Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Sorry for the long wait, had to think of ways for this chapter as writing fighting scenes isn't my strongest forte. This is the best I can…..sadly.
I won't be saying much here, but enjoy!
"Wanda! I know you can hear me! Wake up!" Sylvie cried out again while blocking Wanda's attacks, but the Scarlet Witch didn't seem to be able to hear her. Her eyes were red and looked…..sad. Sylvie had seen those eyes before in hers whenever she looked in the mirror when she was depressed, especially since the day when Loki vanished. What did Nightmare fill her head with?
With her shields, she charged at Wanda and knocked her to the ground. She struggled to pin her down as her scarlet magic began to overflow.
Sylvie caught a glimpse of small blue mists mixing with Wanda's powers. That's not her powers, she thought. At the corner of her eyes, she found Billy working on his magic. But he didn't look like he's trying to attack his mother…..rather trying to reach out to her!
He must be trying to enchant her! Perhaps this is how they'll get the damn creature out from her head!
Sylvie noticed the sky is getting dark as night, and above them, a huge dark sinister portal opened. She can see Strange flying to get to it, is something happening there? Is Mordo there? If no one helps him, they'll back to square once again!
"LOKI!" she called out, getting his attention, "GET TO STRANGE!"
But Loki looked reluctant and must've thought that she's insane, "I'm not leaving you with her like that!"
"The twins can help me enchant her!" she cried out loud as she blocked another blast from Wanda, "Help Stephen! If you don't, we'll lose Mordo again! I can help her!" Wanda blasted a stronger force, and Sylvie knew that she won't be any match for her concentrated power, she sidestepped and brought her two shields and blades to deflect the other blasts coming at her. When she glanced back at Loki, he gave her a look of agreement, and she nodded back before focusing on Wanda. Then the God of Mischief leapt to the air of shields he summoned.
"Wanda!" she shouted again, "Nightmare is using you! Stop this right now!"
But Wanda was only groaning, she could catch a hint of her struggling internally but unable to break free. As she was struggling, several sorcerers came to her aid, only for Wanda to notice them and blasted them away. Some were even under her spell as their eyes turned red and they dropped down fainted.
When she turned back to Sylvie, she can tell that she's trying to do the same thing to her, but she managed to prevent that with her mind. Loki once mocked her that his mind is too strong, and she took that as a learning lesson to her. Or perhaps Loki's 'strong' mind abilities stuck with her? Either way, Wanda was unable to enchant her.
I have to enchant her with Billy, the child probably have better access to her happiest memories. She had her blades and shields at her front to get to Billy as Tommy zoomed towards him. "Billy," Sylvie exclaimed, "Are you alright?" She stood in front of them, shielding the twins away from their mother.
The boy nodded, "Yea, but I can't get to Mom," he panted, "Her mind, it's too strong!"
"Not unless we can do this together," she countered, she had done this with Loki before. Together they were able to beat the wild mist back in the void. Billy may be a child, but she has faith in the children of the Scarlet Witch, "Billy, Tommy, we're going to save your mother. Do you think you're up for the task?"
The twins nodded with determination, "We're ready!" Billy said with confidence.
"No time to waste!" Tommy chimed.
"Alright, listen carefully you two," she deflected another blast from Wanda with her two shields, flinging them the other way, and it destroyed another wall, "Tommy, I want you to confuse your mom as much as possible. Run as fast as you can, but don't get too near her so that she won't catch you. Understand?" The speed child nodded vigorously, then she turned to his twin, "And Billy, I want you to reach out to your mom."
"But I tried," the child told her desperately, "I can't reach out to her."
"Yes, you can," Sylvie knelt down to his eye level, staring at his amber eyes, "And we're going to bring her back together. But I need you to concentrate on getting to your mum, you are the only one who can do it and I'll help you reach out to her, okay?"
Billy looked at her for a moment, there was a little hesitation but slowly but surely, he nodded, "Okay."
"Good," she stood up and looked at Wanda, "When I say go, let's start. Ready boys?"
The twins prepared their battle stance, Tommy preparing to run full speed and Billy began to release his blue mists from his fingertips, "Ready!" they shouted.
When Loki arrived at the dark portal, the first thing he felt was that the pressure is exerting. It's as if gravity is weighing him down, but it wasn't his weight being pushed down. It's his feelings, but he didn't let that affect his spirit. His heart sank drastically, and everything in this world is just negative and everywhere is dark.
Only a few sparkled looking stars spread across the dark sheets of space. A few small planets looking elements float aimlessly too.
This must be the Dark Dimensions.
Loki found himself gliding now, he is somehow weightless now. With that advantage, he pushed himself and glided forward to find Stephen. If he's being honest to himself, he was gliding aimlessly. Shouting will only alert unwanted enemies, that won't be any good. His best bet is from sensing him through his magic or listening carefully.
