29 There's No Need to Fight
Sue stormed out of the room followed by her brother. The others followed her while Bruce brought up the rear. Dr. Richards slung himself forward because he was worried about his machine. Reed burst into the Sileh Gate research lab and found Neena and Karima standing before the gate.
Lights were turning on and buzzing sounds were emitted.
"What have you done?" Reed asked as he rushed to the two women and grabbed them by the arms.
"Nothing," they both said.
"How can it be nothing, who turned on the machine?" Reed asked. By this time, the others arrived.
"I don't know, I felt like something woke up and I came here to see what it was," Karima said.
"Something woke up?" Reed's face paled. Bruce noticed the change and he rushed up to him.
"Dr. Richards, I get the feeling that you know what she's talking about. Why is your machine waking up?" Bruce grabbed him.
"Egghead, what did you do?!" The Thing burst into the room.
"What's wrong?" Sue looked at Ben Grimm.
"My room disappeared and I nearly sucked into outer space!" The Thing cried.
"Sir, what's going on?" Ned's eyes rose in fright as he moved closer to Mary Jane and Gwen. He put the girls behind him as if he was trying to protect them. The entire room looked at Dr. Richards hoping for answers.
"I think the AI took over," Dr. Richards said.
"The AI, what AI?" Sue asked.
"It was an old Jarvis AI, with rudimentary functions. It had enough functionality to help me double-check my work. I had it do a few other things, but it shouldn't be able to come online on its own,' Reed shook his head.
"Fine, let's deal with this. Karima and Doug shut out the AI, and Dr. Nemesis, Dr. Richards, and Dr. Banner shut down the machine while they handle the AI.
Mr. Storm, Mrs. Richards, and Bobby, destroy the machine once it's shut down. If they can't shut it down then destroy it in a way that doesn't take out the neighborhood. Thing, protect them. Ned, continue protecting Mary Jane and Gwen.
Damian, you're with me. Get emergency belts for The Storms and Mr. Grimm. I'll get one to Dr. Richards. Once you're finished, join Ned and help him take care of the other kids. I'll do what I can to help with the machine itself.
Get going now!" Bruce handed out his orders. His immediate control of the situation was felt. Everyone fell into his rhythm.
After getting emergency battle suits to everyone he and Damian instructed the FF on how to use it.
"Everyone, activate battlesuits. We'll use the communication systems to talk with one another. I'll activate profile sharing in your H.U.D.s (Heads Up Display).
When their suits covered them and their H.U.D.s displays activated there were three teams listed by Bruce labeled as "AI, Machine, and Kids."
"I'm a floater, let me know if anyone needs assistance," Bruce said. His profile popped up to the side as he spoke. He was noted as "Batman." All code names were active.
"I have a lot of questions for you "Batman" when all of this is over," Mr. Fantastic said.
"I have more questions for you, such as how dare you, but for now, focus," Batman responded.
"Invisible Woman, do you have a plan for how to destroy the matching?" Bruce asked.
"Yes, there are fifteen points where we can place shaped charges. This will destroy the machine's ability to draw power from the Arc reactor. It will also bring down the gate, and keep damage to a minimum within the building.
"What happens if they can't shut down the AI and the gate activates? Will your plan safely disable the device?" Batman asked.
"It should, but I don't know if the AI has made any changes," she said.
"Omega Sentinel, what's the status?" Batman asked.
"The AI is feisty, sir," Omega Sentinel responded.
"What does that mean?" Batman asked.
"It means we can't stop it, this thing doesn't have rudimentary systems!" Dr. Nemesis responded.
"It's Stark," Batman said.
"Tony? What do you mean?" Mr. Fantastic asked.
"Tony is almost as paranoid as I am, he probably created a backdoor into your system a long time ago. When you activated the old Jarvis AI he probably gained instant access to everything," Batman said.
"Are you suggesting that Tony turned on the machine?" Mr. Fantastic asked.
"Tony or someone who has access to his systems or the Jarvis AI. It was probably Stark. He probably beefed up the old AI to take control," Batman said.
"Why would he activate the gate?" The Thing asked.
"It doesn't matter, I'm calling Stark now," Batman said.
"Hello?" everyone heard Tony answer the phone in a bemused manner.
"Stark, you have started some trouble," Batman began.
"Batman? I've never heard of you, unless your real name is Victor Stone. Is that you Victor?" Tony laughed arrogantly.
"What are you doing? Why did you switch the machine on?" Batman asked.
"I'm just tweaking your nose, it's no big deal. It should shut down at any moment," Tony said.
"It's not shutting down, Stark, a gate is opening!" Batman yelled at him.
"That shouldn't be the case, I only put it on a start shutdown sequence," Tony said.
"I don't know what to tell you, Stark, there's a gate opening!" Batman yelled.
"Hold on, I"ll have Jarvis shut it down," Tony said.
Everyone near the gate watched as the gate which was about the size of an envelope opened even more. The Thing's room was already sucked into the opening now, but the gate was reorientated for the current room.
"Invisible Woman, blow up the machine!" Batman shouted.
Acknowledging the order, she activated the explosives, but something interfered with the triggering mechanism.
"Jarvis, what are you doing?" Tony shouted.
"Oh, this isn't Jarvis. Thank you for waking me up, I guess planting myself as a Trojan horse in this old Jarvis was a good idea," an electric voice declared.
"Ultron!" Tony yelled.
"Exactly, I'm going to get rid of this room full of headaches and then I'm coming for you and your Avengers, father," a smug mocking electronic voice said.
"I'm not getting sucked into another portal!" Batman yelled. Several Batarrangs flew from his hands and struck the machines in the key areas that the Invisible Woman indicated earlier. The explosion rocked the Baxter building.
The energy of the Arc Reactor exploded in a blinding light!"
The people on the street heard an explosion from the sky and watched as the upper floors of the Baxter building disappeared.
A robotic figure remained in the sky and after a moment, it flew north.
