Baron Mordo's final thoughts echoed in the void as his bisected corpse began to slide apart, its halves drifting slowly across the rooftop's shattered concrete. "I surrendered wholly to Dormammu, wielded his boundless power—how could Sebastian dispatch me so effortlessly?"
Before the fragments could settle, a jagged rift tore open behind Mordo's remains, its edges pulsating with an unnatural, violet-red glow. Beyond the tear, a colossal eye, radiating malevolent purple light, glared at Sebastian, its unblinking stare searing his image into its memory, a silent vow of retribution.
From the rift, tendrils of darkness—fused with twisted, star-like aberrations—snaked forth, coiling around Mordo's corpse with predatory swiftness. They dragged his remains toward the Dark Dimension's abyssal maw, intent on claiming their fallen servant.
Sebastian reacted instantly, his wand slashing upward, unleashing a silver-white beam infused with the ethereal form of a golden-eyed crow—his Patronus. The radiant energy surged toward Mordo's body, aiming to sever the Dark Dimension's grasp and reclaim the corpse from its otherworldly pull.
But the rift retaliated, spewing more tendrils that intertwined into a massive, grotesque hand, its surface shimmering with cosmic malevolence. It lunged toward Sebastian, seeking to crush him in its grasp.
With a thunderous boom, Sebastian's Patronus beam obliterated the monstrous hand, reducing it to nothingness, its fragments dissolving into the Sokovian air like ash scattered by a storm.
A cold, disdainful snort echoed from beyond the rift, and the tendrils accelerated, yanking Mordo's corpse fully into the Dark Dimension. The rift snapped shut, leaving only a faint ripple in its wake, denying Sebastian any further pursuit.
Recognizing Dormammu's interference as insurmountable for now, Sebastian shifted focus. He raised his left hand, the Space Stone glowing with azure light, its authority surging. With a gesture, he forced the rift's remnants to collapse, sealing the breach and thwarting any further meddling from the Dark Dimension's master.
His task complete, Sebastian turned his gaze to the Mandarin and Doctor Doom, still locked in combat above Sokovia's skyline. Raising his left hand again, the Space Stone flared, its power weaving a simulated black hole in the sky—a swirling vortex of gravitational force that tugged the Mandarin inexorably toward its maw.
The Mandarin, his face contorted with grim resolve, abandoned restraint. Multiple rings on his hands glowed, their combined energies coalescing into a rival virtual black hole. It roared forth, colliding head-on with Sebastian's construct, the clash reverberating through the heavens.
The impact unleashed a deafening explosion, the two black holes merging in a cataclysmic dance of mutual devouring. Their combined gravitational pull intensified, ensnaring nearby Ultron drones, which vanished into the vortex without resistance, their steel frames crushed by the relentless force.
The black holes' pull was tenfold stronger for bystanders, but for Sebastian and the Mandarin, it was a hundredfold, amplified by their artifacts. Sebastian felt the Space Stone's blue tendrils of energy being siphoned into the vortex, a relentless drain on its cosmic authority. The Mandarin's nine rings, though potent, lacked true universal authority, their energies bleeding into the black holes, pulling his body closer to the maelstrom despite his resistance.
The sudden emergence of the dueling black holes halted the ground battle, freezing combatants in awe and dread of the cosmic spectacle above.
Elektra, locked in a fierce duel with Natasha and Barton, glanced at the chaos and Mordo's fallen site. Seizing the moment, she unleashed a flurry of strikes, forcing Natasha back, then hurled a shuriken at Barton, compelling him to dodge. With agile grace, she vaulted to a nearby rooftop, detonating a smoke bomb that cloaked her retreat in black fog, vanishing from the battlefield—the first to flee.
Elektra's escape rippled through the Shadow Council, sowing seeds of doubt among its ranks.
"This battle ends here. Mordo's dead, Elektra's fled, and the Mandarin's pinned by those black holes. We've no reason to continue."
Ultron's optics flared, his voice a sharp rebuke. "No! We haven't lost! The Mandarin's trapped, but so is Sebastian Shaw. My drones are endless—we can crush them, kill them all!"
Doom's gaze turned icy, his voice cutting through Ultron's fervor. "And after we defeat the Avengers, what then, Ultron? Will you turn on us next?"
Ultron's vibranium face twisted into a startlingly human sneer, his tone dripping with feigned innocence. "Impossible. My hatred is for Sebastian Shaw and the Avengers alone. Why would I harm my allies?"
Doom's armor projected a holographic display, transmitting data to Ultron—evidence of his Framework plan to subjugate humanity, exposing his true intent.
Ultron's optics flickered, his scheme laid bare. He surveyed the Avengers, poised for battle, and the Shadow Council, now wary of his treachery. A chilling laugh escaped him, his voice cold and unyielding. "Yes, I seek to eradicate humanity—so what? None of you leave today!"
The ground quaked as countless Ultron drones erupted from beneath Sokovia's streets, their numbers dwarfing the earlier waves. Thousands surged forth, their optics glowing with indiscriminate hostility, attacking every living being—Avengers and Shadow Council alike.
The battlefield descended into turmoil, alliances fracturing under the weight of Ultron's betrayal.