[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
untitled
Wanda Maximoff is the Scarlet Witch. She hovers in Earth's orbit, miles above Lotkill, New York, where the Skypiercer, a dimensional scanning station, hurtles towards her home. But Wanda stands in its way – and she isn't alone. Down below, in Lotkil, her shop assistant, Darcy Lewis, shouts out to the locals: 'Hustle, people! Spooky satellite's heading straight for us – leave your lattes! Stay loose and don't look up! A sarcastic blur's coming to save you!' The Skypiercer has been shattered by a peek into a concussive-force dimension, while aboard, its crew of clerics are practicing calm. 'What's the witch doing – can you see? We're not slowing down' one of them calls out. 'Can't believe I'm still alive...' someone utters as they are dropped off at the Life Park and with other civilians look up at the approaching Skypiercer. 'That blur did have some up though' someone else remarks. The Scarlet Witch’s magic penetrates the station's shields to insulate its crew from what happens next. 'Almost there, Pietro. I've isolated the Skypiercer...but its clerics are in your hands' Wanda calls out to her brother, Quicksilver, who speeds across Lotkill and skirls as he replies 'And lucky for them, Wanda. Now go on, break their little toy'.'Consider it broken' the Scarlet Witch declares as she uses her impressive powers to cause the Skypiercer to vanish – although the ship's clerics begin to fall to the ground. 'We're still falling you madwoman you've killled us you've left us to plummet to our -' one of them shouts, as Quicksilver suddenly speeds around in a circle creating a vortex which cushions the clerics' fall. Quicksilver comes to a stop and tells the clerics 'That madwoman just shunted your sky shack into the Quantum Realm atom by atom...all while shielding you from re-entry. She saved you lives. She also dropped you. I'm always cleaning up her messes' Quicksilver smirks. 'We're...a mess?' one of the clerics asks. Wanda drops down near her brother and tells him to go easy. 'It's their first fall from orbit' she tells him. Quicksilver folds his arms and tells the clerics that if you peep into other dimensions, you pay the price. 'Reaching into a snake hole does tend to get one bit' he adds.'Hey – Wanda and smartass brother?' Darcy calls out as she appears, holding a strange box. 'With all the death from above, it's possible I took my eyes off the shop. You've got a package'. Wanda goes over to Darcy and examines the box, noting the precise craftsmanship, before realizing that it is locked. 'And in every locked box, a disappointment. You've an eye for craft, sister' Quicksilver remarks. 'But no mind for penmanship' he adds as he sees his and Wanda's name etched into the box. 'This cask of boredom is inscribed to us in our adoptive father's handwriting' he notes, adding that Magneto sent this, and even from beyond the grave, he mocks them. 'This morning's omens were poor. I thought it was the Skypiercer crash. But now...' Wanda's voice trails off before suggesting that Darcy take the day off. 'The hell I will. You're shook, boss – not that Speedstick noticed' she mutters. 'Please. If I wanted guilt, I'd dig up my au pair. She was a ruminant, you know'.'Let's get on with it. There doesn't seem to be an obvious lock to pick' Pietro declares as he snatches the box from Darcy, suggesting that he could try to vibrate through the box, but Wanda casts a hex around the box and tells Pietro that there is no need, as chance is on their side. 'With a nudge from the right hex' she adds. An instant later, the box drops to the ground and the lid opens. 'And no longer my problem' Pietro remarks. There is a letter in the box, and Wanda levitates the letter to her. 'You don't care what it says?' she asks her brother. 'Magneto is dead, Wanda. I've no need for his absentee opinions' Pietro responds.Wanda reads the letter in silence, until she utters 'Pietro, I... it's...' her voice trails off, before Darcy pipes up and asks 'Any big reveals – is Mags really your bio dad after all?' she asks. Wanda tells Darcy that it has nothing to do with that and hangs her head. 'So grim! Ignore the shop sprite – tell me what's there?' a wide-eyed Quicksilver asks.'Wait, Pietro -' Wanda begins, but Pietro asks if they should read it together. 'I said wait. It's not for your eyes' Wanda responds as she causes the letter to vanish. 'My eyes?' Pietro asks, annoyed. 'If you cared about them, you wouldn't have lit that paper up like a matchead. Honestly, Wanda...are you so desperate to know something I don't?' Pietro asks. 'No, Pietro...something you shouldn't' Wanda corrects him. Wide-eyed, Pietro asks if that is some kind of a joke. Pietro darts about around Wanda: 'You keep a chaos god locked in your soul – and you think you know what's best?' he asks, angrily. 'That letter was for us both, Wanda. Whether I care to read it is up to me' he adds, reminding her that Magneto took them both in. Wanda turns calmly to her brother and puts a hand on his shoulder, assuring him that she is aware, but that what was written, he never needs to read those words. 'You'd have saved me from the same pain. You've done it before' Wanda adds.But Pietro brushes Wanda's hand aside and claims that he did what he had to save her from herself. 'You don't need to treat me like a child' he adds. 'That's not what I'm doing, I'm -' Wanda begins, to which Pietro angrily asks Wanda if she thinks he can't handle a coarse word from their freshly martyred father. 'Of course you can. But Magneto never treated us the same...why rub salt in that?' Wanda responds. Pietro angrily spins around and shouts at his sister: 'And you, the martyr's daughter – you're qualified to make that choice for me?!' to which Wanda suggests that if she is, it's from a lifetime of her brother doing just that – treating her like she is fragile, lie a pot you can't let boil over. 'Talking to me like I can't handle the realities of my life!' Wanda exclaims. But Pietro turns his back on Wanda and suggests that what he does isn't even remotely the same. 'If you flinch, the world falls down'.'So you love to say. You can't hide your true reactions, Pietro. Not from me. You think I don't know I still terrify you?' Wanda asks. Pietro pauses, then snarls: 'Of all the – shouldn't you? Shouldn't you?' He speeds back over to Wanda while Darcy looks on in silence. 'You've recovered from so much – but those things still happened! You're my sister. My twin. I can fear you while loving you. Some would call that respect!' Pietro suggests. 'Respect?' Wanda exclaims. 'How many times have you manipulated – have you used me to get what you want? Getting over things is all but our family past time!' Wanda declares, shaking a finger at Pietro. 'Wanda -' Pietro begins, but Wanda continues, suggesting that he should worry about himself. 'When you goaded me into changing the world. Who died? Burning that letter protected you. It's done. You'll never know what I held' she declares. 'And I'll never tell you. Accept it, Pietro. It's all you can do' Wanda concludes.Pietro looks on, wide eyed: '... you think that's all? Wrong' he responds as he quickly speeds away. Wanda stares ahead, before Darcy approaches her and remarks that she fells like that was about more than a burnt letter. 'Darcy...' Wanda begins to which Darcy asks Wanda if she wants to talk. 'My brother's done way wilder stuff than making me unravel reality' Darcy adds, before asking 'Seriously, boss... are you okay?''KAKA ROCKA NIXIS!' Wanda suddenly shouts, telling Darcy that it's always like this, that Pietro has always been like this. 'All that we've been through. All that we've rebuilt – vaporized!' she declares. Wanda storms back into The Emporium, and as she does, she uses a hex sphere to destroy the box that the letter was sealed in. 'By a scrap of paper and a box!' she shouts. Darcy looks on, concerned, while Wanda points out that the rules don't apply to Pietro, even his own. 'Once – once! I try to protect him, like he's done for me countless times... and that's  too much? Doesn't he hear himself?' she asks, wondering how much she has forgiven, how much she has buried and moved on from. Wanda materalizes several magic birds which scatter from the Emporium as she strides back and forth within the Emporium,'It's like he lacks the very biology for self-awareness!' Wanda decides, when suddenly, Darcy calls out to her: 'You don't mean all of that, right?' she asks. 'At least not the whole destroying your shop part?' Darcy looks upset, and Wanda tells her not to be ridiculous. 'I did no such -' she begins, before calming down and telling Darcy that she doesn't know what happened, as things had been very good with Pietro. 'But one fight and we're right back. He knows...he knows just what to say to set me off'. Darcy tells Wanda that that sounds like family to her. 'One slip. And everything Pietro and I worked back up to is -' Wanda begins. 'Nuked' Darcy tells her. 'Feels like it, right? But people say a lot when they're pissed off' she adds. Wanda decides that Pietro has already replayed the argument in his head a trillion times, and that he is stewing. 'Perhaps I am too' she realizes. 'But you and the Emporium don't need to pay for our -' Wanda starts as she begins to snap her fingers, until Darcy tells her to wait.Some of the locals outside look in to the Emporium and watch as Darcy admits that she has caused her share of damage, why might be why the two of them get along, and suggests that maybe there is something to not snapping all this away and actually dealing with it. 'My boss told me that once I fell through her door with destruction on my ass' Darcy reminds Wanda. 'Smart lady. Maybe you've heard of her'. Wanda looks upset, and apologizes to Darcy, telling her that she is sorry. 'This is our chop. Not mine. I thought I was done with this' she remarks, adding that she thought she had put her anger behind her. 'You did, kid. Forward's not always a straight line. People fall out, they get back on track' Darcy suggests as she puts a hand on Wanda's shoulder. Darcy suggests that Wanda might remember the Bacchae blood debt that brought her to her door. 'Fair enough, but this... this landmine to my life was no coincidence. Magneto is dead. He wrote the letter, but it was sent by another. And I need to know why' Wanda announces.Meanwhile, Quicksilver speeds across the Bering Sea. 'Insufferable!' he calls out. 'Judgmental' he snarls as he reaches the North Pacific Ocean. He reaches a subway tunnel in New York, the United States, and speeds past Monet St. Croix. 'Sanctimonious!' he shouts. 'Condescending' he calls out when he reaches the Tyrrhenian Sea. 'Hypocritical!' he yells when he races through the bedroom where his daughter, Luna, is sleeping. Budapest, Hungary. 'Unbelievable!' he exclaims as he reaches the Gulf of Mexico. When he gets to Arizona, in the United States, he races past his nephew, Tommy Kaplan a.k.a. Speed. 'Childish' Quicksilver can be heard mumbling, he doesn't stop as Tommy looks over to the blur that speeds past him. 'Uncle Pietro?' he calls out. Racing across the Gulf of California, Pietro's phone begins ringing. 'Who the hell does she think she -?' Pietro begins, before looking at his phone, then deciding not to answer it, he tosses it into the water and continues on speeding away. 'You would want to talk' he adds, as the phone sinks under the water.Back in Lotkill, New York, Darcy watches as the shattered pieces of the broken box float around her, and she asks Wanda if she can tell something's secrets by waving her hand over it. 