He knew he was dead. He also knew what Hermione wanted. So he bit down on the pain and said nothing, refusing to give her the satisfaction.
"You're stubborn. Let's see if this changes your mind."
Seeing him determined to hold out, Hermione snorted and gave her wand a light flick.
"Crucio!"
Gideon Malike screamed , a raw, animal shriek — his body convulsing so hard it looked like something inside him was trying to get out.
"I'll talk! I'll talk!"
It took seconds. Just seconds. The pain reached somewhere deeper than flesh, and his will shattered like glass.
"Then talk."
Malike gasped, dragging air into his lungs, the words coming out in broken pieces.
"I... I was afraid of those alien monsters..."
"But I was more afraid of you... wizards... and those Avengers..."
"Your power... it's too strong... already beyond anything we can control..."
"So... I decided to use a nuclear bomb to take care of you and those monsters... together..."
"As for the civilians... they were just necessary sacrifices..."
Every word carried. The amplified confession rang out clear and sharp over the city below.
The crowd had been cheering seconds ago , celebrating the aliens being driven back. Now that cheer died in an instant, replaced by something colder and far more dangerous.
"What? Necessary sacrifices? What are we to him?!"
"These damn politicians! They only care about their own power. They don't give a damn whether we live or die!"
"We thought they were protecting us. Turns out they're the real monsters!"
"Not a single one of them showed up to fight the aliens, but they were plenty eager to nuke their own people!"
"So those heroes are called the Avengers — and that girl is the Witch Lady!"
"The Witch Lady saved us. The Avengers protected us. And these bastards wanted to kill us!"
"Long live the Witch Lady!"
The anger spread through the crowd like fire through dry grass.
Every face tilted upward. Every pair of eyes locked onto Gideon Malike hanging in the air above them, burning with a hatred that wanted to tear him apart with bare hands.
Hermione looked down at the scene, and a cold smile curved at the corner of her mouth.
Exactly what she wanted.
"Since you think civilians are necessary sacrifices," she said, her voice carrying effortlessly, "then it's only fitting you become the sacrifice that pays for it."
She waved her hand. The restraints holding Malike dissolved.
"He's yours."
Gideon Malike dropped from the sky like a discarded rag. His AH barely lasted a second before the crowd swallowed him whole.
"Beat him!"
"Tear him apart!"
"Let him feel what it means to be sacrificed!"
The mob surged over him , fists, boots, nails, teeth. The man who had sat in council chambers deciding the fates of millions was reduced, in minutes, to something unrecognizable. The once-untouchable member of the World Security Council couldn't even produce a scream by the end.
The Avengers had no objections to any of it.
Tony pressed two fingers against his temple, rubbing at the dull throb building there. He needed to decompress. Immediately.
"There's a shawarma place two blocks from here," he said. "Heard it was huge a couple years back. Apparently the girl running it is some kind of shawarma prodigy — people started calling her the Shawarma Girl." He shrugged. "Never had time to check it out. Calling a vacation now. Everyone's coming."
Hermione's eyebrow went up. "I can make shawarma. Professionally."
Tony looked her over with obvious skepticism. "You spend your days brewing potions that smell like something died in them. You're telling me you can cook?"
She opened her mouth to respond.
"It's not over," Steve cut in, his voice quiet and flat. "Are we all forg
➤ Next: Assassination from the Future
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