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THIRTY SEVEN | RETURN TO NEVERLAND

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With an earth-shattering roar, lightning cleaved through the sky and bit viciously into the other side of the war. Several of the aliens burst into vibrant lilac flames, the only fire that stood out from the rest. Flashes of violet lightning were immediately followed by roars of thunder so loud that they shattered the sky and shook the ground, an indication that this was no natural storm. The Masters of the Mystic Arts took the massive assault from Thanos' armada, pushing forward while keeping their shield upright, just as Cassandra ruthlessly pitched a flurry of dark spells that obliterated hundreds of Thanos' fleet. Paul, Alona, and Vesper also took charge of them, getting rid of as many of their enemies as they could. They were like a bunch of rabid dogs that couldn't just die and would be replaced by others if slaughtered. They were never going to stop, and Cassandra realized then that the plan had to change.

Because Thanos had lives to spare, they don't.

Her senses were suddenly assaulted by the foul scent of dry rot and fresh blood, and as she whirled around, she was shocked by the supernatural horror she saw. Several skeletal, decrepit forms emerged from the ground and stumbled and staggered toward her. They possessed insane eyes that glowed with madness, and their green flesh was exposed by recently opened wounds. In addition, two big monsters with twisted jaws and crazy eyes were among them.

The number of ghouls was overwhelming, but the sound they made was worse.

"Great! Thanos' army doesn't die!" roared the brunette, vexed and weary. "We got zombified aliens!" Motioning her arms, Cassandra was about to cast a hex that would vaporize all of them at once when a figure bathed in white light hovered over the army of undead beasts. Squinting her eyes, she caught a glimpse of Moon-Young's face as she slowly descended from the air and raised her hand, commanding them to stop.

"Idiots! I clearly instructed you to attack your enemies! Them!" scolded the young woman, jabbing a finger toward the other side of the battlefield. Her body shone so brightly that it glowed like moonlight. "We are your allies!"

The Sorceress Supreme cocked an eyebrow, flabbergasted and amused. The ghouls staggered away from their path, laying carnage instead on their former allies.

Moon-Young spun around on her heel to face her with a small smile painted on her lips. "Sorry, mom—I mean, Cass," she shrugged. "I'm still figuring out this mass controlling the undead thing. You okay?"

Cassandra chuckled as she snatched a shameless alien's spear, which dared to stab her, obliterating them to dust. "Yeah, I'm good. Where's your brother?"

Landing beside them, Jae-Hyuk made his presence known. "Right here!" chimed the boy, his fingertips blazing with solar fire, which he used to burn another pack of alien hounds. "I'm okay if that's what you're worried about," he grinned. "Just busy frying insects left and right."

The three then formed a circle when they suddenly got surrounded by a cluster of extraterrestrials. They were soon joined by Wong and Stephen, who both cast the Icy Tendrils of Ikthalon, which swallowed several of the aliens. Fighting together, they each eliminated their opponents. Moon-Young and Jae-Hyuk combined their powers, while Stephen, Wong, and Cassandra banded together and leaped gracefully into the air, their capes carrying them high from the ground. They both led their group out of the frenzy. "So, what's my rating, sorceress?" queried the former Sorcerer Supreme to Cassandra.

"Rating?"

"You know, Guardian thing earlier..."

Wong erupted, "You're seriously asking her that right now?"

Cassandra furrowed her eyebrows. "Oh, uh..." she paused, giving it a thought. So far, he was doing an excellent job of protecting her, but she fought Thanos alone earlier since he was unconscious. She fought to stay conscious in Titan five years ago in order to keep him alive. "Seven out of ten?"

The stout librarian guffawed. "You're too generous! Give him a five!"

Stephen shot him a glare, then incredulously retorted, "Seven? Really? Where did the last three points go?"

She shrugged.

"Hey, Wong, Cass," panted Moon-Young as they finished off the last of their surrounding enemies. "Can you guys ask the other masters to kill the bigger ones first? They're easier to revive and control, and they kill better and faster."

He raised an eyebrow and glanced at Cassandra. She nodded.

The librarian pursed his lips. "We'll do our best."

"Thanks!"

"Cassandra?" Steve's voice cracked into life in her earpiece.

Pushing a button on her intercom device, Cassandra walked away from Stephen and the rest, tearing through Thanos' Chitauri army. "Yes, Cap?"

