chapter xi.
(   age of ultron   )

day of  judgment, God is calling
on their knees, the war pigs crawling
begging mercies for their sins
war pigs ─── black sabbath

sokovia
may 6, 2015

Red tendrils slither through the city as people come flooding out of their houses and gray apartment buildings. They pass by us with distant looks in their eyes, following Wanda's call as she tries to get them out of the city. Police officers rush around along with us, trying to help us evacuate people before it's too late.

"Your man's in the church, Boss." FRIDAY's voice echoes across Dad's and my connected interface, making me look up at him as he hovers a distance away. "I think he's waiting for you."

"I'm with you." I give Dad a sturdy look, following after him as he blasts towards the center of the city.

Our feet made small thunks against the gravelly concrete as we land in the center of a crumbling church building. The air is smokey and cool as I slowly straighten, glancing over at Dad as he looks around in caution. Dad's suit quietly whirs as we step further under the white light that shines in through the windows and the open arches.

A voice bites through the sound, making the both of us freeze as Ultron smirks, "Come to confess your sins?"

I immediately lift my hands and set back my shoulders, looking around for the robot that has still yet to show himself.

"I don't know." Dad clips back casually, pursing his lips, "How much time you got?"

I roll my eyes over at him.

"More than you." A loud foot crunches onto the ground, making the both of us spin to watch as Ultron's suddenly so much larger metal body towers over us.

We both step back a little, repositioning ourselves to stare up at him.

"Eh, have you been juicing?" Ultron cocks his head and steps a bit closer as Dad quips, "Little vibranium cocktail?"

I agree quietly, trying to sound just as nonchalant as I motion my hand about, "I mean, you are looking a tad bit larger..."

Ultron puffs a near silent laugh.

Dad's eye twitches from what I can see through our connected lens, "I don't wanna say 'puffy'."

Puffy?

Oh, God.

Despite the terse air that hovers over us, I let out a loud laugh and squint over at him.

Ultron doesn't go on being as amused, slowly stepping around us, "You're stalling to protect the people."

"Well, that is the mission." Dad and I begin walking the circle that keeps the three of us from tearing each other apart, "Did you forget?"

"I've moved beyond your mission. I'm free." His beady eyes meet mine and I feel an immediate smile come over my face, "I'm not a puppet."

My scowl disappears and I jump when a large metal contraption bursts out of the nearby platform. It spins up through the concrete and its metal talons crush the surrounding ground as they smack down on the ground to set it into place. My brows furrow deeply and I catch my breath, my stomach churning at the sight of whatever this thing could be.

"What?" Ultron asks mockingly, standing on the other side of the circular building. "You two think you were the only one stalling?"

Breathing heavily, I continue to stare at the thing in dread, knowing that whatever the heck this is, is not at all good for us or for the rest of Sokovia.

"There's the rest of the vibranium." FRIDAY informs us as white spirals circle the metal contraption jutting out of the ground.

I step a little closer to it, breathing quietly as I look down to the concrete where the device just keeps stretching down and down. The vibranium has dug itself deep into the earth, right to its very core.

"Function: still unclear."

"This is how you end, Starks."

Dad and I both slowly look up at the robot that stands across from us, worry ingraining itself onto our matching features. Our end. A lump rises in my throat and I glance over at my father with wide and worried eyes.

"This is peace in my time."

"You've got a screwed up idea of peace, Ultron." I seethe, rolling my shoulders back a little.

We're pulled from our conversation when sudden loud crashing and screaming erupt from within the city. My eyes round in worry as I click my dials for a visual of the city to appear in my lens. An video of legionnaires suddenly beginning to emerge from every corridor and crevice throughout the city comes alive before my eyes and I'm forced to watch as the metal beings begin tearing people apart as they try desperately to flee.

"Dad!" My voice is full of panic as I look over my shoulder at him, feeling like I'm nearly asking for permission.

"Go!" He shouts back deeply, "The Vision will take care of this! I'm right behind you!"

