Chapter 19

"Do you think--"

Bluish green lights died off the minute I released the ball of energy surrounding the cradle--cutting Tony off.

I had supported the stupid thing all the way out of the Quinjet and into the lab.

So when the cradle dropped, it hit the ground hard, causing the level to shake.

Silence speared at the atmosphere.

I didn't care if this gem was unstable.

As of this moment, I was unstable.

"Riley..." Clint was behind me. I could feel his hand hovering above my shoulder, hesitating, before he ultimately dropped it.

From up ahead, the two figures huddled by the monitors stay frozen.

Both Tony and Bruce share shocked expressions, effectively astonished by what I've just done.

Tony's eyes turn questioning and concern almost. He stands straight. "Blues--"

"Here's what your little machine built," I spat, dragging my feet forwards towards my brother and Banner. The lights were spazzing in the air, glittering with the intention to hurt.

"Now our friend is missing-"

"Riley, Riley hold on--" Clint runs after me.

"-and I don't know if she's alive!"

He grabs my arm, tugging me back with one harsh pull. "Lorelie, don't." He says, struggling to get me off my rage. "It's not worth it, alright?"

I rip my arm away from him and dealt the two males a sizable amount of death stares.

They've gotten up from their positions, Banner being the first one to descend down the stairs.

"What happened? Who's missing?"

Clint shook his head, sighing. "It's Nat."

"Nat?"

Bruce took off his glasses, his emotions filling with worry and fear.

"Ultron got her just as we grabbed the cradle." The archer snapped, sarcastically. "I think he wanted a fair exchange."

"You fix this Tony," My voice cut into the conversation, gazing towards my brother who remain standing on top of the upper platform.

"I swear to god if you don't do it. I will rip that goatee off so fast, you'd wish you didn't build it."

He flinches under the level of my stare and because he was a bloody Stark, of course that stupid arrogant pride of his, refuses to back down.

"Nat's alive, as far as I can tell. If she wasn't, Ultron'd be rubbing our faces in,"

Crossing my arms over my chest I raised a sarcastic eyebrow. "Oh? So that should make it all better then?"

"I'm not trying to defend myself," He puts both hands out in surrender and descends down the platform. "I'm just stating the obvious."

Suddenly, flying him out the window didn't sound like such a bad idea at all.

There was a loud cough.

Bruce and Clint had avoided our stare down and were refocusing back on the cradle.

"This thing is sealed tight," Clint observes, trying to get it open.

If it wasn't for the fact that he looked ridiculous, climbing on top of it and trying to pry it open, I would've stayed mad at my brother.

"We're going to need to access the program. Break it down from within," Banner added in, discreetly trying to break the sibling argument.

I rolled my eyes at their attempts to smooth things over and ultimately looked away from my brother, deciding that I will only speak to him if I wanted to.

This shouldn't even be my concern. There were more pressing matters to deal with like where Natasha could be.

Being mad and pissed came with the job but I was throwing it all at Tony. That wasn't fair.

Maybe if I were to catch Natasha on time, I'd avoid all this worry and fear.

I sighed.

God, Nat why did you do that?

She shouldn't have pushed me aside.

"Hmm," Tony eyes me from the corner of his eye as he walks towards Clint, hands in his pockets. "Any chance Natasha might leave you a message? Outside the internet? Old school spy stuff?"

Clint's eyes frown, thinking briefly before he nods. "There's some nets I can cast." His emotions lit up with the idea. "Yeah, alright I'll find her--"

He heads out, determined to find Natasha but pauses just before the stairs, head turning back in my direction.

"Riley wanna do yourself a favour and get some fresh air?"

I watch Tony's quiet observation of the cradle as Clint says this from somewhere behind us.

My brother was doing his very best to avoid my gaze.

I narrowed my eyes, feeling suspicious.

What on earth was he thinking?

"You go ahead, I'm good." Came my final answer. Clint doesn't hesitate to disappear downstairs.

