Spider-Man sat on top of a tall building, surveying the scene in the cold and dark night. After he had left the shelter earlier in the day, he figured it was time for hero patrol. And so far, it has been a completely quiet hour in the city.
Maybe his luck was finally changing.
Then a loud crash and a car horn could be heard from down the street, and Spider-Man dipped his head down with a sigh.
"Every time." he muttered out, before swinging into action.
The flashing red and blue lights alerted the web head where the criminals were. Clearly, based on the way the lights were moving in the distance, the criminals were in a car. Soon enough though, Spider-Man caught up to the scene and swung over to the car in front.
"You guys must really wanna end up on driver's ed videos!" Spider-Man said, grabbing one of them out of the car and webbing him to the building.
"Spider-Man?! Shit! Take him out!" a crook said.
"Take him out? Good idea!" Spider-Man said, grabbing another crook from the car and webbing him to the wall. He then flung the last criminal out and webbed him to the wall before flipping himself right in front of the car. Two web lines zipped right out of his hands and attached to the surrounding buildings. Using all of his strength, he pushed on the car to stop its momentum. Within a few seconds, the car's momentum had finally ceased. "Well that was a great warm up exercise. Thanks boys!" Spider-Man called out to the nearest thug.
But the thug grinned at the hero before saying, "You lose Spider-freak!"
"Uh this is coming from the one who is currently webbed to the building. How could I be the one who-" Spider-Man started to say, just before his spider sense started to kick in.
"Ha ha! Now we've got you Spider-punk!" said another gruff voice behind him. Spider-Man turned around to find the owner of the voice. There were seven guys with knives or guns in their hands standing there, ready to brawl.
"Wow!" Spider-Man called out. "Your friends cause a crime to lure me here so you can beat me up? Which one of you was the great mastermind behind this plan?"
"Get him boys!" one of the crooks shouted. Then all the thugs with knives charged at the webbed head while the two with guns stayed back.
Spider-Man shot webs at the guns and yanked them away from the thugs. "Now what did I tell you young men?! No guns until you served your five years of prison!" he quipped, sounding like a father figure.
The fist thug came swinging at Spider-Man's head, which he ducked under and punched the thug in the gut. The next two thugs charged at him at the same time. But Spider-Man shot a trip mine web, which caused a web line to attach to the two thugs, pull them together and then ensnare them in a giant web.
"Fellas! There are children here! Save the cuddle fest for later!" Spider-Man quipped.
The next three thugs tried swiping at the hero, but Spider-Man dodged all of them effortlessly by flipping over the thug in the middle and sending two kicks to his back to knock him out.
"Really got a kick out of that one!" Spider-Man quipped. Then he shot a web at the second thug and with one punch, he was out cold. The he jumped into the air, shot webs at the sixth thug and with one punch and a kick, he was out cold. "They're so cute when they're incapacitated!" he commented.
"Hey!" the last thug shouted, running to the webbed head.
"Ah welcome to butt-kicking class! Pay close attention now young pupil!" Spider-Man quipped as he yanked the knife out of the thug's hand. Then he shot a web at the guy's hand, and attached the other end to the pole on his left side. Then he did the same thing for the other guy's hand on the other side onto a wall. Then for the cherry on top, he shot webs at the guy's pants, and pulled them down, revealing his boxers. "Class dismissed!" Spider-Man called out with a small waive to the angry criminal.
"Get me out of this now you son of a b-" he started to say but his mouth was instantly webbed shut.
"As a good old friend of mine would say, "For gosh sake, watch your language!" Take care!" Spider-Man called out happily as he swung away fro the scene.
Unknown to Spider-Man, he had a bit of an audience watching him at the FEAST center. Among them was of course Wanda, who was grinning from ear to ear at Spider-Man's antics. He clearly has a sense of humor. This was a serious situation that set him up for failure, but he made this into a hilarious experience. She admired that about him.
It was shame that she had to ward him off though. She sighed once more and went back into the shelter once Spider-Man had left the scene. She then went up the stairs to a more secluded room and shut the door.
This room wasn't big or special. All there was residing in that room was a desk and some file drawers. But Wanda saw this during her tour with Peter the first time she came here, and remembered it later on. It was quiet and secluded, which was perfect for deep thinking.
So that's what Wanda came to do again. She looked down at one of her gloved hands and slipped one of them off to reveal her black fingers. She knew that people would look at her funny if she had exposed her hands, and the fact that it would be a constant reminder of the monster that she had become.....or still might be, was all the persuasion she needed to try a new approach.
Wanda glanced at her hands and recalled what had occurred not too long ago with the America Chavez experience. She could not believe that she would stoop to the level of what she did. While it was to be with her boys, she failed to see what she was becoming.
"I'm not a monster. I'm a mom."
That was the quote she would always use whenever the subject of her being a monster would resurface. Looking at it now, she could see that it was nothing more than a way for her deflect and avoid accountability for her actions. For her own selfish behaviors.
But the worst part of all was when she finally got what she wanted. She finally was able to come to be with her boys. But instead of looks of joy and excitement, she instead saw looks of horror. Her own boys hated her. They saw the damage that she was doing, and they saw how corrupted she was. And they were afraid that they would be next.
That was the moment that she realized what she had done. What she had become. And it sickened her to think that it had to come to that point for her to understand it all at once. And despite destroying the Darkhold in every universe, she knew she was not absolved of her actions. Even Strange looked at her with fear.
