Robin's Cousin

chapter four

Wanda's POV
Mount Justice, Midnight

To say I was grumpy would be the understatement of the century. I was pissed. Bruce woke Dick and I up ten minutes ago and shoved us in the Batcave zeta tubes, grumbling something about a new training exercise. Batman dared to interrupt my beauty sleep...for training?

I should make him sleep through Alfred's alarms for this.

When we exited the tubes, the rest of the team was already gathered with their mentors and looking about as sleep deprived as I felt. Dick and I groggily made our way over to them, muttering greetings because really, who can hold a conversation at midnight after being woken up by Batman without coffee?

"Team, we have gathered you here for a special training. We have a guest tonight, one from the Avengers' roster." I instantly perked up, Batman finally finding a way to gain my interest in his grumblings. I looked over to where he was gesturing, only to see no one standing there. Frowning, I went to say something but Batman glared, shutting me up. "Follow me, they are waiting in the training bay."

I was at the head of the sleepy zombie pack, trotting behind Batman and trying to keep pace with his long strides. We all stopped outside the training room, waiting for Batman to open the door but instead he gestured for me to do it, mumbling in his growling voice something about me knowing them best. With a shrug, I opened the door and a knife was instantly flying through the air at me, stopping at the tip of my nose due to my telekinesis . It clattered to the floor when I released it from my hold, screaming in excitement. "Natasha! What are you doing here?"

The Russian assassin smirked, throwing her arms open for me to toss myself into. "Hello, little one. I am here to assist in a special training Batman has planned for you and your team. Are you ready?"

With a smirk of my own, I tossed my hair over my shoulder and nodded. "Of course, the question is, are you?"

Nat laughed, calling Batman and Black Canary, who had joined us during my reunion with Natasha, over to her side. "Right, good attitude. So this exercise is going to test your limits as we are going to be coming at you from all angles. We know everything about you, your life stories, your fighting styles, your inner thoughts and feelings, all of it. We want to see how you can handle the pressure of fighting enemies that know your inner workings, that know what make you tick. We want to see if you can stand the heat or if you will crack." Nat paused, looking at the cranky team before her. "Right, so who is first? Wanda, you're the newbie here and you are so cocky, let's take you down a few notches."

I nodded, watching my teammates exit the room to go watch from the observation area. I turned to face the three adults, about to ask how this will work when I got met with a punch in the face from Black Canary.

I guess that's how it is going to be.

"You think too much, Scarlet Witch. It makes you weaker. Instinct has helped us survive, not thoughts." Natasha taunted, lighting up her Widow gauntlets. "Like right now, you are trying to figure out if that humming you hear is really a power dampener at works or just a fake out rather than fighting back. That could cost you your life, little one."

I grit my teeth, levitating myself and the three adults in the air. I threw Batman against the far wall, slamming Nat on the floor, and dropping Black Canary on top of her. I put a force field around myself, using my mind to keep it active while I used a hex blast on Batman to keep him down. I grunted when something hit my forcefield, making me hesitate for a moment and therefore letting the enemy in, where she then landed a solid kick to my head, disorienting me.

"You are so focused on taking out what you perceive to be the biggest threat, you forget about the 'smaller' ones. Just like in Budapest."

I froze, my blood running cold as I rose from the ground, my eyes turning a dark scarlet when I growled at Natasha. "How do you know about that, Widow?"