Chapter 6: Please Stand By

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Cynthia appears in front of the energy field, far from the road where the soldiers had been guarding Westview and towards the treeline. She had grabbed a briefcase of communication devices on her way out, already knowing that Darcy and Jimmy were going to find her and try to stop her.

No one is going to change her mind or convince her of anything else. While she's not 100% sure what is happening... the majority of the Avengers are within this energy field, even the retired ones, and she had to get them out.

"Maybe one of these days you and I can have a date?" she says to someone she cares about.

Cynthia blinks the memory away and fights the tears. The most important person to her right now is in there, trapped.

She stretches her hand forward to touch the field but stops short. She activates her power and listens inside.

There are the sounds of crying within... shouts and a few screams. It nearly brings her to her knees the amount of despair she feels. But she inhales and remains poised. She's searching until she can hear the thoughts or feel the emotions of her fellow Avengers. How they ended up here is a mystery. A mystery she's going to solve. While searching, she examines the magic and recognizes it but something is off... why is it...? What happened to it?

...

"Where could she be?" Jimmy asks aloud.

"To hell if I know." Darcy huffs.

The two are speed walking through the camp, not wanting to draw more attention to themselves than needed. They can't accidentally "lose" an Avenger... trainee like this. How stupid would they look? What would Hayward say? More importantly, what is this girl going to do?

"She won't go where the soldiers were, they'll inform Hayward in a heartbeat.

"But we don't know how big this thing is," Darcy points out. "She could be anywhere."

They reach just outside the confines of the S.W.O.R.D camp and stop to catch their breaths. While they had managed to go through the camp without much suspicion, they had to hurry before one curious soldier reported to Hayward and everything blew up.

"I really need to get back into cardio," Darcy mutters.

"I wish I knew where I could find her... if she was going into the anomaly and was touching it..." Jimmy thought back to the first time he and Cynthia, and even he and Monica had encountered the energy field. It created almost like a...

"A ripple," he says.

"What?"

"A ripple. Look for a ripple. Whenever someone touches the field, it creates a ripple like on a pond."

The two begin to examine the general area where the anomaly was, looking carefully for any disturbances.

They continue to walk as they go, Darcy deducing that Cynthia would go to a place with more cover to enter, looking for an area with trees.

It takes a little while, but then a quick flash of white and a more significant wrinkle in the field alerts them and the two race for the spot.

Sure enough, they see Cynthia standing within the trees, gazing forwards as if in a trance.

"Cynthia!" Jimmy shouts, ready to run and grab her.

"Took you both long enough," the powered teen says, turning to them with a smile. "I gave you enough of a hint. You were later than I anticipated."

"Forget that, step away from the shield," Jimmy calls out.

The girl holds her hand up, which is glowing white. The two stop, a little afraid and worried that she might blast them... even if it seemed unlikely she would do such a thing on purpose, the girl had mentioned how unpredictable her powers could be.

"Don't come closer," the teen warns.

"Cynthia please don't go in there," Woo begs.

"I have to! It's the only way for this to end. This needs to be taken down from the inside. People are hurting in there Jimmy and I can't stand letting them hurt any longer. Like any hero, I need to do the right thing. At least we know now what will happen when I enter."

"But you'll probably lose your memory and just be a part of the sitcom," Darcy points out. "Like Monica Rambeau."

"I've been studying and sensing the magic surrounding it and I think I can make a sort of shield to protect me from becoming a pink lady in the 50s."

"Did you say magic?" Jimmy asks.

"It's definitely magic," Cynthia confirms. "I didn't know it the first time I touched the field, but now I know that for sure."

"What kind of magic?" Darcy asks. While she is a doctor of astrophysics and a follower of science, she'd seen more than enough unexplainable to believe in it.

"Powerful magic, but it's twisted in some way..."

"Cynthia please..." Jimmy insists.

"If you want to see Scott again and show him your mastered card tricks, I need to go in there. And I won't be going in blind or deaf either."

She opens the case and removes what she needs. She then teleports the briefcase containing the wireless earpieces and related equipment to them.

"You'll be with me the whole time," the girl answers, putting in her own earpiece. "My stand by... my home base. We'll be in contact I promise but try your plan with the radio Darcy in case I can't get to Wanda right away."

"Okay," Dr. Lewis nods.

"No, it's not okay!" Jimmy says, hating that he's lost control of the situation. "You can't do this..."

"Why can't she?" Darcy challenges. "She's the only one who can get in there without becoming Marcia Brady and she knows what we're up against already."

"Speaking of which, don't tell Hayward what you know."

"Why not?" the FBI agent asks.

"Because he has no regard or respect for any of this and has his own agenda. Don't trust him."

"Will do," Darcy says, already not trusting Hayward in the first place.

"Also, there are instructions for what to tell people if they ask why you left the base just now."

Darcy holds up the paper and reads them.

Cynthia can sense Jimmy's conflicted emotions.

"I know it's scary and against everything you stand for, but my entire team who are also my family are in there. I'm probably the only one who they can trust. They would save me and now it's my turn to save them. Promise me..."

With a heavy sigh, Jimmy relents and puts the earpiece in. "Call us the second you make contact," he says.

"I will I promise," Cynthia says before facing the energy field again.

"Good luck!" Woo calls out.

She concentrates and creates a field of pure white energy around herself. With nothing else but concentration, she steps into the magic, vanishing in front of her allies, ready to face the unknown.

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