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eunoiaflow3r · 3 years

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when worlds collide - h.p. x gn!avenger!reader

a/n: bahahahahaha no one reads harry x reader lmaoo you don’t have to tell me - i know. but still, i thought this was a cute idea and i went with it. hope you enjoy :)

not edited.

also: timelines don’t match up bc i don’t want to do the math so harry is like 20 - 21 and your like 19 - 20 in 2020. Civil War and everything on didn’t happen. Fred didn’t die.

gn = gender neutral

warning(s): “language!” - captain america.

word count: 3.1k

request(ed): no.

summary: stephen sends y/n to a strange new place with...wizards?

————————————-&—————————————

Never doubt Stephen Strange. That's something that pretty much everyone has accepted. Never second guess the wizard man. Usually you'd agree. Usually you'd just let the man babble about whatever he needed to and then go about your day.

Not now.

The fuckery.

Now you were here (wherever here was) after some flashes of orange and a "be careful." Did he even do the spell right? Is this really where you were supposed to be?

It was dark, and dirty and you just wanted to go home and not talk to anyone so you turned yourself invisible.

You were born with your powers - you think. You were adopted so you wouldn't know where your powers came from. All you know is that one day your parents couldn't find you, even though you were right there. Instead of thinking you were some kind of alien and throwing you out to labs, they helped you control it the best you could.

It was difficult at first, all things considered, but you got through. You discovered you had another power as well. Force fields. Those came in handy during the battles. (You helped where you could), and Tony Stark took you in afterwards as his own. He helped you create your suit, and your name, and discover more about your powers, he was basically a dad to you.

Your parents were a little hesitant letting you join the Avengers, but once they realized this is what you were meant to do, and you had people just like you protecting you, they couldn't keep you from that. They just couldn't.

So here you were, invisible, in some dark and creepy alley. There were doors either side of you, so you got out of the way considering they could open and smack you in the face at any given moment. You heard loud voices and laughing and cheering from both ends of the alley so you walked towards the one in front of you.

The voices were so loud and echoey that you really couldn't focus on anything else. Maybe that's why you didn't hear a boy behind you trip and fall into you from behind.

"I'm so sorry." he said helping you up.

You turned around to help him, he got awfully dirty, and searched for his glasses that fell off his face.

Once standing, he took out a stick, waved it over him, and all of a sudden the dirt and gravel was gone.

"How did you do that?" You were no stranger to magic, but this was something you've never seen before. And why would he do it in front of you? For all he knew, you were an unknowing human.

"What?" He asked eyebrows furrowed together, accent strong.

"With the stick."

He chuckled shoving the stick back in his cloak.

"The stick." He smiled and looked you up and down. "It's a wand. You must not be from around here."

"Yeah, what tipped you off?" You noticed the lightning bolt scar on his head. You wondered how he got it.

"The accent, the clothes, the inability to recognize a simple wand, the ability to be here, not recognizing me, and wait - where is your cloak?"

"Cloak?"

"You were just invisible a moment earlier but I don't see your cloak anywhere."

"I don't have one. I can make myself invisible without a piece of fabric or your fancy stick." You say sarcastically. Were you flirting?

"Handy." He grins. "The name's Harry Potter."

He holds his hand out for you to shake. "Y/N L/N."

He asks you if you want to talk somewhere besides a dark dirty alley. You agreed. It took some convincing though to let him use his stick to clean the clothes you had on, but to change your outfit to something less, standout-ish.

When you felt the witch hat on your head you immediately snatched it off your head and glared at him.

He just laughed.

Once out of the alley, you breathed in the now clean air, and was mesmerized. People were bustling in and out of small shops, animals were flying and chirping around their owners, children were running around with their friends and siblings, and people were waving sticks, or wands, just like Harry used.

"C'mon, this way." He smiled at your awestruck face. It reminded him of when he first arrived with Hagrid all those years ago.

He brought you inside a coffee shop, and sat you at a booth near the window knowing you'd probably want to still look outside at the new scenes.

After ordering, and a few moments of silence as you looked around, you decided to ask some questions.

"Where am I?"

"We're in Diagon Alley. It's like an outside mall."

"I mean like, planet? I guess?"

"Earth."

"Earth?"

"Well, more specifically London. Diagon Alley."

"London?! I'm in London?!"

"You've never been? To Earth? Or London?"

You rolled your eyes silently cursing Strange. "I'm from Earth. The United States, actually. I just wish he'd put me on a fucking plane or something instead of making it seem like I was going to Mars."

"He?" Harry was very curious.

You looked into his green eyes, your mind wandering. The guy in front of you was very attractive. His dark hair complimented his eyes, and his glasses made him even more attractive.

"You guys are wizards right?"

"Really? What gave you that impression?" He asks sarcastically. "The sticks, the pointy hats, or the big bowl with green liquid sitting outside?”

You rolled your eyes. "Very funny. It's not my fault you live into the stereotype of brewing potions in your cauldrons -"

"Oh well I can only assume you're one of those Avengers from the States, yeah?" He grins. "You guys are all over the news."

"Yes, sure -"

"And don't one of you wear capes and another shoot lasers or lightning or whatnot? Sounds very stereotypical to me."

You laugh as the waitress brings over your drinks and muffins. You thank her. "No, well yes, that's Strange and Thor, but that's besides the point -"

"Well of course it's strange." He grins and winks and you over his mug. He was purposely annoying you and found great joy in it.

"Anyway," you sigh getting back to the point. "Do you guys have a Wizard here, like a powerful, trusting, all-knowing kind of guy?"

His eyes dropped slowly and his smile dimmed for a moment before slowly widening once again.

"Had. His name was Dumbledore."

"Our guy is Stephen Strange. Or Dr. Strange. He sent me here, and I'm not sure why."

"Hmmm." He hums setting down his mug. "Are the states in danger? Were you sent here on a secret quest that would put you through tough trials that would risk your life but would ultimately save everyone you've ever loved so you just have to do it?"

You were in a silent shock. "Uhm. No, not that I'm aware of, no."

"Well then perhaps your Wizard Strange is playing matchmaker."

"Matchmaker?"

"Well you were sent here weren't you?" You nod. "Arrived outside the exact place where I was and I just happened to bump into you? Sounds like a set-up to me."

"Or a coincidence."

"I'd like to think it was fate that I bump into the most attractive person I've ever seen and they don't know who I am and won't judge me 'cause of my past." He took a bite of his muffin.

"Should I be worried?"

"I guess you'll have to figure that out yourself." He winks.

You decide to eat your muffin as well. It was a comfortable silence until you looked out of the window and noticed a guy crouching down behind a cauldron...with a camera.

"Harry?"

"Hm?"

"Why is there a man outside taking pictures of you?"

His eyes widened. "Oh shit." He whispered. "Here." He took out a baseball cap and put it over your head, hiding your face from the camera.

He gets out of his seat quickly pulling you along with him to the back of the shop but before you could say anything he had his wand pulled out.

Next thing you saw was a couch and living room.

"Wow." You panted. "What a way to bring a girl home."

"I apologise Y/N, I block them out so much I forget they're even there and now they've seen you, and have a story and -"

"Wait, wait, wait, are you wanted for murder or something?"

Harry walks over to his bookshelf and pulls out a rather large book. After opening up on the table, he waved his wand over it and beckons you over to read it.

'Boy who lived.'

'Golden boy defeats Voldemort'

'winner of Triwizard tournament'

And there was so much more… 'Harry Potter' in bold just strewn across the pages. His whole life story.

Your eyes widen at everything. "So both and neither. War hero. How come I've never heard of you? Or any of this?"

He smiles at the pages fondly, running his fingers across the letters and reminiscing on his times at Hogwarts.

"Unlike you Avengers, we like to keep our business private and quiet. We don't like prying eyes."

You scoff. "Not our fault we have alien invasions every year."

Harry agreed and for the rest of the night you sat on his couch talking and sometimes arguing, over every little thing. It felt like you two had known each other forever.

You're not sure when, but you fell asleep there and woke with your head on his chest and his arm wrapped around your waist. You're not sure how the two of you ended up this way, and you realized you were practically strangers, but you didn't want to move. You just wanted to tangle your fingers through his dark hair.

But you didn't. Instead you stared at his closed eyes, and focused on his long, dark, eyelashes that fluttered a little from time to time. You thought about how you could get used to this. Waking up with his arm wrapped around you.

You told him last night that if he was actually a serial killer, and wanted to kill you that you had a whole team of people who would rip him limb from limb. He had no doubts and looked actually scared of your threat.

You thought about what it'd be like to live here among people like you.

Stomach grumbling, you decided to get up and see if he had anything you could make for him. It's the least you could do. His face turned when you left his arms, but you quickly pulled the blanket over him so he would be able to sleep a little longer.

You found his bathroom, and washed your face. In your backpack was a toothbrush and some toothpaste so you brushed your teeth, fixed your hair, and got dressed.