And then, he heard the sound of magic clashing to his right. Every move forward, the sound is getting clearer, and this time, he can hear Stephen Grunting and Mordo shouting.
Loki immediately steered right and quickly headed towards the source of the sounds, gliding through space and avoiding certain obstacles of huge boulder planets coming at him.
When he found them, there was something that made his eyes widen. Stephen was blocking from Mordo's attacks, but Mordo didn't look like the Mordo they have fighting all this time. This Mordo had…transformed.
The dark magician looked more possessed than he ever was. His eyes had turned entirely black with red constricted pupils, some of his hair stood up like a predator giving threatening stances to back off, his two sharp fangs extended and slipped out of his mouth, and his dark magic overflowing him way more than before.
But this time, the dark magician isn't alone fighting.
For behind him is the dark entity they saw before, he's attached behind him like a balloon, only that he's fighting alongside him. That must be Nightmare, it seems that in this world, he's let loose the demon inside him. No wonder Stephen is having a hard time defeating him.
I have to help him, Loki's voice rang. He charged towards him, summoning two Asgardian blades and aimed at Mordo and the Nightmare attached to his back. Fire, his blades dove right at them. "Stephen, duck!" He shouted.
The Supreme Sorcerer heard his voice, he turned for a while to see two blades charging at them. His cape of levitation realized the danger first and quickly dragged its master back.
Mordo and Nightmare barely realize what's coming until the blades pierce the shadow's chest and Mordo's shoulder. The man and devil screamed in pain and shock as he staggered back, struggling to contain the damage. The scream sounded more demonic, nothing Loki has ever heard of. This man is truly possessed.
"Stephen!" Loki glided towards his friend, "Are you alright?"
"You nearly killed him!" he growled at Loki.
"You're welcome," Loki scoffed, "Relax, I only got his arm. Besides, in this world, I think he knows how to heal himself. I'm trying to weaken his state."
As on cue, Mordo pulled the blade out of his shoulder while still grunting in pain, but the shadow seemed unmoving, as if in serious pain. Mordo looked at him with so much rage, "You…..will…pay for that…" he hissed. He then threw the blade towards Loki, but the God of Mischief was able to gain back its control, and it glided swiftly in front of him instead. The other blade that pierced Nightmare clattered to the floor while the shadow dispersed to pieces. Is he dead or not? Loki can't tell.
"Looks like you just made him angry," Stephen summoned his mystical shields from both of his palms.
He summoned all his seven blades, and prepared his battle stance, "It's a speciality."
The dispersed shadows began to flock to Mordo again, engulfing him in shadows. Loki didn't like where this is going, he threw one blade at the drowned sorcerer, but the shadow managed to swat it like a fly and the sword flew back towards Loki.
He then released dark energy from him, and moments later, a distorted humongous face appeared behind him. Its eyes look at them ominously as if a predator is stalking its prey.
"Dormamu," Stephen murmured. Loki had heard of him, and it doesn't look like he can be an easy fellow to beat.
"Our plans have been dashed by you... far more times than I care to count," Mordo hissed with a fierce tone, he emerged from the darkness only to appear paler and more demonic and his eyes yellow. Even more dark powers are overflowing him. This can't be Mordo…..this is Nightmare! "Now it ends. I will purge that light in you... with darkness!"
Stephen conjured a shield and cast something to Loki quickly, "In case your shield gave out."
Loki blinked before also summoning his seven shields, their designs paralleled to his blades, "Didn't ask for it, but appreciate it." Sylvie really did connect a lot on connections to his past, it helped him unlock these abilities inside him.
Dormammu's mouth began to open, and something began to glow inside it. Stephen immediately recognized what he's about to do, "RUN, LOKI!"
Without questioning, he kicked his feet up and leapt away from where he floated, and sure enough, Dormammu blasted a charging beam at them. Stephen and Loki separated in the process but, otherwise, safe.
Loki gathered his strength and conjured illusions of him and Stephen. It's been a while he made multiple illusions, but otherwise, he managed to create millions of projections of themselves. Only Loki knows who the real Stephen is. He found the real Stephen in the swarm of their projections, confused about what is going on. He quickly glided towards the real Stephen and pulled his arm, "We are going to need to regroup for a new plan," he murmured carefully, and they both glided to find a planet to hide while Dormammu is blasting projections after projections only to have the images look untouched.
"I don't believe there may be a way to fight the flying face, is it?" Loki asked while they glided to safety.
"No, I placed him in a loop and made him never return. Never thought that Mordo would do this instead."
"So then let's drag Mordo back to the real world."
Stephen nodded, "We're going to have to lure him into that portal."
"Can you create your own portal?"
He thought for a moment, "Yes, but we're going to have to be quick. Dormammu could show up easily."
As he said that, another charging beam blasted behind them, nearly hitting them.
But the blast seemed to hit space and it cracked open like an eggshell. The crack began to spread and got close to the portal where they came from and slipped into their world.
