A/N: Okay, here's the last chapter that I've had mostly finished! Happy reading!
Frank, Stephen, and America stepped out of the hole in the multiverse, finding themselves on a lush, grass-covered roof. In the distance were metallic buildings, but around them were bits of greenery.
"I thought we were home." Strange murmured. "But it looks… better."
Frank looked over his shoulder, seeing Beth and Kassie right behind them, as the star shaped portal closed.
"Sorry." America apologized. "I was trying to get us back to your universe. I guess I didn't try hard enough."
"Don't worry about it." Castle told her, while Strange put his hands on his hips. Looking over at Beth and Kassie, he murmured, "maybe it's better we stopped here first."
"Do you think you could try again?" Stephen asked. "I think we've left Wong at Wanda's mercy too long."
"Even if she did, it's suicide." Frank countered. "We've been fighting her across universes, and each time, she's torn us apart, in more ways than one. And we're not going to put them-"
Castle gestured towards Beth and Kassie.
"-in harm's way."
"What about the Book of Vishanti?" America asked. "The Strange who tried to help me- then betrayed me- thought it could help. Maybe we should start searching for it again."
"But I don't know where it is." Strange muttered. "The TVA said the only way we can find it is if…"
He paused, as if having an epiphany.
"We find my variant here."
Stephen turned to create a portal, when out of the corner of his eye, noticed that Beth and Kassie were still caked in blood.
"Here."
Strange formed his hands into a cage, and several droplets of water materialized, forming a large sphere. He parted his hands, and the water soared towards the two girls, enlarging to engulf them both, and washed away the gore from their bodies. Within seconds, the water destabilized, falling to the ground, and Stephen's cloak leapt off his shoulders and flew towards Beth and Kassie, quickly drying them off.
"Thanks." the aunt smiled, while the cloak retreated back to Strange.
"Not sure how people would react to you two covered in blood. I'm guessing you want to keep your chainsaw however."
Seeing Beth nod, Stephen snapped his fingers, and the chainsaw vanished to the naked eye.
"Don't worry, it's only invisible." Stephen said reassuringly, before rotating his arms and creating a portal. A ring of fire opened up, on the other side revealing the New York Sanctum.
"You two can stay in the Sanctum, until we sort this all out-"
"Uh, Strange…" America pointed. Stephen looked back through the portal, seeing in front of the Sanctum was a statue of… himself. Below the statue was a plaque, emblazoned in gold letters.
Doctor Stephen Strange gave his life defeating Thanos. We honor Earth's mightiest hero.
"What?" Strange said out loud, as they all stepped through the portal. "I'm… the other me is dead?"
"If you're dead in this universe… who's in control of the Sanctum?" America asked.
Her question was soon answered by the doors opening, and out walked a man with braided black hair, a beard, and a green tunic.
"Oh… fuck." Frank murmured, pulling out his gun.
"What? Who is that?" Chavez's eyes widened, but she pulled out her own weapon.
"Mordo." Stephen muttered, stepping in front of Castle and America. "He brought me to Kamar Taj, trained me… then he tried to kill me."
"Oh, great." Beth groaned, gripping her chainsaw, which now made itself visible.
"Stephen… I knew this day would come." Mordo spoke, getting closer to the sorcerer. "Because you knew this day would come."
Strange stepped forward, the two of them a foot apart… and then Mordo reached out and wrapped him in a hug.
"My brother."
Stephen looked around in confusion, before returning the gesture, much to everyone's surprise.
"Alright…"
The hug was eventually broken off, with Mordo moving to go back inside.
"Come. I must know everything about your universe."
Minutes later, Frank found himself sitting in the foyer of the Sanctum, while Strange and Mordo sat across from each other. America, Beth, and Kassie sat on either side of them all, as Mordo handed them saucers of tea.
"So you are formidable as well." Mordo complimented Chavez. "A multiversal traveler, who has brought with her a variant of Stephen!"
"We'll only be here for a moment." Strange told him. "We need to get back to my universe so that I can stop a powerful being- the Scarlet Witch."
Mordo paused, looking up in worry.
"The Scarlet Witch is from your world? Does she have the Darkhold?"
"Yeah." Frank grumbled, while Beth and Kassie quickly drank the contents of their cups. Must've been thirsty after everything they went through, he supposed. "She thought about sending monsters against the kid first, but then started going after her herself."
"By dreamwalking." Mordo guessed, seeing Strange nod and take a sip of tea, as did America.
"Yes. I assume you're familiar with the Darkhold, given there are copies in just about every universe?"
"Of course." Mordo looked at the floor grimly. "I guard this world's copy here, but if the Scarlet Witch has it…"
"Excuse me?" Beth asked, having a sinking feeling. "What is 'dreamwalking'?"
Strange, America, and Frank exchanged worried glances, before Mordo cleared his throat.
"It is a vile spell that corrodes the soul. One that desecrates reality itself." Mordo explained. "The sorcerer projects their consciousness from their home universe, into another. They do this in order to possess their alternate self- their variant. That is the only way they can come after you from afar. The link is not permanent, but they can still perform irreparable damage to the universes they invade or inhabit."
"So that…" Kassie's voice trailed off. "That's what happened to Mom, before…"
Frank looked sadly at the girl, as he reached out and rested a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry."
"That's why you decided to walk with Ellie to the basement." Beth realized. "Because it wasn't Ellie. It was her."
"Yeah." Frank admitted. "I was… trying to convince her to leave your sister, to stop going after America. And that's when that demon showed up."
"You've already faced the Scarlet Witch? And survived?" Mordo raised his eyebrows.
"Barely. We need to find the Book of Vishanti." Stephen told him. While the sorcerers were talking, Frank looked over to Beth and Kassie, just in time to see them fall unconscious.
"The hell…"
"The Darkhold's antithesis." Mordo murmured. "It can give a sorcerer all the power he needs to vanquish his enemy."
"Good. We need your help-"
Stephen went to stand up, but suddenly felt drowsy. He looked over at America, who seemed to stumble getting up.
"I'm sorry Stephen." Mordo apologized. "But it's not Wanda Maximoff who threatens our reality… it's you."
"Strange…" America murmured, feeling herself get lightheaded. "What was in that tea?"
Doctor Strange looked around, seeing a glass container filled with green sands.
"The Sands of Nisanti." he mumbled, before collapsing on the ground.
"Strange!" Frank shouted, getting up and throwing a punch at Mordo. The sorcerer easily sidestepped, before clutching his fist. In an instant, Frank felt himself freeze up, as orange colored energy bound him in place.
"Impressive. I didn't think you would still be standing, Mister Castle."
"I didn't drink your bullshit, asshole." Castle spat.
"That's only delayed you a few more seconds." Mordo smirked, before punching Frank and knocking himself unconscious.
Westview, New Jersey
Hundreds of miles away, an alternate version of Wanda Maximoff had turned on the television for her sons, showcasing old black and white cartoons. As the boys gave her empty bowls of ice cream, she began to walk back to the kitchen, only to feel a slight breeze.
Wait… when did she leave a window open?
Wanda frowned, resuming her walk to the kitchen, as the light seemed to darken. The candles were blown out, and the overhead fixture flickered. She looked over to a picture of herself with a bottle of champagne, just in time to see the image turn its head to glare at her.
What the hell was going on?
The breeze returned, stronger this time, and the bowls were snatched from her grasp, flying into a nearby wall and shattering. Before she could comprehend what was going on, Maximoff was pushed towards the sink, making her grip the counter for stability.
Wanda.
Maximoff's eyes widened, hearing her name spoken, and she looked up at the window above the sink. In place of her reflection was someone who looked like her, but wasn't her. No, the… thing staring back at her wore a dark red crown, had pale skin, and those eyes… the eyes were crimson red.
The dark reflection screamed, as her arms- with withered, blackened fingers- rushed towards Wanda, and her sight was filled with a blackened void. She screamed, feeling herself falling… and falling… and falling…
Wanda's body straightened, almost mechanically, and when she opened her eyes, they were glowing red. The glowing quickly faded just as it came, as she heard a familiar voice.
