Don't touch that dial
As I wake up I immediately notice an important detail: the world is still black and white, but while yesterday the setting of the world was the 50's, it's like we're in the 60's now. I'm aware of the fact that not only controlling an entire town, but actually changing the looks of every single detail like this, that demands a lot of power and energy. I get out of bed and walk downstairs, with Senor Scratchy following me while miauwing angrily. "Yes yes I'll get you your breakfast. Unbelievable, you're a magical animal who can change shapes but you still need me to feed you." An annoyed huff is the cat's response, and after pouring some food into his bowel a flyer falls through my mailbox straight into the hallway. "Hmm what's this…" I mumble to myself as I pick it up. The flyer is an advertisement for a talent show that is… later today apparently. All of the money they receive will be 'for the children', which is quite interesting since I haven't seen a single child in this town. A little plan starts brewing in my mind. If I hijack the talent show and things go wrong, maybe Wanda will give me a look into her cards. Unknowingly of course. Because, if all of this is 100% Wanda's doing, why would she host a talent show for children that are nowhere to be seen? So many questions, so little answers. It's time to prepare myself for another hectic day, but first: coffee.
I'm on my way to Wanda's house with Senor Scratchy in a carrier, disguised as a rabbit. When Wanda called me to ask if I had a rabbit she could use for her magic act, I immediately said yes. It's a perfect opportunity for me to gain some more of her trust, and in the mean time Senor Scratchy can be my eyes and ears in the Vision residence. As I reach their home I can see Wanda standing next to her rosebush in her front garden, and I can see she is holding something in red and yellow colors. Interesting, since everything is black and white in here, this clearly has to be something from outside this bubble. It looks like it's a toy plane, but shock and confusion is covering Wanda's face. I lean against the gate and speak up: "Look, it's the star of the show!" Wanda makes a little jump in the air when she hears my voice and immediately drops the thing out of her hands. "Agnes!" I laugh friendly at her as she turns her attention to the roses, pretending as if she was taking care of them. "I'm sorry. What did you say?" I raise the carrier with Senor Scratchy inside of it, showing it to Wanda. "Oh, I brought my pet rabbit. For your magic act."
For a moment she looks in front of her, lost in thoughts, and then she's back. As if she completely forgot all about the magic act and the talent show. "Yes, of course! Thank you Agnes." She claps her hands together and takes a hold of the carrier. "We will take good care of him." She walks towards the house as I start talking again. "Senor Scratchy just loves the stage. He played baby Jesus in last year's Christmas pageant." She has almost reached the house and kind of stumbles on the stairs. "Oh!" She exclaims as a response to my announcement. It's obvious that this colorful toy has upset Wanda so it must be something serious, and my heart goes out to her. If only I could hold her, comfort her. But no. As I sigh and look sideway, I can see the mailman approaching. "Oh, morning Dennis." My smile is fake but what does it matter, they are all puppets of Wanda's play so they probably don't even realize it. "Morning, Agnes." I make some finger guns and point them towards him. "Stick 'em up!" Immediately he holds his hands in the air with an emotionless smile. "Oh. Don't shoot ,I'm just a messenger." As he moves along I fake shoot at him. "Pew pew!" Honestly I'm not even sure why I did it, just something to fight the boredom of standing here, waiting for Wanda to return. "Hmm." I mumble as I look at him walk away, thinking about the fact that there are far more handsome men in the world to take on the role of mailman. I can't help but make a urgh face at the same time. At this point Wanda is finally walking towards me with a smile on her face. "Shall we?" I smile back at her and hold out my arm for her to hold onto. "Oh, we shall."
