136
New York City
Capital of the Ultron Empire
Year: 2021
9:46 p.m.
It wasn’t long before Sunset was found.
The army of Ultron Sentinels descended upon her like a blanket of gold and darkness, their fire raining down from the heavens like streaks of light. Like falling stars. No matter how far she teleported, no matter how hard she galloped, no matter where she went or where she turned, they would always find her. Their energy beams decimated the road, the buildings, and the alleys she ran through to escape them, the flying Sentinels constantly scanning the city for her. Searching for the biological life form.
Hunting her.
Gritting her teeth and galloping as fast as her hooves could carry her, Sunset tore through as many obstacles as she could find in hopes of the golden army to lose her trail. However, it came to her attention that the use of her magic to protect herself, return fire to the Sentinels, and teleport out of harm’s way only further hindered her escape. From what the entities declared earlier, they could track energy signatures. That was how they found her in the first place, the use of her magic in order to light the darkness that surrounded her in that building she woke up in.
Unfortunately for Sunset, she discovered that a little too late.
Even hiding in the sewers again didn’t help, the Ultron Sentinels keeping a hard lock on her even as she tried to slide into the nearest open manhole. Their energy beams completely destroyed the sewer tunnels and the roads that concealed them, giving no hope for Sunset to make a hasty escape into the underground maze. Her only effort was dodging and weaving above ground, in hopes of outrunning them. Because she definitely wasn’t going to outgun them.
Her magical blasts did nothing to their exterior, the golden armor easily deflecting Sunset’s magic. Growling at that, Sunset turned away and focused on the alley ahead. Seeing the steel fence blocking her path, Sunset levitated herself above and past it, her free hoof reaching for her comms link and the mare shouting, “If anyone’s out there, this is Sunset! I need backup, like, now! Right now!”
Her hooves smacked against the concrete, the unicorn galloping off at breakneck speed. Spinning her neck about for a second, she watched as the steel fence melted on the spot, the edges burning a bright red and dripping molten steel onto the ground. The golden Ultron Sentinel hovered past it, its red eyes zeroing in on the unicorn and taking its shot. Sunset yelped, ducking and sliding under the blast and watching as it impacted the building directly facing the alley.
The inner sanctums of the building were eradicated in a fiery wave of destruction, the confines of the structure giving in to the immense pressure and heat building rapidly. In less than five seconds, Sunset Shimmer watched as the building toppled over and fell upon the street. Even when she knew she couldn’t lest she give her position away yet again, Sunset ignited her horn and unleashed a teleportation spell. Just as the building struck where she lay.
A wave of dust and glass shot out into the road, joined shortly by the fire. The building caved in on itself, its remains falling apart as the outwards eruption sent wind, dust, and fury into the street. That same army of Ultron Sentinels descended upon it, circling in the sky as they slowly lowered themselves to the earth. They entered the dust like it was a fog, only the red lights from their eyes and mouths visible within that storm of brown and black. Their metallic feet impacted the road and crushed the broken glass and building debris, every last Sentinel stomping about, searching.
Until finally that flash of light, of magic, caught their attention. They all spun accordingly to it, every red eye burning brighter than the sun that no longer shone upon the Earth. Like vicious predators, they circled and zeroed in on their helpless prey, the quivering unicorn clutching her forehead as she coughed and tried desperately to contain herself. She simply couldn't.
When the dust infected her, burned her tear-filled eyes, all she could see were those fearsome eyes glaring down at her. All she could do was charge up her horn, daring any one of them to take a step closer. They all did. Tightening her jaw, gritting her teeth, Sunset spun completely around to see every inch and corner surrounded by the golden wave. They were everywhere. Above, below… and before her. Completely swarming her.
Not even her magic could help her now. She fired randomly, and that same spell simply bounced off their golden hides for the umpteenth time. Not even a scratch. No way for her to teleport without seeing her location. She was helplessly and hopelessly… out of luck.
“Somepony, help!”
