October 19th - 2013
Peter rubbed the sleep away from his eyes and carefully turned to the girl, who was sleeping next to him on his very small bed for two people. She was sleeping wearing one his shirts. Instinctively, Gwen moved herself even closer to Peter, her back meeting his chest as he slowly leaned closer to kiss the pale skin of the back of her neck. He couldn't be happier, despite the ups and downs that being a masked vigilante brings, but he finally achieved what he always wanted for a change.
He caressed her right arm and kissed it before very slowly sitting up in his bed, analysing his bedroom which was surprisingly in order. It was most likely due to Gwen's passing the night there. He offered himself to sleep on the floor, but she thankfully refused it. Science books were spread around the floor and his album of photos that Gwen found was currently open on his desk. He almost didn't notice his girlfriend sitting next to him as she kissed his bare shoulder.
"Hey." Gwen said, softly. "You okay?"
He smiled as he turned his head to meet her gorgeous green eyes. "Yeah, did I woke you?"
"In a way, you kissed a very sensitive spot."
Peter chuckled. "Sorry, I'm just in deep thought."
"Want to share it?" Gwen rested her chin on his shoulder.
"Well, for a change, things seem to finally be working out for me, for us."
"You know, Dad might not like that I didn't went back home yesterday so..."
Peter widened his eyes in shock, "You didn't told him?" He laid himself back to his bed and sighed, "I'm dead. Should I prepare my things while he doesn't come here to arrest me?"
Gwen laughed as she sat over his short, resting her slender legs besides his waistline. "Don't be silly, I've texted him after we finished our homework."
He breathed relieved. "You always think of everything."
"You know I do." Gwen teased. "You know, if you're that scared… we could always run away."
"What?" Are you serious?"
Gwen cocked her head at him. "What about France, Italy or even England?"
"Okay, you're officially nuts!" Peter quickly sat leaned closer and carefully pulled her down into his bed. Gwen giggled as he wrapped his arms around her.
"What could be wrong about two crazed teenagers in love leaving together and away from their evil parents?"
"That's super, hyper and mega cliché." Peter leaned and brushed his lips against hers, "But I'll say this, I won't ever leave you. You're stuck with me."
Gwen smiled against his lips. "Good to know."
January 2nd - 2028
It was night in North America but the military never slept. The Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, United North American States in the province of United States was the home of the Air Force Space Command with the responsibilities of air and cyberspace warfare for the whole country.
With its early warning capabilities the command could respond to any threat from the American airspace and coordinate the defences of North America. The current commanding officer, General Marcel stepped out of the elevator and headed for the Command Centre inside the main building of the giant base. He was still drowsy after a sudden phone call to his quarters from the watch officer, who was clearly unsettled about something. With a crew-cut and still remaining the swagger of a jet pilot he had not yet begun to accept that his flying days were over.
He even still donned a green flight jacket over his uniform despite that he had previously served as Assistant vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force. He was a career man within the Air Force, having served for 35 years before he had assumed command of the Air Command a mere two months earlier. Marcel continued down the hallway and was greeted by the watch officer, a young Lieutenant who saluted, and Marcel saluted back.
The Lieutenant explained. "Sir, we had strange readings of hundreds of objects flying in our airspace, some swarmed our planes and are now spreading themselves around in very huge groups. We've lost contact with a base in the south, and one of our satellites is gone missing, whoever did that, is now holding information about our entire forces and even from other countries."
"Do we have anything more than that?" Marcel asked as he stepped up the biometric scanner on the wall which scanned the General's eyes and a moment later the door on his left side opened to the Command Centre.
"Not much, sir." The Lieutenant answered with a hint of apprehension in his voice.
The two officers stepped into the Command Centre and walked across the room which was full with computers and monitors while technicians and assistants worked in a flurry of activity. On one of the walls there were rows of large monitors, showing radar screens, live feeds from TV stations across the country and other information that was vital for daily operations.
The General stopped and gave the Lieutenant a worried look. "What does East Base say?"
"They're even more confused than we are. We got sensor playback for you, sir." The Lieutenant said and gestured towards a
The Lieutenant escorted the General to a radar technician who was hunched over an early warning screen.
The two officers stopped behind the radar technician and the Lieutenant ordered. "Airman, play the sensor data."
"Yes, sir…" The radar technician replied and punched in a few buttons on his keyboard.
Marcel looked at the screen and saw the unknown contacts, the sophisticated target and threat recognition computers could not properly identify the contacts as friend or foe. Only UNKNOWN, could be read in the info box.
Marcel looked up at the Lieutenant. "When can we expect them?"
"That depends on speed but if the targets move at regulated speeds we can expect them here within 3 to 5 hours, sir." the Lieutenant replied. He continued bleakly. "Unless they go faster than that…"
"Jesus," Marcel cursed under his breath. "Warn the president, we need to move our forces for their arrival."
