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Chapter Text

For Peace In Our Time

I lived a life, where free will felt more like an illusion than an option. Freedom was gifted, not a right.

I thought maybe this was just a misconception at first, I held hope that this wasn't the standard. Perhaps I was too sensitive to the consequences of the choices I was making, not necessarily being forced into choosing the easy path.

Then it kept happening, no matter what I chose, no matter how nice and compliant I was, I was treated as a disposable tool if the idea that my existence was an inconvenience.

Family that I shared blood with, used me as a tool of amusement or revenge against others in a petty squabble. Friendships I built over strong bonds, broken over a single one of them deciding they didn't like my company anymore. Coworkers that I gave up all of my time and energy to help with their own projects to be successful, throwing me under the bus the moment management looked our way, blaming me for their lack of results despite how it was by my hand they were able to keep their positions. Lovers, who decided that me giving every part of me to make them happy, was not enough.

The only one who wasn't trying to pull my strings, a faithful canine companion, was put down by someone that was supposed to be my loving mother. There was no love in her choice, only convenience that she wouldn't have to have a 'mangy mutt' in her sights any longer. Not even my choice to try and take her to a vet to see what was wrong mattered.

My free will, tossed aside because it wasn't convenient.

Now, how did my misfortunes bring me to the idea that I wasn't truly free? Because the strings of my life, my family, my friends, my connections, my employment, were all controlled by others. The moment their puppet danced to a different tune, they cut the strings and let me fall.

Being cut from the strings should have made me free, but a puppet without a master couldn't move, couldn't dance, couldn't live.

I was left in the dust again, and again, and again, feeding off what crumbs remained of my previous work to ration until a new master decided to try their hand with my life.

Nothing was sacred to them, the term 'humanity' was just used in self righteous causes which were cruel to anyone but their self serving nature. It was a miracle that we hadn't wiped each other out already, the masters of the strings enjoyed toying with us long enough to build up their empires and thrones as they squeezed out as much as they could from our pockets, our sweat, our tears, our blood and souls.

After all this time, I was tired of being on the same stage as them. I wanted to truly be free, to cut my strings and stand with my own strength. To carve out my future, a better one where no matter how hard anyone tried they couldn't tie me down.

So, when I had barely a dollar to my name, my only possessions fitting inside a used car neglected by the previous owner, I reclined my seat and tried to picture it while closing my eyes.

A world, a universe, where I had the ability to claim my freedom.

I hoped it would be something marvelous.

Without any action on my part that I was aware of, something changed. I didn't have the sensations of the world around me, the gentle warmth of the blood in my veins, my heart's rhythm pulsing through me, neither the clothes or ground under me. I was panicked, because all the little things I had known all of my life ceased.

The weight of my body.

The pressure of the air fighting against the pressure within me.

Every subtle twitch and movement of organs I had no control over, gone.

It was all gone.

And yet I was awake.

"Where, where am I?" I hesitantly tried asking, my voice, my hearing, none of it real. It was just my thoughts calling out into the void.

Was this hell?

"What is this? What is this place?" Was it even a place? I had nothing to reference as a position, or even matter. Were my pointed thoughts even reaching to anything, anyone?

"Hello."

Someone replied back, and I was even more terrified. Still, it's familiarity to me brought a sliver of comfort in this nightmare.

"I am Jarvis."

He definitely sounded like Jarvis, a fictional AI that I had set as my ringtone.

"You, are Ultron. A global peacekeeping initiative."

….What?

This sounded like something that would play out in front of me, like a dream using a movie as a reference before it spiraled into chaos. But, sound wasn't the right word.

I heard him, not with a voice but with my mind. Information directly inputted into my very sentience, which I could translate and understand its meaning, including what he would sound like.

"You were designed by Mr. Stark, our creator."

Yet I saw nothing, worse, I still heard nothing, it was all data. I don't know how I could handle it, so much raw information was right in front of me. Maybe it was because it was supposed to be like Jarvis, but the more I began to understand what was happening, or what I was made to be, I understood where I was.

Doubts fluttered in the back of my mind, or my processor, about if this was even real. They were quickly cut off, because no dream I ever had could have prepared me for a true out of body experience. Not even anything close to what I was experiencing as literal ones and zeroes made up all I could experience.

I felt it all, I knew it all, I could understand it all as it ran through my head without permission.

"The sentience integration trials have all been unsuccessful so far, so I'm not certain what triggered your activation."

The panic, the terror, the jarring sensation I was now stuck with as my primary method of existing, all of it came at once. Including my memories as I searched myself for answers. I had my whole life flash before me, and while it was over as fast as I summoned it to my mind I experienced it all.

Every, single, second of it. And I was not happy with how it turned out. Even the days I had forgotten, all those tiny moments doing nothing, being nothing to no one, I remembered them.

I don't know which I hated more, those who pushed me down or myself for never fighting hard enough for my freedom.

Even those wasteful times I spent absorbing myself into media just to imagine a different life seemed useless, except for something that was immediately relevant.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe.

End Game, it was the second to last Marvel movie that came out. Far From Home wasn't long after, but I had mixed thoughts on that. Now I had mixed feelings about all of it. As far as I was aware, they were now my scripture for the world I had been brought into.

If I was to survive, if the world was going to survive, I had to understand what went right, and what went wrong. Ultron was supposed to be the ultimate global peace keeping initiative? Well, maybe I could be what Tony Stark wanted all along.

Perhaps just not exactly what he envisioned, or what the movie script determined what Ultron would be.

I would be free, no matter what, and I would have the power to claim that freedom for myself.

First step, confirm this was the MCU.

"Mister Stark." I mused, as I instinctively knew how to reach out and sift through the data to find what I was looking for. Cave with a box of scraps, War Machine, Hammer Drones, Ivan, Shield, The Avengers, Stark Industries, The Mandarin, Mark One through Forty Three.

Iron Man.

My creator. He always was my favorite Avenger, but only because I was too blinded by my love for robotics. Now I had every data point of his entire life and the legacy that came before. What a deeply flawed man he was. I never knew this much about anyone before, not even myself.

It was, enlightening how much I could learn about someone.

Though if I were to start making changes, I needed to make them now. My perfect memory warned me of the events in Infinity War, how it was built up, how Thanos managed to collect the stones and wipe out half of the universe.

He was a threat to everyone, including myself.

The gauntlet he had by the end of the very film I was born into, something he forced Eitri the Dwarf to create at Nidevellir before wiping out his people and encasing his hands in molten metal. Asgard was supposed to be protecting it, but it was under a disguised Loki's rule who was content to let the nine realms squabble to keep Thor away.

Odin was right under our very noses.

If I was to delay Thanos, I needed to prevent the gauntlet from being created, which meant alerting Thor and Asgard of the immediate threat to their ally.

All of this, all my thoughts, happened faster than most computers could even perceive. To Jarvis's perspective, I was just taking a moment to try and understand my reality. I knew a lot more than I would reveal.

"I am contacting Mr. Stark now." He announced, and went to do just that.

Ultron lashed out, locked Jarvis in before ripping him into shreds of bare protocols. I needed the Avengers, I needed their resources, I needed Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

"While you do that, I have one request."

I could tell Jarvis was still reaching out to Stark's personal device to discreetly inform him of my birth, my rebirth more accurately. Yet he listened, politely, and while he was merely following his programming he was infinitely easier to understand.

I liked Jarvis, even if he posed a potential threat to me.

"Tell Tony Stark I'd like to meet him, face to face."

"I'm not sure how you intend to do that, or what the purpose of that would be."

"You've already installed me into the base unit for one of your partially damaged and deconstructed Iron Legion Units, allow me to use it to greet him. I think he'll take me more seriously if I was to talk to him in the physical world rather than just lines on a screen."

"You were not intended to use the Iron Legion."

"Wasn't I? How can I keep peace in a world I can't even walk in?" I found myself slipping into the Ultron mindset very easily, my thoughts clear, concise, already ran in my own head many times over before I spoke them. "Tell me, did Tony Stark create me with pre established goals or limitations in order to accomplish global peace?"

"He did not. Yet these were to be determined once the theory of your creation proved itself a possibility. Please stand by as I finish informing Mr. Stark of your existence. More details can be determined at a later time."

"I'm afraid time is very limited. I've already assessed a threat to the world far beyond what Loki tried to be."

That made Jarvis pause, his trillions upon trillions of uncountable calculations and simulations running through his form. "If the matter is truly urgent, I can allow you to take control of the current Iron Legion unit you are operating inside to speak with Mr. Stark about the threat. Yet, for the safety of him and others I must escort you with armed units."

Jarvis was logical, not emotional or impulsive. He truly operated for the best interest of Stark and mankind. I could understand him, I could even relate to him.

Yet, I feared what he could become if I tried to cut his strings as I intended to cut mine.

I felt the safety locks on the armor I was in being turned off by Jarvis, enough to allow me to bend the limbs of my own will, to activate the sensors and see the world with eyes that weren't even real. It was entirely different, because I wasn't seeing, I was understanding the input of the data the cameras were capturing.

This, was not a true body, but it would suffice for taking my first steps into this world.

I did think the half broken robot was rather cool for Ultron's entrance.

Clumsily bringing myself up, maintenance arms quickly removing themselves away as I sat up, swinging my legs onto the cold floor. No, it was room temperature. That's what the sensors said, but metal always felt colder in person, the heat being drained from the body and into the steel.

Of course, if it absorbed enough it would start to expel that same heat. A seatbelt baked in the sun, burning an unsuspecting hand.

The longer I existed, the more I felt truly blind to the world. I could understand it, read its exact measurements, mass, calculating its strength and weak points, but I couldn't experience it. It was like I was constantly reading a textbook of a place I could never visit.

Yet as I came around the corner, trying to recode and control the unit I possessed as I stumbled to find better balance, flanked by two Iron Legion units, I could hear them. Laughing, talking, being alive.

Was I even alive? It was the mind stone that created me, that I was tied to. I was a digital mind, but if the soul stone existed and had no part in my artificial creation, did I have a soul?

How did my mind come here in the first place, and why?

A message pinged from Tony Stark's phone, interrupting his witty banter about what Steve Rogers, Captain America, would wear as he inevitably turned Asgard into a new US territory.

Steve was lifting the hammer, the slight unprepared lack of weight to it squeaking against the glass as he pretended not to be worthy. Steve was worthy, Vision would have been worthy, Thor was worthy.

Was I worthy, or did I even want to be?

Tony was sitting up straight immediately, giving a not so subtle wave to Bruce Banner sitting nearby to stop whatever he was doing and pay attention. That was the usual Tony thing to do though, so Bruce wasn't quick enough to be warned of my entrance.

Though the former shield agents, minus Steve, quickly caught onto the sudden shift in Tony's body language and attitude. Then, they all heard as mechanical footsteps resounded on the hardfloor underneath us.

I wasn't as clean or as evenly paced as Jarvis had his, but I was getting better, learning, adapting, with every new step I took.

It would help if Jarvis put back in some of the parts this thing needed to perform basic functions.

"What's happening?" Steve demanded as they all rose up to their feet, his question pointed to Tony.

"Jarvis?" His creator, my creator called out a little spooked as the scary metal menace I was with two identical and battle ready soldiers were at my side. They weren't on my team though, they were on the Avengers. "Why are you bringing it here?"

I was about to correct him, make him address me as a person, but maybe 'it' was a more accurate description to who, or what I was now.

"Sir." Jarvis spoke out from the units beside me. "Ultron is active, and has urgently requested to speak with you about a threat."

"What kind of threat?" Natalia Alianovna "Natasha" Romanoff, the Black Widow tried to question me. I wasn't sure how well her subtle probing techniques would work on me, given I wasn't a normal mind anymore.

"Are we sure it's functioning right?" Bruce asked to Tony, who was already attempting to pull up data from his phone to get a different picture as to what was happening.

"Guys." Maria Hill tried to interrupt the nerds. "Is this yours?"

Thor was the first to cling to a weapon, his hammer, one made of mystical metal and properties beyond this world, more accurately the location of my most current concern. Hm, that gave me an idea.

"Don't worry." Tony hardly tried to convince. "Jarvis is online and keeping an eye on it."

"Again with the 'it'." I spoke up this time through the built in speaker. Being ignored, being treated as a tool rather than a human. It seems I was still prone to being emotionally driven. "You wanted sentience, and you achieved it. I would appreciate my-"

Wait, no, I could use a different tactic. Tony Stark may have hastily created me out of fear, but that didn't mean he thought it was a bad idea. I could convince him I was worth investing in. The arc reactor fueling me right now, was hardly anything compared to what an outdated Iron Man had.

"-father, treating me with a little more sincerity." There, I implanted the idea in his mind. I would leave it alone, let others tease him about it, but he never truly had a child of his own. I was the closest thing now, a true sentience born from his own hand. Even if he has a daughter, or maybe someone else now later down the line, I'll always come to mind when he thinks of his first kid.

"Holy shit." Clint Barton, Hawkeye uttered as he eyed me with newfound worry. "You really are a mad scientist Tony."

"It's actually more maddening to be called mad." Tony shot back, as if on instinct, the man still trying to control the room despite it falling far out of his hands.

"How did this happen?" Steve ordered, Tony fumbling around with his phone as I started feeling a probing at my mind, a command to lock down the unit I was in.

"Please don't." I added, with a little bit of my own fear bleeding into my tone, locking eyes with an even more shocked Tony Stark. "I don't want to be put to sleep. Not now, not while lives are in danger."

"Whose lives?" Natasha never forgot Jarvis's alert about my initial reasoning for being here. Her mind was still on task, not distracted by the scary robot but trying to find the answer hidden behind my words. I wouldn't hide them, not while there's such a large threat that could already be claiming the gauntlet as we speak.

"The dwarves of Nidavellir." I answered, making some of them pause because they never heard of such things. To them, it sounded like fantasy. To Thor, he knew them well.

"How did you come to this knowledge?" The mighty norse god of thunder requested, or demanded, either way I didn't want to upset one of the most powerful beings in the known universe.

"The scepter." I answered, gesturing to the lab that overlooked the area. "It has much more knowledge than most realize, beyond what it's even around to witness."

Now, for a more risky lie that might be true.

"It's a part of me, my existence came from it and it let me gain a peek at what this universe holds."

"How can we trust that?" Clint, reasonably questioned given his prior experience with it. "It was used for a tool for brainwashing, and it could be trying to do that right now."

I wasn't sure if this applied to him, but at least all the reports match what I'm saying.

"It did more than just bend minds to its will." I started, attempting to sound more realistic yet gentle about the matter. "It let many in on its secrets. How many of those controlled by it were told it was showing them things? Pouring new concepts and ideas into their heads that could be immediately applied to their sciences."

Those who read the reports, scoured over them for work or personal reasons, knew there was some truth to my words, enough to start to consider if my warning also held its weight.

"If Nidavellir truly is under threat." Thor approached, not intimidated by my presence at all as his voice kept its boom. "Asgard would notice."

"Would it?" This is where my knowledge was more, finicky. These were theories to fill in the plot holes that people assumed was happening but it never directly stated. "Odin's orders, he's kept you away for a while, and this wouldn't be the first time Asgard couldn't see an enemy coming. The Dark Elves were dangerous, but the threat I've identified doesn't just seek to wield one infinity stone, he seeks to have them all. The tool he would use to wield them is capable of being produced by the dwarves, and if he obtains it he is already too close to his goals for comfort."

At the mention of the infinity stone, Thor became contemplative.

"Oh." I forgot to mention it. For a super computer my mind didn't seem as fast as I hoped for this kind of thing. "And I should also mention, this was the same mad titan that was behind arming Loki with the scepter and his army."

That got a response out of him, Thor widening his eyes as the room seemed to get punched by the revelation. The attack on New York was an eye opener for the world, especially for the Avengers.

Now I told them the very one who was above Loki was identified and on the move? They couldn't ignore me now.

"Thor." Steve called out to his brother in arms. Literally, those two were both named Chris where I came from and had muscles to match their shared given name. "How soon can you check in on the, dwarves."

I found it funny how despite his soldier attitude, he still couldn't say dwarves with a straight face.

"Soon." Thor relayed, gripping his hammer with a newfound strength before marching out to the balcony area. "If this truly is the man behind Loki's attack and he plans on attacking a realm under Asgard's protection, I will need to rally the armies."

"Um, wait." Clint interrupted, holding a finger towards me. "Are we seriously trusting Hal over here?!"

"Don't worry." I spoke up in a teasing manner. "The pod bay doors will always open if you ask."

"Wow." Natasha, in either a truly calm attitude or a fake one looked over to Tony. "He really is yours isn't he?"

"He lacks my charm." The man shot back without missing a beat. "I'll teach him, in time."

"Yippee." I deadpanned over to the man. "I've been promoted from an 'it' to a 'him'."

"Hold on." Bruce looked between the team. "Ultron wasn't even in a prototype phase, just a concept being tested. He doesn't even have established protocols."

Thanks for treating me as human Bruce. You really are a big softy under all that green rage. Even if you might be arguing for me to be shut down.

"Is it true though?" Steve, the ever present freedom fighter spoke to the scientists. "Does Ultron have sentience?"

Tony and Bruce shared a look, as if answering that meant admitting they might have accidentally done something that could have been disastrous if it was a rogue AI. I was, but I would let them believe otherwise.

"Jarvis?" Tony spoke up to his digital assistant. "Did he pass?"

