Beauty In The Breakdown.
Wanda is on a rampage after loosing her sons, she battles the Avengers and Doctor Strange, her power and her rage growing with every second, but just as all hope and sanity seems lost, there is someone their to help her grieve. An alternate version of the Avengers disassembled storyline.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Marvel or Marvel related, I will one day, but all in good time.
Rated T for violence and blood.
"AAAAARRRGGGH!" Wanda screamed, blinded with rage, confusion and power, her brunette hair flickering behind her as she fired bolts of reddish pink energy at her teammates, her anger burning like a violent flame, exploding when they came into contact.
"She's just disintegrated the Vision!" she heard a voice shout.
BANG! There was a huge explosion and a figure in blue was sent flying across her field of vision, red liquid splashing on the ground as it did so.
"Steve!" she heard Tony shout, and turned her head in his direction, immediately after that a portal appeared in front of him and began to rip his scarlet and gold Iron Man armour off of his skin, but he used his jet boots to propel himself away. Wanda turned to notice a huge green figure running at her.
"Wanda please stop this… please" Jennifer cried out, and when her hand was merely inches away from Wanda's face, without even making a gesture, Wanda caused a huge ball off water to erupt out of nowhere and encase itself around She-Hulk who began to drown. Before she could swing her fist in one last desperate attempt to break free and stop the all powerful witch, she found she had been teleported several feet away, and collapsed in her watery prison.
Suddenly something whizzed by Wanda's head, she slowly turned to see Hawkeye, standing only a few feet away from her, his bow raised and five arrows ready to fire.
"Please Wanda… don't let it be like this" he croaked, tears welling in his eyes.
"Clint…" she whispered her eyes changing from a glowing magenta to their usual green.
"That's it Wanda, it's me, its okay, come here please… please just come to me"
"Wha… wha… n…no… NO! I WANT MY CHILDREN" she screamed, her eyes glowing once more, her anger caused the earth around her to split and crack, and red light to shine out.
Hawkeye leapt back to more stable ground and fired his arrows, tears running down his face,
"I'm sorry… Wanda" he muttered, as his arrows were one second away from striking her. But suddenly he realised his arrows had vanished and Wanda was all but harmed.
"UGH!... Hack!" Hawkeye couched up blood, it ran down his cheek and hit the ground, one drop at a time. He had been hit by his own arrows, One impaled through his left leg, another, his right arm, the other three were through his shoulder, his chest and his stomach. Time slowed down for him as he collapsed onto the floor, his last sight before his vision failed him was of Wanda, energy crackling around her.
"CLIIIIIIIIINT!" Carol cried out, her throat raw, as she flew over to him, panic clouding her mind not caring if Wanda might kill her, she grabbed his hand as blood poured from his wounds, trying to feel for his pulse, he turned his head to face her, barely able to speak he uttered…
"Pl… please… save her… not her… fault…" Carol could barely hear him over her sobs as her tears splashed onto his cold pale cheek, his blue eyes slowly closed and his hand dropped from hers. Gathering all her strength and will she swept him up and flew him to safety. Her hands gripped tightly into fists as she tried to fight back her tears, and that sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, she would try to uphold Clint's last request but right now all she wanted to do was kill Wanda and force her to reverse all the destruction she had done.
Gathering every ounce of willpower she flew as fast as she could in Wanda's direction. As she approached she fired a blast of energy at her and, just as she had expected, a translucent dome appeared that blocked the blast, taking the moments distraction she soared around as fast as she could so she was behind Wanda and flew towards her, fists outstretched praying her blow would land and just as she thought she'd made contact, she was struck down with a colossal bolt of red lightning that sent here rolling along the ground and crashing into one of the already wrecked mansion walls.
Her head was spinning, her vision distorted, her entire body aching as smoke was still rising from her scorched skin, she desperately tried to push herself up whether to continue fighting or run away she didn't know, she just had to move, but her strength failed her, her arm gave in and she fell face down into the dirt, gasping for breath and from the pain, she was able to turn here head ever so slightly so she could see Wanda, her singed hair dangling in front of her still blurred eyes. Wanda raised a hand which began to glow in a pink light, and several pieces of rubble began to float, the pink light wrapped around it, and they floated up several meter's above Ms. Marvel who squirmed on the floor, burned. As Wanda pointed her glowing hand in her direction, with one quick bend of her wrist so her hand was facing down, the glow faded and the rubble darted down and crashed into the spot were Carol lay.