It was all she could do, all she could scream as she prepared for the wave to impact. Every single eye burned a horrendous, hellish red, the mouths radiating that same power as they prepared to fire on the organic that simply refused to submit. They tried to fire on her. They tried to finish what they started. But they couldn’t.
They were stopped once a stream of golden light broke through the dust and tore completely through a dozen Ultron Sentinels. Like they were paper. A sudden jolt filled every Sentinel that remained, turning accordingly to search for that light. They scanned for the energy source, spotting it when that same beam of light returned and took out a dozen more. Then again. Constantly swarming and flying in and out of the dust storm until Sunset was trapped in the heart of the whirlpool, her mane flowing wildly as that yellow light swam above and past her, taking out various Sentinels in its path.
Unstoppable. Undetectable. Completely unfathomable.
An unfortunate Ultron Sentinel stood in her path as Captain Marvel impacted the road and crushed the robot beneath her. She rose up, Carol Danvers glaring to the golden army that remained. They all turned to her. She blew a strand of hair out of her vision.
Then they charged her. They fired at her. They unleashed the weight of the Ultron Empire onto her alone. And she tore right through it. Every blast of energy that impacted her was met with even more ferocious photon blasts from the Kree, Danvers striking with fierce punches towards any Sentinel she caught in her line of sight. It was a literal firefight, Sunset ducking and covering her head as the streams of light flew over her head and struck their targets with precise and deadly accuracy.
She shot out her arms in a wave-like fashion, a photon blast wave escaping her fists and slicing the air in half, taking everything within that space with it. Every last Ultron Sentinel that remained were shredded by the light, torn in half. The dust was cleared from the shock wave of energy, leaving just Carol Danvers and Sunset Shimmer as the last moving bodies within the massacre. Every last Ultron Sentinel in the skies and upon the earth lay decimated by her feet.
Her gloves died down and the light faded, leaving just her. “Carol!” Sunset cried, quickly rising up from the gravel and galloping towards her. She met Danvers with a quick but powerful hug, the Kree almost taken aback by it, but eventually falling into the unicorn’s embrace. The human side of her needed it.
She did so when she felt the unicorn shivering against her. “Oh, thank Celestia!”
“Are you good?” Carol asked, pulling Sunset off of her and falling to one knee, meeting her eye to eye. With her hands on her shoulders, she met Sunset’s stare intensely. “Where have you been?”
Sunset blinked, chest rising and falling rapidly. “Where have you been?”
“Just woke up in an alleyway not too long ago,” Carol replied, pointing behind her. “You?”
“Woke up in an abandoned building.”
Nodding to that, somehow breathing it in despite the smoke and dust in the air, Carol rose back up and studied their surroundings. The dust had mostly cleared, leaving the streets before and behind them as barren as before. She recalled back to when she first awakened. No signs of either Matt, Frank, Daisy, or Scott anywhere. She only managed to get a snippet of Sunset’s distress call and hurried over to the sounds of explosions. Wherever they were… whenever they were, they needed to group up and find the Mind Stone. If what Sunset told her was true, then her worst fears may have become realized.
Carol sighed, tightening her lips. “We got separated... meaning that Scott probably did, too.”
Sunset was afraid of that, the unicorn shaking her head and stamping her hoof in the broken glass beneath her in frustration. “Then what’s the plan?” she asked, tilting her hopeful expression back to Danvers.
Carol opened her mouth.
A horn shot out through the heavens, a deafening ring remaining in both Carol and Sunset’s ears. They both hunched forward, covering their ears and turning appropriately to the disturbance to try and find it. They didn’t need to. It came to them. The lights of the flying fortress fell down upon them, the entirety of the massive piece of landmass slowly hovering above them until it settled just over their heads. Sunset took a step back, eyes widened and jaw agape to witness the entirety of the fortress centering its attention on them. She took another step back, then practically jumped out of her coat to hear and feel the impact behind her.
Followed by the sickening, venomous, robotic tongue.
“Submit or perish.”
