Welcome ladies and gentlemen to a brand new story for my "Alt-616" Universe, and once again, I'm venturing into uncharted territory with two characters that have their popularity but never been in this position before. I'm aware that this will be a challenge in terms of popularity compared to my Spidey/Kitty fics, but nonetheless, I'm willing to take it head on and make it through the end! With that said I hope you like it and let me know in the reviews, folks!
Of course, let's not forget the traditional disclaimer: I DO NOW OWN THESE CHARACTERS; THEY ARE THE PROPERTY OF MARVEL COMICS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE CREATORS. WHAT I DO OWN IS THE STORY UNDER DEVELOPMENT.
Enjoy the reading!
SCARLET WINTER
Chapter 1: The First Pieces
Is very unusual to find a large group of people in a place such as the forests of Wisconsin, but when that happens, is because something relevant is being held over there. What makes it different from any other kind of gathering is, for starters, no one from the town knows exactly what is going on; secondly, all of them were summoned for the same reason: to pay tribute to their idol, and last but not least, very few know the existence of this group, or the more appropriate word to call them should be 'Cult'.
A group of approximately fifty people were gathered deep inside the woods under the moonlight, all of them wearing dark red robes with their hoods covering their heads, making it hard to distinguish any kind of identity outside of their voices, mostly due to the darkness that engulfs the surroundings, and all of them are chanting the same name over and over again.
"Kurios! Kurios! Kurios! Kurios!" the people chant over and over again as they hold red candles, stopping at the moment when another figure appears in front of them, a hooded figure wearing a black robe with red details and a pentagram on both sides of the robe. He stops a few feet in front of them and raises both hands, extending them forward as a gesture to lower them, and as if on cue, all the gathered people start so slowly kneel in front of him.
"Children of Kurios, the time has come for a new harvest" the leading man speaks loud, catching the attention of the gathered group "Our High Lord hungers, and new souls must be sacrificed to feed him, to satiate his fire and to grant us more of his sacred power to spread his word" he speaks with authority, walking towards the group who slowly stand up without taking their gaze out of him "One of you will be chosen to search for those souls, one of you will make the work of spreading our word and bring to me the food for our High Lord; but only one of you will be granted this task" he stops right in the center of the group, all of them surrounding him in a ring, with a considerable radius of distance in between.
One figure steps forward, kneeling after walking a couple of steps and bowing his head down in front of him.
"Grand Master, I volunteer for the task" a male voice is heard saying those words, but then another figure steps in.
"Grand Master, I would be honored to fulfill that task for you and for our High Lord" another male voice, this one deeper than the previous one, volunteers as well.
"Grand Master, I desire to accomplish this task" a female voice, sounding a bit gruff, steps in assuming the same position as the others did, yet the Grand Master simply looks at them one by one, until he turns his sight towards one point of the group and raises his hand pointing at one of the hooded figures.
"You" the Grand Master speaks "Step here" he orders the figure to walk forward, stepping out of the circle of people and kneeling before him "Lift your hood" he orders the figure to reveal itself, and thus slowly raises the hood, revealing a young woman underneath, looking around the 18 years of age, with long black hair with added red streaks, red make-up covering her eyes and black lips, embodying the common gothic look "Speak your name"
"Anna Molly" the girl speaks while she lifts her head to look at the Grand Master.
"You have been chosen, Anna Molly" the Grand Master raises his hands "It shall be your duty to search for new souls for our sacrifice" he then moves his hands, making them glow in red as if he starts a kind of ritual "By the power of the Sacred Medallion, and the strong will of our High Lord Kurios, I assign you the task of searching all the souls you must gather for our harvest" he creates a large pentagram of energy above them, raising his hands as the silver medallion with a pentagram with red jewels embedded "You have seven days to find those souls, Anna Molly" he sentences but before he could finish the ritual, she makes a quick move and pulls the medallion off his neck, snapping the cord that held it and thus the ritual is interrupted "WHAT!?"
She grabs the medallion and rolls back to run away from the group, tackling a couple of persons to break the circle and leave the area while the rest start to shout insults and expletives.
"Traitor! Blasphemy! Kill her!" the group of people exclaim but the Grand Master glows in red, bursting a large barrage of energy to the sky.
"FIND HER! DO NOT LET GER ESCAPE WITH THE MEDALLION!" the Grand Master screams, pointing at the direction she ran away and thus, the rest of the acolytes start running to chase her.
