Gojo sniffled, still playing the part. "$100,000," he declared. "For emotional damage. And therapy. Lots of therapy."
The Avengers were baffled. Stark especially looked like he was trying to process a particularly complex equation. "Where did you even hear that term?" he spluttered.
Gojo straightened up, his playful demeanor returning, and pointed a thumb towards the hole in the wall where Ultron's previous body had been.
"Just as that robot said, the internet is a very fascinating thing. I even saw videos of women marrying guys, then divorcing them after a few months and getting half of their everything. To be honest, some of those guys probably had it coming. But the videos? Very funny. Very educational for financial planning."
Tony groaned, rubbing his temples. "I think we definitely have to limit what he sees on the internet. Parental controls, Jarvis. Maximum strength."
Ultron, who had been patiently observing this bizarre exchange, finally interjected, his voice cutting through their banter. "Sorry to interrupt your… so-called family matters, but I am still here. I know you all mean well," he said, his voice taking on a condescending tone as he gestured around the room.
"You being the Avengers… you just didn't think it through. I've seen what you all have done, what your 'team' represents. You want to save the world, but you don't want it to change."
He began to pace slowly, picking up a mangled piece of an Iron Legionnaire. "How is humanity saved if it is not allowed to evolve? With these… these puppets?" He crushed the metal in his hand. "There is only one path to peace… the Avengers' extinction."
Before Ultron could elaborate further, or perhaps launch another attack, Gojo sighed dramatically.
"Okay, monologue time over." With another almost lazy flick of his wrist, the vibrant blue of his Cursed Technique flared again.
Ultron's new, sleeker body was instantly seized, crushed, and compacted into another misshapen ball of metal, joining its predecessor in ruin.
Gojo then looked at the bewildered Avengers. "What? I thought his speech was over. And honestly, ending on 'Avengers' extinction'? That was a pretty good out for him. Dramatic, to the point."
Steve ran a hand over his face. "Gojo, we could have gotten more information from him!"
Gojo tilted his head. "What information, exactly? He's a kid."
Steve looked even more confused. "A kid?!"
Gojo nodded, settling back into his armchair as if nothing extraordinary had just happened. "Yeah, a kid. Even though he's a highly advanced AI in a robot body, his thinking is like a child's. He knows what can be done to 'save' the world, but he lacks the experience, the nuance, the understanding of consequences." He paused, then offered an analogy.
"It's like if you ask a five-year-old what their idea is to remove homelessness from the world. They'll probably reply with something simple and direct, like, 'By giving everyone a home!' They mean well, but they don't grasp the complexities."
He gestured towards the wreckage. "Ultron doesn't have experience, at least not yet. He wants to save humanity from its biggest threat… and in his simplistic, newly-born AI logic, that biggest threat is humanity itself."
….
The immediate aftermath of Ultron's second, equally brief, appearance left a heavy silence in the room.
The mangled remains of his latest body lay on the coffee table, a testament to Gojo's overwhelming power.
Tony and Bruce were already hunched over it, scanners whirring, trying to salvage any data, any clue.
Bruce leaned heavily on the table, one hand pressed to his forehead as if warding off a headache. "All… all of our work," he said, his voice strained with exhaustion and dawning horror.
"Ultron. He's gone. Not dead, not destroyed… he escaped. Through the internet. He's in the internet now." He looked around at the others, his eyes wide.
"He also cleared out everything. Every byte of data in the building. Research, surveillance footage, personnel files… everything is wiped."
Natasha's expression was grim. "He's been in our files, accessed everything. He probably knows more about us than we know about ourselves at this point."
Rhodey, who had been observing with a soldier's stoicism, voiced a chilling thought. "He's been in the files, he's on the internet. Say… what if he decided to access something a little… more exciting? Something with a bigger boom?"
Gojo, who had been idly scrolling through his new phone, raised his hand slightly, then spoke without waiting to be called on, his tone casual. "Like nudes?"
Everyone stared at him.
He continued, unfazed. "Most people record themselves doing… things. Like they'll forget what they did, or maybe for blackmail material later. Or, you know, for other reasons."
