"AAAURGH!!" Wanda Maximoff gasped, uttering a strangled, almost inhuman cry. Struggling to sit up, she realized that she was still in the institution. The cold cell which she had been forced to call her home for the last seven years vibrated iciness, and it was still dark outside. She was alone. There was no ladybug. No waterfights. No mudpies. Wanda closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There was no Pietro. She hadn't seen her brother in years. Seven long miserable years, in fact. She had changed a lot over the years, the dark years. She was no longer the chubby four-year-old toddler that she was, but a tall sixteen year old, with shoulder length dark hair and angry scowling eyes. They burned with years of unshed tears, but Wanda refused to give in to the overwhelming desire to cry. According to her father, "It's such a sign of weakness, even from a girl." Weakness was something her father had never been able to tolerate. Wanda wanted to cry, but didn't. Years of painful experience at the expense of showing her innermost emotions had trained her to hold it in. *Besides*, she noted with bitter anger, *the last time I showed "my weakness", Father left me here in this miserable dump.* Pietro had abandoned her too. *No, I won't cry!* Instead, she got up and walked over to the tiny window in her "room", staring out into the early morning light with unblinking expressionless eyes. She hadn't cried for years, not since *that* night.

*"Daddy! Don't leave me! Father! Father!!" the little girl screamed, her tears and the pouring rain mingling as it streamed down her cheeks. But her pleas fell on deaf ears, and the last thing she remembered of her family as she was dragged into the institution was them getting into the car and driving away.*

"Why didn't you DO anything, Pietro?!" Wanda suddenly shrieked, attacking the walls furiously, pounding on it. "Why did you just STAND there and let it happen?! Oh, now I remember!" Wanda thought sarcastically, her eyes narrowing into paper-thin slits. "Father wanted this, didn't he? And so you went along with it too." With a simple arcane gesture with her fingers, she caused a tree in the distance to burst into flames. Suddenly the door behind her hissed open and Wanda whirled around, instinctively flinging out her arms, creating a protective hex sphere around her, with the odds all literally on her side.

"There is no need to show me what you are. I already know," a cold voice drawled. It belonged to a security guard, who had been sent to fetch Wanda for her daily "tests".

"What do you want?" Wanda spat, the crimson scarlet aura around her glowing brighter. Overhead, a light bulb exploded, and huge cracks appeared on the walls.

"Time for your tests, girlie-"

"Don't CALL me that!!" Scarlet energy shot out from Wanda's fingertips and struck the guard. His eyes bulged in surprise, then he started twitching uncontrollably. Her mutant hex had struck his nervous system, triggering an epileptic seizure. The young girl stared at the guard for a second, eyed the open door, glanced back at the guard who was still twitching on the ground, then ran for the door. Outside, she ran blindly through the corridor, not knowing which way led to out. It was like being stuck in a huge rat maze, with experimentors watching and recording her every move. The walls crumpled down after her, and the lights flickered on and off. Finally finding the exiting door, Wanda ran toward it and flung it open. She was fre-!

"Oomph!" she crashed into a security guard who was standing just outside the door. Wanda growled. She would destroy everyone of them if necessary, for all the pain and misery they put her through. She was about to conjure up a hex bolt when, to her astonishment, the guard shifted shapes, growing taller and slimmer, until where he had been, an attractive blue woman was now standing in front of her.

"How-?" Wanda stared at the stranger in surprise.

"That's enough, Wanda. Come with me, I have... a place for you." The lady took her arm and guided her toward the car that was waiting for them.

"Let go of me." Wanda growled. The ground under the lady's feet suddenly collapsed, forming a miniature rock slide.

Mystique cursed. This was going to be harder than she had planned. Not only was Wanda Maximoff turning out as stubborn as her brother, who was already in the Brotherhood, but she was highly unpredictable. *Must run in the family,* she thought sarcastically, rolling her eyes. *Joy.* But she *had* to have this young girl as the newest addition to the Brotherhood. Young Mr. Maximoff would flip, Mystique knew, but the Brotherhood's opinions didn't matter. Wanda was the ultimate key, the link that she'd been missing for all these years, to defeating the Xmen. To defeating Magneto. But first thing in priority was to calm Wanda's anger.

"Agatha!" An ancient looking woman got out of the car and muttered some undecipherable words. Mystique watched the process. An immediate change came over Wanda. The caged anger in her eyes faded away, replaced by a tranquil blank expression. She nodded in agreement and got into the car. Mystique smiled to herself and got into the driver's seat, and they zoomed down the street, to where a new future awaited.