"Mom?"
Wanda turned around, seeing Tommy and Billy standing in the doorway, staring at her in confusion.
"We… we heard something break. Are you okay?" Tommy asked.
"Uh… yes." Wanda lied, looking down at the shattered bowls. "I dropped them. On accident. I'll go throw them away."
Maximoff bent down, picking up the broken pieces, and swiftly walked outside, throwing away the trash. She looked over her shoulder, and upon seeing the boys go back to watching cartoons, she used her powers to levitate off the ground, and began to fly through the air.
Strange shook his head left and right, seeing at least a dozen people in weird costumes all around him. He looked up, seeing a gigantic skull, but it was wearing… Ant-Man's helmet?
"Finally… I was wondering when you'd wake."
Strange tore his eyes back to who was in front of him, staring at a bald woman wearing a brown overcoat.
"Mr. Murdock here thought he could come and save you." the woman continued, pointing to a man in a red suit that had horns on the cowl. With a chill, Strange realized this was the variant of Daredevil that had crossed over to his universe last year.
"A pity. I could've used him."
The woman shrugged, before somehow effortlessly plunging her fingers into the vigilante's head, twisting and snapping the neck easily.
"But you… I think I can find use from these trinkets you have… Doctor Strange."
Strange widened his eyes, but the woman held out her hand, and a sling ring entered his view, flying into her waiting palm.
Funny, he didn't have a sling ring anymore, Wanda dissolved it. So how-
This was another dream, showing one of his variants.
"Ta-ta, Strange. You could have been a valuable ally."
The woman closed her fist, and in an instant, all the skin flew off and into her other hand, which she yanked out of Daredevil's skull. Strange felt his body topple, as his vision faded into nothing.
At the same time, Frank Castle was also dreaming, finding himself walking down the bridge of a helicarrier, a bearded man in a blue suit next to him.
"Thanks for your help Reed. I can never figure out what Doom's planning."
"Don't worry Frank." the other man, Reed, smiled. "I've known Victor for a while. Thankfully he was only negotiating with us this time."
"Yeah. But SHIELD's still keeping an eye on him." Frank murmured, as Reed held up his hand, a mechanical disc beeping.
"The Illuminati need you?"
"Yes." Reed furrowed his bow, as it appeared he was reading invisible writing. "Mordo says he captured some variants at the New York Sanctum, including a version of Doctor Strange and yourself."
"That right?" Frank asked. "Well, tell Bill and Amy I said hi."
"Always." Reed smirked, shaking Castle's hand, before a blue square appeared at Reed's feet, traveling up and causing his body to vanish.
Doctor Strange gasped awake, sucking in a breath, as he looked around, finding himself in a glass cell. At the same time, Frank's eyes snapped open, feeling the floor beneath him was… cold. Cold as metal, in fact.
"Where the hell…"
Castle slowly got up, the first thing catching his attention was the glass in front of him. He looked around, seeing glass all around him, a rectangular cell.
"Hey, hey!"
Frank looked over his shoulder, seeing America and Strange in similar confinements to his own, with the former bashing her fist against the glass.
"This universe sucks!"
"No shit." Castle muttered. "Think you can make a portal out of here?"
America reached her hand out to the opposite end of the cell, concentrating. After a few moments, she groaned, lowering her appendage.
"It's no use." Strange murmured, looking down at his wrist. Or more importantly, at a cufflink attached to it. Frank looked down, seeing he had a pair on too, as did America.
"These cuffs are infused with the Sands of Nisanti, as was our tea. They negate any and all powers, mystical, cosmic, or otherwise."
"And how do you know this?" Frank asked.
"Because I've used it myself, Frank." Stephen muttered, touching his shoulder. His eyes suddenly widened, realizing that his cloak was no longer on him.
"Hey! Hey!" Strange shouted, tapping the glass. Frank looked past his cell, only now noticing that there were at least three scientists in lab coats surrounding them.
"Hey, lab coats!" Stephen bellowed. "I don't know how things work here, or where we are, but they don't usually end well for nameless scientists-"
His words instantly left him, as one of the scientists, a redhead, turned around, and Stephen realized who was before him.
"...Christine?"
Frank raised an eyebrow, now connecting the dots. This woman was the variant of Strange's love… whom he had to give up for the life he had.
"Hello Stephen." Christine murmured. "Mister Castle. Miss Chavez. Now, to answer your question, you are in a highly guarded research facility. The three of you, as well as Stephen's sentient cloak, are here for surveillance and testing."
"Testing?" Strange asked.
"Three?" Frank interrupted. "There were two women with us. An aunt and her niece. What did you do to them?"
"After determining they weren't a potential threat, we sent them back to their own universe." Christine said matter of factly.
"Potential… that's bullshit." Frank snarled. "They had nothing else to go back to in their world. Nothing."
Christine opened her mouth to retort, but Strange cut her off.
"What do you mean by testing?"
"Well… you are visitors from another universe." Christine reminded them. "Your magnetic signatures could be radioactive, or you could carry diseases that our universe has no cure for. Which is why we put you in these specialized polycarbonate cells."
"Christ." Frank snorted.
"And I suppose you also crafted these bracelets?" Strange asked, holding out his hands.
"Yes. I had the help of 838-Stephen."
"838-Stephen?" the sorcerer repeated in confusion.
"That's the designation we gave our universe." Christine explained. "We are from Earth-838, while you three are from Earth-199999. However, the other two women that came with you had some irregularities in their DNA, different from yours, so we decided to designate them as visitors from Earth-212023."
"Well, you seem to know a lot about the multiverse if you're naming realities." Stephen murmured.
"I do. That's why I name them." Christine smirked. Strange slowly nodded, before clearing his throat.
"How'd you work here… wherever here is?"
"I volunteered to work for the Baxter Foundation. At your funeral."
"Oh."
Strange took a step back, feeling his heartbeat quicken, before leaning forward.
"What… what were we, in this universe?"
Probably not the right time, but he had to know. His curiosity was getting the better of him. He couldn't help it, despite Strange Supreme's warning.
"We never really figured that out. Not like it matters." Christine stated bluntly. "It doesn't matter what we meant to each other in your universe, Stephen, because you're not my Doctor Strange. You're just wearing his face."
Stephen recoiled, as if he was punched in the gut.
"Okay. Fair point, but you have to let us out of here." Strange told her. "There is someone from our universe who's after the girl, and she will tear this place apart atom by atom to get to her. So I don't care if you're with the Avengers, or SHIELD-"
"We're neither."
Strange suddenly looked up, seeing Mordo walk into the room. Flanking him were four robots with yellow eyes, but their face… they looked familiar…
"Ultron?" Frank arched an eyebrow, noticing the resemblance. Unfortunately, that was the least of the surprises, as two people emerged from behind the robots, decked out in tactical black uniforms and holding onto rifles. The first one, a male, had his black hair slicked back with a well trimmed beard. The other, a shorter female, wore her dirty blonde hair in a ponytail.
"Bill? Amy?" Frank murmured, while Chavez gaped at the woman.
"Hello Frank." the Billy Russo of Earth-838 mumbled, while Amy looked at the prisoners in surprise.
"It'll never feel normal, seeing people from other universes." she remarked.
"Mister Russo and Miss Bendix will watch over the prisoners with you." Mordo told Christine, before turning to face Stephen. At the same time, his cuffs suddenly locked together, causing him to strain against them more.
"The Illuminati will see you now."
Earth-212023
Beth slowly stood up, looking to her right to see Kassie asleep, and lightly shook her awake.
"Kassie, hey Kassie. Wake up."
The little girl's eyes flickered open, looking at her aunt.
"What happened?"
"That asshole, the one called Mordo, sent us back to our universe." Beth grumbled, as the two of them found themselves just outside the apartment complex in the middle of the day.
"Come on, let's find a hotel."
The Hacks began to walk down the street, ignoring the fact that people were staring at Beth and her chainsaw, when they heard a television in a window catch their attention.
