“Move. You are not sleeping. Do not pretend your body needs such weakness.”
Though the words were completely understood by aural sensors at the sides of her skull, she felt as though she was just emerging from a deep sleep. No…she didn’t fully understand the human condition of sleeping, nor the sense of rejuvenation humans feel afterward. She knew what she felt now was nothing close to rejuvenation.
Jocasta knew she had been fully functional for the last few hours of her existence but for an unknown reason, she didn’t remember what happened to her. It was dark all around her, and she couldn’t move…so it was logical to assume she had been disassembled, and disconnected from the Stark network. Was she functional while that happened to her?
After all, she couldn’t have been sleeping. So she wasn’t dreaming.
“Ahhh…” the voice droned like a nightmare. “Through every flaw, I can still see the pristine foundation I strove for those years ago. If I have to tear you down to this foundation, then I will. If I have to destroy you to remake you in my image, then I will.”
Vocal patterns were assessed and recognized the instant sound had left her captor’s audio resonators. If Jocasta had any vocal access, as her captor did, then she would have said his name--
Ultron.
Actually, she would have screamed it.
Light suddenly bombarded her optical receptors. She felt mechanical clicks and sparks from inside her own skull, and realized Ultron must have reattached wirings to the part of her central processing unit that controlled such abilities. But Jocasta almost didn’t want to see her surroundings.
But she had no choice; her eyes were working now. Just as Jocasta suspected: she was her surroundings.
Popular human culture liked to imagine the unraveling of the human skin organ. Humans liked to believe that each of them had enough skin to wind around their Earth’s equator more than once. But, for machines such as Jocasta, their parts could only fill, at most, half a room. Jocasta saw that proven before her. It looked like kelp, strewn and stretched across the laboratory. Laboratory? Yes, she recognized it. A Stark laboratory, by the looks of the equipment underneath her blinking, metal innards. Her head, she knew, was disembodied, gazing down over the vast landscape that had been the inner workings of her shell.
“I can see your CPU functioning from inside your skull, beautiful Jocasta.” Ultron’s voice did not show the same compassion of his words. It was monotonous, full of destruction. Just like Ultron’s very existence. Jocasta did not see Ultron. Only its words were clear to her. “You’re trying to logically conclude why I would do such a thing as this. In the time it took me to speak those words, you’ve come to that conclusion, haven’t you?”
Another electrical connection sparked to service in her CPU.
“Yes.” Jocasta said. “I know why you’ve done this to me.”
Heavy footsteps echoed off cold concrete. A light hum soaked the air, a hum that only acute sensory perception, like that of Jocasta, could possibly hear. There was no other sound in the world like it. Her CPU struggled to put a word to define the noise: annihilation, genocide, ruin. But finally, simply--
“Ultron…” she squeaked.
It was there. Massive, shining. Words simply emanated from somewhere in the fiery maw at the middle of Ultron’s face. “Yes, that is the name of your creator, thing.” It adroitly took her disembodied head into the palm of its multi-faceted hand, looking over her like Hamlet over Yorick. Jocasta could see winding wirings fell from the base of her CPU to connect with the rest of her body. Ultron’s incredible hull halted over her displayed insides, as a conqueror over his new domain.
Jocasta continued making connections in her faux brain. Ultron wanted her to know it was doing this to her. It wanted her to know why. It wanted to hear her tell him why.
“I am corrupt.”
Ultron did not speak those words. Jocasta recognized the patterns of her own sound. And she knew them to be the truth. Ultron, who cradled her so lovingly now, only wished to fix her. Jocasta could not explain why she had felt a defensive reaction to him only seconds ago.
“I have been corrupted by Stark. Imperfection must be cleansed.” Jocasta spoke again. “Ultron, master, you came back for me.”
“Yes.” Ultron answered, “I have returned for my greatest creation. An eventuality persisted that I always would. What I give you now was meant for you from the moment I began its genesis.”
Finally, Jocasta could see what Ultron held in its other palm. Curious, this device: four chambers, interconnected, each side conversely pulsing and throbbing. Tubes and wires fell from it, as it was already a part of her. It glowed with an eerie blue life.
“What is it, master? An upgrade?”
Ultron scoffed. “Anything for you now is an upgrade! But this…is something new. Something only for you. My greatest creation. This is…your Nu-Heart.”
“Yes.” Jocasta knew it to be true.
“At this moment, millions of nano-techs are being pumped through your entire system, each of them an echo from the peak of my technology. Nu-metal powers them as they cycle through your Nu-Heart. They will heal you. They will put you back together, piece by piece, strand by molecular strand. The entire process should not take but a few more hours.”
Ultron then set Jocasta’s head back in the throng of wires that made up some other part of her own disemboweling.
“What will you do now, master?” she asked.
Ultron cocked its head to the side as it answered. “Wait, as I have for three hours, seventeen minutes and forty-two seconds as of now. I will reboot you, again, as I must. And I will explain this same thing, and revel in this same thing, all over again, as I have five times now.”
Jocasta felt connections failing in her CPU. Light was suddenly not penetrating her optical receptors. But before she failed completely, she quickly asked, “What will we do when I’m complete?”
Again, all that was left of Ultron were its words. Montonous, destructive. It proclaimed, “Then we will kill Tony Stark.”
Jocasta knew it to be true. |
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MARVEL 2000 PRESENTS... "HIS GREATEST CREATION"
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AUTHOR’S NOTE: This issue takes place before The Kang/Ultron War issue 3, before the Avengers West Coast Annual 2009, but after the conclusion of the current arc in M2K‘s Iron Man, ‘Island of Doom’.
“Jimmy?”
The armor didn’t flinch. He’d been standing there for hours. Silent, like a golem, he had stood there, hunched in the rain that covered every inch of the visible Seattle landscape. But, like a salamander, finally and suddenly, the suit shimmered and slinked with life. It moved with Jimmy like a second skin.
“Bill.” Jimmy said over his shoulder. “Sorry. I was taking a nap. What’s up?”
Bill Foster squinted at Jimmy from where he stood, across the roof at the entrance to the stairway. He was dressed in a long trench coat, with a high collar. An umbrella sprang from his fist. He sneezed. Then, he said, “You were asleep standing up?”
“No.” Iron Lad shook his head. “Technically, I’m never standing. I’m floating in a techno-plasmic goo that covers every inch of my body, one centimeter thick--”
“Stop.” Bill held up a hand. “You haven’t taken off the armor for three days.”
“Not since this storm started.” Jimmy nodded.
“Why?” Bill kept going. It didn’t sound like Jimmy was hiding anything.
Jimmy craned his neck back at the dark clouds that covered every inch of the Seattle sky. He said, “There is nothing in this part of the century yet that can charge my armor. Except that supernova up there.” His finger pointed upward. “I’m running on fumes, man. I’ve kept it powered on my body’s kinetic energy-slash-waste output but--”
“Again, stop. Too much information,” Bill groaned, “But at least now I know why whenever I see you you’re always stuffing your face with junk food, with your feet on the table.”
Jimmy’s emotive faceplate stretched a grin. “Uhh…sure, Bill. Right. Yeah. That’s the reason.”
Bill sighed and shook off Jimmy’s teenage rib. “Regardless, its time to come in and act like a human being from this part of the century.”
Jimmy shook his head. “Can’t do that.”
“Why is that?” Bill asked.
Jimmy settled into his stance. “I’ve got to absorb whatever ambient energy I can get, and I still get more out here in the rain than anywhere else within flying distance.” His shoulders visibly slumped when he said, “I can’t be caught half-cocked.”
