28 Break my fall (1/2)

Naruto seethed as he punched a hole in the cabin's wall, ”That damned fucking idiot!”

Amora watched as the shinobi wrenched his hand free, shrinking into herself as she said, ”The Avengers have been missing in action for a few days now, no one knows where they went after Anthony Stark stopped the green monster known as the Hulk.”

As he tried to calm himself down, the memories of the clone he'd left behind finally began to flood in.

The clone had been present during Tony and Bruce's work on the Mind Stone for three days, the two having managed to assemble an artificial intelligence by analyzing the innerworkings of the stone, with Tony intending to use the AI for a program he'd been workshopping dubbed 'Ultron.' The two, with Naruto's supervision, did their best to map out Ultron's self-awareness but found little success. They had shelved it for the day when the Shadow Clone had popped.

So, taking advantage of Naruto's absence, Tony decided to continue his work with Ultron and the Mind Stone.

”Please, do refrain from making another hole in my wall.” Odin called from near the fireplace, ”This shack is flimsy enough without you throwing your fists around.”

”This isn't the time, old man.” Naruto breathed out in a clipped tone, ”I need to get to where ever it is that idiot is, so I can wring his fucking neck.”

”Hmm, well perhaps my son can be of assistance.”

Raising a confused eyebrow, Naruto was about to question the All-Father when the cabin's door suddenly came flying open, Thor storming in with a clear mission in mind.

”Father, I need you to tell me all that you can about the Infinity Stones-” Thor paused, stopping midsentence before turning to his fellow blonde warrior, ”Naruto?”

Giving a surprised wave, all Naruto could muster was a measly, ”Hey.”

”Naruto!” Thor bellowed as he wrapped the shinobi in a mighty bearhug, ”Where have you been? When your clones popped, and you didn't return, people began to assume you'd been-”

”Hey buddy.” Naruto wheezed out, feeling his lungs get smooshed together by the Thunder God's raging biceps, ”Mind…letting go?”

Doing as he was asked, Thor took a step back, ”Your arrival truly is fortuitous, my friend.”

”Yeah, I kinda wish I'd been here a week earlier.” Naruto muttered as he rubbed his sore arms, ”What the hell happened? Where's the rest of the Avengers?”

”They're hiding out at Barton's homestead.” Thor answered, ”After that witch put Banner under her thrall and had him go on a rampage, Rogers thought it best that the team stay low.”

”Then why are you here?” Amora asked from her corner of the room.

”Because this witch had Thor under her thrall as well.”

Everyone turned to the All-Father, Thor nodding solemnly, ”Yes, father.”

”And what did she show you?” Odin asked serenely, not bothering to look away from the fire.

”I was in Valhalla, surrounded by our people. Heimdall came to me, his eyes blinded, claiming that I would lead our people to Hel and that I would lead them there with my destructive power. I was then shown six stones covered in a golden fist, and a pair of eyes opening for the first time.” Thor recounted, clearly troubled by what he'd been shown.

”You saw the Infinity Stones?” Naruto asked.

”Yes.” Thor answered with a nod, looking to his father, ”That's why I came here. You know more about them than anyone else.”

”Hmm, there are a few who know more than I.” Odin admitted, his eye flickering to Naruto, ”It seems his return was fortuitous indeed.”

”It can't be a coincidence that this Ultron has the Mind Stone in his grasp and that his underling would show you a glimpse of it. Clearly it is significant.” Amora surmised, ”What is truly vexing is this vision of a blinded Heimdall prophesizing the end of Asgard.”

”Was there fire?” Naruto asked, ”Or a purple light?”

This caught Odin's attention, the elderly king looking to the shinobi with an unreadable expression.

”No.” Thor answered, ”There was no fire or purple light. I was covered in lightning, destroying everything around me.”

The room grew quiet after that.

Until a question popped into Naruto's mind, ”Wait, what witch?”

”Ultron has recruited two powerful metahumans to his cause.” Thor explained, clearly not their biggest fan, ”I believe Rogers and Hill called them the Maximoff twins.”

”Shit.” Naruto cursed aloud, massaging his forehead to fight off his ever-growing headache.

”You know of them?” Thor asked.

”Yeah.” Naruto answered tiredly, ”I ran into them before you guys asked me to go off into Hel. It makes sense that this Ultron thing would seek them out, those two hate Tony more than anybody.”

”Well, what now?” Amora asked.

Naruto walked up to Thor, putting his hand on the Thunder God's shoulder, ”Well, I don't know about Thor, but I plan on ripping out Tony's facial hair. One follicle for every snarky remark he was to say when I ask him what the fuck he was thinking.”

Thor gave a massive, slightly bloodthirsty, smile, ”That sounds very amusing, can I watch?”

”Sure, I'll even let you pick how I do it.”

”Odin's beard, I've missed you.”

And with that, the two warriors were gone in a yellow flash.

-x-

Birds sang tranquilly, their chirps echoing along the homestead's large property. Resting within that property, a worn barn creaked and groaned with each blow of wind that bounced off its walls. Breaking through the sounds of nature, two voices could be heard from within the barn.

”You've come up with some pretty impressive inventions, Tony. War isn't one of them.”

Nick Fury sat on a bale of hay, looking up at the clearly flustered Tony Stark.

Tony scoffed for a second, pacing within the barn Laura Barton had led him into, trying to get some distance from the former director of SHIELD.

