Sebastian in a black smoke swirled, coalescing at the basement entrance of the abandoned New York building. He materialized, his hooded trench coat billowing slightly, and faced Loki, Amora, Samuel Stern and Carl Creel guarding the threshold.
His gaze locked on Loki. "Is Hawkeye in the basement with the Cosmic Cube?"
Loki inclined his head, a faint smirk playing on his lips. "It's been a while, Shaw. I hear you studied Asgardian magic under my mother. How's your progress?"
Sebastian's eyes flicked to Amora, catching her intense stare. "Heard from her, did you?" he said, nodding toward the Enchantress.
Loki rose, his posture relaxed but menacing. "Who told me is irrelevant. For the sake of your time with my mother, I'll offer mercy. Leave now, and I'll forgive your interference. Persist, and you'll regret crossing me."
Sebastian's wand twitched in his hand, a spark of defiance in his eyes. "I'd love to see how you plan to make me regret it."
Footsteps echoed as Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Natasha Romanoff arrived, their presence shifting the air. Eight figures—four Avengers, four foes—stood poised, the tension thickening like a gathering storm.
Sebastian's voice crackled through the team's secure comms, shielded by his suit. "Tony, watch the shirtless one—Creel. His body mimics any material he touches, boosting his strength and durability post-transformation.
Steve, Natasha, take the green-skinned Leader. His telepathy and mind control are dangerous; stay mentally sharp. I'll handle Loki and Amora—they're mages, and you'd be outmatched."
Steve and Natasha nodded silently, advancing toward Samuel Stern, whose oversized head pulsed faintly. Tony squared off against Creel, his Mark VI armor humming. "Shaw, I'll wrap this guy up fast, then switch to the Mark Ω II to back you up against Loki's crew," Tony said through the comms.
"Good," Sebastian replied.
The standoff shattered as both sides charged. Sebastian's wand sliced through the air, black smoke erupting to engulf Loki and Amora. With a spell, he teleported them to a desolate wilderness outside New York, isolating the mages from their allies.
Loki and Amora countered, their magic shredding the smoke. Loki raised the Mind Scepter, firing blue energy beams at Sebastian. Amora ascended, a light green energy shield encasing her. Green energy spheres orbited her like satellites, arcing toward Sebastian under her command.
Sebastian's form exploded into black smoke, evading the onslaught. He reappeared behind Loki, wand flashing. Water vapor condensed into a sinuous, constricting water snake, an Atlantean spell—Water Snake Strangulation—coiling around Loki.
Loki swung the Mind Scepter, blue ripples shattering the snake. He stepped back, his form rippling like water, vanishing. Multiple Lokis materialized around Sebastian, each sneering, their scepters raised in unison.
Sebastian, anticipating the illusion, swung his wand. The ground quaked as sharp stone spears erupted outward, centered on him, blooming like deadly flowers. The phantom Lokis dissolved, and the real Loki dodged, stumbling in a rare moment of disarray.
As Sebastian prepared another strike, Amora acted. The ground trembled, stone spears splintering. Cracks spiderwebbed across the earth, which shattered with a deafening roar. Jagged fragments accelerated skyward, a chaotic storm of rock.
Sebastian stood atop a rising slab, eyeing two massive boulders hurtling toward him. He dissolved into black smoke, evading the trap. Amora, seizing the moment, used her magic to pull Loki to her side. Controlling the floating debris, she whispered, "He's formidable. How do we handle him?"
Loki's eyes gleamed with calculation. "Leave. Unlike the others, you're not expendable. If I fall, you execute our plan."
Amora met his gaze, then nodded. "Understood."
With a snap of her fingers, she vanished in a shimmer of green light. Sebastian, blasting apart a boulder, caught her disappearance. His eyes narrowed, but he chose not to pursue, focusing on Loki.
Loki pointed the Mind Scepter, unleashing a blinding blue beam—an Infinity Stone's raw power. Sebastian opened a portal to redirect the attack, but the beam pierced through, unrelenting. His expression tightened as he raised his wand.
