by Chris Wyatt
Up in his nest position, overlooking the floor, Hawkeye struggled to aim. He fired at some robots that weren’t close to Thor or Cap so there wouldn’t be any risk of hitting the heroes.
Cap sidestepped, dodging the reach of the Sentry that was attacking him, and ducked to kick the feet out from under it.
Thor was about to deliver another blow to the robot he was fighting when Pietro zipped up to the hero at super-speed, slamming into him. Thor absorbed Pietro’s blow, but this caused the punch he’d thrown at the Sentry to go wide, missing. The Sentry used the opportunity to ram into Thor.
Cap continued to battle, but over his shoulder he could see that Wanda was headed his way. Trouble was coming.
From farther back in the cargo hold, Ulysses Klaue watched as the fight tore up his headquarters. This was always the way it happened—powerful forces fought and didn’t care who was caught in the middle, didn’t care whose place they tore up. Well, this time they were on Klaue’s turf, and as a weapons dealer, he had the means to fight back.
Klaue turned to his henchman. “Shoot them,” he instructed.
The goon looked out at the combat engulfing half the interior hull. “Shoot who?” he asked in confusion.
Klaue leveled a look at him. “All of them!” he shouted.
The henchman nodded and motioned to his mercenaries. Men cracked open weapons cases lining the wall of the ship and brought out weapons.
Klaue’s forces opened fire, spraying bullets widely!
Wanda took refuge in an adjacent corridor.
Iron Man and Ultron grappled in midair before slamming into Klaue’s office, which overlooked the floor.
On the ground, Thor and Cap, both grappling with Ultron Sentries, had to jump and roll to evade the blasts from the henchman and the other goons.
Pietro ran around the fight, enjoying it. Everything around him seemed to go in very, very slow motion. He ran past the Avengers, smiling as he saw them straining to fight the killer robots.
Thor had thrown his hammer at some Sentries, and Pietro ran past it. From his point of view, it seemed to be floating gently, slowly through the air. Pietro admired the hammer—it was pretty cool, actually—and decided he should have it. He reached out to catch it, intending to keep it as his own. As soon as his hand touched the weapon’s handle, Pietro was yanked out of his super-speed mode!
Suddenly, the twin was seeing things at the same speed as any normal human! The hammer pulled him to the side, slamming him face-first into a tank that sat in the corner of the cargo bay. The impact left him groaning on the floor.
The hammer flew back and returned to Thor’s hand.
Above it all, Hawkeye could see the whole battlefield, and he fired arrows at both Sentries and goons when either faction seemed to be getting an advantage on the Avengers.
One of the robots pulled Cap’s shield away from him. The hero quickly jumped on the Sentry and grabbed his shield, planting his feet on the robot’s shoulders to rip the shield away from it.
Behind him, Thor approached, swinging his hammer! The blow sent the robot’s head flying across the room.
Now that Thor had eliminated this robot, Cap was free to hurl his shield at some of Klaue’s goons, who were up on the ship’s second level, trying to get a firing position on the battlefield from higher ground.
Cap’s shield plowed through the line of mercenaries, knocking them down before ricocheting and returning to him. As Thor flew for the back of the bay, where a few remaining mercenaries were firing, Cap ran in the opposite direction, headed for Pietro.
The twin had fallen behind some cargo boxes, and that had protected him from the fire. He was injured and groaning but was otherwise unharmed. Cap shook his head. Enemy or not, he was glad to find out the young man was going to be OK. It was a shame to see someone with so much potential being drawn into Ultron’s evil schemes.
Recovering enough to see Cap above him, Pietro started to rise. “Stay down, kid!” Cap ordered.
Outside, the Avenger’s Quinjet was parked close to Klaue’s beached boat. Dr. Banner paced back and forth on its ramp, casting glances in the direction of the fight, worried about his team.
