[The Past. Sokovia. 1999.]
The door of light pulled them in.
Sebastian found himself standing in a small, cramped apartment. It was bombed out. Dust fell from the ceiling.
Under a bed, two children—Wanda and Pietro—were huddled together. They were terrified.
In the center of the room lay an unexploded mortar shell. The light on the side blinked red.
STARK INDUSTRIES.
Sebastian stared at the logo. He knew that font. He knew the man who signed off on that design: Howard Stark. He knew the man who profited from it: Tony Stark.
"This is where it started," Agatha's voice echoed as she walked around the frozen memory. "Two days. Waiting for the kill."
Sebastian looked at young Wanda. She had her hand extended toward the bomb. She wasn't just waiting. She was pushing. She was using a probability hex—her very first spell—to keep the firing pin from dropping.
"She stopped it," Sebastian whispered.
"She hated him," Agatha grinned at Sebastian. "Your master. He was the boogeyman in her closet long before Thanos came along. Isn't that poetic? The man you serve created the monster that's currently holding an entire town hostage."
Sebastian said nothing. He watched the blinking light. Stark Industries. The legacy of the Merchant of Death. Even from the grave, Tony's sins were casting long shadows.
[The Past. The Avengers Compound. 2015.]
The scene shifted.
A sleek, sterile bedroom. Wanda sat on the bed, watching a sitcom. Vision walked in.
Sebastian watched closely. This was the moment.
"It's just like this wave washing over me, again and again," Wanda said to the android. "It knocks me down, and when I try to stand up, it just comes for me again."
Vision sat beside her. "But what is grief, if not love persevering?"
Sebastian felt a chill.
Love persevering.
He looked at his own gloved hand. Why was he still here? Why was he still wandering the earth, starving, hunting for a resurrection that wasn't possible?
Was it duty? Or was it... love persevering?
"Pathetic," Agatha scoffed, breaking the moment. "A robot quoting greeting cards. Let's go to the main event."
[Westview. The Dungeon. Present Day.]
SNAP.
They were back in the damp basement. The runes glowed purple on the pillars.
Wanda was on her knees, sobbing. The journey through her trauma had broken her.
"I can't do this anymore," Wanda whispered.
"Good," Agatha said. She grabbed Wanda by the chin. "Then give it to me. The Chaos Magic. You don't know how to use it. You're wasting it on breakfast cereal. Give it to me, and I'll let you stay in your little dream world forever."
She began to siphon the red energy from Wanda. Wanda screamed.
Sebastian pulled against the purple chains. They burned deeper.
"Let her go," Sebastian growled.
"Quiet, dog," Agatha flicked a hand. "I blocked your magic. You're just a man in a fancy suit now."
"Am I?"
Sebastian looked at the runes carved into the stone pillar behind him.
Runes block magic, he thought. They block the flow of energy. But they do not change the density of stone.
He closed his eyes. He thought of the Stark bomb. He thought of the contract seal that had burned on his hand for decades.
"I am not a wizard, Agatha," Sebastian whispered. "I do not cast spells."
He opened his eyes. They weren't fuchsia. They were black voids.
"I serve."
He flexed his arms. Not with magic, but with pure, raw, demonic muscle.
The stone pillar groaned.
Agatha turned. "What are you doing?"
"You bound the demon," Sebastian strained, the veins in his neck bulging. "But you forgot to bind the Butler."
CRACK.
Sebastian didn't break the chains. He broke the pillar.
He ripped the massive stone column out of its foundation. As the stone shattered, the rune carved into it split in half.
The purple glow died instantly.
The magic block fell.
BOOM.
Sebastian's aura exploded outward—a shockwave of black shadows that knocked Agatha across the room.
He stepped out of the rubble, the broken chains falling from his wrists. He dusted off his coat. He fixed his tie.
He looked at Agatha, who was scrambling to her feet.
"You made a mistake," Sebastian said, walking toward her, his shadow stretching out like a monster's claws on the wall. "You assumed I relied on magic to kill."
He pulled a silver knife from his pocket.
"I prefer the personal touch."
Agatha snarled and flew up through the ceiling, smashing out into the street.
"Wanda!" Sebastian yelled. "Move!"
Wanda looked up, her eyes glowing red again now that the runes were broken.
"My boys," Wanda gasped. "She has my boys."
"Then we go get them," Sebastian offered her a hand. "And we cancel this show."
[End of Chapter 57]
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