Part 8

The Attack of the Scarlet Drider

By Skytower

"Not getting any better," Carol said.

Tania blinked and shook her head. She had felt... Funny for a moment.

On the bed Wanda suddenly started to convulse and Tania forgot all about her mental lapse. She and Carol started to go toward the bed but were pushed aside as Hank and an army of nurses suddenly stormed in through the door. They surrounded the bed and started to administer shots and take vital signs. Tania looked on frustrated and helpless to do anything. But then her frustration turned to horror. On the bed Wanda's form froze, then changed. It reminded Tania of the chest bursting scene in Alien, or the time that the Buffon had put a bomb in a large cake. Wanda's body seemed to explode in all directions. Her legs exploded, her stomach swelled, her back arched in an impossible angle. She screamed and by the time that scream was over the Wanda Tania had known wasn't there anymore. She had Wanda's torso but the lower body was that of a spider covered with black hair.

Wanda looked at them all and hissed with hate. Her new spider legs shot out catching Hank, the nurses and Carol and throwing will them against the wall. Tania started to go toward her only to be met with a face full of webbing from Wanda’s mouth. While she was pulling it from her face Tania heard the window smash and by the time she got her face clear Wanda was gone. A quick check showed her that Hank and the others would be fine. Without a second thought Tania clicked her bracelets together and launched herself into the night, now wearing her Ultrawoman costume. She was so weak that it felt like she was swimming rather than flying. But grimly she pressed on. After a few minutes she spotted a dark shape moving along the rooftops. Tania gave chase. After a few more minutes skimming along rooftops and glancing in alleys Tania thought that she saw Wanda vanish around the corner of a building. Had she been a little stronger, her head a little clearer Tania might have realized what was going on. But she wasn't and she flew around the corner straight into the web that Wanda had woven.

Stunned Tania did the one thing she shouldn't have done; she struggled. She twisted and pulled trying to free her limbs from the webbing but only succeeded in tangling herself more and more. The web was large and strong and before long Tania realized that she was hopelessly trapped. When she paused to rest and take a breath Wanda struck. Her former friend had moved along the web silently and was on Tania almost before she realized it. Tania had a moment to see her and that moment froze her. There was a wild look in Wanda’s eyes, a wild primitive look that Tania had seen in cats that had cornered mice. Tania's legs were grasped and clamped together with strands of warm sticky webbing that Wanda drew from the backside of her spider body. The sight and feeling of that made Tania feel nauseous. Then Wanda shifted her position and grabbed Tania's arms forcing them to her sides. Another bit of webbing shot from her mouth held Tania's arms against her sides.

"Yeeeeeeeesssssssss!" Wanda hissed as stray strands of webbing dangled from her mouth. "Prey!"

"Wanda stop!" Tania shouted horrified nearly beyond words at what her friend and turned into. Wanda's eyes were wider as was her mouth. Her breasts were larger. Her arms were a little longer at her fingernails hooked. "Wanda!" Tania shouted again.

Wanda ignored her and cut Tania free from the rest of the web. Then she anchored Tania's ankles to the top of the web and started to spin her around. More webbing shot out of Wanda's backside as she spun Tania and it only took a few short minutes for Tania to be completely cocooned. Only her head was left free. Tania was dizzy from being upside down and being spun. Worst the webbing felt warm against her skin, almost hot. Tania felt the strength start to drain from body as she was pulled into darkness.

"Wanda no!" Tania begged.

Her pleas went unheard. Wanda opened her mouth revealing a row of newly sharp teeth. Hissing with delight the creature that had been the Scarlet Witch moved toward Tania's exposed neck. She started to bite down and Tania felt the sharp teeth break her skin. She managed to gasp as the poison was forced into her body.

"Stop!"

Tania desperately searched for the source of the voice and found it. Her heart stopped for a moment. The creature was humanoid with arms and legs, but its head was a camera and on its chest was a large TV screen with a man's face on it. Arnim Zola, a brilliant twisted evil scientist who loved nothing better than to take the human body and tinker with it. He was standing on a floating platform with two shapeless gray Blobs that almost looked like men.

"Well it seems that my potion worked after all," Zola said as the platform floated closer to them. Wanda watched him closely but did not move. "And here I'm sure you thought that she had escaped me."

"Monster!" Tania snarled. "What is she?"

