(MCU) Arcs Collide: Chapter 32 – Bound Mad Magic

Chapter 32 – Bound Mad Magic

Summary: A certain witch has to pay the piper after confronting Tony and Loki.

Carol was smiling as she watched Christine hitting Tony over the head again and again while going on a rant: “…Wedding day. What would have happened if he didn’t underestimate you? Should I start dyeing everything black and plan a funeral?!”

Tony tried to raise his hands in defense and argued back, “If he would have fought harder, so would I. What did you want me to do? Let Stephen handle it? I took care of it; can’t we move on?”

Christine’s face darkened, and Stephen chuckled before saying, “Shouldn’t have said that, Tony.”

The bride began fuming and started sputtering, “I will… Why, you infuriating man… I should…”

Carol decided it was time to rescue her fiancé. Stepping up next to Tony, she raised a calming hand toward Christine, saying, “Okay, Christine, he got it. How about, at our wedding, I make Rogers show up with threats so Stephen will have his chance to kick some ass?”

Stephen choked on air and began to protest, “Wait a minute, how did I get dragged into this? Just because Tony lacks self-preservation doesn’t mean all of us do…”

His wife waved his words away with a dismissive gesture before smiling at Carol. “You have a deal.”

Both Tony and Stephen exchanged a nervous look.

Carol and Christine giggled, then each pulled their partner in a different direction. The newlyweds went to keep their guests entertained, while Carol took Tony to sit down and get some food.

About five minutes later, a soft voice spoke from behind them. “Anthony, Captain, may I join you?”

Tony pointed his fork at the open seat next to him and said, “Go right ahead, Reindeer Games.”

Loki stepped from behind them to sit at the indicated seat. The trickster had his long, dark hair smoothed back as usual, but today he was wearing an all-black suit, giving him an elegant and surprisingly human look.

As he sat down, Loki sighed and asked, “Must you insist on that ridiculous nickname, Anthony?”

Tony snorted and shot back, “Must you insist on wearing that weird-ass helmet?”

Loki frowned. “It is a symbol I have carried since what you call the mythological era, and it’s made of pure Asgardian gold. It is not something to be mocked.”

Tony just shrugged and took another bite of the steak in front of him. Loki’s eyes twitched, and he muttered almost wistfully, “It’s moments like this that make me understand the satisfaction I felt when I threw you out of a window.”

Carol wanted to laugh. Her fiancé had a knack for annoying people. He had spent so much time acting as an asshole that it became part of his personality, but at the same time, it was what people came to expect of him, so it all worked out. Thankfully, since they met, his smile had lost its falseness, his words their sharpness, and she wasn’t the only one who noticed it.

Loki decided to move on to the reason he was there. “I heard you fought a sorcerer earlier. Such a shame my brother distracted me. I would have loved to see it.”

Tony shrugged. “It wasn’t anything special. He just made the world spin a little and punched my blind spots. With my armor, it was too easy to take him down.”

Loki hummed before a small smile appeared on his face, and he asked, “What do you say, Anthony, if we test your improved armor against my magical capabilities? I believe it shall be an interesting match.”

Tony took his time finishing his bite before he replied, “I have some free time when we get back to the tower.”

Loki’s smile grew wider, and Carol began to worry a little, but she saw the looks in their eyes and knew there was no way to stop them now.

AC AC AC AC AC

Carol was walking alongside Tony and Loki inside the lobby of Avengers HQ. They were making their way toward the elevator so the two men could have their sparring match.

But just before they could reach the corner of the hallway, a voice she recognized and hated screamed at the top of its lungs, “STARK!!”

All three of them froze in place and turned to see Maximoff charging at them, a snarl on her face.

Tony raised an unimpressed eyebrow and asked in a bored tone, “Can I help you, Miss Maximoff?”

Maximoff glared at him and hissed, “You will fix Vision right now!”

Tony tilted his head slightly before saying, “First of all, Vision is his own person. Neither I nor anyone else can ‘fix’ him. And secondly, I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with him.”

Maximoff clenched her fists, and a little scarlet began to appear in her eyes as she snarled, “You did something to him; I know it, Stark. Why else would he abandon me for you?!”

Tony shrugged and spoke in a mocking voice, “Oh, I don’t know. Ignoring his pleas for you to listen, using your magic on his life source, and smashing him down dozens of floors—sound familiar?”

Maximoff’s eyes were now glowing scarlet, and she was gritting her teeth loudly.

Carol decided to cut her off before the witch launched into another crazy rant. “Don’t tell me you haven’t figured it out yet?” When the witch glared at her, Carol sighed and explained, “It’s about the Mind Stone. You got your powers from it, and Vision was created with it as his cornerstone. The stone recognizes its own energy inside you, subconsciously drawing Vision toward you. Once the stone was separated from him, that pull disappeared. That’s all there is to it.”