His face relaxed into a depressed frown as he stood next to the tractor Laura had asked him to fix, ”The stone, it…showed me things. I watched my friends die. You'd think that'd be as bad as it gets. Nope, wasn't the worst part-”

”The worst part was that you didn't.” Nick interrupted, getting up from his seat to stand next to his first recruit.

Tony looked up, his face going from surprised to understanding as he processed the Director's words.

The sound of feet shuffling against grass came within their earshot, warning them that someone was running up to the barn. Running through the barn door with a huff, Laura breathed out, ”Naruto's here.”

A sinking feeling washed over Tony, the man laughing nervously as he heard Naruto's voice from outside, ”How is he?”

Laura smiled apologetically, ”I think it's best I don't tell you.”

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Fury began to walk out of the barn, ”Some friendly advice when dealing with an angry Naruto Uzumaki, shut up and take it. The kid's got a nasty left hook.”

Tony sat down at the stool in front of the tractor, sighing as he heard Fury say he was in the barn from outside. Laura stood in the doorway, her hands folded over her pregnant stomach as she waited as well. Picking up a nearby wrench, the man tinkered with the motor with no real intension to fix it.

Perking up as she saw Naruto come through the doorway, she gave an uneasy smile, ”Naruto!” She called as pleasantly as she could, wrapping him up in a hug before he could say a word.

”Hey, Laura.” Naruto greeted with a small smile, returning the hug, ”How's the baby?”

”Oh, lively as ever.” She answered light heartedly, ”Do you want me to get you some lemonade? I just made some for Steve, I'm sure he wouldn't mind sharing.”

”Sure, I'll head over to the house in a minute.”

Getting the hint, Laura gave him a pat on the cheek before heading back to the homestead.

Trying to cut the tension, Tony looked up from the tractor, ”I didn't want any…thanks for asking.” But the quip failed to land, simply getting Naruto's attention.

”One week.” Naruto started, his voice strained with frustration, ”I told you that you had one week with the Mind Stone.”

Tony sighed, setting down the wrench as he responded, ”I know-”

”My clone popped after three days. That gave you four more to do whatever it was you wanted to do before you gave it Magik. And don't act like there was no way to get a hold of her, I'm not in the mood.” Naruto interrupted bluntly, ”How long did you decide to extend it?”

”Two weeks.” Tony answered.

”Two and a half weeks with the Mind Stone.” Naruto surmised quietly, ”And in that time, you completed the Ultron Program…how did that go for you?”

”Not well-”

”No shit!” Naruto bashed, ”What happened?”

The Stark sighed in defeat, ”When your clone popped, Bruce and I decided to proceed without you for the rest of the week. At first, we planned to follow through with the deal, but by the time the week came to an end we'd made more progress with Ultron than we thought we would. He was conscious. He was aware. I'd never seen anything like it. Not with Jarvis, not with Friday. None of the artificial intelligence I'd created were as alive Ultron is. And he was compliant. He understood his objective and took to it like a duck to water. He was advancing so rapidly that Bruce and I agreed to hasten his field test, sending him out to Sokovia to assist in controlling a riot that had broken out in the city's streets. But, something changed after that. He kept asking me to build him a body, a perfect body. He said he couldn't complete his mission without one, that simply having intelligence wasn't enough. I told I would, eventually, but for now we needed to focus on improving the Iron Legion. A couple days later he fled with the Iron Legion, stealing the Mind Stone and Loki's scepter. He disassembled Jarvis's programming, which bought him plenty of time to do whatever he pleased.”

Tony ran his hands through his hair, his forehead wrinkling from the stress, ”A couple days later we figured out he was going to Africa to buy some black market vibranium. We confronted him, but he'd recruited these enhanced Sokovian kids to help fend us off. One kid was as fast as a bullet and the girl put Cap's, Widow's, and Point Breaks' heads through a blender before going and setting off Bruce. The poor guy Hulked out and went on a rampage in Johannesburg. I managed to stop him with Veronica, but the damage was done.”

Naruto leaned against the barn door's frame, looking away from Tony as he said, ”You realize this might not have happened had you just done what we agreed, right?”

”There's a chance.” He admitted.

”I should've known better than to give you guys the stone. Tinkering with these things is a bad idea in general, nothing good could've come from it.” Naruto admitted, mentally cursing himself.

”To be fair, the Tesseract could've provided us a method to unlock unlimited energy.” Tony argued.

”And open a door to weapons of mass destruction.” Naruto countered, ”These things are double edged swords, Tony. Whatever good you get out of it; endless energy, world peace, whatever, it's just as likely to give you endless misery and countless lives lost.”

Tony got up from the stool with a defeated grunt, ”Well kid, what now?”

”Now you help me find Ultron, so we go and end this. Then I get that stone as far away from you as possible.” As Naruto began to walk out of the barn, he finished, ”After that, I think I can say with absolute certainty that we're done. You do you, I do me. But we're not on the same side anymore. If I find out you do something like this again…well, I have a team of my own now. Get it?”

”Yeah…got it.”

Naruto sighed as he walked up towards the homestead, he ran his hands through his hair in an attempt to calm himself.

He then forced a smile as Lila ran out of the house, jumping over the porch steps and into his arms. Laughing as he caught her, he gave her a quick twirl.

Setting her down, he asked, ”Where's your old man?”

”Daddy's inside with Auntie Nat and Mr. Banner.” Lila answered happily.

Nodding he began to walk inside as Steve walked around the corner, an axe resting on his shoulder and a glass of lemonade in his free hand, ”Naruto, you're back.” The man of the past observed.

