Author's Note: I hear that Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is in development, but it's not clear when the movie will be released. But nevertheless, I look forward to see it when it comes out:)
I don't own Avengers or its characters. I only own Riley Stark and other OCs that appear in the story.
Take on the World
Chapter 32: The Battle of Sokovia
After checking that the Jewel Star suit was clear and still functioning properly, Riley made her way out of her bedroom, only to come face to face with Tony.
"You ready to go?"Tony asked
"I guess?"Riley answered.
Tony frowned. "You don't sound very confident."
Riley looked down in disappointment.
"That's because I'm...not that much."Riley admitted.
"Hey, look at me."Tony instructed as he slowly placed his hand on the side of Riley's face so her eyes would meet his."I know you are fully capable of doing this, I have never doubted it. You have always been a fighter, Rye-Rye. Always. So if you do this, then you're an Avenger and you will damn-well fight like one, okay?"
Riley gently nodded at her father, feeling touched by his words.
"Okay, dad."Riley replied.
Tony placed a quick kiss on Riley's forehead before the two of them made their way to the Quinjet where the others were waiting for them.
Finally, suited and prepared for a battle that could be the end of everything, everyone gathered back into the Quinjet.
Comms were passed along to everyone.
Granted, the Maximoffs had one of their own.
Wanda stared out the window from where she sat next to Pietro, who was tapping his foot impatiently.
Halfway through the ride to Sokovia, Steve stood up, facing everyone.
"Ultron knows we're coming."Steve informed, looking at his comrades."Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire and that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So our priority is getting them out. All they want is to live their lives in peace, and that's not going to happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done and find out what Ultron's been building. We find Romanoff and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us."
Tony, Riley, Bruce, Clint, Wanda, Pietro and Vision all listened to Steve's words carefully.
Clint landed the Quinjet further away from the residential area, somewhere empty and out of sight.
"Ultron thinks we're monsters and we're what's wrong with the world."Steve commented."This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right."
Ultron had an army of robots and enough vibranium to do some seriously bad things.
They didn't know his plan and they knew whatever they're walking into was a trap, but they had to go anyway.
Someone was going to get hurt, maybe even worse.
There was just no way the group would walk out of this without some scars.
The soon as the Quinjet landed at Novi Grad, the capital city of Sokovia, the Avengers spilt up to carry out their tasks.
A long blue streak coloured the streets as Pietro sprinted through the city, making his way through the police stations as fast as he could.
As his task, Pietro needed to alert as many police stations as possible.
Running inside one of the local stations, Pietro skidded to a stop, catching everyone's attention.
"We're under attack!"Pietro warned."Clear the city now!"
The enhanced runs out to alert the next police station, leaving the officers to continue back to their duties.
However, they weren't expecting Pietro to run back inside, shooting straight at the ceiling.
"Get off your asses."Pietro retorted.
Pietro dashed back out the door a second time, knowing he had gotten their attention.
It worked as the police of Sokovia jumped up to their feet, definitely alert and springing into action.
Wanda stood in the middle of a residential area, completing her task of getting as many people out of their homes without causing too much panic.
The red tendrils slithered around the homes nearest to her, wrapped into the windows and through the doors, tapping into each person's mind.
Instead of speaking, the people began to grab their coats and shoes before heading out of their houses.
Information data appeared on Riley's visor that mentioned Bruce found Natasha alive which made the young brunette sigh in relief before contacting Steve in her comlink.
"Uncle Steve, Aunt Nat is save."Riley reported."Uncle Bruce found her."
"Good."Steve answered with a hint of relief."Now get ready."
Riley held her breath as she stood in the bridge, waiting for the signal.
Her father went to confront Ultron on himself.
She wanted to go with him, but her father told her not to follow him and she obeyed his orders.
Not long after it happened.
People screamed in fear as they ran back into the city and far away from the bridge.
Riley flew around the bridge and fired her repulsors at the robots as civilians ran past her.
