ROOTS WRAPPED AROUND Specter as he tried to writhe himself out of them. He was in the middle of the lair, Agatha levitating him off the floor.

Y/N grunted and tried to rip the roots with his enhanced strength, but he couldn't. He even tried to phase out of it, but his powers didn't seem to work. It was unusual.

"I gotta say...big fan." Agatha began as she kept petting Señor Scratchy, "Out of all the Avengers you were the most intriguing, aside from Wanda of course."

"Enough with the bullshit." Y/N shot back, "Where are my kids?"

"Your kids? Are they really, though?"

Y/N shook his head and scoffed, he knew the witch would try to play these games.

She continued, "I'm trying to understand all this...like you. Everything around us, all the things that's been happening, it takes an immense amount of power to do so."

"Great analysis." He sarcastically replied.

"Bringing back Vision, bringing you back, conjuring everything else...how did she do it?"

At that moment, Y/N recalled the memory of seeing Vision die by Thanos's hand, then the time he fought the Titan before seemingly vanishing.

"You're asking me? I'd say go ask Wanda, but if you go near her..." he chuckled, "...bad things will come to you."

Agatha suddenly hurled his wrapped body against a pillar. Y/N grunted as he impacted, then brought him back to his original place.

"I wouldn't test me, if I were you. By the looks of it, it seems like you're powerless."

Y/N had already noticed that, "What did you do?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. Why don't you ask Wanda?" She retorted back.

Y/N sighed, "I'm going to ask again...where are my kids?"

Suddenly, the yells of Billy, Vivian, and Tommy were heard. Y/N looked around frantically.

"Boys? Baby?" He called out, then looked at Agatha with angry eyes, "Where the hell are they?"

"Somewhere for safekeeping, until I get what I want." She answered.

"And what will that be?"

"Whatever power Wanda has. I suspect something...about who she is...what she can be...but I need to make sure."

Y/N chuckled as he remembered the times Wanda demonstrated how poised and strong she was during Avengers missions, "Good luck with that. She's not somebody that can be messed with."

Agatha let out her own laugh before responding, "Have you recalled today? I'm the nosy neighbor...helping her grieving and depressed friend try to cope with her mistakes. I think I'll do fine."

Something got the witch's attention as her eyes looked up towards the ceiling. She gave a nod, "Hmm, that's interesting."

Y/N didn't know what she was talking about. She then conjured a small portal that looked into the neighborhood. There, she saw Wanda outside her house arguing with Monica Rambeau. The S.W.O.R.D agent made it back into the Hex.

"Looks like our special guest has returned." She said with a smile, "It's time for Agnes to show some support."

His eyes widened, "Don't go near—"

"Hush now." Agatha tightened the roots wrapping him and threw him through a door. He stuck to a wall and the door closed, leaving him there in darkness as he yelled.

• • •

HE DIDN'T KNOW how long he's been in the dark room. It could've been hours, maybe even days. He couldn't tell anymore after his tenure in Westview and how time went by.

During his time in the room, he recalled his time before coming to town. How his parents died, how his grandmother, Vivian, took care of him, and his early tenure with the Avengers.

Now that he was able to, he also thought of when he first met Wanda in Sokovia. It was almost a decade ago, but it felt so recent. He still had the same feeling of love towards her from then.

They grew as people, as Avengers, as a couple from then on. He recalls the civil war in Germany and how they ran away together with Steve, Sam, and Natasha. He remembered the battle against Thanos in Wakanda...and how he lost Wanda.

He felt a sting in his heart looking back on that. It was such a painful and sad time for him, especially those five years after.

He recollected the war against Thanos and his army. Once everybody was brought back, they all banded together and fought the Titan. He remembered reuniting with Wanda and how over the moons he was. She came back, and that was all he wanted.

Then...came the memory of taking on Thanos during the end of the battle. The determination he felt, the selflessness. The bright flash was the last thing he remembered of his life before Westview.

That was his past as Y/N.

As Specter.

But what transpired in Westview this last week wasn't going to be forgotten. He wasn't going to throw it all away and think of it as a fluke. Like Wanda said, the love he felt and gave...his family...all of it was real. It felt like home.

And he was going to protect them.

Y/N grunted as he clenched his fists and tried to break out of the roots. They were tough, but he kept trying. His eyes flickered a bright orange glow, and for a moment his strength regained. He ripped them apart, landing on the floor and staring at the door.

He charged and kicked it open, noticing that the lair was still empty. He had to go warn Wanda, and he hoped it wasn't too late.