Sylvie felt more secure and thankful that Loki prepared them as much as possible for moments like this, she can feel their confidence radiating, no longer feeling concerned nor fearful. This time, they are truly ready.
Wanda seemed to switch her tactic of attack, she began to rise up to the air, and ruined rocks, broken walls and boulders began floating too. Her eyes began to glow entirely red and then she threw the rocks and boulders at the three of them.
Without hesitation, Billy summoned his forcefield, protecting them all. Sylvie took that moment of attack, "Tommy! Now!" The child immediately zoomed out of appearance, how he's planning to confuse his mother, she'll let him decide. Billy did his best to hold onto the raining boulders and rocks at them, creating a lot of dust flying in the air. So far, he's doing a spectacular job with his forcefield, "keep it up, kid."
Suddenly, something hit Wanda in the head, and the Scarlet With turned dazed. Something hit her again, but this time in the cheek. "MOM!" Tommy cried from the top of a ruined wall behind her, "MOM! HERE!" The Scarlet Witch turned around to see a small annoying child making silly faces at her, "I HATE YOUR MAGIC, MOM!"
Wanda, with her emotions getting ahead of her, stored up her energy again. But the child didn't move until she blasted her energy at him, only for him to zip to another spot next to her in a blink of an eye.
"Looks like your brother is doing well for this," Sylvie indicated on how fast his brother moved, "This will give us time to get to your mum," she then turned to Billy, "Do you know how to enchant people?"
He nodded, "I've done it one time only."
"Least you have the experience to it," Sylvie said, "Good, I'm going to enchant her as well, and you're going to do the same as well. Got it?"
"Alright, you stay here. And when I give you the signal, you get to your mum and enchant her too. I think the close distance will be more powerful."
"Okay," he breathed out, releasing his tension.
"Good, stay here and wait for my signal," Sylvie led her to a ruined wall for Billy to hide behind first, and then she ran towards the Scarlet Witch who's confused thanks to Tommy's running mischief. Wanda couldn't even comprehend what's going on.
With Wanda's back towards her, it's enough time for Sylvie to tackle her to the ground. Both women grappled and struggled to get one pinned down. From all her time fighting, she had never struggled this much. Wanda is not only a fighter but a strong magic wielder. "Wanda!" She wrestled her, trying to keep her from standing up, she grabbed her arm and with her magic, tries to fight her scarlet energy, "You have got to snap out of it!" With her strength, she let her enchantment spell flow out and into the mind of the Scarlet Witch.
Out of every enchantment she had ever done before, Wanda's mind is the hardest to break through the barriers of the dark magic. Something is blocking her to enchant the negative mind, is this how powerful Nightmare's magic is?
She is beginning to lose her grip, gritting her teeth, she managed to croak as loud as possible, "Billy!"
In a blink of an eye, Tommy and Billy appeared before them. With all her might, Sylvie kicked Wanda's foot, making her land on her chest and she pinned her back, "Do it now!"
Billy quickly kneeled in front of his mother and placed his hands on her head, blue mists began to circle around them, "Her mind's blocked!" he struggled as well.
The twins were startled a bit when Wanda began thrashing and shouting, but Sylvie managed to thrust her magic again to keep her from getting up. She quickly got up and knee her back, "Then let's do it together!" she placed her hands on top of Billy's, "I want you to be the one calling her in her mind, scream as loud as you can," then she turned to Tommy, "And you, I want you to call her as well, okay?"
Tommy nodded and knelt between them, "MOM! WAKE UP!"
"MOM! IT'S ME, BILLY!"
The Goddess of Mischief pumped Billy's powers with hers, pushing it down to break the barrier of Nightmare in Wanda's mind, doing everything she can to reach her. Suddenly, she began to feel a crack in the barrier of darkness, a small form of light trying to pass through it, "KEEP CALLING HER BILLY!" she cried.
As she tries to chip the little fragments of darkness, she was suddenly overwhelmed with different kinds of feelings: depression, loneliness, longing, denial, grief, and sadness. She was familiar with all these feelings, but never to an extent where she had to feel them all together, and these aren't her feelings.
It took her a moment to realize that it's Wanda's feelings. Voices of Wanda began to ring in her head. Her screams, her cries, her call for someone, her struggles. You…took….everything from me. But mostly you are my love. Is Wanda seeing her memories?
It took her a while to realize that Wanda is using her painful memories! How dare he! "Wanda!" she called her again as she struggled to break free, Tommy is still desperately trying to call for his mother, Sylvie needed to act quick before she's lost forever, "You have to listen to us! You are my friend, my best friend who helped me get over my grief! And a caring mother to two amazing twins! You have to fight him in your head, he's using you! We're here to help!" Suddenly, Wanda's eyes began to water, and her screams turned to cries, it's working.
Tommy, beginning to realize that just calling her name wouldn't be enough, joined in, "Mom! Mom! Let's go find Dad together! I know he's still out there! Please come back to us!"
