Wanda's Vision

Chapter 7: On the Other Side

She glances behind her, and everything looks relatively normal, no evidence of the energy field at all... not even a ripple. The trees look almost exactly as they appear in the real world except for one thing...

Cynthia looks at her hands and clothes; she's now black and white like in the tv show.

It was so strange that the world no longer had any colour, and it takes Cynthia a moment to adjust to this change. Even with her pale skin and equally pale hair already looking this way, she must appear like an actual ghost or it would be difficult to see her features through the TV screen.

Slowly, her energy is returning, just enough that she can stand up and the young trainee can see the tiny town of Westview in the distance. It's hard to imagine it all in black and white after seeing colour pictures of the town at the base.

Jimmy and Darcy!

Cynthia checks her earpiece and fortunately, it's remained in her ear. She clicks on it, but nothing happens. There's no static, no voices, nothing. Had the energy killed it? Was she walking into this blind and with no way to communicate with the outside world?

Swallowing her anxiety, she puts the equipment in her pocket and begins to walk toward town. She looks down and her clothes have survived the trip. However, she knows that in order to blend in and not tip off whoever made this strange world, she's going to have to disguise herself. Her ripped jeans and black t-shirt are not going to cut it. Most women at this time still wore skirts and dresses, hardly practical in Cynthia's own opinion. Meaning her first stop is downtown.

...

It's difficult to sneak around without being noticed by people. Everyone was looking around, greeting each other like they would in a sitcom and being very aware of their surroundings. It almost makes the young hero wish that it was the modern-day, where everyone was distracted by their phones and other devices, giving her much more cover. More than a few times, as she travelled into the downtown area, she was forced to hide behind hedges or duck into alleyways and press her back against them to avoid being seen. Much more complicated than it needs to be.

Finally, she finds a clothing store and she slips into the back alleyway. She goes for the back door, which likely led into the employee's area and usually a stockroom.

The door is locked, but quick work with a hairpin allows for easy access. She wished that Scott Lang hadn't taught her to do that.

The back area is completely empty, and it does not take long for Cynthia to find the stockroom, filled with various kinds of clothes, all from the 1950s and 60s. She looks through the sizes until she finds something that fits. She zips herself up into a dress with a bit of a flowing skirt, before going for shoes. While the dress is bearable in terms of comfort and fabric, the shoes are another story. They were all stiletto heels which are something that the young Avenger trainee despises, even back in her childhood she never tried on her mother's shoes as they were too painful. She wishes she could just wear her sneakers, but the need to blend in wins out and she puts them on. She finds a shopping bag to put her regular clothes in.

Suddenly, she hears footsteps coming towards the stockroom. In her haste, she grabs some kind of accessory and exits the way she entered, stumbling while trying to get used to the shoes.

She's stepping out of the alleyway with her hair pulled back and her shopping bag in hand and she doesn't go three steps before...

"Good morning," a mailman says cheerily, tipping his hat to her.

The greeting makes the girl jump.

"Good morning," Cynthia says, forcing herself to smile. "Lovely day, isn't it?"