AN: (White flag being waved behind a SWAT tactical shield) Hehe, Salutations and bienvenue. I can't even tell you folks how sorry I am for the wait, my dear, and hopefully very forgiving, readers. After I had posted the last chapter I hit the mother of all writers' blocks, plus some personal issues, but I am still very committed to this story and aim to finish it! Speaking of which, on with the show!
It was a somber and a slightly sour mood that Spidy walked in on when he stepped into the Avengers living room, where every member of the Avengers was seated or standing around, the next day. It seemed the death of Cannonball and the kidnapping of Captain Marvel was hitting everyone hard, which was common when tragedy struck a team like this one. Spidy was thoroughly enjoying every sad and angry face he saw as he made his way to sit on a wall like he usually did at these meetings, usually right next to Logan, but the surly Canadian, Sunspot, and Smasher were nowhere to be seen, so he took up position next to Hawkeye and Spider-woman.
As he was taking his seat, Cap and Tony walked in and started the meeting. "Hello everyone, I know this meeting is a bit sudden, but considering the recent events I thought it best that we all convene now rather than later on this week." Said Cap. "As many of you may already know, our friend and teammate Cannonball was murdered by this man," a holographic projection of Spidy in his Overlord suit appeared in the middle of the room, "who calls himself the Spider-Overlord." He paused to wait for the sad and angry murmuring to stop before Tony picked up where he left off.
"We also believe that he has also captured Captain Marvel. Now, normally this would be where we would launch a rescue mission, however, since we don't know where this guy's main base is, we can't do that." That earned the billionaire playboy a roar of outraged protests from practically everyone. Stark raised his hands in surrender, "Now hold on, I didn't say we were giving up! We just need to be more cautious and need to get more information about this guy and his operations."
"We'll keep everyone informed as we keep looking for answers… and our friend. Until then, no one goes on patrol alone. Meeting adjourned. Widow, Spider-man, a word." Said Cap, pointing to the two secret villains. Once the room was emptied, both Spidy and Widow walked up to the two leaders. "Spider-man, do you have any idea where the Spider-Overlord might be holding Captain Marvel?" asked Cap. Spidy's shoulders slumped in defeat, "Yeah, but you're not going to like my answer." He said as he went over to one of the computer terminals that Stark had put in every room of Avengers Tower, put in a thumb drive, and opened the file with all the info he's let Cap know about. "From what I've been able to find out, he's not keeping Carol on any of the bases he has… in this realm." This caught everyone's attention, but it was Stark that spoke up first. "This realm? You mean this guy has access to another plane of existence? Which one? Hell? Jotinhiem? Limbo?"
Spidy shook his head as he brought up several pictures of the Spider-Overlord walking into a Nethergate, "None of them. Apparently, he comes from a place called Neo Netherworld and he only lets a select few actually go there and the only way to get there is if he or one of his generals open the gate." This was only partly true, Shadowland had a special Nethergate that only the Spider-Hand and his generals had access to, but unlike him and his mistress', their gates transported them to the Minion Burrows instead of the throne room.
"I wish I could get you more, but I can't without revealing myself, plus Venom and Mania can only do so much with their beat cop routine. I'm good at P.I. work, but I'm no master spy." Stark gave Cap a sidelong smirk before he turned to Widow. "What a coincidence, we happen to have one on call."
At this, said master spy rolled her eyes. "You have got to be kidding me." She groaned as she turned to Cap, a scowl marring her beautiful face. "Steve, you can't honestly be suggesting that I work with this unprofessional, undisciplined, and obnoxious clown," she turns to Spidy, "no offence." She says as an afterthought. Spidy looks at her incredulously "Oh yeah, I'm totally not offended by those incredibly offensive things that you said." He deadpanned.
Widow gestured to Spidy, "See, this is what I'm talking about, I'd rather work alone or with Deadpool then with this-" Cap cut her off by raising his hand in a silencing gesture, took a deep breath, and fixed Widow with a hard look. "This man has committed dozens of crimes, kidnapped and killed dozens of people, our friends included on both counts." He said in a stern voice, making Natasha looked chastised for complaining.
"Now I don't care what problems you have with our choice of partner for you, you have a mission and you need to complete it. The fact of the matter is Spider-man knows more about the Spider-Overlords organization than anyone else on our side and he can get you inside. He'll have your back Nat, I trust him." Cap placed a hand on her shoulder in a reassuring gesture. Widow reluctantly nodded her head in acceptance of her situation. "We won't let you down Steve, we'll get Carol back and bring this bastard down." Said Widow with fiery determination in her eyes. Cap seemed pleased with her response and dismissed her and Spidy, unaware that thanks to him, everything was going exactly as Rex had planned.
