Chapter 10: A Roar of Thunder Part 2

Chapter 10: A Roar of Thunder Part 2

From meetings and partings none can ever escape. Nor from magic

-Neil Gaiman

Dr. Strange's eyes widened in horror as he observed the room he stood in. The air seemed to seethe around him and the ground shook beneath his feet. Bolts of magical power shot from the very stone itself, causing damage and chaos wherever they struck.

"Doc!" shouted Bigby, still in wolf form, over the mayhem around him, "What's going on!?"

"It's Mordru!" Strange shouted back, "Mordo and Circe must have released him!"

"But I thought Frau and the other witches have been draining him. How can he still have so much power?" Bigby asked.

"There's only so much of his power we can drain from him," Frau explained "The Well held portion as well, but not all. It was able to contain enough so that the enchantments around the Woodlands could contain what remained, but even then just barely."

"And he would have absorbed the power that went into freeing him, meaning he's practically at full power, though Mordo's probably out cold. Circe's still a threat though" Dr. Strange added, "We have to get to the basement and stop him before he gets out of the building!"

"Sorry Doc," said the Violator as it lumbered up, "you ain't going anywhere,"

"We'll see about that," spoke a voice from above them. Looking up, they saw Boy Blue standing on the top of one of the bookcases, wielding a large, two-handed sword. With a shout, he leaped off the bookcase and onto the Violator's back, plunging the blade into its flesh. The Violator roared in pain as it thrashed around, trying to shake Blue off. Reaching back, the Violator attempted to grab Blue, exposing its neck in the process. With a roar, Bigby leaped at Violator, sinking his teeth into the Violator's throat. With a screech of pain, the Violator gripped Bigby's head and attempted to throw him off. With a sickening ripping sound, the Violator threw Bigby away, taking a large portion of its flesh with him. Black blood spilled out from the Violator's throat, pooling at its feet. As the Violator held its throat to stem the bleeding, Blue pulled the sword out and stabbed the Violator again, causing it to rear back in pain for a second time. As the blood continued to flow out of the Violator's neck, Frau raised her hand and pointed at the black pool at the Violator's feet. "Incendio!" she cried as a bolt of fire shot from his hands, striking the pool of blood and setting it alight. The Violator's feet quickly lit on fire and it began to dance around painfully, attempting to put them out. As the fire continued to grow in intensity, Blue pulled the sword out of the Violator's back and jumped off, rolling to the floor. As the Violator thrashed about, engulfed in flames, Dr. Strange looked to his side and saw the pool of holy water he had summoned earlier. Pointing his hands at the water, he began to make swaying motions, causing the water to levitate. Whirling around, he whipped his hands at the Violator, causing it to be dosed in the holy water. The fire was immediately put out, but the Violator continued to smoke, its skin bubbling as if struck by acid. The Violator fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

"The head, boy!" Frau screamed at Blue, "Cut off its head!"

Blue's eyes widened in realization, before he lifted up his sword and charged the Violator. With a single mighty swing, he brought the sword down on the Violator's head, lopping it off. The body began to convulse violently as it seemed to melt into a puddle of caustic liquid. The head seemed to melt also, but as it did, it transformed back into the form of Clown's head. The head grinned sickeningly at the group as it slowly dissolved.

"Lucky shot, punk," the head spat, "Lucky shot! This isn't the last time you've seen of me! I'll be back, ya hear me!? And when I do I'll rip you all to pieces! And you blondie, I'll kill nice and slowly, ya hear!? NICE AND SLOOOOOWLY!!" As he finished, the head fully dissolved before the pool of liquid flowed into the cracks in the floor and disappeared.

"Well that was pleasant," commented Blue, leaning on the sword, "how did you know that cutting of his head would work?"

"The same way I knew that his blood was flammable, boy," Frau replied, "I've studied many subjects over the years, one of them was demonology."

"Oh, well good thing I showed up with the Vorpral Sword when I did, or you'd guys be sunk," Blue said with a smile.

"Why are you here?" asked Bigby.

"Thor told me to come warn you about the Lords of Chaos, there's a whole other group of them out on the street."

"Yes but we have a bigger problem on our hands," Dr. Strange began, turning to the stairs…only to find Mordru standing at the edge of the stairs, an unconscious Mordo slumped over his shoulder and Circe standing next to him.

"That you do, Strange," Mordru said with a vicious grin, "mainly me,"

At that, Mordru snapped his fingers and the world went white.

A few minutes earlier

Raising her hands above her head, Enchantress caused a wave of sewer water to rise out of the hole in the street. Bringing her hands down, she sent the water surging at the three heroes. Quickly, Clea threw her hands up as a blast of icy blue energy shot out of her hands. When it struck the oncoming wave, it immediately turned into solid ice. Acting quickly, Loreli ran up the now frozen wave, sliding to a halt at its crest. Slamming her hands down on the ice formation, she sent magic flowing through the ice, causing razor sharp icicles to sprout from the bottom of the crest. Seconds later, the icicles shot off, streaking towards Clea. Diana immediately leaped into action, flying in front Clea. Acting on pure instinct, she held up her arms and began to bat away the icicles, bouncing them off of her bracelets. Both Clea and Loreli looked at amazement at Diana, who merely shot a fierce glare at Loreli. The moment was interrupted as the Executioner ran up the ice wave and leaped off with a savage war cry, his axe raised high. Before she could react, Thor flew past Diana and intercepted the Executioner's attack, hammer and axe meeting in a clash of sparks. Thor quickly took advantage, pulling his hammer back, allowing Executioner to roll forward. Shifting himself below the Executioner's torso, Thor grabbed the larger man and threw him down the street, leaving a crater in the pavement. As the Executioner struggled to get up, Thor pressed his advantage, flying at Executioner with his hammer raised to strike. Seeing him coming, Executioner quickly grabbed his axe and swung at Thor with the side of the axe, swatting him out if the air and through the wall of a nearby building.

Thor grunted as he got up, pulling himself through the hole he had made before brushing himself off. As he stepped back on to the street, he saw the Executioner waiting for him, axe at the ready. With a roar they both charged each other, weapons raised to strike. As their weapons met, sparks flew and the ground itself shook. They traded blows for a few seconds, each parrying his opponent's weapon with his own. Swinging low, the Executioner attempted to knock Thor's legs out from under him, but the blonde god saw this coming. Hopping above his enemy's weapon, he twisted his body midair, bringing his hammer hard across the Executioner's face, sending him sprawling. As the Executioner got to his feet, Thor pointed his hammer at him and sent a bolt of lighting screaming at his chest. Executioner quickly raised his axe, using the magic of the axe head to protect himself. As the bolt struck the axe head, it immediately stopped as if striking a brick wall. Thor narrowed his eyes in concentration, pouring more power into the lightning bolt.

As the lightning increased in intensity, Executioner dug his feet into the pavement. With a shout of exertion, Executioner angled his axe to the side, causing the bolt to shoot of to the side, striking a nearby building with impressive force. The sudden loss of resistance caused Thor to stumble, caught off guard. Seizing the advantage, Executioner raised his axe above his head before bringing it down with immense force onto the street. The strike sent a fissure rushing towards Thor, kicking up pavement as it went. As it was about to reach him, Thor leaped over the fissure, which caused an impressive blast of condensed air and asphalt where he had been standing. Thor raised his hammer above his head before attempting to strike the Executioner. Executioner managed to roll out of the way at the last second, causing Thor to smash the area where he had been previously standing, leaving an impressive crater.

Thor rose quickly to his feet, facing the Executioner with his weapon at the ready, the Executioner doing the same towards him. They were both distracted however, when a large cracking sound came from beneath them. Looking at the ground they saw a quickly growing spider web of cracks form in the street originating from where they each had struck the ground. They looked at each other with confused expressions before the ground broke apart beneath them and sent them falling into sewers below. As they both struggled to get their feet, Executioner sneered at Thor.

"Is that the best you can do, Thunderer?" Executioner mocked, "You've grown weak since you've come to Midgard."

"Say what you will Executioner," Thor replied as he rose back to his feet, "But know that I now have the advantage."

"What are you blathering about?" Executioner asked, skeptically.

"I am no Loki, but even I know that battles can not be completely won by might alone; one must also use his mind and mine tells me that I have two advantages," Thor explained, before slowly rising into the air. "One is that I can fly while you cannot. The other is the knowledge that lightning does not travel through the air alone."

At that Thor pointed his hammer down and shot a large bolt of lightning into the sewer water below…the same water that the Executioner was currently standing knee deep in. Before he could react, the electricity surged through the water and struck his heavily armored body. Executioner began to convulse as the electricity surged through his body, his mouth opened in a silent scream. Then just as suddenly as it began, the electricity stopped, leaving Executioner standing in the water, utterly dazed, his armor smoking. Thor flew up to look the Executioner in the face, examining him closely before poking him in the chest with two fingers, sending him toppling into the water with a resounding splash. Thor laughed heartily before he flew out of the hole to rejoin his friends.

