After a moment of calm, out heroes finally reached their destination, but now is time to find more answers about Anna, and of course, to see if Bucky ad Wanda's connection grows stronger...let's just hope that Baron Mordo doesn't just show up and ruin everything, but who knows? LOL! Let's get down to our story, shall we?
Enjoy the reading!
SCARLET WINTER
Chapter 7: Connections and Explanations, Part 1 – Truth Unveiled
After a long journey, the three of them have finally reached their destination: Battle Creek, Michigan, where one old ally from the days in the battleground could help them out in this dire situation.
Bucky stands in the center, Anna Molly stands to his left and the Scarlet Witch stands by his right, all three of them staring at the door, yet none of them are making a move, they just stand there, thinking about the right words to say.
"Let's hope this all goes down well" Bucky mutters, taking a deep breath to relax and then rings the doorbell, getting the sound of a buzzer in response.
"Who's there?" an elderly man's voice is heard out of the speaker where Wanda is standing.
"Excuse me, we're looking for…" Wanda turns to look at Bucky, shrugging her shoulders in confusion since she forgot the name of the men they were looking for, but Bucky whispers it to her so she could quickly respond "Lieutenant Victor Salt"
"We're here because Pops sent us" Anna interjects, causing Bucky to glare at her.
"Pops? Which Pops you're talking about?" the voice at the speaker replies.
"Paul 'Pops' Walton Jr." Bucky replies "Son of Paul Walton Sr. and grandson of Harley Walton, a man who served alongside your father, Samuel Salt, in the Monte Cassino Operation in 1943 in Italian grounds" After a few seconds there was no response on the other side. The three of them just looked at each other wondering if the man heard them.
"Pops told us you could help us, we just want to know if you can or if we had this trip for nothing" Anna once again steps in, but as Bucky was getting ready to scold her, the sound of a buzzer interrupts them.
"You may come in" the man's voice announces that they have their access granted, unlocking the door that allows them to get inside the house. Bucky opens the door and slowly steps in to check if there is any kind of traps or danger, but once he senses the coast is clear, he tells the women to step in.
"Hello?" Anna asks out loud "Lieutenant Salt? Sir?" she asks while the group walks in.
"Over here" the man's voice is heard, making his presence known to the group as he moves forward, leaving the shadows and into the light. The man is bound to a wheelchair, but he looks lively, wearing what resembles his olive green military suit "I apologize for the delay, but as soon as you fellows mentioned my family, I felt necessary to 'dress for the occasion' as one would say" he explains as he slowly approaches the group "Lieutenant Victor Salt, United States Army" he introduces himself, extending his hand.
"Anna Molly Duvall, I'm from Wisconsin" Anna introduces herself.
"Wanda Maximoff, you may have heard of me from the Avengers" Wanda now is the one introducing herself, gently shaking Lt. Salt's hand, giving the space to allow Bucky to step in, who stands in front of him and gives him the military salute.
"Captain James Barnes, sir" Bucky salutes, nodding his head.
"At ease, soldier" the Lieutenant replies "This ain't the army, so we can skip the formalities" he adds "However…I must say that I am truly glad to see the man who saved my father's life back in that Italian Underground base all those decades ago" he now salutes the WWII veteran from his wheelchair "Now, please follow me so we can get in" he invites the group to get in "Pepper, dear! We have guests!" he calls for his wife to join the place.
Once the group reaches the living room, they are introduced to Lt. Salt's wife, a senior African-American woman, also wearing a military dress suit, with gold-trimmed glasses and her hair tied up in a small bun.
"These are Pops' friends?" the woman asks, to which Lt. Salt nods in response.
"Folks, meet my wife, Sandra 'Pepper' Porter, retired Sergeant of the United States Air Force" Salt introduces to his wife, surprising the group at the notion that she is also a retired member of the military.
"An honor to meet you" Bucky salutes the lady, a gesture that Pepper appreciates.
"By any chance you know Carol Danvers?" Anna asks Pepper, almost sounding like a fangirl, prompting Pepper to laugh in response.
"Of course I did, she was Helen Cobb's favorite, and she has truly deserved those stripes" Pepper replies, then looking at the group "I assume you'll need to rest after such a long journey so why don't you come and take some rest?"
