Infinity Era

by JDPrime22

Chapter 143 – As a Team

The last S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier known to man emerged from its cloak, unleashing a wave of ospreys into the fray of golden Ultron Sentinels as the Fortress came into view.

Matthew Murdock gripped the nearest support beam within the belly of the massive flying beast. The battle outside the walls of the osprey shook and rattled his world, even when he could picture and feel every devastating blast that rocked the sound barrier. Explosions that could deafen any normal man erupted into bright orange blossoms outside their osprey’s window, wave after wave of Sentinels consuming and decimating one osprey after another. He heard the faint screams of the S.H.I.E.L.D. pilots carrying a plethora of armed men and women as it descended from the sky in flames, impacting the buildings below in bubbles of fire.

It spread from one osprey to another, until even the golden demons consumed the front windshield of their own transport. They would have, had a certain War Machine not blasted them off in a wave of bullets. The pilots silently thanked Colonel Rhodes as he soared by them in his hulking suit of armor, engaging various other Ultron Sentinels that dared to get close to the one osprey he needed to protect. The lead ship. He left a defenseless battalion of ospreys to fend for themselves, as well as the Helicarrier, to ensure Murdock and his team found what they were looking for.

Within that lead ship, the likes of Daredevil, Punisher, and Quake trembled and stumbled where they held onto the support beams stationed above their heads. The osprey they were in dodged from side to side to avoid the repulsor beams intended for it, the massive transport ship replying with a multitude of rockets and bullets. The twin rotors screamed in the night air, the fire in the skies illuminating off of its jet-black surface. The S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia on its back gleamed even brighter. The three Avengers held on for dear life. The armed S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers—what was left of their fighting force—held on with them.

Waited for the signal.

In the edge of her vision, peeking through the pilots and the walls of the osprey, Daisy Johnson could see the massive Fortress of Ultron’s Empire come into view. It practically consumed what little windshield she saw, that same, horrifying image slowly consuming her eyes. They only grew closer and closer, the repulsor cannons on the outside of the Fortress sending beam after beam of raw, golden and red energy in their direction. Every time their pilots would dodge the blasts. Every second they would fly closer to the Fortress’ enforced outer walls. Another second closer to death.

They waited for the signal. The S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers tightened their black gloves around their assault rifles. Daisy held her breath, her own glove tightening on the support beam. Frank’s mask closed over his face, the Punisher Armor’s eyes igniting a burning red. Matt listened.

Saw through the fire as James Rhodes unleashed a Unibeam directly into the outer walls of the Fortress. A brightness rivaling the sun filled Murdock’s senses, the ringing aftermath entering his ears and remaining only momentarily. Rhodes’ voice flowed afterwards, replacing the pain with solid assurance and adrenaline.

“Wall is clear! Wall is clear! Unload, unload!”

Then Murdock held on. The osprey made a daring 180 degree turn in mid-flight, the rotors shifting upwards to gain a momentary and stable hover. The ramp of the osprey fell open, the screaming winds and crying explosions only amplified once that barrier was breached. Matt, Daisy, and Frank spun around in a degree that mirrored the osprey: 180. They faced the falling ramp and braced for whatever form of madness awaited them. The soldiers in black stood with them, ready to face that onslaught with lowered shoulders, raised rifles, and bleeding determination. One last fight for humanity. One last trial.

The ramp impacted the inner grounds of the Fortress, and the first soldiers on the front lines were instantly vaporized.

A cluster of Ultron Sentinels pulled themselves out of the rubble and fire of the wall that once existed, broken body parts hanging limply from them as they raised their available limbs and returned fire to their invaders. The first pair of S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers unfortunately felt their wrath, the burning ashes of all that remained falling to the ramp of the osprey. Then their invaders retaliated.

The Punisher soared in and rained down hell.

He hovered over the masses, unloading torrents of ammunition upon every golden entity his HUD zeroed in on. Rockets rained from his shoulder cannons, creating a clear path for the remaining occupants to pile out and engage the enemy. Murdock and Johnson were one of the first ones to escape the osprey’s hold amidst a flurry of black armor and resounding assault rifle fire, only Matt turning back when he heard the pilots screaming over the war. Somehow reaching him.

“Pile out!”

“The defenses are turning on us!”

