Vera quickly got ready, grabbing a pair of heavy black boots with rubber grips and a pair of leather fingerless gloves in case she needed to heat up some metal. Even though she could with stand electricity and fire, the heat of a metal object could, and had burned her before.
As Vera walked over to Wanda and Pietro, she peered over her shoulder to see Vision and Thor speaking in the balcony. Just then Pietro threw a red leather jacket at Wanda and a long black leather coat at her. It had a dark blue lining, as if it was made for her. Pietro grinned at her as she swiftly put it on over her suit and sauntered around him. "Do I look like a badass?" She laughed as he grinned.
"That was the point. It gives you a flare so now you don't look like just a hero, you look like.. a mysterious vigilante." Vera laughed, tilting back her head in glee.
"Man Pietro, you definitely know how to sell it.." Vera slowed to a stop as she saw Vision standing there, watching her carefully. He saw her looking and quickly tried to act casual.
"I was just.. analyzing the way you laugh. It's incredibly human." He told her as she raised an eyebrow with a slight smile.
"Well thank you.. I guess?" She turned away quickly from him then, her smile growing as she walked towards where they had docked the jet in order to find Tony and Steve.
As she found Tony, Bruce, and Steve talking. "No way we all get through this. If even one tin soldiers left standing, there's blood on the floor." Tony told them grimly as Steve responded with his usual coral.
"I've got no plans tomorrow night." He gave a reassuring smile as Vera shook her head with a laugh.
"Captain, you really fit the courageous and brave soldier." Steve smiled at her slightly then.
"Call me Steve." Vera nodded at that just as Tony spoke up.
"I get first cracks at the big guy. Iron man's the one he's waiting for." Tony said just as Vision walked past.
"That's true, he hates you the most." He called out as Vera grinned wildly while Tony quickly turned his head towards Vision. Tony saw Vera grinning and rolled his eyes.
"Haha, it's sooo funny that I'm the murder bots main target." He muttered sarcastically.
"Man it's almost as if you're the dad he never wanted but hates just as much." Tony rubbed his face.
"I didn't sign up to be the parent to a homicidal tin man." Vera patted his shoulder in mock sympathy just as she started walking away towards the jet.
"Ya know Steve, it's almost past 10 minutes and you're not on the jet yet. Oh thy hypocrite." She teased playfully as she fast walked towards the jet when she heard him getting up.
"And I thought Clint was bad." Steve told Tony with a smirk as they watched her fast walk over to the jet doors and meeting Clint as he flicked her forehead. Vera just poked him with a bit of electricity, giving him a shock as he jumped away from her.
"Ow! You asshole!" He yelped as Tony and Steve tried not to laugh. Clint walked over to them as she boarded the jet.
"She seems more relaxed now then she was." Steve told Clint as he nodded in agreement.
"Even more then that, she seems almost excited about this." Tony said as they stood there. Clint shrugged a little before speaking.
"She.. she's a fighter, it's her natural go to.. Vera's been holed up for almost 3 years now, shut away from almost any real human interaction besides me so I'm not surprised that she's finally getting out of her shell." Clint explained as Steve looked to Clint in confusion.
"Why? Why'd she stop being an agent? And why did she shut herself off?" He questioned Clint as Clint looked away, his eyes distant for a moment as he remembered something, then he looked back at them with dark eyes.
"It's not my place to talk about it. Vera's been through a lot, we'll put it that way." Tony thought he knew what Clint was talking about, thinking back to the conversation they had almost a day ago now about her baby. Tony couldn't help but feel the pang of sympathy that coursed through him as they all boarded the jet. It only got worse when he looked over to Vera and saw her clutching a heart shaped metal necklace on her neck.
