Kang is here to make his mark, but the Avengers won't go quietly! Are you ready, true believer? The battle for time is here at last! The team must make a stand against impossible odds! But will they succeed? United they stand in their defining hour as they beckon their most powerful foe-
Chapter 14: Come the Conqueror
Once again, it seemed like another ideal day in New York. And it would've been too, had it not been for the golden disc-shaped vessels that suddenly appeared over the city.
They came in droves, massive, looming over the city skyline ominously. Citizens below stopped and stared, both curious and fearful. Then they began to disgorge their payloads, orbs of gold and blue that ejected from the edges of the alien craft, sent hurtling through the air until they crashed into buildings and roads with tremendous force, filling their air with smoke, fire and debris as bystanders were sent fleeing in screaming terror.
Then from the rubble, the drones emerged. Morphing out of their spherical landing forms, four spiked legs and two long, tentacular arms sprouted from the body as the war droids began to wreak havoc across the city. Buildings were set alight, cars were flipped, chaos ran rampant through New York as legions of war droids attacked the populace. They were everywhere, filling the harbour, Liberty Island, the city, nowhere was safe.
High above the Earth, the futuristic warship Damocles hovered in stationary orbit, the carnage below far away but close enough to content its progenitor. "Lord Kang, the conquest of the twenty-first century has begun." One of his bridge officers informed him.
At that, Kang smiled. The predictable path had been started down and there was only one outcome to anticipate.
Vainly trying to defend their city, United Nations protectorate forces were soon overwhelmed by the drones. No matter how many they cut down, more seemed to take their place, tearing apart their heavy machinery. Not without other defenders, SHIELD unleashing its entire airborne arsenal upon the invading forces. The Helicarrier charged ahead, flanked by legions of Skystriker fighters, and took on the invading robots head-on. Naturally they were met by heavy resistance. "Report!" Nick Fury ordered, the bridge of the Helicarrier shuddering from multiple heavy impacts.
"Sir! The Helicarrier is taking fire from multiple unknown contacts, shielding is ineffective." Agent Jimmy Woo exclaimed, smoke pouring from his terminal.
"I just got his boat back in the air, I'm not about to let it go down again!"
"Director Fury, this isn't just an attack on SHIELD, the United Nations is under attack! We're getting distress calls from all over!" Jasper Sitwell told him. "Sir, what are your orders?" Smoke and sparks belched from torn panels as new robotic fighters started strafing the Helicarrier. Faced with few options, Fury turned to another agent on the bridge.
"Agent Miguel, get me the Avengers!" He barked.
Down on the ground, civilians came under siege as more mechanoids crashed into the city. Two young boys in particular nearly became victims of one of the war drones, narrowly surviving the explosive impact only to come face to face with the towering menace and a pair of chest-mounted emitter cannons primed to fire. They were about to be indiscriminately incinerated, like so many others, emerald bolts consuming their vision and drawing dangerously close…
Only to be blocked by the sudden intervention of Captain America.
The Star-Spangled Man hurled his shield like a discus, cracking open the upper cranium of the war drone and causing it to short circuit. Staggering on its feet, the robot combusted shortly thereafter as Cap caught his shield and raised it high. Like a gleaming beacon in the sun, amid the other war droids descending upon him, he shouted a rallying cry at the top of his lungs, "Avengers, ASSEMBLE!"
It was answered in moments as the Incredible Hulk crashed down through the war droid approaching Steve, tearing it apart from the inside with his awesome strength as Cap silently cracked a smile. Elsewhere, an army of winged ants crawled undetected through armor seams and exploited gaps in the war droids design, chewing their way through delicate circuitry and crucial wiring as they destroyed their foes from within. The microscopic onslaught was orchestrated from afar by Ant-Man, astride his own flying mount while his helmet turned his verbal commands into sounds any ant could comprehend and follow accordingly. "So much destruction… why would someone do this?!" He bemoaned.
"Why? I'm still working on what." Hawkeye responded, sprinting alongside him and narrowly avoiding incoming energy blasts. Sliding to halt, he drew and loosed an explosive arrow that tore into the crystalline cranial unit and detonated, the rest of the drone following suite with a powerful explosion. "What are these things? Aliens?" He wondered. A nearby drone was shredded in two as Black Panther crawled out from within.
"Unlikely." He answered, dropping to the ground. "Given the Egyptian styling to them, more likely this is Kang's work!" He determined.
"I concur!" Cybernaut agreed, arriving atop one of the drones. On edge, Hawkeye turned and prepared to shoot again. "Woah woah, hold your fire, Robin Hood! These bad boys are on our side now." Cybernaut halted him, patting the drones head.
"You hacked them?" The archer questioned in disbelief.
"Sure did. These things are positively brimming with the same coding that was in Kang's personal tech." Cybernaut replied. "Makes it real easy for me to convert their loyalty centres." Three more drones flanked him, walking towards their fellows at Connor's command as the technopath led them against the invading army. "Sic 'em my minions!" He ordered with a pleased smile, the war droids crashing into one another as Cybernaut lept to another and dropped to a crouch, his mere touch allowing him complete access to their programming as he rewrote their directives, turning them from Earth's invaders to Earth's defenders. His little army grew one by one…
Aboard Damocles, Kang observed the assault calmly. He was far from the chaos and noise of battle, but he was still entirely in control of it. "Launch the second wave of scarabs." He ordered. His command platforms below did as commanded, unleashing another wave of spherical constructs to besiege the scattered defenders. Scores of fighters flew overhead, an entirely multitude of them destroyed in one fell swoop as Mjolnir cut through their ranks. The mighty Thor retrieved his hammer and unleashing a burst of lightning that obliterated any scarab fights near him.
