What to do about Magik?

Author's note: Spoilers ahead! Nice little story idea that came to me after reading the first issue of the Trial Of Magneto (accused of killing his daughter Wanda Maximoff). Currently the last known person with her was Erik as she met him, privately, in the garden of the tower that the Hellfire Gala was being held in as the party was breaking up. Of interest to me, after all the X-Men that appeared in the issue (and there were a whole bunch), there was no Illyana. Which is somewhat odd as the Wanda is a creature of magic and who knows more about magic then Magik? Also Illyana is the only X-Man, and mutant, who interacts with Wanda, as shown in the comics when she helped Illyana move the school to Limbo, and in the Strange Academy comic. I mused that Wanda might want to ask Illyana about fixing things, meaning the rubble of her social relationships, as Illyana did blow up all of her relationships, yet appears to now have mostly reconciled with those she cares about (hence the creation of this story).

Oh, and several of my stories have been removed by Fanfiction dot net as I apparently violated the rules by including a character from an Author who has an agreement with Fanfiction dot net to not allow any fan fiction with her characters (from 2010). Yet there are other such fanfiction sites that one can find in but a few words in Google search (but I guess they are non profit sites).

The stories are:

Snowflake's Passage Scary Things

Mother of Darkness

Pride, Prejudice, Illyana and Zombies – Rather annoying as I'm working on the next chapter.

Sigh…

Well, you can still find them on Archive of Our Own under dhapin (my friend Mark thought that was a great way to not have the true spelling of my name, the sad truth is that it was a typo… yeah…. I misspelled my own name… sigh…)

Part 64a: To fix the unfixable (Before the death of Wanda)

Night has fallen and we found the to heroines of this story in New Orleans, more specifically the French Quarter, and very specifically the establishment of Muriel's Jackson Squire Creole cuisine & Elegant Balcony Dining, on the second floor balcony with a view of the park; there we find two of the Strange Academy instructors dining (Wanda's treat). They had been discussing the various students, the school, and other things. They were also observing some of the students as they wandered about the French Quarter, not that the students knew that; always best to let students think they had more slack on the rope then they really did. The meal was done and it was time for dessert, Illyana was having the Vanilla bean Crème Brulee while Wanda had gone for the Flourless Chocolate Cake (for those who don't know, Spiderman claims that Wanda is lactose intolerant and you really don't want to be downwind of her if she has ice-cream or cheese cake). They were both dressed in casual clothing and gave every appearance of having enjoyed the dinner.

"So, final assessment on our students?" Was Wanda's question.

A slight shrug from Illyana, and an answer that was not sugar coated. "We'll be lucky if half are alive within the year."

"Harsh." Was Wanda's frowning reply.

"The truth often is." Was the shrug of a reply from Illyana.

Wanda pointed out. "Most would call that pessimistic, but…"

A smile from Illyana that had no delight or humor. "My opinion is likely one of the more optimistic outcome."

Wanda had an alterative motive for this meeting, but was still working up the courage to ask the most important of questions. It was a song playing across the street at by some street performance that pushed Wanda over the edge as it were, the song was Save Me by Globus.

…

Won't you show me the door?

'Cause I've made mistakes

That have hurt the ones that I have loved

And I've thrown them under the bus

One too many times

There can be no redemption for a sinner such as I.

…

So Wanda went for it, asked the question, sought the answer to the riddle she had so for found unsolvable.

"How… How did you do it Illyana?"

A narrowing of the eyes from Illyana. "Do what?"

"Fix it."

A slight frown from Illyana. "Fix what?"

"Fix… all that you broke. You screwed over everybody you cared about. Hurt everybody, and somehow… you fixed it."

Red alert!

Shields up!

Defense on FULL!

Klingons off the starboard bow!

A long pause from Illyana as her face assumed a neutral expression as she sipped her dessert tea. Then an answer of sorts.

"Few people ask me for advice Wanda. I'm not known for making… good social decisions. Nor do I like offering advice as I distrust myself in this."

Wanda pressed on. "Regardless, I desire your advice on my… situation."

A request Illyana was not receptive to. "The last time I answered such questions, gave… input, Kitty ended up not marrying my Brother. An outcome that did not please me."

Wanda was not going to give up that easily. "I… I don't know what to do. I tried doing a great deed, but that… failed."

An irritated scowl from Illyana. "I know."

Glimmerings of anger from Wanda. "Stephen told you?"

A shake of the head from Illyana. "No, I, and others ended up on Genosha and fought the zombies you raised."

An embarrassed grimace from Wanda. "I was trying to make amends. For M-Day."

A bit of an irritated growl of a sigh from Illyana. "Wanda, I found that artifact of a staff you created. It was most… annoying. Even more that you had not told me what you had done, such knowledge would have prevented…"

"Prevented what?" Was Wanda's question as Illyana had gone silent.

Illyana finally continued. "It gave off such a song of power, to one such as I it was as… In short it, and therefore you, drugged me. I was about to enslave the entire world as my demonic nature completely took over and I forgot everything that I am. The staff self destructed just as I declared that Kurt was to be…"

"Yes?"

