A stone wall exploded into fragments as Thor struggled to rise from the rubble. Dust covered his body, leaving him looking battered—more helpless than he had ever been, even during the Battle of New York.
Ultron used the traction device in his arm to wrench a stone pillar free and slam it into Thor, knocking him down just as he regained his footing. Then came a relentless barrage of punches to Thor's face.
Caught off guard, Thor had no strength to counter. Even Mjolnir slipped from his grasp, clattering to the ground as he endured the assault.
High above, Tony Stark flew while scanning Sokovia's foundation with Friday's systems. Even understanding the mechanism, he still couldn't stop the city from rising.
Frustration crept into his voice. "It's vibranium—if I had Thor strike it…"
Friday immediately cut him off. "That will not solve the problem."
Tony exhaled sharply, forced to keep fighting while searching for another solution.
"The next wave could hit any second. What've you got, Stark?" Steve's voice came through as he evacuated civilians. Smoke blanketed half the city, thick with the weight of despair.
"We have a last-resort option, Cap," Tony said after a pause. "We might have to blow the whole city."
"I need a solution, not an escape plan."
Steve's refusal was immediate and firm.
"We have to make a choice," Tony insisted.
…
Silence answered him.
"Cap," Natasha said quietly, "some people can't get off this rock. If Stark blows it… do we save the people up here or the ones down there?"
"As long as there are people up here, I'm not leaving."
"I didn't say we should," Natasha replied. She glanced toward the vast sea of clouds beyond the city's edge. It was breathtaking—eerily beautiful.
"Maybe this isn't the worst way to go," she murmured. "Where else would you see something like this?"
For a moment, she seemed lost in it.
"I'm glad you think so, Natasha."
An unfamiliar voice cut into their comms.
Then, from beneath the cloud layer, a massive helicarrier emerged—rising like a leviathan breaching the ocean, its enormous form turning gracefully in the sky.
The Avengers and the stranded civilians stared in stunned disbelief.
"Not bad," came the voice again. "A few old friends and I pulled her out of storage. She's old, but she'll do."
Nick Fury.
A grin spread across Steve's face. "Fury, you son of a bitch."
"Oh? You swear now?" Fury shot back lightly.
As they spoke, the helicarrier deployed multiple lifeboats.
Pietro stared, stunned. "Is that… S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"Everyone, move!" Steve called, directing civilians toward the evacuation ships.
Ultron drones immediately swarmed toward the lifeboats, attempting to destroy them mid-air.
"Boom!"
Machine-gun fire tore through the robots, shredding them apart.
By the time anyone reacted, Rhodey was already in the sky in the War Machine armor, blasting through enemies. The Gatling gun on his shoulder spun wildly, unleashing a storm of bullets.
"This story's gonna sound amazing!" Rhodey laughed.
"If you survive to tell it," Tony replied dryly, firing a micro-missile to take out a flanking drone.
Renzo reentered the battlefield at that moment. He slammed into a cluster of Ultron drones, shattering them instantly. Phasing through others, he drove his hands into their cores and destroyed them from within.
"What the hell is that?" Rhodey muttered, eyeing Renzo's inhuman form—especially the glowing gem on his forehead.
Renzo ignored him, dismantling drones one after another while searching for Ultron's signal.
Soon, he felt it—an unmistakable electromagnetic signature.
"The church…"
His gaze sharpened, and he shot forward at full speed.
—
Elsewhere, Thor was being driven back. Ultron seized him by the throat, its emotionless voice echoing.
"Do you really think you can save them? Even now, I can activate the core and crush them all. You cannot stop me."
The towering machine raised its steel fist, preparing to strike.
"I am Thor, son of Odin," Thor rasped, barely breathing. "As long as I still draw breath—cough—well… I've said enough. Are you ready?"
Suddenly, Thor tilted his head and looked past Ultron, breaking into a foolish grin.
"Hm?"
Ultron turned instinctively—
—and was struck violently in the head.
His body flew backward.
Renzo stood behind him, Mjolnir in hand. He weighed it casually, then passed it back to Thor.
"I thought you could take a few more hits," Renzo said innocently.
Thor simply smiled.
Tony's voice cut in again. "Avengers, this is it."
One by one, the team converged on the ruined church, surrounding the core device.
Ultron descended slowly.
Thor smashed a nearby drone and shouted defiantly, "Is that all you've got?"
Ultron raised a hand.
In an instant, countless robots flooded into view—an overwhelming tide of metal that filled the horizon, endless and suffocating.
"You really shouldn't provoke him," Steve muttered, already bracing himself.
Renzo stood behind them, offering a helpless smile. There was no avoiding this moment.
"This is everything," Ultron declared, hovering above them. "All of me against all of you."
"You should be grateful—grateful to me—"
A yellow beam cut him off mid-sentence, blasting him out of the sky and into the swarm below.
Silence fell.
The Avengers slowly turned to look at Renzo.
"Too much talking," he said, lowering his hand. "Not my fault. Blame the gem."
Then—
"Avengers… Assemble!"
At Steve's command, every Avenger readied themselves.
Surrounded on all sides, with no certainty of survival, they formed a tight defensive circle around the core device—
—and charged into the storm.
__________________________________________
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