HESTIA ━ marvel

1.0 | ULTRON

"ALL OUR WORK is gone. Ultron cleared out. He used the internet as an escape hatch."

"Ultron..." Steve muttered under his breath. "He's been in everything. Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other," Natasha added. "He's in your files, he's in the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more interesting?" Rhodey said, walking over to the middle of the room.

"Nuclear codes," Anastasiya muttered, looking up from the floor. "Nuclear codes."

"Look we need to make some calls."

"Nukes? He said he wanted us dead," Natasha said, arms folded. "He didn't say dead, he said extinct," Steve pointed out. "He also said he killed somebody," Clint added. "There wasn't anyone else in the building," Hill said from where she was sat, looking over at the men confused.

"Yes there was," Tony said, getting something out of his pocket and tapping it in the air. Bruce looked alarmed. "This is insane..."

"Jarvis..." Anastasiya mumbled, upset. Despite him being an AI and only knowing him for a few days, she was quite upset about the loss of him. "Jarvis was the first line of defence," Tony added, "he would have shut Ultron down it makes sense."

"No. Ultron could have assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy. This is... rage."

"We need to find Ultron. He now has the sceptre, he's killed Jarvis. He's dangerous," Anastasiya said to the group, and everyone nodded at her.

"He's calling us out and we need to find him before he's ready for us. The worlds a big place. Let's start making it smaller."

***

Later on that day, Anastasiya was walking through Avengers tower with Steve and Maria. "He's all over the globe," Maria told the two of them, "robotics labs, weapons facilities, jet propulsion labs. Reports of a metal man, or men coming in and emptying the place."

"Fatalities?" Steve asked, as the trio climbed the stairs.

"Only when engaged. Mostly guys left in a fugue state going on about old memories, worst fears, and "something too fast to see," apparently," Maria adds.

"Wanda and Pietro," Anastasiya tells the two adults, groaning. "makes sense he'll go to them I guess. They have someone in common."

"Not anymore," Maria says, and Anastasiya frowned at her, handing Steve a tablet. Anastasiya glanced over his shoulder and let out a loud gasp. "Ultron killed him. I'll go let everyone know we need them in here," the teen girl said, before she ran off looking for the rest of the team.

A couple minutes later, everyone was gathered in the main room around a computer.

"Ultron killed Strucker," Steve said. "And he did a Banksy at the crime scene just for us," Tony added, raising his eyebrows.

"But why send a message when you've just given a speech?" Natasha asked, who was sat at the computer.

"Strucker must have known something Ultron wanted us to miss," Anastasiya said.

"Yep. Everything we have on Strucker has been erased," Natasha said, clicking on things on the computer.

"Not everything. Files."

Everyone got up and walked into the files room. Anastasiya could tell that most of the adults were extremely stressed.

"Known associates. Strucker had a lot of friends," Anastasiya pointed out.

"They're all horrible though," Bruce points out.

"Wait I know that guy," Tony says, and everyone turns to look at him. Back in the day. Operates off the African coast. Black market arms. He was talking about finding something new. Game changer."

"That's a brand." Thor points to his neck.

"It's a word meaning 'thief.' From Wakanada? Wakanda."

"The strongest metal on Earth. It comes from Wakanda."