SANCTUM | Avengers

20

- TWENTY -

"Go," Tony yells. "Go!"

I watch as his mask snaps back into place and without a warning he flies off into the air. Ultron barely looks at me before he follows, leaving me alone in the wreckage of the temple.

The Captain calls over the intercom, his voice echoed by Tony and Natasha, but I'm frozen, my legs unmoving. The entire city is shaking and my body along with it- I can feel the ground quivering like an earthquake has struck but the aftershock keeps coming. I look at the horizon- at the mountains shadowed by clouds- as it slowly begins to shift.

There is deafening noise- buildings falling, car alarms screaming and people shouting. Above it all, though, there is a horrific cracking, like the entire city is being split by giant hands. The mountains begin to disappear into the clouds and suddenly the craziness of it all clicks in my head.

"He is lifting the city," I say, unsure if the radio will pick up my voice over the roaring wind.

With each second, Sokovia was lifting further and further from the ground. The the people that Wanda had convinced to escape were stuck in their cars as bridges fell and the ground itself sunk and shattered.

"Looks like we're going for a ride, then," Tony responds. A curse falls from my lips as I look around at the city.

"Why?" I ask, running through the crumbling streets. "Why lift the city?"

"He needs it to reach a certain altitude," Tony calls.

"Why?" I grunt through gritted teeth.

"He...he's gonna drop it. Once we reach a certain hight, he drops the city and the force-"

"That'll be global distinction."

Stark is silent on the other line.

"We need to destroy the core!" I shout, waving at people and showing them towards Wanda's tendrils of power.

"It cuts all electrical current- my suit can't do anything against it," Tony replies.

"What about me?"

Wanda's voice is strained but clear.

"No, Ultron thought of that," Tony says, his voice muffled as he flies over the city. "My scans say the only way to stop it would be to break the reactor inside, but the electricity would kill anybody who tries."

I open my mouth to speak- to ask about what we should do- anything to do- next as bile rises in my throat. My blood is pumping but more that anything, I am angry. Angry that the screams are louder than the buildings crumbling and falling over the edge of the lifting city. Angry that I failed another mission.

But before I can speak, the Captain's voice rings over the intercom.

"Looks like we have company."

A gasp escapes my throat as over the horizon. Hundred's of Ultron's robot soldiers fly towards us like a plague, dotting out the sun like clouds. Suddenly, my feet are moving on their own and I sprint towards the city centre.

"We have to get the people out of here before we're too high!" the Captain calls.

"It's too late for that!" Tony yells. He is out of breath and from the wave of shouting now ringing over the city, I know he's right. They're already upon us.

"Tony- get people down to the ground," the Captain calls. "Wanda, you keep the buildings as steady as you can and help as many people as you can. The rest of us- we focus on keeping the robots back."