Magical evening part 7

…Four months ago…

To say that Baron Mordo was displeased at the moment would be an understatement, he was outright furious. The reason for said fiery emotion had to do with the man sitting opposite of him currently in his study…

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't throw you to the Hell hounds and use your soul as an offering to lord Dormammu!" Mordo said in a calm yet dark tone that caused the few mages in the room with him and the trespasser to shudder in dread

The trespasser quirked a brow at the man for a moment before he smiled "I can do you one better and give you three reasons why not to do such a just punishment Mr. Mordo"

Baron eyed the man for a moment before speaking "You have ten seconds"

"I can help you regain your power that was taken from you by the Ancient one" the man said in a blank tone

Baron's eyes widened at that bit before they narrowed "Really, you can undo what the world's most powerful sorcerer has done to me?"

"In a manner of speaking Mr. Mordo but not only that, I can give you the power that will allow you to surpass the combined might of both that old fool and the champion of Nabu, a uh Doctor Fate I believe it was" the man said

Baron's eyes narrowed at this, skeptical that such a thing could be accomplished and even of it could…what would the cost be?

"…Assuming what your saying is true, why come to me? Why not use whatever it is that can accomplish such a feat yourself?" Mordo probed

"Because I don't have a real affinity to the mystical arts like you do Mordo and even if I did, I'd be unable to regardless because of a few…barriers that have been placed on me" the man said the last part with some hesitance

Mordo stared at the man for several long minutes before he spoke again "What is it that you want?"

…

One month ago…

"My men have finally discovered the location to the artifact you've been having me chase after these past few months" Mordo said with annoyance "It's in the hands of the Cold Flame…a group of mystics that I'm not entirely sure I and my guild can beat on our own, not at our current level. A war with them for anything can be disastrous, even worse of they discover what it is they're truly guarding"

"Apologies but the artifact is the first step into granting you your power and helping me accomplish my own agenda" the man said with a shrug

Mordo narrowed his eyes at the man "How do I know you won't end up betraying me in the end once the artifact is discovered?"

The man looked at the former mystical defender of the ancient city of K'un-Lun "I'm not that stupid to cross you Mr. Mordo, even with your power a shadow of what it once was, is more than enough to give even me pause and sadly you're the only man with both the resources and mystical power that can help me"

"There are others" Mordo stated with a raised brow "I'm not the only sorcerer in this world with my kinds of connections and power if not greater"

"True…" the man nodded before he continued "But you're the only one that I know won't fail"

"How can you be so sure?" Baron asked with intrigue

"Because your desire for the destruction of K'un-Lun and the Ancient One will drive you to the ends of the earth and beyond if it means their destruction" the man said before he turned and left the room, leaving Mordo to his thoughts

…

Three weeks ago…

"This may be a bit of a problem" the man said with a furrowed brow as he read the reports that Baron's agents amongst the Cold flame had sent not several hours ago

"How so? This is what you've been searching for correct?" Mordo questioned

"It is" the man nodded before he frowned "But I did not expect the enchantments to be of this nature let alone still active"

"What kind of enchantments are placed on it? Perhaps me or one of my men could-" Baron started only to be interrupted by the man

"No, I already know what it'll take to unlock it"

"Then what is it?" Mordo asked

"The blood of someone connected to the Web of Life" the man revealed

Mordo's eyes widened at that "What? Impossible, there hasn't been a being on this planet that's had any sort of connection to the Web of Life in several hundred years-"

"Spider-man" the man said with a shrug "He's not only connected but the center of it as well"

Mordo's eyes widened at that "How is that possible? How can someone like that have passed unnoticed for so long?"

The man didn't reply as he began to pace "Capturing him will be next to impossible, and if we do try to make a move against him we risk facing the Justice League as well…"

"So, we're stuck then!" Mordo said with annoyance and rage in his tone

The man paced for several more moments before he came to a pause "…Not exactly"

Mordo eyed the man "What are you on about? Speak!"

