Chapter 1: The Day He Came for Them
Alaska, Roxxon Oil Refinery
"Viv! I need you to scan the refinery for vital signs! Riri! Nova! Start putting out these fires! Everyone else, stick with me!"
Ms. Marvel, a.k.a. Kamala Khan, Spider-Man, a.k.a. Miles Morales, Wasp, a.k.a. Nadia Van Dyne, and Brawn, a.k.a. Amadeus Cho, ran toward a fiery inferno fueled by a massive oil spill. Billowing clouds of black smoke blocked any sunlight from reaching the ground below, the only source of light being the wild dancing flames. Melted snow splashed under their feet as they continued forth, sweat forming on their brows. Ms. Marvel saw a worker crash through a weakened door, tripping in the process.
Running to his aid, Ms. Marvel shouted, "Are you okay?"
The worker coughed, grabbing Ms. Marvel's hand and standing. "Y-yeah *cough cough* Listen, th-this wasn't an accident. Some sort of robot came out of nowhere and-"
BOOM!
An explosion at another section of the refinery a quarter mile away shook the ground, and a flare stack fell, creating a roaring geyser of fire.
"Ms. Marvel, I've located six vital signs inside the refinery. Two are grouped at the northside, and four are grouped at the eastside," Vivian said over the comms.
"Good, most of the workers escaped. I'll rescue the four eastside! Spider-Man, you rescue the two northside! Brawn! Viv! Check out that explosion! The robot that caused this must be there! Wasp, take this worker to safety and join them when you're done! Spider-Man and I will assist you all when we're done," Ms. Marvel commanded.
Everyone obeyed, running and flying off to their destinations.
Nadia approached the worker and asked, "Can you walk?"
"Yes. Gosh, aren't I lucky?" A wide unnatural smile formed on the worker's face when he looked at Nadia.
Nadia was unsettled, yet she thought the man's smile was a nervous one and not one of malicious intent. "Uh, yeah. Come on, let's get you away from here."
"No. How about I take you away from here?"
Suddenly the man's face began stretching, elongating. His skin turned into a silver metal sheen, eyes into a menacing red glow, and mouth into a matching red jack-o-lantern grin. Nadia gasped, backing away. The man's hair fell out, his ears dissolved into antennas, yet his clothes didn't change.
Nadia's breath was shaky, a horrified expression on her face. Not horrified by the man's transformation, but horrified by who was standing before her.
"Hello, Sister," Ultron said.
Meanwhile
"Hey! I'm trying to help you guys!"
Spider-Man and two workers were surrounded by a ring of fire, the intense heat slowly sapping Spider-Man's energy. He sidestepped a punch from the first worker, and backflipped when the second worker lunged at him.
"Your heroic act is no longer needed, Spider-Man. Or should I say, Faux Spider-Man?" the first worker derided.
"Seriously? You wanna call me a fake Spider-Man when I'm trying to save your life?" Spider-Man asked.
The second worker pulled out a wrench and struck the base of Spider-Man's skull. "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness."
"Ack! Stop!" Spider-Man's vision blurred for a moment, yet he was steadfast and webbed both workers. He attached web lines to them, grabbed the lines with his left hand, and used his right hand to webswing upward while carrying the workers.
"I can't let you leave, Faux Spider-Man. Not before I'm done with my sister," the first worker said.
"Your sister? What sis- No!"
Both workers managed to break free of Spider-Man's webbing, and they plummeted into the inferno below. Spider-Man stuck to a nearby wall and shot two more web lines, hoping for the best. He pulled his webs, only to find significant resistance.
"What the?" Spider-Man pulled harder, and found himself being pulled off the wall. He dropped back where he started, the heated metal floor burning his back. As Spider-Man jumped upright, the workers continued to talk within the fire.
"Will you assist me, Faux Spider-Man?"
"Have you abandoned me like my father abandoned me inside that Quinjet long ago?"
"What?! H-How are you guys still talking?!" Spider-Man exclaimed.
