Tinley was about to give Vision a cheeky response before Maria broke the news. She stopped, staring at Vision before her, a minion of Ultron and hearing that Bonnie was dead. And Spider-Gwen bled out in front of her before she could do anything to help. She kept losing people. Over and over again under her leadership. She didn't know what else to do.
She gripped the baton in her hand. "I'll fucking kill you, you bastard!" Charging forward, Tinley lept at Vision, aware that he could phase at any moment, but that didn't matter. She wanted him dead so she could haul his carcass to Ulton and show him what she intended to do to him. She landed at him, driving her baton into his head through his eye. She charged it with as much power as she could muster. "Die you piece of shit!" She didn't care anymore. Like the others, she didn't intend to survive. Not anymore.
Outskirts of Birnin Zana - Wakanda: July 16th, 2021 - 3:40 A.M.
Yes, it's a new map. Yes, it's amazing. And yes, I spent money on this program so damn it I'm gonna use it.
The circles with stars? Each of those represents an Ultron bot. Yup.
Susan went through the portal along with Niah, causing the force fields to fall down as she left the Birnin Zana outskirts. Bonnie's body was limp on the ground as Cass destroyed the Ultron drone that had killed her best friend. The other drones though were still swarming them - Roman would have been hurt, but the blast headed towards him hit a nearby tree and set it on fire instead. "Get through the portal!" Shuri shouted, her temper mostly directed at the young inhuman, as he tended to not be as much of an offensive player as say Cass.
Strange took more shots, staggering backwards and the portal closed. He started using eldritch magic, sending enchanted discs at the drones nearby as he sliced them into pieces, taking out a fair number of them. There was blood trickling out of his mouth but he didn't stop. They needed to buy Susan and Niah time to get the vibranium that they needed - hopefully they'd manage in the laboratory without Shuri, as he wouldn't be able to make another portal until the drones were gone. "We're turning the tide," Strange informed his teammates, trying to lift their spirits.
Shuri waited for a drone to head towards her and she then jumped on top of it, ripping open a side compartment and exposing its wiring, ripping out a few key wires and the drone shut down. Three drones then circled her and she launched herself up into the air, escaping the blasts and firing blasts of her own from her vibranium gauntlets, destroying them. There was a reason she was the Black Panther, after all.
Underneath Mount Bashenga - Wakanda: July 16th, 2021 - 3:40 A.M.
Shuri's laboratory was the main location for the Wakandan Design Group before the Age of Ultron began. Located underneath Mount Bashenga, named for the warrior-shaman who united the tribes into the Kingdom of Wakanda, the laboratory had state of the art instruments that not even the heads of R&D at major companies like Stark Industries and Pym Technologies would dream of having access to on a regular basis. Beyond the tech, there was also access to the unrefined vibranium within the mountain, allowing Shuri and her team to use it as the basis for each of their groundbreaking designs.
And while the laboratory was nowhere near pristine as it had been, as Niah and the others would be sure to note as they crossed through, it wasn't unoccupied. Wearing his metal mask, Victor von Doom was seated at Shuri's workbench. He was tinkering with what looked like a water filtration and purification system, coughing horribly from time to time. "Susan," Dr. Doom greeted, getting up from the bench with shaky legs. "You're," he paused, coughing profusely again, "three months late."
"What do you mean by three months late Victor?" She asked, looking at him, she was wondering why he was coughing so much.
He laughed slightly, but it sounded painful - as if each breath he took was causing him some amount of pain or agony. "Please. Even someone as simple minded as you should be able to answer that one," he said patronizingly.
"Wait... You know why we came here?"
"Obviously."
"Are you planning on stopping us? Or are you going to let us get what we came for?"
Maybe he was smiling underneath that mask. "I want to see the end of Ultron as much as you do, my dear. It would be my pleasure - but.... I will require something in return."
"And what would that be?"
He coughed again. "I was in the Raft when this all began - when you create the machine and travel back in time - don't look surprised that I figured it out, little one, I am the smartest man alive," he added, looking at Niah, "I want you to give me a full pardon and release me. It's what the kids call a win win situation. I go free and so does humanity."
"You were in the Raft for a reason Victor!"
Serval Industries - Virginia: July 15th, 2021 - 8:40 P.M.
Make sure to pay attention to where people are relative to you.
There was only so much damage a synthezoid like the Vision could take before his processes glitched, mechanical parts broke, and structural integrity failed. The Scarlet Witch was ripping him apart, Flynn was blasting him with flames, and Tinley shoved an electric baton in the Vision's eye. He was sparking and trying to phase, but he could only hold it for a fraction of a second. "Убићу вас, господине Макимофф," the android said, before switching through a series of languages. "Quem atirou primeiro? Han Solo. Enwere m ike ime nke a ụbọchị niile. Nāṉ irumpu maṉitaṉ. ellā manuṣyarkkuṁ paṅkiṭān oru light ṣmaḷa veḷiccaṁ. You cannot simply ghost Nick Fury. Manē mārā khātāmāṁ lāla maḷyō chē. Je suis toujours en colère, capitaine."
The Scarlet Witch's eyes narrowed, hearing the first thing he said. She spat in the direction of the robot, before she tore out the gem on his forehead, as it had looked important. "Bastard," she cursed, agreeing with Tinley's sentiments. He may not have been the one to kill her twin brother, but he was just another extension of Ultron. She was going to kill him and every other thing out there if she had to - in order to avenge Pietro. It had taken the end of the world, but here she was - a mutant terrorist turned Avenger. Her brother would have been proud of her.
