Natasha relived a nightmare from her past. Surrounded by the familiar walls of the boarding school she trained at in Russia. The very one that turned her into a spy and an assassin. She was wrapped up in lessons regarding Intel, torture, procedures, mind games– she couldn't remember life after it. The teachers, assistants, and heavy muscles who engaged in the sparring session always had their eye on her. Their top student bound for greatness.
Steve found himself in a decorated grand hall. Noisy from laughter, cheers, and loud conversations. Alongside the Ray Thomas Players on stage at the far end of the room. 'VICTORY' banners were draped from the ceiling for the soldiers' present. It was 1945 again. The end of the war. There were multiple flashes of camera to capture the special occasion. One managed to blind Steve for a brief moment. That's when the super soldier realized he wasn't in his Captain America uniform. He was dressed as a soldier when he first joined the army. Steve didn't stand out and no one paid him any mind. The man stood in the middle of the crowd in disbelief. Was this what it'd been like while he sat frozen in the ocean?
Someone made their way through the crowd to his position. He didn't notice their presence at first, continuing to take in the sight of the hall until a hand gently laid against a shoulder. Steve's head snapped around, shocked to see a familiar sight. Peggy Carter. His first and only love of his life. She offered a friendly smile, dark brown hair done up in a 40s style and wearing a beautiful cobalt blue dress.
"Are you ready for our dance?" she wondered.
Anya managed to find a campsite in the desert. That's where the blurred figure led her. And the destination was a familiar one. From the tents to the dugout holes in the ground to the archeological dig tools to the familiar steaming blue cup of tea with a chip in the handle sitting on a wooden table. The professor always drank a cup of tea in the morning to start his day, no matter how hot the weather got.
"Anya!"
Head snapping up, she found an older man, graying hair peeking out from under a sunhat.
"There you are, we've been waiting!" The professor reached out a hand to pull her up the large step. "You have to see what we've found. It's what we predicted. The artifact is here."
The young woman followed without hesitation, while he continued to ramble on about the discovery.
Thor wandered in the stone hall. It felt like he was moving in circles and accomplished nothing. He had half a mind to finally grab the attention of a partygoer, but felt hesitant to do so. One of them passed close to his person, which caused him to flinch back to give space. The god never saw a face from the dark cloak they wore. The hood obscured all features. They disappeared into the crowd swiftly. A terrible feeling formed in the pit of Thor's stomach. None of this was natural when he heard someone call out his name. Turning towards the noise a familiar figure emerged from a crowd of women fawning over him. Heimdall. But the gatekeeper wasn't acting normal as he set down the goblet in hand on a table. He never drank, and for the first time moved without his helmet when in the presence of others outside the palace. He stumbled a bit from the alcohol he indulged in.
"Is it the first son of Odin?"
"Heimdall, your eyes," the prince noted.
They had turned completely white in color, and void of any pupil. It looked wrong and the man grasped Thor's head between his hands.
"Oh. They see everything. They see you leading us to Hel." Without warning, the gatekeeper suddenly shouted, "Wake up!"
His grip changed to wrap around Thor's neck, choking the prince, who fought back.
"I can still save you!" the god managed out.
That didn't seem to matter to Heimdall, gripping harder, "We're all dead! Can you not see?"
There were voices in the prince's ear now. Whispers he didn't understand. Thor managed to shove the gatekeeper off. Heimdall didn't approach again, standing at the edge of the crowd that formed around them. Thor needed to leave. A spark of lightning danced between the palms before splitting across the chest plate. It grew in power without his control. It alarmed the prince.
"You are a destroyer, Odinson," Heimdall stated.
His grin was wicked. A blast of lightning shot off his figure towards the crowd. It blew a bystander into ashes in a matter of seconds, horrifying Thor. He looked to his longtime friend for help, but received none.
"See where your power leads."
The room disappeared in a flash, his mind plagued by a vision. A bright yellow light of energy exploded and gave way to four circular stones. They were lined up alongside each other: yellow, purple, red, and blue. Immediately, one caught Thor's attention. The red one, the Aether in solid form. He'd seen it in texts before it took on the form of dark matter to possess a host. But before the prince could process the vision further a set of eyes took the place of the stones. Ones that didn't look entirely human.
Something hit the god. Hard. It felt like a punch made contact with a cheek, and seemed to break his train of thought. Head shaking, the vision disappeared. However, the Asgardian still felt disoriented when a familiar voice broke through the haze. Clint quickly discovered the rest of the team couldn't be reached over the earpiece. Wanda managed to manipulate them before he incapacitated her. The Asgardian was the first teammate he came across and took a page out of Natasha's book from when she broke Loki's control over him. Brute force to knock some sense into the puppet.
