The sword was magnificent.
It was clear that Miranda had forged the weapon to inflict one thing upon this world.
Damage.
The second that Bucky raised the weapon, it seized his intent. It grasped a hold of all the sorrow and anger and power surging through his system and harnessed it towards a singular goal. And for once, Bucky let it take hold. He let the sword guide his hand as though he was little more than a puppet at the ends of a marionette. He knew he should care. He knew that he should be disgusted with himself, in allowing himself to be used again. But as he watched the demons fall, watched as their bodies writhed across the surface of the stone before their wounds overtook them and reduced them to ash, he knew he would not have it any different.
The sword hummed in his grasp, the blade staining blacker and blacker with each strike against a demonic figure. He swung it in a great arc, swiping across the chests of several beings. In its wake followed a shimmering blackness that swept out to cut the creatures straight through. He watched as their severed halves crumpled to dust at his feet.
He surged forward, pressing back against the flow of bodies. To his right, a cluster of demons ran red before they were torn apart. Their destruction forced an opening, allowing him a glimpse of Wanda. The witch looked ragged. Dark circles had gathered in the pale skin under her eyes. Blood seeped from claw marks that had torn a path down her jacket sleeve.
He took hold of the opportunity and sprinted through the opening before it closed again.
"They are everywhere," Wanda seethed, a bit breathless. "I'm not sure how much more of this I can take."
"They aren't the concern," Bucky said, stepping inside the protection of her power. "We should move towards the center. The Convergence is the focus. If Olcora reaches the center, her sister gets out."
"There are more of them?" Wanda snarled, raising a surge of power and blasting it out in front of them. Several of the beasts disintegrated in its wake.
Bucky pushed her forward, advancing her and her protective circle towards the center of the cavern. Her steps were unsteady. She had not been kidding what more she could take.
"How much strength does it take to keep up this shield?"
"Too much," she wheezed. "I'm having trouble keeping this up and fending them off at the same time."
"If you only had to do one," Bucky asked, "Would you last longer?"
"If you can keep the majority of them back, it will give me time to catch my breath and recoup a little. Barrier spells are easy, but multitasking is the trouble."
Bucky swung the sword in his hand, its weight feeling easy and familiar despite the small amount of time they had been teamed together. "I think I can manage that, if you can get this barrier over the Convergence point."
Wanda nodded. The fine hairs around her temple were slicked down with sweat. "I haven't seen the sorcerer in a while."
"I saw some bits of his magic when I came into the chamber. So I think he's still alive. What about the Watchmen?"
"I'm not sure. They dove into the fray and I haven't seen them since."
Bucky swore. A swath of demons leapt onto Wanda's barrier and she cringed, groaning as red soaked hands pressed up and pushed against the barrier. Bucky swung the blade. It cut easily through the barrier and sliced through the creatures. Their ash burst through the opening and sifted to the ground.
"What is that?" Wanda eyed the sword as the barrier sealed itself closed. "It feels...wretched."
"Yes," Bucky said, examining the blade. Its metal length was blacker yet. But not a black like paint, or oil. The type of black that existed in the absence of light. It did not gleam or glint. It was black in its purest form. "It's name is Cortar."
"Well, I don't like it."
"Neither do I," Bucky said, swinging the blade in a tight circle around his hand. "But it felt unwise to reject a gift from a death god."
"You keep good company then."
"Says the one who attached themselves to an infinity stone." He quipped, and when he glanced back she was smiling. It was a tired smile, but it was good to see that morale was salvageable.
And so they moved forward together with Bucky razing a path through the monsters with swing after swing. It was not until they made it to the steps at the base of the dias that they encountered anything less than demonic, though he preferred them over the wispy figure there.
Olcora stood at the base of the dias, her form sifting in and out of solidity. Aristelle stood on the dias, lowered into a defensive stance, a mighty spear clutched in her hands. Scattered around her were the remaining Watchmen. They were bruised and bloodied, but their determination was undeterred.
