Ultron pushed back the flames, battling against Strange. "Well, this has been delightful. But it's time for me to bring out some of my own toys."
My stomach churned. He is gonna discover we took two of his stones. And sure enough I was right, we heard him roar out. "My stones...You stole my Soul Stone and Space Stone?!"
Ultron then extended out his hands, using the powers of the other stones, demolishing the huge dragons in a matter of seconds. His red eyes glowed, staring at us, completely enraged. I grimaced. This was bad, very bad. We need to go now before Ultron gets to us. I glanced over at Peggy. "I think it's time to go."
Peggy nodded vigorously. "You're right."
The portal then opened up as Strange let out a chuckle. A small portal opened up from above Ultron, and out came the last thing I expected, zombies, which all piled up above Ultron. Delmira, Peggy, and I grimaced. Strange wore a satisfied look. "That'll keep him busy."
"Oh! Zombies, great idea! I love zombies." Thor mentioned.
"It's not them. It's what came with the zombies." Strange corrected.
Thor's eyes widened. "Oh..."
"Tick tock, boys." Peggy called out.
We then ran through the portal, where the older Storm, Erik, Miona, and Gamora were, waiting for us. Peggy collapsed onto the ground, while I reached out to the Force to soften my landing, hitting the ground with ease. Delmira gently landed beside us, using her jetpack.
"Oh, you made it." Gamora commented.
T'Challa, Thor, and Strange then appeared, carefully landing on the ground. Strange looked over at Gamora. "You ready?"
"The stones." Gamora replied, extending a hand out.
Peggy tossed the Soul Stone towards Gamora. Before Gamora could grab it though, a strange speeder with wheels came zooming past us, snatching the stone at the last moment. The speeder spun around, revealing a woman with red hair. My eyes widened. She was one of the people who Gida, Tarom, Kina, and I stood alongside from Loki's file. The woman raised a blaster towards us. Gamora lifted her blaster along with T'Challa. Thor raised his hammer, Strange extended out his hands, while Delmira, the older Storm, Miona, Iretia, and I took out our lightsabers, prepared to use them if necessary.
"No, wait. Stand down." Peggy blurted out as she stood in front of us. "She's Natasha Romanoff."
"Who?" T'Challa questioned.
"Is that suppose to mean something to us?" Delmira inquired.
"Yeah, I'm also supposed to be the last person on this planet." The woman Peggy called Natasha informed us.
"We're from another universe." Peggy explained.
"Technically, we're all from different universes." I clarified.
Peggy nodded. "Right. We're here to stop Ultron."
Natasha kept her blaster pointed towards us though. Peggy wasn't giving up though as she slowly made her way towards Natasha, keeping her hands raised. "I can prove it. Your father's Ivan, your da's Alexei. And you're the only woman I trust to have my six, including now. There are three people you trust in the universe, and I count myself lucky to be one of them."
Slowly a smile appeared on Natasha's face as she lowered her blaster. "Well, we must be close."
"I believe the term is BFF." Peggy informed her.
All of the sudden, we felt shaking from all around us. A portal opened up in the sky, revealing Ultron. I mentally groaned. You've got to be kidding me...Ultron glanced down at us. "I believe you have something that belongs to me."
"Is is really yours if you stole it in the first place?" Delmira asked.
"That's enough!" Ultron snapped, filled with rage.
He then extended out a hand engulfed in purple beams. Natasha and Delmira were both flung up in the air towards Ultron. My eyes widened. "Delmira!"
"Natasha!" Peggy exclaimed, horrified.
Thor swung his hammer in circles before hurling it up at Ultron, destroying one of his arms. Natasha and Delmira came tumbling down. I extended out my hands, using the Force to stop them from falling. Once they were frozen in the air, Strange raised his hands, creating a portal to gently drop them onto the ground. Strange then used the protection spell on Natasha, surrounding her in golden light. She looked down at her clothing in awe. "What...?"
Erik quickly grabbed the Soul Stone before it could hit the ground. The Space Stone was about to fall, when I hastily jumped up in the air, catching it in time. However, Ultron's arm returned. He extended out his hands, covered in purple beams. He then threw a blast in both Erik's and my direction. The blast pierced my side, throwing me back against a building. I felt immense pain as I climbed up on my feet.
"I can destroy galaxies with a thought." Ultron retorted. "Why won't you die?"
Ultron then threw a huge blast in all directions. We all raised our weapons, bracing for impact. Strange's spell surrounded all of us in golden balls. I extended out a hand, reaching out to the Force, creating a barrier all around us. But Ultron's power was too strong, quickly penetrating through. I let out a yell as I felt my own strength diminishing, feeling Ultron's power begin to pierce my skin, which was a terrible burning sensation. Just when things were about to get worse, Ultron's power declined. The light dwindled down until it was a small ball of light the size of a palm, which Strange grabbed, swallowing it. His eyes turned red as flames emerged before it vanished. We stared, completely baffled. Just how powerful is he?