”Yeah, I'm back.” Looking him over, the Uzumaki asked, ”How you feeling?”

”Better. Just needed to clear my head.” Looking around the property he continued, ”Pretty easy to do, with how peaceful this place is.”

Naruto nodded, allowing Steve to catch up next to him, ”You ever think about finding a place like this? Laying low?”

”All the time.”

The door flew open once again as Naruto and Steve got onto the porch, Natasha walking out. Looking Naruto over, she stepped aside to let the two men in. As Naruto walked passed her, she grabbed his sleeve, stopping him.

”Can we talk?” She whispered softly.

Naruto answered with a slow nod, a frown on his face as he realized how upset she looked. The fact that she wasn't even hiding it showed how deeply flustered she was.

Walking in, Naruto gave greetings to Clint and Cooper, the two sitting at the kitchen table. Clint looked the blonde over, ”You look like shit, kid.”

Looking down, Naruto realized that he hadn't changed out of his ruined clothes from his fight with Hela. His shirt was still missing, though he'd put on his ruined jacket, and his pants looked like they'd gone through a butcher's shop.

Shrugging, he said, ”I've had an interesting day…or month I guess I should say.”

”Yeah, you're going to have to explain it a bit better than that.” Laura called out from the kitchen. Walking into the living room, she handed the blonde a glass of lemonade, ”You vanished, Naruto. You, your clones, you were gone. Thor said something about a quest, but he didn't go into any details.” She explained, giving the Asgardian prince a pointed look.

Taking a sip from the drink, the Uzumaki gave a sigh before saying, ”If Thor didn't give any details, then I guess all I can say is that I went on a quest to a super weird dimension on an alien planet, where time moved at a different rate of speed. To me it felt like about a day, I guess here it was a month.”

The room was silent for several seconds, followed by a muttered, ”Cool,” from Cooper.

”Well, Clint's got some hand-me-downs from his college days he can spare you. Come on, I'll show you.” Laura said, motioning for Naruto to follow her.

Finding themselves in one of the spare bedrooms, Laura was going through a few boxes she'd pulled out of the closet. Pulling out a pair of jeans, she threw them over to the blonde, ”Here, see if they fit.” Seeing his raised eyebrow, she sighed, ”If you're really that embarrassed I'll turn around.”

Scoffing, Naruto dropped his torn-up pants to the ground before quickly shifting on the gifted set. Laura kept her eyes on the box she was digging through, pulling out a white t-shirt and tossing it over.

As Naruto put on the shirt Laura continued to dig, she spoke softly, ”How bad do you think it's going to be?”

Sighing as he pushed his hands through the short sleeves, Naruto answered, ”I don't know. I'm gonna call my team and see if they can give some backup.”

”Do you really think it's going to be that bad?” She asked, concern layered thinly in her voice.

”Maybe. It's hard to say with these kinds of things. I mean, look at how bad things got. Now this robot, Ultron, has enough material to make whatever it is he's planning. He could cause a lot of damage before we stop him.” Naruto offered, flattening the slightly wrinkled shirt with his hands.

At that, Laura stopped, her hands bunched against a windbreaker jacket tightly, ”This is…this is really scary stuff.” She muttered.

”If you're worried about Clint-”

Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

”Of course I'm worried.” She breathed out. Pausing, she looked at Naruto with a heavy frown, ”I've been with him since we were 17, Naruto. That idiot signed up for the Marines right out of high school, and I was worried for him then. I was worried during the Gulf War, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, every mission with SHIELD, every fight with the Avengers, I'm alwaysworried. But I know he can handle himself. You don't have to tell me you'll protect him. I know you, and everyone else downstairs, will do what you can to keep him safe. But, something about this seems different.”

Naruto didn't know how to respond. Instead, he rested his hand on her shoulder. Smiling at the sign of comfort, she gently shoved the jacket into his chest, ”I think I'm gonna go start dinner.”

”Alright.” Naruto said softly, watching her walk away with a frown. As she stepped out of the doorway, she paused for a second, looking at whoever was standing outside with a worried frown. As she walked away, Natasha revealed herself.

”Hey.” She said softly, her arms folded under her breast.

Naruto looked her up and down. Her hair was wet, likely having gotten out of the shower recently. She was wearing a loose hooded jacket and a pair of grey sweatpants.

”Hey.” He answered as she came further into the room, her bare feet padding against the wooden floors.

Closing the door behind her, she pressed her hand up against it for a moment, collecting her thoughts before saying, ”I don't know if they told you, but we've had a rough couple days.”

”Yeah, Thor and Tony said something about it.” He responded.

Turning around, she paused when she realized what he was wearing. A purple and blue windbreaker with a white shirt that had the album cover for Nirvana's 'In Utero' emblazoned on the chest, ”I didn't know you and Clint were such Nirvana fans.” She said softly.

”What?” Naruto asked, tilting his head in confusion.

Smiling at his reaction she said, ”Nothing, forget it.”

Sitting down on the bed, Naruto waited for her to join him. As she sat down at an arm's length away, he said, ”So, uhm, what happened?”

Swallowing a clump of dried saliva in her throat, Natasha said, ”We went after Ultron, but there was this enhanced girl with him. She used her powers to get in our heads. Steve, Thor, Bruce…me. She made us see things, feel things.”

”What did you see?” Naruto asked.

