“I stare only at what belongs to me, little Sorceress,” Abeloth scoffed as her mangled figure slowly warped back into a smooth-skinned woman in white. “You and your husband are mine, as are all those who carry life in this galaxy.”
May narrowed her eyes and sped the casting of her spell. Merlyn and Anakin struggled to keep pace, a joint magic that called on all three of their reserves. Abeloth’s power was a bottomless void, hungry and endless. This creature could not be set free upon the galaxy, no matter the cost.
“I need the stone, Merlyn,” May’s hands divided into afterimages as she cast a second spell along with the first, a simultaneous weave that pushed her mental limits. “I know it’s your greatest treasure, but…”
“Take it,” Merlyn grumbled, hard pressed as he matched her casting speed. His half-broken divinity crystal floated from his side and toward May. “I cannot use its full potential, but your body is far more durable than mine.”
May nodded, eyes filled with magic power as she reached out to the stone with her mind. It connected, a deep well of strangely familiar energy that rushed in a circuit through her body. Abeloth howled, hands extended to batter their barrier with an ocean of telekinetic force.
Anakin growled, a hoarse bellow that echoed within the Force. Hands still occupied with his spellwork, a wave of raw Force energy reached out to greet Ableoth’s blow. Blood trickled down his lips, even as they twisted into a smile.
“I see how you connect with the force now…” Anakin’s grin blossomed further, tears of blood under his eyes. “I refuse to believe that you’re stronger than me, not with just your avatar!”
“Great work Anakin!” May ground her teeth, a new set of afterimages in front of her as she began to simulcast a third spell. “Hold her for a few more seconds…”
May pulled power from Merlyn’s crystalline relic, faster than the stone could handle. Cracks formed on its surface, an outspill of radiant light that she gripped with her biofield and pulled into her body.
Fire. Molten electricity that rampaged under her skin. May narrowed her eyes and took hold of the power that struggled against her control. The divinity in Merlyn’s crystal took shape within her mind’s eye, a dragon with pure white scales and clear blue eyes.
“You’re not the Wizard… but your heart is pure,” the dragon yawned, a rumble that shook the foundations of her mental barriers. It sniffed at the air, head tilted in confusion. “You are blessed by the World Tree, a beloved child of creation…”
A soft touch supported May’s back at the dragon’s words. The hand of Krypton’s Yggdrasil, extended through the great void of space to reinforce her will and share her burden. A smile on her lips, May opened her eyes and locked the final runes into place.
Three great formations blossomed outward, an explosion of magic power that folded Abeloth’s assault backward in its wake. The image of the world tree at her back expanded, its branches now the home of a serpentine dragon of the purest white.
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“Go back to your prison, demon of chaos,” May raised a hand and pointed toward Abeloth’s enraged figure, an action that drew the gaze of her dragon. “Face the judgement of the world will you’ve parasitised for so long… DIVINE CENSOR OF THE BROKEN GOD!!!”
The dragon at her back bellowed, a soundless roar that echoed within the mind. Teeth bared to the stars, it uncoiled itself from the World Tree’s branches and spiralled around the system, a heavenly beast that focused its gaze upon Abeloth’s form.
Its eyes flickered, galaxies within its pupils that carried the figure of May at their centre. The dragon gave Abeloth a pitying smile, one mirrored on May’s lips. With the gaze of the dragon, she could see the tormented spirit that pulled the strings of this macabre avatar.
“I’m sorry that your family never returned for you, Abeloth,” May’s voice carried the rumble of a beast, overlaid with her soft-spoken words. “But I won’t let you put mine in danger.”
The dragon swooped down, mouth open as it released a pillar of light from its jaws. Abeloth’s eyes never left May, filled with wrath and hate as the divine radiance peeled the flesh from her avatar's bones.
“One day, I will be free of this cage, pet of my pet,” Abeloth’s final words echoed through the system as the dragon’s maw snapped shut and ground what remained of her avatar to ash. “You can play at power all you want, but that broken dragon’s spirit will fail you in the end…”
May sighed and the tree at her back faded away. The dragon remained, its form so lifelike that even she could be convinced it was flesh and blood. It gave a final orbit around the star system, before it shrank in size and flowed into her chest, just above her heart.
Fatigue weighed heavy on her shoulders, ignored as she assessed the work of her other two spells. One had followed Sidious’ mental signature, traced his link from the Abeloth’s prison and to a distant world beyond the galaxy's edge. The other chained the aggravating Sith in place, a work of magic that should hold until they reached his location.
“Come on, we don’t have much time…” May waved her hand and summoned a portal. “Let’s go pin down Sidious before he causes any more trouble.”
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“There are far more lead lined facilities than I’d imagined…” Dan shook his head as he updated Krypton’s database. Kara and Cal could clear out the likely nest of Hydra, what he was more interested in were the areas that seemed to block his perfected vision. “There are three locations so far that I can’t get a solid read on, the one in China is probably K’un-Lun, but the other two…”
The one in Greece hurt his eyes to stare at, filled with a bizarre cosmic power. It was possibly a haven for one of the pantheons of Earth, but Dan wasn’t sure. The third rested at the core of the planet, a dead zone that repelled any effort to glimpse within.
“I’d bet that’s the unborn Celestial,” Dan frowned as he considered what to do with the behemoth. It would be fine for now, but eventually it had to go. “I don’t particularly care if the Celestials have a plan for Earth, but I’d better be ready for a fight before I mess around with it…”
The Celestials stood above most of the Marvel multiverse, ancient gods crafted in the first realm of creation by a vain and all powerful creator. Of all the beings to upset, he would rather leave them for last.
Beyond the dead zones in his sight, Dan had located countless potential mutants. There were also some lesser villains, small time criminals that could be left for the Order to deal with over time.
“There is no sign of Apocalypse… not even Sinister knows where his old master slinked off to after he was infected,” Dan shook his head and began another scan. The ancient mutant was a threat, even with Juggernaut on his side. “If I can’t find him, I’ll have to stay awake as I absorb power from the stone… he’s way too strong for Kara and Cal, and the Ancient One won’t act against a native of Earth.”
Dan spent more than an hour, focused on the many layers of space that interacted with the planet. He even cast several spells, all of which failed to locate his target. Wherever the mutant king was hidden away, it was well and truly beyond his sight.
“I’ll need to rebrief the others on Apocalypse’s abilities,” Dan sighed and gave his efforts a rest. “Especially Kara…”
The young woman’s battle hungry nature would be against her in a battle with Apocalypse. His countless years of experience and varied powers were not to be taken lightly. He wasn’t a challenge to be faced, but an enemy that had to be utterly destroyed.
“I hope Logan and the others are quick studies, I want to focus on my research if I’ve got to stay awake…”