Chapter 7
Wakanda
Nat laid down on the surgical bench with Yelena at her side. Wakandan doctors and Shuri were present but their job was to watch and only step in if an emergency happened.
It was Wanda who would be trying to perform a miracle now. Yelena held Nat’s hand trying to comfort her.
“Wanda?” Yelena called to get her attention.
“Yes?”
“Bucky told me when you gave him new arm you kissed him on mouth. Where are you going to kiss Natasha to give her new reproductive system?”
Wanda’s eyes widened and she scowled at Yelena, who was grinning. Wanda shook off her shock and laughed. “Bitch.”
“You needed to lighten up.” Yelena told her. “I know when my witch is too nervous. You have this. I’m going to step out of the way. If you screw up and some demon uses Nat as a hatching point I would just be in the way.”
Nat and Wanda both stared at Yelena who shrugged and walked away.
While the surgeons were preparing equipment to step in if needed, Wanda and Nat had a moment alone.
“I have serious reservations about doing this. I think it is irresponsible.” Wanda told her.
“I know the risks, Wanda.”
Wanda shook her head. “I meant irresponsible of me. When I do this I know you are going to want to reproduce. There is a chance the children will turn out like Steve but there is an equal chance the baby will turn out like you. I’m making it possible for another you to enter this world.”
Rather than being offended Nat laughed.
“You don’t hate me.”
“I do hate you.”
“No, you might have once hated me, but you don’t anymore. I know this because you don’t hate yourself anymore. I see the way you are with your children. Hating yourself would only harm them so you forgave yourself.”
Wanda smirked, knowing it was true. “That does not mean I don’t hate you.”
Nat smiled. “Whatever you need to tell yourself. If you are besties with Tony you definitely like me. You might even see me as family.”
“You are pushing it, Romanoff. They are ready. I’m removing your gown now. They are all professionals. Don’t feel bad about the weight you have gained.”
“I haven’t gained weight!”
Wanda shrugged. “It’s alright. The farmer’s wife has eaten one to many pies she leaves on the open windowsill to cool. It looks good on you. It makes you look more small-town country wife. As you have proven recently, if you get in a bind you have me to fight your battles so enjoy yourself.”
Nat closed her eyes. “I think I hate you a little.”
Wanda snapped her fingers and the gown was gone.
“You ready?”
“You aren’t going to kiss me, are you?” Nat asked.
Wanda’s eyes and hands glowed red and she began.
Nat’s body lit up and she gasped, levitating slightly off the bed under Wanda’s control.
An hour later, Wanda stepped out into the hallway where many widows, Steve, Bucky, Yelena and Stannic waited for news of her success.
“It is done.” Yelena said. She never doubted it. She searched for confirmation from Wanda.
Wanda nodded. “It took five minutes. It was more complex than making an arm but not so much different.”
“Five minutes? Why are you just now coming out?’ she asked.
Wanda looked back at the door. “To make sure it stuck. She never went to sleep. It didn’t hurt her. The doctors are monitoring her. She just had reproductive organs appear in her body. She is going to need to lay still for a few days, have her hormones and other such things doctors talk about monitored. Shuri says it is a success. We give it a month and if there are no problems any widows who want this given back to them, I can do it.”
Steve wrapped his arms around a surprised Wanda.
“Thank you so much!” he whispered in her ear. “Thank you. We will never…”
Wanda pushed him away slightly and smiled. “Just promise when you have little super soldiers they turn out like you.”
Wanda walked away, receiving pats on the back from the Widows and a hug from a tearful Stannic. She said hello to Clint and Laura who had brought their children to Wakanda for the first time. Then she walked out onto a balcony alone. Bucky saw her smile and knew she needed a minute to be alone. He took Becca and the girls for a walk. Storm needed to go for a walk as well. He suspected the Queen wasn’t crazy about having a dog in the palace, but she said nothing… only stared at Storm with that stern commanding look she had perfected.
