Hi everyone, welcome back to Avengers of the Multiverse! Last where we left off, the Avengers and their allies defeated their Esoterica attackers, but most of the villains were able to escape, with the exception of Hex whom was captured. However, while this all happened, the Cabal attacked the Realm of the Far Frozen in the Ghost Zone and stole the Infi-Map, combining it with a piece of Diagon's trans-dimensional powers and used it to travel to Legerdomain. What can they hope to gain from it? Find out right now!

Part 5

What was wrong with this picture? A gorgeous young woman with long silver hair and pinkish-purple eyes sat at a table, having a meal, all by herself. She ate in the massive dining hall that could probably sit over two dozen people, all within a great and mighty castle that resided in the center of a magnificent dimension of magic. And yet, why was this beautiful woman all by herself?

That was one of the many thoughts she had as she continued to eat, because that's all she really could do. She ruled a whole other dimension, but was there really much to rule? Before she took over after vanquishing the previous ruler, nearly every individual tried to seize the throne for themselves, killing each other in the ensuing chaos. During which, she was able to take the throne for herself with a combination of her vast powers and her cunning that she learned under the tutelage of her uncle. But she never really wanted to rule this reality. She only wanted to bring back the one person she loved, no matter how much blood she had to spill. But when she finally got her wish, her father left her to return to the afterlife once again. She knew the reason why. She always knew the reason.

Maybe it was because she was just a bad person all together. Her recent attempt at genocide wasn't the only one. For many years she's hurt people; one could say it was due to her uncle's influence, who was a bad person himself. But, there were multiple times where she could have left his side, and she did a few times to go her own way, only to try and make herself an even worse villain than him. Yet despite that, there was someone who tried to offer her a chance to escape the darkness… maybe she should have taken it. Even if she could never see her father again, she would have had a better life and even found new friends. But it was too late. With all her past sins, it was unlikely that anyone would ever find the strength to forgive or even care for her.

"What am I even doing here?" Charmcaster muttered to herself alone. "What's the point of all this?"

Suddenly her eyes widen as she felt something shake the entire realm like it was stuck by an earthquake that affected even the sky. She stood up in surprise, feeling the jolt through her very being as well.

"W-What…?!" She stuttered, fear dripping through her voice. "T-That's not… possible…!"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that."

Charmcaster turned around in shock to see a violet-colored Ecto-beam that blasted her through the wall and straight out of her own castle. She used her powers to stabilize herself in mid-air as she glared at the one who dared attack her.

"Nice palace you have here." Vlad Plasmius smirked as he hovered through the hole and outside on equal level with her. "It's shame you only let it gather dust."

"I don't know who or what you are, but you made a terrible mistake!" Charmcaster growled, both her hands surging with magic. Before she even made a move to attack however, the Dark Dragon suddenly appeared behind her, unleashing a massive inferno of dark fire upon her. She quickly threw up a barrier to try and protect herself, but the dark flames proved too strong and broke through her shield, sending her crashing to the ground in the courtyard.

She pulled herself up, only to appear surrounded by Modula, Van Kleiss, Dr. Drakken, V.V. Argost, and Vilgax as Vlad and the Dark Dragon flew closer to the ground to hover just above her.

"Greetings and Bienvenu, young Charmcaster." Argost greeted first with a seemingly formal bow. "Or, do you prefer your birthname, Hope?"

"Who the hell are all of you?" She questioned as she stood up.

"We are the Cabal, future masters of the multiverse." Modula introduced.

"How did you even get here? Nobody can penetrate my defenses unless I let them!" Charmcaster stated.

"Perhaps nothing from this world, or the Earth that exists parallel from it." Van Kleiss replied. "But the Multiverse has other Earths, other dimensions that can provide us with a number of resources."

"Resources that would be foreign to somebody like you." Vlad said as he held the Infi-Map in his hands.

"Your little realm of magic sure looks like a lot of fun." Drakken said. "But you're really letting the whole evil despot thing go to waste as you just wonder about in that castle of yours."

"Rest assured, however; we have grander plans for Legerdomain." The Dark Dragon revealed. "Hand your realm over to us and we may even be generous enough to leave you a small fragment of what we hope to gain."

Charmcaster scowled. "Masters of the multiverse, you say?" She mused as she hovered above many of them, her hands once again surging with her magical power. "You know, I'm actually glad some wannabe despots came here! Maybe you can kill some time for me!"

"Underestimating us is a grave mistake." Vilgax proclaimed as the cybernetics within his arms activated to further enhance his muscles. "The last you will ever make, child!" He was the first to leap up and attack Charmcaster, with the rest of the Cabal following suit.


Avengers Mansion

Hex had been confined to a special cell within the underground workings of the young heroes' base, his hands restrained in front of him by energy cuffs. He stared out the energy wall of the cell he was in with his would-be-interrogators trying to get answers out of him.

"We can do this the hard way, or the easy pal. Or the medium way." Ron said with crossed arms, trying to act all macho with Rufus on the shoulder mimicking his expression. Hex said nothing as he simply stared. "Come on man, at least tell me which way you wanna go?"

"Is he serious right now?" Kevin asked Rex and Lance.

"Unfortunately." Lance rubbed his hand down his face as Rex stepped forward.

"Alright Ron, let me handle this." Rex said as he faced Hex. "You put a lot innocent people in danger skull-face. You are gonna tell us what you and your bosses are up to, or things are gonna get ugly." He produced one of his Smack Hands and clenched into a fist for emphasis.

"It doesn't matter…" Hex spoke. "None of it does. You can't stop what's coming. Nothing can."

"What is coming?" Lance questioned. "What are you planning?" Once again, Hex didn't respond.

"Going back to the silent treatment, huh?" Ron tried to act all macho again. "You better start singing or else!"

"Yeah! Or else!" Rufus squeaked.

"Or else what? You'll torture me?" Hex questioned somewhat spitefully.