'You've waved at me, like, so many times' Darcy adds. Wanda tells her that isn't quite how it works, and explains that token-object reading lets them pierce the veil. 'Gives us a fleeing look at a thing's past. The invisible information clinging to it' she adds. 'Sweet. Like on a phone? Like augmented reality?' Darcy asks. 'Like psychometry' Wanda explains, deciding that if there are hidden clues to the box's sender, they will be revealed. The pieces of the box drop to the floor, and Wanda crouches beside them. She tells Darcy that before Magneto died, he accepted her as his daughter, blood be damned. 'But he and Pietro never found such peace. Pietro was always colder to our father...and that was before Magneto murdered him. But his words, Darcy... I believe they would've hurt my brother even more' Wanda remarks.'There's a strange energy about the box' Wanda announces as she waves a hand across the pieces of the box. 'Let's see what's behind it -' she begins, as something takes form and appears before her in a glowing energy form. 'It... it's so big. It's endless, it's... it's endless. It's endless' Wanda utters as she looks up at the glowing energy with wide eyes and smiles.Quicksilver has reached the Northwest Territories in Canada, 'She calls – as if she's unaware each vibration feels like an interminable fly under my skin!' he exclaims as he races across a body of water. Some distance away though, several people wearing dark blue and pink with a strange white mask are stationed in a desert. 'Range?' one of them asks, holding up a gun. 'A thousand miles and closing. And he's complaining' one of the others responds as they look through a device. 'Like she doesn't know a two-minute call would feel like decades in the stockade! SHE KNOWS!' Pietro shouts. 'Target one has cleared the upper midwest. Approaching the kill zone' one of the armored agents states. 'Copy. Automatic reflexes hot. Direct sight-to-shot link engaged' the one carrying the gun states. 'AND SHE DOES IT ANYWAY!' Quicksilver shouts.'It's still a three-mile shot. We sure we got him?' one of the agents asks, before Quicksilver is seen leaping off the edge of a ravine, he floats through the sky towards the other side of the gully below. 'She thinks she doesn't need me! Her so-called friends will abandon her! They'll run at the first crack in her resolve – then she'll see!' Quicksilver booms. '...we've got him' one of the agents states. 'I'm the only one who'll always be -' Quicksilver continues, when suddenly, the weapon is fired at him and strikes him in his side. 'That's no bullet. What nonsense! I'm not falling at all, I – I'm floating!' the wide-eyed Quicksilver exclaims, surprised, he finds that he can't stop, and is pulled upwards through the air. 'I can't STOOOOOOOPPPPPP!' he cries out.The strange armored people with guns look up and one of them declares that it was a direct hit, and the anti-gravity pellet has attached. 'Orders achieved, general. Target one is down. Or rather, up. Quicksilver is a dot in the sky. On course for orbit...and a freezing, suffocating death' they report. Elsewhere, a man with a thin moustache smiles and replies 'Understood, soldier. Return to the isle. I've mustered a squad myself, leading from the front... and closing in on target two' he reports.Back at the Emporium, Darcy tells Wanda to take it easy, as that vision really rocked her. Wanda stands up and explains that it was like her senses stretched to see beyond what they could take in. 'A scale beyond even imaginations field of vision, and there... there it was endless' Wanda utters. She adds that it was endless, or perhaps a forever end. 'All my life, I thought the abyss gazed back...it doesn't'. Wanda remarks that it engulfs you, or tries, and ensures Darcy that she is fine, and that she doesn't have to hover. 'I'll hover as I damn well please. You're shaking' Darcy responds. Wanda turns and grabs Darcy by her shoulders, telling her that she was shaken, but now she's fine, physically at least. 'I can hardly describe what I saw. As if the lives I've saved, the world's I've rescued... the work, a lifetime of trying to help people keep going on just a little longer... suddenly, it all felt... pointless' she realizes, looking off into the distance.Wanda turns back to Darcy and tells her that this box was a bomb, one meant to destroy her family, destroy her. 'Magneto was a complicated man. Often unsubtle, and not without regret' Wanda states, informing Darcy that Magneto kill Pietro, in a rage, but that his words were no apology. 'He crafted the box – I see him in its angles. He wrote the letter – I hear him in its words... words meant to protect us in his absence'. Wanda hangs her head as she realizes that the last power to touch the box was greater than Magneto's – greater than she can explain – and it wants she and Pietro apart.Suddenly, a dart strikes Wanda in her neck. Wanda moans, then pulls the dart, noting that it felt like a bee sting, an annoyance, nothing more. 'By why? To what end?' she wonders. She spins around when a voice cries out: 'To the end, Witch. The end is the truth... and the Wizard is its deliverer!' The man with the thin moustache, the Wizard, stands in his black, blue and pink costume, flanked by one of the soldiers with the strange helmet and what appear to be several floating robots with a similar appearance as the soldiers. 'Bentley Whitman. You picked the wrong day' the Scarlet Witch exclaims, before casting a hex which suddenly appears to destroy several of the Wizard's companions. 'No! My Frightful Four Hundred! What will a scientist like me do against a true sorceress without my army?' he exclaims, looking concerned, before turning back to the Scarlet Witch and getting serious: 'Oh, wait. I've got 396 more. And it's not Wittman, Witch. It's the Wizard – legally, logistically and literally'.The Wizard states that he hears the Scarlet Witch has had a vision, and claims that he has, too. 'But unlike you... I didn't avert my eyes. I gazed in! I found the truth there – the truth of the end!' he grins, before firing a blast from his armor at the Scarlet Witch, telling her that she is in the way. 'A force beam? Don't insult me' Wanda responds as she waves her hand and the force beam is diverted with ease. The Wizard unleashes a circle of fire around himself and tells the Scarlet Witch that robbing her father's home on Mars would be a trick, even for him. 'Wanda? We've got a fireball. Fire stuff forming. And I'm very mortal' Darcy calls out as she looks on anxiously. 'Very mortal, and very unburnt' Wanda responds as she raises her hand – but then suddenly realizes she doesn't know the spell. 'Custom memory dart. You won't be snuffing out these flames!' the Wizard boasts as he fires another fire beam towards Darcy, who is rescued when Wanda leaps at her, pushing her to safety.Wanda turns back to the Wizard and tells him that a real wizard would know magic is more than words spoken or thought. 'A scientist would overlook spells woven by gesture and emotion' Wanda adds, before beginning to swallow the Wizard's fire. 'Time to run!' she calls out to Darcy. 'Won't argue!' Darcy calls back as she rushes off. Wanda turns back to the Wizard and tells him that he chose this – ranting like a preacher with synthetic soldiers at his feet. 'You set foot in my life, where you weren't invited' Wanda adds, before she suddenly disappears in a pool of crimson energy. 'And like so many before you, you fail to see...such choices have dire consequences!' Wanda exclaims as she re-appears, bursting up through the floor and grabbing the Wizard by his throat.The Scarlet Witch slams the Wizard down on the ground: 'If you didn't send the letter – who did? Who sent you?' she asks. Wanda prepares to punch the Wizard, but he grabs her by her fist and remarks 'That's the question, isn't it'. He claims that he has seen an angel, seen what will be. 'And it's truth – empirical truth'. Energy crackles around his fist as he tells the Scarlet Witch that there is a grand design to things, bigger than they can comprehend. 'And the chaos you spread simply can't be allowed' he adds. Wanda tells the Wizard that chaos is life, freedom. 'Yes, well...not for much longer!' the Wizard responds as the Emporium appears to be transformed into a giant pool of water.


[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
untitled
One mile above the Grand Canyon National Park, in Arizona, USA. 'Damned antigravity disk – I'd rather be shot! A bullet would've been fat less embarrassing – and left a much sexier scar' Pietro Maximoff a.k.a. Quicksilver complains to himself as he flounders in the air, before he pulls the anti-gravity disk off of him, tearing his costume at his hip. Down below, the Wizard's army, the Frightful Four Hundred observe Quicksilver, and note that the antigravity has been compromised, and target one is on a return path. 'An artful way to say falling to his death' one of them comments. Pietro cannot fly though, this is something that has always irritated him. However, he spins his arms around, creating funnels which enable him to lower himself down to the ground, and creates whirlwinds which knock some of the Frightful Four Hundred backwards.'You truly think I'd let something as pedestrian as gravity kill me?' Quicksilver snarls. 'How about a bullet?' one of the soldiers asks, aiming a gun towards Quicksilver. 'The end is the truth, Maximoff. It's past time we delivered yours' they declare. 'Oh, are “we” overdue? I'll have that solved – in a snap' Quicksilver responds, unconcerned. 'Please. You think you can stop the Frightful Four Hundred with two fingers?' the soldier responds. 'Offering only one would be rude' Quicksilver responds as he snaps his fingers, which creates some sort of shockwave that tears  the soldier apart – literally. Quicksilver remembers the King of Atlantis once rambling about a duel with sea locusts, their strike so fast and explosive it ruptures their prey and even boils water. Pietro's fingers lack the natural adaptations to endure such an attack. But he's always wanted to try. 'Well. That was creatively effective' Quicksilver remarks to himself. 'And painful' he adds as he rubs his wrist and looks at his bruised fingers. Pietro then crouches beside the remains of one of the soldiers. 'Hm. Gears and guts' he notes, deciding something synthetic and murderous is going on here. 'But who could ever want to murder me?' he wonders as he speeds off.Meantime, in Lotkill, New York, as Quicksilver races against his own ego, his sister, Wanda Maximoff the Scarlet Witch finds herself battling a maelstrom, a typhoon sphere, a natural disaster crashing in on itself again and again – a weaponized storm executing the will of the Wizard. Indeed, Wanda is strapped in a watery prison that once was her Emporium. Civilians run in fear as the water thrashes around where the building once stood, and the Wizard himself steps out of the water, instructing some of his Frightful Four Hundred to keep their weapons trained on the witch. 'The truth may be on our side, but she is unbeholden to the design...and will be hard to contain'.Inside the depths, Wanda remains defiant, holding her breath, however an anti-mnemonic dart has blocked some of her spells – but magic is more than words. And Wanda is more than magic. A power that simply is. And with that power – an ancient chaos. A roiling nightmare, so far, she has managed it – barely. But it is powerful. Wanda has fought hard to control the fury, at every second – even now. It could destroy the dark blocking off her incantations. Or it could destroy her, with that being less than ideal. So, she reaches out to the probability field instead, and by chance, metal snaps under the storm's pressure. It's unexpected, of course, be it a stinger shattered, or a typhoon flash-frozen. As the water Wanda is trapped in suddenly freezes. Wanda has always had a gift for the improbable.A moment later, the ice cracks, and an unimpressed Wanda walks towards the Wizard, who stands nearby, watching. 