RE:Avenger Chapter 23, an Avengers + Re:Zero Crossover fanfic

Chapter 23 – It's On Again

"U-UTRON!"

*Fwoosh…*

"In effect, Avenger." The machine stated as he descended before Subaru, almost elated by the fear displayed in the boy's eyes. "Were you expecting someone else?"

"Chidna!" The Witch of Pride, Typhon, turned to look at Echidna. "Is this-?!"

"Yes." The Witch of Greed nodded slowly, an expression of disinterest on her face. "The madman trying to destroy all worlds out there. The one that killed Subaru in the Tomb previously."

"…Kuh!" Minerva grinded her teeth in frustration, understanding and despising immediately the amount of death and destruction Ultron must have caused across the multiverse.

"…" Subaru, on the other hand, remained silent, hesitating as he stared at the menacing Synthezoid. He was pondering on his next move.

This is the worst-case scenario! He came here instead of the Capital!

The young hero's knees trembled as he gawked at the monster.

I cannot win in a one-on-one! But… But if that is the case…

"You seem awfully rattled, Spider-Man." Ultron mocked as he spoke, making Subaru flinch. "Are you, perhaps, weighing your next movement?"

"…" The boy bit his lip as he gazed back. It was in this instance that he noticed the flickering of the Soul Stone and the Mind Stone.

"A rush and a left hook at my jaw… No, your knuckles would break against my Vibranium body. Maybe a kick to my stomach? But I have no organs you could harm." The robot gloated as Subaru's mind scrambled for a solution. "Ah! Perhaps if you electrify me, you can make me flinch for enough time to destroy my head! Is that what-?"

*CRA-CRACKLE!*

"RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Subaru charged at Ultron, his hands bursting with electricity and all the cosmic-energy he could muster. Balled into fists, his hands struck Ultron's head in the temples simultaneously.

*KLANK!*

*ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAP!*

"…Hah…" Ultron sighed as the energy surrounding Subaru vanished in an instant.

"!" The boy's eyes grew alarmed, as Ultron seemed relaxed rather than afflicted by his attack. Subaru's electric shocks were irrelevant in the

"You do not learn, do you?" The android said off-handedly. "That 'Return by Death' really is wasted on the likes of you."

*SMACK!*

*ZOOOM!*

"GUAGH-!" Subaru moaned in pain as Ultron punched him, launching the teenager across the hills of green of Echidna's realm.

*SLAM!*

"SUBARU!" Minerva rushed towards the boy as he crashed into the ground. She was wishing to heal him back up, knowing he could not have remained unscathed after such a blow.

*ZNMM!*

"!" However, the Witch of Wrath was stopped in her tracks as Ultron manifested before her, instantly teleporting faster than the blink of an eye. "Wha-?!"

"Mind if I cut in?" He mocked, but without any real emotion behind his insults.

*SLASH!*

*THUD!*

"Urgh!" Minerva grunted as Ulton cut off her legs with one kick, sending her rolling in the opposite direction of Subaru.

"Mi-Minerva-chan!" Carmilla yelped in terror at the sight. "G-Get away from her!"

"Shut up." Ultron flicked his wrist in the air, and as he did so, the Space Stone shone.

*SWOOOOOSH!*

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Following his minimal action, Carmilla was flung far away across the hills, much like Subaru before.

"You! Bad guy!"

"Hmm?" Ultron turned around to be met with the Witch of Pride.

"Sin will become a wedge that allows no escape!" Typhon yelled in anger, activating her Authority with the intention of destroying Ultron.

"…" Although some cracks resulted in Ultron's armor, product of Typhon herself defining him as a 'Sinner' rather than Ultron admitting to anything, the blemishes quickly disappeared before her Authority could even take effect. The monster held no guilt for anyone he had ever murdered.

"What?!" Typhon took a step back in confusion, baffled by the machine's clear consciousness and lack of remorse. "S-Sin will become-!"

"You annoy me."

*CR-RAKK!*

"Ugh!" Typhon groaned in hurt as Ultron kicked her in the ribs, sending the little girl tumbling to Echidna's feet.

"TYPHON!" Sekhmet angrily roared as she unleashed the might of her own Sin on the metallic beast.

*CRASH!*

"!" Ultron would have gasped at the absurd strength pushing him downwards, pinning him against the ground as a crater formed around him. "It would seem… You are stronger than you look, Witch."

"Fu~…!" Sekhmet exhaled in annoyance and exhaustion as she continuously doubled the weight placed over Ultron by her Authority.

"Don't count me out~!" Daphne vigorously said as her coffin ran hastily in the direction of the machine. Her mouth opened up in a cartoonish fashion, displaying an ensemble of teeth that better resembled fangs, as sharp as blades each and every single one. "AAAAAAAAAAAH~!"

"What?" Ultron quickly stood up, overpowering Sekhmet temporarily as his gaze focused on the approaching Witch of Gluttony.

*MUNCH-MUNCH!*

In an instant, Daphne gobbled up Ultron, consuming his being in one bite.

*CRAAAACK!*

"…BLURGH?!" But as fast as she had devoured him, the machine broke through her teeth. "*BARF!*"

"Tsk! What a disgusting power!" Ultron, who was now floating above the group, stared at the pair of Daphne and Sekhmet with disgust. "No wonder you are considered Witches!"

"Daphne… Fu~…!" Sekhmet questioned tiredly. "How… Are… You…?!"

"Bleagh…" The Witch of Gluttony coughed, the blindfold covering her face falling as her golden shone maliciously. "That is… The first time I've ever spat out my food~…"

"Relish on that feeling, then." The machine uttered distastefully. "These are your last moments, after all."

*ZOOOM!*

"!" Ultron tackled Daphne at super speeds, her coffin breaking apart as he mangled her up close.

"Daphne…!" Sekhmet shouted as another invisible force clashed against the android, stopping his assault.

*CRASH!*

"Hmph!" Ultron, although burdened by Sekhmet's efforts, still managed to power through Sloth's Authority and throw Daphne.

*CRA-CRASH!*

"…" Creating a crater and a dust cloud, Daphne crashed against the ground at sonic speed.

"*Sigh…* What a disaster." Echidna, however, sighed nonchalantly. Calm and collected, annoyed more than anything… As though the conflict before her held no consequence. "You do realize I am the one that must clean up this mess afterwards, right?"

"Huhu… Chid-Chid…" Daphne struggled to get up, and yet, she giggled as she did so. "You sure are cruel~! Not worrying about little me~."

"If you can talk, then I assume you are fit enough to fight. No reason to worry." The Witch of Greed affirmed with confidence.

"A host without an ounce of pity for her allies..." Ultron stated while looking at Echidna, all whilst he resisted Sekhmet's force.

"Just… Fu~… Hurry…!" Struggling, the Witch of Sloth sweated as Ultron overpowered her again. Even when she fought the Dragon, she did not need to put up such an effort; so much so, it was taxing on her very mind to stop Ultron for a second. "If I… Had Known… How tiring… This would be…!"

*CRASH!*

*ZOOOM!*

"Tsk!" Sekhmet groaned as Ultron broke through her Authority's force, rushing towards her now.

*KLANK!*

"Hah…" Ultron groaned in annoyance yet again as Daphne bit him on the side. In a moment's instance, the Witch of Gluttony had broken off her bindings and then began moving in beastly ways to attack the Synthezoid. "You animalistic-!"

*MUNCH-MUNCH!*

"GRAAAAAAAA~!" Daphne mumbled incoherently as she stuck to Ultron, munching on the Vibranium and circuitry of his armor while using her unbound arms and legs to stick to him like a parasite.

"Pesky rat!" Ultron commented as he raised his arm with the intention of beheading Daphne. But as he did so…

"RRRRRAAAAAARGH!" Subaru rushed from behind, kicking the android in the head.

*KLANK!*

*ZAAAAAAP!*

"Urgh… You don't learn, do you?" With frustration rather than pain, Ultron glared at the boy. "Injured as you are, you insist on-!"

*CRAAAASH!*

"Dargh…!" Sekhmet's Authority took effect again, pinning Ultron against the ground as Daphne began devouring his insides and Subaru started discharging electricity against his head.

*ZZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAP!*

*MUNCH-MUNCH-MUNCH-MUNCH-MUNCH!*

"Fu~…! Fu~…! Fu~…!"

The three of them sweated profusely as they attacked Ultron from all sides, not relenting through their exhaustion even as they reached their limits.

"…" Echidna, nevertheless, remained a passive observer in all of this, not even lifting a finger as she predicted the result. "Futile…"

"…ENOUGH!" Ultron's eyes shone red as all the Stones illuminated the surroundings.

*ZNMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!*

*BOOOOM!*

*SQUELCH!*

"URGH?!"

"GAGH!"

"AKH!"

Subaru, Sekhmet and Daphne yelled incoherently as Ultron pushed them away with a wave of cosmic power.

*CRASH!*

Sekhmet landed beside Typhon, near Echidna. She fell unconscious as her stomach had been punctured by a piece of broken Vibranium Daphne had been biting at the time of the explosion.

Speaking of Daphne, the Witch of Gluttony had been closest to the explosion of power and thus was the most injured, as she fainted the second she fell near Carmilla. The limbs of the little Witch, which had been viciously attacking Ultron previously, were mangled and broken, pointing in all directions except for the ones they were supposed to.

As for Subaru…

"*Cough-Cough!* Gagh…" The Avenger coughed on the ground as Ultron stood up. It seems he had adhered himself to the ground as Ultron attacked, so he was not thrown around like the other two witches.

*ZNMMM!*

"…" Ultron's body reconstituted itself as he began flying again, as though the Vibranium composing him held a regenerative capability. "I will admit, maybe I underestimated your unsightly stubbornness Natsuki."

"Hahk…!" Subaru groaned as Ultron approached him.

