"Keep hold of her, yeah?"

"Do you really think I'm going to let go after we've just captured her?"

Wanda shook her head at Carol's sarcastic tone, feeling as if it wasn't helping the situation. She prowled in front of her alternate self as the figure was slowly lowered to the ground, taking the moment to compose herself after taking a torrid beating. The others were starting to crowd around them, though the other sorcerers maintained their tight leash around the Scarlet Witch. It was difficult to make out what her expression really meant, whether she was actually enjoying just how many people it was taking to corral her. Wanda wanted nothing more than to just knock her unconscious so that she no longer had to deal with the growing headache that came with being around her. But after her teasing comments, they couldn't afford to silence the only person with the answers they needed.

Carol turned her attention to her fallen comrade. "How's Scott doing?" She didn't think she'd seen him moving properly since he'd taken the last big hit, and the longer that trend continued, the more worried she became. She'd only known him for an extremely short amount of time, and now all she could think about was his well being. Fighting battles on your own at least left fewer things to worry about.

"America's watching over him," Kamala assured her. "I think he's already been taken to Kamar Taj, which is going to be a strange place to wake up in for the first time."

"What did you mean before?" Wong asked the witch, brave enough to walk towards her. "How many more of you are there? Where are they?"

The woman clicked her tongue. "You're not understanding. It's not me you're going to have to deal with. That'd be boring. He said that he wanted to put on a show to get your attention."

The Sorcerer Supreme took a steadying step backwards. "Who? Who's put you up to this?"

"I'm not at liberty to say."

"Because you've been instructed to do that or because you just don't want to?"

"That probably depends on how you view me."

"You threw me into the floor at least a dozen times so it isn't going to be too positive," Marc grumbled.

The witch shrugged. "Don't take it personally."

"You wouldn't be saying that if you'd been repeatedly smashed into a building," Shang added, attempting to massage his shoulder. He could feel a growing lump there that was painful to the touch, and he wasn't going to risk looking in a mirror for quite some time, fearful of what sort of a mess it'd be in.

"I'm currently chained to the ground so I've got a sense of what you went through. If it's any consolation…I never wanted to hurt you…too much."

"I'm sure I saw you smirking the second time you bounced me like a basketball through a window."

The Doctor strode closer to their collective opponent. "We can get rid of the chains if you'd like."

Mister Knight was quick to make an appearance, holding up a hand as his glowing eyes widened. "Can I point out that she definitely doesn't speak for us, because I think she might be insane."

The Time Lord rolled her eyes. "I know that someone in restraints isn't going to talk freely to the people that put them in that position."

"If you didn't notice, we had no choice!" the Captain reminded her. "If she wasn't attacking us, then we wouldn't have had to do this."

"Even so…a show of faith never hurt anyone."

"I wonder if the people of Troy would agree with you after they allowed that Greek horse into the city," Kamala remarked, before realising that everyone was now looking at her with raised eyebrows. "What? I like history in school. I can have other interests other than superheroes! I'm not one-dimensional."

"Good subject to enjoy," the Doctor said with a nod of approval. "I was there in Troy that day. I was squashed in the left leg of the horse."

"Doc…I think you're getting off track," Dan helpfully pointed out to her.

She winced and gave everyone an apologetic look. "Sorry. I get excited about history too. But…to get back to the matter at hand…I think it's best if we let her go. She knows that we can stop her now. And…I have the feeling that she doesn't really want to be doing this." She put her face uncomfortably close to the witch's. "I've faced many evil people over my innumerable years, and they always have that glint in their eyes that betrays their true intentions. You don't have that darkness in your gaze."

"Do you want to put that to the test?" the witch asked.

"If you go on a rampage and kill us all, I'll hold my hands up and say I got it wrong."

"That's not at all comforting," Marc complained, taking back control of the body to get his jape in.

"I don't want to sound big headed but I'm very rarely wrong about matters like this. You're being made to do this, aren't you, Wanda? By the person who sent you here? Is it Kang?"

For the first time, there was a flicker of true emotion on the woman's face. "You know him?"

"His reputation obviously precedes him."

"You mustn't know him properly if you use his name without fear."

"The only way we can help you against him is if you tell us what's going on. We need some warning of what he's planning."

"You mentioned something about these manacles being removed…because they're starting to burn my wrists…"

The Doctor nodded her head at Wong. "You know what instruction to give."

"Are you sure about this, Doctor?" he asked.

"Can we ever be sure about anything?"

