#and now wanda's backstory is known and will probably never change again

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #187: The Call of the Mountain Thing!

September, 1979

Still a great title.

And a pretty great cover.

Chthon!Wanda front and center with the Avengers floating upside down lightly napping around her as the sky catches fire.

Shit gonna go down, most probably.

How did we come to this?

Last time: An old man kidnapped Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver by stuffing their souls into some dolls. He was thwarted by the Avengers but the twins decided to go on vacation with the old man anyway on a journey to rediscover their mysterious origins. They traveled to their homeland of Transia, a small country between Romania and Serbia full of quaint villages and angry mobs. Modred, the Wi-Fi Wizard, lured Wanda up the mountain where he shot her in the back twice and enabled his master Chthon to possess her body. Chthon’s first order of business: put on an eviller, sexier outfit.

Meanwhile, Quicksilver fell down a mountain and right into a rich spring of exposition and retcons when he met Bova, the cow-woman midwife who helped birth him. She explained to him what his real backstory was, dropped hints that his real dad was Magneto, and cooked him a hot meal. Upon learning that Wanda is now evil and sexy, Quicksilver rescued Django Maximoff (aforementioned kidnapper and the twins real dad in terms of who actually raised them) from some trees and called the Avengers for help. But alas, Pietro and Django were exploded and then captured by the possessed Wanda.

So that brings us to now.

Which is the Avengers arriving in, or rather over, Transia.

QUINJET!

God. That is a huge windshield.

Anyway, the Avengers have arrived but the weather is still going bonkers and the Quinjet is going crazy too. Although the art doesn’t really reflect this, three engines are out and the instruments are going crazy.

So. Yeah. They’re going to crash.

In the finest tradition of Quinjets.

Cap realizes that they have to bail. Good thing that three of them can fly and one of them has a rocket belt.

Oh yeah, the roster for today is: Captain America, Ms Marvel (subbing in for Wanda), Falcon, Beast, the Wasp, and Wonder Man (subbing in for Iron Man).

We’re not very far into Gyrich’s new government mandated roster and the auxiliary Avengers have already been in more than the people he wanted.

Beast decides to stay on the Quinjet, wrestling the controls to make sure it doesn’t land on anyone.

But Wonder Man decides ‘nah.’ He picks up Beast, slaps his rocket belt on him, and throws him out of the Quinjet.

Because, hey. Wonder Man is indestructible. If anyone is going to stay at the helm of a crashing ship it makes sense for it to be him.

Beast is less than enthused. Mostly because his unfamiliarity with the rocket belt leaves him flying upside in peak comedic fashion.

Anyway, in the Quinjet, Wonder Man wrestles with the controls, having second thoughts about this brave thing he did (and good job, Wonder Man! What with your insecurities and fear of dying!).

Finally, it just becomes impossible to keep the Quinjet airborn anymore so it becomes more earthbound.

With a FWAWHOOMP.

The Avengers watch the crash with Cap basically going ‘welp hope he really was indestructible anyway lets get a move on.’

In fairness, he’s either entirely okay, dead, or incredibly inconvenienced so that’s a 2/3rds chance that there’s no point in checking on him.

Cap tells the Avengers that they’ll head to the village. Its the most likely place for Quicksilver to have placed his call from.

But then Modred shoots Cap in the back.

GODDAMMIT MODRED, ALWAYS WITH THE SHOOTING IN THE BACK

Luckily Cap had his shield and even magical attack must yield but it still knocked him off his feet.

Modred the DICK tells the Avengers that he’s here to fetch them to be disciples of the great Lord Chthon but Cap says nuts to that. And also “Avengers assemble!”

Falcon and Ms Marvel are the closest so they rush Modred first. Modred responds by conjuring up a shower of rocks from the ground which Falcon finds very off-putting.

Falcon: “Wha--? Holy crud! Just when it finally stops rainin’, this dude conjures up a shower of rocks!”

Ms Marvel: “Don’t talk about it, Falcon. Just do your job!”

Falcon: “Swell. For a minute there, I forgot I was the new kid on the block. But maybe I can make an impression on these high-and-mighty Avengers -- by layin’ in the first punch!”

And Falcon has finally thrown a punch as an Avenger! Shame that he now feels that the other Avengers are looking down on him just because Ms Marvel (herself a new kid on the block) snapped at him.

Also shame that Modred completely no-sells the punch. And then uses Leaf Storm against Falcon. Despite it being a grass type move it is Super Effective anyway.

... So basically Modred gestures and a bunch of leaves just clump around Falcon until he falls over and I guess he’s out of the fight. Defeated by leaves. How ignominious his first issues have been.

Meanwhile, elsewhere: Beast was so bad at rocket belt that he actually crashes into a snowbank far away from everyone else.

Which makes me notice. None of the other Avengers wondered where he was! They were about to set off towards the village and Falcon was concerned about Wonder Man who was in the crashed Quinjet but nobody was like ‘shouldn’t Beast have joined us by now?’ or ‘should we wait for Hank McCoy, the best Hank in our lives?’

You’re not the only one going unappreciated, Falcon.

So, Beast crashes into a snowbank and spots something shiny.

Maybe its part of the Quinj-OHNOOOOOOOOPE ITS A SKULL

Its a non-human skull. Looks animalian even. But it was wearing armor. What a puzzlement.

And Beast sits on the side of the mountain thinkering on that puzzlement.

Meanwhile, Modred, the Wi-Fi Wizard, continues to throw rocks.

Cap can block the rocks with his mighty shield and Ms Carol Marvel is good at aerial maneuvering so she’s dodging and weaving through the motion lines towards Modred.

So instead he hits her with lightning.

Yer a jerk, Modred.

I’m a bit surprised that a single lightning bolt took her out though. In the recent Avengers Annual #8 she tanked an electrical attack by Dr. Spectrum and then punched her through the wall.

Then again, a point is made much down the line that for all of Carol Marvel’s ability to absorb and redirect energy, she has trouble with magic.

So. Sure.

Cap thinks to himself, hey, sure Modred took down Falcon and Ms. Marvel like nothing but dangit he’s up against an old war-horse full of guile and stuff.

So he cleverly throws his shield to the side, relying on its mighty boomerang-ish qualities to make Modred yield upside the back of the head.

But magic is bullshit and a tree snags Cap’s shield out of thin air.

So Cap jump kicks Modred right in the wi-fi.

The second good hit on Modred all issue. Falcon got the first. Yay, Falcon!

But just like Cap, the minor thrill of hitting this jerk is quickly eclipsed by what a jerk he is and how much bullshit magic is.

Modred hits Cap with hurricane force winds that create a vacuum so Cap can’t breath and passes out.

Also, the THWIP gesture is magical. I wonder if Spidey knows.

Meanwhile, the crashed Quinjet.

Actually crashed in largely one piece. From the FWAWHOOMP, I assumed the crash site would be worse but Wonder Man did a good job.

Although he’s not exactly thinking ‘any landing you can walk away from.’ He’s actually grousing that the FAA would take away his license if he had one. Which I’m not sure if that’s actually true. Landing a disabled plane in any reasonable shape doesn’t seem like they’d penalize it. Although flying without a license...

Anyway, Wonder Man sees a big ball of light flying towards him but he’s no sooner recognized it as Wanda (or sexy, evil Chthon!Wanda anyway) than she has paralyzed him with magic and carried him away for nefarious reasons.

Back at the Modred and Modred gloats about having defeated all of the Avengers.

Yup. Beat Falcon with leaves, Carol with magical lightning, and Cap with a stiff breeze. With Wonder Man and Quicksilver captured by possessed Wanda and Beast thinkering on a mountain somewhere, that’s every single Avenger yesiree.

And then Wasp blasts Modred unconscious to punish him for forgetting she exists because she can’t punish the narrative or the writers. They remain forever frustratingly out of reach.

Although, She-Hulk becomes her bestie later on. Hook your bestie up with some writer punching, She-Hulk.

Wasp’s own victory is as shortlived as Modred’s as she gets shot in the back by Chthon!Wanda.

We just can’t have nice things.

Chthon!Wanda pink energy floats the defeated Avengers up Wundagore mountain and probably to where that alter was.

An alter seems a good place to do what Chthon!Wanda is getting ready to do.

Step one in conquering the world using the power of the Darkhold is creating a circle of upside-down floaty people.

Step two is doing some expositing. Why should Bova (the cow-woman midwife who delivered both the twins and some amazingly convoluted backstory in previous issues) have all the fun?

Chthon reveals (to Modred who presumably already knows?) that Chthon and his sister were the last of the Earth-Spirits that came before the gods. But while his sister infused her essence in all living things and became Mother Earth (Thor’s mom?), Chthon feared death and fled to a nether plane, leaving behind the Darkhold (scribed in words of FIRE) to provide a gateway for his eventual return.

It was not a plan without some setbacks.

Although the Darkhold is an indestructible tome that was used and miused by various people throughout the years while Chthon bided his time, in the sixth century the Darkhold was found by Morgan le Fey of Arthurian significance.

And obviously a person like Morgan le Fey when confronted with an evil book that was a gateway to a banished spirit on a nether plane would immediately try to summon said banished spirit to serve her.

So. That didn’t go well.

Upon realizing that Chthon was not, in fact, controllable as such, Morgan and co tried to shove Chthon back into the nether plane. They weren’t able to do that but at least they shoved Chthon into a mountain and decided close enough for magical work.

Around this time Magnus, a member of Morgan le Fey’s coterie, decided hey maybe this Darkhold is actually... bad news? And stole it to hide in an enchanted tower where no one with evil intent could enter.

Did you catch the immediate loophole there?

Yeah. Those with benevolent intentions could enter the tower.

Geez. This sounds like a quest in a fantasy story and/or video game. I mean, I guess this is a fantasy story. With high tech knights in a little bit but definitely fantasy. But like... this is a very Skyrim sidequest.

Anyway, Modred (before he was as much of a dick) entered the tower to use the Darkhold for good reasons and “paid for that folly with his soul!”

So I guess Chthon isn’t telling this story to Modred despite him being the only one conscious to listen to it because Chthon referred to Modred as ‘him’ instead of ‘you.’ I guess Chthon is just talking to himself.

Anyway. The Darkhold was later removed from the tower by St. Brenden and again passed through many hands through many years until it landed with Gregor Russoff. Who managed to curse his own name with the Darkhold’s evil.

He was the werewolf that I mentioned in previous posts that killed Jessica Drew’s mom.

Anyway, to fund his new hobby of EVIL, Russoff sold off part of his estate to some scientists, which included Wundagore mountain. Because people can just own mountains. Casually. People can just casually own mountains.

Obviously, one of the buyers was Herberet Wyndham, later to be known as the High Evolutionary.

The scientists found uranium in them thar hills and used that wealth to build Wundagore (the city).

Chthon was pretty confused about all this ‘science’ and ‘genetic abominations that were part man and yet part animal.’ But you don’t have to understand stuff to capitalize on it.

But Chthon wasn’t able to do that either. Magnus, the renegade tower building ex-follower of Morgan le Fey, ended up as a colleague of the High Evolutionary and taught the New Men chivalry, which rendered them unsuitable for Chthon’s purposes.

Chthon attacked Wundagore anyway, through his host the Other, but ended up vanquished “by the combined might of sixth century sorcery and twentieth century science.” And also by animal-people in armor, riding ‘atomic steeds.’

Which is. I mean. A giant screaming demon face fought with magic, technology, and the Knights of Wundagore.

That’s a prime contender for a ‘greatest story scarcely told’ moment.

These events do seem to get fleshed out a little bit more but only in the far off year 1988 in an X-Men annual during the Evolutionary War.

But even in defeat (by animal-men taught chivalry by an ancient wizard and riding atomic hoverbikes), Chthon planned for future victory.

It just so happened that a child was born in Wundagore the night of Chthon’s defeat. And as Chthon was resealed into the mountain, he imbued baby Wanda with latent magical potential to complement her powerful mutant gift.

Way to screw everything up, Magda. You bring a fetus to a demon mountain and you wander off into the snow to die? You’re the worst.

Although I suppose a question here is why just Wanda? Why not hedge your bets and imbue both Wanda and Pietro? As we’re about to see, Chthon had to kick and scream to get Wanda to this very situation that he needed her to be in and with double babies at least he would have had options.

Well, I know the reason is that this is a development from Wanda learning magic which was a development from her codename containing witch. But in story, why did Chthon put all his eggs in the Wanda basket?

Maybe he had has his heart set on that evil, sexy outfit. But if you think Pietro couldn’t rock that ensemble, Chthon, you need to be more open-minded.

Anyway, apparently even sealed in a mountain, Chthon had enough influence over Wanda to dampen her mutant powers several times in hopes that she would decide to learn magic to make up for it.

But it was only her introduction to Agatha Harkness that Wanda learned of her magical potential. And lets not forget that she almost immediately got possessed by Mephisto there so maybe learning magic was a bad idea.

It has gotten her possessed two and a half times by this point. Mephisto, Chthon, and I’m counting the Serpent Crown as half.

Maybe Agatha Harkness should have taught her ways to defend herself against possession before declaring that there was nothing further she could teach her.

Anyway, with Wanda now knowing magic and still having her science-spawned mutant powers, she was at least worthy of being Chthon’s dual-natured host. Because if science and magic beat him once, why, he’d just combine the two for his own good! Eat it, High Evolutionary and Magnus!

The last detail of getting Modred as a servant was taken care of by contriving a battle between Modred and the Other to gain complete control over the Wi-Fi Wizard and then having Modred trick Magnus into being half a world away when Chthon rose again.

Chthon!Wanda: “And now I have completely subjugated the soul of Wanda Frank, her body, her scientific and sorcerous abilities belong only to Chthon! And with them, I shall bend all of nature to my will!”

Now the only thing that can stop Chthon is natural light.

Because that chalk white complexion cannot stand up against any UV rays.

That’s just a headcanon but. She’s snow white.

Anyway, Modred senses something approaching interrupting this long exposition slash backstory dump told for noone’s benefit except the audience and Chthon who just loves to hear himself talk.

AND THE INTERLOPER IS A KNIGHT OF WUNDEGORE!

Or actually Beast who dug a skeleton out of a snowbank and stole its clothes, as ya do. He didn’t even know the connection to what was going on. Having heard the entire backstory that Chthon told somehow despite only now having approached close enough to make Modred’s sorcerous senses tingle, he realizes that it was a good idea because of the psychological impact on Chthon!

So I guess prior to overhearing that, Beast just put on a suit of armor he found in a snowbank because this whole alter on a mountain thing was so Skyrim he couldn’t help but loot a dead body?

Anyway, Knight Beast skewers the Darkhold with his lance.

Modred attempts to magic at him but thankfully Modred needs a stanza before getting around to anything which leads him to being SHHUK’d right in the throat with Cap’s shield.

Beast’s flashy entrance was enough to distract Chthon and loosen the bonds on the Avengers. And its a very flashy entrance. That is some snazzy golden armor.

