capitalh | [semi-open] dr fearmonger has REALLY BIG GOGGLES, by the way.

Entry tags:

[semi-open] dr fearmonger has REALLY BIG GOGGLES, by the way.

Who: Wanda and any Trailblazer (or anyone who works at the Trailblazer campus)
Where: West Coast Trailblazers, Main Building
When: Monday, April 7th
What: The Scarlet Witch comes by Trailblazers to give a guest talk about what it's like to be on Alpha Force! and also to talk to the trailblazers about their feelings.
Warnings: possibly feelings? idk.

And that's how we captured Dr. Fearmonger and arrested over a hundred of his TRIDENT soldiers. The LAPD had to call in police from surrounding counties to handle the influx of prisoners. Thank you all for listening, and as usual I will be here for another few hours if you would like to talk one on one or train with me. Stay safe out there."

Wanda steps back from the little lecture area. She's insisted on a small, informal room, just several rows of chairs in a semicircle, no podium or stage. The whiteboard is littered with attack formation diagrams and other tactical drawings, only about a third of which make any semblance of sense without context. As a former Trailblazer herself, Wanda has always loved coming back to give guest lectures and training. Over the years she's had her favorites, the young heroes she's forged special bonds with and taken under her wing, but she truly does care for all the teens in the program.

It's been a few months since the last time she's visited. Wanda tries to come at least once a month, but things with Alpha Force have been strained since the disappearances of Druid, Fissure, and Zoom, and for the past two-ish months Wanda has been in France and Germany helping deal with the aftermath of a radioactive waste leak at a pharmaceutical plant that created some superpowered wildlife. And now there are some new Trailblazers Wanda doesn't know the names of, and that's simply unacceptable. So she tucks herself away in a corner with a book in her hand (not actually reading it), looking as approachable and un-intimidating as she possibly can. One thing she's learned over the years: you have to wait for them to come to you. Teenagers are more like wild animals than anything else. If you want to make friends you have to sit still long enough to blend into their natural environment, and not make any sudden movements.

[if your character has been a trailblazer for more than four or five months feel free to have them have met Wanda, just let me know so I can have her remember their name. or not, these lectures aren't mandatory, so it's totally cool if they just never ran into each other before.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Scarlet Witch."

Legion has mastered the art of organic greetings, okay. (At least they've learned to modulate their volume.)

The platform approaches them quietly about half an hour after the lecture, having taken the time to observe human adolescents in something vaguely approaching a natural habitat. Thankfully, their presence doesn't seem to disturb the Trailblazers excessively.

"You coordinate with adolescent superheroes often?"

"Legion."

Getting new team members is always exciting, especially new members as exotic as Legion. It's not all that often Wanda gets to hang out with robots from space.

"I try." She sighs, standing up so she's closer to Legion's eye (?) level. "I try to come about every month, but I've been away dealing with this radioactive waste spill, and before that I was just busy, and I'm afraid it's been a few months. My brother and I were Trailblazers-- I'm sure you knew that, you probably googled us."

"We use a custom search engine," they state, turning to scan the crowd and folding their hands behind their back. "We were initially surprised to learn that Trailblazers were permitted to operate; adolescent emotional instability was deemed excessive."

Edited 2014-06-16 02:03 (UTC)

"They're more competent than most people assume. Some of these kids come from rough backgrounds, but they're very motivated. They have a lot of heart. I don't really come to give the lectures or train with them, I like to spend time here and talk to all of them, see how they're all doing. It can be a hard life, doing what we do. I'm sure you understand."

She's not sure Legion understands at all, but it's good to give people (because Wanda firmly believes that robots from space are people too) the benefit of the doubt.

The consensus hesitates. "We are aware," they say slowly. "But geth have had few opportunities to study psychological stressors. To suggest we understand is...inaccurate."

"Well." Wanda's tone is dry. "Being on Alpha Force should give you plenty of data points on psychological stressors."

And then to clarify, because she's pretty sure Legion will take that literally: "That was sort of a joke, I understand that you probably need more than four other people present to get a large enough sample size."

Their vanes flare. "Your clarification is appreciated."

Legion twists back to face Wanda. "You stated that you like to 'see how they're all doing'. How are they all doing?"

Wanda laughs at that, but stops quickly. She doesn't want Legion to think she's making fun of them. "Well, "see" is really more of a figure of speech there. I do need to actually speak to them to know how they are. But based solely on the visual assessment they all look healthy, so that's certainly a start."

Legion is certainly a breed all their own, that's for sure. There's something about them that makes Wanda want to really figure them out.

"Yet you referred to their psychological status," the consensus notes. "Have you made any assessments yet?"

