He sent Loki. The attack on New York. That's him."
Tony sighed into his hand.
"This is it... What's our timeline?"
"No telling. He has the Power and Space Stones, that already makes him the strongest creature in the whole universe. If he gets his hands, on all six Stones, Tony..."
Doctor Strange spoke next, making sure that his words are put into place.
"He can destroy life on a scale hitherto undreamt of."
Tony leans against the cauldron next to him, stretching like he's about to go for a run.
"Did you seriously just say "hitherto undreamt of"?"
Doctor Strange was visibly annoyed and Ultron went around the room to poke at the artefacts nearby.
"Are you seriously leaning on the Cauldron of the Cosmos?"
"Is that what this is... ?"
The Cloak on Doctor Strange's back smacks Tony's arm, surprising him. Tony was visibly offended but straightened himself.
"I'm going to allow that. If Thanos needs all six, why don't we just stick this one down the garbage disposal?"
Tony points to the Eye of Agamotto and Doctor Strange shook his head.
Ultron was about to touch what seemed to be a birdcage until Wong stopped him by placing a hand against his wrist. Wong shook his head and Ultron raised his hands in mock surrender.
"No can do."
Wong turned back to Tony after dealing with Ultron.
"We swore an oath to protect the Time Stone. With our lives."
"And I swore off dairy, but then, Ben Jerry's named a flavour after me, so..."
"Stark Raving Hazelnuts."
"It's not bad."
Strange shook his head.
"A bit chalky."
Wong stepped forward.
"A Hunka-Hulka Burning Fudge is our favourite."
Bruce looked at them all with shock evident on his face.
"That's a thing?"
Ultron sighed and placed his hand against his metallic face and muttered to himself quietly.
"Wishing I had tastebuds right now."
Tony sighed and stopped the conversation before it could go any more off track.
"Whatever. Point is: things change."
Stange gave him a hardened look.
"Our oath to protect the Time Stone cannot change. This Stone may be the best chance we have against Thanos."
"And still conversely, it may also be his best chance against us."
"Well, if we don't do our jobs."
"What is your job exactly, besides making balloon animals?"
Strange took offence and gave Tony a dangerous look.
"Protecting your reality, douchebag."
Suddenly there was a thick atmosphere within the room and Ultron could be heard powering up his internal battle systems. Bruce broke the tension within the room by splitting them apart and Ultron stopped heating his weapons when Tony nodded at him.
"Okay, guys, could we table this discussion right now? The fact is that we have this Stone. We know where it is. Vision is out there somewhere with the Mind Stone, and we have to find him now."
Ultron laughed loudly and everyone looked at him apart from Tony who shyly hid his face from the rest of them. They waited for Ultron's laughing fit to finish and he even wiped his eye as if there was a tear there.
"Oh...Vison... That's funny."
Tony nodded awkwardly.
"Yeah, that's the... thing."
Bruce looked to Tony with a worried look on his face.
"What do you mean?"
"Two weeks ago, Vision turned off his transponder. He's offline."
"What?! Tony, you lost another super bot?"
Ultron raised his hand like he was a school child.
"Uh? Hello? Am I not back in the land of the living?"
Both Tony and Bruce ignored him.
"I didn't lose him. He's more than that. He's evolving."
Ultron's hand lowers slightly noticing how they flat out ignored him.
"Am I not evolving as well?"
"Who could find Vision, then?"
Wong patted Ultron's back in sympathy and mouthed an "I'm sorry" to him.
Tony mumbled to himself quietly before speaking out his answer.
"Shit. Probably Steve Rogers."
Doctor Strange sighs.
"Oh, great."
"Maybe. But..."
Bruce looks to Tony and motions for him to hurry up.
"Call him."
Tony shook his head.
"It's not that easy. God, we haven't caught up in a spell, have we?"
"No."
Tony tapped his feet together and gave him a frown.
"The Avengers broke up. We're toast."
