CHAPTER 11
DARKER THAN SCARLET
While Wanda endured agonizing torment in the raft, subjected to unspeakable horrors and violated through cruel experiments. Substances coursing through her veins, and DNA sampled ruthlessly extracted, leaving no part of her untouched, Vision and her brother raced in a desperate quest at immense speeds across the globe, searching for the kidnapped children, completely ignorant to what was happening to Wanda at the raft.
Vision and Pietro returned to Westview after a long day of searching. Pietro seethed with anger as he tore through the house in a frenzied rage. Exhausted, he collapsed on the couch, shattered and breathless. Vision appeared defeated, shoulders slouched and head lowered.
Pietro: Find anything?
Vision: Today, I finally understand the torment she endured all those lonely years. The knowledge that you have the power to do something about it, yet destiny cruelly thwarts your every effort.
Pietro: None of this should have happened! It's all my fault!
Vision: How can it be your fault?
Pietro: I failed her when she needed me. None of this would have happened if I never died!
Vision: Indeed. None of this would have transpired. She wouldn't have fallen in love with me, never mourned my temporary... demise... Westview wouldn't exist, and our family would be non-existent.
Pietro: I didn't mean it like that.
Vision: I understand what you meant. However, dwelling on hypothetical pasts won't alter our present circumstances. We must confront the reality before us.
Pietro: What about time travel then?
Vision: While time travel is a reality, it's a path I would never take. Changing the past often begets catastrophic consequences.
Pietro: What could be worse than this?
Vision: The unraveling of the very fabric of spacetime itself. (*Watch Loki Season 2*)
Pietro: ...Oh...
Vision: The ability to rob a bank doesn't justify doing so. The same applies to time travel.
Pietro: Then what can we do? I have no answers! Tell me!
Vision: I... don't know. But whatever abducted the children may be linked to the accusations against Wanda. Investigating that connection might be our starting point.
Pietro: We can't launch a solo investigation! The children are missing, and who knows what they're going through as we speak! If they are even still alive! We must find them, now!
Vision: I share your urgency, but we must gather information to narrow our search. You see how far we got trying to do it blindly.
Pietro: So, what? Break into S.W.O.R.D?
Vision: We must act discreetly. They must remain unaware of our presence. We need to see the footage ourselves. Perhaps there's something they missed. If there is, I can find it.
Pietro: You wanna check the surveillance.
Vision: I dread looking at it, but there is no choice.
The X-Mansion
Erik (Magneto) woke up in the lower level of the building, laying on a comfortable bed in an empty room that was covered in silver. The door was shaped like an X just like all the rooms in this level of the mansion. It took him a while to come to his senses, but immediately knew what happened to him.
Erik (Magneto): Charles!
He stood up from the bed and tried to exit the room, but the automatic X-shaped door would not open.
Erik: Charles! I know you can hear me! Open this door immediately!
...
Erik: Charles!!!
Erik used his powers as a last resort and took the metal door out of the wall and walked out.
He searched through the entire mansion, but couldn't find him. Everyone was already asleep at the time, but Charles (Professor X) was not in his quarters.
Erik: Cerebro...
Erik went back downstairs to the very last room, which was the largest and most secret room in the entire mansion, Cerebro. Only the Professor could access the room with a scan of his eyes. But Erik ripped the door right out of the walls and saw Charles sitting on his wheelchair in the middle of the room, with the Cerebro device on his head.
Erik: Charles! We need to talk!
Professor X: Quiet. I'm trying to concentrate.
Erik: You betrayed me!
Professor X: I did what I had to do.
Erik: You promised to never use your powers on me again. I was a fool for ever trusting your word.
Professor X: Can we talk about this later? I'm trying to communicate with your daughter, but I can't seem to access anybody inside the raft.
Erik: So what will you do once you get access? Talk to her? Huh Charles? Like you always do? What's that gonna do? What did that ever accomplish!? We need to get her out of there!
Professor X: I know how much this means to you, my friend, but I cannot allow you to do that.
Erik: Watch me.
He turned around and walked away.
