Through the armor's sensor display, Tony estimated the parameters of the drill—but the machine was so deep it seemed bottomless. The new AI, Friday, couldn't calculate any definitive data. Unlike JARVIS, Friday wasn't as formal or sarcastic. As a newly born artificial intelligence, much of her data had been inherited from JARVIS, which saved a lot of training time. "There's residual vibranium down there," she said. "Purpose unknown."
"This is your doomsday, Tony," said Ultron. "This is the peace of my era."
Seeing the approach of Ultron's Iron Legion, Stark made a decision—he would prioritize helping civilians evacuate instead of engaging Ultron in a direct fight. Ultron didn't stop him. It was content to watch the Avengers struggle under the weight of inevitable death. Suddenly, a burst of searing plasma pierced through a stone wall and struck the vibranium-made drill with pinpoint accuracy. The unexpected attack caught it off guard; had it not been for the energy-dampening effect of the vibranium, the machine might have been destroyed by the plasma's sun-like heat, bringing its plan to ruin. The near-miss infuriated it, and Ultron immediately launched a counterattack, ordering its Iron Legion to unleash a saturation assault on the building from which the attack originated, while it remained behind to confront Vision—a creation that both shocked and impressed it. But the moment Ultron realized Vision was not as it had designed, the mind granted by the Mind Stone flared with jealous rage.
"They really took everything from me!"
"You set the parameters," Vision said calmly. "You can change them."
"Fine."
After a brief bout of dizziness and ringing in his ears, the boy rolled over and pushed himself up from the rubble-strewn floor. The impact had been intense enough to knock out most people, but to the enhanced boy, though painful, it was still within his limits. He staggered out of the Iron Legion's attack range, blood streaming from his hand, yet he still held tightly to his plasma pistol. A shard of tile had cut open his forehead, and flying concrete had gashed his arm and shoulder. Layers of dark shadows flickered before his eyes, and a nauseating urge to vomit clawed at his throat—the explosion had sent debris flying at speeds faster than bullets. If he hadn't been wearing light composite body armor, he would have been shredded into pieces, or had his chest pierced by twisted rebar. He could feel the wound on his forehead clotting rapidly, the pain in his arm subsiding, and even the lingering effects of a concussion diminishing. His accelerated healing ability wasn't always a blessing—some fine fragments would still require surgical removal later.
"Zero of the Royal Guards," came Tita's voice through his bone conduction earpiece.
"Copy. Heading to the Crucifix Rose…" the boy knew exactly where he was going. This was a total disaster—a catastrophe born of human arrogance. He could even hear the screams of civilians. The Monarch had been right. If this wasn't resolved here in Sokovia, the problem would only escalate in the future until it wiped out humanity entirely. Development was a process of trial and error, but some mistakes came at a price too great for humanity to bear. Ensuring civilization's survival was the Monarch's bottom line. The boy didn't think the Monarch was unwilling to give humans time to experiment—he just believed time was precisely what humanity lacked the most.
The area was a wreck, like the aftermath of a crash. The vagrants he'd briefly interacted with were now dismembered corpses. The boy stopped, exhaled deeply, and rotated his aching shoulder before tearing off the bloodstained inner layer of his shirt stuck to the wound. In the corridor ahead, robots from the Iron Legion were scanning for targets. With his uninjured hand, he drew the longsword strapped to his back. He flipped the switch on the weapon; electric-blue arcs danced along the blade as the servos in his knees whirred softly.
"…Estimated time: three minutes."
"Where did these people come from? Never mind." Stark took one look at the girls in black power armor and instantly knew this was Solomon's doing. The arrival of Immortal City drastically reduced the Avengers' pressure—explosive rifles and chainswords could easily tear through the poorly armored Iron Legion units. To accommodate synchronization signals, flight capability, and various functions, each robot's weight had been meticulously calibrated, meaning they lacked real defensive capabilities. Against large-caliber explosive weapons and brutal chainswords, the otherwise refined Iron Legion suddenly seemed paper-thin and nearly useless.
"This is Commander Tita of Immortal City's Operations Division. As of now, this battlefield is under the command of Immortal City—in the name of the Monarch!" The android had tapped directly into the Avengers' internal comms. Despite the chaotic channels, she issued her orders in an uncompromising tone.
"Who are you?" Captain Rogers looked up at the three sky carriers ascending alongside Sokovia. He couldn't see the chainsword-wielding Sisterhood troops, so he couldn't determine their origin, but he recognized that these three carriers resembled the ones that had risen over Washington D.C. during Hydra's uprising, giving him a rough idea. Stark filled in the rest. The others perked up upon hearing this was Solomon's force. "Those are Solomon's sky carriers? When did he get here?" Steve Rogers raised his voice, full of relief. He smashed his shield downward, severing a robot's joint. "I knew he wouldn't miss this fight!"
"Hate to break it to you, but that's his android army." Stark shrugged. "Our magic boy isn't even here. You should've expected he'd do something like this when he finally showed up. Friday, what about Vision?"
"Boss, he did it. He's severed Ultron's connection to the internet."
"Excellent," said Tita. "Immortal City is purging all of Ultron's subroutines still on the internet. Our weaponized satellites are about to shoot down the communication satellites Ultron hijacked, completely paralyzing his information network."
"Hey! Miss! How did you hack into my private comms?" Stark protested—but Tita ignored him. The firepower of the three sky carriers was overwhelming. Any appearance of Ultron's army within range was instantly met with precision fire from the supercannons. After unloading their troops, the assault transports followed the Sisterhood toward the city center, while the special ops teams made up of mortals remained on the outskirts to support the Avengers in clearing the robots.
"Boss, the vibranium-made magnetic core is pulling the land beneath the city together," Friday reported. The AI warned Stark that if the city were to fall now, all civilians still in Sokovia would die.
"Okay, Miss, do you have a plan to bring the city down safely?"
"I do. But first, please explain why Ultron's army is using Immortal City plasma tech? The power levels are low, but I can tell."
"Well…"
"I don't think this is the time for that discussion, Miss Tita," Steve Rogers said through heavy breaths. The robots were proving tough; he had to fight with everything he had to strike their weak spots. "Our objective is to save lives, right?"
"No. The objective of our forces is to eliminate Ultron," Tita said with chilling resolve. "The Monarch already warned you. You must take responsibility for your mistakes."
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Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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