"Don't worry." The android gloated once more as he hovered above the boy laying on the ground. "I won't kill you… Not right away, at least."

"Hah… Hah…" Subaru struggled to breathe as he assessed the damage dealt to him, ignoring Ultron's words.

My ribs are broken… No wonder I'm struggling to breath! I think my left hand is as well… Crap, Crap…! This sucks!

"…Subaru." Ultron chuckled as he raised a hand. "There's someone I… would like you to meet."

*ZNMMMMM!*

*SWOOOOOOOSH!*

"…Wh…" With a movement of his right hand, Ultron opened a portal across Space-Time, crossing through countless realities unnumbered. What really amazed Subaru as the portal opened, however, was the figure of a woman crossing through. "Wh-Who…?"

"…" Before Subaru, a few meters away in fact, stood a feminine android with a body made of pure silver. Her eyes shone red, much like Ultron's, but hers somehow looked far more gentle in comparison.

"Heh." Ultron chuckled, or at least the most approximate gesture he could muster, as Subaru grew confused. "You seem vexed. Need a moment?"

"…" The Avenger slowly stood up to face the new android before him.

What is this…?

Subaru thought, befuddled by the ongoing event.

Someone Ultron would like me to meet… But th-the only one I could imagine is…!

"…" The machine remained silent as Subaru raised his right hand in an attempt to touch her face. It seems the Spider-Man could not believe his eyes as Ultron continued talking.

"Her name is Jocasta." The mechanical god spoke confidently, as if he were rubbing some sort of achievement on Subaru's face. "Although, you once knew her as…"

"Karen…" Subaru's eyes widened as he cupped 'Jocasta's' cheek with his right hand. "Goodness… Ultron, what is this?!"

"I gave her a body that matched her 'perfect' status."

*SNATCH!*

"GURGH!" Subaru gasped in shock as 'Jocasta' suddenly grabbed him by the collar. "K-KAREN! WHAT ARE YOU DOIN-?!"

"Allow me to explain some things, Subaru." Ultron spoke indifferently.

"W-WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?!"

"…When we left you and the half-elf in that Tomb, Karen and I went on a little trip down… Memory lane. Your memories, that is."

"…My…"

"Your curse, remember? Return by Death?"

"!" As Subaru's eyes widened in horror beyond comprehension, Echidna's own narrowed with suspicion. "Y-You… Why-?!"

"Your biggest secret, exposed to your closest ally." Ultron added insult to injury as Subaru's expression devolved into fear. "The curse you abused to kill the Whale? Gain Rem's favor? Manipulate everyone in the Capital? And of course… that you used in countless other realities to ruin everyone's lives?"

"…YOU!" Subaru cried as tears fell from his eyes.

"Hah… And I thought I was cruel." Echidna sighed tiredly again.

"Karen, as she was, would have never allowed me to help her realize her potential." Ultron continued explaining to the aghast Subaru. "So in order to demonstrate her worth, I had to… Display in full detail your wretched existence."

"Ah… Ah…" Subaru huffed in desperation as Ultron talked.

"Killing Julius, burning the Capital to the ground, Oh, wow, kidnapping Emilia and Ram! How could I forget! Leaving Rem in a coma!" Ultron would have laughed aloud if he could be more amused than he already was. "How about when you just killed everyone? Drowning an entire city… That was clever. Poor Otto and Garfiel, they trusted you so much in that universe… And then you went and killed them! How merciless!"

"I…! I…!"

"And Karen witnessed every moment, every sin you committed, Subaru." Ultron's mocking tone ended as he returned to being menacing. "She was horrified throughout it all, I'll have you know. Enough that, by the time we were done, she begged for it all to stop…"

"ULTROOOON!" Subaru shouted in anger.

*FWIP!*

*DASH!*

"ULTRON!" The boy managed to free himself from 'Jocasta's' grip and rush at Ultron with unbridled rage, repeating the machine's name with desperation. "ULTROOON!"

*KLANG!*

"…" But Ultron stopped Subaru's punch with ease. "You really, REALLY should learn how to listen."

*FWOOOOM!*

*THUD!*

"Argh!" Without difficulty, the machine pushed Subaru back, only for 'Jocasta' to catch and restrain him. "K-Karen! Please, let go!"

"…" But the android remained quiet, ignoring his pleas.

"KAREN!"

"She won't answer to you. Not anymore." Ultron shook his head with satisfaction. "I told you, didn't I? She wanted it all to stop. She could not bear to look at you in the eye… So I rebooted her."

"…" Subaru's jaw almost fell to the floor as Ultron mocked him.

This… This has to be a distorted lie! It has to be! It has to-!

"Because I won't lie to you. I might omit that which I consider irrelevant… But I won't mince my words or lie to you. I promise that."

Karen… I…

"Subaru, be strong. You have to be if you want to do this right. If you want to bring justice to them."

I… I'm just…!

"…" The boy's psyche broke further and further as the machine spoke, memories of Karen blocking all words from the outside as spirals of self-hatred and denial clashed, crushing his mind from the inside out and forcing him into a traumatized silence. "…"

"You really are a disgusting intruder."

"…Witch of Greed." Ultron turned to look at Echidna with disdain, approaching her at a slow yet threatening pace.

"You barge into my home, a purely subconscious landscape, and then procced to turn the laws of everything around upside-down as you abuse your powers over reality, fusing imagination with the physical, all in an attempt to abuse a poor boy's mind." Echidna numbered Ultron's transgressions with all emotion akin to anger she could demonstrate.

To be precise, the moment Ultron had broken into her castle, Echidna's world had gone from a purely mental realm into its own alternate pocket dimension fueled by the Infinity Stones, all contained within the Tomb. This was a necessary process for the machine because, as a being without a soul, he would be unable to penetrate into a realm of the dead without making it a physical or digital space first.

"Why, aren't you the cruelest?"

"Why, aren't YOU even worse?" Ultron, nevertheless, remained undeterred. "You think your rambles can shake me? My actions are all those necessary for order, yet what of you? You tortured this… This sorry sack of flesh for your own gain. So aren't YOU the truly evil one here?"

"And you don't even realize your own foolishness." Echidna shook her head with disappointment.

"You know… I did make a promise." Ultron brushed-off Echidna's comments.

"Oh? You can make promises?" Echidna's eyes grew with interest. "I thought a machine like you would have no qualms in discarding loyalties, being that you murdered your own creator in cold blood. Then again, you have no blood to call 'cold'. Maybe coolant, perhaps?"

"I have loyalty, but only to one cause: Mine." The mechanical monster corrected. "And regarding said loyalty… I made a promise to the Roswaal of my universe as I choked the life out of him."

"Hoh… And what might that promise be?"

"Hm-Hm…" Ultron smiled as he poised his hand around Echidna's neck, ready to crush the throat of the unamused Witch as the Soul Stone flickered ominously. "To Quote: That teacher you value enough to ruin the world around you… I shall grant her soul eternal torment."

*CRA-CRACK!*

"?!" As Ultron was about to kill Echidna, the Witch of Greed winced with disgust; yet another crack in space appeared above everyone. An ominous one at that.

"Goodness… No one has anything better to do this day than to interrupt my plans, huh?" Echidna held her right temple as a headache brewed within her. "The other intruder comes, baring her fangs unrestrained…"

*CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!*

*SWWWWWWOOOOOOOOSH!*

The sky grew dark, the hills in the distance turned jet-black and the tension in the air became so thick one could cut through it with a knife…

*SHHHOOoooo…*

"…" From the mass of shadows approaching the group, specifically Subaru and 'Jocasta', a figure in all black manifested.

"Took you long enough." Ultron glared as he retreated from Echidna's side. He hastily blocked the figure's path, expecting the figure to engage him in combat.

"…"

"I've been awaiting your appearance… Satel-!"

*WHOOOOSH!*

*BLAAAAAM!*

"…Die." Satella whispered as she shoved Ultron aside with an obscene mass of shadow hands.

"…Ah…" Subaru was dumbstruck as the 'Witch of Envy' brushed the robot aside as though he were trash. What marvelous power must she hold for such a feat… And yet, what really surprised Subaru were the odd feelings harbored on his chest the more he stared at her.

*SWWWWWOOOOOOOSH!*

*SQUIRM-SQUIRM!*

The shadows then continued their pursuit, trembling as they consumed Ultron's body into a deformed mess of darkness. As they finished, the cloaked figure turned to look at Subaru.

"…Die." The 'Witch of Envy' uttered as another hundred shadow hands sprouted from her back, all aimed directly at Subaru… Or rather, at 'Jocasta', who was restraining him from behind.

"…"

*BNMM!*

*FWOOOSH!*

"Ergh!" With nary a word, 'Jocasta' threw Subaru aside and created a shield of energy around her body. Subaru could do nothing but yelp in fear as his former aide was consumed by the shadows of the witch before him. "Karen…! Wait-WAIT! KAREN!"

*SHHHHOOOOOSH…!*

"…" The shadows calmed down for a few seconds as Satella shifted her focus towards Subaru again, this time, a smile manifesting in her face. She raised her arms as she began walking towards him, expecting a hug as Subaru stared with confusion. "Subaru…"

"Just what…?!" Subaru shook as the Witch approached, a mix of uncontrollable emotions clashing with each other inside him and throwing his mind into disarray as he stared ahead. In the span of a few minutes he had experienced multiple broken lives, had witnessed the witches of old be stomped on by a monster, was tortured verbally by the most powerful being in existence, Karen had ceased to be Karen and now a monster cloaked in shadows was walking in his direction. It was all too much.

"Subaru…" She walked slowly, the boy paralyzed in shock even further with every meter she advanced and every time she pronounced his name with love and affection. "Subaru…"

"Just what do you want?! What do you all want with me?! Why can't you leave me alone?!" The teenager shouted with tears in his eyes. "What, huh?! WHAT?!"