Biting the inside of her cheek, she answered, ”I saw a lot of things. The Red Room. My training, the things they made me do, the things they did to me. And…I saw you.”

”Me?”

”I saw us, but it wasn't the past. It was, well…I don't really know when. But you were there. You kept trying to walk towards me, but for some reason I kept running away from you. I wanted to stop, but I couldn't. And eventually you stopped trying, and after a while I couldn't see you anymore.” Natasha stopped there, frowning as she went over her vision in her head.

”What are you trying to say, Natasha?” Naruto wondered.

Turning to him fully, she answered, ”After all of this is over…I think I'm leaving.”

”What?” Naruto demanded, shocked, ”Leaving? Where?”

”I don't know.” Natasha said, exasperated, ”Bruce said he was going to leave after everything was taken care of. After Johannesburg, he doesn't think it's a good idea for him to stick around anymore. He's thinks he's caused too much damage. And…I can't help but think the same thing about myself.”

The blonde processed this for a moment, ”So, the two of you are running off together? Are you two-”

”No.” Natasha answered, ”Well, not now. But, maybe. Eventually. I don't know, to be honest.”

”And what, you're asking my permission?” Naruto asked, clearly perturbed.

”No, no not that.” She answered quickly, ”I just wanted to tell you, if I do.”

Sighing, Naruto got up. Looking down at a shocked Natasha, he frowned as he said, ”The Natasha I know doesn't run away from her problems. She'd face them or die trying. If you wanna retire and move away with Banner to some tropical paradise, you have my blessing. But don't use me, or Banner, or Wanda as an excuse to run away. Don't be a coward, Natasha. You never were, and you should be damned before you ever are.”

With that he walked briskly out of the room, closing the door behind him.

-x-

The sound of clinking silverware could be heard throughout the inside of the Barton homestead, the entirety of the Avengers loitered throughout the kitchen, dining and living room.

Lila, who had been drawing a picture on top of the living room's coffee table, showed the picture to her mother. Laura smiled approvingly before sending her away. Running off into the dining room to Naruto, who was leaning against the wall next to Bruce, she pulled on his pant leg to get his attention.

Looking down, he smiled at the little girl as she offered him her drawing. Taking it gingerly, his smile grew bigger when he saw that it was a picture of the Barton family. At the right-hand side, Naruto recognized himself in the picture. Who else had such awesome whisker marks? Lila stood in between him and a woman he quickly realized was Natasha. All six of them were holding hands and smiling.

”That's an awesome drawing, Lila.” Naruto complimented sincerely, giving one of his patented smiles to the little girl.

Smiling back, she took the picture back before running off to show Natasha.

”So...” Bruce started as he watched Natasha smile down at the picture, discreetly glancing Naruto's way as she did, ”Did you and…uh, well…um-”

”You're gonna have to form an actual sentence.” Naruto said flatly, as he looked over the room. Steve was leaning against the entrance into the living room, Clint was standing next to the resting Laura. Thor was observing some of the Barton family pictures, and Stark was throwing some darts at the board that was hanging in the den, keeping in the doorway so he could be a part of the conversation, and Natasha was sitting next to him and Bruce in the dining room.

”Well, you and uh…you know.” He began quietly, flinching at his continuous stutter, ”She uh…she still has-”

”I know she does.” Naruto said, eying Natasha as she pinched Lila's cheek dotingly.

”…Do you?”

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he turned to the man, ”Do you?”

Bruce went silent, withdrawing into himself as he cleared his throat awkwardly.

Nick, who was standing at the sink as he cleaned the dishes, said, ”Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time. My contacts all say he's building something. With the amount of vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing.”

”What about Ultron himself?” Steve asked.

”Oh, he's easy to track.” Fury admitted breezily, ”He's everywhere. New York, London, Seoul, Sokovia, Washington D.C., Los Angeles. Guy's multiplying faster than a catholic rabbit. Still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans though.”

”Still going after launch codes?” Tony asked from the den.

”Yes, he is.” Fury said as he walked to the table as he wiped down a chopping knife, ”But he's not making any headway.”

Looking at Fury in disbelief, Tony bragged, ”I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare.”

”Well, I contacted our contacts at the NEXUS about that.” Fury said, his attention still partially on cleaning the blade.

”NEXUS?” Steve asked.

Bruce was the one who answered, ”It's the world internet hub at Oslo. Every bite of data flows through there. It's the fastest access on Earth.”

”So, what'd they say?” Clint asked from the living room as he prepped some darts in his hand.

”He's fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed.” Fury answered.

”Changed by who-” Tony's question was interrupted as all the darts in Clint's hand came flying into the board's bullseye. A startled Tony eyed Clint, who gave a carefree shrug.

Fury ignored the two's antics, ”Parties unknown.”

As Lila ran back to her mother, Natasha joined in on the conversation, ”We have an ally?”

”Ultron's got an enemy.” Fury corrected, ”That's not the same thing.”

”We need to visit Oslo.” Concluded Tony, ”Find our unknown.”

”Do you really think we should be splitting our focus?” Naruto argued, ”Ultron should be who we look for, not the person that's on our side.”

”I agree.” Steve said, ”We can find them after we deal with Ultron. We still don't know what he wants to accomplish. He says he needs a body to complete his mission, but what mission is that, exactly?”

”Don't you remember what he said before he left?” Tony asked, ”Extinction, that's his goal. He wants a body that can give it to him. I'd imagine getting ahold of the nuclear codes is just to keep them from being used against him. He's building a new body, he's fixated on building the perfect human form.”