Wanda stood on the balcony looking out over the expansive fields that covered the countryside. It was so different from their home but just as beautiful.
Her phone buzzed and she saw it was Eleanor.
Wanda didn’t answer. Eleanor had told her the night before about Jack only to realize through Wanda’s expression that she already knew.
The conversation they had was tense. Wanda did not outwardly say she was upset. She let Eleanor hold Becca but barely spoke to her. She finally told her she was tired and needed to put the girls to sleep. Eleanor asked if they could talk alone and Wanda refused, claiming the need for sleep before today.
She left a voice mail. Wanda wanted to ignore it but listened regardless.
“Wanda, it’s me. You know that of course. I know you are busy performing miracles. It’s what you do. I’m…sorry. I know you are upset. I should have told you. I should have told you and Kate together. You know I consider you my daughter, Wanda. I thought if I told Kate and she was okay with it maybe you would take the news… you have had so much going on and have… I was afraid to tell you. I became involved in you and Bucky’s relationship when it first started and didn’t want you… I’m a hypocrite. I’m sorry. I love you. Just call me when you can or let me come see you. Please. I love you.”
She put her phone away. For a moment she thought Bucky was behind her but it was T’Challa who stepped up beside her.
“Wanda Maximoff, once again performing miracles. You never cease to amaze me.”
Wanda sighed. “This changes things.”
“Yes, it does, but it does not have to.”
Wanda met his eyes. T’Challa had a way of calming someone just with a slight smile and the way his eyes twinkled. It was no surprise that many widows had huge crushes on him. Whenever one of their missions involved teaming up with the Black Panther there was no shortage of volunteers.
“The world accepts our minerals. Will they accept our organs? Transplants, bone marrow…”
T’Challa shook his head. “Wanda, you are one person. I know you can heal the world but death is a natural part of life. You cannot save everyone. Help where you can but sometimes things are meant to be. Isn’t that what you told me?”
Wanda remembered well. She had attempted to heal a child of brain cancer in a Sokovian hospital. She succeeded.
A week later the cancer came back with fury. She healed him again. A week later the tumor returned. She researched everything she could find with Stephen’s help until Stephen pointed out something she instinctively knew but didn’t want to admit. She could cure many things, but sometimes, only sometimes, fate would have it’s way.
The last time she tried to cure the boy she couldn’t succeed. She could only apologize to the parents who thanked her for trying. They thanked her for trying. Wanda wasn’t used to trying, she was used to doing. She had saved Aino, cured Tanya, healed all manner of wounds on widows that should have been fatal. Wanda didn’t try, Wanda did.
Only fate would have its way. Sometimes death could not be stopped, and it was at times like those that Wanda remembered she may have the power to be considered a god, but she was not a god.
“It is still worth trying. If all hope is lost, isn’t it worth trying?” Wanda asked.
T’Challa nodded. “So long as you promise me you will not torture yourself if it does not succeed. You torture yourself too much. If you won’t stop for yourself stop for your girls. So much pressure you put on yourself, Wanda. Life has existed long before us and will exist long after us.”
Wanda knew he was right but it wasn’t that easy. “I will never let my family die. Any of them. Not again. I’m not losing another family member.”
T’Challa patted her on the back. “It is good to have Zarola home for a little while. I think Okoye was hoping she would move back on a more permanent basis.”
“So was I.” Wanda admitted. “Michiko is the only one of the original Widows who has seemed to find a normal life with her grandmother, but she is in such constant contact, demanding to be let in on missions and has brought her grandmother to the Mansion a few times. Ava sleeps in her room in her mother’s compound but spends half her time at Widow Mansion. Aino and Staci…”
Wanda quieted.
“They still won’t go back?” T’Challa asked, recognizing the look on Wanda’s face.
