Chapter time again! I've just got one more chapter to post after this and then we're moving on to the next part of Astraea and Madison's story.
I hope you enjoy this second part of the battle of Sokovia.
As always, I don't own anything, it all belongs to Marvel.
Please enjoy.
When all is said and done
Battle of Sokovia Part two of two
The mad scramble to load up the lifeboats overtakes much of the offensive action of Steve, Clint, Natasha, Wanda, Pietro, and Natasha could've been doing instead. Thor and Vision are still working on attacking Ultron, and Tony is trying to think of a solution for destroying the city when everyone is safe. Even if they save everyone, it won't matter in the rock drops and kills the world in a meteor attack arranged by a crazy robot who was decided to save the people it's destroying. But it's only when everyone is clear that they can even attempt to destroy the chunk of the city. It'll be tight but it's the only way. It has to work.
"Alright, let's load 'em up! Alright, here we go. Here we go, let's move. Let's go, everyone!" Clint's encouraging cries echo through the city as they direct people towards the lifeboats. Most of them understand what's going on, but some still seem shell-shocked and shaken by everything that's happened.
Astraea's enhanced hearing comes into particularly useful for finding people still trapped under rubble or unable to get to the safety of the lifeboats. She helps direct the other Avengers to the people who can't get to the boats. There's a steady stream of people heading to the lifeboats and being secured by the teams of SHIELD operatives and technicians, though, so clearly most of the stranded people are okay. For the wounded, however, medics are stationed on all of the lifeboats, ready to give lifesaving treatment to the civilians whose city is being destroyed in front of their very eyes.
But it's too busy for Astraea to dwell on thoughts like that. Her ears are picking up a small, whimpering cry a few metres from where she stood. It sounds like children, which makes Astraea move so much faster.
She finds them – a pair of children about seven years old who look at her with wide eyes – hiding underneath the propped open shape of a large container bin. The open lid supports the rest of the structure, with filled bin bags littering the fall around them. As the city rises ever upwards, the bin shifts, threatening to span shut and trap the children. Astraea gives them a strained smile as she gestures for them to crawl out as she lifts the bin upwards. If she drops it … well, Astraea doesn't want to think about that. There's been too much death and destruction already.
Taking a stance, Astraea stands at the side closest to the trapped children, legs wide enough for them to crawl through, and lifts with one hand on the bin and the other on the lid. The pair shuffles out, clambering over food waste and glass shards. Thirty seconds; it takes them that long to escape and wiggle free with sore limbs. They babble their thanks to her in Sokovian as she lowers the bin. In the distance, another lifeboat leaves for the helicarrier and urgency thrums though Astraea. Taking one in each arm, she starts running towards the nearest lifeboat, hoping beyond hope that these two children have at least 1 surviving family member each.
Small fingers coil in her dark hair, and rich brown eyes stare at her similarly coloured ones.
"Spasitelj!" One of them cries out, a little girl wearing a dull red dress. Saviour. "Hvala što ste nas spasili. Moje ime je Jana i ovo je Ivan, ko si ti?"
Some of it sounds vaguely similar to some of the Russian Astraea knows. The girl – Jana – is asking who she is, very probably at least. It could be ordering a pickle and onion sandwich but Astraea chooses to go for the former. Jana has already said the phrase for 'my name is' or 'I am called' or something similar so Astraea starts with that, trying to mimic the pronunciation.
"Moje ime je Astraea," Astraea huffs out in between breaths, trying to keep a steady pace as they arrive at the lifeboat. "ne znayu mnogo Sokovian. Only a daft English person," she mutters as an afterthought.
"Duhovit si. Don't know Sokovian." Jana and Ivan giggle loudly, their infectious sound seeming foreign in the desolate city. "Silly pomoćnik! Not good." That seems to the limit to her English as the children begin babbling in Sokovian once more, almost too quick for her to keep pace.
When they reach the boat, Astraea is sad to see them go. She hugs them both tightly before they leave, telling them as best as she can to look for her if they need to. An old lady sitting near by translates for them, informing Astraea in broken English that they are thanking her and promise to do as she asks. Astraea nods at her, before jumping off the boat. There's still much work to be down.