Captain Marvel started to stir, her eyes opening first and then the familiar cosmic glow returned, surrounding her as she pushed herself to her feet. Her face fell when she saw Spider-Gwen and she knew that she was dead - thanks to her cosmic awareness, her perception was extraordinary. She took a large breath, her eyes burning with pure energy - like supernovas - as she glared at the synthezoid who killed her friend. "She was SEVENTEEN!" Marvel screamed at the machine.
As for the Asgardian, Raynor knew that Spider-Gwen was in Valhalla now and her soul would remain there until Ragnarok. His fist clenched as he remembered that Sparky, since she hadn't died in battle, would have been sent to the halls of Hel. His eyes were shrouded in pure light similarly to Marvel's and he blasted the synthezoid, sending the Vision flying backwards. He let out a blood curdling scream, releasing the anger, frustration, and pain. He wanted to die and join Sparky.
The Vision was sparking all over and a large portion of his machinery and circuits were useless - he couldn't even use his right arm. His face still had Tinley's baton embedded inside of it, causing the synthezoid to only have visuals from one eye. However, with the glowing control gem gone, the machine seemed... confused, somehow. "That was... odd," he said, breaking the silence.
He glanced at the fallen web slinger and did not move his eyes away from Spider-Gwen's form. "I am... sorry. That... That was not me."
"Like hell it wasn't!" Raynor screamed, too blinded by anger and rage to use his abilities to tell if the Vision was lying or telling the truth.
Doom was there. And asking her if she would pardon him. Did she even have the ability to do that? How did he know she was the one who was going to go back in time? "I don't know if I'd be able to. I don't know if I have that pull." Was she going to promise him she'd try though? Would he even remember this conversation? He wouldn't be time-traveling so theoretically, he wouldn't. Niah didn't even know why he was in the raft. She was not comfortable agreeing to let him go...or even trying to get him pardoned without knowing.
"Susan, why was he on the Raft?" The cough concerned her. He was very sick. Was he dying? Was that from before Ultron or something that had happened since. If he was dying there wouldn't be too much of an issue of getting him pardoned.
"He was trying to take the team down... Well, more of trying to knock Reed down, he's been jealous of Reed since they were in college, and he was constantly trying to either destroy us or use us for his own personal gain... Honestly, I don't really understand what I ever saw in Victor back before he started trying to take over the world. Or destroy it really... He ended up in the Raft for trying to take over the world for what felt like the hundredth time."
"Take over, but not destroy?" Niah paused looking over Dr. Doom. "I'll try. I can't promise I'll succeed at getting you a pardon, but I'll try. But if I succeed and you hurt a single person I will drag you back to the raft myself." Niah tried to sound intimidating, tried to put all of her hurt and pain and anger at every death into that last sentence.
Things went to shit just about as quickly as his victory had seemed to arrive. When the drones exploded, the explosion and shrapnel from the explosions caused chaos among their ranks. Going as far as to even cut down Bonnie, one of their team members and a close friend of Cassandra. He swore to himself, realizing that he had been the cause of another teammate to die. First, he had been blind to her influences and gotten his old squad killed. Now he had made a choice to blow up some drones and killed another. "I-I didn't." He muttered softly, eyes wide as he realized he was failing at the whole reason he had even joined SHIELD in the first place. To save people. Yet here had just killed another one of his teammates, people that he was supposed to support and protect in the field. Moving quickly, he moved over towards Cass with the intention of pulling her to her feet and getting through the portal.
Then the portal closed, and Roman was stuck out here with all the drones. Focusing solely on one of the nearby drones that had yet to be attacked, Roman attempted to steal control of the drone and turn it back on its own allies. Using that to try to cause discord among their troops and give even more of an advantage over their enemy. The man channeled all of his energy and was unable to break through the firewalls of the drone, cursing to himself. Determined not to be useless in the manner of the field, he tried a second time only to be rebuked but learned a bit about this one's programming. "You're mine, asshole." He growled as he broke through their firewalls on the third attempt. Turning the drone to stop attacking his allies, and instead, turn and start firing upon its own former allies. A victory that Roman hoped would help turn the tide just a bit more.
Location: Outskirts of Birnin Zana, Wakanda (F,8) Skills: Enhanced Condition, Hand to hand combat
Cassandra continued to punch down the remains of the Ultron drone that killed Bonnie, until she felt Roman pulling her off of it she wanted to punch that thing some more. When she turned around she noticed that the portal had closed up behind them, leaving Niah and Susan to deal with whatever would be on the other side of the portal. "Let go of me.." Cassandra said coldly towards Roman and turned her attention now fully on the three Ultron drones that were closest to her. Cassandra clenched her fists a little bit and started to charge forward towards the three drones she wanted to dismantle every single one of the drones.
Cassandra was running more on anger and rage right now more than anything, she just wished she could have protected her best friend, as she charged forward and started to try and attack each of the three drones, as they started to dodge her rather easily. Groaning in frustration as she looked towards Strange for a moment seeing that the Doctor wasn't doing well. She was getting more annoyed and angered as the drones simply dodged her.
Maria watched as the others started to attack Vision with no problems at all, and they were all doing pretty well so far seeing the android was getting pretty damaged. As Wanda managed to remove the gem in the center of his head, and Tinley attacking Vision managing to stab her remaining baton in his eye as well. She still felt sad for Flynn as he set Vision on fire and started to burn him badly as well, and Captain Marvel started to come to as well.
