Chapter 118: Bothersome Brothers
24th February 2006, New York City
(Wanda Maximoff POV)
The three girls burst into laughter.
“You know what, Wanda. You’re really fun.” Kitty exclaimed, “From now on, the three of us are friends. No, not just friends, the best of friends in the world.”
Friends, she never thought that she’d ever had any. She always assumed that the only contact she would ever have would be the bald man in the wheelchair that doesn’t listen.
Wanda grinned brightly, “Yes, Friends!”
Jean nodded, also smiling, “Friends.”
Huh, she had friends now. Wanda liked the sound of that.
The rest of the day was spent together, just the three of them. Rogue had apparently deigned herself too cool to hang out with them and they had agreed to not include the boys into their little group. Kitty was always beside herself because of Kurt and his immature pranks,and Jean refused to spend a second more than she had to in Scott’s presence. The only person left was Evan, who was so childish that Jean and Kitty often felt that they were babysitting him, not hanging out with him. Plus, the guy doesn’t need more excuses not to study, from what Wanda could understand, he’s very likely to fail his exams and redo his year.
So, they decided to not invite anyone. For some reason, they were very comfortable with each other. Even if they just met, there was this bond between them. It went as far as being able to rant about their personal life.
They were comfortable enough to actually start ranting about their lives.
As they were laughing, Wanda noticed that Scott Summers was staring, unblinking, at them. the teenaged witch had to ask, “So, what is with Summers? Does he have a problem, or something?”
The dude must have a lot of issues, it was clear to anyone that has a smidge of understanding of the mind. To someone like Wanda, who had delved into her own mind and faced her insecurities, it was clear as day. But that doesn’t excuse how disturbing his actions are or how creepy his behavior is.
The redhead sighed, “I have no clue. The guy is obsessed with me. I thought it was a phase or something but he hasn’t stopped for years even when I explicitly told him that I have no romantic feelings for him and that I’m unlikely to develop any. He just doesn’t stop. Every day, he wakes up, thinking of me. Every other minute, his mind wanders to me. And he’s so loud about it, too; his mind is practically screaming his fantasies everywhere he goes.”
Kitty tilted her head, “Have you ever thought about, you know, read his mind properly. You could find out why he’s acting this way. Even for a crush, or even an infatuation, it’s too much.”
The redhead shook her head, “I tried it once. His mind is a mess. It was unbearable to stay there for so long. It was like being in quicksand. He’s a mess of self hatred, self pity, anger and lust, all rolled into on package. And his image of me, oh my god, he thinks like I’m some sort of goddess or something. His mind romanticizes our imaginary relationship. He sees himself as the prince charming of the story, with me being the damsel in distress. It’s why he kept interrupting the danger room sessions whenever I got so much as a scratch on me.”
Wanda was confused at this, “Self hatred and self pity? Why the hell would he feel like this?”
“It all stems from survivor’s guilt, from surviving an airplane crash while his parents and brother died.”
Kitty gasps in shock, “This is horrible. Why did he never say anything?”
Wanda responds this time, “He’s trying to repress it, isn’t he?”
Jean nodded seriously, “Yes, he is. He buried it deep inside his psyche, there are no mentions of his parents in his mind, just the guilt. I only knew because the Professor told me when I first came to the institute. Instead of dealing with it, he chose to repress it. His self pity is because of his obsession with seeing colors other than red. It’s so stupid. He blames his powers and his glasses for not being able to see the world as it is. He doesn’t care that there are people who are actually color blind, or just blind really. He’s got it better than so many people; he has a home, friends, teammates, teachers who would give their lives for him. He has fucking superpowers for fuck’s sake. And he has a place to practice them without worrying about destroying anything. With the Professor’s backing, he could go to any college, choose any field of work. He could have ended up at an orphanage, like many other orphans before him, and no one would have cared. He has no idea how lucky he is, and how much he’s taking it for granted, hating how his life ended up.”
