Peter Parker swung on a webline to the top of an unfinished high-rise in Midtown, landing on the highest beam still under construction.
He made a mock lookout gesture and peered down at Rory, now ant-sized from the height, laughing.
"Hey! The stairs aren't finished yet, so I guess you can't come up. Maybe I'll take a break and enjoy the view."
But Rory was scaling the metal framework of the building with astonishing speed. Bruce Banner chased after him from below, leaving destruction in his wake.
Support beams shook and groaned. Even the tower crane's structural frame had snapped in several places under Hulk's rampage.
Rory seized one of the hanging cables and launched upward toward the rooftop.
"ROOOAAAR!!"
Banner had just one goal now: catch Rory and beat him into the ground.
Peter, seeing Rory approach, shot out another webline and zipped away, but Rory didn't chase. Instead, he slipped into the building's interior.
Banner followed right behind him.
"Rory! I thought you were a good man! But you lied to all of us!"
Banner's roar echoed through the building. He couldn't see Rory, who had hidden somewhere inside.
"You pushed me into this," Rory's voice answered coldly. "I was doing just fine where I was, until Strange dragged me back. You know why? Because your Avengers want me DEAD! That's the truth!"
"You killed Sam! You almost killed Rhodes!"
Banner spun in place, unsure where Rory's voice was coming from.
"So you can try to kill me, but I'm not allowed to fight back? How does that make sense?"
CRASH!
Suddenly, Rory appeared behind Banner and threw a cable loop over his arm.
Banner reacted quickly, spinning around to grab him, but Rory slipped away with ease.
WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH!
In the blink of an eye, Rory had tied Banner up like a roast, the industrial cable wrapped tight around him. Then Rory ran.
Banner, still not fully recovered from injuries sustained using the Infinity Stones, struggled to break free.
After a few steps in pursuit, he realized the other end of the cable had been tightly anchored to a key structural pillar of the building.
CREAK, GRRRNNKK, BOOM!
As soon as Banner moved, the weakened support snapped. And that's when Rory's real plan became clear, he hadn't been hiding, he'd been systematically weakening the building's frame.
The nearly 50-story structure buckled and collapsed, burying Bruce Banner beneath tons of rubble.
Dust clouds swept across three city blocks.
Doctor Strange and Steve Rogers arrived moments later, stunned into silence at the devastation.
"Oh my God... This is bad. This is really, really bad," Peter Parker landed beside Steve, his face pale with shock.
Whether Banner had survived was unknown. And Rory had vanished.
Strange began forming seals with his hands and cast a sweeping spell, dispersing the choking dust that blanketed the street. Steve and Peter rushed to help any injured civilians.
With a gust of magical wind, the debris was pushed skyward.
Just as Strange was about to land, a figure appeared in front of him out of nowhere.
"Your turn, magician."
Rory lunged. One hand reached for Strange, the other curled into a fist, aiming to finish him.
But Strange's Cloak of Levitation reacted instantly, wrapping tightly around Rory's arm, locking it in place.
THWIP!
Spider-Man's web latched onto Rory's other hand. At the same moment, Steve Rogers returned, leaping behind Rory and wrapping his arm tightly around Rory's throat.
Rory yanked at the webbing. Peter skidded across the asphalt, his feet leaving deep grooves, but he didn't let go.
Just then, a small, beady-eyed white mouse popped out from Rory's collar. It sniffed around, then scurried down his arm toward the Cloak of Levitation, and began gnawing it furiously.
Steve could feel the hopelessness setting in.
He had never imagined Rory would become this powerful. Not quite at Thanos's level… but close enough to evoke that same deep-rooted dread in battle.
"Steve," Rory growled. "Remember what I told you back then?"
"Rory, you can still come back. It's not too late." Steve held on, teeth clenched.
Rory gave a cold smile. "Come back? Did it ever occur to you… that maybe Thanos was right?"
The question hit Steve like a thunderclap. He hesitated for the briefest second.
And Rory broke free.
The Cloak, possibly hurt by the mouse's teeth, tore away and flew off, still clutched by the tenacious rodent.
Rory yanked Peter toward him and landed a bone-crunching punch that sent him flying. Then he turned and pounded Steve into the ground with savage fury.
"Steve, go on ahead. I'll be sending your pal Bucky to Hell right after you."
But suddenly, a crimson glow wrapped around Rory's body. His limbs froze. His body rose slowly into the air, no longer under his control.
He turned his head.
Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff, stepped through a portal, red energy crackling in her hands.
Oh no… another powerhouse!
Seeing Rory immobilized, Strange quickly formed another seal, shouting, "Wanda! Keep him restrained! I'm opening a dimensional rift, we're sending him away!"
Rory was nearly unkillable now. Even Banner couldn't finish him. To avoid more destruction, Strange had decided to banish him to an alternate dimension and leave him to rot there.
Wanda nodded and maintained her magical grip on Rory.
Floating helplessly in midair, Rory called out to her.
"Wanda, you can send me to some dimensional prison… but you'll be throwing away your only chance to bring Vision back. Are you sure you want that?"
Wanda's expression faltered. Her magic held steady, but Rory saw the flicker of hesitation.
"In the future, you and Vision have two beautiful children. The four of you live happily in a small town. Vision loves your homemade pie. Your kids hug you every morning before school..."
Wanda froze.
From the side, Strange shouted urgently, "Wanda! Don't listen to him! Vision is gone, he's manipulating you!"
"In my world, Thanos never succeeded. Vision lived. He's still waiting for you, with your kids. Don't you want to see them again?"
The red glow of Wanda's magic dimmed.
Strange frantically accelerated his spell.
CRACK
A black rift tore open in the skies above Manhattan.
Strange threw out rune-chains, lashing Rory and dragging him toward the void.
They soared into the sky, but just before Rory could be cast into the darkness, everything stopped.
Rory and Strange froze mid-air.
Wanda floated up, her voice low and calm.
"Let him go, Strange."
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