Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Bullets cutting through flesh, air leaving body like it's being sucked out, the feeling of piercing pain everywhere but nowhere at the same time, and finally, the knowledge that the other half of your soul- the other part of you- is gone. She feels the bullets pierce her skin as if they're real; tearing through precious bone, organs, muscle. Twelve of them exactly, one for every minute he had been in the world before her. She could feel his fear, his apology to her, his satisfaction at what he'd done, and then- nothing. She feels her soul tear itself into two and Pietro's half flickers, and then dims into nothing. She's left unwhole.

Wanda Maximoff takes in a shuttering breath- or whatever she can manage through her shock- and screams as loud as she can, just as her knees give out. She crashes to the ground just as she feels her twin's life force fade away from her mind- her body- and she truly knows her brother is gone forever. A wave of red leaves her body as she continues to wail, completely disintegrating the bots around her. Even as they disappear, along with her power, she still grieves, leaning forward to continue her scream.

For he is gone and she remains. Where there had once been noise, now there was silence. Two became half.

Shota Aizawa has felt grief for a long time. Oboro, his students, and little things throughout his life as a hero have kept him here, trapped in his mind for several years at a time. He knows how it works, what it feels like, and about how long someone will grief something based on what it was and how long they "had" it for. Probably a little weird to involve something like time stamps into life and death itself, but the man is a scientific thinker, and when it came to his own sadness, giving it a "limit" helped keep it at bay and not take over his life. He knew grief was a part of life, but he couldn't help but feel that when it came to him, he didn't deserve it.

He'd seen this before- different place, different war- but the same hollow scream. The sound of a world ending for one person while the rest of the battle raged on.

“She was just a kid,” he muttered, mostly to himself. The statement wasn’t filled with pity. It was observation. Calculation. Context. Losing someone like that doesn’t create clarity. It creates resolve.

And resolve- in someone like her- was the most dangerous thing in the world.

"Oh, my God. She felt it," Midoriya muttered from his left, reaching up to cup a hand around his mouth. Bakugo just watches the screen, eyes widened slightly. Other heroes are around too, those that didn't get to watch the first time. The big three from class 3A are here too; Mirio watching with silent eyes, Tamaki practically shaking in his seat as he eyes the screen, and Nejire looks absolutely devastated at what she's seeing in front of her. He didn't plan on them coming, but Nezu had mentioned something about needing their practices for the war that was coming. He still didn't like that they were kids on their own. He didn't like that they didn't look much older than the Wanda Maximoff they were watching on the screen. He didn't like any of this.

"That wasn't an attack," Mirko points out, leaning forward to point at the wall. "She did that purely out of grief, like her quirk had a mind of its own." Aizawa is too tired to correct her usage of Maximoff's power. Plus, her own words are still ringing in his mind.

"Every one of your kids is going to die a slow, painful death. They will see their worst fears, screaming for you before I kill them in front of you." He shivered slightly, shifting ever so slightly to be closer to his students.

"You're right," Nezu noted, scratching something down on a tablet down in front of him. "She didn't know she could do that at the time- her power manifested instinctively. A raw surge with no thought and no control."

"Control wouldn't have mattered," Endeavor noted flatly. "Anyone in a kilometer radius would've been disintegrated instantly."

“Emotion is her trigger,” Todoroki noted, voice low. “But it’s also a multiplier.” His father nodded at his contribution, but he opted to ignore it, continuing to look pointedly directly at the wall.

Midoriya was scribbling in a notebook he'd pulled out of his suit seconds before. “When Quirks first awaken, they often explode under emotional duress. She’s... similar, but there's no gene coding it, I don't think. This isn’t a quirk, is it? This seems to be something more like-”

“Magic,” Tamaki answered, amazing the kid had already figured it out. The two share a glance and Izuku blushes slightly at the "praise". Bakugo looks seconds away from throwing a tantrum.

“Something beyond it,” Nezu corrects the two. “Her powers don't just alter physical matter. She rewrites it. And she doesn't need time to learn- it obeys her instinct. Miss Maximoff doesn't even have a quirk; what she has would be more catered to a mutation of sorts.”

Bakugo scowled. “So she’s a ticking bomb with no off switch. That it? Sensei's quirk won't work on her then?”

No one answered. They kept watching, some flinching at parts, others covering their mouths. And then, they come across Lagos. They watch as she attempts to hold a bomb in her forcefield, eventually sending it into the sky when it's clear that she can't hold it for long. She was too late anyways.

Mirio sucks in a breath as he watches the look on her face when she realizes what she'd done.

"She made the right call in a split-second. If she hadn't reacted, everyone on that street would've died. But she couldn’t control the outcome. Wanda wasn't malicious- she was overwhelmed. She clearly hasn't had her power for that long! Sure there were people in the building, but she probably saved far more lives- the ones of those that were on the ground with her," he defends, pointing at the screen.

Aizawa's jaw clenches as he watches her fall to her knees, holding a hand up to her mouth. The look in her eyes- the defeat- like she already knows what's coming. "She hesitated for a second and that was enough." Cold, tactical. He doesn’t blame her- but he recognizes the risk. To him, this is what happens when immense power lacks structure. If Wanda had a mentor who taught restraint...

“She’s not evil. But she’s unstable. And that’s just as dangerous," Endeavor adds, clearly thinking the opposite as he stares her down. His son side-eyes him and subtly moves his chair closer to Bakugo, who sits on his left.

Snape shakes his head. "She got flak for that, huh? Typical." He's a combat pragmatist. He respects instinct. What hits him more than the explosion is the aftermath- how the world immediately turned on Wanda for only trying to help. For ignoring the fact that in keeping hundreds of people alive, she'd accidentally killed others.

“If the world kicked her after a mistake like that, it’s no wonder she cracked later, especially with how young she was. I mean,” Mirio sits up straighter. "She's obviously in a new country with no support- her parents gone and brother had just died- and then this?"

"Still," Best Jeanist pipes up. "She didn't walk away from the guilt; she didn't forget because of what she can do. That makes her dangerous."

"And human," Nejire cuts in, shaking her head. "She reacted like a hero and was still punished for it- like a villain. It wasn't fair. She was the only one in the moment who had the means to react the right way- the only power to stop the bomb- and she knew it. Even as young as she was, she still did what she could."

Tamaki doesn’t speak, just lowers his gaze. He knows how Wanda must’ve shrunk inward after the accident. How fear of herself would have isolated her further. That emotional implosion- he’s lived that. He knows how that must've felt for someone her age, how alone she must've been; with her power and no family, the entire world afraid of her.

Bakugo scowls, but it's not his usual anger.

“The media ate her alive for trying to save people.” He’s pissed- at the crowd, the media, the world. Not her. Not yet. He hasn't seen what she can do yet. What she's done.

“She’s not weak, but she’s untrained. That’s worse,” Endeavor says back to him, like that excuses the public's fear of her.

Nezu strokes his chin thoughtfully. “The Lagos incident didn’t just kill civilians. It killed her confidence. That was the crack where the rest of her trauma started to slip through.” He types something quietly to himself as the heroes continue to converse quietly around him. Observation #047: Wanda’s instability scales in response to guilt and public backlash. His eyes jump back up to the screen to where the footage has trucked ahead. Wanda, now restrained, is thrown into a maximum-security prison in the ocean. She sits in a cell, bound by a power-dampening collar. Leaning against the wall, she's confined in a strait-jacket, eyes red-rimmed and blank as she stares ahead.

“She let them contain her,” Shoto says slowly. “Like she wanted to be punished. For Lagos. For Pietro. For everything.”

“This is when she starts to see herself the way the world sees her,” Aizawa said. “As the problem. The threat, especially after the situation with the hero group that just happened. In her mind, she caused everything that happened between Steve and Tony. Or started it.”

Midoriya's brow furrows. “Wait. She’s guilty?”

“Of course she is,” Mirko answers. “Anyone with that kind of power- if they care at all- it eats them alive. She may not be guilty, but she feels like it.”

Nezu nodded. “This guilt will shape her next transformation.” They skip through quite a bit of footage next, mostly scenes between her and the robot Aizawa remembers as Vision. Flashes of their relationship- their love. Being peacefully in love and then attacked.

Aizawa thinks back to their fight and what he'd said to her.

"You're not very good at hand to hand combat, are you?" he'd muttered. She'd giggled in response.

"I wouldn't say that." She'd been holding back. That's why he'd won; she hadn't even been trying to win.

And then, it happens. Thanos appears and begins targeting Vision, everyone fighting to keep him hidden, especially Wanda, who stands in front of the robot, fear encompassing her face as she lights up the red between her hands.

"We are out of time," Vision says breathlessly to her. Midoriya can't hold back his tears, his hand lifted up to cover his mouth. His notes sit, forgotten, several wet spots covering the notes he'd made on the woman.

"She- she's not losing him!" he cries out, desperately. "She's having to kill him herself!" His fingers curl into fists, ignoring the way Bakugo glances at him. They watch, silent and heartbroken as she finally gives in and kills the man she loves, tears running down her own face. Then, a golden explosion rings through the trees and it's done. Several heroes look away at the sight of the woman fallen to the forest floor, quietly grieving as Thanos walks over to her.

"I understand, my child," he says, leaning down to run a hand over her hair. "Better than anyone." She looks up with pure hatred, her voice shaking with rage.

"You could never." The massive man sighs in response and walks past her as she drops her head and continues to cry.

"Today, I lost more than you can know. But now is no to mourn. Now, is no time at all," he says to himself as he walks over to where Vision had been last. Then, everyone watches in abject horror as he activates the glove on his hand and begins to slowly twist his hand to the side, Wanda watching with growing horror as he does so. Then, Vision returns and she realizes, with terror, what he had done.

"No!" the scream rips from her throat as she lunges forward, Thanos simply meeting her with a brutal backhand from where he's reaching for the robot. Wanda is instantly thrown backwards, skidding across the dirt of the forest floor. Thanos does it. Wanda loses consciousness for a few minutes, but when she returns, she's instantly up and rushing over to where Vision's dead body is laid across the floor, his forehead now caved in.

"None of it mattered," Midoriya whispers to himself. "None of it mattered. She still had to watch him die again. I... I can’t imagine...” he looks at Bakugo, who shares his glance. They stare at each other for a few moments, as if assuring the other of their existence, and then, they simply turn back to the screen.

"We all know heartbreak. But this? This is the kind of grief that births monsters," Hawks finally speaks up from where he's standing against the back wall of the room, having been watching silently up until this point. “Double trauma; self-inflicted. Reinforced seconds later by external violence- no wonder she's all messed up.” His voice is clinical, calculating, but his eyes betray sympathy.

“She sacrificed everything. And was punished anyway," Shoto mutters to himself, ignoring the hand his dad sets on his shoulder.

Mirko exhales sharply. Her fists clench. “Damn it. That’s not just love. That’s war. She made the call a hero had to make. And then he-” she jerks her chin at Thanos- “just erased her pain like it was his to undo.” She scowls.

“She’s got every right to hate the universe after that,” Snipe adds, speaking as honestly as he can in the moment. "I can't imaging going through something like that. Especially at her young age."

Todoroki's shoulders are tense. He watches her face in the moment she kills Vision- agonizing, devoted, determined. “She," he pauses to find the words, his tongue heavy and sticking to the roof of his mouth. "She didn't hesitate. She didn't even ask for help. She just did what had to be done.” He knows that kind of self-sacrifice. He’s seen it in his mother. In himself. Endeavor glances at his son, reaches up to pet his head, and then changes his mind last-second, and drops it back to his side instead.

Nejire hugs her arms around herself. “She loved him so deeply. Even in that moment, she wasn’t angry. She was heartbroken.” Her voice is soft.

“She didn’t want to hurt him. She didn’t want to win. She just wanted to stop it,” Tamaki’s lips move, barely audible as he whispers, eyes on the screen as he watches her lean over Vision's body, hovering, like she's afraid he'll disappear if she actually touches him. And then, everyone watches silently as Wanda's head slowly lifts itself up to the sky, her body beginning to disintegrate, starting with her boots. She doesn't look scared, like they know they would be. She almost looks relieved, like she's ready to join Vision. Welcoming whatever comes next as long as she doesn't have to be there anymore.

“She welcomed death when she thought it came,” Aizawa looks haunted as he speaks. He recognizes it- that kind of emotional exhaustion. The relief of disappearing. Being dusted wasn’t frightening to her. It was mercy. “She thought she deserved it.”

Mirio stares at the final frame of Wanda dissolving into ashes that cover Vision's body, his eyes not leaving the screen until she does. “She didn’t scream. Didn’t panic. She just let go.” His voice is heavy.

“She wasn’t afraid of dying. She wanted to," Snipe says, reaching up to scratch at his hair as the screen goes dark. Everyone goes silent and Aizawa stands to explain what happens next since no one else that was there to see the story the first time is there. Present Mic is at the hospital with the two girls, Nezu making sure to record the quirk while it was happening so they could rewatch it without the girls needing to be there. The other two main heroes were also off being treated and visiting with Midnight, who was still comatose in the same hospital.

"Wait," Mirko speaks up, leaning forward in her seat again. "You're saying that after she was dusted along with half of the universe, they were gone for five years before being brought back by another snap?" Aizawa nods and returns to his seat.

