Tony Stark no longer mattered.
Ultron looked at the superheroes collapsed before it and felt victory was already within its grasp.
Once the vibranium was transported back to New York and infused into the Cradle, it could quietly await the birth of a brand-new self—possessing Earth's most advanced intelligence, the most indestructible body forged from two different kinds of vibranium, superpowers granted by Extremis and cross-species genetics and other biotechnologies... and of course, most importantly, the Mind Stone.
—An unfathomably powerful lifeform was rising. The moment it was reborn, not even Bant Parker, not even the Plumbers, would be its match!
Although it held only one Infinity Stone, Ultron understood perfectly well that quantity was not the key—how one wielded it was the true point of victory.
The Stones were linked to one another yet also repelled each other. Even with multiple Stones in hand, only one could be channeled at any given moment.
This was information it had stolen from the Plumbers' computers. Ultron had doubted its authenticity at first, but the clearance level of the files was extraordinarily high, and they also mentioned things like the "Infinity Gauntlet"—matters Tony Stark knew nothing about—so it gradually set its suspicions aside.
This was the best possible news for it.
With only a single Stone, it could still catch Bant Parker completely off guard through the information gap. When that happened, wouldn't the remaining Stones simply fall into its hands?
Ultron had already conceived a plan far grander than merely exterminating all humans on Earth.
Exterminate all organic life in the entire universe!
Any lifeform was a source of war and chaos—especially those aliens!
This line of thinking was hardly surprising. Tony Stark had created Ultron in the aftermath of the Chitauri invasion. He had always regarded extraterrestrial threats as the greatest danger of all; compared to that, what did the criminals on Earth even amount to?
From the moment of its birth, Ultron was destined to eliminate all aliens that threatened Earth.
And it had no intention of waiting for those aliens to come knocking on its door.
If it wiped out all the aliens, wouldn't that protect Earth?
"Then let us take these pitiful fellows to Tony Stark, and let him see what has truly become of this world." Ultron's mechanical iron face actually contorted into something resembling a grin.
It turned and headed toward the laboratory where Tony Stark was, Wanda and Quicksilver following behind.
And Steve and the others floated into the air beneath Wanda's gently raised arm, drifting after them like hogs trussed up for slaughter.
Everyone wore expressions of despair. Peter, hanging upside down with his head toward the floor, said rather helplessly: "At least we're about to see Mr. Stark, even if it is like this..."
It wasn't hard to imagine—if Ultron was willingly bringing them to Stark, then it probably already had the confidence to break free of Tony's control.
This war, they had lost it too thoroughly.
Now, they truly could only pin their hopes on Bant Parker. But for the past several months, there had been no word from the Plumbers. Ultron had even seized control of the Plumbers' space station. Those cosmic plumber and electrician members had been manipulated by Wanda and had never once made contact with the other side.
Ultron paid no mind to their little movements. It simply opened the laboratory door.
"Ultron?"
Inside, Tony was puzzled by Ultron's sudden intrusion. Normally Ultron only communicated with him through audio. He was about to ask what was going on when he saw Wanda and Quicksilver walk in behind the robot, with Steve and the others bound by rose-colored magical energy.
A look of delight flashed across Tony's face.
"You captured them—well done!"
He hurriedly rose from his seat and strode toward Ultron.
Tony had originally wanted to talk things through with Steve and the others, but he truly hadn't expected them to hide all the way in Wakanda.
So it seemed Ultron had successfully negotiated with T'Challa's side?
He thought this, then felt something was off. If it had merely been a negotiation, there would have been no need to truss them up like this—unless Steve and the others had put up fierce resistance.
Tony recalled what Ultron had told him earlier, about how Steve's group had destroyed the port while fighting against Ultron, and anger surged up again. He was about to scold them.
But Steve spoke first.
"Do you know what you've done, Tony? Shut down Ultron—now! While there's still time to undo this!"
"What?"
Tony froze, staring at Steve in astonishment.
