The Scarlet Puppet

Part 9

by Skytower

            Wanda Maximoff had grown up with gypsies, traveling by horse drawn cart through the backwaters of Europe. After that she had been part of the Brotherhood of evil mutants. Until she was fourteen she had never seen a television set. Until she was 22 she had never seen the classic animated series that Warner Brothers produced. Wanda had been mildly amused by Bugs Bunny, confused by Daffy Duck and had felt rather sorry for Elmer Fudd. But it was the Road Runner/Coyote cartoons that had really drawn her in. Many a Saturday morning she had sat in the tv room of Avengers Mansion and watched. Sometimes some of the other Avengers joined her, sometimes not. Hank McCoy, the Beast, had often found time to join her. Once when they were watching he had said, "He’s really in trouble now."

            "He was in trouble when he fell off the cliff." Wanda had pointed out referring to the Coyote.

            "Yes," Hank replied "but now he’s about to hit the ground."

            Until this very moment Wanda had never really understood what Hank meant. Now she knew. She, Sue and Natasha had been shrunk and captured by Dr. Doom and placed into the care of the Puppet Master. They had escaped from him and run into the smuggling pair of Shirley Holmes and Johny Watson. Sue had gone with Shirley to find help, leaving Wanda and Natasha as hostages with Johny. Johny had taken advantage of Wanda’s overdriven sex drive and had played with her for a while. But he had gotten drunk and Wanda had managed to turn the tables on him. She had bound him to the bed, freed Natasha and they had questioned him for the computer password that would give them communication with the outside world. They had hopped to do it before Shirley got back. But it wasn’t Shirley who stood in the doorway. The man standing in the entranceway was of medium height and stout build. He wore a green jumpsuit, black belt and gloves and the red skull mask that gave him his name. The Red Skull. A Nazi. A murderer a thousand times over. A man who regarded everyone else in the human race either a slave or prey. Suddenly Wanda understood what Hank was talking about.

            "Oh…" Johny started to say.

            "Silence." The Red Skull snapped. In one stride he was across the room and had snatched Wanda and Natasha up in one hand. His grip was crushing as the heroines were forced back to back. "I came here to find Dr. Doom’s greatest weapon, where is it?"

            "You came here?" Johny said he voice quivering with terror. "Doom has nothing to do with this place…"

            "Lies!" the Skull shouted slamming his fist into Johny’s crotch. "Doom is dead, but my spies reported that he considered this place his ultimate bolt hole. Why is a ship here?"

            "History…" Johny gasped, then started talking as quickly as he could. "This ship was made after the civil war by a guy named Josiah History. He took the defeat of the south kinda hard. He claimed to have visions of another flood at the turn of the century. He and a bunch of followers came out here and built this ship and waited. When the rains didn’t come most everyone left and the ones who stayed lynched the guy and then left."

            "Why are you here?"

            "I was thumbing through some old newspapers back in college and I found a reference to it. I tracked down one of the follower’s descendents and he had a diary that led me here. No one had come this way in over a hundred years, I figured it’d be a good smuggling base."

            "What has this to do with Doom?"

            "Nothing, except those two you got in your hands. Doom shrunk em and I found them after they escaped."

            For the first time the Red Skull looked at Wanda and Natasha, bringing them close to his face. Wanda was amazed how life like the mask was up close. It seemed skin rather than rubber.

            "What did Doom have planned for you?"

            "He replaced us with robot doubles." Wanda said. "That’s all we know."

            "I doubt that. The Scarlet Witch and the Black Widow." The Skull mused grinding the heroines together as he did so. Wanda gritted her teeth, as her legs were nearly broken. "So it now becomes clear why Magneto has gone soft… You two could be of value to me."

            Reaching down the Skull picked up the straight razor the shrunken heroines had been using. He smiled as he bent over Johny and moved the razor to the captive smugglers’ throat. "You are of no value."

            He was smiling as Johny’s hand slipped out of the leather restraint and caught him in the throat. Stunned the Skull staggered back as Johny’s foot caught him in the crotch. Wanda and Natasha were sent flying as the two men fought. They hit the wall above the bed and landed together in a stunned heap on the mattress. Dazed Wanda watched as the smuggler and the Nazi fought. Johny was better than she expected, but the Red Skull had trained himself to fight Captain America. All too soon a bloodied and battered Johny hit the wall and fell dazed to the floor. With a derisive laugh the Nazi sat down on the bed and picked up Natasha.

