Chapter 8: A Witch Called Wanda and the Blue Fury

Thanks so much to NachtcGleiskette and Ian for their opinions and input into this chapter :} your support rules! This is just some silly comedy stuff. Hope you enjoy!

"The Professor…gone." Scott sighed, adjusting his vermillion shades. "Whenever that happens, it's never good."

"And all because some jerk from his past has a vendetta." continued Jean, she ran a slender hand through her blazing hair in thought. Her eyes lowered, tracing the organic grain scrawled into the tabletop, gleaming with a waxed sheen. Rogue huddled like a pondering gargoyle, clutching her knees atop the granite countertop, her presence mingling with the various appliances that were scattered across. Her head lowered and mouth pulled into the unmistakable form of a frown. With every passing step, Kitty tread the floor in an ebb and flow of dizzying paces. The eternal black of evening was punctuated with stars and clouds of condensation, littered with waves of nocturnal chorus. All attendees of the fated meeting were bathed beneath the singular light of the crystalline chandelier, swinging high above the table like a celestial being. Several other personages lay reposed in their seats, murmuring in muted voices concerning the disheartening notification. Sam Guthrie rested his hand on his head and sighed tiredly, "So who's in charge of the institute?"

"The Professor gave me the duty of watching after you." Ororo stated.

Although, to be honest, do you really have what it takes? A slithering voice in her mind hissed.

"Don't worry, Storm." Jean rose, placing a reassuring hand upon Ororo's shoulder. "Scott and I will help any way we can. Right, Scott?"

"Of course." He responded. "Just let us know if there is anything we can do to make the load easier."

"Besides, anything is better than Logan…bub." A snide voice muttered, resulting in a cascade of rippling laughs. Even the heavily-taxed Ororo smiled, her eyes gleamed merrily. The shroud of mirth was untimely ripped by a sudden drop of mass from above. The protracted table resounded with a thud as a familiar conglomeration of limbs and tenacious tail flew up and flailed about in the air.

"What in tarnation!" Exclaimed Rogue in irritation and surprise as the disturbance reverts her mental wanderings to the reality at hand. Startling remarks resounded throughout the room, pure features and a golden stare peered embarrassedly into a veritable sea of unhappy students. She righted herself and crouched in a despondent position, neck swiveling in mechanical motion to note that she had ruined everyone's good feeling.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"You should be in bed, TJ. Not hiding in the chandelier." The weather witch scolded, furrowing her brows grasping her arm and herding her into the darkness.

"I didn't mean to snoop" she began, facing her caretaker, eyes lowered in shame; she grabbed hold of the spade at the end of her tail and started fondling it nervously. "I just wanted to know what's going on. Daddy-I mean Kurt hasn't gotten up yet."

"Just relax" she said softly "Everything is going to fine; I promise you, now go to bed and no more nonsense."

"And Auntie, I wanted to as you something; if this world has its version of my Daddy, does that mean that Mama is somewhere too? Can we go to the Avengers' house and see her?"

Ororo's accusing eyes softened, her mind taking deliberate steps to word her response. "Yes she exists, but just like the Kurt in this world isn't like your father, the Wanda of this world is probably not like your mom at all. Just promise me you won't wander around looking for her, ok? I don't want you getting hurt."

"Ok Auntie, whatever you say." with a salute and a wink, Talia skipped away into the dim corridor.

How uncanny! The mischievous and free-spirited Talia Josephine Wagner seamlessly complying with every whim of her superiors? That's unheard of! Or perhaps she has something planned…

"That's not true, Narrator." came a harsh retort "I have every intention of doing what Auntie tells me to do."

Oh really?

"…for now." A fanged grin stretched across her devilish visage.

**********

Machinery whirred in a monotonous fashion, buzzing and humming across metallic interfaces. An immense behemoth of a skeletal frame was splayed before the humbled concrete floor, illuminated by the flickering of fluorescent lights. From beneath the mammoth structure, sparks plummeted in showers, and were quickly squelched as they reached the end of their fabled journey toward the cool ground. Various tools and objects reclined upon a metallic bench, gleaming coldly, without vivacity. A teen approached the conglomeration of objects, stroking his olive-skinned chin in thought. A wandering flock of black hairs impeded his line of sight, prompting him to relocate them. He plucked a wrench from its rostrum "Sometimes it's the simple tool that gets the job done" he sighed.