Steve spoke loudly as the jet started, everyone looking towards him as they listened. "Ultron knows where coming, odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire. That's what we signed up for, but the people of Sokovia, they didn't; so our priority is getting them out. All they want is to live there lives in peace, and that's not gonna happen today but we can do our best to protect them and we can get the job done. We find out what Ultron's been building, we find Romanoff, and we clear the field." Steve then explained the initial game plan to get everyone out of Sokovia safely and calmly, telling Pietro to warn the police of Sokovia first while Wanda would use her powers to will some of them out of there homes and out of the city.
Tony turned to her after Steve got done talking to Wanda and Pietro. "Could you use your powers to figure out what Ultron's got set up?" Tony asked her as Steve turned towards them.
"If it has electricity running through it in then I can find it, but I won't be able to tell exactly what it is.. I could definitely try though."
"What about shutting it down?" Steve asked as she thought for a moment.
"I'm not sure, depending on how much electricity it's using and how big. My powers have there limits just like anything else." She told them seriously as Steve nodded.
"Just try your best, that's all anyone is asking. As for the bots, I want you to make sure they get destroyed by any means. I'm sure you won't have a hard time with that." Vera nodded in agreement.
"They're all electric, I can short circuit them or simply sap the life out of them." Vera told them. "As for Ultron himself, not sure how that's gonna go about. If I can get close enough to him then I can see what I might do but depending on if he's used that vibranium to make himself a nice fancy body, it might be harder, a lot harder."
Steve and Tony both nodded their heads as all of them thought for a moment. "How hot can you get?" Tony asked as Vera raised an eyebrow at him.
"You mean.. my fire? I can only produce it from electricity so it's not like normal heat."
"Yes but if you can turn that electricity into fire then you must have some control on the fire that it produces afterwards, right?" Tony asked. "I mean, let's look at it this way, Burning is the oxidation of combustible matter. Electricity is neither matter nor oxygen. You can't burn electricity but you're still able to start a fire with the electricity. Now however, a very hot flame produced by a fire is partly a plasma which is ionised gas, and you can use electricity to ionise gases. The obvious example is lightning. You can also create this effect continuously around a very high voltage wire, the resulting electric field around the wire being strong enough to literally rip electrons off air atoms." Tony rattled off as Vera nodded.
"I don't understand any of what you're saying." Steve said plainly as Vera chuckled.
"So you're saying that the fire.." Vera trailed off as she thought more about this.
"Is what you're actually capable of. The electricity is what you've been producing all these years but it only goes one way, fire can produce electricity, not vise versa. The only way electricity can produce a fire is in damp conditions. That's why you're not supposed to throw water on an electrical fire, because it'll make it worse."
"No, I don't think that's the case. If it was then I should have been producing fire first.. but I think you're actually on the right track. What you said about electricity producing fire with water. What if the conductor for the electricity is the water I store in my body? Humans are 70% water, I have electricity running through my entire body, voila we have fire." Vera said as Tony looked as if he was weighing this theory.
"And there's not any case that maybe.. you're just able to do both?" Steve asked. "You're a mutant, right? I was reading up on mutants earlier and I was reading about these crazy powers that mutants have and how some mutants can have multiple powers."
"I mean it would make this a lot easier." Tony muttered. "But mutants can also develop there powers to do things that most people wouldn't think is possible."
"It could honestly be either." Vera sighed. "Let's go with the theory that they're separate abilities for now. You asked me how hot I could go Tony, but I've never tried to test how hot I can get."
"Well.." Tony started. "Depending on how hot you could potentially get, you could melt metal and even melt vibranium.." Tony explained to her as she raised her eyebrows.
"Okay but isn't vibranium one of the most indestructible materials on the planet? How hot would I have to get in order to even being to melt it? And furthermore, if I were to get to the temp needed to melt vibranium, would I be a potential hazard to people around?" She asked Tony as he scratched the back of his head in contemplation.
"Well let's see.. you would have to get to 5,475 degrees Fahrenheit and that-"
"Would potentially fry anyone in a 5 mile vicinity." Steve interjected. "The only way she could even do that safely is if she was encased in a metal room with Ultron. That's to say that he actually made a vibranium suit for himself with it. He lined Vision's body with vibranium but he had a lot left over. We won't know what he did with it until we get there; keep in mind, he was also reported stealing adamantium." Steve told them.
