Before the Avengers could even finish their explanations, Wakanda's royal guard and fighter jets surrounded them, their weapons primed. Though the Avengers hadn't made any hostile moves, the traumatized Wakandans weren't willing to take any chances. They would not wait for the Avengers to strike first and then be left scrambling to retaliate.
"What's the meaning of this?" Johnny Storm furrowed his brows as he watched Wakanda's soldiers close in. He could see the devastation around him—the broken buildings and scorched earth—but the Avengers hadn't come to cause more destruction. Why did it seem like the Wakandans were preparing for a fight?
It was fortunate that the Hulk hadn't come along this time. If the short-tempered Hulk had seen this level of hostility, he might have lashed out instinctively, and that would have escalated things beyond repair.
"Wait! We're not here to cause trouble—we're here to solve it!" Tony Stark quickly raised his hands in a gesture of peace and held back Johnny, shouting out to the Wakandans to de-escalate the situation.
"Solve the problem? Ultron has already been dealt with by the Black Panther God, and now the Avengers show up. Are you here to gloat?"
A cold, resentful voice rang out. It was Princess Shuri, stepping forward with tear-streaked cheeks and fury burning in her eyes.
Shuri's bitterness ran deep. Though the queen had warned her not to direct her frustration at Bast, the Black Panther God, Shuri could not contain her anger toward the Avengers. After all, it was the Avengers who had created Ultron, the root cause of this catastrophe. If not for Ultron, Wakanda would never have suffered such devastating losses.
If Shuri couldn't blame Bast openly, then the Avengers were a convenient and deserving target for her wrath. Were it not for her knowledge of the Avengers' strength, she might have already ordered an attack.
"We deeply regret the harm that Ultron has caused to Wakanda. This tragedy is indeed the responsibility of the Avengers. But right now, the most pressing matter is to eliminate the threat of Ultron once and for all," Steve Rogers said, stepping forward with an air of sincerity and sorrow. His calm and earnest demeanor gave him an aura of trustworthiness that even Shuri couldn't ignore.
"Eliminate Ultron? The Black Panther God has already taken care of him…" Shuri's words trailed off as she frowned. Steve's words and presence gave her pause. Could it be that Ultron hadn't truly been destroyed?
"Wakanda's technology is highly advanced," Tony Stark began, stepping in to explain. "You must understand Ultron better than most. He is, at his core, a powerful artificial intelligence. Even if his physical body has been destroyed, his consciousness—his data—might still exist somewhere. If his data survives and you destroy his body now, you'll only be making things worse."
"You're saying Ultron might be hiding in Wakanda's data network?" Shuri's sharp mind immediately grasped Tony's point. Her face darkened as the implications sank in. Ultron had attempted to breach Wakanda's secure data systems before. Although Shuri had stopped him at the time, there had been too many crises to manage afterward. Who could guarantee that Ultron hadn't left some part of himself behind?
"It's a possibility we can't ignore," Tony said with a nod. "Wakanda's network is isolated and secure, which is a good thing. But that also means we have a unique opportunity here. If we work together, we can…"
"I'll handle it. Wakanda's network is our domain, and we don't need your Avengers meddling in it!" Shuri snapped, cutting Tony off before he could finish.
Wakanda's data network contained countless sensitive secrets that could never be exposed to outsiders. No matter how dangerous Ultron might be, Shuri wasn't about to let the Avengers dig through their systems.
"You may have an advanced network, but I hate to break it to you—your computational power is no match for Ultron," Tony said bluntly, his patience thinning. "We've brought two alien-grade AIs and our own advanced systems. Only by pooling our resources do we stand a chance of neutralizing Ultron for good. If you try to do this alone, you might only alert him and make things worse."
"Before you even got here, we had already detected Ultron's attempts to infiltrate our systems!" Shuri shot back, her voice icy. "If we hadn't noticed, he wouldn't have attacked Wakanda in the first place."
Meanwhile, in the divine realm of Wakanda, Robert and Bast stood before a glowing screen that displayed the escalating tension in the real world.
"Are you their god or not?" Robert asked Bast, gesturing toward the scene on the screen.
Bast understood his meaning immediately. Without waiting for further explanation, she nodded. A surge of divine energy radiated from her form, reaching out to the mortal world.
"Black Panther God!"