"AAAAAAHHH!" was the last thing Wanda heard of Ms. Marvel as the rubble smothered her moans of anguish.
"UGH!" Wanda screamed as she felt her skin burn. She turned around to see Iron man, His remaining gauntlet raised and glowing ready for the next blast, the first one had severely burned her left arm and her costume sleeve off.
"I'm sorry Wanda but I can't let you do this, not anymore" and he prepared to fire the finishing blast.
"Hkkkkk!" Iron man choked. Wanda had teleported in the blink of an eye to his position and had lifted him up by the throat with her burned arm, which was healing as a bright light shone out and healed the burnt tissue, and began to choke him, but despite how hard he tried he couldn't get her hand to budge. She raised a hand that was once more glowing, although this time a deep red, and slapped him around the face. The moment her palm came into contact with the side of Tony's face there was a burst of energy that sent him flying, although he seemed to have been able to steady his landing as he landed on his knees.
Wanda saw that her latest blow had blow away a large portion of his helmet, and she could see his mouth panting in exhaustion. She slowly began to walk closer to him, one scarlet heeled foot at a time, her hand stretching out ready to cast another hex, until she sensed a disruption in the atmosphere and the energy in the air and teleported away just in time to evade a huge crash into the ground that shattered the earth and sent rubble flying.
She waited for the dust to clear, but knew who it was, and once it had settled there he was, glowing red eyes, black hair, and a red 'W' on his chest, Simon Williams… Wonder Man. Tony stayed kneeling, his eyes fixed on the new Avenger that had joined the fight. Simon turned to check he was safe and then turned to face Wanda again, a woman he has loved and admired for so long.
"Oh Wanda… Why did it have to come to this?" He said sadly, shaking his head in both disbelief and disappointment. Wanda merely stared, her rage and sorrow blinding her to anything else. Simon sighed took a deep breath and, faster than she'd ever seen him, propelled himself towards her, a huge fist raised and glowing a deep blue, his fist swung and went right through Wanda who, immediately after the fist had past through her, crumbled into rubble. Seeing through the trick, Simon spun around 180 degrees arm stretched out hoping his fist or elbow would catch her of guard, he was right, she was there, but she caught his fist, all of her fingers clamped down in-between his knuckles, except for one that pointed upward towards what was once the mansion ceiling. Simon's face dropped once he realised it was pointless now, he had failed, she was too powerful, too distant from him now. She lowered her finger and the two second's it took to make that slight movement, seemed like an eternity to Simon, he regretted so much, especially with Wanda, there was so much he wanted and needed to say but it was to late now, the woman he loved had gone, taken away by the madness and hatred. Her finger touched his skin, and for a split second nothing happened. Simon's heart leapt when he thought she had come to her senses, and a weak smile spread on his face… but no. There was the tiniest spark between Wanda's finger and Simon's skin.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The spark had caused Simon to explode into a burst of ionic energy, aimed in Tony's direction. The blast enveloped him and continued on, taking out the entire wall behind him and burning a huge crater into the ground. Bluish embers and smoke hovered in the air, drifting slowly past Wanda's eyes. There was a thud not far from her and she turned to see Tony Stark fall out of the cloud of smoke, all of his armour except for a shin guard, some fingers and a small chunk of chest piece remained, sweat running down his face, mixing with the blood from fresh cuts. She assumed he used what little power he had left to create a shield to take the brunt of the blast. He choked and spluttered clutching at his rib, as blood trickled down his arms and back.
As Wanda approached he tilted his head up.
"Wanda…"
She just scowled at him, her anguish still driving her mad with anger.
"Wanda please…" he begged.
She levitated a jagged pole of metal into her hand and raised it above her head, ready to bring it down and finish of her former friend. Taking one last moment to look upon his petrified face she lowered her out reached arm.
CLANG! The jagged metal pole was sent flying form her hands by a spinning disk that was a blend of red white and blue, which ricocheted around on random pieces of terrain and landed back in the gloved hand that threw it. Captain America stood, his shield raised, prepared to have one last attempt at stopping his close friend. Wanda noticed a green form, lying far away and assumed that he must have freed She-Hulk whilst she was fighting the other Avengers.