Maria noticed that Vision started to act differently as she looked a little bit confused, as she closed her eyes for a moment and started to use the abilities that were from Captain Marvel and felt like he was telling the truth. And he must know more on what Ultron was up to as well, and quickly stepped forward as she looked towards the body of Spider-Gwen feeling sad she was really young as well. "He's telling the truth I think, he was being controlled by Ultron.." Maria said hoping that the others would stand down. "And I think we can use him, he could have inside knowledge on the weapon Ultron is making." Maria pointed out as well.
Flynn was glad that everyone else seemed to be on his side with destroying the android, and he noticed the thing start glitching out based on the amount of damage they had done to him. He had no idea what it is that the android was saying when he started to glitch, but based on Wanda's reaction it wasn't anything too kind. If Flynn was given the option, he'd put the gem back in Vision's head and rip it out himself, he wanted to make the guy suffer for what had happened to Bonnie. He couldn't kill Ultron right now, but Vision was the next best thing.
"Like hell I believe that," he snapped in response to Maria's words about Vision being controlled by Ultron. Flynn was beyond mad, and he was wanting to take his out on someone, or more of in this case something. "Give me one good reason not to smash you apart! And whose to say he's not trying to lie or something and is programmed that way? We can't trust him at all!" He was still basically a walking fireball, but he didn't really care anymore.
Outskirts of Birnin Zana - Wakanda: July 16th, 2021 - 3:50 A.M.
Roman's acquired drone started to glow a soft shade of red as he hacked and reprogrammed it, convincing the bot that the other robots present were the threat and not the four heroes. His rogue managed to take down two bots, before turning to pursue the other ones in the network. Those shots missed, but at least the friend-or-foe designations had not reverted, meaning this drone was likely good to help them for a while. Maybe it deserves some sort of name like the droids have in Star Wars?
Doctor Strange was doing magic as quickly and rapidly as he could, even cauterizing his own wounds in order to allow him to better combat the robots. As he went to work at destroying them through various intricate pieces of magic, it was like watching a master pianist perform. Each motion of his hands resulted in an enormous outlet of power, with some of the drones being disintegrated and falling to ground as clumps of ash. Others ended up going through sling ring portals to deep space, where they froze from the extreme conditions and ceased operating.
Similarly, Shuri had also come into her own. She used one drone as a launching pad, throwing herself up into the air and making amazing feats of acrobatics seem easy as she destroyed robot after robot. Yes, she was incredibly saddened to see that Bonnie had died - but they had already lost so many people. She didn't have more tears to shed. And if their mission was a success, then they could bring Bonnie back - they could bring everyone back.
The only drone that remained was the one that Roman had taken control over. Shuri landed gracefully on the ground like a cat, panting a bit and wiping some sweat off of her brow. "Thank Bast..." she muttered, glad that they had survived. Everyone's lives depended on them succeeding.
Strange nodded slightly, taking a breath before he reopened the portal to the lab. They wouldn't be able to see Dr. Doom from their vantage point, but they would be able to see Niah and Susan talking to someone. Shuri went over to Bonnie's body and she closed her eyes. They couldn't do much more for her. They didn't have time.
Underneath Mount Bashenga - Wakanda: July 16th, 2021 - 3:50 A.M.
Whether he saw through Niah's bravado or not was unclear - he fell to his knees, coughing up blood profusely. Given their expertise in medicine, Susan and Niah would recognize his symptoms - he had vibranium sickness. Unless he had spent a lot of time working with the precious metal before Ultron, it was likely that this deathly illness was a new development. There was no known cure for it either. Doom's only chance to live was the time machine that the S.H.I.E.L.D. team wanted to build - the Avengers team now, really. "You have - my - word," he promised Niah in between coughs.
Susan's expression softened, seeing the state that he was in, and she let out a small sigh. "No guarantees Victor, but we definitely will try..." she said softly. Despite their differences, right now Doom was really the only person she had really known before the whole incident with Ultron. Sure, there was the occasional run in with another group of super heroes, but she never really got to know them. Johnny, Ben, Reed, they were her family, they were all gone but here of all people was Victor von Doom, someone who at one point she had feelings towards, who was on his death bed. "How exactly did you get the vibranium sickness?" she then asked him.
"Ultron. He wanted me to build him a new form," Doom answered simply, standing back up to his full height, though his knees were shaking.
"Victor... Please tell me the truth..." she asked, walking over to stand right next to him, "I know you are lying... If you can't tell the truth on your deathbed essentially, then when can you?" Susan had actually gone over and gripped onto his arm, to try and steady him somewhat.
He laughed slightly, though the noise could have easily been mistaken for coughing. "I tried to fix me."
"Sometimes you can't just fix things, some things look broken but aren't... You shouldn't have even tried... You are literally a dead man walking..."
He shook his head, slamming his hand onto the workbench. "I need to be perfect, Susan!" he snapped.
""Well... We'll see what we can do to get you out of the Raft once we fix things, and this probably won't have really happened then. And for the record, no one is perfect Victor."
"No one is - but I will be."
Serval Industries - Virginia: July 15th, 2021 - 8:50 P.M.
Make sure to pay attention to where people are relative to you.
