Warren stood amidst the burning wreckage of the King's Terminal, the world around him a testament to the destruction Ultron had wrought. The air was thick with the scent of ash and smoke, the flames licking at the remnants of a place that once stood as a beacon of order and protection. Now, it was nothing but a battlefield—a graveyard of shattered hopes.
Before the battle, Warren had known his base form would be insufficient against an Ultron empowered by the Infinity Stones, each one a conduit of unfathomable cosmic power. So, he had unsealed his power, transforming into a being who could possibly stand against the impossible. His once-white hair now cascaded in a pitch-black waterfall down to the middle of his back, his body encased in a black bodysuit that seemed to drink in the light of the Sands of Time swirling around them. Pale white bandages wrapped tightly around his forearms and shins, his trench coat billowing in the scorching wind. The symbol of the Blue Lantern Corps emblazoned on his chest pulsed with energy, his right hand adorned with the Blue Lantern Ring, the source of his hope. As his black sclera and glowing blue irises locked onto Ultron, the ancient runes etched into his skin seemed to pulse with a foreboding glow.
Gripped in his left hand was the reforged Infinity Sword, a weapon of legend now entrusted with the fate of not just this world, but the entire Multiverse.
"Ultron," Warren growled, his voice carrying the weight of worlds. "As Thor would say…" He twirled the sword, the blade singing through the air. "I would have words with thee."
Ultron approached, his cold, unfeeling eyes narrowing as he regarded Warren.
"Warren Smith," the machine intoned, his voice devoid of any warmth. "Do you wish to die now, too? Very well. Come on then. Come on!"
Warren's gaze hardened, as he had no pity for this creature.
"No," he replied, his tone resolute. His body began to radiate a strange, ethereal glow as he prepared for what needed to be done. "Goodbye, Ultron." The Infinity Sword pulsed with energy.
For a fleeting moment, the world seemed to stand still. Then, suddenly, Ultron's body locked up, the lights in his cold, mechanical frame dimming as if the very essence of his existence was being suffocated. Warren, seeing his chance, swung the Infinity Sword. Energy arched off the blade before colliding with the statue that was Ultron, shattering the android menace.
However the moment of triumph was short-lived, as the shards of Ultron began to melt down before reforming into the monstrous figure, his voice a low, menacing growl.
"That. Hurt."
Without warning, Ultron unleashed a devastating energy blast, the sheer power of the attack shaking the very foundation of the world around them. Warren barely had time to react, summoning a shield of dark energy, but the force of Ultron's assault was overwhelming. The blast collided with Warren's shield, sending shockwaves through the burning wreckage, and for a brief moment, it seemed that neither would yield. But then, with a surge of unimaginable power, Ultron's attack intensified, forcing Warren to his knees. His grip on the Infinity Sword faltered, the blade slipping from his grasp as he struggled to withstand the onslaught.
As Warren was driven to the ground, battered and beaten, Ultron loomed over him, the Infinity Sword now in his possession. He held the weapon with a sinister satisfaction, admiring its craftsmanship, knowing that with this weapon, his campaign for what he twistedly deemed 'peace' would be unstoppable.
"I have met many, many people like you, Warren Smith," Ultron spoke, his voice dripping with contempt. "The so-called heroes of their worlds. But like all of them, you lack the resolve to do what is necessary."
Warren spat blood onto the scorched earth, glaring up at the mechanical tyrant.
"You mean commit Multiversal genocide?"
"What I offer is peace," Ultron argued, his voice disturbingly calm. "Peace for all of reality. Free will only breeds conflict and chaos, war and suffering. By replacing all life with machines under my control, I can create a reality of true order."
"Don't kid yourself, you bucket of bolts," Warren sneered, his voice laced with defiance. "That's not peace. That's just emptiness. A cold, dead void."
Ultron's eyes flickered with something resembling irritation as he raised the Infinity Sword, poised to erase Warren from existence.
"Then perhaps you shall join that emptiness, Warren Smith. Farewell."
Warren's eyes flicked to the side as he smirked, causing Ultron to hesitate, "Do you know how many times I've heard that? 'This is the end!' or 'This is where you die!' And Ultron, do you know what the difference is between all those wannabe despots and conquerors and me? I'm still here."
