"So…basically…there's this guy who really hates gods…like, properly despises them…and he wants them all to die. He turned up at New Asgard, as you know, and he's managed to kidnap all the children from the village. We don't know why yet, but it's obviously not for any reasons that are going to be good. He was using these…creatures that were made out of shadows, which meant we were preoccupied when he started targeting the kids. Because…how can you kill a shadow? Mjolnir's good but not that good. So you can understand if this is going to take up quite a lot of my time."

Jane was on video call, giving a much needed update to the rest of the group. They were crowded around the screen, trying to get a good look at her. Whatever powers the hammer had given her, it had bestowed the ability to look positively radiant even when she'd been involved in a battle moments before. There was a slight smudge of dirt on her cheek and her hair was tousled ever so gently, but in the sort of way that managed to make her look even more attractive. Yaz was rather pleased that she'd been called away on another mission, because a hot scientist like that was only going to garner the Doctor's attention after a while, if she hadn't done so already.

There was a bit of a lull in the sanctum. None of them really knew what to do next after learning that the threat was potentially on its way. They couldn't meet it head on, because they didn't know where it was going to make landfall. There was no telling whether Kang would even target the planet they were on, with plenty to choose from across this brand new universe. Carol was currently off-world, investigating the coordinates that the Doctor had provided her. All the Time Lord wanted to do was to follow her, to run into the Tardis and snoop around. For the time being, she was grounded and it had been a very long time since that had happened. She'd had curly white hair and a bright yellow car, a phase she still reminisced on fondly.

"I didn't really know that gods were that easy to kill," Dan commented. "I thought they were…you know…immortal. Sounds like this guy is just stabbing them."

"I'm told it's some sort of special sword," Jane outlined. "Not that it's a scientific explanation, but hardly anything about this is scientific. I'm having to get the hang of that."

"I've got a god that I'd like this guy to meet," Marc muttered darkly. "Is he available for hire or does he pick and choose himself?"

Layla nudged him. "I rather liked my god. I hope she's alright."

"And I suppose we need Khonshu alive if I'm to keep my powers. That's the only reason I've been brought into this mess."

"Then why am I here?"

"Mainly because you look good and bring a refined grace to any room you're in?"

She rolled her eyes. "I think you've been taking tips from Steven on how to properly flirt."

"How am I doing?"

"All I'll say is that you're getting better at it. Not that it was an especially high bar to clear, but any progress is progress in my eyes."

"Mister Spector is right, of course," Wong interrupted their discussion. "This may not be linked to the larger threat we're facing, but it's still important for our endeavours that you successfully take care of this problem."

"No pressure then," Jane replied with a chuckle.

Yaz leaned forward. "Have you got any plans? How are you going to defeat him? Do you need any help?"

The Doctor eyed her warily, tugging her back softly. "Woah, Yaz. I'm not having you going anywhere near any sort of 'god butcher'. That's the sort of thing I'm programmed to keep you away from."

"I never knew you were so protective of me."

"Then you really haven't been paying attention, have you?"

"I bet you'd let me go," Dan said, a touch bitterly. "Just because you want to wrap her up in cotton wool, whilst I got shoved into every situation with barely any clue about what's going on."

The Doctor smirked at him, shrugging nonchalantly. "You can't blame me for having favourites."

Yaz laughed triumphantly. "Ha! I told you, Dan."

He looked distraught. "You're not supposed to have favourites." He folded his arms up petulantly. "How was I ever supposed to compete against her when you're both madly in…" He was prevented from saying anything more thanks to a sharp kick in the shins from Yaz. When the Doctor peered at him curiously as he winced in pain, her other companion simply smiled innocently, silently pleading with her to not look too deeply into it.

"I'm fine for help," Jane assured them. "Don't worry. Thor has decided that we need to enlist some professionals in this field…he mentioned something about Zeus but I don't know how much he was exaggerating about that."

Kamala's eyes went comically wide, so much so that it looked as if they might physically pop out of her head. She quickly snatched the tablet away, earning a few protests from the others. She didn't waste any time with pleasantries.

"Did you just say Thor ?" Her voice was going extremely high pitched and she was on the verge of doing a little jig in excitement.

Jane looked rather sheepish. "Yeah…he's um…he's come back to Earth…when he heard about New Asgard being attacked."

"Is Thor the one Jane was dating?" Yaz asked.

"He's only the God of Lightning ," Kamala explained giddily, much to Jane's embarrassment. "I'm very much a Captain Marvel kind of girl…but if he were to turn up at my doorstep…"

"He's just so dreamy," Katy added wistfully. "I could dangle from those biceps from his like I'm a kid on the monkey bars. I just want to bite a chunk into them and…"

"Okay, maybe we should keep you quiet for a little bit," Shang-Chi cleverly intervened before it became too graphic.

"Has it been awkward?" Kamala asked. "You know…meeting the ex after so long. I bet he must have been shocked when he saw you, with the changes you've been through. I can picture his face now. His perfectly sculpted, impossibly chiselled face…"

Jane couldn't hide her smile at the younger woman's behaviour. "It's certainly…strange to be seeing him again when I'm like this. The issue is that he looks even better than the last time I saw him, which really isn't fair."

