Avengers: A Darker Shade of Scarlet

By the Pricking of my Thumbs

The teakettle's whistle pierced the air with it shrillness, then abruptly stopped when Wanda mentally pulled it away from the burner. She moved slowly about the kitchen in, pouring steaming water into a mug to prepare herbal tea. The tea leaves swirled by her will alone within the water, gradually staining it a deep red. She did all of this absently, the bulk of her focus resting upon the Darkhold that hovered in front of her, moving as she moved so that it's pages were always within her sight.

Ever since she'd defeated Agatha. accepted her identity as the Scarlet Witch,  and claimed the Darkhold she'd had some reservations about the the book. Understanding it's history, she was aware of what it could do. But she also knew that everything unfamiliar was frightening at first. Knowledge was power. Knowledge could enable a person to transform their fear into power. So much of her time of late had been spent reading from its pages. She had become well-versed in the content, and her confidence was growing.

A smile graced her features as she recalled her initial trepidation. She felt silly for it. How could she fear the only thing that was there for her?

Her thoughts shifted to the Avengers. To Dean. All of them had promised to be there for her. Assured her that she had a family with them.

That is what people are supposed to say. They don't mean it.

But Dean meant it. Dean is sincere. Dean loves me.

Dean has forgotten about you. Dean has his family. He has his husband. He has his children. He has everything you lost.

Tears flooded her vision and her anger, hot and deadly, chased away her sorrow. "And he has twin boys," she said aloud. She felt like her pain was being mocked.

She took a deep drink of the tea, then moved into the front room of the cabin where a halo of candles spilled wax all over the wooden floor as they burned- the only light in the house.

"But not for long," Wanda fondly said.

In her studies of the Darkhold, she learned of the Multiverse- the summation of all dimensions and parallel realities. Her sons may not exist in this world, but she knew they were somewhere within the Multiverse. Soon her boys would come home to her. They were real. And they were out there. Waiting for mother to arrive.

She just had to find the girl first.

In her readings, she also learned of a supernatural being capable of traveling throughout the Multiverse. A girl called America Chavez. Were she to usurp the girl's powers, she could leave this reality and go to one where Billy and Tommy were. Such an act would be fatal for the girl, and she initially recoiled at the thought. She recalled the guilt she'd endured when she'd failed to protect people during a mission in Lagos. And that had been an accident. Could she go through with this?

She turned the pages and found what she wanted. There were various creatures waiting to do her bidding. She read from the pages, taking stock and assessing the variety of goulish options available to her. She read the pages and studied the images. As she did, she found herself envisioning what it must be like to be any one of these beasts' quarry. How frightening it would be to be pursued by such atrocious beings. Would the girl go mad with fear?

She couldn't worry about the girl or her feelings. They were inconsequential. If it meant getting her boys back, she would throw the girl into every horror imaginable. She would kill her or anyone she had to if it meant getting what her heart and soul yearned for.

She would kill Dean if it meant she had her boys again.

Stop that. Dean is your friend. More than a friend. He's a brother to you.

If Dean truly loved you the way you think he did, then he wouldn't flaunt his happiness. He wouldn't steal the joy that was meant to be yours. Yours.

Wanda turned the page and her eyes fell upon the terrifying visage of The Ribbon Monster. A being formed from an endless array of flaming strips of flesh, it possessed immense strength and durability and the ability to contort its body due to its extreme elasticity. It's face was void of expression, it's empty eyes and mouth gaping open and hungry. Wanda smiled as she envisioned its elastic appendages snaring America.

If you do this they will never stop being afraid of you, she could hear Vision's voice saying as clearly as if he were at her side.

Tears began to stream down her face. A howling sob of agony erupted from her and she hung her head in a combination of sorrow and shame.

The book floated ever-so-slightly closer to her. A gentle prod.

"I can't control their fear," she said in a voice forged from steel. "Only my own."

With that, she tore the book from the air and stormed out of the cabin. There, among an orchard that went on for acres, she reached into her core where her magic waited and invoked the beast. Before her eyes, the creature was slowly spewed from the bowels of whatever hell it inhabited, it's ribboned arms flailing like mad. Not wanting to see the stark contrast between the beauty of her home and the foulness of the beast, Wanda dropped the facade of her lovely, verdant surroundings in favor of the truth- the barren and desolate landscape that was the land she lived upon. Extended use of the Darkhold had precipitated this, she knew. But it didn't matter. Not when she could shift the world around her to her liking.

The creature shrank in on itself before her, a sign of submission that coaxed a smile from her lips.

Smart beast.

She slowly walked around it, taking its measure. Then, with her blackened fingers flexed, she began to adorn the beast with runes. "These," she said as the symbols embedded themselves into its skin, "will increase your power."

The creature expanded, it's ribboned limbs opening up in a grotesquely beautiful sort of way. The runes on its skin shone in bright scarlet.

"Go and find America Chavez," Wanda said in a hard voice. "Bring her to me. And kill whatever tries to stop you."