Symbiote 0336: Illyana (1/2)In a nondescript apartnt in New York, a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes was sitting with her legs crossed on a yoga mat that was spread out on the floor. Her hands were held together while her eyelids constantly trembled as she struggled to maintain her deep concentration. In front of her was a pentagram with multiple intricate runes littering its surface, parts of which were intermittently glowing. Every cycle, the glow got brighter and more complete as more parts of the circle released the glow.
Finally, the entire circle glowed, suddenly intensifying its light as it illuminated the apartnt as if multiple floodlights were turned on.
“Ugh …” Peter’s groan was the first to be heard as the light died down. He got down on his knees and coughed before his eyes suddenly widened, and he shot to the kitchen sink, emptying the contents of his stomach over the apartnt owner’s dirty dishes.
Laura didn’t have it much better and also went down on her knees as if suffering from horrible vertigo. As for Doctor Strange, the man had already passed out around the ti Agatha had appeared after exhausting his spiritual energy completely.
“What the hell happened?” Their hostess, the blonde woman, opened her eyes with a pale face and exhausted eyes, looking like bringing them here had drained a lot out of her. “I had to abandon my post just to stabilize the channel through Limbo and receive you all. They’re going to be investigating now. This is going to put our plans so far behind, do you know that?”
She didn’t seem to be addressing anyone in particular and was simply rambling.
“We got fucked over by this guy,” Laura answered while gesturing to the unconscious Doctor Strange, recovering fairly quickly from her vertigo. “He suddenly released all his energy, destroying the barrier that kept us hidden. Agatha quickly pinpointed our location …”
“Who are you?” The woman asked.
“Isn’t it simple courtesy to tell your na first before asking soone else?”
“Not when that soone else is in my house,” she responded. “Now give.”
“I’m Laura,” she said, shaking her head with an amused smile. “Hi, Illyana.”
“Logan’s clone-daughter?” The woman made a face. “I’ve never t her, but aren’t you supposed to be like … twelve? You’re … much bigger.” Her gaze inadvertently went to Laura’s chest, seeing the stacked bosom that was only emphasized by the sleek black bodysuit she was wearing.
“Yeah,” Laura smiled. “I’m not exactly your Laura.” Her bodysuit receded into her skin, leaving her with a black crop top that exposed her midriff and a pair of blue jeans.
“What do you …” A look of realization dawned on Illyana’s face. “One of the other Earths. How’d you get here?” She asked.
“With so help,” Laura said. “I’m the reason Strange called you and your friends for a eting tomorrow.”
“You told him sothing … sothing that made him keep your presence a secret. He was only willing to tell us face-to-face … What did you say to him?”
“That Agatha isn’t your big bad,” Laura said. “There’s soone behind her. A version of Wanda. The woman not only holds command of Chaos energy, unlike anyone else, but also possesses multiple Infinity Stones and owns five planets, if I recall correctly.”
“…” Illyana went still for a few seconds, speechless. “Geh,” she simply grunted and looked away, crossing her arms.
“I’m not lying, if that’s what you think.”
“I don’t think you are,” she said. “I just … I don’t know. Do you have the Venom Symbiote?” She changed the topic. “I saw the way your clothes changed.”
“He’s Apex,” Laura said with a hint of affection in her eyes. “And he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to .”
“You’ll grow out of it,” Peter had finally recovered from his vertigo and interjected. “Trust . I had Venom for a month. It literally ruined my life and made go crazy. If Doctor Strange hadn’t intervened and purged its influences from , I would’ve killed people. People I care about.”
“That’s the problem with your weak ntality,” Laura scoffed. “Apex is aweso.”
“Is that the friend you were talking about?” Peter asked. “The one who’s actually casting magic for you?”
“…” Laura paused.
‘Fuck I wasn’t telling them about Apex and the whole thing … I really hope Alex doesn’t get mad at . Illyana just asked and I let it slip … goddamn multiversal buillshit.’
