For the past few days, Clint Barton had been stationed in front of the radio equipment, constantly scanning for unusual signals.
Finally, a burst of seemingly random electrical static caught his attention.
Clint immediately put on his headset and listened carefully.
On the other side, Natasha was repeatedly transmitting signals. Strings of chaotic electrical pulses traveled through the airwaves and reached Clint's ears.
Clint smiled slightly.
He immediately began decoding the information hidden in the static. Using satellite imagery, he traced the signal until it finally locked onto a dense forest area.
Clint quickly called everyone together.
Except for Karl, everyone else gathered in the conference room almost instantly.
"Where's Karl?" Tony asked, nudging Gwen beside him.
"Probably still sleeping," Gwen said with a roll of her eyes.
"That guy sleeps nearly twelve hours a day. I don't know where he gets all that sleep from."
She complained. Ever since returning, Karl had practically buried himself in bed. These days he did nothing but eat and sleep, like a lazy pig.
"I've found Natasha's location," Clint announced.
He tapped his tablet, projecting a map onto the screen.
"It's in a forest near Sokovia."
A red marker appeared in the southeastern corner of the country.
Steve studied the map.
Sokovia was a small nation that wasn't part of the World Security Council, which meant any operation there required the Council's authorization.
As soon as Coulson heard the location, he immediately reported it to Nick Fury, who was already negotiating with the Council.
It didn't take long before Coulson received a positive response.
The Council had approved the operation.
He quickly relayed the message to Steve.
"Alright, everyone," Steve said firmly.
"Fury has cleared it. Three minutes. Prepare to move."
The team immediately began gearing up.
---
Meanwhile, Gwen and Skye marched straight to Karl's room.
Without hesitation, they dragged him out of his blanket and forcibly woke him up.
Karl blinked blankly at the two girls standing in front of him.
"What's going on?"
Gwen rolled her eyes again.
"Stop sleeping. We found Natasha. We're leaving now."
Karl's eyes were already drifting closed again when Skye slapped him on the head.
Karl jolted awake instantly.
"Get dressed and move already!"
---
On the Quinjet
Everyone had assembled.
Karl arrived last, still looking half-asleep. His head drooped as he leaned against Wanda's shoulder.
"Listen up," Steve began, delivering the pre-mission briefing.
"Ultron knows we're coming. We'll likely be walking into heavy combat."
"That's our responsibility."
"But the civilians in Sokovia shouldn't have to suffer because of it."
"So we'll split into two teams."
"One group evacuates the civilians."
"The other rescues Natasha."
He quickly assigned the teams.
"Thor, Bruce, Wanda, Karl, and Erik—you'll rescue Natasha."
"The rest of you come with me to evacuate civilians."
Erik's presence was worth noting.
The stolen Vibranium had already been destroyed by Karl. Technically Erik's mission was finished, and he could have returned to Wakanda.
But he chose not to.
According to him, since he had finally gotten the chance to leave home, going back immediately would be a waste.
---
The Quinjet landed at a concealed location.
The two teams split up and moved toward their respective objectives.
---
Steve's Team – Sokovia Government Hall
Sokovia hadn't been notified by the Council in advance.
The civilians were still going about their daily lives.
Steve's team headed straight to the government building, pushing their way directly into the president's office.
"You're the President of Sokovia?" Tony asked, standing in full armor.
"Listen carefully. You need to evacuate everyone immediately. Your country is about to be attacked. Right now."
The president stared at Tony in confusion.
He had no idea what this armored man was talking about.
"You dare break into the president's office?" he shouted angrily.
"Guards! Guards!"
He clearly didn't take Tony seriously.
Before Tony could respond—
Smash!
Skye slapped the massive desk in front of the president, shattering it in a single blow.
Then she grabbed him by the collar.
"Evacuate everyone. Right now," she said coldly.
"I won't repeat myself."
The air around her other hand began to distort violently, emitting a low humming vibration.
The president nearly wet himself in fear.
Skye dragged him outside.
By now, the military had already surrounded the government building.
"Everyone listen!" Skye shouted, amplifying her voice with vibration waves.
"This area is about to be attacked! Evacuate immediately if you don't want to die!"
Everyone heard her clearly.
But no one moved.
"F***… you idiots," Tony muttered impatiently.
"These people just don't listen."
"Cap," he said, "looks like we need to raise the intensity a little."
Steve nodded.
"Careful. No casualties."
Tony nodded back.
Then he fired a repulsor blast straight into the roof, blowing a massive hole through it before shooting into the sky.
His floating drones deployed behind him and began firing across the city.
The attacks targeted empty streets and buildings—locations JARVIS had already confirmed were safe.
That finally did it.
The entire city erupted in panic.
People began fleeing in every direction.
Steve's team quickly started guiding civilians out of the city, spreading the evacuation warning as far as they could.
At this point, all they could do was save as many as possible.
---
Wanda's Team – The Forest
Meanwhile, Wanda led her group to the coordinates Clint had discovered.
The area looked completely ordinary.
Birds chirped in the trees, and small animals wandered through the forest.
"The signal points right here," Wanda said.
"If Natasha's here, it's probably underground."
"Let's split up and search," Erik suggested.
Based on his years of special forces experience, there had to be something nearby—likely a ventilation system.
Even if robots didn't need air, the manufacturing process certainly did.
Soon enough, Thor discovered a narrow cave entrance.
It was barely large enough for one person.
Thor blasted the entrance open with lightning and stepped inside first. The others followed.
After walking for a while, they suddenly emerged into an enormous robot manufacturing facility.
The scale was massive—large enough that the entire mountain seemed hollowed out.
But the place was completely empty.
All machinery had stopped.
The cavern was dark, and there were no robots anywhere.
"Where did they go?" Thor asked.
Everyone shrugged.
If they knew the answer, they wouldn't be standing there guessing.
Eventually they found Natasha inside a small prison cell.
"Natasha! Thank God you're alright," Wanda said.
With a wave of her hand, the metal door disintegrated into dust.
Natasha stepped out, finally free.
"Ultron left with all the robots," she said urgently.
"We need to get out of here immediately."
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