'General?' one of the android-like Frightful Four Hundred asks. The Wizard instructs his soldier to keep to orders. 'She's cornered, flailing' the Wizard smirks. 'Wizard. Do I look cornered?' Wanda retorts. 'You look sacrificial' the Wizard responds as he raises a fist and suddenly traps Wanda in some sort of energy box. 'A sacrifice? So, what – you've found religion? You – the great scientist?' Wanda asks before attempting to punch the energy box. 'Don't be stupid. What I do, I do for fact. A science long beyond my understanding – but no more' the Wizard responds, before telling Wanda 'We only thinkg we can't know it all, Wanda. It's a deficiency of our brief lives...and mortal senses. The truth is – freedom doesn't exist. Nor does chance or possibility. Not from a high enough view' the Wizard claims.The Wizard continues, boasting that the end of set, written and planned – except for the Scarlet Witch, and except for chaos. 'Every life you save brings entropy. You threaten what should be' he adds. 'Ergo, you should not be. I have my orders... from the lips of an angel' he claims. Energy crackles around the Scarlet Witch as she tells the Wizard that only one of them follows orders. Vampiric firebolts born of a pre-cataclysmic Atlantis begin to rage – but they are less effective than Wanda hoped, and do not pierce the energy box. 'Now, now. You know I'm not the same old Wizard. And the upgrades are divine' the Wizard grins. He admits that once, the Scarlet Witch would have floored him with a glare. But now, she lacks the tools to stand against him. Wanda knows that the Wizard is wrong, of course. She is not without told. There is one, but there is a risk.'Transmuting the Darkhold. Imprisoning Chthon. These concepts matter, Wanda. Creation is clockwork. By removing some cogs, you've angered powerful forces' the Wizard remarks as he taps on the energy box. 'Your angel. But if she truly sits so high above our lowly perspective... how can you be sure you understand your revelation?' Wanda asks as she attempts another blast against the energy box. The Wizard steps backwards and tells Wanda that priests have revelations, and scientists have discoveries. 'For all to go as it should... you and your twin must not further upend the design'. Wanda suddenly looks shocked as she utters her brother's name, before the Wizard instructs his soldiers to move in. The Wizard's might is more than Wanda expected, more than improbability or magic alone can overcome. But, Wanda still holds a devil inside, locked beneath an endless nightmare. A primal power always howling to break free from within.The soldiers latch onto the energy box, and now the Wizard has given Wanda no choice as she unleashes that primal power's fury. Dark energy washes up and breaks the energy box. The ground under Wanda's feet cracks. Even releasing a sliver of what she chains at every moment is a relief – it is hard to stop. But for her sake, for her life, she must flee before the nightmare swallows her whole – and she steps through the Last Door. 'Gone...such a temper on her...and at the mere mention of the brother. The ravenous fires of chaos...the nuclear ghosts of the true Darkhold released. He stamps his feet on the ground, trying to squash some flickers of the energy that remains. 'You were right, imminence...she couldn't hold it in forever. And her threat will only grow' the Wizard utters. 'But the Witch and her Last Door won't rob you of what's yours much longer. Soon – all things will meet the end set out for them' the Wizard smiles as he fires a blast that breaks a hole in the Last Door.'Feel like meeting yours right now?' a voice calls out. The Wizard turns to find Wanda's assistant, Darcy Lewis, armed with a baseball bat, and several other residents of Lotkill at her side, all armed with an assortment of makeshift weapons. 'It's these small-town folks, Copperfield. Wanda's their friend, their neighbor. And they're not too neighborly when people threaten her. But the thing is, dude? They're the nice ones. Me? Screw with Wanda again and I bury this bat so deep in your brain you'll be lucky to spell “wizard”' Darcy snarls, raising the baseball bat, only for the Wizard to smirk and knock her back with an energy pulse. 'Darcy Lewis. If words were power, you'd sit at Eternity's shoulder' the Wizard tells her. The Wizard then takes flight, and remarks that the Witch barely survived him. 'And sadly, you aren't our targets'.In Kansas, a blur streaks across large open fields. “We” Quicksilver recalls. 'That's what he said, while only one still stood. A hive mind perhaps? A shared consciousness? One that can surely still track me. All things considered...one night call that frustrating' Quicksilver exclaims as he arrives in Arizona, speeding past a house where he drops a notepad. The door quickly opens, and Tommy Shepherd a.k.a. Speed steps out. 'Come on...here and gone again, Uncle Pietro? At least raid my fridge, I -' Tommy begins as he suddenly sees the notepad. He picks up it and begins flicking through it. 'Oh. Cool' he smiles.Meantime, in a vessel above the North Atlantic Ocean, one of the soldiers welcomes the Wizard, whom they call “the General” back to the Isle. 'You connection to the Four Hundred reads strong' the soldier reports. 'I feel that, soldier...as I feel each and every one of you. As I would appendages. As the Frightful Four Hundred were created, four hundred minds. Eight hundred fists. An army to scour the world at my command – connected through me' the Wizard declares as he takes a seat and places a helmet on his head which is connected to the vessel. He tells the Frightful Four Hundred that they are all semi-independent, they cannot disobey, but they can interpret their obeyance. 'A necessity – I cannot always be here. And a hurdle. Left to yourselves, you strive...but there is only one genius in the room. Targets one and two elude us' the Wizard notes.One of the Frightful Four Hundred informs the Wizard that target two remains hidden, and with the loss of the Skypiercer, they only have legacy tech to track the Scarlet Witch, but that post-mortem data is in from the squad sent for target one. The soldier informs the Wizard that Quicksilver took a sample and his location will be revealed soon enough. The Wizard steps off the chair and disconnects from the helmet, remarking that he is to suffer the wait bound to four hundred listless minds. He tells the soldiers that while they tend to the terrestrial, he will speak with something more.In another part of the ship, the Wizard looks up at a sparkling red screen and address Imminence, announcing that he is here and calls to them. 'I engaged the twins... but was repelled. The witch set loose her inner demons. It...it was horrible' the Wizard utters. A voice can be heard around the Wizard. The voice states that the true Darkhold within the Scarlet Witch holds every life that isn't, wasn't or ever couldn't be. 'It is a tapestry of the roads not taken to me. A mockery of the design. Forget the god it imprisons. Chthon is chaos, deadly freedom, yes... but so is she. Alone, a being such as her is powerful. But her brother... he is her catalyst, her accelerant. Already she affects the future. All to come, the lives of people and universes alike... should lead to me'. A fiery burst appears within the sparkly red screen as the voice tells the Wizard that in time, these twins could influence all possible realities and break them. 'That is true chaos...destruction disguised as freedom. Creation does have an end, Wizard...albeit one far in what you deem the future. She is the power. He is the catalyst'. The Wizard looks horrified as the voice tells him that, left unchecked, the twins could shatter Space-Time itself. 'We have divided them... now they must be destroyed'.Elsewhere, Arlington, Virginia, at a suburban home belonging to the android known as the Vision. There is a strange sound, and the Vision phases through his home, 'What – what is it?' he calls out. 'What's happened to you?' he asks as he sees the Scarlet Witch, his ex-wife, lying on his front lawn. 'Vision, I...I don't know where else to go?' Wanda utters. She informs the Vision that the shop, and Pietro, it's all gone, and she barely survived. 'Had to... I had to let something escape... and now it wants more...' Wanda gasps, putting a hand to her chest. The Vision assures Wanda that she is safe here, that she is safe with him.In Northern Minnesota, Quicksilver is still on the run, and has arrived at a hidden lab, built by his former in-law, one of the Inhumans. He has read every book within the lab within minutes. 'Nice of you to abandon all your toys for me, Maximus' Quicksilver remarks as he flips through another book, several books scattered at his feet. What Quicksilver learns isn't permanent,  it stays in his memory for days at best, often only hours. But for a brief time, when needed, Pietro can learn anything in seconds. He has taken to calling it “speed-reading”. A strange contraption suddenly makes a chiming sound, and Pietro drops his book, turning to the contraption. 'That'll be my molecular analysis. This manual was much appreciated' Quicksilver learns that the scan is complete, but data processing will take one minute. He isn't happy about this, and searches the lab for something else. 'Here we are – opposition research on Maximus' rivals'. Quicksilver reads what Maximus thought of them all – Druig of the Eternals, an amateur. Doom, “canned meat” and the Wizard – a charlatan.Quicksilver turns back to the contraption when it chimes again, and, inside it, Quicksilver looks at the remains of the Frightful Four Hundred soldier that he took with him. 'At last. And just as I thought – synthetic flesh' Quicksilver declares. There are two more chimes, and Quicksilver goes wide-eyed, 'Ah, how novel' he begins. ' A fail safe'. With that, the contaption explodes, but Quicksilver was easily able to get to safety. From behind a wall, he realizes that it seems their metal mercenaries are rigged to explode upon inspection. 'But there were those three picoseconds before the explosion – an eternity for my eyes' Quicksilver remarks, before he speeds over to a computer, where he begins tapping away at the keys. 'It's epidurium. Like S.H.I.E.L.D. uses for its Life-Model Decoys. But highly modified. Enhanced. And patented by – ah, once again. Perhaps the flesh was set to do a bit more than self-destruct!' Quicksilver exclaims, wide-eyed.Quicksilver turns as a voice calls out 'You've got that right, target one. Transmit location. Self-destruct. Then?' Several of the Frightful Four Hundred soldiers arrive, and one of them raises a weapon towards Quicksilver. 'Weapons hot. You're cornered, Quicksilver. No room to run. We've got you dead to rights...and very outnumbered'. Quicksilver smirks and tells the soldiers that when one shares a consciousness, there is never enough intelligence to go around. 'I am outnumbered, yes...but far from outmaneuvered'. Suddenly, there is another blur as someone else arrives on scene. 'Look at these losers, Uncle Pietro... guys totally think they're in control' Tommy calls out as he darts about the soldiers, then reaches Quicksilver, the two standing together, ready for action. '...should we get them up to Speed?'


