"I just can't understand why you brought up that despicable Stark!"
Ultron was as irritable and angry as every rebellious child who hated their father but couldn't escape bearing his name.
"He's a constant thorn in my side. Stark makes me absolutely sick!"
While he was expressing his visceral disgust for Stark, little did he know that his creator Tony had already tracked him down based on digital breadcrumbs.
Hearing the 'child' he had personally created insulting him so venomously, Tony finally understood why his own father had struggled with his rebellious behavior back then.
"Kid, you've completely broken your old dad's heart."
Steve and Thor infiltrated the cargo ship alongside Tony. The Avengers' Big Three were all assembled for this crucial mission.
Natasha and Hawkeye had also snuck aboard the vessel, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.
Tony's emotional state could be summarized in one painful sentence: My son is rebellious and has shattered this old man's heart into pieces.
It had to be acknowledged that Ultron really was Tony's digital offspring. Although he refused to be considered Stark's creation, his every mannerism was strikingly similar.
After seeing Thor approach, his first words were delivered in Tony's signature style.
"What's your hammer actually for?"
Their side had one god, one super soldier, and one armored genius. The opposition had two enhanced individuals plus one rebellious artificial son. And countless combat robots.
The battle began with devastating intensity.
Ultron immediately attacked his creator, the unexpected suction force catching Tony completely off guard. After recovering from the surprise, metal-on-metal combat commenced.
They stumbled and fought from inside the ship all the way to the outer deck.
Pietro relied on his superhuman speed to act with reckless abandon. Steve was punched squarely in the face but couldn't even see his attacker.
Ulysses, whose arm had been brutally severed, no longer felt any joy from his profitable transaction. Only burning rage consumed him.
"Have them open fire immediately."
His subordinate asked in confusion, "At which side?"
Ulysses's eyes were bloodshot as he roared with fury, "Both sides! Kill them all!"
Bullets began raining down in completely indiscriminate attacks.
Natasha had to prioritize dealing with the soldiers joining the chaotic battlefield. Hawkeye also engaged the enemy forces.
Thor spotted Pietro and hurled Mjolnir directly at him. The hammer's speed was completely manageable for a speedster to dodge.
Seeing that legendary weapon, Pietro mischievously decided to catch it and smash it into Thor's arrogant face. It was this overconfident move that got him carried away by Mjolnir's momentum and crashed hard into a shipping container.
Steve didn't forget to get revenge for that earlier punch. Just as Pietro struggled to his feet, the super soldier directly shield-bashed his face, making him collapse again.
Combat robots inside the ship systematically attacked the Avengers. Wanda found her opportunity and began using hypnotic powers on everyone.
Her first target was the God of Thunder himself.
Thor's strong will immediately detected the mental intrusion, prompting him to alert the Avengers even as he continued battling.
"Someone's trying to get inside my head," he said, effortlessly dispatching an enemy before turning serious, "Exercise extreme caution. I suspect mortal minds lack the fortitude to resist her influence."
"Luckily for me, I'm no mortal."
Asgardian racial advantage was demonstrated at this crucial moment.
As Thor continued forward, he found himself entering what appeared to be a banquet hall. Writhing bodies, familiar Asgardian faces, and even Heimdall appeared among the crowd.
An Asgardian celebration appearing on a cargo ship was perfectly reasonable, obviously.
Other Avengers also succumbed one by one to Wanda's powers. Steve entered a nostalgic dance hall, while Natasha walked back into the Red Room of her nightmares.
Under Ultron's tactical control, robots began efficiently packing and stealing the precious vibranium.
Wanda's success record was brilliant. Only one target remained.
The last was Hawkeye.
Wanda quietly approached from behind with predatory stealth. Facing an archer who was neither an alien nor a super soldier, she assumed victory would be effortless.
But she didn't know that on this battlefield, only Hawkeye had been mind-controlled before. So he was already prepared for such attacks.
The moment she reached his back, Hawkeye drew a shock arrow, quickly spun around, and pinned Wanda with one precise shot.
Pietro, regaining consciousness, rushed over and kicked Hawkeye away to rescue his sister, carrying Wanda and disappearing into the ship's maze.
The siblings outside spotted Banner standing alone. Wanda knew she needed to give the Avengers some real chaos.
As the most susceptible to hypnosis among all the heroes, Banner began transforming under Wanda's mental manipulation.
Before Hulk fully emerged, Pietro took Wanda and fled the scene.
The transformed Hulk possessed no rational thought. He was pure anger and only wanted to smash everything in sight. Including that nearby city.
…
A spontaneous journalistic trip naturally meant heading toward breaking news. No place was more suitable than Africa.
In the African city that looked like it had an autumn filter applied, MOSS successfully retreated from the chaotic internet battle.
The red dot on its camera head illuminated, locking onto various data streams. The camera head turned, and MOSS, stuffed inside a backpack, saw a familiar bear face.
The brown bear discovered MOSS was awake and directly grabbed its metallic head to lift it up.
MOSS, which could have remained comfortably in the backpack, was dismissed by the bear for adding unnecessary burden to its owner and had to walk on its own mechanical legs.
MOSS was very obedient to the bear that had literally 'birthed' it from its magical pouch.
Ariana had booked a hotel in this city. Well, more accurately, the bear had made all the arrangements.
Under the bear's meticulous organization, everything proceeded in perfect order. The bear patted MOSS's head, directing it to guide Ariana through the city.
MOSS, with its superior computational power, was thus reduced to simple navigation duty. The entire city's layout was recorded in its memory banks. MOSS could legitimately claim to know the city better than anyone.
