Avenging Justice 2:

Caught Between an Ultron and a Doomsday

Part XXVIII

Earth, South Korea, Dr. Cho's facility, Exact Location Redacted

The enthralled Dr. Cho worked on the plans uploaded by Ultron. Somewhere deep inside, there was a wiggling though, an escapable itch. Something that was telling her that the whole escapade was off. Yet, her mind knew all was well. If her people hadn't fought him, they'd still be alive. He was here to help, to bring betterment to Humanity. He needed her cradle, so that nobody could stop him from his mission. Like those of the misguided Avengers, and his new body would be able to stand up to Superman, in case he didn't see reason either.

The body was taking shape, and what amazed her most was the process of bonding Vibranium to the cells. She had heard of a Mutant that had Adamantium to his bones, but that process had been dangerous and nearly killed the man. This though, it was almost as if the Vibranium had been meant for this such thing.

"Humans, given the gift of Vibranium and they make a frisbee out of it," Ultron bemoaned. "I will bring peace to this world."

Dr. Cho nodded, she still wasn't sure of the two others with Ultron. The young woman was pretty, but there was a dark cloud about her. The other, he seemed fidgety, impatient even, like he couldn't sit still. She knew they were friends, but how they would bring about Ultron's blessed age escaped her.

"The body is complete, now to transfer my soul," Ultron explained. "Watch over and make sure that nobody interrupts the process. Then we'll finally bring those criminals to justice."

Scarlet Witch nodded, since she was a girl, she had dreamed of getting revenge on Tony Stark. She could still see the unexploded missile, with the Stark logo on it. The pile of rubble where her parents had just been seconds ago, the knowledge that they were no more. Her brother beside her, both confused, scared and soon to be very angry. Since then, she'd worked to get Stark.

She looked down at the body Ultron had created. It was aesthetically pleasing, only briefly reminding her of Thor. Surprising was how human it looked, with how much he seemed to despise Humanity. In fact it was hard to think of it as an it, as the body had obviously been sculpted with masculine features.

While Dr. Cho pondered, Wanda started to doubt. So close to getting what they wanted, but something was nagging at her. Unlike most people, she couldn't read Ultron's mind. It put her on even keel with him, but as she reached out to the new body, she felt something.

Maybe it was the make up of the body, how closely it followed a Human nervous system and brain, but she felt something. She could see thoughts and feelings of this new creation, what was being transferred to him from Ultron. Like an open book she saw images and heard his voice, and she was horrified.

The images were of a ruined Earth. Cities laid waste, and a throne of skulls with a sitting Ultron, in his new body. Life removed, leaving only a garden planet, with Ultron as its ruler, and his legions of Ultron drones. She saw him leading his forces into the sky, and she saw untold slaughter on multitudes of planets. He wasn't the savior, rather an extinction even personified. They had made a mistake, a terrible, horrible mistake!

"You lied!" Wanda hissed as she sent a bolt of her power out towards Dr. Cho. "It was never about stopping the Avengers, Stark or your creator."

The robotic being felt something that very few, if any other being had experienced. His mind, his self was in two different places at once. He was in the new body, and in his old. He could see his new body, and his new body was starting to stir. Then he was snapped back to his original body and rage filled his mechanical body.

He rose and blasted at Dr. Cho, his anger getting the better of him. There was only one way the transfer could have been stopped, and it was with the aid of the good doctor. How she had broken the scepter's hold was clear, as he saw scarlet energy surround Wanda, and she was screeching something at him.

"I promised you revenge on Stark, and peace," Ultron explained. "With no Humans left to fight, the world will have peace. Mission accomplished."

Wanda slung a bolt of energy at him, "Monster!"

Ultron dodged, and sent a beam at her. The blur of her brother saved her, but he now didn't have much time. The Cradle's power wouldn't last forever, and he needed to finish transferring himself. They would have to do this on the road then. Several of his Ultron drones came in and they loaded the Cradle into an awaiting truck.

Overhead the whine of a Quinjet signaled the Avengers arrival. The team had split up. Tony and Bruce had headed to work on a way to keep Ultron from escaping, leaving Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Wasp and Ant-Man to engage just enough to rescue Dr. Cho and escape with her. It wasn't much of a plan, but they best they had at the moment.