SOSOSOSOSOSOSO
Spidy and Widow quickly left Avengers tower, but because of the security cameras, they decided to meet up later to discuss how to get Widow into Shadowland and made their way to one of the recently set up Nethergates near the tower separately. Once at the location, a warehouse at the docks, they gave each other victorious smirks, activated their suits, minus their masks, and entered the gate.
As they reached the throne room and were slowly descending to the floor, Rex pulled Natasha to him with one arm, causing her to reflexively put her arms around his neck, and used his other arm to pull her in for a quick but passionate kiss. When they landed on the ground, Spidy broke the kiss and looked down at her with a wicked grin on his face as he rested his clawed hand on her cheek while still having her flush against him. "That was excellent Nat, Stark and Rogers definitely bought that."
Widow gave a coy smile at him as she leaned into his touch. "Thank you, my lord. I knew if I acted like a child, Steve would act like the superior officer he thinks he is, tune everything else out, and guilt me into doing what he wanted. Captain America has always had one constant weakness: his friends and allies. If just one person on his team isn't focused on helping someone else on said team, he'll drop everything to straighten that person out."
Rex let out a low chuckle as he leaned down to her, so close that his lips were ghosting hers. "I love it when you talk about your former friends like that. It proves that you are wholly mine." Widow bit her lip as she hooked one of her legs with his, "Show me that I am yours, my lord." She said in a low and seductive whisper.
Right as they were about to close the very small distance between them, Hobminion came zooming in. "Boss! I did it! I fou-!" that was all he got out before he ducked behind a large stalactite, nearly being hit by both a fireball and automatic gunfire. Urich peaked out from behind the rock formation to see his boss and one of his mistress' glaring at him with one of Spidys hand and one of Widows wrist mounted guns pointing at him, both still smoking from their recent use.
"This had better be good." Said Spidy as he and Widow released each other. Hoby quickly shook off his momentary fear of his boss and flew down to him. "It is boss, I think I just got a lock on Os-" before Hoby could finish, Satana, with Gnarl right at her heels huffing and puffing from the exertion, came rushing in with a large leather book in her hands. "My lord, I've done it, I've found the spell that-" yet another interruption comes into the throne room, this one taking the form of Sable and Valkyrie leading a procession of six Spider-Hand, who were dragging a beaten, bloody, and knocked out woman with distinctive green hair, bound in chains.
"I see we're not the only ones with good news for our lord." Said Sable. Spidy Stepped away from Natasha, much to her inner disappointment, and made the time out hand sign. "Hold it! Before someone else comes running in with some important news, call the others in so we can have a proper meeting." He said to the room at large, the minions in the throne room scurrying to complete the task their master gave them. In a matter of minutes, the throne room is once again occupied by Rex's Mistress', his scientists (now including Spider-Slayer), and his generals (now including Scorpion, Vulture, and Sandman). "Okay, now that everyone's here, Sable," He turned his head to look at her, "since you came with a present, why don't you go first."
She nodded as she snapped her fingers and the six Spider-Hand dragged their prisoner to her feet, pulling her up by her hair so that he can see her face. "My lord, may I present Ophelia Sarkissian, who is more commonly known as-" "Madame freakin' Hydra." Finished Spidy, a big smile on his face as he looked down at the head of Hydra. "Love the initiative Sable. Thanks to you, Hydra will be mine. (AN: Before people start calling me a Nazi sympathizer, Hydra is not the Nazis! They were around waaayy before WWII [then called the Brotherhood of the spear] and showed up after the war. Ok, yes, they have ties to the Nazis, but the only thing they have in common is world domination, not an idiotic notion of a "master race". I hate Nazis and would never support such a vile system! Fuck Hitler and the Red Skull.) How the hell did you pull this off?"
Sable gave her husband a smug smile, "It really wasn't that difficult: after receiving the information on her whereabouts from the main branch of the Hand, Valkyrie and I handpicked the best of our Spider-Hand ninjas and infiltrated her fortress on Madripoor." She paused for a moment in thought, "By the way, after we've taken over Hydra, we might want to think about upgrading their security protocols." She finally said as an afterthought.
Rex gestured to the Spider-Hand holding Viper to wake her as his helmet formed around him. The ninja did so by back handing the woman across the face. Viper groaned as she slowly opened her eyes to look around. When her eyes landed on Spidy, he gave a little wave from his throne. "Hi!" He said in a chipper tone. Viper immediately tried to struggle against her chains, but two ninjatō at her neck stopped her. She looked back up at her captor, a look of slight contempt marring her beautiful face.
