Ultron Beyond (Marvel NEW)/Issue 4

Fourth chapter of the Ultron Beyond limited series, part of the Marvel NEW initiative. It is preceded by Ultron Beyond Issue 3 and succeeded by Ultron Beyond Issue 5.

Synopsis
''Things do not look good now. Ultron killed Mephisto, and his power is his. Starting his conquest of Hell, not even the most cunning demons expect Ultron's onslaught. While so, Satannish, the Supreme, has entered the fray by helping the heroes in beating Ultron... or is he? As Ultron's journey to Muspelheim grows closer, no one knows of what more sacrifices have to be made and revelations to come.''

Plot
In the Realm Eternal, Thor is seen flying towards Heimdall's Observatory through the rainbow bridge. In the Observatory, a number of einherjars are seen alongside his allies the Warriors Three, Lady Sif, Valkyrie, and of course, Heimdall himself. They are seen with their weapons drawn, bodies ready for battle. Thor asks Heimdall of what's going on, and he tells him that the Bifrost has activated itself without his Hofund. Thor, puzzled but angered, asks of who could possibly open up the Bifrost without Heimdall's mystical blade itself.

Sif tells her love that no one knows who and where it's opening to. Fandral then gives them a head's up of the Bifrost portal's condition: the portal, instead of having rainbow colours, is now red. Thor, alarmed, readies his Mjolnir and tells his allies to be prepared for anything.

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Switching the view to Hell, Ultron is seen in combat with Ghost Rider: the same Johnny Blaze that he captured previously. Rider, whose soul now belongs to Zarathos, tells Ultron to give him his best shot and that he'll taste the full might of Zarathos. Ultron, unimpressed, says that he will know Zarathos' full might later. For now, he has already known the "full might" of Johnny Blaze. In an instance, Ultron overwhelms Blaze using his speed and breaks his knee. He then rips off the Rider's head and throws it to a nearby pit of fire.

Ultron looks up to Zarathos, who is standing right above him on a mountain. He asks him if Johnny Blaze is the only challenge he can give. Zarathos scoffs, saying that he's not even started. In moments, Ultron is then seen getting hit by a shell from a hellfire shotgun. He turns back and sees the Danny Ketch Ghost Rider, accompanied by many Spirits of Vengeance.

Noticing this, Ultron looks again at Zarathos. Zarathos then mocks him, asking him if he finally surrenders now. Ultron responds by leaping up to Zarathos using his rocket boosters. Flying right in front of the Ghost Riders' power source, Ultron tells him that fighting Ghost Riders is not his duty; it's his troops'. Immediately, the Spirits of Vengeance found themselves fighting Ultron Drones, which are now described to be as more powerful than the previous drones that assisted Ultron back on Earth.

Ultron immediately rushes the demon and engages in a fiery fight with him. During the fight, Ultron thinks of the first time he's ever fought a powerful demon, head-to-head. And in the fight, which goes on for multiple panels, Zarathos is seen eventually overwhelming Ultron by growing in size and slamming him down the ground.

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The fight between Zarathos and Ultron is seen through a crystal ball in a higher dimension. That dimension, is the one which holds the Infinite Embassy. There, the fight is seen by several demons who attended a meeting between infernals in the Devil's Advocacy section of the place. But although the Devil's Advocacy is usually reserved only for devils alike, the meeting's pressing matters invited the attendance of several non-demon beings. The attendants being Shuma-Gorath, Hela, Blackheart, D'Spayre, Asteroth, and Pluto.

Blackheart, who apparently gathered the meeting, is mocked by Shuma-Gorath for overreacting to Ultron's attempt in conquering Hell. Shuma-Gorath tells him that even with his father's powers, Ultron has no chance of taking on the entire might of Hell. Blackheart then informs him of what has happened so far in Hell after Ultron killed Mephisto. The crystal ball shows images of Ultron standing over Marduk Kurios' body, N'Astirh being infected by his virus, Lucifer being soundly annihilated by the machine monster, and finally, him "recruiting" the souls of deceased heroes and villains by infecting them with the virus.