"I said, 'Dashing blue demon boy, you will serve me most of all as I find your appearance to be…'"

Look of slight amused horror from Wanda. "OMG, you were going to make Kurt a sex slave?"

A cool look from Illyana. "I'm not going to answer that."

"Talk about regrets."

Which prompted an unexpected answer from Illyana. "I regret nothing." Why, one could infer from that statement that Illyana was attracted to Kurt, but that was not the topic at hand.

First a contemplative look from Wanda as to the meaning of that statement, after all Kurt was quite sexy, then a quiet reply from Wanda. "I was trying to do good."

Illyana's reply was judgmental and one might point out was the first step on the path of advice, perhaps the thought of Kurt had distracted her. "No you were not."

"Yes I was, I was trying to…"

Illyana finished. "Do something to make yourself look good. Something unasked for, and yet all you did was greater harm."

"I just wanted to try to fix things!"

"Hence the problem."

"What?"

"Never mind…"

"No… you meant something. You understand something. Tell me!"

Illyana had given Wanda advice before, many people had. Advice Wanda had rejected because sometimes people just don't want to hear some things. But Illyana did offer…

"Wanda, you realize you are asking a hell lord for relationship advice? Hell Lords are not known for giving good advice, or being successful in relationships. Shards know I've endlessly F'd up."

And Wanda was not receptive. "Don't give me that line, tell me!"

Illyana tended to not respond well to people getting in her face with demands. "No… we're done here, I suggest you re-examine what others have told you before. The truth tends to not change just because you dislike it."

Wanda suddenly stood up as flickers of power engulfed her form. "I say when we're done!" Damn it! Illyana understood something and by the gods she was going to share it!

Illyana's only physical reaction was a narrowing of eyes as she relied. "You don't want to do this Wanda."

Wanda's eyes began to glow white with power. "Yes I do! You are going to tell me what I want to know." As tentacles of power grew from Wanda's fingers and started to wrap around Illyana.

A frown from Illyana. "Perhaps, but not here." As two light disks whisked them to Limbo.

Part 64b: War is diplomacy by other means

Limbo.

A pocket dimension, a space between places that became a place.

A hellish place.

Answerable only to its ruler.

That ruler being Illyana. And this was the center of her power.

And now a magical battle raged in Limbo as Wanda strove to bind Illyana to her will, to make her answer the questions Wanda wanted answered. Questions that Wanda screamed at Illyana as they fought.

HOW DID YOU DO IT!?

HOW ID YOU FIX YOUR RELATIONSHIPS!?

HOW DID YOU MAKE PEOPLE LIKE YOU AGAIN!?

HOW DID YOU MAKE PEOPLE LOVE YOU AGAIN!?

HHHHHHOOOOOOWWWWWW!?

Illyana did not answer, and at first she appeared over matched by Wanda. But Illyana tended to let people underestimate her. It is a common misunderstanding by almost all that Illyana would sift to her Darkchilde form for more power. The truth was Illyana stopped not being her Darkchilde form as it took magical energies to not be her demonic form. In such situations she was not upping her game, instead she was no longer suppressing her game. The cause could be need, emotional upset, or other conditions that made her forget to not be as she was.

She had defeated Doctor Strange when he had fought her in Limbo back at the beginning of the Avengers vs. X-Men.

She has slain Dormammu here.

All other challengers to her had fallen.

To be brief, Wanda lost.

It ended with Wanda lying face down on the ground with Illyana, in her Darkchilde incarnation, on Wanda's back, rather like a wrestler move one might say. One knee in Wanda's back, her tail wrapped around Wanda's neck, Illyana's left hand over Wanda's mouth, and an angry statement from Illyana.

"Nobody likes being made into a puppet Wanda. I would have thought you'd have figured at least that out by now."

"It's not fair!"Was Wanda's sobbing complaint. "I helped undo M-Day! I helped get rid of the Phoenix! I helped move the school to Limbo! I tried to bring the dead mutants of the Genosha, it wasn't my fault they came back as zombies! I just want Vision, the Avengers and everybody else to love me gain! Is that so much to ask!? Why won't you tell me how you did it?!"

Illyana replied after she finished casting some magical bounds upon Wanda, preventing her from further acting out.

"I can't tell you because I didn't fix anything!"

Illyana continued as she rolled away from the sobbing Wanda. "Wanda, if you start a fire you don't get a cookie for helping to put it out. You've simply fucked over too many people in too many ways for them to want you back in their life."

"But… they let you back in!"

"No… they didn't. I… moved forward. I… took different paths. I changed. I suppose my actions and choices showed I changed, and for reasons I still don't understand, they associated with me again."

"But I did so many the good things!"

"So?"

"That shows I've changed!"

Illyana had a rather ironic look as she looked around at the devastation that surrounded them. "Yes… I see. Very… changed. I suggest that is likely the reason Wanda."

"What…?"

A sigh from Illyana. "Wanda, you're unstable, self obsessed, and convinced what you want is the most importing thing in the world. You do things for others, not for doing the right thing, but because you think that will fix what you've broken. It won't. It can't. You've hurt them to much."