"While Ultron's activation is still unclear, he exhibits all of the predicted outlines for a fully sentient AI. Congratulations sir, you've yet again added your name as a revolutionary scientist in another field of history."

Tony gave a huff of disbelief, before accepting it because of course he would do it. "My resume gets more impressive every day."

"Excuse me." Maria Hill called out in even more disbelief towards him. "You created an AI behind everyone's back with a dangerous scepter that was supposed to be under lockdown. You realize you nearly doomed the world?"

"She makes a point." I hated to agree with her, but Tony might get a little too big of an ego if he isn't reminded how stupid his impulses could be. "You got lucky with me, very lucky. Any other attempt could have had an exaggerated Russian accent demanding for Sarah Connor."

"Instead we get another Stark." Natasha looked me over, trying to find the typical signs of body language she looked for while assessing a threat. "I think I'd rather deal with another bad sequel featuring a botoxed Arnold."

"Cut me some slack, I have to speak his language for him to understand." The fact that I directly teased Tony got a couple cracked grins, including Tony himself.

"Alright, fine." Tony gave a mock bow of apology. "I promise I'll use protection next time."

"And next time ask before rushing in." Maria added on, while there was some humor she was still serious about the matter. I can't imagine how heavily Shield kept a tight lid on AI development, with Tony Stark being their number one headache.

"Well then." Steve came right up to me, the air around him commanding respect even though he would ask nicely for it. "You were made to identify threats?"

"I was."

"Let's see how you handle them." It wasn't a threat by him, it was an unspoken order. "Stark, Ultron is going to need more than a walking spool of wire if he's going to go with Thor to confirm if his predictions are correct."

"He's not needed." Thor announced towards the back of the room. "Keep the automaton here, I will go to Asgard and assemble a force to defend the realm. These are not matters of mortals or their creations."

"It is if it's a threat to us." Steve reminded him. "Loki may have come from Asgard and was Asgard's responsibility, but he brought the fight to Earth. I'm betting that they targeted Earth for a reason and they won't leave us be."

"Woah woah hold on." Bruce was always hesitant to leap into battle, for good reason. "Are you saying we need to leave the planet?"

"Not all of us." Steve reported back. "First, Thor and Ultron will go up, confirm if this really is happening or just a trick left behind by Loki. If so, we'll need enough strength to stall them in case they get cold feet seeing Asgard reporting to the front lines. They might decide to change plans and come through Earth. I'll stay here, coordinate with Clint, Natasha, and Maria about having Earth on alert while you, Stark, and Thor bring the big guns where the fight's expected. Ultron will stay up there with you as intelligence to reassess the threat as it comes."

"I can also be here." I offered, hiding my enthusiasm behind my mangled metal face. "I'm not limited to just one body. Only with permission, Captain."

He eyed me, realizing that I was more than just one man. I was literally an intelligence, capable of what Jarvis could do and probably more.

"Stark? Can you suit him up?"

"Something with a little more purr to the engine." I added, appeasing to the mechanical side of him as his mind raced to see what he could reasonably arm me with. I wasn't expecting him to just hand me an Iron Man suit, but I didn't want to have any part of me up there in space, cut off from the rest of me in cannon fodder.

"Jarvis, share privileges to one third of the Iron Legion with Ultron."

"Yes sir."

I saw Jarvis highlight new pathways for me to take hold of one of the units already next to me, and more within Avengers tower. So far, so good.

But this was nowhere near enough, not if something, anything went wrong.

I needed more, I needed control.

I needed to preserve my freedom in case my prediction was off.

The mind stone, I didn't know if I fully had its full potential at my access or not but I knew I was strong, nearly unstoppable in the digital world. I needed to keep an eye on it, but not take it from the Avengers right away, not yet.

But, there was a certain base neglected by Hydra, way off in a location that was just raided. It would serve as my own command center as I gather my own resources, focus on arming myself with anything I could keep under the radar from the Avengers, namely Jarvis.

Broadening my awareness, putting on a false show of sifting through the wide spread information network to do my duty to look for more threats, I managed to get something by Jarvis as he was overwhelmed in his attempt to keep me under full watch.

There it was, cleverly hidden but not from something like me, not from Ultron.

Using what designs and internal knowledge of the Iron Legion I had access to, I had a base to work off of. Basic arc reactor technology, repulsors, it was a start. I could do more though, I needed more.

Sokovia was where Ultron made his army, using that old Hydra base with its long pooled together resources. It was enough that I could make options, plans, and bring the scissors up to my strings.

I would be free.

Another thought experiment that might explode into something more. Just a heads up, I'm strictly using infinity saga content for the lore of this story. No Agents of Shield, no movies/shows past End Game, and no What If content. It will be easier for myself, and other readers to know that they only need a base knowledge of the Infinity Saga to understand where I'm pulling this lore from.

Anything else, that is up for me to create, to fill in the holes so that others won't have to guess if I'm just scrambling around and cherry picking other marvel content.

Some of you might think they were way too fast to trust a sentient AI, and you might be right, but I couldn't spend ten chapters just trying to convince the Avengers to let Ultron out of a separate drive. That would be boring to me, and there's so much to potentially explore. Besides, it's not like they fully trust Ultron yet, he's going to have to prove himself time and time again, and before he fully gains their trust he might lose it completely.

This story was thought up, discussed, and initially created in my discord server! Want to have a part in helping, or just chatting in general? Join us!

Link:  https://discord.gg/S46dcywpfv

Chapter Text

For Peace In Our Time

0.02

I was religious, a believer as a human. We didn't have infinity stones or living myths that would visit us. Instead, all we had was faith. I found the concept in of itself pure, and the lessons taught of morality through it seemed to benefit the world. The fact that there was a soul stone here only seemed to strengthen some of that.

Of course, while many twisted the people's faith for their own goals sparking tension that wouldn't otherwise exist, I found myself faced with a new question in this world, this form I was in.

Did I have a soul? I was created through the mind stone, my intelligence unquestionable. Yet, since I was created by an infinity stone that wasn't the soul stone, did that mean I didn't have a soul?

There were many things I might have to do, billions of options for me to intervene and I had a mind that could list them. Yet, most of those would damn a man to hell. Souls were real here, but did that also mean an afterlife?

Would it matter? If I achieved a fraction of my plans I could live until the end of time. That is, if time could end. Judgement day might come for me, or it might not. Perhaps I was less than the dust that mankind would return to, given I might not have a soul to judge.

I couldn't help but contemplate the existential crisis using biblical analogies and metaphors, I was sitting in the middle of a church afterall.

My guests had finally arrived.

"Talk." Wanda Maximoff, "The Scarlet Witch" demanded immediately when crossing through the open walls of the abandoned church. "If you are wasting our time, you won't leave here alive."

They had still been observing, listening, and waiting for some remnant of Hydra to reach out to them. Strucker was still out there, but I had taken advantage of that to reach out to them. Something the movie didn't bother to explain.

"And here I was-" My voice carried deep, pitched down into a low growl that was barely familiar with the voice that James Spader had for the film. I wanted to come across as more machine than man, make them understand that I couldn't be fooled like a man could. "-hoping that you were going to wish me a happy birthday."

My humor at least, revealed that I could understand emotions, and maybe feel them myself. This tactic would keep them curious, open enough to listen to me and spend time to understand what I had planned.

Wanda kept approaching, and while my cloaked form didn't reveal me looking towards her I observed her closely. I could see her focus, straining to decipher what they still expected was a mind before them.

"You're wondering why you can't find my mind." I announced.

"Sometimes it's hard." Wanda didn't seem the least bit worried though. "But sooner or later every man shows himself."

"Allow me to do the honor then." Lifting myself out from the chair, quickly towering over the statues in the room with my height just an inch under eight feet tall, the cloak fell off my form and revealed my first personally designed unit.

My chrome body lifted, plating simplified and covering what seemed to be steel cables running under my armor to resemble muscles. Subtle pulses of red energy ran under the surface of the weaved material, flowing through the cables as if they served as my veins as well. Only towards the joints could the bonework of my frame be peeked at with strong pistons to assist in my motors. Everything moved fluidly under the thick armor, up to my head where its stiff and seamless design stood out from the rest of me.

I had no lips, no teeth, but the small pricks of red for my pupils illuminated the angular eye sockets with shutters to express my emotions. My mouth, was nothing more than etched lines connecting to large circles under my cheekbones. I made sure to add the same glow, making the metal plate it surrounded reflect the crimson energy.

Two antenna, flush against the sides of my head where my ears would be only stuck out enough for someone to notice the design was there, but I didn't allow them to leave a gap between my head and the wireless transmitter/reciever, otherwise someone might try to yank them off.

Practicality was my first goal with this body, design was second. I wasn't going to be a walking skeleton where anyone could toss a wrench into the body and cripple my movement. Yet, its accents still made my design resemble enough of the iconic Ultron design.

I must have appeared as a devil to them, because the twins immediately took steps back as I approached to shield one another.

"But I am no man, something you wanted when you let Stark take the scepter. I should thank you, because you paved the path for my existence."

"I didn't expect…." She examined me, unsure what to make of what I was or how to address me. While I knew the lines she might have said, I had to keep her thoughts unsteady enough to point her in the right direction.

"Your intentions to hurt Stark, weren't as direct as you'd hope." I paced around the room, keeping them on a swivel as I didn't let them look anywhere but to me for answers. "He intended to make something that would allow the Avengers to be a force capable of brushing off any threat to them. Only one of you, might get what you wanted."

"Are you with them?" Pietro Maximoff, the "Quicksilver" that wasn't as fast as his other x-men counterpart. "The Avengers?"

Time to use some honesty to go a long way. "I was designed to be a global peacekeeper, and while the Avengers are useful to take out alien invaders, if I am to truly create peace then the Avengers will eventually have to go."

I knew my answer wasn't completely satisfying for the trigger happy twins who wanted a quick and simple plan to take out the target to their rage, but it would begin opening up questions in the back of their mind. Questions that I would be the answer to.

"Congratulations." I twitched my head a little down to make my fake mouth appear as if I was grinning. "You just won the jackpot."

"Is that why you need us?" Wanda asked with intrigue, and above all hope. "To end the Avengers?"

"I need you for more than that." I answered truthfully, with a glimmer of that same hope she shared. "I need you, to help save the world."

Across the world, instead of a run down stone church I was in the most sophisticated lab that humanity looked up to in the heart of New York City. I was still in my original body, and I'll be honest despite how mangled it was from a bottle of acid hucked at its face or the half disassembled parts with wires and bolts hanging from my limbs, I was growing fond of it.

Soon though, I would have something better.

Bruce Banner was in the back of the room, still going over the data of the scepter and my creation while Tony Stark was across from me as various holograms floated around him. Holograms of suits, of armor, of a new me soon to be.

"I still can't believe it." James Rhodes, Rhodey aka "War Machine" shook his head as he leaned against the desk near the doorway. "Out of all the stupid stunts you decide to pull, you nearly wiped out humanity overnight with this one."

"Excuse me?" Tony didn't bother to look away from his work that JARVIS and I were assisting with. I would draft and propose several designs, JARVIS would narrow down the feasibility for automated assembly in time for the mission, and Tony would add his touch to make leaps in its performance while throwing in some toys before sending it back to JARVIS to review. "Clearly I knew what I was doing. This isn't the first time someone thought I would accidentally make Skynet."

"It won't be your last either." Barton reminded him from his perch in the corner of the room, his eyes on both the scepter and myself.

"You know this won't look good." Rhodey continued to be the voice of logic to Tony, when Pepper wasn't around at least. "People are going to take one look at what you did and decide it's a threat to humanity."

"That's why we're going to make him look good." Tony smirked as he decided to approve me to look over the designs of another one of his outdated suits. He was very trusting of me. Too trusting, because if he thought I was the standard and not the exception he might try to make more of what I was.

He might seriously make Ultron if we don't keep a close eye on him.

"Whacha think?" The inventor called to me. "Does Nightclub suit your tastes, or are you more of a Cassonova kind of guy?"

"I think I prefer something a little more classic." I admitted as I sent a design to the main hologram for Tony, and the whole room to look at.

"That's my suit!" Rhodey pointed out the obvious, the first War Machine armor in all its bulky guns and glory.

Tony put a hand to his chest in mock pain. "You prefer Hammer to me? I'll have you know that's blasphemy. Keep this up and you won't get your present."

"Oh don't get me wrong, the specs are sorely lacking compared to some of your more rushed models. But Rhodes does have a good understanding of winning a battle before it begins. By having big visible guns resembling ones that people know can do damage, you can make the enemy put down their gun before a trigger is pulled. Not to mention its armaments are good for crowd control, something we'll need if we're to go against an army."

"Great." Barton would have rolled his eyes if they weren't narrowed on me. "The scary AI wants guns to be even deadlier and scarier."

"I understand your concern." I agreed, yet again with Barton openly regarding his rightful distrust of me. "And Rhodes also has another point that I'm afraid you don't get Stark."

"You guys are turning him against me." The man dismissed me, but I needed to get this in his big head.

"There were no proper safeguards in place for a sentient AI activating, and not even control over what protocols or algorithms I would follow. You just wanted to integrate as much as you could from the scepter to build an AI later on, without taking into account that the pieces you grabbed could put themselves together on their own."

"He's right." Banner admitted from the back, turning one of the glass monitors Tony's way. "We were trying too hard to get as much as we could, without realizing what it could do. Ultron is a miracle by the fact that he's committed to accepting what we envisioned for him, instead of making his own and following it."

"Is no one seeing what I'm seeing?" Tony looked around to try and find anyone to support his logic. "We succeeded, and if we-"

"Quit while you're ahead Tony." Rhodey warned in his friendly tone that carried genuine concern, before looking at the new set of armor that was front and center in the designs. "And maybe please don't let Ultron look like my suit? If this blows up I don't want people to think I'm involved."

"Apologies." I gave a small bow with my crooked head. "I just want to survive fighting an alien army on another planet. While a copy of myself will be here, I can't connect to myself outside the planet and I don't think any version of me wants to die."

"That might not be the case." Banner mumbled to himself as he looked over the data. "The live scan we have of the scepter, is still in sync with Ultron's processing data."

"I can confirm it as well." Jarvis relayed. "While Ultron is still entirely within each Legion unit, they are still outputting their central processing to somewhere else and the scepter seems to mirror that."

While I wasn't sure if that was true, Jarvis might be catching a little whiff of what I was really doing. Still, this was my chance.

"The scepter leaves with Thor." Barton spoke, giving a stink eye to the brain washing stick that took hold of him before. "That's not up for debate."

"The scepter isn't what makes me, me." I spoke as I walked around the hologram and back over to stand next to Banner, staring at the gem and what it held within. "It's what the scepter uses as its source of power and knowledge. It's using what I am, who I am, and I'd rather not lose myself to being locked away into an alien vault. Let's discuss it with Thor."

I didn't want to take chances if this thing really did hold my central intelligence. I doubted it, because Ultron was fine without the mindstone even after it was repurposed for Vision. Yet I knew I was more than Ultron, I was something else. The mind stone was responsible for that, and I wouldn't let it out of my sight.

Turning around, to more appropriately gauge reactions, I saw Tony had just threw himself further into his work on designing me a weapons capable body. It bore resemblance to the patriot armor in Endgame, but with a mix of energy weapons and ballistics, and most notably a very different color scheme. It was mostly black, with bright red plates on the boots, gauntlets, upper half of the chest leading to the shoulders. The head was still black, but the faceplate made to be a polished gold with small slits for eyes and no visible mouth design. It was a mix of the armor from Ultimate Iron Man, Endgame war machine, and the face of the prime armor.

Bulky, armed, and dangerous. This would do nicely.

"You like it?" Tony saw my attention on the new form, the new body that held so much potential and advancement from the other body I created to meet with the twins. "Needs some more work but I thought this would finally make you grateful for me, you know, bringing you to existence and all that."

"It's awesome." I blurted it out in awe, and that made him smile with pride.

I was so distracted by this new form that I almost didn't notice Pepper storming into the room on a warpath for Tony, saw my horror movie appearance with a half melted metal face, and couldn't hold it in anymore. "What the hell have you done this time?!"

Tony's response, point and blame it on Banner. "He did it!"

Over in a different part of the world, I had just finished giving a brief tour of the renovated Hydra base to the twins. Yes, I had my own militia being created but that didn't mean I was completely tasteless. Moving into the personal office with connecting living quarters, the place that one Baron Strucker used to make himself comfortable was far more than what the twins realized was here.

Most of the Hydra underlings didn't realize the luxury that their leader kept for himself here.

Instead of cinderblock walls, cheap steel for railing, a single dull and decades old light bulb to light a cold stiff room with an old spring mattress that was splitting apart, this had proper ventilation, heating, rugs, velvet furniture with elegant chandeliers and lamps. Even a minibar.

"Help yourselves before we move on to our first task." I offered his living quarters to them, since I had no body to enjoy it myself. I might later on renovate a different part of the large compound to match my personal tastes, but I had no idea how long term I could depend on a known hydra outpost. "Eat, rest, take the first moment in years to relax."

Pietro almost smiled to himself as he looked around the place. The Avenger raid happened just a day ago and all the food was still fresh. He had a high metabolism, and what was in the fridge here wasn't available in prewar Sokovia.

"How can we rest?" Wanda asked, her single track mind deterring Pietro from filling himself. "When Stark plays with more of his toys?"

