—Wanda
How did I get here? My wrists and ankles chained with people who once considered me an ally discussing whether or not I should live.
"Tell me everything." Nightwing says, as he sits across from me. I glance at the mirror behind him, knowing that The Team is looking at me before behind it. The interview room is cold, or maybe it's just me.
"Everything?" I ask weakly.
"Why are you working for the reach? What's the Reaches plan? Are you even from the future? What is your real name? Why did you betray us? Why did you betray Remy?" He says, intense.
"I'm not sure what the Reaches plan is," I admit. "They only tell me what to do, and I do it. I've no clue as to what they want with that metal sphere. My best guess it that they're going to head after Blue Beetle next." I answer
"Are you even from the future?" He asks again.
My mind flashes back to the beginning. Ash falling from the sky like gray snow. Blue Beetle was the one who brought me in. The on mode scarab armor is large and terrifying. As he shoves me into the Reach base, I fear death is coming.
"I am from the future." I speak softly, looking at the table. I've been forsaken by everyone. There's nothing left of me except for one person.
"Once everyone got wind of Bart's escape into the past, we were happy, hopeful." I pause, lost in the moment of feeling joy when everything was depressing.
"We thought he was going to do it. Change the past and save the future, but nothing change for a long time. We all figured he failed. That's when they brought me in."
My voice catches on the last word.
"Who brought you in?" Nightwing asks.
"The Reach." I begin my story.
I was thrown onto the floor, staying down on my hands and knees. I looked up at the Ambassador, and feel my heart pound in my chest.
"Hello, Wanda Locke." He says calmly.
I only look at him, the inhibitor collar cutting the skin on my neck.
"You are an extraordinary Meta Human. One of the few to survive our experiments. You are powerful, and dangerous." He says, looking me over.
I'm going to die. He's afraid that I'll get the collar off and wreak havoc. To solve this little problem, the answer is simply to have me killed.
"I have a mission for you, Wanda Locke."
I stare at him for a moment, then bark out a harsh laugh. "I'll move things on and off your ships all day long, but I am not going to do a mission for you." I finish, glaring at him. We're not allowed to speak to each other, us humans. We use facial expressions instead, and I have mastered my glare.
"But you are. You are going to get in the same time machine that Impulse used and go back to the past. The time machine is only usable by Meta Humans, so that's why we must send you. You are going to ensure that Red Beetle gets on mode. You, Wanda Locke, are going to secure the Reaches future." The Ambassador says, smiling.
"I would rather die." I say calmly. He's out of his mind if he thinks I would do anything to help the Reach.
"Perhaps. But would you rather someone else die if you don't comply?"
My heart freezes at his words. It's impossible, he can't know. We kept it secret so they would never know.
One nod of the Ambassador's head, and Blub Beetle is gripping my arm, jerking me up and walking me to another room. It's a security room, with multiple camera feeds. With a few taps on buttons, the Ambassador pulls up a large screen. The video feed makes me forget how to breathe.
Mev is being shoved into the very same time machine Bart used to travel to the past. Red Beetle is cramming him in there, with his inhibitor collar and ropes around his arms and legs.
Red Beetle has always terrified me more than Blue Beetle. She likes to hurt people, loves to watch them suffer. Her body is pure muscle, and it's impossible to tell that the body was once a short female. Even her voice is impossible to identify as female. She's completely terrifying.
"Mev." I whisper. His red hair is ruffled up in a mess as per usual. He is the only light in my dark world, and they're taking him away. They found my boyfriend. How?
"Awaiting your command." Red Beetle's voice fills the room, as she stands on the screen, waiting to activate the time machine.
"Now." The Ambassador orders calmly.
"NO! PLEASE, NO!" I lunge forward, but Blue Beetle wraps his large muscular arms around me, effortlessly lifting me off the ground. I thrash and scream and kick my legs. I wish with my entire being that I didn't have this horrid collar on me. Then, I watch helplessly as Red Beetle pushes the button, and the machine rattles and a bright light flashes. The machine is gone, then a moment later, another light flashes and it reappears, nearly destroyed with smoke coming off of it.
And Mev is gone.
"MEV!" I scream pitifully. I stop thrashing and stay still. Blue Beetle lets go of me, and I sink to my knees, staring at where my boyfriend once was.
"The Message has been set," Red Beetle declares.
"Perfect," He says, then turns to me. "M'evolo has a data chip attached to his inhibitor collar." The Ambassador explains, standing in front of me. "Once the past version of the Reach stumble upon him in their ship, they will read the chip and know the plan."
He looks down at me, smiling triumphantly. "He is our insurance that you will do everything we order you too. If you mess up, if you disobey, one step out of line and he'll pay the price. Do you understand?"
I can only stare him. I would give my soul if it meant that Mev will be alright. He's my light.
"Yes." I whisper.
As I explain this to Nightwing, he doesn't say a single word. I finish with myself traveling to the past with a fixed up time machine, and getting my inhibitor collar taken off and beginning my mission.
"And your mission was to put Red Beetle on mode?" Nightwing clarifies.
