TGS - #66

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New York [October 2014]

–Jack Sullivan–

Well, this was not good, he thought to himself as he watched the dozens of portals opening, through them came all the masters he had seen during his training. The initiates were sent home for the moment.

The wartime wards were raised across all the Sanctums with two Masters guarding each Sanctum. Worse still, both Mordo and Kecillius were given the Hong Kong Sanctum to guard together.

He didn't know what the Ancient One was thinking but she had to know the chances of Kaecilluus betraying Kamar Taj, and all it stood up.

There was a lull in the chaos that surrounded the Ancient One as she cast specific enchantments to isolate the huge hole that had appeared in the Earth, to contain the traces of Chaos Energy. The effects of that remnant energy were not particularly fatal but the effects were visible. Initiates who got too close to the edge of the hole had their clothing animated, some turned into wolves, some into birds and some into lizards, leaving the now less dressed initiates running away in fear.

"Well, what happened here?" He asked her because he did not have the faintest clue as to what was happening and that was not a nice feeling to have, especially during what was shaping up to be wartime.

"The Scarlet Witch happened…almost,"

He looked at her with a confused Pikachu face. Almost? What kind of answer was that?

"The spells that were flung at my shields in rapid fire were almost certainly ones that were from the Darkhold. I have seen the records of my predecessors fighting the previous holders of the Darkhold enough to recognise the deadly spells and yet…"

He leaned forward in interest, having taken a seat in one of the closer huts with the piracy enchantments still intact.

"...I saw no sign of her using the Darkhold. No, she was using Chaos Energy as if she was born with it but she held none of the madness, none of the usual signs of Chaos Energy overuse because no being should be able to handle that much Chaos Energy without adverse effects on either their mental or physical aspects," She continued and he could see that it really bothered her.

"The New York Sanctum was attacked by her as well. Or at least she attacked it at the same time as she hit Kamar Taj with some pre-programmed spell?" He told her.

"I have already made contact with Master Drumm and have sent reinforcements so that should not be an issue anymore. He assured me that there was no damage to the Sanctum or its ward structure at all. So what was she after?"

He shook his head, "I don't know. I first encountered her in Sokovia, where I, along with the Avengers, were chasing a lead on the Mind Stone,"

So he told her how he first encountered, how she somehow trapped him in some sort of mirror dimension and then hijacked his portal or destroyed his sling ring, one of two things.

"Yes, Master Drumm mentioned his sling ring not working as well. Both of your rings are active, according to the network ledger I maintain but I can see that the inscriptions have been completely erased without touching anything else which should be impossible unless ...."

"Unless she can warp reality. Goddamnit!" He cursed out loud as he realised this Wanda was probably much more advanced in her capabilities as the Scarlet Witch than she should be.

Just what the hell has happened for her to reach this level of powers in such a short period of time because the sceptre was with Thanos until 2012 and it had only been about two years and changed after that. That was nowhere near the amount of time required to create a fully realised Scarlet Witch. Maybe she received her powers before that? But if that was the case, why would she be in Strucker's castle?

But then again, he knew that it was not time that forged the Scarlet Witch, it was the environment. Something must have happened, something extreme, for this situation to occur.

"Her energy was not as erratic as it should be," Ancient One's words brought him back to reality. He looked at her as she cast a spell matrix, revealing a captured strand, or rather vortex of Chaos Energy.

It looked serene as if it was a wave flowing without end.

"This is not how Chaos Energy is supposed to be, Master Sullivan. Something else is afoot and I am unable to use the Time Stone to find out how. I do not like being kept in the dark, Master Sullivan. I was able to trap this Chaos Energy as she fled after making that huge hole in the training grounds. That is not how Chaos Energy should look like."

"Did you encounter another Scarlet Witch before this?"

"No, but I have nursed wounds of many Masters who had to flee after an encounter with Agatha Harknes, the current holder of the Darkhold. The Chaos Energy that comes into contact with that book becomes infinitely more unwieldable. This,"

She gestured to the spell matrix as it shattered and released the wave of Chaos Energy. The energy before it could do anything was promptly sucked into the hands of the Ancient One who made the energy spin in her hands before blasting it at the coffee table in front of them.

