Fury of the Redhead

June 06, 2015:

The Traveler hunts down Wanda to smack some sense into her

Lower East Side, NYC

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions:

Mood Music: None.


Fade In…

Another long night watching over Bobby but now Wanda is heading 'home' to get some rest. Home is a strange concept for her…much less that she is calling a vampire's nest home at the moment. Life sure is strange in New York. Wanda is dressed in simple jeans and t-shirt with a scarlet jacket over it. All of her clothes have seen better days and they are borrowed so don't fit very well either. She finds a park bench that looks over the East River to sit and contemplate life. It wasn't too long ago that she blew up an oil tanker on this river…or did she? Sometimes it seems like a dream…sometimes a nightmare. Wanda rubs at her face before whispering to the empty space next to her. "It can't be me coming…I'm here."

It is Traveler also known as Hope Summers that steps out of the darkness into the artificial lights in the park as the sun starts to come up. The birds are starting to awaken in the trees, and the breeze is cool. "Crazy is as crazy be, talking to yourself Wanda?" The voice is cool, not hold the warmth it once did as her green eyes narrow slightly at Scarlet Witch. "You selfishly hurt my friend, because of a misunderstanding. You can't shove your feelings on others, you can't force that on anyone." She doesn't know Wanda is better, or that she has been trying to make things right. No one tells her anything anyway! Not her fault!

"You are right" Wanda replies to Hope…though she thinks it is just another of her voices. "I hurt everyone. The only person who has shown me any affection is a vampire…and she is not even sure her feelings are real." She stares out at the river. "You are a new voice" Wanda realises before turning her head to find an annoyed teenager. "Oh…you are a person" she adds, looking surprised that Hope is real. Her eyes narrow. "Do I know you?"

"Oh my gawd, you are seriously crazy! First, you try to kill Bobby by blowing him up, then you try to destroy him by tampering with his very nature, and you don't even recognize me?!" Hope's hands glow red, as do her eyes, "You have GOT to be kidding me?! This is someone who is supposed to impress me? This pitiful creature before me? All this power, and it's wasted on selfish wants and pettiness. It makes me sick! You could be making a difference in the world, and instead, you are wasting the space you exist in!"

"I did not try to kill Bobby" Wanda replies as calmly as she can. "I tried to kill /me/…" And then in a softer tone she adds, "And he told me to do it." Yes, Bobby agreed with Wanda to kill herself. "But here I am." The glowing red of Hope does give Wanda pause. "I do not have any power" she assures the strange woman, even as her own fingers start to twitch and jerk as they draw sigils in the air and scarlet energy starts to form. "Why are you so angry with me? I have done nothing to you and I am trying to help Bobby even though he wanted me dead. I do not want to 'impress' you."

"Bobby wouldn't have really wished you dead! If he said that, it was likely a trick to try and snap you out of it. He's a guy, he's -stupid- when it comes to girls. And I'm tired of the kid gloves. You can't save anyone, when you don't even like yourself. Wake up Wanda!"
And the power seems to surround Hope, and there are red waves of it as she suddenly to pushes a mighty force toward Wanda, ripping up the ground as she does so. It's all instinctive, not controlled magic, but a destructive force of it.

It is Wanda's subconscious that kicks in. She springs to her feet and her hands are immediately casting a barrier of the same energy to deflect the wave headed her way. "It does not seem stupidity is only for guys" she glares at Hope. Her mind reaches out for a trash can near Hope and it wrenches free from its moorings and flies towards the redhead from behind.

"Are you another of Bobby's girlfriends? Is that the problem?" The waves of energy clash and blow a hole in the earth before dissipating. "I am not his girlfriend…he has made that clear. You do not have to be jealous of me." Chaotic power courses from her hands to warp the world around Hope…even as that trash can continues to fly towards her head.

Hope moves her hand through the hair in a seeming back-hand to toss the trash can back in the opposite direction. "No, I'm not. I met his girlfriend, I -like- her. I'm his roomie and friend, the one that Bobby almost went apeshit crazy on when you screwed with his head! I was trying to save his life as his powers are killing him, and that almost backfired into a crazy Bobby!" And Hope is running toward Wanda then, the power building up as she goes to throw a punch at the woman. Go figure Hope would make it personal and up front even with distance attack power…it's her favorite style.