"Move or be moved," Olcora pronounced. "I have little patience left."
The Watchmen closed in, weapons trained on her.
"Don't you girls realize that you are working against your master?" Olcora chided. "Your precious deity has shifted her intentions. Won't you come to stand beside her?"
"That thing you have unleashed is not our mistress," a dark skinned girl with platinum curls snarled. "Our allegiance remains with Mortekaia."
"Hmm," Oclora contemplated for a moment, her hands sweeping out to the side as particles took shape within her fingers and long, curved blades solidified in her grasp. "What a shame."
Bucky surged forward, swiping out with his blade, hoping to catch her off guard. But like her sister, she was ready for him. She parried his blade and side stepped him. The Watchmen, spurred into action by his charge, rushed down the steps.
Blades flashed in the uneven light of the cavern, then everything bled red as Wanda pushed out her barrier, forcing back the demons that howled and screamed in an effort to join the fray.
"Buck."
Aristelle's voice was quiet, and he nearly missed her call as he rounded the back of the fighting figures. When he glanced back at her, she beckoned him closer. He looked back at the Watchmen. They were a formidable force, knocking aside Oclora's blade and thrusting their weapons in on her. But their blades never hit home, passing so easily through her misted form that their nearly impaled their own comrades as they lost their balance.
"They will not beat her," Aristelle said. "She will either kill them, or wound them deeply enough that she will be able to bypass their wards and take control of their minds."
"I have this sword."
"You do. But Oclora has centuries of battle experience." Bucky glanced back at the battle unfolding on the steps. Even the Watchmen, whom were far younger than the gods they stood amongst, fought with a power and grace only experience beyond a single human existence could give. "You and I will be the last line of defence. I need you in the right mindset, if you understand what I mean."
Bucky looked back at her. "What?"
"Miranda told me what you were. What they made you. They removed your humanity to make you their machine. You need to be that again if we are going to have any chance."
He could feel the image of that wretched star on his arm mocking him. He would never be rid of it, of what he was made to be.
"I can beat this. Even with my humanity. I cannot become that again."
There was a scream from behind them, the thunk of a body hitting stone.
"I fear that you must."
When Bucky turned back Olcora was ascending the stairs. Watchmen lay at her feet, dead or unconscious it was hard to tell. One of the girls, a slim, nondescript thing, lay motionless and terribly pale in a puddle of blood. The sight made him sick. How many more would die before this was done?
Bucky raised the sword. Cortar roared to life in his hands, the surge of its energy raging up his arms to take hold of his body. The blade was aching for a fight.
Red rose to claim the roaming particles of Olcora's body in the same instant that the barrier around them fell away. The screaming of the monsters was deafening as they closed in, claiming every inch of ground they could manage.
Olcora screamed her outrage as Wanda pushed her down, down into the ground, forcing her body to become whole.
"Cover me!" Bucky yelled and raised his sword before plunging into the rush of creatures.
Aristelle caught him easily, long legs carrying her into battle as she struck down the demons that stepped into their path. He had to reach Olcora. Now was his chance to drive the wretched blade into her heart and end this all. Above the demons' calls he could hear something else. Something shrill and terrible. Wanda's screams.
The two women were at the center of a wide gathering of the demons. They had formed a haphazard circle, crouched low, waiting to pounce. The red that had forced Olcora to the ground was fading, it's hold wavering. Olcora's hand was outstretched towards Wanda, her eyes a horrid shade of green.
"Your powers have made you believe you could be a god," Olcora seethed. "But you have no idea what that truly means."
Wanda fell to her knees, clutching her skull, and screaming. A horrible scream that made Bucky feel as though he might crawl out of his skin just to be rid of it.
Aristelle was the first to act. She flung her spear, striking her sister's side. Olcora hollered, her figure dissolving into the air. Wanda fell silent, her body slumping to the stone floor as she curled in on herself. Bucky surged forward towards her when the demons clamored into motion.
