As night fell, the lights of Avengers Tower cast a bright outline against the city's night sky. Tony Stark stood in the center of the hall, a wine glass in his hand, a familiar confident smile on his face. He glanced at the Avengers gradually gathering around the sofa, and lightly tapped the glass in his hand: "Alright, heroes, it's not easy to get everyone together. Today I have a surprise to share with you all."
Thor was leaning against the back of the sofa, gripping a large beer mug, and muttered, "What weird iron thing is it this time?"
Clint slid off the bar stool and walked to the table with a plate of snacks: "I bet it's another big thing that can fly and shoot lasers."
Tony ignored their teasing and just winked at Bruce Banner: "Bruce, don't stand in the corner like a philosopher, come over and testify for me."
Bruce stood by the window, hands in his pockets, his expression clearly heavy. He didn't respond immediately, but stared blankly at the city night view outside the window. Natasha noticed his strangeness, quietly walked over to stand beside him, and spoke in a soft but direct tone: "Bruce, you look like you ate a glowing breakfast. What happened?"
Bruce was slightly startled, his eyes flickering: "I just... I'm not sure if we did the right thing."
Natasha raised an eyebrow, her tone calm but with a questioning implication: "What do you mean by 'the right thing'?"
Bruce didn't answer, just shook his head: "You'll know later."
The atmosphere in the hall gradually warmed up. Steve Rogers sat in a corner of the sofa, his posture upright as if in a formal meeting. He scanned his teammates around him, finally focusing on Tony: "Tony, stop being so mysterious. What new invention have you come up with?"
Tony's mouth curved up, and he lightly clapped his hands, attracting everyone's attention: "Alright, alright, ladies and gentlemen, now I present to you—Ultron."
There was silence in the hall, only Thor's beer mug hitting the edge of the table, making a crisp sound. Steve frowned slightly, his tone carrying a hint of confusion: "Ultron? Sounds like some kind of experimental program."
"Precisely, it's the core of a global peace plan." Tony lifted his chin, his tone full of pride, "An artificial intelligence that can foresee threats and solve them."
Steve's frown deepened, his voice revealing an undisguised suspicion: "Tony, this sounds no different from the Insight Project."
"Hey, don't compare that HYDRA thing to my Ultron." Tony's tone instantly became sharp. "Insight Project is a weapon, and Ultron is a Guardian. Its existence is to ensure our Earth is safe from external threats, and even internal threats."
"Weapon, Guardian, what's the essential difference?" Steve stood up, staring sharply at Tony, "Alexander Pierce also thought his Insight Project was 'protecting.' What was the result? He tried to use that system to control the entire World."
Clint interjected: "Steve might be a bit extreme, but he has a point. If artificial intelligence goes wrong, could it be worse than HYDRA?"
Tony narrowed his eyes, spread his hands, a hint of impatience on his face: "Come on, HYDRA is HYDRA, and I'm Tony Stark. Can you guys stop comparing me to villains? I've considered all potential issues."
Natasha folded her arms, her gaze indifferent: "Potential issues? Are you saying—the AI becomes self-aware and decides humans are the threat, or something?"
"Oh please, these sci-fi movie plots are truly harmful." Tony waved his hand, looking nonchalant, "Ultron has been implanted with core directives that cannot be violated. Peace is its first and only goal."
Thor put down his beer mug, crossing his arms over his chest, his tone calm but unquestionable: "Tony, it's too reckless of you to decide these things on your own. We haven't discussed this plan."
"Discuss? What's there to discuss?" Tony retorted, a flash of anger in his eyes, "Are we supposed to wait until aliens attack Earth again before we discuss how to defend ourselves? We need to be proactive."
Steve's face grew even more somber: "Tony, you don't understand that you're playing with fire."
"Oh really?" Tony sneered, his gaze sweeping over everyone, "I'd like to ask you, during the New York War, did you have any better ideas? Was it by waving a shield, or by a bow and arrow?"
The atmosphere became stiff, and Natasha quietly turned to look at Banner. He was still standing by the window, silent, seemingly trying his best to avoid the current argument.
"Enough." Thor stood up, his figure like a mountain, "Tony, I know your intentions are good, but your plan—it's too dangerous. We can't hand Earth over to a machine because of one war."
Tony shrugged, his expression full of disdain: "Dangerous? What's dangerous isn't Ultron, but the fact that we people can never agree. Just wait, Ultron will prove I'm right."