"Truly this is a battle the likes of which Midgard has never seen!" The thunder god declared, spinning his weapon around on its band. "How fare thee, Wasp?" He inquired of his diminutive partner. Surging into battle with grace and passion, Wasp rained down biostings across every spherical assaulter she got close to. Unfortunately for her, they lacked the power to deal any real damage, not even marring their chassis' with scorch marks. She stopped, bent over and breathing heavily.
"Ugh! I need some bigger stingers!" She complained, her best efforts seemingly not enough. "This is crazy! Do we even have a plan?" She asked as Thor demolished another craft with a heavy swing and she shielded herself from the concussive impact. "Where's Iron Man?" Her answer could be found several miles away, where the SHIELD helicarrier was getting torn to pieces by attack runs by the scarab fighters.
"Return fire!" Fury ordered.
"Sir, all weapons systems are offline!" Jimmy Woo frantically replied. "We can't-… Sir, incoming!" He cried in alarm, Nick whirling around to see half a dozen fighters zeroing in on the helicarrier bridge.
One more barrage and they were all dead men.
A streak of scarlet and gold darted in front of the bridge, an almighty blast of ARC power positively incinerating the squadron of scarabs and reducing them to ash. Picking up where SHIELD left off, Iron Man went to work blasting fighters left and right with his repulsors. "What took you so long?" Nick Fury griped.
"Hey, traffic's worse than normal." Iron Man quipped. "The Helicarrier's a sitting duck out here, Fury. You need to get clear of the city, the Avengers will handle this." He added.
"You wanna tell me how you intend to do that?" Fury questioned.
"We have a guy who's a talented hacker." Iron Man replied. "After that… I don't know. Gotta figure that out for myself." He mused to himself in a low tone. A volley of repulsor rays vanquished half a dozen more fighters, the air filled with colorful orange explosions almost akin to fireworks. Even more lit up as Mjolnir passed through them, the mystical hammer arcing widely around to obliterate multiple in its return path to its wielder.
"The Hulk boasted he would smash more machines than I." Thor remarked as he caught his weapon. "He is sorely mistaken!" He determined with an almost gleeful grin.
"You could at least act like you're a little worried about this, Thor." Iron Man dourly rebuked.
"Sadly, I have faced such odds before in the defence of Asgard." The thunderer responded. Taking his answer in stride, Iron Man moved to gather some intel on their foes.
"JARVIS, isolate one of these things and analyze." He ordered. His onboard AI did as requested, breaking down the components of a scarab fighter. The complete blueprint was revealed on Tony's HUD and drew several startling conclusions with findings in his personal databank… findings he had added just earlier in the week. "Oh you've got to be kidding me!" He exclaimed. Thor offered him a quizzical look.
"I… kid thee not?" He stated in questioning.
"No, not that," Tony quickly continued, "These robots, these ships, I know this tech." The evidence was clear, there was simply no denying it. But he needed a second source to confirm it, just to be sure, and he knew just where to find one. "Connor, talk to me. What're we dealing with?" He inquired over the radio.
"It's Kang's tech! Everything about these drones is just like his chair, the programming is identical down to the last line of code." Cybernaut answered. Validated, Tony was about to say so when a holographic image flickered to life in front of him and Thor. Neither of them could find the source, but the being before them wrought grim foreboding feelings.
"Did you really think that you had defeated me? Even with your technopathic ally, it will take much much more to subdue me!"
"Kang!" Thor growled.
"I told you Avengers that I would save this world. Under my rule, Earth will be strong. It will survive the coming onslaught. I have been learning the strengths and weaknesses of your era's defences… and now the true conquest begins." The Conqueror promised, his violet-helmeted visage dissipating into thin air as the two Avengers looked to the burning New York cityscape.
Down on the streets, Panther, Hawkeye and Cybernaut surveyed the wrecked and ruined remains of countless scarab drones they had personally dismantled.
And all of them suddenly began to glow with renewed power.
Startled and on edge, the Avengers watched in shocked horror as every drone self-repaired to a state of full functionality, standing up again as legions upon legions lined the streets. "Uh oh." Hawkeye murmured.
"You said it." Cybernaut agreed, gripping his batons tightly. Nearby, Ant-Man received an up close and personal look at the restoration process.
"They're regenerating! They're self-repairing, this was all an act! We never even made a dent!" He realized with a gasp. The absolute pile he, Hulk and Captain America stood upon came to life as Hank quickly grew to Giant Man size to tackle the scarab drones. They lunged upon him in droves, driving him back and forcing him to the ground.
"Hawkeye, Panther! Fire at will!" Cap quickly ordered. "Cybernaut, try to wrangle as many of these things as you can!" He turned to face the green giant. "Hulk, help Giant Man!" Impassively staring down at him, Hulk didn't respond or budge an inch. "Move!" Cap shouted, finally stirring the gamma behemoth into action. The team spread out in different directions, Hawkeye loosing explosive after explosive as Vibranium daggers rained down from above, drawing the scarab's attention towards Black Panther. The Wakandan sprinted across the side of a building, dodging incoming laser salvos before catapulting off and shredding a trio of drones with his claws, cutting them to ribbons.