My thrusters launch me from the crumbling church before I burst out into the city. I drop down beside Wanda as we hurriedly try to hold off the attacking legionnaires while people behind us try to get off the bridge. Wanda, with gritted teeth, keeps a red shield up, trying to break the metal beings before they themselves can break through.

I try as best as I can to help Wanda while still yelling reassurances and orders and helping the civilians move from the city as quick as they can. Men, women, and children of so many different nationalities, not just Sokovian, pass by me as they all scream in fear. There's so much fear, so many terrified faces that I find it hard to even breathe.

"FRIDAY, the Vision?" Dad's voice asks over the comm.

"Boss, it's working. He's burning Ultron out of the net. He won't escape through there."

There's only a brief chance of relief before I let out a surprised shriek when the ground suddenly begins to crack and splinter beneath my shoes. The whole city begins to tremble and shake, tearing from its foundations in a horrifically angry pace. Wanda and I grab onto each other's arms, trying to stabilize the other as the world continues to rumble and groan.

When the two of us begin to stumble, a firm hand takes hold of our arms and I look over to my shoulder at Clint as he says quietly, "This isn't gonna be good."

One long crack begins to circle around the city, creating a huge pit that buildings, cars, bridges, and all the rest groan and slip deep down into. People scream from all around me and I hurry to try to get them to the other side before whatever's happening completely happens. They tear at my arms, my hair, my clothes as they beg for me to get them to safety. But I can't save them all. I can't save them. A huge puff of gray dust rises up all around my face, making me cough and shakily turn around to find Dad amidst the growing destruction.

"FRIDAY?" His voice is quiet and fearful as he speaks from high above.

The female AI responds in a voice that trembles, "Sokovia is going for a ride."

My lungs shudder out a breath as the dust continues to lift, "Oh God..."

"Do you see," my leather boots trip so that I can fearfully watch as Ultron begins to rise above all of us, spreading his hands out towards the devastated earth, "the beauty of it? The inevitability. You rise, only to fall."

The city begins to climb higher and buildings collapse and disappear from all around us, falling over the side of the rock of floating earth.

"You, Avengers, you are my meteor. My swift and terrible sword. And the earth will crack with the weight of your failure."

I cover my mouth with my hand, shaking my head as ground no longer surrounds us but terrifying pale blue sky.

"Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me."

Wanda stays pressed against a car, staring up at the looming legionnaire's with wide and frightened eyes. Clint and I stand side-by-side, trying to take them down. But it means nothing. Another just takes its place.

"It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world... will be metal."

I grit down onto my teeth, scowling fiercely at the robots hovering above. The chunk of earth rises higher and higher and there's no stopping it now.

FRIDAY goes on explaining for the two remaining Starks, explaining just how this is possible, "The vibranium core's got a magnetic field. That's what's keeping the rock together."

"And if it drops, FRIDAY?" I press a finger to my comm, trying to hear over the sound of breaking earth, "What then?"

"Right now, the impact can kill thousands. Once it gets high enough? Global extinction."

"God help us." I whisper, shaking my head as I look around in sickened horror at the legionnaires that just keep coming.

"That building's not clear!" FRIDAY rushes to tell my father as he scours the shaking apartment buildings lining the edge of the rising city, "The tenth floor."

A few seconds later, I hear Dad gives an awkward laugh over our doubled comms, smiling at the small and scared family, "Hi. Ok-ay. Get in the tub!"

The fight just keeps going and the metal just keeps coming. And I don't seen any end to this. Not in any way that ends well. Not in any way that ends with these people coming out unscathed. Not in any way that ends with my family getting out alive. This isn't how I wanted this to end, no matter what Ultron says. I'm not ready, but there's no running from this. These people aren't ready to die either and I'm not leaving them. None of us can leave them.

"Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely." Steve's strong and ever-leading voice stretches out over the line, speaking to all of us, "The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt them back. You get killed... walk it off."