Entering the building, Hank shrank down and flew through the building on one of his ants. Wasp went to scout around the building, and reported to others the truck leaving. Hawkeye kept the Quinjet in the air, while Black Widow readied the motorcycle in the back. She made sure double check her gear, an ingrained reaction to going into any situation. Meanwhile it was Captain America who found the wounded Dr. Cho.

"You must follow him," she said. "He's created a new body using the Cradle. If he moves his mind into it, let's say the result won't be pretty."

Captain America looked down at the hastily bandaged wound. She had stopped the bleeding, and it looked like she would be stable. It would still be wise to get her to a hospital, and he almost had Hawkeye land so they could load her. However, what she had told him, spurned a different reaction.

Now he knew what Ultron had wanted from her, and he had it. If they could get it back, it would slow them down, and maybe bring the fight to them. It'd be nice to have this metal monstrosity off his game. Maybe he'd make a mistake, something they could capitalize on. It was at least worth the shot, and things couldn't get worse, he hoped.

He smiled, "You're one tough lady, doc." Then into his comms, "We need an ambulance down here, Dr. Cho is hurt. I'm on my way back up, we need to find that truck."

Moments later they were on the truck, and Hawkeye expertly guided the Quinjet over it. This caused several of the other drives to give the truck a wide berth, which was good as Captain America leapt on top of the speeding truck. He was instantly met with two humanoid drones, and the battle was on.

Meanwhile Wasp fluttered around, and began blasting those drones attempting to flank Captain America. Ant-Man landed inside the truck and quickly took out two of the drones guarding the Cradle. Above the battle was fierce, but as Ant-Man got ready to set the cables, he took a moment to look at what his creation was making.

A new body, his creation was evolving, and he felt pride swell in his heart. This was the sum of all his work, his creation taking the next step, becoming perfect. The others couldn't see it, but he could. He reckoned he'd feel the same way about his son or daughter, looking upon them fully grown.

"You are magnificent," he said outland, his thoughts given voice. "What could you achieve if given the proper guidance?"

As if being summoned, Ultron appeared in the back of the truck, "Hello father." Then just as quickly he punched out, sending Ant-Man flying back. "And goodbye."

Ant-Man barely had time to start the shrinking process, and thus took only a portion of the hit. It still left him breathless, but luckily he was able to land safely. Then he felt Janet pull him up and they were both flying. His mind raced, he needed to get to Ultron and talk to him. He could still make this right!

Ultron turned to head back to the cab when a round shield bounded off his head and then off the wall of the enclosed trailer. He turned and found Captain America there. He swung, and the super soldier parried his blow, came up with a right cross. That would have worked on a Human, but for Ultron, it just hurt his opponent's hand. However, for the captain's next strike, he didn't repeat that error.

Wasp meanwhile dropped Ant-Man off, and they both took out the drones operating the truck. Quickly, Janet took control of the vehicle and commed to the other Avengers overhead. Worryingly though, more Ultron drones appeared on the sky. Even as the Quinjet overhead blasted them to pieces, more came.

"Take the wheel, Hank," Wasp said. "I'm going to assist the others."

Shrunk down, she flew up and blasted several of the drones. Below she saw Captain America's shield fall out of the truck. However, she heard him talking to the others, so he was fine, just without his signature implement. What she didn't expect was for the Quinjet to break off briefly, or Black Widow to make an incredibly dangerous jump out on the motorcycle. Then the jet was back with her in the air.

Blasting across the asphalt, Black Widow expertly weaved through traffic to reclaim the fallen shield. Without stopping she scooped it up and then immediately pushed her motorcycle to even higher speeds to catch up with the truck. Thanks to a HUD in her helmet, she was able to see where everyone's position was, and she set a haphazard course through the streets and alleyways.

Captain America was fighting without the shield, having to his agility and strength to take down Ultron. He sent the robot down several times, but he just wasn't doing enough damage to take him out. So, it was time to change the field. He hooked Ultron and threw the robot, only for Ultron to redirect the throw. Now, Captain America found himself having to haphazardly grab for purchase. He found it on one of the open doors, occasionally slamming against the side of the truck.

"Well, that didn't go according to plan," he sighed.

Black Widow's voice came into his ear via the helmet comm, "Heads up, Old Man!"

He could only smile as he saw Black Widow's motorcycle leap up off an improvised ramp. At the top of the motorcycle's arc, she threw his shield, and milliseconds later it found its target. Ultron's head rebounded the shield to Captain America, and the impact sent Ultron further into the truck. The good captain took the opportunity to roll back in and began pummeling the robot again.