"We appreciate it, but before we do that, there are some things we should be discussing" Bucky interjects, speaking with a serious tone "Girls, you should take a break, I'll stay and talk with our hosts" he tells them. The women agree, silently nodding so they could head inside and take a break.
MEANWHILE, ON THE ROAD
Another town where the streets grow silent, but the eyes of the people are fixated on the hooded man who keeps wandering down, with his eyes focused on the front, full of determination and the growing rage within, with the goal of finding the girl who stole his medallion, bring her back to sacrifice her soul and eliminate whoever is helping her.
"The level of magic grows around here…it means they took down this path" Mordo ponders as he keeps walking forward, using his own powers to guide himself down the road, however, as he keeps marching, a sudden buzzing in his head emerges, prompting the man to go down his knees "ARGH!"
"This is taking too long, Mordo" the voice of his overlord, Kurios, calls on his head.
"This was never meant to be an easy task, my Lord" Mordo replies, trying to explain himself "But I'm still following their trail, every day that goes by, I'm getting closer, and I assure you, that I will recover that medallion and I will deliver every soul to you, including the one of the girl who dare to betray you"
"Time is of the essence Mordo, so as I said to you before…you better don't fail again" Kurios replies, emphasizing the last word to make clear the point that he will not tolerate any more failures from him or any of his acolytes. Unbeknownst to him, he was being approached by a group of civilians, showing both concern and strange curiosity for his presence and his recent behavior.
"Sir, are you alright?" A man asks him while he cautiously approaches him "Do you need medical assistance?" he poses another question, but Mordo slowly stands up.
"I do not need any kind of assistance, not for now" Mordo replies, but then he starts to make his hands glow in red energy "You on the other hand…you will help my master satiate his hunger for the time being" he speaks in an ominous tone "Korana Fana Muusta!" he chants and enchantment, causing a sudden burst of energy come out of the people, who then drop dead all around him. The spheres of energy circle around Mordo, who moves his hands and spread the energy to fade away "If I had the medallion, I would've sent them to you, but these souls shall go through a harder path to reach you, my Lord…I hope this will be enough until I recover the medallion"
With that deed executed, Mordo retakes his steps, marching forward to his goal of finding the girl and the medallion, a goal that every step he takes brings him closer to be accomplished.
BACK IN MICHIGAN
While the women step in and take a much needed rest, Bucky decided to talk in private with Salt and Pepper about the circumstances that brought them here. While he spares the details about the dark magic cult, he does mention that Anna is being chased by dangerous people that have infiltrated law enforcement officers, and also mentions the valuable help provided by Pops and his wife Henry, although he can tell the sadness that Salt showed when Bucky mentioned Pops and Henry's deaths at the hands of the magically empowered officers.
"Pops always believed in helping others, it was a sort of mantra that our relatives embedded us" Salt explains to Bucky about how their military lineage influenced both himself and Pops "Which I must say, our relatives took it from you guys" he reveals that their influence came from Steve Rogers and Bucky himself "You guys fought the good fight and taught us to carry on, even in the darkest of times, that's why he helped that girl"
"And that's why we'll also help you fellas" Pepper adds to her husband's words.
"And we truly appreciate the gesture, but given the kind of enemy we're dealing with, it's best if we keep on moving, so we won't be staying for too long" Bucky explains his plan, yet while they both understand the logic, they don't seem to be approving of that idea.
"That would mean you'd be running, so here's a counterproposal" Salt steps in "You spend a couple of days and plan a strategy, so when you get on the move, you prepare another stage against whoever the Hell is coming against this girl" he explains, bringing out his strategic mindset.
"I agree with that, and just because we look old, doesn't mean we're not prepared to fight when necessary" Pepper compliments her husband's idea.
"I'll keep that in mind, but nonetheless, I thank you for receiving us" Bucky replies, grateful for their assistance.
"It's the best we could do for someone who has helped us in so many ways, back in the War and in here today" Salt comments, gently saluting his fellow soldier.
"We should rejoin the girls" Pepper steps in, gesturing with her head to move inside the house and search for the women, since they were exploring the rest of the house.
