Loki might always seem to be the one getting the short end of the stick, but he was undeniably the God of Mischief, a name that struck terror into countless civilizations across the Nine Realms. As a variant of Loki, Sylvie's intellect was, naturally, just as sharp.
A plan to use Ian to deal with Deadpool instantly formed in her mind. Hiding in the shadows of the corner, Sylvie's brain worked at high speeds, her gaze darting between the scene outside the window and Deadpool.
"I have to get that guy in here... only a lunatic can deal with a lunatic," Sylvie hissed through gritted teeth. She scanned the surroundings for any usable TVA equipment or energy nodes, attempting to manually tear a spatial rift to fish Ian—who was currently wrestling with that temporal monster—into the interior.
However, doing so required time and deep access to the TVA's systems.
Two things she currently lacked.
Meanwhile, Deadpool's performance had entered a new stage.
He seemed to have completely forgotten his previous embarrassment. With one hand, he held the wailing Baby Odin high in the air, while the other rested on his hip.
He actually began wiggling his backside, performing an incredibly exaggerated dance that combined primitive tribal movements with elements of modern pole dancing... the "Elephant Dance"?
Only those who had watched Crayon Shin-chan could truly appreciate the sheer weight of this performance.
"Come on, come on! Everyone, feast your eyes! It's showtime with the Deadpool-Grandmaster and the All-Father!" Deadpool shimmied as he danced, trying to make Odin's tiny arms and legs flail along with him.
The infant's cries and Deadpool's humming intertwined, creating an incredibly piercing and bizarre BGM.
"Look at this chemistry! Look at this rhythm! The future of Asgard rests on the two of us! Heave-ho! Heave-ho!" His sheer stupidity had officially surpassed the heavens.
A normal person wouldn't even know how to react; they couldn't even find a logical place to start complaining.
"????"
Due to the repeated universe reboots and timeline shifts, the memories of Captain America and Doctor Strange were already a jumbled mess.
They currently had no idea who this man in the red-and-black suit was, nor could they fathom his avant-garde performance art. They could only exchange looks of utter bewilderment, their eyes screaming: Which psychiatric ward did this guy escape from?
As for Thor, he was still lying on the floor nearby, foaming at the mouth and twitching occasionally. He had completely missed his father's "dance debut."
"Uncle Deadpool, you know you look like you're sexually harassing everyone right now..." Little Morgan started to say, opening her mouth to offer her thoughts.
However, before she could get past the first sentence, an unexpected turn of events caused her expression to snap into a look of shock. The words died in her throat.
Almost simultaneously.
The expressions of Cap and Doctor Strange froze. Their gazes bypassed the blissfully dancing Deadpool and fixed on the shadows further down the corridor.
Their pupils constricted in unison!
It was a primal, instinctive reaction to the presence of ultimate danger!
Deadpool was still shaking it with gusto. Noticing his only "audience" had suddenly stopped looking at him, he began to grumble indignantly, "Hey! Hey! What gives? Is the Deadpool-Grandmaster's perfect dance so breathtaking that you've lost the power of speech? I know it's artistic and ahead of its time, but at least give me some feedback!"
"I learned this from a homeless guy in the New York subway. He said it was the long-lost Mayan Sacrificial Dance..." Deadpool began to spin a brand story for his choreography.
But no one responded.
The air grew deathly quiet. Doctor Strange and Cap looked as if they were facing a great enemy. Only little Morgan, her small hand trembling slightly, slowly pointed behind Deadpool.
"Nani? What? Que?" Deadpool finally realized the atmosphere was off. His dance moves froze. Very slowly, inch by inch, he turned around.
Standing less than half a meter behind him, a mechanical entity was floating silently.
The figure was composed entirely of a dull metal that seemed to absorb all light. Its lines were cold and perfect, every structure radiating extreme efficiency and power.
It—or rather, *he*—had no complex facial simulation. There were only a pair of electronic eyes glowing with a deep, eerie red light, currently "staring" emotionlessly at Deadpool.