Cries of astonishment echoed across Wakanda as Bast's projection appeared in the skies. The sight of their deity inspired awe and devotion among the people, who fell to their knees in worship. Whatever doubts or grievances they might have harbored were swept away by the divine presence.
Even Shuri, upon seeing the ethereal form of Bast, hesitated. She clenched her fists, her anger toward the Avengers momentarily tempered by the overwhelming reverence she felt for the god who had saved so many lives.
"Let them search for Ultron's data," Bast's voice echoed, calm but authoritative. "This mechanical lifeform is not so easily destroyed."
"But Black Panther God, I…" Shuri began to protest, her frustration boiling to the surface. She had thought Bast was here to protect Wakanda, but now it seemed like the deity was siding with the Avengers.
"Do you not wish to avenge your father and brother? To ensure that Ultron is truly destroyed?" Bast interrupted sharply, her tone leaving no room for argument.
At the mention of her family, Shuri's eyes reddened with grief. The memory of T'Chaka and T'Challa's brutal deaths replayed in her mind, fueling her resolve.
"Fine," she said through gritted teeth, turning to the Avengers. "Follow me."
The royal guard parted to allow the Avengers to pass, and Shuri led them into the palace.
In the central control room, Shuri's gaze fell on Victor Stone, a member of the Justice League who had joined the Avengers to deal with Ultron. Her eyes narrowed with suspicion.
"So, another one of your experiments?" she asked coldly, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "What's to stop him from going rogue too?"
"I'm not one of their experiments," Victor replied evenly, suppressing his irritation. "I was saved by alien technology after a near-fatal accident. My situation is nothing like Ultron's."
"Let's hope you don't lose control then," Shuri muttered. She turned to the console, initiating the process to integrate Wakanda's systems with the Avengers' AIs.
As the combined computational power of J.A.R.V.I.S., Victor Stone, and the Green Lantern Corps' advanced AI flooded Wakanda's network, Shuri was taken aback. Their processing capabilities were not only on par with her systems but vastly superior in some aspects.
"I found it!" cried Tomar-Re, one of the Green Lanterns. His voice carried through the room as he isolated a fragment of Ultron's data hidden within Wakanda's network. Working together, the team swiftly contained and transferred the rogue data into a secure, portable drive.
Back in the divine realm, Ultron remained unaware of his backup's capture. Bast's divine influence ensured that no signals could escape the godly domain.
"Can we proceed now?" Robert's voice echoed in the minds of the Avengers.
"Not yet," Tony replied, shaking his head grimly. "Let's scan a few more times to be sure. We can't afford to leave anything behind."
Shuri, though still wary of the Avengers, watched in silence. For the first time, she felt a sliver of doubt about her ability to handle Ultron alone. If not for their help, the hidden data fragment might never have been discovered.
After completing multiple sweeps, the team finally confirmed that no other fragments remained in Wakanda's network. But their work was far from over.
"Ultron may have other backups hidden outside Wakanda," Tony said. "Scouring the global network for him won't be easy. There's no telling if he's stored his consciousness in physical hardware somewhere."
"So, we'll need the Reality Stone," Robert suggested. With the Space Stone already secured, there was no longer any risk of interference between the two Infinity Stones.
"Buzz!"
Robert raised the Reality Stone, its crimson glow filling the room. With a mere thought, he used its power to materialize another portable drive in his hand.
It was another fragment of Ultron, pulled from wherever it had been hidden in the vast expanse of the digital world. The Reality Stone's power transcended the limits of human and machine ingenuity, making even Ultron's cleverest precautions futile.
Back in the divine realm, Ultron's mechanical eyes flickered as he sensed something amiss. When Robert reappeared, holding two drives in his hands, Ultron's confidence finally wavered.
"Wait!" Ultron shouted as he realized his backups had been captured. "I still have value! Place restrictions on me,
and I can assist with your experiments—"
"Enough," Robert said coldly, cutting Ultron off. Without hesitation, he crushed the drives in his hands, obliterating every trace of Ultron's existence.
"An experiment gone wrong is still an experiment," Robert muttered, his voice heavy with finality. "But there's no place for mistakes like you anymore."
Ultron's end was absolute. No mercy, no second chances. For the lives he had taken, he paid the ultimate price. Even without blood to spill, his crimes demanded retribution, and the Avengers delivered it without hesitation.
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