Annihilation Ray! A dark red beam zigzagged through the air, meeting the Mind Scepter's energy head-on. The collision erupted, a shockwave rippling outward. Sebastian conjured a Seraphim Shield, its circular energy barrier absorbing the blast's aftermath. Loki was hurled back, slamming into the ground, the Mind Scepter slipping from his grasp.
Sebastian stepped forward, space twisting as he Apparated before Loki. His wand leveled at the trickster, who froze, wary. The Mind Scepter floated into Sebastian's hand, its glow dimming under his control.
As he moved to secure it, a roar split the sky. A massive, ring-shaped Chitauri warship breached Earth's atmosphere, its sleek form casting a shadow over the wilderness. It hovered above Sebastian and Loki, a harbinger of the invasion to come.
A shimmering blue tractor beam pierced the twilight, descending from the ominous silhouette of the Chitauri warship hovering above the New York wilderness.
The beam's ethereal glow bathed the rocky terrain in an otherworldly hue, casting jagged shadows across the shattered ground where Sebastian Shaw stood, his wand poised, facing Loki.
As the beam retracted, two imposing figures materialized a few paces away, their presence sending a chill through the air. Sebastian's grip on the Mind Scepter tightened, his battle suit's faint blue runes pulsing in rhythm with his steady heartbeat.
The first figure was a tall, gaunt warrior cloaked in a tattered hooded robe, his gray skin stretched taut over a skeletal frame. His face was a mask of ferocity, eyes glinting with predatory intent. In his hands, he wielded a double-bladed glaive, its edges gleaming with a sharpness that seemed to cut the very air.
Despite his slender build, an aura of raw, explosive power radiated from him, as if every muscle coiled with barely restrained violence.
The second was a blue-skinned woman, her lithe form clad in sleek black-and-white tights, a white hooded cloak draped over her shoulders, its design eerily reminiscent of Sebastian's own trench coat. Her presence was less physical but no less daunting—an overwhelming psychic force emanated from her, pressing against Sebastian's mind with an invasive, erosive intensity, even without apparent intent.
Sebastian's eyes narrowed, assessing the newcomers. "Thanos' cronies?" he said, his voice steady despite the mounting tension.
The warrior stepped forward, his glaive twirling with casual menace. "Sebastian Shaw, the great Thanos has taken notice of you. You are an unpredictable variable, a threat to our master's design. We are here to remove you before you disrupt our plans further."
Sebastian's mind churned, piecing together the stakes.
Thanos, a cosmic warlord, was a force even the Sorcerer Supreme struggled to counter under the influence of the Vishanti Trinity. Her authority, tied to the Vishanti Trinity, was a bulwark against such threats, but Sebastian's fractured relationship with Kamar-Taj left him vulnerable. He had defied the Vishanti's demand to become their Sorcerer Supreme, rejecting their contract and their claim to his unique magic.
Now, they withheld their protection, hoping a crisis like this would force his submission. The Ancient One, bound by their will, could not intervene, leaving Sebastian to face Thanos' lieutenants alone.
"What do I call you?" Sebastian asked, his tone calm, buying time to strategize.
The warrior's lips curled into a sneer. "You may address me as Corvus Glaive.
And this—"
"I am Supergiant," the woman interjected, her voice smooth yet laced with menace. Her gaze fixed on the Mind Scepter in Sebastian's hand. "Return that to us. Now."
A sudden dizziness engulfed Sebastian, his vision blurring as Supergiant's psychic assault burrowed into his mind. He clenched his jaw, summoning Occlumency to fortify his consciousness.
The fog lifted, his thoughts sharpening, but Corvus exploited the distraction. With startling speed, he lunged, his glaive slashing toward Sebastian's chest. The weapon, rumored to slice through any material, gleamed with deadly promise. Uncertain if his magic could withstand it, Sebastian reacted on instinct, raising the Mind Scepter to block.
