Hey, everyone! I'm back another chapter of Ultimate Alliance What If...?! Let's begin!
I DON'T OWN ANYONE IN THIS SERIES!*
Watcher: Time. Space. Reality. It's more than a linear path. It's a prism of endless possibility, where a single choice can branch out into infinite realities, creating alternate worlds from the ones you know. I am the Watcher. I am your guide through these vast new realities. Follow me and pounder the question. What if...?
We see a destroyed city that is currently snowing.
Watcher: We've seen this before, a universe in the final days of destruction. But this particular story... This, this one breaks my heart.
That's when Natasha driving a motorcycle, while Ultron drones were after her!
Natasha: Here they come. We got ninty seconds. Start the clock.
Soon, she lead the drones towards Hawkeye, as he shots his arrow at them. But more came in, and he destroyed them while Natasha drived! Then, when one of the drones saw Hawkeye, they went over to him to kill him. But he started to destroy them!
Natasha: We got thirty seconds until their signals reconnect with the hive. [gets hit by drone] [grunting]
Soon, she started to destroy the drones!
Natasha: All clear down below. Eighteen seconds, Clint. Clint?
Hawkeye: [gets his robotic arm blasted off] That's not cool, guys. [gets tackled] [grunts] [screaming]
But before the drones could blast him, Natasha destroyed them with the tires from her bike!
Hawkeye: [groans] [she gives him his arm] No, don't say it.
Natasha: What? "Need a hand?" Come on. I feel like you should know me by now. Puns aren't really my style. We're getting rusty.
Hawkeye: [sighs]
Natasha: Couple more seconds and the Sentry signals would've alerted the Ultron hive mind ro our location.
Hawkeye: Which is... where, exactly?
Natasha: Home, sweet home. Well, what's left of it anyway.
Turns out, they were in Russia!
Hawkeye: So you really think the secret of taking down Ultron is here?
Natasha: It's Russia, Hawkeye. Secret were the national pastime.
While they walked, the Watcher was watching them.
Watcher: The end of the world began with one man's dream.
[flashback]
Tony Stark: I see a suit of armor around the world.
Watcher: He saw a world of peace. With the Mind Stone, Tony Stark created Ultron. But Ultron only saw one path to peace.
Ultron: The elimination of all life.
Watcher: From puppet to puppet master, Ultron required one thing. An orgnic body to call his own, one that fused the powers of man, machine, and mind into one. In your universe, the Avengers stole the Cradle and used it to create the hero, Vision. But in this univrse, Ultron got his wish. With the infinite power of the Mind Stone, Ultron began to lay waste to the planet.
Iron Man: Ultron's going after the nuclear codes. I don't know if we can hold him off.
Black Widow: We have to take out the satellite network. He can't launched the nukes without them.
With Ultron, he killed Thor, Hulk, and Captain America!
Iron Man: [grunting] You don't... [grunts] You don't have to do this. I made you for peace.
Ultron: It's evolution. Only a primitive mind would fail to see the distinction. Which is why you have to die.
Soon, he launched the missles and killed everyone on Earth!
Ultron: [sighs] At last, peace.
Watcher: But the age of Ultron was only beginning.
That's when a portal open and Thanos came out with five of the Infinity Stones.
Ultron: Fascinating.
He then slice Thanos in half with the Mind Stone! When Ultron saw the Stones, he used them on himself, allowing him to see beyond his world!
Ultron: Wow, I see everything. There are worlds beyond my own. Worlds that need... me.
He then used the Stone to rebuild his drones, and soon, he's plans has begun.
Ultron: I'm going to bring about in our time to every corner of the universe.
Soon, he destroy every world, every planet in his universe, wipping out everyone and everything that stands in his way!
Ultron: It... is done. At last.
Watcher: The realization neary broke the machine. With his mission complete, Ultron was now just a program without a purpose. The victor without a war, sentenced to spend all of eternity... alone.
Ultron: [hearing the Watcher] Who... Who said that?
Watcher: Basking in the boundless silence of his universe, Ultron ascended to a previously unattainable level of consciousness. He became aware of another. He became aware of the...
Turns out, Ultron can see the Watcher!
Ultron: I see you.
Watcher: [gasps] [breathing heavily]
Ultron: There are universes beyond my own.
Watcher: [gasping] [breathing heavily] [wipes Ultron off] I have seen everything that has ever happened. Ever will happen. Every could happen. And yet, what the hell is this? If a hunger like that were to be unleashed upon the multiverse...
Ultron: I will find you.
Watcher: Even I cannot imagine the horrors that might follow. No, no, no. Even that machine is not as invincible as it might think. There is still hope for this universe. One last hope.