Professor X: Erik! If you do this, they'll never stop fearing us! And they'll never stop hating her! Do you really wanna become Magneto again!
...
Professor X: Erik!!! ERIK!!!!!
Erik turned around.
Erik: For my daughter... Without question.
He continued to walk out of Cerebro and went upstairs to his quarters, taking out a metal box from under his bed. He looked at the box and sighed deeply, then opened it up, revealing his red Magneto suit and helmet.
Westview
Vision and Pietro was busy planning the mission to enter the S.W.O.R.D facility and exit unnoticed, when Magneto arrived and opened the door. They both looked at him, surprised to see him in his suit.
Vision: Erik? What are you doing here?
Magneto: I came here to ask for your help. I know nobody else feels the way I feel about her other than her own brother and husband.
Pietro: Why the costume?
Magneto: I want to break her out. Wether it's with you or not, is your choice.
Pietro: Wait, you wanna break Wanda out of the raft? The Raft!?
Vision: Look, we want to get her out too, but legally. And right now, the children are the priority, since we have no idea where they are. We could use your help as well.
Magneto: The children? They're gone?
Pietro: Something else took them. Some kind of powerful being. We've been searching for them the whole day.
Magneto looked at Vision.
Vision: We think whatever took the children, might be behind the entire thing. So finding that being could potentially take us one step closer to fixing this chaos.
Magneto: Why would you think that?
Vision: Because I think it's the same being that caused Wanda much psychological trouble these last few months. And the moment it got worse, this happened... It was not random. This was planned. And whatever or whoever planned it was smart. Cold. Calculated. Powerful. Dangerous.
Magneto: If they breathe, they can die.
Vision: You have to understand... If my theory is correct... If this being is the one that's been haunting my wife...
Magneto: Then he'll face my wrath.
Vision: Wanda feared this being. I've never seen her this rattled up before. She was so afraid of it that she didn't even have the courage to tell me about it until it was too late. She was too afraid he might hear her. At first I thought it was a sign of paranoia from psychosis... But I think it's real. And frightening.
Pietro: She never told me. Whenever I asked what was wrong, it was always the same answer, "I'm fine". Like the collapse in the shower.
Magneto: Can that also explain why she can't remember what happened at Transia somehow?
Vision: It could also mean, if she was proven to have murdered those people at Transia and at S.W.O.R.D, she might have been controlled by this being while she was unconscious in her own mind. The reason I think this is because she also can't seem to have remembered anything about the day the S.W.O.R.D incident occured, and she talked about losing time.
Magneto: So what do you suggest we do then?
Pietro: We're gonna investigate it ourselves.
Vision: Are you in, Erik?
Magneto: I prefer... Magneto.
The Raft
The next day
Wanda's unending agony persisted, as the next wave began knocking her down: Life in the raft. At 5 am, Wanda received her morning meal, a pitiful sustenance that barely tamed the hunger in her stomach. This time they didn't bother giving her anything to drink. Alone in her cell for endless hours adorned in a strait-jacket. She dared not utter a single word to the indifferent guards who enforced her silence. Her mind was a fragile sanctuary where she sought refuge from the impending horrors she anticipated for the day. A reality she dreaded with every fiber of her being. In a mere span of one day, they shattered her spirit.
As the morning unfolded, they arrived in her cell and dragged her into the abyss of cruelty once more, leading Wanda down to the grim depths of the Raft's lowest level. Stripped bare, laid on a frigid steel bed, she felt the cold tendrils of despair creeping over her vulnerable form. The doctor arrived to resume his malevolent work but only after she endured inhumane shock therapy for 20 minutes.
Dr. Vohndum: Good morning, inmate 1200. Had a good night's sleep?
Wanda: Please... Don't do this. I beg you. (Breathes heavily)
She felt less than human, humiliated, disgusted, filled with fear and dread. The only thing that kept her sane was the thought of her family, and that her children needed her, but deep down she feared they were already dead. But right now, she needed something, anything to grasp onto, to keep herself from giving up. The doctor ignored her pleas and cries. He approached her with another obscure device.