Around this point we get to learn that apparently the primary diet of an ancient Earth-Spirit who had been sealed into a mountain is the scenery. Because Chthon gets downright hammy.

Some examples: “Wha -- no! A knight of Wuuuuundegore!” , “You triiiiicked me!” , “Yesssss! Hurt meeeee! It will only make the paaaaain of your chastisement that much sweeeeeter!” , “Weak souls taste looooovely!”

Aside from the chalky complexion, Chthon also goes increasingly more monster face as this goes on eventually looking like Voldemort with luxurious red hair.

Anyway, with the Avengers free and Chthon promising punishment for Beast’s trickery, Quicksilver just punches Chthon right in the face. Zero hesitation. Usually in these situations you get a dilemma like ‘but thats my friend/teammate/sister! I can’t hurt him/her/them!’ but Quicksilver just runs right up and pops Chthon one.

Good job, Pietro.

Meanwhile, Django Maximoff has an actual heart attack.

What is with Pietro and Wanda’s father figures having heart attacks? And how afraid should Magneto be??

But before Django falls down, he realizes that he’s still carrying that doll he used when he tried to kidnap Scarlet Witch before. He laments the loss of the Nivashi Talisman. If only he still had that he could kidnap Wanda’s soul again. BUT FOR GOOD REASONS THIS TIME.

But... he does? The doll starts moving and speaking with Wanda’s voice.

And then Django falls down in startlement and also having an actual heart attack.

Quicksilver jumps to some conclusions and realizes that the Nivashi Talisman was bullshit, the magic was within Django all along! Or rather, it was the wood that the dolls were carved from that was magical!

Like the Puppetmaster’s radioactive clay, the wood of Wundagore was exposed to the uranium in the mountain and as everyone knows, radiation is basically magic.

Leaping to some other conclusions, Quicksilver grabs the doll and tries to will a swap between Wanda and Chthon’s soul - to trap Chthon in the doll and put Wanda back in her ever-Voldemorting body.

But it doesn’t work because sometimes grabbing a magical doll and hoping for the best just doesn’t pay off.

Quicksilver: “Damn! It’s not working! Nothing is happening!”

Chthon: “Of coooooorse not, mortal! Your will is too weeeeeak! But I don’t mind -- weak souls taste looooovely!”

Quicksilver gives up and apologizes to Wanda for failing but now its Ms Marvel’s time to jump to some conclusions.

Clearly the problem is that none of the Avengers are trained magicians and can’t stand up to Chthon alone! But with the power of FRIENDSHIP maybe, just maybe, they can Care Bear Stare Chthon into defeat!

So the Avengers all touch Quicksilver and he tries again.

But this time, with TEAMWORK and wishing really hard, a powerful pink energy glow suffuses the Avengers.

“And thus ensues a literal battle of wills, as six struggling heroes pool their concentration into a phalanx of sorcerous thought, hoping to restore a soul -- and in the process, save a world! On the receiving end of that emotional barrage, Chthon gloats -- but it is an exultation short-lived, for he had underestimated that force which some humans call ‘good’ and others call ‘love.’ And thus the very heavens shriek with Chthon’s anger as his essence is torn forcibly from its newly-conquered vessel to replace the soul of Wanda Frank, trapped in an effigy of carven wood.”

Okay but be that as it may, they basically do a Care Bear Stare.

Jury is out on which Avenger is which bear.

(Cap is Patriotism Bear)

And as Wanda regains her rapidly un-Voldemorting body (I also notice that her evil, sexy costume turns back to normal. Interesting morality indicator...), she yells at Quicksilver to do something with the doll.

So he throws it off the mountain.

Good job, Pietro.

Throwing cursed objects into the distance means they’ll never return to harm anyone ever again.

Okay. I shouldn’t be snide. He throws Chthon!Doll into the crater where Wundagore city was and then Wanda uses a “combination hex bolt and mutant blast” to collapse the mountain on top of the doll.

I thought her hex bolts were her mutant power but whatever.

So Chthon has gone from being trapped in a nether plane to being sealed inside a mountain to being sealed inside a Scarlet Witch action figure underneath a mountain.

I can’t tell if that’s a lateral move or not.

Chthon ain’t pleased either way.

But alas. This victory came at a price. Although Django Maximoff’s magic and belief gave them the key to victory, he died of his heart attack. And never once did he stop loving the twins or ever get their names right.

Wanda and Pietro decide to bury him in the forest that he loved so much.

Dammit, he died too soon!

He may not have been the biological father but he’s the one that helped raise Wanda and Pietro and there’s so much dad stuff he could have done with them! Like awkward thanksgiving dinners with Magneto!

This story makes a big deal about setting up a new, real backstory for the twins and then quickly gets rid of any complications of that new backstory. Django really raised them? He dead now.

Making the Whizzer their dad at least kept the Whizzer around as a possible dadly figure. Also he’s had like five heart attacks and he’s still ticking. Give me back Django!

Anyway.

There’s the question of what to do with Modred. He was so linked to Chthon that without the demon to guide him, he’s become as mindless as an infant.

And there’s no way the Avengers are going to take care of him. They didn’t take care of teaching Loki to poop again when he lost his mind and he was Thor’s brother. Of course they’re going to pawn Modred off on Bova, cow-woman midwife.

She doesn’t mind though. Caring for children is what she was created for and teaching an ancient wizard to poop again is close enough for her.

And with no follow-up to see if Bova has adequate childcare facilities or has adult child proofed her home, the Avengers head off to return home.

Luckily Wonder Man crashed the Quinjet in mostly one piece because they’re not going to be able to borrow a jet in Transia. I don’t think there’s even a train station.

Also, Beast is still wearing the Knight of Wundagore armor and still has the very evil and corruptive Darkhold book just impaled on the lance.

I’m... are you just going to take that home, Beast??!

I think part of the Darkhold is later going to end up in Doctor Doom’s hands and after that the whole thing ends up in the Vatican but its unclear what Beast did with it in the interim.

Anyway, that's the end of a story that we can call Yesterday Quest or perhaps Wanda and Pietro Return Home And It Was Awful But At Least They Met Bova.

I think I’ve been pretty clear about what I think about it. Every time they change the Maximoff’s backstory they just make it even more spaghetti nonsense but this spaghetti nonsense was entertaining and brought us a lot of good stuff like Bova the cow-woman midwife, the High Evolutionary desperately trying to get rid of some babies, the Avengers using the Care Bear Stare, Cap going all the way over Gyrich’s head to the president, Wasp getting to Do A Thing, and Quicksilver falling down a mountain.

I don’t think stuff like Wanda’s magical potential needed a big backstory explanation and it just raises questions about why Pietro wasn’t also tapped as a potential host body and while this isn’t the first time Wanda ends up possessed (its the second and a half) I think it does contribute to an unfortunate trend of Wanda being possessed or going evil and sexy that writers really need to just get over.

I do think its a shame that Falcon still has not had a good showing in the book. Beast got several issues dedicated to what a good Avenger he would be. And I know that Falcon doesn’t even want to be here but he also wants to look good and the more he’s made to look ineffectual the more I can’t help but feel that this is an intentional tactic. It feels like Michelinie had an anti-affirmative action agenda to push and Falcon is both the catspaw and victim of that agenda.

Just let Falcon do cool stuff. I know he’s not long for this team. JUST LET HIM BE COOL.

Aside from that, its neat to see the backup Avengers concept so immediately put into action. With Iron Man busy with his own biz in Demon in a Bottle, Wonder Man is tapped to fill his spot on the team.

Setting up a flexible roster like that offers a lot of interesting possibilities for mixing things up.

Next time: David Michelinie takes a break from writing for a few issues and the Elements of Doom!

Which weirdly have nothing to do with Victor von.

Follow @essential-avengers if you like Bova, think Quicksilver could rock Wanda’s evil sexy costume, or just enjoy this liveblog.

[cjsinkythoughts]

In Need of a Breath

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Reader

Word Count: 4007

Warnings: !FATWS SPOILERS!, Cursing, Zemo, Feelings, Another PTSD Flashback

A/N: So…Part 4 is going to have a couple parts to it. Maybe even three. I didn’t even make it half way through the episode on this one, mainly because I really wanted to fit in the Reader’s backstory and I wanted her and Sam to have a heart-to-heart again. I’m suuuuper tired, so I probably won’t be posting the next part for another few hours (it’s 5 am right now and I haven’t slept), BUT it’s my day off work and I won’t be doing anything I planned because my grandmother had a stroke a couple days ago so plans have changed and I’m staying in to help her, meaning I’ll mostly be writing all day. 

This Part is kind of a mix between off-screen and shot-by-shots, but it’s mostly off screen/what’s going on inside Reader’s head.

I’m really excited about future parts and the characters that are being introduced! I will say that after these parts, I will be doing one shots of previous MCU movies with the Reader, due to the information that is being given about the Reader now. You kind of see more of how she was affected/how she affected the previous MCU movies and what she was doing during that time.

Like always, this hasn’t been beta’d, again it’s SUPER early in the morning, and I’m really tired, so please excuse any mistakes! I hope you guys enjoy this part! Stay tuned for more to come later today!

FATWS MASTERLIST

cjsinkythoughts MASTERLIST

!SPOILERS UNDER CUT!

“You know…I’m really starting to regret saying yes to this.” You huffed out, craning your neck and squinting your eyes against the sun as you stare at the facility in front of you, hating the skin-crawling feeling of being back.

“Would you relax? Whenever you’re nervous, I get nervous, and I don’t wanna be nervous about this.” Sam shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

“Do either of you have a better plan?” Bucky grumbled, crossing his arms.

Gnawing on your lips, you finally take the lead and breathe out, “alright. Let’s go then.” You could feel the hesitance from your - what were they? Partners? Coworkers? Teammates? - the fellas before they started after you.

There was a sick twist in your gut as you entered the building, going through the lobby and security.

You had been there.

You had been there when Zemo impersonated Bucky. You had been there when Zemo unleashed the Winter Soldier at the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre Building in Berlin. You had been there during the battle at the airport. You had been there when Zemo turned Tony and Steve against each other in Siberia. You had been there when Zemo tore the Avengers from the inside out. Your family. The only family you’d ever known.

But you’d always been good about pushing your personal feelings aside for the sake of the mission. It’s what you’d been born to do. All you ever knew.

“Hey. Doll. You hear me?”

“Hmm. What?” You looked up from the ground to look into those enchanting blue oceans Bucky had for eyes, staring worriedly down at you, eyebrows pinched and forehead creased.

“I’m going in alone.” You frowned, opening your mouth to argue, but he shook his head. “Sam already agreed-”

“I didn’t necessarily agree-”

“You’re an Avenger, sweetheart.” Bucky tilted his head, speaking softly, those eyes of his worried. Worried for you. It made your stomach flip. “And you were there in Siberia, and that almost makes it worse. Especially considering you went after him. Just…just let me do this, okay?”

You cracked your knuckles nervously as you thought. It was a terrible idea. But it was an idea. And it was all they had. “Okay.” You finally relented, shrugging as your hands hit your thighs and slid up to your hips. “But don’t do anything stupid.”

“Steve took all that with him.”

Knowing about their little inside joke, you scoffed. “Sure he did. Go before I change my mind.”

You watched him walk down the hallway, hands fidgeting with excess nerves. “I think you’re the only one he actually seeks approval from.”

“Good thing I’m so lenient then, huh?” You joked, turning to Sam with a strained smile. Your smile slipped at the curious expression on Sam’s face, his eyes darting to each of your features. “What?”

“Are you doing okay?”

You groaned, throwing your head back. You thought you got out of talking about your feelings back in Baltimore. “Oh my God, Sam-”

“I’m serious. You…you just don’t seem like yourself.”

You shook your head, looking down the hall to where Bucky disappeared before turning back to him. It was weird to have a self that people recognized. Your whole life you’d been searching for it and when you finally found it…everything went to shit. “Honestly, Sammy, the only time I’ve ever felt like myself was with the team. Zemo took that away from me and now we’re here, practically begging him for help.”

Sam hummed, leaning against the wall. “Have you thought of taking a break?”

“What?”

“A break.” At your bewildered look, he rolled his eyes. “Cher, this time last year most of us were dead. This time a few months ago you found out about Wanda. This time last week you were out looking for her. Maybe you should just stop and take a breather.”

Shoving your hands in your pocket and looking at the floor, you couldn’t help but snort at his advice. “I haven’t taken a breather since I was eighteen.”

He clicked his tongue. “That’s my point. FBI academy as soon as you graduated. SHIELD recruit by 21, undercover operations leader by 24? Slow down. You’re in your thirties. Next thing you know, you’re gonna be ninety something, lying on your deathbed, wishing you had stopped to smell the roses.”

“If I live to be ninety, shoot me.” He chuckled in amusement. “I’m so fucking serious, Sam. I will not be put in an old folks home to play Bingo and be pushed around in a wheelchair. It ain’t happening.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” There was that infectious smile, which you unconsciously grinned back at. “Y/N…I’m serious. You’ve been in and out of missions since you were a teenager. What’s the shortest undercover operation you’ve done?”

“I dunno.”

He gave you an unimpressed look. “Yeah you do.”

Licking your lips, you turned away and shrugged. “A couple months. Seven weeks and three days, to be precise. September to October in 2012.”

“And the longest?”

“August 2007 to May 2009. Twenty one months.” 

Letting out a puff of air through his nose, Sam pushed himself off the wall and caught your chin between his fingers to make you look at him. “That’s nearly two years under cover. And I’m sure you went right back under after-”

“I was sitting at a desk for four months doing paperwork on it.” You defended yourself.

He shook his head, brows knitting together, lips drawn down. “You say that as if four months is enough time.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore, Sammy. I’m out. I’ve been out since Ultron and Sokovia. I haven’t been under in almost a decade-”

“A decade half the world was dead for half of-”

“I wasn’t!”

“I never said you were.” Sam sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. You were always amazed at his ability to keep his emotions in check. To stay cool under pressure. Sometimes you forgot how experienced he was with dealing with other people’s trauma. It was no wonder why Steve thought he’d be good for Bucky. “Listen. All I’m saying is once this is done…don’t go diving back into searching for Wanda. Don’t go running to the kid every time he calls - and I know you’ve been doing that-”

“It’s just been homework and stuff-”

“Y/N.” You stopped, biting your lip at the stern look he gave you. “Go home. Order take out. Binge watch TV. Go for a jog through the park. Actually meet your neighbors. Go grocery shopping. Just…live. If only for a couple weeks. Don’t worry about anyone else. Don’t pick up the phone, don’t drop everything because someone needs you. You need you.”

“I-I…” You shook your head, looking at him, sincerely apologetic. “I can’t. I wish I could. But I can’t. I’ve never had one normal day in my life. I’ve never had someone to care for, never had someone to care for me. I can’t let people I’ve come to…I can’t let them think I don’t care. I don’t even know where I’d go.”

“Whaddya mean?”

You winced, not thrilled for his reaction to your next statement. “I, uh, I sold my apartment in D.C.”

