Here we are again, folks! Hopefully, let's hope the site has fixed their issues since newer chapters are either not showing or taking too long to be properly set. Now, as for our story, you have just seen Bucky arriving to Wisconsin, as well as the Scarlet Witch, but the bad guys got powered-up and the first battle is upon us, so let's jump into the action!
Enjoy the reading!
SCARLET WINTER
Chapter 3: Fight and Flight
A large burst of energy erupted inside the diner, creating a shockwave strong enough to wreck the walls, as well as any vehicles around it. As the dust slowly starts to settle, the perpetrator stands still, with a glowing red aura enveloping him and his hands burning with red fire, breathing heavily after such a display of power.
"I know you're alive, girl!" the man exclaims, looking around as he searches for his target, the girl who was working as a waitress "Show yourself!" he demands her presence to be known but suddenly he is punched by a metallic arm, making him stumble back a few steps and hold his chin out of the pain.
"Stand down, Officer" the Winter Soldier stands in front of him, clutching the fist of his damaged metallic arm, standing after he covered the girl from the impact "I'm serious, stand down" he speaks while the girl slowly starts to react, opening her eyes to see the back of the man who just protected her from a strong impact.
"Do you think you can hold my power?" the officer's voice becomes more distorted as his power grows, shooting another burst of energy at them, which Bucky blocks with his metallic arm, further damaging it but unbeknownst to the officer, Bucky moved his other had to pull a combat knife from his waist "If you want to die protecting her in vain, then so be it" he speaks in a threatening tone "The Grand Master's will shall be done!" he exclaims but right then Bucky throws the knife at him, stabbing his chest and effectively halting him, causing his aura to dimmer down.
"Oh my God…" Anna whispers, breathing agitatedly as she watches the scene unfold, but Bucky approaches her, trying to calm her down.
"Stay here, I have to check on the others" Bucky tells her, to which Anna rapidly nods. He then walks to what remains of the counter, checking to see if anybody else is left around, but no people is found in there "Seems that the others left" he mutters, sighing in relief but he knows that the situation is far from over, so he returns to the girl, who is trying to stand back up.
"What the hell was that?" Anna asks, still reeling from what transpired.
"I have the same question in mind" Bucky comments, looking at the fallen body of the officer, then he looks back at the girl "You OK? Did he hurt you?" he asks her but she shakes her head in denial, but before she could speak, an intense burst of energy explodes again, shocking Anna again.
"LOOK OUT!" Anna screams, causing Bucky to turn and instinctively block, pushing both of them back to the floor. Bucky starts to react and sees the officer with hands and eyes glowing red and the aura shining even more intensely than earlier.
"You think a measly sharp object can stop me? You can't stop those who got endowed by the Grand Master" he ominously tells them, revealing how he obtained his powers while he pulls the knife off his chest "Now feel the wrath of the Kurios Klan" he threatens them but he suddenly is wrapped by red rings that hold him back "What is this!?" he asks, looking around to find the source and notices a woman with her hands glowing in red and his eyes open wide when he realizes who it is.
"You have strong magic" Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch says as she holds the officer with her magic "But not strong enough" she then pushes the man breaking the binds but she quickly arms an energy field around her, Bucky and Anna, preparing for his eventual counterattack.
The officer tries to stand up again, gathering as much energy as he can preparing to strike back, but Wanda notices a glowing opening in his chest due to the knife wound, and that is the opening she needs to make her move. She moves her right hand to prepare one of her quick spells, keeping her eyes on him, waiting for the opening to strike.
"I'll show you how strong enough I am" the officer replies, raising his hands as he is preparing to strike ad in that moment, Wanda lowers the energy field and moves her hand to launch an energy wave that quickly shrinks and enters the gaping wound, catching the man off-base and halting his attack, causing him to lose energy and leave him as a mere human again "No…no, what happened? WHAT HAPPENED!?" he frantically asks, fearful of having lost his powers permanently.
