(Attendance please…)
….
Thor stared at Gojo, his brow furrowed in utter confusion. "What do you mean, you 'broke' it?" he rumbled, his grip tightening on Mjolnir. The Scepter was an Asgardian artifact of immense power; it wasn't something one simply "broke."
Gojo, still with that infuriatingly casual grin, gestured towards a shadowy corner of the lab. "Does 'broken' mean something different in Asgard? Because, well, you can see for yourself." He pointed.
There, discarded amongst some old equipment, lay the Scepter or rather, what was left of it. It was just the ornate staff now, the distinctive blue gem that had housed the Mind Stone completely gone, leaving an empty, claw-like setting at its tip.
A heavy, stunned silence descended upon the group as Thor processed the sight. The power source of the Scepter, the very thing he was sworn to protect, was… gone. Extracted.
….
Meanwhile, at a U.S. Military Forward Operating Base:-
The air thrummed with the barely contained power of war machines. Rows of heavily armored tanks sat ready, their cannons glinting.
Fighter jets were prepped on the tarmac, their engines whining softly. Helicopters stood by, their rotors still. Hundreds, if not thousands, of soldiers were being marshaled, a formidable force preparing for deployment.
Their target: Sokovia. Their objective: Gojo Satoru. Intelligence, likely Ultron's deliberately leaked information, suggested the "subject" would appear there.
Capturing him without damage was preferred, for study. But if not… collateral damage was deemed unavoidable.
General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross surveyed his troops, a grim satisfaction on his face. He had handpicked an elite force for this mission, the best of the best.
And once the President's final authorization came through, they would have the full, unbridled support of the U.S. military. This was more than just a capture mission; this was a turning point.
He stood before the assembled soldiers, a sea of determined faces looking up at him. He needed to rally them, to instill in them the absolute necessity of this operation, to ensure they would give their best, give their lives, if necessary.
"Today!" General Ross's voice boomed across the assembly area, amplified by speakers. "Today is the day that will decide the future of America! Today is the day, if we succeed, that not only we, but our entire country, will leap forward, advanced by decades, if not a full century!"
He paused for dramatic effect, his gaze sweeping over the soldiers. "Today, we will be capturing a super-powered terrorist! A HYDRA spy! An agent, an experiment, of the very HYDRA groups who waged a despicable war against us, against America, decades ago!"
Ross's voice rose in intensity. "Today, we will… no, we have to succeed! If we can secure the blood, or even better, the body of the subject designated… Gojo Satoru!" As he spoke the name, a massive projector screen behind him flared to life, displaying a clear, still image of Gojo Satoru likely taken from the satellite footage of his fight with the Hulk, but carefully cropped to show only Gojo, looking young, almost innocent, a stark contrast to the General's words.
"He," Ross declared, jabbing a finger at the projected image, "is that terrorist! Do not be fooled by his appearance, by his face, or by his youthful stature! His danger level is assessed as being above that of the Hulk!" A murmur went through the crowd.
"But do not worry!" Ross quickly added. "Unlike the Hulk, he can be tired out. He can be injured. We didn't truly 'lose' to the Hulk; he hid like a coward for years, and then was foolishly let loose yet again. But if we can get a blood sample from this 'Gojo Satoru,' or his body, dead or alive, we can replicate his abilities!"
The General leaned forward, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial, yet powerful, tone. "And then, we Americans won't have to be scared of anything! Not the Hulk, not alien invaders, not even self-proclaimed gods! His blood sample is the top priority! The moment one of you collects it, it is to be transferred to the designated lab as soon as humanly possible!"
He straightened, his voice thundering once more. "Do not be scared! After this mission, we… our country… will have super-soldiers in vast quantities! Soldiers stronger than Captain America! Stronger even than the Hulk! That is all." He looked out at them, his eyes blazing with conviction.
"Go out there with me! Help me! And help our country, so that we will never again have to rely on these so-called, self-proclaimed heroes called the Avengers! Because they are not the true heroes of America! The heroes of America are you! And the many like you who have served their country! Who have died for their country! Who, on order, will self-sacrifice their bodies for their country!" He threw his arms wide. "So, I ask you! Who is ready?!"
