Chapter 2776 - Marvel 24

Alex recalled that Gwen still had a chain connecting both piercings together.

"Oh?" He smiled deviously as if the sincere dude from before was nothing more than an act, "That's a boring idea, instead…" He trailed off and Gwen felt something being attached to the chain that added some weight to it. The new addition caused her piercings to get tugged further.

"Alex!" She whisper-shouted.

"Hold up, I'm not done," Alex said and that was when Gwen felt some vibrations traveling through the chain and to her piercings.

Gwen felt a constant stream of stimulation on her nipples and cursed, "Fuck…" She wiggled in her hoodie and tried to get it to stop but to no avail. If anything, her movements caused the stimulation to increase.

"Get rid of it, dammit…" Gwen tried to grab the chain through the hoodie and contain the vibrations, but she felt as if her hoodie itself was preventing her from grabbing the small vibrator that Alex had attached to the chain, "Stop it…" She pleaded.

"Nah…" Alex kissed her nose, "You look so delicious right now. Let's leave it there for a while."

"I hate you…" Gwen looked aggrieved, but her arousal was unmistakable.

Alex laughed her words off and grabbed her hand before pulling her to the couch, "Let's go. I don't think we can go into your room as long as your dad is here."

Gwen seemed mad and didn't answer. She was focused on ignoring the vibrations that were not only affecting her nipples but also making her entire body hotter. Every tiny movement caused her nipples to rub against the hoodie, making it even more difficult for her to stay calm.

"Why do you bully me so much…" Gwen asked aggrievedly as she stumbled to the couch along with Alex.

"You look so cute…" Alex kissed her cheek, "I can't help myself."

"I swear to god if my dad finds out…" Gwen said with gritted teeth.

"That his daughter has nipple piercings? Or that she's currently being sexually stimulated?" Alex asked dryly.

"Shut it, smartass…" Gwen lashed at him as Alex laughed.

He enjoyed the next couple of minutes teasing Gwen as she barely held herself from crying out. After a while, she did get somewhat used to it and Alex gave her some leeway. He didn't increase the intensity of the vibrations and let them stay at their moderate level where they would constantly stimulate Gwen but she would still be able to hide her reactions.

Seeing that Gwen was still mad at him, Alex moved closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to himself. With his other hand, he made her bring her legs up to the couch and placed them on his lap.

He knew very well how to placate her. He put one hand on her thigh and gently rubbed it while rubbing her shoulder with his other hand.

As Gwen made herself comfortable, it became easier for her to ignore the vibrations that were assaulting her nipples. At the same time, Alex engaged her in a flirty conversation, bringing her mind further away from the vibrations.

As George heard the sounds of Gwen's laughter from the kitchen every once in a while, he got a little smile on his face as his actions became slightly more peaceful. He'd been tense since the moment he'd met Alex but now, hearing his daughter acting comfortably with this person calmed him down.

Soon, he was done and brought two plates to the living room, "I'm glad you kids are having fun. I made quesadillas." Just as he stepped into the living room, George almost dropped both plates after seeing the intimate posture that his daughter was in with another man.

Gwen quickly reacted and separated herself from Alex's arms, sitting on the other side of the couch. Alex also showed an awkward expression, though he was more amused inwardly than anything. He was having fun while being Gwen's boyfriend. It was an easily avoidable situation for him, but it was more fun this way.

[You're really fucking pleased with yourself right now, aren't you?] Gwen called him out with a burning face.

[Hey, I'm having fun.] Alex defended himself, [It's not something we usually get to experience. I think it would be nice for your dad to accept me as your boyfriend.]

Gwen glared at him before looking at her still-frozen dad. She decided to do the first thing that came to her mind to fix things, "Come on, Daddy. Sit with me…" She smiled and patted the couch beside herself, calling George with a cutesy tone.

[So that's why you're so against calling me daddy when we're in bed…] Alex asked, [You're still daddy's little girl on the inside.]

[Shut it…] Gwen's cheeks gained a faint blush.

George pulled himself together and smiled at Gwen, "You don't need to worry, Gwenny. I don't really mind… Just don't do it in front of me," He said with a cough.

"Done." Gwen furiously nodded before saying, "Still though, sit with me. I've been so busy these days that I haven't had any time to spend with you." She moved toward Alex and left the other side free for George such that she was in between Alex and her father.

"You can also interrogate this ass about whatever you want." She said before giving Alex a cut-eyed look of annoyance, "Make him as uncomfortable as you want. I don't care anymore." This was her little way of taking revenge against Alex.

[Fuck, you're going to go running to your daddy every time I bully you, won't you?] Alex said with playful dread as he saw George looking at him with a familiar stoic look.

[I wasn't planning to, but I'm considering it…] Gwen said vindictively as she hugged her father's arm and fully leveraged her advantage to the fullest.

To some extent, George understood that Gwen was using him to mess with Alex. He was happy to oblige his daughter. And if he got to mess with the bastard who took his daughter from him, he was all the more motivated.

"So," George took up the most intimidating expression that he could and looked at Alex. And as an ex-chief-of-police, he knew what he was doing, "What do you do, Alex?"

Sadly for George, Alex was someone far more worse — Having devoured countless people in high positions, he could ignore these psychological tricks while applying ones a hundred times more effective.

But still, he decided to play along and gave George the necessary respect — considering the man was both a former police captain and his girlfriend's father.

He did his best to look the part of an intimidated 20-year-old and gulped, "I have a company, Mr. Stacy. Our main market lineup is neuro-interface prosthetics that don't feel any different from your real arm." He said respectfully.

Gwen had been adamant about her father not finding out about her whole Stacy Industries gig, so Alex had kept it under wraps and made sure that George didn't find out about it. Her shyness turned out to be helpful since Alex was now going to present himself as the owner of that company without disclosing the name.

"Hm..." George didn't focus that much on Alex's response since he had his own major problem to deal with. He didn't want to disappoint his daughter and was thinking of the best ways to make things difficult for Alex. He also had to make sure that he didn't go overboard since that would also antagonize Gwen.

"I see." George stalled for time while thinking of something else, "What are your plans for the future?" He asked.

"My plans for the future you say…" Alex trailed off in thought for a moment before saying, "I'm going to focus on growing my business for now, and once I save up enough, I'm going to retire and travel the world. That is if everything hasn't gone to shit before that…" Alex said only to receive a narrow-eyed glance from George — presumably about his swearing. Or about not mentioning Gwen in his future plans.

"And where does my daughter fit in these future plans of yours?" He asked with a hint of hostility, "What if she does something that has her stay in one place for a long time?"

"Then I'll compromise. If I've already retired then I'll become a house-husband. But considering her passion for music, that's unlikely." He said, "I think she'll be the one who makes me travel all around the world." His answer seemed to make the hostility drain from George's eyes.

George asked next, "What of marriage? Have you decided on a date?"

Gwen had been carefreely munching on the quesadillas and abruptly choked. She started coughing violently as George concernedly patted her back.

"Dammit, Dad…" Gwen complained, "You had to make him uncomfortable and embarrassed, not me..." She whined.

George cleared his throat, "It's an important question that every father should ask the man his daughter brings home…" He defended himself.

At this point, Alex answered, "I was thinking of waiting until Gwen gets her degree before officially proposing. I haven't really thought ahead from that yet." Alex told George with a straight face, much to Gwen's embarrassment. But his answer satisfied George.

"I think I can consider you as a suitable man for my little girl…" George said with a scrutinizing gaze, "Make sure she never complains to me about you. Or else you'll have hell to deal with." He threatened as Gwen got embarrassed even further.

"I wouldn't dream of hurting her, sir," Alex said solemnly, [Not counting the stuff we do in the bedroom…] Alex's teasing tone told Gwen that he was mostly enjoying everything that was going on and she was the only one embarrassed to death.

'Dammit…' She cursed mentally.

***

After a while, George decided to go to his home office and let Alex and Gwen have their space, though not without a warning, "I hope you aren't thinking of staying the night…" He trailed off while looking at Alex menacingly.

"I wouldn't dream of it, sir," Alex said with a harmless smile, "You don't have to worry." With those words, he amplified the vibrations that had been assaulting Gwen's nipples for the past hour, making her gasp audibly as she buried herself on the couch.

"You okay, Gwenny?" George asked.

"All fine, Dad." Gwen smiled a forced smile and said with gritted teeth, "I spaced out for a moment there…"

"I see…" He said, "Well, take care." He went into his room to rest.

"I'll kill you!" Gwen hissed with a suppressed voice and jumped on Alex who barely held her back from destroying the couch.

"Hey now…" Alex grabbed both her arms and held them behind her back while hugging her. As Gwen's struggle increased, he increased the vibrations even further. Alex looked at Gwen's face with a little smile and said, "I had fun with this."