It was all they could manage before the osprey was consumed with fire. The outer walls of the Fortress held several defensive repulsor cannons, and instead of focusing fire on the War Machine like James had intended for them to do, they slowly turned and zeroed in on the lone osprey that somehow reached and breached the wall. They charged, and with only one blast each from two cannons, the osprey was in flames. The pilot’s cabin was no more. The remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers that were not fast enough to exit the osprey were taken with it to the depths of the city. Murdock could only listen to their screams before even those, too, were silenced.

He sent a silent thanks to their bravery without even uttering a word, turning back to face the mission at hand.

“You got a beat on Danvers?!” Frank roared. He rammed his wrist’s chainsaw into the abdomen of the charging Ultron Sentinel, destroying its innards and ripping upwards to slice the robot in half. The red eyes faded to a haunting black as the torn face fell back to join the body.

The battleground was laid before them. The S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers took the majority of the oncoming fire from the Sentinels, but Daisy and Frank helped to even the odds for humanity’s favor. The quaking energy that escaped Daisy’s fists helped to clear out larger waves of Sentinels that tried to near their location. Frank cleared out the stragglers, his suit’s rocket launcher locking on and picking off various Sentinels hidden in the dark of the Fortress. S.H.I.E.L.D. dealt with the rest. There wasn’t much left.

“Rhodes gave me the coordinates when he scouted out the Fortress earlier,” Matt responded, whipping out the tracker James gave him back on the Helicarrier. It was crude, but it worked. That was all that mattered. A flashing pair of blue dots shimmered beneath them. Matt sighed, but nodded regardless. “Just a few floors above target.”

Frank grumbled, then rolled his metal, burly shoulder. “At least were onto something.”

He aimed his gauntlets to the floor directly beneath him, loading in fresh magazines. The small, gloved-hand planting itself on his forearm stopped him. Frank turned to it, meeting Daisy’s black and violet hair. She nodded to him, assuring him. Frank… nodded back. Dropped his gauntlets to his sides. Stepped aside. He and the many others that stood with him watched as Quake drove her right fist into the floor, the tremor of energy shattering the ground directly in front of her. She continued to unload, the energy expelling from her fist and causing the Fortress—or at least where they were—to utterly tremble beneath her. Floor after floor where she directed the energy continued to cave inward, until Matthew urged her to stop.

Daisy shakily rose, wiping the small stream of blood leaking from her nose before she nodded to her team. “How ‘bout now?” she breathed.

Matt whipped out the tracker, seeing a clearing between them and the beats. He nodded to them, not even needing to mention the astonished gasps from both Carol Danvers and Sunset Shimmer once they saw the ceiling before them cave and crumble down that he heard. They would see for themselves.

Frank was the first one down, hovering himself first above and then down below into the depths of the Fortress. Next was Daisy, the Inhuman jamming out her hands as she jumped down into the smoke and darkness. Her energy expelled from her palms and slowed her descent. Matt was the last, nodding to every last soldier that made it with them to follow. He leaped down. The soldiers in black proceeded to secure themselves to the outer edges of the hole Johnson had created, zipping down until their feet touched ground and they broke themselves from the harnesses.

Once the smoke cleared, they were standing within the bright white walls of what was undoubtedly a laboratory. To their right was the rest of the room. To their left was an endless hallway. Directly in front of them were two clear cages… with two astounded Avengers standing on the other side. Their smiles slowly grew.

“Secure the perimeter!” Frank barked to the S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers. They did as they were told, scouring the room with rifles raised until the entire laboratory was cleared. Stomping forward to Carol’s cage, Frank punched the glass walls and shattered them instantly, Carol and Sunset each flinching back and shielding themselves as the glass rained over them, but other than that… they were fine.

They were more than fine.

The second they stepped out of their cages, that rejuvenating inner strength filled them once more. Without the machines to drain that energy from them, they felt at ease. They slowly regained that familiar power each personally held. Once Carol was able to breathe in free air again, she exhaled softly with a warm smile on her lips. Then she ignited her fist and destroyed what was left of the cages with a continuous photon blast. The machines that were once their greatest weakness erupted into flames behind them and melted to the ground.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” Daisy exclaimed with a relieved grin, breaking that distance and meeting Danvers with a fist. Carol chuckled to that, smacking her own against the Inhuman’s. While Daisy bent down to hug Sunset, Carol instead turned to that familiar black suit amongst the others. The devil horns, red eyes, and assuring grin.