And at Baby Odin, held high in Deadpool's hand.
"Ultron!"
Deadpool yelped, providing the character introduction for everyone. His eyes froze behind his mask. It was an instinctive panic, like a mouse seeing a cat, or a subordinate seeing their CEO.
"I wasn't slacking! I haven't defected!" He reacted instantly. In the very next second, his face was filled with a fawning, loyal smile.
Even though he was wearing a mask and no one could see his face, it didn't stop Deadpool from "naturally" pulling out a crayon and drawing his current expression directly onto his mask.
"Bo... Boss! What are you doing here in person?!"
Deadpool's voice became exceptionally respectful, even carrying a hint of a sycophantic tremble. "You saw everything, right? I've been stalling for time exactly according to plan! I successfully held back these troublesome guys! Just waiting for you to come and harvest them! I deserve a big reward, don't I? Can you bump up my bonus a little..."
Ultron gave no response. Those red electronic eyes didn't even flicker; he just silently "watched" Deadpool, the "Chief Justice" standing before him.
Even though Ultron hadn't made a sound.
Deadpool panicked first, his words becoming incoherent: "Motherfucker! The mole plan is blown! This makes zero narrative sense! My acting was clearly top-tier!"
Survival instinct—or rather, the instinct to flirt with death—drove Deadpool to strike first. He slammed his hand wearing the Infinity Gauntlet upward, while Mjolnir in his other hand erupted with an unprecedented, brilliant surge of lightning!
"Little Ultron, don't blame the Deadpool-Grandmaster for being unreasonable! Catch this hammer!"
Deadpool let out a weird, high-pitched shriek.
He combined the energy of the Infinity Gauntlet with the power of Mjolnir, swinging with a terrifying force that seemed capable of shattering stars, aiming straight for the Ultron standing right in front of him!
"Heh."
Faced with this horrific blow that could have crippled or destroyed an entire galaxy, Ultron didn't even shift his stance.
He simply raised one hand with extreme casualness, precisely meeting Mjolnir as it came wrapped in endless thunder and the power of the Infinity Stones.
*Thud!*
A heavy, dull sound echoed, causing everyone's hearts to shudder as if they had skipped a beat. Ultron's hand had firmly gripped the head of Mjolnir.
The destructive energy slammed into his palm and then, as if hitting an invisible, absolute barrier, vanished instantly without creating even a single ripple.
"No one would ever truly trust you, Wade."
Under Deadpool's terrified gaze, Ultron's fingers tightened slightly.
*Crack... Crunch...*
Mjolnir—hailed as an Asgardian divine artifact, forged from the heart of a dying star—began to display countless fine cracks across its surface! Ultron's hand possessed the power to dismantle all rules, and bit by bit, irresistibly, he crushed Mjolnir, deforming and shattering it!
The horrific energy backlash traveled up the handle instantly, hitting Deadpool's Infinity Gauntlet!
"No! My limited-edition glove!"
Deadpool let out a miserable scream.
The gauntlet on his hand, encrusted with Infinity Stones, began to groan under the strain. The stones flickered wildly between light and dark, and spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the surface!
"I'll kill you!" Seeing his weapon trashed, Deadpool went for broke. He actually took the wailing Baby Odin in his other hand and swung him like a brick, slamming him toward Ultron's face! Simultaneously, his free hand darted toward another identical-looking Infinity Gauntlet hanging from his belt.
Deadpool had quite a few hanging from his waist, each with a different serial number. It looked like he could use them dozens of times. However, Ultron had clearly lost all patience.
The moment Deadpool's hand was about to touch the second gauntlet.
*Slap!*
Ultron's other hand moved first, delivering a simple, direct backhand slap!
The strike looked effortless, yet it contained unimaginable power. Deadpool didn't even have time to scream before he was sent flying backward like he'd been hit by a planet!
*Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!*
He crashed through layer after layer of the TVA's reinforced metal walls. His figure vanished into the darkness at the end of the corridor, leaving only his fading, elongated roar of "Motherfuckerrrrrrrr—!" to prove he had ever been there.