"I hate you…" She gritted as the vibrations assaulting her nipples kept getting stronger and eventually made her lose her strength.

"I love you too…" He kissed her nose as Gwen buried her face in his neck, seemingly giving in to the pleasure.

Alex decided to have some fun and created cuffs that got wrapped around Gwen's wrists and tied them behind her back, allowing him to free his hands. He quickly slipped them under her hoodie and trailed his fingers along her half-destroyed spider suit and to her front.

He quickly reached her breasts and gave a little tug to the chain that was connecting her nipples, making Gwen take in a sharp breath as a jolt of pleasure traveled through her body. She started writhing slightly as her lower body started moving, slowly humping him with weak instinctive movements.

He didn't focus on the chain and instead cupped her breasts, teasing them with a gentle circular motion as the assault on her nipples continued. Her subtle movements got more pronounced as Alex continued his actions. She was also sucking his neck to suppress her moans.

After a while, Alex decided to take things further and gave another tug to her nipples. Gwen ended up letting go of his neck as she felt his hand travel lower and closer to her core. He even made her suit completely disappear such that her lower body was bare, save for the oversized hoodie that was barely enough to hide her toned ass.

Alex smiled as he heard her let out a cute moan and continued trailing his fingers lower, but then, his eyes widened when she bit his neck, "Fuck…" He coughed and stopped teasing her. Instead, he slipped both his hands to her back and gave her comforting backrubs. At the same time, he also freed her arms, allowing her to wrap them around him as she got more leverage over herself.

[Lower the vibrations, please… We can't have sex right now. I'd rather just enjoy a movie with you…] Gwen bargained and Alex decided to oblige her. He lowered the vibrations such that she could endure them without being too distracted.

"Happy now?" He asked, bringing out one hand from under her hoodie and bringing it to her head, running his fingers along her hair.

"Not really…" She grumbled, "My boyfriend keeps doing weird things to me all the time. And it doesn't help that he's a slime who can create unique and creative sex toys out of thin air…"

"I don't think that's something to be sad about…" Alex laughed.

"It depends on the kind of boyfriend." Gwen said with a pout, "If you listened to me when I told you to stop, it would be fine. But in your head, stop actually means go faster…"

Alex scratched his nose and had the decency to look away making Gwen shake her head wryly.

She got up from the couch and fixed her clothes, "Make me some shorts," She said, "I can't go around wearing just this hoodie with my dad in the house."

As Alex obliged she gave him a little smile and said, "I'll make some popcorn, can you put something good on?" She asked while moving toward the kitchen.

…

A couple of hours later, Alex and Gwen were comfortably snuggled up on the couch as the fourth episode of the show that they were binge-watching played in front of them. Alex had already gotten rid of the vibrating chain and the accompanying stuff since the mood wasn't really there anymore. For once, he was enjoying a simple cuddle with his girl on the couch. Plus, Gwen's current lazily sleepy state wasn't encouraging Alex to encourage her to have sex with him.

She would be deeply asleep sooner or later considering how she was sprawled on Alex with her face leaning on his shoulder and her legs tangled up with his under their blanket. Alex was lightly caressing her bare thigh under her skirt, making her feel even more comfortable in his arms.

George had come out of his office a few times for one reason or the other and 'inadvertently' checked up on them, but seeing how comfortable Gwen was, he quietly did his thing and returned without disturbing the duo.

As the show continued playing, an interlude came up, so Gwen asked Alex, "Do you think he'll find this girl?"

"He does," He nodded, "She's essentially his daughter as deemed by fate, after all."

"No fair," She pouted, "You've already seen the show…" She lightly hit his chest with her balled-up fist.

"Just the first season," He said defensively, but he still had a casual smile on his face, "The fight choreography in this is my favorite of all medieval shows."

"There are three seasons in total," She said accusatorily, "You've seen a third of the show without me."

"Stop complaining or I'll give you an actual spoiler," Alex threatened, "I know what's going to happen with this porcupine man."

"Don't you dare!" She whisper-shouted at him and put her hands on his face.

[He gets to—] Alex's teasing telepathic message was interrupted by a shrill high-pitched mental scream that originated from Gwen.

[Ahhhh!!!] She kept screaming mentally to make sure that Alex wouldn't be able to transmit the message to her. She even found the time to give him a smug smile as she looked at his annoyed expression.

"All right, fine," Alex gave in with a wry smile, "You made your point, no spoilers. Stop screaming before I gag you both mentally and physically."

"Huh?!" Gwen was surprised and asked apprehensively, "Y-you can't really gag me mentally, right? You'd have to pause my thoughts…"

"Keep screaming in my head and you'll find out, won't you?" Alex said with a playfully menacing tone, "I can freeze your thoughts from even starting, freezing your brain in stasis if I want."

"All right," Gwen calmed down when she heard his words but instantly caught his bluff with her spider-sense enhanced connection, "You're bluffing me. Wait…" She narrowed her eyes again, "Eventually you will be able to do that too?!" She asked with widened eyes.

"You have got to stop reading me like that…" Now it was Alex's turn to feel wronged. He couldn't even bluff Gwen without her finding out.

"Tell me, how will you be able to freeze my thoughts?" She asked again, making Alex sigh. She continued, "I distinctly remember you telling me that you have no interest in getting close to people like Charles, who can read and manipulate your mind. That rules out a telepathic ability…" She was going to get an answer no matter what. Either Alex told her, or she would eventually figure it out by herself.

"It's not that complicated." He said with a wry tone, "Remember how I bonded with your skin and allowed you to get the camouflage ability?" He asked.

"Mhm…" Gwen blushed as she remembered the night after her reunited band's first performance. He'd made her go crazy in a Boss 429 Mustang that he'd borrowed from someone else. She still remembered the mess that was left in their aftermath. He'd essentially marked someone else's collectible car with the mix of his and her fluids.

As Gwen snapped out of her thoughts, Alex continued, "As I continue deeply bonding with your body further, I will eventually bond with your nervous system, including your brain. I don't think I need to say anything further."

"There's more…" Gwen trailed off, "How would that progression go?" She asked him.

"Well, after your skin, I'll do your blood and skeleton, then—" Alex's words stopped abruptly as his eyes widened.

At the same time, "Hm?" Gwen frowned as she felt her phone vibrating. It was supposed to be on silent and only disturb her in case of an emergency.

Just as Gwen took her phone out and checked the contents of the alert, Alex told her, "Cindy's in trouble."

"Our main office has just been bombed…" Gwen's gasping voice accompanied Alex's solemn one as she read the emergency text.

"Let's go," Alex said and Gwen nodded, her previous laziness disappearing instantly, "Tell me about this blood bond and all later…" She said while getting up from his comfortable embrace.

Alex formed her suit over her body as George came out of his room. The ex-captain wasn't surprised by Gwen's new Spider-Woman attire since she'd shown up on the news a few times wearing it. He'd brushed it off as a new style choice. "Gwenny…" His tone was full of worry as he looked at her with a frown. He'd apparently seen the news of a bomb exploding in the center of the city.

As for not finding out about the name of the location that had been bombed, Alex had created a subtle compulsion in George's mind to ignore the word Stacy whenever it came up in terms of Stacy Industries or anything similar.

"Don't worry, Dad," She said, "I'll be back in a jiffy." Leaving those words, she jumped out the window, leaving Alex and George in the apartment.

A few seconds later, "…So…" George trailed off as he turned to Alex.

"I'll be on my way…" Alex said awkwardly, "Wouldn't want to intrude." He said before leaving through the main door.

***

A few minutes before the bombing. On the highest floor of a commercial skyscraper in the middle of Manhattan.

There was a knock on Cindy's office door, "Come in," She said.

She was standing and facing her window, admiring the New York Skyline as she allowed the newcomer to enter without seeing who it was. She was wearing a black suit with a hobble skirt that hugged her legs down to her knees along with high heels and stockings. She was sporting a professional yet beautiful office lady look.

"What's the brief, Hans?" Cindy asked before the newcomer could even say anything.

Seemingly used to her unusual nature, the man, now identified as Hans, answered, "The military isn't willing to relent. They want our tech along with all our research and they aren't willing to let us keep it. There is no middle ground to speak of. They will put us through twists and turns, but our patents won't be approved and they will instead claim all our research as sensitive information."

Cindy clicked her tongue, "Our foundation is still too shallow. A company like Stark Industries would have no problem negotiating a partnership with the military. We have too little leverage over them."

The man didn't say anything, but his agreement was evident.