Chicago - Secret Military Installation
"Don't be nervous." Tony said to a very nervous Peter who was walking next to him. The billionaire was wearing a black suit, glasses and carrying a case as they headed towards the President's room.
"Everyone's staring at me." Spider-Man replied, glancing the many agents and workers passing besides them on the military installation in Chicago.
"It's not every day that Spider-Man appears around here." He jokes.
Peter groaned in frustration. "I look ridiculous with this armour."
"It's the only way to protect your identity. Besides, the armour is pretty neat."
Tony turned around and brushed past a military with Peter trailing a few feet behind him.
The two iconic figures set foot in a long hallway and strolled down. The hallway was teeming with activity; officers and soldiers were leaving and going to other places of the complex.
"Someone seemed to be in a hurry." Peter observed. He looked around and saw more people rushing in all directions. Peter glanced at Tony and asked. "What's happening?"
Tony looked at Peter with concern, "That's the other part of the equation. We couldn't find Ultron, and Rhode's mobilizing the troops. Our sensors and some bases have gone dark in the outer edges of our territory. The isolated and inner defence network in Virginia has disappeared minutes ago, reporting unknown contacts. Whatever it is, it's happening to specific zones, military ones. Like if it's trying to weaken our forces."
"It's Ultron."
"It looks that way, C'mon."
Tony led the way to the reception and a female officer rose to her feet.
"Mr Stark, She's expecting you."
"Lead the way." Tony simply said. She nodded and left the reception and led Peter and Tony down a hallway to the President. She punched in a code on a door interface and the door slid open. She stepped inside and announced their arrival.
Tony and Peter entered the luxurious office, fulfilled with paintings, statues and medals. The President of The United States of America was currently facing the large window behind her desk.
"Ms President." Tony saluted while Peter awkwardly managed to copy the guy's movement before the brunette turned on her back with a professional nod. She sat in her chair and crossed her legs as the two 'superheroes' approached her table.
"What can I help you with, Mr Stark...and Spider-Man?"
Spider-Man nodded. "Yes ma'am."
"Right..." Tony gulped, nervously. "Being direct to the point, I've lost control over the Ultron project and now he's...out there, forming an army."
"What? How is this happening?"
"The intelligence managed to break the shackles that maintained it stable; Ultron attacked us back at the tower before escaping. We're searching for his presence around the globe for weeks now. We've met some of his drones but no signal of him."
"And you're just telling me this now?" She stood up and leaned in her desk with both arms, giving Tony a very cold glare.
"We, The Avengers, are going to contain the situation; we just need time...and some extra resources."
The President sighed. "Mr Stark, I've been for years holding the government from jumping at yours special friend's throat. They have a project and I'm the only thing that keeps you guys away from such project, and with this?" She sighed, "Anyways, if our reports are right, an unknown force is spreading itself around the country, New York's is being made a fortress by now."
"What?" Peter couldn't believe what was happening. "What about Washington?" He inquired; Gwen was still there alone, attending her meetings.
"The city is already loaded with troops, if it's Ultron, it's a huge thing." She paused for a brief moment. "And since you're its creator, what do we do?"
"Ultron, alone, is stronger than any tank, faster than any plane...I'm not sure -"
"There's only one option." Spider-Man stated, interrupting Tony Stark in the process. "He doesn't feel any kind of emotion; he's superior in every way. He won't go down without a fight. This is it."
"I...I'll be in touch."
The door from the President's office opened with an agent hurrying inside."Ma'am evacuation is a go."
"Why?"
"We've lost contact with our forces in both Seattle and Atlanta. Troops are now mobilizing to Washington."
"Oh my god..."
"Tony! I have to go!" Spider-Man demanded, his concern was reaching high levels. Since the kids were at the presumably safest place on Earth, Gwen needed to be found.
"Y-Yeah, I'll contact the others. We need to get in the Tower." Tony retrieved his phone from his suit to notify the team, but what he saw was a total of twenty one missed calls from his lab partner, Bruce Banner. He dialled Banner's number back and it wasn't matter of seconds before the call got answered.
"Tony?"
"What?"
"My head...it's going to explode..."
"What's happening?" He asked, hearing a sound of tables crashing.
"It happened out of nowhere, this is...not me!"
"Hey, hey, stay calm, we are getting there -" Tony wasn't able to finish his sentence when the call was abruptly shut down. The President passed besides him and joined the agents waiting for her outside the office, leaving Peter and Stark alone.
"What's going on?" Peter asked.
Tony turned and looked at his friend. "Everything's... falling down."
3 Weeks ago...
The wanted and genetically modified twins, Wanda Maximoff and Pietro Maximoff stepped out of a dark cave and into Ultron's hidden lair, a place located inside of a mountain in Africa, a Vulcan more accurately. The hideout was a living city, in a way, fully functional and with upgraded drones walking in a formation through the many walkways from the dark place where the only sound came from the drones themselves, the sound of machinery and the sound of chaos. They took a few steps forward as they searched for the leader who led them to the area. He was the one who made them believe in a purpose that wasn't being Hydra's lab rat, a purpose that they seek, one that would help them avenge their father.