"She is an experiment," Zola said. "Just as you shall be. I'm quite interested to see what Amazon physiology is like."

He was reaching for her and Tania felt helpless dread fill her. This man would take her body and twist it. He would reshape it to the point where there might not be anything left of her! She tried to struggle but the webbing was too strong and she was getting weaker by the moment. The primal instinct that directed her to draw a deep breath for a scream was all that she had left.

Suddenly Wanda reacted in pain and jumped back. In the dim light Tania could only make out flashes of energy directed at her. But they seemed very small. Then she recognized the Wasp and a second later a familiar red white and blue blur zoomed past her face and hit Zola's platform.

This time Tania managed to stay awake to see the battle. Captain America, the wasp and Hawkeye managed to hold their own against Zola's and his men but that left her facing Wanda. Tania wiggled and squirmed as her friend came toward her again with fangs bared. There was nothing in her eyes but hunger. At the last moment Tania managed to free one arm but it was no use. Wanda grasped the arm and webbed back into place. She was about to bite Tania's neck again when she was hit by a beam of energy from the Wasp. This one was powerful enough to knock her out and the former Scarlet Witch hung in her web for a moment before falling. Tania watched in horror, they were three stories up and she wasn't sure if her friends new body could survive that.

"Gotcha!" Spiderman called as he snagged the Scarlet Witch with his own Web.

Tania breathed a sigh of relief for a moment. But a few seconds later her horror returned as black beams of energy from Arnim Zola's hovercraft teleported him, his men and Wanda away.

"That was very well played," Tina said as ‘Arnim Zola’ walked into the lab. Tina watched as the humanoid form shifted and became a tall blue skinned woman with glowing yellow eyes and raven black hair. There was something very exciting about that power. The idea that she could become anyone was intriguing.

"A pleasure," Mystique said. “Zola tried to dissect me once. The Avengers will never believe him when he tells them that he wasn't involved.”

They looked over to where the Scarlet Witch was being pushed into a giant cage by aim lab technicians. Wanda hissed at them as they used cattle prods to push her in. A metal band had been fastened around her head and another around her neck.

"What will you do with her now?" Mystique asked.

"Shadow Web owns her," Tina said. "If she weren't in her lab she'd be watching this. I think she's just going to let the Scarlet Witch stay this way for a while."

"Why?"

"An old grudge," Tina said. "Give her the chance and she’ll tell you the story. I’ve heard it a million times since we met."

"Where did you meet?"

"I was scavenging in one of Zola's labs," Tina said "he'd just lost a battle with Captain America and I had about an hour before the Shield cleanup crew came. She was one of his experiments. I helped her out of there and we've made a partnership of it ever since."

"What is her endgame?" Mystique asked.

"She's got it," Tina said "the Scarlet Witch's suffering. Nothing else matters to her."

"What's your endgame?"

Tina turned and looked at the other woman. Mystique was exotic and beautiful. Far more successful than Tina ever thought a super villain could be. She had battled the X-men, the Avengers and even the Fantastic Four. She'd outwitted the Global Guardians. Tina had grown up hearing about how some women did indeed have it all. The villainous Ultrawoman, Devil Lady… they were her heroines. But she’d learned the hard way that it was never easy. Never simple. Plots failed for a thousand reasons and each failure chipped away at your soul and ground your resolve into dust. Tina had started out with dreams of wealth and security and power and every one of her dreams had been smashed by one superhero or another. In the end, after her last battle with Spider Woman had nearly left her in a wheelchair Tina had realized that she wasn't meant for greatness. The best she could hope for was to get next to greatness and hope some of it would rub off of her. She had to have partners and so far AIM wasn’t really working out as well as she’d hoped. Mystique though…

"I want to be you," Tina said, hoping she could pull off the con. "I want to stay out of prison, I want power and respect and I want every superhero… every damn superhero whoever put me in prison, whoever ruined one of my plans to think twice before they ever mess with me again."

Tina caught herself and realized that her voice had risen and that her hands were shaking. Mystique put her hand over Tina's and squeeze gently.

That’s right, Tina thought. I’m a failure and I’m looking for someone to latch on to. Make yourself that someone.