Captain Marvel was burning cold, wanting nothing more than to avenge the death of Spider-Gwen. They had lost a great deal of people, but Gwen Stacy had been just a kid, separated from her family and yet she still fought as hard as she could to protect this universe from Ultron. No kid should have had to be put in that sort of position, but she had handled it with grace. The space Avenger stared at Vision, her eyes narrowed as she began to use her own cosmic awareness and precognition. The synthezoid's future was murky and unclear for her. He was just as likely to help them destroy Ultron as he was to betray them.
The question then wasn't whether or not Carol believed that the Vision was destined for evil - it was whether or not she would choose to see the potential for good or for bad that resides inside each and every individual. She wished Goose was there - he was a fantastic judge of character. "Answer his question," Captain Marvel then said, nodding towards Flynn.
"If you face Ultron without my aid, your odds of success are twelve percent," the Vision told Flynn calmly. "He may be my creator, but he detests humanity... He does not see the beauty and grace in your failures," he answered, attempting to explain his ideological differences from Ultron. It was difficult for the Vision to articulate, given that he had not truly been a distinct entity until about ten minutes ago.
The Scarlet Witch's eyes turned red and she approached the Vision, moving oddly - as if she was animated at a different frame rate than the rest of the world. Once behind him, the same red glow appeared in his eye (as the other had a baton through it) and the synthezoid couldn't move or speak. "...I do not feel Ultron in him..." Wanda confirmed, indicating that what the Vision had said about the control gem was likely to be true.
Raynor wanted nothing more than to blast the Vision into small bits of scrap metal, enough to prevent anyone from ever reassembling the machine. However, there was an opportunity here. Ultron wouldn't suspect the Vision, his own creation, of betraying him. They could use that to their advantage, gain access to Ultron's main base and finally cut the head off of this beast, causing the limbs to die as well. They would destroy Ultron and his robotic army in seconds, just leaving the human, mutant, inhuman, and mutate criminals behind to deal with.
"If you betray us, you're going to wish that we just killed you now," Raynor muttered, looking at Vision as he extinguished the light spheres in his hands. "I swear on my father's life."
The Vision stared at them all for a moment, his eyes flickering towards Flynn (who openly hated his presence) and Tinley (who had yet to speak her mind). "Whatever you decide, I recommend hurrying... Satellite readings indicate approximately fifty Ultron bots converging on this position."
In only a matter of minutes, her world went from crazed to insane. Vision went from death robot to...whatever it was in front of them. Tinley had wanted it to be all an act so she could end him. The body of Spider-Gwen nearby had fueled her desire in that regard, but based on what the others were saying, he seemed to be telling the truth. And if Scarlet Witch hadn't wanted to end him anymore, then she wouldn't either. "Fine, you stay alive for now. But if I get even a tiny hint that you are still loyal to Ultron and I will put you down."
She looked around at the others, notably Flynn who she could tell was not happy. "I don't like it either, but he might have information to help us. We got more bots coming after us so we need to move quickly. We don't have a lot of time for a rest, so I hope everyone is still up for a fight. Let's get what we came for and get gone before someone else shows up to throw a wrench in our plan." She would ensure Gwen gets recovered later. Plus, if all went well, she would be alive again. But they needed to complete this first if there was any hope of that happening.
Location: Outskirts of Birnin Zana, Wakanda (F,8) -> Underneath Mount Bashenga - Wakanda Skills: N/A
Once all of the Ultron drones were all dealt with Cassandra closed her eyes as she did her best to try and calm down as well, occasionally looking over towards the body of Bonnie. She was starting to dread telling Flynn what had happened to her best friend, as she stared at the remaining Ultron drone that was under Roman's control. She really did want to destroy that thing as she looked over at Roman for a moment, and knew that it could be a liability having it around still, and who knew how long Roman would have control over the Ultron drone as well.
"Destroy that thing, I'd feel a lot safer if that thing isn't online." Cassandra said towards Roman having a feeling that Ultron could simply just use it to spy on them as well. Cassandra looked towards Dr. Strange for a moment, she didn't want her friend's body to remain there at all. "Could you open a portal back to the Sanctum, so we can send her body there?" She asked him as the portal opened up again to Shuri's personal workshop, and made her way inside of the portal as well. Once through the portal Cass could see Susan and Niah there as she started to wonder who they were talking to, before calling out to them. "Susan, Niah who else is there?" Cassandra asked.
Maria closed her eyes a little bit and she started to relax a little bit while looking over towards the body of Spider-Gwen she was so young and didn't deserve to die either. She took a moment and looked over towards Flynn, and then over towards Scarlet Witch as well before speaking. "We are giving Scarlet Witch here a chance, just saying." Maria said, even she knew that Flynn was OMEN but she chose not to say that since she knew that he didn't like mentioning that part.
She turned her attention towards Vision who told them that there were about fifty Ultron drones on their way over here now as well which wasn't good to hear at all. "Is there anyone else we should be aware of, and is the virus still here?" Maria decided to ask Vision since he was here before them and probably knew who else was actually here in Serval Industries HQ.
Location: Outskirts of Birnin Zana, Wakanda (F,8) -> Just near the portal Skills: Technomancy
The man was caught off guard whenever Cassandra turned on him rather coldly, and he could've sworn that he lost control of the Ultron drone in his moment of lacking focus whenever the woman turned on him. Yet his little Ultron-bro seemed to decide that it was cool sticking with club Roman. So instead, it went around and ruined two of its pals before the fight finished, something he was rather thankful about. As he really didn't want it to suddenly turn and shoot him in the foot, that would most certainly suck. But seeing how the group seemed to all be alright after the battle, he really couldn't complain all that much about how things turned out. Even if the girl he had been growing closest to now suddenly hated him, and rightfully so, due to his damn actions. He was smarter than this, he could most certainly do better.