"So how would I need to get in order to melt adamantium?" Vera asked to both of them.
"Good question. Adamantium isn't nearly as strong as vibranium but it's still up there and to melt it you would need to reach 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. You could do that without eviscerating everyone in the nearby area." Tony told her as Steve I rejected again.
"That's still too hot to trust. She could burn anything that got too close. That heat will radiate.. the best idea is if she were able to get up in the air and do it. It'd keep her away from anyone or anything."
"It wouldn't be that hot." Tony argued. "The temperature of a fire is around 750 degrees Fahrenheit, that's already half way there to the point she needs to be at. Tell me Rogers, when you were standing next to her, could you feel heat coming off of her?" Tony asked. Steve nodded.
"Yeah, I was practically boiling and I was standing at least 5 feet away from her."
"That was her at 750 degrees so-" Vera interrupted Tony.
"How do we actually know that was 750 degrees? The flames I produce are blue and if I remember correctly, depending on the color of the flame is what indicates the heat level. You also have to take into account that Steve is a enhanced human, I'm sure that he could with stand the heat better then normal humans along with the fact that everyone else stood a good 30 feet away from me when I was on fire."
Thor suddenly walked up next to her and started talking. "Even I found the heat to be overwhelming and I am the god of thunder. A mere mortal would not be able to withstand it standing close to you."
"Wait were talking as if this is going by natural law. That went out the window the moment you were able to control fire anyways. Who's to say that your fire isn't naturally blue due to your mutation? And even so, if we're basing it off the color without taking into consideration the theory that your mutation was changing the color of the fire you produce, that means you would have had to been burning at 1,980 degrees without even trying." Tony told them. "Which means, the farthest we would actually need to be from you is about 30 feet because I was standing about 50 feet from you and I only felt slightly hot. But again, that's based off the theory that you were already burning at 1,980 degrees and not 750 degrees." Tony explained.
"Well.. the only way to find out is to test it and currently, we're standing in a jet so I don't think I could safely do it in here."
"Yeah, let's not do that." Bruce called from the front where he was controlling the jet.
"Well when we get to Sokovia, I'm not going to be able to test this theory." Vera threw out with a sigh. "If we don't know then the possibility of me messing something up or not, getting this wrong quickly becomes a probability."
"What if," Wanda started as she got up and walked over to them. "I encase her in a shield while she heats up? No damage to the jet and no damage to anyone else. Assuming we have a way to see how hot she is." Tony nodded at this.
"Friday, can you gauge Ms. Barton's temperature?" He asked as Vision quickly got up.
"Are sure this is a good idea? Vera has already stated she hasn't tried to test her heat levels." Vision protested as Clint also got up.
"Yeah and not only that but she's only ever geared up by using electricity. Either one of two things happens, she can't actually produce fire on her own and it's the combination of the water in her body plus the electricity creating fire and she uses too much and ends up hurting herself, or she pulls in too much electricity trying to get to that level of heat and the jet goes down, maybe even both."
Everyone was silent for a moment before Tony finally spoke. "But if she can use the fire on her own without having to pull in electricity then after the initial get go she can use it on her own. We could even start to teach her how to use the fire on her own without needing to draw any electricity."
"And," Vera added. "If anything goes wrong, I can push electricity back into the jet. Remember, while I may need to draw from objects to boost my abilities, I still produce them naturally."
"I think it's at least worth a shot. If we go in there unprepared for every possible outcome, we don't have as good of a shot." Steve told Clint as Clint sighed. Vision turned to her finally.
"You realize if something were to go wrong, you may not be able to fight?" He asked her.
