Wanda sighed in frustration and lowered her gloved hands, clenching them into fists at her sides.

"I have it," she grumbled. "I can see it in my mind—feel it—but I just can't get there."

Watching her with equal impatience, Janet shifted restlessly. "Maybe I can."

The girl turned with her brows raised. "What are you suggesting?"

"Telepathic transfer. Show me what you're seeing."

Maximoff considered her for a moment, then reluctantly nodded. "All right. Fine."

Taking a deep breath, she sat down and assumed a crosslegged position. Janet followed suit, casting an uneasy glance around the empty alleyway. Wanda closed her eyes, and so did she, Stephen's Cloak hovering around her shoulders as she opened her mind to the mystical energies of the universe. The girl's aura burned like a candle in the night, its flame one that had been tamed and remained under tight control. But it was not invulnerable to the wind that threatened to upset its fragile balance.

Janet recognized that struggle—that danger. The line they both walked between light and darkness was a narrow one, and she was surprised to find that Maximoff was not as immune to temptation as she had first believed.

The doors of Wanda's mind stood open, ready to share the information Janet needed, but she could still sense the girl's uncertainty—her distrust. Neither of them had any faith in the other. Just a few hours prior, Maximoff had blamed her for a murder she had not committed, and they had nearly parted ways. But now? Now the fate of everyone and everything they loved was at stake, and only by working together did they stand a chance of saving them.

Janet sucked in a sharp breath as a hazy image started to take shape in her mind's eye. White mist. Strange rock formations. A black sky. And cold. Intense, penetrating cold. The same cold that had tormented her since the day the Terrigen Crystals had shattered.

She opened her eyes with a gasp, the connection broken.

"Well?" asked Wanda. "Do you recognize it? Do you know how to get there?"

Janet nodded slowly, repressed memories rising to the surface. "Yeah. I think I do."

She stood and faced the wall on her left. Extending her left arm in front of her chest, she began moving the other in a counterclockwise circle. Janet focused her mind on what she had seen and what she had felt, picturing every detail she had managed to discern—and there had not been many. If only she had one of those Sling Rings that Stephen wore, she thought, opening an inter-dimensional gateway would be much easier.

At last, violet sparks crackled into existence. Spinning and shimmering, the circular path they followed grew steadily wider until the portal became large enough for a person to easily step through. A dark plain was visible just beyond it.

"That's it," Wanda breathed in amazement. "How did you—?"

"I've been there once before," Janet answered without looking at her. "Come on. Let's go."

Without hesitation, she entered the gateway, and Wanda followed her. A second later, her boots touched rocky ground. Bone-chilling air collided with her face and stole the breath from her lungs. Janet shivered, and she felt the Cloak hug her shoulders more tightly than before. With Stephen's help, she'd learned a new spell that she had used to transform her black gown into a suit that would be far more practical for combat. But unfortunately, it did little to protect her from the cold.

Glancing to her right, Janet realized that Wanda was doubled over with her hands on her knees. "Hey. You okay?"

"This place…feels like death. I thought… I thought Shadow City was as bad as it could get. But this? This is worse."

Janet's exhale emerged as a small cloud. "This was a mistake. I should have come here alone. Places like this aren't meant for people like you."

"No," Wanda objected, straightening. "I'm not leaving—not until we've stopped what's coming."

"Do you want to end up like Cassie? She almost died."

Maximoff's expression hardened with stubborn determination. "I'm seeing this through, no matter what it takes."

"Fine," Janet conceded. "Just remember that I gave you a chance to walk away, and you refused to take it."

With that, she turned and started striding briskly across the barren plain.

"Yeah, you gave me a chance all right," Wanda scoffed as she pursued her. "You gave me a chance to get out of your way so that you can finally join forces with Jack. This is all part of your plan, isn't it?"

"Of course," Janet replied disdainfully. "That's why Thor, who was under the influence of my brother, tried to kill me. Makes perfect sense."

There was a pause, and she hoped that Wanda had decided to give up this line of questioning. Because as much as sheer adrenaline and her desire to save Stephen were driving her forward, her physical exhaustion was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. She had not been allowed a single moment of rest since the masquerade party at Sinué Tower, and Janet guessed that if she were still in Shadow City, it would be dawn soon.

If there could be a dawn in a place without a sun.

"What happened back there—with Thor?" Wanda questioned, finally breaking the silence. "You… Well, you look different."

Janet stopped and faced her with a raised eyebrow. "I look different?"

"Yeah," she nodded, pointing at her hair.

More perplexed than ever, Janet glanced down and started. Nearly three inches of her black locks had turned snow white. She grasped them between her fingers in utter disbelief. Swallowing hard, Janet met Maximoff's curious gaze, then abruptly turned her back on her and resumed walking.

"I think my hair is the least of our worries right now."

"Whatever you say," Wanda responded doubtfully.

Those were the last words they exchanged for some time. Trudging along, Janet surveyed the bizarre rock formations that floated against a black starless sky. She had sworn to herself that she would make every effort to never return to this desolate wasteland. This eternal void. And yet, here she was again—for the exact same reason.

Stephen.