A single touch was all Connor needed to bring a scarab under his control and thanks to his training with T'Challa, he'd learned to move very quickly. Darting in between their ranks, the moment his fingertips landed on their chassis their programming and commands were under his control, turning entire swaths of the revived scarabs into his personal army. Leading them against the attacking horde, the battle seemed evenly met for a moment.
"Oh come on!" Hawkeye complained as another wave of scarab drones came crashing down. The Avengers were getting swarmed, overpowered and outnumbered as Kang's forces poured on the pressure. Giant Man shrank down to Ant-Man, the dozens of scarabs piling on him falling in a heap as he retreat atop one of his flying ants. Hulk was handling things just fine, thrashing and trashing the scarab drones one by one as he stood atop a second pile of wrecked chassis. Hawkeye grimly realized he had run out of arrows by the time he was pushed back to back with Captain America. "We've got a big problem here, old man. They're corralling us." He noted.
"I know. We need to set a rally point and regroup." Cap answered. "How many explosive arrows do you have left?"
"None. I could throw rocks if you want." Hawkeye replied sardonically. The scarabs closed ranks, surrounding the two in a tighter and tighter formation.
All of a sudden, two of them were pulled backwards by Cybernaut's magnets, landing in a heap as the scarabs under his control set themselves upon their duplicates. "Need a hand? Or maybe a clawed tentacle in this case." He offered. The scarabs began tearing each other apart, freeing Captain America and Hawkeye.
"Your timing in impeccable." Cap applauded.
"Well, I certainly try." Cybernaut answered, stowing his irons. "I need you for a boost, Cap. Can you use your shield to launch me?"
"I thought you could fly?" Hawkeye questioned.
"Not fast enough to get ahead of those air fighters." Cybernaut answered. Steve understood immediately a prepped his shield like a launch pad. Suddenly, the Avengers Quinjet swooped in and vaporized the entire legion hoarding the street in a strafing run behind them.
Behind the controls, Wasp was grinning. "I found bigger stingers!" She remarked, unleashing the power of the jet's quad-laser cannons. "You boys might wanna duck." She radioed to the men on the ground.
"Uh, hold that thought, Cap." Connor mused as they all barreled out of the way, Wasp coming in hot and obliterating and street length of scarabs with a barrage from the Quinjet's weaponry, popping them like fireworks. Pulling out of her dive, she arced back around and unleashed the cannons on Kang's airborne forces.
"Looks like those lessons from Carol are finally paying off!" She mused, jerking the stick to the left as she arced around one of the battle platforms and blew three fresh scarabs to ash before they had a chance to engage.
Down below, Connor used Steve's shield like a stepping stone as the Captain harnessed his super soldier strength to launch Connor into the air, higher and faster than any normal man could. Breaching the skyline perimeter, Connor harnessed the steel soles of his boot to hover in place before gravitating towards and incoming squadron of three scarab fighters. Using the power of his magnets, he latched on to the central fighter and hitched a ride, his technopathic powers allowing him to take total control over the entire fighter. Using it's prowess to his benefit, he used its built-in cannons to vaporize its fellows before flying off in pursuit of other scarabs. Flying past Wasp in the Quinjet, Cybernaut offered her a thumbs up as she waved back, the two rocketing into battle side by side and obliterating scarabs left and right.
Back on the streets, Iron Man joined the fray as he unleashed a cluster of micromissiles to detonate within the masses of scarabs, clearing room for Hulk to burst free. Ant-Man was saved by Thor, Mjolnir bashing a pursuing scarab before returning to his hand as striking down a corps of fighters with a lightning strike. Together they linked up with the Avengers, the whole team complete as they beat a hasty retreat amid swarms of scarabs.
"Is everyone okay?!" Iron Man demanded.
"We don't have time not to be!" Cap responded, hurling his shield and catching it in one movement. "These things are moving through the city block by block! We need to divert them!"
"It's Kang, the ships, the robots, everything! He's invading the city!" Iron Man explained as he cleared a path with his repulsor rays.
"Not exactly, Iron Man." Nick Fury announced, suddenly appearing on their comms. "Tactical targets are being hit all along the eastern seaboard."
"Well, why New York then? There are no tactical targets in the city." Ant-Man questioned.
"The Avengers are a tactical target." Cap replied, slicing a scarab in two with his shield. "And I'm guessing that after the fight Connor gave him, Kang wants us down for the count badly."
"There's more," Fury continued, "This isn't just happening here, it's happening all over the world. Kang isn't just invading New York… he's taking over the entire planet."
Later…
Kang's forces could be seen everywhere; the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids of Egypt, even cities like London, England. But even on the other side of the world, Earth was not without defenders as Dane Whitman, the Black Knight, lay siege to the invading scarabs. Not even the isolated Wakanda was safe, the advanced capitol defences shredding Kang's forces before they could make landfall but remained under siege despite their best efforts.
From the safety of Avengers Mansion, the team of heroes looked on as reports continued to filter in, revealing the threat posed to the entire planet. "Every major city in the world is under attack by Kang's forces. Several have already fallen… even more are surrendering." Nick Fury revealed. "If we're gonna turn this around, we don't have much time."
"This… This is madness." Hank said aloud. "How are we supposed to fight this?"
"Nick, have you had any luck with those 'flying discs' I saw up in the sky?" Cap inquired.
"Conventional weapons aren't making a dent. We were hoping Stark might have some ideas." Fury replied. Tony sighed and crossed his arms.