All around, the robots continued to climb out from the ground and into the sky, terrorizing the city of Sokovia.
Riley fired two shots at a robot that had appeared behind Steve.
Apparently, she hit a bullseye.
The menacing thing fell to the ground before Riley landed down to jam her foot into its neck and broke its head off.
She kicked it over the ledge.
"We should probably get going, Uncle Steve."Riley suggested."They're going to need all the help they can get."
"Good idea."Steve agreed.
Steve and Riley headed into the city together, side by side.
Seeing more robots approaching, Riley used her repulsors to blew them right off the edge of the bridge, letting their destroyed bodies freefall through the air.
A robot swooped down out of nowhere, catching Steve off guard and sending him barreling unto the windshield of a car.
Riley sucked a breath through her teeth, scrunching her face in secondhand pain.
"Ouch."Riley mumbled.
"Cap, Rye-Rye, you guys got incoming!"Tony warned.
Steve groaned at Tony's words, pulling himself out of the car's glass frame.
"Incoming already came in."Steve retorted.
Flying over to him, Riley helped the super soldier back to his feet.
"You good?"Riley asked.
Steve gave a nod to Riley.
"I've been better."Steve replied before speaking with Tony in the comm."Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed...walk it off."
Riley made a face at Steve.
"That's actually not how that works-"Riley started.
Riley's sentence was cut off by the Hulk, who had seemingly fallen through the sky and crushed an entire cluster of Iron Legions.
Riley and Steve dove behind a car to miss the debris of metal, ducking out of the way of the Hulk's destruction.
Ultron hovered over Novi Grad as he watched his robot army terrorise the city while the Avengers fought to defend the defenceless.
Watching his plan progress with twisted pleasure, Ultron could see within his Iron Legion robots' eyes, each one showing the events occurring in Novi Grad.
"Do you see it? The beauty of it, the inevitability. You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, you are my meteor, my swift and terrible sword and the Earth will crack with the weight of your failure."Ultron declared with a sadistic tone."Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world…will be metal."
Riley couldn't think of nothing but her own panic as the whole ground shakes, small pebbles jumping up and down.
From using her visor, the Stark heiress could see the city was completely off the ground, floating upwards to the sky.
"What the hell is happening, dad?"Riley murmured nervously.
"Ultron activated the Vibranium core, Rye-Rye."Tony declared."Sokovia's going for a ride."
A stunned look grew on Riley's face.
"Dios mío."Riley muttered in disbelief.
Riley then went back on using her repulsors to attack the robots, hearing their circuits and wires pop and crack.
The sound of screams pulled Riley's attention to a car that was nearly dangling off the edge, sprinting in that direction when she realised there was still a woman inside.
When she had enough power, Riley used the hands of her suit to slowly lift the entire car inch back onto the bridge, allowing the woman to jump out of the car and run away from the conflict.
An Iron Legion crept up to Riley, playing Ultron's voice over and over again.
"You can't save them all."Ultron retorted."You'll never-"
The drone's sentence was cut off by Steve sinking his shield into his chest.
Steve grabbed the edge of the vibranium and yanked his shield back, hurling the bot over the edge in the process.
"You'll never what?"Steve taunted, holding a hand behind his ear."You didn't finish!"
Just after Steve had yelled, Thor landed on an empty car occupying the bridge.
Riley whipped around and stared at Thor, slightly surprised at his sudden presence.
"Where have you been, Uncle Thor?!"Riley demanded.
The shock on Steve's face matched Riley's.
"Were you napping?"Steve assumed.
A smile spread across Thor's face accompanied by a chuckle.
"I assumed you two would be needing my assistance."Thor responded.
"Alright."Riley sighed as she activated her repulsors."Just don't get too cocky, please."
The trio then continued to fight side by side, stronger than ever with their combined skillsets.
Still, no matter how many bots they destroyed, more would spawn and come back stronger than ever.
