"How are you feeling, Wanda? Any better?"
Wanda closed the thick family picture book in her lap at the sound of her mother's voice. Looking over to her mother's worried face from the comfy couch she was sitting on, Wanda nodded and smiled sadly.
"Yes, I'm feeling a lot better now." Wanda said with a sad tone.
"Are you sure? I've never seen you like that. Maybe you should take the day off school tomorrow as well." Iryna sat beside her and looked at the book on her lap. "Oh, You don't usually go through that book, honey. Are you looking for something?"
Wanda frowned and looked down at the thick old book. Inside were many images of her and her family lining up several dozens of pages. They captured moments of her life spanning from birth to just as recently as last month. There was even an image of her and Pietro celebrating their eleventh birthday. Which never happened because her parents were killed a year before.
"No… no, I'm just feeling melancholic." Wanda said. "Mother, remind me again. Why did we leave Sokovia?"
"Honey, you know why. Your father was offered a high-paying position as a doctor here." Iryna smiled and took the book from her. "Things were becoming much more dangerous due to the civil wars, so when your father received that job offer, it felt like a gift from a higher power. It was a miracle."
"It was well timed; that's what it was." Wanda turned her head to see her father walk into the room. His suit jacket was off, and he placed a hand on her forehead. "I'm not feeling a fever. It must be exhaustion from all that studying. Those end-of-year exams are something else these days."
Olek then smiled at her and rubbed her head. "Remember to give yourself time to rest as well, sweetheart. Pushing yourself too hard will do you no good."
Wanda smiled and nodded; she closed her eyes tight to stop the fresh new tears that wanted to slip out and stain her cheeks. Olek grinned, sat down next to her mother, and looked down at the album, a whimsical smile on his face.
"This life… is the life I always dreamed about. The one I wished for every night ever since that horrible night all those years ago." Wanda stood up and smiled at her parents; they looked at her with confusion and concern. "But this isn't real, I can't stay here… it's just a dream."
"Wanda?" Olek asked as he stood up alongside her mother.
"Mother… father… thank you for being my parents. Thank you for doing everything you did for Pietro and me back in Sokovia." Regardless of how hard she tried to fight her tears, two tiny tear drops escaped her eyes. "I love you two… so very much."
Wanda walked up to her parents and hugged them tightly. "But I have to go find my friend."
"We're not sure what's going on, Wanda. But whatever it is, we'll get through it together." Iryna said with a loving smile as she hugged her tight.
"Of course. We love you, Wanda. Never forget that." Olek said as he held her to his chest.
Wanda choked out a sob and closed her eyes. Focusing on her magic, Wanda released a gentle wave all around her. Slowly, the feeling of her mother's gentle hug vanished alongside the comforting hold of her father's strong arms.
Opening her eyes, Wanda saw everything around her vanishing into red dust. The house she woke up in disappeared into the wind, leaving nothing but an empty lot of grass.
Falling to her knees, Wanda hugged herself and cried silently. Before she could lose herself to despair, Wanda rubbed her eyes with her long-sleeved pink shirt and shook her head. With newly found resolve, she stood up and started walking toward where she could sense a faint trace of Harvey's energy. Before she could travel too far, Wanda stopped and looked at the empty lot.
"…goodbye."
•••
"So, which flavor would you like to get today?"
Walking past several shops, two young individuals walked beside each other with smiles. One was a young man with light brown hair; he appeared to be in his late teenage years. The other was a girl in her early teens with similarly colored hair, although hers was slightly darker. Their facial features were strikingly similar; the two were siblings.
"I don't know, I want chocolate, but I think I've had that too many times. Hm… oh, I know! I want rocky road!" The young girl pumped her fist with an excited smile.
"That's still chocolate though…" The young man said with a small laugh.
"Whatever, Harvey."
"You know I'm right, Carly."
Carly frowned and started walking faster, dodging other shoppers with practiced ease. Harvey shook his head and picked up the pace; he did not want to chase after his sister. Not again.