After cursing herself ntally, Laura answered. “Yeah. And he’s the one who’s acting against the version of Wanda who has your planet under her control.”
“But he —“
“Peter,” Illyana interrupted and stopped Peter from speaking against Apex any further. “You said you ran into Agatha. Did you battle her?”
“I did,” Laura nodded. “She’s a bitch to fight against. What’s with all the death energy she has going around her? If I hadn’t activated my suit’s Chaos mode, she would’ve killed .”
“That’s the reason Necromancy is a forbidden magic. Not only because of how it is fueled by death, but because a competent wielder can be one of the most dangerous mages in the world. The worst part is that she also possesses Chaos Magic.”
“How do you even beat that woman? She had this barrier around her that I couldn’t penetrate, no matter what I tried,” Laura said.
“You have to dispel it first,” Illyana said. “If Strange wasn’t completely out of commission, you might have received so much-needed help and actually caused so damage to her.”
“Not only that, she did sothing that caused a spell to follow around, it kept moving around and released ropes that Peter told were unbreakable … What’s with that? I didn’t know you could make such a spell.”
“You said she made a spell follow you?” Illyana suddenly looked solemn. “Damn it …”
The blonde quickly grabbed Laura’s shoulder and used her spiritual energy to examine her.
“What the hell …” Illyana’s eyes widened at what she sensed. “We need to have a talk after we get out of here,” she said, giving Laura a look.
“Is there a problem?” Peter asked.
“Laura’s marked by Death energy,” she said. “Harkness can track us. We’re probably surrounded and under —“ She couldn’t finish her words as the door to her apartnt was destroyed.
“Nice deductions, my dear Magik,” Agatha smiled malevolently. “Let’s see where you run to now …”
“Tell you can still access Limbo, Yana …” Laura looked solemn. “I’m not sure if I can stall her for long.”
“The blockade is too strong. I’ll need a minute to break through.”
Laura sighed as a resolute expression appeared on her face. “Fine then, I guess we’ll go for round two,” her claws burst out of her hands and feet. “Say goodbye to your apartnt, Yana …”
[Where the hell are you, Alex? I’m dying here.]
The only thing keeping Laura from losing hope was the faint, amused feeling she got from Alex at her words. She understood that he could still hear and observe her situation, but was just occupied elsewhere for the ti being.
Laura’s suit appeared on her once again, glowing with streaks of red as lightning coursed through the surface of her suit, enhancing her speed as she struck Agatha with a Chaos energy-infused slash. The ensuing sonic boom gave the sa treatnt to Illyana’s apartnt as what their previous safehouse had received.
The collision with Agatha’s barrier, this ti, resulted in a fluctuation along the surface of her body as the barrier distorted, making her stumble and interrupting the spell she was preparing. Agatha wasn’t one to go down, however. She quickly took control of the environnt and made spikes that would prevent Laura from using her full speed. She was betting on the fact that her endurance wasn’t going to work on the sa scale as her speed and strength.
Agatha completely lost the bet. Laura steamrolled through the spikes as if they didn’t even exist and struck her once again, this ti not creating any distance and instead continuing to strike her barrier before she could co up with any solutions.
“Enough!” Agatha seed to have gotten her bearings under Laura’s attacks and burst out with a gray energy that terrified Laura. She quickly backpedaled and reached Illyana, throwing bolts of lightning at Agatha on the way to keep her from focusing on the mist.
“Yana, I need you to either get us out of here or dispel that barrier. I can’t do anything to her otherwise.”
“Why do you keep calling that?”
“We don’t have the ti for this?” Laura looked at her in disbelief as Agatha’s death energy got closer to them.
“Of course we do,” Illyana smiled. “See?”
Laura suddenly found herself in another dinsion. Unfortunately, before she could enjoy the view here, she felt the ground under her vibrate as if an earthquake of magnitude nine on the Richter Scale was assaulting the ground under them.
“Woah …” Illyana’s eyes widened as she almost lost her balance.
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