Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and all related characters and concepts are the property of Marvel Entertainment and the Walt Disney Company. Please don't sue me, Mousy Overlords. :(
The Sanctum Sanctorum, 117A Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village, NYC
Across the infinite black stretched a luminous web, countless points of light sparkled within it like celestial flies; trapped and awaiting some slavering, void-haunting spider.
At the center of this mind-bending tableau floated a circular stone platform, upon which stood seven uniquely clad figures.
"Once the Veiling begins, there will be no going back. Even the slightest disruption could mean annihilation," spoke Strange gravely, Sword of Bone in hand. "Do you all understand the risks?"
Namor, Black Knight, and Scarlet Witch nodded their quiet assent; each bearing their own Cornerstone of Creation.
"Good," Strange nodded back before turning to Clea, flanked by Hulk and Quicksilver. "To you three falls the most critical task. Stark and his lackeys are doubtless already on their way. They must be held at bay until the Veiling is complete."
Strange stepped forward, taking Clea's hands in his own. "I can think of no one else I would sooner entrust my life to."
"They shall not cross this threshold alive, my love," spoke Clea. "This I swear."
"I sincerely pray it will not come to that," whispered Strange, before joining Namor, Black Knight & Scarlet Witch within a circle of faintly glowing violet glyphs. "Let us begin."
Namor was the first to step forward, holding aloft the Serpent's Crown.
"By the Water that encircles us," he intoned as hissing serpents of aquamarine light flowed out of the Crown.
"By the Earth beneath us," followed the Black Knight, vines of dark-green energy creeping forth from the Ebon Rose.
"By the Fire within us," echoed the Scarlet Witch as laughing crimson flames blazed from the iron-bound Darkhold.
"By the Air above us!" Strange finally cried as he held aloft the Sword of Bone, issuing whips of pale white light.
The four streams of mystic energy converged upon the exact center of the glyphic circle, merging into a single pillar of violet light that shot ever upwards.
[-]
Quinjet, just off the east coast of North America.
"And… there!" Iron Man spoke, withdrawing a small needle-like tool from the side of the Vision's android skull. "How's that?"
The Vision raised his hand, momentarily willing it transparent. "Density controls appear to be operating within normal parameters. Thank you, Iron Man."
"At least, you can fix Vish," interjected a singed and dejected Clint Barton, cradling a piece of crispy burnt purple fabric. "Nothing will ever replace my mask."
"Clint, you have six other masks just like that one?" Iron Man replied.
"Yeah," sighed Clint sadly. "But this was my Lucky Mask."
"Uh, guys?" Wasp's voice buzzed through the intercom. "I think you should see this."
[-]
Iron Man and Clint spilled into the cockpit, while an immaterial Vision simply phased through the bulkhead.
"Okay, what's the…" began Iron Man before trailing off, eyes widening behind his face-plate. "Holy Hannah!"
Beyond the quinjet's windshield, the New York skyline was only just beginning to peek above the horizon. From somewhere within its concrete canyons, a pillar of blinding violet light stabbed heavenwards; turning the sky itself the same eerie shade.
"It started just a minute ago," spoke Wasp as she worked the controls, bathed in the violet glow.
"Scans suggest that the energy signature of the phenomenon is similar to that of the Cornerstones," added Black Panther, adjusting the quinjet's sensors. "I believe I have a fix on the point of origin."
"Lemme guess," said Iron Man. "117A Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village?"
Panther nodded.
"Gee, glad I went to all the trouble of planting a tracer on him," snorted Iron Man.
"By the Allfather! The fiends have the gall to work their deviltry within our own city?!" Thor snarled through still bloody lips, rising from the chair he'd been slumped in most of the trip back. "We cannot let such arrogance go unchallenged!"
"We won't Thor, believe me," said Iron Man. "Wasp?"
"Call up the NYPD and request they cordon off the area?" Wasp replied. "Already taken care of."
"Oh, um…" mulled Iron Man. "I was gonna say 'take us in' but yeah, good call."
"So, now take us in?" Wasp asked.