Bruce eyes Tony, surprised and slightly let-down.
"Broke up? Like a band? Like The Beatles?"
Ultron snickered and Wong struggled to hold in his own laugh.
"Cap and I fell out hard. We're not on speaking terms."
Bruce was almost pleading.
"Tony, listen to me. Thor's gone. Thanos is coming. It doesn't matter who you're talking to or not."
Tony hesitates, before pulling out the cellular phone Steve mailed him, muttering 'flip phone'. It seems as though he brings it everywhere, always ready to call his lost friend. Before clicking "Call", he pauses, distracted by an unusual rumbling.
"Say, Doc, you wouldn't happen to be moving your hair, would you?"
Strange looks up at his forelock fluttering.
"Not at the moment, no."
Ultron looks up, his eyes darting around the room and pointing upwards to the roof.
"Something big just entered the atmosphere. It's closing in on us fast."
Tony looks at the Hulk-made opening through the ceiling and sees debris flying by outside. He exits the Sanctum through the front door and scans the chaotic surroundings, the entire street was shaking and debris flew around everywhere. People were running and screaming in alarm, traffic became tangled and street lights flickered on and off. Ultron activates his speaker mode and three other drone bots come over, forming a sort of triangle perimeter around the street. People stopped to look at him, fear evident on their faces.
"Stay calm. Please make your way out of the city with caution. We don't want anybody to get hurt. Officials will soon arrive to give you the help you need."
A woman falls nearly at Tony's feet and he helps her up.
"You okay?"
The woman ignores him and runs away. A car crashes in on a pole behind Tony and Ultron immediately ran out with his laser sword out.
"Help them! Junior?"
"I'm on it!"
He cuts off the door with one slash and pulls out a man from the car. A drone bot prioritised giving them some first aid whilst Banner watched on incredulously as the robot worked. Tony puts on his sunglasses and a HUD starts to boot up.
"FRIDAY, what am I looking at?"
"Not sure, I'm working on it."
Tony turns around to see Doctor Strange and Wong following closely behind and he points to the Time Stone.
"Hey! You might wanna put that Time Stone in your back pocket, Doc!"
Strange readies a band of spells around his forearms and shook his head ever so slightly.
"Might wanna use it."
A mechanical hum grows louder as Tony approaches the intersection. As he turns the corner, he sees a huge circular ship floating over Bleecker Street.
"FRIDAY, evac anyone south of 43rd Street, notify first responders."
"Will do."
Doctor Strange throws out a spell over Bleeker Street and winks at Tony as the dust clears. Tony is begrudgingly amused for a split second and Ultron claps in a mini applause. Stange bows lightly and gives the robot a friendly smile.
A beam of blue light comes from the ship above and two aliens are standing on the street. One was a buff tall looking fierce fighter. And the other was a far smaller but slim alien with an air of confidence around him. The smaller alien spoke out first and motioned with his hands to his audience.
"Hear me, and rejoice. You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos. I am Ebony Maw and this is Cull obsidian. Be thankful, that your meaningless lives are now contributing to..."
Tony spoke over him, not in the mood for dramatic monologue.
"I'm sorry, Earth is closed today. You better pack it up and get outta here."
Ultron stands next to Tony and readies his weapons internally, heating the lasers mounted within his knuckles. Ebony Maw looks over to Doctor Strange with a snarl on his face.
"Stonekeeper..."
He gestures to Tony with a wave of his hand.
"Does this chattering animal speak for you?"
"Certainly not. I speak for myself."
Magical shields are readied with his fists and he steps forward.
"But you're trespassing in this city and on this planet."
Wong emulates him and Ultron prepares his own laser swords. Tony steps forth and does a shooing motion.
"It means get lost, Squidward!"
Ultron snickered and Tony gives him a fleeting smile.
"Heh, good one."
"You like that?"
Ebony Maw turns to Cull Obsidian and shakes his head.
"He exhausts me."
