Heroine ϟ Marvel [3]

10.5

CHAPTER FIVE

With Great Power
Comes Great Consequences

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(what if...? + the falcon and the winter soldier spoilers below!)

NEW YORK SANCTUM SANCTORUM
GREENWICH VILLAGE
TWO YEARS AFTER THE SNAP

Ana's head whipped to the side. Blood splattered everywhere. It stained the mahogany walls. The tiled floors. Her favourite baseball jersey. Her eyes watered. Pain messed her mind up. She couldn't think straight. All she knew was that her right cheekbone had been fractured and her jaw was hanging on by a thread. More blood spilled out from the corners of her mouth. She swirled the mix of saliva and blood and spat it out at the feet in front of her. That earned her another hit. This time she cried out when there was an audible crunch of broken bone. There goes her nose. Migraine was gone. She couldn't even feel her head.

Ana could barely see the dark green runes rotating around Mordo's forearms. They pulsed with every hit he gave her. As well as his eyes. He was feeding on her strength. Enhancing his own. A complex spell. Usually ends up with the source dead. But Ana had all kinds of magic and cosmic power in her veins. She was a seemingly endless power supply. Something he had thought about on many occasions. He liked to keep in mind potential opponents. Find their weaknesses and exploit them. Use them to his advantage.

For the past two years, after their conversation in the Bar With No Doors, he watched her. Mordo knew Ana wouldn't always follow his instructions. He didn't trust her one bit. That eventually, she would break the unspoken vow and venture out on her own to right the wrongs she believed needed fixing. Mordo wasn't surprised when he found her in the middle of another reality. At that moment, he was overcome with so much anger. A burning hot sensation of rage. The portal Ana made that led to another Earth was shattered by him. She was barely able to recognise him lurking in the shadows of the Sanctum before he attacked.

"I told you what happens when we mess with the laws of the universe." Mordo glowered. His fists were covered in Ana's blood. Runes as old as time were ablaze in rings around his wrists and forearms. Dark magic. If Ana was able to hold her concentration for just a moment, she would be able to hear the magic hum with stolen screams and miserable pleas. "You leave me no choice."

Ana braced herself for the last hit that would send her into unconsciousness or beyond. She sucked in a breath and closed her eyes. She was ready to take it. She wasn't willing to fight back. She knew what she had done. She knew she went against everything she swore to protect. She went against her own values and promises. Ana had travelled to a place just like her universe, except for one small difference — the Infinity Stones were still in their tangible forms. She had obtained the Mind Stone when Karl Mordo intercepted. She remembered the look in his eyes. He was furious. Wrathful. Ana couldn't even spell a shield to ward off his attacks in time. He had dragged her back to their universe and forced her to pay for her mistakes.

Ana's head was aching. It felt as if it would split in two. Her eyes were stained with blood and vision was out of focus. She couldn't remember why she did it. Only that at one point prior to exploring a new reality, that an idea made itself known and nothing could stop her from acting on it. She got carried away. Made a bad decision. She deserved the consequences. Ana tried her best to keep her head high, and peered up at Mordo's face. "I...I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..." She rasped out. "Please, I'll do anything. Just don't take it away from me..."

Mordo blinked. His fists tightened. With her words, came so many other voices, pleading the same passage. Men, women, children. Those he believed didn't deserve the right to call themselves Masters of the Mystic Arts. He saw Ana's hand twitch at her sides and he inhaled sharply. He considered his pause a moment of weakness. Mordo grabbed her head and Ana screamed when a new kind of pain ripped her apart from the inside. His fingertips glowed with her mystic energy. He was draining it from her. He had done this many times to many sorcerers in the past. It fuelled him. Brought him more power. He was beginning to develop a taste for it. And he hungered for Ana's. It was mostly moulded by Vishanti's magic. Light magic. But it also had a hint of cosmic energy. A rare mix. One he was convinced she wasn't deserving of.