The Scarlet Witch

In the dead of night, in a sleepy, seaside New England town, Wanda Maximoff fled for her life.

Her attackers came without warning, storming through the darkness into Wanda's home. She was **** to flee, barefoot and dressed in nothing more than a pajama top, flannel bottoms, and a housecoat, wildly sprinting across the stone-cold asphalt and slick, dewy lawns of suburbia. The sky was clear, yet dark and moonless, the majority of illumination coming from Wanda's scarlet magic and the green energy projected by one of her attackers.

A jagged shadow surged towards Wanda. She narrowly avoided the wave of darkness, pivoting and rolling in one graceful motion, taking a sharp turn and cutting across a lawn and cornering down a four-way junction. Biting at her heels were more of the green energy bolts, sizzling through the cool night's air and colliding into the ground, chunks of asphalt, concrete, dirt, and grass exploding in Wanda's wake. More shadows slithered at her, rising up and attempting to snare her like writhing fingers.

Two attackers. There were two attackers hot on Wanda's heels. One was a magic-user of demonic origin - the shadowmancer. Though they had yet to make a physical appearance, their presence and aura was hugely evident to Wanda's keen senses. The other, the one firing green energy, was a young woman with red hair and orange skin, flying at high-speeds, always on the verge of overtaking Wanda. She wasn't a magic-user. Maybe a mutant, maybe an alien, maybe something else.

"We do not wish to harm you, Miss Maximoff." The redhead called out in a stilted, formal voice. "We simply wish to talk. My friends and I have a most wonderful proposal for you." A flurry of green plasma flew forth, Wanda meeting it with her own barrage of hexbolts, the two contrasting colours colliding and exploding into a near blinding nova of light.

The backlash of the two energies tore through the air in a wall of heat and ****. It slammed into the flying alien, sending his tumbling through the air. Wanda herself was better braced, but still slid backwards, soles of her feet scraping along the ground. Exhaustion settled over her like a wave. She had been running for what felt like an hour, with her legs aching and her lungs burning for breath, but at least now she could take a moment to gather herself...

Red eyes suddenly appeared in the darkness, the demon-mage making their presence known, zeroing in on Wanda. "She won't come peacefully, Star." The demoness said to her temporarily stunned companion, her voice cold and even. "But I don't have a problem with that. Just let me play with her and my new powers for a little while..."

More dark energy rose from the shadows, black lances whistling towards Wanda with vicious velocity, the first salvo catching her off-guard. One of the barbed, shadowy projectiles struck her, not piercing or cutting flesh and cloth, but instead phasing through Wanda's physical form and assaulting her metaphysical self.

From that one bit of magic, Wanda fell her legs give out and buckle, falling to her knees and crying out. A fire boiled in her belly before quickly spreading to her loins, as artificial, magically-induced lust coursed through her. Was the red-eyed mage a succubus? Not wanting to find out, Wanda raised a hand a summoned a magical barricade to absorb the next barrage of magic from her foe, her entire body shuddering all the while, as the sorcery worked it's way out of her system. Her body felt so hot, she could imagine it steaming in the cool evening air.

Pinned down by the constant spellfire from the demoness, Wanda could see the redheaded alien recovering and taking flight again, arcing above Wanda and gathering a ball of green energy in her hands. The intent was clearly to flank Wanda and overwhelm her from one side, but if they thought she would be easy prey, they were sorely underestimating her. Maintaining her shield with one hand, Wanda reached out with her free one, feeling her fingers brush up against the invisible threads of reality and probability. Those threads sang to her like the most beautiful strings section imaginable - soothing harps and sharp violins and rumbling cellos - as Wanda envision the fates that they would summon. When she found one most suitable, she seized the threads with an ironclad grasp, giving them a twist.

Out of nowhere, a pair of Canadian geese flew right into the alien girl. Infamous for being ornery and violent, the two geese immediately honked and snarled and pecked at the girl that dared to be anywhere near their flight path, pecking and honking at her in a flurry of feathers.

"Xh'al! Friend Raven, help! I am being attacked by Earth creatures most foul!"

The demon-mage paused for a moment, her **** turning down from a deluge to a mere drizzle, as she watched her friend be bested by a pair of water fowl. Wanda pounced upon that reprieve, red light dancing along her free hand, as she directed it towards her shadowy attacker. Still in the darkness, Wanda saw the silhouette of her attacker suddenly sink into the earth, the ground beneath her becoming a swampy sinkhole that swallowed her up before hardening once more.