"Alright," Banner walked over to the cradle and begin typing a few things in the monitor. "I can work on tissue regeneration if you can fry whatever operational system Cho implanted."

Tony looks left to right to make sure Clint was out of the way before he casts me a guilty look and turns to Banner. "Yeah, about that."

There was a pause.

Both me and Banner look at Tony with scrutinizing gazes.

His emotions reacted back at me and I analyzed each of them carefully.

Did he-

Was he planning on-

"No, absolutely not."

"No," Banner agreed with me.

Tony's face falls as he looks between the two of us. "You have to trust me."

"Kinda don't."

"Trust you?" I speak out loud, affirming Banner as I'm beyond offended right now. "Tony, are you nuts? What do you think is going to happen?"

Banner's unwillingness shows in the way he attempts to walk further away from Tony, hands held out.

However, Tony remains persistent and since I had already given him my answer, he results back to Banner.

"Our ally? The guy protecting the military nuclear codes?"

We reluctantly glance back at him, knowing he'd done it on purpose to capture our attention.

I watch as Tony pulls out his pocket-sized monitor and projects it to the room. "I found him,"

A 3D image of what was once destroyed yellowed fragments had been pieced back together.

"JARVIS!" I found myself walking forward towards it. He was an AI, but he mattered a lot.

"Hello Miss Stark, it is a pleasure to meet you again,"

How I missed that British persona.

"You found him?" I asked, my voice soft.

Tony's gaze softened at my look before he nods in reply.

"Hello Dr Banner," JARVIS greets Bruce who remains standing there, apparently in shock.

"Ultron didn't go after JARVIS cause he was angry. He attacked him because he was scared, of what he can do." Tony explained to the two of us, having walked along the room to do it.

"So JARVIS went underground. Okay? Scattered, dumped his memory."

A small smirk tugged at Tony's lips before he looked at JARVIS once more.

"But not his protocols. He didn't even know he was in there until I pieced him together."

So... what? JARVIS was an AI that could think for himself now? How was that possible?

"So, you want me to help you put JARVIS into this thing?" Banner concluded, gesturing to the cradle.

"No, of course not! I want to help you put JARVIS in this thing."

"Real classy, Tony." I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest.

Banner shakes his head, undecided.

Hell, what was my part in this?

"We're out of my field here. You know bio-organics better than anyone." Tony rest his palms on the cradle and leaned forward.

"And you just assume that JARVIS' operational matrix can beat Ultron's?" Banner sighs, still trying to fish out of the net Tony casted.

"JARVIS has been beating him from the inside without knowing it." My brother's eyes were lit with fundamental truth.

"This is the opportunity--we can create Ultron's perfect self, without the homicidal glitches he thinks are his winning personality. We have to."

"I believe it's worth a go," JARVIS adds helpfully.

I gave the AI a dirty look. "You're programmed to respond to Tony's words,"

"No, I'm in a loop!" Banner ran a hand through his curled hair and gestured frantically. "I'm caught in a time loop, this is exactly where it all went wrong--"

"He's not wrong Tony," I tell my brother, making sure he sees how seriously this can all go wrong.

All the events that have happened were proof of that.

"I know, I know--" Tony nods, breaking eye contact with me before he wraps an arm around Banner. "I know what everyone's going to say, but they're already saying it."

"We're mad scientists. We're monsters, buddy. You gotta own it. Make a stand."

Banner's emotions wavered. Deep down inside, the doctor's logic towards my brother was giving way.

He believed that they could build something better, amend their past mistakes.

I knew what his decision was before he even say it out loud.

"It's not a loop," Tony pats Bruce's shoulder. "It's the end of the line."

"End of the line to what Tony?" I walked forward so I was opposite my brother. "You're so willing to take that risk? We don't know what's going to happen."

It hadn't occurred to me that the words I spoke were heavy with exhaustion and guilt.

Tony was building another product that could, or could not destroy life as we know it.

The gem was unstable. Unpredictable.

Even from here, I can hear the calling to answer.