He had heard the early parts of the conflict over the comms, and now he could hear the gunfire from inside the ship. Bullets hitting the ship’s hull rang like a bell and the sounds reverberated across the beach.
“Guys… remember that I’m here,” he said. “Do you need the ‘other guy’? Let me know if you do!”
Thor left the ship’s main hold and entered the inner corridors, looking for any remaining robots or mercenaries. That was when Wanda suddenly came upon him, whispering into his ear.
Still in the cargo area, Cap called to the Asgardian over the comms. “Thor? What’s your status?”
“The girl tried to warp my mind,” Thor reported. “Take special care. I doubt a human could keep her at bay.”
Cap listened closely to Thor’s words. Was he slurring?
“Fortunately, I am mighty, and her magic cannot… cannot…”
Thor’s communications trailed off. He was caught up in Wanda’s spell. Realizing this, Cap ran for Thor’s position, but Pietro rose behind him and knocked into him at super-speed!
Cap fell forward, landing at Wanda’s feet. She bent down and whispered in his ear, sending him into a daze. But then blasts of repulsor fire hit all around her and her brother.
Iron Man was fighting Ultron directly above the twins, and while he was locked in combat, he managed to get a couple of shots off to protect Cap.
Pietro sped up and grabbed Wanda, whisking her out of Iron Man’s range.
Still struggling with Ultron, Iron Man saw that the two were headed toward Widow’s position on the far side of the ship. “Natasha, they’re headed your way,” called Iron Man on the comms.
But before Widow could even respond, the twins were on her. Wanda whispered into her ear, and Widow fell into a trance.
Pietro then zipped his sister toward Hawkeye’s position, but the hero saw them coming. He reached into his automatic quiver and dialed the code for a specific kind of arrow.
“I’ve done the mind-control thing. Not a big fan of it!” Hawkeye said as Wanda approached.
And with that he used his hand to slam the electrified arrowhead right into the twin. Pietro ran up, shoving Hawkeye aside, and grabbed his sister. He raced with her to outside of the ship!
“Yeah, you’d better run!” Hawkeye called after the twins.
Above it all, Iron Man and Ultron were still ripping into each other. It was a noisy, brutal fight. Each one hammered at the other one, with neither getting the upper hand. It was as if they were somehow evenly matched. Stalemate.
Realizing he needed some kind of advantage, Ultron pulled out one of the devices Strucker had been working on in his lab, a gravity device. In theory it could generate a small burst and pull things toward it… but Strucker had never gotten it to work.
Ultron, on the other hand, had perfected it. The device was the centerpiece of his plan for the world. But at the moment he tried to use it on Stark.
The gravity device unfolded from one of Ultron’s wrists and charged up. Then it suddenly pulled equipment away from the nearby wall, and it crashed into Iron Man!
Confused, Iron Man took the hits but grabbed a chunk of the gear and hurled it at Ultron.
“Nice trick!” Iron Man said, still unsure how Ultron was able to do what he did.
“Well, you know how I desperately crave your approval,” Ultron replied sarcastically.
“That’s not looking to go your way,” Iron Man returned.
The two crashed into each other again.
From the beach, Wanda and Pietro could see Iron Man and Ultron explode from the roof of the ship, each still struggling against the other.
Pietro had carefully placed his sister under the cover of a wrecked ship, where she could come back from the shock.
“Are you all right?” Pietro asked, worried. “What ca
n I do?”
“It hurts,” Wanda moaned.
“I’ll be right back,” said Pietro, turning to go.
“No, I’m all right,” said Wanda, stopping him. Then she cast her eyes around. From where she was lying she could see Dr. Banner pacing on the ramp of the Quinjet. “I want the big one,” she said.
Pietro nodded.
Inside the ship, Thor was still in a trance. He stumbled around, bumping into things, while little bolts of lightning shot haphazardly from his hammer.