As soon as the Thor had thrown away the Executioner, Diana flew at the ice ramp. Winding up, she struck the ice with a powerful fist, shattering the ice formation into thousands of pieces. Loreli was thrown bodily into the air by the force of the attack, but managed to recover midair, landing gracefully on the street, facing Clea.

Lifting her hands into the air, Loreli caused the shards of air to stop midair. Bringing her hands down, she pointed them at Clea, causing the ice shards to go flying at Clea. Clea pointed her hands at the oncoming projectiles and cast her own spell.

"I summon the Flames of the Faltine, to sear my enemies!" she cried causing a blast of powerful flames shot out of her hands, enveloping the ice shards and destroying them. As the flames sped at her, Loreli crossed her hands in front of her, causing a shield of magic energy to appear in front of her, blocking the fire, though with noticeable strain on her part. Snapping her hands forward, she shot a blast of magic energy at Clea, who blocked it with a Shield Charm of her own.

"Everte Stratum!" Clea cried, holding her hand up, causing a narrow blast of clear energy to shot out of her hand and strike Loreli in the chest, sending her flying into the air. Loreli twisted herself in the air, before holding her hands out to the sides, causing her to descend at a much slower rate.

"Diffindo!" she cried, making a slashing motion with her hands, causing a wave of magic energy to shoot out at Clea. Clea managed to dodge out of the way, the energy leaving a large gash in the street. As Loreli landed on the ground, she slammed her hands to the ground, forcing magic into the street below her, causing a large spike of earth to shoot out. Immediately the spike turned into an opened hand, which reached out to grab Clea. As the hand approached Clea, she held her hand up and cast a spell of her own.

"Defodio!" she cried, causing a corkscrewing bolt of energy to shoot out of her hand, digging into the stone hand and destroying it. The cloud of dust produced by the hand's destruction obscured Clea from sight. Suddenly, a flaming bolt of energy shot out of the cloud, parting it, while a cry of "Expulso!" was heard. Loreli quickly threw up a Shield Charm to block the attack, but didn't expect that the bolt would explode upon contact with the shield. The blast sent her flying through the air into a wall, which she slumped against with a groan. As she tried to get up, Clea faced her while holding her hands above her head. "Descendo!" she cried, bringing her hands down, causing the wall to tumble down on top of the recovering Loreli. Clea examined the rubble carefully, before turning away, satisfied…failing to notice the bricks begin to shift.

After she destroyed the ice ramp, Diana flew at the Enchantress, roaring as she threw a punch at the blond. Enchantress smiled as the punch passed through her as she transformed into a cloud of green smoke.

"What's the matter?" Enchantress asked in Diana's language, "You didn't think Circe was the only one who could do that trick, did you?"

"No," Diana snarled, "I guess I just thought you wouldn't be as cowardly as your teacher."

"Sorry, but I didn't think a woman's place was in battle. I guess no one ever told the Amazons how real women are supposed to behave."

Diana roared in anger as she threw another punch at Enchantress, only to have the attack pass through her as well.

"Temper, temper, Princess," Enchantress said in a disapproving tone, "Didn't I tell you that wouldn't work?"

As Enchantress talked, Diana reached for her lasso. Swinging it around, she eyed Enchantress dangerously.

"Dodge this," she said, tossing the lasso at her. Enchantress watched it come with a smirk on her face, but her smirk was quickly replaced by a look of shock as the lasso firmly grasped her, glowing with power. Enchantress struggled against the bond, trying to transform into smoke again but only managed to flux her form slightly. Diana smirked at her before yanking hard on the lasso, pulling Enchantress towards her. Winding up, she punched Enchantress hard in the stomach, sending her flying into the air. As the lasso grew taunt, Diana pulled down and slammed Enchantress into the ground, before releasing her and pulling the lasso to herself.

Enchantress slowly pushed herself to her feet, wiping her mouth. Looking at her hand, she saw that she was bleeding. Clenching her hand into a fist, she stared hatefully at Diana.

"YOU BITCH!!" she roared as magic energy crackled around her, "I'LL KILL YOU!!"

Jumping forward, she shot a blast of magic energy at Diana, who stood calmly as she raised and crossed her arms in front of her. She let the blast hit her before pulling her arms to her sides, causing the blast to disperse around her. Cocking an eyebrow, she smirked at Enchantress, enraging her further. Enchantress began to throw a flurry of spells at Diana, ranging from fireballs to blades of magic energy. Diana began to gracefully move among the magical attacks, blocking some with her bracelets and dodging others. As Enchantress blasted the ground in front of her, Diana leaped into the air. Corkscrewing through the air, Diana continued to dodge Enchantress' attacks, before landing behind her. Before Enchantress could react, Diana backhanded her across the face, causing her to spin around. When Enchantress had her back to her, Diana wrapped her arms around Enchantress' waist, before hefting her into the air and performing a suplex on her. Enchantress tried to get up, but immediately fell down again with a loud moan.

"Who's the real woman now, witch?" Diana asked in her native tongue before flying off to find the others.

As Clea looked down through the hole in the street at the sewers below, Thor and Diana flew over to her.

"Well met my friends," Thor bellowed, shouldering his hammer, "We are victorious!"

Just as Thor spoke the ground began to shake under their feet as the windows in the Woodlands began to glow brightly.

"I think you may have spoke to soon Thor," Clea stated before the light engulfed them and their world went white.

Thor blinked as the spots cleared from his eyes, before they widened with shock at how the world had changed around him. Instead of being in the middle of a bustling modern city, he was now standing in a large, unending void. Storm clouds covered the sky above him, crackling with energy hidden within their puffy masses. The ground was an endless mass of shadow with strands of red purple and blue color swirling within. Thor tested the ground with his feet, finding it as sturdy and supportive as regular earth. Looking around him, he saw that he was not alone. Diana, Clea, Boy Blue, Dr. Strange, Sheriff Wolf and an elderly woman Thor did not know were gathered around him.

"Steven Strange, where are we?" he asked as Dr. Strange slowly rose to his feet.

"Very simple, Thunderer," came a voice to Thor's left. Looking he saw a man he could only assume was Mordru, standing with the other members of his rescue party except for the short clown-like man.

"We are in a vortex of magical energy that I discovered eons ago. It is connected to a portal that is activated by magical seals written on the linings of my gloves," he explained.

"Then why didn't you escape if you had the means the entire time," Dr. Strange asked.

"Well the spell does require a significant amount of power to fuel it and with all your precautions draining and sealing my power away I wasn't able to use it," he elaborated.

"So why bring us here now?" asked Clea.

"Simple, because this entire realm bends to my will and so now, we play by my rules," he said, before gesturing towards Strange, causing a lightning bolt to shoot out of the sky and strike him in the chest, sending him flying through the air.

Strange managed to steady himself midair, but Mordru suddenly appeared directly in front of him and struck him in the chest with a magic bolt, sending Strange plummeting to the ground. Strange hit the ground hard and laid there with a groan, before Mordru appeared above him, placing his foot on Strange's chest in victory.

"You caught me off guard the last time, boy. It won't happen again," Mordru taunted as he formed another ball of energy in his hand, preparing to strike Strange down. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning flew at Mordru's back…only to be intercepted by a shield of magic energy, protecting Mordru.

"What did I just say?" Mordru asked, turning around to see Thor pointing his still smoking hammer at him.

"We will not allow you to harm Stephen Strange," Thor stated as the others gathered around him preparing to fight Mordru.

"Fine" Mordru replied, shrugging his shoulders, "You can all die too for all I care."

At that, he shot a large beam of magic energy at the group, causing them to scatter.

"Mordru!" shouted Enchantress as she and the others approached him, while the heroes were recuperating, "We have to go! We came here to rescue your sorry ass and we did that, so let's get out of here"

"Get this through your head blondie, I'm not leaving till Strange and all his little friends are dead! So you can either speed up the process by helping or get the hell out of my way. You can even leave Thor alive if you really want, it doesn't matter to me," Mordru sneered, "So ladies, it's your call. What's it going to be?"

Enchantress and Circe looked at each other for a moment, before Circe sighed exasperatedly .

"Fine we'll take care of Thor and his friends, you just kill Strange," Enchantress said.

"No problem, I got him right where I want him," Mordru said, turning around…and finding Strange standing right behind him, a look of rage plastered across his face.

"Ah, shi-" was all Mordru was able to get out before Strange blasted him with a powerful bolt of magic energy, sending him rocketing into the sky, before Strange chased after him. Circe and Amora gazed for a few seconds in the direction the two had gone in.