Cull Obsidian speaks out Two syllables which was unintelligible.
"Bring me the Stone."
He gave out more unintelligible syllables. Cull Obsidian drops his huge alien hammer onto the road and drags it along as he obeys his brethren. Tony hops onto his feet and steps aside next to Bruce.
"Banner, you want a piece?"
Bruce saw this coming and shakes his head.
"No, not really, but when do I ever get what I want?"
"That's right."
Ultron stands back a bit, intending on leaving Bruce to deal with the large alien. Bruce attempts to release the Hulk. Instead of Hulk coming out easily, the most that turns green is Bruce's neck. Tony doesn't realise this and keeps his eyes on the enemy in front of him.
"Been a while. Good to have you, buddy."
"I just... I need to concentrate here for one second. Come on, come on, man."
Tony worriedly looks over to Bruce as he doesn't see the Hulk.
"Where's your guy?"
"I-I don't know. We've sorta been havin' a thing."
"There's no time for a thing."
"I know."
Tony points at the approaching alien warrior.
"Look at that. That's the thing right there. Let's go."
Bruce gives out a loud grunt but fails to release the Hulk. Doctor Strange stares at Tony and Bruce in disbelief.
Tony gives Bruce the side-eye and whispers loudly.
"Dude, you're embarrassing me in front of the wizards."
"Tony, I'm sorry. Either I can't or he won't-"
"It's okay. Hey, stand down."
He taps Bruce's shoulder and pushes him back to Wong.
"Keep an eye on him. Thank you."
Wong nods, keeping his shields up.
"I have him.
"Damn it."
Cull Obsidian approaches the team and Ultron readies his rocket launcher on his shoulder. Tony raises his arm and winks at Ultron before donning his nanotech Iron Man suit in the space of three steps. Cull Obsidian strikes down onto the new suit. Tony grows a shield on one arm to protect himself, then grows a set of blasters that easily throw the Dwarf back to Maw, who gestures and deflects his massive companion into some cars.
Bruce was in total awe and admiration.
"Where'd that come from?"
"It's nano-tech. You like it? A little someth-"
Ebony Maw creates a spike of earth that throws Iron Man far up and attacks the rest of the team with uprooted trees and other debris. Wong summons a large shield to counter the debris that flew towards them, whilst Ultron flies off around it to rain fire on the aliens.
Strange looks over to Banner and starts motioning with his hands to form a spell.
"Dr Banner, if the rest of your green friend won't be joining us..."
Doctor Strange teleports Bruce to a nearby park along with half a taxi. Iron Man flies back to the battle, pushing a car thrown by Maw back at him. Maw cuts it in half and lets the pieces fly past him, untouched. Ultron fires off blasts from his shoulder rocket only to have them get thrown back at him. He dodges them and decides to quickly sweep in for a melee attack but was thrown back down the street with an incredible force of magic. Ultron groaned and quickly caught himself on the road.
"Troublesome."
He turns off his swords and fires blasts of red energy from his fingertips. Ebony Maw used the debris around him to create a makeshift shield and pushed it towards Ultron forcing him to take off into the sky. Whilst Ultron had the attention of the alien, Tony looks to Strange and points down the street.
"Gotta get that stone outta here, now."
"It stays with me."
Ultron got thrown backwards and was almost launched into them if it wasn't for his boosters on his back.
"Exactly. Bye. Junior back me up."
"On it."
Iron Man flies down the street, intending on getting close to Ebony Maw who created a sort of obstacle course for him. Ultron blasted at the debris creating pockets of openings for his creator until he got slammed from the back by a car that Ebony Maw controlled. Iron Man got close but is cut short by Cull Obsidian's hammer, sending him through a building and into the park at high speed, ploughing into the ground and fetching up against a tree.
Cull Obsidian grabbed Ultron who struggled to get out of his grasp and stabbed him with his blade through the stomach. Sparks flew off his body and systems started to fail.
"N-Not good."