By the time you got out of the bathroom, you noticed Harry was still sleeping so you went into the kitchen and tried to find anything remotely close to breakfast foods. By the look of his inventory, you could tell he was very good at cooking but hadn’t been to the store in a while. He did have some eggs and toast though so you decided to make that.

In the middle of it, you got a phone call from Strange.

“Strange?”

“Harry Potter.” he says.

“What?” you were so confused as to how Stephen knew ANYTHING.

“You’re in his place, we've been tracking you.”

“So I guess we should probably have a talk about privacy? I don’t know, it just seems like something we should discuss you know? Cause usually people can respect that - especially people who just DUMP you here in the first place -“

“Calm down that’s what the mission was. While you were sleeping, we searched the place with a camera we put on you and he’s not who we thought he was. You completed the mission L/N. Great job.”

“Is he a danger?”

“Not necessarily. Just making sure your fine is all.”

“What -?”

He hung up.

Why wouldn’t Strange tell you his intentions? Why would he let you stay here if he thought Harry might have been a bad guy? Why would he risk that?

Right as you hung up Harry Potter walked into the kitchen with his lenses in between his shirt - he was cleaning his glasses.

His dark hair hung over his eyes but his eyebrows were raised.

“You made breakfast?”

“It was the least I could do. I didn’t mean to fall asleep but thank you for letting me stay.”

He smiled and put his glasses back on. In doing so his gray shirt lifted and you could see his abs. You turned away a blushed.

“It was no big deal. Thank you for making breakfast, love. You didn’t have to.”

You didn’t say anything and instead placed both of your finished plates on the dining room table. He followed you and sat down immediately digging in.

“These are the best eggs i’ve ever eaten Y/N thank you.”

You smiled in response but then frowned remembering your conversation with Strange. You should probably tell Harry.

“So,” you cleared your throat. “You were wrong.”

He gave you a look that meant “about?”

“Dr. Strange - the wizard I work with - he likes to check out potential threats and make sure that ya’know - the earth stays safe and everything. Je can kind of see the future and its propabilities. He did the same thing with Thor and his brother Loki.”

“Okay, go on.”

You cringed. “And so he called me and told me that he sent me here so he could see you? I don’t know I guess he saw you as a threat and wanted to make sure you weren’t.”

You looked at Harry but his face was clear of any and every emotion. He just continued to eat his eggs. It was silent.

You ate a bit at your eggs too until he spoke up which made you look up.

“I can’t say I’m very surprised honestly. With everything you guys manage to fuck up there I’d wanna know if someone else was about to create shit problems too.”

You sighed with relief. He wasn’t mad.

“I’m sorry really Harry, I didn’t even know.”

“No yeah it’s fine. I get it. I still think he sent you specifically for a reason though. There’s just no way we aren’t soul mates or something.”

“Oh shut up Potter.”

He smiled. “I’ve been thinking.”

“Gee your head must hurt.”

He squints at you jokingly. “You should let me take you out. I can show you around today. Y’know, so you can see what wizards are like.”

“Is this a date?”

His face flushes red and he looks down at his plate. “Yeah, yeah it’s a date.”

And a date it was.

“What the fuck is wrong with you Harry! Again?!” You practically screamed. Harry called it aparation but you call it hell. You let it go the first time but damn. He barely even warned you, just took your hand, held it tight, pulled you close, and waved his wand.

It was teleportation. Something you’ve never ever done before.

“Fucking hell Potter I’m going to murder you.”

“And Strange was worried about your safety? This is like your 4th time threatening to end my life and besides, it wasn’t even that bad.”

You rolled your eyes.

Throughout the day Harry showed you all sorts of things you’d never ever seen before. This consisted of every flavor jelly beans (and by every flavor they really meant every flavor), a chocolate frog, and never ending bubble gum. And that was just on the candy side.

He took you inside this joke shop ran by two of his friends from his old school he called hogwarts. They were twins that went by the names of Fred and George. The only twins you had ever met was Wanda and Pietro but telling the story of Pietro’s death seemed to sour Harry’s mood but excite the twins. The fact that he sacrificed himself for a little boy made him a hero in their eyes. They begged you to tell them more stories.

By the end of the day you went back to Harry’s place and you were exhausted. You can’t believe all that you’ve seen and eaten. How was this stuff even possible? How was it all hidden? You were amazed.

Harry was glad to see you had a good day and glad that he had met you. When you got back, he told you that you could stay another night...and perhaps in the bed instead of the couch. He hadn’t meant it in a dirty way but that didn’t stop you from laughing until tears came out of your eyes. He was so awkward at times. Once he had to ask if it was okay to take your hand while you were in the street and it was so cute how he couldn’t really find the words even for something as simple as hand holding.

“Harry?”

“Hm?”

You both were laying in his bed facing the other.

“I had a lot of fun today. I feel like i’ve known you forever.”

He grinned from ear to ear and was glad that you couldn’t see him. He would have been beyond embarrassed if you’d seen how unmistakably happy that made him.

“I had fun with you Y/N. You’re great company.”

You were silent for a moment.

And another.

“Harry?”

“Yes?”

“Can I kiss you?”

You were scared of his response and your heart was practically beating out of your chest. What if he was just being friendly? What if he just wanted to be friends? You would have made a huge fool of yourself. You were going to turn away embarrassed until his hand came up to your face and slipped onto your cheek. He was so warm. His lips pressed against yours for a moment and then he pulled away.

After a moment he reconnected and moved his lips against yours slowly. Your hand went to the back of his neck and toyed with his hair. He groaned into your mouth. You smiled and scooted even closer to him. All you could hear was the sound of your breathing and kissing. You didn’t want to pull away but you had to.

“Harry.” you said practically breathless.

“Yeah.” he was breathless too.

“I want to show you my world. You should come see New York.”

“Yeah? You wanna show me those alien invasions and robot attacks?”

You laughed and snuggled into Harry. He wrapped his arm around you and kissed your neck.

“Mhmm.”

“I’d love to see it.”

Tags:

@romance-geek @gooseyhouse

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newcaptainofsquad9 · 5 years

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Home With You Again~Carol Danvers x Maria Rambeau-Part 1 (Avengers Endgame) Spoiler Warning!

Paring: Carol Danvers x Maria Rambeau, Platonic! Carol Danvers x Talos, Platonic! Carol Danvers x Peter Parker, Platonic! Carol Danvers x Nick Fury

Summary: (SPOILER WARNING) After Carol returns to Earth she finds out that both Maria and Monica were lost in the snap. She and the other Avengers successfully kill Thanos, but Carol goes overboard in a fit of rage. She manages to calm down, going into space to help out those who were affected by the snap. She now helps planets whenever she can, while drowning herself in her own sorrows and self pity. Abruptly, the Avengers need her help with Thanos from another timeline and she realizes that they reversed the snap, giving her a chance to see her lover and daughter again.

Word Count: 1,923

Writer’s Note: Lot’s of angst, a sad Carol but there will be fluff too :). It’s a bit disjointed, but we all needed this in Endgame people I hope I delivered.

Carol glances down at the grass as she watches Tony and Pepper embrace. She would have flown through the galaxy, battling the stars, Kree and rogues all over again just to take Maria in her arms. But, all she came home to was dust, ash and a burnt pan where she assumed Maria was cooking. Tears escaped her, along with the glow of her hands that can with the frustration and anger she felt. She grabbed Maria’s cellphone, calling Monica, yet she didn’t answer. Her boyfriend, Tom picked up, frantic about Monica crumbling to dust in front of him. Carol let the anger consume her wholly, firing a photon blast through the ceiling of Maria’s kitchen before leaping into the air with a bone curdling scream.

...

“You didn’t have me,” Carol says to the Avengers numbly.

“Look, new girl,” Rhodey starts, “we’re all about that superhero life but what-”

Carol cut him off.

“You think I wanted to be out there! Away from my family while they disappeared? I’m getting that son of a bitch whether you’re with me or not.”

Steve’s jaw tightens but he nods.

“She’s right, let’s get the son of a bitch,” he agreed.

...

They caught Thanos alone. He was cooking something when Carol busted through his hut. All fire, hardly waiting for the avengers to catch up with her. A few photon blasts knocked him to the floor and Carol was on him again, arms firmly around his neck. Steve, Rhodey, Natasha, and Thor arrive.

“Where are the stones?” Steve asked.

Carol’s grip on Thanos tightened, nearly strangling him to death.

“Answer. Him,” she growled.

“Gone- I-I destroyed them,” Thanos said, “i-if y-you’re here now then, I was successful-”

“Damnit!” Carol roared.

It happened quickly. Thor tried to rush in first, eyes glowing blue with the lightning of Stormbreaker around him. Carol’s move was swift, snapping Thanos’ neck before Thor could reach. She let the titan’s lifeless body drop, as Thor chopped off his head.

“The fuck was that!” Rhodey shouted.

