Alright folks! Let's recap: Mordo has already caught Anna and has the medallion back, so he's preparing for his "Soul Gathering Feast" with Anna as the first soul to be fed to his master, Marduk Kurios (a.k.a. Daimon Hellstrom's father), so now Bucky, Wanda, Agatha Harkness, Doctor Strange and Daimon Hellstrom are ready to bring the fight back to them and show them why none of them should piss them off. Let's head to the magically painful final battle!
Enjoy the reading!
SCARLET WINTER
Chapter 14: Fight the (Dark Magic) Power
Mordo had set the stage, completing the circle around the first soul to be fed to his overlord, while the group of acolytes gather around in what promises to be a large 'Feast of Souls' for the Children of Kurios, yet the young girl is anything but cooperative, still struggling to be free.
"Resistance is futile, little girl" Mordo tells her with his ominous tone "Your soul will go down the depths of Hell"
"You really think you've won, don't you?" Anna spews her anger at him "You're just a pathetic #$%&+*%&"
"You really are putting up a fight" Mordo tells her "Unlike your brother" he adds, causing Anna to gasp in surprise "Oh, I know who you are, Anna Molly Duvall…" he looks at her with a wicked smile "I do know the identity of each and every one of the people who join the cult" he explains while he strengthens the ropes that tie her "Your brother was a true faithful servant, until he had that last minute remorse when he sent his little girlfriend to the abyss" he explains, recalling the moment Anna's brother served the cult "And he ended up paying the price, perhaps he decided to surrender his soul for his little evil deed" he taunts her with her brother's death "But don't worry, you're about to join him in the depths of Hell where you'll become the first plate for the Dark Lord that is Kurios" he concludes, prompting Anna to shed a couple of tears.
"Has anybody ever told you that you belong in Hell?" Anna asks him in between sniffles.
"More than once, little child" Mordo replies with a wicked grin, then he walks to the group of acolytes, already gathered for the event "Children of Kurios!" he exclaims, extending his arms to the front "After a long, abrupt halt, the time has come for the gathering of souls, when our Dark Lord Kurios may feast and we can bask in his glory and be worthy of his power, so gather round children! Gather round and Say his name!" he exclaim as he raises his hands.
"Kurios! Kurios! Kurios! Kurios!" the acolytes chant over and over again while Anna tries to use the last of her strength so she could break off the holds, but she then starts to cry, resigning to her fate and giving up on hope of being saved.
"Jack…Karlie…I'm so sorry" Anna ponders in her mind, lamenting not being able to give them closure and justice to their deaths. She then closes her eyes while Mordo holds the medallion and lifts it over his head, but before he could activate it, a burst of blue energy knocks it off his hand, dropping it to the floor.
"What!? Who's there!?" Mordo asks in anger, yet the answer comes when another burst of energy hits him in his chest.
"Once again we cross paths Karl" Doctor Strange manifests himself, levitating above the group as he faces his longtime enemy.
"Strange…" Mordo mutters gritting his teeth, all the while Anna opens her eyes and sees the figure of the Sorcerer Supreme floating "You think you can stop this by yourself?" he asks him smugly, but instead of Strange, the answer comes from a burst of fire that blasts Mordo from behind.
"Who says he's alone?" Daimon Hellstrom steps in, summoning his trident as he faces the Grand Master.
"Who are you?" Anna asks, breathing agitatedly as she tries again to break her holds.
"I'm the #$%&+*%& Son of Satan, we're here to rescue you, Princess" Daimon replies with his sarcastic tone while he cuts off one of her restraints, but then he is attacked by a couple of acolytes who jump on him from behind.
Another group of acolytes was rushing at Daimon's position, but they were suddenly enveloped by glowing white vines that emerged from the floor, constantly slamming them down to the floor while Agatha Harkness steps out of the shadows to reveal herself as the summoner of those vines.
"You are pathetically outnumbered Mordo, you really expect to pull out a win?" Harkness comments with her dry wit while she throws down a group of acolytes. A second group rushes against her but they are intercepted by exploding lightbulbs from the roof, a result from the hexes provoked by the Scarlet Witch, taking advantage of the moment to shoot an energy blast at them.
"WANDA!" Anna screams happy to see her, motivating her to attempt to cut off the rest of her restraints.
"This ends now Mordo!" Wanda exclaims while she strikes another group of acolytes.
With Strange and Hellstrom dealing with Mordo; and Harkness and Wanda dealing with the acolytes, Anna manages to break her hold and get free. She tries to run, but she is intercepted by a pair of large, muscular acolytes who grab her by the throat, but the anger starts to overcome her and she reacts by grabbing the arm of one of them, biting his hand to release his grip and then she kicks the second one in the groin, giving her the room to escape, but the first one manages to pull her hair and bring her back.