As Cindy's monologue continued, she felt something triggering her sixth sense — formerly known as her Silk Sense, but after Alex took it for himself, she was relying on a slightly weaker version that had similar effects provided by the subtle choker on her neck. When she looked down to the streets, it was easy for her to focus on a speeding van even from the sixtieth floor of the skyscraper. That van was quickly approaching their building and didn't seem to have any other destination.

"No…" She whispered to herself as she saw the van scraping against another car while continuing its approach, "Hans, sound the emergency alarm!" Cindy shouted, "Tell everyone to take cover and escape through the back if possible!" Hans didn't even have the time to question anything as he saw Cindy place her hand on the floor-to-ceiling window that was made of bulletproof glass. In the next moment, the glass was full of cracks. Cindy further pushed her hand forward and the cracked glass fell apart as the broken shards fell to the ground.

"Quickly!!" She said with urgency before jumping out of the broken window. Her Silk suit automatically formed around her as she fell down and fired her web at the approaching van to pull herself toward it.

Just as her web attached to the van, Cindy yanked her arm, bringing herself toward it and using her entire weight to disrupt the van's motion to some extent. She shot her other web just as she pulled the van and repeated the motion with both webs as she tried to pull the van upward and stop its approach toward the building.

This time she somewhat succeded as the van was pulled up from its four wheels and its movements were slowed down. As it fell back on the ground, Cindy dropped on the hood of the van before shooting as many webs as she could to the surrounding buildings to push back the van. It was then that she had the chance to look inside. There was no one inside the van. Both seats were empty and the van seemed to be working with some kind of a remote control.

Just as the realization hit her, there was a huge explosion right in front of the huge skyscraper building. And Cindy was the first to bear the brunt of that explosion.

Not only were the first three floors essentially destroyed, killing everyone in them, but a black blur shot through the smoke and collided with one of the pillars on the ground floor. The foundation of the building had still survived, but there was no telling for how long.

Moments later, as the explosion started dying down, the faint sound of sparks was heard beside Cindy's unconscious form and a portal opened that Gwen jumped out of.

"No…" She gasped as she saw the aftermath of the explosion that Cindy tried to prevent, but she just didn't have enough time. Just as Gwen was going through the devastating thoughts of hundreds of people dying — She heard a loud crackle that made her snap out of it. She looked at the pillar that Cindy had collided with and saw that the cracks were spreading further as if the pillar was about to break.

"Alex…" Her singular word had a hundred meanings as Alex didn't say anything and conveyed a positive feeling to her.

Gwen instantly shot tens of her webs at the cracking pillar, to stabilize it as Alex did his thing and made sure that the foundations were maintained, at least temporarily. Gwen repeated the process for all of the pillars that were in her sight within seconds. But the crackling only got louder. The ceiling was about to fall as Gwen hurried to stabilize the pillars temporarily with Alex's help.

Soon enough, the ceiling collapsed and fell directly on top of Gwen, "Fuck!" She groaned and had to hold up over two thousand metric tons of debris from the collapse of the three floors that had been the most damaged by the bomb. The higher floors were also breaking down and the debris was all collapsing on top of what Gwen was already desperately holding, making things even harder for her as each moment passed, [Alex…] She groaned mentally, [I remember you telling me about a berserk ability…]

[Out of the question.] Alex instantly refused, [Your mind and body can't handle something like that.] The only reason that Alex could so freely use Berserk with Laura was that she had her innate healing factor to complement his healing. Even if he formed a blood bond with Gwen or even an organ bond, the disadvantages would still be significant and at the very least, the cooldown would still be there since it would take him time to recover her body and mind from the effects.

[My spirit can't handle seeing thousands of people die in front of me and standing still when I have a way to fix it.] Gwen said with gritted teeth.

[I'll send my clones then, dammit…] Alex said angrily, [Why do you want to go into a coma for the next week?]

[It's not enough, Alex.] She said, [I can't stay still knowing that I have a way to fix everything.]

[I swear to god, once you wake up, I'm going to deny you any pleasure for a month!] Alex shouted in her head as multiple parts of Gwen's suit extended out of her body and formed into identical copies of her. They stopped just as twenty copies formed around her. This was Alex's limit without compromising the strength of the clones. Unlike normal clones for day-to-day tasks — which Alex could create hundreds of — there was a limit to the number of clones he could have performing at their full capacity.

Gwen smiled as she saw the clones of herself camouflage themselves and disappear. She also saw Cindy's unconscious body being picked by one of the clones as she also disappeared.

[I got twenty clones with almost as much strength as the current you working to clear the building. Will you please back out…] Alex wanted her to not go through so much for something like this.

[You know me, Alex…] She said, [I can't just stand like this when I know that the people out there need me… Plus, I'm kinda looking forward to being denied orgasms for a while, it'll probably teach me to appreciate your sadistic kind of love a bit more…] She quipped as she let out a groan, feeling even more debris pressing down on her.

Her current physique grade was somewhere around three hundred metric tons at Peak Superhuman. With the five times enhancement of the level three bond, she could breach low cosmic strength easily. But it was still not enough to hold up the thousands of tons of concrete that she was currently holding up.

[Fucking moron…] Alex shook his head at her, but still decided to accept her request. He could distinctly feel just how determined she was to go through with this and if he didn't let her, it would cause her to truly resent him for a while, and he didn't want a repeat of his other Gwen happening with this one.

[But I'm your moron…] Gwen said telepathically with a cute tone as she almost staggered when the weight increased further due to even more debris falling down on top of her.

[Make that two months of edging…] Alex said in her head and before Gwen could come up with a reply, she felt her blood boiling. Since Alex wasn't actually bonded to her blood, the enhancement factor was lower than the two times boost that she would've gotten in that case. But what she got was enough to give her the strength to free herself. She quickly pushed up the rubble while webbing up as much as she could. Along with some help from Alex's tentacles and using them as makeshift pillars, she was able to temporarily hold up the rubble such that the building's imminent collapse would be delayed enough.

Just as she made sure that the building wouldn't collapse within the next few minutes, she moved out from the side and propelled herself to the fifth floor, which was still intact. Three of Alex's clones were already working on evacuating the people there, but the numbers were still too much for him. Just this single floor had almost two hundred people. Considering the sixty floors in the building, Gwen and Alex had to clear out upwards of ten thousand people from the building.

"No rest for the Spider Menace…" Gwen couldn't think very straight due to the feeling of her blood literally boiling to boost her stats, but randomly quipping seemed to be ingrained into her instincts. Even then, she didn't hesitate before diving into the building and quickly coordinating with Alex's clones to gather up the people on the fifth floor that was showing signs of cracking.

Within thirty seconds, just as Gwen pulled out the last set of survivors from the floor, it collapsed.

"We have witnessed a great tragedy today. Over a hundred casualties have been reported with more than a thousand people currently in intensive care after the catastrophic bombing at Stacy Industries' headquarters in Manhattan that resulted in the entire skyscraper being reduced to rubble. The explosion occurred just an hour ago and has left the city in shock and mourning."

George looked at the news with a frown on his face, worried about Gwen's status.

"Despite the heavy casualties, eyewitness reports have placed Spider-Woman at the scene. In an almost supernatural turn of events, she singlehandedly pulled out upwards of ten thousand people who were stuck in the collapsing building…"

Just as he decided to make a call to some people from the department to inquire about the whereabouts of Spider-Woman, he heard a knock on his door.

"Who is it?" He asked while getting up from his couch.

"It's me, Alex, Mr. Stacy." He heard Alex's voice from through the door, "Please open up quickly."

George frowned but still opened his door, his eyes widened just as he opened the door since he saw his unconscious daughter in Alex's arms. She had her mask off and most of her body was covered by a long trench coat that was wrapped around her, "Can I come in?" Alex asked with a slightly hurried tone.

"Hm…" George nodded and stepped aside. Alex quickly entered and set Gwen down on the couch, "What happened?" George asked from the side.

"I don't know," Alex said, "I heard a knock on my window and lo-and-behold, a Spider-Woman was found fainted on my fire escape. I think she got hurt in that building," He looked at her concernedly.

"She doesn't look injured," George came up beside Alex and said with a sigh as he put his hand on her forehead.

"Well, she's fainted, presumably in a coma, so there's got to be some injury, plus, her suit was all torn up," Alex remarked dryly, making George cough as he stood up, "Come here, help me bring her to her room."

George led Alex to Gwen's bedroom and helped him settle Gwen on her bed. When he removed the coat that was on her, he almost gasped but noticed that it was merely her suit that was damaged. There was no blood to speak of and she didn't seem injured.

"I'll call a doctor for a house call…" George said.

"Allow me," Alex stopped the man and said, "I work in the prosthetics industry, I have some trusted contacts who can help her out."

…

Cindy's eyes slowly fluttered open to get used to the brightness of the room.