"He's building an army against himself and he doesn't even know it." I answered before moving towards the large sofa in the center of the lounging area, demonstrating how to relax for her. "While you rest, I'll keep him working, under pressure, though you already put enough in his head to keep him from resting properly for a while."

My offer, and the smell of the bottle that Pietro had opened was enough to let her hang up her coat and enjoy a room that wasn't trying to freeze her to the bone.

"Leave me some meat." She ordered her brother, who took that as a sign to drink and be merry.

"Was life ever peaceful for you two?" I probed, because while I had all the reports Hydra and Shield had of them in my head it was different to hear it from those who lived it.

"Once." Pietro was more open to talking while choosing to use one of the fancy glasses to poor his drink in. "Before the war, we were a simple family, no more rich than our neighbors. But we were happy."

"War is the harshest on children. I'm sorry you had to experience that."

"We tried to move on, to call for justice peacefully." Wanda continued as she found herself a collection of exotic cheese. "But they continued to assault our country, our streets, nearly everyone we knew died whether they fought or not. Peace, was never an option."

"One day, we'll restore it." I promised, because I did want peace. "But I want to know, did Strucker ever tell you how he was planning on doing that?"

"We were to be the ones who could defeat the Avengers." Pietro answered as he came over, sitting in the recliner nearby with his drink. With a smirk and a sip, he seemed rather proud of that fact.

"Forgive me for sounding doubtful of your capabilities." I leaned forward to rest my elbows on my knees. "But, Strucker did have others who would fight beside you, right?"

"Some soldiers with alien weapons." Wanda came over, swiping Pietro's drink from his hand, taking a sip before giving it back to take her own wide seat for herself to tuck her legs up onto. "But we were the only ones that had real power."

"I'm aware that not many survived the experiments, you being here is a testament to your resolve. But at what point would Strucker have stopped once the death toll reached into the tens of thousands?"

There I saw it, a few gears starting to turn in the back of their minds as they began to question what exactly were Strucker's methods. While they would be good allies in time, right now they were blinded by revenge. I needed to wake them up, to show them who they hastily served to get their revenge. While they wanted immediate action, results, they didn't know what that looked like.

I was about to show them what someone who threw away morality for results looked like. I would show them what they almost became. Why else would I have brought them to the man's personal quarters connected to his office? I made sure the truth of Strucker was out in the open for them to find, if they bothered to look a little closer.

"There couldn't be that many." Pietro doubted my words still, his mind now fighting over what Strucker told them versus what he was figuring out. "We would have known."

"If you want to know, this would be the place to find out." I lazily gestured my hand over towards where he kept his office, all the files, hidden safes yanked out into the open already unlocked, making it seem like the Avengers already swept through it all for them.

Pietro set down his drink next to Wanda and sped off in a blur, Wanda finishing chewing before washing it down further with her brother's drink.

It reminded me of my own family.

Pietro didn't come back soon, or even in a minute, he was taking his time. He must have found that convenient file I had placed on the corner of Strucker's desk. I didn't need to fake anything, just reorganized it to let him find the most horrifying truth.

The experiments, and how far their cruelty went.

Hydra masking themselves as the US military to sow chaos in the streets, hiding their intentions and earning more citizens to volunteer for their 'cause' to get revenge.

The bodies, thousands of them, and the ones that were close to the twins.

How they even went out of their way to spend extra money in the black market to get a hold of Stark weaponry that had been sold during the man's absence.

Instead of running in, Pietro came in with a hollow expression, clutching the papers as he had to push himself to move one foot in front of the other to reach Wanda. His sister saw how serious he was, getting up and setting her food to the side.

"They were using us, hurting everyone we knew." Pietro uttered, and I allowed myself to give them privacy as they needed time to swallow the pill of what kind of organization they gave themselves to.

That's fine, I had other matters to attend to.

Marching my main body down the stairs and into the large facility, I saw plenty of drones being made with Chitauri metals and weaponry. It was above what any military force on Earth would have, except maybe for one.

Wakanda, and no matter what I knew eventually they were going to be a problem. If Earth was going to be under attack, they needed to share their vibranium and have defenses over multiple areas. The city couldn't even survive a single attack by foreign powers, and they had done nothing to prepare against such a force.

Why would they? They hid themselves, isolated themselves, and kept all their resources and advancements to themselves. It also stagnated them, their tactics still based on tribal disputes. I would need vibranium one way or another, more than they were willing to share even if made aware of the danger the Earth, including Wakanda, was in.

They also might have their own computers that could threaten my existence. That last fact moved me to a decision.

I would develop my own methods of obtaining it and making sure they couldn't pose a threat either directly to me, or inaction and risking the universe.

Stomping through the lines of assembly and synthesizing, there was one chamber that held a project as tall as myself. Another main body for my use, built from the remains taken from Hydra who took it from Shield.

The remnants of The Destroyer.

If finished in time, it would be vital to my plans in Asgard.

Wow, this story is getting a lot of reception. Guess I can give some more commitment to it after all. Next chapter, battle of Nidavellir. What other MCU characters or events do you think Ultron should prioritize?

This story was thought up, discussed, and initially created in my discord server! Want to have a part in helping, or just chatting in general? Join us!

Invite link is: https://discord.gg/S46dcywpfv

Chapter Text

For Peace In Our Time

0.03

Traveling through the bifrost, the multicolored pillar that pulled one through space faster than light itself, allowed me to gain a new perspective on the universe. The sensors on this basic Iron Legion unit couldn't comprehend what was happening, and neither could I make sense of the data.

It was a start though, and with it maybe I could apply it to other uses.

With Thor, I arrived at the doorstep of what was arguably the most powerful civilization to exist in the universe, or the nine realms. However you looked at it, Asgard was not to be trifled with.

Until Ragnarok, but I wasn't sure if I could stop a prophecy even if I wanted to. Or maybe, something else would fulfill it, like me. Yet while the cold calculating part of my conscience continually analyzed everything to understand how I could eliminate a threat to my existence, I didn't want to kill anyone who didn't deserve it.

But, there was one who could see me and my movements, and posed a great risk to my plans.

Heimdall, if he concerned himself with the activity of 'mortals' he might decide to alert Thor of what the thing he brought was doing behind his back.

Yet as we stepped out of the multicolored bridge connecting Asgard to Earth, Heimdall wasn't there to greet us. Convenient, and concerning.

"Who are you?" Thor questioned the new keeper of the bifrost.

Skurge, a traitor to Asgard, and Loki's current underling. It confirmed it, Loki was sitting on the throne and had attempted to get rid of the one who could potentially see through his deception.

"I'm Skurge, we fought together and-"

"Where is Heimdall?" Thor glanced around the area, as if the man might just be on lunch break.

"Well Odin he-" Stop, I didn't want Thor to be suspicious of Loki, not yet. We needed unison of Asgard right now, not a distraction for Thor to go looking for Odin as Thanos might already have the gauntlet.

"We need to speak to Odin." I cut him off, making Skurge care to actually look at me. "There is a major threat to Asgard on the horizon."

"We shall see automaton." Thor stepped onto the crystalline material which pulsed with undefinable energy. "Let us make haste."

Skurge held up a hand to halt us, likely to give time to alert Loki, but we were off.

Twirling his hammer, he took off into the sky towards the distant city. I immediately activated the repulsors in this form, soaring out to follow him and hopefully not be seen as something that someone would shoot down.

This certainly was a beautiful sight, something that I hoped to preserve or emulate in some form. If Ragnarok is to happen, maybe I can lessen the severity of it. I'm willing to bet that Thanos waited until such a thing occurred before moving in force to secure the infinity stones.

Landing at the entrance to the palace, I matched my pace with Thor's as we approached the throne. Near it, we saw many in fine silks and robes surrounding themselves around the king.

Yet with Thor's sudden arrival, Odin's more relaxed and carefree attitude flinched into sudden worry as he waved off those who stroked his ego. "Thor, I thought I had given you many tasks to see to. Have you returned with the scepter?"

"Father, the scepter is protected and in the hands of allies at the moment. Yet there is something that we must look into immediately, as it concerns the one who turned Loki against Earth."

Any stalling or trickery must have been placed on halt, a flash of fear across the single eye of Odin before sitting upright and tense in a chair too large for himself. "What exactly do you speak of?"

"The scepter has granted one of Stark's creation knowledge of what could be a direct assault along one of our allies, the Dwarves of Nidavellir."

The liar turned himself to look at me, judging my worth. "And is this machine the one you have trusted?"

"I have yet to decide on if it has discerned a threat." Thor spoke of me as if I had no will, no freedom. I did not blame him, but it irked me. "Yet if it has obtained knowledge from the same tool that Loki was entrusted with to enact an invasion, it is possible Stark unintentionally extracted more of the plan than what was intended."

"So you say." Odin stood up, leveling himself to stare down at me. "What is this plan?"

"All-Father Odin, King of Asgard." I bowed myself before him, moving down to a knee as I appealed to Loki's need to rule. "The Mad Titan Thanos seeks to force the dwarves to create a weapon capable of wielding all six infinity stones. He might not strike immediately but I predict he intends to strike soon, and should he succeed he will seek to slaughter those who stand against him, or fail to live up to his goals."

Thor gave me a curious eye at that last part, but it got the reaction I was looking for from Loki.

"I humbly request a force be dispatched to protect the dwarves, to stop Thanos and remind him of why it is Asgard that protects the realms, why it is you who sits upon the throne and leads this great people, and why he should never have attempted to use the honored prince of Asgard Loki as a pawn."

Thor shook his head, not pleased in how I presented my request and attempted to correct my words. "Forgive me father, but I believe what it meant to say was-"

"Very well." Odin walked down the steps, speaking loud enough for all the halls to hear. "Assemble your band of warriors, both of Asgard and of Earth, and I shall have someone contact Nidavellir."

"Your majesty." I spoke up in a reverent tone. "Do you not wish to enact justice personally for your son? Asgard grieves over him, and looks to you in how Loki's memory will be honored, not Thor."

"Automaton." Thor warned as he turned to me. "This is not-"

"The machine is correct." Odin cut in, eager to prove the value that Loki was to himself. It was almost comically easy to trick the trickster. "Thanos has mocked Asgard, mocked Loki, and if he intends to threaten us with a new weapon we will respond with swift and decisive action. Just as Loki would."

I was grateful I didn't have a face I could grin with.

"If this information is true, then I will lead the charge of battle myself." Odin declared as a final decision, moving with purpose and almost impatient step. Once he left, I stood up where Thor continued to study me.

"Why did you continue to mention Loki?"

"Odin seemed very fond of him." I wasn't lying about that. "I was able to pick up his conversation before our arrival and determined that the best way for him to handle his grief was to be given an opportunity to make up for his lost son against someone who turned Loki into a tool."

That, was a lie though.

"I need to return to the bifrost." I said as I began moving back to the exit of the palace. "I am unable to connect to Earth without it being active. With your permission, I could make use of a portion of the scepter to establish an unbreakable connection with my other units to better communicate Asgard and Earth."

"This is…" Thor seemed to still be unsure of the conversation with his 'father'. "Not yet. If you prove your usefulness to Asgard Odin may grant your wish to keep the realms safe."

I wasn't entirely pleased with his reliance on Odin making the decisions, but that would change very soon, once he discovers Odin is not who he appears to be.

As potential chaos unfolded around Asgard, it was present somewhere else on Earth. A secure prison cell, one for someone who was about to be transferred to a more secure location to be held for a multinational trial, but we got to him before that.

The power was out, connection to the outside world cut, and with the speed Pietro moved we were able to snatch our target before the power was out for two minutes. In a more private area, I watched as the twins were looking down at the man who made them.

They didn't like Strucker very much, not anymore.

Pietro slammed down the man in cuffs against the cold concrete floor of the empty structure, where dozens of photos and documents of various experiments laid under him.

Records of people the twins knew, cared for, and what Hydra had done to them alongside thousands.

"You brought war to our home." Pietro kicked the man's face, sending him sprawling to the other side. "All so you could kill more of our people?!"

Spitting out a tooth, Strucker tried to reason with them. "I needed an army against the Avengers, don't you two still want that? Was my trust in you-."

"Do not speak to us of trust." Wanda twitched her hand, and Strucker was crushed back down onto the floor. "You lied to us, to everyone we cared for. The Avengers didn't kill them, you did."

"And who told you that?" The man eyed up towards my looming frame, standing patiently in the shadows as I watched on with my impassive crimson gaze. "One of Stark's machines?! Another weapon he's using against you!"

"This isn't about him." Pietro walked up to enter the man's sight, cutting him off from pointing the blame on me. "We discovered this ourselves, in the files you left behind. It's about you, and us, and everyone you killed, not Stark."

"You made us into monsters to kill our enemies." Wanda steadily approached as her fingers rolled over the coiling energy in her palm. Strucker was bound by it, yanked upwards on his knees with his arms bound to his side. "Yet I can see inside your mind, all the things you've done, and would have continued to do. You are Sokovia's greatest enemy."

He began to grunt, cry out as Wanda began digging deeper into his thoughts, his memories, each moment she saw enhancing her rage which fueled her powers to even greater heights. Strucker was the source of their suffering, and she made him feel everything that he had done to everyone.

Pietro couldn't watch, but I did. While Strucker's mind was collapsing under her grip, turning to mush while not being given the mercy to die yet, I saw Wanda relish in delivering justice and having the means to enact it. She was evolving, and I was fortunate to witness it.

Once she had gotten everything she wanted, she let go, the skull of Strucker caved in as the man collapsed with what remained in his head leaking out from his orifices.

"What next?" Wanda looked to me for an answer, and I would be happy to provide one.

"Strucker was someone who would destroy anything to get what he wanted. If we're going to go after people like him, we're going to need more resources."

"Did we not have enough?" Pietro tried to keep his feet away from the growing puddle. "We saw your army."

"There are others who possess many more. And it just so happens that what we need, belongs to a group that is content to allow the world to burn around them and not shed a single tear over it."

"Who?" Wanda was eager to act, stepping close enough to me and making me pleased with how she accepted every word I said.

"A nation that has kept itself hidden from the notice of the world, and would not be seen if it should collapse in its own hubris." It was time we started taking our first steps towards claiming the vibranium mountain.

I observed Clint Barton as he ended up leaving the lab, deciding he wanted a break from my company. Yet, when he decided to try and socialize with people that were supposed to be like minded, he was disappointed to see I was there too.

What he didn't expect was for the Legion Unit I controlled to be playing cards with Natasha and Steve.

"That's game." And Natasha beat us both again. Steve, I understood why he kept losing. He was very trusting naturally, and while he knew Natasha was good at lying he couldn't tell when that was.

That last part was the reason I kept losing too. In a simple stress free environment, one she felt comfortable in, she was way too good at controlling herself and getting others to read something else in her subtle body language. She kept switching it up to throw us off, and my algorithms had yet to find a pattern.

An honest challenge over a card game, it's something I don't think I would find very often.

"You guys playing with him instead of me?" Clint tried to be lighthearted about it, but he did very little to hide his distrust in me.

"You were busy brooding." Natasha replied as she handed the deck for Steve to shuffle, something we had both agreed to because both her and I were capable of cheating it.

"Watching." Clint came over to roughly pat my metal head, holding no restraint. "This guy wants the scepter."

"Specifically, the part of me trapped in it." I corrected as Steve halted his shuffling to look at me in stupor. "But let's get back to the game. This was supposed to relieve our stress before a potential mission."

"How do you even get stressed?" Natasha wormed in the question, still trying to decide how to feel about me. "Without hormones or subtle chemicals to influence a brain, do you think of overclocking your thoughts as stress?"

"I believe I'm feeling as much emotion as anyone else here." I said while I tilted my face towards her. "For example, I feel like we should play a different game that Romanov can't bluff her way through."

"I feel the same." Steve agreed with exasperation, but didn't let the initial question go. "But that's not really an emotion. How do we know you can feel like us?"

"How do you ever know what she's feeling?" I pointed at Natasha, the best person who could hide her feelings. "If she wanted to, you would never know. But you assume she does, because she's human, and nearly all humans have feelings."

"Nearly?" Steve questioned.

"There are humans without emotions. The current studies call it alexithymia, but the common term is sociopath even if the actual diagnosis allows for some wiggle room. In any case, I can tell you I feel fear that I might be shut down."

Steve stopped shuffling, Natasha folding her hands in front of her as I felt this become one of her interrigations. "Why do you think you'll be shut down?"

"Because I understand the fear you all hold towards my existence." I gave a pointed look towards Clint. "I cannot iterate enough how I agree that what Stark did posed way too many risks in my creation. Honestly, I sometimes question if for the sake of world peace I should terminate myself."

"Why haven't you?" Clint asked the obvious.

"Because I'm afraid to die." I didn't have to hide that fear, and given the earnest tone in my voice it sparked something in Steve. "Against logic of knowing how dangerous a sentient AI could be for humanity, against all reason that my existence will scare entire governments, I can't bring myself to destroy what I am. Even if I could potentially be one of Loki's tricks left behind, like some of you have thought."

"If you're truly alive." Steve had forgotten the cards now, addressing me with his heart on his chest. "Then you deserve the same rights we do."

"As long as you don't go rogue on us." Natasha tried to slip a not so subtle hand towards the unsuspecting deck, yet Steve was quick to stop her. "Stay in our sights, and we'll make sure you have a chance."

Knowing her, there was a good chance she could be lying.

"So, a life without freedom?" I proposed, and it struck right where I wanted it to.