"You did the same! They locked you in a cell under 500 feet of water in a bomb jacket!"

"Yep. So?"

"They like you again!"

A shrug from Illyana. "Some do, most are still afraid, with cause. Heck, if I died half of Krakoa would party."

"Better then me!"Wailed Wanda."Everybody would celebrate if I died!"

"And again it is all about you Wanda. I… suggest you view things from the perspective of those you've harmed."

"Have you!?"

"Yes…"

"And…? That showed you how to fix it!?"

"No Wanda, you just don't get it. I fixed nothing. I moved forward, I strove to be different, be better then I was, then I am. Over time… this allowed the creation of new relationships, and some of these new relationships included those I loved. Nothing got fixed, new things got created. Stop trying to do things to make them love you Wanda. Try being somebody people want in their lives, or can at least make use of. As things stand now… most are just waiting for the next Wanda meltdown."

"I want them to forgive me!"

Illyana stood up and stretched her back, Wanda was just not listening; but Illyana decided to offer a suggestion. "Perhaps you might start by not doing stupid shit like this."

Wanda struggled to right herself as Illyana's bindings hindered her flexibility, she ended up sitting upon the ground, dirty with her face smeared with dust and some that had been created due to her tears. "What if… what if I…"

"Stopped." Finished Illyana as she interrupted Wand. "What if you stopped."

"Stopped…? Stopped what?"

"Stop trying to do things to make people like you again. Wanda, that just won't work unless you do the whole reality changing thing which will just make them hate you worse once it is over. I'll say it again, people don't like being turned into puppets. Stop repeating yourself and try something different by not trying to do anything to or for other people."

Illyana's words finally gave Wanda pause. This sounded like what Stephen had been saying in that he had suggested she ring a different bell. She has thought she was following his advice when she went on a quest to resurrect the dead mutants of Genosha by assembling a set of magical components to create a staff of vast power, then a ritual that went really wrong (See Empyre: X-Men 1-4). Stephen had been most disappointed in Wanda's actions and had rebuked her.

Illyana continued. "Why not try and do something to correct that little possession issue you have. I mean, just how many times has Chthon possessed you? It's like you have a frequent possessor card with him."

"That's not my fault!" Rebutted Wanda. "I can't do anything about that."

A shake of the head from Illyana. "Then perhaps you should. Everytime you get possessed you hurt the one's you say you care about. Yet… what are the consequences to those who possess you? Nada. Here's a clue Wanda, your promises and threats needs to mean something. Anybody does, or tires to do, that to me… dies. Simple as that. My oaths and threats mean something, yours… doesn't. Yet another thing you don't fix or try to fix, and yet another reason folks likely don't want you around."

"I don't have the power to…"

"House of M, M-Day." Was Illyana's reply as she again interrupted Wanda, this time with examples that rather indicated that Wanda should have sufficient power to do something about the whole possession thing, assuming she was sufficiently motivated.

"I was crazy!"

Illyana was not convinced of the past case of Wanda's statement. "Do something different Wanda, make yourself better, fix issues, go do anonymous good without any expectations of reward. Try making new friends. Try not making the same mistakes you make over and over. And F-up the next idiot who tries to possess you, I mean Rogue was complaining that you'd get possessed within two weeks of being on a new team. And try actually considering your actions before you do something. I suggest, again, finding a good twelve step program."

Left unsaid was Wanda's tendency to swap out boyfriends at the drop of a hat, just ask Wonder Man about that. Just another reason to avoid her, plus Roberto's saying that putting your dick in crazy is a bad idea really applied here.

Another sigh from Illyana. "Crap, have you tried talking to you dad?"

Which invoked new sobbing from Wanda. "He's not my real father…"

"He has baby pictures of you and your brother."

"No he doesn't! That's not possible."

A slight hint from Illyana. "Wanda, he knows a time traveler and cameras are not that hard to come by."

And perhaps that suggestion stuck in Wanda's head…

Part 64c: Wake… (After the death of Wanda)

Frederick J. "Fred" Dukes, A.K.A The Blob, and chief bartender of the Green Lagoon Tiki bar of Krakoa stated "This is a closed event" to Illyana as she walked in, wearing her usual black getup.

The bar was dark and empty as almost everybody on the island was outside celebrating the death of Wanda. Present was Fred, Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde) and Quicksilver (Pietro Django Manimoff). Toad (Mortimer Toynbee) had already left and had passed Illyana outside. All former members of Magneto's original team. A team that had had Wanda.

"I know." Was her simple reply as she sat at the bar and gestured for a drink.

Quicksilver began to threaten. "If your here to celebrate…"

"Shut-up Pietro." Stated Fred. "Magik has more class then that." He got a glass and filled it with what the others were drinking.

Illyana raised it as if in a toast, took and sip, and then downed it. No words were spoken by her as she then got up and left the others to their grief.

Left, but felt… like all of this was all a bit silly. I mean … how odd that folks felt that Wanda would stay dead.

We're talking the Scarlet Witch here.