The Avengers stood in a loose formation, fully geared up—armor gleaming, weapons primed, faces tense. The atmosphere in the room crackled with the static buzz of anticipation. Wanda's sudden disappearance had left them all on edge, and every breath felt like the calm before a storm.
Tony adjusted a gauntlet, flicking his fingers to close the palm and lock the repulsor into place. He looked at Rin, arching a brow. "Alright. So... care to explain why we're all suddenly listening to the voice in our heads? Because I definitely don't remember agreeing to a psychic group call."
Rin sighed, brushing her hair behind one ear. "That voice belonged to the Ancient One. And yes, that's her name—apparently. No one knows her real one. And... well, she's ancient. Literally."
"How ancient are we talking?" Clint asked, eyeing Rin with suspicion.
"She's lived for hundreds of years," Rin replied, adjusting the collar of her coat. "She's a master of the Mystic Arts."
Blank stares followed. Steve squinted. Natasha tilted her head. Even Thor raised an eyebrow.
Rin sighed again, this time deeper. "Okay, summary version: she's old, powerful, and runs an ancient magical organization responsible for protecting Earth from interdimensional threats. You know, the kind of things that live outside time and space and would make your brain bleed just by looking at them."
"Like alien invasions?" Bruce asked cautiously.
"No. Worse," Rin said. "Eldritch gods. Nightmare entities. You ever seen a horror movie that ends with everyone dying and the world collapsing into a screaming void? Those are the kind of threats she deals with."
Pietro raised a tentative hand. "So… she doesn't usually step in, but now she is?"
"Exactly," Rin nodded. "The Ancient One doesn't interfere in mundane events. The fact that she just pulled Wanda into the Mirror Dimension means we've crossed into not-so-mundane territory."
Tony gave a humorless smirk. "So let me get this straight: magic grandma shows up, says nothing, abducts our reality-warping houseguest, and now we're supposed to gear up and follow her into God-knows-what? Sounds legit."
"That's the situation," Rin said flatly.
She hesitated, as if weighing how much to say. Tony noticed the shift and dropped the sarcasm, just slightly.
"What aren't you telling us?" he asked.
Rin exhaled. "What concerns me more… is what I heard from Wanda right before she vanished. It was a chant. A summoning chant."
Pietro blinked. "Wait. Summons? Like, actual magical summons? What are we, in a JRPG now?"
Bruce frowned. "You mean the Heroic Spirit summoning, right? The one from the Grail War you mentioned?"
"Correct," Rin said, voice clipped. "And before anyone asks—no, there's no time to explain the whole thing again. But it means we're not just dealing with Wanda anymore. We may be dealing with a Servant."
Steve stepped forward. "Can we at least narrow it down? Know what we're walking into?"
Rin nodded. "A little. Normally, summoning a Servant requires specific conditions and a link to the Throne of Heroes. That doesn't exist in this world—or shouldn't. But with Wanda's reality-warping abilities and Angra Mainyu's corruption feeding into her… the rules are being rewritten."
She continued, pacing slightly as the others watched. "I also recognized part of the chant—it invoked Madness Enhancement, which means we are dealing with a Berserker. She should only have knowledge of three Grail Wars from the corrupted memories she accessed. And of those, only two had Berserker-class Servants."
"So only two candidates," Natasha said. "Better than twenty one."
"Don't get your hopes up," Rin warned. "Both are terrifying."
She raised her hand and summoned a shimmering diagram mid-air, outlining two names.
"First is Sir Lancelot. Knight of the Round Table. In Berserker class, he retains a terrifying degree of skill. His Noble Phantasm—Knight of Honor—lets him turn any weapon into a Noble Phantasm. Guns, tanks, even a Quinjet. He can use it like he's trained with it his whole life."
Bruce muttered, "Fantastic."
Tony folded his arms. "Let's keep him away from my suits then."
Rin nodded. "He also has For Someone's Glory, which hides his identity and distorts his appearance, making him hard to track. And Arondight, a holy sword that greatly amplifies his power—but puts such a strain on him that it disables his other abilities temporarily."
The team exchanged nervous glances.
"And the second?" Steve asked.
"Heracles," Rin said simply. "Yes, that one."
Even Thor frowned. "I have heard tales of that mortal. Savage. Indomitable."
"His Noble Phantasm is God Hand. It grants him twelve lives. You kill him? He comes back stronger. Each resurrection grants him immunity to whatever killed him last."
Clint paled. "You mean… he's like a learning zombie on steroids?"
"Basically," Rin said. "You can't beat him the same way twice. Combine that with his strength, speed, and regeneration—and yeah. He's death in motion."
Thor gripped Mjolnir tighter. "A foe worthy of all our might."
"Even then, we may not be enough," Rin admitted. "In Wanda's hands, the usual limitations like mana supply don't matter. She can push these Servants beyond what any Master ever could."
Tony let out a slow breath. "So to summarize: we're walking into a dimension ruled by magical geometry, looking for a ticking time bomb who may or may not have resurrected a demigod or a medieval juggernaut. And we have no plan."
Rin gave a weak smile. "That about covers it."
Tony cracked his neck. "Well then… guess it's time to put on our mean faces."
Just then, a ripple in the air formed into golden sparks. A portal ignited with a sharp hum. Wind whipped through the room. Through the portal, they saw a twisted desert landscape under a bleeding red sky, with jagged towers in the distance and the unmistakable sense of malevolence hanging in the air.
Steve stepped forward, shield in hand. His voice was steady.
"Avengers," he said. "Assemble."
One by one, they stepped through the portal—Thor, Bruce, Natasha, Clint, Pietro, Tony…
Rin followed last. She hesitated for a moment, watching the light flicker along the edge of the gateway. Then she drew her dagger and stepped through.
The portal closed behind them, leaving only silence.
Whatever was waiting on the other side, they would face it together.
Even if it killed them.