Tokyo Time, December 25th, Midnight.
Tokyo was considered one of the key targets Ultron might strike. The person Captain America deployed here was Logan, for no other reason than his familiarity with Japan.
Alongside him were local Japanese superheroes, many of whom were mutants. A mutant named Sunfire approached Logan to confirm the news. "Mr. Logan, is the Avengers' intel accurate? Are we really under attack?"
Logan originally intended to snap back at him, but his senses were far sharper. He noticed that apart from the street where they stood, every light across all of Tokyo was rapidly vanishing—as if some power had seized control of everyone's minds, compelling them to turn off their lights.
Sunfire was startled, looking around in shock. "What's happening?"
Logan merely stared up at the sky. A pinpoint of light was visible above—likely a passenger jet. Then a second appeared, followed by a third...
He suddenly realized what Ultron was planning.
"Looking down from above, doesn't our spot stick out like a sore thumb? Just like a bullseye."
The instant the words left Logan's mouth, a multitude of passenger airliners plunged directly toward Tokyo.
Simultaneously, aboard the S.W.O.R.D. Helicarrier...
Because Hank Pym was still tinkering with his new Ultron, very few people were present. The only ones assigned to guard the facility were Mar-Vell himself, Wasp, a handful of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, along with Taskmaster and Elsa Bloodstone, who had been hired by S.H.I.E.L.D.
Yet right now, even before Ultron had completed his iteration, a horde of robots styled after ancient Egypt had already materialized inside S.W.O.R.D.—robots that Kang had originally built for himself.
"Hasn't Ultron completed his iteration yet? Why did he launch an attack out of nowhere?"
Elsa Bloodstone fired a round right into the head of a guardian robot, but it had no effect whatsoever. These were robot guards Kang had crafted for his own protection, equipped with powerful self-repair mechanisms. But the S.W.O.R.D. crew had checked the carrier inside and out—where had these robots come from?
Where on earth were they spawning from?
Wasp unleashed bio-electric stings on the machines while asking helplessly, "Can someone give us a hand? We're no match for these things!"
As everyone fought off the machines, Mar-Vell suited up in his Kree combat armor. Blasting a guardian robot to pieces with his Kree firearm, he established contact with the others. "The situation just got far worse. S.W.O.R.D.'s onboard system designed to shut down the global network is already locked onto Earth. If Ultron triggers a global network blackout while hiding aboard S.W.O.R.D. before even finishing his iteration—"
However, this was precisely the Avengers' plan.
Swooping in at high speed with Mjolnir raised, Thor slammed his hammer against the outer hull of the S.W.O.R.D. Helicarrier. He controlled his power with exquisite precision—ensuring no structural damage was dealt to S.W.O.R.D. while sending a massive electrical surge through the entire ship, severing its network connections. Immediately after, Thor lifted the entire S.W.O.R.D. Helicarrier and flew toward the nearby Moon.
"If Ultron really hid his main program inside the S.W.O.R.D. carrier, this blow will leave him dead or crippled," Mar-Vell said, rebooting the system to check the carrier's computers. But in that instant, he fell dead silent. Outside the ship's viewport, Thor gestured to ask what was wrong, but Mar-Vell stood mouth agape, completely at a loss for words.
Things had not gone according to the Avengers' ideal scenario. Ultron's primary program was not mainly running on the S.W.O.R.D. Helicarrier, which meant his attack on Earth's network was merely a ploy to draw Thor over to this side. Recognizing this, Mar-Vell's face paled instantly. He whipped out a Norn Stone provided by the Avengers. "Everyone, evacuate immediately—"
In the Avengers' original theory, Ultron would attempt to warp them all into an unknown timeline to isolate them. But once again, they had miscalculated. After completing his analysis of Kang's ship, Ultron chose not to warp everyone to another point in time to reduce resistance.
As a portal tore open, a familiar adversary emerged. However, his purple armor had turned silver, and half of his face now mirrored Ultron's.
No—half of his face was Ultron.
"I am... I am!" He wailed in agonizing pain before letting out a desperate, roaring struggle.
"Kang-Ultron!"
Eastern Standard Time, December 24th, 10:00 AM.
Spider-Man, Peter Parker, stood atop the Empire State Building in New York, gazing toward the far east. Though Manhattan wasn't right along the coastline, standing at this height still offered a view of the distant shore. As Peter looked eastward, the ten o'clock sun hung high in the sky, yet offered no warmth. The winter sunlight cast a frigid glare across the ground, instilling a sense of cold, desolate stillness.
Peter's intuition told him that Ultron would not awaken from his church, but would instead come from the direction of the sunrise.
At the far edge of the distant horizon, something seemed to pulse for a brief instant.
Then, a second sun rose.
It wasn't a cold star like the winter sun, but a blazing orb radiating blinding light. The scorching red sphere drew closer to New York, shrinking in size as it approached. Peter took a deep breath, ignoring the persistent ringing of his Spider-Sense, and leapt off the Empire State Building.
The shrinking, blazing sun gradually closed in on Manhattan. Major television networks broadcasting this bizarre spectacle were hijacked in an instant. Seconds later, cameras from unknown locations trained their lenses on Times Square, where a massive crowd had gathered alongside the Defenders, who were attempting to maintain order.
"We still can't get these people to clear out," Jessica Jones grunted, pushing her way out of the crowd. "I can't believe the day has come where I actually think Purple Man would be useful if he were still alive."
"Watch out," Peter landed among them. "He's here."
He descended slowly from the sky, stepping down as if walking on invisible stairs.
He possessed a flawless physique, a body untouched by a single speck of dust.
He had a pair of blue eyes, his gaze sweeping over all creation like the Lord.
Pure white wings unfurled behind his back like white clouds, caressing the earth gently.
He descended into the crowd, allowing the suffering masses to touch his body and kiss his feet. They poured out their transgressions to him, confessing their sins.
He listened quietly.
Then, he spoke.
[I forgive you.]
He turned his gaze toward the sinful child who sought to oppose the Lord.
[Hello, Spider-Man.]