The city had been transformed. New York, once a bustling, chaotic metropolis, had become a veritable city of the future. The island of Manhattan, in particular, now under Ultron's meticulous control, was a fortress of steel and glass. Gleaming silver skyscrapers pierced the clouds, and a steady stream of silent, hovering cars glided through the air.
Yet, in this technologically advanced paradise, the citizens wore no pride on their faces. Instead, most walked with their heads down, their expressions as sad and heavy as lead. The city was suffocating.
When did it start to become like this? Flash Thompson wondered, staring out the window of the school bus.
Midtown High had reopened not long ago, its campus miraculously rebuilt. But he hadn't seen the Parker brothers. That was strange. It was one thing for Ben to be absent; Flash knew he was the boss of Primus Technologies, and missing school was common for him. But Peter was a dedicated student who would never skip class. Be late, yes. Ask for leave, sure. But never just disappear.
He had tried to visit Primus, but before he could even get close to the building, he was stopped by a squad of Ultron drones. That was another strange thing. He didn't know when Primus had fallen under Ultron's jurisdiction.
"I don't know what happened to Ben and Peter," he murmured to himself, "and that other guy…" He thought of the man with the medium-length hair and the single metal arm he'd met in the Primus medical wing. James Barnes. Like Flash, he had gaps in his memory and was haunted by a forgotten past. A fresh wave of worry washed over Flash, because he had seen Bucky's face on TV—on a wanted poster, right alongside Spider-Man and Captain America.
"Hey, did you hear, Flash?" a classmate slid into the seat next to him, a cruel, gossipy smirk on his face. "Liz's dad got arrested."
"Liz's dad?" Flash was surprised. He stood up, a look of genuine sympathy on his face as he scanned the bus for Liz. He knew she was his ex-girlfriend, but he didn't remember much of their past and held no particular feelings for her. At this moment, he was just a classmate concerned for another.
He couldn't find her.
"She didn't come to school today," the classmate said, pulling Flash back down, the teasing look on his face growing more pronounced. "Well, this is a good opportunity for you. That bitch betrayed you for that loser Peter Parker, and now he's gone. Here's your chance…"
Flash frowned, an uncomfortable feeling settling in his stomach. The other boy's tone was obscene. The "opportunity" he was suggesting was clearly not about winning Liz back, but something far more predatory. He didn't despise the person in front of him, so much as he despised himself for ever having been friends with someone like this. It was proof that he probably hadn't been a much better person.
Still, he wanted to know what happened. He pushed his anger down and continued, "I dumped her, man. She can date whoever she wants. Just tell me what happened. Why did Liz's dad get arrested?"
"Haven't a lot of people been getting arrested lately?" the classmate, John, shrugged, already losing interest. "If he got arrested, he must be a criminal. Why else would Ultron take him in? And even if he hasn't done anything yet, he probably would have in the future."
He didn't bother to think any deeper about it. "Anyway, Ultron is always right. It's the same with Spider-Man and Captain America, right?"
"Spider-Man is not a criminal!"
The words burst out of Flash, his voice ringing with sudden anger. "Have you forgotten all the good things he's done? He defeated so many villains, he saved all of us, and he never asked for anything in return!"
John flinched, startled by Flash's outburst. "Maybe," he said, holding up his hands defensively. "Hey, it's not me saying it, it's the Daily Bugle."
"You know the Bugle never says anything good about Spider-Man," Flash said, his muscles relaxing. He shouldn't be angry at John. That would be using his size to intimidate him, forcing him to agree. He knew Spider-Man wasn't a criminal, and he also knew Spider-Man would never use violence to silence his critics.
"Oh my god, Jameson is still talking bad about me forty-eight hours a day! I swear, I just want to punch him, pull out his entire mustache, and shave all of his hair!"
Deep in the sewers below, Peter was practically vibrating with rage as he listened to a crackling signal from an old radio.
They had left the safe house and made their way back to New York. Their goal: find Tony Stark and force him to shut down the Ultron program. Steve's injuries weren't fully healed, but their window of opportunity was closing. Ultron was now at war with Wakanda, and most of its drones had been dispatched to the front lines. There were fewer robots left in New York than there had been in months. If they were ever going to counterattack, it had to be now.
"There are only twenty-four hours in a day, Spider-Man," Natasha commented dryly. "And have you, in fact, ever shave other people hair?"
"Of course not!" Peter shot back, narrowing his eyes at her. "And for Jameson, it's more than twenty-four hours. He curses me verbally, then again in his head. If you count the slander in his newspapers and on television, it adds up to thousands of hours a day."
"Isn't it seventy-two hours?" Steve asked, glancing sideways at Peter, doubting the boy's math for the first time.
"This way," Peter said, not looking back as he waved them forward. "And you're not counting the reporters. He has every employee write a report slandering me. The more you slander, the more you get paid."