As Wanda and I walk away from her house, I notice her looking back to the place where she dropped the colorful toy. "So, are you ready to meet Queen Cul de Sac and her Merry Homemakers?" I ask, as we're on our way to the head of the party committee and Wanda chuckles. "Agnes, Dottie can't be as bad as you say." Of course she is, I think to myself, since that's the role you gave her. "Hmm, well, you'll notice her roses bloom under penalty of death." Wanda rolls her eyes at me and scoffs with an amused tone. At this point I remember that I'm not here to have fun but to figure out how huge Wanda's power is and what had happened to her all these years ago, and if there is a way I can return her memory to her. I know that something about this entire talent show reeks of something out of order, and I need to know what. I mean, beside everything in this town being out of order. So I turn around and talk to Wanda in a very serious tone. "Wanda, can I give you a bit of friendly advice?" Her face is all nervousness as she looks at her cloths. "Is it about the way how I'm dressed?" I'm sure she's referring to the fact that she's wearing trousers while everybody else is wearing dressed and skirts, but what's the point of life if you can't have a bit of fun? "Yes, but it's too late for that." She gives me an indignant look and I respond to it by giving her the most innocent looking smile I can muster.
"Dottie is the key to everything in this town. Country club memberships, parties, school admissions…" I give her a knowing look in the direction of her belly and she smiles shyly. "Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves." So baby's are on the table for Wanda, interesting since her boyfriend is a dead robot. "You get in with Dottie and it'll be smooth sailing from here on out." She nods full of confidence with a smile on her face. For some reason blending in with the other people here is really important to her, god knows why. "Just mind your P's and your Q's and you're gonna do just fine." For a moment Wanda seems almost relaxed as she gives me a reply that 16 year old her would definitely have given too. "Or maybe I could just be myself? More or less?" For a moment I just stare at her, lost in emotion. She's so much like the daughter she was before she disappeared, the intonation, the look in her eyes. It's too much for me and before I actually lose it I decide to go the rude neighbor way and I start laughing. "Oh Wanda, that's good." I can see a sad expression cross her face and it nearly breaks my heart. While I'm still laughing I can see the woman who is wearing the name Dottie leave her house, a flock of laughing girls following her every movement. "Everybody, hurry up please." Of course all the women are carrying things except for Dottie herself, whose only job apparently is to look pretty. I turn around and call out to her. "Hiya, Dottie! Your roses are divine." A small wave accompanies my words and immediately Wanda follows my example. Dottie waves back with a fake on her face. "Well, thank you." I turn back to Wanda and sigh, with Wanda following my example. As we turn around to follow them both of us put the biggest and fakest smile on our face possible.
We go to the outdoor swimming pool, where a party tent is set up with 2 small round tables and some semi-comfortable chairs underneath. Some good looking guys are swimming and I have to remind myself to keep my head in the game, I can get some when all of this is finished. Of course Wanda is sitting next to me, and I force myself to turn my attention to the woman who is speaking. It's a beautiful full figured lady but it's quite obvious that she has no confidence at all. "The Rotary Club is finishing the stage set-up as we speak. They've given the gazebo a fresh coat of paint and will be installing the final decorations all through the town square." She has a high and energetic voice. I can see Wanda copying Dottie's actions, adding some sugar to her drink and stirring it. I already know she's going to hate it, Wanda has never been a sweet tooth. "And if you recognize the antique footlights, it's because they're from my store." Dottie interrupts: "And the chairs?" The woman looks like she is lost for words and it's like a blush is appearing on her cheeks, which is hard to see in black and white. "I'm sorry, Dottie. I didn't ask about the chairs." She gives her a nervous smile. "Then you better not ask me if you can chair any committees in the future." Dottie replies with a venomous tone and the women laugh with her comment. I can sense that Wanda is upset by her reply and I put a soothing hand against her back, if only I could do more. "The devil's in the details, Bev." Dottie says while standing up, and the woman named Bev hurries to sit on a chair, being completely humiliated. "That's not the only place he is." I whisper to Wanda as she puts away her drink, as expected she does not like it, and she gives me a oh-stop-it- expression complete with a wave of her hand.