"There was a back door into Kang's tech Cybernaut and I were able to exploit when we first met him. But he's closed it off, I'm still analyzing the data I recovered… but Cybernaut seems to have an easy time turning Kang's own weapons against him." He told them all.
"It's not that hard, once I learned his tech I can make use of it so long as I'm in contact with it." The shaded technopath explained. "His fighters, his drones, I've controlled them all."
"Too bad you cant be doing that on a global scale." Nick mused with a frown. As they conversed, Black Panther watched silently at the invasion of Wakanda. As King, he knew his responsibilty and a longing to be with his people. But his loyalties were divided now, between his duty to the Avengers and his duty as King. A hand on his shoulder stirred his thoughts and he turned to see Connor beside him.
"We'll save them, T'Challa. I promise." He said softly.
"I know that… but my people are so far away. And they need my help." T'Challa replied, turning back to the screen. Cap joined them.
"If you feel like you need to be there, then maybe you should." Connor offered.
"I… But we must-"
"Your people need their king." Cap surmised. "You should go."
"What?! That's not your call, Cap!" Tony snapped, turning on them. "We need everyone-" He stopped, the lingering stares of the others boring into them, none of them looking very impressed by his outburst. Clearing his throat and realizing his mistake, Tony relented. "Right… T'Challa, take one of the Quinjets. We'll be there to help as soon as we can." The Wakandan nodded.
"Thank you, my friends." He offered, his gaze fixed on Connor and Steve as he spoke. Breaking away from the group, he made for the hangar as the Avengers continued to plan.
"We have to do something, we're hopelessly outnumbered here. Our forces are barely holding out." Fury stated.
"We have to find Kang, take the fight to him." Tony determined.
"You're right. We find him, we stop this invasion." Cap agreed.
"Any idea where he is?" Hank wondered. Tony didn't at first, but then had an idea.
"Cybernaut, can you pinpoint his tech?" The technopath shook his head.
"Not amidst all of this. It's so busy out there, so much data and coding screaming through the air and I can't cut through the noise." Connor explained. "If there were less drones, less fighting, then… maybe."
"So he could be on any one of those ships, anywhere on the planet." Tony determined sourly.
"If only you could just… I dunno, think harder and spread your influence further." Hawkeye said.
"That's what she said." Janet quipped with a giggle. Connor facepalmed after recognizing the double entendres.
"Unfortunately, my powers don't work that way." He clarified. Suddenly, Tony perked up.
"Wait a minute… maybe they could." He theorized, bolting out of his seat. "Connor, you said your brainwaves work on the same frequency as technology, right?" The technopath nodded.
"Yeah, that's what allows me to sense them the way I do. At least, I'm pretty sure that's how it works." Connor replied.
"So what if we amplified your powers, improved the reach of your brainwaves?" Tony suggested. "We could build an array that boosts the output of your senses… like a satellite dish." Connor tilted his head and arched a brow.
"You're not seriously thinking of strapping a dish to my head, are you?" He queried with a sideways glance.
"More like plugging your head into one." Tony clarified, his fingers racing across the keyboard to pull up a blueprint. "The comms array at the top of Stark Tower, I could reprogram it to broadcast your senses across an improved range." He revealed.
"If you think you can build one, then you better get to work on that. The Avengers need to get back out there, people need our help." Cap determined, slinging his shield across his back. "We'll buy you whatever time we can. Connor, stay here and help Tony. Get that amplifier built." He commanded as he led the others back to the battle.
"Sir, yes sir." Connor affirmed with a salute. "Now how are we going to go about that…?"
"Us against the world then." Tony determined, already pulling up a parts list from the Mansion's sublevel storage lockers.
"Wouldn't be the first time." Connor mused, sliding off his mask as he prepared to go to work.
Outside…
The Avengers rallied for another attack on the invaders, Wasp back in the Quinjet providing enhanced air support for the team on the ground. Obliterating several scarab fighters before backing off to pursue more, she called out reports to her team, "There's more heading for the bridge!" Hulk and Hawkeye were quick to arrive on the scene, the archer with a fresh quiver of arrows at his disposal.
"You ready, Jade Jaws?" Hawkeye wondered.
"I'm always ready." Hulk rumbled, cracking his knuckles. Throwing himself into the fight, Hulk engaged the scarab drones one by one as Hawkeye provided support from afar, his explosive arrows obliterating the mechanoids before they got close to the green giant. "Goldilocks thought he'd smash more robots than me? Stupid hammer man!" Hulk thundered, his fists driving deep into the robot's chassis as he tore it to pieces. Another approached him from behind, unseen by Hulk until one of Hawkeye's arrows blew it to smithereens.
"Hey! You wanna focus here, green? We have to hold out until the bridge is evacuated." Hawkeye rebuked as he jogged over. "Besides, I've taken down more of these things than Thor and you combined." He remarked. Hulk uttered a disapproving grunt as the two turned to face off against another horde of scarabs coming down the bridge. "Alright, I'll, uh… I'll take 'em all! You just rest, big guy." Hawkeye determined. All of a sudden, the scarabs did something unexpected…
They began to combine.
Cranial pieces retracted as legs folded in and locked into place, one scarab topping the next and the next until they had formed a massive centipede-like beast that dwarfed the two Avengers. Hawkeye was slack-jawed, completely blown away by this turn of events. Never had they faced something like this.