Wanda: Please! I'm a human being!!!! W-what's that!?
Dr. Vohndum: This might feel strange at first, then it will hurt a lot, then it will feel like something else entirely. I will not find any pleasure in doing this. But I have to.
He used the device on her until she screamed out as her entire body shook to get loose.
Wanda: Wh-why!!!??
Dr. Vohndum: My goals are beyond your understanding. For now. But everything will make sense eventually.
He continued for a few minutes.
Wanda: Please... Please just stop. Please. You don't h-have to do... this.
Dr. Vohndum: Oh but I do. And I have to hurry before time runs out. Because today might be your lucky day, unfortunately.
Wanda: What do you mean!?
He put the device back down on the counter and reached for another.
Dr. Vohndum: Something happened sooner than I anticipated. I should've known better. You'll know what I'm talking about once she arrives later today.
Wanda: Who!?
Dr. Vohndum: You'll know her by the purple strand in her hair. The downside is that I'll have to make this a double session and get right into the... most important stuff.
He used the 2nd device on her and held a remote in his hand.
Wanda: What's this!? No... please!
Dr. Vohndum: I'm sorry.
He pressed a button on the remote and it made her tense up, gnashing her teeth trying not to scream as tears ran freely off her face. This was only just the start of the 4 hour session she was forced to endure. With various items on standby. Some of the least concerning ones being multiple knives, sharp nails and electrical wires. On another counter there was a centrifuge filled with empty vials. Each vial had a different label, and each vial stood ready to be filled.
Wanda: St-STOP! PLEASE!! I'LL DO ANYTHING! ANYTHING!
Dr. Vohndum: Shh. We're just getting started.
Meanwhile, at the S.W.O.R.D facility
The entire building was on lockdown due to the active crime scene. Multiple police units, forensics and detectives were on site as they inspected the bodies in the facility. Among them were Fitz and Simmons who seemed to survive the onslaught unscathed. As they both inspected a body on the floor, one of the detectives spoke to them.
"I'm still confused how you two came out of this without a scratch. I mean look at this place."
Fitz: Oh that's easy to explain, we were still in the med lab downstairs when this all happened.
"But weren't anyone else in other parts of the facility when it happened?"
Simmons: It was early in the morning. Only the front desk workers and agents were ond duty. The agents all pursued Wanda when she tried to escape. There was one other person in the med lab with us. Darcy Lewis.
"Did you ID this person yet?"
He was referring to the current body they were inspecting.
Fitz: DNA scanner almost complete.
The detective seemed disgusted to look at the body. The entire face was unrecognizable.
"I can't believe that witch has been living among us for this long without being put where she belongs. This is the work of a monster."
Simmons: I'm finding it hard to believe as well, sir, but I can't deny what I saw. There's just... something off about this. I don't know how to explain it.
Fitz: It wouldn't be the first time someone we thought were good, turned out to be an evil psychopath. Remember Grant Ward?
Simmons: That's different. I don't know, she just doesn't seem like the kind of person to do this.
Fitz: It's very simple. Her mind is long gone. And I don't blame her. She's been through terrible things. But I think the darkhold had something to do with this.
"You mean that book that she claimed to have corrupted her to do unspeakable things? The book she also claimed was destroyed?"
The detective looked suspicious.
Fitz: Gemma and I have had some experience with a copy of that book. And I'll say this... once you opened that book there's no turning back.
Simmons realized something.
Simmons: So the book could've had a permanent effect on her psyche! That makes so much more sense!
"Yeah sure. Blame a book. But I ain't doing it."
The detective walked away, when the alarm was suddenly tripped.
Fitz: What now?
Multiple police officers ran towards the main control room to turn off the alarm, while others searched the perimeter outside. When the police arrived inside the control room, something ran around them faster than they could see. Before they knew it, they were all knocked out and tied together with a rope.
Quicksilver: (on comms) Control room taken care of. What's next?
Vision flew above the facility, using his lenses to look into the building and detect all weaponized forces.