As Wanda, Clint, and I follow Steve's orders, I give a slow agreeing shrug.

Not too bad of advice, I suppose.

I yell loudly as I take hold of one of the legionnaire's and rip its console out. I spin back to the ground before firing another two beams at the oncoming horde that ends up looking a lot more threatening than I originally assumed. My eyes widen before I turn towards the other two one this street before Clint, Wand, and I grab onto each other and throw ourselves through the window of a shuttered old store. Our bodies collide hard into the ground and we all hurriedly scramble for safety amidst the crumbling building.

Wanda panickedly crawls from the window, whispering in horror, "How could I let this happen?"

I look over at her, breathing deeply as I try to yank a few pieces of concrete from a wound on my shoulder.

Clint looks over at her in confused worry, "Hey, hey, you okay?"

She keeps muttering, "This is all our fault."

"Hey, look at me," Clint gets close to the girl my age, trying to get hear to listen to him, "It's your fault, it's everyone's fault. Who cares? Are you up for this? Are you?"

I watch between the two of them, breathing heavily still.

"Look, I just need to know. Because... the city is flying." He gives a laughing scoff, "Okay. Look, the city is flying, we're fighting an army of robots, and I have a bow and arrow."

I let out a tired puff of a laugh, shaking my head in sad amusement with the archer.

"None of this makes sense. But we're," he turns his thumb between himself and me, "going back out there because it's our job. Okay? And we can't do our job and babysit. It doesn't matter what you did or who you were. If you go out there, you fight, and you fight to kill. Stay in here, you're good. I'll send your brother to come find you. But if you step out that door... you're an Avenger."

Wanda looks up at us with wide tearful eyes, shaking her head in disbelief.

"You were meant for more than this, Wanda." I give her a sad and encouraging smile before I stand up, groaning at the pain in my body, "We all get second chances. Maybe this one's yours?"

With a deep breath, Clint stands up beside me and pulls out a collection of new arrows, reloading his bow, "Alright, good chat. Yeah, the city is flying," he gives a sigh and shakes his head before slamming back out the front door.

Legionnaires launch at us as soon as we show our faces. The archer and I work side-by-side just as we once did so many years ago, trying to take them down one by one as they just keep pouring out of every crevice. Hot light blazes my side and my face and bruises clutter my skin, but there is no stopping.

As the legionnaires lift up, I wrap an arm around Clint's chest and then blast us both sideways, allowing for the both of us to shoot at the oncoming metal beings before we collide into the broken concrete on the ground. We both groan loudly, uncomfortably flopping up so that we can get some better cover behind a broken vehicle.

"Ow." Clint groans out before looking up at the new horde of legionnaires with a tired sigh.

The doors to the side suddenly swoop open and young woman with red eyes steps out into the chaos. Her hand juts out to the side and a slice of red swoops out, curving around the metal beings and tearing them apart.

Clint and I watch in shock as the girl continues single-handedly destroying the monsters. With a glance and a shrug at each other, we both stand and do our best to help her.

"Nice to see you could join us," I give my new friend a teasing smile.

"Yes, something about second chances?" She smiles back kindly.

Clint lets out a breath as we begin moving down the street, "Alright, we're all clear here."

"We are not clear!" Steve yells back, "We are very not clear!"

"Alright, coming to you."

A blur of blue suddenly passes before Pietro scoops Wanda up and speeds away, shouting, "Keep up, old man!"

Clint pulls back in surprise before scowling after the twins, directing an arrow after them and singing "Nobody would know. Nobody." He gives a careless shrug as he begins to jog along, "'The last I saw him, an Ultron was sitting on him. Yeah, he'll be missed, that quick little guy. I miss him already'."

I raise my eyebrows at him, "Someone's feeling a bit feisty, aren't we?" Clint grumbles before I smirk knowingly, "Want a lift?"

He rolls his eyes at me which I know is his version of disgruntled concession so I smirk a bit wider and wrap both of my arms around his chest. I roll my shoulders back and look up, preparing to go before he suddenly stops me.