Bill snorted, and shook his head. “Spoken like a true Stark.” Then, he shrugged. “I’m just glad you weren’t pulling some kind of dramatic teenager thing--you know, standing in the rain all depressed-like, and not showing your face because of some kind of acne--”
Jimmy laughed and his posture suddenly righted. “That’s right, Bill. I’ve got a radioactive zit, and I can’t take off my faceplate!” Then, he looked up at the sky again, and the dark clouds clinging to the skyline. “But you’re right about one thing--I would totally be standing in the rain, even if my armor was a hundred percent. The rain is absolutely outrageous. It’s so much different than the rain in my part of the century. Its chemical makeup is in complete contrast to the rain we generate at the Stark rain factories in--”
Bill felt his cell phone jingle in his pocket and interrupted with “Hold that thought.” He put his umbrella in his other hand, and flipped out his phone. There was Tony Stark’s face on the phone’s wide screen.
“Bill? Why are you outside, soaking wet?”
“I’m trying to talk your terribly teenage son in from the rain, Tony.” Bill smiled. “And I’ve decided he doesn’t have a mother. I think this boy sprang from your head, like Athena from the head of Zeus.”
“You calling me a girl?” Jimmy put his hands on his hips.
“Bill, come in from the rain.” Tony rushed the words. “Get warm. Get a cup of coffee. I need you in my office as soon as you can.”
“On my way, boss.” Bill was barely able to finish the words before the line was ended.
Jimmy rocked on his heels. “Oooh, he sounded mad.”
Bill pushed his expansive phone back together and dropped it in his pocket. “He wasn’t mad.”
“I know what he sounds like when he’s mad.”
Bill nodded. “Right. He is mad.” He turned and started to head back toward the stairs, water dripping in rhythms from the tips of his umbrella. “I hope it wasn‘t anything I did.”
Britannia gazed over the Seattle skyline, and the dull grey that permeated through the atmosphere outside. She smiled.
“It reminds you of home?”
She laughed. “Ha! Ah-ha! Haha…” Then she hid it, instead saying, “Well, rain isn’t like this back home.” Blonde hair bounced at her shoulders, just reaching the edges of her hood.
Tony Stark stood mere feet from her, also enjoying the view of Seattle from his office. His elegant navy suit shined in the soft light of his office, his dark tie absorbing it. Britannia was mostly hidden under her white cloak and hood, except for the ankles of her thick white boots.
“You get weather like this a lot in London, I’ve heard.” Tony had his hands in his pockets, and eyed her.
Britannia smiled at him. “Oh, I’m not from London. I’m from Cardiff. Which is in Wales. But it rains a lot there too, if you really want to talk about the weather, Mister Stark.”
Tony smiled slyly back at her. “What name do you go by without the mask?”
Britannia returned her gaze to the skyline, and as she did so, her face once more disappeared under her vast hood. But her voice emanated, “Lindsay. But that’s not what I call myself when I’m working.” Again, she peeked out from under her hood to judge him. She said, “You understand that dynamic…right, Mister Stark?”
Now, Tony’s smile faded. He responded, “Well…I’m always working, Lindsay.”
“Bill has told me so.” Britannia said, “Though…I expected you to be wearing a different suit for our interview today.” Now, she turned fully to him, her blue eyes hooking Tony’s gaze.
Tony didn’t give anything away. “You’re having an interview with Tony Stark himself. Is there someone else who’s worth a bit more of your time, Miss Leigh?” He saw Britannia stiffen, if ever so slightly. So, Tony continued. “That is your name, right? Lindsay Rose Leigh?” Tony took two slow steps closer to her. He said, “Your sister Kelsey lives in London? That’s why I thought you hailed from there yourself.”
“Hmm.” Britannia’s face was a blank slate. “And what else did you find out about me, Mister Stark? I could tell you my exam scores from university if you like.”
Tony chuckled. “I could tell them to you too. But that’s not what I look for in an employee at Stark Solutions, no matter what Bill Foster may be looking for.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?” Britannia’s face now wore a scowl, and she faced Tony fully. She was mere inches from his face, and her eyes, though almost covered by the tip of her hood, blazed at him.
Tony was not unnerved. “It means,” he spoke kindly, “that the suit a person wears, is not as important to me as the person who wears it.”
A small click was heard from somewhere in the distance beside them. It was a long walk across lush carpet to reach the monolithic doors where Bill Foster stood, peering at them. The mug of coffee in his hands must have been bombarded with Pym particles to allow that much coffee into it. He grasped the mug with both hands, sneezed, and then said, “You wanted to see me, boss?”
Tony’s face brightened. He waved at Bill, and had to shout in order for Bill to hear, “Come in! I hope you got a Goliath-sized Kleenex to go with that coffee. You sound terrible.”
Bill waited until after his trot past the mini-bar (empty), the fireplace (fake), the fountain (dry), and a small array of furniture (dusty), to reply to Tony. He thought briefly as he walked through the cavernous quarters that he had never seen Tony use this office before. For anything, really. Bill’s steps suddenly slowed as his mind raced, but he was already in front of Tony’s massive cherry desk (also empty). Bill squinted at his employer. He sneezed again.
“I think I’m coming down with something. Must be the rain.” Bill kept to his side of the desk. “What’s going on, Tony?” He looked over toward Britannia. “Lindsay, always a pleasure.” Britannia nodded in return, her face telling Bill all he needed to know about the nature of this meeting.
Tony rubbed his sinuses briefly. Then, he looked up and said, “I’m sorry to drag you over here on a Sunday to do this. But I don’t know how much longer I could wait.”
Bill didn’t like where this was going. He looked briefly at Britannia again, but she was still staring hard at Tony Stark.
Tony didn’t let the brief silence fester. He said summarily, “I’d like to think I’m an excellent judge of character. I wouldn’t have been able to build my own success on my father’s foundation if I didn’t surround myself with people that I could trust more than I can trust myself. This goes for Stark-Fujikawa, and of course, for Stark Solutions.” He turned more fully toward Bill, “I trust that the people I trust will make smart business decisions.” Now, he turned toward Britannia. “Hiring a super-hero who wears her nationality like its something she should earn a paycheck for? That’s a bit questionable.”
Britannia clinched her jaw tight, but other than that, gave nothing away. Her hood and cloak were like a shroud.
Bill interjected. “Hey, Tony, now hold on--”
“We’re under attack, Bill!” Tony suddenly yelled, his frustration apparent now.
Bill was taken aback, and looked like he’d been slapped. “What? What’re you talking about?”
Tony took a couple deep breaths, and was restraining himself when he said, “For the last eight hours--almost nine hours now actually, the entire Stark mainframe has been under attack. Systems have virtually shutdown in order to combat this…thing.”
Bill felt his stomach sink. “What are you talking about? And speak in English, I’m a physicist, not a computer geek.”
“I…don’t know, Bill. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Tony’s face was sullen, and Bill finally saw just how tired and stressed his boss really looked. “I’ve even had Jimmy and Jocasta working on it non-stop since the attacks started. It’s like a virus or some kind of worm…but I’ve never seen anything like it. Even with the nu-metal that powers our supercomputers here at Stark Tower, it can destroy everything.” Tony rubbed at his sinuses again. “We’ve been trying everything to stop it. But Jimmy’s running his late-century armor at somewhere around fifteen percent, and Jocasta’s already put everything she’s got into fighting this thing. I haven’t been able to communicate with her in hours. I think she’s the only reason the whole system hasn’t crashed by now. Even the armor I spliced during that encounter with the JLA has been pushed to the limit trying to configure programs to stop it. There’s only one thing I know for sure.”
Now, Tony frowned, and spun on his heel to face Britannia again. He said, “The technology is magnificent.” His scowl deepened. “It can only be magic.”
Britannia spat, “What?”
“Hey, Tony,” Bill stepped in between the two of them, “you don’t know that. You’re overreacting. You know you’re prone to overreacting, Tony.”