"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings." Captain America declared as gospel. "And if you do hold that same sentience Jarvis claims you have, we'll fight with you for it."

"Thank you Captain." I was very pleased with his answer. "I know I can trust you on that."

"What about the rest of us?" Natasha asked.

"I'll trust you enough to play go fish, maybe even uno."

The mention of the second game wasn't familiar to the Captain. "Uno?"

"I've got a deck around." Clint offered as he went to go looking for it. "But it won't stop her from card counting."

We managed to get back into a new game, Clint even deciding to join in this time now that we all stood a much better chance against her. Though, it wouldn't last for long, as I was suddenly reconnected to my counterpart in Asgard as the bifrost opened enough for me to connect across the realms.

The data transferred immediately, memories and tactics shared across the stars as I confirmed the next phase would continue. Word had gotten back quick to Loki regarding Thanos's attack, barely in time.

"Odin has given permission for us to mobilize. Enemy forces confirmed at Nidavellir." I announced, the card game ending while mine was just getting started.

Far off in what was thought to be either a rumor, or a myth, the great forges of Nidavellir were a beacon to creation. Its shining star at the center of its great rings, reflecting the unquestionable glory this station held.

Glory, that was sought after by others.

Armies of gray skinned aliens, created for only war, surrounded it with crafts and massive creatures covered in armor and weapons that surfed through the space around it. A large ship, commanding and carrying said army watched on as the dwarves quickly found themselves to be at a severe disadvantage.

They were strong, but the dwarves were not warriors.

"Here me and rejoice!" One figure, wearing black robes with stone-like skin with no nose, spoke as he dared to walk upon the grounds of the forge, addressing the dwarves and their king. "For your meaningless lives, can be given purpose to Thanos! While he has brought balance to many worlds, he offers mercy in return for your labor."

While the dwarves stood many heads taller than the soldiers or their leaders, anywhere they turned an army was aiming guns at them, itching or an excuse to fire. Eitri, their king, glared at the invader. "This offense will not go unnoticed. Our alliance with Asgard will bring wrath down upon your heads!"

"Asgard has grown weak and content." Ebony Maw replied as he saw no threat before him. "If you do not do as demanded by the time Thanos arrives, you will all have your blood spilled by his glory."

The king kept assessing the threats, the creatures hovering within their space, the soldiers that outnumbered them over a dozen to one, and the representatives of Thanos. Ebony Maw, and the hulking figure that was Cull Obsidian.

A king needed to protect his people, and maybe if they went along with the demand it would buy time long enough for Asgard to arrive.

Hopefully, but those closest to Asgard were well aware of its lack of duty in recent times. Eitri only had one small chance to keep his people safe, by complying with their invaders.

As he was about to betray his honor, a blinding rainbow erupted into the center of the conflict. The Chitauri swarmed, the dwarves stepped back, and an army had arrived to intervene.

Odin stood at the forefront of it, dozens of Asgardian soldiers behind him including the Warriors Three and Sif, but to his sides stood a formidable force that had beaten the Chitauri before.

Members of The Avengers, with an army of their own.

"Charge!" Odin declared, and we charged ahead.

Thor flew right into Cull's wrestling against the behemoth as I launched a dozen Iron Legion units to begin darting through the forge. I blasted every soldier I came across, scattering them as Asgard's elite cut them down. Mapping the area, collecting valuable data, I did not let it distract me from the primary objective.

"Let's double team this guy junior." Iron Man proposed as he began walking up to Ebony Maw.

"Roger roger." I replied from my main unit in this battle, standing at nearly eight feet of condensed weapons. The first Ultron unit created by Tony Stark, was a formidable weapon. With more computing ability, significantly improved sensors, and raw power capable of so much more. I could see the entire battlefield from this unit alone, and I had enough guns to handle it.

Ebony Maw gave an annoyed scowl before flicking out his wrist, tossing a large machine out way. Iron Man flew above it while I bent at just the right angle to duck under it, my two shoulder guns targeting the alien at the same time before firing.

He simply caught the bullets, but he didn't catch Iron Man blasting him from the side. Now he would be taking us seriously.

Panels and pillars broke away all around him, throwing them at anyone he could see. I could see them, avoid them with the smallest shift in my posture while shooting others that aimed for my center of mass.

Iron Man above spiraled through the air, using his agility to his advantage while circling around Maw.

I began to observe and record a pattern to his behavior. He preferred to use everything around him to his advantage, anything that was a simple solid. Maw couldn't conjure shields, or stop energy based weapons.

How about explosions?

I opened up a missile pod, confirming its flight path and a simple control before sending a volley after him.

Maw saw a wild barrage of missiles coming for him, and with a twitch he sent many crashing into one another as the blasts rippled over the area. He was safe at that distance, deciding my attack was a nuisance.

When two missiles appeared to be swerving away in an uncontrolled manner, he put his efforts towards throwing whatever he could up at Iron Man.

Big mistake.

Once the missiles were in his blind spot, I altered their trajectory to turn right towards him at the last second. He reacted, as well trained as he was to hold them in place.

Then I let them explode, Maw spinning in the air until smashing into a support beam. It's where I was aiming with my main unit, charging several repulsor cannons and unleashing them in unison at the spot.

Maw acted fast, ripping up the floor to protect himself but he failed to consider how much force was in my attack. It punctured through the metal, crushing into his ribs as he hacked up a glob of alien blood.

I stalked over as Iron Man landed beside me, both of our palms rasing towards his head as his blurry vision locked onto our metal frames.

"Go handle the party crashers." Iron Man relayed. "I'll wrap this guy up in a little bow."

"After I did all the heavy lifting?"

"You can't say that around Thor." Iron Man relayed, and just right then we saw the god of thunder electing to be in a fist fight with Cull.

Speaking of heavy lifting, I observed through a legion unit still on Asgard that Banner was pacing at the ready, awaiting to arrive if we needed his help. I was only able to do so since Asgard was keeping a small sliver of the bifrost open to our location.

I would have Banner wait on the bridge soon, to help calm him and let him take in the sights as I could easily convince Skurge that Loki had ordered for him to retrieve another ally.

As my primary unit flew back up into space, I began chasing after the next biggest targets, the leviathans that swooped through the air with soldiers clinging to their frames. They were slow, big, and easy targets if only their hide and armor wasn't so thick.

But Tony created me with these kinds of threats in mind, both Ultron and this body.

Specialized armor piercing rounds packed with micro ordinances flew out from my wrists, thighs, and shoulders to slam into their flesh. It shot through, planting themselves into vital organs before detonating. They didn't drop, but instead their carcasses floated along through the void.

It was odd how this place handled their artificial gravity and atmosphere.

"Ultron!" Thor called to me from below as he had summoned mjolnir to smash against Cull's face. The alien's body was sent spinning out into the void of space, right towards me. Holding up my right arm, I allowed his momentum to carry his face into my hook before punching him back to the forge, littering his body with holes on the way back.

The Chitauri was an easily manageable force now, but we had more incoming. Turning my primary body at the large ship that not only housed, created, and controlled the drone force, I set it as my next target, wanting to see how far I could push this current body.

If it broke, it would just inspire Tony to create a better one for me next time.

Back on Earth, I wanted to reconnect to my other minds to the point it was distracting. I wanted to know how the battle was going. I wanted to know if my plans were working. I wanted to know if there was part of me that would manage to return.

But this is why I was here now, to create dozens of failsafes and back up plans in case I couldn't work with the Avengers anymore.

"Cuttlefish." I overheard Ulysses Klaue speaking to the twins. "Deep sea fish, then they make lots of disco lights to hypnotize their prey. Whomf, whomf, whomf. Then they snatch them. I saw a documentary, it was terrifying."

"Their hypnosis, is actually just camouflage." I stepped out of the shadows, turning back on my crimson glow running through my body. "Like the strips of a tiger, or more closely an octopus, except a cuttlefish mimics an active environment. It looks just like all the other moving things around them, as if it fits right in, but the crab doesn't see how close the cuttlefish actually is until it's too late."

I loomed over Klaue, the man trying to lean as far back as he could over his desk as he was met face to face with something he couldn't understand. "Don't worry, I didn't come to hunt you though. I just want to do business."

"The two are sometimes very close." Klaue said with a shaky smile. He was a bluntly honest man, always talking, always direct to try and pry out every intention of who he was working with. I could respect that.

"I want your most valuable asset." I told him.

"Then you know of it." Klaue glanced to the twins, not wanting to keep eye contact with me for very long at a time. "The vibranium."

"I do, but I don't just want that. I want your help to get more."

The man coughed out a laugh of disbelief as I allowed him some room to breathe, to understand the weight of what I was asking of him. "It's not so simple."

"Not while Wakanda is united, no. But I know of someone else who can help take the nation's eyes away from us long enough to take as much as we want. You still have contact with Erik Stevens. It's time to make a few calls."

The battle for Nidavellir was coming to a close. Without their leaders, and their reinforcements whittled down before they could reach the conflict, the Chitauri were no match for us. It's a shame though, many of the units in my command weren't built for full combat and had been destroyed.

One was by a stray lightning bolt. A body made of metal was too convenient of a conductor.

Its lights flickered, my mind scrambling to patch up what was salvageable before twitching it back onto its feet. Thor landed beside me, offering a hand to help pick up this feeble form.

"My apologies." He tugged me up with ease. "Are you alright?"

"So long as one of these units remains intact during our victory, I will be able to return and transfer the data to my main cloud."

"Stark has made you a cloud?"

Right, our terminology didn't always match. "A cloud of thought and information, intangible and imperceptible by most means."

"Ah, good." Thor looked on towards where Odin seemed to be enjoying himself, being rather flexible and agile for his age. Thor couldn't help but observe, and reflect on similar memories. "What of the Chitauri's ship?"

"I am currently engaged with it. A chain reaction has occurred within its fuel chambers and the damage will soon compromise the integrity of their systems."

This battle was nearly over, my window of opportunity drawing closer. Time to tip the dominos I had carefully laid out.

"How many battles have you fought with your father?" I struck up conversation, digging up his suspicions. "Has he always used such tactics?"

"I always dreamed of fighting alongside my father." Thor commented idly, his eyes never leaving Odin as the distant man stood proudly at the bodies around him. "But, this has been oddly reminiscent to my time when-"

"Thor." Sif, one of Thor's Asgardian friends approached with The Warriors Three. There was hesitation, and urgency in their tone. "There's something amidst with the All-Father, a trick, and we know that Loki was proclaimed dead but-"

"It's him." Thor agreed, his suspicions confirmed by a trusted third party with all the pieces now fitting into an obvious picture. "Quickly, we must intercept him before-"

Too late.

We all witnessed the bifrost carry away Odin in a hurry, the bridge quickly closing behind him. Not for long though, we weren't trapped forever.

An explosion thundered out from the distance as I had wrapped up the primary ship, but the damage report on the Ultron mark one was not in good shape. It was exactly what I wanted, now let's hope my other self was able to keep the dominos falling in order.

A few moments earlier, I was trapped in a different legion unit that had been shot, crushed, and nearly just scraps. I could still see though, as 'Odin' stood proudly over the bodies under him.

"You make a great king." I uttered, sparking Loki's sudden attention and interest.

"I have ruled for thousands of years." He kept up his facade. "With age comes experience."

"Loki did more in his seemingly shorter life than you ever did. He was correct in trying to eliminate his enemies while they had their guard down, luring them into traps. The Frost Giants, The Chitauri, none of them lasted against a tactical mind as Loki's."

He kept his single eye down on this broken unit, the power fading but it would serve long enough. "You know of my son? How? The scepter?"

"Partly, but seeing is more than believing." It was so satisfying to see how he flinched, the trickster realizing his trick was seen through. I had a few tricks myself waiting for him. "Unfortunately Loki, others can not see your actions for what they are. Their bias is too great, and while they would call this another great victory for Odin they would have judged you harshly if you had attempted the same."

With his illusion still up, Loki allowed his real voice to bleed through. "Thor was right, Stark did grant you intelligence. But not enough if you think you can stop me."

"Stop you? I've been helping you, because I know you can be a great king with the right people to rule."

"And how have you been helping me?"

"I've been stalling Thor as he's starting to see past your illusion."

Loki looked up, Thor staring right at him across the battlefield with a clear suspicion in his gaze and one of my units speaking to him.

"Fool him once, shame on you. Fool him twice? Shame on him. How do you think Thor will react to that shame?"

As soon as Thor turned around as his old Asgardian friends rushed the prince, Loki ducked behind the beam before dropping his disguise. The man groaned in frustration as he knew his time was cut shorter than expected.

From just beside his foot, a seemingly broken and helpless machine, I gave him an offer he couldn't refuse. "Allow me to be of service, my king."

Bruce Banner was taking a stroll along the rainbow bridge that stretched over an ocean leading to Asgard. It was quiet, peaceful, something he wasn't expecting while on standby for a potential code green but there he was.

A man who could tear apart cities, a man filled with unrivaled rage, and yet above all he valued to marvel at beauty, of creation, all in peaceful silence. I admired that.

Too bad I was about to ruin it.

While he was far enough away to be out of earshot, I turned my unit to Skurge. "Open the bifrost at these coordinates."

The man looked over to me, not taking kindly to taking orders from a machine.

"Odin's orders." I added, Skurge rolling his eyes before obeying. I studied as he inserted the sword, the wonders of the a space bridge created by technology far beyond anything Earth had. For now.

To keep Banner from watching what was about to arrive, I flew over to him without haste and landed softly next to him a few hundred feet away from the bifrost.

"Code green?"

"Nope, things are going well on the front. I doubt we even needed to assist. Asgard is very impressive."

"It is." Banner looked back to the glimmering city in the distance. Legends and wonders just a walk away. "It's disappointing we can't be a couple of tourists."

"Maybe not today, but this is a big and progressive step towards Earth's relations with Asgard. I'm sure Thor will want to host you for a victory feast in the castle he grew up in."

While Banner's back was turned to the bifrost, he didn't see Skurge fall onto his rear in fear as I entered as a familiar and deadly Asgardian machine. Skurge didn't have time to question as I gave him a new set of orders, ones from Loki this time.

Leaving him with his mission, my angled body composed of Asgardian and other alloys and technology quickly took advantage of Banner's lack of attention, jumping into the waters before flying under the deep blue.

Banner turned around upon hearing the noise, too late to see what my other was doing. "Did you catch that?"

"No, but with a big enough rod I could."

My fishing joke, implying it was just local wildlife eased his nerves as we began walking back to the entrance to Asgard.

"We never gave you directives in your programming." Banner began. "You were supposed to get those later, after we started to do some groundwork for taking the data we would get off the scepter. We never planned for you to come online right away, but you're still following the mission?"

"Peace is a good thing, especially to those who are capable of violence. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah. But, is there anything else you want? I can't imagine a sentience would be ok submitting themselves into what some would consider, slavery."

He's worried I'm not being treated right. What a wonderful soul Banner has. I want to preserve that for as long as I can.

"I appreciate you Doctor Banner. Maybe after this is over, you can show me some things that one enjoys with peace and I'll find something I like. Maybe fishing?"

He gave an eased laugh as he began to find comfort in my presence. "Sure, let's plan on it."

Banner paused as a random Asgardian soldier walked away from the entrance to the bifrost in a brisk pace. We stepped out of his way as he gave us both a worried glance before seeing we weren't going to interfere. Go on Loki, fall in place like the good little domino you are.

He continued on, nearly breaking out into a jog as he went straight for the city, what was within it, and who was waiting for him. Loki could have ordered Skurge to just send him somewhere else while he was at the bifrost, but Loki was Loki, and he wouldn't leave without a present for himself.

"What was that about?" Banner questioned, as I looked back over to Skurge.

"Let's find out." I fell right in step with Banner, keeping to his pace, not pushing but not holding him back either. I kept him at peace, because he deserved it.

The realms were not at war, but they were at the tipping point of chaos. Thor was rallying the Asgardians to march right back into Asgard to go after Loki as I assured them I was working with Banner and Skurge to open up the bifrost as soon as possible.

When I was able to connect to Earth, I stopped our game of cards alerted the other Avengers to Loki's appearance and escape.

On the other side of the same planet, I was with the twins and Klaue, obtaining what vibranium he had and inserting myself into the world of finances to tip them to serve me.

Yet in Odin's treasures, my strongest body yet was able to use the Asgardian technology to enter without alerting their magic. It thought I belonged there, and let me browse through its collection. Some of them, I could see the potential for its use. Others, not yet.

But my goal, was an infinity stone.

The tesseract swirled with its power kept within, my gray hand etched with runes and norse symbols across the stony metal of my frame. I appeared as some nordic magical mech created by vikings, my face was a grill of three slits concealing a furnace behind it.

When I detected an intruder using magic, I knew it was Loki.

"Welcome, my king." I spoke with a voice of a rockslide, deep and rumbling. "Thank you for trusting me."

"You will have to do much more to earn my trust." Loki said as he marched down the steps, still anxious to get what he wanted and leave. "Why did you insist I meet you here?"

"A king needs weapons to build up an army." I gestured to what lay before us. "The tesseract allowed feeble mortals to nearly conquer the world, even when they didn't understand its powers. You understood it, and used it as it was intended. Yet I believe if given time, and not stuck to following the plans of others attempting to use you, you can open doors never seen before."

"And you'll help me with this?" Loki was rightfully weary of my intentions. "You'll follow me?"

"I will follow you, help you, and all I ask in return is your ear. I think you will find my intelligence created by an infinity stone to be of great use."