"Tempting, but you know half this group would throw a hissy fit for that." Kevin said. "But tell me this, why work with Turlte-boy? Don't you hate the guy for, ya know, taking over your home and killing your brother? Now you're all buddy-buddy with him? What's up with that?"

Hex's eyes narrowed at the young heroes, but still said nothing.

The door opened behind them as Gwen came in. "Guys, let me handle this."

"Are you sure?" Lance asked. "What makes you think you can make him talk?"

"He and I have a history." Gwen replied. "I'm sure he'll talk with me."

Rex shrugged. "Okay, if you say so."

"Ah man! Here I was hoping to be the bad cop for once!" Ron pouted with Rufus doing the same.

"Come on." Lance told them as they began to leave. "Let's see what the others are talking about."

"Hey." Kevin got his girlfriend's attention. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry babe." Gwen smiled in assurance. "I'll be fine."

Kevin smiled back as he walked out the door, leaving Gwen alone with Hex. She used her Mana to generate a chair and sit to be on equal level with him.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" She asked.

Hex didn't say anything at first, but only because he took a moment to look at the young woman standing before him. It may have been years ago, but he still remembered the masked girl who stood her ground against a foe that would have terrified many of her own age.

"Lucky Girl, all grown up." Hex commented as something of a nostalgic smile crossed his face. "I remember when you were but a child, using trinkets and your wits to face one of the greatest masters of dark magic to ever live. Now look at you, you practically breathe the mystic arts now. I can see your power, I'm not even sure you're human anymore."

"Well, not completely." Gwen replied with a half-smile, seeming to strike up a casual conversation topic. "My grandmother was an Anodite, but the rest of my family is human. I was the only one who apparently inherited 'the spark'."

"I see… that explains your quick mastery over magic." Hex said. "I always did admire them, beings made entirely out of energy, some even consider them to be deities."

"I wouldn't go that far, but they are certainly powerful." Gwen replied before getting serious. "Why work with Addwaitya? Kevin's right, after what he did to you home, your family?"

He didn't know why, but Hex felt he was able to at least give his answer to her, probably from their tumultuous history. "It's because of my family that I did. The Cabal have a plan that'll throw the multiverse into chaos. Addwaitya sees them as an opportunity to reclaim control of Legerdomain. I can't say for certain if they are aware of his plans, but many of them appear clever enough to see through him and will likely end his life once his usefulness is ended. But that is not their right. The one who must kill Addwaitya must be me."

Hex clenched his cuffed fists in anger. "He took everything from me! First my brother, then my niece!" However, that anger subsided, and it seemed grief formed in its place. "But then again, that may be my fault. I was the one who took Charmcaster under my wing, trained her in my ways, and she became even worse than I had intended for myself. Perhaps if I had left her in the care of somebody else… maybe she'd have a happier life. And even still here."

"Charmcaster's alive, Hex."

Gwen's revelation caught him completely by surprise. He stared at her with circular eyes, pupils shrunk, and his mouth agape.

"We went back to Legerdomain." Gwen explained. "Addwaitya was overthrown by Charmcaster, only for her to take his throne for herself."

"She… I… what…?" Hex stuttered, still trying to process this revelation.

"After we got back, I tried to find and tell you." Gwen said. "Despite everything you've done, you said you loved her, and I believed you. I felt you had a right to know. But you were gone, and we couldn't find you."

It took a few moments for Hex to completely soak it all in. She was alive. His niece, the only living flesh and blood relative he had left was still alive!

"Tell me… what has become of her?"

Gwen sighed, knowing there was no easy way to tell him this, but he still had a right to know. "It's… not great."


Meanwhile; Rex, Ron, Lance, and Kevin had arrived at the Assembly Hall where everyone else was comparing notes on what they discovered, with Ben knowing exactly who and what they were up against.

"Dagon?" Danny questioned.

"Yeah." Ben confirmed. "A giant demonic god that's conquered and enslaved hundreds of dimensions. Honestly he's the most powerful enemy we've ever had to face. I never thought we'd end up dealing with him again."

"So, all those people that transformed…" Illana asked.

"Esoterica." Ben answered. "They were originally a cult of people in my world that also called themselves the Flame Keeper's Circle. Dagon gave them the power to hop between dimensions…"

"Which explains that annoying disappearing act they've pulled off on us." Jake commented. "I mean, come on! That is just cheap!"

"Ben, you said this guy is a god. What exactly do you mean by that?" Lance questioned.

"It's exactly what he says." Kevin answered. "We got a giant monster that can literally do anything, even turning the entire human population on our planet into his little super-powered slaves. Every man, woman, and child."

Needless to say, pretty much everyone else looked in shock at that remark. "You can't be serious." Kim muttered.

"We're dead serious." Ben confirmed.

"Wait... you said he turned every human on your planet?" Max asked as he cast a glance towards the Saturdays, with everyone else following along. "Don't you live in the same world."

"Yeah… we do. And… that affected us." Zak said with a slight shiver, remembering the feeling.

"Around that time, something hit us." Doc tried to describe it as best as he could. "We didn't know what at the time, but we do remember blacking out. But when we came to, our home was a wreck."

"Security footage confirmed that we transformed… so to speak." Drew added.

"Everyone except Fisk, Zon, and Komodo." Zak put in. "Probably because they weren't human."

Fiskerton nodded and gave an affirmative growl while Zon and Komodo cawed and growled respectively, as if it was their own way of confirming it as well. They actually had to defend themselves against the volley of energy blasts the transformed Saturdays threw at them.

"After that, we tried to get into contact with the other Secret Scientists and the same thing happened to them." Drew said.

"The Plumbers ended up confirming the whole thing and explained the situation to us." Doc added. "So, we know the gist about this Dagon creature."

"In fact, we think it may have something to do with my Kur powers coming back." Zak reveled.