He jerked back as the table turned into a small tree before it returned to its original form.

"--This energy can be wielded by me and that means something else is afoot and I have not lived this long by not knowing all that goes on in the Mystical Space of Earth,"

Wow. He had never seen her so shaken before all of this. The fact that she was unable to see the future using the Time Stone might have had a hand in it but it must also be due to all the confusion regarding the enemy's actions.

Wanda, if she was here for something, must have made some move towards it but the training grounds were on the other side of the library. Better to just ask then.

"Did she take anything from the–"

"No, nothing is missing from the library. No spell book, no forbidden tome, no relic, or past records. My personal collection has not been touched at all. That is where I am confused, Master Sullivan, what were the motivations of the intruder?

The spell that dug that hole was precisely calibrated for just that, nothing more and nothing less. No demon summoning, no sacrifice, no fallout. The embers of Chaos Energy that spread throughout the surrounding areas are just misfires that she did when I arrived and took control of the field,"

Oh. She probably used that then.

"Yes, judging by the proximity of a Scarlet Witch to the future of Kamar Taj, I deemed it a critical enough situation to use his powers. I was able to overpower her for a moment before she threw a spell that scattered as much Cahnos Energy as she could and then tore apart the surrounding space, and left."

Oh. Well, that was difficult then. If she had already learned how to traverse space without a sling ring, tracking and capturing her would be almost impossible.

"We are going nowhere like this. I will continue with the preparations, and also warn all of the magical covens on Earth, allied or not. The emergence of a true Scarlet Witch is not something that any of us wishes for. I know your mystical tacking spells are not up to par but I would appreciate any information you can gather on her," She said before she snapped her fingers.

His vision blurred as he found himself once again on the doorstep of Kamaar Taj. Damn this spell. He wondered when he would grow strong enough to detect this spell and at least deflect it, if not stop it completely.

He sighed and flew upward, his sling ring not ready because the Ancient One doesn't keep any spare ones on hand, which must be a complete lie because what if she lost her own sling ring? 

Still, it was quite a revelation that she had a network made of all sling rings and she was the master controller of it, allowing her to track their status, their location, their usage, etc. An ingenious way of tracking all the sorcerers under Kamar Taj. After all, it was quite ingrained into any Sorcerer, the use of Sling Rings, ever since they began training itself.

By the time anyone becomes a sorcerer, the use of a sling ring to travel must have become a reflex.

He kept the stealth spell wrapped around him as he flew straight to Wakanda, the one place where he would get everything he might need in the fight against this new enemy. Hopefully, they had some good news for him about the Avengers.

The thing that bugged him was that he had only ever heard and seen Wanda being mentioned everywhere, no mention of Pietro, the speedster, someone who was equally if not more dangerous to any Sorcerer below the level of either Mordo or Kaecillius. Not to mention none of the Avengers, save for Bruce, will be able to survive an encounter with Pietro if he wishes to kill them.

Not even Captain Rogers had the necessary reflexes to survive the death that Pietro could give him. All the gruesome ways one can kill someone with superspeed sped through his mind as he absentmindedly crashed into the ground next to the Border Tribe settlement guarding Wakanda's borders.

It must have looked quite hilarious as he pulled himself up from the ground using his barriers as he floated backward in the same position and then turned himself upright, coming face to face with Vibranium spears pointed in his direction.

He raised an eyebrow at the one Border Tribe member who threw a VIbranium spear that was now held aloft in one of his peers. All of the members of the tribe present mechanically turned their heads at him.

He said something in Xhosa but his expression was defensive as he was berated by his fellow tribe members.

"Greetings, Green Guardian, please, let me escort you to the city," One of the Border Tribe members came forward and asked him in fluent English. 

"No need," He said as he looked behind them, his barriers already detecting the raptor that was heading their way. He slowly floated to the raptor as it became visible to all the people present.

