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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones. or 500 Collections
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"But now…" Barton looked down at the young people riddled with tubes, undergoing inhuman experiments. "…HYDRA took over the list. They snatched these gifted kids and turned them into lab rats."
"That old bastard Fury…" Tony Stark's voice crackled through the earpiece. He hadn't infiltrated with them, but he'd been watching everything through Natasha's feed.
"He gathered these children, but he couldn't protect them," Tony snarled. "So he packaged them up and delivered them to HYDRA."
"Save them." Banner's skin began to tint green. "We have to save them."
"Damn right." Tony's tone was steel. "Natasha, drop the shield. I'm leveling that castle."
"On it."
Natasha and Barton sprinted to the control center.
"Who's there?!"
A sharp shout rang out.
They'd been so focused on the test subjects they'd missed the infrared sensors in the corner.
Alarms shrieked alive.
"WOO—WOO—WOO!!"
Harsh red lights flashed; the entire Base woke up.
"Blowout!" Barton yelled, spinning to plant three arrows that pinned the charging HYDRA troopers to the wall.
"Light it up, Tony!"
Natasha stopped sneaking; she lobbed an EMP Grenade and blew the console apart.
"Zzz—"
The energy dome over the castle flickered twice and died.
"Party time!"
Tony Stark, long past impatient, snapped his faceplate shut.
"Jarvis, Iron Legion—deploy!"
"BOOM—!!!"
Two-dozen automated suits rocketed from the cargo bay, Tony's mark xliii at their head, streaking toward the castle like a meteor shower.
"Repulsors at max!"
Tony roared; his palms thundered.
Battle erupted… Control Room.
The blaring sirens made Baron Strucker frown.
"What's happening?"
"Report, Baron! Intruders! It's—it's the Avengers! Iron Man and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Hawkeye!"
"Stark?" Strucker's face changed.
"Is the experiment data backed up?"
"Backup complete."
"Good." Strucker pocketed the stock solution and headed for the hidden passage.
"Pierce has a new Base ready—time to relocate assets. This place… is done for."
…Strucker was gone, but the Gravity Field console stayed online.
Pietro lay flattened, feeling his organs crushed.
"Damn it…"
He tried dragging himself out of the field, but the gravity pinned him like a slab.
"Thud!"
A dull impact echoed out of nowhere.
Then the thump of a body hitting the floor.
One HYDRA guard at the console keeled over, head lolling as if slugged by a ghost.
A second followed.
"Who?!" The remaining sentries jerked their rifles up.
"Smack!"
A chair flew up by itself and smashed into a guard's helmet.
"I'm right here, idiots!"
Shabby's voice rang through thin air.
Invisible fingers punched every switch on the console.
"Voom—"
The Gravity Field pinning Pietro vanished.
"Hah!"
Pietro sprang up, gulping air.
"Thanks, Shabby!"
"Anytime!" Shabby's smug reply floated past. "Told you I'd be useful—call it Ghost Protocol!"
Pietro flexed, Fury flaring in his eyes.
"The Baron ran?"
"Took the east passage."
"Find somewhere safe." Pietro glanced at the monitors. "I'm getting Wanda."
…Level B3.
Sirens and blasts echoed down the corridor.
Wanda stood before the isolation glass, eyes on the overhead monitor.
On-screen, a gold-and-crimson figure tore through the castle defenses.
Repulsors roared, missiles spiraled.
That unmistakable helmet, that glowing chest-reactor.
Tony Stark.
In an instant she was back on that night ten years ago.
The bomb lying in the middle of the living room, the casing stamped "Stark".
Tick… tick…
The cadence of her childhood nightmare.
Fear flipped to rage.
Limitless rage.
"Stark…"
Scarlet bled into Wanda's pupils.
Her slender fingers pressed the reinforced glass.
"Zzz—zzz—"
Chaos Energy, alive like vines, crept from her fingertips and spider-webbed the pane.
"Boom!!"
First strike.
Fractures forked across the glass.
"Boom!!"
Second strike.
"Crash—!!!"
The wall shattered.
Wanda stepped through the rubble, hair drifting, scarlet light pulsing around her.
"You'll pay for this."
She whispered, heading toward the battle… Great Hall.
HYDRA troopers with Chitauri-modified energy rifles wove a lethal web of fire.
But even that couldn't stop the Iron Legion's advance.
Tony hovered, Micro-Missile Pods opening on his shoulders.
"Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh—"
Guided missiles dived into bunkers and gun nests, chain-explosions ripping the hall apart.
"Left flank clear! Natasha, move up!"
"Copy!"
Natasha vaulted through the wreckage, twin pistols barking, every shot a kill.
Barton covered from the rafters, arrows never missing their mark.
Then—
A red mist erupted into the fight.
"What th—"
Before Barton could finish, a massive force slammed into his chest.
Wanda Maximoff, in scarlet leather, hands weaving crimson energy.
She stared at Iron Man, hatred blazing.
"Tony—look out!" Natasha screamed.
Too late.
Wanda thrust her hands forward.
A scarlet wave washed over Tony's helmet—not physical, but mental.
His mind reeled; the world twisted.
He wasn't in Sokovia's castle anymore.
He saw an apocalypse.
Everyone was dead.
Captain America torn in half, shield shattered; Thor's hammer lying dull; Natasha and Barton in pools of blood.
And atop the corpses, Homelander's jaw smashed in, a giant hand bursting from the earth.
"You could have saved us…"
In the vision, Cap grabbed Tony's hand, voice broken. "Why didn't you try harder… why…"