"I can't thank you enough for helping me with this project, Forge." a calm, cultured voice grumbled. Another spell of sparks flickered then perished. "I figured if anyone knew about this alternate-dimension stuff, it would be you."

"Not a problem, Hank." came the reply "It's like second nature, you know? The bad news is that my parents want me back in time for dinner…and that was two hours ago."

**********

"I'm driving!" Bobby called, leaping and bounding with glee across the sun glazed driveway.

"I don't know if Scott will let us use his car if he knew you were at the wheel." Kitty giggled, following after him.

"Ungh…what a headache" Kurt groaned, holding his head. His shoulders shrugged, repositioning his backpack, each unsteady leg trudged one aching step after another.

"Oh come on, it's the last day of school." The party's only female grinned, "at least let that be a comfort to know."

"Wunderbar, so comforting." He drily commented.

With a turn of the ignition, they sped into the shining day.

**********

Location: Bayville High

Time: 7:45 am

The car finally ended its kinetic state, and entered into the realm of silent slumber. The trio left to undergo their daily activities.

Whump!

The trunk exploded with a hollow blow, the sound reverberating across its sleek metal frame.

Whump!

Haggard breathing resounded from within the cavernous hold.

"Ok then, you asked for it!"

A flash of crimson and an immense explosion sliced through the otherwise tranquil morning, and a lithe blue figure emerged from the smoking wreckage.

"Great, now that I'm not packed like a sardine in a can, I'm going to find Mama. If she's anything like Daddy in this world, she'll be going to school too." As she scuttled her way toward the imposing establishment, she took careful note of the throngs of students lingering like a faint residue across the grass and asphalt. They congregated in coagulation under the celestial illumination of the sun, their voices rising in a cacophonous vapor.

"Hmmm…this looks like a stealth mission. I have to be unseen, like a ninja." She mumbled softly to herself, eyes darting wildly in adventurous excitement. Ok, operation Find Fake Mama…commences!"

Ensconced beneath the full shade of an elm tree, a lone woman stood propped against the wall of the establishment, a scowl lining her face. She fondled an ankh hung around her neck. Brow knit with irritation, her mouth warped in a snarl at the sight of a gangly youth, eyes gleaming with affection and arms stretched out.

"Snookums! I found you!"

"Toad!" she spat "I told you to back off!" She crossed her arms and slanted her eyes in a deathlike glare.

"Oh come on, Wanda. You never give me a chance. Just let me show you I can be a real man."

"A chance? Heh. Funny how you think you actually deserve one." She remarked coldly.

"Hey, I can be brave, strong, dedicated- what is that!" with a shriek of utter terror, the self-proclaimed strong and brave individual leapt boundlessly into the air out of surprise and fright. Wanda looked down to behold, naught but a demure child, staring in wide-eyed bewilderment.

"You're Wanda? Hi there! I'm TJ, your daughter!" a slight whimper from the Toad, and he crashes into the grass with a faint, with no concern shown on the part of Wanda.

"You'd better be joking kid, or today's going to end really badly for you." The Scarlet Witch hissed. A blue aura pulsed and throbbed about her hands as punctuation to the threat.

"Well, okay, maybe I came off too strong. You're not really my mom, just another version of her. Wow, Auntie did say you would be different from my real mom. You see, I'm not from your world, but I got put here because Daddy wanted me to go away so that I wouldn't get hurt. Boy! I can't wait to tell him and Mama about all these adventures I've been having!" with every passing sentence her eyes gleamed and features became more excited.

"Wait, wait." The elder of the two commanded. "So you're telling me, you're from an alternate dimension, where I married some guy, and had you."

The exuberant child nodded.

