"Right. Of course she'd bring her brother as backup." I hissed to my left where Dan stood holding his snake-staff in frozen confrontation. I glanced quickly to my left, barely taking my gaze off of the hooded alien guy in front of me. "Did you know she had a brother?"
"Well, Thanos is her dad so I guess it's like a whole demented family or something." Dan muttered, shifting his weight uncomfortably.
"You dare speak his name?" The alien man growled tauntingly as he stepped forward. I snapped my attention back in his direction and held my arms out cautiously.
"We've never met the guy so I guess it's not okay to mention him, I'm sorry…" I said hurriedly, my voice dripping with sarcasm. I gestured to him, eyes wide with feigned innocence. "But I assume he's your dad, so I guess if you won't tell us your name then we're gonna settle for Junior?"
My lighthearted banter struck a nerve with the pale hooded man, as I knew it would and he dove straight for the two of us in his fury. Dan and I dodged out of the way, and I quickly conjured up the illusion of invisibility over me and Dan while I also created doubles of us to hopefully confuse our attacker. The doubles stood crouched a few yards on either side of the alien guy as if we had rolled out of the way and weren't able to decide what to do next. The real Dan and I ran as quickly and quietly as we could to the opposite side of the room and I gestured for Dan to copy my movements, unseen by the alien guy.
"You make this too easy!" The man cried out as he swung his blade in the direction of my double first. The illusion shimmered and then rematerialized a few feet away, and as I suspected, the alien had already moved to attack Dan's double before he noticed the trick. Angered, he whirled to where the new doubles now stood and repeated his strikes.
"Thanks…so do you!" I retorted smartly. The alien's head swiveled around as he realized that my voice wasn't connected to the doubles he kept seeing disappear and reappear around him. As he turned in our direction, I allowed the two of us to become visible to him long enough for him to see our attack coming. Red whips shot forth from my palms and my heart nearly skipped a beat as I saw the tendrils wrap obediently around the hooded alien's weapon. Dan's whips were a smidge off their mark, and instead of latching onto the double bladed staff like mine had, they instead coiled around the alien's head. Before the man could react, I yanked the spear out of his hands and Dan yanked his whips back towards himself as well. The alien's head slammed comically to the debris covered ground at his feet and the creature let out an infuriated growl as Dan and I choked out our amused laughter.
"Enough!" The hooded figure rasped once he had leapt back to his feet. Dark alien blood streamed down his face and his dark eyes gleamed similarly like Proxima Midnights. The family resemblance was beginning to show clearer to me as his weapon started to rise from the floor by my side, called by its master. I quickly lunged forward and stepped on one end of the double-bladed spear before it could be summoned back to the alien's grasp, and my hands worked automatically to weave a golden blade over my right fist. Not questioning what my own hands were doing, I stabbed downward, cleaving the staff into two separate pieces. I swirled my hands which reverberated with golden energy and was amazed when the two halves of the alien's weapon flew upwards and exploded into glowing dust against the high ceiling at my will.
"Nice!" Dan commented as he grabbed up his snake staff and turned to the hooded alien who was in the process of running to leap across the room at the both of us. While the figure was in midair, Dan uttered a few commands to his snake staff and tossed it towards the approaching alien.
The snake opened its wide mouth in a fierce hiss and the hooded figure moved his hand up to block the magical snake's strike as he collided with it and landed on the ground a few yards in front of us. I conjured up my shields and noticed that as soon as they formed, they shifted into glowing overlarge blades shielding my fists. Dan stood by my side, and raised his hand up, telling me to wait. I stared at the figure writhing on the ground from where he had originally landed on his feet. Now he was struggling to break free from the snake-staff, which seemed to be coiling and recoiling itself around each of the alien's limbs.
"What is it doing?!" I exclaimed, daring to lower my stance to look worriedly over to Dan who was watching the figure in awe. He slowly shook his head as the hooded alien attempted to struggle to his feet under the snake's tight grip.
"Um…I think we'd better go…" Dan said hollowly, clapping a hand on my shoulder as he turned back to the door, not tearing his gaze away from the writhing sight in front of us. I nodded in agreement and rushed back for the door, not bothering to stop and open it for the two of us in our haste. I raised my hands and swirled a portal into existence that led straight through the wall. We were transported to the hallway outside once more, with just a small window of sight to the battle raging in the foyer of the Sanctum.