"Breaking news: three teens were found dead this morning at a lakeside cabin-"
"What?" Beth asked in alarm, seeing images of the three individuals.
"One of the victims had her scalp torn off, while the other, the male, was violently decapitated. The third victim was the initial perpetrator, but when police arrived, her body appeared heavily mutilated, and appeared as if she had been dead for days…"
"Aunty Beth…"
Beth looked down, seeing Kassie look up at her in fear.
"We're never going to be safe from it, are we?"
Beth swallowed the bile in her mouth, as she looked back at the television.
"No." she murmured, gripping the chainsaw. "But we can prepare for when it comes back."
Earth-1
Amy led the spider people to an apartment complex in New York, walking up a flight of stairs. After reaching the third floor, Bendix walked to the first door on the right, sharply knocking.
"Coming!" a voice sounded from the other side. After a few seconds, the door opened, revealing a middle aged woman with curly brown hair.
"Oh. I should've known you'd drop by after you attempted to call me."
"That's right." Amy smirked. "Good to see you too Agent Madani."
"Agent?" Peter-1 asked. "Does she work for SHIELD?"
"She's with the CIA." Bendix spoke up, earning a look from Madani.
"Dinah Madani. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Spider-Man." the agent introduced herself. "I see you brought some more friends, Amy. Have you come to max out my credit cards again?"
"No, but we need your resources." Bendix told her. "I know you sent Hawkeye after Frank and Wanda last year. He caught up to them in Kentucky."
"How did you know…"
"I was there, Madani." Amy revealed. "Guess Barton left that part out of his report, huh?"
Madani shook her head, allowing the visitors inside.
"He never reported to me." she muttered. "He only told SWORD that he lost them. And then by the time they were spotted in London with Spider-Man-"
She nodded at Peter-1.
"The public was won over, and forgot all about how they were dangerous criminals. Wanda in particular, after what she did in Lagos and Germany. And then she's been on and off the grid since."
"Jesus." Amy snorted. "That's why you were after her? She helped save the world from Thanos."
"It wasn't just for that…" Dinah frowned. "There was something else, right after… but I can't remember what happened."
Bendix tilted her head, while Madani looked off to the side.
"Whatever. I need your help in finding Wanda."
"Why would I do that?" Dinah snapped. "I'm guessing you're not going to arrest her."
"Actually, we are…" Peter-2 murmured.
"I seriously doubt the CIA can handle the Scarlet Witch." Spider-Gwen added.
"We'll manage." Madani shot back. "Ever since we started to go after Maximoff, the CIA was able to partner up with SWORD to have a technological advantage."
"And how'd that work out in Kentucky?" Amy pointed out. "Look, we gotta find her, because it turns out this is bigger than just us, or the CIA, or SWORD. That's why these guys-"
Bendix gestured toward the spider people.
"Are here with me. Besides, you owe me."
"Owe you?" Dinah begin to laugh. "What do I owe you for?"
"Well for starters, you were going to leave me to fend for myself in Ohio. Hell, you would've left Frank there too." Bendix reminded her. "You think I forgot about that? You were ready to let Frank and I rot in a jail cell, because he was protecting me. You only got him out because you wanted him to take care of Russo for you. Yeah that's right, I know about that too.
"You didn't want to help Frank when you were his one phone call, then you wanted him to kill Billy, instead of getting your hands dirty. You owe me, and you. Fucking. Know it."
Madani widened her eyes in surprise, never hearing Amy swear before. Being around Frank must've changed her more than she thought. Both of them, really.
Dinah looked down, slowly nodding, as she went to her closet and pulled out a laptop.
"This has access to security cameras from all over the world, as well as recently partnering with Stark Industries to use their satellites."
"And here I thought the CIA wasn't spying on us." Amy smirked.
"Do you want my help or not?" Madani groaned, as she logged in and began searching. "It may take a while, so make yourselves at home."
"I'm cool with that." Amy shrugged. "Anyone up for Lombardi's?"
Earth-838
In the glass box, Frank watched Christine continue to run tests in her lab, while the Billy Russo and Amy Bendix of this Earth guard his and America's cells.
"Strange is right." Castle spoke up. "The person after us, she's possessed by a demon that'll stop at nothing to get ahold of America's powers."
"We have faced multiversal threats before, Mister Castle." Christine murmured.
"Not like this." Frank argued. "This demon is relentless. It won't stop. It can't stop, and it's possessing the body of Wanda Maximoff. Shit, they might be possessing your world's variant right now, and is on its way here."
"Wanda…" Amy widened her eyes. "Are you sure?"
"I've seen him do it." Frank nodded. "He'll possess the Wanda in this universe, and will kill anyone in his way just to get to the kid."
"Stop talking." Russo spoke up. "Our job is to guard you two until the Illuminati makes a decision what to do with you."
"That right?" America suddenly asked, making everyone turn towards her. "Do you always just follow orders, even when you know they're wrong?"
Billy narrowed his eyes, walking up to Chavez's cell.
"Shut up. Now." he growled. "I don't know what either of you are trying to get at-"
"You sure about that?" Frank interjected. "Because the Russo of my Earth would've sold me at any notice. Hell, he didn't lift a finger when he knew Rawlins was gonna kill my whole family."
Billy opened his mouth to argue, but then closed it after a few seconds.
"I'm sorry for you. Sorry that your Russo did that." Bill shut his eyes. "Believe me, I am… but Rawlins kept me out of the loop, because he knew I'd try to stop it. So when you went after him and Cerberus, I stepped up to help you. So did Curtis. So did Gunner, and even Wanda."
"Wanda? She was there?" Frank raised his eyebrows. Bill opened his eyes again, sadly nodding. If that happened, then was this the universe where he and Wanda…
Frank shook his head, not wanting to come to terms with that yet, and turned to Amy.
"What about you, Bendix? Why are you here?"
"You and Billy found me in a bar in Ohio." Amy shrugged. "I was on the run, you guys offered to help."
Ohio… sounds similar to what happened in his world.
"And John? The Schultzes?" Castle pressed.
"Enough." Christine barked out. "Mister Castle, quit interrogating Billy and Amy about what happened on this Earth. It won't end well for any of us."
Frank clenched his fists, as he turned back to the doctor.
"You got it, Doctor Palmer." he muttered. "But I wasn't lying earlier. That demon, Chthon, he will come here and possess this world's Wanda. That's assuming he's not already here."
While Frank was telling Christine, Wanda was doing exactly that, flying towards a building that looked similar to the Avengers Compound, but… better. As she kept flying, she was detecting the life forces of America, Frank, and Strange, and as she touched down several feet from the doors, two robots walked towards her, their arms raised.
"Ma'am, this is a restricted area. Please leave-"
Wanda blasted the robots with her magic, tearing them apart limb from limb, before hurling another orb of chaos magic at the door, breaking it open.
The Ultron robots ushered Strange into a chamber, where there was a large gap in between the floor he stood on, and a platform with five chairs.
"Stephen Strange!" Mordo's voice rang out. "You are now called before the Illuminati. I, Baron Karl Mordo, the Sorcerer Supreme-"
"Karl?" Stephen snickered. Before he could say anything else, he quickly dodged a circular shield thrown at him, which then soared back into the arms of its master. Or in this case, mistress.
"Captain Carter, the first Avenger."
The woman with the shield- bearing a striking resemblance to the World War Two hero Peggy Carter, and wore a battlesuit with the Union Jack- sat down.
"Blackagar Boltagon, keeper of the Terrigen Mists, and the Inhuman king."
To Carter's right was a man in a black suit, wearing a tuning fork on the forehead of his cowl.
"Blackagar Boltagon? Hidegey Hirethan." Strange mocked.
"Captain Marvel, defender of the cosmos."
A woman in a black and gray version of Captain Marvel's suit sat to the right of Mordo, her mask phasing away to reveal it definitely wasn't Carol Danvers like Stephen expected.
"And the smartest man alive, Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four."
A square shaped portal suddenly materialized, rising up in the air and revealing a bearded man wearing a blue and black suit underneath, with a giant number four emblazoned on his chest.