That got everyone's attention. "What do you mean?" Rex asked. "This alien-god thing gave you your powers back?"

"Not exactly…" Zak tried to explain. "We're not one hundred percent exactly how it happened… but I said before that even after the Kur power vanished when Argost tried to steal it and mix it with his Anti-Kur powers, there may have been some residual trace of it left inside me because I was born with it. But since this Dagon thing got inside my head, maybe he trigged some kind of reaction that somehow sparked it back to life or something. Like I said, I can't quite explain it but I'm pretty sure Dagon was responsible, indirectly anyway."

"So, this Dagon can affect people's minds." Lao-Shi assumed. "Perhaps that may explain the hallucinations we've seen at the start of this crisis."

"Nocturne might have had something to do with that." Sam said. "He's the Ghost of Sleep in our world. He has the power to harvest energy from people's dreams as they sleep."

"But the guy's never caused hallucinations before, that's new." Danny said.

"We did bring those jellyfish things back with us, or what was left of them." Tucker recalled.

"Cassiopeian Dream Eaters." Kevin explained. "Alien parasites that make people have nightmares, real nasty."

"The Ghost of Sleep using alien parasites that give people nightmares. Yeah, that makes sense." Dani said.

"Add in a couple of magic powered nutjobs and monsters, and we got ourselves a nightmare buffet right there." Fu-Dog added.

"But why would they use the powers of this Dagon to cause people nightmares while they're awake? That doesn't make sense." Illana said.

"Maybe that wasn't their intent." Max replied.

"You got an idea going on there, Max?" Kim asked.

"Dagon's power affects people's minds, right?" Max began before looking to Ben. "And you said he turned all the people in your world into mindless slaves, so he basically got inside all their heads."

"Yeah, that's what happened." Ben confirmed.

"Maybe like with Zaky-boy's Kur powers, there might have been some trace of his power left behind inside all those people's minds." Max continued.

"That would make sense." Drew seemed to follow along. "Magic, especially something that powerful, does leave traces. It's how we were able to track down our enemies before."

"So, our foes used this combination of magics and nightmare-inducing powers as a way to distract the people, and perhaps even us, in order to safely extract Dagon's essence from each of their minds." Lao-Shi also appeared to have got.

"Maybe tiny-little pieces don't mean that big a deal individually, but if you pile it all up after pulling it out from a few thousand people or so…" Fu Dog followed along.

"It could all together become something powerful enough for the Cabal and their forces to use and weaponize." Octus finished, seeing where they were all going.

"Like creating a whole bunch of elemental monsters for us to fight." Danny said with realization.

"I'm thinking that might have been just a test run, to see if they can get Dagon's power to work the way they want it to." Ben responded.

"And since they were able to bring back the Esoterica, I'd say they got a pretty good handle on it." Kevin said gravely.

"Wait… hold one, there's still one thing that doesn't add up." Jake spoke up. "I get why the people from Ben and Zak's Earth are affected since they were all brainwashed, but what about the people from my world? Heck it even affected magical creatures!"

"He's right. Our world was affected too, and we never had to fight aliens before, let alone an alien god!" Dani added.

"Ben, how did you take down Dagon before?" Lance asked

That caused Ben and Kevin to look nervous as the former rubbed the back of his neck before giving his answer. "Well… Technically I didn't, Vilgax did."

"What?!" All the main Avengers exclaimed while their allies just looked shocked.

"Yeah, remember when Vilgax attacked Galaluna, and I told you that he absorbed the powers of a god one time?" Ben recalled. "Best guess who that god was."

"Dagon?" Rex assumed bluntly.

"Yep." Ben confirmed. "Long story short, Vilgax built this machine meant to absorb Dagon's powers, or Dagon himself as the guy's entire essence was literally trans dimensional energy that he can manipulate however he wants."

"Vilgax absorbed the power into himself, became a god too, and almost destroyed the universe." Kevin summed up.

"So… how'd you stop that?" Kim asked.

"Dagon… was defeated in the past." Ben explained. "The guy who made the Omnitrix, Azmuth, also created a sword called Ascalon, and that thing was wicked powerful. I took that sword and stole Dagon's power from Vilgax, and used that to turn everyone on Earth back to human, while also scattering Dagon's energy throughout the universe."

"Oh… is that all?" Sam commented.

"Maybe that might be the answer." Breach finally spoke up. "Speaking as someone who's crossed dimensions before… I think I know how this happened. This Dagon can travel between realities, right? Well, maybe his scattered energy, which also has the same power, was drawn to your worlds." She said to Danny and Jake, and their respective allies. "Your worlds are unique. One has magic all over, and it seems Dagon's power can interact with magic if the Cabal's forces have been using it to control that power. The other one, exists parallel to another dimension, called the Ghost Zone, right? Because of that, portals between those dimensions pop up; perhaps Dagon's own trans-dimensional essence was drawn to that like a magnet. All that resulted in Dagon's deluded essence getting stuck in people's minds, not enough to damage them of course; only when the Cabal tried to forcibly extract it. At least, that's my theory."

Everyone looked to Breach with wide-eyed expressions, with Max looking rather impressed with a smirk. 'She knows her stuff.'

"That's actually a pretty sound theory. I think you might be right." Doc nodded, appearing quite impressed himself.

"It would explain why similar incidents didn't occur in our world." Octus said. "We've never dealt with anything magical or trans dimensional."

"Same here." Rex added.

Ron groaned in mental exhaustion as he leaned back against the wall. "All this magical dimensional stuff… I can't make heads or tails of it? Can you, buddy?" He asked Rufus on his shoulder, who only shook his head in an equal amount of mental exhaustion; prompting Fisk to run and rub his hand on Ron's back to provide some kind of comfort.

"Okay… so now we can guess how all this happened." Danny summed up. "The Cabal is trying to forcibly extract Dagon's power and use it themselves. Which explains what Frostbite told us about unstable tears in the Ghost Zone."