"It won't, I promise." She smiled reassuringly at Vision the turned to Wanda. "Alright go ahead and put the shield around me." She told Wanda and Wanda held out her hands, staring at Vera intensely until a shield of red surrounded her. Vera took a deep breath and bowed her head, electricity from the jet pulling from her boots into the rest of her body and sparking out at her hands.
For a moment, Vera briefly thought about all that could go wrong then shoved it in the back of her mind and amped up the electricity. She quickly lit up into flames and tried to hold onto the feeling of the flames instead of drawing more electricity. "Alright you're at 750 degrees upon initial light up which means my theory was right so let's see if the flames change depending on how hot you are or if they stay the same. Try to get hotter." He told her as Pietro finally spoke.
"As if she could get any hotter." He muttered with a grin and Clint slapped the back of his head. "Ow!" He yelped as Vera grinned a little then tried to concentrate on the flames. As she amped the flames, suddenly the jet shifted and started dropping.
"Hey! She's still drawing electricity from the jet! Vera!" Bruce shouted to her as she panicked and pushed electricity back into the jet while maintaining the heat. The jet kept dropping though and Vera stopped altogether and pushed all of the electricity she had back into the ship, feeling herself get light headed as she did so.
"Vera stop, you're hurting yourself." Clint told her quickly as he tried to walk over to herself but the shield was still up. "Wanda let the shield down." Clint ordered as Vera shook her head.
"Not yet, the jet hasn't stabilized and you can't touch me. Don't lift the shield." She barked out roughly as she fell to her knees and put her hands on the jet floor, partly because she felt drained and partly to get a better flow of electricity to the jet.
"Vera I said stop!" Clint snapped out, his voice slightly panicked as finally she let go and her body started tilting back and she slumped against Wanda's shield.
"Vera?" Steve asked hesitantly as the only answer he got was silence. Everyone seemingly panicked all at once then.
"Bruce!" Tony called, his voice panicky as Bruce turned around and his eyes went to Vera slumped on the floor. Tony quickly ran to the controls and switched places with Bruce as he hurried over to her and was about to touch her when she gasped and quickly pushed herself up with her hands.
"Christ!" Vera shouted out as she groaned then. "Water please." She muttered out. Clint grabbed a water bottle from the mini fridge and gave it to her as she sucked it down, and Bruce helped her to sit up all the way.
"Are you okay?" Steve asked as he kneeled down beside her. Vera slowly nodded as she rubbed her face with her hand.
"Yeah.. I think Tony's theory was right. I- I just can't control it yet. I've spent so long only using the electricity I have that focusing on the fire it produces is.. difficult to say the least."
"You're rather pale." Vision said to her quietly as he kneeled down to her, examining her closely. "Are you sure you can join us?" He asked as she nodded slowly.
"Yeah, I just need.. a boost." Her eyes went to Thor then as did everyone else's. Thor stood there for a moment, his eyes blankly looking around at them.
"What?" He asked in confusion as Vera got up slowly.
"Thor.. you can fly with your hammer right?" Vera asked as Thor suddenly understood what she meant.
"Lady Barton, with all due respect, I don't think you could handle my-" Vera walked towards him, not listening and proceeded to shock him with all she had at the moment. Thor jumped with a Yelp and Tony barked with laughter from where he was at.
"You were saying?" She asked him.
"Oh god, oh fuck." Vera panicked as she gripped onto Thor for dear life, flying outside of the jet.
"What, you can't handle a bit of wind?" He teased her as she squeaked.
"Hurry the hell up you himbo!" She seethed as he laughed.
"Alright, alright." And just like that he slightly lifted his hammer up and lightning shot down. Vera could feel her skin prickling as she soaked it up, feeling better by the second. Her eyes glowed an electric blue as her hair slightly raised up from the static. When they got back inside, everyone looked at her as she looked at them in confusion.
"What?" She asked as Clint motioned to her eyes.
"Your eyes are uh, glowing?" He told her as she nodded in realization.
