CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT:
VISION

STEVE HAD BEEN THE ONE to tell her that Natasha had been taken. So not only was Olivia upset with Tony, she was pissed that Ultron thought it was okay to ever lay hands on the woman she loved. They made their way into the compound, finding the floor that Tony and Bruce was on, not surprised to find them already working on the body that was contained inside of the cradle.

     "I'm gonna say this once." Steve said, stepping into the room.

     "How about 'nonce'." Tony tried.

     "Shut it down."

     "Nope, not gonna happen."

     "Tony, you don't know what you're doing." Olivia tried, squeezing her hand into a tight fist.

     "And you do?" Bruce shot back and Olivia narrowed her eyes at him. He pointed at Wanda. "She's not in your head?"

     Wanda moved from behind Olivia. "I know you're angry."

     "Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade."

     Steve took a step forwards. "Banner, after everything that's happened―︎"

     "It's nothing compared to what's coming!" Tony snapped, cutting him off.

     "You don't know what's in there!" Wanda snapped back.

     "This isn't a game." Olivia argued.

     Suddenly Pietro sped around the room, quickly unplugging everything before coming to a stop, dropping one of the wires from his hand. "No, no. Go on. You were saying?" Suddenly a gun shot could be heard and the glass under Pietro's feet shattered as he fell through the floor with Wanda calling his name.

     "I'm rerouting the upload." Tony said, quickly turning back to the computer. Steve took his shield, throwing it, hitting the computer screens. The hand from Tony's Iron Man suit appeared on Tony's hand, allowing the man to send a blast towards Steve. Wanda allowed the chaos to cover her hands before Bruce appeared behind her, placing her in a choke hold.

     "Go ahead, piss me off."

     "I already am pissed off." Olivia growled from behind him before digging her claws into his shoulders, causing him to loosen his grip, allowing Wanda to use her powers to send him to the ground. The two women quickly turned their head as Thor slid into the room. He jumped on top of the cradle, holding up his hammer to summon lightning before slamming the lightning onto the cradle.

Once the lightning faded, Thor stood there for a moment, nothing happening. Then, suddenly, Thor was thrown from the cradle as the body inside burst out of it, landing on top. His body was completely red with the occasional purple hear and there along with the silver lining of metal. A yellow stone was place in the center of his head. The android slowly look up, his eyes finding Thor's before he flew towards the god to attack him. Thor grabbed onto him, throwing the android away from him and towards the glass wall of the building. Before he could crash through it, the android stopped himself, staring at his own reflection.

     They all grew closer but Thor held up his hand, stopping them. The android continued to stare at himself before a suit suddenly covered his body. He slowly floated down to the ground and Olivia turned her head when Clint appeared beside of her. "I'm sorry. That was. . . odd." The android turned to look at Thor. "Thank you."

     A golden cape materialized behind him as Steve spoke. "Thor. You helped create this?"

     "I've had a vision."

     Olivia snapped. "Boom. It's got a name. Vision. Continue."

     "A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life, and at its center is that." Thor pointed towards the stone in the middle of the Vision's forehead.

     "What? The gem?" Bruce asked, taking a couple steps forwards.

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

     "Then why would you bring it―︎"

     "Because Stark is right." Thor cut Steve off. 

     Olivia blinked, faking a laugh. "I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you right. Did you just say 'Stark is right'?""

     "Oh, it's definitely the end times." Bruce mumbled.

     "The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron."

     "Not alone." Vision added.

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

     Tony, still surprised, said, "We reconfigured Jarvis' matrix to create something new."

     "I think I've had my fill of new."

     "You think I'm a child of Ultron." Vision spoke, turning his head to look at Steve.

     "You're not?"

     He paused. "I'm not Ultron. I am not Jarvis. I am. . . I am."

     Wanda narrowed her eyes as she looked at the android. "I looked in your head and saw annihilation."

     "Look again."

     Clint scoffed from beside Olivia. "Her seal of approval means jack to me." Clearly he was still angry at the girl for twisting both Natasha and Olivia's minds.

     "Their powers, the horrors in our heads, Ultron himself, they all came from the Mind Stone." Thor explained. "And they're nothing compared to what it can unleash. But with it on our side―︎"

     "Is it?" Steve asked, turning to the android. "Are you? On our side?"

     "I don't think it's that simple."

     Olivia crossed her arms impatiently over her chest. "Well it better get real simple real soon."

     "I am on the side of life." Vision said. "Ultron isn't. He will end it all."

     "What's he waiting for?" Tony asked.

     "You."

     "Where?" This was Banner.

     "Sokovia." Clint was the one to answer, causing all of them to look at him. His eyes met Olivia's. "He's got Nat there too."

     Bruce walked closer to Vision. "If we're wrong about you, if you're the monster Ultron made you to be. . ."

     "What will you do?" Immediately all of them tensed up, Olivia's eyes flashing blue. "I don't want to kill Ultron. He's unique and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the Earth. So, he must be destroyed. Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net. We have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others. Maybe I am a monster. I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are, and not what you intended. So, there may be no way to make you trust me. But we need to go." Suddenly, he picked up Mjolnir and handed it to Thor. All of them stared in shock.

     Thor paused before reaching out to take it from him. Thor nodded. "Right." He patted Tony on the shoulder. "Well done."

     "Three minutes." Steve told the group. "Get what you need."

     Olivia took a deep breath, pulling on her suit, packing guns and knives and ammo even though she had a feeling she would be using her claws and fangs more than anything. She reached into her locker, grabbing a photo of her, Natasha, and the twins. She closed her eyes, pressing a kiss to it before whispering to herself, "We're coming Nat." She put the photo back and headed to the quinjet, sitting herself in a seat and taking a deep breath as they took off towards Sokovia.

     "Ultron knows we're coming." Steve told the group. "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. And that's not going to happen tonight. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done. We find out what Ultron's been building, we find Romanoff, and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us."

     Steve paused for a moment before saying his final words. "Ultron thinks we're monsters. That we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right."