Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver #2

One mile above the Grand Canyon National Park, in Arizona, USA. 'Damned antigravity disk – I'd rather be shot! A bullet would've been fat less embarrassing – and left a much sexier scar' Pietro Maximoff a.k.a. Quicksilver complains to himself as he flounders in the air, before he pulls the anti-gravity disk off of him, tearing his costume at his hip. Down below, the Wizard's army, the Frightful Four Hundred observe Quicksilver, and note that the antigravity has been compromised, and target one is on a return path. 'An artful way to say falling to his death' one of them comments. Pietro cannot fly though, this is something that has always irritated him. However, he spins his arms around, creating funnels which enable him to lower himself down to the ground, and creates whirlwinds which knock some of the Frightful Four Hundred backwards.

'You truly think I'd let something as pedestrian as gravity kill me?' Quicksilver snarls. 'How about a bullet?' one of the soldiers asks, aiming a gun towards Quicksilver. 'The end is the truth, Maximoff. It's past time we delivered yours' they declare. 'Oh, are “we” overdue? I'll have that solved – in a snap' Quicksilver responds, unconcerned. 'Please. You think you can stop the Frightful Four Hundred with two fingers?' the soldier responds. 'Offering only one would be rude' Quicksilver responds as he snaps his fingers, which creates some sort of shockwave that tears  the soldier apart – literally. Quicksilver remembers the King of Atlantis once rambling about a duel with sea locusts, their strike so fast and explosive it ruptures their prey and even boils water. Pietro's fingers lack the natural adaptations to endure such an attack. But he's always wanted to try. 'Well. That was creatively effective' Quicksilver remarks to himself. 'And painful' he adds as he rubs his wrist and looks at his bruised fingers. Pietro then crouches beside the remains of one of the soldiers. 'Hm. Gears and guts' he notes, deciding something synthetic and murderous is going on here. 'But who could ever want to murder me?' he wonders as he speeds off.

Meantime, in Lotkill, New York, as Quicksilver races against his own ego, his sister, Wanda Maximoff the Scarlet Witch finds herself battling a maelstrom, a typhoon sphere, a natural disaster crashing in on itself again and again – a weaponized storm executing the will of the Wizard. Indeed, Wanda is strapped in a watery prison that once was her Emporium. Civilians run in fear as the water thrashes around where the building once stood, and the Wizard himself steps out of the water, instructing some of his Frightful Four Hundred to keep their weapons trained on the witch. 'The truth may be on our side, but she is unbeholden to the design...and will be hard to contain'.

Inside the depths, Wanda remains defiant, holding her breath, however an anti-mnemonic dart has blocked some of her spells – but magic is more than words. And Wanda is more than magic. A power that simply is. And with that power – an ancient chaos. A roiling nightmare, so far, she has managed it – barely. But it is powerful. Wanda has fought hard to control the fury, at every second – even now. It could destroy the dark blocking off her incantations. Or it could destroy her, with that being less than ideal. So, she reaches out to the probability field instead, and by chance, metal snaps under the storm's pressure. It's unexpected, of course, be it a stinger shattered, or a typhoon flash-frozen. As the water Wanda is trapped in suddenly freezes. Wanda has always had a gift for the improbable.

A moment later, the ice cracks, and an unimpressed Wanda walks towards the Wizard, who stands nearby, watching. 'General?' one of the android-like Frightful Four Hundred asks. The Wizard instructs his soldier to keep to orders. 'She's cornered, flailing' the Wizard smirks. 'Wizard. Do I look cornered?' Wanda retorts. 'You look sacrificial' the Wizard responds as he raises a fist and suddenly traps Wanda in some sort of energy box. 'A sacrifice? So, what – you've found religion? You – the great scientist?' Wanda asks before attempting to punch the energy box. 'Don't be stupid. What I do, I do for fact. A science long beyond my understanding – but no more' the Wizard responds, before telling Wanda 'We only thinkg we can't know it all, Wanda. It's a deficiency of our brief lives...and mortal senses. The truth is – freedom doesn't exist. Nor does chance or possibility. Not from a high enough view' the Wizard claims.

The Wizard continues, boasting that the end of set, written and planned – except for the Scarlet Witch, and except for chaos. 'Every life you save brings entropy. You threaten what should be' he adds. 'Ergo, you should not be. I have my orders... from the lips of an angel' he claims. Energy crackles around the Scarlet Witch as she tells the Wizard that only one of them follows orders. Vampiric firebolts born of a pre-cataclysmic Atlantis begin to rage – but they are less effective than Wanda hoped, and do not pierce the energy box. 'Now, now. You know I'm not the same old Wizard. And the upgrades are divine' the Wizard grins. He admits that once, the Scarlet Witch would have floored him with a glare. But now, she lacks the tools to stand against him. Wanda knows that the Wizard is wrong, of course. She is not without told. There is one, but there is a risk.

