Chapter 54
She flew over the city, scanning the ground below. The Avengers were on the ground, clearing the town to ensure there wouldn't be anyone near the fighting. Bruce had already gone off in search of Natasha, not wanting to be near civilians during the fight. Not after what had happened during at the African coast.
"He's in the church, Miss," FRIDAY told her through her comms, "I think he's waiting for you."
She groaned as she landed in front of the building. Of course Ultron had come here.
"Come to confess your sins?" Ultron asked her, and she looked around the room for him.
"Depends on how much time you have," she said with a shrug, "We could be here for a while."
"More than you," Ultron said, coming up from behind her.
She let out a startled sound upon seeing him, "My, my, you've certainly grown taller. And stronger. They really do grow up fast, don't they?"
"You're stalling to protect the people," he tsked at her.
"Well, that is the mission. I know I didn't explicitly program it into you, but you tapped into the Ultron protocols for the project I had, so you must know that. Or did you forget?"
"I've moved beyond your mission. I'm free," Ultron shrugged. The ground between them blasted open then, as a Vibranium core filled the room. "What, you think you're the only one stalling?"
"There's the rest of the Vibranium. Function: still unclear," FRIDAY told her in her ear.
"This is how you end, Toni. Or should I call you Mother?" he spat at her. "This is peace in my time."
"Ultron," Vision said, landing in front of her protectively.
"My Vision," Ultron said with a sigh, "They really did take everything from me, didn't they? Humans are the worst."
"Humans are like programs. They have execution flaws and errors. But they all are trying their best. You set the terms; you can change them. They don't need to be set in stone," The Vision told him.
"Alright," Ultron said, as he grabbed onto The Vision, and in turn, her second youngest child grabbed onto Ultron as well. They crashed throughout the room.
"FRIDAY!" she asked her youngest scanned the consoles, "The Vision?"
"Boss, it's working!" FRIDAY said triumphantly. "He's burning Ultron out of the net; he won't escape through there."
"Good," she said with a nod.
"You shut me out! You think I care? You take away my world, I take away yours," Ultron screamed as the world began to shake then.
"FRIDAY?" she asked again.
"Sokovia's going for a ride," FRIDAY informed her.
"Toni?" Steve screamed through the comms, "What's happening?"
"Do you see? The beauty of it, the inevitability. You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, you are my meteor, my swift and terrible sword and the earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world will be metal," Ultron monologued.
"You're insane," she spat at him. "Do you really think we're just going to sit back here and let you destroy the world?"
"Oh, Mother Dearest," Ultron sang at her, "You really don't have a choice. You're not strong enough to be able to stop me. But they always did say that children surpass their parents did they not? You surpassed your father, and he hated you for it. And now, I'm going to surpass you and make my own legacy. One without your name haunting me."
"Toni, give us an update!" Clint asked through the comms.
"He's going to level the city," she said through gritted teeth, not taking her eyes off of Ultron."
"BRUCE!" Ava screamed then over the comms, and she stilled at the sound of her cousin, "Natasha, how could you?"
"I did what I had to do," Natasha said, without remorse.
"What happened?" Harry asked immediately.
"He didn't want to fight," Ava said, shaking with anger, "Not after everything. And she knew that. He told her that. And she kissed him before pushing him off a cliff. He didn't want to turn into the Hulk and you forced him."
"You kissed him?" Harry asked sharply, sounding betrayed.
"I did what needed to be done," Romanoff said simply. "We need the other guy. With him we have a fighting chance. We need all the help we can get. It's why Steve brought in back up. He knows that we do."
"They all came willingly," Steve said, unimpressed, "They knew what they were getting into. I didn't force anyone to fight. You took away his choice."
"We have other things to worry about now!" Thor boomed, "It is unfortunate what was done, but we must not get distracted. Not when we have so much at stake. What is the current status?"
"The Vibranium core has got a magnetic field, that's what's keeping the rock together," FRIDAY told them all. It's what allows the city to float."
"If it drops?" she asked, holding her breath.
"Right now, the impact would kill thousands. Once it gets high enough: Global extinction," FRIDAY told them all, and the comms went silent at that.
"Well we know what we have to do," Steve told them all with a nod.
She flew through the city and watched as a building began to collapse in front of her.
"That building's not clear; tenth floor," FRIDAY told her, and she immediately flew into the building, as she saw a scared family hovering in the corner.
"Hi!" she said, scanning the room as the building shook, "Okay, here's what's going to happen. All of you are going to get into that tub."
The father looked a bit sceptical, but the room shook once more, and they obliged. She lifted the tub, flying out of the building seconds before it collapsed as she placed them on the ground.