MEANWHILE
Wanda and Anna explored the house, and while they found nothing outside the ordinary, they both bump into a large room; one that could double as a second living room, but the fact is that it is full of antiques and old memorabilia.
"I gotta say, you don't need a DeLorean to find out you're time-travelling" Anna jokes, but Wanda raises an eyebrow upon that comment "What? Oh, right, sorry, time-travelling must be something so normal for you guys" she apologizes, but Wanda reacts by rolling her eyes and scoffing a laugh.
They both go back to looking at the many antiques, ranging from grandfather clocks to pin-up posts and posters, trinkets, knick-knacks and many other assortments, but then Wanda bumps into a large shelf full of World War II themed memorabilia.
"Anna, come and take a look at this" Wanda calls Anna, who opens her eyes widely at the sight of the certain characters seen in that shelf.
"OH-EM-EFF-GEE!" Anna exclaims, showing an impressed semblance on her face.
"Seems that you found our Wall of Merchandise" Salt comments, attracting the attention of the women.
"Merchandise?" Wanda asks with genuine curiosity.
"All these antiques are ours, but we have repeated pieces on sale in our Antiques Shop, which is a few blocks down the house" Pepper explains to the women "I hope this doesn't disturb you, Bucky" she comments to Bucky, hoping that he is not bothered by the memorabilia of himself and of Rogers.
"Not at all, although I've seen larger collections" Bucky replies, inevitably remembering the trip he took with Sam Wilson during the case of HYDRA's apprentice 'The Natural', whose parents are avid Captain America fans to the point of turning their home into a walking museum dedicated to Steve and his successors, himself included.
"To quote a meme from the past decade, 'What are Those?'" Anna asks, pointing at a teddy bear with a domino mask and a blue and red uniform.
"Oh dear God, those still exist?" Bucky asks, sounding a bit embarrassed while Pepper walks to the shelf and takes out the teddy bear, showing it to the women.
"Oh yes, these 'Bucky Bears' still exist, in fact, we have a crate full of them at the antique shop" Pepper replies, while Wanda grabs the Bucky Bear and unconsciously hugs it tightly.
"In my defense, I was a teenager when Steve and I signed on those merchandise deals, but I thought it was for action figures, never thought it would feature teddy bears of me" Bucky tries to defend himself, but Pepper and Anna laugh while Wanda just keeps on hugging the bear and then looks at it.
"I think it's adorable" Wanda comments, but then she looks at the group and then she realizes that she is hugging tightly the bear, causing her to blush "I mean, the bear is adorable…" she shyly replies, putting the bear back on the shelf.
"That's just part of the merchandise we got, yet we've been having a tough moment with the sales, because as you can tell, we're 'old fashioned', we still haven't adapted to the modern methods of credit and stuff" Salt explains, but Anna decides to step in.
"I could help you guys with that, I mean, is not that hard to handle internet sales and social media" Anna comments, stepping in to help them with their shop.
"That would be good from you, girl" Pepper replies, grateful for her gesture "How bout we show you the shop tomorrow?" she proposes, to which Anna eagerly nods.
"I would love that!" Anna replies, bringing a much needed moment of laughter.
"Then you guys should rest, you had a long trip after all" Salt adds, something that everyone agrees.
HOURS LATER
After a good meal for dinner, it was time to take a break. Two days of travelling between hard traffic and stops for supplies and relevant calls, the trio finally caught a moment of respite, but they know that when the day comes, they must build a new game plan to keep moving.
Bucky took some time to ponder about the next plan, standing in the backyard and looking at the night sky, hoping that they could solve the problem and give Anna a new lease on life, although they still need to figure out the connection in order to fix the problem.
"A penny for your thoughts?" Wanda's voice interrupts him, but when he turns to look at her, he gets surprised to look at her in a very different attire, a pink tank top and red pajama shorts, looking as if she was ready to sleep "Bucky?" she calls his name, bringing him back to reality.
"Oh Sorry, I was just…pondering about what we're going to do about Anna, she does deserve a new shot at life" Bucky replies "I was thinking that maybe this place could be a good one for her, but we need to keep on moving and solve this whole magic cult thing".
