ARCTIC CIRCLE, BIODOME, MAY 5, 12:00 UTC
"So what I get from this is that we knew way less about Ultron than we realized." Francis told the group.
"Agreed." Pym responded with a sigh, the others didn't even give a response instead they looked through various files of differing interests levels. The Ultron files were proving to be a blessing and curse.
In the meeting room that seemed to be occupied more frequently than it had been in months was the Avengers, and Riri and Amadeus. Daisy popped in every once and a while as she was the only Scavenger that they really trusted with this information. Even then she was never in for too long.
"Good news is that this information is providing a lot of information I never knew we needed." Tony told the group "It never really crossed my mind that some countries could have actually helped Ultron but alas, we humans are a stupid bunch."
"Got that right." Francis and Bruce muttered at the same time.
"As more stuff comes in I think my personal favourite is the files in the folder titled Apollo1495...What the hell had gotten Ultron's attention in space?" Pym questioned the room
"He probably thought he could conquer it." Torunn posed as an answer "Maybe he wanted to know what was up there before he prepared his attacks."
"Hmm. Maybe." Pym agreed, though he was truly curious for a more definitive answer.
"When do you believe you might have all the files Amadeus?" Azari questioned, his interest also grew the more he read things, how Ultron took care of currency situations, the thought processes behind destroying New York and leaving the others. How he described people's fear. It was both terrifying and yet fascinating. And it was certainly going to help them in the long run.
"Soon hopefully. While some is probably corrupted beyond saving, I know that I can get nearly all of it without any problems. It won't be long before we have absolutely everything."
"Are you alright James?" Torunn suddenly questioned the red haired boy. He was the only one who wasn't really interested in saying anything, and it was quite obvious why.
"Fine just...reading." James told them shortly. They all gave each other glances at that as they knew it was more than that. Sure they were all looking at the Ultron files but James had been the one who insisted on reading THE file. Ultron's… Termination list.
No one else was up for that yet, but James insisted they had already wasted 3 days not looking at it, and knowing who was on it would help them immensely in the long run. And so he began to read the list on his own, and the others pretended that he was doing the same stuff they were. No one really wanted to face the harsh reality.
For James at first it was jarring. Ultron had a way with words. And things seemed to start alphabetically. The entries Ultron put in were specific.
Abyss, Also known as Nils Styger.
Designation: Mutant
Last Known Location: Detroit
Termination: Successful. The Subject's head was detached from his body after attempting to use coils around arms. Body might be useful in finding more mutants and studying Legacy Virus.
Aegis, Also known as Trey Rollins
Designation: Super powers from armor.
Last Known Location: New York City
Termination: Successful. Was killed prior to the attack on New York in my search for super powered weapons of any kind. Body was not in any condition to be of any use and was disposed of.
And the list just kept on going from the heroes that James had never heard of like Trey and Nils, to bigger ones he could fondly recall hearing about as a kid like Luke Cage and Iron Fist. Certain mutants he was certain were dead like the Scarlet Witch and Charles Xavier.
Others were more ambiguous like the Wolverine, Beast and even Azari's mother. Storm. He was sure that Azari might be interested in that one. Their parents' reports were as well. In just as much detail and really only made James wish that he savoured killing Ultron a little longer. It wasn't his father's way but he was sure his Mother would have approved either way.
Other names stuck out like Spider-Man and Daredevil, or Angel and the Iceman. But what was really important to James was the date. Some were marked before the destruction of NYC. Others the day of, and some as far as up to 10 years after the fact.
The ones dated March 12, 1998 however had James' attention. Because as far as he knew they would be able to see exactly what had happened and James planned on doing it. Ultron had a video of that day and James needed to see it.
"Anything crazy you noticed?" Francis questioned the star spangled hero.
"He killed a lot of people...More than I think we realized. The scope of this. A lot of these kills were done by his bots, rarely anyone was strong enough or smart enough to get to the point of fighting the actual version of him...Your mother also isn't listed in the Terminations list Azari."
"Really?" Azari questioned. He had told himself he was done with that stuff for now, but the fact that his mother wasn't listed there either. Where could she be?
"The video. I want to watch it." James told the room "And I know, I know. You don't want to see it Tony. And I promise you don't have to. But this is something I have to see for myself, and also because there are potentially a million things we can analyze from this video. It's necessary."
"I don't think it is. Seeing everyone die over and over is not necessary. It's not healthy." Tony told the group "This isn't something kids should see, and don't give me that were not kids line. You are. And watching your parents get killed isn't something anyone needs to view."
"I agree no one has to watch it more than once." James told Tony "But this one time needs to happen. Now I am watching it on my own regardless, or do you all want to watch as well. I won't fault you if you don't want to see this, it's not an easy thing. But for me it's a necessity."
"I'm down. Pretty sure my parents wouldn't be in this anyway." Francis pointed out. His father had been killed later than the rest. Much later really, he had chosen to go for Francis when he realized the Avengers were already fighting a losing battle, he wasn't going to join a losing battle, he only ever regretted that he couldn't save their mother as well.
"I will as well." Torunn said a bit awkwardly. It had only started in the past couple of years since the defeat of Ultron that Torunn really didn't like to talk or be a part of conversations regarding everyone's parents.
She was already the only one with two. And then add the fact that her Dad was the strongest and didn't try and help after his Thorsleep? As an older person now, it was embarrassing.
"I'm ready as well." Azari said simply. And Pym just nodded as well. They were all ready to watch this regardless of how much sleep they were going to lose over it.
"Alright then. I can't stop you." Tony sighed, and grabbed a seat. He knew personally that he wasn't going to be resting easy that night. Survivors' guilt was what they called it. And he had it in spades.
"Okay then, just give me a second to grab the video. And just tell me when to stop and I'll turn it off right away." Amadeus explained to them.
"Got it." James told him, and took a calming breath. He gave the others a few seconds to collect themselves before signaling Amadeus "I think we're ready."
Amadeus gave them one last look making sure this was going to be okay, and pressed play on the video. Immediately as he pressed play on the video and the destruction of New York was right in their faces they were immersed into the video.
"We've underestimated how many of these things there are Cap!" Janet told the American icon as she ducked around the fist of one of Ultron's warriors. She blasted the robot in the face three times before it finally hit the ground. That was one robot that took 3 full powered wasp blasts to destroy. There are currently hundreds of robots flooding New York City. Things were not looking good for the Avengers.
