“We’re going to be te,” Nat said, gesturing for me to hurry up.
My eyes flicked over to her—I could see her reflected in the bathroom mirror, standing behind me as I carefully put the finishing touches on my makeup. “We’re not going to be te; the brief’s at ten. It’s not even quarter to.”
She made a small noise of frustration. “It was set for ten, but everyone’s going to be there before that. We should be there already.”
Satisfied that I was finally done, I turned and spread my arms a little, gesturing toward myself and my new suit. “How do I look?” I was wearing a deep scarlet three-piece pantsuit—long jacket, double-breasted scoop-front waistcoat, crisp bck button-up, and bck block-heeled pumps. I’d picked up the suit from the tailor yesterday and it was now the most expensive thing I owned, by a significant margin.
Natasha closed her eyes for a brief moment and sighed, a small smile tweaking the corner of her mouth. “You look amazing, but you really didn’t need to dress up for this.”
“You’re dressed up,” I pointed out. Nat had chosen a dark midnight purple skirt suit, with a simple white blouse under it. Something about the outfit tickled my memories—I was sure I’d seen her wear it before, but I wasn’t sure when.
“I dress like this for meetings and things all the time, though,” she said, shaking her head. “You usually just throw on a dress and call it a day. The only reason you wanted to wear that is because you spent three thousand dolrs on it.”
I put my hand on my chest, feigning a hurt look. “It’s not like you ever take me to any red-carpet events where I might be able to rock this look. I’ve gotta take what I can get.”
Nat folded her arms. “Can we go?”
“Fine, fine,” I said, slipping on my sling ring.
A minute ter, we stepped out onto the grass of my usual arrival point at the Avengers’ compound and walked quickly toward one of the frontmost ancilry buildings. The conference room in the main building’s common area wasn’t really designed to accommodate the number of people that were going to be attending today’s meeting, so we were going to be using a rger, dedicated conference room instead.
Nat hadn’t been wrong. Most of the Avengers were already there, some inside the conference room and some loitering outside, chatting. Clint was closest to the entrance when we arrived. “You’re looking fancy,” he said, nodding at my outfit. “Going somewhere after this?”
I beamed at him, standing up a little straighter and adjusting the cuffs of my jacket. “Nope,” I said cheerfully, popping the ‘p’.
Looking around, I saw that, although everyone was dressed nicely, only Shuri truly matched my outfit energy. It wasn’t really surprising—she was always dressed ridiculously aesthetically, even when she was just working by herself in the b. It was a Wakandan thing.
“We didn’t miss a pre-brief, right?” Nat asked Clint. “I’m surprised there wasn’t one on the calendar.”
“Nah.” He shook his head. “Tony’s got something he wants to show off, that’s all I know.”
We made some small talk, standing by the window and chatting amiably in the sun. After a few minutes, Pietro joined us, and I noticed Natasha checking the time. It wasn’t much longer before an orange-sparking, sorcerous portal opened just outside the building, drawing our attention. We watched as the Ancient One and several other sorcerers stepped through. She was wearing her orange and yellow robes, hood down, and I was vaguely pleased to see that her arm was—finally—no longer in a sling.
Accompanying her was Mordo, in his usual green robes, and three more sorcerers I hadn’t met before. I was vaguely familiar with Daniel Drumm, the Master of the New York sanctum, at least—a tall, imposing man with a clean-shaven head. He wore tobacco-brown robes that left his impressively jacked arms bare, a deep red sash across his hips. The other two, however, weren’t anyone I immediately recognised or knew by name. I might have seen them before but, if I had, they’d pyed such small roles I’d forgotten them in the intervening years. Neither of them were wearing the more generic robes sported by rank-and-file Kamar-taj sorcerers, though, so I guessed that they were full masters as well.