"There are easier ways to get my attention." She said in a dry tone, "Especially if you don't want the full force of Hydra calling out for your head on a platter." Rex put his hand to his chin in a thoughtful pose, before firing a webline at her throat, yanked on said line, causing her to fly towards him, the Spider-Hand releasing the chains as she was pulled out of their grasp, Rex catching her by her throat while still sitting in his throne.
"Let's make three things clear," he said as he tightened his hold on her neck and sent a quick burst of electricity into Viper. Viper grit her teeth and swallowed her scream from the short, but insanely painful electrocution. She refused to appear weaker to this bastard then she already was due to her current position. "You have been brought to my feat, beaten and bloody, not to be my prisoner, not for information, not for an alliance, but to be the tool I use to take over your organization, and to do that I will make you the first of Hydra to bow before me as your new master." Before Viper could say a word, Rex let loose the full force of his Evil Presence spell.
This time, Viper did scream. When she stopped screaming and thrashing, Viper looked to Rex and said, "What do you wish of me, master?" Rex cut his eyes to the Spider-Hand, who quickly removed the chains and helped Viper to her feet as he released her. "I want you to return to Madripoor and tell your people that Hydra belongs to me." Viper nodded "Yes my lord, and how would you like me to deal with those who will not serve you?" Spidy gave her a wicked grin, "Public and brutal execution." He then dismissed her, and, with a bow of her head, she quickly left with the Spider-Hand following her.
Once she was gone, Spidy addressed Hobminion. "All right, what do you have for me Hoby?" Hobminion stepped forward and activated the holo screen. On it were images of thugs, mostly dead, with a very familiar tattoo. "Ever since we found out that Osborn was awake, I've had our guys on the lookout anyone with this tat, anyone that does brings them to me for a "chat". Most of the guys we picked up were castoffs and deserters from gangs we took over and every single one of 'em seems to have drank the Osborn Kool-Aid, but not all of them." He said with a sadistic smirk as he brought up a video of a torture session with Hoby threating a goblin nationalist with a power drill, when he screamed for him to stop before the video cut out.
"They call themselves the Goblin Nation and it turns out Osborn's set up shop in one of the old Morlock tunnel systems in the New York sewers." Rex was thoughtful for a second before asking "Did he say which one?" he asked. Hobminion grimaced at that as he brought up a blueprint of the old sewer system, "Yeah, but the problem is that the area where this guy is from is not the main base. Osborn has commandeered most of the old tunnels around the city, keeping clusters of his guys in different sections and no one from one section knows where the other is, let alone where Osborn is staying." He switched off the screen and turned to his boss. "I think we should send some cloaked Spider-bots to map out the tunnel system to find Osborn and his cronies, then send in the troops."
Spidy chewed this over in his mind for a bit before nodding his head "Do it. I want Osborn and his little cult dead as soon as possible." Unnoticed above them, a Spider-bot's, one of many that Spidy had roaming the tower to act as an alarm system, eyes turned green for a moment before returning to normal. Rex turned to Satana and Gnarl and addressed them, "Last but not least, what do you the two have for me?"
They quickly took Hobys place before him and Gnarl started things off. "My lord, after extensive research on the subject and a thorough study, lady Satana and I believe we've created the spells necessary to break through the Sanctum Sanctorum's defiance's and to get your revenge on the Sorcerer Supreme!" said Gnarl in victorious, and somewhat smug, tone. Spidy was impressed but a little dubious; he didn't doubt his mistress or minion master's abilities (okay, after being stuck with Parker for so long, he doubted Gnarls a bit), but people have claimed the same thing for years and Strange was still around.
Apparently, Valkyrie was thinking on the same lines. "How are you so certain that your witchcraft can best the greatest sorcerer of this dimension?" She asked. When Rex turned his head to face her, she bowed her head "I mean no disrespect my lord, but I have fought alongside Stephen Strange and I know his power and skill." Rex waved the apology off "No need to apologize, Brunnhilde, if you have something to contribute, then do so. I want warriors and strategists, not sheep. Besides, I was thinking the exact same thing." He said returning his gaze to the Succubus and the old minion "Well?"
Satana smirked, she knew this question would come up and she was ready for it. "Like Gnarl said my lord, he and I have been doing extensive research into defeating the Sorcerer Supreme, and what we have found to be the best solution is to drain him and his home of their magical energy, or mana." Gnarl then stepped forward, "During the war with the 'Glorious' Empire and the Sanctuaries, your father commissioned Giblet to create two weapons, a sword and an axe, that could steal the mana from the magic users and the life from solders and creatures that were foolish enough to stand against him. The weapons, unfortunately, were lost when our world fell, but Giblet remembers how he forged them and can replicate the enchantments onto your existing weapons."
