Symbiote 0318: Interlude with Wanda

A little over a week had passed since the destruction of the Chaos Dimension. During that time, Alex and Wanda took pleasure in each other's company. Having taken up sanctuary in the ship that brought Alex to this cluster in the first place, they had no disturbances as it simply floated around the cluster like the myriad satellites and space debris all around.

At the moment, the two were sitting on a small two-person dining table, eating a luxurious meal under just enough candlelight to make it feel both dim and not too dim at the same time.

"I think we can move out of this small ship now. It's getting harder and harder to get rid of the smell of sex from this place," Alex told Wanda.

"Do we have to? I don't mind staying in here for a few more years. I'm enjoying it a lot~" She said suggestively as she slowly bit down on a piece of steak from her fork.

"It's time to face reality, Wanda," Alex said with a gentle smile. "We should go talk to Wong so that the Sanctum's construction can continue unimpeded."

"Can't you do that?"

"I already am. But it's time that you at least tell him about the current situation."

"It's troublesome …" She said reluctantly, poking her fork at her food.

"Let's finish dinner. I'll take you to Earth, then. Wong will naturally sense your presence and appear to intercept you."

"I miss our home," she mumbled. "I want to go to Wakanda and live in my big, beautiful castle, attended on by servants and revered as their queen …"

"If we change some things, I could see you fitting the criteria of a Disney princess," Alex said amusedly.

"Why a Difnie pwinfess?"

"Swallow your food first," Alex admonished.

"Why a Disney princess specifically? I could be any princess."

"Disney princesses involve a certain level of tragedy in their backstory," Alex said. "And people usually think that all their problems are solved when a big strong man shows up. Codename: Prince Charming."

"What a clichéd trope …" She snorted. "And my problems were solved because a big, strong slime showed up. So, I'm completely ineligible for that specific identity."

"If I remember correctly, there should be a checklist for it," Alex said. "Tick any of the boxes, and you can be considered a Disney princess."

"Amuse me …" Wanda didn't look particularly amused.

"Magic hair … Half tick. Your hair may float when you use your powers, but that's kind of it. Magic hands- that's kind of your whole thing, casting magic through your hands.

"I don't need to use my hands to cast magic, Alex."

"But you use them as a medium for the sake of convenience. Next up, we have animals. Most of the Chaos Dimension's residents can be considered animalistic, and you can understand them; that's another tick."

"I just needed one tick."

"Yes, but if you tick all of them, then you can be a super Disney princess," Alex said. "You know, like one princess to rule them all …"

"Can we stay in the genre at least?" She said.

"They are close enough. Most Disney princesses are from medieval times. Anyway, moving on, we have poison. Hydra's experimentation was no less than poisoning you. Cursed: The whole thing with the Vishanti could be considered a curse on you, considering its effects. The Sorcerer Supreme's power was naturally lashing out against you. Then we have enslavement. It's the Hydra story again. They enslaved you and your brother …"

"Shut up!" Wanda suddenly threw her fork at him.

"Fine, no more Disney princess talk," Alex said, instinctively catching the fork in his hand. He decided that the best thing to do would be to move on from the sensitive topic that he'd just brushed against. "As long as you finish, we'll go to your Earth to tie up some loose ends before moving on. I have just the planet for us to move to after that. Princess Wanda."

"That's Queen Maximoff to you," she huffed at him.

…

Space warped as Alex and Wanda appeared in the exosphere of Earth-199999.

"Hey, I can still breathe," Wanda said, holding Alex's arm with both her hands.

"That's me," Alex said. "Not like you need to breathe in the first place after all of the alterations that were made to you by the Source of Chaos. Same thing with speech."

"That's just a spell I'm using. I still have human anatomy … It just seems partially energy-based now."

"You haven't needed to breathe since I formed the bond with your blood. It's just an instinct that you possess. Now, let us go down. We have a mystic arts monk to beat up."

"It wasn't his fault." Wanda's hands tightened around his arm as the two of them started their descent. "He couldn't have known about such a backlash existing."

"Even so, his actions directly put you in mortal danger."

