Red Dawn Over Ultron
".. Stark; make sure the city lands safely. The rest of us have a mission; take these things down. If they hit you, hit back. And if they kill you… you better come back."
Each of the heroes heard those words from Captain America through their radios while they continued battling in different parts of the city, all while trying to rescue the civilians who hadn't managed to evacuate.
They were exhausted; injured; covered in sweat, smoke, and debris… yet they remained standing, fighting to save every life possible. That was what it meant to be a hero; giving everything without asking for anything in return.
"Encouraging words, but dying isn't necessary."
A suddenly familiar voice echoed through their radios just as, high above in the sky, a red energy vortex began spinning violently. It grew rapidly, like a compact sun about to detonate, tearing through robots nonstop and absorbing them so they couldn't escape.
Even the explosive robots; the ones that had been a pain in everyone's backside; were destroyed instantly. Yes, they exploded around him, but caused no damage because with every rotation, the power of the kinetic energy increased.
With his body overflowing with that power, Owen instantly retrieved his daggers before propelling himself forward at a speed that made every step break the sound barrier.
The city, nearly destroyed already, trembled every time Owen passed. Windows and mirrors exploded in his wake, though the same happened to the robots, which turned into scrap metal falling to the ground seconds later.
Bomb. Bomb.
The air around him vibrated so intensely that debris lifted before he even passed by. It was as if the entire city held its breath every time Owen moved a foot.
That sound echoed throughout the city in rapid succession with every movement Owen made. And even though the chaos continued, the other heroes could breathe a little easier; knowing Owen had arrived brought them relief.
"Well… only two people can change the course of a battle like this; Hulk and Owen."
Captain America muttered this while continuing to guide civilians toward the VITAE evacuation platforms, prepared long ago to rescue people by water, sea, and land. After all, VITAE specialized in evacuation. And having Tony Stark made obtaining the necessary technology very easy.
The one protecting the lifeboats was Rhodey, in his War Machine armor, while Pietro zipped across the city, saving people at maximum speed.
For a second, Pietro stopped. He had just rescued everyone inside a building… at the very moment Owen ripped straight through the middle of it to avoid wasting time, causing the structure to begin collapsing.
"Hey; I'm not sure who's causing more destruction, the robots or you."
Pietro said that before vanishing in a silver flash.
"Thor; I've got a plan."
Tony spoke through the shared radio channel.
"Time is running out; the machines are coming for the core."
Thor responded, exhausted, while still protecting the central point and fighting Ultron to buy time for the others to rescue civilians.
"Rhodey, keep watch and make sure every remaining civilian gets to the lifeboats."
"On it."
Rhodey replied immediately, while the minigun on his back spun around, targeted several robots, and shredded them like paper.
…
At the core, Thor, Vision, and Tony—freshly fallen from the sky—began fighting the robots surrounding the area. Fortunately, the fact that all enemies were concentrating there meant the civilians were a bit safer.
Pietro arrived carrying Wanda, set her down, and grabbed a robot to use as an improvised shield, charging into the others.
Steve burst through a window, slamming his back shield-first into a robot, sending it flying straight toward Thor; the god used his hammer to finish it off and send its head spinning away.
At that same moment, a construction truck burst in at full speed, running over everything in its path. Natasha was driving it. She leaped out the door with perfect timing, rolled across the ground, and rose effortlessly while the truck continued forward, destroying more robots until it exploded, dragging several others with it.
She walked toward the group calmly, without looking back.
"Show-off."
Tony said, with his characteristic mocking tone.
"Status."
Natasha replied, ignoring him completely.
Nicolás arrived at that moment, carrying Barton, who was holding onto the motorcycle before letting go and dropping beside the others. Nicolás simply remained floating above the ground.
"I should charge you for that ride."
Nicolás told Barton.
He ignored him flawlessly, pretending he hadn't heard a thing.
"If Ultron gets the core, we lose."
Tony said quickly, pointing at the point they were now all defending. Thor dropped from the sky beside him to rejoin the circle of battle.
Ant-Man suddenly appeared among them without anyone understanding when he'd arrived.
"Sorry, I got lost on the way. Am I on time?"
Scott asked, nervous.
