18 Chapter 13

The scenary began distorting as a large portal opened a several yards away from the duo. A few moments later, a giant figure emerged from it. It had ridiculously long arms and stood at least 10 feet. Behind it similar creatures began emerging but there were smaller compared to the first creature. Finally, Iris spotted a floating woman exit the portal. The woman had black hair and wore a green dress that accentuated her curves.

"Morgana." Strange whispered. "I see you are up to your old tricks again. The woman giggled before replying." And you have once again come to meddle in my affairs. Does the so called Sorcerer Supreme have so much time on his hand that he comes to the aid of every insignificant ant." The woman spat as she floated. "And you have enough time on your hand to come after every "insignificant ant"? " Strange rebutted with a chuckle.

" What I do is none of your concern. Now hand over that girl." Morgana huffed as she pointed her finger at Iris." The "girl" would like to respectfully deny your invitation and kindly ask you to go and shove an entire poison ivy bush up your royal behind." Iris spat as she she summoned several vines to her side.

" Oh the mouth on this one. No matter. You do not require it intact for what I am about to do to you." Morgana frowned before snapping her fingers. Several shadowy figures began advancing towards the duo. Strange began chanting but before he could finish, Morgana shot a magic bolt at him." I don't think so sorcerer. Your battle is with me. " she shouted as she flew towards him while firing a barrage of spells. Strange flew up, dodging the spell before countering with his own spells. "Girl. I'll keep Morgana busy. You take care of those creatures." He called out to Iris as he dodged another one of Morgana's spells.

Iris didn't respond as she shot one of the vines at the creature closest to her. The vine pierced through the creature and impaled itself on the ground. The rest of the creatures began running around it. Iris felt a smirk come onto her face as she snapped her fingers. Suddenly, several pores began to appear on the vine before bursting. It released a gas that started to make the creatures sluggish, slowing them down immensely. Iris then raised her hand and a large flower began to grow from the ground. The moment it bloomed, something began swelling up from its petals. The swelling grew to a foot before it burst, releasing a large, fiery explosion. The explosion ignited the gas clouds that were slowing the creatures down, magnifying the explosion. When the dust settled, there weren't any remaining. The two new plants she used was indeginous to Eden. They had a symbiotic relationship, the small fungi would make a flammable tranquilliser and the flower would ignite them in order to protect itself from predators.

Iris looked at the Doctor Strange to see him going toe to toe with Morgana. Morgana took a glance at Iris to find that her minions had been defeated. "That's what I get for leaving everything to the shades. Klaw, restrain her!!" she called out to the giant as she avoid magical chains conjured by Dr Strange.

The aforementioned giant, Klaw let out a loud roar as it charged at Iris. Iris immediately sent out a pair of vines that thrusted themselves into the creatures torso. At least that's what was supposed to happen. Klaw caught both vines with its hands and with powerful tug, uprooted them before throwing them out into the distance. Iris sent out another pair vines, this time aiming at Klaw's abdomen only for Klaw to sidestep out of the way. Iris then changed the vine's trajectory hoping to flank it from the sides. For a moment, it seemed that she was successful, but at the last moment, Klaw kicked the ground and jumped into the air. Iris saw it balling its fist as it came down, aiming right at her. She immediately summoned several oak trees and made a make makeshift barrier. Even infusing it with her Ki, just as the Klaw swung his fist at the barrier.

To Iris's shock, the punch went through the barrier like paper before it connected with her torso. Iris felt like she was hit with a wrecking ball as she was thrown several meters while bouncing off the ground. Like a human sized skipping stone. Iris ignored the pain as she summoned a net of vines which managed to stop her. She crumpled onto the ground, hacking and coughing blood as her hand clutched the spot Klaw had punched her. She barely managed to stand up while enduring pain. She looked up to see Klaw charging at her with a haymaker(which is technically like swiping at someone's legs considering Klaw's size) . On instinct, Iris ducked just in time and felt Klaw's hand graze her scalp.

Iris inwardly thanked Sina's training as she used the opening to summon her vine whip and stab Klaw's Achilles tendon. Klaw let out a pained roar and Iris rolled away from him just as his fist hit the ground where Iris had been crouching. Iris faced Klaw as she waited for him to make a move. Klaw looked at her with a what might have been a hateful glare as he began circling. Iris matched his pace she began circling as well, while thinking of a way to attack him. She couldn't summon any plants as that required immense focus which would leave her vulnerable considering how close Klaw is.

As she weighed her options, she suddenly began hearing familiar voices, it was faint at first but it became progressively louder overtime. Eventually she started to make out what they were saying.

"helP you.... WE wAnt tO... HelP YoU

CoMe tO Us... protEct wE sHaLl yOu.

LeAd hIm to us"

Iris was a little dumbfounded. It was the same voices she heard the night she got her powers. She glanced at the forest, where the voices were coming from before looking back at Klaw. Klaw looked like he was waiting for her to make a move. And that was what she did. She grew several spores on her vine whip and swung it at Klaw while commanding the spore to burst. Klaw as expected dodged the whip what was caught in the gases released by the spores, temporarily blinding him.