            "What did Doom have planned."

            "We don’t know." Natasha said straining her arms against his hold.

            Casually the Red Skull took Natasha by the legs and tapped her head against the wall. The shrunken heroine tried to protect herself with her arms but it was futile.

            "Look at the television." The Skull said. "The world is under attack, the mob is desperate for a leader, a cause. It is my time, the time of my destiny!" Again he tapped Natasha’s head against the wall. "With Doom’s weapon achieving that destiny will become easier."      

            "Doom didn’t tell us anything!" Wanda shouted. "He just gave us to the Puppet Master!"

            "That armored fool could never resist the urge to gloat." The Skull said. He tossed Natasha into the wall. She hit her head and fell to the bed. The Black Widow bounced once then lay still. Reaching over he picked up Wanda with one hand and the straight razor with the other. Wanda squirmed as he forced her onto her stomach. Then she went absolutely still as she felt metal against her skin.

            "We don’t know anything!" She cried letting the fear show in her voice.

            "Perhaps." The Skull said his voice calm and pleasant. They might have been at a dinner party discussing art. "But fortune has placed two of you in my grasp." He ran the smooth side of the blade up her legs and back. "One is indispensable. Two are not. In the camps, so long ago, I learned many uses for a razor. Once she sees your fate perhaps the sub-human Russian whore will tell the truth."

            "We have told the truth!"

            "That will not matter to you."

            "Take a break smiley."

            Wanda knew the voice and had never been more grateful to hear it and the slight whisper that accompanied it. The Red Skull lost his grip and she rolled over to see the Nazi clawing at the webbing that covered his face.

            "Spiderman!"

            "Well who else makes last minute rescues." Spiderman said walking into the room. Both hands forward he continued shooting webbing at the Red Skull until the Nazi was completely cocooned. "Well ok, just about everyone in our business, but this time it’s me."

            "Can’t I leave you alone for a minute?" Shirley asked bending down next to Johny. With a casual toss she threw Sue onto the bed. Johny groaned slowly coming too.

            "Are you ok?" Sue asked. She was wearing a brief costume made from Spiderman’s webbing.

            "Fine." Wanda said going to Natasha. "But that maniac bounced Natasha’s head against the wall." She felt around Natasha’s heard carefully. "She might have a concussion or worse. We have to…"

            Wanda trailed off as she realized Sue wasn’t listening. The tv was still on and the ruins of the Baxter Building smoldered behind the news anchor.

            "Reed…" Sue whispered.

            "He’s alive." Wanda said making sure Natasha was not bleeding. Once she was sure of that Wanda went over to Sue. "I saw him on a press conference. So are Ben and Johny."

            Sue let out a breath. Then she took it in again.

            "Franklin?"

            At that moment Wanda wished Sue and Spiderman hadn’t showed up. She would have preferred a lifetime with the Red Skull to the words she had to say next. The look on Sue’s face was a competition between hope and limitless agony.

            "I don’t know." Wanda said. "The news cast reported that you and your son were in the Baxter Building when it was hit. But…"

            "We have to get back to New York." Sue said interrupting Wanda. Both hope and agony vanished from her face to be replaced with grim determination. "He’s alive until I stop searching. Spiderman!" Sue Shouted.

            "Yo!" the wall crawler said standing up. Inside the webbing the Red Skull still struggled but Spiderman had fastened him securely to the floor.

            "We have to get back to New York." Sue said walking to the edge of the bed.

            "Sorry Sue, things have changed." Shirley said standing up. Johny stood beside her, hurt but awake.

            "Our deal is over Shirley." Sue said. There was a dangerous look in her eye and her tone was filled with anger.

            "No argument there." Shirley said. "But your not the only ones me and Johny make deals with."

            Johny walked past Sue and over to the bed. Reaching into a cabinet above it he pulled out three plastic tubes. The same type of tubes that Janet Van Dyne had used to transport them to Dr. Doom.

            "Spiderman help!" Wanda shouted.

            Johny picked up Natasha and gently put her into one of the tubes.