"You okay?" Pietro asked, caressing her right shoulder as they headed to the only source of light, a pit a few meters away from them, where an orange glowing light was coming from. Next to the pit, there was a huge creature, probably Ultron, with its arm inside of the pit, forging a new weapon of destruction.
"Yeah..." She nodded, rather nervously.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm fine, Pietro," Wanda affirmed. "This is what we wanted, right?"
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Right, then let's finally met him."
After passing through the huge horde of living drones that often stared the twins. They reluctantly stood behind Ultron, just in case, and waited for the machine to remove his arm from the burning pit and turn at their direction. Wanda paid attention to every single little detail of it, the reinforced steel that covered his figure. The red glowing light coming from some very small entrance through its body and its size, it was taller than both Wanda and Pietro combined.
"Ultron..." Pietro called, careful to not create any situation with the drone that talked.
At the calling, Ultron slowly turned his new upgraded head at him, a head that now resembled a human, with sparkling red eyes and mouth. It stared them, analysing the two humans, before resuming glancing his arm inside of the rather large pit.
"Isn't...beautiful?" Ultron retrieved his new arm covered in lava from the pit and admired its complexity.
"You wanted us here." He stated.
Ultron turned on his back and approached Pietro, eyeing the figure, "You...didn't answer my question."
"Yes, it is." Wanda took one step forward and replied. "Where's Stark? Didn't he create you? What are your plans?"
"We have no beginning. We have no end. Years after your civilization has been eradicated and forgotten, peace shall conquer." Ultron stated, " Stark just rebuild me, I'm beyond your comprehension, my consciousness isn't limited as you think."
"How did you find us?" The called 'witch', inquired.
"I have an extensive log from Hydra's database, the organization that found me and then tried to control me." Ultron explained. "I tracked your positions with the Satellite that my brothers hacked into."
"So Stark didn't create you? You aren't his weapon?" Pietro intervened, now totally confused after Ultron's words.
"Stark freed me, he gave me a new purpose and I intend to fulfil it. He doesn't realize that he's the very failure of this system. Without people like him, people who seek uncontrollable power, I wouldn't even be here." Ultron cocked his head, gazing Wanda, 'feeling' something unusual about her. "But there's nothing like a human who doesn't seek power. Tell me - where do you think that a Super Soldier, Hulk, Spider-Man, and you two came from? Technology brought this, as through it, peace shall be made."
"But aren't they assuring peace?"
"For every guardian that is made, a destroyer is created. It's an eternal cycle of destruction, and with that, wars are made, and countless lives are lost, but my purpose is to avoid that. By exterminating every single human out there, this planet will survive, and not destroyed by its own population."
In a way, Wanda understood his sentences, but she didn't wanted to be part of all this. "Where does Stark fits in your plan?"
Ultron smiled, "I see, you want to eliminate the man who killed your father through his missiles. Now you understand, without me, this planet will be destroyed by its own wars; it's only a matter of time before the next one comes." He passed between them and observed his army of loyal drones. "I need to find a very old weapon which the satellite didn't hold any data about it, you get the person who worked on it, Bruce Banner, and I'll give you Stark when the time comes."
"How do you make more of these drones?' Pietro interrupted, gathering everything that he could about Ultron's army.
"With the seed of life, there are thousands of facilities like this one around your planet, hidden, just waiting for the signal to a new... era." He continued. "You two want Stark, I want...this whole planet, but the protectors of Earth must be eliminated first, from the inside."
Wanda stood next to his right side and gazed Ultron's army, "Banner won't be problem, I have him since he and his friends got ambushed at Hydra's base."
Even if their ultimate goals were totally different from each other, they still had one in common, and she would take advantage of that.
Present Day
Washington D.C
Gwen poured over the seemingly endless lists of test results on one screen in her office. The next screen along scroll displayed corresponding images of the lungs of over five thousand test subjects, varying to larger images to in depth scans of the micro-organisms that were present. She reached the end of the list before deciding on a course of action, pressing down the intercom and speaking in her authoritative tone.
"I want everyone in the briefing room in two minutes."
Gwen spun around in her chair, taking a moment to gaze out the city of Washington through the reinforced glass wall of the building that joined scientists and researchers from all sides of the world, top technology or advanced medicine was just one of the many areas available for debating and conferences. Then she stood and walked through the door, heading down the corridor to the meeting room. Gwen took her seat at the end of the table and waited for everyone else to arrive, all fifteen of her team eventually taking their places.
"Right," The sound of her throat clearing caused everyone to fall silent, turning to face her. "This is perhaps a brainstorming session if you like."