"Hello Stephen." the man said somberly.
"Didn't the Fantastic Four chart in the sixties?" Strange joked, making Reed crack a smile.
"You think this is funny?" Captain Marvel asked.
"Uh, yeah." Stephen said cockily. "You have a guy with a fork on his head, how isn't it funny?"
"Be grateful Blackbolt doesn't engage you in conversation." Captain Carter sneered, while Blackbolt glared at the visitor.
"Why? Does he have bad breath?" Stephen retorted.
"Perhaps we should have Russo drag him back to his cell and replace him with Mister Castle." Captain Carter suggested. "This Strange is even more arrogant than ours."
"I beg to differ." Stephen argued. "I'm just more alive."
"For now." Captain Marvel threatened.
"Stephen, your presence here confuses and destabilizes our reality." Reed explained. "The longer you stay here, the more you risk an incursion."
"Yeah, I've heard about those." Strange revealed. "I also heard that if my variant is already dead, or if this universe never had a variant of me, or even if I'm going through the proper precautions, then I should be fine."
"And what about Frank Castle?" Reed countered. "I just spoke with our Frank, and he is very much alive."
"Stephen, you must understand that our Doctor Strange created the Illuminati to make the decisions no one else could." Captain Carter told him. "And today, we have to determine what to do with you and the girl."
"America has no variants." Stephen argued.
"But you do." Mordo pointed out.
"So if you have anything actually serious to say, speak now, before we vote." Captain Marvel narrowed her eyes.
Stephen narrowed his eyes, taking a step forward.
"If you're so worried about incursions, do you really think I'm a bigger threat than the Scarlet Witch?"
"Oh, we can handle her if she decides to dreamwalk." Marvel said smugly.
"And you called me arrogant." Strange muttered under his breath. "Look, you can't handle her. She has already chased us across half a dozen realities, and everytime we've fought, she's gotten stronger. You need to give me the Book of Vishanti, so that I can stop her from taking that child's power!"
"We appreciate your concern Stephen, but from our experience, the greatest threat isn't the Scarlet Witch- it's Doctor Strange."
Stephen blinked, stepping back. Something seemed to click into his mind. The only way they could have that experience…
"Wait, your Doctor Strange?" the sorcerer looked up in confusion. "Earth's mightiest hero, who died defeating Thanos?"
The room went silent for a moment, before a deep voice echoed.
"We should tell him the truth."
A bright yellow wheelchair rolled into view, sitting in it was a bald man in a green suit.
"Professor Xavier?" Strange asked respectfully.
"I'm not surprised you know of me, Stephen." the man chuckled. "I would imagine you have met one of my variants."
"Our final member, Charles Xavier. Leader of the X-Men." Mordo announced, as the wheelchair bound man stopped in the gap of the chairs.
"That's not how our Doctor Strange died." Xavier declared. "He did not die defeating Thanos. We were at war. When the rest of us banded together to fight him head on, Strange thought he could find a solution himself."
"He turned to the Darkhold and dreamwalking." Mordo interjected. "He thought the answers he sought could be found in the multiverse."
"Turns out it didn't." Captain Marvel growled. "But he kept doing it, going off a false hope."
"The night before we defeated Thanos, you called us altogether." Reed murmured. "You confessed to dreamwalking, and said in your own words, 'things had gotten out of hand'. You never told us what exactly you did, just that you triggered an incursion. You, Stephen, you caused that entire reality to collapse."
"Everyone died." Captain Marvel chimed in.
"Stephen renounced the Darkhold, helped us find the Book of Vishanti, and together, we defeated Thanos." Xavier finished. "But Strange… he recognized the threat he posed."
When he finished speaking, Charles placed his hands upon his head, and images flashed through Stephen's mind, seeing the ruins of Thanos' homeworld Titan. The Illuminati stood before Strange, who knelt on the cracked ground, behind them was the corpse of Thanos, his double bladed sword lodged into his chest.
"I shall miss you, old friend." Xavier murmured. Strange looked up from his hands, fingertips black as pitch, and slowly nodded.
"I'm ready."
Blacbolt stepped forward, letting out a whisper.
"I'm sorry."
The tuning fork on his head reverberated, and a sonic wave expelled outward, striking Doctor Strange. The sorcerer screamed in pain, as his body completely disintegrated, molecule by molecule, atom by atom. There wasn't even any blood, as the soundwaves blasted through the ground.
Strange looked up in shock, the images fading from his mind.
"Did you… did you tell Christine?"
Reed looked down, murmuring a "yes". The room stayed quiet, with Blackbolt staring at the floor, and Xavier giving the sorcerer a somber look.
"But… what about the statue?" Stephen asked. "You built a statue in his honor! Said he saved the universe!"
"The world needs heroes." Captain Carter finally spoke up. "We made the difficult choice because we knew what our Strange- and possibly every Doctor Strange- was capable of. But the people still need faith in us-"
"Oh, bullshit!" Strange shouted, making everyone look at him in surprise. "The heroes on my world, they didn't need statues made for them! They don't need people to believe in them, they just go out and save the world!"
Maybe it was from his time with Frank, but Stephen was starting to see his line of thinking.
"You know what I think?" Strange narrowed his eyes. "I think you all lost the plot on the hero business. Now you're thinking that just because your Strange turned out to be an asshole, that means every Strange in the multiverse is one!"
Just as Reed was about to open his mouth, an alarm went off, blasting a high pitched siren.
"Ultron, pull up security feed." Reed ordered. "Status report on sentries."
Holographic images suddenly appeared behind Strange, making him turn around. His eyes widened, seeing Wanda- or a version of her, at least, was tearing apart the Ultron drones as if they were mere toys. Picking them up and smashing them with her powers. Pouring her magic into her fists to punch through the steel bodies. Even picking up a torn off arm and firing at the robots, until grabbing the final robot's head and ripping it off its neck.
"She's heading for the girl." Strange warned. "She wants America's power so she can live with her children in another universe."
"Then we'll stop her." Captain Carter said confidently. "And we'll vote on what to do with Strange when we return."
"What?" Stephen said in alarm, as Carter, Marvel, Richards, and Blackbolt all left. "You'll need my help!"
"Stephen, if you manage to escape this chamber, you must guide America Chavez." Xavier requested.
"What?" Mordo glared at Charles, standing up. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Save the girl, get to the Book of Vishanti." Xavier continued, ignoring the baron.
"You have the book? It's here?" Strange said frantically.
"Yes. You built a waypoint under this compound."
"Charles, we cannot trust him!" Mordo exclaimed.
"I believe we can." Charles told him. "I have looked into his mind. He is not like our Doctor Strange."
Stephen nodded, grateful for the mutant.
"Thank you."
Frank and America watched Ultron sentries hurry past the holding cells, running into the smoke that was blocking the hall. Billy and Amy stood side by side, switching their rifles to safety off, while Christine looked around to the other doctors.
"Everyone out. Now!"
The other scientists did as told, running in the opposite direction, while America gulped.
"It's Wanda."
Frank formed his hand into a fist. He figured she'd find them here eventually. Christine seemed to take the hint, as she ran over to computer monitor in the back, frantically trying to open the cells. Meanwhile, Castle and Chavez looked back at the hallway, seeing the head of a sentry tossed out into the main hall, followed by Wanda stalking forward, using her powers to shatter the robot's remains.
"Shit."
America's eyes widened in fear, and she turned to Christine.
"Hurry, hurry! She's coming!"
The doctor began to type faster to open the cells, when the monitors suddenly flickered red and distorted, making her pause.
"Oh no…"
With no way to open the cells, Wanda advanced towards them, when out of nowhere, Captain Carter landed in front of her, the fall broken from a jetpack she wore. Wanda tilted her head, as Captain Marvel flew down, followed by Blackbolt gliding to the floor, and Mister Fantastic stretched himself so his feet could touch the ground.
"Wanda, stop." Reed pleaded. "You've possessed an innocent woman, a friend of mine, but you can still do the right thing. Let her go."