"Wanda's memories cut off, we assume because no time passed in those five years for them," Nezu speaks up again. "And here is where they pick up again."

The footage opens on the broken field of Earth. Thano's army pauses in its march forward as numerous heroes, Wanda Maximoff among them, move through golden portals leading back to life. She floats to the ground, her crimson cape fluttering as she lands. Her eyes are locked on one thing: Thanos. She doesn’t run. Doesn’t speak. She descends- a red comet of silent fury.

She enters the battle, flying into the sky. She fights quickly, taking out foes with a wave of her hands, and explosions from her fingertips. And then, she sees him. Thanos. Running across the field towards a man in all black, holding the golden glove she remembers from minutes before. The thing that had brought Vision back, allowing Thanos to kill him. Rage rushes through her again and she smashes to the floor between the two men, an omnidirectional wave of red leaving her form as she lands, crouching and angry. Thanos pauses and she glares at him with glowing red eyes.

"You took everything from me," she mutters, her voice shaking with barely-concealed rage.

"I don't even know who you are," Thanos answers as he starts forward again.

"You will," Wanda answers, lifting herself into the air, along with two giant clumps of rubble on either side of her body. Everyone watches as she tosses them at Thanos and then a hex bolt as she lets herself fall to the floor, aiming spirals of red as she moves closer to the giant man. He throws the sword on top of her and she barely catches it from above, the metal forcing her to her knees. Thanos grins as he thinks he's won, pushing it down further, only for her to land an uppercut blast at his chest that sends him reeling backwards. Without a second to waste, she catches him in red and everyone knows the fight is over. Thanos is levitated, ripped apart, his armor being shredded piece by piece. He screams for a rain fire. His troops begin bombarding the field from above with missiles, risking their own forces just to stop her. And they do. She lifts her hands in defense only for a blast too close to send her cartwheeling through the air with a cry.

Izuku flips through his notes rapidly. “There was no hesitation. That wasn’t defense- that was an attempted execution. She wanted to kill him.” He looks up, eyes wide.

“She’s not just a reactor anymore. She’s a weapon. A fully-conscious one," Hawks almost seems to muse, his wings shifting behind him.

Mirko’s wide eyes narrow. “She didn’t scream. Didn’t rage. That wasn’t a tantrum. That was precision.” She exhales. “If she ever decided we were in her way? That’s it. Lights out.”

"She's already decided that," Endeavor mutters to himself, running a hand down his face.

She grins anyway, “Still, she's got my respect. She earned that fury.”

“She didn't let anger cloud her aim. She channeled it. Mastery," Snipe notes, toying with his hat.

Bakugo leans forward, sounding almost impressed as he speaks, “She came back and went straight for his throat. No fanfare. No speeches. Just destruction.” Then he frowns. “And after it’s over, she didn’t even smile. Didn’t celebrate.” A beat.

“It didn’t fix anything for her," Izuku finishes for the blonde, shaking his head.

Nejire is biting her nails. “She got revenge, but she didn’t get him back,” she blinks rapidly. “How do you even survive that? How do you live when you’ve won and you still lost?” No one answers. The screen awakens again.

It's split: bright, grainy sitcom footage.

Wanda’s in a black-and-white world. Then color. Then she’s pregnant. She has twins. She’s laughing. Happy. The world bends around her. She sings in Sokovian. She rewinds time when something goes wrong. When Vision questions her, she stops the scene like a director calling “Cut.” It’s not until halfway through this new "world" that the full gravity sinks in: this isn't a projection. Wanda has taken over an entire town. People are being puppeteered. Controlled.

And Wanda? She’s warm. Gentle. Until someone threatens her fantasy. Then she's terrifying.

Nejire can’t stop staring at Wanda on-screen, playing house. “She’s so happy.” It’s said quietly, almost guiltily. “Like, actually happy. Not just pretending. I think it’s the first time we’ve seen her at peace."

"But she bought that peace with someone else's freedom," Endeavor mutters, reaching up to rub at his forehead as he takes a break from watching.

Nezu crosses his stubby little arms, “It’s a fantasy, sure. But one she’s enforcing on a systemic level.”

Todoroki’s tone is cold as he speaks next, “She’s hurting people, but I don’t think she even sees it anymore.” He glances down at the twins now appearing on screen, grinning at their mom in unison. “She doesn’t want to control the world. She just wants this. A life. A family. She just took it the only way she knew how.”

Vision yells at Wanda. Demands to know what’s outside Westview. Wanda stares at him, her eyes glistening with tears. But his tone is iron: “You don’t get to make that choice for me, Wanda!”

“You’ve never talked to me like this before,” she says, confused, like a script failed. And then, more confusion as her brother- dead brother- appears out of nowhere. Wanda clearly didn't expect it, but welcomes him in anyways, glancing at Vision over her shoulder. The episode ends.

“That’s not him. She knows it. But she lets it happen anyway," Aizawa mutters. He sees right through it. Wanda is grasping at comfort, and whatever that thing at the door is, she’s choosing to accept the lie rather than confront the truth. That kind of delusion is dangerous- especially when the deluded has reality-warping powers.

“She’s losing track of what’s real. That makes her unstable- and unpredictable," Endeavor says to himself.

“But if that’s what she wants, how do you convince her to stop?" Best Jeanist murmurs to himself, shaking his head.

“We’re now looking at someone who can rewrite minds, matter, and memories. The Hex is a large-scale mental-reality construct supported by an unknown magical framework- which we know was likely Chaos Magic. It auto-corrects inconsistencies. It edits resistance. It rewinds defiance," Nezu speaks up, reading off his tablet as he continues to scribble notes down with a small pen. "Wanda has moral justification for all actions, but her emotional logic overrides ethical restraint."

“Which means logic won’t work," Endeavor answers him, moving to stand. "We can’t just explain she’s wrong. She knows, but that knowledge doesn't reach her heart. Her need is louder.” And that sets off like a bomb through the room, everyone realizing that it didn't matter how right or wrong Wanda was, if she believed she could get to her kids one way or another, she'd do whatever she needed.

It's Halloween now. She walks down the street with her "brother". And then, Tommy exhibits speed. The same quirk his uncle had.

“The Hex isn’t just a barrier. It’s a womb. She’s creating life- and it’s evolving." He’s disturbed. He knows what it means to have kids born into a war. But here, the kids weren’t born at all. They were willed into existence, and now they’re exhibiting Quirk-like abilities. It's too controlled to be natural. That rattles him. Nezu just scratches on the pad in front of him.

They listen to Wanda's explanation of what she did- what she doesn't understand about it- and how she felt. Completely alone. It reminds Aizawa of students who dissociate. Of children who say “I’m fine” with broken bones. Wanda doesn’t know how she made the Hex because her mind is shielding itself. That’s terrifying in someone this powerful.

Her sons then run off to go trick-or-treating, coming back later with fear in their eyes. One of them- the one with the same abilities Wanda seemed to have when she was younger- cries about his father being in trouble. He can sense it.

"Hey, don't sweat it, sis. It's not like your dead husband can die twice." Eyes widen everywhere.

"How could he-" Nejire starts, but is cut off. Wanda spins around and throws a hex bolt at the man, who flies backwards into grave props and bales of hale several feet away.

“What kind of idiot pushes someone like that?” Endeavor mutters to himself. He sees that moment not just as cruel, but dangerous. Wanda doesn’t need to get angry to hurt someone- just overwhelmed. Pietro’s jab about Vision dying again? That’s not just insensitive. That’s asking to die.

“He deserved that. You don’t mock someone’s pain like that- especially not her.” Bakugo may not be the most emotionally in-tune, but he knows what it’s like to carry guilt, especially when you did it yourself. And kicking someone while they're down? He can’t stand that.

"I can't tell. He sees... soldiers. I think he's dying!" Billy cries, looking up at his mom.

"He was created inside the Hex, but can see outside of it. Fascinating," Nezu mutters to himself.

Wanda, looking more and more overwhelmed, turns to the side and closes her eyes tightly, crossing her hands across her chest and then pulling them apart. Slowly, everything stops; the kids, the warm gusts of wind, the laughter. Closing her glowing eyes, only a second goes by. And then, a loud bang as another wave of red- just like when she'd first created the Hex- appears, melting over everything.

"Did she just stop time?" Snipe demands, almost standing up from his seat.

Bakugo is angry- not at Wanda yet, but at how disconnected she is. She’s playing god inside, while outside, Vision is sacrificing himself for strangers. That, to Bakugo, is real heroism. But then he sees Wanda making the Hex bigger- and he falters. Because she does care. She just didn’t see.

“He wasn’t dying, he was reverting. Being pulled back into nothing because his existence depends on her will. He is the manifestation of grief. Of hope. He isn’t just made by Wanda- he is Wanda. And he tried to leave," Nezu says loudly, looking at everyone.

"And he still told the soldiers about the people trapped inside- how they need help," Aizawa answers. That’s what gets to him. Vision, a creation of Wanda’s, still chose others over himself. It tells him that whatever pieces of the real Vision- of the real Wanda- remain, they still carry the heart of a hero. “She doesn’t mean to be a villain. But she’s hurting everyone.”

The next day, they see Wanda's depression in its full, unhidden arc.

Aizawa knows what burnout looks like; emotional, mental, physical. He sees Wanda walking through her home with dead eyes, and he recognizes that this is no longer about domination. It’s about depression. The fact that reality is distorting against her will?

“Her power’s linked to her psyche. If her mind breaks, so does everything else," he notes quietly. “Her subconscious is losing grip. The Hex was a controlled system. Now, it’s breaking. By instability. By doubt.”

It hits Bakugo particularly hard, because in his mind, power means safety. Power means you don’t lose the people you love. But Wanda? She’s one of the strongest beings he’s ever seen- and she’s completely helpless.

"Here's the thing, boys," she pauses to set her bowl down on the coffee table in front of her. "I'm your mom. And as such, you are counting on me to have all the answers, right?" Her boys bod, looking like they're genuinely afraid of her; tense and wide-eyed. "Well I don't. I have no answers!" Wanda laughs hysterically. "Zip, zero, zilch, nada, niente. I'm starting to believe that everything is meaningless. I mean, you're welcome to draw your own conclusions, of course. But, that- that's just where I'm at," she laughs lowly.

She sits on the couch and then Agnes comes in, pulling the boys away to give her some "me time". And then, just as she takes a bite of her cereal, the plant to her left morphs into a version of it that she had back when her world was still black and white. She looks around, confused, as it moves around the room. Warbles sounds come from the fireplace, couch, and the T.V. as they all move back into younger versions of themselves. Wanda puts the bowl down, sits up straight, and twirls her hands around each other. It sets everything back, but then cuts to Wanda in front of her "camera", sitting on the couch she'd just fixed.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she laughs to herself.

"Clearly not," Bakugo snorts.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine," she whispers with finality, eying the camera, as it cuts back to her getting up and walking over to the kitchen. Then, it starts again. More glitching, the wallpaper peels, and she just spins around, watching as everything moves on its own- without her permission. Then, it moves back to her on the couch, staring off to the side as she shakes her head. Silence for a minute before she speaks.

"I don't understand what's happening," she finally says. "Why it's... why it's all falling apart and why I can't fix it." All whispering stops.

"Do you think maybe this is what you deserve?" a voice offscreen asks. Wanda sits up straight and looks past the camera, confusion dawning on her features.

"What?" she finally demands, tilting her head this way and that to look past the screen itself. "You're not supposed to talk." She answers, blinking back to the camera.

Everything in the room stills. The illusion has rules. Rules she made. And now something inside it is talking back. The fourth wall collapses. She’s no longer in control- and the show is turning into a nightmare version of her own psyche.

“She’s not a monster right now. She’s just tired," Mirko defends, sitting back in her chair, next to Snape. That moment- when Wanda slumps into the couch, eating cereal, reality glitching around her- it doesn’t scream danger. It screams someone who’s been holding it together too long. And the fact that she’s still trying to be a mom through it? That breaks Mirko a little.

“She’s not controlling it anymore. The world is rejecting her," Aizawa is laser-focused. The glitches aren’t just symptoms- they’re rebellions. Wanda’s created a false reality that was once compliant. Now it’s turning on her. And she doesn’t understand why. What alarms him most? The voice. The one asking, “Do you think this is what you deserve?” That’s not an enemy taunt. That’s shame- weaponized.

Bakugo knows what guilt sounds like when it gets loud. He knows what it’s like to sit in silence and suddenly hear a voice that sounds too much like your own, saying: “You deserve this.” And the fact that she talks back- “You’re not supposed to talk.”- that messes him up. That helplessness? It’s familiar. You tell yourself you’re okay. You try to function. But the second you stand up, everything slips out of place. And now she’s arguing with a voice only she hears. When the voice says, “Is this what you deserve?” And Wanda doesn’t shout or lash out- she just says, “What?”- that irks him. Because she hears that and doesn’t deny it. She hears it like it’s a thought she’s had before.

Later, she's in the kitchen again, this time dressed in a red jacket and sweats, taking some kind of medication at the counter. Just as she gulps down some water, the woman from the earlier episodes that Wanda threw outside the Hex- Monica- appears again, running inside.

"What are you doing?" the redhead demands, Monica continuing to talk over her. "How did you get in here?" Monica tries to explain to her what she found, but Wanda, already tottering on the edge, just encases her in red and throws her into the air, taking her outside as she rants.