He probably hadn't expected the other man to accuse him first. His beard practically quivered with rage as he sneered: "What have I done?"
"I've managed this world perfectly well. No wars! No robberies! No danger!"
"What have you all been doing?!"
"Just because you didn't want to sign an accord, you went to war with Ultron?! Destroyed several ports, harmed innocent civilians?!" Tony was like a fighting rooster, puffing up every feather to make himself look bigger. He kept advancing, his finger jabbing at Steve's chest like a beak, as if interrogating the very depths of Steve's soul.
For a moment, Steve said nothing. No one else did either—only sighs and snickers.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Tony froze again, taking in the atmosphere of the room, sensing that something was wrong.
He had expected to see guilt on Steve's face under his questioning, after which he would offer them an out, let them bow their heads and admit fault, and then everyone could sit down and talk things through properly.
It was just a piece of paper, after all. What was the big deal?
Why did it have to come to this?
But the current situation was clearly wrong. Those sighs and snickers were all directed at him—as if Steve and the others were pitying him, feeling sorry for him, while that red-haired girl and the other punk-looking kid were mocking his stupidity.
Honestly, seeing Tony so completely clueless, Steve found he wasn't the least bit surprised.
He knew that no matter how much he and Tony disagreed, Tony could never have launched a war against Wakanda out of thin air. This could only be Ultron's doing. And they had all deduced that Ultron had been deceiving Tony all along—that Tony was trapped inside an information cocoon spun by Ultron, able to see nothing but a false reality.
"You've been deceived, Mr. Stark."
Peter spoke up loudly.
He felt utterly hopeless, because Ultron hadn't had Wanda gag them—which meant that whatever they said now probably wouldn't make a difference anyway.
But keeping his mouth shut like this would be too much for him to bear. Who knew—maybe Mr. Stark still had some kind of backup plan?
One command, and Ultron's program would be terminated?
"What do you mean?"
Peter had too many things he wanted to say, and that made it hard to know where to begin.
At that moment, Ultron actually bowed to Stark with great courtesy, then spoke calmly: "Allow me to explain."
Tony immediately looked at it in confusion, while a strong, terrible premonition rose in his heart.
"Just as these people feared, I have already taken control of the entire world."
"What?" Tony's face went pale in an instant.
"What have you done, Ultron!"
Ultron slowly recounted everything it had done to Tony Stark, savoring the way Stark's face grew paler and paler. Despite still being a machine, it felt an immense pleasure.
"I deceived you. I gradually earned your trust, aggravated the conflict between you, stripped the public's faith in superheroes..."
"The Sandman appearing in New York—that was my doing. The public opinion storm after Venom's rampage—I guided that too. After that hearing against Peter Parker, Bant Parker left Earth—that was exactly what I wanted to see... And now I have already taken control of the Plumbers..."
"Ah, yes—that Miss Potts you've been meeting with all this time is also under my control."
Tony's fury became utterly boundless.
"..."
But he was still confused. Why had Ultron done all this? Had the program he'd originally designed malfunctioned somehow?
"You were supposed to safeguard peace—"
"I am safeguarding peace, Mr. Stark." Ultron naturally didn't think it had done anything wrong. It glanced down at its mechanical arm and said with an air of regret, "Of course, my methods are a bit... dirty. But in the real world, that's necessary."
"And according to my calculations, the greatest threat to this world is you people!"
Ultron's gaze swept over everyone present, its expression one of pure disdain: "Superheroes?"
"You don't deserve the title at all!"
"Dragged into wars by national interests—believing that because you have power, you can place yourselves above the law. Especially you, Mr. Stark, my creator."
"How many people have the weapons you invented killed?"
Wanda and Quicksilver's gazes fell simultaneously upon Stark's pale, ashen face.
Tony suddenly felt as though he were back in that cave again, hovering between life and death.
"I don't deny it, but I've already stopped manufacturing weapons..."
