This Is Stella's Reality

July 12, 2015 PT 2

There was a loud commotion above us. Steve, Tony, Thor, and I were walking across a catwalk as the rest of the team hid in the shadows of a rusted trading ship off the African coast.

"Stark is a sickness," Ultron yelled in his metallic voice.

A chill ran through me. I readied Starlight in my hand. A fight was sure to come. This would not be easy.

Tony laughed, wanting Ultron's attention to turn to us. "Oh, junior. You're breaking your old man's heart." His voice was as arrogant and calm as ever.

"If I have to," Ultron said as he glided down to the catwalk. The Maximoffs were behind him, waiting in the wings and glaring at us with murder in their eyes.

Thor stepped forward and held his hand up. "Nobody has to break anything," he breathed.

Ultron laughed, "Clearly, you're never made an omelette."

"He beat me by one second," Tony said as he turned to us.

My eyes rolled. This was taking too long, and my anxiety was growing by the second. I knew in just as much time, Pietro could speed towards us and fling us from the catwalk. My fist tightened around my sword.

Just then, Pietro stepped forward. He looked below us and backed up to Tony. There was a smile on his face. "Are you comfortable, Mr. Stark. Just like old times, eh?" There were various missiles below us. This was not going to end well.

"This was never my life," Tony breathed.

"Wanda, Pietro," I pleaded. "You two don't need to be involved in this. You can still walk away."

The girl laughed at me, wicked and vile. "Oh, we will," she grinned. That gleam in her eyes was bright. My vision of the future flashed before me. She was a reflection of the hurt and angry girl I saw in my mind's eye.

"Please," I tried again. I stepped towards them, letting Starlight drift from my hands so they wouldn't see me as a threat. "I know you've suffered so much, but-"

Ultron cut me off with a scoff. He laughed loudly. "Stella. The fallen goddess. Pretending to have empathy for anyone but herself. A child of Hades, no? The famously unforgiving god of balance and control. He has no empathy for those who pass into his realm; why do you think you are any different?"

"If you believe in peace," Thor interrupted, "then let us keep it."

"Peace and quiet are not the same thing," Ultron chastised. I heard a smile in his voice. He was enjoying this banter.

Steve stepped forward, "Enough. What's the vibranium for?"

"Oh," Ultron breathed. "I'm so happy you asked that because this whole time I've been wanting to explain my evil plan!"

Suddenly, Ultron's fist closed, and Tony was dragged forward. Droids appeared on the catwalk, and one grabbed my fist. I threw it off of me and called Starlight back to me.

I transfigured her into a spear and threw her sharp blade into the head of a droid. She returned to me as my sword, and I cut the arms off of droids that had grabbed Steve's shoulders.

Tony flew past me, knocked backwards my Ultron and his energy blast. Tony stood, and the two rocketed towards each other and collided in the air.

Pietro sped into Thor and I, knocking us into the wall of the ship. The air left my lungs, and I coughed from the burning in my chest. I looked up as Wanda shot Steve with a red ball of energy. With the little strength I had, I knocked her back into the other wall with a large wave of my own magic.

She screamed, and Steve managed to stand. He ran over to Thor and I and helped us up. The ship's workers appeared around us with guns firing in every direction. I knocked them all away with my magic, but there were a lot of them.

Blue light in the distance caught my eyes. Pietro. I stood and stepped between him and Steve. He zipped closer, and I spread my magic before me like a spider web. He ran through it, and I grinned, closing my fists and catching him in my net. He struggled against me, but I was stronger than him, and I was able to fling him off the catwalk and into a box of weapons below us.

Steve jumped off the catwalk and into the direction Pietro had fallen. I heard Bucky above us, so I turned towards the stairs and found him surrounded by fallen droids.

"Hey," he breathed as he gathered me in his arms. "Are you alright?"

I grinned and ran my hand through his hair. "Yeah, you?"

He nodded, and we turned to walk down the hallway. Bucky was a few steps behind me, and when I turned back to check on him, Wanda appeared.

Her hand flashed in front of my eyes, and I blinked away the fog that suddenly appeared. I saw her do the same to Bucky. I reached out to him, but the world was spinning. My hand flew to the wall to steady myself. I think I tried to speak. I think I tried to scream.

But all I could sense was an endless black hole sucking me in.

There was nothing.

And then there I was in a pearly white city. Columns and fountains surrounded me with sparkling blue water and flowers all around.

"Oh, nymph," a man's voice called out like a song. A chill ran up my spine, and I pushed past a crowd of people.

My heart was hammering, but I didn't know why. Somehow, I knew the way to go despite everything looking for foreign to me. I weaved between gardens and groups of people talking and laughing.

Their voices rang in my ears like bells, and my vision was growing more and more blurred. I tripped over a root that was growing through the paved walkway, but I caught myself on a nearby bench.

Someone else caught me too. Hands wrapped around my waist and pulled me up. I winced and turned around to be met with beautiful blue eyes and impossibly curly hair. The man who caught me was grinning. He had wings like fluffy white clouds, and when he spoke it was like the birds were singing.

"Where are you off to in such a rush, nymph?" His voice was sweet and smooth like honey. He smiled at me, but acid rose through my throat.

"Stop," a woman screamed. I couldn't see her. My attention was being pulled to a portal opening beside me. I looked through it and saw New York being overtaken by chitauri.

A second later, I was falling. A blast of white magic hit me in the face, and the world was black again.