He stepped into a battle stance and lowered his shield to reveal a deep gash on his shoulder from the early attack. Reacting quicker than he expected, Wanda levitated several sharp pieces of whatever was lying around and, with a slight flick of one finger, sent the sharp objects propelling towards the Captain like bullets. He raised his shield and he felt several shards impact with his shield, he eyes poked over the edge of his shield to see more shards still flying at him, he instinctively leapt out of the way high up in the air and flung his shield whilst rolling. Wanda easily deflected the shield and continued to fire shards at Steve, who rolled, flipped and somersaulted his way out of danger, his sharp reflexes keeping him off of deaths door, but he wondered how long he could keep this up.
Wanda launched another wave of projectiles, and again Captain America leapt out of the way bending and spinning in the air to dodge them, if he could only reach his shield he'd have more of chance, but he wouldn't get it, the moment his foot touched the ground, two huge metal cables shoot out of the ground like large silver snakes and wrapped themselves around him, one coiling itself around his neck.
Panic and terror filled Steve's eyes much like Simon's, he had failed to stop Wanda, failed to protect his friends and loved ones and he had failed his country, he had failed himself, he said he would keep the world safe and fight for the innocent, but now he was helpless, he couldn't even scream out in frustration because of the cable wrapped around his throat. Wanda raised her hand, fingers out stretched, aimed were the Captain was and very slowly she curled her hand into a fist, and as she did so the cabled around Captain America tightened and began to crush him. He grunted in pain as he felt the life being crushed out of him and he felt his blood flow stop, and start to swell up in his body.
SNAP! SNAP! CRUNCH!
"UUUUUUUUUURGH!" Steve groaned, as he felt several bones snap, his face red from wanting to scream and not being able to, from the blood restriction and from the pain and sweat. He could feel the cable constricting around his neck, and he could barely breath as it is, seeing no other way out, his hand desperately scurried round inside the pouch on his waist searching for the little explosive he carried, he had to be quick, he was loosing consciousness, this was his only chance to break free, and he knew he wouldn't be able to move after he set it of, but maybe he would live to fight another day. He found the small cylinder in his pouch and flicked the lid of with his thumb and pressed the little red button on top, and prayed his gloves would insulate most of the blast. The explosion seared his body like a hot needle, and the pain was so intense he passed out within seconds, but his plan had worked, the cable's had been blown to pieces and unravelled themselves from around him.
Seeing no need to carry on Wanda drew her attention from the Captain and stared up into the darkening sky before reaching out her hands in a catching position, and her hands began to glow a blood red, several ray of light shot out from her hands into the sky and solidified into what looked like giant red icicles and sent one to hover above each of the defeated heroes, all she would have to do is drop her arms and finish the hero's off and she would have avenged her sons.
"For you… my boys" She said softly hoping they had heard her, and let the icicles drop. There were several loud crashes from all directions. It was done, the ones who had taken her children from her had paid the price.
The violent red glow in her eyes began to fade, and she lowered her head to think about what to do next.
"What? No… no… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Her scream caused the already broken mansion to crumble even further as one of the walls went flying across the mansion grounds and the very sky itself began to twist into a distorted colour. She looked around frantically trying to find the hero's who should be dead, but there was nothing, no bodies, no blood, it's as if they had disappeared, like magic.
Wanda gasped the moment she finished her thought and looked over her shoulder to see a man, dressed in a baggy blue shirt, a long red cloak and a long winding yellow ribbon wrapped around his waist, he had steel grey eyes that seemed to pierce into Wanda's mind… Doctor Strange.
"Where are they!" Wanda ordered, her fury building up again.
"Safe, Now that's enough Wanda" he said sternly, his eyes fixated on her. She understood now that he must have teleported them out at the last minute and is healing them some where, this thought infuriated her further and the energy that was crackling around her went from a deep red to a dark purple.
"Wanda please let me help you" he asked, concerned at he sudden flare of power.
"I want my boys back! They took them from me!" She yelled, the energy surrounding her becoming more volatile by the second.
"No Wanda, it is nobody's fault that your sons are gone, please let me help you" he pleaded.
"I. Want. Them. Back" she spat through gritted teeth.
