Sometime before the formation of Wanda's Chaos Tower, when Alex was finished dealing with things on the Hydra-dominated Earth, he and Laura took a small break on Farm Earth, hanging out with Felicia and resting for a couple of months. After having sufficient rest and relaxation time, they moved on to their next adventure — discovering the Scarlet Angel's origins. Having just encountered a variant of the Scarlet Witch with such an interesting persona, both Alex and Laura were curious about her.
…
A mystic arts portal appeared in the space outside the cluster of multiple variants of Earth. A sleek figure dressed in a black jumpsuit with yellow streaks came through. Even though she didn't have a mask covering her face, there didn't seem to be any adverse effects on her due to the vacuum.
[What now? I thought you could just bring me to that planet via your inventory thingy in case mystic arts portals can't bypass the planetary protections.]
[For that, I need to be on that planet. It has a physical barrier barring entry to all life forms. The same kind as the ones on both of Gaia's planets. It's not as robust as my barriers, but any intrusions will be detected.]
[So how do we get in?]
[With Chaos-based mystic arts, of course. The library in Kamar Taj has quite an extensive array of magical techniques for many purposes.]
[I get it. So you need to act from outside the planet.]
[Precisely.]
As they communicated telepathically, their destination finally came into view. A variant of Earth surrounded by a shimmering translucent barrier made of Chaos energy.
Alex led Laura closer to the planet, using lightning to propel her forward through the empty space and closer to their target planet.
[I feel like I'm being pushed away from the planet by some kind of wind…] Laura commented as they approached the barrier.
[You can think of it as a sort of ionic wind. It's a side effect of a planetary barrier. It is one of the many reasons that even the continual maintenance of a planetary barrier takes enough energy I had to place the power source inside the core of the planet.]
[Doesn't there need to be matter for ionic wind? Our current position should be barely within the exosphere right now.]
[Kind of… that's why I said it's not exactly ionic wind. The sheer energy radiating off that barrier is enough that you are feeling that repulsion. Considering that the energy that I'm talking about is Chaos energy, that means its subatomic particles are the thing pushing you back.]
[I don't get it.]
[It's going to take longer to explain than it's worth. Just think of it as the barrier emitting irradiated subatomic particles charged with Chaos that are colliding with you and pushing you back, making you feel like you are being pushed away by ionic wind. Under normal circumstances, you would've turned into an Eldrich mutant by now.]
[This whole Chaos business sounds dangerous… Are you sure we should be doing this?]
[I would be concerned about it, only if I didn't have Chaos powers myself. Unless I get into a direct confrontation with that Scarlet Witch variant, there isn't much that can harm us.]
[We might end up getting into a direct confrontation with her, Alex…]
[Unlikely. She isn't even on this planet at the moment. She is on her conquest to take over her fifth planet at the moment.]
[Fifth? It seems that she is winning…]
[Not for long. That is why we are here. To figure out how the hell she can sustain the kind of consumption required to maintain four planet-wide barriers.]
As they conversed, Laura was finally close enough to the barrier that Alex could attempt to pass through it without alerting the caster of the barrier.
[Quiet now. I need to focus if I want us to resonate with the barrier and pass through without detection.]
With those words, Laura felt her hands involuntarily being raised as Alex controlled her body like a puppet, channeling a controlled amount of Chaos energy through her body. Her lips moved involuntarily as she chanted something she couldn't quite understand. Her hands extended themselves as a shapeless mist moved around her fingers, gathering between her hands.
Soon, she pushed her hands forward, sending the gathered mist toward the shimmering red barrier in front of her.
A silent yelp escaped Laura's lips as she was immediately propelled forward and into the barrier. She panicked and tightly closed her eyes, bracing herself for the upcoming pain.
[I'm offended by how little trust you have in me.]
She heard Alex's voice in her head and flinched instinctively, hesitantly opening her eyes. The view reflected in her irises left her breathless.
[Woah…] She responded, finally seeing the real view of the planet without the filter of the translucent red barrier. While the blues of the water and the greens and browns of the ground were all normal, the whites of the clouds were crimson.
[Woah indeed… I thought that the red was just because of the barrier. Apparently not.]
[I'm suddenly not so sure about this, Alex… If she has the power to alter the planet to such an extent, that means that she isn't some weakling that we can easily beat up.]
[We aren't going to fight her. Don't worry. I have enough escape means planned that even if she decides to confront us, we can escape unscathed.]
[I hope so… Where do we go now?]
[Kamar Taj. I want to see how much Wanda has influenced the planet's witchcraft and mystic arts presence.]
[Does that mean I get to learn that stuff as well?] Laura was suddenly excited.
[Sure. If you want to, I can easily help you tap into the other dimensions so that you can freely channel magic.]
Soon, Laura descended into an isolated alley while also mystically camouflaged to make sure that some random mystic arts used wouldn't suddenly detect her presence.
[You not going to accompany me with a real form?] Laura asked Alex.
[No need. I can support you better this way. Plus, we don't really plan to do anything that would require my physical presence at the moment. We just need to explore and see how this planet works.]
"If you say so," Laura mumbled before stretching as her previous space-safe outfit modified itself and revealed her face and head before receding further, leaving her in a crop top with a jacket and some jeans.
Laura finally walked out of the alley, curious to see what the deal was that made Alex so curious about the culture of this planet's inhabitants.
The first anomaly her eyes were drawn to was a food stall. At first glance, the vendor was a simple laphing seller, but something seemed very off about him. Whenever someone came up to the vendor, a suppressed flare of magical energy was followed by serving the customer.
"Is that guy using magic?" She mumbled to herself while approaching the small stall placed in the middle of the pavement.
[Something along those lines. Ask him what he's selling. Let's see what that flare of magic is all about.]
Laura moved closer to the vendor, looking like a typical tourist.
"What's that?" She asked the man in English.
"This, my lady, is a Thukpa," The man's English was far too fluent for him to be a Tibetian native. "These are noodles made from rice flour, rolled up with chili oil and some other condiments."
"Give me one," Laura said. "You speak very fluent English."
The man let out a slight chuckle as the flare of magic appeared again. This time, Laura was close enough to see that the man had pressed his palm on some kind of scanner at one corner of his cart. Once the magical flare disappeared, he raised his palm and opened a compartment within the cart, pulling out an already-plated set of rolled noodles.
"I have spent my entire life in this country, my lady," the man explained as he picked up the disposable plate and handed it to Laura. "I was just lucky enough to be able to afford a language translator rune."
"Oh," Larua acted nonchalantly as if she was perfectly aware of the rune the man mentioned. "This is pretty good," she praised, quickly finishing the few rolls.
"Thank you," the man said.
"How much?" Laura asked as she took the last bite.
"Five chips," he said, giving Laura a slightly scrutinizing look.
[Try to bargain down to three.]
"Five? For a single plate of this... Laphing?" Laura acted flabbergasted. "Two chips. I saw you selling it to others at the same price."
"Tourist tax," The previous amiable conversation seemed to mean nothing to the mam.
"I'm not paying a chip beyond two," Laura said.
"Then you should've asked before eating," The man said flatly. "It costs five."
"Try again, old man," Laura's tone grew menacing. "I'm not beyond talking to the authorities for a meager sum of money."
Laura's slightly intimidating aura would've only agitated the man, leading to him calling the authorities. With some support from Alex, her intimidation factor was suddenly amplified, making the man shake in his boots.
[You're shit at bargaining.] Alex chided her.
"I can't sell it for lower than three chips," the man caved.
"Hm," Laura expressionlessly extended her arm and three crimson chips fell on the man's counter.
[You look like a rude entitled brat. And now we have the authorities after us.]
[What?! You are the one who told me to bargain.]
[Bargain, not threaten. Do you think the cops here will believe the hot naive-looking tourist chick who got overcharged or the local vendor who regularly pays them protection money?]
[Yeah, well… Being with you has dulled my espionage skills. Especially the months we spent in Gaia. I didn't think of any of that stuff and thought you would just take care of everything like usual…]
[I'm already doing that. But it's something you should be mindful about.]
[You're the best.] She beamed smugly. [Now what's the deal with those crimson chips? They are condensed Chaos energy, right?]
[This planet works on a universal currency. Chaos chips and crystals. Chips are mass-produced solidified energy, similar to coins, and have a standardized value here. They even have denominations depending on the concentration of energy within the chip. I haven't yet gauged anything about crystals beyond their existence and that they possess a ridiculously high value.]
[Convinent. But isn't that highly inefficient? Why would she not try to set up a system similar to your whole bracelet thing with everything being digital?]
[Because these chips are beyond just currency. They run their entire society. That guy, for example. He isn't someone with an affinity for Chaos. He is simply using an artifact that runs on Chaos energy. Those chips are the battery for his food cart. Looking at the output, a single chip should be able to create ten plates before requiring replacement.]
[And he had the gall to ask me for five? He should be selling those for half a chip.]