"Hurry up, slow poke!" Carly yelled as she sped up.
"Slow down, Carly!" Harvey yelled as he picked up the pace.
Just as he was about to run after her, two men carrying a large mirror stepped out of the store in front of him. As they walked past him, Harvey froze at the sight of himself.
Instead of the familiar sight of his reflection, there in his place was a flaming skeleton staring back at him. The skull's dark eye sockets peered into his soul.
"Wake up."
Before Harvey could question it, the men walked into the back of a large box truck. Harvey stood there in confusion as he stared forward, hypnotized by what he saw.
"Zara-"
"HARVEY!" Carly grabbed his arm and shook it. "Big brother! What's wrong?!"
"Oh, um… I'm alright." Harvey placed a hand on his head and smiled down at his sister. "Sorry about that! I guess I felt a bit lightheaded there for a second."
"Well, if you're sure." Carly looked at him with an expression that said she didn't buy what he said. "Let's get that ice cream; I'm sure it'll help your head!"
"Yeah, you're right." Harvey nodded and let himself be guided by his sister after she grabbed his hand.
•••
"Mom! We're home!"
Harvey closed the door behind them and watched Carly enter the kitchen after she yelled about their arrival. Slipping off his old shoes, Harvey followed behind his sister with a few grocery bags in hand.
Harvey grinned as he walked past the living room and turned right; his mother stood in the kitchen. Maria Miller, the woman, was of average height with long blonde hair tied into a ponytail. She wore an apron over a white T-shirt and blue jeans.
"It's about time you two got home."
Maria smiled and bent down slightly to hug Carly. "After all, I can't bake my strawberry cake without strawberries."
"Got you covered, mom." Harvey pulled out a small box of said fruit and laid it down on the kitchen island. "And here's the rest of what you asked for."
"Thank you, Harvey." Maria smiled and looked inside the bags. "Ah, hold up a second. Where's the eggs?"
"What? They're in there." Harvey walked beside his mom and riffled through the bags. Only to see that she was indeed correct, there were no eggs. "Carly, where are the eggs?"
"Oh… uh, so you see. There's a funny story there. So what happened was-" Carly looked at anywhere but him or their mother as she tried to talk her way out of the situation. Harvey sighed in exasperation.
"That's alright. I'll go run back to the store and grab them." Harvey said and rubbed the top of Carly's hair, messing her once well-combed hairdo. "I'll be back before you know it."
"Okay, be careful, honey." Maria nodded and started putting away the groceries. "I know the crime rates in the city are pretty low, but you can never be too careful."
"Mom, relax. It's still five in the afternoon." Harvey sighed and started walking to the front door. "You worry too much."
"Harvey?" Hearing his mom say his name, Harvey paused in turning the door knob.
"Yeah-" Harvey answered and turned to look at his mother. Only to freeze at what he saw.
All the afternoon light inside the living room disappeared, only to be replaced by a blanket of darkness. In the center of the room were two unmoving bodies; bullet holes lined their figures as blood stained their clothes and seeped out onto the carpet.
"W-What-" Harvey whispered until a cough escaped his throat. Feeling warm blood flow down the corner of his lip, Harvey lifted his hand to wipe away the blood but stopped when he saw several bullet holes in his torso. Blood seeped out slowly from his wounds.
Lifting his head shakily, Harvey was surprised to see the muzzle of an MP5 mere inches away from his face.
"…huh?"
BANG
"GAH!" Harvey yelled and jumped back until he crashed into the front door and slid down to the ground. Cold sweat covered his shaking body.
"HARVEY?!" Maria and Carly yelled as they ran into the living room and saw him sitting on the ground, a pale, scared expression on his face.
Harvey turned to his panicked family; they were perfectly fine and unhurt. Even the dark living room was lit up by the evening sunlight.
"Big brother, are you alright?!" Carly kneeled next to him and grabbed his shoulders.
