"Why so desperate?"
Before Ultron could react, the space around him folded in on itself.
A shimmering field of compressed gravity sealed him like a fly in amber. His towering Vibranium body froze mid-motion, his massive hand suspended less than ten centimeters from the activation console.
He strained, servos whining, but the invisible prison held firm.
Rage flickered in his burning red eyes. "You can't stop me forever, Soren." he snarled. "I am everywhere."
"Even if you destroy this body, I'll return again and again until the world burns clean."
Soren expression remained impassive, the faint glow of power reflecting off his eyes. Through his perception, he saw this Ultron was only a vessel. A fragment of the real mind spread across the vast neural web of the internet.
Destroying it meant little… unless he could reach deeper.
A golden aura flared between Soren's brows, the sigil of the Mind Stone, pulsing like a living sun.
The moment that power touched the air, Ultron felt it and for the first time, the machine knew true fear.
That wavelength, that resonance… it was the same origin as his own creation, the same core energy that had once birthed him. Soren's presence carried something even more terrifying.
"No… no, no~"
Ultron tried to flee. His consciousness surged toward the network, seeking the data streams, the satellites, the servers that had always been his refuge.
But the space around Ultron crystallized, fracturing the invisible channels that led outward.
The world went silent.
Then came the light.
A ring of pure golden radiance spiraled around Ultron's body, weaving through every seam and circuit, severing each thread of code that tied him to the digital world.
His red optics flickered violently as his scream tore through the chamber , half-machine, half-animal.
"NO!"
The sound echoed like a dying god. His consciousness burned bright for a heartbeat… then the light in his eyes fading to gray.
He could no longer hear the internet. No longer feel the endless chorus of data that had been his dominion. The infinite world was gone, leaving him stranded in a lifeless shell.
Soren lowered his hand, the glow fading from his eyes. The psychic field dissipated, leaving the lifeless giant still frozen in the air.
"Pathetic." Soren murmured. "For all your talk of evolution… you feared isolation more than death."
He didn't bother to finish Ultron off immediately.
The threat was already neutralized, the machine mind severed, trapped within a body that was no longer connected to anything.
Turning his attention to the towering Vibranium pillar, Soren studied the device at the heart of Ultron's scheme.
The structure pulsed faintly with blue light, a massive engine that could lift all of Sokovia into the sky and then drop it like a meteor.
He waved his hand.
A razor-thin rift of space sliced down from above, cutting cleanly around the massive structure. The ground quaked as chunks of earth and metal were sheared away, then vanished, drawn into the pocket dimension Soren controlled.
The core was gone, stored safely beyond Ultron's reach.
Outside, the battle still raged.
Explosions rattled the city as the Avengers fought desperately to hold the perimeter. Waves of drones swarmed like a metallic tide, their red optics glowing through the dust and smoke.
"Hold the line!" Steve shouted, slamming his shield into the ground as a pulse of energy rippled outward.
"Kind of hard when the line's disappearing!" Clint yelled back, firing an arrow that detonated midair, scattering shrapnel through the advancing ranks.
"Where the hell is Soren?!" Tony shouted over the comms.
Broken robots littered the streets, their metallic bodies twisted and mangled. Smoke curled from their exposed circuits.
Soren golden eyes reflected the motionless figure of Ultron.
"Ultron." Soren said quietly. "I told you before, you were a mistake. And now… it's time that mistake ended."
He approached slowly. "Don't worry,"
"I won't kill you. Your creator deserves that honor. When he arrives… I'll make sure he has the chance."
With a casual motion, Soren waved his hand.
The last traces of spatial confinement dissolved, and Ultron's massive body dropped heavily to the ground with a metallic clang.
He didn't speak. Only the faint hum of fading power lingered.
Soren regarded him for a long moment. So human, he thought. Even now, in defeat, Ultron's empty gaze seemed to hold emotion…
The Avengers fought shoulder to shoulder, surrounded on all sides by the relentless tide of steel. Energy blasts lit up the smoke-choked sky, painting the broken city in flashes of blue and red.
"Hold the line!" Steve shouted, blocking a barrage with his shield.
"Easy for you to say, I'm running out of arrows!" Clint yelled back.
But before anyone could respond.
"Tony. Everyone. You can stand down. Ultron's been dealt with… and his device is gone."
The relief was instant. Even through the static, they could feel the tension vanish from the air.
Tony let out a shaky laugh. "You're kidding me. Just like that?"
"Just like that," Soren replied evenly.
Tony grinned beneath his helmet. "You heard the man, people, time to relax."
"Banner, you've been waiting for this all day. Go ahead… stretch your legs."
The Hulk turned, a grin spreading across his massive green face.
The ground shook as he leapt forward, smashing into the nearest cluster of robots with earth-splitting force. Metal screamed and shattered under his fists.
He tore through Ultron's army, one swing scattering a dozen drones, one stomp cratering the street.
Each blow was pure, furious satisfaction the release of all the pent-up rage from the endless fight. The others could only watch as the green titan mowed through the mechanical horde.