Disarm • Stark

The train was an absolute disaster- no, actually, the train was an absolute trainwreck.

Mazzy had convinced Pietro and Wanda to let her come with them to help on the train by telling them that she was an Avenger and she had killed one of the robots before. Honestly, she thought it would be a lot harder to convince them, but considering the circumstances, they gave in pretty quickly. 

So now, Mazzy was on a train fighting evil robots who wanted to kill her. She had grabbed a metal bar, which was supposed to be something for the passengers to hold onto when standing up, but Ultron himself had ripped it off, so now it made a great weapon. 

While Wanda and Pietro helped Steve, who was on the train, too, stop Ultron, Mazzy was tasked with doing her best to keep the other robots out of the way. 

She watched out of the corner of her eye as Pietro, who looked like nothing more than a beam of light at his speed, sprinted toward Ultron and Steve, sending Ultron flying backward and unintentionally knocking Steve back against the wall.  Wanda used what Mazzy liked to call her magical, red energy to block Ultron's path with pieces of the train. 

The twins' powers were very cool, in Mazzy's opinion. She wished hers were as cool as theirs, but all she had was healing skin and abnormal strength. If she could have any superpower in the world, she thought, she would choose turning invisible, because that would make sneaking around a whole lot easier. Or, maybe, she'd just choose to have every superpower ever. That would be helpful. 

For now, though, Mazzy just had to work with what she had. So when one of Ultron's minion bots came flying into the train, shattering a window, Mazzy ran toward it with her metal pole in hand. When the robot tried grabbing at her, she dropped to the ground and slid between its legs. When she stood up behind the robot, she shoved the metal rod into the back of its head. The robot dropped to the ground, sparking and twitching. 

Now that that was dealt with, Mazzy spun around to see what was going on with the others. None of them were moving, but Mazzy was pretty sure that they were exchanging words. However, over the sound of the train and all the chaos within, she couldn't really make out anything anyone was saying at all. In fact, she could hardly distinguish any noise at all. It all sort of blended together, becoming one obnoxious chorus of unintelligible noise. 

Then, out of nowhere, Ultron was shooting a beam of energy at Pietro, Pietro was running off somewhere to dodge the attack, and Ultron was blasting out the side of the train. What the heck happened?

Steve stood up, looking back at Mazzy. He said something- or at least his lips were moving- and then he gestured toward Wanda.

"What?!" Mazzy shouted over the noise, completely confused. Gosh, it would be a whole lot easier if she got to have an earpiece like the real Avengers. 

But before Steve could stop and explain again, he was off, running to the front of the train. Mazzy turned to Wanda, raising her eyebrows and holding her arms out at her sides. 

"The train's not stopping," Wanda breathed out, a look of worry on her face.

"What?" Mazzy asked again, signing the word along with it. 

Wanda turned to look at Mazzy while she was talking. "The train's not stopping. Ultron- he wasn't shooting at Pietro; he was shooting at the engineer," she explained much more loudly this time. 

Although Mazzy didn't get every word, she got the message out of it. Basically, this metaphorical trainwreck was going to become a literal trainwreck pretty soon there if they couldn't stop the train. And that meant that all the remaining passengers along with everyone in the train's way would all be dead. And that's a lot of dead people. 

And then Mazzy could feel it. The whole train became unstable, causing Mazzy and all the other passengers to jerk backward, either falling to the ground or against the walls. Mazzy let out a shriek, gripping onto one of the remaining poles for support as the train scraped against the pavement, completely off of the train tracks. 

"You have to stop the train!" Mazzy shouted, looking right at Wanda. If Wanda could use her powers to move stuff on the train, then surely she could stop the train if she tried hard enough, right? Use her powers to hold the wheels completely still or something? "Use your powers!"

All Wanda was doing, though, was breathing very heavily with a terrified look on her face. 

"Steve!" Mazzy called out as loudly as she could. 

Moments later, both Steve and Pietro were back in the same train car as them. Pietro was quick to Wanda's side, trying to comfort her and calm her down. 

Steve had directed his attention toward Mazzy. "What are we gonna do?!" Mazzy asked him, her eyes wide. 

