"I'm gonna say this once." Steve announces upon our arrival at Tony's lab.

"How about nonce?" Tony spins to face us.

"Shut it down!" Cap demands.

"Nope, not gonna happen." Stark says defiantly.

After getting off the private aircraft, Pepper had arranged for a car to pick us up and bring us straight back to the tower. Thankfully the tower wasn't too far away from the airfield. We managed to arrive within 15 or so minutes. Also thanks to the now working elevator, we were just in time to see Banner and Tony trying to get the Cradle working again. I now stand beside the twins, my arms crossed, with tired eyes fixated on Bruce. The doctor looks at the twins and me with surprise. I'm assuming the surprise is mainly directed at the twins though considering the last time they encountered each other Wanda made him Hulk out. And then, of course, there was the destruction of that city...and those really expensive buildings...and all those people who died. Mentally I wince. Yeah, I wouldn't be too happy to see them either if I were Banner. Maybe bringing the twins here right now during this confrontation was a bad idea. Perhaps we should have told them to wait in an office or somewhere that isn't here... Oh well, at least they'll get to see Steve open a can of something new on Tony. I mean, who would wanna miss that? 

I turn my head toward Wanda and Pietro, the latter of which seem tense, to find them looking at me uneasily. I shoot them a small unsure smile before turning back to the inevitable fight that is brewing. "You don't know what you're doing." Steve angrily speaks to Tony, who continues to ignore him and work on getting the Cradle back up and running.

"And you do?" Bruce is obviously pissed that we've just inadvertently insulted him. "She's not in your head?" He points toward the female Maximoff.

"Bruce--" I warn.

"I know you're angry." Wanda cuts me off as she moves to Steve's other side.

"No, we're way past that." He corrects, moving his eyes to the brunette. "I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade." I can almost grasp the hostility in his voice as he speaks. Pietro, on the other hand, grows tense as his eyes grow darker. He's not pleased with his beloved sister being threatened. I throw up my hand to stop him from advancing on the doctor. Now isn't the time for a fight between the two. Before either of us can verbally defend Wanda, Steve takes a step forward.

"Banner, after everything that's happened-" Cap tries to reason.

"It's nothing compared to what's coming!" Tony interrupts him, his voice loud as he tries to sound authoritative.

Too much testosterone in this room...

"You don't know what's in there!" Wanda shouts back at Tony.

"That thing could be another one of your frickin' psycho robots that are only going to rip us apart, Tony." I begin and then Rogers begins shouting.

"This isn't a game!" I nod along to Steve's point, just as a blue blur flashes past my eyes. Paper scatter with the rush of air as pulses of electricity send sparks flying from machines that were previously attached to the Cradle.

Pietro.

Once he's done, he stands across from Bruce holding the final plug that he detached. Wisps of fog roll off the fitting. "No, no. Go on." He says, throwing the chunky wire to the ground next to Bruce. His tone is more sarcastic than imaginable. He's obviously pleased with his work, as are Steve, Wanda, and I. All around the room warning clicks and beeps come from the machines as Tony spins around trying to comprehend what's happened. "You were saying?" The blonde Maximoff looks up at Tony, who's by a computer.

Bang. 

A gunshot rings out across the room as a bullet just misses Pietro during its ascent through the glass floor. Next thing I know, the platform cracks under the twin's weight and he plummets to the floor below, the shattered glass following him. "Pietro!" Wanda shouts as the both of us move forward to make sure he's okay...and you know, not dead. I hear cracking as someone walks on the shards of glass. Both Wanda and I peer down where he's lying in a pile of glass, Clint standing over him with a smirk on his face.

"What? You didn't see that coming?" He mocks.

"Clint!" I shout at him, my eyebrows scrunched up in worry for what he may do to Pietro. I tear my eyes away from the two of them as an alarm on the Cradle itself starts blaring, louder than the others before it.