[Capitalism.]
[It's depressing that even a small street vendor is so susceptible to capitalism. Anyway, there has to be some kind of source for those chips. I doubt that planetary overlord has the kind of time or energy necessary to generate trillions of chips to serve as not only the replacement for electricity but also as their currency. How did the world even transition so drastically? I don't see a single person around considering this system as weird or alien.]
[There are two possibilities for that: either this reality was already one based on Chaos magic and energy, or that variant of Scarlet Witch used the Reality Stone to modify this planet's culture by force.]
[Can she even do that?] Laura made a weird face. [I see you hesitant to use the Mind Stone to read even a single person's memories while that woman is using the Reality Stone to modify reality on a planetary scale. Are you using the stone wrong?]
[No, I'm just doing my best to make sure that I don't accidentally kill all my hosts by channeling too much energy. Using an Infinity Stone without the necessary capabilities or the correct medium will violently pressure the user's very life force, very quickly killing them.]
[So she is using an artifact?]
[Maybe… But I have another more likely guess. What I usually do to augment the damage to mine and, by extension, my hosts' life force, is to use EP to take the brunt of that impact. I believe that she is doing something similar to that. Whether it is through the use of Chaos energy, or something else is yet to be determined.]
[If it is Chaos energy, then this trip might just be extremely fruitful. It would mean that you can use the Infinity Stones you collect consistently without any problems.]
[It's a big what if. I've explored that avenue without any success. Chaos energy is too volatile to serve that purpose. Unless the user is the literal embodiment of Chaos… Someone like a Dimensional Ruler.]
[Maybe she is already that powerful…]
[Maybe, but I doubt it. Forget it. There's no need to waste our time thinking about what-ifs. I'm curious to see what else is different on this planet.]
…
Since Alex could simply produce as many chips as he wanted to, he had Laura look for a relatively upscale resort without any restraints regarding money. For once, they didn't have to commit any major crimes like hypnotizing people and modifying their memories and took care of everything with some minor currency fraud. Which wasn't really currency fraud since there weren't any bank markings on Chaos chips.
After some investigation, they found out that there was indeed a Central Reserve Bank that manufactured and kept track of the Chaos chips throughout the entire world. Since their currency also doubled as a power source for everything in the world, that meant the chips without energy rapidly lost their value, which made the manufacturing aspect of Chaos chips far more prominent. To keep the chips in circulation, the Central Reserve Bank would provide every living human a certain allowance every month that could be used for the exchange of goods and services as required.
"This is a weird system…" Laura mumbled while inside the resort's bedroom, lying on the bed with her head in Alex's lap as he massaged her scalp.
"This system is flawed in so many ways, yet it is currently working like a well-oiled machine as if having gone through countless iterations throughout history."
"She is a dangerous character," Laura said. "To be able to use the fragmented Infinity Stones to such an extent…"
"You know, the amount of chips that are allotted to each person is different," Alex said. "It depends on the person's social impact, standing, and more. Not only that, certain people receive a load of chips simply because they possess a slight affinity toward either magic or Chaos."
"Yeah, without the stone's influence, this kind of a society would crumble within months."
"Maybe…" Alex said. "Though I still don't understand the benefit of going so far as to modify reality to establish such a system. Unless it benefits her in some way, this is a waste of time."
"You think there's more to it?" Laura asked.
"Maybe," Alex said. "I've heard that they also consider how many emptied-out chips have been returned to the Central Bank when allocating the monthly chip quota."
"Could those empty chips take something from the holders that we can't detect? Why else would they put extra value on people who possess an affinity for magic or Chaos?"
"I've examined the read chips deeply when I created my fakes," Alex said. "I can't see the emptied crystals taking anything from humans… Though it is possible that they are taking something ethereal like faith that I can't detect with my current abilities."
"Faith?" Laura asked, confused.
"Keep in mind, I'm just speculating wildly at the moment," Alex said. "But Wanda, the variant I'm bonded with, has an innate ability to establish a territory in her surroundings when certain conditions are met — conditions that I'm not completely sure about. She is empowered within her territory. I believe that these chips are probably a way for her to expand this so-called territory to multiple planets."
"Sounds like a stretch," Laura said.
"That's why I said that this is just speculation. Those chips could just be a compromise required when she established the new rules of reality when using the Reality Stone."
"Maybe we just need to break into the Bank and ask them what the deal is with collecting the empty chips," Laura suggested. "No need to form so many conjectures."
"No," Alex shook his head. "It's too early to get into Wanda's crosshairs. It's better if we continue to lay low for now. Our next order of business should be Kamar Taj. I've already found their base. When the sun rises, we will leave for their recruitment drive."
"Won't Kamar Taj also uncover our identities? It's not every day a mysterious tourist enters their ranks."
"That would be the case, but they are publically recruiting potential sorcerers. That's why I said we will be joining the recruitment drive tomorrow. It's a weekly thing where they allow anyone to walk in, test their affinity, and train under their sorcerers."
"That doesn't sound like a trap," Laura said sarcastically.
"It's most definitely a trap," Alex confirmed. "Not a single one of the applicants has returned to normalcy since the past few months that this has been going on. I have noticed traces of absorption magic, which points to a certain character that I'm curious about."
"Well, I still get to learn mystic arts, right?" Laura asked.
"Of course. Not only that, we might just be able to dabble in witchcraft as well. There is a fine line between them, but it exists." Alex explained before Laura could ask for clarification.
Laura suddenly sighed. "Do you mind taking me home after we're done here, Alex?" She asked. "I want closure. Regarding Logan, Xavier… everyone. You have the Mind Stone. Xavier's abilities shouldn't affect you, right?"
"We'll be fine," Alex nodded, caressing the side of her face. "Even if he tries to use that big amplifier of his to read our minds, it won't be any use."
"It's only been a few months, but it feels like a lifetime ago that I left that facility," she said. "You changed everything."
"Don't give me all the credit," Alex said with a laugh. "You have some moments as well."
"Yeah, right," Laura suddenly jumped up at Alex and straddled him. "We still have a couple of hours until sunrise, right?"
Laura's suggestive tone wasn't lost on Alex and he decided to respond with his actions instead of his words as he captured Laura's lips in a heated kiss.
Moments later, the duo had lost all items of clothing on their bodies and were passionately indulging in the pleasures of each other's flesh.
-x-X-x-
As the sun rose, illuminating the mountainous terrain of the surroundings, a small village with barely a population of a hundred people was currently host to thousands of people. Almost none of them were locals; they weren't even from the surrounding cities or villages. Instead, the group comprised people from all sorts of different ethnicities and mannerisms. It was clear that the people were foreigners.
Everyone was out on the streets, spread around through the different levels of the village, some on rooftops, some sitting on the edges of small cliffs that dipped to the lower levels of the village, and more. It seemed as if the concert of the century was about to take place in the village, considering how excited the people seemed to be.
Amidst all this, Laura was sitting on the edge of an under-construction building, with the concrete flooring only half laid out while steel rebars poked out of the edge. She was huffing while holding onto the exposed rod for support, leaning against another exposed rod.
"Damn, Alex. I thought I could join in with the crowd, but fuck me, it's hard to breathe in there. Not to mention all the groping. I swear, I felt three people grabbing my ass on separate occasions while I was inside…" She huffed out.
"Oh, that was all me," Alex clarified as his head poked through her shoulder. "I couldn't give up on the chance to tease you while you were in the middle of a huge crowd. Those people are too focused on the singular purpose of joining Kamar Taj."
Laura snorted at Alex's confession. "I kinda agree," she said. "It's uncanny… as if they've been brainwashed."
"They may have been. It seems like they were all brought here from the three Sanctums in London, New York, and Hong Kong. Whoever is behind these machinations probably isn't above a little hypnosis to make their candidates fall in line more smoothly."
"What do we do?" Laura asked. "It should be starting at any moment now. If I'm not in a similarly hypnotized state, they might realize something is off with me."
"I'll make a decoy," Alex said. "It will be much easier to manage things with that instead of having you meld into a hypnotized crowd. It will also keep you safe from any crowd control measures affecting the mind."
"Won't those measures affect you instead?"
"Chaos Magic should come in handy when dealing with witchcraft and mystic arts in general. If not, using the Mind Stone is also a viable option for now. I have a good bit of EP saved up for just such an occasion."
"So I get to enjoy the good view," Laura smiled. "Nice —"
A sudden sound of a suppressed explosion pulled Laura's attention away from Alex and to the area above the huge crowd of people. A small cloud of purple smoke, mixed with red, exploded up above, as a feminine silhouette appeared within.
"Potential candidates," a soft, enticing voice came through the slowly dissipating smoke. "You are all gathered here today to serve a glorious purpose for the betterment of this entire planet."
As she spoke, Laura could see occasional glimpses of her figure that evoked her curiosity: her jet-black hair mixed with streaks of white, parts of her purple gown that had streaks of red in it, the subtle way her shadowed hands moved and released magical energy, and more.
