Professor Xavier knew she was coming.
And he was not worried in the slightest.
Wanda Maximoff burst through the doors of the Illuminati Headquarters, a look so oddly calming that it nearly sent a chill down the professor’s spine. She had just thrown open one of the most secure doors on the entire face of the planet like they were nothing, and she had almost seemed to enjoy it.
“Miss Maximoff,” Professor X said.
“Charles Xavier,” Wanda responded - her tone monotonous, only differentiating itself from soulless by her thick Sokovian accent.
The Professor knew he was in control.
He could tell this woman thought otherwise.
And he didn’t know who he was to believe right now.
“I have been expecting you,” he said, folding his hands on the marble table in front of him. “You’ve had quite a long journey here. Refreshment?”
He manifested a glass of water for her in front of the chair perpendicular to his left, but Wanda refused with no answer - only a steely eyed look. Professor X nodded, whisking the glass back into nothing.
“I am here for my children,” Wanda said.
Professor X chuckled. “Then you will have no such luck with finding them here.”
“I’ve traveled across the entire multiverse trying to find them,” Wanda said. “And you probably think, because I was raised in the streets, I am dumb, no?”
“I think no such thoughts,” Professor X asserted.
“Then why are you thinking that right now?” Wanda tilted her head.
The professor didn’t respond.
“The first law of thermodynamics states that the quantity of energy in the universe can never be created or destroyed - it can only take new forms and shapes,” Wanda began. “Considering I had my own pocket dimension when I accidentally created Westview in my grief, and that I am positive this constant applies to all universes in the multiverse… my children are still out there, somewhere. They may not be the same precious little boys I tucked into bed that night I gave that world up for the sake of everyone else, but they are still mine no matter what. And since you claim to have a stake in my own universe, I can only imagine how much you know…”
She then leaned over to whisper into the Professor’s ear.
“And you better tell me where they are being kept… because if you do not,” Wanda whispered, “you will live to regret it.”
Professor X just continued to stare down the Scarlet Witch.
“You have gone insane,” Charles boldly declared. “Miss Maximoff, your grief has consumed you. You are searching for clues where none can be found, a map that only leads to a dead end. I beg of you, to turn around and make something better of yourself before you live to regret it.”
Wanda giggled.
Not chuckled, giggled.
Her tone was not that of sarcasm and anger - it was almost jovial, childlike… and for the first time since he had first detected her, the professor felt true fear.
“It is adorable you think you could possibly manipulate me,” Wanda cooed.
“Who do you think you are?!” the professor boomed. “TO DESTROY THE MULTIVERSE TO BENEFIT YOURSELF?! You’re nothing more than a devil!”
“Oh, that is where you’re mistaken,” Wanda smirked. “I am not a ‘devil’ - the devil himself only seeks to hurt and harm. Demons seek to cause ruin and end hope… I’m here to prove that for anyone who seeks whatever they desire hard enough, they will find it. Does that sound like a bad omen to you, professor?”
“It sounds like insanity,” Charles growled. “You need to learn how to let go, Miss Maximoff. It is an essential part of life, as is death and demise. You are seeking answers in ways that will only lead you to more questions and despair.”
“Oh, you don’t understand,” Wanda chuckled.
She then slammed her hands on the table, causing the professor to slightly twitch… any progress she made was progress, to her.
“I HAD ALREADY TRIED MOVING ON!” Wanda roared. “BUT I MANAGED TO GET IT BACK AGAIN! Do you know how much heartbreak one person has to bear when they try to move on, in the process finding their loved one again, gaining so much more than you had before, AND FUCKING LOSING IT AGAIN?!?! NO, DAMN IT, YOU DON’T!!!”
Professor X finally had had enough.
He slammed his hands down on his chair, before waving his hand in a motion of fury.
The entire room began to collapse. The pocket dimension of Universe-616 that the Illuminati headquarters were located in was revealed, with its colors a mix of alizarin crimson and grape purple, with a touch of cyan…
It was beautiful.
