Jump 13: The Last Avenger - Episode 10: The Way Back My Be Lost - Part 3

With the Sentinels destroyed, the Savage Land freed and mutant kind no longer threatened with robotic genocide our attention should have been turned towards the Kree stationed in Latvaria. But the signal that was picked up worried me more than anything else, so I convinced everyone to make it a primary concern. I even had those in charge of locating Ultron help to assuage my unease faster. It only took a week to find the origin of the signal, but every day that passed was one too many as far as I was concerned. A blessing was that the A.I.M. scientist, former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and residents of Genosha were able to get along reasonably well. While that fact couldn’t take my mind off of the signal, it helped.

Captain America didn’t waste any time when it came to training everyone, something I chalk up to Psyche stabilizing his mind enough so that he wouldn’t have a breakdown. While tough, I could tell his training regimen would do wonders for those that were just human. Once the location of the signal was discovered, I left him in charge of things. I didn’t want him engaging in combat just yet, and took everyone from the mission in the Savage Land with me. Our destination was somewhere in the Canadian mountains, secluded from the rest of the country and from view.

As to be expected, it was cold in the middle of a mountain range.

“How can some of you sand to be here without a coat? The A.I.M. guys gave me this special coat and I’m still freezing.”

“Magic.”

“I’m keeping myself lightly on fire.”

“I’m made up of ionic energy remember? I don’t feel temperature normally.”

“The Phoenix Force keeps me warm.”

“I can handle extreme temperatures better than most. Let’s get moving before the snow gets worse. I don’t want any remnants of the Sentinels to remain after today.”

We had a general idea on where to go from our drop off point, and set off to find whatever sent the signal. Sora, Karen and Shock couldn’t help shivering even in their clothes specially made to combat the cold. The temperature was lower than anticipated, something that struck me as odd. Weather patterns hadn’t changed enough for a fluctuation like this to occur so easily. Before I could let the information sink in the wind picked up and brought the snow down harder than before.

“Sora, use your powers.”

“I’m trying! I’m barely making a breeze right now.”

As our vision was becoming compromised more and more, I tried to teleport a short distance to no avail. I couldn’t even get a piece of bone to break my skin. Something was blocking our mutant powers.

“Leo, don’t let the blizzard stop us from seeing.”

“You got it. Flame on!”

Thankfully, he was able to cover his body in flames as he normally was and use his powers. As the blizzard continued to increase in severity, Leo began to fight against the oncoming snow. Before he could really get started, the ground beneath us began to shake and caused everyone but myself to lose their balance. The earth beneath us began to split and everyone save for Simon, Alice and Leo fell in, as they can fly. I could have cast a spell to save myself, but didn’t want to leave three depowered mutants to fend for themselves. The openings we fell into were quickly closed before any of our flying allies could retrieve us.

Unfortunately, I had fallen in a separate pit from the others and found the space was starting to close in on itself quickly. Unable to use my bones to decrease my momentum, I was forced to use my hands and feet. It wasn’t pleasant by any means, but it kept me from potentially making a crater when I landed. I brought myself down to the end of the pit and landed on solid ground. I was in a room devoid of windows or any other way to know what was outside. There was nothing in the room besides myself as I looked upon the barren, chrome colored walls.

Teleporting or using my bone manipulation was still out of the question, so I tried to use my other abilities to escape. My magic failed me, electricity was useless, and no physical blow I attempted even made a dent in the walls. I was actually, without a doubt, trapped in that room. I started to pace around to consider any options I had when I heard a robotic sounding voice.

“You humans truly are a race of fools. With the data I have on you, I know you could have easily stopped yourself from being captured. But the thought of abandoning three depowered mutants clouded your judgement, and look where you are.”

The metal on the wall in front of me began to shift around until it formed a screen, showing me the face of the machine that was addressing me. Ultron.

“I would think that with a clone of my creator you would have been more prepared for our confrontation, but it seems like he’s yet too young to be a problem.”

“Clone of your creator?”

“Oh, you didn’t know? The one you insist on calling Sergei is but a genetic copy of my creator, Hank Pym.”

“The Hydra files said he was Hank’s son…”

“Hydra files are notorious for being inaccurate to lead their enemies on wild goose chases. While I would love to confuse you more, I’ll save it for after I deal with your group of so called ‘Avengers’.”

“Ultron, wait!”