"I'll go wake up Mordo," Circe said, before turning and walking away while Enchantress did the same. Circe stood over the prone form of Mordo before raising her hands and drawing on the power from the storm around her. As she gathered the power it began to shoot out of her outstretched fingers and into Mordo's body, charging him up like a battery. After a few seconds, Circe cut off the power to Mordo as he began to stir.

"Rise and shine, Baron," Circe said as she helped the wobbly Mordo to his feet, before turning and approaching the group of heroes.

"It appears we should prepare for battle, my friends," Thor commented as the Lords of Chaos approached them.

"I call the guy with the axe," Boy Blue spoke up, causing the others look at him the questioning looks, "What?" he asked.

"Very well, I shall battle the Baron Mordo," Thor stated.

"I'll fight Circe, I believe she has a bone to pick with me," Frau said.

"and I'll take Loreli," stated Clea.

"Guess that leaves the blonde for me and the princess here," finished Bigby, while Diana stared daggers at Enchantress.

"Alright! Let's go!" Blue shouted, before charging the Executioner with sword raised. With a roar, he leapt into the air and prepared to strike him, only to be blasted out of the air by Circe.

"Ow," Blue groaned as he rose to his feet, "I wasn't trying to fight you,"

"Fine boy," spat the Executioner as he stomped up to Blue, "if it's a fight you wish, a fight you shall receive," he stated before raising his axe and brining it down on Blue. Blue quickly dodged out of the way, before rolling to his feet and pointing his sword at the Exeutioner.

"Let's go," he said before lunging at Executioner and thrusting his sword at him. Executioner deflected it with his axe handle before shoving him back with his shoulder. Blue stumbled back, before dodging out of the way as Executioner took another swing at him. Blue quickly swung at Executioner's arm, just grazing the armor.

"Weak little man!" Executioner bellowed, "You're puny sword can't hurt me!"

As soon as he finished, a cut appeared on the arm of the Executioner's armor, causing it to hang limply to the side. Executioner looked at his arm in shock before looking at Blue, who looked back at him smugly while he twirled his sword expertly.

Roaring, Executioner charged Blue, bringing his axe down on the smaller man's head. Rolling forward, Blue swung up, cutting through the Executioner's armor, and leaving a swallow cut on his chest. Executioner swung at Blue horizontally, but with amazing agility, Blue leaped up and landed on the head of the Executioner's axe. Before Executioner could react, Blue had sprung off the axe's head and smashed his feet into the Executioner's face, before using it as a springboard to leap into the air.

Raising his sword above his head, he prepared to strike the Executioner. Executioner raised his axe to block but as the blade made contact with the handle; it cut right through the handle and slashed him across the chest, spraying up blood from the thin but deep cut. Howling in pain, Executioner grabbed Blue and flung him away. Rising to his feet, Executioner looked at his broken axe, before looking at Blue with pure hate. Letting loose a primal roar, he charge Blue, raising the broken axe above his head. As he struck, Blue dodged again, but Executioner struck the ground with incredible force, causing a large quake that knocked Blue off balance while at the same time causing the ground to crack like a pane of glass.

As Blue stumbled back, Executioner charged him again, striking at him with more hacking attacks, forcing Blue on the defensive, as each attack shook the ground, continually keeping off balance. After a few moments of hacking at him, Executioner swung at Blue with a horizontal attack. Blue was able to deflect the attack with his sword, before he quickly slashed at Executioner's hand. Executioner roared in pain as he dropped the axe, grading his injured hand. Pushing his advantage, Blue swung at Executioner again but to Blue's shock the Executioner grabbed the blade with his bare hand. Blood streamed down the Vorpral Blade as it cut into the Executioner's hand, but he didn't even seem to notice. He stared hatefully into Blue's fear filled eyes before he raised his hand and backhanded Blue hard across the face, sending him tumbling away, the Vorpral Sword still in the Executioner's hand.

Executioner looked at the offending sword for a moment before tossing it away carelessly and stalking after Blue, a crazed look still in his eye. Blue struggled to get up as the Executioner stomped over to him. Suddenly, he felt himself being hauled to his feet as the Executioner grabbed the back of his jacket.

"On your feet, boy!" he bellowed, before shoving Blue after he stood him up. Blue stumbled back before Executioner suddenly rushed him, punching him hard in the stomach. The force of the blow sent Blue into the air, but he was stopped when Executioner grabbed his shoulders and slammed him back down, smashing Blue's face into his knee. As Blue kneeled on the ground holding his nose, Executioner grabbed him by the back of the neck and raised him up, before socking him in the face with his big meaty fist. Blue flew through the air, spinning about like a rag doll before he landed hard on the ground. As he struggled to get up, Executioner walked up to him and booted him in the side of the head, sending him crashing back down. Blue struggled to regain his senses, the world swimming around him from so many blows to the head. Suddenly he felt the Executioner's large hands wrap around his neck, as he was lifted into the air.

"I don't need my axe to kill you, whelp!" he roared as he tightened his grip on Blue's neck, "I'll crush the life out of you with my bare hands!"

Blue struggled against the Executioner's grip, clawing at his hands and kicking his feet wildly. He gagged and coughed as his body began to run out of oxygen, His kicking and clawing began to lessen as he felt the strength leave his body. Soon enough his struggling ceased and his arms hung limply to his side. His head tilted to the side as his vision began to blur before everything went completely black.

Bigby snarled viciously as he leaped at Enchantress, teeth bared. Enchantress called up a shield and Bigby smashed into it hard, halting his movement before slumping to the ground, dazed. Enchantress raised her hand to strike Bigby with a mystic bolt, but stopped when she heard Diana's battle cry. Turning, she was able to create a small shield around her hand in time to deflect the punch Diana sent at her face. Enchantress formed another shield around her other hand and used them both to deflect the flurry of punches Diana threw at her. Diana tried to sweep Enchantress legs out from her, but the blonde leaped up before smashing one of her shields into Diana's face, causing the Amazon to stumble back. Enchantress then began to barrage Diana with her own magically inhanced punches, using her Asgardian strength and speed to her advantage. As she threw another punch, Diana caught it before flipping Enchantress over her shoulder and hurling her into the air.

Enchantress twirled through the air until she faced towards Diana. She slammed her hands together, turning her shields into an orb of energy. Pointing the orb at Diana, the orb began to rain thousands of energy bolts on her. As the bolts approached her, Diana held up her hands and set her feet. As the bolts reached her, Diana reacted with blinding speed, batting each and every bolt away, leaving her surrounded be a ring of scorch marks and smoke. As Enchantress looked on in shock, she heard the sound of a rushing air.

Looking away, Enchantress saw a recovered Bigby taking a large intake of breath. Before she could react, Bigby blew out the air, shooting a large funnel of swirling air at her. Enchantress was just able to shield her face with her arms as the blast of air struck her, sending her flying even further away as the razor winds sliced her body. As Enchantress tumbled through the air, Diana shot off into the air after her, flying faster than even she thought possible. Enchantress saw Diana rocketing at her and pointed her hands at her, shooting a large blast of electricity. Diana was moving to fast to dodge in time and was struck by the blast, causing her to fall out the sky, convulsing in pain.

Diana plummeted out of the storming sky at breakneck speeds, but right before she hit the ground, she was snatched out of the sky by Bigby's, who placed her gently on the ground with her jaws. Diana grunted in pain as she slowly regained her senses.

"Come on, Princess, up and at 'em" Bigby said as he nudged Diana with his nose, "She'll be easier to take down if we fight her together,"

Diana rose to her feet gingerly, using Bigby for balance. As she did, Bigby saw Enchantress land on the ground and begin to cast another spell.

"Hop on Princess, we've got to go." Bigby said as he swept Diana off her feet and onto his back, causing Diana to shout in surprise.

"Hold onto something!" he shouted, but Diana, not understanding what he was saying, merely looked at him quizzically. So she was caught completely off guard when Bigby raced towards the Enchantress, barely grabbing hold of his fur in time. They rocketed towards Enchantress at speeds Diana didn't believe possible, forcing her to hug close to Bigby to keep from being blown off. As they ran, the air seemed to swirl around them, forming a rounded cone of swirling air around Bigby as he ran.

Enchantress saw the two racing towards her, and used her magic to form a wall from the realms strange ground in front of her, before reinforcing that with a wall of ice and then a personal shield of magic energy around herself. Just as Enchantress finished the spells, Bigby struck the first wall, the air surrounding him dissipating as he did so. Bigby crashed through the second wall hard, while Enchantress leaped back to protect herself. As she did, Diana leaped off of Bigby's back and threw a punch at Enchantress's face. Her fist struck Enchantress's shield, and appeared to be stopped, but with a loud roar, Diana poured her strength into the blow, causing the shield to shatter like a hammer to glass. The remaining force in the punch was used nicely when Diana's fist met the side of Enchantress's face. The force of the blow sent Enchantress flying through the air before she hit the ground hard and rolled for a few more yards, coming to a stop nearly fifty yards away.

