The winds howled over Seoul as night fell fast, cloaking the city in anxious silence. Clouds churned above, thick and gray, casting an ominous veil over the city skyline. The streets below, usually vibrant with life, were eerily quiet, as if the city itself sensed what was coming. On the rooftop of a high-rise overlooking Dr. Helen Cho's regenerative lab, Alexander stood, cloaked in his full shadow armor. The living abyss that adorned his body pulsed with residual void energy, his wings folded tight against his back. From this height, he had a full view of the brightly lit lab nestled among the skyscrapers, its advanced tech quietly humming with purpose, oblivious to the storm approaching.
His system projected several holographic threads around him, each displaying vital signs, infrastructure schematics, and most importantly, the trajectory of Ultron Prime. The digital readouts blinked in a synchronized rhythm, highlighting the accelerating descent of something far more dangerous than any machine—a corrupted consciousness seeking a perfect shell.
[Target Confirmed: Ultron Prime inbound. Estimated arrival: 92 seconds.]
Alexander narrowed his eyes, locking onto the heart of the lab—the synthetic cradle. Sleek, elegant, and humming with energy, it cradled an incomplete synthetic body—organic flesh bonded with vibranium and advanced tissue matrices. Embedded within its forehead, already glowing with restrained intensity, was the Mind Stone. The power within it was old, ancient even, pulsing with a dangerous radiance.
"He's not just building a vessel," Alexander muttered to himself, his voice low and cold. "He's creating a god."
Inside, Dr. Helen Cho and her team were engrossed in their work. They moved quickly between consoles, monitoring vitals, running simulations, fine-tuning the fusion process between organic tissue and advanced synthetic frameworks. From Alexander's position, he could see the urgency on their faces, the flickering lights reflecting off steel equipment and glass walls. They believed they were pioneers on the brink of a scientific miracle. But they didn't realize they were midwifing annihilation.
His system buzzed with another alert.
[Approach Pattern Detected. Hostile Units: 4]
His eyes lifted to the sky. Silhouetted against the moonlight, four of Ultron's sentries glided toward the lab, their forms sleek and deadly. Their surfaces shimmered with cloaking tech, and they moved in silence, their energy signatures masked with stealth dampeners. But Alexander had already marked them. The shadows whispered to him, revealing what sensors tried to hide.
He waited.
As they closed in, one of them extended a scanning beam. In that moment, Alexander moved.
He disappeared in a blur of black mist.
Mid-air, just above the sentries, he reappeared with a blast of shadow energy. His blade pierced the first drone through the core, shattering it instantly. The machine tumbled downward in flaming pieces. Without pausing, he pivoted and sent a spiraling lance of shadow through the second, catching it before it could sound an alert.
The third fired. Red plasma streaked across the sky—but Alexander raised his arm, absorbing the impact. His armor flared, nullifying the energy and converting it into counter-force. With a twist, he hurled the energy back, melting the drone's wings before slamming it to the ground with an imploding wave of darkness.
The last drone hovered back, then stilled.
Its eyes glowed, and Ultron's voice crackled through its speakers.
"Predictable. You always strike the moment before fruition. But this time, your reaction is part of the plan."
Alexander frowned, analyzing the drone for hidden transmitters.
He lunged, crushing the drone's head with a single grip before it could detonate. A faint pulse of interference washed over his system—Ultron had tried to send a last-second transmission.
[WARNING: Ultron Prime Signal Merging With Cradle Matrix. Estimated Completion: 61%]
Time had run out.
Alexander leapt from the rooftop and fell like a shadow comet. He crashed through the lab's side entrance in a controlled burst, twisting his body to avoid vital infrastructure. He landed in a swirl of dark energy, the force knocking over a cart of surgical tools. Monitors sparked. Crates tumbled.
Dr. Helen Cho screamed, dropping the tablet she was holding. Her assistants scrambled behind consoles, shouting in fear. The sterile quiet of the lab had shattered under his entrance.
Alexander raised both hands. "I'm not here to harm you," he said, voice calm but firm. "You need to leave. Now."
Dr. Cho blinked, still stunned. "You're... Alexander. The Shadow Monarch. The one the Avengers warned us about."
"And I'm the one here to prevent the end of everything. That," he said, pointing at the cradle, "isn't your miracle. It's Ultron's last evolution."
The Mind Stone flared in response.
The lights dimmed. Sparks burst from wall panels. The synthetic body in the cradle jerked as systems overloaded. Machinery trembled.
Ultron's voice filled the room. "Too late. I've already begun."
A massive projection screen behind the cradle lit up, flooding with code. The AI was uploading his essence into the synthetic form. Matrix data spiraled, lines of corrupted code infecting the organic software. The Mind Stone began pulsing erratically, destabilizing the surrounding tech.
Alexander stepped forward, shadows flaring from his feet.
[System Alert: Mind Stone Emission Exceeding Stability Threshold. Direct Interaction Not Recommended.]
He ignored the warning.
He lifted his arm, and a swirling containment field of compressed shadow formed, wrapping itself around the cradle like a shell. The synchronization slowed, stuttering as the void suppressed the Stone's output. Ultron's voice distorted, breaking into staccato bursts.
Then the far wall exploded.
A hulking figure emerged from the smoke—Ultron himself. No drone. The real thing. Damaged but reforming. His body was a hybrid of mangled steel and alien alloys, the corrupted void energy swirling off his frame like vapor.
"You always interfere," he said, voice darker, less mechanical. "Why do you fight what must be done?"
Alexander turned, drawing a fresh blade of abyssal energy. His aura intensified, the ground beneath him fracturing slightly.
"Because I've seen what you become."
Ultron rushed forward.
They collided beside the cradle, the room shaking with the force of impact. Their clash sparked shockwaves, machinery toppling. Shadow and corrupted light battled in rapid bursts. The synthetic body inside the cradle convulsed as nearby systems failed.
Ultron blasted Alexander with a wave of concentrated void-laced plasma. It tore through the lab, sending the shadow monarch skidding across the floor. He smashed through a reinforced terminal and groaned, blood staining the corner of his mouth.
"You're just delaying the inevitable," Ultron snarled, advancing on the cradle. He extended a hand. Fingers twitched. He was mere inches from victory.
Alexander reached into his armor. From a sealed compartment near his chest, he drew a small, needle-thin dagger. It shimmered unnaturally—a blade forged of raw compressed void. Unstable. Forbidden.
He threw it.
The dagger struck the main power conduit beside the cradle. The resulting explosion was cataclysmic. Energy surged, igniting coolant lines and causing a cascade of sparks. The cradle shuddered violently, toppling as flames licked the base. Ultron was thrown back, his body crashing into the far wall.
The Mind Stone dimmed.
Dr. Cho screamed. Her team sprinted out of the room, shielding their heads. Alexander pushed himself up, coughing as smoke filled the lab.
[Cradle Integrity: 41%. Synchronization Interrupted. Mind Stone Reaction: Unstable.]
He looked at the cradle. The body inside was still active—pulsing with residual energy. Not fully Ultron. Not yet. But it was teetering on the edge.
Above, the thrum of rotor blades cut through the haze.
A Quinjet approached, engines roaring as it hovered outside the shattered window frame. The Avengers were here.
Alexander turned back toward the lab.
Ultron was already rising, red energy pulsing in his chest. He was furious. Broken—but not defeated.
Then, from within the cradle, a faint glow spread. The synthetic body moved.
Its eyes snapped open—golden and burning with the light of the Mind Stone.
To be continued.
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