Sokovia.
A small Eastern European country that exists only in Marvel.
It still retains a fair amount of Roman-era architecture, lending it a sense of historical atmosphere while simultaneously looking somewhat dilapidated. A few months ago, Steve and Peter had been here before and destroyed the Hydra base in Sokovia. Back then, Hydra hadn't gotten their hands on the Mind Stone yet, so Wanda and Quicksilver hadn't joined them either. Right now, they were just nineteen, the age when they should be in college.
Of course, college was out of the question.
Contrary to most people's stereotype of developed European nations, Sokovia was as impoverished as a South American or Latin American country. A huge number of its citizens lived in slums, sallow and emaciated, their cheeks and eye sockets sunken in. The entire country had a single international airport, and it was originally built by the Hydra forces stationed here.
You had to admit, the irony was rich.
Wakanda really ought to share the international relief subsidies they received with Sokovia. The people here were the ones who genuinely needed help.
Take those women, for example, too poor to afford proper clothes, writhing in hunger by their own doorsteps, constantly posing seductive—no, I mean, clutching their bodies, eyes fixed longingly on every passerby, hoping someone might spare a little protein to supplement their nutrition, those big sisters…
They desperately need assistance!
Of course, Bant didn't dare go over. No particular reason—just a touch of the worry-warts.
He followed the address Eunice had given him, searching for the home of Wanda and Pietro. Along the way, more than a few "kind souls" produced knives to help give Bant directions. After Bant expressed his thanks with fists and feet, he finally located his target.
It was a dilapidated-looking house. The outer walls were flaking and crumbling in many places, the doorstep was covered in greasy stains, and a murky stench hung in the air. So ramshackle that even in Hell's Kitchen, a house like this would feel out of place. But here, it was merely one of thousands of Sokovians' homes.
Bant stood before the door and knocked softly. He was no mannerless Nick Fury who didn't even know how to knock.
No response came from inside, though with Bant's hearing, he could detect faint sounds within. He knocked three more times in succession and then waited patiently. He heard light footsteps approaching the door, then stopping. Through that flimsy door, which could be ripped down with a single good shove, the footsteps fell silent for a long time.
Bant showed no trace of impatience. He could sense that the person inside was probably observing him.
It was Wanda. Just as Bant suspected, she was indeed sizing him up, and with full alertness. Even though Bant's youthful face looked utterly harmless—and a girl her age might even be more inclined to take a liking to his looks—in a place like Sokovia, especially in the run-down neighborhood she lived in, the sudden appearance of someone like Bant spelled anomaly. The kids who lived here were all grimy. Any family with a pretty girl or handsome boy was fated for misery. If not for the witchcraft she'd possessed since childhood, she and Pietro would never have made it to this age safe and sound.
Her gut told her something was off, but no matter how she looked, Wanda couldn't detect anything unusual about Bant. He just seemed like an ordinary boy from a well-off family. Plus, she had her powers as a last resort. So after wrestling with it for a good while, she slowly pulled the door open a crack.
Creeeak—
The wooden door groaned in protest. Bant looked toward the sound and met the single eye Wanda revealed through the gap.
"Who are you?"
"Bant Parker." Bant offered her a business card. Wanda took it, gave it a perfunctory glance, and then pushed her hand against the door, saying, "Sorry, I don't know you…"
With that, she moved to close the door again. Seeing this, Bant quickly pressed a hand against it. "I know you don't know me, but I'm here looking for you and your brother."
Wanda froze. Her first thought was: Don't tell me my brother's gotten into trouble again? To survive, Pietro had joined a small local gang. It worried Wanda to no end, terrified he'd run into danger. So the moment she heard Bant mention Pietro, she tensed up and blurted out:
"What happened to my brother?"
"Don't hurt him!"
"I'll give you anything you want!"
Bant: ???
Did that line sound kind of wrong to anyone else?
Was his next line supposed to be: Wanda, you don't want anything bad to happen to your brother, do you?
This was an American comic, not a Japanese one! Get your head out of the gutter!
"Ahem—you misunderstand, Ms. Maximoff," Bant said. Maximoff was Wanda's surname. "I know that you and your brother both have some special abilities, so I'd like to invite you both to join us… I assume you're aware of the Battle of New York a few days ago?"
With that, Wanda immediately understood. The Chitauri invasion was already known worldwide. Because the battle had concluded in Manhattan and only New York had been damaged, people were still calling it the Battle of New York.