"All you do is lie!" she growls out before thrusting her hand downward. The same is done to Monica, who suddenly lands on the sidewalk with a burst of blue, lifting her head with glowing eyes. Wanda looks back, stunned.

The slam into the ground? That wasn’t performance. That was pure self-protection. Threat = eliminate. Mirko’s fought people like that. Cornered animals. People who’ve lost too much to risk losing more.

Nezu is noting patterns. Triggers. Behavior. Wanda doesn’t lash out without cause- not anymore. She reacts when people try to spin her into someone else’s narrative. And Monica hit a nerve by implying she’s being manipulated.

"The only lies I've told are the ones you put in my mouth," she says back, lowly.

"Careful," Wanda says back, letting a ball of red appear between her fingers. "What you say to me." And Aizawa gets a sudden shiver down his back, remembering that Wanda had told him those same words just hours before.

"Don't let him make you the villain!" Monica pleads.

"Maybe I already am." Wanda raises an eyebrow with a smug smile.

Todoroki echoes it softly. That line sits with him like ice in the stomach. Because he’s thought it too. When your own pain twists inward. When you look at what you’ve done, what you’ve become- and wonder: “Am I beyond saving?” It’s not defiance. It’s resignation. Wanda has gone her whole life being treated like a bad guy, and now? Now that her depression is at an all-time high and it's clear she's reaching her melting point, she's accepting it. Like she's too tired to say no anymore.

Endeavor stiffens. Because he knows what that sentence feels like. Lived it. The moment you believe you’re the villain, it doesn’t matter what anyone else says.

And then, Agnes appears, with perfect timing as always. She turns Wanda around and directs her to her own house, just as Monica was getting to a break-through.

“She was watching. Waiting," Aizawa puts a hand up to his lips. Agatha shows up exactly when Wanda is about to crack. About to listen. Monica was making progress- her voice was reaching Wanda. And Agatha cuts it off, pulls her back in.

"She’s not just interrupting. She’s controlling the narrative," Izuku whispers, in awe. That’s what they all realize. Agatha’s not in Wanda’s world. She’s steering it. And every time Wanda gets close to waking up, Agatha tucks her back in.

Wanda enters Agatha’s house. The twins are “playing” in the basement, Agatha says. But the moment Wanda descends the stairs, the aesthetic shifts. No more pastel walls. No more cozy charm. Stone. Iron. Magic. Darkness. As Wanda creeps further in, she sees runes on the walls- power pulsing. And then: Agatha, behind her.

Wanda’s vulnerable for the first time ever.

“Agatha didn’t want to destroy the Hex. She wanted to study it.” Nezu's putting it together. The lingering, the surveillance, the manipulation. This wasn’t malice for Wanda's sake.

“She wanted to understand Wanda so she could take her power for herself.” And the reveal of the runes? Genius. Ancient, structured, rule-based magic. And Wanda- the most powerful being alive- doesn’t even know how it works.

“You didn’t think you were the only magical girl in town, did you?” She explains everything about the runes, magic, and even some things about Wanda.

"Every little detail in place, down to the crown molding. You're even running illusions miles away at the edge of town! Magic on autopilot," she spits out with finality, jealousy, rage. She shakes her fist at Wanda, her lips between her teeth. "What's your secret, sister?" The jealousy in her voice is venomous. She’s furious- not just at Wanda’s power, but at her ignorance of it. At the raw, natural chaos Wanda’s born with- while Agatha had to crawl her way through centuries of blood-soaked study just to come close. Wanda just looks at her. She asks her how she did it, but when Wanda denies everything, she slams her into the pillars of her walls, gasping running through the room.

"I tried to be gentle- to nudge you awake from this ridiculous fantasy. But you'd rather fall apart than face your truth. You left me no choice." There's a pause as she lifts Wanda's head and looks directly into her eyes. "What was it you said to your not-brother? Hm? All you could recall was the feeling; you felt empty, alone, endless nothingness? Let's start there. It's been fun playing pretend for a while, hasn't it, Wanda?" She says as she plucks a hair from her head, a door appearing at the other side of the room. "But it's time to look at some real reruns."

“She’s using her grief like it’s a weapon. Like it’s leverage. You don’t do that to someone," Mirko spits out, anger running through her veins.

And with that, Wanda falls to the ground, spell undone.

"All right, let's go," Agatha says loudly as she makes her way over to the door. Aizawa watches Agatha pace. The way she pokes and prods Wanda’s psyche, looking for the switch that made her this powerful. This dangerous.

"No," Wanda answers lowly, looking up at Agatha with a look that reminds Aizawa of the same way she looked at Thanos after she'd killed Vision.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you forgot who's got your children stashed away in her bewitched basement?" Wanda's instantly on her feet at the sound of her screaming children from elsewhere in the room. The door opens and Wanda steps back into her childhood apartment.

“She didn’t even give her a chance to say no.” Bakugo's trembling. Not from fear- but rage. Raw, guttural anger. “She doesn’t know how she did it. That’s the worst part. And that witch is treating her like she’s lying.” He glares at the memory door appearing behind Agatha. “She’s walking her into hell like it’s a damn field trip.”

"She's going to drag her back through her trauma."

They watch silently. They've already seen this, but Agatha's unhelpful commentary isn't welcome this time. It ends after the bomb goes off and Wanda's dragged out from under the bed, bits of red flashing from baby-her's fingers.

"Did you stop that bomb?" Agatha probes, ignoring Wanda's obviously panicked state. "You used a probability hex."

"No, it just never went off- it was defective. We didn't know that. We were trapped." Agatha huffs loudly and walks away to survey the scene.

"So much trauma. And yet, you were safe as kittens the whole time," she notes. "So, what I see here is a baby witch obsessed with sitcoms and years of therapy ahead of her. Where'd you get the big guns, Wanda?" she asks. Wanda's head turns as a door appears against the far wall to her right.

"I don't wanna go back there," she mutters, her voice shaking.

"I know you don't. But it's good medicine, angel. The only way forward is back." The door opens to reveal a room behind glass. They watch as Wanda comes into contact with a Stone- a glowing blue one. They watch as it pulls itself from the stand it sits on and then explodes in a burst of golden light, revealing a figure to Wanda; a woman with her hands out and a crown atop her head. The light goes out and she falls to the ground as the two men inside rush to her side.

Agatha opens another door and they go through it, leading to Wanda and Vision together after Pietro died and she'd been moved to America. They watch as Vision enters her rom, asks about how she feels. She tells him her depressive thoughts and he explains that "grief is just love persevering". And then, silence. Agatha wipes away a mock tear as Wanda walks further into the now-empty room.

"So, to recap. Parents dead, brother dead, Vision dead. What happened when he wasn't there to pull you back from the darkness, Wanda?" They watch as she wipes away tears, spinning around to face Agatha.

"I can't do this," she says, desperation in her voice.

"Come on, Wanda. You're on the precipice. You are right there!" Agatha urges as Wanda shakes her head and turns away from her. "Tell me how you did it. Vision was gone. But you wanted him back."

"I wanted him back." The door to their right opens. "I wanted him back." And Wanda almost runs through it.

“Agatha’s not just here to witness this- she’s trying to trigger her.” Nezu leans in to Aizawa, who doesn't look away from the screen. “She’s deliberately pushing her toward identity revelation. A magical manifestation crisis. This is less an interrogation and more psychological priming.”

“She wants the Scarlet Witch to wake up," the raven-haired man realizes, turning to look at the rat. He nods slowly.

The Hex, the power, the impossibility of Wanda doing it all without knowing how. Wanda’s world starts to crack as her own realization of what she'd done and who she was began to bleed through. Her going to see Hayward and then him leading her to Vision with the confused implication of "You asked to see him?" And then her looking down at the glass in his office to see the former robot- full of life and love- now stripped to pieces on lab tables.

"Stop!" she cries out, pressing her hands to the glass.

"That's messed up," someone in the back notes. Aizawa wants to glare at them, but he can't bring himself to look away from the scene as Wanda turns around to argue with the man behind her.

"Vision's not a weapon, you can't do this," she argues weakly, Hayward shaking his head in response.

"In fact, it is our ethical and legal obligation," he answers back.

"I just want to bury him," she licks her lips, her eyes already watering. "That's all I want."

“She’s not threatening anyone,” he muttered. “She’s asking permission. Still playing by their rules.”

"Are you sure?" Hayward asks her. Her face instantly changes; all sadness gone. Suddenly the grieving woman is gone and the hero is back, staring directly into the man's eyes with unbridled rage for what he'd dared to say to her.

"Excuse me?" she prods.

"Not everyone has the kind of power that could bring their soulmate back online," he says lowly, looking away after he finishes speaking. "Forgive me. Back to life." A beat.

"No, I can't do that," Wanda says, sounding unsure of herself. "That's- that's not why I'm here."

"Is anyone else thinking about how suspicious this guy is?" Mirko speaks up.

"Yeah, no kidding. What does he know about Maximoff's powers that he's so confident that she could bring Vision back to life? Also, he intentionally put that thought into her head, right? But for what reason?" Snipe says from his own little corner of the table. Everyone else watches, enthralled by the heartbreaking scene in front of them as Wanda slowly turns back to the glass wall.

"He's all I have," Wanda's voice shakes as she looks down at the scene in front of her.

Aizawa’s head tilted slightly. The way she said it; simple, honest, shattering.

"That's just it, Wanda. He isn't yours." And then, a bang. Wanda's hands glow and she bares her teeth as she shatters the glass in front of her. The scientists duck for cover as she floats down into their space, men with guns racing forward to meet her. She eyes them, silent, but the red from her hands dies out. She has no intention of fighting, even as they continue to aim at her.

"Fall back," Hayward calls up from where he's still standing in the platform outside his office. "It's fine. Let her see for herself."

And Wanda walks over. She reaches out, almost hesitantly, the small fluttering noise filling the air as she recreates the scene from earlier, when she'd gone into hiding with Vison.

"Tell me what you feel," he'd said to her, pulling her hand up to the stone in his forehead.

"I just feel you," she'd breathed back, leaning up for a kiss.

Wanda's face breaks. "I can't feel you," she whispers to herself, letting her power die out to just rest her hand there on his head. "I can't feel you," she almost mouths. Then, she turns and simply walks away.

"All she did was mourn," Nejire spoke up after a minute. “And they told her she didn’t even have the right to do that.”

Onscreen, Wanda gets into her car and looks at her passenger seat, where a letter sits. She then pulls out and begins to drive. When she reaches her destination, a little town, more broken-down than populated, she pulls into an empty lot with concrete lining the ground as a house, she steps out and pulls the letter to her chest, pausing to open it.

To grow old in- V., is written across it, on the square where Wanda stands in front of. Eyes already tearing up, she moves into the square. And then, just like when she lost her brother, her knees give out. She falls to the ground, her hands limp. The letter falls to the ground as she sobs, her face heavy with sorrow- and something that looks like rage. And then, she lets out a cry, stands up on her knees, and throws her hands out.

Aizawa has seen it once, but he still is shocked by the amount of power that this woman possesses. An omnidirectional wave of red leaves her body, covering the area around her. And then, it begins to twirl through the air like a tornado, lifting Wanda into it. A house begins to form, magic hardening into walls, a lamp, stairs. The sound of red is overwhelming; it's all he sees, feels, knows. It's all she knows. He eyes where the red is coming from her chest, realizing why she doesn't remember what happened.

She was acting on pure feeling. Nothing but her sadness to keep her going, and when she realized that she was truly alone, she did the only thing she knew how- she reacted. And this was the product of that. Aizawa has never been one to pity people easily. But this isn’t pity. It’s recognition. He sees what happens when someone has no one left to anchor them. And how dangerous that makes them- not because they’re evil, but because they’re alone.

“Her power output is absurd,” Jeanist murmurs, jaw clenched.

She lands on her feet, takes a step back, and then throws her arms out again. A bigger burst of magic booms through the house and town, correcting itself into a square. Everything it covers redirects itself into an older model, like she was reliving different timelines. And then, Wanda. She's still in the house, magic pouring from her hands and chest as she leans almost parallel to the floor, red melting into gold, and in turn, forming into something else. Not something, someone.

Vision.

She walks forward, morphing herself into a black-and-white version of her own, a wide smile adorning her face.

Midoriya's notebooks are useless for once. No amount of data could ever explain the complexity of what Wanda felt. He’s scared of her power- but he’s more scared of how much he understands her pain. If he’d lost everyone he loved, would he have done the same?

"Wanda," Vision says softly. "Welcome home. Should we stay in tonight?" She nods and they move to the couch. They share a smile, a kiss, and then part, the real Wanda standing behind them, pure heartbreak on her face as she remembers.

“The instinct to make something when the world takes everything from you..." Snipe says softly, lowering his head. He doesn't continue.

Clapping. Wanda looks up from where she's staring at the couch to see Agatha in an audience-type studio.

"Bravo," she calls out, lifting a hand. She then disappears and the screams of Wanda's children enter her ears. She rushes outside and onto the street, where Agatha is floating in the air in an entirely different outfit, holding her two boys by two purple threads connected to their throats.