"Mom, you promised that we'd train together!" Billy screamed in her mind as he pushed harder, she began to feel the crack widen and the light flooding in faster than ever.
Sylvie remembered her conversation with her back at her cell, "Wanda! You told me that you want to protect your future, they're here now! These are your twins! You can still protect them! You are not alone, and you are never alone! We are here!"
Wanda's screams began to falter drastically, turning into cries of sobs, Sylvie also felt her resistance weakening. She slowly let go of her but still pushed down her enchantment, she forcefully threw in her memories of when they both were spending time together at her cell, the talks they had with Loki and the twins. Even those simple moments turned out to be powerful moments for her, and it was enough to strengthen the bond of their friendship. And that was the boost for her to finally break Nightmare's barrier in Wanda's mind.
Wanda began to gasp for air, her resistance finally faltering, her pale skin and eyes colour. The twins backed away a little and Sylvie kneeled, she pulled her twins beside her, just in case, "Wanda," she called her.
The Scarlet Witch coughed, "Wha…." She groaned, "What….just happened?"
Billy wanted to move towards her, but Sylvie pulled back, she needs to be sure, "Wanda?" Sylvie called again, "Are you okay?"
Wanda slowly sat up, "Ohh…. my head," she placed her hand on her forehead.
Sylvie pulled both boys' arms back, "Let me be sure first," she whispered to them both. The twins understood and nodded; she gave them a smile or thank you. Then she crawled towards her friend, kneeling in front of her. She placed her hand on hers, checking for any signs of dark magic again.
And thankfully she found none.
Sylvie let out a sigh of relief, he's gone. Then she turned back to her twins and gave them a nod, "Slowly."
The twins lit up, and got to their feet immediately, running towards her, "Mom?" Tommy called her.
Wanda slowly looked up and turned towards her son, her eyes widened, "Oh my god," she panicked, "You're bleeding, are you okay?" the child nodded, then she turned towards her other son, who has a wound on his head, "You too….are you both okay?"
Billy didn't even nod, he launched himself to his mother and began to sob, "You're back."
Tommy followed shortly, "We thought you'll never come back."
The mother of the twins was confused for a while before she began to recollect her memories, "I remember telling Loki to get away from me and ..…..Nightmare got me…didn't he?"
Sylvie nodded, "Don't worry about it, you're back with us."
"Oh no," she pulled away from her boys, "I did this to you both?" she looked at their injuries and immediately used her powers to try to heal them, "I'm so sorry, my children. I didn't mean for this to happen."
"It's okay, Mom," Tommy smiled at her, "We helped get you back."
"Sylvie helped me to enchant you," Billy said casually, Sylvie chuckled at the sound of it coming from a child, "It wasn't easy."
Wanda chuckled, "I'm sure it's not, you naughty boy," she pinched his nose playfully, earning a giggle from the boy. She then looked up to Sylvie, looking at her sadly and with a hint of guilt, "Sylvie, how much did I hurt you?"
She shrugged playfully, "Not as much as when Loki foolishly transferred his soul."
Wanda scoffed before bursting into a laugh, "That's called heartache, Sylvie," the Goddess of Mischief couldn't help but giggle. Before she knew it, Wanda let go of her children and pulled Sylvie to a hug, startling her, "Thank you for bringing me back and protecting my children, Sylvie."
Sylvie couldn't help but stiffen, she had never obtained this much friendship before. Even to Mobius, it was only a simple thanks for dropping by, but never to this extent. The word friends rang in her again, it took her a while to realize that she has grown attached to Wanda and her twins. Such little time spent together, and already, she felt like family. She smiled and hugged her back, "I promised to help, didn't I?"
She felt her nod before pulling away, "I'm sorry for what I've caused you."
She nodded back, "It's no problem."
Just then, thunder began to roll again, startling them to look above. But what they see wasn't any sign of clouds nor rain, but cracks from the portal, spreading across the skies here. "What's happening there," Wanda asked.
"Oh no," Did Loki and Stephen lose? "They are up there."
Wanda turned to her, "What?"
"Loki and Stephen," she said, "They were after them while we tried to bring you back."
"I'll go see," Wanda stood up and flicked her wrist, all her wounds began to close.
"You sure you're okay, Mom?" Tommy asked.
She looked down at him and smiled, "I've never been better," she said, "Stay here, I'm going to find the men up there." And before Sylvie could even say anything, Wanda glided as fast as possible to the portal, hoping that she's not too late to help them.
Sylvie watched as her friend flew swiftly to join Stephen and Strange. As much as she wants to join her, she needs to make sure the real world is under control.
"What do you think happened there, Sylvie?" Billy asked.
"I'm not sure," she confessed, "But whatever the case is, I think the three of them can handle it together." The cracks in the sky began to widen and like glass, they chipped away. The sound of battle cries began to emerge from them. Sylvie, fearing what else was yet to come, gathered the twins around her while still keeping an eye at the cracked skies, "And we have a bigger problem to worry about here while they are up there."