"... or... hor... THOR!" The god snapped his attention to the archer. "Are you with me?"
"I think so..."
The prince's unease didn't instill confidence in the man, but he needed to find the others. "Hey," he called when the god's attention began to wander again. "Stay with me, focus. Do you remember where you saw the others last?"
No, he couldn't at the moment. They separated before the Enhancement got into his mind, but all he could think about was the glowing stones he'd witnessed. And wonder what the Aether had to do with it all.
"I can't..."
"That's alright, just stay with me," Clint said. "We have to find everyone. Snap out of it."
Anya stood at the mouth of the cave that led into the mountain. She could hear the chatter of the archeological team further in. The dark cave was lit by large lights, every one of them facing a dead end. But the fact that none of them seemed to be able to move forward didn't deter the excitement of the group. Everyone was there. Maria, their linguist, multiple researchers, even Justin, and the sight of them caused Anya to pause. A part of her said that this felt wrong. But why? The professor noticed her hesitation and beckoned her forward.
"We're just about to open it," he stated. "And you will be the one to help me."
"Why?" she wondered.
Wouldn't he want Justin to assist? After all they were family. This was their dig.
"You're the one that led us to this point. Your research. The honor is yours."
Moving past the group and the lights, the young woman's eyes scanned the surface. The surface looked odd. The object seemed like a doorway that opened outward. And made of stone, but the carvings on the face didn't appear to be ancient Arabic. This region wasn't known for any other dialect, yet the symbols looked... familiar somehow. She'd seen them before but couldn't quite place where–
"Ready?" the professor asked.
Reaching towards the lip the young woman began to tug. It shifted slightly under her grip, but it was stubborn. The young woman felt around the small gap and found a latch of some kind. She pushed it in. Finally, it became dislodged. All noise from the team halted in anticipation. Anya used all of her strength to pull the slab open. It began to swing slowly out from the weight, revealing a dark interior. As if the lights were unable to penetrate the doorway when the agent looked in.
A red orb glowed in the center of the darkness only a few feet away. Then a low screeching noise began to echo in the air around her, causing the young woman's eyes to widen. She knew what was about to come. But before Anya could issue a warning the orb exploded into multiple tendrils of red rushed forward. They slammed into her body, which threw her to the ground. She couldn't breathe, much like the first time. The Aether, all of it, was trying to consume her once more. And it was painful. It reminded the young woman of when Malekith ripped it from her body.
Anya looked for help, but found herself completely alone. The archeological team vanished into thin air. The Aether pulsed, throwing her past the lights into a wall. The agent struggled to collect herself.
In the present, the young woman was unaware that the Aether already harboring inside of her began to lash out. It could feel the host's distress and attempted to protect it. But the dark matter attacked at something that wasn't there. The Aether began to slam against the ironwork around Anya, denting it from the impact or cutting through thin metal bars of railing. In the vision, the young woman saw how the Aether she bonded with reacted to the hostile dark matter. It battled against the vision, despite being out matched. The altercation felt like it was crushing her. Anya released an agonizing scream, her back lifting off the ground.
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Beyond the Churchill, Wanda smirked in a pleased manner. Bruce had been easy to catch. Even easier to manipulate. The Enhancements watch the man lose control and shift into the Hulk with a loud roar. He didn't spare the twins a glance. Instead the beast rushed from the quinjet in the direction of Wakanda. It didn't matter that the target sat quite a distance away. From his rampage the Hulk would be there in no time. And none of the Avengers were nearby to stop him. Wanda was ready to leave now. Their work, done. Time to return to Sokovia. As Pietro went to pick her up something broke through her mental barrier.
The scream sounded like nothing she ever heard before as it assaulted her mind. The young woman stumbled in surprise, Pietro quick to steady his sister. Instantly, he worried the effects of the electric arrow returned. However, Wanda's gaze picked up to look at the metal ship in the distance. The noise was almost inhuman. And to reach their position with such clarity in a way that caught her attention, it struck her that whoever this came from, was incredibly powerful.
"Take me back inside," Wanda ordered.
He looked at his sister as if she had lost her mind. "Are you insane? We cannot–!"
"Pietro, now!"
She had to see for herself where this came from. The flashes of images began to become clear when she reached out to the source. The young man hesitated to follow through with the demand. The Enhancement begrudgingly scooped up his sister and rushed back into the Churchill.