“Matt…” she spoke, voice pained to a whisper. He saw her flaming appearance approach him, Murdock merely offering a helpful smile to the Captain. He almost expected a rundown of their situation, or Danvers wishing to know more about their location, Scott’s status, or the Mind Stone. She broke that distance to him. Then, she did something that surprised every Avenger.

She hugged him.

Frank froze where he was, the wiring of his suit twisting back so he could gaze to the scene behind him. He tried to convince himself it was real. Even Daisy shot up her eyebrows in surprise, never once imagining someone so stoic like Captain Marvel to actually offer anything more than a handshake. It was new. It was surprising. Sunset smiled to them, to Danvers especially. Even when she didn’t see it.

With her arms still wrapped tightly around Murdock, she kept her eyes closed and felt his heartbeat against her own. His own human life beating steadily with her. She quivered slightly to that, smiling softly as she whispered, “Thank you for coming for us.”

Nodding to that, Murdock noticed the steady heartbeats filling the room, all attention on them. Patting her shoulders, Matt broke the hug and met Carol face to face. She opened her eyes, smiling in Matt’s burning red. “We’re a team. We’re Avengers,” he told her. “We don’t leave each other behind.”

“Damn right,” Carol offered with a warming smile to boot. He smiled back. A sudden tremor filled the laboratory, causing everybody to shudder where they stood. Carol looked about to the ceiling, the thought recurring to her like a steaming freight train. “Where’s Fury?”

“He’s holding off the Sentinels outside,” Matt answered.

That was all she needed to hear.

She turned to the hallway on the left and started down it. Momentarily frozen by her actions, Matt turned accordingly to Danvers’ back, watching it only shrink further and further away. His voice seemed to fail him, but thankfully, Daisy was there. She asked, “Uh… Carol… where are you going?”

Carol stopped. Turned around. “Where does it look like? I’m gonna help him.”

“No, we need to go now,” Frank argued, stomping towards her. He stopped when he noted the fire in her eyes, Castle having seen that kind of burning spirit many times before. He shook his head, jamming his metal finger to the ground to emphasize every word. “As in right now. No messin’ around, no bullshit. Just us finding Lang, the Stone, and gettin’ the hell outta here.”

Carol turned fully around. For several seconds, she merely stared at them. Watched as they slowly congregated together before her. She furrowed her brow, frowned to all of them, stared in disbelief to see them all stand as one against her. Especially Sunset, the unicorn refusing to move from Murdock’s side.

“Are you serious right now?” Carol asked aloud. No one said a word. No one even breathed. The subtle explosions outside the Fortress were all they heard. Carol directed their attention to that specifically, jamming her hand out to the hallway. “Are you all being serious? There are people out there who need us.”

“And there are trillions of others in our time who need us!” Daisy retorted.

He couldn’t particularly see every wrinkle in her expression—most of it was clouded by the flames in his vision—but Murdock could see deeper than that. He felt her heart just as well as his own, how it ached and pumped that pain through Carol Danvers like her lifeblood. It was a pain that needed to be filled, to be healed. He could already tell why.

Matt shook his head. “Carol… that’s not our Fury.”

She turned to him, hurt in her eyes. “I can’t believe you. You said it yourself… we’re supposed to be Avengers. We’re supposed to save people, not leave them to die!”

He stepped forward. “Carol, please, Scott needs—”

“Go find him and secure the Mind Stone,” Carol said, turning around and proceeding away. “I won’t be long.”

“We don’t have time!” Murdock finally shouted.

Carol stopped again. Several seconds that time. She didn’t turn around.

Until those seconds turned into a near-twenty, Matthew let it persist. By then, he finally spoke, finally finished what needed to be done. “Not anymore. Fury gave us a distraction. He said… that no matter what happens… we need to take what he’s giving us. All he could offer was time… and we’re wasting it. He knew the consequences. He knows what’s on the line… what we’re fighting for.”