Ant-Man in the driver seat, found himself surrounded by Ultron drones. At one point he had to quickly shrink, lest he was skewered by one. That one found itself crushed under the truck tires. As he tried the same trick again, this time the drone caught him and threw him through the windshield. Another came down hard, attempting to bash his head in, but Ant-Man managed to get out of the way and shrunk down again. The next one sent him into the back with Captain America and Ultron.

"Nat, we need to get that cradle up here, you ready for cables?" Hawkeye called out to Black Widow.

Her voice came back, in her regular calm voice, "With Ultron in the back, it'll be hard to secure the package."

"On it," came Captain America's voice. "This is going to hurt."

As if on cue, Hawkeye saw Ultron come flying out the back of the truck. A defiant Captain America holding on for dear life, and they both landed on his shield. Metal sparks erupted and Ant-Man's cry of "No!" was almost audible without the comm link. Almost as quickly, Black Widow managed to find something else to launch off of, and she landed inside the truck, motorcycle and all.

Captain America rethought the plan, as he was slammed through the nearby window of a commuter train. The shield took the main brunt, but he would still be sore later that night. He got back up, and parried another couple of blows from Ultron and even paid him back a few hits of his own. In his ear, he could hear his allies doing their job, all he had to do was keep Ultron busy for a little while longer.

"Interesting," Ultron sneered. "A pitiful specimen such as you, and you are the best of them. Physically at least, the serum running through your veins making you the peak of Human perfection. Yet, you're just another primitive pretending to be enlightened. I'm doing the worlds a favor by eliminating all of you."

Captain America smiled, "Just try it. I've taken down worse than you."

"You have never met another like me," Ultron said, he grabbed the super soldier and sent him into another train car.

Next, he found the engineer of the train, and obliterated his controls. He thought about killing the engineer, but decided against it. Better that this Human spend his last few moments knowing he was doomed. He left them, knowing they'd try to fix it, try to save the others, but it would be a futile effort.

Captain America got up painfully, and went to trigger his comm, when a blur appeared before him. It was the young man and woman, the same ones that had been seen around Ultron, and had messed with everyone's heads. He prepared for another battle, but the two put up their hands to signal their intent.

"We're here to help," Pietro said.

Wanda finished, "He lied to us, used us to go after you."

"Can you stop this train?" Captain America asked.

Wanda looked at the speed and didn't look confident, "I can try."

"We're about to hit a heavily populated area, we either need to stop the train or get everyone out of harms away," he explained.

Pietro perked up, "I got this, I'll clear the tracks."

The young man disappeared in a flash, while the young woman sent out glowing tendrils. They latched onto buildings, around the train and tried to find purchase. She cried out as she poured more and more of her power into slowing the train down. As she did so, the train's engine began to protest and Captain America could hear the sound of it beginning to overheat. Still Wanda kept at it, and more of her focus went into the effort.

Pietro meanwhile raced ahead, he saw a pop-up bazaar, unaware of the danger they were in. Quicker than anyone realized, they were fifty feet in another direction, the bazaar broken up almost instantly. Several more obstacles were found, and each resolved, leaving very dazed and confused people, safely on the sidelines.

Inside the truck, Black Widow felt it lift up in the air. She recognized the repulsor engines that Tony had mastered. Quickly she finished securing the Cradle, and then sent it flying out the back. Jumping on top, her idea was to ride it back to the Quinjet. However, Ultron's hand came down and nearly got her. What saved her was the timely intervention of Ant-Man, pushing Ultron's arm away.

She felt the gravity's pull and then just as quickly the tug as the Quinjet arrested her descent. Moments later she joined Hawkeye in the cockpit, but by then it was too late. Ultron had escaped again. They had gotten the Cradle, but lost Hank. As much as a jerk as he could be, he was still an Avenger, and he had done what he could to get her out.

Down below, they got a message asking for pick up from Captain America, with a warning they'd be heavy by two. In the back, Wasp landed, and it only took an instant for her to realize they were missing one. She said a quick prayer, and hoped her husband would be okay. She knew they needed to regroup, but she wanted nothing more than chase after Ultron and Hank right then and there. She just pushed that urge down, and with it the guilt that came along for the ride.