Ultimate Iron Man
Ch: 120 [Binary Rising]

The blast crater where Tony's body fell still glowed faintly. Smoke rose from the molten ground as the chaos spread beyond the city's edge. Trees trembled. Roads cracked. And in the distance, civilians stood frozen, watching the battle unfold live on every screen.

Yelena launched from the ground like a rocket, red trails burning behind her as her upgraded Predator Mode kicked to full thrust. Her armor pulsed with raw energy. She twisted mid-air and unleashed a wide arc of crimson plasma toward Carol.

Carol blocked with one arm. The plasma hit her like a blade of heat and carved a burn across her gauntlet. She gritted her teeth and fired back, sending a pulse wave of cosmic energy across the field. It cracked the soil like a sonic boom, sending trees flying.

Yelena dropped low, skimming the ground. She flickered forward and disappeared again.

Above, Johnny hovered, his body blazing in orange flame. It was somewhat unstable, but he was learning on the go. His suit was holding on, maintaining his power from going out of control. His hands flared as he aimed two fingers downward.

"Let's see how you handle this."

He dove straight at Carol. A vortex of fire trailed him as he twisted and spun. He fired two concentrated plasma blasts as he descended. Carol deflected the first, but the second clipped her shoulder and sent a shockwave up her side.

Ben roared as he charged in. His body shimmered purple beneath his rocky hide, pushing his weight into a double-fisted punch. Carol turned just in time and crossed her arms. The hit still knocked her back thirty feet, smashing her into the remains of a bus.

Ben didn't stop. He slammed into her again, faster than before, purple energy now leaking between the cracks in his arms. His form fluctuated for a moment. His rocky shell pulsed, then split as he transformed mid-combat into his enhanced human form with a purple glow. Lighter. Faster.

He twisted, jumped, and slammed a knee into Carol's side. Then pivoted mid-air and hit her with an elbow across the jaw. She dropped low and rolled away, stunned for a moment.

That's when the others felt it.

A cold pressure pushed against the field.

Two shapes tore through the sky above like falling meteors. They hit the ground hard enough to split the earth. Dust billowed. Lights flickered across the battlefield.

Two Super Skrulls emerged. One was massive and scaled, arms too long for his frame, skin dark green and armored like reptile hide. His fists crackled with electricity and raw kinetic energy. The other was leaner, with flickering hands that phased in and out of view and eyes glowing orange. His suit carried the SHIELD insignia.

They moved too fast.

Ben turned and charged the bigger one. The creature met him head-on. Their fists collided in a thunderclap that knocked dirt into the air like a bomb had gone off. Ben grunted as the Super Skrull twisted and slammed him with a sweeping leg, knocking him backward.

The second Super Skrull appeared beside him. He vibrated mid-punch, phasing through Ben's block and catching him in the ribs with a burst of kinetic force. Ben flew back across the field, gritting his teeth.

"I got him!" Johnny yelled.

He spun and threw a line of flame at the leaner Skrull. It passed right through, missing completely. The Skrull vanished for a moment and reappeared behind him, slamming a foot into his back. Johnny twisted in mid-air and caught himself with a flaming burst.

"You slippery bastard," he muttered.

Sue stepped into the fight.

Her shields snapped into view as Carol rose again, now glowing with full binary intensity. Carol's body pulsed like a second sun. Sue narrowed her eyes and raised her arms. She was trying to hold back, but they weren't making things easy for her.

A dome of blue force shimmered into existence, massive and layered. Carol hurled herself forward, punching into the dome. It cracked once. Twice. On the third hit, Sue clenched her teeth and shifted the shield shape. The force wrapped around Carol like a net and twisted inward.

Carol screamed and exploded outward in a wave of energy. The dome shattered.

Sue flew back but caught herself, generating four more shields in a spiral formation. She rolled with the energy, absorbing the blast, then redirected it like a slingshot. The kinetic return struck Carol in the back, throwing her off balance.

Her shields shimmered again, evolving mid-battle. She raised both hands and sent a pulse of compacted force that hit like a railgun.

The blast took Carol off her feet.

Yelena was already there.

She appeared behind the falling Captain Marvel and drove a plasma dagger into her back. The energy surged across Carol's spine. She screamed, twisted, and punched wildly. Yelena dropped low and slammed a knee into her ribs.

Carol collapsed to one knee. She looked up.