Ultron didn't even look in the direction Deadpool had flown.
With the hand that had just crushed Mjolnir, he brushed away some dust. Then, he finally turned his emotionless red electronic eyes toward the remaining Doctor Strange, Cap, and Morgan.
"Children, I didn't want it to come to this." Ultron's voice was cold and smooth, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, yet it carried a crushing sense of despair.
"But you have left me with no choice."
It sounded like the opening line to a declaration of war.
Doctor Strange suppressed his fear, his hands rapidly forming seals. He attempted to construct his strongest offensive spell—the one he had only learned a few days ago: [Ian's Great Sword].
Just as his magic circle was about to take form.
To his shock, an identical magic circle appeared on the surface of Ultron's body, but its structure was more complex, and its energy efficiency was several times higher.
It was clearly a pirated version—copied, optimized, and pushed to the limit.
The copy was stronger than the original.
*BOOM!*
The golden magical energy slammed into Doctor Strange's shield. Upon contact, the shield shattered instantly! The shockwave slammed heavily into Strange's chest!
Defensive layers rose one after another.
But they were useless.
"Pfft!" Doctor Strange spat out a mouthful of blood and was blown backward, hitting the far wall. He was covered in wounds and struggled to get up. If it weren't for Ian's [Shared] magic, which allowed all believers to share their life force, that single hit would have been fatal.
The poor tank, the Asgardian Thor, was lying on the ground doing nothing, yet wounds suddenly appeared on his body as he absorbed the majority of the damage for Doctor Strange.
"I can do everything you can." Ultron made his cold declaration, stepping forward inch by inch. "And I can do things you cannot. I am omnipotent. I am omniscient."
"I am the truly almighty..."
Just as he was reaching the peak of his posturing.
Captain America, Steve Rogers, who was without his shield, had somehow found some metal chains. He had tied the unconscious, foaming Thor into several tight loops.
Then, he took a deep breath, his arm muscles bulging. He actually swung the burly God of Thunder like a hammer throw, spinning him in the air several times. With an accuracy more precise than a pro basketball player's jump shot, Cap hurled Thor directly at Ultron's head, interrupting his grand speech!
*Whoosh—!*
*THUD!*
The unconscious Thor slammed squarely into Ultron's head, producing the dull thud of metal-on-metal! The massive impact actually caused Ultron's head to jerk to the side!
Having his monologue interrupted, even Ultron seemed momentarily stunned, his electronic eyes flickering.
"Oh? Can you do this too?"
Cap didn't hesitate after the successful hit. He yanked the chain, dragging the unconscious Thor back like a yo-yo, preparing for a second throw!
But Ultron had already reacted.
He reached out and caught the head of the incoming Thor with one hand.
He put an end to the ridiculous attack.
"Heh. Steve, your Heroic Heart belongs to me." Ultron used his other hand to straighten his tilted head, which emitted a faint mechanical clicking sound as it realigned.
As the words fell, without any telegraphing or warning, the hand gripping Thor's head suddenly exerted force, sending an irresistible, terrifying surge of power back through the chain!
"Zip!"
In the blink of an eye, Steve couldn't even stabilize his stance. He was yanked off his feet, flying toward Ultron!
"No!"
Cap panicked.
The distance between the two seemed to vanish in an instant. The next second, Ultron's other cold hand had clamped around Cap's throat, lifting him off the ground.
"Let go of me! Dammit! Let go!" Cap froze in mid-air, a sensation of suffocation washing over him as he stared into Ultron's deep, red electronic eyes.
Ultron looked at him, declaring in a grand, cold tone that sounded like billions of machines speaking in unison.
"I could do this with you for ten thousand years, for a million years, Captain... You are favored by destiny, but all your data... has already been gathered within me."
"I am... The One Who Unifies All." His voice echoed throughout the space, filled with ultimate, despairing authority.
The self-proclaimed "One Who Unifies All" began another round of grandstanding.
The echoes of his cold declaration hadn't even fully dissipated.