He gaped at you in complete disbelief. “You got it in December!”

“I know, I know. I liked it. I really did, but…I dunno. Nomadic life has always suited me better. It’s what I grew up with.”

He took a breath, making you cringe again. You don’t think you’ve ever legitimately gotten on his nerves like this before. “Have you ever thought that, instead of going with the flow and jumping place to place, putting down roots might actually help?” He cut you off before you could say anything, holding up a finger to stop you from talking. “I can’t imagine going from foster home to foster home like you did. I can’t imagine not having a home for as long as you can remember. Louisiana’s my home. Always has, always will be. But I understand your life has been anything but stable. And maybe, just maybe, that’s why you need some stability.”

You clenched your jaw, crossing your arms. “The Avengers were my stability. Steve was my stability.”

“Because you loved him.”

“I’m not doing this with you again.” You turned to walk down to the lobby to wait for Bucky there, but Sam caught your arm.

“You were in love with him! It’s okay! You two were super close! No one would blame you! Why won’t you just admit it? I’m trying to understand! Why won’t you-”

You tugged your arm away, finally snapping at him. “Because he could never be mine, Wilson! Is that what you wanna hear?!” Sam took a step back at your exclamation. You closed your eyes, swallowing the lump in your throat and pushing down the tears. “He could preach all he wanted about moving forwards, Sammy, but we all knew he was stuck in the past. He visited the museum every Thursday because her interview showed in his exhibit on Thursdays. He carried around that broken compass because her picture was in it.” You looked back up at him sadly, shrugging. “And I get it; it’s hard to move past your first love. I get it because…that’s what he was to me.”

There was a silence that blanketed the hallway, before he spoke up hesitantly. “What about Bucky?”

“I thought - I thought I was projecting my feelings for Steve onto him because I knew Steve couldn’t ever…”

Sam raised an eyebrow. “You thought? What do you think now?”

You cleared your throat. “I’m still figuring that one out.”

“If you ever need to talk, I’ll be here.”

You chuckled, nodding slightly towards him. “Back atcha. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you not being yourself lately, either.”

“It’s…a tough topic.”

You nodded in understanding. “Just know that I’ll support every decision you make as long as you think it’s the right one. Because I trust you. Steve trusted you. It’s all we can do to try to do what’s right. That’s what makes you a good man, Sammy. He gave you that shield for a reason, and if you think what you did was right…I’ll stand by it.”

The two of you stared at each other for a moment, calming down in each other’s presences and taking comfort knowing you’d be there for each other through thick and thin. “Thank you, cher.”

“Of course, Sammy. Now let’s go see what’s taking the old grump so long.”

He laughed at that, nodding in agreement, taking your offered hand and squeezing it as you made your way down the hall.

****************

“What?”

Bucky eyed you as you spluttered, coughing on the water you were drinking. “Please don’t choke, doll.”

“Break him out of jail?!” You repeated his words and blinked at him, absolutely baffled by his plan. “Oh my God.” You groaned as Bucky and Sam started arguing, moving your flashlight around the room. “Where the hell are we?” There was no response as they kept going back and forth.

“Zemo’s gonna mess with our minds! Especially yours! No offense.”

“Heelllloooo!” You tried again. “Where the hell are we?!”

Bucky turned on the lights, giving Sam a look. “Offense.” Glancing at you he quirked an eyebrow. “Stop worrying your pretty lil’ head, sweetheart. You trust me, dontcha?” Your breath hitched at his words. You quickly recovered, huffing and pouting - although you’d deny ever pouting - and crossing your arms. You stood between the guys like that, eyes darting to whoever was speaking, waiting for them to stop so you could actually think.

“Look. Let me just walk you through a hypothetical. Can I walk you through a hypothetical?”

You and Sam exchanged glances. “What did you do?”

“I…didn’t do…anything.” Bucky shrugged.

“How is it that you, one of the most deadliest assassins basically ever, are one of the worst liars I know.” You tilted your head at him, an eyebrow quirking up in confusion.

“Shush it you. Just, okay. The weakest point in any system isn’t the software, the hardware, it’s the meatware. The human element.”

The more you listened to Bucky’s “hypothetical”, the stronger the gut feeling telling you this was a terrible terrible idea got. You brought your hands up to your head, eyes wide as he spoke.

“I don’t like how casual you’re bein’ about this. This is unnatural.”

You couldn’t help but agree with Sam’s words, your head falling back and your eyes closing. “Sweet Jesus. Listen, God, I know we don’t talk much these days, but please, please don’t let this not be a hypothetical. I’m fucking begging you.”

A noise to your right made your head snap over. “Oh hell to the fucking no!” You shook your head as Zemo himself walked in, wearing a prison guards uniform. “Uh-uh! No way! Bucky, this was not part of the plan!”

“What did you do?!”

“We need him!”

“You’re going back to prison.”

“If I may-”

All three of you faced him, simultaneously shouting, “no!”

You held your face in your hands as your head dropped, shaking back and forth, your eyes squeezing shut, tuning them out for just a minute to think. Bucky had a point. The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that, and the Avengers were technically disbanded, which was Zemo’s whole objective in the first place, but…God. You were good at compartmentalizing, but not that much. You were willing to put your feelings aside for the mission so Bucky could talk to him. Not for you to work with him. But he had connections, you knew he did, and he had information…

“Doll?” You looked up, Bucky anxiously licking his lips as he met your gaze. “I need you to say something.”

You looked to Sam, who shrugged, gesturing to Zemo. “What do you think?”

What did you think? What did you think?! You thought that it was the worst idea in the history of ideas and you should turn back and find another way! But…you knew this was the fastest, probably most reliable way to get information that you needed.

Dammit, since when were you the deciding factor?

You sucked in a breath, looking over Sam’s shoulder at Zemo, who lifted his hand in greeting. You raised your eyes to the ceiling, pointing your finger accusingly. “This is why we stopped talking.” Gaze dropping to the still waiting fellas, you gnawed on your lip, before hissing out, “ffffine…” Running a hand through your hair, you threw your hands up as you shrugged. “Fine. Okay. Fine.”

“Okay.” Sam nodded, taking charge again.

You couldn’t believe this was happening. Except, that was a lie. You could. You’d seen weirder. You’d experienced the impossible. Lived through the unbelievable. This…this was completely imaginable.

Which is why, with a lot of hesitation and very little confidence in this plan, you followed Zemo through the auto shop you were in until you reached a large room with a ton of different old cars.

Bucky’s hand found yours as Zemo explained what the plan was, rather vaguely, in your opinion, but at least he was explaining. Point for him. Not that it would make up for the level of distrust you held for him, but it was something.

You looked up at him, giving him a puzzling frown. He usually only grabbed your hand in front of other people when he was feeling anxious. Which, yeah, he had a right to be anxious right now, but it wasn’t the right kind. The type of anxiety caused by large crowds and loud noises, ones that startled him and threw him into a defensive mode.

But the look on his face made you squeeze his hand in reassurance. He was pouting, staring at you although he did something wrong - a puppy that tore up a pillow - and all you wanted to do was give him a hug.

“You’re mad at me.” He mumbled as the four of you headed out with Zemo in the lead.

“No I’m not.”

“Yeah you are. 

“Bucky, I’m not mad.”

“Listen, if I had a better idea I wouldn’t-”

You brought your linked hands up to your lips, pressing a gentle kiss to his gloved knuckles. “I’m not mad.” You repeated more firmly. “It’s just…a lot for me, right now.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“Nothing’s going on, Buck, I-I just…” You thought about your and Sam’s earlier conversation and suddenly understood what he meant. “I need to breathe for a second.”

His features twisted into ones of uncertainty, eyes squinting as you stepped outside. “Do you…do you wanna leave?”

You shook your head, tugging his arm to stop him and grabbing the sunglasses on his collar, slipping them over his eyes. “No. I just need some time to think. Hopefully the plane ride to wherever the hell we’re going will give me that.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, James. I’m sure.”

He lowered the glasses on his nose to scan you over the frames, before nodding and sliding them back up. “Okay. You ready for this, then?”

“No.” You breathed, turning back to where Zemo and Sam were still walking. “Let’s do this.”

*****************

Climbing onto the private jet, you raised an eyebrow at Sam, who shrugged, giving you a bemused expression. A Baron…huh…who knew? You feel like you should’ve, yet there you were.

You sat besides Bucky, across from Zemo, crossing your legs and leaning back while staring at him through narrowed eyes.

His butler seemed nice, which made you even more suspicious. You obviously didn’t know as much about Zemo as you wanted to. It was a habit you picked up after years of undercover work; once the mission was complete, that was that. There was no looking back on it. No sitting on it. It was over and you moved onto the next one. It was a bad habit in cases like this.

The moment you spotted the notebook over Zemo’s book you knew something was going to happen, yet you still flinched when Bucky lunged at him, grabbing his throat. You leaned back in your seat again, steadying your now racing heartbeat. You decided you were too tense, trying to relax your muscles as Bucky sat back down in his seat.

“I’ve seen that book. It was Steve’s when he came out of the ice. I told him about Trouble Man. He wrote it in that book.” Sam seemed so proud of himself that something he recommended was written in Steve’s little book and it made you smile.

You remembered that; Steve and you were supposed to meet up for coffee after his run, but Fury called him in so you rescheduled it for when he got back. He asked you about Marvin Gaye. For your opinion. You told him to check it out and make his own.

You remembered asking him about that little notebook of his, and he just shrugged you off telling you about his list. He would read items off to you, but he never let you read the book yourself. You never found out why, and you supposed you never would now. The thought made an ache behind your ribs that you’d come to familiarize yourself with appear.

You smiled a little more as Zemo and Sam told Bucky how awesome Marvin Gaye was. “C’mon, baby. Back me up.”

Chuckling, you looked at Bucky. “They’re not wrong. But,” you quickly added before Bucky could whine at you, facing Sam again. “Neither is Buck. I mean, c’mon. You can’t find music like the 40’s anymore. Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Fred Astaire. Ol’ Blue Eyes himself.”

“Thank you.” Bucky grinned at Sam, who rolled his eyes.

“Okay, okay. But, I mean, c’mon! Everybody loves Marvin Gaye.”

“I like Marvin Gaye.”

“Steve adored Marvin Gaye.”

Your face fell as Zemo started talking about Steve and icons and Red Skull, your mind once again slipping away from reality.

~

“Kids love you.” You giggled as you finally made it out of his exhibit. You’d wanted to show it to him since he moved to D.C., and you’d finally got an opportunity after coming back from being undercover for ten weeks. “You’re their hero, you know.”

“Yeah, well, I’m just trying to do what’s right.”

You nudged him, scoffing at his answer. “You’re too humble. You’re a national icon, you know.”

Steve shrugged, looking around the museum at the planes surrounding them. “I never wanted to be.”

“Why not? Everyone loves you.”

“I’m sure not everyone loves me.” He rolled his eyes. “And…I just wanted to help. To fight. Protect my country and the people I cared about. I-I didn’t ask for…all that.” He waved behind his shoulder where his exhibit was getting smaller with each step they took away. “People were dying. Bullies were winning.”

You shook your head, spinning and walking backwards besides him to face him. “Sure, but you did that. And you became someone people could look up to in the process.”

He narrowed his eyes at you before asking, “why do you do what you do?”

“...because I’m good at it?”

“Honey.” He gave you a look. “Answer the question.”

You hummed in thought. “Because I couldn’t stand by, knowing there would be orphaned kids if I didn’t help any way I could.”

“Alright. Why do you do it in the dark?”

“Whaddya mean?”

He shrugged. “Why don’t you come out and take credit for all the lives you’ve saved?”

“Because that’s not why I do it. I don’t want that attention. I just want to know I’ve helped people. I’ve kept them safe.”

He gave you a soft smile. “I just wanted to beat the bully. I never wanted to be a dancing monkey, too.” You looked at him in a new light then, understanding where he was coming from. “Watch out, honey!” He grabbed you and pulled you aside before you could crash into a wall, arms wrapped firmly around your waist. He gave you that charming smile of his. “Wouldn’t want you hurting that pretty lil’ head of yours, now would we?”

~

“Y/N!”

You snapped back into the conversation, moving your eyes from the window to Bucky, who tilted his head, eyebrows pinched and eyes narrowed. “Sorry. So, Madripoor. That’s a fun place.”

You ignored the side eyed glances Bucky and Sam exchanged, Sam turning to you curiously. “You’ve been?”

“Once. Back in 2010 for a few months”

Zemo raised his eyebrows. “You’re lucky to have gotten out.”

You shrugged nonchalantly. “Lucky, maybe. Skills were a part of it, too, though.”

“Good.” Zemo nodded. “Because we’re going undercover…and if we blow it. We’re dead.”

You breathed out, shaking your memory away and getting your head back into the game. Because like the man you were severely wary of in front of you said, if you blew this, you were dead. And, sure, you didn’t want to live until ninety, but you weren’t even half way there yet. So dammit if you were going to die soon.

“Hey.” You looked over at Bucky’s murmur, his head tilting as he grabbed your hand and pulled you from your seat closer to him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Are you okay? You know you’re going to have to be-”

“I know.” He nodded. You watched his Adam’s Apple bob as he swallowed thickly. “I’ll be fine. Just…tell me right now if you need to step out for this one.”

You gave him a smile that you knew he didn’t buy, just by the slight narrowing of his eye, his lips pressing together. “No. No, I’m good for this. If you think I’m gonna let you two idiots go into Madripoor with him - alone - oil that cyborg brain of yours, because there’s no way.”

He squeezed your hand, eyes still filled with uncertainty. “Are you sure?”

“If there’s even a slight possibility that I can protect you, then yeah. I’m sure, Buckaroo.”

[jadoue1999]

The X-Men and the member they lost - Chapter 5

Summary: Life in Westview was perfect, but a certain visitor would soon change all that.

Previous parts: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, 

Chapter 5: The circus

Life in Westview was very pleasant. Charles had only recently joined the Spectacular World of Rapturous Diversions and it quickly became his home. He had been accepted into the circus as the psychic. He had an extravagant room full of cushions for visitors to sit on and a table adorned with a crystal ball. The orb truly wasn’t necessary, it was all for show; he usually sensed whatever he had to no matter the accessory in front of him. He had come alone and wasn’t sure of the reception he would get. He didn’t remember much of who he was before he came to Westview. He had flashes once in a while of a grand mansion, a school perhaps? His lack of backstory didn’t bother him much. When one’s job was to see into people’s future and all sort, it was expected to not remember all of one’s past. Some people were bothered by his ability to read them like an open book, but he thankfully had made some friends.

There was a young man who insisted on people calling him Nightcrawler. He was wonderfully skilled in the art of disappearing. He had seen his act many times and never could figure out how he achieved it. The teen had been born with a peculiar skin condition; he had been shunned by everyone he had met until he had joined the circus. Charles had taken him under his wing, making sure he felt welcomed and supported.