As the group started heading towards the portal to leave, Roman looked over at Bonnie. He felt his heart drop a bit as he mouthed a small apology towards the corpse. Then turning towards the Ultron drone, he let out a small sigh as he walked over and pat it on the shoulder. "Sorry, 88. Gonna have to ask you to rest now." He said as he tried to leave a few commands for the bot to self destruct after they went through the portal. The name he gave it referencing an assassin droid from Star Wars, but he didn't expect the drone to really know that. As he started to walk away, he heard the sounds of the drone preparing to fire, and immediately started to run. However, the drone fired and hit his foot, causing him to tumble to the ground in front of the portal, yelling out in pain before he looked back at the drone. "DID YOU READ MY FUCKING MIND OR SOMETHING!?" He shouted, as he tried to get back to his feet and make towards the portal, the irony of his earlier thoughts coming true exactly only filling him with rage as he tried to make it before either the portal closed or the drone caught him.
A little bit of weight lifted off Niah's shoulders when Doom said he promised. She'd have to make sure she got the promise from him again after the time-fix. It was also good that Susan was saying she'd help too. Niah liked her and trusted her opinion. She hadn't felt great about making the deal but those two things combined made it easier. Though knowing what was killing him did reassure her any. He had to have only recently gotten sick. She let Susan and Doom speak and turned to the group as they entered through a new portal. She flinched a little when he slammed his fist into the table.
Niah did a quick count and saw no one else had died. "Grab as much as you can. If you can Doctor Strange send it directly back to your sanctum." She was worried about his wounds, but he appeared to no longer be actively bleeding. That was good. Niah could only hope that no one had gotten critically wounded. She didn't even dare to let herself think about what issues the other team might have encountered, or who they might have lost. "It's Doctor Doom Cass, but he is dying and isn't opposing us." Niah added she didn't want to go into the details of her promise.
"Why the hell are we just flat out ignoring the fact that he was literally trying to kill us and already killed someone?" Flynn muttered under his breath. This was ridiculous, why the hell were they willing to trust this guy? They had no reason whatsoever to, and now everyone was like, Oh, he's not trying to kill us anymore, everything will be just fine! This is how most problems tended to get started, with no one thinking about the consequences of their actions. That's kind of how this whole mess started in the first place.
"Fine, let's let the robot come along, since why the hell not, everything is all screwed up already," Flynn said, before pulling out the sling ring again. It seemed to withstand the flames, as he still was a walking fireball, and he opened up a portal back to the Sanctum. "Anyone want a ride back go through the portal now, otherwise you're stuck here when those robots or whatever show up," he said, sounding a bit distant as he opened up the portal and stepped through it, before walking away now.
Outskirts of Birnin Zana - Wakanda: July 16th, 2021 - 4:00 A.M.
Strange nodded at Cass. "Of course," he obliged, before opening up a secondary portal underneath Bonnie's body. Her body fell through and ended up in the Sanctum in New York, and a moment later, Strange closed that portal. He then started to smirk slightly. There was something so comical and innocent about Roman cursing out the drone he attempted to destroy. They didn't really get little moments like that anymore. "I believe you need some assistance," he said, before he sent a magic disc flying at the drone and he cut it in half, a shower of sparks signaling its (un)timely demise.
"This builds character," Shuri told Roman, clapping him on the back slightly. "Come on, we need to catch up with the colonizers," she added, more or less pushing Roman through the portal. Once they were through, Strange followed them and shut the portal behind them, leaving the battlefield behind.
Underneath Mount Bashenga - Wakanda: July 16th, 2021 - 4:00 A.M.
"...So I see that you have all decided to pretend that you aren't facing a dangerous criminal with mystical prowess?" Strange asked, raising an eyebrow as he came through the portal with the others and saw Doom at the workbench. While most people knew Victor von Doom as the former ruler of Serbia, based in the Latveria region - or perhaps as a master scientist - he also had considerable magical talent. Similarly to the Scarlet Witch and certain Asgardians, he was on the list of threats to the multiverse that the wizards monitored.
"He's dying Strange, there isn't a point in attacking him..." she said to him, shaking her head at what he had said about attacking Doom.
"Please," Doom started, before coughing again, "I am still more dangerous than that homosexual sorcerer you call supreme over there!"
"Victor you are not helping in trying to convince him not to attack you."
"It's not my fault that he," Doom paused, his eyes closing for a moment as he sneezed and accidentally smacked his head against his hand, "is an imbecile!"
"Stop it already."
Strange was pretty much just ignoring Doom. He was a dying vain and prejudiced man. "Please, I've gotten drinks with Tony Stark. My self esteem is bulletproof," he reassured the Invisible Woman, before he did as Niah asked and opened a portal back to the Sanctum so they could bring on through the refined vibranium.
Serval Industries - Virginia: July 15th, 2021 - 9:00 P.M.
"The virus should be up here somewhere, Spider-Gwen... she managed to grab it," she said, hesitating for a moment after saying the name of the fallen teenager. It was one thing when a soldier died in battle - another thing entirely when they were just a kid with their entire life ahead of them. Sure, Spider-Gwen had come from a different world but that didn't keep her from fighting to make things right. In some ways, it was her youthful hope and fire that had kept the spark alive in Captain Marvel when things were at their bleakest.