Moments later, she shot up with widened eyes while looking around, "Easy there…" She heard a familiar voice say to her as a man's arm wrapped around her shoulder.

"Apex," She whispered, recalling what had happened, "I messed up… I—" Her choked voice came out as Alex hushed her while patting her shoulder.

"It's okay. Gwen and I mitigated the damage as much as necessary." He told her, "Our building is in complete ruins though. Whatever happened, it was more than just that single bomb. Something like that can't destroy an entire skyscraper's foundation and make it collapse. There had to be internal sabotaging."

Cindy took a few seconds to calm down as she took a few deep breaths, "I'll get on top of everything." She said with determination, "I'll find out who caused this."

"Good," Alex patted her head, "For now, you can rest. You took almost a ton of TNT right to your face. I kept you safe, but the blast impact shattered a lot of the bones in your spine and back. The pillar you collided with was the first to collapse, actually." He chuckled.

"My spine's broken?" Cindy widened her eyes and instinctively turned her head a little to see the state of her back. That was when she saw multiple tubes going directly into her spine along with a slightly thinner tube going directly into the back of her neck. She was still in her Silk suit and the tubes seemed to be attached to her spine through the suit.

"Why can't I feel anything..." She mumbled, "I feel completely normal."

"That's because I have completely cut off your body's connection with your brain. I'm intercepting those signals and making your body move without letting you feel any sort of uncomfortable." Alex said.

"I'm so confused right now…" She said, not really getting what Apex was talking about.

"Body broken. I fix broken body," Alex treated her as if she had some kind of mental illness, "I help use broken body while fixing broken body."

Cindy's brow twitched, "Got it…" She said dryly before asking, "Can I get back to work?"

"No." Alex refused, "I can help you move a bit, but that doesn't mean I want you moving right now. You can do whatever work you want to do from right here."

Cindy nodded before realizing something. She opened her mouth to speak but hesitantly closed it back.

"Speak," Alex said.

"I goofed up about another thing," She gulped and said, "One of our employees saw me jumping out of the window with my suit on. I didn't have time to do anything about it and he just…" She trailed off.

"It's fine, it doesn't matter." Alex didn't care much, "Give me his name."

"Hans Zimmel." She said, "He was the head of the department that is… well, was in talks with the military."

"I'll take care of it, your identity will be safe." Alex nodded before standing up.

"That's it?" Cindy asked with widened eyes, "I thought you'd punish me or something…"

"You've already been through hell and considering how heroically you sacrificed yourself for this…" Alex's little smile made Cindy look away in embarrassment, "I appreciate your dedication toward this. Your body will fully heal sometime after midnight. I'll give you a little reward then, okay?"

As Alex showed Cindy his appreciation with a gentle caress on her head, she developed a happy smile on her face, "Thanks…"

"I'll be off, take care," Alex said, "Call out my name if you need to talk to me." As he said those words, Cindy felt her throat being constricted for a moment before the choker was loosened. It reminded her of its presence.

…

"I don't see any visible injuries or trauma that could have led to internal bleeding. The signs just point to her being exhausted." A woman said while standing in front of Alex and George in the living room of Gwen's apartment.

"Oh, that's good…" George put his hand on his chest and took a calming breath. His nerves had been frayed from the moment Alex had brought Gwen back.

"It shouldn't take her more than a week to wake up. You could either get her admitted or get a nurse to administer an IV." She said with a professional tone.

"What do you suggest?" George asked her, "I'm fine with either option."

"It's a simple case of overexhaustion. Getting her to and from the hospital would be an unnecessary process. My recommendation is to keep her in her home and let her recover peacefully in a comfortable environment. Hospital environments have a tendency to make these kinds of cases worse than they already are." She said.

"I understand." George nodded, "Do you have a recommendation for a nurse who can administer the IV?"

"I'll send you some of the contacts over text." She said.

"Thank you so much." George said, "What of your consultation fees?"

"Please, sir. My boss is the one who called me." She smiled and politely refused, "I couldn't possibly charge you for this."

"Thanks, Amanda." Alex smiled and intervened before George could insist on paying, "I'll show you out."

When Alex returned, George gave him a complicated look, "I'm grateful for your help."

"Please, sir." Alex stopped him, "Gwen's my girlfriend. She's very important to me."

"Right…" George smiled, "You can stay for a while if you want." He said.

"I'll take you up on that offer." Alex smiled before turning to Gwen, "I'll sit with her."

George nodded and sat down on the couch, intending to continue watching the broadcast of the incident.

It was then that the TV turned to a different view automatically, George frowned, "Is there an emergency broadcast?"

"People of New York." A muffled-sounding voice spoke from the TV as a hooded figure slowly appeared in front of a black background, "You must've seen what happened in Manhattan today. I want you to know who did this. And know that there's more coming. We have stayed in the shadows for far too long. The people in authority are constantly ignoring the looming Sword of Damocles above our heads. Aliens can invade at any moment and the people are treating it as if nothing is happening." The voice seemed agitated.

As the speech from the evident terrorist continued, Alex also came out of the room, looking at the TV with a frown. However, his frown was more about the identity of this organization.

"No more will we be passive!" The man continued, "We will unite the world under a single banner and bring about a new age of unity and world peace! And our first targets will be the largest conglomerates. All hail the Mandarin!"

'I thought that the attackers were someone Murdock sent…' Alex frowned as he looked at the Ten Rings symbol on the TV that placed the speaker from before, 'This can't be a simple impersonating thing either…' Alex remembered the shitty plot of the third Iron Man movie, 'Organizations like AIM don't have the kind of ability or the connections to bring in tons of TNT and destroy a skyscraper in the middle of Manhattan.'

'Could the Hand have partnered up with the Mandarin? It would give them enough motive to target Gwen. I guess Murdock sold out…' Alex sighed as he realized that he should've kept a closer eye on Murdock, 'Wait no…' Alex thought of something and determined, 'Murdock didn't have anything to do with this, it hasn't even been an entire day since Gwen took care of him. Nor did he have anything that would connect him to the Mandarin when I checked his memories…'

Alex couldn't come up with anything in the short term and decided to stand back for a bit. Gwen's reality had more than enough superheroes and the Mandarin had just painted the biggest target on its back with their single bombing. This attack might not have the same significance as the nine eleven attack since the building targeted wasn't something like the World Trade Center, but it was still a commercial skyscraper in the middle of Manhattan. The implications and impact of something like this were huge.

'Let's wait and see their next move.' Alex decided to adopt a wait-and-see strategy. He could personally protect those he deemed necessary to protect, and even a nuke wouldn't be able to do much against his protection. The only reason that Gwen was in a fatigue coma — needing an entire week of recovery — as Alex healed her was because of her own headstrong need to push herself.

'Maybe I should threaten a skyscraper and force Gwen to train even harder… Maybe then she'll train with even more efficiency.' Alex laughed at his thought. However, he was seriously considering it. If Gwen could be so driven by righteousness, he could threaten to kill a couple of ten thousand people and use that drive to make her train.

"Do you think I'm a bad father for being relieved that Gwen is currently unconscious?" Alex heard George speak to him and looked at the older man. He was sitting on the couch in a slumped posture and was looking at Alex from the side of his eye.

"Nah," Alex said casually before taking a seat beside the man, "It just means you really care about her. If she knew that the attack was a terrorist organization, she would bust her ass to get them, even if it destroyed her. That's just how she works…" Alex's words made George chuckle a little.

"She's my baby girl, after all," He said with pride, "If I was still a part of the force, I would without question charge into the danger…"

"I guess she learned from the best, huh..." Alex said.

"All right," George looked at Alex, "Keep Gwen company, sit with her while I see if there are any updates about this."

"Yeah." Alex got up and went back to Gwen's room, leaving George to fiddle around until the emergency broadcast that showed nothing but the Ten Rings logo disappeared.

As Alex entered Gwen's room he slowly closed the door and looked out of her window for a few seconds before turning to her.

Seeing Gwen's peacefully sleeping face, Alex couldn't help but sigh. He was the only one who knew how messed up her internals currently were. Not only was her body in a horrible state, but her brain was the main thing that had been overloaded by the burning blood. Even though she got most of the people out of there, Gwen had essentially killed herself over it. The only reason she was still fine was that Alex was there to forcefully keep her alive and heal her back up.

"Moron…" Alex mumbled before sitting beside Gwen, "Whatever, let's see what the Ten Rings wants to do… I'm guessing world domination if their message was anything to go by. But I can't help but feel like there is more to it."

…

MCU Earth.

Some time had passed in the MCU since Alex and Wanda started working on their new sanctum and its progress was going pretty smoothly. With the main foundation having been finalized in the previous two weeks, construction had already started in full swing. They were currently working on the central dome that would be the focal point of the entire structure.