Bigby smiled as he watched Enchantress try to get up, until his eyes drifted away from the blonde and saw the Executioner holding a limp Blue by the throat. His eyes widen in surprise before they narrowed in fury.

"Diana!" he shouted as he raced towards her, catching her attention more from the sound than the meaning. Seeing him coming, she leaped onto his back as he passed her, before they ran towards where Blue and the Executioner were. As they ran, Diana saw Blue's sword lying on the ground nearby. As they approached it, Diana leaned over until she was parallel to the ground, holding on to Bigby with one hand. Reaching out, she grabbed the sword as they passed.

Right after she grabbed it, Bigby took a flying leap at the Executioner, sinking his teeth into the large man's arm, while at the same time, Diana slashed him across the chest with the sword as she righted herself on Bigby's back. The Executioner roared in pain, letting go of Blue and swinging his arm back, trying to shake Bigby off. Blue crumpled to the ground as Bigby was forced to let go, sending him and Diana flying through the air. Diana righted herself midair and then caught the larger Bigby before landing on the ground. Bigby raised an eyebrow at Diana as she set him back on the ground, to which she smiled in reply while patting him on the head.

A groan of pain caught their attention. Looking up, they saw Executioner bent over on one knee, blood seeping from his many wounds.

"Get up you useless oaf," came the Enchantress's voice, as she suddenly appeared next to him, only to immediately to grab his shoulder for support as her legs threatened to give out beneath her. As she righted herself, she took a deep calming breath. As she did so, sparks of magic energy shot out of the ground into her body, healing her body and revitalizing her. Then placing her hands on each side of the Executioner's head, she closed her eyes in concentration while sparks of energy raced up her body and into Executioner's. Moments later, Executioner rose back to his feet, his injuries gone, though his armor was still damaged.

"There, all better now?" Enchantress asked sarcastically, placing her hands on her hips.

"Yes, many thanks, my lady," he replied loudly, "I am ready to fight again!"

"What happened to your axe?" she deadpanned while eyeing Bigby and Diana, who were preparing themselves to attack again, "You might need it."

"The boy broke it with his sword,"

"Gods you're useless," she said before snapping her fingers, causing a single-bladed, long handed axe to appear out of thin air and drop into his hands.

With a roar, Executioner lifted his new axe into the air and charged Diana and Bigby. Bigby let out a roar of his own and met Executioner's charge, leaping at him with teeth bared. Executioner lifted his axe in defense, catching Bigby's teeth on the axe handle. With a grunt of effort, Executioner twirled around and tossed Bigby away. A moment later, Diana flew at him, Vorpral Sword raised. Executioner quickly rolled out of the way, realizing that the sword would cut through his axe just as easily as it had the first one.

As he rolled to his feet, he swung at Diana's legs. Diana nimbly leaped over the blade, while spinning in midair and slicing Executioner across the face. Executioner stumbled back, holding his face in pain, giving Diana an opening to boot him in the stomach, sending him flying back. Executioner fell hard on his back, but was forced to quickly roll to his side as Diana tried to drive his sword into his chest. He quickly rolled to his feet, and using the momentum, whirled his axe around and hit Diana on the side of her head with the broad side of his axe, sending her spiraling through the air.

As she got to her feet, Executioner rushed up behind her and stuck the handle of his axe against her neck and pulled her against his body, attempting to strangle her. Diana struggled for a few moments, desperately trying to fight off the larger man as her airway was forcefully closed. Then, with a shout of exertion, Diana threw her body weight forward, catching the Executioner off guard with her surprising strength. With a yell, she grabbed Executioner's axe and pulled it forward, pulling the Executioner over her shoulder and slamming him into the ground. Still gripping his axe, she lifted it up and slammed the top of the axe into his chest, before using the axe to flip herself over him and slam her feet into his gut. Lifting the axe again, she prepared to dig the axe's blade into his skull, but as she swung it down, the Executioner caught it and knocked her off his chest with a powerful kick from behind.

As Diana rolled to her feet, she was forced to jump back as Executioner swung at her. The axe embedded itself in the ground, the axe head becoming stuck in the ground. Seeing this, Diana ran at the Executioner, before leaping onto the axe itself and running up its handle and punching him in the face. As he reeled back, he lashed out with his hand and grabbed Diana's wrist before she could pull it back. Whirling around, he slammed her into the ground before stomping on her face with his massive boot. As she tried to get up, he slammed on to her head, before grabbing her leg and slamming her a half a dozen times into the ground before tossing her away. He then lumbered over to where his axe was.

Suddenly, Diana's Golden Lasso shot out from behind him and wrapped around the axe and pulled it straight at him. The Executioner was just able to duck beneath the axe as it flew into Diana's waiting hand. Right after she grabbed it, she whirled around and hit Executioner on the side of the head with the blunt side of the axe, sending him flying through the air. As she spun around again, she lashed out with her lasso again, wrapping it around the hilt of the Vorpral blade and pulled it over to her, grabbing it with her open hand.

She then flew at Executioner as he rose to his feet, whirling through the air. She slashed him across the chest with the sword before smacking him across the face with the axe again, sending him flying through the air. As he did, she through his axe at him, catching him in the gut, sending him soaring higher. Using her free hand, she threw her lasso again, wrapping it around Executioner's leg before pulling him to her. Right as he reached her, Diana punched him in the gut with a massive haymaker, the combined force of her pulling him in and her powerful punch creating a small shockwave. Diana quickly followed by striking Executioner in the face with the pommel of her sword, smashing him into the ground. She continued by whirling around and lifting her leg up parallel to her torso before she brought it crashing down on Executioner's head with extraordinary force, causing the ground to break and explode upward, the chunks resembling shards of glass. Diana slowly moved her foot out of the crater she had created, where the Executioner now lay out cold. Satisfied, Diana brushed her hands off before turning to help her friends.

After the Executioner had tossed him away, Bigby quickly righted himself, snarling as he prepared to attack the large man again. He was stopped however when Enchantress shot a blast of magical energy directly in front of him. Hopping back, Bigby snarled at the goddess. Smirking, she shot a jet of fire at Bigby, who responded by blowing a large gust of wind, causing a large explosion. As the smoke from the explosion spread, Bigby leapt through the cloud, opening his large maw to attack her. Encasing her arm in a magic shield, Enchantress held it up and caught Bigby on it. Bigby bit hard on the shield before he jerked his head to the side and pulled Enchantress off her feet. He thrashed his head from side to side, throwing Enchantress about like a rag doll, before he slammed her viciously into the ground several times. Reaching out, Enchantress managed to grab the top of Bigby's head as he thrashed her about. Casting a spell, she channeled a surge of electricity through her hand and into his head. Bigby began to twich uncontrollably as his hair stood on end. He let go of her arm, which was protected from the electricity by the magic shield.

Rolling to her feet, Enchantress waved her hand at Bigby, blasting him with a pulse of magic energy and sending him flying through the air. Curling into a ball, Bigby spun through the air before he was facing back towards Enchantress. He shot another blast of wind at her, rocketing himself higher into the air. The blast impacted right at Enchantress's feet, knocking her to the ground. Bigby landed nimbly on his feet, before steadying himself and taking a large breath of air. Rearing his head back, he snapped it forward as he unleashed a huge blast of air. Enchantress only had time to raise her arms in defense before she was hit by the large blast of air and knocked clean off her feet and sent sailing into the air. Twisting through the air, Enchantress shot magic bolts at Bigby, forcing him to dodge out of the way. Landing gracefully, Enchantress shot a ball of fire at Bigby, causing him to roll to the side to dodge the attack before charging at her. Enchantress continued to shot blast of energy at Bigby as he charged, but Bigby managed to each attack, getting closer to his advisory.

As he leaped at her, Enchantress quickly created a thick wall of ice around herself for protection. She smiled as she heard the satisfying thud of Bigby hitting the ice. This was quickly replaced by a look of surprise as she heard Bigby take a large breath before the ice wall was blown apart and she was sent flying through the air by another large blast of wind. As she sailed through the air, Bigby leaped after her, slamming into her midair. He quickly bit her arm, causing her to cry out in pain before he spun around and threw her towards the ground. Enchantress hit the ground hard with a loud grunt of pain, but she was quickly silenced when Bibgy slammed into her feet first, creating a crater in the glass-like ground. Bigby examined the now unconscious Enchantress's form closely before raising his head and letting out a howl of victory.