            "Spiderman what are you doing?" Sue screamed as Shirley grabbed her and forced her into a tube."

            "I’m sorry Mrs. Richards." Spiderman said taking hold of Wanda. Wanda didn’t struggle as she was put into the tube.

            "You’re a robot!" Wanda accused.

            "I wish I was red." Spiderman said putting the top on the tube.

            Suddenly the room shook and everyone but Spiderman was nearly thrown off their feet.

            "We gotta move!" Shirley shouted.

            There was no chloroform in the tube this time, so Wanda stayed awake as the trio carried them out of the ship and into a war zone. Wanda had been in many battles as an Avenger. Battle royals that had literally shaken mountains apart. But none like this. The Leader, Dr. Octopus, the Curuptor, The Mole Man and his slaves and others too numerous and confused to count. They were all fighting each other with a viciousness that amazed her. With Spiderman in the lead Shirley and Johny made it to the Fantasti-car and lifted off. Wanda watched in shock as they flew over the battlefield. The Abomination battled the Juggernaught, the Brotherhood of evil mutants and an army of robot Sentinels commanded by Henry Gyrich battled fiercely. Agents of Hydra and AIM tore at each other like animals. It was not a battle. It was not a war. The hatred lay over them all like some pea soup miasma. Each combatant knew only the opponent he, she or it grappled with. To destroy was their only goal.

            Soon they were free of the battlefield and Wanda settled into her tube and stared at Spiderman. He sat beside Shirley, looking straight ahead. Beside her Sue sat in her tube, tears flowing freely from her eyes. Wanda sank down, hugged her knees to her chest and closed her eyes.

            Once they reached the coast the fantasti-car was met by a large anonymous cargo vessel. With the car parked in an enormous hold Shirley and Johny had carried the tubes into a laboratory of sorts and cared for the Black Widow. When they were sure she was all right they put her back into her tube and applied chloroform to all of the tubes. During it all they refused to talk to the shrunken heroines. Wanda watched everything. Sue appeared to sleep. When the chloroform was applied Wanda almost welcomed it.

            The sun on her face woke Wanda up. This time she didn’t bother with a slow awakening, she didn’t try to conceal the fact that she had returned to consciousness. Wanda opened her eyes and looked around.

            It was an idyllic setting. She was lying on a beach next to a lake. The lake was set in a valley surrounded by snow capped mountains. The scent of pine trees and pollen told Wanda it was spring. The freshness of the air told her that the place was far from any city. The contrast to what Wanda had gotten used to over the past few months was more than stunning. For a moment her mind refused to accept the peace of the place. Then Wanda realized she wasn’t alone.

Beside her lay Sue and Natasha who were also waking up. Around the lake were at least 20 other people. Men and women, all naked all just beginning to wake up. She recognized some of them, hero’s and heroines all. Some of the X-men, Namor, Captain America but others were strangers without their costumes.

            "Sue?" Wanda asked as Sue opened her eyes and sat up. "Are you ok?"

            "Where are we?" Sue asked looking around.

            "That Sue is for you to decide." Said a voice that loomed over them all.

            Wanda looked up and gasped. Above them all stood Dr. Doom’s son. So large was he that only his waist and head appeared above the horizon.

            "This place for the moment has no name."

            "Monster!" Sue shouted. "Your robot was with my son when he died Doom! I would have protected him!"

            "Doom?" Wanda whispered. "But that’s Doom’s son."

            "The hell it is!" Sue said. "No son could look that much like his father. I know Doom, I knew him when I visited Reed and Ben in college. That’s Victor Von Doom!"

            "Congratulations Sue." Doom said. "You have an insight that your husband lacks. He accepted me easily, but then he was still shocked by the destruction of his home, the death of his wife and son."

            "You are a monster Doom." Captain America said coming up to stand beside Sue. Wanda decided to think of him as Steve Rogers until he got his costume back. She also decided to ignore the fact that he was naked. "To kill a child is one thing, to brag about it is another. I thought better of you."

            "You wound me Captain." Doom said. "I do not kill children. Behold."

            Doom pointed to the edge of the clearing and two naked people walked out of the woods. One was a medium sized red haired woman the other was Franklin Richards.

            "Franklin!" Sue shouted.