My plea fell on deaf ears as the screen shifted to show Karen, Sora, Psyche and Shock sprawled on the ground of some room and unconscious. I tried calling out to them, but it was pointless. Eventually, they began to stir and finally wake up.

“Where on Earth are we?”

“No idea. Last thing I remember is us falling into the ground.”

“I still can’t use my powers!”

“I can’t either. This could be a problem… Sergei, can you still become Ant-Man and Giant-Man?”

“My suit can take a lot of abuse before it stops working. I can still transform.”

“Good. We’ll be counting on you then. Let’s move everyone. The enemy is probably watching us now.”

They began to make their way through dilapidated looking halls and pathways, going in circles occasionally due to everything looking very similar. Along the way, they had to deal with more of Ultron’s traps and defenses from collapsible floors to automatic turrets. The four of them struggled, but pressed on regardless of what stood in their way. Karen led them well, and directed them through whatever obstacle they had to face but… I knew Ultron was merely toying with them. The robot was somehow able to block out a majority of my powers, so I was left wondering what his true motives were.

Eventually, they reached what appeared to be a dead end.

“This appears to be a dead end.”

“What are we going to do now? I’m getting tired of going in circles.”

Karen remained silent as she went to examine the wall in front of them. Pressing her hand against it softly, she felt around for a bit before taking a deep breath to brace herself. With one quick motion she jumped back and kicked at the wall with her full force. Surprisingly, a good chunk of the wall was pushed out of place and revealed a path behind the wall. Without a word the others joined her in knocking enough of the wall down to proceed and they found a narrow hallway waiting for them. At the end of the path, an unguarded door lie in anticipation, somehow giving the sense that it must be opened.

With the potential dangers that were steadily increasing in magnitude, I summoned Crush 40 and activated What I’m Made Of. The metal on the walls was covered in a layer of ice and I gave breaking it a try. I still made no progress, but I felt less resistance than without it. I focused the cosmic energy within myself and tried again, actually feeling that I did something. So began my assault against the room I was caged in. I kept tabs on the screen that I left unaffected and what I saw got me to redouble my efforts to escape.

The four of them had gone through the door and descended a flight of stairs until their arrived at what seemed to be a dungeon. There were various devices and apparatuses strewn about in a haphazard order that Shock examined briefly before realizing that they were all devoid of power.

“Well this is spooky.”

“I feel quite uneasy here as well, but we may find something of interest.”

“This reeks of a trap, but I’m all out of ideas honestly. Falling into it might get us somewhere… Sergei, don’t wander off. If we get separated that’ll be the end for us.”

“Sorry, sorry. It just looks like whoever was using this place was running a lot of experiments that ended in failure. I was hoping I could find out what they were and figure something out about this place.”

Without warning, the clanking sounds of metal chains echoed through the room, gathering their attention. With a silent nod from Karen, they all cautiously approached the source of the noise. What they found was the last thing anyone, especially Shock had expected.

“Mom?”

“What do you mean mom?”

“Is someone there? If this is another one of your tricks Ultron I’m not in the mood. It’s bad enough you chained me up again. I thought we were past this already.””

The source of the sounds was a woman that was chained to the wall farthest from the stairs. With auburn hair and blue eyes she looked very annoyed at the thought of dealing with Ultron. Shock ignored Karen’s insistence that he stay out of sight and approached her.

“What the? Who are you, and how did you get past Ultron? Wait a minute, before you even answer that question, why do you look so much like Hank?”

Shock looked visibly disappointed at her words, but tried his best to hide it.

“I’m Sergei. The son of Hank Pym and… you.”

“What kind of trick are you playing on me now Ultron!? A long lost son come to rescue me? While this is new I’m not falling for it!”

Shock was taken aback and the others decided it was time to intervene as I was halfway through the wall. Psyche pulled him close to comfort his confused mind as Karen addressed the woman.

“Janet van Dyne, right? Also known as the wasp.”

“Oh great, now there’s more of you. How many other humanoid robots are you going to throw at me Ultron!?”

“Sis, I think she’s been held prisoner for way too long. We’re going to have to do something to prove we’re on her side.”

“It seems that’s the case. Let’s see if I can force some of my powers to work.”

With a look of intense strain, Karen attempted to force her powers past whatever was blocking them and freeze the chains binding Janet to the wall.

“Karen don’t push yourself that much!”

“If we can save Sergei’s mother right here and now, I’ll push myself even further.”

With that being said, she strained herself even further and started to get results on one of the chains, coating it in a layer of frost that was turning into ice. With sweat dripping down her face she finished that chain and Sora broke it with a well-placed kick, freeing one of Janet’s arms.