Back to the two Avengers...
Hawkeye: [looks around] [chuckles] Oh, boy.
Natasha: Welcome to the KGB archives.
Hawkeye: [sighs] Okay. [echoing] Have you ever seen Raiders of the Lost Ark? Ever seen that?
Natasha: Love that movie.
Hawkeye: Your countrymen never heard of PDFs?
Nastasha: Hard copies are harder to steal, easier to destroy. But code, code is slippery, and it never dies.
Hawkeye: Yeah, I think we learned that the hard way. [sighing] So, where do we start?
Natasha: Just pick a box.
Hawkeye: [sighs] Yeah.
While they were looking, the Watcher was watching them. The two looked at every box, from A to Y, trying to find something. While they were looking, Natasha notice a Vibranium shield that was grey and red.
Natasha: Oh... [puts it on her back] Clint? Clint? [turns her back and shows him her new shield] Is this my color?
Hawkeye: Come on. Don't try to make this fun, Nat. My will-to-live meter is flatlining, okay?
That's when the Watcher sees Hawkeye go towards the box that they need to get!
Watcher: Oh, you're so close. The answer is right there. I can show them. I can intervene. I can save the multiverse and so many, many lives.
That's when he heard Ultron's voice!
Ultron: I will find you.
Watcher: [felt him] [gasps] Come on. Look. Look. The answer is right there. [sees Hawkeye about to take the box] Huh? Yes. Ah, yes!
Suddenly...
Hawkeye: [sighs] This is pointless.
Watcher: Wait. What are you... [gasps] Don't sit down. Get up. Get up, come on. You're human. You keep hope against the worst of odds.
Natasha: Hey, Clint, come on. If we wanna take down Ultron, we need an AI that can combat his code.
Hawkeye: Yes, I know, but it's not here.
Watcher: It's right there.
Hawkeye: Sorry to break it to you, Nat, the Death Star plans are not in the main computer.
Watcher: The answer is right there.
Natasha: We're gonna find it. It just takes time.
Hawkeye: What are we going to avenge when we're ninty?
Natasha: You're frustrated. I get it.
Hawkeye: I'm not frustrated. I'm not. I'm tired, okay? We all lost so much. And i'm not sure there's anything left worth fighting for. He's already taken over every program on the planet.
Natasha: Yes, yes. Every digital program. The one that I have in mind is a little more analog. [pulls out a box]
Watcher: [sees the box] Hey. Grab it. Grab it.
Natasha: [sees file] No way.
Watcher: You did it.
Hawkeye: What?
Natasha: Let's just say you're gonna feel like a real jerk for almost quitting.
Hawkeye: Wait, stop it! That... You found it? That was my box.
Natasha: An old HYDRA base in Siberia.
Hawkeye: "Zola." What is that, an acronym?
Natasha: He's a man. Or at least he was. And he is gonna help us wipe out Ultron.
Back to the Watcher...
Watcher: They did it. They really did it. There's still hope.
That's when Ultron came in!
Watcher: Oh, no.
Ultron: I found you. I finally found you. [blasted the Watcher]
Watcher: [gets hit] [grunts]
Ultron: So many universes. So much chaos. They need to be silenced.
Watcher: You do not have to do this.
Ultron: Oh, but it's my purpose.
Soon, the two started to fight! Back to Nat and Clint...
Hawkeye: Scans show nothing alive. You sure this is the place?
Natasha: Arnim Zola was a HYDRA scientist who infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. in it infancy. Before he died in '72, he uploaded his brain to a series of data banks. The one Rogers and I found at Camp Lehigh was destroyed. The other, HYDRA kept here to supervise the Russian Super Soldier program.
Hawkeye: Oh, sounds liek a real mensch.
Soon, they reach a computer where Zola was.
Hawkeye: You sure you wanna put all our eggs in such a morally questionable basket?
Natahsa: The U.S. government once asked the same question about me.
Hawkeye: [chuckles] I'll take that as a yes.
Soon, Zola was up and running.
Zola: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna. Barton, Clinton Francis.
Natasha: "Francis" ? Really? How did I not know that?
Hawkeye: It's a family name. After my mee-maw. Don't you worry about it.
Natasha: Your mee-maw?
Zola: I imagine you have many questions, Fraulien, about who and what and how I am.
Natasha: Not really. I've actually met you before. Well, a copy of you. It's a long story. We need your help.
Zola: Even though you work for... And you know that I work for...
Hawkeye: A lot has changed since you were last booted up. HYDRA's dead. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s dead. Actually, pretty much everyone else is dead.