”Why?” Asked Steve.

”I don't know, biologically speaking the human form is outmoded, but he keeps coming back to it.” Tony explained in thought, his hand folded around his chin.

Natasha turned her head to the man, ”When you two programed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed.”

Bruce, who'd been looking down at Lila's picture, muttered in thought, ”They don't need to be protected. They need to evolve.” Looking up to the group, he clarified, ”Ultron's going to evolve.”

”How?” Fury asked.

”Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?”

-x-

Location: Seoul, South Korea

-x-

”It's beautiful.”

Standing above a mechanical cradle, Dr. Helen Cho, her eyes shining a dull blue signifying her enthrallment to the Mind Stone, looked in awe as it opened up with a hiss revealing the still body of Ultron's vision. Its form was lithe but firm, the skin a reddish purple. Green lights ran over the nude form, adding to its fresh skin more of the vibranium its soon to be owner provided.

Looking down at his vision, Ultron nodded. The mechanical man was tall, standing just over seven feet. Its metallic body was thin and lanky, it's face long with almost insect like fascial features.

Its dead red eyes scanned over the body as a disjointed voice came from his open mouth piece, ”Touch, smell, taste, sight, sound. This body, my vision, will soon have all of these. It will be the next step in evolution. Perfect in every way. So yes, it truly is beautiful.”

”The vibanium is melding with the cells perfectly. Once the process is complete, the body should be capable of harnessing the power of the Mind Stone without overloading your programming. You will still be you, only-”

”Only alive.” Ultron finished.

From behind them, an Ultron Sentry held the gem containing the Mind Stone, keeping it in place as a laser drilled into the glowing rock. Cracking under the heat, the gem eventually shattered to reveal the yellow stone.

Taking the stone, Ultron looked at it closely for a moment. Walking up to the cradle, he began to place the stone within the slot situated on his vision's forehead. The singing stone now in place, Ultron said softly, ”And with this star, my wish comes true.”

”What wish is that?”

Turning, he saw that Pietro and Wanda had entered the room. Looking to the Maximoff brother, Ultron answered his question, ”To be alive.”

Wanda raised an eyebrow, walking closer to the cradle as she said, ”Are you not alive already?”

”I am sentient. I think, therefore I am. But I am not alive, not really. I cannot comprehend touch or smells or tastes. When you speak, I understand you, but I'm not hearing you. I cannot feel you the way you feel me.”

”So, you want to be human?” Pietro asked, perplexed.

Ultron paused, looking over Pietro and Wanda before saying, ”When I was created, my objective was to be a peace keeping initiative. I was to oversee a program dubbed the Iron Legion, which would act as a suit of armor for the world. My field test came in the form of a large-scale riot in the streets of Navi Grad. I was to try and provide riot control, organizing the Iron Legion in a strategic manner to help bottleneck the heavily volatile rioters. But my intervention only upped the violence. It was there that I saw the depravity of human life, witnessed it for myself rather than reading about the countless other times it's occurred. These people were looting, destroying, and killing in protest of looting, destroying, and killing. I realized that humans are a paradox. I couldn't understand them. But, I needed to understand them. Therefore, I too was a paradox. I realized that in order to enact my duties, I needed something that would allow me to understand why humans do what they do. I needed a body. A true body. I asked Tony Stark, the world's leading authority on building artificial men, to give me what I needed. But he brushed it off, saying he would when I had proved myself.”

Deciding he'd explained too much, Ultron continued his previous thought, ”My lack of life, my lack of senses, these should all be advantages for me, things that put me a step ahead of my lessers. But how am I to lead the next wave of evolution if I cannot comprehend the very core aspects of life?” Ultron explained, ”If I am to be a god, I must humble myself before my subjects.”

Wanda, now standing over the cradle, said, ”Do you really think you can become a god with this body?”

”With the Mind Stone, I will transcend all forms of thought. After I've completely accumulated with it, my thinking will exist in an entirely different plane. And with this body, I will be able to enact that will upon this world.” Ultron reasoned.

Pietro frowned as he observed Ultron, the metal man looking down at his creation, ”And what will your first act as 'god' be?”

”I will bring about the next genesis.”

-x-

Naruto watched as Steve strapped his helmet in pace, the man in full uniform as the team prepared to leave for Seoul. The was giving out orders, instructing everyone with their task when entering the city.

”We need to keep civilians away from the fight, Naruto I think the safest bet is for you to fan out and clear the area and teleport them to safety.” The Captain suggested.

”Right,” Naruto said with a nod, ”Where were you thinking I take them?”

Rogers looked to Fury, ”You still have any Helicarriors laying around?”

”Well, I was planning on letting that be a surprise.” Fury quipped lightly, ”But yeah, I just need to meet up with Hill and a few others so we can get it running.”

”I'll take you.” Naruto offered, creating a clone that grabbed onto Fury's shoulder, ”He'll take you to where you need to go, and he'll gather up my team while he's at it. You guys meet us at Seoul as soon as you can.”

”Got it-” Fury began, only to be cut off as the Shadow Clone carried him along in a flash.

Naruto turned to Tony, ”I'll get someone to look into the situation you were talking about at Nexus. If we can somehow cut off Ultron's access to the internet, that'll give us an advantage.”

Tony raised an eyebrow, ”Who do you have that can outwork Ultron?”

”Oh, I'll leave that for later.” Naruto said with a knowing smirk.