"Well." Wanda goes through her mental checklist. "The new trainee, Gale, is a bit of an odd one, but she's sweet. I hope she can make some friends here, for some kids it's the hardest part of the program. I gave her my number in case she needs help. Longclaw is as well as he ever is, I think, though it's hard to tell with that one. Nomad is new too, and I'm interested in her. She's from New York, she used to work with Captain Victory and she's a friend of Clint. Karkat is doing better, I think."

Wanda is very invested in these children.

"Implying past trauma on trainee hero Karkat Vantas," the consensus notes. "Is this related to his friend Sollux Captor?" They'd picked up on the report that he'd disappeared recently.

Claire has looked up to the Scarlet witch for... pretty much her whole life. (It didn't hurt, as she got older, that Wanda wore so much red - even though Claire would talk her ear off about how her powers were probably blue band rather than red band.) She was a Trailblazer, she and Quicksilver were the youngest Alpha Force members ever when they graduated to the adult team, and she's generally just elegant and awesome.

Which is why Claire stands on the other side of the room after Wanda finishes her talk and starts reading, just... watching her for a few minutes. It takes ten for her to get herself in a chair vaguely near Wanda.

"I just joined," she blurts abruptly. "My name is Claire and my hero name is Gale and I'm aerokinetic and I had a Scarlet Witch backpack when I was little."

Wanda has been watching the girl in red out of the corner of her eye since the end of her talk, occasionally turning the pages of her book and appearing generally disinterested in her as she slowly gets closer. Teenagers. Wildlife. When Claire starts talking Wanda closes her book with a finger in it and turns to smile at her.

"It's lovely to meet you, Gale. I like your style. Red is my favorite color too."

Wanda just wants to scoop her up and take her home.

Claire grins a little and ducks her head, wobbling a hand back and forth rapidly. It's noticeable but not quite as obvious as proper flapping, and she's so excited right now that she just has too.

"Elemental Manipulation is red-band. In the book series I love, it's about superheroes, but they categorize people by their powers into colors. I'm red band. From everything I know about your powers, I think that you would be blue-band, reality manipulation, but I'm not positive. In the books a lot of people wear clothes based on their band color, so I like wearing red because that's my band color and I already said that, sorry, I'm infodumping." Claire cuts herself off with a sheepish half-grimace. "I try not to do that with people I don't know well. It's nice to meet you."

She's obviously very excited, which is something Wanda is pretty used to. Some heroes she knows get annoyed at people freaking out over meeting them, but Wanda has always found it sweet.

"Don't worry, you're fine." Wanda gives Claire her very best encouraging smile. "So really I'm wearing the wrong color, I should be the Turquoise Witch or something?" She chuckles at the idea: lots of heroes, especially heroes who start as teenagers, go through several name changes as they grow into themselves or go through some significant life event. But Wanda has been the Scarlet Witch ever since she put on her first pair of tights, and she can't imagine calling herself anything else, or fighting crime in another color.

"Do you have a favorite character in the book? Are there any aerokinetics?"

Claire giggles and shakes her head. "That would look weird. You've always worn red."

Oh oh oh she's asking questions! AAAAAAAAH Okay breathe, Claire, and try not to infodump too hard. She can do this.

"There's a girl who has control of oxygen, but she hasn't been a main character yet. I think she's going to be more important in the next book, though. But my favorite is probably Alim? He's not very good with people, kind of in a different way than me but it's nice that there's somebody who is and nobody's trying to change him, just learn how to connect with him."

Wanda tilts her head to the side a bit, listening. She's not even just pretending to be interested, these books actually sound fun.

"Oxygen control is a very interesting power. Especially if one happens to carry around a lighter, or team up with a pyrokinetic." She pauses, weighing her chances of making Claire uncomfortable against having a good conversation about a Trailblazer's emotional wellbeing. "You say you aren't very good with people? In what way?"

Claire pulls one knee up to her chest, tapping her fingers against the toe of her shoe. She tilts her head a little, focusing on Wanda's hands on her book.

"I don't understand people a lot of times. I don't know what they expect from me unless they tell me, and sometimes people say things they don't actually mean and I don't always know how to tell the difference. I don't understand why they do things like ask how you're doing if they don't actually want to hear the answer." She shrugs one shoulder. "My mom always said my way made more sense, but most people don't work like me."

"Mmm." Wanda's not totally sure what to make of everything Claire is telling her, but she listens politely, nodding occasionally. "I think your way makes more sense too. One of the good things about being a superhero is that people will make it quite clear what they expect of you - at least on the business side of things. I can't make any promises about the social side."