"Just go," sighed Iron Man.
[-]
The Sanctum Sanctorum, 117A Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village, NYC
Vrrrrrrrrrrr-THOOOM!
The ancient doors of the venerable townhouse were blasted off their hinges, sending oaken splinters flying in all directions across the dimly lit foyer.
"Knock-knock," said Iron Man, replusor raised and flanked by the rest of the Avengers; all silhouetted in the violet glow suffusing the city.
At the foot of an obsidian staircase with gargoyle-mounted balustrades, stood three figures; a silver-haired woman clad in a purple Nehru jacket, flanked either side by Quicksilver and the Hulk.
"You're trespassing," the silver-haired woman spoke icily.
"Yeah, and you're thieves," Iron Man shot back, stepping over the threshold. "So how about you hand over the goods before anyone gets hurt?"
"So be it," hissed the silver-haired woman. "Hulk, Quicksilver, defend the Sanctum!
Quicksilver was naturally first into battle, zipping back and forth faster than either Black Panther, Hawkeye or Vision could track. He struck monarch and synthezoid alike with lightning punches, withdrawing before even their preternatural reflexes could retaliate.
"Oh, screw this!" Clint swore, firing a single arrow that landed in the middle of the foyer.
"Seriously? They should call you Lazyeyeeeaaagh!?" Quicksilver sputtered as the floor beneath his feet turned to a thin layer of ice, sending the speedster sliding directly into an obsidian gargoyle.
"An ice-arrow to prevent him from gaining traction," observed Panther, nursing his jaw. "Impressive."
"What can I say?" Clint shrugged. "It's a classic."
[-]
"Look, Ms, I don't want to hurt you," cautioned Iron Man, advancing on the silver-haired woman.
"Pity for you I have no such compunctions," she replied. With a flick of her wrist, she summoned a tongue of blue flame that lashed out at Iron Man like a whip.
"GAAAGH!" Iron Man cried, reeling back as the flame whip partially melted his shoulder armor. "Who the heck are you, lady?"
"I am Clea, daughter of Umar the Unrelenting, mistress of the Flames of the Faltine!" she proclaimed, azure fire flowing about her, moving in sync with her every gesture. "I was instructed in the Art by the Dread Dormammu Himself!"
"Oh yeah? Well, I have no idea what any of that means!" Iron Man retorted, narrowly dodging a blue fireball.
The woman called Clea pressed her advantage, lashing out again and again with searing flame until she had Iron Man backed into a corner. With a final gesture, she summoned a wall of azure fire to contain the Avenger.
"Do you have any final requests, Earther?" Clea asked coldly.
"Yeah," answered Iron Man. "Look behind you"
"You can't honestly expect me toUUGHH!" Clea fell face first, blue flames dissipating as she lost consciousness. Behind her, hovered Wasp, bio-electric energy still crackling about her fingertips.
[-]
With the rest of the Avengers occupied, Thor launched himself at a set of obsidian doors at the top of the Gothic staircase. He raised Mjölnir high, ready to bash his way through to the Inner Sanctum when a green fist wrapped about his crimson cloak and violently slammed the thunder god to the ground
"YOU CAN'T TAKE ME, THOR!" Hulk roared, pinning the thunder god under a single trunk-like foot. "I'M STRONGER THAN YOU, STRONGER THAN ANY OF YOU!"
"Perhaps, brute," spoke Thor, smiling through bloodied lips. "But are you stronger than all of us?"
"Eh?" Hulk look up and into an oncoming barrage of repulsor blasts, wasp stings, energy daggers, explosive arrows, and laser beams.
[-]
Hulk was sent flying through the obsidian doors, tumbling along a broad stone walkway 'til he skidded to a stop and collapsed into an insensate lump.
The Avengers followed in hot pursuit only to freeze before the sight that greeted them.
The twinkling cosmic web stretching in all directions into black infinity, Strange and his remaining three cohorts upon the central stone platform, and the shimmering violet pillar of light rising from the central apex.
"What is all this?" Wasp asked awestruck.
