" What's this all about?" Toms shoulders stiffen. You gulp, an ants nest in your stomach, your palms break out in a sweat. They're here about that guy blowing up the bar!
Agent Wilson gives Tom a patronizing smile, " We're here about an incident that happened at 5 Sawyers."
Tom's silent, he shoots you a glance, jaw tense. Agent Wilson leans around Tom following his line of vision. His ice blue eyes land on you, and you gulp nervously, " Hello Ma'am, I'd like to ask you and Mr Holland some questions about where you were tonight between the hours of 5:00 and 8:00."
Tom steps in front of him, blocking Wilson's view of you.
" I think I'll call my lawyer, before you ask any more questions," Tom snaps icily, pulling his phone from his back pocket.
Agent Wilson sneers, " That won't be necessary Mr Holland." He turns his head, oily black hair glinting in the light and murmurs instructions to the two burly police officers. They back away down the hall, hands on their holsters and eyes warily trained on Tom.
Tom ignores him, fingers flying over his phone screen. Agent Wilson steps into the apartment. Your eyes widen in shock as he shuts the door and locks it.
" What the fuck do you think you're doing? Get out of here! You can't just come in here without a warrant!" Tom yells, stepping in front of Agent Wilson.
Agent Wilson holds his hands up, " I'm not the enemy Mr Holland. Your lawyer won't be able to help you with this anyway, because the American Government has granted the FBI and CIA special powers in dealing with people who have... abilities," Agent Wilson's gaze lands on you, and you freeze. He knows.
" I don't give a shit, mate. If you lay one hand on her I'll break your jaw!" Tom pokes Agent Wilson hard in the shoulder, causing him to stumble.
Agent Wilson's mouth twists, " Once again, I'm not the enemy." He turns to you, brushing his suit down in an attempt to remain calm and professional, " I just want to stress to you ma'am that you aren't in any trouble at the moment. If you co-operate and answer my questions, there won't be any issues."
Tom whirls around, " Don't say anything, they can use it against you, you have the right to remain silent."
Agent Wilson chuckles, " Actually she doesn't, as per the New Human Species bill which allows me to interrogate her how I wish. It's clear by your hostile manner Mr Holland that traditional means of questioning will be futile, so this is how it's going to go," sauntering over he sits down on the sofa, and pulls out a notebook and pen.
He looks up at you, " You're going to answer my questions, and if you don't I'll crush that steel bucket over there into a blade and slice off Mr Hollands head," a cold grin crawls across his lips, the bucket containing the champagne floats into the air, upending the bottle and ice with a crash. The bucket crumples under an unseen force until it becomes a deadly razor sharp disk. He has powers just like me. Your heart's thundering in your ears, and your fists shake. The chaos energy bursts forth, racing throughout your body, radiating scarlet power.
" Ah, there it is," Agent Wilson grins, " Now before you do anything rash, like try to use your powers against me, just know that I'll be much quicker than you, and Mr Hollands head will hit the floor before you've even had time to breathe," he sneers. " As part of the questioning process, I have to brief you on what's been happening." He looks down and fiddles with his notebook. There's a ringing in your ears and you want nothing more than to pulverize this agent who's threatening Toms life. You will your magic to protect Tom and it snakes out like ivy, until it forms a glowing cocoon around him, you glance back at him with an assuring nod. Tom nods back, jaw clenching.
" Impressive! I see you have some control of your powers, and if I guess correctly, you've got Scarlet Witches abilities," Agent Wilson's smile makes your skin crawl.
" Yes."
" Great, see isn't it better to cooperate?" The silver disc hovers in the air, a guillotine waiting to strike. Your teeth clench.
" What do you want?" you hiss.
" Your name," Agent Wilson starts scribbling in his notepad, head down.
" Y/N."
" Great, Y/N. So, I don't know if you've seen " Storm" in the news lately?"
Your chin jerks in a curt nod.
" So you know she has abilities, like you and myself. I'm going to get to the point, because I've seen the camera footage from 5 Sawyers and I know you both witnessed Paul Sanderson wield the ability of fire aka the "Human Torch" abilities. What we also saw in the footage, was you wielding Scarlet Witch abilities. Luckily Mr Holland has a very recognizable face and we were able to find you promptly," He winks at Tom. Tom's mouth twists in anger. " So what does this all have to do with you? The American Government and other governments around the world were first alerted to this issue when Sarah Winters became Storm. We got our real first lead when a John Romita SR a writer for Marvel Comics, contacted us and told us this fantastical story about him, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Gene Conlan and Stan Lee. He said that they are actually refugees from a different universe..." Agent Wilson pauses and stares at you trying to gauge your reaction. You remain motionless, glaring at him. " So, he said they made a pretty buck over here by writing about actual people that exist in their universe. People who have powers." Again, he pauses, " Apparently they made up different names for them when they wrote them in the comics, because-here's the funny bit. The people from their universe have the same names in ours," He throws up his hands with a chuckle, " So they have to make up names for these characters, because of that. But how did they even get here in the first place? Now this is where you come in." Wilson points his pen at you, your fists clench as you try to keep your anger at bay. " He said that your grandmother, from their universe transported them here because the alternate versions of themselves in this universe had either died, or didn't exist to begin with, so it was safe for them to live here. Why were they running away in the first place? Because they were one of the few humans who didn't have abilities, and apparently the world they lived in was too dangerous for them, so your grandmother helped them escape into this universe. Apparently, it took her a long time to find a universe that was safe for them, she couldn't send them to ones where they were all alive because they would get absorbed by their alternate selves, so she chose this one."