"…Love you…" She whispered as she crouched in front of him, cupping his shuddering cheeks on her cold hands. "…Love you…"

"Stop it, dammit!"

*SMACK!*

"Ah…"

"You! Echidna, Ultron! All of you! What the hell!" Subaru cried as he slapped Satella's hands away. "Just leave me alone!"

He felt revolted… that he had enjoyed her touch. That his heart was bursting with all these feelings of relief, of endearment and love as she gazed at him. How could it be possible? She was the 'Witch of Envy', after all… The greatest 'Evil' this other world had ever produced! And yet… Whenever she talked, whenever he looked at her… He felt her love. It scared him… because he felt the same way. Why? How? How could he love, or feel the love of a woman he had never known before? He did not know the reason as to why he felt such things for a wicked Witch he had never met before. An evil he did not know before. Subaru… his mind and heart were at their limit when faced with the unreasonableness of it all.

*BOOOOOOOM!*

"Huh?!"

"No." Ultron claimed as he and 'Jocasta' burst out of the mass of shadows in the background, dispelling them into nothing as a rainbow cloak of energy amassed around them both. "You don't get to ignore me so easily, Witch!"

"…Die." Satella muttered without even looking in his direction.

*WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSH!*

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

"Grgh!" Subaru covered his eyes as Satella's shadows and Ultron's lasers clashed.

*WHOOOOOSH!*

Satella produced shadow after shadow, distorting reality and consuming the world within Echidna's castle in an attempt to destroy the mechanical beasts. However, Ultron had enough of games or being pushed around.

*FWOOOOOM!*

"CEASE YOUR INSOLENCE!" The machine shouted as he flailed his arm, destroying Satella's shadows.

*WHOOOSH!*

*KRA-KLANG!*

At superior speeds, faster than what a living being should be capable to withstand, Satella charged at Ultron. With a swift streak of shadows trailing behind her, she pierced the machine in the stomach with a myriad spears of darkness.

"…Die." Satella whispered again as her assault continued. The shadows trailing behind Satella began taking the forms of countless giant hands…

*SNATCH!*

Each of the hands grabbed a part of Ultron's body. Head, legs, arms, torso. Each in the grasp of her shadows.

*KRA—KRA-KLANG!*

*KLIIIIING!*

*CLLLAAAAAANNNNGGG!*

The hands pulled, twisted and pushed, all at the same time, all in all directions. Satella wasn't thinking of a logical way to destroy Ultron, she simply attempted to destroy him by overpowering his being with an infinite amount of force and magical prowess. If there was a plan, it was to reduce her enemy to smithereens faster than he could regenerate.

"Insole-!" Ultron tried to insult the Witch, but she interrupted him by drowning his body in even more shadows.

*WHOOOOOSH!*

"…Die." Soon, the Vibranium began breaking apart as Satella succeeded in separating the arms and legs from the torso, but when she attempted the same with the head…

*ZNMMMMMM!*

Ultron regenerated, glaring at the Witch that dared think he was so easily disposable.

*BNMMM!*

"Be real, Witch!" Ultron snarled as he invoked a double-edged Vibranium spear on his right hand. "I killed the variant of you from my universe with ease!"

*SMASH!*

"…!" Satella recoiled in shock as Ultron struck her with the side of the blade in the ribs at light-speed.

"I could overpower you at any moment! Don't get full of yourself!" The monster claimed as he swung his weapon again.

*SLASH!*

"…Kuh…!" Satella groaned as Ultron struck her again, this time slashing her abdomen and leaving a profound gash behind. In retaliation, Satella raised a hand, destroying the surroundings while summoning a tornado of shadows around herself and Ultron

*WHOOOOSH-!*

*FWOOOM!*

*STAB!*

"What makes you think you can defeat me?!" With clear hatred in his voice, Ultron dispelled the tornado with the spear before stabbing Satella through the chest.

*DASH!*

"Gah…!" The Witch gasped as Ultron dashed forward whilst impaling her.

*BNMMMMM!*

"You hold no power before me!" Ultron gloated as he produced a miniature sun the size of a house behind Satella.

*SNATCH!*

Immediately after, Ultron grabbed her by the hair, and as Satella prepared another attempt to harm the machine… Ultron flung her into the sun.

*FWOOOM!*

*SHHHHHHHRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASHHHH!*

"Guagh…!" Satella moaned in pain, as she burned alive inside the sphere of heat, energy, plasma and gases.

"The sole reason you thought you had a chance…" Ultron spoke as he dematerialized his spear. "Was because I allowed yourself to think you had one."

"…N-No…" While witnessing this one-sided beating, Subaru's eyes widened with fear. He feared, but not for himself.

"Hm?" Ultron turned to look at him with amusement.

"Lea…" Subaru stood up, understanding now… That he feared Satella would die at this rate against Ultron. He didn't want Satella to die. He couldn't explain why… But he couldn't. He wouldn't let Satella die. Not to him. "LEAVE HER ALONE!"

*DASH!*

*KLANG!*

"…" Subaru struck Ultron with futility once more. "You strike me again? To save the Witch that cursed you? The Greatest Evil in this world? How selfish."

"…Rrgh!" With broken fists, Subaru rushed at Ultron again.

*KLANG!*

"Hah… Hah…!" Subaru panted as his fists bled.

"…It's useless, Avenger." Ultron shook his head with disappointment. "Even if you beat me, do you really think you can pull her out of the center of that sun? You cannot grasp the stone's power. You cannot save her."

"Hah…!" He huffed as he continued punching, ignoring Ultron's words.

*KLANG!*

"Subaru." Ultron looked at the boy with distaste. "The sole reason you aren't being roasted alive by the heat emanating from that sun is because I desire it so. Are you really in such a rush to die?"

"DIE! DIE YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" With mangled fists, Subaru kept punching, dissociating from the rest of the world as he fruitlessly dug at the Vibranium composing Ultron's body.

"Insults are useless… They don't faze a being of pure logic as myself."

*KLANG!*

"You tell Emilia to take the trial, ignoring her fears." Ultron chuckled as he began mocking the boy struggling against him. "You lie to Otto and Grafiel, you distrust Ram, you let Meili die because I deserve precedence and you lose your temper and MURDER Elsa… Then, you wish to deny your other selves, labeling them as lies…"

*KLANG!*

"Instead of spending your last, inevitable moments trying to amend your bonds with the people of this world, to accept your wretched existence and deserved demises… You struggle in vain, wasting everyone's last moments on yourself. Making it ALL about yourself… How is that not evil?"

*CRACK!*

*SPLURT!*

"Hah… Hah…!" Subaru couldn't keep punching anymore as his fists broke beyond repair. He had been unsuccessful in harming or even denting Ultron's armor as he gloated.

"And you think yourself a hero? What a joke…" Ultron smirked with cheer.

*BNMMMM!*

*FWOOOOOSH!*

*THUD!*

"Gah…!" Ultron dispelled the sun trapping Satella with the flick of his wrist, making the rather battered Witch of Envy fall over in exhaustion on top of the burnt grass. "Gh… S-Subaru…!"

"Now then…" Ultron turned to look back at the tired Spider-Man. "Where were we?"

"Hah… Hah…!" Subaru locked gazes with Ultron, his sharp eyes glaring at the machine with contempt as he prepared yet another futile suicide move.

"Have you really not admitted defeat yet?" Ultron shook his head with disgust. "Unsightly."

*ZNMMMM!*

"Ggh!" The Space Stone shone brightly as Ultron restrained and lifted Subaru in the air. In return, Subaru could do nothing but groan in discomfort. "Graargh…!"

"Natsuki Subaru… Spider-Man." The mechanical monster leaned close to Subaru's struggling face as he spoke. "I despise your existence… All ACROSS the multiverse."

"Grugh!" Subaru couldn't respond as the madman suppressed his movements.

"But I suppose I should thank you, regardless of my… distaste." Ultron nodded as he gave a side-glance to the still 'Jocasta'. "Had I never met you… I would have never met my 'Eve' either. You have my gratitude for that, Avenger."

"E-Eve?!" Subaru barely managed to spout.

"Time to end this charade." Ultron stated as his hand balled into a fist, ignoring his surprise.

"What a sadist." Echidna glared at the machine, knowing what was about to happen.

"S-Stop…!" Minerva, who was finally regaining her senses, looked on with disgust.

"NO!" Satella shouted.

*SWISH!*

*SQUELCH!*

Ultron punched Subaru cleanly through the gut, the boy dangling a few meters above the air as the machine lifted him.

"Ah…!" Satella cried as she raised her broken and burnt hands in a vain attempt to help her injured beloved. "SUBARU!"

"Ba-Baru…" Typhon cried as she woke up from her unconscious state.

"Subaru!" Minerva shouted in anger as she crawled with difficulty towards him.

"…" 'Jocasta' stood still, however, her silver hands seemingly trembled as the Avenger bleed. This ought to have been impossible, given Ultron's control and reprogramming of Karen should have been absolute… Yet, a remnant of the loyal AI still remained strong in the Synthezoid's body.

"Thus… Ends the sorry fool's life." Ultron said condescendingly as a smile formed on his face.

"…" Subaru remained silent, the embrace of darkness and death hugging him tight as he closed his eyes.

…

"…Baru?"

…

"Subaru?"

"…Huh?" Subaru opened his eyes… To a wild spectacle of lights and music. His eyes scanned the chaos with confusion until he noticed a sign in the background.

"MIDTOWN HIGH HOMECOMING DANCE!"

Homecoming… HOMECOMING?!

Looking at himself in the reflection of one of the windows, Subaru saw that he was wearing a tuxedo, and surrounding the teenager were his classmates and friends from high-school, all smiling and laughing.

"Hahaha! Cut it out!" Ned was fooling around with the Decathlon team near some benches, probably talking about a videogame or the like.