"I don't know if that's possible Wanda, they were taken by Master Pandemonium to Mephisto so there is no certainty that…" he attempted to explain.
"No… no… Stop putting lies in my head, my sons are gone because the Avengers failed to protect them" She interrupted.
"It's Nobody's fault Wanda, and certainly not the Avengers fault, they didn't know that…"
"STOP IT!" She shrieked. Doctor Strange had never seen anyone so hysterical, he couldn't deny he was terrified of fighting her, not just because of the state she was in, or because of her immense power, but also because she was an ally and a friend.
"WANDA! STOP!" he yelled after her.
"SHUT UUUUUUUUP!" she shrieked, a surge of purple energy waves pulsating out wards from her. Doctor Strange teleported away appearing about fifty feet from were he formerly stood, afterwards he made several hand gestures and uttered some magic words.
"Ariernum mihiltala chotourn" and pointed his index finger in her direction, from his one fingertip erupted a huge burst of white light that enveloped Wanda and made a crater twice as large as the one that Wonder Man made earlier.
Stephen waited to see if he had managed to stop her, but when the light cleared he was disappointed, she had blocked the blast by creating what seemed to be a pillar of blackish purple fire around herself. It was then the Doctor realised this would be a very difficult fight. She gestured her hands and the fire followed, she directed it towards Doctor Strange who crated a large disc like shield of bright blue light to protect him, but he soon found his shield was breaking as the flames overwhelmed it and crept over it. Just as the fire was about to reach him he cast a spell that made wall of water appear around him and they extinguished the flames, he had to act fast if he stood a chance of defeating Wanda and increased the amount of water by at least fifty times and pushed out at her direction in hope that it might smash into her, as he rode through the wave's his own small parting between the water met with Wanda's and soon they were almost face to face, seeing his moment now he teleported out of the water and tried to clamp it down on her, but she was fighting back and he couldn't close the space between her and the water, so using one mighty pushy, he compressed it for a few seconds, and used a spell to make his breath as cold as the arctic, he breathed on the water causing it all to freeze instantly and he hoped he had encased her in ice. He had to stop levitating and regain his breath, using such complex spells in such quick sequence had exhausted him.
"That should do it" he panted to himself, and was preparing to place several barriers around the area, until a huge burst of purple energy bust out of the top of the huge ice prison, which crumbled away shortly after. Wando stood in the middle of the ice remains, her aura more violent than ever.
The Doctor thought fast and cast his latest spell, praying it would stop her before she got any worse.
"Crimson bands of Cytorak, grand sealing!" he called out to the deity and a crimson wall appeared behind Wanda, and then expanded into three other walls and a 'lid' appeared on top, she was completely sealed in, but he didn't stop there.
"Second sealing!" he called, and the crimson box shrunk to the point were he thought Wanda would have to bend her neck and knees, and caused two crimson pillars to erupt out of the ground on each side and push themselves against the walls, sealing them even tighter.
"Bone seal!" he called again, this time a 10 foot spike shot out of the ground, and eight thick, spikes erupted out of that and clamped themselves around Wanda's box, so it looked like a ribcage.
"Crimson seal!" He called one last time, and a huge chain of crimson energy, with daggers hanging of, appeared out of nowhere and bound itself around the ribcage and box.
"Ugh! Please… please let that be enough" he begged, his hands on his knees as he knelt over to catch his breath. It took at least two minutes for him to recover and he eventually stood up straight and saw that his Cytorak prison was holding. He turned and summoned the defeated Avengers to him and returned to healing them. It seemed the healing aura's he'd placed on them before the fight had healed them well, but now he could personally tend to the more serious wounds, Hawkeye was hit the worst, Ms. Marvels powers had helped heal the worst of her burns, and Captain America had to have some of his bones reset, but it was nothing that would be to difficult to heal. His hands began to glow a light shade of green and he placed his hands were Hawkeye's stomach was, and he began to heal them.
Crack!
