Prologue
Being a mutant was never easy no matter what biomutative classification one was at. There wasn’t a day that went by without someone mentioning the slight difference in DNA, a heckler yelling across the street, or a bigot that got rough. The feeling of loneliness, fear, and degradation loomed over every mutant. It was strange to think that something so small could ruin a single person’s life with just a slight abnormality that couldn’t even be detected by a test; but the x-gene had been given that power. Thousands of mutants saw their lives go to ruins once they hit puberty and their powers began to manifest. In some places, the punishment was death while in others it was social outcast.
Wanda Maximoff had been born in Sokovia in a small village not far from the capital city just a few seconds after her brother Pietro. She had vague memories of her birth parents. Her father, a tall man with a face aged by suffering, had left while she was still very young; and her mother had tried her best to raise her twins but she perished one cold December night, her arms wrapped around her two shivering children giving her life to keep them warm.
The two had been given to their maternal aunt and uncle, Django and Marya Maximoff. The couple had tried their best to provide for the children but they had been struggling in poverty before the twins had come to live in their small house and the hardships only increased after.
“Ty slushayesh', Vanda?” Marya asked, her soft hands cupping the seven year old’s face gently. “P'yetro govorit chto v posledneye vremya ty otdalilsya.”
Wanda didn’t respond. She didn’t know how to respond. Even after all her time living with her aunt and uncle, she never was able to pick up on their language nor did she want to. The thought of abandoning her mother’s made a burning pit in the young orphan’s chest that was agonizing and would often leave her with a headache that kept her in bed for hours.
“Vanda, ya ochen' tebya lyublyu i bespokoyus' za tebya. YA ne mogu predstavit', cherez chto ty proshel, i my s tvoim dyadey khotim pomoch', no my ne mozhem, yesli ty nam ne pozvolish'”
“Pietro” Wanda whispered, looking around the room for her twin.
Marya gave a sorrowful look before getting up and leaving Wanda alone. She returned shortly with her silver haired twin who looked around nervously before rushing to his sister’s side.
“Are you okay?” he asked, running his hand through her long brown locks. “Is everything alright?”
Wanda pressed into her brother’s chest and listened to his fast heartbeat. The steady thumping brought a small sense of comfort that she was rarely ever able to get.
“YA dumayu, ona khochet pobyt' s toboy nayedine. Yesli tebe chto-nibud' ponadobitsya, ya budu na kukhne gotovit' uzhin.” Marya said before once again leaving.
Once her aunt was out of earshot, Wanda began to shake and tears formed in her eyes.
“Are you hurt?” Pietro asked more anxiously, examining his sister.
Wanda shook her head but continued to tremble. An anxious feeling had plagued her body and caused her breathing to pick up. Her heart felt as if it was going to explode from her chest as it beated faster and harder. Pietro, sensing the change in his sister, hugged her tighter hoping that it would calm her down like it usually did but he could feel her slip further into panic.
“Something’s wrong” she droned, her voice distant. “Something’s wrong, something’s wrong., something’s wrong”
Pietro opened his mouth to assure her that there was nothing wrong, that everything was fine; but he was cut off by a scream.
“Vanda, P'yetro, ukroytes'!” the frantic voice of their aunt cried.
Boom! A blinding flash of light and the feel of a thousand storms erupted. Pietro felt as his sister was ripped from his arms as he cried out for her. A roar ripped through the air vibrating him down to his bone and bursting his eardrums. A sharp and continuous pain pierced through his head followed by a jolt as his shoulder came in contact with the ground. His head bounced off the foundation of the house briefly whiting out his vision before it returned. For a while, Pietro lied unmoving. His body ached and there was an agonizing ringing in his ears that only seemed to get louder. It was a distant wail that broke him out of his misery and managed to get him back on his feet.
“Wanda!” he yelled.
Looking around all he could see was the ruble where their home once was. He scanned the charred area for a glimpse of brown hair or a bit of red from the dress that his younger sister had been wearing. His feet throbbed from being forced to hold his weight as he carefully stepped across the broken bricks and glass. He followed the sound of crying across the smelting area and felt a breath of relief escape him when his eyes fell upon Wanda. But the joy did not last long. His sister was on her knees cradling a figure tightly. Pietro stopped just a few meters from them when he caught sight of the face of the one in her arms. His aunt’s skin was marred with open wounds and burns that were hideous against Wanda’s untouched arms. A pool of blood slowly began form beneath them as the life slowly drained from Marya’s body.
There was no time to mourn for Pietro though. An object flashed from the top of his vision. At first, he did not mind it any thought. He slowly made his way down to where his sister and aunt were. However, when it landed just feet behind Wanda, his heart dropped. It was a mortar shell which exploded just before he could send a warning.
It was then when the world stopped. Pietro watched as the metal casing slowly began to expand and strain under the pressure from within. As if by instinct, his feet surged forward sending him towards his distraught sister with his eyes never leaving the weapon. Shrapnel flew from the ever growing ball of flame as the metal was torn apart. Pietro turned his complete focus on his feet as he pushed himself to get to his sister sooner. He could feel the uneven terrain and the sharp debris piercing his worn shoes and cutting into the soles of his feet but he did not care. All that mattered was getting to Wanda. Sharp pains all across his body agonized him as his flesh was ripped apart by shrapnel. The sounds of more mortars exploding echoed one another as he felt a turbulence of force overcome the small area turning the debris into dust.
Silence, there was silence. It was so sudden that for a moment, Pietro thought that maybe he had died. His body ached from his wounds and he could feel the warm sensation of his blood seeping into his tattered clothing. Wanda was still in his arms shaking like a leaf but not as much as a whimper escaped her. The dust irritating his lungs brought him back to the decimation of his home but a red light blocked his vision. It was translucent and warped the world around him stopping the weapons and fire from causing any more destruction.
“Was ist das?” a strange man that Pietro didn’t recognize asked.
Pietro turned to see men dressed in gray uniforms stare at them with horror. He tightened his hold on Wanda and pulled her away from their view.
“Dafür sind wir gekommen", a man in a white coat purred lustfully, “Es ist der Schlüssel zu allem.”
The white coat man pulled a strange looking metal rod that emitted a bright light. The red light that had been surrounding them dispersed leaving the twins vulnerable. The men in gray uniforms approached the two. Pietro tried to get up and run but his legs screamed in protest and collapsed when he attempted to put any weight on them. One of the gray men hulled the older twin into a tight hold while another ripped his sister away from him.
“No!” Pietro screamed, struggling in the tight grip of the gray man. “Let her go!”
“Mach dir keine Sorgen, Junge, ich werde mich um sie kümmern” the white coat man hummed, running his hand through Pietro’s silver hair. “Ich werde mich um dich kümmern. Du gehörst jetzt mir.”
Pietro snarled at the faux affection but did not take his eyes off his sister. Wanda had been forced to her feet and was surrounded by many gray men. They all held guns trained at her vitals and Pietro felt his blood boil.
“Get those away from her!” he yelled, increasing his struggles. “Get away from her you bastards!”
The white coat man just laughed at Pietro’s futile attempt of escape. He had been prepared for this afterall. He had been prepared for this for years. Once he had heard about the potential of the twins there was no way he would pass on the opportunity.
“Take him back to the lab” he ordered the Hydra soldiers. “And don’t be afraid to rough him up a bit. I need him to be compliant for my work.”
“Yes, Dr. Zola” one of the soldiers responded.
The man holding the silver haired boy began to walk to the artillery truck while the subject continued to fight to get free while cursing at them in Kalderash.
“Wait” Dr. Zola stopped the man holding the small brunette.
Looking at the little girl, it was clear that she was the younger of the two. She was small and slimmer than her older brother and her hazel eyes met his black one with terror.
“We need to make sure this one doesn’t cause us too many problem”
Dr. Zola pulled out a heavy collar and put it around the girl’s neck. Her head slumped forward from the weight and he could see the technology begin to suck the energy out of her.
“Good” he said to himself, “You may take her to the lab now.”
The scientist smiled as he watched the two be thrown in the back of their vehicle. His mind could not stop thinking about all the possibilities and potentials the two subjects brought. His colleague, Sebastian Shaw, had kept a nice record of their father who was in it of himself a very powerful mutant. From what Dr. Zola had seen, the girl had some type of psionic power though it was hard to tell.
When they got to the base, Dr. Zola ordered the soldiers to unload the subjects and put them in the containment cells below. The doctor made his way to the main building. He walked until he came upon a large metal door and entered the lavish room.
“Dr. Zola” a deep voice boomed.
A man sat at a simple desk across from the entrance. He was bold and had a deep scar across his face and wore a monocle over his right eye.
“Baron Strucker” the doctor replied back, “We got the subjects.”
“Excellent” Baron Strucker smirked, “And I trust that they are in good hands.”
“The containment cells were of Shaw’s design and were able to hold one of the most powerful mutants to have ever lived. I will begin my research soon and we will have our weapons soon enough.”
“And how long do you presume that will take?”
“I have no basis to make any estimate as of now but I assure you…”
“I do not want excuses, Zola” Strucker growled, slamming his fist on the desk causing the room to shake. “We have been lurking in the shadows for decades and carefully infiltrating and infesting the world powers. Even without that damn Agent Carter, S.H.I.E.L.D. continues to be an ever present thorn in our side and has disrupted dozens of our projects. One mistake is all it would take for all of our plans to be foiled. I want- no, I need certainty, doctor. Will you be able to harness their power?”
The leader of Hydra pierced Zola with a death glare that seemed to colden the air.
“Yes, sir” Dr. Zola nodded frantically, “I will have what you need.”
“Good” Strucker smiled sickeningly sweet.