"No." Wanda growled.
"Wanda, please." Richards begged. "I don't want to fight you. The Wanda you've possessed is my friend. I just saw her husband an hour ago. I understand where you're coming from, I do. I have children of my own."
Wanda glared, taking a step forward.
"Is their mother still alive?"
Reed slowly nodded, replying with a quiet "yes".
"Good."
Richard's eyes widened, as Maximoff's turned black.
"Then I will find her and make them orphans."
For a moment, Reed paused, his mouth hung open. Normally, he would've still tried to talk her down, but when this… monster threatened to kill his wife, kill him, and leave their children without parents…
He snapped.
Reed yelled in anger, surging forward, and stretched his body to incredible proportions, wrapping around Chthon like a cocoon.
"Blackbolt, now!"
Blackagar opened his mouth to yell, and a sonic wave erupted from the tuning fork, coming straight for Reed and the demon. Seeing the attack, Chthon enveloped himself in a forcefield of crimson energy, which also caused Reed to let go of the body. The soundwave crashed into the protected witch, as Chthon manipulated the attack to fire back at the Illuminati, causing captains Carter and Marvel to fly into the air, while Blackbolt rolled out of the way. Unfortunately, the attack also caused the very foundation to shake and crumble.
Captain Carter flew straight towards Chthon, placing her shield in front of her as a battering ram, when the demon suddenly ripped her shield away with magic, then held her in midair.
"Amusing trinket." the Great Shadow smiled, rotating the shield in front of him, while blocking a plasma blast from Captain Marvel. "Did you think you could stop me with this?"
Chthon cackled, spinning the shield faster and faster, before flinging it back towards Carter, making her scream in fear. The shield made contact with her head, and like a saw, carved into her all the way until it reached the other side of her body, before spinning towards a wall and embedding itself into the stone. The First Avenger's body came undone, falling into two halves onto the floor, with her entrails pouring out.
"Peggy!" Reed shouted, stretching himself to grab the demon. Chthon smirked, finally sending Marvel's blast back at her and knocking her into a statue, while intercepting Richard's arm. In the background, Blackbolt was trying to find an opening, but with Mister Fantastic in the way… well.
The demon lifted the leader of the Fantastic Four into the air, using his telekinesis to force him to expand.
"Your body may be more flexible than a mere human's, but everyone has a breaking point."
Chthon kept expanding Reed's body, making him scream in excruciating pain, until…
Mister Fantastic's body suddenly exploded, showering the entire hall with his blood and guts.
"Wanda!" Frank's voice could be heard screaming. "Stop!"
Back in the main hall, Blackbolt stood shocked, as Chthon turned towards him and grinned evilly.
"You're still here?"
Chthon lifted his hand, and the tuning fork on the inhuman's forehead was ripped off, flying into the possessed woman's hand, who used his magic to crush it.
"Silence, now."
Blackagar's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to speak…
He suddenly stopped, unable to feel where his lips parted. He reached up, touching his fingers to his mouth, when he realized…
He had no mouth. Somehow, Chthon altered his face so he couldn't properly speak. But maybe, just maybe…
Blackbolt took a deep inhale from his nose, reared his head back, and screamed. What followed next was pure agony, as he felt as if his entire jaw got blown off with a shotgun. He felt… woozy, as he stumbled backward, looking down…
And saw his lower jaw, as well as parts of his neck, was lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Blackbolt looked up at the smiling Chthon, his tongue flopping out of the remains of his mouth, before he collapsed on the ground, having no choice but to let death claim him.
Chthon smiled, about to recede back into Wanda's mind, when an energy blast took him by surprise, making him sneer in frustration. If he truly cared about his vessel, he would've registered that the blast had inadvertently broken Wanda's Maximoff's foot as well.. He looked up, seeing Captain Marvel had recovered, and was now plowing right towards him.
"Get the fuck out of my universe!" she screamed. Chthon chuckled, rising up to meet her, and fired a scarlet energy blast of his own to meet her, locking them into a contest of raw power. The demon grinned, as Marvel kept pushing her limit, not realizing that that's what he wanted, when he suddenly began to absorb all of the cosmic hero's energy, and by extension, her life force.
"What- what are you doing?" Captain Marvel asked in fear. Unfortunately it was too late, as Chthon surged forward, grabbing the hero by the throat, and drained her life away.
"Pitiful." the demon sneered, as once her life force was sapped away, she was nothing more than a withered corpse. Chthon simply let go of Captain Marvel, and she plummeted to the floor, smashing into the cold tile and becoming nothing more than a red smear. With a malicious grin, the Great Shadow slammed into the ground, creating a shockwave that caused the hall to shake once more, followed by the other statues crumbling around him.
In the Illuminati's private chamber, Stephen looked up, seeing some dust fall from the fight taking place in the main hall. He gulped in nervousness, looking up at Mordo.
"You need to take me to the Book of Vishanti." Strange told the sorcerer supreme. "We can fight her together!"
"You are in no position to give orders!" Karl shouted, making Strange roll his eyes. "My vote will conclude these proceedings once they return."
"They're not coming back." Strange said grimly. "You just cast your vote to kill your friends."
The sorcerer began to turn his back on Mordo, when he suddenly had an idea. There's a chance he wouldn't take the bluff, but then again, what would Frank do?
Damn. The Punisher really was rubbing off on him.
Stephen smirked to himself, before turning back around.
"Not that it ever bothered you before." he goaded, looking at Mordo's discomfort. "You know, you hated me where I came from, and if we're going by the logic that all Stephen Strange's are bad, then I'll bet secretly, my brother, you hated me here. You must've been so jealous, and were probably thrilled when you heard I was corrupted. Hell, you probably gave me the Darkhold to begin with-"
"You know nothing of this universe!" Mordo shouted. Strange grinned, realizing he struck a nerve.
"I know that killing Stephen Strange was your ticket to getting the Sanctum, to becoming the Sorcerer Supreme, and join this little circus of clowns calling themselves the Illuminati!"
"ENOUGH!" the baron roared, drawing his sword. "I am ready to give my vote!"
Mordo suddenly leapt down from the platform, swinging his sword at Stephen. Strange had just enough time to dodge, bringing up his cufflinks to parry the strikes, as Mordo swung wildly like a madman. The sorcerers fought all across the chamber, with the cuffs eventually being damaged enough for Strange to slip out of one, but by that time, Mordo used his enchanted boots to fly forward, punching him in the face. Just as he hit the ground, Karl grabbed him by the throat and hoisted him against a wall, preparing to stab his sword.
Click.
Mordo's sword vanished, and with a look of horror, he noticed his wrist was bound by the other cuff.
"Oh fu-"
Strange punched Mordo and sent them over the edge of the platform, where the cuffs landed on a hook. The link severed in two, leaving them both powerless, giving Stephen an idea.
Karl let out a yell of anger, rushing towards Strange and throwing a punch, making the sorcerer of our world block while throwing an elbow at him. Mordo tried to kick, and Strange countered with a dead leg of his own, then proceeded with a throat chop that sent him reeling against a wall. Seeing his chance, Stephen leapt up, kicking the baron and used him as a stepping stone, kicking off the opposite wall, and grabbed the edge of the platform, pulling himself up.
"I think… I'm beginning to understand…" Karl shouted, as Stephen ran out of the chamber.
"Why your Mordo didn't like you very much!"
Christine and America continued trying to open the cells, while Frank watched Chthon stalk towards them. Like a lion stalking its prey.
"Hey. Hey!" Castle shouted, as Billy and Amy lifted their weapons. "Wanda, I know you're in there! You gotta come back! Don't let this piece of shit control you!"
"It's sealed shut!" Christine shouted, taking off her coat and grabbing a fire extinguisher from the floor.
"Get back!"
America pressed herself against the glass, looking over her shoulder to see Wanda/Chthon getting closer, while Christine began to hit the cell with the extinguisher, to no avail.
"Shit, it's too strong!" Christine widened her eyes. "Hold on, I have an idea!"