To understand what it wants.

I don't know what it wants and I'm afraid it would demand too much when the opportunity arose.

"Blues..." Tony lets Banner go and walks towards me, so we're both on opposite ends with the cradle between us.

He stares at me, earnest and honest. "None of this is going to matter, if we don't try."

The ridiculous Bruce Lee T-shirt he was wearing was glaring back at me and it made me want to tear it apart in annoyance.

"I'm telling you this because I don't want there to be any secrets between us."

I find myself holding my breath at that.

Tony was many things.

A billionaire.

A cocky bastard.

A playboy.

A philanthropist.

Iron Man.

So it makes sense that if he can't officially say, sorry, his actions do it for him.

He's basically letting me know of his plans so I don't get pissed off at him later when I do find out.

"We don't even know what this thing is capable of," My hand reaches out, hovering above the cradle, directly above the glowing stone encased within. "It can hurt you, Tony. It can hurt all of us."

"That's where you come in," He insists. "You have the capabilities to handle this."

No, I don't.

I don't even know what's happening to me anymore.

The memories of the battle of New York and the vision with the other glowing gems, flashed overhead.

It felt foreboding.

"If we keep playing god, one day someone is going to put us in our place," I mutter beneath my breath, the words meant for myself.

Tony in the meanwhile has realized I'm starting to let up.

He approaches me carefully from the side. "You're the only one that can stop the gem if it gets too much, I need you here Blues,"

He needs me.

After all, I gained my powers from its sibling. I may be the only one that could take control of the gem.

Sighing out loud, I'm caught in a dilemma. "Tony, that gem is unstable. If something goes wrong, I don't know if I can control it."

The confession frighten me because it was the truth.

"Nothing is going to happen," He grasps my shoulders so we meet eye to eye. "Blues, trust me, please."

I look at the cradle once more and shut my eyes.

Darkness greets me, I could almost imagine myself in the other world, the world I entered from within my dreams where no one exists but me and the glowing jewels.

The calling was loud--louder than ever.

Unknowingly, I find myself responding to what it wanted.

It wanted to be free,

It wanted to speak for itself,

It wanted--

Sharp pains drew up my wrists and I clenched my fingers, feeling the veins burn.

When I opened my eyes, I looked at Tony and nodded, obeying the command I didn't know I was given.

Do you see what you need to do?

I remember.

;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;

Between the three of us it was clear who was much more experience in this type of field work.

I mean, I can hack into a bunch of codes and reprogram everything else, but Tony and Banner surpass me by about a million other things.

Tony was up by the huge computer at the podium and I watch as Banner plugged in a bunch of tubs into the cradle.

Meanwhile, I was sitting on a table, with my legs swinging back and forth.

I refused to partake in building this thing but I did agree to watch over it, in case the gem gets a little too unstable.

So... if you look at it this way.

I don't necessarily agree with what they're doing. But I'm not going to let them do it without being protected.

"This framework is not compatible." Tony mumbles frustratingly as he worked on the monitor.

Time was limited, he knew.

"The genetic coding towers at 97%." Banner rises up having plugged in the last of the tubes and walks backwards.

"You have got to upload that schematic in the next three minutes--"

Three new energies enter the room and I jump up, upon feeling the familiarity.

I hadn't noticed they were back.

How?

"I'm only going to say this once," Steve growls out loud, stepping onto the lab with the twins right behind him.

Well, I guess they took my advice.

"What about 'nounce'?" Tony retorted, his voice filling with sarcasm.

This isn't going to end well.

The tension was growing in the room and I could feel each energy wave from everybody, all balled up into one giant ball of wrath.

It was so thick and heady that I had to step backwards, one hand on my chest.

Steve steps forward--only one, his grip on the shield tightening. "Shut it down!"

I've never seen him so mad.

"Nope, not gonna happen." My brother had a death wish because now my boyfriend was staring at him like he was dead meat.