"I know what you are," she calls out. "You have no idea how danger you are. You're supposed to be a myth, a being capable of spontaneous creation. And here you are, using it to make breakfast for dinner." Everyone leans forward. This is where they learn about her- who she really is.

Nezu's eyes glitter with interest. “A myth given form. Chaos incarnate.” He begins to pace in front of the screen, the gears in his brilliant mind churning. “The Scarlet Witch is a title. A being bound not by knowledge, but destiny. She bends probability, warps reality, and manifests life from thought.” And then he pauses. “If she didn’t even know, then it’s only a matter of time before someone convinces her to embrace it.” That’s what worries him. Not that Wanda has this power. But that she’ll eventually believe she has the right to use it however she pleases.

"Let go of my children," Wanda gruels back, ignoring everything Agatha had said before.

"Oh, yes. Your children. Vision."

And then the words drop like a bombshell: “This whole little life you've made. This is Chaos Magic, Wanda. That makes you the Scarlet Witch.”

If Wanda is capable of spontaneous creation- a power All For One would kill to replicate- then she's the biggest threat on the board. They’ve been preparing for battle. Studying her powers. Watching her pain. But now, there’s a title. And titles carry weight. They’ve been watching a grieving woman try to survive her loss. But now they understand the scale: they’re not just dealing with Wanda Maximoff. They’re dealing with The Scarlet Witch. And they have no idea what that really means… yet.

They watch as the redhead throws a bolt at the other witch, who catches it. Her skin turns grey and then throws a car at Agatha, who disappears. And then, something else appears. A white version of Vision. He reaches out to her, puts both hands on her face, and begins to squeeze. He's thrown aside by Wanda's Vision, who appears suddenly. And Agatha appears again, poking fun at the situation.

"Your boyfriend and your ex at the same party?" Wanda ignores her and talks to Vision. They agree to fight for now and Vision veers left, grappling with the white version of himself as they both get sent up into the sky. Agatha disappears from the rooftop she's on, only to reappear further down the street. Wanda pushes her glowing hands down and follows her into the air. She lands in the heart of the town, walking further in. She's suddenly hit by a massive blast to her back that sends her to the ground as Agatha begins speaking.

"Wanda. You've never been up against another witch before. Did you know there's an entire chapter devoted to you in the Darkhold? That's the Book of the Damned," she whispers loudly, like it's a secret. Then, she pulls it out of thin air, the pages twisting to what she was talking about.

The moment Agatha calls it the Darkhold, the room stills.

Nezu’s whiskers twitch. He scribbles furiously in a notebook, even as his ears press back. “The Book of the Damned,” he mutters. “Wanda Maximoff has a prophecy written about her.”

"The Scarlet Witch is not born, she is forged. She has no coven, no need for incantation."

"I'm not a witch, I don't cast spells, no one taught me magic!" Wanda shouts from the street below. Agatha keeps talking like she didn't hear her.

"Your power exceeds that of the Sorcerer Supreme. It's your destiny to destroy the world," she says, even as Wanda shakes her head.

“She’s not denying it out of arrogance,” Aizawa adds. “She’s scared. She doesn’t understand what she’s become. And Agatha’s not giving her the chance to breathe, much less think.”

"I'm not what you say I am," Wanda says with finality, lifting her hands into the air.

"Oh, really?" And then, Agatha lifts her hands. Purple glows around her fingers and the people around Wanda turn and start towards her, anger, confusion, and grief lining their faces.

"I used to resist you, but now I can't remember why. Do you?" A man asks, eyes wide with mania.

"I'm exhausted," one of them says.

"No, you're fine. You're fine. You're all... you're all going to be fine," Wanda says, turning in a circle.

"When you let us sleep, we have your nightmares."

"No, that's not true. I've- I've kept you safe in here. You- you feel... you feel at peace!" she says, desperately.

"We feel your pain."

"No."

Your grief is poisoning us."

"No, stop!"

"Please, let us go."

"I wanna get back home."

"Let us go."

"Stop," she begs.

"Let us go, please, Wanda."

"Please!"

"Please."

And then, Wanda crouches over and lets a scream tear out of her throat, red exploding from her form and out to the people of the town. It wraps around their necks and takes the air from their lungs, taking them to the ground as they gasp for air. Wanda looks up, tears in her eyes. Looking at her hands, she lifts them harshly.

"No! Stop, stop I'm sorry." Instantly, the red recedes and everyone gasps for air, reaching for their necks.

"If you won't let us go," an old lady begs. "Then let us die. Please."

"I will," Wanda answers. "I will let you go, I will. I will."

Todoroki flinches. He remembers what it’s like to be trapped in someone else's trauma. How it can smother you even if they think they’re keeping you safe.

"What's stopping you? Use your power and do it now," Agatha calls from where she's been watching from the rooftop the whole time. "Heroes don't torture people."

Wanda's eyes lower themselves back down to the street. Tensing up with resolve, she parts her feet, crosses both of her hands above her head, and then begins to pull down. Red erupts from around her entire form, flying up to the sky like a flare. It slams against the top of the Hex, pulling it apart piece by piece as the whole thing lights up a bright red.

"Go, all of you! Now, go!" she calls out as everyone around her begins to run, screaming and hollering as they sprint from the scene. The buildings around her begin to glitch, reverting to different timelines that she put them in as the walls continue to melt from the corners, the real sky bleeding through. Then, suddenly, Vision, glitching like a video game character, falls from the sky and crashes to the street on her left. Then, her kids.

They fall to the ground, pieces of them floating into the air, the inside of their bodies hollow, like dolls.

"Now do you see? You tied your family to this twisted world and now one can't exist without the other. Save Westview or save your family," Agatha says from above the rooftop, her voice low and solemn, like she actually might feel bad for Wanda. She watches as her family begins to disintegrate into thin air, her kids cries dying down as the lie against the pavement, silent.

Tamaki physically turns away from the screen, flinching as the twins fall limp, their cries fading.

Wanda, seeing this, pulls her hands into her chest with a cry, her power dying out as she falls to the concrete with the effort. The Hex walls bleed back together as the same does for her family, who get up and immediately rush towards her. Seeing that, Agatha lets out a blast. Wanda turns her back to her family and puts up a shield to protect them. The purple slides over the dome and destroys a gazebo behind the family.

And then, Agatha begins to pull from the shield. Red is yanked from the shield, Wanda, and up to Agatha, who absorbs it into herself. Wanda looks down and her arms and hands are black.

"How sweet," Agatha calls out as she floats through the air. Then, the military appears, led by Hayward. Vision breaks off as the white Vision appears, and Wanda tells the boys to deal with the military before she flies off into the sky to where Agatha is. She floats up, avoiding a purple ball flying through the air, right up to Agatha's eye-line before flicking a hand back, and disappearing into thin air. Agatha floats down from a rooftop and Wanda comes up behind her, lifting a hand to her temple. Red bleeds into her eyes and she gasps, disappearing into her own head.

She appears on a stake, bodies on the ground around her.

"No, no," she mutters to herself as she looks around, frantically.

"You see, the difference between you and me," Wanda says slowly as she walks up from behind Agatha. "Is that you did this on purpose." The bodies then start to creak as they stand, grunting and groaning.

"No, no, no! Please, no!" Agatha begs Wanda, who just stands there, watching. And then, the fear melts off of her face as she turns to the redhead. The women in cloaks that have just stood, all then turn to Wanda, who startles.

"You," the oldest-looking one with half a head of white hair, points at Wanda. "Are the Scarlet Witch." Then, they grab her. Agatha slyly moves aside as they force Wanda onto the platform, pressing her into the stake that Agatha had once been tied to.

"You can't win, Wanda," Agatha speaks from where Wanda once stood. "Power isn't your problem, it's knowledge." And then, a crown appears on Wanda's head. It melts onto her forehead like it's made of air, glowing and flittering with magic as the women around her look up at it in awe.

"Give me your power and I will correct the flaws in your original spell. And you and your family and the people of Westview can all live together in peace," Agatha breathes out, her eyes still on the crown atop Wanda's head. "And no one will ever have to feel this pain again, not even you." Wanda just looks at her for a second before she throws her arms up, a wave of red shoving back the women that held her in place.

Agatha stands, holding out her arms slightly, like she's asking for a hug. And Wanda, without a second thought, tackles her. They're instantly back in reality, falling off the roof. They catch themselves, Agatha leading Wanda into the sky, away from any kind of interference.

"Take it," Wanda says through her teeth, throwing a hex bolt directly at Agatha, where it hits her directly. "I don't want it." She throws another. Vision flies up to help, but Wanda turns around and throws out a hand. A shield appears between them and he grabs at it, looking for a way around.

"Come on, Wanda!" Agatha calls out. Wanda, with her eyes squeezed shut, throws another. It flies past the raven-haired witch and hits the hex, and Aizawa almost wants to laugh at the look on her face. Again and again she throws red orbs at the woman, who cackles loudly. For a heartbeat, she wavers. The sky gray's with storm clouds. Her skin darkens. Her fingers crackle. She lifts her arms, gives Agatha what she wants, red tinted with black flying through the sky at breakneck speed.

"Release your burden!" she shouts as Wanda cries out, throwing another. Wanda's- bad. Her skin looks like she's aged fifty years in fifty seconds and the only indication that she's even breathing is how heavily she's breathing and how red her eyes are. Agatha, seeing this, pulls her power in and sets her gaze.

"There's more, I want it all," she says loudly. Wanda throws an underhand bolt in response, who cries out. Another. Another. Another. And another. And then, a line forms between the two and Wanda's yanked forward, head-first as her power is torn from her body by the cackling witch. Silence. Wanda floats on one side of the sky, completely powerless. Agatha lets the red float around her and into the palms of her hands, breathing out deeply. She'd won.

“No. No no- why is she giving up?” Mirio half-shouts.

Bakugo's fists clench. “Don’t tell me that’s it. She just gave her all that power?”

“She wouldn’t,” Aizawa says slowly, but even he sounds unsure. “She’s not that reckless.” Agatha. mocks Wanda and then hurls one last spell- and nothing happens.

But then- runes. Etched into the very sky. Four corners of the Hex. Wanda slowly looks up, eyes glowing red, a new crown of chaos magic forming around her as her skins returns to normal. Agatha looks on with dawning terror as she realizes what that meant for her.

Wanda mutters, "Thanks for the lesson. But I don't need you to tell me who I am." And then, against all pleading from the black-haired witch, she lifts her arms. She takes her power back- and then some. And then, the image. The one that Wanda had seen when she was put together with the stone from her memories; it's Wanda. No, the Scarlet Witch.

“She tricked her. She learned,” Izuku's hands tremble as he speaks. “She’s adapting her powers faster than anyone I’ve ever seen.”

After what seems like a lifetime, it stops. The power stops flowing into Wanda, who floats in midair with her arms still out, head tilted up, a new outfit adorning her form with long gloves and a red cape. There are runes on her belt.

"Oh, God," Agatha says from across the sky, her face dawning with terror. "You don't know what you've done." Wand doesn't answer, instead lifting a hand to pull Agatha from the sky along with her.

"What does that mean?" Endeavor wonders to himself.

The sky calms. Wanda floats above the town square, carrying Agatha’s limp body like it weighs nothing. She descends, slow and regal, her new suit formed in a flash of red light: The Scarlet Witch is here. Her hair flows. Her crown burns red. She lands with controlled grace, every inch of her radiating power and finality, while Agatha lands directly on her face.

"Look at Agatha's fingers," Aizawa notes, leaning forward to squint at the fallen woman, who pushes her hair back over her shoulder. "They're black- just like Wanda's."

And from somewhere in the hero room- “...Damn. She looks good.” The silence is immediate. Everyone turns, eyes narrowed.

Todoroki blinks.

Mirko squints.

Nejire raises an eyebrow.

Aizawa doesn’t even blink- he just deadpans, “Who said that?”

No one answers. Tamaki turns suspiciously red. Mirio chokes on his water. Even Nezu glances around like, “Seriously?”

“We’re analyzing an unstoppable magic goddess and someone’s out here catching feelings,” Mirko mutters.

“Priorities,” Aizawa sighs. Hawks hides a grin behind his coat collar, feathers ruffling as he laughs to himself.

"I'm sorry," Wanda whispers loudly, like she's mocking the woman.

"No you're not, you're cruel," Agatha shoots back, everyone noting the way Wanda's lip quirks at that, like she wants to laugh.

"She's becoming more and more self aware," Nezu whispers, seeing that for himself. She's not fighting it anymore, not really. Maybe she doesn't like what she is- or hasn't accepted it- but she knows.

Wanda reverts Agatha to her nosy neighbor persona against her will, citing that if there ever came a time that she needed her, she would be there- Westview. Agatha’s face twists in rage, then terror as she pleads for Wanda to wait. And just like that, she’s gone- trapped inside of the person she'd created herself.

“We shouldn’t dismiss Agatha," Nezu notes, jotting something down onto his tablet. “She may have wanted Wanda’s power, but she also understood it. Feared it. She studied the Darkhold before Wanda did. That makes her a resource. One we might need to extract if it comes down to it.”

“You think she’d help us? After getting body-slammed into suburban prison?” Bakugo snorts, though he still hasn't looked away from the screen from where Wanda and Vision are walking down the street together, holding hands. Nezu shrugs lightly.

