Dreamscapes
Wanda Maximoff, The Scarlet Witch, has been sent on a cleansing
pilgrimage by her mentor Agatha Harkness. Seeking the solitude of the
Canadian wilderness she has stumbled into the clutches of one of the
Great Beasts, Kariooq the Corrupter. Captured and helpless her only
hope is the appearance of the former member of Alpha Flight, Shaman.
But then you know that already because you read last issue, right?
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" Let her go, Corrupter. She has no part to play in this Land. She is
an outsider." Shaman waves his hands before his face and the air
crackles with arcane energies.
" Do you think that the borders of this land, set by the petty minds
of mortals, mean a thing to a power as ancient as mine? Before your
kind were even walking upright I roamed this land freely. I do not
care where this woman comes from, she is a source of power beyond even
that which is held by your accursed daughter, The Talisman."
" Do not think I fear you Beast. My forefathers have thwarted your
plans before and we shall continue to do so in the future. I am Shaman
and I will persevere. Let this woman go!"
Wanda, even though held in the grasps of these foul beasts cannot
believe what she is hearing. It is happening all over again - a
mastermind has captured her and plans to control her power to her own
needs. And when help comes, what happens? She is talked about like a
piece of meat - to be rescued and looked after. What is she going to
have to do to remind people that she was one of the first members of
the Avengers, she has led Force Works! She is not a woman to be fought
over, she should control her own destiny.
Lets face it, if she cannot then who can....?
" I tire of your banal rantings human - begone!' Kariooq waves his
hand and Shaman begins to fade and then disappears.
" You monster! What have you done to him?" Wanda struggles against her
inky black captors.
" He has been placed within the maze of despair that I had you trapped
within earlier. He will struggle against the same sort of images you
suffered - victories, tragedies, deaths, failures. eventually he will
fall into a coma of growing insanity and become another member of my
army. As will you." The decaying mass turns to face Wanda face on and
breathes putrid breath into her face.
" I will never join you, Beast! I'd rather die than fight at the side
of evil like you!"
" Really? I think the lady doth protest too much. I am a primal force
of corruption, you will not be able to resist me for long. Face facts
my pretty one. You aren't exactly the hardest person to turn to the
side of darkness are you?"
Kariooq waves his hand and images grow in the air before Wanda.
" Over the past years there have been too many times when your
oh-so-perfect heroes code has been broken and you have reverted to
form, a base villain. You cannot escape your past Wanda Maximoff, or
should that be Lensher - daughter of Magneto, or Frank - daughter of
the Whizzer? You cannot even tell what reality is any more, can you?
Who is your father? The Gypsy, The Villain or the Hero? Which ever you
choose, can you be sure? Truly sure? And if you cannot, and I *know*
you cannot, be sure of who your father is when presented with three
candidates, how can anything else be certain."
" My lineage has nothing to do with this. I am not a villain! I am not
evil!"
" Really? What of your battles with the X-Men? That Which Endures?
Siding with Magneto? Immortus? I can even see images in your mind of a
place I have never seen and even there you betray your fellow
Avengers. You are a vile and evil piece of work Wanda Witch and the
better you are on my side the better." He turns and waves at his black
creations absentmindedly to remove her.
" NO! I am not evil! I was manipulated. I was not in control of my
mind. Someone else was doing it, someone else was screwing with my
life!" Kariooq spins on the spot and grows until he looms over her.
" EXACTLY! You are an empty vessel. A puppet waiting to be pulled this
way and that by the puppeteer. You have no will. You have no backbone.
You are just a thing for men to play with and I shall be the next and
the last to have the pleasure of your mind as an accessory to mine.
Dwell on that, woman and prepare to join with a Great Beast."
Finally Wanda cannot take anymore of the tirade and collapses into
tears. Kariooq nods approvingly.
****************************************
A jeep speeds across the border between the USA and Canada. Sitting on
the back, chewing a piece of dead fish is a silky black cat. Ebony is
on the move.
****************************************
Wanda sits lone sobbing in a cell made of .... well she would rather
not think of what the cells was made of. Her mind is numbed by the
truth of what that thing outside had said to her. No matter how much
righteous anger she tries to amass she cannot escape the fact that she
has never been in control of her life. She has always been an adjunct
to a male, be it Pietro, Magneto, Vision, Simon - even Tony. She has
never been a woman in her own right. Maybe she will never be, maybe
she should just give the game up and submit to Kariooq?
