Franklin POV
After we finished the plan to deal with Ultron, I got straight to work. No breaks, no distractions. If we were going to destroy an Infinity Stone, I wanted the device ready.
I transformed into Uprigg and started making the Infinity Stone Destroyer using whatever scrap I could find around the base. As I worked, I upgraded the Scribe alongside it, rewiring, reinforcing, optimizing. If this thing failed, half the planet could go with it, and I really didn't feel like being responsible for that.
"So let me get this straight," Pym Jr said, watching me work. "You've got a watch that lets you turn into, like… a dozen aliens from another universe that's completely dead now, and the guy who built it was, what, five galaxies smart?"
"Yeah," I said without looking up. "That about covers it. I can also fuse two aliens and make hybrids."
He just stared at me. "That is insanely cool. Hey, can I take a look at it? I wanna see how it works."
"Sorry, kid," I said. "That's gonna be a no."
"Oh, come on, why not?" he whined.
I stopped building and finally looked at him.
"Look, I'm not calling you dumb or anything," I said carefully. "But the guy who built this? He's so far beyond your level it's not even funny. I know you're a scientist. I know you would want to study it and poke at it until it makes sense."
I gestured vaguely at the Omnitrix symbol.
"But I'd really rather not have you, or Tony, messing with it. Mostly because I'm about ninety percent sure you'd accidentally blow something up… and I don't feel like taking half the Earth with us."
"Wait," Pym Jr. said, eyes widening, "it has a self-destruct function?"
"Not this one," I replied without looking up. "The old model, sure. But this Omnitrix?" I tapped the casing lightly. "It's got enough stored energy to wipe out at least half the galaxy."
There was a brief pause.
"If I did have a self-destruct function," the Omnitrix chimed in calmly, "I could take at least two galaxies with me."
Pym Jr. froze. "…It can talk too?"
"Yes," I said, continuing my work like this was completely normal. "It's got a highly advanced AI built into it."
I went right back to assembling the device, while Pym Jr. just stared at the Omnitrix like it might start judging him next.
Tony Stark POV
I was in the workshop with my older counterpart, sparks flying as we worked side by side, building a suit meant for the battle ahead.
"So," old Tony said without looking up from the armor plating, "you're telling me your world has more superheroes?"
"Yeah," I replied, tightening a bolt. "A couple of big teams. The Fantastic Four… and the Justice League."
He paused, finally glancing over at me. "I remember the Fantastic Four. Never heard of the Justice League."
"They're basically a lineup of heavy hitters," I said. "The originals, the ones who started it, are Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, and Martian Manhunter. But there is a lot more like Shazam, Hawkgirl, HawkMan Captain Atom, Red Tornado, Aquaman Mr terrific another Green Lantern, Black Canary, and Green Arrow, and plenty of other Heroes."
Old Tony whistled softly. "That's… a lot."
"Oh, trust me," I added. "The Avengers have just as many members. It's just that half of them are scattered around the world, or off-planet."
He smirked. "Figures. Heroes never stay in one place."
Neither of us stopped working.
"That must be something," he said quietly. "Seeing all those heroes in one world."
"Yeah," I said, exhaling. "All those heroes… and the world's still constantly in danger. We get invaded at least three times a year. Sometimes more. And the villains, don't even get me started."
I shook my head, adjusting a component on the suit.
"Especially after Hank and I built Ultron. He tried to wipe out the planet. We couldn't stop his machine in time, so we couldn't overwrite his virus, the one that turned people into cyborgs. So we replace it with the Terrigen Crystals. Created a ton of Inhumans. A lot of them went bad. The Avengers have been busy ever since."
He went still.
"…Remarkable," old Tony said softly. "Ultron destroyed the Inhumans here. After he killed the Avengers, I was never sure what happened to Black Bolt and his family. They were good friends of mine."
"They're alive," I said. "And we'll see them again, after we deal with this Ultron."
He looked at me, surprised.
"What?" I said, finally meeting his eyes. "You think after we beat him, we're just going to leave you all here?"
I straightened up.
"If what you're telling me is true, then there's literally nothing left in this universe. No future. No rebuilding. The only logical option is this: all of you come with us."
He didn't answer right away.
"That would be nice," he finally said. "I'd like the kids to have a normal childhood. And, this might be a long shot, but maybe even bond with their counterparts. Their parents."
I nodded slowly.
"Steve always wanted to be a father," I said. "He just never really had time to date. Hero work does that. Natasha… I don't know. She's always been married to the mission. Clint already has kids in our world; he'll be great with Francis. T'Challa…" I shrugged. "Not sure how he'll react, but I think Storm would be okay with it. Might even take Azari in."