"I cut your connection to your source of power within" Wanda replies to him, moving her hands to prepare one of her 'Hexes' but as she walks towards him, she notices his energy growing back "What…?" she whispers as she sees the aura glowing around him, but he looks more afraid than confident as he feels the power.
"No…NO! I failed the Grand Master!" the officer exclaims as he feels the energy inside him growing to a level he cannot control "I failed you Master! I shall take the punishment!" he then falls to his knees and opens his arms as the energy burst out of the wound "AAAAAAARGH!" he screams as his body finally burns out to the point of leaving nothing but ash in a matter of seconds.
"WHAT THE #$%&!?" Anna Molly screams at the sight of the small pile of ash where just seconds ago a full grown man was standing.
"I agree with that question" Bucky comments while he approaches Wanda "Why'd you do it?" he asks her, showing concern for the scenario.
"I didn't kill him if that's what you're asking" Wanda replies, feeling offended by the question "Whoever gave him those powers might as well also added a sort of 'Kill-Spell' to prevent capture or, as it happened here, failing in his task, whatever it were" she adds, starting to wonder what the man wanted and what is the connection with her mission.
"Well, here's another question, WHO THE #$%& ARE YOU!?" Anna Molly angrily asks Bucky "You tried to kill a police officer!" she gets on his face, frowning in spite of her inner fear, but Bucky remains surprisingly calm, yet slightly annoyed.
"A magic powered corrupt officer who tried to kidnap you" Bucky points out that detail, sighing in frustration after what just happened "As for the your question, I'm here for a different reason" he then walks to the parking area, seeing the group of gathered people filming the scene with their smartphones and talking amongst themselves, but Bucky's eyes remain on the remains of his motorcycle "I really liked that bike" he mutters while he searches between the scattered pieces, finding his bag which he pulls out. Then he takes a seat in the curb while he opens it, all the while Wanda starts to do a 'magical sweep' in order to see if there is another presence and Anna remains shaken, yet frustrated, walking towards Bucky.
"You didn't really answered my question" Anna talks to him while he pulls out a new bionic arm from the bag, then he looks at the damages from his current arm, sighing in frustration.
"God, I hate when Tony Stark's right" he mutters, recalling the time when Tony Stark himself requested to always carry a 'spare arm' in case of emergency, such as this one in particular. He rips off the sleeve of his jacket, revealing the rest of the damage but Anna suddenly gasps when she notices what it looks like a red star on the bionic arm.
"Oh my God…" Anna whispers "Y-Yo-You're the Winter Soldier" she covers her hands out of the impression she just got "You're the Winter Soldier!" she exclaims, nervously smiling at the realization, starting to connect the dots in her head "Oh my God, of course! Winter…Winter Soldier…God it was so obvious!" she realizes what is going on, yet Bucky simply looks annoyed.
"Yes, yes I'm the Winter Soldier, which included the word 'Winter' on it" Bucky replies, visibly annoyed, but then he starts to notice something, looking back at her "Are you…'CheeseHeadAnomaly'?" he asks her with slight amazement on his voice, to which Anna quickly nods her head.
"Yes! I was the one contacting you!" Anna replies, releasing a loud sigh of relief after finding out who Bucky is "Oh thank God…"
"Huh, five seconds ago you were complaining that I killed that guy" Bucky points out that detail to her, who blushes out of embarrassment.
"Sorry, but you were right, that guy was a corrupt officer" Anna comments, but the conversation is interrupted by the Scarlet Witch who approaches them.
"There are no more magic traces around here, which means that he was the only one" Wanda explains to the other ones "But we should leave this place" she adds with a serious tone
"Agreed" Bucky replies, turning his sight to look at her, raising an eyebrow when he sees her face "Wait, do I know you?" he asks her out of curiosity.
"I guess there's no point in wearing a civilian attire anymore" Wanda sighs, moving her hands to use her magic to turn her civilian clothes back into her better known uniform, causing another gasp from Anna Molly's mouth.
"Oh my God! You're the Scarlet Witch!" Anna keeps her surprised look as she sees the Romani woman transform her attire, instantly recognizing her "I'm with two Avengers…I am so saved" she says in lower voice, sighing in relief as she relaxes knowing that she is standing with two well known heroes.
