Wanda and Daisy stood alert, eyes fixed on the massive metallic door before them. Everything about this place felt off. Whoever built a secr
Wanda and Daisy stood alert, eyes fixed on the massive metallic door before them. Everything about this place felt off. Whoever built a secr
Wanda and Daisy stood alert, eyes fixed on the massive metallic door before them. Everything about this place felt off. Whoever built a secret base here clearly wasn't your average scientist. The eerie atmosphere, the concealed location—this screamed villainous lair.
"Something's not right," Wanda murmured, her brows furrowed as she stared at the metallic surface. "There's a faint… malevolent aura."
Things had already veered far from the mission briefing. What started as an investigation into an anomalous energy reading had somehow turned into an expedition into what looked like the set of a horror movie.
Daisy, half-joking, half-serious, guessed there had to be some kind of evil, Frankenstein-wannabe mad scientist inside—cooking up a new gamma-infused abomination straight out of a nightmare. After all, what else could explain those giant footprints?
"Well, no turning back now," Wanda said softly. "We have to know what's inside."
Daisy nodded, channeling her powers. A focused seismic pulse blasted the door open, and the two agents crept cautiously inside.
The tunnel was pitch-black.
It felt like being swallowed by a metal beast—no lights, no sounds, just endless dark corridors that stretched like the throat of something monstrous.
Wanda's frown deepened. That sinister magical energy she'd sensed outside?
Gone.
Vanished the moment they stepped inside.
Eventually, the tunnel opened into a circular chamber, where faint blue lights flickered dimly above them.
"Thank God," Daisy exhaled. "Finally, some light."
But the relief didn't last.
As their eyes adjusted, they realized they were no longer alone.
Flickering into view were several blue-hued holographic figures—and standing at the front of them all was a man whose glowing white arc reactor was unmistakable.
"Stark?" Daisy breathed, staring in disbelief.
One after another, the rest of the figures emerged—Mr. Fantastic, Thor, Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Falcon, and War Machine. All of them slowly encircled Wanda and Daisy like mechanical puppets.
But something was off.
Their expressions were blank. Movements stiff—like cheap knockoff action figures.
"Are they… are they the real Avengers?" Daisy whispered to Wanda as they stood back-to-back.
"No," Wanda shook her head slowly, eyes narrowing. "I sense magic. Illusion. These are copies."
Suddenly, the faux-Thor lunged with his hammer, and fake-Hulk followed, throwing a clumsy blue punch.
Wanda reacted immediately—casting a chaos magic shield around them. Their attacks landed harmlessly, like pebbles splashing into a pond.
With a sweep of her hand, Wanda's chaos energy coiled into a crimson whip, which lashed out toward Thor and Hulk. But to her surprise, the whip passed through them—like they weren't even there.
"They're not real," she muttered, brow tightening. "They're… projections?"
Fake-Stark raised his palm, firing a glowing blue-white particle beam at them.
Daisy stepped forward, unleashing a shockwave that shattered the incoming blast like smoke vanishing in wind.
"Yeah, no way these guys are the real deal," Daisy said flatly. "Real Avengers would've wrecked us by now. These ones? They're like cheap bootlegs."
"Agreed," Wanda added. "They feel like light… like hard light constructs. But there's something unnatural about them."
Daisy ducked an incoming arrow from "Hawkeye" and called out,
"Wait—if they're just light, how are they hitting us?"
"I don't know..." Wanda answered. Her whip once again passed through Hulk's projection harmlessly. "There's definitely magic involved. This whole place reeks of it."
Then her eyes caught something above them—strange devices embedded into the ceiling.
An idea sparked.
Daisy spotted it too.
"If these guys are light-based… then they must have a source."
She raised both hands. Vibrations built rapidly in her palms, then she unleashed a massive seismic wave overhead. Sparks flew as projectors shattered in bursts of energy. One by one, the fake Avengers glitched, twisted, and vanished into thin air—like mist scattered by a hurricane.
Gone.
Wanda and Daisy stood alone again, breathing hard, eyes sweeping the dim chamber.
"This mission's turning out weirder than I expected," Daisy muttered.
Meanwhile, far away, in a secret chamber deep underground…
Amora lounged lazily, resting her chin on her palm as she watched everything unfold through her enchanted crystal orb.
"Seems your little Avengers clone army didn't go quite as planned," she teased, smirking.
Baron Zemo stood beside her, arms crossed, frowning at the crystal's image.
"It was just a test," he said calmly. "A probe of their abilities. I admit, their power has grown significantly since joining S.W.O.R.D."
"So," muttered Lizard, his voice thick with sarcasm, "what you're saying is… we ran into trouble before the plan even started?"
"No," Zemo said sharply. "This was just reconnaissance."
Then he turned to Amora.
"Besides… our real plan hasn't even begun yet. Right, Amora?"
"Mmmhmm~" she hummed sweetly. "That's where I come in."
In her crystal orb, the image shifted—revealing a man asleep.
Or rather… a man who looked like he would never wake up.
But behind closed eyes, something stirred.
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T/N:
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