Iris then began running with all the strength she could muster. A few seconds later, she began hearing loud thumps behind her indicating that Klaw has indeed begun his pursuit. Her attack on his Achilles tendon was clearly effective as Klaw had marginally slowed down. Yet he was still faster than Iris. Iris kept on running even as Klaw began gaining on her. She then in a last ditch effort summoned a bunyan tree root and had it poking out from the ground slightly. It seemed that luck was on her side as Klaw anticlimactically tripped over the root and fell on his face. Iris didn't stop to laugh however as she managed to run into the forest.

****

Klaw stood up seething with rage and let out a loud roar before following Iris into the forest. He then began to destroy the foliage and uprooting the trees in a fit of rage, not noticing the large amount of vines that were surrounding him.

*****

Iris felt a strange euphoria as the voices seemed to merge with her own. She felt connected with every tree, every plant, every bush and every weed in the vicinity. She unconsciously plunged her arm into the ground and her vine whip began to spread across the plants. With every plant she connected, her awareness began to grow until she could see every thing for a radius of several miles. She saw Klaw's rampage and immediately felt anger rise within her. She felt more connected with plant life than ever before and it angered her when she saw them being killed for no reason. She didn't waste any time as she commanded the plants to converge towards Klaw. The spores, which Iris had dubbed Accelerant Spores began growing on nearby trees while the flowers now dubbed Spark flowers grew on the ground. Iris then commanded a plant that sprouted transparent tendrils dubbed Silk Web to block of the escape routes. Lastly she made sharp spikes out of a pale pine like trees now dubbed the Ethereal Pine and placed it in the ground.

She then began executing her plan. Several of the Silk Web tendrils grabbed onto Klaw's arms. Klaw roared as he ripped out the tendrils just as he saw the spikes emerge from the ground. He jumped into the air with a victorious smirk until he noticed a certain dust in the air. He didn't get a chance to react as the spark flowers bloomed, igniting the spores, with Klaw in the midst of it. What followed were several explosions as Klaw howled in pain as each explosion began chipping away his life. The explosions stopped eventually and the burnt Klaw fell towards the ground... right into the spikes and he let out a final croak in pain before he turned to dust.

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Morgana frowned as she felt Klaw's life fade. "Should have known not to put my faith in a mindless beast." she muttered while dodging ethereal chains conjured by Strange. She retreated away from the Strange before looking at him straight in the eye. "I will concede this battle sorcerer. But Mark my words, you won't always be there to protect her. And when that happens, Gaea's power will finally be mine for the taking." She hissed before fading away.

Strange kept up his guard as surveyed the area, making sure none of her minions are hiding. He then saw Iris come out of the forest, on top of a large vine that was seemingly slithering towards him." It seems that you learned some new tricks." Strange smirked as he saw Iris looking around for Morgana. "I tend to do my best work while under pressure. Speaking of which, wheres the wicked witch of the East. Did you melt her already?" Iris replied with a dull tone.

Strange shook his head. "Nope. She left once her minions were defeated."

"And you let her leave?!" Iris looked at Strange with anger lacing her voice.

"Yes. There was point in prolonging the fight." Strange stated.

"So instead you let her go so she can muster more of her forces and attack me once more?" Iris spoke with gritted teeth.

Strange let out a sigh as he said. "It's complicated. We can't defeat her with conventional means. Rest assured, she will not be bothering you for a long time."

"Whatever, take me back. A friend of mine still needs help." Iris huffed as she crossed her arms.

"Alright. And away we go" Strange said while moving his arm in a circular motion. A portal opened after a few seconds and the duo entered and it closed behind them.

**********

"Umm. How long were we there?" Iris asked once she looked around as it seemed like no time had passed on Earth. "That dimension lies outside the bounds of normal time. So for us it was weeks but only a few seconds have passed on Earth." Strange answered before fishing out a card from his robes. "Here. Come to this address if there is any.... uh mystic issues." He said as he handed the card to Iris before opening another portal.

Iris pocketed the card as she watched the portal disappear. "Well that was... fun." she muttered before remembering about Laura. She then briskly walked up to her to find her still unconscious. Iris then lifted Laura in a princess carry as she began walking towards the nurse's office, not noticing a pair of eyes looking at her back with searing rage. "Just you wait. I'll make you mine." the figure hissed.

*******

"It seems that our meddling has already changed the events to come." the obscured figure spoke to Abe. "There mustn't be a repeat of this. We can only prepare ourselves for what we know would come to pass. If the timelines diverge further, it may threaten our future plans." the figure added.

"If I may sire, should we keep her captive now. She might be an even bigger threat considering her current progress." Abe asked. "No. We will move forward as planned. Leave the girl alone for now. Just make sure no one else finds her." the figure replied. "Very well your majesty." Abe replied as the hologram powered off.