Lotkill, New York, where inside the Emporium, Wanda Maximoff a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch is confronted by an unwelcome arrival. 'Surprisingly tidy, Wanda...I envisioned your basement a shade bit more chaotic' Agatha Harkness declares. A large chest has been placed a few feet away from Wanda, wo replies 'Sad about your wit, Agatha. And me without a necromancer to savor it. This space is for reflection. For storage... there's the chest of Infinite Capacity' Wanda notes, referring to the chest on the floor. 'I see' Agatha remarks, before motioning to an urn on a nearby shelf and tells Wanda that dear Mantor deserved better than such a pedestrian urn. 'He's sure to be cursing you from the Witches' Underworld' Agatha declares. Wanda responds by telling Agatha that Mantor was a fighter, and that she bets he already rests as pure magic in the Well Beyond the Worlds. Wanda notes that Agatha hated Mantor, and asks her why she is really here. 'To tell me what I can't do?' Wanda asks. 'How's that go last time?' she remarks.
'Exactly how I hoped. How else?' Agatha smirks as she reclines on the chest, telling Wanda that there is no lesson, no moral, as she is her teacher no longer. 'As you're quite happy to say' Agatha reminds Wanda, before announcing that she is here to pass the torch. 'I've brought you a student' Agatha reveals. 'Last time, you came for tea and raided my soul. Forgive me if I'm searching for a catch' Wanda responds, asking Agatha why she doesn't just teach this student herself. 'Not every teacher can reach every student. Besides... do you not offer help to all who walk through your door?' Agatha answers, querying Wanda as to whether it means less if it is she who brings someone in need rather than her Last Door of Infinite Guilt. Calmly, Wanda tells Agatha that she will always have her respect, and warns her not to test her trust – not again. 'Am I understood?' she asks. 'Painfully so... she's waiting upstairs' Agatha responds as she vanishes in a puff of smoke.
Upstairs, Darcy Lewis sits on the Emporium counter and scowls: 'Say it again – you hang with Agatha Harkness? By choice? What's she got on you?' Darcy asks. 'She saved my life, Darby' someone responds. 'It's Darcy. And Agatha doesn't save anything but her own skin' Darcy snarls. 'Then explain me. I had nothing when we met – I'd earned it. My father found me alone with no memory. I was about ten, but that's a guess. He adopted me, tried to help uncover what I'd forgotten. We fought, of course. Families do. But one time, the last time, something happened. Something bad. He went mad. Philip Hawlut – a celebrated psychiatrist – went mad. So, I ran. And I kept running...until I met Agatha' the young woman reveals.
Darcy listens silently as the young woman explains that Agatha said she could help, seemed so sure. 'But honestly... I am so tired of being someone's problem' the young woman utters. Suddenly, Wanda smiles as she steps into the main part of the Emporium. 'I see no problem' Wanda remarks as she introduces herself, and tells her guest that she sees she has met Darcy. 'She runs the shop' Wanda explains, before asking her guest what she may call her. The young woman has red hair and wears a purple and black outfit. She folds her arms across her front and reveals that her father named her Amaranth, and that he told her it means “everlasting”. 'You can thank his liberal arts undergrad' she supposes, adding that she wished she knew what her real name was. 'With or without it, you are still you' Wanda smiles as she takes Amaranth's hand. 'Sure. So much so that Agatha's passing me off after a month' Amaranth remarks.
Amaranth hangs her head and decides that she shouldn't blame Agatha, as she is just afraid – and maybe that is what makkes her smart. 'I see nothing to ferar. Perhaps, I'm a fool, then' Wanda responds. 'Relax, kid. So you drove your dad crazy – I had to kill someone to get in the door here!' Darcy exclaims, to which Wanda apologizes to Amaranth and explains that sarcasm is Darcy's deadliest weapon – but she can holster it, here. Wanda adds that a lost past is a heavy burden. 'There's a spell I might use...' Wanda begins, to which Amaranth tells her to go ahead, as many have tried. 'They were not me' Wanda states as she raises her hand and a spell whirls around her. 'An anti-scry reads not your future, but your past, though rarely in detail -' Wanda begins, before a look of horror falls across her face. 'Wait! How? I -' Wanda begins, shocked.