“He’s better that way,” Carol said bluntly, “I avenged our family, friends, half of the world.”

“Carol,” Steve started.

Carol didn’t listen as she flew back into the air.

...

Talos found Carol in a bar on planet Krylor, drowning herself in the sorrows of whatever fine drinks she could get her hands on. He cringed when he found her, hunched over the bar with a friend, in silver armor, Brunnhilde.

“To the new Queen of New Asguard!” Carol beams as she downs her drink in one gulp.

Brunnhilde gives Captain Marvel a small smile.

“I’m worried about him,” she says, “all he does is drink and play-- what are those things you mortals use to?”

“Video Games,” Carol bellows.

She finally notices Talos glaring at her.

“If you needed me you could have--”

“Paged you. You’re always in between planets, even got a new hair cut,” Talos says as he sits next to Carol.

Carol runs a quick hand through her now short hair.

“I had that hair for over twenty five years, it got in the way and I needed a change,” she says.

“I like it,” Talos says before looking to Brunnhilde, “you’re in company of a Queen, eh?”

Carol nods, “Talos, Brunnhilde. My best friend, saved him back in ‘95. Brunnhilde, Queen of New Asguard, met her back--”

Carol cut herself off, staring down at the bar.

“Five years ago,” she whispers.

Talos glares between the two women. Brunnhilde takes the hint and rises from the bar.

“Well, New Asguard isn’t going to govern itself,” she says.

Before Brunnhilde leaves she puts a hand on Talos’ shoulder.

“Good luck.”

Talos gives her a sharp nod before stalking out.

“Seriously, is everyone all right?” Carol asks.

“We’re hanging in there Carol, better than we were a few years ago. Thanks to you,” Talos says.

Carol shrugs.

“It’s all I can do now. Krylor still needs supplies-- I’m so close to finding more harvests for them. I need to.”

She rises, but Talos stops her.

“Carol. Breathe,” he instructs.

Carol gives him a hard look and sits back down, twirling the drink in her cup around.

“You lied you know,” he says, “I’m not your best friend.”

Carol scoffs, “just take the complement.”

“I think you know where I’m getting at,” he banters, “remember when I went through that head of yours? Fogged up memories of flying aircrafts, cart racing and long karaoke nights with--”

“Don’t,” Carol warns, cutting Talos off.

Talos purses his lips.

“You’re gonna have to talk about her eventually,” he suggests, “my wife and daughter miss them too-”

“Talos,” Carol says, voice teetering on the edge of cracking, “Please all I can think about is--”

Carol cuts herself off with a silent sob. She puts a hand on her face and exhales.

“Say it, tell me,” Talos whispers.

Carol chuckles, wiping her damp and red eyes.

“Why are you making me do this?” she asks.

Talos’ eyes soften as he squeezes Carol’s hand.

“You may be the strongest I’ve ever known Carol, but you’re still human. Still flesh and bone, you don’t need to hold your emotions in anymore. I thought you got Yon-Rogg out of your head already?”

“I thought I did, but I could never stop thinking about them. I loved Maria, fuck I still do but--”

Carol cut herself off again.

“Go on,” Talos urges, “what are you thinking?”

“I have this dream of seeing them again,” Carol reflects, “God, Lieutenant Trouble’s really grown now, I didn’t even get to formally meet her boyfriend yet-- and Maria-- I just want her in my arms again. I want to be home with her again.”

“Will you ever go back?” Talos asks, “to Earth, I mean just as a temporary stay?”

Carol shakes her head.

“I doubt that Talos, the Avengers have Earth covered and I have the rest of the galaxy there’s no need to--”

Carol gets cut off by the beeping of her phone, Natasha lent her one when she last visited Earth. Her eyes widened as she took it out.

“I have to get to Earth, now,” she says.

Talos is up with her.

“Be careful, Carol,” he says.

She doesn’t need it, they both know that. But, Carol accepts it anyway and embraces Talos tightly.

“Thank you, Talos.”

...

Carol went binary in a millisecond while crashing through Thanos’ warships. She surveyed the battlefield, looking for this Thanos from another timeline.

“Danvers, we could use an assist,” Steve says.

Carol nods, swooping down and spotting Spiderman, clutching onto the gauntlet for dear life.

“Hi there, I-I’m Peter Parker,” he croaks.

Carol’s eyes softened for a moment. Here was this kid in the middle of a battlefield, bruised and afraid. God, he reminded her of Monica when she fell off of her bike years ago.

“Hey Peter Parker, got something for me?” she asks.

Peter gets up and hands the gauntlet off to Carol, eyeing her in a mixture of admiration and concern.

“um, uh ms--what’s your name?”

Carol grinned at him as she took the gauntlet and tucked it under her arm.

“Captain Marvel,” She declares.

Peter frowns, “ah, of course you used the fake name-- Cap, how are you gonna get through that alone?”

Carol turns toward the battle field, all of Thanos’ army waiting and Thanos himself.

“Well, Peter--”

“She’s got help,” a voice says.

Carol turns as the other heroines joined her.

“Go ahead, we’ve got your back,” Okoye says.

Carol nods and flies forward, eyes glows as she pushes through.

Thanos collides with her, the gauntlet flying from her grip as Carol recovers slightly. The titan goes for it, but she stops him, gripping his arms tightly in an act to subdue him. Thanos cringes and headbutts her. Carol doesn’t flinch before aiming to knock Thanos across the field.

“Captain Marvel look ou--”

Peter’s plea didn’t get to Carol in time as Thanos peeled the power stone from his gauntlet, using it against her.

...

“Vel--Captain Marvel,” Peter pleas, shaking Carol helplessly.

Carol hops up, taking notice of Peter. His eyes were red, and face tear stained.

“Parker, what happened,” Carol demanded, softly, yet firmly.

“M-Mr Stark he-- he used the stones h-he’s--”

Carol’s face grew white with shock and pain. Her fists clenched. She could have saved Stark again, but she was reckless. Again she couldn’t keep the ones she cared for safe. She watches Peter break down in sobs. She’s seen this before. Monica always ran to her while growing up, searching for her mother’s comfort. She does the only think she knows how to do in this situation. She brought Peter into her arms, rubbing his back and soothing him as he cried into her chest.

...

Carol watched from Stark’s porch as the eulogy ended. She kept her hands clasped together to keep them from trembling.

“D-Don’t lie to me, Fury,” she growled.

Nick walked over to her.

“I’m here aren’t I,” he said in a matter of fact fashion, “everybody Thanos snapped from existence has returned.”

Carol’s eyes glossed as the tears rose up again. She put her fist against her mouth to keep her composure.

“F-Fury--”

“Go see her,” he said, “I’m sure she’d want some explaining, especially with that haircut.”

Carol laughs and wipes her tears.

“Thank you, Fury,” she said.

Nick shrugged and gasped when Carol pulled him into her arms. He returned it fully.

“Anytime Avenger, we could road trip for old times--”

Carol shot up into the air.

“Sorry Fury, but I’ve been dreaming of this moment for five years,” Carol shouted before zipping off.

...

Carol landed awkwardly, her black suit a little scorched and tattered from the trip, but she didn’t care. Maria’s house was in fine condition, even the hole Carol blew in the roof five years prior was gone. The door swung open and there she was, Maria Rambeau. Her fellow pilot, partner, best friend, lover. Her home.

“C-Carol-- oh God--” Maria cried.

Carol ran up to her, taking the woman up into her arms in a warm embrace.

“I-It’s you, I missed your hugs,” Carol whispered into Maria’s neck.

“Carol, I-- I thought you were--”

Maria broke down as Carol pulled back to see her face. Her hair got longer, now coming down past her neck. Carol admired the muscle in her lover’s arms as well, noticing how tight she held on. She almost came to tears too, but she had to be strong now. For the both of them.

“I’m here now,” she declared, “and I won’t leave and let anything like that happened again.”

Maria put on a weak smile and that was all it took for Carol to kiss her. Her hands found themselves around Maria’s waist, while Maria ran her hands through Carol’s now short hair.

Maria pulled back breathlessly and gazed fondly into Carol’s eyes.

“Haircut?”

Carol chuckled, “Do you like it?”

Maria touched Carol’s cheek and gave it a quick once over.

“I do, but it’s going to take some getting used to,” Maria said before betting her lip.

Carol caught the hint and slyly grinned.

“Oh, I see,” she said before capturing Maria’s lips again.

The kiss grew more heated as Carol’s hand went to Maria’s thigh and Maria’s went to Carol’s chest.

“C-Carol, Carol, baby--look at me,” Maria said.

Carol pulled away, eyes screwed shut before opening them again.

“I-I need you,” Carol whispered.

“We’ve got time, OK?”

Carol nodded and threw her arms around Maria again.