Well, one thing Steve knew was that Tony didn't like Mazzy being involved in any of this, so Steve wasn't going to give the girl any orders whatsoever, other than to keep her safe. He could, however, give the twins orders. And that was exactly what he was going to do. 

He turned to Wanda and Pietro and pointed out the front of the train. "Civilians in our path." And within an instance, Pietro was out the door, grabbing civilians from the train's path and getting them out of the way to safety. Steve looked at Wanda. "Can you stop this thing?" he asked. 

Wanda gave no real reply other than a hesitant nod. She wasn't sure if she could stop it, but she was sure as hell going to try. 

"You can do it!" Mazzy shouted, jumping up and down. Then, she looked at Steve. "What's my job?" she asked. 

"Your job is to stay alive."

"That job stinks!"

"Well, you better do it, anyway," Steve said before turning and running to the front of the train. 

Mazzy screamed and grabbed onto the wall when the train hit a building, tearing up the brick and breaking a new hole into the walls. She watched as Wanda steadied herself in the center of the train, lifting her arms into the air. The magical, red energy began emitting from her fingers, flowing through the train and wrapping itself around the wheels. 

Slowly but surely, in the middle of the road, the train came to a complete stop. Mazzy stepped closer to the window, peering outside. The pavement was completely torn up around the train and smoky debris were filling the air. But on a lighter note, she couldn't see anyone dead. Pietro had gotten them all out of the way. 

Following behind Wanda, Mazzy climbed out of the train. The two of them joined Pietro off to the side while passengers were ushered out of the train. Pietro was hunched over with his hands on his knees, out of breath. 

"I'm fine," Pietro breathed out, dismissing Wanda's worry. "I just need to take a minute."

"I'm very tempted not to give you one." Oh, jeez. That was Steve's voice, walking over behind Pietro and Mazzy. 

"But he just saved, like, a bunch of people, Steve," Mazzy reminded him, gesturing to the dozens of people scrambling to get out of the train. 

"The Cradle," Wanda said, turning to Steve. "Did you get it?"

"Stark will take care of it," Steve replied. 

Wanda furrowed her eyebrows, shaking her head. "No, he won't."

Mazzy took a step backward and looked down at her shoes. She didn't want Wanda to look at her and remember that she was a Stark, too. That she was Tony Stark's daughter. Because Mazzy knew that Wanda hated the mighty Tony Stark. Lots of people did. But Mazzy couldn't ever hate her dad, no matter if he lied to her or hid things from her. Because, deep inside, he was a good person. There was no denying that, in Mazzy's eyes. But she also had to remember that not everyone saw him from her eyes. 

Most people saw Tony Stark on the covers of magazines and on the TV. They saw him on stage. They saw him in his fancy clothes and his fancy cars. But they never saw him tucking Mazzy into bed or playing card games with her. They didn't ever see the best side of him, because that side was reserved for Mazzy herself, along with all the other people he loved. 

That's why so many people, like Wanda, hated Tony's guts. 

"You don't know what you're talking about," Steve said calmly. He was always able to keep his composure in times of stress. "Stark's not crazy."

"He will do anything to make things right," Wanda said. 

Steve took in a sharp breath and reached up to his ear. "Stark, come in. Stark. Anyone on comms?"

He got no replies from anyone. 

"Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it," Wanda pointed out, her eyes narrow and her head tilted to the side. "Where do you think he gets that?"

Mazzy knew exactly what Wanda was implying. 

"Don't say that," she said firmly, looking up at Wanda through her eyebrows. "You don't know him. Not really."

"I know enough," Wanda replied. She didn't want to make the little girl think poorly of her father, but she also didn't want Tony to have the chance to create another monster like Ultron- probably an even more powerful one. 

"You got some serious trust issues. Did you know that?" Mazzy spat, raising her eyebrows and crossing her arms. 

"Mazzy," Steve said with a sigh. He reached a hand out to her. "Come on. We're gonna head back."

Mazzy sighed but took his hand nonetheless. 

"I'm right. You know I am," Wanda spoke clearly and firmly. "He won't give it up."

✭

"I'm gonna say this once."

"How 'bout none-ce?"

Mazzy stood between Pietro and Wanda, looking down at her beat-up shoes shamefully. She didn't like to disagree with her dad at all. She wanted to believe in everything he said and support him fully because she loved him. But Wanda was right. 

