Episode 77: Welcome to Westview (Part 2)!

"Hello, neighbors!" Wanda said to MJ and her family. "I heard someone new moved into Westview and thought I would say hi."

"You must be Wanda Maximoff," MJ's mother guessed. "Monica told us all about you."

"Did she?" Wanda seemed interested. "Too bad she had to move away so suddenly. I hope that doesn't happen with you guys, right?"

MJ noticed Wanda was looking straight at her as she spoke, forcing MJ to say, "Oh, no, it won't happen for sure."

While MJ's parents nodded in agreement, Wanda sat next to MJ and asked, "What's your name?"

"Michelle Jones, but I like being called MJ," replied MJ in an unusually shy manner.

"Nice to meet you," Wanda said and held out her hand. "I'm Wanda."

As MJ shook Wanda's hand, the same distorted energy that came from Monica flickered between MJ and Wanda. In response, Wanda flinched in pain while various memories flooded into MJ's mind including when she stepped through the Hex Field barrier with Peter and Felicia.

"Goodness!" MJ's mother said, rushing from the kitchen over to Wanda. "What happened?"

"I'm okay," Wanda claimed, flexing her fingers. "Was probably just static electricity."

"Yeah," MJ said, trying to sound normal even as she realized her parents couldn't be in Westview since they were all the way back in Yortown.

Then MJ's mother looked at the clock hanging on the wall near the front door. "It's getting late. You two should get your butts to school!"

"Sure thing, Ms. Jones," Wanda said, grabbing a slice of toast.

"Have a good day, MJ!" MJ's mother said as MJ followed Wanda's example and took a piece of toast for herself.

"Go get 'em, Tiger!" cheered MJ's father.

"Right, Dad," MJ said, putting on the best fake smile she could. "Later, Mom!"

Outside, Wanda and MJ walked down a sidewalk with picturesque suburban houses on both sides that had well-trimmed lawns, picketed fences, and gardens full of flowers.

"So what kind of Marémon do you have, MJ?" Wanda asked.

"Just a Noirspi and a Hamder," MJ answered.

"That's all?" Wanda didn't seem impressed. "I thought you would've had more Marémon by now, given how many Peter Parker has."

MJ froze. "You know Peter?"

"How do you know him? Peter moved here yesterday."

In that moment, MJ realized she wasn't supposed to know Peter already. She couldn't explain why, but the answer she gave wasn't the correct one.

"Sorry," MJ apologized, rubbing her hands nervously. "I guess I didn't get enough sleep last night since I'm saying weird things out loud."

"Do you need to go back home?" Wanda asked, giving MJ a scrutinizing look.

"No, I'll be fine," MJ claimed. "Wouldn't want to miss the first day of school!"

"That's the spirit!" Patting MJ on the back, Wanda smiled. "And just so we're not late, I'll use Witchlet's Telekinesis."

From Wanda's PDB emerged Witchlet, who raised her hands in the air as she floated off the ground while the same thing happened to Wanda and MJ. They flew over the neighborhood and landed in front of a decently sized school building where many kids were milling around.

"What about Wikkid and Spedfoal?" MJ asked Wanda. "Shouldn't Witchlet be taking care of them at your house?"

"Oh, Vistro's looking after them," Wanda answered. "I need to have Witchlet on me at all times, because you never know when things might start to fall apart."

As Wanda laughed at her own joke, MJ sensed she was talking about maintaining the artificial reality of Westview but chose not to comment. Just then, Peter walked up to them with Felicia holding his hand. MJ didn't like the sight of this.

"Hi, Peter!" Wanda greeted. "Who's the girl that's glued to you?"

The canned laughter came back much to MJ's annoyance, but she forced herself to not show it on her face.

"She's someone I ran into on the way to school," Peter said, looking down at his hand in embarrassment. "I'm not sure why she's holding my hand, though."

"I guess you could say I stole his heart," Felicia joked with the canned laughter backing her up. Then she held out her hand in a coy manner. "My name is Felicia Hardy."

"Wanda Maximoff," Wanda said, shaking Felicia's hand. "This is MJ. She moved here around the same time you did."

"Really?" Felicia said, eying MJ with curiosity. "How strangely coincidental!"

MJ looked at Felicia's eyes and saw how confused they were. Even Peter's had the same expression, implying they were somewhat aware that their words and actions were being dictated by some unexplainable force but couldn't do anything to go against it. Then MJ thought about the distorted energy she saw earlier, and how she now felt more in control of herself. As a theory formulated in her head, she decided to test it by shaking Felicia's hand much to Wanda's surprise. In that moment, the distorted energy traveled from Felicia to Peter's hand like an electric current causing them to shake violently.

"Are you two okay?" Wanda asked, looking between Felicia and Peter.

"Yeah, we're fine," Felicia said, and upon realizing she was holding Peter's hand she immediately withdrew it.

"What's going on?" Peter reacted, looking around. "How did — ?"

Before Peter could speak, Felicia shut his mouth with her hand. "Maybe he needs to see a nurse, since his head's clearly spinning."

This made the canned laughter echo in the background, which seemed to relieve Wanda as if she heard it herself.

"I'll go with you, just to make sure he's okay," MJ offered.

"Hmm, okay," Wanda said, glancing between MJ, Peter, and Felicia with interest. "Don't take too long."

Now the canned laughter was replaced with 'oohs' as Felicia dragged Peter into the school with MJ following close behind. They managed to find the infirmary easily, which surprisingly didn't have a nurse inside. So while MJ locked the door, Felicia sat Peter down on the bed and took her hand off his mouth.

"Did you really have to do that?" Peter said, wiping his mouth in embarrassment.

"You almost made Wanda realize you were no longer under her control," Felicia said, and looked at MJ. "That's what's happening here, isn't it?"

To be continued…