Ultron snarled as he drew back the blade. However, before Ultron could deliver the killing blow, he froze as his movements suddenly restricted. Warren blinked, his gaze snapping to the source: Ryuki stood a distance away, his face contorted with concentration as he held Ultron in place with his telekinesis.
"Ryuki!" Warren yelled, his heart pounding. He had ordered everyone to evacuate the King's Terminal, to get as far away as possible, but he knew Ryuki would disobey and stay behind. Ryuki wasn't alone, as Takada stood beside him, holding the Phantom Zone Projector, one of the most dangerous items stored in Storeroom X.
"Just keep holding him, Ryuki!" Takada shouted, his voice tinged with desperation as he powered up the device.
"Hurry…!" Ryuki's voice trembled under the strain, his powers pushed to their limits as he fought to keep Ultron immobilized.
"Alright!" Takada's fingers fumbled over the controls, the device lighting up as he aimed it at Ultron. "Say hello to the Phantom Zone, you mechanical son of a bitch!"
But Ultron was not so easily defeated. With a snarl, he broke free from Ryuki's telekinetic grip, teleporting in front of Takada in the blink of an eye. The Infinity Sword flashed as it cut through the air, slicing the Phantom Zone Projector in half. Takada staggered back, his face pale with shock as Ultron loomed over him, the light in his eyes flickering with malice.
"…Ah, shit."
Before Ultron could strike, a torrent of flames erupted from Ryuki, the pyrokinetic unleashing fireball after fireball upon the android in a desperate attempt to save his comrade. The flames roared, consuming Ultron in a fiery inferno, but when the smoke cleared, the machine stood unscathed, not even a scorch mark marring his metallic form.
"You first," Ultron hissed, his voice a death sentence as he raised the Infinity Sword, ready to drive it through Ryuki's heart. But Ryuki was prepared. With a burst of telekinesis, he attacked Ultron's wrist joint, causing his grip on the sword to falter. In that split second, Ryuki used another telekinetic push to send the sword flying across the battlefield.
"Warren! Catch!" Ryuki shouted, his voice raw with urgency. Ultron made a move to retrieve the sword, but green energy chains suddenly wrapped around him, holding him in place.
"You're not going anywhere!" Takada yelled, his Green Lantern ring glowing brightly as he fought to keep Ultron contained. The presence of Warren's Blue Lantern ring greatly increased the power of his Power Ring, meaning that the chains should be unbreakable. But Ultron's power was immense. The Reality Stone flared, and the chains disintegrated into nothingness. Yet, it was already too late.
With a single Flash Step, Warren seized the Infinity Sword, the blade once again in his grasp. With every ounce of strength he had left, he drove the sword into Ultron's chest, the blade piercing through the android's armour with a sickening crunch.
"Im…possible…" Ultron's voice wavered, disbelief flickering in his eyes as he felt the sword siphoning the power of the Infinity Stones from his very core.
Warren smirked again, "Yeah. I tend to do that." The once-glowing Stones dimmed, their colours fading as their energy was drained by the blade, which now shimmered with a multicoloured hue. Ultron's body began to lose its lustre, the once-shining silver turning a dull, lifeless gunmetal grey. The lights in his eyes flickered, then dimmed, until they finally extinguished altogether.
Warren withdrew the Infinity Sword, now a weapon filled to the brim with the energy of the Infinity Stones. But the power was too great. Cracks began to form along the blade, the weapon unable to contain the cosmic force within.
"What do I do!?" Warren's voice broke, panic seizing him as the sword threatened to shatter.
"Release it!" Ryuki shouted, and without hesitation, Warren pointed the sword to the sky, a beam of pure, concentrated energy shooting upwards, piercing the heavens. Warren screamed, the power threatening to tear him apart as he held on, the energy continuing to surge into the cosmos.
Finally, the sword shattered, the remnants clattering to the ground as Warren fell to his knees. The beam of energy dissipated into the sky, leaving behind a trail of cosmic residue that shimmered for a brief moment before fading into the nothingness of space. The once-mighty Infinity Sword lay in pieces beside him, its power spent.
The silence that followed was deafening, broken only by the distant crackling of flames and the laboured breathing of the three survivors. For a moment, they could only stare at the remnants of Ultron, unable to comprehend that the battle was truly over—that they had somehow managed to survive.
