'Inner dialogue/thoughts'
"Normal dialogue"
[System]
[Diary entries]
(Word Count: 2,136)
~ With Dark Wanda ~
"You. . . BITCH!"
Trails of corrosion were left behind as the wave of chaos energy was filled with pure anger. As the attack was about to reach its target, a similar wave of energy erupted in a spherical shape, sheltering the newcomer.
"I've been called worse things." Other Wanda quipped as she sent the sphere outwards. As it spread further out, the scenery began to change with it.
Dark Wanda gazed at her new surroundings, a hint of amusement and acknowledgement in her eyes. "Not bad. The Nexus Realm. One of the few realms where our powers would not cause lasting damages."
However, the look of confusion on Other Wanda's face only served to increase Dark Wanda's amusement.
"You don't even know where you took us, do you? Hah. . . To think I'd be banished from that universe by a version of me who doesn't even know where our powers come from."
"That may be so, but I know just enough to make sure that you won't be going near them any time soon."
"And you believe that to be the case? Tell me, do you know what a Nexus Being is?"
Other Wanda held her silence, indicating she is unaware of the term.
"A Nexus Being is one who has the power to affect the future however they see fit. They bend the grand design – changing the Math. Some believe that they exist to control." As Dark Wanda spoke, she raised her hands and in the palm of her hand, a silhouette of Luke began forming.
"But in truth, they personify Freedom."
Other Wanda's eyes widened when she saw the projection of Luke. "You stay the hell away from him." She warned, coating her own hands with Chaos Energy, ready to retaliate at any given moment.
"Hahahahahaha!" Dark Wanda simply laughed. "You think you can stop me? YOU?! Do you have any idea where we are? How simple it would be for me to erase your very existence in this realm?"
In a show of power, Dark Wanda flicked her hands. Other Wanda waited in bated breath, knowing that she was severely unprepared for the upcoming battle. But she still needed to buy a little more time.
However, contrary to both Wandas, nothing happened.
Dark Wanda narrowed her eyes as she took a closer look at Other Wanda.
"Interesting. . ." She said, slowly pacing around Other Wanda like a hunter messing playing with its prey.
Other Wanda did not falter, though her breathing was uneven. Although she was prepared for battle, but her eyes betrayed her sadness. "You don't have to do this," she pleaded. "Killing them won't bring back what you've lost."
As soon as Other Wanda finished pleading, she immediately regretted opening her mouth as Dark Wanda stopped prowling and her eyes hardened.
"What I've lost? What I've LOST?"
Pieces of shattered reality began floating around Dark Wanda like fragments of a broken mirror. Her face began to morph into one of pure anger as the realm seemed to tremble under her immense power, reflecting the rising hatred within her.
Her hands flared with darker, more unstable magic that sparked and hissed like a fire about to explode. "Don't you DARE lecture me!"
With a flick of her wrist, a whip of crimson energy was sent hurtling towards Other Wanda.
Other Wanda barely had enough time to react. She raised her hand, forming a glowing red shield just in time to block the attack. The impact sent her stumbling back, her boots sliding on the ground beneath her.
"Stop this!" She shouted. "I know what you've lost, but that doesn't mean that the rest of us should go through it too! If you're really me, then you should see that what you're doing is absolute madness!" She knew this was a fight she could not win, but it did not mean she wouldn't try.
Dark Wanda merely smirked. "You want me to stop? Why? So you can play the 'Hero'? You think you're better than me, don't you?" She thrust both her hands forward, and the ground beneath Other Wanda erupted. Red spikes of Chaos Energy shot up around her like jagged teeth.
Other Wanda jumped back, narrowly avoiding the trap. She clenched her fists, drawing her magic inward before releasing it in a burst of crimson light that shattered the spikes.
"I'm not trying to be better than you!" She shot back. "I've lost everything too. And it's because of that, I know what it's like. This path you're on Wanda, nothing good will come out of it. Not for you, and not for the rest of us."
The smirk on Dark Wanda's lips faded as she halted her attacks. For a brief moment, hope began rising in Other Wanda's heart. Only for it to be shattered by the sinister grin replacing Dark Wanda's lips.
"You say all that, and yet Luke Sullivan is still alive.
Unless you've truly lost everything, then you can't possibly know what it's like. And since you don't know what it's like, I'll make you understand."
She slammed her hands together, and the space around them began to ripple. A swirling storm of dark energy formed above them, growing larger with each passing second. Other Wanda felt the pull of it, like gravity trying to drag her in.
"You can't win," Dark Wanda taunted.
Other Wanda gritted her teeth. She tried to steady herself against the pulling force of the dark vortex forming above, but she could barely hold on her own against the overwhelming power radiating from her darker counterpart.
Dark Wanda watched on in amusement, her arms outstretched as she controlled the gathering storm.
"Look at you." She sneered. "Pathetic. You can't even keep your footing. Do you know why that is?"
She took a step closer, her voice dropping. "It's because you're weak. You cling to hope, to love, to the lies that make you feel whole. But me? I've embraced the truth. I've embraced what it truly means to be a wielder of Chaos Magik."
Other Wanda forced herself upright, her eyes shining in defiance. "Strength isn't about destroying everything in your path. . ." She said, her voice strained. "It's about protecting those behind you. That's what matters."
Dark Wanda tiled her head, mockingly thoughtful. "That's what matters, hmm?"