Blackheart explains that Ultron could be a new, unconceivable threat to them. However, D'Spayre responds by agreeing with Shuma-Gorath. He also tells Blackheart that while Hell is indeed under attack now, they all only have to worry about their own dimensions. And he's not sure if Ultron can travel through dimensions. Pluto calls the Fear Lord stupid, telling him that if Ultron can't go through dimensions, he won't end up in Hell the first time.

Hela however, says that D'Spayre has a point. She says that the "it's just a matter of time" case won't apply in the problem because he only seeks Hell's powers, and Ultron is lucky that he stumbled upon the real Hell, not the hells the other "demons" reside in. Asteroth disagrees with Hela, telling her that she senses a more sinister intent lying within Ultron's programming.

Pluto rudely tries to call off the meeting, telling Blackheart that it's pointless for them to mind his business. Unfortunately, Ultron managed to overcome Zarathos the moment Pluto tries to do so. Pluto, in a slightly surprised manner, cancels his statement.

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Standing on top of the defeated Zarathos, the Spirit of Vengeance says that it's impossible. Ultron responds in boredom as he asks of why is everyone in Hell telling him that everything he does is impossible. He then kills Zarathos by stomping on his weakened skull, absorbing his powers.

After killing Zarathos, the Spirits of Vengeance immediately lost their powers. Confused, they unfortunately don't have time to react against the still-coming onslaught of Ultron's army. As a result, some of them are killed until Ultron transformed them once again into Ghost Riders, albeit perverted, mechanical versions of their former super-bodies.

Ultron is then approached by Asmodeus, who congratules his "master" for his effort while telling him that it's the sixth Hell-Lord he has eliminated. Ultron is taken aback by his "servant's" respond, telling him that it took him long enough to speak in English again. Asmodeus grins and asks him of what shall they do next. Ultron responds by saying that now they can proceed to build an entry point to Muspelheim.

In the Devil's Advocacy, Hel is seen getting interested over Ultron's intention to go to Muspelheim. Hel asks Blackheart if he knew of his goal all along. Blackheart responds by saying that his father kept the business clean and tight between them two, sharing it with no one else. That, was until he's dead. But other than that, no one in Hell actually knew of what he's doing there.

Pluto breathes in relief, muttering that he's lucky Ultron isn't coming for the Underworld. However, D'Spayre states that it's just a matter of time before he comes to his Hell. Still, D'Spayre is confused of what he's supposed to do in Muspelheim. Second later, Shuma-Gorath interrupts and tells them all that he found something quite interesting. The crystal ball on the table then switches its view to Satannish and Earth's heroes, negotiating something.

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In Ultron's lair, the heroes are seen startled by Satannish's appearance. Satannish tells them to relax, but Smasher relents by saying that they've already had enough of demons today. Satannish sighs in disappointment, telling her that they have just encountered two demons today. Captain America asks him of his intention, and Satannish tells him of what Ultron has wrought upon Hell after Mephisto brought him there. Hearing this, Wolverine guesses that Satannish wants them to help him. Satannish is about to say yes, but Wolverine immediately curses him and tells him that they're not helping an infernal, torturous realm filled with death.

Shang-Chi partially agrees with Wolverine, but tells him that in the universe, order and chaos must be balanced. And Hell is a crucial component in keeping the balance up. Wolverine asks the martial artist of the problem with refusing it, but Vision reminds him that right now Ultron is in Hell plowing through its forces and he's starting to wreck the balance. Wolverine reluctantly accepts and Captain America asks him of whether he's going to turn his back on them. Satannish tells them to not worry, as he's completely serious now.

After several more negotiations, Satannish then takes the heroes to Hell. Their first stop in Hell: Mephisto's Palace. In the palace, they are greeted by Claire Voyant who suspiciously wasn't killed by Ultron. Satannish, he himself intrigued, asks her of what she's doing there. Claire tells him that she's doing things usually, but her statement is responded by Satannish levitating her and disecting her telekinetically without killing her. Examining her insides, they apparently discover that Claire has been infected with the Ultron Virus, but somehow hasn't turned into visible robots like the other drones.