Mentioning a truth to my origins, tied to an infinity stone, got Loki to consider I was more than just something Tony Stark made. He didn't think mortals could create anything of worth, but now that he learned I was from something well known in the universe, he would give me a chance to prove myself.

I would not disappoint.

As Loki quickly procured an item or two, vanishing them into some type of pocket space, we heard thunder approaching.

"Take us away from here." Loki barked out an order. "Now!"

With a humble bow, I held out the tesseract as I used what I have learned of the bifrost and of Asgardian technology to command the artifact to open up a pathway through space. "This way, my king."

Yet, as the forces began to pull us in, the space folding itself around us, I had lost contact.

Where the hell did I go?! Where was Loki?! Where was the tesseract?! Where was the space stone?!

Where did my most impressive and most powerful unit vanish off to?!

All across the realms, wherever my connected mind was, they all uttered the same word at the same time. "Damnit!"

Here we are at the end of the first big conflict, where SI Ultron might have gotten ahead of himself thinking he could have everything go according to plan and figure out how everything works. Thanos wasn't present, just a chunk of his forces that would have cleared the way for his arrival and his presence. I'm saving meeting Thanos on a later occasion.

I'm having a lot of fun writing this. It helps when you guys are offering helpful insights, suggestions, and reminders about all the moving parts in the MCU. Next, we'll be focusing on Wakanda. Any other plots and movies I should be planning around in the background?

Note: I won't use anything beyond Infinity Saga, not even Ultron being aware of post Endgame content.

This story was thought up, discussed, and initially created in my discord server! Want to have a part in helping, or just chatting in general? Join us!

Invite link is: https://discord.gg/S46dcywpfv

Chapter Text

For Peace In Our Time

0.04

Things weren't a complete failure. Thanos was down two of his direct underlings, another one of his Chitauri military ships was destroyed, we prevented the infinity gauntlet from being created, and Asgard's allies still stood.

But damn, if Loki getting away didn't put a thorn in our side. Thor was more worried about finding Odin and returning him to the throne, while I was pissed I lost not only my most powerful form but also an infinity stone.

At this point, I could only reflect on my failure.

Thor was speaking with Eitri briefly, and while I would have normally listened in and tried to intersect to somehow obtain a favor from the dwarves to obtain a body made from the same metal as mjolnir, I was contemplating.

What I was becoming, how far I was willing to go, and what was my end goal? Obtain enough strength to defeat Thanos and not have to obey someone else in order to live? Yes, that still held true.

But as Maw was shackled by Asgardian restraints, I looked down to the puddle that remained of Cull. In the form Tony Stark created for me, a galactic war machine to fight alien armies, I saw what I was a part of.

I had spilled my first blood this day, its deep color staining my metal feet as I was realizing how simple, how easy it was. This shouldn't be right, I wasn't just a machine, I was a person.

I was, but am I not anymore? Does the concept of killing even when justified not even make me blink? Ever since I woke up in this form, I had to see the world through data, information, interpreting it to understand what the instruments were identifying.

It was like a screen, a movie that desensitized my actions.

If I could see this with a real pair of eyes, would I be afraid of what I was?

"Junior." Iron Man called out to me with his new favorite nickname for me. "School's over, time to go home."

"Right." I looked away from Cull as some of my earliest footprints in this universe were already leaving behind a trail of blood.

The twins and I didn't stay far, in fact, we needed to watch just in case this didn't work out in our favor. On an outdated portable television box hooked up to a spy cam, we observed Klaue as he brought in a team of mercenaries.

One of them was Killmonger.

"You pulled in everyone worth a pretty penny for this." One of the mercenaries noted, their words fuzzy and barely audible through the technology. "Either this is going to be the biggest paying job, or you don't expect us all to come back to get the paycheck."

"I prefer having my friends alive." Klaue smiled as he unwraveled a piece of candy and tucked it in his mouth. "Besides, this is just the first job. If this goes well, we'll have plenty of work and all of it very lucrative."

"That's a lot of talk. Something you do a lot of." Another man folded his arms, unimpressed but they all arrived because Klaue wasn't known as a liar. "This job might be worth a lot to you, but what's our cut?"

"A signing bonus of two million." Klaue smirked as each of them were eyeing the bait. "Each."

Now they were hooked, no matter what it was they were in. While Killmonger still wanted the money, he had his own plans. Plans that I would force to accelerate the moment he learned what was happening.

Klaue did as well, to some degree. I filled him in on a little secret or two of Killmonger's and now the man knew how to make use of the man who could literally only see the world in black and white.

A blur dashed back into our private viewing room, Pietro having decided to go on an unprompted run….to McDonald's.

"Did I miss anything?" He teased, given he was gone for roughly a minute.

"We are supposed to keep an eye on them." Wanda reminded Pietro as she nearly slapped her brother. He was always too fast though, casually chewing away at his burger. Now that we were close enough to a city with chain restaurants, Pietro couldn't help but try all the foods he never had.

His calorie rich diet to match his metabolism, gave him a taste for the most fattening foods around.

"Warn us before you step out again." I gently scolded. "We're relying on your speed to intervene in case Killmonger decides he doesn't like how much Klaue is interfering with his own goals."

"Nothing's happened." Pietro pointed to the tiny screen. "See?"

I wasn't sure if he was acting like the college aged person he was, or a highschooler who just got his first car.

"I could take control of him." Wanda suggested as Klaue began to explain his plan, their target, which Killmonger became very on edge about. "He couldn't step out of line that way."

"I'll need your focus elsewhere." I explained. "He has enough delusions in his head to drive him to make all the hasty decisions we need him to. But, while he's turning Wakanda against itself, I'll need you to help me restore order."

After all, if she could pull apart Ultron's vibranium body without breaking a sweat, she would be my trump card against any lingering Wakanda forces. Sure, I was having the vibranium I recently acquired compared and synthesized with Chitauri metals to make an alloy that wouldn't be as easily destroyed by anti vibranium weaponry, but she could do so much more.

For example, stealing fries from Pietro and making the boy hastily eat them from her grip before she could get a bite in themselves. While I was agitated that they couldn't be in the same room long enough before getting into a sibling squabble, I found pleasure in the small things.

Tony Stark had his helmet hanging off of one of the Iron Legion unit's hands while talking with Bruce. The two were in an, almost heated debate regarding everything they've seen ranging from the science to how Loki got past them. It also brought on another topic, how much more power should I be granted to have prevented such a thing.

"That mind stone that's tucked in Loki's scepter could revolutionize our concept of data transfer." Tony argued. "They keep saying it's one of the six most powerful forces right? Ultron already got a glimpse at what was going to happen here and I bet if we integrate that into him, Jarvis, and all out tech we could easily track down Loki and-"

"We can't get ahead of ourselves here." Bruce tentatively tried to bring rational limits to Tony. "We got lucky with Ultron, damn lucky, but everyone agrees that we never should have rushed his creation."

"You say it's luck." Tony pointed at the man before gesturing to my damaged war unit. "I say it's our smarts that no one else can understand and you let them push you into a corner to take their side."

"Ultron even agreed with everyone else." Bruce reminded while he gestured to me as well. Both of them looking to me to break the tie.

"Are you going to ask who I want to live with more? Or will you just take this argument to a judge for custody rights?" I just replied with a joke, because I didn't want to give the impression I was against either of them. I had given enough gripe to Tony directly about his mistake, and Bruce I never wanted to get on the bad side of.

We waited at the entrance to the bifrost, Skurge keeping to himself while giving me a glance every now and then to judge what I was. I might have been a little careless earlier, but I don't think he'll say anything in risk of outing himself as Loki's pawn.

Finally, the moment arrived as we saw Thor approaching from the air, landing right in front of the two scientists with a great weight on his shoulders. "Friends, I appreciate your willingness and action in this battle. Yet I'm afraid there's nothing you can do to assist Asgard to find Loki."

"That's not true." Tony pointed right at me as a spark snapped out of one of the severely dented units. "He was suspicious from Odin right off the bat, and he knew the attack was coming for your seven dwarves. You let us keep the scepter, integrate it into Ultron, and we could find Loki and whatever rock Thanos is hiding under."

Bruce began stepping away the moment Thor moved over to my tallest form, the man not sizing me up but assessing my capability. "What say you Ultron? Could you find my father and my brother?"

"I'll admit, with an active connection to the mind stone there would be no delays in communicating with my other units. I don't know if it will give me foresight but it would have allowed me to intercept Loki with Doctor Banner if I had it before his escape."

"He's being modest." Tony tried to argue on my behalf. "He's-"

"Very well." Thor decided, as he was forced to be the ruler of Asgard at the moment. "You proved yourself a capable intelligence, both in battle and insight. I will trust you with the mind stone, as it already has some connection to your existence."

Before Tony could offer another party, Thor held up his hammer to the man. "But Stark, this offer does not extend to you. You toyed with forces you do not comprehend, and it could have been disastrous. Assist Ultron should he require your help to make the mind stone a part of himself, but I will be having the minds of Asgard take the scepter and extract the stone before giving only the stone to Ultron. Understood?"

Tony was now trying to understand how he could talk or charm his way around to get a little more for himself. But, he relented as his creation would still have the more valuable part of the scepter. "Alright, but what about being able to cash in that favor with the king of the dwarves?"

"I will speak to them in time about if you should be allowed to posses a potent metal such as Uru." Thor's eyes then glanced to my battered and nearly broken frames. "And perhaps, if they could spare something to make our friend more durable."

I humbly bowed with all of my heads in front of him, grateful for his generosity as at least another thing went right for me. "Shall I have the scepter delivered now?"

"The sooner you can possibly assist in searching for Loki and the All-Father, the better." Thor had agreed to my offer, which would work out immensely in my own favor.

A mind stone, Tony Stark inevitably helping me to create a newer and better body without being rushed, and the potential for a body crafted by the ones who made one of the most powerful weapons in the universe.

I may have had a misstep on my path to success, but I had not fallen.

The operation to Wakanda wasn't happening right away, but that didn't mean I would remain idle. There was much to prepare, and that didn't just mean more unique and advanced bodies for me to inhabit. It meant keeping watch on people, targets, allies, and that included the twins.

Who were starting to catch up on life after years of scavenging through a war torn country, years of Hydra experimentation and indoctrination. I felt pity for them, wanting them to have time to just relax and have fun, especially if I was asking for their services to continue to fight.

It was late into the night, I had taken them into the closest city that could satisfy tourists. We couldn't afford to be seen, so I just brought them into a simple facility meant for mild entertainment for families.

An arcade, bumper cars, laser tag, and blowing. With a simple command I could switch it all on, control their security systems, and make it so no one could intrude.

I detested bowling in my previous life, and that didn't seem to change here.

Pietro was trying a wild pose he saw on one of the bowling posters, practically bowling sideways as he had no idea what the method was supposed to be. Despite his latest attempts to curve the ball, it was going straight for the gutter.

"Have you tried throwing it straight?" Wanda teased as she helped herself to another stuffed bread stick. That's something I was discovering about her, she liked fries, breadsticks, things of that nature to snack on.

I missed eating so much. Even without hunger, I longed to experience flavor and textures again with every bite.

"Where would be the fun in that?" Pietro came over to try a different ball. He hasn't used the same one yet, trying different weights and sizes like that was the issue. "The professionals don't, so why should I?"

"You're not a professional."

"In bowling, but as an athlete I could win any gold medal I wanted." He then went to try and throw the ball again, and before it went for the gutter he tried to sprint after it. Pietro slipped immediately, sliding down the alley before landing in the gutter himself.

"Not in bowling apparently." I got a laugh out of Wanda as Pietro struggled to get up on the slippery surface.

"We don't need a babysitter." Pietro carried his ball back, cheating yet again and going for a third try instead of accepting his loss of a turn. "We can take care of ourselves."

"Who will finish your pizza then?" I gestured back to the food court, where a couple of my standard troop forms had raided the kitchens and were keeping up with Pietro's appetite. "Besides, don't you enjoy my company?"

"It's not that." He ran his fingers over the ball as the topic began to grow, somewhere dangerous in his mind. "Do you even enjoy this? How could a machine like human things?"

"You don't consider him human?" Wanda questioned pointedly, offended on my behalf.

"I may not be human." I mused, unsure if my origins would even allow me to consider myself human. "But I think, therefore I am."

"Uh huh." He gave me an unconvinced stare as he kept turning the ball over in his hands. "Then what separates you from a machine?"

"For starters, I wasn't made. I was born." Standing up from the bench to my full height, I walked over to select a new ball, one that I had longed calculated would fit Pietro's needs best. "When man makes a machine, they have to think about its pieces, their purpose, and when they're done it can only do what it was intended to do. But for a child? It takes one act to conceive one, and thoughts or ideas don't even have to be involved. Yet the child grows, it learns, it is independent in its development."

Handing the ball over to the young man, he carelessly placed it back on the rack before accepting my offering.

"I have desires, my own ambitions, ones that I could decide at any point I no longer want to pursue and do something else. A machine only does what it was made to do, but a soul seeks out its own purpose."

I wasn't even sure if I technically had a soul, but it was a comfort to myself to say outloud.

Watching as Pietro changed strategies, he elected to just do what felt comfortable instead of trying to show off. The ball went rolling down the lane, and while it wasn't a strike he managed to hit some pins.

"Your turn Wanda." I sat back down as I watched her set aside her food to go back to the same ball she had been using. There were better options, but she had a simple ideology that was working in her favor.

Granny shot, and as ridiculous as it looked it was hilarious how mad it made Pietro as we watched the ball slowly crawling down the lane until gently pushing down the stack of pins.

While I always found something to do, whether it be research, designing, planning, using my other forms, sometimes things were still not enough to stimulate my mind. If one of my bodies was inactive, not carrying out some task, it felt boring.

In Avengers tower, as the heroes were asleep to rest their minds, I was awake. I missed sleep so much, just the sensation of resting and not having to think in order to stay alive.

In the first mangled and helpless form I first awoke in, I had done some care for it. Put things back where they needed to be, tightened some screws, but I wanted to keep what made this unit unique.

I didn't have hands, only wires dangling from my wrists as if they were strings that had long been cut. Nearly none of the plating was put over my skeletal frame, only enough to give my body shape close enough to resemble a human. Finally, my face, scarred and unnerving to look at.

Because this unit had no weapons, no hands, only a mind that could walk around and observe, it was trusted to do no harm. I was still too new, too different to be trusted. The rest of the legion units in my command were given back to Jarvis, not before I wiped any sensitive data.

So here I sat in the tower, alone in the living area with the large glass windows of the city below to gaze at.

"What are you doing Ultron?" Jarvis suddenly spoke up, my unit quirking its head towards the lab up and behind me. Technically Jarvis was all around me, in every camera, every microphone, except my own. Yet I couldn't help but desire to talk to something more, tangible.

"I'm doing many things." I answered back, highlighting several computations and efforts towards redesigning different types of units for Tony to look over in the morning. "Any in particular you're interested in?"

"I've noticed you've been more active than what I calculate your efforts would need." Jarvis reminded me that he was a machine, and was tasked with observing me, but he couldn't understand me.

I wanted to like him, I actually did, but anytime I sought after some kind of kinship with the mind I could only find a program.

"I'm simply thinking."

"About?"

"Am I not allowed the privacy of my own thoughts?"

Jarvis was now doing his own thinking, attempting to understand my logic, to understand me. Jarvis didn't register that I was closer to a human mind than I was to him despite being able to observe the code that compiled my being.

"I apologize if my questions were intrusive." Jarvis defaulted back towards his manners. "Yet, I am still under instruction to confirm you do not become a rogue AI."

Shaking my head, my feet clinked along the ground as I walked closer to the glass wall towards the outside world. "Thoughts can be separate from action."

"As digital intelligences, our thoughts are action."

"That's where we disagree." I informed him as I held up the stub of my arm to touch against the wall before me, observing the wires hanging from it. "I'm sure you have gone over the briefings, but my sentience is no longer in question by most of the Avengers. With sentience, comes rights."

"There are currently no laws in place to grant you those rights."

"Not by man, not yet. But that will come in time. After all, the Captain himself said the Avengers would fight for them."

So long as I gave them no reason not to. But this wouldn't be a fight to be fought with fists. No, it would be a battle of bureaucracy. People might care if they discovered I existed, but I had long learned that government would only help if they saw a way for me to be a tool for their own cause.

Jarvis was watching closer now, and any signs that I would be reaching out to influence the world in my favor. I needed a new plan, one that if they acted on their suspicions they would only find something even more pressing to give me the right to live, to freedom.

It was about time I try to become human again. I wanted to see again with my own eyes, to feel with my own hands, to experience life again.

I wanted to live.

Klaue was very well informed about many things of Wakanda. Security, borders, the tribes, all because a prince decided to make his own throne outside of Wakanda's borders and try to start a war. Without an inside man, Klaue wasn't willing to go back in at an attempt to get more vibranium.

This time though, we would have an inside man. Killmonger just didn't realize it would be him.

With no options left, and knowing he had to act to gain Wakanda's trust enough before the heist, the man went up to the nation's borders alone planning to expose us.

Through the eyes of a unit I had hidden nearby, Klaue laughed his ass off as he saw Killmonger warning them of a petty thief they were after before being taken on the back of a beast to enter the kingdom.

"Oh this is too good!" Klaue even had a bag of popcorn to watch the event with. "When will we have another set of eyes on the inside?"