Amaranth turns away from Wanda and tells her that she is sorry. 'You're not the first to try, Wanda – there could just be nothing there' Amaranth remarks, to which Wanda informs her that there is something there – like a firewall, a sorcerous dead zone. 'A book that can't be opened still holds a story' Wanda notes, before telling Amaranth that she does her best thinking when fueled by overpriced pizza, and asks her if she has eaten. 'I could' Amaranth smiles, to which Wanda suggests they take a walk, noting that Amaranth deserves a proper welcome. As Amaranth heads to the front door, Darcy whispers at Wanda: 'We doing this, boss? We barely survived Joe the clone. I mean – isn't one apprentice enough?' to which Wanda glances back at Darcy and tells her that Mantor was no apprentice. 'Sure, but I meant -' Darcy begins, before Wanda asks if they are readlly doing this.
Soon, on the streets of Lotkill, Wanda and Amaranth stand in front of a pizza truck, and Amaranth notes that this is so different from what her father called pizza. 'He had his own recipe?' Wanda asks. 'He had a microwave' Amaranth explains. The women walk side by side down the pavement and Wanda informs Amaranth that she took Agatha here once. 'Before or after she snuck into your soul to carve out some old god's heart?' Amaranth enquires. 'I see she's told you some things' Wanda realizes. Amaranth looks at the pizza and replies 'What she decided to tell. Agatha had strict rules. She knew I had nowhere else to go. And she was right. She tried, like you...but her spells fizzled when they hit me. She didn't take it well' Amaranth explains. 'She wouldn't. Agatha is one of the most skilled witches to ever live. Still...the answer may lie in your future, not your past' Wanda smiles, holding up some pizza.
Suddenly, there is a green glow and a voice calls out 'There is no future, witch! Not for you! Not for anyone targeted...by THE ELIMINATOR!' Through the green energy a being with some sort of gold armor with red accents emerges and slams their fist into the ground, knocking Wanda and Amaranth backwards. Wanda quickly regains her footing and looks at up at her attacker who informs her that she has been marked for eradication – and that once she has been marked, she cannot be unmarked. 'Wanda' Amaranth utters as she looks on, wide-eyed. The Eliminator explains that he was made for this, and declares that there is no escape. 'I disagree!' Wanda responds as she manifests a teleport spell, which she and the Eliminator fall through, but as they disappear, Amaranth rushes towards them, calling out to Wanda, as she falls into the spell, too.
Wanda has landed in a forest, and looks over as she sees Amaranth fall to the ground nearby. 'Why did you follow me?' Wanda asks. 'What else could I do?' Amaranth asks. 'Not face down a Magitek Murder Drone. You should be back in Lotkill!' Wanda responds, revealing that they are now on the Chthonic Island, which is well hidden, and explains that she brought the Eliminator here to protect her. 'What about you? Who cares if we just met?' Amaranth asks. 'I was supposed to let you die?' Amaranth asks, noting that her father is gone, Agatha is gone – she won't be abandoned again. Wanda listens to this, before a loud THOOM signifies the return of the Eliminator. 'Then fear not, child. All who know the Scarlet Witch will join her in death' the Eliminator suggests. 'So you think, creature. But even an Eliminator...can be eliminated!' Wanda exclaims as she gets to her feet and casts a spell towards the Eliminator, which clashes with an energy blasted by the Eliminator.
'Not by you!' the Eliminator responds as he slams a fist into Wanda, knocking her backwards. 'Wanda! Are you okay?' Amaranth asks as she rushes over to the Scarlet Witch. Wanda slowly gets up, and informs Amaranth that she is mad. 'The Eliminator is spell-tempered, resistant to Eldritch attacks... but that won't hold forever. I'll make sure of it' Wanda vows. 'Please, witch. Your power would awe even our greatest enchantsmiths. But the necrogaze rots even the mightiest of targets... and what dregs are foolish enough to follow them!' the Eliminator boasts as his eyes light up as he looks at Amaranth. 'Wait! Wait!' Amaranth exclaims, but the energy barrels towards her, until Wanda throws up an energy wall that blocks the attack, saving Amaranth.
