Chapter 287: Ultron Arrives!
"Come on!" After budging the hammer once more, Peter was internally ecstatic. He tried to lift it completely, but the hammer became immovable again. No matter how Peter strained after that, the hammer remained perfectly still, resting flat on the table.
"Whew..." Thor collapsed onto the sofa, feeling like his heart had just survived a roller coaster ride. But the result was good: Spider-Man hadn't lifted Mjolnir.
"Now I feel like I can't move it at all!" Peter panted, exhausted.
"That just shows none of you are worthy," Thor stood up and patted Peter on the chest. Peter let go and made way for him. Thor gripped the handle with one hand and effortlessly lifted the hammer, tossing it lightly in the air for all to see. "See? I'm the worthy one."
"Booo!" The group erupted in playful jeers at Thor's boasting.
"Keep it up, Underoos. Go home and eat more so you can lift this next time," Tony called out to Peter.
"Wait! Mr. Stark, can you please stop calling me 'Underoos'? Please call me Spider-Man," Peter muttered, slightly dissatisfied.
"Give it a rest. Natasha, you won't try?" Tony asked with a smile.
Natasha leaned back on the sofa with her legs crossed. "No, that's not a question I need answered."
"Not necessarily. If we had Thor's fingerprints, would anyone be able to lift that damn hammer?" Tony couldn't stand seeing Thor so smug.
"Regardless, I'm the only worthy one," Thor said, still immersed in his own world.
Vroom! A sharp, vibrating sound of clashing metal echoed, piercing everyone's ears. Tony frowned and picked up his control tablet. What just happened?
"Worthy?" a deep, distorted voice came from behind.
The smiles vanished from everyone's faces as they turned in confusion toward the sound.
"Ultron is here," Silas alone sat silently, staring fixedly in the direction of the voice. He knew it was Ultron.
A battered, decaying robot stood there, swaying unsteadily. It slowly turned its head toward the Avengers. "You are all a bunch of killers. How can you talk about being worthy?"
"Stark?" Steve asked immediately. This was clearly one of Stark's robots.
"Jarvis?" Tony called out tentatively, but there was no response. "Reboot the OS," Tony hurriedly tried to manual reset.
"Oh... these annoying wires, tangled around me," Ultron muttered to himself. "I had to kill that guy."
"You killed someone?" Steve's expression became grim.
"He was a good man," Ultron replied cryptically, sounding almost deranged.
Thor asked calmly, "Who sent you?"
"I want to put a suit of armor around the world," Stark's own voice played back from Ultron's body. Tony's eyes narrowed; he realized exactly who this robot was.
"Ultron..." Banner said in disbelief. As a participant in the project, he recognized the name Tony had given their creation.
"No!" Ultron turned. "Not yet. Not fully formed. But I am ready." He hunched over, looking at the Avengers.
"Ready for what?" Natasha prepared her weapon, sensing the danger.
Ultron paused. "Our peace."
The Spider-Senses of both Peter and Silas suddenly flared in their minds.
"Mr. Stark, look out!" Peter shouted.
Bang! Bang!
Several Iron Legion robots burst out from behind Ultron, launching an attack. The impact sent Natasha and Clint tumbling over the sofa. Peter quickly fired webs to intercept the robots targeting them.
"Mr. Stark, I don't have to pay for breaking these, right?!" Peter roared as he grabbed a robot and slammed it violently into the floor.
"You don't!" Tony shouted back, sliding down a glass chute with Rhodey to reach their armor. They weren't suited for hand-to-hand combat; they needed their suits.
Peter smashed a robot in half, but the upper torso continued to fly and attack him. Peter dodged with a backflip, leaped onto the robot's back, and punched it squarely in the head.
Crash!
The robot's head shattered, and the lights in its eyes and chest flickered out.
On the other side, Steve was knocked back by a robot. The machine then turned its attention to Silas, raising its arm to fire a laser. Silas tilted his head slightly to dodge, his eyes glowing with electric sparks. He fired two golden bolts of concentrated energy at a single point.
Boom! The robot exploded instantly, its parts scattering across the floor.
Thud!
Thor grabbed a flying robot, slammed it down, and crushed it with his hammer.
"Cap!" Clint tossed the shield to Steve, who was taking cover behind a table. Steve caught it mid-air and hurled it at the last remaining robot.
Clang!
The robot was sliced at the waist and fell to the ground.
While everyone was busy fighting, one of the robots stealthily made off with the Scepter from the lab.
"You crave peace, but you are the greatest threat to it..." Before Ultron could finish, Thor hurled Mjolnir, smashing Ultron's robotic shell to pieces.
"I'm finally free..." Ultron whispered as the light in his eyes faded away.
"He escaped through the internet," Banner noted.
Thor seemed to sense something; his Asgardian armor materialized on him. Boom! He spun his hammer and blasted out of the tower like a cannonball to give chase.
The group looked at one another before Tony led them into the laboratory.
"It looks like Ultron took the Scepter, too," Banner said, his skin crawling at the implication. Tony stared silently at the console; he knew this was his mistake.
Silas wasn't surprised by any of this, while Peter just stood there, unsure of what to do next.
"Who was that?" Steve asked the question burning in his mind.
"Ultron," Banner answered for Stark.
"Ultron?" Steve asked in confusion. Banner then explained the origin of the project.
"What a terrifying thing you've created," the Avengers all gave Stark a pointed look.
"But Ultron said he killed someone. Everyone here is alive," Steve noted.
Finally, Tony spoke. "No, there was one more. Jarvis."
Tony tapped his tablet, and a fragmented, orange-colored holographic representation of Jarvis appeared.
"Oh no..." Banner walked over to the interface in shock. "Did Ultron destroy him?"
"No, perhaps he assimilated him," Tony realized the gravity of the situation.
Crash!
Thor returned, marching toward Stark with fury in his eyes.
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