Scarlet Bitch
SOKOVIA - HIDDEN HYDRA BASE
- Thor: Find the scepter.
[Thor flies off]
- Tony Stark: And for gosh sake, watch your language!
[Steve sighs]
- Steve Rogers: That's not going away anytime soon.
[Stark enters the HYDRA base and the soldiers start firing at his Iron Man suit]
- Tony Stark: Guys, stop, we gotta talk about this.
[Stark shoots down the soldiers using his suit]
- Tony Stark: Good talk.
- Fortress Soldier: No it wasn't.
[Stark finds List and knocks him out, he then steps out of his Iron Man suit]
- Tony Stark: Sentry mode.
[He walks over to the computers]
- Tony Stark: Okay, JARVIS. You know I want it all. Make sure you copy Hill at HQ.
[With Natasha]
- Natasha Romanoff: We're locked down out here.
- Steve Rogers: Then get to Banner, time for a lullaby. [Back at the HYDRA base]
- Tony Stark: I know you're hiding more than files. Hey, J, give me an IR scan of the room, real quick.
- JARVIS: The wall to your left...I'm reading steel reinforcement and an air current.
- Tony Stark: [To himself as he walks over to the wall] Please be a secret door, please be a secret door, please be a secret door...
[He pushes and the wall opens up]
- Tony Stark: Yay!
[He enters through to a secret passageway]
- Steve Rogers: Guys, I got Strucker.
- Tony Stark: Yeah, I got...something bigger.
[Inside the secret passageway Stark finds a room with recovered artifacts from the Battle of New York, including a gigantic Chitauri leviathan and some of his Iron Man scrapped armor, he then spots the scepter]
- Tony Stark: Thor, I got eyes on the prize.
[Wanda creeps up behind him]
Tony didn’t know what happened but one minute he was eyeing off the sceptre, the next explosions started and shots were being fired. He barely blinked and the armour was around him once more with JARVIS stating with a thread of panic in his voice “Sir! Hostile readings, defensive mode has been activated. Apologies for the lack of warning.”
“No problemo J. What’s the sitch?”
“I believe it’s the female enhanced Captain Rogers identified however there is now a second one so I am unsure as to whom attacked him”
Tony peaked out and watched as the two females engaged in a furious battle of… magic? One wielded a dark red power that flowed around like gel water and the others power seemed to dance around her like flames only they were white tinged with black and gold.
-Tony, what’s the hold up?- Steve said over his com
-I got another enhanced on the field and she’s duking it out with the one that attacked you I believe Cap, though not really sure which is which. I’m pinned unfortunately. No telling how that voodoo that their slinging will react with the suit-
-I’m enroute to your location to assist then. Meanwhile gather intel on the enhanced-
-Roger, Rogers-
Tony smirked as he heard a loud sigh over the com.
“J are you getting this.” he asked as he watched a little amazed and fearfully at the powers these two were throwing at each other.
“Indeed Sir. They actually read completely differently to each other rather than similar as one might expect”
‘oh?’ intrigued Tony peered closer at the pair.
“Yes the enhanced with red powers seems to have a signature not dissimilar to the sceptre.”
“Huh, Strucker might have been having some fun with it by the looks”
“A safe guess Sir. The other enhanced does not have a signature that matches anything. I am also receiving higher energy readings than I ever have. Quite a lot larger than her opponent”
Tony frowned and re-examined the two dueling with new eyes. The one with the multi-coloured powers was grinning, damn near smirking. It hit him then as he hadn’t thought anyone would be so…overconfident? Cocky?
“She’s toying with her” he muttered in realisation
“I believe so Sir but without more data I can’t be certain.”
“Well keep logging it while wait on the good old Cap-, oh their talking turn up the volume JARVIS”
“Up to your old mind trick again little Wanda. What was on the menu today? Fear? Fear? Or more fear? I say old coz it really does get old.”