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Clint went to ask the god another question. Before the archer left to find the others, he needed to be certain the god no longer felt affected by Wanda's gift. The man didn't want the Asgardian to slip back under the moment he left. That's when they heard the scream. A terrifying sound that made them pause. Clint felt a chill go down his spine, while the color seemed to drain from Thor's face. The god knew who it belonged to and something was very wrong.
"Anya!" he shouted.
The Asgardian collected himself quickly and rushed off into the ship, leaving a stunned teammate behind him. Clint never realized that the young woman... that she was capable of making such a noise. He nearly ran after the god when something caught his attention. Steve stumbled along the walkway below in a daze. The man made the decision to finish looking for the others, while Thor handed the distressed agent.
Anya managed to stand in an attempt to try and escape the assault, halfway bent over and gripping her head. She could no longer find the exit to the desert. As if it had disappeared entirely. The darkness swallowed her up when she left the light sources. She threw herself up against the rock wall to try and make it stop. In turn, the agent's side slammed into the metal wall. The action echoed through the hull of the ship. It gave Thor an indication as to where she may be. The movement dented the ironwork and Anya fell to her knees. She couldn't shake off the hostile Aether. The young woman even attempted to accept it, but all it wanted to do was rip her apart.
Another scream escaped the young woman, along with a burst of energy. It caused the nearby staircase to contort and the railing to bend over in the opposite direction. And Wanda watched from the shadows in wonder. She had a clear view of what Anya experienced in her mind. Out of all the heads she messed with since acquiring her gifts, never did she ever see something quite like this. The young woman didn't understand what haunted the agent, or what power she unleashed, but it was terrifying to witness. The dark matter in full display, inhuman noises melding into Anya shouts. Like a wild animal the way it lashed out. The destruction left in its wake made the Enhancements stay back.
"Sister, what is it?" Pietro asked.
The sight unnerved him. He felt rattled by the knowledge that the agent he faced off a few weeks ago hadn't displayed half of the power harboring inside her body. This entity is what picked up on his movements. Looked him right in the eye. If this thing had its way with him, it would've ripped him apart. No matter how fast he ran.
Heavy boots landed on the walkway and the god strode swiftly towards Anya. He showed no fear, even when the Aether lashed out forcing him to keep back.
"Anya, listen to my voice!" he spoke loudly over the noise. "This is just a trick!" Though he still struggled himself to shake the vision he witnessed minutes ago. "Do not throw away all of your hard work."
If they couldn't contain the Aether before the others began to regain their senses they would be in trouble. Thor reached out towards the dark matter. Again, it lashed out at his fingers. This time it drew blood. The prince expected the action and didn't flinch away.
"You know I will not harm her," Thor spoke to the Aether. "Whatever it is that is assaulting Anya's mind, help me bring her out of it."
The twins watched the interaction intently. "Do you know what is inside of her?" Pietro asked.
"No... I have never seen anything like this before..." Wanda said.
One could say it was similar to her gift from the appearance of the red mist like properties that accompanied the dark matter. And the fact it was used as an extension of herself. But this thing... also possessed a mind of its own.
The god took a careful step forward, which the Aether allowed. "Fight it, Anya," Thor spoke.
The young woman's chest burned when she collapsed to the ground. She struggled to take proper breath, tears streaming down the cheeks. In her mind she begged the hostile Aether to stop when it slammed her against the wall once more.
"... ight it, Anya."
The young woman sluggishly picked up her head, losing strength. Anya's eyes fluttered open a crack to search for the voice, but there was only the glowing red matter in the darkness.
"It's not real," the voice broke through. "This is all in your head."
Was it? It felt real as a tendril stabbed into a side. Pain rippled through her and she gave another cry.
"What you have been protecting is trying to protect you from whatever you are seeing. It's losing because the enemy isn't real. The enemy isn't here."
That's right. The archeological team, who she followed blindly, were dead. Anya had forgotten that the other half of the Aether lay hidden away in another realm. It did not make sense, to see it waiting in the desert. It had no business being here. She had no business being here. This was a warped past and not by her doing. The darkness rippled around her. The Aether, trying to tear her apart, began to back off. Something wrapped around the agent's body to lift her from the hard ground. While Anya didn't have the strength to resist, something told her whatever it was meant no harm. She slowly began to relax into the small bit of comfort offered.
"Control it," the voice encouraged. "Breathe."
Finally, relief. The cavern disappeared and the hostile Aether allowed the young woman to take in a shaky breath. The agent's eyes were heavy in exhaustion, but managed to open them a bit further to find Thor holding her. The Asgardian kneeled on the ground where she fell and the protective Aether began to slowly fade away. The host no longer in danger. It could rest easy too. The sight relieved Thor. The worst was over, hugging the young woman close. A hand supported the back of her head to cradle the agent against his chest.