"There might actually be a way to get around the enchantments placed on the artifact but…"

"But?" Mordo pressed

The man turned towards Mordo with smirk "How good is your necromancy?"

…

Thirteen days ago…

"Where did you gain this?" Mordo gestured towards the decomposed body in front of him clad in what once was a red and black suit that vague reminded the powerful mage of Spider-man's

The man smirked as he brushed some ash of his coat as he exited the portal he used to bring him and his prize here "A interesting tale for another time, now have you gotten the necessary ingredients that I asked for?"

Mordo nodded as he held up a viral that contained what looked to be blood "Yes, though I have to ask why those particular people? Any three would do"

The man kneeled and closely examined the body that he retrieved "Let's just say that Frank Castle have been a thorn in my side before in another lifetime and leave it at that…you did kill him as well correct?"

Mordo shrugged as he replied "I guarantee nothing, only that I don't expect him to be a problem in the future"

"So, you didn't!" the man said with anger in his tone

Mordo's eyes narrowed at the man "Careful…we're currently at a phase where keeping you around is becoming…unnecessary"

The man's eyes narrowed before he gave a slight nod "Fine, but don't blame me when he returns hell bent on your death"

Mordo snorted "What can he do?"

"You'd be surprised" the man said quietly as he stood back up and looked towards the magical diagram being set up for the necromancy ritual to resurrect the body he retrieved "Now let's get this show on the road…"

…

Wanda and Zatanna were just able to bring up a shield in time to block the powerful ball of energy sent at them by Mordo. The two women gritted their teeth as they struggled to block the powerful blast

Diana seeing that the two can't keep it up long quickly threw her sword towards Mordo who simply repelled it away with a flick of the wrist. Nick used this moment to send a blast towards Mordo who easily countered it by opening up a small portal that redirected the attack towards the group

"Ah shit!" Constantine yelled as the group quickly scattered to avoid the mystical attack

Frank used this moment to draw his side arm, a nine millimeter and began to open fire on Mordo who was able to cast a bubble around him that kept him protected from the bullets

"You're going to need something with a bit more kick than that Frank" Mordo said dryly only for his eyes to widen at the sight of Wonder Woman appearing and slamming her fists into the protective shield

KOOOOOOOM!

Mordo's eyes narrowed as he saw several cracks from before they quickly vanished only to reappear again as the amazon punched the shield with all of her near godlike strength

KRAKOOOOOOOM!

Mordo responded by sending out a pulse that sent the Amazon skidding back, using her bracelets to defend herself from the harmful mystical energy while Constantine fired at the distracted mage with his revolver

Mordo was too slow to dodge one of the rounds and growled in slight pain as one of the mystical bullets nailed him in the shoulder. Mordo winced in pain before he shot a beam od dark magic at Constantine who was narrowly able to dodge the blast before sending a mystical attack of his own in the form of beams of holy fire.

Mordo growled at the approaching fire and conjured up a wall of stone to block the flames and turned just in time to catch a knife that was being wielded by a very angry Punisher

"Someone looks upset" Mordo said as he forced the man back before delivering a kick to the vigilante's gut and grabbed him by the back of his head and kneed him in the face

Frank was able to block the blow to the face before he threw his head up and caught Mordo in the chin and sent a jab into the man's face. Mordo quickly recovered and sent the man flying back by a blast of fire and was about to incinerate the man when suddenly a golden rope wrapped around his arms and yanked him away and right into Wonder Woman's fist

KRAAK!

Mordo yelled in pain as he felt his nose break under the blow before he headbutted the amazon and quickly muttered a spell under his breath that created a magical circle between him and Wonder Woman that unleashed a torrent of water that sent her skidding back from the sheer pressure alone.