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green-eyeddragonfanfiction · 6 years

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War of Attrition: Chapter 16

Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier x Reader Summary: Best friends with Steve Rogers, renowned Howling Commando, and married to one James Buchanan Barnes, your life wasn’t perfect, but it was as close as it could possibly be in the middle of World War II. Then you fell from a train in the Alps, and everything changed. You spent nearly 70 years as a tool of Hydra alongside your beloved, though your past with him was more often than not forgotten. Sokovia climbs higher but neither you nor the Avengers have found a way to stop it without either killing everyone on the floating rock, or everyone down below. That, however, is a a problem left to Steve, Tony, Natasha, and the others. You focus on staying alive, hidden, and saving as many people as you can. Down below, Bucky does the same. How long can your luck hold out? Warnings: Swearing (always), violence, extreme action featuring a robot-killing cyborg and adorable drones, major character death Word Count: ~4,112 A/N: :( Please read warnings!

Masterlist // Book One // Book Two

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“He seems nice,” Alfred said a bit too cheerfully in your ear.

“I’m just glad he’s not the enemy anymore,” you muttered, watching trash and debris settle in his wake.

Bucky scoffed. “He and Steve’ll butt heads and you know it.”

You nearly smiled at the thought, but quickly pushed the idea away. Bucky was almost definitely right, but at least the kid would have someone good to look up to and learn from. “Time to get back to work.”

“Alright, we’re all clear here,” said a voice over the comms. If you had to guess, it was Hawkeye. He was the only man of the group you didn’t know the voice of by now.

“We are not clear,” Steve said, and you could hear the sounds of combat in the background to corroborate his statement. “We are very not clear!” he said, the sound of screeching metal following a second later.

“Alright, we’re coming to you,” Hawkeye told him.

“They are gathering in the town center, near the other end of the rock,” Alfred informed you.

“How are things looking on this end?” you asked, eyeing the sky warily. You vaulted up on top of one of the lower buildings, hoping to get a look around without being too exposed.

“Activity in this area is nearly nonexistent. It seems the enemy is focusing on trying to kill the Avengers. Still, it seems that a few smaller patrols are in the area, attempting to eliminate any stragglers.”

“So stay in the area to help the people the Avengers can’t get to and hope Steve, Natalia, and the others can take care of things on their end?”

“That is the path most likely to lead to the survival of all remaining citizens, Madam,” Alfred said quietly.

“Are the drones still functioning? Protecting the people and updating them on the situation?” you asked as you looked around the city. Sure enough, you could see bots flying towards the other end of the rock and quickly hopped two stories back down to the ground so they wouldn’t spot you.

“Correct, Madam. I-”

“What do you got, Stark?” Steve asked Tony over the comms, and Alfred quieted instantly so you could hear.

“Huh? Nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city,” Tony said quietly. “That’ll keep it from impacting the surface, if you guys can get clear,” he said, though it was clear from his tone what he thought of the idea.

“I asked for a solution, not an escape plan,” Steve said resolutely.

“Impact radius is gettin’ bigger every second. We’re gonna have to make a choice,” Tony said sadly.

“Hear that, Buck?” you murmured softly. He grunted an affirmation, but Steve wasn’t done talking.

“Cap, these people are goin’ nowhere,” Natalia said. She was close enough to Steve that you could hear her through his comm, too. “If Stark finds a way to blow this rock...”

“Not ‘til everyone’s safe,” Steve said obstinately.

“Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There’s no math there,” Natalia said, shocked that she had to spell it out for him.

Bucky suddenly sounded frantic. “I’m coming up there. They’re not gonna blow you to hell. I’m bringing the Batmobile up and-”

“I’m not leavin’ this rock with one civilian on it,” Steve said, cutting off Bucky’s harried planning.

“I didn’t say we should leave,” Natalia said solemnly. A pause, then, “There’s worse ways to go... Where else am I gonna get a view like this?” She sounded resigned and suddenly you wanted to yell at her. Yell at them both. They didn’t give up, not those two. Never those two. It wasn’t in their nature.

“Don’t do it, Doll,” Bucky said quickly, always knowing where your mind would go a split second before you did.

“I gotta, Buck! They’ve given up and-”

“Glad you like the view, Romanoff.” You froze, hardly daring to believe your ears. You knew that voice. “It’s about to get a whole lot better.”

“Alfred?” you asked, shocked, already heading towards where Steve and the majority of the citizens had holed up.

“A SHIELD helicarrier has appeared on the other side of the rock, Madam,” Alfred informed you, sounding nearly indecently pleased.

You fought the urge to throw your arms in the air and cheer. “Coulson and Fury, you sly dogs! Man, I’m so glad we didn’t actually kill him,” you said, grinning widely.

You could hear Bucky’s snort of amusement over the line.

“They have a place to go now,” you heard Bucky say faintly. You could imagine him staring towards the rock in the sky, trying to glimpse it and the helicarrier, which were now dancing in the clouds.

“Alfred, send all remaining drones to search for survivors. Get the drones guarding civilians to lead them to the helicarrier,” you said, skating almost lazily towards the other side now that you had a second to catch your breath and the problem of getting civilians off the floating rock had been solved.

The comms crackled to life again. “This is SHIELD?” Pietro asked, and you could hear the smile in his voice.

“This is what SHIELD is supposed to be,” Steve said. You could imagine the smile on his face in your mind’s eye and a pang of sadness went through you.

“I miss him,” you said quietly.

“Me too,” Bucky said instantly.

“This is not so bad,” Pietro said, and you could imagine the grin on his face, not cocky for once.

“Falcon and War Machine have appeared on the field... or, more accurately, in the sky,” Alfred informed you. “They are protecting the SHIELD helicarrier and the lifeboats ferrying people from the rock to the ship.”

“Got it, Al. How are the citizens doing? Making their way over to the helicarrier okay?” you asked, slowing down a bit and watching your surroundings a little more closely now that you were getting close to the center of all the action.

“Affirmative, Madam. They should rendezvous with the other survivors soon,” Alfred informed you.

“What about you, Buck? It sounds like they’re gonna blow that rock to hell as soon as the people up here are clear. It there’s anyone in the splash zone-”

“Don’t worry, Doll. Alfred and I managed to get the shield reactivated. The drones are busy clearing the last of the people out of the city. A few refused to leave, but most are either on their way away from the city in cars or they’re in the abandoned base, protected by the shield. We’re lucky for once, Hydra had another shield prototype nearby and thanks to Alfred we managed to get it up and running. The extra power from the drones should hopefully protect us from any rocks that manage to make it this far over,” Bucky told you, a hint of pride working its way into his voice.

You nodded, yet another weight rolling off your shoulders. “Good job, Bucky,” you said with a real, honest to goodness smile.

“You too, Doll,” he said fondly.

“I got it!” Tony’s voice came over the comm, interrupting your conversation. “Create a heat seal. I could... I could supercharge the spire from below,” he said, a little frantic.

“Alfred?” you asked, narrowing your eyes.

“A moment, Madam,” Alfred said quietly. You were close enough to the fight now that you could hear the frantic screams from the citizens and the explosions from the Avengers and the death bots. “It is possible, if they can find enough power,” Alfred said quietly.

“Thor, I got a plan!” Tony said a moment later. You fought back a smirk. Yeah, a lightning blast from the God of Thunder would do the trick.

“We’re out of time, they’re coming for the core!” Thor said, grunting a second later as he presumably fought off a bot or ten.

“Rhodey, Falcon, get the rest of the people onboard that carrier,” Tony said quickly.

“On it,” came what you assumed was War Machine’s voice a split second later.

“Got it,” you heard Falcon echo.

“Avengers, time to work for a living,” Tony said. You saw the red-gold streak of him fly far above your head, towards the center of the rock, and cursed.

“I gotta stay and make sure all the citizens get onboard. Some of them haven’t arrived yet,” you said as Drones Seattle, Orlando, and San Diego joined you again.

“And then you get on one of those lifeboats and you get off that damn rock,” Bucky said sternly.

“Nah, I like it up here. Very comfortable, super easy to breathe. Prime real estate, perfect view,” you said dryly.

“(Y/N),” Bucky said testily.

“All of the remaining active robots have moved towards the center of the rock. Or, more accurately, towards the Vibranium core holding the rock together,” Alfred chirped.

“The robots want to drop it early,” you said, eyes widening in horror. “They don’t care if it’s high enough yet. They’re content to wipe billions of people from the face of the earth rather than let the Avengers stop it.”

“It would seem so,” Alfred said gravely.

“They’re trying to leave the city!” Thor said suddenly, drawing your attention.

“Shit,” you swore, running up the nearest building to get a better view of the robots’ path of egress. Sure enough, a veritable wave of death bots was headed towards the edges of the city.

“Can’t let ‘em, not even one. Rhodey,” Tony said urgently.

“Sam,” Steve said, just as tense.

“I’m on it!” Rhodey said. You could hear his thrusters strain to push him faster towards the largest pack of bots.