"I'm rerouting the upload." Tony says and turns back to his computer. Terrified, I look over to Steve and silently ask him what I should do. Should I reroute the energy to myself before Tony can do-- excuse me -- continue to do something stupid? Steve's face hardens as he throws his shield after looking away from me. It smashes into a number of computers and machines before returning to him, leaving sparks flying everywhere it hits. Wanda ducks but still stands by the place Pietro fell through the floor. I put up a temporary shield around us to keep Wanda and me safe from the electrical sparks. Just as Steve's shield returns to him, one of Tony's Iron Man suit gloves crashes through a window near him. It quickly attaches itself to the billionaire's hand. Before Steve can react, Tony lets out a blast from the repulsor in his glove. The blast hits Rogers right in the chest, knocking him onto the floor a couple feet away.

"Tony!" I shout as the shield around Wanda and myself drops. I move forward to see if Cap's ok, just as Wanda starts gearing up to take on Tony. But before she can, Bruce grabs her from behind. He wraps one arm around her throat and the other around her midsection. At the same time, another piece of the Iron Man suit comes through the window and attaches itself to Tony's back as he lets out another blast, this one hitting me in the lower abdomen. It knocks the air from my lungs as a widespread pain erupts through my torso. 

I gasp and fall to my knees, hands braced against the floor as I choke on the smoke erupting from the burnt fabric of my shirt. Oh, and let's not forget the smell of my burning flesh. I wheeze while patting out the dying fire eating away at my shirt. I'm careful not to touch the raw, tender flesh of my abdomen. Did he not realize I'm not wearing any sort of protective clothing? I'm literally in civilian clothing? I look at my lower abdomen. I grimace at the raw, fizzling, red skin above the waistband of my pants. It must be at least a second-degree burn.

Okay, reminder: don't get in a fight with a defensive Iron Man while in civilian apparel.

"Son of a-..." Before I finish, I hear a gun clicking as it's cocked and loaded. Clint emerges from the room Pietro is, following the noise of the firearm. This means he must be the one with the weapon. I guess that makes sense since he was down there when someone shot a bullet through the glass floor... 

Suddenly, Steve pulls himself together and jumps up with his shield poised in front of his body. He then attaches it to the device on his arm guard before jumping at Tony, who just got his second repulsor glove. It fires, but directly into Steve's shield. The contrast of the weapons sends the two men flying in opposite directions. Cap falls toward the Cradle and Tony goes through a previously intact window next to where he was working on a computer.

I grunt and stand to my feet, my hand hovering over the burnt flesh of my abdomen. I lunge toward Clint with the intent to disarm him just as Wanda creates a large enough pulse between her hands to knock Bruce off her by sending it through her own chest first. She then turns and sends another blast, this time directly at him. The second attack causes him to slide backward as he groans. 

Before I can grab Clint, he slides away from me before aiming the gun at my chest. We both freeze. I have a sphere of golden energy between my left hand and my hip. Both of us don't want to hurt the other so we just stare, daring each other to make the first move. That's when Thor crashes into the building dressed in his usual Asgardian battle attire. Even Wanda and Bruce turn as he makes his grand entrance. Next thing we know, he jumps into the air and lands atop the Cradle. His mighty hammer is raised as he redirects the electricity in the room to Mjolnir and then the Cradle itself. "Wait!" I distantly hear Dr. Banner shout over the noise, but to no avail. 

Everyone's stopped fighting and watches in horror as the Cradle begins to power up...and then overload. Thor continues to keep a steady flow of electricity to the Cradle. Finally, he pulls back after a moment and the group all stare with wide eyes, gaping. Then begins a noise as if something's powering up. The Cradle begins glowing a bright blue before exploding, causing everybody to duck except Thor, who's thrown across the lab. He smashes against a glass light fixture before falling onto his stomach just as a red and silver man literally floats out of the Cradle. This strange man crouches on top of what remains of the Cradle while wisps of smoke surround him, causing him to look eerie. "Holy waffles from heaven..." I gasp at him as everybody begins to regain themselves. 

