MORDO BELLOWED AS he leaped off the platform with his sword in hand. Strange was looking down at Y/N but expected the attack, and the sorcerer swiftly rolled out of the way of the blade.

He got back to his feet and dodged another swipe from Mordo. Strange held his handcuffed hands out and blocked a strike which ended up damaging the high-tech bands.

Strange was headbutted during their lock and Mordo swept the man's legs which brought him down. Mordo spun his sword around a couple of times and was ready to stab Stephen, but a pair of cuffed hands began to choke him.

"I heard what you said, asshole." Y/N breathed out.

Mordo struggled for a moment before activating a levitation spell that expelled sparks from his feet. He flew backward and hit Y/N against the wall. Y/N let go of Mordo and the sorcerer quickly spun around and kicked him to the wall again using his propelled feet.

"Argh..." Y/N groaned on the floor. "Of course...magic. That's not fair."

Strange charged at Mordo and began to combat him. Y/N quickly got to his feet and assisted Stephen. The sorcerer dodged the man's kick and Y/N got an opening to strike him in the back. Mordo groaned and spun around to push him away like a Jedi. He then pinned Strange to the wall and was prepared to stab him with his sword.

Fortunately, Strange used the other half of his bands that Mordo inadvertently sliced and cuffed one of the sorcerer's hands. His mystical sword deactivated and Mordo was now powerless like the rest of them.

"How about a fair fight, Karl?" Strange asked and then glanced behind him.

Before he can turn around, Mordo was kicked in the back by a running Y/N. The sorcerer rolled to the floor but recovered quickly. Strange and Y/N charged at Mordo and continued fighting him.

Mordo attacked Strange but he blocked his punches with his arms. Stephen struck him in the face and Mordo stumbled back, where he was quickly met with a punch to the chest by Y/N. He tried to sweep Mordo's leg, but the sorcerer jumped and avoided it. They faced each other again.

Strange weaved away from the flurry of punches but was ultimately hit in the side and push-kicked away. Mordo turned around and faced Y/N next and quickly engaged him.

They exchanged punches and kicks whilst mostly dodging their opponent as well. The Earth 217 dweller proved to be a much more formidable fighter, even with his cuffs still on.

Finally, Y/N parried a kick from Mordo and grabbed his leg. In one swift movement, he elbowed it hard and broke the leg.

The man yelled out in pain before Y/N twisted it more and let him fall.

Mordo groaned on the floor and tried to crawl away. Y/N stood above him and immediately stepped on his other leg, breaking it at the knee. He shouted and rolled onto his back, settling near the pit between the platform and the floor they were on.

Y/N looked at him coldly. He put his foot at his neck, applying pressure before jolting it to the side and snapping his neck.

He then kicked the sorcerer's body into the pit. Unbeknownst to him, that was all of the Illuminati involved in his variant's death now dead.

Strange got up and looked into the pit. He didn't mind the brutality in which he was dealt with, not liking Mordo anyway.

"You handled that well." He remarked.

"You forget I was one of S.H.I.E.L.D's best operatives at 20 years old." Y/N replied.

"Oh, I didn't forget."

They started making their way out of the chamber. Y/N spoke to Stephen as they did.

"Not so bad yourself, old man. They teach Kung-Fu at Kamar Taj?"

"It's one of the styles." He quickly replied. After a moment, he looked at Y/N and remembered the spell his doppelgänger put on him.

"What...what do you remember of before you are knocked out?"

"I was knocked out? It did feel like it was." He said as he scratched his neck. "Not much. Something about me being a threat. That's all."

Strange breathed in. He had forgotten most of what was said and what was shown. Strange decided to not say anything yet and simply nodded before they kept running.

They continued running down the hallway. They crossed another and glanced into it, where they suddenly stopped upon seeing two familiar faces.

"Hey! You all right?" Stephen exclaimed at America and Christine.

America quickly ran toward Stephen and hugged him. The Cloak of Levitation flew out of the hallway and surprisingly "embraced" Y/N first. They must've still been grateful for his actions earlier that day.

A couple of moments afterward, America hugged him too. Y/N didn't expect that coming from a girl he just met, but their journey so far had brought her close to both him and Strange. The man reciprocated the hug, and he recalled a memory of him embracing Vivian.

"Everything okay?" He asked as he pulled away.

She simply nodded. The Cloak put itself on Strange and Christine walked up to the trio.

"Xavier said I built a waypoint to the Book of Vishanti. Can you take us there?" Strange asked her.

"How can I trust you guys?"