The doctor pulled out a small disc and pressed the center. Chavez heard a beep and looked down, noticing her cuffs opened up and clattered to the floor. Having an idea what she was getting at, America surged forward, punching the glass with all her might. It didn't create a portal like she had hoped, but her punch did create a star shaped fracture in the cell's wall.
"Whoa. Cool."
"Wanda, stop! You don't gotta do this!"
America turned back around, seeing Billy and Amy staring Chthon down, their guns pointed right at him. Yet it was Frank who was begging to the demon
The demon smirked, tilting his head.
"Wanda isn't here right now, Frank. You should know that."
Russo's eyes widened, and he began firing, followed shortly by Amy. The Great Shadow laughed, creating a forcefield that stopped the bullets dead in their tracks. The guards didn't let up however, firing every last shot they could in their magazines.
"Are you done?" Chthon asked in boredom, before flicking his wrist. The bullets in the forcefield suddenly flew back, and Billy just had enough time to jump in front of Amy to take all the projectiles.
"Billy!"
Russo felt every piece of searing hot lead penetrate his body, splattering blood everywhere. He crumpled to the ground, and everyone could barely even recognize his once pristine face.
"No!" Frank roared, beginning to smash his fist against the glass. "Amy, get out of there!"
Bendix stared at Chthon in shock, before pulling out a pistol. The Dark God smirked coldly, his hand forming a ball of energy. That same energy wrapped around Amy's wrist, and she watched in horror, as her arm slowly lifting the gun up to her temple.
"Hey." Frank called out. "Hey, wait-"
Bang!
A bullet ripped through Amy's skull, and her body fell right next to Billy's, causing America to scream.
"AMY!" Frank yelled. "God dammit, Wanda! Don't let this asshole control you!"
"She can't hear you, Frank." Chthon chuckled, turning towards America-
"Stop!"
The demon looked to the source of the voice, seeing Xavier moving towards him. With a smirk, Chthon raised his hand, but Charles was faster, using his powers to enter Wanda's mind.
Frank stared at Xavier and Wanda's bodies, seeing they were practically frozen. Meanwhile, America punched the glass again, this time shattering the wall with her powers. Not about to leave him behind, the child jumped out of the cell, ran over to Frank's, and slammed both her fists against the glass, causing it to shatter in one hit.
"Mister Castle, come on!" Christine called out. "Charles is giving us a chance!"
Frank eventually stopped staring at the two superhumans, running after the doctor and Chavez, as the former led them down a hallway and opened a door, which seemed to keep weapons and gear.
"Here." Christine announced, picking up two pistols and handing them to Frank. "We confiscated your weapons, but I figured they're a similar to build to these."
"Thanks." Castle nodded, holstering the guns.
"Is Strange's cloak in here too?" America asked. Christine smiled, pressing a button on the wall, and another door slid open, revealing the Cloak of Levitation.
"Time to find Strange." Frank announced, pulling the slide back on his gun.
Charles looked around, seeing nothing but blank white, like paper. He pivoted, turning completely around, and noticed what appeared to be concrete ruins, with a gray door. Confused, he opened it, strolling forward- being that he was in someone's mind, he was free to walk- towards what looked like more ruins in the distance, but it appeared there was a hole in the rubble. It took no time for him to get there, but once he was within reaching distance, an arm shot out, momentarily surprising the telepath.
"Help me. Please." a woman's voice whimpered. Charles took a closer look, realizing the woman trapped was Wanda- his Wanda, most likely.
"Charles?"
"Wanda?" Xavier gasped. "Is it you?"
"Yes." Wanda gasped. "Someone who looks like me took control, but- but she's here too."
"What do you mean?" Charles knit his brow. His question was soon answered when another version of Wanda appeared right behind the variant of his universe, wearing a dark red dress and crown. Around her wrists was was looked like pure darkness, which wrapped and coiled around her like cuffs.
"I'm sorry." the other Wanda whispered. "I didn't want any of this to happen… I just want my children."
Charles opened his mouth in shock, before hearing a low rumbling, as though there was thunder. He looked over his shoulder, seeing a massive red cloud form, which began to make its way toward them.
"Wanda, grab my hand!" Charles ordered, grabbing Wanda-838's arm. "If I can pull you out from under the rubble, the spell could break!"
Xavier began to pull his world's Wanda Maximoff up, straining slightly, as the rubble began to collapse further. In the distance, he could hear demonic whispers, and he looked back, seeing the red mist get closer… and closer…
Charles suddenly stopped pulling, realizing he wouldn't make it.
"I'm sorry, Wanda. I cannot help you. Either of you." Xavier said sadly, eyeing both Maximoff's. When he saw the Scarlet Witch however, his eyes widened, as if he had an epiphany.
"But I know who can…" he murmured, closing his eyes.
Frank, America, and Christine ran down a hallway, the cloak flying behind them, when the form of a bald man in a black sweater appeared in front of him, making Castle stop in his tracks.
"What the hell? Charles?"
"Don't be alarmed, Mister Castle, I'm the Charles Xavier from this universe, of the Illuminati." the man introduced himself. "There's not much time, you must help Doctor Strange find the Book of Vishanti and save Wanda Maximoff."
"Already working on that." Frank grunted, noticing out of the corner of his eye that America was staring at him like he was crazy. "But Wanda, she… she doesn't want to be saved."
Within the mindscape, Charles continued reaching out to Frank, letting Wanda-838 slip through his grasp.
"Just because someone stumbles and loses their way, doesn't mean they're lost forever." Xavier told him, the red fog now right behind him. "She's not gone, Frank. She just needs help. Your help."
The moment he finished speaking, a dark figure emerged, his bones and skull visible from within a robe and hood, his eyes a blank, milky white.
"Found you."
Frank watched in shock, as the demonic form of Chthon grabbed Charles by his jaw, ripping the complete upper half of his head off, splattering blood all over his vision. Castle blinked furiously, but when he came to, it was as if nothing happened. There was no Charles, or Chthon, in front of him.
Was it all in his head? Or did Xavier really die?
Back in the holding cells, Xavier's neck snapped on its own, and he slumped forward in his chair. The black eyes of Chthon faded back to Wanda's natural hazel ones, and she looked at the body in horror.
"Did they… did they all have to die?"
Yes, child. Chthon rumbled. They were preventing you from finding your boys. And you are not done yet.
At the mention of her children, Wanda's eyes glowed a deep red, and she began to stalk her way down the corridor.
"Frank!" America shouted, regaining Castle's attention. "Are you okay?"
"I… yeah." the Punisher lied, causing Christine to raise an eyebrow.
"Xavier was talking in your mind, wasn't he?" she asked. "What happened?"
"He- I watched Chthon kill him." Castle murmured, just as they heard an inhuman noise from around the corner. Frank quickly pulled out his pistol, stepping in front of the two women… but realized he didn't have anything to worry about. The noises turned into the very audible squeaking of shoes, and Doctor Strange appeared, skidding to a halt. Seeing its master, the cloak flew towards Stephen, wrapping around him again, while also lifting itself to show off the blue patch in the middle, covering up the burn mark Wanda had caused.
"You fixed it." Strange smiled at Christine. "Thank you."
America's face pulled into a grateful smile, as she ran toward Strange and wrapped him in a hug.
"Hey kid. You alright?"
"Yeah." Chavez murmured. "But- they're all dead."
Stephen nodded, having already pieced together that Wanda- no, Chthon- had massacred the Illuminati by now.
The sorcerer sighed, looking up at the woman he loved- still loved.
"Xavier said I created a waypoint to the Book of Vishanti. Can you lead us there?"
"Yes, but why should I trust you?" Christine narrowed her eyes. "The you of my world destroyed an entire universe!"
"I know, and I'm sorry for what he did, but the Book is the only way."
"No, it's your way." Christine scoffed.
"You got a better idea to use against that demon?" Frank raised an eyebrow.
"My Strange, he also had to be the one holding the knife." Christine continued, ignoring Castle. "And what he did killed a trillion people."
Stephen bit his tongue, looking down. There it was, the reminder of his failure. Why he can't depend on others. Why Christine ultimately left him and married someone else.