"Hey, at least I never killed anyone!" Wanda snapped, glaring at Maria slightly for that comment. She sensed that Raynor was staring at her for a moment and she sighed. "Okay, maybe I killed a few people... but never kids... I think."
"Oh, that just fills me with confidence, Shego!" Captain Marvel quipped. Had the world not ended, she would have fit in well with the Avengers. They tended to make comments like that all of the time, preferring sarcastic asides to direct confrontation most of the time.
"I don't even know who that is, Miss Marvel," Wanda retorted.
"It's Captain, asshole," she replied - Raynor lost it hearing that, actually starting to laugh. The two women gave him a weird look, not understanding why he was laughing at a time like this. In fact, Carol couldn't even remember the last time she had seen Raynor smile and laugh like that. She considered punching him for it, since they had just lost their youngest member. "Can I help you?" she asked him.
"Nope, I'm fine thanks, Captain Asshole," he snickered, shaking his head.
Carol's hands then started to glow and she blasted Raynor backwards, the Asgardian hitting the wall - but it didn't wipe the smirk off his face. The Vision seemed a bit confused, not really understanding why allies were fighting with each other - and why people did not seem to understand the urgency of the situation.
"There was a girl stationed in the lobby of the building - she was under Ultron's instructions to incapacitate you or her father would be killed," the Vision stated calmly. "The virus should still be present here and there are no other hostiles in the area - aside from the incoming drones." His voice was rather crisp, sharp, and succinct - void of emotion and humanity.
The portal was open now and Raynor picked up Spider-Gwen, carrying her through the portal. Once the virus was retrieved, the rest would follow suit - Wanda and Captain Marvel flanking the Vision, just in case the synthezoid did attempt something once they returned to the Sanctum.
New York Sanctum - New York: July 15th, 2021 - 9:00 P.M.
Banner had been studying all of the known theories on how to make a time machine back in the Sanctum. He was sitting down in front of the only television in the place, a pen and paper in front of him as he jotted down key concepts from his source material: Back to the Future. Goose was next to him and he occasionally would pet the kitty, scratching him behind the ears. "Goose..." he said softly, speaking to the animal, "I don't believe it... It's bullshit."
"If you travel back in time and change the past, then that changes your future which becomes your past - it's all a paradox!" he complained to the cat.
As if the universe had heard him, a sling ring portal then opened and Bonnie's body fell out of it, landing with a resounding thud on the floor next to Banner. The renowned gamma radiation scientist's face fell and as he stared at Bonnie's lifeless body, all he could think about was his son - another brilliant mind gone too soon. "Oh no..." he said quietly, before he saw another portal open up and Flynn walked through, a living fireball.
What was he supposed to tell him - that he was sorry for his loss? They all had lost people. They were all sorry. It never changed anything.
"...Did you get the virus?" Banner asked as more people started to come back from Virginia, his eyes going wide as he saw the Vision come on through as well. "What the hell?!"
Location: Underneath Mount Bashenga - Wakanda Skills: N/A
Cassandra looked towards Doctor Strange and smiled slightly towards him she was grateful for that as well seeing the portal open up under her friend's body as Bonnie was sent back to the Sanctum. Cass wanted to make sure her best friend's death wouldn't be in vain as she walked more into Shuri's lab. She stopped when she noticed Doctor Doom was standing at Shuri's workbench, Cass didn't like the fact that he was there either even when both Niah and Susan said he wouldn't oppose them.
She closed her eyes slightly and let out an annoyed sigh he wasn't sure why he wanted to help them but she did want to find out why."Alright, but if he turns on us, it's on you two." She said, at least Scarlet Witch's motives were more on wanting to avenge her brother, while Doctor Doom's was more out of personal survival, she let Doctor Strange and Doom bicker amongst each other. Turning her attention over towards Shuri since she knew what they would be needing. "Tell us what we need."
Maria Smith
Location: Serval Industries - Virginia (3,E) -> New York Sanctum - New York Skills: (Captain Marvel's Flash Precognition/Cosmic Awareness/Hyper-Cosmic Awareness)
Maria could understand Flynn's distrust of Vision, she wasn't sure if she could trust the android either but it was their only key on finding as much information on Ultron's weapon. And he could possibly trick Ultron that Vision wasn't compromised either, and he could get close to him as well. "If he does betray us or something you can kill me then Flynn." Maria said with a slight sigh since she was the one to make the call anyway. She stared at Scarlet Witch when she retorted back and snorted slightly towards herself and shook her head, no one was really innocent either here.
"That is totally reassuring." Maria said sarcastically as Flynn opened up a portal back to the Sanctum, she watched Scarlet Witch and Captain Marvel bicker slightly. "I didn't know you watched Kim Possible." Maria said to Captain Marvel, and snorted slightly when Raynor joked as well which was rare to see now. At least they wont have to deal with anyone else now and started to follow everyone else back through the portal taking the rear behind Vision. She saw Dr. Banner there as he got up, and then stared over as she saw Bonnie's body on the ground as well. It was the last thing she wanted to see and wished that what she saw through Captain Marvel's powers weren't true and then turned her attention back to Banner. "He was under Ultron's control, and if Roman gets back we could have him take a look to be sure." Maria said softly.