"I… I've seen this before," said Iron Man. "This is a scaled-down representation of the entire known universe!"
"What, you're saying every one of these teeny-tiny light-pricks is a star?" Clint asked.
"No," answered Iron Man gravely. "Every one of those 'light-pricks' is a galactic-cluster!"
"Sympathetic magic?" Panther offered. "Strange may be using this symbolic representation to effect his sorcery on a universal scale!"
"What, like a Voodoo doll?" Clint asked.
"Essentially," answered Panther. "Though that is a common misconception as such effigies are rooted more in European magical practices than African or Ameri-"
"Enough exposition!" Iron Man cried, charging his repulsors. "I'm blasting it!"
"Tony wait! We don't kno-" cried Wasp, only to be drowned out by the roar of twin repulsor blasts.
The humming pillar of violet light seemed to scream as the repulsor beams struck, degrading into a shrieking tongue of bloody crimson. It lashed violently against the cosmic panoply, tearing a wound in the ink-black heavens to reveal the shining white void beyond.
The four ritualists were sent flying back by the mystic backlash. Strange was still on his hands and knees when Iron Man grabbed him roughly by the collar of his cloak, yanking the mage to his feet.
"Okay, Vincent van Ghoul," snarled Iron Man, shaking his quarry. "Why did you steal the Crown!? What were you trying to-"
Iron Man was cut off by a haunting inhuman wail, as massive insectoid talons emerged from the shining wound in reality above. They were followed swiftly by another set of talons, each gripping the edges of the rift as some... thing painfully birthed itself into existence.
Strange's eyes narrowed. "We were trying to prevent something like that!"
None who looked upon the creature could do so without pain. Its proportions and contours overlapped and conflicted in ways that seemed physically impossible, like something that had never been intended to be confined within a mere three dimensions.
From some angles, it gave the impression of sleek metallic perfection, like a monument of polished silver. From others, it seemed to be covered in black pot-marked chitin, like the scarred shell of a crustacean dredged from the ocean's depths.
The air turned sour, cold; filled with a scent like crushed insects and rotting meat.
A new world and we are called. A new world, empty space and burning gas, matter and energy, beating hearts and rushing blood. A new world, and we are called.
All clutched their throbbing skulls as the thing's words lanced through their minds like a knife.
A new world, and we pave the way... for the Light that is Not Light.
The creature raised their two (or was it four?) claws, releasing streams of energy that caused the shining white rift to grow slowly but surely larger.
"What. The. #%$&! Is that?!" Wasp cried.
"A Wayfinder of Oblivion, a kind of otherworldly scout," answered Strange. "They're trying to enlarge the rift large enough to allow their master to fully manifest in our universe."
"And who, or what, exactly their 'master'?" Wasp asked.
"Believe me, you'll sleep easier not knowing," spoke Strange, shaking off Iron Man and rising to confront the Wayfinder.
"Oh like I'm letting you outta of my sight," muttered Iron Man, firing his jets to follow.
"Wayfinder!" Strange bellowed with authority.
The Wayfinder paused, slowly inclining their head (or heads) towards the mage.
"I am Doctor Stephen Strange; Sorcerer Supreme of this plane, champion of the eternal Vishanti, and veteran of the War of Seven Spheres," the Doctor proclaimed. "This world is under my protection, and neither you nor your master are welcome here! Leave peacefully now, or you will be made to leave!"
A new world, toil and strife, sound and fury, blood and pain. A new world, rejoice for we bring Oblivion's bliss.
Power flashed from the Wayfinder's two (or four) eyes, hurling Strange from the sky as the creature resumed their task.
"Stephen!" Clea cried, racing into the chamber after Quicksilver.
With a thrust of his jets, Iron Man nabbed the sorcerer in mid-fall.
"I… thank you," spoke Strange groggily.
"Don't thank me. I'm not letting you off that easy," muttered Iron Man. "Avengers, light that thing up!"
Once more, Earth's Mightiest Heroes unleashed an onslaught of wasp stings, divine lightning, energy daggers, exploding arrows and precision laser strikes. Each hit tore away more and more of the Wayfinder's jelly-like (or was it stone?) flesh until nothing remained.