"Thor."Ultron groaned, making himself known overhead."You're bothering me."
Ultron flew down and grabbed Thor by his cape, whisking the God of Thunder into the air and out of sight.
Riley and Steve were left alone once again, more than outnumbered at this point.
"Alright, we're all clear here!"Clint informed.
"We are not clear!"Steve warned.
Steve sliced through a robot with his shield.
Riley went down on one knee to hit an approaching robot before bashing one on the head.
"Very not clear!"Steve admitted.
"Alright, coming to you."Clint answered.
"Nat!"Steve called out.
Riley whipped around when she heard Steve's callout, watching as he hurled his shield at a drone attacking Natasha.
The attractive red haired spy curled underneath the vibranium and ran toward the Iron Legion, knocking him to the ground.
Rileu fired a shot at the neck of the suit, slicing through the wires to disfigure it.
"Thanks."Natasha thanked.
Natasha then tossed Steve his shield back to him.
"You okay?"Steve asked.
Natasha's eyes narrowed in a teasing manner as she looked at Steve.
"What?"Natasha questioned smugly."You worried about me?"
Riley frowned in disapproval.
"Can you two save the flirting until after we finish this?"Riley mumbled.
Natasha looked down shyly while Steve blushed, opening his mouth and shutting it just as promptly.
Trying to refocus his attention, the super soldier held a hand up to his comm.
"The next wave's gonna hit any minute."Steve stated."What have you got, Stark?"
"Well, nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city."Tony admitted."That'll keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear."
Riley shook her head with a frown, ushering a group of citizens in the direction of the others.
"That's an escape plan."Steve reminded."Not a solution."
The line was silent for a long moment.
"Impact radius is getting bigger every second."Tony exclaimed."We're going to have to make a choice."
Natasha tilted her head in solemn realisation.
"These people are going nowhere."Natasha said."If Stark finds a way to blow this rock..."
"Not until everyone's safe."Steve finished.
The clouds of dust and smoke settled for just a moment.
Riley stared past the edge of Sokovia, realising then that they had risen high enough that the ground was no longer visible.
"Everyone includes the people down there."Steve admitted.
"There's no math there."Natasha murmured.
Steve held his ground, eyes locked onto the horizon.
"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it."Steve declared.
"I didn't say we should leave."Natasha complemented.
Steve turned to look at Natasha, clearly not expecting the sentence that had just come out of her mouth.
The red haired spy simply shrugged, strangely content with the direction they seemed to be heading in.
"There are worse ways to go."Natasha stated."Where else am I gonna get a view like this?"
Riley stayed still between the two, still staring straight ahead.
They were hovering above the clouds, surrounded by sunlight and blue skies.
A strange sense of peace washed over her.
"It is beautiful."Riley praised softly.
An unexpectedly familiar voice chuckled over Riley's comm.
"Glad you like the view, ladies."Director Fury praised."It's about to get better."
The ground beneath them began to shake as a Helicarrier emerged from the clouds.
Clearly able to see the pure amazement that came across the three's faces.
"Nice, right? I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends."Director Fury explained."She's dusty, but she'll do."
Shaking his head, Steve breathed out a laugh.
"Fury, you son of a bitch."Steve remarked.
Riley snapped her attention over to her grandfather's friend, her mouth hanging open in amusement.
"Steven Grant Rogers, watch your language!"Riley sneered strictly.
"Oooh!"Director Fury scoffed."You kiss your mother with that mouth?"
Steve rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah."Steve answered."I get it."
Agent Hill's voice was the next to crackle through their comms.
"Altitude is eighteen thousand and climbing."Agent Hill reported."Lifeboats secure to deploy."
A flash of blue appeared as Pietro arrived to the Helicarrier's location.
The speedster stared at the approaching lifeboats with his eyes widen and a genuine smile on his face.
Pietro never expected something such as this to happen, but he was amazed when a giant aircraft was hovering beside the floating rock.