Vision: Good. Now wait for my signal. Erik, fry the rest of the security cams.
Magneto: With pleasure.
Magneto stood on top of the roof and uses his magnetism to scramble the cctv cameras.
Vision: Okay, Pietro, on three. One... T-- Wait... Leave doctor Simmons and Fitz out of this.
Quicksilver ran through the facility and knocked out every single person inside except Fitz and Simmons.
Vision: I said on three!
Quicksilver: Sorry, I'm not very patient.
Simmons: What's going on!?
Fitz: You! You're her brother. The fast one.
Vision descended to the ground along with Magneto and took out the remaining officers patrolling outside, without them knowing who it was.
Inside the facility, Fitz was confronting Pietro.
Fitz: You've got some explaining to do.
Magneto and Vision walked inside and put them at ease.
Vision: Calm down, he's with us. We're not here to cause more trouble.
Simmons: Vision!? What is this? Who's that?
Magneto: My name is Magneto. I'm Wanda's father.
Fitz: Great. The whole family is here to kill us.
Pietro: Seriously bro? You really think we're here to kill you?
Vision: We're just as confused as you two about this. We're here to try and see if you might have missed something.
Magneto looked around him in horror.
Magneto: This... is not the work of my daughter. It can't be. You were both here when it happened. Did you see her with your own eyes?
Simmons: Well we arrived from the med lab too late to see it happen, but we saw her standing in the middle, covered in... I wanna say blood but it was much, much worse. And then she just... walked out.
Vision: At approximately what time was this?
Fitz: I'd say around... 8 or so. Morning.
Vision: This doesn't make sense. Something doesn't add up.
Quicksilver: Yeah! The Wanda I know would never do... this!
He was about to vomit, but he tried holding it in.
Vision: No, I mean... She came home at 12:30. How could she stay away till 12:30 before coming home? S.W.O.R.D even called me to confirm she was on her way at 12:00 in the afternoon. And more importantly... She woke up that night at exactly 12:00 in the morning, attacking me in her sleep, saying she just came from this place. She was disoriented, confused... Scared even.
Fitz: What do you mean?
Vision: I mean, she woke up in the middle of the night screaming something about everyone being dead. I tried calming her down, then she claimed to have not remembered anything that day after 12. The authorities came and arrested her. None of this makes any sense.
Simmons: But there's also no way S.W.O.R.D could've called you at 12 in the afternoon. They were all dead!
Magneto: Did she remember killing these people at 8 in the morning?
Vision: No. It is as I said. Nothing about this makes sense. It doesn't add up. We need to see the footage.
Simmons: That's classified.
Magneto: Do we look in the mood for legal bullshit?
Quicksilver: What he said. But without the b word.
Fitz: Come on, Gemma. Don't tell me you're not curious yourself.
She looked at Fitz for a few seconds.
Simmons: Fine.
They walked towards the CCTV computer. Fitz took control and went back two days.
Fitz: Did she say anything else? What was the last thing she remembered?
Vision: She was standing at that door.
He pointed towards the transparent front door.
Vision: Then she said something... shifted.
Simmons: Shifted?
Vision: That's all I know. When that happened, she looked back around and saw bodies everywhere.
Fitz: If she's telling the truth, it means she was about to walk outside of this building BEFORE these people were killed.
He skipped back to around 8 in the morning, but by then they were already dead.
Quicksilver: I think it's earlier--
Fitz: I know! Can you just move back and give me some space to work?
He reversed the footage back to around 7:40. This was when she tried escaping the facility.
Simmons: Oh here it is! This was when she just came out of the med lab. She was in a hurry. Going on about her children and saying she wanted to find out what was wrong.
Fitz: Yeah she seemed startled and psychologically tired at the same time.
Magneto: What was wrong?
Simmons: I don't know. She just said something was wrong. She was desperate for answers and took off almost immediately.
The footage showed her fending off the agents without using lethal force.
Vision: But here she was clearly not trying to kill them. If she wanted to, they would've been dead already by now.
Fitz: But she said something shifted, right? What if she's developed some kind of split personality or something? I mean she was corrupted by the darkhold three years ago.
