3489/How Do You Solve a Problem Like Magneto

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How Do You Solve a Problem Like Magneto
Date of Scene: 28 December 2017
Location: Triskelion, New York City
Synopsis: Hope and Wanda meet and discover that they have a shared goal: Stopping Magneto. They agree upon a course of action (or so they think). Plans are made. The future awaits.
Cast of Characters: Scarlet Witch, White Phoenix




Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda had been back for several days now and gotten no further to getting to the bottom of what her father was up to. His attack on the President still made no sense. Especially as all she could see was the growing fallout from the matter - a fallout that was leaving mutants at risk and under attack. She couldn't see an endgame in it, and it bothered her. A lot.

She'd managed to find out this much: That SHIELD had him. Where was a guarded secret, but so far it seemed like the man was under lock and key and hadn't managed to escape. Though, in her mind all it said was he hadn't tried yet.

Wanda had few illusions about her father and his abilities. He might not be the most powerful mutant, but he was one of the most wiley men she knew. And when your ability to twist words and minds was as great as his was... things just happened.

Wanda had been standing outside the Triskelion for nearly 45 minutes now, trying to decide what to do. She wasn't without her own skills, but she wasn't sure that was what she needed to do here. More appropriately, she was fairly certain it wasn't what she /should/ do here. And yet? She couldn't make up her mind to leave, or to go in and talk to someone. That nobody had come out to speak to her wasn't mere chance. She didn't want to be bothered. So she wasn't. It wasn't even a conscious decision. It just... was.

A light snow begins to fall.

White Phoenix has posed:
Seeing figures flying around the city wasn't as strange as it had been a few years back. With the Avengers helping protect the planet a few years back, more people with powers were inclined to use them. Particularly the spandex crowd determiend to make a difference in the lives of others. They were no different than police or fire men in their minds yet they were very different in the eyes of the law. Some were sanctioned and permitted. Others were defying the law.

A figure floats down from the sky, landing less than thirty feet from Wanda. The figure doesn't seem to be looking at the woman though. The eyes of the redhead are locked on the Triskelion. Hope is dressed in a pair of jeans with black combat type boots. A pullover shirt is hidden beneath a warm jacket. Her hair is loose and falling around her face down to her shoulders, all haphazard and obviously not trimmed by a professional. For long seconds, she looks at that imposing tower then her head tilts slightly. As though she heard a noise. She glances over her shoulder in the direction of Wanda as she feels the power that she has tapped into by being near the mutant woman. "Hope I'm not in your way," she says simply, since she probably is blocking Wanda's view of the building. She takes a step to the side while turning her body ninety degrees, allowing her to focus on Wanda fully without turning her back on the building not that far away. Far enough they are out of range of the monitors that automatically film everyone but not so far they can't see the comings and goings.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda's attention is a slow drag from the Triskelion to the woman who has joined her. It's a niggle on her mind, but not an insistent one yet. Up to now, everyone has merely walked around or by the young woman without paying her an iota of attention. To be singled out like this, in the middle of that otherwise silence, sticks out. Or, the woman ponders, was it the silence that stuck out?

"You are not.." Wanda begins, when Hope so obviously was standing in her way. "No. That is not so. Perhaps it is just as well. I should not be standing making a fool of myself in the courtyard. I should decide, yes?"

Something of a smile is turned upon Hope. It would be much more sincere if it reached her eyes, but that is not the case. Too much weighs upon the young woman as she stands here for that to be the case. Still, she tries.

White Phoenix has posed:
If it weren't for sharing thar power, Hope wouldn't have known she was there. It was pure happenstance that she landed within range. She walks toward Wanda, the steps of a person who has never tried to attract someone with their appearance. It's movement from one spot to the other. It removes her as a barrier of Wanda's view. "Why are you making a fool of yourself when they can't even see you? Or should I say us now. Since I am protected now, just as you are." She tilts her head as she regards the other woman, not sure what to make of her. She seems...familiar. Then it clicks at Hope's eyes widen ever so slightly.

