Chapter 119: Wanda's Stolen Glimpse of Another Life
Ryan himself was puzzled. He inexplicably heard someone whispering in his ear, yet he was alone in the room with Cassie.
Cassie was busy conducting experiments under his guidance. Where could the voice come from?
Confused, Ryan released the black mist to search for the source of the sound. It wasn't until the mist entered the adjacent room where Susan and Johnny were imprisoned that he realized the voice was coming from Susan, but the person speaking to her wasn't Johnny—it was someone else.
Ryan's first thought was Professor Xavier.
He wanted to cut off communication between Susan and Professor Xavier, but he didn't know how. So he controlled the black mist to enter Susan's mind.
This led to the current scene.
The black mist connected to Ryan's thoughts, and once inside Susan's mind, it connected to Professor Xavier's telepathy through Cerebro.
He forced himself into the psychic link and kicked Susan out of the connection.
Professor Charles's psychic power, channeling through the death energy, invaded Ryan's consciousness, drawing him into the psychic plane. Controlling the death energy, Ryan could have severed this connection at any moment, but he chose not to. Instead, he calmly engaged in conversation with Charles.
"Professor Charles, the Illuminati and Wanda share responsibility for this situation. I believe it's best to stop things from escalating further."
The conflict stemmed from the Illuminati's fear of Wanda's chaos magic and Darkhold corruption, and the breaking point was Monica Rambeau's death. Continuing the conflict would only lead to more casualties.
Wanda wouldn't die, and neither would Ryan, but the Illuminati would undoubtedly lose more of their members.
Professor Charles, in the psychic plane, was silent for a moment before saying, "That's impossible. Captain Marvel and the Rambeaus can't have died for nothing. Even if I agree, the other Illuminati members won't—not unless you hand Wanda over to us for judgment."
Ryan was clearly no match for Wanda in his current state. Even if he could defeat her, he wouldn't hand her over to the Illuminati. Wanda was his only means of traversing the multiverse, so how could he possibly surrender her?
Ryan, standing in the psychic plane, shook his head. "What a shame. In that case, I'll have to execute Susan and Johnny first."
"Wait!" Hearing Ryan's threat to kill the Storm siblings, Professor Charles quickly intervened. "Give us some time to deliberate. It would be better if we could negotiate face-to-face."
"I may look young, Professor, but I'm nobody's fool. I'll give you three days to decide. Tell me if you want peace or war."
With that, Ryan instantly retracted the death energy, severing the telepathic connection between himself and Professor Charles.
Back in the physical world, Ryan called out, "Cassie, go get Wanda. Tell her I have something very important to discuss with her."
Cassie put down her test tube, nodded, and immediately ran to fetch Wanda.
Wanda, entering from another room, looked at Ryan curiously and asked, "What's going on?"
Ryan briefly recounted his conversation with Professor Charles through the psychic plane.
Wanda's expression darkened, chaos magic flickering around her fingertips. "If they dare stand in my way, I'll destroy them all."
The Darkhold's corruption had fundamentally changed Wanda. Previously, if she accidentally harmed a civilian, she would torment herself with guilt for weeks. Now, she wouldn't hesitate to announce the extermination of the entire Illuminati.
The problem was that Ryan didn't want to enable Wanda's descent into darkness, yet he needed her to escape this universe.
So he said, "Wanda, look at me. If I weren't paralyzed, maybe I could help you tear through their ranks, but in this condition, I'm a liability."
"No, I can handle them myself," Wanda said stubbornly, scarlet energy dancing across her blackened fingers.
"Handle them yourself? You're underestimating this universe's defenders. Setting aside whether you can fight through countless superheroes, are you certain no one here is your equal?"
The Darkhold had profoundly corrupted Wanda. Her moral darkness wasn't even the main issue—her growing megalomania was far more dangerous.