Vision: I really hope you're wrong. Because she does not deserve such a fate. I don't know what I'll do if that's the case.
Fitz skipped the footage forward until Wanda was in the main entrance hall surrounded by hundreds of agents.
Simmons: This must be it!
Quicksilver: (closes his eyes) I can't look.
The footage showed Wanda removing all their weapons instantly, then there was a glitch for a millisecond before the footage showed her brutally murdering them in horrible ways.
Vision: Did you see that? There was a glitch right then.
Fitz: We'll go back in a moment.
On the camera, some were seen running away in terror, but caught in a magical box that crushed their bones. Erik and
Vision looked stunned and in disbelief. Pietro was pale as a ghost and in complete denial. Gemma Simmons already looked away.
Magneto: My... goodness!
Quicksilver: No this can't be real! I refuse to believe this is real! She'd never...
Vision: Stop the recording. I can't watch this any further.
Fitz: Wait.
On the video, others were dragged back with telekinesis as their nails scratched the floor trying to get away. They screamed in terror as she looked at them with red glowing eyes. Her attire changed into a darker shade of red. Darker than scarlet. Their heads exploded one by one. Others were separated from their limbs while she literally ripped some of their hearts out.
Pietro was sick to his stomach and nearly vomited on the floor.
Quicksilver: This is not real.
He got tears in his eyes.
Quicksilver: Wanda... Sis... what have you done...? Why?
Vision: I can't... believe it...
Magneto: This is worse than anything I've ever done or seen. And I've seen horrible things. This is not my Wanda. This is not the daughter I walked down the aisle three days ago.
Vision seemed determined to prove her innocence, despite seeing her do it in front of his very eyes.
Vision: Before she... ahem... there was a glitch. For a fraction of a second.
Quicksilver: I saw it too.
Fitz: I didn't see it.
Magneto: Neither did I.
Vision: I believe it's because Pietro and I have the ability to process visual information faster than what's considered normal.
They skipped the footage back to the moment before the killing occured.
Vision: I'll tell you when I see it.
...
Vision: There!
Fitz: Where?
Vision: At exactly 07:43:12:00
Simmons: Can I look now?
She was still looking away.
Fitz: If you want to spare yourself I wouldn't recommend it.
Fitz took the footage to that exact time slot and paused it.
Fitz: What on earth?
The screen was completely black, with a crypric message written in red:
$!%!&%#&#£
- DnEbOrMtUS
Magneto: Does this have something to do with faulty programming?
Vision: Impossible. It would've been in binary.
Quicksilver: I knew something was off. This has to be a clue.
Simmons took a piece of paper and wrote it down.
Simmons: Well if they are clues, they don't make any sense.
Vision: In what way?
Simmons: It's either incomplete or just gibberish.
Fitz: It seems like a quoted word. Look at the dash before the letters. (DnEbOrMtUS)
That's someone's name. We just need to decipher it.
Vision: Perhaps there's another glitch in the footage further down... Continue the recording.
Fitz resumed the footage showing her tearing through the agents like they were animals in a slaughterhouse.
Fitz: Vision. Look at the timestamp.
Vision: That's not possible. Take it back just moments after the glitch.
They reversed the footage and saw the time being 08:12:00
Vision: Now take it back by one second.
They reversed the footage one second earlier, just before the slaughter and saw the time being 07:43:11
Simmons: But that's not... How is this possible?
Magneto: An entire 29 minutes are missing.
Simmons: But it can't be! The moment she took off in the med bay until she began killing these people, was like 5 minutes! I was there! Fitz? We were there!
Fitz: Is it just a coincidence that I'm sensing a pattern of 12 followed by zero's?
Simmons: Fitz!
He moved the footage forward till the cryptic message appeared again.
Fitz: There, see? The timestamp below: 07:43:12:00. One split second later it's suddenly 08:12:00:00.
Simmons: Don't you see? A whole half hour is missing from our lives! Someone didn't take out the footage! Time skipped forward. Literally.