"And you're all blue and furry…you look a lot like…"

"Nightcrawler? Of course! He's my Daddy!"

"You're kidding. The likelihood of that fuzzball and me getting together in this world is about as likely as…well you know." She motioned toward the semi-conscious Todd, still embedded in the turf.

"Oh yeah. Sorry about your friend."

"Please" Wanda sneered "you did me a service."

Talia arched her back and crossed her arms in thought. "You're taking all this very well."

"Well, when you live at the Brotherhood house, you'd be surprised at some of the stuff you come across every day; most of it from Blob's room."

"Brother-hood?" the child cocked her head in pensive action. "Oh! That must be like the Avengers for this world!"

"Avengers? Do I even want to know?"

"The Avengers." Talia explained "Mama works there. The Avengers are a group of heroes that save the world from bad guys!" her explanation annotated with enthusiastic punches and kicks. "Daddy, mein Vater is with the X-men and he wants me to be one too. Mama comes to visit the X-men house sometimes and see us. So the Avengers there, is like the Brotherhood here?"

"Well kid, I'm not going to lie-not exactly" came the response.

"That's cool. Well, it's been really great to see you, but I want to explore this school more. Bayville High will soon know of the Blue Fury!" she placed her arms akimbo and knees bent in a dynamic pose.

"Yeah whatever, get out of here." She waved weakly, and TJ sped off.

Long corridors stretched before her, laden with innumerable rows of dusky lockers and doorways. The sights, sounds and smells of her surroundings caused her ears and eyes to perk in interest. Students clumped together in throngs, making their way from class to monotonous class. Amid the field of unidentified personages, there was one face that stood out.

"Kitty… pssst…Kitty…over here." Talia waved enthusiastically, donned by the shadows that stuffed the hallway corner. Kitty, approaching to where she was summoned, was shocked and slightly vexed at her hidden ally.

"TJ what are you doing here? You're, like, supposed to be at home with Storm."

"I know, but, I wanted to go on an adventure, so I hid in the trunk. Are you angry at me?" her eyes lowered in despair.

"I'm not angry at you" Kitty responded softly "But for now, you have to go and wait in the car until school is over, ok?"

"Ok" the blue one relented, slinking back into the obscurity, and skittering across the tiles in a stealthy fashion. An exit revealed itself to her. Behind the glass doorway, she beheld her alternate mother, once again being pestered.

"I'm willing to overlook your family issues. Come on Googie Bear, just one kiss? Please?" He closed his eyes and pursed his lips in anticipation for the sweet delight; with every repulsive retreat by Wanda, only caused him to press in closer.

"Oh no" Talia stated, brow cocked in defiance "nobody hassles my fake Mama." Her mind reverted back to Ororo's words.

"People in this world aren't as accepting as they are in yours."

Thinking quickly, she raced into the nearest classroom. With every second utilized by Talia, Todd continued his advance.

"Blue Fury!" She exclaimed, eliciting screeches of an ear-piercing degree. Papers flew in a hail of information and desks and chairs were upturned. Students and teachers alike crashed together in a conglomeration of panic. The class erupted in a stampede of fright, bursting out the door, trampling the Toad who was unfortunate enough to be in the middle of their trajectory. The self-proclaimed Blue Fury proceeded to do the same in every classroom, provoking the same response every time.

The sun greeted and warmed her face as through in reward for her effort. Kurt, face painted in an irked and disgusted manner, hastily stode up and grabbed her arm, herding her down the steps and toward the parking lot.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you caused today? Mien Gott!" the rest of his sentence was naught more than incoherent babblings.

Crossing Wanda's path, Talia made a slight wave toward her newfound acquaintance.

"Hey kid." She called "You're alright." The older woman allowed a small smile to rest upon her face as she waved back.

"Uh…someone help" Todd whined pitifully, prostrate upon the ground in agony "I don't think my spine is supposed to go this way."

"and" Kurt mentioned "You're going to tell Scott that you destroyed the entire back of his car.

"Don't worry; I'll just say Bobby did it."

"TJ!"

Just kidding!"

TO BE CONTINUED

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