Anna tries to escape as fast as she can, using the trees to blend herself in while she takes off the robe to throw it away, revealing her civilian clothes: a sleeveless black shirt with the logo of rock band 'HIM', red denim jeans and Converse shoes. She pants as she keeps running, occasionally turning her head back to see if anyone is following her.
"She's not too far away!" one of the voices calls the rest as they keep searching around the forest.
She manages to reach the highway, deciding to jump up to a tree and climb as high as she can, praying that no one can find her before she could pull the trick she has in mind. Just as she reaches a high point, she hears the sound of a truck engine approaching; giving her the signal she needed to make her move.
"Please don't die, please don't die, please don't die" Anna murmurs to herself as she sees the truck getting closer and just as she makes the right calculation, she jumps from the tree, landing right on top of the cargo of the 18-Wheeler truck "OH GOD! Can't believe it worked!" she comments to herself, lying on her back while she closes her eyes, hoping that she has gotten far enough to raise her head. After a couple of minutes she lifts her head and sees that the surroundings are clear and no one is chasing her, making her release a sigh of relief that she has escaped, but she feels that she still has a one last thing to do.
THE NEXT DAY, SOMEWHERE IN INDIANA
After the downfall of HYDRA's Empire and the false Steve Rogers' leadership, Bucky Barnes, the man known as the Winter Soldier, was given a full pardon for his past crimes under the command of the Soviets, however he still had to perform special assignments for the Government, yet that did not stop him from doing his own personal job.
After relocating to his home state of Indiana, Bucky established a secret Tor Network with the help of Sharon Carter and Tony Stark. The network is a secret message and forum site where people who work for criminal organizations request his help to extract them and release them, people who want to be free from the enduring pain of working for nefarious means and have a chance at a normal life. Bucky built this network in order to help others find the redemption he feels he has not found yet, and maybe helping others could put him on that path.
However, it has been a while since he last checked his Tor Network, with his personal work with the Government, the incident with 'The Natural' alongside the Falcon and helping Barton in his search for Black Widow –after making sort of amends due to the fight they had when manhunt for Barton was set up due to his actions as Ronin-, he barely had the time to check his operation, but now is a good time as any to catch up with his 'side-project'.
He sits on his personal desk, setting up the automatic update of his laptop while he starts making his daily check-up to his bionic arm, fixing small glitches on it until after a few minutes a beep sounds, notifying him about a new solicitation on the Tor Network. Bucky checks the message and discovers the request, contacting him from Wisconsin with the codename 'CheeseHeadAnomaly'.
"Huh…" Bucky murmurs, looking at the screen of his laptop for a couple of seconds until he decides to reply the request.
-|ColdWinter45: This is Winter, I have your request. How can I help?|-
-|CheeseHeadAnomaly: I need extraction. I was working with a crazy black magic cult, I need to get out of where I am, urgent |-
-|ColdWinter45: Have you contacted anyone else?|-
-|CheeseHeadAnomaly: Authorities won't believe me. Cops might as well be inside this [Redacted], I found on the deep web that you help people leave these types of folks and wreck them. I really need your help|-
-|ColdWinter45: Send me your coordinates and info and I'll extract you while I call for my contact for the new personal IDs and to relocate you|-
-|CheeseheadAnomaly: Thank you; you really are a lifesaver|-
After he shuts off the communication, Bucky finishes the touches to his bionic arm and prepares himself to head to Wisconsin. He prepares his Harley Davidson bike, he loads his 'backup arm' and even prepares some ammunition to avoid any kind of surprises, but before he rides to the highway, he makes the first of a couple of phone calls, this one to his partner in the Tor Network operation, Sharon Carter.
"Sharon? You busy?" Bucky asks once the call is picked up.
"Breakfast busy, but you know I can multitask, what happened?" Sharon voice poses the question.
"I just got a request on the Tor Network, someone from Wisconsin needs extraction" Bucky starts to explain the situation to Sharon.
"Wisconsin? What kind of criminal organization is working over there?" Sharon asks with curiosity.
"That's the thing, is not the standard criminal organization, is a magic cult of sorts, I just sent you the Intel, can you call me back when you decipher who's our mysterious caller?" Bucky asks while he finishes loading his stuff on the bike.
"You got it, give me forty-five minutes" Sharon replies while the sound of mumbling is heard on the background.
"You're with Steve, aren't you?" Bucky asks, recognizing the tone in the background, but what he hears later is the sound of a stifled laughter "Tell him I said Hi" he adds, ending the call and then starts his second one, this time to his fellow former Avenger and 'Cap-Corps' ally, Sam Wilson, the Falcon.