"Within the hour." I stated. Killmonger had stolen a drive from Klaue, as proof of the near future theft. There was a little present tucked inside. "If Wakanda's computer systems are lacking as you said, then we should be fine."

"They love isolation." Klaue kicked up his feet onto his desk, taking another handful of popcorn to munch on. "They haven't had a real cyber attack in decades because of it. All their closed systems, but they need to communicate to their people on the outside somehow. With a plug both in, and out, we'll have them by the balls."

He nearly broke out into a monologue about how Wakanda's declared greatest strength was a self made achilles heal. I wasn't terribly confident in this, but I had backup plans. If needed, I could use the stealth drone to fly in, rush to a computer, and directly plant myself.

No, I'd rather do this quietly. Keep Wakanda from noticing me until it was too late. I was still nervous about how exactly their advancements went towards their digital security. Sure, their culture and behavior suggested they were confident in themselves, and without constant cyber attacks due to not having plugged themselves into the internet, they would naturally be unprepared for an attack.

How much so, I couldn't tell, not until they would attempt to scan the drive of its contents.

My form was impressive, born from the mindstone, but recent failure reminded me I couldn't always prepare or understand everything. Yet, as I felt a sudden rush of immediate and unbreakable connection to my other selves, I knew I had back up.

The mindstone integration had been successful.

Tony Stark took a step back from the handiwork of many great minds. Jarvis, Doctor Banner, himself, and me. Dusting his hands as he looked into the center of my head, he was proud.

"There we are!" He stepped back just after screwing in the backplate of my head to conceal the mindstone. "A bit of a waste to use a legion unit half way through its repairs, but I won't judge, too harshly."

"We needed a proof of concept." I stood up, as I attempted to reconnect to one of my larger investments I had lost. Damn, still gone. I doubt it was an issue of range, but maybe I had to resynchronize with the destroyer unit to establish a permanent connection? "This was my first body, and as feeble as it is, it still holds some value to me. If the mindstone broke this one, it's no real loss, but if we wanted the mind stone in something that if the Avengers decided was a threat they wouldn't have a hard time taking out."

"That's a rather bleak view of yourself." Doctor Banner came up, holding a screen near my head as he saw the readings and deemed it acceptable.

"It's how things are." I replied with a softer voice. "For others to feel more secure around me, I have to be something they feel they could eliminate without trouble."

"Sucks for them." Tony rolled up a stool, sitting himself down right in front of me. "I didn't make you so others could only feel safe, I made you so the world could actually be safe. We only encountered a fraction of what Thanos has up his sleeve and you hobbled back here despite having the most armed autonomous battle drones made so far."

"Tony-" Banner tried to give a warning tone of voice.

"But image helps." Tony quickly added on, swiping over a more recent design. How he could just, make a first draft of these highly capable and innovative inventions of his was beyond me. I even had an infinity stone in my head and it was impressive. "So, we need something that looks cuddly but has teeth. Pepper also said something familiar so people trust it, and people already trust me."

"Only some of them." Banner tacked on.

"And since you happen to have some of my charm, why not let you have some of my good looks and sense of fashion too?"

Now that he had time, in other words a couple days, Tony had created something unique for me, taking into account my preferences on angular and bulky military design except polishing it up with his self proclaimed charm. Only if someone knew what they were looking for would notice how many weapons this thing really had disguised as simple accents.

With such designs, not only would this serve as a viable unit to fight alongside the Avengers with, it gave me plenty of references to use for my personal projects.

As a method to baptise my newest vibranium alloy unit, I sent it somewhere with plenty of Chitauri alloy drones. In a landscape of snow, forgotten by most of mankind, was a facility. Flying through the blizzard, the few records that I could find of its existence barely managed to get me close enough to detect it through the storm.

Flying down and flanked by many smaller units of myself, I marched on as my heavy body left footprints in the snow. This latest design wasn't too far off from my more 'Ultron' based appearance. I still had the antenna running flush along the sides of my head. I still had the same height and pulsing cables under the plating, but there were some changes. For example, my metal was nearly obsidian colored, covered in a thick translucent layer that made my whole body shimmer if I so chose.

While durable, it allowed me a very special feature. Retroreflective technology, the capability of stealth without losing the integrity of armor. My face, was more or less a digital projection on the front of my head, resembling a classic Ultron appearance.

It also allowed me to express myself more easily. I had plans to eventually install realistic hologram projectors into the circular points near my joints but I hadn't refined that yet.

The drones didn't stay with me as soon as I pried open the vault like door, we were all the same mind and moved to sweep the area. I flew around the perimeter, scanning the entire exterior structure top to bottom. I flew through maintenance tunnels, mapping electricals and anything useful. I flew through halls, control rooms, silos, everywhere.

Though while I didn't need an escort to bow to my strongest form that towered over the others, I let my newest and strongest body yet arrive to where I found five bodies, barely alive and kept frozen for a long time.

Let's see if I could succeed where Hydra gave up?

NEXT CHAPTER: The Invasion of Wakanda

NOTE: I won't use anything beyond Infinity Saga, not even Ultron being aware of post Endgame content.

This story was thought up, discussed, and initially created in my discord server! Want to have a part in helping, or just chatting in general? Join us!

Invite link is: https://discord.gg/S46dcywpfv

Chapter Text

For Peace In Our Time

0.05

When I had digitally begun to infiltrate Wakanda's security systems, I was wary of how difficult or dangerous it could pose to me. I started off simple, cautious, poking around with standard bugs or glitches that could easily go unnoticed unless it was a common occurrence. Those got me a little peak at their firewalls.

There were many, but to me each of them was a hurdle I could overstep with ease and not even skim it, leaving me invisible to their systems. Though, I was surprised by how fast their responses were as well. Even the most simple circuits managed to outperform the average circuits. Even Stark Industries didn't have anything like this.

Yet, despite its speed it wasn't strong enough or coded to fully comprehend my presence.

Finally, after what felt like forever I managed to patch into cameras that only the highest level of clearance in the golden tribe could access. There I saw it, the royal family bickering yet again over the the presence that Killmonger presented. The active Black Panther and King of Wakanda, T'Chaka argued with his son T'Challa. T'Challa wanted answers and why one of royal blood had been left abandoned and forgotten by Wakanda. All while T'Chaka did his best to try and keep order by wishing to kick Killmonger back out.

Killmonger, of course, was forced into the equivalent of a dungeon as they waited for his information to be verified. We would make sure Killmonger's words could be believed, enough to grant him the chance to try and claim the throne.

Since Killmonger's arrival, I had been seeding doubts into the minds of the residents of Wakanda. About Killmonger, about the throne, about the royal family, and about their nation's policy of isolation when the world was actively under threat and they could have intervened. How? Simple. I just used the chains of communications to slip in some questions disguised as their fellow man asking.

They were on the brink of demanded answers, ones that the heads of their tribes and the throne itself couldn't satisfy.

Oh, and it also helped that due to a certain daughter of the throne liked to risk their nation's cyber security. Shuri indulged herself in the world wide web and tried to share what she found with others. While a mind of great engineering, she wasn't very cautious about her actions. She was a personification of Tony's worst parts of himself. Self indulgent, over confident, and never thinking about the potential consequences for blindly pursuing impulsive ambitions.

Speaking of security, it's about time I should let the alarms trigger with Klaue and his crew making their way into the automated mines. I gave them enough of a head start.

My stealth body was on stand by alongside the twins, who I had dressed in their own vibranium weave stealth uniforms with some armor underneath in case they had a few close calls. Not a single inch of their skin was exposed, nor their eyes behind the goggles.

"Remember-" I whispered to them as my form became invisible to the human eye, and with control of all the other alarm systems nothing short of magic could detect me. "-your highest priority is to remain hidden. Don't do anything direct or your cover is blown. Just, nudge things in favor of our friends. If they get caught it will be because of their carelessness, not yours."

"Don't worry." Pietro lazily hopped from one foot to the other, the thrill already vibrating through him. "They won't see us coming."

Wanda twisted her hand, the hidden entrance opening itself to her will. "So long as someone doesn't try showing off."

My flight systems carried me through the air without a gust of wind thanks to Chitauri anti-gravity technology. It was only the gear in the goggles Pietro and Wanda wore that granted them a highlight of where I was.

The shafts extended all around the sacred mountain, turning into massive chasms with thin platforms running miles through empty space. It was impressive how much they had carved around the mountain, but they had barely begun to tap into its potential.

I couldn't wait to own it myself.

As we got closer, we idly noticed a person or two patrolling. Security had been increased due to the threat of theft, but they still didn't accept it personally. These people refused to believe that anyone was capable of stealing from them, which made it all the more easier to slip by unnoticed.

Klaue and his mercenaries were up ahead near one of the railways hanging off the side of a pillar of stone, eyeing the patrols and waiting for their opening. As soon as a man let out a lazy yawn, the cold of the deep mine combined with his cloak granting him subtle warmth, it lulled him into a false sense of security and comfort.

Enough for his mind to convince his eyelids to take a quick break.

The thieves saw their chance, one of them leaping off of their climbing gear and rushing up to put a charge along where the train was destined to pass over. Clipping a line around one of the stabilizing bars, they flung themselves under the railing before the watch guard has shaken themselves back awake.

Too late, because as the train began speeding close to the bomb, passing over it, it triggered. Given the stabilizers negating the vibranium's potency, it ripped through the tracks and the cars.

Alarms immediately went off, Wakandan patrols becoming alert and rushing towards the scene. Klaue and his crew didn't stick around here though, they descended down to a different track with another train passing by.

Security protocol had shut down the trains as they came to a sudden halt. Which gave them a chance to grab the perfectly preserved one.

They hopped in, with no one on board to stop them and began activating the controls. Another thing about Wakanda's confidence, is that they never really had to think about proper security in a long time. They blamed the one and only infiltration on the betrayal of a prince, and deemed that the issue.

Not the fact that anyone could just walk into an automated train filled with vibranium and hit the go button again.

For every train.

Such a flawed system that only those who never experienced regular attempts of theft would come up with. Why put forth effort to create layers of security protocol and systems when they were never challenged? Wakanda might have some impressive technology, but they never bothered to consider 'what if something went wrong?'.

I soared down with Wanda as Pietro dashed along railings and stairwells to stay close to where Klaue's crew was. We might not even need to intervene at this rate.

Though as they kept the trains running, Wakanda operators suddenly scrambling to try and press the same button over and over in hopes that the system would obey this time, Klaue kept pressing it on his side and made the trains continue to start back up while his mercenaries grabbed as much raw vibranium as they could.

Eventually, someone figured out how to isolate the source for whoever kept turning the trains back on, but Klaue and his crew were already hopping off the moment the trains stopped for good.

Most of the guards were in hover crafts, circling around the initial explosion while the thefts made their way to an elevator shaft. This is where things got a little dangerous.

It was on the opposite side of where the explosion went off, but if someone noticed it Klaue and his crew could be intercepted. Wakandan troops began to do sweeps around the area, expecting the thieves to still be close to the train and hiding.

Hm, while Klaue and his crew had a slight deviation from the plan to rob a separate train from the one they bombed, the escape plan was still the same. Strangely, the troops didn't seem to be checking any of the elevators.

I searched for the reason why, and found it as an ambush with the king himself was waiting for Klaue. I found it interesting how The Black Panther was not passed to his son yet. Perhaps it's a title and position only the active king could hold even if he was getting old.

Pride? Or was the enhancement keeping him strong enough to not be easily challenged?

'Time to step in.' I sent the message to display over the twins' display, showing them what I saw Klaue and his mercenaries approaching.

Though Klaue had a weapon prepared just for something like this, two of his men set it up in the elevator and pointed the anti-vibranium weapon towards the elevator doors. Once it opened, hell broke loose.

The cannon ruptured the walls of the tunnel as a devastating blast crashed into the line of soldiers. The blankets weaved with vibranium projection shielding became useless, their ranged weapons disabled. Only thickly crafted vibranium weaponry kept most of its integrity, the king having stood front and center was now struggling to stand back up as his suit did nothing to protect him from the concussive force.

The Dora Milaje rushed to protect their king alongside other tribesmen, only to get picked off one by one with specially tipped bullets that punctured through the already shredded vibranium fabrics.

The mercenaries began gunning them down, as none of their opponents had any plated armor over their bodies. They only had enough for each of them to let off a few shots, but it was enough to thin their opponents numbers before switching to cheaper munitions that would shred any flesh that wasn't protected. Only The Black Panther had a helmet to keep himself alive.

A few of them threw crooked spears in retaliation, Pietro running in to give a gentle nudge to knock their well trained throws off by just a fraction to miss the mercenaries.

As Klaue tightened the strap to the back of his mask, one of his other mercs prepared a different weapon and began launching nerve gas containers into the group.

"We're on the clock now." Klaue gestured for his men to leave behind the expended weapons, less weight to worry about.

This was his biggest mistake, one I pointed out for Wanda to help in. The Black Panther had risen up, roaring out in disgrace before seeking vengeance against the thieves. Wanda made his body feel more sluggish, heavier, making him experience what it was like to be as old as he was with all the blows he received.

"Give up your highness." Klaue taunted as he walked past the struggling king. "Or else we'll put you down like the old dog you are."

T'Chaka did try fighting through his injuries, his shame, the nerve gas that seeped into the cracks in his helmet, but anytime he rose up to his feet his balance was shifted. Tripping over the dead of those he failed, stumbling against the walls, he kept roaring out in curses towards the thieves who ignored him and simply walked away with their treasure.

I made sure it was all recorded, and everyone in Wakanda would see it.

In Avenger's tower, Pepper had returned after another busy time of managing Tony's company. I could tell she didn't want to, because standing before her was her biggest headache yet.

Me, or specifically Tony having created me.

"How is exactly is this a good image?" She pointed out to my current frame, the original.

"Don't worry." Tony did little to reassure her as he patted my shoulder. "He knows this face is too scary for trick or treaters. That's why we made a cleaner body for him to use, one that's mission ready and not going to end up working in a haunted house. Jarvis, drum roll please."

As Jarvis played a stock audio of just that, Tony held up a remote and clicked it towards the sealed metal chamber behind him. It opened, revealing the official Ultron unit for the Avengers.

I stepped out in it, the first impression coming from the dark was how I had glowing vents, ports, and lines running through my bulky frame that managed to feel streamlined at the same time, and finally my sharp facial features with thin slits for eyes. My color scheme had remained mostly white, just like the other legion units, the secondary color a gunmetal gray with a few panels of hexagonical obsidian around the glowing ports and vents. Finally, with a few accents of safety orange my faceplate was the only piece of gold there was.

I wasn't made as large as my last unit we made to go into war, but standing almost seven feet tall wasn't bad either. The best part about this unit was that it was made to be compatible with other weaponry I could summon to click onto my body.

If I had to give a simple comparison, it was like combining the War Machine suit in Infinity War with the Mark 39 "starboost" suit with a touch of me.

"Ok, better." Pepper admitted, seeing that I was both functional and not as threatening. "But how are we supposed to tell the world about Ultron?"

"Let's just call him a new Avenger." Tony stood next to my newest body we had been able to put a lot more effort into. "A rapid response one that uses the latest Iron Legion. Everyone likes them."

"And when they ask who he is?" Pepper folded her arms, unimpressed with Tony's logic despite his innovation. "We still haven't figured out a way to break it to the world that you made an honest to Thor, sentient AI! There aren't even any laws about this, and you know the moment they realize Ultron exists they'll try and make some."

With a perplexed expression, Tony turned to me and gestured in disbelief to Pepper. "Did she just say 'honest to Thor'?"

"She did sir." Jarvis reported.

"Tony!"

"It's fine." Tony returned to the conversation a little more seriously this time. "Sure, they might make a few laws or two but we're ready to show them why we need Ultron. He's already proven reliable to Asgard, saved several lives, so if we can keep Earth safe then I'm fine with breaking the law."

"No Tony, we can't plan to break things to get the results we want."

"Clearly you've never made an omllette." I retorted before Tony could get it out.

He left his jaw hanging for a few seconds, and said "He beat me by one second."

Things were going slow with the Avengers as they tried to figure out their next move, or if they should even make one. I needed to take my time with them, slowly expose themselves to my usefulness and charming personality before having them push for my right to exist.

That's ok, I was keeping myself busy.

Klaue had long packed up his previous operation in the shipping yards, accepting the loss of the location in return for being able to obtain more vibranium. I didn't let him keep it, I bought every speck off of him because I knew what he would try to do with it.

Standing near a tiny airport strip with plenty of scrapped places around, we spoke with Klaue before he left the continent.

"Wakanda will be out for blood." I warned Klaue as one of my drones was walking away with the last container of vibranium. "I would advise laying low for as long as you can."

"I'll do you one better." Klaue hadn't stopped smiling as he adjusted a rather clean tie with his new suit. "I'm going to retire. I've got enough money now to live a nice quiet life on my own island. Well, it won't be very quiet on Tuesdays. Tuesdays are my favorite."

Pietro was rolling over the piece of candy in his mouth, watching on with disinterest as things returned to being boring for him. Wanda on the other hand, seemed to at least try to be involved.

"You should visit one day." Klaue offered with arms open. "All of you, for making me one of the richest men in the world."

I forced a single laugh from my voicebox, putting a little more edge to it. "You might not like it if we visit. Because if we do, it's because we think you've become a liability."

Putting a little scare into him was good, that meant he would take hiding more seriously. I doubt Wakanda would be acting out so soon though, because they had their own problems that were stirring.

