"Do I really have to go to this dumb party?"

Natasha sighs, "Yes, you do."

"But Tony and Dad have been ignoring me and blocking me from the lab for THREE DAYS! I am certainly in no mood to go to a stupid party," I protest.

"I'm sorry, but you have to go. Here, I'll help you get ready," She offers sympathetically.

I shake my head, "It's okay. I'm just...confused. They said they're working on the Scepter but I don't know why I can't help them."

"I'm sure it's nothing. You should get ready."

I nod my head and go to my room. I throw on a simple outfit, grab my sunglasses because I'm lazy, and mentally prepare myself for social interaction. I'm really not in the mood for a party, but I still dress Fin Fang Foom in a little outfit that Clint got for him.

I stay away from the majority of the crowd, reading the Deathly Hollows and video chatting Harley. When most people leave including a man that tried drinking Asgardian mead that looked kind of familiar, I finally join the party.

I sit cross-legged on the couch with noodles in my mouth. Fin is sleeping peacefully on my head

"But it's a trick!" Clint gestures towards Mjolnir.

"Oh no, it's so much more than that," Thor insists.

Clint scoffs, "Uh, 'Whosoever be he worthy shall have the power!' Whatever man! It's a trick."

"Well, please be my guest, "Thor offers and the room grows quiet.

"Really?" Clint questions then position himself before the hammer.

I snort, "This'll be good."

" Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up," Tony comments making everybody laugh.

" You know I've seen this before, right?" Clint pulls hard on the handle not able to pick it up. He gives up with a laugh. " I still don't know how you do it."

"Smell the silent judgment?" Tony questions.

Clint crosses his arms, "Please Stark by all means."

I shake my head lightly, "Uh oh."

Tony stretches a little, "Never one to shrink down from a challenge. It's physics."

"Physics!" I gasp sarcastically.

" Right, so, if I lift it, I...I then rule Asgard?" Tony asks as he grasps onto the handle.

Thor nods, "Yes, of course."

" I will be re-instituting Prima Nocta," Tony pulls without being able to lift it. He inhales sharply, "I'll be right back."

Tony returns with an Iron Man glove and Rhodey holds onto the hammer handle as they both try to pull the hammer up. Rhodey grunts, " Are you even pulling?"

"Are you on my team?" Tony retorts.

"Just represent. Pull!" Rhodey exclaims.

Then it's my dad's turn to attempt to lift the hammer. He pulls on it as hard as possible then pretends to hulk out. I cringe while everyone stares awkwardly.

Steve stands up next, he rolls up his sleeves and tugs on the hammer. Thor tenses up in alarm but in the end, Steve too failed to lift the hammer.

"Widow?" Dad turns to Natasha.

"Oh no, no that isn't a question I need to be answered," She shakes her head.

Tony turns toward me, "Kid?"

"I'm with Nat."

Tony chuckles, " All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged."

"You bet your ass," Clint swears

Maria gasps, "Steve, he said a bad language word."

Steve sighs, "Did you tell everyone about that?"

"Everyone and the internet," I grin mischievously.

"The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code. "Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints" is, I think, the literal translation? " Tony comments.

" Yes, well that's, uh, that's a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one," Thor flips his hammer. " You're all not worthy."

A large screech sounds through the Tower, I cover my ears looking around for the origin of the sound. Fin Fang Foom hisses loudly and jumps off my head.

" Worthy... No... How could you be worthy? You're all killers."

I look to my dad in worry, "JARVIS?"

There's no answer from the British U.I. but the robotic suit keeps talking, " I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or...I was a dream?"

" Reboot, Legionnaire OS, we got a buggy suit," Tony tries.

" There was a terrible noise...and I was tangled in... in...strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."

My heart drops a thousand miles, as I choke out, "You killed someone?"

" Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices."

Thor steps forward, "Who sent you?"

Tony's voice rings through, "I see a suit of armor around the world."

Dad's eyes widen in disbelief, "Ultron."

I look at my dad in complete shock. What did he do? The robot laughs, " In the flesh. Or, no, not yet. Not this... chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission."

"What mission?" Natasha inquires.

" Peace in our time."

Suddenly, robots come flying out at us. Dad, Natasha, and I land behind the bar.

"Don't go green," I tell him.

Dad coughs, "I have two compelling reasons not to."

Leaving Dad and Natasha behind, I jump out of the bar. I can't afford to hesitate as my hands begin to glow. I conjure up balls of light and start launching them at the robots. Clint throws Steve his shield which is used to dismember the last robot.

" That was dramatic! I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to...evolve?" He picks up a robot head. " With these? These puppets? There's only one path to peace: The Avengers' extinction."

Nope! No evil robots here. I've watched too many movies to let this go on any longer.

I send a huge wave of light towards him, breaking him into pieces. The head starts singing a warbled song, 'I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me, no strings on me.'

Tony looks at me, "Bad timing, but that was awesome."

"Not the time," I growl under my breath.

***

Dad groans in frustration, " All our work is gone. Ultron cleared out, used the internet as an escape hatch."

"He's been in everything. Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other," Natasha adds.

" He's in your files, he's on the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?" Rhodey asks.

Maria answers, "Nuclear codes."

"Nuclear codes. Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can," Rhodey suggests.

I zone out, lost in my own thoughts, trying to figure everything out and stroking Fin Fang Foom until Thor strides in and holds Tony up by his neck.

" Come on. Use your words, buddy," Tony breathes out.

Thor growls, " I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark."

"Thor! The Legionnaire," Steve barks.

Thor lets go of Tony, "Trail went cold about a hundred miles out but it's headed north, and it has the scepter. Now we have to retrieve it, again."

Dr. Cho looks around confused, "I don't understand. You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?"

I tilt my head suspiciously as Tony starts laughing.

"You think this is funny?" Thor asks.

" No. It's probably not, right? Is this very terrible? Is it so...is it so...it is? It's so terrible," Tony mutters.

Thor scowls, "This could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand."

" No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this," He retorts.

"Tony, maybe this might not be the time to..." Dad tries to edge Tony down.

Tony cuts him off, " Really?! That's it? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls."

"Only when I've created a murder bot," Dad replies, he shoots me an apologetic look but I just shake my head.

"We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?" Tony rhetorically asks Bruce.

Steve places his hands on his hips, "Well, you did something right. And you did it right here. The Avengers was supposed to be different than SHIELD."

"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?"

I roll my eyes. Only Anthony Edward Stark would bring that up when he set an evil robot loose on the world.

"No, its never come up," Rhodey sarcastically replies.

"Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it. We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the live long day, but, that up there? That's...that's the end game. How were you guys planning on beating that?"

Steve solemnly replies, "Together."

"We'll lose," I quietly add.

"We'll do that together too."

I stand up and leave without saying another word. What did my dad do?

I sit on my bed rocking back and forth, wearing headphones and muttering to myself. I don't look up when my dad opens my bedroom door.

"I wanted to see how you were holding up."

I scoff, "You created a crazy murder-bot."

"We couldn't have possi-"

"I know, but Dad, please just leave me alone," I say, ignoring the hurt look on his face. I sharply inhale, "You ignored me for three days to build an A.I. I just want to be alone, Dad."

He gives me one last look before closing my door, leaving me in solitude.