Thor pushes himself up with his arms, looking toward this strange man that's risen from Dr. Cho's machine. The red man slowly begins to stand, looking at his hands as he does so. That's when I notice a glowing orange stone set in his forehead. "Oh this is it, we just started the apocalypse." I breathe out, my voice shaky and heavily accented. The man looks around at all of us but settles a moment longer on me as I speak. 

His eyes are wide and he looks in between being terrified and angry. His eyes, though, they get to me. They aren't normal eyes. They resemble gears or a camera lens. His gaze moves on, settling on Thor before lunging forward. "Get him!" I shout, forgetting about my injury for the moment and begin to run in the direction of where Thor's thrown the man he helped create through one of the lab's windows. 

I brush past Thor and hop out of the smashed window. I land lightly on my feet as I watch the strange man hover in front of the outer windows that overlook New York. Steve also makes it out of the lab and hops up onto the platform that the Avengers were hanging a couple days before. Thor holds up a hand to stop him from continuing and I jog up the stairs to the same platform the two Avengers are on and stand next to Steve. We watch curiously as to how this is going to pan out. "Is he butt naked?" I whisper, horrified. Before Cap can shush me, the hovering man begins to turn and make himself a silver suit. My eyes widen. I'm not exactly sure if he heard that or not...or how he created a suit out of nothing. 

Thor sets his hammer down and cautiously makes his way toward the guy who's hovering back to us. I turn my head slightly and see that Tony, Wanda, and Bruce have joined us as well. Pietro moonwalks into the room next to his sister, his eyes turned toward where I'm standing. It's like he's watching and waiting to come get me if this guy tries to attack again. I swivel my head toward the red man that lowers himself onto the platform. In the corner of my eye, I see Clint making his way over, the gun now discarded. "I'm sorry. That was...odd." The silver and red man turns his head to Thor. "Thank you." Thor subtly nods as the new guy turns away slightly, rolls his shoulders, and creates a cape for himself. My lips twitch upwards into a smile.

Aww, cute. You know, for a whatever the heck he is.

"Thor," Steve says from beside me. "you helped create this?" Neither Thor nor the red man turns to look at Steve for a moment.

"I've had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life, and at its center is that." He turns to look at Steve briefly before pointing at the stone lodged in the new guy's head.

"What? The gem?" Bruce asks, taking a step towards us and away from the twins.

"It's the Mind Stone." Thor clarifies for us. "It's one of the six Infinity Stones. The greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities."

"Then why would you bring-" Cap starts as I begin to make my way over to the twins now.

"Because Stark is right." Thor cuts him off.

"Ooooh, it's definitely the end of times." Bruce says, watching as I make my way over to the twins.

"Ha, called it." I smirk at him.

"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron." Thor continues.

"Not alone." The red guy speaks up.

"Why does your Vision sound like Jarvis?" Steve asks.

"Hey, so I'm not the only one who thought that..." I watch as the Jarvis impersonator walks forward. "Wait, but didn't I see his dead body like, two days ago?"

"We reconfigured Jarvis' matrix to create something new." Tony walks forward to meet this red guy, who apparently is real life Jarvis while completely ignoring my question. The two of them look at each other seriously before android Jarvis walks past him.

"I think I've had my fill of new." Steve says, sounding exasperated and suspicious.

"You think I'm a child of Ultron." The guy I'm gonna call Jarvis says to Steve, obviously picking up on his thought process.

"You're not?" Rogers' voice is serious in nature.

The Jarvis guy shakes his head slightly. "I am not Ultron. I'm not Jarvis...I am...I am." He states before looking at where Tony is standing with Bruce.

Ok, I guess I'll just call him 'not Jarvis.'

"I looked in your head," I turn and watch as Wanda starts walking toward 'not Jarvis,' her voice accusing. "and saw annihilation."