"That happens sometimes, usually only when I'm glowing but.. I'm filled to the brim with energy." Vera answered simply as she tried to smooth out the staticky hair on her head.
"Well good because we're 15 minutes out, time to ready up." Steve told them as they all glanced at one another in anticipation. "Ultron thinks we're monsters, that we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him, it's about whether he's right." It was silent for a moment as they soaked this all in until,
"What's a himbo?" Thor asked out loud as Vera and Clint broke down laughing and Steve turned to Thor with his brows furrowed.
"A himbo?" He asked. "That sounds like the word bi- ohhhh." Steve trailed off in realization.
"Who called you a himbo?" Tony asked. "Not that they're wrong but.."
"Lady Barton called me one. What does it mean?" Thor looked around wildly as Bruce patted his shoulder comfortingly.
"Just uh.. take it as a compliment, Thor." Bruce told him as Thor smirked then.
"Oh, so you were complimenting me?" He asked as Vera cackled even harder then, falling to the floor and cradling her stomach as tears streamed down her face. Pietro and Wanda both snickered while Clint took in a deep breath to steady himself.
"I don't understand what is funny if it is a compliment?" Thor scratched his head as Tony smirked as he watched Vera in amusement.
The moment they dropped down in Sokovia, everyon quickly spread out to do what they had been ordered. Vera followed Thor in order to figure out what the vibranium was being used for. As she followed him, she heard Tony talking to Ultron and commenting about his suit being vibranium.
"Tony I don't mean to interrupt but is his suit entirely made out of vibranium or is it a mix of that and Adamantium.
"Let me do a scan." He told her and after a beat, "both. His exoskeleton is vibranium." He told her.
"I can work with that." Vera muttered just as Thor and her were ambushed by Ultron's robots.
"You're new." It told her in Ultron's voice as he cocked his head.
"I am, and I'm so glad to finally show you my party trick." She told him just as she grabbed his shoulders and short circuited him, electricity crackling on her skin as she glowed blue. Sparks flew from the body as it twitched spastically then went limp. Vera took the electricity back as she worked with the next one, shooting it with electricity and as she did, she lifted her hands and threw it against the wall as her electricity kept its hold on the robot, controlling it like a puppet on a string.
"Who are you?" Another one asked as a dozen more surrounded them. Flecks of electricity sparked on the ground and all around her as they all lunged at her and Thor and she spread her arms out as a shock wave released from her body and fried all of them.
"I'm surge." Vera said calmly as they looked at all the body's around them. Thor looked at her in surprise as she glowed a translucent blue, her veins visible underneath her skin and her eyes glowing such a white blue that they looked like they were the color of lightning.
"Impressive." Thor told her as they kept going. "You know we could be a great duo, Thunder and lightning." He told her a she smirked.
"Oh yeah, we'd definitely be cool." Vera grinned then as she heard through her comm,
"Friday, the Vision?" Tony asked.
"What's the status?" Vera asked him as She climbed quickly down the stairs.
"He shut him out of the internet." Tony told her as she punched the air in joy.
"Good..." Vera trailed off as they finally reached there destination, looking around as giant gears started turning and pushing upwards as they glowed blue and everything started coming down around them.
Thor threw up his hands to protect himself with his hammer as Vera threw up a shield of energy, trying her hardest to keep it going as she pulled energy from whatever thing was activating around them.
Vera kneeled as she kept her hands splayed over her hands in an X and gritted her teeth.
"Friday?" Stark asked.
"Sokovia is going for a ride." She said grimly as Vera grunted in effort to keep the debris from collapsing on top of her.
"Vera? What's going on?" Steve asked through the comm. Vera couldn't answer him as she tried to keep her concentration on the shield of energy, the electricity pulsating through it in a frenzy. Suddenly Thor grabbed onto Vera's waist as they shot up through the debris, her shield working as an effective barrier to keep them safe as they went through it.