"You're her. Well one of them. The daughter of the self proclaimed Lord of Genosha." In truth, he was elected by the Genosha mutaants when the previous government was overturned. But that doesns't seem to matter to Hope. "I've read about you, seen video footage." She gives a tight smile. "Trying to find Daddy?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"Since I am protected?" It takes a moment for Wanda to realize the truth of that. her awareness suddenly upon herself and what she has done. A wry little smile playing at her features. "I see. But you.. How is it you..?"

Hope isn't the only one to take notice of the familiarities of the other. A thing she wouldn't have noticed if Hope hadn't made her wonder how it was the she was protected too.

"Ah." Her head shakes. "So many secrets he holds, yes? And you. You are angry." Wanda's greed-eyed gaze flicks back to the Triskelion. "Finding him would not be hard. It is the other I am not certain of. What I will do when I find him." She doesn't try to claim she isn't his. Doesn't even ask who Hope means. Knowing that they both are aware of who, even if Wanda could not say how she knows this of them. Other than the small thing she gleans from the familiarity, and something in the tones and smile of the other, turning to Hope, then. "You are one, too."

White Phoenix has posed:
For long moments, Hope regards Wanda. There are possibilities, things for her to try and weigh in order to know what is the best course. Her plan is in place. She just has to be sure. There is something reflected in Wanda's eyes that she understands, recognizes.

"Yes, I'm a mutant and I'm angry. He has very much compromised situations for all of us. Which I do not completely understand unless it was in the hopes of igniting the war between mutants and humans. How does that help the mutants though? Those without the power are out there unable to save themselves from mobs of humans so scared they strike out." She shakes her head and looks to the building, her voice drifting back over her shoulder.

"He isn't here you know." Then she looks over her shoulder with another of those smiles. "But I know where they are holding him."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
It's all about posssibilities and probabilities now..

"I did not mean one of us." A mutant, obviously. Wanda taking no moves to disguise that. If she'd meant to prevaricate, it would have been when Hope accused her of lookinng for Daddy. "I meant one of us, too. Like myself. Looking for Daddy. But you know where he is."

The statement confirmed by Hope's own words.

"I had not thought he was here. But I was told they had taken him. I have been wondering how to learn where he is. So many ways it could be done."

She smiles now, for Hope, the gesture a true thing. "He is driven by his ego. So many things he could do with what he is, and he chooses paths that are shortsighted and painful. Because he will never feel the pain he gives those who are less fortunate amongst us, it is hard for him to understand what he does. He sees a vision where the world is only what he imagines it can be. If we win this war, in his eyes, it will only benefit us. Yes? But if we lose, it is not he who will feel it. That is where he is shortsighted. So many bugs to be crushed beneath bootheels."

There's a pause, followed by a calm, but firm, "I think something must be done." There's a sense of finality about that statement.

White Phoenix has posed:
That comes as a surprise. Hope turns back again to look more fully at Wanda, calculating, trying to think of how best to proceed. She had not expected his own daughter, an Avenger at that, to feel that something should be done. However, she isn't sure that it's the same thing they are both considering. Best to find out the other woman's motivations before jumping to conclusions.

"Something should be done, yes. I was thinking the same thing. I have it on good authority that he probably will be released. If that happens, the riots will get worse. Unless he is unable to cause more damage." She regards Wanda with those green eyes that are so much older than the youthful face. Her life has been difficult, one filled with strife. It shows in those eyes.

"May I ask what you had in mind?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda considers the myriad of answers one might have to that question. What did she have in mind? She had thought about this some since finding out not only what he had been part of, but since witnessing the fallout once she'd returned to New York.

Like Hope, her own eyes betrayed something of an older spirit. For all sorts of reasons. Though there were times her features carried that same weight. And her words and actions. Times when her past and the things she'd learned since about the world and herself collided and left her feeling like she wasn't truly a part of it all, but merely an aspect. A witness to a continually unfolding story that had played out for eons.

Sometimes Wanda felt those eons.

Like now. Her voice soft, and tired, "I wish to see him stopped. Unable to do this again."

White Phoenix has posed:
Things couldn't have gone better. Hope gives a nod but doesn't smile. That expression wouldn't befit the situation as much as she is feeling the elation to learn she isn't alone. Someone else agrees.