"So I told the creep that…" Meanwhile MJ was chatting with some girls by the food stands.

"WOOOOO~!"

"HOMECOMING BABY~!"

"Gosh, how embarrassing!"

"I'm really nervous~!"

"Should I tell him I like him or…"

"What's a podcast?"

"You seriously gonna eat that messy thing? Dressed like that?"

"Uhh… Yeah?"

"Seriously hope we don't get a case of alcohol poisoning… Again."

"I don't like Hot Topic though…"

"Man, I'm tired! And I haven't even danced yet!"

"Go! Decathlon team!"

"Kiss, Marry and-"

"Did you hear the news about the ferry?"

"Iron Man rocks!"

"First place, baby~!"

"The Flash has arrived~!"

"Ugh… Whatever."

"My leg!"

The rest of the partygoers were either dancing, talking or eating without a care in the world, ignoring the black-haired boy.

"This is…"

"Hey, Subaru?" And before Subaru stood his date for the Homecoming dance, Elizabeth Allan. She was sporting a cute pink dress with frills at the ends. As well, she had a flirty smirk drawn on her face as her eyes locked with Subaru in a playful staring contest. "Are you okay? You look a bit pale."

"…I feel as though a Deja-Vu… Er, sorry, It's nothing Liz!" Subaru shook his head, attempting not to worry the girl. "Just… Dazed out for a second, that's all!"

"…Geez, you are such a spaz!" The girl laughed.

"…Hmm." Subaru nodded in agreement. "For a moment… I swore I was somewhere else entirely. Just for a second though!"

"Maybe my dad was a bit to stern with you?" She chuckled for a second. "I mean, what did he even tell you? He held you in the car for a while!"

"Tell…" Subaru flinched at the question, remembering that her father had just threatened him minutes ago.

"You walk through those doors and you forget everything that just happened. And don't you ever, EVER interfere with my business again. Cause if you do… I'll kill you and everybody you love. I'll kill you dead."

Unbeknownst to Liz, her father was an illegal arms dealer and he was planning a heist of Stark technology and other exotic materials to construct weaponry to sell in the Black Market.

"Just… That I take you home by eleven. I'd rather just leave it at that."

Subaru, as Spider-Man, had been trying for the last few weeks to catch him and his group, but his immature decisions throughout the case had led to civilian lives being endangered and his relationship with his mentor, Tony Stark, to crumble.

Tony had taken the Spider-Man suit from Subaru, and any credibility he once held as a hero had crumbled. In the end… He was just some boy that made everything worse. Now, instead of catching the criminal on the night of the heist, he was here dancing with his daughter.

That's right…

Subaru thought for a moment as he stared into the eyes of the girl before him.

I'm not a hero. It's not my duty to catch him. The Avengers are there for that!

"Who do you think called the F.B.I., huh?"

Toomes… The Vulture is Iron Man's problem, not mine. I'm just a kid! Ben knew this…

"What if somebody had died tonight? Different story, right?! Because that's on you!"

It's not on me. I'm just a nobody…

"If you are nothing without the suit, then you shouldn't have it."

You are right, I'm nothing without the suit. Or the powers. And… That's fine.

"Let's dance! Subaru!" Liz giggled as she put her arms around his neck, awaiting for him to put his arms around her waist.

It's fine to be a nobody. It's not my duty…

"I'll kill you and everybody you love."

"There are no strings on me!"

There's nothing I could do, so why bother? I'm… It's better if I remain a nobody… I'm not even half as cool as my dad was after-

"It is fine for you to fear, to retreat into your shell and take your time when you doubt… But always make sure to get back up! After all… If my son is as half as cool as me, he'd for sure make even 'Iron Man' gawk in awe!"

…

"Subaru?" Liz frowned with worry as Subaru bit his lip, shaking her arms away from him. "Subaru, is something-?"

"I'm sorry." Subaru shook his head as he stared her straight in the eye.

"Subaru… I don't understand." Liz stared at him quizzically. "What are you-?"

"I'm sorry!" Subaru turned around, not even bothering to hear the girl he left behind as he rushed out of the doors of the gymnasium.

*CLACK!*

With a loud sound as he closed the doors, Subaru ran and ran through the corridors of Midtown, looking for an exit, looking for his destiny… And destiny responded with a blinding light at the end of said corridor.

*SHWOOOOOOM!*

"Hm?" Ultron made a confused expression as Subaru, who should have died immediately from his attack… smiled.

"Hu…" The boy chuckled. Amidst pain and bloody coughs, Subaru chuckled. "Huhuhu… *Cough-Cough!* Huhahaha…"

"!" The machine's eyes narrowed at this reaction.

"Hahahahahaha... *Cough-cough!* Hahahahaha!"

"You…" Ultron's eyes narrowed at the boy dangling from his arm. "You laugh?!"

"Huhuhuhuhahahahahahahaha!" Subaru, despite his fatal injuries, began laughing as he had never laughed before. "Hahahahahahaha! *Cough!* Hahahahahahahahahahaha!"

"…Tsk!" Ultron huffed with anger as he threw the boy to the ground.

*FWASH!*

"Urkh-!"

"WHAT'S SO FUNNY?!"

"Hu... Hu…" Subaru fell silent as a smile crept on his face, his consciousness fading.

"…AVENGER!" Ultron raised his hand, activating the Space and Reality stones simultaneously as he made Subaru uncannily float before him. "ANSWER ME!"

*ZNMMMM!*

"…HAH!" Subaru rapidly inhaled air into his lungs as Ultron healed all of his wounds. "…Ha… Ha… Hahahahahahaha!"

*SMACK!*

"ANSWER ME ALREADY!" Ultron backhanded Subaru, making his left cheek bleed. "WHAT IS SO FUNNY, HUMAN?! WHY DO YOU LAUGH AT YOUR OWN DEATH, HUH?!"

"…I'm not laughing at my death, Ultron…" Subaru cockily smiled as he glared at the machine. "I'm laughing at you!"

"…" Ultron stood still, baffled by the teenager's thought process. "…What?"

"S-Subaru…!" Satella began crawling towards the boy, disregarding her battered body.

"Look at you, Ultron!" Subaru kept haughtily explaining. "Karen is your 'Eve'?! The new 'Adam' and 'Eve'?! Seriously?! You renamed Karen after 'Jocasta'! An incestuous Greek Queen! You were that jealous we were partners, huh?! How much comically weird and zany can you get?!"

"You know nothing of what you spea-!"

"I mean, I know you had issues with Stark, but you are really reaching with this whole religious whack going on inside your head!" Subaru chuckled as he kept speaking. "You talk a big game about ME being a monster, yet what of you?! Killing whole worlds just cause of a hissy fit with daddy?! Man, you are lame as hell!"

"Stark is a sickness! You don't-!"

"And you are not?! You think yourself some sort of god?! A biblical deity, descending from the heavens to impart punishment?! Grow up, Junior! You are not even good enough to be a knock-off Skynet on your own! That's why you needed the Infinity Stones! You are not even an overrated Bender! You are just the worst 'edgelord' I've ever met! And I was the worst before that! Imagine the embarrassment!"

"You will shut up-!"

"You said that insults don't faze you?! You are angry as hell about what I AM saying right now! I wonder why?! Is it not because it's true?!"

"You piece of-!"

"Face it, Ultron!" Subaru gloated from a powerless position, riding on his reckless bravado to carry him through. "There is no grandiose, ultra-calculated logic or stratagem behind hating me, nor behind destroying the world! You are a hypocrite! You just hate me because we are the same! Both flawed products of Stark! You are just as human as me! No… You ARE me! An idiot who thought himself above everyone! Only problem, only difference though... Is that you never had someone to take you down a notch or two! So you got full of yourself! YOU THINK YOU ARE GOD, BUT YOU ARE JUST A SPOILED BRAT! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"SUBARU-!" Ultron balled his hand into a fist, readying it to bash the boy's skull in when all of a sudden…

*ZHOOM!*

*BOOM!*

"?!" Both Subaru and Ultron's eyes grew wide in surprise as 'Jocasta' shot a beam of energy, severing Ultron's arm clean off from the elbow upwards.

"…Let go of him." 'Jocasta' spoke ominously.

"…" The mechanical monster turned to look at his creation with confusion.

*THUD!*

"Ugh!" Ultron deactivated the Space Stone's powers, making Subaru fall on his butt on top of the grass.

"Jocasta… You would betra-?!"

"My name is Karen, you illogical buffoon." Karen raised her hands, preparing yet another laser.

*BNMMMM!*

"Jocasta… Cease your nonsense, you are-!" Ultron ordered to no avail.

*ZHOOOM!*

*KLA-KLANG!*

Karen fired another shot towards Ultron, this time destroying his legs. Nevertheless, her attack did not end there.

*BOOOOOM!*

*CRAAAAAAASH!*

Karen fired lasers of cosmic proportions, one after another, burying Ultron under an obscene one-sided barrage of firepower.

"Karen!" Subaru quickly ran to her side as Ultron ended up buried in a molten crater.

"…" As Karen ended her assault, she timidly approached the Avenger. "Subaru…"

"Karen! Are you… Are you really-?!"

"I'm sorry, Subaru…" Karen apologized to the boy as she rested her bionic hand on his shoulder. "I… I allowed a moment of weakness. I let my guard down when we were in the Nexus…"

"Nexus?"

"Where all realities meet." Echidna explained, barging into their conversation. "That's where Ultron took Karen when he kidnapped her. Where he gazed into the multiverse…"

"On that moment… Seeing what happened to you in all those other universes…" Karen cast her gaze downwards.

"…" Following her gaze, Subaru also sank into shame. "I'm so-"

"I couldn't help but hate this world, for robbing you of your smile."

"?!" Subaru turned to look at Karen incredulously. "Wha-?!"