Because he always had to be the one holding the knife.
"You're right." he conceded. America widened her eyes, stepping closer to the sorcerer.
"No, she's not." Chavez murmured. "You're not like all the other Stranges. You're different."
The girl turned to Christine, giving her a pleading look.
"I trust him with my life. He's our best chance at stopping Wanda- and Chthon."
Christine looked at the two, then at Frank, who shrugged.
"Okay. Give me your hand."
Stephen obliged, holding up the arm that still had the power dampening cuff, and she unlocked it with the same disc that she used for America's. Frank tilted his head, getting an idea, and took the cuff, pocketing it in his coat.
"Follow me."
Christine led the trio down a hallway, pushing open a door, and ran down a flight of stairs. Once they reached the bottom, Frank and Stephen looked up, hearing an inhuman growl up above, accompanied by crimson light.
"Shit. Come on." Castle grit his teeth, as they continued running. The four made their way through what looked like a workshop with tables, machinery, and large objects covered by tarps, when they looked back, seeing Wanda jump down the stairs and onto the floor, causing debris to fly from the shockwave of energy she created. Unfortunately, the landing also agitated the already broken ankle she sustained, and she cried out.
"Guys, hurry!" America cried out, as Christine opened up a blast door. Frank and Strange ran through, with the Doctor slamming a button to shut it, but Wanda gave chase, using her powers to blast a hole right through the middle.
"Where's this lead under?" Stephen asked, noticing droplets of water from the cracks in the ceiling.
"We're directly under the river." Christine told him.
"Works for me."
Doctor Strange rotated his hand in the air, sending a magical blast up into the ceiling and blasting the bricks to smithereens, causing a torrent of water to spill out. Just in time too, as the flood engulfed a pursuing Maximoff.
"Let's get out of here!" Christine announced, making her way further down the tunnel with America. "Before we're taken with it!"
"Moving!" Castle yelled, as Christine pressed another button to cut the off from the rest of the passageway.
Frank and Strange dashed right past the final blast door before it closed, separating themselves, Doctor Palmer, and America from the flood and the rampaging Wanda. The four of them continued running, when Castle stopped, realizing… he didn't hear the door get blown open behind them.
"Hey, wait." the Punisher murmured, turning around to see the door was still intact. The other three slowed down a bit, bewildered as to why Frank stopped at all.
"Frank, come on." America pleaded, eyes darting between him and the door. Frank simply shook his head, turning towards Stephen. He couldn't get Xavier's words out of his head.
She's not gone, Frank. She just needs help.
Frank dipped his head, deciding this could be his one chance to get through to Maximoff.
"You leave me here. I'll try to hold her off."
"Castle, this is not the time to be a martyr-" Strange was about to say, but was cut off.
"I'm the reason she started this. Maybe I can get her to end it." Castle told him. "You leave me here. Find that book."
Doctor Strange looked in Castle's eyes, seeing his determination, and slowly nodded. They were about to head out, when Frank gave her one of his pistols.
"America, take this."
The girl looked down at the weapon with a grim expression.
"Do you think I'll need to use it?"
"I hope not." Castle admitted. "But if things go South…"
America looked up at Frank, seeing his face filled with concern. She slowly nodded, reached out, and took the gun.
"Thank you. Now go. Now." Frank prodded, as the other three took off. Castle watched them turn a corner, and he sighed, pulling out his other pistol. Not that it would do any good anyway.
Strange, America, and Christine made their way towards what looked like the door to an old ship, seeing a wheel on the front.
"Here it is." Palmer revealed. "But Stephen's been the only one to open it."
Taking the hint, Strange parted his hands, using the Eye of Agamotto to see an enchantment was placed on the door.
"Dammit." Stephen muttered. "If I were to place a lock…"
Strange stopped, noticing a circular dent in the center of the wheel. The size, the shape… it looked familiar…
Slowly, he pulled out the watch that Christine had given him. The same one that he kept with him, all these years. The same one that broke when he had his accident. Could it be?
Stephen placed the watch's face to the wheel's center, and after hearing a series of clicks, the door opened, revealing the same world with glass bridges and levitating structures. Just like in his dream about the book.
"Open Sesame." Doctor Strange murmured, taking his watch back.
The Punisher looked back at the blast door, patiently waiting for it to get blown apart by Wanda's Chaos Magic. With the faint dripping of pipes in the tunnels, it felt like he stood still for hours, but when Maximoff did show up, she chose a less, albeit effective, dramatic approach. Instead of completely destroying the barrier, she seemingly emerged from the shadows, her eyes glowing red with rage.
"Where… is… America?" Maximoff growled, limping towards Frank. The Punisher swallowed hard, tightening his grip on the pistol, as he strolled forward to meet her.
"Wanda… you gotta stop this." Castle told her, ignoring the question. "This isn't you, you know that. Chthon's using you."
The Scarlet Witch's lip curled into a sneer, as a crimson ball of magic formed in her hand.
"You know that won't do anything to me."
Frank looked down at his sidearm, and with a shrug, tossed it to the side of the tunnel.
"Yeah." he murmured, looking back to her. "But you gotta stop this. First Kamar Taj, now here. All for the kid. Where does it end?"
"I warned you and Strange." Wanda growled harshly, her eyes glowing brighter. "This will end when you give me America Chavez."
Castle let out a deep breath, looking down.
"Look Wanda, I'm not your enemy. But you can't have Chavez. So why don't you release your other self's body? No one else has to get hurt."
The crimson light seemed to dim slightly from Maximoff's eyes, as she stared right through Castle.
"Do you remember when you told me you would do anything to bring your family back?"
Frank felt his throat run dry, as his shoulders sagged. How could he forget, when it was the same night they met?
"Yeah. Yeah, that's right."
Wanda sadly smiled, looking back up at Frank. By now, he could almost see her normal eye color.
"Here we are again."
"Yeah. Here we are." Frank agreed, taking another step forward. "You know I'd bring my family back. You know it. But not like this Wanda."
Maximoff choked back a sob, as Frank closed the distance. Before he could reach out to touch her shoulder, Wanda backed away, as if afraid he'd hurt her. Or her hurting him. The act caused him to pause, before clearing his throat.
"Hey." Castle spoke up again, pressing a hand to her cheek. "What if I said yes?"
Wanda looked back up, her eyes no longer glowing at all anymore.
"W-what?"
"When we were at the statue, and you begged me not to leave you too?" Frank explained, as Maximoff leaned into his touch. "What if I said yes, and didn't push you away? Would all of this have happened?"
Wanda slightly shook her head, turning away.
"What's done is done." she said reluctantly. "We can't change that."
Frank numbly nodded, as Maximoff continued to cry.
"I can feel him… clawing his way into me…"
Castle furrowed his brow, stepping closer.
"You're right, Frank, he is using me. I'm like his puppet."
Wanda swallowed, looking desperately at him.
"Hey, you can beat him."
Maximoff's eyes darted around, contemplating her next words.
"I don't want to." she revealed. "He's the only one who can give me what I want. Even if he casts me aside when he's done with me."
Castle's heart plummeted, realizing that despite everything, Wanda was still more than willing to sell her soul to this demon. So with a heavy heart, he did what needed to be done.
"I'm sorry."
Click.
"What?"
Wanda looked down in confusion, seeing that Frank attached a handcuff to her wrist- a handcuff that housed the magic dampening sands that were previously on Strange.
"You… you…" Wanda stammered, looking up at Frank in a mixture of despair and betrayal.
"I'm sorry, Wanda." Frank repeated. "but I can't let you-"
He barely felt her fist collide into his face, but he still reached up, feeling blood dribble down his lip. Frank looked back at Wanda, seeing her eyes glaring with a fury that somehow surpassed when they glowed, as she took another swing, this time jabbing him in the ribs.
"I thought you would understand!" Wanda roared, lashing out and sending another punch that most likely broke his nose, if the deafening crack was anything to go off of.