"Wait. What?" Ultron questioned, just as stupefied as us.
T'Challa and Delmira managed to creep up on him, tackling him into a building. As I ran to get the Space Stone, when Delmira was thrown back, knocking into me, causing us to hit the ground just feet away from the stone. I felt immense pain through my body, but I pushed back that pain as I glanced over at Delmira.
"Delmira, you all right?" I inquired.
She groaned. "Yeah, I'm fine."
I climbed up on my feet, extending a hand out towards Delmira. She glanced up, taking the hand at once. Once we were standing, I saw Peggy and Natasha, using their shields to hit Ultron before knocking him onto the ground. Unfortunately, he climbed back up in a heartbeat, determined to get the stones back. But this time, all of us were here, running towards the stones. I took out Dooku's lightsaber, igniting it, revealing the green blade. I swung my lightsaber towards him, clashing against his spear, sending sparks flying all over the place. Iretia, the older Storm, and Miona all stared at the lightsaber, knowing exactly whose it belonged to. However, none of them said a word as we had a battle to win. We all fought against Ultron, not giving him a moment to think.
However that didn't last long as he used the Time Stone against us, slowing us all down as we were all flung back away from him. Right before our eyes, he snatched the Space Stone, placing it back on his chest. No! Ultron was about to take the Soul Stone, when Strange extended out a hand, which turned into a tentacle, which wrapped around the wrist that held the stone. Strange revealed his Time Stone, which he had in his necklace. Time around us returned to normal, dropping us to the ground. However, Ultron had all the stones back in his chest. He immediately grew to an enormous size, baffling us. Strange extended out his hands as a red light surrounded him. He let out a scream as giant tentacles emerged, making their way towards Ultron. The older Storm rushed to my side, giving me a nudge.
"Let's help Strange." She advised as her hands were engulfed in blue flames.
I quickly followed her lead, raising my hands towards Ultron. As the flames flourished, making their way to Ultron. I reached out to the Force to keep myself from falling into the dark emotions. Once our flames united, they rushed towards Ultron, packing a punch. Together with Strange, we managed to crush Ultron, forcing him to shrink back to his normal size. I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins as I narrowed my eyes at Ultron. My plan to not give into my darker emotions though was quickly forgotten as the only thing on my mind was to get rid of Ultron before he could destroy my home and everyone I loved. I was willing to whatever it took to stop Ultron. With that in mind, I let out a war cry as the flames surrounded my entire body, raising me up towards Ultron. Little did I know my hair was glowing or that my eyes were glowing blue. Ultron raised his head, looking at me, rather baffled. "What...?"
I lifted a hand engulfed in blue flames, hurling them at the droid, which surrounded his armor. I raised the intensity of the flames, covering all of him. He let out a groan, trying to escape our grasp, but failing. Right in front of us, Ultron's body bent back before the Soul Stone flew out. Ultron then hit the body with a loud thud. Thor raised his hammer, sending a wave of lightning towards Ultron as he yelled out. "Vegas!"
Gamora grabbed the stone before making her way to the machine. Strange extended out his hands, creating chains to keep Ultron down. Peggy, Erik, Natasha, Thor, and T'Challa each grabbed a chain. Delmira, Iretia, and Miona stood beside them, using the Force to keep him down. I made my way towards Ultron, giving him a death glare. I extended out a hand towards Ultron, feeling rage flow through me.
"You're gonna pay for all the lives you took, for all the universes you destroyed without a second thought." I warned.
I clenched a fist as vengeance flew through me, wanting Ultron to suffer like he did to all those poor people. Ultron let out a roar as pieces of his suit slowly came apart. But I didn't stop there, I let my rage consume me, taking control of me. I couldn't explain it, but I felt so good, like I had power that I had been holding all this time. And what was worse of all was that I liked this sensation. I could feel myself growing as power and rage surged through myveins.A couple more cracks emerged from his armor as Ultron let out a yell of pain.
"Storm, that's enough." The older Storm advised.
Her words snapped me out of my trance. I took a step back, away from Ultron, looking at the ground as I realized what I had done. A pang of guilt hit me at once. I tapped into the dark side again...I kept my gaze to the ground, not having the courage to look anyone in the eye after the little stunt I pulled. Once the Soul Stone was inside the machine, it came to life, crawling towards Ultron, commencing to crush the stones around his chest. Gamora raised her blade at the droid. "You're done."
In a matter of seconds, an explosion broke out, covering us in bright light. Once it died down, we all exchanged looks, wondering the exact same thing. Was Ultron gone? Thor was the one to speak up. "Whew! It's, uh...is that it? Is it over? We win? Yeah, not so hard."