Thor flew through the air, soaring straight at Mordo, who was peppering him with blasts of magic energy. Thor dodged and rolled through the air to avoid the attacks and batting away others with his hammer. As Thor got closer, Mordo began an enchantment, forming a large fireball in his hands. Right as Thor reached him, Mordo threw the fireball at him. Thor reacted quickly crossing his arms in front of him to protect himself. The force of the attack forced Thor back as he tried desperately to stop the ball of flame. Suddenly, Mordo shot another blast of magical energy. The blast was absorbed into the fireball, causing it to glow brightly before exploding, sending Thor flying through the air and into the storm clouds.

As Mordo looked around wearily for any signs of Thor, Mjolnir came racing out of the clouds, heading straight for the dark wizard. Mordo was able to raise a magic shield in time to block the attack. But Mordo underestimated the power of Thor's hammer, which began to push hard against Mordo's shield, causing it to waver under the pressure. In response, Mordo poured as much power as he could muster into the shield, holding the hammer back, but just barely. Suddenly there was a large boom of thunder as two lightning bolts streaked out of the storm clouds. The bolts arc through the air, heading around Mordo's shield and straight at him. Mordo's eyes widened in surprise before he smirked confidently. Just as the lightning bolts were about to strike him, Mordo dropped his shield and vanished with a loud pop. The bolts struck each other with a large explosion as Thor's hammer began to fall out of the sky.

Suddenly, in a flash of lightning, Thor reappeared and grabbed his hammer as it fell, before he began looking around for Mordo. As he did, he failed to notice the ominous black cloud, far darker than the ones surrounding it, approach him silently from behind. Then, as the cloud hovered over Thor, long black tendrils shot out of it and wrapped themselves around his limbs. Before he realized what was happening, the tendrils began to drag him towards the cloud. Just as they were about to pull him into the cloud, Thor pulled back hard on the tendrils, causing them to go taunt. With a grunt of effort, Thor began to pull himself away from the cloud, which desperately tried to pull him back. With a loud roar, Thor began to spin himself around, pulling the cloud into the spin with him. As he spun, the tendrils began to loosen, but Thor quickly grabbed them. Then, with a last shout of exertion Thor threw the cloud away.

As it sailed through the air, the center of the cloud began to glow red. Suddenly, a proverbial rain of fire shot out of the cloud and raced towards Thor. With expert skill, Thor batted away any and all of the small fireballs that reached him with his hammer, until the attack ceased and he was left unharmed, Mjolnir's head smoking. However, the cloud began to glow again, only this time brighter, before it shot out a large tongue of red and black flame out of its center and straight at Thor. Thor quickly raised his hammer in front of him and fired a bolt of lighting just as the flames struck. The lightning raced out of the hammer, battling with the fire to defend Thor. Thor's defense kept the fire at bay, diverging it around him. Finally, the flames stopped and Thor took the time to make an attack of his own, firing another bolt of lightning with a mighty war cry.

As the lightning struck the cloud, it seemed to absorb it, the lightning arcing all around its form. Then, the lightning began to gather in the cloud's center before three more lightning bolts arc out from the sky above and were absorbed by the cloud as well, the combined energy merging with that of the first bolt's. When the energy had been gathered into the cloud, it shot out of its center as a massive single bolt, straight at Thor. Thor merely narrowed his eyes before raising his hammer and pointing it at the on coming attack. The bolt struck Thor, but he didn't seem to be fazed by it at all. Instead the electricity seemed to be absorbed into him, causing bolts to shot off him as his hair flailed around wildly and his eyes glowed.

"Foolish mortal!" Thor bellowed, his voice deeper and seeming to echo around him, "You dare challenge the Thunder with his own power!? I will smite you down for your insolence!"

With that, Thor raised his hammer into the air, before no less than a dozen lightning bolts shot out of the sky and were absorbed into it. With a deafening roar, Thor pointed his hammer at the cloud and shot a gigantic blast shot out, more than three times his height in width. The bolt plowed through the cloud like it was nothing, vaporizing it before soaring off into the horizon. As the cloud was dispersed, Mordo suddenly appeared nearby with a loud popping sound, his cloths smoking as he plummeted to the ground after just barely avoiding the attack. But Thor was not done with him. Appearing next to Mordo in a flash of lightning, Thor struck Mordo with his hammer, sending him racing towards the ground. As Mordo fell, Thor repeated the attack six more times before Mordo finally hit the ground with astounding force, creating a crater of shattered glass. Then Thor appeared above him again, bringing his hammer down on Mordo's prone form as he was simultaneously struck by three lightning bolts, creating an even bigger crater and shooting shards of the glass-like ground into the sky. Thor raised his hammer into the air while placing a foot on Mordo's chest triumphantly, letting out a victory roar as lightning crashed around him.

Clea and Loreli starred daggers at each other from where they stood. Both waited with tense anticipation for the other to make their move, which may very well decide the entire outcome of the battle. Suddenly, with lightning fast reflexes, Loreli shot a magic bolt at Clea. Seeing it coming, Clea blocked the attack with a shield before firing a bolt of her own at Loreli. In response, Loreli batted the bolt away, before firing a continuous blast of energy at Clea. Clea responded in kind and fired a blast of her own. The two attacks met in a thunderous display of power, sparks of magical energy shooting off as the two witches dueled for supremacy.

But before that could happen, the large ball of energy formed by the two attacks reached its max and exploded violently. The shockwave from the blast knocked both women off of their feet. Loreli quickly rolled back to her feet and shot a fireball at Clea. Clea quickly rolled to her side to avoid the attack, before shooting a bolt of electricity at her. Loreli held up her arm and blocked the bolt with a shield. As she did, the electricity began to course around her arm. Slamming her arm into the ground, she created a dome of electricity that surged outwards towards Clea.

As the surge approached her, Clea channeled her power into her foot and stamped it on the ground, causing a stone slab to shoot out of the ground in front of her, protecting her from the electricity. Pointing her hand at the wall, she cast a Blasting Charm at it, causing it to explode, sending debris flying at Loreli. Loreli smiled at the oncoming attack, before raising her hands, channeling power from her surroundings, causing her eyes to glow. Right before it hit her, the debris stopped midair, each piece surrounded by a glowing aura of energy. Concentrating, Loreli brought the pieces of debris together and formed a large spike before shooting it at Clea.

Clea raised a shield to block but the spike came to fast and she wasn't able to block it in time and was partially struck by the attack, sending her flying back and landing on the ground hard. As Clea tried to get to her feet, Loreli Apparated right next to her and knocked her back to the ground with a bolt of magical energy. As Clea lay helpless on the glass-like ground, Loreli bombarded her with more blasts of energy, creating a small crater. She then levitated Clea into the air right in front of her, and; still glowing with power; shot Clea point blank with a bolt of electricity. Clea screamed as she twitched uncontrollably, before she slumped over, held aloft by Loreli's, who promptly dropped her back on the ground.

"It looks like the Dark Realm will have to find itself a new Sorcerer Supreme," Loreli stated, pointing her hand at the Clea and charging a blast of energy, "Maybe they can find someone better suited for the job this time,"

At that, Clea's eyes snapped open, though they were now glowing with power. Bolts of energy shot into her from all around the crater she was in, mixing with a magical energy that seemed to be coming out of her. Her wounds healed in seconds and a bright white aura surrounded her, before it exploded outward, knocking Loreli off her feet. As Loreli struggled to her feet, she saw Clea rise out of the crater she was in, hovering slightly above the ground as bolts of energy shot off from the white aura surrounding her.

"I'll show you what a real Sorceress Supreme can do," Clea said in voice that seemed to echo from everywhere. She held up her hand and shot a blast of white energy at Loreli, which streaked through the air faster than she could see it. The blast knocked Loreli back through the air. As Loreli flew through the air, Clea slammed her hands against the ground, forcing magical energy into it. Suddenly, a square pillar of the glass-like ground shot up from underneath Loreli and struck her in the back, sending her flying up into the air. As she fell back down, another emerged, rocketing her back into the sky. More and more pillars began shooting out of the ground, each striking Loreli with vicious force.

Then, as Loreli fell back to the earth again, Clea appeared directly in front of her. Suddenly another Clea appeared to behind her, while two more appeared to either side. They seemed to vibrate, as if they were in constant motion. Then each held up there hand and began charging an energy blast. Each fired the blast at the same instant, creating a swirling vortex of white light with Loreli in the middle. After a few seconds the vortex exploded outward before an unconscious Loreli dropped to the ground. Three of the Clea's immediately vanished while the last one ceased vibrating. Clea's eyes stopped glowing and the aura surrounding her vanished before she dropped to the ground herself, exhausted and unconscious.