He would have kept up the assault but he soon found himself inside a dome of scarlet energy and looked to see it was casted by Wanda and narrowed his eyes at her "Ah, the 'Witch of Sokovia, I'm honored"

Wanda narrowed her eyes at that man "Really, because I'm not"

Mordo hummed at that as he observed his prison "I must say though, it's rare to meet one so skilled and powerful in Chaos magic since many of its practitioners tend to become…mentally questionable at best, though you seem to be holding up well enough"

"Shut up!" Wanda growled as her eyes glowed red and the dome seemed to close in slightly

"What are you waiting for, kill him already" Frank said as he stood up and glared at Mordo with rage

"Yes Wanda, listen to the mad man, then again you tend to have a habit of listening to others that are less than sane yes?" Mordo smirked at the woman before he found himself completely entombed in the scarlet energy

"One more word…I dare you" Wanda hissed out darkly

Mordo smiled at that "Repel…"

No sooner did the words leave Mordo's mouth that a wave of magic erupted from the restrained mage, tearing through Wanda's restraints and sending everyone in the room flying towards the nearest wall leaving Mordo at the center with a dark smirk on his face and black and white magical tendrils forming around him

"Oh, this is bloody brilliant" Constantine said as he pushed himself up and spat out some blood, he frowned when he saw his revolver was destroyed "Great…gonna take me forever to get another one of those"

"You can buy a new one John" Nick groaned out as he summoned a blade that glowed faintly in the darkened room

Zatanna say back up and quickly shouted out a spell by speaking in reverse "Nrub mih htiw eth semalf fo noivilbo!"

A large magical circle appeared before Zatanna and spewed out a wave of red and black flames towards Mordo who was able to erect a barrier in time but gritted his teeth under the strain the flames were putting him under. He was about to counter when suddenly the whole room started to shift, parts of it being raised by pillars while others broke apart and began to sink further into the ground

Mordo's eyes narrowed as he looked to see it was Necro and Constantine who were manipulating the layout of the room in an attempt to throw him off balance. Mordo was about to redirect the flames being fired from Zatanna towards them when a shield flew through the barrier and nailed him right in the chest

KRAAAK!

"GAH!" Mordo screamed in pain as he was sent flying out of his barrier before being grabbed by several chains made of scarlet energy that dragged him to the ground with enough force to leave a crater

KRAKOOOOOOM!

Mordo tried to stand only for Wonder Woman's boot to slam into his chest and force him back down

"Stay down, final warning" the amazon said with a stern look on her face

Mordo growled at the woman before his eyes glowed a dark blueish purple and not a moment later multiple magical circles began to form around the group

"Oh this can't be good" Constantine said as he watched as a decomposed hand erupted from one of the circles followed by an equally decomposed body clad in chain mail and armed with a mace

All round them decomposed corpses and in some cases skeltons were emerging from the magcial circles armed with a varetly of weapons ranging from the simple spear to automatic weapons

"Kill them…" Mordo said befor his body fell through a small portal and closed before Wonder Woman could either stop him or follow him

She let out a curse of annoyance and looked to see several dead Spartans approaching her with their weapons at the ready

Diana smirked at them "Always wanted t face a Spartan…"

She summoned two swords and held them in a reverse grip as the ancient warriors surrounded her before attacking. Nearby Nick, Constantine and Zatanna were backed into a corner while combating several dead mages that looked to have hailed from the times of Camelot and King Arthur

"Hey I think I recognize this guy" Constantine said as he ducked under a punch from one of the undead mages and delivered a uppercut that caused the undead mage to stumble away followed by a blast of mystical energy "That's Lord Francis the fifth, guy pioneered blood based rituals and sacrifices"

"Focus Constantine" Nick growled in annoyance as he quickly sidestepped an undead mage before grabbing it and snapping it neck, turning it into ash "You can obsess over these guys after they stop trying to kill us!"

"Oh get off his back Nick, besides who are you to judge on obsessing over something?" Zatanna sent the man a glare

"Look we're talk about this later-" Nick tried to say before Zatanna interrupted him while she kicked away a large undead Viking

"NO!" Zatanna yelled "We are going to talk about this now!"