"What's happening?" Billy asked with so much concern.
"Not sure, but it can't be good," she murmured as she pulled the boys towards her, "Stay close to me kids, we don't know what they can do."
Just then, portal doors began to appear out of thin air around them. One middle-aged man emerged from one of the portals immediately, "Geez the anomaly is crazier than I thought. The computers can't even pinpoint the exact location here."
Sylvie lit up at the sight of her dear friend, "Mobius!"
"Well, that didn't go as expected," Loki grumbled as he glided back to Stephen. While Dormammu is occupied with the illusions Loki created, Mordo-Nightmare managed to pursue them. The Dark Magician was even more powerful than before, deflecting their attacks left and right. "He's a lot tougher than I thought."
"While we are in this dimension, we are at a disadvantage," Stephen answered.
"You can say that again," he groaned, and projected more illusions of themselves to cover their tracks from Dormammu, "We have to prevent Mordo moving around."
"I'll try to push him to a corner," Loki suggested, "I'll trust your judgement on when to come in." Stephen nodded, and they both glided together towards Mordo on the other side of the space.
And as expected, Mordo is already waiting for them. He floated like a lifeless puppet. He had truly given himself to Nightmare, Loki cringed on the idea of selling their soul to the devil, giving away their free will to sacrifice millions of people. What kind of sick logic is that? Even when he tried to invade earth, he didn't give away his free will. At least, not to his knowledge.
Mordo looked at them with fury, his fangs gleamed sadistically, "So, you have come this far, and still you understand nothing," his body began to release dark energy, Stephen and Loki prepared their stances, "Every magic must fade, every heart return to darkness! To awaken the being!" And at that, the shadow that Loki managed to destroy appeared again, only this time bigger and the pressure from the darkness increased significantly.
Stephen gritted his teeth, "Damn, the presence of Dormammu must've increased his powers."
Loki huffed, "Then we're going to have to work together on this," his blades all ready to attack and two shields rotating behind him, "Works for you?"
The Sorcerer Supreme huffed, "What do you think?"
Loki smirked at Stephen and charged at Mordo, he trusts that he knows how to get that damned forsaken magician into the real world. His blades are pointed and ready to strike and with a wave of his arm, they strike at him.
Mordo flicked his wrist and a dark aura began engulfing the blades, stopping the blades and rendering them useless. Loki growled in annoyance, he pulled his blades back from him, "You are one stubborn puppet, aren't you, Mordo?"
The Dark Magician gave him an angry look, "Don't call me that."
Loki summoned his shield, "Aww, did I hit a nasty point," he used his magic and threw the shield at him, the way that Captain America once did to him, and it staggered Mordo backwards. It irked him that he used his tactic but at the same time, it's useful. The shield glided back to him swiftly.
He cast his illusions of blades, confusing the real attacks on him, not even dark magic can touch his projections. Mordo sneered, he summoned his mystical spiral magic in his palm and tried to cast his illusionary blades away. But every time he heaved his spiral magic at them, they just disappeared.
Loki took that opportunity to snatch an Asgardian blade near him, Mordo needs to be weakened fast. He then glided towards Mordo with full strength, lifted his blade and swung at him.
As expected, Mordo managed to dodge the attack. Loki swung his blade again and this time, he blocked the blade with his mystical shield, "I should've killed your lady."
"It takes the whole multiverse for mere human like you to take her down," Loki countered and he kicked Mordo in the chest with his knee, making him lose the breath in his lungs "And even if you are going to, I'll kill you before you can even touch her," he said menacingly, he flicked his index finger and a blade came diving down, coming straight at his back. But Mordo quickly disappeared with his illusionary magic, the blade didn't pierce him, but Mordo's abdomen.
Mordo let out a demonic scream that doesn't sound like anything human, Loki didn't give him time to recover. He launched a sharp uppercut right below his jaw and kneed him in the chest. He repeatedly landed his blows at his chest, ensuring that he didn't have the time to recover so that dragging him to their dimension would be easier, whenever you're ready, Strange, he thought.
And on cue, the signature portal of the sorcerer appeared behind Mordo, all Loki had to do is kick him there. However, just as he was about to kick him with all his might, something tackled him to the side and grabbed his collar. Loki was taken by surprise and when he looked to the side, he realized it was Stephen, "What the hell are you doing?"
His answer came when a huge powerful blast of dark beam appeared in front of Mordo. If Loki stayed there, he would've been obliterated. That beam….it could only be summoned by….
Dormammu appeared behind Mordo like a bodyguard, looming behind him and staring menacingly at them. The portal that Stephen made disappeared, engulfed by the darkness between Mordo and Nightmare.
"How did that wretched face find us?" Loki growled, he had made sure his projections confused their tracks.
"He must've detected our magic here or Mordo alerted him," Stephen let go of him.