"My abilities allow me to copy the powers of other mutants." To demonstrate, she raises her right hand and there is a red glow around her hand, much like when Wanda is using her powers. Then the glow is gone and Hope lowers her hand back to her side. "I have a standing invitation to visit a certain location with some powerful mutants in residence." She doesn't mention Xavier's by name, not wanting to share information that is kept quiet. She's not sure what Wanda knows or doesn't know about the school and Professor Xavier. "My intention is to load up, so to speak. Get near as many of the mutants there as possible and copy their abilities. Then I intend to walk into the prison where they are holding him. I doubt SHIELD will be agreeable to it. I hope to use stealth but to reach Magneto himself, the way the prison is designed, that will be unlikely. It will come down to force to reach him, I fear."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
What Hope can do is something of a surprise, but it is not a thing that terrifies Wanda. Power is many things, most of it the person who weilds it. So far the other has not given her reason for concern. And truthfully, at the moment, the greater issue was Magneto and what to do about him..

Wanda nods. What Hope suggests is not unlike what Wanda herself had expected. Under SHIELD lock and key, they would be reluctant to let any near him, even if Wanda suspected they would not keep him. There were too many other things at play that would tip that decision.

For now, though, where he was was a known quantity. "There may be a way. At the very least, we can reduce the harm. If he flees, he will be stronger. If we wish to strike, we must not wait until they decide he is more liability than it is worth." Or, she thought to herself, before he found his own way to escape. He would bide until accidents were made, and once one had been, he would use it to his advantage. "We will do this together. Make certain he can do no more harm."

White Phoenix has posed:
Hope pulls a phone out of her jacket pocket and offers it to Wanda. "This phone will allow you to call me directly. My number is the only one stored." Burner phones are something she learned about a long time ago. Relatively speaking for a nineteen year old. "My thought is that we do this as soon as possible. I can copy powers for 48 hours. So I would need to go for a visit and then within that timeframe, we can head to the bunker where they have him held." She tucks her hands back in the pockets of her jacket for warmth.

"One of the powers I will have is telepathy. I can use that perhaps to mask our presence until we are further inside." She gives a quick run down of the plastic prison the man is held suspended within, the grounds monitored from offsite and there being a control room there. "Unfortunately, I can't keep all the sensors from knowing once we are close to him though. That's when things will get...difficult."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Again, Wanda nods, taking the buerner phone and turning it in her hands, regarding it. "There may be some few things that I can do." Improbable things. Shifts in what *should* happen...but didn't always where she was concerned. It wasn't a thing she chose to do lightly. At least not on the scale that might be required here.

Still, the alternative was worse. If a decision were needed to be made, Wanda felt she could live with this one. Magneto had to be stopped, and stopped before he could do more harm.

"I will do what I can that as few as possible are harmed. These others are not the enemy. They should not pay for his mistakes."

White Phoenix has posed:
"I agree," Hope says with a nod. "They are doing their jobs. I wish no harm to them. This is about getting to Magneto. Not declaring war on SHIELD. They are good people doing a difficult thing and I wish to keep them clear of the situation. I doubt that Magneto will be willing to just stand still and let us take care of him though." She gives a little shake of her head then looks off toward the Triskelion, thinking of what will be wrought by this.

SHIELD will likely be after both of them. For her, it isn't as big of a deal. She's used to being hunted by the government. Wanda is in a more precarious position though. Something to consider.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
It isn't lost upon Wanda what the ramifications of this little endeavour will be. She just doesn't see an alternative to it. Waiting until he's released only allows more havoc to be wreaked, or, worse, for Magneto to escape, regroup, and come back stronger than ever. Hunting him down in that case wasn't something she looked forward to. Especially when, with a simple acceptance of the fallout of this act she and Hope were proposing, Wanda could stop any of those future acts from happening. Acts which would be perpetrated by him, yes, but acts that would still fall squarely upon her own shoulders as things she could have prevented.

In the matter of weights of worlds and responsibilities, the guilt of one outweighed the ramifications of the other. It was a thing she could accept. The matter of her falling out with SHIELD and possible loss of her status with the Avengers could be accepted in light of those who would be saved future ills, mutant and non-mutant alike.

"We will deal with him. Between us, there will be enough to stop him."