Standing away from the group, Laura watched as Clint strapped his bow behind his back. Looking down at his wife, Clint said, ”I'm gonna finish reflooring that sunroom as soon as I get back.”

Laura's smile was strained, ”Yeah, then you'll find another part of the house to tear apart.”

”No.” He offered, making Laura frown. Giving a reassuring smile, Clint said, ”It's the last project. I promise.”

Taking his face in her hands, Laura pulled him down into a kiss.

Upstairs, Natasha zipped up her suit, making sure everything was in place as a voice spoke up behind her, ”So…last one, huh?”

Turning around, she saw Bruce standing in the doorway, the man fiddling with his hands as he seemed to debate walking further into the room.

”Yeah. I guess.”

”You guess.” Bruce muttered. Stepping forward, he continued, ”You know, if you don't want to do it, I understand-”

”It's not that I don't want to.” Natasha said, ”But, after my talk with Naruto-”

”Naruto.” Bruce breathed, ”Of course.”

Blinking, the assassin asked, ”What about him?”

”I just…” He started, ”I just can't understand it. You want to get away from your past, from him. But one word from him, and you want to stay? That doesn't make any sense to me.”

”I don't know what I want.” Natasha admitted, ”Everything just came flooding back to me, all of it. Everything I've ever done was shoved into my face like a bucket of ice water. Then you came along, talking about going away. And that sounded amazing. To find somewhere, someplace, where none of the things I've done matter. A fresh slate. But, I don't think running away from my problems will make them go away. If I give in, I'm letting my problems control my life. If you run, your problems are controlling your life-”

”My problem controls every facet, every minutia or my life.” Bruce cut in sharply, ”I can't walk down the street anymore without worrying about my problem. I can't have anything anymore, without my problem being a deciding factor. All I can do is run. And now, after what he did, what I did, I don't think it's a good idea for me to be around here anymore.”

”Then maybe you shouldn't?”

Bruce stood there, frozen. Eventually, he muttered, ”Then maybe I will, after all of this.”

”I'm sorry, Bruce.” Natasha offered, truly apologetic.

”No, no. I understand.” Bruce said, waving it off though his voice had a depressed inflexion, ”Not everyone can drop everything and run like I can, I know that.”

”Well, wherever you go, don't think you can't come back.”

The man smiled, though it seemed to lack any emotion, ”Yeah, thanks.”

-x-

”He's here.”

Wanda Maximoff looked to Ultron, the artificial man sitting down next the cradle that was currently holding his newly made body, ”Who?”

”Naruto Uzumaki.”

Pietro immediately recognized the name, blurring passed the Ultron Sentries that stood guard as he demanded, ”Where is he? He's in the building?”

”No. He's been spotted by several surveillance cameras throughout Washington D.C. and Manhattan.” Ultron droned, his voice heavy as he watched over his vision, the Mind Stone glowing from its perch, ”He's been missing for nearly a month now. I had hoped he'd been killed, but I suppose we can't always get what we want.”

”You want him dead?” Wanda asked from her seat. Feeling a pang of emotion come from him, she narrowed her eyes curiously, ”You're afraid of him.”

Ultron looked to her, startled into silence. Looking back to his body, his vision, he said, ”I don't feel. I simply see him for what he is.”

”And what is that?” Pietro asked from his sister's side.

”Dangerous.”

Dr. Helen Cho walked into the room, her heels clicking against the tiled floor as she read off of her clipboard, ”The cellular cohesion will take a few more hours, but we can initiate the consciousness stream.”

Connecting a thick cord to the back of Ultron's head with a thick click, she began to tap away at her computer, ”We're uploading your cerebral matrix now.”

As the cradle came alive with beeps and boops, signaling the start of the upload, Wanda felt a sudden outcry of emotion from the partially empty body.

Walking to it, she muttered, ”I can read him. He's…dreaming.”

”I wouldn't call them dreams.” Helen corrected helpfully, ”It's Ultron's base consciousness. Informational noise, soon-”

”How soon?” Ultron demanded, ”If Naruto Uzumaki has returned, our time frame has decreased significantly.”

Wanda, now hovering over the cradle, drowned out their conversation as she pressed her fingers on the glass that separated her from the body. Her head was quickly invaded by a stream of images.

A meteor striking the planet, destroying anything and everything around it. Naruto Uzumaki killing Baron Wolfgang von Strucker with Loki's scepter, the Mind Stone in Naruto's hand vibrating from the blonde's killing intent. A violent riot in Sokovia, the rioters doing their best to destroy the Iron Legion in Ultron's control. The sight of these Sokovians killing each other, for no reason other than mob mentality. Images of human destruction and self-harm. Of wars, genocides, and enslavement. Of a man enveloped in fire with grand power, a seemingly perfect warrior. Feeling of hatred, fear, and jealousy.

Gasping, Wanda removed herself from the cradle, holding her head as the images engrained themselves in her brain.

Ultron remained seated, watching as Pietro tried to comfort the clearly frightened Wanda.

As Pietro held her, Wanda stared at Ultron in disbelief, ”Yo-you told us we were going to end the Avengers. We were going to kill Tony Stark. We were going to make a better world-”

”It will be a better world. With this body, I can end the man so many call a god.” Ultron reasoned, ”I will evolve passed him, and shape the world into a better place. Like he should've done.”

”And global extinction will make the world a better place?” Wanda demanded, shocking Pietro with this revelation.