I nod. "I came here that night to try and just kidnapped her. When I realized I wasn't going to win, I told them that I was here to protect Remy from getting killed."
"You lied about Remy getting killed." Nightwing states.
"Yes, I was hoping it would scare her into coming with me. I didn't realize how... brave she is." I say.
"And why lie about Wonder Girl being the one to kill her?" He questions.
"To try and scare her again. I almost got her that time, almost."
Nightwing thinks for a moment. "Then how did Wonder Girl get that electronic black beetle attached to her neck that forced her to stab Red?"
"I was the one to attack her, I just followed her through the Zeta Tube. I specifically programmed Wonder Girl to stab Red in a perfect spot to avoid all her organs. I couldn't just let Red get killed, but I had to really scare her, maybe even convince everyone else that it was a good idea to go off by ourselves. Yet no one—"
Wonder Girl flings the door open, and charges at me. Superboy, and Batgirl are barely restraining her. Barely.
"I'LL RIP YOU APART! YOU ALMOST MADE ME KILL MY BEST FRIEND! I'LL KILL YOU, DUSK! I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU! I'll KILL—"
Then she's pulled back out and the door swings shut. I stare at the empty space for a long moment.
"How did you get Remy on mode?" Nightwing demands.
I'm silent for a moment, then speak, "I couldn't wait any longer. The Reach threatened to hurt Mev if I didn't get Remy on mode that night. I convinced Remy that her Scarab could turn on her any second. She broke the connection that she and the Scarab had. I then boom tubed Black Beetle in her room. You know what happens next."
The silence in the room is deafening. I wish it would grow into a tangible thing and finish me off.
"What else did you do?" Nightwing asks, looking at me with a cold, calm stare.
I have only one more truth lurking in my dark soul. One that I know will get me killed. But I have to tell it.
Believe it or not, I hate the Reach, and I hate that I have to do whatever they tell me to. I like the Team. They are all wonderful people. Remy... she was my friend, my only friend. Yet I've done the worst thing imaginable to her. The only thing that has kept me going, even through all the dark things I've done, is Mev's beautiful smile. He's everything. He's my light.
I can't lose him.
Maybe I'm going to tell the truth because I do have a death wish. Maybe I'm telling it because they deserve to know. Or maybe I'm telling because Mev would have wanted me to.
The dark truth crawls out of my soul and into the world. I watch it unfold.
I watch Klarion lead Zatanna into the room. I'm hidden in the shadows. She's speaking a spell that knocks Klarion away. He's stunned for a moment before making his own spell, causing small balls of fire to launch at Zatanna. She dodges most of them, but one lands just an inch away from her, and she flies through the air. Hitting the ground hard, she rolls a few feet right towards me. I step out of the shadows, looming over her.
"Dusk, oh thank goodness. Help me stop Klarion." She looks up at me from the floor, her blue eyes wide open. Then she sees the dark look on my face.
"Dusk?" is all she says before I make a shadow tendril wrap around her and with all my force throw her across the room. I hear multiple snaps as she hits the wall and sinks to the floor. Just then, Nightwing runs in. He doesn't even look in my direction, he's only focused on her. This gives me plenty of time to create a shadow portal, step through it to appear down the hall from the same room. I then start running to the same room, acting as if I just showed up.
"They couldn't risk Zatanna getting the Beetles off mode again." I speak softly.
I pull in a deep breath as I think about my next sentence, possible my last sentence.
"I killed Zatanna." I whisper.
The emotions that race across Nightwing's usually guarded and composed face is too much for me. I don't look for long as he throws the table aside, crosses the space, grips my shoulders and throws me against the wall. When my head hits I see stars.
"You killed her." His voice is dangerously low, and angry. Rage burns in his eyes.
And now he's going to kill me.
"Nightwing, wait." Miss Martian says as she bursts into the room. She quickly comes to his side and places a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't do this." She says.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't break her neck right now." He spits through his teeth, his eyes never looking my face. I only stare at him. I'm empty. I have nothing but Mev to defend. If I get killed, the Reach won't have a reason to hurt Mev anymore.
"Because Zatanna wouldn't want you to. She wouldn't want you to kill. She wouldn't want you to break your code because of her. If you kill Dusk right now, you are no better than her."
His grip tightens on me, and I'm sure that M'gann's words only fueled his anger, but then he lets go. And I sink to the floor.
He looks down at me a moment, with M'gann's hand still on his shoulder. "You're going to pay for what you've done to Zatanna and Remy."
They both leave, and I'm alone. Just like always.
I close my eyes and think of my light. Mev's dimpled smile comes into my mind, and I pretend like everything's alright.
* * *
A/N
Well, now you know everything about Wanda. Well, mostly everything... Anyways, what's your opinion about Wanda now? Good Guy or Bad Guy? Comment your thoughts on her because I'm dying to know what you're all thinking about her now.
Also, I would recommend listening to the song I've put up. I feel as if it explains Wanda really well.
Keep Rocking On!
—RoseandPaper