She turned that time, turned to face Murdock with burning, watery red eyes. Daisy’s jaw fell. Frank was glad his mask covered his expression. It pained Matt to see her in such turmoil. He knew how much Nick meant to her, but he knew he was right. They had spent too much time in a world that wasn’t their own. The world that was was in dire need of their help. He knew he was right. By the sudden drop in Carol’s heartbeat, Matt knew she felt the same. Begrudgingly, painfully… felt the same.

Her eyes fell to the unicorn, to Sunset. Carol watched as she stepped forth cautiously, taking those final trots ahead of Murdock so she could be that line from her to them. That connection, like the one she so desperately needed to build. One she had torn down countless times before. Sunset did not offer her hoof. She did not offer her a thing.

“Come on, Carol…” she whispered, hope in her burning eyes. “This is our only chance. We need to do this as a team.”

She gave her a choice.

Carol dropped her eyes, taking in that deep breath.

“Or not at all,” Captain Marvel finished.

Sunset’s smile slowly brightened.

“Okay…” Danvers mumbled, sniffling and wiping at her nose. She nodded several times, turning back fully and approaching her team. “Okay. Where’s Scott?”

While Sunset laid her hoof thankfully on Carol’s thigh, Matt, Daisy, and Frank all pointed to the far right of the room, to the end of the laboratory and directed even further than that. Carol and Sunset followed their direction, Danvers closing her eyes when it dawned on her. “You gotta be kidding me…” she mumbled with weariness in her tone. He was right under her nose all along. If only she could’ve escaped. If only…

“Just a few rooms,” Matt assured her. Carol rose a hand to caress the bridge of her nose.

If only.

Frank slapped her shoulder playfully, nodding once to Carol. “Welcome back to the shitshow, Captain.” Even when he wore that skull and red eyes, Danvers could have sworn she saw him smirking beneath it. He would have definitely wanted to hide it. Captain Marvel smirked back.

Sunset turned about and further observed the laboratory. “How do we get out of here?” she questioned aloud for anyone to take.

Frank turned to his right and nudged Daisy. She wearily looked back, seeing him nod towards the wall. Like Carol, she could have sworn he was smirking beneath his mask. Maybe even a shit-eating grin. “You ready for another round?” he asked.

Daisy could already feel the migraine threatening to return. She sighed, taking a weak step forward only to be stopped by a bright red and blue glove on her shoulder. Turning to it, she found solace in the smirk Carol offered to her, taking her place and stepping past the rubble and towards the wall. Then, they watched. All they could do was watch and let her work her old magic.

Carol jammed out both fists and let the photons do the rest. The S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers all gaped in awe to see the golden beams impact the wall and utterly decimate it, then the next wall, then the next. Then the real fight began.

As the walls outside the furthest laboratory burst inward and showered over the golden Ultron Sentinels, the army of the mad AI could do little to nothing as a storm of S.H.I.E.L.D. troopers stampeded in and fired away. Their escape route was tarnished when the Punisher and Captain Marvel flew in, their conjoined paths of raining bullets and photon blasts tearing through any Sentinel they caught in their line of fire. It was too easy. They cleared house in less than a minute, the three Avengers trailing over the bodies and approaching the two lone tables in the entire laboratory. Daredevil, Quake, and Sunset had their eyes solely latched to the scepter, to Scott Lang, that they never even noticed how quiet it got.

It was too easy.

Then Matt stopped dead in his tracks. He pulled out his billy clubs and screamed.

But the wall directly ahead was already destroyed. Raining fire and metal tore through the nearby S.H.I.E.L.D. agents like they were made of paper, the explosion filling the entirety of the laboratory until smoke clouded all that remained. Captain Marvel cleared that, soaring down and using that added speed to wipe away the lingering dust in the room. As the dust cleared, all that stood within on the other side was the flapping red cloak.

He pushed it aside, unveiling the six sinister eyes. The towering body. The manic grin.

Ultron smiled to them. “I’m thankful you don’t quit,” he sneered. “I enjoy the fire of the human spirit. Especially… when it turns to ash.”

He jammed out just one of his five arms, and in an instant, a horde of Ultron Sentinels filled the ground below him. They stormed through the S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers, the men and women doing everything in their power to hold them off. One by one, they were swarmed and picked off. Never retreating, though. Always fighting to the bitter end. Ultron smiled even wider, his eyes shifting forward to the flaming woman rising above the rest. Her fire overcame her, the gold of her eyes latching to him alone.