Maximoff looked as if she was about to start fuming, and she snapped, “Then you should have left the damn stone in his head!”

Carol frowned back at her. “And you claim to love him. If we did, he’d be a target for Thanos.”

Maximoff scoffed and snapped back, “Steve and I would have protected him.”

Loki actually laughed at that. “As if you and the fake Captain could even hope to delay the Mad Titan.”

Maximoff’s head snapped toward him, and she screamed furiously, “What did you say?”

Loki smirked and said in a casual voice, “I find it ironic that the mad witch who claims to hate Anthony at the same time won’t deny her feelings for his proclaimed son.”

Maximoff’s hands began to glow scarlet, and Carol began to wonder what was happening to Strange’s seal. Then she realized the man hadn’t been in the tower for the past week due to the wedding, so no one was maintaining his spell.

From what she knew about Stephen’s magic, it would take a long time of neglect for his spell to completely fade, but the longer the ward remained unattended, the weaker it grew. So, the magic containing Maximoff’s powers was weakening while her rising anger brute-forced its way through.

Deciding to push the witch a little more, Carol said amusedly, “Well, he does call Tony father, and since the engagement, he started calling me Mother.”

Tony’s eyes widened, and he looked at her with a look she could easily recognize by now. Carol laughed and playfully smacked him. “Mind out of the gutter, mister. Your baby girl is watching, after all.”

Tony’s look immediately shifted to a frown, which only deepened when Friday chimed in enthusiastically, “Sure am, Boss.”

Maximoff had apparently had enough. In one sharp movement, a small portion of her powers broke through the seal, and the witch sent a wave of scarlet mist directly at Tony with a triumphant yell.

As the scarlet hit Tony straight in the head, Maximoff cackled menacingly. “If you won’t do it willingly, I’ll just make you. And while I’m at it, Steve has wanted to talk for a long time. I think you’ll be much more agreeable now, with the occasional nightmare as punishment.”

What were Carol and Loki doing? Standing aside, looking on in amusement and waiting for the moment.

“Yeah, not sorry to tell you, but none of that is going to happen,” Tony’s voice sounded bored.

Maximoff’s smirk turned into pure shock as the scarlet veil faded, revealing Tony Stark standing there with glowing eyes—not scarlet as she expected, but bright orange, as if a fire was lit behind them.

“What?!” Maximoff asked, outraged.

Tony smirked at her and said calmly, “You can thank your idiot leader for this little upgrade of mine. Your powers will never have an effect on me again.”

Maximoff snarled, but before she could do anything, a voice came from behind the corner. “Now, Tony, is that really the way you want to talk about your family?”

A moment later, Romanoff stepped into view. She had obviously been hiding, listening, and waiting for her moment.

With a fake little smile, she said in a tone sweet as honey, “You have to understand Wanda, Tony. She and Vision had something special, and now he’s ignoring her and hurting her feelings. Maybe if you put the stone back in place, it can fix things, and we can begin to get the old team together.”

Before Tony could react, Loki snorted and weighed in. “Such sweet words, Spider. Aren’t those similar to the ones you said to the good doctor before you pushed him off the cliff to bring out the monster?”

Romanoff seemed to notice Loki for the first time. Her eyes widened involuntarily, and she hissed, “Loki. Tony, what the hell is he doing here?”

Tony shrugged and answered casually, “Reindeer Games? He’s an Avenger and my friend.”

Romanoff looked outraged. “He’s your friend?! After what he did in New York? What he did to Clint?”

Tony tilted his head in mock confusion. “Haven’t you read the files Fury gave you?” They all knew perfectly well none of Rogers’s supporters had read them. But that didn’t stop Tony from pointing out, “They clearly showed that Loki was brainwashed himself by the warlord coming for the stones now.”

Romanoff seemed at a loss for a moment before a small grin spread on her face. She spoke with fake worry, “Oh, I see now. Tony, Loki is influencing your mind. Forcing you to abandon your family for a team he chose to trust. You’re his puppet.”

Tony snorted before replying, “If you need to tell yourself that so you can sleep better, go right ahead.”

Romanoff tried to put on a kind smile, but it ended up looking much more predatory as she spoke smoothly, “Don’t worry, Tony. We’ll help you, and then our family can be reunited.”

Maximoff’s smile was pure menace as she snarled, “Yes. Help… I guess if I get rid of your friend, your protection will be gone… so let’s give it a try.”

Maximoff managed to break through the seal and sent two powerful attacks—one toward Loki and the other at Tony again.

Because Tony was closer, the attack reached him first, but just like last time, his eyes began to glow orange, and the scarlet magic faded away harmlessly.

Meanwhile, Loki smirked even wider. He snapped his fingers, and the magical mist turned green instead of scarlet before rocketing back toward the female duo.

Maximoff’s eyes widened for a moment before both she and Romanoff were sent flying backward through the air.