“Got eyes on ‘em,” Sam said. You could see the sun glint off his wings as he streaked towards the other escaping mass.

“Alfred, all drones not currently helping citizens, now,” you said, panicked. Tony was right. If even one of them managed to make it out of this alive, this fight wouldn’t be over.

“Understood.” Immediately, all of the drones that had been around you shot off in every direction, jets propelling them at maximum speed through the air. You hopped back off the building and ran as quickly as you could towards the area the lifeboats were docking at, hoping against hope that they’d finish loading before the Avengers blew the rock to pieces. “Tony Stark has flown to the bottom of the city. According to my calculations his suit should be low on energy after the extended fight,” Alfred said after a minute or so.

“He’s creating the heat seal,” you guessed, looking around the area for any stragglers while doggedly staying out of sight of the SHIELD personnel and any stray Avengers.

“That is likely, yes,” Alfred agreed.

“Does he have enough power to do it?” you asked, frowning. You used backscatter and managed to spot a few people still hiding and quickly ran over to them. One was trapped under a fallen slab of concrete and it took every ounce of your strength to lift it so the young woman could wiggle out from under it. Someone- probably her husband by the looks of it- thanked you profusely as he picked her up and carried her towards the lifeboats.

“Unknown,” Alfred said dubiously.

“Send him a drone. Let him drain it. That heat seal has to work or-” you bit your lip and didn’t let your thoughts go that way. “It just has to work.”

“Of course, Madam. Drone Indianapolis is on its way.”

“As soon as it gives Tony what’s left of its battery, let it drop and activate self destruct once it’s far enough away, okay? I don’t want Tony getting his hands on it. He’s too smart for his own good.”

“Of course, Mistress Barnes.” A pause, then, “Captain Rogers, Agent Romanoff, Thor, and Agent Barton are moving this direction. I recommend moving with care,” Alfred warned.

“Got it. Thanks, Al,” you said, moving near silently through the streets, looking for any last minute stragglers. You didn’t want to leave anyone behind. To get a better look, you jumped up on the nearest building, backscatter letting you scan everything nearby for signs of people.

“Incoming,” was the only warning Alfred could give before a quinjet raced by overhead, firing on the city square, not even a block away. Even a split second glance at the cockpit told you the pilot wasn’t human. In was the largest of the robots, similar to the one that scared you so violently last night.

“It’s firing on the civilians,” you breathed, already rocketing towards the jet. The sound of gunfire couldn’t quite block out the roar of rage from the Hulk, though.

Steve and Natalia are there, a small part of your mind screamed at you.

You built up as much speed as you could, grateful that the robot had stopped midair to concentrate fire on a single spot.

You ran out of roof to run on, but you’d already jumped, leg outstretched as you soared through the air, aiming right for the machine gun attached to the bottom of the plane.

The time in the air felt like a small eternity. You could barely hear your heel jets as they propelled you just that hair farther and faster.

Your foot connected to the gun with and almighty screech of metal, the force of the hit tearing it from the retractable arm that attached it to the plane.

You had a single moment of victorious elation. You did it. You stopped the robot from firing on civilians. On Natalia and Steve.

And then you were falling.

“Oh, shit,” you breathed, stomach swooping uncomfortably as gravity took effect on your body once more. Now, with the added weight of the huge gun clenched in your talons, you were hurtling sixty feet towards the ground. If you were unlucky, your momentum would carry you too far and over the edge, and then you’d be falling much, much farther.

“(Y/N)?!” Bucky yelled over the comm, alarmed.

“Fuck, oh fuck!” you gasped, trying your best to flick the gun off your foot. If you landed with it still attached you sure as hell wouldn’t survive. Hell, even without it you might still not survive.

It slid off your talons, but the ground was getting uncomfortably close, and-

A pair of arms caught you and you blinked, confused for a second. There hadn’t been anyone under you a second ago, and-

“What, you think you’re the only one allowed to be a big damn hero?” said a playful voice. He shifted and, with the sun behind his head and the immediate danger of ending up a pancake (again) passed, you were able to get a good look at him.

Pietro Maximoff was smirking down at you.

“You think you can stand?” he asked, giving you an appraising stare.

You nodded numbly. Somewhere in the back of your mind you registered Hawkeye carrying a kid towards the lifeboat, giving you and Pietro a confused stare as he went.

Oh, that’s good. They’re alive, your mind supplied, still racing from the adrenaline.

“You don’t talk much, do you?” he asked playfully as he set you down, hands hovering to catch you if you faltered.

You shook your head. If you talked, then they’d hear you over the comms and you knew your voice modulator had been damaged in the fight, and-

“(Y/N).”

You froze, mind coming to a complete stop.

Pietro turned around to look at Steve, brow furrowing in confusion. “You know her? She has not said a word to me,” Pietro said in thickly accented English, sounding just a little bit offended.

But Steve might not have heard him, judging by the way he didn’t even look at Pietro. He was staring at you and you knew, even with the nanoskin and mask hiding your features, that he knew it was you.

You had, after all, just used your cyborg legs to take down a quinjet gun.

“(Y/N)? Was that Steve!? (Y/N), you have to get out of there!” Bucky hissed urgently in your ear.

Where were you supposed to go? On the lifeboat with Steve and the others? To SHIELD, who you knew wanted to take you in?

“(Y/N), please. I can see that look in your eyes. You’re looking for a way out. You don’t have to. Please, Natasha, Sam, and I have been searching and-”

“Jump, Doll,” Bucky said, snapping you from your quickly spiraling thoughts.

“What?” you breathed, shocked.

“We have arrived,” Alfred said.

Steve thought you were talking to him and he took a small step forward, still hesitant, looking at you like you were about to run away any second. “It’s alright. We want to help. Natalia and I. Sam, too. Please let us help,” he said, smile strained.

“Jump. We’re waiting right below. We’ll catch you, I promise,” Bucky whispered.

You turned your nano-disguised eyes on Steve. “We have to go. Now. All civilians are onboard.”

Steve looked wary, but nodded.

Pietro gave the two of you one last glance before he flashed away towards the center of town.

Steve watched you for a moment but when it was clear you weren’t going to move before him, he gave you a tentative smile and turned his back.

And the moment his blue eyes weren’t on you, you powered on your heel jets and flew off the side of the rock.

“(Y/N)! No!” Steve yelled, not fast enough to catch up with you before you were off the edge. For the second time in five minutes you felt the horrible feeling of your stomach flying up into your throat. Below you was a fluffy expanse of cloud... and a single flying black car. It moved the second you were jumping. You knew Alfred was adjusting the position based on your trajectory and a second later you were landing heavily on the hood, wincing as your toe talons made four large gouges in the paint in an attempt to hold onto the smooth metal.

A split second later Bucky was pulling you into the car, and, just before you got tugged inside, you glanced up. With your enhanced eyes you could see the look of shock, hurt, and longing on Steve’s face, clear as day.

Then you were in Bucky’s arms, the site of the floating city completely blocked out by the hood of the car.

“Go. Go go go. Or he’s gonna jump after us,” you hissed, and not even a second later the engines throttled you forward at full speed, at a slight angle so that you’d slowly make your way back down to the ground.

“Please tell me the cloaking works,” you said, throwing worried glances out the window for any sign of Falcon, War Machine, or Iron Man (or, god forbid, Steve).

“I’m afraid cloaking has not been successful yet, Madam,” Alfred informed you.

“Then just drive, Al. Fast as you can away from this place.”

“Yes, Madam,” he said amicably.

You finally turned your attention on Bucky, who hadn’t let go of you since he first got his hands on you.

You looked away almost immediately again. He looked pissed.

“You’re angry,” you said, staring determinedly at the rapidly-approaching cloud cover.

“Yes.”

“Because I almost got caught,” you said quietly.

His grip on you sagged, which made you look at him, surprised. His grey-blue eyes were sadder than you could recall seeing them in recent memory. “No, Doll. I’m angry because you almost got yourself killed,” he said softly.

You grimaced and buried your face in his chest. “I’m sorry, Bucky. I couldn’t help it. They were attacking people and then that super death robot almost hurt Natasha and Steve and their friends and I just-” you bit the excuses off and wrapped your arms around him, giving him a tight squeeze.

Bucky stayed quiet for a minute, but he held you close and buried his nose in your hair, taking a second to reaffirm that you were there, safe, with him. “Next time an army of evil robots attacks we’re not splitting up,” he said testily, the effect somewhat ruined by the way he pressed feather-light kisses to your temple.

You looked up at him, tentative smile on your face. “Deal, Buck.”

You watched the video feed from the Batmobile, wincing as giant rocks pummeled the town of Novi Grad. The last thing that Bucky had done before coming to get you was piling all of the pilfered research into the hood and back seat of the Batmobile along with your portable workspace, but everything else would be lost to the damage.