Wow, that’s a lot of anger. Jean was really passionate about this. But Wanda could understand why the redhead was so outraged about this. Jean had her mind messed with by a bald old man who though he knew what he was doing, and Wanda was actually imprisoned by her father because he was scared of her. Kitty was the only normal one here, wasn’t that a relief. The brunette was like an anchor, a proof that a semi normal life as a superpowered teen was possible. She grounded them, in banal teenage dramas and topics to stop them from getting lost in their miserable past. Jean knew it too, it was probably why she latched into Kitty this tightly.
Kitty tilted her head, “If he’s that messed up, how come that the Professor hasn’t noticed. He should have figured out that quickly enough.”
Wanda was the one that answered this time, “The mind is a very complex thing. What you call ‘reading minds’ is just reading their surface thoughts, which is easy enough since they’re almost always projected so it’s like picking up a conversation. The mind is made of layers, and Jean probably went very deep. Your professor probably doesn’t want to get too familiar in a mind of a hormonal teenaged boy.”
Jean nodded, “Yeah, I can’t see the professor getting too deep. But the odd thing is the fact that Scott’s mind is fundamentally different. I don’t know if it’s the trauma, but underneath his surface thoughts, there are no layers, just chaos. It was why I felt suffocated. I have never seen anything like it.”
Huh, interesting. Wanda was going to be asking Jasmine about this. She’s the foremost expert on telepathy, after all.
No one spoke for a good minute. Trying to lighten up the mood, Kitty asked, “Wanda, you never told us what your powers actually are. I know it’s something like telekinesis and from what you said about the human mind, I’m guessing you’re a telepath too.”
Jean straightened up at this and Wanda responds, “I’m not actually sure what my powers actually are. From what Jasmine told me, it’s some form of reality manipulation. I haven’t actually learnt any part of it; Jasmine wanted to make sure that I had enough control before starting practicing with it. I do have a little telepathy but it’s a lot less powerful than Jean’s or Xavier’s really. Even my telekinesis, while very strong, is not as powerful as Jean’s, but she hasn’t learnt how to control it properly yet. When I leant how to use my full power, I’ll be a lot stronger. But don’t tell anyone about the reality manipulation thing. I think Xavier knows, probably, but reality manipulators tend to be hunted down, either by power hungry idiots with dreams of godhood or by well meaning but idiotic zealots that kill them for the danger they present. Not that I blame them; reality manipulators tend to be mad.”
Kitty blanched at the idea of people hunting Wanda down. Even Jean grimaced at the thought.
Before the conversation could continue, they were interrupted by a male voice behind them, “Ladies, could I borrow Wanda for a minute?”
It was Pietro.
Her new friends looked at her questioningly, Wanda steeled herself and nodded. Wanda got up and walked with her brother to an empty classroom for some privacy.
When they were alone, Pietro exploded, “How the hell are you out, Wanda?”
“It’s been years, Pietro. Is this the first thing you really want to say to me?”
“Look Wanda, I’m happy to see you and everything, but you’re too dangerous to stay out and about.”
Wanda sneered at him, “I’ve been out for months, Pietro. I haven’t had an accident yet.”
“It’s only a matter of time before you do. How many people are going to die because of your carelessness?”
“Seriously, Pietro. You’re still under Magneto’s thumb and you’re speaking to me about preserving lives. You fucking hypocrite. You’ll have to do better than that.”
Pietro face reddened, “You staying in the Vault was in everyone’s best interest. You see that, right? You were out of control Wanda. You almost killed me, your brother.”
Wanda hummed, “Is this what he showed you, what he replaced what actually happened with?”
“What are you on about?”
“You really have no idea what happened, do you? Your precious father erased your memory about what really happened. Maybe it was a sick form of mercy. You would have been a broken thing, had you remembered.”
Pietro sneered at her, “And now you’re saying nonsense, no wonder you were in the loony bin.”
Suddenly, Pietro found himself levitated by a strange red energy. “Wanda, wait, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I know you’re angry …”
He was suddenly thrown into the wall. Wanda’s eyes turned red, “Pietro, I’m so far past anger, it’s not even funny.”
“I had no choice. I was just a kid; I couldn’t stand against Dad. You know how he goes.”