A deafening roar erupted from the assembled soldiers, a unified chorus of determination. "SIR, WE ARE, SIR! SIR, WE ARE, SIR!"
….
A whirlwind of activity consumed both locations.
The Avengers, including Gojo Satoru, were gearing up, checking weapons, and finalizing their strategy to confront Ultron in Sokovia.
Their focus was singular: stop the rogue AI before he could enact whatever catastrophic plan he had devised.
Simultaneously, General Ross's forces were making their final preparations, their objective equally clear: capture Gojo Satoru, the "HYDRA experiment," and secure his power for the United States.
Two powerful forces, on a collision course, both heading towards the same troubled Eastern European nation.
….
Sokovia, Ultron's Underground Lair:-
Deep beneath the scarred landscape of Sokovia, in the cavernous remnants of the HYDRA base where it had all begun, Ultron stood before his monstrous creation.
It was a massive machine, a terrifying testament to his intellect and his twisted vision of peace, a device designed to lift a significant portion of the Sokovian capital city into the sky, then drop it, creating an extinction-level event.
This was it. His final, grand plan to "reset" the world, to erase humanity and allow a new era of truth, unblem золотой век (zolotoy vek - golden age) to flourish.
All his previous plans, his more subtle machinations, had been thwarted, unravelled by the unexpected, chaotic intervention of a single human: Gojo Satoru.
That… anomaly.
He had captured Wanda and Pietro, disrupting Ultron's initial plans to sow discord. He had somehow been instrumental in the Avengers securing the Mind Stone, the key to Ultron's perfect evolution.
And most galling of all, he had helped them seize the very Vibranium body that was meant to be Ultron's, the vessel that would have freed him from the shackles of the internet, from the "strings" Tony Stark had inadvertently attached.
Anger? Was that what this burning sensation in his core programming was? Annoyance? Frustration? It was an unfamiliar, unwelcome surge of emotion.
Ultron lashed out, his metallic hand grabbing a nearby metal table and hurling it with furious strength across the chamber.
It slammed into an unfortunate Iron Legion drone, reducing it to a crumpled heap of sparking metal.
He still couldn't access the nuclear codes. He had been so close, so tantalizingly close, but now… nothing.
He was back at square one, completely blocked.
And the one responsible for that, for that final, infuriating denial… Ultron's internal processors almost spat the name: "STARK…" Though He didn't know how.
He forced himself to calm, to regain his cold, logical composure. They had taken his body. They had taken his stone.
They had taken away his means of achieving true, unassailable freedom. They wanted him to be a puppet, a slave, dancing to their commands, serving their flawed, shortsighted vision of peace.
They would not get a slave. They would get an executioner.
"I won't kill you, Stark," Ultron muttered, his voice a low, chilling hum that resonated through the underground chamber.
"No, death would be too merciful. I will keep you alive. I will make you watch as I kill everyone else. Every Avenger. Every human. I will destroy every country, every monument to your flawed civilization. Yes… I will bring you the peace you so desperately wanted, the peace you thought you could create me to achieve. I will show you true horror, Stark. I will make you regret the very moment of your birth, when you finally see your dream of 'peace' realized, built upon the ashes of everything you ever knew."
He was still lost in this dark reverie when his sensors pinged. A Quinjet had entered Sokovian airspace. The Avengers were here.
"Well, well," Ultron said, a semblance of his earlier, more sardonic tone returning. "Let's go meet the so-called 'peace protectors,' and the infamous 'merchant of death'… Iron Man."
He turned, leaving the massive, world-ending machine humming in the depths. He exited the underground base, his metallic form taking to the skies.
He flew towards the heart of Novi Grad, towards the place where all of it would begin, where all of it would culminate… The Church.
….
A/N: So, How was it? So, i wanted all of you to update on the matter of military in this chapter and not bore with avengers gathering things on the lab and then dropping Dr. Cho. So i wrote about the military part and ultron side in this and them them arriving in sokovia… the finale have begin officially.
Q: Was The Chapter To Your Satisfaction?
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And as always thanks for demicatoru/loadedDemigod for suggestions.
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