Nearby, Cap broke into a run and intentionally smashed into a wall. He knocked himself down, but he was able to shake himself out of the spell-induced daze. Lucid again, he shook his head to clear it further. “There had to be an easier way to do that,” he said to himself.
When he looked up, he saw Thor up on a balcony, moving toward the edge like a sleepwalker. “Thor, don’t—” Cap started to warn, but it was too late.… As he watched, Thor tripped over the balcony railing and fell, landing face-first on the ship’s floor two stories below.
At that moment, Iron Man and Ultron crashed back down, landing in a pile of junky spare parts. They continued grappling.
Ignoring this fight for now, Cap raised his shield and ran over to Thor. Cap ran straight into the Asgardian, hoping to knock him out of his trance. But lightning leaped out of the hammer, striking them both!
Just then, Ultron kicked Iron Man off him. “I can end this with three words,” Ultron said.
“Is it ‘uncle,’ but you say it three times?” Iron Man asked.
“No… it’s: the big guy…” said Ultron.
It took a second for Iron Man to understand what he meant, but as soon as he did, he blasted his way out of the ship.
Within seconds, Iron Man was standing on the ramp of the Quinjet, calling for Bruce… but his friend was gone. Tony realized what this meant. Wanda must have whispered in the scientist’s ear, using her enhanced powers in a way that would turn him into the Hulk. If the twins had pointed the Hulk in the direction of a populated town, it could mean devastation. They had to find Hulk and change him back as soon as possible.
“Natasha,” Iron Man called over the comms. “Do you know where Hulk went?”
But it was Hawkeye who responded. He had found Widow, still in a trance, wandering the ship. “She’s not going to be able to answer you… not for a while.”
Iron Man groaned. It was up to him to stop Hulk himself.
This was not going to be fun.
Under Wanda’s spell, the Hulk had raged through a nearby community. By the time Iron Man reined him in, the green goliath had caused enormous amounts of devastation. It had taken some pretty extraordinary measures to stop him.
The victory had not been a great one. Ultron had escaped, and so had the twins. Wanda had used her spells to turn the Hulk on innocent people, and this knowledge would torment Bruce for some time.
Moreover, the Avengers had seen firsthand just how devastating Wanda’s power could be. She had sidelined Thor, Cap, and Widow all in the same fight. She was a serious threat and not to be trifled with.
But while the day had not been a complete triumph, it had not been a great loss either. The Avengers had survived. Cap, Thor, and Widow, once out of their trances, were perfectly normal and healthy. Bruce, despite being shaken by the experience of being manipulated into becoming “the big guy,” had come out without injury. Beyond that, Hawkeye had proven with his arrow that Wanda could be stopped with energy discharge. More than anything else, the Avengers had tracked down Ultron, caught him by surprise, and discovered that he was after rare metals.
It wasn’t much, but Iron Man was willing to take it. By analyzing the elements Ultron needed, Stark might be able to figure out the killer robot’s plan. After all, Ultron and he did seem to think a lot alike.…
Cap had been a commander in World War II, and he used to quote a philosopher who’d said, “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” To Cap, that saying seemed to fit here. Ultron had brought all of his forces—his robot drones and his Enhanced humans—but he still couldn’t break the Avengers. And now the Avengers were stronger. They now had experience fighting Ultron, and a better understanding of his weaknesses.
As the Avengers reassembled at the Tower, they knew that they would not give up the fight until Ultron’s plot was stopped completely.
Some had called the Avengers “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.” Some days that name felt like an honor; other days it was a challenge. But it was a challenge these fearless protectors were determined to accept.
For more great reads and free samplers, visit
LBYRDigitalDeals.com
Contents
COVER
TITLE PAGE
WELCOME
PRELUDE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
EPILOGUE
PHOTOS
COPYRIGHT
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
© 2015 MARVEL
In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Little, Brown and Company
Hachette Book Group
1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104
lb-kids.com
Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
First ebook edition: April 2015
ISBN 978-0-316-38349-3
E3