I grimaced. Something didn't feel right though. And I knew I wasn't the only one who sensed it. T'Challa took off his helmet as he responded. "It doesn't feel over."
Ultron's voice rang out, but we couldn't see him. We all stood near each other around a circle, having each other's back as we prepared to face Ultron again. His voice echoed out. "I'm honestly surprised. Didn't the Watcher warn you? Each universe is different, each one just a fraction unique. Thus the Infinity Stones are unique."
Gamora's face fell. "Of course...The Crusher was designed to destroy the stones on my world, not his."
My heart dropped. This was bad...Ultron then emerged from the flames not far from us. Once he was up in the air, all six of the stones began to glow. Peggy raised her shield, glancing over at us. "Brace yourselves."
Light emerged from all the six stones, heading towards us. Strange's spell quickly covered us all in the golden balls. I extended out my hands, reaching out to the Force to create a barrier. The Force immediately recognized me, surrounding me in its embrace. Around the golden light, a Force barrier was created along with a blue light. What was surprising was to see a bright white light around us as well. That wasn't coming from Strange or the older Storm. I glanced over to see the white light coming from Miona. Once Ultron stopped, we lowered our hands.
"You. It's you." Ultron mentioned as he glanced over at Strange before looking at the older Storm, Miona, and me. "And you three. If I destroy you four, you will all fall."
He then extended out a hand, covered in purple beams, hurling a huge blast towards us, pushing Natasha, Peggy, Erik, Gamora, Delmira, Iretia, T'Challa, and Thor back, leaving Strange, the older Storm, Miona, and I to fend Ultron. Together, we all used everything we had against him, but he seemed untouchable, which was frustrating. I let out a cry as I felt my strength dwindling, and I wasn't the only one, Miona, the older Storm, and Strange were also struggling. The spell was wearing off as I felt Ultron's light pierce my skin. I yelled out, feeling the stinging sensation across my cheek. All of the sudden, Ultron ceased his fire, I weakly glanced up to see him falling to the ground with an arrow lodged into one of his eyes. My knees collapsed onto the ground as I let out a sigh of relief, feeling weak. We watched as he took the arrow out from his eye, struggling before his body shut down, falling onto the ground not far from us with a loud thud. Iretia approached Miona, checking up on her. Delmira, Peggy, and the older Storm quickly rushed over to me, looking worried.
"You all right?" Delmira questioned.
I nodded as I let out a groan. "Yeah, I'm just exhausted. I used up a lot of my strength."
"I didn't know you could do that." Peggy mentioned, looking at me in awe.
"Neither did I." I admitted.
"Okay, that was, uh, can someone explain, please?" Thor inquired, looking baffled.
"I gave him a virus. A nasty one." Natasha informed us.
"So we did it? He's actually destroyed?" I asked, sounding hopeful.
Peggy gave me a smile. "It seems so."
As we all regrouped with everyone, we noticed Erik had Ultron's armor on, wearing all six of the Infinity Stones across his chest plate. My stomach churned. Gamora raised her blades, Iretia and Delmira took out their lightsabers, igniting their blades. Delmira's lightsaber let out a powerful howl. Thor lifted his hammer, while Strange extended out his hands.
"Cousin, what are you doing?" T'Challa inquired, raising an eyebrow.
Erik turned around to face us. "The Watcher owes us this. With these stones, we can fix our worlds, our lives."
My face fell at words. That sounded...tempting. I would be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about using the stones to fix my galaxy. Erik glanced over at us. "T'Challa, Thor, Storm are you gonna turn down the one thing guaranteed to save your homes? You mentioned the Empire is ruining your galaxy, tormenting and destroying lives."
I grimaced. "...The Empire has done so much, and Loki...we're universes away."
Erik motioned towards the stones. "Storm, you can be with your man again. You can do it all with these."
Erik then turned towards the older Storm. "You can get your loved ones back, stop the First Order, and restore what Ultron destroyed. Peggy, you can be with your fella again. Strange, you more than anyone know that this is it. This is our only chance."
I wanted to take the stones and fix everything to make life what it once was, but I knew this was wrong. It's like when Miss Minutes offered us anything we wanted, like stopping the Empire, restoring the Jedi Order, and it was all too good to be true. I mentally shook my head. No, I'm not going to give in. There's another way to stop the Empire. I don't need the stones.
"Hand over the stones, cousin." T'Challa urged.
Erik scoffed. "I'm not your cousin. I'm sorry it has to end this way."
"You won't get away with this." I retorted, narrowing my eyes at him.
Erik wore a smug look. "Oh, but I think I will."
Light appeared from the stones, but before he could attack us, Ultron's body rose from the ground, showing a green face with spectacles around Ultron's chest. Ultron's eyes changed from blood red to green. A voice then rang out. "Oh no, no, no. I am afraid that armor belongs to me."