We were so close, Loki thought angrily, "Great, any other plans?"
"STEPHEN STRANGE! LOKI LAUFEYSON!" Mordo snarled, his hands began to load dark mists that began to glow sinisterly, "I will show you power no other sorcerers have ever seen before," his back began to grow dark sharp wings, "And then you will see, how merciful I am to you all," from the wings, it appeared a stored charging beam, ready to fire as it grew larger and larger every second and faster, and finally, they fired a blinding flare light towards them.
They didn't have the time to run, Loki could only minimize the damage with his shields and Stephen quickly summoned his. The God of Mischief turned his back and covered himself with his arm, Loki and Stephen could only hold their teeth and brace for impact, hoping that it won't obliterate them, though that could be impossible.
Except that it never came.
"Are you guys alright?" A female voice asked.
Loki looked up and saw another figure between the attack and them, scarlet energy blocking the dark beam heading at them. The God of Mischief lit up, standing up straight, "You're back."
Wanda, with so much red energy flowing out of her, grinned back, "I have a debt to pay."
"Mobius!" Sylvie exclaimed joyfully.
He waved at her, "Sorry we're late." More and more Minutemen appeared from the portal, arms ready. Some have some machines that looked like metal detectors, scanning various areas and the others are observing certain magic in the area. Amongst the Minute Men, Miren is one of them.
"Sylvie," her friend jogged towards her and the twins, "Sorry we were late, when I tried to track your location, everything is jumbled. We suspect Kang must've haywire our network."
"How did he do that?"
"I'm not sure," he then noticed the twins, "Oh, you guys are here"
Billy nodded, "Things were bad here."
"Mom, Loki, and Stephen are up there," Tommy pointed to the dark portal at the cracked sky.
"What in the- "Mobius gasped, "This is bad, Mordo is trying to release the multiverses here."
"Why would he do that?" Sylvie asked.
"I'm not sure, but if we don't contain it, things will be bad," Miren exclaimed.
"So how do we stop them from coming?"
"With this," she fished out something from her military baggy. In her hand is a machine that looked like a lamp, except now it's smaller and the size of a regular water bottle.
Despite its size, Sylvie immediately knew what it was, "A Reset Charge?"
He nodded, "Yea, this can modify the changes in the time of events. That way, just like its original purpose, the branches can flow elsewhere instead of clashing with another branch."
"And it won't really cause an anomaly?"
"Precisely," he said, "In the past, disruptions of timelines happen when it's not supposed to go according to the sacred timeline. However, with Kang's interference, branches happen and clashed with other universes. But this time, we can divert those branches and create a whole different sacred timeline."
"So, this basically created another toll road," Sylvie tries to understand his logic, "Except that this one goes to a different route and not clashing with other universes?"
"Something like that," he said, "We used to prune people if they go against the flow of the timeline, but now, we let them be and ensure that that route will lead somewhere else without interfering or lighting up another multiverse war the way Kang did with his other variants."
"Mobius, that's brilliant!" She smiled, this time, no one would end up the same way as she did. They can choose their free will.
He nodded, "We can throw them up there and let it reset so we can close the gaps of the cracks in the skies," he pointed towards the sky that is slowly spreading, revealing spaces of the universe, "The only problem is to bring the Minutemen close to those cracks, and with the speed of the damages, I don't' know how fast we can fix the problem."
Sylvie then looked at the boys, and the boys equally stared at her, all thinking the same thing. The three of them smiled before turning back to Mobius, "Actually, we can help you with that."
"Sorry, I'm late," she looked back at them with a forced smile while holding off Dormammu's powerful fires.
Stephen glided towards her and assisted her in fighting off whatever energy blasts coming at them, "Better late than never," he conjured more mystical shields around the three of them, "We must drag Mordo to our world."
Loki followed suit and let his energy flow in her, giving her a boost. However, he added an extension of his powers and gave her access to his illusion magic. He doesn't know if she knows how to use it or what she thinks he wants her to use it, but it seems that it's taking an effect on that damn face head as he looked angrier and desperate to bring them down. They nearly lost their balance but together, they sustained their magic to hold on.
"How do we do that?" Wanda used his shields as leverage for her force fields, giving them more defence around them. At least, at the moment.
"Can you hold Dormammu while we get Mordo?" Loki asked her.
"I want Mordo," she growled, "He'll pay what he did to my mind."
"That's what I'm worried about," Stephen answered, "You can have him back on Earth, we can't afford to lose your mind here."
Wanda, hating to admit that there's a chance that she can be manipulated by Nightmare here too, spat, "Fine, but he's mine."
"Fine, just don't kill him. We need him alive," The Sorcerer said, understanding her anger towards his former friend, "Loki, shall we do the same method again?"
"Right," he nodded, "Wanda, hold him off as long as you can and make sure he doesn't come near us."
