PURE AND TAINTED ( wanda maximoff )

fifty-four → did you just splurge on me?!

PURE AND TAINTED
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
( did you just splurge on me?! )

LAST YEAR, DURING THE FIGHT in Sokovia, Aline had no expectations on what to expect. She knew that it'd be against a dumb sentient robot hellbent on the destruction of all mankind, but she didn't know its limits. She hadn't known the number of lengths Ultron would have gone through just to stop them and complete his goal of world domination. But this was much different. This was any other arms dealer or goody-two-shoes A.I. gone bad; these were her friends, the people she loved and adored as family. Aline knew what to expect, their strengths and weaknesses, but how she could stop them without severely injuring them or hurting them, that was a different topic altogether. 

After Steve had confronted Tony and the others, Aline had run off with Wanda and Clint across the airport. She nearly cursed when she saw that three smaller planes had exploded beside them, and she held out a hand in case she needed to deflect any of them, then saw Tony fly towards them with a hand poised to attack. "Wanda, I think you hurt Vision's feelings."

"You locked me in my room," she growled, taking a step forward in anger

"Okay, first, that's an exaggeration!" Tony said. "Second, I did it to protect you."

Aline barked out a quick laugh, then shook her head. "Right, right, or more like 'protect' people from her," she hissed, using her fingers for air-quotes and her eyes glowing a bright gold. She released a long breath of air, hoping to calm herself down. She'd be completely useless in a fight if she can't get a handle on her anger, especially after the whole ordeal the other day. 

"C'mon, Ali," Tony tried, arm not faltering. "Your cousin is aiding and abetting a criminal, and now she's a criminal herself."

Her eye visibly twitched at that, and she shoved an aggressive finger in Tony's direction. "Hey!" she shouted. "No one says shit about my family besides me, asshat!"

Tony ignored Aline's little insult, then directed his attention to the archer. "Hey, Clint."

"Hey, man."

"Clearly retirement didn't suit you. Get tired of shooting golf?"

"Well, I played eighteen..." Clint shrugged, arm locked in his bow and ready to fire. "I shot eighteen. Just can't seem to miss." He lifted his bow released the arrow.

Tony easily dodged it. "Well, first time for everything."

Clint smirked. "Made you look."

The moment he heard the sound of car crashing, Tony turned around. Dozens of cars wrapped in a familiar red energy swooped down on him, and a some of the debris from below was being thrown his way. He quickly shot at them, but only ended up making more debris for Aline to throw at him, which resulted in it all crashing down on him. Tony cursed under his breath when he heard Aline shout out in an unfamiliar language, another car being tossed onto the pile.

___

"Come on!"

She flitted across the airport, reaching Steve and the others easily, and started running at a normal pace so the others could catch up. If she wanted, Aline could have just as easily dashed across the airport before any of them could blink, leaving them high and dry. Even then, she could grab a few of them and flit back and forth to bring her friends to the Quinjet, which sat in a hangar just across from them, but she decided against it. Aline had no clue how this fight would end, and the others might need her immediately.

Their team stopped suddenly when a beam of yellow energy shot forward, creating a thick line of rubble in the ground before them. Aline held out both arms, resulting in Wanda and Rome to crash into her limbs. She lifted her gaze to see Vision slowly floating down in his usual attire. "Captain Rogers," he greeted, but there was none of his usual kindness in his voice. "I know you believe what you are doing is right. But for the collective good, you must surrender now."

Behind Vision, Aline saw Tony, Natasha, Rhodey, and two unfamiliar people stand with him. She somewhat recognized T'Challa, the Crown prince of a small African country, but she had no clue who the second person was — they were short, dressed in a red and blue suit with a spider stamped on his chest.

"What do we do, Cap?" Sam asked.

Steve held himself confidently. "We fight."

When Steve took his first steps, that was when everyone else started to join him. Aline looked to Rome, who gave her a curt nod. Together, then.

They eventually started to run forward, and before they met head-on with the others, the cousins linked hands. Any witch would be able to tell you that two is stronger than one, with one witch channeling the other and taking on their power. Aline and Rome had done it time and time again ages ago, but today, it felt no different. They both felt the familiar tug of magic, Rome's energy grabbing hold of hers tightly. "Phasmatos superous em animi!" they chanted, their voices mixing together and growing louder, as they hardened their gazes at Vision, who was quickly heading towards them. It sounded rather sadistic to say, but it felt almost satisfying when she saw Vision shout, holding his head between his fingers.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the red and blue suited person enter her vision. Before she could process it, they crashed straight into her, sending the two sprawling across the floor. She looked up at Rome, whose eyes were wide with fear. "Keep going!" she shouted, then turned her attention back to Spider-Man. She saw him dive at her, and instead of completely dodging him, she simply sidestepped him and gripped his wrist.

He let out a cry, wincing as she easily crushed one of the tiny machines located on his wrist, causing the web-like material to explode. Aline started to shout as it covered her hands. "Ew, ew, ew!" She looked over at him. "I'm sorry, but did you just splurge on me?!" She wiped her hand on her thigh, still disgusted. The tribrid almost started gagging.

"Oh, sorry!" Spider-Man said, holding his hands up. He still gripped his somewhat injured wrist, but still managed to attack her, jumping from side to side and lashing out at her. "It's kinda my own creation. See, I created it —"

Aline easily dodged his attacks, swiping one of her arms. "Look, kid, you seem nice," she tried, "but I have a feeling you don't get out much." She then slammed her forehead against his nose, causing Spider-Man to get knocked back and clutch his aching face. It wasn't hard enough to break it, she made sure of that, but just enough to hurt him. Aline didn't get a chance to attack him again as she felt her feet suddenly knocked out from beneath her, causing her to go crashing to the ground.

She rolled onto her stomach, and released a quick chuckle. "No hard feelings, right?" she asked, staring at Natasha. Aline kicked out one of her feet, hitting the ex-assassin's shin.

Natasha groaned, allowing Aline enough time to stand back up, but she still slammed a hand roughly against the brunette's ear. "Ow, Nat!" Aline shouted, groaning again when Natasha jumped up and kicked her roughly in the chest.

"Sorry, not sorry!" Natasha shrugged, holding up her hands in a defensive position.

Aline mirrored Natasha's stance, and jumped towards her. She managed to get a few more hits, delivering swift punches and kicks. It wasn't exactly fair seeing as while Natasha had the practice and agility, having been a trained assassin for years, but Aline had the brute strength and speed. It was times like this where she seriously regretted not learning; her philosophy had always been since because she was literally all the time in the world, she could always push it off. Their fight continued with an exchange of rather harsh and heated punches, mostly avoiding each other's faces. When Natasha raised her arm to whack Aline across the face, the tribrid grabbed it tightly. She twisted the limb, causing Natasha to groan, and, using this to her advantage, kicked out Natasha's legs from underneath her. She fell to the floor quickly, and Aline straddled and pinned her down.

She gave one final punch. "I still love you!" Aline shouted, then disappeared back into the fight.