As they burst out and up into the air she motioned for Thor to throw her to land and she softened her decent as she aimed her hands down towards the grounds as the sparks shot out and slowed her down so she could land on her feet. Vera was greeted by Steve as he caught a woman who Thor threw out of a car that was falling.
As Steve let her go, a bot came charging towards them and he threw his shield at it. The shield got stuck in its chest as it spoke. "You can't save them all, you'll never-" he didn't get to finish as Steve raised his arm and the shield came hurtling back to him and the bot fell off the city.
"You'll never what? You didn't finish!" Steve yelled with a smirk as it fell. He turned towards Vera and Thor then. "What, we're you two napping?" He asked them as they started back towards the inside of the city to fight more robots.
"Cap!" Vera called as she pulled a bot apart as with her current.
"Yeah?" He asked as they were back to back fighting.
"You know how electricity works?" She asked him as he glanced to her for a second.
"The bas-" He put his fist through a robots face."-ic's. Why?" He asked.
"My electrical current can produce a magnetic field, which means I can pull myself towards any electrical object that's metal or pull it towards us, that's how I can pull these guys apart. Your shield is also a type of metal.." Vera trailed off. "Thor and you had some pretty good combo hits with that bad boy. Catch my drift?" She asked.
"I get where you're going with this. Want me to throw it at you?" He asked her.
"That would be perfect." She breathed out with a smile. Steve quickly got in position and threw it at her as she flicked her wrist, the shield crackling as it curved around her, slicing threw one that was about to lunge at her then another and another. It hit around thirty of them and then Vera pulled it back and grabbed it, gently handing it to Steve.
"You can do quite a bit with those powers." Steve told her, impressed.
"Anything to do with electricity or magnetism is my field. Electricity plus metal becomes an electro magnetic current. I can create a magnetic field which I surrounded around your shield. Did you see the way it sliced through them like butter? That's because the magnetic field around it can distort atoms." As Vera said this another bot lunged at her and she syphoned the energy out of it and it became lifeless.
"I don't know half of what you just said but I'm impressed." He told her as he eyed the robot. "Did you take the electricity out of it?" He asked. Vera nodded in confirmation as Steve tilted his head. "It was as if it just shut off."
"That's what happens when something doesn't have electricity to run. Ultron and his little minion hims are an object that runs on electricity." Vera told him as she closed her eyes. The ground started rumbling around her as objects around her started lifting up as her current picked them up and the air sparked.
"What's she doing?" Vera heard Pietro asked as she concentrated on pulling as much electricity as she could towards her. She started shaking as sparks leaped across her skin and skittered to the ground, dancing and flickering around her. Her skin started to turn translucent blue and her hair started lifting up.
"I don't know." Steve answered honestly as she erupted in flames then.
"I'm going after Ultron." Vera's voice was slightly distorted as if she was talking through a staticky phone. Vera took off, using the electricity to carry her quickly towards Ultron. Thor was fighting Ultron when she got to them and he threw Thor and turned his attention on her.
"You." He seethed as she raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, me. Did I piss you off with my little tricks?" She asked as they danced around each other.
"I must say, you are impressive. Sucking the life out of my bots like that but let's see how you do against me." He lunged at her then as she tried to heat herself up hotter and hotter, meeting him head on. She threw him off of her but he came back quickly, grabbing her and launching her upwards. Vera caught herself in the air and tried pulling herself back with her current of electricity to the ground but Ultron shot himself at her as they flew. He gripped her wrists and she started sucking energy from him and blasted him in the face with an electrical current so hard that it singed his face and he let her go, throwing her downwards with all his might.
As Vera was propelled to the ground, she couldn't stabilize herself and screamed out only for it to be taken by the wind as she desperately tried to do something to stop her rapid descent. Vera closed her eyes tight as the ground came startling close only for her to suddenly become intercepted by a hard force. She opened her eyes in surprise to see Tony in his suit. "Think I'd let you get out of this fight that easily?" He asked as she sighed in relief.