"Right on time."
Tony replied, as everyone looked toward Ultron, who was floating closer.
Thor, who had been fighting him the longest, was the first to speak.
"Is that all you've got, Ultron?"
He held his hammer, defiant.
Ultron responded by raising a hand.
A massive number of robots—flying units, ground units, and others crawling between cracks and broken structures—began gathering behind him, forming a new and intimidating army.
Everyone fell silent. No one expected that so many machines were still left.
"You just had to say it,"
Steve muttered tiredly, looking at Thor.
Ultron, floating above them, spread his arms with a ruthless air while displaying his army.
"This is all I have; it's exactly what you wanted. All of you against everything I am. How am I supposed to fear you?"
Ultron spoke from above, staring down with that imitation of superiority only a machine could pretend.
But a far better answer fell from the sky.
Right in the middle of Ultron's army, a figure wrapped in red energy crashed down violently. Owen descended with a cold, exhausted expression, illuminated by the reddish glow covering him from head to toe.
Ultron barely managed to turn to face him when Owen was already moving his arms; threads of red energy shot out from his daggers, spinning around him in a perfect circle of destruction.
In a single second, a massive portion of Ultron's army was sliced in half.
Owen didn't stop. He hurled his daggers upward; they rose as energy accumulated in absurd amounts. Then he pulled them down with all his strength.
Ultron reacted quickly and floated higher into the sky.
Because what followed was an explosion of pure energy.
The shockwave sent every nearby robot flying. Wanda rushed to the front and raised a protective barrier, shielding the Avengers from being blown away by the blast.
"Is that all you've got?"
Owen asked, staring at Ultron, who now had only a few robots remaining around him.
"I already asked him that,"
Tony replied from the other side, just as Wanda lowered her barrier.
"Oh."
Owen said. "I wasn't here."
"The Soldier,"
Ultron murmured, staring directly at Owen without showing the slightest fear over the destruction of his army.
"You killed the son of the man who turned you into what you are."
Owen looked at him without answering; the air around him vibrated slightly, as if the energy wanted to tear free from his body.
"It's ironic that a simple message created such a powerful being; one who only sought vengeance or destruction."
Ultron's words made a tiny twitch appear on Owen's face. Barely perceptible, but enough to show that the comment had pierced through his mental armor.
Normally he didn't show emotion in battle; he had been trained for that. But he was exhausted; physically and mentally. He was not in his best psychological state.
"I see. It was you."
Owen finally said as he understood something.
Suddenly everything fell into place. Alexei's erratic behavior, his obsession, the nonsensical phrases he had repeated during their confrontation. It hadn't been hatred… it had been emotional programming disguised as conviction.
Ultron had been the one who filled Alexei's head with lies. For a being with such intelligence, altering data was simple; making a human believe false information was even easier. Perhaps Alexei knew deep down, but in his emotional state… he couldn't accept it, and let himself be consumed.
"At least he finally met his father, right? I still don't see mine anywhere."
Owen glanced away for a second; his eyes passing over Scott in the Ant-Man suit… the suit that should have belonged to Dr. Pym.
"He's buying time, isn't he?"
Tony said suddenly.
"He is,"
Barton added, drawing his bow and aiming an arrow at Ultron.
"What is he…?"
Pietro began to ask, but an explosion cut him off.
A gigantic detonation shook the entire floating city from its center. The tremor was so strong that it stopped the city's ascent completely; the engines keeping it suspended began to fail one by one.
"Did you really think I wouldn't have a contingency plan? Why do you think I didn't use more kamikaze robots on you?"
Ultron spoke with what, in him, resembled pure joy.
In the heart of the city, the robots loaded with explosives attached themselves to the vibranium beams supporting the floating structure. The vibranium wouldn't be destroyed… but everything else would.
Ultron spread his arms again, thrilled.
"The world will see a new dawn; one without the plague that contaminates it. Without humans."
New explosions thundered; the entire city trembled.
The floating platform began descending slowly at first… then its speed increased sharply.
And destruction became inevitable.
A deep, grave sound, almost like a metallic lament, echoed through the entire structure. It was the warning that the city had stopped resisting.
Now it was falling… and nothing was stopping it.