Avengers Compound, October 17th, 2023
Victor Faust POV
"Whatever it takes... Now these words have a real sting to them."
The original Avengers gathered silently by the nearby lake. No one said anything for a while. What was there to say? The unquestionable heart of the team just sacrificed herself for the entire universe. Not for glory, and not really for the untold millions of strangers, but for her family.
"A soul for a soul... Fuck that bullshit." Murmured Tony. "Did she had any family?"
"She did. Us." Responded Steve.
"And we failed her." Bruce growled far too much like the old Hulk, ripped off a wooden bench, and threw it far into the air. Victor released a small bolt of magic from this finger and incinerated it in the air.
"Maybe don't throw stuff now, Bruce? This could have landed on someone." Banner only bit his lips and walked away.
"We need to assemble the gauntlet. Tony, get to the lab." With each of his steps, the ground slightly shook.
"That's the hero gig." Stark only sighed loudly. "Let's just... make sure this was our final loss."
Tony went back inside along with Steve, who did his best to hide his teary face. Clint was standing and watching the smooth lake surface.
"I've always known it would come to this. I mean, that's part of the job, right?"
"Doesn't make it any less hurtful."
"No it doesn't."
"I will tell you the same thing she told me after I lost Wanda. You made her happy, we all made her happy. At the end of the day, that's all we could have done. To be her supporting family."
"I need a drink after this."
"Oh please." Victor nudged his shoulder. "We both know the second we snap others back, you will run to your family. And so will I."
"True. I hope you will come to us for Christmas with Wanda?" He gave him a tired but warm smile.
"I wouldn't miss it." Victor sensed the energies of the Stones assembling. "Come, we are ready."
After but a few moments, everyone was gathered in a small lab, looking at the finished makeshift Infinity Gauntlet. The power radiating from that thing was just as unimaginably crushing as the first time Victor felt it.
"We are really going to do it."
"Better believe it, Houdini." Stark smirked while tapping his chest and donning his nanotech Iron Man suit.
"You are going to run out of magicians at some point, Stark. Anyway, you want me to do the snap?"
"I will do it!" Thor made a move to grab the glove but was stopped by Tony and Victor.
"No offense, big guy, but you aren't at your best right now."
"Don't you know who I am? I was born to do this!" Thor's beer-smelling breath bite into Victor's nose.
"We all know, buddy. Just let us handle this one." Victor, while speaking softly, looked sternly into Thor's eyes.
"I will do it. The radiation coming from the Stones is mostly gamma. It's like I was the one born to do this." Bruce spoke quietly and slowly started to reach for the gauntlet.
"Remember, Bruce, just focus on reversing the snap." Victor said while creating a thick blue dome around Banner.
"Friday, prep the room." Ordered Tony, and all the windows got covered by thick metal plating. The lights dimmed, and everyone braced for whatever might come.
The second Bruce put on the glove, he started to scream. The Stone's energies were visibly eating away the flesh of the arm. His fingers were twitching but not moving.
"Bruce, do it!" Victor reinforced the barrier even further.
And Bruce did it. He snapped, immediately ripped off the gauntlet, and collapsed. Victor dropped the dome, and Tony sprayed Banner's mangled and burned arm with a thick white substance, closing the wound. Victor pulled out from his cloak a handful of Matilda leaves and put them in Bruce's mouth. After a few seconds, he has calmed down, but even with Hulk's regeneration, it will take time for his arm to heal.
"Did I work?" Whispered Steve.
Most of the team looked outside or checked their phones, while Victor stood up and looked at his hands. We witnessed as his veins started to slowly glow with scarlet light. Even after five years, he did not forget how it felt. His lips were shaking, and all he could do was release a chocked-up gasp. He pressed the glowing hand into his mouth, marveling at the sensation of his one and only love returning.
That's when the crash happened.
Immersed in the change, he didn't hear nor feel the upcoming barrage of missiles that descended upon the Avengers compound. Before he knew it, Victor was falling down along the rubble, unable to do anything. Eventually, he hit the ground and felt the air leaving his lungs. Then, darkness has embraced him.
"Victor! Are you alive?" Someone's scream finally awakened him. While gasping, he hastily created a massive blue shield that pushed away all the rubble. Thanks to the blue light of his magic, he saw Scott, Bruce, Rhodey and Rocket lying close to him.
"What just happened?!" They slowly started to stir.
