Chapter 299: Sokovia Falls!
"No, I refuse." Silas rejected Wanda without a moment's hesitation.
Wanda's interest was instantly piqued. She flicked a strand of Chaos Magic, attempting to lift Silas's mask, only to find that it didn't budge an inch.
"Don't even try. Unless I take it off myself, or you happen to have a mask-removing spell, it's staying on," Silas said, sensing her subtle movement.
"Are you sure?" Wanda rested her chin in her hands, looking at him with wide, pleading eyes. Her curiosity had been completely snagged by Silas's mystery.
"Absolutely not. Even if you promised not to tell a soul," Silas replied coldly, unmoved by her gaze.
"Fine~" Wanda nodded helplessly. She figured she'd eventually get a chance to see his face. He's an Avenger, right?
On the Battlefield
Clang!
Steve Rogers smashed a damaged robot into scrap with his shield. "Whew..." He took a ragged breath. The air was becoming dangerously thin, but fortunately, the evacuation was nearly complete.
BOOM!
Suddenly, an explosion erupted in the distance, followed by the terrified screams of the remaining civilians.
"What happened?! Clint!" Steve asked urgently over the comms.
"Things just got ugly!" Clint replied, ducking behind a wall.
Peter and Clint, who had been smoothly escorting people, were suddenly ambushed by a quinjet piloted by Ultron. At the critical moment, Peter's Spider-Sense had saved Clint's life, but the people in the lifeboat were in trouble. Ultron had blasted the thrusters on the lifeboat, sending it into a freefall.
Thwip!
Peter fired a web-line to snag the falling pod, planting his feet firmly on the ground. But the lifeboat was massive. Even with Peter's superhuman strength, he was being dragged across the concrete.
"Come on, Peter! Pull!" Peter gritted his teeth, his arms trembling as he looked around frantically for help. Suddenly, the weight vanished.
"Hey! You okay, Underoos?" Tony Stark and James Rhodes had flown in, catching the pod and lifting it back up.
Seeing the pod safe, Peter let out a sigh of relief. "I'm... I'm fine, Mr. Stark."
"You're hiring child labor again," Rhodes said, glancing at Tony.
"He's not a child anymore; he's a college student now. Right, Underoos?" Tony said.
Peter nodded happily. "Exactly! I'm an adult! And the name is Spider-Man, Mr. Stark."
Tony didn't reply, focusing on helping Rhodes carry the pod to the Helicarrier.
"That kid is good. Are you going to let him join the team?" Rhodes asked. He liked Peter's heart—on the night of the party, Peter was the only one who had actually complimented his "War Machine Rox" story.
"No," Tony said flatly.
"Why not?" Rhodes asked. Tony clearly liked the kid.
"Because," Tony muttered. He knew Peter's situation. If Peter got hurt because of him, Tony wouldn't be able to face Peter's family.
The Final Stretch
Rumble!
In the sky, Thor chased down Ultron's quinjet with a storm of lightning. Ultron was firing indiscriminately at everything below.
"You won't succeed!" Ultron roared, opening fire on the ground.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The firepower was so intense that even Steve had to take cover inside a building despite his shield.
"My child!" a woman screamed toward the blast zone. A small boy was huddled alone on the street, blood trickling from his forehead. A volley of bullets was heading straight for him.
"I've got him!" Clint rolled toward the boy, scooping him up just as the bullets arrived. He squeezed the boy tight, prepared to use his own body as a shield.
Pietro saw this and blurred toward them, trying to pull Clint away, but time was running out. "Dammit!" Pietro spread his arms and closed his eyes.
BOOM!
Wanda, standing in the distance, felt a jolt in her heart. She thought she saw the worst happen. "Destiny, I—" She turned around, but Silas was already gone.
Dust filled the air, obscuring everyone's vision. When the dust cleared, Pietro felt his body. "I'm... I'm okay?"
Clint looked up at Pietro, confused. What just happened?
"As a superhero, you really shouldn't be letting bullets bother you," a familiar voice said.
Silas was standing behind Pietro. A series of magical talismans hovered in front of them, forming a glowing defensive wall. "I'm actually a bit of a sorcerer," Silas said, waving his hand to dismiss the talismans.
With that, he vanished and reappeared back next to Wanda.
"Thank you," Pietro whispered, looking at where Silas had stood.
The Drop
Thor finally dealt with the quinjet, obliterating it and Ultron with a massive lightning strike.
"Thank you!" Wanda suddenly hugged Silas. She had seen it all—if not for Silas, Pietro would be dead.
"Just doing my part," Silas said. He didn't want Quicksilver to die so easily. Having a speedster in this world made things much more interesting. Plus, Pietro hadn't even seen him use the Rabbit Talisman yet.
"Thank you!" Wanda repeated, tears in her eyes. She had almost lost her only family.
"How touching..." Ultron's voice rasped as a body stood up behind Wanda.
Wanda spun around. "Ultron?"
It was the prime body again, but both its arms had been severed by Silas's heat vision and telekinesis.
"You think I need hands for this?" Ultron slammed his head down onto the primary thruster switch.
"No!" Wanda screamed, but it was too late. The town began its terminal descent.
"Hahaha!" Ultron's laughter was cut short as an enraged Wanda crushed the robot into a ball of scrap metal.
"What do we do?" Wanda panicked. This was an entire city falling; no matter how strong they were, they couldn't catch it.
"There's only one way. We blow it up," Silas said. If it hit the ground from this height, it wouldn't destroy the Earth, but it would wipe out millions of square kilometers below.
"Let's move!" Silas opened a Shadow Portal, gathering all the Avengers.
"I'm sorry... we let our guard down," Wanda apologized immediately.
"Doesn't matter now," Tony said, his voice calm. "Thor, get to the core. Hit the vibranium spire. If we cap the other end and you hit it with enough power, we can vaporize the whole city."
"Understood!" Thor dove into the underground core.
"Everyone else, get out of here!" Silas opened a portal to the Helicarrier for the non-fliers. Once the team was safe, only Silas, Thor, and Tony remained on the falling rock.
"Let's end this!" Silas and Tony dove into the core to join Thor.
KABOOM!!!
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