𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗. | ❛ Ultron. ❜

THE AVENGERS GATHERED AT THE LAB. After the Ultron incident, the team huddled up with stressed looks on their faces as they tried to find a plan to defeat the evil droid. Jamie sat at the counter, her feet dangling over as she intently listened to Bruce.

     "All our work is gone. Ultron cleared out, used the internet as an escape hatch," The Hulk fretted, his worried gaze darting over the others.

     "Ultron," Steve interjected, his stoic expression matching his team.

     Natasha sighed, looking at the others. "He's been in everything. Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other." she added, sauntering towards Jamie to stand next to her.

     Rhodes folded his arms in front of his chest, walking forwards. "He's in your files, he's in the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?" he questioned, his scowl deepening.

     "Nuclear codes," Maria told him, her body leaning against the wall.

     "Nuclear codes. Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can." Rhodes said, his voice turning firm.

     Jamie quirked an eyebrow, looking at Rhodes. "Nukes? He said he wanted us dead."

     "He didn't say dead. He said extinct." Steve reminded, shifting his body to look at the ex-soldier.

     "He also said he killed somebody." Clint butted in, his jaw clenched as he looked at his fellow Avengers.

     "But there wasn't anyone else in the building." Maria pondered.

     "Yes, there was," Tony said, bringing up the now destroyed 3D image of JARVIS' consciousness.

     The others watched with bewilderment, eyes narrowed as they studied the material. Bruce let out a sigh, his frown deepening as he looked at the image. "This is insane."

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

     Bruce shook his head. "No, Ultron could've assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy, this is...rage." he exclaimed, his eyes turning wide.

     As Jamie was about to voice her opinion, Thor barged into the lab and grabbed the hold of Tony by the throat, holding him up. The ex-soldier was startled, watching the Asgardian interrogating him.

     "Woah, woah, woah! It's going around." Clint said, looking at the two with an uneasy look.

     Tony grunted, looking at him through his lashes. "Come on. Use your words, buddy."

     Thor's eyes hardened, pulling him closer to his face. "I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark." he sneered, looking at him with a glare.

     "Thor! The Legionnaire." Steve said, causing him to let off Tony with a scoff.

     "Trail went cold about a hundred miles out but it's headed north, and it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it, again." He explained, frantically looking at the others.

     Natasha crossed her arms like two swords. "The genie's out of that bottle. Clear and present is Ultron." she clarified to him, giving him a look.

     "I don't understand. You built this program. What is it trying to kill us?" Helen Cho genuinely asked, her eyes gazing down at the broken robotic figure.

     Laughter emitted from Tony's lips, causing Bruce to subtly shake his head at him, indicating for him to stop.

     Thor scowled. "You think this is funny?"

     "No. It's probably not, right? Is this very terrible? Is it so... is it so... it is. It's so terrible." Tony chortled, shaking his head.

     "This could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand." Thor pushed further, his face glaring daggers at him.

     Tony stifled his laughs with another shake of his head. "No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this." he admitted, giving him a knowing look.

      Bruce cleared his throat. "Tony, maybe this might not be the time to—"

     Tony scoffed, turning his body towards him. "Really? That's it? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls." he scolded, giving him a look.

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

     "We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?" Tony asked in plenary.

     "Well, you did something right. And you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than SHIELD." Steve complained.

     Tony clenched his jaw. "Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?"

     Rhodes' lips turned into a thin line. "No, it's never come up."

     "Saved New York?" He tried, giving him a look.

     Rhodes shook his head. "Never heard that."

     "Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it. We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the live long day, but, that up there? That's... that's the end game. How were you guys planning on beating that?" He ranted, a look of dread painted inside his eyes.

     Steve came in front of him. "Together."

     "We'll lose," Tony told him, a sad look clouding his face before it quickly disappeared,

     Steve shrugged, his eyes hard and serious. "Then we'll do that together, too."

     Tony looked at him for a moment before turning his gaze away. "Thor's right. Ultron's calling us out. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller."

▹

     "What's this?" Tony asked, his eyes squinted as he looked at the photo of Strucker's body Steve showed him.

     "A message. Ultron killed Strucker." Steve answered.

     "And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us," Tony muttered, enough for him to hear.

     "This is a smokescreen. Why send a message when you've just given a speech?" Natasha questioned, her frown deepening as she gazed at the picture with a thoughtful look on her face.

     Jamie hummed in thought, her lips in a thin line. "Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss." she voiced her thoughts, looking at the others.

     "Yeah, I bet he..." The redhead trailed off, looking at the computer monitor. She scowled. "Yep. Everything we had on Strucker has been erased."

     "Not everything," Tony interjected.

     "Known associates. Well, Strucker had a lot of friends." Steve said, mostly to himself as he looked through endless files.

     "Well, these people are all horrible." Bruce rasped, his eyes on Strucker's file.

      "Wait. I know that guy." Tony said as Bruce passed him the photo he was looking at. "From back in the day. He operates off the African coast, black market arms."

     Steve gave him a look, making Tony sigh. "There are conventions, alright? You meet people, I didn't sell him anything." He defended, his attention back on the photo. "He was talking about finding something new, a game changer, it was all very "Ahab."

     Thor pointed to the scar on the back of Ulysses Klaue's neck. "What's this?" he asked, his arms crossed with a focused look on his features.

     "Uh, it's a tattoo. I don't think he had it..." Tony answered, but the Asgardian shook his head.

     "No, those are tattoos, this is a brand." He corrected, pointing at his tattoos.

     Bruce, who was looking through the computer, identified the brand. "Oh, yeah. It's a word in an African dialect meaning thief, in a much less friendly way," he explained, making Jamie narrow her eyes at the newly shared information.

     "What dialect?" Steve asked.

     "Wakanada...? Wa...Wa...Wakanda." Bruce read through the screen, making Jamie's eyes to lit up for a moment before it disappeared.

     Tony clenched his jaw. "If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods..."

     Steve frowned. "I thought your father said he got the last of it?"

     Bruce turned on his chair, his attention on the pair. "I don't follow. What comes out of Wakanda?"

     Jamie jumped from the counter, walking closer to the duo. She pointed at Steve's shield. "The strongest metal on earth." she butted into the conversation, her arms folded in front of her chest.

     "Where is this guy now?"