"That's true, we have to ensure her well being" Wanda replies, coming closer to him "You're working hard to help her, even though if you ask me, she hasn't committed a crime that warrants redemption" she comments, recalling Bucky's explanation of his work, helping people find redemption.
"She asked for help and I'm doing the best I can…and I'd be lying if I say that don't seek to redeem myself" Bucky confesses "You'd think that I have it easy, because I was Captain America once, because I'm friends with Steve and because I helped bring down HYDRA but honestly…there are days when I feel that redemption's still far too long" he starts to reflect on his own situation "I try to make it up, but I confess…there are days when I feel that mountain is too damn high, so this work helps to ease the climb" he comments, prompting Wanda to step much closer, standing right next to him.
"I can understand that…I know that feeling too perfectly" Wanda comments, feeling a great sense of empathy with him "You probable have heard my story, how I went from being a celebrated hero to the most despised being in this world" she starts to reveal her own circumstances, her infamous 'fall from grace' when she lost control of her powers "A nervous breakdown that led me to almost destroy the Avengers".
"I…know that story" Bucky replies, starting to sense how upset she is becoming.
"And then things went even worse when…I altered reality and created a whole new world, one that ended when I said the three words that condemned me forever…No More Mutants" Wanda lowers her head when she remembers that terrible moment that still to this day haunts her.
"House of M" Bucky comments, causing Wanda to look at him "That's what S.H.I.E.L.D. named it on their files, I know the media dubbed that incident as the 'Mutant Decimation', but Hill filed it under the name of 'House of M'…" he explains why he used that name, the name of the ruling family in Wanda's altered reality.
"Yes, well…that's what I caused, and as the consequence, millions of mutants lost their powers, and I was the face of their curse" Wanda confesses "Ever since that day, I've been searching for a way to find some sort of redemption, yes, the Avengers have somewhat forgiven me and helped me to recover but…can't say the same for the rest of the world" she explains the feeling she has.
"I heard that mutants aren't precisely that much forgiving, even though if I'm not mistaken, I heard you helped them against the Phoenix Force" Bucky comments, recalling his knowledge of how Wanda was a key factor against the Phoenix Force when the Avengers and the X-Men went to war, although he was not present since he was executing her personal missions in the shadows as the world still believed him dead after the Serpent War.
"For all that mattered…for them I'm still the greatest evil in their history" Wanda scoffs "That Russian sorceress Rasputin calls me 'Pretender' because I was considered a mutant until the High Evolutionary revealed the truth about Pietro and I" she comments about her current status, including the revelation of both herself and Pietro being one of the High Evolutionary's experiments instead of being the mutant children of Magneto "And once I tried to make a greater act, but it fumbled horribly…"
"Define 'Horribly'" Bucky comments out of curiosity, but he has the feeling that it may not like the answer.
"I tried to resurrect the dead mutants of Genosha" Wanda replies, revealing her attempt of reviving the dead mutant population of the island nation of Genosha "But what I did was bring back millions of zombies to our realm"
"Sounds like the recipe of a horror movie come to life" Bucky replies "I didn't mean to offend or anything, I…you can see that I suck at lightening the mood" he sighs, but Wanda smiles since she understands the gesture.
"Well, I wish my ex-boyfriend was more understanding" Wanda replies "Because after Strange helped me, the Cotati Invasion happened, then we went to work but he discovered what happened, he scolded me because he considers it an 'insult' that I dabbed into something that is his usual work, so Jericho and I ended things there…we're still trying to keep things professional at the Strange Academy but…"
Right then, Bucky puts his hand over Wanda's, holding it gently to comfort her, now feeling a greater understanding of her and what she tries to do.
"I guess that we both have something in common, we're trying to find that light at the end of the tunnel…so I guess that now there's a silver lining" Bucky comments, looking into her eyes.
"And what's that silver lining?" Wanda asks out of curiosity.
"That we're no longer alone in this path, and it helps to work it with good company" Bucky replies, smiling at her, causing her to blush.