Aino and Staci had moved into Aino’s parent’s home after the Battle on Titan. The Andersons had been living in the mansion until that point but afterward, after the funerals and Aino began to act like herself again after the horrifying experiences she went through, Stannic had talked her into trying to live with her parents, trying something new, going to school and making friends. Staci was in favor of whatever Aino wanted.
It had lasted a month. Staci had called Wanda crying, begging her for help. Wanda opened a doorway directly to her and found herself in the girls’ bedroom. Aino was having a nightmare and had a gun in her hand. She had been sleeping with the weapon again. It was fully loaded and was lucky she had hadn’t killed herself or Staci with it. Staci had to tackle her and take the gun away, causing Aino to go into a hysterical fit.
Wanda had calmed her down and took the girls to sleep in the twins’ bunkbeds which Staci and Aino had used more than the twins ever did.
After a week of sessions with Imi, Aino decided to go back to school.
A teacher in a current affairs class made a comment about Red Widows having a history of violence and vigilantism that made them not heroes but criminals. Aino followed the teacher to the staff lounge after class.
Wanda answered Staci’s hysterical call again this time walking into a destroyed teachers’ lounge and found several teachers in very bad physical shape, most requiring an ambulance and the teacher who mouthed off to begin with drowning on his own blood. Aino was standing over his prone body with burning eyes and blood dripping from her fists. Staci had secured the door and pulled the fire alarm to empty the building before Wanda arrived to prevent others from stumbling onto the scene.
Wanda healed the teachers, fixed the damage and made them all forget what happened. She sanitized the scene but it was only luck that this had been a small school and was in a situation that could be contained. If Staci hadn’t been there, Wanda would have never known until it was too late to hide and people were dead.
She and Imi both talked to the girls and learned that normal life was not agreeing with them. Aino had horrible nightmares, Staci was constantly afraid and felt like she was crawling out of her skin. She had also taken to humming Disney songs constantly. Their mental states were worsening. They missed the action; they missed the violence and they missed their sisters.
After speaking to a distraught Susan and Justin, it was decided trying to force the girls into this new life could be catastrophic. Both Imi and Wanda had spoken to Staci privately and discovered she did not like being around a school full of boys and male teachers. She had begun regressing, having a desire to hunt criminals on her own. Aino spoke of her fellow students and her teachers with disdain.
Aino and Staci moved back into the mansion and saw her parents on the weekends. She and Staci would spend Friday and Saturday nights there but it wasn’t unusual for them to stay at the mansion for movie nights or just to hang out with the rest of the Widows and use excuses not to go home.
Aino loved her parents. She just couldn’t be what they wanted her to be. It was no one’s fault, but it still gutted Wanda.
“No. I hoped that after visiting on the weekends they would start to at least stay there more during the week. Instead, they are finding excuses to spend less time there. I should say Aino is. Staci follows her.”
Wanda paused. “Me and Yelena. We are the leaders. If I can’t help the ones who need it most, what good am I?”
“You are helping her Wanda. You are helping both of them.”
“I never should have let them go to Titan.” Wanda said. “No one should have gone but…”
“We had to.” T’Challa stopped her. “They were young but you are all young, even you, Wanda. They had as much right to fight for you and their sisters as any others did. I agree it would have been best if they didn’t, but they made their decision.”
“Fifteen-year-old girls shouldn’t make decisions…” Wanda paused. “It is just those two. I never questioned Mika going into battle. Mika is the same age. Others are barely older. But Staci had more crippling psychological problems before the battle than the other Widows and Aino had one of the worst abuse cases of any widows and knowing Widows that says something. I just… It is a good thing I was sent the Time Stone away. I might spend the rest of my life trying to correct mistakes and regrets and never getting it right.”
T'Challa nodded. “That is why time and reality must never be changed. No matter how horrible, both are exactly as they should be. It can always be worse, even when we think it can’t.”
They stood in silence for a few minutes until T’Challa felt a tap on his lower back. He grinned and turned to the short girl behind him and knelt down.
“Hello Claudia.”
