Lux office building, Warsaw
Victor Faust POV
"You worthless waste of space! Did you think hiding with Ida would fix anything? You thought I would just forget about you?"
"No, I didn't... Grandmother said she just wanted to take care of me."
"And now she is dead, isn't she? You just keep killing everyone around you, boy. You're lucky; you are of use to me."
"Fuck my life," Victor whispered.
"Why would someone wish to copulate with your existence, Victor?"
Of course, the android would hear him over the traffic jams and pedestrians that moved around them. They were currently standing near the back door of the building, waiting for their signal. Vision even managed to look like a normal human, if not a bit skinny and tall. Although, he had to wear a hat to hide his glowing yellow stone,
"It's just an expression, Vision."
"As I thought. Why would you use such an expression? Are you feeling nervous about the operation?"
"Yeah, that's precisely why." Victor rubbed his temples.
"You formerly worked admirably under pressure. What has changed? Is it because it's your home country?"
"Drop it, Vision."
"I wish to help Victor, and not just because of the impending operation." After some hesitation, he added. "Wanda has also noticed your unusual behavior."
"Oh, don't get me started on you and Wanda, you can of unpeeled tomatoes." It was easy to get angry at him; it was much easier to feel angry than scared. "If you bother her again, I will choke you with your cables!" Vision took a step back. His human face was far more expressive. After seeing his look of fear and hurt, Victor took a pause.
"I know that I tend to make people uncomfortable. It is still difficult for me to understand all the social cues and act like everyone else. I won't bother Wanda anymore I assure you." He smiled slightly. "She doesn't need my help when she has such a protector." Victor sight.
"I'm sorry, Vision. It's just that Wanda is the closest person I have in this world, and this means everything to me, even Wanda does not know just how much." Victor pulled out a card from his pocket and gave it to Vision. "If you want to understand people, you need to spend more time with regular folk. Let's be honest, the Avengers are far from the norm." Vision looked at the card and raised an eyebrow.
"It's a shelter."
"Yes, it is Vision. This is also a place where many survivors from Sokovia appeared after the catastrophe, since when a Sokovian started to work there. I sneak out of the compound occasionally and help there. Go there, Vision, and talk to these people, listen to them and help them." He looked at Victor with honest gratitude.
"Thank you, Victor. I appreciate this." A series of loud crashes echoed from the building. The surrounding pedestrians started to run away. In complete chaos, Victor cast his invisibility spell.
"That's our signal." Vision only nodded and phased his hand through the door handle, only to open it in a second.
The pair started to go further into the facility. The chaos Wanda and Natasha created forced most staff members to evacuate or try to stop them. Victor and Vision swept through the facility, avoiding or destroying security cameras and knocking out guards. They eventually entered the lower levels. The smell of broken pipes made Victor cover his nose. After taking the stairs further down, they stood in a long room. The stench of urine and blood made Victor want to puke. The room was lit with pale green lights, and in every room, there was a visible Hydra logo.
"Well, we certainly found evidence for Hydra's involvement." Murmured Victor. He couldn't help but squeeze his wrist.
"Indeed, let's proceed."
Going further into the room, they saw a large laboratory with rows of beds. On each of them lay unconscious patients, tied down by chains. All of them were young and malnourished. On the other side of the room was a large desk filled to the brim with papers and folders.
"Vision check on these people; I will look at the files." Shortly, Victor took a seat at the table and started to read papers that were all written in a handwriting he recognized. As he read, he felt more and more nauseated.
"Captain Rogers, we've found missing people. They are unconscious and require medical attention quickly." Spoke to Vision on their shared comm frequency, but Victor barely heard him. The files noted in disgusting detail how these people, and everyone before them, were captured and processed for Hydra, and once they were deemed useless, Edmund Kochan took them.
"All these people are dead because I ran away." Victor thought as his blood turned cold. Suddenly, he felt like someone had put a knife to his neck. He kicked the chair and stood up.
"He is coming, Vision."
"Who is coming?"
"You need to take these people out of this building in this instance, Vision!" Victor's chest hurt, as his breathing was getting shorter and shallower.
"Victor, what is happening?" Steve asked through his earpiece as the sensation on his neck grew stronger.
"We don't have time for stealth anymore. These people need to go now."
"You are under the northwest exit. The streets are under lockdown by S.H.I.E.L.D. and the local police force." Said, Captain America.
"Vision cut through the walls." As Vision released a thin yellow light that cut through the concrete walls, Victor released a blast of wind that pushed out all the remaining debris. The path to the street was open. "Take them all, quickly!"
"You are fortunate this building has good insurance." A low voice echoed from the stars. Heels clicked slowly and deliberately as Edmund descended. He put his hands into his pockets and looked at Victor with a disgusting smirk.
"As always, you managed to find another way to disappoint me, boy." Victor involuntarily cringed.
"Vision, hurry up, please." Victor said while squeezing his wrist. Edmund laughed, seeing Vision release people from their bindings and zip them outside.
"Even after all these years, you can't stop shaking, boy." As Vision took the last person outside, Edmund raised his hand and released a sickly green energy. He released a magical pulse just before Vision phased through the wall and tried to attack him. With Vision frozen in place, the air was filled with the vile stench of rotting meat.
"What have you done, father? Is this even magic?" Victor took a step back.