Claire, grinning, proceeds to try and attack Satannish. Unfortunately for her, Satannish kills her and the heroes get surprised. Satannish proceeds to take the Ultron Virus in her body, giving it as a sample to the heroes so they can research it or do something about it. After giving the sample, Satannish turns to Black Widow (Natasha Romanov) and asks her if anything bothers her. Widow replies in anger, telling him that it's not his business. Satannish gives off a small smirk.

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After venturing through a quarter of Hell, the heroes finally find Ultron and his minions preparing a portal of sorts. Spider-Man notes that Ultron has a bunch of "weird stones". The Thing hopes that they're not the Infinity Stones, and Iron Man confirms this by telling them that he has the Norn Stones in hand. Satannish curses and mutters that he's right. War Machine asks what's right about him, and Satannish states that he heard of rumours that Ultron's trying to get to Muspelheim, but doesn't know why he wants to go there or how the hell could he get his hands of the Norn Stones.

In Ultron's perspective, a huge portal is seen in front of him. With several machine demons constructing it, Ultron says that Lorelei was useful when she's alive, revealing that one of the first sorcerers he killed, Lorelei of Asgard, the Sister of Amora, the Enchantress, gave him the Norn Stones before getting betrayed. An Ultron Jack of Hearts approaches Ultron and asks him if trying to steal Surtur's Twilight Sword would be a good idea. Ultron tells him that he's not after the sword, but he wants him to bring Ragnarok to Asgard so he can steal Odin's Odinforce. And with the Odinforce, his next plan comes in.

Jack then continues by asking him of what should they do with the mystics' souls. Ultron says that they're not around in this infernal realm anymore; they're integrated to him, giving him an immense amount of mystical knowledge. Satannish in the background, hears this and tells the heroes of the info. Human Torch gets intimidated and gulps, reconfirming that Ultron "ate" the sorcerers. Satannish calms him down and tells him that there's still hope. Luke Cage giggles and disbelieves in Satannish' belief of hope due to his demon status.

The group tries to sneak in to stop Ultron, with Hawkeye being tasked to fire off a nuclear arrow of his to stop Ultron's portal. Hawkeye nearly succeeds in doing this, but ends up getting his arms ripped off by an Ultron Banshee (of the X-Men/Brotherhood of Mutants). Spotted, the heroes then engage in combat with Ultron's minions while Satannish goes on to fight Ultron.

Locked in a mortal combat with the mechanical monstrosity, Ultron asks Satannish of what he's doing in Hell. Satannish tells him that he's there to reclaim the glory of Hell, but Ultron says that he's lying. Satannish asks of why would he lie, and Ultron replies, telling him that it's because he's not even from Hell. Satannish's eyes widen and mutters of how can Ultron know so.

Choking him up, Ultron tells him that if Dormammu wishes to exact vengeance on him for the deaths of his niece and nemesis, he should've come to him himself instead of sending a jester to do an emperor's job. Responding by blasting the machine's face, freeing him in the process, Satannish proceeds to beat him up while telling him that Hell is more of a home to him that the Dark Dimension. In the beating, Satannish managed to get his hands on the Norn Stones.

Smiling at the prospect in a sinister way, Satannish tries to escape with the stones but end up being attacked by an onslaught of attacks delivered by the Iron Monger. Satannish fends off Stane, telling him that he's not supposed to be that strong. Iron Monger then opens up his helm, revealing a horrendous face of both flesh and machine. He tells him that he's grateful of Lord Ultron's gift. Satannish responds by showing an experession of disgust, continuing with a blast of hellfire to his face. Knocked back, Stane crashed into Ultron Swordsman who's fighting Spider-Man. Spider-Man sees Satannish looking at him and gets surprised. He reluctantly thanks him, but Satannish is given no time to respond as Ultron rips out his heart from behind.

The heroes then stop fighting and sees Satannish's dead body drop in front of them. Ultron takes notice of the heroes and mocks them by telling them that for the first time in forever, he has witnessed how far the heroes' foolishness can be. Vision tells him that for the good of the universe, he must be stopped. Ultron "humorously" replies by saying that it's just too late for that. In an instance, Ultron regains possession of his Norn Stones and the portal opens.