Then there was Mystique. They had grown close very quickly. They had felt like they had known each other for a long time, their camaraderie was similar to one of siblings. He had stumbled upon her act by a lucky coincidence. He had been entranced by her many quick changes and how she could switch between outfits, accessories, and hair in mere seconds and flawlessly every time. He had knocked on her dressing room after her performance and they had talked for hours. They had been close friends since.

Then, there was Erik. He had been looking around the circus through the recently added acts and had found this ‘Magneto’ sign very intriguing. It led to a small stage where the man had various metal objects thrown at him. Some seemed very sharp, but they all fell a little before they reached him. His apparent control over the metal had earned him the nickname ‘man of steel’. Halfway through the performance, they had locked eyes. Strangely enough, it felt familiar? His act had ended quickly after that and the man walked up to Charles, asking him if they knew each other. As unexpected as the question was, he too felt a connection. Like they had gone through a thousand hardships together and had lived through high and lows for what seemed an entire lifetime. They had conversed the night away, talking about the circus and why they had come to Westview of all places. While Charles himself was simply looking for a place with people similar to him, Erik had a different answer. He had been looking for someone but hadn’t been able to remember who. He was certain that it was someone very close to him, someone he had known for awhile, but hadn’t known about his connection with them until recently. The psychic had tried to see whoever it could be, but all he could catch was a silver blur too quick to follow.

They were now playing a game of chess, a sort of bonding time between the two. The crystal ball was moved from its usual spot to make place for the board.

“So,” started Erik, breaking the silence after so long, “how did you end up in a wheelchair? You’re free to ignore the question if it’s a sensitive subject, of course.”

He frowned at the man’s question, how had he ended up in this situation? He closed his eyes in concentration, trying to activate his memory. He didn’t see much, there was an intense feeling of rage that wasn’t his own and he had blindly run towards it. Then, pain had suddenly coursed through his spine. The next thing he saw was that he had fallen and couldn’t feel anything in his legs. “I- I had a bad fall on a beach... I think.”

The man nodded and moved a piece. “I’m sorry.”

Charles tilted his head in confusion, “why do you say that? It’s not your fault, you weren’t there.”

‘Was he? No, he couldn’t have, they just met.’

Erik shrugged his shoulder, lost in thoughts, “I’m not sure... I just feel like I need to apologize.” He shook his head and concentrated back to the game. The psychic could practically see his mind turning and trying to figure out his next move. One of his hand hovered over the bishop piece in hesitation. Suddenly the piece was knocked over without being touched. The men shared a slightly panicked, but more confused look.

“Did that just happen?” Asked Erik.

Charles took the piece in his hand and examined it, it didn’t look like it was rigged or anything. How could it have moved? He handed the piece back to the man, “try that again.”

Erik took the bishop with caution and gently put it on the table. He was about to bring his hand forward when commotion outside was heard. There was a sound of a door closing and a truck driving away as someone screamed to whoever was leaving.

“You get back here! I need you!”

The brown-haired man got up and looked out the tent for a few seconds before looking back at Charles. “We’ve got runaways, I guess I’ll have to cover their act.” He quickly said goodbye with a nod and exited the tent.

Charles was now left alone with his thoughts and confusion. He took the chess piece in his hand and examined it once more. It didn’t make any sense; it shouldn’t have moved by itself. He shook his head with a sigh, it was probably nothing. A little metal game piece couldn’t move by itself, the very notion of this was ridiculous. He wheeled himself over to where the crystal ball had been moved for their game. He gently put it back on the table. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths to ground himself.

The sound of the curtain of his tent being opened pulled him out of his thoughts. A woman walked in, she seemed to be in her thirties, she had green eyes and red hair. He greeted her and let her look around the room. There was a nagging feeling in his brain, telling him to get away from her, but he couldn’t understand why. She was simply visiting the circus on her day off, how much of a danger could she be? They exchanged pleasantries before he told her to take a seat. He concentrated on the woman like he would any other client.

Though, on the contrary to most people for whom he’d see various events and feelings, he could only feel overwhelming grief and pain. He hummed as he tried to make heads and tails of what he was seeing. There was a bomb going off, crushing a building and children hiding under a bed, frightened out of their minds. There was soldiers and dirty cells and blinding pain as unseen power unlocked itself. Then, he saw the woman growing more vengeful as time went on. There were killer robots and a blonde man, he instinctively knew he was her brother. The woman was fighting against the robots now. Suddenly pain ripped through her chest and she realized her brother was dead. A stray thought from the man echoed through her mind, his last thought.

‘I love you, Wanda’

Then everything was silent, and the woman felt awfully empty and alone. Charles sighed as her past was unveiled before him. “I see pain, a lot of pain,” he sighed. “Oh, I’m sorry Wanda, so much loss.” He felt the woman stiffen at his words, but he was already gone in another vision.

There was a team of heroes training her, she tried to work through her pain, but it kept gnawing her. Then there was a mistake, a misdirection. Lagos. Everything went wrong, an unfair law was written. Named after her country, staining it forever. Smearing it in blood and regrets. The team that trained her went against each other, the android she liked was on the opposite side. She didn’t want to hurt him. Her side lost, and now she had to run away. She changed her life, changed her hair; the man visited her. They grew close, they wanted to get away, together. But a threat made them put their plans aside. They met with warriors; the robot needed to have a stone taken out so he could survive. They didn’t have enough time. A purple giant was going to get them. She had to kill her love to save the universe. She didn’t want to, but she had to.

‘It shouldn’t be you, but it is’.

The deed was done. She had done it, she pushed down her growing grief as she told the monster about his defeat. But it wasn’t enough, time was wound back, and the android was there once again. The stone was ripped from his head and he fell limply to the ground. ”I see a great battle, one that was unfortunately lost.” She was still holding on to his corpse when it happened. Charles felt her turn to dust, everything was cold, but she wasn’t afraid. At least, she wouldn’t have to suffer anymore. She’d join her family and lover. “But then everything was made right,” he frowned, “but not for you. You were still alone.” She came back, expecting to be greeted with a corpse again but nothing was around her. “I see... a breaking point, and great suffering.” No one came to her; everyone was rejoicing. All of her grief came crashing back, she had truly lost everyone.

She had to find his body, he had to have a funeral, they deserved it. She had every right, but they still refused her. She went to him; he was being ripped apart for profit. She let her magic explore his head, where the stone had been. She couldn’t feel him, he was gone. She was still alone. She drove to a town, the promise of a future still in the air. But nothing was there, her entire life had been ripped apart without her even having a say in the matter. It wasn’t fair. Life kept taking everything, why couldn’t she be happy? Her magic ripped through her and engulfed the town. Her husband was back, she was home. Everything was alright. Charles couldn’t help but feel for the woman. “Oh Wanda... what have you done?”

He couldn’t understand what he was seeing, he had never heard of any of the events he had witnessed. A sudden pulse of red flashed through his mind and Charles gasped. He remembered everything. Peter’s disappearance, the broadcast, travelling between dimensions, the base, the barrier expanding; he could recall everything. But that didn’t make sense, Wanda’s spell wouldn’t allow it. Wanda was in charge, she was-

She was right in front of him.

Panic surged through him, she was unpredictable, what would she do to him? ‘No, this is like any other mutant that comes at the school. Make her understand that she can trust you.’

He calmed himself down as he extended a hand towards her. “Wanda Maximoff! What an honor to meet you!” She backed off, but he stood his ground. While she seemed in control of everyone, it was a very real possibility that she didn’t realize that they were hurting. Moreover, it was probable that her pain and grief blinded her to the truth. Perhaps she truly thought Peter was her real brother, back from the dead. He had to make sure she could see the situation for what it was. “We have a slight misunderstanding here, your brother, Pietro as you call him, he’s not your brother, not really.” The telepath paused as he tried to take in her reaction, but Wanda was unreadable. He understood her reaction, in a way. Hearing about the multiverse had to be unsettling. Plus, realizing that she let a stranger into her house must be unnerving. Hopefully, she hadn’t hurt him. Perhaps she would even give him back now that she knew the truth. “You see, a team composed of myself and a couple of others, including his father, are here to bring him back.” The woman was still as stoic as ever. She showed no sign of comprehension, perhaps she needed some sort of explanation or proof? Charles obliged. “We crossed universes to get here, it took weeks to find the right calculations. Thanks to your broadcast, we had a good grounding point. The military base kept us updated about Peter. We were brought in as you expanded the Hex, even our member with teleportation powers couldn’t escape. I’m certain it wasn’t your intention to trap us, or Peter, but you have to let us go. We’re not from your universe, we don’t belong here, we- “

“No,” Wanda’s voiced echoed. That caught him off guard. He had met many mutants in his life, but they were generally stable enough to understand right from wrong. “This is my home, I have my husband, my children and my brother. I will not let you take them away.” The professor didn’t like the way she emphasized Peter. His instinct told him that she had already known that he wasn’t truly her Pietro. But that possibility made way for a terrifying truth; she simply didn’t care that he wasn’t the real one and was determined to keep him at her side. However, he wouldn’t allow that, they had traveled all this way, they would not leave empty handed.

“Ms. Maximoff, you have to come to reason, you cannot keep up this lie forever.” Charles enunciated, taking on his authority voice. “What you’re doing is wrong, putting an entire town under mind control-“

“Is better than putting the entire Earth under it,” interrupted Wanda.

So, she truly was aware of her doing. And she didn’t care about the consequences, that was very bad. He focused on her mind, perhaps there was something he could find there that would be able to make her realize how wrong she was. He started making out the outline of what seemed to be a necklace. But, before he could look any further, he was casted out from her mind and the red energy was back. Charles felt slightly nauseous as the woman suddenly stormed out of his tent.

The psychic couldn’t understand why. Had he given her a bad show? He had done as was expected of him, perhaps she was scared? Yeah, that must’ve been it. She wasn’t able to accept that he could be the real deal and had been angry about it. He chuckled a little as he wiped a small spot on the crystal ball. Some people simply couldn’t open their mind that some individuals might be gifted with powers beyond their understanding. The man suddenly gasped as a vision overtook him. He felt freezing water around him, there also seemed to be a person next to him. He didn’t know who he was, but he knew he had to save him. The man was screaming, but not out of fear because of the situation, it was rage because someone was getting away. He wouldn’t hear reason if he spoke, he had to use telepathy. ‘Telepathy?’

“You'll drown. You have to let go. I know what this means to you, but you're going to die. Please, Erik, calm your mind.”

Wait, did he say Erik? But it couldn’t be the same Erik, they’d just met. The vision continued. The man was trying to struggle out of his hold, screaming at him to get away and let him get his revenge.

“Calm down. Just breathe. We're here!” He heard himself plead. The vision faded away, leaving Charles more confused than he’d ever been in his life. What was this memory? Was it even a memory? A voice in his head kept repeating that it was nothing, just extreme daydreaming. But that didn’t make any sense, it felt so real. The psychic exited the tent, he had to find Erik, and Nightcr- Kurt and Raven. Why would he need to find a raven? He rolled around aimlessly trying to make sense of the situation. All the horrible things he had witnessed, they couldn’t be true, it was simply too horrible.

After awhile of pointless wandering, he noticed a purple mist falling upon the circus, filling every crack, and finding its way to the people. He watched the tendrils approach him with suspicion as it coiled around him.

Charles awoke, suddenly and without warning. But Wanda hadn’t done this, it felt different. Still, he had to find the others, Peter could be in danger. Everyone was waking up; he could feel all their pain and confusion as the mind control was lifted. Some tried to run towards the barrier, but he turned the other way. That’s where he had last seen his friends. He spotted Raven first, she had probably been mid performance, judging by her colorful outfit. She walked towards him as he called to her. He wouldn’t use telepathy for now, Wanda’s powers were probably too similar and would cause a slight panic. Kurt suddenly manifested in front of them. His clothes hadn’t changed much from his usual outfit. They now had to find Erik. They looked through the crowd of people, but there was no sign of the metal bender. Finally, his eyes locked onto the familiar figure. The man walked forward and stopped next to the group.

“Well,” he said, “that was, without doubts, one of the worst experiences of my life.”

Raven and Kurt agreed, both of them saying how they were stuck reliving painful memories while not being able to control their bodies. Charles watched them with a pensive hand to his face. How could he even tell them what he had experienced? He let them talk a little, they had to get this off their chest. As far as he knew, Kurt had never been through any types of mind control. It had to be hard for him. He watched them with steadily increasing anxiety, Wanda’s words running through his head.

“We have a problem,” he finally said. He let the others get closer as he took a breath. “I spoke to Wanda; she came to see me. She’s fully aware of what she’s doing and very keen on keeping her perfect life.” He turned to Erik with sorrowful eyes. “She... she’s aware that Peter isn’t her brother, but it doesn’t matter to her. She’s determined to keep him at her side.”

He could sense Erik’s rage building up. The man clenched his jaw as he balled his hands in a fist. “Then, let’s make sure she doesn’t get a chance to keep him.”

***

Notes: Next chapter is the finale of the show, but were far from the end!

[thisartemisnevermisses]

Freefall 4/-

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Warning: angst, fluff, mild smutt, romance, adventure, reconciliation, cursing, anxiety.

Summary:

After the events of ‘Going Under’ you start a new life in Tokyo. Realizing those events changed you in more than one way. You’re not just the nice analyzer girl, you take life in your own hands again. Only to be pulled back into the rabbit whole.

After almost 2 years the Avengers call upon your help. Recapturing the one person that made your life a living hell. Going on a manhunt, or more likely woman hunt, with the one person you hoped to leave behind for good. Will things spark again between the two of you or are you as cold as ice?

A/N: So here’s the next chapter of Freefall, the last chapter to set up the backstory. After this, we’re going on a adventure and the chapters will be Steve x reader mainly (lots of fluff and mild smut) ! Enjoy

Chapter 04: Yogen / The Prophecy

“..a legendary artifact of Buddhist and Hindu mythology, a wish-fulfilling gem of extraordinary power. Also known as the fallen star of Sirius. Possession of the stone elevates its holder to a higher state of being, granting knowledge of all time and space, consequently, the potential for world domination. Much like the Philosopher’s Stone and the Holy grail, its wielder may even attain immortality. The Cintamani Stone was hidden away in the etheric plane, within the ancient city of Shambhala also known as Shangri-La”, F.R.I.D.A.Y. finishes explaining.

A silence fills the meeting room. Everyone is overtaken by the information. Before Thor, the Tesseract, or the Chitauri, non-existent things weren’t occurring, at least that was what they thought. After all those things, they knew better then to doubt the existence of a mythical stone. It was probable wishful thinking, that made them wish that damn stone didn’t exist. ��

“If this is what she’s after, were screwed big time, correction you’re screwed big time”, Cally says freaked out.  

“Why Morocco? What’s there?” Bucky asks, voicing the question everyone’s thinking.

“I don’t know, yet”, you answer Bucky, “F.R.I.D.A.Y. is there a connection between the stone and Morocco?”, asking the IA to investigate all possibilities.  

“Agent y/l/n, there’s no direct connection between the Cintamani stone and Morocco”, the IA answers, after a quick calculation.