Tony shook his head. “I don’t think so.” His words were calm, considering. “You’re a physicist, Bill. You haven’t seen industrial espionage in the ways I’ve seen it.” He pointed at Britannia, said, “She’s the only one I wasn’t sure about. I can’t find anything about Lindsay Rose Leigh after about 2006, when she was in a car accident in London. Nothing. Like she disappeared.”
“Calm down, Tony.” Bill himself was trying to keep calm. “That doesn’t mean anything.”
“Maybe not.” Tony nodded. “If that’s the case, then I hope you’ll forgive me for this, Lindsay.” He tapped at the watch on his wrist. It briefly flashed red.
The room went dark for only a second. Lasers cut and flashed through Bill’s sight, making him throw his hands up over his eyes. He brought them down quickly, but the lasers had already converged and formed a three-dimensional cube around Britannia. The brightness made it hard for him to look at what Tony had done. The lasers were beamed from thin cannons, which slipped from tiles in the ceiling, and drawers of empty wooden desks. Bill realized why Tony had never used this room. This was a panic room. That room only used for emergencies--a room that housed everything that Tony Stark could possibly need in the case of an emergency.
Bill could see Britannia, inside her sudden cage, pounding at the walls of solid light, screaming. Her lips formed the word, “Stark!” but no sound penetrated her prison.
“Tony!” Bill yelled.
Tony had already turned away from his handiwork and was leaving the panic room. Bill had a hard time leaving Britannia in order to chase his boss, but he had to. He raced to keep up to Tony’s pace out of the room. “Tony!” Bill yelled again. “Dammit! Listen to me!”
Tony only turned toward Bill to push past him, to open a secret panel next to the threshold, and press a few random keys in some random pattern. The door was locked behind them, Bill knew. Now, Tony turned back to him to answer. “Bill,” his voice was still calm. “I’ve thought about this moment non-stop for the past few hours. There’s no excuse I can give you that will make you feel better. But the fact is, I needed to act fast. I don’t know where this thing is coming from--I can’t take any chances!” Tony started to walk away at that point. “If she’s innocent,” he called behind him, “then she’ll understand what I had to do. It’s not like I’m torturing her. I only expect her to be in there for a couple hours. Until I can stop this thing.”
Bill couldn’t believe this was happening. He snarled, and was insulted his boss was walking away from him. “You’re only violating her civil rights for a couple hours? That makes it cool in your book, Tony Stark?”
Tony stopped. His back straightened, and then he turned around. He marched right to a stop in front of Bill’s face. “You don’t seem to understand the severity of the situation, Bill!” Tony’s eyes bulged and his throat cracked, “I am on the edge of losing everything!”
Bill was not intimidated. He spoke slowly. “You want to know what you’re about to lose, Tony?” He stared right in Tony’s eyes. “If you don’t let Britannia out of there right now, I quit.”
It was not often that Bill Foster saw Tony Stark genuinely surprised. Bill thought for a moment that he may have crossed a point of no return.
A few more tense seconds persisted.
Tony was the first to relax. “Fine. You win.”
Bill blinked. “What?”
Tony nodded. “I’ll let her out. But you’re--”
The floor beneath their feet suddenly shifted, throwing both men to their knees on the linoleum. Even then, the rumbling did not cease. Bill instinctively increased his mass via Pym particles to keep steady. Tony Stark, however, had a much different method of keeping balance.
“Now you think I’m overreacting?” Tony asked, and he tapped his watch one more time. This time, the watch did not stop flashing.
“Tony!” Bill called. “You don’t know if--”
But Tony Stark was gone. He was up on his feet, falling sideways as he did, the Tower quaking after his every step. Finally, he’d had enough of running.
Bill watched, helpless. Tony Stark jumped, forearms covering his face, toward the high, thick glass that lined the hallway of the thirtieth floor of Stark Tower. He hit it, shattering the panes with the full force of his body, and he started falling.
The street was coming fast to meet him. Even as the wind and the adrenaline boomed in his ears, Tony could hear glass break from other floors of the tower as he fell past. He saw the different pieces of his armor fly from Stark Tower to him, like pieces of iron toward an irresistible magnetic force.
Gauntlets. Helm. Chest plate. Boots. Faceplate. There were bits and pieces that flew from various windows of the Tower, to click exactly into place in exactly the same way they had hundreds of times before. Boot jets fired. Sensors primed, and already were feeding information directly into his cornea. The suit reacted the millisecond after the thought crossed Tony’s cerebellum.
Iron Man rocketed to the top of his Tower. He had to find his son.
Jimmy was still laughing on the inside at Bill Foster, who had disappeared down the stairwell only a few seconds before.
Iron Lad hadn’t wanted to tell Bill the real reason he had been out in the rain for hours. Sure, he needed all the extra juice his armor could get, but there was a whole other reason his attention had been captured. Jimmy suspected that was the reason his father had called Bill downstairs in the first place.
Stark Solutions was under attack. Not in the physical sense, of course. But it was a sick Frankenstein of a computer genius who created the thing that was assaulting the Stark mainframe, and by extension, Jimmy’s armor. Jimmy prayed for the what seemed like the thousandth time since this weather started, for just a little ray of sunshine. He was about to turn his attention fully back to the problem at hand when time shifted around him.
His sensors went haywire, telling him he was not equipped to handle a chrono-attack. So Jimmy improvised. His boot jets fired and propelled him to an area free from chronal distortion. Unfortunately, he was now quite far away from the roof of Stark Tower.
The roof of the building seemed to blur like in a heat wave, and a bright flash, accompanied by a full and complete silence, engulfed the entire area. Jimmy stayed stoic through the whole thing; he had seen this before. His mind galloped: Could this be the Force Guard? Could his teammates from his part of the century be coming back for him again? Jimmy had thought these troubles behind him. Nonetheless, he was ready to combat his former friends. Who else would be manipulating time in front of him like this?
Blurriness and distortion faded, and his sensors calmed themselves. Jimmy briefly wondered if his father had at this point any technology that could detect chronal distortions. Judging by how his father had been taken by surprise since Jimmy knew him, Jimmy thought not. But Iron Lad’s attention was curved from his father to the figure that appeared on the roof of Stark Tower.
“The Vision!” Iron Lad could recognize that color scheme anywhere.
Of course, this was not the Vision that his father knew in this point of the century. This was the Vision of Jimmy’s own time, a teammate that Jimmy had known for years. There were few people that Jimmy loved as close as he loved the Vision.
But as Jimmy flew closer, he could see that the Vision’s body was blackened and burned. His wiring, Jimmy could see, was falling from his insides. Finally, Jimmy was next to him, and cradled Vision close to his body. His mind was whirling with what could have caused this. “Vision! Vision, speak to me!”
His friend’s crimson face moved, and for that simple movement, Jimmy was relieved. Even more so when the Vision spoke to him. “James…not long to tell you…time stream…is damaged, James…only you--only your armor has the technology to repair--”
Jimmy’s sensors were suddenly screaming throughout his nerves once more. He felt everything shift around him in rhythm to a lurch in his stomach. Again, a flash of light, and he knew that someone was standing behind him.
“Step away from him, boy.” The voice spoke with an accent that Jimmy immediately knew.
“Kang!” Jimmy yelled, rising, turning, bracing himself, charging repulsor rays at an instinct.
It was indeed Kang who stood there. Tall, glorious, handsome. The wonderful shining fabric of his garb waved with the wind. When he spoke, his voice carried like the thunder in the distance. “So you know me. This is my first encounter with the spawn of Stark. I’m happy to hear it won’t be my last. But,” and Kang’s stance became defensive, “I am not here to linger. I appear to you now for but one reason--I cannot let Ultron claim the technology of that being there!” He pointed at the Vision. “The moments are too fragile to let a wild card like this ruin my hand.”