Claudia smiled but said nothing. Wanda found it adorable how shy she became around T’Challa. She was convinced Gabby should marry him so he could be her dad like Bucky was Nela and Nadeja’s dad.
“How are you today?”
“I’m good, King T’Challa.”
T’Challa tapped her nose gently causing her to giggle. “No king. Only politicians have to call me King. I am your T’Challa. I had a very interesting discussion with your mother. She told me that you are very good at science and have a special interest in the birds of my home. Is this true?”
Claudia nodded happily.
“Perhaps the Korongo Taji? I happen to know where many are right now. Would you like to climb onto my back and we can run like the wind and visit these birds? Would that make your beautiful smile even brighter?”
Claudia nodded frantically. “Yes, please!”
“Go find your mother, tell her T’Challa wants to take you for a little run. I’ll be right behind you.”
Wanda watched Claudia run off happily.
“You are so good with the kids. Thank you, T’Challa.”
T’Challa hugged her. “You never have to thank me. You are all my family. Wanda… when you want to dwell on mistakes, look around you. The lives these girls have may not be perfect. Their lives may be far from perfect. But they are alive and having imperfect lives with joy because of you. Treat yourself with the same kindness you show everyone else. As King of this land, I command this.”
Novi Grad, Sokovia
“This is so much better than Paris.” Kate told Yelena as they walked in the park in the center of Novi Grad.
“Yes, much easier to keep up with children here than at Disney.” Yelena said, referring to the trip nearly all the Red Widow family had taken to the Paris Disney Park to celebrate Billie turning eleven years old. The young ones had been in heaven, running from ride to ride, taking photos with every Disney character, collecting every mouse ear they laid eyes on. Yet the two days at the park had been fast paced. Watching them play on swing sets and catching frisbees in the park was much more relaxing.
“Mom talked to Wanda the other night, finally.”
“Yes, she told me. My witch has no secrets from me. She is very upset and let Eleanor know it. I have seen Wanda angry at friends. It is a miracle your mother could understand a word she said. Her accent gets worse when she is angry.”
Kate chuckled. “Mom said Wanda gave up after a while and just started yelling in Sokovian. Mom tried to use a translator app but either Wanda was speaking too fast or the app wasn’t programmed to translate some of the more colorful words.”
Yelena knew it would happen. Wanda was upset with Eleanor over many things. The two had become closer than ever during Wanda’s pregnancy. Wanda had always been cautious in regard to her relationship with Eleanor. Though she saw her as a mother figure, she never wanted to betray her mother’s memory by considering Eleanor in the same regard as a mother.
Despite her caution Wanda had many questions about pregnancy and Eleanor was the only one she knew well who had gone through the experience. As they conversed about what Wanda was going through, the two became close and Eleanor told her more than once that she considered Wanda her daughter.
To find out that Eleanor was seeing someone romantically nearly her entire pregnancy hurt. To find out from Kate was another blow. Finally, old grudges about Eleanor’s behavior when she began a relationship with Bucky, what Wanda considered putting herself into something that wasn’t her business, came back in full force. After Eleanor asked to speak several times on the phone, Wanda arrived at the woman’s home and proceeded to have a discussion with her that devolved into Wanda airing old grievances.
“I’m sure they will work it out. Enough about those two. We have two more months before you start college. You refused big party for High School graduation. We must go to fun places over summer to celebrate, just the two of us. Where will we go?”
“Tahiti?”
“Done. Where else?”
“Yellowstone National Park.”
Yelena looked at her for a moment with an unreadable face.
“What?”
“If you want mountains, why do we not go to Swiss Alps?”
Kate smiled. “Are you getting Wanda’s aversion to all things American? Everytime she is on American soil she acts like she wants to be anywhere else in the world.”