The first was an older, vaguely Anatolian-featured man with short, curly salt-and-pepper hair and a simirly-mottled beard. His robes were strangely eclectic, blue, grey and patterned orange. The second was a young Asian woman, her long hair done in a wrapped braid that sat in front of her left shoulder—she eschewed robes entirely, dressed in a tight-fitting set of dark blue pants and top, with leather accents and a cloak over her shoulders. Given Drumm’s presence and what we were going to be talking about today, it felt like a safe assumption that these were the masters of the London and Hong Kong sanctums.
They made their way inside, the Ancient One leading her fellow Masters. Our little group was nearest the door, so I straightened up as they approached, giving what I hoped was a disarming smile. “Ancient One. Good to see you again.”
“Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Mr Barton, Ms Romanov,” she responded, inclining her head politely.
“Welcome to the Avengers compound, Ancient One. Thanks for coming,” Natasha said, smiling warmly.
Looking past her, I greeted the two other sorcerers I knew. “Master Mordo, Master Drumm.” Gncing at the two others, I pressed my lips together, my eyes flicking briefly toward Mordo in a silent request.
Mordo gave me a curious look. Was he surprised that I didn’t know who they were? “Allow me to introduce Masters Sol Rama and Minoru, of the London and Hong Kong sanctums, respectively.”
“Wanda Maximoff.” Master Sol Rama smiled broadly, his eyes twinkling. “We’ve heard much about you.”
“Yes. Many tales are told of the Scarlet Witch,” Master Minoru—why was that name familiar?—said in a measured tone, her expression ft.
“Good to meet you all,” Clint said. “Hope we aren’t pulling you away from anything too important.”
“Nothing that could not wait.” The Ancient One looked at me, bright green eyes boring into mine. “How was your trip to Westview?”
I froze, my mouth suddenly dry. The sorcerer was watching me carefully, the faintest hint of a smile touching the corners of her mouth. There was a pause and I saw a fsh of concern in Natasha’s eyes as she gnced at me—she wasn’t sure how I wanted to handle this. Honestly, I had no idea either. How did the Ancient One know? And looking at her, she did know. Or thought she knew, at least.
“More eventful than I’d expected,” I hedged. “Less beneficial than I’d hoped.”
“I see. That is unfortunate,” she said simply, inclining her head in a shallow nod before stepping past me. I gave the other sorcerers a tight smile and made an ‘after you’ gesture with my hands, pointing them toward the conference room.
As they moved past, Nat touched my arm, turning me to face her before reaching up and adjusting my colr. “She wanted you to know that she’s keeping an eye on you. Tell you to be careful,” she murmured softly, keeping her voice quiet enough that she wouldn’t be overheard. “I’m pretty sure that’s all. It wasn’t intended as a threat. Not a direct one, at least.”
I exhaled and nodded, forcing a calm I didn’t entirely feel.
“That’s everyone here,” Clint said. “We should head in.”
The four of us followed after the sorcerers, heading into the conference room. In addition to the delegation from Kamar-taj, every Avenger currently on Earth had assembled—Steve, Tony, Bruce, Clint, Natasha, Pietro and Sam. Though technically not full members of the team, Bucky and Rhodey were present, and I supposed I fell into the same category as them. Shuri was also here, and stly T’Chal had dialled in to the meeting, his hologram joining everyone else at the long table.
Once everyone was settled in their seats, Steve stood. There was something about the way he carried himself that drew the eye—natural magnetism—and made everyone immediately pay attention. He looked around the room, making brief eye contact with each attendee. “Thank you all for coming today. As you know, it’s been more than two months since Kaecilius and his followers betrayed Kamar-taj and stole a ritual allowing him to commune with an entity known as Dormammu. His goal is to pave the way for this entity to invade Earth, by destroying the sanctums in London, Hong Kong and New York City. The sanctums are the source of a barrier that the Masters of the Mystic Arts use to safeguard the world from extra-dimensional beings—threats from beyond our universe.”
I pretended not to notice Master Minoru’s eyes flick over to me as Steve said that.