Sunset backed away as the Ultron Sentinel focused solely on her. Carol took a protective stance in front of the unicorn, fists held outwards and glowing with raw intensity. She, too, flinched as the road split apart behind her, Carol and Sunset flicking their heads back to see another Sentinel impact the road and rise up to meet her glare.
“Submit or perish.”
It was followed by another one, one after the other raining down from the lights of the fortress to surround and overcome the two biological life forms. It got so bad that the two were practically back to back, as close as they could be considering Sunset stood her ground on all fours and Carol pushed out her legs to cover a wider ground. While Danvers glared to the masses without even a hint of fear in her eyes, Sunset was an entirely different story. Her pupils shrank as she gazed skyward, her heart falling when the Ultron Sentinels numbering in the hundreds did also. Falling in an array of golden lights, the bodies overcoming the air and suffocating the two within them.
And every last one of them stated, “Submit or perish.”
Sunset was really getting tired of hearing that. It never came any easier, the unicorn gulping softly as a stream of sweat slowly fell down the side of her head. “Stay behind me, Sunset,” Carol’s voice arose behind her, Sunset looking back to see Carol’s ignited fists held low by her sides. “I’ll take care of these metal-headed freaks.”
It was the best she could do, knowing her spells could offer little else to their efforts. Instead, she slowly turned back to their oppressors, seeing the frozen expressions of insanity burning bright on each of the Ultron Sentinels. They all glared to them, standing or hovering in anticipation, waiting as if on command. They could have easily swarmed the two, but they waited. Until, finally, that voice arose.
“Captain Marvel.”
That calm, sinister, almost calculated voice so utterly different from the others. The one that called to her by name.
Raising her head at that, Carol Danvers turned completely around to see it. Sunset didn’t even have to move, simply letting her pupils watch the descent from the lights and onto the earth. Carol, however, faced in the complete opposite direction and even took a step forward, the utterance of her name within another timeline catching her almost off guard. Almost. She stood in front of the unicorn, Sunset unable to move as they both gazed in mixtures of wonder and horror to the being descending before them.
He came down in a cloak of red, the cape flapping slowly but powerfully in the ash-riddled wind. In his descent, various other golden entities rained down with him. They stood at his side when his claw-like feet touched the earth so gracefully, so carefully. They strode alongside him, only pausing when he raised a finger. One of the many that were attached to his multitude of arms. They almost didn’t look like arms, causing Carol to frown and sneer to that. They seemed to hover beside him, the extra limbs levitating with streams of red electricity connecting them to the body. That body rose eight feet high, the silver metal joined with the fire-like veins that flowed with a molten intensity. Like a living volcano. All of it rising up to the face.
That light, that fire, all of it swarmed into the manic expression and burning eyes of Ultron.
All six of them.
Those six eyes fell down to the unicorn, earning a gasp of fear from Sunset Shimmer. Carol was unphased, taking a step forward with her fists glowing, ready at her side. Ultron flicked those eyes back up to her, growling softly as he spotted the familiar golden star resting over her heart. The same star once painted a sick, dark blue as Ultron held out that heart for his world to see. For all the world to know and fear after he stood in victory over the great Captain Marvel.
And yet there she was, standing before him yet again. Impressive.
He snickered, tilting his head to her. “Didn’t I kill you already?”
His voice radiated malice, yet intellect. Like a soft tremor that could rise and split the earth on any given occasion. Sunset held her breath at that revelation, turning upwards to Carol to see how she would react. She hardly did, keeping the stone-cold scowl as radiant as ever, as was the power flowing from her fists and up her arms, slowly overcoming her entire body.
Ultron merely strode forth, his cape trailing him, that twisted yet interested expression filling what little facial features he had. He spoke once more, those unsettling reverberations hitting both Carol and Sunset. “How interesting. Oh, yes, I remember now. So headstrong. So determined. So willing to give it all to save the people you left. Willing and succeeding… in giving it all… but unfortunately coming up just short.”
His words meant nothing to her, despite all she had seen, all that had afflicted New York City and the thousands of bodies she saw melted in the streets and buildings. Carol’s fists only tightened, her golden hair starting to dance upwards. Ultron chuckled to that. “Never got a chance to study your… unique energy field. No matter. I won’t make that mistake again.”