"Fine, we'll just beat him up a little bit, okay? I don't actually want to hurt him," she said.

As the two crossed the thermosphere — completely unaffected by the extreme temperatures — and entered the mesosphere, an uncomfortable sensation started affecting them both. It was a feeling of resistance that stemmed from the planet itself that was compelling them to turn back. It didn't particularly affect them, but as they got closer to the stratosphere, that feeling kept getting stronger and stronger, compelling them to turn back. Alex could tell that it was only targeting Wanda, but due to his connection with her, it was treating them as the same entity.

Once they entered the stratosphere, the intensity of that unwelcome feeling stopped increasing, stabilizing at a decently uncomfortable feeling for the two of them. Suddenly, a flare of mystical energy assaulted Wanda, only to dissipate just as it got close to them as Wanda's intrinsic protection spells took effect.

"First, mental resistance, now outright attacking me … How annoying," Wanda sighed, not feeling good about her own home planet rejecting her so vehemently.

"It's the protection of the sorcerers, Wanda. Soon, I will be ready to integrate your planet into Gaia. At that time, you won't have to worry about any of this. Then, you can destroy these defensive measures of the sorcerers. For now, they still serve the purpose of protecting your planet from external threats."

"I know. It doesn't make me feel much better."

The defensive measures continued assaulting Wanda with attacks that were easily dealt with as the duo finally came close to the troposphere. Their movements suddenly halted as a golden glow appeared in front of them. Abruptly, a complex, layered shield appeared in front of them. Using the ozone layer as a medium, all three sanctums released a huge burst of energy to create a shield that blocked Wanda's path forward.

Wanda had an expression of slight sadness and defeat on her face as she looked at the golden magic that blocked her entry into her home planet.

"Miss Maximoff …" Wong's voice came not too much later. "You've returned."

"Yeah," Wanda nodded before waving at the monk. "Hey, Wong."

"How …" Wong was standing on a mystic arts platform, covered in a protective membrane, as he expressed his feelings. "The Sanctums have identified you as an extradimensional creature of the Ruler class. What happened that you became equivalent to such godly entities?"

"A lot, Wong," Wanda sighed. "And a big chunk of that was because of you. I could destroy this flimsy defense of yours easily if I wanted …" Wong tensed up at her words.

"That's because the Sanctums are not capable of holding off the full-powered assault of a Dimensional Ruler. With the Vishanti serving as our patrons, we only need to handle threats of our own level," Wong said.

"Yeah. Even if the Dimensional Rulers target you, they won't be able to give you their full attention. Unfortunately for you, the Vishanti are gone."

"Yes," Wong nodded. "But on the bright side, so are all the other Dimensional Rulers, which allows the current status quo to continue."

"Can you bring my defenses up to date so that I can come home?" Wanda asked flatly.

"Even if I wanted to, it's impossible," Wong said. "These are ancient spells that were inscribed by Aggomoto himself. If we try to modify them, then we cannot be sure if our defenses can continue to intimidate and hold away the lesser dimensional creatures."

"Understandable," Wanda nodded. "And my sanctum?"

"Strange's plans made sure that your sanctum's magic would operate on a separate wavelength from the other three. He was going to modify them to form another layer that would involve all four sanctums without interfering with the original three. Unfortunately, he's still in stasis alongside the Darkhold and the Salem Witch; their minds are still corrupted."

"The Darkhold …" Wanda's expression turned thoughtful. "Mind if I take it off your hands, Wong? I have a theory."

"I suppose so …" Wong looked unsure of his decision, but he felt that Wanda's casual demeanor hid a lot of blame behind it. It left him tense and unsure of her next action, especially since he was already aware of her volatile nature. Promptly, he created a portal and stuck his hand through it before pulling out a sealed tome. "Here you go. It's been sealed with potent magic, so it might take —"

Wanda was already flipping through the pages of the book before Wong could finish telling her about the seal on the book.

"As expected ..." Wanda mumbled. "This isn't mine."

"Really?" Alex raised his brow. "Interesting."

"Thanks, Wong. Apex will contact you regarding my Sanctum. Work with him to complete it, okay?"

***

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