I paused, then smirked faintly.
"Thor? He'd be thrilled to be a dad. Might take the girl straight to Asgard. Hank and Janet…" I hesitated. "That's complicated. I know Janet would love being a mom. Hank, he's been off lately. Probably guilt from Ultron. But I think he'd love little Hank. He just needs time."
"That's good to hear," old Tony said quietly. "Knowing that… I'd be happy, even if I don't make it out of this battle."
I stopped working.
Slowly, I turned and looked at him.
"You might be older than me," I said, "but I think you've got a lot more years left."
He met my gaze, dead serious.
"You know me, Tony. I made a promise to my Avengers, my friends, to protect those kids. And I will. At any cost. Even my life."
His voice didn't waver.
"It's my fault they never got to grow up with their parents. My fault this universe died. And if they have even a chance at being normal kids…"
He clenched his fist.
"I'll be damned if I let the last good thing in this universe die too."
I looked at him, genuinely surprised. He was so serious. So protective. Like those kids were his own.
I couldn't help but wonder, and hope, that I'd be like that one day, when my own kid is born.
"Tony," I said, voice firm, "you have my word. Everyone is making it out of here. All of you are coming with us. We're going to beat Ultron, and yeah, things won't go back to normal, but I'm sure you'll all adjust to our world."
He didn't say anything. He just nodded.
That was enough.
Franklin POV
A couple of hours later
I was in my regular form. The device was finished.
Everyone stood around it, staring, including the head of Vision. And just to be clear, this wasn't the original Vision. It was a copy. A backup of Vision's mind from before Ultron took control. Even then, I was surprised when I learn about that.
"Okay," I said, breaking the silence. "Now we just need a way to bring Ultron here. We can't just sit around and wait for him to decide to show up."
"We actually know how to do that," James said, immediately grabbing everyone's attention.
"Ultron left plenty of his drones behind," he continued. "And he's still partially connected to them. Every drone sends him combat data and memories. The thing is, since he's in deep space, that signal takes time to reach him."
I nodded slowly.
"Usually, we wipe them out before they can finish broadcasting," James said. "But if we don't, if we keep fighting them and let the signal go through—"
"Ultron comes to us," I finished.
Francis stepped forward. "So the plan is simple. We fight the drones for as long as it takes for the signal to reach Ultron. When he shows up and attacks us, these Avengers stay hidden. At the right moment, they take one of the Infinity Stones."
He looked around the room.
"Then the rest of us join the fight. Omni uses the device to shut down the machine powering Ultron, and after that, we destroy the Infinity Stones."
There was a short pause.
"Yes," Steve said carefully, "but we don't actually know how long that signal takes to reach Ultron. We don't know how far out in space he is. And I don't think it's a good idea for you to fight an endless wave of robots for that long."
He looked straight at them.
"You'll run out of stamina long before Ultron shows up."
The room went quiet.
Everyone was thinking the same thing.
"Thirty minutes," Vision spoke up.
Steve frowned. "What?"
"That is how long they need to fight," Vision explained. "Once enough combat data is transmitted, the signal will reach Ultron, and with the infinity stone powering him, the signal will reach him at extremely high speed."
"And once he gets it," I added, "he can teleport here instantly using the Stones."
Pym Jr. cracked a grin. "Thirty minutes? That's child's play. We can fight those bucketheads for at least two hours."
"I wouldn't call it easy," Francis said, nodding, "but it's definitely manageable."
"Good," I said. "Because I also made some of you new gear."
I walked over to another table covered in equipment. "If I'd had better materials, I could've made something even crazier, but this'll do."
I started pointing things out one by one.
"Hank Junior, these are upgraded stingers. Stronger output. One shot can blast straight through those clinkers."
I turned to James.
"This gauntlet's yours. It can generate hard-light holograms of Captain America's shield. I'm not saying it's as tough as vibranium, but it's close. You can fire multiple shields at once, resize them, or throw them like the real thing."
Then Francis.
"For you, I made… a lot of arrows. Like, close to a hundred."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Not all of them are trick arrows," I continued. "Most are standard, but sharp enough to pierce robot plating. Aim for the right components, and you can take them down in one shot."
I slid a pair of goggles toward him.
"These'll help you track targets better. Night vision, heat vision, X-ray, zoom in and out, the works."
Finally, I gestured toward Vision.
"And before anyone says anything, yeah, the new body's a little clunky. Not my best-looking work, I'll admit. I had to use parts from broken Ultron bots lying around."
I shrugged.
"But it functions. That's what matters."
I looked around the room.
"As for the rest of you? Honestly, you don't really need upgrades. You're already strong enough on your own."