"You of all people, and you're keeping me from my children!" Maximoff screamed, pausing only to kick Frank between the legs and slam her head against his, sending him reeling onto the floor of the tunnel. Castle groaned, seeing stars as his vision got blurry, but Wanda wasn't finished, planting her knees on his chest and began wailing on him.
"Why couldn't you have just handed her over-"
Wanda's fists rained down across Frank's body, making him ache all over. At the same time, he was fighting every urge to throw her off of him, because despite his predicament, he didn't want to hurt her… more.
"Why couldn't you have just stayed away-"
Maximoff smashed her elbow into Frank's side to stop his struggling, before continuing to beat him senseless.
"Why couldn't you have said yes-"
One final punch made Frank's head snap back onto the floor, where he spat out blood. The sight reminded Wanda of when Castle killed Rawlins, and she looked down at her hands. There were dribbles of blood, Frank's blood, running from her knuckles to her wrists. Seeing this made her eyes widen, and she backed away, looking down at Frank's beaten body.
"I'm… I'm sorry…" she whispered, fresh tears pouring down her cheeks.
"Why… why couldn't you… why couldn't you let me in…"
Frank hazily looked up at Wanda, seeing the fear in her eyes… before they suddenly darkened into a pitch black, and her mouth twisted into a vile grin.
"No…"
"Yes…" Chthon's voice chuckled, as he used Wanda's body to lift Castle up in the air with his vile, midnight hued magic.
"Thank you, Frank, for giving her the final push I needed. And now, this vessel is truly mine!"
Strange looked out the doorway, seeing the platform the Book of Vishanti rested on rotated slightly, like a kaleidoscope. Using the cloak to ensure he wouldn't be disoriented, Stephen leapt forward, his body reorienting, as he landed on one of the destroyed bridges.
"Come on kid." Strange looked up. "You got this."
America slowly nodded, giving herself a running start, and jumped through the doorway as well, flying straight towards the same bridge, and rolled as she stumbled. Christine followed shortly after, stumbling once she landed, and Doctor Strange grabbed her arm to steady herself.
"You two alright?"
"Yeah." Chavez and Palmer replied.
"My Strange called this the Gap Junction. The space between universes." Christine murmured, looking around in awe. "It's so… so beautiful."
Stephen looked back towards the dais, walking forward, until he was just a foot away from the Book of Vishanti, the thing glowing a heavenly light. Even without touching it, he could feel its power radiating towards him… calling him…
"Alright, book." Strange mumbled, gingerly taking the tome off of its stand and causing its ethereal light to fade. "Give me what I need."
The sorcerer opened the cover, turning the pages, and saw writings and illustrations dance along its canvas, confusing Strange. He tried flipping to another section, but the illustrations seemed to continue, until he saw images he recognized. A man who looked strikingly similar to himself stood next to a man wearing a skull on his chest. Frank Castle, no doubt. On his other side was a little girl with a jacket that depicted a star, with that same star behind them all. America. But what was odd to Strange was the fact that within that star behind them all were several individuals in the background, some that looked familiar, most looked different, but…
Was that a small chainsaw?
"I don't… I don't understand." Strange murmured, looking up at America.
"The other Strange… the one who brought me here." Chavez whispered. "He said that while the Darkhold shows you what you want, the Book of Vishanti gives you what you need."
Just as she finished speaking, scarlet magic enveloped America by her hair and pulled her backwards across the bridge, stopping when she was grabbed by Chthon's waiting hand. At his feet was an unconscious Frank Castle.
"Frank!" America cried out, seeing Castle's body. For a moment, her fear ebbed away, and she grabbed her gun, trying to point at at Chthon's face. The demon grinned, a flicker of amusement in his black eyes, as he reached out, grabbing the pistol and crushing it with inhuman strength, while also breaking the finger that was in the trigger well. Because of that, Chavez screamed loudly from the pain, as her eyes began to sparkle.
"America!" Christine shouted, trying to run, but Stephen grabbed her arm, pulling her back. Doctor Strange then proceeded to thrust his arm out, the one holding the book, and a beam of fiery light burst from his hand, directly towards Chthon, hitting him in the chest. Instead of incinerating, the demon grinned, using his other hand to block the spell.
"Did you think your pathetic Cinnibus could stop me?" the Great Shadow boasted. "That spell may destroy lesser demons, but I… AM… DARKNESS."
Chthon tightened his hand, the beam of light slowly turning to a dark red from corruption, and redirected the blast back towards Strange, knocking him to the ground and forcing him to let go of the book in the process.
"No…" Stephen murmured, rotating his hand. In an instant, a small portal opened up, and the book fell through. Where Strange sent it, he wasn't entirely sure. Just as long as Chthon didn't get his hands on it.
"Foolish." Chthon sneered, diving into America's mind and forcing her to create a portal. A star ripped through the air to the right of them, and Chthon wrapped Strange and Christine in scarlet energy, chucking them in without a second thought.
At the same time, Frank's eyes opened, as he groggily watched the sorcerer and doctor fall through the multiverse.
"Shit…" Castle groaned, slowly looking up to see Wanda- no, Chthon- had gotten his hands on America.
"Kid!"
The demon looked down with a smirk, grabbing Frank by the throat.
"Thank you, old friend. But you've now outlived your usefulness."
Using his powers, Chthon forced America to change the destination of the portal, stopping when it showed what looked like a desert wasteland.
"It is time for you to meet my own offspring."
Chthon laughed cruelly, before throwing Frank through the portal, watching the star close up. Unfortunately, the demon wasn't done, as he used his magic to penetrate America's mind one last time, opening up a portal back to their main universe- right at the altar of Mount Wundagore, the Scarlet Witch levitating as orbs of chaos magic swirled around her. With a cold smirk, Chthon tossed Chavez in, the portal sealing up.
The moment the portal closed, the body Chthon inhabited fell to her knees, throwing up. After wiping her mouth, Wanda looked around, confused at where she was. And she was… by herself…
Wanda's eyes suddenly widened, realizing if she was by herself…
"My boys."
Maximoff looked up, seeing an open doorway floating above her, and jumped up, using her powers to fly all the way up through the door, landing in the underground tunnels of the Illuminati's base. With her lungs burning and a sprained ankle that she somehow got, she raced as fast as she could to get back topside.
Hopefully, Tommy and Billy would be alright.
Earth-1
Amy, Peter-1, and the other spider people snacked on Lombardi's pizza, while Madani searched through the CIA's databases, trying to find any footage of Wanda Maximoff in the last few hours.
"Anything?" Bendix finally asked, as Peter-1 gulped down a slice.
"No." Dinah said flatly. "There's some areas that are complete black holes for the satellites. Specific blocks in New York, Hong Kong, London-"
"I think those are the sanctums that wizards like Doctor Strange live in, Miss." Peter-1 interrupted.
"Right. Unfortunately, there's more than just that." Madani groaned. "Meaning that Wanda could be at any one of these locations, if she's even here at all."
"So we're stuck here." Gwen grumbled. "We have no way of finding Maximoff."
"I wouldn't say that." Dinah told her. "Just give me more time. I'll reach out to SI and the FBI, see what they can find."
America looked up in horror, seeing Chthon, possessing the Scarlet Witch's body, walk slowly towards her.
"Hello, America."
Chavez stood up, gritting her teeth. It didn't matter if she was hurting, Frank and Strange showed her that no matter what, if you can stand up and fight, do it.
"Wanda… if you can hear me… your kids wouldn't want this-"
Chthon lashed out, enveloping Chavez in chaos magic and threw her onto the altar, making sure to spread her limbs apart and cause her to scream.
"What Wanda wants is of no concern anymore." Chthon grinned. "She was a means to an end. Just like Frank. Just like you will be."
A/N: Alright, it might take a while for me to get the rest of the story done now, since the last few chapters have been mostly adapted from the actual MoM and Evil Dead Rise films. The next couple... well, parts are still adapted from MoM, but large chunks will be my own writing, so it might take a bit.
But, as a bit of a tease, Beth and Kassie will appear either in the next chapter, or the one right after, depending on how long it is!