"I thought I was about to be a flesh pancake." Vera muttered as she heard Tony audibly cringe.
"That sounds awful and disgusting on all levels."
"It wasn't meant to be fun." Vera wiggled her eyebrows as he lightly put her down. "What's going on with the flying city though, Tony?" She asked seriously as he sighed.
"It's rigged to go down. If I touch the anti-gravs they'll go full reverse thrust. It's made out of vibranium so even if I got Thor to hit it, it wouldn't be enough." Vera raked her fingers through her hair as the flames extinguished fully and she thought.
"The only thing we could do.." Vera trailed off as he nodded.
"Stark, whaddya got?" Steve asked through the comms.
"Nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the city if you can get clear." He said dejectedly.
"I asked for a solution, not an escape plan." Steve told him as Vera sighed.
"Cap, there isn't any other solution." She told him through the comms.
"Impact radius is getting bigger every second, we're gonna have to make a choice." Stark said.
"Cap these people are going nowhere." Nat told him as Vera listened. "If Stark finds a way to blow this rock.."
"Not til everyone's safe." Steve responded adamantly.
"Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There's no math there." Natasha tried to reason with him.
"We're not leaving this rock with one civilian on it." He said firmly.
"I didn't say we should leave." Natasha said quietly. "There's worse ways to go. Where else am I gonna get a view like this?" Vera breathed threw her nose then.
"I'm way overdue anyways so it works out." Vera breathed out as she smiled sadly.
"Glad you like the view Romanoff, it's about to get a whole lot better. And V, unfortunately you'll have to wait a whole lot longer." Fury's voice spoke through the comms as she saw a hellacarrier rising up into the sky.
"Fury you son of a bitch." Steve exhaled in relief.
"Ooh, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Fury teased.
"Thanks for coming through boss, guess no suicide mission today." Vera smirked.
"This is Shield?" Pietro asked in surprise.
"This is what S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to be." Steve answered.
"This.. is not so bad." Pietro admitted to them honestly as Vera smiled softly.
"This was always the dream, it just took awhile to come together." She told him.
"Let's load them up." Steve told them as everyone started getting people towards the docking ships as quickly as possible. Vera saw another iron man flying in the sky next to Tony and cocked her head but didn't pay it much mind as she carried a little girl to a ship, walking near Pietro.
"I got it, create a heat shield." Tony called as Vera turned around towards the cathedral. "Thor, Vera, I got a plan."
"We're out of time, they're going for the core!" Thor exclaimed as she heard him grunting. Vera quickly lit herself up and blasted over to them, incinerating some robots as she flew into the cathedral.
"Avengers, time to work for a living." Everyone quickly got to the cathedral and started fighting, making sure none of the robots were able to flip the switch. Vera sucked the life out of a bunch of them then sent an electric shock that pulsated through a group of them surrounding them as they went down. Vera started gathering more energy as she started shaking quicker and quicker, the flame growing bigger and bigger as the bots who lunged at her started melting.
Everyone started avoiding her so they wouldn't get burnt as she tried, but failed once again to control the flames by themselves. "I've only got a slight grasp on the fire. I'm literally taking in as much as I can without burning out at this point. What's my temp, Stark?" She asked.
"You're at 1950 degrees!" He called out. "Romanoff, you and Banner better not be playing hide the zucchini."
"Relax, not all of us can fly." She told him before she smoothly pulled up in a construction truck. As the number of bots slowed down, Vera set her eyes on Ultron. "What's the drill?" Natasha asked as Tony pointed towards the core.
"This is the drill. If Ultron gets his hand on the core, we lose." He explained to her as Hulk dropped down to join them.
"Is the best you can do?!" Thor yelled out as if challenging him. Ultron lifted up his hand, raising two fingers as a whole army of bots started charging towards them. Ultron raised his arms up as if to gloat.
"This- is the best I can do. This is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me. How can you possibly hope to stop me?" He asked mockingly.