Alex had experienced different times on each of the earths in this time. The one day that he'd been with Laura in Farm Earth comprised ten days on MCU Earth — This disparity was due to Farm Earth and Research Earth having been conjoined together, which allowed their timelines to get synced together, but also caused that time to be very varied from the rest of the cluster since those two planets were somewhat separated from the gravitational interferences. And in this same time, the half day that Gwen had taken to confront Murdock and almost kill herself over some random civilians, four more days had passed in the MCU Earth.

Just that would've been fine and acceptable to Alex. But with him being hyperaware of the differences in the passing time on each Earth, he could tell that time was currently moving much slower in the MCU as compared to Gwen's Earth, which meant that a single day in the MCU would probably result in the passing of an entire week on Earth-65 — Gwen's Earth. Sadly, even that wasn't sure to be consistent. It was possible that this would flip around once again in a couple of hours.

'I'm gonna get a headache if I keep thinking about the constantly varying time on every single one of these fucking planets…' Alex getting a headache was a huge deal. It would be like multiple supercomputers working together getting overheated, 'I almost wish that a Celestial or two would burst out of some of the planets…' Alex didn't care about having probably jinxed it. If anything, he was kind of looking forward to devouring a Celestial, though he doubted he would be able to go through with that plan.

At the very least, not without being able to manipulate Cosmic Energy freely such that he would be able to break through the Celestial's natural protection. He'd already had quite a bit of trouble with the Inhuman that he devoured. An actual Celestial would be far more trouble.

At this time, in the airborne Black Widow Fortress, Natasha was talking to Tony, "You can stop trying to hack into my base," She said dryly, "It's not the flimsy original protection."

"Worth a try," Tony said with a shrug, "It's a nice place. If only it was energy efficient."

"It's got a nuclear reactor with enough Uranium to last a century," Nat said, "I think it's good enough."

"It could be better," He said, "Plus if I change it, you have no risk of radiation poisoning if the reactor isn't maintained correctly."

"I'll take a rain check on that," Nat said with a smile, "Now why are you here?"

"Right to the point, huh?" Tony said, "I just came to see the base of the new organization that I'm going to be sponsoring. A flying fortress, seriously. I don't know why I didn't make something like this for myself sooner."

"Cause you'd sooner be a lackey for the government than to be someone with a spine." Another voice came that made Tony's brow twitch.

"Rogers, always a pleasure," Tony said casually.

"Steve…" Nat gave the older man a look that made him suppress his hostility.

Tony wanted to quip something that would make Steve annoyed, but Nat's look was directed to him too and he clicked his tongue, "Fine."

"Are you here to just inspect your investment opportunity or do you actually have something that you need from us?" Natasha asked with a smile.

"I've detected some sort of an anomaly in the Transian Mountains," Tony said, "I'm getting energy readings similar to those of Wanda's as if there is some sort of huge surge of energy gathering there."

"Wanda is in Wakanda, Tony." Nat said, "She has nothing to do with this." Nat came to her defense while asking Alex, [Does she?]

[No. This is actually the first I've heard of this…] Alex recalled something, [Ask him if the readings are similar or the same.]

"I know, I know," Tony said, "That's why I said that the readings are similar," Nat didn't need to ask since Tony told her the answer to her question directly, "I'm seeing readings of some kind of energy that can bring about causality and reality manipulation effects. Very similar to Wanda's, but there are some distinct differences. For one, those are purple instead of Wanda's red."

His words made Natasha look at him blankly for a few seconds before she shook her head and spoke, "So you want me to bring the fortress there so that you can use it as a base and set up a lab to study that energy surge." She understood Tony's purpose, "You want to make something that can combat Wanda." She narrowed her eyes.

"Don't give me that look," Tony said, "It's a precautionary measure. Didn't I end up using the Hulkbuster too?"

[The energy surge might not be natural, it could be a witch.] Alex said in Nat's head, [Ask him what he would do in that case.]

Nat didn't get what Alex meant by the term witch, but decided to ask him about it later later, "What if the surge isn't natural?" She asked, "What if there's someone similar to Wanda?"

"Vision has more important things to do than go around creating superpowered individuals." Tony shrugged off the possibility, "And if it is someone like Wanda, all the more reason to investigate."

"We should call Wanda for this," Steve said to Tony and Nat, "If the energy surge is similar to her, her insight would be invaluable."

"Yeah, bring the unstable nuclear weapon to get her to help us create something that can help us contain her." Tony said sarcastically, "That's definitely going to work."

His words made both Nat and Steve look at him with hostility, "She's a kid, Tony."

"Whatever you say," He shrugged, "But my point stands. She's not going to appreciate what I'm planning."

"Don't you have better things to do?" Nat asked, "With some kind of an interplanetary war on the horizon, nerfing our own people should be the least of your concerns."

"It's not just our Wanda that we might end up fighting." He said with a snap, "My satellites have seen multiple people with Wanda's powers on the other planets who are effectively her copies. Some of them, I'd rather never face at all if possible," He shuddered, "Our Wanda might not be a nuke, but the others? The others definitely are."

"All the more reason to call her," Steve said, "Her insight will be invaluable. You couldn't have built the Hulkbuster without Banner's insight into his own strength."

"I could've," Tony corrected Steve, "It would've required some trial and error, but I could've."

"Trial and error that would decimate cities in its aftermath, Tony." Nat interjected, "Forget it. I'll call Wanda or help if we run into something that we can't deal with. Let's go and see what's going on."

[What do you think is going on, Alex?] Nat asked as she gave the aviation managers instructions to pilot the fortress to the Transian mountains.

[Either something is calling Wanda from there, or someone is.] Alex said, [Either way, I wouldn't count on Wanda coming by. She's got a lot on her plate for now. On the other hand, you might run into Strange.] The only thing Wanda had on her plate right now was food. Alex just didn't want her to end up encountering the Darkhold and told Nat that she was busy.

[Is that supposed to be a person?] Nat asked.

[You'll see when you get there, he's a lovely person. Tony will really get along with him.] Alex said with schadenfreude, making Nat let out a tired sigh.

"How long until we get there?" Steve asked Nat.

"An hour." She said before pressing a button on her intercom, "Put up the ETA on a display in my office." Quickly, one of the many screens lit up with a countdown.

"You would really do well with an onboard AI on this fortress." Tony said, "Think about how much manpower you would save."

"It's my fortress, Tony." Nat said, "I'll manage it as I want until you start paying me to run it. I might become more receptive to your ideas in that case."

"Buzzkill." He decided to get himself a drink as Stevae sat beside Natasha.

"How's Bucky?" Natasha asked.

"He's doing fine." Steve nodded, "After the prosthetics that Wanda got him and got rid of his brainwashing, he can finally live his normal life."

"Can he?" Nat asked, "You're telling me that he's going full Barton and settling down?"

"Believe it or not," Steve shrugged.

"Well…" Nat said, "I wish him the best."

"You got any plans?" Natasha asked Steve, "Maybe work with me on this whole new Avengers thing. We can use the intergalactic war as a catalyst and force them to abolish the Sokovia Accords."

"Maybe…" Steve said, "If that's possible, I could think of a way for me to come out of the shadows. After Shield, I can't trust any large organization that I'm not at the helm of. Especially not governmental organizations."

Nat patted Steve's shoulder and got up, "I'll be with Yelena, we'll leave once we reach Transian airspace."

"Hey!" Tony called Nat. He'd just been examining her office for the past few minutes, "Can you get me a lab to experiment on foreign energies?"

"This place is a fortress, Tony." Nat said, "Not a research center. I don't have the necessary advanced equipment that you would need for this."

"Fine." Tony shrugged, "Give me a large empty space and access to the hanger's doors."

"Fine." Nat said before moving to her console, "Apex, can you get him the necessary permissions."

"Done." The voice echoed through Nat's office.

Tony couldn't help but raise his brow, "You have a Friday?" He asked.

"Yeah." Nat nodded nonchalantly, "How else would I keep you out of my systems?"

"Touchè…" Tony said. Steve meanwhile was looking at Natasha with an impressed expression.

She didn't respond to their reactions and walked out, but a hint of a smile was present on her face, [Thanks…] She said to Alex.

…

In the snowing mountains of Transia. A woman was overlooking a range of snowy peaks. With inky black hair and purple dress robes, she took steady steps along the snowy paths. There was a constant purple aura escaping from her body as she took each step. Behind her, an ancient-looking book was floating, emanating a murky red aura that kept mixing with her purple while continuously pulling more of her aura out of her.

"I broke you out of that metal vault, you better be worth it…" The woman said, seemingly talking to herself.