"Awwww, this is the most beautiful conversation I've seen you guys engage" Anna interrupts the moment with a joke, causing Wanda's blush to grow while Bucky frowns at her.
"Shouldn't you be sleeping by now?" Bucky asks her, but she reacts a bit nervously.
"Sorry, I just couldn't sleep, I'm not that tired" Anna replies.
"Relax Bucky, she didn't mean anything wrong" Wanda steps in, giving Anna a break while Bucky sighs.
"Thanks" Anna whispers to Wanda and then looks at Bucky "I guess none of us can sleep in spite of the long trek we just had…but hey, we can hang out for a good overnight chat, can't we?" she asks to the group, but Bucky looks back at her.
"We could, but theirs is one lingering matter we still have to deal with" Bucky starts to point out "There's still the issue of your connection with that magic cult"
"Maybe we could have that conversation tomorrow" Wanda steps in, not wanting to make the moment uncomfortable, but Anna shakes her head in denial.
"It's alright, I promised I'd talk about it" Anna replies with a serious tone, then she takes a deep breath and sits on a bench nearby, reaching the pocket of her pants to pull out a photograph. The photo shows a man in his early 30s and a young woman in her late 20s "That's my brother Jack and his girlfriend Karlie, they look like a couple deeply in love, right?" she poses the question "They were…very happy together" she starts to sound more nostalgic as she narrates her story "Dad dies when I was five in a car crash, Mom died when I was 12 for being in the wrong place in the wrong time when the convenience store she was working on was robbed; therefore Jack and I survived through and through, and even Karlie helped from time to time" she explains while Bucky and Wanda pay attention, showing sympathy to her story "Five months ago, Jack disappeared, just like that, no explanation of where he went and how it happened, and the cops weren't that helpful, so Karlie and I tried to search him on our own, then two months after that, all of a sudden, Jack returns, as if nothing ever happened" she reveals, catching Bucky and Wanda's attention.
"Just like that? And the police didn't say anything?" Bucky asks her, feeling suspicious about that detail, but Anna shakes her head in denial.
"Nothing, and the thing is that…I felt something different, like the way he talked and acted, he refused to explain what happened, only that he came back and that things will change for a greater good" Anna explains, further confirming Bucky's suspicions.
"Brainwash" Bucky replies.
"I knew something was wrong, but Karlie didn't noticed, she was just happy that he came back" Anna returns to her story "Then one day, he invites her to, and I quote, 'Someplace special'" she uses the finger-gesture of the quote marks "So I decided to follow them, and that's when I discovered about that crazy magic cult" she reveals the information "He brought her in, so he could sacrifice her to this Kurios guy" she tries to fight back the tears that are coming out "But by some miracle, he snapped back to reality and refused to kill the woman he loved" she reveals her brother's last act "But that wasn't enough…the Grand Master used his medallion and killed both of them, feeding their souls to the monster or whatever the #$%& he serves" she starts to cry as she recalls that memory, prompting Wanda to sit next to her and give her a comforting hug "A few days later I started my own research and discovered about them, they use message boards to lure people to join them, like any other crazy cult"
"Even HYDRA has used that stratagem in recent days" Bucky interjects, seeing how similar are many organizations, whether they are terrorist, scientific or magical in nature.
"I decided to infiltrate them and destroy them from within, but then I decided to take the opportunity of doing big damage" Anna explains, looking back at them with determination in her face.
"What did you do?" Wanda asks her, to which Anna stands up.
"Follow me" Anna asks them to follow her back to the bedroom. Both look at each other and then walk right behind her into the room where she grabs her hooded sweater and pulls the medallion she stole from the Grand Master "I stole this from him" she reveals, shocking both of them, but Wanda is the one who looks more surprised, as she starts to recognize the Medallion.
Aaaaaaand Cliffhanger! Man, this chapter ended up being a long one, but hey, this way I can compensate for the previously short ones. Now we know Anna's motivations as for why she went after that cult. Also, Bucky and Wanda are growing closer…will romance bloom in the middle of the circumstances? And also, Mordo is getting closer to finding them, how long until they all collide? Stay tuned to find out!
NEXT CHAPTER: THE MEDALLION'S HISTORY EXPLAINED!