He threw the robot into the building where he went through a series of walls and windows until he got caught on the fountain with a loud crash. The water spilt out of the fountain and Ultron sighed as he rebooted his systems to gain back control.
"FRIDAY, how many bots nearby?"
"You have two available prime bodies nearby. ETA three minutes."
Ultron looked over to Tony who was in the dirt and groaned in annoyance.
"Fuck."
\ /
Bruce rushed over to Iron Man who was still on the ground recovering from the hammer attack.
"Tony, you okay? How we doing? Good? Bad?"
Tony pushed himself up slightly, still feeling dizzy from the impact.
"Really, really good. Really good. Do you plan on helping out?"
"I'm trying. He won't come out."
Cull Obsidian arrives at the park and throws his hammer at Bruce and Iron Man.
"Hammer."
Tony pushes Bruce out of the way and gets back into the fight. His energy beams deflect off Cull Obsidian's shield, slicing down the trees nearby. Bruce barely evades one and dodges the tree that falls on top of him. Bruce crawls out from under the branches. Desperate and confused.
"Come on, Hulk. What are you doing!?"
Bruce starts slapping himself multiple times.
"Come on! Come on! Come on!"
Half of Bruce's face becomes the Hulk.
"NOOOOOOO!"
Bruce falls back exhausted into the fallen tree.
"What do you mean, "NO"?!"
\ /
Iron Man is knocked down by Obsidian, who is about to deliver a decisive blow, but the alien's hammer is easily caught. Spiderman looked out from underneath the hammer.
"Hey, man."
Obsidian was shocked and couldn't react, unbelieving as to how he caught his full blow.
"What's up, Mr. Stark?"
"Kid, where'd you come from?"
Cull Obsidian comes back to his senses, grabs Spider-Man and throws him away towards the fountain.
"Field trip to Mo-MA!"
Peter catches himself in mid-air next to the fountain and Ultron waves at him with his one working arm.
"Ultron?!"
"Sup Pete."
Peter swings back into the fight but waves at the robot that was still recovering.
"It's good to see you!"
Peter kicks the back of Obsidians back and he wildly swings trying to catch Spider-Man with his hammer.
"What is this guy's problem, Mr. Stark?"
Tony shot at the alien with his blasters as he flew around him.
"He's from space. He came here to steal a necklace from a wizard."
Ultron digs into his body and rips open the plating that covered his core, leaving it exposed. He reaches in and manually readjusts the main wires which were cut from earlier into the backup desperately. It would take too long for his bodies to get here and they needed all the power they could get.
\ /
Wong and Doctor Strange face off against the smaller alien. Maw lifts several bricks from the ground and turns them into sharp points. He sends them towards Wong and Doctor Strange. The two make portals and boomerang them back towards Maw. Maw moves a car to protect himself, but one spike still hits his head, creating a cut. Angered, Maw uses a broken fire hydrant's water stream to knock Wong back several meters, rendering him unconscious.
Doctor Strange snaps a whip of magical energy to bind Maw's hands and yanks, but Maw flies forward with the pull and pins Doctor Strange upside-down against a building, using the bricks to trap the sorcerer.
"Your powers are quaint. You must be popular with children."
Maw tries to grab the amulet holding the Time Stone but jerks back when it burns his hand.
"It's a simple spell but quite unbreakable."
Enraged Maw grabs Strange by his collar.
"Then I'll take it off your corpse."
Maw pulls Doctor Strange away from the building and throws him to the ground. Doctor Strange starts the gestures to use the Eye of Agamotto, but utility cables from the ground first pin Doctor Strange's arms, interrupting the spell and closing the Eye, while another cable winds around his torso, then tighten around his throat. Strange struggled against the cables and fought for his breath, trying to resist.
"You'll find... removing a dead man's spell... troublesome."
Maw smirks and tightens it even more.
"You'll only wish you were dead."