"I don't have to worry?" She scoffed, "I'm obviously going to worry. Shield's remnants are easy to deal with, but I still don't want to get on the bad side of the sorcerers of Kamar Taj and the Sanctums. The Ancient One wasn't all they had."

"What do you mean I can use your spells?" She had a tone of disbelief, "Most of your spells are going to fucking suck out my life force. Look at this…" She raised her hand and took off her glove, revealing her hand that was currently completely pitch black, "This was because of the damn spell that you asked me to cast that led us to this place."

As the woman continued talking to the Darkhold, in the distance, on the edge of a mountain, stood an old decrepit temple. It was made of pitch-black obsidian rocks that kept pulsating with a weak, murky crimson. The walls that were filled with tapestries and murals of hidden meanings kept glowing, releasing a constant surge of energy that was acting as a beacon to call the Darkhold to itself.

It was this surge that Tony had detected and connected to Wanda. Same as him, there were more people who had detected this energy surge and were currently making their way here.

***

"Mount Wundagore…" The woman in purple robes spoke as she overlooked the structure that had been calling to her for months. It was still some distance from it and had to either scale a cliff or go around the mountain to reach the place, both of which would take time. She felt many 'thoughts' emanating from the Darkhold that was floating behind her. It was calling to her with an even more increased intensity, wanting her to hurry up to the location.

Looking at the ominous structure that had been eroded by the wear and tear of thousands of years, the woman scoffed, "Yeah, I'm not destroying myself further for a simple flight spell from you…" Mount Wundagore had an intrinsic anti-magic field that rendered a lot of magic useless. She would have to cast a far stronger flight spell to fly to the structure.

She pushed her gloved hands down as they emanated a green glow that enveloped her body. In a second, she started floating up in the air, "Let's see what the deal with this place is… The place where you were made." She mumbled to herself as she started floating toward the temple. However, within moments of her taking flight with the intent to move toward Wundagore, she fell back to the ground.

"Damn it…" She cursed as she stabilized herself, "Let's try this again, shall we…" She mumbled before pushing far more magic into her flight spell that allowed her to float once again.

"Halt!" Just as she took flight, a man with a goatee appeared in front of her and she saw multiple mystic arts circles appearing all around her. At the same time, she heard a distinct crackling sound as the space around her seemed to shatter and fragment. Multiple sorcerers appeared all around her as she faced the man in the goatee.

"Well," She let out a nervous laugh, "Will you believe me if I said I was just out and about practicing my witchcraft without hurting anyone?" She said as she looked at the multiple masters of the mystic arts that had appeared all around her and trapped her in the Mirror Dimension.

"The Darkhold harbors a forbidden lexicon," Doctor Strange floated in front of her and spoke with circles appearing in front of his fists, "It is said to corrupt anyone who comes into contact with it. Surrender peacefully and we won't have to use forceful means."

"You know I can't do that." The woman smiled an almost predatory smile, "The late Sorcerer Supreme was an absolute existence. My coven used to make sure that all new recruits had her legends remembered by heart. Can you even live up to her?" She asked Doctor Strange with an arrogant smile. Even since the Ancient One had died, many witches had had their courage renewed as they came out of hiding, not giving much respect to the newly appointed Sorcerer Supreme.

"You'll see that I can more than just live up to her." Strange gave her an arrogant smirk and crossed his hands, combining both magic circles and forming a larger one in front of him. He pushed his palm forward and the single circle split into multiple layers and started approaching the woman. Just as the frontmost circle was about to collide with the woman, the Darkhold behind her released a hum that tinged her purple aura with a red one and turned it murky. She pushed her palms forward and that aura blocked the spell.

"We'll see about that won't we, dearie?" She smiled as her eyes glowed with a faint purple, spreading an invisible wave of her murky energy to her surroundings. In that instant, a crackling sound returned as her energy started to distort the space around her.

"Wong," Strange shouted, "Fortify the overlap of the Mirror Dimension."

"Sorcerers!" Wong shouted as he chanted something and created a magic circle on one of his hands, using it as a conduit to resist the murky energy that the woman released. The other sorcerers cast the same spell and channeled their gold energy into the mirror dimension to prevent the woman from breaking out of it.

"How cute…" The woman chuckled derisively and channeled even more of the murky red energy from the Darkhold. The purple energy that she released to break through the Mirror Dimension turned around and intercepted the energy released by the sorcerers. She chanted something and started absorbing the released energy for herself.

"Cut the connection!" Wong ordered within seconds of noticing the effects of the woman's action as the sorcerers followed his words immediately, cutting off the magic circles that they were using to channel their magic. At the same time, Doctor Strange created multiple chains pulsating with orange markings that he threw toward the Darkhold, binding the Book of the Damned and putting it under suppression. It immediately weakened the woman, preventing her from breaking through the Mirror Dimension and giving some respite to the sorcerers who had just experienced the energy drain that was the signature of her practice of magic.

"The Salem Witch," Wong identified her after seeing the effects of her spells and gave her a cautious look, "Agatha Harkness…"

"You know about her?" Strange directed some of the chains toward the woman and attempted to bind her with them, but she kept breaking through. He took that moment to get her information from Wong.

"Somewhat," Wong said, "She was part of the Salem coven before it was destroyed and the witches all killed. The Ancient One deemed that it was she who stole their forbidden branch of knowledge and used those witches as fuel to empower herself."

"Lies!" Agatha shouted as she closed her eyes and brought her hands together, pooling her energy together before shooting it at the chains that Strange had conjured. As the orange glow turned purple and traveled along the chains to Strange, he cast another spell that empowered the chains, breaking Agatha's energy drain attempt.

"The sorcerers have more than enough methods to failsafe against your particular branch of magic, Miss Harkness," Strange said, "Surrender yourself and the Darkhold."

She gave Strange a scornful scoff and chanted something. It made the Darkhold pulsate as it started vibrating while still chained and suppressed by Strange's spell.

"She's burning her life force." Wong identified what Agatha was doing, "Defensive measures!" He shouted and all sorcerers except Strange created shields in front of themselves. Strange on the other hand, empowered his spell to keep the Darkhold suppressed.

Agatha shouted as a torrent of energy left her body and shook the Darkhold, breaking through its suppression. At the same time, an explosive wave of her magical energy was released all around her, assaulting the defenses created by the Sorcerers. As for Strange, he was able to timely create a large circle in front of himself that took the brunt of the shockwave, seemingly bending in an arc shape before straightening itself. The action made the entire shockwave disappear.

Just as Agatha was about to release her energy to attack the Mirror Dimension once again, she sensed something above and found a mountain above herself. It accelerated when she noticed it and forced her to defend against it instead of attempting to break through the dimension.

Seeing the scene, Wong gave Strange an incredulous look. He knew what kind of power was needed to have this great of an influence over reality within the Mirror Dimension. It was the power that Kaecilius got by taking the power of the Dark Dimension and giving in to Dormamu. The only other person that he knew to have been able to manipulate the Mirror Dimension to such an extent was The Ancient One, and he was sure that Strange was still very far away from her level of strength and knowledge to be able to do something like this.

"Later…" Strange gave Wong a look before turning his attention back to Agatha. She screamed and released a torrent of energy upward, directly targeting the peak of the mountain that was approaching her. Her beam pierced through the mountain and spread the debris all around before the crackling sound signifying the Mirror Dimension's breaking resumed. The beam was enough to destabilize the overlapping of the Mirror Dimension.

"Sorcerers!" Strange shouted his order, "Fortify the dimension." He turned his focus back to Agatha and created a magic circle while channeling the power of his sling ring. The borders of the circle took a sparking nature, like that of his mystic arts portals. At that moment, the same magic circle appeared in the path of Agatha's beam of energy and intercepted it, preventing her from continuing her attack on the dimensional connection.

Agatha realized that her spell was useless and pulled her energy back while Strange made some complex hand sighs, making the tips of his fingers shine with a golden light. At the same time, Agatha felt a cry from the Darkhold and widened her eyes before releasing more of the purple energy with a scream, connecting it to the Darkhold as it started moving away from her.

Strange had manipulated the raw space within the Mirror Dimension and was separating Agatha from the Darkhold, weakening their connection and interrupting the power that she could borrow from the book.

Agatha's body started shaking and she gave Strange a hateful look, "Enough!" She screamed as her energy output increased by an exponential margin and she broke through Strange's spatial manipulation, pulling back the Darkhold to herself. But she didn't stop there, her energy spread out and intercepted the sorcerers' energy channeling and intercepted it while also attacking the Mirror Dimension.

All this happened with a single burst of energy and before anyone could even react, the Mirror Dimension shattered as Agatha's energy kept spreading outwardly.