When they landed, both Rogues were dazed but still managed to ask as one, “How?”

Loki laughed and spoke smugly. “Little witch, your magical capabilities are a mere drop in the ocean compared to mine.” He then turned to Tony and said casually, “Now, I believe we had plans, Anthony. It would be a shame to waste our time with the trash.”

All three of them entered the elevator, leaving the two dazed criminals where they were.

AC AC AC AC AC

Carol was walking down a hall on the second floor alongside Nick Fury, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, as well as four SHIELD agents.

Once they reached the door, Carol looked around and asked, “It’s not going to go down quietly. Is everyone ready?”

Jessica had a dangerous smile on her face as she said in barely suppressed anger, “Leave the witch to me.”

Luke hummed and added, “I’ll hold off Rogers. And Barnes too, if he chooses to intervene.”

The SHIELD agents—there to deal with the rest of the criminals if they tried to interfere—prepared their new weapons, all glowing with a small purple light, and nodded as well.

With a nod from Nick, Carol used her ID to open the door, revealing five surprised people sitting around a couch in the living room.

Rogers was the first to stand up, demanding, “What is the meaning of this?”

Fury stepped forward and declared, “Yesterday afternoon, Ms. Romanoff and Ms. Maximoff broke their restraining orders again by confronting Dr. Stark, and if that wasn’t enough, Ms. Maximoff used her powers against him twice and assaulted a member of the New Avengers.”

Romanoff clenched her fists, seeming to understand what was about to happen. Barton, however, proved himself the idiot yet again, screaming in protest, “It was Loki!”

Carol raised an eyebrow and replied, unimpressed, “Yes. One Loki Frigason, crown prince of Asgard and a member of the New Avengers.”

Rogers looked at Fury with disappointment, saying in a matching tone, “Really, Fury? After all his crimes, Loki should be in prison.”

Nick rolled his eye and said dryly, “It’s already been pointed out to you he was brainwashed. Agent Barton didn’t face any consequences for the same reason; why would you deny Loki the same?”

Rogers seemed ready to argue, but Fury moved on. “According to your pardon agreement, both of you have been issued a strike.”

Wilson’s eyes widened. “But Wanda already had two of them.”

Carol and Fury nodded, and the ex-director said without any emotion, “Yes. Romanoff is now with two strikes, but Maximoff has reached three and will now be taken into custody by SHIELD pending negotiations with Kamar-Taj.”

Rogers stood in front of Wanda and spoke with anger, “No! I won’t let the pencil-pushers lock Wanda up again.”

Luke stepped forward, and with one push, knocked Rogers on his ass, saying down to him, “Dude, she’s a terrorist. She belongs in jail at the very least.”

Rogers got back to his feet and tried to push his way past Luke but was shocked to find that even with his full strength, Luke didn’t budge an inch.

Barton and Romanoff both seemed ready to make a move, but the agents quickly pointed their weapons in their direction, making the two former agents freeze.

Maximoff shouted in pure rage, “YOU WON’T TAKE ME TO PRISON AGAIN!”

She released a strong wave of scarlet magic forward. Jessica stood in the way, allowing the magic to hit her while she kept moving forward without any issue.

Maximoff kept sending wave after wave of magic at her, but Jessica just kept getting closer. In panic and rage, Maximoff screamed, “WHY ISN’T MY MAGIC WORKING ON YOU?!”

Jessica smirked and replied smugly, “Mind fuckery won’t work on me, bitch. I’ve waited to take you down for a long time.” Jessica pulled back her fist and said, “This is for Tony,” then punched the witch in the face.

Maximoff landed on the couch with a thud, knocked out.

Rogers looked mortified, glancing around desperately. Wilson didn’t look too bothered, Romanoff looked genuinely scared, and Barton looked furious. That was when Rogers noticed Barnes looking on from his room door with a flat expression.

Rogers perked up and called, “Bucky, help me! Together, we can defeat them and save poor Wanda.”

Barnes took a moment to look at Rogers, then glanced at the limp form of Maximoff. All he said was, “Good riddance.” Then he went back into his room.

Rogers slumped, looking defeated. But that was when Barton had enough and tried to launch himself at Jessica with a yell of, “Enough!”

Before he could take even a single step, one of the agents shot him in the chest, and Barton fell face-first onto the floor.

Romanoff looked even more terrified than before, while Wilson showed concern. Nick snorted and said casually, “The bullets are special ones developed by SHIELD agents. They don’t kill but release a chemical that paralyzes the target. He’ll be up and around in four to six hours.”

Wilson looked relieved while Romanoff looked downright horror-struck. Ignoring them, Jessica picked up Maximoff over her shoulder and began leaving the room, followed by the others. Luke stayed behind to ensure Rogers didn’t try anything stupid.

And just like that, the Scarlet Witch was finally off to her deserved place.