“Agatha’s self-serving. Not loyal. If we offer her a way out-”

“She might give us just enough information to live,” Midoriya finishes, tapping his pen against the notebook he houses. "That is, if we even have a way to get to her. That involves multiversal travel of our own, and then tracking her down too. And we don't even know if she's still alive, and if the plans she had for Wanda's power were any worst than the prophecy itself."

“But can we trust her?" Aizawa cuts in. "What if she joins Wanda instead? Like you said, she's self-serving and Wanda just became even more powerful. If there's any chance that she believes that Wanda can beat all of us, then she'll switch sides instantly."

“We don’t need to trust her," Hawks suddenly cuts in. "Just use her. And if she switches sides in the end, then we'll just need to adapt. Smart as she is, she's powerless now. Unless she can influence Wanda with words- which isn't likely at this point- she's useless to her.”

They watch as she says goodnight to her kids and then goodbye to Vision. They stand together in the living room, holding hands as the Hex moves closer to them from where Wanda is removing it. He asks her what he is. She tells him what he means to her. Not the Mind Stone. Not a body. But hope. Sorrow. Love persevering.

"Wait, this is the first time Wanda's ever been able to say goodbye to anyone that she's ever lost," Izuku realizes, sitting back in his seat. Someone's breath catches. "Her parents, Pietro, and even Vision the first time he died. This is the first time she's getting to properly say goodbye to anyone."

The fact that Izuku has to say "the first time he died" when referring to Vision makes Aizawa shift uncomfortably in his seat. This poor girl has been through too much, and all in the span of about- wait.

"Wait," he suddenly speaks up, sitting up on the edge of his seat. "How old is Wanda? At this point in time from the time of losing her brother? How many years has it been?" People shift, trying to think back.

"She looked about seventeen when she lost Pietro, so we'll go off of that. She was definitely young," Nezu notes. "I would say about two or three years after is when the war with Thanos happens when she loses Vison. Her "television show" is shortly after, so I don't think she's aged since then. And now, I'd say it's been about a year since everything else, so I would guess about four or five years. I would think our young villain is only about twenty-one or twenty-two." A pin drops in the room.

“Twenty-one? That’s practically still a kid. She’s got the power of a top-tier villain, but she’s barely even reached full adulthood. No wonder she's acting the way she is,” Endeavor reaches up to scratch at his chin, deep in thought.

“She’s younger than I thought. I assumed someone with that kind of power and control would be older, more experienced," Todoroki mutters to himself, staring at the screen.

"So every tragedy in her life all the way from losing her brother up to this," Aizawa gestures at the scene of Wanda standing in the beginning of her house, now gone and rewinded back to just the foundation. "Has only taken place over the span of five years- and that's at the most?" Jeanist nods solemnly.

Wanda stands at the edge of town. She apologizes to Monica. To everyone. Then, she transmutes back into her witch outfit and rises into the sky. Wrapped in red light, the world below watches in silent fear and awe. A cut to black and then a cabin. Peaceful wilderness. Birds chirping. Wanda sips tea outside on the porch. Then, the camera drifts inside. There she is: the Scarlet Witch, eyes glowing red. Hovering midair. Surrounded by glowing red orbs, pages of an evil book pulsing with crimson energy in front of her. The Darkhold.

And she hears them, her children’s screams echoing across dimensions.

“Mom! Help! Mom!”

Midoriya is speechless.

“She let them go, she said goodbye,” he smiles faintly at the memory- until the cabin scene appears. Then his notebook falls from his hand, landing heavily on the desk in front of him. “Wait, she’s studying? But she just healed. She moved on!” he looks to Nezu, desperate. The rat just shakes his head.

“If she didn’t have that book, do you think she would've just grieved properly? Would she have healed?” someone in the back mutters to themselves.

Todoroki's voice is hollow as he speaks. "She made the right choice, then undid it with curiosity.” He narrows his eyes. "No. Not curiosity- desperation.”

Nezu scribbles: Target Variable Shift: Now Moving from Grief-Driven to Goal-Oriented. Risk Multiplier: x10.

Endeavor watches her hover in the cabin, frowning. “She’s alone, again. But not like before.” His arms cross. “This isn’t isolation for mourning. It’s for preparation.” A long silence as everyone takes the meaning of that in.

“She’s going to get those kids back. No matter what it costs," Snipe says mournfully, turning his head to face the ceiling.

Mirko grits her teeth, "That book? It’s not just teaching her spells- it’s whispering lies.” She thumps her chest. “You lose someone, you mourn. You don’t rebuild the damn world and risk everyone else’s just to pretend." But even she looks shaken at the voice of the kids.

“Still. I get why she broke," Nejire whispers to herself. "And if you felt you were powerful enough to do something like this- bring someone back from death itself- or another plane of existence- wouldn't you?"

Nezu closes his eyes in consideration. “The Darkhold is an amplifier. It didn’t change who she was, it just made every grief-driven impulse stronger. With it, she's more knowledgeable than before. Who knows what's written in there.”

"And if we were to somehow take that from her?" Mirko asked.

"Out of the question," Hawks immediately answers. Everyone looks at him. "I'm just saying, I'm sure the farther we go, the more the book will be explained. Even now, it seems to be very, very important to her cause. If someone were to take that from her, there's no telling what she would do to get it back."

"I agree," Endeavor answers, a surprised squeak coming from the blonde in response. "The Darkhold allows her to "speak" with her children- it may be the only gateway she has to them, especially now that Chavez has disappeared. We can't consider stealing the book unless we are willing for someone to die doing it." No one brings it up again, eyes moving back to the screen as it lights up again.

Strange approaches Wanda calmly. Orchards, birdsong, and a woman in peace. The team watches quietly. Hope flickers. No magic, she claims to have put it behind her.

Midoriya speaks quietly, "Maybe she- maybe she’s trying to rebuild. Maybe she’ll listen to him.”

And then those cursed words: "You never told me her name, did you?” And everyone's hearts fall at the realization they and Dr. Strange have at the same time, and then her next words.

"You know the hex was the easy part? The lying... not so much." The world warps. The orchard fades into rot and ruin and scarlet clouds spiral overhead. It was never peaceful. She was just masking it, faking ease so Strange would approach her and hopefully bring the girl as well.

“You break the rules and become a hero. I do it and I become the enemy.” She steps closer to Strange, eyes hard, but burning. “That doesn't seem fair.” The room is ice cold. Not from fear-but from realization.

“She’s angry because she knows how hypocritical it is," Nejire notes, pursing her lips to the side as she continues to watch.

“She lost her brother. Then she had to kill Vision. Then she lost him again. And she was still expected to be okay,” Shoto looks at the screen- at Wanda’s eyes. “But she’s not. And now she thinks this is her only way.”

"Return to Karmar-Taj," Wanda tells the man, nodding with finality. "And prepare to hand over America Chavez- peacefully. After that," her eyes drift off to the side. "You'll never see me again." And then, she simply turns and begins to walk away, pulling the Darkhold through the air, molecule by molecule, like Aizawa had seen before.

"And if we don't?" Strange calls out after her. She pauses and turns around slowly.

"Then it won't be Wanda who comes for her. It will be the Scarlet Witch." The room is silent as the screen goes dark, lighting up again. Wanda is floating above an ancient-looking building, Dr. Strange floating up to meet her in the sky, beginning their talk.

"All this for a child you met yesterday," she starts, matter-of-factly. Snipe scoffs.

"Her brother sacrificed his life for a hero and a child he didn't even know. That's what the good guy does, and it's devastating that she doesn't realize that anymore. She's mocking him for being a hero."

“I blew a hole through the head of the man I loved, and it meant nothing.” A moment. Just a moment. Even the strongest in the room flinch, remembering what she had been forced to do. Wanda doesn’t cry. She doesn’t scream. She just says it. And lets the weight of it hang in the air like a bomb that never stopped falling.

"That's when it happened," Aizawa notes, everyone turning to him. “When sacrifice stopped meaning anything. She did everything right- everything she was supposed to and lost everything anyways.”

Wanda, her voice cracking just a little, speaks to Strange through her rage, “You have no idea just how reasonable I have been.”

Strange scoffs back, “Yeah. Book of the Damned, calling yourself a witch, conjuring creatures to abduct a kid- I don't exactly call that being reasonable.”

“Sending those creatures after her instead of myself was mercy," she says lowly. "And in spite of your hypocrisies and insults, I’ve begged you to safely get out of my way.” Strange's face darkens with realization and truth- she was being honest. She truly believed what she was doing was considered merciful.

“But you have exhausted my patience. But I do hope you understand, that even now- what's about to happen- this is me being reasonable," she finishes her speech whispering loudly to the man, smirking halfway through like she's already won. And she has.

It’s dead quiet, everyone's eyes on the screen as Wanda lifts her hand in a heavy blast directed at Dr. Strange. He simply watches as it hits some kind of forcefield, confusion dawning on her face as the man turns and lets himself slowly fall back to Earth below. And then, the rage starts; Wanda takes a shaky breath in before taking movement, making her way around the dome. She blasts every spot she can, looking for a place that isn't protected.

Even Endeavor doesn’t speak, eyes darkening as he watches her pull a helicopter move, pausing to look at everyone below. Aizawa slowly puts his pen down as she worms her way into someone's mind down below, smirking.

"Run," she whispers over his shoulder. The man does so, shoving other people aside as he turns tail. The forcefield breaks and Wanda shoots down a bolt that explodes, sending sorcerers everywhere and ruining the golden dome even more. And then, she attacks, shooting further inside, closer to the people down below.

"Her power," Endeavor pauses to gulp through a dry throat. "Didn't use to do that. She's grown exponentially more powerful."

Someone gasps when she's hit with an explosion from a canon, but then breaths exit bodies as she only careens through the air, catching herself seconds later. There's a gold sheen around her form, but no blood, no holes. Like nothing happened. She simply spins around, face full of rage, and then aims at the canons- and the people behind them.

“She doesn’t even blink. She doesn’t care that she’s hurting them," Midoriya cries out, pointing at the screen as she disintegrates an entire tower with just a flick of her hand.

Aizawa answers back lowly, “Her moral compass is gone- entirely. She’s not a person anymore. That grief from before is gone.”

Mirio snorts, “She’s chasing a kid through the multiverse just to see her imaginary children again. That’s not grief. That’s mania.” They watch as she floats above the entire structure itself, throwing bolts and using telekinesis, none of the blasts from the people below coming close to touching her. She doesn't even pay attention to them.

Nezu sits up, instantly alert, “Her shields are subconscious. That’s not a reaction- it’s a reflex.”

Aizawa, next to him, answers lowly, “She’s on autopilot. And even that’s stronger than most of us at full force.”

Midoriya, frantic, mutters out, “She’s calculating all attacks from all directions without even looking! That’s like having hundreds of eyes!”

When she finally lands, it’s like a meteor touching down in the way chaos explodes outward in a 360-degree shockwave- not just force, but spellwork purpose. And then, she throws out a hand and a screaming man disappears.

"Oh, my God," someone whispers.

"Maybe she is giving us mercy," Tamaki whispers to himself.

And then, Strange appears as she walks through the wreckage.

"You want the girl, you'll have to go through me," he says, his face blank.

"And where is this man now?" Best Jeanist wonders to himself.

"Fine," Wanda says back with finality, walking forward with no hesitation.

"Can we be for real right now? The man's dead for sure," Mirko says after a second. No one argues with her. And then, on a singular step she takes, the floor ripples. The redhead looks up in confusion just as Strange melts away and everything around her starts moving. Walls shift into mirror and ceilings and floor move to glass. Everything reflects her. And then, she ducks down and throws her hands up in defense, only a second before shards erupt from every direction, aimed right at her. Wanda looks around, calm and calculating.

"Interesting reaction. She reacted before the shards even broke out," Nezu voiced.

"Does she have some kind of precognition?" Aizawa voiced, no one being able to answer him. She probably did at this point, but could they even be sure?

Breathing heavily, Wanda throws out a bolt, instantly ducking again as it simply ricochets around the room, more glass appearing as it does.

"Is she hiding from the glass or her power?" Izuku wonders.

"Probably the glass. Despite the fear she's shown of her quirk before, she's never actually been hurt by it. She fears what she didn't understand about it- not the power itself," Endeavor answers back.

Nezu nods slightly. “Well played. She’s boxed in.”

Todoroki nods at him. “The environment is stable. No visible exit points.” And then, they watch as she simply reaches forward and puts a hand through the glass wall in front of her, like she's touching water.

A blackened hand bursts out of the surface of a golden gong- gripping the rim like a creature dragging itself from hell.

Tamaki gasps in sudden fear, like many others. “No- no no no-”

Mirko’s lip curls in shock. “She’s crawling through the damn gong-!”

Her arm twists unnaturally, pulling at her shoulder with an ugly snap. Then her legs folds forward, dragging through like melted rubber. Her body follows- crumpled, broken, twisted like her bones were shattered to fit through. Her elbow cracks backwards. Her leg bends the wrong way.

Nejire recoils in horror. “Her body’s- it’s- she’s not even human-!”

Midoriya can barely speak through the amount of fear coursing through his veins as he watches the scene in front of him. “She- she’s putting herself back together.” And she does. She stands, limbs clicking, neck adjusting, mouth-breathing heavily. Her bones seem to reset themselves, like time rewinding just for her body. She straightens. And then she exhales- expression blank, calm, inhumanly composed.