A grin formed on Pietro's lips in awe.
"This is S.H.I.E.L.D.?"Pietro assumed.
"This is what S.H.I.E.L.D.'s supposed to be."Steve responded.
Riley and Natasha shared a relieved glance.
Pietro smiled. "This is not so bad."
"Well, then."Steve sighed while securing his shield onto his back."Let's load them up."
For the first time all day, Riley was confident that they were gonna make it despite the odds.
The Stark heiress grinned, beginning toward the crowd of civilians while simultaneously readying herself for the fight that Ultron was about to put up.
"Let's go kick some robot ass, people!"Riley encouraged excitedly.
"Avengers, time to work for a living!"Tony ordered.
Riley arrived into the church at the same time as Tony and Pietro did, joining Thor and Vision in fighting off the lingering robots attempting to get to the core.
The lifeboats were filling up with citizens and with the extra hands that Director Fury had brought them, the rest of the Avengers could focus on taking Ultron down.
When Wanda and Clint arrived, Pietro rushed over to his sister, laying a hand on her arm while scanning her for any injuries.
"You good?"Pietro questioned.
Wanda nodded. "Yeah."
Clint rolled his eyes at Pietro while walking past the speedster with a bitter smile.
"Oh, yeah."Clint mumbled sarcastically."I'm good, too. Thanks for asking."
Splaying his thrusters out in a defensive manner, Tony groaned into his comm.
"Romanoff?"Tony spoke up."You and Rogers better not be-"
Riley moved her hands to cover her ears while giving Tony a disinterested look.
"Don't finish that sentence, dad."Riley complained.
"Relax, Shell-head. Not all of us can fly."Natasha declared as she jogged into the church with Steve following right behind her."What's the drill?"
"This is the drill."Tony stated, pointing a metal finger at the core."If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose."
Watching the Hulk destroy more robots outside, Riley's eyes narrowed thinly when she spotted Ultron approaching in the distance.
"Speaking of-"Riley started.
The rest of the team followed Riley's line of sight, getting into a defensive formation as Ultron crept closer.
"Is that the best you can do?!"Thor demanded.
Thor splayed both hands out in a silent challenge.
Halting in his steps, Ultron raised one hand and beckoned dozens of drones forward with two fingers.
His army of Iron Legion gathered around him, wiping the smile clean off of Thor's face.
Riley covered her face in disapproval while Steve gave Thor a small glare.
"Really, Uncle Thor?"Riley muttered.
"You had to ask."Steve scoffed.
"This is the best I can do."Ultron taunted."This is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me. How could you possibly hope to stop me?"
Tony stepped forward, glaring at the robot.
"Well, like the old man said...Together."Tony answered.
The army of Iron Legion charged forward, forcing the Avengers to circle around the core and fight them off.
Riley begun hurling continuous blasts of energy at one after another, not able to stop for even a moment to catch her breath.
The entire team worked in tandem, doing their best to keep the drones away from the core.
Debris of metal limbs flew across the church with each destruction of an Iron Legion, illuminated by the steady stream of light coming from Vision's stone overhead.
Vision pushed Ultron outside, joining forces with Tony and Thor to weaken his vibranium shell.
"You know."Ultron panted, barely able to hold himself up."With the benefit of hindsight-"
The Hulk then rushed forward and punched Ultron, sending him flying into the air and out of sight.
The robots started to retreat with the lack of support from their leader, flying into the air as an escape while the Hulk began to chase after them.
Thor's chest was heaving up and down with laboured breaths.
"They'll try to leave the city."Thor warned.
Tony shook his head.
"We can't let them!"Tony declared."Not even one! Rhodey!"
"I'm on it."Rhodey replied.
The War Machine suit flew overhead, firing shots at each Iron Legion.
Vision followed, intercepting Rhodey's path and shooting blasts from the stone in his head as he had previously done with Ultron.
A beat of silence passed before Rhodey's confusion set in.