"I think we can handle some giant magic monsters and dimension-hopping people." Jake said confidentially.

"Yeah, now that we know what were up against, fighting the bad guy's are gonna be a sinch." Rex added with an equal amount of confidence.

"Guys, remember who we're dealing with here." Ben reminded. "The Cabal, as in the collection of psychopaths who want to conquer the whole dang multiverse! There's no way they're gonna settle with what they got, especially Vilgax who tasted all of Dagon's power."

"You think they're gonna try and gather it all up and become gods themselves?" Illana asked.

"It definitely sounds like something Argost would do, considering he tried to mix two Kur powers into one." Zak added.

"But that's not the only thing we should worried about." Kevin added.

"You think trying to bring in more of his power is gonna bring Dagon back, right?" Max assumed.

"One scenario, the Cabal get Dagon's power and become gods. The other, Dagon comes back and goes on a multiversal rampage." Ben summed up. "Either way, we're looking at apocalypse-level stuff here."

"How would they even do that though?" Lance questioned. "I can't imagine those items and parasites we've recovered are enough to pull it off."

"Certainly not." Lao-Shi said. "If this Dagon is as powerful as we've heard, the Cabal would need an incredible source of power to draw all of it in at once."

"They may have a piece of it to act like a magnet, but with it scattered across whole universes… I can't even begin to imagine what they'd use for it." Drew added.

Before anyone could make any more theories or guesses, a giant blue energy-like portal appeared near the ceiling with a clock hand pointing upward. They looked in shock as they saw the clock hand rotate around the circular portal before vanishing as a certain ghost appeared ut of nowhere.

"BEWARE!" The Box Ghost hollered before looking around to observe his new surroundings. "Huh, so this is a whole new universe. Wonder what kind of boxes this universe has."

"Wha… I… What?!" Tucker questioned as Danny, Sam, and Dani's jaws all dropped.

"You have got to be kidding me…" Sam smacked her hand against her face.

Immediately, everyone was on the offensive, drawing whatever kind of weapons they had, activating their powers or transformations, or even taking simple combat stances and had it all aimed at the Box Ghost, who looked frightened at the dozens of deadly individuals ready to strike him at even the slightest movement.

"Oh poop…"

"Guys, no. Lower your weapons." Danny groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "He's harmless."

"A friend of yours?" Kim asked.

"Hardly." Sam answered. "Probably the most annoying ghost in our, or any other world."

"Everyone, meet the Box Ghost." Danny introduced. "He thinks he's some kind of terror-inducing villain, but he's more of a nuisance than anything else."

"Hey! You didn't think I was a nuisance when I stole Pandora's Box!" The Box Ghost flew up in Danny's face, who was still unamused.

"Wait… when he stole… what?!" Max questioned, looking stupefied, a first for him.

"Long story, don't ask." Tucker replied.

"How the heck did you even get here?" Dani asked the Box Ghost.

"Clockwork sent me." The Box Ghost answered, which really caught the attention of Danny and his friends.

"Clockwork?" Lance questioned.

"The Ghost of Time, he's a really big deal in the Ghost Zone." Sam answered.

"I can prove it to you!" The Box Ghost reached into this pocket to pull out one of Clockwork's Time Medallions and showed it to Danny specifically. "See! He told me to give this to you to show that he did sent me!"

"A Time Medallion?" Danny muttered in surprise. Did Clockwork really send the Box Ghost here.

"I came here to tell you about your enemies, the Cabal!" The Box Ghost revealed. "I know where they are now!"

That got their attention as Danny looked the Box Ghost with a serious expression. "Start talking."


Legerdomain

The entire courtyard was a warzone as Charmcaster had raised an army of her Stone Monsters and sicked on various members of The Cabal, though they seemed to be holding their own quite well. Modula rushed a group of six, delivering rapid punches and kicks with his inhumane speed to reduce all of them to rubble with little effort. He punched one of the Monster's arms off before using it to smash the same creature and threw it like a javelin to pierce a second and jumped to deliver a spinning kick to knock that monster into two others to destroy it.

Vilgax appeared to be dealing with the majority of them as they all attempted to swarm and gang up on him, but he exploded his arms out to throw all the Stone Monsters off his body and send them flying and crashing before he slammed his fists into the ground to create a shockwave that blasted away several more.

Meanwhile, Charmcaster herself flew into the air with Vlad and the Dark Dragon in pursuit. She blasted a powerful beam of her magic, which Vlad intercepted with a violet Ecto-beam, clashing their respective powers against one another; but this also left her open for the Dark Dragon to fly in, grab her and crash her into the wall of her castle. However, she wasn't pinned for very long as a large explosion of magic erupted around her to send the Dark Dragon flying as even Vlad was pushed back by the shockwave.

An enraged Charmcaster hovered from the hole as magic flames burned across her body, ready to unleash an inferno on everything in her path.

"Do you know who you're attacking? Do you know where we are?!" Charmcaster exclaimed.

"Of course, we do." Vlad replied. "A pathetic, broken, child who has the power to take everything, but lost her motivation when dear old daddy abandoned her." That earned a growl from Charmcaster.

"As for where we are, the realm of magic." The Dark Dragon sneered. "Here, all magic users have their powers enhanced… and as it so happens, I am a master of dark magic and far more experienced than you!"

An aura of dark fire surged around the Dark Dragon's body as he felt all his magical powers as a dragon grow exponentially. He shot his hands into the air, shooting up dark bolts that created a black cloud to spread all over the castle's area and even beyond. From the black clouds, hundreds Shade Demons of shade demons all rained down on Charmcaster like a rainstorm of pure darkness.

Looking more than a little nervous, Charmcaster quickly threw out a barrier of her magic, but it cracked as the Shade Demons pounded against it before finally shattering and allowing the summoned creatures to overwhelm her.