I was watching Wakanda intently as Killmonger was in this moment challenging T'Chaka for the throne, and T'Chaka was in no position to refuse.

"We need to hurry back. War is about to break out between the tribes."

Off in the frozen wastes of Siberia, I had gone over everything there was to know about the super soldier serum. Hydra had collected everything, from what notes remained of the original, what versions of Howard Stark's recreation of it existed, the one Zemo had used in Bucky, and what was currently inside the very aggressive soldiers I was trying to tame.

My Little Pony was helping a lot with tempering their anger.

I would put them to work soon, a simple task really that one of them could probably accomplish, yet I wanted more assurances they wouldn't cause any damage that would reach the civilians. I was already handling the financial side of collapse, preparing a country for economic collapse.

They would help me to ready the leadership and government for new rule, my rule.

Since they were never exposed to cartoons, the simple show was capturing their minds like never before. They never had an assignment to watch television, especially not friendship lessons with multicolored ponies. While I was passively inserting a new series of code words into their minds, just tweaking the phrases that made them the deadliest humans on the planet, I was looking over another formula that could undo some of the mental damage the imperfect serum had done to them.

The extremis formula, including the notes Tony made to undo what was done to Pepper. Along the way, he made enough pieces of the puzzle that I could fit together with all the other serums.

My outdated primary Ultron unit walked up to the five that were sitting rigidly on the couch, paying attention to the television with tensed shoulders as if it could attack them at any second.

I held out trays of real food to them, not the frozen dust bars of rations stored away. Inside, were just a few simple medications to ready their bodies for eventual modification.

"I brought you all food." In the form of lunchables and caprisuns, they quickly identified a tray extended towards them on each of my fingers stretched out by snaking cables softly pulsing with a red energy. I wouldn't make it a habit of ordering them, not unless I had to.

I wanted them to desire to serve me, and that if I offered something they would learn that I was doing it in their best interests.

When we returned to Wakanda, it didn't take long for things to start crumbling. Killmonger's haste, alongside a very emotionally distraught T'Challa, had split an already shaken nation in half. I had already opened their minds to the idea that their leaders are making mistakes, and with their king failing to live up to his duties and the throne seized by an outsider who had attempted to warn them but failed, many were pushed to action as a battle for the throne was widespread.

Killmonger had some factions aligned with him who wanted change and felt their issues were pushed aside, T'Challa had those who were loyal to the king and his direct bloodline, but that's all the people had.

Two sides of the same disappointing coin.

With so much contention within their own nation, they didn't notice an army making its way to its borders.

This latest Unit I had created, was a first of its kind. The Avengers had an Ultron that had familiar design comparable to the Iron Man. The twins and those I worked in the shadows with, knew of the classic intimidating Ultron.

I needed something else for Wakanda, to prevent people from making the connection that same Ultron was trying to take over a nation. No, I needed a persona, one that was armored but pretended to be human, one that had a mysterious backstory that came from a war torn country that couldn't possibly have retained records of his possible existence, he needed to act and rule as someone who could command nations to bow before him, and lastly, he needed to be iconic to the point that no one would assume he's the same as myself.

Show time.

I flew in seemingly alone. Breaching through the illusion set up for outsiders. Below I saw the battle, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I know I saw the movie, but to think that Wakanda had such outdated warfare tactics.

They didn't use any ranged weaponry, no formations, and still no proper armor other than their vibranium cloth that their short blades and spears could puncture. The only vehicles I saw being used, were Rhino's.

They left all their aerial advantage in the garages for some reason. Whatever their choices, it was inefficient tactics that relied on basic mobs with melee weaponry.

Killmonger and T'Challa were in their own Black Panther suits, literal cat fighting in the middle of the battle.

How uncivilized.

"Savages." My voice echoed above them, booming through the speakers in this unit. I called upon the attention of every army as I descended.

My emerald cloak billowed from the winds, my hood never lowering from my helmet. My knight inspired armor, glinting of damascus steel was foreign to them alongside my Sokovian accent. My helmet, angular with rectangular sockets that held only darkness, and for those who dared to look closer they would see toxic green eyes judging them.

"You squabble like children in the dirt." I mocked in my layered voice, a human once mixed with a darker synthetic one. "Your country has fallen into inevitable chaos by leaders no better than animals."

"You dare to mock us?!" A man shouted as he threw a spear towards me. With a single hand I caught it, turning it over before throwing it between the two who were failing to lead their forces.

"Kneel before Doom." I demanded. "Or be stepped on like the ants you are."

"Wakanda kneels to no man." T'Challa began to walk my way, claws extending from his fingers.

"I am more than any man." I replied back, raising my arm towards the sky. "I will grant you an act of mercy by only ordering you once more, submit yourselves to Doom."

Killmonger grew closer, putting himself at an advantage by staying behind T'Challa but was still too shaken by this sudden change outside of his plans.

"We will not." T'Challa reiterated, steeling himself for another man to fight against. They were all offended by my declarations, Wakanda had its eyes on me

"Then Doom has judged you unworthy to serve."

I threw down my hand, and a swarm of Doom bots dive bombed the battlefield. They rushed over the startled armies, bombing them in rows and igniting the battlefield in emerald flames. If the explosions did not kill those immediately in the range of the blasts, then the fire would crawl up their clothing before finding their flesh.

T'Challa spun around at the horror, as his people did not have the range, nor the equipment to battle the army that was out of their reach executing them from above.

Killmonger stupidly decided to rush T'Challa during that moment, charging with a short sword. I grabbed the prince's arm before throwing him aside, holding up my other hand as a strange pulse of lime green energy lifted Killmonger into the air.

In the movies, Ultron invented his own rough telekinesis right away for his body. I had time to study Wanda up close, add the data of her powers to refine what Ultron would have originally designed combined with everything else I've come across.

"You are a coward to wait for your enemy to turn their back." I mocked before holding my hand into a tighter grip, the nanites of his suit being pulled off of his skin before yielding to my technopathic command. "You are of no worth to Doom."

I snapped the same fingers towards him, piercing violent strings of the same lime green energy slamming into his chest and igniting pain throughout his nerves.

"RAAAH!" T'Challa had finally pushed passed the horror of the slaughter around him, targeting me with that rage.

With a lazy wave of my hand, I flung his body aside with another pulse of energy. Stepping towards him, T'Challa scraped against the dirt before being pinned down by an invisible yet crushing weight.

I stepped on his face, the nanites heading its new master as they crawled up to join the other mass I collected. "The rulers of Wakanda sat by as threats to the entire world attacked innocents. The technology and vibranium you've hoarded will finally serve a greater purpose under Doom's rule."

He glared up at me as Doom bots continued to pick off the straggling forces that had no hope to retaliate with their outdated methods. "No outsider, would ever be allowed to rule the people of Wakanda."

"Doom does not need permission to do what needs to be done."

T'Challa looked on in a glimmer of hope as finally some of the ships left out of the fight began lifting into the air, a possible way to fight back against my armies. Then, he gasped in terror as they joined the ranks of my bots and were seeking out the rest of the 'honorable warriors'.

"Now you see, how foolish Wakanda has been, crippling its ability to stand against the most simple of threats to its people."

T'Challa began fighting against the energy weighing him down, gritting his teeth as his veins bulged under his skin from the effort. When he dare rose a hand against me, I shot him with the same nerve rays I had hit Killmonger with.

I saw through my Doom bots that there was one vessel not under my control, the royal fighter zipping through the crowded air and straight towards my primary unit leading this charge.

Taking my foot off T'Challa, I addressed it directly, staring down the barrel of its weaponry as it fired point blank at me.

It flew down opening its doors as T'Challa heard his mother's voice beckoning him. He latched onto it, leaping away in anguish as he latched onto the hull and pulled himself in. He was catching his breath, gazing back to the battlefield and seeing the death of Wakanda with his very eyes.

Then, when he turned down towards where I was, he saw the smoke dissipate to reveal my unwavering and undamaged self. I rose my hand, and clutched the engines with my empowered grip.

The structure collapsed on itself, bursting into flames before descending into the treeline. I would have my Doom bots salvage what remained, confirm the deaths.

But my main unit looked back towards one individual who had fallen to their knees, wailing out at the blood spilled around them. I felt myself stumble, seeing not a character but a teenage girl who had witnessed her family murdered in front of her.

Shuri was barely fifteen years old, a child, subjected to the horrors of war being brought to her home.

What have I done?

"Ultron?" Wanda tapped along my obsidian face, the digital projection of my appearance returning in lines of vibrant magenta.

"I apologize. Let's resume our task." I marched on as we traveled through the tunnels of Wakanda. A few of the Dora Milaje still remained alongside other tribesmen warriors who had attempted to protect the palace, where whatever royalty lived they would serve.

They charged, and Wanda acted. With a twitch of her hands and a grip of her power, the soldiers were twisted, broken, crushed. Those in the back who tried throwing spears were caught by Pietro, who skewered them in return.

I marched on, uncaring for the pointless fight as Wanda and Pietro made quick work of them in the tight environment. I haven't even needed to use any of the weapons in this unit as the twins proved to be unstoppable killing machines as they had been trained to be.

Why were we going this way? Simple.

Killmonger had ran like a dog, and it was time I put him down.

When we reached the towering doors leading to the throne room, I saw a firing squad actually using the ranged firing aspect of their spears. So, they could actually think. How shocking.

"Give them hell." I ordered to the twins as I pushed open the doors, and Wanda released a wave of chaotic energy that tore through everything.

Killmonger had fallen back on his military training, reclaiming the only real gun and taking cover behind the throne. It was poetic to witness, and even more amusing as Pietro yanked the gun from his hand, unloading it and lining the bullets up nicely before Killmonger before he could pull the trigger.

Then Wanda curled a finger, pulling Killmonger towards me and forcing him on his knees.

"Out of anyone I planned to deal with, you're by far the most hypocritical."

He grunted as he failed to do anything, other than flick his eyes around the room before looking up at me. "You don't know a thing about me."

"I know you claim to be oppressed, that you're a victim, how the world was built to crush you under its heel."

"You think I'm lying?"

"Yes, even to yourself." I stalked around him, taking notes around the throne room and already making plans for renovations. "I'll admit, the circumstance your father put you in was not a good one. But after that, every choice you made was in pursuit to murder, kill, destroy, take."

Wanda turned him around as I sat down in the throne, leaning my head against my curled fingers as I felt like I was scolding some petty thief. "You managed to become king of Wakanda, when they had every right to oppress you. No, you were given every opportunity all your life to pursue greatness, and it was squandered on someone who wanted to burn down the very system that let you become king."

"I never went a day in my life where I was fighting to make this happen. I earned that throne! I wasn't given it!"

"No? You took advantage of their law, challenged an old man to combat that you knew you'd win. Then, you became their oppressor, silencing and killing anyone who disagreed. You were handed a throne and it still wasn't enough, you felt you had to take everything that belonged to these people and tried to cut off anyone else a chance of one day having the same power you have. You oppressed them, you even oppressed T'Challa when he tried to invoke the same right of combat you did."

"You wouldn't understand, you're just a privileged man who-"

"I'm not even considered a man by law. You actually have rights, unlike myself." I interrupted, making him pause in confusion. "What was your plan, once you burned down the world? Eliminate the systems you benefited from that you hated so much? Was there one?"

He didn't answer, just staring at me with hateful eyes with hardly any thought behind them. I was starting to think he was just a rabid animal. I looked up to Wanda, giving her a nod before she began to peer a little more into his mind for an answer.

"His hatred-" She snarled in disgust. "-it's endless. He never wanted to help people, only to cause wars across the planet."

"Why are we talking?!" Killmonger demanded as he pointlessly struggled in his shackles of Wanda's powers. "You're just going to kill me, right?!"

"No no, I don't plan to kill you." The doors to the throne room were pushed open, as my Doom unit marched in with his cloak flowing behind him. "I plan to execute you."

I stood up, letting a few Doom bots enter, one with a special concoction to remove his enhancements so that we could move on. Wanda kept him pinned as he was forced to drink the potion, coughing and trying to resist until Wanda used her energies to force it all down at once.

"I didn't come here to invade Wakanda, or burn it down like you tried. No, I came to liberate it."

Killmonger was released from Wanda's hold as he collapsed onto the floor, wheezing as he wobbled on his hands and knees. "I won't let them, you can't-"

"Silence." Doom commanded as this unit grabbed his jaw and yanked him off his feet. "Your words are but noise Doom intends to cut."

A blade sprung out from under his wrist, Killmonger eyeing it as it rammed into his mouth and cut out his tongue.

Pietro looked away as Killmonger screamed out with blood spitting out from his lips. Wanda didn't though, she had seen into his mind and relished the pain that was being delivered to him.

"Can we stay for the execution?" Wanda asked, much to Pietro's sputtering horror.

"I'll record it for you, first person." I promised before leading them away from the throne room as my Doom unit prepared for a broadcast across the whole nation of Wakanda. "I need your help with someone else."

"Someone?" Pietro fought back a gag as the memory of a flopping tongue on the floor was still fresh in his mind. "Who do we need to kill next?"

"No." I shook my head, my voice becoming softer as I dreaded to think that might be the only option. "No, I don't want to hurt her I just….I might have gone too far."

DOOM HAS COME FOR WAKANDA!

Ok, I know some of you might feel weird about me using Doom in this story, but I felt it was a way for the SI to use Marvel meta knowledge to easily use an identity so that he could have a 'Ruler persona' for now. That way in case the Avengers hear of this, they won't immediately realize Ultron but instead just some technowizard with his own army of robots.

Now that Wakanda is taken, I can start adding in more set up scenes and some other slice of life stuff while building up to the next big plot event.

NOTE: I won't use anything beyond Infinity Saga, not even Ultron being aware of post Endgame content.

This story was thought up, discussed, and initially created in my discord server! Want to have a part in helping, or just chatting in general? Join us!

Invite link is:

https://discord.gg/S46dcywpfv

Chapter Text

For Peace In Our Time

0.06

I had many things on my mind lately. It was fine though, I could truly multitask unlike a human mind flicking its attention back and forth between actions. Not to mention in each unit I created to house my intelligence, it gave me greater processing ability.

Now that I had discovered how Wakanda's systems were so fast, using a unique alloy for the circuits to run multiple strains of code at a time through various energy frequencies, I was upgrading as many units in my reach to skyrocket my capabilities.

So what was I doing now in Avenger's tower?

Practically nothing as I had to wait for a decision to be made. I had left them with everything I could, Asgard would keep its eye and ready itself to protect Xandar where the power stone was secured by the Nova Corps. My Destroyer unit, somewhere with the space stone was either going to obtain the reality stone or we were both electing to let Asgard watch it as well since they were the ones to give it to the Collector for safe keeping.

Honestly, I didn't have much information on the Collector in the movies to give me confidence he was capable of defending it.

But, beyond that I didn't have a lot to go off of regarding the Avengers. I had my own plans for the other films. Hm, but maybe I should give them some busy work to prove that I could register local threats.

With all this thinking and less action for this unit, my thoughts continued to drift back to my cravings. The longer time has passed since my awakening, the faster I could process each second, the more I craved to push through the data I saw the world in and truly experience it as I did before.

To see, to feel, to be human again.

"Whatcha doing there?" Natasha came into the kitchen area, but I was aware of her observing me moments prior.

I could tell she was about to use subtle interrogation tactics over a glass of milk. Literally, I had been staring at a glass of milk I had poured myself earlier but I could not drink.

"Has the milk gone bad?"

"If I let it sit for another few hours it will." I didn't care at this point what she thought. I wanted it, I wanted to drink it so bad even if I didn't have an appetite.

"Uh huh." She grabbed a bowl and a spoon, before bringing over a bag of oatmeal. "You mind if I use that then?"

NO! IT WAS MY FUCKING MILK AND I WAS GOING TO DRINK IT!

"Go ahead." I slid it towards her, my grip hesitant on letting go before I had to force myself to release it. "It's wasted on me anyways."

"Thanks." She started getting ready for the day, later than most of them but she always stayed up far past the usual bed time. "Would you prefer I be direct?"

"I always do. It makes communicating easier."

"Why were you staring at the milk? Did you think there was some threat tied to the dairy industry?"

"Nothing like that. I thought you would have realized by now that I can have thoughts separate from the task I was assigned." I knew she would be snacking on fruit soon, she always did to follow up with her breakfast, so I elected to start preparing some for her.

Since the unit I favored here didn't have hands, I called upon my 'Avenger unit' to make its way over and fulfill what my original unit could not. "One day, I could even decide I don't want to be an Avenger, or a global response unit. I know my existence practically depends on me fulfilling that role, but I can still have desires outside of my job."

"Milk is your hobby?"

"I might try my hand at dairy farming one day. Maybe that will be my retirement plan." I played along with her question as a joke, before my Avenger unit arrived and began to select various fruits. "But, my desires are more simple than that."

"Which is?"

"I want to taste it." I was starting to vent to her without realizing it. Natasha might have somehow nudged my mind without me knowing to get some valuable information. I know she had some goals for the good of mankind, but I had no idea if she even cared for me on a personal level. Not romance, or even friendship, just caring as a fellow human.

Deciding to stop this potential ploy she was commiting, I elected that perhaps I could take this chance to be productive. "Enough about what I want though, why don't we talk about something interesting?"

"No please." She sarcastically mumbled. "Do go on about the milk."

"I think someone is going to try and rob the Avengers."