"Buck? What's up?" the voice of Sam is heard on the other side of the call.
"Sam, by any chance you have Doctor Strange's phone number?" Bucky asks, but all he receives is silence as a response "Sam? You there? Hello?"
"Is that why you call me? To ask me for Doctor Strange's phone number?" Sam asks with an annoyed tone of voice.
"Steve's busy and I thought you may know it, I'm going to deal with some magic #$%& and both you and I are no Harry Potters so, since I know you don't have any kind of magic knowledge, do you have Strange's number or not?" Bucky once again asks.
"No, no I don't" Sam replies with a deadpan tone of voice "You don't know any other type of magician or something?" he asks him back.
"I know someone but he's…" Bucky replies but he is interjected by Sam.
"Unreliable?" Sam asks, but Bucky sighs in response.
"Unfriendly, Unreasonable, Unsociable, Uneducated, Un-everything" Bucky replies, describing the attitude and the reasons why he does not want to rely to his other contact.
"You should try at least; after all, he is one of your contacts" Sam points out that detail to Bucky, who groans in response.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll try, thanks anyway" Bucky ends the call and rides his bike, starting the engine to take off, but before he accelerates, he decides to make that phone call to his 'magic contact'. He dials the number, but after hearing the tone for a while, the call falls to voicemail "What a shocker! Daimon #$%& +*$ Hellstrom won't pick up the phone" he murmurs with sarcasm until he hears the beep "Hey, 'Leather Pants', it's Barnes, if by some miracle you hear this, call me back, I'm dealing with black magic stuff and you're one of the experts on that stuff" he leaves the message and then heads out of his house, taking off to work on the request and help out on this mission.
MEANWHILE, IN NEW ORLEANS
The Strange Academy has become the newest place of education in the nation, a place where the future sorcerers and magicians will craft their skills and mold their abilities under the guidance of some of the greatest in the Universe, led by the Sorcerer Supreme himself, Doctor Strange, and amongst the magic experts that conform the staff, there are names like Daimon Hellstrom, Magik, Headmaster Brother Voodoo and the Scarlet Witch.
"Come on Rasputina, you're a Hell Lord, I'm a Hell Lord, it's a match made in Hell…" Hellstrom tries to hit on the Russian mutant, who scoffs at his advances "Not to mention that we both don't give a #$%& about dressing code" he points at himself and then at her, pointing out how they don't follow standard attires; he goes shirtless with the pentagram mark on his chest while Magik carries her leather attire, including very short shorts.
"Do you really expect me to fall over your pathetic attempt of charm, Daimon?" Magik asks him with a deadpan tone "Because I'll spare you the suffering, nothing you can do works with me" she replies bluntly.
"And you think that would stop me?" Hellstrom smirks at her response but before he could continue, they are both intercepted by Zelda, the magical assistant of the Academy, alongside the Headmaster himself, Brother Voodoo.
"Do I need to remind you the rules about relationships between co-workers?" Voodoo asks both of them, prompting Hellstrom to scowl while Magik simply crosses her arms.
"I am aware, can't say the same for the man with rampaging hormones over here" Magik gestures with her head pointing at Hellstrom.
"This is an institution with children" Zelda points out "I don't know how things were in those days in Westchester, but rules are different here" she adds, comparing the Xavier Academy with the Strange Academy.
The group was poised to start a heated discussion, but silence emerged when a female figure in red walks through the room, stepping in a steady pace with a calm demeanor, looking at her fellow professors and Headmaster, saluting them with her head.
"Good morning, everyone" The Scarlet Witch salutes the group, gently and with courtesy.
"Good morning, Wanda" Zelda replies amicably with a smile.
"Pretender" Magik gives her own brand of salute.
"Maximoff" Hellstrom salutes dryly, simply shrugging his shoulders.
"Scarlet Witch" Voodoo salutes her with seriousness, which makes Wanda change the smile she had into a slightly sad semblance on her face, nodding in response to leave the place.
"Whoa…that felt even colder than Siberia" Hellstrom comments with sarcasm, receiving a glare from Brother Voodoo.
"You should attend your work, Hellstrom" Voodoo sternly replies, leaving the place to walk towards the classrooms.
"Did I miss something?" Magik asks the pair; Zelda shrugs her shoulders in ignorance but Hellstrom crosses his arms with a smirk.