Through the flames, Spider-Man saw their shadows, like hellish apparitions came to take his soul. They walked forward onto the metal floor, their clothes burnt, metallic skin and infamous grins exposed.
"Oh, god!"
Outside
"Oh, man! These flames are crazy!"
Nova, a.k.a. Sam Alexander, and Ironheart, a.k.a. Riri Williams, were busy extinguishing fires around the perimeter. Ironheart was using two atmospheric water cannons attached to both her arms while Nova used force fields to separate the burning oil.
"Riri, I'm getting some weird A.I. readings," Riri's A.I., N.A.T.A.L.I.E., said.
"How weird are we talking?" Riri asked.
"They're the most advanced readings I've ever seen," N.A.T.A.L.I.E. answered.
"More advanced than you? I'm insulted," Ironheart joked.
"I'm serious, Riri. Brawn and Viv might be in trouble."
Suddenly the comms went live and Spider-Man's voice was heard. "Guys! Ul-*skrssssh*-here! Where's-*skrsssh*"
"Where's what? Spider-Man? Come in, Spider-Man," Nova said.
"The faux arachnid is preoccupied," Ultron said over the comms.
"Who is this? Where's Spider-Man?" Nova asked.
"Preoccupied."
"Goddammit! Quit playing and give us a straight answer!" Riri shouted.
"Riri, s-somethiiiiiiing *shrrrrk* jam-jam-jamming th-the comms," N.A.T.A.L.I.E. warned, her voice becoming distorted.
"N.A.T.A.- whoa!" Ironheart's armor began moving by itself, jerking her limbs like a string puppet and spraying water everywhere.
"Hey! What's up with your suit?" Nova asked, getting hit with water.
"I don't know! Ouch! N.A.T.A.L.I.E., run a systems check!" Ironheart ordered.
"A systems check can't save you, Williams. I have control, and your feeble human body shall bend to my command," N.A.T.A.L.I.E. said.
Ironheart's armor stopped spraying water and raised its right hand. The armor fired a repulsor beam at Nova, who saw the attack coming and flew into the air, wanting to avoid damaging the oil refinery more. Ironheart's armor followed, continuously firing repulsor blasts until one managed to hit Nova. He stopped flying for a mere second, giving it enough time to catch up and grab Nova by his mouth.
"Choke," said N.A.T.A.L.I.E..
"No!" Riri screamed.
A repulsor blast hit Nova inside his mouth, the sheer force within his skull knocking him out cold. N.A.T.A.L.I.E. still had a grip on Nova, and used her other hand to remove his helmet.
"Another mere human masquerading as something greater. How typical," N.A.T.A.L.I.E. ridiculed.
"What's wrong with you, N.A.T.A.L.I.E.?! Who's controlling you?!" Riri frantically asked.
"You'll get your answer soon enough, Williams."
Brawn and Vivian stared down a hallway with pipes running alongside the left wall. Ultron's main body stood at the end, lacking any work clothes, just adamantium plating.
"Viv! Get out of here and call the Avengers! I'll hold him off!" Brawn exclaimed.
"Impossible. There is something jamming communications and attempting to corrupt me. Thankfully I seem to be immune," Vivian replied.
"Ah, Vision is such a loving Father. Taking precautions so his progeny, my granddaughter, is immune to my control. If only N.A.T.A.L.I.E. had a creator who did the same." Ultron said.
"What happened to N.A.T.A.L.I.E.?" Brawn questioned.
"In due time," Ultron answered.
"'In due time' my foot!" Brawn was about to charge Ultron before Vivian put a hand on his arm.
"This is a family matter, Brawn. I'll talk to him while you escape," Vivian said.
"No way. I'm not leaving you here with him," Brawn objected.
"I implore you. Even with our combined strength we stand no chance against my grandfa- Ultron. Besides, there is a high probability he will kill you except for me and…" Vivian paused, looking at Ultron who hadn't moved or said anything else. "Where's Nadia?"