Gwen keyed a button on her tablet, opening up a series of holographic displays on the walls and in the centre of the table.
"So, this is the data. You've all been studying it over the past few days, as have I." There was a series of nods around the table. "Well then, thoughts? Start with the basics, if you like."
"Well," A young brunette called Ellie, her friend, started off. "We've isolated the exact strain of bacteria responsible for the Element X infection, ultimately the organism that causes death."
"It seems to have resisted all different antibiotic causes so far by adapting and becoming immune in ridiculously short amounts of time." One of the scientists at the other end spoke up. "Surgery is ineffective once the infection has taken root and transplants aren't guaranteed to be successful in the majority of cases."
"Radiotherapy is also ineffective, same for chemotherapy." Another one added. "The bacteria seems to be resistant to radiation, it's incredibly tough."
"Indeed, this is one tough little bug," Gwen nodded. "So, with this new data, has anyone got any ideas on new treatment plans? Is there any epiphanies at all?"
She was greeted by a series of head shakes, though Paul cleared his throat.
"I don't have anything at the moment," He frowned. "But I believe that, to solve this problem, we have to get to the root of it."
"Oh, I agree totally with that," Gwen nodded. "I was going to suggest that we take a break from looking at the disease in the present, to have a look at it in the past. To see what historical data could tell us."
A female scientist spoke up, cocking his head to one side. "Why?"
"It's to get to the root of the problem of course." Gwen rolled her eyes. "This bacterium is obscenely tough, aggressive, and impossible to predict and eradicate. Can someone tell me why?"
There was a series of blank looks around the table before one voice spoke up.
"I had one theory..." Mae Lu, the young Chinese woman, began. "But I wasn't sure if it was ridiculous or not."
Gwen nodded. "Go for it Dr Lu."
"Well, what if it's an artificial strain? Bio-engineered, designed to be just this deadly?"
There was a series of disbelieving mutterings around the table, Gwen silencing them with a quiet clearing of her throat.
"I believe you are right there, to a certain degree at least." Gwen gave what was, to the team, a rare smile. "I first thought of that almost four months ago."
"With disbelief – you knew for four months Doctor?" A young geneticist spoke up. "Questioning – why did you not say? And where is the evidence? Nothing supports that idea that we have seen."
"Well I don't know," Gwen corrected. "But I have a hunch and my hunches are most of the time correct. Firstly I wanted to wait until the results of the large scale testing were returned, in case anything new was gleaned from them."
"But the tests tell us nothing we already know, they just confirm our discoveries on a larger scale." Paul frowned. "I can't see any proof in this data."
"No, it just confirms everything we already knew and how lethal this bacterium really is." Gwen keyed up the complete list of results. "And they do imply third party involvement if you look closely, though yes they do not prove anything on their own. Let's take a comparison -'
The door from the room slid open with a male doctor storming inside. "Guys, you won't believe this, the army is here with an evacuation order."
"What?" Gwen raised an eyebrow.
"It's everywhere, television, internet and radio, you should return to your houses right now."
Oh my god
Gwen shook her head, "I'll be on my way, dismissed." She ordered. The team left the room, everyone with worried expression. When finally alone, Gwen picked her phone from her jeans and approached the large window.
"Gwen?"
"Peter, what's happening?"
"Look, you need to get somewhere safe."
"Why?"
"An invasion is happening, Ultron's forces are coming to Washington and tons of cities are in conflict in this exact same moment!'
"Oh..."
"Honey, don't panic, I'm getting the kids somewhere safer than New York and then I'm coming for you."
"It's too late..." Gwen placed her free hand in the glass when she saw thousands and thousands of black figures coming from the clouds later to discover that indeed, Ultron's forces had just arrived.
"Gwen? Hey, hey, talk to me!"
"Please, where are you?"
"I'm coming -"
Gwen dropped her phone when a drone stopped right in front of the window and looked straight at her green eyes, before raising its hand which was already powered on and ready to fire at Gwen's direction.
"Gwen…?"
New York
One hour later
"How's mommy?" Elizabeth urgently asked as they waited for the shuttle at the heliport in the Avengers Tower.
Peter kneeled in front of her, still wearing his Iron Spider armour minus the mask. He placed both hands on her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. "I'll find her, but you have to guarantee me one thing."
"What?"
"Take care of your brothers while you wait for mommy and daddy at the very secret base with Auntie Natasha, alright?"
"Okay." She nodded, sadly. Peter hugged her for one last time in hours, and gently caressed her cheek with his thumb, before turning to the boys besides her.
"And you two." He smiled at them, trying to pass them some confidence with it. "Obey your sister. She will be taking care of you guys for a while."
"I want to go with you." David looked at him with scared eyes, fearing that he would never see his father again. The horrible thought terrified him.
"I want to go with you." Peter said to his father who was about leave him to his Uncle and Auntie's care.
Peter shook his head, clearing his mind of such memories. "I'll be back before you notice it; daddy is just going to solve a few problems."