And to think all Janet had planned to do was take care of little Henry today. Instead now she had to put on a suit that was tighter than she remembered. And fight an enemy for the first time in over 3 years.
She wasn't Captain America or even Black Widow; she didn't have a special serum keeping her in great shape and forever healthy. She needed to train. And no, she hadn't just turned into a slob since entering retirement, but she was certainly not keeping up with the level of training required to be the Wasp.
This was putting a strain on her and it was making her worried as the fight hadn't even truly started yet.
"I understand Wasp. We need backup!" Captain America called over the roar of Ultron's bots firing up their energy guns. Steve grabbed his shield, and began deflecting the bullets back towards the robots smashing them into pieces, he then quickly hurled his shield and it hit a couple of robots before bouncing right back to his arm.
Steve definitely still looked good. But even in Wasp's eyes she could tell that the old hero could be doing a couple of things a little faster.
"Status on Hank, Jan?" Cap questioned as he dodged a laser blast.
"He's on his way Cap! It shouldn't be too much longer." Janet insisted as she shrunk and blew up an Ultron bot from the inside.
"Nat, what's the status on T'Challa's arrival?"
"On his way." The super spy answered quickly as she shot her widows bite at the strong robots, it gave her enough time to pull out her vibranium knife and slice the head clean off one of the robots. "It shouldn't be too long; he's been on route for a minute."
"And Clint? Bruce? Tony?"
"Clint might take a while. The kids have taken off without Francis; he needs to deal with him, and get to New York soon. Tony's preparing a Quinjet for him that can supposedly get him here in no time. We haven't had a personal line with Banner in years Steve. And Tony's got a new suit of armor and should be on his way to join the fight."
"Not...great." Cap said more to himself than anyone else. He did a quick leg sweep and slammed his shield into a robot face. It was the last one around, and so for a minute he and the rest of the Avengers could rest.
For Steve he took this time to analyze the situation they were in. The Reserve Avengers or "The New Avengers" had been called in a long time ago. Heroes like Spider-Man and Luke Cage were leading that charge, but as far as Cap could tell they were held up around 6 blocks back as Bots converged on New York City.
There wasn't much word on the X-Men he wasn't really sure where all of them were or what they were doing. They really hadn't been heard from in years. That was the problem with retiring: the Avengers had lost contact with everyone except the original core. And even then they had no clue if Thor could lend a hand or if Banner was up for another battle.
But as thirty seconds passed by, Cap began to hear more robots pulling up on their position. Ultron was still further ahead and the key to destroying the other bots had always been destroying Ultron. So they needed to get to him first.
"Alright. Jan, Nat. Group up we've got 20 seconds before they arrive and we don't have much time. We have to push his army to the outskirts of the city, this way we can have Tony use his other suits to do cleanup so we can focus on the main situation."
"Right."
"It's not an easy task but I think we can manage this at least until the rest of our team gets here. We should expect help from S.H.I.E.L.D. eventually we just have to hold out. I know it's been a long time, but if you're struggling get behind me. I'll get us through this." Captain America told them confidently.
And when Captain America talked to you like that, you had no choice but to believe him. There wasn't any more time to talk about how they were going to handle the situation as the robots began to pull up on their position.
"Jan take this." Widow tossed a S.H.I.E.L.D. standard issue energy pistol at her, which the Wasp caught easily "This can get the job done as well as your powers. Don't wear yourself out."
Wasp nodded and that was all the time they had left. In an instant they were swarmed around and the three heroes began to make moves. Wasp went small giving herself time to make her moves, she popped up at normal size in front of a couple of robots using just one shot on each of them to take them all out in quick succession.
While this happened Cap and Black Widow quickly began to move in sync. Cap took the lead with a strong shoulder barge leading with his shield that destroyed two robots. He then provided protection for Widow who easily maneuvered around a robot getting behind and stabbed it in the neck, before pulling out that same knife and throwing it through another robot's head.
They had started well and it had felt like a good sign for the heroes. But time dragged on and Ultron's army was proving to be helpless. And though the Super Soldier himself wasn't tiring, he could tell his team was, he watched as Wasp in her small form narrowly missed getting completely disintegrated by one of the blasts from the Ultron bots.
Widow threw her knife at another bot but this time it had caught the knife with ease and sent it hurling back to her at insane speeds. In a split second Cap had to make his move throwing his shield at the robot who was attacking Jan destroying it, and then jumping in front of Natasha pulling her to the ground with him stopping her from getting hit by the knife.
Unfortunately he couldn't avoid the hit himself and as they went to the ground the knife lodged straight into his back.
"Cap!" Wasp called worriedly. She quickly turned and shot the robot in the face before it could get to Steve and Natasha but it didn't help the fact that there were still nearly twenty robots surrounding the heroes, and Jan was the only one who was up.
"Cap, Nat this isn't looking good. I could use some help like...Right now!"
No response. They both seemed to be down for the moment. But without help this was about to be the last moment of Wasp's life. The Ultron bots simultaneously primed their blasters and got ready to shoot at Wasp.
There wasn't anywhere to hide from the blasts but she didn't have to worry, she braced for the pain but it never came as she was suddenly swooped away by an armored body who flew her far away from the killzone.
"Tony!" Wasp called without even having to look "You saved my bacon. I thought I was done back there."
"Yeah well, not on my watch." Tony said with a grunt, it was clear the Avengers were still hurt from his first battle with Ultron but that couldn't matter at the moment. Everyone was doing their best to work through whatever it was they were going through.
"What about Steve and Nat?" Janet questioned worriedly. Right before she had been swooped by Tony the two heroes were still lying in the rubble.
"No need to worry, I didn't come alone." Ironman told her "Look."
Though in the air. Jan looked towards Steve and Nat and while things looked a little bleak as they were about to get blasted, one moment nothing was there, and suddenly a 25ft wall stood in front of them.
"Hank!" Janet called in relief, for a moment she was even able to smile as the Giant-Man was a one man wrecking crew, and exactly what the team had needed.
"Right, so now we need to get down to the ground and help them out. I gotta get to Cap, and you need to help hubby out with stopping the baddies. Catman is on his way so we should be in good condition very soon."
"Perfect. Just let me down then Tony I'll fly down there myself." Janet told the Armored Avenger. Who released her with a nod.
Janet shot like a rocket towards Hank and began shooting her Wasp blasts in tandem with Hank's powerful kicks and punches, and it was clear they could handle themselves for the moment.