[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
untitled
Wanda Maximoff is the Scarlet Witch. Her soul cages unending chaos. Minutes ago, she cracked the door. The fury nearly swept her away, so she fled, to a place where she knew she would be safe, to someone who knows her better than most. Her ex-husband, the Vision. The Vision informs Wanda that he has mended her wounds, before asking her what could have caused this. Hanging her head, Wanda informs the Vision that the Wizard hit Lotkill hard, and that he has never been so strong. She reveals that, to survive, she tapped the true Darkhold, tapped Chthon's fury, which was like wrangling a hurricane. 'I thought I could manage the chaos, Vizh... but I had to release it. It had to be let out...'. She wonders if maybe Pietro was right to treat her like a time bomb. With several bandages across her body, Wanda looks up at the Vision, who is partially phased out of the room, as the Vision informs Wanda that he does not share her brother's assessment. 'You are no time bomb, but the opposite'.The Vision tells Wanda that no vessel, even her, is truly unbreakable. 'Pressure builds, hence the pressure valve. Ancient power screams within you. Siphoning that is no failure. You are engaging in chaos...rather than burying it. You are, I would argue, now  truly managing your demons' the Vision suggests. 'Some of my demons' Wanda responds. She remarks that endless chaos is nothing compared to Pietro, and informs the Vision that she and her brother blew up – again. 'We'd just saved the Skypiercer. A satellite. We were working, but there was a letter...a last, cruel wish from Magneto. It would've crushed Pietro... so I destroyed it. He...was displeased. He ran. The Wizard wanted us apart – he got it. But he didn't send the letter. I believe it was his master – the angel he claims blessed him with an upgrade' Wanda explains. 'I see. And it was during the Skypiercer rescue that this letter arrived. Intriguing' the Vision responds, noting that a dimensional-scanning station like the Skypiercer requires heavy data storage, before informing Wanda that as she rested, he researched, and reports that the Wizard owns the station through a shell corporation, one with deeds to a server farm off the coast of Belize. 'Might we investigate?' the Vision suggests.Above the Caribbean Sea, the Wizard is in his vessel, connected to it via a large helmet. His soldiers refer to him as the General, and inform him that the hive-feed is active. 'As you can see, we've engaged target one' one of the Frightful Four Hundred reports, before announcing that Quicksilver isn't alone – there is another speedster. 'Not speedster, soldier. Speed. What an unexpected uncle-nephew reunion...' the Wizard decides, before instructing his operatives to hold backup, as they must not act in haste, but set a new trap. He then instructs his crew to adjust their course for the Grotto. 'But General Wizard – we're networked! We can't desert those soldiers. The hive-feed...we'll all feel them go. Please, General! We can bodyslide in and save them! We can -' the soldier begins, before screaming as the Wizard tells the soldier to stop whining. 'The Frightful Four Hundred are limbs...I'm the brain. I give the orders. Like this one – the rest of you, clean up this sack of coward!' the Wizard declares as the soldier slumps to the ground. The Wizard then instructs his crew to monitor the targets, as they have both uncovered enough crumbs to locate the Grotto. 'I'm off to give me angel the good news' he reports.Beneath Minnesota, Pietro Maximoff a.k.a. Quicksilver and his nephew, Tommy Sherpherd a.k.a. Speed race past several of the Frightful Four Hundred. 'Ha!' Speed laughs. Quicksilver glances at his nephew and notes that he is smiling. 'Should I not be?' Speed asks. 'Keep to the plan, Thomas – we've put whole seconds into it' Quicksilver reminds him. The Frightful Four Hundred soldiers raise their weapons, 'Forget the kid! Target one is the mission!' one of them shouts. 'Target one. So impersonal' Quicksilver decides as he darts about, dodging the weaponsfire. 'Generally, one knows me before hating me' Quicksilver smiles. 'Who needs hate? We've got orders' one of the soldiers responds. 'Problems, too' Speed suggests as he darts past the soldiers. 'That buzzing -' one of the soldiers begins. 'No – no no no!' another calls out. 'Totally yes' Speed grins as he slides up to his uncle. 'I'd say it's been fun – but you've all been dreadful' Quicksilver remarks, before all of the soldiers explode.'Hell yes! That's the beauty of molecular agitation, dude...one pinch! One pinch – and I charged those clowns up until they popped like soda cans! Did you see that?' Speed calls out, but gets no response. 'Uncle Pietro?' he asks, turning, but sees that his uncle has vanished. 'What took you?' Quicksilver frowns as he stands outside on the street, and Speed arrives at his side. 'Come on, how fast were you at my age?' Tommy asks. 'You'll never know... but it's possible you saved me life. Not probable, but possible. 'Wow. And it's possible I regret it. Seriously, we've never been super close...if you were in trouble, why not call my mom?' Speed asks. 'I assume you mean Wanda, not the New Jersey divorcee?' Quicksilver asks, informing Speed that, at the moment, they aren't speaking. 'Are you both not speaking? Or are you not speaking to her?' Speed asks.Speed then realizes if his uncle is target one, his mom might be a target, too. 'I can't lose anyone else – I already...I lost my boyfriend. He...David died at the Hellfire Gala. No – Orchis killed him. And I wasn't there. I wasn't there...' Tommy's voice trails off, before asking his uncle to let him help. 'I need to help. Whatever this is, I won't let it get you both. I can't' Tommy utters. Quicksilver looks away, before turning back to the younger speedster and telling him that a trap is one thing, but that he now knows where these epidurium drones were built. 'Don't insult me by offering aid for mere espionage. You have your own mission, Thomas. Avenge this David of yours. Honor him...and destroy anyone who did him harm' Quicksilver suggests to his nephew. 'I will save myself and your mogther. But consider this – if I die...you'll finally be the fastest in the family'. Quicksilver then speeds away, leaving Tommy grinning.At the Caribbean Sea, 'You're sure this is right? It's beautiful, Vizh...but it's no corporate outpost' the Scarlet Witch remarks as she and the Vision hover above a pool of water surrounded by small pieces of land. The Vision tells Wanda that the water circulates to cool the servers, and the truth hides beneath, which the Vision thinks is apt. 'As I must tell you, I question your hiding the truth from your brother' the Vision adds. As the former husband and wife move closer to the water, Wanda reminds the Vision that her brother already died by Magneto's hand once, and that he does not need more pain.The Vision suggests to Wanda that perhaps Pietro reasoned the same when shielding her in the past. 'In those times...would you not have wished for a say in the matter? Why repeat his mistakes?' As the two super heroes walk across the water, the Vision notes that Wanda speaks with care, but in truth, he does not hear compassion, merely pettiness. 'A squabble between siblings. One of you is above that' the Vision states. '...I suppose we'll find out, won't we?' Wanda responds. 'Assuming we survive this expedition, yes. But there is motion below. Allow me to go ahead... and announce our arrival' the Vision declares as he drops down into the water beneath him.Within the facility hidden beneath the depths, the Vision encounters a number of the Frightful Four hundred and begins engaging them in combat, while one of them attempts to contact their General, warning him that they are under attack. 'The Grotto's been breached by -' one of them begins, before the Vision phases a hand through the soldier's head: 'A more dynamic life-form' he declares. He phases his hand through another of the soldiers and realizes they are made from epidurium, a rare metal, but weak. He then slams his fists on the ground, knocking several of the soldiers back, while telling them that their hive-feed cracks just as easily. 'I see what you see... and what your general sees' the Vision declares, before announcing that this is the Wizard's house, and that his former wife is sure to be pleased.'Do I not look pleased?' Wanda asks as she lowers herself into the complex, several of the Frightful Four Hundred seemingly melting at her command. 'You certainly seem invigorated, Wanda' the Vision notes. 'Why brood when I could be ruining the Wizard's day?' Wanda smiles. 'Day's not over, target two!' a voice calls out. Wanda and the Vision turn and see someone looming over them. 'That's a big one' Wanda notes. 'There is a robustness to him' the Vision agrees, as a large, blue-skinned being lumbers towards the Avengers. 'Four hundred frightful soldiers...and only one Berserker' the creature introduces itself, before welcoming the Scarlet Witch and Vision to the Grotto. 'The General's orders were simple enough... squeeze until ya pop!' he declares as begins to grab Wanda by her head. Wanda responds by unleashing a heat charm. 'Not bad. Target two, sadly, this one don't melt' the Berserker boasts. 'But do you break?' the Vision asks, while at that same time, something fast, very fast, speeds across the water above, down through the depths and into the Grotto.'Break? Ain't nothing made that could -' the Berserker begins, before Quicksilver speeds around the creature, slamming an arm against him, forcing the Berserker to release Wanda. An instant later, the Berserker explodes. 'Wanda. And Vision. Surprised to see me?' Pietro asks. 'Your vibrations were easily noticed – that is to say – you are loud' the Vision responds, while Wanda folds her arms, unimpressed. 'I hum. Like a holy engine. Targeted as well, then, Wanda? You'll note I'm target one' Pietro boasts. Wanda looks at her brother and tells him that the Skypiercer, Magneto's note and now the Frightful Four Hundred suggests they were set up. 'Set up and split up...by the Wizard. We might've beaten him, but you ran' Wanda reminds her brother. 'I retained a shred of autonomy from the clutches of my imperious sister. This is no truce, Wanda. The Wizard may want to kill us... but that fuschia fool didn't make you burn a damn thing' Quicksilver snarls.Back aboard the Wizard's vessel, the Wizard is not wearing his helmet as he listens to a report from one of the soldiers, who inform him that target one has destroyed the Minnesota team. 'Copy. Analyze postmortem data. Learn what you can and maintain course' the Wizard commands, before he kicks his helmet across the room in a rage. Suddenly, a voice calls out 'Wizard' and the villain looks scared, looking upwards, he utters' Imminence... I assume you heard? Your wisdom vastly elevates my strength, and yet... the twins elude me. Though – though they do herd themselves into a new trap as we speak!' The voice of Imminence is heard responding: 'And so they must. All that is has begun. All that begins must have its end, in time. That is the quiet math that supports creation. The truth these twins would obstruct. Do you know what endless growth is, my Wizard?' the voice asks.Imminence manifests as a winged vision in front of the Wizard, who gets down onto one knee as Imminence tells him that it is cancer, that is what the twins are – tumors poisoning the future. 'Rare beings who can upend the design, their feeds, their so-called heroism, seem small...but every chain reaction begins with a single split atom. The twins are those atoms. They must be ended, lest they wound reality beyond repair. Did I not show you as much...when you first pierced the sky and caught my gaze?' the being asks. 'You showed me the end, Imminence' the Wizard utters. 'The end is the truth' Imminence responds, extending a hand to the Wizard, pointing out that he fails to defend it, and soon, he will know more than her voice. 'I have courted the Grand Bazar of the Trader. Once my terms are met...I will at last be free to travel creation, by the grace of my shining sword. And if Earth does not greet me with two very specific funerals. The first I celebrate... will be yours' Imminence warns the Wizard, before vanishing.Back beneath the Caribbean Sea, the Vision phases into the floor, while Quicksilver stands with his arms folded as he asks his sister why the Wizard would attack them. 'I've long felt the Wizard was biologically driven to beclown himself' Quicksilver adds, before Wanda explains that the Wizard believes he's got orders from on high, a powerful backer he calls an angel. 'We -' Wanda begins, before her brother tells her 'We nothing. If we're in such danger – perhaps destroying key intel was unwise?' he suggests. 'Perhaps you're effective now because I spared you a cruel distraction' Wanda proposes. Quicksilver shrugs and reminds his sister that Magneto was cruel by nature. 'A new missive couldn't possibly bother me more than -' Quicksilver begins, before the Vision returns and tells  the twins that he hates to interrupt their carefully measured discussion, before reporting that he took the opportunity to explore. He announces that the Grotto is much more than the Wizard's data cache, and asks them to join him on the sublevel. 'You will see it is also a -' the Vision begins, before Wanda makes the floor beneath her give way and tells the Vision that she will be right down, while Quicksilver speeds away, declaring that he will see for himself.The three Avengers regroup in some sort of laboratory, where dozens of stasis tanks are filled with the Frightful Four Hundred soldiers. 'It's a factory, then? Wonderful' Quicksilver mutters. 'A nursery' Wanda suggests. 'All the more reason to burn it' Quicksilver remarks, but Wanda disagrees. Quicksilver looks up at one of the tanks and states that he is serious. He explains that the epidurium drones are of one mind, doubtless the Wizard's, so destroying them would be like ripping off hundreds of the Wizard's fingers. 'In other words, a delight' Quicksilver proposes. The Vision agrees with Wanda that it is a nursery, somehow, that the Wizard is propagating epidurium like true flesh. 'The Frightful Four Hundred are grown, not built. There is vast science here' the Vision explains. Wanda adds that there is also sorcery, a cosmic sorcery beyond most earthbound warlocks, beyond even the Wizard – but not his backer, not his angel.The Vision reports that he may have a theory: 'Two targets – two concepts. The Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Wanda's magical talent is obvious. But you, Pietro...your speed harnesses physics. Science and sorcery. Two great means of making the unknown known. If the Wizard follows a higher being, perhaps this is why he has targeted you' the Vision proposes. Wanda remarks that the Wizard said they threatened some great plan, said it wasn't religion, it was empirical truth. 'The Wizard believes he's seen the end of everything...and I may have seen it too. Hoping to divine the sender of Magneto's letter, I was struck by a vision. An endless nothingness – the wizard's angel, perhaps' Wanda explains. 'Fascinating. Lives, even galaxies, come and go. But on a grand enough scale...there will be a final heat death to creation. I have watched you both of late. You, Wanda... are stronger. You, Pietro, are faster. You vibrated though solid matter like it was nothing. Whether consciously or not, you have both grown in power, even redefined your power' Vision announces.'But, Vision, that's -' Wanda begins, before Quicksilver races over and points a finger at the Vision, asking him if he has been spying on them. 'HOW DARE YOU?' Quicksilver shouts. 'Why? Because you don't trust us?' Quicksilver asks. 'No, Pietro. When watching you in person or in the news – I do not do so out of distrust. I do so because, married to Wanda or not, I consider you both family. I do so because I care' the Vision reveals, causing Quicksilver to go wide-eyed with surprise.At that moment, the Wizard instructs his hive-feed to scan for life signs.'That is generous of you, Vision...but I don't need someone to care. I need someone to be useful' Quicksilver responds. He states that the Wizard tried to murder his sister, so he must find him and show him the joy of having his eyes plucked out between blinks.One of the Frightful Four Hundred confirms that there are three intruders in the Grotto, and the Wizard snaps his fingers.There is a rumbling, which Wanda realizes is coming from above. 'Pietro – find us a way -' Wanda begins, but before she can even finish her sentence, Pietro speeds over to her and reports that he checked the entire facility, and there is no way out – but up. 'And we have less than seconds – less than a thought!' Quicksilver utters.Above the Grotto, the Wizard hovers mid-air, a typhoon forming, as he concentrates on targets one and two, as well as a bonus. 'Kind of them to gather beneath the tip of the spear' he remarks, while one of his soldiers warns him that a typhoon drill will destroy the Grotto. The Wizard tells his soldier to relax, as factories can be rebuilt. 'You have your orders. I have mine' he remarks, announcing that his angel is soon to come. 'She who bore you – and gifted me with her great wisdom. She demands two funerals, soldier. And if I've learned one thing... you never keep an angel waiting!'Back inside the Grotto, the Avengers look up as the ceiling above them is bored into by the typhoon drill, and rubble begins to fall towards them....