“We don’t know when to expect him to make his move,” Steve continued, his expression serious. “Kaecilius needed time to decipher the ritual, but we don’t know how long. He may have already done it—we have no way of knowing. Not only that, he and his followers are hidden and aren’t operating on any specific timeframe. He could attack tomorrow, he could attack two years from now. The fact that we can’t predict their movements, combined with their access to sling rings, means they can attack the sanctums at their leisure, without any warning, and there are limitations on how quickly we can respond.”
Taking a breath, I lifted my hand timidly from the table and Steve nodded in my direction. “In my visions, Kaecilius’s main advantage was the element of surprise. Kamar-taj didn’t know his end goal. When he and his zealots attacked the sanctums, they tried to hit them one after the other, quickly, before a proper defence could be raised.”
Drumm straightened in his chair and made a dismissive gesture with one hand as he spoke in a deep voice. “We know Kaecilius is coming. More than that, thanks to your poor decision-making, he knows that we know. He will adjust his strategy. He will expect heavier resistance, so he will take more time to prepare and strengthen his attacks accordingly.”
I bit my tongue at the jab. He wasn’t wrong, but it was still annoying to be called out like that.
“Dormammu is the cosmic conqueror,” Mordo said in agreement. “Destroyer of worlds. We cannot underestimate the lengths that Kaecilius will go to on his behalf.”
Steve nodded. “And that’s exactly why we need to coordinate.”
“What sort of coordination did you have in mind, Captain?” the Ancient One asked. “As you yourself have said, there are severe limitations on the Avengers’ ability to mobilise an effective response.”
Tony dropped his hands onto the conference table, getting everyone’s attention as he stood up. “Yeah, about that… our resident super genius has come up with a bit of a game changer.” I gnced in Shuri’s direction—I wasn’t the only one to do so, either. Tony paused, frowning a little at the reaction. “Oh, come on, seriously? I mean, yes, I was talking about Royal R&D, but I think it’s a little messed up that all of you made that assumption. What am I, chopped liver?”
“What kind of ‘game changer’ are we talking about, here, Tony?” Rhodey asked, trying not to sound overly exasperated.
Tony looked over at Shuri again and nodded. “I’ll let you take it from here.”
“It would be easiest, Colonel Rhodes, if we just showed you,” Shuri finally spoke for the first time, raising her hand and activating her Kimoyo beads’ holographic interface. She swiped, an indicator turning green, and something… changed.
I really wasn’t sure what it was. It was like standing near a loudspeaker, that deep bass pressure squeezing inside your chest, but without the actual thrum. There was a slight hum in the air, the soft purr of electrical kittens, barely noticeable even with my enhanced hearing. It wasn’t uncomfortable, per se, but it was definitely noticeable.
There was a moment of silence as a few of the people gathered around the table looked around at each other. After a few seconds of nothing happening, it was Clint that spoke up. “What is that?”
Shuri gave a smug smile, turning to the delegation from Kamar-taj. “Master Mordo, would you please be so kind as to demonstrate?”
Mordo stood, retrieving the sling ring from the leather thong hanging at his waist. His expression was unreadable. “I will create a portal leading from here…” He indicated a point in space above the table. “…to out there,” he finished, gesturing toward the gss door. It seemed rehearsed. Whatever Shuri and Tony had been working on, they’d been working with Mordo directly, which caught me off-guard a little bit.
The sorcerer made a quick hand motion. Immediately, orange, sorcerous sparks of energy spiralled into being above the conference table but, instead of forming a portal, they streaked across the room toward the door, sputtering out halfway. A few people exchanged surprised looks. Mordo took a deeper breath, focusing on what he was doing, and did a rger gesture. Once again, sparks of magic began to form but, instead of coalescing, they sputtered and streaked across the room, fading out before they hit the door. Mordo continued, repeating the gesture, but all that happened were a few more spluttering sparks unching themselves across the room to dissipate harmlessly. The Ancient One watched the demonstration with an unreadable expression on her face, but the three sanctum masters openly wore varying expressions of surprise.
