Heroes Assemble!

Walk Through That Door

"Ultron knows we're coming. Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire, and that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So, our priority is getting them out. All they want is to live their lives in peace, but that's not going to happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done, and find out what Ultron's been building. We clear the field. Keep the fight between us. Ultron thinks we're monsters and we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right."

ooo00ooo

Captain America's speech had galvanised the Avengers, ensuring that they knew not only what the mission was, but also why they were doing this.

Ultron was the target, and that meant all of him, every single robot. They all knew that if even one of him survived that day, that the mission wouldn't be over, that the people, the world, wouldn't be safe. But it wasn't just the physical bodies that they had to deal with, no, without Jarvis running interference throughout the internet, they all knew that it wouldn't take long before Ultron ultimately found a way past the firewalls that Tony had built to buy them time.

Ultron needed to be burnt out of the internet, to have it completely and utterly denied to him. That was the number one priority, the one that was most time vital; everything else fell into line behind it.

"You were right, Wanda, he's in the church," Tony said over the comms, having just run an IR scan of the building from on high.

There was no response, but then, he didn't exactly expect any. For one, she was busy. But mainly because that, despite their quite tentative and fragile truce, neither she nor her brother liked him and had no intention of interacting with him more than necessary. That was fine, though. As long as they worked the mission. One day at a time, as Pepper would say.

"Ultron," Tony said as he descended through the partially destroyed roof of the church.

"Ah, Tony, I was wondering when you would arrive," Ultron said. "I was hoping that it wouldn't be long."

"Well, the traffic was murder, you know how it is," Tony replied.

"Murder, an interesting turn of phrase for one who spent much of his life building and selling weapons," Ultron said.

"Yeah, well, I'm not proud of what my life was back then but I'd like to think that I've turned it around, doing some good now to get the karma back in balance and all that," Tony replied. "You know that you could take a leaf out of that book."

"Now, why would I want to do that?" Ultron asked, his head slightly to one side as though he was puzzled.

"You do remember the mission, don't you? Peace? Keeping people safe, allowing them to live full lives," Tony said.

"Is that what you and the Avengers think you're doing right now, helping the people to live?" Ultron asked.

"Well, yeah," Tony said and if he could have shrugged in his armour, he would have

Just then, a large piece of silver metal burst out of the flooring in the exact centre of the church. Four great 'tabs' split from it, falling to the ground, smashing the stonework and securing it into place. On the very top of the circular metal pipe was a handle that raised itself upwards, ready to be grasped.

"I've found the rest of the vibranium," Friday, Tony's newest AI, the one that he'd installed to replace Jarvis, announced.

A display appeared on the HUD, showing Tony that vibranium extended as a column for a couple of hundred metres straight down.