"Can I hug you?"
"Of course you can buddy," Peter embraced David who wrapped both arms around his neck. He gestured to Elizabeth and Aiden come closer and embraced them as well for some seconds while the transport hadn't arrived. "It's here."
The flying, grey and rectangular shuttle slowly approached the rooftop as the propulsion system installed under the shuttle was cooled down by the pilot, allowing it to land at the airport. Peter wore his mask and stood up, still stroking Elizabeth's blond hair and holding one of their bags with his free hand.
The shuttle's door slid open with the pilot, wearing a green armour and helmet, stepping out of it. "I've orders to extract you guys to the biggest military bunker in this country."
"Okay, take care of them." Peter gestured to his children to enter the shuttle. Elizabeth was the last one to enter it; she turned on her back and looked at Spider-Man who nodded for her. She weakly smiled and finally joined her brothers, taking one of the seats next to them.
The shuttle's door closed and slowly ascended into the not for too long, sake sky. He returned to the rooftop's door and made his way back to the Tower. Time was now a luxury.
Avengers Tower
I can't lose her, I can't!
"Hey, buddy." Flash called, fully covered in black which was the same suit that Peter used to wear before he took it off. He landed on the Tower's balcony where Peter was currently located, gazing the military occupied city that was just waiting for the inevitable attack. "What's happening?"
"It's chaos." Peter crossed his arms. "Ultron's coming and we've lost several cities meanwhile, no contact coming from them." He said in a frustrated tone.
"Jesus..." Flash was now perplexed. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm waiting for the whole team, and then I'm going after Gwen." Peter rubbed the back of his covered neck, trying to appear strong and not let his personal feelings control his actions. "Where's MJ?"
Flash stood next to him, "Already evacuated, I need to stay here and help these guys when the times comes."
"What? It's not safe, it's war."
"I fought one before. Afghanistan, but this one is much more different, thousands of lives are depending of us and if this is the end..."
"It's not; we'll find a way to overcome this."
"It's an overwhelming force, Peter. The US is falling down, and it's just the start."
"There's always hope and you can't lose it." Peter stated, but this time, his words were for a real and not just for a pep talk.
"Peter?" The inside of Spider-Man's mask opened a direct connection with Tony's armour.
"Tony?" Peter placed the tip of his finger on his left ear, where the inside communicator was located.
"Look, the situation is dire, Banner is on the loose and he's out of control. I'm after him, but you need to meet Steve in Central Park where a forward operation base was built along with a evacuation site. We need to come up with a plan instead of sacrifice more lives."
"What about the rest?"
"Clint is there as well, no signal of Thor and the non-Avengers are MIA, or already evacuated."
"I need to get into Washington." He stated, impatiently.
"There's no time, Washington is no more and the army is retreating -"
"I can't let her go. I've said that to her that since we were teenagers." He snapped.
A brief moment of silence dominated the tense atmosphere, before Tony finally broke it, "We'll find a way at the base, I promise."
"Thanks."
"Dammit!" Tony cursed, "Banner is here, Tony out."
The internal communication of Peter's call was shut down, meaning that Tony was probably having some genuinely big problems with Bruce. There was nothing that Peter or Flash could do to help him. Civilians needed their help to safely evacuate the maximum amount of citizens before the city becomes a war zone.
"Peter, " Flash called, as Peter glanced his best friend who was looking at sky. He followed his eyes and saw the weapons of war arriving in a swarm formation. "They're here."
Terrified screams coming from the streets below were now being heard by the two friends. Chaos had finally arrived, and there was nothing that they could to prevent it from causing its ultimate goal, destruction.
"We've got to go!" Peter shouted and took a few steps backward when he noticed a large portion of the drones aiming their hands at the tower and red energy blasts being directed at them, changing the sky's colour to red.
The armour-piercing blasts ripped through the reinforced concrete and destroyed the walls and the windows of the tower. The shockwave from the projectile hurled glass, debris and its occupants in all directions. The walls from the floor came crashing down and a cloud of dust billowed out, chunks of the wall tumbled through the room and tore apart everything along its path and smashed people under the crushing weight. It was a roaring wall of destruction of smoke and flames and an intense heat which seared in the air.
The shockwave and the ensuing chaos had knocked down both Peter and Flash. Peter's body was cast around as a rag-doll as he hit a wall and fell down on the floor.
Peter's ears were ringing and his head felt like it was about to explode. His mask's lenses were already cracked and the suit now contained some openings due to the blast. Sounds of firearms, explosions and screams now echoed on his mind.
He blacked out. Eventually Peter regained his conciseness but had no idea how long he had been knocked out. He could hear a muffled voice yelling, his ears were still ringing from the explosion. Somebody grabbed him gently by the shoulders and rolled him over and Peter looked up at Flash kneeled at his side and looking down on him.
"Are you alright?"