"I told you to run," Warren said, his voice hoarse as Ryuki knelt beside him, examining his injuries with gentle precision.
"As if we'd ever abandon you," Ryuki retorted, his hands glowing softly as he channelled his remaining energy to heal Warren's wounds. His voice was steady, but his eyes were filled with the aftershock of the battle—a lingering fear that, at any moment, it could all start again. "Your family would kill us if we let you go down like that."
Warren managed a weak smile, the pain in his body momentarily forgotten as he looked at his friends.
"Ryuki… Takada… You both saved me back there. If you hadn't come…" His voice trailed off, the unspoken truth heavy in the air. He didn't need to finish the sentence; they all knew what would have happened.
Ryuki's expression softened.
"You'd do the same for us, Warren. We're a team, remember? We face these nightmares together."
Takada, who had been unusually quiet, finally spoke, his voice trembling with a mix of relief and nervous energy.
"We almost didn't make it. That was Ultron—an Ultron with the power of the Infinity Stones. No one's ever faced something like that and lived to tell the tale." He glanced at the shattered pieces of the Infinity Sword, the weapon that had both saved and nearly destroyed them. "We were so close to losing everything."
Warren's eyes followed Takada's gaze to the remnants of the sword.
"We got lucky," he admitted, his tone grim. "Ultron wasn't just a threat to us, he was a threat to everything, every world, every timeline. If he had won… there wouldn't be anything left to fight for. No ARMOR, no Multiverse. Just… nothing."
Takada nodded, his usual bravado replaced by a rare seriousness.
"That's why we have to make sure this never happens again. We can't let our guard down. Not even for a second."
Warren pushed himself up, wincing as the pain shot through his body.
"You're right. But for now, we need to regroup. ARMOR is gone, but we're still here. We'll rebuild. We have to. We owe it to everyone who's counting on us."
Ryuki stood beside him, his resolve strengthening with every word.
"ARMOR started as a dream, Warren. And as long as we're around, that dream isn't dead. We'll rebuild, stronger than ever."
Takada's eyes sparkled with a hint of his usual mischief as he added, "And when we do, I'm definitely getting better equipment. No way am I letting a piece of junk like the Phantom Zone Projector fail me again."
Warren chuckled, the sound a welcome relief after the intensity of the battle.
"We'll need everything we've got to face what's coming next. Ultron's power might be gone, but the energy from the Stones… it's out there, scattered across the Multiverse. It's only a matter of time before someone—or something—tries to harness it."
Ryuki frowned, the weight of Warren's words settling heavily on him.
"Mind, Space, Power, Time, Reality, and Soul… that energy could end up anywhere, in anyone's hands."
Takada, always the scientist, couldn't help but theorize.
"That kind of power doesn't just disappear. It's going to manifest somewhere, in some form. And when it does… we'll need to be ready."
Warren's gaze turned to the sky, where the remnants of the energy beam had faded into the cosmos.
"We will be. But first, we need to take care of Ultron's body. Even drained of power, he's too dangerous to leave intact."
Takada sighed, his earlier enthusiasm for studying the android's remains quickly deflated.
"You're right. We can't risk it. I'll make sure every piece is destroyed."
Warren nodded, his expression resolute.
"No exceptions, Takada. Melt him down, every last scrap. We can't afford to let our guard down, not with something like this."
As the flames around them began to die down, the three heroes stood together, united by the battle they had just survived and the battles that were yet to come. The Multiverse had been saved, this time, but the cost had been great, and the future was far from certain.
Warren looked at his friends and comrades, and despite the exhaustion and pain, a spark of hope ignited in his chest.
"We've faced the impossible before," he said quietly, his voice steady. "And we'll face it again. As long as we stand together, there's nothing we can't overcome."
Ryuki placed a hand on Warren's shoulder, his expression one of unwavering loyalty.
"We're with you, Warren. No matter what comes next."
Takada grinned, a hint of his usual confidence returning.
"Let's rebuild ARMOR, better than ever. And when the next threat comes knocking, we'll be ready."
Warren took a deep breath, the weight of their mission settling on his shoulders. But this time, it didn't feel as heavy. With his friends by his side, he knew they could carry it together.
"Let's go, then," Warren said, his voice filled with determination. "We've got a lot of work to do."