A distance away, Circe stared intently at the old woman she was walking towards. Frau met her gaze with a bored one of her own, before she summoned a rocking chair behind her and sat in it, slowly rocking back and forth while pulling out her knitting and continued working on it, all while Circe approached her. The sight of the old woman's apparent disinterest in her brought about a powerful feeling of hate in Circe.

"I don't care how powerful you think you may be, hag," Circe spat as she channeled energy form the surrounding area into herself, "But I will not be disrespected by one such as you. Within this place I control power far beyond your simple understanding!"

"A lot of talk and no action is all I seem to get from you, child," Frau replied without looking up from her knitting.

With a roar of hate, Circe fired a blast of magic energy at Frau. Frau merely held her hand up in front of her, and created a magic shield to block the attack. After the attack had dissipated, Frau held her hand over the ground while muttering words under breath. Suddenly, the ground began to shake before bolts of raw magic power sprung out of it and began arcing towards Circe. Seeing this, Circe propelled herself into the air, but the bolts of energy gathered themselves together and shot up after her. As she rose into the air, Circe shot a blast of fire at the large magic bolt that was chasing her. The two attacks met with a large blast that sent off a small shockwave. Circe continued to pour more power into the spell as it pushed against the magic bolt. Eventually, Frau's attack gave out and the blast of flame shot out of the sky and struck the ground with tremendous force, before spreading out in a large circle, consuming everything in its path.

As the wall of flames approached her, Frau spared a moment to look up from her knitting at it, before merely holding her hand in front of her again. This time a strong wind began to pick up before it began swirling around her, forming a dome of churning air around her. When the wave of fire struck the dome, it flowed around it, unable to press through the shifting air currents. But as the fire began to move past the dome, the winds drew the fire in, turning the dome into a raging ball of flames.

Suddenly, the dome began to rise into the air, releasing Frau from its confines. After it had risen high enough, the flames condensed themselves into a sphere, before hovering in the air, as if waiting. After the flames had stopped their transformation, Frau raised her hand above her head, before snapping her fingers. At the signal, the fireball shot off through the air straight at Circe, leaving a streak of fire trailing behind it.

Circe only had enough time to throw up a Shield Charm to defend herself, before the fireball hit her with terrific force, knocking her back and leaving a large cloud of smoke in its wake. Circe fell out of the sky like a stone but manage to right herself before she hit the ground, without a single scratch on her.

"Is that all you can do, you old hag!?" Circe mocked triumphantly. Suddenly the surrounding area began strangely dim. Looking up, she saw the cloud of smoke rapidly descending on her. Before she could even move the cloud had engulfed her. Circe fell to her knees and began to cough uncontrollably as the smoke swirled around her. Suddenly, the smoke seemed to disappear, but as she opened her eyes she found herself in complete darkness.

"No child," Frau's voice echoed from all around her, "Far from it in fact." Suddenly, a lone figure appeared in the darkness, a strange light surrounding it, allowing Circe to see it. As the figure approached her, Circe was able to make it out, and recoiled slightly at it. The figure appeared to be an ancient looking woman, her skin clinging tightly to her frame, giving a boney look to her. She wore a simple white dress with short sleeves. Her nails were long and ugly and ended in sharp points. Her hair was grey and stringy, hanging loosely on her head. She wore a large smile on her face, which showed off her sharp, ugly teeth. She stared at Circe through empty eye sockets, save for glowing red dots in the center of each.

"Hello, my pretty," the woman said with a cackle, before lunging at Circe. Circe blasted the woman, which caused her to burst into dust. As the dust dissipated, the sound of loud cackling came from all around Circe.

"Oh, my child, you believe that you are so powerful, so…high and mighty. But just because you flaunt your power so, does not make you powerful. Some, like me, hide our true potential, sticking to the shadows, weaving our magic in profound yet subtle ways. I suppose you thought that only the good Doctor and his apprentice were the only Sorcerer Supremes here. You were wrong. This is why I held Mordru in check for so long. You know that despite all his boastings of "unimaginable power", the enchantments keeping him in place would have held had you not interfered. This is why I make you look like nothing more than a novice in our duels. I know things that neither you nor anyone here will ever grow to learn, dark secrets hidden in the deep, forbidden places of both my and your worlds."

Suddenly, Circe felt a gust of air from behind her. Whirling around, she found the nightmarish old woman standing behind her. Before she could react, the woman latched on to her face with her long boney hands.

"Let me show you them," the woman whispered before Circe's mind was assaulted by nightmarish visions and unholy sounds. Meanwhile, Frau sat in her rocker, silently working on her knitting as Circe flinched about on the ground, a far away and fearful look in her eyes.

"Now you know who I am, child," Frau whispered to the prone woman, "And I will always be there to remind you in the one place you will never be rid of me…in you nightmares."

The sky lit up as bright flashes of energy streaked across it. Dr. Strange twirled through the air to avoid an energy blast fired by Mordru, before shooting one of his own back at the evil wizard. Mordru smacked the attack away, before shooting a bolt of electricity at the Sorcerer Supreme. Strange blocked it with a Shield Charm and retaliated with a blast of frigid air. In response, Mordru spun around rapidly, before his form became incased in red hot flames, dispersing the cold air. Slowing his spin, Mordru gathered the fire into his hand, forming a long trailing, whip of flame that he lashed out at Strange with. The Doctor attempted to fly out of the way, but the whip wrapped around his ankle and burned into his flesh with a sickening hiss. Strange screamed out in pain as Mordru reeled him in. When he was face to face with Dr. Strange, he created a ball of magic energy in his hand and struck Strange in the chest with it, sending Strange flying away, disappearing into a large storm cloud.

Suddenly, the cloud Dr. Strange had entered began to shift until it took on a form resembling Strange's own. As it lifted its large hand and pointed it at Mordru, bolts of lightning began to discharge from it in random directions. Then, as if on command, several lightning bolts shot out form the hand and headed towards Mordru. Mordru only smiled before he gathered himself into a ball as magic energy began to course around him. Then, just as the lightning bolts were about to hit, Mordru spread his arms and legs outwards, causing him to be surrounded by a large globe of magic energy which halted the bolts of electricity. Mordru then gather the fire from his whip into one large ball and shot it into the cloud. The fireball exploded as it entered the cloud, causing the form of Dr. Strange to lash around as if in pain before dissolving.

Mordru watched with an evil grin on his face as the cloud's form fell apart, but his grin quickly left when he saw it begin to take another shape. The cloud now began to resemble the long serpentine neck of a dragon. At the same time the fire that Mordru had shot at the cloud had not only not dissipated but appeared to be growing in intensity, the red light within the cloud growing brighter and brighter. As it finished taking its new form, the cloud dragon reared back before launching a fireball a hundred times stronger then the one sent at it back at Mordru. The dark wizard could only watch in horror as the massive fireball approached him, before he held his hands up to shield him at the last second. The fireball exploded violently upon contact with Mordru, lighting up the sky for miles around. As the smoke cleared Mordru was no where to be seen.

The smoke began to clear however, as a large wind began to pick up. The wind continued to grow stronger and stronger while increasing in area. Eventually the cloud dragon became the epicenter of the large swirling vortex of air. The wind's strength proved too much for the magic holding the cloud together and it was forcefully dispersed, revealing Dr. Strange at its center. Strange held up his hands in order to protect his face from the wind's onslaught. Suddenly, the air with in the vortex began to rapidly cool, much faster than was naturally possible. Before he knew it, Strange found himself in a large globe of ice, held aloft by the buffeting winds. Then, from out of the clouds, Mordru reappeared, his clothes and body covered in various burn marks from Dr. Strange's previous attack. Holding his hands above his head, Mordru gathered a large amount of magical energy before launching it at the ice globe, shattering it and sending Dr. Strange plummeting to the ground, surrounded by shards of ice.

Dr. Strange was able to levitate himself just above the ground, halting a fatal fall. As he righted himself, Mordru descended from above, and landed gracefully on the ground.

"Enough games, Doctor," Mordru said with a sinister grin, "Time to die,"

"We'll see about that," Dr. Strange replied.

At that, both wizards shot powerful magical blasts at each other, which collided with tremendous force. The two blasts formed a large ball of energy that continued to grow as the adversaries poured more power into their attacks. Suddenly, the ball began to spark and pulse ominously before exploding violently, sending both wizards flying back.

Dr. Strange rolled a few feet before coming to a stop with a groan. Slowly he opened his eyes…and looking straight down Bigby's snout to his large yellow eyes.

"My, what big eyes you have," Strange groaned as he rolled onto his side.

"Funny," Bigby replied, "How ya feelin' Doc?"

