fiction | Part of the journey is the end

5. Sinister Strange

Stephen, Christine, and America ran through the headquarters. Christine pressed a button to shut the bunker doors behind them.

Everyone hoped the trio would be able to get away from Wanda and stay safe.

"That's not going to stop Wanda," Scott said.

The door burst open, revealing Wanda whose eyes were glowing red.

Panic surged through the Avengers and Wanda let out a tiny whimper. She and Vision desperately hoped they would find the Book of Vishanti.

Clea didn't bat an eye at seeing Wanda; she had seen more demented things in the Dark Dimension.

Stephen, Christine, and America ran through the tunnels with Christine pressing buttons to close the bunker doors behind them, but Wanda kept destroying them with her magic as she limped after the trio.

Stephen could feel nothing but blind terror while everyone else's bodies went cold with dread.

"Why is Wanda even chasing them? Why can't she just be like, 'what legs?' and remove them? She's not being reasonable anymore," said Rhodey.

"Don't say stuff like that!" Wanda said, her voice thick with fear. It was awful knowing that this was supposed to be her future if Uatu hadn't interfered.

A door finally kept Wanda out and the three waited to see if it worked. Wanda suddenly burst in from the side, causing America to scream.

So did the Avengers.

"America's been screaming in terror this entire time, and it's understandable. She has the Scarlet Witch after her," Wong said, looking at America with worry.

"America is going to need some serious therapy after all of this," said Tony.

So am I, Wanda thought.

"I warned you," Wanda said, panting heavily.

"And what was Stephen supposed to do? Let a child die? Come on," said Clint.

"Other Wanda, if you're in there, hold your breath," Stephen said as he cast a spell and slammed it on the ground, causing the bricks around Wanda's head to fall and the river water to overwhelm her.

"Did it work?" Wanda said hopefully.

"Run, run, run!" Kate urged.

"Does 838 Wanda know what's going on?" Carol asked.

"I think she does. Xavier nearly got her out before, well, y'know..." Scott trailed off awkwardly.

"Before 616 Wanda tore his face in half," Wanda finished, her stomach churning.

"...Yeah."

Stephen, America, and Christine used the distraction to get away and closed the bunker door behind them. "Did you kill her?" America asked. "No, just bought us some time," Stephen replied.

Stephen, Clea, and Wong's hearts twisted at hearing America talking about if someone was murdered or not. She shouldn't be going through any of this. She should've been living a happy life with her moms in her home world, not traveling the multiverse fearing for her life.

"I doubt a couple of rocks falling on Wanda is going to kill her," said Thor.

They reached the waypoint. "The Book's through here, but only Stephen's ever opened it," Christine said.

Everyone's hearts soared at hearing that the three were so close to finding the Book of Vishanti.

"Well, it's a good thing that Stephen's right there," said Loki.