"Well.. like the old man said." Tony turned his head toward Steve as Steve looked back at him, a half smile on his face. "Together." His voice echoed out as he looked back at Ultron and Hulk roared just as the bots were upon them.
Everyone fought them off, blasting and destroying them as quickly as humanly possible. They were a sight to behold. Vera set her eyes on Ultron as he started fighting Vision and pointed her hands towards him, electricity cackling as she threw him off and out of the cathedral, quickly following after as Thor, Vision and Tony started blasting him. Vera joined in and unleashed a current of all of her built up energy.
Ultron slowly started to disintegrate and as they finally stopped, his exoskeleton was gone and he looked worse for wear. "You know, with the benefit of hindsight-" He started but didn't get to finish as Hulk punched him, launching him far off into the distance. He then turned towards the other bots and they stood there for a moment then started running.
Hulk immediately started pursuing them as Thor exclaimed, "they're trying to leave the city!"
"We can't let them, not even one." Stark told them urgently. "Rhodey." Tony called. Vera heard a new voice talking over there comms then.
"On it. Oh no, I didn't say you could leave, wat machine comin' at you!" Vera snickered at what he said then quickly sobered up.
"We gotta move out, even I can tell the airs getting thin. You guys get to the boat, I'll sweep for stragglers. Be right behind you." Steve ordered as Vera protested.
"Let me stay behind and help." She told Steve as Clint asked,
"What about the core?"
"I'll stay behind and protect it." Wanda suddenly said. "It's my job." Clint looked at her impressed then turned to Natasha.
"Nay, this way." He tilted his head to leave then made eye contact with Vera. "Stay safe, I'll see you soon." Vera nodded to him as Steve ran off and so did they. Just as Vera was turning to leave, Pietro sped up.
"Get the people in the boats." She ordered Pietro but he instantly protested.
"I'm not going to leave you here."
"I can handle this." Wanda told him firmly just as a robot ran up and she obliterated it. "Come back for me when everyone else is off." Pietro grunted in annoyance then smirked for a second.
"You know I'm 12 minutes older then you." He told her matter of fact. Vera grinned then walked over to him.
"Mind giving me a lift? I'll help you with any stragglers." He nodded and smiled.
"Hop on!" He told her over enthusiastically and pointed to his back. As they ran through trying to find people, she saw Clint helping a child then noticed a stray ship firing.
"Pietro toss me in front of Clint!" She yelled at him.
"You'll die! " He argued.
"Just do it! Now!" She screamed at him in panic and suddenly she was flung at super speed, barreling towards Clint as she created a shield of energy. The energy incinerated the bullets and she sighed in relief then turned towards Clint.
"Are you okay? She asked in panic as she started checking him over for any marks or wounds. Clint just stared at her for a moment, at loss for words. "Clint! Are you okay?" She emphasized just as Pietro sped towards them.
"Vera.." Clint trailed off as she furrowed her eyebrows.
"What?" She asked in confusion. Clint slowly reached towards her and lightly touched her upper abdomen and pulled back, showing her blood. Vera blinked at it, cocking her head to the side then slowly looking down. Pietro put his hand on the small of her back then as she asked, "who's blood is that?"
Vera immediately stumbled then, feeling nauseous as a metallic taste filled her mouth. "Woah, easy." Pietro soothed and grabbed her bridal style.
"Guys, Vera's been hit." Clint panicked just as Vera's hearing quickly faded as static filled her ears. She shook her head hard as she blinked, trying to ward off the darkness seeping into her vision.
"Vera stay with me! Come on!" She heard Clint shouting but it was as if it was in the distance. Suddenly then, she heard a baby crying and her eyes grew wide as she smiled, tears brimming.
"Oh my little Mina." She cooed softly. "Mommy missed you so much.."
"No! No! Vera, please, please, please!" Clint begged desperately. "Someone find Banner and get him here now! Nat do you hear me?"
Everything faded then as Vera closed her eyes, succumbing to sleep.