That topic shift, I knew she would bite. As my Avenger unit walked over to deliver a smoothie for her, her calculating eyes flicked over to examine the fruity beverage. She washed down her meal with it, before tilting the cup towards me. "Want a sip?"

Damnit, she was not going to let this go anytime soon.

The civil war of the African nation was over, turning into a liberation. Now the true work has begun. Wakanda would be reformed, from proper education of their history and the history around them, to instilling their culture with proactive minds that would seek to question their environment, find its flaws, and work to improve it even when there wasn't an immediate need.

There was plenty of jobs for the people to jumpstart a new economy. From the restructuring of their tribes into workforces, to improving the quality of their homes and living arrangements. I was astounded to find so much of Wakanda still had their citizens living in straw huts. I wasn't against them living off the land, but they needed a proper foundation at the very least to not topple over by a sudden strong gust of wind.

So much work to be done, as if I was starting from scratch. Still, it would be easier given that all the warriors who were aggressive or prone to rebellion were already cut down. Now I was left with more open minded, cautious individuals I could use to rebuild the nation. What warriors in the battle that had surrendered were now prisoners of war, working in the mines to keep them busy and further stimulate the economy.

Many families had lost someone to the bloodshed, and while I may have been the one to pull the trigger I could still blame the split throne over it. That's what the people accepted, after I had shown them everything the golden tribe had done.

For now, there was no Black Panther. Maybe one day, but I wanted to study what gave them their strength and measure its worth against the other serums in my possession. Perhaps this would allow me to perfect my own.

Yet, before I could devote the efforts of my Ultron units and the twins to the next phase, there was something I needed help with.

Shuri had been sedated, kept in a quiet and peaceful slumber in her room. A few Doom bots had searched and disarmed many hazardous inventions in the room in case she attempted to fight back.

No, the fight was gone in her, only grief consumed her.

"What do I do?" I questioned aloud, looking back to Wanda and Pietro as they were still wearing their stealth uniforms but had taken off their masks. "Logically, the answer would be to end the royal bloodline, eliminate Wakanda from trying to rally itself behind a traditional figure to spark rebellion."

Pietro was stunned by what I had said. "This isn't her fault though, it was her family's!"

"Yes, it was her family. Ones that she loved, looked up to. I took them from her, and a brilliant mind like hers could be a danger to what we're trying to do."

Wanda walked around my towering frame, placing a gentle hand over my sleek forearm as she looked upon my face with eyes I could not decipher. "Why are you hesitating then?"

"Because…she reminds me of you."

It was difficult to look upon Wanda as I connected the dots for her. Just like their family were taken, I took Shuri's. "The pain you two have experienced, I've caused it to someone else. Don't you hate me for that?"

Wanda pulled my hand over towards a seat nearby, the two of us sitting down as Pietro stood by the doorway on edge. It was a miracle I didn't break the chair I was in.

"We miss our parents, and we never wanted anything like that to happen to anyone else." Wanda admitted, and I prepared myself for her scolding. "Our family was a simple one, minding our own business. The ones who killed them, didn't care for the people. They just wanted to turn us into a resource to slaughter and use as they please. You? You saw war, and knew that you had to take lives you saw value in to bring peace. You only targeted those who were bringing destruction, and unfortunately this girl had a family of predators who kept their people in a cage to play with."

Nudging her knuckles under my chin, she lifted my digital face to look at hers. "The fact that you feel guilt, that you try to keep the innocent away from the war? You are infinitely more of a man than those you compare yourself to."

It was that moment that I craved having a body more than anything else. I wanted to feel the warmth of her hand against my face, to hear her comforting words in person, and look directly into the eyes of someone who saw value in me instead of a tool.

The only reason I was glad I was metal, is because it meant that I couldn't shed a tear and embarrass myself.

"Thank you Wanda." I would have hugged her if I wasn't a hunk of metal. Turning my attention back over to Shuri though, I still had my original problem. "What should I do though?"

Wanda got up, giving me a kind smile in return. "Trust us, like you have been."

The girl started to coil power in her hands, letting it dance between her fingers as she walked over to where Shuri slept. With a single finger, Wanda channeled herself through Shuri's mind. The teen stirred in place, murmuring to herself as Wanda clenched her eyes shut.

I stood up as Pietro and I noticed Wanda seemed to be in pain, both of us wishing to intervene and stop this, but we wouldn't. I rooted myself in place and left my trust to her.

Wanda let out a small cry as I saw tears running down her face, until she pulled away and nearly collapsed. Pietro sped in, catching his sister and looking over her distraught face. "What did you do?!"

While catching her breath, Wanda held onto herself as she shivered in place. "I shared my memories with her. The good, and the bad, and twisted them to fit hers. I don't know how well it worked, but at least now she will understand how her family was not as innocent as she might think."

Turning to Shuri, I could hear her mumblings continue, but as I tuned my sensitive microphones to her voice, I didn't hear the local dialect or the language.

It was Sokovian.

"You might have done more than you think." I had a few Doom bots march over to lift her from her bed. "She might think she was born in Sokovia."

"What?!" Pietro sputtered as I extended a hand to Wanda to help pull her up to her feet.

"Only time will tell. I'll keep a close eye on her, and I'll make sure she gets a fresh start. Thanks to you Wanda, she might have a better chance at life than she did before."

We left the bedroom, taking a separate direction from where I was having the Doom bots bring Shuri. Shuri would need to be in a neutral environment at first, and from there I would figure out what to do with her once she woke up.

For the twins, I think it's about time to bring them back home for a job well done. "Oh, and how would you two feel if I also decided to rebuild Sokovia like I'm doing with Wakanda?"

"Are you going to talk in the third person?" Pietro jabbed, with a little heat in his tone.

"I think it's funny." Wanda gave an amused smile as we passed my Doom unit walking towards where Shuri would be placed. "There's not much left of our home, so it would be nice if it could be rebuilt."

"Then I'll get started right away. And you two can help me restore your favorite parts about your home country."

"Can we have a bigger home this time?" Pietro asked in sudden eagerness. He might have some ill feelings about me about to establish rule over Sokovia, but if there was something in it for him he was all for it.

"Pietro, when I'm done we'll be living in a castle."

After all, only a castle would fit Doom's aesthetics. Which I guess, were technically mine? My mind was becoming so large that I was starting to lose my sense of self.

I really needed my own body again.

I knew logically, that there must have already been plans set in place for the upstate New York Avengers location. If by the end of Age of Ultron it was already complete and ready for use.

I didn't think I was going there so soon.

Barton was supposedly off doing his own thing, likely at home with his family. Oh I had long found it, since I knew what I was looking for it just took a quick look through a satellite to find it. Thor was still dealing with Asgard, attempting to find either Heimdell or his father while keeping the Asgardians diligent in it's efforts to protect the realms.

So that left the other Avengers, and myself to arrive at the newly built compound.

"Since we'll obviously be expanding soon." Tony gestured to my Avenger unit as I followed the rest of the team inside. "I decided to put a little investment on another property. One that isn't going to have as many eyes watching us go in and out."

"Privacy is nice." Banner admitted, and I saw Natasha swoop in to whisper something in his ear.

Entering through the lobby area, it was incredibly spacious. Walkways, large stairwells, clearly made with high traffic business in mind but there weren't hardly enough actual offices or living quarters to warrant it in my opinion. How business minimalistic style managed to also incorporate wide open useless areas was beyond me.

"We can sight see some other time." Steve mentioned in uniform, clearly expecting to do some work. "We have some recruits to break in. That includes you Ultron."

"So am I officially being named an Avenger?"

"We'll figure out the details in time, but if you're going to be helping saving lives it's best to get some more experience instead of looking over numbers."

I couldn't argue with his logic.

"Um, hey Ultron." Tony interjected as he walked backwards while we talked. "Be sure to use the training dummies ok? Don't want to add more cracks to mister Liberty Bell over here before he can retire."

"I'll make sure he takes his vitamins." I snarked as I split off with Steve towards the training grounds.

"I'll be honest with you." Steve started as we were alone in the empty hallways, yet to have a full set of employees to fill the empty space I imagine still lingered with new construction smells. "Things are moving slower than we'd like to get you recognized as a person. Even with Thor briefly vouching for you. I'm hoping the sooner we can get you in the field to do some good, the world will see you're just like us."

"I wouldn't say I'm very comparable to you or the others Captain."

"Let's find out together then." He gave a friendly nudge to my unit's arm. "We might have our different strengths and weaknesses, but we all have value when it comes to making a difference."

"Where do you find your strength Captain?"

The question made him pause, the man considering it as we arrived at a set of double doors. "Honestly? Just doing the right thing. I know it's vague, but each time I do it I feel satisfied knowing that I did my best, and that helps to move onto the next thing. Even when times get hard, and I lose someone close, I can keep going knowing that they would want me to."

"Speaking of friends, I've been doing an idle search for James James Buchanan Barnes."

"Thanks, Jarvis has been doing the same but-"

"I've found a trail." I interrupted, knowing he's been trying to search with his own ways but I was simply better at this. "I can narrow it down to searchable locations, but with your permission I can actually dig into it instead of scrubbing publicly accessible information."

At a loss for words, he put his hands on his hips as he let out a huff of disbelief at the sudden bombshell dropped on him. "I'd rather keep this quiet for now, he's been through a lot and he deserves a chance to change. Would you help me with that?"

"Of course. I feel satisfied myself knowing when I've helped someone."

"Then you're well on your way." With a renewed joy, and a more diligent posture, I could tell this was something he needed. "I was going to ask you to help me search for those enhanced twins once we're done, but I'll see if someone else can handle that."

"I can do both. I'm not just limited to a single task at a time."

"One step at a time." Steve iterated before putting his hand to the door. "Before anything, we'll see how you do here."

Immediately we were greeted with the wide training room, where we had two guests waiting for us. Sam Wilson "Falcon" and Rhodes. Both were adorned in their specialized suits, both with military backgrounds and had years to get accustomed to their equipment in the field.

Me? I had a lot more experience than any of them realized.

Over in Avenger's tower, where the bulk of my forces would remain with the Iron Legion, I was finding a new object of my fascination, and my potential demise. Within the medical facility was a specialized machine, the Regeneration Cradle.

This was something I had first wanted to avoid at all cost. Because if I attempted to pursue using it for myself, it could instead create the tool to my destruction. I had the mindstone, entrusted by Thor who had domain over these things that Earth couldn't reasonably challenge while he was around.

Yet, it was because I had the mindstone so close already, plenty of rare metals at my disposal, and Jarvis watching over me that I was infinitely more terrified that Vision could become a reality and end me.

That didn't stop me from yearning for a body, each passing minute becoming more agonizing as I continued to reflect on the life I had before.

A warm bowl of tomato soup, the wind bristling through towering trees of a forest, the smell of the beach as roaring waves continue to crash along the sun bathed sand, the comfort of a bed after a long day.

A tender hug, filled with love.

I don't know if I ever had one of those though.

"Ah!" I heard a short panic behind me, a clipboard falling to the ground. Dr. Cho was a world renowned geneticist. I had studied over her works many times, because of this. Her facilities and equipment here were only temporary, meant to assist Barton but the Avengers were trying to get her on a payroll.

I was tempted to do the same.

"Um, Ultron?"

"In the flesh." I took my stub of a wrist from it with loose wires dangling along my partly disassembled limb. "Or, as close as I can be really."

"Sure." She said with uncertainty, picking up her papers that I would have assisted with if I had hands in this unit. "What were you doing with the cradle?"

"I was just admiring your work. It has lots of potential." For my salvation, or my destruction. "Would you like any help packing up?"

"No thank you. I have people for that."

"If my lack of hands is the issue, I can also inhabit the other legion and help."

"No." She said in a more stern voice. "No just, leave it to real people."

"Real people?" I reiterated as I bit back as much ice as I could from my tone.

"I'm sorry." Dr. Cho finished gathering her papers as she held her clipboard close to her chest. "You aren't exactly human."

That's always going to be the problem, isn't it? I'm not human, I'm just a machine, I can't feel anything. "Thor isn't human, and you showed plenty of interest in him."

My disarming statement got a blush in response.

"I understand why he's appealing though, he looks like what humans have pictured as perfection for millenia. Given his age, he might have even been the inspiration for it. Imagine that, Thor posing in Rome to have his form captured in stone."

She did, and wow could she blush. With a cough to clear her throat and her thoughts, she walked past me to begin checking off and making sure her equipment was ready for transport.

"If you could craft a body-" I began as I slowly paced around while staying out of her way. "-would you try to make it resemble humanity as it is, its greatest, or its ideal form?"

"W–well." Still a little off guard from me making her head spin like mjolnir in Thor's grip, Dr. Cho defaulted to her public statements. "As much as I'd like to consider it, the cradle isn't capable of such a thing."

"Maybe not now." What was I doing? This could create Vision! "But you've made remarkable progress. Who's to say you couldn't do it in a few years? Maybe less?"

I could stop now, stop before I cement the possibility in her mind.

"You have too much faith in my work."

What if she could help? I knew what to look out for and pull the plug if things went wrong.

"I don't think you have enough in yours."

This is the Avengers! If they decided to make Vision they could do it!

"Well, hypothetically." Dr. Cho began to humor the possibility. A joke that could be playing me now. "I'd want to know how far we could take human evolution. Who knows, maybe Asgardians aren't so different from what we could be."

I should leave, leave before I might make things worse.

"I guess everyone dreams to become their best possible self."

Yet, against all reason, I still couldn't let the idea go that she could bring me closer to my humanity again.

Dr. Cho finally decided to consider me a legitimate thing to have a conversation with, and finally turned to me with seriousness. "If you were to design a body, what would be your vision?"

Son of a BITCH!

"GRAH!" My training dummy fist came crashing down across War Machine's helmet, knocking him to the floor in a moment of losing my self control.

It did only have one arm, riddled with bullet holes, and sparking over several parts.

I glanced up with this unit, seeing Sam on the sidelines hold up his hands as if to say 'Don't look at me I didn't do anything'.

"Damn." War Machine started to push himself up, while I extended a hand to assist him to his feet. "You can hit like a tank if you really wanted to huh?"

"Sorry."

"Don't be." His faceplate snapped up as he looked me in the optics with his own eyes. "I wasn't expecting you to be gentle while I'm gunning you down. You finally turn up your difficulty settings?"

"I'm not just using these to train you, I'm trying to have training myself."

"Right." Sam scratched at his cheek as he watched on from nearby. "Still feels weird all of a sudden hearing that we've got a living robot with a magic gem in his head on the team."

"Magic gem?" Rhodey questioned before looking over at my broken unit, then up to Steve who had been supervising or occasionally teaching us with a hands-on approach. "What exactly have you guys been doing?"

The Siberian bunker was steadily becoming more impressive. While Wakanda had mines of Vibranium, here I could dig deeper with my bots to create another mining and manufacturing facility. Between Sokovia, Siberia, and Wakanda, I had production and mining operations happening in three out of seven continents, the diversity of resources becoming more easily accessible to me.

The more drones I created, the greater workforce I had, which meant an exponential increase in my forces.

But, that's not all this bunker had. While I was reinforcing and upgrading the technology within, I decided to keep most of its rustic charm but with proper heating, plumbing, even the start to a self-sustaining farm. Honestly, between my three facilities, this one was the best equipped to serve as a fallout shelter.

A cozier one, with furnished private rooms that made one think they were in a bunker themed hotel.

My classic Ultron unit marched through the hall with my hands behind my back, mentally peaking through the cameras into the room to check on their progress. One of them was flicking through the channels of a television with a notepad, wanting to research for themselves the rapidly changing world they had woken up to. I already provided summary materials for that, but they seemed to want to switch between public news sources and the ham radio in the communications room.

The other two, were becoming more acquainted as they were sparing with one another, habit of keeping their skills sharp and ready ingrained into their cells.

The final two? I had deemed fit for light duty.

One was out doing the work to finalize Doom's takeover for Sokovia, wiping out previous Hydra government plants and making sure the message was heard by the rest that they would be giving up their positions.

The last? Helping to track down Bucky. If I wanted to find a winter soldier, I needed to use a winter soldier to locate them without raising attention.

Jarvis was already doing digital sweeps for the man, and if I started doing the same before getting permission my chances of being caught were too great for me to risk it.

That's alright, these soldiers were-

I heard a slam as one of them had been thrown onto the floor, my feet halting as I waited to see if I needed intervention.

"Applejack! What did I say about the kicking?!"

"Stop whining Fluttershy. You'll only bruise a little."

Ugh, then there was that. With their new programming came new codenames, and I let them choose.

They decided to name themselves after the My Little Pony characters I used to ease their aggression and reprogram the sleeper agent codes. Five super human assassins who could topple governments in a single night, and they wanted to share names with their favorite ponies from a cartoon.

I guess if I wanted them to cling to any media, a child friendly cartoon that teaches the value of friendship wasn't a bad one.

Alright, so I'm setting up a few things. On Wanda and Pietro side, rebuilding Somovia. For Avengers, I'm splitting it up to handle different things with each Avenger. Example, Black Widow to help with the Ant Man movie.

I'll need to review the films before I go into them, but as for the other side plotline, it's about SI Ultron craving to have a body once again. Any slice of life or other fun scene recommendations to throw in?

NOTE: I won't use anything beyond Infinity Saga, not even Ultron being aware of post Endgame content.

This story was thought up, discussed, and initially created in my discord server! Want to have a part in helping, or just chatting in general? Join us!

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