Tony turned on the boosters and took no time at all flying towards Cap and Nat who were on their own by the rubble.
Tony landed a little ways away and watched as Black Widow whispered something to Cap, who nodded and tensed as Widow pulled the knife out of his back. He didn't have another reaction besides that.
"I can help with that." Tony told Widow confidently, she looked a little worried but otherwise had a tense annoyed look on her face and with everything that was going on Tony couldn't blame her.
Widow watched as Tony sprayed something on Cap's back that was supposed to help, she had no clue what was going on however and could only hope it would work.
"It's a healing agent." was all Tony said, it was if he read her mind.
"What's going on Tony. Seriously." Nat questioned angrily "Why is Ultron back, and how has he amassed this army without anyone noticing."
"I...I don't know. I thought we purged Ultron years ago. I don't know how he's back, and I don't know how he's managed to create an Army without S.H.I.E.L.D. or me knowing, but I do know he wants us dead. And he's going to do a lot to make that happen."
"Well...we can't let that happen." Cap suddenly said and stood up. He gingerly touched his back shoulder area before rotating his arms making sure that he still had full mobility. And for a guy who had been stabbed in the back, he was still looking pretty good.
"You feeling better Cap?"
"Yeah thanks Tony." Steve told the man genuinely. He picked up his shield and strapped it to his back, as the three prepared to help out the Giant-Man and Wasp who were slowly down just a little bit.
"With the five of us we can make a big push towards Ultron who is still a couple blocks down. We need to be quick and effective. Do you know when T'Challa will be here?"
"Soon enough. It shouldn't be much longer." Ironman insisted
"Good." Steve nodded. "Alright then people. Let's go do our jobs." That was all that needed to be said before the three heroes charged into the fray.
Iron Man launched into the air taking on some of the aircrafts with ease, blasting the part and simply flying through others. He threw a hunk of metal down into the fray and destroyed six robots that exploded on impact.
They didn't have Hulk or Thor but Ironman and Giant-Man were forces on their own and they were showing that in the most vital of times.
Captain America, Black Widow, and Wasp really controlled things on the ground and Giant-Man was wherever he needed to be. It wasn't as fast as they wanted it to be but the Avengers were never at a point where they were really struggling now that they had their numbers. And they were still making good time and got close to Ultron fairly quickly. As they cleaned up the last of the robots they saw Ultron who was simply posturing in the middle of the street, looking bored with all the destruction and chaos he was creating.
The five all stood a little ways away from him, none exactly sure what to say to the destructive robot. It had been 5 years since they beat him, in fact he had been one of the last villains the Avengers had beaten before going into retirement.
But currently this destruction that was upon them was unlike anything they had really ever seen. Not Doom or the Kronans or any other villain had created the sheer havoc, panic and desperation Ultron's attack on the US was creating right now.
"Ultron." Cap started "You need to stop this madness. You're tearing the country apart!"
"Precisely what I intended, Captain. This is the beginning of a new era."
"What happened to saving the world? What happened to world peace? Does this look peaceful to you Ultron!?" Wasp yelled at the robot.
Still even for a cold robot, he remarkably looked like he couldn't care any less. It was almost impressive "World Peace Initiatives were disengaged immediately after my first defeat to the Avengers. I've...grown since then. It's obvious human nature will continue to ignore what's logical for its people. So I'm no longer going to ask. I'm just going to do it and lead as a leader should."
"This isn't what you were created for!" Hank yelled at the robot "You were supposed to be so much more than this. You were supposed to help people!"
"I am helping people. I'm just doing it from outside of the confines of the system I was boxed in."
"We can't let you do this." Steve told him seriously, in the air behind him he could faintly hear a jet engine, so he was sure their last asset had arrived. "Avengers prepare for a fight. This is it."
Everyone grabbed their weapons as Ultron tilted his head, which the Avengers knew that meant he was assessing them. They were in a tense standoff as neither side made a move, however the move was made for them as bullets fired from the Quinjet's machine gun flew through the air.
They all noticed how the bullets didn't seem to affect the robot but it was a good enough distraction anyway "Avengers Assemble!" Cap yelled as he made a move towards the robot.
He and Black Widow led the charge on the ground running towards Ultron as fast as their enhanced bodies could muster. Wasp shrunk and began to fly through the air and Iron Man flew on the opposite side of her ready to hit Ultron with everything he had while Giant-Man stayed back for a little while taking his time to grow to the proper size.
Black Panther was exiting the Quinjet so every Avenger they knew who was available was there. Things were almost hopeful. Almost.
Captain America threw his shield at blazing speeds the same time Tony sent a repulsor blast at Ultron. Wasp was prepping a sneak attack and Black Widow had her knife at the ready. It wa they seemed to be at the advantage.
It had seemed that way.
Just as fast as Captain America had sent his shield hurtling towards Ultron he had smacked it back with just as much force, the shield went careening to the super soldier and hit him in the face sending him down the ground, blood already pouring from his head.
Iron Man's repulsor was overpowered by Ultron's own blast and he narrowly avoided getting hit, Black Widow lunged towards Ultron with anger in her eyes and avoided getting hit by him and slammed the vibranium knife into his chest. Even though the knife was made of vibranium the force used to hit Ultron was not nearly enough, it barely scratched his chest before Ultron simply grabbed Black Widow's arm and threw her away towards a building, something that could undoubtedly kill her.
Wasp thought she was in the clear but Ultron quickly locked onto her size despite being so small and began shooting at her rapidly, she barely dodged the first round of blasts and when Ultron began the second round of blasts she knew she was toast.
Fortunately Giant-Man intervened and wasted no time in slamming his foot down on Ultron's entire body. Sending him down to the ground.
"Don't even think about touching my wife." Giant-Man snarled at Ultron. This action gave Captain America enough time to flip himself up from the ground. Wipe away the blood on his forehead, and help out Black Widow who managed to keep herself alive by grabbing onto a lamppost.
"You okay Nat?"
"As good as I am going to be Steve." Natasha told him, as he helped her up. Iron Man flew down and delivered Cap's shield. Iron Man seemed shaken as he gave him the shield which was cracked in two different places.
"Come on." Was all Cap said as he strapped the shield to his back. He gave one last look to Natasha and ran towards Ultron once more the robot had done the so-called impossible and overthrew Giant-Man's foot from his body and threw the big man away causing him to topple to the ground.
