Marvel Short Stories

Chapter Four

The first thing I hear is a machine. There's beeping, and the bed I'm in is the most uncomfortable thing I've felt. But the sound of his voice is there, along with the voices of others.

"How goes the procedure?"

"It's not looking too good. We'll be able to recover her old memories, however..."

"It could erase any new ones she could make, and her time as a hydra experiment would be lost to her."

"What do you mean? Wanda, couldn't you-"

"Using my powers on her wouldn't do anything other than give her a copy of them. I'm not going to risk it. She may be your friend, but she's a hydra soldier first."

"I say go ahead with the procedure," another voice says, this voice gruff. "If I had the opportunity to forget my time as a soldier, I'd take it."

"No," Other Me warns, panic in her tone. "I want to remember all of me. It's either we remember all of us or not do the procedure at all." Opening my eyes, I look over at her, furrowing my eyebrows and I ignoring the group watching me.

"Don't you want to get rid of Shadow? What about our memories?" She just shake her head.

"I want to be rid of her, but not forget her. She is us too." A growl from my peripheral vision seems to agree, and I look over at the group. There, the Winter Soldier, Loki, Dr. Banner, Wanda, and even Peter Parker stand, watching me.

"She does that a lot," Peter mutters, leaning towards Dr. Banner. There, I see Shadow creep up behind the kid, claws dragging across the boy's pale neck.

"Mission," she growls, and I can feel my eyes turn red.

"Kara," Loki warns, walking up to me. "What are you doing?" My eyes switch up to him, and without knowing how to tell him, I place a hand up to his forehead and show him what I see.

Looking around the room, he takes note of the two other people he couldn't see before. Sitting himself on the bed, he stares directly at the Shadow, causing Peter to look over his shoulder. "Kara, I need you to focus on that monster. You see it?" I nod as the shadow moves to clutch Peter's throat. Peter's eyes widen, and his hand moves up to his throat. "Repeat after me. You are not real."

"But she is," I tell him, confused.

"Kara, did I tell you to argue it to repeat after me?" He gives me a pointed look and I frown, staring at the shadow.

"You are not real," I tell her, not really believing it.

"You are an extension of my power."

"You're an extension of my power."

"My power is my will."

Raising an eyebrow, I repeat, wondering where this is going. Peter starts coughing, and while Loki is patient everyone else is ready to fight. The shadow growls, enjoying Peter's misery until Loki finishes. "And I will you away to do no harm."

After repeating, the shadow growls once more, but at me. "You don't really believe him, do you?" The shadow growls. "We have no will, only to follow Hydra's will."

Loki raises an eyebrow at this. "There is no more Hydra," he says, becoming for me to continue repeating. "Hydra no longer has control over me and I will you away."

With a shaky breath, I repeat, and the shadow growls again, but this time panicked. Loki guides me through the words again, and again, even after Peter is no longer suffocating and even after the shadow disappears. He turns to me, telling me to repeat them and eventually I have them memorized. It's not until my eyes fade back to their normal color that he stops, giving me a smile.

"See? I told you that monster isn't real."

"W-what did you do?" I ask, looking between him and where the shadow was.

"That monster is a part of you, Kara. It's a manifestation of your worst nightmares and it was using your power to hurt people," he tells me honestly. "I was just telling you how to reign in your own powers."

"Basically, he just helped you fight your demons," Banner explains.

"These people can help you get rid of those demons, you know," Loki says, encouraging the procedure. "Forgetting about your time as an experiment might be a good thing." Other Me just shakes her head before disappearing herself.

"I want to remember all of me. I want to account for whatever crimes I've done in the past, even as a soldier and I can't do that if I don't remember them," I tell him, looking at the rest of the group with certainty.

Wanda looks at me, suspicion glinting in her eyes. "I can do that for you," she starts, folding her arms. "But how do I know you won't copy my power to use it against us?"

"You don't," I tell her honestly. "But if it helps any," I say, reaching over to the table next to me and grabbing my deck of cards. "I have a full deck, so until I get rid of a power, I can't copy any more." Loki smiles as he plucks the deck from my hand.

"Then I can just hold onto this until you recover. Banner, would you like to join me for some Asgardian gambling?" He asks, smirking at the doctor.

"Why not," he shrugs, walking over to a table on the other side of the room. Wanda looks at me suspiciously, but Loki just smirks at her.

"What's wrong, red riding hood? It's not like you weren't manipulated by Hydra yourself." She glares at Loki, but then takes a minute to search my mind. After seeing no intent to kill everyone currently, she sighs, straightening slightly.

"This might hurt," she tells me honestly, walking over to me and sitting down. Loki moves over to where Banner is and they start dishing out cards. Wanda places her hands on either side of my head, and when she closes her eyes everything goes black, the only image in my mind the sight of Wanda causing destruction.

It seems I'm not the only one the Avengers have to worry about.