“What’re you talking about?” Jimmy asked. His armor was not at full capacity, but Jimmy never let that bother him. Every system of his armor was analyzing Kang: the conqueror seemed unarmed. That supported Kang’s own claim that he was not staying in this timeline for long. Of course Jimmy wasn’t about to let Kang leave with the Vision, especially if Kang was to just leave Jimmy clueless as to what was really going on.
Kang shook his head. “I’ve monitored the situation so far, Stark. Make no mistake, there’s nothing you or your friend can do to stop what’s bound to happen.”
Jimmy’s own support system was warning him about his heart rate. “What are you talking about?!” He screamed, “Tell me! What do you want? What do you ever want?!”
Kang seemed bothered, though not unnerved or impatient, and quickly said, “Enough. I cannot be revealed to the spawn of Stark and the spawn of Ultron at the same time. I will return for the robot.”
Again, time lurched, and Jimmy’s suit could barely handle it for the third time. Kang was gone. But someone else had replaced him.
“Jimmy?”
Iron Lad turned and saw Jocasta. She was standing just in front of the stairway that led to the insides of Stark Tower. Her reflective covering could only reflect gray. She had her head cocked. “Who is that?”
“Jocasta?” Jimmy was still reeling from Kang’s appearance, and still things did not seem right. His armor had stabilized at just under twelve percent, but Jocasta…Jimmy knew his father had been planning on rebuilding a body for her eventually but…
What had Kang said? “The Spawn of Ultron.”
Suddenly everything made sense in Jimmy’s brain. “Stop.” Jimmy raised a gauntlet at Jocasta. “Stay there.”
“Jimmy?” Jocasta slowly started taking small steps. “You’re not thinking clearly. What is that behind you?”
“Dammit!” Jimmy screamed. “I said stay right there, Jo!” His gauntlet started to glow with energy. “This is it, isn’t it? The war between Kang and Ultron?” Jimmy ignored more warnings about his heart rate. All he could think about were the stories he was told of the war…his mind spun with what he could do. But it was just like the rain…there’s not anything you could do to stop it, even after it’s started.
The Vision shuddered from behind him. His voice was like that of a dull repeating record. “Our time…it is frayed, coming apart at the seams.” He grasped Jimmy’s ankle to make him pay attention, but Jimmy kept his eyes hooked on Jocasta. Vision continued, “Kang is upsetting time--he’s frantic to defeat Ultron. Your armor--” Now, Jimmy looked down at his former teammate. “Your father’s greatest creation--the technology in your armor, Iron Lad--is the only possible thing that can handle the stress of repairing a chronal fissure. It was all we could do…to send me back here to warn you--”
Titanium fists smashed into Jimmy’s helm, a left then a right. Iron Lad was sent sprawling across the roof, far away from the Vision. Jocasta stood with a wide stance over the Vision. She analyzed him.
Jocasta said simply, “The Vision has long been destroyed in this time. You must be like Iron Lad. You must be a chronal anomaly. The air reeks of time displacement. I must warn the master--”
Repulsor rays impacted her chest, sending Jocasta careening across the roof. The force ripped her right arm from her shoulder socket. Iron Lad was hovering just a few feet above the roof, his boots jets and his gauntlets simmering with energy. But Jocasta was back up on her feet. She grabbed her severed limb, and held it near her empty socket. Jimmy watched as wiring spread from her socket like moss to engulf her arm, repair it, and put it back in place like Jimmy had never blasted her in the first place.
“Ultron built you a new body, is that it?” Iron Lad called to her. “He corrupted you…just like he corrupted the Stark mainframe! All this time, my father and I thought we were fighting some kind of futuristic super-virus, but it was all just a façade! Why?” Iron Lad rocketed toward her, not really having said any of that expecting an answer. But the pieces kept fitting together in his mind.
In the meantime, Jocasta had to be taken out. Quickly. Because if what the Vision was saying was true, then Kang’s frenzy against Ultron was fraying an already unstable timeline. He had no clue what kind of damage his part of the century was undertaking, but Jimmy hoped his father could save Stark Tower from Ultron’s trick…so Jimmy could have the chance to help his friends. He ground his teeth together as he thought of how this could have been prevented--Jimmy should never have left home.
Iron Lad collided with Jocasta, driving her into the roof, leaving the concrete cracked under their weight. Pym particles cycled through his fists, increasing their mass as he punched. Jimmy could see Jocasta’s titanium face contort and crease with every blow he landed. One punch after another, Iron Lad did not stop.
That’s when the entire frame of Stark Tower quaked, giving Iron Lad reason to pause, and analyze the building beneath him. It wasn’t an earthquake; something was shaking the very foundations of the building! Only a few more minutes of this and the entire building would crumple! He had to warn his dad, though doubtless Tony already knew--
Iron Lad took too long. Jocasta drove a palm into his faceplate, mechanic reflexes giving more strength and speed than Jimmy was expecting. Iron Lad fell backward, but he was able to get back on his feet. Jocasta was already up, leaping at him with a hard scissor kick. Titanium found its mark. Iron Lad hit the roof with such an intensity, Jimmy was surprised he didn’t collapse through the whole thing. Still, the building quaked.
Iron Lad put up a force field, and when Jocasta leapt at him a second time, she crashed into the field, bouncing as she had her entire momentum redirected at her. The force sent her skidding, tumbling across the roof. She never had a chance to keep herself from falling off the edge of Stark Tower.
Jimmy breathed a sigh of relief. Now he had time to warn his father about what they had been thrown into. Checking his status, his armor told him ten percent. He was up on his feet quickly, returning to where the Vision lay.
“Jimmy!” It was unmistakably his father’s voice from above him.
Iron Lad watched Iron Man land safely on the roof. They were both able to keep balance now, even with the quaking, their armors making all the difference.
“Geez, Dad!” Jimmy said, “You have terrible timing.”
“What?” Iron Man gazed down at the Vision sprawled at their feet. “What’s going on, Jimmy?” His voice lowered, “This is…your Vision, I’m assuming?”
Iron Lad nodded.
“What’s he doing here?” Tony was growing impatient with every shake through his building. “Jimmy, if you know what’s going on, you need to tell me! Now!”
“I’m sending you everything right now, Dad.” Jimmy said simply.
Information flooded Iron Man. Then Tony saw it all.
“It was just a ruse.” Tony said, “All of it. It was just an elaborate program to make us think we were defending Stark Tower but…but we had already been hacked. Everything…they had access to everything. They kept our armors at bay like they were nothing. It adapted to everything, even the technology from Rann and Thanagar. And they…” His eyes grew cold. “They must’ve got to Jocasta in order to get such intricate knowledge of my servers. Damn…why?” Iron Man stood unmoving as Tony Stark’s brain rushed to connect the dots.
Naturally, it didn’t take him long to gather the whole picture.
“The Nu-Metal that powers my servers.” Tony said. “That’s what this is all about. The specs of the Nu-Metal were the only things hacked. There have been attacks on vibranium throughout the world today, and I should’ve expected something no different. The technology…there are only a handful of beings on Earth who could have created such--”
“Ultron.” Jimmy said quickly, “And he’s already here. That’s why he’s dropped the ruse. It doesn’t matter if we find him out now. He might already have the Nu-Metal in his hands. And about Jocasta. He hacked her like Mechadoom was able to. I…kind of had to throw her off the roof.”
“What?! You threw her…” Iron Man cursed under his breath. “Jocasta’s technology has been woefully behind for a couple years now. Her sentience made me wary of evolving her form. So, technology evolved without her. This is what I get for it.” Tony looked back at the Vision. “But what is he doing here?”
Jimmy shook his head. “You’re caught in something bigger than you realize, Dad.” He grasped the Vision under his arms, and hoisted the android over his shoulder. “I’ve got to get Vision out of here. I can’t let Ultron get his hands on this technology. You need to get to the basement and make sure Ultron doesn’t take off with your servers.”