Her lips curled into a cruel smile. "You mean them?" she flicked her wrist, and the swirling darkness above shifted, taking shape.
To Other Wanda's horror, an image of Luke and Wanda kissing under the rainstorm appeared within the vortex, suspended as though trapped in its clutches.
"I won't let you hurt them!"
Dark Wanda laughed, a cold, joyless sound. "Hurt them? Oh, no, no, no." She leaned closer, her voice a whisper that echoed through the realm. "I'm going to destroy them. Slowly. Painfully. And I'll make sure you get to have front row seats.
After all, what better way to break you than to let you witness the death of the only person you tethered to?"
In retaliation, Other Wanda clasped her hands, forming her own miniature sphere between the palm of her hands. She threw the sphere into the vortex above, crumbling it from within. With the pressure now gone, she quickly distanced herself far away from Dark Wanda and slammed her palm downwards while it was covered in a familiar red hue.
Sensing danger, Dark Wanda looked up, her eyes narrowing as a massive crimson construct in the shape of a hand hurtled down from above, aiming to crush everything in its path.
In response, she formed a spherical barrier, placing herself at the epicentre. As the palm attack landed, waves of chaos energy erupted outwards, once again corroding all in its path.
Seeing her attack land, Other Wanda dropped to her knees. The attack had taken much of her energy reserve. While fighting Dark Wanda, her true body was simultaneously preparing a spell to fully sever the Anchor that Dark Wanda had set on Luke's reality. And though she assumed that the realm they were in was filled with Chaos Energy, she did not know how to harness it just yet.
As the dust began to settle, her expression fell when she saw the dust from the centre of the attack being lit up by a scarlet glow.
"That's a pretty good attack you've got there."
Her eyes widened when she heard the dreaded voice behind her. Before she could turn around, Dark Wanda had already hurled a bolt of chaotic energy directly at her back. Upon impact, she was sent flying back to centre of the devastation left behind by her earlier attack.
"That's it?" Dark Wanda questioned, standing directly above Other Wanda, who laid on the ground attempting to catch her breath.
"Fight back!" She demanded, unleashing a barrage of crimson blasts. "Where's that defiance from before? Where's your fire?" Each word was punctuated by an attack, driving Other Wanda further into the ground.
When the attacks ceased, Other Wanda tried to stand, but her form already began waning. She raised her hands, summoning a feeble wave of Chaos Energy that Dark Wanda swatted aside effortlessly.
"You're nothing but a pale shadow of me." Dark Wanda hissed, gripping Other Wanda by the throat.
She lifted her struggling counterpart off the ground, bringing her face-to-face. "Do you feel it? That crushing weight? That's what true power feels like. This is the weight of inevitability."
Other Wanda gasped for air, her hands clawing at the hand gripping her throat. With her vision blurring, she spoke out meekly, attempting to buy a few more seconds of time to complete her new spell.
"You. . . won't win." She rasped, her voice barely audible.
Dark Wanda's expression twisted with fury. "Win? I've already won." She tightened her grip, leaning in close. "And when I'm done with you, I'll burn everything you've ever cared about to ash. Starting with him."
With a triumphant cry, Dark Wanda slammed Other Wanda into the ground. The force of the slam created a shockwave that rippled through the Nexus Realm. She stood over her battered counterpart, her form now glowing with dark red energy.
"This is the end." Dark Wanda said, her voice cold and final.
Unexpectedly, Other Wanda's lips formed a smile. "You're right. This is the end. Goodbye, me."
Without warning, as soon as she finished speaking, Other Wanda's form burst out in a massive concentration of Chaos Magik, affecting the reality of their surroundings. The Nexus Realm then began collapsing back to the epicentre of the fight, where Other Wanda had just been, before finally disappearing just as sudden as it had appeared.
Dark Wanda stood in shock at what just happened. She had her counterpart well within her grasp. Yet in the next moment, she was no longer within the Nexus Realm, now back in her home world in the middle of her Apple Orchard, while her counterpart was missing.
Suddenly, her eyes widened as she felt the effects of whatever it was that just happened.
"NOOOO!" She screamed, unconsciously sending out a wave of energy that destroyed the orchard.
Yet, she did not care. Other Wanda had done something so absurd yet, miraculous. She took a few calming breathe as she considered her position.
It seemed to her that the Wanda she had fought earlier had severed the connection between herself and Luke's universe. However, that Wanda probably did not fully understand what she was doing.
Through some sheer, absurd luck, Other Wanda had managed to completely destroy her anchor. Moreover, whatever spell it was that she had cast, it had caused some lasting effects.
Her very own memory of the Luke's Universe was slowly being taken away from her. The memories she gained from viewing the life lived of the Wanda of that universe got hazier and hazier by the second, until eventually only vague fragments remained.
Try as she might, nothing she did could stop what was happening to her. With her memory fading and without the anchor, she was back to square one. And it irked her.
She had finally found a version of herself who seemed to have found an ideal, if not perfect partner, and yet she could do nothing to destroy it.
Before she would completely lose her memories of that universe, she conjured up a vague image of what she remembered of Wanda and Luke.
"I will find you again. One day. And when I do, I will take EVERYTHING away from you."
As her memories faded, the conjured images faded along with them, leaving behind a confused and baffled Dark Wanda. Little did she know, she would not be coming into contact with Luke's universe for a long time.
- End of Chapter 92 -