「16」

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"What?" asked Alyssa, shocked.

"It worked. We found Natasha. She's in Sokovia," responded Tony, holding up his phone for emphasis.

"Okay. That's good news. Everybody, suit up. Get what you need," said Steve, immediately jumping into character.

The next few minutes were a scramble; everyone got the things they needed for the mission. When Steve got back from changing into his uniform, Kendra ran up to him with a determined look on her face.

"Steve, let me come with you," she said.

"No, it's far too dangerous for a civilian."

"Yeah, except I'm not a civilian. I can fight, and I'm coming with you," Kendra's eyebrows shot up, not waiting for an answer before quickly running off to get her stuff. Steve scoffed lightly in astonishment but didn't try to stop her.

Tony and Bruce were stringing together the tech equipment, talking over the upcoming mission.

"No way we all get through this. If even one tin soldier is left standing, we've lost. There's gonna be blood on the floor," said Tony, Bruce listening with a tense expression. "I get first crack at the big guy. Iron Man's the one he's waiting for."

"That's true, he hates you the most," mentioned Vision as he walked past them.

Alyssa was standing next to Wanda, pulling her suit over her arms and reaching back into the closet to get her jacket. But her gaze drifted to the right where Natasha's stuff was hanging, and before she knew it she threw a green tactical vest over her shoulders. Satisfied with her get-up she threw a red jacket over at Wanda, who startled when she caught it.

Alyssa had to do a double take when she glanced at Pietro who was pulling a blue fitted shirt over his toned abs. Clearing her throat she put on her shoes and ran back to the living room where most of the team was already waiting.

Alyssa's eyes went wide when she saw Kendra fully dressed in a red and black tactical suit, her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. "Wow, didn't know you just... carried that around with you," she gestured at Kendra's clothes, standing next to her as Steve began leading everyone to the Quinjet.

Kendra smirked at her, walking in confident strides as she walked up the ramp. "Well, you should always be prepared."

As everyone took their seats, Steve put his shield on his back, standing in front of the group. "Ultron knows we're coming. Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire. And that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So our priority is getting them out."

The atmosphere was tense and the jet was quiet, everyone preparing for the battle that was about to come.

Pietro was messing with his earpiece when Alyssa sat down next to him.

"You okay?"

Pietro sighed, leaning his head back against the rigging. "Yeah, I'm fine. You?"

Alyssa just nodded, her gaze drifting around the jet. "I just..." she paused for a moment, staring at her hands. A small smile grazed her lips when Wanda joined them, propping herself up on some mission crates in the corner. "Just be careful out there," she said finally.

Pietro smirked, teasingly slinging his arm around Alyssa's shoulders. "Aww, you care about me, aнгел?"

"Shut up, Maximoff. Just don't die," the girl responded, leaving her seat with a light grin on her face. Wanda chuckled, watching her brother as he snickered under his breath.

Some hours passed and the Quinjet eventually landed in Sokovia. Steve immediately hurried everyone out, giving orders and stating his plan.

Before Alyssa could head out with Wanda, Pietro, and Kendra to get the citizens out, Tony grabbed her hand, holding her back.

"Ally, be careful. Please," he pleaded.

"You too, dad," she smiled, jumping off the ramp and disappearing into the crowd. Tony closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose, materializing his suit and taking off to confront Ultron.

The rest split into their designated groups; Bruce and Thor going to figure out what Ultron was building as well as finding Natasha.

Steve and Clint were fighting off Ultron's drones, urging the people to get out of the fighting zone. Wanda was struggling to hold her shield, and Alyssa jumped into action; hurling a crackling ball of energy in the direction of the robots.

She ran to Wanda, helping her up when suddenly the ground began to shake. People were screaming as the buildings collapsed and the earth began to rip. Ultron's voice could be heard from his drones, sending shivers down Alyssa's spine.

"You take away my world, I take away yours," his voice was everywhere. It was only now that Alyssa noticed that the ground wasn't just ripping, it was floating. She watched in horror as the earth beneath her began to fall away, people and houses slowly getting smaller.

"Do you see the beauty of it? The inevitability. You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, you are my meteor. My swift and terrible sword. And the earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world will be metal," said Ultron, pure satisfaction seeping into his speech.

Meanwhile, the team was still trying to get the people to safety, fighting off the swarm of robots that never seemed to end.

Steve's voice was heard over the comms. "Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job; tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt them back. You get killed, walk it off."

"Damn, Rogers. You're really one for speeches, huh?" panted Kendra as she rounded the corner, running over to Alyssa, Clint, and Wanda, checking over them quickly to make sure they were okay.

The four of them just cleared another building when they saw a herd of robots appearing in the distance.

Aww, hell.

"Those are so many, what do we do?" asked Wanda, breathing heavily.

Kendra took a step forward, shaking her hands. "Ally, give me a boost!" she shouted as she started running.

Alyssa immediately summoned as much energy as she could, directing her hands on Kendra who jumped, Alyssa's grip on her hurling her several feet in the air. She landed with a thump, sending a blood-red shockwave towards the drones. The majority of the drones exploded, metal flying everywhere, but there were some in the back that managed to evade the blast of energy.

Alyssa ran to Kendra, orange tendrils floating around her arms as her palms lit up. She cleared out the remaining robots, panting when she turned to the blonde next to her.

"We make a great team," said Kendra, a grin on her face.

"We do. And I have so many questions for when we get back," responded Alyssa, grinning back.

They looked back in time to see Pietro running towards Wanda, picking her up as he sped off again. "Keep up, old man!"