"While that is very impressive and useful for your fight with Strange," said Satana, "This will not allow us to steal the source of his powers." Satana then opened the book in her hands and turned it to show him its contents, which consisted of diagrams of magic circles, paragraphs in an unknown language, and picture of a horned creature with a large golden mask. The odd thing about the image is that every time he looked away from it, he seemed to forget that it was there.
'Okay, weird.' He thought. "This my lord," said Satana, "Is a spell created by your grandmother, Rose, who was the former mistress to Overlord Infernus and leader of the Seekers of Magic. She created this spell to bind the forgotten god's power to her so that she could use it to open the Infernal Abyss, so your grandfather could return, but to complete the spell she needed an enormous amount of raw magical energy. To accomplish this, she allied herself with the Glorious Empire, founded the Seekers of Magic, and started hunting all manner of magical creatures to be drained and processed into the raw magical energy she needed."
"Unfortunately, or fortunately in our case sire," said Gnarl, "Emperor Solarius, who was really that uppity tree hugging Elf, Florian Greenheart, used the collected magic for himself." Gnarl scoffed at that, "Stupid Elf, he used too much of it and turned himself into a giant slug monster, destroying half of his capital city!" Ignoring Gnarl, Rex looked to Satana, "This was a fun walk down memory lane, but I can't help but feel that the big take away from this story is that to complete this spell, we're going to need an enormous amount of magical energy to even do this."
He looked to his hand as he lifted it up, conjuring a fireball in it and summoning lightning to ark up and down his arm, "I might be new at this whole magic stuff, and while I have no doubt that I am probably one of the strongest magic users in this dimension," he closed his fist, banishing the fire and lightning, "I'm pretty sure I don't have access to the required amount magical energy we need." he turned to face them again, "So I hope you have a solution to this problem."
"We do my lord," said Satana as she activated the holo screen, showing several images of an obsidian skull that had swirls of blood red in it. "This my lord is called the Sorcerers Folly, a relic of a bygone era and of great magical power. Eons ago, a worshiper of my father tried to prove his devoutness to him by spilling the blood of a hundred other sorcerers, harvest their magic and offer it to him. Unfortunately, the sorcerer was foolish enough to try and contain the magic in himself."
Vulture spoke up then "If I may be so bold, the result of which ended in the deaths of one hundred and one dead sorcerers, am I correct Ms. Hellstrom?" Satana nodded her head, "You are correct and incorrect, Mr. Toomes. The sorcerer did indeed die, but he took a whole city with him. The magical energy overloaded, sent a pulse wave outward in a two-hundred-mile radius, which then took the life force from everyone in said radius, then imploded back to its source, killing the sorcerer, leaving only his blacked and crystalized skull, and trapping all the power and souls inside it."
"Very impressive Satana." Said Rex, his voice dripping with malevolent glee, "I trust you either have this skull or at least know where we can find it?" Satana nodded, smirking in pride at pleasing her lord and husband, "Yes my lord," she said as she brought up images of an image of the skull in a museum display, "The skull has recently been put on loan from the British Natural History Museum to the Smithsonian." Satana then brought up floor plans and a 3D model for the Smithsonian, "I propose we send one of the Spider-hand or perhaps Natasha or Sable to acquire it for you, my lord." Rex smirked at that.
"It's a good idea, Satana, however," he said as he got up from his throne, looking at the pictures and plans of the museum, a sinister smirk slowly growing on his face, "I think I have a different thief in mind."
SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO
That night
Manhattan, Midtown
It was beautiful out, as night descended on the island of Manhattan. The sky was clear, it was cool out, the moon was full and bright, and a penthouse apartment was being broken into. Felicia Hardy, A.K.A the Black Cat, had just relieved the owners of the penthouse, who were out to a social event, of all of their most valuable goods. She was feeling pretty good about this haul but couldn't help but feel like she hadn't really earned it. The security system was easy to bypass, the painting safe was laughable, and the owners hadn't even bothered to hide their most valuable pieces. Hell, she didn't even have to use her bad luck powers to help her out! Where was the fun in that?
It was times like these that she wished her favorite spandex wearing spider would show up and try to stop her. She lived for those moments, her spider was the only one to really give her a challenge; but a part of her, the dark and very bad part of her, couldn't help but wish that he would give up his stupid Boy Scout routine and join her on this side of the law. She'd tried to do the hero thing a few times, but eventually she always came back to this side of the moral spectrum.
