During the fierce conflict between Spider-Man and corrupted Ahsoka, T'Challa and Anakin arrived and witnessed the chaotic battle. Though relieved to have found the two teenagers, they were immediately troubled by what they saw.
"Ahsoka! Peter! Why are you fighting?" Anakin shouted, shock evident in his voice. The question echoed across the courtyard, filled with confusion and alarm.
"Ahsoka's compromised!" Spider-Man yelled back, desperation in his tone. He ducked under a vicious swing from one of Ahsoka's green lightsabers. "Something's seriously wrong with her!" He leaned back, narrowly avoiding another strike.
Anakin stared at his Padawan and immediately recognized that she wasn't herself. He moved quickly, interposing his own blue blade to deflect her attacks, then gently pushed her back with the Force.
"What happened to her?" Anakin demanded, while T'Challa joined the fray, his vibranium suit absorbing strikes from the wild swings.
"I don't know!" Spider-Man answered, frustration and helplessness evident. "One minute we were talking, the next she tried to kiss me, and then she tried to kill me!"
Ahsoka glared at them with cold fury. "You always doubted me, Master. Never truly believed in me, never fully trusted me. I was never good enough for you, never lived up to your expectations." Her voice carried bitter determination. "Well, I don't need you anymore."
Anakin immediately noticed the signs—the yellow tinge in Ahsoka's eyes, the dark veins beginning to spread across her skin. The stains of the Dark Side. Corruption.
"Ahsoka, listen to me," he said gently but urgently. "What did the Son do to you? This isn't who you are."
But Ahsoka seemed lost to madness. "Isn't it?! I feel more like myself than I ever have before. I've never felt so alive!" Her gaze snapped back to Spider-Man, filled with twisted emotion. "And you, Peter—you betrayed me."
"Betrayed you?" Spider-Man sputtered. "How did I—"
"We could have had everything!" Ahsoka screamed, lunging at him.
As she prepared to strike, T'Challa moved with fluid grace and raised his arms to intercept. His vibranium suit easily absorbed the impact of her lightsaber blades, protecting both himself and Spider-Man.
"What is she talking about?" T'Challa asked quietly.
"Can we discuss this after she stops trying to fillet me?" Spider-Man shot back.
Ahsoka's expression shifted, becoming momentarily more lucid. "Master, the Son asked me to deliver a message. He says if you don't join him, he'll kill me."
"We won't let that happen, Ahsoka!" Anakin's response was firm and protective.
Ahsoka laughed—a broken, manic sound. "Then you're forced to kill me instead! But before that happens, I'll deal with Peter and Barriss myself." There was determination beneath the confusion in her tone.
The words created immediate tension. Anakin turned to Spider-Man with obvious bewilderment.
"Barriss? Okay, Peter, what exactly does that mean?" Confusion was written all over Anakin's face.
Spider-Man was intensely grateful that his mask hid his burning cheeks.
"I... I genuinely have no idea," he said, which was technically true even if it was also a complete lie.
Suddenly, Ahsoka rushed forward like a striking viper, her sharp cry piercing the air. "Liar!"
Spider-Man leaped backward, narrowly evading the Padawan's pursuit. The two of them engaged in a deadly chase through the courtyard.
Inside the monastery, the Son watched the battle through stained glass windows, a satisfied smile playing across his features. He found perverse pleasure in the chaos he'd created.
His thoughts drifted to that curious black substance covering Spider-Man. Who had placed it on the young Avenger? They'd brought it here years ago, before he, his sister, and father were imprisoned on Mortis. The protections around this realm shouldn't have been breached. Something didn't add up.
He was eager to uncover the truth. Would the Chosen One truly be forced to fight his own student? The thought amused him.
But his attention was also drawn to the Black Panther. Something had changed in that one—something he hadn't noticed initially. The transformation made him uneasy, as if something had touched the warrior's spirit more profoundly than he'd anticipated.
These were only three of the Avengers who had entered this galaxy.
According to what he and his family had discovered, there were nine more scattered across this realm. What else might these beings bring with them?
Before he could pursue that line of thought further, he sensed new arrivals.
"Sister," he said without turning, his eyes never leaving the conflict below. "What a delightful surprise. And you've brought a friend."
"Brother, what have you done?" the Daughter asked, pain evident in her voice.
He responded with mock innocence. "What was necessary... though I suspect you'd disagree."
Vision spoke up, his synthetic voice carrying an edge of steel. "Your father's time is ending. Why compound his suffering with this cruelty?"
The Son regarded the Avenger with sharper interest, his gaze briefly fixing on the Stone embedded in Vision's forehead. He wondered what power resided there—what threat it might pose.
"Do you understand the nature of the power we possess?" the Son asked. "Imprisoned for a crime we didn't commit? You stand here, free to display your abilities, while those who truly comprehend cosmic forces remain bound in chains."