"As you all know, the talent show is the sole fundraiser for Westview Elementary." I turn towards Bev, who took place next to me, and present her my flacon filled with vodka. "This might help." I say and she responds with a shy smile, but since she doesn't take it I use it to add some vodka to my own drink. Dottie continues speaking: "In the 8 years since I have founded our little club, this event has gotten bigger and better at every season." I can't help but notice that the black woman who is sitting next to Wanda on the other side, with just a table between them, feels off. She hands the platter with cookies to Wanda and whispers: "Say, those pants are peachy keen." I act as if I'm not listening to them but my ears are peaked in their direction. That's language that doesn't fit with this time period, is the first thing I notice. "Do you really think so?" Wanda asks, uncertainty clearly present. "The other ladies are in skirts, I was worried." Oh my precious Wanda, you should never be embarrassed to stand out from the crowd… "We only have a few hours until show time, so a little less cross chatter and a little more focus." Dottie's voice intervenes and Wanda immediately replies with an: "Okay." After taking a cookie she passes the tray to me. "Those little boys and girls are counting on us. All of this is for the children." "For the children." The women repeat it like a flock of well trained sheep. "For the children." Wanda says, but just a few seconds too late, which causes all of them to stare at her and Dottie to clear her throat in a very passive aggressive way. "So, I want all of you to give yourselves a big hand…" Wanda starts clapping enthusiastically with a cookie in her mouth and I can't help but groan internally. "…at the appropriate time, of course. But first, let's review event etiquette." Wanda hides her mouth filled with cookie behind her hand. I can't help but feel pissed off, how dare that woman talk to my daughter like that. It really demands all of my self control to let it go and not change her into a toad, because that's how she keeps croaking. "Dress code is upscale garden party…" I notice Wanda and the other woman talking again and it seems that they are properly introducing themselves. I can't help the wave of jealousy that flows through me, all I want to do is take Wanda away from here and leave all of this puppeteering behind. "And I'm irritated!" Dottie interrupts Wanda and the woman who is apparently called Geraldine. I wasn't eavesdropping, my hearing it just better than that of a normal human being. One of the perks of being a witch. "Tickets for tonight are completely sold out." A little pause follows. "Now you can clap." Immediately the flock of sheep does as she says, and I follow their example against my will. But the point is still to fit in so Wanda doesn't realize that I'm not part of her story, at least until I find the answers I am looking for and hopefully also a way to give Wanda her memory back. "And stop." I can barely stop myself from rolling my eyes. "Really, how is anybody doing this sober?" I mumble towards Wanda and I can see her take a take breath followed by just the slightest of a nod, like she's scared to make any movement.
As we're getting ready to leave, Dottie walks towards us. "Wanda, I have decided to grand you the honor of letting you help me clean up. I'll be over there keeping an eye on things, you can start by collecting the beverages." Without granting us a second look she walks over to one of the chairs and sits down. "Hey doll, are you sure you'll be all right?" I ask Wanda with my signature energetic voice. She makes a wave with her hands as response. "Oh yeah sure, I'll be fine Agnes. You just get ready for the talent show. Because you heard Dottie, this is the sole fundraiser for the Westview Elementary School. Wouldn't want to disappoint her now would we." After giving me one more smile she turns around and walks over to that boss woman. With a deep sigh I leave the swimming pool, Agnes demanding Wanda to stand up for herself would be too suspicious so I walk back home, thinking about everything that has happened the last hour. When I open the door I immediately notice that I'm not welcomed by Senor Scratchy's purr and that's when I think back to the fact that he is at Wanda and Vision's house right now. I can't believe that I actually forgot about that, I really need to keep my head in the game. Me caring for Wanda can not intervene with me solving this modern mystery. I lie down on the couch and stare at the ceiling, focusing all of my attention on my beloved cat. When I feel our link I pull on it, and it's like my familiar is here with me. I had hoped to gain some useful information by having him reside in their house, but it turns out that Vision was also gone for the entire time so nothing happened at all. No new information, nothing useful, just nada. I groan in frustration and have to keep myself from sending energy blast after energy blast against the wall, Wanda would surely notice and then shit would happen. I have a few hours to pass until I have to be at the talent show, and I decide to use this time to look into Vision a bit more. Sure I knew that Stark had made him, Thanos had killed him and Wanda had loved him, but surely there must be more to the synthezoid then that. Accompanied by some hot coffee I pull my laptop back from the abyss and start my research.