"We understand. Showing up and your whole facility gets attacked. But believe me, the Book of Vishanti is the only way–"

"Yeah, your way." She interjected. "You're sounding a lot like my Stephen right now. His way was always the only way."

"I trust this Stephen." America abruptly said. "He isn't like the others. He's different."

Y/N gave a nod of agreement. He obviously preferred his Stephen over the one he saw on the Illuminati.

"Smart kid." Stephen remarked toward Christine.

Christine exhaled and finally gave in. She took out an electronic key she had.

"Give me your hands."

Stephen and Y/N held out their bands and they were immediately freed. Y/N rubbed his wrists. Christine got close to Strange and spoke to him.

"Don't make me regret this."

He nodded. "I won't."

The group ran through the hallway and followed Christine to the lower level of the facility. They can hear and feel rumbling. Strange looked back and saw a glowing red light creeping close behind.

They made it to a storage room where Christine pressed a button and closed the metal blast doors. Y/N noticed the tunnel ahead.

"Where does this lead?" He asked.

"Under the river." She answered.

They ran toward it but heard a loud creaking noise behind them. Upon turning around, the blast doors were pulled open using psionics and were face to face with a ghoulish-looking Wanda. Her face and hair were covered in oil and he bare feet were riddled with cuts from the glass. The witch's eyes glowed red and she started menacingly at them.

"Go...go!" Strange shouted at the rest before they ran down the tunnel.

Wanda limped forward and tore the table in front of her in half. She pushed away the debris and gave chase.

Christine flipped a switch and another door closed, but Wanda broke it open once it did. Another one began to shut, but she tore it apart before it can.

They continued running down the wet tunnel and Palmer pressed a button and closed another door. This time Wanda didn't break it and let it shut. The four of them caught their breaths and looked back at the hatch.

They stood there in silence for what seemed like forever. Water dripped down from the cracks of the ceiling above and the noise of it was all they could hear. Finally, America spoke.

"Where did she go?"

Out of nowhere, Wanda stepped out of the shadows and stood in front of them. The teenager let out a yell and got behind Christine and Y/N. Strange stepped forward and faced the witch.

"I warned you." Wanda said in between pants.

"Other Wanda, if you're in there...hold your breath." Strange said, then looped his arms around and struck the floor.

Eldritch Magic beamed up the wall and toward the ceiling, opening up the cracks. Water from the river above poured into the tunnel and submerged Wanda. The four quickly escaped and Christine shut the door behind them.

"That better not have killed her, Stephen." Y/N quickly said as they ran.

"You think a little water's gonna hurt her? She'll be fine." He replied. "It'll just buy us some time."

The group stopped at a hatch and Christine spoke. "The book's through here. But only Stephen's ever opened it."

Strange opened up his Eye of Agamotto and tried to open up the hatch using magic. It was no use though and the handle wouldn't budge.

"Shit...an enchantment specific to me and only I would know." He muttered.

"Stephen?" Palmer asked.

He didn't hear and kept thinking. "Come on, come on, come on."

"Stephen!"

Strange looked back and saw Christine holding out a broken watch that she wore. It reminded him of the one he had. In their universe, Strange gave it back to Palmer after they decided they weren't going to be together anymore.

Stephen looked at the door handle and saw an indentation in the middle for what seemed to be a watch. He looked back at the watch she was holding.

"Yeah..." He took it and nodded. "Thank you."

"Sure."

Strange inhaled and placed the watch into the hole. "Open sesame."

The handle spun around by itself and the door finally opened. Behind it was the Gap Junction, which had floating slabs of stone and other architecture.

Strange carefully stepped out of the doorway and landed on a platform below.

"Come on, kid." Stephen called out to Chavez. "You got this."

America exhaled and looked at Palmer and Y/N. The man nodded.

"Yeah, you do got this."

"We got this." She reassured herself, then stepped out of the doorway and landed beside Strange.

Y/N and Christine followed soon after. They started walking toward the altar that held the Book of Vishanti.

"This is the Gap Junction...the space between universes." Palmer explained.

Strange stepped toward the book as the rest looked on. The sorcerer let out a sigh and spoke to himself.

"All right, book, give me what I need."

He reached over and grabbed the glowing-white book. Strange took it off the altar and stepped down, looking at it in awe. There were very close to vanquishing the evil within Scarlet Witch...

Suddenly, America's hair was tugged and the teenager was pulled back toward Wanda using her powers. Y/N, who was beside Chavez, looked back at the Scarlet Witch who was now holding America by the head.

"Wanda! Don't–"

He was quickly hit with a blast of energy that sent him across the platform. The man slid across the floor and fell off. But before he can fall into the abyss, he grabbed onto the edge and held on.