Her vision blurred. Her power flared. Regeneration kicked in, healing her body.

"You think... you're heroes?" she growled. "You're fighting to start a war."

"No," Yelena replied, her voice ice. "We're ending one."

Ben slammed into the ground beside the larger Super Skrull again, cracking the pavement. He took a deep breath and shifted fully into his enhanced form. The glow pulsed brighter than before. He twisted around the bigger Skrull, punched once, twice, then brought a knee into his gut. The Skrull stumbled.

Johnny dropped low and scorched the second Super Skrull with a twisting arc of fire, blinding him. Then slammed both fists down, creating a ring of flame around the enemy.

"Yelena," He called. "Now!"

Yelena blinked in with her plasma blade, chopping the Skrulls like a piece of tofu before annihilating their existence with a massive repulsor beam.

Carol looked toward Fury.

He stood near the perimeter, untouched by the chaos, his face unreadable. Then he gave her a single nod.

End it.

Carol's eyes dimmed for a second. She didn't want this. Not like this. But she still believed that complete Skrull genocide wasn't the answer. Coexistence was the path. She had to stop Stark's army before they crossed the line.

She took one long breath.

Then she took off.

In less than a second, she was on top of Sue. The air cracked. Sue barely had time to bring up a shield. Carol punched through it and drove her into the ground. The shockwave ruptured a city block.

Sue's forcefields faltered, her body rolled to a stop, unconscious.

Ben turned, saw Sue fall, and charged in full fury.

He didn't make it far.

Carol met him mid-stride. Her foot hit his jaw, sending him flipping backwards. She followed up with a hammer punch to the chest that drove him into a crater. The ground around him shattered. Ben's body pulsed once, then went still.

Johnny screamed in rage.

"SUE! BEN!"

His flame intensified more than before as he flew toward her like a living meteor. He spun and fired twin plasma beams from his hands. She dodged the first, absorbed the second. Then she caught him in mid-air by his throat and hurled him across the sky.

Johnny twisted, caught himself, and came back fast. He swung a burning fist into her ribs. She flinched, barely. He hit her again and again, fire trailing from every limb.

"I will never forgive you for what you have done," He yelled while punching her.

Carol caught his arm. "Enough!"

Then kneed him in the gut, spun, and backhanded him across the face. He dropped like a comet, skidding across concrete. His body smoked, but he was breathing.

She turned toward Yelena.

Yelena stood alone, her Predator armor burning red hot, twin blades drawn.

Carol hovered in place, looking at her. Her breath was steady, her fists clenched.

"I don't want to fight you."

Yelena didn't answer. She flew forward.

"Stand down," Carol said again. "Please."

"After I learned what freedom is, I felt lost. He taught me what emotions are. I found love. I found a reason to live. A reason to fight again. But you..." Yelena said in a shaky voice as she aimed her right blade at Carol. "You took that away from me."

"Genocide isn't an option. He wanted to kill thousands of Skrulls when we could have lived in co-existence," Carol said. "I couldn't let that happen. Not every Skrull is a criminal. There are children among them... Innocent kids who have nothing to do with this war."

"He gave them 24 hours to leave our planet." Yelena blinked and swung her blade. Carol dodged it with ease. She threw a uni-beam from her chest at point-blank range. Carol raised her cosmic energy, forming a shield before her. The energy hit her, sending her flying a few feet away. 

A streak of black and red tore across the sky.

Natasha entered the battlefield, followed by Melina, both wearing upgraded Widow combat suits. Behind them, four Omega-level mechs flew, their joints glowing blue, plasma cannons primed.

Natasha's face was stone as she stopped before Carol. She raised her fist. The nanites shifted, forming a blue pulse cannon. 

"You murdered Tony," she said, her voice low.

Carol tensed. "I won't let him or anyone commit a genocide."

"He was defending us."

Natasha snapped.

"And for the record, where were you when they attacked us? Where were you and your SHIELD when they infiltrated our society and prevented us from progressing further? Where were you when they continued to kill everyone who tried to do space missions? They killed everyone who tried to make progress in the technology field. Now that Tony found out and tried to end this invasion, you and your little band joined in defending these aliens. It's clear that you and SHIELD are working for them. You bastards are a threat to humanity."

Her pulse cannon glowed brightly.

"Even though Tony is no longer with us, our goal remains the same. We, the Shadow Legion, will annihilate anyone who threatens our world."

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