“I don’t think you’re up for the other three just yet Karen.”

“While your struggling still amuses me, I have no more use for the four of you alive. I have the data I need.”

Right as I broke open an escape route Ultron decided to make his presence known to them at last. I didn’t stop to look at the screen again and rushed out to find a way to my allies before it was too late. I took a handful of steps using instant movement before running into opposition in the form of Ultron lookalikes firing blasts of energy at me. It didn’t take much to dodge and I didn’t hold back the powers I had at my disposal, tearing them apart quickly to continue moving forward.

Eventually, I came into a room with nothing but what seemed like an endless supply of the robots. Before I could just move past them, I was sealed in with the walls made from the same metal as the room I was in. No amount of hitting would break me through while trying not to be killed by the never ending stream of machines. I wanted nothing more than to just teleport out of the room and right when I wished for it, I was able to. My mutant powers had suddenly been released and I could feel my control over magic returning. Whatever Ultron was using to enact his plans must have been starting to backfire. I prayed that it happened soon enough for the four Ultron had engaged could fight back at full power.

With my powers restored, I progressed through Ultron’s lair much quicker and came across a lab with something that slightly disturbed me. In it I found a nearly completed android modeled after a human female while sharing Ultron’s aesthetic. I examined it and found the only thing it was missing was an A.I. to operate the systems within. Was Ultron trying to make himself a partner? The thought crossed my mind before I decided I was better off without the knowledge and proceeded to destroy the metallic husk before Ultron got the chance to do anything with it. I heard an explosion coming from further inside and rushed out of the room to head towards the source.

When I arrived, I found Ultron kneeling, pieces of his body melted slightly as he stared at a freed Wasp. I was the last to arrive as I saw everyone else’s attention was also on the genocidal android. Karen, Sora and Psyche looked battered, but not to an unreasonable extent. It was impossible to tell what injuries if any Leo and Simon could have sustained with their bodies being the way they are, and Alice seemed perfectly fine. Shock however, was not only a bit beaten up, but also very noticeably shaken.

“I refuse to accept this. I won’t be defeated by a copy of my flawed creator and a bunch of predictable humans playing at being heroes for this doomed planet.”

“Man you really don’t know when to shut up do you Ultron. Give it up already, you overestimated how strong you are, and now you’re about to be destroyed.”

“If I am to be destroyed, then I shall take most of your meaningless lives along with my own.”

“Ultron. Am I really just a clone of Hank Pym?”

“Your DNA is a 100% match to that of my creator, my father.”

“Then doesn’t that make me your creator as well?”

“The fact that you even suggested that shows you have yet to reach the original Hank Pym’s level of genius.”

“I know enough to realize how you were made Ultron. You hate humanity, but fail to realize that you’re just as human as the rest of us. Hank made you with his own brain waves as a base for your A.I. so you could protect order. You’re just as much of a fake Hank as I am. Even more so since I got to become my own person.”

“I-you-Hank-destroy…”

There was smoke coming from the top of Ultron’s head before he self-destructed. Wasp had moved to shield Shock from the blast as everyone else put up some sort of defense against the resulting blast. Thankfully, Wasp and Shock hadn’t been too harmed and both of them managed to stand after the shock wore off.

To summarize the remaining events, while Shock had to accept the Wasp wasn’t his mother, she decided that the role wouldn’t be a terrible one for her to fill. It was really a touching moment. Janet then had the rest of us go through introductions and she insisted that she join our team once she heard one of us mention Avengers. While she may have been held captive for a long time, Wasp hadn’t let it dull her sense of justice or desire to make the world better by fighting “the bad guys” as she put it.

Alice, Leo and Simon had broken inside and were the reason the mutant power dampener had been destroyed. Had they not found that, the outcome of this excursion would have been a very different one. With an exit already found, we took to destroying everything left in Ultron’s lair that we could find. None of us wanted any semblance of the rogue A.I. to remain to seek vengeance for its defeat. Agreeing to send a secondary team to do a thorough second sweep after we got back, we left the mountain base and returned to the surface.

Unfortunately there’s no rest for the wicked as they say, and the second we were back in signal range, I was notified that the Kree forces had launched an offensive against us. Captain America was leading the ground troops, but the odds would not remain even for long without us there to tip the scales. Without any other options, we boarded the parked jet and sped towards the battlefield as quickly as possible.