"Who the hell attacked us?" Rhodey's mechanical voice growled from his suit.
"I don't know, but whoever this is, he's not going to live long enough to regret it."
"How about we get out of his rubble fist, magic guy?" Rocket was busy clawing at the broken remnants of the compound while muttering curses.
Victor suddenly started to sense magical signatures. A lot of them.
"Guy! I can grow big and punch through this rubble!"
"Yeah, you do that, Ant-Man. I sense there's a big part about to start at the surface." Victor slowly kneeled and waved his hands. The blue shield retracted and covered each of the Avengers in separate bubbles. Then Scott grew into a giant and simultaneously took the rest of the team into his massive hands. Once he punched through the rocks, they were able to see that the sky had turned almost black due to huge gray clouds. As they dropped to the ground, the two armies faced each other. One consisted of all the Avengers, the entirety of Kamar-Taj, the Wakanda army, and many more he did not have time to recognize. On the other side stood none other than Thanos, with an army far bigger than the one they'd faced during the battle for Wakanda.
"How the hell is he here now?!" Scott's voice boomed above.
"Shoot now; ask questions later, Scott." Responded Rhodey.
"Hell yeah, baby! Round two with those ugly bastards!" Rocket giggled with delight while reading his rifle while standing comfortably on War Machine's shoulder.
There were so many questions Victor wanted to ask now. He sensed Stephen Strange far away; he wanted to grab him and demand an explanation, but above all, he wanted to rush to that redhead witch who was standing right next to Steve Rogers. He needed to embrace her, hug her, and tell her just how much he missed her, but of course, something must have stood in his way.
"No more." He whispered, earning curious looks from the surrounding people. Victor pulled down his velvety shirt and revealed a tattooed circle made of complex runes. They glowed and released a thick burst of black smoke, from which Agatha Harkness materialized, dressed in her fine witch robes and a cocky smirk.
"A bit of a heads-up would be appreciated, cousin." She said while fixing her hair.
"Sorry, but it's not like he was invited."
"Oh." Agatha looked at the massive army of Thanos. "Weren't you supposed to bring back only the good guys?"
"That was the plan."
"Great plan, cousin."
"Not now, Agatha."
"Fine, fine." She giggled. "I suppose I can help you finish this thing. Once and for all."
"Love you, cousin." Victor nudged her.
"I know, dear." Agatha nudged him back.
"AVENGERS" Captain America's voice has reached their ears. "ASSEMBLE" and, like a tsunami, they run. However, Victor surrounded himself in blue flames and flew upward. Like a comet, he surged through the sky, showering Thanos army with fire, creating huge fiery crates. This entire thing was a huge and utter, chaotic mess. He couldn't keep up with who was where or what was happening, really. He continued the barrage until he saw Thanos trying to cleave Thor in half. So he dropped right in front of the mad titan and grabbed the blade.
"You. I've got five years' worth of pain for you." Victor's magic surrounded them, tinting the ground in a bright blue color. Thick magical veins spread through the blade. Thanos pulled, but the weapon remained in Victor's grasp.
"I don't care who you think you are." He drowsed while Faust laughed.
"You're about to." The blade snapped under the magical pressure, and while coating his fist in flames, Victor punched Thanos away. He then turned to Thor. "You can go help others. Get the Stones away. I've got this."
Without waiting for a reply, Victor raised his hands high and, from the now brightly blue ground, shot out strings that bounded Thanos. The strings thickened, taking on the appearance of glass chains, and cut deeply through his armor and skin, slowly drawing blood.
"Now, where were we?" Victor mused as more strings were raised from the ground, and those wiggled and coiled at Thanos and started to slowly dig under his fingernails. Thanos started to grunt and growl all until the strings moved through his hands all into his armpits, then he started to scream. "Scream all you wish, but that's not even a fraction of what you've put others through"
Maintaining this spell required far more concentration than he showed, but he was still able to sense Wanda getting closer to him. His sweet soul was actually back and coming to him through this entire battlefield. Thanos only continued to scream in agony as the sharp strings spread through his entire body, creeping towards his face. Nothing mattered at this point. The battle? Just a chaotic haze. Thanos? Dead meat. Only Wanda. Just Wanda.
"You are lucky. I need to end this quick." Victor focused more magic into his hands, to the point where they started to shake violently. Dozens of new thin strings were raised from the ground and formed a long needle aimed right at Thanos eye. It looked like a grotesque tree of silver and glass. "Titan or not, good luck living with a hole in your face."