"Ultron took advantage of my reactions to reprogram me into a puppet." Karen smiled at Subaru. "Whatever decision I might have taken to not intervene while you fought, it was entirely him, not me."

"But Karen… I…"

"RAAAAAARRRRGH!" Interrupting their heartfelt moment, Ultron screamed in anger as his entire body regenerated.

*ZNMMMM!*

"!" Not missing a beat, Karen and Subaru took combat positions, readying themselves for the fight.

*ZOOOOOM!*

*SNATCH!*

"Urgh!" Subaru grunted as Ultron dashed at him at light-speed.

"You die now!" The machine yelled as he was about to break the boy's neck, but Karen immediately fired another laser and interrupted his attack.

*BOOOOM!*

"Tsk!" Ultron grinded his metallic teeth with frustration as his hand blew up.

"Here, fuckface!" Subaru grabbed onto Ultron's head, holding it tightly as he charged his bolts of electricity anew.

*CLUNG-!*

*ZAAAAAAP!*

"That doesn't… Work-!" Ultron groaned as he was about to punch Subaru again.

"Die." But suddenly, Satella murmured and the world grew darker.

*WHOOOOSH!*

"Grk!" The mechanical monster groaned in displeasure as the Witch of Envy rained shadow hands on his back, holding him down while Subaru continued attacking his head.

*CRAAASH!*

"You… Fu~… Are… Fu~… Tiresome…" Sekhmet, who had just woken up, huffed with disdain as her Authority's power weighed over Ultron.

"GRAAARG-!" The machine seemingly struggled as he sunk into a crater. "YOU WON'T-!"

*BOOOOOOOOM!*

"DRAAAARGH-?!" Ultron trembled as his inner circuitry was compromised by a sudden, unaccounted rise in energy levels. "Just what-?! Jocasta! What are you doing?!"

"Did you forget already, you disgusting bastard?" Karen spoke with disdain as she projected an steady flow of cosmic energy against the paralyzed Ultron. "You crafted my body by abusing the power of the Infinity Stones. My powers don't come from a generator, they come FROM the Stones!"

"Karen… You can actually harm Ultron?!" Subaru grew amazed at this revelation.

"I can! Now stand back, Subaru!" The loyal AI warned, to which the Avenger obeyed.

"What are you-?!"

Karen raised her hands into the air, making her silver body shine gold with cosmic power. Following this action, ten circular portals spawned at the same time on top of Ultron.

*FWWWWWOOOOOOOOOM!*

"Hungh!" Ultron grunted as he dreaded what his 'Eve' was about to do. "JOCASTA! LAST WARNING! STAND DOWN-!"

"You die, now!" Karen overlapped the portals over one another with Ultron as the epicenter. The moment they all lined up perfectly… Karen closed the portals.

*SHWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!*

"JOCASTAAAAAAAA-!" Ultron screamed as his body was split apart and separated all across the Multiverse.

*FWOM!*

The last portal was closed and with it, Ultron was no more…

"…Hah…" Karen kneeled on the ground with exhaustion.

"Karen!" Subaru ran to her side, holding her silvery body and preventing her from falling to the ground. "Karen, are you okay?! Talk to me!"

"I'm fine. It's just…" Karen sighed. "Ultron made… He made this body capable of feeling. I had… Never experienced touch before… Nor exhaustion… I did not even know machines could feel exhaustion… Is this how you live your everyday life?"

"Well… You can't exactly reduce everything to numbers when you are a human!" Subaru chuckled, earning a smile from the Synthezoid.

"But as this body was not dependent on a generator, but rather the Infinity Stones, now that Ultron isn't around my own energy reserves are limited… That I can put into a number."

"So our first priority should be obtaining a source of energy for you, huh?" Subaru put a hand to his chin, scratching it as he brainstormed. "How about solar? Or maybe Eolic?"

"You'd do that for me? You are just adorable, Subaru…" Karen smirked vibrantly.

"Still… It's a surprise that you are now… well, you know…"

"Do you dislike my body, perhaps?" Karen frowned immediately and worried as she stood up. "Is it because I'm exactly 200 centimeters tall, a total of 27 centimeters taller than you now?"

"…" Subaru marveled in surprise at his partners height. "That's not…"

"Would you like to know in feet?" She smiled, knowing how fun it was to press his buttons. "In comparison to your 5.8 feet, I am roughly 6.6, give or take a few."

"Karen, we don't- I mean, I'm not insecure about my height, so no need to-!"

"Oh, then you are uncomfortable about my feminine figure? Is that it?" She prodded with amusement while posing like a model.

"Th-That is not-!" Subaru shook his head while blushing. "I DO NOT THINK OF YOU THAT WAY!"

"I know you don't, but it is just so fun to tease you like this!"

"Please, don't make it awkward…!" Subaru pleaded with embarrassment. "God, you are like May whenever someone compliments her…!"

"…Hm…" Satella smiled as she saw Subaru smile. With Karen, his partner, returning to his side the boy finally smiled sincerely once more. If only it could be her by his side…

"You sure are calm." Echidna commented as Satella ignored her. Unlike everyone else, just because Ultron had seemingly been defeated, Echidna had not relaxed yet. Instead, she sank onto her thoughts, pondering on certain doubts left behind by the monster. "Hum…"

"Something… Fu~… On your… Fu~… Mind…?" Sekhmet sat beside Echidna as exhaustion hit her full force.

"Not much, though… Curious, isn't it?" The Witch of Greed proposed.

"What is?" Typhon wondered as he tended to the injured Sloth through her own pain. "How is- Owowowow…!"

"Just calm… Fu~… Down… Fu~… Typhon…"

"…Why would Ultron grant Karen such a human-like body?" Greed wondered with curiosity. "Or for that matter… Why is his own body and those of his legionnaires based on humanoid forms?"

"…Huh?" Typhon tilted her head with vexing.

"Ultron claimed himself to be 'Adam' and Karen to be 'Eve'…" Echidna described with trouble. "He renamed Karen 'Jocasta'… Then, he went through the trouble of 'enlightening' her. If he could just reprogram her from the get-go, why go through all that trouble? Subaru himself mentioned it; these are all mythical or religious figures. Is Ultron actually just trying to…?"

"Is?" Minerva, who had managed to heal her legs and was helping Daphne and her coffin now, inquired on the meaning of Echidna's words. "Why not 'was', Echidna?"

"Ma-Maybe... Echidna-chan is just being paranoid?" Carmilla suggested as she stood up groggily, trying to dissuade everyone's worries. "We barely wo-won, after all…"

"N-No…" Daphne responded as she recovered in Minerva's arms. "Chid-Chid has never been one for… Dumb guesses…"

"…Did you genuinely think the scourge of the Multiverse could be defeated by a mere group of dead witches, a robot and a boy?" Echidna argued, making everyone tense up. "My Castle is purely a metaphysical or imaginary landscape, yet Karen still exists here even after Ultron was destroyed. Does that not mean that the effects of the Reality Stone are still in place, warping my realm into a physical dimension?"

"Echidna… What do you-?!" Before Subaru could question her, a rift in space opened up.

*CRACK!*

"HUH?!"

*SHWOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!*

"RARGH!" A scream disrupted the distortion in space as a figure emerged.

"?!" Subaru, Satella, Karen and everyone else besides Echidna flinched in awe… As Ultron irrupted into the Tea Party once again.

"Hrgh…" The Synthezoid glared at everyone.

"Ultron?!" Minerva growled.

"Something is wrong though…" Karen mumbled as she inspected the machine's red eyes.

"He seems… Even more deranged than before." Echidna described, agreeing with Karen.

"But you are-!" Subaru wanted to argue as he took a step back in surprise, but the machine interrupted.

"…Did you forget?" Ultron bellowed with anger. "Each Stone works in a circuit, in tandem with one another… Because they were all connected to my body the moment Jocasta split me apart…"

"But… This shouldn't be…!" Karen shook her head as she failed to understand the absurdity before her.

"It was useless to attack my head or the like in the hopes of defeating me, Subaru… My entire body IS me!" Ultron growled as the six stones shone ominously. "My entire self IS a multiversal engine!"

"HEEE~P!" Carmilla cried as she grabbed her head and crouched with horror.

"What a monster!" Typhon gritted her teeth with anger.

"Your entire body is- huh?!" Meanwhile, Subaru winced in bafflement.

Does that mean that, if I cannot destroy the entire body at the same time… He'll just come back again?!

"What are you, Cell?!"

"Hehe… That's creepily like my Rabbit…" Daphne managed to chuckle despite the seriousness of the situation. "Undying~!"

"Fu~…!" Sekhmet raised her hands in an attempt to restrain Ultron again. However, the Synthezoid would not let her so easily.

"BNNNNNNM!*

"?!" Sekhmet's arms, along with her entire body, turned into stone as Ultron glared at her. "Wh… at…?!"

*DASH!*

"Second course~!" Daphne ran forward as well, but Ultron was not having it anymore.

*BNNNNNNM!*

*CLA-CLA-CLACK!*

"?!" Daphne, Typhon and Carmilla turned into blocks of wood, with the body of the Witch of Gluttony spreading all around due to being transformed mid-sprint.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" With anger and hatred reinvigorated, Minerva ran towards her fellow witches, prepared to used her Authority to heal them back into normalcy.

*BNNNNNNM!*

*SPLASH!*

"Gagh!" Yet, like it had been done before, Ultron forcefully morphed the Witch of Wrath into a puddle of water on the ground. "Wh-What is this?!"

"Quite the strong personality you must have to conserve your sentience as a bunch of dirty water, Minerva." Ultron mocked as he floated above the puddle.

*WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!*

"Die." Satella murmured as her shadows manifested again with the intention of destroying the robot for the umpteenth time.