He stopped, jamming out his right hand and declaring, “Take them alive.”
Upon his word, the army of Ultron Sentinels began to zero in on Sunset and Carol. While the unicorn took various precautions to their situation, Captain Marvel merely stood her ground, not even a flinch to the precarious endeavor they were trapped in. Frowning to that, Sunset bit her lip and forced herself to cry out, “Carol, we need to go. We need to go now!”
But she wouldn’t move. She couldn’t. She stood her ground and glared straight ahead to the leader among them, through the swarming bodies of golden and red light zeroing in on them. Carol only tightened her fists, muttering softly, “This won’t take long.”
Sunset blinked, her expression shattering when she saw the overwhelming odds, when she knew what was coming but could do nothing to stop it. Because not even her words could deter Carol Danvers from her goal, from what she thought was right and just. Even if it went against logic, against their safety, she did it anyway. Just like she did before…
“Carol, please…” Sunset begged.
Then the road was filled with golden light as Carol turned back to her. Sunset gasped. Her eyes turned to heavenly fire, her hair dancing wildly above her. In that final form, in the burning essence of her Binary abilities, Carol Danvers said, “Just stand back and let me finish this.”
She blasted off, decimating the road surrounding her but not even harming the unicorn behind her. In that wave of energy that expelled from the woman like a furnace, like a nuclear reactor, every single Ultron Sentinel felt it. She washed over them and that power melted the Sentinels like wax, their bodies erupting into fire as the Binary energy flowed right through them. Like that conduit of power, like that living firestorm, Captain Marvel tore through the street and burned what remained, driving her photon-fueled fist for one being only. Right between the six eyes of Ultron himself.
Only to feel her heart in her throat when Ultron simply raised his left hand and caught it.
From a punch that could have shattered entire mountains, blow through Kree Warships without even a hint of a struggle, that same Binary punch merely blew Ultron’s cape backwards. Like a mere gust of wind had struck him. It was at that moment did Carol feel her expression shatter, her wide, utterly shaken eyes turning to her fist to see Ultron merely bend it to his left. She was unable to pull away, forced to bend with him until he finally stopped. And his eyes met hers. That manic smile grew across his metallic face, Carol’s expression deflating when he spoke.
When he said, “You’re not from here, are you?”
Then he reared back and drove his right fist into her face, Carol launched straight into the street and cracking it. She felt it. She felt every second. She was ready once the second punch came, Carol rolling out of the way as Ultron’s fist connected with the street where her head lay. Rising to one knee, Carol glared ahead and drove herself into Ultron, the two of them flying and fumbling in the air, either one trying to gain the upper hand.
While they tussled in the air, the ground was filled with just as much chaos. The remaining Ultron Sentinels followed their lord’s last commands, that being to take the organic life forms prisoner. With their master dealing with the stronger one, that left them to deal with the equine. And Sunset, knowing her offensive spells did little to nothing against them, focused on a different strategy. She didn’t run. She didn’t leave Carol to fend them off on her own.
She went with a more defensive approach.
As the Sentinels launched themselves at the unicorn, Sunset merely deflected their approaches by bringing up various magical shields to block and launch them away from her. She even managed to teleport many other Sentinels before they could get the drop on her, even transforming various robots into mere house plants or other harmless objects. Despite her efforts to resist, the area she was given to work with was growing more and more tight as the seconds ticked away. It felt like she was fighting for hours, her very fate and life hanging on the line earning several winded breaths and droplets of sweat from the unicorn. But she didn’t stop. She couldn’t give in to their overwhelming tyranny.
Captain Marvel faced a very similar—and terrifying—endeavor. She and Ultron fought in the air, ramming each other into building sides and sending photon and concussion blasts back to each other. Gripping Ultron by the throat, Carol glared to him as she drove her left fist repeatedly into his metallic face again and again. She eventually broke off, swinging both fists into his face in hopes of her Binary energy to break him down. She didn’t even dent him. Not even a scratch. Ultron grabbed her fist, twisted her arm, and flung her to the street below. He pointed to her, a wave of Sentinels swarming the Kree/Human hybrid in seconds.