She nodded, "Got it," and she continued holding Dormammu off, "Once his attack is done, get to Mordo fast."
"Okay," he flicked his wrist and all his weapons disappeared save for two blades, which glided gracefully behind him. He's going to have to create less distraction and more mobility it seems, "Waiting for your command."
"Okay," she turned back to focus on the attack and this time, she pushed it with her magic. Her power overflowed and used it to force the attacks back. Stephen had some of her scarlet mist flow out towards Dormammu, acting as leverage and reflector. "Now!" She groaned.
Loki immediately glided to the side, as soon as he caught sight of Mordo, who is slowly approaching his distracted friends, he quickly launched himself at Mordo and knocked him sideways. With the ever-growing red mists of Wanda's, it shadowed the sneak attack Loki did.
With Loki and Mordo, now secluded from the rest, it gave him time to focus on the plan. He just hopes Stephen knows where to find him, but he trusts his friend that he knows. He lifted his arms, "It's just us now. No more hiding, no more tricks."
"You are one to talk," Mordo sneered, releasing his dark energy in his palms, "The God who betrayed all his family. Do you think your friends will mourn for you?"
Loki scoffed, "I suppose you aren't as up to date like everyone else," he readied his blades, "Doesn't matter if they mourn for me or not," he leapt up to the air and projected his illusions, "One thing for certain, I'm willing to protect them from you." He then waved his hands down, and the blades dived down at him.
Mordo, not being able to distinguish which is which, used his shield to block the attacks. While he's distracted, Loki took the chance to glide down. He conjured one blade, the blade of an Asgardian, and swung at him. Mordo dodged his attack, he then conjured his dark powers, and, in an instant, his illusions disintegrated.
But that won't back Loki down. He conjured another blade in his hand, making him wield two swords. He twirled them around to get a feel of them and clashed them together as a sign of a battle cry. Just as the people of Asgard would.
"I have longed to cut your throat," he charged at Loki, and he, in turn, pounced at him. Both magic wielders clashed in a fury, Loki pushed him with his strength and magic, "All of you meddling with the multiverse….."
But Loki was fed up with his words. Pushing his strength, he manoeuvred their force upwards. Then he twirled to deliver another clash to his abdomen, which he dodged, but with his other sword, he swung again, and the pommel of his sword hit his head. "God, you people talk too much," he then lifted his blades again and charged at him.
Mordo managed to recover, he lifted his palms and summoned his mystical whip. Throwing his whip, he got ahold of Loki's wrist and pulled him. Loki was shocked to even realize what had happened and completely forgotten that they can do such a thing, he was pulled towards Mordo and the dark magician landed a sharp punch on his jaw. Then he kicked his other jaw, sending Loki flying away. The dark pressure in the dark dimension sent him further away than he expected to.
Loki felt the pain coming at him, but he too quickly recovered. Oh, it's good to be alive, he groaned. He got his balance back again but was unable to react fast as Mordo charged at him and tackled him further. Loki struggled to get him off of him, he slapped his head, elbowed his back and tried to wriggle free.
But Mordo looked at him with a satanic grin, the injuries that Loki gave him recovering quickly. The dark dimension's environment is his advantage to recover! Mordo released another dark energy from him, the mist began to engulf them both.
Loki struggled to break free, but the mist seeped into his body and slowly but surely, began to strangle his windpipe. He tried to fight off the dark mist, but his vision is getting more and more blurry. "I shall give your head to your lady as a present from me," Mordo-Nightmare cackled, "And this time, your soul is mine," He then lifted his palm and Loki felt something trying to pull the life out of him.
Is this how this will end? Loki struggled to think, he's rendered useless while Mordo-Nightmare is in their habitat and him being pushed down by the gravity of the dark. How can he regain his strength like this?
And just as he thought that he'll die, he heard the sound of a portal opening behind him and a new kind of gravity pulled them both out of the Dark Dimensions and into the real world.
Sylvie assisted Billy in creating a forcefield for Tommy to zoom in on the skies. She let her magic flow into Billy allowed him to use her extra boost to create more footings for his brother, soon the air was filled with another layer of blue and green mist.
The sorcerers of Kamar-taj and Minutemen worked together as well on covering different areas to patch the other skies. The Sorcerers created their own footings while the Minutemen provided more and more reset timers. Miren led the squad on the other cracks in the skies that Tommy have not touched.
"I gotta say, the kids packed some punches," Mobius hummed as he watched everyone work. But what interested him the most are the twins of Wanda, "Loki really did train them well."
"I'm impressed myself," Sylvie said before looking up the dark cloudy sky, her eyes stared at the dark portal that is soon closing, "Where are they?"
"Even if that portal closed, Stephen would find a way to get back, right?"
And just as he said that the signature portal of the Sorcerer Supreme appeared below the portal. Sylvie caught sight of the yellow-orange portal and stared at it, "There!" she cried, Mobius followed her line of direction, "Can you see them?"