Wong was currently trying to face off Proxima Midnight in our line of sight. Sorcerers bounded through the air on large golden discs, coming down on the few monster dogs that had managed to get into the mansion. Proxima Midnight delivered what looked like a very painful blow to Wong's head with the butt of her spear, sending the sorcerer to his knees. His shield came up instinctively but thinking quickly, I decided to throw the blue alien woman a curve ball.
"Let's take that…" I said under my breath, swirling a small dinner-plate sized portal into existence just behind where Dan and I stood. "And send it over here…"
Dan looked curiously at the small portal and then followed my gaze to where Proxima Midnight was coming down with her weapon to strike Wong again. The same sized portal flashed into view between the weapon and Wong, collecting her triple headed spear before it could hit its intended target. I closed the small portals abruptly and winced as I heard a dull thud from behind me. I turned to see that the spear had been transported to the room where Proxima Midnight's ensnared brother still struggled, the three-bladed weapon wedged deeply into the wall opposite the doorway we looked through.
Dan quickly closed the larger portal through the wall in case the alien woman came looking for it or her brother and we dodged into the next room before anyone could spot us.
"We are freaking awesome!" I exclaimed under my breath in disbelief, adrenaline coursing through me. Dan let out a relieved chuckle with the realization that we hadn't died yet.
"We've gotta figure out our next move…you know Proxima Midnight is gonna be back here any second now." He said, instantly back in business mode. Noticing that we had ended up in the kitchen, I pointed for the doorway on the opposite side of the room.
"If we go that way, we can go for the tunnels again." I suggested hurriedly. Dan looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking his head.
"That's an idea, but then what if we get down there with nowhere to go? That cave-in was something I'm not willing to go through again…"
"Right…but what if we could trap them down there instead?" I persisted to plot. I jumped as a crash sounded from the next room over. Dan and I quickly ducked behind the counter closest by us as a tall, lanky figure crept past the open doorway. I recognized Proxima Midnight's long-haired silhouette as she turned in our direction as if considering searching the kitchen.
"S-Sister…" A choked voice sounded from the next room over. Proxima Midnight's head turned swiftly in the direction of her brother's struggling pleas and in an instant she was gone to presumably rescue him from the snake-staff's death grip.
"Move!" I hissed to Dan, pushing him in the opposite direction. He obliged, running for the double-doors where we could escape into the open and hopefully deserted hallway towards the back of the mansion. When we reached the doors, I turned as another crash sounded from the hallway behind us. Dan jerked open the one of the doors in front of us as soundlessly as he could and jumped back, shoving me back and nearly into the large dining table behind us.
"Hello boys."
Proxima Midnight stood in front of us with her retrieved spear in one hand, resting casually along her shoulders. Her other hand shoved Dan backwards as she stepped into the room and I quickly pulled him back towards the large dining table.
"Decided to come back for another taste, huh?" I said quickly, flashing my blade-shields into readiness as she approached. Her taunting eyes gleamed as her scarred mouth stretched into a further grimace of dislike. Her beady eyes flicked past us for a brief second and Dan whirled around to face our other attacker as we were suddenly trapped back to back with a foe on either side of us. There was a solid thud on the table behind me and I assumed that the other alien had leapt up on top of it to get a more powerful stance over us.
"I see you've met Corvus…" Proxima Midnight growled, sounding genuinely unhappy with having to have rescued her brother from the snake-staff. There was an equally furious grunt from the hooded alien approaching from the other side of us.
"Stop playing with them, Proxima…that was your mistake last time, was it not?" The alien called Corvus Glaive said in mild annoyance. His boot steps sounded on the polished wooden table behind me as he slowly made his way toward us. Dan jabbed his elbow into my back but I refrained from turning to look at him, not wanting to look away from the evil blue woman in front of me.
"Illusion…" Dan hissed to me over his shoulder. I stared thoughtfully ahead at Proxima Midnight who scowled at her brother's ordering tone as she lowered her spear from off of her shoulders. Dan turned his voice up slightly to mask the message he had given me and I couldn't believe the retort he had for the two very threatening aliens surrounding us. "Who got the good looks in your family? Obviously it wasn't either of you…"
"Silence!" Corvus Glaive exploded, having seemed to lunge toward Dan angrily. I heard the swish of Dan's conjured shields as the alien's blow landed against them. Dan pressed his back further into mine and nudged me again. Thinking quickly, I felt the tingle of magic spread over me and mentally pushed it behind me towards Dan as well. Proxima Midnight seemed to notice my brief distraction because she narrowed her eyes and moved a step closer. I quickly snapped my direct attention back to her, still feeling the pulse of magic unseen by our foes around the two of us.
