Combustion ✦ STEVE ROGERS² [✓]

11 | FIGHT AS ONE

THE FOUR OF THEM WATCHED IN SHOCK AND HAPPINESS AS NONE OTHER THAN A HELICARRIER ROSE OUT OF THE CLOUDS, HOVERING BY THE FLOATING CITY. Luca's eyes went wide in surprise, and Kato, Natasha, and Steve grinned at the sight. They didn't have to make a choice anymore. Fury had brought them a flying savior.

"Nice, right?" Fury said to us. "I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do."

Steve huffed. "Fury, you son of a bitch."

"Oooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Kato smiled, and Steve did as well, as flying lifeboats detached from the side of the Helicarrier and flew over to the city. Then, Pietro ran up to them, watching the Helicarrier in awe.

"This is S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Pietro asked.

"This is what S.H.I.E.L.D.'s supposed to be," Steve told him with a slight nod.

Pietro smiled, shrugging his shoulders. "This is not so bad."

"Agreed," Luca said, giving a similar nod. "This, I could get used to."

Steve turned to the rest of them as the lifeboats docked on the side of the city. "Let's load 'em up."

Kato looked up to see Rhodey in his War Machine suit streak past them across the sky.

"Yes!" Rhodey exclaimed over comms. "Now this is gonna be a good story."

"Yup," Tony replied. "If you live to tell it."

Rhodey scoffed. "You think I can't hold my own?"

"We get through this, I'll hold your own."

"You had to make it weird."

"Glad you two are having fun up there," Kato remarked teasingly.

With Rhodey covering for them in his War Machine suit, and Luca offering Rhodey his assistance, Steve, Kato, Natasha, and Clint helped get the people onto the lifeboats. Lifeboat after lifeboat flew towards and away from the city, safely transporting the citizens away from the battle.

"Thor, I got a plan!" Tony suddenly announced over comms.

"We're out of time," Thor replied. "They're coming for the core."

Kato huffed, chucking a chunk of concrete at a small trio of robots that were attempting to attack some fleeing citizens. "Well, what the hell are we doing here, then?" she said. "We gotta get over there!"

"Rhodey, get the rest of the people on board that carrier," Tony instructed his friend, then said to the team, "Avengers, time to work for a living."

And with that, the rest of them ran off towards the core. They were met with a wave of robots when they reached it, but they took care of them swiftly.

Kato and Steve arrived after Thor, Tony, and Vision had. Moments later, Luca touched down from the sky, then turned to Kato and put his hand on her shoulder. "You okay?" he asked.

Kato nodded. "I'm good."

"Romanoff?" Tony asked, realizing that Natasha was taking longer than usual. "You and Banner better not be playing 'Hide the Zucchini'."

"Relax, Shellhead," Natasha replied. "Not all of us can fly."

A few more moments passed before Natasha arrived.

"What's the drill?" Natasha asked Tony upon her arrival.

Tony pointed to the strange machine he was standing by. "This is the drill. If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose."

Kato assumed that the machine was what was holding the city together. "So basically, if he touches it, we all die," she deduced.

Tony nodded. "That pretty much sums it up, yeah."

Kato huffed. "Out-standing."

The Hulk arrived shortly after, joining them at the church. Then, Ultron finally showed up, flying up to the church and hovering a few feet away. He grinned at the team, watching as they faced him.

"Is that the best you can do?!" Thor loudly challenged.

Ultron simply smirked, raising his metal hand. Then, hundreds of robots poured in from every corner of the city, joining Ultron to aid in the fight.

Steve gave Thor a look before facing the army of robots. "You had to ask."

"This is the best I can do," Ultron told them. "This is exactly what I wanted: all of you, against all of me. How could you possibly hope to stop me?"

Tony looked around at the rest of the team. "Well, like the old man said." When Steve looked at him, Tony faced Ultron. "Together."

The Hulk let out a vicious roar, and that was when the robots attacked. They came pouring in from every direction, charging towards the team with the intent of tearing them apart. But the Avengers did what they had sworn to do - fight together as a team, to defend the earth from threats.

Robots were shot, smashed, ripped apart, decapitated, broken, lasered, frozen, blasted, and tossed to the side, falling in heaps by their feet. Kato used her fists, punching right through the robots' chests, leapt into the air to rip their heads off, and blasted them to pieces with her laser eyes. Kato smashed the robots' heads with her hands, tore their limbs off, ripped them in half, or bashed them to pieces.

Soon, Ultron had to intervene in fear of losing. He tussled with the Vision, who used the Mind Stone in his forehead to propel a beam of yellow energy, sending Ultron out of the church. Tony and Thor promptly joined Vision in keeping Ultron away from the core as the rest of the team finished destroying the rest of the robots.

And soon after, the metal clones turned tail and ran, trying to escape.

As soon as they left, Kato stumbled briefly, a wave of exhaustion washing over her. Luca rushed over to her side, grabbing her arm to steady her.

"Kato," Luca said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

Kato took a deep breath, forcing down the exhaustion as she straightened up. "Yeah," she said between a few quick breaths, nodding at her cousin. "Yeah, I'm alright."

However, that was when Steve then turned to the rest of them. "We gotta move out," he said. "Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats. I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you."

"What about the core?" Clint asked.

That was when Wanda spoke up. "I'll protect it." When everyone turned to her in surprise, she nodded at Clint and added, "It's my job."

Clint gave Wanda a concerned frown. It was obvious he'd taken her under his wing. Despite what she'd done to the team, it was behind them now. She was just as much an Avenger as the rest of them. And Clint clearly considered her as one of his own.

But he gave her a small nod anyway, then turned and motioned for Natasha to follow. "Nat. Let's go."

That left Kato with Luca and Steve. Steve turned to the two Haxodonians, raising an eyebrow.

"You two ready to end this?" Steve asked.

Kato grinned, and Luca crossed his arms with a smile.

"I'm ready," Kato said, a smirk spreading onto her face. "Let's get messy."