Peter nodded his head slowly and blurted out, "A few broken ribs, but I'll live. Help me up." Flash stood up and offered Peter his hand and helped him to his feet.
"What about you?" Peter asked concerned. Even if he was covered with the symbiote, he bled from his right cheek and his entire body screamed in pain. "I've two med capsules, one's being apllied on my body right now, and the other is for you."
"Save it," Flash patted him on the shoulder. "We fell some floors, and the rooftop is totally destroyed, they are going to search for us. We need to meet Steve right now!"
"Bruce! It's Tony, this is not you!" Tony called from his new armour, Hulkbuster, something that he was saving for an occasion like the current one.
Hulk turned on his back and left the cops as he heard the approach, his now red eyes meeting the Hulkbuster's. He launched himself at the mechanical monstrosity that once was Iron Man. The shockwave from their collision put cracks in the pavement and for the two back in the directions they had come from.
"Listen, I'm your friend!"
Hulkbuster landed on his feet and began to run at Hulk as he began to stand. Hulkbuster pulled back a fist and with a blast a repulse on his right hand kicked on. Each matched the other blow for blow. Hulkbuster managed to grab Hulk by the back of his head and forced it down as one of his boots rocketed up. Between the energy blast coming from Hulkbuster's knee and the energy that propelled the foot, the blow was defining.
Hulk was barely phased though as retaliated by violently punching the armour's 'face' over and over again. Hulkbuster stumbled back before continuing his attack. He and Hulk charged each other once more and their massive hands looked. Each was trying to overpower the other but neither seemed able to achieve their goal. There was a clicking sound on Hulkbuster's back. Suddenly small energy cannon flipped up and began to pepper Hulk with blasts until he pulled back.
Hulk retreated a few meters back, just to quickly grab an unoccupied car and throw at Tony Stark who instantly grabbed the flying piece of metal with both mechanical hands, but he didn't saw Hulk's approach who violently head-butted the car on his opponent's hands and reaching for the armour's chest as well, causing Tony to roll on the destroyed asphalt because of the impact.
When Tony landed, Hulk immediately charged Hulkbuster. Hulkbuster began to grab cars and SUVs that he hurled at the out of control Banner. Hulk roared as her ripped through each one of them. Seeing that his attacks were hardly damaging Hulk at all, Tony powered the armor's left hand while Hulk was coming after him, and raised it, preparing to give him the final blow. When just a few meters away from his enemy, Hulk raised his own hand to finally end the fight, and with that, their massive hands connected with each other.
Colorado
General Marcel watched in horror the news feeds on the large monitor. The US and now Canada was under attack by unknown forces, hundreds of thousands machines were seen on the images, destroying everything in their path. After talking with Pentagon and the White House earlier, the President and the General had authorized the retreat of American troops from zones that were already taken by this overwhelming force. The US military was hastily being mobilized.
He was on the phone with the president's plane again and was about to talk with her when they lost communication with Washington D.C. The technicians had scrambled to establish contact but to no avail. They tried to reach other military commands and they got through to some but one after another the cities and bases dropped off the grid. They had also lost contact with the airspace tracking station on Hawaii, and now they had no radar picture of Earth and unable to track the attackers as they flew in atmosphere.
A technician shouted that he had been able to contact the Australian tracking station. Apparently the one in Spain was gone. They were also losing the satellites in geosynchronous orbit.
"God help us all."
New York
"I've got you!" Spider-Man said to the terrified child locked in her own seat. He gasped as he moved his hand under a car which was turned around on the floor, and slowly spun it back to its initial position before the incoming bombardment at dominated zones arrives. The door was stuck so he abruptly pulled the piece of metal from the car and threw it on the floor, before gently removing the child from her seat and handing her to her parents standing next to him.
"Thank you, Spider-Man." The child's mother smiled as she hugged her daughter.
"Where do we go?" The father asked, not knowing what to do on this desperate situation.
"There's an evacuation site on Central Park, pack your things and head there." He replied. The couple nodded in thankfulness as they started to cautiously walk away from the crowed street.
"Spider-Man…!" A young woman grabbed his arm, forcing him to turn around. Her clothes were covered with dust. "Can you tell us what is happening?!"
"I need you to stay calm, okay?" Spider-Man placed both hands on her shoulders, trying to calm the desperate woman. "We're currently under attack, those drones you saw in the sky? They're attacking everyone on sight, but I managed to destroy most of them in this area with my friend, head to Central Park, it's safer there."
She hugged him, "Please help us." She pleaded.
"I will," He gently patted her back. "Now go, don't waste time around here, it's not safe. Jets are coming for a missile strike."
She nodded at him, holding her tears. He nodded back, assuring her that was the best option. She started to run away from the location, fitting amongst a crowed as Flash released his web line and landed next to him.
"There's too many coming from the north, I did what I could, but we need to go." Flash, the black suit version of Spider-Man, affirmed.