Bakugo hisses as he leans away from the screen. “The hell even is that thing anymore?”

Strange backs away in horror. Wong is speechless. America stares, paralyzed. And Wanda just stands there. Silent. Breathing. A walking nightmare. Fear lingers as she starts to advance, eyes glowing faintly, footsteps echoing as she opens her mouth, Strange snapping back with her.

"I’m not a monster, Stephen. I’m a mother." The line hits like a gunshot. She believes that. She’s not bargaining anymore. Then she shows them. Her boys. Their laughter. Not a threat. Not a weapon. Just a memory so loud it’s eating her alive. They see the look on her face as she watches the red wisps; the way her eyes water slightly as she sees their smiles and how happy they are when they hug her.

Midoriya, stunned, leans back in his seat. “She means that. That’s not manipulation."

Todoroki answers him with a sigh. “It’s worse. She thinks love justifies this.”

Aizawa speaks slowly. “She doesn’t think she’s the villain. She thinks she’s the only one left who’s right.”

Then, the attack.

"What happens to the other you? What happens to their mother?" Strange asks Wanda, who just continues to glare at him. And then, a smirk slowly grows on her lips, like she's telling him that he should already know the answer to that. Strange, taking advantage, pulls his hands back and then thrusts them out. Snakes appear. Wait, no. Hydra. They squeal through the air and up to Wanda, where she stops them by simply raising her hands. Then, she moves. Waving her arms through the air, she gets rid of them as best she can, heads appearing and doubling as she destroys them, the magician across from her even hissing just as she catches them all in the air. She easily throws her hands out and they all disintegrate, the people standing across the room stumbling back from the outpour of power.

Silence.

"Did he just fucking hiss at her?" Bakugo asks lowly, one eyebrows raised.

"Was that supposed to intimidate her?" Shoto asks, sharing a look with his dad, who seems to glow from the acknowledgement.

“Guy hisses like a snake and still gets wrecked. That’s rough," Mirko mutters through her teeth, clicking her tongue.

They continue to watch as she rises into the air, tossing Dr. Strange aside and then lifting America into the air, screaming. Even the unnamed Sorcerer on the side gets thrown, his head and neck cracking against the concrete as the witch moves her attention back to America, blue beginning to drift from her body and towards Wanda, who has the beginning look of bliss on her face.

"Will that kill the kid? If it does, she obviously doesn't care," Jeanist notes, pointing at the screen. Just then, her power activated itself. Her eyes turned blue with white specks and a blue star erupted into the air behind her, pulling at her, even from where she's restrained in midair. Strange, without missing a beat, leaps forward. Wanda, realizing what he's doing, throws out a hand. It hits him right in the shoulder, but doesn't stop him. He tackles America and they fall into the portal behind her, the star disappearing before Wanda can advance on them.

Wanda lowers herself to the ground, breathing heavily, like she's trying to control herself from lashing out. The red dies out as she stares at where the two had disappeared, moving to where the unnamed Sorcerer from before is shifting on the ground. She lifts a hand and points it at him. She quickly pulls him into the air and ties him up, taking a minute to herself before she pulls out the Darkhold, flipping through the pages. She closes her eyes, floats off the ground, and then, red spirals of glowing power appear around her form, floating lightly.

It's like a horror movie begins. They're no longer looking at Wanda, but floating through the air like they are her. She floats inside a house, where another Wanda- dressed casually in jeans- is walking towards a kitchen- holding two bowls. She pauses, looking right at where Wanda seems to be hiding behind the stairs.

"Does this Maximoff have powers too?" Snipe wonders and Nezu nods.

"I assume so. She seemed to sense our witch's form. It's just a question of how powerful she is here."

And then, the possession takes place. As the other Maximoff- with her original, darker hair color- walks into the kitchen, now slower and more cautious, the light above her starts to swing heavily, the light flickering. A heavy, warbling wind seems to take over her mind, clouding her senses. Then, she happens to look at her birthday picture, where she's looking off to the side, smiling, watching as the picture moves. The smile drops and she turns to look at herself, menacingly.

"Did that just-" Mirko shudders. "This is all getting a little too witchy for my taste."

Dark-haired Wanda starts to breathe heavily, like she's straining herself- or already being drained. The wind blows again, pulling the bowls from her hands and into the counter wall to her right. They shatter and she stumbles forward against the counter, gasping for air. She continues to try to catch her breath, movement pulling at her eyes. Leftover peas from dinner roll across a plate, a cup, once filled with tea, now filled to the brim with a tiny part of the sea itself, waves crashing into the rim. Seagulls ring in her ears. And then, she looks up- and the Scarlet Witch looks back.

Nezu nearly drops his pen as he realizes what's going on: “She’s possessing herself across the multiverse. That’s not teleportation. That’s infiltration of identity."

Midoriya panics to himself. “But that Wanda didn’t do anything! She’s innocent- how can she just take over her body like that when she's got kids in the other room?”

Mirko, disgusted, shakes her head. “Because to her, they're the same. It’s her life. Just out of reach.”

Aizawa tilts his head, gazing at her. Not smiling. Not blinking. Not caring. Bloodshot eyes. Expression blank. Cold. Watching.

Then, suddenly- her face screws up with pain and she screams through her teeth. She jerks, throwing her head back, her body twitching unnaturally. She gasps- once, then again- as a distorted cry escapes her, echoing strangely, like her voice is layered on itself. Her eyes fly open, filling with fear. The lights flicker, and then, she settles with a final sigh.

The Scarlet Witch opens her eyes, now in control. The red fades from her irises and she turns and looks- looks- at them. It only takes a second, but the amount of fear that overtakes them is palpable, even as she simply turns and walks away.

"All that screaming and no one heard. That's how easy it was for her," Bakugo mutters to himself, not wanting to admit how shaken he is by his eyes meeting hers for the first time.

And she hears it.

“Mom?” She stops. The look on her face. The wonder in her eyes- the slight fear, like she's dreaming again.

"Yes, sweetheart?" she finally manages to get out, her voice heavy with the accent she'd lost years ago in her own body.

"Where are you going?" A boy's voice asks from somewhere else in the room.

"That's gotta hurt," Tamaki says, quietly. "Knowing you're not really there? Her kids are calling out for her, but it's still not her."

Billy and Tommy come into view as Wanda turns and walks back down the length of the house, eyes never leaving "her" sons. They’re arguing. No idea anything is wrong.

And for a second, Wanda smiles.

Her lips part. "Why... don't you both start it, whatever it is, together?" Her voice wants to shake, but she's trying so hard not to lose her composure in front of the boys.

Nejire tears up. “She’s trying so hard to pretend that’s her life.” They all watch as the boys begin to sing their song about ice-cream, the smile on Wanda's face growing larger as she steps towards the boys. Then, she actually smiles- widely- tears forming in her eyes as she reaches up to cup their faces, looking down at them with so much love that it makes Aizawa's stomach hurt.

He glances away just once, and looks up to see Wanda crash to the ground, an explosion ripping her from her play-pretend. Her form stutters back to the real her- back at the ruined building where she'd just killed hundreds of people- also on the ground. Back in the other her's world, her boys rush over, calling for her. Real-world is just her getting to her knees. She reaches up for her boy's faces, and then, it cuts back to her one last time. Her grasp on fake-world her severs, and she lowers her hands back down to her sides, boys disappearing back into their world, and she, into hers.

She turns around and looks at the place where the explosion came from, seeing a burnt and broken version of the Darkhold on the ground, and what looks like a crumbling shadow of what used to be a person. There's a dagger in the middle of the book, and it falls into nothing as she scrambles over, pulling it from the wreckages of ash. The blackness from her fingers is already fading.

And for once, she looks small.

And then, she turns her head. She looks rageful, glaring at the man like he'd been the one to ruin her fun. The man from earlier is still suspended above the temple archway, watching.

Her breath shudders.

“She doesn't stop when she's hurt. She gets more dangerous,” Midoriya mutters.

They watch as she throws Wong out of the sanctum and walks down the stairs, absolutely powerful and terrifying as she makes her way over to him.

"I need the Darkhold spells and you are the Sorcerer Supreme; tell me what you know," she demands lowly, breathing heavily. Wong, on his knees in front of her, spits out a mouthful of blood, glaring up at her.

"You'll have to kill me, witch," he answers back. She just looks at him for a second and Aizawa is suddenly hit with the memory of when he'd said the same thing to her earlier, after she'd threatened his kids. The look on her face back then...

"Not you," she breathes, lifting an arm. "Them." Suddenly, screams of pain erupt from behind the man. He spins around to see that several of his students- young students- are still alive and are levitating in the air behind him, covered in red as Wanda tortures them, their bodies seizing and spasming.

"Wanda, stop," Wong pleads, turning back around to face the woman, who ignores him in favor of continuing her action. "Wanda, please!" She continues. Finally, he snaps.

"The Darkhold was a copy!" She pauses, stunned.

"A copy?" she repeats in a whisper, the bodies of the students slowly falling to the ground behind the man as he stares up at the witch in front of him.

"If the book she had was destroyed, how did she obtain another one?" Aizawa wonders, thinking back to when he'd seen the inky blackness coating her fingers. Back before they'd betrayed her.

"Maybe this is how?" Mirko leans forward to hum in thought. "Still so many unanswered questions, though." He can't help but agree.

"No one has survived the journey," Wong breathes on the screen. Wanda lifts a finger and a dead man's ring soars into the sorcerer's hand. He glances up at her.

"Perhaps we will be the exception."

Wanda floats through storm clouds, towing Wong by crimson magic like he’s a ragdoll. Mount Wundagore rises in front of them them. Not a temple. Not a ruin. Something older. Hungrier. They land and Wanda lights up fire as Wong talks about the history of this "Wundagore". Suddenly, things appear. Tall, giant things that look like the shadows of monsters personified, with the same deep, red eyes that Wanda has.

Endeavor shivers.

"They've been waiting for me," she realizes as they all bow down to her. Then, she turns and notices the carving on the wall.

"This isn't a tomb," Wanda speaks loudly, turning back around and lighting up her hands. "It's a throne."

“If she believes this is where she belongs, then any argument, any appeal to morality, won’t matter anymore.” Aizawa, voice like gravel, looks downward. “We’ve passed the line where she could be talked down. Now she thinks she’s fulfilling a prophecy. That means she’ll go as far as it takes to make it true.”

"You're wondering what happens now," she says, pausing from where she's looking at the stone her.

"No, that I've already accepted. But I do wonder. You could force America to send you to any universe you want- why take her power for your own? You know it will kill her.

"He's asking the million-dollar question!" Bakugo shouts, gesturing loudly at the screen. Everyone leans forward, eagerly.

"For Billy and Tommy- to protect them. What if they get sick? In the infinite multiverse, there's a cure for every illness, a solution to every problem. I won't lose them again."

"Try as you might, Wanda, you cannot control everything-" the man tries to argue.

"But I can," she hisses in response. "Look around you. It's carved in stone; I was meant to rule everything. But that's not what I want. I just want my boys."

"She says that like it justifies everything- like because she doesn't want to rule the multiverse she's supposed to be allowed to do whatever she wants otherwise," Jeanist notes, leaning back in his chair to rub at his forehead.

"At the cost of a child's life? Is there no peace in knowing even though you can't be with the ones you love, there are worlds where you are together? Is that not enough?" Immediately after he finishes talking, he's lifted into the air.

"Even I can admit that that was probably the dumbest thing he could've said to her in the moment," Hawks shakes his head from the back of the room. "He might as well have said, You're not happy in this world? Well, every other you has her kids- that should make you smile! I mean, what was he thinking?"

"No," Wanda whispers loudly, pulling her arm back and shoving it forward. The man is thrust through the air, over the raised platform in the middle of the "room", then tumbling over the edge of the tower they're on. His screams disappear into the distance. Wanda is instantly pacing over to the wall to find the spell she's looking for, the creatures that reside in the tower watching her every move- like she needs protection.

And then, she begins to Dreamwalk. Making her way to the top of the platform, her "followers" follow to protect her body, she escapes her own and returns to the other Wanda's. She seems to be asleep on the couch, one son on either side of her body as they also slumber. This time, the possession is faster, quieter. Wanda just enters the other woman's body, her eyes opening seconds later, red irises fading into green. She simply stands and exits the house, barefoot, the door closing behind her as she pushes her hands down and flies into the sky, a mission already in mind.

"Her hand to hand combat is formidable- very impressive," Jeanist looks almost nervous as he speaks.

They're watching Wanda- possessed Maximoff- fight now. She'd just infiltrated a big building in a huge city, entering it like she owned the front door. Instantly swarmed by robots, she took to defending herself. And they were just reminded how how useless their powers would be against hers.

“Those things were programmed to neutralize threats. She just wiped out two dozen like they were made of paper," Aizawa whispers to himself, both of his hands pressed to either of his temples, the headache he'd started getting a few minutes ago getting even stronger."

Autoshield activated, she takes hold of two Ultron bots, one behind and one in front of her. Breaking the one in front of her in two, she spins, the top half of the bot arcing over her head. It crashes into the other one. Then- shield still activated- she takes control of five bots all at the same time. Taking a single step forward, they're all dismantled, shoved into the ground with enough force to rip them in half.