"I've got you," he reassured.
Anya began to cry again, but for a whole different reason. She'd been so afraid, alone in the dark. Believed there to be no way to escape it. The vision brought her to dark moments in her life that she tried not to think back on. The young woman felt so relieved to have Thor to chase them away when unable to do it herself.
Wanda witnessed all she needed to. Tugging on her brother's arm the two left the Churchill.
There was a noise over the earpiece that caught Clint's attention. Tony finally checked in after pursuing Ultron. But what he had to say didn't sound promising.
"Natasha, I could really use a lullaby," the man spoke, a bit of panic in his voice.
He made the decision to abandon the pursuit of Ultron when discovering that the Hulk got loose. The green giant currently caused havoc in Wakanda. Reports that flashed on screen inside the Iron Man suit were very uncharacteristic of the scientist and the other guy. They left the man alone and in turn Wanda unleashed the beast.
"That's not going to happen," Clint relayed.
Snapping Steve out luckily didn't take the same measures used on the Asgardian. It took him a while to find Natasha in the intricate maze of hallways on the upper floors. She had collapsed to the ground, leaning up against a wall for support. The woman wasn't present from the way she stared off into space. When Clint touched her shoulder, the assassin didn't even react.
"Not for a while. The whole team is down. You got no backup here."
Tony grew silent for a moment to consider their options. Only one came to mind. "I'm calling in Veronica," was the last thing the man heard from the billionaire before he cut out.
The mind trick pulled Natasha in deep. Clint didn't want to snap her out of it like with Thor. Her past was bad and the archer didn't want to cause a shock to the system by forcing her out of it. Similar to Steve, Natasha needed to go through this herself. He'd need to carry her back to the quinjet.
Clint touched the earpiece, "Thor, are you with me?"
"We are here," the Asgardian answered after a beat of silence.
"You found Anya?"
"Yes."
"Her state?"
"Not good."
The young woman stopped crying, and collapsed into his embrace with no strength left in her.
"I found Steve and Natasha. Can you help me get the Captain back to the ship? I left him in the center of the hull."
"I will find him." Even though he struggled himself he had to be strong. For Anya.
The Asgardian carried the young woman in his arms back to where the altercation began. Steve stood there, leaning against a crate of weapons, head in his hands. Thor didn't ask about what he'd seen. All of them hid their own demons, ones they never wished to share. They'd have to support one another silently when the god clasped his teammate's shoulder to lead him out. The three met Clint and Natasha at the door Anya led them to less than an hour ago. The return journey felt completely different. No one said a word because those affected were still trying to distinguish between illusion and reality. Clint knew exactly how they felt from his past experiences in regards to Loki. Confronting the situation now wasn't in their best interest. Time to regroup.
Clint sat Natasha down comfortably before he took up the pilot seat in the cockpit. The screens came to life and he patched in through the headset. Steve kept to himself in the back of the jet. In no state of mind to give orders. Thor laid Anya on the medical bay, refusing to leave her side. The exhaustion from the mental battle she faced caused the young woman to lose consciousness. He'd stand guard till she was well. The hatch closed and Clint made them airborne.
"Tony, you there?" the archer called out.
He turned off all of the earpieces except the billionaire's, hearing the man breathing heavily on the other end.
"Has the situation been handled?"
"I wouldn't call it handled..." Tony said, "but Banner's finally unconscious."
That didn't sound good. "How bad is the damage?"
"I've already called in my relief team. We didn't keep a low profile." Which meant there would be repercussions. "How soon can you pick us up?"
"Five minutes, tops. Locking onto your location now."
The Hulk destroyed a large section of Wakanda in his rampage. Streets were ripped into, cars torn apart, people injured or running for safety, massive holes in buildings, Clint hadn't seen damage this bad since the attack on New York City. Among the rubble were pieces of Tony's Hulkbuster armor to try and match the beast's strength. Even the remnants of Veronica hadn't fared well. The quinjet pulled up where a half-completed building once stood, now decimated in Tony's attempt to control the Hulk. The billionaire waved down the archer and dragged an unconscious Bruce inside. He set the man up on the floor near the table and covered him with a blanket to keep warm.
"Let's move," Tony stated, exiting the suit.
Clint didn't need to be told twice, leaving Wakanda far behind them. The billionaire took in the state of the team and gave a low whistle at the sight. This wasn't good at all.