"You will drop dead" the acolyte threatens Anna, but right then his throat is held by a glowing bionic hand, choking the air out of him.
"How about you drop dead?" Bucky tells him, then holds his neck and with a swift move he chokeslams the acolyte down to the ground, turning around to land a punch against the other acolyte that, thanks to the magic enhancements, he throws him across the room breaking the opposite wall, truly impressing Bucky "Damn, Hellstrom wasn't joking about 'Packing a Magic Punch'"
"BUCKY!" Anna screams, hugging Bucky in gratitude "You guys came!"
"We promised to help you" Bucky replies "Now try to take cover, we'll take care of the rest" he tells her, turning back to rejoin the fight with the rest of his group. Anna manages to leave the room, something that Mordo notices, but before he could strike, he is blocked by Strange who casts magic binds to hold him down.
"This is over Karl, your Cult will be taken down" Strange tells him, showing him how Harkness, Wanda and Bucky are taking down the rest of the acolytes. Harkness uses the magic vines to throw them around, Wanda casts her spells to create barriers to clash her batch of acolytes and then push them against the wall, pressing them to cut off their breaths.
Bucky on his part, he is brawling against a pair of acolytes, blocking one burning punch with his magically enhanced bionic arm, punching him with his normal arm to gain the opening to give the acolyte an uppercut with the bionic arm, creating a flaming aura around it to boost the level of pain, then he sees the other acolyte running away and by instinct he swifts his arm with a bio-kinetic charge, firing a magic/electric blast at the acolyte, bringing him down.
"This…this is not over…" Mordo tries to regain his composure, but he is indeed trapped in a losing battle.
"I told you to not fail me again Mordo!" the voice of Kurios is heard in his head, making Mordo feel nervous.
"No Master, I have not failed yet" Mordo mutters, trying to strike Strange, but he is struck back by Hellstrom.
"As you once said, 'If you want a job well done…'" Kurios ominously tells Mordo, causing him to breathe agitatedly.
"No…No Master, please No! NO! NOOOO!" Mordo screams, now catching Strange's and Hellstrom's attention.
"Daimon, are you seeing this?" Strange asks him as they watch Mordo convulse and twitch in the middle of gibberish and moans.
"This ain't good Stephen" Daimon replies while he holds his trident and aims it at Mordo, whose energy aura glows brighter, shifting from red to orange tint, his eyes and mouth bursting energy to the point that it engulfs the room, knocking the acolytes unconscious while the sorcerers and Bucky cover themselves.
"Pathetic Mortals…" Mordo's voice sounds altered, as if it were combined with another soul, the unequivocal sign that Karl Mordo has been possessed "Mordo was only a pawn, but you chose to force my hand…"
"By the Hoary Hosts…" Strange mutters as takes a defensive stance.
"He's possessed" Wanda comments while she and Harkness take cover.
"By whom? The Kurios guy?" Bucky asks while he clenches his bionic fist.
"My #$%&+*%& father" Daimon mutters while he charges his trident and then spikes it down the floor, igniting the pentagram "Stephen! You have to bind him while I make the exorcism!"
"I'll help!" Harkness steps in, summoning some of her vines.
"Those vines are not strong enough! You should know that!" Strange tells her while he tries to summon the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak.
"But combined with those Crimson Bands should be strong enough and even you should know that" Harkness replies, silencing Strange as she was right about that point, then she looks at Wanda "Wanda, dear, cover us and make sure that whatever energies he expels are contained" she tells her, to which the Scarlet Witch nods.
"Understood" Wanda replies, creating an energy barrier to contain him and then looks at Bucky "Bucky! Stay close" she tells him, but he notices some of the acolytes trying to stand up.
"I'll cover you guys" Bucky tells her, charging his fist and rushing towards the group of acolytes who are standing up, bringing the fight against them.
Two acolytes run against Wanda's position but Bucky manages to intercept them, blocking a punch from the first one with his bionic arm, making it glow with his bio-kinetic charge, boosted with magic to blow him away, turning to fire another magic blast at the other acolyte. A third one sets to fire at Wanda's position with an energy blast, but Bucky steps in, instinctively swinging his arm to create an energy shield that shatters at impact, but gets the job done, allowing Bucky to strike back at him with a solid punch to his jaw.
"You cannot hold me!" Kurios speaks through the body of Mordo, building his power to strike the group, with Harkness and Strange trying to contain him, Wanda holding the barrier, stepping back with every fiery burst that emerges out of Kurios/Mordo while Hellstrom begins his exorcism.