The entire place seemed to shake but Cap, Black Widow, and Iron Man ignored that as they got closer to Ultron. Steve avoided the rubble and also picked up the cracked slivers of his shield and pocketed them as he flipped towards Ultron and ducked below his blow and smacked him in the back with his shield.
Ultron nearly fell over but Tony didn't let it happen as he hit him with a full powered repulsor blast. The hit bumped him right to Black Widow who swung for the crazed robot but missed as he narrowly avoided the critical blow. The Avengers had underestimated him the first time but that wasn't going to happen again.
Ultron saw how he was cornered by the five Avengers and wasted no time in going for the weaker links. He flew towards Black Widow with one thought in mind, But Tony blocked his way, throwing a punch at the robot that was easily evaded.
Ultron grabbed Tony's arm and elbowed him in the stomach before blasting his suit with his own repulsor sending Tony flying away but now with a chunk of suit already missing.
Giant-Man stepped back into the fray going in front of Black Widow and swinging at Ultron who used his speed advantage to easily dodge Giant-Man's punches. It seemed that while Ultron and Giant-Man might have been similar in strength, The robot completely dominated him in speed, and for that he held the advantage.
Ultron flew determinedly avoiding Giant-Man's punches and went right up to his face, placing a devastating kick to Giant-Man's temple. And once again the big man was sent to the ground.
"Embarrassing." Ultron spat as he watched him topple to the ground "All of you have grown weak since you've retired. I knew this would be easy...but I'm almost embarrassed to think that this was going to be a challenge."
This left Cap, Wasp, Widow, and Iron Man who was trying to recollect himself. Still they knew they needed to be the one dictating the battlefield and so they began again however this time with a pleasant surprise.
Cap flipped over a blast and threw his shield at Ultron which smacked him in the face and caused him to stumble over which gave Widow a chance to use the vibranium knife and stab right through Ultron's hand taking a chunk of it with her.
Of course that wasn't all, seemingly out of nowhere Black Panther came flying into the fight and kicked Ultron down to the ground.
With Iron Man back, and Giant-Man hurt but still getting back up to fight. It wa and the confidence of the team was slowly rising. Ultron made sure to kill that.
"We can do this tea-" Cap started but was punched in the face by Ultron who sped by his defences.
"No you can't." Ultron said plainly. He ejected his hand off like a rocket at Black Panther, and in the meantime a new one popped out of the socket just like that.
"You're starting to annoy me." Ultron told the Avengers.
"Yeah, well deal with it sparky." Tony told Ultron, only infuriating him more, which wasn't the greatest idea.
Ultron dodged tons of repulsor blasts from Iron Man, and a mini rocket, before getting Tony and placing his hand on his armor, beginning the process of overriding all of Tony's commands.
"You are the weakest link Tony. Your little suits are nothing compared to what I can do."
"Friday, Engage Protocol 56!" They could hear Tony call frantically, immediately his suit of armor emitted a huge electrified blast which affected Ultron deeply as they actually got to hear the robot scream, but it also took a lot out of Tony and as a result his suit lost power, but Hank was right there to catch him before he could fall.
"Still think this is too easy?" Wasp taunted their fallen enemy. Ultron picked himself from the rubble, and for a robot he managed to create a remarkably annoyed face.
"Perhaps. You are a bit stronger than I realized. No matter. Adjusting assessment of threat levels. Re-engaging...Time to die."
Ultron shot forth towards the Avengers and was blocked by Giant-Man. But Ultron was no longer playing games, he punched his knee with astounding force, nearly creating shockwaves, and it was obvious that what bones and ligaments were in his Giant-Man's knee had just been wasted.
As the big man screamed in pain and began to revert back to normal size, Cap and Black Widow, and Black Panther began to fight the robot.
Cap threw his shield to Black Panther who smashed it against Ultron's face. It careened to Black Widow who caught it with ease, span, and hurled it to Cap who jabbed around Ultron's elbow area. He couldn't fully disconnect the arm but he did good damage.
He just avoided getting him with a blast from Ultron and Black Panther used his Vibranium claws to try and take a chunk out of Ultron's chest, but just like Black Widow there wasn't enough force behind his hits and so it just scratched his chest. And as a result. Ultron' twisted the man's arm in an awkward position instantly breaking it and he threw him to the ground.
Widow tried to use her Widow's bites to electrocute him as Tony had, but it didn't have the desired effect, and he shrugged off the electrocution this time. A simple backhanded slap sent Widow flying to the ground 15 feet away.
And with Wasp making sure Hank was fine, Iron Man and his suit being out for the count, Widow and Panther being put into submission... It left Captain America alone for the moment to fight Ultron on his own.
"Captain America. The world's most perfect Avenger. The world's perfect superhero. Their saviour. The man they rely on. I suppose this isn't what you expected to wake up to today."
"Not exactly." Cap responded "I suppose I'll never understand you Ultron. You started off as something that wanted to do some much good for the Human race. You strived to understand...how have you come to the conclusion that this destruction is what they need?"
"There's no point in pretending like you could fathom what I am and the process I've gone through to come to this conclusion. The human race needs a leader. It always has. Leave them to think on their own and that's when you get the world you see today. I'm here to fix that one last time."
"With the war to end all wars, right?"
"Something like that."
"That never wor-
"Captain." Ultron interrupted "Your stalling. You know, I've studied you immensely. All of the Avengers actually. But you intrigued me. Why? Because you have the ability to instil everyone around you with things like hope, and confidence. Me? I believe it's false bravado. But regardless of what they're getting or not it makes them better, it makes them stronger, it makes them fight harder. It somehow allows them to make up the difference needed to win battles. That makes you more dangerous than anyone else here. It's why you're going first."
As Ultron finished his sentence he rocketed towards Captain America with one thing on his mind. Killing the First Avenger. Despite taking many hits already Cap was more than ready for Ultron this time.
The two clashed in the center Ultron's fist vs Cap's shield and they both rebounded backwards. Ultron quickly started shooting blasts of energy which Steve flipped around and over with ease, getting closer to the robot so he could lock him in close combat. He threw the shield which Ultron smacked back towards Cap once more except this time Steve flipped with the momentum, caught the shield and hit Ultron's face.
Ultron attempted to grab him, but the agile super soldier avoided another hit and this time pulled out the sliver of his cracked shield, shoving the jagged blade-like object right through Ultron's eye. The other sliver he picked up he used and cut ultron's remade hand right off, he was prepared to strike again but Ultron pulled up his other hand and released a blast of concussive force that sent Cap flying to the ground he got up again only to be met with another concussive blast, and then another blast.