And she couldn't blame him at all. SHE couldn't look into the mirror and not be afraid of herself. She may have vowed that the Darkhold would never tempt her again, but saying one thing and actually doing it are two different things. She could still feel the impulse to want to travel to other universes and be with her kids. She could still feel the dark magic radiating inside of her. She knows better now to not act upon it.
In fact, she was actually considering putting the Scarlet Witch behind her completely and stop being a super hero. Maybe that is what her life needs right now. Because most of the time when she uses her powers, it has always ended negatively for her, or for someone else. Maybe the best way to not use her power for evil would be to not use it ever again.
"This is all so much." Wanda said to herself, going to the rocking chair and sitting in it. And before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.
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Wanda opened her eyes, and looked around to see that she was in the familiar town of Westview. What was she doing back here?
"Wanda." said a voice from behind her. Wanda turned to see Agatha herself, hovering above her, her hands glowing purple and a small malevolent grin on her face.
"Agatha." Wanda said with narrowed eyes as her hands started to glow crimson.
"I told you Wanda." Agatha said.
"Told me what?" Wanda asked.
"That you would destroy the world." Agatha replied.
"I haven't destroyed the world." Wanda said defiantly.
"Oh really?" Agatha scoffed. "Well that's not what I'm seeing."
"What are you talking about?" Wanda asked.
"Turn around." she said. Wanda did just that.
What was once a peaceful town just a few seconds ago, was now a scene out of a horror film. The sky had turned blood red, the buildings were demolished, and there were dead bodies lying all around the place. Some of those bodies were of people that she recognized. Among those bodies were Wong, America, Strange, Clint Barton, and Peter Parker.
Wanda stood motionless at the scene for a moment. She was absolutely stunned at what had transpired right before her very eyes. When she finally was able to turn back around to face Agatha, she was met instead with herself in her Scarlet Witch form. And to her horror she noticed the spots of blood staining on her clothes, hands and face as she glared down at her.
"Stop denying who you really are." Evil Wanda said. She then send a jet of chaos energy towards Wanda before she could even flinch.
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Wanda awoke with a start. Breathing heavily, she looked around. The room had more light than before, signaling that she had slept through the night. And what she also noticed was that there was an older woman standing in the doorway to the room, and glancing at her with a concerned expression. The woman had brunette hair with little hints of silver starting to creep in, along with a purple coat and blue jean pants.
"Are you okay?" she asked. "I heard shouting as I was passing this room."
"I'm fine. Just a nightmare." Wanda said, waving it off.
But the woman did not buy it at all. She then stepped into the room and walked closer to Wanda and said, "I'm too old of a cat to be fooled by a kitten. I know that something is bothering you. Does it have something to do with Peter?"
Wanda looked at the woman for a minute before answering. "Well......not entirely....if at all." she said.
The older woman pulled up a chair and sat right in front of Wanda. "You have had experiences of letting people in and leaving you. And now you're hesitant to do so ever again." she said.
Wanda blinked a couple of times. "How did you-" she started to ask, but the woman held up a hand.
"I have lived long enough to get a good sense of peoples' traumatic pasts. If you look long enough, and look for the right things, you'd be surprised how much you can learn about someone." the woman said.
"Well.....okay. Maybe that is accurate." Wanda admitted. "It's just......really hard to let someone in and for them to be taken away from you."
"Yes. It sucks." the older woman nodded her head. "But take it from a woman who has lived nearly 70 years on this world. That is not a reason for you to not let people in. You can't let the fear of loss stop you from making connections, or friendships or relationships. You just have to be grateful for the time shared with them."
Wanda looked down in deep thought at all the people she had lost. Her parents, Pietro, Vision, and her boys. while they were all gone, she did have loads of great experiences with all of them. And come to think of it, all she had been thinking of was their deaths and their losses. But never reminiscing on the good times with all of them.
"And let me tell you something. I saw you interacting with Peter yesterday. That boy can make even the grumpiest person crack a smile every so often. I don't know much about him, but I do know that he comes here a lot, especially in the last few weeks, and he has a heart of gold. And I have noticed that he has the same somber expression that you're showing right now." the older woman said. "I think that the two of you would get along well."
Wanda just looked at the woman and digested her information. She did open her eyes to something she had been doing wrong, up until this point. For focusing on the negatives of her connections instead of the positives.
"Just something to think about." the woman said, before getting up and leaving.
"Wait!" Wanda asked. "What was your name?"
"I'm Norrie." the woman said. Wanda gave Norrie a grateful smile.
"Thank you Norrie." she said. Norrie smiled back and went on her way. Wanda then looked at the window and pondered what she had just heard.
"That is not a reason for you to not let people in. You can't let the fear of loss stop you from making connections, or friendships or relationships. You just have to be grateful for the time shared with them."
Maybe Wanda had not fully recovered from her losses. But thinking about it more, that doesn't mean she can't make other connections in the process right?
And then she thought back to Peter, and a small smile appeared on her face. And just like that, Wanda made her decision. She then got up out of the chair she was in, and made a beeline for the exit of the shelter. For she had a little spider friend to look for.
And then her stomach started rumbling.
'Okay. The kitchen first. Then go and find Peter.' Wanda thought to herself, and changed her course of direction.