"Look again." He states gently, a smile barely there as he does so. I grin as Pietro shifts beside me, intensely watching the interaction between his sister and not Jarvis.

"Her seal of approval means jack to me." Clint speaks up for the first time, making his way over to the group from where he had been standing off to the side. Wanda's eyes shift to him. She looks ready to smack him as much as I'd like to.

"Their powers, the horrors in our heads, Ultron himself, they all came from the Mind Stone. They are nothing compared to what it can unleash." With that being said, not Jarvis slowly tears his gaze away from Wanda and back to Thor.

"I totally ship it." I lean back and whisper to Pietro. He glares at me and proceeds to elbow me in the ribs, near enough to my newest injury that I visibly wince. The blonde haired Maximoff's eyes widen and he takes a step forward to look at the front of my torso before his jaw clenches. "Stark's blasts hurt like hell. I do not recommend. 0/10." I try to joke but he only seems to get angrier with the fact I was hurt by Stark of all people. I keep forgetting he and Stark are still on bad terms. "Relax, I'll heal. I could use an ice pack or some Neosporin and clean gauze though." I smile to myself as he continues to glare at Tony. I turn my attention back to the on-going conversation as there's a swoosh, a pause, and then another swoosh. I stare, surprised, at the ice pack, gauze, medical tape, and a small tube of Neosporin in the hands of the speedster. I smile gratefully at him. "Thanks, speedy." He nods and hands me the roll of gauze. I unravel it after placing the hem of my shirt between my teeth to get a better view of my wound. I quietly ask him to drizzle a bit of the antiseptic on the gauze before I begin wrapping it around my lower abdomen. Pietro hands me a strip of medical tape, which I use to secure the free end of the gauze. I then take the icepack from Pietro. I gently hold it over my now gauze-wrapped wound and hiss quietly to myself. What a day this has been. Went from calling each other sewage to having him help me with wound care. I guess he is sewage with morals and a conscious. 

"On our side?" I tune back into the conversation as Steve questions whether or not 'not Jarvis' is on our side. Everyone's silent as we await an answer.

"I don't think it's that simple." He states plainly, looking up from the floor to all of us.

"Well, it better get real simple real soon." Clint threatens.

"I am on the side of life." Thor's Vision dude seems unfazed by Barton's harshness. "Ultron isn't. He will end it all." He turns and nods in Wanda's direction.

Hmm...Vision sounds cool. Maybe I should call him that. I mean he was Thor's vision, amiright?

"What's he waiting for?" Tony asks the same question all of us have probably been wondering.

"You." Vision replies calmly.

"Where?" Bruce asks.

"Sokovia." Clint states. "He's got Nat there too." The archer walks around the crimson android in my direction.

"If we're wrong about you..." Bruce begins and walks toward the android. "if you're the monster Ultron made you to be..."

"What will you do?" The red man asks, serious. Everyone remains quiet with lips pursed shut. "I don't want to kill Ultron." He continues, side-stepping Dr. Banner. "He's unique and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the Earth. So, he must be destroyed..." He continues to walk in the direction of the table Thor set Mjolnir on. "every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net. We have to act now." The Vision states the last sentence firmly. "And not one of us can do it without the others." His eyes sweep over the entire group before settling on Steve. "Maybe I am a monster." He turns his eyes to where he's lifted his hands. "I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are and not what you intended." Next, he turns away from us, looking downcast as though he's deep in thought. "So, there may be no way to make you trust me. But we need to go." I watch with wide eyes as he lifts Thor's hammer like it's a breeze before proceeding to hold it out to the demigod himself. Everyone's eyes are glued to the scene in surprise as Thor hesitantly takes it from him. Next, the red man walks past Thor.

"Can we keep him?" I ask as my eyes trail after The Vision. No one answers me.

"Right. Good job." Thor follows after Vision, patting Tony's shoulder as he passes by.

"Three minutes," Steve tells us and we all look at him, "get what you need."

"Um, Steve, I can't take a nap in three minutes."