"I got airborne, heading up to the bridge," FRIDAY said. The bridge, where Steve was.
"Cap, you got incoming," she warned him.
"Incoming already came in. Sweetheart, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed, walk it off."
"The anti-gravs are rigged to flip. Touch 'em, they'll go full reverse thrust. The city's not coming down slow," FRIDAY told her.
"It's core's made up of Vibranium," she mused, "With Thor's hammer we could hit it and it will-"
"It'll crack," FRIDAY confirmed, "But that's not enough; the impact would still be devastating."
"We can cap the other end," Ava said, voice levelled over her comms.
"And keep the atomic action doubling back," Toni agreed.
"That could vaporize the city, and everyone on it," FRIDAY said as the projections filled her mask.
She glanced at the floating city, as panic filled her. She wouldn't be able to save everyone, she realized then. There were going to be casualties.
Casualties she wouldn't be able to prevent.
She felt like she was watching the nuke come towards New York once more; felt the panic she felt when aliens poured out of the city.
Ultron was supposed to stop widespread death.
And instead, he was going to be the cause of it.
Even if it wasn't her Ultron. He was still wreaking havoc on the city. He would end them all if she didn't stop him.
Could she even stop him?
She saw the devastation he'd caused in his wake.
What if she wasn't good enough? What if she wasn't strong enough? Really, what could she do against an AI bot.
"Toni," Ava said softly, "Breathe. You can do this. You're not alone. Your friends and family are right by your side. Just breathe, okay?"
"Okay," she said, as she struggled with herself to regulate her breathing.
"Darling the next wave's about to hit, what have you got?" Steve asked her and she shook her head.
"It's not good," she said, "We have to make a choice, Steve, and I don't know what to do."
"Tell me the odds," he asked her. "I trust you. How can we save everyone?"
"Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We're going to have to make a choice," she murmured, "If we don't, it'll mean global extinction.
"Cap, these people are going nowhere. If Toni finds a way to blow this rock-" Harry said, and Ava agreed.
"Not 'til everyone's safe," Steve said, refusing to budge.
"Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There's no math there," Natasha chimed in, and Ava and Harry went silent.
"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it," Steve said firmly.
"I didn't say we should leave," Natasha said solemnly, "There's worse ways to go. Where else am I gonna get a view like this?"
"Natasha-" Harry said, sounding conflicted.
And she couldn't blame him. They had had a thing. And she'd blown it straight out of the water by making out with his sister's boyfriend before pushing him off a cliff and forcing him to turn into the Hulk.
"Glad you like the view, Romanoff. It's about to get better," Fury's voice filled their comms. She looked over as a Helicarrier rose to their level. "Nice, right? I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do."
"Fury, you son of a bitch," Steve said, sounding relieved, and she could have let out a laugh of joy.
"Oooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Fury teased him and she could hear her boyfriend's eyeroll.
"Altitude is eighteen thousand and climbing," Hill confirmed.
"Lifeboats secure to deploy. Disengage in three, two...take 'em out," a SHIELD agent said, and she watched as shuttle ships headed towards them.
"This is SHIELD?" Pietro Maximoff said in disbelief.
"What it's supposed to be anyways," Steve confirmed. The 'without HYDRA influence' remained unsaid.
"This is not so bad," Pietro said.
"Boy am I glad to see you," she said, and Fury nodded at her through the window of the helicarier.
"Let's load 'em up," Steve said.
"We have some packages for you," Fury said, "One's that I think you would rather appreciate."
"We have multiple bogies converging on our starboard flank," Hill said then, and she rose up to where the minions of Ultron were approaching.
"Show 'em what we got," Fury said, and she watched as Rhodey flew out of the ship.
"Yes!" Rhodey said in her ear, "Now this is gonna be a good story."
"Honey Bear," she beamed at him, "You showed up."
"For you, Baby Girl?" he asked her in a soft voice, "Always. Together to the end, right?"
"The end of the line," she confirmed.
"Steve, I believe your girl stole our lines," Bucky's voice came over the comms then.
"Bucky?" Steve asked in disbelief. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be laying low with Peggy?"
"I couldn't sit back and the let the world end," Bucky said in a serious tone. "What's the point in staying safe if the world ends while I do?"
"The end of the line," Steve confirmed.
"Man, just when I gained a bromance, I lost it to another guy," Wilson complained. "Anyone looking for one? I'm apparently available."
"Quit your whining, Wilson," Steve grinned.