"Something's off with her…" Laura suddenly snapped out of her reverie after a few seconds.
"Good on you for snapping out of it so quickly," Alex praised her. "She has an attraction spell cast on her body that keeps the attention of all those who look at her."
"Why?" Laura asked as the face of the silhouette was finally revealed once more than half of the fog dissipated.
"So that people don't realize that they are breathing the mind-numbing fumes of that cloud she's standing on," Alex said. "She is using simple, low-cost methods to cast crowd control on more than five thousand people. Her techniques are good enough to make her worthy of being the Scarlet Witch's teacher."
"What?" Laura was startled at Alex's words.
"Yeah," he nodded. "She is wearing the official robes of Kamar Taj. Not only that, they belong to the Sorcerer Supreme. And according to the energy flow around her, she is officially accepted by this planet's eldritch energies. That means she is acting as an envoy for Scarlet Witch."
"Why teacher, however? They could just be simple allies."
"I'm going to put my money on her being Scarlet's teacher," Alex said. "Just a hunch."
"Now then," Agatha looked to be floating on top of a cloud as she spoke after a brief pause, looking satisfied with the results of her crowd control techniques. "Let us move to the testing venue."
Agatha spread apart her hands, immediately creating two red Eldritch magic circles at the ends. Following her actions, another massive magic circle formed in the air above the massive crowd, illuminating everyone with an ominous red glow. With a flash, every candidate disappeared from their spots, including Agatha and her cloud, leaving the streets completely empty as the skies cleared up instantly.
"Can you do that?" Laura asked. "Without making a portal, I mean."
"Kamar Taj has other variants of teleportation-based spells, but nothing as convenient as the Sling Ring and portals. This is probably one of her original spells for instant teleportation. Looking at it from an energy consumption standpoint, the spell is less efficient than using a Sling Ring, but the convenience is greater since it doesn't require any medium." Alex said.
"Should we follow her?" Laura asked casually, still hanging from the side of the building.
"Nah, let her finish the purge," he responded. "I'll switch you in once all that is over."
"She's going to kill everyone so quickly?" She asked with some concern. "I thought that she would power them up first before doing that."
"You can't save everyone, Laura. I know it doesn't feel good to sit on your ass while people die, but we have other priorities."
Laura let out a defeated sigh. "Why couldn't you have been a good guy, huh? We could've gone around the whole cluster, protecting people from bad guys and saving the day…"
"I have saved the day," Alex said. "For two whole planets at that. While I haven't completely eliminated crime, I have brought about the closest thing to world peace on both planets. My methods may have been somewhat extremist, but I believe that the sacrifice of lives was worth it."
"Yeah," Laura blew a raspberry. "I know. I lived on one of them for half a year. It's just that sometimes, I want to get the instant gratification one gets from saving the day and seeing the grateful face of the person who was saved. It would be so much fun to swoop in and punch Agatha Harkness in the face just as she is about to kill all those people. They would then cheer for me as I beat her up."
"You want the reality of that situation?" Alex asked rhetorically before continuing. "Those people will instantly start cursing you out because of her hypnosis. And even if I remove her hypnotic suggestions, most of them will still curse at you because you took away their chance to be something different, something beyond normalcy. Do you want to know the best example of this? Spider-Man. People love turning on that guy the moment he makes a mistake. Being a good guy is fucking sad. And doing it for instant gratification is even worse because all you get is misery. The only reason Spider-Man hasn't gone crazy is that he is a masochist workaholic who feels responsible for everything bad that happens in the world because of a singular trauma in his formative years."
Midway through Alex's rant, Laura turned to look at him with a concerned look in her eyes. "Did you run into another Spider-Man?"
"Yeah…" He sighed. "The one from this planet. Last night, I separated a body to do some more exploration. Guess the first person I ran into? Spider-Man. He's in Tibet for some ungodly reason; probably part of a ploy to attack the new Kamar-Taj and dethrone Agatha from her seat as Sorcerer Supreme."
"Oh?" Laura's eyes brightened with a glint. "Is this a variant who can use magic?" She asked.
"I didn't ask. I was too busy suppressing my urge to kill him on the spot…" Alex said with a pause. "And no."
"I didn't even say anything," she threw her arms up in the air.
"I already know what you're going to say," Alex growled at her.
"Can we?" Laura asked as her eyes instantly turned to a pleading expression. "Can we, please~?" She clasped her hands together and pleaded with Alex, curling up slightly to look smaller than she usually was and looking up at Alex, invoking a pitiful feeling.
"Where was this acting skill when you were bargaining with that food guy?"
"Please~?" She didn't respond to Alex's taunt and continued pleading. "I want to play the hero for once. The heroes on that Hydra Earth all hated me because we killed that fucker, Charles. Why can't I be the good guy? You can continue your infiltration work with Agatha using that separate body. I'll go work with the heroes. We can cover more bases and understand more about this planet that way~."
"I'm not here to understand this planet," Alex said. "I need to understand more about that anomaly of a Scarlet Witch. Helping the resistance won't benefit us."
"It will! It will make me feel good. I'll be more motivated to help you do your thing then."
"Fine…" Alex let out a half-sigh half-groan. "This is the exact reason why I didn't tell you about my encounter yesterday. Damn Spider-Man."
"We will try to unpack your Spider-Man trauma as well," Laura said. "I'll try to become friends with him. Maybe talking to him will help you."
-x-X-x-
As Laura decided to participate in the resistance force against Agatha Harkness and her murderous ways, Alex's copy of hers was teleported to the mirror dimension alongside all of the other candidates. Immediately, Agatha manipulated the terrain with fluid efficiency as the entire slanted area turned into a flat area while the people were all spread apart, away from each other, by an unseen force.
Looking down, Alex noticed that everyone was standing within small cells within a massive grid, and each cell was inscribed with an unfamiliar magic circle. As Alex examined it, he observed that the dialect of the circle's runes was entirely unfamiliar to him. He wouldn't call himself a master in the ways of the Mystic Arts, but having spent a long time with Wanda as she trained in Kamar-Taj, he was confident that he would at least be able to recognize the rough purpose of a magic circle by identifying some of the runes within it. This circle, however, was far too different from anything he had seen yet.
"I don't have the patience for many words," Agatha spoke. "Just know that the circle under you is designed to test your mettle and whether you are worthy of the Mystic Arts or not. If you are, good for you. If not… you die. Let's start." With a snap of her fingers, every single magic circle within the massive grid flashed with a purple light that engulfed their respective testee within a pillar of light.
Alex experienced the same sensation as the magic circle seemed to scan his entire being and engulfed him within a pillar of solidified purple. Fortunately, it wasn't able to break through his Chaos Magic defense. To the circle, this candidate was a simple woman with a moderate to high affinity toward the mystic arts.
A few seconds passed as the light faded away, revealing the rest of the candidates on the grid, or lack thereof. As far as Alex could see, he was the only one left alive.
"Hm?" Agatha looked thoughtful as she continued floating on her cloud of intoxicating fumes. "Only two? The newer batches are getting worse… Even worse, one of them is a mutant derivative. These guys are useless on this planet…"
Despite her mumbling those words to herself, Alex was able to clearly hear them due to his sensitive senses. He frowned inwardly as he processed the words and turned his attention behind himself to locate the other survivor.
'That's… Storm. Young, probably in her mid-twenties. Wait… She doesn't have the X-gene, but I can sense a latent mystical power within her… What's going on?'
Alex was familiar enough with Laura's biology that he could instantly identify the existence of the mutant gene within a person at first glance without even requiring a touch. What confused him was that this reality's version of Storm didn't seem to be a mutant, but his magic affinity allowed him to sense some kind of mystical power within her.
"Good work on surviving the ordeal," Agatha clapped her hands, and reality shifted to bring both candidates closer to each other. Alex sensed that despite his position in space moving, the circle under him was still the same, which meant that each cell within the board was part of a larger formation. "You two get to join Kamar Taj."
"But I didn't do anything…" The dark-skinned woman spoke.
"Precisely," Agatha said with a wide smile. "Mystic arts are all about talent and latent potential. You two have it, which means you are worthy of joining our ranks."
"What about the others?" Alex was a little curious about what Agatha did with all those people and not even the slightest hints of their corpses remained.
"Dead," Agatha said. "You will learn how I did it sooner or later. For now, I will lead you to Kamar Taj where the steward will lead you to your room. You don't mind sharing, do you? We have two-person dorms."
Her polite words and tone were clearly just for show, considering that immediately after finishing, she didn't even wait for a response and created a red magic circle under the two of them, teleporting them away.
"Man, the mirror dimension is convenient to use these days," Agatha laughed as all of the magic circles on the grid started glowing, except for the two right in front of Agatha that belonged to Laura and Ororo.
…
Alex sighed as he was teleported to a familiar environment — Kamar Taj. The two passing candidates appeared in a pavilion that possessed an air of serenity that calmed them the moment they appeared.
