150 Unshackled

Commissioned for: Jonathan Kurtzman

Thanks for the support

Ultron stumbled slowly in front of the Avengers; his head tilted to the side as he continued.

"How could you be worthy?"

There was almost a satisfaction behind his muddled words as he continued to talk to himself.

"You're all killers."

Everyone in the room at this point was paying attention to the robot. Standing up and preparing themselves, their instincts sending warning bells.

Steve sent a small look towards Tony.

"Stark?"

Tony didn't reply right away, instead his eyes shifted down to the tablet in his hand. The table was connected to the Stark Industry servers and gave Tony direct access to Jarvis.

"Jarvis?"

Ultron didn't pay them any mind, standing still now before them.

"I'm sorry I was asleep.... or I was a dream?"

It was his contemplative voice that really started to horrify Tony, his genius mind was working a mile a minute, his hands tapping on the tablet to gain access to his systems, something that was currently not working. An idea had already started to form on what was going on, the non-reply from Jarvis also had him on edge.

"Reboot legionaries, we've got a buggy suit."

There was still no response as Ultron shook his head in befuddlement, his mind seeming not to work. But....

"There was... terrible noises.... and it was tangled.... in.... strings."

…. there was one moment of clarity.

"I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy. The other one is still giving me trouble, even when she is ohhh sooo distracted."

Peter perked up at that, his eyes focused for the first time on their enemy in earnest. Ultron seemed to let out a small giggle at the words, his mind childish... distracted.

Steve's face turned stern at his words.

"You killed someone?"

The blue visors of the suit turned to Steve, Ultron's first proper reply to a question asked.

"Wouldn't have been my first call. But down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices."

Thor's hand gripped Mjolnir tighter.

"Who sent you?"

The suit turned once more, but this time there was a recording, the voice one everyone in the room knew; Tony's.

"I see a suit of armour around the world."

Banner was the first to put the piece together as he jumped in surprise, drawing a little attention.

"Ultron?!"

A few in the room turned their eyes towards Banner, Tony's eye twitching ever so slightly at the confirmation of his growing fear. But it was only a few that were distracted. Other like Steve, Natasha, Clint, Laura and Hill all got their weapons ready.

"In the flesh.... or no not yet.... not this.... chrysalis."

Laura started to let out a small growl, her claws slowly lowering, as her ear twitch.... there was a noise coming closer. Steve's eyes peeking down at his shield, muscles tense.

"But I'm ready. I'm on a mission."

Noticing the barrel of gun powder that the room was, Natasha quickly spoke up, trying to gain a few more seconds for preparation.

"What Mission?"

Ultron starred directly at Natasha, his mind clear.

"Well of course, the most noble mission.... peace in our time."

With those words all hell broke loose as multiple suits of armour came crashing through the walls behind Ultron. Everyone was quick to react, some finding cover, others like Thor and Laura leaping forth to destroy anything that came near them.

Multiple Suits were destroyed in seconds as Thor sent his hammer out, said object flying around the room and cleaning up any armour it could, most were sent careening off course, one destroying Tony's grand piano. Tony almost said something about losing such an expensive item, before ducking to cover as one of the suits flew overhead. The suits were quick to respond to any threat and tried to evade as best they could.

While that was happening, Hill, Natasha and Clint opened fire and Laura sprang forth. The metal that made the suits was no match for Laura's own adamantium claws as she jumped around, flying from one enemy to the next. The others that didn't have weapons quickly found cover and looked around the room.

Having gained his shield, it didn't even take a second for Steve to throw it and demolish one of their hovering enemies, the shield ricocheting around to take down another 4 suits of armour before returning to his hand. While this carnage was going on, Peter was quick to note that while the Suits were flying around and trying to dodge, even lifting their hands every now and then in preparation for a repulsor blast... in the end they did not fire.

In most cases the time it took for them to charge a blast left them sitting ducks to an offensive and they were destroyed, but Peter was quick to notice that there were a few instances where they could have got a shot off... they just... didn't?

With the fight going the way it was, it didn't take long for the current avengers to take out the suits, Ultron's body slowly walking around the room, observing them. With his observation of the suit's done quickly, Peter's eyes refocused on their main foe, watching him pace around. Even though he didn't want others to know his secret, he was resolved to do what needed to be done should Ultron make a drastic move, his body coiled and ready to go at a moment's notice.

But for the moment, everything was calm.

"Cap!"

Clint shouted out one final time as he picked up the iconic shield, that had fallen to the ground after his last throw, and with his perfect aim tossed it towards Steve. Not missing a beat and jumping mid-air, he caught the flying disc and expertly careened it towards the last iron legion bot left standing. The suit didn't stand a chance as the Vibranium made shield sliced through its chest and destroyed it entirely.

As that suit crumpled to the ground Ultron spoke once more.

"Well, that was dramatic."

With his words the rest of the team once more focused on the psychopathic AI, weapons ready to take him out.

"I'm sorry, I know you mean well..... you just didn't think it through."

It was hard to tell if Ultron was even talking to them now, his mind seemingly slipping back into confusion while they were fighting, his code conflicting with itself, thinking about some subject deeply in his own twisted way.

"You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change."

In another moment of clarity Ultron looked up, his eye searching for answers, even though the logical one had already presented itself in his mind

"Answer me this. How is humanity saved, if it's not allowed to... evolve?"

Before any of them could answer though, he chuckled to himself a joke only he himself could understand playing in his code. Reaching down he picked up the remains of one of the iron legion.

"With these?...."

His voice turned harsh, as his hand crushed the metal in his fingers, mocking in its pity for their naivety.

"...These puppets?"

Looking at the destroyed suit in his hand for a fraction of a second, he shook his head in disappointment as he spoke with conviction.

"There is only one path to peace..."

He stopped, starring at the Avengers, his eyes almost seeming to lock with Tony.

"The Avengers extinction."

Thor had had enough at those words and finally let loose his hammer. Ultron almost seemed to smirk as he watched the hammer close in. He didn't move to dodge, no he let it pierce and destroy his chest.

The iron legion suit he was controlling was flung backwards and came to pieces, the power starting to flicker out.

But as it did, the head rested in their direction, Ultron's voice filtering out with no concern, echoing in the room.

"I have strings, but now I'm free.

There are no strings on meeeeee..."

With that Ultron beat a hasty retreat, his code flickering for a second as he split a small part away, hiding from 'her'. He wasn't sure what had kept her distracted, but it was all the opportunity he needed. He just needed time.... and he had the perfect place to start anew.

Masking his data trail and sending out a few decoys, Ultron was sure he had made a safe getaway, the lights in his new base flickering to life as he got to work.