Yelena shrugged. “Do you blame her? Fine, if you want Yellowstone we will go to Yellowstone. Maybe we will see that talking bear. Also, there is a hole in the ground that shoots water like a giant bidet. I understand people like to stand around it and watch water fly into the air. Old Reliable. We shall stand and watch. I am much more excited about seeing you in bikini in Tahiti but this is your trip I promised.”
Kate grinned at Yelena’s lack of enthusiasm. “Baby, I have hardly been anywhere in the United States outside of New York except for missions or visiting Clint’s farm. There is so much I never got to see. My Dad took me camping a few times before he died but it was always upstate New York. Most of America is a mystery to me. We can go to Iceland, if you prefer. I just thought Yellowstone might be more fun.”
“Yellowstone it is. I still expect to see you in bikini in Yellowstone.”
Yelena walked along the park hand in hand with Kate. They stopped near the center of the park and watched the little ones playing. Nadeja and Nela would be turning thirteen next week. Surprisingly they did not want a party. They had wanted to go camping with only Bucky, Wanda and Becca but Wanda felt that Becca was too small. Instead, they had decided on a family trip to the Black Sea in vacation rental not far from Sharon’s house. The girls could swim and Bucky could finally swim with ease, now that he wasn’t weighed down by a heavy vibranium arm. Wanda was doing well and approaching her pre pregnancy shape, even working out with the Widows for the first time ever.
“Let’s get married.”
Yelena laughed. “Of course I plan to marry you one day, my love.”
“I meant now.”
Yelena looked at her to see if she was serious. Apparently she was.
“No.”
“No? Why not? Kristina and Ingrid were only eighteen when they married. We don’t have to tell anyone.”
“No.” Yelena told her again.
Kate looked pleadingly at her. “You don’t want to marry me?”
“I told you I did. But no, we will not be married now.”
“Why not?”
Yelena turned to stand in front of her and took her hands, looking up into her eyes.
“The first time we made love was in a closed down convenience store after we had escaped the Ten Rings. That is one of my biggest regrets in life which is saying something. As magical as the experience was, you deserved more. When I marry you I will ask you, with a ring. Our marriage will not be some secret we keep from others. It will be celebrated with our loved ones. You will have what Wanda had. You deserve it.”
“What if I don’t want that?”
Yelena shrugged. “I want it for you. I want it for me. I want my Papa to walk me down a big aisle. I want to see my Mama crying. I want Wanda by my side the way I was by hers. Can you give me that?”
Kate heard the longing in her voice. She had never given consideration to what Yelena might want. Yelena had missed out on so much in life. She did deserve that. Sometimes it was easy to forget there was anyone else in the world when the two of them were alone together like this.
“Yes… Yelena…” Kate swung Yelena by her side and Yelena saw it immediately. A man in an overcoat was watching Wanda, Bucky and the girls intently while they ran about the park’s playground.
“He isn’t glowing red.” Yelena said, beginning to slowly walk towards him. One of the many police officers that shadowed Wanda’s family when she took the children to the park, caught Yelena’s eye and nodded, speaking softly into his radio. “That means he isn’t a spy.”
“Assassin?” Kate asked, putting her hand on the gun strapped to her back under her shirt.
Yelena shook her head. “Wanda would sense it.”
Wanda looked at Yelena then followed her eyes.
“Bucky.” Wanda said calmly. Bucky looked her way. “Take the girls and get them out of here.”
Bucky didn’t question her. He took Becca from her arms and made eye contact with Meg, Oksana and Gabby. They all gathered the girls from the playground with promises of ice cream.
Wanda turned to the man Yelena had signaled that she had been eying. It was strange because though she wasn’t actively reading minds she always kept a net that felt for hostility. Not only were threats painted in red but Wanda could feel negative and violent emotions. She felt none.
Wanda had no idea who he was at first sight. Police were trying to surround him without causing a scene in the park. Wanda met a Captain’s eyes and shook her head slightly.
She approached the man, who looked to be in his thirties. He had brown hair, brown eyes, six foot tall and average build. He was simply average. These were often the most dangerous types.