"We need a plan to end this! Do you have anything that can stall Thanos and..." he struggled as a splitting crack from his side was heard. "His army for a bit?"

She remembered her and Hulk's promise to the Ancient One as she saw Clint sprinting through the chaos to protect the golden gauntlet in his arms. "I've got an idea. Wong, lead the fight for us for a minute," she ordered, and he nodded, racing to get to the other masters. Gesticulating her arms, she summoned the glass barrier, pointing and reflecting the sun, blocking their enemies away from them. To further confuse the opposing army, the Sorceress Supreme summoned the Images of Ikonn, albeit transforming them into clones of the heroes trapped within their dimension. "Cap, we're already secure."

"Good. Everyone who's inside proceeds to this trench right here," stated the leader of the team in a commanding tone.

"Cap," the woman said as she climbed down the ditch with her guardian by her side. It didn't take long for those inside the dimension to arrive, including Clint, who was carrying the gauntlet. Paul was behind him as if he were keeping Clint safe and sound. "Hand is safe," declared the marksman.

Tony patted Clint's shoulder in praise. "Good job."

"Alright, let's get rid of this damn thing," Cassandra said, cutting through their conversation because she knew they only had a minute before Thanos noticed the barrier and the clones she had created. "We need to return these stones to their proper timelines."

To agree with her, Hulk stepped forward, cradling his injured right arm. "She's right. We need to get them back where they came from. Once we get these stones in the tunnel, Thanos won't be able to do a thing."

The genius inventor grunted, "No way to get them back, pal. Thanos destroyed our quantum tunnel."

"That wasn't our only time machine. Anybody seen a van?"

"I don't think we're driving our way out of this one, buddy," remarked Peter Parker at Scott's question.

"No, kid. It's what's in it."

Paul cut in, nonchalantly raising his hand to shield himself from the dust that flew over to them when nearby debris exploded. "The tunnel. Pym's Original Quantum Tunnel, is that what you're referring to?"

"Bingo!"

"Great, there's no way that piece of crap survived all this!" Kraglin, one of Peter Quill's friends, was exasperated and sat down on the ground in exhaustion. Scott fished out his car keys from his pocket and pressed a button on his remote. Soon, a car horn blared loudly over the massive battlefield, playing La Cucaracha. "It's a Ford."

Vesper pointed her finger upwards while looking up and said, "That's your car horn?"

"It's actually my friend's car. We did a few modifications."

Seemingly impressed, the blonde set her sword aside and glanced at Rocket. "I need this guy for April Fools."

"You want to kidnap him that day?" Rocket smirked, crossing his arms.

Scott blinks twice. "Wait, what?"

"Anyone see an ugly, brown van up there?"

As she and Steve climbed up close to the edge of their trench, Cassandra noticed a figure hovering in the air outside of the Mirror Dimension she had created. Ebony Maw. She could only guess that he was trying to break through the magic she put up. The taste on her tongue soured, and her blood boiled as she recognized him. Oh, how could she forget the son of a bitch who tortured her and Stephen years ago? Even if this version of him hadn't, it was enough for her to be motivated to kill him. "Clock's ticking, Steve. It's only a matter of time before that fucking weasel gets through."

"Yes, I do! But you're not gonna like where it's parked!" Bucky's voice came through their earpiece, giving hope.

At that, Steve glanced at Scott and her female companion, whose name she remembered from the files: Hope Van Dyne. "You get those stones into that van; this ends right now. Can you guys get that Quantum Tunnel working?"

"Can do that, Cap."

"Yeah. See? You call him Cap, too." Scott remarked as if pointing out a fact to his partner. The Sorceress Supreme slid down from her position to return to her own companion, holding his firm hand as they recoiled from the impact of the eruption near them.

"I call dibs on killing Voldemort right there." announced the Sorceress Supreme, taking cover as multiple explosions occurred in front of them.

"Voldemort?"

Cassandra turned to face Mantis, whose voice was soft and gentle. No one would ever think she could take down anyone, not even a fly, but she could. Cassandra knew she could. Mantis was able to put Thanos to sleep on Titan and hold him off as much as she could. She pointed over to the levitating figure not far away from them. "That noseless guy over there. Front and center. I call him Voldemort because he doesn't have a nose."

"How-how does he breathe if he doesn't have a nose?"

The brunette blinked. "I don't know," she admitted. "And I don't want to know."