But they had no time to appreciate it.
Professor X floated around in a circular motion, with Wanda never leaving his line of view directly in front of him.
“You cracked a pocket dimension,” Professor X began. “You created a pocket dimension. You broke the multiverse wide open just by existing… We could have been a wonderful benefit to you, Wanda. You could have been part of a family again.”
“For one, I don’t think you have any interest in working with me,” hissed Wanda. “And two - the only families I’ve ever wanted to be a part of are all gone. So… what do I have to lose?”
“You have life itself to lose,” Professor X reminded her.
Wanda laughed.
“You think that I enjoy where I am right now?” Wanda tilted her head. “Do you think I take pleasure in what I have to do to you? It will torment me for years to come…”
“And if you stop right now, you can save those years of grief that you would have ahead of you,” Professor X said, outstretching his hand. “I do not wish to fight you, even now. I only used my words in the way I did to try and get you to see that.”
Wanda looked around. “Did not exactly work, da?”
“I realize that,” Professor X conceded. “But please… don’t do this. Final chance.”
Wanda paused for a minute, only letting the sounds of the pocket dimensions hums fill the void of noise left by the silence.
Then, she sighed.
“I… I cannot stop until I get to kiss them goodnight again,” Wanda whispered, almost near the brink of tears.
Professor X looked down, his head remaining up but his eyes staring at the base of the dimension.
“Then you leave me no choice.”
An ominous whir emitted from the professor’s chair, and a metal object found itself upon the professor’s head.
“What are you going to do to me?” Wanda asked.
“I will do whatever needs to be done to protect the Multiverse,” said Professor X boldly. “I’m… I’m truly sorry, Miss Maximoff. But your journey ends here - whether you come quietly… or, as it seems now, unfortunately… you will not.”
Wanda’s head fell, in what Professor X could only describe as heartbreak.
But then, her head lifted up.
It was a different emotion now.
A different emotion entirely.
Fury.
“You just made the worst mistake of your life, Professor,” Wanda said slowly. “Take comfort in knowing it will be your last.”
And suddenly, before Cerebro could even finish charging from Professor X’s brain waves, Wanda shot a blast of scarlet right at him - Cerebro broke into shards as soon as her magic came into contact with it, shocking the Professor.
He should have seen it coming…
But he didn’t.
And that’s what horrified him the most.
Now he had no idea what was going to happen. Wanda’s mind was a blank slate - before, even without Cerebro, he could look into Wanda’s mind. It was so loud and crowded, but discernible still. Now, it was silent.
She had blacked out.
No thoughts were making themselves available to him…
Except one.
KILL.
Before he could even process all of that, however, another wave of scarlet fury shot itself at him. This time, he was able to swerve out of the way, and use one of his mind blasts back at Wanda.
She blocked it like it was nothing.
That could’ve killed someone regular.
“You would never have gone off defense if you truly meant what you said,” Wanda told him.
“And you expect me just to sit here and let you murder me?!” Professor X exclaimed.
“Oh… so it is possible,” Wanda smirked. “Thank you for clarifying. And for your cooperation.”
Wanda then shot her biggest fury yet at Professor X’s chair, knocking him into a disorientating spin; she then blasted forward with rage untold, tackling him and his stupid flying chair and sending him propelling to the floor of the pocket dimension.
The chair was pretty much done; after one furious push, it was done.
Something that had withstood nearly anything it came against - and Wanda Maximoff had incapacitated it in one fell swoop.
Her shoes click-clacked against the surface of the ground when she touched down, every footstep announcing her presence boldly. Charles was so stunned that he could only move his head to watch as the most powerful being he had ever encountered stepped over to him.
She knelt down to stare at the professor, who was currently on his back, and smirked. “I’m sorry… but your journey ends here, Professor.”
As she moved to wrap her scarlet cord of death around his neck, she heard something…
“WANDA! STOP!”
Wanda looked up, and floating above her… oh, he was a nice sight.
Took him long enough.
“Hello, Doctor.”