"Hmph. Maybe I will rest now. Good luck." Hulk remarked as he turned and walked off. The upper head of the megalithic scarab opened its mouth as an electric charge began to build. Hawkeye was quickly to roll out of the way as an electrostatic blast slammed into Hulk's back with blinding intensity.
"Great, now I have to save the Hulk." Hawkeye complained. "That's just-woah!" His rant was cut short when a clawed tentacle reached for him, grabbing concrete where the archer used to be. Now on the move, Hawkeye loosed arrow after arrow in an effort to knock off some of the tentacles reaching for him.
Explosives rippled the mega-scarab's body as Hulk picked himself up, now considerably more angry. Hefting a car over his head, he made to throw it only to be struck by another, powerful electrostatic blast. Hawkeye found himself caught in the mechanoid's clutches and being reeled towards a grisly fate had the shield of Captain America not severed the tentacle. With back-up on the scene, Hawkeye retreated as Hank grew to Giant Man and tackled the lower portion of the monstrosity, drawing its attention long enough for Thor to gather stormclouds above the battle. With Mjolnir charged up, Thor hurled his weapon towards the scarab, shattering its head and causing a chain reaction as its body exploded one piece at a time. The remaining parts fell to pieces, scattered across the bridge as the Avengers regrouped.
"So what now? I'd say there's only… seven-hundred-million left!" An exasperated Wasp wondered. "I really hope that thing Connor and Tony are working on is finished soon… and works!"
"Let's find out," Giant Man offered, triggering his comms, "Tony, it's Hank, any luck?"
Tony received the comm wirelessly as he worked feverishly on microcircuits as Connor started piecing together larger components to form a headset. "If we were done, Hank, I would've given you a ring. We're starting from scratch with this thing… hell, I don't even know how mutations work! We're flying blind here!" He snapped.
"In other words, Hank, give us a bit." Connor added, sounding much calmer.
"Uh… they're still working on it." Hank reported back to the team.
"Oh, well that's wonderful." Hawkeye griped sarcastically. "Maybe Kang will let us call a 'time out' until we're ready." Rolling her eyes, Wasp tried to get the group back on track.
"What now, Cap?" She asked of Steve, who stopped to stare at the burning New York in the distance. He'd seen similar scenes before, memories of the European Campaign coming to mind as his soldierly instincts took over.
"This is war… and we need an army." He determined. "We can't keep fighting Kang as we are. We need equal measures if we want to hold him off."
"And where are we supposed to find one of those?" Hawkeye wondered. "You heard Fury, everyone is outgunned and outnumbered and what's left is barely holding together." He stated. "I hate to say it, but I'm kinda missing Connor's personal army right now."
"Not much of a rookie, now is he?" Hank mused.
"Eh, he's still a greenhorn when it comes to field work." Hawkeye retorted, crossing his arms.
"And yet he's been an Avenger longer than you have." Hank shot back with a slight grin. Wasp, however, cast a glance at Ant-Man as an idea came to mind. She knew he would hate it, he just naturally would. But it was likely their best shot at evening the odds. She bit her lip, pondering if she should or not. What would Connor do? Hijack Kang's drones and fight him with them. Well, she wasn't Connor, but she could get her own army… provided everyone else agreed with her.
Closing her eyes and taking a breath, she opened them and said, "I know where you can find an army."
Later, in the Negative Zone…
Emerging for the first time through the portal and into 42, Cap was struck by the incredible nature of it all. His gaze, however, was soon fixed on the android that greeted them. "What do you call these things?"
"Ultron." Janet answered. Hank sighed.
"I'll just say it again for the record; I am not comfortable with this." He reiterated. "The Ultrons have built-in weapon systems that Iron Man designed. But I've disabled everything except a simple stun blast."
"People's lives are at stake, Doctor Pym. If you have a better idea, I'm open to it." Steve countered. "But as it stands, these robots of your are our only chance to even the odds. The world is counting on us."
"Please, Hank. You heard Cap, it's our best chance." Wasp pleaded. Loosing another sigh, Hank strode behind Ultron-5 and unscrewed a plate on the back of his head, revealing an energy tube filled with the same blue composition that glowed within Ultron's eyes and mouth.
"What are you doing?" Cap asked.
"I'm teaching Ultron the concept of violence." Hank answered, giving the tube a simple twist that turned the energy stream from blue to red. The change in the primary drone quickly filtered out to every single Ultron in the prison, all of them losing their blue hue in favour of a red one. Cap, Wasp and Hawkeye watched the change unfold, deeming it slightly sinister. Ultron-5 lifted his head as Hank slid the tube back into place.
"Programming… accepted." Ultron announced.
"Tony, it's-"
"Not there yet, Hank." Iron Man abruptly stated, testing some wiring into the headpiece wrapped around Connor's brow. Part of him saw fit to turn the comms off.
"Tony, just listen. Cap has a plan for dealing with Kang's forces, but it's only temporary, you have to hurry." Hank explained.
"Hurry doesn't jive with experimental sciences!" Tony snapped. "We're working on it but we can't just-"
"Keep at it, soldier. You can do this." Cap reassured him. "Both you and Connor are experts in your fields, you can and you will get this done." Tony breathed a sigh.
"Why does he sound so calm? That's gotta be a super soldier thing, right?" Connor wondered as his senses started to mess with the cerebro-enhancers wired into the headpiece.
"Either that or he learned it during the war." Tony mused in reply, tinkering with a few connections. "Okay, try it now." Closing his eyes, Connor reached out to the machine. He could feel individual programs and the unique rhythms of technology attempting to match with brainwaves. He pushed towards those amplifiers, knowing they would propell him forward…
Instead, he found himself striking a barrier that unleashed a potent electricity feedback.