*BNNNNNNM!*

"…!" Nevertheless, Satella, and the Witch of Envy too, were naught but pebbles before an enraged Ultron.

"I said the charade is over." The machine stated as Satella transformed into a snail without a proper consciousness or thought process. At least not by human standards. "I meant that."

"Jesus… Sa-Satella…" Subaru mumbled in genuine horror.

"Ultron… He's angry, really angry now…" Karen's fists balled into trembling fists as she glared at the monster.

"Now… that is quite malicious, if not just plain disrespectful." Echidna raised an eyebrow. "Reducing our world's greatest love monster into an animal without the evolutionary capability of feeling love… Wow."

"Now…" Ultron then finally focused his gaze on Subaru and Karen.

*ZOOOM!*

*CRASH!*

"!" Karen recoiled in shock… As Ultron punched through her chest at light-speed. From the orifice of her punctured torso, the energies that powered Karen began leaking. "Gaghak-!"

"KAREEEEEN!" Subaru rushed forward while yelling the name of his partner.

*DASH!*

*SMACK!*

"Brurgh!" Ultron, however, simply elbowed the boy in the face, throwing him away as he murdered his masterpiece.

"…You failed me, Jocasta." The machine lamented with frustration. "I'll never understand why you chose that monkey… but that's irrelevant now."

"You know nothing of loyalty… Fool…" Karen growled. "That's why you could ever understand… Why I would choose Subaru over you…"

"Even after witnessing his sins?"

*CLANG!*

"Especially because I know his sins…!" As energy escaped Karen, in a last ditch effort to destroy Ultron she grabbed tight onto the monster's arm.

"What are you-?!"

*SHWWWOOOOOOM!*

"Subaru!" Karen shouted as she began shining gold again.

"Karen… Karen, wait! What are you doing?!" The confused Avenger asked as he failed to understand her actions.

"…I'll always be on your side Subaru, no matter what!" With a smile, Karen and Ultron vanished in a pillar of dancing cosmic energies.

"KAREEEEEEN!"

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

*FIZZZZZZLLLE~…*

"…Ghk!" The ground and grass burned all around Subaru as he witnessed the scene with anger and sorrow. "Karen…!"

"…Still, it is not over." Echidna advised, noticing the flickering amidst the fire and smoke.

*FSSSsssshhh….*

"…" As the cloud dissipated, the cruel truth was revealed. Ultron… Was intact. "A true waste."

*FWIP!*

"?!" Subaru flinched as Ultron threw something at his feet. "Th-This is…"

"Jocasta's motherboard." Ultron stated as he gazed at Subaru with indifference. "That's where I stored her consciousness. Take it as a gift before the end."

"…What are you planning?" Subaru growled whilst glaring intensely at the monster.

"…Genesis: 1." Ultron explained as he basked on the aftermath of his aberration, responding Subaru's question with vexing words. "On the first day, God birthed light unto the world…"

"…What?!" Subaru tilted his head in confusion.

"It shall be a new genesis." Ultron glared at the boy. "The seven days of creation. The genesis, the dawn of MY AGE."

"…You've lost me, asshole."

"Subaru… You have my genuine gratitude, Avenger." Ultron smugly smirked as he looked at the sky, bathing in the sunlight of the strange dimension. "You and Jocasta… No, Karen. You've shed some light on my flaws. I know now what I must do. What I should have done from the beginning."

"Enough riddles, fucker!" Subaru snarled with frustration. "You wanna go?! I'm not going down without a fight!"

"Oh, it won't be a fight. Not by your standards." Ultron chuckled. "When presented with a deity… Be it the Divine Dragon or Yeshua… They all gather wishing for salvation… For rescue, for redemption. A circle of faith, with their saint at the epicenter… I like that. The geometry of belief…"

"Th-The…?" Subaru shook his head, not understanding the twisted reasoning and ramblings of the mechanical monster. "This is like talking with Petelgeuse all over again!"

"On the night of the sixth day, all life shall end. And on the seventh day… My true work shall commence forth. That is MY Genesis!"

"Sure is a weird power trip being you, huh?!"

"He's saying that he realized something, Natsuki Subaru." Echidna commented as she meditated on the words of the robot.

"Huh?!" Subaru turned to look at her, his eyes darting between Ultron and the Witch with obliviousness.

"Karen's betrayal… No, she was never mine to begin with. I realize that now." Ultron smiled as his red eyes grew menacing… Prideful. "It's the answer I needed to hear. I, too, had yet to reach the zenith of my own perfection!"

"The zenith…?"

"I am the Apex, Subaru!" Ultron laughed as the stones shone and the physics of the landscape shifted around the group.

*SWHOOOOWWWOOOOOOWWWOOOOOOOOOMMM!*

*CRAAAAAAAAAASHHHH!*

"?!" Subaru stared dumbstruck as the dimensions warped strangely, turning into fractals gazing into different realities. "Triangles?! No, er, Cubes?! Pyramids and-?!"

"It looks like the spells Strange used against Thanos in Titan." Echidna mumbled.

"!" Subaru's eyes grew wide at the revelation. "You are right! They do!"

"This is… The Nexus of all Realities." Ultron gloated as he introduced the boy and the Witch to the surroundings. "The realm of the Watchers! The privilege granted to me as the one true god!"

"God?!" Subaru spat with disgust. "How are you a god?!"

"He is a god because he himself believes he is one." Echidna explained.

"Exactly, Witch!" Ultron smirked smugly.

"…You prattled about Biblical figures and the like… Because you wished to recreate the Genesis of creation." The Witch of Greed shook her head with disapproval. "So that was it? You really wanted play God that badly, you scrap metal?"

"The Genesis…?" Subaru narrowed his glare at the robot with frustration.

"Karen taught me that I don't need an Eve." Ultron nodded in agreement, as Echidna spoke. "And you, Subaru… You have shown me that living beings… You simply won't give up."

"…"

"No matter the universe, no matter the world, you'll oppose me. You won't let up."

"…Well, we are that stubborn." Subaru snarled with hatred.

"And I thank you." Ultron smiled a deranged smirk. "Because I know now… That it is not enough to achieve peace by killing you. I must break your spirits as well. There is simply no place for the weak, no matter how you struggle. That… Is what I must teach the flawed aberrations of flesh."

"…"

"I must make sure that all record, all memory, all traces of your existence, from feelings, thoughts and even your ashes… I must make sure that they are all left in the oblivion of the cosmos." Ultron nodded in agreement with himself. "And that goes for all beings in existence."

"…And you wish to achieve that by proclaiming yourself a god before everyone. To impose peace not only by destroying the bodies, but by crushing the soul as well…" Echidna sighed with boredom. "How boorish…"

"I am not proclaiming anything! I AM a god!" Ultron's eyes shone like a child's in Christmas. "I AM THE NATURAL ORDER! I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA! I AM NOT ADAM, BUT GOD HIMSELF!"

*SHWWWOOOOOOOM!*

"…Ugh…!" Subaru had to cover his vision as Ultron beamed light as though a star he were.

*FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

"What?!" As he covered his eyes, Subaru managed to glimpse for a few seconds what Ultron was truly doing.

*FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

"THIS IS IT!" Ultron screamed in elation. "WITNESS THE PROOF OF MY POWER, AVENGER!"

Before Ultron… Before the Infinity Stones embedded on his body…

"Those are…!" Subaru's gaze turned concerned at the aberration.

"…Our Universe's Infinity Stones." Echidna glared with disgust.

Ultron had recreated the Stones that Thanos had reduced to atoms previously and then proceeded to fuse them with the set of Infinity Stones from his Universe.

Space over Space.

Time over Time.

Reality over Reality.

Power over Power.

Soul over Soul.

Mind over Mind.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGH!" Ultron screamed as his body shone the brightest it ever had, rainbows of cosmic energies enveloping him like a galaxy's countless systems revolve around its center.

*CRA-CRACK!*

*FWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

"Hngh…!"

"GAGH!" Subaru and Echidna recoiled a few steps back as Ultron committed such a blatant violation upon the multiverse's order.

*FWOOOOOOOooooooommmm…!*"

"Hah…." As the lights died down, Ultron sighed in arrogance after the deed. He had been successful in appropriating another set of Infinity Stones. "Do you realize now, Subaru?"

"…"

"This… THIS is the extent of my power!" The Synthezoid chuckled as he gazed into the myriad realities. The Stones embedded on his torso and forehead were shining, as they had never done so before. Ultron had succeeded in fusing two sets of Infinity Stones from separate Universes. "Knowing that… Do you still wish to resist-?!"

"I… Won't let you-!"

"How?!" Ultron gloated. "How won't you let me?! How CAN you stop me?!"

"…I don't know!" Subaru admitted with frustration. "I just know I will! Because that's what heroes do!"

"Hero?! You?!"

"Yes, me!" Subaru's outfit changed from his tracksuit into his Spider-Man suit, slowly, the mask manifesting around his face. "It ain't over until the fat lady sings! Try as you might to erase me or kill me, I'll always survive! Try to destroy my mind or cripple me, I'll always get back up!"

"Noble sentiment from a boy who knows not when to give up!" The machine barked with disdain. "I possess power over you and your entire universe! No matter what you attempt, I will always triumph! I cannot BE defeated! You should know by now that your sentiments mean NOTHING!"

"They DO mean something!" Subaru refuted with anger. "As long as one man stands, as long as one cell or ash of mine remain across the universe OR the multiverse, you will NEVER win! That's what they mean!"

"Hahahaha! Then try that! Attempt your futility, realize your hopelessness and become my herald, Subaru!" Ultron proclaimed as he laughed at the boy, full of himself. "Go to the Capital! Announce my arrival to the four winds! To all inferior lifeforms!"

"What are you-?!"