Wanda is not a fighter…not hand to hand at least. So when Hope comes running at her, her subconscious once again kicks in to protect her as best it can. The ground beneath Hope's feet starts to distort…to change…to disintegrate. It crumbles beneath her as if an earthquake was happening right under her feet…and only her feet. If anything will stop Hope's impetus it is not having anything to run on…at least that is Wanda's hope. "I am sorry that happened" she calls out at the angry teenager…and she means it. "Let me fix him and then everything will be okay. I promise. And…and I will never bother him again."

Hope starts to trip, but she then floats…she flies. She also rights herself with a scowl. "Ugh! You can't fix someone you broke, when you are broke yourself stupid! Just let me punch some sense in your stupid face, head, whatever. Cause you are driving me nuts. And why would you never both him? It isn't like Bobby hates you or doesn't want to be friends with you. You are really clueless! Bobby -LIKES- people, gawd, he wanted to save you even after you blew up that stupid oil tank. It old him -not- too, let me handle it, but nooooo…he had to run off and play hero for his damsel in distress and get hurt again!"

"So…this is what we are going to do. We -are- going to fight, because I really need to punch you. And you are going to feel better about yourself after I knock some sense in there. And then, we are going to get ice cream. But first, you need a bloody lip." Wait, what?!

And yep, Hope goes to make a flying tackle at poor Wanda!

And Wanda reacts by…doing nothing. Her defences drop, her power disappears into nothingness and she just closes her eyes to allow an angry young woman to take out her fury upon her. A deep breath just before Hope slams into her and knocks her hard to the ground.

And WHAMP! And there is a combat girl straddling Wanda and flicking her forehead repeatedly, "You suck! Suck, suck, suck! You take the fun out of it!" Yes…she's flicking Wanda's forehead like one does with a sibling they are annoyed with. Hope's eyes still glow red. "What is your issue anyway? Why do you talk to things not there? Why are you so bloody obsessed with Bobby? Why are you so seriously stupid? You got all this power, all this potential and you are wasting it, WHY?!" Yes, because bullying answers from depressed girls is ALWAYS successful.

Wanda lies there under the barrage of…flicks. "Why can't you see what I am talking to?" she counters. "I am not obsessed with Bobby…I was in love with him." Why she is stupid…that one she doesn't know herself but she knows it is true. But it's not as if Hope is quite balanced either. "Enough" mumbles Wanda before her power explodes from her and launches Hope high into the sky while the witch gets to her feet…and then contorts reality to allow Hope to float safely back to the ground. "I do not want to fight you, Hope. I do not want to fight anyone."

"Whoa!" Hope wrapped the powers about her instinctively in a defensive ward but still went flying! And she…actually lets Wanda land her as she got a little flipped about there. She lands and snorts, "So you know who I am." Not unusual if she was hanging out trying to fix Bobby, she is known by the X-Red team.

Hope moves up toward Wanda, almost nose to nose to her, "Well, you don't have much of a choice. You can either consider to be crazy, alone, and pitiful, or you can actually -do- something with your life and become a better person. And I don't see anyone there, because there is NO ONE THERE! I'm copying your powers, if it was really there, I would be able to see them because I have your powers. Since I can't, that means the voices and image exists only in your head. Congrats, you need mental help. Now the question is, will you actually do something about it, or try to run away again by using Smooth?"

Behind Hope the ground is ripped up from what appears to be by some sort of power burst and localized earth quake. A trashcan is somewhere high up in a tree right now, the lights are shattered, but since the sun has finally risen most of the way things are still visible. And Hope is in her Traveler, black ops clothes.

Bobby told Brinley he needed to pick some stuff up from his place and she is not letting him out of her sight for long. What's she sensed from the Ice Nerd is disturbing… She's decided to walk though and their path takes them directly passed all the excitement caused by Wanda and Hope.

Glancing to Bobby and back at the two fighting women, Brinley's eyes widen and her look turns grim "Just what is going on here?"