“You’ve come up with some way of preventing portals from forming,” I said quietly. This was new. I’d never seen anything like this happen before. Was it really a surprise, though, when it came to Shuri and Tony Stark working together? Tony really hadn’t been bragging when he called it a game changer.
“We’ve called them ‘reality anchors’,” Shuri said with a smile, seemingly far too self-satisfied with the reactions of the sorcerers to remember to give me the cold shoulder. She gestured at her interface, ‘grabbing’ something and throwing it over the table. A full holographic projection of a 3D pne appeared, crossed with a grid. “The portals sorcerers create are essentially wormholes—you fold space, bringing the two ends of your portals together so that they occupy almost the same point in space.”
As she expined, two circles appeared at opposite ends of the holographic pne—one white, one bck. The 3D pne then warped, folding in half to bring the two circles next to each other. A line appeared, passing demonstratively through both circles, then the hologram vanished. It was an extremely simplistic diagram, but readily understandable and something I’d seen a million times before in fiction.
“The exact science is complicated to expin,” Shuri continued. “But a reality anchor essentially ‘fixes’ space around it, disrupting the mechanism of travel by essentially forcing reality to remain rigid and ft.”
“This changes things,” the Ancient One said carefully, exchanging looks with the other sorcerers. “There are magical wards that can stop the formation of portals, through what I believe are simir means, but they have never been practical to use. There are very few sorcerers who have ever lived that could properly cast them and, even then, they cannot st for long—the amount of power necessary to maintain them is ruinous.”
“The power requirements are immense,” Shuri acknowledged, the smile she’d been wearing throughout the expnation finally fading a little bit. “We would not be able to power a reality anchor for long at all without Mr Stark’s test advances in arc reactor technology.”
“How long, exactly? Over how big an area?” Natasha asked, leaning forward, her brow furrowed.
She gnced at me, a slight frown on her face, probably for the exact same reason I was feeling really annoyed right now. I wouldn’t say anything now—interrupting wouldn’t help. But why hadn’t I been brought in on this? I was here all the time. It was hard to get a more convenient source of portals to test something like this with, but they’d chosen to work with Mordo instead. Why go to Kamar-taj over coming to me? The only answers I could come up with were bad ones.
“Our prototype can run for three hours before exhausting its power supply, anchoring space for roughly eight hundred metres in every direction. We’re working to make them more energy efficient.” As she spoke, she gestured toward the wall of the conference room, where three wide TV screens turned on.
Each dispyed a different satellite image, enhanced slightly to better show roads. A blue dot in the centre of each marked the location of a sanctum. It was a little hard for me to tell which was which, but I was pretty sure that the leftmost one was New York. Grey, semi-transparent circles appeared on the images, centred over each sanctum, to dispy the size of the area that would be covered. An eight-hundred-metre radius meant a sphere over a kilometre and a half in diameter—that was huge.
Rhodey made a surprised noise. “It exhausts an arc reactor in three hours?”
Tony shrugged. “Yeah… Like she says, we’re working on it. In the meantime, the reactors can be switched out pretty easily. As long as we’re actively maintaining them, we can theoretically keep them up indefinitely,” he said, then winced. “Just costs a small fortune, is all.”
“We can’t run them all the time,” said Steve, nodding slowly. “But if we set up anchors at each of the sanctums, when one is attacked, we can activate the others. It’ll slow Kaecilius down, buy us a window to scramble a proper response.”
“What if he attacks one, then breaks off?” Bruce asked. “Spaces out his attacks, hits the other sanctums ter?”
“The spells maintaining the barrier at each sanctum can be re-cast,” the Ancient One responded. “The locations are important, so we cannot move them, and the required rituals are complex. It would take several days, but if we could fortify the other sanctums while the work was being done…”
“Eight reactors per day per anchor,” Tony winced again. “I’d really rather not do that if we can avoid it.”
Mordo shook his head. “Kaecilius will not risk us fortifying our positions and undoing his work. I know him—the way he operates. When he commits to an attack, he will attempt to strike swiftly and decisively to break the sanctums in rapid succession.”