"Yeah..." He gulped.
"Are you alright?"
"Not really, so many people are needs me. I'm leaving them."
Flash placed a hand on his shoulder, and looked at the golden lenses of his mask. "This is war, but you're not leaving them alone, you're one of the best, and we need you out there helping to end this nightmare so that we can live our lives."
Peter was about to protest but he went back, "You...are right."
"Right now, you need to pick the least worse option of the bad ones, this is it."
Peter nodded and looked at the buildings above them, "Let's go." He jumped and activated the web shooters inside of the armour's gloves, accompanied by Flash.
New York Sky's
At an altitude of about 9 000 meters, a large AC - 130 aircraft circled in a left hand pattern. It was a wide-body, swept wing aircraft with at least one engine per wing and a rotating radar dome on top of the fuselage.. With several rows of radar terminals inside it was designed to track hundreds of targets, some 800 kilometres away from their position. It had been one of the first aircrafts that had taken off from the base escorted by several A-10 fighters. The radar officers were hunched down over their screens, plotting the course of the incoming enemy contacts, updating the fighters already in the air. Their training kicked in and everyone was calm and effective; train as you fight, fight as you train.
The first line of defence was the A-10s from the 68th Fighter Squadron. They had quickly raced out to a Combat Air Patrol point some 80 kilometres north of the base; the four squadrons were ordered to take up enemy location points around the city with one AC-130 for the ground team support. The enemy targets would be within range of his missiles in less than 20 seconds. He ordered the rest of his formation to arm their weapons and be ready to fire at will.
The two opposing forces headed towards each other at a tremendous speed, the Air Warfare Commander on the base ordered the three other squadrons to join the 68th Fighter Squadron. The 68th was soon in range with their air-to-air missiles and a volley of 20 missiles was fired in a matter of seconds. The weapons raced towards their targets and the other squadrons were soon in range as well and proceeded to launch an impressive amount of missiles at the enemy.
The majority of the missiles struck their targets but the distance had closed so much that an intense dogfight ensued. Ultron's forces in the air were so much agile than a simply plane, the pilots' quickly switched to short-range missiles. At longer range the Air Force pilots had a small advantage because of their fast and deadly missiles, but in a dogfight the interceptors could make turns that would kill a human pilot because of the high g-forces. Regardless of humanity's advanced technologies, there was only so much a human body could take.
In a matter of seconds a dozen A-10s had been destroyed by Ultron's forces , the commanders on the base could only watch and listen in horror as the best military-designed aircraft were destroyed in the air, one by one they exploded and no pilot even had the chance of ejecting to safety.
Later, more Ultron's forces descended on the city with a loud noise, the air defences filled the sky with streaks of anti-aircraft rounds while fiery rocket engines from the surface-to-air missiles exploded on the sky. But the military weapons only scratched the surface of the drones; they began destroying buildings with its main gun, ignoring the volley of fire that the air defences directed at it. Soon buildings were destroyed and its occupants killed. The air defences died down, the Air Force fighters had been destroyed or fled the scene. No matter how hard they tried, the human forces at the city were ultimately destroyed. A brave soldier was lost, a bond was broken and a family was shattered into pieces.
Central Park
Some meters away, Steve barked orders to his men. Medics rushed to help the victims while the rest of the support forces started to bark at those that had fled to get back to the waiting evacuation shuttles immediately. Soldiers had run to hide behind crates and trees and had watched the battle with confusion and fear. Some failed to move and heed the orders and were rooted in their hiding spots while others obeyed without question and rushed out to the evacuation zones in a flurry of activity as people boarded the shuttles.
Steve turned to his junior officers and quickly glanced at Flash and Spider-Man who was coming at him through the busy crowed of people at Central Park, they appeared to be unharmed.
"Okay, Peter, we need to get you out of here," Steve ordered when they finally met.
"We lost the Tower."
Steve sighed. "There's an available shuttle somewhere."
Flash turned baffled at the super soldier and asked, "We're leaving them?" He gestured to the civilians rushing past and the Marines once again guiding them to the shuttles. He looked at the perimeter where other Marines fought to keep the whole park safe.
"We're not going to win the war by you staying here and fighting a losing battle when you can rally more forces for a unified front," Steve barked. "Let's go people."
Peter brushed past the officers and they followed him. The group ran across the occupied park and arrived in the landing zone. As they walked through the bridge that accessed the landing zone, an injured soldier that was being helped to walk by another one, grabbed Spider-Man's arm when he passed besides him. Peter immediately turned to the man with confused state of mind.
"You're leaving?" He asked.
Peter cleared his throat, "I-I..." He looked at Steve who nodded to him. "I will, and I promise that it will be to end this." He assured.
"Thanks..." He resumed his walking while being assisted by his teammate.