"You are as clueless as ever. The rest of the Avengers are getting swarmed by Hydra agents." Vision remained motionless in the air. Edmund started to move closer to Victor, who in turn started to go backward. "Once I deal with you, they will be next."
"I thought you only cared about sorcerers!"
"I still do. However, your escape made me impatient enough to change plans. With enough regular humans, I will achieve the same result. The result that you should care about, boy." The same green energy danced around his entire body as he moved closer and closer. Victor could barely breathe through the thick and disgusting air. Suddenly, Edmund rushed in and grabbed Victor by the throat. He pushed him to the wall. Victor tried to gather magic into his hand, but Edmund created a green spike and pinned his wrist to the wall. With his squeezed throat, he couldn't even scream.
"Once I finally have your soul, boy, I will rip the Avengers apart and suck their souls too... Especially that young girl. Oh, you have no idea who she is, haven't you? By the end of this day, my wife will finally be with me!" This broke Victor out of shock. He closed his eyes, raised telekinetically all the empty beds, and threw them at Edmund. With sudden hits, he released the hold on Victor's throat, and young Faust immediately grabbed the green spike. His magic, working on its own, started to take control of it, turning it deep blue. His red veins started to glow more. The spike went out of his wrist. Edmund shook off the beds and dusted off his three-piece suit.
"You dare to raise a hand against your father?"
"No, not on father." He crushed the spike in his hand. His blue magic closed off the wound. "On a blind monster."
Two men gathered their magic and rushed at each other. The shockwave from their collision cracked the walls and the ground beneath them.
"You won't hurt anyone else!"
"Make me, boy!"
Their magic surrounded them and created a vortex of violent energies that seemed to break anything in its vicinity. Victor did not realize what was happening anymore. His body moved on its own as they continued to thrash. He barely noticed that his body was moving and jumping. In the chaos, he didn't notice that they somehow left the laboratory. They ended up on the first floor, where the rest of the team was fighting a horde of Hydra agents. Edmund threw Victor to the ground. Groaning, he slowly stood up.
"So... Kochan? As if you know anything about love, father." Edmund landed on the floor. His mouth was twisted into a disgusting snarl.
"I know everything about love, boy! It was a necessary ruse, since the Faust name is recognized among the sorcerers. I hardly need the attention of that old hag." Edmund started to gather a huge wave of energy between his hands. "You've always been a disappointment, but joining the Avengers? You think saving people will erase your sin?"
"It was never my sin! I didn't do anything wrong."
"You want to be a hero? Then be one!" He released the blast, aiming straight at Wanda and Sam. Victor's magic acting on its own made him disappear in a puff of smoke and reaper in front of the blast. He raised his hands and stopped it. His magic flowed, and he once again took control of the spell. With a scream, he throws it back at Edmund, and with a defeating explosion, it sends him far away into the building.
"Victor, are you okay, man?" Asked Sam, using his wings like a shield.
"Peachy."
"Since when can you do that?" Asked bemused Wanda.
"Since now, apparently." Edmund, with a scream of rage, rushed back at Victor. His suit was gone, but his scorched skin was already regenerating.
"You all deal with Hydra, but he is my responsibility." Victor rushed at Edmund.
They started to exchange spells. Fire, lightning, wind, and broken parts of the budding were being thrown between them. With each second, Edmund was getting more restless. With a scream, he waved two skeletal hands the size of trucks. Right as they were about to crush Victor, he grabbed them. In a second, they turned blue, and he shaped them back into a small ball of energy. The veins on his arms continued to radiate Wanda's essence.
"How do you do that?! How do you know this magic?!"
To be perfectly honest, Victor did not know. It just felt like his magic was acting on its own, like it needed to be controlled to put things in order. Victor allowed himself a small smirk, seeing his father so riled up, and released the ball in the form of a thick beam that scorched Edmund. He dropped to the ground, but his skin was already regenerating. Victor opened his mouth and released the swarm. The bugs bit Edmund, forming a buzzing black cloud. He was thrown to the ceiling and back to the ground. He slowly stood up.
"You... You took her away, and now you stand here like a hero. You are not a hero, boy! You are a killer! A monster! A failure! A fucking..." He stopped when Victor's fist hit his jaw. As Edmund dropped back to the floor, something flew from him. With his scream, an orange silhouette left his chest and disappeared.
"I ran away from you my whole life, but not anymore." Victor punched his father again, and another orange silhouette flew out of Edmund. "Every soul you took, I will rip off." Kneeling on top of his father, he started to hit. No matter where he hit, he just kept hitting. He felt Edmund's bones cracking under his fists. "No more! You will never hurt me!" another hit. "Or Wanda." More blood sprayed from Edmund's swollen face as more and more silhouettes escaped his body. "Or anyone else."
Eventually, he felt a hand on his wrist. He struggled, but the grip was iron. He looked and saw Wanda. Her green eyes blinked red, and he felt calmer.
"It wasn't my fault, Wanda... I didn't mean to hurt my mom." Victor's voice broke. Meanwhile, the last soul flew out of Edmund's body, leaving an empty shell of a man.
"It's all right, Victor. It is over. The Hydra agents are taken down, and he won't hurt anyone ever again. We can go." Her voice is always so calm and gentle. Victor slowly stood up, but not before taking off a silver signet from Edmund's finger and hiding it in his pocket.
He felt empty.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for reading.
Take care :)