"Huh," is all Endeavor can say.

She steps forward, covered in oil from the exploding robots, one hand nursing a red orb, eyes locked forward. Then, the heroes arrive. A woman wearing a jetpack- Bakugo snorts- a man that can stretch, and a man and woman that can both fly on their own. No one bets on them winning.

"Black Bolt can destroy you with one whisper from his mouth," the stretched man in front says, gesturing at said man over his shoulder. He sucks in a mouth full of air, smirking like he's already won.

“No no, wait- this guy’s serious, right? They’re treating him like their trump card," Snipe says, shaking his head.

Bakugo glares at the screen with narrowed eyes. “Too bad she looks like she doesn’t give a damn.”

Wanda shakes her head like she's genuinely confused. "What mouth?" she asks. Everyone looks back at the man to see that- she's right. Where lips used to be is now clear skin. He was clearly not expecting it as he raises his hands to his face, clawing at the skin. Then, panicked, he screams. His power erupts; his head blows up like a balloon, and then pops. He collapses to the floor.

"Oh, my God!" someone shrieks from the back of the room. Someone else throws up.

"Oh, oh," Izuku manages to get out, looking like he's about to throw up himself. Bakugo is looking at the screen with furrowed eyebrows and parted lips, like he can't believe what he'd just seen.

“She changed the structure of his body without touching him. Without uttering a spell. Not illusion. Not hallucination. Reality transmutation," Nezu says- almost gleefully- as he continues to write in his notebook, shaking with excitement.

The man in the front turns and instantly reaches for Wanda. She counters, throwing out a hand. Her red crawls up his limbs, unraveling them like yarn as he screams in pain. They reach his head and it pops like a grape in a burst of red. She lowers her hand like it had only been an inconvenience to move it, eying the other two like a warning. The two women share a look.

“They’re still gonna try? Idiots," Mirko chuckles darkly.

The woman that can fly leaps into the air and powers a continuous burst of energy at Wanda, who throws up a shield in defense, still eying the shield-bearing woman as she runs around the room, trying to catch her off guard from the side. She throws her shield and Wanda, having kept an eye out, catches it with a circle of red, one hand still holding a shield. She turns and throws it across the room, where it catches in a pillar. The woman in the air stops her burst and Wanda throws up both of her hands to deflect. It bounces off of her red and onto the ground, exploding in a burst of gold. It sends her flipping through the air, the shielded woman smashing into the pillar behind her. Hurriedly standing, Wanda throws several more red orbs at the woman on the ground as she runs for the shield across the room. She gets to it anyways and Wanda is forced to focus on the woman in the air again as she aims a blast at her. She deflects again, and, seemingly having had enough, throws a statue at her.

"They seem to be holding their own, but even with a two-against-one, Maximoff doesn't seem to be that overwhelmed at all," Endeavor notes. Others nod their heads in agreement.

Wanda looks around for the woman running around. She looks right at her just as she sprints through a cloud of fog and slams into her, shield-first. Another tic for Aizawa's "I think she has precognition" tab. She's thrown into the ground, rolling backwards and pulling herself up as quickly as possible, tossing her hair back over her head.

"Haven't you had enough?" she asks, breathing heavily.

The woman spits out a mouthful of blood with a knowing smile. "I could do this all day."

It's the same line. Wanda doesn't seem to care, though. The woman swipes her shield and Wanda ducks under it, catching her from behind and flipping her to the side.

Nezu adjusts his collar. “Interesting. Wanda doesn’t flinch at that line. She doesn’t react to the parallel at all. She thought of Steve Rogers as an older brother, but didn't react to his line being said by an alternate version of himself."

“She doesn’t see it,” Mirio says. “She doesn’t want to. That Carter’s fighting for something she once did- something selfless. Maybe she doesn't want to believe that that woman is like the man that she once looked up to for years, because then she knows that he would be in her place too, aiming that shield at her.”

The woman catches herself with her jetpack and then rears back, throwing the shield with all of her might. Wanda easily catches it and spins in a circle, letting the object go with an extra layer of red. It's faster now, stronger. The woman has just turned to face the woman when it slices through her middle, forcing itself through her stomach and into the column some feet behind her, dripping in her blood. She falls to to the side and Wanda takes a second to just look at her, eyebrows furrowing.

She doesn't sneer. Doesn’t laugh. Instead- she gives a slow blink. A tilt of the head. A subtle, almost pitying expression. That look.

Boom. Wanda spins around to see that the woman from earlier has returned. She angrily sends a beam of gold down towards Wanda, who barely catches it in her shield. She stumbles backwards, pushing herself into the air in response. Yanking up several walls of ground between them to give her a second to steady, she plants her feet and waits until the hears the woman crashing through the last one. She twirls her hands and throws up a shield just as she comes into view. Their powers collide midair- red against gold- bursting into a sphere of unstable energy. She lifts into the air and they start spinning in the middle of the room, trying to overpower the other.

"That's the first time yet I've seen her even caught remotely off guard and she instantly evened the field," Hawks mutters, feathers ruffling."

"Get the hell out of my universe!" the other woman shouts, pushing out more power.

Wanda flinches out slightly at the force, instantly straightening up. The heroes see as the golden spiral that once covered Wanda morphs red, twisting to umbrella over the other hero instead. Wanda's oil-covered face turns from focused panic to focused anger. The other woman's mask is pulled into the circle of power between them and she opens her hand, face turning to disbelief and hopelessness.

"So much power. All of them," Aizawa mutters to himself, running a hand down his face as he glares at the screen."

Wanda then pulls her hand back and thrusts it forward with a loud cry. The room explodes with gold. Both women are blasted apart in a shockwave. They’re flung across the room, crashing to the ground. Wanda rolls to her knees in a sea of glass. Captain Marvel hits the ground hard, groaning. Wanda looks up and sees the statue she'd crashed into. Reaching up, she takes control of it. Pulling her hand back, it falls forward, crushing the woman underneath it. She stands and limps over the glass around her, making her way to her original destination. America Chavez is trapped in a glass box across the way, and as she enters the room and pauses to look at the girl, a man in a yellow chair appears.

"Enough!" he cries out, raising a hand to his temple, the other at her. Wanda also lifts a glowing hand directly at him, and they disappear. A red orb in her mind, exploding, her screaming, and then a burst of white. Wanda struggles. She watches as the man walks through her mind. He passes through a door that leads further in and even though it closes, she can't follow behind him. She forces her way through, red clouds following as she advances with a spell. She sees the man freeze and she leaps forward, rotted grey hands wrapping around his face to rip his head off of his neck. Appearing suddenly back in real life, she watches as the man seizes in his chair, and then falls to the side, dead eyes landing on her. She smirks and looks to the side to where Chavez is- or, where she used to be. She there's a star-shaped hole in the glass box and she and the woman trying to help her escape are both gone.

She runs.

Limping down stairs and into backrooms, she senses Dr. Strange, the woman with him, and America as they run from her. Then, she sees a door closing as she runs up on it, heavy and metal. She simply stops, lifts a hand, and watches as two lines of red separate the halves from each other, opening the slab for her. The heroes have a front-row seat to that scene, staring directly at Wanda as she looks at everyone else in the room, eyes glowing red. She looks like a shadow, her entire form dark except for her red hand and glowing eyes.

"Yeah," Snipe mutters, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. "I'd run too."

"Go, go, go!" the man shouts at the two women with him, turning tail himself. They'd taken the long way around tables and shelves in the room, but Wanda doesn't do that. She crosses her hands over her chest and then parts them back to their respectful sides, everything in the room flying to the walls to give her a clear path. And then, she limps forward. They start closing more doors behind them, just like the first one; heavy and metal. The first one slides down from the ceiling like a barrier and she throws out a hand, a hex bolt instantly putting a hole in it. She passes through, continuing this, getting closer and closer to her goal.

And then, on the last door, she just stops. This point of view is actually from the side of the door that everyone else is on, not Wanda. So, the heroes watch intently as everything seems to slow. The water falling from the ceiling drips and the shadows whisper, but the redhead remains on the other side of the barrier. And then, it happens. The dark, shadowy figure of Wanda steps out of the shadows from the right of the door, like she'd found another entrance into the tunnel.

Aizawa shakes his head, not even surprised. "Of course she has umbra-teleportation," he mutters, wincing at America's scream. He watches as she walks forward, breathing heavily. Her eyes are still glowing as she smiles at the man, menacing and cold.

"I warned you," she rasps.

"Other Wanda, if you're in there," Strange says, taking in a deep breath. "Hold your breath." Then, just as Wanda has enough strength to pull a glowing hand from her side, he slams his own down onto the ground. And the wall above Wanda explodes, dousing her in water, as the other three escape. The woman seems to black out for a second, exhausted and in pain. As soon as the water hits her, the screen goes black, everything after that coming through watery and low. She breaks open the door, stumbles through it, coughing and slipping, gripping onto an open door in front of her for stability. Glaring down with blurry eyes, she sees everyone in that room- that massive, purple room, the man grabbing a white book off of a stand in front of him. No one was looking at Chavez, who stood a few feet behind them. Quietly, she lets herself fall, almost stumbling as she catches herself on one knee as she lands on the cool tile below.

"She's tired. Almost done," Mirko notes, nodding to herself.

"Yeah, too bad that that isn't really her," Endeavor answers back.

From where she's standing, she lifts a hand, and grabs the girl. Her hair, once around her face, is yanked back by a cloud of red. She's pulled into Wanda's hand, where she grabs a fistful of locks and holds her, face set in hatred. Her hair is still wet. The woman with Dr. Strange lunges forward, but is pulled back as the man lets out a beam of gold aimed at Maximoff. She easily catches it, absorbs it, and then sends it back. He's shoved to the ground, the book he has in his other hand disintegrating.

"Oh, my God," someone mutters, growling it out like they're frustrated.

Aizawa gets it. He doesn't know how they're going to beat her. Every single plan he'c come up with so far is instantly crossed out and deemed useless the next time she makes a move. He didn't know how they were going to beat her.

Silently, Wanda waves her hand in a sideways figure "8" and lifts the two other adults into the air, taking control of America's power through her body. The girl instantly stops struggling and her eyes turn blue as a star appears a few feet away, to Strange and the other woman's rights.

"So, she can control other people and their powers?" Tamaki asks, meekly. No one answers him.

Waving a hand towards the star, the two other people disappear into it. And then, Wanda lifts a hand to the girl's head next to her, letting red drip from her fingers and into her temple. The star shifts and other Wanda appears inside it- the real Wanda- where she's still floating above the platform with her eyes closed. Mom-Wanda pulls her hand back and throws Chavez through the star and at the Scarlet Witch's feet, who opens her eyes. Slowly, she steps off of the platform and glares at the girl, who stands, breathing heavily.

"This isn't what your children would want!" she tries. Angrily and with tears in her eyes, Wanda takes control of her body and throws her onto the platform where she once was. Then, slowly, she walks around to where she's at the head of it, standing over the girl.

"They'll never know," she answers smoothly.

"Maybe not, but you will." And that same look comes back into her eyes. Not regret, but something like acknowledgement. Like she still knows what she's doing, but she's getting tired of it. Instantly, the look is gone and she takes control of America's hands, pulling them to her sides. And then, she begins to drain as the girl screams. And then, she stops for some reason. She instantly pulls her hands back down and steps off the platform, lifting her hands up to her chest to cup her fingers together. Straightening up, she turns and walks over to the wall to read something that the heroes can't decipher, America slowly floating up into a starfish position in the air above the platform.

"She had her right where she wanted her. So, why'd she stop?" Aizawa asks, licking his lips.

"I believe that that would be our new million-dollar question," Nezu answers instead, a twinkle in his eye.

Wanda's only looked at the wall for a few minutes when a sound erupts from behind her. She turns to see a zombie version of Dr. Strange landing on the platform, with what looks like ghostly figures acting as wings on his shoulders.

"Interesting development," Jeanist mutters, someone behind him snorting.

"Dreamwalking, you hypocrite!" Wanda shouts as she throws a bolt at the man. The things around him fly forward as a shield, opening their mouths. Her red flies into them as they giggle and jeer.

"This time, it's gonna take more than killing me to kill me," he says. Everyone cringes.

Bakugo lets out a groan so visceral it feels personal. “What was that? I hate to say it, but leave the one-liners to Maximoff.”

Wanda, not having it, throws another bolt. The zombie runs forward, flips over it, and then, the ghouls on his shoulders fly from him and over to Wanda, who lifts both hands in confusion and defense as they circle her.

"Murderer!" they cry at her. She bats at the air, turning in circles. Then, she's lifted into the air and thrown near the cliff, where the man from before- the one that had asked Maximoff the stupid question and then been thrown out of Wundagore- is standing, a gold circle appearing around her and the demons as he moves his hands through the air. Wanda instantly breaks a hand free, letting out a raspy scream as the things from inside with her grab at her wrist and arm.

"Strange! Take America's power!" the man holding Wanda screams. "There's no other way." Hearing that, she fights harder, needing to escape before Strange did just that. If he took her power, it would be a lot harder to get it back than if she were fighting the girl alone. Now she'd have to go against the Sorcerer that'd been protecting her the entire time.

Heroes jump to their feet at that, protesting loudly.