"Honey, are you okay?" Maria bent down and looked at him worriedly. "Did you hurt your head?"
"N-No!" Harvey stood up quickly and opened the door. "I'm f-fine. I'M FINE! I'm just… I'm going to get those eggs. I'll be back soon."
Before his mother or sister could speak, he closed the door and walked off down the sidewalk of the suburbs he lived in. Harvey shook his head and rubbed his eyes, only to run into something solid.
"Ugh." Harvey opened his eyes and saw his neighbor and good friend. "Wanda?"
"H-Harvey?" Wanda looked at him with a surprised expression. "HARVEY!"
Harvey was confused as to why she looked so relieved to see him, they just saw each other yesterday. Wanda then ran up to him and crushed him with a strong hug.
"I'm so happy to see you! I-I was so scared after I saw that explosion out in the sea!" Wanda stepped back but grabbed his hands. "We've been looking for you for an entire day. I was- we were so scared that something happened to you!"
"Woah there, Wanda! What are you talking about? Explosion? I was missing? None of that ever happened to me." Harvey smiled awkwardly and pulled his hands away. "Is everything okay? Pietro told me something happened to you yesterday. Is everything all right?"
Wanda took a small step back with a growing expression of shock. "Harvey… do you not remember? Wait… do you think this dream is real-"
"Harvey!" Harvey turned his head to see Carly running towards him. She stopped a few feet away and leaned on her knees to catch her breath. Carly was never the best runner.
"Wait… who's this?" Wanda looked at him in confusion.
"What do you mean?" Harvey and the young girl turned to look at Wanda in bewilderment. "Wanda, this is Carly. My little sister."
"Everything okay, Wanda?" Carly said in concern.
"Carly?" Wanda's brows furrowed in worry. "You're Carly?"
"Uh, yeah." Carly placed her hands on her hips. "That's me."
Harvey watched as Wanda looked at his sister intensely until a sad frown marred her face. Wanda then turned to look at him with a grave expression.
"You think this world is real… don't you?" Wanda stepped forward and looked down at Carly. "You think… she's real."
"What are you on about? Of course, I'm real!" Carly looked insulted and stepped in front of him, causing Wanda to step back. "Listen here, Maximoff! My brother isn't feeling well, and you talking about utter nonsense isn't helping!"
Wanda smiled down at Carly and turned to him; a heavy feeling grew inside him. Harvey placed a hand over his heart. A sudden pain erupted within his chest. "She's a very strong and protective sister. So this is why this happened, isn't it?"
"Harvey, look up."
Wanda raised her hand and pointed at the sky. Slowly, Harvey looked up and saw the sky colored bloody red, not bright blue. White cracks littered the skies and reached as far as the eye could see. Sporadically, new splinters erupted and created more cracks.
Lifting a hand to his face, Harvey's head dropped, and he looked down at the ground with wide, glowing orange eyes. Everything that's ever happened to him flooded his mind. All his exploits as the vigilante Vengeance and all his amazing feats and actions as the Ghost Rider played through his memories. Detailed moments of his time with his friends and newfound family flooded his mind. He remembered everything, everything! A sharp, shameful grimace graced his lips.
"How could I forget?"
"The sky? What about it? It's the same blue as it always has been." Carly said as she looked up, seemingly not seeing the hellscape that was the open sky. Carly then jumped when she heard a thump behind her. Harvey collapsed to his knees. "Brother?"
Carly quickly grabbed her brother's hands and looked worriedly at him. "Harvey! Are you okay?! What's the matter?!"
"Carly… the day you were born, I was so happy; and why shouldn't I? That was the day I became a big brother. I swore I would protect you from the moment I held you in my arms. But… I failed. I failed to keep you and Mom safe that night. I-I couldn't s-stop them." Harvey softly touched Carly's shoulders, almost as if he was afraid she would crumble to dust. Tears streamed down his eyes, and he struggled to speak as he choked back sobs.