"Hey." The master assassin gives me a firm expression, "You tell anybody about this and I'll kill you in your sleep."

I raise my eyebrows, "You might not get the chance, but duly noted all the same. Hold tight, old man."

"Shut up."

As we land back in the center of the city, I look around quickly to see the fight still raging with Steve, Nat, and Thor nearby. As I begin to escort people from the edges of the city, I can't help but dreadfully notice the immense amount of sky all around us. The air is cold and I find myself shivering in Dad's oversized black jacket. Clouds drift around my shins and then over my head and the air gets harder and harder to breathe.

"The next wave is gonna hit any minute," Steve meets my side as we continue to help the civilians away from the most dangerous hordes, "What do you got, Stark?"

"Nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city..." He sighs the words out, hopelessness seeping into it, "That'll keep it from impacting the surface, if you guys can get clear."

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

"Steve..." I shake my head, speaking quietly as I stare at him, "I don't think there is a solution."

"Impact radius is getting bigger every second." Dad says the words in a quiet resignation, "We're gonna have to make a choice."

"Cap, these people are going nowhere." Nat takes my side, her lips pursing, "If Stark finds a way to blow this rock..."

Steve responds firmly, "Not 'til everyone's safe."

"Everyone up here versus everyone down there?" Her eyes flicker with a care for those down below, as if she has people down there she specifically needs to protect, "There's no math there."

"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it."

"I didn't say we should leave. There's worse ways to go. Where else am I gonna get
a view like this?"

"Glad you like the view, Romanoff." A familiar person breaks into our comms and my mouth falls open for the second time of hearing this particular voice, "It's about to get better."

Another very familiar sight comes before my eyes and the sight of the huge helicarrier from 2012 comes before my eyes.

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

Lifeboats come from the sides of the helicarriers and soon we are hurrying to get everyone still left on this rock out onto the the ships.

"Sir," I hear Maria Hill speak up, talking to Nick as she stays inside the helicarrier, "We have multiple bogies converging on our starboard flank."

There's a near smirk in his tone as Nick replies, "Show 'em what we got. You're up."

A black and white suit suddenly bursts form the interior of the massive helicarrier before it flies straight for the attacking legionnaires and takes them out with a small explosion.

A familiar voice then cheers, "Yes!"

A grin comes over my face as I give a grin to Steve and then spiral up to follow his tail, slicing through the sky alongside him, "Rhodey!"

"Lisa!" He cheers back with as much enthusiasm, shooting back at the legionnaires surrounding us.

"Nice of you to show up." I tease with a smirk.

"Well, I had to. This is gonna be a good story."

"Yup," Dad curves around from down below, taking out the legionnaires chasing after us, "If you live to tell it."

Rhodey banters back, going at it as they always do, "You think I can't hold my own?"

"We get through this..." Dad dips his chin with a joking smirk, "I'll hold your own."

Shaking my head, I groan, "Oh God..."

"You had to make it weird."

"I got it!" Dad suddenly exclaims as we dodge the explosions rocking the air around us, "Create a heat seal. I could," he struggles to get the words out, "I could supercharge the spire from below."

"Running numbers!" FRIDAY replies before saying in concern, "A heat seal could work with enough power."

"Thor! I got a plan."

"We're out of time." Thor snaps back, "They're coming for the core!"

"Rhodey, get the rest of the people on board that carrier."

"On it."

"Avengers." I look over at him as we curve around back towards the city, "Time to work for a living."

"Because all of this has been so relaxing," I breathe tiredly as we land back in the center of the church.

Soon everyone has joined us once more, all of us standing together around the center of the building with a look of confidence on our faces. As a familiar body comes into view, we all angrily turn to watch Ultron hovering up across from us, his red eyes ignited with mockery as he smirks at us.

Thor throws his arms out to him, stepping closer with an enraged yell, "Is that the best you can do?"