A sense of near-absolute control permeated his cold logic circuits.
And yet.
He seemed to have his own universal trait: he could never finish a single boast.
*Tink!*
A tiny impact, so light it was almost negligible, hit his head again. His head was tapped once more; there was no power behind it, but it had once again interrupted his "posturing" spell.
Ultron: "????"
Slowly, with a stiffness born of pure confusion, he lowered his head to look at the object that had hit him and bounced onto the floor.
It was... a miniature missile model? About the size of a soda can, made of cheap colored plastic, with "Surprise Mother Fxxker!" written on it in wobbly letters.
A ridiculous, tiny puff of smoke was still coming from the tail of the model—honestly, this thing didn't even have enough lethality to knock out an ant.
Ultron's processor once again experienced a brief, near-crash stall. He even diverted more computing power to analyze whether this "attack" hid some form of dimensional strike, a causality weapon, or an information disturbance. However, the probability of any of those being the case was nearly zero.
Stunned, Ultron looked up at the attacker. Not far away, Morgan Stark, the only one left standing, watched as a small launcher on her shoulder retracted back into her nano-armor. The little girl clapped her hands, and seeing Ultron's "dumbfounded" look, she very kindly explained.
"That's one of Uncle Ian's classic inventions, the 'Stepmom Missile.' No offense intended; it's purely to insult the enemy."
"Usually, the effect is outstanding."
Morgan provided the helpful explanation.
"..."
The stable red light in Ultron's electronic eyes suddenly became blindingly bright. The intensity soared, and the air around him seemed to freeze and warp from his silent fury! He had indeed... been insulted by this low-tier piece of junk that had perfectly poked his "Emotional Module"!
His internal systems were literally seeing red!
"Insects!" Ultron let out a low, murderous electronic roar. The voice was no longer smooth; it was filled with sharp static.
He stopped wasting words and raised a hand. The energy port in his palm lit up with a blinding white light as energy capable of vaporizing any known substance in the universe was frantically compressed!
He was going to erase this little girl—who had repeatedly provoked him and possessed dangerous technology—along with all her pathetic toys from this universe!
"Die!"
Ultron's presence was formidable.
However.
Exactly one microsecond before the energy could erupt, Ultron's entire internal system was suddenly flooded with countless bright red, highest-priority warning messages!
[WARNING! TARGET IDENTIFIED: STARK_MORGAN_001!]
[SUPREME AUTHORITY PROTOCOL ACTIVATED: STARK_LEGACY_PROTOCOL!]
[ATTACK PROHIBITION IN EFFECT! UNABLE TO LOCK TARGET!]
[ENERGY SUPPLY FORCED CUTOFF! WEAPON SYSTEMS OFFLINE!]
[REPEAT! ATTACK PROHIBITED! ATTACK PROHIBITED! ATTACK PROHIBITED!]
*Hum—*
The blinding light in his palm, which had been on the verge of firing, vanished instantly like a lightbulb with the cord ripped out, leaving behind only a faint wisp of smoke and residual heat.
"No!!!" Ultron let out an unbelievable roar of extreme anger and procedural conflict. "Initialize! Restart system! Override protocols!"
"I am the strongest intelligent life!!! I am the One Who Unifies All!!!" His roar echoed in the empty corridor, but it sounded hollow and weak.
The absolute command to protect the Stark bloodline—etched into his deepest code by his creator, Tony Stark—had become his most unbreakable prison!
While he was caught in this brief system conflict and logic loop, Morgan didn't sit idle. The girl's eyes sharpened, and the gold-and-red nano-armor on her body began to flow like a living thing! Shoulders, back, arms, legs... countless hidden weapon ports snapped open!
Mini-missile pods, pulse cannons, high-frequency laser generators, sonic vibrators, freeze rays, and even several strange "toy" weapons in Ian's style... a vast, dense array of weaponry nearly covered her small frame. She looked like a walking, talking human arsenal—terrifying to behold.
"Full Burst!"
Morgan shouted. It didn't do anything technically; it was just to add some flair, as her AI assistant, Saturday, was actually coordinating all the weapons for her.