"I've been better," Strange replied, before he noticed Diana standing beside him and offering him a hand up, which he accepted.

"Your friend seems to be doing better," Bigby stated, motioning to where Mordru was rising to his feet while drawing in power from the area around him.

"Great," Strange sighed.

"Perhaps a change in tactics is in order?" suggested the booming voice of Thor as he descended from the air.

"Alright, any suggestions?" Dr. Strange asked.

"We could let him out," said Frau, as she walked up to the group.

Dr. Strange paused as he gave Frau a hard, appraising gaze, "Do you think we can control him?" he asked.

"Between the two of us…possibly" she replied with a shrug, "But a rapid dog on a leash is more useful than one in a cage."

Dr. Strange paused, in deep thought, before he let out a loud sigh, "Fine, we need to somehow counter Mordru's advantage in this place. We'll need the Stranger for this."

"Already working on it, dearie" Frau replied, moving her hands about as magical energy condensed in front of her.

"Do you think you three can buy us a few minutes?" Dr. Strange asked Bigby, Thor and Diana.

"I was not aware one could purchase the passage of time, Stephen Strange," Thor replied with a confused expression.

Bigby let out a sigh while shaking his head, "Sure Doc, we'll hold him off while you and the witch do your hocus pocus."

"Alright, good luck," Dr. Strange replied before beginning enchantments of his own.

Turning around, Bigby faced where Mordru was standing, an aura of magical energy surrounding him.

"All right, let's do this," Bigby said, before he charged at Mordru, Diana and Thor right behind him.

"What have we here?" Mordru said to himself as he eyed the attacking heroes. Then he looked past them and saw Frau and Strange performing a spell together.

"Oh, I see," Mordru said before charging blasts of energy in his hands, "Well, we can't have that, now can we?"

"SCATTER!" shouted Bigby as Mordru shot a blast of magical energy at them. Bigby and Diana dodged to the sides, while Thor went over it. With a roar, Thor descended from the sky, hammer raised to strike. Mordru side stepped Thor's attack, which left a small crater where he had been previously standing. Making a backhanding motion, Mordru struck Thor with an invisible force which caused him to stumble back a bit, giving Mordru the opportunity to blast him in the gut, sending him flying back.

As Mordru watched Thor roll to a stop, he heard Diana charging at him from behind. Whirling around, he shot a burst of magic into the ground, which caused a pillar of the glass-like ground between him and her. With a shout, Diana punched the obstacle, cracking it. Then gripping the sides of the pillar, she broke the pillar off the ground and lifted it above her head, preparing to strike Mordru. The wizard merely smiled at her before waving his hand, causing the pillar to liquefy. Gesturing with his hands, Mordru caused the liquid glass to from a globe around Diana, before solidifying it, trapping her in a glass orb, before flinging it away with another gesture.

As the glass globe rolled away, Bigby lunged at Mordru, jaws open to attack him. As Bigby was about to strike him, Mordru blasted him with a magic bolt, sending him flying away. Bigby rolled to his feet, before taking a deep breath and blowing a large funnel of wind at Mordru. Mordru responded by casting a spell to create a funnel of his own. The two attacks met in a large blast of air, the two attacks fighting for dominance. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning shot out of Mordru's funnel and flew at Bigby, unhindered by the wind. The attack struck Bigby and sent him flying backwards, rolling to a stop a few yards away with a smoking wound in his side.

Mordru smiled at his handiwork, before his attention was drawn to the magic being built up from the spell Frau and Dr. Strange were performing. Levitating himself off the ground, Mordru flew full speed at them. Mordru charged up a magic blast as he flew, ready to unleash it when he was close enough. He began laughing wickedly as he prepared to smash the ball between the two. However, he was interrupted by a large flash that blinded him, allowing someone to knock the ball from his hand, dispelling it. Before he could regain his senses, he felt someone grab the front of his tunic. Eventually, his vision cleared…and he found himself being held by the Phantom Stranger.

"Hello Mordru," the Stranger said, before blasting him with his free hand. As Mordru sailed through the air, the Stranger turned to address Dr. Strange and Frau.

"So what can I do for you, Doctor?" he asked.

"We need you help to summon someone else,"

"The Specter?"

"Exactly," replied Frau.

"You realize how dangerous that is?" the Stranger questioned, sternly.

"We're out of options here, Stranger," Dr. Strange explained, "This place gives him ungodly amount of power and we need something to counteract that."

"Fine, but don't blame me if this blows up in our faces," he replied dryly.

"You need us to buy you some time?" Strange asked.

"Please, I've been his warden for centuries. I be disappointed in myself if I wasn't ready for something like this by now,"

Stretching his hands to his sides, he began chanting while a strange green energy surrounded him. Then, a circle of arcane symbols appeared around him, written in the same green energy. As the Stranger continued to chant, green smoke began rise from the symbols, forming a large cloud above him. Suddenly, the Stranger ceased his chanting with one last powerful word, which was immediately replaced by a large roar as the Specter emerged from the smoke, his cloak becoming part of the cloud at its bottom. Mordru, having righted himself midair, was forced to shield his eyes as a blast of wind blew the smoke away, revealing the Specter's full formed. The evil wizard's eyes widened before they narrowed in determination. Thor on the other hand, looked on in awe as he picked himself up off the ground.

"The Spirit of Vengeance," Thor whispered to himself, "Indeed, you are an even greater Sorcerer than I imagined Stephen Strange."

"Doctor, Frau, NOW!" the Stranger shouted before he continued chanting. At the command, both Frau and Strange threw their hands up towards the Specter, causing large chains to appear and shoot forward, wrapping themselves around the Specter's arms and chest. Before the Specter could react, the Stranger cast another enchantment, causing magic symbols to slither off the chains and cover his entire body, forcing him to go rigid.

"So Stranger, to what do I owe to this sudden parole?" the Specter asked in a booming voice.

"We require your aid, Specter!" replied Dr. Strange.

"Ah, the Sorcerer Supreme himself has summoned me," the Specter noted, before turning his gaze to Frau "And the child killer as well. So many sins here to punish, but I suppose I was brought here to defeat a specific threat, was I not?"

"Correct," Dr. Strange answered, "The dark wizard Mordru is trying to escape, and we need you to stop him."

"Mordru." Specter spat, "To many times has that worm slipped through my fingers over the centuries. I will relish the chance to end him."

"No Specter we need him alive!"

"We will see" Specter muttered before he took off to the skies, the chains lengthening to allow him movement. Mordru's eyes hardened as he saw the Specter's massive form heading towards him. Holding his hands out in front of him, he began peppering the Specter with magic blasts, but Specter shook them off like they were nothing. Then, when the Specter was right on top of him, Mordru shot the Flames of the Faltine at him. The powerful Flames engulfed the Specter, stopping him as they raged around him. Suddenly, the Flames were dispersed by a powerful blast of wind, revealing the Specter unharmed within.

"I've come to expect better from you Mordru," the Specter mocked as he reached his hands out towards Mordru.

"Oh don't worry old friend, I'm just getting started! Crimson Bands of Cyttorak!" Mordru shouted as red bands of energy appeared around Specter and enclosed on him, binding his arms to his sides. Then the bands began to glow green before the symbols covering the Specter's body appeared on them as well. The Specter struggled against his restraints, but to no avail.

"HA! You must be joking, Strange!" Mordru mocked, "You summon the Specter to battle the likes of me, but then put so many restraints on him that his powers only match what you normally tap into. This was just too easy, especially working your own enchantments against you. All you've done is enable me to finish off an even older enemy of mine."

Dr. Strange gritted his teeth as he tried to think of a way out of this. After a few seconds he came to one conclusion, but he didn't like it.

"Frau, cut your chains," he said without even looking at her.

"Are you sure, if I do that he might escape and kill us all," she replied evenly.

"And if you don't we're all dead anyway, so do it!"

"Alright dearie, if that's what you want," she said and with a wave of her hands, her chains vanished.

'They wouldn't,' Mordru thought to himself. Suddenly, Specter's large hand shot forward, destroying the bands holding him, and wrapped around Mordru's body.

"Now I have you," the Specter growled.