Bobby is taking the sudden focusing of attention on him… okay. He still tends to just do things. Almost as if he were an adult human being. But Brinley insisted on coming along and he wasn't going to argue. Now he's glad she's here. "Is that… Hope and Wanda?" Oh hell…

"Those non-existent voices told me who you were" Wanda replies in a soft hiss at the woman all up in her face. "You were at the beach…and…" She does look a bit confused now. "I told me who you were." Their encounter when the witch was Dark Wanda seems to still be locked away in her mind. "Copy me? That means nothing. That just makes you an imitation…and they are always lacking." Energy is starting to build up between them again…hopefully there are not a lot of people living nearby. "And you know nothing of /me/ and what /I/ have been through. My 'powers' are not me."

"But you let them control you, whose fault is that? Not mine, that's for sure. And you don't know my past, who cares? The point is not what happened before, but it's what you do in the here and now, it's how you survive, and what actions you take, what decisions you make. -That- is what matters."

Hope hasn't noticed the other two yet. "If you really want to help Bobby, you have to piece yourself back together first." Hope doesn't fear the power, her body resonates it as well. "And I'm a mimic, that's what I do, I can copy mutant's powers. But being a mimic doesn't define me, I don't let it control or dictate the path of my life. Embracing my destiny and fulfilling it was -my- choice. Going around and protecting M-Town from the Purifiers, -my- choice. My actions define me, they say that I will put myself at risk to protect and save innocents, that I will get my hands dirty so others don't have to. What do your actions say about -you- Wanda?"

Brinley debates the merits of getting between the two arguing women and glances at Bobby. "Can you freeze them?" She's sort of joking, but only a little. "Hope, Wanda." Her voice raising as she moves closer, gesturing Bobby to follow "Want to explain what's going on here?"

Brinley's not impressed. They're supposed to be projecting a positive front for the metahumans… brawling in a park like children, really.

Bobby's really tempted to do so. Like, really. Headache is rising and his eyes are turning kind of blue. Slowly. "What on earth are they even fighting abou- oh…." Not good. Really not good.

"Your past does not matter? That is a very sad thing to hear, Hope. I wonder how all those people who loved you back then would feel about that. I wonder how the ghosts of all those you destroyed would be happy about being forgotten so easily" Wanda replies to the lunatic teenager…and she gets called crazy all the time? "What do my actions say about me? That I care. What do yours say? That you want to beat everything to a pulp." Brinley's voice pierces the heavy atmosphere and the Witch looks over to the Doc. "This woman attacked me" she explains. Then she realises Bobby is there and she goes red with embarrassment.

"You are taking it out of context," Hope says with gritted teeth. "It doesn't matter in judging you, what matters is your current and future actions. Yes, your past influences you, but they don't dictate what you do, you have control over your own fate. Just because you did something one way in the past, doesn't mean you have to be stuck in a rut, getting nowhere, and staying there, repeating the same mistakes over and over again."

"Ya…well, soldiers do that. And if you cared, you wouldn't have made your 'offer' to me. You may be blocking memories right now, or just lying through your teeth, but what you did, you did of your own free will."

Though Hope does step back, not because of the sharpness in Brinley's voice, but because Bobby is there. She then turns to start walking toward Bobby.

"Well, looks like crazy here is ultra crazy and wants to try and fix you with more craziness. Did I tell you to get a telepath to help you Bobby? You don't go back to what broke you to try and fix you when they are broken themselves. It's like a vicious cycle. And by the way, thanks for totally calling me or texting me, that Wanda got less destructive of others. Very nice of you." Yes, Hope's angry, she's angry at a lot of things. For her friend being out and still broken, for trusting someone so broken to try and fix him, for scaring her, for being HERE to see this, when he should be getting better. "What are you doing out here anyway?"

"He's with me, Hope." Brinley's picked up on Bobby's changing emotion and turns to see his eyes going blue. "I need both of you to control your tempers… bring it down several notches, now, please." If Bobby flips out here… "Bobby, look at me… breath and look at me."

"I live here?" Bobby gestures to the apartment not too far away. Where Hope is also staying. "I'm calm. Right now." Five minutes from now? Still kind of in question. Unfortunately.