“Shut up. Stark deserves everything that comes to him and more. Besides” she throw her a superior look “I’ve become more powerful since we last met and this time I will make you tremble”
Tony quirked his brow at the mention of his name, wondering what perceived wrong he had done this woman. She was certainly too young for him to have slept with so no crazy ex there and Sokovia wasn’t really somewhere he hung out – with all the civil war in recent years so yeah doubtful that they’d even met. He let out a snort at the last word of the red one’s rebuttal, tremble really?
The other girl seemed to agree and raised her brows, incredulously, “pffft sure honey. Even when you did get into my mind you still couldn’t make me do anything. And that only happened since you had help from the butt ugly sceptre” But she gave Wanda a dismissive wave “But by all means make me tremble.”
‘their conversation is concerning Sir. They are alluding to mind control and mind reading’ JARVIS passed on silently using the HUD.
Tony nodded in the suit, frowning. Damn right it was concerning.
Wanda, the red chick apparently, gave a scream of outrage while throwing tendrils of power at her. The other girl deliberately incited the red chick by casually waving it away with one-hand and dancing around negligently while flicking the barest hints of power at her, throw mocking smiles and smirks at her while doing so. Now Tony was usually all for some shit-stirring, especially with villainous witches that say stuff like tremble but mind control had been mentioned and he hadn’t been too keen on that since Reindeer Games.
“Come on little miss scarlet bitch make me tremble” She called out in a voice tinged in laughter making Wanda curse her in Sokovian and get even more heavy with her onslaught.
“How did you even get out?!” Wanda demanded “Sturcker said that there was no way for you to ever see daylight. You were being drugged 24/7 and you had over 10 different locks on you. Most couldn’t even be opened from the room!”
‘I believe Sir we finally have some clarification on who attacked Captain Rogers’
Yes nice of Red chick to clear that up for them. it seemed the other chick with the white-black-gold powers had been a prisoner of HYDRA. Looking at her more closely, now that he was able to ignore the powers a little, she did look decidedly ragged like she needed a shower, a hair cut and a new clothes. Miss, what was it, Scarlet Bitch, on the other hand was dressed in comfortable clothing, looked clean and well fed.
She laughed, “Well Wanda magic can do pretty much anything if you have a big enough imagination” She sent a pitying look to her “and unlike you I have a wide and varied one.” She did take a thoughtful look on “Although some credit goes to the Mr Stark. if hadn’t lowered the barrier that was also feeding into the last restraint I might not have escaped.”
Wanda snarled ‘Stark, Stark, Stark, its always his fault’ suddenly snapping her attention back to him startling him again with her acknowledgement and sheer hatred
White-Black-Gold seemed to also be taken aback as she blinked at the sheer venom. “Hate leads to the Dark Side Wanda, so might want to watch that tone. Besides I’m pretty certain Stark here has never met you before today”
Red pooled into Wanda’s hands and eyes and she screamed “He killed my parents! And he almost killed me and Pietro!”
‘Running a search history on subject ‘Wanda’ immediately Sir’ JARVIS murmured.
Tony looked at White-Black-Gold wondering if she would change her stance. She had shifted it slightly to cover him when Wanda’s attention had moved back to him. He was met with, well not that righteous indignation or disgust but with patronising pity.
Directed at Wanda though.
‘Right, sure he did. One of the most powerful and richest men in the world walked up to your little run down house in Sokovia and opened fire on your family.”
Wanda blinked “No…” Vehemence returned “His bomb came down onto our house killing our parents, for two days we watched the shell with the name STARK, for two days we waited motionless for him to kill us. Hydra promised us a way to kill Stark, to make him pay.”
Tony felt the usual guilt that swept through him at the mention of one his weapons. Well more like Obie’s as he had never sold to anyone but the US but still he felt, not responsible, but like he should’ve done more, should’ve known.
White-Gold-Black rolled there eyes. “Wow. I knew you were crazy but now I also know you are delusional.”