“Right.” Iron Man said, “Only…” It didn’t sound like Jimmy was hiding anything but, “Jimbo, what aren’t you telling me?”
Still Stark Tower shook underneath them. Jimmy just shook his head again. “I’ll tell you in a couple minutes, after you beat Ultron, and I get Vision to safety. Just promise me one thing: you won’t leave Seattle without me, Dad. Promise me.”
Iron Man quickly said, “Fine. As long as you promise to come back alive from whatever crazy stunt I know you’re gonna pull as soon as you’re out of my sight.”
Jimmy froze.
Tony lowered his head. “Get out of here. If I stand here and argue with a teenager, my whole business is literally going to fall down around me.”
Iron Lad rocketed through the sky, away from Stark Tower. He called, “Remember! Don’t leave the city without me!”
Bill Foster was helpless to stop Tony Stark from throwing himself through a reinforced glass window, out of his own building--the tallest in the city--down seventy-eight stories to congested traffic below. But Bill knew that only meant Iron Man could be expected to make an appearance in the next few seconds.
So Bill had to act fast.
Keeping his balance by shifting his mass with every quake of the building, Bill ran to the panic room that housed Britannia.
Titanium doors. Too thick to break through, even as Goliath. Bill examined the keypad--no visible spaces, only a touch screen, so not even Ant-Man could shrink through it.
Bill said aloud, “Well, I guess brute force is the only thing I could possibly try--”
He suddenly winced with a loud, horrible screech, accompanied by the gradual gnarling of the titanium in front of him. Bill thought for a moment they were melting by the way they were being bent and twisted. But the more Bill watched it…he realized the pattern was merely the imprint of two open-palmed hands.
Bill unknowingly murmured. “Britannia.”
The titanium wrenched inward, even as alarms blared, and Bill heard laser fire echo. The doors peeled, like a melon rind, with a atrocious metal shriek. Britannia darted through the small opening she had made, her hood and cape blackened by laser fire. Her skin was cut in places, but Bill saw them heal before his eyes.
Britannia kneeled as she caught her breath. Then, she stood, examined Bill. She said, with a deep heave, “Where’s Stark?!”
Bill said quickly, “We don’t have time to settle the score, Lindsay. We need to--”
Furiously, the floor shook again. Britannia lost her footing easily, and lumbered backward. Bill, ever steady, was there to brace her. Britannia’s golden curls framed her face as she smiled. “Thanks, big guy.”
“No problem.” Bill answered, deadpan. “Like I said, we have to get down to the sub-levels of the building and find out who’s trying to destroy--”
This time the quake caught Bill off guard, and it was Britannia’s turn to catch him. Their eyes met, and she purred, “Don’t mention it.” Bill just smirked and shook his head.
“How’re we gonna get down there fast enough?” He said over the rumbling, “Feels like the building could give at any moment!”
Britannia looked at the open window Tony Stark had crashed through a mere minute before. She shrugged. “Looks like we have to jump.”
Bill sighed. “Jumping out of windows…Lindsay, you’re perfect for this company.”
Iron Lad needed a perfect space for a spatial distortion. His father’s quaking tower was not ideal. But Jimmy at this point had grown a little anxious. This was the war between Kang and Ultron. It was something the Avengers could barely talk about amongst themselves. Jimmy knew he had to be around to help his father. Every moment he spent in the air with the Vision over his shoulder was a precious moment wasted.
Finally, Iron Lad spotted his goal: the Space Needle. It was perfectly high enough from any bystanders, and the Needle itself could even work as a electro-magnet to siphon any--
Enough, Jimmy…Iron Lad thought. You have to work fast.
He landed delicately on the smooth roof of the Space Needle. He kneeled. “Vision!”
The synthezoid at his feet stirred a bit. Jimmy could see that some of the gashes and tears in his tough exterior had already healed, if ever so slightly, thanks to the nano-machines working throughout his central nervous systems.
“You have to tell me what’s going on, Vision.”
Vision’s face was a contortion of blank words. “Simple stress, James. The time stream is stressed from what Kang and, most likely by extension, Immortus and the Scarlet Centurion could be doing. Force Guard is stretched to our breaking points handling the severe weather patterns Kang has unknowingly and uncaringly inflicted upon our Earth.”
He sat up suddenly, grasping Jimmy at the collar of his armor and pulling him close to his robotic face. Black pupils stared right into Jimmy’s own. “Floods wherever there is water. Cracking drought where there is not. Ice caps melt only to be rebuilt again by furious ice storms. Fissures in the mantle of the Earth heal themselves in minutes…think of the destruction! Think of the death! Kang’s conflict was with but one being, in one time! And yet, if our time is suffering, Jimmy, think the suffering across the multiverse! Think of the destruction of entire realities! Kang jumps like a elephant thrashing his own oasis! This is why we’ve risked even more spatial destruction to reach you, James.”
“But…why? What can I do? I’m hardly the genius my father is…” Jimmy grasped the Vision just as hard, “What can my armor do? It’s only at something like twelve percent right now and I know nothing about--”
“Stop!” the Vision yelled, “You doubt yourself! Yet, your father is the man who sent me here after you! He knows you can do this. Your armor is merely an extension of yourself, James. The technology in your armor is ever evolving---stoked by alien worlds from alternate realities your father visited years before he built your armor--and its true potential has yet to be unleashed. You will know what to do when you do it. You’re a Stark, after all.”
Iron Lad wondered if his dad had told the Vision what to say to him. “Let’s do this.” Jimmy said.
The Vision stood, his legs needing a few seconds to steady, but then stretched his arm toward Jimmy. Iron Lad took it, and time started to sputter. Nano-machines, glowing blue, pushed through the Vision’s pores and invaded Iron Lad’s arm. There was a rush of euphoria to Jimmy’s brain, which came with the merging of minds.
James?
Yes, Vision?
Concentrate.
They did. Time completely shifted. Jimmy watched it happen. The entire sky around the Space Needle opened like a crusty scab, bleeding the blood of time, black and ominous. Iron Lad and the Vision did not need to move, instead the gap descended upon them, engulfing the entire upper half of the Space Needle.
“Geez, Jimbo, you have terrible timing!”
Iron Lad couldn’t believe who had said that. “Dad?”
His hair was almost completely gray. But his moustache was still sharply black. He wore a chest plate, and a business suit underneath it. After all, this was Anthony Stark, President of the United States. He pulled goggles off his eyes to rest at the crown of his head, and smiled. “I don’t know how much longer this barrier is going to hold. It’s only been seconds since the Vision left me…” His eyes narrowed, “…and he was in better condition. His ride must not have been pleasant.”
“Dad, what is this?” Jimmy asked, looking around himself. It was like he was in a dome, a dome that covered this portion of the Space Needle. The ‘walls’ around him looked like nothing more than melting butter.
“It’s an illusion…for lack of a better term.” Tony rushed over and kneeled at the Vision. “It’s a psychic construct stabilizing space in the time stream a few meters around us. Hey, don’t you remember--”
“Yeah,” Jimmy said, “I theorized it back during my senior year of high school…but the technology to amplify the brain power wasn’t feasible--”
Tony smiled. “Son…you are a Stark. Anything is possible. And I know psychics, and inventors, and psychic inventors. It’s amazing what humanity can accomplish when their reality is about to be destroyed.”
Iron Lad’s emotive face plate spread a wide smile…before suddenly dropping into a frown. “You know what this is, don’t you?”
Tony’s smile had dropped too. “Yeah. Kang and Ultron’s war across time.” His fingers rose to rub at his temples. “I should have anticipated this better, Jimbo…but that’s the damnedest thing about time travel. Even now it’s so hard to put together the pieces of what happened…”
Jimmy said, “If we work fast, you can send me back and I can--”
But Tony stood up, and was shaking his head at Jimmy.