He ran towards the corridor where he first entered. He got through a n e d e p j f r l n g h t e g v d p p

01010010 01000101 01010000 01001111 01010111 01000101 01010010 01000101 01000100 00001101 00001010 00001101 00001010 01000101 01001110 01010100 01000101 01010010 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01001000 01000101 01011000 00001101 00001010 00001101 00001010 01010010 01000101 01010000 01001111 01010111 01000101 01010010 01000101 01000100

• • 2010's • •

BACK IN THE HEX, Y/N ran up the basement steps and made it to Agatha's living room. He went to the window and ripped open the curtains, seeing a sight he never expected.

Agatha, in her dark-purple witch attire, floated in the air holding his three children by the neck with a tether. Wanda was on the street speaking to her while in a fighting stance.

Specter glared, and in an instant, transformed into his superhero form.

• • •

AGATHA HELD WANDA's children back. She knew what she was, what she can potentially be. It kind of scared her, but her mission was to take that power from her.

"This is Chaos Magic, Wanda." She began, "And that makes you...the Scarlet Witch."

Wanda didn't know how to respond. She simply looked on as her kids struggled with the tethers at their neck.

"Get off of me!" Tommy exclaimed, "Let go of my brother and sister!"

"My powers work out here, or did you forget?" Wanda asked, mentioning her time in Agatha's lair earlier.

"No, dear, I'm counting on it."

She let the kids run towards Wanda, but ultimately pulled them back and let them fall on the asphalt.

"No!" Wanda yelled, then instinctively shot an orb of energy at the evil witch, heaving her several yards back.

"Get back to the house!" Wanda ordered her kids.

"No way, we're staying with you." Billy said.

"Come on, Mom, we can help." Vivian chimed in.

"Listen to your mother, children." Agatha said as he floated back up.

"Now!" Wanda shouted, in which Tommy obeyed. He grabbed Billy and Vivian and used his speed to run away.

Wanda shot another blast of energy at Agatha, causing her to grunt. But amidst the pain, the witch started absorbing Wanda's power.

"I take power from the undeserving. It's kinda my thing."

Wanda looked at her hands, noticing that her skin became darker. Agatha took the distraction as a chance to shoot Wanda with her own purple-colored blast.

"You're clearly in over your little red head. So, why don't you surrender your magic to someone who knows what to do with it?" Agatha levitated in the air again, "And I'll let you keep this pathetic little corner of the world all to yourself. What do you say?"

Wanda got back up, and discreetly used her telekinesis to lift a car from behind Agatha and hurl it towards her. It hit her, causing the vehicle and the witch to crash into the side of a house.

Wanda walked up to the debris, seeing that only Agatha's boots were beneath the car. How typical.

Suddenly, Wanda saw an all-white figure in the reflection of the shattered window. She looked back, seeing that it was Vision...or at least it looked like him.

"Vision?" She called out as she walked closer. She was in awe, "Is it really you?"

The White Vision put a hand at the side of her face, "Wanda."

For a moment, she believed one of her best friends was back...actually back. It brought her a brief moment of happiness.

Vision put his right hand on the other side of her face, in which he unexpectedly began to squeeze. Wanda gasped as he lifted her up and was prepared to exterminate her. In reality, it was a Vision built by S.W.O.R.D using the real Vision's parts.

"And I was told you were powerful." Spectral Vision said in a robotic tone.

Before it can finish the job, Specter flew in and grabbed Spectral Vision by the neck. He dragged it against the asphalt and threw it against a light pole. Y/N landed on his feet, and waited for the assailant to get up.

Once Spectral Vision recovered and faced Specter, it walked forward, but was suddenly punched by Hex Vision who flew in. Spectral Vision was hurled towards an R.V, causing it to explode in a fireball.

"Nice hit on...yourself." Y/N remarked, still pretty puzzled at the sight of a White version of his friend. He then turned to Wanda, "Where are the kids?"

Wanda ran up to them, "They're in the house. Safe." She panted, "I should've told you two everything. The moment I realized what I had done."

"It's all right, Wanda." Vision told her. He had everything explained during the car ride with Darcy Lewis after Halloween night, "I know why you made this world, but this—"

"I can fix it."

"Can you?"

She didn't reply, but looked on in the distance at Spectral Vision walking out of the fire.

Agatha also reappeared behind her on the roof of a house.

"Oh, this is interesting. Looks like we have some family quarreling." She remarked mentioning the arrival of Spectral Vision and Hex Vision.

Wanda looked back at Y/N and Vision. They knew what they had to do.

"This is our home."

Y/N looked at Vision, who gave a nod. He faced Wanda, "Then let's fight for it."

Vision and Specter flew towards Spectral Vision, grabbing it and ascending hundreds of feet in the sky. Agatha vanished, teleporting herself away.

Wanda knew where she would go.

She levitated in the air and began flying into town.