"Uh, what?"Rhodey asked.
Riley smirked. "Better get used to it, Uncle Rhodey."
"We gotta move out."Steve instructed, pulling everyone's attention back to the issue at hand."Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats, I'll sweep for stragglers and be right behind you."
"What about the core?"Clint questioned.
"I'll protect it."Wanda volunteered, tilting her chin up confidently."It's my job."
The only one who seemed to have a problem with her willingness was Pietro, who had lingered behind to make sure his younger twin sister was up for the task.
"Get the people on the boats."Wanda ordered.
"I'm not going to leave you here."Pietro stated.
"I can handle this."Wanda assured.
Wanda used her powers to destroy an approaching robot.
"Come back for me when everyone else is off. Not before."Wanda instructed sternly."You understand?"
Pietro prepared to leave the ruined church, only to turn around to give Wanda a smug smile.
"You know, I'm 12 minutes older than you."Pietro reminded.
Wanda frowned. "Go."
Everyone else split from each other, taking on their respective role to rush the rest of the citizens onto the lifeboats and prepare for the destruction of the core.
Riley was running beside Natasha and Clint, on guard with her repulsors full of energy.
Clint had his bow drawn back, ready if a drone would dare intercept their path.
"I know what I need to do! The dining room!"Clint remarked."If I knock out that east wall, it'll make a nice workspace for Laura, huh? Put up some baffling, she can't hear the kids running around, what do you think?"
Shooting him a strange look, Natasha shook her head.
"You guys always eat in the kitchen anyway."Natasha informed.
"True."Riley giggled softly.
Riley, Clint and Natasha then reached to the lifeboats.
The ground beneath them began to shake, reminding them of their time crunch.
"We don't have a lot of time."Clint declared.
"So get your ass on a boat."Natasha insisted and then turned to Riley to point an accusing finger at the fourteen year old girl."You too. Don't do anything crazy."
Riley scoffed, offended at her other mentor's respond.
"When I ever did something like that, Aunt Nat?"Riley questioned.
Natasha then ran off to try and corral the Hulk.
Riley and Clint were about to board the lifeboats when a woman named Zrinka came into their sight, attempting to run back into the city while crying.
"Costel?!"Zrinka cried out."We were in the market! Costel!"
Clint whipped around, scanning the city for any stragglers left behind.
Riley blocked the woman from getting off the lifeboat, trying her best to comfort her.
"Okay, we'll find him."Riley assured."Is Costel your brother?"
"Yes, he is my younger brother."Zrinka answered as she pressed her hands together, begging Riley with a cry."Please, I can't leave him."
Riley gave Zrinka an reassuring smile.
"I know."Riley assured.
Riley flew off to get to Clint's location, only to sigh in relief when she spotted the archer off in the distance.
He pulled the young boy from a pile of debris and cradling him to his chest.
Clint had found Costel.
A sudden roaring engine pulled Riley's attention to the sky.
Her blood froze when her visor showed a hijacked Quinjet approaching in the distance, raining down bullets on anything in its path.
To her horror, the one piloting the jet was Ultron.
Knowing Clint and the young boy were going right in the line of fire, Riley immediately went in front of them and activated the big pink force shield that was connected in her suit's hands.
The young brunette shut her eyes as she held her hands up high.
She didn't have a chance to test out her force shield.
But what mattered to her was that Clint and Costel were saved.
Riley suddenly felt someone place their arms around her, just as her pink force shield activated while the sound of firing missiles were heard in the background.
Then in a couple of seconds, the sound of firing missiles stopped.
Riley slowly opened her eyes and turned to see neither Clint or the young boy were harmed from the missiles.
Not even herself.
She then blushed a bit when she noticed Pietro had his arms around her in a protective embrace.
Pietro smirked. "You didn't see that coming, right kid?"
Riley nodded shyly as Pietro stopped hugging her.
"Y-Yeah."Riley answered, not expecting the speedster ready to risk his own life to save her."What about you?"