"Maximoff…I suppose you're here because of the magic cult" Bucky talks to Wanda, surprising her since she was unaware of the presence of a cult.
"A Cult?" Wanda asks with curiosity "I came here due to the presence of strong dark magic, chaotic magic, but I wasn't aware of a magic cult" she comments, but then she turns to Anna "Do you know something about this cult?" she asks her, leaving her a bit scared.
"Well…I contacted Bucky to help me out of that cult, which as you have seen, they're out there for my head" Anna explains, omitting the real reason of why the cult members are after her.
"And we have to move" Bucky interjects, standing up while he tries to remove his damaged bionic arm, but before he could start to work on the new one, the sound of a whistling tune is heard, attracting the attention of the three people in there.
"Sorry if we state the obvious but you folks shouldn't be standing there" Henry, the old woman, calls them out.
"You guys should get in the trailer" Pops tells the group, but while Anna looks ecstatic, Bucky and Wanda are reasonably skeptical of trusting in them, given the recent situation.
"Please tell me it's a good idea" Wanda looks at Bucky showing a bit of concern.
"It's not, but we don't have much of an option, maybe we could keep an eye on them, as well as on Anna" Bucky replies in lower voice, standing up while he grabs his bag "Can you hold this for me, please?" he asks her politely. Wanda at first frowns at him, but then she notices that he only has one arm and for obvious reasons, he cannot hold both the spare arm and the bag at the same time, causing her to relent and agree.
"Sure, sorry" Wanda replies kindly, grabbing his bag while they both walk to the parking lot area. The people around them keep talking to each other, calling 911 and even taking pictures, but the damage is already done and there is nothing else they could do.
They all head inside the trailer while Pops hooks it to his pick-up truck, with Bucky right behind the women while Henrietta joins her husband starting the engine and heading out from the place, with Wanda creating an illusion spell to distract the people into believing the truck remains there while they all leave.
"Pops and Henry are true lifesavers right there" Anna Molly comments "Both they don't compare to you guys" she adds, smiling at the relief that she is now guarded by two Avengers.
"We're not off the hook yet" Bucky comments "We still have a long way to go"
"Not to mention the damage control out there, as well as the search for answers" Wanda adds, startling Anna a little bit, since she knows she has a lot to explain to both of them.
"The answers part it's on me" Anna points out "Once we're on safe ground, I'll tell you guys everything"
"Or you could start now…it's a long road to wherever the hell they are taking us to" Bucky looks at Anna with a stern face, expecting that she start to talk now.
MEANWHILE
The news about the demise of Officer Brady did not go unnoticed, and his fellow officers and cult members are fully aware of what transpired, for they both felt a sudden rush of energy flowing inside of them in an instant.
"You felt it?" the female officer asks her fellow law enforcer, who responds nodding his head.
"Brady fell" the male officer replies "That means that his power was bequeathed onto us to finish the job" he adds.
"But if he fell, either is because the Grand Master cut him off or..." the female officer starts to ponder.
"Or there is someone with power in the city" the male officer replies, then he turns his face to the TV set where the news of what transpired at the diner are being broadcast, with the damage done at the diner, but the male officer immediately recognizes the location "And I know where to start" he ominously tells her, determined to make their move and head out to find them.
"We will not fail the Grand Master" the female officer adds with determination on her voice, as they both show their eyes glowing in red, the signal of their powers flowing within them.
Not much on this one, a bit short chapter, I know, but there's not much to do in here since Bucky and Wanda already did most of the damage. But don't worry, there's still lot to do for both of them, especially since they are now being hunted by the two remaining officers/acolytes, determined to please their Grand Master.
Oh, and speaking of him, little heads up: His identity will be revealed, so place your bets! Who could it be? Stay tuned to find out! (Provided that the site doesn't fail again, that is).
NEXT CHAPTER: LITTLE REST, MORE ACTION AND THE GRAND MASTER REVEALED!