Stephen gasped and turned round immediately. A fracture had appeared in the crimson wall, purple light breaking free. He stood and watched in disbelief that she could break a spell of such power and high level, the fracture grew, more light escaping, and he knew he'd have to quick on his feet again. He stretched his hands out in the direction of the crimson mass and yelled,
"Flame of the Falteen" and a huge amount of fire came whooshing out from his palms, but this fire was different too normal fire, it had a scarlet and orange colour and a gold glow. It struck the Cytorak prison, setting it alight and hopefully holding Wanda back, just as he thought she'd given up, there was a huge burst of blinding violet light that shattered the prison, sending flaming chunks of crimson in all directions, but before any of it could hit Doctor Strange or the still healing Avengers, he cast a wall of light in front of them that successfully held back the projectiles, whilst his defence was holding he decided to get the Avengers to safety and he knew the exact spell, but using it would be very taxing on him and he wouldn't have much strength left after using it, but he didn't have a choice.
"I call upon the Healing Realm of Oshtur" he chanted, arms outstretched and a dome with the colours deep blue and black with white and red lights appeared above the Avengers, and expanded until it enveloped them all.
The Doctor grabbed it and tucked it into his robes. He hoped that the magic of the pocket dimension he sent them to would fully heal them whilst he continued to battle Wanda, he lowered his barrier, and gasped in horror as he saw that the energy she was producing was a wicked, ominous black that made the very air itself scream as its vile power filled the vicinity. Stephen had felt this power before.
"The dark-hold" he muttered, knowing now that the power of darkness was pouring out of her, and he had to defeat her, kill her if necessary. He couldn't let Ch'thon's vile magic corrupt the world, especially not through a girl who had once been so kind and brave and lost her only two son's. He stretched out one of his hands and began to chant a spell.
"Miarue Rhyhadin Hikari Firuven!" and his finger tips began to glow in a pale blue energy, and for a few moments they gathered power, their light become stronger and becoming a pale white and blue-ish colour, before bursting off of Doctor Strange's fingers. As they soared towards Wanda, each orb broke into five new orbs, which in turn split into five orbs and they continued to multiply until there must have been ten's of thousands of white-ish blue orbs soaring at her like thousands of stars, they were so fast she had barely even a second to react and as they struck with the force of a sledge hammer and exploded in a burst of light, flinging up tons of earth and a cloud of dust.
The Doctor stared at the spot were she had been standing, his hand already in a gesture for the next spell. The dust cleared and all he could see was a small, opaque, black dome over a small area of ground, and she assumed this had shielded her from most, if any, of the damage.
For at least a minute nothing happened and he decided to make the next move, but the moment he took one step forward, six huge tentacles formed out of the shields energy and began to dart towards him, he quickly teleported away from their spear like ends, but was shocked when he reappeared a considerable distance away and they were waiting for him, he was only just able to fly out of the way in time and was flying around, rolling and spinning in the air to evade their rapid strikes and stabs, not giving him time to strike back, he just needed a moment to dispel it, he kept flying and teleporting out of danger hoping he might be able to shake them for a moment, but the more evasive he became the more tentacles appeared until he was up against at least a hundred of them.
He flew higher until he was a few hundred feet above the ruins of the mansion, as he flew up he had cast a quick and simple spell and tried to set his plan in motion. He stopped and attempted to evade the tentacles but it seemed they had grown even more in number, it wasn't long before some of them impaled him and the rest followed stabbing into his flesh and his hot blood gushing out from the many wounds.
The black dome had vanished and Wanda stood up unharmed, a black portal in front of her reaching hand were the tentacles had come from. She smiled as she fulfilled her revenge, and the fact that she defeated one of the biggest threats to her. She began to cry and prayed her little boys could see her trying to avenge them.
"That's enough" a deep voice came from behind her. She immediately spun round, her eyes blinded by a pure white light that began to dissolve away the tentacles, a screaming sound was made as each one was erased.
"Nothing can withstand the golden light of Agamatto" she heard, and once the light had cleared she saw him standing not too far away from her, Doctor Strange, and he realised he must have used a clone or illusion to fool her.
"WHY WON'T YOU DIE!" she screamed in a high pitched voice that made the very air burn. She pushed her arm outwards her hands glowing as she unleashed a burst of energy, the doctor teleported further away creating more space between them. She placed her hands in claw like positions and a dark purple energy gathered in each hand, forming into a basket ball sized sphere, which she then crashed together creating a huge blast of energy aimed right at Doctor Strange, who in turn drew a mystical symbol into the air, two triangles over-lapped forming a star, and two rings forming on the edge of the star, more mystical symbols appearing in between the rings, he then placed is hand on the symbol at the centre and it began to glow, just in time for when her blast hit.
