Steve's Diary

May 1, 2015

Dear Diary,

So, um, a lot has happened and it was kinda unexpected and out of nowhere...? I don't really know how to ease into this, but a lot of shit just hit the fan.

It all started with good intentions, I suppose... those of Tony Stark, that is. Perhaps they were never truly as good as I say they were, though, I may never know for sure.

Either way, at the beginning of it all, he worked to create a benevolent being to protect Earth after the events at New York all those years ago... possibly so that we, The Avengers, wouldn't have to. It all ended up reversing on us and we had to save the damn world anyway.

Oh, and HYDRA was involved again, too. More on that later.

It all started one night as we were all just relaxing up in Stark Tower playing around with Mjolnir, seeing as Thor had come for a visit (and good thing, too). We were all trying to see if we could lift it- oh, and Clint was even there.

Either way, I was pretty damn close to picking that thing up... but I couldn't muster up the strength or worthiness or whatever so I played it off like I didn't wanna embarrass Thor by outshining him in all of his power.

We were attacked, then, by the A.I. that had been created and that had been leaked from containment that went by the name Ultron. It was not good- at all.

From then on, a lot more stuff started to unravel and make sense.

For example, there were these two Serbian twins named Pietro and Wanda Maximoff who were subject to brutal HYDRA manipulation, mutation and testing and- God, I feel bad. Anyway, as a result, they now possess unimaginable powers.

They both even, after trying to literally kill us all on multiple occasions, joined The Avengers in the fight against a ruthless Ultron Prime.

Pietro went by the name Quicksilver, as he was made to be a mutant with the superhuman ability to move at great speeds... unfortunately, he ended up dying trying to save Clint's life (which, he successfully did, at the end of it all).

Wanda goes by the name Scarlet Witch, as she was made to be a mutant with the ability to wield and control magical energy... basically, she can warp reality through a form of chaos magic and is extraordinarily powerful.

She managed to get into some of our heads throughout the length of it all and... I was made to see myself dancing with Peggy Carter in the 1940's just as she and I discussed before I was presumed dead. Then, it was all abruptly taken away and I was left all alone like I am now. It was heart-breaking.

And, as per usual, throughout all of it, Tony and I fought as we always do. Oh, and the lot of us were even welcomed into Clint's home for safekeeping, so that was rather nice of them.

I nearly forgot, there was another addition to our team... The Vision. Tony and Banner and Jarvis and the power behind a stone that was placed within this being's head combined to make this thing that was supposed to save us.

The Vision ended up being an artificial life-form, or android of sorts with superhuman senses, stamina, reflexes, speed, agility, analytical capabilities, strength (even without being at high density) and the ability to process information and make calculations with superhuman speed and accuracy. Hell, he was even able to pick up Mjolnir.

He really did end up being the one who saved us all as Sokovia was deemed a lost cause as it literally flew up into the air and nearly killed a whole lot of people.

Right, so, Tony also replaced Jarvis with Friday, seeing as Jarvis was practically living as The Vision now, I think? Yea, that sounds right.

And so, we evacuated the flying city and then Thor and Stark exploded it before it impacted the Earth. We saved a lot of people and even managed to eradicate Ultron.

Actually, that's what we can thank The Vision for. He annihilated the last one- the last robot Ultron could have possibly inhabited.

Upon his return, he told us all about their exchange and about Ultron's disturbing final words... the words of a robot who wished to bring peace to our world by mass extinction and other radical ideas.

He told us that Ultron was afraid of death in the end, though I suppose we all are. Ultron was sentient, just as The Vision is, and I'm not so sure, looking back, that this was a wise choice on Tony's part... in fact, it was something that ended up causing a lot of the downfall.

Ultron called himself a savior and compared himself to The Vision by calling him imperfect, not truly seeing that none of us are perfect- especially those who think they are.

The Vision explained to us that, in his conversation with Ultron, they discussed how odd humans are for thinking that order and chaos are opposites, though I don't see how they could be anything but that.

Lastly, he told us that the reason Ultron failed so terribly is because he failed to see that there is grace in the failings of humanity. He thinks we are doomed, and perhaps he's right, but a thing is not beautiful because it lasts- and as long as we once were, there is nothing more we can do than simply be.

~ S. Rogers