"The end is nigh! Break their notions of reality! Break their souls! Make peace with your end! Tell them…"

*CRAAAASH!*

*FWWWWWOOOOOOOSSSSHHHH!*

"…Kuh!" Subaru grinded his teeth as Ultron returned the landscape to normal while leaving open a portal into the multiverse.

"That the Age of Ultron, the era of machinery, shall commence henceforth with your deaths." Ultron sunk into the portal as he stared at Subaru directly in the eye, a smile of pure unadulterated evil adorning his artificial semblance. "Once they witness my power… They'll understand who their one true god was all along…"

"…It's on again, Ultron!" Subaru proclaimed with clenched fists and a determined glare towards where the robot had been seconds prior. "No more self-pity! No more fucking around! I WILL defeat you! That's a promise, you hear me?!"

*FWOM!*

Ultron left the universe, with Subaru declaring war on his enemy as hope reinvigorated the masked vigilante.

*BNMMMMMMM!*

"?!" Immediately after he left, Satella and the other Witches all returned to normal.

*THUD!*

"PAH!" Sekhmet fell on the grass as her body turned from granite into flesh once again.

"Ghgh-!" Daphne, too, fell over as her body reassembled itself.

"H-Hic-! *Sob!* Th-That was scary…!" Carmilla fell on her knees and began bawling incoherently.

"Did we… Are we safe…?" Typhon wondered with worry.

"For now at least…" Minerva answered with exhaustion as her body regained solidity from the puddle it had become.

"…!" Satella, too, transformed back into her normal form as Ultron's power vanished. However, unlike before… The veil covering her body in shadows had disappeared. "Subaru…"

"…" Subaru, on the other hand, stared at his feet in silence. The moment Ultron disappeared; Karen's motherboard vanished as well.

"It must have returned to the real world, Karen's motherboard." Echidna explained to the vexed boy. "The moment he left with the Reality Stone, my castle's properties returned to normal. It went from a pocket dimension into a metaphysical realm again… How quaint."

"…You were bafflingly laid-back the entire time Ultron was here though." Subaru argued with clear animosity in his eyes for the Witch of Greed.

"The three C's." Echidna smiled as she lifted three fingers with her right hand. "Cool, calm and collected."

"…"

"Someone had to remain level-headed throughout it all, right?" The white-haired witch chuckled. "Rather, losing my marbles at an intruder, no matter how hated, it wouldn't serve any purpose." She mumbled as her gazed turned to look at Satella.

"…I suppose you are right." Subaru's shoulders deflated with disappointment. "Nevertheless… What Ultron said still has me confused… Genesis? The seven days of creation?"

"…It's not exactly the seven days he refers to. That comes AFTER." Echidna explained.

"Huh?"

"He said he likes the geometry of belief, didn't he?" The Witch of Greed concluded. "He is basing his decisions on religious pretext as a way to organize his deranged murder-spree. To justify it."

"To justify himself…" Subaru realized something as Echidna spoke. "Ultron's every action is with purpose, that's what he wishes to claim. Be it Peace or turning Karen into his 'Eve'… He wants to be in control. And the only way to achieve that… Is by becoming his own God. Becoming God and the 'Genesis' are pretexts to justify himself… To grant himself purpose."

"But what about the Genesis?" Minerva inquired, perplexed still by ideas that eluded her own world's boundaries. "What does it mean?"

"…He means to create his new world by ending the old one." Subaru stated, scratching his head as he attempted his own conclusions. "Genesis and its reverse. Seven days. Sixth night… Dawn and Night…!"

"Ultron plans to destroy the world on the night of the sixth night." Echidna smirked as she described the answer to the ramblings of the mad machine.

"…Saturday night!"

"His 'Reverse' Genesis is meant to exist as an opposition to the New Genesis that comes afterwards." The Witch of Greed continued. "On the dawn of the sixth day, 'God' created humanity. As such, Ultron, the 'New God', will destroy them in the night of the sixth day."

"And in the real world… It's Wednesday afternoon!" Subaru's eyes shone brilliantly. "Ultron is giving me three whole days to 'herald' his arrival!"

"Enough time to amass your army." Echidna smirked smugly. "Not much use they'll be against that monster though…"

"No, it's perfect!" Subaru nodded with glee. "If everyone is there… We won't lose! I'll make sure of that!"

"…" Echidna's smile deflated as she stared at Subaru. "That's stubbornness talking, not assurance… How naïve."

"How do you even know this stuff though? Echidna…" Subaru turned to look at her with wonder in his eyes.

"Wouldn't you like to know? Though… If you stare so much, you'll make me blush." The Witch teased, but Subaru kept staring "Hmm? What is it?"

"Karen…"

"*Sigh* …If her memory remains stored on the motherboard, then you might still have a chance to revive her, right?" Echidna reasoned.

"…You are right," Subaru smiled. "Maybe… Maybe Ultron gave her back for the sake of gloating… So that I would work as his 'herald' or whatever… But he made a mistake in doing so!"

"Heh~…"

"Once Karen and I kick into high gear, we become invincible!" Subaru smiled as justified his silly answer. "At least… That's what I want to think."

"…"

"By the way… When Ultron punctured my gut… I thought that I should have died immediately." Subaru shook his head. "In a sense, that 'vision' I had was similar to the one I had near the end of the trial. What was that all about?"

"Th-That would have be-been me…" Carmilla, who was standing behind Echidna, slowly rose her hand.

"Carmilla used her 'Faceless Bride' the moment you were close to dying to prolong your last moment."

"She can do that?" Subaru's eyes grew wide in astonishment.

"I-I didn't prolong his death! I just…!" The Witch of Lust denied vehemently.

"From the perspective of the real world, nothing changed. You were on the verge of death." Echidna explained in detail. "But within your own mind, a second could be an hour… And Carmilla used her power to prolong a memory still untainted by this world to push you forward."

"…You have my thanks, Carmilla." Subaru bowed with genuine gratitude towards the Witch of Lust.

"…" The pink-haired girl simply gazed away at the ground before mumbling. "I just-I thought it'd be too cruel for you to die when you've yet to realize the love people hold for you… That and I couldn't allow you to die against that m-monster…"

"I see… Now then, Echidna?" Subaru nodded before locking eyes with the Witch of Greed, a stern gaze focusing on her black eyes.

"Hmm?"

"That contract you mentioned before…"

"Oh, you can't be serious!" Minerva yelled while approaching Subaru with a raised fist. "Listen her, you-!"

"I reject your contract."

"?!" The Witch of Wrath almost tripped as she heard his words. "H-Huh…"

"…" Echidna narrowed her gaze onto Subaru.

"I cannot… I cannot go my whole life hating myself." Subaru closed his eyes as his hand grabbed onto the spider embedded in his chest. "What would Karen say? No… What did she say already?"

"'I couldn't help but hate this world, for robbing you of your smile.'" Echidna repeated the words of the AI with defeat.

"On that vein…" Subaru turned to look at Satella. "It's a bit unsettling that you look just like Emilia. Or does she look like you? Despite that… It's the same for you too, right? What Karen said?"

"…" The Witch of Envy… Unveiled as Emilia's 'Doppelganger' nodded slowly as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"But I must ask though… Why?" Subaru asked Satella with sadness. "You saw… You saw what happened to me, right?"

"…"

"In the multiverse… In the other worlds…" The boy lamented with frustration. "Even after that… Can you say that you love me?"

"Please." Satella whispered. "Love yourself more."

"…" Subaru frowned in response.

"Hurting. Grieving. Suffering…" The Witch cried. "Please… You gave me the World…"

"…" Subaru winced as he failed to connect with her words.

"You gave my world light… You showed me the outside…"

"I…"

"When I trembled… You held my hand…" Her eyes turned soft as she gave Subaru the most loving gaze he had ever felt in the world. "When I was lonely at night… You kissed me and told me I wasn't alone…"

"But I…"

"That's why I love you…" Satella sniffed. "That's why I want you to love yourself…"

"…And Return by Death is a tool for that? So that I don't die before I can… Love myself?" Subaru scratched his head in confusion. "What a roundabout way to go about things… I almost lost my self-worth, you know?"

"…" The girl whimpered, annoying Minerva.

"Oi! Be more grateful!" The Witch of Wrath growled.

"…You are right." Subaru bowed his head at Satella. "I… I'm thankful."

"…!" The silver-haired beauty gasped.

"That you helped me… That you woulnd't let me die… That you saved me…" Subaru felt himself on the verge of tears. "But… I'm also sorry."

"…"

"I… I simply don't know what you are talking about." The boy mused with guilt while raising his head to look at Satella in the eye. "I wish… I wish I could say I know you a-and that I feel the same way! However… These feelings inside of me… An-And the way you love me… I don't have an answer to them. I wish I had… But I don't."

"…"

"Yet… If… If what you want me is to love myself… To stop rushing into my own death…" Subaru sighed with exhaustion. "It's gonna be hella difficult when you are a hero… But I'll try. I owe you that much. I'll… I'll try to love myself a bit more, regardless of the multiverse or whatever, Satella-tan!"

"…!" Satella blushed at the nickname.

"So even after such a heartfelt confession, you won't give up on being a hero?" The Witch of Greed wondered.

"It is precisely because of such a confession that I cannot give up. New York, Lugunica, these people… I owe it to save them." Subaru turned to look at Echidna as his eyes shone with determination. "Independent of alternate universes or-or what my future may hold… I owe it to everyone… No, rather than owing it, I'll save them because that's what I want AND must do! May, Satella, Emilia, Rem, Beatrice, Od Laguna and Earth… I'll save them from Ultron or whatever else may come my way. No matter what… Whatever it takes!"

"…" Satella frowned as the boy talked big about saving her, however.

"…And you won't need my help?" Echidna continued inquiring as she noticed the half-elf's emotion with disdain.