You had a few of your drones keeping a lookout on the area. The shield around the old Hydra base seemed to be holding out, but the town had no protection and areas of it were reduced to rubble in seconds. A significant portion of the rocks landed in the lake, but not enough to spare the town. You watched with bated breath as Tony weaved between giant chunks of debris. You and Bucky both breathed easier when he made it out of the worst of the debris field, nearly missing Thor falling into the water in the process. It was a bit longer than you would have liked, but eventually the Asgardian flew out of the water, hammer leading the way.

Eventually, the sky cleared, and the sun shone through the hole in the clouds, onto the destroyed city of Novi Grad. Even some buildings on the edge of town hadn’t been spared the destruction and you were thankful Bucky (with the help of your drones) had decided to evacuate the entire city.

A flash of light at the edge of the crater drew your attention and the closest drone was already zooming in on the source.

The red man- the man that Alfred was fairly sure was an android- was standing near what had to be the last of the death bots, reduced to a melted heap of scrap.

You finally waved the screens off, letting the view of the rapidly-passing surroundings appear once more. You shifted in Bucky’s lap, eyes drifting closed.

“We did it,” you said quietly, a small smile on your face.

“We had a little help,” Bucky said quietly and even without looking you could tell he was smiling a bit, too.

“Feels good,” you admitted softly. “Helpin’ people,” you clarified needlessly.

“Mm.” An affirmative hum that you felt vibrate in his chest.

“Need to find a new place to live for a while,” you said tiredly. Fighting as hard as you did today had taken a lot out of you. You didn’t have the stamina that Bucky did.

“Me an Al will take care of that. Get some sleep, alrigh’?” he said gently, placing a tender kiss to your hair.

“Good idea,” you mumbled, already halfway unconscious.

Bucky’s POV

Eventually your breathing evened out and you relaxed against him and Bucky couldn’t help but smile down at you. He’d nearly lost you again today, but it seemed that after seventy years of bad luck the two of you had finally found some good fortune. Either that or someone else’s good fortune outweighed your terrible ones.

“Where would you like to go, Master Barnes?” Alfred asked quietly so as to not wake you.

Bucky mulled it over for a bit, thinking. The Batmobile’s flight systems only lasted an hour at most and, now that Natasha, Steve, and Wilson knew you were in Europe, they’d search high and low for signs of you. It’d be too risky to go back to the boat. They’d likely expect you to run far away as soon as possible, likely by plane.

Somewhere close. Ideally a place not monitored too closely like the huge world powers tended to be.

“Bucharest, Romania,” he said finally. He was ninety percent sure he knew Romanian, though languages didn’t always come easily until he was thrown headfirst into them. Not to mention you’d talked about that bar (which was really more of a black market or speakeasy) in the city that catered to... well, people like you and him.

Well, not exactly like you two. No one was exactly like you two.

“Confirmed. Plotting a course now. I recommend changing the Batmobile’s exterior soon after a base is established, as it is likely all of SHIELD and the Avengers know what to look for now.”

Bucky sighed, already having thought about it. If the Batmobile wasn’t so useful (and your pride and joy) he would have already ditched it. “Got it, pal. Let me know when we’re getting close?” he murmured.

“I will, sir. Shall I wake you if either of you exhibits the symptoms of night terrors?” Alfred asked kindly.

Bucky nodded his head. “Please, Alfred. Thank you.”

“My pleasure, Master Barnes. Enjoy your nap.”

Bucky was asleep within five minutes, lulled to sleep by the dull roar of the engines and your even breathing.

Next Chapter

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thebibliomancer · 6 years

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Essential Avengers: Avengers #187: The Call of the Mountain Thing!

September, 1979

Still a great title.

And a pretty great cover.

Chthon!Wanda front and center with the Avengers floating upside down lightly napping around her as the sky catches fire.

Shit gonna go down, most probably.

How did we come to this?

Last time: An old man kidnapped Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver by stuffing their souls into some dolls. He was thwarted by the Avengers but the twins decided to go on vacation with the old man anyway on a journey to rediscover their mysterious origins. They traveled to their homeland of Transia, a small country between Romania and Serbia full of quaint villages and angry mobs. Modred, the Wi-Fi Wizard, lured Wanda up the mountain where he shot her in the back twice and enabled his master Chthon to possess her body. Chthon’s first order of business: put on an eviller, sexier outfit.

Meanwhile, Quicksilver fell down a mountain and right into a rich spring of exposition and retcons when he met Bova, the cow-woman midwife who helped birth him. She explained to him what his real backstory was, dropped hints that his real dad was Magneto, and cooked him a hot meal. Upon learning that Wanda is now evil and sexy, Quicksilver rescued Django Maximoff (aforementioned kidnapper and the twins real dad in terms of who actually raised them) from some trees and called the Avengers for help. But alas, Pietro and Django were exploded and then captured by the possessed Wanda.

So that brings us to now.

Which is the Avengers arriving in, or rather over, Transia.

QUINJET!

God. That is a huge windshield.

Anyway, the Avengers have arrived but the weather is still going bonkers and the Quinjet is going crazy too. Although the art doesn’t really reflect this, three engines are out and the instruments are going crazy.

So. Yeah. They’re going to crash.

In the finest tradition of Quinjets.

Cap realizes that they have to bail. Good thing that three of them can fly and one of them has a rocket belt.

Oh yeah, the roster for today is: Captain America, Ms Marvel (subbing in for Wanda), Falcon, Beast, the Wasp, and Wonder Man (subbing in for Iron Man).

We’re not very far into Gyrich’s new government mandated roster and the auxiliary Avengers have already been in more than the people he wanted.

Beast decides to stay on the Quinjet, wrestling the controls to make sure it doesn’t land on anyone.

But Wonder Man decides ‘nah.’ He picks up Beast, slaps his rocket belt on him, and throws him out of the Quinjet.

Because, hey. Wonder Man is indestructible. If anyone is going to stay at the helm of a crashing ship it makes sense for it to be him.

Beast is less than enthused. Mostly because his unfamiliarity with the rocket belt leaves him flying upside in peak comedic fashion.

Anyway, in the Quinjet, Wonder Man wrestles with the controls, having second thoughts about this brave thing he did (and good job, Wonder Man! What with your insecurities and fear of dying!).

Finally, it just becomes impossible to keep the Quinjet airborn anymore so it becomes more earthbound.

With a FWAWHOOMP.

The Avengers watch the crash with Cap basically going ‘welp hope he really was indestructible anyway lets get a move on.’

In fairness, he’s either entirely okay, dead, or incredibly inconvenienced so that’s a 2/3rds chance that there’s no point in checking on him.

Cap tells the Avengers that they’ll head to the village. Its the most likely place for Quicksilver to have placed his call from.

But then Modred shoots Cap in the back.

GODDAMMIT MODRED, ALWAYS WITH THE SHOOTING IN THE BACK

Luckily Cap had his shield and even magical attack must yield but it still knocked him off his feet.

Modred the DICK tells the Avengers that he’s here to fetch them to be disciples of the great Lord Chthon but Cap says nuts to that. And also “Avengers assemble!”

Falcon and Ms Marvel are the closest so they rush Modred first. Modred responds by conjuring up a shower of rocks from the ground which Falcon finds very off-putting.

Falcon: “Wha--? Holy crud! Just when it finally stops rainin’, this dude conjures up a shower of rocks!”

Ms Marvel: “Don’t talk about it, Falcon. Just do your job!”

Falcon: “Swell. For a minute there, I forgot I was the new kid on the block. But maybe I can make an impression on these high-and-mighty Avengers -- by layin’ in the first punch!”

And Falcon has finally thrown a punch as an Avenger! Shame that he now feels that the other Avengers are looking down on him just because Ms Marvel (herself a new kid on the block) snapped at him.

Also shame that Modred completely no-sells the punch. And then uses Leaf Storm against Falcon. Despite it being a grass type move it is Super Effective anyway.

... So basically Modred gestures and a bunch of leaves just clump around Falcon until he falls over and I guess he’s out of the fight. Defeated by leaves. How ignominious his first issues have been.

Meanwhile, elsewhere: Beast was so bad at rocket belt that he actually crashes into a snowbank far away from everyone else.

Which makes me notice. None of the other Avengers wondered where he was! They were about to set off towards the village and Falcon was concerned about Wonder Man who was in the crashed Quinjet but nobody was like ‘shouldn’t Beast have joined us by now?’ or ‘should we wait for Hank McCoy, the best Hank in our lives?’

You’re not the only one going unappreciated, Falcon.

So, Beast crashes into a snowbank and spots something shiny.

Maybe its part of the Quinj-OHNOOOOOOOOPE ITS A SKULL

Its a non-human skull. Looks animalian even. But it was wearing armor. What a puzzlement.

And Beast sits on the side of the mountain thinkering on that puzzlement.

Meanwhile, Modred, the Wi-Fi Wizard, continues to throw rocks.

Cap can block the rocks with his mighty shield and Ms Carol Marvel is good at aerial maneuvering so she’s dodging and weaving through the motion lines towards Modred.