Steve scoffs, tightly. "You don't know what you're doing-"

"And you do?" Banner's deadly calm voice pierce the tension-filled air.

He was staring at Scarlet, staring at her with absolute fundamental rage.

Oh, shit.

I don't know if I should calm him down or just let it happen.

Banner's glare deepened. "She's not in your head?"

Scarlet takes a step forward, away from her brother and Steve. "I know you're angry-"

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

"What are we doing?" I cut in, forcing myself to a stand so I could centre myself in the room, palms held out in each direction. "Do you have any idea what's happening right now?"

No one answers me.

They're all glaring at each other, neither one of them willing to back down.

The emotions bottling up were about to hit a breaking point. I try my best to diffuse it, willing at my powers to do their job.

"This needs to stop. No more fighting. How do you think we got into this in the first place?"

Steve blue eyes narrowed in my direction, lining with betrayal almost. "You're helping him?"

"No, I'm not." I seethe, not liking how he was full-on blaming me. "But I'm not going to sit back and let them get hurt while doing it."

Steve looks away from my scathing expression and glares at Bruce. "Banner, after everything that's happened--"

"That's nothing compared to what's coming!" Tony shouts, his voice practically ringing and it was at that moment, that I realized something.

It was the way his chest heaved, his fingers trembled and those eyes blink.

It was fear.

He was scared of something.

And I know it ran deeper than this. Possibly further.

"You don't know what's in there!" Scarlet shouts out in protest, her tone heavy with anger.

"This isn't a game," Steve agreed just as enraged.

The situation was escalating and I had no idea if I should calm everybody down or just blow everybody up. The latter sounded extremely attractive.

"Don't--"

Before I could finish, Snow White ploughed across the room in lightning speed, dismantling everything Banner and Tony had done.

The power shuts down immediately, the cradle going quiet.

There's a collective silence as the two scientists in front of us, realize what had happened.

"No, no, go on--you were saying?" Snow White sarcastically demanded.

I mentally face palmed.

Oh god, this isn't going to end well at all.

"Snow-"

A gunshot rang loud and clear.

The glass floor beneath Snow White shattered into pieces, making him fall right through the floor and towards Barton who had pulled the trigger in the first place.

Clint smiles smugly as the boy hit the ground.

"Pietro!" Scarlet shouts, alarmed.

Everything happened so fast, and I barely had any chance to react.

"Oh shit--"

"I'm rerouting the program," Tony goes to the monitor but Steve acted faster, throwing the shield towards my brother, and knocking him aside.

Tony calls out his iron gauntlet and shoots a repulsor beam towards Steve.

It hits him square in the chest and knocks the Super Soldier off his feet.

Tony's back-piece latches itself onto him from where it was contained, and immediately--I knew this was going to be an all-out war.

"Stop! This is getting us nowhere!" Whipping out energy walls, I sent them towards the two males making them rebound back from the force.

"Stay out of this Lorelie!" Steve orders me as he gets up and lunges for my brother.

"You heard him Blues!"

They both collide in a mass of fury, and I find my fingers weaving drastically to control the change of energies running through me.

Tony and Steve moved too quickly, ploughing at each other with unspeakable force. It made it harder to deflect and protect them from hurting one another.

Scarlet's eyes glowed red from behind me.

I could feel the change in the air and turned around, noticing her fingers streaking in the familiar colour.

Banner comes up behind her and pins her backwards. "Go ahead, piss me off."

My gaze widened at her fearful ones and at the two people I love battling it out.

Scarlet recovers quickly.

She fights through her fear and whips out her red swirls of light, promptly backhanding Banner and making him let go in apparent discomfort.

This is only the beginning.

I can hear a ringing in my ear.

It's only a matter of time.

That voice.

The same voice from when I lost control in the tower. When the lab exploded and I stood there, the cause of it all.

Beneath me, Clint and Snow White were squaring off. In front of me, Tony and Steve continued to throttle each other. Beside me, Scarlet and Banner have resulted in a staredown.

All the anger.

All the rage.