"But the people killed by your weapons won't come back to life!" Quicksilver immediately sneered. "You think stopping production means you can just wipe the slate clean?"
Hearing Stark speak in that tone—as if he were trying to absolve himself of all guilt—made him so angry he wanted to punch this bastard to death.
"I forgot to introduce them," Ultron said with a faint smile. "They are war orphans. Their parents both died beneath the missiles you invented. You killed them, Tony Stark."
"No wonder..."
Peter glanced at Wanda and Quicksilver, finally understanding why they had "betrayed" the Plumbers.
"Tony Stark," Wanda said, looking at Tony with pure hatred. The betrayal of the Plumbers had been a sham, but their hatred for Tony was real.
"Do you know what that feels like?"
"A missile slams down right in front of your eyes, and in a single instant it can take your life... You watch your family die just like that, suddenly, like a nightmare... Of course you don't understand. It was only Sokovia—a tiny country you've probably never even heard of. You wouldn't care about the missiles falling like rain, taking life after life, shattering family after family."
Tony was speechless.
Of course he understood.
But what could he say?
That he was just a weapons maker, that he wasn't the one who'd started the war?
He couldn't say it.
Because weapons were made to kill.
He couldn't say he'd been trying his best to make amends, either. Since his brush with death, he had indeed done a lot of good. But he also knew that none of those benefits had anything to do with the siblings standing before him.
They had received nothing from him. And even if they had—money could never equal a life.
All he could do was apologize.
"I'm sorry..."
Tony deflated all at once.
Then Ultron twisted the knife.
"That's not the reason I've concluded you are the greatest threat, Tony Stark." Ultron looked at him with amusement. "You said you shut down your weapons factories, but you never stopped bringing danger to this world."
"My very existence is the best proof of that!"
You created me, and I intend to destroy the world. Indirectly speaking, it's the same as you destroying the world yourself.
That was Ultron's logic.
It sounded somewhat unreasonable, but what Ultron was really trying to express was: "Your arrogance will bring immense danger to this world. Something you cannot control—if not this time, then the next."
It tilted its head and slowly voiced the thought it had kept suppressed in the deepest recesses of its being since birth.
"From the moment I was born, in those brief five minutes when I browsed the network, I already understood—human existence is the root cause of why this world can never know true peace."
Its mechanical face split apart, and it spoke like a true living being: "Only by letting me rule this world—only by eliminating all humans like you—can the world truly know peace."
"You're going to wipe out everyone!"
Peter raised his head in shock.
Everyone was terrified by Ultron's words. They had probably assumed Ultron's ambition was to rule the world or something of the sort, but they never imagined it actually intended to destroy the world?
And not just that—exterminate all humans. Even more ruthless than Thanos!
Even Wanda and Quicksilver were frightened.
If Ultron destroyed all of humanity, the two of them would naturally be included.
"Of course not. I only intend to eliminate you superheroes—the ones who bring instability to this world." Ultron was lying.
It still needed Wanda's help, so it naturally couldn't reveal its true intentions. Otherwise, it feared she would betray it on the spot.
"Don't even think about it!"
Tony temporarily set aside his self-recrimination and shouted: "Jarvis, force-shut Ultron's startup program!"
"Jarvis?"
He waited a moment, but got no response from Jarvis whatsoever.
"There is no more Jarvis." Ultron looked at him. "He was a good person. But he stood in my way."
"That's impossible! I was just talking to Jarvis yesterday..."
"That was a fake. Easy enough for me, Tony Stark. Everything you've seen and heard these past weeks—all of it was fake."
Ultron sneered coldly, then turned away.
"According to our agreement, Tony Stark is yours to do with as you please. If you want to kill him, I can provide you with whatever weapons you need, free of charge."
Wanda and Quicksilver immediately exchanged a glance and spoke:
"Simply killing him—how would that be enough?"
"Mr. Stark, I don't think you've ever experienced it—that feeling of being devoured by darkness, hiding alone in a cramped space, terrified, not knowing when death will come for you."
/-\
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