“No, direct,hmm. But is there an indirect connection? F.R.I.D.A.Y. could you look for any item connected to Shangri-La”, Lexi ask, “I have a hunch we’ll hit the jackpot” she adds, looking at you.

“Agent Star, there is a charity-event in Marrakesh, something on the auction list is called Secrets of Shambhala, it’s a book. My research claims that there should be a map inside the book. The map shows the way to Shambhala or Shangri-La as we call it”, F.R.I.D.A.Y. answers.  

“I knew it”, Lexi smiles, high fiving Owen next to her, who chuckles seeing a bit of the old Lexi back. “Oh, but what are we going to do? Are we letting her get that piece of the map? Are we going to Marrakesh, who’s going to Marrakesh?” Lexi starts rambling, the panic in her eyes.

“Lexi, stop, we need to think for a minute. Just process all this information and come up with a plan”, Natasha explains, looking at you, there was friction between you two. Natasha felt that you weren’t ready to forgive her completely, but hoped you would be ready at some point.

“We need to get to that event and make sure the book doesn’t fall into wrong hands”, Steve suggest, crossing his arms in the process, he knew the outcome. Wanda was not capable of an undercover mission, Natasha had a too familiar face, Lexi and Callie weren’t trained to be in the field, so this meant you were the only person left doing the job. The fact you’d changed your appearance made the decision even easier. Watching you discuss possibilities with Owen, seeing your face change when you do the calculation and realize what the outcome of it is. Steve sees you looking at him and makes eye contact, nodding at you for confirmation. The only two persons available for this mission, were him and you.

Breathing out heavy, swallowing at the thought of a mission with him together, you interrupt all conversations, “Stop talking, I know what we need to do”, you watch as everyone quiets down, getting their attention you start to explain.

“Listen, we need to team up in pairs of two. With every pair on their own assignment”, you start, looking around the table, “Calli and Lexi, could you pair up with Tony and Owen, making a network within F.R.I.D.A.Y., where..” Tony interrupt you, ”Where we make an intern cloud so we can drop everything we find in it. So we can communicate through a secure line with each other?” finishing your sentence, earning a smile from you. He knew you so well.

“Yes”, you smile, “After the network is done, Lexi and Wanda start an research on the Cintamani stone. Calli and Peter on Shangri-La, dropping everything you find in the network”, looking at Wanda, she gives you a smile, a silent thank you, she needed the time of.

“Y/N, you sure you want me…well..searching through books? I can do so much more, I can…” Peter starts, “Thank you, Peter, but..if it was a mere mission, yes you would be definitely in the field. This isn’t such a mission, she’s out on revenge and she won’t stop, until she has it. So, No, I won’t use your talents in the field. You’re the future, you’re young and I won’t let you be rotten to the core just jet”, you give him a slight smile, he nods in understanding. You were looking out for him, your message was received. He understood that he was the future of the Avengers, that you calculated loses on their account.

“Y/N, shouldn’t we try to find Thor?”, Sam ask, looking at the rest. “That’s not a bad idea, maybe he can help us with the mythological part”, Steve answers. “I will go with him”, Bucky offers, “So the old man’s with me?”, Sam jokes, “Watch it, birdbrain”, Bucky comments.

“So, that leaves Avery, Natasha, Steve and me”, you start, “Natasha and Avery, could you try to find information about Sharon’s whereabouts and plan ?”, looking at both spies. Natasha nodding in agreement and Avery avoiding eye contact with you, his arms crossed in defense.

“No, I won’t”, Avery snaps, looking angry at you. “I’m sorry, what’s wrong? Avery, do you have another plan? Please share it”, you ask him, was he going to explode just know. “How about you let me and Natasha go after her?” he growls. “Avery”, Steve warns him, “Shut up, Steve”, his jaw clenched tight. “Is it so hard to let us in the field, to let us do our job. You never once interfered with our operations the past two years. You were in Japan, doing your own thing. Now she’s on the lose, you think you can come back and start calling the shots”, Avery shouts.

“Avery, calm down, listen..”, you interrupt him. “No y/n, I’m done, you should have stayed in Japan”, he growls and walks out of the meeting room. Not accepting this ending to the meeting you go after him. “Y/N, let him”, Bucky shouts after you, but you decide to ignore him. “Hey, Avery, you want to blow of some steam, huh”, you shout to him. He turns around, looking at you, “What did you say?”, he asks. “I said, do you want to blow of some steam ?” you say again, “Come on”, you wave to him, walking towards the elevator. “What do you want?” Avery asks angry, “You’ll see, just come with me. We’re handling it our way”, you smile mischievously.

The elevator stops, you walk out and motion for Avery to follow you. Stopping in front of the gym, Avery looks at you quizzically, “Come on, take of your shoes and gear. I’ll meet you inside”, you smile, walking in, putting your hair in a bun, taking of your own shoes.

“Y/N, what’s the deal, what do you want?” Avery ask you, walking into the sparring arena. “Just, you and me, letting of some steam. Just you letting go of frustration and accepting the fact that I left”, you explain, trying to ignore the persons standing by the window. F.R.I.D.A.Y. had alarmed Tony and seemingly everyone decided to follow you to the gym. Their they were standing by the glass window, as if they were at the zoo.

You look at Avery who’s standing opposite from you, with his arms hanging besides his body. “What do you, I’m not going to hit you, you’re crazy?”, Avery exclaims. “Oh, you see I’m the one who left you, I’m the one who was selfish and I did it just to hurt you”, you start, seeing Avery’s hands clench into fist. “Y/N, stop it, it’s not going to work”, Avery clenches his jaw. “Is it?, looks like it is”, you say smug, “I heard you had a new name, Helix, sounds interesting? Care to enlighten me?” you ask him, seeing the reaction in his eyes. “I don’t want to talk about it, stop it. I’m done”, Avery turns his back on you, starting to walk away, “Well, at least you’re doing what you’re good at”, you grin, knowing this could be the comment pushing him over the edge. “Y/N, stop provoking me”, he says through his teeth. “Why, just pointing out the obvious, you’re walking away”, you stand there with your arms crossed, a smug smile plastered on your face. That’s it, that was the push Avery needed, heading with full strength and an angry face towards you. You brace yourself for the impact, standing steady and arms open to receive the blow. He launches himself at you, when you connect you both fall to the ground, he on top of you. Reflexes taking over, you shield your face with your arms and let them absorb the punches Avery throws. Once you feel the tiredness in his punch, you take advantage of the situation and use your legs to get him of you. Switching roles within one swift movement, you sitting on top of Avery. Only this time, Avery isn’t capable of moving. Your knees at the base of his neck, feet pinching his hands down. “AVERY, it’s okay. You can be angry with me”, you say, feeling his legs move, trying to free himself. Leaning back, you hold his legs in place with you hands. “Hey, Avery, you make talking to you different this way”, you speak into thin air, looking at the sealing. Feeling his uneven breath, start to steady, you loosen your grip on his legs. Leaning forward, putting your hands beside his head, “You’re calm? Can we just talk?”, you look him into his eyes, he’s still breathing heavy, but his eyes are calm. “Can you let me go?”, he speaks smutted, realizing your knees still at the base of his neck. “If I get off, where going to talk. You’re not going to run, okay?” you warn him, looking him in the eyes, getting a nod for agreement. You slowly release his hands, standing up in one swift movement, waiting until Avery stands up. He lays on the floor for a few seconds, before seating himself, his hands coffering his face. Deciding to sit next to him, you lay a hand on his back, feeling is body stiffen under your touch, you wonder what happened to him.

“Avery, what happened to you? Talk to me?”, you ask soft, this wasn’t your friend. “You, left, you left while I needed you the most”, he whispers, swallowing away his tears. “Avery, you know I needed to leave, you knew I was broken…” you start to explain, “I was broken to, I got broken and I needed you to pull me through”, he snaps. “What do you mean, why you got broken too? Avery what did happen, while I was gone. Tell me?” you ask him, rubbing his back. “I can’t…..it’s so painful, I…was tortured for several days”, the pain in his voice, avoiding your gaze. “Avery, I’m sorry I wasn’t there, but you were one of the persons who was pushing me to go, you said I had to find myself again. I get that what happened had an impact, a huge one, I get that you wanted me to be there to help you through it, but you can’t be angry at me for what happened or leaving”, you look at him, awaiting his reaction.

“It’s just, while they….tortured me…I got so angry at everything that happened, after a while I felt numb, not even registering when they brought me back to the cell. During one interrogation they talked about you, they started asking questions, I got hopeful, thinking you were trying to free me. It made me desperate and anxious, awaiting your arrival. It’s how they broke me, my will and strength gone. I really thought you were there, trying to extract me from that hellhole”, Avery looked at you, his eyes showed every emotion he went through, “I was disappointed when Natasha, Sam and Steve got me out, I looked for you, but you weren’t there. I felt betrayed, left alone and blamed you for everything I went through after breaking point”, he continues, laying a hand on his hand for comfort, you hope he will continue telling his story. “I was so angry with you, it felt like you were the one that put me there. But you weren’t, I was, I was the one who wasn’t careful during scouting and got captured. I was the one who…almost let go of intel”, he sighs, “I’m sorry, I know you weren’t to blame, but it was easier to be mad at you, then accept my own failure and accept that I had myself to blame for….”, you pat his back, “It’s okay, I get it, being angry at someone else is easier, then accepting your own failure. And I kind off left you, withholding contact. You’re probable angry with Lexi to, seeing she had contact to me all this time?”, standing up, holding out your hand for Avery.

“I’m not a child”, Avery pouts, “Well, just a minute ago, you acted like one”, you smirk, offering your hand a second time, “I can stand up on my own”, he says playfully. Starting to stand up, you take your chance and push him over, chuckling at the grumble and movement from Avery. Seeing him glare at you is the sign you should make a run for it. Within a swift movement Avery is up and running after you, “Come on slow poke, let’s get this mission started!”, you smile, seeing him smile for the first time you arrived.  

[221bshrlocked]

Let Me Touch Your Fire (3)

Pairing: Bucky X Reader

Words: 1259

Warnings: Aaaaaaaangst. Like horrible life sort of backstory.

Summary: You’re a mutant who was experimented on by Stryker. He changed your mutation so instead of feeling others’ emotions and transferring emotions to them, you can now only transfer emotions and you feel nothing.

A/N: I have a final tomorrow what the fuck am I doing? Let me know if you want to be tagged. Also, Pietro is alive here.

Tagging: @imagine-that-100 @sexysamsungl @cassichaiser @sugakookiesandmochi

Permanent Tag List: @meganlane84 @mizzzpink @bringmetheemobands @kimistry27 @fireandicewillsuffice @vacam79 @amrita31199 @badassbaker @feelmyroarrrr @aekr @sexy-sea-basss @isaxhorror @actual-bucky-barnes-trash

<-- Previous Part Next Part --> 

No one came to you for hours. Assuming they were probably going to ask you to leave, you looked around the room to see what you would pack. There wasn’t much anyway. What do you even do now? Should you call Charles and tell him you’re leaving? But if you did that, then he might ask you to come back and then it’s back to square one.

Hearing a knock on your day, you opened it and were surprised when you found Wanda.

“Hi.” You didn’t know what to say.

“Hey I just came by to talk. I mean if you want to talk. You don’t have to talk I just thought you might like the company. I’m blabbering aren’t I?”

“Sort of. But that’s ok.” You faked a smile and ushered her to come in.

“So what did you want to talk about?” You sat on the bed facing her.

“I don’t know. Just anything.”

“Wanda you’ll have to be more specific. I can’t tell when things are smooth or awkward around people.”

“Sorry ya I know what was I thinking?” She shook her head.

“Would you like to ask me questions?” You raised your eyebrows.

“No that would be rude of me.” She held out her hands and was refusing. But you could tell she was curious.

“Remember...I feel nothing. I can’t tell if people are rude or not. I don’t get offended.”

It was quiet for a while until she cleared her throat.

“What’s it like?”

“Umm...empty. Just empty. I can’t sense anything and I can’t tell what people feel unless I make them do so.”

“Did anyone try to help you?”

“Ya...plenty of people tried. Even Charles. He thought it was just the mutation and he could “fix” me but it was obvious that they stripped me of everything. Then there were others…” You trailed off.

“Who?”

“When I arrived at the school, I talked to no one. It was hard to trust anyone after what happened. It took a while to understand that I was surrounded by decent people. But it sort of switched eventually and I couldn’t tell until I had a friend point it out. People thought I was faking it to be pitied or be the center of attention. I never understood why. So I was called names by girls and became this trophy for guys. I found out later that there was a bet going on on who could make me “feel” again. Like it was my choice...like I was some person trapped in a cell and was waiting for my rescuer.”

“What happened?”

“I was called a heartless bitch all the time. I was still young. So I became the heartless bitch they thought I was. Looking back now, it was my fault why I left the school. I’m sure Fury told you that I am here not just to help you out but because I was causing problems there.”

“I played around with them. Made them almost think that they were the winners...made them fall hopelessly in love with me..then I broke their hearts. And for a while, I truly believed that this could happen. Someone can make me feel again. But after a while, it sort of became a game.And then I thought I could have fun with this. I couldn’t believe how people can just bet on others. So I broke their hearts. Maybe being known as the heartbreaker would make me feel proud or happy and then I would truly be myself again. But it never happened. After a while I realized what I was doing had a horrible affect on everyone. So I kept to myself. But by that time, there was no fixing those mistakes. So Charles told me it was best to leave.”

You didn’t realize that Wanda was crying now and you looked at her quizzically.

“Y/N that’s so sad.”

“Is it? Uhh sorry I didn’t mean to-I think you should leave Wanda. I don’t want to repeat the same mistake. Please don’t tell anyone what I just told you. I’m sorry.”

But you weren’t. Because you couldn’t be. Because you couldn’t feel guilt. And that’s what made Bucky feel even worse. He was standing out in the hallway, listening to everything and he felt bad because he called you heartless. Because a part of him slowly started to like you and he couldn’t control it.

Wanda walked outside and you followed her to shut the door. You saw Bucky walking by and just stared at him. He refused to look up.

Minutes later, Pietro barged into your room, yelling at the top of his lungs with Wanda trying to stop him.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING HUH? You THInk you Could make people cRY because You Don’t feel AnytHINg?”

“Hey hey what is goin-”

“She made Wanda cry and hasn’t stopped since she came to talk to her. She was trying to help and here you are making her regret it?” Pietro was about to jump on you when Natasha and Clint tried to calm him down.

You stayed quiet, knowing that whatever you said, they probably won’t believe you. You just looked at Wanda.

You thought it best to apologize so you could avoid any more problems.

“I am sorry Wanda. I did not mean to hurt you.”

“No no that won’t do. APOLOGIZE LIKE YOU MEAN IT!”

“She can’t you idiot because she feels nothing. She clearly didn’t understand what made Wanda cry so she can’t fucking apologize.” Bucky couldn’t contain himself.

Pang. 