'Transmuting the Darkhold. Imprisoning Chthon. These concepts matter, Wanda. Creation is clockwork. By removing some cogs, you've angered powerful forces' the Wizard remarks as he taps on the energy box. 'Your angel. But if she truly sits so high above our lowly perspective... how can you be sure you understand your revelation?' Wanda asks as she attempts another blast against the energy box. The Wizard steps backwards and tells Wanda that priests have revelations, and scientists have discoveries. 'For all to go as it should... you and your twin must not further upend the design'. Wanda suddenly looks shocked as she utters her brother's name, before the Wizard instructs his soldiers to move in. The Wizard's might is more than Wanda expected, more than improbability or magic alone can overcome. But, Wanda still holds a devil inside, locked beneath an endless nightmare. A primal power always howling to break free from within.

The soldiers latch onto the energy box, and now the Wizard has given Wanda no choice as she unleashes that primal power's fury. Dark energy washes up and breaks the energy box. The ground under Wanda's feet cracks. Even releasing a sliver of what she chains at every moment is a relief – it is hard to stop. But for her sake, for her life, she must flee before the nightmare swallows her whole – and she steps through the Last Door. 'Gone...such a temper on her...and at the mere mention of the brother. The ravenous fires of chaos...the nuclear ghosts of the true Darkhold released. He stamps his feet on the ground, trying to squash some flickers of the energy that remains. 'You were right, imminence...she couldn't hold it in forever. And her threat will only grow' the Wizard utters. 'But the Witch and her Last Door won't rob you of what's yours much longer. Soon – all things will meet the end set out for them' the Wizard smiles as he fires a blast that breaks a hole in the Last Door.

'Feel like meeting yours right now?' a voice calls out. The Wizard turns to find Wanda's assistant, Darcy Lewis, armed with a baseball bat, and several other residents of Lotkill at her side, all armed with an assortment of makeshift weapons. 'It's these small-town folks, Copperfield. Wanda's their friend, their neighbor. And they're not too neighborly when people threaten her. But the thing is, dude? They're the nice ones. Me? Screw with Wanda again and I bury this bat so deep in your brain you'll be lucky to spell “wizard”' Darcy snarls, raising the baseball bat, only for the Wizard to smirk and knock her back with an energy pulse. 'Darcy Lewis. If words were power, you'd sit at Eternity's shoulder' the Wizard tells her. The Wizard then takes flight, and remarks that the Witch barely survived him. 'And sadly, you aren't our targets'.

In Kansas, a blur streaks across large open fields. “We” Quicksilver recalls. 'That's what he said, while only one still stood. A hive mind perhaps? A shared consciousness? One that can surely still track me. All things considered...one night call that frustrating' Quicksilver exclaims as he arrives in Arizona, speeding past a house where he drops a notepad. The door quickly opens, and Tommy Shepherd a.k.a. Speed steps out. 'Come on...here and gone again, Uncle Pietro? At least raid my fridge, I -' Tommy begins as he suddenly sees the notepad. He picks up it and begins flicking through it. 'Oh. Cool' he smiles.

Meantime, in a vessel above the North Atlantic Ocean, one of the soldiers welcomes the Wizard, whom they call “the General” back to the Isle. 'You connection to the Four Hundred reads strong' the soldier reports. 'I feel that, soldier...as I feel each and every one of you. As I would appendages. As the Frightful Four Hundred were created, four hundred minds. Eight hundred fists. An army to scour the world at my command – connected through me' the Wizard declares as he takes a seat and places a helmet on his head which is connected to the vessel. He tells the Frightful Four Hundred that they are all semi-independent, they cannot disobey, but they can interpret their obeyance. 'A necessity – I cannot always be here. And a hurdle. Left to yourselves, you strive...but there is only one genius in the room. Targets one and two elude us' the Wizard notes.

One of the Frightful Four Hundred informs the Wizard that target two remains hidden, and with the loss of the Skypiercer, they only have legacy tech to track the Scarlet Witch, but that post-mortem data is in from the squad sent for target one. The soldier informs the Wizard that Quicksilver took a sample and his location will be revealed soon enough. The Wizard steps off the chair and disconnects from the helmet, remarking that he is to suffer the wait bound to four hundred listless minds. He tells the soldiers that while they tend to the terrestrial, he will speak with something more.