"I am not crazy!!" Wanda screams at Hope…so much for the calming down. Her fingers twitching and drawing their little shapes. "At least I am trying to help Bobby instead of trying to beat up the world because there is nothing in me but anger!" Though Wanda quickly looks ashamed of her words…and her own anger. "Maybe Hope is right" she suggests to Brinley and Bobby. "I make things worse." It's not the first time she has thought that but she /was/ getting better before the tirade from Hope. Her eyes rest on the redhead. "I was told something about you, Hope. And I think it was even me who said it…but it was a lie."

"I could have gotten you anything you wanted and took it back. Things are too hot in M-Town with the riots, protests, and the increased gang activity after the Purifier's attack Bobby. I got things handled." And dark circles under her eyes. But it's Hope, she has the Summer’s stubbornness. "So just please…concentrate on getting better. I don't want to lose you like I have everyone else in my life," the pleading there.

Hope stiffens at that, "No, I don't have only anger in me," and she looks back at Wanda. "I have love, self-sacrifice, loyalty, passion, desires, wants, needs, and loss. There is a lot that makes me." Hope then sighs, and looks back at Bobby, "I don't actually hate her, but she needs help herself, a lot of it."

"Grow up, Hope." Brinley turns to face the teen "This display…" she looks around them "doesn't show you have it have it handled." She forgoes mentioning that she was here yesterday, caught in one of those riots. "You're not the only one to have loved and lost." Wanda is aware of how deep that cuts for Brinley, others… not so much.

Gesturing to Wanda to join her, Brinley takes a deep breath and lets it out again "Wanda, come back with me, we're starting your training tomorrow." beat "You don't make things worse. And we're here to help you."

Bobby takes another deep breath. Very very deep. And lets it out slow. It's okay. They're just… worried about him. And working through their own issues. There's no need to flash freeze everything within a mile in any given direction.

Tempting as that is.

"I'm going to go get my stuff. Don't burn anything down." He grimaces a bit and turns toward the apartment building.

Despite all that has happened…which involves ruining a park…and the brutal evaluation by Hope…Wanda still wants to save Bobby and she will still do her best. She nods to Brinley's words. "I will be there tomorrow but I need to save someone else first. Not me…or Hope." She glances over at the redhead, pursing her lips in thought before adding for the teen. "We are supposed to be friends, Hope. Together we can change things. I still hope that can happen." Wanda watches Bobby leave with obvious worry. "I will be there tomorrow, Doc. I promise." And with that she turns away to head off with her insanity.

"This isn’t a pity party of who had the greatest loss. This isn't my Earth, I don't know your guys past." Hope then says, "I can help." Worry for Bobby. She…cares. She was the one that first accidentally unleashed Dark Bobby.

She then frowns at Wanda, then back at Brin, "You are really letting someone that has imaginary friends, inside Bobby's head?" She looks…horrified. Like what the hell are you people thinking?! kinda horrified. Common sense says this is an insanely stupid idea, only morons would try this at home, with a large warning label of: Don't put crazy in your head! Or your head in crazy! Yep, Hope's jaw had dropped in shock as she stares at Brin.

"No, we're not letting her into his head." And that's all Brinley's going to say on the matter. Cals got a plan, a pretty damn good one, and Brins going to work with Wanda to see it through. In the meantime, she gets to do paperwork that's dumped on her and keep an on Bobby as best she can.

"See you tomorrow, Wanda. You've got my number if you need me or us." Glancing around the destroyed park, Brin frowns "You might want to clean this up, Hope. Wouldn't want to give us a bad name, after all." Turning, Brin follows Bobby.

Just don't talk to Bobby right now. Just don't. Things might get… really chilly. Really fast. The ice nerd is working on holding an uncharacteristic burst of temper in. Along with… other things. Yeah. Okay. Back to DCI after this.

"Ya?" And Scarlet Witch's power fills Hope as she still has had recent enough contact with the girl. The ground shakes and starts to reform, the telekinesis working on a microscopic level to revert the ground back to 'normal' and even replanting some of the grass in places. The trash can above goes flying out with the lid reattached, and trash is being lifted off the ground where Hope sees it to be put back in. Everything neat, organized, and in control. This is Scarlet Witch's potential and more…because in reality, this isn't even the tip of the iceberg.

"Remember you said that," Hope warns. "If he gets worse, I'm taking him to go see my Dad. He will know what to do to help." Absolute faith in her dad, whoever that is, considering this isn't her Earth.

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