His nerves were on fire, pain raw and ripe shooting through his mind and causing him to scream in agony. "Connor!" Tony cried, grabbing the power cable and yanking it in two, disconnecting them and shutting down the device. The technopath slumped over, the headpiece steaming as Tony grabbed his shoulders. "Talk to me, are you okay?" He asked in a worried tone. Connor coughed in response, rubbing his sore temples.
"The synapse binders… are a little too… acute." He managed to say. "Dial them back, run diagnostics on the emitters… and get me some asprin please."
The docks were set alight as Thor and Hulk were besieged by more scarabs, the pair finding themselves under assault from all sides. No matter what they did, the scarabs hounded them, blasting with lasers, throwing them into sea-cans, the ground, ships, generally knocking the duo about.
That all changed when a squadron of Ultrons arrived on the scene to even the odds.
Appearing from the Negative Zone portal, the Ultrons moved as Hank directed, fanning out across the city and bringing some much needed heat to Kang's robotic forces. With a renewed sense of hope, the Avengers made landfall, Clint and Steve charging into the thick of things. "Take 'em down, Avengers!" Cap ordered as shield and arrow did in a pair of scarabs. "Wasp, Ant-Man, you know the plan."
"We're good to go, Cap!" Wasp affirmed from within the Quinjet.
"You seem way too excited about all this." Her boyfriend mused from the adjoining seat.
"I'm extremely positive person!" Janet remarked in reply, guiding the supersonic craft towards one of Kang's battle platforms.
"Well, that makes one of us." Hank said, spying a proton emitter charging up beneath the platform. "Evasive maneuvers, now!" He cried, Janet banking hard to the right to avoid a scorching plasma ray. Juking left and right, the stick lurching from side to side, Wasp did her best to fly unscathed until a lancing beam caught the nose of the Quinjet. The damage spread quickly, shearing the ship in two before unstable fuel cells detonated, completely obliterating the ship.
At first glance, the occupants had been killed in the process. But on a minuscule level, Wasp flew on with Ant-Man in her arms, flying dead ahead and virtually invisible to any sensors.
"See? Everything according to plan." She declared.
"You do know those Quinjets cost Tony about twenty million dollars apiece, right?" Hank dryly commented. A scarab launched from the side of the vessel, revealing an open access route through the launch tube.
"Well… to be fair, it wasn't my plan." Wasp excused, diving in. About halfway up the chute, a fresh scarab rolled into position and barreled towards them. If they didn't move, they'd be smushed like bugs on a windshield! With a gasp, Wasp quickly ascended into a ceiling vent, zipping through the grates moments before the scarab rolled by beneath them. "That was way too close. You sure there's a command centre in here? I'd hate for this to turn into something out of Raiders of the Lost Ark." Janet breathed.
"Data from the Ultrons proves there's some sort of nerve centre in the middle of the ship." Hank responded. "Hopefully it should be trap and hazard-free." His statement was soon proven true as the couple found themselves in a control room, filled to the brim with lights, panels, toggles and switches, manned by a single soldier in Kang's signature purple color.
Dropping her boyfriend off, Wasp charged up a two-handed biosting as she made herself known to the surprised officer.
"Hi." She greeted before zapping him between the eyes and knocking him unconscious. With him dealt with, Hank grew to full size and analyzed the control console.
"This is of similar design to portions of Kang's time-chair." He said aloud, examining every reading available. "Iron Man and I theorized that Kang's equipment must have some kind of temporal stasis device something that allows it to remain in this era… like an anchor." He described. "If we destroy that anchor the ship should theoretically return to its own time."
"You sure said a mouthful." Janet remarked, somewhat dazed by all the innumerable devices around. "Ugh, this would be so much easier if Connor was here to tell us what's what." She complained. "I'm just gonna blast it now." Another two-handed sting struck the terminal, short-circuiting the device. Janet and Hank looked around, hoping for some positive result.
Outside the viewport, they watched excitedly as a recently deployed scarab suddenly vanished without a trace, teleported back to its own time.
The ship began to fade, disappearing as its hold in the time stream was lost and its entire physical structure was teleported forward in time. Watching in amazement, Hank first saw blue sky, then the New York cityscape, then the blue ocean of the harbour beneath him…
And no solid ground for him to stand on.
He dropped like a rock, crying out in fright before he triggered his regulator belt and a rush of yellow Pym Particles shrank him down to Ant-Man size. Wasp dove after her boyfriend, catching him before he had a chance to fall too far.
"Whew, talk about a close call." Hank breathed, sighing in relief.
"Looks like I destroyed that anchor-thingy." Janet mused.
"And confirmed out hypothesis at the same time." Hank concurred, reaching for his comms.
Back at the mansion, the newly revamped headset was in place on Connor's head as Tony stood by with a bottle of asprin in hand and his armor's fire extinguishing systems armed and ready. "Take number two, ready Connor?" He queried.
"Let's give it a shot." The technopath relented. Closing his eyes, he reached out for the headset. Soon enough he found his senses racing along, like cars on a track, guided by the receptors and transceivers designed to mimic his brainwaves. They extended outwards, propelling him further than he'd ever reached. No longer did he need to touch something to know how it worked. This device merely cast out his senses like a web, capturing all the tech in his immediate area.
