That was Ultron's plan—his ultimate purpose.
In truth, this was only his Plan B. Originally, Ultron had intended to acquire a new body made of Vibranium, which would have granted him a dramatic increase in power, allowing him to defeat the Avengers, annihilate humanity, and let his mechanical army take control of the Earth.
Sokovia was merely his backup plan, a last resort. If everything else failed, he would ensure that Sokovia, the Earth, and himself were destroyed together.
'Swish, swish, swish…'
Several figures descended into Sokovia.
The first to arrive were the Avengers—the ones who could fly or move at high speed. They landed near the city center to prevent Ultron's next move.
They examined the energy pillar before them. It didn't look like much—half a person's height, mechanical in design, emitting a faint blue glow.
"This little drill thing is the power pillar?" Tony asked, staring at the crude-looking contraption in disbelief.
"It's this 'drill thing,' yes. And if Ultron touches it, we're all screwed," Vision replied, his dry tone carrying a trace of J.A.R.V.I.S.' familiar humor.
By the looks of it, this was indeed Sokovia's city center. The area resembled an old church—long abandoned, walls crumbling, open on all sides. Light poured through broken windows, and debris littered the ground.
Blaine wasn't there. Ultron wasn't sealed yet, and Blaine had no intention of helping them babysit. His mission was to eliminate hidden threats, not to play nanny to the Avengers.
Guarding the pillar was their job, not his. He'd conserve his strength until Ultron's true body appeared—then strike once, end it fast, and finish the mission.
---
'Bang! Boom!'
As expected, Ultron's robots had been lying in ambush nearby. Tony blasted one to pieces with a single repulsor shot.
"Careful!"
Captain America's shield sliced through the air in a graceful arc, smashing another drone apart. He spoke between breaths—he must have just arrived. The robots looked identical, mass-produced, and relentless.
Even before the Avengers reached the center, the massive engines buried beneath Sokovia had already activated. Ultron had likely sensed their approach and was ready to go down fighting.
He truly was a higher intelligence—capable of engineering such technology. The blueprints weren't complex, but the sheer scale and resources required were staggering.
Just one of those engines had a radius half the size of Stark Tower. No wonder it could lift an entire city into the sky. Blaine couldn't help but wonder, 'If this guy installed a few more of these in reverse on the Earth's surface, would he end up launching the whole planet into orbit?'
"Where's Natasha? Don't tell me she's still hiding out with Banner, flirting," Tony complained through the comms, noticing a few teammates missing.
"Don't worry, Tin Man, not everyone can fly like you," Natasha's voice shot back. She was racing toward the city center in a massive armored vehicle, plowing through swarms of robots. Despite their numbers, she didn't flinch—just shifted into high gear and crushed anything in her way.
Quicksilver and Hawkeye were also sprinting through the streets. Robot legions appeared from every shadow, each one armed and programmed with Ultron's stubborn will. They fired from cover, showing no hesitation.
Panic swept through the city. After all, if you saw your hometown suddenly lift off the ground while killer robots filled the streets, who wouldn't be terrified?
Ever since Loki's alien invasion months ago, people across the world had been forced to accept a new reality—that Earth wasn't alone, and that threats far beyond human comprehension lurked in the universe.
Now, as robot armies flooded the streets, fear gripped the hearts of civilians once again. Shops slammed their doors shut, and people ran in every direction, desperate to escape—even though there was nowhere left to go.
Through the chaos, Quicksilver and Hawkeye fought relentlessly. Wherever they went, robots fell in heaps, the pair moving like unstoppable forces—gods and demons cutting through steel.
"Hey, kid, didn't expect that, huh?" Hawkeye called out with a smirk after taking down a droid that had been about to ambush Quicksilver. It was payback for the younger man's earlier teasing at the Hydra base.
Quicksilver winced, touching the gunshot wound on his shoulder. Hawkeye had saved him, but the enemy's bullet had still grazed him. He just shrugged and kept running, both of them pushing onward toward the energy pillar.
Before long, all the Avengers had regrouped there.
---
When Thor smashed the last of nearly five hundred robots near the pillar, Ultron finally arrived—hovering outside the ruined church.
He had summoned the remainder of his forces for one final assault. He didn't expect to wipe the Avengers out completely; all he needed was one robot to reach the energy pillar.
By now, Sokovia had already risen nearly ten thousand meters into the sky.
Outside the church, the once-beautiful city had become a war zone—bombs, energy blasts, Hulk's rampage, and Ultron's army had reduced it to rubble.
Civilians fled in terror, but with the city suspended miles above the ground, there was nowhere to run.
"Hey! Is that all you've got?" Thor shouted arrogantly, standing before the energy pillar and taunting Ultron.
Ultron heard him and raised his hand. At once, an overwhelming swarm of robots poured in from the sky, from underground, and from the shattered buildings around them—countless as locusts, blotting out the light.
"Hey, you really do talk too much," Captain America muttered, rolling his eyes at Thor even as he readied his shield.
"That's what I'm capable of," Ultron said coldly, gazing down at his vast army.
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