"I thought you were busy building the infinity Destroyer. When do you have time to build all of this?" Nat asks.
"Oh, I finished that about forty minutes ago," I said casually. "After that, I figured I'd spend some time making gear for the younger Avengers. They're about to fight a robot god. Felt wrong not giving them an edge."
Nat blinked."…Fair point."
"So," she said after a moment, "when are we doing this?"
"Today," Torunn said firmly. "We're prepared. There's no point in dragging this out any longer."
"We should attack one of the major cities that Ultron's drones patrol," Vision added. He was already fully attached to his new body, with old Tony making a few last adjustments. "New York is the closest and the most efficient option."
I took a breath, then nodded.
"Alright," I said. "Let's go kill a robot god."
I paused.
"…Wow. I really never expected to say that out loud. Man, being a superhero really makes you say some weird things."
A few of them smirked.
Then we moved.
Peter Parker POV
Hector and Ted were already suiting up by the time we finished explaining the situation. No hesitation. No panic. Just straight into battle mode.
After talking it through, we all agreed on one thing: we'd capture Flash. His symbiote was way too unstable. Easily provoked. Paired with Flash's temper? That was a disaster waiting to happen, especially for regular people.
Mr. Dugan was here too. He showed up to help us, and his robot was already on-site. Franklin thought it'd be a good idea to bring it here so he could upgrade it without anyone noticing.
Mike helped him work on it, mostly so he could understand how it functioned… and probably so he could copy it one day.
"You guys are about to go fight an alien," Mike said, eyes practically glowing. "That is so freaking cool."
"I guess," Ted said as he adjusted part of his suit. "Kind of gets boring after a few years, though. Still, this'll be my first time fighting a symbiote. That's what you call it, right?"
"Yeah," I said. "One of the names they prefer, anyway."
Pat glanced at Ted. "You sure you're up for this? I'm not saying you're old, but—"
"Then don't finish that sentence," Ted cut in. "I can handle this just fine. Between the upgraded suit and the super soldier serum, I feel like I'm in my twenties again."
He flexed slightly.
"I could probably lift a tank right now."
Mike's eyes lit up instantly. "Can I get a shot of that? I wanna lift a tank."
"No," Pat said flatly.
"Come on," Mike said, throwing his hands up. "Courtney already got the super soldier serum. Let me get it too."
Hector frowned. "Speaking of Courtney… why isn't she here? She and Cindy could be really useful in this fight."
"Oh, Courtney and Cindy B are taking a break from the team," I said. "Don't ask me why, because I honestly have no clue."
And that was the truth. I really didn't know why they were stepping back. But judging by how Yolanda and Ava were acting, I had a feeling the girls knew more than the rest of us.
"If you kids seriously want to be a hero team," Ted said, voice calm but firm, "you can't let things like this get in the way, especially if it's something petty."
"I don't know if it's petty or serious," I said. "Because I genuinely don't know what's going on. You should ask Yolanda and Ava; they probably know more."
Ted nodded once. "We'll deal with it after the mission. For now, let's move. Time to regroup with the others."
We all headed to Overwatch to check if Flash had moved from his house.
Ned and Betty had been running scans and watching data for a couple of hours while we prepped. We already knew the symbiote's weaknesses, so on paper, this should've been simple.
The rest of the group was already there.
"Anything?" Hector asked. "Did he move?"
"No," Betty said, shaking her head. "Not at all. As soon as Peter jumped through the portal and came back to base, Flash and the symbiote went right back home as if nothing happened. He's been in his house all day."
"…Okay, that's good," Ted said. "From the readings I'm getting, Flash's house is far away from populated areas. Abandoned neighborhood. If things go bad, we don't have to worry about civilians."
He looked around. "Everyone ready?"
"Yeah," Cindy said. "Peter and I each have three soundwave grenades. Betty also made a collar that can suppress the symbiote into Flash's body, so it won't be able to cover him at all."
She paused.
"But we have to put it on while the symbiote isn't covering him."
I blinked. "When did you build that?"
"About an hour ago," she said casually.
"…Damn," MJ2 muttered.
"I've also got a soundwave cannon attached to S.T.R.I.P.E.," Pat said.
"Okay, good," Hector said, looking around at all of us. "Now, I know most of you don't like this kid."
"Understatement of the century," MJ2 muttered.
"But he's still a civilian," Hector continued firmly. "A civilian who happened to get chosen by an alien symbiote. I know Crystal said they're usually peaceful, but we're not taking chances, especially after it attacked Peter."
He met everyone's eyes.
"So don't hit him harder than you have to. Take him down as quickly and cleanly as possible."
"Yes, sir," Cindy and I said together.