Wanda realized the problem.
The reason Anna and Lorraine were acting so strangely was because the stunning woman before them was no ordinary person. Her words carried the power to cloud minds.
"Mutant?"
Wanda's eyes went hazy for a moment, but it lasted only an instant. Her mind quickly cleared. The chaotic power within her canceled out the woman's hypnotic magic.
"Is the party really that fun?"
Wanda pretended to be caught in the spell. She didn't dare show that she was unaffected—she had no idea how powerful this woman truly was.
Playing weak was another lesson Wanda had learned on the streets. Before knowing the enemy's strength, the best choice was to lull them into complacency. Though tense, she forced herself to stay calm.
"Of course, my little sweetheart. It will be an experience you'll never forget."
The woman's smile was unnervingly sinister.
Meanwhile, the bewitched Anna and Lorraine showed no sign of awareness. To them, her words were nothing but exciting promises.
Wanda put on an eager face as well.
"Then come with me."
The woman seemed very satisfied with their reactions, especially Wanda's. A girl with such beauty, she thought, was the finest delicacy.
And virgin blood was all the more exquisite. She licked her crimson lips and motioned for the three girls to follow her to the parking lot.
Wanda went along.
She could have easily found an excuse to slip away, or even bolted outright—the woman might not have caught her. And inside the school grounds, Wanda figured that even if this woman was a Mutant, she wouldn't dare act openly. Otherwise, why rely on words to cloud minds?
The reason Wanda chose to risk herself was because she didn't know how else to stop this woman, and she wanted desperately to save her friends. She couldn't just watch as two of her closest companions were lured away from the safety of school by a dangerous stranger.
As they walked to the parking lot, Wanda's mind raced for a solution.
But no matter how much more mature she was than her peers, she was still just a girl barely into her teens. How could she possibly handle something like this?
The woman opened the door of a Mini Cooper, and Anna and Lorraine climbed in without the slightest hesitation.
"Young lady, what are you waiting for?"
The woman's eyes settled on Wanda, who stood frozen in place.
Feeling that gaze, then looking at her two bewitched friends waiting inside with expectant smiles, Wanda forced herself to get in as well.
The woman was pleased with their obedience. Wanda's hesitation didn't concern her—sometimes the quiet ones reacted that way, even after being charmed.
"I can hardly wait."
She glanced at the three girls in the rearview mirror, her expression eerie, then started the car and drove straight toward the school gates.
The gatekeeper, a burly middle-aged man, saw the three young girls in the car but still opened the gates without question. From his dazed, adoring gaze at the woman, Wanda understood—he too had been bewitched.
"What terrifying power," Wanda thought, her anxiety growing heavier.
Could she really protect her friends from an adult like this?
She didn't know.
Her worried eyes turned to the window as the scenery outside shifted. The bustling city streets gave way to the quiet edges of New York.
Inside the car, only Wanda sensed danger.
Anna and Lorraine, still under the spell, chattered happily with the woman, like curious children eager to learn about bars.
In America, it wasn't unusual for teenagers to be curious about bars. But this kind of overwhelming obsession—this wasn't normal.
When the car finally stopped outside an abandoned factory, Wanda's unease solidified into certainty. The woman's intentions were malicious, and this so-called bar was anything but normal.
What kind of bar would be hidden beneath an abandoned factory? It was far too secretive. And what bar had guards standing at the entrance in broad daylight?
Nothing about this place felt right.
Anna and Lorraine, their thoughts clouded, no longer noticed such details. Hearing the growls and screams echoing from inside the bar, they only grew more excited.
"Wow, this is so thrilling!"
Scenes like this were ones they had only ever witnessed in movies.
"Milan!"
The bald, musclebound leader of the security team grinned at the stunning woman, making it clear the two were well acquainted.
"I brought three little girls back."
Milan exchanged a knowing glance with the bartender at the entrance, who now cast a loaded look at the three girls.
That look—identical to the one Milan had given earlier when eyeing food.
Wanda's nerves tightened. Staring at the hulking security guards, she knew this wasn't a situation she could handle alone.
After a moment of hesitation, she discreetly pressed the watch on her wrist—a gift from Herman. On the surface, it was just a watch, but it also carried an emergency signal function.
It was originally standard-issue gear from Umbrella Biotech, designed to track down lost scientists in the depths of jungles.
And this was still the early 2000s.