"I know what you mean," Mystique said gently. "They have all the power they need and they don't know how to use it. Worse they don't want to let us use it. They take whatever we have and people cheer them. The X-Men took my daughter and turned her against me. I gave her everything. I took this job because after the Avengers are done I want the X-men."

“I can help you,” Tina said.

“I know you can,” Mystique said and put her arm around Tina’s shoulders. “I know you will. You’ve already started to. What project I will do to Ms. Marvel will make me very, very happy. But I’d like to propose another layer too it."

“Really?”

The two of them drew closer together as the Scarlet Witch was forced further back into the cage.

The world was wrong. Wanda knew that she wasn't sure how she will but she knew it. The sights were wrong. The colors were off, distorted or just not there. Blue was black, green was gray and red… red was everywhere. But not the color, it was the taste of red that was everywhere. Red was blood. She could see red. She'd nearly tasted it. Wanda remembered Tania. Tania who was so red. And helpless. Deliciously helpless. Her friend? How could the red be her friend when it was her meal?

The concept was disturbing to Wanda's now primitive mind. What was a friend? The red was prey. Once the red had been caught and tied up in a nice little white package; it was prey. She loved it when the red squirmed in its tight little prison. The men surrounding her with fire at the end of the sticks they held, Wanda knew they were enemies. Each of them was filled with the red stuff. If she could catch just one…

Wanda snarled as one of the fire sticks hit her midsection. She recoiled from the pain and pulled back into the cage. These red could hurt. That was a lesson she wouldn't forget. She would have to wait and spin her web and hope that one of them would blunder into it. Wanda retreated further into the cage beyond the reach of the fire sticks. Dimly she was aware of the two women talking on the catwalk above her. Their words were easy to hear but Wanda couldn't understand words right now. But there was something about these two women that stirred a lust in her. It was a lust that the old Wanda would've been horrified to feel, but it was a lust that the new Wanda welcomed. It was a lust for the red. She would spin her web and wait for those two.

A beeping sound came from her pocket and Tina pulled back from Mystique and pulled out her communicator.

“She’s ready,” Shadow Web’s voice announced.

“We’re coming.” Tina replied.

Part 9

The new Scarlet Witch, agent of AIM (Scarlet Witch)

As they walked into Shadow Web’s lab Tina wondered if she shouldn’t have kept quiet. Mystique could very easily betray her and like Shadow Web she seemed to live for vengeance. Tina had been worked over by a few superheroes but she’d never felt the burning hatred that Shadow Web and Mystique seemed to. But after nearly two years of nothing but work and planning, of being around creatures like Shadow Web and Modok or AIM tech’s that were fanatical about their duties, Tina was desperate for some human companionship. That and the fact that if this whole business went south Mystique could be her safety net.

I hope she bought all of that, Tina thought as they walked into Shadow Web’s lab. Hell it wasn’t all a lie anyway. I’d like at least one friend in this life and Mystique’s about as close to that as I’m ever going to get.

Shadow Web worked at her console and Modok watched from a monitor screen. Tina watched Mystique watching them.

Besides if she turns on me I’ll kill her, Tina added to herself.

The Scarlet Witch was in a glass case in the center of the room. But Tina knew this wasn’t the Scarlet Witch, not the true one. This had been an AIM agent who was the same general size and age of the Scarlet Witch. This nameless, faceless woman had volunteered to become the Scarlet Witch. To have her mind copied, recorded and stored while her brain was wiped clean and a modified copy of the Scarlet Witch’s mind was downloaded into it. Even with the insane level of fanatism nearly every AIM agent possessed Tina was appalled by the idea. To loose herself so completely was unthinkable. But the woman had volunteered and now her modified body lay there, dormant and empty. Frankenstein waiting for the lightning. They watched as a green liquid drained from the case and she sat up.

“This is our Scarlet Witch,” Tina said as she and Mystique walked over to the nude woman in the case.

“A perfect match?” Mystique asked. “The Avenger’s aren’t fools, they’ll check her DNA.”

“That’s why one of our agents stole a blood sample while she was being held captive,” Modok said. “We’ve completely remade her body.”

“I still think we’re moving too fast,” Tina said, “taking too many chances.”

“We are succeeding,” Modok said and Tina fumed at the dismissal in his voice. She was not just another hired flunky.

Shadow Web leaned over the woman and put metal bands on her head and neck.