"Everything okay?" Alex's companion asked as she heard her compatriot's sigh.
"Yeah…" Alex trailed off, annoyed that he would have to pretend to be Laura for the time being. The initial plan was to let Laura do her thing while he accompanied her. But suddenly, he was thrust into the limelight. Not to mention, having to pretend to be Laura. "Since we'll be staying together, I should introduce myself. I'm Laura. Laura Kinney. What's your name?"
"Ororo. Ororo Monroe," the dark-skinned woman with silvery-white hair spoke, extending her hand forward as Laura shook it.
"Are you familiar with this place?" Alex asked her, hoping to get an idea of what exactly brought her here.
"I'm clueless." She shook her head. "Were you brought in from one of the other zones? They told me there were three recruitment zones."
"New York," Alex responded. "What about you?"
"Oh? They picked me up in New York as well," she responded. "I must've missed you."
"It's understandable," Alex smiled lightly, not bothered by the woman's little test.
"Apprentices!" A stern voice drew both of their attention. "Only you two were sent back by the Sorceress Supreme?"
"Mhm," Alex nodded at the bald monk who was speaking to them. "The others all disappeared."
"Hm," the monk grunted. "You may address me as Master Windu. I will be responsible for both of your training until you are ready to play a part in the grand scheme of reality. Your names?"
"Laura." "Ororo Monroe."
"Laura, Ororo," the man nodded. "Follow me. I shall lead you to the dorms."
Laura and Ororo shared a look as the red-robed monk turned around, gesturing for them to follow him.
"This is Kamar Taj," Master Windu spoke. "The most prominent bastion of sorcerers and magicians in the world. Anyone even closely related to magic has gone through here. Be it the producers of magical appliances, Chaos chips, runemasters, and more, everyone has learned what they learned in Kamar Taj. They are sorcerers— men and women with massive powers and responsibilities. They are the most influential people in the world."
Alex grew thoughtful at the mention of runemasters. Having explored the surroundings, he had seen magical appliances and Chaos chips, for sure. But he hadn't seen any traces of runemasters or any artifacts affected by their work that would give them a separate distinction from magical appliance creators.
"As for Kamar Taj," the monk continued. "The room we just left is the only zone where teleportation is permitted. You cannot teleport anywhere else within Kamar Taj. Now, on our right is the mess hall. Meals are served at all times of the day for no charge, so you may eat according to your schedule."
The mess hall looked like the inside of a large restaurant with different seating arrangements that could accommodate any group of people from two to ten at different tables.
"Next up, we have the training grounds to our left," Master Windu continued moving while the sounds of people exclaiming resounded in unison as they trained in martial arts. "You are to report here at sharp six tomorrow morning. I will explain your training regimen at that time. Lastly, these are your quarters."
"Is our room inside?" Ororo asked with confusion, looking for more doors. "This can't be the only dorm room here, right?"
"In response to our recent increased capacity of applicants and apprentices, we have made some modifications to the dorm system. This door is an artifact that leads you to a separate dimension. That's where your dorm room is present. Any questions?"
"What happens if we inadvertently damage the room?" Ororo asked, making Laura raise a brow.
"Do you have certain episodes, Miss Ororo?" the Master asked.
"Yes," she nodded, glancing at Laura and pushing her hair behind her ear. Her gesture seemed to either go over the man's head, or he simply didn't care. She sighed in defeat. "I have occasional episodes at night… I've made lightning strike my house on multiple occasions."
"No need to worry," the man said with a light smile. "The rooms are durable enough to withstand a cyclone. And even if you end up destroying it inadvertently, we have Sorcerers stationed to rescue any drifters before they die. You can rest assured."
"All right."
"And you don't need to hide your innate principalities from anyone here," he said. "Especially not your teammate. You two will be training together until you are proficient enough for self-study."
"Understood," Ororo's face said that she took his words with a grain of salt.
"Any other questions?" he glanced at both his apprentices as they shook their heads.
"All right, then. You may explore Kamar Taj today. If you wish to explore the village outside, the exit is just beyond the pavilion we came from."
"We are free to leave?" Ororo asked in surprise.
"Naturally," Windu nodded. "Of course, I hope that you understand what a massive opportunity you will be missing out on if you do decide to leave permanently."
-x-X-x-
Windu left after giving the two some minor instructions as they entered through the magical door that would lead to their dorm.
"Huh," Alex decided to share his observation. "I was expecting a small room with a bunk bed, not better than a college dorm. This is downright lavish compared to that."
It was less a single room and more a large two-bedroom apartment, from what Alex could tell. At first glance, they had a living room with a large TV, an island kitchen, two bedrooms, and a separate section for the bathroom that had two walk-in closets.
"Thousands of people are dead, Laura," Ororo responded. "We are the only ones who survived. I think it's valid to assume that we have enough value to them that they are willing to invest in us."
"I'm going to suggest that you quickly curb that arrogance slash confidence in your value," he responded, walking forward and taking a seat on the couch. "We are barely trainees for now. The Sorceress Supreme was downright cheery after killing thousands of people. Try not to get yourself in trouble."
Ororo didn't respond and seemed thoughtful.
"They said we would get everything we need here…" she spoke to herself and walked toward the bath section that had a large dresser along with two opposing doors that led to individual walk-in closets.
As Ororo disappeared behind a door, Alex used a subtle wave of Chaos magic to investigate the room and what kind of reinforcements were present within, including looking for any possible monitoring spells. At the same time, outwardly, he turned on the TV and put on a news channel, showing an expression of delight after realizing that everything was already available, including cable and streaming services.
'As expected…' He thought to himself. Fortunately, the runes used to maintain the room were all familiar to him from his time at the MCU's Kamar Taj. It was the same magic system that he was familiar with — the only difference was the power source for those runes, which now ran on Chaos energy instead of the usual Eldritch energy. His skill in dealing with Chaos energy-powered Mystic Arts allowed him to easily detect the purpose of all runes placed throughout the house. Surveillance runes were spread throughout the house, including the bedrooms, bathroom, and closets. The occupants had zero privacy within this room. However, one benefit of magic was that instead of directly capturing a video, the surveillance spells could do much more, like detecting energy spikes. There were even specific runes used to detect emotions like malice and rage. All in all, it was a very comprehensive system that accounted for a very large number of possible situations.
The issue, however, was that Alex didn't like being monitored. At all.
'Modifying these runes is going to take all day…' Alex sighed tiredly as another task was added to his background agenda.
He immediately started his work under the guise of watching TV and making himself comfortable on the couch. Alex applied many advanced techniques that he could only use because he had the affinity extended to him by his Wanda. Instead of outright destroying the runes, he was going to take control of them and manipulate their outputs. Even if Kamar Taj had someone manually monitoring the rooms, they wouldn't notice anything amiss unless someone directly tried to examine the runes of the dorm.
Almost an hour passed before Ororo finally emerged from the bathroom, dressed in robes provided to every apprentice.
"You're still here? I thought that you would go out to explore." Ororo asked as she saw Laura lazily resting on the couch while watching the news on the TV.
"I thought that we could go together," Laura responded. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah… I thought that you could go take a shower while I take a little tour," she suggested with a slightly defensive tone.
"Sure, I don't mind," Laura responded. "But I think it's better if we stick together for the time being. I can see that you aren't willing to trust just anyone you meet. And I respect that. But you have to put aside that dogma for now. I don't know about you, but I have no illusions about how dangerous of a situation we are really in at the moment. We can be killed, and there will be no real resolution for our deaths. So, I hope that we can stick together in this."
"You aren't confident that you will be able to face the mettle," Ororo said flatly. "I know that I have what it takes to be the best of them."
"That's even worse. Who's to say that she won't suddenly decide that she likes your innate magic and steal it from you?" Laura said. "Are you truly that dumb, or is this a momentary lapse in judgment?"
Ororo didn't show any emotions on her face before sighing and sitting beside Laura. "I'll wait for you."
"Awesome!" Laura exclaimed, straightening up and messing up Ororo's hair.
"Hey!" The victim swatted the assailant's hands away, not noticing that a small amount of black substance had invaded her body through her scalp. "I just combed my hair…"
"I think we're going to be good friends, Ororo," Laura said before standing up. "Just you wait."
"Yeah, yeah. Get ready quickly. I'm starving. We'll go have breakfast together."
Laura didn't respond and walked to the bathroom to take a shower and change into Kamar Taj's apprentice robes.
…
'Is investing in her worthwhile…' As Ororo and Laura ate breakfast together, Alex was deep in thought as he examined Ororo's physiology and genome, trying to understand how her powers work exactly.