Quicksilver: What!?
They were bewildered beyond comprehension. Vision tried to decipher the meaning of 12:00. As this was going on, Wanda was not even halfway through the session of complete violating torment in the Raft. And nobody knew a thing.
Vision: I don't think the 12 is a coincidence at all. When she woke up that night and attacked me accidentally, it was in the middle of the night at 12 in the morning... S.W.O.R.D notified me when she was released, it was at 12:00 in the afternoon, 12 hours before she attacked me in her sleep.
Magneto: Now I'm intrigued.
Vision: Just play the footage. I need to see how this ends.
The footage continued until she killed the last person in the room. It then showed Wanda covered in blood, walking out of the facility.
Vision: No no no there has to be more. We missed something. Fitz, follow her.
Fitz changed the footage to the outside cameras, as it recorded Wanda walking outside.
Magneto: Wait what did she do there?
Fitz: Where?
Magneto: Her hand briefly touched the wall to her side and it glowed.
Fitz paused the footage and zoomed in on where she previously touched the wall.
Quicksilver: There's nothing there.
Vision: I don't understand... Wanda returned home at 12:30. S.W.O.R.D called me at 12! How is she leaving at 8!?
Fitz: Then that was not S.W.O.R.D calling. And after 8:30, there is no footage for the rest of that day. It's been censored.
Vision: Just as she can't remember anything of the day herself or of Transia. As if... someone or something is censoring her memories. That means someone is playing a game and has been playing it for a year already. And we're losing.
Magneto: A twisted game. Being played on my daughter!
Erik punched a hole through the table. He looked at his shaking hand that was now bleeding everywhere, and he closed his fist with rage.
Fitz: Or... She could be playing the game on us.
Erik grabbed Fitz by the neck.
Magneto: Don't you dare question my daughter's morality as if you know a thing about who she is!
Simmons: Let my husband go!
Quicksilver: Father! That's enough!
Magneto let go and lowered his head.
Magneto: I apologize... I'm just frustrated. My daughter is locked up like an animal for something that doesn't even add up, my grandchildren are missing and it seems more likely that this has some connections to their disappearance, and you think my daughter is the one playing this sick game. You think she kidnapped her own children? She's in the RAFT!
Vision: Easy, Erik.
Fitz: No I get it. (Clears throat) This must be overwhelming for you. All of you. You're the only family she has. If anyone knows her it's you three. I'm sorry.
Vision: I'm going outside to see the wall.
Quicksilver: Already checked. Found nothing.
Magneto: Already checked!? When?
Quicksilver: Just a second ago.
Fitz: How fast are you?
Vision ignored the conversation and flew outside and stared at the exact spot where Wanda touched the wall.
Vision: (thinking out loud) There has to be something I'm missing.
He walked closer and used infra-red vision.
Vision: I can't believe it... It's an equation! And definitely not something Wanda could have ever came up with.
They all rushed outside and looked at the empty wall.
Quicksilver: There's nothing there.
Vision: Not anything your eyes can see. It doesn't mean it's not there.
Fitz: How can we know you're not lying?
Vision: Because I cannot lie.
Fitz: How can we know you're not lying about not being able to lie?
Vision: Pietro, get this man an infra-red lense before I do something I will regret later. This is a S.W.O.R.D facility so there has to be one somewhere inside.
Pietro ran and searched through the entire building in less than a second.
Quicksilver: Here. I had to go to the library first because I had no idea what you really wanted me to get. Took me forever to find one describing what an infra-red lense is.
Simmons: Is he serious right now?
Vision: Trust me. He is just that fast.
Fitz took the lense and looked at the wall.
Fitz: Touche. Guess you can't lie after all.
Quicksilver: What does it say?
Vision: Doctor Simmons, would you be so kind as to write down the following? Write it down as I say it.
Simmons: Sure thing.
She took out the piece of paper.
Vision:
73810/25946 = A
( / + / ) - / = %
MEtDS%nOUbr = B
( % + % ) - % = x
÷$¥!&x#@×?£ = C
B = A = _
Simmons: Okay got it.
