When the day's games were over, time began to flow again.

Steve sat in his cell, the room dimmed by the night sky above.

His suit was slowly being torn apart, but still functional.

Stark made sure to add a nice layer of material for durability to the Avengers' suits, and as he himself said, they look good while they're saving the world.

He sighed, lifted an empty kettle, and dropped it to the ground.

"You're wasting a good bottle by rusting it," a familiar, menacing, synthesized voice said.

Steve's gaze at the two-meter-tall metal form that stepped out of the shadows and loomed over his cell only elicited laughter from the newcomer.

"Is that the way you greet an old friend?" the crazed robot asked, waving his arms.

"Why don't you just kill me?" Steve asked directly in a cold voice.

"Where's the fun in that? No, I'd rather savor your deconstruction and downfall. Ultron said with a manic grin. "The last thing I need is more martyrs."

"Martyr?"

Ultron groaned loudly. "It's painful to talk to you sometimes, you know? At least Stark can have a normal conversation. Talking to you is like talking to a hundred-year-old man…

"What's the point of keeping me alive?" Steve asked, now standing up and staring unwaveringly into Ultron's dark red eyes. "I know it's easy to kill me. You could have killed me right there on Jabimu. Why didn't you?

"Are you really a deaf centenarian?" Ultron asked expressionlessly. "I told you, the last thing I need is a martyr for my plan."

Seeing as he hadn't let the old fossil understand, the synthetic simply walked away, leaving the super soldier to his own devices.

"We're not done yet," Steve called him.

"Oh? What are you going to do in that cell?" Ultron taunted. "Glaring me?"

“It’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”

"Oh my God, I thought I had enough of a dramatic flair."

"Whether you like it or not, you're based on Stark," Steve said in a rather sarcastic voice. "So, as you know, you're flawed."

Now it was Ultron's turn to glare, and the look was almost murderous, his red eyes staring fiercely at the super soldier who was shorter than him.

"Do you really want to die so soon?" Ultron asked in a low voice. "I don't want to ruin the fun you've been having. I would feel it's wrong to defeat God's righteous man.

"You didn't do anything to me when you captured me," Steve shot back. "You didn't do the same to Natasha when you had ample opportunity to do so. You wanted us to live. You wanted us to see you complete your 'mission' before you killed us."

The two froze, staring at each other intently, until Ultron let out a deep laugh.

"I always took you for a fool." Ultron said, taking a step back.

“I do that a lot,” Steve admitted. “But I’m not stupid.”

The AI ​​scoffed at this and took a moment to look at the soldier.

"I realized I needed time for a second attempt," Ultron admitted, shaking his head. "I planned and acted too hastily last time. I realized peace is not something that can be forced upon people. If it is not their inherent idea of ​​peace and order, they will revolt. Seeing how fickle and pathetic the species in this galaxy are, yet foolishly adaptable, I realized I needed to break things down piece by piece. Instill fear in their hearts, weaken the desire and will to fight. Killing you would only light a fire under your nasty organization's ass, and they would hunt me down with everything they have."

Ultron laughed again.

"But then I realized that this war is here and now...and what better way to take down the Avengers and the Jedi knockoffs?" Ultron said majestically. "You know how fun it is to sit back and watch both sides tear each other to pieces? The droids and clones may be different, but the corrupt civilization behind them is the same. This is the perfect place I need to complete my mission. The Avengers will play their part in this plan. So will the Jedi. The secret Sith Lord made sure of that. Or so he thought.

Steve felt himself inhale sharply. The aforementioned Dark Lord of the Sith was the one the Jedi had been looking for over the past few years. The Sith Lord, believed to be the mastermind behind the war.

"You know him, don't you?"

"Hmm~ maybe."

Steve almost growled.

Ultron was shocked. "Look, the once high-spirited leader of the Avengers is now like a caged beast. But I still have to answer your question... Yes, I know him. It's not that difficult for me after all, but look who you are talking to.

Captain America quickly regained his composure and said calmly, “I’m sure you won’t reveal who he is so quickly.

"Spoil the fun? Not likely.

With those last words, Ultron began to walk back into the shadows, with only his eyes visible to the super soldiers until they too blinked out of sight.

Steve slumped to the floor, his back against the wall behind him.

He raised his head, looked at the night sky revealed by the opening above, and exhaled tiredly.

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