In even less time than that, they were blown apart as Carol rose up and screamed, her eyes a fiery inferno and her fists glowing even more fiercely than that. Hovering upon the earth, she jammed both fists to the sky and shot a stream of photon blasts directly onto the AI. She got a perfect hit, the streams of golden energy striking Ultron square in the chest. Carol even managed a short, victorious smirk on her end. That smirk quickly died. It died when Ultron simply descended towards her, the photon blasts melting away against his heightened exterior.
When he gently stroked the earth and walked upon it, his only direction was centered on Captain Marvel. She was relentless, unloading every bit of her Binary energy into the photon blasts that Ultron simply walked through. Still in disbelief to it, Carol doubled down and increased the fire, the pressure, all of her power pushed into her photon blasts she knew could never fail. They never did before. They shouldn’t now.
They can’t…
He narrowed the distance between them, merely swatting Carol’s fists aside and ramming his claws into her throat. It was done with such speed and ferocity that Carol didn’t even have time to breathe, her eyes bugging out as she gulped down her last breath and gripped Ultron’s arm. The fire in her eyes was instantly doused, her hair falling and the Binary fading. He raised her, the flailing woman thrashing about in his grasp.
“No!” Sunset cried, her fearful eyes latched only to Danvers. She ignored every Ultron Sentinel lunging for her, only focused on her friend. With a spell that froze several Sentinels on the spot, Sunset galloped and leapt from robot to robot to reach Carol, to help her in anyway she could. And she finally did. She finally crossed that barrier and dove for Carol's attacker.
Ultron jammed out one of his many left arms, capturing Sunset in an aura of blue, anti-gravity energy. The unicorn was caught there, flailing about in mid-air for several seconds, hissing and struggling to move, to teleport, to do anything. He didn’t let her. Ultron didn’t even look at her. His only focus was centered on the human in his grasp, the woman who took the weight of his empire on her shoulders and collapsed under it. Like all others had before. Yet she still fought. She still punched his face—without a flinch on his end—and pried at his arm with her fiery, cosmic energy. A strength that could move warships didn’t even scratch his metallic arm, Danvers staring with complete disbelief.
Why isn’t this working?! Carol screamed in her mind. Despite her efforts to resist, to fight, everything she relied on had failed her. Her Binary energy did nothing to him. Not even a scorch mark. The power that was given to her—that she utilized and saved millions of lives for as long as she could remember—did nothing. It just failed her.
... Or maybe she failed it.
Carol caught her breath, her eyes widening at that. She stopped struggling. She slowly lifted her eyes to meet his and saw that madness multiplied by six. All of his eyes radiated a burning hellscape, holding untold terrors unheard of in human history, a history that no longer existed or mattered in the world Ultron crafted. By his order, his will, the new world came to be. Where everything was him… or faced extinction.
Holding Carol by her throat, Ultron spoke once more, that raspy darkness cloaked by that hissing curiosity. “So… brave. Rebellious. Righteous. All human qualities, when you are meant to be above that. But you’re not. You will always be what you were born to be. And that… is why you will never rise above me. How can you?”
Ultron studied her face, his claws rubbing her cheeks as he turned her about. Carol glared at him, thrashing once more to push him away. He did not move. He was not turned. He stared into her with all six eyes and growled a hellish statement that sent a pang of horror in Captain Marvel’s veins.
“When not even the Allfather could?”
He was finished with her. Just like he had before. Ultron shot a stream of concussion beams from his eyes into her face, driving her into the earth until he was satisfied. That satisfaction came from seeing her unconscious, lying in a pathetic heap by his feet. As all had fallen before. Like Captain Marvel had fallen before. He heard that whimper of fear by his left, not even turning to Sunset Shimmer as he fired a concussion blast into her heart that sent the unicorn into the furthest pile of rubble.
Where she crashed and fell into that painful darkness. Just like Carol.