The robot merely raises up his left hand and it is really like busy crawl out of the woodwork as legionnaires begin flooding towards by the dozens, lying through the air and running across the ground. Thor just stares at the new predicament with a slightly agape mouth.

Steve just rolls his eyes over at him, saying sardonically, "You had to ask."

Thor purses his mouth closed and I shake my head at the two, sighing in irritation.

"This is the best I can do. " He spreads out his arms in pride before motioning back towards us, "This is exactly what I wanted. All of you against all of me."

My eyes trail along the ones that follow along behind him, watching as legionnaires begin crawling over the falling fences, seeping through the open arches, and moving for us with vicious blue eyes.

"How can you possibly hope to stop me?"

"Well," Dad speaks up, glancing from Steve to me as I give a small smile, "like the old man said: together."

The Hulk lets out a loud bellow and then we are surrounded at every angle. Utter chaos breaks out then as the legionnaires dive for us as we do everything within our power to protect the core. Our bodies twist and flip as we rip the metal beings apart, working as a team once more, working together to save the world. The few of us that can fly above the others' heads, fighting from above as blue blurs, red tendrils, lightning, plasma blasts, and metal shards swirl around us.

I look up just in time to see Ultron launch himself at me. Our bodies collide as I smack back into the wall, the both of us tearing at each other's bodies before Clifford sends a long yellow beam in between the two of us. His beam continues to fire and soon Thor, Dad, and I have joined him as we force Ultron away from the core, breaking him weakly down to his knees.

When we finally let up, the robot shakily comes to his feet and prepares to quip, "You know, with the benefit of hindsight,"

I groan just before the Hulk leaps forward, punching him squarely in the fce and sending him far, far away. As the Hulk turns to all of the other legionnaires around, their blue eyes somehow seem larger with worry before they unsteadily turn around and try to scramble away. They lift off the ground and weakly try to fly through the pale sky.

Thor steps forward quickly, his face dark with concern, "They'll try to leave the city."

"We can't let them, not even one!" Dad responds quickly, calling out to his best friend, "Rhodey!"

"I'm on it." He chuckles at the legionnaires, "Oh no. I didn't say you could leave."

I watch from the ground as my uncle spins through the air, taking down those trying to escape.

"War Machine coming at you! Right up," Rhodey suddenly cuts off as Clifford flies in past him, completely decimating a few of the legionnaires with the stone and there's another pause before Rhodey goes on with, "Okay, what?"

We all split up once more, getting prepared to finish up our jobs before we can leave this rock for good. I make my way back into the city, following after the others as we try to make sure no one is left behind. As we wait for Steve to give the all clear, I end up standing beside Pietro, the both of us breathing heavily as we look around at the strange cloudy sky.

"It is not so bad up here." The Sokovian puckers his lips with a nod.

I glance over at him with a raised eyebrow, "Pietro, you know we might die up here, right?"

He nods and smiles, "Oh yes, I know. Still, it's cool, no?"

I roll my eyes, giving him a smirk, "No."

He laughs a little and so do I before a strange sound breaks in. The both of us turn and our eyes widen upon seeing a large quinjet flying straight for us. Bullets rain down upon all of us us in flashes of yellow light and the world moves in slow motion. Thor and Steve are thrown off of their feet as the dirt explodes around their bodies, both dodging for cover. Pietro and I move to duck away before we both look over to see Clint standing directly in the line of fire with a boy in his arms and nowhere to hide. The bullets don't stop. We watch Clint's face grow resolute in where he stands, spinning around to protect the boy as best he can. The Sokovian boy and I don't even say anything to each other; we both just start running towards him. But I'm not fast enough. I'm never fast enough. The dirt explodes. A blur of blue passes. The bullets stop.

I can feel it.

It's like forty-seven bullets stabbing through my chest and I scream in the pain of it.

And I'm still running when I see a boy of blue stuck in swaying motion, his body pierced and blood seeping out of the holes embedded into his flesh. Then I realize it's not me. It's not me who's been shot. It's him. Pietro doesn't move for a long moment, I think he's still just so shocked himself. His gray hair lightly blows in the wind and his hands waver a bit; his blue eyes lifting and his body begins shaking as he struggles to stay standing.