So instead he hits her with lightning.

Yer a jerk, Modred.

I’m a bit surprised that a single lightning bolt took her out though. In the recent Avengers Annual #8 she tanked an electrical attack by Dr. Spectrum and then punched her through the wall.

Then again, a point is made much down the line that for all of Carol Marvel’s ability to absorb and redirect energy, she has trouble with magic.

So. Sure.

Cap thinks to himself, hey, sure Modred took down Falcon and Ms. Marvel like nothing but dangit he’s up against an old war-horse full of guile and stuff.

So he cleverly throws his shield to the side, relying on its mighty boomerang-ish qualities to make Modred yield upside the back of the head.

But magic is bullshit and a tree snags Cap’s shield out of thin air.

So Cap jump kicks Modred right in the wi-fi.

The second good hit on Modred all issue. Falcon got the first. Yay, Falcon!

But just like Cap, the minor thrill of hitting this jerk is quickly eclipsed by what a jerk he is and how much bullshit magic is.

Modred hits Cap with hurricane force winds that create a vacuum so Cap can’t breath and passes out.

Also, the THWIP gesture is magical. I wonder if Spidey knows.

Meanwhile, the crashed Quinjet.

Actually crashed in largely one piece. From the FWAWHOOMP, I assumed the crash site would be worse but Wonder Man did a good job.

Although he’s not exactly thinking ‘any landing you can walk away from.’ He’s actually grousing that the FAA would take away his license if he had one. Which I’m not sure if that’s actually true. Landing a disabled plane in any reasonable shape doesn’t seem like they’d penalize it. Although flying without a license...

Anyway, Wonder Man sees a big ball of light flying towards him but he’s no sooner recognized it as Wanda (or sexy, evil Chthon!Wanda anyway) than she has paralyzed him with magic and carried him away for nefarious reasons.

Back at the Modred and Modred gloats about having defeated all of the Avengers.

Yup. Beat Falcon with leaves, Carol with magical lightning, and Cap with a stiff breeze. With Wonder Man and Quicksilver captured by possessed Wanda and Beast thinkering on a mountain somewhere, that’s every single Avenger yesiree.

And then Wasp blasts Modred unconscious to punish him for forgetting she exists because she can’t punish the narrative or the writers. They remain forever frustratingly out of reach.

Although, She-Hulk becomes her bestie later on. Hook your bestie up with some writer punching, She-Hulk.

Wasp’s own victory is as shortlived as Modred’s as she gets shot in the back by Chthon!Wanda.

We just can’t have nice things.

Chthon!Wanda pink energy floats the defeated Avengers up Wundagore mountain and probably to where that alter was.

An alter seems a good place to do what Chthon!Wanda is getting ready to do.

Step one in conquering the world using the power of the Darkhold is creating a circle of upside-down floaty people.

Step two is doing some expositing. Why should Bova (the cow-woman midwife who delivered both the twins and some amazingly convoluted backstory in previous issues) have all the fun?

Chthon reveals (to Modred who presumably already knows?) that Chthon and his sister were the last of the Earth-Spirits that came before the gods. But while his sister infused her essence in all living things and became Mother Earth (Thor’s mom?), Chthon feared death and fled to a nether plane, leaving behind the Darkhold (scribed in words of FIRE) to provide a gateway for his eventual return.

It was not a plan without some setbacks.

Although the Darkhold is an indestructible tome that was used and miused by various people throughout the years while Chthon bided his time, in the sixth century the Darkhold was found by Morgan le Fey of Arthurian significance.

And obviously a person like Morgan le Fey when confronted with an evil book that was a gateway to a banished spirit on a nether plane would immediately try to summon said banished spirit to serve her.

So. That didn’t go well.

Upon realizing that Chthon was not, in fact, controllable as such, Morgan and co tried to shove Chthon back into the nether plane. They weren’t able to do that but at least they shoved Chthon into a mountain and decided close enough for magical work.

Around this time Magnus, a member of Morgan le Fey’s coterie, decided hey maybe this Darkhold is actually... bad news? And stole it to hide in an enchanted tower where no one with evil intent could enter.

Did you catch the immediate loophole there?

Yeah. Those with benevolent intentions could enter the tower.

Geez. This sounds like a quest in a fantasy story and/or video game. I mean, I guess this is a fantasy story. With high tech knights in a little bit but definitely fantasy. But like... this is a very Skyrim sidequest.

Anyway, Modred (before he was as much of a dick) entered the tower to use the Darkhold for good reasons and “paid for that folly with his soul!”

So I guess Chthon isn’t telling this story to Modred despite him being the only one conscious to listen to it because Chthon referred to Modred as ‘him’ instead of ‘you.’ I guess Chthon is just talking to himself.

Anyway. The Darkhold was later removed from the tower by St. Brenden and again passed through many hands through many years until it landed with Gregor Russoff. Who managed to curse his own name with the Darkhold’s evil.

He was the werewolf that I mentioned in previous posts that killed Jessica Drew’s mom.

Anyway, to fund his new hobby of EVIL, Russoff sold off part of his estate to some scientists, which included Wundagore mountain. Because people can just own mountains. Casually. People can just casually own mountains.

Obviously, one of the buyers was Herberet Wyndham, later to be known as the High Evolutionary.

The scientists found uranium in them thar hills and used that wealth to build Wundagore (the city).

Chthon was pretty confused about all this ‘science’ and ‘genetic abominations that were part man and yet part animal.’ But you don’t have to understand stuff to capitalize on it.

But Chthon wasn’t able to do that either. Magnus, the renegade tower building ex-follower of Morgan le Fey, ended up as a colleague of the High Evolutionary and taught the New Men chivalry, which rendered them unsuitable for Chthon’s purposes.

Chthon attacked Wundagore anyway, through his host the Other, but ended up vanquished “by the combined might of sixth century sorcery and twentieth century science.” And also by animal-people in armor, riding ‘atomic steeds.’

Which is. I mean. A giant screaming demon face fought with magic, technology, and the Knights of Wundagore.

That’s a prime contender for a ‘greatest story scarcely told’ moment.

These events do seem to get fleshed out a little bit more but only in the far off year 1988 in an X-Men annual during the Evolutionary War.

But even in defeat (by animal-men taught chivalry by an ancient wizard and riding atomic hoverbikes), Chthon planned for future victory.

It just so happened that a child was born in Wundagore the night of Chthon’s defeat. And as Chthon was resealed into the mountain, he imbued baby Wanda with latent magical potential to complement her powerful mutant gift.

Way to screw everything up, Magda. You bring a fetus to a demon mountain and you wander off into the snow to die? You’re the worst.

Although I suppose a question here is why just Wanda? Why not hedge your bets and imbue both Wanda and Pietro? As we’re about to see, Chthon had to kick and scream to get Wanda to this very situation that he needed her to be in and with double babies at least he would have had options.

Well, I know the reason is that this is a development from Wanda learning magic which was a development from her codename containing witch. But in story, why did Chthon put all his eggs in the Wanda basket?

Maybe he had has his heart set on that evil, sexy outfit. But if you think Pietro couldn’t rock that ensemble, Chthon, you need to be more open-minded.

Anyway, apparently even sealed in a mountain, Chthon had enough influence over Wanda to dampen her mutant powers several times in hopes that she would decide to learn magic to make up for it.

But it was only her introduction to Agatha Harkness that Wanda learned of her magical potential. And lets not forget that she almost immediately got possessed by Mephisto there so maybe learning magic was a bad idea.

It has gotten her possessed two and a half times by this point. Mephisto, Chthon, and I’m counting the Serpent Crown as half.

Maybe Agatha Harkness should have taught her ways to defend herself against possession before declaring that there was nothing further she could teach her.

Anyway, with Wanda now knowing magic and still having her science-spawned mutant powers, she was at least worthy of being Chthon’s dual-natured host. Because if science and magic beat him once, why, he’d just combine the two for his own good! Eat it, High Evolutionary and Magnus!

The last detail of getting Modred as a servant was taken care of by contriving a battle between Modred and the Other to gain complete control over the Wi-Fi Wizard and then having Modred trick Magnus into being half a world away when Chthon rose again.

Chthon!Wanda: “And now I have completely subjugated the soul of Wanda Frank, her body, her scientific and sorcerous abilities belong only to Chthon! And with them, I shall bend all of nature to my will!”

Now the only thing that can stop Chthon is natural light.

Because that chalk white complexion cannot stand up against any UV rays.

That’s just a headcanon but. She’s snow white.

Anyway, Modred senses something approaching interrupting this long exposition slash backstory dump told for noone’s benefit except the audience and Chthon who just loves to hear himself talk.

AND THE INTERLOPER IS A KNIGHT OF WUNDEGORE!