Both foes temporarily disable, Wanda dropped her shield and then extended her magical senses outwards to both women, distressed and panicked and totally unprepared to defend. Her power reach towards them, seizing their bodies in the form of crackling red energy dancing about them. Wanda raised her arms, before suddenly and dramatically pulling them together. Her two captured victims followed the path carved by her motions, the demoness being pulled out of the ground, still sealed in a cube of earth, and the alien hurtled through the air. They collided, like hammer and anvil, smashing together in with **** enough to knock out any normal human.

Dirt and asphalt rained down, followed by the two bodies of the attackers, hitting the ground in a heap, vaguely stirring in the aftermath of the telekinetic car wreck. Wanda was under no illusion that they were finished, but it would be enough to flee, recover, and figure out a plan of attack. Wasting no time, Wanda turned on her heel and-

Suddenly came face-to-face with a ghost of her path.

"Wanda." Said the android before her.

"Viz..." Said Wanda, her voice a whisper on the wind.

Vision took step forward and Wanda took a step back, spooked. Confused. This... made no sense. Vision, her long-lost love, could not be here. He just couldn't. He was dead. And yet...

Vision extended an arm, taking another step forward. "Please, there's no time." He pleaded. "Come with me, Wanda. I'll take you somewhere safe."

Voice got in her throat, Wanda shook her head, mouthing denials over and over. This couldn't be real. There was no way. No way. No matter how much she wanted it to be true.

"Wanda..." Vision said again, closing the gap between them ever further. "There is no time. You have to come with me, love."

That set Wanda off. Despair and trepidation steeled into resolve and sparked into fury. This was not real. This was not her husband. This was a ghost.

And how dare they wear Vision's face and use his voice!?

"ENOUGH!" Wanda roared, unleashing a wave of chaos magic to dispel the illusion. The red energy crashed over the false Vision like a wave, stripping them of their stolen identity. Wanda had assumed this trickery was magical in nature, but the feedback told her it was a biological function. Regardless, it did the trick, as "Vision" transformed into another redheaded young woman, this one with freckled green skin.

Wanda snarled in abject anger, gathering up her power in swirling storms upon her hands. "I will not let you desecrate his memory, or play with my heart. You will pay for this!"

The woman did not so much as wilt at Wanda's proclamation and display of power. Instead, she steadied herself, placing one hand on one of her temples and extending the other - palm open - towards Wanda. Her eyes began to glow and almost immediately, Wanda felt the piercing lance of her psychic ****.

The light gathered at her fingertips turned into wisps, as Wanda fell to her knees, screaming.

It was like her head was being skewered by a red-hot iron rod, the psychic probe taking advantage of her emotionally compromised state and ripping through her considerable psychic defences with ease. It was both powerful and unsubtle in it's scope, Wanda feeling the green-skinned woman rifling through her memories and emotions, feeling every single psychic fingerprint pawing at her mind. At the same time, she was vaguely aware her other two attackers had recovered and were back on her feet, seeing them creep behind her via her periphery.

"G-get.... get out... my mind...." Wanda tried her hardest to fight against the pain and ignore the unearthed trauma, steeling her emotions and gathering her power. "Out... get out... get out..." A veritable storm of crackling red chaos magic began to muster itself in the space above her head. The three women, formed in a triangle around Wanda, stalked forward at a deliberate pace. "out... out... out... get out of my head... I said... GET. OUT."

In the blink of an eye, the chaotic thundercloud exploded, unleashing it's yield in a howling storm of jagged ribbons of lightning that scored the ground in wide arcs, tearing up the asphalt in a cloud of debris. The street boiled and burst, everything exploding and launching into the air, including the alien, the demoness, and the psychic, barely able to react to the magical lightning bolts before they were sent hurtled away and blown to the ground.

Wanda swayed on unsteady feet, gasping and whimpering. All she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and weep, retreat to a safe space and hide from the cruel world about her. She felt violated, she felt sick, and she was utterly exhausted. Taking loud, gulping breaths, Wanda tried to find her centre and focus, as she still had something to do before she fled. She needed to erase the memories of these three women, to ensure they wouldn't come after her, ever again. And maybe, she just might find out their reasoning for attacking her.

"Laeh dna ezilativer ym seilla."

Wanda blinked. The echoing, backwards speech was silly, but she could feel the overwhelming magical power emanating from them. Immediately, the scrape and abrasions on the three down women vanished, as they stirred and woke, rising back to their feet. There was another enemy out there, a supremely powerful practitioner of the arcane arts.

It was another woman, making an overly dramatic and show entrance, walking through a row of streetlights as if they were spotlights, sashaying across centre stage with forceful, thoughtful steps of her stilettos. She was dressed strangely, almost like a stage magician - fishnets, waistcoat, top hat, the whole nine yards - and was undeniably gorgeous, eyes and teeth sparkling when she came face-to-face with Wanda.