"Oh, you didn't know?" Hellstrom asks them "Those two had a thing but Voodoo scolded her and apparently, things ended sourly between them" he comments, leaving Zelda surprised while Magik looks at him with curiosity.
"The Pretender cast a spell for 'No More Voodoo' or something?" Magik asks, recalling Wanda's infamous spell against mutantkind.
"Nah, something about Genosha and Zombie Mutants" Hellstrom comments, causing Magik to connect the dots and show a shocked look on her face once she realizes the truth.
"That was HER!?" she exclaims, remembering the situation she dealt with in Genosha, how 16 million mutants were resurrected as zombies, this at the cusp of the Cotati Invasion of Earth, but it was thwarted by the X-Men with the reluctant help of radical botanist group Hordeculture.
"Stephen fixed that, and remember, no personal issues in this school" Zelda warns Magik, leaving the room as well, while Hellstrom simply scoffs and steps away as well. Meanwhile, Wanda tries to fight back tears that threaten to leave her eyes, but as she walks through the aisles, she is intercepted by the astral form of the owner and creator of the Academy, Stephen Strange himself.
"Wanda, can you please come to my office?" Strange asks her, to which Wanda nods in response, heading straight into Strange's office with a teleportation spell.
"Stephen, just so you know, I'm really trying to keep things professional with Jericho, I know that what I did in Genosha was wrong, but I don't need a constant reminder of that" Wanda comments, thinking that she was summoned do to the tensions between her and the Headmaster, who is also, as of a few days ago, her former paramour.
"I didn't call you for a soap opera Wanda" Strange replies with a serious tone "I called you to ask you for a favor" he tells her while he invites her to take a seat.
"Sorry for that" Wanda replies in a lower voice and takes a seat "What do you need me for?"
"There's been a major disturbance in dark magic recently" Strange starts to explain "Wong and I detected a few spikes of black magic in the last few months, discovering a source in Wisconsin" he points out the map where dark magic clouds are drawn "If I knew what kind of exact magic it is, I would go prepared, but the risk is too high and I must prepare the Academy for protection should that kind of menace dares to step in, which is why I called you in" he looks at her as he tells the situation.
"And you want me to find out the source and eliminate it in the process, should it become something easy for me" Wanda replies, to which Strange nods "Why me and not, say, Hellstrom?"
"Your level of power and expertise can make you prepared for every kind of dark magic there is" Strange comments "Besides, given how your personal issues have somewhat 'bounced' over the Academy, I feel that you need a time off" he explains, but Wanda's reaction is not a pleasant one.
"You're taking me off the Academy because of my breakup?" Wanda asks visibly offended "I can still do things professionally Stephen" she comments with anger in her voice "I can still do my work in this Academy, regardless of what people say or think about me, because as you can see, I'm already despised by Illyana Rasputina who keeps calling me 'Pretender' at every opportunity she has".
"I never meant to offend you Wanda, but I do need your help for this is something that could unleash a devastating wave of Chaos Magic, and no one knows about Chaos Magic better than you" Stephen tells her, adding a serious reason to go in. Wanda takes a deep breath as she tries to calm down, closing her eyes while she makes an attempt at relaxing.
"Very well, I'll help you" Wanda replies "Want me to start now?" she asks him, to which Strange nods in response, and with that sign, she waves her hands to cast a spell and she teleports away, heading straight to her work as she always does.
Here we go, folks! A brand new story has just started! Now here's where I'll add a few details about the characters:
First and foremost, the villains: While the Cult is a made up one, the name "Kurios" should be familiar for the Marvelites out there, even more so thanks to a recently released TV series about a certain "Son of Satan" that also showed up here. As for the Grand Master, his identity will be revealed in further chapters, but you can try to make a guess.
The girl, Anna Molly, she's an original one, ad she will be the centerpiece of the events of this story, so this is y first OC in this "Alt-616" universe, let's hope she makes a good debut (And yes, I took the name from that Incubus song, LOL!)
As for our main stars, Bucky's mission takes reference from 2018's miniseries written by Kyle Higgins and drawn by Rod Reis where Bucky was working in a Tor Network plan of helping people escape criminal organizations, giving them a chance at redemption, the same redemption our stars still feel they have to find.
With that said, I hope this story attracts big attention and gain popularity, so stay tuned for how this will go!
NEXT CHAPTER: WE'RE ALL ALRIGHT! WE'RE ALL ALRIGHT! HELLO WISCONSIN!