Doctor Strange falls unconscious and to the ground; Maw raises a portion of street pavement to use as a carrier, but the Cloak works its master loose of the cable spiral and flies Doctor Strange away in direction of the park. Maw notices too late and only just misses them.
"NO!"
\ /
Iron-Man and Spider-Man were still fighting Cull Obsidian, as Doctor Strange passes through the park via his cape. Tony catches the hammer blow and keeps Obsidian still and motions to Peter with his head.
"Kid, that's the wizard. Get on it."
"On it!"
Peter swings off with incredible speed to catch the wizard. Tony blasts the big alien away from him and looks over to the fountain where Ultron struggled to repair his core with one arm.
"How are things looking junior?!"
Ultron missed the slot and he yelled out in frustration.
"Don't rush me!"
\ /
Spider-Man chases Ebony Maw, floating speedily and upright on a small platform of burbling debris leaving a deep rut in the streets, who in turn chases the Cloak-driven Doctor Strange through Manhattan; Maw attacks him, throwing a billboard at Spider-Man to be rid of him.
Peter untangles himself and shakes his head.
"Not cool!"
Maw bends all the utility poles in the path of the fleeing Cloak, finally snagging the loyal garment and ripping it loose of its master. Spider-Man scoops up Doctor Strange before he hits the pavement.
"Gotcha!"
Before he can get away with the unconscious Doctor Strange, a cone of blue light starts pulling the mage relentlessly upwards. Spider-Man grabs a light pole to anchor himself, but Maw uproots it, sending Doctor Strange, the cloak and the teenager on their way to his ship.
"Uhhh, Mr. Stark? I'm being beamed up!"
\ /
"Hang on, kid."
Cull Obsidian's hammer doubles as a claw, pinning Iron Man to the ground and shorting his suit. As Obsidian jumps towards Iron Man, blades ready to end this fight, he is sent through a portal instead. Wong was about to close it until Ultron flies at speed towards them.
"Keep that portal open!"
The alien turns and only to get tackled by Ultron who throws him over the ice. Ultron fires off a rocket from his shoulder and it collided with the ground throwing Obsidian even further back. He looks back up to see Bruce and Wong looking in, worry on their faces.
"Close the portal! Don't worry about me!"
Ultron looks back to the alien that struggled to stand.
"I'm already there."
Wong closes it as instructed and Tony shakes himself free of the Dwarf's weapon which was now powerless since he was in a different place.
"Wong, you're invited to my wedding."
Iron Man begins to fly towards the large ship which was rapidly accelerating out of the Earth's atmosphere.
"Give me a little juice, FRIDAY."
Iron Man's foot thrusters morph together into a single larger jet and increase his speed considerably.
\ /
Ultron moved his head left and right, testing the movement within his head.
"Just me and you big guy."
Obsidian huffs as he stood and Ultron notices the many burn marks all over his scalic body. Ultron was stood proudly with his core exposed to him and the alien spat onto the ground, adding a blue colour to the pure white snow. Ultron sneers at him in disgust and set his laser blades.
"Disgusting creature."
The Dwarf readied his wrist blade and charged at Ultron who met him midway with his own knuckle lasers. The alien overpowered him in strength but Ultron utilised his speed to cut the Dwarf's leg. The alien kneeled onto the ground and Ultron stabbed him through the chest with his swords. He roared in pain and clutched at Ultron's wrists weakly.
"That. Was for earlier."
Obsidian, with newfound strength, pulled himself off the blades and used his strength to smash Ultron's body into the ground.
"Oh shit!"
Ultron used his arms to try and cover his core as the Dwarf repeatedly punched into it. Ultron had no choice but to take on the full impact as some of his escape systems are shutting down from the attack. With one vicious punch, the Dwarf ripped out Ultron's blue core and destroyed it within its palm. Ultron gasped out and gently powered down with a loud whirring.