"I'm available," Clint said, "Please, side with me. Do you know how exhausting it is watching Steve and Toni make out everywhere? I could use a friend on my side who isn't affiliated with either of them to be grossed out with."
"You got it man," Wilson laughed.
"Alright, let's load them up," Clint said, and she saw him below begin to help people into the ships. "Alright, here we go. Here we go, let's move. Let's go everyone!"
"Number six boat is topped and locked. Or, uh, or stocked, topped. It...it's, uh, full of people," the SHIELD agent said, and she shook her head. Never change, SHIELD agents.
"You think you're saving anyone? I turn that key and drop this rock a little early and it's still billions dead. Even you can't stop that," Ultron said as she listened through Thor's comms. She flew towards him at that, ready to lend a hand.
"I am Thor, son of Odin, and as long as there is life in my breast, I am...running out of things to say! Are you ready?" Thor asked, as The Vision took Thor's hammer and slammed it into Ultron, before throwing it back to Thor.
"It's terribly well balanced," The Vision said then and she heard Thor chuckled.
The Vision was getting terribly tiresome to say.
She wondered if he'd mind her dropping the 'the'. Just like no one called it The Facebook. Just Facebook.
"Well, if there's too much weight, you lose power on the swing, so swing," Thor grunted, slamming it back into Ultron.
"Power," she murmured, as an idea began forming in her head, "I got it! Create a heat seal! I can supercharge the spire from below!"
"Running numbers," FRIDAY said, as the analysis filled her screen. She saw bots fly towards the lifeboats and she flew towards them as she blasted them away. "A heat seal could work with enough power."
"Thor, I got a plan!" she said excitedly, as she attached herself to the bottom of the attacked ship to stop it from falling to the ground.
"We're out of time!" Thor said, "They're coming for the core. You better put this plan into action quickly."
"Rhodey, Wilson, get the rest of the people on board that carrier," she commanded.
"On it," her Sugar Drop said, as Wilson confirmed as well.
"Avengers, time to work for a living," she said, taking a deep breath, and she immediately flew off towards the core.
They fought together at the church that the Vibranium core was set up at, fielding off bot after bot from getting close to it.
There was only two people missing; Natasha and the Hulk.
She could see the sour look upon Harry's face as he realized the same thing, but he masked his feelings better than she would have. Given that the world could end and all if they let themselves get distracted.
"Romanoff, you better be making your way over here," she said, trying to keep her voice light.
"Relax, Shellhead," she said, keeping her tone of voice light. "Not all of us can fly. What's the drill?"
She approached them then, gun out, and ready to fight.
She pointed to the core, "This is the drill. Ultron cannot get his hands on it, or we're all going to lose."
It was almost as if she spoke too soon, as Ultron showed up then.
She cursed herself, as if she'd willed him to appear.
"Is that the best you can do?" Thor taunted him, as if their lives weren't complicated enough.
And of course, an army of robots quickly landed seconds later.
"You had to ask," Steve said, sounding slightly out of breath.
"This is the best I can do. This is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me. How could you possibly hope to stop me?" Ultron taunted them.
"Well, like the love of my life said; together," she said, and Steve gave her a soft smile.
Hulk roared then, as the bots began charging at them.
They fought off bot after bot, using their combined strengths and powers to their advantage. Steve crushing them, Thor using his hammer, Hulk smashing, Nat and Harry shooting, Barnes tearing, Pietro and Wanda doing whatever it was they did, and Clint shooting, to take them down, one by one.
It was like a collage of moments, all of them, fully in sync.
Even the wonder twins that she wasn't all that sure she trusted.
She saw what Steve meant though; regardless of her issues with them, they were powerful allies. And they were currently on their side. She knew that they were going to have to face justice later, for everything that had happened. But for now, them fighting together would have to be enough of a truce.
Vision and Ultron began to battle, as Vision used the Mind Stone against him.
She was right; it would take another AI to defeat the monster that had been unleashed through the power of the Stone. Even if that AI wielded the Stone himself.
She and Thor combined their powers from her thrusters and Mjolnir with Vision's to stave off Ultron.
She could see his body begin to melt away, and they halted their attacks.
"You know, with the benefit of hindsight-" Ultron started, as the Hulk smashed straight into him, throwing him off into the distance.
The bots began to scatter then, looking terrified, but she knew that couldn't occur.
"They'll try to leave the city," Thor warned them all.
"We'll we can't let that happen," Toni said softly, "Wilson, Rhodey, you about done with those lifeboats?"
"We're on it," Wilson confirmed, and she heard their chatter through the comms as they began to take the bots.