Piecing together clues from Agatha's words and Ororo's situation, Alex understood that this world didn't exactly have mutants, per se. They existed, and many possessed the same powers as their mutant counterparts in the multiverse, but the X-gene wasn't the source of those powers. It was their bloodline. While that sounded similar, there is a world of difference between the two. For a mutant whose powers are derived from the X-gene, that gene is the complete source of their power — other than in some special cases like Phoenix. As for the so-called mutants in this version of Earth, their bloodline connected them to a specific principality that was the source of their power. Similar to how the MCU Earth's sorcerers use spells by pulling Eldritch energy from a separate dimension, the bloodline allowed this world's mutants to do the same thing innately. Technically speaking, Alex's Wanda was also a similar case, where she had an innate connection to the Chaos dimension without the X-gene.
'So… all she possesses are storm powers. Once I absorb those three Thors, her benefit to me will be negligible. That rules out a primary bond with her. At this point, other than a suitable variant of Susan Storm, I don't think anyone is worth forming a primary bond with. As for a secondary bond…' Alex thought of her trust issues and generally distant persona and ruled that out as well, leaving a Tertiary bond similar to the one he'd formed with Laura and Kamala from Hydra Earth — one without any direct interaction and a mostly automated management system for safety and motivation.
'Now… to think of a way to turn her to my side. I guess I could look for other candidates and find more mutants among them to destabilize this place from the inside while Laura works with the Mystic League to ultimately put Dr. Strange up in the position of Sorcerer Supreme. They would be a very good addition to the Widows. Firstly, however, I need them to lift the blockade from me and Ororo interacting with other people…' Alex looked around to see the entire mess hall completely empty. While they had come to eat breakfast far too late, they shouldn't have been the only people in there.
"Yo!" Ororo snapped her fingers in front of Laura's face. "Earth to Laura. Are you still alive?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"I've been calling you for the last minute. How deep into your thoughts were you?"
"I was thinking whether or not I should introduce you to my special suit," Laura said. "I'll tell you about it when we get back to the room."
"Special suit?" Ororo frowned.
"You were telling me about your heritage," Laura forcefully changed the topic. "You're from an isolated Kenyan tribe?"
"On my mother's side," Ororo said. "It is said that each of them has had the potential to wield magic."
"Oh?" Laura raised a brow. "So that's why you're confident in your abilities and potential."
"Partly," Ororo said. "Partly because of my innate ability to control the weather. I have always suppressed it, but any strong emotional outbursts usually lead to very bad weather. I would like to control my ability. That is why I am here. What about you? What prompted you to accept the invitation?"
"I never got an invitation," Laura said. "I found a flyer that led me to the New York Sanctum. It had an… uncanny compulsion to it, no?"
Her conversation partner's sharp timbre was not lost on Ororo as her features stiffened in response. "Sorry…"
"Test me again, and we will have a problem, Ororo," Laura said seriously. "We live together. No one's going to stop me if I decide to drug you to sleep and draw a dick with a magical permanent marker on your face. I'm sure they have one of those lying around here."
Ororo had just gotten defensive when she heard Laura's serious tone, but it immediately dissipated with an amused snort.
"I can be very petty, Ororo. Do you get it?"
"Fine, fine," the mutant shook her head with a disarming smile. "I won't test you anymore."
'Thank fuck for Chaos-based hypnosis…' Alex inwardly let out a stressed sigh after barely passing Ororo's test. Luckily, after the first time, he was prepared for such a situation and promptly glanced at her surface memories before responding to her question.
-x-X-x-
In Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, the East Road only had a few people on it, most of them locals who were there for something specific. Generally, it would be evening before the tourist traffic gave the road the same hustle and bustle one would imagine from a prominent shopping district in the mountains.
A woman dressed in dark colors was walking around, looking slightly out of place with her sunglasses and backpack. At first glance, her mannerisms and attire screamed solo traveler.
[Are you sure this is going to work?] Laura asked Alex mentally, observing that more than half of the shops in her surroundings were closed, and the open ones only held single individuals who seemed to have zero care about their surroundings and were presumably high.
[In the worst case, I'll just commit a small crime by hypnotizing someone. He's in our vicinity.]
Suddenly, someone passed Laura, whispering something in her ear.
[Great…] Laura sighed with a wry expression. [I look like such a tourist that local dealers are offering me drugs now. Do you want to try it with me? I remember hearing about a cannabis plantation nearby. The stuff here should be pretty good.]
She discretely glanced over her shoulder and noticed the dealer standing close by, looking like he was just taking a stroll through the market, and stopped to look around.
[Damn, and here I thought you'd say you want to go on a drug bust, at which point, I would have to dissuade you since a significant chunk of the economy here depends on their illegal marijuana trade for tourists.] Alex said with amusement.
As Laura continued walking forward, she felt a sort of sixth sense acting up, compelling her to look at the dealer once again. As she turned around, the dealer who had whispered in her ear just now was in a conversation with a neatly groomed white man.
"Is that…" Laura mumbled.
[Yep. Peter Parker in the flesh. And I think I might not even need any foul play to introduce you to him. You just need to be yourself.]
[What?] Laura got confused by his words.
Suddenly, the amiable discussion the two were having turned heated as the dealer looked annoyed and pulled out a knife as the harmless-looking early-twenties white guy stepped back with a cautious expression.
"What's going on here?" Laura quickly disappeared from her spot and appeared in between the two of them. The dealer in front of her was surprised, and she took the opportunity to disarm him and take his knife.
"You okay, guy?" She asked, turning her head a little while keeping her eyes on the frozen dealer.
"Yeah…" the man continued, maintaining his harmless persona. "Thanks."
"No problem," Laura said before focusing on the assailant. "You. Don't just pull your knife out on anyone. If they say they will report you to the authorities, then you have to explain the reality to them. Don't directly attack them. Now leave."
The terrified dealer didn't say a single word in the entire altercation and vigorously nodded before stepping away, breaking into a run as he left the scary woman who snatched his knife before he could even react.
"Now, you." Laura turned around, looking at the man with a scrutinizing look. "Are you dumb? Who just ups and decides that talking to a drug dealer would, in any way, convince them to stop dealing drugs? It's not like you were talking to a misguided kid. That man was a fully grown adult in their mid-twenties, older than you, probably."
The man showed an embarrassed smile. "You were very fast."
"You shouldn't act so dumb all the time," Laura continued. "For one, a significant chunk of this city's economy relies on the illegal cannabis trade. You literally can't stop it. The authorities, locals, everyone is in on it. Hell, I've heard tourists come here specifically to get the good stuff from the plantation. Anyway, I'm rambling…"
"I'm Peter," the man extended his hand before Laura shook it.
"I'm Laura," she smiled. "So what's Spider-Man doing so far from New York?"
[Oh, come on.] Alex mentally groaned at Laura's abrupt reveal. [Weren't we going to play things cool this time around? What the fuck kind of espionage did you learn during your time with the X-Men?]
[Acrobatics and sneaking around. I'm not a spy, and I'm too impatient to continue this facade any further.]
At Laura's words, Peter instantly took two steps back with a cautious expression. "I don't know what you're talking about. Spider-Man is a fugitive wanted all over the world. You shouldn't just say things like that."
"Oh, buddy," Laura winced. "You've got it rough in this reality. Then again, most of you have shitty hands dealt to you and even shitter situations. What brings you to Tibet?"
"I-I think you've got the wrong guy, lady… uh, Laura," Peter tried to play cool. "I'm just here to enjoy the view of the mountains."
"Don't worry, Peter," Laura smiled. "Your identity is safe with me. My friend has already taken care of the surveillance measures around us. See how there's almost a bubble around us that people aren't even thinking of approaching? It's because of my friend."
"…" Peter's face grew solemn. "What is your affiliation with Kamar Taj?"
"I was planning to meet the Sorcerer Supreme, but it seems that management has changed recently. Instead of Doctor Strange, I ran into Agatha Harkness. Imagine my surprise."
"And you're still alive?" Peter asked skeptically. "She doesn't leave anyone in her path alive. Ever."
"That's only for weaklings. She can't do anything to me. And I didn't let her catch me. I just saw today's recruitment drive."
"No, trust me. She can do so many things to you that you won't even know. Her magic is so overpowering in nature that it leaves her opponents completely helpless."
"So you aren't Spider-Man, huh, Peter?" Laura teased. "Mind telling me why you're here, in Tibet, instead of your home state?"
"..." The man in front of Laura showed a hesitant expression before it stiffened into one full of conviction. "He's going to chew me out big time… But we need all the help we can get. And I feel like you're here to help us."
"That I am," Laura said. "And I'm flattered that you are willing to trust a complete stranger so easily."
"Some would call that naivety," Peter said with a reminiscent smile.
"I do call it naivety," Laura said. "But that doesn't change the fact that I'm curious about what you're doing here. Maybe I'll help you guys if you make a good case."
Peter had a foreboding suspicion that his decision was going to trouble him immensely.
…
"How is it that you go out for breakfast and not only get the authorities on your ass but also bring some stranger into our very sensitive and dangerous operation?" Doctor Strange asked with a frustrated tone as Laura and Peter walked in.