All the destruction.

What has happened to us?

The thumping of my heart grew louder.

My level of anger has reached an all-time high and every fiber in my being threatened to explode.

What happened to fighting, together?!

What happened to being a team? A family?

Were we really the monsters the world sees us be?

Were we really the bringers of chaos?

Tony and Steve knocked into each other, the repulsor beams, causing them to fly backwards and apart, hitting numerous glass panels in the process.

I step forward, feeling the blue green and gold lights rise up in the air, making my hair float.

"Don't." Scarlet grabs my shoulder and tugs me backwards, sensing my decreasing level of self-control.

Her brown orbs tinted red, warns me not to lose it.

I forgot how similar she was to me. How her powers greatly matched mine.

She's aware of the consequences, maybe even fears it.

Before I could do anything else, a hard crash behind us alerted us all to a newcomer.

The god of thunder who had apparently been missing in action this entire time have just returned.

He slid across the glass floors and looks at the cradle with intent. It takes him seconds to jump on top of it, hammer raised, eliciting lightning and shock waves.

Banner runs forward, panicked. "Wait!"

The god of thunder, brings the hammer down and the lightning immediately overpowers the cradle, charging it to the limit.

I felt the Gem expand, morphing into sometime else that twist at my mind and makes me grab my head in pain.

Blue.

Yellow.

Red.

Purple.

Green.

Orange.

The stones.

The jewels.

The end of times.

The lights around us flicker brightly before powering down all at once.

Then it was silent.

The cradle had grown quiet.

Everybody holds in their breath, as I blinked, struggling to return my sight.

The vision had caught me off guard and I've stumbled into Scarlet who had supported my body with her own.

Those brown orbs glinted heavily in concern for my well being and I am unsure if she knows what I'm feeling, given that her powers were similar to mine.

A loud explosion astonished us all.

The cradle had burst open, throwing the god of thunder off and knocking him into a nearby chandelier that breaks into pieces upon impact.

A man, a red, but slightly metal man eases upwards to one knee, one hand holding onto the side of the cradle.

Its odd eyes glance at Thor almost threateningly before it lunges forward.

Thor evades the attack and throws the man out the side window where it apparently began flying towards the living room's huge windows.

Then it just stopped.

Its entire form comes to a halt as it levitates off the ground, with one hand held out in front of it.

Silence encompasses the entirety of the Tower.

The being before us looked to be studying everything around it. Like a learning program.

Thor and Steve made their way closer to it but Thor stopped Steve from going any further as the Super Soldier was beginning to get antsy.

As for me, I've regained my balance.

I slowly made my way over, eyes never leaving the being before me.

Scarlet lingered nearby at my side. Apparently she was as mystified by this as I was.

The being's red skin began to transform into a somewhat, grey- scaled skin that covered up its body.

It then turns towards us and approaches Thor warily.

Thor did not sense a threat so he placed the hammer down by the table.

"I'm sorry..."

The being was speaking. And it had JARVIS's voice?

"That was... odd... Thank you..."

Thor gaze dropped to relief and you could visibly see his entire stance relax.

The odd man recreated Thor's outfit, plastering it on himself but making a yellow cape appear behind his back instead of red.

Meanwhile my boyfriend has no chill. "Thor, you help create this?"

"I've had a vision," Thor explains, his tone heavy with weariness. "A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its center, is that."

He points at the yellow gem and my entire body stiffened.

Was it possible he had the same visions as I did?

"What, the gem?" Banner walks forward, confused and curious.

"Its the mind stone," Thor announces. "It's one of the six infinity stones. The greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities."

Six, infinity stones.

Blue, yellow, red, purple, green, orange.

The jewels I've been seeing.

Steve's frown deepened. "Then why would you--"

"Because Stark is right," Thor cuts Steve off.

You could hear everyone in the room go; "What, the hell,"

"Oh its definitely the end of times," Banner mumbles, sounding slightly sick.

"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron."

"Not alone," The being says, agreeing with Thor.