"Is that Arnim Zola?" Peggy asked, sounding baffled.
"Hydra never died. It just mutated." Natasha explained.
"Well, that explains the stomach-face." Thor pointed out.
"Which is not creepy at all." Delmira retorted, sarcastically.
As if on cue, Zola let out a sinister laugh as he controlled Ultron, extending a hand out towards Erik. All the stones slowly popped out of Erik's armor, making their way towards Zola. They both struggled, trying to grab the stones for themselves. The stones floated back and forth as a bright light consumed them.
"We were never meant to win." Strange commented.
As I followed his gaze, staring at the stones, which remained in between Zola and Erik. I then realized where he was getting at as I answered. "We're here to separate the stones from Ultron's body."
Strange lifted himself up in the air, turning them into stone before covering them in a huge ball. The Watcher appeared, joining in to help keep Zola and Erik inside. A bright light consumed them before they all disappeared. We then exchanged smiles, happy that finally defeated Ultron. Now the multiverse is safe, and I can return to my galaxy.
•••
Once we returned to the pub we first arrived in, Miona approached me. "You have Dooku's lightsaber. How?"
"It's a long story, but Dooku is...or was my grandfather." I mentioned.
Miona stared at me in awe. Iretia blurted out. "What? Wow...I thought I'd never thought I'd ever meet someone who's related to a Sith Lord."
I grimaced. "Well, now you have."
"Three actually." Miona chimed in, referring to the older Storm and herself.
Miona earned a surprised look from Iretia. I glanced over at Miona, giving her a grateful look. Miona merely smiled, giving me a small nod.
"Well, you don't have it so bad. You could be related to Palpatine, like I am." Iretia confessed.
Delmira, Miona, Iretia, the older Storm, and I all looked at Iretia, completely stupefied. What?! Before any of us cold day a word, the Watcher appeared in the pub, standing in front of us with a gratified smile. "The entire Multiverse owes you a debt of gratitude. But your worlds will never know this victory. Once you walk through that door, you'll return to the exact moment you left."
We all exchanged sad smiles, knowing this might be the last time we may see each other. Well, it was nice to know them for this little while. I'm happy for this experience as strange as it may have seemed at first. Gamora, Iretia, and T'Challa walked towards the door, vanishing. Thor approached the older Storm and me, wrapping his arms around us as he let out a chuckle. "Farewell, Storms!"
Thor then left, vanishing as well. Miona gave us one last smile before trailing behind Thor. Delmira walked over towards the older Storm and me. Delmira wore a sad look. "I wish we had more time."
"So do I, but this time has been a gift." I mentioned.
With that, Delmira gave both the older Storm and me tight hugs. She then gave us one last look before leaving. Peggy was about to leave, when she stopped, glancing over at a picture of a man, who no doubt was her lover. I recognized that man as one of people who Kina, Gida, Tarom, and I had stood side by side alongside Natasha against Loki's army. However, he looked different, that man wasn't as muscular.
"It's time to go, Captain." The Watcher urged.
Peggy glanced over at the Watcher, who seemed to know what she was thinking of. "You'd rather return to another time."
"Haven't I earned my happy ending?" Peggy inquired.
"Trust me, in that world, that time, needs Captain Carter." The Watcher advised.
Peggy glanced over at the picture one last time before looking at Natasha, who gave her a nod. Peggy smiled, she then turned towards the older Storm and me. "It was a pleasure fighting by your side, Sousa, Ca'ana."
I returned her smile at once. "The pleasure's all ours, Captain. May the Force be with you."
Instead of being baffled like Loki was, Peggy seemed to know what I was taking about as her smile widened. "May the Force be with you both, too."
She then walked out into the light. I knew it was time to leave, but I had so many questions for the Watcher. I turned towards him, wanting to know if everything will be all right in my home galaxy.
"In my universe, my time, does everything work out?" I questioned.
The Watcher remained silent, no doubt searching for the right words to say. But when he said nothing, I pressed on. "Is it possible to go to another time?"
"And leave your time? After everything you've done?" The Watcher inquired, tilting his head.
"I've been through so much. Like Peggy said, don't I deserve a happy ending? Have I not done enough to earn that?" I croaked out.
"Your home galaxy needs Storm Ca'ana. You have the chance to change things for worse...or for the better. Your actions will determine your destiny and the fate of your entire universe."
My heart dropped. Wow, there's definitely no pressure there. I had a feeling that's all he's going to tell me. I forced a smile, grateful that the Watcher had chosen me as part of the team to stop Ultron.
"Thank you for picking me to be part of this team." I mentioned.
The Watcher cracked a smile, bowing his head. I glanced over at the older Storm and Natasha, giving them one last smile, which they both returned. I then walked towards the door, engulfed in bright light.