[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Dark Designs
(In the Scarlet Witch’s dream)The stars are afraid tonight. Space crackles and shudders as if in dread or revulsion. The end is drawing near. Eldritch chaos surrounds this bright lonely world. Amazar. Soon it will not need a name at all. Portents are aligned, the signs are right. Vast magicks are woven in a lattice around the planet…and beneath their unwholesome glow, Amazar’s famous floating citadel prepares to die. Wave upon wave of landing pods swarm down through the clouds and strike the citadel rock ready to split open and release their cargo….Iron Golems, large powerful warriors.
Witchcraft keeps the Golems bound and loyal, while malice alloyed into their metal souls drives them on. As they rampage the floating citadel, the Golems know no mercy, no feeling, no remorse - they know only how to kill. The warrior-women of Amazar fall beneath the Golems’ creaking, burnished fists. The Amazites as the warrior-women are known, are famed across the cosmos for their nobility and martial prowess. Now, the white marble halls and terraces of their citadel become their tombs.
The dread Gargan, wizard and conqueror stands atop his huge flying beast, hovering over the madness below on the floating citadel, he relishes the relentless advance of the Golems. For a lunar month he and his forces have laid siege to Amazar. Now they commit it to the fires of never-more. The Amazite women are lost and leaderless, for their witch-queen is sick and dying, and for the last week she has lain in her chambers, suffering from an unknown malady, and thus depriving the Amazites of her vast elemental powers, which are their greatest strength.
Despite that, the Amazites battle on, delaying in the inevitable. Gargan believes his victory is assured and his elaborate plan complete. It is almost too easy….
‘Gargan! Despoiler! Wretched one! You shall not reach our queen!’ one of the Amazites cries, leaping past the Golems, she attempts to strike at Gargan with her sword, ‘Have at thee!’ she exclaims, only for Gargan to bellow ‘Foolish woman!’ and blast her with his power. ‘In death, I taste victory’ he thinks to himself, boasting that their heroism shall not keep him from his appointment with their queen, and blasting apart a door, he exclaims that neither shall sealed doors of bonded steel. His horrid voice sounds, ‘Eleyn, witch-queen of Amazar. I have come. It is time’. Madness has filled the witch-queen, who covers her face, and peers out between her fingers, her eyes wide with fear. ‘Gargan…? The dreams, you monster…you have cursed me…your demons…your demons…’.
Gargan pays Eleyn’s mad ramblings no heed, and his Golems cast the mystic circle into the stone floor with their iron fingertips, and grab the witch-queen, brining her into the center of the circle, screaming. ‘Eleyn. Know this. The process is complete!’ Gargan exclaims, powers radiating from him, he announces that he has reached into the heart of Eleyn’s city and into her heart too, where she now sees his truth. Gargan tells her to submit to his truth, to submit to the inevitable, to give up her heart to her successor. ‘No! No! Noooo!’ screams Eleyn.
‘Yes! Yessss!’ cries Gargan, when suddenly, Eleyn tears at his face, it begins falling apart like wax, only to reveal a woman underneath who looks remarkably familiar screaming ‘The witch is mine!’….
(Reality)‘Nooooooooo!’ screams Wanda Maximoff a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch ‘..oh please…no’. Wanda sits upright in her bed at Avengers West Coast Compound, 2.15 in the morning. Wanda thinks that the nightmare is worse then other others she has been having, and is too afraid to move. She tells herself that she feels like a child again,desperate to call out to her mother. ‘But…but…’ Wanda thinks, before telling herself to get a grip, as she knows there is only one person who can help her. Wanda steadies her hand and conjures the link through the floating orb in her room, just like she was taught, and proceeds to call out to the woman who is like a mother to her - Agatha Harkness. ‘Agatha? Can you hear me? Are you there?’ Wanda asks.
Miles away, at Agatha’s mansion, the aged sorceress replies ‘Of course, my girl. I’m always here’. Agatha remarks that, from the lateness of the hour, this has something to do with the dreams again. ‘Worse than ever, Agatha’ Wanda replies, revealing that this time, the monster tore away its mask, and its face was that of hers. ‘Oh, Agatha! I’m so afraid!’ exclaims Wanda, revealing that she lives in constant dread of another breakdown, another collapse that will make her turn against her friends, turn evil. Wanda begins to ask if the dreams could be symptoms of - but Agatha interrupts, telling her to hush and calm herself, reminding her that her past has been so troubled, it is therefore understandable that she feels insecure.
Agatha remarks that Wanda and her brother Pietro have suffered much at the hands of others - Immortus and their father Magneto in particular have toyed with their memories, their past, and their being in cruel, subtle ways. Agatha points out that the motional scares that Master Pandemonium left upon Wanda are deep and slow to heal. ‘My dear, you have been manipulated by evil so often in your life, it is little wonder now you dear for your sanity and mistrust the strength of your own mind!’ Agatha tells Wanda that she is strong and must reject all feelings of self-doubt, that she must have faith in her own soundness of mind.
Agatha informs Wanda that she suspects her troubled dreams to be something to do with Wanda being a nexus being. Agatha reminds Wanda that they still know so little of what that means, and assures her that she is still investigating this on her behalf. Agatha promises to contact Wanda the moment she hears anything, to which Wanda thanks her mentor, and Agatha bids her farewell by telling her to sleep well.
A few hours later, at 6.30 AM, freshly brewed coffee scents the air as the Avengers West Coast Compound gets ready to face another day. ‘Hey, take it easy, Wanda! Push that exercise rig any harder and you’ll break something!’ Simon “Wonder Man” Williams tells his teammate and close friend as he enters the gymnasium and begins lifting some weights with ease. Wanda grunts as she pushes the weights some more and replies that she will be fine. ‘I meant the rig!’ Simon jokes. ‘Very funny’ Wanda mutters, before reminding Simon that it was he who insisted all Avengers stick to a tough exercise regimen.
Wonder Man replies that he did, before pointing out that Wanda is not a powerhouse like he or USAgent, and therefore she just needs a good cardio-vascular, aerobic workout to keep her in top condition. Wanda replies by telling Simon that, as an exercise couch, he is far too easy on her. Simon asks Wanda what she would say to a jog around the Compound perimeter, and shortly, they are running side-by-side across the sprawling Compound. Simon asks if he is going too fast for Wanda, to which Wanda insists he isn’t. Arriving back at the Compound, Simon tells Wanda it was a good run and asks if she will join him for breakfast.
Wanda thanks Simon, but reveals that she has one of her regular training sessions with USAgent. ‘You know how crabby he gets if you keep him waiting!’ Wanda remarks, before telling Simon she will see him later, and heading back into the Compound, where, suddenly, she is attacked by someone who trips her up, Wanda steadies herself and turns around, where she is greeted by the handsome Johnny Walker a.k.a. the USAgent, ‘Believe I’m crabby, witch!’ Walker exclaims, pointing out that he has agreed to toughen her up, to prepare her for any danger, so she needs to stay alert and be vigilant. Johnny points out that if he had been a hostile, then Wanda would be dead by now.
‘Good morning to you too’ Wanda replies, before asking Walker what he means by “if” he had been a hostile. Walker ignores that comment and declares ‘Concentration, lady. Discipline and direction. Think of this timber as your enemy’ he remarks, motioning to a thick plank of wood. ‘Stand aside, coach!’ Wanda exclaims, clenching her fist as she stands beside the plank, she thinks to herself ‘Discipline. Direction. Concentration…’ before shouting ‘HA!’ and punches with wood with her mutant hex power, causing it to break in half. Walker tells Wanda that she shouldn’t use her hex power, as it is too unpredictable for combat.