"That's what you think," Mordru replied, before a blast of energy exploded out from him, destroying the Specter's hand and freeing him. As Mordru flew away, the Specter looked emotionlessly at were his hand use to be, before a cloud of green smoke rose from the end of his arm and formed a new hand, good as new. Turning away from his hand, he shot off after Mordru, quickly gaining on the frightened wizard. As he flew the storm clouds covering the sky followed him, creating a long, streaming tail of storm clouds. Turning around, Mordru charged up as much energy as he could and fired it at the Specter, but the blast passed through him like he was part of the clouds. Before Mordru could prepare another spell, the Specter was upon him, tackling him and slamming him into the ground, the tail of storm clouds enveloping them. The clouds formed a sphere around the two, lightning bolts flashing within, allowing glimpses inside as the Specter brutally beat Mordru with his bare hands. Suddenly, the shadow of the Specter vanished before he reappeared, larger than before, outside the sphere. Grasping the sphere in his massive hand, the Specter lifted up to eye level, before he squeezed it, causing a massive surge of lightning bolts to go off within, Mordru's pained cry's giving testament to the viciousness of the attack. Then, Specter then opened his hand and turned it upside down, allowing the smoking form of Mordru to fall to the ground below. Mordru began to hack uncontrollably as he lay helpless on the ground, before the Specter appeared above him, human-sized.

"May God have mercy on your soul," he stated as he lifted his foot to crush Mordru, "For you shall receive none from me,"

But as Specter brought his foot down on Mordru's head, a golden lasso shot out and wrapped around the dark wizard, before pulling him to safety in Diana's arms.

"You will not interfere, heathen!" Specter shouted before stopping towards Diana, only to stop as he felt his other set of chains fall off.

"That's quite all right Specter," stated Dr. Strange as he walked up to Diana's side, "But your services are now longer required. You are dismissed."

Turning around, the Specter saw the Stranger standing behind him. Before he could react, the Stranger snapped his fingers and Specter began transforming back into a cloud of green smoke from the feet up. He managed to let out a cry of anguish before he completely dispersed and the cloud flowed into the Stranger's waiting hand, seemingly being absorbed into it.

"Pleasant as always," Strange commented as the Specter was dismissed, before turning to Diana and placing a hand on her shoulder, "Thank you for that, Princess. That was quite an act of quick thinking,"

A blank stare was all he received.

"And you still can't understand a word I'm saying. Well that's fixed easily enough," he said before he placed a hand on Diana's head and spoke a few words under his breath, causing his hand and Diana's eyes to flash blue.

"There, how's that Diana? Can you understand me now?"

"Y-yes," Diana said a bit awkwardly, "Th-that's much better, Stephen Strange,"

"Good, just give it time and you speaking English with the best of them,"

"Th-that's good, s-so what do you want me to do with him?" she asked, holding up the still smoking Mordru.

"Well, will your lasso hold him until we can get him back into the Well?"

"I b-believe so, the enchantments on the Lasso of T-Truth will contain all b-but the most p-powerful beings,"

"Did you say Lasso of Truth?" he asked.

"Yes, the Lasso c-compels all with in it t-to tell the t-truth."

Suddenly, Dr. Strange leaped forward and grasped Mordru by the tunic, pulling him up to face, "Listen to me, I know you have always been to powerful for the Veritaserum but you're not strong enough to resist this. What are the Lords of Chaos planning?"

Despite being semi-conscious, it was apparent that Mordru heard the question and was trying with all his strength to resist telling.

"Shu-Shum…SHUM!" Mordru said as he tried to resist the lasso's magic.

"Out with it, damn you!"

"Shuma-Gorath…Anung un Rama…Source…Gr-Great Evil B-"

"SILENCE YOU FOOL!!" shouted Circe from were she was rising to her shaking feet. Then, suddenly, she vanished in a poof of black smoke, quickly followed by the others she was with, before Mordru himself vanished in a puff of smoke, right out of the Lasso.

"Diana, what happened!?" Strange exclaimed.

"I don't k-know Stephen Strange. O-only a being of im-mense power could do th-that. Wh-What does this mean?"

"Nothing good, I can assure you that much," he said darkly, "Nothing good at all."

"Stephen! Come quickly!" called Clea from some distance away. Looking up, Dr. Strange quickly rushed over to where Clea was kneeled over Blue's prone body.

"Oh God, is he still breathing?" Dr. Strange asked as he kneeled down beside him, while the others stood around them.

"I-I don't think so," Clea said trying to fight back the tears that threatened to over flow from her eyes.

"Damn it, he's not breathing," Strange cursed, "I need to perform CPR."

"Let me do it," Bigby said as he transformed back into human form.

"Why does that make any difference?" Strange asked.

Bigby gave him an "are-you-kidding-me?" look in return.

"Right," Dr. Strange replied before stepping aside. Bigby then positioned himself next to Blue's body, and began pumping on his chest with his hands after tilting his head back and opening his mouth. After pumping a half-dozen times, Bigby put his mouth against Blue's and blew. Only, Bigby being who he was, put much more force into his breath than most. Blue's body jolted upwards, before his eyes shot open and he began coughing wildly. Looking to his side, he saw Bibgy kneeling next to him, before putting a hand to his mouth and crying out in disgust after putting two and two together. Turning back to look at Bigby, he saw that he was naked from his transformation, and let out another cry of disgust before Bigby bashed him over the head.

"Shut up kid, I did it to save your life," he said, angrily.

"Yeah well, you could have let the hot Amazon do it," Blue said, pointing at Diana, which earned him another bonk on the head, this time from Diana.

"Ow! Hey, you understood what I said?" he asked.

"Yes, is th-there anything else you w-would like to say?" she asked.

"No, no," he said quickly, causing the others to laugh.

"Um, Doc," Blue stated, "how are we going to get out of here?"

Hell, the Lords of Chaos Meeting Chamber

A large puff of smoke signaled the arrival of the three Lords of Chaos and their cohorts. The remaining Lords of Chaos sat in their respective seats, looking at the group before them. Slowly, Loki leaned forward in his chair, resting his head in his hand.

"So, did you get him?" he asked.

"Yes we did," replied Enchantress, rising to her feet, "Though we met heavier resistance than we expected."

"We saw," stated Trigon, "Thor and the Princess Diana were there, a rather unexpected development."

"We also saw how you weren't able to stop them from prying information out of him," Lucifer spat.

"Lucifer we tried!" cried Circe, "We couldn't stop them, but they were to strong,"

"She's right Lucifer," spoke the Lord still hidden in shadows with a deep voice, "It's not there fault that the scum went picking fights and couldn't hold his tongue."

At that he rose from his seat, revealing himself in the light. He was a large, hulking man, with grey, almost stone like skin and glowing red eyes. He wore a one piece black outfit of an unknown material, which included a hood that covered the top of his bald head. He also wore black gloves and boots and a belt around his waist.

"Darkseid, please," Mordru pleaded, "I couldn't help it. The Princess, her Lasso had an enchantment on it. I couldn't resist it."

"Then you are weak," he said as he walked over to him, before pushing him over with his foot.

"Darkseid, don't kill me," Mordru begged.

"No I won't kill you," Darkseid stated, as he placed his large foot on Mordru's chest, "You are still of some use to us. You will merely be…punished." At that his eyes glowed brighter before red beams of energy shot out of them, striking Mordru in the chest. Mordru screamed out in pain as the beams burned into his chest. This only seemed to prod Darkseid on, increasing the beam's power and Mordru's screams with them, adding to the orchestra of pain and suffering ringing through out the plane.

Sanctum Sanctorium, Metropolis, the next day

Thor gazed intently into the large glass globe Dr. Strange had provided for him. Within was the image of a man that Dr. Strange had identified as the green faced man, his name revealed to be Stanley Ipkiss. He sat within a room resembling a library, playing with a small white and brown dog, which ran about energetically. Stanley laughed at the small dog's antics, before a young, dark haired girl entered the scene and began to play with the dog.

"He seems to be doing well," said Diana as she walked up behind Thor.

"Yes, he seems to have found a place safe from Loki,"

"I guess that means we no longer need to search for him."

"No I suppose it does not," he said before touching the globe, "until our paths cross again, Stanley Ipkiss,"

Thor rose form his seat, leaving the room the globe was in, followed quickly by Diana. As they left, the image of Stanley froze before fading into the foggy recesses of the glass ball.

"So, now what shall we do?" Diana asked.

"Well you are welcome to stay with us for as ever long as you need," said Doctor Strange as he and Clea walked around a corner to greet them.

"Are you sure Stephen Strange? We do not wish to be a burden," Diana said.

"Please, I would fell like I had insulted the gods themselves if I, as the Sorcerer Supreme, not allow the Son of Odin and the Princess of the Amazons to stay here." Strange replied, while Clea nodded enthusiastically.

"Well then, it looks like we have a place to stay. What will we do here?" Diana asked.

"I don't know Diana, but the Fates have yet to steer us wrong. We shall know it what needs to be done when we see it, for our journey is just beginning."

A/N: Well that took longer I thought. But I was really busy this summer, with work and other stuff. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, because it was the most action packed one here. I'm getting started with the next chapter as soon as possible, because this is where everything comes together. Also I hope the clues Mordru gave give you all some idea of what will happen in the future. Until next time, Later True Believer!