"Where is the Time Stone?" She asked me directly, noticing the empty space over my chest where the Time Stone lay invisible by Casey's illusion. I shrugged nonchalantly at her, forcing my gaze to stay firm and collected.
"Did you check up front? I thought Grayson had it." I quipped.
"It's all the rage now…" Dan said, catching on to my lighthearted bantering. "Everyone's wearing them."
As soon as Proxima Midnight lunged toward me with her raised spear, I ducked and rolled out of her path, feeling Dan behind me doing the same. Masked by the illusion I had cast, we both ducked underneath the table where Corvus Glaive still stood. The doubles that I had created of me and Dan dashed away from Proxima Midnight's blow, summoning up imaginary golden shields at my will as if they were really us. Dan, realizing that I was struggling to mentally hold on with making the illusions stay believable, sent a golden-fisted punch at the dining table above us. The wooden table flew upwards with the force of his blow, exploding as it struck the ceiling above us with Corvus Glaive hopefully in the midst of it.
"Watch out guys!" A familiar voice shouted from the front of the kitchen. There was a thwack and a big chunk of the falling table was yanked backwards from our shielded doubles as Spiderman's web prevented it from harming them. Unfortunately, the discarded piece of webbed table debris headed straight for the real pair of us. Dan was quick to shield us both from it, but my concentration flickered briefly, making the real two of us visible for a few beats.
"There!" Corvus Glaive growled as he landed on the ground a few yards from us, unscathed from the magical burst of energy Dan had thrown at him with the table. Spiderman, crouched upside down from the ceiling, looked in our direction, where Dan and I were invisible under my illusion once more. Apparently he could see through my half-skilled influence though, because he shot two strings of web at the large piece of table Dan had broken and flicked it up in the approaching alien's path towards us. Proxima Midnight, standing tensely in the back corner of the dining room, was watching the scene in front of her obsessively, trying to pinpoint where exactly we really were. I looked to where our doubles stood with their shields raised over the heads from the previous falling table and I willed them into motion again, causing them to rush the perplexed alien woman with glowing weapons materializing in their fists.
"Come on…" Dan said quietly as he hurriedly pulled me to my feet. I continued to focus my attention on the doubles, eagerly watching Proxima Midnight's blinking attention dial in on the illusion I was making her see. The real Dan and I were almost back at the front of the kitchen when the alien woman sliced across the air in front of her, straight through the doubles of me and Dan. As they faded from sight, I felt an instant drain in my energy and slumped dizzyingly against Dan. He faltered as he wasn't prepared for my slippage, and I also felt that my invisibility illusion dissipated as well.
"Sister, they're escaping!" Corvus Glaive exclaimed gruffly, pointing a clawed hand in our direction from where he was once more picking himself up out of the rubble Peter had thrown at him. He leapt swiftly across the room, as Dan and I quickly ducked around the counter, almost reaching the doorway towards the hall.
"Yeah buddy, why don't you let 'em?!" Peter shouted, shooting a web toward the hooded alien behind us. Corvus Glaive dodged out of its path, and Peter's web latched onto the counter a few feet away from its intended target. Spiderman pulled himself across the room and landed perfectly on the countertop, having meant to pull himself onto Corvus Glaive to body slam him to the ground. Spiderman's wide cartoonish white eyes stared blankly at the scowling alien man who had paused briefly to watch the hero's failed attack attempt.
"Peter look out!" Dan shouted as we both watched Proxima Midnight's spear fly through the air towards us. Peter easily dodged the weapon which smashed into the countertop with an ear-splintering crack. But as Spiderman leapt for the wall to avoid the spear, Corvus Glaive caught his leg and swung him in the opposite direction. Spiderman was thrown back against the damaged counter, and the sound of the breath being knocked out of his chest was clearly heard from the few yards away that I stood.
"Dan, let go of me – I'm okay." I said quickly, pulling myself off of my friend's shoulder. Dan summoned up a glowing shield as we continued backing towards the front of the kitchen. I darted my gaze to the fridge behind us and swallowed hard as I turned back to my friend thoughtfully. "I have a plan."
"Okay." Dan said quietly. I winced as I watched Peter swing himself back up to the ceiling only to come down forcefully again a little ways across the room, knocking Proxima Midnight off of her feet.
"You want your spear back?!" Peter yelled, clearly furious at our pursuers. Without even looking over his shoulder, he shot a strand of webbing back towards the counter and yanked the weapon free from where it had been lodged. "Here – take it back!"