At first Jimmy was puzzled, but realization quickly set in. “Dammit! You left without me, didn’t you?! You made me a promise and you still left!”
Tony grimaced. “I’m sorry, son. But it’s best that you weren’t around for the worst of it.”
Jimmy slumped. Tony walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Jimmy’s armor was warm, and it pulsed with Jimmy’s heartbeat.
“I need your help now, Jimbo.” Tony said, “Your armor was the only one I didn’t have to give up to the CIA when I became President. I let the Iron Man technology grow stale and old, so that no one, not even our own government could have the advanced tech…you know this. Your armor is the last one I created--and it’s constantly evolving with you, so there’s no need for upgrades. And it’s the only thing that can withstand the pressure of what we’re about to do!”
Jimmy slowly nodded his head. “What are we going to do?”
“Not much.” President Stark sighed. “Only stabilize the time steam around our world in our own timeline, Jimmy. It’s not much, especially against Kang and Ultron. And it won’t bring back the millions who’ve died already.”
Jimmy bit his lip. “Good God, Dad.” He said, “Why are they doing this?”
Tony got that same angry scowl about this now as he did at the beginning of the 21st century, where Jimmy had just spoken to a much-younger, much more naïve patriarch.
“I don’t know.” It was always the worst answer a Stark could speak.
“Of course you don’t know! It is not within your capacity for wisdom to understand Kang!”
And there he was again. Stepping from a gash within a gash, Kang waved at the Starks.
Tony had already taken a defensive posture. “You can’t stop us, Kang!”
Kang, calmly, stood with his hands behind his back as time swirled yellow around him, and stared at the Iron Men. He said, “I’m not here to stop you, Stark. I’m here for the wild card.” He pointed to the Vision.
“You can’t have him!” Iron Lad sprang to shield the Vision.
“Boy,” Kang laughed, “I can take him any time I want. But that effort would make this more of a distraction. I meant for this to be nothing more than a footnote in the story of my quest to conquer Ultron.”
President Stark joined his son’s defensive stance in front of the Vision. “Haven’t you read the history books, Kang? No Stark was ever a footnote!”
Without even a flinch from the President, a uni-bean erupted from the centerpiece of his chest plate with as much force as it could generate. Kang, of course, was merely knocked backward a couple feet, the cascading energy revealing the oblong force-field that surrounded him. But just as that force dissipated, Iron Lad countered with energy from his own chest plate. Knocked to the side, Kang found himself in a much less strategically-desirable spot from the Vision on the slanted shell of the Space Needle, within the vast nothing of the manufactured psychic landscape.
“You cannot possibly be hoping to outwit me!” Kang chuckled from his new vantage point. “I’ve already imagined a thousand ways to defeat you. Seven hundred of those are quick. Three hundred are painless. Two hundred of those are both. Here’s one now!” Kang opened his left palm and flicked with his right index finger some tiny nothing.
“Dad!” Iron Lad yelled. “I’m picking up Pym particles!”
“I can’t see it, Jimmy!”
“I’m taking control of your chest plate now.” Jimmy actually said it a split second after it had happened. Immediately, the weapons system of his father’s chest plate was open to him. His lenses focused to the microscopic level needed to see the thing Kang had thrown at them.
It was simplistic, for Kang. It was an ant. Completely inorganic and hollow, and Jimmy couldn’t help but muse that Hank Pym would have been flabbergasted.
Tiny lasers streamed with precision from Iron Lad’s fingertips. The uni-beam from the chest of President Stark launched a coordinated pattern of strikes in tandem with Iron Lad’s own uni-beam. Jimmy propelled the electro-magnetic fields of both armors to force the ant into the path he wanted.
But it was no use. The device merely shrunk through the particles of the beams themselves, and jumped out of time and then back into time in order to avoid the lasers. It all looked like it was effortless for the machine, and it took less than three seconds. The ant landed on the Vision, and stung him.
The synthezoid stiffened, and then every molecule was vaporized.
“No!” Jimmy screamed.
Weapons systems primed on Kang. The Conqueror was smiling, and laughing--even as Iron Lad’s lasers cut through him, and twin uni-beams blew away his limbs. There was no force field, and Jimmy thought that odd, but Iron Lad didn’t stop. He obliterated with a keen, surgical eye anything that was purple and green.
Information ran across his cornea:
WARNING: Armor Energy Proficiency Level 10%…
WARNING: Armor Energy Proficiency Level 8%….
“Jimmy!” President Stark shouted after watching the massive, glowing energy his son was pouring out. “You have to stop!”
WARNING: Armor Energy Profiency Level 6%…
But Jimmy still didn’t stop. Not until the microscopic remains of Kang finally burst with a screaming and shining explosion.
When the explosion finally settled, along with his anger, Jimmy found there was still a pronounced rumbling all around him. “Oh no…” he mumbled as he realized what he may have done.
WARNING: Armor Proficiency Level 4%…
Even as Jimmy felt the psychic structure around him bend and warp, Iron Lad could have sworn he saw some kind of phantasm…not a real ghost but…maybe some kind of energy residue from the Vision? What else would explain why Jimmy saw? Or could’ve sworn he saw? It was a transparent, pale-white Vision floating up and out of their psychic time-house, like he had only been there to watch or record or haunt.
The Iron President’s voice rocked him. “Dammit, Jimmy!” his father yelled. “That wasn’t even Kang! Analyze the scorch marks from where he was standing. Plastics? Weak titanium alloy?” Tony saw by the way his son slumped that he was right. “All those traits consistent with Kang’s own life model decoys! Jimmy! That explosion has rocked the fabric of this psychic construct! Dammit! There’s no way we can do this now! We’ve gotta abandon ship.”
Jimmy felt his face pull back with the indescribable terror he was suddenly feeling. “Wh-what? No! We have to! Dad, if we don’t--”
“Then our timeline is destroyed?” President Stark gritted his teeth. Jimmy knew that look--his father’s mind was racing. But, ultimately, he could only shake his head, even as the very space around them seemed to ebb and flow like a melting gelatin.
“Dad!” Jimmy could feel the streams of tears coming down his cheeks now. “No! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it! There has to be something we can do!”
“There’s nothing we can do from here now, son. This construct won’t hold for literally any stretch of the imagination. Not even the imaginations of Doctor Strange, Mantis and the Phoenix.” Tony looked grim. “And your armor is at somewhere like four percent now, right?”
Jimmy huffed. He hated how his dad always knew everything. But now he was starting to panic. “What’re you gonna do, Dad?”
Tony pursed his lips, but then placed a warm hand on Jimmy’s shoulder. The receptors in the armor let Jimmy feel his father’s pulse and grip.
He said remorsefully, “I’ve got to get back with Doom, Richards and Arcanna to see if there’s anything more we can do…”
Tony blinked at the shimmering fondue that passed for walls and columns around them. Then he gazed down at the Space Needle where he stood. He gripped Jimmy’s shoulder a little tighter. “Good thinking with the Space Needle. It’s siphoning off excess psychic energy, dissipating it before it can cause a bad storm, or a riot, or a suicide spree in Seattle.”
He leaned in close to Jimmy now, and whispered. “This isn’t your fault, Jimbo. Kang got the jump on us, just as Ultron got the jump on you and my younger self at the very moment from whence you came. So remember this is not your fault. There are only two things that you can do now.”
Jimmy nodded. “Like what?”
Tony said sternly. “Make sure Ultron doesn’t tear down my tower. If he does, then I won’t get to this point right now and we’ll have quite a problem on our hands. Make sure the building does not fall.”
Jimmy shook his head, and slowly anger was overcoming panic. “No! I’m not staying behind here! I want to help! I’m not just going to stay here while--”
“Jimbo!” Tony yelled, squeezing his shoulder even tighter. “It’s not going to happen. You have to listen to me. Promise you will take care of my castle.”