Ryan continued, "The Illuminati has Black Bolt, the Inhuman King who can level a city with a whisper. Among the X-Men, there's the Phoenix Force host who could obliterate continents. Have you considered the consequences of your arrogance? You might never find Vision again, never see your children—Tommy and Billy—ever come into existence."
His earnest warning wasn't out of genuine concern for Wanda's wellbeing, but rather for his own survival.
Mentioning Vision and her potential children proved more effective in reaching through Wanda's Darkhold-induced madness.
After a long moment of hesitation, Wanda asked, "What do you want me to do?"
Ryan didn't hesitate. "Open a dimensional portal, and we'll continue our search in the next universe."
This was the safest option. Ryan had previously agreed to let Wanda search for her alternate self because that other Wanda had two children—Tommy and Billy—who might awaken her conscience and pull her back from the darkness.
But now, time was running out. The Illuminati could mobilize their full forces at any moment.
Without a second thought, Wanda refused. "Impossible. I must meet my other self."
As Ryan and Wanda argued, Anthony, who had been out gathering intelligence, returned, interrupting their debate.
Sensing the tense atmosphere, Anthony once again calculated whether he could successfully eliminate Wanda if necessary.
Ryan, reading his android companion's expressionless face, immediately asked, "Did you find anything?"
"Yes. The West Coast federal information center is in San Francisco. I've acquired a van. If we need to leave immediately, we can depart now."
Ryan glanced at Wanda and said, "No point waiting. Let's move."
The group quickly packed up their belongings, secured the bound Susan and Johnny Storm, and loaded into the van, driving north toward San Francisco.
They expected to arrive in six to seven hours.
However, just after leaving Los Angeles and merging onto Interstate 5, they encountered a police checkpoint blocking the road. It was likely a coordinated operation with the Illuminati to locate the missing Storm siblings.
Susan and Johnny, sitting in the back row, showed excitement in their eyes. When the patrol officer peered into the vehicle, they immediately screamed for help.
Strangely, the officer completely ignored them, merely glancing at the back row before handing Anthony his "documents."
"Have a safe trip, sir."
"Thank you, officer."
The van started up and smoothly merged onto Interstate 5, heading for San Francisco.
The Storm siblings in the back row were dumbfounded. "What the hell? Is he blind?"
A few hours later, the van encountered another checkpoint before entering San Francisco. The result was identical—the officers completely ignored the two bound superheroes tied up in the back seat.
Ryan's illusion magic, learned from Loki himself during his time in the TVA, proved devastatingly effective.
After entering San Francisco, they checked into a hotel near the federal information center.
Anthony stayed at the hotel to guard Susan and Johnny, while Ryan, Cassie, and Wanda proceeded to the information storage facility to search for data on this world's Wanda Maximoff.
Ryan cast an illusion spell, and the three of them walked through the main entrance as if they belonged there. When they encountered security doors that wouldn't open, Scarlet Witch Wanda used her chaos magic to override the electronic locks.
Once inside the classified database, Cassie immediately began her search protocol.
The government supercomputer was incredibly fast, filtering through multiple criteria and quickly locating information about the alternate Wanda Maximoff.
"Got it. She's not far from San Francisco, living in the countryside."
Wanda memorized the address, eager to leave immediately.
But as soon as she turned, Ryan's illusion materialized, blocking her path.
"Wanda, are you seriously just going to rush over there like this?"
"What else would I do?"
Ryan said bluntly, "Do you plan to kill your alternate self and steal her life through dreamwalking? Or do you want to confirm whether Vision exists in this universe? Don't forget your current relationship with the Illuminati. This universe doesn't want you here."
Wanda was caught off-guard. She simply wanted to glimpse another possible path for her life and had never considered such questions.
Now that they were about to meet her other self, Ryan's words suddenly forced her to confront reality.
Ryan didn't press further and said to Cassie, "Help me search for information on a few specific people."
After some work, Ryan obtained additional intelligence and left the federal facility with satisfaction.