Wanda stared in shock as she saw her power blast being absorbed and sucked into the spell like a black hole, she kept the beam going but the spell just kept absorbing it, so she used her free hand to call forth a dark red ribbon that sliced through the air and crept around his spell but the Doctor swung his free hand in an arch creating a thin blade of magic that cut through the ribbon, he then poked his hand around his spell and produced a laser like light from his index finger, that was aimed at Wanda who in turn halted her blast in order to defend against the spell, but when she had finished, she saw that he had vanished, she spun round, her glowing eyes searching for the man who she despised so much. It didn't take her long to notice He was floating a few feet above her a clenched fist stretched out.
When he opened his hand the spell he had cast before reappeared and before she knew, all the energy it had absorbed was raining down on her.
The doctor looked down as the energy he released smashed down onto Wanda and caused, what must have been tons of earth, to go flying in all directions.
The spell faded and so did the light from the released magic, Mansion had been completely decimated, only rubble, a slab of the roof and a few walls remained standing. He couldn't see anything beneath him, no scarlet cape, no brunette hair or dark energy.
"Time to die" he heard called down to him and he looked up to see Wanda floating a hundred feet above him, her costume was now cold shades of black and grey, her hair whipping about in the wind. Her hands were reaching upwards at the sky which was now just as dark as her clothing and just as angry. Several huge chunks of rock appeared out of nowhere glowing a dark pink and purple and they looked like meteors as they hovered in the dimming sky.
"I will kill you, I will avenge them, my little boys, my Tommy and Billy" she said and the meteors began to plummet down towards Doctor Strange and the earth, he swerved out of the way to see it go crashing down towards the earth and exploding on impact. He nearly didn't dodge the next one and they started to come down faster and more in sequence, their seemed to be no limit to the amount of meteors she could produce. There was suddenly a huge crashing noise and very briefly whilst rolling through the air he saw that the damage was leaking beyond the mansion grounds and into New York City, if he didn't act soon many innocent lives could be lost. He placed a hand on the inside of his cloak and pulled out an ancient brown bag with green gems encrusted on the sides, he pulled the lid of and a gust of silvery wind came whooshing out.
"I call upon the winds of Watomb!" he yelled and with his hands manipulated the winds into a huge hurricane that swirled around Wanda, sucking in all the meteors she tried to throw down and exploding inside the hurricane when they crashed into each other. Knowing he wouldn't be able to do much more he had to end this as quickly as he could, before fatigue took over, he ascended as fast as he could to the top of the swirling tornado, explosions still taking place. He pulled out the little blue marble and teleported it to his sanctum, hoping Wong would be able to free them, he couldn't keep it with him now, this last act would make it too risky, he slotted his hands together in several different gestures before reaching up into the sky and crying out,
"I call upon the powers of the Vishanti; Agamatto, Haggoth and Oshtur, please… give me your strength" as he finished his sentence a slight ray of light broke through the thick and heavy clouds and shone upon the amulet around his neck and a golden light radiated forward and wrapped itself around Doctor Strange. He felt his strength returning and his body began to glow, the light forming around him in a sphere. He took a deep breath to ready himself, and faced down into the hurricane, before diving down like a giant golden bullet to finally take down the insane witch. He ripped through the winds his mind focused on one thing and there, in the centre, she was.
It seemed she had received an injury or two from the meteors, and as she looked up to face him he collided with her and they plummeted down to the ground, the winds of Watomb being absorbed back into their bag which he had suspended in mid air. As they crashed there was an almighty burst of light and the impact sent a shockwave that ran throughout most of the city, a huge crater in the mansion grounds, bits of rubble were lodged into the surrounding skyscrapers, cars turned on their sides, the walls surrounding the grounds were non existent.
Lying in the dirt facedown was Doctor Strange, his robes in tatters, his cloak was several meters away, and his amulet lay centimetres from his face. Across from him was Wanda, her face also in the dirt, her cloak ripped beyond recognition, her hair singed and her hands dirty and bruised, her boots ruined. Neither sorcerer moved for what seemed like an eternity, until a red nailed finger twitched ever so slightly, and she slowly, achingly pushed herself up, she didn't know what that spell was, but she had survived, she could still have her revenge, and she smiled as she stumbled towards the unconscious Doctor, a hand placed on her bleeding arm, healing it with magic.