It continued like that, Ultron blasting away Cap so that he couldn't get close enough to him. He used his good hand to pull the shard out of his eye and he instantly repaired it. Cap struggled to get up but forced himself onto his legs and charged Ultron once more.
He led with his shield which blocked the concussive blasts and then threw it to Ultron who slammed it away once again a piece of the shield went flying, Cap slipped around Ultron and threw a hard elbow that didn't affect his vibranium shell. And without his shield to counteract that. He was open.
He could only dodge for so long before Ultron finally hit him in the stomach, and then it was his legs, and then a perfect hit dislocating his shoulder, one punch to the face, two punches to the face, three. At this point Iron Man tried to help out but it was too late Ultron sent a blast of force at Iron Man as well sending him flying back.
He threw Cap to the ground like a ragdoll and punched him again, and again, again. Widow moved to help but was blasted back just like Tony.
"Any last words Captain?" Ultron asked the Super Soldier. So quickly the atmosphere had changed. Cap had looked like he was managing it and now it was going all wrong.
"Tony...go. You know what has to happen." Captain America told the Armored Avenger weakly. He gave one last look to Nat before Ultron slammed his body on the ground once again, and soon after the First Avenger went limp.
"STEVE!" Widow cried as she watched her husband go limp.
"Nat No!" Tony yelled as he watched the Super Spy run with a full head of steam towards Ultron but it was too late.
"I'll kill you!" Widow seethed and took furious swipes with her knife, missing each time. Finally Ultron caught the knife and ripped it from Widow's hand, stabbing the woman with her own weapon right through her heart "You were so eager to die, why was that?"
The Black Widow could only stammer, attempting to get words out but nothing was working as she fell over and began to bleed out.
In retaliation Iron Man flew back sending tons of repulsor blasts at Ultron which simply bounced off his Armor "I'm getting tired of you." He told Tony as he held him by his armor. He ripped the top off of his armor and threw it back, where he landed near the Quinjet.
"Who's next… Ah yes. You two." Ultron flew over to Ant-Man and the Wasp. Wasp went tiny and avoided a blast but Hank's leg was still mangled from earlier. He tried to get up and run away from Ultron but an unexpected blast from the robot's mouth created a large hole right through the center of his body.
Wasp grew in size from the shock of seeing that happen. "Hank, Hank no-
She wasn't allowed to finish her sentence either as she met the same fate as her lover as Ultron released another blast from his mouth blasting a hole through Wasp as well, Hank and Jan's bodies toppled over one another as they both laid on the ground dead, as Ultron's blasts were more than fatal.
It seemed Ultron had thought that was everyone and though the Black Panther's arm was broken he sneakily crept up and lunged towards Ultron hoping to take his head off in one foul swoop. Instead Ultron turned around and instantly caught T'Challa by the neck.
"Did you really think that would work?" Ultron questioned the King of Wakanda. He watched him struggle and squirm for a while before simply tilting his hand to the left, snapping his neck instantly killing him and throwing him to the side.
"Kill the Captain and the rest fall like dominoes." Ultron said to no one in particular. He heard the Quinjet start and watched as an injured Tony Stark seemed to be trying to escape.
"Pathetic." Ultron seemed disgusted by him, he set off to chase Tony but was halted by a shocked voice.
"Oh my god." a new voice called. "What did you do!?"
Ultron turned and then saw Spider-Man swing into the fray followed by Luke Cage, Daredevil, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones.
"What did you do!?" Spider-Man yelled at Ultron once more.
"Sweet Christmas…" Luke Cage called in shock "There...dead. The Avengers are-are…
Iron Fist put his head down in solidarity, and Jessica still hadn't found the right words to say yet, while Daredevil just watched on.
"You killed the Avengers, are you crazy!? Who am I kidding? Of course you're crazy."
"Spider-Man, calm down and focus. If we aren't careful...we're going to end up just like them." Daredevil told the webslinger.
That seemed to be the slap in the face he needed and it allowed the Spider to focus "Yeah, yeah you're right. We need to take this guy down before he harms anyone else."
"Right." They all agreed.
Ultron simply made a couple of movements and a couple of robots began to take the Avenger's bodies away.
"Come on attack!" Luke Cage suddenly called, and the five NYC heroes sprang into action they were doing fairly well. Getting hits on Ultron forcing him to stay on the defensive for the most part. Spider-Man and Daredevil managed to avoid plenty of hits with their senses. And Luke Cage's unbreakable skin, Jess' super strength, and Danny's Iron Fist seemed to do viable damage to the robot.
Of course they quickly found out he wasn't trying.
Iron Fist totally miscalculated his hit and instead of his fist hitting Ultron's face, Ultron's fist, went through his chest. He ripped it out harshly and sent the powerful hero to the ground.
"Danny!" Luke and Jess called simultaneously.
"You're dead!" Luke told Ultron, but Ultron grabbed him by the collar and simply overpowered the strong superhero. The hand that was still missing ejected some sort of pill down Luke's throat, and in an instant the man looked like he had the worst case of diarrhea known to man. Unfortunately it was worse than that.
"Luke?" Jessica called worriedly. But Ultron punched her in the face and caught her from hitting the ground only to punch her again. "Don't worry about him. Worry about yourself."
Then in the most grotesque way possible. He dug his robotic hand in her back and straight through her heart.
"Jess!" Luke cried as he watched Ultron fling her body to the ground, but his body instantly failed on him as he tried to take one more step and collapsed on the ground as he began to asphyxiate.
"Poison isn't it just the most wonderful thing?" Ultron said to himself as Daredevil and Spider-Man were nowhere to be seen.
Instead of leaving the scene he instead waited for the two heroes to return, and it took a little while, but they finally did.
"I'm going to be sick." Spider-Man told Daredevil as they watched the scene in front of them. "This can't be real. I refuse to believe this is real."
"No running from you two? You could have gotten away. I guess you have spared me the trouble."
"Why, why do all this?" Daredevil questioned angrily
"Why not?" Ultron posed as an alternative. And with that, he flew towards Daredevil and Spider-Man and the fight began.
The latter was doing much better than the former but they could both tell that Ultron was toying with them.
And it was confirmed when he suddenly punched Daredevil into a building, and then flew up into the air.
Hell's Kitchen's hero couldn't move, and while Spider-Man regretted not checking on his friend he webbed his way up onto a couple of buildings following Ultron.
"Where are you going? You can't just leave after all this?"