“Cover me!” Matt screamed. He held a Sentinel back by his forearm, rearing back and jamming the end of his club into its eye socket. Pushing the dead robot off him, he turned to the unicorn’s heartbeat behind him. “Sunset, help me with Lang! Frank, you handle the scepter! Daisy and Carol—!”

He didn’t have to tell them.

They were already on him.

Captain Marvel screamed as she tore herself across the air to meet Ultron. Their bodies collided in mid-air, each offering and exchanging various earth-shattering blows to one another. Ultron grabbed her by her throat, pushing her forward and sending six continuous streams of concussion blasts into her chest. Carol simply pushed through it, driving her golden-tinted fist into the side of his face and finishing him off with a pair of photon blasts to the chest. Ultron crashed to the floor, quickly rising and quickly showering Danvers with a swarm of Ultron Sentinels. By the time he rose to full height, he was bombarded with quake-like energy fields.

Daisy Johnson ran forward, fists at the ready and shivering with trembling energy. Ultron turned to see the Inhuman rushing him, the AI swinging for her head but only seeing her slide beneath his claws. Daisy grit her teeth as she spun on her knee, ramming her fist into Ultron’s knee and cracking it to the side from the energy fueling her gauntlets. Ultron nearly crumbled, grunting to her efforts and ramming his fists across her frame. The Inhuman was slick in her movements, barely managing to slide and duck between punches and apply some of her own. Each time, she would get something new. Sometimes his abdomen would be exposed. Sometimes she would strike him across his face. Sometimes she would continuously go for his legs. Every time he would buckle against the quaking energy blasts she sent into him.

Ultron finally found his footing, gripping the back of Daisy’s head and tearing her back by her hair. Until she was bent at an awkward angle. She screamed, barely looking up with her neck fully exposed. Eyes widening to see Ultron lift one of his many right hands. His claws extended, sharpened to needle-like points, as he drove that claw downwards to her jugular.

Frank zoomed in and struck Ultron’s back before he could even get the chance to bring his claw over her. Ultron grunted as he fell forward, Daisy falling to the ground. Clutching her throat, she gazed to the robotic beast and watched him stand once more, his eyes trailing the Punisher. He jammed out his glowing fingers to the flying suit of armor, intent on only seeing a smoldering corpse of man and machine left. Captain Marvel’s golden body gored him out of the way and directly through the furthest wall. Their fight continued in the open and darkened hallways, the grunts of exerted effort from both Carol and Ultron echoing into the lab. Daisy shakily rose and sprinted right after them.

Castle landed near the examination table that held the scepter. He blew the charging Sentinel’s head off with one round from his gauntlet, not even paying its falling body any heed as he analyzed the scepter hanging within the blue energy field. His HUD pointed out the shimmering gem still encased in the eye of the scepter. He gripped its handle and ripped it free.

“Stone is secure!” Castle shouted. His shoulder-mounted rocket launchers cleared the swarming Sentinels entering the lab, creating a wall of fire. He didn’t even watch it happen, just focused on Murdock and Sunset rushing towards a certain Ant-Man.

Matt was the first one to reach the suspended Scott Lang on the examination table. He twirled his billy club around, rearing back as he stabbed an Ultron Sentinel from its bottom jaw and into the back of its head. Not even a glance back. He heard all he needed to see to keep himself safe. Sunset slid to the other side, creating a shield of magic behind her as more and more Ultron Sentinels tried to swarm her rear. As they passed the wall of burning red magic, they were vaporized into ashes. Like Murdock, she did not turn to face her handy work in action. Her full attention was to him.

Her fellow Avenger. She shot a beam of magic from her already glowing horn into the table, cutting off the energy field Scott was trapped in. His back fell and struck the table, Sunset’s hooves and Matthew’s hands clutching Lang and checking him for injuries. Matt could sense none, and instead felt his belt for Lang’s Pym Particles. They were secured. He felt his wrist. Time Travel GPS. He felt his neck. A pulse.

“Scott?” Sunset gasped, her hooves clutching Ant-Man’s cheeks and squishing them together. She noticed her adrenaline-fueled actions, easing up a bit but holding Scott close nonetheless. “Oh, gosh, Scott, can you hear me? Scott, give me something! Come on!”