“I don’t care that you didn’t stop him from getting me there. I care that you forgot about me. I was alone, Pietro. For years, I had no one. I don’t know what would have happened to me if Jasmine hadn’t gotten me out and put me back together.”
The red energy dissipated and Pietro fell down to the floor. “So, she’s the one who let you out. Who the hell is she?”
“As far as you’re concerned, she’s just your history teacher, Pietro.”
“Why the hell do you think she’s actually qualified to teach you anything?”
Wanda laughed at that, “You never noticed how much control I have over my powers, do you. I can use them properly, now. Who do you think taught me that?”
Pietro gaped in shock. Was it really that much of a surprise that she had control over her powers? “That’s great news, Wanda. Dad’s gonna be so happy to learn about it. He might even take you back.”
Wanda actually burst into laughter, “You think I’m actually going back to that asshole. A man who threw me to rot in a prison, when I bas barely more than a child, just because he was afraid of me.”
“Dad’s a great man. He will save our kind from the humans. He wasn’t scared of you; you were a danger to everyone around you. It was necessary for you to get better in a solitary environment. He had to protect you from yourself.”
“You’re just parroting his words now, are you? You don’t protect someone by sending them to what is basically a maximum security prison, where I was basically held in solitary for years. Face the truth Pietro, your precious father doesn’t care about anything but his precious revolution. He doesn’t care about me or about you, just our potential in his ranks. Even then, he doesn’t really care about our race or our survival. He might have, long ago. But he only cares about conquest. He wants to be on top.”
Wanda walked away to get away, but a blur appeared in front of her, “Don’t you dare insult our father! You’re abandoning your family for just some whore teacher.”
Before he could stop in front of her, he was floating, held up by the red energy. “That whore teacher is more family to me than you ever were. I see it now; you didn’t come here because you missed me. You only came here to see if I’m worth recruiting. The answer is no Pietro. We’re done here.”
Wanda put a sleeping compulsion towards Pietro and he dropped down, asleep. Wanda walked out of the classroom without looking back. She sat down next to Jean and Kitty.
The redhead asked, “So, what did he want?”
“Nothing, just some family business.”
Chapter 118: Bothersome Brothers
24th February 2006, New York City
(Wanda Maximoff POV)
The three girls burst into laughter.
“You know what, Wanda. You’re really fun.” Kitty exclaimed, “From now on, the three of us are friends. No, not just friends, the best of friends in the world.”
Friends, she never thought that she’d ever had any. She always assumed that the only contact she would ever have would be the bald man in the wheelchair that doesn’t listen.
Wanda grinned brightly, “Yes, Friends!”
Jean nodded, also smiling, “Friends.”
Huh, she had friends now. Wanda liked the sound of that.
The rest of the day was spent together, just the three of them. Rogue had apparently deigned herself too cool to hang out with them and they had agreed to not include the boys into their little group. Kitty was always beside herself because of Kurt and his immature pranks,and Jean refused to spend a second more than she had to in Scott’s presence. The only person left was Evan, who was so childish that Jean and Kitty often felt that they were babysitting him, not hanging out with him. Plus, the guy doesn’t need more excuses not to study, from what Wanda could understand, he’s very likely to fail his exams and redo his year.
So, they decided to not invite anyone. For some reason, they were very comfortable with each other. Even if they just met, there was this bond between them. It went as far as being able to rant about their personal life.
They were comfortable enough to actually start ranting about their lives.
As they were laughing, Wanda noticed that Scott Summers was staring, unblinking, at them. the teenaged witch had to ask, “So, what is with Summers? Does he have a problem, or something?”
The dude must have a lot of issues, it was clear to anyone that has a smidge of understanding of the mind. To someone like Wanda, who had delved into her own mind and faced her insecurities, it was clear as day. But that doesn’t excuse how disturbing his actions are or how creepy his behavior is.
The redhead sighed, “I have no clue. The guy is obsessed with me. I thought it was a phase or something but he hasn’t stopped for years even when I explicitly told him that I have no romantic feelings for him and that I’m unlikely to develop any. He just doesn’t stop. Every day, he wakes up, thinking of me. Every other minute, his mind wanders to me. And he’s so loud about it, too; his mind is practically screaming his fantasies everywhere he goes.”