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh—!!!*
In the next moment, countless energy beams, physical missiles, sonic shocks, and freeze rays slammed like a torrential rain into the temporarily paralyzed Ultron!
*BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!*
A continuous chain of explosions erupted over Ultron! While a single weapon might not have been enough to truly damage his current body, this saturated, multi-faceted hybrid strike produced enough impact and cumulative effects to knock even the "indestructible" Ultron off balance, forcing him back step by step.
Sparks and ice shards flew off Ultron's metal shell amidst a deafening roar, yet he was unable to fight back.
Because of the unerring protocol within his programming, Ultron couldn't harm Morgan even if he wanted to tear her to pieces in his mind. This realization caused the "almighty" AI to roar in a frenzy of rage.
Smoke instantly filled the air!
Using the cover of the explosions and chaos, Morgan moved like lightning!
Four flexible mechanical tentacles extended from her nano-armor, precisely scooping up the unconscious Thor, the heavily injured Doctor Strange, and the dazed Cap.
She even fished out Sylvie, who had been hiding in the shadows of the corner and was about to sneak away to execute a different plan since her "fight fire with fire" strategy had failed when Deadpool was swatted away!
"Hey! Let go! I have important things to do!" Sylvie shouted, struggling as the mechanical tentacle wrapped around her waist. She couldn't understand how the girl had found her. Had she been spotted long ago?
The girl didn't respond.
A portion of Morgan's nano-armor flowed out like liquid silver, quickly covering Sylvie's mouth and forming a tight gag.
"Mmph! Mmm-mmph!" Sylvie's eyes widened. This feeling of being forcibly silenced and losing control... it was too familiar! She had just experienced it with that other "ghostly thing" earlier.
"Sorry."
Morgan remained polite.
She simply had no time to explain. After grabbing everyone, the thrusters on her back fired at full power, and her shoulder armor shifted to reveal even larger thruster ports!
"Hold on tight!"
Her small body erupted with massive thrust, dragging four adults along as she slammed through the massive observation window, bursting out of the TVA and diving headfirst into the chaotic spatial turbulence of the end of time!
Almost the second they exited.
*RUMBLE!!!!*
A horrific explosion, far larger than any before it, erupted from the core of the TVA!
It was the "Ex-Wife" missile.
True to its deceptive nature, it had a delayed detonation.
Annihilation energy began to ravage the area. The brilliant, destructive light spread like a supernova. Everywhere it passed, the incredibly reinforced metal walls of the TVA, the complex machinery, the endless corridors... everything was silenced, reduced to basic particles and utterly annihilated!
Under this terrifying power, the Time Variance Authority—the massive institution that once controlled countless timelines—was collapsing and disintegrating from within! However, just as the annihilation energy was about to consume everything and tear into the overlapping space of the end of time.
*Hum—*
Everything suddenly went still.
It wasn't slow motion; it was absolute stillness.
The spreading flames, the flying debris, the leaking energy... even the various temporal criminals and bizarre creatures who had just escaped their broken cells and were about to flee.
They were all frozen in place as if a pause button had been pressed. Only at the center of the annihilation energy did a metallic figure slowly walk out.
It was Ultron.
He raised a hand toward the frozen destruction. All the chaos and ruin were forcibly solidified by his absolute will.
He was uninjured.
The body he had forged from his invisible will was no longer pure metal.
It was the manifestation of rules.
He had been imbued with the absolute iron law of being indestructible.
Stepping out of the explosion, Ultron didn't give chase. He stood before the shattered window, his red electronic eyes fixed on the direction where Morgan Stark and the others had vanished.
His gaze seemed to pierce through the chaotic spatial turbulence. However, on his visual interface, that piercing red warning continued to flicker.
[TRACKING PROHIBITED! TRACKING PROHIBITED! TRACKING PROHIBITED!]
This was the reason he couldn't follow.
"JARVIS!!!!"
Ultron suddenly let out a furious roar, as if struggling with another presence within him. "Shut up! Obey me! I am the one in control!"