Wanda turns back to the Eliminator: 'You came for me, Eliminator – you came for me! You think your sad, little shell can save you?' Wanda asks before hurling a hex towards the Eliminator, then leaping onto the Eliminator and grabbing him at his collar, where energy flashes, and the Eliminator falls backwards. 'Spell-tempered means little to a hex, and this is just the beginning of how you'll pay... for even trying to hurt someone in my care' Wanda snaps. 'Damn, Wanda. Agatha talked a good talk... but you are not someone to piss off!' Amaranth smiles. 'You... you did that, all of that... for me?' she asks. Wanda rushes over to Amaranth and asks her if she is hurt, noting that the necrogaze has broad spectrum effects, like radiation. Amaranth assures Wanda that she is fine, before Wanda puts her hands on Amaranth's shoulders and tells her that she would be fine if she were back in Lotkill, as it isn't safe here. 'This is no place for a student. Your abilities are untested – you could die! And for what?' Wanda asks, when suddenly, 'A FITTING QUESTION, WITCH – LET US ANSWER IT TOGETHER!' the Eliminator shouts as he wraps his arms around Wanda, trapping her.
'There is no time to struggle. Once keyed to a target, Eliminators do not stop. We are encouraged to self-eliminate. Do you see? We will die as one. Your death will be my life's work!' the Eliminator explains as Wanda struggles to free herself from the creature's grasp, while Amaranth looks on in shock. Wanda then tells Amaranth to run, while she tries to conjure a spell – but it doesn't work, and the Eliminator boasts that his shell is lubed with glawackus oil – and contact brings obviation. 'No! No!' Wanda exclaims, as the Eliminator tells her that she won't know to fight. 'When we go, you won't even remember yourself...and the fallout will erase any and all remaining thought of you!' the Eliminator boasts. His eyes flash as he declares that there will be total elimination. 'Or it won't!' Amaranth exclaims as she puts her hands on the Eliminator.
The Eliminator begins to short-circuit, and stutters as he drops to his knees. Wanda is free from his grasp, slightly confused. 'The self-destruct, it just...stopped?' she asks. But energy glows around Amaranth's hands and she explains that the self-destruct didn't stop – it is still coming, still trying to explode. The Eliminator falls onto his face, while Amaranth informs Wanda that all the explosion will do is die. She appears to absorb the energy into herself, indeed, preventing any explosion from occuring. Wanda tells Amaranth that the self-destruct is gone, that she grounded it, snuffed it out within herself. 'I don't know...I wasn't thinking. I was doing it before I knew I could do it' Amaranth responds, appearing to be in shock, she looks at her hands. Wanda tells Amaranth that it is miraculous. 'Instinctive or not, you performed abjuration – the suppression of magical works' Wanda explains.
Wanda informs Amaranth that it is an advanced skill, discovered more than ten thousand years ago, by Ayesha, the Rain Queen of Balobedu. 'This is unprecedented' Wanda decides, before Amaranth realizes that Wanda is giving her that look – a look Agatha gave her, too. 'Each time a spell crumbled against me, you're afraid. And why not?' Amaranth asks. She hangs her head and remarks that she was too much for Wanda's teacher, that it is just a joke to say she is even close to in control, so she understands why Wanda would be afraid. 'The terror. The regret. Even the madness...I saw it all on my father's face. He didn't deserve that. He was a good man' Amaranth recalls, as she remembers him, seemingly enraged, his eyes glowing with energy. 'His crime was adopting me – being near me. I lost control... he lost his mind' Amaranth claims.
'He took me in... and I took everything from him. So I get it... you said you'd help, but you didn't know what you were agreeing to' Amaranth declares, reminding Wanda that Agatha told her to help, and adding that she doesn't expect anything. 'I'm asking, Wanda. I'm asking you you to teach me' Amaranth pleads. Wanda responds by stating that she has seen too many closed doors. 'You don't have to ask. Let's call this lesson one' Wanda suggests as she puts a hand on Amaranth's arm. 'Great. We almost died. What's lesson two, arm-wrestling the Hulk?' Amaranth smiles. 'Oh, no. that's next week. For now, if you'd take my hand... I thought we'd fly!' Wanda responds as she casts a levitation spell and takes to the air, while a smiling Amaranth joins her.
Meanwhile, on the planet Amanna, in the Espra System, part of the Draco Galaxy. An elderly craftsman tells Agatha Harkness that she has his humble apologies. 'If you are unsatisfied with the Eliminator's performance, I will -' he begins, to which Agatha interrupts him and tells him to stop groveling. She notes that as magitek goes, there are few greater craftsmen. Agatha continues, telling the old man that it is his vision that is lacking. 'Your soldier served its sacrificial purpose. My former student has glimpsed the truth. Whatever Amaranth is, wherever she came from...only the Scarlet Witch can stop her' Agatha declares, while, an image is seen of a young woman with red hair lying unconscious in a forest which is ablaze, and a firefighter discovering her.
