Peter caught glimpses of silver afterimages left by Pietro—they were everywhere.
In the distance, he could see Scott had chosen to go big or go home, which was where the rest of the Avengers seemed to be concentrating their efforts.
As Peter swung at full speed, destroying drones and rescuing civilians along the way, he remembered he now had a new companion at his disposal.
"Hey, uh, AI lady? I need to give you a name," Peter muttered. "What was that protocol you mentioned? Can it help me in this situation?"
"You're referring to Instant Kill mode, Mr. Parker?"
Peter blinked beneath his mask. "Yeah, that's it. Please activate it."
"Activating Instant Kill mode..."
Instantly, the white lenses on Peter's mask turned red, and the black web-pattern extended further across the suit.
His suit became so charged with electricity that Peter nearly gasped in amazement.
"This suit can do that?!"
"This is merely one of the many features of Instant Kill mode."
Peter let out an impressed whistle. This sounded incredibly cool to explore.
"I'd love to hear all the details, but I've got work to do right now."
Peter launched into web-swinging combat mode and began cutting a path through the enemy ranks. The electrical discharges from his suit gave him the advantage he needed in this fight. Left and right, his punches and kicks were devastatingly effective as enemies were short-circuited, and the shock mode worked exceptionally well against mechanical opponents.
"Okay, this is awesome."
His spider-sense was constantly triggered by the relentless attacks from enemies surrounding him. More than ever, he was becoming the center of attention.
Soon, Peter found himself overwhelmed by Ultron drones and various other machines.
"Okay, could really use some backup here!"
Suddenly, several drones were blasted apart.
"Peter!"
Peter looked up to see an outstretched hand belonging to Ahsoka Tano.
Behind her were Captain Rex and Domino Squad, along with Anakin, Natasha, and Matt.
"Hey, Ahsoka," Peter said with relief, taking her hand and being helped to his feet. "Thanks for the rescue."
"Where have you been?" Ahsoka asked.
"Oh, you know, around."
"Good to have you back with us, Peter," Anakin said.
"Where's Barriss?" Peter asked.
"She's over there with Master Luminara," Ahsoka pointed toward the Temple entrance.
"Incoming!"
All heads turned to see Pietro arriving on the scene.
"The Senate building is mostly secure," Pietro announced.
"Is your girlfriend safe?" Sam couldn't help but tease as he landed next to Pietro.
"Of course she's safe," Pietro replied, slightly out of breath.
"This attack is happening across the entire city," Anakin said with a sudden frown. "I find it strange that there's no clear objective behind this assault."
The others around him looked surprised by this observation until they began reaching the same conclusion.
"Yeah..." Rex muttered. "What's the point of all this?"
Anakin turned to the Avengers. "There's no strategic value in taking the Temple or the Senate—just chaotic destruction. Like Rex said, what's the endgame here?"
Natasha and Pietro frowned thoughtfully, as they were the only two Avengers present who had actually fought Ultron before.
"The last time he did something like this, he made it theatrical," Natasha said, recalling Ultron's first reveal to the team. "Ultron left us a message: 'I'm alive, come and find me.'"
"That's it?" Ahsoka asked, confused. "It can't be just that. This doesn't make sense."
Pietro scoffed, crossing his arms. "And revenge. That's solid motivation. We defeated him last time."
"Anything else?" Peter asked.
Pietro's expression darkened.
"Peace in our time," Natasha muttered.
"What did you say?" Rex asked in confusion.
"Peace in our time," Natasha repeated, this time loudly enough for everyone to hear. "He wants to complete his original plan from Earth: eliminate all organic life."
"What?!" several clones, Jedi, and Avengers exclaimed simultaneously.
"Eliminate all life?!"
"How does that create peace?"
"No..." Pietro said firmly. "He doesn't want to destroy all life..."
Ahsoka let out a frustrated groan.
"Then what does he want?"
Pietro recalled his final conversation with the psychotic AI before he and his sister had betrayed Ultron and joined the Avengers.
"When the Earth started over, God threw a stone at it," Pietro said in a somber tone. "Apparently, Ultron believes he's providing the finishing touch. To bring about what he sees as order from chaos. The ultimate evolution of all life."
Natasha groaned. "God, I wish Vision were here right now."
"I think we all do," Sam said. "Cap and Rhodes won't be here for hours, Thor and Hulk are Force knows where, the other Guardians are somewhere in this galaxy, and everyone else is back on Earth."
"We have to work with what we've got," Anakin interjected. "Drive this monster off Coruscant and finish him."
"How?" Natasha asked. "Last time, we had a synthetic being who could access every corner of the internet and block Ultron's transfer capabilities. Vision isn't here now."
"We have to try," Ahsoka insisted. "The whole planet is in danger!"
"For now, let's focus on one thing," Anakin said. "The Temple is largely secure, as is the Senate building. We need to take the fight elsewhere and root out these machines."
"Well, sir, not to argue with the plan, but if we do this, we'll be spread thin," Captain Rex interjected.
Anakin frowned in consideration.
Rex was right.
There were simply too many machines and drones.
They kept emerging from the lower levels.
"We can't just stand here doing nothing," Sam said, retracting his wings. "Come on, we need to help whoever we can."
With no counter-argument from the group, they rushed toward the nearest combat zone to engage the Ultron forces.
Far in the distance, high above the cityscape, a solitary figure hovered above it all.
It observed as battles erupted on all fronts, watching the growing chaos in space, sky, and ground sweep across the entire planet.
The figure was metallic with glowing red optics and currently wore a massive robotic grin.
This was exactly what it wanted to see.
Everyone—everything—against him.
As he observed this destruction, Ultron noticed something he had detected earlier on Coruscant but had dismissed at the time.
But now...
Seeing this...
A sinister smile began forming on the metal maniac's features.
As he looked down, his optical sensors began glowing brighter.
Throughout the battle, large numbers of drones began converging on a single location.
They began clustering together before reforming themselves.
The growing metallic mass began taking shape, forming a rounded structure resembling some kind of head beginning to emerge.
Ultron chuckled to himself.
"If I may quote a certain someone... there can be only one."