Instead of entering the raptor, he just flew ahead, in the direction of the barrier. He needed answers and he had no time to adhere to official procedures. He sped through the many layers of barriers, still keeping himself to almost the same speed as the raptor as they finally entered the country, at which point, he simply boomed straight to the Royal Palace, leaving a sonic boom behind him.

He winced as many birds flew out of the trees below, mostly due to the sonic boom. 

He slowly landed on top of the Royal Castle hangar, where T'Challa and Shuri were both waiting for him. Shuri seemed to be vibrating with excitement as T'Challa came forward to greet him.

As a gesture of trust, he deactivated his barriers and shook hands with T'Challa.

"Any update about the Avengers?"

"Mr.Sullivan, I know that the emergency must truly be dire to be able to take out the Avengers but please tell us what is going on. The country has been in a lockdown, preparing for a war against an imaginary enemy, ever since you dropped brainwashed Avengers on our doorstep and fled after telling us that it was an emergency," T'Challa seriously reminded him.

Oh. Oooh.

"I am so sorry for that but can we talk while you take me to the Avengers?" He said urgently. T'Challa nodded and they began heading deeper into the stairs that opened up after a panel on the Hangar slid out, revealing stairs that probably led deeper into the Royal Palace.

"So, the brain chemistry of all the Avengers is normal, save for Steve Rogers, whose mental activity is heightened, as expected of a super soldier really. In fact, I was surprised to find that his brain activity was on par with my brother's, suggesting similar levels of enhancement between the Hea–"

"SHURI!" T'Challa rebuked Shuri who was about to reveal classified information to an outsider. Damn, the girl could talk when she wanted to.

Also, she was really just a teenager so they should probably forgive her.

"Are they out of any danger then? Have you compared the mental activity with that of an active brainwashing victim?" He asked Shuri as they finally entered the lab that everybody was kept in.

Bucky was not here, for obvious reasons but all 4 of the Avengers were suspended in medical pods that looked strikingly similar to the one he gave Wakanda when he handed over Bucky to them.

"Are those?" He gestured to the pods.

"Yes, the medical pod you gave us was eons ahead of what he had. We were able to significantly advance our medical stasis technology with that. We are still in the process of figuring out how half of that thing works but so far, we have been able to create a streamlined product that can also be deployed on the field, as long as we have the power source to sustain it," Shuri said.

"I assume you know all about Arc Reactor technology as well now?" He asked Shuri, pointedly looking at the display unit that kept the dismantled Iron Man suit with the Arc Reactor suspiciously missing from its housing.

"Hey! I knew Arc Reactor technology the moment Mr.Stark here started installing them in remote areas. I was just curious about the fourth gen Arc Reactor that he had only a single one of. Turns out, Mr.Stark had somehow synthesised a variant of Vibranium that was only good for its energy transmission properties,"

"Uh-huh. I want that suit back in tip top shape when Tony wakes up, alright?" He asked T'Challa who nodded and looked pointedly at Shuri who huffed and muttered a quiet, "Alright."

"We have enough proof to know that they are out of their brainwashing. The dull impact on all of their brains, no doubt your handiwork, shocked their brains back into their normal state. I believe it is safe to wake them up right now. I was just waiting for you to come back and tell us all about the threat that has even you running around the world," T'Challa said.

"I would like to know that as well," An aged voice, tinged with authority, greeted him as he looked back and saw T'Chaka walking in with Okoye behind him.

He sighed, he would really rather be doing anything but debriefing these people but he really needed their people.

"Alright, I assume you guys have a secure space around here? This is for the King's ears only, and okay T'Challa can come too,"

'Very well. Follow me. Shuri, stay here and restore Mr.Stark's suit," T'Chaka stopped Shuri's tirade even before it had begun, showing his parenting skills as this was probably not the first time it had happened.

"Before that, can you check in with Pepper Potts and Jarvis of Stark Industries? They will be informed of everything as well. Just check if Jarvis, an AI is poking around the web, looking for Stark and me," He took a step back and asked Shuri who nodded, her eyes gleaming in excitement at the mention of Jarvis.

Probably was excited to meet a fully functional sapient AI.

Word Count - 2672

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