The alien stepped off the destroyed robot whose chest was fully open and observed his surroundings, thinking that he has finally killed the AI. He turned his back to the robot and Ultron used this moment to clasp himself onto Obsidian's back. The alien panicked and struggled to get the metal off his back. Ultron grinned and quickly activated his suicide protocol.
"Checkmate. Asshole."
The back-up energy core within his stomach area turned violently. It overheated itself and blew up, causing the small village all the way at the bottom of the mountain to look up in surprise.
\ /
Ebony Maw walks towards the controls of the ship, Doctor Strange's unconscious body floating face-down behind him, and prepares to leave Earth's atmosphere.
Tony Stark who was still in pursuit of the ship and his protege, kissed his teeth as he saw his protege still climbing the back of the ship.
"Unlock 17-A."
A pod launches from the upstate Avengers headquarters and curves up to the accelerating circular ship with great speed.
"Pete, you gotta let go. I'm gonna catch you."
"But you said save the wizard!"
Peter, gasping from lack of oxygen, pulls off his mask and tries to breathe in for air.
"I can't breathe!"
"You're too high up. You're running out of air."
"Yeah! That makes sense..."
Peter passes out, free-falling, but not for long before the pod reaches him. It attaches itself to him, becoming the Iron Spider suit. Now being able to breathe, Spider-Man lands on the bottom part of the ship, standing up.
"Mr. Stark, it smells like a new car in here!"
"Happy trails, kid. FRIDAY, send him home."
"Yep."
A large parachute extends from the new suit, snatching Spider-Man free of the ship's hull and him spiralling back to Earth.
"OH, COME ON!"
Iron Man latches onto the hull and cuts a hole to board the ship, looking for wherever Strange and Ebony Maw went.
"Boss, incoming call from Miss Potts."
Tony answered it immediately whilst still looking around the ship. Pepper sounded incredibly worried and stressed.
"Tony? Oh, my God. Are you all right? What's going on?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just think we might have to push our 8:30 reservation."
"What? Why?"
Tony rested an arm on a sturdy box and sighed.
"Just 'cause I'll... probably not make it back for a while."
"Tell me you're not on that ship."
Tony bit his lip and looked around once more at the very alien technology.
"Yeah..."
"God, no. Please tell me you're not on that ship."
"Honey, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I don't know what to say."
"Come back here, Tony. I swear to God…"
"Pep…"
Tony heard her sob quietly on the other end and he mentally kicked himself.
"Come back here right now! Come back!"
"Boss, we're losing her. I'm going, too-"
There was static on the other end and the ship suddenly shifted as if it crashed into something. Tony quickly grabbed onto the box and tapped back into his comms.
"FRIDAY? Come in FRIDAY. Junior? You there?"
He was met with radio silence. Tony took one last look around the ship before making his way through the ship to find the wizard and his stone.
\ /
Meanwhile, back in New York
Bruce finds Tony's flip-phone in the debris on the street and picks it up thoughtfully. Wong opens up a portal back to the Sanctum. As he steps in Bruce calls out for him.
"Where you going?"
Wong, now within the portal turns back around.
"The Time Stone's been taken. The Sanctum remains unguarded. What will you do?"
Bruce, holding up Rogers' old fashioned flip phone gives him a solemn look.
"I'm gonna make a call."
Wong nods and closes the portal without another word, leaving Bruce alone on the street.
"Before you do that!"
An identical Ultron bot from earlier lands next to Bruce and puts his hand out. Bruce recoils and almost falls over at the sight of him.
"Let me tap into the phone, I want to be able to find their location and help them."
Bruce looked up to see more Ultron drones flying across the city, aiding the civilians that were unlucky enough to get caught up in the battle. Ultron sighed and tapped against his chest where a heart would be.
"You have no reason to trust me. Just like how Stark had no reason to bring me back. But alas. Here I am. Let me Help Doctor. I won't let them kill Vision."
Bruce hesitated but in the end, gave in and handed him the flip phone. Ultron smiled in relief and quickly hacked the old device.
"Thank you."