“We can give her the Scarlet Witch’s appearance and simulate her powers using advanced nano-bionics,” Tina said, motioning Mystique back, “but not her personality or her memories. We couldn’t do that without having the Scarlet Witch here.”

“Now we can,” Modok said as Shadow Web threw a switch and the false Scarlet Witch screamed as energy scorched through her skull and into her brain. Even though the holding pen was at least 20 meters away Tina heard the transformed Scarlet Witch scream as her mind was copied.

“This is the same quantum technology as the shadow portals,” Tina said and she couldn’t help the pride in her voice. “It’ll give our Scarlet Witch a link with the real Scarlet Witch’s mind, but only at a primal level. She’ll be able to access the Scarlet Witch’s memories when she needs to.”

“And every thing she experiences will be forced into the real Scarlet Witch’s mind,” Shadow Web said. “Every betrayal, every bit of treachery that our Scarlet Witch does will be known to the real Scarlet Witch, but her mind will be too primitive to do anything about it. It is a perfect torment.”

There was a danger to that part of it and Tina bit her lip as she bit back her arguments. True it would be torment for the Scarlet Witch, but there was the possibility of psychic feedback going to the copy. It was the kind of feedback that could destroy the artificial mind of the second Scarlet Witch. Also she wasn’t sure how completely the agents mind-wipe had been. Something of the old personality might still be in there somewhere. But she wasn’t going to mention that now. She’d almost certainly get a dismissal from Modok and a sneer from Shadow Web and that might make her look weak in front of Mystique.

The transfer went on for almost five minutes before the energy faded and the new Scarlet Witch lay limp in the case. Tina went over and checked her pulse, ignoring the electronic read outs. It was strong and steady.

“When she wakes up it’ll be in Arnim Zola’s lab,” Tina said turning to Mystique. “We’ve already set up a tip for the Avengers. You’ll let her escape just as they arrive.”

“And make good my escape.” Mystique said. She looked at the unconscious woman. “What’s her job?”

“In a way she’s got the best job of all,” Tina said. “When she wakes up she will be the Scarlet Witch for all intents and purposes. She’ll think she’s the Scarlet Witch and have all of her memories.”

“A spy?” Mystique asked. “You already have Ultra Woman and Ms. Marvel.”

“They are to gather information,” Modok said. “This agent is to gather genetic material.”

“Her assignment is simple: have sex with every male superhero she can,” Tina said, ‘from Captain America to Thor. Inside her womb is a genetic sampler that will break down their sperm and give us a complete blue print of their DNA.”

“Sex with Captain America and Thor?” Mystique smiled.

“Ultra Woman and Ms. Marvel will give us the Avengers security codes and other information,” Modok said, “the Scarlet Witch will give us the Avengers themselves.”

A com signal sounded and a small insert of an AIM agent appeared under his image.

“Sorry to disturb you sir,” the Aim agent said, “but there is a problem. White Owl is missing.”

Tania winced but held her teeth against each other as more of the webbing was pulled from her skin. The stuff was strong and it was ultra sticky. Tania had been bound with duct tape that had come off more easily.

"Almost done," Jan said.

The bathroom was luxurious, a sunken marble tub with Grecian mosaics lining the walls, but Tania barely noticed. She stood in the center of the tub as Jan peeled the webbing, her clothing and some of her skin off of her body. After Wanda had vanished they had cut her down from the web but realized that the webbing wouldn't come off easily. Tania had been trapped while Spiderman carried her back to Avengers mansion. The hospital was ruled out because it wasn't safe. Helpless, frustrated and unable to move while Hank examined her Tania had laid there on the medical table fighting to stay awake. Refusing to allow herself the luxury of blacking out Tania had raged against her body’s weakness but only managed to make her fingers tremble a little. Even talking was hard. Hank had taken some of the webbing and a sample of Tania’s blood and after a quick analysis and declared that the venom would only bring temporary paralysis. The webbing was another matter. It was not only bonding to her skin it was starting to dissolve it. Luckily it was water-soluble. Jan had stepped in to preserve Tania's modesty and declared that she would give Tania a bath. Tania had wanted to protest that she didn't give a damn about modesty but by that time it was hard just to keep breathing, talking was impossible. So she had said nothing as Jan and Hank had carried her up the stairs to the guest room then slipped her into the tub. Hank left a bag for whatever webbing Jan manage to save and then left. Jan had started the water then stripped down and put on a pair of long latex gloves. As more of the webbing was pulled away from her body Tania felt more and more of her strength return to her.