"How do you know?" Peter asked with a surprised raising of his brows. "Did you finally get into their surveillance systems?" He then tilted his head toward Laura while gesturing to the man in front, "This is Doctor Strange. A Master of the Mystic Arts."
"She knows," Doctor Strange said. "Just like she knew about you the moment you entered your line of sight. Isn't that correct, Miss Laura Kinney?"
"Smart guy," Laura smiled. "What else do you know about me?"
"That you aren't from this Earth." His words made Laura's expression stiffen slightly as she smiled threateningly.
"Yeah?" She said. "Why would you think that? There's a barrier outside this planet, keeping everyone away."
"Because I am familiar with our version of Laura Kinney. She's barely ten at the moment. So unless you traveled through time, you have to be from one of the other thirty-nine Earths."
"Has anyone ever told you that you would play a very nice Sherlock?" Laura said. "You even look like the guy who played him in an iteration I watched with my partner."
[It's the exact same guy, Laura. He is an actor in the reality that I picked the show from.] Laura didn't respond to Alex's clarification.
"Please answer truthfully; otherwise, I will have to ask you to leave, Miss Kinney," Doctor Strange spoke seriously. "Why are you here?"
"The truth? I want to know more about your overlord. How her mind works, whom she cares about, why she has modified reality into a magic-focused one that is completely dependent on Chaos energy, and more. That's who I'm after."
"Modified reality?" Doctor Strange showed a doubtful expression. "Are you sure you aren't imagining things? Harkness doesn't have that kind of power. From investigation, I have understood that many other planets rely on harnessing lightning to power appliances, but our reality has always been this way."
"You wouldn't know if reality was modified," Laura said. "While I'm not completely sure of the system being used here, there are enough holes in it for me to consider this being a forced imposition instead of natural progression. Also, I'm not talking about Harkness. I'm talking about your actual overlord. The woman who currently owns five Earths, as my friend tells me. She is the one responsible for this widespread usage of Chaos energy and magic on this planet." Seeing the man's confused expression, Laura understood that he wasn't convinced. "For example, the banking system. It's completely flawed. It works, yes, but compared to giving money a real, consistent value, it will always fluctuate. Simply because while it is a currency, it is also a raw resource. I could get into the nitty-gritty, but that would take too long."
Laura inwardly frowned as she finished her words, feeling like something was off. She didn't feel like the words were completely hers. Suddenly, a realization made her momentarily widen her eyes.
[You're putting words in my mouth…] Laura spoke mentally as a stressed breath escaped her mouth.
[Am I?] Alex was confused. [You're correct. You don't usually talk so technically. I was deep in my thoughts, thinking about these things. Maybe some of my thoughts rubbed off on you…]
[I am suddenly a little concerned about you going even deeper with my bond, Alex… You said the next step is the brain and nerves, right?]
[It's going to be fine. For now, we can focus on this situation. As things proceed, we will decide what needs to be done.]
-x-X-x-
Neither Peter nor Doctor Strange showed any clear expressions of their feelings regarding Laura's revelations.
"An overlord beyond Harkness?" Peter asked, with a suppressed quiver in his voice. "As far as I have seen…and I have seen some things, that woman has everything under control. With absolute authority over the Central Reserve Bank, she has essentially the entire world in her palm. I remember that two weeks ago, she made the North Korean president kneel on the news to personally apologize to her. All because she stopped production of Chaos chips and crystals for their country, completely halting their economy within days."
"It's like cutting an entire nation's lifeline," Laura said. "I usually call my friend out on being too much of a control freak, but this is on a whole different level."
"Who is it, then?" Doctor Strange asked. "If Harkness, the Chaos Witch, also answers to an entity, they must be truly terrifying."
"Agatha isn't the Chaos Witch. Wanda is," Laura said instinctively.
"Wanda Maximoff?" Doctor Strange asked. "But she's been dead for a few months. Alongside her brother and children. And her husband is nowhere to be found."
"God," Laura winced. "It's a version of Wanda from another planet. She probably killed your Wanda along with her family…"
"This makes things much more complicated…" Doctor Strange frowned, deep in thought. "I need to talk to Erik and the rest."
"You're in contact with Magneto?" Laura spoke rhetorically with a bright glint in her eyes. "I never got to meet him…"
Doctor Strange ignored her and started slowly drawing an Eldritch magic circle on the ground.
[It's a good thing that you didn't. He has the power to force your entire alloy skeleton into the shape of a ball. The worst part is that your healing factor will ensure that you stay alive for the many decades that you have left to live after that. If you think your time at the Bastion was horrible, imagine multiple decades forced into that state with no respite because you can't even die.]
Alex's words painted a horrifying picture for Laura that made her shudder.
[That skeleton bond's gotta be some use, right? My bones may not be carbon-based, but the self-proclaimed Apex biological life form in the universe should have enough capabilities to manage metal just as well, right?]
[Naturally… but as you said, it's metal. And a Vibranium-Adamantium alloy at that. It's not exactly the easiest thing to manipulate biologically. I'd have more luck using Chaos magic to simply turn your skeleton to normal. That's less effort, more efficient, and less painful.]
[So you can take care of it if I end up antagonizing him. Good to know.]
[I'm pretty sure that I can steamroll through any mutant on this planet without the slightest issue. Because the guys here don't actually get their powers from the X-gene.]
[Did you find a mutant?]
[Ororo. She was one of the two survivors of the purge, while the other was Laura Kinney, i.e., me. I examined her and found out that she doesn't have the X-gene like you do, but still has her storm manipulation powers. As I've understood, they probably stem from her bloodline. That should be the case for most mutants on this planet.]
[How can you know? She may just be a one-off case.]
[Now that I know what to look for, I've already found multiple people with the same pattern. I'm not sure if this was Wanda's doing, or if the mutants on this planet are naturally all dependent on bloodline-based magical abilities.]
[Interesting… So are they stronger here?]
[As I've seen from Ororo at the moment, yes. At least initially. But the upper limit of their power should be pretty stifling. The true Omega-Level mutants, like Eric, can never reach their full potential due to the limitation of their bloodline, while someone like Jean should be far more empowered because her bloodline probably has a connection to the Phoenix Force. Oh, by the way. The moment I hear the mention of Jean, Emma, or Charles coming here or meeting us, we're bailing. I'm not risking myself by getting close to these absolute powerhouses in terms of telepathy.]
[Learn it from you to be terrified of people with mind powers despite possessing the Infinity Stone, giving you authority over everything related to the Mind.]
[I'm not risking it.]
Laura didn't say anything and instead looked to her side at Peter, who had a somewhat lost expression on his face while Doctor Strange was still setting up the ritual.
"Hey dude, you okay?" Laura lightly elbowed Peter. "What's on your mind?"
"Nothing…" There was clearly something on his mind. "You said that Scarlet Witch has the power to rewrite reality?"
"To an extent, yes," Laura nodded. "But not in the way you think. Pure Chaos Magic is ridiculously powerful, yes, but there are limitations. You need at least some kind of external source of power for such a feat. I imagine she used the Reality Stone to supercharge her powers and targeted the whole planet with a specific command to rewrite reality."
[Can you stop that?!] Laura sounded a little annoyed. [I don't like providing exposition to people; that's your job. I would just answer with an 'I dunno. Ask my friend, Apex.' That's what I would like to respond with.]
[Oh, sure. I didn't realize that you were being affected by this so much. It's not like this has happened ever before. I've been bonded with your organs for a significant time, after all.]
[Who knows…]
"I see…" Peter responded, his expression thoughtful as if he'd just had an idea.
"I think that's a bad idea," Laura said.
"What?" Peter asked.
"I don't know…" Laura made a slightly annoyed expression that seemed to express that emotion toward Alex rather than toward Peter. "Looking at your expression made me feel that."
"Don't worry about it," he responded before asking her. "Do you want to join the Mystic League?"
"Are you guys like the Avengers?"
"Who are the Avengers?" Peter asked.
"Team of superheroes… Multiversal thing," Laura shook her head. "Why does your team exist?"
"To overthrow that woman's evil regime and reinstate Doctor Strange as the Sorcerer Supreme. In the two months she's been in his position, she has murdered tens of thousands of people."
"Sounds fun," Laura said casually. "Who's part of this League apart from you and Strange?"
"We have Erik, as you heard, Katherine, and Illyana."
"You guys have Magik and Kitty with you?" Laura's eyes brightened. "They aren't like old-old, right? Like Charles."
"They're close to my age," Peter said.
"Anybody else?" Laura asked, sounding curious and somewhat excited.
"Not really," Peter said. "The three of them are each assigned to one of the sanctums for the time being. We are looking for an opportunity to assault Kamar-Taj and let Doctor Strange take back his position to fix everything."
"Can he even do that? Take back his position, that is." Laura asked. "My friend told me that the Sorcerer Supreme is more than just some title. Since she stole that position from him once, what gives him the confidence to change things now?"
