Monsters (Wanda Maximoff x male Superman reader)

Chapter Twenty-Three: Choosing Sides

There was a time above. A time before. There were perfect things, diamond absolutes. But things fall, things on Earth. And what falls, is fallen.

-NEARLY THIRTY YEARS AGO-

The boy and his parents left the theater together. They were happy. But it wouldn't last. A man approached them holding a gun up at the boy's father. The father tried to fight back, but he was shot. And then the man shot the boy's mother, too, shattering the beautiful pearl necklace she wore, individual pearls bouncing all along the sidewalk. The boy called for his parents as they bled out on the sidewalk.

-----

The funeral procession was like any other. The two coffins were carried to the families' mausoleum, and when they got near, the boy broke free and ran. He ran, and ran, and ran, away from the pain, away from the sadness. Someone called out to him but he kept going. He tripped and fell, and fell, into the dark cave. He was alone, with no way out. A swarm of bats came and flew around him, and he was scared, until he realized they didn't want to hurt him. They wanted to help him. He dreamed they took him into the light. A beautiful lie.

-METROPOLIS: MANKIND IS INTRODUCED TO SUPERMAN-

That boy's name was Bruce Wayne. But he is better known as the Batman.

He was driving into the city, when the attack began. Now, buildings were collapsing, as two of the aliens, one in red and blue, the other in black, tossed each other through buildings, causing them to collapse. Bruce was running through the rubble, trying to find survivors. He saw a group of schoolkids, walking, single file, away from the collapsed building.

"Mr. Wayne!" He could hear. "Mr. Wayne!"

He ran over to the sound of the voice, and saw one of his employees, Wallace Keefe, lying under a piece of the building.

"I can't feel my legs! I can't feel my legs!"

"We need help over here!" Bruce yelled to the people nearby. They came and helped him lift the rubble off Wallace. "You're gonna be okay. You hear me? Wallace? What do they call you, Wally?"

"You're the boss, boss."

Bruce saw a little girl, not far from him. She was looking around, and, from where he was standing, Bruce could see a part of the building about to fall right on her. He ran, as fast as he could, and grabbed her, getting her out of the way right as the object fell.

"Are you alright? Where are your parents?"

The girl pointed. When Bruce looked, he saw that she was pointing to the top floor of a half-demolished building. As the two brawling aliens circled back around, Bruce hugged the little girl, glaring at the two of them as he did.

-PRESENT DAY-

"You hacked into the Avengers compound?" Bruce's butler, Alfred, asked him.

"Only to send a message, Alfred."

"They have Stark's technology, something that could track us back here and reveal your operation to the world. You'll be labelled a criminal, Master Wayne."

"We're criminals, Alfred. We've always been criminals. Nothing's changed."

"Oh, yes it has, sir. Everything's changed. Men fall from the sky, the gods hurl thunderbolts, innocents die. That's how it starts, sir. The fever, the rage, the feeling of powerlessness that turns good men... cruel."