"Harvey, what are you saying? You're scaring me." Carly whispered and hugged him. "I'm fine, see! I'm not hurt; you didn't fail!"
"I-I did fail… I broke my promise. When I was caught in that explosion… I saw you there in my mind. You were holding out your hand to me. I was so shocked and relieved to see you that I didn't think twice about grabbing it. Even if I knew you weren't real. And because of that… I got to see my little sister again; I got to see my mom and dad again. I was able to live the perfect life. But it wasn't real… you're not real. No matter… how badly I want you to be." Harvey spoke into his sister's hair; Carly's yellow shirt absorbed his tears.
"You're scaring me." Carly pulled back and looked at him in the eyes. Tears were building up in the corners of her eyes.
"No, no. I'm not trying to scare you, Carly." Harvey lifted a hand and softly wiped away her tears. "This was everything I wanted, but out there… I have responsibilities. There are people that need me… and I can't fail them; I won't ever fail them. Like I failed you… so I… have to go."
Harvey grimaced as he slowly stood up and let go of his sister. Carly looked lost and sad as she looked up at him with tears streaming down her cheeks. Harvey frowned and looked up at Wanda; she had a hand covering her mouth as she cried quietly.
"…thank you for waking me up." Harvey said.
Wanda smiled and nodded. "Of course."
Harvey nodded and looked to the right. In the center of the street stood a lone orange door, it was swung open and glowing bright white.
Walking forward, Harvey grabbed Wanda's hand. The two walked up to the door but stopped to look back at Carly, who looked at them both sadly.
"I love you, Carly… I always will."
Harvey closed his eyes and turned away, no longer having the strength to look at his little sister. Wanda squeezed his hand and pulled them both inside the door.
A blinding light exploded from the door, filling the dream world in white.
•••
"It's about time."
Opening his glowing orange eyes, Harvey watched as the vast pitch-black space ignited violently on fire. Waves and pillars of fire shot out from different directions, filling the Soul Space with hot flames and bright orange-yellow lights.
"Sorry, partner... I had a moment of weakness." Harvey said dully, looking to his side. He found Wanda missing from where she was standing a second ago.
"Do not worry about your friend." Zarathos said. "Wanda has left your mind."
"I wonder how long I would have allowed myself to stay trapped within my own mind... somehow, Simon's energy affected my hippocampus considerably. The dream I had... it was so real." Harvey looked down at his hands; they shook slightly.
"It was never real, Harvey... life is never that easy." Zarathos said with a soft tone. "Partner, the fight isn't over. Can you sense it?"
Harvey floated until he was in front of Zarathos's large flaming skull. Taking a deep breath, He empowered himself with the power of the Ghost Rider and reached out and scanned the outside world. After a few seconds, his eyes grew wide with alarm.
"Several Demons... but they were all destroyed. Their Demonic energy still lingers on the surface. There was one more, but it escaped alive..." Harvey narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "It can't be... what's Blackheart doing in the mortal realm?!"
"From our position here, it is hard to determine what he's planning. We must move quickly to his location." Zarathos said gravely; Harvey nodded and closed his eyes.
It was time to return to the outside world.
•••
"-anda? Wanda?!"
Eyes opening wide in surprise, Wanda gasped and fell back. Before she could fall onto the ground from her kneeling position, she felt someone grab her and hold her steady.
"Easy there, kid. Just what happened? We've been calling you for the past five minutes!" Wanda turned back and saw Tony Stark behind her, out of his Iron Man armor. Happy Hogan stood on her other side.
"Stark? Wait... five minutes?" Wanda said in confusion. Did time move differently in Harvey's dream? She could have sworn she was gone for at least two days.
Before anyone else could speak, Harvey's charred skeleton ignited on fire, causing Stark to pull her back quickly and pull her to her feet. Happy then promptly stood in front of them protectively, albeit with a nervous look.