Strange finally reacted and cast a distinct hand sign that made him cross his hands together. The tips of his fingers glowed green as he separated them and green circlets appeared on his wrists as the Eye of Agamotto was opened. The green gem within the eye shone with a bright luster and brightened momentarily.

"Stop," Strange said, and a wave of green spread out from his body. It spread all around and enveloped all of the released energy along with Agatha herself, including the Darkhold before anything could damage the real world.

"How can you manipulate the Mirror Dimension to such an extent, Strange?" Wong asked with a hostile look as he cast magic circles and got ready for a fight. At the same time, Wong created multiple portals around the sorcerers who had come with him, gesturing for them to leave. They hesitated for a moment, but when the Sorcerer Supreme in question himself also nodded, giving them his tacit permission, they obeyed the order and left, leaving just Wong and Strange as Agatha floated, frozen in time.

"I'm not pulling any power from the Dark Dimension, Wong." Strange answered, "It's just that the Mirror Dimension has been much weaker for a while now."

***

It's just that the Mirror Dimension has been much weaker for a while now."

"Since when?" Wong asked, his vigilance still there, "And when did you notice it?"

"It happened with the Convergence of Earths," Strange finally gave a term to the event that brought forty different versions of the same planet into this reality, "At the same time as when The Ancient One turned to dust after leaving me her mantle."

"That explains how this witch was so easily able to break through the fabric of the Mirror Dimension," Wong nodded, "But it still doesn't explain your ability to influence reality so easily in the dimension."

"I'm getting to it." Strange said, "It's because Dormamu doesn't exist anymore that I'm able to exercise so much control over the weakened Mirror Dimension."

"What?" Wong couldn't believe it, "A Dimensional ruler, especially one as strong as that of the Dark Dimension just disappeared. Are you serious?" He asked.

"It's better that I just show you…" Strange said, "The Ancient One had me hide a lot of information when she appointed me as the Sorcerer Supreme. Mostly so that the other masters don't lose their conviction."

Before Wong could say anything, Strange cast a portal in front of himself and Wong to take them back to Kamar Taj. Before they could move, they heard the loud sound of thrusters.

"I seem to have missed something…" Tony's voice rang through the snowy mountains as he flew to Strange and Wong and floated in front of them. His helmet flowed along his head and entered his collar, the nanoparticles going into their storage unit as Tony faced the two of them, "Nice outfits." He complimented.

"Thank you," Wong nodded, making Tony smile weirdly.

"He's being sarcastic, Wong." Strange said, "Mr. Stark. What brings you here?" He asked after turning to Tony.

"I know." Wong said, "The best way to deal with sarcasm is to take it at face value," He advised Strange.

His words left Strange speechless as Tony chuckled, "You seem more fun than this guy." He said to Wong while pointing to Strange before turning to the man himself, "As for your question, I came here to check out that ominously glowing structure of rocks. It's been releasing a familiar energy signature for a while now." He pointed at the structure that was still pulsating with red as if calling someone, or something.

Strange frowned when he looked at it. This was the main reason that he and Wong had come here with an entire army of sorcerers. They had consequently met with Agatha, but their original purpose was to examine the energy beacon that kept pulsating.

They had assumed that the energy release was due to Harkness and now that she was suppressed, it would stop, but that didn't seem to be the case. Wong looked at the energy pulsating through the dilapidated temple and asked Strange, "Should we call Ms. Maximoff to take a look? She's our best option for this, considering her expertise."

"You know Wanda?" Tony seemed surprised.

"Yes, she is a Master of the Mystic Arts," Wong nodded, "One of our best if I am to add."

"I have so many questions." Tony shook his head, "What's with this floating sculpture?" He asked while pointing to Agatha and the floating Darkhold behind her, both frozen in time, "Very lifelike, may I add." He chuckled.

"None of your business," Strange said, "These matters are under the jurisdiction of the Sorcerers of Kamar Taj. You may return to your usual thing, whatever it is that you do."

"And what is your jurisdiction, exactly?" Tony asked, "Making balloon animals and setting up circus shows?"

That made Strange's brow twitch, "Protecting your reality, douchebag."

"Do tell, how has that been going?" Tony asked with a scoff, "Cause I can't help but see a slew of planets all around us that seem eerily similar to our own."

That made Strange stiffen, "We're working on it." He brushed it off.

"You're not doing a very good job of it." Tony said, "Now stand down and explain. Or I'll make you explain." Tony's repulsors powered up and his helmet formed over his head once again as he pointed his repulsors at Strange and Wong.

"Are you threatening me?" Strange asked with a raised brow as if he'd just heard the most amusing thing ever.

"Stand down," Tony said, and crescent arcs came out of his back. They floated at his sides and powered up similar repulsors that pointed at Strange and Wong, "Last warning."

Strange smiled derisively, "Big mistake." He said and the distinct sound of the Mirror Dimension overlapping over reality was heard.

"Is it?" Before Strange could ask anything, his eyes widened as he felt the Mirror Dimension being attacked by a huge energy surge from the outside. Before he could even react, it shattered and he saw a beam of blue light assaulting him and Wong.

Wong reacted quickly and created a shield to protect himself and Strange from the pure burst of energy that was able to attack the Mirror Dimension through space, "Strange!" He shouted, wanting the Sorcerer Supreme to support him in blocking the attack.

"Friday, turn off the Sword of Damocles," Tony said with a tone that had hints of smugness. As the beam died down, Wong huffed as his magic circle flickered out of existence. Tony asked Strange, "You ready to talk now?"

"Ahem, Mr. Stark." Wong interjected before Doctor Strange in his infinite arrogance could escalate the conflict further, "If I may ask, can you give us a few minutes?" He said, "There's something that I need to talk about with my…boss," He had significant hesitation when he referred to Strange as his boss.

"The sculpture stays," Tony said while pointing to Agatha.

"Sure, we just need to talk about something first, we'll be right back," Wong said before almost pushing Strange through a portal that led to Kamar Taj, leaving the time-frozen Agatha floating in mid-air.

"How peculiar…" Tony didn't care about the portals that they used. His focus was on the woman who was frozen in time, "Friday, replay the fight…" Tony said and a screen appeared in front of his face showing the moment right before Strange and the sorcerers intercepted Agatha. He saw how they pulled her into what could only be described as another dimension. He fast-forwarded the video until he saw how the woman's raw power broke through a seemingly empty crack in space. Then he saw the green stone in the necklace that Strange was wearing and the aura that spread from it, freezing Agatha in time.

"Analyse that stone, Friday," Tony said with a frown, finding it familiar yet completely different.

…

"How can you manipulate reality within the Mirror Dimension to such an extent?" Wong asked Strange with a suppressed yet furious tone, "It's impossible to do such a thing without channeling the Dark Dimension's energy. You are putting everything in jeopardy and inviting Dormamu into our home, through the defenses of our sanctums."

"Relax," Doctor Strange shrugged Wong's concerns off, "Do you know why she died in the first place?" He asked, "The Ancient One," He clarified.

"Kaecilius used a forbidden ritual that attacked her." He said, "Her retaliation got rid of him and his followers, but the backlash was too intense and her body got contaminated with the energy of the Dark Dimension, corroding and killing her."

"You never doubted her for a second, huh?" Strange asked with a slight scoff.

"What's there to doubt? The signs were all there. The masters examined the remnant energy themselves. Not to mention poor Mordo who got caught in the crossfire and died an untimely death." Wong said.

"Really?" Strange asked, "No doubts? Just believe what she shows? No questions about her long lifespan? Nothing?"

That made Wong shut up as he went into his thoughts.

Seeing Wong's silence, Strange continued, "The Dark Dimension's energy that you sensed from her remains wasn't from the ritual that Kaecilius used. It was from her own rituals that she cast to pull energy from the Dark Dimension to empower herself and sustain her lifespan," He said, "And what happens when the entity that she's pulling all that energy to sustain herself from disappears? Ashes."

"I need a moment…" Wong found it hard to accept the info bomb that Strange had just dumped on him, "And you knew all along?" He asked incredulously.

"Of course not." He shrugged, "I had to ask questions and find answers on my own. I got nothing but a last-minute astral realm conversation where she told me about her gripes with dying at such an unexpected time."

"Of course you did…" Wong mumbled, "So you can manipulate the Mirror Dimension because you can pull energy from the Dark Dimension without alerting Dormamu?"

"First off, Dormamu, he doesn't exist anymore — This is the third time I've told you this, stop ignoring it. And no, I'm not pulling anything from the Dark Dimension. The rulers of all dimensions have disappeared, leaving them easy to manipulate and exploit since there is no authority controlling those dimensions anymore." Strange explained.