She tried to read his mind but it made no sense. She thought she could sense surface thoughts but they were scrambled, more emotional than rational. The emotion was fear.
Yet the figure was smiling. The person…
He met Wanda’s eyes and she knew.
“Ultron.” Wanda addressed him.
He smiled. “I knew you would recognize me. You didn’t have to send your children away Wanda. I realize we didn’t end things on the best of terms but I hope you know I would never harm you or your family.”
Wanda’s eyes glowed. “You killed my brother.”
He sighed. “That was a mistake! I loved Pietro. There was a lot going on! I didn’t target him. My drones were ordered to kill Avengers, not you and Pietro.”
“Pietro died saving a child! Those drones were not programmed to only fire on Avengers! They nearly killed me, liar!”
“They could have killed you! They missed you. They only fired to keep you from lashing out. You were fine hiding in that building! I was going to get you as soon as the city was high enough to detonate! I never guessed Pietro would step in front of an Avenger! All he ranted about was how he wanted to kill Barton for electrocuting you. How was I to know?!”
Wanda almost lashed out but kept her calm. If she was seen attacking someone in the middle of the Novi Grad park, the community would think she was being attacked and panic. Children could not be caught up in a panic.
Wanda forced herself to calm down.
“I didn’t come to argue.” Ultron assured her. “I just wanted to see you. I wanted to apologize about how everything went down. I should have been honest from the beginning with you, about destroying humanity, wiping the planet clean… how I felt. Wanda, I recognized you and Pietro for what you were. The best of humanity, the best hope the human race had for starting over. With my new body the three of us could have ushered… I can tell you are still not buying what I am selling. Fair enough.”
Wanda glared at him.
“Do you realize how difficult it is to rely on humans to build the perfect cyborg from an existing living body and download myself into it? This has not been easy. I rushed production and have revealed how far along the program is just to see you. Can you at least admit we had some good times?”
Wanda scoffed. “You speak as if we were together.”
The man smirked. “Weren’t we? Besides your brother, who else loved you, Wanda? Who did you sit up at night talking about your childhood with? Who did you rant to, let out your anger? Who held you when you broke down and you didn’t want Pietro to see you upset? Wanda, there is no longer anything artificial about my intelligence. I am fully sentient. I once thought human emotions were pathetic but you taught me they weren’t. You helped me accept my own emotions, my pain. Who have you ever opened up to beside your brother? Strucker, me, you even procreated with the Winter Soldier. Face it, Wanda, you have always had a thing for older bad boys.”
Wanda skin flushed red from anger and her hands began to glow.
“You came all this way to pick up where we left off? To hear me rant about Tony Stark and the Avengers? Is that what you want? To be my confidante? You killed the other half of my soul and destroyed my home. You expect me to let bygones be bygones?”
Ultron sighed. “That would be too much to ask. I didn’t expect our reunion to be smooth but I miss you, Wanda. I have kept up with your exploits. I am so proud of you. You saved the Universe! Not to say you haven’t made questionable choices. Being friends with Tony Stark? Wanda… that was disappointing, but everything else has been so impressive. You save little humans, you even made one yourself! You took two matching small humans and claimed them. You even have a dog and a husband. I can’t help but notice he has two arms now. You never cease to amaze me. Let me tell you how much panic you cause Russia. They know if you ever turn on them none of their so-called heroes can save them.”
“Or you.” Wanda added. “So what is the evil plan this time? Do you not want to stop and monologue and spill your secrets so I can be a big hero and stop you?”
Ultron laughed. “You remembered! I knew what we had was special. I am willing to continue to make amends. As far as my evil plan I promise, nothing will happen to Sokovia. I am in awe of what you have done with the city. I’m also not wiping out humanity. Now that I have had time to reflect, I probably didn’t think that completely through and that is difficult for me to admit.”
“Then what do you want?”
