Avengers: Altruism [N. Romanoff]

1. Magnificent Mesmero

CHAPTER 1
Magnificent Mesmero

August, 1993

There never a fear quite like such that a child can create out of nothing. A situation that would seem perfectly normal, if not fun, to an adult would pick up 'scary' traits to a kid.

That's why when Claire O'Connor's hand was dragged in front of her by her much older sister and mother, down a dark street with suspicious pedestrians, she did not feel comfortable at all. The little girl was only six years old, much younger than the crowd she was surrounded with, and with very little understanding of the excited buzz.

She was only worried as her head darted side to side, eyeing down each adult in passing and not trusting any excited kids that laughed at her paranoia. The two older woman dragging her along didn't seem to care much for her fear, only reassuring countless times about how she would have the time of her life watching the show.

The three of them ran across the dimly lit street, following the crowd lining up outside a dusty building and bouncing in place. Claire's eyes rose up to stare at the orange faces surrounding her, face expressionless and eyes down casted whilst the red reflection of the neon sign helped the little girl stand out.

Then she was tugged inside the building, and her own personal ticket was thrusted into her hand as she barely took notice of the flyer they ran past on the glass window where the kind lady waved goodbye to her, wishing her well.

The little girl only grew more frightened from the site of the hands grasping a swinging pocket watch with a mask clouding the background. She jumped up the steps with saucer pans for eyes, and drew her older sister in closer.

"Cassia! This is a scary show!" she shouted in triumph, for her mother and sister only shrugged off her previous attempts to warn them.

"Oh, Buzz Up, Claire! This guy is a magician!"

Claire only assumed at the moment that her sister had been brainwashed to want to continue on into the hall, and tried to push back when she was being forced into a bright Red Velvet chair that could only be her futuristic doom.

"Baby-Pie, we are only going to watch a hypnosis show," the sweet and silky voice lowered the words to her ears.

Claire's tear-stricken face looked up to her mother's comforting smile, and allowed the hands to brush on her cheeks.

"Hypnosis?" her broken English tried to repeat the word.

"Yes! This man can make people do very funny things. Just watch, you'll enjoy it."

Children hold too much trust in their parents. Claire noticed that on this particular evening, but she still managed to nod her head along and sit silently in her chair that barely helped her look over the man in front.