3 hours have passed and right now I'm sitting at one of the tables, watching the talent show which consist of utter bullshit. There were some people doing a weird dance, then a fake horse, and now a guy playing piano. I have to keep myself from yawning out loud, did I really stop my research for this? I had found some interesting facts about the robot, like how exactly he was made. It turns out that the mind stone is what powered him, and even though I had been aware of the infinity stones for many years now I had never seen them as something interesting. Okay so they are all powerful, good for them. So am I. But this stone being the power source of Vision, now that was something interesting all right. It also turned out that during the Civil War of the Avengers, both of them were on different sides. Ironically though that's exactly what sparked their love interest. My attention gets drawn back to the stage when that little toad opens her mouth once again. "I want to thank you all for coming out to support Westview Elementary, for the children." "For the children." Everybody repeats. "Yeah yeah for what children…" I mumble to myself, quiet enough so they don't actually hear me but moving my lips so it seems that I'm repeating the words just like the rest of them. "And for our final act, I give you Wanda and Vision." As Dottie leaves Wanda enters the stage, but immediately I can see on her face that something's wrong. She moves to the frond and then opens her arm in a spectacular movement, but nothing happens. After a couple of silent and awkward seconds, the curtain moves and Vision stumbles onto the stage. "Hello Westview!" He shouts. "Good afternoon. It's so lovely to be…" As he walks down the stairs he bumps into the fence. "I'm so sorry. Excuse me." Jup, he was apologizing to a piece of wood. It was quite clear that something was wrong with him, and Wanda her desperate face only confirmed it. "I am Glamour and this is my delightful assistant, Illusion." Wanda waves her hand, drawing the attention to her. "I am Glamour and he's Illusion." Her voice and the movements of her arms are all in an attempt to create an exciting atmosphere. For a moment I can see Vision think, after which he mumbles: "Yeah, what she said. Tonight we will lie to you, and yet you will believe our little deceptions because human beings are easily fooled due to their limited understanding of the inner workings of the universe." That was a mouthful, and as a cherry on top he makes this 'duh' movement with his hands. I mean, he's not wrong but still... It's not really something you should say when you want the people to like you.
"Flourish!" He yells but nothing happens and I can see Wanda getting slightly annoyed. "You just do it, you don't say it out loud, honey." She whispers and Vision scoffs in response. Apparently this will be easier than I thought. I expected to have to be the bringer of chaos to see how Wanda would fix it all, but it turns out that Vision brought the chaos all by himself. Walking around on the sage with wobbling legs, he continues: "And now my wife and I will delight in your dumbstruck little faces." I can see Bev looking quite hurt by his words, man she really needs to get a tougher skin. "Flourish!" Vision yells once again and this time he rises in the air, flouting about. The entire public gasps and Dottie squeezes her eyes together like she doesn't trust it. For a second I can see Wanda panic and then she makes a small movement with her hand. Immediately a rope is what's holding Vision in the air and as she walks to the side to bring him down, a guy named Norm points towards it. "Ha! See there? He's using a rope!" Vision is hanging there like a drunkard and slightly panics when Wanda starts bringing him down. Or at least, she's trying. I can't help myself, even though I love her I'm still a mischief-maker, so my magic is what's stopping Vision from coming down. "Wanda, what's… Oh, no! Oh! No! Wanda, please! Darling let me down." I can see some random women staring at me since apparently I'm not acting excited enough. "Oh!" I say with a big smile, while clutching my handbag to me. "I'm feeling pukey!" Vision announces as he is swaying in the air and the entire public laughs with his silliness. Wanda looks slightly panicked at this point so I decide that it's enough and suddenly her pulling the robe causes him to come down. I smile, laugh and clap along with the rest of the group. "Uh, what's next?" I can hear some random guy whisper. For a moment Vision looks around him until he seems to find what he was looking for.