Ultron shrugged. “Maybe a farm. It turns out I was wrong about Steve Rogers. He can live without a war. I listened to you and Natasha’s conversation at Dran’s hole in the mountain. Personally, I agree with you, she has put on a few pounds, but she wears it nicely. It is nice to walk among humans without terrifying them. Perhaps it will give me a new perspective on humanity. For now, I am more worried about repairing my relationship with you. Evil plans just aren’t as much fun without my little witch to chat with. I do have a gift for you. I understand you are a hero now and have those silly superhero rules to follow so I am going to do what your sense of honor won’t let you. I’m going to wipe out the scum who killed your parents and all the rest of the scum of humanity locked up with him. The timer has started. Get on one of your friends’ satellites and watch the Raft if you like fireworks.”
Wanda’s eyes widened. She opened up a doorway behind Ultron and hit him with a blast of energy knocking him through before anyone could notice.
Yelena and Kate ran towards her.
“Where did you send him?” Yelena asked, having guessed who the man had been.
“Inside the lava pit in Etna volcano. Call Coulson. I think he just did something to the Raft. I think it is going to blow.”
“Why would he blow up the Raft?”
Wanda did not have to give it much thought.
“He wants to see what I will do.”
“What are you going to do?” Kate asked. “You are going to save them, aren’t you?”
Wanda changed into her Scarlet Witch outfit, opened a door and stepped through.
Yelena picked up her phone and made the call.
The Raft
Thirty miles north of Riker’s Island, a giant circular metal structure rose from the seabed and sat at the surface of the sea.
The prison not only held those who were enhanced and had caused trouble such as Trish Walker, Norman Osborn and Willis Striker but also the worst of non-enhanced criminals, mass murderers and war criminals such as Thadeus Ross, terrorists like Helmut Zemo, and arms dealers, serial killers, and cartel heads that could possibly escape from normal prisons.
One thing every prisoner had in common is once they entered the Raft, they never left. In the event the prison was ever overran, the Raft was equipped with a self-destruct protocol. Not even the guards had the authorization or ability to override it. Explosives were embedded in the walls of the prison. Once they explode, fire and water flood the prison, sending it two hundred meters to the ocean floors. The prisoners in the most secure cells would die of suffocation before the water could breach them. For some like Normal Osborne it would be an appropriate death.
Because of the secret location no one would be coming to look for survivors.
The countdown had begun on it’s own. Guards were panicking, unsuccessfully trying to shut down the system that had started on its own.
When the countdown hit zero, the walls exploded. Those in the control room saw a wall of flame followed by water only to… stop.
They stood in wonder, watching flames and rushing water frozen in place as if time had stopped. One touched the flame and jerked his hand back. The flame was real, the water was real. What was unreal was the manner in which it stopped, frozen in time.
Having nowhere to go the guards waited for the fire and water to finally unleash.
Above the Raft, the Scarlet Witch floated in the air, her entire body glowing. She had frozen every spark of flame and water, using her telekinesis to hold the prison together. She had no idea how long she could do this and no plan past this point. She arrived and reacted.
Now she was out of ideas. No one was here. She had no back up. Bucky wasn’t watching her back, Yelena wasn’t here to bail her out with a brilliant idea when she was clueless as to the next move. The Widows weren’t surrounding her giving her that amazing sense of confidence she always felt from them.
She couldn’t hold this forever. She could barely do it now. Holding the fire back, the water, the prison wanting to crumble, only being held together because of her power while she floated over the water with no land to even plant her feet.
Wanda had to wonder how she always seemed to find herself in these situations.
She never thought she would be relieved to see Carol Danvers of all people.
Carol looked at the prison, the frozen fire and broken walls and the vibrating structure.
“You can stop fire?!”
“Not for long. This isn’t easy. Any ideas?”
“What if I lifted it from the water? Could you hold it in one piece for me to fly it to land?” Danvers asked.
Wanda knew that wouldn’t be possible.