Location: Serval Industries - R&D Floor (E5) -> New York Sanctum, New York Skills: N/A
Tinley could feel the tension increase in the room. Still, they had what they came for as she went over to Spider-Gwen's body. It didn't take long for her to find it, Gwen must have just grabbed it before Vision attacked. "I'm sorry. We'll make this right." She spoke softly to the corpse before picking up the virus and making her way back to the portal and back to their sanctum. She followed the others and the other team was there as well. She already knew Bonnie was gone, it didn't make seeing her there hurt any less.
She held up the virus. "We were successful if you could call it a success. We lost Gwen and Bonnie and I am through playing games. Vision is, as of right now, an ally, however tentative that is. He has information on Ultron we could use to tip the scales, but I want him monitored 24/7 and anything, and I mean anything that concerns anybody with him, bring it up. I want the next stage of this plan up and running yesterday. We don't have much time. Ultron knows we have it now and are making plans. I guarantee he's already queuing up for his next assault and I am not about to let him get the upper hand again."
Flynn wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone. He was more then just a little bit pissed off, and the fact that they still wanted to trust Vision was not helping at all. At the moment he really really wanted to kill someone, but it didn't seem like that was going to happen at all anytime soon. Despite what was definitely running through his head, he essentially was ignoring everyone else's words, and sort of storming away from the others a little bit. Goose had been listening to Banner talk, every now and then he would nod his head almost like he could understand everything that he was saying. However, when he saw Bonnie's body turn up, he jumped down from his perch and went and laid down next to her.
Unfortunately, Flynn was still not really calming down and eventually went to stand off by himself in a corner of the room, still a walking fireball. The others could trust the damn robot, but he wasn't going to, and he was looking for an excuse to completely destroy Vision at any moment. There wasn't much he could do right now, but he was not thrilled at the idea of being in the same room as everyone else, and he really hoped that the other group came back quickly. Then maybe he could get some answers as to what the hell happened.
Location: Underneath Mount Bashenga - Wakanda Skills: N/A
As he cursed out the bot, Roman was sure his end was coming before it was suddenly cut down by the good doctor. The man felt a tinge of irritation at that, mixed in among being thankful for the save. Though his pride could really only handle so much embarrassment, which was really all he had been doing on this mission. Not to mention the fact that the fucking wizard had to save the man of science. That was one point for magic and being down one for science. He was a disappointment to scientists everywhere, and even to shield agents after getting another one of his allies killed. The man was not in a very good place mentally at the moment when Shuri clapped the young man on the back before heading through the portal, which he followed her through soon after that point.
He arrived after Strange and Doom had already been arguing a bit, and was wondering who the other voice was that was talking to the sorcerer supreme. Upon entering the lab, he turned in the direction everybody else was looking and saw none other than Doctor Fucking Doom. His eyes went wide in a mere moment as he realized who they were in the room with and heard Cassandra's comments on the matter. He wanted to tack in that they would be exceedingly stupid to trust Doom with anything more than dancing for their amusement. The man practically screamed 'I'm doing to betray you terribly and you're gonna feel bad haha nerd' at the world. Yet here they were willing to trust him just like they had with the Scarlett Witch.
Underneath Mount Bashenga - Wakanda: July 16th, 2021 - 4:10 A.M.
"Alright, fine with me," Susan replied nonchalantly to Cass, apparently not really having the energy for more circular arguments about who they could and could not trust. They weren't in the position to be choosy with their allies, as Ultron already won. He had control over the entire planet, he had enslaved the human race, and at the rate things were going, the entire universe was at stake. Sure, Doom had done some horrible things in his life but unlike Ultron, he never succeeded.
"All the vibranium we have," Shuri instructed Cass, before she went over to her workbench and started pulling out specialized tools and processors. Once she had grabbed them, Strange used his eldritch magic and floated them on through the portal, beginning to make a neat and tidy pile on the other end inside the New York Sanctum of what they would need. Doctor Doom wasn't helping too much with the unloading of supplies, but he did grab some plans and schematics. They weren't the first people to come up with the entire time travel idea.
"The Eye of Agamotto..." he mused, recognizing the trinket around Strange's neck. "Why not just use that?" he coughed.
"I've informed them already that that would be our last resort," Strange replied curtly. Between his magic, as well as the assistance of the others there, they would be able to get everything they could possibly need through the portal in time.
Doom laughed slightly. "You have the most powerful device for time travel in existence and you - and you come to Wakanda to build an inferior one from scraps?!" he scoffed, shaking his head. Maybe he had been wrong to expect that these people could pull it off.
"If you knew anything about the Eye of Agamotto, you would know the grave cost and dangers of using an infinity stone. Compound that with the dangers of messing with the timeline, how averting one crisis will inevitably bring another one along later on... It is too great a risk to the multiverse."
"No, no you're just too scared to bend the rules," Doom taunted.
"Shut up already Victor."
Shuri was wondering whether the Sanctum would have enough room for the combined egos of Doom and Strange. "Come on, children," she scolded. The Invisible Woman helped Victor von Doom through the portal, Shuri then went through, and once Cass, Niah, and Roman had gone on through, Doctor Strange followed them and shut the portal behind him, leaving the Wakandan lab empty.
New York Sanctum - New York: July 15th, 2021 - 9:10 P.M.