"Oh for the love of god are they really doing this now" Wanda groaned in annoyance as she sent bolts of scarlet energy towards a group of undead soldiers while Frank tore the head off one armed with an old M-16 and quickly began to use it on the other undead soldiers

"Could be worse" Frank said as he shot each undead soldier in the head with ease while keeping an eye out for Mordo, the man didn't strike him as the type to turn tail and run when things went south "They could be talking about marital problems in a time like this"

"Great" Wanda said with an eye roll as she formed two large magical circles around her hands and used them as shields from a volley of undead redcoats before throwing one of the circles at the line of infantry and slicing them all in half

Wanda took a quick look around and frowned as she saw more and more circles forming with equally as many undead emerging from them "Where the hell is Spider-man!"

…

Peter held back a sneeze as he and a very reluctant Kaine raced down a hallway towards what sounded like a miniature warzone. After the two, or more accurately Peter, dealt with the Hell hounds the two decided that their best bet was to find the others, will in Peter's case it was. Kaine just wanted to say 'to hell with all of ya' and bail before things got any worse, not because he was a coward or anything, he just didn't see why he should stick around when the odds of him being arrested again or even killed were a bit too high for his tastes

But after several minutes of complaining from Peter and another brief scuffle the newly resurrected Scarlet spider agreed, if only to get Peter to shut the hell up!

"Just letting you know now, if I die I'm haunting you until you die so I can kick your ass when you crossover" Kaine said as the two leaped over a large whole that was made that led to the next floor below and continued their sprinting down the hall

"Yeah, you can get in line. Pretty sure there's a legion of guys who have first crack at me waiting on the other side" Peter said with a snort

"You do have a way of pissing others off" Kaine commented as they passed several dead men who liked they had their heads blown off by a high-powered rifle "Nice to see that Frank hasn't lost his touch"

"Kind of wish that he had" Peter said with a sigh "It's a little funny, I was able to prevent his family's death at the hands of that three-way shootout in the park a few months ago and now I found out that I might as well haven't bothered since someone else got to Frank's family"

"Yeah people your trying to save tend to die or wish they ended up dead, don't they?" Kaine said with a dark chuckle

Peter's response was a growl before he came to a sudden stop. Kaine nearly stumbled over at the actions of his genetic template and wanted as the man's damaged lenses narrowed as he looked down a certain hallway with interest

"The hell is wrong with y-" Kaine started only to stop when he felt an odd pulling on his spider-sense all of a sudden, the same feeling he got when he was near the artifact earlier "…Oh never mind"

"Should we investigate it?" Peter side glanced his clone who shrugged "If you want, I don't to be honest. That thing gives me the creeps"

"What is it anyway?" Petere asked as he returned to looking down the poorly lit hall

"Some weird bone coffin looking thing with web looking carvings in it, other than that it smells like chalk"

Peter nodded at that and continued to stare down the hall before he let out a sigh and looked towards Kaine "I know I'm asking a lot here, and I mean a lot but I was wondering if you cou-"

"Go help the others while you go and investigate the creepy bone coffin on your own in the middle of a evil wizard's lair?" Kaine finished with a deadpanned expression before he shrugged "Fine, but don't blame me when you die…"

"Don't worry, I'll settle for haunting you if I do end up unalive…again" Peter said with a snort before he and Kaine separated and ran towards their respective locations

…

Diana quickly parried a sword thrust away from one of the Spartans before she used her shield that she was able to recover and bashed her attacker in the head, severing it from his body and reducing it to ash before turning and blocking another swipe from the last Spartan. Diana's eyes narrowed as she blocked and dodged the sword swipes before she pivoted her body and let the blade pass between her body and her shield for a brief moment before using her shield's sharp edge to tear through the old rusty blade and ram the circular metal into the helmeted head of the Spartan

BANG!

Diana held in a wince as she felt a musket ball bounce off her calf that was fired from an undead Red coat that snuck up behind her that she quickly turned and sliced in half before kicking the upper torso away before it turned to ash completely.