When the boat leaves, though, she stands and watches it fly away.
oOo
In the few minutes that seem to pass like hours since Astraea saw Jana and Ivan off, Tony announces he has a plan to destroy the floating city once everyone is safely off the rock. He instructs Rhodey to finish moving people towards the helicarrier before giving a cocky statement to the rest of the team.
"Avengers, time to work for a living."
Everyone moves in towards the church where Ultron has placed the core for the stolen vibranium that is keeping the whole floating structure, well, floating. If Ultron can get to it, he can drop it and destroy the world, despite the Avengers efforts to protect it. They'll have a helicarrier full of people but no world for them to live safely on. Wanda and Pietro have a softly muttered reunion, and Tony calls out for Natasha and Bruce asking if they're playing 'hide the zucchini'.
Finally, everyone is arranged is a semi-circle around the core. Tony points at it with a flat, "This is the drill. If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose."
Then our favourite (not!) robot shows up in all his metal glory, floating a few metres off the ground. He glares at the assembled heroes. Astraea swallows a gulp of fear, remembering the robot's voice in her dream. Choose.
Well, she decides, I've chosen Ultron; I've chosen to fight back instead of sitting idly by whilst you try to destroy the world. I've chosen to be more than the scared girl who used to be afraid of stepping up to the challenge. No more hiding in the shadows for Nemesis.
Thor raises his hammer towards Ultron. "Is that the best you can do?"
Ultron raises him arms, summoning all robots towards him. They come flying, crawling, and running in a massive hoard. So many still left, despite all the Avengers' efforts to destroy as many as possible. An almost endless army.
"You had to ask," Steve states dryly, half-turning his head to look at Thor with disbelief all over his face.
"This is the best I can do." Ultron gesture towards them, a smug look on his metallic features. "This is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me. How could you possibly hope to stop me?" He tilts his head at the assembled team.
"Well, like the old man said," Tony gives Steve a sideways look, "together."
With that, they launch into action. The robot army closes in like a swarm of angry, weaponised ants that are really pissed off that you killed their friends. Astraea holds her batons tight, muscles tensed and ready to launch her forwards and into the fray. Time seems to simultaneously speed up and slow down.
Silver trails mark the places where Pietro runs. Metallic clanging sounds occur whenever Thor or Steve smash a robot with their respective weapons. Red streams of energy shoot from Wanda's hands. The air tastes of burning whenever a repulser shot gets too close. Sparks fly as Steve pulls another bot's head off. Hulk roars his displeasure, and Astraea's ears ache from the proximity of such loud noises. Natasha's and Astraea's electric batons short-circuit whatever robot they're thrust into. Beneath them, the ground shakes slightly as it continues its ascent through the clouds.
Eventually, her batons begin to break down. The pressure she's been using and the force to thrust them through the chests of the metal monsters has weakened them. Time to play with swords once more. Astraea unsheathes her katana, stepping slightly away from the group so she won't catch them with the sharp blade. It slices easily through the metal, fuelled by her enhanced muscles. Astraea shrieks her battle cry. Sparks fly into her eyes. Metal groans under her feet as she kicks. When one bot grabs her arm, she lashes out with another force to propel it towards Wanda. Red energy balls make sure it never moves again.
The air begins to hum with power as Thor hits downwards with one of his lightning strikes. Several Ultron-robots go down. Widow electrocutes three more in quick succession. Vision hovers above, sticking his hand instead the chest of a bot to pull out its core.
Slowly but surely, the tide of robots slowly down. The floor of the ruined church is littered with broken limbs and metal bodies. Then the main Ultron-bot zooms forwards, smashing into Vision who throws him out the wall. The android focuses on Ultron with a golden-yellow blast from the Mind Stone. Thor and Iron Man join in with lightning and repulser shots, respectively. Astraea, peeking through a crack in the wall as she slices another bot into scraps, watches the very metal of Ultron's surface metal away.
"You know, with the benefit of hindsight – " Ultron starts to speak, but an angry Hulk knocks him away into the distance.
The remaining robots turn and fly; just a handful is left from the once great army.
"They'll try to leave the city," Thor half-shouts.