Connor's eyes went wide as he sensed the constant chatter from Tony's armor, the silent murmurings from the nearby holotable, and even the pulsing, rhythmic thoughts of JARVIS as the AI filled the mansion's subsystems routed into this very room. "Anything?" Tony asked.
"Oh yeah… a lot of things." Connor breathlessly answered. With a though, the displays on the table shifted, switching out live feeds from across the world for graphs and charts, all responding to a single thought… and he wasn't even touching it.
"That was you?" Tony queried.
"Yeah… Yeah! It works! I can do it!" Connor replied excitedly. Tony beamed. Finally some good news!
"Good, that's good!" He agreed. "Okay, let's box this up and move it to Stark Tower." He urgently said, making to unplug everything. Then his comms crackled.
"Tony-"
"Hank, it's ready. We're going to Stark Tower, have the team meet us there." He quickly cut in.
"Great! But that's not why I called," Hank continued, "our theory was right, there is some sort of chronal-anchor technology keeping these ships in place. If Connor can access it, he can wipe out entire sections of Kang's army." Tony looked to the technopath as he slid off the headset, having heard every word.
"If this works, I'll look out for that." He stated.
"Good to know, Hank. Top of Stark Tower, see you in a few minutes." Tony finished, clicking off as he and Connor started to pack up their gear.
"You know, if this doesn't work, my brain will probably be fried." Connor mused, eyeing the helmet. "That's… a little worrying."
"Well, look at the bright side: if this fails, you won't have to live under an authoritarian future man like we will." Tony responded. Connor shot him a sideways work.
"That's… not comforting at all." He remarked.
The complete Avengers crew made for Stark Tower, an army of Ultrons already sent ahead by Hank to guard their position. Scarabs were still crawling all over the place and any one of them could spell the doom of their attempt. This mission was absolutely critical and the entire team was ready to respond.
The combined abilities of Thor, Hulk and Wasp carried Captain America, Hawkeye and Ant-Man to the roof where Iron Man and Cybernaut hurriedly worked to get the brainwave amplification headset operation.
"Wait, are we seriously nicknaming this thing 'BAH'? As in 'bah, humbug'?" Janet wondered.
"Call it a love letter to those who think this won't work." Connor remarked, flicking a few switches on the piece after connecting some wiring. Tony on the other hand was tapped into the satellite broadcasting tower, making the necessary adjustments via his Iron Man suit to allow the tower to broadcast Connor's brainwaves.
"What's the play, Tony?" Cap asked.
"I have to monitor the systems to make sure everything works accordingly. Connor's gonna be busy reaching out with his powers, so I need everyone to create a perimeter and keep Kang's robots away from us." Tony replied.
"And you've tested this to make sure it works?" Hank wondered.
"On a small scale in Avengers Mansion." Connor answered, nothing this big.
"That's a large margin for error, too large if you ask me." Hank replied, counting concerned.
"We don't have a choice. It's this or be conquered." Connor said with a sigh, knowing the weighty ramifications behind this.
"But the risks-"
"I know the risks." He countered, cutting Hank off. "I could be injured, left brain dead, or straight up killed. Or be enslaved by a time-travelling conqueror." He listed off. None of them sounded pleasant. "It's fine, Hank. I know what I'm getting into. This one's for the team… for Earth." Connor determined, slipping the headset on. As the Avengers moved to take up positions, Janet lingered behind with Connor. She watched him work, adjusting little things and final measures as Tony wired him into the antennas.
"Connor," she whispered, touching his arm. He stopped and looked up, his eyes catching hers. "Thank you." She said simply. But the two words alone conveyed enough gratitude for him to comprehend. He smiled.
"You've been there for me since day one. I don't think I've thanked you enough." He replied. Janet returned his smile.
"Please… don't strain too hard, okay? We all want you back in one piece." She urged.
"For you, anything." Connor replied with a wink. He meant it with all his heart… in more ways than one. Janet shrunk down and chose to take up position by his side as a final line of defence as the other Avengers and Ultrons spread out across the rooftop.
"Here goes, all set?" Tony asked.
"All set." Connor affirmed, taking a breath.
"Ready to broadcast in three… two… one…" Tony triggered the satellite release and reocngifugred their systems, now deriving a signal directed from the wired-in headset. Connor felt a rush of data unlike anything he'd ever felt before, his mind nearly overwhelmed by the sudden surge. He staggered, bracing himself against the base as his mind flowed through the same conduits as before, following every path, every transission wave as he was carried through the headset. Then come the antenna, his mind racing onwards like a jet-engine on a superhighway, shooting further and faster through transmissions than he ever had before. It was like sprinting towards a light at the end of a tunnel. In moment he burst free of the familiar breaking out of the reality he knew, everything so close-knit and close at hand. He let go of his limits…
And the world was revealed to him.
He gasped, eyes wide as the most data and code he'd ever sensed flooded his mind, filling him more than a simple walk through downtown New York ever could. he could hear and fell every single device in the city, all at once. Every Kang bot, every cellphone, billboard, desktop, laptop, power line, transformer grid, microchip and circuit board in the whole world filled his senses and he couldn't help but freeze in sheer wordless shock at it all.
He vaguely became aware of someone calling his name and blinked, seeing Janet and Tony standing before him. His expression never changed but he tilted his head slightly.
"What's happening?" Tony implored. It felt like an eternity before the words came to his mind. So much going on all at once.
"Connor?" Janet pressed.