"Oh! Yeah, this is… This is gonna be great!" He moves over to the piano. "A staggering feat of strength." With one hand he lifts the piano in the air and I can hear grasps all around me. Oh please, these people will literally be impressed by anything. Wanda is really starting to panic at this point. "Illusion! Uh… uh!" A idea pops into her head followed by another wave of her hand. "Illusion, Master of Enigma, allow me. Yeah?" She takes over the piano and as she walks away I can see that it's turned into a piece of carton. "Whoops! You weren't supposed to see how we did that trick." As she moves the once-a-real-live-piano to the side the guy in front of me whispers: "That was my grandmother's piano…" I can barely contain myself from laughing out loud hearing this. I mean, just because Wanda stole my heart all these years ago, I didn't turn into a good guy or something. I'm still me. Sadly enough for my daughter though it seems as if Vision has gotten another idea.
"Oh, Sherbert! Yeah, this is my old mate, Sherbert." He walks off the stage, which is quite an accomplishment since he is barely capable of walking. "Stand up, Sherbert! Say hello to the crowd." The man does just that, correcting Vision in the meantime. "It's Herbert, Herb." Vision takes a set of cards out of his blouse and starts shuffling them a little bit. "Pipe down, Sherbie, and pick a card. Any card." As Herb does just that Vision turns around and stretches his arms backwards, presenting the deck of cards to him. "Yeah, put it back in the deck. I'm not looking. All right, watch this." He shuffles the cards one time and then picks a random one from the pile. "Is this your card?" Herbert is looking quite embarrassed at this point. "Uh, no." Vision looks completely indignant. "I beg to differ." "Mmm-mmm." Herb makes the dismissive sound and Vision looks annoyed at this point. "Really? Is this your card?" "Mmm-mmm…" Another no. "Vision…" Wanda tries to interrupt but he ignores her completely and groans in anger. "Is this your card? Is this your card? Is this your card? Is this your card?" This goes on until there is only one card left. "Oh, it is!" Herb calls out. "It is what?" Vision asks angrily. "It's my card!" The android rolls his eyes. "Well, pardon me, Herb. Have it back." He presses the card against Herb's chest. "Oh, no. You did the trick right!" Herb tries to explain but Vision is clearly too far gone. "Well, of course I did the trick right. I'm Illusion! Flourish!" He bows towards the public and I can see Wanda clapping along excitingly, clearly hoping that this is almost over. I personally am loving the show so I clap along. No interference from me is necessary at all to turn this event into a mess and Wanda has shown me some nice little tricks with her powers so far.
"And now, for my next trick…" "Oh goodness me." Wanda whispers and I have to fight back a laugh, it would stand out. "Oh, who stole my hat?!" Suddenly the hat is on the ground and rabbit Senor Scratchy comes jumping out of it, another little party trick from my part. I'm still messing it up a little bit, I just have to find the perfect balance between Wanda laughing with it and this event turning her into an blubbering mess. "Oh! Oh, stop that rabbit! I gotta need to pull a hat out of it!" Vision shouts and Wanda catches my lovely pet. "Senor Scratchy's got real star quality, don't you think?" I ask to no-one in particular. I have seen him taking on the form of a fly, a dragon, a bear, just about everything and every single time he nails it. "Maybe we leave the poor bunny out of this one, shall we?" As she puts him to the side Vision grabs the hat and inspects it for a moment. "Well then, I will just have to pull this hat… out of myself." With a subtitle snap of my fingers I transport Senor Scratchy back to the safely of my home. Wanda runs towards her husband. "Vision, no!" But she's too late and he actually starts to push the hat through his own body. "I'm doing it!" I know he can turn himself into a kind of out of this world matter so it's easy for him. "Ah-ha!" He explains but the people don't seem to find a way to explain this, so they just stare at him and mumble with each other. "If only you all knew our secret." Wanda says with a broken voice. With another movement of her fingers the curtains pull back and reveals a couple of tall mirrors behind them. "Oh!" The public exclaims enthusiastically. "Is that how mirrors work?" Bev asks but immediately Dottie cuts her off. "Shut up Bev." At least someone is asking some proper questions because no, of course that's not how mirrors work.