Kitty tilted her head, “Have you ever thought about, you know, read his mind properly. You could find out why he’s acting this way. Even for a crush, or even an infatuation, it’s too much.”
The redhead shook her head, “I tried it once. His mind is a mess. It was unbearable to stay there for so long. It was like being in quicksand. He’s a mess of self hatred, self pity, anger and lust, all rolled into on package. And his image of me, oh my god, he thinks like I’m some sort of goddess or something. His mind romanticizes our imaginary relationship. He sees himself as the prince charming of the story, with me being the damsel in distress. It’s why he kept interrupting the danger room sessions whenever I got so much as a scratch on me.”
Wanda was confused at this, “Self hatred and self pity? Why the hell would he feel like this?”
“It all stems from survivor’s guilt, from surviving an airplane crash while his parents and brother died.”
Kitty gasps in shock, “This is horrible. Why did he never say anything?”
Wanda responds this time, “He’s trying to repress it, isn’t he?”
Jean nodded seriously, “Yes, he is. He buried it deep inside his psyche, there are no mentions of his parents in his mind, just the guilt. I only knew because the Professor told me when I first came to the institute. Instead of dealing with it, he chose to repress it. His self pity is because of his obsession with seeing colors other than red. It’s so stupid. He blames his powers and his glasses for not being able to see the world as it is. He doesn’t care that there are people who are actually color blind, or just blind really. He’s got it better than so many people; he has a home, friends, teammates, teachers who would give their lives for him. He has fucking superpowers for fuck’s sake. And he has a place to practice them without worrying about destroying anything. With the Professor’s backing, he could go to any college, choose any field of work. He could have ended up at an orphanage, like many other orphans before him, and no one would have cared. He has no idea how lucky he is, and how much he’s taking it for granted, hating how his life ended up.”
Wow, that’s a lot of anger. Jean was really passionate about this. But Wanda could understand why the redhead was so outraged about this. Jean had her mind messed with by a bald old man who though he knew what he was doing, and Wanda was actually imprisoned by her father because he was scared of her. Kitty was the only normal one here, wasn’t that a relief. The brunette was like an anchor, a proof that a semi normal life as a superpowered teen was possible. She grounded them, in banal teenage dramas and topics to stop them from getting lost in their miserable past. Jean knew it too, it was probably why she latched into Kitty this tightly.
Kitty tilted her head, “If he’s that messed up, how come that the Professor hasn’t noticed. He should have figured out that quickly enough.”
Wanda was the one that answered this time, “The mind is a very complex thing. What you call ‘reading minds’ is just reading their surface thoughts, which is easy enough since they’re almost always projected so it’s like picking up a conversation. The mind is made of layers, and Jean probably went very deep. Your professor probably doesn’t want to get too familiar in a mind of a hormonal teenaged boy.”
Jean nodded, “Yeah, I can’t see the professor getting too deep. But the odd thing is the fact that Scott’s mind is fundamentally different. I don’t know if it’s the trauma, but underneath his surface thoughts, there are no layers, just chaos. It was why I felt suffocated. I have never seen anything like it.”
Huh, interesting. Wanda was going to be asking Jasmine about this. She’s the foremost expert on telepathy, after all.
No one spoke for a good minute. Trying to lighten up the mood, Kitty asked, “Wanda, you never told us what your powers actually are. I know it’s something like telekinesis and from what you said about the human mind, I’m guessing you’re a telepath too.”
Jean straightened up at this and Wanda responds, “I’m not actually sure what my powers actually are. From what Jasmine told me, it’s some form of reality manipulation. I haven’t actually learnt any part of it; Jasmine wanted to make sure that I had enough control before starting practicing with it. I do have a little telepathy but it’s a lot less powerful than Jean’s or Xavier’s really. Even my telekinesis, while very strong, is not as powerful as Jean’s, but she hasn’t learnt how to control it properly yet. When I leant how to use my full power, I’ll be a lot stronger. But don’t tell anyone about the reality manipulation thing. I think Xavier knows, probably, but reality manipulators tend to be hunted down, either by power hungry idiots with dreams of godhood or by well meaning but idiotic zealots that kill them for the danger they present. Not that I blame them; reality manipulators tend to be mad.”