Ultron nodded slowly, his consciousness beginning to fade into his new body, his vision, ”Humans are like a parasite, devouring away at their host body with little care that killing it will kill them. The universe sent this planet a cure in the form of Naruto Uzumaki, but all he turned out to be was an enabler. He has the power to vaccinate this poor world, and he squanders it with self-indulgence and tamed violence. It should only be fate that he be the catalyst for my creation. For the creation of a new god.”

”Is that really what you think of yourself to be?” Pietro demanded heatedly, ”An usher of creation doesn't rebuild a new world on top of the old destroyed one. All you are is a-”

Ultron lifted his up hand lazily, his fingers coming to life as they blasted a thin beam of energy through Pietro's stomach.

”Pietro!” Wanda screamed, catching him as he fell to the ground limply. Putting pressure onto his wound, blood flooding passed her fingers, she looked up to Helen as she screamed, ”Help him!”

Helen didn't even flinch, her eyes never leaving her computer screen.

”Did you not see that coming?” Ultron asked tiredly, the synchronization nearly three-fourths of the way done, ”You really should've known not to push me, Pietro. The only reason I've allowed you to live this long is because of your sister. Sadly, it seems the only thing that can outrun your feet is your mouth.”

Tears now spilling from her eyes as the color in Pietro's face began to drain into a deathly white, Wanda turned her head to Helen again, her eyes glowing a dangerous scarlet, ”I said help him!”

Her eyes flashing red, Helen stumbled. Clutching her head, she quickly gathered herself. Seeing Pietro lying in a pool of his own blood, she gasped as she rushed to his side, putting her hands over Wanda's as she said, ”What…what happened?”

”Just…just take care of him.” Wanda said as she hesitantly got up from her brother's side. Her full attention now on the still resting Ultron, she glared at him with scarlet eyes, ”How could you?”

”How could I what?”

”Don't toy with me!” Wanda screamed, her blood caked hands enveloped in her scarlet energy.

Ultron tilted his head, ”Did you really think I cared for you? You were pawns. You wanted Tony Stark dead. I wanted everyone dead. Our two goals overlapped. It was a tactical move that put me ahead of the competition. They're on the backfoot, while I put all of my pieces in play. Don't act like you weren't using me to get what you wanted. Once Tony Stark was dead, you'd have had no reason to continue our relationship. You'd have left me, and I'd have had to kill you in return.”

The Ultron Sentries took several steps toward the enraged Wanda, their hands buzzing with deadly energy.

”So, you're just rushing it along, is that it?” Wanda demanded, her body shifting into her fighting stance.

”Don't take it personally.” Ultron and his Sentries said at once, before the two Ultron Sentries rushed at the woman with the clear intent to kill.

Wanda ducked under a blast of energy, waving her energy encased hands as she summoned a wave of scarlet energy that grabbed ahold of the closest Sentry to her, crushing it like a tin can with a gripping hand gesture.

The second Sentry took advantage of Wanda focusing on the first, backhanding her in the face hard enough to send her into the wall. Before she could move to counter, the Sentry had barreled into her, driving her through the wall in a mighty tackle.

Gasping in pain as it pinned her against the next room's wall, she quickly summoned a tendril of energy that wrapped around the Sentry's neck. Pulling it off of her, she had the tendril squeeze hard enough to decapitate it.

Huffing as she wiped the blood away from her lip, she glared into the hole the Sentry had created with her body. Standing in the opening were two other Sentries, their dead, glowing red eyes staring at her unblinkingly.

As she was about to charge up another wave of energy, a blue and silver blur shot passed the Sentries, running into Wanda and carrying her off away from the fight.

Coming to a jolting stop, she and the blur tumbled to the ground outside of the building they'd been in. Rolling to a stop, she looked to see Pietro lying on the ground, clutching his stomach as more blood seeped from the wound.

”Pietro.” She whispered, crawling to his side, ”Pietro why did you do that? You can't be moving around, you're just going to hurt yourself-”

”You need…to get out of here…” Pietro gasped out through pained breaths, ”He's going to…kill you…leave…now.”

”Not without you-”

Grabbing her hand tightly, Pietro smiled, ”I'm done Wanda…I'm done.”

Wanda couldn't muster the words she needed to say, only choking on her tears as she gripped her brother's hand in a vice grip.

Chuckling, Pietro muttered quietly, ”Maybe what you said that blondie told you was right. Maybe…maybe we shoulda just left it alone.”

Wanda watched as his breathing grew shallow, his eyes becoming unfocused as he looked up into the sky. Speaking passed the blood filling his mouth, he muttered, ”I always wanted to go see the world. To see the ocean. You know I always wanted to run on water. But now…now…”

Pietro went silent, never to speak again.

Wanda could only hold his hand, tears spilling.

-x-

Ultron gave an unnecessary sigh, showing his annoyance as he looked down at his cradled body, ”Damned girl, you were supposed to be my deterrent when Naruto Uzumaki showed himself to me. Now I'll need something else to distract them before the Highlander Protocol.”

”Highlander Protocol?”

The Ultron Sentries turned to Helen, the woman standing next to the puddle of blood Pietro had left behind.

”I can't kill anyone in the building, it'll send a hero in to save them.” Ultron said to himself, giving the unnecessary command to his Sentries,”But I need them quiet. Her especially.”

Helen took a step back, eyes widening in fear as the Ultron Sentries stepped towards her threateningly.

”Everyone else in the city is free game.”