The Doctor suddenly woke up, his face felt the rough earth beneath him, blood running down his cheek and the cold air hit his flesh, he moved his head ever so slightly so he could see the golden amulet in front of him and with every last bit of strength moved his hand to collect it, only for a foot to land on it. He knelt his head further back to see Wanda standing over him her cloths bloodied up, her face bruised but the anger was still there her eyes still full of malice as the blood that ran down her arm and fingers landed onto his half gloved hand.
She said nothing, she just glared at him coldly, hate etched into her face.
"No more" she breathed out between gasps, and her hand began to glow a horrid black, a spiked tentacle emerged and hung a foot over his head. He turned his head as much as he could, his grey eyes losing their vision as he felt unconsciousness take over him.
"Is this… it?… look around you…" he muttered with what was probably his last breath, she just continued to stare at him, "Is this… what you wanted?... What your… ugh… sons would have wanted? Would Tommy an… and Billy want to see you… like this?" he never received a reply as darkness took over him and his head fell to the floor, he had lost his fight with exhaustion. His questions seemed to have caused her sanity to emerge as her eyes went from black to emerald green, she looked around at the destruction she had caused to what was once her home, were she lived with her teammates and loved ones, with her husband and sons, their faces appeared in her mind and she faced the sky and screamed in agony.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGHHH!" a white light enveloped her as tears began to run down her face and her fury return.
The light cleared but all she could see was white emptiness, her anger dampened before it grew again. It was serene here, empty but serene. Had she died? Would she see her children? Before she could think any more a gentle and familiar voice called her name.
"Wanda?" and she turned around to see a woman she recognised well, she had crimson red hair and eyes as green as her own, she was dressed in white and gold, an emblem on her chest that Wanda knew, and she saw the same smiling and beautiful face she had known for many years.
"Jean?" she said in disbelief, she thought this woman was dead. Before she could say anything else, Jean Grey had pulled her into a hug, and draped her arm over her shoulder.
"Where am I? Am I… dead?" she asked puzzled, Jean continued to smile at her.
"No not exactly, your in the White Hot room, this is were the phoenix works and guides beings into life and beyond death" she said softly. Before Wanda could say any more Jean stood before her and looked her up and down and her face twisted into an annoyed looking one.
"Oh dear this wont do" she said and poked Wanda on the forehead with her finger. The moment their skin made contact Wanda was washed over with a wave of flame, and she felt all the grief and anger and darkness within her fade away, she realised her cloths had been completely restored and were there usual scarlet and pink colours, and her wounds had been completely healed.
"Much better, that's how I remember you" Jean grinned. But Wanda was still confused.
"Why am I here?" she asked quietly.
"I couldn't stand by anymore and watch you go through this alone" Jean said taking and rubbing her hand. Wanda suddenly remembered all the fighting she had done and the pain she'd caused, and her teammates bruised and battered faces. She fell to her knees and began to cry, Jean fell to her side and tried to comfort her.
"What… ha… have I… done?" she sobbed frantically.
"Wanda this had to happen" Jean said. Wanda looked at her in disbelief, how could she say that?
"Believe me it has to happen, because what happens next will effect the world forever" Jean began, "Yes it will be long and painful before the world is fixed after what has and will happen, but I believe it will be for the best" Jean tried to comfort her, but her crying didn't stop.
"I caused all of this pain and misery… for… for what? All I… I wanted, was to see my… boys again" she choked out.
"You will" Jean said softly, Wanda immediately looked up at her, her eyes wide with interest.
"Wh… when?" she asked desperate for an answer.
"Like I said, it will be a long and painful time before it happens, but I've seen it, I've seen them" she beamed.
"I'll show you them" Jean smiled. She held out her golden gloved hand and tapped what seemed like an invisible wall which opened up to reveal the earth. Wanda looked up looking for her sons.
"Here they are" she said and Wanda saw an image of two boys, one with silver hair and green eyes much like her own, he was dressed in an odd green and silver suit with orange goggles resting on his head, and the other boy had long matted black hair and honey brown eye's, he was dressed in a suit too, a black one with silver features and a red cloak similar to her own, a silver headband over his forehead, both boys looked strikingly similar to her father, Magneto, she suddenly realised…
"They're super heroes?" she asked looking up at Jean who grinned and nodded.
