This Is Stella's Reality

July 14, 2015

Steve, Bucky, Loki, and I jogged through the clearly besieged lab of Dr. Cho. Lights were out, and alarms blared overhead. Ultron was either here now, or he already got what he came for. Both scenarios sent anxiety rushing through me.

"Dr. Cho," Steve called.

She was leaning against a cart, clutching her bleeding stomach. Her breathing was labored. "He's uploading himself into the body," she wheezed. Steve was applying pressure to her wound, and she winced.

"Where?" Bucky asked.

Helen pointed towards a side exit. We started to move, but she gripped Steve's shoulder. "The real power is inside the cradle. That stone," she coughed, "it's power is uncontainable. You can't destroy it. Get it to Stark and Banner."

"First we need to find it," Steve said gravely.

"I'll stay with her and get her to safety," Loki offered. "My magic can heal her. The rest of you go."

My hand fell to his shoulder. "I'm not supposed to let you out of my sights," I said.

He grinned up at me and lifted Dr. Cho gently into his arms. "I will return to you. You have my word, goddess." He winked at me and turned back the way we came.

I opened my mouth to protest, but Steve yanked my arm roughly. I yelped but followed as he pulled me along. He didn't seem to be in a good mood. He hadn't been since Wanda's vision corrupted his mind.

We got a read from trucks speeding along Seoul's highway system. Steve, Bucky, and I tried our best to catch up to them, leaping over barricades and up side walls.

Bucky helped me along as I had no super soldier serum to keep up with. Steve didn't wait for us.

He was already jumping from an overpass and onto the roof of the truck that held Ultron. Bucky pulled me along, and we made it just in time to join Steve.

Steve jumped down to hang onto the door. I used my magic to unlock it, but a droid from inside blasted the door open and nearly knocked Steve off the truck.

Bucky and I screamed, but Steve held firm. His back hit the side of the truck as the door flung open, but he was fine.

"You guys alright down there?" Clint asked over the comms.

"Yep," Steve answered with a groan. He kicked off the truck and swung the door back around. Ultron met him there and flung him from the truck.

Steve landed on a car behind us, and my heart lurched to my throat. He stood easily and began leaping from car to car to reach the truck again.

Ultron levitated up to the rooftop of the truck. Bucky and I were ready for him. He was firing energy blasts at us, but my magic knocked them away easily.

I called Starlight to my hand as a spear and threw her at a droid that was too close to Bucky's face. He ripped the spear from the mangled corpse and threw it at another droid.

My heart swelled to see him so easily adapt and use my abilities in conjunction with his own.

Steve jumped behind me on the truck and tossed his shield to lodge into Ultron's chest. He easily swatted it away, and it seemed to not bother him in the slightest.

The shield clattered onto the busy highway below us. I sighed and called Starlight back to me as a sword. I used my magic as a shield, blocking Ultron's shots and swinging arms.

Starlight slices easily through his metal limbs. He yelled at me, incoherent and angry, and flew away from me.

Bucky's arms wrapped around me and pulled me closer to him just as Ultron blew a hole into the truck just where I was standing.