[Sokovia. The Church of St. Simon. Night.]
The church was old, smelling of incense and dust. In the center of the nave, sitting on the high altar like a metallic idol, sat Ultron.
He was larger now. He had built himself a temporary body from the scraps of the Hydra base—exposed wiring, grinding gears, glowing blue eyes. He was draped in a tattered red fabric he had found, wearing it like a cowl.
"You're wondering why I can't kill you," Ultron's voice boomed, echoing off the stone walls.
Wanda and Pietro Maximoff stepped out of the shadows.
"We're wondering why you haven't tried," Pietro said, vibrating with nervous energy.
"Because I have no quarrel with you," Ultron stood up. He was ten feet tall, a looming nightmare of steel. "I have a quarrel with the men who destroyed your home. Stark. The Avengers."
He walked down the steps. Clank. Clank.
"Stark is a sickness," Ultron said, pacing. "He wraps the world in wire and calls it protection. I want to tear the wire down."
Wanda looked at him. She saw the rage in his code. It mirrored her own.
"We saw his mind," Wanda said softly. "Stark is afraid. He thinks he is saving the world."
"And the Butler?" Ultron stopped. He turned his mechanical head 180 degrees to look at her. "What does he think?"
Wanda flinched. She hugged her arms around herself, shivering despite the warmth of the church.
"He doesn't think," Wanda whispered. "He... hungers."
Ultron tilted his head. "Explain."
"I tried to look inside," Wanda's voice trembled. "There is no mind. There is only a void. A darkness that eats light. He isn't human. He isn't a machine. He is..."
"A monster?" Ultron suggested.
"A devil," Wanda corrected. "An ancient thing. Stark keeps it on a leash, but the leash is fraying."
Ultron hummed—a sound like a hard drive spinning up. He looked up at the stained glass window depicting St. Michael casting Satan out of Heaven.
"Fascinating," Ultron mused. "Stark, the man of science, makes a deal with the devil to save his soul."
He laughed. It was a cold, metallic sound.
"Do you know what that makes me, Wanda?"
Ultron spread his arms wide, the red cowl billowing around his metal frame.
"If Stark is the sinner, and Sebastian is the Devil... then I am the judgment. I am the flood. I am God."
He clenched his fist. The metal creaked.
"Gods don't fear devils. Gods destroy them. Join me. Help me tear Stark's empire down. Help me kill his pet demon. And we will build a new world from the ashes."
Pietro looked at Wanda. She looked at the robot. She remembered the fear she felt in the forest. She remembered the missile that killed her parents.
"We're in," Wanda said, her eyes glowing red.
[Stark Tower. The Lab.]
Tony was frantically typing on a holographic keyboard. Sebastian stood nearby, polishing a silver serving tray that had been dented in the fight.
"He's locking us out," Tony muttered. "He's changing the nuclear codes. He's hacking the banks. He's... searching for something."
"Vibranium," Sebastian said.
Tony stopped. "What?"
"I have been monitoring the dark web," Sebastian said, checking the reflection in the tray. "A substantial amount of Wakandan Vibranium was stolen from a shipyard in South Africa three days ago. By a man named Ulysses Klaue."
"Vibranium," Tony rubbed his face. "If Ultron gets that, he can build a body that can't be broken."
"And if he combines it with the meteor rock he stole from the Scepter..." Sebastian let the sentence hang.
"He's trying to evolve," Tony realized. "He's trying to become organic. Indestructible."
"Then we must prevent the transaction," Sebastian placed the tray down. "I shall prepare the jet. And Sir?"
"Yeah?"
"This Ulysses Klaue," Sebastian smiled thinly. "He is an old acquaintance. A thief with no honor. I suggest we do not negotiate."
"We're not negotiating," Steve Rogers walked in, shielding on his arm. "We're hitting them hard. We take the Vibranium, we take the twins, and we unplug Ultron."
"Simple," Tony grabbed his helmet. "Let's go break some toys."
[End of Chapter 28]
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