Abandoned- {Pietro Maximoff}

Prolouge

He sat in silence, hidden in the dark.

Waiting, waiting, waiting. It was all he'd done for so long, allowing the years to slip by so he could finally be ready for his plan.

There was no doubt in his mind that this was the right time to do it. Other chances would occur, he knew it was as inevitable as the sun setting but he was impatient. And there may never be such a perfect time to strike again.

Now the final part had slotted into place and all he knew he was destined to bring to the universe would finally happen. They would be grateful. Not now, maybe not for a thousand years yet one day they would understand.

The relationship between the Avengers was best described as a spiderweb, individuals connected by sparse threads of silk. Some were stronger than others, like Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson, but most were fragile, ready to break. Alessandra Esposito was the spider who kept weaving them back together but she had left and it could begin.

It would be the Avengers who caused the biggest problems when it came to balancing the universe. They didn't understand sacrifice, not in the way he did. They saw all lives as worth saving while he knew that for the greater good, they could not be.

There had been so many ideas about how to split the Avengers up. Death, any death of a member was obvious but it would be too easy. He wanted them to doubt, fear and experience pure hopelessness before it was over. He wanted to corrupt them. He wanted—

—Destruction. That's what he'd bring but also what would happen if he did not interfere. It was not enough to survive, life deserved to thrive and this was the only way to do that. He was the only way to do that.

Before, he didn't have a plan. Grief had surrounded him, beating him relentlessly until he'd learnt to master it. It belonged to him, bowed down to him. Some days, it was the only thing he felt in control of.

After, he didn't have a plan. There was an idea to relax but he wasn't certain he could when the universe might need him again. Like a god, he would become to them. And like a god, he would smite them if they dared to call him—

—Mad is what they'd tried to convince him he was. But he knew, he knew that he was sane because otherwise, he would have succumbed to his grief when it had happened. Some might say later that this, his plan, was the work of a madman but that's only because they would be jealous. While they wasted their useless time complaining, he would—

—Save them all from themselves. He would make it better, he was the only one who would. They hadn't liked how he'd tried to do it so he'd worked hard to find a different way. And he wouldn't let anyone stop him—

Bring down the Avengers.

Welcome a new world.