"A yes or no answer would have been preferable." He turned around, holding up his hands towards his followers. "Sorcerers! Stand down!"

"You're making a mistake," Marc argued but the order had already been given, the chains disappearing without delay. "This is why I never normally choose to be on a team. Because no one has the same sort of common sense as me."

The Scarlet Witch still wasn't able to move though, despite her magical binds fading from existence. Carol was still maintaining a tight hold on her, gritting her teeth in the face of the Doctor's disapproving look. Wanda didn't struggle against her growing tighthold, unwilling to show any weakness. In this position, it would have been the easiest it could have ever been to kill such a powerful foe, with one swift movement likely to break her neck. She'd destroyed an entire street and there was no telling what else she could do. But there was still more to the story that needed to be heard, and Carol had never been one to take a life without enough reason.

The Doctor tried to plead to her more understanding nature. "I know this might not make a lot of sense right now…but part of being a team is sometimes following someone's idea when it goes against every one of your instincts."

Carol hesitated before her fingers unlocked, allowing the witch to stumble forward, free from her grasp at last. The others waited, hands raised, ready to defend themselves if she chose to continue with her attacks. She was breathing heavily, looking at them all, as if she was considering what her next choice could be. The Doctor was standing right in front of her in a brazen show of faith, with Yaz lingering close by, though how she could defend her friend in this scenario was left to be seen.

"I'm still trapped though, aren't I?" the witch said tiredly. "I'm not free to leave."

"There are only so many compromises I'm willing to make. You may not have killed anyone, which is why I'm being surprisingly lenient with you, but you could have done. You can't expect us to let you go."

"I suppose not, though I was hoping you were proving to be the reasonable one around here."

"I'm standing in front of you without any powers other than my big mouth. I'm trusting you and, right now, that's more than you deserve. I'm treating you like a person…not a monster, as the people here today will probably view you as…nor as a tool, as I'm suspecting your master has been treating you."

"Do you think kindness is going to win me to your side?"

"Can't that be enough?" the Doctor asked with a shrug. "I think it's something you haven't been given for quite a long time. So…I'm putting this to you nicely …why are you here? If it wasn't to kill…"

"He's not interested in death," the witch replied. "There wouldn't be anyone to rule over if he killed everyone in his wake."

"Kang? Is that what he wants? To rule over people?"

"Eventually."

"Is there a certain group of people that he wants to rule?" Yaz queried. "This world?"

The Doctor smiled at her. "That's a very good question, Yasmin Khan." The woman in question beamed in response.

The witch was considering her words carefully. "This world…and every other."

Wong's face grew grave. "The multiverse? No man can hold enough power to control that."

"That's the sort of mindset that'd disgust him. The Sorcerer Supreme himself, limited by his vision alone. It's not a good look."

"Limited by logic and morals. A man who wants to wrap us all in chains is no just man."

"I never said he was just. But don't you think it's rich saying that, after you just bound me without any second thought?"

"You know that's different."

"Is it?"

"Let's not get into a back and forth because that's not going to be helpful," the Doctor interrupted, sending a warning glance at Wong. There were very few people who were willing to look at him like that. "Forget Kang for the moment. Why you? Why did he choose you to do this?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Marc retorted. "It's because she's got enough power to defeat us all."

"But she didn't," the Time Lord argued, refusing to be perturbed by his negative perspective. "She said as much…she was never supposed to seriously harm any of us. So it can't just be about her power levels."

"Perhaps it's because she's the most malleable," Wanda suggested grimly, looking closely at her other self. The face may have been different, but some of the expressions were remarkably similar. They were slight idiosyncrasies that she could resonate with.

"That's definitely not a word I'd use to describe her," Shang said.

"I know her though. I know how easy it is to transform the woman into the Scarlet Witch, to make her do your bidding." She looked at Wong. "It's the entire reason why I did things I did, why I lost myself to the Darkhold."

It didn't take long for realisation to dawn on his face. "No…he wouldn't, would he?"

"It sounds as if he'd do anything to claim his triumph…including capturing two beautiful children and using them to his advantage." She could see it clearly written on the corresponding face. "Am I right?"

"He said that, if I didn't do what he ordered, then they'd be the first to die," the witch explained. "I had no choice after that."

"Kang took your children?" the Doctor summarised.

"Billy and Tommy. I…don't know where they are. I don't even know if they're still alive."