Diana nodded at her hand work as she saw several more undead soldiers approaching and quickly used her superior speed and skill to reduce them to piles of ashes. It was during this time that Diana's mind began to wander towards her teammate Peter and what he could be up to at this moment, she could only hope that he was right in that his 'brother' wouldn't kill him

'Sometimes I feel that Peter is too trusting of others that mean him obvious harm' Diana thought as she grabbed a large mallet from hitting her in the head and tore it from the undead Viking's grip and turned the weapon on its former wielder and his friends before stabbing what looked to have been a dead U.S. marine in the chest with the mallet's hilt

She quickly hooped over another undead soldier and was prepared to deal with him as well when suddenly she was struck in the back by a blast of mystical energy

"AHHHHH!" Diana let out a pained scream as she felt the flesh on her back burn and tear slightly as she stumbled forward before turning to see Mordo standing there with an amused look on his face

"Apologies but I didn't know any other way to get your attention" Mordo said as he formed a magical circle to shield him from Diana's fist

KRRAAAAABWOOOOM!

The impact of Diana's hit landing on the mystical shield sent shockwaves throughout the room and sent many of the undead warriors flying, giving Diana's allies some breathing room as they refocused their attention on Mordo who has since rejoined the battle

"You won't escape this time Mordo" Diana said as she continued to pound into his shield with all of her might, taken a small bit of joy to see the sorcerer struggling to hold his own against her

"Escape my dear, whoever said that's what I wanted" Mordo said as his eyes glowed white and before Diana could react she was blasted away by a sort of mini explosion of mystical energy

Wanda watched as Wonder Woman was slammed into the wall before she collapsed with a pained huff

"Hmm guess she doesn't have thick skin" Wanda mused as she turned her attention back to Mordo and summoned several magical circles around her while she began to levitate in the air in a lotus position and began to quietly chant something that may be able to help beat the man

Mordo saw her actions and was about to attack the scarlet and black clad women when several pillars of earth erupted from the ground and attacked him, forcing him to divert his attention to Zatanna who's eyes and hands were glowing a mixture of black and white energy

Mordo narrowed his eyes at the woman as he sensed something familiar about her "Hmm tell me little girl, have we ever met before?"

"No" Zatanna said with narrowed eyes before she summoned several fireballs and sent them flying towards Mordo who easily blocked them only to narrowly avoid being punched by Frank who snuck up behind him

Mordo was forced back by the series of punches thrown at him by the former soldier until he caught one of Frank's punches and used the man's own momentum to fling him over his shoulder and into the ground, causing the Punisher to groan in pain

Mordo didn't let up as he quickly picked the man up and used him as a sort of makeshift shield to block him from a bolt of lightning fired from Constantine

"AAAHHHHHH!" Frank yelled in pain as several thousand volts of electricity flared through his body

Constantine's eyes widened at that "Oops…sorry mate!"

Mordo tossed the wounded man aside and quickly sent several daggers made of stone flying towards Constantine who was unable to block some of them and found his legs, right shoulder and hand pierced by the stone blades

"GAH! Bloody hell this hurts like a mother!" Constantine said as he stumbled to the ground in pain

Mordo was just about to finish the man off when he saw a large wave of magical energy about to hit him. Mordo's eyes narrowed as he quickly jumped through a portal to avoid the destructive blast and came face to face with both Zatanna and Nick

Mordo smirked at the current state both were in, they both had numerous scratches and burns on them and Zatanna's top hat had a few tears in it while Nick had a few bruises on his face

Mordo chuckled "Tell me Mister Necro, do you honestly think you with all of your power can stand against me?"

"Honestly no…I don't see us beating you unless we get a heavy hitter hear" Necro said with narrowed eyes "Which is why I'm going to keep talking to keep you distracted from Spider-man's approaching fist

Mordo's eyes widened at that and turned just in time to had a red and black clad fist ram into his face and send him flying towards the wall

KRAKOOOOM!

"That's for making me some enthralled bitch!" Kaine yelled at the downed mage before turning to see Zatanna and Necro who were looking at him in slight surprise "What?"