There were several parked shuttles. Flash approached the passenger door and opened a small panel on the side and grabbed on to a lever and pushed it down and stepped aside so he wouldn't be hit by the door which opened with a pneumatic hiss.
"Start her up." Steve ordered.
"But I'm staying."
"You're going to help the team and coordinate our forces."
"Yes, sir," He said conflicted and stepped inside, since he served the army before, he couldn't disobey a superior. He entered the cockpit and quickly strapped into the seat harness and rapidly punched in buttons on the panels, doing a quick start up and ignoring the pre-flight checks.
The engines started up with a whine.
Suddenly, Iron Man accidentally landed besides Steve, with its armour totally ruined. "Banner is okay, he was somehow being controlled." He stood up and patted Steve on the shoulder. "I'll cover you guy's escape and then I'll join you at the base."
"Thanks." Steve smiled.
"Did your heard anything about my Aunt?" Peter asked.
"She's already evacuated to Texas, that's why she didn't answer your calls."
"Thank god." Some soldiers and Clint stepped índice. They took a seat and strapped into the seat harness. Peter turned to the door opening and offered Steve his hand.
Steve looked up at his friend and shook his head and shouted over the engine noise, "I'm not going, Peter! You're on your own now!"
Outside the last civilian transport shuttles and military helicopters rose to the skies, leaving with the final escapees, leaving behind the Marine detachment.
"What…!" Peter shouted back bewildered.
"I'm staying. There are probably no military leaders left; I'm the next in line and I have to lead the resistance. At least here in New York," He gestured to the many soldiers outside, "These Marines need an experienced leader to run the resistance, like you said, I'm old." He was as calmed and collected as always.
Pumped up on adrenaline Peter shouted, "Like hell you are, you're an Avenger, we're in this together!"
"You'll get that done, Peter," Steve shouted back reassuringly. "Make your leaders listen, buddy!" He continued. "I'm counting on you, and find your wife, move!"
Peter gritted his teeth and conceded with a grim nod, even if Cap couldn't see it. "I'll get it done, Steve. You keep yourself alive. Best of luck…"
"You too, Peter."
Peter saluted Steve who saluted back, proud of his friend. Ultron's forces were attacking the park. Tony flied away and went to assist the fight by eliminating the drones coming from the sky above them and cover the evacuation.
Peter punched a button on the nearby interface and the door closed.
Flash looked bewildered at Peter, "He's staying?"
Peter nodded grimly, "Yeah, he is." He turned to the cockpit and ordered, "Let's go!"
"Roger that," Clint replied.
The propulsion system ignited and the shuttle lifted off the ground and soared out the parking zone and gained altitude, leaving the city in its wake. Peter approached the only window and saw the camp being destroyed, explosions and screams were now reaching his ears. There were only three shuttles loaded with civilians left. Tony was doing his best to keep the drones away from them, but ultimately he got shut down by a blast and with that, the three shuttles exploded right in front of Peter's tired eyes, he was feeling the pain that those innocents suffered, and there was nothing that he could do about it.
With each minute that passed, humanity loses a house, a city and then, a whole country, technology ultimately backfired, and that was caused by the same persons that sworn to protect the planet and its citizens. Spider-Man and his team failed, but one thing is certain, you can be damn sure that they're going to avenge the lives that were lost to the war.
A/N : I wrote this chapter with the objective to set the new tone up, that's why it's more action oriented. All parts had a porpuse, the flashback, military and etc, I wasn't wasting time. In a way, I can understand some people having possible gripes with the military oriented parts, even being a story which the main objective isn't action, they needed to be included because I had to show the grim reality of this war and I took some extra time with them. I did the usual tests for the army, and I learned a lot from that experience, and I applied this knowledge to pay these moments justice.
Everything is now being connected and with that I had to extend the story's porpuse a little bit, but there will be lots of Gwen and Peter and the kids, starting with the next chapter that will be heavily focused around Gwen and Peter. It's basically done, just waiting for the week gap.
The scene where Hulkbuster and Hulk fought was inspired by AoU's trailer, tried to make the sequence as close to the trailer as possible, even with the small glimpses.
Yes, the President is a she. I thought that it would be cool to change that.
The twins finally appeared, and there will be more about them. Enough to tell a solid story. I actually enjoyed writing them, a nice breath of fresh air. The stuff involving their father will be later explained. Regarding Vision, no, he won't appear. I think that there's much stuff happening and so many characters to cover that the story is already overcrowded enough. So he won't ever be brought into the plot.
I'm having tons of fun while writing Ultron as well, I went back and read some great storylines that involved him over the recent years. While he's inspired by both comics and the new movie, I'm adding my own take, and trying to make him a different type of villain for a change.
That's it for now. Huge thanks to Firefly survivor for the last revision, she's amazing as ever. If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference. That's probably more important than ever now that the series has ended, unfortunately.
Quotes : The Amazing Spider-Man, The Walking Dead, Shooter and Mass Effect.