The Doctor risked placing a hand on her shoulder. "You believe that he doesn't want to kill anyone…so that has to apply to them too. You need to keep faith, as difficult as that may be. The only way we can help them is you start cooperating with us."

The witch bowed her head. "What do you want to know?"

"You mentioned that other attacks are imminent. Where are they going to happen? Who else has he coerced?"

"I don't know…but they'll be just as noticeable as me."

"We need to get access to a tv screen again," Wong muttered. "If there's another similar attack, then the news will have it covered."

"And we can contact other superheroes across the globe to keep a lookout," Kamala suggested. "Not just because I want to meet more of you or anything…" She grinned awkwardly at her universe's Wanda. "I'm a big fan, by the way."

"You shouldn't be," Wanda replied.

"Is there a reason for that noticeability?" the Doctor pressed on. "You called Kang a showman…"

"A showman's livelihood depends on grabbing your attention."

"Is anyone else starting to get really worried as to why he wants our attention?" Dan wondered, seeing some of the others nod their heads vigorously.

"Kang had to ensure that you were here…the next attacks are solely designed as a distraction."

The Doctor's eyebrows knitted together. "A distraction from what? Why did we have to be here?"

The witch shook her head slowly. "Not we . You ." She had a hold of the Doctor's arm before the Time Lord could even think about stepping away in time, thanks to their close proximity. "I'm sorry…but I can't lose my boys."

Yaz saw the red magic form around the witch's hands. Without thinking, she leapt forward. How many times had they been separated? Losing the Doctor on Gallifrey, the angels taking her in Medderton…she was not going to let it happen again. The witch was taking her friend again; she could see the magic consuming them. Her hand clutched the Doctor's shoulder as she shouted out, putting all of her strength into holding on. For a few seconds, that was all she knew as she got swept away in the scarlet storm.

By the time it eventually stopped, Yaz found herself landing against a thankfully solid floor. Her eyes were bleary after the tumultuous journey, especially with how dark their new location was in comparison to where they'd just been. Her first instincts were to feel the entirety of her body to make sure that everything was still there. It seemed to be the case, though her mind was so frazzled that she could have easily miscounted the number of digits she still had.

She felt movement underneath her and suddenly the Doctor was shifting, pulling her up by the hand. "Yaz! What did you do?"

For a brief moment, she could ignore everything else. She could ignore the gloomy surroundings. She barely registered the Scarlet Witch standing there, looking worse for wear. All she wanted to focus on was having the Doctor in front of her. She'd succeeded. Whatever happened next, they would face it together, and that's all she'd ever wanted throughout their relationship. And, more surprising than the fact that she'd actually done it, was that the Doctor, despite the panic in her tone, was clinging onto Yaz with a similar level of vigour and neediness. It was all the encouragement Yaz needed to pull her into a tight hug, probably the first time she'd initiated such a show of affection.

"I couldn't lose you," she whispered into the Doctor's ear. "Not again."

"You've put yourself in danger."

"Is it concerning that I don't even care."

The Doctor pulled away slightly, though she kept her hands tightly around Yaz's waist. It felt natural to have them fall there. "Yes, it is. Because I've travelled with people in the past who started getting cocky, who started taking risks, who started trying to be like me…and it ended in disaster. I won't make the same mistakes. I won't let you do that."

"I don't think there's any way of sending me back."

"No, you're definitely right about that."

The Doctor glanced around, taking in the large room they were in. As dark as it was, there were still signs of advanced technology. Phasing blue tubes connecting to places unseen, machines on the wall that were slim and sleek, a viewing window that was currently covered by metal blinds. Under normal circumstances, the Doctor would have been positively giddy at the prospect of analysing all of the technology, savouring the chance to gain new knowledge. But with Yaz at her side and the others back at home, potentially about to face large threats on their own, she was honing all of her attention into being the Doctor, the person who fought off the monsters.

"Can't you be a little bit glad that I'm here?"

Despite her ill feelings, the Doctor couldn't help but grin. "You have no idea how happy I am whenever you're with me."

"You shouldn't have come here," Wanda said to Yaz. "That wasn't a part of his instructions. He won't be happy."

"Don't worry, Wanda," a soothing choice calmed her from the shadows. A man walked into the light, his face surprisingly warm and smiling. "I knew this would happen. It's exactly how it was supposed to happen."

The Doctor reluctantly let go of Yaz, setting her back straight as she pulled herself to her full height. "Kang, I presume…"

"Doctor," he replied with a soft giggle. "It is an honour . You have no idea how long I've been waiting to meet you."