Nightmare on M Street

Participants: Wanda Maximoff
Open/Closed: Pending
Location(s): Manhattan, NY
Time of Day: 1 AM
Weather: Clear. Low 70s
Summary: Exhausted, and sleep deprived. Bad dreams. Night ruined. Grumpy Magneto is under a spell, (or possessed). Who knows? Master of Magnetism in PJs.

The days would come and go, or at least that’s what it felt like at times. Erik was well aware of the responsibilities as part of the new assembled X-Men. There were politics and their public image to maintain, factions and other details, finally coexisting with their ideals. The work and advancements achieved working with the teams have proven more than worth his time. The fruits of their labor resulted in opportunities and improvements to their overall quality of life. Ambassador of a nation, and trusted by his teammates as well as the citizens. After another long and busy day, Erik made his way into his sleeping quarters. It had been days, probably weeks since his insomnia began. Nothing he couldn’t handle.

Worn with fatigue, and weak from it. Erik closed his eyes without any hope to find comfort or any signs of sleep while in bed, his warped and exhausted mind making sense of the dark. He meditated, repeating the process of finding a means to some much needed rest. The results of his attempts triggering those childhood memories. There were certain memories he preferred to avoid and some he managed to deal with back then. He felt a sense of peace traveling down that rabbit hole.

It was raining, he will always remember that tragic day. He hated everything about it, but there was no room for other emotions except fear. The mass of people scared him, making him want to run away. He didn’t want to stare at all the faces watching them from the other side of the fences. The guards guided the mass, shoving and poking the crowd. Erik told himself he would be strong, for his parents. He could hear the crying and sobbing, the screams, and the barking of commands. It all came to a sudden halt when a loud bang rang out. A guard who was a rank above the rest delivered the shot, quickly bringing control and power over the people.

Approximately one hour later...

Your bloodline will be your demise.
You know what must be done..
Go forth.. bring peace to their weary souls.

The voice commandeered Erik’s body, making it easier to manipulate and exit the premises without alerting the other mutants. What time was it? Where was he going? He moved and struggled to break free from the trance, which only plunged him deeper into the dark abyss. It was quicksand. Every movement performed against his will, guided by this dark consuming feeling. His fight against it was only the beginning. The current of magnetic force fields made it capable for him to travel at a fast rate over the skies, across towns and other obstacles as necessary. Erik realized he was no longer safe and in control of his destination or actions.

This was no dream. Upon arriving in Manhattan, Erik hovered over the buildings sensing through his magnetic abilities. He was exactly where it wanted him to be, the exterior of Wanda’s apartment. Erik raised both of his hands to chest level, the forces around the structure pushed and pulled as he worked on tearing the building from its roots. The rumbling and shaking of the ground alerted the neighborhood, soon citizens rushed to see what was causing it all.

The girdle of protective magicks that Wanda had painstakingly wound around her apartment and its building woke her before the tremors did. But only just. Her mind clarified with uncanny speed, honed over the course of her life. From a childhood spent scavenging to survive on the fringes of society, watching Pietro's back as he watched her; then an entire adulthood as a superhero having to leap into perils at any moment without preamble.

Wanda saw, as she hurtled out of bed, the object of the oncoming malice conjured in the air in front of her, projected by one of countless defensive charms. Her brow creased in confusion and alarm, not only from the identity of the threat, but the power that that threat commanded. The Scarlet Witch bounded from her room, clad only in the red, drawstring pants and loose-fitting T-shirt she had been sleeping in.

Once, in her parlor, she tripped, when the ground began to quake. But then Wanda had thrown open the door to her balcony to reveal the silver-haired man floating int he air next to her apartment building. The Master of Magnetism himself. The Scarlet Witch was undeniably powerful, but she was not without limitations. Questions rattled through her head, but they would have to wait, because destruction and harm to innocents was about to befall.

Wanda vaulted over the railing of her balcony, and like the tail of a comet her hands left ribbons of magenta and rosy energy in her wake. The hex was hastily thrown together, and that haste forfeited precision as a cardinal rule, but Wanda didn't feel she had an alternative. With a flare of chaos magick and a flash of light, Wanda tore a vent open in the edges of dimensional space before folding that vent over the both of them, midair.