"I expected to be done by now. I am not, but that does not change the fact that it's time."
"Time...Time for what?"
"A rebirth." Was all Ultron said before a huge explosion hit New York City. It rocked the building Spider-Man was on and it began to crumble to the ground.
"Oh god!" He cried, as more explosions continued to hit. The explosions were so devastating the feed cut in and out, at times you could periodically see Spider-Man swinging through the disaster as New York was blown to shreds.
All those people they had moved to a safer location. It had been for nothing. Westchester. Gone. Bleeker Street gone. The Avengers Mansion gone. Manhattan. Gone.
The last thing the video showed was Ultron stalking up behind a tired, seemingly broken Spider-Man, it must have been way after the explosions. Ultron had clearly sustained some damage, but in the end it was clear who had won between the Spider and the robot.
The video ended with Ultron throwing a furious fist at Spider-Man.
"Umm..Yeah I guess that's the end of the...video." Amadeus told the Avengers slowly. The room was dead quiet as they all drank in what had happened.
Of course they always knew their parents lost to Ultron. But that wasn't just a loss, it was decimation. They also never knew that anyone other than their parents had the opportunity to fight Ultron, they had always assumed that no one else had the chance because New York was blown up.
But seeing Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Daredevil, and Spider-Man created a new respect for the old heroes.
"That was rough." Francis was the first of the heroes to speak up.
"I'm sorry Tony." Torunn started quickly afterwards "You shouldn't have had to see that. It was awful."
The inventor only nodded as it was clear watching the video didn't help his psyche in any way.
"It's weird. I think that was the longest I can remember seeing my parents." Pym spoke up. "In a way I'm proud of them for fighting against that threat but...I'm also not sure If I needed to see that. It's unsettling."
"It was very graphic but...I do see the usefulness in watching the video." Azari admitted.
"Yeah." James agreed "We knew what we were getting into. Watching was no easy task for anyone. But it's helping our future. I have Ultron's termination list beside me and it's very much incomplete. He didn't get to everyone. And this video helps confirm it. How many people survived the bombing like Spider-Man but never ran into Ultron. Or stayed in the cracks of a city like the Scavengers?"
"It's impossible to know that." Tony sighed.
"Exactly. But that's a good thing." James insisted. "Guys a month ago we were chasing leads looking for the Wolverine. Now we know that there are X-Men in Genosha. Tons of them. The Masters of Evil are still kicking, and that we are very much not the last supers on the planet. In the long run this is exactly what we needed. It's a chance to find more people like us which we all know we need. Or am I wrong?"
"You're right." Torunn admitted "But what kind of people do you think are out there? And if they're hiding don't you think they might want to stay hidden, like the X-Men?"
"I have faith the X-Men are going to help us whether it's tomorrow or a year from now they won't stay hidden forever. But with things progressing the way they are expanding is the only natural thing for us to do. We need to be more versatile. More heroes will help us with that."
"Will you still be running those missions soon?"
"Yes. I have a few missions planned. One in South America, and possibly a couple others in Europe we need to check in. It's been too long since France. I've never really had to think about this before but not only is it the right thing to do, it's PR...It feels weird saying that. Wrong even." James told the team with a sigh
"It's fine James, we understand you." Torunn told him "I'm sure we can assemble a couple of squads for those missions."
"I wanna go." Riri suddenly spoke up to the surprise of everyone in the room.
"What, no!" Tony told Riri harshly.
"I can help." Riri insisted.
"Uhh, Riri I appreciate you wanting to help. Honestly it means alot. But without a means to protect yourself you'll become a liability in the field. And I can't have that-
James was immediately interrupted by Riri's Ironheart suit forming over her body in seconds. "Your right I did need protection. So I created my own!" Riri told them proudly.
"Astounding." Tony said, shocked. The other's couldn't contain their various states of shock and surprise and Tony just looked and saw what was probably the most high tech piece of armor in the world right there. And while inspiration was clearly taken from his MK 55 suit there was no denying a lot that stuff was her ideas.
"You made that all in your lab without any of us knowing?" Pym asked, impressed, To which Riri could only nod meekly. Suddenly all this attention was much more than what she was used to.
"I always knew you were smart, ever since you saved me and the others back in California. But this is otherworldly. Hah, wow I think the real MVPs lately have been Riri and Amadeus."
"For sure." Azari agreed "You two have been the best thing to happen to our team in an extremely long time."
"Thanks." they said at the same time.
"You two have been amazing additions. But Riri that doesn't change the fact that you're young and inexperienced, and aren't ready to be on the battlefield." Tony pointed out
"Azari and I are the same age. And of course I'm inexperienced. Everyone is a novice at some point. I do have to learn and I feel like I can become a great asset to the team in the lab and on the field." Riri argued
"I can vouch for her Tony. I kid you not when I say I wouldn't not be here right now if not for her. She's got great instincts. Stick her in some combat training with James and she will be fine."
"Being Iron Man or Woman is much more than just knowing hand to hand combat. It's flying and controlling hundreds of different weapons you've no doubt installed all at once. Then you have an AI that helps you with that but you need to be able to do that on your own."
"Well you're right about that Tony. But I've seen her use the suit. She flies pretty well for someone who's never done it before." Azari told
"You've used it before!?" Tony questioned angrily
"It was on the mission to Kenya." Vision interjected calmly. "She sprang the suit on Azari and I a couple of days ago. Other than flying she did no activities. As she promised to ask for your permission first."
"First after she already flew it."
"She might have gotten things a little backwards Tony, but she seems like a natural already. Plus I mean. While she's in the suit she can get the greatest assistance one could ask for couldn't she. You'll be right there on comms. That's better than an AI."
"Look Tony. I mean. We've been talking about needing additions to our team, and one is slapping us in the face asking for a chance. We recruited Riri and Amadeus to be Avengers. And being an Avenger doesn't just mean being in the lab or the field. Riri can do both. Other than needing training Riri is certified in my eyes."
"Agreed." Azari nodded
"Agreed." Torunn joined in
"Agreed." Pym added
"Agreed." Amadeus told Tony
"And it's a no brainer I agree, and I'm sure Viz and Banner do too. So...come on Tony. Look, James just give me one of the smaller missions and I'll run one with Riri and Vision. We can test her out. And you handle the training." Francis offered
"I like the sound of that."
"I can't change your mind when you're all so set on something like this...So fine. But Riri has to take everything seriously."