Wanda replies that she can’t help it, when suddenly the intruder alarm sounds. ‘Come on!’ Walker exclaims, and both heroes rush outside, where Wonder Man and their other teammates Julia Carpenter a.k.a. Spider-Woman and James Rhoades a.k.a. War Machine are battling some creatures. ‘What are those blasted things?!’ Walker exclaims. The Scarlet Witch replies that she doesn’t know, but points out that whatever they are, they are taking the best shots that their teammates can hit them with.
War Machine calls out to Wonder Man, asking him to watch their backs, when suddenly, he cries out, as one of the creatures almost tears through his armor. ‘That isn’t supposed to happen!’ he gasps. Suddenly though, the creatures turn their attention to the Scarlet Witch. ‘The witch! The witch!’ they cry in their nasty voices. They begin lunging for her. Suddenly, Miguel Santos a.k.a. the Living Lightning appears and in his electrified form darts towards Wanda, attempting to come between her and the creatures - but as he fries one of the creatures, the former member of the Avengers West Coast, who often comes to visit, realizes that his powers have no effect on the creatures.
Miguel turns to USAgent and asks him how they should proceed. Walker suggests that if the creatures can shrug off fancy tricks like Miguel’s lightning and War Machine’s artillery, then perhaps they should try a little brute force! With that, Walker uses his super strength to propel his trusty shield into the gathering of creatures who are overwhelming the Scarlet Witch. Trapped beneath the creatures, Wanda concentrates, tries to direct her powers, while Walker’s shield smacks into the demons, toppling them like bowling pins and thus freeing the Scarlet Witch.
Wanda wonders why that worked when everything else they have tried has failed, when suddenly, she calls out to USAgent, urging him to look out, as one of the demons fires some sort of energy beam from its mouth, aimed at Walker. War Machine comes to his teammates rescue and uses his armor to take the brunt of the blast, while asking his teammates if anyone has any ideas, pointing out that the demons are not just going to walk away.
Holding on to USAgent’s shield, Wanda exclaims that perhaps it was not the shield itself that caused the demons to get knocked out, but the trace iron in the vibranium that composes it. The Scarlet Witch explains that iron is a poison to the supernatural, which is what she believes these demonic creatures to be. Wanda casts her hand towards War Machine, informing him that she is going to create a hex that will temporarily transform his armor into pure iron. ‘If that’s what it takes, lady…I’m all yours!’ Rhodey replies as his armor is transformed.
War Machine begins tearing through the demons with ease, and Wanda orders Wonder Man to grab the demons once they are immobilized, before calling out to Spider-Woman and asking her to find a way to confine them. ‘One psychic web coming up!’ Julia replies, while Wanda remarks that all they have to do now is figure out why the demons attacked them. Julia remarks to her friend that they were clearly after her, ‘Didn’t you see the way they went into overdrive the moment you appeared?’. Turning to her webbing full of the vile creatures, Julia remarks that someone deliberately sent these creatures after the Scarlet Witch. ‘So nice to feel wanted!’ Wanda jokes, before pointing out that as they have the creatures captive, they might as well get some answers from them, when suddenly, the creatures begin disintegrating, melting away into thin air, until finally, only a set of repulsive jagged teeth is left, ‘Wwitchhh…the witch is mine!’ the teeth exclaim before vanishing.
‘Gone!’ exclaims the Scarlet Witch, ‘Even their ectoplasmic residue is evaporating’ she points out as she sticks her finger in some of the muck on the floor. Wanda adds that there is still no clue as to why the creatures want her dead, and makes her way up a flight of stairs to her quarters, explaining that she needs to go think this through, while Spider-Woman offers to check the Compound’s video cameras to see if they picked up anything that will help them out, and War Machine tells Wanda to holler if she needs them.
Moments later, in her quarters, the Scarlet Witch is communicating with Agatha Harkness again via the crystal ball, informing her that the Compound has been attacked by demonic apparitions. Wanda explains that they were after her and she is sure they are connected to her nightmares. Wanda adds that one of the demons said the very same thing as the creature in her dream. “The witch is mine”, which Wanda believes is too much of a coincidence.
‘Indeed it is, my dear’ Agatha replies, before informing Wanda that since they last spoke, she has discovered that a private library in the New England village of Unity may hold several ancient and obscure volumes that could shed some light on Wanda’s nature as a nexus being. Agatha points out that she knows it is a long way to travel, but given the circumstances, she believes it would be wise for them to follow this up as soon as possible. ‘Then I’ll see you in New England’ Wanda tells Agatha, before looking out her window and remarking that she hopes she is doing the right thing.
Shortly, Wanda informs her friends that she is taking a leave of absence for a few days, a week at the most, as she needs some time away. ‘Taking off when the going gets tough, eh, Witch?’ Walker asks. Wonder Man tells USAgent to back off, as it is Wanda’s call, telling Wanda that she knows where to find them if she needs them. Wanda thanks her dear friend and tells everyone that she will be fine. Out of ear-shot, USAgent whispers that Wanda is lying. Julia asks him how he can be sure, to which Walker replies ‘Trust me. That lady has got quite a lot on her mind’.
Four hours later, in the forests of New England. A deer rushes away as one of the Avenger’s high-tech Quinjets lands. Dressed for the snowy weather in a large cloak with fur trimmings, Wanda tells herself that the Quinjets navi-com says Unity is a mile away through the woods, and that the main road is up ahead. Wanda trusts that she is on time for her rendezvous and approaches the road. Eventually, ‘Hello, my dear. I hope you haven’t been waiting long’ the old woman inside the car remarks. ‘Agatha, you’re as punctual as ever’ Wanda replies.
As they drive along a ridge, Agatha motions to Unity below them, remarking that it grew up as a fishing community two hundred years ago, but that no one has lived there for thirty years. ‘You mean it’s a ghost town!’ exclaims Wanda. ‘Not in the literal sense’ Agatha replies, explaining that the area was over-fished, so with their livelihoods gone, the townsfolk sold up and moved away. ‘Sooner or later, someone will redevelop the area’ Agatha supposes, remarking that, until then, it boasts one of the finest churches in the East, revealing that the library they have come to see is in the church crypt.
Pulling up outside the ominous church, Agatha exclaims ‘Welcome to Unity, Wanda!’, unaware that someone - something - is watching them. Wanda looks up at the church and remarks that it is so eerie, her skin is crawling, as if there is something watching them. ‘Don’t be absurd’ Agatha replies. ‘I fear, young lady, that perhaps you’ve been watching far too many horror movies for your own good’.
Entering the creepy old church, Wanda asks Agatha who the parish church of a forgotten town end up with an important an unique library collection. Agatha replies that the incumbent priest back in 1843 cherished an interest in the esoteric, and the collection is primarily his, leaving it as a legacy to the parish after his death. ’Don’t tell me…he died in mysterious circumstances…’ Wanda remarks. ’Only if tuberculosis is mysterious’ Agatha replies, before asking Wanda to kindly curb her imagination and follow her.
Bats fly past the pair as Wanda asks who runs this place now, who keeps it open to the public, to which Agatha replies that she actually hasn’t the faintest idea. Arriving a stairway which leads down, Agatha exclaims that it is down here, before pointing out how dark it is. ’A little hex can solve that!’ exclaims Wanda as she uses her powers like a small flame, asking what they are looking for. Agatha replies that a number of potentially helpful books are rumoured to reside here - the Book of Eibon, the Celeano Fragment, the Pnakotic Manuscripts, the Vermis Mysteriis….
Agatha explains to Wanda that, what would be particularly useful to them is Karkoth’s Ensorcielammia or the infamous Necronomicon. The Scarlet Witch replies that she thought abominations like that had long since been destroyed, to which Agatha replies ‘Abominations like that may be your only hope, Wanda’. ‘How reassuring’ Wanda mutters, rounding a corner, she asks Agatha to check down the other direction, while she searches these shelves, adding that the books seem to be in no particular order. The Scarlet Witch exclaims that this may take hours as there are hundreds of thousands of volumes here, when suddenly, she sees a hooded figure up ahead.
‘Hello? Hello? I’m trying to…hello?’ Wanda exclaims when she gets no response. Wanda approaches the mysterious figure, apologizing if she has disturbed the, a horrid voice suddenly replies ‘You have not. I have been awaiting your arrival, Scarlet Witch’. Suddenly, the hooded figure reveals himself - ‘Master Pandemonium bids you welcome!’ the uber-villain exclaims, while a shocked Wanda cries ‘Nooooo!’….


[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
The Clutch of MADNESS!
In the crypt of the old church in Unity, New England, Wanda Maximoff a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch has come in search of the secrets of her past. She has found instead, a future full of phantoms and diabolical evil…a future that, it seems, will be all too brief! The air around her is full of swirling demon forms, the shriek of their soulless wails, the reek of their fetid maws…an infernal maelstrom invoked by a creature who is lord of such tumult - Master Pandemonium!
‘My Wanda! My witch! My love!’ the horrid uber-villain bellows with his nasty voice, ‘I have come back for you! I have come back from the brink of Hell!’ Shocked, Wanda asks how this can be, and noting his new appearance, asks how he could have changed so much, ‘I saw you die!’ she cries. The frightening Master Pandemonium replies that death is but one of the agonies Mephisto made him endure. ‘His torments scarred me soul as deeply as they twisted my body’. Master Pandemonium, whose real name is Martin Preston, snarls that the one thing which kept him sane and guided him back to Wanda was their bond of love - a bond they share through Wanda’s children!
‘My children? My CHILDREN!’ screams the Scarlet Witch as Master Pandemonium places a hand on her face. ‘How dare you? How dare you speak of them!’ Wanda shrieks, escaping her deadly foes grasp as she exclaims that her children were creations of Mephisto’s trickery, but the pain of losing them shall haunt her forever. Wanda assures Master Pandemonium that she will never forgive him for his part in that deceit. ‘You run from me? But I love you!’ Master Pandemonium exclaims, before ordering his demons to retrieve the Scarlet Witch, boasting that she will belong to him body and soul.
Meanwhile, night time at the Avengers West Compound in Palos Verdes, California - where something wicked comes this way - in the form of a mysterious woman, hovering over the Compound. In the kitchen, reserve member of the Avengers West, Miguel Santos a.k.a. the Living Lightning is watching is watching sport on the TV, though he is about to see his favorite team’s fortunes take a tumble. ‘Madre de dios!’ Miguel exclaims, knocking over a glass of water. Miguel tells himself that he is as clumsy as the Ream’s receiver, and opens a cupboard, looking for a mop - only to be shut inside, as the mysterious woman locks him in there. ‘One!’ she cries.
Back in Unity, Wanda calls out to her mentor Agatha Harkness, but getting no response, Wanda wonders what has happened, before deciding that she must escape this nightmare. Rushing through rows and rows of shelving, all lined with ancient books, Wanda exclaims that this place is a labyrinth, but that she is sure this was the way in. Wanda wonders how Pandemonium can be here, ‘The one nightmare from my past I thought I’d escaped! It’s so…overwhelming!’ Wanda thinks to herself, before suddenly a horde of demons push past some books, toppling them on Wanda and reaching out for her. Wanda boasts that although they have found her, taking her will be a different matter, and she casts her hex power at them, distorting probabilities, ectoplasm evaporates in a scorching flare of arcane smoke.