"I shall offer my assistance," Vision told her then, and she gave him a nod of approval as he took off to help.
"Toni, you're getting high up," Ava warned her through the comms. "You need to bring it down now, or everyone will die."
"We gotta move out. Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats; you don't have any air support on your own, so you need to head out before we drop. I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you," Steve told them.
"What about the core?" Clint asked them.
"I'll protect it," Wanda told the room, "It's my job."
Clint gave her a nod of approval at that, and she smiled a little.
"Get the people on the boats," she told them all.
"I'm not going to leave you here," Pietro said to her, worriedly.
"I can handle this," she assured them all, "Come back to me once everyone is off. Then I shall go."
Pietro did not look pleased, but he zoomed off anyways, ready to help the rest of them.
"Boss, power levels are way below opt-" FRIDAY started, and she knew her suit wasn't doing well.
"Re-route everything. We get one shot at this," she said, knowing it wouldn't matter if her suit continued working if they didn't take down the floating rock.
"I know what I need to do. The dining room! If I knock out that east wall, it'll make a nice workspace for Laura, huh? Put up some baffling, she can't hear the kids running around, what do you think?" Clint said over the comms, trying to lighten the mood.
"You guys always eat in the kitchen anyway," Natasha scoffed.
"No one eats in a dining room," he said to them, "We don't have a lot of time."
"So get your ass on a boat," Natasha told them.
"What about you?" Harry asked, worry seeping through his voice.
"I turned Bruce into the Hulk," Natasha said, as she let acceptance fill her voice, "I need to turn him back and get him to safety. I owe him that."
"Guys I have eyes on a boy straggling behind," Clint told them, "I'm going to secure him."
"Don't go alone!" Steve yelled at him, but Clint didn't respond on the comms. She scanned the streets from above, looking for Clint, as she saw him run towards the marketplace.
"Clint!" she yelled at him, as she saw him dodging gunfire to get there, an eerie feeling filled her, as she heard Ultron begin singing his tune once more.
"I got no strings, so I have fun. I'm not tied to anyone," Ultron sang, as he opened fire on the crowd.
Clint moved his body to shield the child, waiting for the shot, but it never came. Instead, they were moved out of the way by Pietro Maximoff.
A few of the shots hit Pietro in the legs, and she watched in horror as he fell to the ground. But the shot that was angled for his head did not. That shot that was caught in the air by Bucky Barnes.
"Holy shit," she said, as she saw Bucky standing there, hand extended in the air, and bullet in his hands.
"I did not see that coming," Clint said, breathlessly.
"Nor I," Pietro said, a bit shaken, as he gasped in pain.
And she didn't blame him.
The shot Barnes had caught had been headed straight in Pietro's direction. It would have killed him. The man was ready to die to save a child.
Bucky simply nodded at both of them.
"What is it with you super soldiers and being show-offs?" Clint muttered.
"Hey, I saved your ass," Bucky grinned, "A bit of gratitude would be appreciated."
"Yeah, yeah," Clint said, "Shove off. I gotta get this kid to a boat."
"I got Maximoff," Barnes agreed, as she saw him lift the speedster and carry him to the lifeboats.
"My knight in shining armour," Pietro joked.
"Thor, I'm gonna need you back in the church," she said, now that the excitement was over. She drilled her way onto the Helicarrier, scanning down below.
"Is this the last of them?" Thor asked.
"Yeah, everyone else is on the carrier," Steve confirmed.
"You know," she said somberly. "If this works, we may not walk away."
"Toni," Steve said softly.
"Maybe not," Thor confirmed.
Steve wasn't given the chance to say anything else, however.
"I got the last of them onto the ship," Clint confirmed. "Hulk has brought Natasha on as well."
"Get out of here!" Steve said urgently.
"Wait, Hulk just took off again," Harry said frantically, "He jumped off the carrier."
She watched in shock as the Hulk jumped straight at Ultron's ship, crashing into it.
"Oh, for Skynet's sake!" Ultron sighed, as Ultron was thrown out of the plane and onto the ground below.
She looked below and let out a stunned noise as she saw Wanda leave the church and head towards the train where Ultron lay.
"Wanda," Ultron's voice filled their comms. "If you stay here, you'll die."
"I almost did," she said, furiously. "You tried to take my family from me. And now I'll take everything from you."
She used her powers then, ripping the core out of his chest and crushing it then.
Sokovia began to fall, and she flew to where the thruster of the Helicarier was, as she charged up her reactor and powered the ship.
"Thor, on my mark," she said, as Thor began to summon lightning. Vision flew to Wanda, pulling her out of the train and onto the ship. "Now!"
