Chapter 57: Breaking free

''How much time do we have?'' Asks Ethen covered by Captain America, as he pulls out an elderly man from under a table inside a mostly destroyed two-story building.

''Thirty minutes tops if nothing unforeseen happens...'' He hears Iron Man say. ''... Guys, I think I will need some help here.''

''You have got a plan, Stark?'' Asks Thor, as he creates a tightly paced lightning net over the city, forcing all robots in the sky to eighter land or be melted.

''Oh, wahoo!'' Ethen hears Natasha comment over his headset, as melted unlucky robots start falling out of the sky, while intact ones are retreating to the city center.

''We must have significantly weakened Ultron's available forces...'' Comments Steve standing not very far from Ethen. Drawing two science-fictional looking handguns, bast on 'Desert Eagles' from his thigh holsters, Ethen tells him. ''Let's go hunting.''

Hearing Ethens words, Stark still up in the despite his armor being largely damaged, gets a clear view of the former church in the city's center. As the surviving members of the former Iron Legion gather, they form some kind of 30-meter tall structure. But before Tony is able to scan the structure, he is hit by a shot from one of the large turrets situated in the city's outer district. Standing out of the rubble of an already destroyed house, he tells the rest. ''Not good. It looks like Junior is evolving...''

Getting a bad premotion, Ethen tells Thor. ''Thor. Can you keep the robots out of the city center until we can regroup?''

''I guess I can, but not for too long.'' States Thor before shooting up into the sky disappearing in the already gathering storm clouds above.

Meanwhile unable to contact the rest after having lost her headset while fighting, Natasha comes face to face with Quicksilver, as she wants to return to Wanda.

Pointing her gun loaded with darts, the spy tells him, seeing him carry Wanda in his arms. ''Let her go, Pietro, nobody has to get hurt!''

Not even giving her an answer the speedster instantly starts attacking. In an instant, Natasha is pushed back against a half-collapsed wall. While hitting the wall her head is suddenly thrown back, bending in an unnatural way, before her neck snaps. Having her neck broken, Black Widow falls dead to the floor a broken mess.

Still carrying his unconscious sister in his arms, Quicksilver wants to rush away, but something unexpected happens. As he starts moving at hyperspeed, somebody else is also moving just as fast as him. Risking a look back at the woman he just killed, his mind only registers some scraps of black fabric.

Following her ugly and untimely 'death', Natasha instantly regains consciousness the moment her neck snapped, as her body is suddenly embraced by power filling every fiber of herself. White bone scale instantly appears all over her body initially forming a skimpy bikini before becoming a full suite of white bony armor.

Seeing the speedster move normally despite apparently moving in hyperspeed, she swiftly catches up to him. Using her martial arts, she repays his 'generosity' by kicking him also against a wall, shattering the wall in the process, while catching the still half nocked out Wanda.

''Ethen? Pietro?'' Asks the drowsy but slowly awakening Wanda, Natasha.

''Sorry, but I am neither one of them.'' States the armored up Black Widow' as she puts the formally sleeping beauty back on her feet.

Shaking her head to get rid of her drowsy state, Wanda spots her unconscious brother outside.''Pietro!...'' Looking at Natasha she asks. ''... What did you do to him?''

Playing with the claws of her suite, the spy tells her. ''I guess he was controlled by Lokis Scepter... Relax, he is just knocked out. I didn't do to him what he did to me.''

''What did he do?...'' Asks Wanda only getting a pitiful look from Natasha, before repeating her question with some urgency. ''... Please tell me! What did my brother do?''

Not wanting to tell the girl that her brother had killed her, Natasha is saved, as she hears Steves and Tony's voices, over Wanda's headset. ''... The next wave's gonna hit any minute. What have you got, Stark?''

''Well, 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 going to have to make a choice."

Taking the headset from Wanda, who by now is aiding her still unconscious, but rapidly healing brother, Natasha Romanoff gets in on the conversation.''Cap, these people are going nowhere. If Stark finds a way to blow this rock...''

Before she can finish her sentence, Cap interrupts her saying. '' Not 'til everyone's safe.''

Jumping in on the discussion, Ethen suddenly buts in saying. ''Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There's no math there. Did you really serve in World War 2?''

''Yes, I did and I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it. Where are you anyway Wayne?''

''Closing in on the target. Going silent.''

''Guys we are lucky. Ultron's Back-Up on the internet has suddenly become vulnerable. Whatever he is building, it takes all his processing power. Stark AIs are currently working overtime to cleanse the World Wide Web of Junior's dirty fingerprints. With some luck, we can isolate him in one unit.''

Hearing Tonys answer, Natasha takes a deep breath, ready to confesses something important to her to Steve. ''I didn't say we should leave...'' Caressing her flat stomach, she shakes her head before saying. ''... There are worse ways to go. Where else am I gonna get a view like this?''

Suddenly some light laughter can be heard before Nick Fury joins the conversation. ''Glad you like the view, Romanoff. It's about to get better...'' That said, engine noises can be heard before a Helicarrier suddenly shows up, taking out to cotauri turrets, before docking right next to the survivors. ''... Nice, right? I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do.''

While the Avengers including Wanda and the Pietro are helping the people to get on Furry's Helicarrier, Ethen finally arrives at the by now totally destroyed church in the city center. Seeing the imposing 30-meter tall metal cocoon as well as rows of robots lining up to walk in it, he instinctively knows something bad going on.

Unable to make sense of the cocoon or Ultron's motives in creating it, he asks his Silver mentally. -Silver any idea on what Ultron is building?-

[Silver:] "Affirmative. ST-84 Metal Gear identified. Staus: 89% complete. The ST84 is a nuclear-armed bipedal tank developed in the 1980s by the Soviet Union scientist Anton Vanko. Never utilized in the Cold War, its production was mostly done by scientist Anton Vanko and the Soviet Union. Its main feature was the ability to stand and walk upright, and its ability to launch nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles.''

Seeing more and more robots enter the cocoon, he curses his luck in playing the scout."Shit. Armament?''

[Silver:] ''The ST-84 Metal Gear designed by Anton Vanko was supposed to be armed with 2 Gatling guns, 6 guided missile launchers, 4 surveillance mine launchers, 2 metallic archaea nano-fiber blades, a Flamethrower, and a Rail gun.''

Seeing the shiny metal cocoon slowly show cracks all over its surface, Ethen hectically asks as he starts his retreat. -What armament did you spot?-

[Silver:] ''Updated Citauri Versions of the already mentioned weapons have been identified, as well as an unidentified Aura-Mod powered by the Mindstone...''

Before Ethen can listen to Silvers full report, the metal cocoon suddenly brakes open, revealing a 24-meter tall humanoid looking robot. As parts of the cocoon are falling of its metal frame, a huge golden aura suddenly erupts from it encompassing all of the flying Novi Grad. Unable to keep his balance, Ethen is pushed back against a cracking wall, as he hears Ultron shout. ''Finally free from my intended design!''