"This time, he's not alone. He has us with him. Not to mention, Magik might just be able to kill Agatha as long as we catch her at the right time."
"Hm," Laura nodded thoughtfully. "So what's your role in all this? No offense, but I think all you have is a stronger-than-usual physique. You won't be much help against someone with mystical powers. Agatha effortlessly can snipe you if she wants, which forces your comrades to protect you."
"I know, I know," Peter nodded. "That's why I'm training under him. I've only started for a week, but he says that I'm very talented."
"Oh?" Laura raised a brow. "So that's what's going on… You're going to become joint Sorcerer Supremes."
"What do you mean?"
[Alex! You've got to be fucking with me. You're doing this deliberately, aren't you? I remember back when there was a time when you were terrified of even telling me the truth; now you're making me speak what you're thinking. It's annoying.]
[All right, I'll be honest, I'm having fun doing this. The first time was an inadvertent thing, but it's too much fun seeing you spiral into madness as you dig yourself into a completely different character than yours at this point.]
[Don't be an asshole…]
"If you don't know, you should ask him that," Laura pointed to Doctor Strange, who was sitting in the middle of the Eldritch-based ritual circle as if meditating. "He should be able to explain it better. How far are you now?"
"I've completed all of the ego-based stuff. Mental stuff, astral projection, and the like. I was going to start Arcanum Eco today — Learning to harness the environment's spiritual energy and the likes."
"Oh? I'm at the same level," Laura said. "My friend's been teaching me some of the basics whenever I'm free… Do you mind if I train with you?"
"Sure," Peter said. "But please don't get frustrated when I pick something up too quickly. Magik has a habit of criticizing my quick progress…"
"Don't worry about it. I've already completely given up on comparisons, the moment you told me your timeline. You said you started last week, right? I started four months ago."
Laura's flat declaration left Peter speechless.
"It's not always about the person," Peter said. "Doctor Strange told me that some people are naturally gifted with some types of magic. It usually happens with Arcanum Exo, where someone has a very good connection with a principality."
"Man, I got no clue about half the words that you just said," Laura said. "Arcanum Exo? Principality? I'm going to need a course on everything beyond Egocentric magic."
-x-X-x-
More than an hour passed before Doctor Strange opened his eyes, releasing a tired sigh as he did so. He stood up, waving his arm and instantly dispelling the magic circle that had taken him more than a few minutes to draw on the ground. He turned around to look at Laura and Peter, who, in their boredom, were currently playing poker and hadn't even noticed that he had concluded his meditation.
Peter pushed forward the makeshift chips that Laura had conjured and called. "All in. Show."
Laura's eyes narrowed before she placed her three cards on the table.
Peter suddenly smiled widely, "I win," he placed his cards on the table and pulled the entire pot toward himself.
"Ahem," Doctor Strange spent a few seconds waiting, hoping that they would see him, but seeing Peter shuffling their cards, he knew he needed to get their attention.
"Sir, you're awake." Peter seemed a little startled and quickly stood up, looking a little guilty.
"What did you talk to them about?" Laura seemed nonchalant, as if she'd already noticed him and just hadn't bothered addressing his presence.
"They will meet us here tomorrow morning. It would be better if you could tell them what you told us," he responded to Laura's query. "They would've come here now, but ever since portal travel started being monitored, things have gotten very inconvenient."
"Understandable," Laura nodded. "Magik probably needs to pick both Kitty and Erik, right?"
"It's not that simple. They have duties within their respective sanctums, and their absence needs to be justified." He shook his head. "Anyway, it doesn't matter for the time being. Peter, we should continue your training."
"Sure," he nodded. "Laura asked if she could join in as well. Would you mind?"
"Not particularly," Doctor Strange frowned. "But does she even need training? I'm teaching you the basic stuff for the time being, and from what I've observed since she ran into you, the spells used by her were very high grade. Complex enough that the only worthwhile knowledge she can gain is from ancient tomes."
"Yeah, about that," Laura said. "That's actually my friend. I'm pretty shit at magic. I'm mostly a hand-to-hand combatant."
"Oh…" Doctor Strange was equal parts surprised and skeptical. "Your friend… they can cast magic remotely and make it seem as if you're the one casting it?"
"It's a complicated situation," Laura didn't seem like she was going to elaborate. "My point is that I am curious about magic and want to learn it from you."
"No, you cannot simply leave things to the air and follow it up by telling me you want me to teach you. I still don't trust you, and you need to play in good faith if you want the same from me," he responded.
"…" Laura seemed to think for a few seconds. "How about this? I'll tell you everything regarding my situation when your friends arrive, so I don't have to repeat things. But I will tell you right now that I am on your side in this conflict. While my original mission on this planet had been a simple probe, you can be sure I won't leave you hanging if you get into a full-blown conflict. My friend will help as well."
With a scrutinizing expression, the man gave a faint nod. "Fine. What do you know about magic?"
"Oh, we're starting, all right," Laura seemed a little surprised, but recovered quickly. "I know that we have internal magic and external magic. Internal magic is —"
"No," Doctor Strange shook his head. "We'll get into the intricacies later. I want you to tell me what you think magic is. What is its purpose? How is it objectively different from science?"
"Okay." Laura thought for a few seconds back to Alex's words to her.
"At its core, magic is about taking a thought and making it real. Taking a lie and making the universe itself believe that it is the truth. To do that, we use energies and extra-dimensional forces to manipulate reality. While science is based on logic and a defined set of rules, magic works around those rules to bring about the outcome directly with the use of magical energies."
She repeated Alex's words as best as she recalled them.
"So you have had a formal education in magic," Doctor Strange nodded. "Now tell me what you know about the schools of magic."
"I know about there being three forms. The first is based on one's own self. Egocentric Magic — where the user learns to manipulate their own spiritual energy to bring about effects related to the self. Things like astral projection, telepathy, illusions, and more. Then we have Ecocentric magic — where the user harnesses external energy and the environment. Finally, Exocentric magic — where we have some other-dimensional sources of energy. That's all I know."
"Hm…" He thought to himself. "Do you know how to project your spiritual energy to create physical constructs?"
"Yeah, but they are as thin as paper and not particularly strong," Laura responded by extending her arm as a shimmering barrier made of bluish energy formed in front of her.
"It's impressive," Doctor Strange raised a brow. "Your control is better than most newbies. How long have you been practicing?"
"Like an hour or two every week… over the span of six months," Laura said after some thought.
Peter gawked at her response while Doctor Strange was unresponsive for a few seconds.
"Let us move on to the training…" The man decided to simply indulge the hobbyist. He understood that she didn't care and was just doing this to pass the time.
"I will first introduce the fourth school of magic to you," he said. "If we are to go against Agatha, that information is integral."
"There's a fourth school?" Laura asked while Peter looked like he was already aware.
"Yes. Necromancy," Doctor Strange said. "That is the harnessing of Death energy. When a person dies, their latent spiritual energy becomes Death energy, which is the source of Necromancy and what makes it an entirely separate school. Unlike relying on the Environment or extra-dimensional entities for magic, when you rely on Death energy, it forms a completely different school. That is what the current Sorceress Supreme specializes in. You must've noticed how not a single applicant to Kamar Taj is ever seen or heard from again. That's because she kills them to harness their residual death energy."
Laura instinctively winced at the image that formed in her head. "I guess my decision to join you guys was correct after all," her words were more for Alex than Doctor Strange.
"Now then, walk with me," Doctor Strange said. "I shall tell you some of the basics while we reach a more suitable location to help you feel the flow of natural energy."
"Shouldn't natural energy exist everywhere?" Peter asked, hurriedly following Doctor Strange as the man exited their hidden room, emerging in a narrow alley with an open gutter on one side of the alley that emanated a foul smell despite looking like it had been out of commission for a long time.
"It does, but there is an influence in any place where people gather, faint, but it is ever-present. It makes nature chaotic and hard to detect and manipulate. You must start by manipulating nature in its purest form before trying more complex things."
"Isn't Kamar-Taj also a place of gathering?" Laura asked. "Do the apprentices leave the temple to learn this stuff?" Laura asked while navigating through the occasional pile of cattle shit and wrinkling her nose. "And couldn't you guys pick even a slightly cleaner place? Couldn't you establish an anti-detection ward or something?"
"I am not an eternally running machine, kid. Such a system requires the spiritual energy of a ley line, which we don't have access to. The only alternative is for me to perpetually maintain it, which is impractical. We are in such a place to lay low while still being close enough to Kamar-Taj."
"My bad…" Laura realized that Alex indeed did these things like a perpetually moving machine that never got tired.
[Are you still alive?] She asked in her head, having expected a quip about how grateful she should be to him.
[Yes. I am just a little occupied with other matters at the moment, not related to yours. And yes, you should be grateful to me for all that I do for you.]
Laura rolled her eyes at Alex and continued moving with Doctor Strange under the mage's camouflage spell.