"We can't let them, not even one," Tony replies, directing his next words to his best friend in the War Machine suit. "Rhodey."
"I'm on it." The assurance comes over the comms, followed by a half-muffled statement from Rhodey. "Oh, no, I didn't say you could leave. War Machine, comin' at you, right … " There's a moment of stunned silence – obviously something a little unexpected has happened. "Okay, what?!"
Inside the now empty church, Steve turns to the rest of them with a grim expression. "We gotta move out. Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats, I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you."
Clint's gaze shifts to the core and back again. "What about the core?"
"I'll protect it," Wanda announces, getting a startled look from Clint. "It's my job."
The four of them move out, leaving Wanda and Pietro standing in the church, talking quietly.
Clint and Natasha load up into an open-topped car, but Astraea stays behind, refusing Steve's insistence that she joins them.
"I've got good ears," she asserts, tilting her head up to look him in eye with a steely expression in her dark eyes. "I can find people pretty well, and I'll be more helpful doing this than getting on a boat."
Steve sighs but motions for her to come with him. "If I say you need to go, you go, right?" He asks as they jog down the rubble-covered streets.
"Okay, but why – " Astraea starts before she's cut off by Steve.
"No. You're just a kid and ideally wouldn't be here at all." He frowns at her. "Just please listen if I tell you to get yourself out."
"Alright." She tries for a smile. "Captain's orders, huh?"
oOo
They search for as long as possible, directing a handful of stragglers towards the lifeboats. Most of anyone else they find are dead, killed by falling debris, the robots, or the rebounding gunshots fired by the police force in vain. There's virtually no one left is the flying city; just rubble, ashes, and bodies of humans, animals, and robots to decorate the broken streets now. Steve and Astraea turn back towards the helicarrier as the sounds of a gun being fired echoes through the empty streets. It's sounds an awful lot like one found on the Quinjets.
The pair of them run, heading both towards the noise and the helicarrier. Gunshots spray from the jet flying overhead, close to where the helicarrier hovers just off the coast of the flying city. Steve sends Astraea to get to the lifeboats as he checks one last place. This time, she listens. Astraea is nearly there nearly there when a burst of silver light streaks into the firing line. As she gets closer and the dust begins to settle, Astraea catches a glimpse of Clint holding a young boy protectively. At his feet sprawls Pietro, covered in the blossoming red wounds of multiple gunshots. Somewhere in the distance, a scream sounding much like Wanda echoes through the city.
Heart in her mouth, Astraea sprints over, new energy thumping through her. Her hands find Pietro and lifts him – his body – and runs to the nearest lifeboat. It's the only left now that hasn't yet flown back to the helicarrier. The operator is waiting for all the non-flying Avengers to get there. Otherwise, they'll have no way to get back.
Clint arrives on the boat a few moments later after handing the boy to his very relieved mother, looking thoroughly sore and exhausted. He drops onto the empty seats above Pietro's limp form. A medic comes over, but Clint waves him away. Astraea sinks into a chair opposite, thinking of how Wanda must feel; thinking how she'd feel if that was Madison, lying limp on the floor.
A bot must get to the core at last, because suddenly the city starts dropping. Steve (just about to het on the last boat after his final check) turns and leaps, barely making it onto the lifeboat which is now much higher than the falling city.
As the boat flies away, Astraea catches a glimpse of the city wreathed in lightning, splitting into massive chunks of debris that fall like broken stars. Somewhere among them must be Wanda, Vision, Tony, and Thor. Everyone else seems to be on the helicarrier when they arrive, although Natasha informs them that Bruce is still the Hulk and has boarded a Quinjet. Other than that small announcement, the team is silently as they watch the city fallen reach Earth once more.
oOo
Astraea wanders the deck for another hour, feeling lost and alone. Vision managed to find Wanda, and brought her back to the carrier before killing the last remaining Ultron bot. Tony barely managed to survive dodging all of the falling chunks of the city, and Thor had to be recovered from the water he was sinking in. Now they're only missing the Hulk and Pietro. One of whom has flown away, and the other is lying dead.