On the ground, Drakken had ensnared a Stone Creature, which he lifted and threw into another before gazing up at the black cloud as the massive shadow casted itself over the whole area.

"Oooh, someone's having fun up there."

Van Kleiss' mechanical arm pierced through another Stone Creature to destroy it. "So, it would seem magic from other universes are also enhanced here. Our theory was correct." He said as he retracted his artificial limb.

"Then perhaps it is time for some more fun." Argost said as he activated his Anti-Kur powers, his eyes glowing bright green as he channeled it all around him. Suddenly, all the Stone Creatures that surrounded Argost had stopped their charge; their glowing, pink-colored emblems turning a sickly green as even their eyes glowed with the same aura as Argost. And it wasn't just those Stone Creatures, all of the monsters in the courtyard, even those that were fighting Modula and Vilgax stopped their fighting as Argost seized control of them with his powers.

"My powers of the Anti-Kur have also grown. These golems are now under my command!" Argost laughed with glee.

"They had better be." Van Kleiss said. "It is rather crucial to our plan."

"Hey, are you sure it's alright to be using magic made from anti-matter here?" Drakken asked. "That didn't work so well when you tried to mix the normal Kur powers with yours."

"Perhaps not back then, but now is different." Argost replied. "This realm does not abide by the laws of physics the way matter and anti-matter do. And even if Legerdomain suffers damage from my use of the Anti-Kur powers, it won't matter. This realm will be torn apart completely by the time we're done."

Vilgax scoffed. "Magic is for the weak. Overreliance on such a concept will only lead to complacency!"

"You are not wrong but is necessary." Modula told him. "We need all this magic in order to reconstitute Dagon and bring it under our control."

Back with Charmcaster, she was put on the defensive against the massive swarm of Shade Demons that flew at her from all directions. She blasted magic in whichever way possible to avoid being overwhelmed, but it seemed to only delay what seemed to be inevitable. A large cluster of Shade Demons gathered together and formed a mass of shadow magic that tried shot itself toward her, which Charmcaster responded with the largest blast of magic she could muster to keep it at bay.

But once more, this distracted her as Vlad and the Dark Dragon came at her from behind to shoot a combined attack of Ecto-energy and dark fire, scoring a direct hit as she screamed before plummeting back to the ground. She tried to pull herself up, only to be pinned down by a Stone Creature.

"Hey! What are you doing?! You're on my side!" She exclaimed as all the other Stone Creatures began to enclose on her, with Argost standing atop one of them.

"Apologies, madam. But it seems your forces are now under more… competent leadership." The evil yeti grinned, his Anti-Kur powers glowing brightly as he directed the remaining Stone Creatures to try and swarm her, which the Shade Demons added on, forming a huge pile of stone and shadow in an attempt of what one could assume was smothering.

She was losing! Charmcaster was actually losing! This was supposed to be her realm! It was the place where she was born! The place she took back from the tyrant who killed her father! The place she ruled over! Was she about to lose it all over again to these people?! These monsters?! No! She would not lose again! She refused to lose anything ever again!

With a scream of rage, a massive column of pink magic erupted from the ground, obliterating all the Stone Creatures and Shade Demons that had piled on top of her. Argost had managed to jump back and regroup along with Vlad and the Dark Dragon with the rest of the Cabal as they saw Charmcaster hover up in the column of magic, her eyes glowing brightly as she held out her hand to summon a certain talisman: the Alpha Rune.

"This… is my… home…!" She seethed. "And I… will not lose it… I will never… lose anything… EVER… AGAIN!"

The column of magic shined even brighter as several pieces of rubble were pulled in from all over the area and began to condense around Charmcaster, forming a giant mass of stone armor around her body. When the light vanished, Charmcaster appeared encased in a monolithic armor of stone, embedded with the same magic emblems her Stone Creatures had. The armor was well over twenty feet tall, slighting taller than Vilgax; with massive stone feet and arms, connected by thick stone joints toward body that had Charmcaster embedded in the upper center, her head encased with a stone mask as she glared at the villains.

"Okay… I gotta admit, that's pretty impressive." Drakken commented.

"Hmm, I've seen better." Vlad dismissed.

"Shall we make this a team effort?" Van Kleiss proposed, not remotely intimidated.

"No. I will deal with this child myself." Vilgax stepped forward before charging the armored Charmcaster, who charged back before they pulled back their fists and slammed into one another, creating a shockwave that blew back everything in the courtyard.

Both grappled their hands together, pressing their respective strength against one another. Though Charmcaster appeared to be holding her own, Vilgax had the advantage as he managed to push her back. Charmcaster then blasted beams of magic from her eyes, which appeared to cause Vilgax some discomfort but it only seemed to anger him as he pulled back and slammed his head into hers, cracking the armor and sending her reeling back.

"H-How…?" She tried to shake it off. "Y-You don't… have magic…"

"Your parlor tricks are nothing compared to everything I've endured in my life, including having my own body torn to shreds and rebuilt over and over." Vilgax said before he leapt into the air and fell back down, slamming his fists into Charmcaster's armored body, smashing her into a crater as her armor cracked even further. "And I've only gotten stronger each time." He drew his sword and raised it high. Charmcaster tried to raise her right arm and block it, only for Vilgax to sever the entire armored joint at its shoulder. Though Charmcaster's real limb was still intact, it left her shocked in seeing her ultimate defense get torn apart like this.

She rolled out of the way of another slash and stood back up. But before she could retaliate, Vlad had turned intangible and phased through the armor to grab Charmcaster and yank her out, much to her shock and even horror.

"What?!"

"I may not possess magic, but it seems that even my abilities are foreign to you." Vlad punched her down to the ground.

"I told you I would deal with this, myself!" Vilgax stomped over to Vlad, who wasn't even intimidated despite Vilgax's anger and stature.