"No –" Dan started to say. Proxima Midnight's spear flew back towards its owner, pulled by Peter's web and strength. At the last possible millisecond, Peter detached the web from his wrist and flipped into the air as the triple pointed spear collided with Proxima Midnight. She sailed backwards into the double doors at the end of the dining room and for a heartbeat I thought she had been impaled by her own blood-soaked weapon. Unfortunately, that would have been too good to be true.
Corvus Glaive whirled around and narrowed his eyes to study his sister as she hauled herself back up to her feet, revealing that she had expertly caught her spear despite the amount of force it had shot towards her with. The hooded alien man smirked triumphantly and turned back to Peter where he had landed.
"We're not that easy to get rid of." He growled with a devilish smirk. Peter leapt out of the way with a snap of his webbing as Corvus Glaive swiped forward towards the young hero with his clawed hands. Proxima Midnight was across the room in less than a second and she swung her spear for Peter's knees as he landed on the ground once more. The agile superhero flipped in midair and landed hard face-down in the debris on the dining room floor. Corvus Glaive was upon him in a moment, pressing a boot on Peter's forearm to try and hold him down for Proxima Midnight who had her spear poised to stab downwards.
"That plan of yours almost ready?!" Dan asked quickly over his shoulder. I was hurriedly rummaging in one of the drawers embedded in the counter by the fridge, and finally I found a handful of ancient- looking silverware. Saying a quick prayer and summoning a bit of my illusion-conjuring technique, I was suddenly holding an exact replica of the Time Stone necklace. I tossed a quick blast of energy in the direction of Corvus Glaive who was the closest to us to get his attention.
"Hey! You guys want the Time Stone or what?!" I shouted. Both of the alien siblings turned their attention back to me and I breathed a sigh of relief as Peter also looked up in our direction, his white eye pieces curiously dialing in on the illusioned silverware I held.
"You think we're fools, boy?" Corvus Glaive growled, hunching his shoulders menacingly as he leaned in my direction.
"I know for a fact that what you're holding isn't the Time Stone." Proxima Midnight said. She slammed her spear down without looking, and I let the silverware fall to the ground, startled from the woman's blunt move. Peter's four robotic arms sprouted instantly from his back, shoving him upward so that he planted a double footed kick at Proxima Midnight's midsection. The sudden movement also threw Corvus Glaive off balance as he lost his footing on Peter's arm.
"Alright fine, you got me!" I exclaimed, watching as Peter pulled himself to his feet, retracting the four metal arms back into his suit. He stood between the two aliens and Proxima Midnight's weapon, which was once more wedged into the ruined tile of the kitchen floor. I yanked hard at the invisible chain around my neck and watched as the Time Stone flashed into sight when I held it up for our attackers to see. Both of their expressions relaxed as they saw the green glow of the now burning Infinity Stone.
"This…can't be the plan you had in mind…" Dan hissed over his shoulder from by my side. I quickly shushed him and took a step forward, gesturing with my other hand and the dangling eye-shaped pendant.
"If I can get you to promise not to hurt us and to leave right away…I'll let you have this." I said, my eyes wide with sincerity. From the corner of my eye, I could see Dan looking back and forth between me and the slowly approaching villains in front of us. I forced myself not to look at my friend as I glanced at Peter who seemed to be reacting with the same disbelief that Dan had.
"We make no such promises…" Proxima Midnight snarled as she suddenly darted straight for me just as I knew she would.
"I didn't think you would." I said, clenching the burning pendant tightly in my right fist while I whirled around to the fridge behind me. Dan instantly jumped back as I flicked my wrist and sent a red whip of light towards the handle on the large kitchen appliance. I yanked the door open and then dove out of the way along with Dan and Peter who had edged his way to our sides.
The first thing I noticed was the lack of an awesome explosion or burst of flame that should have emitted from the fridge. Proxima Midnight had even stopped in her advance as if she had expected something to happen as well. She cocked her head, unamused as the fridge door slowly swung the rest of the way open. Corvus Glaive made to move toward us eyeing his sister's discarded weapon where it still lay lodged in the ground, as if he resented being without his own spear. He scrunched up his pale, ugly face in my direction and his eyes were once more focused on my fist where the Time Stone was reaching its scalding intensity.