Her breath-filled whispers were becoming more frantic, but she soon found that ease when Lang fluttered his eyes open. The first thing he saw, the only thing he saw was what crowded his vision and clutched his face. The worrying expression and the burning eyes of Sunset Shimmer.

Instead, he mumbled, “… Mom?”

Matt pursed his lips, nodding once. “He’s fine.”

Sunset merely gasped out a chuckle and hugged him, finally glad to have her team back together again. It was all she could offer before Daisy Johnson fell back and crashed before them. Matt, Scott, and Sunset all tore themselves away from each other and down to the wounded Avenger, their eyes darting upwards to see it for themselves.

Ultron stomped forward and crushed the skull of a broken Sentinel beneath his foot. His cape was torn, his body trembling, but otherwise he stood. He stood strong and glared down the remaining Avengers. All six eyes narrowed. Especially to Daredevil and the equine freeing his guest. Especially to the Punisher holding his Infinity Stone.

Then Carol tackled him.

Ultron threw her off before she could get a strong grasp on him, watching as the Captain slid before him on two feet. She slid until she couldn’t anymore, the fire in her shimmering eyes only brightening by the second. The soft drip of the blue blood leaking from her lower lip meant nothing to her. The blood was vaporized as the light only continued to consume her form, blocking out everything else except the monster standing in front of her.

Not everything…

She turned to her left once she heard the heavy stomps, eyeing Frank Castle standing tall with the scepter in hand, every other weapon of war pointed outwards on the other. To her right, she watched as Matthew Murdock, as Sunset Shimmer, as Scott Lang, and as Daisy Johnson pulled themselves together and stood with her. Never leaving her. Carol slowly faced forward, her lips closed to a tight and valiant smirk.

Scott pressed on his thumb as his Ant-Man helmet closed over his face.

Ultron roared.

The Avengers roared back.

He charged first, unprepared for the blast from the scepter that Frank sent his way. It was followed by various rockets and bullets that struck Ultron’s outer armor and tore him from the air. He struck the ground with a painful grunt. He was only able to rise to his knee, to look up in time to see Daisy’s boot slash across his vision. He cried out as her kick sent his vision spiraling, his head twisting to the side to meet Daredevil. Murdock was slick and fast, far too fast for Ultron to counter or even see. The black shadow caught Ultron before he could even stand fully, striking the AI’s kneecap and abdomen with his billy clubs. Swinging down to slash at him, Ultron was unsuccessful, instead only seeing the microscopic man leap from Murdock’s shoulder and send a fierce punch directly between his eyes.

Ultron staggered back. His feet wobbled and froze when he felt the magical field of energy cloud his body. From head to toe. He looked back to see Sunset Shimmer glaring behind him. Her horn brightened. Back and forth, across every wall and to every inch of the floor, Sunset launched and flung Ultron’s body until her neck craned skywards and sideways, teeth tightening like a feral dog as sweat streamed down her forehead. She continued the onslaught until the lab was devastated. Until she flung him in the air and let Carol handle the rest.

Captain Marvel caught the AI in mid-air, fighting for supremacy to gain that much-needed advantage. However, Ultron seemed to be snapped from a daze, clutching onto Danvers with two claws on her shoulders. He refused to let go, Carol looking from one claw to another. Then back to him. Ultron narrowed his hellish eyes. Carol’s hair flared upwards, her eyes a blistering firestorm of gold. She screamed and Ultron released her. Using her supersonic speed, Danvers soared forward and rammed herself into Ultron’s abdomen, flying down and striking the floor with such devastating force that the entirety of the Fortress trembled.

And she rose out of it.

As the dust settled and the light emerged, the remaining five Avengers came together as one to observe her. The gold broke through the dusty black and settled onto her being, clearing the darkness and leaving just her standing proudly above it. There she stood, Carol Danvers breathing heavily. Utterly weary, sore, wounded… but satisfied. Her heavy breaths were accompanied by the glowing grin on her lips. They shared her sentiments and smiled back.

The Fortress shook as a devastating explosion rippled through it.

“We’re out of time,” Matt stated aloud, raising his GPS and adjusting his coordinates to the correct location and year. He sent those coordinates to his team, nodding to them. “Everyone, together.”