Or actually Beast who dug a skeleton out of a snowbank and stole its clothes, as ya do. He didn’t even know the connection to what was going on. Having heard the entire backstory that Chthon told somehow despite only now having approached close enough to make Modred’s sorcerous senses tingle, he realizes that it was a good idea because of the psychological impact on Chthon!

So I guess prior to overhearing that, Beast just put on a suit of armor he found in a snowbank because this whole alter on a mountain thing was so Skyrim he couldn’t help but loot a dead body?

Anyway, Knight Beast skewers the Darkhold with his lance.

Modred attempts to magic at him but thankfully Modred needs a stanza before getting around to anything which leads him to being SHHUK’d right in the throat with Cap’s shield.

Beast’s flashy entrance was enough to distract Chthon and loosen the bonds on the Avengers. And its a very flashy entrance. That is some snazzy golden armor.

Around this point we get to learn that apparently the primary diet of an ancient Earth-Spirit who had been sealed into a mountain is the scenery. Because Chthon gets downright hammy.

Some examples: “Wha -- no! A knight of Wuuuuundegore!” , “You triiiiicked me!” , “Yesssss! Hurt meeeee! It will only make the paaaaain of your chastisement that much sweeeeeter!” , “Weak souls taste looooovely!”

Aside from the chalky complexion, Chthon also goes increasingly more monster face as this goes on eventually looking like Voldemort with luxurious red hair.

Anyway, with the Avengers free and Chthon promising punishment for Beast’s trickery, Quicksilver just punches Chthon right in the face. Zero hesitation. Usually in these situations you get a dilemma like ‘but thats my friend/teammate/sister! I can’t hurt him/her/them!’ but Quicksilver just runs right up and pops Chthon one.

Good job, Pietro.

Meanwhile, Django Maximoff has an actual heart attack.

What is with Pietro and Wanda’s father figures having heart attacks? And how afraid should Magneto be??

But before Django falls down, he realizes that he’s still carrying that doll he used when he tried to kidnap Scarlet Witch before. He laments the loss of the Nivashi Talisman. If only he still had that he could kidnap Wanda’s soul again. BUT FOR GOOD REASONS THIS TIME.

But... he does? The doll starts moving and speaking with Wanda’s voice.

And then Django falls down in startlement and also having an actual heart attack.

Quicksilver jumps to some conclusions and realizes that the Nivashi Talisman was bullshit, the magic was within Django all along! Or rather, it was the wood that the dolls were carved from that was magical!

Like the Puppetmaster’s radioactive clay, the wood of Wundagore was exposed to the uranium in the mountain and as everyone knows, radiation is basically magic.

Leaping to some other conclusions, Quicksilver grabs the doll and tries to will a swap between Wanda and Chthon’s soul - to trap Chthon in the doll and put Wanda back in her ever-Voldemorting body.

But it doesn’t work because sometimes grabbing a magical doll and hoping for the best just doesn’t pay off.

Quicksilver: “Damn! It’s not working! Nothing is happening!”

Chthon: “Of coooooorse not, mortal! Your will is too weeeeeak! But I don’t mind -- weak souls taste looooovely!”

Quicksilver gives up and apologizes to Wanda for failing but now its Ms Marvel’s time to jump to some conclusions.

Clearly the problem is that none of the Avengers are trained magicians and can’t stand up to Chthon alone! But with the power of FRIENDSHIP maybe, just maybe, they can Care Bear Stare Chthon into defeat!

So the Avengers all touch Quicksilver and he tries again.

But this time, with TEAMWORK and wishing really hard, a powerful pink energy glow suffuses the Avengers.

“And thus ensues a literal battle of wills, as six struggling heroes pool their concentration into a phalanx of sorcerous thought, hoping to restore a soul -- and in the process, save a world! On the receiving end of that emotional barrage, Chthon gloats -- but it is an exultation short-lived, for he had underestimated that force which some humans call ‘good’ and others call ‘love.’ And thus the very heavens shriek with Chthon’s anger as his essence is torn forcibly from its newly-conquered vessel to replace the soul of Wanda Frank, trapped in an effigy of carven wood.”

Okay but be that as it may, they basically do a Care Bear Stare.

Jury is out on which Avenger is which bear.

(Cap is Patriotism Bear)

And as Wanda regains her rapidly un-Voldemorting body (I also notice that her evil, sexy costume turns back to normal. Interesting morality indicator...), she yells at Quicksilver to do something with the doll.

So he throws it off the mountain.

Good job, Pietro.

Throwing cursed objects into the distance means they’ll never return to harm anyone ever again.

Okay. I shouldn’t be snide. He throws Chthon!Doll into the crater where Wundagore city was and then Wanda uses a “combination hex bolt and mutant blast” to collapse the mountain on top of the doll.

I thought her hex bolts were her mutant power but whatever.

So Chthon has gone from being trapped in a nether plane to being sealed inside a mountain to being sealed inside a Scarlet Witch action figure underneath a mountain.

I can’t tell if that’s a lateral move or not.

Chthon ain’t pleased either way.

But alas. This victory came at a price. Although Django Maximoff’s magic and belief gave them the key to victory, he died of his heart attack. And never once did he stop loving the twins or ever get their names right.

Wanda and Pietro decide to bury him in the forest that he loved so much.

Dammit, he died too soon!

He may not have been the biological father but he’s the one that helped raise Wanda and Pietro and there’s so much dad stuff he could have done with them! Like awkward thanksgiving dinners with Magneto!

This story makes a big deal about setting up a new, real backstory for the twins and then quickly gets rid of any complications of that new backstory. Django really raised them? He dead now.

Making the Whizzer their dad at least kept the Whizzer around as a possible dadly figure. Also he’s had like five heart attacks and he’s still ticking. Give me back Django!

Anyway.

There’s the question of what to do with Modred. He was so linked to Chthon that without the demon to guide him, he’s become as mindless as an infant.

And there’s no way the Avengers are going to take care of him. They didn’t take care of teaching Loki to poop again when he lost his mind and he was Thor’s brother. Of course they’re going to pawn Modred off on Bova, cow-woman midwife.

She doesn’t mind though. Caring for children is what she was created for and teaching an ancient wizard to poop again is close enough for her.

And with no follow-up to see if Bova has adequate childcare facilities or has adult child proofed her home, the Avengers head off to return home.

Luckily Wonder Man crashed the Quinjet in mostly one piece because they’re not going to be able to borrow a jet in Transia. I don’t think there’s even a train station.

Also, Beast is still wearing the Knight of Wundagore armor and still has the very evil and corruptive Darkhold book just impaled on the lance.

I’m... are you just going to take that home, Beast??!

I think part of the Darkhold is later going to end up in Doctor Doom’s hands and after that the whole thing ends up in the Vatican but its unclear what Beast did with it in the interim.

Anyway, that's the end of a story that we can call Yesterday Quest or perhaps Wanda and Pietro Return Home And It Was Awful But At Least They Met Bova.

I think I’ve been pretty clear about what I think about it. Every time they change the Maximoff’s backstory they just make it even more spaghetti nonsense but this spaghetti nonsense was entertaining and brought us a lot of good stuff like Bova the cow-woman midwife, the High Evolutionary desperately trying to get rid of some babies, the Avengers using the Care Bear Stare, Cap going all the way over Gyrich’s head to the president, Wasp getting to Do A Thing, and Quicksilver falling down a mountain.

I don’t think stuff like Wanda’s magical potential needed a big backstory explanation and it just raises questions about why Pietro wasn’t also tapped as a potential host body and while this isn’t the first time Wanda ends up possessed (its the second and a half) I think it does contribute to an unfortunate trend of Wanda being possessed or going evil and sexy that writers really need to just get over.

I do think its a shame that Falcon still has not had a good showing in the book. Beast got several issues dedicated to what a good Avenger he would be. And I know that Falcon doesn’t even want to be here but he also wants to look good and the more he’s made to look ineffectual the more I can’t help but feel that this is an intentional tactic. It feels like Michelinie had an anti-affirmative action agenda to push and Falcon is both the catspaw and victim of that agenda.

Just let Falcon do cool stuff. I know he’s not long for this team. JUST LET HIM BE COOL.

Aside from that, its neat to see the backup Avengers concept so immediately put into action. With Iron Man busy with his own biz in Demon in a Bottle, Wonder Man is tapped to fill his spot on the team.

Setting up a flexible roster like that offers a lot of interesting possibilities for mixing things up.

Next time: David Michelinie takes a break from writing for a few issues and the Elements of Doom!

Which weirdly have nothing to do with Victor von.

Follow @essential-avengers if you like Bova, think Quicksilver could rock Wanda’s evil sexy costume, or just enjoy this liveblog.

#Avengers #Chthon #Scarlet Witch #Quicksilver #Django Maximoff #Captain America #Ms Marvel #Carol Danvers #Beast #the Wasp #Falcon #Bova the cow midwife #essential avengers #Essential marvel liveblogging #and now wanda's backstory is known and will probably never change again

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