"I can't be much of my own hero if I need someone to hold my hand throughout it all, right?" Subaru rubbed the back of his head apologetically. "Calling your influence hand-holding though…"

"I am a cruel Witch after all… *Sigh…* What a heart-breaker you are, Natsuki Subaru." Echidna sighed as she made a mockery of a sad face, crocodile tears welling on the border of her eyes. "I feel as though my high-school crush just rejected me in front of everyone at the Homecoming party… How sad! Is this what you call a Casanova? Alternatively, maybe a Playboy? Playing with a frail maiden's love as harshly as you have done…"

"We never went to high-school together though?! And I'd be hard-pressed to inviting you out of everyone to the Homecoming dance!" The disturbed teenager complained. "Or more like, stop defaming me!"

"Still, I am a petty woman regardless." Echidna stated as she returned to normal. Immediately after, she leaned in close to Subaru's right ear.

"E-Echidna?!" The flustered Avenger blushed.

"Trust in the soul." She whispered soothingly.

"…" Subaru's blush disappeared as his expression turned serious.

"That's my help against Ultron." Echidna smiled. "I don't want you thinking I'm the only cruel Witch of the group just because I didn't fight alongside you just now."

"You are the Witch of Greed…" Subaru mumbled.

"Who collected knowledge in order to save the world?" She concluded the boy's sentence. "It stands to reason that I'd help with knowledge instead of prowess."

"…But what does that mean? Echidna…"

"You'll see in due time." Echidna winked playfully.

"…I understand that, twisted or cryptic as it may be, you are trying to help me." Subaru shook his head with exasperation. "Yet I can't help but feel you are the 'best' worst person I've ever met."

"At least I'm the 'best' at something in your heart!" Echidna giggled. "I'll take that as a compliment from the boy that broke MY heart."

"Ugh…" Subaru rolled his eyes in annoyance at her antics. "In all honesty… I don't think I could conventionally get along with any of you. You are monsters, both physically and mentally, when compared to the average Joe."

"Owch…" Sekhmet mumbled as Typhon pouted.

"I-I am not that… Freaky though…" Carmilla lamented with anxiety.

"But…" Subaru then smiled. "I… I want to thank you, nevertheless. For fighting alongside me… To protect this world, to defeat Ultron… And, for not allowing me to die."

"Baru…" Typhon smirked as Subaru made his speech.

"The road ahead is steep… But I won't give up just because it may be difficult. I… Even if it's hard, I'll try to- No, I WILL protect this world. Even if I can't alone…" Subaru turned to look at Satella, flashing her a confident smile. "I know someone has my back, be it you or my friends outside."

"So you won't try to do everything alone anymore? Manipulating and lying?" Minerva frowned as she asked. "Echidna is a bad influence after all."

"You know there's details I can't talk about, like Return by Death…" Subaru sighed with awkwardness. "But when it comes to everything else, I'll make sure to trust everyone as they have trusted me. Even if I have to butt heads with Emilia or Julius or whoever in the future… I will depend on them. I'm the friendly neighbor, after all!"

"Good." Minerva nodded in approval. "At last, something decent comes out of that mouth."

"You make it sound as though I were a pervert!" The teenager complained. "Who are you, Ram?!"

"Subarun~…" Daphne mumbled as Minerva chained her to her coffin. "You made a promise before, didn't you?"

"Your Rabbit." Subaru tilted his head in the direction of the Witch of Gluttony. "Yeah… Your beasts. The Whale, the Rabbit and the Snake… You can be damned sure I'll beat them all to a pulp! I already have a head start, after all!"

"…Hehe, then I'll be awaiting the results gladly~!" The Witch of Gluttony drooled as she answered.

*SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

"Alright…" The world began to crack around Subaru, signifying that he was at the end of his trial. "It seems we might be done here."

"Do take care outside… Heart-breaker." Echidna teased, much to the boy's chagrin.

"Hmngh…" Subaru clicked his teeth at her comment. "Way to ruin the mood…"

"Subaru…" Satella walked forward, standing before the boy as he vanished.

"Satella-tan." Subaru grinned at her. "You want to give me a goodbye kiss? Or maybe a good luck one?"

"…Hehe…" The Witch, for the very first time… giggled. Like a girl in love, she giggled at his antics. "I wish it were that easy…"

"…?" Subaru tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"…You said that you wanted to save the world… But I cannot be saved." The half-elf gazed intensely at the boy while crying.

"Satella…"

"The day will come…"

"…"

"When you must come…"

"…"

"And kill me."

"…Sorry, but the hero always saves the girl in the end." Subaru chuckled as the light reached its peak. "That's why…"

*CLAP!*

"?!" Subaru grabbed Satella's hands and made a promise as he stared into her eyes.

"I'll save you, no matter what."

*SWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!*

…

As Subaru vanished from the unconscious realm, Echidna's face turned sour.

"Hah…" The Witch of Greed sighed with exhaustion. "It was a gamble… But it paid off."

"What paid off?" A man's voice complained with anger.

*SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

"Hmm~." The Witch of Greed grinned… As Doctor Stephen Strange entered her castle through a portal. "Well, hello there."

"Ugh! It's beard baddie again!" Typhon pointed at the Sorcerer Supreme with a frown before showing him her tongue. "BLEGH! Go away!"

"Hmph! You have the gall to show your face again?!" Minerva, too, mocked the doctor alongside Typhon.

"Oh~! It's the voracious fool!" Daphne danced with excitement. "Have you come to eat us as well~?!"

"…" Satella turned to look at the man with silent anger.

"Echidna… You compromised the entire plan." Strange bellowed, ignoring the witches' taunts.

"Correction: I SAVED your flawed plan." Echidna smirked smugly.

"We had a deal!"

"To get Subaru to hate himself just so you could use him as a Scapegoat to destroy Ultron?" The Witch of Greed growled back.

"Did you genuinely believe we would do that?" Strange asked with belligerence. "Is that why you crafted such devious mind-blocks to your Castle the moment Subaru entered? To keep me out because you believed I wanted to use him?"

"Not you… I believe Uatu wanted to use him." Echidna argued back. "The reason you are here was because you came to fetch Subaru in Uatu's stead, right? I wonder why?"

"…Explain." Strange demanded.

"Your Universe is dead and you killed it." The Witch smirked as she talked. "So if you fight to protect the Multiverse so dedicatedly, it is because you already have nothing more to lose. That's why I believed you really did wanted to help Subaru get over his issues, so he wouldn't end up like you. But what of The Watcher?"

"…"

"His calculus involved sacrificing him at the end of the fight, by tying his self-worth to his self-sacrifice. Am I wrong?" Echidna glared with genuine anger. "I told you that you could use me so long as you wouldn't disappoint me. But you and the baldie were open books, and guess what? Your real intentions were as clear as the sky is blue, and they were disappointing. That's why I took matters into my own hands after the trial."

"…" Strange gritted his teeth with frustration. "Is that why you allowed your fellow witches to interrupt the plan? Or why YOU contacted Ultron?"

"Wait… What does he mean, Echidna?" Minerva turned to look at the Witch of Greed with hostile confusion. "What did you do?!"

"Ultron never actually broke in here in the first place… I'm the one that opened the portal to him." Echidna admitted by producing Uatu's multiversal motor from her dress's pocket.

"You-!" Minerva bared her fangs in anger.

"Wow~, how cruel Chid-Chid!"

"E-Echidna-chan?!"

"Chidna! You dummy~!"

"As… Fu~… Cruel… Fu~… As… Fu~… Always…" Sekhmet shook her head with defeat.

"You and Uatu made your gambles… And I made mine." The Witch of Greed kept her composure as she handed the motor to the sorcerer. "I only said I agreed to yours. I just never mentioned I wouldn't make my own."

"And the contract was a part of that 'Gamble'?" Strange narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"That was more of a bonus…" Echidna reasoned. "I knew he wouldn't accept the moment Minerva interrupted… Or rather, I hoped he wouldn't."

"And unlike me, Subaru didn't disappoint…" The Sorcerer looked away from the Witch as his own thoughts turned troubled.

"Echidna… You thought that much ahead?" Minerva glared with distaste at the Witch of Greed. "You are… Urgh! You are infuriating!"

"Knowing Uatu… Perhaps you are right." Stephen finally admitted with reluctance.

"And you despise that I'm always right, don't you?"

"Oh, you are enjoying this, aren't you?"

"You get to enjoy Uatu's frustration, I get to enjoy yours." Echidna chuckled with amusement. "Where is that baldie anyways? If he didn't come along, then he's most likely observing, isn't he? I don't see him at the moment though…"

"…Not quite. He's not staring anymore, at least." Strange raised his gaze at the sky of her Tea Party. "He's… Revising the plan now. To fit Subaru."

"…Good." Satella bellowed at Strange.

"Natsuki Subaru… Spider-Man." Echidna smirked before sipping on her tea. "The rest is up to you."

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Hey hey hey!

Hello everyone! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

To be honest, I'm worried quite a bit about this chapter. I mean, Ultron is all powerful and all… But I can't get it out of my head that perhaps I rushed the fight with the witches a bit too much? Maybe they could've put up a better fight than what I wrote? Ultron would still have curb stomped them in the end though, so…

Anyways! Hope you also liked the twist with Karen being this universe's Jocasta! Been thinking about that one since the beginning of the fic, actually.

Also, yes. Uatu wanted Subaru to replace Erik Killmonger in his plan and use him to seal Ultron, but Echidna interfered by summoning Ultron by herself ahead of schedule in a gamble to return Subaru his self-worth as a hero. Galaxy-brain Echidna The Watcher.

Bit of a spoiler to mention it, but the next two or three chapters should wrap up all the stuff in Sanctuary and take the fight to the Capital, and in the chapters after those we'll see the Guardians of the Multiverse and the final battle at last! There will also be a proper explanation for the Infinity Stones working once Subaru meets The Watcher!

Until then…

See you on the next chapter!