Ultron didn't spare a single glance at his cultists, nor did he concern himself with them. In any case, once their short-circuit state wore off in a few moments, they would likely be able to scramble back up on their own.
Meanwhile, the others standing behind Peter looked on at that punch in sheer amazement. Luke Cage even leaned over toward Iron Fist to ask, "He's only been studying martial arts with you for a few weeks, and he's already this good?"
"—He didn't learn martial arts from me."
Iron Fist managed half an explanation before hearing Peter shout, "Everyone remember the plan? The goal is a flawless game of tag. Move out now!"
The Defenders scattered in an instant upon the command. The so-called game of tag meant showing their faces in front of Ultron while ensuring they didn't get captured by him. The Avengers had previously analyzed Ultron's likely course of action, coming to a crystal-clear conclusion: Ultron would attempt to forcibly assimilate other heroes. Therefore, if only to throw a wrench into Ultron's plans, they had to ensure they stayed out of his clutches.
Not to mention, they had other missions to complete.
Every member made a rapid exit, leaving Peter alone on the field in a standoff with Ultron. Ultron naturally understood their scheme: [In truth, I have observed it all. You have installed numerous devices throughout the city to forcefully sever parts of the network—including New York City—in the event that S.W.O.R.D., Thor, and Magneto all fail. I am fully aware of the precise locations of those devices, Spider-Man.]
"If you know I have an unobservable friend, then how can you be sure those things are still where you left them, Ultron?"
Ultron said nothing. He simply floated up silently and spread the wings on his back. Immediately following that, frantically blaring car alarms erupted across all of New York. Every giant screen began displaying the step-by-step movements of the resistance members.
[I may not know where those devices were originally placed, but I am certain that you know, are you not?]
As Ultron spoke, he watched as virtually every vehicle in New York began moving in unison, hurtling toward Spider-Man. Peter's Spider-Sense rang out violently in rapid succession, a frantic symphony as cars from across all of New York converged upon him.
Yet did that pose any real challenge to Spider-Man?
"Did you forget that the ground has never been my battlefield? I'm Spider-Man."
Peter launched himself into the air, landing atop a billboard in Times Square to call out to Ultron. Ultron merely tilted his head up to look at Peter. The very next second, Peter saw a sedan charging straight toward him—with the driver's seat completely empty. Leaping into the air, he latched onto the vehicle with a web-line and hurled it right back at Ultron.
With the metallic feathers of his wings, Ultron sliced the car in two with effortless ease.
[Your witticisms are meaningless to me, Spider-Man. For instance, artificial intelligence does not possess the concept of 'forgetting,' even if you seem unable to remember that. Conversely, I can offer a joke of my own.]
Continuing to speak, Ultron made all the surrounding screens display the exact same feed: a Boeing airliner speeding toward New York, heading straight for Times Square, where Spider-Man stood alone, looking left and right.
[Congratulations, your time travel was successful. Welcome back to September 11th.]
"What?!"
[Indeed, we have humanity's decision to equip airplanes with Wi-Fi to thank for this. By the same token, every vehicle is now connected to the network—isn't that immensely convenient?]
Ultron looked at Peter. Unable to spare a thought for anything else, Peter anchored web-lines onto the buildings on both sides and slingshotted himself at top speed toward the Boeing airliner attempting a reenactment of 9/11. As for Ultron, he very calmly utilized nanobots to construct a Bible, beginning his proselytization before his followers.
Down in the New York underground, Nick Fury—observing the entire situation—was driven nearly mad with anxiety. He relied on the most primitive methods to receive all incoming intelligence, yet every location delivered nothing but unmitigated bad news.
"Sir, a massive aviation disaster has occurred in Tokyo. Dozens of passenger planes have crashed across Tokyo, and we've lost contact with both the Tokyo S.H.I.E.L.D. unit and the local superheroes stationed there."
Nick Fury swept his hand dismissively. "Gather more intel! Keep reporting!"
"Sir, Ultron launched a surprise attack on Genosha and seized the Master Mold resources held by Magneto. He's currently mass-producing Ultron bots—their composition is inferred to be identical to the Mechanical Avengers."
"Repeat that for me?" Nick Fury let out an exasperated laugh. "You're telling me an Omega-level mutant who controls electromagnetic forces lost to an artificial intelligence made of electrical signals and metal? What the hell was Magneto doing?"
"We don't know the full situation yet, Sir," the agent replied nervously. But quickly, another agent rushed over to report: "Sir, optical distortion phenomena have occurred over Genosha. According to reports from our informants, although auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile senses remain perfectly normal, all visual scenes have become distorted."
Fury slapped his forehead. That was Mysterio's first-generation helmet technology—the light-particle projector. Because of its severe limitations, Mysterio had long since replaced it with a second-generation helmet that utilized neural transmission devices combined with Danger Room illusion systems to generate hyper-realistic illusions.
The fatal flaw of the second-generation helmet was that it required interfering with the human brain's perception to generate illusions directly inside the mind.
And Magneto was immune to that, which was why they had always assumed Magneto couldn't fall for it.
Turns out Ultron rolled back the version update.
"And then?"
"Current reports indicate that Magneto's son and daughter, along with other Genoshan mutants, are fighting back against Ultron. Additionally, due to the unique nature of the X-Gene, complications have arisen during forced assimilation."
Nick Fury couldn't help but chuckle grimly. The so-called spreading of the gospel actually resembled a crusade in practice. Ultron treated all of humanity with complete impartiality: those willing to accept the Gospel of Ultron would undergo voluntary modification, while those unwilling would be captured and modified by force.
Some people genuinely bought into Ultron's rhetoric, while others suffered from terminal illnesses and saw Ultron's modifications as a chance at a new life.
Still others were mentally unstable, believing the U.S. government lied to everyone and that a massive shadow cabal controlled everything behind the scenes—which might not have been far from the truth—but they chose to believe Ultron could bring them the truth, eagerly subjecting themselves to modification.
Yet for the vast majority—those who had no desire to become Ultron willingly, whom Ultron had no interest in broadcasting to the world—what awaited them was bound to be a grim outcome.
"So... we'd better pray the Avengers actually have a way to deal with Ultron."