Pietro stepped back and just walked out, Wanda shaking her head and apologizing to you before walking out to him.

“What happened?” Clint asked you.

You ignored his question and looked at Steve. “This. This is what happens when I am around. If you won’t make a decision by the end of the day, I’m leaving.” You turned to Steve and addressed him.

Bucky looked at you and when you made eye contact, you almost thought he felt bad for you.

Everyone walked out but it was just you and Bucky left.

“Can I help you?” Your face was as stoic as ever.

“Why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you defend yourself?”

“Oh you heard now did you. Isn’t it rude to eavesdrop on people Sergeant?” You addressed him mockingly, angering him further.

“You think they would have believed me? Come on I can make anyone feel anything. They wouldn’t trust me.”

“Y/N-”

“And how do you know I am not making you feel bad for me right now huh? How do you know I’m not making you feel attracted to me?” It was just a guess but you smirked at him once you realized you were right.

Bucky looked at you, not believing what he was hearing right now. What if you were actually doing that? He approached you and grabbed your shirt, almost holding you up.

“Looks like I hit a nerve huh. Relax I’m not interested.”

He aggressively let you go and frowned, slamming the door behind him. You fell on the bed, sighing at how suddenly things were escalating.

What was happening to you? Whenever he was around, things just didn’t seem right.

No. It can’t be. That’s not possible. You’d end up just hurting someone else again. You were done with trying to find a solution to this little problem.

It was best to push them away from you. It was best to push him away from you.

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #235: Havoc on the Homefront!

September, 1983

Welcome to the Wizard’s Mansion of Mechanized Mayhem!

This cover has got it going on!

Where “it” is “multiple things.”

Still, I love covers that are just like ‘here’s a couple things happening today’ and this is a great version of that concept with the things being viewing screens that the Wizard is looking at.

He’s watching the Avengers in various peril channel.

This is a good cover!

So last time: uh, a couple things. Wasp called Vision and Scarlet Witch in as reservists when Annihilus tried to blow up the universe with an invisible dome. The two basically contributed nothing but Vision was thrown into a robotic coma.

Wanda and Vision in a tube moved into the mansion while he recovers and Wanda recapped her entire backstory including new retcon that Magneto is totally her dad.

Then she had a Dr. Strange crossover. Since it also involved Monica, two Avengers makes it notable enough to synopsize in brief. And its titled Assault on Avengers Mansion! so its like its baiting me.

Dr. Strange astral projects to bother Wanda when she’s trying to get some grief reading in. He wants to find the Darkhold and she’s the last known possessor or vice versa because thats when she was possessed by Cththon and had to be saved with a care bear stare from the Avengers. But Dr. Strange really wants the Darkhold to stop Dracula from getting it. Yes, Dracula.

Since the Darkhold is being stored in a vault at Avengers Mansion after Beast brought it back from Wundagore, Dracula’s cult attacks and manages to break into the Mansion. Dr. Strange, Wanda, and Captain Marvel all fight off Dracula’s cult and then Dr. Strange trolls Dracula by teleporting the Darkhold somewhere else.

Also, Avengers Mansion got trashed in a break-in in Fantastic Four #257. Dammit. Whats with all the intertextuality in this era?

So that story there is: mostly a lot of Galactus eating the Skrull homeworld and fallout from aforementioned Annihilus story. Only the last two pages are relevant.

Mr. Fantastic shows up to Avengers Mansion to check on Vision, Wanda goes to make him tea, and then he’s teleported to a space trial leaving a giant melted hole in the mansion.

Honestly, I don’t know why FF got asterisked instead of the Dr. Strange issue. They both messed up the mansion but the Dracula cult was more of a break-in than someone leaving a giant hole in the wall. Although that’s more mysterious.

Anyway, with two different ‘read this also’s between issues that messed up the mansion, no wonder the opening splash has to be devoted to a repair crew patching things up.

Wasp is putting her size-shifting to good use to literally micro-manage. Zipping around at tiny size telling everyone how to do their job.

Captain America who is also supervising and impressing people with how buff he is gets annoyed and goes to tell her to stop but stops himself.

Captain America: No... No. She’s in charge here, and I have to let her handle things as best she can. Her methods do seem to bring results... They’re just not my methods, that’s all. Yeah...

And then he sulks off, ignoring Wasp when she asks what he’s muttering to himself.

Hm. The new leader honeymoon period is off, it seems. Cap was Wasp’s biggest supporter as chairperson and now he’s grumbling and second-guessing.

Dang.

I hope this isn’t snapback to Wasp not being leader because she’s flighty and silly. I hope we’re not just going to do that.

Cap wanders over to where Vision-inna-tube and Wanda are. Wanda is still glued to Vision’s side. And either Wanda can read minds or Cap says something between panels because we have Cap wondering in a thought bubble whether if Vision has shown any signs of improvement and then Wanda answering that he hasn’t shown improvement or worsened.

Cap(tain) America: “Well, don’t let yourself get too worried, Wanda. That husband of yours has been through worse scrapes than this. He’ll pull through!”

Scarlet Witch: “When you say it, Cap, I can really believe it!”

Inspirational Cap! Charisma rolls: Very.

Still, Wanda is sad because Vision is lying in a tube helpless and she can’t even touch him.

Cap wanders off again, without even saying goodbye (rude) while musing how much it sucks.

Cap: Blast it! Those kids were just starting to make a life for themselves, and this had to happen! Why was it that of all the Avengers who went up against the threat of Annihilus -- it had to be a couple of reservists who suffered most?

And then starts musing how weird it is that Scarlet Witch and Vision as reservists since they were active Avengers for so long!

Remember, Wanda joined the Avengers not very long after Cap did! Only a couple months in-universe! She was one of his Kooky Quartet!

Cap: At times I wondered if the Avengers would survive -- but somehow, through all the tumult and changes, the team not only survived -- it grew stronger! I pray it always will... with the menaces we so often face, we can’t afford to weaken. We’ve gone through so many changes lately. We’ve picked up two fine new Avengers in Captain Marvel and the She-Hulk, but we’ve lost Hank Pym... and now we’ve lost Iron Man, too. Even Thor has taken himself off the active roster to pursue a personal mission. I hope he won’t be gone too long.

Cap is clearly in some sort of dour Mood.

A dour and monologue-y mood.

And what’s Thor up to leaving the team roster OFF PANEL?

(Sigh)

Well, since the asterisk is telling me to see Thor #334... oh geez, Don Blake is under suspicion of killing Jane Foster. Thor, and Lady Sif take Keith Kincaid (the non-Thor love interest of Jane) on a trip to get the Runestaff (long story) and restore Jane Foster (long story).

Annoyingly, the Thor issue does show him telling the Avengers he’s going to be gone for a while and to take him off the active roster. And borrowing a Quinjet.

I think that it would have been nice to see at least a panel of that. Or something. I don’t want the book bloated with ‘see alsos’ but I’m confused why it put the most emphasis on the FF one when it was literally two pages where Reed manages to ruin the wall while getting kidnapped.

Whatever.

Anyyyyway.

Even though he thinks the new Avengers are good, Cap worries about having both Thor and Iron Man off the team.

Especially Iron Man.

He was their science/technical guy. And on the current team, the only one with any sort of science expertise is new trainee Starfox.

Who is busy making out and not being on time for his daily training session.

At least he remembers that he has a prior obligation.

And he’s only two minutes late. Or to put it another way, he’s a whole two minutes late. And Cap(tain America) is a notable stickler for punctuality.

Cap: “Punctuality may be an anachronism in this day and age -- and, for all I know, it may be unheard of on the planet Titan -- but in my day, it was something that was expected of people!”

Wow, Cap really pulled a ‘in my day.’

Frankly, I’m surprised he doesn’t pull that more often.

Starfox does seem contrite and apologizes for putting pleasure before business which sends Cap into an introspection about why he’s really being so harsh on Starfox.

Protip: It’s Tony. It’s almost always Tony.

Cap: Pleasure versus duty, that’s what it always comes down to. It was Tony Stark’s ‘pleasure’ which led him to giving up his Iron Man identity... leaving the Avengers. Some ‘pleasure’! He’s crawled so far into the bottle, he may never get back out. And there’s nothing I can do to pull him out... Nothing any of us can do, unless he lets us. That’s what’s really bothering me... isn’t it?

And he accepts the apology with a “just don’t let it happen again.”

You sound so old sometimes, Cap.

Meanwhile, She-Hulk is off on a jog through New York, listening to some Beach Boys’ California Girls.

An overeager driver scoots forward and cuts her off at the crosswalk and (I assume) in frustration, she punches the hood of the car.

And given it’s She-Hulk, she kinda punches a hole IN the hood. And probably engine.

The guy being either an idiot or incredibly unperceptive runs after She-Hulk to grab her arm and yell at her.

She does not care for that at all.

Like, why would you? She’s seven feet tall and green and just punched a hole in the hood of your car.

Luckily for the guy’s skeletal integrity, Spider-Man pops out of nowhere to be Friendly Neighborhood and mediate this conflict.

They both air their grievances.

She-Hulk: “This creep grabbed me!”

Creep: “Hey! She... she crunched the front of my car!”

She-Hulk: “That was you who cut me off in the crosswalk? You’re lucky I didn’t rip out your axle!”

Spider-Man: “Now, now! Let’s keep this friendly! Sounds like you’re in the wrong, chum! The lady had the light!”

Creep: “Lady?!? She’s no --!”

Spider-Man: “I wouldn’t say that if I were you! That’s the She-Hulk, dummy! Remember what she did to your car? Well, just imagine what she could do to you!”

Creep: “Oh yeah.”

And with the power of Spider-Man’s bomb-ass mediation, the guy realizes that he was in the wrong, apologizes, and leaves in a hurry.

(Her skeptical glare cracks me up for some reason)

Moral of the story: Don’t be a jerk. Stay behind the line when the little man is lit up.

After the guy takes off, She-Hulk praises(?) Spider-Man’s amazing mediation skills by saying he should have been a lawyer. And then they catch up.

She-Hulk is still having trouble adjusting to the East Coast lifestyle and lack of beaches so Spider-Man suggests checking out the Jersey Shore.

She-Hulk: “My big problem right now is housing. Avengers Mansion is nice, but I want a place of my own.”

Spider-Man: “It’s tough -- rents are pretty steep.”

She-Hulk: “The real trouble is finding a place I like. With the thousand a week I get as an Avenger, rent’s no big deal.”

Spider-Man: “I guess not, if you’re making a... a thousand A WEEK?!? I passed up a chance to become an Avengers, and they make $1000 a week?!? Oh, NO!!”

Ha ha, that ol’ Parker luck.

Maybe Thor should have mentioned the money when he tried to recruit Spidey.

Meanwhile, at a federal penitentiary in Vermont, a scene change.

Bentley Wittman, aka the Wizard, aka the Wingless Wizard, aka the adult man who thought the best use of his time was bullying a teenager, is being questioned about Plantman Sam Smithers’ escape from jail.

The Wizard claims that he knows nothing about Plantman’s escape and that he barely knows the guy anyway. They were airlifted from Ryker’s in the same helicopter and that’s it.

But a convenient x-ray tells a different story.

And that story is that “the Wizard” doesn’t have any skeleton bones.

... Were we really at the point in 1983 where we didn’t know about the dangers of overexposure to x-rays? They just causally scan both “the Wizard” and the guy questioning him?

Anyway, the ruse being rumbled, the fake Wizard rips the bars out of a window and jumps out to his death.

Or it would be death if he wasn’t just animate wood wearing a fake skin suit.

Kinda gross if you think about it.

Anyway, where is the real the Wizard?

Obviously, he escaped jail a while back. Not only is he a sinister criminal mastermind who has sinister masterminding to mastermind but also he was tired of the prison hair code. Because dammit, he wants to rock the goatee!

(Literally a comment he makes, calling the prison barbers butchers)

The Real Wizard gets a BLIP-BLIP-BLIP priority alert that informs him that the plant-him has been discovered which means that the authorities will be looking for him now.

Wizard: Now every law officer in the nation will be looking for me. Well, let them! They’ll not find me, unless they look here! And if they do look here, they’ll have a fight on their hands! The Wizard will not bolt and run like some common criminal! My home is my fortress! They’ll never get me out of it! Never!

Anyway, within an hour of the discovery of Plant-Wizard, a disgruntled agent of the national security council named Mr. Sirkorski receives a briefing.

Usually, this problem would be Gyrich’s problem but he’s busy somewhere else, probably making mutants miserable if I had to guess.

-checking- Yup, he’s over in the X-books, being involved in Project: Wideawake, the project that will later accidentally shoot Storm with a demutantifying gun that will take away her powers, leading her to kick Cyclop’s ass, leading to him leaving the team and feeling sad about being happily married.

Wow, Gyrich, you’re the worst.

Anyway, since the Wizard is tied to the presidential hostage crisis via Plantman, that makes it Serious Business.

Hence, Mr. Sikorski’s serious business.

And he hates it.

He hates this bonkers superhero universe. He just wants to live in a spy thriller universe without all this specific nonsense.

Mr. Sikorski: “Oh, great! Plant-Men... criminal scientists... prison breaks! Don’t they think I have enough to do, just keeping track of what the Russians are up to?”

Also Mr. Sikorksi, on the following page: “And it’s up to me to call in the appropriate parties. I feel a little weird doing this! It’s hard enough for me to believe there are such things as Avengers! I certainly never thought I’d be calling them for help!”

This guy is great. I hope he becomes a recurring and just continues to be low-key pissed about what genre he lives in.

SCENE CHANGE TO AVENGERS MANSION’s actually looking cooler than ever meeting room.

The table looks enormous and theres a giant viewscreen that they can display stuff on.

Only misstep in my opinion is that the seats don’t have personalized icons on the back.

On the big viewscreen map, Cap(tain America) is displaying for Captain Marvel known properties and hideouts that the Wizard has used in the past.

And then big boss the Wasp comes in with She-Hulk to start the meeting.

Since the government has requested that the Avengers help search for the Wizard, Captain Marvel suggests that she could zoom around and check off the whole list in no time flat by using her lightspeed.

Cap(tain America): “You probably could, C.M. -- that’s up to Jan to decide, of course. It would save us some time. After all, the Wizard could be in any of these places... or none of them!”

Wasp: “You think so? If I’d escaped from prison, I’d want to go home. But that’s just me, I suppose.”

Cool contribution, Jan.

I don’t mean to mock, its just she makes a goofy face.

(Hey, I wonder if her new costume was inspired by the FF’s negative zone’d ones. It’s kinda got a similar palette and rough design)

Anyway, Scarlet Witch asks whether she can be excused from superheroing for the day to keep an eye on the Vision.

Wasp: “Why, Wanda! I should say not! You agreed to fill in for Thor while he’s off in space, and I intend to hold you to that! I’m the chairwoman, and I’ll decide who goes where!”

In fact, since somebody does need to watch the Vision, Wasp chooses the most reasonable candidate.

Captain Marvel!

Who needs her to get the task done in five seconds! She can watch the coma-robot.