Master Sol Rama spoke up, gncing thoughtfully toward the Ancient One. “If we can reliably block the formation of portals, then other defensive measures become more viable. The sanctums have yered protection spells that can be used to seal them off. Kaecilius would normally be able to use a portal to simply bypass them, but if he can’t use a sling ring…”
“The wards won’t keep him out for long,” Drumm rumbled. “He and his followers can pick them apart given some time. But they will dey him further.”
“On top of that, Eliza left us a little present, too,” Tony said, gesturing toward the screens again. Close by each of the blue markers indicating the sanctum locations, yellow markers appeared. “She used Stark Industries to secure locations close to each sanctum and started installing Iron Legion deployment stations. We’re just finishing them up, now. They’ll be able to maintain a good two dozen drones each. Again, expensive—especially after how much damage Eliza did to the company—but it makes no sense to abandon them when they’re already half-done.”
Rhodey shot him a warning look. “Tony, you know that they pushed through those restrictions on the manufacture and deployment of military-grade drones after San Francisco. Ross isn’t going to be happy if he thinks you’re circumventing those rules. Neither is the president, for that matter. It puts us in a bad position.”
“What Ross doesn’t know can’t hurt him,” Tony said with a shrug. “It’s only two dozen at each site, only to be used in response to an imminent attack. Pinky swear.”
“The drones will not prove that much of an obstacle for Kaecilius,” the Ancient One responded. “But they may dey him for a few minutes longer.”
Steve nodded. “This is good. With the anchors, wards and Iron Legion in pce, we can pn proper response teams for deployment to each site.”
“By forcing him to approach on foot, we risk the streets near the sanctums becoming battlefields,” Master Minoru pointed out.
“You can leave that to us,” Natasha replied. “We’ve got existing contacts we can leverage. We’ll speak to local governments, advise them we have intel on a potential terrorist threat and need their cooperation in the event of an attack. Put together some evacuation and containment pns.”
“How bad do you think?” Bruce asked, making a bit of a face. “Do we need to secure a couple of blocks?”
“They’re not gonna like it,” Clint added. “You know how difficult it is to evacuate a chunk of Manhattan. London and Hong Kong aren’t going to be any easier.”
Rhodey cleared his throat. “I can help. Secretary Ross will want full disclosure regarding the threat, but we might be able to count on support from the army or national guard.”
“Completely out of the question, Colonel Rhodes,” the Ancient One said firmly, fixing him with a steady gaze. “We are already risking much, here. The Avengers and our Wakandan friends have built up a small measure of trust, but I cannot in good conscience allow the US military to become involved.”
“I understand your concerns, but—”
“No, you do not,” she cut him off. “You cannot. It is difficult to overstate how much of a threat even a single person can be, should they gain access to the wrong sort of magical knowledge. Would you care to guess how many apocalypses I have personally averted purely through interfering with your military’s efforts to gain a supernatural edge?”
For a brief moment, it looked like Rhodey was going to argue, but then he just let out a small sigh and nodded, conceding the point.
The Ancient One looked around the table. “I have my concerns about the usage of these reality anchors, as well. This technology could be badly misused if it fell into the wrong hands—the Masters of the Mystic Arts rely heavily on our sling rings to move quickly and without hindrance, to keep the world safe from magical threats. If they were to become unreliable…”
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Shuri interjected. “The power requirements are phenomenal. There aren’t many people in the world that could run an anchor for even a short amount of time.”
“A short amount of time may be all that is required for disaster to strike,” the Ancient One said, shaking her head. “I cannot ask you to uninvent this technology, and it is far too useful to not employ in this specific circumstance, but Kamar?taj will need strong assurances regarding its future use and non-proliferation.” She looked pointedly in Rhodey’s direction as she said the st word.
“Alright.” Steve raised his voice slightly to get everyone’s attention again. “If everybody’s on the same page, we can start discussing the deployment of teams in the event of an attack. We’ll set up three response scenarios—one for each sanctum…”