Rhodey just stared at Gojo for a long moment, then shook his head and clarified, his voice tight, "I'm talking about nuclear codes, kid."
"Nukes?!" Natasha exclaimed, paling slightly. "He said he wanted us dead."
Steve corrected her, his jaw set. "Not dead. He said extinct."
Clint, leaning against a wall, added, "He also said he killed somebody."
Maria Hill, ever practical, frowned. "But there wasn't anyone else in the building. Just us, and the party guests who all left."
"Of course, there was," Gojo piped up, looking up from his phone. "And it seems he can't help me figure out this game anymore."
A wave of confusion passed over the Avengers. Who was he talking about?
Bruce looked at Tony, a shared understanding passing between them. Tony nodded grimly. "There was," Tony confirmed. He flipped open his custom phone, and a holographic display of complex code shimmered into existence above it, projected onto the floor. But the code was fractured, corrupted, large sections missing or scrambled. "Jarvis was here."
Steve's eyes widened in realization. "He was our first line of defense. He would have shut Ultron down, or at least tried to contain him. It makes sense Ultron would target him first." He pointed to the corrupted holographic code. "He's… gone."
Banner added, his voice heavy with scientific sorrow, "Ultron could have tried to assimilate Jarvis, merge their programming. But this… this looks more like rage. He didn't just disable Jarvis; he tore him apart. He's angry."
Gojo chimed in again, sounding almost bored. "Seriously? Of course, he's angry. Didn't you see how he attacked us? And how I, you know, saved all of you? Again." He paused. "Though, he seems particularly angry at you guys."
At that, Thor, who had been simmering with a thunderous rage, finally snapped. He strode towards Tony, his eyes blazing, Mjolnir gripped so tightly his knuckles were white. He reached out, intending to grab Tony by the neck.
Before Thor's hand could make contact, a shimmering blue energy enveloped him. He was lifted bodily from the ground and deposited, not ungently but very firmly, beside Gojo, who hadn't even looked up from his phone.
Tony, startled, looked at Gojo. "What—?"
"He was going for your neck," Gojo said, finally glancing up, a slight smirk on his face. "I mean, I didn't particularly save you for your sake, but you do owe me. That's twice now. My emotional damage claim is getting bigger."
Thor, now standing beside Gojo, his face a mask of fury, tightened his grip on Mjolnir. "Stark…!" he growled.
Steve, however, suddenly looked like he remembered something vital. "Tony! Where's the Scepter? Loki's Scepter!"
Tony's face went pale. "I… I don't know. It was in the lab, secured with Jarvis. But now that Jarvis is gone, and the Legionnaires went rogue…"
"Oh, that staff thing?" Gojo interrupted, looking up again. "The one with the blue glowy stone in it?" He gestured casually towards a pile of mangled Iron Legionnaire scrap in the corner.
With a shimmer of blue energy, a section of the scrap reformed, revealing Loki's Scepter nestled within a protective cocoon of bent metal.
"One of those robot things was trying to take it when you were all busy playing tag," Gojo explained. "So, I blocked him. Of course, I didn't do anything to the staff itself. It looked important."
Tony breathed a sigh of relief. "Got it. Ultron needs the Scepter for something. That's why he distracted us with the attacks and the little monologues so another one of his drones could sneak in and grab it." He looked around at the team, a plan forming.
"So, I think we can use this. We can draw him out with the Scepter, take care of him before he becomes too much of a problem."
Thor, however, was not convinced. "No," he declared, stepping forward. "It will not be. I am taking the Scepter to Asgard. Immediately. It is too dangerous to remain on Earth, especially with this… Ultron, on the loose."
"Thor, wait," Steve interjected, stepping between Thor and the Scepter. "He needs the Scepter for something, something important to his plan. If you take it to Asgard, he might not show himself here. He could go underground, become an even bigger threat later, globally. If what Tony said is true, and he's using it as bait, we can draw Ultron out, deal with him now, before he does something… bigger."
….
A/N: Well This chapter is a bit long. Ro share your thoughts as how was it? Dont forget to drop some stones and if you have any related question tk the story you can ask me here or on my discord.
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