49 Scapegoat

After the green energy disappeared, I dashed to Wanda's last location.

But when I got there, I found only Vision lying on the ground and Wanda was nowhere to be seen.

Vision was still alive, which means that Wanda was successful in freeing him.

In order to ensure he doesn't do anything stupid, I summon some chakra chains and bind him with them.

He could be useful in the future and I don't wish to see him dead, since he may be a victim himself here.

I left a bunshin behind to watch over him and then I headed to the border. This was the only place Wanda could be right now.

Upon arriving at the battlefield, I saw robot parts everywhere and dead soldiers lying around.

Natasha was sitting on the ground while holding Bruce, who seemed to have changed.

His chakra was a deep shade of green, even in his human form. That means he has finally merged with his alter ego.

Someday, I need to ask him how he did it.

Next to them was Clint, who probably came with Bruce to help Natasha.

While T'Challa watched with his men Wanda, as she stood before the unconscious Stark.

"He needs to pay now for what he did to your and my people or he will escape his responsibility." she said with a painful look.

Her presence was powerful enough to freeze everyone in place.

I started walking towards her.

"Is that really what you want?" I ask her while ignoring all the stares from the people around me.

After seeing me, she looks surprised but then nods.

She seemed to hesitate to take the last step because Tony was still alive so I tried some reverse psychology.

"Then do it."

Her eyes widen as if she expected me to stop her, but then she looks at Stark and uses her powers to lift him off the armor.

"He deserves this. The world would be a better place without him."

As she said this, tears started to flow out of her eyes. She is trying to justify her actions?

"The world? Why not be h---?" I tried to say something, but I was interrupted by someone.

"Wait!!! He will ... be punished ... I can promise you this. But not... not like this."

Looking to the side, we could see Steve Rogers trying to get up while medics urged him to lie down again.

"You don't know what we had to go through, because of him. So stay out of this," says Wanda, looking angry at him.

"Then tell me what happened... if you kill him here... nothing will change."

Steve is doing my job here...

"Let me show you what he did and then tell me again if I should spare him or not." she says, then waves her hand and the scene before our eyes shifts.

We arrived at Wanda and Pietro's apartment and they were watching TV with their parents.

Suddenly an explosion occurs and Oleg and Iryna die in front of their kids from falling debris.

Wanda and Pietro hide under the bed and then a second bombshell lands in front of them with Stark's name on it.

I couldn't see the other people right now, but since we were all connected through Wanda, I could feel their shock.

Then Wanda appeared before us while Stark was still floating behind her.

"On March 30, 1999, this man was responsible for the deaths of thousands of people, including my parents. So tell me again, Captain America, how can I not take my revenge right now?"

After saying this, she points at Stark and he starts groaning in pain.

There was no response from Steve, so it was time for me to take action.

"That should be enough for them to see."

I activated my Sharingan and took hold of the illusion she had created.

Through the connection she created, I start to read Tony's memories and then I snap my fingers.

Wanda and I were standing now at the entrance of a disco somewhere in New York.

"David, what are you doing?" she asked, while looking confused at me.

"I wanted to show you something," I say, pointing at the door.

Then Tony walks in with two women by his side and walks with them to the bar.

"Let's have some fun, ladies." Tony says, while pulling out something like a phone and then he switches the music in the disco.

"Why are you showing me this?" she asked, still confused.

"Let's follow them." I grab her hand and we walk to the bar.

Tony leaves the device at the bar and starts dancing with the women.

"Look at it." I tell her and point at it.

It looked like an old phone with a slightly larger screen than others.

She looks at it, then suddenly steps back in shock.

There is a date on the screen, which states March 30, 1999.

"No, what is he doing here? Shouldn't he be somewhere near Sokovia to help the Americans?

Or did he coordinate it from here?"

People who watched the movies knew that Tony was not directly responsible for bombing Sokovia.

But it was not the same for Wanda and her brother.

I hugged her to calm her down.

"I know it's hard to believe, but Tony Stark didn't even know about the bombs in Sokovia.

Yes he built them but it was his company that sold them and the American soldiers that used them.

If he didn't print his name on everything he makes, you probably wouldn't even know or care about him right now. But since he had, you also had an easy target to direct your hatred at."

I told her the whole truth even when it was uncomfortable her

Wanda was quiet for a long time before she began to sob. "But... but it was his weapons and... and look what he did here in Wakanda."

Holding her even closer, I caress her beautiful hair and say.

"Weapons are only things. They can never be good or evil on their own, but the people who use them can.

He only became like this recently. Tony Stark from 1999 would never have attacked a country directly."

She grabbed my shirt and started to cry even harder in disbelief.

It is easy to blame someone like Tony Stark for all the bad things in the world, but the truth is a bitch most of the time.

"Don't get me wrong, he is not a saint and what he did here will probably ruin him forever, but we have no right to judge him for this."

Wanda looks into my face and searches for answers.

"But what should I do now? And how should I explain this to Pietro?"

I wipe away her tears and say, "Did you live for revenge or for what comes after it?

Focus on the things you care about and protect them with all your might.

Pietro will understand this if you explain it to him. His goal was always to keep you safe and happy, so if you move on, so will he."

Wanda stops crying, closes her eyes for a moment and then says after a while.

"Am I really allowed to do that? Will it really be okay?"

I grab her chin and make her look me in the eyes, then say. "Yes, I promise you that." before kissing her.

We stayed in the illusion like this for a while, then she waves her hand again and we are back in the real world.

Wanda's illusion lasted several minutes for the two of us, but only a few seconds for the rest. That's why they were still shocked.

But she snaps her fingers and Tony lands on the ground still alive.

Which shocked them even more.

Not wanting to deal with their questions right now about why she suddenly let him go, I turn to T'Challa and say,

"T'Challa, we are heading back. Let's talk about this later and don't worry, everyone in the city is safe. We dealt with the robots before coming here."

He nods perplexed and says simply, "Thank you."

Wanda then grabs my hand and we start to fly back into the Golden City.

After flying for a while I could hear thunder not far away.

When I looked up there was a person with golden chakra flying through the clouds.

It seems that the God of Thunder watched the battle too.

Since I couldn't ask him why he didn't intervene, I put it in the back of my head and enjoyed my flight with Wanda.