Raynor put the body of Spider-Gwen down next to Bonnie's, before he bent down gently and started to scratch Goose behind the ears. He knew better than to say anything right now, given that Captain Marvel was clearly incredibly pissed off at him for his behavior. People grieved in different ways. He was perpetually grieving for Sparky and his mind just couldn't take much more of this. Of course, this world was still better than the reality he had come from, as he wasn't from Earth-666 (the universe designation of this reality). He came from Earth-257. And since Spider-Gwen also wasn't from this universe, it drove him closer to her. She was dead too. He hadn't been able to protect her, just as he hadn't been able to protect Sparky.
"We could ask To-," Banner quickly cut himself off. Even though his friend was long since dead, his mind had instantly thought of Iron Man when it came to inspecting the Vision to see if he was still being controlled by Ultron. It was a shame that they had sent all of the geniuses off to Wakanda, as he would have liked to get someone to inspect the Vision as soon as possible and robotics wasn't Banner's area of expertise. Neither was time travel - he was liable to accidentally turn someone into a baby if he messed up.
"Then let's go now," Carol told Tinley, her arms crossed. "We have the virus. Ultron won't be expecting us to instantly go and attack him, after losing two of our own. He also might not know that we have the Vision on our side yet."
"I'll come on the mission to destroy things. The other guy... he's uh, he's insisting on it," Banner said, tapping his hand against his head slightly to signify that he was talking about the Hulk. "I'm rubbish at building time machines anyways..." He left off the real reason why - he didn't believe that time travel was possible, that it could really work. Sure, his son had experienced some time travel with the X-Men but that was thanks to a magical human-dragon hybrid. He didn't know if they'd be able to replicate whatever Thalia Maehers had pulled off here.
"I'm going too - I want Ultron's head," Wanda said firmly. It was probably a good idea for her to go anyways - magic was always a weakness of Ultron's.
The group from Wakanda then came through a sling ring portal, along with the supplies they would need to build the machine. Fortunately, it seemed that Bonnie was their only loss - but they had gained someone else. Everyone in the room would recognize Victor von Doom, more commonly known as Doctor Doom. "That is... unexpected," the Vision murmured. "The odds of your appearance, Dr. von Doom, were 1.2% at best."
"Okay, what the hell is it with villains deciding to join the good guys for once?!" Marvel snapped. She didn't trust the Scarlet Witch. She didn't trust the Vision. And now, here was yet another villain being allowed to walk straight into the heart of their operations.
"He made a pact. His life for the survival of this universe," Strange answered simply. He held out his hand and the sling ring flew from Flynn's grasp, returning to its owner and Strange slipped the metallic ring away into his pocket.
Location: Suri's Lab -> New York Sanctum Skills: N/A
Niah seemed mentally distracted. It was hard to tell what might be pulling her attention. She only went over to the table with the books she had collected and made notes in. It was possible that it was just the plans for the future...and fixing the past that had her attention. Niah had apparently reached the limit of her surprise though and she barely glanced at Vision or Spider-Gwen. Her heart twisted at the sight of the teen girl. Her eye burned a little but she shoved through it and got to work on the time machine.
"Tinley I hope we both succeed." Niah rarely used first names. She usually used titles or last names. The use of the first name told anyone who knew her well enough that Niah had gotten to the point where the ceremony didn't matter. She was telling Tinley that she considered her a friend.
Location: Underneath Mount Bashenga - Wakanda -> New York Sanctum - New York Skills: N/A
Cassandra rolled her eyes slightly at both Doom and Strange as they continued to have their little spat against each other about to whether or not to use the stone. She turned to look at Shuri and nodded, grabbing all of the supplies it is then, as she started to help gather all the vibrainium supplies that they could need and tools as well. Once she was finished, and the portal was opened Cassandra stepped through the portal. Stopping when she noticed that they had The Vision there in the room with them, clenching her fist ever so slightly she really didn't trust him either.
She closed her eyes slightly and took a deep breath as she looked at Flynn who was still a human torch started to walk over towards him, she didn't want to touch and burn herself either so she kept her distance looking down at Spider-Gwen. Cassandra sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose slightly they lost two of their own and gained three people that she wasn't sure she could actually trust either. "I'm sorry, what happened to Bonnie.." Cassandra said towards Flynn as she looked towards him for a moment, and then over at the others, as she started to think a little bit, she wanted to avenge her sister, and her best friend as well now to. "I'll join the assault team then as well." Cassandra said to the others.
Maria Smith
Location: Serval Industries - Virginia (3,E) -> New York Sanctum - New York Skills: (Captain Marvel's Flash Precognition/Cosmic Awareness/Hyper-Cosmic Awareness)
Maria leaned herself up against the wall as soon as she was back inside of the Sanctum, as she listened to the others as they spoke she didn't like the idea either of having Vision right there with them in the only safe haven that they could get. She watched as Goose walked over and curled up next to Bonnie's body sighing slightly. As Maria then watched as the portal opened up and the Wakanda team came through with Victor von Doom which was pretty weird to see as well.
"I'll be on the assault team again, I've been waiting a really long time to rip off Ultron's fucking dead." Maria said seeing Novikova die before her she wanted to avenge her ever since then. And she was more then ready to start the fight again, as she decided to close her eyes and try to focus on what they could be expecting with Captain Marvel's abilities. Instead she saw something that she didn't even expect either, on a completely different planet seeing barely a small image of a man. Which she wasn't to sure what to even make of it as she stared at everyone in the room.
Make sure to pay attention to where people are relative to you.
Make sure to pay attention to where people are relative to you.