As if by a delayed reaction, there was a large rumble from the fridge and my gaze instantly shot back to the open door. Peter, Dan and I had a view from the side, so we couldn't see whatever the two alien attackers saw. Proxima Midnight had a millisecond to leap out of the way but her brother didn't fare as well. Huge tentacles burst forth from the open fridge door, slamming and flailing to find something to grab onto. One instantly coiled itself around the hooded alien and he was pulled rapidly back towards the fridge, shouting as he tried to claw his way out of the huge monster's grip.
"Oh my God!" Peter shouted in my ear, as I struggled to crab-crawl backwards to avoid the huge tentacles' path. Corvus Glaive was nowhere to be seen now, having been absorbed in the chaos erupting out of the large kitchen appliance.
"What the hell is that?!" Dan exclaimed as he grabbed onto my shoulders to pull me back. I shot a blast of golden energy towards a large tentacle as it flailed a little too closely to our little group of huddled teenagers. Unquestioningly, it retreated for the other direction where I could see Proxima Midnight stabbing and swiping at the tentacles that tried to ensnare her.
"I honestly didn't believe Wong when he warned me not to open that door but…this was not at all what I was expecting…" I said in disbelief. I hauled myself back to my feet once we reached the hallway outside the kitchen and I helped block the stray tentacles while Peter and Dan both followed my lead.
Proxima Midnight seemed to sense our retreat because her head whipped in the direction of the doorway where we were making our exit. She suddenly seemed more violent with her spear strikes against the flailing tentacles that still erupted from the fridge. I tauntingly gave her a little wave and shot another blast of energy towards the tentacles, directing them towards their intended target.
"Wong! They're back here!" Dan shouted as we rushed down the hallway where a handful of sorcerers remained, some still trying to reinstate the borders over the Sanctum while others attempted to fight off what few beasts remained. Wong was currently barking orders at one of the red headed men I had met during the practice fight in the tunnels, but he paused to turn worriedly in our direction as we returned to the foyer.
"Casey told you to wait in the training room." Wong said accusingly as soon as we'd reached him. I noticed a large gash coloring the sorcerer's forehead and I winced as I thumbed over my shoulder.
"Yeah, well that didn't really work out because both Proxima Midnight and her brother Corvus Glaive decided to pay us a visit while we were waiting for you." I said sarcastically. I cringed as I delivered the rest of my report to him. "And in the process of trying to hold them off, I may have let all Hell loose like you warned me not to…"
"I'm assuming you had good reason to open the refrigerator?" Wong asked with a small, skeptical smirk. I nodded but before I could relay to him what happened, Peter beat me to it.
"Yeah it was really neat, although a little on the terrifying side of things…but we're pretty sure the elf-looking guy is gone. His sister still had a little ways to go but…again, why do you think it's okay to have this kinda stuff in your house?!" Peter exclaimed, shaking his head which was still hidden by his Spiderman mask. He thumbed over his shoulder and I followed the direction he was pointing. My heart skipped a beat as a shadow moved from the end of the hallway.
"Guys…?!" I said, instantly in panic mode once again. The woman-shaped figure began striding speedily towards us. Wong leapt into his battle-ready stance, shields ablaze, and I hurried to copy him as Proxima Midnight's easily recognizable form grew closer.
"Think you can come up with another brilliant plan, Alex?" Dan muttered hopefully beside me. Wong nodded curtly ahead of me on my right.
"If it involves the three of you staying out of her path, then I'd say go for it," The sorcerer snapped. "Otherwise, I'd say your plan had better involve staying out of her path."
"Wong, we're not leaving you…I saw what happened to Casey!" I protested, turning to look at him for a fraction of a second.
Wong's face grew even more somber but his gaze never left the approaching alien woman. Before any of us could say anything else, Wong shot a blast of golden energy towards the doorway where Proxima Midnight was just emerging at the end of the hall. The wooden frame at the top of the doorway seemed to bend in a rainbow shape and the rest of the hallway seemed to sink inwards around her, debris hitting her from all sides. I saw her muscular blue arm flick upwards as she tossed something into the air before being consumed by the makeshift black hole. Something large and slimy and spurting dark-colored blood landed just a yard or two away from our small group and I nearly gagged when I realized what it was.
It was a severed tentacle from the fridge. The thing still thrashed involuntarily, somehow still trying to crawl weakly with the few suckers that Proxima Midnight had allowed this bit of monster to have. I looked for Wong's reaction which was masked with instant displeasure. Then, to my surprise he lurched forward and kicked the squirming tentacle over on the scuffed wooden floor.
Underneath it was the dismembered right arm of Corvus Glaive.