"AAAWWHYEAH!" Clint crowed, punching the air. "That's how we kick it Earth style!"
"That was far too easy," cautioned Panther.
Almost on cue, impossibly angled limbs began regenerating from seemingly nowhere. The Wayfinder swiftly retook their ever-shifting shape, gazing down balefully at their attackers.
Clint shot Panther a dagger-glare. "You just had to say it, didn't you?"
The Wayfinder raised an enormous obsidian claw (or was it a silver fist?) to crush them all with a single blow.
"RAAAAAARGH!" Hulk roared, impacting directly upon what served as the Wayfinder's face, causing the creature to reel back in something almost like fright. "STUPID BUG-STATUE-MONSTER MAKE HULK'S HEAD HURT! MAKE HULK MAAAAAD!"
The Wayfinder staggered as the green goliath unleashed one jackhammer fist after another, sending tar-black ichor flying in all directions.
"GO HULK!" Wasp whooped. "That buys us time at least."
"For what?" Clint demanded. "We already vaporized that thing!"
"The bulk of the Wayfinder exists outside the conventional three spatial dimensions," interjected Strange, shaking off Iron Man as they alighted. "Conventional physical attacks alone won't be enough."
"Perhaps Ms. Maximoff can help?" Vision spoke without inflection.
"What?" Wanda asked fearfully as all eyes turned on her.
"From what Dr. Strange said, the Wayfinder's mere existence in our universe is already straining probability to its breaking point," clarified Vision. "Your 'hex bolts' may be enough to tip it over the edge, from improbability to impossibility."
Wanda's lips quivered for a moment as she gazed up at the trashing Wayfinder, before her eyes hardened. "I'll need time to prepare a hex that big, a few minutes at least."
"Very well," spoke Strange. "The rest of you distract the demon while Iron Man and I attend to the rift."
"And we're listening to you, why?" Iron Man asked.
"Do you have any other choice?" Strange answered.
"Fine," said Iron Man. "Avengers, back up Hulk."
Strange immediately turned to Clea and his remaining comrades. "My allies, defend this world!"
Friend and foe alike leaped into action, former quarrels and rivalries momentarily forgotten.
Wasp, and Black Knight upon his steed, darted about and around the Wayfinder's head(s), stinging and slicing at the beast's flesh while evading slow cumbersome talons.
Thor and Namor joined the Hulk in his onslaught, sending the titanic Wayfinder reeling and they collided with the demon's torso.
Panther, Hawkeye, and Quicksilver raced about what might be construed as the creature's feet; energy daggers, exploding arrows and near-sonic fists attacking from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
"All of you, get clear!" Clea cried, eyes blazing with azure flame.
The assembled heroes leaped or flew for cover as the Wayfinder was engulfed in a titanic pillar of blue fire. The demon howled with a thousand voices, yet still the otherworldly flames merely seared their skin.
[-]
"Are you ready?" Vision asked.
"I think so," answered Wanda, steadying her breathing. "Look, Vision. Before we do this I just wanted to say... sorry about what happened in Romania."
"Apology: accepted and... appreciated," spoke Vision, something almost like a smile about his lips as he extended a hand. "Shall we?"
Wanda gingerly took the Vision's hand as he slowly lowered the density of the rest of his body, lifting them both like a balloon. Higher and higher they rose 'til they were almost eye-level with the badly charred Wayfinder.
The Wayfinder fixed the mutant and synthezoid with a glare of cold malice, titan talons reaching out.
Which was the exact moment the Scarlet Witch chose to unleash a blast of coruscating crimson energy from her free hand. The massive hex-bolt swept over the Wayfinder like a wave, turning otherworldly flesh to pale ash.
[-]
"Energy is energy, whether drawn from science or sorcery," spoke Strange as he and Iron Man hovered before the blinding white rift. "I can craft a spell that will bind the tear, but I'm still drained from attempting to channel the Cornerstones. I'll need to draw on the extra power of your armor's reactor."