            "Mary Jane!" a slim brown haired man called.

            "Mommy!" her son echoed.

            "Peter!" the woman called back.

            The crowd of hero’s parted as the four ran to each other. There was silence for a few minutes. An unspoken agreement to let loved ones re-unite. Then Franklin spoke up.

            "Wow mommy, who are all the naked people."

            A ripple of embarrassment followed his words and Wanda was not the only one blushing. The blush turned to anger as Dr. Doom’s laughter was heard.

            "What is this all about Doom!" Steve demanded.          

"What it has always been about Captain; power. As we stand her now plans laid nearly a decade ago are at last coming to fruition."

            "What plans Doc?" Peter said coming forward. Mary Jane held his hand as they walked. "Internet photos of naked hero’s? Your own franchised chain of nudist camps?"

            "Ever the amusing comment Spiderman?" Doom asked and Wanda looked more closely at Peter. Yes, she could tell now, the build, the easy way he moved, his posture, all of it said Spiderman. Mary Jane noticed Wanda’s attention and moved between them. A challenging look came to her face and Wanda quickly took a step back. "Even as I held your wife hostage low these many months you did not cease them. Perhaps your fellow hero’s will be amused."

            "That explains a lot." Sue said coming up beside Wanda. Franklin held onto his mother’s hand tightly and Wanda covered herself with her hands as much as she was able to.

            "I’m sorry Mrs. Richards." Peter said. "He took her out of our home last year…"

            "It’s alright." Sue said. "What is your plan Doom? Why us? Why here?"

            "Why naked?" Peter added.

            "I will tell you." Dr. Doom said. "For it will be the last news of the outside world any of you will know in your lifetimes."

            "Sometime ago I forged an alliance with the Sub-mariner. The alliance ended with the freeing of his people from their chemical induced slumber. During that alliance I witnessed the love and adoration for Namor that his people held. It gave me pause to think. I ruled my kingdom with an iron hand, giving Latveria a standard of living matched no where in Europe, but time and again I faced rebellion, dissatisfaction, even hatred."

            "People don’t like being ruled Doom." Captain America said.

            "Indeed Captain. But Namor’s monarchy was built much as mine was. Both of us were royal bloods, born to rule. And the people of Latveria have always been more safe than the people of Atlantis. I brooded over this question for some time then I realized the difference between us. Namor, pompous, arrogant as he was had led his people to war against many enemies. Even Doom cannot question his bravery in battle or the sacrifices he endured. This was the difference, and this was the key to his power."

            "There is no robot invasion." Wanda said. "You are controlling the Autotrons!"

            "Correct Miss Maximoff. For years now the fleet of Autotrons has been being built beyond the ort zone, for years while my body lay in a cellular regeneration chamber my Doom-bots have been laying the foundation for my plan. They battled many heros in many lands, building my reputation of brilliance and gathering information on my foes. Each of them was believed to be me. Now with my "father" dead the name of Doom will live on, but not the villainous reputation."

            "So you plan to be the worlds savior?" Sue said.

            "Of course. The coming war will be long and hard, and I will ever be at the forefront. In time more and more power will be given to Doom, and once I have that power I shall use it."

            "You’ll be found out." Sue said. "Reed will see through your disguise, he’ll know."

            "That is why you and your son had to die." Doom said. "Even as the shock and anger of your deaths spur him to battle the Autotrons the comforting presence of the Wasp will ease him into the control of Doom."

            "No." Sue whispered actually taking a step back. "Not Reed. Not with Jan."

            "With her husband destroyed in the attack on Avengers mansion both will have a void in their lives."

            "Why not just another robot?" Captain America demanded.

            "Because as perfect as my robots are, they can not bear children." Sue gasped and Wanda took her other hand to help steady her. "But it will not be the child of Reed Richards the lovely Wasp will bear it will be the child of Doom. Richards will raise a child not his own while his own wife and child will be forever kept from him. Thus the justice of Doom is visited on the man who dared contest his will."

            "You have no idea what justice is!" Captain America shouted.

            "Justice is what I say it is." Doom said. "Each night as Reed Richards sleeps Janet Van Dyne will whisper into his ear, even as my robots will whisper into the ears of the Thing and the Human Torch and others. They will come in time to believe in a world ruled by Doom. All of the hero’s will as my robot duplicates fight and love alongside of them."