It wasn't like it was hard for her to be good, she just always seemed to draw the short straw whenever she did the hero thing. She knew why her spider did what he did, his stupid since of responsibility. She placed those thoughts away for now as she made her leave from a skylight and onto the tiled roof. "Hello Cat."
'Speak of the devil.' She thought with a smile on her face "Ooh. Along came a spider." She said as she slowly turned around to face him "And here I thought tonight was going to be all work and no fun." She fully turned to him and saw the spider she knew in all his red and blue webbed glory.
"Well we can't have that, now can we?" he said as he got closer to her. Something was different about him, she could tell from the swagger he was sporting, it screamed a level of confidence he had never really had before. "You seem different Spider, you seem surer of yourself then the last time we saw each other." Spidy chuckled at that.
"Your right, I am different," his suit started to melt and shift into armor, "You could say I've gained a new perspective." Cat is instantly on her guard, dropping her satchel of stolen goods and getting in a fighting stance, the claws in her gloves extending. "Come on Cat, there's no need for us to fight," he says with his hands held up in a placating manner. "I just came here to talk and make you an offer." Cat didn't change her stance, "Your reputation proceeds you, Spider-Overlord, so forgive me if I keep my claws out in case you decide to try and kill me."
"Like I said Cat, I'm here to talk and make you an offer," Cat couldn't see it, but she could feel the smirk on his face, "Plus, just because I have a new look and a new view on life, doesn't mean I'm not the same person you fell in love with." His helmet then shifts, revealing his face, and that was the moment that Cats brain exploded. She clutched her head as a flood of memories enter her mind. She started to wobble and was about to fall, but Rex caught her before she fell.
"Sorry, about this Cat, breaking Strange's spell is going to hurt like hell, but it's necessary for you to remember me." He looked down at her and caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers as her eyes were darting all around her. "What was that idiot thinking, taking forever to fall for you, only to throw you away time and time again."
She screamed as her mind felt like it was going through a meat grinder. Inside her head and through the pain, she saw images of moments in her life that she had never experienced, or thought she hadn't, or did she? She…. was remembering… remembering her time with Spider-man…. no wait, that's not his name…. his name is- "Peter?" she croaked against his chest. "No," he said with a small growl before switching to a gentler tone "not anymore, but that's not important now, but what is important is this," he slowly got her to her feet and made her face him by softly gripping her shoulders, "you were right, I shouldn't have wasted my life with holding back and being stupidly selfless when no one appreciated what I did for them and was even vilified by them."
He slid his hands down her arms so that he could take her hands in his, causing her eyes and mind to clear as she focused on him and his words. "I'm sorry for taking so long to see that, to really see that, but now my eyes are open and I'm ready to use my power to take what I want and what I deserve." As he said that small sparks of blue electrical energy ark around his hands. 'No, I need her to join me willingly.' he thought as he looked deep into her eyes. "And what I want is you Felicia. Join me, Cat, together we'll live the life of royalty and take whatever we want and screw the consequences."
Cat was quite as she processed this information. Spider-man was Peter Parker and they had made a life together, but she had forgotten all about somehow (it was probably magic, it's always magic, clones, or mad science when it comes to her spider). He was done being a hero, so much so that he became the Spider-Overlord, a super villain that was on the track to gain Dr. Doom status. Those two thoughts paled in comparison to this final thought: He accepted, encouraged, wanted, and loved her.
That's all she ever wanted from someone she gave her heart to: acceptance, not forced change. Then she stopped looking at the temptation and looked at the facts: he had killed people, made enemies of Earths mightiest hero's, and ruled the New York gangs with a brutal iron fist. But did she care? She's done the hero thing, but she always seemed to get the raw end of the deal when she wore her white hat. Felicia was a gambler at heart, that's how she's always lived her life, and this would be no different. So she threw caution to the wind and cast the die of fate.
Cat violently pulled on Rexes hands, causing him to stumble towards her, where she closed the distance between their faces. The kiss was chaste compared to what they've done in the past, but this one was filled with the love she felt for him, because he was right, damn the consequences. She was no saint and sooner or later, she would have eventually taken the next step in her career and become a brutal crime boss or something like that, might as well do what she's always done: go for the gold.
Rex broke the kiss, a satisfied smirk on his face. "Shot in the dark, but that was a yes right?" she smirked right back as she took his face in her hands. "Shut up and kiss me Spider." He did, and Felicia knew she made the right choice, even though it means she just sold her soul, she would gladly walk through Hell if it meant she's walking right behind her Spider.
SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO
One month later
Greenwich Village
New York
Everything was calm on Bleecker Street, a rare occurrence considering that 177A was where the famous (or perhaps infamous would be the more correct term) Dr. Stephen Strange resided and did the voodoo he does so well, quite literally in fact. The other residents of Greenwich Village were no strangers to the odd goings on of this dimension Sorcerer Supreme; be it ghosts, demons, or interdimensional horrors, they had seen it all.
His neighbors didn't much care, they minded their own business, got along with and even swapped recipes, housekeeping and gardening tips with Wong, and made sure their home owners' insurance covered acts of Super hero/villain and magic. "As long as he doesn't paint his house in magenta stripes and lime polka dots, we don't care." His neighbors would joke when asked. They'd soon regret that mindset.
The ground in front of 177A began to rumble and shake before a large obsidian drill burst from the ground, opening up into a six-pronged claw with a stream of blue light pouring out of it. Out of the light came Spidy, Satana, Valkyrie, and Cat, now in her new Superior Spider-tech suit (AN: the costume she's wearing in the All New, All Different Marvel story line, except for a Spider-Overlord symbol charm on a black leather choker).
As Rex walked off the Nether gate, the spawning portals spewed out five Blues, five Reds, five Yellows, ten Purples, ten Greens, and twenty Browns that immediately fell into step behind their master. When Rex got to the Sanctums door he gestured towards the ground, making a glowing red magic circle to appear, and slowly raised his hand up, bring with it his new redesigned Asgardian staff (AN: I'll have the design on my Deviantart page after I post this).
Acquiring the Sorcerers Folly proved to only be a slight challenge for Cat after she was fitted with her new Superior Spider-tech, which included micro servos embedded into it to increase her natural physical attributes, a cloaking device that used the synthetic symbiote that the suit was made of to completely encompass her body to make her completely invisible from all forms of sight, and a segmented arcanium whip she wore as a belt. Add her bad luck powers to the mix, and they might as well have given her the keys. She got the skull, leaving a fake in its place so that no one was the wiser and in case the skull was being watched by magic groups or S.H.E.I.L.D. (can't be too careful with objects of great power like this).
Rex took the staff and pointed it at the sanctums doors, a complicated red magic circle appearing right before it fires a beam of red energy at it, but the doors seemed to be holding. Rex gritted his teeth as he poured more power into his staff and the spell, finally succeeding in blasting the doors and most of the surrounding wall to bits.
"Knock, knock." Said Spidy as he walked into the Sanctums now thoroughly destroyed foyer. "Oh Strange~!" he yelled into the house in a sing song voice, "I know you usually do the house calls, but I thought I might save you the trouble and drop by! And just to make sure we have some privacy," he slammed the bottom of the staff into the ground, summoning a dome red energy that grew from where the staff's impact point and engulfed and surrounding the whole Sanctum, "there, now we don't need to worry about any interruptions or pointless escape attempts."
"I will only say this once." Said a disembodied voice that resolved itself into Dr. Strange's astral form, sitting cross legged in mid-air. "Leave my home. I don't have the time or the patience to deal with the likes of you. Leave my Sanctum or suffer the full brunt of my pow-!" he was cut short as a red energy beam hit his projection, destroying it, and sending it back to its physical body. Spidy lowered his staff, the prongs slightly smoking from the blast he fired.
"Yeah, yeah. Big words from a glorified warning sign. Now which way do we take?" he asked no one in particular as he looked at the two doors, two hallways, and the lone staircase. He placed his free hand on his chin in a thought full pose before he took a step towards the stair case, stepping back when he felt his spider sense flare up. He then repeated the process with the other entryways, stopping when he stepped in front of the last of the two hallways and felt nothing.
"This way. Valkyrie, seeing how you've been here more than me, you're with me in the lead, Satana you're behind us offering magic support, and Cat you take the rear, make sure there aren't any surprises getting the jump on us." He said before banishing his staff, summoning his stingers, and moving forward, the femme fatales and Minions falling into step as ordered, all the while unaware that they were being watched.
SOSOSOSOSOSO
Using the Orb of Agamotto, Dr. Strange's loyal servant Wong watched the Overlord and his invading force march through his master's home from the safety of the Sanctums study. Normally, an attack like this warranted the attention of the Sorcerer Supreme but said Sorcerer Supreme was deep in a trance like state, floating in mid-air, legs crossed in the lotus position, and eyes glowing gold, in an effort to find a way to gain more power to stop the oncoming cataclysm that was to soon befall their universe.