"While your gladiatorial match was certainly entertaining, I prefer a more practical approach." Vlad argued.

As they argued, Charmcaster tried to crawl away, only for Van Kleiss' extended gauntlet to grab her by the back of her head and pull her in close, where he punched her in the stomach. His own enhanced strength was enough for her to hack up blood before he slammed her into the ground. Drakken was next as he sent more plant vines her way to ensnare her and lift Charmcaster high into the air where the Dark Dragon blasted her with his dark fire, sending her crashing into the wall.

She was nearly done for, barley having the strength to stand, using the wall for support. But she screamed as Argost appeared on top of her, driving a pair of severed creature talons onto her wrists and into the wall behind her, effectively trapping her. She looked uncharacterizable frightened as Argost closed in on her.

"Oh no need to be so fret, dear Charmcaster." Argost said as he lifted her chin with his finger. "You put up an excellent fight, but I'm afraid you were just simply outmatched."

"W-What… do… do you… want…?" She stuttered as Argost plucked the Alpha Rune from her person and stepped aside to allow Modula to advance toward her.

"We said that we have use for Legerdomain, but while we understand this realm's basic principles, we lack the knowledge necessary to enact the final stage of our plan." Modula told her. "But you, one who was born and rules here, should know the secrets of the realm of magic. Secrets that a few of our… associates… would hesitate to share with us. You may even be aware of secrets that they are not."

With what little defiance and strength she had left, she glared at him. "I… Won't… tell you… anything…" She said with a cough.

"It's not up to you. Your mind will speak for itself." Modula said as the eye on his hat opened and shot bolts of energy onto her head. In that instant, Modula had seen all of Charmcaster's knowledge, and even her memories. Everything she knew, even the secrets of Legerdomain itself, he now knew himself.

When the process was done, Charmcaster finally slumped into unconsciousness as Modula turned around to face his regrouping colleagues.

"Well?" Van Kleiss asked.

"We have everything we need." Modula confirmed. "All of Legerdomain's secrets are ours."

"Then it is time to begin." The Dark Dragon said. "With your knowledge of Legerdomain, and my mastery of dark magic, we can open the door to our base and bring everything we need here."

"And with how time passes differently here, we now have an even bigger head start of the Avengers." Drakken smirked.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Vlad asked. "Onto the finale!"


Avengers Mansion

"Legerdomain?! Are you sure?!" Gwen questioned as she, the Avengers, and their allies questioned the newly arrived Box Ghost.

"That's what they said. Yep." The ghost confirmed with a nod. "Used the Infi-Map to zip their way there."

"What happened to Frostbite and his people? Are they okay?" Dani asked with worry.

"Pandora and a bunch of other friendly ghosts are helping them out." The Box Ghost answered, causing Danny and his friends to sigh with relief. Though they couldn't help but feel a tad bit guilty for not being there when the Cabal attacked the home of their friends.

"So, what's so special about this Legerdomain place?" Kim asked.

"It's the realm of magic." Gwen answered. "All magic from our universe flows in and out from there. I don't know for certain if other universes are connected to it the way ours is."

"They're not." Max spoke up.

"How do you know that?" Jake asked.

"Because one of my past lives was there." Max revealed, causing several of the heroes to look at him in surprise, save for Kim.

"Somehow, I'm not surprised." She commented.

"Long story, my second incarnation, Myrddin Wyllt, experimented with trans-dimensional magic and got himself zapped there." Max explained.

"Wasn't he one of your past lives that lost it?" Ron asked.

"Coco." Rufus twirled his finger around his head for emphasis.

"Yep, in fact, him going to Legerdomain is the reason he went loco." Max confirmed. "Anyone who has magic powers gets super amped up there."

"Let me guess, the power went to his head, and he felt he could take on the universe, right?" Rex assumed.

"Pretty much." Max nodded. "He felt he could use that power to take over the world when he got back home. But all that power vanished, and he found himself in a state of power-addiction. He didn't really last long up here after that." He tapped his head.

"But you have all been to this place before." Lance pointed out to Ben, Gwen, and Kevin.

"Yeah, three times." Kevin said. "Three times too many in my opinion."

"It's where Hex and Charmcaster both come from." Gwen explained. "It was taken over by Addwaitya, who killed Charmcaster's father when she was young."

"We went there on a mission to stop a psychopath named Aggregor, and things got… complicated." Ben added.

"Complicated, how?" Zak asked.

"We had Charmcaster guide us because she knew the place, fought Addwaitya, only to have her take over, where she tried to sacrifice every living thing in that dimension to bring back her dad, only for it to not work and then she went back to ruling it." Kevin summed.

"Wait, hold on, back up!" Danny said. "You're saying… she tried to commit genocide of her own home?!"

"She didn't just try it, she did it." Ben confirmed. "She ended all life in Legerdomain to try and bring her dad back."

With that, everything became silent. One could almost hear a pin drop to the floor it was so quiet. Max of all people was the first to break that silence.

"Dang… I've seen plenty of people do some crazy stuff but that takes the cake." Max said.

"Coming from you, that says a lot." Jake added.

"I-I can't believe… anyone…. Their own home…" Illana stuttered, placing her hands against the table to support herself. This reminded her too much of Modula when he betrayed Galaluna, and yet, the very idea of someone wiping out all life in an entire dimension was beyond horrifying.

"But why did you leave her?" Lance questioned. "After something like that?!"

"Yeah, I gotta go with Lance for once." Rex agreed. "That nutjob should have been taken down."

"It wasn't that simple." Gwen told them. "We were kicked out of Legerdomain right after that mess, and it was almost impossible to go back. She put up all kinds of magical defenses to keep out intruders, even changing the true name that allows people to enter."

"It didn't stop the Cabal, though." Kim pointed out.

"They have energy from a creature that can pass through dimensions." Octus pointed out. "But what of this Infi-Map item they stole?"