I should really come up with a nickname for him.

That yellow gem glowed ominously and I find myself staring at it.

I couldn't feel the call.

Nor could I feel the familiar beckoning.

It was just gone.

Now, that was odd.

"Why does your vision sound like Jarvis?" Steve's grip on the shield has not released. He was wary for good reasons.

"We... we configured JARVIS's matrix..." Tony walks over to Odd ball, and watches him carefully. "To create something new."

"I think I've had my fill of new," Steve flatly announces. I could sense his distrust and his anger wafting out.

"You think I'm a child of Ultron?" Odd ball looks at Steve, not offended, just... curious.

"You're not?" He presses.

There's a flicker in Odd ball's eyes but he doesn't react Steve's accusation. "I'm not Ultron... I'm not, JARVIS... I'm... I'm..."

"A machine with human feelings and also a destructive stone on your head," I voiced out, my appearance finally getting noticed by those who just tried to kill each other mere minutes ago.

Steve and Tony looked away before I could deal them hard stares.

I was already planning on a severe ass-kicking.

"I look into your head and saw annihilation." Scarlet steps forward, careful and angry.

"Look again,"

"Yeah well, her seal of approval means jack to me," Clint scoffed from the back and I noticed how Scarlet visibly flinched at the hate directed at her.

She's hurt us.

No one was going to take her side.

It would take a long time before anyone started to trust her.

Flicking my hand, I sent a calming wave towards Scarlet and her gaze widened in surprise before softening at what I did.

Yeah, I'm not heartless I assure you.

She was just a kid.

"Their powers, the horrors in our heads, Ultron himself, they all came from the Mind Stone, and they're nothing compared to what it can unleash." Thor was trying to convince us that Odd ball did not mean any harm, but I already knew the truth based on the emotions that refract back at me from Odd ball.

It was thinking. Nothing hostile. He was just curious.

"But with it on our side--"

"Is it?" Steve demands. "Are you? On our side?"

Odd ball's eyes flicker to the ground. "I don't think it's that simple."

"Well, it better get real simple real soon." Clint vehemently declared.

"I am on the side of life." Odd ball finally announces. "Ultron isn't, he will end it all."

"What's he waiting for?" My brother questions, crossing his arms over his chest.

Odd ball's gaze paused at Tony. "You."

"Where?" Bruce frowns.

"Sokovia. He's got Nat there too."

I look back at Clint for confirmation and sighed in relief when he nodded.

Natasha's alive, thank god.

"If we're wrong about you," Banner steps forward. I can tell the vein in his neck was ticking. "If you're the monster that Ultron made you to be..."

There's a collective silence and Odd ball looks around to see us all. "What will you do?"

It becomes clear to him that we will do whatever it takes to shut him down. We would even destroy him.

"I don't want to kill Ultron." Odd ball sighs, moving away from us. "He's unique, and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the earth, so he must be destroyed."

Everybody was listening intently at this point as I shifted on my feet, hearing him speak.

"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."

Odd ball holds up Thor's hammer in the god's direction and I could practically hear everyone's jaw hit the ground.

Thor looks at the hammer with narrowed eyes before grasping it, leaving Odd ball to walk away from the scene.

I'm not the only one.

"Right," Thor nods nervously. He pats Tony's shoulder before following Odd ball. "Well done."

We watch them go and the tension that was once pulled taut between us eventually evaporated, leaving nothing but its traces.

I swayed unsteadily on my feet as the built-up of my powers hits me full force. It had been difficult to control everyone's emotions whilst navigating my own descent.

"Three minutes," Steve declares, making everyone face him. "Get what you need,"

One by one, everyone dispersed to get ready, but I stayed where I was, watching the god and the unknown being talk quietly outside on the balcony.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that I was already up and walking towards them, determined to finally get the answers I've sought for. 

~~@ @ @~~

A/N

The answers will be given in the next chapter. Not all of them but enough for you all to understand.

I'M EXCITED!!

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