"Woooo——"
A shrill, piercing alarm rang out over New York, as if heralding the arrival of some imminent danger.
Peter sprang upward, launching himself into the air. From his elevated vantage point, he could see in the distance a large number of Ultron robots heading this way.
Even under wartime conditions, Ultron had still left a considerable force stationed in New York.
Maybe a few hundred, maybe a few thousand…
But this was already much better than before. They didn't actually need to defeat every single robot—they just needed to buy Steve enough time to get inside Avengers Tower.
So the group split up, engaging Ultron's forces in the most conspicuous way possible.
The fierce battle quickly spread throughout New York. Peter alone held back the vast majority of the enemy forces, swinging between buildings with them in tow, occasionally using the city's structures to take out a few robots.
By now, practically all of New York knew they had returned—except for Tony Stark.
That self-righteous man was still being kept in the dark by the false peace Ultron had fabricated, believing everything was fine.
"Come and get me."
Peter did his best to lead the swarm of robots toward less populated areas. Thanks to those hovering cars, his web lines had more anchor points now, and there were more places to hide as well.
The blind spots beneath vehicles were hard to spot.
"Too bad EMP weapons are useless now. Otherwise this would've been a lot easier."
Peter sighed.
Ever since Black Cat had used an electromagnetic pulse in the sewers to take out a large batch of Ultron robots last time, Tony Stark had reinforced the robots' structure and installed some kind of anti-EMP device. Now there was no way for him to wipe them all out at once.
Fortunately, Peter had used equipment Bant had made for him before. With his intellect, building a few similar weapons was still within his ability.
For instance, this time, besides him, everyone was carrying a hoverboard, so they wouldn't have to outrun Ultron on foot.
With the addition of other gear, even Natasha could take on several robots at once.
Nick Fury's safehouse might not have had much in the way of electronic equipment, but it had no shortage of weapons—even some special energy weapons, which looked somewhat like the ones the Chitauri had used back then. Hard to say whether Bant had deliberately stocked them later, or whether Nick Fury had secretly collected them after stepping down.
With these weapons, they weren't completely defenseless against the Ultron robots.
Still, the sight of thousands of robots closing in from the distance was undeniably oppressive.
In an instant, using their glider boards, the group had drawn a massive number of Ultron robots into the skies above New York, switching to a hit-and-run approach, waging guerrilla warfare against the machines.
And just like that, Avengers Tower—which should have been the most heavily protected location—suddenly became empty.
Steve Rogers stayed down in the sewers for a while. After confirming that there was no more movement overhead, he lowered his head and checked his equipment.
Ultron wouldn't send its entire force after Peter and the others. There would certainly be other security systems inside the tower.
He had to take them out as fast as possible, then shut down the program before Ultron returned.
He'd left his shield with the Winter Soldier. On his person, Steve had a few submission disks—given to him by Peter—along with a small sonic oscillator and a Chitauri energy staff. It looked like a staff, but in practice it was more like a Jedi's lightsaber.
Steve had actually seen Jedi before. After being thawed from the ice, in order to quickly catch up with the world, he'd watched quite a few movies at Falcon's suggestion—including Star Wars.
After confirming all his gear was in order, he pushed himself out of the sewer with one hand, then stepped on the manhole cover Peter had used to shear off a robot's head, grabbed it, and sprinted toward Avengers Tower on those long legs of his.
It just didn't feel right without a shield.
He thought.
The security guard in a suit at the entrance spotted him and immediately went on alert, calling out while trying to stop him. But Steve plowed straight through, sending him spinning like a pinwheel, flipping through the air before crashing to the ground.
The next moment, he smashed through the glass and charged into the tower.
Inside the building was a large group of mind-controlled employees, plus a few robots. Steve memorized the lobby's entire layout and enemy distribution in a single glance. The elevators had already been disabled by Ultron—he'd have to break through via the stairs.