Two years ago, when Jack had tried to kill him, she had accidentally opened several rifts in space and time—gateways to this dark dimension. Norman Osborn had fallen through one of them just before she had, and then they had both found themselves trapped here. That was when Janet had made a decision that haunted her to this day.

Taking advantage of her enhanced powers and Norman's separation from the Darkhold, she had killed him and left him to rot. She had been so furious, felt so betrayed, and his confessions regarding her father had been final catalyst.

Part of her still couldn't believe that she had done it, and she half expected to pass by his green goblin-like corpse if they walked long enough. She could still see those lifeless, bloodshot eyes staring up at her.

"Look!"

Wanda's voice startled her from her thoughts, and Janet blinked. The waist-high mist they were wading through had nearly concealed it from her view, but now she saw it—the yawning mouth of an enormous cave. If she had wandered just a few steps farther, she might have fallen into its endless darkness.

"This is it," Wanda said beside her. "This is the place."

Janet nodded. "I think so too, but I can't tell if Stephen's here. He isn't trying to contact me, and I don't like what that might mean."

"Jack has probably taken measures to prevent that very thing. Don't worry. He knows that if he wants to get to Cassie, having Stephen as his prisoner—alive—is one of the most reliable ways to do it."

Wanda's words gave Janet some small bit of comfort as she took a deep breath and ventured onto the narrow, steeply slanting path that led down into the abyss. He was alive. Stephen was alive. And she would find him.

Fingers sliding along the wall of solid rock on her right, Janet made slow but steady progress. Dizziness assailed her, and she found herself blinking constantly in a vain attempt to clear her vision. Her aching muscles screamed for her to stop and rest, but she pushed on.

Janet didn't know how long they had been making their dangerous descent when one of her legs suddenly buckled beneath her. She pitched forward and tumbled down the slope as Wanda cried out in alarm.

Finally, the ground leveled out enough for her momentum to slow, and she rolled to a stop. Groaning, Janet managed to push herself up onto her elbows. Her cheek was smeared with dirt, her body bruised and sore.

"Are you all right?" Wanda exclaimed, having rushed to her side.

Janet grimaced. "Yeah. I guess… I guess those spells took more out of me than I thought."

"Come on," Wanda said, pulling her to her feet. "We can make it."

Glancing down, Janet realized that the Cloak was dusting off her shoulders and that her fall must have taken even it by surprise. "Sorry," she mumbled apologetically.

Something drew Wanda's attention, and she turned away, gazing into the darkness below. "Do you hear that?"

Janet's brow furrowed as she listened. There was something. An eldritch screech. A blood-curdling cackle. A multitude rising from the deep.

Wanda gave a quiet gasp as a legion of shadows came forth and swarmed toward them. Horrors with red glowing eyes and grinning mouths. Janet braced herself and tried to summon some sort of defense, but she didn't have much left to give. Wanda fired several blasts of scarlet magic into the midst of the horde, and just before it reached them, a white dome formed over their heads. Every muscle in Janet's body strained, her face screwed tight with concentration as the fiends bombarded her barrier.

"You can't hold them back forever!" Wanda shouted over the frenzy. "We have to fight!"

"There are too many of them!" Janet yelled back. "We're only going to get one shot at this. We need to hit them hard—then run!"

"Run? I'm not—"

"You're right," Janet cut her off. "We're not leaving."

She glanced pointedly downward, and Wanda followed her gaze. Realization dawned in her eyes.

"I'll hold them back as long as I can," Janet told her. "When the barrier goes, give them all you've got!"

She saw Wanda take a deep breath and close her eyes. Janet's extended arms began to shake, her teeth grinding together as she fought to hold back the shades. Wanda's hands moved in swift gestures, energy crackling between her fingers.

"Get ready to jump!" she warned.

"When?"

"Now!" Wanda cried.

The dome vanished, and Janet dove into the darkness. She heard Wanda scream as she unleashed an explosion of deadly energy, and if Janet had jumped a second later, it would have hit her too. Her ears rang with the shrieks of dying demons, freezing air rushing against her face as she made her rapid descent.

Now she reluctantly tapped into her umbrakinetic powers so that she would know when she was nearing the ground. The Cloak billowed behind her, clinging loyally to her shoulders, and Janet couldn't help but think how far the two of them had come since their incident on the quinjet two years ago.

Thunderous cracks sounded high above her. She twisted and saw the cliffs collapsing in on them, Wanda plunging toward her.

"Almost there!" she called.

Wanda nodded in acknowledgement, and Janet faced the quickly approaching ground once more. She could see it now—and the large, cavernous opening that would serve as their escape route.

"Through there!" she pointed, hoping Wanda could still see and hear her.

They were engulfed in complete blackness now, and as they reached the level of the entrance, the Cloak took action. Janet's path arced and then leveled out. Flying into the passage beyond, she glided down and landed on the solid surface. Wanda came in behind her, scarlet magic streaming from her hands as she slowed her momentum and then touched down.

There was a deep rumble, the ground trembling with the impact of crashing rocks that were piling on top of each other. In a matter of seconds, they formed a mountain so high that the cave's exit was entirely blocked.

"Well," Janet said as silence fell, "looks like our only way out is forward."