Pietro lightly tapped Riley's shoulder while Clint slowly stood up with Costel safely in his arms.
"I would have been a goner if it hadn't been for you. The same with the old man here and the boy."Pietro complemented with a smile."You have my thanks, Riley Stark."
Riley smiled sheepishly, feeling flattered.
"You're welcome."Riley responded.
Riley, Pietro, Clint and Costel then made their way back to the lifeboats to join the others.
Clint gave the young boy back to his older sister as Steve went over to him.
"You guys okay?"Steve questioned.
"A little shaken, but still standing."Clint responded.
Riley watched Costel run to Zrinka, being swept up into her arms as soon as he reached her.
Taking a deep breath, Riley walked to the back of the aircraft, peering over the edge to watch the city fall.
The young brunette watched as the Hulk suddenly did a high jump away from the lifeboat and right into the hijacked Quinjet before tossing Ultron out from it.
A glimpse of confusion appeared on Riley's face while removing her visor to look at the view with her own eyes.
"What are you doing, Uncle Hulk?"Riley murmured.
As Thor and Tony prepared to destroy the floating city, Wanda made her way into a ruined bus as her hand glowed in her signature red colour.
The ground seemed to shift beneath her as she approached the dying chunk of metal on the ground.
"Wanda."Ultron muttered despite his red eyes flickering slightly."If you stay here, you'll die."
"I just did."Wanda scowled as she glared at the menacing machine that caused so much pain and destruction to her hometown."Do you know how it felt?"
Wanda twisted her hand slightly, making the glow brighten more as Ultron's metal form began to creak.
Ultron groaned before a metal core that looked almost like a heart was pulled into Wanda's outstretched hand.
"It felt like that."Wanda retorted.
Wanda's eyes began glowing their bright crimson.
Tony fired a blast towards the core underneath the floating city before speaking into the comms.
"Thor, on my mark."Tony instructed.
Thor raised his hammer toward the sky and almost immediately thunder and lightening was summoned, being harnessed by his hammer.
"Now!"Tony ordered.
Thor quickly slammed his hammer down on the vibranium core, destroying the city.
As the city began falling, exploding and crumbling into rubble and dust, Vision flew into the falling wreckage and scooped up Wanda into his arms.
Wanda and Vision gazed at each other before he flew out while carrying her in a bridal style.
As the chaos happened, the Hulk had managed to escape on the Quinjet.
The jet had been in Stealth mode which meant there was no way to find him.
Just then Betty contacted him through a screen as he soared through the sky.
"Hey, big guy."Betty greeted with a small hesitant smile."I heard what happened. It's not your fault. But if you really need help, I-"
Betty was unable to finish her sentence as the Hulk had turned off the camera, cutting off the communications.
After bringing Wanda to safety, Vision found the final Ultron in some woods and stared down at his beaten foe.
"You're scared."Vision commented.
"Of you?"Ultron asked almost sarcastically.
Vision gazed at Ultron stoically.
"Of death."Vision answered."You're the last one."
"You were supposed to be the last."Ultron stated."Stark asked for a saviour and settled for a slave."
Vision nodded his head slightly in acknowledgment.
"I suppose we're both disappointments."Vision informed.
Ultron let out a rough chuckle, clearly amused by Vision.
"I suppose we are."Ultron answered.
A small bout of silence passed between them before Vision spoke again.
"Humans are odd. They think order and chaos are somehow opposites and try to control what won't be."Vision complemented."But there is grace in their failings. I think you missed that."
"They're doomed."Ultron snarled.
"Yes."Vision agreed."But a thing isn't beautiful because it lasts. It's a privilege to be among them."
Ultron watched Vision with a look of disappointment.
"You're unbearably naive."Ultron retorted.
Vision nodded. "Well, I was born yesterday."
Ultron attempted to attack, but Vision used the stone embedded into his forehead to destroy the delusional misanthrope once and for all.