No! She cannot think like that. If she begins to think like that she
will be consumed by the Beast and cease to exist. No, she needs to
formulate some sort of plan, some way of escaping from this hell hole
of a prison, and rescue Shaman in the meantime.
How did she get into this mess? She was asleep. Was she dreaming? She
thinks she was. She knows this not a dream, but this place is not part
of the real world. In fact it is a place she has never seen before,
never even read about. All of the things that Kariooq accessed were
things that she has been dreaming about. This has to have something to
do with that, which is bad, because she knows nothing about dreams. In
Transia as a girl she was told it was unlucky to even speak of them.
What to do??
Suddenly she smiles. She may not know anything about dreams but she
knows someone who does! She reaches into her back pocket to retrieve
her Force Works comm. button. Blast! I left it at the Mansion. I'll
have to do this the hard way. Concentrating hard, desperately
attempting to alter reality without drawing the attention of the
Beast, Wandas mutant power reaches out to .....
****************************************
Australia, the outback to be precise, where a young law enforcement
officer is having a spot of bother with some poachers. In fact, a
great deal of bother as the jeep riding maniacs chase him through the
darkness taking pot-shots at him.
" Strewth!" Willy Walkaway ducks as a bullet flies past head and he
leaps over a log and splashes down into a muddy creak. The earthy
water coats his matted hair and cheeky aboriginal looks. The poachers
stand on the edge of the drop and laugh at him heartily.
" Not so high an' might now are you, you bleedin' Abo!" sneers the
leader as he begins to play with a hunting knife.
" Now mate, lets not get too carried away." Willy dives under the
water and floats to the bottom. He uses his shamanic training to reach
out for animal spirits to help him.
" Brother Gator. I would be grateful in the extreme if you an' your
mates would show those drongos out there what happens when they mess
with the law." He hears no reply from the animal expect for the snarls
and screams of the fleeing poachers a few seconds later. Willy floats
back to the surface and shakes his head free of pondweed. He smiles
and then hears the shrill bleep from his pocket.
" Well tie me to a tree and leave me for the ants. Its that bleedin'
button thing that Witch woman gave me. I wonder what she might want.
Bet you it isn't little Willy she wants either - It'll be Dreamguard."
Willy realises he is standing in a gator infested creek talking to a
toad and decides to leave.
****************************************
New York, Avengers Mansion. Simon Williams, Wonder Man stalks the
corridor of the mansion outside what was Wanda's room. Everytime he
passes it he looks up at the door as if he is expecting to burst open.
>From the stairs comes the imposing figure of Captain America. He has
his face mask down and the calm and open face of Steve Rogers beams
out.
" Simon?! I thought you were leaving us? You could join us for a
workout? Namor would sorely like the competition."
" Thanks Cap but I'd rather not. I've got stuff to do."
" Anything we can help with? I'm sure you have lots to sort out since
your return from the dead."
" Not really. Look Cap, I'm not in the mood for a chat at the moment.
Just leave it, OK?"
" Ummm... whatever you say Simon. The offer is always open." Wonder
Man spins around and grabs Captain America, pinning him to the wall
and knocking a picture off.
" I don't want you help. I don't want to train with Namor. I don't
want to be with the blasted Avengers! All I want is Wanda. If you
cannot help me with that then kindly keep out of my life!" Simons eyes
flare and tears roll down his cheeks.
>From the otherside of the Mansion floor the Vision views Simon's
outburst, turns and walks through a wall. His expression never
changes.
****************************************
The walls around Wandas prison dissolve and she is standing before
Kariooq again. He looks like a cat that has just won a lifetimes
supply of cream.
" I told you he would succumb, young whelp. All things do in the end."
" No!" screams Wanda
" But yes, may I introduce you to my latest soldier." Standing forth
from the darkness comes a matt black clad Shaman.
" Join us Wanda. Feel the power of the Corrupter!"
Wanda falls to her knees in desperation.
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Coming in Scarlet Witch #3
The conflict in the Dreamtime makes Wanda come to a final decision over
her magical training. Simon decides to turn to his oldest friend in
his search for his lost love
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