The needle surged and penetrated the soft alien flesh with ease. Only not its intended target. One of the alien generals, the same thin and tall alien that originally killed Vision, shielded Thanos.
"I can't." Victor facepalmed, "Can I get a break just once?" He didn't even see that freak coming.
Victor received his answer in the form of bombardment from Thanos humongous ship that littered the entire battlefield, hurting both armies. Due to the surrounding blasts, Victor was sent back, and the spell broke, leaving Thanos gasping on the ground. In the midst of dust and missiles coming from the sky, he hastily created a shield.
"Scutum lux omnis." He chanted, and a barrier surrounded half of the entirety of the Avengers side. The other side was covered by an identical spell cast by Agatha.
The battle has taken a brief break as both forces desperately try to regroup. The bombardment was stopped by the sudden appearance of Captain Marvel, who destroyed Thanos ship. With gratitude, Victor dropped the spell and massaged his head. Then she reached him. In a flash of scarlet red, she dropped to the ground, but a few steps away.
"Wanda."
Wanda Maximoff POV
Everything was so chaotic. One moment, she felt herself being erased, and after what felt like five seconds, she came back. She and everyone else were thoroughly confused, and the appearance of Stephen Strange only worsened it. In minutes, he showered them with information about the upcoming battle and how they were erased from existence for five whole years, and now Thanos is attacking the Avengers compound. It was complete and utter crazy talk until she realized that Victor wasn't with her. Which meant that he survived. The thought itself made her heart break. He was alone for five years...
But she did not have a chance to think because she was already on the battlefield. She sensed him. He felt different, more mature, and stronger, but that was her Victor. Despite the battle, she did her best to get to him. She waved her magic and unleashed hell in front of her just to get to her love. She passed next to a raven-haired witch who surrounded herself with an army of dead aliens, all emanating a purple mist. The witch smirked at Wanda.
"Oh, of course you are beautiful; why wouldn't you be?"
"Pardon?"
"Nothing; go to Victor. There will be time to talk later." The witch gave her a rather warm and genuine smile. Wanda shook her head and flew away. Following her senses and passing through the sudden bombardments, she finally reached her love.
"Wanda." He said, and his voice cracked.
He was different. He's face was sharper and more mature, just like his entire body. He looked just as handsome, if not more, than before. However, his eyes were just the same, even if they radiated now both sadness and relief. He ran towards her, dropped to his knees, and hugged her waist.
"You really are back, Wanda." He sobbed, and all she could do at this point was to sink on her knees and hug him back. He clung to her, his fingers clawing her back as his face was buried into her fiery hair. She mentally nudged his mind, and Victor let it open.
She was overwhelmed.
Every single day, every pain, thought, and sensation that Victor has been through those past five years, she saw and felt. It was too much. His desperate attempts at putting himself into a coma, drinking himself to unconsciousness, spending time with Agatha, reading the Darkhold, and fighting Ghost Rider. Everything he has suffered, she has suffered now, and it was too much. All because of Thanos. No more.
"No more Thanos." She whispered those words, and like a drop of executioner axe, the chaos magic washed from her. The red tide flew and descended upon everyone. Each of them, no matter how big or small, the entirety of Thanos army went ablaze with scarlet energy and then turned to dust. One by one, everything disappeared in front of them. The energy finally reached Thanos, and with but three words from the Scarlet Witch, he, too, was no more.
Deathly silence has surrounded the battlefield, all looking at them with pure and utter shock.
"You couldn't have done that earlier?!" Asked Tony.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for reading.
If you've enjoyed it, please don't forget to comment and vote. I truly appreciate it!
Writing that battle was a torture. It was so overwhelmingly big, I could spend a whole another chapter just describing the battle. I'm sorry if you've felt the Thanos was underwhelming, but seriously, without the Infinity Stones he could not take on the now full Blue Mage Victor. Furthermore, Wanda was able to train and familiarize herself with her magic much earlier and giver the emotional damage she gave Thanos the House of M treatment. This also means that Tony survives!
With the end of Endgame, we will slowly move to the final arc of my story. Don't worry, we've still got quite a few chapters :)
Seriously, thank you for reading. I still can't believe I managed to keep on writing this little, silly story.
Take care <3