The Sokovian Shadow

Chapter 9

TW:
- Mentions of panic attack
- Mention of death
- Bombs
- Flashback
-------------------------------------------

Pietro looked towards the robot, then back at Wanda as if asking for permission. After a moment, she tilted her head in the direction of the sentient hunk of metal.

'We were ten years old, having dinner, the four of us.' The speedster began. I closed my eyes and stopped breathing, trying to avoid an audible breakdown. 'When the first shell hits, two floors below, it makes a hole in the floor. It's big. Our parents go in, and the whole building starts, coming apart. I grab her, roll under the bed, and the second shell hits, but it doesn't go off.' My eyes snapped open. 'It just... sits there... in the rubble... three feet from our faces. And on the side of the shell, is painted one word.'

'Stark.' Wanda spoke up then. At this point, I could barely hear Celes in the background, trying to calm me down. I knew she was worried, but I couldn't hear anything other than the twins.

'We were trapped for two days.' Pietro added.

'Every effort to save us, every shift in the bricks, I think, "this will set it off." We wait for two days, for Tony Stark, to kill us.' Wanda again. The worst part was they believed Stark could create faulty weaponry. They didn't know all the facts.

'We know what they are.' Pietro finished.

'I wondered why only you survived Strucker's experiments. Now I don't. We will make it right.' Ultron promised. 'You and I can hurt them.' He said to Pietro. Then he turned to Wanda. 'But you, will tear them apart, from the inside.' The twins agreed without hesitation.

---

What have I done? I cried out.

Alita. Celes' calming voice was like cool water as it broke through my thoughts. You need to calm down...

How can I calm down? I've been underestimating the extent of the damage I've caused for the last 6 years! Was this what mortals called a "panic attack"?

Celes sensed my fear and gently took control of my body. She brought my hand to my chest and a glowing ball of flickering white and blue light formed in my palm. I hated doing this because it meant that Celes left my mind for a while, leaving me vulnerable. My powers came from her. She took a semi-solid form and did an awkward hop-turn on my hand. When she was facing me, she wrapped her wings around me like she did in the twin's warehouse. I wrapped my arm around her back, and we stayed that way for a while before she became a ball of light again and became part of me.

I furled my wings into my back walked over to the nearest wall. I leaned against the wall and buried my face in my hands. I sank to the floor and started sobbing silently. I could feel Celes in my mind, comforting me silently. I wasn't on the verge of a "panic attack" anymore, but I was scared. I wouldn't admit it but hearing the twins recounting what happened to their parents broke me more than anything the Reaper ever did to me. I could practically hear the other Wraiths mocking me, just like they had during training.

"Freak"

"You'll never fit in"

"Reaper's pet"

The insults had stopped after my first training session. Everyone who had mocked me had died by my hand, and the others mostly left me alone after that.

I'm glad you're feeling better, fledgling, but reminiscing about your past is not helping me fight off flashbacks. Celes' slightly strained, slightly amused voice broke through my thoughts. I sheepishly turned my focus entirely to the fight inside my head. After the memories had given up for a while, I turned my attention back to my physical body. I had to remind myself to breathe and blink, since Wraiths didn't need to do either, and it would be hard to explain that to the twins or Ultron should one of them find me.

Sorry phoenix. Celes hummed as I used the nickname I'd give her in honour of her "rebirth". I realized with a jolt that I couldn't feel the twins' soul anymore. I sent out my soul sense and found them not far away but getting further. I got to my feet, using my ghost fire to remove any signs that I'd been crying. I spread my wings and took off.

---

I pulled up my mask and hood and hovered since there was nowhere to land. I twisted slowly on the spot and spotted Pietro's blue haze as he caught a bullet, emptied a gun of ammo, and placed the bullets in a line on the desk behind the man. I flew closer to the window, hesitant because I couldn't see glass, and when I realized one of the windows was open, I slipped inside. I spotted Wanda entering the room slowly; her glowing red eyes would have terrified any normal human. Much to my surprise, the man didn't seem fazed.

'Yeah. The enhanced. Strucker's prize pupils.' At least I knew why he wasn't scared. But now I wanted to find out how he knew. He picked up a plate off his desk. 'Want a candy?'

Is this guy serious? Celes was a sceptical as I was.

I don't know why, but I feel like he's trying to turn the tables on the twins. I commented. I felt Celes considering the possibility as I returned my attention to the conversation at hand. The best part about having Celes in my mind was that one of us could pay attention to a conversation while the other analysed it for hidden information.

'Is this your first time intimidating someone? I'm afraid that, I'm not that afraid.'

Wanda took advantage of the man's comment and took a few more steps into the room. 'Everyone's afraid of something.'

'Cuttlefish.' What. 'Deep sea fish. They make lights, disco lights, whoom, whoom, whoom, to hypnotize their prey and the whoom! I saw a documentary once it was terrifying.' He continued. I smirked as Pietro grabbed a candy from the plate on the man's desk. He jerked back, startled, and expecting an attack. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Wanda roll her eyes at her brother's antics, although she was smirking too. When he recovered his composure, the man continued. 'So if you're going to fiddle with my brain, and make me see a giant cuttlefish, then I know you don't do business, and I know you're not in charge, and I only do business with the man in charge. I shrank as far back into the shadows as I could when Ultron flew through one of the windows, knocking the man to the ground.

'There is no man in charge.' The robot claimed. He lowered himself until his face was only a couple of inches away from the second man's. 'Let's talk business.'