Sobs threat to rise up in her throat, and tears shine like tiny jewels on Astraea's face. She ducks inside, hiding in an empty corridor. Her back hits the wall and she slides down to hit the floor. Crazy, manic laughter bubbles out of her at the surreal situation. Astraea, once a little vigilante, has just been part of a battle between Earth's mightiest heroes and an army of robots created by an AI that was meant to protect humans not destroy them. It sounds so fictional but it is so real. It happened, and people died, and Pietro sacrificed himself, and … and now she's giggling like an idiot in an empty corridor. Her mouth quickly snaps shut and the only sound becomes the ragged noise of her unsteady breathing.
Time drags on, whether hours or minutes, Astraea doesn't know. That footsteps echo down the corridor, and arms wrap her tight in a familiar warmth. Madison. Astraea leans against the legs beside her, not carrying about anything else. Madison's here now, so everything will be okay. Fresh tears streak down her cheeks and she further melts into the embrace.
"Hey, it's okay," Madison says soothingly, the sound of her voice resonating into Astraea's ears like the best lullaby in the world. "I'm here, and we're both alive and everything is okay."
Astraea shifts to sit up, now leaning against Madison's shoulder. The latter's arms have moved from being clenched around her middle and now one is just wrapped around her waist. Astraea puts her right arm over Madison's shoulders. "Thank you, Mads." Emotion thickens her voice. "I don't know what I'd without you."
"Struggle." Madison gives her musical laugh. "I couldn't do without you either, Rhea. Good job with your superheroing, by the way."
"It wasn't just me," Astraea protests.
"Yeah, but there's only one superhero here for me to thank." Madison sits in silence for a moment. "You're my favourite one – superhero, that is."
Astraea chuckles softly. "You're my favourite, too." Madison turns her head to protest but Astraea just continues. "No, it's true. You are a superhero, no matter what you think. I don't think I'd be here, doing something good and worthwhile, if you hadn't urged me to go for it. So, while there are some things I don't like about this, I wouldn't give it for the world. Well, I'd give it up to save you, Mads. Any day. But at the moment, I think we're okay."
"That's good then," Madison mumbles, tucking her head under Astraea's and leaning against her chest. "I'm too tired to do anything else and you're warm."
Astraea's own eyelids are also barely open. "Cuddle pile nap then."
"Yup."
And if a pair of ex-SHIELD agents comes across them two hours later, they don't comment but continue onwards, leaving the slumbering pair to curl up against the wall. If the agents return a few minutes later and wrap the duo up in blankets, nobody says anything either.
There you have it. The battle with Ultron is over.
A nice little cute scene with the kids, and finally that Madison-Astraea reunion we've all been waiting for. Sadness of course too, with an, unfortunately, canon death for Pietro.
Translations -
Serbian:-
Spasitelj - saviour
Hvala što ste nas spasili. - Thank you for saving us.
Moje ime je Jana i ovo je Ivan, ko si ti? - My name is Jana, and this is Ivan, who are you?
Moje ime je Astraea - My name is Astraea.
Duhovit si. - You're funny.
pomoćnik - Helper
Russian:-
ne znayu mnogo Sokovian - I don't know much Sokovian
As always, I use google translate because I don't speak these languages. If I have butchered them or said something that completely doesn't mean what I intended it to, please feel free to call me out and I'll make amendments.
Thank you for reading. I'm thinking only one chapter left in this particular fanfic, and then I'll start writing up the in-between stories and uploading them. After that, it'll be on to Civil War and no doubt I may do Infinity War after that. Maybe even both of them will be out by that point.
On the subject of Infinity War, I am so excited that Infinity War will be coming this month. 12 days after my birthday and then I can go and see it. One of my friends is also marvel-mad, so we'll probably go together or at least meet up there. It's so close now, but I'm still prepared for it.
Just the epilogue to go and then I'll start posting chapters for the in-between fic in a few weeks. I've got to write them first, but up-coming exams mean I won't have much time for that. So I'll write a load and post them when I've got enough that I can maybe miss a few writing sessions and still have something to post for you guys.
Thank you, to all you wonderful readers for going on this journey with me. Your support has been so wonderful, and I just want to thank you all for taking the time to read this humble fanfiction.
Until the next time,
Look-for-the-miracles