Magneto: Whatever we're trying to do, do it fast. I doubt these cops will remain unconscious for much longer.
Vision: I believe we're done here.
Quicksilver: Where to now?
Simmons: These letters make no sense! We're gonna need time to decipher them.
She showed the piece of paper:
*Glitched cctv message:
$!%!&%#&#£
- DnEbOrMtUS
*wall equation:
73810/25946 = A
( / + / ) - / = %
MEtDS%nOUbr = B
( % + % ) - % = x
÷$¥!&x#@×?£ = C
B = A = _
Fitz: There's an abandoned underground S.H.I.E.L.D base not too far from here. Even our old equipment is still there. The supercomputer could potentially decipher these messages.
Magneto: Then what are we waiting for?
The Raft
4 hours later
Four agonizing hours dragged by as Wanda suffered by the hands of this doctor. Each moment felt like a cruel eternity. She succumbed to the brutal treatment, fainting five times due to multiple anxiety attacks where she once again saw flashes of her past and the faceless monster. Her Blood-red cheeks and darkened eyes reflected the toll exacted upon her spirit. As the session continued, the doctor discovered something extraordinary. Wanda's powers began rejecting the serum he designed to suppress it, and only multiplied in its potency after he tried removing it from her. Her different emotions only amplified the results as it were directly connected to her abilities.
As the doctor continued, her powers burst out of her in a flash of red light that Illuminated the entire room. She screamed in anguish as it threatened to release with a force that could destroy the whole raft. But the doctor seemed unfazed.
Dr. Vohndum: Fascinating. I believe your powers are... evolving, somehow. As if it's adapting. Getting more powerful. It cannot be destroyed or depleted. I knew you were powerful, but not this powerful.
He injected her with a higher dosage until the power was suppressed inside her once again.
Dr. Vohndum: At least my theory about fear being the most efficient emotion linked to your powers seems to be true.
She was too exhausted, physically, spiritually and emotionally to even take in what he was saying to her.
Dr. Vohndum: Your power is beyond comprehension... This kind of power should not even exist... If these readings are correct, it holds infinite potential. If one were to tap into just a silver of it... they could quite literally become unstoppable.
She didn't hear a thing he told her. She was not even half awake. Her eyes were open but she was not there mentally. It was all just too much. She blurted out something inaudible.
Wanda: Th-thirst-ty.
Dr. Vohndum: In the right hands, this power is the key to everything.
Wanda whispered again.
Wanda: W-water.
Dr. Vohndum: What was that?
Wanda: I n-need... Water...
Dr. Vohndum: Speak up I don't know what you're saying.
Wanda: Please. I n-need... Water...
Dr. Vohndum: Water? But of course!
The guards barged into the room before he could pour some water into her mouth. That was the final blow that killed her spirit.
"Time's up. She has to go with us now."
Dr. Vohndum: She's all yours. I got what I needed.
She was put into a strait-jacket again and dragged back to her desolate cell. She sat in silence, a visage devoid of emotion, concealing the depths of her internal torment. So many things ran through her mind. Ever since the incident on the bridge, ever since the day of the marriage, nothing made sense anymore. Was she not allowed to be happy? Is this what she is destined for? She was now a mere shell of her former self. Her expressionless face was a mask concealing the anguish within.
The weight of everything she was going through, not just in the raft, but before that too, left her in a state of numb disbelief, a tortured soul unable to comprehend the depths of her suffering.
Her entire body was aching and she was already fearing tomorrow. Her fears were only amplified when she thought about the idea that whatever is happening to her might be that monster she was so afraid of, being behind it all somehow. Because it all began the moment she saw Strange at the sanctum.
It took precious hours for her shattered spirit to summon the courage to plead with a passing guard, her voice a fragile husky whisper, a desperate plea for mercy in the face of relentless brutality that had no regard for her humanity, feelings, motherhood, womanhood or privacy.
Wanda: P-please... Please... I-I'm... I'm... Thirsty.
She felt a surge of electricity tough her body as the collar was activated.