They came together. Frank Castle with the scepter tightly gripped in his right hand, the mask of the Punisher Armor sliding back to unveil Castle’s firm nod to Matt. He raised his left hand, his GPS, and was ready. Daisy Johnson wobbled forward, sent a weary but grateful smile to Murdock as she raised her left hand and gazed into the face of her GPS. Scott Lang—still unsure where he was—joined them regardless and lifted his left hand, right hand over it. The Fortress shook and the ceiling fell around them. Sunset Shimmer hobbled over the debris, leaping over a piece of rubble and standing between Murdock and Johnson. She stared down to her left hoof, slowly raised it to gaze onto her GPS. She paused.

She turned.

They all did.

In the shower of falling debris and raining fire of the burning Fortress, the lone five Avengers gazed silently onto her. And she stood alone within that firestorm. Captain Marvel stared to nowhere and listened, the faint explosions and horrifying sounds of warfare unfolding just outside the walls of her imprisonment. She slowly shifted her attention to it, holding her breath as those sounds slowly overcame her senses. The Captain’s fist curled tightly, her eyes fluttering closed, as she took a deep breath inward.

Her fists shivered. They shivered until they couldn’t anymore… and she released herself.

Her fists unfurled. She exhaled. Carol Danvers opened her eyes and turned back. To them.

Her team. Her Avengers.

She joined them, too. Sunset smiled gratefully, Carol returning it as she stood between her and Murdock. It was the only smile Danvers could offer before that overwhelming sense of regret filled what remained. First, it was her smile, then her expression, then her shoulders as they fell and the weight of her failure once more overcame Captain Marvel.

“Hey, Captain!”

The voice in her ear caught her for a brief second, Carol gasping and raising her tear-filled eyes. Those around her raised their left hands and hooves slowly, as if time seemed to slow and none of them heard the voice she had. It was just for her. Just the voice of her old friend Nick Fury speaking to her one last time. His words tore through the fresh opening in her heart. She raised her left hand, right hand hovering over it. Both shivered as she trembled where she stood.

“We’re gonna be all right here. Good luck with your people… and fair winds, renegade.”

Carol closed her eyes, unable to stop the tear slipping down her cheek. She chuckled softly and shook her head, slamming her right palm down the same second Murdock ordered them to. Even as Fury’s final words echoed in her comms, Carol just closed her eyes, smiled, and went home.

The labs were dead silent. The lights flickered above and left darkness and light within the remains of the battleground. The distant eruptions caused the Fortress to tremble, more and more ceiling crashing down. Other than that, it was silent. Then, noise. A sound emerging from the hole within the smoking floor. It was a voice, the rumbling of robotic vocal cords giving a soft laughter.

Laughter.

A claw rose up and clutched the edge of the hole. Then another. Another. Until all six rose up and pulled Ultron out of the hole in the ground. He rose to full height, brushing the debris and dust from his person as his eyes observed the battle ongoing and ending outside his Fortress.

The remaining ospreys burned and fell to the earth as his Sentinels swarmed them. The outer shields of the Helicarrier broke and the flying beast was encased in gold and fire. Various blossoms of flame and cinder erupted from the hull of the Helicarrier, the bridge collapsing and the ship descending to a fiery grave upon the desolate city of New York. The last of S.H.I.E.L.D. finally pulled from their hole and finished for good. Ultron blinked and gazed to the remains of his laboratory.

Flickering images on the various computer screens gave off nothing that he could use, so he raised his forearm and tapped away. A hologram sprouted forth from his wrist, Ultron sliding across the formulas his Sentinels had acquired from Scott Lang. The Ant-Man had escaped with his team and the Infinity Stone in tow. No matter. Ultron was not worried. He hummed a soft but familiar tune as he flicked through the hologram, across the various calculations and formulas for the Pym Particles.

His Sentinels had done an exceptional study. Lang’s GPS proved to offer a bountiful supply of information. Its capabilities. Its technology. Its blueprints. He tapped twice on his hologram, the microbot he had placed on Captain Marvel’s shoulder blade blinking again and again, showing the path the Avengers were traveling towards. They stopped. He had a location, a year. Coordinates.

Ultron smiled to that. The hardest part was finished. Now, he just needed to wait. Wait for his Sentinels to make a fresh batch of particles and finish the Quantum Tunnel.

“I want… the world to know… nothing ever worries me.”