You make interesting decisions, Jan!

The remaining Avengers will split up into squads.

Captain America will take Scarlet Witch and She-Hulk to check the hideouts on the east of the map. Wasp and Starfox will check out the western ones.

She-Hulk: “You and Starfox, huh? That’s rich... the All Flirt Squad!”

Pfft.

Cap(tain America) isn’t feeling the humor and tells She-Hulk to save her jokes for when they don’t have a job to do.

Minutes later, the Avengers land a Quinjet on the front drive of the Wizard’s Long Island estate. He has one of those.

Cap: “Come on Avengers -- let’s get this over with!”

Good attitude, Cap.

Wanda notes that the grounds look neatly tended considering that the estate has been empty for the past several years but She-Hulk thinks a gardener was probably kept on retainer.

The Wizard was stupid rich.

When they get inside, Cap changes his tune. The place looks too tidy and ready for occupancy to be empty so maybe the Wizard is here.

So he pulls a ‘lets split up gang’ and splits up gang with each Avenger taking a wing.

Cap: “Oh, and She-Hulk, try not to break anything if you can help it. This is private property!”

Priorities!

Granted, She-Hulk is known to break things. Why just today she broke some dude’s car.

The Wizard is watching all of this on his home security system and springs individual traps on the individual Avengers.

She-Hulk finds herself in a series of identical small non-descript rooms, each more identical than the last.

So identical that its the same room, looping.

Wizard: “Through the circuity in that doorway, I’ve activated a dimensional matrix which will keep your walking back and forth ad infinitum through the same room!”

Except without seeing herself leaving which you’d think she’d be able to see.

It’s a smart way to trap a Hulk, provided they don’t run out of patience or get frustrated and smash something.

Meanwhile, Cap gets locked in a chamber where an anti-gravity field has been activated, leaving him flailing through the air.

Oh, and dozens of high-intensity laser torches pop out of the walls and start trying to carve up Cap.

Meanwhile, Scarlet Witch’s individualized trap is the most individualized of all.

Because She-Hulk’s and Cap’s could be used on any number of people really. But Wanda’s feels like it was created to counter Wanda. Pretty on the ball from the Wizard considering he doesn’t often fight the Witch.

When Wanda enters the room she suddenly starts spinning out of control, flies across the room, and lands in a chair.

Wizard: “Marvelous! I’ve ensnared the Scarlet Witch within something against which her astounding hex powers are useless. My field effect devices have generated a pocket of non-causality within that test chamber! Within the area, all actions have an equal chance of occurrence. Therein, all probabilities are skewed. She won’t be able to stand, much less cast a hex!”

Wow! That’s some high octane comic book nonsense science!

The point being that every time Wanda tries to do something, something random happens instead because its all equally likely. She tried to walk into a room and ended up standing on the roof. She tried to back out of the room, she started spinning. She tried to stop spinning and she flew into a chair.

Sure.

With the Avengers all trapped, the Wizard turns his attention to deciding how to dispose of them.

Except, as cleverly foreshadowed by my snide comments, She-Hulk’s trap is only as good as Jen’s patience.

Which is good forrrrrrr. Two dozens loops.

At that point, she’s sure some bullshit is up and scratches the wall with her nails to leave a tangible mark. When she sees the same mark in the ‘next room’ her suspicion is confirmed.

And now that she knows someone is jerking her around, she decides to ignore Cap’s suggestion to not break private property by breaking private property and rips the doorframe (and the dimensional matrix) to crap.

There’s a backup trap that drops slabs of six-inch omnium steel around her but yeah she’s a hulk and she’s not playing considerate anymore. She starts KRUNGing the walls with her fists.

Meanwhile, Cap uses physics to get out of his jam. He throws his mighty shield to break some lasers so action/reaction will propel him backwards and he can jump off the wall, grab his shield back, and uses one of the broken-off lasers against the others.

Also, meanwhile, Scarlet Witch tries to figure out her own, incredibly specific trap.

Scarlet Witch: This is like a nightmare! Whatever I try to do, something else happens. Just in making the attempt to call on my hex power, I wound up falling flat on my face! I can’t even... wiggle my fingers? I... I can! Oh, but only very close to the floor! Whatever is causing my actions to go awry must be weaker near the room’s outer surfaces! Then there’s HOPE -- !”

Wizard must have gone cheap on the pocket of non-causality projector for that room if it’s not completely covering the area. Sure, the area it doesn’t cover is relatively small but now what’s about to happen is going to happen.

So Wanda gets as low as she can go to the floor and uses her probability-altering powers.

This causes the non-causality field to reverse because why wouldn’t it? And causes feedback through the circuitry which causes the master control to shock the Wizard.

It also causes every logic circuit in the master control to overload and the whole dang thing explodes, Wizard barely flying out of the control room in time.

Right in She-Hulk’s path.

She’s not happy. He’s not going to like her not being happy.

She-Hulk: “After what I’ve been through, it’s gonna be a real pleasure to pound that helmet down around your ankles!”

Wizard nopes right out of her way and decides to abandon fortress.

Then Scarlet Witch probability alters his battlesuit flight controls to malfunction to halt his escape and make him crash to the-

...

I’m pretty sure his neck is broken now.

I mean, it’s apparently not because he keeps talking and moving and living but he look at that panel. Guy should be dead as movie Zod.

Y’know, if the Avengers are going to kill the Wizard, the FF should really get them back and kill one of their villains. I suggest Grim Reaper.

Anyway, surrounded by Avengers, Wizard pulls his trump card.

Wizard: “Your confidence is ill-founded, Captain America. There is one resource I can yet draw upon. There is a thermonuclear devise beneath my house -- powerful enough to destroy half of Long Island and make the remainder very unpleasant for a very long time. Much as I hate to see this place destroyed, I would press the button, so to speak.”

“You being such renowned public heroes, would hate that even more. But unless you allow me to go unharmed, I shall active the timing sequence of the bomb’s detonator.”

And Cap is like ‘do you mean this detonator’ and pulls out one he prepared earlier.

HAH!

You know, ironically, if he had just hidden in a safe room or on the roof or something, the Avengers probably would have came and went without noticing him. Springing traps on them really backfired in oh so many ways.

The threesome return to the mansion, presumably after turning Wizard over to the authorities, and Wasp comments that it sounds like they had a bit of excitement (Starfox grumbling to himself more excitement than he had searching the Bronx with the Wasp ha ha).

Cap(tain America): “You’ll be glad to know, Wasp, that your instincts were correct. The Wizard had indeed gone home. He gave us all a pretty good challenge... a welcome challenge, I dare say.”

Wasp: “Looks like I assigned the right people to search the right place, huh?”

Cap: “Yes, Ms. Chairwoman, I’d say you did!”

And elsenow, Wanda goes to the medical bay to check in on Vision and relieve Captain Marvel.

Scarlet Witch: “Can you hear me, darling? I hope you can. I was feeling awfully blue today... And I was given a duty that first seemed annoying, and later became dangerous. But I didn’t give up... I came back, and I won. I know that you can come back, too, darling! It’s just a matter of time... and hope.”

“It’s funny! I thought the Wasp was silly for sending me on that mission. But -- in a way --it was something I need. I think the others needed it, too!”

Captain Marvel: “Then that’s why she sent you, Wanda... because she knew what you needed! And that’s why she leads the Avengers!”

Secret friend mastermind Janet van Dyne sends you out for punch therapy when you need to punch something.

Reminds me of when Captain America picked a fight with Goliath Hank Pym to lift his spirits. Except with a lot less fighting her own friends and more pointing them in the right direction.

Something I love about this era of Avengers and with the big shift in Wasp after Hank’s court-martial is that while her character has changed she’s still recognizably and uniquely herself. She’s still a bit goofy. She’s still playful. And on top of that, she’s proven that she’s a good leader for the Avengers. It’s not mutually exclusive.

Cap (previously Wasp’s biggest supporter as leader) started this issue grumpy and even had his own ideas what the best tactic for searching for the Wizard would be, but by the end he agrees that Wasp made a good decision.

Despite playing the ditz for a long part of her career, Wasp isn’t dumb. And she’s got a good head for the interpersonal challenges of running a team too.

I’m reminded that during the much later Busiek run, when the Avengers need to expand and modernize to match up to expanding challenges, Captain America turns the leadership of the team over to the Wasp.

My point being, I was worried that there’d be snapback on Wasp being leader because she is flighty and silly. But instead, she can be flighty and silly and still a good leader.

I’m pleased with this take, Stern.

Follow @essential-avengers​ because there will probably be more Wasp being a good leader. Fingers crossed. Also, like and reblog this post maybe if you also like Wasp being a good leader.

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #182: Honor Thy Father

April, 1979

Wherein Captain America kills Abraham Lincoln.

Shame. They had so much in common. Like fighting vampires.

Anyway, I can’t help but feel that this is perhaps related somehow in some form or fashion to the old man who put Wanda and Pietro’s souls in some dolls.

Last time: that thing I just said. Also, Agent Gyrich dictated a new team roster. The roster doesn’t come into effect this time because Gyrich gets confused and wanders off in his confusion. But I just want you, the reader, to know the essentials. The essentials Avengers.

Also.

Its semi-commonly known that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are Roma. Good representation although somewhat marred by Wanda’s power being ‘hexes.’

We’re about the time in Avengers where their mutable backstory starts being delved into more. Including their upbringing. The writing seems overall sympathetic with the Roma but still resorts to stereotypes. And don’t expect them to use anything about the g-word for a very long time. I guess this is a heads up about that whole thing.

We start off with actual real doctor and not a secret Norse thunder god, Donald Blake, giving the Avengers his professional medical opinion on what is wrong with Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.

Actual doctor, Donald Blake: “It’s almost as though... someone had stolen their souls!”

Yup.

Oh also their vital signs have ceased but their bodies aren’t degenerating. So that’s weird.

Vision acknowledges this diagnosis, tells actual doctor Donald Blake to do what he can, and then heads off to join the Avengers.

Hawkeye thinks to himself what a cold fish Vision is. His wife may be dying but he’s acting like he’s still on the time-clock.

Why must we go through this song and dance over and over? People always think Vision is so cold and emotionless and then he gets angry and people go ‘no wait maybe he’s the most human of all of us.’

Think before you think, Hawkeye.

Meanwhile, the Avengers haven’t been having much luck. Yellowjacket even anterrogated some friends of his and nothin’. And the reinstalled databanks didn’t have an answer for ‘suddenly died, souls possibly stolen??’

It’d sure be niiiiice if some of those cosmic friends from last time had hung around and sensed things with their cosmic senses but someone had to shoo them away.

GYRICH.

Thankfully, when Formicidae and technology let you down, you can always count on technology.

Jocasta pipes up that her cybernetic senses picked up an organic energy flux emanating from Avengers Mansion around the time Wanda and Pietro dropped dead.

She didn’t bother mentioning this before because... well, I guess because they didn’t think to ask. Look, she’s like a month old. Give her a break.

Jocasta even manages to trace the flux towards an area called the Bowery.

‘HOLY SHIT YOU CAN TALK,’ Gyrich, probably.

But really his reaction isn’t so different.

Agent Gyrich: “Hey! I thought this tin woman was just a trophy or something! If she’s intelligent, she has to have security clearance!”

Jocasta: “Really, Mr. Gyrich, has the government become so paranoid that it requires security passes for mere machines?”

Agent Gyrich: “Why, no, of course n... I-I mean, there are extenuating circum... well, that is to say, I -- I’m not quite sure. I’ll have to check with my superiors on this.”

Jocasta: “’Bye!”

So two things.

One, she just owned him. Completely and totally. He will never recover from how thoroughly she conversationally devastated him.

Two, she’s apparently been so quiet this whole time and so determined to stay out of anyone’s way that Gyrich mistook her for a statue. And I guess didn’t realize that she had followed everyone else from the meeting room to the computer room? Geez, Jocasta.

Anyway.

Now that they have a lead, the Avengers are going to assemble right out that front door. But clearly someone needs to stay on monitor duty.

Hawkeye: “Hey, don’t look at me, pal! Come tomorrow, I won’t be a full-time Avenger any more -- an’ I’m not about to pass up my last chance for some action!”

Wonder Man volunteers to stay behind. He’s going to be a handsome movie star. He can’t take the chance that someone ruins his apparent good looks.

And then Iron Man fails to say assemble as the group all runs off together. Come on, Iron Man. You have a lot of jobs but one of your jobs is to say the damn catchphrase.

Meanwhile, at the Bowery where Old Man is playing with his dolls.

Trying to feed them cookies.

Can they eat??

He’s apparently planning on taking them back to Europe in doll form. The implications of that are a bit staggering. And he’s trying to feed them to keep up their strength for the long journey. Their clothes are painted on though. If they eat, do they have to poop?

Also that cookie is bigger than Wanda doll’s torso. This is a bafflement!

Quicksilver has his usual patience for shenanigans. That is, none. Or maybe the usual amount but he goes through it at super speed. He tells the dude they aren’t his children.

Scarlet Wanda backs him up. Clearly their parents are the Whizzer and Miss America. This is true and will remain true forever and never be changed, become beloved canon, and then changed again causing acrimony throughout the land.

The old man (Django Maximoff. He’s Django Maximoff) bemoans that they continue to torture him by not remembering him.

YOU SEE YEARS BACK IN A ROMA TRIBE IN CENTRAL EUROPE THERE WERE TWO SPECIAL CHILDREN WITH POWERS

One had silver hair and could run like the dickens. The other had red hair and could use magic even without using the tribe’s sacred talisman, the Nivashi Stone.

In this very sensitive portrayal of other cultures o’clock, times were tough because of prejudice and nobody wanting to employ the Roma. So Django stole a cow.

This instantly caused an angry mob to spontaneously form and burn down his wagons. We don’t see the cow again so I have to assume that the mob set that on fire too.

Ms. Maximoff died in the wagon fire which is not great. She didn’t even have a name.

And young possibly Quicksilver did as Quicksilver do and accidentally ran off a cliff, sister in tow.

So Django was pretty bummed what with losing his entire family. He wandered for years before settling down in Vladivostok where he carved dolls and puppets for the joy of children.

But he was dead inside so he didn’t even care that shady men used his dolls for evil in Spider-Woman #12.

But all that changed when he saw a newspaper article about the Avengers.

Clearly these two adult people that closely resembled his own lost children and had similar powers were his lost children! They weren’t dead! They had just hid from him to punish him for the tragedy he had brought to his whole family! What a relief!

But clearly he had paid his dues. All those years of living alone with the guilt and also selling dolls to evil people.

So having clearly made up for the wrong he had done them, he made plans to steal their souls and put them in dolls so they couldn’t leave him again.

This makes absolute sense.

Anyway, he used the aforementioned Nivashi Stone to put their souls in dolls for the express reason of preventing them from running away again.

Scarlet Witch says um hey, we didn’t run away from you. This is all some crazy coincidence. One day we’ll look back on this and laugh.

But Django is suddenly distracted because his plot senses are tingling. “Your friends have come to play.”