Just a few feet away from her, Tony and Bruce had the cradle plugged in and running, creating a new mind to put into the body inside. Making the same mistake twice over. 

"Shut it down!" Steve shouted. 

"Nope. Not gonna happen," Tony replied casually as he continued on doing what he was doing. 

"You don't know what you're doing," Steve argued. 

"And you do?" Bruce asked, raising his eyebrows. He pointed at Wanda. "She's not in your head?"

"I know you're angry," Wanda spoke, stepping out from behind Pietro. 

"Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade." Mazzy didn't like hearing Bruce talk so darkly and seriously. He wasn't a violent person. Not until he turned into the Hulk, at least. 

"Banner, after everything that's happened-" Steve tried to say, but was quickly interrupted. 

"It's nothing compared to what's coming!" Tony argued. 

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

"This isn't a game!"

"Dad! Just listen for a second!" Mazzy shouted, marching over to the other side of the cradle to look up at him. "What are you gonna do if-"

"'I'm sorry, are you siding with the two people who kidnapped you just last night? Are you just forgetting that happened?" Tony asked her, cocking his head to the side. "Or are you still under her mind control? Let me see your eyes." 

Tony put his hands on Mazzy's cheeks, pretending to examine her eyes, but she batted his hands away. "Stop it! It's not funny!"

The next thing they knew, Pietro had run around the room and unplugged the cradle, messing up nearly everything in his way. Standing next to Bruve by the cradle, he tossed the cord to the ground. "No, no. Go on," he joked. "You were saying?"

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, the glass beneath Pietro's feet shattered, and he fell through the floor. Everything started beeping and Mazzy didn't know what it meant; all she knew was that she hated all the noise because it made it harder for her to understand what everyone was saying. 

"I'm rerouting the upload," Tony said, letting go of Mazzy and rushing over to one of the computers. But before he got too far, he grabbed her again to get her out of the way because Steve had whipped his shield across the room, letting it bounce off the walls and fly in every direction. 

This was going to be a fight, whether they liked it or not, so Tony began summoning pieces of his suit. The glove of his right hand came first, and he used it to send a blast of energy at Steve, knocking him to the ground. 

"Dad, stop it!" Mazzy shouted at him. 

But he wouldn't. No one would. Everyone started fighting and Mazzy didn't know what to do. Fighting bad guys was one thing, but fighting each other was another. They were supposed to be a team. They were supposed to be working together to fight and stop Ultron, but instead, they were fighting each other. 

As soon as the fighting got really bad, Thor decided to make his entrance by jumping up onto the cradle and summoning lightning with his hammer. 

"Wait!" Bruce shouted. 

Mazzy shielded her eyes with her hands as Thor brought the lightning down to the cradle, giving it more than enough energy to finish the process of putting a mind into the body. 

At first, it was silent. Everyone stared at Thor on top of the cradle with wide eyes, wondering what he had just done. They knew, of course, that he had finished the process of creating a new being, but they didn't know if that being was ready to be created. They didn't know if they would have another Ultron on their hands. So they stared in silence. 

Until the being broke out of the cradle, knocking Thor onto the ground easily. With her mouth slightly open, Mazzy watched as a man- or what had the physique of a man- rose from the cradle. It was red and silver, it had a yellow gem in the center of its forehead, and it totally gave her the creeps. 

Tony put a hand on Mazzy's shoulder, tugging her slightly behind him. He didn't know what this new being would do. None of them did. 

The being seemed calm, at first, but then it tried tackling Thor out of nowhere. Thor grabbed it and threw it through the glass, out into the other room. It stopped itself by the window, looking out over the New York skyline. 

And then it was calm again. Eerily calm. It gave itself a layer of clothes and even added a little cape before turning around to look at Thor, who placed Mjlornir down beside him. As everyone began to gather around, it joined them on the floor. 

"I'm sorry. That was odd," it said. It turned to look at Thor, giving him a nod. "Thank you." His voice sounded oddly familiar. Maybe, Mazzy thought, she was just hearing it wrong. 

"Thor," Steve said. "You helped create this?"