“Wise men say, only fools rush in…but I cant help falling in love -”  Julia Carpenter sings as she takes a shower at the West Coast Compound. ‘Mmmmm! Just what the doctor ordered! A nice hot shower!’ However, Spider-Woman is unaware that the mysterious woman who attacked Living Lightning is outside, ‘Two!’ she exclaims, watching Spider-Woman, who suddenly hears a noise beneath her. Looking down, Julia sees a spider in the drain, and reaches down for it, ‘Come on little fellow! Spider-Woman isn’t afraid of an insy-winsy -’ she doesn’t get to finish her sentence, as she screams when giant spider-like legs clamp around her in a flash of green light….
Back in Unity, Wanda continues to defend herself against her demonic foes, but they come from all around, faster than she can react. An endless swarm of demon forms, extruding from Pandemonium’s physical shape, all the while his body wastes as he unleashes ectoplasmic matter at the struggling Avenger. ‘The Witch is mine!’ Master Pandemonium shouts as he stands over the Scarlet Witch, who struggles no more, covered in the horrid demons.
Back at the Compound, the handsome Johnny Walker a.k.a. the USAgent is getting ready to have a bath, and checks the temperature. Deciding that the water is fine, Johnny smiles and taps his chin, exclaiming that he best “DX” the non-regulation stubble first. Wiping away the condensation on the mirror, Johnny seems some creatures behind him, so swiftly turns around to defend himself from the - but there is nothing there. Johnny swears that he saw something there though, when suddenly, a creature growls and lunges him, wrapping its hands around his face, while a female voice cries ‘Three!’.
Nearby in the Compound, James “Rhodey” Rhodes a.k.a. War Machine hears a crash and calls out to the USAgent, asking him if he is okay. Suddenly, a scratching noise is heard and the mysterious woman appears, ‘James? James!’ she exclaims. Rhodey looks around, ‘Who’s that? Wanda, is that you?’ he asks as the woman appears at the top of the staircase. ‘Almost…but no!’ the woman replies as she blasts War Machine with a powerful beam of energy, before declaring ‘Four!’.
Back in Unity, Master Pandemonium pulls Wanda up out of the demons, and the Scarlet Witch screams that he can send all his demon spawn after her if he must, but that he will never take her, ‘You unspeakable monster!’ Holding her by the throat, Master Pandemonium replies ‘But, my love…I have you already!’. Consciousness begins to fade, and Wanda’s hex powers lash out instinctively, shortening the odds against the great book stack suddenly toppling from a million to one - to a final certainty! ‘Come with me my love, don’t fight me anymore!’ Master Pandemonium exclaims, before the bookcase smacks him in the back, causing him to let go of the Scarlet Witch.
‘Rest easy, Pandemonium, and stay there!’ Wanda exclaims, before one of the demons breaks free, and Pandemonium boasts that he cannot be defeated with brute force. ‘So it seems’ Wanda remarks, before covering the demon with her cloak and remarking that the fallen bookcase has revealed a hidden passageway, and proceeds to take her leave, busting through the passage way, she arrives at the top of a rickety set of old stairs. ‘Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea!’ Wanda exclaims as the stairs give way and she plummets downwards into the darkness.
‘Ouch! Landed hard!’ Wanda exclaims, clutching her head, she hexes up some light to find out where she is. Probabilities shuffle and the impossibility of the air around her hand igniting into a cold flame becomes a possibility. The flickering pink light reveals a great, massive dark vault, hewn from the rock beneath the town of Unity. Cyclopean pillars the size of Douglas Fir Trees support the distant roof, and the floor is littered with the evidence of a past that is as terrifyingly remote as it is utterly alien - the remains of bodies from throughout the times lay scattered, while the air is cold and heavy with the dust of centuries.
However, the Scarlet Witch feels a chill that runs yet deeper. She edges forward in the frozen quiet, past the calcified remains of things that - impossibly - must have once lived in the place. Dust sifts as Wanda moves, while she tells herself that this is extraordinary, and no doubt this catacomb is an archaeologists dream, as nothing has been touched down here for what must be centuries.
Wanda arrives at some kind of gateway and wonders where it leads to, when suddenly, a huge stone-like creature lunges out at her, but as she passes through the gateway, it falls to the ground, motionless. Wanda realizes that her movement must have disturbed the creature’s remains, and tells herself to get a grip. She then supposes that the crypt must be special, as the creature seemed to be guarding it. Wanda casts a small hex at a candle, which proceeds to light up dozens of candles all throughout the chamber. A grotesque lectern that seems to have grown up out of the rock floor from ages past holds a very large book, and Wanda wonders if it is the one that she and Agatha came here to find.
The Scarlet Witch begins flicking through the pages, reading, understanding instantly a script that no human eye has ever read before. Here, it is recorded: the simply mysteries of the nexus beings. Wanda’s hands shake as she becomes aware of her own nature. One alone exists on each of the Multiverse parallel worlds, one being that is the node of each world’s mystic energy. They are as close as sisters, but no two are identical. Each has a power unique to herself: geomancy, sorcery, psychometry, hex power - and no two may exist in one dimension simultaneously. Wanda reads on, perceiving a threat hidden in the meaning of the words - hints of a dark predatory extreme in the nexus variations that finds its prey by madness and deceit!
And the name for that evil…is Lore! Suddenly, the candles blow out, Wanda supposes it was a draft, before looking around her for a way out of this mausoleum. Eventually, she finds a large window with bars on it which she can slip through, greeted by darkness and a snow covered ground. Wanda remarks that she didn’t realize she was trapped in there for so long, ‘I have to find Agatha!’ Wanda exclaims, while a phantom night swaddles the church of Unity, and Winter fog enshrouds the village below. The Scarlet Witch would rather be anywhere but here right now.
Trudging down a steep snow-covered slope, Wanda sees a light in a cottage, and hopes that they have got as phone. She runs over to the cottage once on even ground, hoping that she will now be able to get out of this miserable hole before she freezes to death - or worse. The Scarlet Witch begins banging on the cottage door, ‘Hello? Hello? Is there anyone in there?’ she calls out. Getting no answer, Wanda goes over to a window and peers inside - where she sees who she believes to be the gypsy who raised her reading to Pietro and herself. ‘Hush no, my dears, or I wont finish the story! “Well, then the spider-lady said to the captive princess ‘by web or by line, I’ll make thee mine’…”’ .
Suddenly, a hand grabs Wanda’s shoulder, and Wanda turns, her blood frozen in her veins, her stomach turns in revulsion. Abominable though the monster standing before her is, Wanda knows that it is her friend and teammate, Spider-Woman, transformed into a large spider creature. ‘By web or be line, Wanda. By web or by line…’ Julia growls, her voice distorted as she stands over the Scarlet Witch, ‘Wanda? Help me...It hurts to be this shape!’ Julia pleads, blood dripping from her eyes. ‘Help me please, take my hands…’ Julia cries. Wanda reaches out for her dear friends hands, crying, the Scarlet Witch pulls away and screams ‘Nooo!’ for she knows this is a trick. ‘You’re mine, Witch!’ Spider-Woman growls, while Wanda tells her to get away, as she is not real.
‘Madness! Permeating every inch of this foul place! There must be a release…a way out!’ Wanda exclaims as she rushes in the direction of a large fire at a gypsy camp, which she notices is being ransacked by - more of her teammates! The transformed USAgent, War Machine and Living Lightning. The transformed USAgent strikes out at some civilians, while the Living Lightning darts around in the air, and War Machine holds up two children, ‘Fee fie foe fum…I smell the blood of two little ones!’ he shouts, while Master Pandemonium watches with glee, literally sitting on the flames surrounding everyone.
However, the Scarlet Witch refuses to accept them, just as she refuses to see the twins dangling from War Machine’s hand. Her mind reels. ‘This is all wrong!’ she screams. Master Pandemonium tells Wanda that her friends are pleased to see her, as is he. ‘And behold! Our beloved children!’ Master Pandemonium cries, motioning towards the children War Machine is holding, before taking them and shoving them into his flesh. ‘They are one with us again!’ he shouts, while one of the children calls out to Wanda, ‘Mommmeeee!’ he cries, before he is completely submerged inside Master Pandemonium.
Wanda begins running away, while Pandemonium chases her, ‘Come back, my love!’ he cries. ‘NEVER!’ Wanda screams back, when suddenly, she comes to the end of the road - literally, as Unity now appears as a floating rock, high above an endless ocean. ‘Oh no!’ Wanda gasps. ‘Noooo!’ she screams, as the cliff edge yawns away into the impossible, reality and hope of escaping falling away with it. Wanda turns, only to face the nightmares at her heels - her transformed teammates, and Master Pandemonium who exclaims ‘We have her now, my avenging spawn…the Witch is mine!’.


[User]
<image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image><image>
Provide a full summary of the comic book.

[Assistant]
Scarlet in Battle!
On the impossible edge of nowhere, teetering on the brink between madness and reality, friendless and alone…one woman feels her body sing with the power and rage that flows through it…and turns to fight. Her name is Wanda Maximoff - the Scarlet Witch! She is the mistress of probability altering hex power. She is a nexus being. But most importantly, she is an Avenger. Team leader of the Avengers West Coast, to be precise. Fury rages within her, and the mighty mutant cries ‘If you want me so much demon-spawn…come and get me!’, and with that, attacks her teammates, her friends, transformed into evil demonic facsimiles of themselves.
Seeking the answers to the mysteries that dog her past, the Scarlet Witch has come to Unity, a New England ghost town, only to find a demonic trap sent around her. He deadly foe, Master Pandemonium, long thought destroyed, has sprung the trap, conjuring foul perversions of Wanda’s teammates to beguile and capture her. But as Wanda lashes out at the transformed Johnny Walker a.k.a. USAgent, Master Pandemonium has underestimated Wanda’s inner strength. A strength that has driven her back from insane despair, and into the fray!
The Scarlet Witch detects the approach of James “War Machine” Rhodes behind her, and uses her physical combat training skills to toss him over into the path of reserve Avenger Miguel Santos a.k.a. the Living Lightning, electrifying him. Master Pandemonium screeches ‘No! No! Get her! She must be mine!’, as Julia “Spider-Woman” Carpenter, transformed into a large arachnid, reaches down to grab Wanda, but Wanda dodges her dear friend, running underneath her transformed form, ‘I’ve always admired your long legs, Julia - but these are ridiculous…all of them!’ Wanda exclaims, before Julia suddenly trips over, as Wanda points out, it’s easy to do that when you have so many feet.
