Powerless | b. barnes

prologue

" W E must try her with the Power stone, Doctor." A German scientist suggested. "She is not responding to the Mind stone as well as we would have hoped. If her own sister could survive the Mind stone and wield its powers, I am quite certain that this Miss Maximoff could handle the Power stone."

"But sir, the Power stone is more potent than the Mind stone. How do we know she would even live, or worse, what if she does and destroys us all?" Another doctor pointed out.

"Silence! I agree with Doctor Hoffmann. I insist we try the Power stone. I'm getting tired of the triplets sitting in their cells collecting dust. We searched for these stones for a reason. We promised them greatness. And greatness they shall receive," said Baron von Strucker, leader of the Hydra research base. "Besides, they are all too loyal to ever destroy us. They are volunteers after all."

~  ~  ~  ~

Ivy sat in her cold box of a cell, she was watching an old sitcom on the small screen in the corner of the room. Old sitcoms reminded her of home. Although she hadn't seen her siblings in ages, she was almost certain Wanda and Pietro did the same thing, as she could sometimes hear Pietro's laugh through the walls. It was very faint but it was there and it was comforting.

She knew it was time for a new test from the doctors when the TV shut off suddenly. She was upset, partly because she liked the particular episode of I Love Lucy that was playing, but mostly because she was beginning to despise the experiments that were done on her every day. She was starting to believe that volunteering for Hydra's research was a mistake.

"Ivy we must join!" Wanda's familiar voice rang through her mind. "We could change life in Sokovia, we could change the world!" The memory seemed like it was a century ago. Never in a million years could she imagine that changing the world meant sitting in a tiny cell all day and never seeing her siblings.

The door swung open suddenly. Ivy jumped a little and turned towards it. In the doorway stood Mr. Strucker. This meant it was serious, he almost never came to her cell but she could tell he was the one in charge around here.

"Miss Maximoff! How nice to see you again." Ivy looked away from the man, she didn't want to speak to him. "Why the long face? We have something very exciting for you today, my dear."

Ivy looked up at him with curiosity, "Come with me." Strucker demanded.

Ivy scrambled to her feet and followed him out the door. The experiment room wasn't too far. Ivy hadn't been to many areas of the compound. In fact, she had only seen her cell, the experiment lab and Doctor Hoffmann's office—but she had only been there once when she first arrived at the compound.

Strucker opened the lab doors for her to walk through them before quickly closing them behind her behind her with an unnecessary slam. Ivy didn't miss the sound of the lock clicking from the other side of the door. They always locked her in, even though she would never try to escape—not without her brother and sister.

In the left corner of the room was the scepter, it was an object that she was very familiar with. Ivy hadn't discovered what sort of powers they were attempting to give to her with the scepter but she had already received some mind control abilities with it. However, she often overheard the scientists saying that Wanda had more success with that than Ivy.

Ivy could hear the doctors speak through the walls—another power she must have gained from the scepter. She hadn't told the Hydra doctors that she had this ability yet. She only listened for her siblings' names as it gave her comfort to know that they were still alive. She knew that not all the volunteers had survived the extreme testing that Hydra performed on them. While listening for her brother and sister she often heard screams from other areas of the base. They scared her beyond belief and she often wondered what the poor soul had done to deserve such harsh treatment.

She scanned the experiment room and noticed something different in the far-right corner. A mysterious sphere-shaped object.

Strucker must have noticed her staring intently at the orb because the next thing she heard through the wall was, "Ah I see that her curiosity has begun to fester." He clicked the button that allowed him to speak to her in the room, not that it made any difference to Ivy, "Miss Maximoff will you please look at that round object in the corner?"

Ivy nodded and stared at the orb for a short time. Suddenly, it opened to reveal a bright blue light. The light began to float towards her. It looked like a glowing rock or crystal of some sort. It was almost hypnotic, the way it glowed and floated closer to her. Like it had been looking for her.

Ivy had the undeniable urge to reach out to the glowing crystal. She tentatively lifted her arm and lightly tapped the stone. With her touch, the colour of the stone switched from cerulean to a deep violet and burst into a light brighter than before.

Ivy felt a strong wind from the ball of light, but she stood her ground. The glow, the wind... it was changing her, consuming her.

As she tried to pry open her eyes, Ivy noticed a silhouette of a woman through the hazy purple light. She wore what appeared to be a tiara on her head, paired with boots and a long cape-like jacket. Like Ivy, her long, dark hair was blowing fast in the wind. As the mystery woman began to ease closer to her, Ivy felt her eyes roll back and everything went dark.