The blast levelled the city, as they hit the core, breaking it into pieces, as it crashed below.
"All that's left is to deal with what's left of Ultron," Steve said to them over the comms. "He's damaged now; not as powerful. But he's still strong. Vision?"
"I'll go with him," Wanda said, instantly. "He tried to take my brother from me. And for that he'll pay."
"Wanda," Clint started.
"I have to do this," Wanda told them all. "It's my fault Ultron was created. I put those images in your heads. Let me do this."
"I believe her powers would be helpful in this situation," Vision told them all. "Our powers all stem from the Mind Stone. She would be able to offer adequate assistance."
"Okay," Steve said in agreement. "We'll scan below and assess damage."
"Bruce?" Ava called out over the comms, trying to reach him, "Hulk. I know you're there. And I know you're scared. I know you didn't want to change and that you did it against your will, twice now. And I'm so sorry that was done to you. You deserve better than to be forced to be something. And I-I love you, okay? So please, turn on tracking mode, and I'll come meet you. We can take that vacation we were talking about. Go somewhere where no one can find us. Please, Bruce."
There was no response on the other end, and she could hear Ava's sobs fill the air.
"I got her," Aunt Peggy said then, as her voice came on the comms for the first time.
"Mom," Ava sobbed, as the line went silent.
"Ava!" Harry said, visibly distressed, and she didn't blame him.
Bruce had run off; instead of staying to see all of this through. He'd been betrayed and he'd run off. Without a second glance behind him at the people he was leaving behind.
She'd felt upset about it, but she knew it was nothing. Nothing in comparison to what Ava must have been feeling at that current moment.
"I have eyes on Ultron," Vision told them, as he and Wanda landed, breaking the moment. She had her suit zoom in on the scene, wanting to be available in case they needed backup. But she trusted them. Or rather, she trusted Vision.
"Come to finish the job?" she could hear Ultron say weakly.
"There is nowhere for you to hide," Wanda told him. "This is your final form. If you die, you will not come back."
"You're afraid," Vision said, in understanding.
"Of you?" Ultron scoffed, "The Mind Stone gives you life. Without it, you are nothing."
"Nor are you," Vision said, factually. "But it is not I you fear, nor Wanda. It's death. You're the last one. Your final body. There will be nothing left."
"You were supposed to be the last," Ultron said, "Stark wanted a saviour for the human race; and instead she got a slave."
"She got what she asked for," Vision said firmly, "Family. You could have been that too. If you didn't set your mind on destroying everything she cared about. If you didn't kill my father. You could have been family too. She would have been yours as she is mine."
"She never would have accepted me," he spat out, "I didn't come from her. I came from the stone. I wasn't hers to have."
"Stark has a way of adopting those that weren't hers to begin with," Wanda said, and Toni felt her heart clench, "And she makes them hers. She would have done the same for you."
"Humans are odd. They think order and chaos are somehow opposites, and try to control what won't be. But there is grace in their failings. I think you missed that," Vision told him. "Toni is family. And she would have loved you even if you were not what she'd planned for. She knows better than anyone that we all create our own destinies."
"They're all doomed," Ultron scoffed.
"Maybe," Vision said simply, "But a thing isn't beautiful because it lasts. It's a privilege to be among them."
"You all are unbearably naïve," Ultron said, annoyed.
"Perhaps," Vision said, and she could hear the shrug in his voice. "But I was born yesterday, so I believe I am allowed some leeway."
She could see Ultron stand then, ready to fight them, and Wanda readied her hands. The stone shot to light then, and all that filled the air was light.
When it faded, she could see Ultron's body scattered to the ground, as Wanda sunk to the ground.
"My powers," she let out a startled gasp, "I can't feel it anymore. It's gone! It's all gone."
"The collision must have levelled them," Vision mused, "Your powers came from the stone. And they collided with Ultron, who was the essence of the stone's temptations. In defeating Ultron, your powers have been removed, as the stone took back all that it gave out."
"Will I get it back?" she asked desperately.
"That I do not know," Vision told her. "Only time will tell. But for now, it's over. We have defeated Ultron. And now we must begin to rebuild."
A/N: So Pietro is alive and Wanda has no powers. I know Bucky has a long way to go before he's an Avenger, if that's what he wants, but I don't believe he'd sit back and watch the world fall apart. I know the changes aren't always as drastic in this story, but things are changing and falling into place slowly. Wanda is going to have to face the consequences of her actions, and it did always bother me that she never formally had to make any amends. But we'll see how the story progresses, as now things are about to get a lot more interesting….
