[Present]
The memory released Domino like a drowning person breaking the surface.
She gasped, pulling back from the Ancient One's touch, her mind reeling from what she'd witnessed. The sheer power disparity between the Sorcerer Supreme and a cosmic abstract. The casual way the Power That Be had dismantled centuries of magical tradition. The Ancient One's desperate sacrifice.
And Luv, taken to stand trial before the Living Tribunal.
"The Mind Stone energy is keeping me alive," the Ancient One whispered, her voice barely audible. "But the Black Winter's ice... I can't remove it. Every healing spell I try just... fails."
Domino's hands moved before conscious thought.
Crimson strings erupted from her fingers, weaving through the air with precision that would have been impossible months ago. Her quantum manipulation, honed through countless days of practice, through saving seven billion lives by preventing the Emergence, flowed through her like breathing.
She touched the black ice.
Her luck screamed warnings, telling her this substance should not exist, that it violated every natural law. But probability was her domain, and she bent it to her will.
The ice began to crack.
"Impossible," the Ancient One breathed. "That's a fragment of the Black Winter itself, it can't simply—"
"Watch me."
Domino poured more power into her strings, each one wrapping around molecules of impossible cold, severing their connection to reality. The Death Stone activated on her finger, its violet light joining the crimson glow. Death and probability working in concert, unmaking what should never have been made.
The black ice shattered, falling away in pieces that sublimated into nothing before hitting the ground.
The Ancient One gasped, feeling returning to her frozen limbs. Color flooded back into her skin, and the shivers that had wracked her body finally ceased.
But Domino wasn't done.
She stood, her hands spreading wide, and crimson strings exploded outward in a web that covered all of Kamar-Taj. Every broken building, every shattered ward, every injured student.
Probability itself bent to her will.
What if the Power That Be had never come?
What if Kamar-Taj had remained intact?
What if everyone was healed?
The monastery rebuilt itself in seconds. Walls that had been reduced to rubble reformed, stone flowing like water to seal cracks. The dimensional barriers snapped back into full strength, their protective magic blazing brighter than before. Unconscious students stirred, their injuries mending as probability decided they'd never been hurt in the first place.
Wong stumbled backward, watching his broken glasses repair themselves on his face. "How... that's not possible... the amount of power required to..."
Mordo just stared, his previously useless arm suddenly functional again.
Throughout Kamar-Taj, the impossible became possible through sheer force of will and probability manipulation pushed far beyond its normal limits.
Domino swayed, the strain of what she'd just done just after dealing with Tiamat's situation hitting her all at once. Her nose and mouth began bleeding, and her vision blurred around the edges with Red.
The Ancient One caught her before she could fall. "Child, what you just did... the energy expenditure alone should have killed you."
"Adrenaline," Domino managed, wiping blood from her nose. "And maternal desperation. You'd be surprised what a mother can do when her child's been taken."
"Arishem warned me. Said I'd need all six Infinity Stones if I wanted to see my husband and son again." Her voice gained strength as anger burned through exhaustion. "I fulfilled Jay's promise to Gaea. Shrunk Tiamut and saved Earth from the Emergence. Even got that cosmic asshole's approval and blessing. And in return, he gave me a warning about gathering the Stones."
The Ancient One's expression shifted, understanding dawning. She reached into her robes, pulling out two more lockets. The Time Stone and Mind Stone pulsed with power.
Her voice cracked slightly. "I failed. I used them and still couldn't protect him."
"You did everything you could," Domino said, her tone carrying absolute conviction. "The Power That Be is a cosmic abstract. She's literally the source of all magic. You survived. That's not failure. That's a fucking miracle."
She held out her hand. "But I need those Stones now. Along with your help to gather then where the others might be."
The Ancient One placed both lockets in Domino's palm, the weight of responsibility transferring between them. "The Space Stone is with Jay's ring. The Reality Stone was last seen with the Collector in Knowhere, though given his nature as a hoarder of cosmic artifacts, retrieving it may prove... complicated. The Power Stone is held by the Nova Corps on Xandar, locked in their maximum security vault under guard secure enough you'd need to destroy the whole planet just to get it. And the Soul Stone..."
She paused. "The Soul requires a sacrifice, Domino. Something loved is needed to be traded for the Stone's power."