"The Infi-Map allows people to travel anywhere between our Earth and the Ghost Zone." Sam explained. "It even lets people travel through time too."

"Combine that with this stuff from Dagon, and they could probably go anywhere. Even this magic wonderland you're talking about." Tucker added.

"Wonderland? More like a Hellhole." Kevin corrected. "That place is a nightmare and it's run by a total nutjob."

"Perhaps not for long." Lao-Shi spoke up, looking toward Max. "Maxmillion, even though your past incarnation did not originate from the universe Legerdomain is connected to, his powers were still enhanced?"

"I get where you're going." Max said as he rubbed his hand down his face. "Yep. Tall, dark, and scaly would definitely get a power boost there."

"The Dark Dragon's a master of dark magic and is probably a few hundred years old or whatever. All that power, plus years of experience would absolutely make him more dangerous than before." Fu pointed out.

"As if that guy wasn't enough of a pain already." Jake scowled.

"My Kur powers are also based on magic." Zak said. "And since Argost's powers work the same way…"

"They would be enhanced too." Doc followed along. "Though we've only seen it affect Cryptids…"

"There's no telling just how much more it can do if it grows in place like that." Drew finished as Fiskerton looked especially nervous with Zon and Komodo growling anxiously as well.

"Not to mention the magic guys they got on their side, including Addwaitya." Ben added. "Between all of them, plus powerhouses like Vilgax, Vlad, and Modula… I really don't see Charmcaster winning that fight."

"But why even go to Legerdomain in the first place?" Kim asked. "Would it somehow help them in trying to get Dagon's power?"

"Dagon's power was scattered across the multiverse after Ben pulled it out of Vilgax the first time." Gwen said. "If they're going to try and bring all of it back together, they'd need a huge source of power."

"And considering Legerdomain is an entire dimension practically made of magic, I'd say they'd found a good fuel source." Max put in.

"But forcibly bringing malicious trans-dimensional energy across the multiverse and into this dimension would cause tears in space-time…" Breach pointed out. "It may even cause Legerdomain to lose its stability, ripping that entire dimension from the inside out!"

"How do you know that?" Rex asked.

"When you spend five years traveling with a professor that can cross space and time, you pick up a few things." Breach replied.

"Which reminds me…" Danny turned back to the Box Ghost. "Why didn't Clockwork come here and tell us this himself? Why send you?"

"Because Clockwork is busy with the Observants trying to fix up the Ghost Zone." The Box Ghost answered. "All that Dagon-stuff that's been leaking into the Ghost Zone has caused things to get a little messed up, so they're busy. Plus, I was there when the Cabal took the Infi-Map, so I'm an eyewitness."

"Well thanks for letting us know." Dani said with a smile and a nod.

"But why warn us though? I thought you trying to be a bad guy." Tucker pointed out.

"Revenge!" The Box Ghost howled. "The Cabal recruited nearly every evil ghost that lives in the Ghost Zone, but they passed me over?! Me?! Who do those guys think they are?! A nutjob halfa, a couple of aliens, a lizard, a white gorilla, a plant-lover, and a guy with girly hair and a metal arm?! Those fools pale in comparison to me, the Box Ghost! And they still had the nerve to pass me over!? THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! THEY WILL BEWARE MY VENGANCE!"

"So does that mean you're gonna help us take them down?" Sam questioned, sounding incredibly unamused by his antics as usual.

"No way!" The Box Ghost waved his arms. "I'm not going on a suicide mission!"

"How would that work? Aren't you already dead?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, and I don't wanna die twice!" The Box Ghost exclaimed. "That's why you're all gonna go there and be the heroes! So… Beware my warning!"

Needless to say, everyone looked unimpressed as even the animals among the group had their eyelids lowered.

"Please tell me he's not serious." Lance said to Danny, who only pinched the bridge between his eyes in annoyance.

"Oh, he's serious… seriously annoying anyway." The leader of the Avengers said, before turning to Breach. "You can send him back to the Ghost Zone, right?"

"Yep." She nodded in confirmation.

"Tell Clockwork I said thanks." Danny said the Box Ghost before Breach opened a portal under him.

"Bewa…!" The ghost with the inferiority complex was cut off as the portal sucked him in and sent him back to his home dimension.

"Okay, so now we know where we need to go." Illana said. "The Cabal is in this Legerdomain trying to get the powers of an evil god. We have to go there and stop them."

"And if we go there, all our magic guys would get a power boost too!" Fu Dog said enthusiastically, which appeared to get Jake, Ron, and even Zak excited.

"Ah yeah! American Dragon times two baby!" Jake had transformed into the American Dragon once more.

"Mystic Monkey Mojo level up to nine thousand!" Ron fired up his Mystic Monkey Aura, with Rufus making kung fu chops and noises for emphasis on Ron's shoulder.

"Argost's powers grow in Legerdomain, time to knock him back down a peg." Zak smirked, his eyes already glowing orange, with Fiskerton chirping and read for battle as well, with Zon and Komodo right beside him.

"And since you're already like wizard supreme in normal space, you'll get even more OP once you get hoped up on all that extra magic juice too, right buddy?" Fu said excitedly to Max.

"Yep, should be interesting." Max smirked, adjusting his sunglasses.

"Hold on a second." Drew spoke up. "If it's true the Cabal has control of this Legerdomain-place, and they're able to change the rules surrounding it, how are we even supposed to get there?"

"Breach? Think you can get us there?" Rex asked.

"Maybe… I've never been to Legerdomain before." Breach replied. "Going somewhere new is a bit more difficult than the places I've already been. And, like you've said, I don't understand all the magic rules that keep unwanted guests from getting in. Even if I know about Legerdomain, I can't guarantee I'll get us safely there."

"I've been there." Gwen said. "I can use a spell to show you some of my memories if that'll help."

"As for those magic rules, I think we might need some extra help." Max said.