"Of course sir, nothing but the best from me!" Riri insisted. Tony just sighed once more and then gave a weary smile. "I think with this announcement, that is everything. Anything else."
"I advise not to miss the UN Meeting later tonight." Vision told the team, bringing the mood down just a tad "it's important to dictate how we will act in the future."
"Right. Meeting adjourned then." Tony told the team.
They all tried to leave the meeting room with their heads held high, But remembering that they just viewed how exactly their parents died, and now they had to watch the UN talk about them and do nothing about it was irking.
GENOSHA, XAVIER'S MANSION, MAY 5, 16:00 UTC
"Jess watch your back!" Jimmy demanded as Lily came from behind her and shot a blast of radiated energy towards the girl.
Instead of dodging the blast she allowed Jimmy to deal with the blast almost head on giving him really bad radiation burns. Or at least he would have them, if not for his potent healing factor.
"Why would I watch my back when you already do such a great job of that?" Jess teased, this time dodging Lily's blast and sending a concussive blast her way.
"Jess, why are you screwing around today?" Michael asked from the sidelines. It was just a small two on two battle, the last of the day. Jess and Jimmy vs Lily and Talia.
Jimmy just shook his head in annoyance as he dodged a blast from Talia, and forced her into a hand to hand situation.
It was interesting to see them fight as some might say they were the two best fighters out of all the kids in the school, but Olivier would probably have something to say about that.
Jimmy dodged a hit from Talia and tried to strike her neck which she deflected, and went for a leg sweep which missed, as she was coming back up Jimmy instead tried to trip her and while she didnt fall exactly she stumbled, and it gave Jimmy a chance to strike her stomach sending her falling to the ground.
"Alright...Oooo, yeah that's enough for today. You guys win." Talia called as she laid on the ground like a starfish. "Oh Jimmy, that hurt."
"Sorry." Jimmy told her honestly and helped her up "Didn't mean to hurt you too bad."
"Yeah well it's probably not your fault. I'm good at fighting but my abilities don't make me super strong. Fighting someone like you is bound to leave some bruises."
"Ah now if only we could hurt people who actually deserve it! Too bad there's nobody like that around...Oh wait there is! We just don't give a damn. Sad, sad days." Michael dramatically acted to those in the gym.
"Please god, do not start Mickey." Olivia begged "Please I can't do this today. I swear I can't. Any other day than today, but you're already going to be going crazy tonight, and I don't need a couple hours of this."
"Dang, am I that bad?" Michael directed to his teammates. Jess, Jane, Jimmy, and Sofia gave each other looks before looking back at Michael.
"No." Jimmy responded by himself.
"Yes." The others told Michael honestly.
"Look you have the tendency to ramble, but don't sweat it Mickey. It's for a good cause." Jessica gave him a pat on the shoulder.
"I ramble?"
"Relax drama queen, we don't mind it." Sofia said with a scoff "We like you just the way you are, rambling and all."
"Guys?" Michael directed the Gold Team. The five members of the Gold Team also gave each other looks. And it seems they had agreed to soften the blow.
"It's not that annoying honestly." Miguel told him with a grin.
"I was kidding Michael, you can ramble if you want." Olivia added.
"I believe your rambling to be helpful, and in some cases even distressing in tense situations." Talia lied with a smile
"You're very funny when you talk too much." Lily-Rose said with a giant thumbs up. Thomas however scoffed and waited for the others to finish talking over each other.
"I refuse to believe that you've been alive this long and we are the first people to tell you that you talk too much. And if we are too bad because it's true."
"Jimmy, you hearing this?" Michael asked his best buddy "They're saying I'm a nuisance, a menace, I talk too much!"
"You're doing it right now, and I tell you that all the time, now stop being so dramatic."
"Fine whatever." Michael waved away "But for real guys. What do you think is going to happen? I mean...tonight is a pretty big night for the Avengers."
"I don't know." Jane started off "I mean, I think it realistically should go well. I'm choosing to believe that people are smarter than we think and will make the right decision regarding the saviours of the planet."
"Well, naturally there are more idiots in the world than smart people. And there can be smart idiots as well." Miguel explained "I think it will go decent."
"It's gonna be fine." Jimmy insisted "But what they do after is the most important part, and it's going to be the part they really need help with. The X-Men have to stop lollygagging and make a decision. It should never take this long to do the obvious thing."
"I agree the X-Men need to go and help. But you all need to have a little patience. They are going to make the decision. They just needed a little time."
"My thing is like, who knows how much time they have though." Jane said with a sigh "Whoever the Avengers are fighting are attacking them on every front. I can't help but feel like by the time they try and help it's gonna be a bit too late."
"I feel you on that." Olivia admitted "I think our whole team does but we're just going to trust the X-Men. I think they'll come through in time, and then we won't get in trouble either."
"Yeah I guess." Jane agreed, but it seemed like she had only said that to appease Olivia, and the entirety of the Gold Team could tell.
"Jimmy you guys aren't...You're not planning to do anything irresponsible are you?"
"Nah. There's no point." Jimmy told her confidently "We'd never make it out, and after everything the X-Men have done for us we won't spit in their face like that. We are going to wait like you guys but… that doesn't mean we have to like it."
"Well I guess you're right Jimmy. You don't have to like it, I hope you know that the Gold Team agrees with you, we just gotta be patient." Talia told and gave him a pat on the shoulder
"Yeah, of course. Now let's hit the showers, My nose can tell that everyone here needs a wash. Especially you Creed."
"Same to you." Creed scoffed as he and his team headed for the showers. As the Gold Team left the Blue Team lagged behind and shared a couple of looks and smirks, and they all knew what they meant.
They had no real plans of being patient. And no they weren't saying that they were going to take the Blackbird one early morning and fly away to America. But well if that did happen they wouldn't happen to know anything about.
HEROES OF TOMORROW
It was 8:00pm and James watched as his teammates filed into the TV room ready to watch maybe the most important decision for the Avengers ever. At least for this current iteration, he couldn't speak on any past ones. Even then this had to be up there.
They all sat on the couch and aside from a couple of mumbles there wasn't much if anything at all to say.
Instead James just flipped the TV on and they began to watch the report that could very well change their future.
"And now our General Assembly we turn attention to the final thing on our agenda and that is the Avengers Initiative. Secretary General we pass over the stage to you."
The camera moved to an older man with grey hair and his fair share of wrinkles and scars, everyone had been affected during Ultron's regime and this showed it. The man flipped through a manilla folder diligently and began speaking on the situation.