She sits back a little, uncrossing and recrossing her legs the other way. "When I first came to America I had no idea how to act around other people my age. My brother and I grew up in a very small village and we mostly kept to ourselves, so being Trailblazers was the first time we were really around other teenagers. I had the hardest time figuring out the social rules, and my English was very formal so I would sometimes get made fun of for that. It was easier for Quicksilver, he was just rude to mostly everybody and he picked up the slang much faster than I did." Wanda gives Claire a small smile, taking the cue and looking at her mouth instead of her eyes. "I know it's not the same. But I remember what it's like to be your age and to have a hard time making friends. If anyone ever gives you any trouble or you just feel lonely and need somebody to talk to you can always come to me."

Out of a hidden (possibly extra-dimensional) pocket Wanda pulls a business card. It's not the professional one she gives out to the press, but her personal card:

THE SCARLET WITCH
SCARLETWITCH@ALPHAFORCE.ORG
(301) 555-0185

"Really. Any time."

Claire hadn't known those things about her, and that makes her even a little more happy to get to meet her. Claire isn't the first awkward socializer.

"School was hard, and kids made fun of me and teachers didn't want to give me the things I needed to learn, when I was little," Claire says, taking the card and examining it closely. "Mom homeschooled me, and we traveled a lot, so I haven't really had to make friends except online. It's easier online, because everybody has to be really clear what they're saying since there's no body language or anything."

She bites her lip a little and smiles up at Wanda, almost-not-quite meeting her eyes. "Thank you. That's very nice of you."

Wanda will probably get an email rundown of her day tomorrow. And the day after. Sorry, Wanda, you opened yourself up to this....

And Wanda will send thoughtful one-paragraph responses to all the emails, and ask Claire questions about her life and her interests and how she's doing. No regrets at all.

"I've found it's a little easier to make friends as an adult, when everyone has stopped trying to impress everyone else quite as much. People are a little more honest, and that helps. And when you're old like me you don't have to be nice to anyone who treats you badly. Even if they're older than you are."

Although now that she thinks of it, Wanda doesn't really have any friends that aren't teammates or Enclave members or other superheroes she teams up with pretty regularly. It's easy to wave that away as part of the difficulty of having a secret identity, but maybe she's still just not very good at making friends. Still, she has a few close ones, and that's what's really important to Wanda.

"Really, please do call at any time. Even if it's the middle of the night, I'm often up at odd hours. Girls in red need to look out for each other, right?"

'Girls in red', she says, making her and Claire part of a small, special group, and Claire grins widely at her, starting to rock back and forth on her heels again.

"Yes," she says, nodding. "I'm glad you came to talk to us."

"I'm glad too!" Wanda grins back.

"It was lovely to meet you, Claire. I'm sure I'll see you again soon. And you'll email me, yes?"

"Yes," Claire affirms, nodding sharply. She hesitates a moment, like she's not sure if she should say anything else, then adds, "Goodbye."

Then she turns and gathers her things and walks out.

Well. At least she said goodbye first?

Rikki's always been fairly at ease with adult heroes, even ones she hasn't met before. She's heard Clint say nice things about the Scarlet Witch, too, so she's not particularly shy about approaching, clearing her throat as she stops in front of her chair.

"Ms. Maximoff? Hi. I'm kind of new here, so I thought I should... maybe introduce myself..." She smiles a little sheepishly, brushing her bangs out of her face. "I'm Nomad. ...Rikki. I'm friends with Clint."

Wanda closes her book and holds out a hand for shaking.

"It's nice to meet you, Nomad. Any friend of Clint's is a friend of mine."

Especially a friend on secret identity basis with Clint, not that he always played it as close to his chest as Wanda did.

"How long have you been a Trailblazer?"

Rikki's lips twist, smile turning a little wry. She's not the newest kid on the team, and definitely more experienced than a lot of them, but she still feels kind of out of place here.

"A couple months. Still kind of... finding my feet. Before that, I was working on the East Coast... with Captain Victory."

She can even say his name without wincing now. Most of the time.

Wanda winces too, and her expression turns sympathetic. She'd known Captain Victory. Not well, but the hero community was small and they had teamed up a few times in the '00s. Plus he'd been Clint's best friend, and he'd taken Cap's death hard. Wanda had known he had a teenage sidekick, but she hadn't heard she'd come to LA.

"I'm sorry. Most of us get a few more years as a hero before we have to learn what it's like to lose a dear friend."

Wanda is no stranger to loss. Alpha Force has had its share of casualties over the years, and her personal life hasn't exactly been perfect either. But it hurts her heart to see someone so young suffer the death of a mentor like that. She knows what it's like to lose a parental figure.