"You didn't answer my other question," she said. "About Kamar Taj also being a place of gathering. How do you all learn Ecocentric magic in there?"
"As the world's foremost magical sanctuary, there are many unexplainable things in Kamar-Taj. There are specially designated areas with higher concentrations of natural energy that enhance the effects of learning Ecocentric magic. The talented ones can sense the frequency of nature almost instantly, while most learn it within an hour. In nature, you will need at least a few hours to get a hang of things."
"Are we going to meditate under a waterfall?" Laura asked. "I've always wanted to meditate under a waterfall."
"We are not meditating under a waterfall," Doctor Strange said.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure Ecocentric magic requires more complicated things."
"We're going to a river." Doctor Strange's words put a damper on Peter's assumptions.
-x-X-x-
Doctor Strange taught Laura and Peter some more theories as they hiked through the mountains and reached the outskirts of civilization, as depicted by the complete disappearance of any traces of people having been there. As they continued walking through the forest, the sound of flowing water entered their ears, filling everyone with a sense of calm and relaxation.
"Is that river our destination?"
"Regrettably, yes. But that's the best thing we can find for the time being." Doctor Strange seemed somewhat dissatisfied with the location as he approached the source of that sound, with Laura and Peter following close behind.
Their destination looked like the purest, untouched paradise of nature, completely untainted by any human presence. There was a faint aura in the place that downright made Laura want to leave and not disturb the tranquility of the scenery.
"This is regrettable?" Peter seemed to share Laura's thoughts, going by his question. "I don't think a paradise better than this can exist so close to the city. We were walking for less than half an hour."
"If you have the ability to track the ley lines and locate their hotspots, then such a location is easy to find. This is regrettable because what we have at Kamar Taj is a hundred times more efficient at enhancing Ecocentric Magic."
"It's also built upon a potent intersection of ley lines throughout the Himalayas," Laura pointed out.
Strange moved on and got closer to the clear stream of water. "Come here and observe my actions," he said, extending his palm in the direction of the river. A thin golden string with hints of blue was released from his palm and entered the water. Suddenly, the water seemed to gain some kind of life as its serene flow was disrupted, suddenly getting errant as some sections of the water moved faster than others, forming multiple tiny whirlpools in the middle of the flowing water. "Sense it with your spirits. I am using my spiritual energy as the medium to command the water to act in a certain manner." As he spoke, he released a much more potent amount of spiritual energy from his palm that submerged into the water, immediately stabilizing the dissonance while maintaining the whirlpools.
"Laura, what did I just do?" Doctor Strange suddenly quizzed Laura and pulled his palm back, cutting off the flow of his spiritual energy into the water.
"You used your spiritual energy to control water?" She asked.
"What changed?" He emphasized. "Between me using a minimal amount of energy and increasing it."
"Your control…" She said. "You used your spiritual energy to do the same thing with marginally greater control."
"What I did first was to take control of the river's natural energy to form those whirlpools, performing Arcanum Eco. To gain absolute control over those whirlpools, I infused a greater amount of my spiritual energy into it and took over it directly, performing Arcanum Ego." He clarified. "Peter, which is better?"
"… It depends on the situation, no?" Peter answered. "When you require precise control, you use Arcanum Ego. When you want to preserve energy and still perform large-scale actions, you use Arcanum Eco."
"Good," he nodded. "Now you try."
"That's it?" Laura asked with raised brows, noting that Peter wasn't fazed, and approached the water to follow what Doctor Strange had done.
"That's it," Doctor Strange said. "I can give you the theory behind it. You must devise the method by yourself. That is how all magic works. You are given the details of what is to be done. The how of it is up to you. After all, you were the one who said that magic is the process of bypassing the how of something and directly reaching the result."
"Damn it, this sucks…" Laura suddenly groaned. "I thought you'd give me instructions and the method I should use… Otherwise, I'd just let Apex teach me. He was doing the same thing. That's the whole reason I asked you to teach me."
"There are no shortcuts in magic, kid," Doctor Strange said with an amused laugh. "Only talents. Some people need a mere thought to cast extremely complex magic; others need to spend years training to figure out methods to do the same thing. Like him," he pointed to Peter, who seemed to already get a handle on things as he formed the same whirlpools in the water as Doctor Strange. "Remember when I told you that sensing natural energy would take hours at the very least? That was for a normal person. A talent would still need a couple of minutes to get the hang of things. And someone like Peter? He only needed to see what was done to repeat it. He told you he's been training for a week, right? He only applied magic practically yesterday. The rest of it was all theory and foundational information. I daresay, his talents are beyond even me when it comes to the Mystic Arts."
"Impressive," Laura looked genuinely impressed.
"You don't seem disheartened," Doctor Strange said.
"I'm a hobbyist when it comes to magic," she responded with a self-assured smile. "I think it's cool, but my strength lies in a different domain. And I have someone to rely on," her face took up a momentary, gentle expression as she mentioned Alex.
"Your friend must be something then," Doctor Strange said. "Reasonable, considering that he is fighting a greater battle against the so-called overlord of this planet. At least from what you've told us."
"He isn't going to fight her just yet. I told you, I'm just here to probe things and the viability of an attack of such a nature."
"Why don't you give it a try? Maybe you'll surprise yourself," Doctor Strange decided to move on. "When we get back, I will give you and Peter a lesson on Arcanum Exo, which is much more complex and what makes experienced magicians such fearsome foes across the universe."
"The universe is filled with terrifying stuff," Laura said. "I think it's hubris to think that magic has such a high standing in the universe."
"It seems that you are not aware of the source of Earth's magic and the Elder Gods," Doctor Strange smiled, not bothered by Laura's words. "Another lesson, maybe. You don't need to learn everything on the same day."
Laura gave him a snide look and approached the water close to where Peter was testing things out.
[Alex… Are you free? I want to show this guy who's boss~]
[You just told him you don't care about magic…]
[Yeah, well, I don't like the look on his face and how he keeps calling me a kid.]
[So you want to show him you're not a kid by childishly cheating and showing him that you can do it better.]
[Please~]
Her mental plea resulted in Alex sighing.
[Fine. But don't expect me to give you my usual attention. I'm dealing with some important stuff in the Chaos Dimension that needs me to concentrate. At the latest, I'll be freed up tomorrow, around when those three arrive. It might be earlier, but not by much.]
[Okay… If it's too much… I'm not that much of a child that I can't swallow my pride every once in a while.]
[Don't worry about it. It's not an extreme crisis just yet. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had the time to respond to you.]
[What are you doing over there?] She asked curiously.
[Battling the real personifications of eldritch horrors straight out of Lovecraft's stories. As far as I can tell, these guys are probably the real deal behind those stories.]
[Y-you're battling what?]
[It's a complicated situation… I'll tell you later. For now, let me help.]
Laura felt her hands being guided toward the water as her muscles were compelling her to move in a specific manner. It wasn't as forceful as Alex's usual control, which was enough to tell Laura that he was truly distracted. She didn't resist the guided movements and followed along, mobilizing her spiritual energy as Alex took control of it and released a small amount, close to what Doctor Strange had released.
The moment her bluish spiritual energy made contact with water, Peter exclaimed, "Huh?!" He'd suddenly lost his connection with the water. Instantly, the unstable whirlpools that were forming in the water turned stable, almost as much as when Doctor Strange was using his spiritual energy to manipulate them. Moments later, multiple thin pillars of water shot out of the river, looking like poles of clear water, as suddenly, a faint rainbow started appearing above the river amidst all the tiny droplets of water.
"So that's why I felt as if those spells were cast by you…" Doctor Strange spoke from the side, closely observing the way Laura's spiritual energy interacted with the natural energy of the water.
"What?" She asked as if unaware of her cheating. "I just tried it…"
"No need to pretend, kid. The only reason Harkness could snatch my position was because of her uncanny ability to use Chaos and Death energy, which surprised me." Doctor Strange snorted a laugh. "There is a difference in the frequency of your spiritual energy now compared to when you showed me your barrier. That friend of yours is helping you with this, somehow… Now that's something I'm genuinely curious about. To be able to control someone else's spiritual energy so intricately. Such an action is impossible while continuing to allow the host to maintain free will."
As Doctor Strange's eyes turned scrutinizing, Laura made an annoyed face, pulling her hands away from the river. "I'm going to chew him out when he's free…" She mumbled before responding to Doctor Strange. "Yeah, well, he's special. Let's just leave it at that. He's just a little distracted at the moment, which is why you even noticed the slight inconsistency."
The ex-Sorcerer Supreme simply shook his head at Laura's antics. They continued training at the river for a few hours, trying to manipulate other aspects of nature like trees, the ground, the air, and more. While Peter was progressing very quickly, Laura tried and only barely kept up with Peter's progress with some background support from Alex. Once Doctor Strange was satisfied with their training, they left, planning to take a short break for lunch before they reached their temporary residence to learn the theories about Dimensional magic, or Arcanum Exo.