While Wanda closes the curtains again Vision starts speaking once more. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, for our grand finale… I bring you, The Magnet of Crysteries!" "The Cabinet of Mysteries." Wanda corrects as she rolls said object onto the stage. "Yeah, yeah. What she said." When the cabinet is standing on its correct spot, with a mysterious voice he announces: "I will now make my wife… disappear." He opens the doors to show us that there's nothing inside of it but instead of asking Wanda to enter, he closes the doors again. "Are you sure you don't want an audience volunteer named 'My husband Ralph'?" I call out and the people laugh with my comment. Agnes is a nosy neighbor after all,so I have to keep the disguise in place. After Vision has spend a couple of seconds laughing with my question, a serious "No" comes out followed by "Abracadabra!" and he hits the cabinet with his magic stick. "Uh, sweetheart?" Wanda asks. "Yeah?" "Hi…" "Oh…" Now he realizes his mistake. Herb starts chanting "What's in the box?" and immediately everybody follows his example. "Yeah, what's in the box?" Asks a confused Vision and honestly, I don't know how Wanda is going to fix this one. Another finger wave, and as they open the door a very confused Geraldine appears. "Oh, yes! Flourish!" Vision yells and the entire public goes wild. Or at least, as wild as the public of a long forgotten town can get. I clap along but my mind is with Wanda. Even though these were just small displays of magic, it were powerful ones. Making a human appear out of nothing? I had to study many years to be able to do that, and it still doesn't always work. It's like Wanda doesn't even realize the amount of power she holds.
As the three of them bow, I can hear Vision whisper. "Let's get out of here." Both of them disappear behind the curtain. What follows next is Dottie talking about all kind of boring stuff, until we can all see Wanda and Vision trying to escape through the side. I chuckle very quitely, did she really expect that to work? It's just like she and Pietro did when they were 13, trying to sneak past me while I could literally see them walking. "You two, stop right there!" Dottie's voice calls out. "Nothing like what you two just did up here has ever happened in the history of our talent show." Wanda looks as if she is 13 years old again and I gave her a scolding. "Dottie, we are so…" "Hilarious!" Dottie exclaims. "That was the most hilarious act we've ever seen! Wouldn't you all agree?" Of course all of the sheep bleat their agreement. "Oh, yes…" Vision says. "You two, come on up. Come on." She calls them to the stage and offers them a trophy. "On behalf of the planning committee, I would like to award you with the inaugural Comedy Performance of the Year." Wanda takes the award with a very happy smile. "Oh, thank you." I'm the first one to stand up for them and clap. It's weird to have such conflicting feelings. Part of me is happy for Wanda, part of me wants to know how this magic works because I want it for myself, and part of me just wants to have Wanda back. As the event gets wrapped up I realize that I have just gotten even more questions.
I'm sitting in my borrowed home, Senor Scratchy happily purring on my lap. A glass of white wine is in my one hand and in the other one I'm holding the book that I'm reading, it's dedicated to all kinds of memory loss. Then suddenly the weirdest thing happens. I'm reading, and the next thing I know I'm back at the beginning of my page. It's as if time has been turned back. I know that all of the other residents probably didn't even notice it, but I'm a witch, so I do. I put my book down and walk towards the window, staring at house 2800. Then suddenly color is taking over everything inside my house. I can't help the dreadful feeling that washes over me. What are you doing Wanda?