"Not yet," he said.
Then, two figures flung out of the portal first. Falling down.
Sylvie couldn't guess who they are, but it doesn't look like they can fly or save themselves. "Billy, do you see them?"
"I see it," he confirmed and lifted his hand to release his other blue mists from his palm, quickly creating another layer of the blue solid floor for the two figures to land on.
They crashed on Billy's solid mist, crashing down and skidded to a stop separately.
"Good job, Billy," Sylvie said before conjuring her shields to climb on Billy's solid mists. She needs to know what happened and who they are.
Luckily, they didn't fall far for her to realize who fell from the portal. There she found Loki groaning, trying to get up on his elbow, he looked so battered. She ran up to him as fast as her legs could and knelt beside him, "Loki?" she lifted his arm, helping him to sit up.
As Sylvie get a better look at him, she found his face battered, and bleeding. His hands trembling and his breathing uneven.
Sylvie panicked, "Oh god, what happened?"
Loki coughed and gasped hard, he looked like he couldn't speak, so he pointed towards the other figure splayed further away from them. When Sylvie followed his point of direction and saw who it was, she quickly summoned her blades, preparing if he has another attack in mind.
Stephen and Wanda also emerged from the portal, looking like they barely escaped as another huge beam escaped into their world. The Sorcerer Supreme quickly closed the portal, and when he saw the cracks in the skies, he made several hand gestures and more magic flew towards the cracks, closing the seals. Wanda looked at the dark portal above them and used her magic to close it, the process was slow since it's not her portal.
Sylvie stood up, glaring daggers at Mordo who is getting up slowly, "You are going to pay for what you've done."
Mordo turned back and saw her, but instead of a look of mercy, she received a sadistic grin from him, "My, my, Sylvie Laufeydottir," he cackled even though he knelt, "Are you here for revenge? Go on. Take it. It's what all you Lokis do."
She let her blades point at him, oh she desperately wants him to suffer for what he had done to her and everyone. But if there's one thing she learned back at the void beyond, is that revenge didn't feel right.
Instead of piercing his heart, he let her blades pierce both of his legs. Mordo released a scream of pain, sending him on his elbows as well.
She knelt in front of him, "That's not who I am anymore," she said, "I'm ending all your damn agenda. And Stephen can do whatever he wants with you."
Mordo steadied his breathing, then looked up to her with a sick grin, "Noble as always."
Sylvie furrowed her brows, confused about what he meant until something grabbed her in the back and made her face away from Mordo. When she looked up, it was a shadow of a dark figure, the same figure she saw in Billy memories! The dark hand began creeping up on her neck and is about to slowly close her windpipe.
"OH NO YOU DON'T!" she exclaimed and let out an explosion of green energy from her. Her magic was filled with rage, frustration and anger, all combined and creating an overwhelming force. Whatever is holding her lost its grip and she stood on her feet again.
The shadow screamed, and just as it's about to recover, a shield glided past through the shadow-like eagle and directly hit Mordo's head. The sorcerer was knocked down, weakening him again. Sylvie turned to where the shield came from and found Loki still in his stance that looked like he threw something as he knelt. He stood up weakly.
Sylvie smiled at him before looking back at the shadow, wanting to end him. She's unsure how to kill him, but she's about to find out how.
Just then, red mists began engulfing the shadow. Sylvie furrowed her brows, unsure where it came from, for the figure too looked confused. Then it clicked in her head….
"Sylvie!" Wanda glided towards her, Stephen followed shortly, "Are you okay?"
She nodded, then she turned to the shadow she easily held, "Seems like you got ahold of him."
"We're now in the advantage in this world, his form is limited here," Stephen said. As he said that, the Minute Men and the other sorcerers are coming to their direction, "We need to destroy him once and for all."
"Agreed," Wanda said darkly in a tone that Sylvie had never heard of. She closed her fist and the shadow screamed in pain until it popped like a balloon. It's remains are dispersed into dust and carried away by the wind.
"It's finally over," Sylvie murmured, long periods of time searching for that bastard and finally, they have defeated one of the masterminds of the multiverse war. Now, things will go back to normal and Loki…
Loki! She gasped. Turning around, she found him just as he looked like he fainted on the ground, landing on his side. "Loki!" she ran towards him and knelt beside him. Her hands desperately scrambled to lift him up. She managed to pull him so that his face can rest on her lap while he faced her, his eyes closed and his breathing shallow, "Loki? Loki!"
But the God of Mischief couldn't hear anything, and he still felt whatever darkness was trying to choke him around his neck. He felt so weak and tired, it's like energy is fading completely. Before he fainted, he heard a deep voice….
No more resurrections this time.
The cracks of the sky were the cracks from the Spiderman No Way Home. Only this time, it's more to colliding of worlds and will haywire the entire realities, space and time.
I'm not sure about the fight scene, but I hope it worked.
Let me know what you think! Cheers!
- Claire