SPRSKK!

Vertigo tipped the world sideways around them and, in an instant, Wanda and Magneto were somewhere else entirely. The sorceress hadn't the slightest concept of where that could be. The intent of the hex had been to pull them away from any people or civilization, and that was the extent of its parameters. She was just glad they'd been transported somewhere with air, rather than the vacuum of space or the floor of the sea. Either would've been worthwhile risks, though, Wanda felt, to spare others from harm.

The Scarlet Witch noted, distantly, the rolling fields of grain around them, buffeted by a steady breeze beneath a sky strewn with so many stars they had to be well away from any kernel of modernity. "Erik!" she shouted, trying to capitalize on the moment of confusion she hoped he'd be feeling. "I don't know what's wrong, but don't make me fight you!" Wanda's palms were lost to orbs of thrashing chaos magick. Her eyes shimmered brightly. Not only did Wanda not want to duel Magneto on principle... She wasn't sure if she'd survive the experience.

Max Eisenhardt

A thick mist engulfed Erik, painting the space he occupied completely in black. ”Mind tricks?,” his voice echoed, until it faded. No response. Erik groaned, he was tired and desperate for a way out. A few hours ago he was in his quarters, and now his body and mind wandered in different realities. Distorted and disoriented, Erik felt no sense of time as if everything was being sucked into a black hole. ”Fine. Have it your way.” He closed his eyes and focused, instantly falling deep into the rabbit hole. If he could use energy from the magnetic fields he would have a way to fight back.

What.. have.. you.. done?!

The words cascading somewhere in the darkness, barely reaching his subconscious. The craft worked its way, easily manipulating his mind before he even had a chance to reject it. Erik felt like sinking in the depths of the unknown, it was as if he was drowning. This was far beyond a dream or any nightmare that haunted his mind. A dimly lit ray appeared in the far off distance, it was enough to awake him. His eyes adjusted to the dark that surrounded him, slowly focusing on the light that was far beyond his reach. Erik had some experience with telepaths, this however felt to be more than that. Without his helmet he was exposed, and in a trance under some witchcraft.

Magnus..!

The faint sound of a female voice echoed in the blackness. This voice unlike the one he’d heard before was soothing. He could feel various sensations surging through his mind and body. Erik’s exhausted mind making little sense of the message, it would do for now. His name carried over for miles in this dark space. The power that bound him to the darkness made it difficult to fight back, to swim to the surface and catch his breath. The strings that pulled at him like serpents coiling around his mind, asserting its hold over him.

Erik!
...but don’t make me fight you!

It was a blur, images crashing into some corner of his mind projecting the scene of his daughter. This voice came and went like lightning and thunder, it was a powerful outside presence. In a matter of seconds, Erik’s grip on the building was severed. The structure had been saved from chaos. The portal that swallowed him whole and transported him away from the city, it carried a familiar aura. Surrounded by miles of fields, away from civilization would prove its challenges. The strange force that inhabited his body and most of his mind certainly felt supernatural.

Open your eyes to the truth.
She is here, just like I warned you.
She will kill you. He will kill you.
Your children will be your ruin.
End her life!
End his life!

The melodious voice pulling at the strings once again. The space he occupied spiraled in every direction, streaks of dimly lit dots rushed past him, around him and everywhere. In the blink of an eye, Erik’s mind succumbed to the witchcraft. Ordering his body to raise both of his arms, as if he began to withdraw energy from the fields that surrounded the pair. Magneto was unaware of Wanda’s presence, even though he had felt her aura. The ground below him began to quake ever so lightly, disturbing wild life for miles. The geomagnetic fields would require more than a swift disturbance. The earth below him began to quake and rumble, channeling Erik’s struggle.

”Do not oppose me,” the words rolled out from Erik’s lips but it was not his voice. The ground growled from within, it continued to shake and rumble. The ominous force manipulating his powers to reach for signs of magnetism.

...Wanda?!

Wanda Maximoff

The danger of the situation; the magic boiling in her hands and churning through her veins; burned the fog of sleep entirely from her system. By the time those fields of rippling grain fell into place around the witch and master, she was utterly alert. There was no alternative, other than defeat and - likely - death. Wanda stared Erik down, willing him to see reason, still deeply confused and confounded by this illogical circumstance.