"Yes, Young Avengers, Tommy's a speedster like his uncle, and Billy's a sorcerer just like you" Jean confirmed. Wanda's eyes filled with tears again, but this time they were of joy and pride and love, she reached out a hand and touched the image.
"Young Avengers huh?" she asked smiling.
"And do you know what? They grow up happy and loved, by their friends and family, they become heroes just like you" Jean comforted.
"Were are they now?" Wanda asked, but Jean gave her a puzzled look.
"I'm not too sure, Magic is not my strongest point, but they haven't passed through the white hot room so I know they aren't dead" Wanda looked disappointed but not miserable, and Jean could clearly see that a heavy weight had been lifted of her heart.
"I had to show you this I can't let what will happen to you happen without telling you this" Jean said kindly. Wanda turned to face her worry scrawled across her face.
"What's going to happen to me? Haven't you helped me?" she asked. Jean lightly shook her head.
"Not on earth no, when I return you, you're going to be in a coma, your powers still out of control. Wanda you've had a mental breakdown, you blamed and lashed out at your teammates because you lost your children, and you're going to depower ninety-eight percent of the world's mutants" Jean told her.
"Wha… what? No! How?" she cried, the tears of sadness returning. Jean sighed and sat her down on a chair that miraculously appeared.
"Your powers are going to recreate the world in your fathers image, one were mutants rule the world" she began, Wanda looked at her in shock, "Things will happen, people will die, this causes you to breakdown in that reality and restore the world to normal, at the cost of depowering most of the earths mutants with no new mutants being born, putting them on the verge of extinction" She continued, and Wanda began to cry again her hand over her mouth in distress.
"I'm a monster, the Avengers should just kill me" she sobbed.
"Some things get better" Jean said to comfort her, Wanda looked at her as though saying 'how'.
"All the mutants unite under one banner, the avengers become stronger than ever and your father joins the X-men" Jean confirmed. Wanda seemed to calm down a bit and even smiled slightly when Jean said her father joins the X-men.
"But what about all the mutants?" she asked, despair in her shaking voice. Jean merely smiled and said…
"Don't worry, I've got that covered, I'll give the mutants 'Hope' again"
They both sat there looking at the image of Wanda's sons in silence for a minute before Jean asked…
"Are you ready to go back?"
"I don't know if I want to, is there no way this can be stopped from happening?" she pleaded.
"I'm afraid not, this has to happen" Jean told her sadly, Wanda just sighed and sat in silence.
"But now you know what it brings to the world… the good it brings"
Wanda still didn't speak.
"Look, you and me have very important roles in existence, were both nexus points, and this is going to be soo cruel on you but you just have to brave it, there were so many times when I just wanted to disappear, rather than live with the phoenix, but there will always be someone to fulfil both your role and mine, and I have a feeling your son might be able to fix what you'll do" she said referring to Billy. Wanda smiled and nodded as she laughed back tears.
"Who'll take after you then?" she asked.
"Like I said, Hope" Jean beamed. They laughed and hugged once more before Wanda said…
"Okay, I'm ready… send me back" she said taking deep breaths to calm herself.
"Trust me everything will be fine, okay? And no matter how hard it gets, you'll always know what your boys become, even if your mind is twisted beyond repair and things happen beyond your control" Jean smiled.
"Goodbye Jean and thank you" Wanda said taking her hand and staring into her warm eyes.
"This isn't the end you know? We'll meet again, I promise" Jean kissed her hand, a white light appearing the moment her lips left her hand and Jean vanished in the light, her face still smiling, her eyes still filled with warmth.
One last time, before she was sent back, Wanda turned her head from the light to see the image of her sons again, a tear running down her face as she and the image vanished.
"I can't wait to see you again" she whispered before the light took her.
….
Wow that story went on longer than I expected it too, but I had so many ideas I wanted to write. Anyways I hope you, the reader, enjoyed it and had a good picture of what happened in your head, I wanted to make it very powerful and emotionally moving. Please R&R all views and opinions welcome, until next time, The Mighty Marvelite Phoenix!