"Hey," Tony said as he approached them both, his gaze fixed on Stephen. "You said one out of fourteen million, we win, yeah? Tell me this is it."

Stephen momentarily gazed at Cassandra. He knew something and refused to reveal it. "If I tell you what happens, it won't happen."

Tony nodded, choosing not to argue further. "You better be right."

Then, Peter Quill butted in, panting, "Dr. Weird, and Mrs...." he peeked at her. "Weird, can—"

Vesper rolled her eyes. "It's Dr. Strange and Cassandra Mason, you dumbass."

"—you open one of your space holes over to the van?"

"No, the doors work both ways," Cassandra explained, exchanging a glance with the team's leader. "There'll be five hundred of those things in here before we ever step through."

"Can we run it?"

Alona stepped forward, seemingly shocked by Steve's inquiry. "Like American football? You want us to run this hand like American football? Sweet Poseidon,"

"Capable as we all are," spoke Okoye, her tone skeptical of the suggestion. "We can't all make it through that."

Thor agreed with Steve's suggestion. "Not all of us have to."

"It's a terrible plan."

Valkyrie commented to Drax, "Yet, I like it."

"Can't they," Paul started to speak, capturing everyone's attention when he pointed his finger at Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne. "Shrink the gauntlet with the stones and carry it with them to the van? Because they would be able to get past Thanos without noticing if they were in their miniature size." He then caught a rock in his hand that was about to hit his face without looking at it, his instincts protecting him wherever he was.

"That's actually a nice idea." Scott commended him. "But, unfortunately, we don't have enough Pym Particles anymore to test it out."

A resounding crack of glass caught their attention, rushing them all to think. Ebony Maw was close to shattering the barrier. Whatever they were planning to do, they must decide now. "Time is not a luxury for us right here, everyone. Unless any of you have any more ideas, this is the plan we will follow now. Our priority is to get these stones into that tunnel. It doesn't matter who gets them there as long as it does, got it?" commanded the Captain, steadying himself while he glimpsed at King T'Challa and Alona, who looked like they were contemplating the plan. Nodding, T'Challa met with Clint, who passed the gauntlet to him.

"Thank you for getting it this far."

"Cap, what about Thanos?"

"Marvel will go after Thanos," Steve replied to Peter Parker's question as they heard another crack reverberate.

Alona's eyes lit up. "Carol's on her way? Salamat naman!" Thank you! "Kanina ko pa gustong upakan yung gago na yun eh." I have been wanting to beat that son of a bitch to a pulp since earlier. "I mean, can't we just return Thanos and his lost boys to Neverland?"

"We can't let him go into the tunnel and return to his timeline," volunteered Cassandra. "Because there's a chance he might land at a different time. It's too dangerous. He knows where these stones are. He'll grab 'em as soon as he lands. I'll go with Carol and buy you all as much time as I can."

Suddenly, the glass barrier was splintered into fragments by Ebony Maw, who now led the assault against them. "Be careful," mumbled Stephen, his hand wrapping around her wrist like he didn't want to let her go. Cassandra smiled, her heart fluttered, and her lips brushed against him softly and delicately, like butterfly wings, just long enough for her to inhale his breath and feel the warmth of his skin afterward.

"Marry me,"

Cassandra blinked, genuinely astonished by Stephen's question. She didn't expect him to ask her this question, especially since they are in the middle of an ongoing war. "You really chose the worst time to ask me that question."

"Company ready?" Steve called to their attention.

Her heart pounded as she lifted her left hand to show she was wearing the engagement ring he left. Stephen's eyes softened, his expression showing layers of astonishment and gratitude. "But, I already had this with me five years ago," the woman exhaled. "Yes, I'm marrying you, Stephen."

"Now!"

At the captain's signal, everyone climbed out of the trench, charging forward against the new horde of aliens. T'Challa drew the gauntlet closer to him as if nothing could ever pull him away from it. Everyone else fought the alien soldiers, clearing the path for T'Challa. Stephen and Cassandra nodded at each other and even vaulted into the air, confronting the Leviathans and the most powerful servant and child of Thanos. "Hey, Voldy!" exclaimed the witch, channeling dark matter in her palm and mocking the gray, skinny, telekinetic man on her own. She wanted to hurt him, even kill him, for the pain he caused her because, until today, she could still feel the pain she endured from his torture. "I've been waiting to see you again."