He gives Clint one last kind yet faltering smirk, struggling to breathe the words out, "You didn't see that coming?"

And then he falls.

A flood of red enters my mind and I gasp in quickly from the heart-wrenching pain that shatters through my chest. I grip tightly to where my heart lies, sliding to a stop in the dirt and gravel by the bloodied body at my feet. My knees quickly bend so that I crouch beside the Sokovian, lightly pushing his wispy hair away so that I can touch his face.

He doesn't move. Not to make a wisecrack. Not to be a punk. His blue eyes just stare off past us all and there's nothing else there. The pain that I feel... there's nothing, oh God, there's nothing to compare. It's like my heart is being ripped out of my chest, and it's not my pain. Not completely. But I swear to God that I still feel it.

"Oh my, God," I whisper with tears in my voice, feeling sick to my stomach.

He was just a kid.

Wanda, Pietro, and I.

We were just kids.

Clint gently sets down the boy before reaching over for Pietro, but there's no life left in him. Steve runs up to my side and we stare at Clint as he looks up at us in broken anger. The dust settles, but Pietro doesn't move. None of us say anything. What can we say? Clint picks the boy up once more and Steve struggles to pick up Pietro's deadweight and I struggle to stand at all.

"Lisa." Steve gives me a firm look, forcing me to focus, "Come on. I need you to get to the lifeboat."

My eyes fall from his so that I can look into Pietro's one last time, "Yeah."

"Come on, Lisa."

I barely nod before I turn away, moving back into the dust and the smoke. I follow after the others with a blank expression on my face, not being able to watch as Clint gives a sister her brother back or as Steve lies Pietro down. I end up standing at the edge of the city with Steve at my side, watching the last of the stragglers run onboard. But then something strange happens. A strange sound erupts from the earth underneath my feet and then it drops.

"Wait!" Steve grabs onto my arm as I yell, "We still have our people here!"

He doesn't listen as he throws me onto the lifeboat before just barely making it onboard himself. My eyes widen in horror and I force myself to look back over the edge as the city begins to burn with flames while it plummets down through the sky with our friends still within the city and my father located directly beneath it.

"Come on, Dad," I whisper, gripping tighter to the edges of the lifeboat, "Come on, Dad."

Blue repulsors show up through different parts of the city as dust leaves a tail behind it.

"Thor, on my mark!" Dad's chest blazes with blue as he stabs the energy into the bottom of the core and I can feel my heart thumping in my chest as I hear him scream, "Now!"

Lightning cracks through the city and we watch as it completely utter shatters. Chunks of earth explode in every direction over the sea that waits below, creating massive waves as the land drops into it. From the force of the blast, my father's body goes flying through the debris and I watch with bated breath through my lens as he struggles to dodge the falling world.

And when I'm sure he's safe, I let out a deep breath and nod my head slowly. roll onto my back and just stare up at the sky. I can't hear anything. Not the cries of the people mourning for their lost loved ones and their lost city. Not sounds of joy of being alive. Not even the sound of my own breathing.

It's over.

We've won.

But at what cost?

Heart = broken. I legit cried while crying about Pietro, how about you? Whew, well, I'm sorry, Folks. This chapter is definitely not at all one of my favorites, but there were specific pieces I really loved like Pietro and then Lisa's friendship with Wanda getting more set. They end up being best friends and that just makes me so happy, okay? Anyway, the next couple chapters are honestly some of my favorites as we wrap up AOU, get into our very EXCITING AND IMPORTANT interlude and then into *panicking* Civil War. I hope you did enjoy this one!

Vote, COMMENT, and maybe give me a follow?

NOT AT ALL FUNNY (but in a sick way a little) Thingamabob:

I saw this and I was literally so upset. Gosh, it's so bad, I'm so sorry.