Without a second thought, he turned his body sideways, held up the sewer manhole cover, and began bulldozing forward. The guards fired at him continuously, but pistol rounds couldn't penetrate a several-centimeter-thick manhole cover in that short time. In the blink of an eye, Steve closed the distance and sent them flying with a full-force impact.
Truthfully, if these people weren't ordinary humans, Steve would have used the Chitauri lethal weapon already.
As it was, he could only knock them unconscious or slap a submission disk on them to immobilize them.
He fought his way upward, but Avengers Tower was hundreds of meters tall.
Inside the tower, Tony Stark looked up with a hint of confusion.
"What's going on? I thought I heard an alarm?"
He rose from his screen, seemingly wanting to figure out what was happening, and pulled up the surveillance feed—but the screen showed only gray, flickering static.
"No need to worry, sir," Ultron's calm voice came through.
"A fire broke out on one of the floors. A careless employee was smoking in the restroom and accidentally blew it up, triggering the fire alarm."
Upon hearing this, a look of disgust immediately crossed Tony Stark's face. He abandoned any thought of investigating, and sat back down in his chair.
But Ultron, who knew exactly what was happening, felt a strong sense of urgency.
It hadn't expected Steve and the others to be able to counterattack. Though it didn't believe they could actually make it to its presence, it now felt an added pressure.
—They must never be allowed to meet Tony Stark!
It thought.
Perhaps it had been overly cautious before. Although the body it had prepared for itself was not yet complete, on an Earth without Bant Parker, there was nothing left that could stop it.
There was no need to keep pretending with Tony Stark any longer.
Ultron thought: once Steve and the others were dealt with, it would confront Tony Stark directly—make him understand what a terrible sin he had committed, that humanity was doomed because of him!
It thought.
One had to admit, Ultron did have a cruel sense of humor.
It could have simply killed Tony, but it didn't want to do that. For someone like Tony, killing him was far less satisfying than defeating him from within.
Ultron didn't simply want to exterminate humanity. From beginning to end, it had followed the program and system Tony had set—eliminating threats, maintaining peace.
To prove to Tony that it was right, it had to prove that Tony was wrong.
But first… it still needed to deal with those superheroes.
The Ultron robots in New York probably weren't enough anymore, but fortunately, it still had other allies.
On the other side.
Peter dodged bullets fired from behind by a robot, then shot out a web line, grabbed it, and hurled it into another robot.
Over the course of the chase, he had already taken down nearly a hundred robots, but the pursuers behind him were still numerous.
Just then, a dark green figure darted between the buildings. The terrifying devil mask sent chills down one's spine. The Green Goblin, riding his glider, charged straight into the swarm of Ultron robots, using the blades on either side of his glider to instantly carve a path of sparks—robots spewing electrical arcs as they fell.
"Harry!"
Seeing that figure, Peter couldn't help but shout in delight.
He never imagined he'd actually have backup!
"Harry, how did you break free from Wanda's mind control?" Peter waved from a distance, yelling out his question.
If Harry had broken free from the mind control, did that mean the other controlled superheroes had also awakened, just waiting for the right moment?
But before Peter could get too excited, as he watched Harry fly toward him, his spider-sense began screaming a warning.
Peter's chest tightened, and he quickly ducked, narrowly avoiding the glider's attack—escaping being sliced in half by a hair's breadth. Harry, having missed with his first strike, immediately turned around, and two pumpkin bombs were already hurtling toward Peter.
Peter didn't even have to think. He dodged again, and simultaneously flung the pumpkin bombs toward the Ultron robots.
Now he finally understood—Harry hadn't broken free of the witch's control at all. He simply didn't care about the Ultron robots.
After several failed attacks, Harry stopped and stared coldly at Peter, then spoke: "Peter, leave New York!"
Even though he was controlled, Wanda wasn't Ultron—she couldn't truly command Harry to kill Peter. She was merely playing the part of an avenger who wanted to kill Tony Stark.