"I have no idea who you are, but I could feel that you had suffered because of me," he spoke aloud, tilting his head and flashing an evil smile that betrayed all innocence. With a flick of his hand, stones driven deep into the ground rose to his side. "I will do it again."

Cassandra caught the blast of debris with her shield, setting it to pulse with arcane violet light. The stones were instantly obliterated into dust, and the sorceress blew and brushed the ashes off her shoulders. "Nice try. B for effort." the sorceress laughed as she waved her hand, vanquishing the rest of the stones around them so he wouldn't be able to use them again.

She summoned dark energy orbs in vengeance and hurled them quickly like there was no tomorrow, leaving Ebony Maw with little chance to protect himself. As she concentrated entirely on him, her strength rushed through her. He was soon able to flee her anger, and their combat lasted only a few minutes before the Sorceress Supreme summoned a bubble of evil magic to encapsulate her foe, which Ebony dissipated. Then he telekinetically cut off her oxygen, causing her to instantly fall to the ground.

Cassandra clawed for her neck, her face turning red, almost blue, due to her breathing impairment. She crawled on the ground, her fingers trembling and her vision blurring, desperate to get away. Her enemy soon returned her oxygen, and she was able to breathe again. "Tsk, I have heard rumors about you, child of Dormammu, servant of Darkness." he grumbled, stretching his neck side to side and raising his hand. "I expected more from you, but ah well, breaking your neck will be more satisfying."

Yet, when he flicked his hand to crack her neck, a violet light shimmered from her hands and feet, and her image soon faded. It was an illusion.

And the real Cassandra was standing behind him.

Disheveled, and with eyes glowing lilac in wrathful vengeance, she drew a breath and let it out, lower lip trembling in fury. "What a waste of flesh you are," she said in a rasping voice, touching his chest with the tip of her finger. An amethyst vapor in the form of a long coil slithered over to him like a snake, pinning Ebony to his knees. The air around them began to breeze more vigorously, and it appeared that he had called the wind to blow the vapor away. However, the woman made sure that it only served to keep him firmly on the ground. Not even a minute later, a harsh, half-stifled yell surfaced from his mouth, as Cassandra knew his pain felt like a sharp-toothed creature eating him from the inside. His screams of torment sent such a euphoric thrill through her that she gave in and chuckled. It felt... exhilarating to see him writhe in pain and almost beg for his life.

"What did you do?" screeched the telekinetic, jostling from his position. He was sweating, and the woman could already see the effects of what she had invoked.

"I cursed you," she said apathetically, her tone void of any emotion. She felt nothing for him; she just wanted to end his life. "It causes your bones to melt like a hot knife melting butter. You're going to feel such immense pain that you will tear your heart out later, literally."

"You will pay for this! With your life!"

She feigned shock. "Oh dear, I'm so scared!" The Sorceress Supreme cackled. "Look, Maw, I know I will die one day, but at least, I will die knowing I witnessed you go straight to hell first."

"You filthy—"

"You see, not all the rumors you've heard about me are true; I don't serve the darkness," she mocked him as she bent closer to his ear. "It serves me."

Cassandra, catching a glimpse of Ebony's master sprinting past her to capture the Black Panther, released threads of light that latched around Thanos's waist, hoisting him up in the air, without even tearing her gaze away from the cursed one. He was next on her list to kill. "Going somewhere?" she spat, finally giving her full attention when Ebony finally executed himself by carving his heart out of his chest. His cold, boneless body landed on the ground with a loud thud, and blood spilled out from the hole, staining the Sorceress Supreme's boots. With a blazing stare and an unforgiving judgment, the veins in her neck stood out in livid ridges, and she started to levitate him in the air, ripping his armor apart.

"Rain fire!"

Plasma-powered cannons shot them all in rapid succession at Thanos' command, not giving a damn about whoever was in the way—whether it was them or his troops. Hissing in indignation, Cassandra let go of Thanos and raised her arms to form a shield around herself. Looking around, she watched Stephen straining to defend himself and contain a river vortex. As she felt the might of the Mad Titan's weapons against her, she mumbled an enlarging spell to cover him and the heroes who were also present and cried in anguish.

But then it stopped.

Because Carol Danvers—Captain Marvel came.

author's note: WE'RE ALMOST NEAR THE END GUYS!!!! AAAAA i can't believe it! also will be waiting for some comments from y'all so i can publish the next bc i'm almost finished with it too