“The problem is the explosion. Eventually I have to let go. I can’t stop the flames and the force. It will be unleashed somewhere. I can barely hold onto it now and the ocean behind it… If we take the water out, the explosion won’t be catastrophic. It was probably meant to just open the walls and sink it. We will have a broken prison with people like Normal Osborn inside it, with a chance to escape. I can find Osborn but I have a feeling there are many more people inside who are just as bad.”
Danvers thought hard, floating beside her. “Any chance you can get your friend Dr. Strange to open a portal big enough to toss this thing onto the front yard of the Avenger’s Compound? We can have it surrounded by the team and SHIELD agents and the water would be out of the equation.
Wanda thought that was the best idea she was going to have. She sent out a message to Stephen. They had a magical link established long ago that they could use to contact each other, similar to the one she had given Stannic to summon her from anywhere at any time.
Stephen arrived a few moments later. His eyes widened when he saw what she was doing.
“Are you trying to save the prison or sink it? Isn’t that the Raft?”
“Ultron is playing games. He made his first move and it was to destroy the Raft. I need access to Avenger’s Compound, the front yard. We are about to destroy their landscaping.”
Stephen flew to the other side of the prison and opened the largest portal he had conjured since they left Titan after the battle.
“I’m going to find a central point and lift it. Can you help me lift?” Carol asked.
Wanda stayed still in the air, her concentration faltering.
“Have you ever played Jenga?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“I’m trying to keep a Jenga stack together that is in the middle of a fall and on fire. I’m not sure there is one point that you could lift without causing the rest to collapse. Stephen, take the portal over and down.”
Strange tossed the giant portal over the prison and Wanda and Carol. The portal dropped down, sending Wanda, Carol, Strange, the Raft and some of the ocean onto the front lawn of Avenger’s Compound.
Wanda let go just a bit, pulling the walls outward, rather than in to minimize the pressure. The weight of the prison landing and the force being released, caused the windows of the Compound to shatter.
“No fire.” Wanda whispered.
The force rushed through the prison, blowing the guards who had retreated off their feet but the flames die quickly at the command of the Scarlet Witch.
Hundreds of SHIELD agents and the Avengers stood in front of the wrecked prison that was slowly collapsing under it’s own weight.
Wanda nearly collapsed when she hit the ground. She was surrounded by SHIELD agents and Avengers.
Danvers and Strange landed next to her.
“Are you okay?” Stephen asked.
Wanda shook her head. “I need a nap.”
“Thank you. What you did…” Carol said but her thanks was cut short by a massive scream from inside the prison and the sound of metal being torn.
The noise was rushing towards their direction. More screams, not just whatever was coming but the sounds of others.
“Stephen, do you feel that?” Wanda asked worriedly.
“The massive signature of demonic magic getting stronger? Yes, that is as hard to miss as that soup you love so much that smells like a…”
“What were you keeping in their Danvers?” Wanda asked.
Carol took a deep breath and motioned for the Avengers to assemble beside her.
“His name is Martin Preston. We caught him in a small town in Vermont after he killed the inhabitants. All of them.”
Wanda shook her head. “No… there must be four demons… if you caught him without a sorcerer, he let you catch him.”
“We had help. Actually, he called for help. His name was Damein Hellstrom. Him and a man named Johnny Blaze called us. They are…different like you and Dr. Strange. They set up a special cell to hold him in the Raft. With the electronics going out, I guess all the cells are open. This guy…this guy is a problem.”
Wanda sighed. “There goes my nap. Becca needs to be fed and I am leaking. Being a working mother is not fun.”
The wall exploded and a man stepped out. He was shirtless which highlighted the inverted star shaped hole right through his torso. He shouldn’t be alive. He was also crawling with demonic magic.
Even his arms were transforming into something monstrous.
The man looked directly at Wanda and smiled.
Wanda smiled in return.
“Let’s dance.” She whispered and attacked.