"The reactor that keeps me alive?" Iron Man sniped.
"Trust me, I'm a Doctor."
Iron Man begrudgingly grunted his assent as Strange placed his hand upon the ARC reactor, raw power flowing up his arm.
"By Gaea's grace, by Osthur's shield, I command this wound be healed!" cried Strange, ARC energy converting to glowing ribbons of green and gold that coiled about the tear like a surgeon's stitches.
As the jagged rift drew closed, Strange and Iron Man felt… something watching them from the shining white void beyond; something older than time, vaster than space and more patient than death. It reached out, softly brushing their minds with three silent words, like a whisper in a vacuum or a forgotten lover's promise:
I can wait.
The rift sealed with a final discharge of energy, sending sorcerer and scientist alike falling from the sky.
Iron Man and Strange crashed upon the stone platform, the grey-white ash of what had been the Wayfinder drifted down upon them like warm snow. The two men looked up, meeting each other's gaze.
In an instant, Iron Man charged his repulsors as Strange raised his hands in a mystic gesture, their respective teams falling into a fighting stance behind them.
"OH, ENOUGH ALREADY!" Wasp's voice rang out as she landed between Strange and Iron Man, arms raised. "Nobody is firing off another repulsor blast, magic spell, arrow or fist until somebody explains what the heck is going on here!?"
"Back off, Wasp," growled Iron Man.
Wasp glared. "No, Tony, you back off?"
"Excuse me?"
"As I recall, you officially stepped down as leader," said Wasp. "And since Cap's not here, I'm invoking seniority!"
"Seniority?" Iron Man flustered. "I'm a founding member!?"
"Yeah, me too," said Wasp. "But I didn't storm off and leave the team in a lurch 'cuz I was afraid the plants in the mansion's foyer might be alien spies. I didn't come swanning back weeks later when it was personally convenient, expecting everyone to act like nothing happened. I have stood by this team longer than anyone. So. Back. Off."
Clap-clap-clap.
Iron Man peaked back over his shoulder, where Clint was softly clapping.
"Oh, you're loving this, aren't you?" Iron Man grumbled.
"You kidding, Stark?" Clint grinned from ear to ear. "I've been waiting for someone to give you a proper dressing down since I joined this outfit. Always figured it'd be Cap though."
Iron Man slumped dejectedly before turning back to Wasp. "Alright, what's the play, chief?"
Wasp immediately spun back on Strange. "You, Doctor Wizard, just who the heck are you?"
"As I told the Wayfinder, my name is Doctor Stephen Strange," he panted, Clea helping him to his feet. "And I am the Earth Realm's Sorcerer Supreme, charged with defending this plane of existence from the myriad threats that lurk beyond the borders of what you might call 'reality'."
"You speak false, warlock!" Thor bellowed, leveling an accusing hammer. "The Ancient One of Kamar-Taj is known throughout the Nine Realms. She is Midgard's true Sorceress Supreme!"
"The Ancient One… passed on several years ago," sighed Strange, eyes downcast. "She nominated me to succeed her."
"I… I did not know," spoke Thor.
"Okay, if your job is defending the universe then why did you just rip a ginormous hole in it?" Wasp demanded.
"Nothing could have been further from our intent," said Strange. "The Veil was meant to seal off our universe. To make travel between Earth and the rest of the Omniverse virtually impossible."
"Why would you even need to accomplish such a thing?" Panther inquired.
"Ask Blondie," grunted Hulk.
All eyes turned on Thor, as a look of horrified realization dawned across the Thunderer's face.
"Surtur," he whispered fearfully.
Clint cocked his head. "Okay, what's a surter?"
"Not what, who. Though, perhaps 'what' is apter," mulled Thor forlornly, turning away from the others' gaze. "Surtur the Fire Demon is the Lord of Muspelheim, a realm of everlasting flame. He claims to be the first living being to walk the Nine Realms. He intends to be the last."
"What do you mean 'the last'?" Wasp asked softly.