            "There are other villains." Captain America said. "They won’t follow you."

            Suddenly Wanda understood. The Red Skull looking for the "dead" Doom’s weapon, the enormous battle outside the ship.

            "There aren’t supervillains Steve." Wanda said. "Not many anyway. They were having a war when we flew away from the place Doom held us prisoner."

            "You are correct Miss Maximoff." Doom said. "Those who survived the great battle were eliminated."

            "What about us?" Sue said. "You can’t believe we won’t escape."

            "I believe you will try." Doom said. "If you have the time. This area I have constructed is a perfect environmental habitat. At the moment it is early spring. You have enough food to last through the summer only. Barely. Here you will find crops to plant, but not enough live game to support you all. With the crops are knives, but no other tools. Food, clothing, shelter from the elements, these will be your priorities. Your powers are for the most part gone. Escape is a luxury. A fatal one. This place exists in the middle of Antarctica, deep in the remotest cave. Even if you escape the journey to the nearest human outpost would take half a lifetime."

            "Gee doc, why not just kill us." Spiderman asked.

            "I do not kill without need." Doom said. He gestured and Shirley and Johny appeared beside him. No longer were they rag tag smugglers though. Now each was clean and each wore the green uniform of Doom’s elite guard."

            "Doom leaves nothing to chance." Sue whispered and Wanda realized that their ‘escape’ had been part of the plan all along. They had been bait for the supervillains. The ship in the desert a distraction, something that everyone would wonder about.

            "These are the Caretakers. Should you escape they will be waiting."

            "We’re going to escape Doom." Captain America said. "I don’t care how long it takes. We’ll never stop trying."

            "I know Captain." Doom said. "You will never stop trying." He stressed the last word and then walked away. Johny and Shirley walked with him.

Epilogue

            Wanda sat under the tree, her basket of chestnuts beside her. It was a fine late summer day and one of the few peaceful ones she had known in the past few months.

            "Wanda." Mary Jane called.

            "Over here." Wanda called back.

            After a few moments Mary Jane walked out of the woods a basket in her hands. She wore, as Wanda and nearly everyone else did, a knee length cotton tunic belted at the waist. Hers was colored like a rainbow while Wanda’s was blue. At least they had cloths. For the first 2 months clothing had been scarce. Doom had been right when he said there was not enough game to feed, let alone clothe them. Embarrassment had given way to grudging frustration, but Tony Stark’s first creation had been a combination cotton gin and spinning wheel/loom. Soon after he created a sewing machine. It was not easy working with just wood and stone, but he had done it.

            "I thought I’d find you here." Mary Jane said.

            "Steve has the twins today." Wanda said.

            "Peter has little May." Mary Jane said sitting down. For a few minutes there was silence. Both of them often came to the tree to talk and rest. Mary Jane was unique in the community. She had never been a super hero. Never had powers. She and Peter were also married to begin with. They had been the first couple to move out of the giant hall the group had built for shelter and into a small cabin. Wanda and Steve had been the second, building their cabin close by. Many cabins had gone up during the first spring as couples grew out of the group.

The friendship between Mary Jane and Wanda had blossomed almost to sisterhood in part because they had each given birth on the same day. Wanda remembered Sue rushing from one cabin to the other while a crowd gathered. Sue and Franklin had decided not to have a cabin. They lived in the giant hall and Sue worked constantly on plans of escape. One of those plans was nearing completion and that Wanda suspected was why Mary Jane had sought her out.

"The glider is almost done." Mary Jane said at last.

            "I know."

            "Who goes this time?"

            "Same as always." Wanda said. "Anyone who puts their name in the lottery. Only you and I and Namor aren’t going to be in the box."

            "Namor." Mary Jane snorted. "Like we’d trust him."

            Wanda agreed. Namor had at first been like everyone else. With most of their powers gone the hero’s and heroines relied on each other for survival. Anything important came down to a vote, with none being in charge. But that had changed as the fish Namor caught became more and more in demand as the first crop yield was not as high as expected. Instead of giving he started to barter, then threaten. The more he got, the more the sub-mariner wanted. When he moved to claim Sue as his own by force he was effectively exiled. He lived with them all, but was not trusted.