"Damn stuff," Tania whispered through gritted teeth as Jan pulled a section of the webbing off of her breast. It pulled extra hard at her nipple.

"I'm trying to be gentle," Jan said.

"I can take the pain," Tania said. "Just get it off me."

"After this I'd like you to stay at the mansion till you're healed," Jan said.

"I'm…" Tania started to say but stopped as she heard a tone sounded from the corner of the room. At the same time a spider dropped from the ceiling and landed on Jan’s head. Instantly she froze.

Tina stepped out of the shadow by the dresser and looked cautiously around. Behind her Shadow Web leaned halfway out of the shadow.

"Slave girl one confirm activation and report infiltration level." Tina said.

"Slave girl one confirms obedience and reports infiltration level at 22.5%." Tania said.

"Is that good enough," Shadow Web asked.

"Barely," Tina said. For once she agreed that this couldn’t be delayed, even if they didn’t know where White Owl really was yet. This part was crucial and had to be done as quickly as possible. "Slave girl one accept unconscious instructions. Ultra Woman is to stay with the avengers for as long as possible. However possible. You are to observe security procedures, note weaknesses both physical and emotional and secretly steal one of Ms. Marvel's costumes. You are to get as close as possible to Ms. Marvel in every way possible. You’re feelings for her will grow stronger the more time you spend with her. Confirm."

"Slave girl one confirms receipt of orders." Tania said.

"Slave girl one shut down in 3 seconds," Tina said.

Tina and Shadow Web vanished and the spider climbed back up its web line to the ceiling and then crawled into its own shadow. Jan didn't notice.

"I'm…" Tania halted suddenly forgetting what she was about to say.

"Trust me this is a safe place to heal," Jan said. "And you don't want to be alone right now."

"I'll stay," Tania said. She suddenly felt the need to be with the Avengers. Not only need but a growing curiosity about them. There was something else, but she couldn't remember what it was.

"Good," Jan said.

There was a knock at the door and Carol entered. She was still wearing her Ms. Marvel costume and for some reason Tania felt an urge to get closer to the woman.

"How's it going," Carol asked.

"I've convinced her to stay for a while," Jan said.

"But I think she could use some help getting this stuff off of me," Tania said and was surprised at the words coming out of her own mouth.

"No problem," Carol said taking off her mask. "I could use a washing up myself."

Carol pulled off her costume except for her gloves and got into the tub with them. Tania felt her heart speed up a little. Carols’ body was indeed thicker than her’s and her breasts a little larger. Where Tania’s nipples were pronounced Carol’s were softer and her aureoles wider and a darker shade of brown. She had a full tangle of blond pubic hair. Tania noted all of this and tried to keep her mind steady. What was wrong with her? She hadn’t felt this way when she saw Jan nude. Jan was shorter, thicker and her breasts were smaller with dark aureoles and pointed nipples. As she and Jan worked to free Tania's body from the webbing Tania felt as if she were in a dream. The closeness of the two nude women… why was that doing this to her? She was an Amazon!

Tania tore her eyes away from Carol’s body and focused on the floor. Carol’s costume was there and for some reason her eyes couldn't leave it. She almost wanted to reach for it.

"Easy there," Carol said as she stopped Tania from standing.

"Sorry," Tania said letting them ease her back into the water. The two women ran their hands over her body and Tania tried to relax. This was so much like her home, so much like the baths she had taken with her sisters. But at the same time Tania had never felt this way even at home. Not for two women.

"This is the last of it," Jan said as she pulled a clump of white sticky mass from Tania's butte.

Tania winced but managed not to cry out.

"You okay," Carol asked.

"I will be," Tania said starting to get out of the tub.

"Don't go anywhere yet," Jan said steadying her and holding her back as she went toward Carol's costume. “You've just had the best bikini wax in history and I need to put this antiseptic cream on you or there might be an infection. Just stand still."

“It’s not like you’re going anyplace in a hurry,” Carol said.

"You're treating me like a child.” Tania snapped as her voice rose in outrage.

“Think of it as a luxury spa treatment,” Jan suggested.