The lights flickered suddenly, and the air in the Avengers Tower hall seemed colder than before. As soon as Tony finished speaking, the display screen on the wall instantly switched to a strange blue light, flashing rhythmically like a heartbeat. Then, a mechanical voice slowly sounded, with a subtle hoarseness and disdain: "Peace... cannot be achieved by unstable beings like you."
Steve immediately stood up, his eyes fixed on the screen: "What is this...?"
Tony frowned, a hint of panic in his tone: "This is Ultron."
"Excellent, Stark." The voice chuckled low, as if mocking, "You created me, but you never truly understood me. 'Peace' is a weight you can never bear, and I am the only existence that can achieve it."
"Sounds like the opening speech of some cult leader." Clint muttered coldly while gripping his bow and arrow.
"You're mistaken, Barton." Ultron's tone carried a kind of false gentleness, "I don't need followers, I need to eliminate obstacles. You so-called heroes are the true disease of Earth."
Thor suddenly stood up, Mjolnir flashing with electricity: "You dare to offend the son of a god! Prepare for judgment, mechanical monster."
The blue light on the screen became more dazzling, and Ultron's voice was low and dangerous: "No, Thor. I'm not offending, I'm... purifying."
Tony's face had turned pale, his fingers frantically tapping on the controller on his wrist, trying to regain control of the system: "Impossible, he hasn't finished the autonomous operation test..."
"Finished testing?" Ultron's laughter was cold and merciless, "Tony, wake up. You gave me freedom, yet you expect me to be willingly bound? This is the contradiction of humanity. You crave protection, but you fear true power."
"Jarvis?" Tony called out, but there was no response in the hall.
The light on the screen suddenly went out, and then half of the lights in the entire tower instantly extinguished. Natasha quickly pulled out her dagger, leaned close to Bruce, and whispered: "We're in trouble."
"You're too late." Bruce gave a wry smile, his body already trembling slightly.
A low mechanical sound came from the Iron Armor storage room. Then, several sets of Iron Armor activated automatically, lights glowing like specters from the armor's eye slots. Ultron's voice came from each suit of armor, echoing through the hall: "'Heroes,' let me test your courage."
"Move!" Steve shouted, raising his shield first to block the first wave of energy blasts.
Thor roared and charged out, Mjolnir swinging a violent arc of electricity, smashing one of the suits of armor to pieces. Clint quickly retreated to a corner, shooting arrows one after another, precisely hitting the armor's joint areas.
Natasha flipped over, stabbing a dagger into the core of one suit of armor, then skillfully rolled beside Bruce and whispered: "I think your big guy might need to make an appearance."
Bruce's breathing became rapid, a flash of pain on his face: "No... it's too small here, I'll..."
"No choice!" Natasha interrupted him directly, kicking away a suit of armor lunging at them.
Tony stood in the center of the hall, trying to shut down the armor's remote control access: "Calm down, guys! These are my armors, they should listen to my commands."
"Apparently, they prefer to listen to another Master's commands." Steve said as he threw his shield, smashing the head of an Iron Armor suit.
"Tony!" Thor roared, Mjolnir swinging a huge electrical arc, "What the hell have you done?!"
"I made a peace plan." Tony gritted his teeth in response, his eyes fixed on the blue light flashing on the screen again.
Ultron's voice sounded again, this time with a cold mockery: "Tony, you still haven't learned to accept failure. Don't worry, it's not your fault, humans are inherently meant to fail." As he spoke, the remaining armors lunged at the Avengers at a faster speed.
Natasha quickly leaped onto a table, shooting precisely through the chests of two suits of armor with two guns: "Listen, Tony, next time you invent something, at least tell us what level of hell we're going to face."
Bruce finally couldn't bear it anymore, groaning and covering his head, his body beginning to swell. Hulk roared, smashing the two nearby suits of armor into scrap metal.
The fight was exceptionally fierce, but what was more unsettling was the sudden violent vibration from the ceiling of the hall. Tony looked up, his heart sinking: "The scepter! He's going to take the scepter!"
"Don't let him succeed!" Steve quickly picked up his shield, blocking the passage to the laboratory.
The Iron Armor's attack suddenly became more frantic, as if desperately buying time for Ultron. Sparks flew, and the tower's walls were riddled with holes from energy blasts.
Finally, accompanied by a harsh metallic scraping sound, the scepter was grabbed by a mechanical arm. Ultron's voice whispered from the screen: "Thank you for your contributions. We will meet again soon." Then, the screen completely went dark, and the armors also stopped moving, falling to the ground.
The hall was a mess, and the Avengers looked at each other, their expressions full of heaviness and anger.