"Wanda Maximoff." The magician gave her a jaunty smile and a flamboyant bow. "Your reputations proceeds you and exceeds my expectations. Bravo. You truly are a marvel, whereas I am more of a DC." Wanda could only gape in confusion, Zatanna chuckling politely. "Apologies. An inside joke."

Wanda felt faint, her entire body tremble. She tried to put on a brave face. "Who are you? What do you want?" She asked, voice thick, her Eastern European accent ricing in timber and depth. The magician offered her an enigmatic smile.

"My name is Zatanna Zatara and I need you and your powers to help someone very dear to me."

Wanda sneered, baring her teeth in distaste. Clearly, this Zatanna was up to no good if she decided to sick her goons on her. "Many people have tried to bend me to their will before. I do not like being **** to do something." Wanda attempted to sound threatening, going as far to spark more chaos magic in her hands.

Zatanna shook her head and let out a small, gentle laugh. "Oh, Wanda, dear. Look at you. You look like a newborn deer, barely able to keep upright. Not to mention how much of your power you used to defend yourself against Raven and the others." Zatanna then inclined hear head, giving Wanda a knowing smile. "Just come gently, please.

"Llaf otni a peed peels."

Once more, the backwards speech was accompanied by an outpouring of magical power, nearly enough to sweep Wanda off her feet. She was far too lethargic and exhausted to defend herself, as the world began to spin around her, her legs growing weaker and watery-er, and her eyelids growing heavy, fluttering rapidly.

The last thing Wanda saw was Zatanna's gracious, beautiful smile, before she succumbed to the darkness of slumber.

////

Zatanna knelt on the ground, Wanda's head in her lap, stroking her thick, auburn hair and murmuring happily. She was already a beautiful woman, but the peaceful countenance on her sleeping form made her seem almost angelic. She was sure that Rob would love her.

"So that was it." Raven croaked, as she, Starfire, and Megan approached Zatanna. "We were bait. A distraction." Raven frowned deeply. "You never intended for us to be able to beat her."

"Apologies, dear Raven." Zatanna said, not bothering to look away from the sleeping Wanda. "To be fair, I thought there was a slim chance the three of you would prevail, but your efforts were absolutely necessary. If I were to face Wanda here in a one-on-one duel, I believe the victor would be determined by a coin flip." Then, she looked up at Raven, her gaze hardening. "We could not afford to take that chance."

"And you're certain she will benefit the Master?" Megan asked. She stood the furthest distance away from Wanda, eyes narrowed and green complexion paled. "I was poking inside her head, seeing her memories. She seems dangerous. Unstable." Zatanna scoffed dismissively.

"People have been labelling women as 'unstable' or 'witches' for centuries, all in the name of belittling them and controlling them. Wanda is a victim, desperately seeking happiness but always having it cruelly torn away." In her research for this mission, Zatanna had become very familiar with the Scarlet Witch, both in her power-set, as well as her history. How many times had Wanda been the victim of senseless tragedy? Had lovers or children torn from her? Made into a villain because of said trauma?

Rob would give her the peace and happiness she deserved, finally soothing the Scarlet Witch's tortured soul.

"We still have work to do, though, ladies." Zatanna announced to her collective posse. "We need to make Wanda understand the bliss of being part of the harem and serving our Master. I have a safehouse prepped. Are we all ready to go?"

Megan, Raven, and Star agreed quickly and readily, with Zatanna immediately gathering her power.

"Ekat eht evif fo su ot ym esuohefas!"

/////

So, yes, as many of you predicted (some openly, others I am assuming more privately) Zatanna's target was Wanda, another comic book spellcaster and reality-warper. I do like the symmetry of it all though, I will not, like with Zatanna, Wanda's presence and powers don't immediately give Rob an "I win" button where he can do whatever he wants. Wanda's great feats of reality warping always came during moments of emotional stress, so Rob will still have to work for something like omnipotence.

Also, Wanda's inclusion is important for advancing the theme that Rob is "saving" these girls from cruel, heartless stories. Yes, Rob is delusional and self-serving in that manner, but with Wanda, it has some merit. In doing my research on her character history, holy shit, this is a character who eat so much shit throughout her existence. If you though what happens to her in "WandaVision" or "Multi-Verse of Madness" is bad, try "Avengers: Disassembled" or "House of M" on for size. And it's actual sexist, ableist stuff, too. Oh, she's a highly emotional and unstable female suffering from mental trauma - let's make her the bad guy because she can't handle her emotions.

Anyway, rant aside, stay tuned for more, as we near the end of this portion of the story and move onto the next. I would say, up until Rob meets Zatanna is the first part of the story, and when we get to the chapter where Rob reunites with Zatanna and meets Wanda, that would end the second part. Third part and beyond is gonna be wild, though, and we aren't stopping anytime soon!