Strange quickly shot a beam of Eldritch Magic at Wanda, but the witch simply took the energy into her palm and shot it back at the sorcerer. It blasted the both of them away and ended up hitting the book as well.

The pages of the Book of Vishanti were lit ablaze and it quickly turned into ash before their very eyes. Palmer look on in shock, as did Stephen. Their only way of defeating the Scarlet Witch was vanquished.

Wanda lifted the two in the air and held them in crimson bindings. She then forced America to open a star portal before Wanda flung Stephen and Christine into the unknown universe inside.

She then controlled America's mind to open a portal back to their original universe, 727, and she could see herself floating on the altar. She then looked at the edge of where they stood, seeing Y/N hanging on and about to climb up.

"I'll be back soon, my love." She muttered, then threw America into the portal.

The teenager landed in front of the altar. The Scarlet Witch opened her eyes and looked at America, which the portal quickly closed.

Right when the portal shut, 217 Wanda resumed control of her own body. She fell on a knee and panted, in a state of exhaustion from what she experienced.

She felt the grief of the Wanda that took control of her. Her pain. Her sadness. The desire for her children. And then her anger. Wanda understood that anger.

The glimpses her variant saw were the same ones she did. Seeing her husband killed by Supreme Strange and the Illuminati, lying to the world about how he died. She could faintly recall murdering the members in retaliation, and a part of her wondered if that was her variant acting on her behalf...or just her own feelings fueling the variant.

Suddenly, she heard a groan nearby. Wanda looked ahead and saw the man struggling to climb up. Immediately, she went over to help.

"I got you." She reassured. "I got you."

He didn't bother looking up as he grabbed her hand and pulled himself up. He finally got on the platform and went on a knee, catching his breath.

"Thank you..." Y/N said as he finally looked up. He inhaled as he stared into the eyes of the woman. "Wanda?"

The redhead was in shock herself, more than the man in front of her. While Y/N had his Wanda and been through the journey he's been on so far, the Wanda in front of him hasn't had her Y/N for the last two years. Seeing her husband again gave her the feeling of elation only he would cause, which was something she hasn't felt in forever.

"Y/N?" She muttered and slowly reached out to him.

The man didn't do anything. He just let her caress the side of his face as he looked back. Y/N knew of his fate in the current universe, so he understood her reaction.

"Wanda." He said again. "It's me...but not really me. Do you understand?"

The redhead knew of the multiverse, as Stephen has taught Y/N during his mentorship and in turn, Y/N would tell Wanda about it. So, yes, she understood now. Although it wasn't her own husband, it still was in a way.

"I do." She replied with a nod.

Y/N nodded and stood up, helping the variant to her feet as well. She kept staring at Y/N, not knowing what other words to say. Wanda got closer and Y/N found himself doing so as well.

"Can I..." Wanda whispered. "Can I kiss you?"

Y/N immediately wondered if it would count as cheating. Would it? It was still Wanda after all. They were in love in basically every universe. Still, seeing this Wanda in her current state, in awe at the sight of her husband, made him want to comfort her.

"Yes." He finally replied.

Wanda slowly leaned forward until her lips met his. They felt just like her Y/N, and in the man's case, they felt just like his Wanda. After a moment of embrace, they parted and looked into each other's eyes once again.

"Wanda...I...I gotta find a way back. Some people need my help." Y/N said.

"Like your Wanda?" She asked.

He nodded. Wanda understood, but couldn't initially think of a way to help.

"I wish I can help. But there are no other ways to traverse the multiverse besides the girl and..." She glanced at the charred remains of the Book of Vishanti on the floor. "...the book."

Y/N sighed. Wanda was right. There were no other options but to stay where he was. Maybe Stephen and Christine will find a way to get back to him...or maybe the Scarlet Witch will after succeeding in her plan.

It was a waiting game for now.

"Right." He replied.

They stood silent for a moment as he looked around the Gap Junction. He looked down at the floor, and then Wanda held his hands.

"Come with me."

Y/N looked up at Wanda. "Where?"

"Home." She replied. "Do you want to?"

Immediately, he thought of the house he had back in Chicago. Y/N assumed she lived there in this world too, but then he realized who else could be there. A feeling bubbled inside him that he hadn't felt in forever...

His children.

Y/N gave a soft smile and tucked some of Wanda's hair behind her ear. Despite the cuts she had and the sentries' oil on her face, she was still the most beautiful person he had ever laid his eyes on.

He agreed to her offer. "Okay."