"Wanda?"
Peter knew that the person truly speaking to him now was Wanda, and he quickly tried to persuade her: "Wanda, why are you working for Ultron? You betrayed the Celestial Union! Uncle Ben and Aunt May would be so heartbroken!"
"Stop this, Wanda. Can't you see what Ultron has done?"
"Do you really want to help it? Help it rule this world?"
"This has nothing to do with you, Peter. I don't want to hurt you. Just leave New York." Harry shook his head, his eyes filled with a rose-red glow. Wanda appropriately let a pained expression show through.
"I'm not leaving!" Peter stepped forward firmly. "This is our last chance."
"Wanda! Think about Uncle Ben, think about Aunt May, think about little Bant!" He clenched his fists. "If they come back to Earth and see this, they'll be so disappointed in you!"
Wanda couldn't explain that this was Bant's plan all along. She could only continue to act.
"In that case, I'll just have to capture you."
Harry immediately moved to attack, and at the same time, the Ultron robots swarmed in as well.
Elsewhere, the others were facing similar situations.
Barton ran into Quicksilver. The Winter Soldier encountered Falcon. Natasha found herself fighting Felicia inside a building.
The fight between the two women was striking—especially since both of them had explosively stunning figures, each dressed in form-fitting combat suits. It was quite a sight to behold, and their elegant movements should have drawn attention.
But they were in a long corridor inside a building, and no one even noticed any of it.
Natasha was naturally no match for Felicia. With just the vibranium suit on her body, Felicia was already effectively invincible.
After a few exchanges, Natasha was on the back foot.
The others were in similar straits. Barton, even with his glider board, couldn't last a single round against Quicksilver and was subdued in an instant. The Winter Soldier had initially fought Falcon to a standstill, even gaining the upper hand at one point—but soon, Rhodes arrived with the War Machine armor and turned the tide.
Inside Avengers Tower.
Steve had charged up several hundred floors in one breath. Even for a super-soldier like him, he felt an unusual exhaustion at this moment.
Fortunately, the guards inside the tower had already been dealt with, though quite a few Ultron robots remained. Now Tony's lab was almost within sight, yet there was no trace of joy on his face.
Because someone else stood in his path.
—The Scarlet Witch, Wanda!
Steve panted, looking up at the girl standing at the other end of the stairwell. His flushed face nearly showed despair.
In the earlier battle to escape New York, he had already witnessed this girl's power firsthand.
To be honest, he was completely outmatched.
Steve frowned, unwilling to give up just like that: "Peter told me your name is Wanda? Why are you helping Stark? Can't you see that Ultron wants to destroy this world?"
"I'm not helping him."
Wanda shook her head: "I'm destroying him."
"What?" Steve froze, not understanding what Wanda meant. But he realized that this girl in front of him clearly had a grudge against Tony.
"What do you mean? What do you actually want?"
Wanda looked at him calmly, with no intention of explaining.
She wasn't American, so she naturally had no special reverence when looking at Steve. She simply raised her hand, and the magical power of chaos magic and celestial energy enveloped her body, making her look like an untouchable goddess.
"This is as far as you go, Steve Rogers."
In almost the blink of an eye, this counterattack squad on New York was completely wiped out.
Faced with enemies of Wanda and Quicksilver's caliber—far beyond their level—the strongest among the group, ironically, were Peter's Avengers. The rest couldn't even last a single exchange.
A dozen or so minutes later, everyone except Peter Parker had been tied up and brought to Avengers Tower—before Ultron itself.
Ultron was very satisfied with this result. It nodded its head and said, "Well done, Wanda."
Wanda ignored the praise entirely and said, "Now that there's no longer any threat to you, isn't it about time you handed Tony Stark over to me?"
Ultron nodded. The battle situation in Wakanda was going well—it had already acquired a batch of vibranium, so there was nothing left to worry about.
"Of course!"
"He's all yours to deal with."
/-\
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