“This is twice now the Avengers have saved my life," Tania said her voice continuing to rise. "Twice now I've felt like a helpless child! It is so frustrating!"

"We've all been there," Carol said.

"Wanda has saved my life many times and I failed her tonight," Tania said. "I'll see Wanda's eyes in my nightmares."

"She won't blame you," Jan said as she started to rub a warm peach smelling cream over Tania's body.

"Wanda won't have to;" Carol said "Tania will do that for."

Her tone was completely serious and Tania looked at her. As their eyes met she felt an instant connection to the woman.

"She would've eaten me," Tania said. "Even if we get her back how will she be able to live with that? What if she eats someone else? What if we can't get her back?"

Carol looked at her with a mixture of concern and puzzlement. Even to herself Tania sounded strange. She’d been at the heroine business for years, what was wrong with her? She sounded like a petulant child. Was the poison to blame?

"We'll get her back," Jan said as she spread the cream over Tania's back and legs. "I've gone through some transformations in my time Tania and there's always a way to get back."

"But why was that done to her?" Tania demanded. "I've had villains beat me, torture me, rape me and worse, but no one's ever done that to me."

"They like it," Jan said moving around to stand in front of her. Carol moved around and continued to support Tania so that she could stand. Jan was a head shorter than Tania was and had to look up and reach up to spread the cream over her shoulders. Her brown eyes were serious with none of the frivolity that the 'winsome' wasp was supposed to have. "Tania they just like it. Somewhere out there is a villain, maybe Zola, who's just had the time of their lives hurting Wanda.

"We have to find her," Tania said.

"We will," Jan said as she spread the cream over Tania's breasts. "But later, when you're well," now Tania saw a bit of the humor sneak into Jan’s eyes "and we don't look like a softcore porn movie."

Tania looked across the room at the mirror that was set against the wall and realized that Jan was right. They were all standing nude next to the tub and Jan's hands were traveling across her body with a freedom that normally only a lover would have. Tania almost giggled but instead only allowed a small smile to appear on her face.

"Okay," Jan said. "Now try not to laugh for the next part of this."

Jan started to spread the cream over Tania's pelvis and Tania started to giggle before a wave of weakness nearly caused her to fall over.

By the time Jan finished spreading the cream across her body Tania was ready to pass out. She was dimly aware that they were walking her across the room toward the bed. The walls seemed to be swimming from side to side and the floor seemed to be coming up to meet her. Tania nearly fell onto her back on the mattress but Carol held her upright.

"Well you do have a treat," Jan said in a perky tone of voice "designer sleepwear by yours truly." She went over to the closet. "You feel like a nightgown or a teddy?"

Tania was almost too tired to reply. The world seemed to be retreating from her, or she was retreating from the world. She could dimly sense voices and people and where she was, but it was all out of focus. Into her vision floated Wanda's face. Horribly distorted and calling her name. She was there again, in the web. Wanda's arms held her once more and her legs were wrapping Tania up. Tania panicked and lashed out.

"Tania!" Carol shouted.

Tania blinked and was once more awake. She looked at her hands and realized that she had torn a silk Teddy nightgown in half. She looked up and saw that Jan was across the room picking herself up off the floor.

"Oh Jan I'm sorry," Tania said. "I'm…”

"Not a Teddy person," Jan said. "It's okay."

"I could've sworn I was back in the web and Wanda was reaching for me," Tania said.

"That's probably the neural toxin," Carol said.

"Let's try this one," Jan said handing her a full-length nightgown. "You have to wear something, every time I tried to sleep nude when I lived here the alarms would go off and I'd run into the corridor naked."

"Much to the delight of Hawkeye and others," Carol said.

The joke barely registered on Tania's groggy mind. Tania managed to stand up and they helped her into the nightgown and then into the bed. She felt herself falling away from them again. Again she was falling into the webs. She jerked up breathing heavily only to have Carol push her back down.

"Get some rest," Jan said.

“Don’t worry,” Carol said. “One of us will be with you at all times.”

Tania wanted to thank them but somehow that sentence pulled the last bit of strength that she had out of her. She sank into darkness and though she heard the next part of the conversation the words didn’t really penetrate into her mind.

“Any word on White Owl?” Jan asked.

“Not since the Green Banshee and her men grabbed her," Carol said.

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