"Shout the #$%& up, Father!" Hellstrom exclaims "In Nomine Dei Nostri Satanas Luciferi Excelsi" he begins to chant the exorcism "IN NOMINE!" the pentagram starts to glow with fire "DEI NOSTRI!" Kurios/Mordo tries to break the holds with Strange and Harkness trying to hold on.
"Could you hurry up!?" Harkness exclaims while she holds their enemy.
"As odd as it may sound, I agree with her!" Strange also exclaims, surprisingly agreeing with Harkness about hurrying the exorcism.
"SATANAS!" Hellstrom intensifies the exorcism, fueling Kurios' desperation to strike at them as he tries to break the Scarlet Witch's barrier.
"Hurry up, Daimon!" Wanda exclaims while she tries to hold on.
"LUCIFERI!" Hellstrom glows the pentagram of his chest, activating the full extent of his power.
"No...No!" Kurios tries to voice his desperation.
"EXCELSI!" Hellstrom yells, fulfilling the exorcism and bursting the pentagram on the floor in flames, opening the gates of Hell to send his father's soul back where it belongs "GO BACK TO HELL AND #$%& YOU!" he exclaims as he completes the exorcism, sending Kurios' soul to the depths of Hell, quickly sealing it off while the flames soothe and Mordo's body falls down to the floor "It's done" he tells the group who slowly lower the binds and the barrier.
"I…will…" Mordo mutters in the middle of his heavy breathing "Not…Yield…" he then stands to his knees and looks around him "To any….of you!" he then extends his arms "Gadatisca!" he chants a set of his own vines, strangling the four sorcerers "You won't hold me forever…" he mutters, but then he looks at the front and discovers the last member he did not took into account, the Winter Soldier.
Bucky stares at Mordo and then a idea comes into his mind, then he swings his arm and creates another shield, but this time, he manages to hold it briefly to throw it at him, just like his days of old when he carried the shield of Captain America, managing to hit his chest and drop him to the floor.
"Still got it" Bucky smirks after making that hit, rushing towards the group who starts to recover "Everyone OK?" Bucky asks as he approaches Wanda, helping her to stand up.
"Great move Barnes" Harkness replies while she reforms her vines to hold the fallen body of Mordo.
"Not a sarcastic compliment? That's new" Strange comments while he also summons a new set of binds.
"And now, just to make sure this is #$%&+*%& over" Hellstrom comments while he walks to discover the medallion down on the floor, then he holds his trident and spikes it on the medallion to break it, shattering it breaking its magic hold "Now it's done".
"Hey…" Bucky gently holds Wanda's chin "You did good" he whispers at her as he smiles.
"You were amazing" Wanda whispers, smiling at him.
"I just threw punches at the bad guys" Bucky replies with a joking tone.
"And threw a magic shield" Wanda adds to his comments "That was amazing" she laughs a bit, but she is suddenly silenced by Bucky who kisses her lips, a kiss that Wanda gleefully returns.
"The pending kiss before the Astral Plane thing" Bucky replies laughing a bit.
"BUCKY? WANDA?" Anna's voice is heard in the distance, as well as the sound of a group of police sirens.
"Anna!" Wanda calls out her name, seeing her rushing to the group and right then she hugs both Bucky and Wanda "It's finally over"
"You called the cops?" Bucky asks her, sounding still wary since they remember that a few officers were part of the cult.
"I didn't call them, I was running away and then I saw the patrols coming" Anna replies looking at both of them.
"I brought them" a female voice startles the group, but Bucky relaxes when he realizes who it is "And don't worry, they're all clean" she adds.
"Thanks for the help Sharon" Bucky replies, thanking his friend and partner Sharon Carter.
With this the group starts to relax while the police officers surround the remaining acolytes and hold Mordo down with the assistance of Strange, Harkness and Hellstrom. Anna cries of happiness as she finally feels free of this mess thanks to the help of two heroes who grow in greatness upon her eyes, and Bucky and Wanda discover they made a good team in the circumstances, and together they all brought down a great evil, so now comes the calm, knowing that the battle was won and they will be ready for the next one.
This is it, folks! The final battle is over! Mordo is down, Kurios is back in Hell and Anna is safe and sound thanks to the combined efforts of our heroes, and with that…we head to the end of our story. The moment of calm is upon us and, as expected, the romance of Bucky and Wanda will be sealed. So stay tuned for the end of endings!
NEXT CHAPTER: WRAPPING UP THE STORYLINE!