"I… I can feel them…" He quietly whispered in awe, "all of them." With wide eyes he looked around at the golden armies besieging the city. They seemed so small from this vantage, yet their functions and programs were front and centre in his mind. "Every single drone, fighter and floating base is at my fingertips… I can feel their every move, every data transmission and every signal sent back and forth…" He continued, breathlessly in wonder at such amazing power. "I've never felt anything like this before. It's incredible." Closing his eyes, Connor put out a single thought that carried across his projected brainwaves. Within moments, the scarab ships ceased to fly and hovered in place, the drones on the ground halting their rampages and standing utterly still.
"They've stopped. All of them. They've stopped!" Hawkeye realized in shock.
"Well, I'll be…" Hank trailed off. Tony looked to Connor.
"Did you do that?" He wondered. The technopath nodded slowly.
"Yes. They're obeying my command, every single one across the world. The things I could do with this armada… they'll do whatever I tell them." He replied, suddenly realizing the imminent power at his disposal. He looked down at his hands, pondering their next course of action. He could keep them active, turn them against Kang, but the possibility that his tech could still be reverted back to its original course was still present. And across the world, people like T'Challa were counting on him to end the struggle, to turn the tide. His fingers opened wide, symbolically loosing the power he gripped in that moment. "But I have only one command for them all," He stated, furrowing his brow and unleashing another thought, his senses connecting with every temporal anchor in each individual ship.
"Go home!" He shouted.
Within seconds, the battle platforms disappeared, vanishing from this time as their connection to the present time stream was severed. They would no longer pose a threat, and it was doubtful Kang could bring them back in time to renew his conquest. The Avengers watched as every ship winked out, taking with it every fighter and drone deployed. The battle was over.
The Avengers had won.
Breathing a tired sigh, Connor sank to his knees and lifted the headset off his brow, the device feeling more like a few hundred pounds instead of a paltry half-pound. "Connor you did it!" Janet happily cried, growing to full size and throwing her arms around the winded technopath. Staggered for a moment, he returned the hug with a smile, silently wishing it would never end. The Avengers turned about, equally pleased with the outcome.
"Truly, friend Connor, thou hast saved the day yet again." Thor applauded.
"And that's how you free New York from an invasion of time-travelling robots." Hawkeye mused with a grin as he stashed his overused bow behind him.
"This was just a battle. We may have won, but there's still a war being waged. And that won't end unless we find Kang." Cap stated, forcing them all back to the simple reality that they still had a villain to pursue…
Within Damocles, Kang was certain in the inevitability of his victory. A smug look on his face, the Conqueror was actually smiling at thought of ruling the 21st century. "Lord Kang! The armada ships are losing their connection to the timeline!" A bridge tech announced, immediately turning his smile into a frown. "T-They're…" He trailed off, the readings presented before him unbelievable. "Sir, they're gone. All of them!" He shouted in dismay. Kang whirled around, eyes wide.
"Impossible!" He marched over to the terminal forcing the readings to appear before him. He watched as negative scans came back from every single warship, each one lost to time and lost to him in the process. How could this happen? His mind raced for an answer. Within moments he had one and his frown deepened. "Cybernaut…" He growled. There was no other explanation. The Avenger had once again outsmarted him and ripped his own technology out from under him. He did not like this, not one bit. "Get me a full readout of the Damocles' core functions and bring me two full squadrons of technicians." He ordered, thinking quickly.
"Yes, Lord Kang!" The officer saluted before sprinting off the bridge. Kang turned back to gaze angrily upon Earth. It was time for him to improve his strategy. Cybernaut had forced his hand…
Janet helped Connor to his feet as the technopath wiped a trickle of blood away from his nostrils. He still felt a little woozy from the suddenness of it all and probably needed to lie down for a bit. One of the Ultron drones approached him.
"Are you in need of medical assistance?" It politely asked. Connor stopped, staring at the android as something flickered across his senses.
"Uh… no, thank you." He answered slowly, his gaze fixed on the robot as his senses picked up again. Something about these androids, this Ultron, was different. They were supposed to be subserviant and jointly controlled by Hank and Tony. But something deep in their programming seemed… off. Like a proverbial switch had been flicked, Connor sensed something wrong in the android… the way it looked at him, viewing his organic state, something was different…
Something was… vaguely villainous about its analysis.
"What is it, Connor?" Janet asked, noticing his distant stare. Connor shook his head, snapping himself back to reality.
"Nothing… It's nothing. Probably just some ambient sensations." He replied, shrugging it all off and not wishing to worry her. Then he recalled something else he'd sensed and knew he needed to discuss it. "Tony…" He breathed, his voice summoning Iron Man to his side. "I sensed something else while I was tapped in. Something that wasn't just Kang's invasion force." He revealed.
"What is it?" Tony pried as the Avengers crowded around.
"High above Earth, in geosynchronous orbit. It's a different ship, not like the others." Connor explained. "I let my senses wander a little and… I could sense Kang's time-chair." His words shocked the team, Iron Man bolting upright.
"You're kidding."
"No. It's him, he's up there, orchestrating everything from a safe vantage point." Connor elaborated, pointing skyward. "Kang was never in one of these ships. He was elsewhere." The Avengers paused to process it all, taking every word into consideration as they realized their job was far from over… but the end was now in sight.
"What now, Tony?" Cap asked, deferring to his leadership. Feeling the same way everyone else did, Iron Man turned to his team.
"Avengers, regroup back to the mansion." He commanded. "It's time to go after Kang."