"We staged a pointless confrontation to force a choice," the Daughter interjected. "All of this could have been avoided—"
"That was millions of years ago!" the Son snarled, cutting her off. "He was too timid, too weak to resist properly. He should have challenged Arishem, should have set things right in the universe. The Prime Celestial sacrificed world after world—billions of lives—just to birth more of his kind. We sacrificed those we loved. Father could have stopped it, but he lost his nerve and left us trapped here. He's been stagnant for too long. I've decided to continue what he abandoned."
Vision stepped forward. "Then I'm here to stop you."
The Son's expression turned cold. "I will not permit you to leave this planet." He glanced at his sister. "Neither of you possesses the strength to contain me."
Obi-Wan spoke up defiantly. "Not one person alone—but all of us together."
The Son laughed—a wild, unhinged sound—and lightning erupted from his hands. The Daughter quickly raised a shield of Light Side energy, deflecting the attack. Vision fired a beam from the Mind Stone, striking the Son directly, but he recovered almost immediately.
"You mortals!" the Son bellowed, his voice dripping with arrogance. "The power you wield is insignificant! How dare you believe mere constructs can challenge a being such as myself?"
Vision's eyes blazed brighter as he unleashed another concentrated beam directly at the Son's face.
"Argh!" The Son cried out in pain, hands flying to cover his eyes. "You'll pay dearly for that!"
Drawing on both the Force and his innate cosmic power, the Son lashed out with invisible energy, capturing all three opponents. To his surprise, the Daughter managed to break free almost immediately.
The Son hurled Obi-Wan and Vision out of the throne room with tremendous force. Vision adjusted mid-flight, reorienting himself and shooting back toward the Son like a missile.
Meanwhile, Obi-Wan crashed through a stained glass window and tumbled down into the courtyard below, landing with a pained groan.
"Obi-Wan!"
The Jedi Master looked up to see T'Challa standing over him, kneeling to offer assistance.
"T'Challa," Obi-Wan said with relief, accepting the hand up. "Good to see you. Are you injured?"
"I'm fine," T'Challa replied, helping the Jedi to his feet. "What happened up there?"
"Vision and I accompanied the Daughter to confront the Son. Where's Ahsoka?"
The Jedi Master followed T'Challa's gesture and saw the young Padawan locked in combat with Anakin and Spider-Man. He studied the scene more closely, confusion crossing his features. "Wait—why is Ahsoka fighting them? And... is that Peter? When did his suit turn black?"
"The Son corrupted her," T'Challa explained tersely. "We're trying to subdue her without causing harm. As for Peter's suit..." He shook his head. "I have no explanation."
Under the combined assault of two Jedi and an Avenger, Ahsoka pressed her attack against Anakin with renewed ferocity. The dark power granted by the Son surged through her, giving her enough strength to genuinely threaten her master.
"Getting ahead of yourself, aren't you, Snips?" Anakin said, attempting their old familiar banter.
But the nickname only enraged her. "Don't call me that! I hate when you call me that!"
"What if I called you that?" Spider-Man interjected suddenly.
Ahsoka's gaze swung to him, and some of the pallor left her corrupted features. "You can call me whatever you want."
Spider-Man received a distinctly displeased look from Anakin.
"Hey, you're mad at me but not at him?" Anakin complained, sounding almost petulant.
"She gave me a nickname earlier, okay? That's special! Only I—whoa, okay, fair point!" Spider-Man yelped as a lightsaber came directly at his face.
He dodged skillfully, but Ahsoka used the Force to recall the blade, and he barely evaded it again.
"Looks like she's really got it out for you," Anakin observed with dark amusement.
"Today, the fates of master and traitor will be decided by the student," Ahsoka said, her voice low and decisive. Both Skywalker and Spider-Man exchanged alarmed glances.
"Okay, stop talking," Spider-Man muttered. "She legitimately wants both of us dead."
T'Challa and Obi-Wan rejoined the fight at that moment.
"Two Avengers and two Jedi," Ahsoka said with disturbing satisfaction. "Finally, a proper challenge."
"Ahsoka, didn't we just discuss you not getting cocky?" Anakin warned, though his tone remained light.
The Padawan didn't respond verbally. Her attack spoke for her.
Inside the tower, the Son's attention alternated between the conflict outside and the confrontation he was engaged in. A sinister smile played across his features as dark energy swirled around him.
"Can you feel it? The anger, the hatred, the conflict?" he asked, his voice carrying dark satisfaction.
"Their fighting is feeding you, isn't it?" the Daughter asked, accusation in her tone.
"This must end," Vision declared firmly.
He attempted to rush past the Son to intervene in the battle below, but the dark avatar blocked his path effortlessly.
"This is beyond your capacity to interfere," the Son said with undisguised contempt.
The Daughter and Vision coordinated their next assault, and the three combatants engaged in fierce conflict at the center of the throne room.