Dan was frowning. "I doubt any man can look as good as you're saying."

Yaz snorted in laughter. "Are you jealous of him getting all the attention?"

"I'm just saying…I think they're setting him up to be a let down if we ever meet him."

"Why don't you put him on the phone?" Kamala suggested, only adding to Yaz's enjoyment. "Then you can see what we're talking about."

"Do it. I'm not scared."

"Oh, I don't know," Jane said, sounding as if she really didn't like that idea. "He's probably busy…"

"I'll only ask of you this one thing," Kamala pleaded, fully prepared to get on her hands and knees. "We won't say anything too embarrassing."

"Trust me, it's already been embarrassing enough. I don't think there's room for any more." She shook her head ruefully. "Fine…I'll go and find him. Give me a sec…"

Kamala squealed with delight. It was now a fight between her and Katy as to who would be holding the tablet when he appeared. The latter was fiddling with her hair to make it more alluring. Wong grumbled something under his breath, walking away. The Doctor couldn't understand any of their behaviour, trying to figure out why one person would cause such a reaction. She happened to glance at Yaz at that moment, quickly realising how that effect worked.

Marc was quite displeased to see that Layla was edging closer to the screen. "Please tell me that you're not interested in this guy…"

She gave him an innocent smile. "I must have a thing for gods."

"Hello? Hello? Friends of Jane?"

A new voice entered the fray, deep and commanding even when it was coming through the device. Kamala looked like she might faint when Thor's face appeared, Jane standing close behind him. Katy made some sort of guttural noise that Shang had never heard from her before. Layla was twirling her hair around her finger like a schoolgirl talking to her crush, making her go severely down in Marc's estimations. Dan took one look and his mouth fell open.

"Okay," he said, getting up from his seat. "I understand now. I'm going to keep my mouth shut from now on. I'm also going to the other side of the room, because I don't think it's fair that I have to share the same space as someone who looks like that ."

"I'll take that as a compliment!" Thor shouted. "Whoever you are. What a funny little accent you have."

The Doctor scrunched up her nose. "Is someone screaming in the background where you are?"

"Ah, no! Those are my goats! And…might I say…what a lovely sight you are?"

Yaz bristled. "No, you may not."

"Why are your goats screaming like that?" the Doctor asked, trying to understand why Yaz was being so defensive of her.

Thor's large smile faltered slightly. "They…um…they tend to do that. I don't know why. But they were a present. And I've grown rather fond of them now."

"Much to the annoyance of everyone here," Jane added. "It's a good job that they've got more important things to be worrying about for the time being."

"And Jane! Would you look at Jane? I'm told you're all friends with her? Teammates ? I can't believe…she's started a superhero team…and didn't even think to invite me. Let me tell you…I was not expecting to find her here, looking like that. I might go as far as to say that she's stolen my look…but I'm not bitter about it. Not at all." He did an odd, strained laugh that everyone could see through.

Jane wanted to be rid of the awkward air as quickly as possible. "Feel sorry for me, guys. I'm going to have to put up with those goats for a little longer yet. They're taking us to our next destination."

"Omnipotence City. A truly magical place. And they're very strict on people being late…so maybe we should kick the goats into gear." He waved at the group, already becoming distracted by his next task. "Farewell, friends of Jane! I hope we can team up one day, when I'm actually included."

"Bye!" Kamala cried as he disappeared from the screen. She had her head in her hands. "I can't believe that I was completely tongue-tied when he was in front of me. I'm never going to get a chance to talk to him again!"

"I'll get him to sign something for you," Jane reassured her. "To make up for it. Don't worry. But he's right…we'd best be going. I'll see you guys on the other side. And if things go really wrong on your end, don't hesitate to give me a call. I just hope that I get service in space."

"Be safe!" Yaz said.

"Good luck getting back together with Thor!" Kamala added. "I ship it completely!"

"I'm going to pretend that you didn't say that!"

And then the screen went blank, much to their disappointment. Not only because they'd been forced to say goodbye to Jane for a second time, though Yaz was at least content that she'd been given the chance to do so this time. But also because it meant they were left with nothing else to do but wait for something to happen. They hoped that Carol wouldn't take much longer, with Kamala having assured them that she was incredibly speedy when in flight. The Doctor despised it when all she could do was twiddle her thumbs. She wanted to be proactive, to take the fight to anyone who dared threaten this planet, no matter which version of it it was. She'd always presumed that superheroes would run into battle more easily than this, not that she'd even given much thought to superheroes existing. There had been that one time at Christmas, but that was all down to an alien artefact tampering with human biology. It didn't count.

Dan wandered back to the group. "Is it safe to return? Has the impossibly attractive man gone?"

Yaz patted the space next to her on the sofa for him to sit down. "You're alright now. There's no one here to damage your strong, masculine ego."

Marc crossed his arms. "I don't know how to take that."

Shang was equally as disgruntled. "I put a lot of work into the way I look and I'm getting dismissed because I can't actually compare to a god . Like, a literal god."