Magneto seemed disoriented at first. Then his eyes leveled at her. Wanda stared defiantly back. There was something more in those eyes. Some internal struggle, or disorientation beyond the teleportation. Wanda blinked. Her combat readiness wavered just slightly, trying to piece together what was going on.

Then the ground quaked. Wanda, as a witch, was much more familiar with and aware of the natural elements of the world than most presumed. She could feel the Earth's magnetic field twisting and warping to Magneto's will. The thought of a peaceful resolution seemed to be fading, and fast. She scowled, raising her hands preparatorily again.

"Do not oppose me."

The Scarlet Witch's renewed expression of ferocity colored puzzled again. Why did she get the feeling that Erik wasn't speaking to her? Wanda's footing faltered with the trembling in the ground. She scoffed and lifted off of it to hover five feet in the air, opposite Magneto. On a whim, she curled her fingers through the air, calling on an incantation and funneling her chaos magick down the divining rod that that incantation provided.

Her eyes blazed, senses tweaking to detect magic and outside energies. Erik lit up like a firework. Those same eyes widened in dawning realization... right before the tension finally broke.

Max Eisenhardt

”It won’t be that easy,” the cloaked voice echoed. It lingered in the air long enough to reach the scarlet-head mutant. ”This body can and will do whatever is necessary to achieve what I want,” the words filled the fields, as the Earth’s magnetic disturbance slowed down. As if everything that surrounded them was caught in a haze. ”You can’t stop this,” Erik’s lips continued to move but it wasn’t his voice. The sound his vocal chords produced were barely human. He smiled, but it wasn’t his own actions. The puppeteer continued to pulling the strings, attempting to disturb the energy in the air. Fauna and nature were disturbed, the rumbling and cracking of the ground taking on the form of a small earthquake. The ground now swollen and cracked open, it went on for a few miles in every direction.

The screaming rippled throughout the darkness, it came from the depths of his mind. Erik’s sight had been taken, the dimly lit space was once again pitch black. Memories came rushing in, whatever was holding them back before had now liberated them. Memories of decades long gone, memories of a life Erik wanted to lay to rest. Erik tried pulling away, the surge of vivid images came crashing like a tsunami, drawing from his pain and losses. His hands rubbed his eyes, even when he couldn’t feel his body he could at least pretend. Erik was trapped in a charm, pain and frustration sinking in his mind. The magic pushed him back to the spot, instantly paralyzing his movements. The sky was falling, in big dark flakes. Dark gray, dry flakes of ash in the middle of this dark and empty space.

Your mind can’t accept what is about to happen.
You are not ready.
You will understand everything once you’ve achieved your destiny.
Follow your feelings.
You will soon be free.
..Trust me, Magnus.

The enchanting voice coiled around his body, from his head to his heart. The sweet siren echoing for miles, like the gust of winds in the meadows. It trapped Erik, it sent him swirling down an endless experience of his life. His trials and errors flashing before him. The ash flakes continued to fall, slowly and at a pace. Erik felt the flakes on his face, making it possible to ease his strained mind and body. At least that’s what he focused on, still weaving through the dark corners of whatever this was. It was magic, he was sure of it. He had seen Wanda, he knew and felt that to be real.

You were never meant to have a legacy.
You know this better than anyone.
Your poison will destroy the world.
Your bloodline is tainted.

“YOU ARE C U R S E D!”

Again, Erik’s mouth opened to deliver a loud and clear message. Once again the energy seemed to flow around and around in his head, pulsating from one corner of his mind to another. All the while the power began to spill outside of the prison Erik’s been confined in within the depths of his brain. Suddenly Erik could feel the pain come together at a point in the back of his head. The Earth’s magnetic fields were being slightly distorted and before he opened his eyes to the feeling, the pain lit up in his mind. For every attempt to fight back, the magic bound and suppressed Erik’s will.

Inside his head, his memories were fighting against each other. The images of his life long ago fought with his new life. Erik grabbed on, the memories continued to fight, the whispers of long forgotten voices crawling back. Erik groaned, grunted and tried to hold back the pain when he could.

Wanda Maximoff