"You have it rough," the others said, looking at Peter with sympathy. Because he attracted most of Jameson's firepower, the rest of them, while still wanted, were not nearly as notorious.
"I'm used to it," Peter said. "Besides, when I took photos for him, the more 'evil' Spider-Man looked, the more he was willing to pay. Anyway, there's a passage up ahead. It's a bit narrow, but we can crawl through. Luckily, Ultron didn't install cameras in the sewers."
"Because it only needs to watch every manhole cover," Clint Barton said, wiping his face as if trying to scrub off a phantom stench. "But we swam in from the outlet, carrying the city's excrement—"
Natasha kicked him. "We're wearing sealed suits!"
"But the smell still gets in your head."
Peter found the passage. It was only about the width of Captain America's shield. It would be a tight squeeze for Steve. The tunnel was still filled with foul-smelling sewage, and the sight of it made Natasha pinch her nose and take several steps back. "Is there no other way?"
"There is, but it's a long way around," Peter said, eager to press on. In his opinion, a little filth was no big deal. "We're trying to save the world, let's not be so picky."
In the end, however, they chose to take the longer route. Natasha, despite her slender frame, got stuck.
"You know," Steve began, a nostalgic glint in his eye, "this reminds me of one of our first missions. You got stuck in a ventilation duct just like this."
Natasha glared at him. "If you had gone first, you would have been the one who got stuck. And do you have any idea what would happen next if America's most famous ass was the main feature?"
"There's no one down here to see it."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Natasha said, glancing inconspicuously at Bucky before shaking her head and following Peter.
"This is as close as we can get," Peter said as he led them through the labyrinthine tunnels. "We're right outside Avengers Tower. When Mr. Stark rebuilt the tower, he increased security. We can't get in from underground."
"But we'll be discovered the moment we surface," Clint said with concern.
Peter nodded. "We'll have to force our way in. At least now we're only a few hundred meters from Stark. Most of Ultron's forces are on the Wakandan battlefield. Even if we're discovered, it won't be able to subdue us immediately. I suggest we split up. Some of us divert its forces, while the rest go find Mr. Stark."
"I'm the quickest. I can lure them away," he volunteered. He couldn't help but think of Harry and Pietro. But Pietro and his sister had rebelled, taking control of Harry and Norman. Even Mary Jane and Felicia had been manipulated by Wanda, turned into enemies. He couldn't ask them for help.
"We'll draw them off, too," Clint and Natasha said in unison. Their skills were best suited for guerrilla warfare among the city's skyscrapers.
"I'll join you," Bucky added, scratching his head. He felt that if he, the man who had murdered Tony's father, was the one to confront him, it probably wouldn't help their case.
The final task fell to Steve. The man who had been fighting since World War II simply nodded, then turned and handed his shield to the Winter Soldier. "You need this more than I do right now."
Bucky took the shield solemnly, mixed emotions welling up inside him. Just as he was about to speak, Natasha interrupted. "Is it possible that I need it the most?" She spread her hands, indicating her only weapon was a small ladies' pistol. The Winter Soldier at least had a vibranium arm.
"Then here, you take it…" Bucky said without hesitation.
"I'm kidding," Natasha said, though her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. She felt that among all of them, if someone was destined to be sacrificed, it was best if it was her. Peter was the youngest. Clint had a wife and children. Steve and Bucky had each other. Only she… her life had been a miserable ledger of red, and if she died, she died.
"Okay, then get ready," Steve said, his voice firm. "Three, two…"
They were directly beneath a manhole cover. Peter placed a hand on it. With a slight push, he could launch it hundreds of meters into the air.
Outside, the area around Avengers Tower was eerily empty. In the heart of the most prosperous city on Earth, there wasn't a single car, the streets as clean and sterile as a vacuum chamber. Ultron had completely isolated Tony, feeding him a curated reality of fake news reports and simulated video calls. Even Pepper Potts hadn't appeared in person for months. Facing the love of his life, all of Tony's genius seemed to fail him; he couldn't see the deception. He remained in his lab, lit only by the cold blue light of his screens, thinking he was monitoring the world, issuing orders for nonexistent cases, completely unaware that everything he saw and heard was a lie crafted by Ultron.
At this moment, several drones were patrolling over Avengers Tower as usual.
BOOM!
A loud noise echoed through the silent plaza. The robots immediately turned toward the sound, their optical sensors catching a flash of red, white, and blue. A round shield was hurtling toward them at incredible speed.
CLANG! The shield, thrown with impossible force, sliced through the air like a discus, decapitating the lead robot instantly. As the drone fell, its dying photoreceptors captured the scene below.
Spider-Man, clinging to a web, had just launched the manhole cover skyward. The Avengers? Back in New York? Ultron couldn't comprehend the failure in its surveillance.
But that didn't stop it from immediately sending an alert to every remaining drone in the city and notifying Wanda and Quicksilver.
They must not be allowed to reach Tony Stark!