Yaz noticed the Doctor crossing and uncrossing her legs repeatedly. They were sitting so close together that it would have been difficult to miss it. "Is everything okay with you?"

The Doctor gave her a sideways glance. "Hmm? Me? Yeah, of course, Yaz! I'm always okay. I'm the king of okay. Oh…I was supposed to never say that again. That's yet another promise I've broken to myself." She was trying to be more jovial than she was feeling, a facade that her friend was able to easily see through. "Ugh, fine. I'm not as chipper as you might expect."

"Who would have guessed?"

"I can't hide anything from you, can I?"

"Not anymore. Especially when you're constantly fidgeting because of the sheer amount of nervous energy you're feeling."

The Doctor made sure to grip her knees tightly to stop her legs from moving so much. "It's just…I'm not used to this. I'm not supposed to hang around and hope that something falls into my lap. The Tardis is out of action, and that's like having a part of me violently ripped out. I'm not whole without her. And I'm not going to be able to save everyone if I'm stuck in this place, even if it is incredibly gorgeous. Maybe I should have a look around to work off some of this pent up energy. I'm sure that there's nothing too dangerous that I could set off just by prodding it."

Dan smirked. "Have you seen your track record?"

Wong reentered the room. "The artefacts in Kamar-Taj should only be approached by trained individuals."

The Doctor pouted. "I'm trained! In lots of things! I've probably got more qualifications than you, as a matter of fact."

"It's not a competition."

"Maybe it isn't when you're losing so badly." The Doctor pulled a face. "Don't you have some way of analysing the danger more closely?"

"The only way we can safely observe the multiverse is through using America's powers and, as you've probably seen, that hasn't turned out to be too safe." He held up a hand before she or America could protest. "But there's no need to jump to such hasty ideas just yet. Because the Captain has returned."

He moved out of the way, allowing Carol to walk unceremoniously into the room. She didn't look remotely like she'd been flying across space, besides a slight rosy tint to her cheeks. Yaz thought it was unfair that someone could look so perfect after doing something so extreme. She became a sweaty mess if she unpacked the dishwasher too vigorously. Her mood was only further soured by how the Doctor sprang to her feet eagerly at the sight of the other woman, showing a level of exuberance that was normally just reserved for her .

"Did you find it?" the Doctor asked.

Carol put her hands on her hips. "What? No pleasantries?"

The Doctor rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore her request. "Did you get there alright? You look relatively unscathed, so I'm presuming you didn't have to fight your way out."

"It was just a casual trip to outer space. Nothing special."

Katy nudged Shang. "We're now hanging out with people who think interstellar travel is cool!"

"And?" the Doctor pressed the Captain, not liking how hesitant she was being.

"Nothing," came the dreaded reply.

"Pardon? I'm really hoping that I misheard you."

"Nope. There was nothing there. Just empty space. Nothing to distinguish it from the rest of it. The only thing I could detect was a faint hint of an energy surge. But that seems to have originated quite a while ago, way before the message was received. I doubt it was linked."

The Doctor sagged into her seat. "What do we do now then?"

Wong noticed the tablet was ringing again, looking to see who it was, and put it down whilst rolling his eyes. "Perhaps we need to do more research. We need to learn what the goals of Kang are for when he arrives." He looked at Marc and Layla. "Perhaps if we discover what he did in Egypt all those years ago."

Marc was reluctant to go down that avenue. "My source isn't going to give us much more information. I've already had to pay a heavy price for what he's given us so far. He doesn't want to relive that part of history."

Wong was going to respond when the tablet rang for a second time. He answered it angrily. "Yes, Madisynn? Is this important? As you can guess, I'm rather busy at the moment!"

America stood up, a smile on her face, trying to catch a look. "Is this your new girlfriend?" Her injuries meant she was too slow to evade his successful deflections, keeping the device out of her reach.

Madisynn was twirling her hair. "I just thought you'd like to know. At first, I thought you'd put a movie on for me, which would have been so nice of you. But then I realised that it was actually the news. I was getting bored before they started adding special effects."

Wong ran a weary hand across his face. "Special effects?"

"Maybe you should take a look for yourself."

He was muttering under his breath but he did as instructed, producing a portal directly in front of his television back in the Sanctum. A news report was playing, helicopter footage of a cityscape. With everyone now curious about what was happening, they looked at the screen, watching as people were captured running away on camera, screaming hysterically. The most alarming part were the waves of red energy that were continuously rolling along the streets, distorting every object that it came in contact with.

"Is that live?" the Doctor asked.

"It's San Francisco," Shang answered. "Oh my god. That's not too far from where I live."

Katy was clutching his arm. "What about my family? Are they going to be okay? What's going on?"

"What sort of thing could produce that energy?" Yaz wondered, almost mesmerised by the way it swirled and coalesced.

Wong had a grim look on his face. "That's no ordinary energy. That's magic. Untempered, undiluted…chaos magic."

"That really doesn't sound good," Dan remarked, the colour from his face draining. "It does look pretty chaotic."

"It's even worse than it seems. Because there's only one person who can produce that, especially on such a scale. And I thought she'd been removed from the picture."

The Doctor stepped forward. "She?"

"...the Scarlet Witch."