Kitty blanched at the idea of people hunting Wanda down. Even Jean grimaced at the thought.
Before the conversation could continue, they were interrupted by a male voice behind them, “Ladies, could I borrow Wanda for a minute?”
It was Pietro.
Her new friends looked at her questioningly, Wanda steeled herself and nodded. Wanda got up and walked with her brother to an empty classroom for some privacy.
When they were alone, Pietro exploded, “How the hell are you out, Wanda?”
“It’s been years, Pietro. Is this the first thing you really want to say to me?”
“Look Wanda, I’m happy to see you and everything, but you’re too dangerous to stay out and about.”
Wanda sneered at him, “I’ve been out for months, Pietro. I haven’t had an accident yet.”
“It’s only a matter of time before you do. How many people are going to die because of your carelessness?”
“Seriously, Pietro. You’re still under Magneto’s thumb and you’re speaking to me about preserving lives. You fucking hypocrite. You’ll have to do better than that.”
Pietro face reddened, “You staying in the Vault was in everyone’s best interest. You see that, right? You were out of control Wanda. You almost killed me, your brother.”
Wanda hummed, “Is this what he showed you, what he replaced what actually happened with?”
“What are you on about?”
“You really have no idea what happened, do you? Your precious father erased your memory about what really happened. Maybe it was a sick form of mercy. You would have been a broken thing, had you remembered.”
Pietro sneered at her, “And now you’re saying nonsense, no wonder you were in the loony bin.”
Suddenly, Pietro found himself levitated by a strange red energy. “Wanda, wait, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I know you’re angry …”
He was suddenly thrown into the wall. Wanda’s eyes turned red, “Pietro, I’m so far past anger, it’s not even funny.”
“I had no choice. I was just a kid; I couldn’t stand against Dad. You know how he goes.”
“I don’t care that you didn’t stop him from getting me there. I care that you forgot about me. I was alone, Pietro. For years, I had no one. I don’t know what would have happened to me if Jasmine hadn’t gotten me out and put me back together.”
The red energy dissipated and Pietro fell down to the floor. “So, she’s the one who let you out. Who the hell is she?”
“As far as you’re concerned, she’s just your history teacher, Pietro.”
“Why the hell do you think she’s actually qualified to teach you anything?”
Wanda laughed at that, “You never noticed how much control I have over my powers, do you. I can use them properly, now. Who do you think taught me that?”
Pietro gaped in shock. Was it really that much of a surprise that she had control over her powers? “That’s great news, Wanda. Dad’s gonna be so happy to learn about it. He might even take you back.”
Wanda actually burst into laughter, “You think I’m actually going back to that asshole. A man who threw me to rot in a prison, when I bas barely more than a child, just because he was afraid of me.”
“Dad’s a great man. He will save our kind from the humans. He wasn’t scared of you; you were a danger to everyone around you. It was necessary for you to get better in a solitary environment. He had to protect you from yourself.”
“You’re just parroting his words now, are you? You don’t protect someone by sending them to what is basically a maximum security prison, where I was basically held in solitary for years. Face the truth Pietro, your precious father doesn’t care about anything but his precious revolution. He doesn’t care about me or about you, just our potential in his ranks. Even then, he doesn’t really care about our race or our survival. He might have, long ago. But he only cares about conquest. He wants to be on top.”
Wanda walked away to get away, but a blur appeared in front of her, “Don’t you dare insult our father! You’re abandoning your family for just some whore teacher.”
Before he could stop in front of her, he was floating, held up by the red energy. “That whore teacher is more family to me than you ever were. I see it now; you didn’t come here because you missed me. You only came here to see if I’m worth recruiting. The answer is no Pietro. We’re done here.”
Wanda put a sleeping compulsion towards Pietro and he dropped down, asleep. Wanda walked out of the classroom without looking back. She sat down next to Jean and Kitty.
The redhead asked, “So, what did he want?”
“Nothing, just some family business.”