            Mary Jane was quiet again.

            "You don’t want it to be Peter." Wanda said.

            "Let Wolverine go." Mary Jane said. "He’s got the unbreakable bones."

            "You could tell Peter not to put his name in." Wanda pointed out.

            "You could tell Steve the same thing." Mary Jane said sadly. "And get the same result."

            "I know." Wanda sighed. Wanda always wondered if that was part of Doom’s plan. She had once had a crush on Steve, but that had faded with time as she grew a bit older and met the Vision. But the Vision was dead, dismantled by the government. She’d been single for a long time but never given Steve anymore thought. Until the winter threw everyone together with a lot of time and very little to do. The feelings she had for him re-surfaced and Wanda still counted it as one of the happiest days of her life when she realized he felt something as well.

            Those cold winter nights had shown Wanda how pale her erotic fantasies of Captain America had been. The man made love with a passion that left her breathless. He and Peter built the cabin as a surprise. It was as much of a wedding ceremony as anyone in the community got. None of the couples expected the pregnancies. Wanda had been sure Doom would have made procreation impossible, but looking back she realized how foolish that was. Children were anchors. They required more food, more shelter, more time…

            Not that Wanda would have traded her children for anything. Nor would she have traded the look of sheer joy in Steve’s face when he held the twin boys in his arms for the first time. They had split the difference, naming one Bucky and the other Pietro. Both had been born in the spring and this was Wanda’s first time away from them. Time she finally admitted she needed. She needed to think, and she had thought and come to many decisions.

            "The glider won’t get anywhere." Mary Jane said.

            "Last year we found out we weren’t the only habitat." Wanda pointed out.

            "I know." Mary Jane said. "One for the Pentagon, one for the superheros and two we aren’t sure off."

            "Do you like it here?" Wanda asked.

            Mary Jane sighed and threw a chestnut into the woods.

            "It’s not Hollywood. Cloths leave a lot to be desired. I miss having a tv. Most nights I’d kill for a microwave oven. But I don’t miss nights watching Peter swing away on a web line and then sitting up for 6 hours because he got snagged by Doc Ock. I don’t miss reading in the Daily Buggle about how my husband is a public menace."

            "We’re in a prison." Wanda reminded her.

            "I know."

            "I know how you feel Mary Jane." Wanda said. "I don’t like the thought of Steve going up there again. It’s hopeless, it’s futile, but he’s done so many hopeless and futile things in his life that have worked. I’m not going to say no."

            "Neither am I." Mary Jane said.

            "But I am going to be happy." Wanda said.

            "What?"

            "It’s been over a year Mary Jane." Wanda said. "We are in a prison and I’ll never stop trying to escape. Our children deserve more than a 10^th century environment to grow up in. I want them to know about movies, about tv, even about MTV." They both laughed at Wanda’s joke.

"You could always have Allison do a Maddona impression." Mary Jane said.

"No way." Wanda said and they both laughed again. The Dazzler had always wanted to be singing star, and she had gotten her wish in a way. Her singing could make an evening meal pleasant despite what was being served. Many agreed it was her singing that got them through the coldest nights of that first winter. "But I’m not going to be miserable." Wanda said. She became serious again. "My children are not going to see their mother sad all the time. Franklin doesn’t see that in Sue and she has more reasons than anyone here to be miserable. Sure she pushes the escape plans, but he’s never heard her cry herself to sleep. Sooner or later Doom will slip up, or one of the escape plans will work. But until then I’m going to live and love." Wanda pressed a hand to her stomach. "I have even more reasons now."

            "You too?" Mary Jane said sitting up and looking at her.

            "Twins again." Wanda said pressing her hand against her stomach.

            "No I meant you too. We’re both pregnant again?"

            "Two months. You?"

            "Three. Baggy tunics do have their uses."

            "When are you going to tell Peter."

            "Same time as you’ll tell Steve."

"After the glider goes and comes back." Wanda said.

            "After that." Mary Jane agreed.

            Both women sighed at the same time.

            "If we ever do get out of here there won’t be enough of Doom left to bury." Mary Jane said.

            "When we get out of here there won’t." Wanda corrected her.

End.

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