"Since the Dawn of Time, Surtur's every thought and deed has been bent on a single purpose; to burn the Nine Realms to ash and bring about Ragnarok, the Doom of the Gods, the Doom of… Everything," answered Thor. "If Strange's spell can at least spare Midgard..?"
Wasp turned back to Strange. "Say we let you finish your spell, what happens to the other Eight Realms?"
Strange pursed his lips for a moment. "When Ragnarok comes… they'll burn."
Wasp's eyes narrowed. "That is unacceptable."
"If there's one thing I've learned, both as a doctor and a sorcerer, it's that you can't save everyone," said Strange.
"We can try," answered Wasp.
"Be reasonable, Wasp!" Namor stepped forward. "I sympathize with the Asgardian's plight, but we must look to our own kingdoms first!"
"Prince Namor… raises a valid concern," offered T'Challa weakly.
"Oh?" Wasp snapped. "And when the next world-destroying Big Bad shows up and the choice is to cut Atlantis loose… or Wakanda?"
Neither monarch answered.
"Yeah," spoke Wasp finally. "Suddenly we're not so coldly pragmatic."
"Wasp, please," pleaded Thor. "You do not know Surtur. He is not like Loki or the Enchantress! He is a force of nature, destruction incarnate-"
Wasp stepped forward, pressing a finger to the Asgardian's lips. "So were Galactus and the Wayfinder. Look how they turned out?"
Thor fell silent.
"We don't trade lives," continued Wasp. "We don't hide while others die, and we don't abandon our friends."
"I'm with the boss lady," said Clint, stepping forward to lay a hand on Thor's broad shoulders. "We got your back, big guy."
He was followed quickly by Iron Man, Vision and finally Black Panther.
"My friends…" spoke Thor through glistening tears. "You humble me."
"This is all very inspiring, I'm sure," drawled Strange. "But this world doesn't need to be avenged, it needs to be defended. We still have the Cornerstones of Creation, and I don't need your permission to-"
"No."
Every eye suddenly turned once more upon the Scarlet Witch, clutching the Darkhold tightly to her chest.
"I beg your pardon?" Strange asked.
"Wasp is right, this is wrong," answered Wanda. "You need me to channel the Darkhold and I will have no more part in this."
"Wanda?" Quicksilver spoke.
"Ask yourself something, Pietro," spoke Wanda, turning to lock eyes with her brother. "What would our father do?"
Pietro looked away, brow furrowed in distaste. "Point, sis."
"If the twins are out then so am I," piped up the Black Knight. "The Ebon Rose belongs back in Britain."
"What!?" Strange spun on him. "Do you have any concept of the stakes you're playing with?"
"Typical surface-dwellers, a few soft words and you all lose your nerve," Namor snorted, holding aloft the Serpent's Crown to admire its green glistening form. "At least, I won't be returning to Atlantis empty-handed."
"Yeah, no," interjected Wasp. "You are not keeping the Crown, Namor."
"Then take it if you can, Avenger!"
"Enough!" Strange bellowed as he and Clea were consumed in a plume of shimmering mist. Instantly, the cosmic web of galaxies above began to contort into something not unlike the sorcerer's scowling visage.
"I have tolerated your childish bickering long enough!" Strange's image thundered, eyes burning like supernovas. "If none of you are willing to do what must be done… THEN GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"
Wasp raised her arms, screwing her eyes against the light that burned ever brighter and hotter until…
[-]
Avengers Mansion, 890 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, NYC
Wasp slowly unscrewed her eyes, finding herself standing within the meeting hall under Avengers Mansion, along with Iron Man, Thor, Black Panther, Clint & Vision.
"Okay, that was… different," She exhaled. "Anyone catch what Strange did with Hulk?"
[-]
Quebec, Canada
Hulk glared up at the cold grey sky, snow starting to accumulate on his shoulders like slushy dandruff.
"Nah, it's fine! Just drop me anywhere!" Hulk bellowed sardonically to the heavens. "Dumb magician."
He glanced down at a frozen puddle.
"Real funny, Banner," he snorted before turning west. "Just for that, I'm making you walk."
The End?