Nick's eyes narrowed "Your no-"

"Where's Spider-man?" Zatanna questioned the newcomer with narrowed eyes

Kaine shrugged "Scarlet Spider, and who are you supposed to be? The Wicked Witch of the West's hot sister?"

Zatanna crinkled her nose at the man while Nick narrowed his eyes at the man

"She's already taken buddy"

Kaine snickered "By whom, you? Please if she wanted some League of Legends fanboy she should've shacked it up with my idiot of a brother"

It was then that Wonder Woman joined the group with her sword raised at Kaine with a tired glare on her face "Where is Spider-man! And if I discover you've hurt him in any way I swear to Hera herself I'll rip you apart"

Kaine momentarily felt his spider-sense flare before he answered "Went to find that damn artifact that's been the cause of all this in the first place, apparently the thing's calling out to him, did the same to me by I said to hell with that and ran the other way, literally"

"Where?" Nick asked with a hint of desperation in his tone that caused Zatanna to look at him sadly

Kanie smirked "Don't know to be honest, this house is like a maze"

Nick gritted his teeth at the man playing ignorant and was solely tempted to make him talk when he saw Mordo stand back up and spit out a mixture of blood and saliva before turning his gaze towards them

"So, the pawn returns in defiance to it's master…I knew that resurrecting you would become an issue" Mordo spat out

"Aww that hurt's my feelings" Kaine said as he clutched his heart and sniffed loudly before he glared at the man "Hey I know what will make me feel better, hurting you!"

Mordo's eyes narrowed as multiple circles of magic formed around him and a large one beneath his feet "Well then, come and try…"

…

Peter carefully followed his spider-sense as it led him through a series of rooms that were booby trapped and still being occupied by whatever mages and demons were still alive or conscious before he finally found the artifact that's been the source of Nick's obsession and more or less the cause for all of this anarchy

"Huh, Kaine wasn't kidding when he said it was a bone coffin" Peter commented as he slowly approached the coffin in what looked like a sort of garage that held numerous vehicles and modes of transportation in the last five hundred years

The coffin was sitting in the center of the large garage and glowing ominously. The room was dead quiet with the only sounds being Peter's labored breathing and footfalls as he approached the coffin warily, he grew even more concerned when his spider-sense stopped tingling

Normally that would give Peter some confidence but there was something about this coffin that unnerving Peter on a primal level, like he shouldn't be anywhere near it at all!

"Okay Peter get a hold of yourself, it's just a creepy looking magical coffin, what's there to be scared of" Peter told himself as he gave the artifact a closer examination and saw something interesting

The coffin wasn't just made of bone, it was also made of what looked like petrified webbing. That took the science wiz by surprise as he also examined the engravings on the lid of the coffin to see if he could maybe make sense of what it says

"Ugh, it's like trying to read Hieroglyphics!" Peter groaned after staring at the mysterious writing for several moments before he stood up and scratched his head at the thing "What exactly are you anyway…"

"Open it…"

Peter's body tensed as he heard a dark voice echo in his head and an ominous chill run down his spine.

"Yeeeaaaah That's not going to happen" Peter said to the voice in his head before he suddenly found himself in a dark space, looking up at the entity that had it's four glowing eyes narrowed at him "Sorry Void-y, but you're the last person I should ever take advice from…and I've gone to Guy Gardner for advice on how to flirt with a woman"

The Void's eyes narrowed until they were nearly closed slits before it hissed darkly and Peter suddenly found himself standing in the garage surrounded by over a dozen mages. Peter examined his opponents for a moment before speaking

"Me, wounded and alone against all of you healthy and blood thirsty looking mages?" Peter said with a chuckle as he got into a crouch position "Should have brought Saruman with ya to make it an even fight"

He then leaped at the mages all the while unaware of a man watching the scen from the shadows with interest

"Hmm…maybe I didn't need Kaine after all…" the man said as he watched Spider-man tear through the mages with some ease

…