Wanda gaped at her “How dare you belittle our pain, our grief?!”
‘I’ll belittle all I want because your reasoning for wanting revenge is that of child. Its pathetic and sad at eighteen, and the fact you went as far to have joined a neo-nazi terrorist group for power to see it complete shows that you are also delusional and crazier than I previously thought.”
Tony will admit he was a little speechless. He wasn’t used to having people stick up for him and even when they did there was always a little ‘hey it Tony Stark what can you expect’ sort of tone to it.
“I couldn’t have said it better myself Sir”
Tony smiled fondly into the HUD.
Wanda did not like that. And her red power seemed to build up until suddenly she was whisked away in a blink. White-Gold-Black threw a spell after them but they were too fast. She swore “Quick little shit.”
She seemed to gather herself after a bit and remembered he was there.
“Mr Stark, my apologies, I’m a little scattered at the moment.”
“No apologies necessary, from the sounds of it you’ve had a rough one.”
She quirked a small smile. “to put it mildly.”
“How about introductions then? I still don’t know the name of my magical saviour.”
Hadesia, a pleasure Mr Stark
But you can call me Sia
“And how long have you been in this fine establishment?”
She hummed “a couple of years? I helped out people during the invasion.” She shrugged. “I thought I was being discreet but HYDRA must have noticed. The next thing I know I was kidnapped. Been in a few bases but this one the longest.”
“That’s horrible”
His com crackled causing them both to jump into defensive stances.
-Stark, I cannot get to your location there seems to be another energy shield in place. What’s your situation like?-
-no longer in need Cap, the two hostile enhanced has left the building. One is Sokovian female with mind-altering powers, red in color. Be alert. She is being carried around by the second enhanced who is a speedster and male. No description as of yet. Be aware I have another enhanced present with me that was a prisoner of HYDRA. –
-Tony are you all right- Cap Trnaslation not under duress.
-all peachy Capsicle- an in audible sigh of relief/annoyance.
-The prisoner?- Something sound a little off in Cap’s voice but tony shrugged it off. Maybe he hadn’t thought there would be prisoners?
-Able to move. Have the Big guy ready with the basics though its been a long and rough little holiday with HYDRA for this lady.-
A pause -Will do, now secure the package so we get out of here Ironman-
Right the package. He had totally forgotten about the glow stick of destiny due to weird interval of the wicked witch of the west.
He turned around to see Sia glaring at it. wonder what that was about? She had mentioned being in the invasion so she might have some ill feelings about the stick.
“Jarvis sentry mode”
He walked up beside her “So what’s up Glenda? Your glaring at the thing like it killed your dog” he blinked, then consider it warily “Did it kill your dog?”
She huffed in laughter “No Mr Stark-“
Tony, Call me Tony please I beg you.”
“Fine, Tony. No it did not kill my dog.” She paused and stared at the sceptre “its …hard to explain but the sceptre” she frowned “it feels wrong, twisted, almost” she hesitated “evil.”
“However the stone itself” she pointed to the top of the stick “ feels neutral. Powerful but impassive.”
“What are you getting at Sabrina?” Tony asked not really likeing the implications of what she was suggesting.
“if I were to theroise then whoever designed this” she grimaced while gesturing to the sceptre and the surronds of the glass around the stone “casing was using it to direct both the user and the stone itself. And not it a warm and fuzzy way.”
Tony felt a chill of dread as he recalled the images beyond the portal. His nightmares. His fears of something bigger. “Loki was using the sceptre…”he mused
She sent an arched brow at him “yes he was.” She looked at the sceptre with fear and disgust “but now I wonder, if perhaps it was using him. And if so… who built it to do so? How much of what we saw was Loki and how much was the architect of that” she pointed at it in revulsion.
They both stared at the sceptre pulsing in the energy shiled ominously for a beat.
“I have to secure it.