In another part of the ship, the Wizard looks up at a sparkling red screen and address Imminence, announcing that he is here and calls to them. 'I engaged the twins... but was repelled. The witch set loose her inner demons. It...it was horrible' the Wizard utters. A voice can be heard around the Wizard. The voice states that the true Darkhold within the Scarlet Witch holds every life that isn't, wasn't or ever couldn't be. 'It is a tapestry of the roads not taken to me. A mockery of the design. Forget the god it imprisons. Chthon is chaos, deadly freedom, yes... but so is she. Alone, a being such as her is powerful. But her brother... he is her catalyst, her accelerant. Already she affects the future. All to come, the lives of people and universes alike... should lead to me'. A fiery burst appears within the sparkly red screen as the voice tells the Wizard that in time, these twins could influence all possible realities and break them. 'That is true chaos...destruction disguised as freedom. Creation does have an end, Wizard...albeit one far in what you deem the future. She is the power. He is the catalyst'. The Wizard looks horrified as the voice tells him that, left unchecked, the twins could shatter Space-Time itself. 'We have divided them... now they must be destroyed'.

Elsewhere, Arlington, Virginia, at a suburban home belonging to the android known as the Vision. There is a strange sound, and the Vision phases through his home, 'What – what is it?' he calls out. 'What's happened to you?' he asks as he sees the Scarlet Witch, his ex-wife, lying on his front lawn. 'Vision, I...I don't know where else to go?' Wanda utters. She informs the Vision that the shop, and Pietro, it's all gone, and she barely survived. 'Had to... I had to let something escape... and now it wants more...' Wanda gasps, putting a hand to her chest. The Vision assures Wanda that she is safe here, that she is safe with him.

In Northern Minnesota, Quicksilver is still on the run, and has arrived at a hidden lab, built by his former in-law, one of the Inhumans. He has read every book within the lab within minutes. 'Nice of you to abandon all your toys for me, Maximus' Quicksilver remarks as he flips through another book, several books scattered at his feet. What Quicksilver learns isn't permanent,  it stays in his memory for days at best, often only hours. But for a brief time, when needed, Pietro can learn anything in seconds. He has taken to calling it “speed-reading”. A strange contraption suddenly makes a chiming sound, and Pietro drops his book, turning to the contraption. 'That'll be my molecular analysis. This manual was much appreciated' Quicksilver learns that the scan is complete, but data processing will take one minute. He isn't happy about this, and searches the lab for something else. 'Here we are – opposition research on Maximus' rivals'. Quicksilver reads what Maximus thought of them all – Druig of the Eternals, an amateur. Doom, “canned meat” and the Wizard – a charlatan.

Quicksilver turns back to the contraption when it chimes again, and, inside it, Quicksilver looks at the remains of the Frightful Four Hundred soldier that he took with him. 'At last. And just as I thought – synthetic flesh' Quicksilver declares. There are two more chimes, and Quicksilver goes wide-eyed, 'Ah, how novel' he begins. ' A fail safe'. With that, the contaption explodes, but Quicksilver was easily able to get to safety. From behind a wall, he realizes that it seems their metal mercenaries are rigged to explode upon inspection. 'But there were those three picoseconds before the explosion – an eternity for my eyes' Quicksilver remarks, before he speeds over to a computer, where he begins tapping away at the keys. 'It's epidurium. Like S.H.I.E.L.D. uses for its Life-Model Decoys. But highly modified. Enhanced. And patented by – ah, once again. Perhaps the flesh was set to do a bit more than self-destruct!' Quicksilver exclaims, wide-eyed.

Quicksilver turns as a voice calls out 'You've got that right, target one. Transmit location. Self-destruct. Then?' Several of the Frightful Four Hundred soldiers arrive, and one of them raises a weapon towards Quicksilver. 'Weapons hot. You're cornered, Quicksilver. No room to run. We've got you dead to rights...and very outnumbered'. Quicksilver smirks and tells the soldiers that when one shares a consciousness, there is never enough intelligence to go around. 'I am outnumbered, yes...but far from outmaneuvered'. Suddenly, there is another blur as someone else arrives on scene. 'Look at these losers, Uncle Pietro... guys totally think they're in control' Tommy calls out as he darts about the soldiers, then reaches Quicksilver, the two standing together, ready for action. '...should we get them up to Speed?'