You gulp, realization hitting you like a train. That's why Scarlet Witch was confused about why her universe was written as a successful comic and movie franchise, it was because the writers were refugees from her universe, saved by her grandma.
" John says that people from his universe are getting absorbed into this one, which is why we're seeing people with powers popping up all over the place. Luckily, the Marvel Comics are a wealth of information on the abilities and the people who wield them. All the villains they wrote, are actual bad guys apparently, so we know to watch out for them... Now, what John was concerned about and what we're concerned about it, is if these villains get absorbed into their alternate selves, they might create trouble in our world. He also thinks the Marvel Universe won't take kindly to people disappearing either and might retaliate. The good news is, apparently there's no one strong enough from their end who can open a portal into this world just yet. There's a few individuals, but apparently they're hard to reach. Apparently, your grandma was the last known person who could open a portal between universes. John said he also knew your mother and said she was powerful but never as powerful as your grandma. Apparently the strength of your particular abilities skip a generation," He pauses, eyeing you for a reaction, you're as still as an iceberg. " So that would mean, you're one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe, and you have the ability to stop this," His teeth bare in an ugly grin. " So what do you know about these people getting absorbed into our universe and how are you going to stop it?"
You cock your head to the side, ignoring his question, " So, the villains that get absorbed into this universe are definite bad guys?"
" That didn't answer my question. What's your point?"
" Correct me if I'm wrong but the ability to wield and shape metal is a Magneto ability, and isn't he a famed Marvel villain?" You shoot a pointed look at the hovering disk.
Agent Wilson chuckles, " Hey, I'm not the bad guy. Yes I might have absorbed Magneto but that doesn't mean I'm a villain."
" You threatened to kill Tom!" you hiss.
He smirks, " Just because I'm not above doing what needs to be done in order to do my job, doesn't make me the bad guy. We need your cooperation on this by any means necessary. Those are my orders."
" Screw you!"
" Do you even realize what's at stake here? We need to stop this from happening, or an entire universe will be absorbed into ours!" Agent Wilson's lip curls.
Your chest is heaving, " You didn't have to threaten Tom, and there's nothing I can do to help you."
" Bullshit!"
Your nostrils flare, " Scarlet Witch is the only one who can stop this, she saved me when I was a child. But I absorbed her. The older I get the stronger she gets, but unfortunately when she saved me it created a bridge between her universe and mine, which is why all these people are getting absorbed into our universe."
" Why didn't you alert the FBI immediately?" Agent Wilson glares at you.
" Because I found out only ten minutes ago!"
" How did you find out?"
" Scarlet Witch told me. Her consciousness still lives inside me. She said when she gets stronger she'll be able to leave my body and return to her universe, which will then save this one."
Agent Wilson's nodding, " I see, I see." He scrawls a few notes down.
" Is there any way to accelerate this process? Do you have a timeline of when she'll be able to stop this?"
You hang your head, " No, I don't."
Agent Wilson sighs, and scrawls some more on his notepad.
" From what I've seen I can tell you have sufficient control of your abilities, so I'm authorized to release you . Unfortunately Paul Sanderson didn't ,aka " Human Torch" so we've had to relocate him to a facility until he gains better control of his abilities, for the safety of the public of course." The razor sharp disc floats down to the table, remolding back into the bucket. The tension in your shoulders ease, the scarlet energy crackles less.
" I urge you to avoid crowds, we don't want the public endangered of course, and we'll be checking up on you. If there are any further questions or information, please don't hesitate to contact me." Agent Wilson stands up, smoothly producing a card with a cold smile. Your eyes narrow and you reluctantly take his card. What kind of FBI agent threatens someone they're questioning? Agent Wilson's cavalier attitude has you on edge, there's something off about him.
Tom glares at Agent Wilson as he walks past, still cocooned in a red glow, fists clenching.
Agent Wilson gets to the door and opens it slightly, pausing, he turns around, a smirk on his face, " I'd like to thank you for your co-operation Y/N... I don't know about you but I quite enjoy having these powers, and now that I know Scarlet Witch can end it all, well-I can't let that happen can I!" Wilson shoots his arms forward, wrenching steel pierces your ears, as all the metal in the apartment races towards you and Tom. Knives and forks shoot from the drawers, twisted hunks of metal rip from the oven and stove. One of the officers is standing in the doorway behind Agent Wilson, his mouth agape as he reaches in his holster for his gun, it's flung from his hand. Clenching your fists, power surges through you, but not before a sheet of web catches a drawer full of knives aimed at your face. You spin around to see Tom shoot Agent Wilson in the face with sticky web, all the metal items crash to the floor as he claws at his face with a muffled yell.
" We have to get out of here!" Tom yells. Grabbing your hand, he sprints towards the balcony.
" Tom what are you-"
" Just trust me," He clutches you tighter, and swings you onto his back. He launches you both off the balcony, you're free falling, screaming. Windows fly by and the ground is coming closer, Tom's arms and legs spread eagle. We're going to die!
" Hold on!" He yells, punching an arm forward a string of web shoots from his wrist attaching to the building opposite, your momentum shifts as you swing towards the building, he does this again to the next building. Your mouth gapes open. Spiderman, he's freaking Spiderman.
You swing past office buildings, past a thumping nightclub, and a rooftop restaurant filled with people, your stomach drops with every dip. The breeze blows your hair back and you clutch tighter onto him, his strong arms swinging you between an alleyway.
" Shall we go to your place?" Tom asks.
" Yeah, but let's go through my bedroom window," you gasp. On one hand you want to scream with joy that Tom saved you and that he's Spiderman, but on the other hand you know this means that the Tom from the Marvel Universe has disappeared.
" I think I can manage that," Tom grunts.