Back at the hotel, Ryan handed Anthony a folder of information he had retrieved from the storage center.
He instructed, "Go to this location, extract the prisoner being held there, and give him this letter. Tell him this is his only chance at redemption."
Although Anthony didn't understand Ryan's full strategy, he resolutely followed his orders.
"Understood, boss."
Anthony departed on his mission. Ryan asked Wanda, "Have you figured out what you're going to do? If so, let's go now."
Wanda shook her head. Although she hadn't fully decided, she was determined to see her alternate self first. "Let's go."
Before leaving, Ryan channeled death energy into Susan and Johnny's minds. Their expressions froze and they instantly fell into unconsciousness—not dead, but trapped in a death-like stasis that would keep them contained for days.
Ryan, Cassie, and Wanda then departed, driving toward the suburban home of this universe's Wanda Maximoff.
Cassie was driving, while a conflicted Wanda sat beside Ryan in the second row, staring out the window.
After a long silence, Wanda suddenly asked, "Ryan, does that world you mentioned really exist? The one where we're all happy?"
"Of course. Doctor Strange pulled me back from the quantum realm after I saw glimpses of it. How could it be fake?"
Ryan's philosophical musings had turned Wanda's worldview upside down. Now, on her journey to find meaning and family, Wanda had no way to return to her original path.
Or perhaps it had always been an obsession—born the moment Pietro died in Sokovia.
Her search for this universe's Wanda was simply to determine whether different choices could lead to happiness, to give herself motivation to continue fighting through the darkness.
The van drove through the day and into the evening, finally arriving at the address the federal database had provided.
A small rustic cabin in the countryside, quiet yet warm, seemed to epitomize the concept of home.
After a long pause outside, Wanda finally mustered the courage to approach the cabin. Ryan smiled at Cassie and said, "Let's go see what domestic bliss looks like."
Wanda stood outside the window for a long moment, transfixed, until Ryan wheeled up beside her. She then whispered, "Are those my children?"
Two young boys sat on the sofa playing video games—one with silver-white hair moving at super-speed through the game, the other manipulating the controller with faint green energy. Meanwhile, another Wanda busily prepared dinner in the kitchen, humming softly. The harmonious and warm atmosphere completely captivated the Darkhold-corrupted Wanda, who peered through the window like a ghost haunting her own happiness.
Because of Ryan's involvement and their premature departure from their original universe, Wanda had avoided the Westview Hex incident entirely. Instead, she had resorted to more violent tactics, attacking Agatha Harkness directly to steal the Darkhold and draining her of her magic.
Without the Westview incident, Wanda hadn't created the Hex-born Vision and their children through her reality-warping powers, so the current Wanda wouldn't immediately recognize them as hers.
Ryan confirmed, "They're Tommy and Billy. They look a lot like you, don't they? And they both inherited magical abilities—speed and telekinesis, if I'm reading their energy signatures correctly."
Wanda's face filled with tenderness and maternal longing. It was a profoundly strange feeling—like a thief peering through a window at a happiness that could have been hers, but belonged to someone else.
Wanda couldn't help but raise her hand toward the door, scarlet energy beginning to gather around her fingertips. Ryan asked quietly, "Have you really thought this through?"
Wanda's hand froze on the doorknob. Opening the door or walking away—there were two completely different paths forward.
Just when Wanda was about to make her decision, the roar of repulsor engines suddenly echoed from the sky, and several figures descended from a quinjet, landing on the ground one after another.
Mr. Fantastic's elastic form stretched as he landed. Captain Carter raised her shield. Black Bolt hovered silently, his devastating voice held in check. Baron Mordo's mystical energy crackled around his hands.
Reed Richards stepped forward, his voice carrying across the yard. "Wanda Maximoff! Surrender Susan Storm and Johnny Storm, and submit to the Illuminati's judgment!"
End of Chapter 119
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