“What?” Midoriya’s voice cuts through the noise. His hands tighten into fists, trembling with disbelief. “You’d kill her just to stop Maximoff?”

Mirio looks devastated. “They were supposed to be her protectors. She trusted them.”

Moments later, Wanda breaks free. She throws out her arms and the man and the ghouls go flying. Striding forward, she throws a bolt at the zombie, which catches him in the shoulder and throws him to the ground. Then, holding onto it, smiling slightly, she watches as it begins to deteriorate him down to the bone as he continues to cry out in pain.

Then, a rabid scream, and Wanda looks up just in time to catch a hit from America, right in the jaw. Her head snaps back and a star appears behind her, a shockwave leaving the mountain.

America’s stance is steady. Her breath sharp. She tilts her head and raises her brows with a simple, “Uh huh.” Wanda lowers her hand from her face and answers with a disapproving hum of her own, just in time to catch another hit to the face. Several more punches. Then a brutal kick that nearly sends Wanda stumbling, almost into into a pit of fire behind her.

The entire room goes dead silent. Even Bakugo doesn’t blink.

Aizawa, arms folded tight, doesn’t speak. But his one visible eye narrows sharply. He’s watching Wanda, not America. Because then- Wanda straightens. Turns. And the look she gives? Cold. Disgusted. Annoyed.

“She’s not playing anymore,” Midoriya mutters, his hands clenched. “Look at her eyes."

And sure enough- America charges again. One last star-powered punch- And Wanda catches it. Midair, with a circle of red. A smirk. She begins to walk America backward, red magic flaring from her fingers, draining the blue light from the star in her fist. The portal behind her flickers- Then dies.

"I can't beat you," America admits. "So, I'll give you what you want." Lifting the other hand that isn't encased in magic, she hits the witch point-black between the eyes. Another star appears and they both stumble into it, Wanda grabbing the girl around the throat. Leaning over her, she's suddenly aware of what's around her. Her head snaps to the right and she's met with the scene of the two boys on the couch, blissfully unaware of their appearance.

Mirko leaned forward, eyebrows raised in fierce approval. “Now that’s a punch.”

"Billy, Tommy," Wanda calls out, just as they look up.

"Mommy!" one of them screams as they both get up and rush around the couch.

"It's the witch!" the other one accuses as they disappear up the stairs.

Wanda turns back to America, rage pouring from her lips. "What have you done?" Then, she lets her go to simply trail after the boys, calling for them.

"Wait, boys! I'm your mother!" Waving a hand to the side, she shoves the couch against the wall and then lifts her hand further up. "Get away from them!" Jerking her arm to the right, the other Wanda that's just appeared is throws through the air and into the ceiling of the dining room, crashing to the ground.

"Mommy!" the two boys run to the other side of the stairs and begin to throws toys at the witch, who steps closer to them, slowly, begging for them to stop.

“They’re scared of her,” Nejire says, her voice cracking.

Toys fell around her like rain. A plastic truck bounced off her shoulder. A stuffed animal hit her chest and fell limply to the floor, all while she simply raised her normal hands in defense, trying to get them to stop.

"She's trying to make herself smaller, almost. Less intimidating, so the kids would listen. She loves her kids, and it was never her intention to scare them, and yet, it's all she's doing," Hawks says loudly, eyes on the screen.

"Please, boys, stop it. Stop it. Stop it!" she finally screeches, lowering her hands to look at them. They stare at her with fear and then run to hide behind the stairs, tears streaming from their eyes. Realizing what she did, she pauses. Wanda Maximoff stood frozen in the center of the living room. Her face was twisted- not with rage, not anymore- but with something far more unbearable. Grief.

"This must be so scary for them. They have no idea what's going on," Izuku whispers.

Wanda, all gentle again, walks over to the banister, cooing and smiling at them.

"Please don't hurt us," one of them whispers to her. Her face breaks and she shakes her head.

"Oh, Wanda," Nezu whispers to himself. "The inside of your mind must be a terrible place."

"I would never hurt you- never. I would never hurt anyone, I'm not a monster! I'm a...I'm-" But she couldn’t finish. Silence. Just the sound of her breath catching, cracking, and crumbling.

Nezu, eyes unblinking, simply murmured, “She thought she could control reality. But fear-especially the fear of a child- cuts deeper than any magic.”

They watch as she shakily stands and back away from the banister, breath shaky and her hands trembling. Tears shone in her eyes, her breathing ragged. She blinked down at the boys who had just cowered from her. The ones she would’ve destroyed worlds for- and who now looked at her like a nightmare. Just as the heroes think it's over- the kids ready themselves to rush over to their mom- it happens. She looked up. And locks eyes with her variant. The real mother. The black on her fingers darkens, and her hands clench.

“She can’t take it,” Midoriya murmured. “She- she’s deflecting. She can’t accept that it’s over.”

“She’s looking at the woman who has everything she lost. Who got to live the life Wanda only dreamed of," Aizawa answers back.

Tamaki watches the screen, frozen. “She's about to make the worst mistake of her life.” And no one knew if she’d ever come back from it.

"You," her voice shakes in barely concealed rage from where her counterpart is trying to push herself to her feet. "This is all your fault." Even the kids freeze at the sound of her voice. Then, like a storm breaking, she lunged forward. They watch as she throws a bolt, waves a hand at the screaming kids to send them to the ground, asleep, and attacks again. Then, the star disappears around her and she's back at Wundagore. She kills everyone. Using Chavez, she kills Strange from another universe, steals his Darkhold, and then kills the man that had held her with the ghouls. Then, they watch as it's just them then, America panicking and crying as she turns tail and uses her power to open another universe.

Wanda follows, stumbling through. Landing on her hands and knees, she looks up and is met with downtown Musutafu. She stands, looks down at her blackened hands, and it ends. She screen goes dark. No one says a word.

"So," Nezu stands on the table and makes his way to the front of the room. "Any ideas on how to stop our foe?"

The room rings in silence and Aizawa groans to himself

"We're all gonna die," someone mutters. This time, no one says otherwise.

Wanda walks into the abandoned bar behind the villains, one of them pulling off to the side to slam the door closed behind her. She gives them a warning look, immediately moving her head to the small T.V. in the corner, the sound of slow clapping gathering her attention. She wanders over to the screen, ignoring the group around her disbanding into other areas of the room around her.

"I apologize, Maximoff. I simply had to applaud you for your actions today. Truly, well done." She narrows her eyes at the screen, not trusting the voice one bit. It's calm, low. Artificial. Cloaked in that heavy life-support mask that covers most of his face, other than the upper side of his skull, where eyes should be. She sees only more flat skin. The man continues.

"I’ve seen power, I've owned power. But you- you’re something else entirely," he grins widely. Wanda doesn’t speak. She watches him like one might study a roach crawling toward flame. Waiting to see if it’ll burn or scurry.

"You think they understand you? The heroes? No- they fear what they cannot rewrite into neat little stories. A woman grieving? They’ll call you unstable. A woman angry? They’ll call you evil. Or," his tone softens, like a coaxing whisper behind a locked door. "They already are." That makes her twitch.

"But me," he continues on. "I see a god made of flesh. I see the inevitable of what you are and what you can become, even now. I want something from you, Maximoff, if you'll allow me to request so." Wanda steps closer, head tilting to the side.

"Do you know who I am." She doesn’t ask. She knows. Her voice is flat, accusatory. It doesn’t rise. Doesn’t need to.

No one does," he gestures to her. His hand doesn’t tremble, but it’s respectful. Like he’s not sure she won’t erase him with a thought. "But I'd like to-"

"If you don't know who I am," she interrupts, looking around at everyone around her. "Then it might be wise to tread lightly when asking things of me."

"But if I offer you more than just power? I have information. Allies. Protection. You don’t need to fight me. You don’t need to be alone." All for One grins.

A flicker. That word. Alone.

Her face twitches, just a little. Her eyes dim by a fraction. A quiet home in New Jersey. A family made of memory and hope. Then her eyes burn again, bright and terrible.

"I am alone, and they made sure that it stayed that way."

He waits a beat before speaking up again. "You think this is about your power. But it’s about their fear. They’re afraid because they know you’re right."

"About what?" Wanda asks lowly.

That this world is wrong," he shoots back. "Unfair. Hypocritical. Ugly underneath the shine. And you? You remind them. You loved. You lost. You shattered reality. They call that dangerous. I call that honest." She says nothing. Her expression is unreadable- but she hasn’t incinerated him yet. That means something.

"Don’t fight me, Wanda. Let me help you. You want your children back?" he asks softly, like if he speaks any louder he'll scare her away.

Her head lifts. He has her attention now.

"And what do you want?" she suddenly demands. "What do you get from this? I didn't come to be worshipped."

"No," he says slowly. "But, you will be. You have power. I have infrastructure. Access. Knowledge. Hidden laboratories. Dimensional gate blueprints. Research from Dr. Garaki and men who dared to pierce the veil between worlds long before you arrived. If you help us, you won't even need that girl's power. You could come and go from different worlds as you please. Let me help you, not rule you, but fuel your cause. All I ask is for a place in the new world that you rebuild after you've burned this one to the ground for what they did to you."

Wanda stays silent for a long moment, twisting her fingers together as she stares at the floor between her boots, the burned and blackened edges of her cape fluttering slightly. One for All doesn't rush her, even as Shigaraki starts to get restless, tapping his finger against the wall. Finally, just when it seems that they're going to have to fight to live another day, she lifts her head and speaks.

"I'm a myth, even in my own world," she pauses to lick anxiously at her lips. "What does that make me here?" The man in front of her grins.

"A god." A pause. And she smiles.

"I guess I should start acting like it then."

"It seems so. I leave you be, for now. I have to get in touch with my colleagues to keep good on my promise, but after that," his teeth sparkle. "We'll be in touch." And then, the screen goes dark and silence takes over the room.

Only a minute goes by before Shigaraki feels the need to speak up, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room.

"Let me ask you something," he says, loudly. Wanda turns from her place at the counter to look at him over her shoulder. "You’re telling me you have all that power- cosmic, reality-breaking power- and all you want is to play house?"

She suddenly turns, snarling as she stalks towards him, instantly on the defense. "Don’t speak on what you don’t understand."

"No, I understand perfectly," Shigaraki mocks back as he pushes off the wall to step closer to her. "You're weak. You lost pretend children and broke the universe trying to make them real again. I killed my family. Buried them in pieces. No mercy. No tears. And I never looked back. You could have remade the world. You could have burned it all down and started over. But instead, you cried over bedtime stories. You're not a weapon. You're a mother with a god complex."

Wanda just looks at him and then turns to everyone else, slowly. Like she's analyzing them.

"I could be a weapon," she says finally, turning back to him. "And I will be. But you're lucky your boss got to me before then, because otherwise, you'd have been dead before you dared say anything about me or my family." And then, she turns to walk away, back towards the door.

"She doesn't smell like us," she faintly hears the blonde girl hiss somewhere off to her left. A frustrated grunt and then more footsteps.

"Don't walk away from me!" the blue-haired man from before snarls.

"You don't give orders to me," she says back, smoothly. She pauses in walking and turns to look at him, aware of how terrifying she looks compared to them. All in red, dried, tangled hair, covered in dried blood and streaks of pink from her night in the shower, her already intimidating outfit and crown, and then her faintly-glowing eyes and blackened fingers. She's the picture of a nightmare and she knows it.

"I want to see what’s behind that grief. Everyone bows to her like she’s unstoppable. Untouchable. Then let her prove it," he speaks out loud, the other members watching with narrowed eyes.

"I have nothing to prove to you," she speaks lowly. He pauses, looks at her.

And then, he lunges. He races low, throwing out a hand- that's all he needs. Throwing it up, he intends to grab her around the throat, but she simply throws out a hand and catches it in midair, a red ring appearing around his wrist. And then, she simply pulls her hand back and pushes it forward, Shigaraki being blasted backwards into the wall. He falls, laughing to himself.

"I think I love her," Toga whispers again.

"I am the future. The end of everything. You don’t get to outshine me!" Shigaraki screams from where he's still on the floor, holding his wrist.

"You think you can lead me?" Wanda says incredulously. Then, she pauses and looks at him- really looks at him. Red eyes glow and he lifts a hand to cover his eyes like that'll stop her from invading her mind. The others lean forward a bit, but just as soon as it's started, it stops, and she's pacing forward to meet the man on one knee.

"I don't need to lead. I just need to win," she whispers to him. Then she stands and announces to the whole room, arms out wide. "Call me what you want. Ally. Asset. Weapon. Doesn't matter to me-" she turns and looks at Shigaraki over her shoulder. "I don't plan on staying long anyways." And then, she turns and storms out the door, the hinges opening and closing for her. Silence.

And then Dabi bursts into laugher.

"She almost killed you, oh fearless leader," he mocks from his place against the wall. Shigaraki sits up slowly, still nursing himself.

"We needed to test her. See if the power came with cracks," he explains lowly. His voice pauses for a second before speaking again, swallowing heavily. "If she loses it at the slightest mention of her family, she’s no use to us."

"A leader without control is a liability. She’s powerful, yes- but flawed. And that flaw? Is exactly what we’ll use." A grin stretches across his face as he speaks, a plan already forming in his mind. A way to make her prove her loyalty to them while also solving their problem. She would be their savior.