Technology wasn't particularly advanced yet—even in the Marvel Universe, smartphones hadn't spread. That was why neither Milan nor the security staff suspected anything. They had never seen such a device before, let alone thought to guard against it.
"Hope you girls have fun here."
Milan's job was likely to find suitable prey. She led Wanda and the other two into the underground bar.
...
The moment they stepped inside, the scene looked like something straight out of a movie: blasting heavy metal, chaotic flashing lights, and a wild atmosphere that instantly overwhelmed the senses.
Everywhere, men and women, half-dressed and swaying to the beat, danced with manic abandon. The feverish energy in the air could make anyone's blood boil.
Anna and Lorraine's faces lit up with excitement, convinced this was exactly what they wanted.
On the dance floor, Wanda spotted several men and women whose beauty was unnaturally striking, just like Milan's. They looked more dazzling—and far more eerie—than any celebrity on a screen.
Her instincts screamed at her.
These weren't ordinary humans.
Was this... a gathering of Mutants?
Wanda's limited knowledge couldn't piece it together.
"Cool! This is so cool!"
The two girls sounded every bit the rebellious teenagers, dazzled by the glittering chaos. Compared to school and books, this seemed so much more fun.
Freedom.
This was freedom.
No rules. No restrictions. Absolute freedom.
Both Anna and Lorraine breathed it in deeply.
Wanda inhaled too—but what hit her wasn't freedom. Amid the restless air, she caught a scent she knew all too well.
A metallic sweetness, like rust.
Blood.
Wanda was certain of it. The air was saturated with blood.
Before fleeing to America, she and Quicksilver had lived through a country torn apart by war. They had witnessed more than one massacre.
And at times like those...
The air always carried this same stench.
Her expression changed. Horror filled her face as she looked up toward the ceiling above the dance floor.
Blood.
Endless streams of blood, like floodgates bursting, gushed from the fire sprinklers in the bar's ceiling.
It poured down onto the writhing dancers below.
Some men and women screamed in terror.
But others—those with strange, unnaturally sharp features—let out ecstatic roars. Bathed in blood, their faces twisted into monstrous grins.
They opened their mouths wide.
Inside gleamed rows of razor fangs.
And the partners they had been dancing with moments before?
Now nothing more than lambs to the slaughter.
"Vampires!?"
Wanda's eyes widened in horror.
It finally hit her.
The stunning woman who had lured her and her roommates here—she wasn't human at all, but the kind of monster Wanda thought only existed in movies and TV shows. Just like the creatures now feasting recklessly on humans as if enjoying a grand banquet, she was a vampire.
This really was a party—a vampire's party.
And for the ordinary people tricked into coming here, for those treated like lambs to the slaughter, this was nothing less than hell on earth.
"Ahhh!"
Anna and Lorraine saw it too.
The spell broke, and both screamed in terror. To two girls raised in sheltered comfort, the sight before them was enough to shatter their minds.
"Vampires are actually real? What kind of world am I living in?!"
Wanda, just as horrified, grabbed her roommates and turned to run. She was grateful they hadn't stepped onto the dance floor yet. The vampires were too busy devouring those around them to notice the ones standing farther away.
"Run!"
She yanked her frozen friends around—only to find a figure already blocking the exit.
"Three little darlings... where do you think you're going?"
Milan smiled seductively, her sharp fangs glinting.
"Get out of my way!"
Wanda knew how dangerous this place was. She shouted at Milan, her hands and eyes blazing suddenly with crimson light.
The vampire woman didn't react in time. Scarlet energy burst forth, binding her and hurling her into a wall with a heavy crash.
A dull thud echoed.
But Milan climbed back up, eyes brimming with surprise and excitement.
"A Mutant! You're actually a Mutant!"
In the early Marvel Universe, most people with superhuman abilities were considered mutants. No wonder she jumped to that conclusion.
"Perfect! Milan, you've finally brought back a real delicacy! Mutant blood... I haven't tasted it in ages!"
From outside the main doors, a burly black man strode in with a pack of security guards. His amused smile never left his face as they immediately blocked Wanda's escape.
Staring at the dozens of vampires baring their fangs at her, Wanda clutched her friends' hands tighter. A cold bead of sweat trickled down her forehead.
Her scarlet energy—there was no way she could take on this many enemies.
...
At that very moment, surrounded by dozens of vampires and facing certain doom...
In Stellar Tower, Herman had already received the distress signal from Wanda's watch.