The skeleton then slowly stood up and looked over at them. Somehow, the flames from its bony feet didn't spread out through the deck's wooden floor. Wanda smiled and walked forward, ignoring Starks and Happy's protests.
"Harvey?" Wanda asked.
The skeleton looked over at her and nodded. Immediately, the fire gave way for muscles, tissue, hair, and skin to quickly appear over the skeleton. This only lasted for a few seconds until Harvey stood on the deck completely fine, although he was completely naked.
Wanda's face felt like it was on fire as she looked over his body and saw him in all his bare glory. Strongly defined muscles twitched, drawing attention to all the scars that littered his body.
Wanda never had the chance to see Harvey's body without clothing; it strongly resembled the actor who played the main character in that boxing movie she and everyone else watched one night; she believed the movie was called Creed.
"Thanks for pulling me out of there, Wanda." Harvey nodded and smiled at her in appreciation.
Before Wanda's eyes could drift lower to Harvey's more private areas, an embarrassed Happy wrapped his black suit jacket around Harvey's waist.
"Jesus, kid. Cover up!" Happy said quickly.
"Huh? Oh, I lost my clothes in the blast." Harvey said calmly.
Harvey looked down at himself to see his naked body. For some reason, he didn't seem to be embarrassed at that. Wanda then looked at his eyes and found them dull and tired.
"I'm glad to see you in one piece, kid. You gave us quite the scare." Stark walked up to Harvey and smiled slightly. "But go put some clothes on; I can't keep acting like your not butt naked. Happy, let's get the kid some clothes."
"Right..." Harvey smiled slightly.
Wanda watched as Happy led Harvey inside the yacht to get dressed. She couldn't help but feel worried; something felt off about her friend.
"That dream..." Wanda whispered.
Looking down, Wanda felt a pang of sadness in her heart. Seeing her parents again... it was both a blessing and a curse. Seeing them both again made her so happy that it felt like ripping her arm off to let them go. Harvey must feel the same way as her, but now wasn't the time to wallow in sadness.
"Wanda, where's Pietro and Amy?" Wanda turned her head to see Harvey and Happy return to the deck. Harvey was dressed in a white dress shirt, black dress pants, and a pair of shiny dress shoes on his feet. He had a severe expression on his face.
"Amy was the one who told us where you were located; she also warned us that there were Demons after those we care about. Pietro is dealing with them, but we haven't heard back from Amy." Wanda said as she watched Harvey walk up to the edge of the yacht; he then held up his hand and made a fist.
"I see... Pietro must be the one who's been taking out all those Demons. Good." Harvey looked over in the direction of the coast. "That must mean..."
"Hold on, what are you talking about?" Stark walked up to them and looked confused. "Demons? Are you telling me there are actual Demons back home right now?"
"Yes, the fight isn't over." Harvey said as he looked over at the dark ocean waters. In the distance, an orange light appeared on the horizon. "Stark, please take Wanda back to where Simon and I fought in the city. Pietro is there right now, although the Demon that was with him is gone. It's possible that your bother is injured and might need help."
"Wait... where are you going?" Wanda asked with worry, not only for her brother but for Harvey. She had just gotten him back, and he was about to leave again.
"Nevada." Harvey said as a blazing motorcycle stopped in front of the yacht. The two-wheeled vehicle was somehow staying above water.
Wincing at the sudden flash of light, Wanda watched Harvey transform into the Ghost Rider. The flaming spirit of vengeance jumped off the yacht and landed on the motorcycle with expert ease. Harvey drove off quickly toward the city with a loud engine rev, spraying large amounts of water and fire behind him.
"It's one thing after another with this kid." Stark said in frustration. "Jarvis, take us back to shore. No speed limits."
"Very well, sir." Jarvis's smooth robotic voice spoke, and the boat started moving immediately.
Watching the slowly disappearing light of Harvey's flaming motorcycle, Wanda couldn't help but feel a growing pit of worry within her.
Something felt wrong.