Luke walked through the apple orchard with his hands in his pockets while Tony and America Chavez followed behind him.
The orchard stretched across rolling hills, its trees heavy with bright red fruit. America had picked an apple several minutes earlier and was eating it as she looked around curiously.
"Where are we going now?" she asked.
She had to admit that among all the people she had encountered across the multiverse, Luke was probably the most powerful.
Most beings with that kind of power at least looked intimidating. Luke, on the other hand, wandered around casually and behaved as though reality itself was optional.
At this point, she was beginning to suspect he could do almost anything with a snap of his fingers.
A ridiculous thought crossed her mind. If he really was that powerful, maybe she should find a magic lamp and ask him to grant wishes instead.
"This is where the witch you're talking about lives," Luke replied, glancing around the orchard.
America stopped chewing.
"Here?"
She had expected something far darker. A ruined fortress, an ancient temple, maybe even a cursed mountain hidden from civilization.
Instead, she was standing in a peaceful orchard that looked completely ordinary.
"Yes," Luke said. "But don't be deceived by what you're seeing."
America frowned, but before she could ask what he meant, Luke suddenly stopped. His gaze settled on an empty patch of air several meters ahead.
"And you should stop hiding and show yourself. Playing with Chaos Magic in front of me is pointless, Wanda."
Tony immediately tensed while America instinctively took a step back.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then a soft laugh drifted through the orchard.
Scarlet energy gathered between the trees, and Wanda appeared in her Scarlet Witch attire. She looked calm, almost relaxed, as she studied the newcomers.
"You're a new face," Wanda said, her eyes briefly lingering on Luke before shifting to Tony. They narrowed slightly.
"And Tony, you're supposed to be dead. The only person I care about is her. If you're here to preach peace or convince me to stop, I'll ignore you."
Her attention settled entirely on America.
Luke sighed.
"Well, no can do. I came here to gently remind you that you should stop chasing her. You shouldn't be pursuing something that isn't yours, and the children you're so desperate for aren't yours either."
The smile on Wanda's face thinned.
Luke could clearly see her condition. Chaos Magic was no longer just a tool she wielded. She had immersed herself in it so deeply that it had begun shaping her thoughts. Every decision she made was being justified through that influence.
Then Wanda smiled again.
The illusion covering the orchard shattered instantly.
Healthy trees twisted into rotten husks. The grass darkened. Every apple hanging from the branches blackened and decayed before America's eyes.
America glanced at the apple in her hand and nearly dropped it.
The fruit she had been eating was rotten inside, crawling with worms.
She immediately threw it away and spat out the bite in her mouth.
Luke glanced at her.
"Didn't I tell you not to trust everything you see?"
America shot him an irritated look.
"That would've been useful information before I ate it."
Wanda paid the exchange no attention.
"Don't talk about something you can't understand."
Luke met her gaze.
"I can understand. I've seen versions of you that lost everything, and I've seen versions that lost nothing. Your situation isn't unique, Wanda."
The instant the words left his mouth, Wanda attacked.
Scarlet energy erupted from her hands and slammed into Luke with enough force to uproot trees and tear apart the ground beneath him.
Several trunks exploded apart as he was hurled across the orchard.
Tony immediately activated his armor and surged forward, but Wanda was already moving.
Chaos Magic wrapped around America and lifted her into the air.
"Hey!"
She struggled as Wanda dragged her closer.
Tony accelerated after them with his repulsors blazing, intending to intercept before Wanda could escape.
A wave of scarlet energy struck him from the side and sent him crashing through a cluster of rotten trees.
America was pulled straight toward Wanda.
Unfortunately for Wanda, she never reached her.
A hand suddenly closed around her wrist.
Luke stood beside her.
There was no indication he had ever been blasted away.
His grip tightened slightly while his expression remained calm.
"I'm only being gentle because you're wearing Wanda's face."
The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy.
"Otherwise, I would've already shown you exactly how committed I am to gender equality."
Wanda reacted immediately.
The moment Luke caught her wrist, scarlet energy gathered around her free hand and exploded forward.
The blast struck Luke directly in the face.
The shockwave tore through the rotten orchard, flattening trees and carving trenches into the ground.
When the scarlet light faded, Luke was still standing exactly where he had been.
"Wanda, if you think you can harm me with whatever little tricks you learned from the Darkhold, you're sadly mistaken."
Wanda pulled harder, trying to free her wrist, but Luke's grip didn't move.
Scarlet energy surged around her body.
The Chaos Magic became increasingly unstable.
"Just listen to me."
"There is still a way to fix this."
For a brief moment, it seemed like Wanda hesitated.
Then her eyes turned completely red.
The Chaos Magic surrounding her intensified dramatically.
Luke immediately understood what had happened.
The Wanda standing before him wasn't merely using the Darkhold anymore. She had immersed herself in it completely. She wasn't even trying to understand. Everything had been reduced to a single obsession. Luke sighed.
"Hmmm."
His expression became slightly disappointed.
"I think it's better if you finally leave."
Wanda immediately sensed something was wrong. For the first time since the confrontation began, genuine danger stirred in her instincts. Luke simply closed his eyes as the entire orchard fell silent.
Then Wanda looked down.
Small particles of light were separating from her body.
Her fingers began breaking apart first.
Then the rest of her form.
"No..."
Her body continued dissolving into countless particles of light.
Within seconds, most of her body had already disappeared.
Luke finally opened his eyes.
"Goodbye."
The remaining particles scattered into the air.
Tony looked toward Luke.
"What exactly did you do?"
"Sent her somewhere she can no longer cause trouble."
*****
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