The projection that had met with the Overlord at the entrance was actually an illusion that Wong had made in a vain hope to scare off the intruders. When that had failed, he had hoped they would go down one of the mystically booby-trapped pathways, but the Overlord seemed to be able to detect which way was the least dangerous way! He would have called for help, but the barrier the Overlord cast around the Sanctum cut off all forms of communication as well as keeping him and his master trapped!
"I have only one choice now." He said, looking worried before he shook himself and gaining a determined expression. Wong quickly went to a large wardrobe, opened it to reveal an assortment of medieval weapons from around the world. Grabbing a set of Chinese dao swords, tying them to his belt, closed the cabinet, and went to one of the glass cases that was in the study, the one that held the wand of Watoomb.
Wong may not have the same level of magical ability as his master, but he could still do a fair bit of magic, he just needed a bit of help. Wong took another calming breath as he removed the glass and took the wand. He turned to his entranced master, "I will keep you safe Stephen. I will not fail you and let these intruders near you in this state." With that said, Wong left through the study door, locking it behind him, and stood ready for the oncoming attack of the Overlord and his band of villains.
SOSOSOSOSO
"We're are nearly there master, just a few more turns and we will be at Strange's study, where he is likely to be." Said Valkyrie as they went down another hallway towards their goal. Rex nodded in satisfaction, "Good, this little tour of the Sanctum's been fun, but I'm ready for the main event." The "tour" through the Sanctum had been only slightly uneventful, with only a few mystically created monsters to deal with on the way.
The only hick-up they had was a handful of Minions being killed by some kind of Lovecraftian monster that had lured them away from the group with an illusion of beautiful and busty women with tankards of beer, luckily the Blues were able to bring them back to life. "Something's been bugging me, Spider." Said Cat from her place at the rear of the group, "If Strange is here, why not just deal with us himself?"
"I agree with Mistress Cat, my lord." Said Valkyrie, "I have fought beside Stephen Strange for many years, and I have never known him to sit idly by as his home is attacked. This could be a trap." She said, her demeanor calm, but her eyes were darting around the room. "I agree, this is differently str-… nope, I'm not falling into that one, I'm better than that… not normal behavior for Harry Potter." said Rex, as Strange's study came into view, "but let's ask his nanny if the boy-who-will-soon-not-live is home." Standing resolute before the doors was Wong, sword in one hand, Wand of Watoomb in the other, and a determined scowl on his face.
"You will leave this house now, this is your final warning." Said Wong. Valkyrie stepped forward and pointed her sword at the manservant, "It is you who will obey our warning, Wong. Submit to my masters will and step aside so that he may have his revenge on the Sorcerer Supreme." Wong looked at her with a sad frown, "You know I cannot do that Brunnhilde. I do not know why you have aligned yourself with this Overlord and his allies, but I will not let you hurt Stephen," The wand started to glow as he moved into a fighting stance, "even if that means I must strike you down!" With no other warning then that, Wong fired several blasts of mystic energy at them. Spidy and his people quickly dogged the blast, all but three Browns that were disintegrated.
"Nice trick, cue ball," said Spidy as he pointed his staff at Wong, "now here's mine!" Satanas eyes bulged "Rex no!" but it was too late, a blast of red mystical energy fired from his staff at Wong. Before it hit the manservant, Wong pointed the Wand of Watoomb at the blast, and the blast was absorbed into the wand. Spidy blinked, "How did he-?" he said before his spider sense flared up, making him jump and dodge out of the way of Wong's latest volley of blasts. "The Wand of Watoomb has the power to fire and manipulate energy but can ALSO absorb and redirect any energy fired at it!" shouted Satana as she created an energy shield to protect herself from the barrage of energy blasts coming from Wong.
"Oookay," Said Rex as he scanned the area, assessing the situation around him, "then we need to mix things up a little." He said to himself before he addressed his people through the hidden coms they had in their ears, "Essentially the plan's the same, but now we need to get the wand away from Jeeves without using magic or energy blasts. Satana, you stay on defense with the Blues and Reds. The rest of you know what to do." They all nodded and quickly got to work. Satana increased the size of her shield to protect the Reds and Blues. Valkyrie, with the Browns, Greens, and Purples, went head on at Wong.
