"Wanda! Let me go!"
Strange shouted desperately as he hovered near the rift in the sky.
Wanda floated up to meet him, her voice flat and cold:
"Give him to me."
"Wanda, do you know what you're doing? He's a world-ender, he'll destroy everything!"
Strange's forehead was soaked in sweat.
The spatial rift was just inches away. If he could hurl Rory inside and seal it off, everything could go back to normal.
But the Scarlet Witch, eyes glowing red, stood directly in his path.
Strange's heart was lodged in his throat, threatening to leap out at any moment.
"I said, give him to me."
Scarlet Witch's magic and Strange's runic whips wrestled over control of Rory in midair.
Rory, smiling coolly, added fuel to the fire:
"Wanda, perhaps you don't know… Vision's body has been disassembled. Some people are using him for lab experiments."
"Shut up!"
Strange roared, but it was already too late.
"AAAHHH!!!"
Wanda clutched her head and screamed. Her chaos magic surged outward like a shockwave, shattering Strange's binding runes.
Strange lunged forward to grab Rory, but Wanda's hex froze him in place.
Under normal circumstances, a fully empowered Strange ranked among the top S-class beings. Facing an A+ Scarlet Witch wouldn't have been an issue.
But this Strange was just an ordinary sorcerer now, no Time Stone, no extra edge. At best, he and Wanda were evenly matched.
The clash of their magic painted the sky in a symphony of light.
Meanwhile, Rory dropped to the ground, landing with a heavy THUD, cracking the pavement beneath him.
That was close. Nearly got dragged into a dimensional exile.
He dusted himself off and looked up at Steve Rogers, grinning.
"Well, Steve, just the two of us now. Time to settle some unfinished business."
Captain America's face was unreadable.
What started as a mission to control a threat had ended with the creation of one of Earth's most terrifying enemies.
Steve stood stiffly, silent for a long time. Then he spoke:
"Rory… look around you. Look at what you've done."
"What's there to see?"
Rory sneered.
"You brought me back here. You tried to cage me for life. You even tried to kill me. And now you want to judge me? Who the hell do you think you are?"
He walked closer, step by step.
"Tell me, Steve. Is it because you saved the vanished? Beat Thanos? That you think you and your precious Avengers are the saviors of Earth and the universe?"
"At the very least, we did what had to be done," Steve replied, with pride in his voice. Even if it wasn't just him, the Avengers' victory was something he believed in.
"Heh… That's adorable."
Rory clapped Steve lightly on the shoulder.
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe… just maybe… Thanos was right?"
"Justice is never found through slaughter. Thanos wasn't justice."
Steve's voice was steady. This was his core belief, his unshakeable conviction.
But Rory smirked.
"Steve, let me tell you a little secret. Every planet that spawns intelligent life carries within it the seed of a Celestial. And when that Celestial awakens, the planet is destroyed."
Steve didn't want to believe it. He stared at Rory, unflinching.
"That's right," Rory continued.
"The trigger for a Celestial's awakening is population growth. Thanos, descendant of the Eternals, who themselves serve the Celestials, sought to break that cycle. His goal? Halve the population and stop the awakening. He was trying to save the universe, Steve."
Steve shook his head.
"No. That's not true. You're lying."
"Why would I lie?"
Rory's voice turned cold.
"Thanos was fighting the gods themselves, fighting to preserve more worlds. He was the universe's balancing force. And your Avengers? You shattered that balance."
Not every planet has superheroes like Earth.
Most of them would be helpless when their Celestial was ready to burst forth, doomed to annihilation.
Rory's words struck a blow to Steve's very soul.
To Steve, "justice" wasn't just a mission, it was a birthright. Something sacred. But now, Rory was telling him… that everything he believed in was wrong.
So then what was he?
What was his justice worth?
The Celestials manipulated cosmic energy flows. Life across the universe was as irrelevant to them as bacteria to humans.
Even Thanos's genocidal crusade had been a mere speed bump to them, an inconvenience at best.
Time meant nothing to the Celestials. Eventually, all populated worlds would hatch them.
"Steve… take your justice… and go to Hell."
No one knew how many battles New York could withstand, but this latest war marked another devastating chapter.
Captain America, Steve Rogers, was dead.
The military recovered his body. Or at least, that's what they claimed.
Was he really gone? Maybe. But even those who saw it firsthand found it hard to believe.
Doctor Strange and Wanda Maximoff had dueled in the skies, only to vanish together into the dimensional rift. The rift closed behind them. Neither was seen again.
Falcon, Sam Wilson, was dead.
War Machine, James Rhodes, survived, but with catastrophic injuries. Only his head and one arm still functioned. His fate was barely better than death.
Bruce Banner reverted to human form and vanished. No one knew where he went.
The entire city, and the nation, was plunged into mourning.
The government held funerals for both Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson.
Master Wong sealed off the New York Sanctum. Using the knowledge of Kamar-Taj, he began searching for any trace of Doctor Strange.
Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, left for Wakanda after the funerals.
The Avengers… were effectively no more.
Only 1.5 members remained,
Clint Barton (Hawkeye), who hadn't been present…
…and Peter Parker, whose half-status was due to him not being ready to truly shoulder the mantle of a hero.
After this battle, Rory had all but obliterated the Avengers.
And yet, life for ordinary people had to go on.
But New York had changed.
Crime rates soared.
The police were powerless against superhuman threats, and even less equipped to deal with high-tech weaponry.
Spider-Man became the city's lone guardian, either fighting crime or en route to stop it, never resting.
One evening, after capturing a gang of robbers, Peter returned home exhausted, only to find a stranger sitting in his apartment.
One-eyed. Bald. Black trench coat.
Peter recognized him.
He'd seen the man at Iron Man's funeral.
"Sir… who are you? Why are you in my house?"
Nick Fury remained seated, his tone calm:
"I know what happened. That's why I'm here. I'm recruiting. It's time to rebuild the Avengers."
Peter hesitated.
"But… sir, I…"
Fury stood and placed a hand on Peter's shoulder.
"Kid, I believe in you. If we're going to stop Rory, we'll need to stand together."
Peter lowered his head, eyes filled with guilt.
"But they're all gone. I was there, and I couldn't stop him. I'm sorry…"
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200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter
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