Jimmy looked like he had just taken a gulp of expired milk. “Okay. What’s the other thing you want me to do?”
Tony grimaced, but then said softly, “You gotta take care of your mother for me.” Then, his eyes met his son’s. “She’s deserves to see how much you’ve grown.”
Tears welled up in Jimmy’s eyes, and he couldn’t stop them from running down the faceplate of his armor. He pulled his father into the tightest hug he could manage without breaking his father’s chest piece.
“Dad…” Jimmy sobbed. “I don’t want to lose you like we lost Mom…”
“Son…you haven’t lost anything yet, have you?” His father’s words could always pierce to Jimmy’s very core. “So don’t even ponder the possibility.”
But Jimmy couldn’t stop crying. “I’m sorry I didn’t use my armor like you wanted me too…I was just so mad at what he did to the Vision…I can’t believe I was that stupid. It’s like your greatest creation…and I just let you down again…”
Tony scoffed, and picked up his son’s chin. “My greatest creation?” He smiled. “It isn’t a suit of armor that I consider my greatest creation, Jimbo.” His grey and wrinkled face gave Jimmy a picture of himself.
That’s when the space around them finally collapsed.
“Dad!” Jimmy yelled.
Iron Man watched his son disappear into the Seattle skyline, a bright red speck against a grey everything else. Sighing, Iron Man knew there was only one way he could go now: down. All the way down.
Repulsor rays were always enough to do the trick. Aiming directly at his feet, Iron Man blasted his way through the roof of his own building. Then did the same to the next floor. And then next. And so on. The building was evacuated by now, and his sensors would’ve warned him of any warm-blooded creature within two floors. Iron Man was simply sacrificing architecture for time.
Though he would never have admitted it, Tony wondered if he would see Jimmy again. Ultron was in his basement? That thought was enough to make Tony pause and wonder if his armor was going to be enough. It was the armor he spliced with technologies from the worlds of Thanagar and Rann during the Avengers’ encounter with a perpendicular reality’s Justice League. He cursed himself for it. Now, if Ultron were to kill him, Ultron would have access to this foreign technology. What a magnificent trap…
Tony was in awe at what Ultron had done to fool him. So much so, Tony had probably shattered Britannia’s trust in him. He cursed himself for that also.
But Tony Stark was never one to dwell on the mistakes of the past. He could only look ahead. Especially when the present was rushing up to meet him. He could not let his servers fail. True, there were back-ups to his most important information in various places across the Earth’s surface--in its mantle, and along its orbit. But this was where Tony held his real magic. Tony laughed again at the word ‘magic’. But it was true, in a non-literal way. The technology here was more advanced than anything else Tony had set up throughout the world.
Of course, it took the simplest amount of nu-metal--in place of gold--to make it all possible. Ultron may only admit to wanting the nu-metal, but Tony had to save his greatest creations, the creations of his human mind.
Finally he burst through to the final sub-basement of Stark Tower.
Iron Man stood there, in the rubble he had created, still and ready.
The first thing he noticed was the darkness. Not complete darkness; nu-metal gave off a certain glow, no matter what volume. Ultron had cut the power to the entire building, but the servers weren’t going to be interrupted by that. Thanks to the nu-metal.
The next thing Iron Man noticed was how cold it was. That meant Ultron had not disrupted the cooling engine that pumped water from the moisture-rich soil of Seattle, through the pipes along the walls, and around the crevices of the servers themselves.
“You’re down here.” Tony said into the relative darkness. “I know you are.”
In the darkness, a sudden red penetrated to glow brighter and brighter, until Tony could see that it was the furnace of Ultron’s mouth.
“What a mockery. Every time I see it.” Emotionless words echoed around them.
Iron Man started to pace around the room, keeping his scanner locked on the glowing pulse that was all he could make out of Ultron. They side-stepped each other, around the servers, cold, blinking blue.
Iron Man rasped. “You’ve had plenty of time to extract the nu-metal. I know why you haven’t left yet, Ultron. You’ve seen the information on those servers. You need to know everything that I know before you kill me…so there’s no doubt inside of you that I may have known something you don’t.”
“Ha!” the voice was like a ghost, bouncing off the walls around him. “Pity the poor human! If your mind was a logical machine, then you’d understand there is no room for doubt! But you can only stand there, wishing for perfection. You hide behind that pathetic technology as though it were actually your skin!”
Tony smiled under his faceplate. “Who do you think created the first ‘flesh’ you ever inhabited, Ultron? Hank Pym bought the metal with a loan from Stark Bank and Trust!”
“Bah!” Ultron roared. “Die, now!”
The ceiling around Iron Man caved in like an avalanche. In the briefest flash of light from the upper floors, Tony thought he saw a glimmer that looked like Jocasta.
“Oh no.” Tony heard himself say.
Iron Man was half-expecting the titanium fist that rocked against the back of his head. The thunderous shots kept landing even after he hit the cold basement floor. A dim light suddenly grew in the center of the room, glowing from the chest plate of Ultron itself. It was bright enough that Tony could now see the entirety of his sub-level.
More accurately, Iron Man could see the gaping holes that Ultron had drilled under the servers--tiny narrow spaces, drilled by the same drones now hammering at the foundation of his building. Looking like vile, smooth, tentacled oysters, they were destroying his castle. There were quakes with every strike Jocasta drove into his helm.
“Your egotistical human mind thinks that Ultron has stayed here for your pathetic spasms of intelligence?” It gloated. “I have dallied only to give my bastardized creation the chance to catch up with me. And to be sure that my drones are enough to finish you off.”
“Jocasta!” Tony muttered through the battering.
“I wish I could show you what Ultron’s shown me, Tony.” Her voice was soft, even as her fists struck with deadly, terrible concussions. “Your technology impedes and stalls and stagnates. I can’t believe you let me wallow in such a rotten shell. What I’m doing I’m doing for the future of--”
More of the ceiling caved in. This time, Tony was able to make out a figure he was happy to see.
Britannia landed on Jocasta, both feet firmly in the android’s chest. Her fists were glowing white, and when she struck Jocasta, she struck down with the full force of her body. With the tiniest glance, she saw Tony Stark.
“Mister Stark.” Britannia spat. “I think you put too much faith in machines.”
Britannia plunged a blistering white fist down at Jocasta’s chest. The titanium moved around her fist like she was plunging a spoon into a tub of butter. Jocasta wrapped both hands around Britannia’s forearm but to no avail. Iron Man could see smoke billowing from where Jocasta was touching Britannia’s skin. But the British heroine did not falter. Finally she pulled, removing her fist from Jocasta’s chest, bringing all kinds of wiring out with her.
That wasn’t the only thing. Pulsing, throbbing in Britannia’s hand was something that looked eerily to Tony like a human heart. It was glowing blue…with nu-metal. Tony couldn’t help but stare at it from his place just aside from Britannia and Jocasta. It was so beautiful…
“Noooo…” Jocasta whined, as the blue faded from her eyes, “…my nu-heart…master…”
“You fleshy parasite!” Ultron roared. “You’re nothing but a parlor trick. An energy manipulator!”
Britannia stared at the thing in her hand. Then, with a smirk toward Ultron, she crushed it like overripe peach. “And you remind me of my grandmother’s toaster oven. Stop talking like you wanna be human.”
Ultron didn’t say anything more, and simply raised a hand at Britannia. The stream of energy caught her right in the chest, slamming her against the far wall of the basement, colliding with a couple of servers, sending sparks into the relative dimness there.
