Chapter 388: Ultron's Grand Design
Tony, sporting a t-shirt emblazoned with Bruce Lee's likeness, walked in. Banner, seeing him, immediately asked, "Any luck finding Natasha?"
"Not yet," Tony replied, "but she's alive. Otherwise, Ultron would be gloating."
Barton, who had been meticulously examining the Regeneration Cradle, hopped down, declaring, "It's sealed tight!"
"We need to get inside the program," Banner explained, gesturing to the Cradle, "disrupt it from within."
Tony, hands still tucked in his pockets, didn't respond directly to Banner. Instead, he turned to Barton. "Clint, is there any chance Natasha might have left you a message somewhere outside the internet? Old-school spy tactics?"
Barton rested his hands on his hips, considering. "I could try a few frequencies. Yeah! I'll find her." With renewed purpose, he hurried out of the room and downstairs.
Banner turned back to the computer, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "I can try to destabilize the network," he said, "but only if you can take out Cho's operating system first."
Tony rubbed the back of his neck, a familiar gesture of discomfort. "Yeah, about that..."
Banner looked at Tony, understanding dawning in his eyes. He immediately recoiled. "No!"
"You have to trust me!" Tony stepped closer, trying to persuade Banner.
Banner threw his hands up, backing away. "Trust you? I'm finding that a little difficult right now!"
"Our ally," Tony pressed, "the one who protects the military's nuclear launch codes? I found him." He activated a projector, and a familiar face materialized – Jarvis!
"Hello, Dr. Banner," Jarvis greeted politely.
Tony explained, "Ultron didn't attack Jarvis out of anger. He was afraid of Jarvis's capabilities. So, Jarvis went underground, fragmented himself, cleared his memory… but he didn't forget his core protocols."
"It wasn't until I pieced him back together," Tony continued, "that he even knew where he was, or who he was, again."
Banner rubbed his temples, finally grasping Tony's audacious plan. "So... you want me to help you upload Jarvis... into that thing?" He pointed at the Regeneration Cradle.
"No! Of course not!" Tony corrected, "I want to help you upload Jarvis into it! This isn't my area of expertise. You're the organic biology expert here!"
Banner still seemed hesitant, recalling how easily Ultron had compromised Jarvis. "Do you really think Jarvis's neural matrix can beat Ultron's?"
"Jarvis, even subconsciously, already defeated Ultron once, from the inside!" Tony countered, his voice gaining conviction. "This is our chance! We can create a perfect Ultron – one without the homicidal tendencies. We have to do this."
Jarvis's digital voice chimed in, "I believe it is a worthwhile risk."
Banner shook his head, a troubled look in his eyes. "I feel like I'm trapped in a loop," he murmured, "a time loop. That's why everything is going wrong, why everything's spiraling out of control!"
Tony closed the distance, placing a reassuring hand on Banner's shoulder.
"I know," Tony said softly, "I know, I know what everyone will say. But they already say it. We're mad scientists. We're monsters. Buddy," Tony's voice gained intensity, "we already are. Let's just… commit. Let's do this."
Banner looked down, his lip slightly wet as he nervously licked it. He continued to shake his head almost imperceptibly, his internal conflict still raging.
Tony pressed on, "This isn't a loop, Bruce. This is the finish line."
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"So, we actually end up creating Vision?" Tobey-Peter Parker mused, narrowing his eyes, a hint of wonder in his voice. "A super-powered robot born from Jarvis and the body Ultron made for himself?"
Tony squinted, considering, but didn't seem entirely surprised. They'd been speculating about the vibranium body being Vision, and this revelation seemed to solidify that theory.
"That would explain why Vision ends up on our side," Captain America added, a note of grim understanding in his voice. "Because we stopped Ultron from succeeding. Whatever Ultron's plan was, we ultimately stopped it."
The group exchanged glances, a mix of awe and apprehension in their eyes. They were all slightly stunned that Tony, in the face of such chaos, had conceived of this audacious plan to use Ultron's own creation against him. And yet… knowing Tony Stark, it wasn't entirely unexpected.
"It does seem like the Captain and Wanda aren't exactly thrilled about this plan, though," Rhodey observed, arms crossed, a hint of unease in his voice. "Hopefully, there won't be any… unintended consequences."
"Indeed," Captain America nodded, acknowledging Rhodey's concern. "From my perspective, I'm always wary of advanced technology, especially after Ultron. I can't help but be cautious." As an old soldier, he admitted, his perspective often clashed with the modern world's embrace of technology. It was an unavoidable generational divide.
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Sokovia
Deep within the Sokovian facility, Ultron, surrounded by a symphony of whirring robotic arms, meticulously refined his devastating plan.
Natasha lay unconscious on the cold floor. After a moment, a tremor ran through her body, and her eyelids fluttered open. She blinked, consciousness slowly returning.
Ultron, noticing her awakening, turned to face her. "I wasn't sure you'd wake up," he said, his metallic voice strangely conversational, "but I hoped you would. I wanted you to see this. See, I am alone. I've been thinking about meteors. They are so pure. Boom! The end. And then… a clean slate. A fresh start."
Natasha pushed herself up, a wave of dizziness washing over her. She looked around, recognizing the stark, industrial lines of Strucker's old base. Ultron had twisted and warped it, yes, but the bones of the place were still recognizable.
"A new world," Ultron continued, pacing slowly towards her, "built by a new humanity. And I… I am the new humanity. I am perfection. When the world looks to the sky, they will see hope. They will see mercy. But because of you, they will see only terror. You've wounded me, Black Widow. You've filled me with… awe."
Natasha, still disoriented and unsure of Ultron's motives, leaned against the cold concrete wall, watching the rambling robot approach, her senses on high alert.
"But!" Ultron suddenly declared, his tone shifting, growing darker, "As humanity is fond of saying… what doesn't kill me…" But the sentence remained unfinished. A colossal hand, appearing from nowhere, punched straight through Ultron's head, ripping the robotic form apart in a shower of sparks and mangled metal.
The sudden, brutal attack sent Natasha scrambling back, fear spiking through her. She stumbled into a nearby warehouse, her heart hammering against her ribs.
Unfazed, Ultron's voice, now emanating from a new, identical body, echoed through the warehouse. "...only makes me stronger." He gestured, and the heavy iron gates of the warehouse slammed shut, imprisoning Natasha within. She leaned against the cold metal bars, gasping for breath, shaken but alive. And, for now at least, she sensed that Ultron had no immediate intention of harming her further.
Back at Stark Tower , Tony and Banner worked feverishly, the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Data streams flowed, thick cables snaking from the Regeneration Cradle to Banner's array of Stark tech.
Trapped in the Sokovian base, Natasha, ever resourceful, wasn't idle. She surveyed her surroundings, cataloging anything that might be useful. Then, with practiced stealth, she began to transmit a coded message, a desperate plea for help, aimed at the specific frequencies Barton was monitoring.
Barton, hunched over his equipment, his focus absolute, suddenly noticed a flicker on his screen, a faint, almost imperceptible signal. He snatched up his headphones, his breath catching in his throat as he listened intently. Morse code. Natasha. She was transmitting her location! A slow smile spread across Barton's face, relief washing over him in a warm wave.
The worst hadn't happened. Natasha was alive. And as long as she was alive, there was hope. He would get her back. He had to.