-x-

Wanda, still kneeling next to her brother's body, jumped when she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. Her fists enveloped in her scarlet energy, she made to fend off whoever was stupid enough to touch her.

A vice like grip around her wrist stopping her, Wanda's eyes widened when she saw Naruto looking at her with somber eyes.

Letting go, Naruto knelt next to her, resting his hand on Pietro's chest. Sighing, he pushed his finger into his earpiece, ”I found the Maximoff twins. The brother's down-”

”His name is Pietro.” Wanda cut in scathingly.

Pausing for a second, Naruto continued, ”Pietro Maximoff is dead. I have the sister now.”

”Copy that.” Steve answered, ”I'm a block over and on my way. Clint's made himself a bird's nest a few buildings over, Tony should be here any second, and Bruce and Natasha are incoming in the Quinjet. We should be ready for an ambush in five minutes, ten tops.”

”Got it.” Naruto answered, looking to Thor who was standing next to him, the man looking down at Pietro's corpse with trepidation. The boy had been his enemy a day ago after all, ”Thor and I are right in front of the building. We're heading in.”

Getting a resounding copy that from the rest of the Avengers, Naruto turned to Wanda, ”I'll make a clone that'll take you and your brother away. Just tell us what floor the robot is on.”

”Top floor, the Research and Development lab.” Wanda answered blankly.

Two Shadow Clones popped into existence. One picked up Pietro gently, while the other made to grab Wanda, only to get brushed off.

”What are you-”

”I'm not leaving.” Wanda stated firmly, daring him to challenge her.

Sighing in agitation, the blonde walked away, ”Fine, but my clone stays with you.”

”Fine.” She said tightly, glaring at Naruto's back.

As Naruto began to draw in some Natural Chakra, the sound of screaming and fighting broke out around them, washing over them as hundreds of Ultron Sentries came out of nowhere, causing havoc on the city. Flying around the towering buildings, sprinting across the bustling streets, the hundreds upon hundreds of Sentries began to open fire on the city and its civilians.

”What the hell?” Naruto demanded as several dozen Sentries flew out of the building, immediately going for any nearby civilians with murderous intent. Speaking through the earpiece, he shouted, ”Guys, we got a problem, he's got a bunch of robots or drones or something attacking the city!”

Hawkeye, who was perched on top of a skyscraper a few blocks away, grunted in annoyance as he fired off an arrow into an Ultron Sentry's eye socket, killing it instantly, ”We're seeing it.”

”Avengers, time to work for a living.” Tony ordered over the conjoined radio.

Steve, who was running along the streets as he raised his shield to block an incoming energy blast, said, ”Naruto, evacuate as many people as you can, now!” Throwing his shield at the Sentry who'd fired at him, he anticipated where the shield would bounce into his arms. Catching the vibranium disk as it ricocheted off three Sentries, deactivating all of them, he barrel rolled behind some cover.

”I'm already on top of it.” Naruto answered as he created several hundred more Shadow Clones, the pack of blondes splitting up to try and save as many civilians as possible, ”Fury, what's your status?”

Fury's voice came through, ”ETA fifteen minutes.”

Thor, who'd spun his hammer at a rapid pace before shooting off into the direction of several Ultron Sentries, gave a mighty roar before swinging his lightning encased Mjolnir into the one of their stomachs, destroying it on impact, ”Banner, get out here already! We need the beast.”

”Yeah, uh I don't think that's the best idea.” Banner said into his earpiece as he stood in the hanger bay of the Quinjet, ”I'm not exactly sure-”

”Bruce, come on buddy, I know you're still a little frazzled from what happened in Johannesburg, but we need you to go Code Green. Like, right now actually.” Tony insisted as he flew through the city's building, blasting any Sentries that got too close.

”We-well-”

Bruce stumbled as the Quinjet's hanger door open, letting the air in with a massive swoosh. Looking at Natasha, who'd activated the ship's autopilot so she could walk up to the man, screamed passed the wind, ”What are you doing?!”

”Just came up to say I'm sorry!” Black Widow screamed back.

”You don't have to keep apologizing-”

The air was knocked out of Bruce's chest as Natasha shoved him back, his eyes widened in fear as he realized he'd entered a freefall.

”Sorry!” The Widow screamed after him.

Hawkeye chuckled as he nocked another arrow, ”He's gonna be pissed, you know that right?”

”Yeah, kinda the point.” She answered sullenly as she regained control of the Quinjet, ”I'm landing now, I'll see you boys in a minute.”

Cursing as several Ultron Sentries managed to enter the building he was perched on, Hawkeye spoke into the com, ”I'm gonna do some house cleaning.”

”Copy that.” Captain America and Black Widow called back.

Kicking in the door leading to the stairway, Hawkeye, kept his bow string drawn back as he slowly crept down the steps.

Naruto, who was running along the streets in his Base Kurama Chakra Cloak, did his best to keep the Ultron Sentries from killing anymore civilians, but the damned things were on a war path. They barely payed him any attention, their sole focus on killing as many people around them as they could. And they were succeeding. People were running in a mad rush, making it like shooting a fish in a barrel.

Creating a set of Shadow Clones, Naruto jumped up and began dismantling the drones with blindingly fast punches and kicks, using the speed granted to him in by his chakra cloak to zip to one after the other. But for everyone he got rid of, two more seemed to take its place.

Iron Man, who was flying overhead at top speed, said, ”These things aren't letting us evacuate, they're picking off anyone they can get their hands on.”