Wong lifted the wand to fire at the oncoming force, but quickly used it to create several energy shields to protect himself from several small bolts of lightning and a large vase that had been coming right at him. He quickly looked to see that the Spider-Overlord was firing web lines at anything that wasn't nailed down and throwing them at him while his yellow skinned goblins were running around him firing the small bolts of lightning at him. Thinking quickly, Wong fried a large kinetic blast wave in front of him, destroying the barrage of debris and forcing the oncoming hoard to take cover, but Valkyrie jumped high into the air to jump over the blast wave and brought her sword down on Wong.
Wong brought his sword up and casting a quick strengthening and defensive enchantment on himself and his sword, blocked Valkyries blow. Val jumped away from Wong and came at him again with several quick slashes and thrusts, but Wong parried her attacks before firing a kinetic blast from the wand at Val, sending flying back towards Satana. "Enough!" Shouted Wong with another blast wave that blasted the Minions that were coming at after he blasted Valkyrie, "Your attempts are futile, 'my lord'" he said as he created several shields and hovering balls of mystical energy around him, "Even if you do not use your magic to fight me, there is enough ambient magic within the Sanctum for the wand to feed off of and amplify any spell in my meager repertoire to keep you at bay and to even end your life if I have to."
"Your probably right cue ball," Said Spidy with a shrug of his shoulders, "but I'm not too worried about getting past you, because I have something that not even your wand can fight against: misfortune." Wong's face scrunched up in confusion, before contorting in pain as he felt several small knives dig into his back. He looked behind him to see one of the Greens on his back, one of its daggered fists in his back.
He brought up the wand to blast it off him but was stopped when a metallic whip wrapped around it and pulled on it, nearly pulling it out of his grasp. He quickly dropped his sword and used both of his hands to keep hold of it as he was spun towards the would-be thief, to see the slowly materializing form of Black Cat. When the others had confronted Wong, Cat had takin half of the Greens and, using her stealth tech, her bad luck power, and the Greens natural ability to turn invisible, got behind Wong. As they pulled tug-a-war with the wand, the other four Greens leapt into action, jumping from their hidden positions and attacking Wong, Stabbing him where ever they could.
Wong tried valiantly to hold on to the Wand and ignore the pain, but it became too much, and he let go of the wand and fell to the floor. Cat took the wand as the Greens surrounded the prone, but not dead, Wong. As he lay on the floor, slowly bleeding out, the Overlord and his associates approached him. "Good work Cat." said Spidy, catching the Wand of Watoomb as she tossed it at him when they got to Wong. Cat shrugged, a canary eating smirk on her face "You were doing fine, Spider, you just needed a little bit of luck or bad luck as it were. "Rex chuckled before looking down at the half dead manservant. Using his gauntlet, he commanded the Minions to force Wong up and into a kneeling position. "Valkyrie, you've known him the longest, I'll let you finish him."
Val nodded and approached Wong from his side, sword drawn. Wong looked up at the corrupted Asgardian, "Brunnhilde please," he said in a weak whisper, "he's going to kill Stephen, and without him we are all lost. The Universe needs its Sorcerer Supreme!" Rex scoffed, "Was I ever that arrogant when I was one of the good guys?" Cat grimaced and made the sort of motion with her hand. Spidys mask eyes went wide and he put his hand to his chest in an offended pose "Ow." He said in a mock hurt tone. Wong shook his head, "It is not arrogance, but fact. There is something coming," at the level of fear in his voice, Rex's "eyes" narrowed, and he focused on Wong completely "a cataclysm unlike anything we have faced before. I do not know what, Stephen has not told me, but he is trying to find a way to stop it. So please I beg of you, do not kill him."
Rex walked in front of Wong and squatted down to be at his eye level. "I don't know if anything you just told me is true or not, frankly I don't really care. Something cataclysmic is coming? Must be Tuesday. We get a world ending calamity almost every week, and we get through it. The world doesn't need Strange, Stark, or anyone else on my shit list to save it. After all, the people of this universe don't need their old heroes to save them." He said as he stood up, looking done on Wong as he gave a nod to Valkyrie, who raised her blade above her head for a mighty swing, "They have their Overlord to do that now." In his last moments, right before the sword came down on his neck, Wong sent a silent prayer to his friend and master. 'I'm sorry I failed you Stephen.'
AN: Again, so sorry for the 2 year wait for this chapter readers, but it is what it is. I was going to make this chapter longer and include the Dr. Strange show down, but after all this time and after looking at my outline for this story, I decided against it and will have the showdown in the next chapter. So, something to look forward to, right? Any who, for those of you in the minority that are curious about why I was gone so long, the short answer would be writers block, work, depression, a dash of self-loathing, and family bull shit (which is the partial cause of the depression and self-loathing). But like I said earlier, I'm back and I'm even working on a few other things. Till next time though, please review!