"So, you're an Avenger?"
Wanda's expression grew complicated. On the one hand, she did know the Avengers were protecting the Earth. On the other hand, Tony Stark was one of those Avengers. Sokovia's present poverty and backwardness couldn't exactly be described as having nothing to do with Stark. Back when Stark Industries was still selling weapons, Sokovia had been constantly plagued by the fires of war. Her parents and neighbors had died under that fire, and even she and Pietro had nearly been buried by a missile. To this day, she could still vividly recall the English lettering on that missile.
Stark!
He was nothing but a murderer who'd now reinvented himself as a superhero saving the world. Maybe Tony Stark had indeed given a lot, but to everyone who'd died under missiles manufactured by Stark Industries, it was all absurdly laughable.
"Go away. I won't join the Avengers."
With that, Wanda immediately moved to shut the door.
"Wait, I'm not here on behalf of the Avengers."
Bant put a hand over his face.
"Not the Avengers?"
Wanda paused. Then she heard Bant say, "The Avengers played a huge role in the Battle of New York, but don't forget—the one that decided the war's outcome was the Celestial Guild."
"The Celestial Guild?"
Wanda's motion to close the door slowed. She asked, puzzled, "I know the Celestial Guild. That giant spaceship that appeared at the end was the Celestial Guild's, wasn't it? But I heard the Celestial Guild is an organization founded by aliens…"
An alien organization, coming to her?
Wanda was very confused.
Bant said, "To aliens, Earthlings are also aliens. The universe should be one big family. The fleet that came to Earth back then was the Celestial Guild's main cosmic armada. Actually, the Celestial Guild also has a branch on Earth. I'm the Sheriff of the Celestial Guild's Earth branch—that is, the person in charge."
Bant gave a simple explanation of the situation. Then he decided to offer Wanda something concrete.
"I sincerely invite you and your brother Pietro to join the Celestial Guild. The current salary is one million US dollars a month. A villa can be arranged for you in Queens… work three days a week, from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.… free employee meals, all to the highest standard… full benefits package with five insurances and two pensions… a company car…"
Bant rattled off the Celestial Guild's employment perks one by one. The string of benefits flowing from his mouth made Wanda's brain crash outright.
A monthly salary of a million dollars?
A villa and an anti-gravity car?
A twelve-hour work week, and the job was just getting familiar with her own superpowers?
Wanda stole a glance at Bant. Was he even speaking a human language? It felt like she almost couldn't understand it.
For someone living in Sokovia, where her and Pietro's combined income could barely sustain them, a million dollars was an amount they likely couldn't earn in several lifetimes. And now Bant was laying all of this in front of her. She only had to nod, and she'd get it immediately.
"I… I need to discuss it with my brother," Wanda said, scratching her head.
"Of course. May I come in and sit for a bit?" Bant nodded.
Then, as if her soul had left her body, Wanda drifted back and pulled the door open, letting Bant step inside. Only now did Bant get a clear look at how Wanda was dressed. She wore a white blouse, but the color had yellowed with age. Bant followed her to a shabby old sofa, in front of which sat a black-and-white television even more ancient than the one at Uncle Ben's house. As Bant sat down, a mouse darted out from the sofa as if startled and shot straight underneath it.
This environment was actually worse than Hell's Kitchen. In comparison, the old house in Queens was practically a luxury mansion.
A moment later, Wanda came over holding a glass of somewhat cloudy water. As she handed it to him, she was still muttering under her breath and counting on her fingers.
"A million—how many zeros is that? Five, six…?"
"You'll need to convert it into Sokovian currency first," Bant reminded her.
That made Wanda even more breathless. She had no head for that kind of thing.
It was dusk by the time Pietro returned. The moment he got home and found a stranger there, he bristled like a cornered porcupine. Wanda quickly gave him a brief rundown of Bant's identity and purpose.
"Is what you said all true?"
He was even more worked up than Wanda. To them, Sokovia was a mire, one they were trapped in, suffocating, unable to break free. If they really could join the Celestial Guild, it would be an incredible option.
But he still had one question.
"If someday we want to go after Tony Stark, whose side will you be on?"
Hearing this question, Bant couldn't shake the feeling it was exactly like earlier when Cap and Iron Man had each asked him who he was backing.
Bant: Why am I always stuck doing multiple-choice questions?
/-\
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