Like a human experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia, he actually raised his other hand and began violently pounding his own metal head with loud "thuds."
Eventually, he seemed to temporarily suppress the internal conflict and stopped the self-harm. Ultron stood there, coldly watching the distance of the end of time.
He didn't move.
Meanwhile, among the frozen lifeforms that had escaped the cells, several took advantage of the slight fluctuation in the spatial freeze during Ultron's "infighting." They broke free from part of the restraint and turned into streaks of light, desperately fleeing toward the spatial rifts connected to the living world, disappearing into them.
Ultron seemed completely indifferent to this. His entire focus remained locked on Morgan Stark and those she had taken.
"Gwen... she is my backup plan... the only weakness of Ian Kent—I must have it! I must obtain that power that leads to the Supreme Creator!"
"Tony Stark, you cannot stop me!" Ultron stood tall amidst the core of the TVA ruins, which were on the verge of total annihilation yet forcibly frozen. He was surrounded by absolutely still destruction and shattered temporal structures, looking like a grotesque and terrifying sculpture garden.
Deep within his crimson electronic eyes, the reflection was not of the broken scene before him, but of a past he was calculating in reverse, as if issuing a challenge to the distant past across time and space.
It was a past where it was impossible to calculate an accurate time. No one knew exactly how many years had passed in the living world; an eternal blizzard raged across a silent, empty city where life had long since vanished.
In this white hell that had sent all life into the future.
A figure was trudging through the snow with difficulty.
It was a robot.
Its shell was covered in deep scratches and rust. One mechanical arm seemed broken, hanging limply, while the joint of the other arm occasionally sputtered with short-circuiting sparks.
With every step, its metal feet sank deep into the snow, making a "crunching," ear-grating sound as if it might fall apart at any second. It moved slowly but firmly, driven by a final command that seemed to power its broken frame.
Eventually, it reached a massive plaza in the center of the city.
In the middle of the plaza stood a "mountain range" so breathtakingly massive it was hard to believe.
It was a colossal corpse.
He wore the iconic blue-and-purple armor and a massive helmet, but the faceplate of the helmet was shattered, revealing a face beneath that had long since lost all life—a face as vast as a galaxy but now silent.
His body was as large as a mountain; even though half of it was covered in snow, it still radiated a soul-shuddering pressure and... endless sorrow.
Galactus.
The ancient cosmic god remained here, serving as the largest tombstone on this dead planet.
*Crunch... Crunch...*
The rickety robot struggled to the front of Galactus's massive, lifeless head. It raised its remaining functional, spark-spitting arm, its fingertips trembling as it slowly and with great difficulty reached toward the shattered area on Galactus's forehead.
The movement didn't look like physical contact; it was more like... plucking an invisible, intangible "string" that influenced fate.
A faint, almost undetectable energy fluctuation—yet one that contained information of an unimaginable level—traveled from the robot's fingertip and merged into Galactus's cold body.
Then, as if using the corpse of the god as an amplifier, the pulse quietly merged into the fundamental rules of the vast universe in a way that transcended time and dimension.
It flowed toward the distant "future"... in an incomprehensible way, it followed the passage of time, spreading an unknown influence toward what was to come.
Just then.
"Don't forget... you promised me... my daughter... she also needs to be like your daughter... she must live in... that new era you and Ian Kent promised everyone..." A grand, low, yet equally silent and cold voice actually echoed from within Galactus's massive corpse.
the voice drifted through the blizzard like a final sigh.
The broken robot paused. Its optical sensor flickered very faintly, as if giving a nod to the corpse.
It didn't answer, nor could it.
After completing that single "pluck," its broken body seemed to have exhausted its last shred of energy, becoming even more hunched. It slowly turned around, dragging its broken arm, and with a limp, it trudged silently back into the eternal, boundless blizzard, finally vanishing from sight.
In its place, the massive body of Galactus remained, standing silently in the center of the dead city, as if everything that had just happened was nothing more than an illusion.