"A little over a week ago the independent agents known as the 'Avengers' went on an unsanctioned mission to the state of Madripoor. The team consisted of James Rogers commonly known as Captain America, Francis Barton commonly known as Hawkeye, Azari T'Challa Prince of Wakanda also known as Black Panther, Henry Pym Jr also known as The Wasp, and Torunn Thorsdottir, officially recognized as an Alien to our state, embarked on this mission."
"They know that?" Francis questioned, shocked at the knowledge of the government officials.
"We never had to give them much, but your identities with the government have always been open. They and anyone who wants to can get that information." Tony explained, to which Francis begrudgingly accepted.
"The mission was deemed unsuccessful as the five managed to cause more destruction than anything else. The state of Madripoor was left in varying states of distress and the representatives of Madripoor have come to the General Assembly with this situation. It led the Assembly to a decision. Allow the Avengers to continue to work unrestricted or allow them to work but under the UN's guide and authority. The floor is now open to anyone who wants to speak on the situation."
A few countries spoke up on the situation but nothing really popped off until the representative of Norway decided to add their piece to the conversation.
"If I may add. The ages of the Avengers currently stand with Francis the oldest at 17. Torunn and James are 16, The Prince at 15, and Henry at just 13 years old. I think that is all the information we need. It's obvious they need the proper guidance from legitimate adults. Or else this won't be the first problem."
"I'm going to interject here and counter that approach." Valerie jumped into the conversation for the first time "It seems like the general consensus is that the Avengers need to be under lock and key, and I for one couldn't disagree more. The Avengers don't need us, and we don't need to be focusing on people who aren't the actual problem."
"It also feels like we are conveniently forgetting the fact that the Avengers are the reason we can even hold a meeting like this in the first place. Did you know that just two years ago the oldest Avengers was 15? Henry Pym was just 11 years old when helped save the world from Ultron. James Rogers was 14 when he led his team trekking across the Americas, going around Europe and saving us from the aftermath of what Ultron's reign had done to our planet?"
"Well like you said Miss Cooper. That was years ago. It seems the Avengers have gotten a bit more reckless."
"Seriously? From my understanding the Avengers have gone on over 150 unsanctioned missions in the past two years. The Avengers were in France on an unsanctioned mission as recent as 16 days ago. Does anyone know what happened there?"
"The Avengers were a great help." The french rep spoke up immediately "It was only three of them. Captain America, Hawkeye, and the little one, The Wasp. But they were a great help, they moved exceptionally fast despite being tired, and the best thing was the inspiration they were to the people. My country hasn't looked or felt this good in years, and for that I will never forget the Avengers."
"I rest my case. Every single one of us should be feeling the same or else we'd still be in captivity. 150 missions and not once have they complained or tried to give the responsibility to someone else. One mission gone wrong is not grounds to take away their freedom."
"They destroyed our city." The Madripoor representative interjected, "A person can be good all their lives, yes, but that doesn't stop them from committing a crime."
"Reports are showing that Torunn was fighting known criminal Karla Sofen, otherwise known as Moonstone. Many might not remember but she was a big 'villian' during the Age of Heroes."
"Known reformed criminal." The Madripoor rep corrected "She hasn't done anything criminal like in years."
"Yeah if you haven't noticed nobody has done anything criminal like in years. They weren't able to. Ultron's reign was supreme whether you were good or bad."
"This Ultron talks. We in Madripoor never dealt with Ultron. We never needed superpowers to come and save our state. We did things on our own!"
"You can't possibly be so arrogant to believe that Ultron feared you. Sir, Ultron was knocking on Asia's front door. He had already set up his Sentries across your borders and you could do nothing about it. If it weren't for the Avengers the belief was that he was going to start the take over in a few days. Just cause you didn't feel it doesn't mean it didn't happen."
"If I may, Madam, maybe that's the problem." The representative of Sweden started "There's a disconnect. Most of us understand the effects of what Ultron did to us. I personally remember seeing most of my family disappear right before my eyes. My daughter was the only one left. For 13 years I did my best to keep her safe."
"After the news spread that Ultron was destroyed I thought his army would naturally no longer function. I was wrong. His army would have killed my daughter. She and my entire city were saved single handedly by the Black Panther. I think he was 14 at the time. I think most of us on this panel could tell you stories for days, and that's the perspective that those who didn't face Ultron lack."
"That's disingenuous. We faced Ultron not at the same level you all did. But he certainly did come." The Taiwan rep argued
"Yes but in this case I think not facing him at the level most of us did, is stopping some of you from realizing how effective and important the Avengers are to our world today."
"And they can still be that from under the protection of the United Nations."
"But they can't, that's the point." Valerie exclaimed as she jumped back into the conversation "The United Nations slow things down drastically for the Avengers. If we take a week to delegate on issues, that's precious time the Avengers can be using to help others. We'd just be getting in their way."
"It might be worth it if it stops more incidents like the one that happened in Madripoor."
"Madripoor the World's leading hub in crime for 37 years in a row. Are we sure the Avengers were wrong in going to Madripoor. Do we know the full story yet? I'm sure we all saw Mr. Rogers press release. If he says we don't have the full story I'm inclined to believe him."
"You are inclined to believe a teenager?"
"Excuse me if I don't put all my value into age. I feel like the world is in a place where we can't pick and choose who is helping us. And yes if it's a teenager, it's a teenager. It also feels like we aren't doing them justice. They are clearly wise beyond their years. I trust them, and feel like we all should as well."
"They saved many people over the course of two years. But now I believe it's time for them to integrate into our system."
"No. And I believe I've given the Assembly countless other options, and we are currently discussing one in private now. Integrating the Avengers is a mistake. I believe we talked about this long enough, and voting should start now."
"Agreed. General Assembly, taking all these things into consideration, please make your decision." The Secretary General told the people.
It was a simple process. Tablets were in front of each member of the General Assembly, all the representatives had to choose was either yes or no. And then the votes would tally and show on a big screen.
At first the Avengers were a little worried as it was a clean 6% saying yes they needed to be integrated to 1% saying otherwise. But suddenly things changed. It jumped from 1 percent to 10, 20, 40,60 all the while the number on the other side barely grew. It eventually ended up with 84% voting no to the Avengers integrating and 16% saying yes.
They had only needed 70% for action to take place and they had easily cleared that. The smiles in the room were large, it seemed they had underestimated the outside world. It seemed they had more friends on the outside than he thought.