There was a small spark. Then a fizzle moments before a bright orange circle expanded before them. Dr. Strange stepped from its depths. His hands and mouth were moving, a strange stop start that proffered searing letters into the air. A circle formed around Wanda dropping her away. The sorcerer looked exhausted and bloodied.
"Tell me you've got a way out of this," Strange said, approaching them as he opened one portal after another to remove the creatures that launched at them. Bucky wondered vaguely where they were being dropped.
"We don't. This ends with Olcora. She wants the Convergence," Aristelle explained, plucking her spear from the ground and swinging it's blade in a fine arch, slicing through the closest demons.
The monster screamed, staggering back into several others before dissolving into dust.
"But I fear you are not our best ally in this," Aristelle said, approaching them again. "The witch could protect her own mind. Is that an ability you possess as well?"
"Control of my own mind is my specialty, actually," Strange said, "And I'm not too bad at protection spells either."
A trio of monsters surged towards Bucky and he swung the sword in a great arch. He missed the first two but struck home on the third. He pulled his arm back, beating at the creatures as they grabbed for him. Bucky hissed out a breath as taloned fingers raked over his skin. And then they began to scream. A circle of orange, outlined by fire bright runes expanded outwards, and as it passed beneath the demonic bodies they began to writhe and scream and until they were reduced to nothing at all.
"This won't keep your lovely sister out," Strange said. "But it will keep those things away."
Bucky to a step back, drawing in a long breath. "And now we wait."
"For little ole me?" A voice asked. "How considerate of you."
Bucky's side ignited, and he screamed. He staggered forward, barely managing to keep his grasp on the sword as a hand darted for it. Aristelle appeared beside him, her blurry form swinging her spear up and driving it into Olcora, bursting her form apart.
Bucky crouched against the stone floor, eyes squeezed shut, trying to gather his breath. He pressed his hand against his side and pain burst like fireworks across his ribs. His metal fingers came back red with blood.
"It doesn't look fatally deep," Aristelle said, crouching beside him. "Will you be okay?"
Bucky slowly uncurled, his breath shuttering as the heat in his side intensified. "I'm going to have to be."
"I just don't see what my sister sees in you." Olcora sneered. Aristelle was already in motion, launching herself at her sister. "If I was going to pick a fuck boy for myself, I'd go for something a little prettier."
Bucky pushed himself to his feet, the sound of swords clashing like a jackhammer against his head. He was done. Spent. Absolutely tired. When he focused on them, he found Strange and Aristelle both going toe to toe with the goddess. Olcora was not as quick and powerful as Miranda, but her ability to phase their weapons through her body made it nearly impossible for them to take her down.
It had to be him. It had to Cortar.
Taking one final breath, he surged forward. He pushed through the gap between Strange and Aristelle and thrust his sword up. Olcora had not been expecting him, and she did not move near quickly enough. The sword found its home in her ribs. The tip did not delve deep but the pain of it stunned the goddess enough to solidify her. She screamed, driving her own blade toward him, but Aristelle's spear was there to glance its blow.
Bucky stumbled back as Olcora retreated, clutching her side. Her eyes went to the center of the Convergence. In all the pain and confusion and mayhem he had not realized that Olcora had steadily retreated back towards the runes at the center of the room.
They both moved at the same moment. Olcora dove for the pentagram while Bucky brought the sword down towards her. Aristelle was yelling something he couldn't hear. The pain in his side pitched blackness into his vision as he stretched, stretched towards her.
She could not reach the Convergence.
The sound of the blade driving home was infinite and terrible. The wet squelch of metal plunging through skin. The pop of cartilage. The snap of bone. Olcora screamed. Bucky staggered, losing his grip as he struggled to pull in a breath. He hit the ground hard, vision blurring. He closed his eyes, gasping.
"This...is not...the end."
The sound of her voice was like a vacuum. Nothing else existed but her breathless, gurgling words. He could see nothing else but the blood red fingers that lay across the outermost line of the etched pentagram.
And then the lines flared to blinding life.