‘Get her!’ screams Master Pandemonium. The transformed USAgent has regained his footing after being smacked over by Wanda and snarls ‘This way, pretty lady’, while holding a rather large weapon in his hand, he proceeds to swing his blade down towards Wanda, but she evades him, using a trick Walker himself taught her. However Agent’s sword still strikes - the ground though, so hard, that he shatters the small floating rock and is nearly cast into the nether himself beneath the space-lost island that was once Unity. ‘NOOOOO!’ he howls into the wind of eternity.
Wanda turns and sees the others behind her still. She knows she has no time to run, so casts another hex, fracturing and splitting probabilities as she unleashes her power, explosively germinating several oak seedlings in the soil beneath her attackers feet, and five hundred years of solid growth erupts in a millisecond. The result is…violent, as the tree spreads, and knocks the transformed heroes, then Master Pandemonium, to the ground. The uber-villain gets to his feet, ‘Get her! Get the Witch! Hound her out, my avenging spawn!’ he cries as Wanda takes her leave, rushing as fast as she can, with her transformed friends hot on her heels, ‘The Witch is mine!’ they shout.
Meanwhile, at the Avengers West Compound in Palos Verdes, California. ‘What’s this?’ the powerful sorceress Agatha Harkness asks as she picks up War Machine’s helmet, lying abandoned at the bottom of a staircase. Agatha realizes it is War Machine’s helmet and notes that it is alive with psychometric traces. Agatha remains emotionless as she declares that she came as soon as Wanda called, but that she fears she is too late, as the whole Compound is silent and empty.
Agatha wonders what fate has befallen the Avengers, and spins magic around the Compound lobby, focusing on the headgear of War Machine, armor Rhodey would choose never to be about. The room reeks of sorcery, and Agatha cries ‘Speak, metal mast. Where is Wanda Maximoff? Where are her friends? Where are you?’ ‘UNITY!’ the mask replies, and barely a moment later, an urgent lance of eldritch energy darts from the Compound, carrying Agatha Harkness in magical streaks.
Back in Unity, there is only silence on snow, until Wanda’s feet crunch through the icy drifts. Moving through the heavy, sleeping trees, sprinting like a steeplechaser, away from the taints of Pandemonium’s insanity, on towards the village. Suddenly, what appears to be a skeleton rises from the snow as Wanda runs past it, ‘I see you…I see you, Wanda!’ the skeleton cries, ‘The Witch is mine!’. But Wanda continues to run, telling the demon that its rantings are falling on deaf ears, while telling herself that she must find a way out of this nightmare.
Suddenly, Wanda keels over as the forest around her begins to explode, and suddenly War Machine swoops down overhead, ‘Found you, Witch!’ he exclaims, while Wanda shields herself from the splintering trees. Wanda decides that she will have to hex her way out of this one, and once again the probable slides sideways, making absolute the change of all the splintered trees missing her - War Machine is not as fortunate however.
The Scarlet Witch sees the other three coming for her, and casts another hex in their direction, this time affecting the roots of the trees, which rise from the ground, catching USAgent and Spider-Woman, causing them to stumble to the ground. The Living Lightning however continues to flicker in the sky, ‘Burn the Witch! Burn the Witch!’ he chants while blasting lightning rods all over the place. Wanda dodges the blasts and turns to face her opponent, ‘You’d be dangerous’ she tells him, ‘If you weren’t safely earthed!’ and with that, traps his form in the ground by means of yet another hex.
Unity rises to embrace Wanda as she approaches the village again, hoping that this time she can find a way of raising help, either from the Avengers in New York, or from her brother and X-Factor. But this is dark and dead Unity, as she enters a cabin, she sees a decayed body slumped on a table, and exclaims that the entire place is moldering and decayed. Wanda begins to think that she doesn’t have a chance, before turning around as she sees War Machine return, cutting loose with his repulsors.
The Scarlet Witch dodges the attack, she knows that her teammates, transformed, want her dead, and fears that sooner or later one of those random blasts is going to get her. Wanda continues to run, realizing that the town is being torn apart behind her, she decides that she is trapped, finished, when suddenly, she smacks into the solid form of Simon “Wonder Man” Williams. ‘Simon! Oh, you’re a wonderful sight! How did you get here?’ Wanda asks, wrapping her arms around her dear friend.
Simon tells Wanda to take it easy, and asks what is going on. Wanda explains that some foul creature pretending to be Master Pandemonium lured her here, adding that if it is the real Pandemonium, then something has twisted and corrupted him in unspeakable ways. Wanda adds that what is worse, Julia and the others have been transformed into monstrosities to hunt her down. ‘We have to help them!’ she exclaims, but Wonder Man tells her that they must get out of here, as they don’t stand a chance against the combined might of their teammates.
Simon informs Wanda that he has a Quinjet parked to the East of the church, so once they get clear, they can call the Avengers East coast and return here in force to settle this. Wanda takes Simon by the hand, telling him that it sounds like a fine plan and exclaiming that they have to get to that Quinjet. Rushing along the snow covered ground, Wanda exclaims that all the jogging they did has sure paid off, as she would never have kept ahead of their friends if Simon hadn’t kept her fit.
‘Jogging?’ Simon asks, trailing behind Wanda, his form shifts, becoming old and wrinkled. ‘Around the Compound every morning, right after weights! You remember!’ Wanda exclaims. As skin and flesh begins to fall from his face, Wonder Man grins and replies ‘Of course I do…’ Suddenly, Wanda detects something wrong, she turns, ‘Simon?’ she asks, before letting loose a howling scream as she sees her friend’s decayed form, drool dribbling from his mouth, she turns and sees the other transformed Avengers approach her, declaring that this isn’t Simon.
Indeed, as Master Pandemonium reveals himself, transforming from Wonder Man’s form into his own, telling Wanda that she has run in circles around this haunted town, but that every weary step she takes has led her back to him! The transformed USAgent smacks Wanda over, and she falls into the soft snow, with her teammates hovering around her grinning, the whiteness suddenly turns to black.
Soon, ‘Awake, my love!’ Master Pandemonium shouts as he touches Wanda’s forehead. Wanda opens her eyes ‘Where am I? What have you done to me, Pandemonium?’ she asks, finding herself bound to some kind of demonic stake, her neck also chained. Fire surrounds them, while the transformed Avengers West Coast members reside nearby. Master Pandemonium informs Wanda that he has brought her back to the catacomb beneath the church and assures her that she is safe - and quite helpless too. Pandemonium explains that the enchanted metal gibbet that confines her also neutralizes her hex power as completely as it does her physical strength.
Wanda asks Master Pandemonium why he is doing this, ‘If that’s who you truly are’ she adds. ‘I am!’ replies Master Pandemonium, remarking that indeed his form has been cruelly changed since they were last together. Pandemonium declares that, Mephisto, the Lord of Lies, cheated both he and Wanda by making him an agent of Mephisto’s own vile ambitions and by revealing that Wanda’s dear, dear children, were just phantom-spun aspects of his own soul. ‘I never wanted to hurt you, Wanda’ Pandemonium claims.
(Shown with illustrative flashback images)Pandemonium informs Wanda that when she and her team last defeated him, he was torn back into Mephisto’s wretched domain, as Mephisto’s plan was in tatters, he was all too eager to make Pandemonium pay for his own failure. Master Pandemonium tells Wanda that the torments Mephisto unleashed upon him were agonizing. ‘I suffered, Wanda…suffered at the hands of the very demon forms I had once contained and commanded. Their grisly art warped me into the hideous freak that stands before you today!’.
Pandemonium tells Wanda that, all the while, the memory of her sustained his will to survive, explaining that, abruptly, he was free. Free to return to Earth, and to see her out once more. He reveals that he fled Mephisto’s realm and hurried to be at Wanda’s side. ‘Now your spirit is broken and you will be mine, just as it was foretold!’.
(Present)‘Foretold!?’ exclaims Wanda, telling Pandemonium that he makes no sense. ‘You’ve left sanity way behind you. I’d rather die than submit to your twisted will!’ Wanda exclaims. ‘WHAT? You reject me, even now!’ Master Pandemonium shouts, furious. He exclaims that this is not as he was told it would be, and warns Wanda that she shall suffer as he has suffered. ‘You will plead for release! You will be mine -’ he exclaims, when suddenly, ‘What? The candle flames flicker as if in a breeze!’ Master Pandemonium exclaims as he turns to a group of candles.
Pandemonium wonders how that can happen, as he has sealed this place in, when suddenly, ‘And I have unsealed it, demon!’ Agatha Harkness announces as she appears in a flash of magical energy. Agatha warns Master Pandemonium to release Wanda, or else she will incinerate him in the flames of Hell. Pandemonium ignores Agatha, calling her an old crone, he remarks that she may be commendable, but that she is weak and outnumbered. Motioning to the transformed Avengers, Pandemonium calls them his brood and warns Agatha that they will tear her limb from aged limb.Agatha vanishes as the transformed heroes attack her, in fact, she merely “relocated” herself, close to Wanda, she breaks the shackles binding the Scarlet Witch, releasing her protégé. Wanda assures Agatha that she will thank her properly later, but that right now, she is far too angry to be polite! With that, Wanda weaves her hex power with sorcery, lancing them together, she fires beams of power, firstly at Spider-Woman, effectively trapping her in her own web.
Agatha notices the transformed War Machine lumber up behind her, ‘You poor fool’ she remarks before asking him is his lumbering armored bulk can escape the pull of a magnetized section of the cavern wall. Clearly, he cannot, as instantly, War Machine becomes stuck to the cavern wall. Agatha turns her attention to the hovering Living Lightning and conjures a water spout from the cavern’s natural streams to cool his anger, which works. Wanda faces off against the transformed USAgent, and uses the physical combat skills he taught her to uppercut him, hard, causing him to slam to the ground.
The two powerful witches then turn their attention to Master Pandemonium and Wanda tells Agatha to hit him with everything they have. The powerful blast of two times the magic slam Master Pandemonium forty feet across the cavern, and imprison him within the writing gibbet that held Wanda just moments ago. ‘No…no! This is wrong!’ Pandemonium cries. ‘This is not how it should be! This is not how the lady said it would be!’ Pandemonium screams.
‘What lady?’ Wanda asks, before turning to Agatha and asking her what Pandemonium is raving about. ‘What does he mean?’ she exclaims, before realizing that Agatha’s attention is turned elsewhere. Agatha replies that Master Pandemonium may have simply been an overture to the evil afoot here tonight. ‘Oh!’ Wanda exclaims, as she and Agatha stare at a third woman, materializing in the crypt in a blinding burst of light, the newcomer exclaims ‘Wanda, Scarlet Witch of Earth. I have come. It is time!’ the stranger declares that the process is complete, that she has reached into the heart of Wanda’s world, and into the heart of Wanda herself. ‘Now see my heart and know its truth. Submit to my truth, Wanda. Submit to the inevitable. Give up your heart to your successor…I am Lore. And you…you are mine!’….