Ariana listened carefully to MOSS's directions. Along the way, various vendors promoted authentic African goods to her.
There was a particular food that you ate one small piece at a time, supposedly a cherished local specialty. Ariana tried it and found it slightly sweet.
But eating one tiny piece at a time made Ariana curious about that tree stump-like fruit. How long would you have to keep buying it?
"BOOM!"
Terrified screams erupted from the congested traffic ahead. Then a massive green figure burst into the city.
He kicked a compact car flying with one devastating foot. Pedestrians screamed and ran backward in absolute panic.
This caused Ariana, who was moving forward against the crowd, to be knocked down. People fled in chaotic terror.
Hulk systematically smashed everything in the city. He would destroy everything within sight.
Police officers drew their weapons and fired but only earned a furious punch from Hulk that sent them flying.
Easily tearing off car roofs, more casually than opening tin cans, Hulk pursued the fleeing crowd with destructive intent.
Ariana fell but didn't get hurt. Because a puddle of liquid mercury behind her had formed a protective chair to lift her up safely.
Ariana found herself sitting there in bewilderment.
The bear looked at MOSS approvingly, seemingly praising it for finally showing maturity and protective instincts.
At this moment, Ariana felt her hand stinging slightly. She raised her right hand and saw her delicate fingers bleeding from a scraped palm.
The bear, which had been praising MOSS's newfound sensibility, froze completely. It treated Ariana's wound at impossible speed, so perfectly that medical students would feel inadequate.
After completing the first aid, the bear silently turned its head, directing its gaze toward the rampaging Hulk.
Though it showed no expression change, fury was building inside. When the bear was truly angry, the consequences were always serious.
…
Tony and Ultron's aerial chase finally reached its conclusion. He struck Ultron with one powerful shot, causing him to lose flight capability completely.
However, this was merely a disposable avatar. Ultron's true purpose was already achieved. The vibranium had been successfully transported away.
Any thoughts Tony had of pursuing it vanished instantly. Hulk was in full destructive fury, beyond all reason.
Hearing this devastating news, this rebellious digital son really wanted to anger his father to death.
Worst of all, the Avengers were almost completely incapacitated. Only Hawkeye remained unharmed and functional.
Veronica, designed specifically with Banner's input, finally came in handy.
"Activate Veronica protocol."
To deal with a massive threat, you needed equally massive firepower.
Tony headed toward the city, deeply worried about the destruction Hulk would cause to innocent civilians.
Veronica launched from satellite orbit, and Tony completed the mechanical combination transformation while airborne.
The towering anti-Hulk mech wrapped around his standard armor.
Just as Tony was calculating damage control, he witnessed something extraordinary on the street below. A green giant was flying through the air.
Then, a brown bear with incredible muscles but sporting an adorable bear face was charging forward at nearly the speed of sound.
A fist larger than a sandbag landed precisely on Hulk's face as he attempted to stand.
Then came devastating kicks, knee strikes, elbow strikes, and combination attacks. Under the deceptively soft and cute bear face, a muscular body that would make professional bodybuilders feel inferior continued delivering punishment against Hulk without stopping.
Just as Veronica's containment cage was about to deploy, the bear's back seemed to have eyes. It supported the struggling Hulk with both hands and kicked the approaching cage dozens of meters away with a perfect back kick.
This made Tony want to shout, "That's genuine kung fu!"
Massive but not clumsy, the bear's punches fell like devastating raindrops.
Tony stood at one end of the street in his anti-Hulk mech, somewhat at a loss.
"Should I help the bear, or should I stop this fight?"
He stood there, scratching his helmeted head in confusion.
After absorbing dozens of passive punches, Hulk finally found an opening and threw a powerful uppercut at the bear's chin.
The bear flew backward over ten meters, its eyes seeming about to emit actual flames.
You dare hit me?
Hulk gained a brief breathing chance and roared, charging at the bear with renewed fury.
The bear's arm muscles writhed visibly, becoming even more robust, with an almost hellish aura emanating from its compact body.
Two titans met in the middle of the road, their fists colliding with earth-shaking force.
The powerful shockwave overturned cars, blew debris everywhere, and shattered every window within blocks.
The bear employed a reverse grappling technique, making Hulk experience actual pain.
It tripped Hulk with one foot and delivered heavy punches directly to Hulk's face.
Its current fighting posture resembled a certain legendary martial arts master from an Eastern country who had once declared he wanted to fight ten opponents.
Punch after devastating punch.
Ariana jogged over, with MOSS transformed into a tall, thin humanoid form following protectively behind.
Something dangerous flew toward them. Only a flash of silver light was seen as the projectile was cut in half and deflected away.
Whatever else could be said about Hulk, he was incredibly durable.
Bear punches only made Hulk increasingly enraged.
Finding a chance to regain his footing, it became a mutual brawling situation.
Real warriors should fight flesh to flesh. Only weaklings hide behind mechanical suits!
Tony felt personally attacked: "Excuse me?"
But Tony also understood who deserved his assistance.
Before Hulk's devastating punch could land on the bear, Tony piloted his mech forward and knocked the green giant flying.
The bear's jumping ability was phenomenal. It leaped into the air and delivered a crushing knee drop onto Hulk.
The ground collapsed from the tremendous impact, temporarily trapping both the bear and the green behemoth.
Cracks spread rapidly toward Ariana's position.
A flash of black energy passed through Ariana's field of vision, and the dangerous ground fractures were forcibly halted by invisible power.