"I see…" Wong took a sharp breath when he realized the implications of the dimensional rulers disappearing, "So there is no need for the sanctums anymore…" He trailed off, "Without the rulers attempting to encroach on the material world, the other inhabitants are too weak to breach through…"

"Exactly why I didn't go around telling everyone about my findings. It's best we let things continue while making subtle changes to the system." Strange said.

"What changes?" Wong asked.

"You know…" Strange shrugged and gestured to the sky, "Protecting ourselves from the users of the mystic art that are on the other planets. Maybe prevent them from portalling to this planet. Those kinds of things."

***

In Wakanda.

"Are you sure I don't need to go there?" Wanda asked Alex while giving a concerned look in a specific direction as if she could see through the walls in the bedroom, "The calling just got a whole lot stronger since a few hours ago."

"Yes," Alex told her, "Stark's there, examining a witch who has been corrupted by the Darkhold. He and Nat have everything under control." As for how Alex knew what was going on without Nat being there, he had already hacked into Tony's systems and could access all of the data that Friday was working with, including the recording that Tony was trying to examine.

"Are you sure that they don't need me?" Wanda asked, "I just need to portal there and help them out. I'll finish up as soon as possible and return."

"They'll be fine." Alex held her shoulders and made her sit back down on the couch, "They would've called you if they needed you. Plus, Strange and Wong are there to help out with everything."

"Oh, they are also there," Wanda raised a brow, "The fluctuations must truly be massive then. I've been feeling its call for a long time, but looks like it's desperate now."

"All the more reason for you to not go there," Alex said, "Remember that Earth that I was telling you about? The one where I had to overtax myself?"

"The Hydra one where you went with Laura, I know." She nodded with a glint in her eyes.

Alex coughed, "Yeah, Laura… So, that place also has a variant of you." He told Wanda, "And the Wanda there is probably somewhat stronger than even you. By a significant margin."

"Impressive," Wanda said casually before grabbing a biscuit and munching on it, "What about it?"

"She's not really Wanda," Alex told her, "An external entity is controlling her."

"So you're telling me that if I come into contact with the Darkhold and adhere to its whims, I'll get possessed by this unknown entity?" Wanda asked with a raised brow.

"Exactly," Alex nodded, "And it's not unknown. It's the ruler of the Chaos Dimension, Cthon. Or at least a wisp… I don't really know the exact deal."

Wanda hissed at Alex when she heard that name, her eyes filling with unbridled fury. An expression of immense hatred appeared on her face for a moment before disappearing, "That was weird…" She said while massaging her head.

"Yeah, you aren't going anywhere close to the Darkhold or Wundagore," Alex decided, "No matter what happens."

"Wundagore?" Wanda asked.

"The thing that's calling to you isn't the Darkhold. It's the palace on Mount Wundagore," Alex explained, "It's the place where the book was originally inscribed."

Alex's words had little effect on Wanda, "Whatever," She couldn't bother to give a fuck about anything that didn't have to do with herself and Alex, "Can we just get back to working on our Sanctumnal Home? I need to make sure that they don't mess anything up," She said, "If they mess up a single internal carving, the formation will be messed up and we'll have to do everything once again. Worst case, it blows everything up." She got up from the couch and grabbed Alex's hand, pulling him with her.

…

"What's your ETA, Nat?" Tony asked while approaching the temple that kept ominously glowing red.

"Ten minutes to breach Timerian airspace, another two to reach your location." She said, "Do you need backup?"

"It's fine," He refused, "I have a lovely sculpture of a woman keeping me company. The two weird men who put her in that state should also be returning soon."

Nat didn't say anything for a while, "…We'll be there as soon as possible," She said before hanging up.

"I would hope so…" Tony mumbled before glancing at Agatha's frozen form. After a moment of thought, he started flying toward the glowing rock structure.

"What are you doing?" It was at this time that Doctor Strange and Wong returned from Kamar Taj after having their talk, only to see Tony approaching the temple.

"Going closer to the ominously glowing rock formation to examine it better." Tony didn't let Strange's words dissuade him from entering the place.

"The grounds of Wundagore are a forbidden location for a reason," Strange said and created a portal in front of Tony that made him appear on the cliff that Strange and Wong were standing on.

Tony halted himself so that he wouldn't collide with the ground, "Don't," Tony said with suppressed annoyance as he prepared to fly back to the structure.

"Please stop," Wong tried to reason with Tony, "The tomb on top of Wundagore Mountain is not a simple place. Eons ago, the first demon, Chthon was the one to transcribe his darkest spells into his resting place. Those spells were later transcribed into that book," He pointed to the Darkhold that was frozen behind Agatha, "The Book of the Damned. That castle still contains the lingering will of the first demon and will corrupt anyone who enters unprepared."

"Nice history lesson, what's stopping me from destroying it?" Tony asked, "Seems like a big mess of old rocks that probably won't survive a big explosion."

"These places are not that simple." Strange said, "The Darkhold itself is many millennia old. With the tomb having existed for an indeterminate amount of time, do you really think a little explosion will get rid of it? It's built upon a leyline that directly empowers the defenses of the castle."

"I think a nuke should do the trick if nothing else," Tony said, "It'll even destroy the so-called leyline that's powering everything. Problem solved."

"It's like I'm dealing with a fucking rock," Strange blew up, "Do you not get it!? You can't destroy the tomb or the entire world's defenses will be put at risk. The leylines are all interconnected and if even a single node is destroyed, then everything gets destabilized."

"Seriously, stop trying to blow it up," Wong shook his head at Tony, "We can interrogate her and ask what's going on." He pointed to Agatha, "She will probably answer a lot of your doubts."

Tony clicked his tongue in disappointment and powered his thrusters down, landing on the ground with Wong and Strange, "If her answers don't satisfy me, I'm getting rid of that place. I don't want a loose Wanda Maximoff out and about after being corrupted by the devil-hold or whatever. I've seen what she can do."

"The Darkhold." Strange corrected Tony while pulling Agatha toward himself.

"Big difference, yes," Tony said with a mock-serious tone.

Strange narrowed his eyes at Tony and was about to say something, but his gaze abruptly turned upward. His eyes widened a little when he saw the silhouette of a fortress high up in the sky.

"Took you long enough," He heard Tony say and his brow twitched.

"I take it you called your buddies?" Strange asked, getting ready for a fight.

Before Tony could say anything with a quip, lightning crackled in the snowy sky as a lightning bolt hit the ground beside him, making him flinch away while in mid-air. As the snow settled, Nat appeared, clad in the usual black leather combat suit that she always wore, though it seemed even more tight-fitting than before, if that was even possible.

"I see you've been inspired by Thor. A much, much sexier version, but Thor nonetheless. Where do I get one of those?" Tony couldn't help but ask when he saw that she was completely unharmed after jumping down from the fortress that was still miles above them.

"It's a… kind of a me thing." Natasha said with an amused smile, "So what's going on with these guys?" She pointed to Wong and Strange.

"Does she kind of remind you of Wanda?" Wong asked Strange.

"In that they both have red hair?" Strange was slightly taken aback, "I didn't take you for that kind of a monk, Wong."

"Huh?" Wong was confused for a moment before his eyes widened slightly when he realized it, "What?! No!" He whispered furiously with his accent shining through his tone, "I was talking about the sense of something weird and inexplicable going on with them. What's wrong with you?"

"Oh, you should've clarified," Strange said, "How was I supposed to know?"

"If your lovers' spat is finished, shall we check out the ominous rock already?" Tony said with hints of impatience.

"When we said that Wundagore is a forbidden ground, what part of it did you not understand?" Strange said annoyedly as he cast an EMP spell at Tony that would disable all electronics and make his nano suit useless. The armor peeled right off of Tony's body, leaving him in a flimsy jacket that barely protected him from the cold.

"That wasn't very polite, was it?" Tony said with a tone of suppressed anger.

"We will take care of everything here. You don't need to interfere," Strange said before floating slightly higher with the help of his cloak to give his words more emphasis.

"Yeah, no." Nat shook her head and stomped her foot. Instantly, a large tentacle erupted from the ground right under Strange and wrapped around his ankle before pulling him back down.

"You go…" Tony couldn't help but cheer when he saw what Nat did, "I seriously need one of those."

"How about we talk cordially and cooperate?" Nat suggested, "You should know what kind of a stubborn bunch the Avengers are. Do you really want us against you?"

"Finally, a voice of reason," Wong cheered happily since he didn't have to deal with two egotistical maniacs all by himself anymore. When he saw Nat's inquisitive expression, he introduced himself, "My name is Wong, Ms. Romanoff."

"Hello," Nat greeted with a little smile, "Can you tell me what I missed?"

***