‘I also sense that they brought some accessories, sold separately.’

Introducing the sky-scooter, in all of its ludicrous glory. Sold separately.

Luckily, the Avengers brought Jocasta and she points them to the rooming house Django is hiding out in.

Django: “I’m sorry, young friends, but Ana and Mateo can’t come out today. They’ve been naughty. But perhaps the Nivashi Stone can provide... other playmates!”

And then he says some magic words and some mannequins in a nearby theatrical supply warehouse begin to glow, pulse, and then OH YEAH right through the window.

And they pack a real punch too!

One FWOPs Beast right in the beak.

Captain America decapitates a mannequin Lincoln (like on the cover!) with his mighty shield but dammit that president will not yield.

So Wasp goes inside the open neck and grows to full size inside the mannequin, shattering it.

Geez.

Okay so then they continue to fight mannequins and making jokes. They’re really having a good time with this.

I wonder if that’s part of the spell. Django did say he was going to provide playmates. Or maybe the Avengers are just enjoying using some brutal attacks on some guilt-free targets.

Iron Man repulsors a cowboy mannequin and thinks to himself: “I know I’m supposed to be a serious, emotionless leader -- but I can’t help having an irresistible urge to shout ‘DRAW’!”

Oh and Vision kill Shakespeare.

So fun’s over. Time to get back to the actual task at hand.

Maybe the mannequins were so fun to murder because it was a RUSE to lure them into a false sense of security. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

So they cautiously proceed into the rooming house and to a room that Jocasta points them towards.

But when Iron Man opens the door...

I GUESS WE’RE IN SPACE NOW

Also Djano is looking like a youthful pirate. And he yells at the Avengers for being such a bad influence on Ana and Mateo (Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, probably).

Since their own parents have been lax in discipline, its up to Django to punish them by invoking a triad of totems.

THE TOAD

THE SNAKE

THE BIRD

Or, the Toad, Princess Python, and Nighthawk. Or that one sycophantic guy that used to hang around Magneto, a woman whose superpower is ‘owns a snake’, and Not-Batman.

Django is taking some liberties with these totems.

Right when Beast is dismissing the idea that a snake could get a drop on him, the snake gets the drop on him, bites him in the leg and starts whipping him against space rocks.

Vision tries to do his go-to and shove his hand through Princess Python’s chest but she smirks off the attempt. And tells him to worry about his own insides. Which are suddenly full of snakes. Oh he can feel them slithering beneath his skin.

Wonderful. I have a new nightmare now.

You will believe that an android can scream at body horror.

Iron Man tries repulsoring her but she no sells that too.

He’s very confused. The Princess Python he knows isn’t so powerful. And also didn’t used to hang out in rooms that are a starry void. And also Iron Man didn’t used to be able to walk on starry voids like it was ground. What’s up with that?

Nearby, Captain America and Hawkeye try to fight Nighthawk but its not going well.

Annnd... Wasp and Yellowjacket are fighting Toad.

This... this is going somewhere predictable, I can tell.

Yup. Yup.

Toad whips out his tongue and swallows them both.

So now I know where the Ultimates got the idea. Jeph Loeb clearly read this issue as a young and with tears streaming down both cheeks hoarsely whispered ‘yes, yessssssss.’

Iron Man meanwhile still hasn’t come to the very obvious realization so he throws a sink at Princess Python.

She just bats it away and it flies out the window of the rooming house to alarm and bemuse some drunks.

Meanwhile on the floor below, a man trying to sleep is disgruntled by all the noise of a superhero battle taking place over his head. He raps on the ceiling and tells them to keep it down.

This is finally the clue that Beast needs to realize that HEY this is all fake! An illusion! We’re not really in space! And Iron Man suggests the very helpful idea to “concentrate on clearing your minds, Avengers!”

I mean. It works.

Django realizes that the situation is FUBAR. He grabs the doll cages and tries to flee.

Django: “No! I-I won’t let you take my babies from me! I won’t!”

He flees the rooming house and tries to lose himself in a crowd but Vision ghosts through the road in front of him.

Vision: “What... have... you... DONE... TO... MY... WIFE?”

Tiny doll Wanda tells Vision that its the stone that has made them into dolls. So without hesitation Vision shoots the stone with Solar Beam, shattering it.

The doll versions of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver slump lifelessly. Django too slumps, to the ground, crying “Not again. *Sniff* Dear god... not again.”

EPILOGUE: But they brought him home to Avengers Mansion.

Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are fine. Returned to their bodies right when the stone was shattered.

But Wanda asks to take a leave of absence. Some of the stuff Django said made her think so she and Quicksilver are going to accompany him to Europe to do some digging into their past. Besides, whats the harm in giving a lonely old man who kidnapped you and imprisoned you as a doll a family for a few days? Probably no harm, right?

Beast gets the last word on this whole ordeal.

Beast: “Well, I guess that’s that. Everyone’s back safe and sound and all the loose ends have been neatly tied up and gift-wrapped! Looks like we can enjoy a little peace, quiet and ree-lak-sa-tion for a change. Right, gang?”

Everyone: -skeptical-

Beast: “Uh... nah, I don’t believe it, either! *Sigh*”

Racial dubiousness of the issue aside, a nice little story. The Avengers take attempted soul kidnapping in stride because they’ve seen weirder things.

And Jocasta! She fades back into the background as soon as she gets the Avengers where they need to be but she’s real fun in this story. I’m pretty sure I’m to be disappointed but I hope she hangs around the book for a while. Saying and doing things. Where is her character to go? She was built solely to be a wife to Ultron but she rejected that destiny. And unlike Vision who got to define himself absent of Wonder Man for a while, the Wasp is still around. So whither Jocasta from here?

Next time: THE ABSORBING MAN. Well, in the main book.

I remembered to check annuals and I need to go back and cover one I missed. I don’t know that annuals are essential come to think of it. And I don’t know what I’m going to do when annuals for various books all start being poorly tied together into one story.

Like many looming problems, I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Follow @essential-avengers for more content like this but older. I would appreciate it.

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #124: Beware the Star Stalker!

June, 1974

All dragons are good but I feel somewhat let down by the Star Stalker as it appears on this cover as opposed to how it appears in the final panel of last issue. Maybe there was just some weird perspective going on and some weird shading.

Maybe the Star Stalker found a Moon Stone between issues and evolved into a less cool form.

Sigh.

Anyway. Last time! Libra of Zodiac gave an origin for Mantis which Mantis called poppycock on but Swordsman believed! He flew off to Vietnam to get revenge on Mantis’ maybe uncle but got captured! The Avengers came to rescue him and found that the Priests of Pama spoken of in Libra’s story have all been killed! But so had Monsieur Khruul, by something he called the Star Stalker!

This time: Just space dragon things.

So actually, the Star Stalker is back looking rad again on the splash page so I don’t know.

But the Avengers decide to recap the last several issues to try to understand why some dude has been torn to ribbons in the basement of a Vietnamese temple. They go over the several encounters with Zodiac, the space warehouse, Libra telling them Mantis backstory, coming to Vietnam and finding the priests dead and then finding Monsieur Khruul dying.

The Avengers split up to search the temple top to bottom but they don’t find a thing. However, Mantis finds herself drawn to a secret doorway.

And within the secret chamber they find the STAR STALKER.

He got small again...

The Avengers attack but even for a short dragon, the Star Stalker is mighty. He tosses Thor away like its nothing. And Iron Man’s energy bursts simply feed the dragon.

The Star Stalker is a chatty dragon and decides to explain his entire backstory to these people that keep trying to fight him.

His story begins with the Kree. The biggest dicks in space. They’re have such a warlike nature that they exiled all their pacifists to a tiny prison planet without sunlight, minerals, or vegetation.

And then the Star Stalker landed on their prison planet. And even back then he was a chatty dragon. He announced that he was going to eat their planet but they simply watched as he spun an ionic cocoon around himself to transform into his planet-nomming form.

In this form, the Star Stalker is a creature of pure ionic combustion and the ions from a planet flow into him. SCIENCE!

Faced with annihilation, the Kree pacifists fought back and working as one they came across a method to defeat the Star Stalker and drove him off planet. BUT DON’T EXPECT HIM TO TELL YOU THE METHOD.

Just that a method exists.

The Kree pacifists then tried to warn the uncaring Supreme Intelligence about the Star Stalker. Ignored, they set out to deal with it themselves. Apparently taking inspiration from the Kree Sentries, the Kree pacifists broke into teams of two to every inhabited world they knew.

And on every planet those duos propagated themselves to become small groups secretly protecting their new homes from the Star Stalker.

On Earth, they became known as the Priests of Pama, of course.

The Star Stalker couldn’t attack any of the worlds that the Kree pacifists protected since they know his sole weakness. But then Monsieur Khruul killed the priests, leaving no one on Earth that could stop him.

Just goes to show. Never kill off weird religious sects in temples hidden deep in the jungle. Unless they’re trying to summon Mantorok.

Thor tells the Star Stalker he’s a lot less cool than Galactus but the Star Stalker is cool with that. He’s never even heard of a Galactus.

Now, look, he’s had a long day and he needs a cocoon nap before he can eat Earth. Kthx bai.

Libra turns to Mantis and insists that the priests must have taught her the Star Stalker’s secret.

She trances on it but then insists that she had a happy childhood in Saigon and doesn’t remember this temple at all.

So the Avengers will need to brainstorm a different solution.

And Black Panther has an idea! What about the Star-Blaster they seized from Zodiac? A Star-Blaster to star-blast a Star-Stalker!

Using the Quinjet radio, Black Panther places a call to the New York criminal detention center to speak with Cornelius Van Lunt a.k.a Taurus. 

He’s not exactly thrilled to help the Avengers but on the other hand the planet is where he keeps his stuff and its not like he’ll be needing the Star-Blaster in jail.

So he gives Black Panther instructions on how it works.

Meanwhile in Saigon, Scarlet Witch never actually took Swordsman to the hospital. Because he refused to go. He’s in a kind of bad spot right now, emotionally. He kinda just wants to sit there and feel sorry for himself.

Its not just that he failed at everything in life. That he wanted to be a star, a swashbuckler but only ever ended up as a flunky. And even when he became an Avenger he’s been wounded and captured.

But now he’s afraid of losing Mantis. She loves heroism. She wants someone strong that she can look up to. And she saw him helpless and tied to a chair.

And then Scarlet Wanda gives him an awkward hug.

Even the narrator gets uncomfortable.

“Let us turn our heads from this sad scene...”

Back at the temple of the Priests of Pama, Vision and Mantis have a short conversation about the story Libra has told them. A lot of what he’s said has been proven true. Monsieur Kruul and the temple and the priests. And there are a lot of things Mantis is aware of that she shouldn’t be. Like the secret door.

But she again insists that there are no gaps in her memory. She remembers growing up in Saigon as a street orphan and learning martial arts from others in the slums. There’s no room in her memories for growing up at a temple.

The conversation is interrupted by the arrival of the Star-Blaster. Its still damaged from when the Avengers broke it so Black Panther and Iron Man fix it in a hurry.

Because, geez. Even with that they cut it close. They finish fixing it almost right before the Star Stalker OH YEAHS through the side of the temple. And you know, he’s big, he’s red. He might be the Kool-Ade man. We’ll never know.

Black Panther star-blasts the Star Stalker with the Star-Blazer but the dragon shrugs it off.

And then he busts the Star-Blazer. Dangit, this is why we can’t have nice things, Star Stalker.

Well. Not going to just let him eat the Earth. Charge?

Yup.

Iron Man and Thor charge the big, red dragon but he snatches them mid-lunge and his very touch seems to drain their energy. And shorts out Iron Man’s armor.

And then he just bangs them together. Womp womp.

Next Black Panther leaps at the beast, telling Vision to hang back and brainstorm a method to get rid of the dragon.

But the Star-Stalker knocks out Black Panther, Libra, and Vision with one swipe of his tail.

Leaving just Mantis.

She martial arts at the dragon for a while. And its slightly more effective than anyone else. For one thing, she doesn’t feel the same energy drain the others did. For another, her attacks are actually paining the beast. But its more like an annoyance than any true threat. Interestingly, the Star Stalker says she fights like the Kree.

Mantis tries her Mantis Death-grip on the Star Stalker but set to kill, not stun. The dragon manages to break loose but while she’s flying through the air, an epiphany.

SHE KNOWS THE SECRET.

But she’ll need the Vision. Who luckily has just come to.

At her prompting, Vision uses Solar Beam on the Star Stalker.

It’s super effective.

As in, dude crumbles and dies.

Oh Pym, your synthezoid grandson has taken a life...

Anyways, now that Vision has committed dragoncide, Mantis explains her reasoning. The Star Stalker could not withstand great heat! It hid in the temple until nightfall. It encountered the Kree pacifists on a prison planet that got no sunlight. And it had never heard of Galactus, the cooler planet eater, who is pretty famous actually. So the Star Stalker probably rarely ventured among populated planets.

It also seems that the Star Stalker had encountered relatively few life-forms since it avoided heat that most life requires. Probably also why he was so talkative. Barely ever had the opportunity for some nice conversation.

Its weird that Vision hadn’t tried his solar beam before Mantis had her epiphany. You know the dude is strong enough to bonk Thor and drains energy on contact. Wouldn’t have holding back and using your ranged attacks made sense?

Then again, after the Star Stalker found Iron Man’s ranged attack delicious, the Avengers were probably trying to avoid feeding the beast any more energy attacks.

Then again again, whats the heat difference between the attack Iron Man used and the one Vision used? The Star Stalker reacted in pain to Iron Man’s rays, saying they were burning and searing but also delicious. Lotta questions here.

Anyway, Vision thinks that Mantis must have remembered the weakness but she claims it was all deduction.

But: she’s not sure. She doesn’t remember the Priests of Pama or the Kree but she felt the Star Stalker’s presence in the temple and found that hidden door.

She’s not what she thinks she is. And that frightens her.

NEXT TIME: Avengers cross over with Thanos and Captain Marvel. And maybe more Mantis mystery.

Per the credits on the opening splash, this issue had two artists. John Buscema and Dave Cockrum. And I did get the impression while reading that the artist had switched. Although one of the things that struck me as the product of two different artists - the going back and forth on how detailed to draw the Star Stalker - I believe was an intentional artistic choice. The Star Stalker is more detailed with detailed scales and such when he first shows up but later on, he’s drawn smoother. But the later on is when he’s in his ionic energy form. So I think it was an intentional to highlight his form change. And that’s neat.

He goes back to having scale details drawn as he’s crumbling to bits. Which would be when the energy form was snuffed out by Vision’s Solar Beam.

The version on the cover is just bad though. I don’t know what happened there.

But, hey, the Avengers got to fight (and kill) a space dragon. It was a good issue. They would later meet another space dragon in the form of the most infuriating probationary Avenger ever. She would later go on to be one of the better Guardians of the Galaxy but first she’d spend some time dead. These things happen in comics.

Space dragons are neat, even if they sometimes try to eat Earth.