Clang! The Mind Stone's power flared, deflecting the glaive's strike with a resonant clash. Sparks flew, illuminating the darkening wilderness. Corvus, a master of melee, twisted his weapon with practiced finesse, wrenching the Scepter from Sebastian's grasp. Loki, ever the opportunist, darted forward, snatching it mid-air and clutching it triumphantly.
Corvus pressed his advantage, his glaive a blur as he pursued Sebastian across the uneven terrain. Supergiant turned to Loki, her voice low and commanding. "Proceed with the invasion as planned. We must secure the Space Gem within the Tesseract—and the Time Gem hidden on Earth."
Loki's eyes glinted with malice as he glanced at Sebastian. "Consider it done." With a mocking sneer, his form shimmered like ripples on water, dissolving into a phantom mirage that vanished into the night.
Supergiant advanced, her psychic presence intensifying.
A tidal wave of mental energy surged toward Sebastian, probing for weaknesses, seeking to dominate his will.
Her abilities were a perfect complement to Corvus' relentless physical assault. Sebastian dodged a sweeping glaive strike, his boots skidding on loose gravel, while simultaneously reinforcing Occlumency to repel Supergiant's intrusion.
The psychic pressure was suffocating, fragmenting his focus and making spellcasting a grueling effort. Even with his mental defenses, he could barely hold her at bay, his strength sapped by the dual onslaught.
A flash of steel caught the fading light, and Corvus' glaive grazed Sebastian's chest, tearing a shallow gash through his suit.
Pain seared his skin, but he gritted his teeth, refusing to falter. He attempted Apparition to gain distance, his wand tracing the familiar arcane pattern, but Supergiant's psychic surge crashed into him, disrupting the spell. The air around him seemed to thicken, anchoring him to the spot.
Damn it! Sebastian's frustration boiled over. If you won't let me escape, I'll take you down with me.
He activated his battle suit's advanced systems. The mask's eyes glowed red, firing twin laser beams at Corvus. The warrior parried with his glaive, the lasers scattering into a shower of sparks that scorched the earth, leaving smoldering trails in the dirt. The wilderness, already scarred from Sebastian's earlier clash with Loki, bore fresh wounds from the battle's ferocity.
Corvus sneered, his voice dripping with disdain. "Is that the best you've got, human?"
"I'm just getting started," Sebastian retorted, his defiance unshaken.
The suit's arc reactor pulsed, its orange glow intensifying. A blazing beam of cluster fire erupted from his chest, cutting through the twilight. Corvus leaned aside, the beam missing him by inches. "Aiming at the void?" he taunted, raising his glaive for another strike.
A piercing scream echoed behind him. Sebastian's attack, deliberately angled, had targeted Supergiant. The cluster fire roared past Corvus, catching her by surprise. She dove to the ground, her white cloak singed, her psychic assault wavering as she scrambled to regroup. The momentary lapse freed Sebastian's mind, his focus sharpening like a blade.
"Now you see my target," Sebastian said, his voice laced with grim satisfaction.
He clenched his left fist, and two rings materialized on his armored fingers, their surfaces shimmering with arcane energy. The Ring of Harnessing Power amplified his magical output, its faint hum resonating with his resolve. The Ring of Frost gleamed, ready to unleash its chilling potential.
Sebastian drove his fist toward Corvus, unleashing a colossal shockwave. The blast ripped through the wilderness, uprooting clumps of grass, shattering rocks, and sending a cloud of dust billowing into the air. The ground trembled as the shockwave struck Corvus head-on, hurling him backward with bone-crushing force.
Boom! Corvus smashed through a massive boulder, the impact splintering it into fragments. His body skidded into a shallow embankment, blood spraying from his mouth as bones snapped and muscles tore. For a moment, he lay still, his gray skin marred with dark bruises. Then, his alien physiology surged, wounds knitting together at an alarming rate. Muscles reformed, bones realigned, and within seconds, he was whole again.
Corvus rose, his eyes burning with unyielding fury, and stalked toward Sebastian, his glaive gleaming with renewed intent.