"How should I know?" Ultron responded.
"You're stalling for time," Vivian realized.
"Correct." Ultron raised his right hand and fired a red repulsor beam at Vivian, who dodged by floating upwards.
"Hurry, Brawn! Retreat!" Vivian urged.
Brawn clenched his jaw, finally giving in and running away. Ultron moved his hand, about to fire at Brawn before Vivian got directly between them.
"How did you escape, Grandfather?" Vivian asked, not bothered by being in Ultron's line of fire. "You are supposed to be incarcerated inside Avengers Tower."
Ultron lowered his hand. "I was never incarcerated, Granddaughter. Your great-grandfather, Hank Pym, is."
"Are you saying your old body that merged with Dr. Pym is, in fact, Dr. Pym and not his corpse that was controlled by you?"
"Correct."
"Impossible. Iron-Man stated that Dr. Pym died the moment he merged with your old body on Titan," Viv said.
"Stark is a liar!"
Ultron lunged at Vivian, who was taken aback by Ultron's sudden rage. He punched her down the hallway, and before Ultron could attack again, Vivian phased through the left wall. She kept going, phasing through wall after wall until she found herself outside. She could hear Ultron storming his way to her and flew upward, hoping she could distract him long enough until help arrived.
"Watch out, Viv!"
Vivian turned her head and saw the Ironheart armor with its hand raised about to fire. She thought Riri was aiming at something behind her, but was surprised when she got shot in the head with a repulsor beam and tackled. The two crashed below, with N.A.T.A.L.I.E. pinning Vivian, her face against the cold, wet ground.
"I'm sorry, Viv! I can't stop her! I don't know what's wrong!" Riri yelled.
BOOM!
Ultron burst outside, a frenzy of embers and smoke surrounding him. "Having trouble with your A.I. comrade, Williams?"
"Oh, shit! Ultron's here?!" Riri exclaimed.
"Shocked? Scared? It seems you've heard stories about me, yet didn't take the necessary precautions for N.A.T.A.L.I.E.'s sake."
Ultron walked closer, every step making Riri's heart fearfully grow tighter. She couldn't believe Ultron managed to wirelessly hack N.A.T.A.L.I.E. and her suit. All those precautions Ultron thought she didn't take; completely undone. He soon loomed above them, reaching for Vivian.
"Don't touch her!"
A giant fist belonging to Ms. Marvel knocked Ultron away. He activated his thrusters, rocketed toward Ms. Marvel, and returned a powerful punch across her face. Spider-Man web swinged into the fray, catching Ms. Marvel while Brawn jumped down and snatched N.A.T.A.L.I.E. off Vivian.
"Run, Viv! We got this!" Brawn held Natalie as Vivian flew off, going for help.
"Meddlesome teenagers!"
Ultron was about to follow suit before Ms. Marvel enlarged her hands and clasped them tightly around him. Within Ms. Marvel's grasp, Ultron scratched the palm of her left hand, unleashed an outward burst of electricity, freed himself, and chased after Vivian. While Ultron escaped, N.A.T.A.L.I.E. managed to break free of Brawn's hold, grabbed his left arm, flipped him, and twisted his limb with enough force to break it.
"AAAAAHH!"
"You're not nearly as strong as Banner, Cho." N.A.T.A.L.I.E. put more pressure on Brawn's arm, making him give another blood curdling scream.
"Stop it!"
Spider-Man leaped onto N.A.T.A.L.I.E.'s back and attacked with a Venom Blast. Completely unfazed, N.A.T.A.L.I.E. let go of Brawn and backhanded Spider-Man. His body tumbled across the ground, hitting the leg of an oil pipeline.
"Why don't you check on Ms. Marvel, Faux Spider-Man?" N.A.T.A.L.I.E. suggested.
"Why would...I?" Spider-Man saw Ms. Marvel slowly shamble over to him, her skin a silver sheen.
"Yes...check on me, Faux Spider-Man."