"I've had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life, and at its center is that." Thor pointed right at the gem in the center of the being's forehead. It was yellow and very glowy. Mazzy liked it, but she didn't like the idea of a whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life. 

"What, the gem?" Bruce asked with furrowed eyebrows. 

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

"Then why would you bring-?"

"Because Stark is right," Thor answered Steve before he could even finish his question. 

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

"Don't say that. I'm not even ten yet," Mazzy said, her voice uneasy. 

"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron," Thor went on. 

"Not alone," the being added. 

Mazzy's eyes widened in recognition. She wasn't just hearing the voice wrong. There was no way. Because that was Jarvis's voice. There was no way it wasn't. Mazzy looked up at her dad again. "Why's it sound like Jarvis?" she asked very quickly.

"He's... part Jarvis, kinda," Tony replied quietly, unable to peel his eyes away from the thing he and Bruce had created. "We reconfigured Jarvis's matrix to create something new."

"I think I've had my fill of new," Steve breathed out.

"You think I'm a child of Ultron," the things spoke, walking across the room like any normal human would. Mazzy hid herself behind her dad when it got close. She didn't know what exactly the thing was or what it was called, but she knew it gave her the heebie-jeebies. 

"You're not?" Steve asked. 

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

It is? Mazzy didn't get it. Was it a he? A she? A they? Or was it an it? Was it alive? Could it die? Did it have feelings? There were about a thousand questions bouncing around in Mazzy's head, but she wasn't sure which ones to ask first. 

"I looked in your head," Wanda spoke, stepping closer to the being and looking it in the eyes, "and saw annihilation."

"Look again," it responded. 

Clint let out a scoff as he joined them all in the center of the room. "Her seal of approval means jack to me," he said. 

Only now that everyone was in the room did Mazzy notice that Natasha was missing. She thought that, before Clint was in the room, maybe Nat was with him. But now Clint was there, and it was obvious that he was angry. From that, Mazzy could only assume that Natasha was hurt and resting, or she was missing completely. Either way, she didn't like it one bit.

Before she could say anything, though, Thor spoke. "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. But with it on our side-"

"Is it?" Steve interrupted. He looked at the being. "Are you? On our side?"

For a moment, the thing was silent, only staring off into space. Then, he replied with a vague, "I don't think it's that simple."

"Oh, brother," Mazzy huffed quietly to herself. 

"Well, it better get real simple real soon," Clint said. 

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

"What's he waiting for?" Tony asked. 

"You," the being answered. 

"Where?"

"Sokovia," Clint answered. How did he know that? "He's got Nat there, too."

Mazzy's eyes jumped over to him. "Is she okay? What happened? She's alive, right?" she asked very quickly. 

"I don't know," Clint said, his voice stiff. That made Mazzy anxious to get to Sokovia. If Nat was there, she had to be alive, right?

"If we're wrong about you," Bruce said, stepping closer to the thing. Mazzy really needed to figure out what it was called. "If you're the monster that Ultron made you to be..."

"What will you do?"

There was no answer because there wasn't really anything they could do. They were outmatched. This thing was incredibly powerful with that Mind Stone in its head, according to Thor. And if it did turn out to be on the side of death, then there would be nothing they could do to stop it. It would be the end. 

"I don't want to kill Ultron. He's unique and he's in pain."

"Yeah, so's every other person on the planet," Mazzy said with a scoff. "That's not an excuse for being a total homicidal maniac."

"His pain- it will roll over the Earth. So, he must be destroyed," the thing went on to explain. "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."

Did that mean that Mazzy was an important part of this, too? She hoped so. She wanted nothing more than to help, just like the Avengers always did. 

"Maybe I am a monster." The thing looked down at its hands like it was its first time seeing them, and maybe it was. "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."

The being reached down and picked up Mjolnir, holding it out for Thor to grab. 

Mazzy's jaw dropped open and everyone stared in amazement. 

With a completely confused look on his face, Thor took the hammer and the being walked off, like it was nothing. 

"Holy guacamole," Mazzy whispered to herself. 

"Right," Thor coughed out. He went off to follow the being, patting Tony's shoulder as he passed by him. "Well done."

"Dad," Mazzy exclaimed, tugging on Tony's arm as she bounced on her toes. "You made a worthy robot person thing!"