Clint grunted in annoyance, aiming his bow at him. "Nobody would know. Nobody."

Alyssa laughed as she reached him, patting him on the back before running after Pietro. "We would know, Hawk."

"That quick little bastard," the archer mumbled, jogging after Alyssa.

They reached the other end of the city, listening to Tony and Steve argue over the comms.

"What do you got, Stark?"

"Huh? Nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface, if you guys can get clear."

"I asked for a solution, not an escape plan."

"Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We're gonna have to make a choice," Tony said.

Alyssa took a step towards the edge, looking over at Steve, her eyes going wide when she laid eyes on Natasha. "Nat!"

She sprinted in her direction, the redhead smiling brightly when she saw the younger girl. "Ally! You're- is that my vest?"

Alyssa grinned sheepishly, nodding as she looked down at herself. Natasha smirked, an amused scoff escaping her lips. "I knew you liked my vest."

Alyssa was beaming but quickly got back to reality when she overlooked the clouds. "We're not getting off this rock, are we."

Natasha tilted her head, squinting her eyes as she looked at the sun. "There's worse ways to go. Where else am I gonna get a view like this?"

Suddenly there was static coming from the radio, Nick Fury's voice rattling through the comms. "Glad you like the view, Romanoff. It's about to get better."

Everyone's mouth was wide open as they saw a ginormous helicarrier appear on the horizon, sending dust everywhere as the giant engines kept it in the air.

"Nice, right? Pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do."

Steve grinned, chuckling lightly. "Fury, you son of a bitch."

"Oh, you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Alyssa exhaled in relief when she saw lifeboats flying towards the city, immediately running over to help the people get on board.

Tony and Rhodey, who's made an enthusiastic entrance, were keeping the drones from attacking the carrier, Tony going over his plan.

"I got it. Create a heat seal. I could supercharge the spire from below," he said as FRIDAY went over the numbers.

"A heat seal could work with enough power," the AI concluded.

"Thor, I got a plan," Tony announced over comms.

"We're out of time. They're coming for the core," the god responded.

Tony bit his lip, going over his options. "Rhodey, get the rest of the people on board that carrier. Avengers, time to work for a living."

At Tony's signal, everyone headed for the center of the city. The group met at the church, which was now nothing more than a ruin, and formed a circle around the core. Wanda and Clint arrived, followed by Kendra and Alyssa. Pietro quickly went to hug Wanda, and to her surprise, also hugged Alyssa.

They were still missing Nat and Bruce, however, and Tony got worked up as he flung a robot against the wall. "Romanoff, you and Banner better not be playing 'hide the zucchini'."

"Relax, shellhead. Not all of us can fly," Natasha replied, running into the church. "What's the drill?"

"This is the drill," Tony pointed at the core. "If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose."

Everyone took a moment to breathe when there were no more drones in sight, lining up when they saw Ultron hovering in the air.

"Is that the best you can do?" shouted Thor, bearing his arms mockingly. Ultron simply lifted his hand, a whole new army of robots appearing behind him.

Alyssa scoffed, turning to Thor with an unimpressed look. "Come on, man."

"This is the best I can do. This is exactly what I wanted. All of you against all of me. How can you possibly hope to stop me?" Ultron said.

"Well... like the old man said. Together," replied Tony.

Then all hell broke loose.

The army of robots came running towards the church and everyone immediately engaged in battle, Clint shooting arrow after arrow, Thor conjuring lightning bolt after lightning bolt. Eventually, Ultron himself joined the fight, battling with Vision in the air. Vision quickly gained the upper hand, blasting Ultron away with a bolt of yellow energy coming from the stone in his forehead. Thor additionally blasted him with lighting, and Tony was the last piece to the puzzle; each hand shooting white-hot energy at the robot. Ultron slowly started melting and the three Avengers powered down as he slowly stood up, his metal shell steaming and sizzling.

"You know, with the benefit of hindsight-"

Ultron didn't get to finish, as the Hulk cut him off, punching him so hard that he was flung across the entire city. He growled at the remaining drones, which all quickly ran to the edge of the flying rock.

"They're trying to leave the city," Thor stated.

"We can't let them, not even one. Rhodey," said Tony, and the mentioned man immediately sprung into action. His high was quickly overcome by Vision though, who got rid of every drone on his own.

Back in the church, the rest of the group went over the final plan.

"We gotta move out. Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats. I'll sweep for stragglers. Be right behind you," said Steve.

"What about the core?" Clint asked.

"I'll protect it. It's my job," Wanda replied, already taking a stance in front of the core.

Everyone agreed as Steve took off, and Clint took Nat and Kendra with him to the boats. Alyssa took a moment to make sure that Wanda was really fine with this when Pietro ran in.

"Get the people on the boats," Wanda said to her brother, who shook his head in return.

"I'm not going to leave you here," he answered.

"I can handle this," Wanda replied, blasting a robot to prove her point. "Come back for me when everyone else is off. Not before."

Pietro groaned in annoyance, walking up to Alyssa and taking her arm, when he turned around again. "You know, I'm 12 minutes older than you," he grinned.

Wanda chuckled, gesturing for him and Alyssa to leave. "Go."

The two of them arrived at the last boat where Nat and Kendra were already waiting. Kendra's brows furrowed in confusion when she saw Alyssa approaching.

"Where's the speedster?" she asked.

Alyssa looked at her for a moment before turning. "He should be right-"

She cut herself off when she heard a machine gun going off in the distance and she ran toward the sound, her eyes widening when she saw Clint crouched behind a car, holding a small child.

But her breath left her lungs when she saw Pietro staggering in front of him, his entire body pierced by bullets.