"Keep quiet!"
Wanda: I don't... deserve... this...
"What was that?"
Wanda: I d-don't belong h--
Another surge of electricity moved through her body without stopping.
"You just don't quit! Keep quiet!"
Wanda: Please stop!!!!
"I'll stop when you're quiet, inmate!"
Wanda: OKAY I'll be quiet I'll be quiet!! Just... STOOOP!!!
The collar was deactivated to her relief. She felt defeated and disgusted at herself for being forced to submit to these guards. Her face was wet with tears, and she was not even able to wipe them due to the restraints.
"Will you comply now or should I continue?"
She nodded her head without saying a word.
"I asked you a question!"
Wanda: Yes!
"Yes who?"
Wanda: W-what?
"Yes Who!!?"
Wanda: Y-yes... s-sir.
"Yes WHO!?"
Wanda: Yes sir!
"There we go. The beast is finally tamed."
Wanda: I-I'm not--
"Did I say you can speak?"
She lowered her head.
Wanda: No s-sir.
Thirty minutes later, multiple guards entered her cell and dragged her onto her feet.
Wanda: W-what now? Where am I going now!? Don't take me down there!
"Shut up!"
They hit her with a stun baton behind her head and took her to what seemed like an interrogation room. The room was small, with nothing but a steel table in the middle, with two chairs on both sides. They put her down on the chair and chained her legs to the ground, while keeping the strait-jacket on her upper body.
Wanda dreaded what could possibly happen next. After a few minutes passed, A woman walked into the room. She seemed important. High heels, sunglasses, adorned in a formal suit. But the purple strand in her dark brown hair caught Wanda's attention as she was reminded of what the doctor said to her in the morning. That something happened faster than he anticipated.
Woman: Inmate number... 1200, correct? My name is Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.
Wanda observed the woman in silence for a few seconds. She immediately spotted the woman holding a glass of water in her hand.
Woman: But you can call me Val.
Wanda kept quiet, looking at the water. Val opened up a file filled with classified S.H.I.E.L.D and S.W.O.R.D intel on Wanda. Some were accurate, others mostly based on despicable preconceived notions about who she is.
She scoffed in disgust and closed the file, then took a sip of water.
Val: So... we finally meet. The "dreaded Scarlet Witch". Hated by many, feared by more. It must fill you with such anger to know that you've finally been caught red handed... Powerless to save yourself. If there was an award for the world's most evil con artist, you'd win all the prizes.
Wanda was not filled with anger, but a sorrow that cut deep into her soul and threatened to tear her heart into pieces. She never wanted to be seen as a monster or some evil higher being. She just wanted to be Wanda. She has shown her true nature to the world for months now, but it somehow only got worse. No good deed went noticed as it should have.
Wanda: Water... (sniffles) Need... water.
Val: You need water?
Wanda: J-Just... a sip.
Val: What's the magic word?
Wanda: Please... Please just... one s-sip.
She held the glass in front of her face, inches from her mouth. Wanda sticked out her tongue, but it was whisked away before she could taste a single droplet.
Val: You know what? No. I'm quite thirsty myself.
Val drank the entire glass of water in front of her, which shattered her spirit even further. But Wanda still held on to one thing, and used this opportunity to know where her children are.
Wanda: Just... at least... at least tell me what happened to my children.
Val: Your children? The fake ones? We do not have your 'children'. We only wanted you.
Wanda felt a cold chill in her chest and an agonizing feeling in the depths of her heart with that remark.
Wanda: No... No they are real! They have to be here! They have to!
Val: I assure you we do not have them.
Wanda: I need to get out of here!
Val: That ain't gonna happen sweetheart.
Wanda: My boys!!! Where are my boys!!
For a moment, Val saw Wanda's eyes beginning to glow red.
Val: Guards! Code 14! Code 14!
Two guards came into the room and sedated her with a small dosage to calm her down and block her powers again, but it didn't work, so they used the entire vial this time.
Wanda: M-my... boys...
Val: Now, where was I?
Wanda: (whispers) Where... where are... where are m-my children?