Natasha: Courtesy of an AI called Ultron.
Zola: Und I assume you want me to infiltrate his code and dismantle it from the inside?
Natasha: You did a good number on S.H.I.E.L.D. the same way.
Zola: But why, pray tell, would you think that my strategic objectives would ever align with yours?
Hawkeye: Because you're the last surviving Zola copy left on Earth. [pulls out bottle water] And I've ruined a lot of laptops this way. [tips it a little bit]
Zola: [looks over] [gasps] Nein!
Natasha: It's true. Just ask S.H.I.E.L.D. IT.
But before Hawkeye could pour it onto the computer...
Zola: All right, all right. What exactly did you have in mind?
Later on, they started to go what they planned.
Natasha: Dialing Avengers Tower.
Ultron: [on phone] Uh, hello?
Natasha: Hi, I'd like to order a pizza.
Ultron: What? Who is this?
Natasha: Tell me, do you guys offer a gluten-free crust?
Ultron: Identifying your goe-positional coordinates.
Natasha: [hangs up]
Hawkeye: You havin' some fun?
Natasha: You know, simple pleasure. I give us two minutes.
Hawkeye: [pulls out arrow] So, you might feel a little poke here, or not. I don't really get how you work.
Turns out, they were gonna transfer Zola into an arrow, so they can transfer him to an Ultron drone!
Zola: Download commencing. And as for the mission parameters?
Natasha: Ultron himself is currently off-world. So, our only option is to upload you via a Sentry drone.
Hawkeye: We snag one, plug you in, ninty seconds later, give the big guy a piece of your mind.
Zola: Well, he will not be the first genocidal megalomaniac I have had to contend with, ja?
Soon, they downloaded Zola into the arrow. Then, they burned the computer to get the drones attention! Soon, the drones came, and Hawkeye shot the Zola Arrow into one of the drones! Then they grabbed the infected drone and locked the doors from the other drones.
Natasha: You think it'll hold?
Hawkeye: Got ninty seconds to find out.
Zola (drone): Correction, fifty two seconds. I have already initiated my signal blast.
Hawkeye: Wow, it actually worked.
Natasha: Now we're in the game. [shots Zola's robot legs]
Zola: [exclaims] What was that for?
Hawkeye: Just a precaution, in case you wanna try anything funny.
Zola (drone): Your team-building instincts need work.
Hawkeye: Yeah, yeah. Tell it to HR.
Natasha: [sees door getting banged up] Time check.
Zola (drone): Hive connection in three, two, one...
Soon, he's signal wave did it, but the drones were back online!
Natasha: That doesn't sound promising.
Hawkeye: Zola, better not be messing with us.
Zola (drone): I assure you, if I had to swear on, I would. The Ultron hive mind appears to be out of range.
Soon, the drones broke threw the door!
Natasha: That door is not gonna hold. [grabs Zola] We gotta move.
They then tried to escape from the top, but the drones were coming in hot!
Hawkeye: Go, go, go!
But before they could get to their escape, Hawkeye was knocked off and Nat grabs him before he fell towards the drones!
Natasha: Clint...
Hawkeye: I told you, I don't wanna fight anymore.
He then losen his grip from Nat and sacrifise himself to save the two! Natasha was shocked and sad of what her close friend has done.
Natasha: [sighs]
Zola (drone): We should keep moving. More Sentries are likely on their way.
Natasha: I still don't get it. Why weren't you able to connect to the hive?
Zola (drone): It is curious. According to my diagnostic, the Sentries are rigged for interstellar communication.
Natasha: Meaning what?
Zola (drone): Wherever Ultron is, it does not appear to be within the observable universe.
Natasha: Then where is he?
Back to Ultron, he was still fighting the Watcher!
Watcher: [send Ultron away] I don't understand. This should not be possible.
Ultron: [appears] Oh, but anything is possible in a multiverse.
Soon, Ultron had control of the Watcher's powers!
Ultron: Run, watch, it doesn't matter. From here, I can see everything. No one can stop me now.
The Watcher was currently in a dome, where Strange Supreme was being held in.
Watcher: I'm out of options. That thing has left me no choice.
Strange Supreme: [chuckles] Been there. Been living the dream alone in a prison of my own making ever since. Are you ready to break your oath?
Watcher: You want me to say it?
Strange Supreme: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I wanna hear you say it.
Watcher: Okay. I can't believe I'm about to say this. I see now. I need your help.
Soon, the two started to get a team together. Who would join them? Where will they come from? Find out on the final chaptrt of Utimate Alliance What If...?
End