Domino's expression went cold. "I've already lost my son to cosmic politics. I'll pay whatever price necessary to get him back. If the Soul Stone wants a sacrifice, it can have one. I'll give it whatever it demands and not lose a single night's sleep over it."
She pulled on the lockets, the Stones settling against her chest. The Time Stone on her left, the Mind Stone on her right. She could feel them humming with power, resonating with the Death Stone already on her finger.
Two Infinity Stones.
Three to go.
"And Ancient One? Thank you. For trying to protect him. Luv... Luv thought of you as his grandmother. That meant something."
The Ancient One's eyes went suspiciously bright. "Of course, I'm his Grandma Yao."
"He did." Domino smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. "Which means when I get him back, and I will get him back, you're stuck with him. Hope you're ready for a kid who can warp reality asking to learn more magic."
She teleported as crimson strings already weaving around her as she prepared for what came next.
The Ancient One watched her go, then looked down at her hands. They were steady now, healed completely, but the memory of helplessness remained.
"Wong," she called out. "Assemble every master. Everyone combat-capable, regardless of specialization. We have work to do."
"What kind of work, Master?"
The Ancient One's expression hardened into something that would have terrified her enemies. "Prepare for War. Fortify our Defences and get our Students in Far Space, for every cult and mystique team whether they be Midnight Sons or The Agatha's Coven itself. I'll personally lead them to charge Nowhere!"
Wong bowed deeply. "It will be done."
As he hurried away to execute her orders, the Ancient One allowed herself one moment of weakness. One brief instant where the mask of authority slipped and the woman beneath showed through.
"Forgive me, young one. I promised to keep you safe, and I failed. But I swear on every oath I've ever taken, on every life I've lived and every student I've trained, that when your mother comes for you I will stand beside her."
[The Savage Land - Jay and Domino's Cave]
Domino materialized in the cave, the familiar sound of the waterfall suddenly alien. This place, which had been filled with Luv's laughter and Bonk's cheerful chirps, now felt empty.
Too empty.
She walked to Luv's bed, the small mattress still rumpled from where he'd gotten up this morning. His stuffed animals were arranged carefully on the pillow, the way he always left them. The mechanical dinosaur Jay had bought from Nidavellir sat on the nightstand, its tiny gears still.
Domino's hands clenched into fists.
"I don't care what court you're in, baby." she said to the empty room, her voice carrying absolute conviction. "I don't care what cosmic abstracts think they have authority over you. You're my son. Mine and Jay's. And we're coming to get you."
She pulled out her phone, dialling a number she'd hoped never to use.
It rang once.
"Domino." Reed Richards' voice came through, cautious. "Is everything alright? Sue said you were handling the Tiamut situation—"
"I need your help," Domino interrupted. "You and the Fantastic Four have connections in space from your Adventures and I need you to acquire the power stone from Xandar."
Silence on the other end. Then: "Domino, what's happened? What's going on?"
"Luv's been taken," she said with stammer. "Summoned to stand trial before the Living Tribunal. My son is being judged by cosmic forces that don't care about childhood or innocence or the fact that he's just a little boy who wants to learn magic and play with his dinosaur."
Her voice hardened, anger burning through the grief.
"And according to a Celestial, I'm going to need all six Infinity Stones to get my family back. So I'm calling in every favor, recruiting every ally, and gathering the Stones no matter what it costs."
More silence, but this time she could hear Reed processing, his brilliant mind already shifting into problem-solving mode.
Then Reed's voice came back, all business, the scientist in him engaging immediately. "I'll prepare for launch and get everyone ready. And Domino?"
"Yeah?"
Sue and I, we're partially his parents, too. We understand what it means to fight for your child against impossible odds. You won't do this alone, not after we have so much to thank Jay for. The Fantastic Four stands with you, and we'll bring every resource we have."
Domino's throat tightened. "Thanks, Reed. Truly."
She ended the call before her voice could break into more tears.
Domino looked around the cave one more time, committing every detail to memory. The home they'd built together. The life they'd created. And the family they'd become.
"Wait for me, baby," she whispered to the empty air, to the ghost of her son's laughter that still seemed to echo off the walls. "Mommy's coming. And she's bringing hell with her."
Then crimson strings wrapped around her body, and she vanished in a flash of quantum manipulation, beginning the journey to Vormir and the terrible price waiting there.
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