"Do we really have time to find somebody new?" Zak asked. "I mean, we got a bunch of psychopaths in control of a magic dimension about to bring back an evil god! We're kinda short on time, man!"

"Actually, I was talking about somebody that's already here." Max replied. "Someone who truly knows Legerdomain, knows how it's magic operates, knows the layouts, like someone who was… born there."

It didn't take long for everyone else to figure out what Max was implying.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Kevin groaned.


The Quinjet was all primed and ready in the mansion's hangar, all the Avengers and their gathered allies stood outside the flying vehicle as they saw Gwen and Max escorting Hex onto the platform, who was still bound in energy cuffs. Everyone was on guard the minute they saw him, with Zed, Fisk, Zon, and Komodo growling for emphasis.

"I still think this is a bad idea." Lance said. "We're trusting an enemy to help guide us into unknown territory."

"Hey, if you got a better idea, we're all ears." Kim told him.

"None of us like it." Ben said. "Me especially, I fought this guy when I was a kid, and I know he's bad news. But the Cabal and Dagon put together? That's even worse."

"I agree. We're taking a risk, yeah." Danny said. "But compared to what we're up against, it's a risk we gotta take."

"And who knows? Maybe he might have a change of heart after all this." Illana said. "I mean, it wouldn't be the first time a former enemy became an ally. Pretty much all of us got experience with that, heck a few of us here are former enemies."

It was true, nearly every Avenger and their ally did know people that were once their enemies become allies. For Danny and his group, they knew Dora, Poindexter, heck even Dani used to work with Vlad before joining with her true family. Ben and Gwen had Kevin alongside them, despite everything he did in their childhood. Zak and his family had Doyle with them, even his former employer Van Rook made the ultimate sacrifice for them. Jake's girlfriend was also a member of the Huntsclan that tried to kill him more than once. And of course, there was Breach whom Rex had befriended, and she was the key to getting them where they needed.

"Looks just because some of us may have started out bad and turned good, doesn't mean everyone's like that." Kevin added.

"Yeah, he's not wrong there." Even Dani seemed in agreement.

"There is much for us to be concerned with, yes. However, there is also too much at stake to avoid taking such a risk." Lao-Shi said.

"We'll keep an eye on him." Octus said. "And if worse comes to worse, we do have him outnumbered, and all those here with magic abilities will also be enhanced once we enter Legerdomain, so I don't believe we have much to worry about."

Though not everyone completely agreed, they all understood and accepted the decision as Hex was brought forward. He caught glares from many of the heroes, some of whom looked ready to attack at even a moment's notice, but he didn't care. Ben and Kim both looked toward Gwen and Max respectively before nodding, they nodded back as Gwen disabled the energy cuffs, freeing Hex before Max clapped his hands to magically produce Hex's staff and hand it to him, which he took.

"I have been informed of the situation." Hex spoke to all of them. "I'm not asking for your trust, nor do I want it. I'm not interested in redemption or making amends with any of you, nor do I care about the fate of the multiverse. I only have two goals I must achieve. The first is to kill Addwaitya for all his transgressions, whether it be by my hand or any of yours is of no consequence to me, just as long as he dies. The second, I intend to save my niece. Something I should have done a long time ago."

That seemed acceptable as the Avengers and their allies came to a silent agreement before Breach stepped forward.

"You have the ability to create portals to other dimensions?" Hex asked.

"I do." She nodded.

"I know the rules of Legerdomain, but if you are to create a portal there, it would still require a great deal of magical power." Hex explained as he turned back toward Gwen and Max. "If Gwendolyn and this one combine their powers with my own and channel it through you, we should be able to create a functional gateway."

"Sounds about right." Max seemed in agreement.

"Let's do it." Breach said as she turned around to face the open space of the remainder of the hangar as Gwen, Max, and Hex came up behind her, placing their hands on her back as they focused and channeled their respective magical powers. A pink mana aura formed around Gwen, a sparkling white one around Max, and a dark black and red aura formed around Hex.

Everyone watched tensely as they saw the process, the auras melding and merging around Breach. She could feel the magical powers entering not only her body, but also her mind. It was so weird, it was almost as if she was having an instruction manual uploaded directly into her mind. They were terms and phrases she didn't quite understand, and yet she did at the same time. She held up all four of her hands and, some ten feet in front of her, in the open space, a giant swirling portal manifested itself. But unlike the typical red, this one glowed a mixture of violet, white, and black.

"That's new." Rex commented, never seeing a portal like that before.

"It worked." Breach said as Gwen, Max, and Hex let her go. "That's our way in."

"Then we don't have time to lose. Everyone in the Quinjet, now." Danny told them as they all began to pile into the Avengers primary transportation.

Ben was the last to board as Hex was about to get in, but he quickly grabbed Hex by the arm and looked him in the eye.

"First sign of a double cross and you're a dead man. Got it?" Ben warned.

"Understood." Hex nodded as he pulled his arm free with a glare before stepping inside with Ben right behind him.

Once everyone was inside, Lance was at the Quinjet's controls, powering it up. The Quinjet activated as it hovered upwards slightly before flying straight into the portal. The second it entered, the portal closed, leaving the empty mansion as our heroes set off for the realm of magic.

Done.

So, the Cabal has taken control of Legerdomain, taking down Charmcaster. They aim to use the vast magic of that dimension as a power source to bring Dagon back together to try and control him as a living weapon. And for some reason, they need Charmcaster alive for it to work. Why is that? You'll have to wait and find out.

The Avengers and their friends are also now on their way to Legerdomain in an effort to stop the Cabal and Dagon's resurrection, even forming an uneasy alliance with Hex. We are nearing the climax of this story as forces of good and evil collide in a showdown that will rock even Legerdomain to its core.

One thing is certain, whatever happens from this point forward, for better or for worse, nothing will ever be the same again.

Until then, stay safe and stay healthy. Love you.