"The circumstances could be better, but on behalf of Alpha Force welcome to LA, Nomad. We're glad to have you as part of our little superhero family." It might sound fake coming from anyone else, but Wanda is totally sincere. She might not even be able to say something like that and not mean it.

"Yeah," she says softly. Rikki lets out a slow breath, trying to ease some of the tension in her shoulders. She kind of hates getting condolences about it, but... she thinks Wanda might actually mean it, and that makes it not so bad.

"Thanks. I'm glad to be here." Mostly, anyway. She's glad for a change of scenery, and she likes the people here... She still misses home, but nothing's the same back there. At least here, the differences are expected. "So you... You come down here often? To talk to the Trailblazers?"

Wanda just nods. She isn't going to drone on about the untimely death of Captain Victory. Rikki has surely had enough of that to last a lifetime - Clint certainly has, at any rate.

"I try to come once every month or two. It's been much longer than I'd have liked since my last visit, I was called away to help with an international chemical spill crisis in Europe and only got back this week."

Because 'international chemical spill crisis' sounds so much more dignified than 'chasing mutant deer for seven weeks'

"I was a Trailblazer myself, and it's a wonderful program but I know how lonely it can be sometimes. There are counselors here, but sometimes it's not the same as just having a conversation with someone who's been through the same things. And training with the kids really keeps me on my toes, I feel like the new recruits get faster every year."

"That sort of thing always has terrible timing..."

She hesitates for a second, biting her lower lip while she considers what she's saying before she does. Rare for Rikki, meeting a new person - she rambles when she's nervous - but Wanda's a good friend of the heroes she cares most about, and that makes it easy not to be nervous around her.

"Do you train with anyone, or just... with magic and stuff? I'm the only one here without any powers on the team right now, so I... don't get in sparring practice the way I used to.

"It certainly does."

Wanda breaks into a smile when Rikki asks about training. "I train with anyone. You know, I'd be surprised if you can't beat me. Clint's always saying I need to practice my fighting more and not rely only on my magic. And I bet you're one of the fast ones."

Downplay her skills as she might, Wanda is still on Alpha Force, and she does work out every day. She's certainly not bad at sparring, it's just not her forte.

Edited 2014-06-28 02:29 (UTC)

Rikki laughs. She knows Wanda is probably more than competent at hand-to-hand, even if she can rely on her magic most of the time, but she's always curious to test her skills against the adult heroes.

"I try to be. I'll keep you on your toes, at least. And I need someone besides Clint to spar with sometimes - we're way too used to each other's moves."

This technique is absolutely not going to work on Jon, it is absolutely the opposite of how to get him to talk to you, even if he knows you. He does know Wanda; not well, but they've met a couple times before. He tries to catch her eye and smile, but not in a weird way.

Wanda recognizes Jon, she makes it a point to memorize the codenames of all the West Coast Trailblazers, and she remembers that he's a bit... aloof. She puts her book down and stands up, stretching her arms up to the ceiling and straightening her gloves before walking over to him.

"Longclaw. It's good to see you again, how are you doing?"

"It's good to see you too," says Jon. "I'm all right. How are you?"

He stands up and offers her a small smile.

"I'm well." He doesn't really seem open to a hug, so instead Wanda offers him a firm handshake.

"I hear you're doing well, in training and in the field. Your parents should be proud. And to balance academics on top of that? Very impressive."

Jon appreciates the firm handshake but he is totally down for hugs, he really needs hugs, please hug him.

"Thank you," he says, pleased and a little embarrassed.

"I just saw your mother a few months ago when I was up that way, I told her you were doing very well."

Wanda has been friends with Cat for several years now. Superladies gotta stick together.

"How is school?"

Jon is caught a little by surprise when Wanda mentions Cat. He feels so isolated and unknown on the West Coast, he forgets that there is significant crossover between the North American superhero communities. He looks down and smiles a bit wistfully.

"School's all right," he says. "Freshman year is a lot of prereqs, but I like my teachers."

Karkat slouches over with his hands in his pockets, the picture of a sullen teenager except for the fact that he is a gross space bug.

"Hey," he says, frowning a little just by default. His accent is a lot less thick and buzzing than the last time she was here. "Uh – I figured I should tell you you were right about maybe not all of my guys being dead."

Wanda beams at Karkat, apparently extremely pleased to see his gross space bug self.

"Karkat, hello. It's good to see you again. Did you end up finding some of your guys after all?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[semi-open] dr fearmonger has REALLY BIG GOGGLES, by the way.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject