Operation: Dasavatharam: Unexpected Company

[x-scarletwitch.livejournal.com]

When Wanda, Ororo and Amanda seek out one of Wanda's contacts, they find that they're not the only ones there.



"I hate this," Wanda confided to Ororo as they stood around the small, enclosed shop. The other woman was Wanda's most recent addition to accompany Amanda on the bodyguard / babysitter rotation. "The entire situation, of course, and not your as always very pleasant company."

The three of them had gone to visit a more local contact of Wanda who ran one of a million junky looking antique stores. It was, of course, simply a cover - or, as Matthews always said, a side hobby. He'd been an antique dealer, a legitimate one, in the 80's until he'd retired and now he dealt in information instead of pieces of the past. Another side hobby, apparently. He was an obnoxious old man who seemed to never bathe unless he got caught in a rainstorm but he knew his stuff and his contact pool was greater than Wanda's.If anyone would know what the Exemplars were doing in New York City, Matthews would either know about it or could find out about it soon enough if Wanda paid him well.

Of course, now he had them cooling their heels while he took his sweet time gathering what information he had from the back.

"I assumed as much," Ororo said benevolently, glancing up from the very old, very well-kept mantel clock she had been observing. "And I am not surprised. There is very little worse than being unable to act when you or those you care about are threatened."

"You all sincerely deserve a reward for putting up with me." Both amusement and fondness colored Wanda's voice; she glanced at Amanda with a wry smile. "And you deserve double for agreeing to see Matthews again. He's never been the best conversationalist, has he?"

"Or the most punctual," Amanda said with a grimace; the place reeked of Matthews' particular pungent body odour. "If he doesn't make an appearance soon, I'm going back there and hauling him out by his ear."

Wanda grimaced at the idea of even having to touch the old man and then suddenly her phone went off in her pocket. As always, she looked just a little startled at the vibrations and quickly fished it out so she could stop it from doing that. She frowned as she flipped it open and then cursed. "There's been movement," she told the other two, reading the text from Marie-Ange. "Possible trouble - four of our friends are on their way there, she's at the office. We'd best crack Matthews open and get back to the offices ourselves."

She raised her voice, "Matthews! We haven't all day, you bloody git! Get out here before we set the shop on fire!"

"Are you sure threats of arson are the best way to motivate our only lead?" Ororo murmured. Any other questioning of Wanda's tactics had to wait, however, as they all heard the sound of movement from the other room signally Matthews' return.

Having just been about to respond, Wanda's mouth shut with an audible clack when the door to the back swung open. She knew, she absolutely knew before she even saw the evidence for it that the Exemplars had just arrived; even when she wasn't actively using her powers, she was always aware of them, attuned to the rhythms, rise and falls of the moments of chaos. And suddenly all of that background noise was slowing down, hampered by another's powers.

"Shit!" she said, right as the situation became clear to the other two as Matthews slowly emerged from the back, hands held up slightly - the expression on his face was accusing as he glared at Wanda. Someone held a knife to his neck and she squinted, trying to see but she had a feeling she knew who he was.

Minh Thien Tran, the leader of the Exemplars, himself - the same man that had managed to waylaid Jennie and herself back in '07. There was another behind him, a nervous looking blond. Covington, she remembered.

There was a brief clapping sound and the air around Wanda shimmered, the familiar glow of Amanda's shielding spell. "Hold it right there," the witch said, voice hard. "You're not touching her. Back the fuck off."

Ororo said nothing; she had no need to as the thunder outside spoke for her, a low threatening growl that spoke of retribution beyond that of petty mortal men. She sank her weight in to heels, ready to dodge or lunge at a moment's notice, and waited.

The group of three men in front of them didn't move a muscle until Tran, over Matthews shoulder, cleared his throat. "I have a distinct feeling, Ms Maximoff, that if we say that we don't mean you, Mr. Matthews or your friends any harm, that you would be very hard pressed to believe us." Tran's face appeared next and Wanda locked gazes with him, noting that he looked far more ragged than he had last time. Gone was the well dressed leader and in his place there was a man who looked like he hadn't seen a decent meal or change of clothes in a few days.

She crossed her arms which allowed her to hit the 'oh shit' coded text to send to Marie-Ange. It would alert her that something was going on. "You would be very correct," she responded. "After all, the last time I saw your group, you were breaking at least half a dozen international kidnapping laws all in one go. And now you come nosing around the same set of women that you abducted years ago - yes, I have some trouble believing you mean me no ill will."

Tran shot Mr. Covington an irritated look for a moment before looking back to Wanda. "All I ask is a few minutes of your attention. We need help, Ms. Maximoff, and I believe you and your group might be the only ones that can give us your assistance. We did you a grave turn before and I will give you this. Listen to my story. If you agree to help us, we will be in your debt. If you do not, I will personally turn myself over to your group in exchange for the safety of our younger members - they are being hunted and killed before some of them have even come of age."

Hesitating, Wanda glanced over at Amanda and then Ororo. "Amanda," she said slowly, "I think we should play ball. Do not drop the shield and if they so much as move in a way that you find unacceptable, take them out. I know you can keep Matthews safe enough."

"Maximoff, the next time you come into my shop," Matthews snapped, "just call. I will mail you out the information you need!"

"Yeah, yeah," Amanda replied to Matthews's complaint. She looked over at Tran. "You heard the Boss Lady - we're willing to listen to what you have to say. So how about you play nice and put the knife down? Our friend there isn't involved in this."

There was a clear moment of hesitation before Tran very slowly loosened his grip and Matthews wasted no time moving as far away as he could from the two Exemplars. The knife was then dropped on the counter top and pushed until it tumbled over the edge, landing near Ororo's feet.

"When we last ... met," Tran said, "we had no idea who you were or to whom you had been tied to. It was only after we escaped that we discovered your ties, Ms. Maximoff, to the creature Chthon." The name was nearly spat out in distaste. "It probably comes as no surprise that the cult of Chthon and the Exemplars have been at odds for many, many years. Longer than both you and I have been alive. Several of my companions had managed to ... locate a high level official from the cult and we garnered quite a lot of information from him."

"You mean you kidnapped him," Ororo said flatly, tasting bile at the back of her mouth at the very word. "And your information 'garnering' - torture."

Tran shrugged. "Call it what you will. Considering they have done their fair share to our group, I would simply call it evening the odds. Normally in the past, we have done our best to take out those that have been directly corrupted by Chthon's powers. But ..." He hesitated. "How much do you really know about what happened all those years ago, Ms. Maximoff? When you denied the creature entry into this world?"

"Not much," she replied, reluctant to divulge much. But finding out more about Chthon was something that was hard to resist, no matter who was giving her the information. "Simply that he attempted to use me as a new vessel and failed. With some ... assistance ... I managed to make sure he would not easily find his way back."

He pointed at her and she watched some of the color creep back into his face in his excitement. "Yes, yes! The Knights. At times enemies and at times friends. When you did that you not only prevented him from returning through you but you prevented even the barest of contacts! These fanatics of his call it the Ascension and for the first time in years it has not worked. A brilliant if, considering your source of powers, accidental move on your part."

Covington suddenly interjected with "Except there's a problem."



Back at the office, Marie-Ange can See Wanda - an unusual circumstance and one that doesn't bode well at all



Black curls had drawn themselves around a deck of Marie-Ange's cards in india ink, and she didn't remember drawing them, not on this deck, it was a cheap one that she'd picked up in eastern Europe somewhere and kept in a box in her desk with some of the other cheap decks, cards she used for Artie to practice his powers on or for when she needed a deck she could singe or throw at people or tear into pieces while on the phone.

She didn't notice the ink on her hands, staining her fingers down to the knuckles because she was putting the cards in order, the drawn curls of hair forming a design, a wrongly familiar and twisted black mark that turned half the cards sinister and twisted, and blacked out the best of the good cards, blotting out the Sun and the Moon, violating the Empress and turning the Fool into a dark ugly thing.

Only half the cards were down before Marie-Ange was grabbing for the phone and hitting Amanda's number. "You need to go. I saw Wanda. I think. I never have seen Wanda. Someone there is wrong, very wrong. Rotten and black and dead and wrong."



Back at the store ...



"Wanda..." Amanda shot a glance at her teammates. "We need to get the fuck out of here. NOW."

The men had all but jumped out of their skins when the phone had gone off but, surprisingly, had not bolted. Tran looked worried at Amanda's words and Covington looked like he was about to be violently ill.

"They're coming, then," Tran said, spreading his hands. "I will be quick. Ms. Maximoff, my friend is right. There is a problem with what you did. Chthon is locked away from this world only as long as you are still alive. His cage will be reopened upon your death. It is why we never came after you again, we simply could not take the chance that we might be the cause of it. But we come now because those that worship and follow Chthon have been hunting us. We have lost nearly half of our number - Ruprecht was simply the last in a long line."

For a moment, Tran almost looked close to breaking into tears, an unusual look for a man so neatly put together. "We did many grave things to you and others in our pursuit of our goal. Perhaps this is our punishment. But I cannot allow the rest of my friends to be murdered when most of their hands are clean. I -"

The blond next to him suddenly exploded into motion and grabbed Tran by the arm. "I can't - I can't do this," he said. "We need to run. Now, Minh, the strike team is almost here -"

The store front's glass exploded inward at his words and Wanda cursed, ducking forward, though she knew Amanda's bubble would hold.

For her part, the witch flung her arms up to protect her face, since she wasn't in the bubble. "'Ro!" she cried out to the weather witch. "Plan B!"

Plan B being, among the members of X-Force, "let's get the fuck out of here".

Unfortunately for the strike team, they were in the way of a quick and speedy exit. As Amanda seemed to melt into the floor beside her Ororo spun around, funneling a gust of wind through the now-broken window and sending shards of glass whipping at gale force speed into the street. She didn't wait to hear the screams before starting to sprint towards the door. "Gentlemen, I suggest you run!"

Once Amanda was gone, the protection spell winked out but Wanda was more than fine with running instead of trying to withstand whatever else was going to next be thrown at her head. She hurtled the wood counter, taking note that Matthews had managed to disappear down a bolt hole of some kind by the time her feet hit the floor.

Wanda almost ran into the two men and she was about to snap at them to follow Amanda's instructions to run when she saw exactly why Tran was frozen in place.

Covington took two steps to the side and suddenly slumped to the floor; a large piece of glass had managed to, somehow, make its way so far forward and had embedded itself deep within his chest. The last impression Wanda got as she grabbed Tran and dragged him after her was a combined look of confusion and relief on his face.

In the alley behind the store, the ground rippled slightly before disgorging a young blonde woman. Amanda was in motion as soon as her feet were free, moving to open the back door and deal with any potential assailants blocking the exit, but the sudden roar of a car engine had her spinning around. A large black car was bearing down on her at a speed too fast to just be random.

"Oh, fuck," Amanda groaned to herself, lifting her hands in a warding off gesture and hoping New York had enough oomph to stop a Lincoln town car.

Thankfully, whoever was behind the wheel had decided that running her over was not in the cards for the day and the sounds of brakes being slammed on echoed down the alley. It did come far too close for anyone's comfort with the bumper of the car just inches from the spell Amanda had thrown up in order to save herself.

A gray haired head poked out of the passenger window and Agatha Harkness pursed her lips slightly. "In the car, if you please, Ms. Sefton! I assume Wanda cannot be far behind. Emiliano, do try and not run over anyone else - I doubt the insurance covers that sort of thing."

Amanda blinked. Things were getting surreal, as they had a tendency to do. "I'm not going anywhere without Wanda and 'Ro," she began, as the door to the shop flew open so hard it banged against the wall.

Ororo didn't know what she was more relieved to see - that Amanda had gotten away safely or that there seemed to be a vehicle just sitting there, waiting for them. "A friend of yours?" she queried over her shoulder to Wanda, who had nearly plowed into her after her abrupt stop in the alley.

Tran did run into Wanda when she came to a stop and that almost sent her, again, into Ororo. She felt like she was in a Benny Hill sketch. With death looming instead of hilarious music.

Wanda and Agatha stared at each other as she tried to work it all out but the sound of someone shooting inside the shop was good motivation. "Near enough," she responded, ignoring the hurt look that crossed Agatha's face. "Everyone in!" she barked, shoving Tran in ahead as all four them converged on the car.

Only when the doors were closed did she feel that familiar tightness of her powers start up again and the anxious face of another member of the Exemplars stared at her in the rear view mirror. "Professor Emiliano," she said, "and Professor Harkness. I think I need a drink."

"Where's Covington?" Emiliano demanded, not bothering to wait for an answer as he started the car forward again at a ridiculously high rate of speed considering they were still in an alley.

"Dead," was Tran's answer.

"Good!" Agatha's response caused everyone to blink and she turned her head to stare at the group in the back of her car. "That little bastard sold out your entire group, I'm afraid. It seems he had a sudden change of heart there at the end and Emiliano received all of Covington's notes regarding the entire sordid mess. We got here just in time, it would seem."

"Doesn't that make you the big bloody heroes," came Amanda's less-than-impressed response. "Too bad you couldn't have showed up earlier, like when people first started getting killed and all."

"We're going to safe house D." Wanda had turned half-way around in her seat and watched as another car started to give chase. "After we drop our tail, that is."

Emiliano suddenly smiled and gunned it. "That, Ms. Maximoff, would be my pleasure."