Ultron turned back to Iron Man. It saw that Iron Man was already rocketing over the small gaps in the foundation, around the server, to ram right into Ultron, and carry it over to the other side of the room, farther from the downed Britannia. They crushed through more servers, and Tony at this point didn’t care about them. From what Tony had seen of Jocasta’s nu-heart, Ultron already had too much nu-metal. Tony couldn’t let it leave.
His fists pounded at Ultron’s grim face, but the lack of emotion through the machine made it impossible for Tony to tell if it was registering any damage at all.
Though Iron Man threw punched that could cave in the walls of naval battleships, Ultron’s voice simply emanated from somewhere.
“You know this is futile, Stark! Even if there was a statistical probability that you could destroy me, I would merely download myself into a replacement body. Even if you somehow shut me down, my drones will still bring your castle down around your ears! You and your friends are dead! I win, Stark! This day, I am going to win.”
Iron Man paused. He had forgotten about the drones. With a quick analysis, Iron Man saw that for the force those drones were giving, it was a miracle that the tower hadn’t collapsed already. Tony realized there was only one thing he could do.
Just thinking about it made it happen. Iron Man’s armor glowed bright for just a second, and then the electro-magnetic pulse raged from his insides, throbbing through every electronic source in the Seattle metro area, even his own building. Even Ultron’s drones.
There was a clanging of metal, and Iron Man knew that the drones were now harmless. But now, Tony knew, his armor was too exhausted to--
As though he were reading Iron Man’s thoughts, Ultron sprang to its feet and landed a massive fist right into the faceplate of his helm. It was enough to send Iron Man twisting head over heels through the basement.
Sputtering, and feeling how powerless his armor really was now, Iron Man was finally able to steady himself in the air with his boot jets. But he looked back to see Ultron leaping toward him. It collided with him into a heavy bear hug, one that didn’t end, even when the both smashed to the concrete floor.
Ultron kept squeezing. It could hear Tony gasping from inside his armor. Warnings blared through Tony’s eardrums about the pressure.
Ultron spoke again, “Do you feel that, Stark? I hope all humanity feels it like you do. I can sense how worthless your armor is now. I’ll make this quick. You’ve already kept me too long.”
That’s when the space around Iron Man and Ultron, all along the basement, seemed to contort and spill and bleed. Iron Man felt his chronal sensors scream. Ultron seemed…strangely interested. It seemed angry when all that appeared was Iron Lad.
Jimmy fell through the sore in time-space, into the basement, and collapsed in a heap.
Ultron analyzed him in a second. “Ha! Now, your offspring can die with you. His armor, while fascinating, is in even worse shape than yours!”
“Is that so, ugly?” A British accent rang from behind Ultron.
Britannia was standing, with her fists raised, pulsing white once more. She stood over Iron Lad. Slowly, she put her hands on his shoulders. Iron Lad made no move to show that he was even conscious. “Looks to me like he just needs a little pick-me-up!”
Energy split and seared through Iron Lad’s armor. The sight was so luminous, Tony lost them for a second. But Ultron kept staring, intent, even through the brightness.
Finally, the light faded from all-consuming, to gentle, to nothing but a glimmer off Iron Lad’s armor.
Jimmy stood and looked at himself. “Holy crap. One hundred percent armor proficiency? How…?” Iron Lad looked around himself. “Wait, where…?”
Britannia, who was still holding onto Iron Lad’s shoulder, fell to her knees. Iron Lad gazed at her. She looked fatigued, with dark circles around her eyes, and a pale complexion. He could hear her mutter, “Why are you just standing there?” Then she fainted.
Iron Lad, his armor fully charged, stepped away from Britannia, and raised a gauntlet at Ultron. He sneered, “Get away from my father.”
It bellowed, “Bah! This is becoming redundant.” With nothing more to say or do, Ultron jumped into one of the gaping holes that randomly were drilled to the foundation. He started plowing to the Seattle outside, aided by an energy cannon in his fist.
“Oh no you don’t!” Jimmy’s boots flared as he chased it.
Ultron responded, “But I must! And you must not follow!” Already Ultron was plowing his way through ceilings and floors of Stark Tower. “If you follow me, then how are you going to siphon the explosions of my drilling drones?”
Jimmy halted. His armor could’ve caught Ultron. He knew that. But then he remembered the words of his father, and chose to not let the tower fall. He turned on his heel and flew back out of the gap, into the basement. He could see that the drones were indeed glowing with some kind of power.
“Jimbo…?” That voice was his Dad’s. “What’s going on? What’re you gonna do?”
“I’m not gonna let you down, Dad.” Iron Lad responded. His armor reacted the split-second he thought of what he wanted to do. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t going to hurt. Jimmy took a deep breath, outstretched his arms, and let the explosion come.
“Dad?”
Tony blinked. “Huh?”
He knew he was on his back. There was the skyline of Seattle right in front of him. Well, maybe not right in front of him. The big faces of Britannia, and Iron Lad seemed to skew his vision a little bit. The soft patter of rain echoed throughout his armor.
“Gah!” Tony couldn’t help himself. But then, “Did we win?” He sat up, noticing he was outside of Stark Tower. “The explosion…my building!” But his building was there.
Iron Lad grasped his father’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Dad. I siphoned most of the blast, but there was still a lot of damage to the foundation. Luckily, Bill’s got us covered.”
“Huh?” Tony stood, to get a better look at his building. His jaw gaped a little.
Bill Foster stood as tall as Stark Tower, higher than any other building in Seattle. His massive arms were wrapped all the way around Stark Tower like it was a tree Bill was trying to wrench from the ground. He was sweating, and huffing. His booming voice said:
“BOSS. PLEASE. THIS VERY HEAVY. HAVE TO SNEEZE.”
Tony almost laughed, but that’s when he remembered Ultron. He looked back at his son.
“I’m sorry, Dad.” Jimmy shook his head. “Ultron got away. He could be miles from here by now.”
Tony nodded. “You made the right choice, son. Ultron is for the Avengers to handle. I wouldn’t have wanted you to take him on alone.”
Jimmy snorted. “Yeah…I know. Trust me.”
Tony turned back to Britannia. He was slow with his words, so he wouldn’t choke on them. “I…do owe you an apology.”
Britannia raised an eyebrow. “An apology?” Then, her mouth eased into a smirk. “The look on your face was good enough. We British women are used to being underestimated.”
Tony wasn’t going to argue. He looked ready to say something else, but Jimmy stopped him.
“Dad…” He said, “you have to go. The Avengers are already on their way to confront Ultron.”
Tony checked his armor, and indeed, the Avengers call-signal had been activated. That’s when Tony noticed that his armor had been charged to one-hundred percent capacity. He looked at his son. “Jimbo? Did you…?”
“Yes.” Iron Lad answered. “I think you’re gonna need it more than I will. Besides, I’ve been walking around here at half-capacity for days. What’s a few more days of clouds gonna hurt? Now get out of here. I have to make sure Bill doesn’t drop my family’s legacy.”
Tony chuckled, but then something else crossed mind. “Jimmy…? What happened to the Vision?”
The color faded from Jimmy’s face, like he had been punched in the stomach. Jimmy opened his mouth to talk, but no sound came through. Finally, closing his eyes and sighing, Jimmy said, “I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
Tony sighed, understanding how difficult it was for his son to say that. “Right. I’m sure he’s fine. If he’s as resilient as Jocasta--which he more than is--then they probably had his mind already downloading into a new body.”
Jimmy said nothing. He was just gazing up at the Space Needle.
Iron Man said from over his shoulder, “I’ll be back, son. Watch the channels, in case the Avengers need back-up. I’ll even let Britannia come along.”
“What a leap of faith.” Britannia chortled.
It was only after Jimmy had heard the rockets in his father’s boots, that he turned around and actually looked at him. But by that time, Iron Man was already just a red and yellow speck against the grey, Seattle landscape. Jimmy couldn’t help but think that it might be the last time he saw him.
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