Symbiote 0321: Entice and Sow Discord

While the Mephisto possessed Phil Coulson's plan—using a cosmic artifact powered by the planet's magical energies to directly target the existence of Apex and rewrite the reality of the universe so that he never existed—seemed flawless on the surface, there was one little hiccup in that plan. The anchor that he chose to target Alex's existence was Wanda, the woman who was the current embodiment of the Source of Chaos. She held not only a nigh-infinite source of Chaos energy but also a semi-omniscience that gave her immense insight into most things in the universe.

The moment that the beam of light escaped the Pandemonium Cube, targeting Wanda, she frowned and waved her arm to form a pure, deep crimson structure in front of her that looked as if it was made of crystallized blood. Just as Alex looked at the structure she had created, he felt overwhelmed by the sheer complexity of the frame that was on par or even more convoluted in its design than the one Mephisto's remnant consciousness used to summon magical energy from all over the continent.

The consequent expression of panic and dread on Phil Coulson's face was a sight to behold as the beam was suddenly sucked into the complex structure of moving magical runes, suppressed and unable to even affect Wanda or Alex in the slightest. Without a moment's delay, Wanda cast another spell and yanked the Pandemonium Cube away from the man's hand.

"How rude, attacking me with a reality-breaking weapon the moment I appeared. I had higher expectations from a class two demon …" Wanda sighed. "Then again, you don't seem like the real deal."

With a thought from Wanda, the complex runic structure that held the Pandemonium Cube's attack started compressing. Despite the suppressed energy rampaging and resisting, it was helpless against her complex runic spell. It formed into a small vermilion crystal the size of a marble that disappeared the moment her fingertips came into contact with it. Alex safely stored the reality-altering attack within his ‹Inventory›, followed by doing the same for the suppressed Pandemonium Cube.

"That was Source Magic," the demonic voice coming from Phil Coulson grew solemn. "And not just any Source Magic. Chaos Source…you are the reason behind the destruction of the Chaos Dimension."

"The one and only," Wanda smiled. "Now, if you could be so kind as to leave this planet, I might not have to eradicate your consciousness."

"That's cute, child. If it were Cthon threatening me, I would be quivering in my boots, but you are eons too young to make me wary. Not to mention that without the Chaos Dimension to support you, you are like a fish out of water. How long can you really survive without your domain, child?"

"I don't like your condescending tone," Wanda mumbled.

"It's the truth," he said. "You are an inexperienced child who somehow got away with a small amount of Chaos Source during the destruction of the dimension. You can feel how it is dissipating with every passing moment, no? Every spell you use sucks away a little more of your power, leaving you weakened. How much of the source did you lose trying to hold my attack back?"

"I hear a lot of false words without any intent to explain the reason behind them," Wanda said.

"Well, here's my intent. You and your … symbiote friend here can join my cause. As I've observed, Apex is an incredibly resourceful creature. With his presence spread across multiple Earths and unique anchors, he can be the perfect person for gathering intel. You, my dear child, can be the perfect deterrent force. With your ability to utilize the source of magic —"

"You have other anchors?" Wanda turned to Alex with a frown.

"What are you talking about?" Alex looked surprised.

"This fucker just said so," Wanda said. "What does he mean by you having multiple anchors?"

"Exactly that. Anything can be an anchor, Wanda," Alex said. "You are one; my ship is another. I have many more scattered all over the cluster and further."

"I don't believe you." Wanda narrowed her eyes as a deep crimson aura erupted from her. "Who are they, Alex? Who are your anchors?"

Abruptly, a beam of energy shot out of Wanda's hands, directly targeting the possessed man, who had an expression of levity on his face.

"What an impolite child." The target waved his arm and calmly dispersed Wanda's attack.

"Your mother is impolite," Wanda snorted. "Do you think I don't know about this greedy fucker's nature? I know all about his other women."

"Worth a try," he shrugged. "But my offer is still valid. I want the three of us to work together. I am sure that we can do great things."

"Apex brings information and intelligence to the table; I bring firepower, but what do you bring?" Wanda asked. "I don't want someone who can do everything I can do but worse."

"I can teach you, my dear child. Don't you want to understand the power that you hold? Don't you want to utilize it to your fullest potential? I will even teach you about the dimensional source that you are continuously losing. You will not only be able to utilize it with more efficiency, but it will be possible to generate even greater amounts of it. In time, you might even have the power to reestablish the Chaos Dimension in your image. Reaching heights even your predecessor was never able to."

"Pretty enticing," Wanda nodded. "What do you think, Alex?"

"I think he's had enough time to set up whatever he was setting up for his escape now," Alex said. "Am I right, Mr. President?"

"You are correct, Alex," Phil nodded with a grave sigh. "It is a pity that we weren't able to work together. I believe that we would've made a good team."

Magical energies started stirring all around them once again as a magical model appeared on the ground under them. Since they were all in mid-air, there was no impedance as the model rose up from the ground into a three-dimensional structure that pointed at the floating figure of Phil Coulson.

"Goodbye, Alex. It was nice working with you. I'll see if I can find a planet where you won't hamper my plans."

"I think you should stay, Mephisto," Alex said as an even greater energy erupted from Wanda's figure. "Your presence can be an even greater hindrance to my future plans than you realize. I would rather make sure that you don't end up causing too much trouble."

"You are making a mistake, Apex." The demon's tone finally grew fearful as he noticed his spell being interfered with by Wanda's energy. He couldn't escape anymore. "My real self may be in slumber at the moment, but if you dare to destroy me, you will incur his wrath upon yourself."

"For that, your real self needs to exist in this reality in the first place," Alex said.

"I do exist in this reality. Only the Elder Gods and their directly connected entities are gone. The Hell Lords and most Class Two demons are merely in slumber at this time."

"I can't believe a single word that comes out of your mouth, Mephisto. People would just call me a sucker if I did that," Alex chuckled. "And even if you do exist and are merely in slumber, I'll deal with that when the time comes. For now, my darling Wanda, if you would be so kind as to get rid of this troublesome demon so that we can start taking over this planet for ourselves, that would be great."

"Gladly, Alex," Wanda smiled widely as she cast a spell that overlapped on Mephisto's, directly taking control and using the focus of the original spell as a means of suppression for him. It rendered him unable to even speak, let alone try to resist. Once she was done suppressing him, she designed another spell model around his floating figure as his expression grew increasingly fearful and angry. But her model was completed without any hiccups as he cast the spell and eradicated Mephisto and Phil Coulson from existence.

"How'd you like my acting?" Wanda asked Alex.

"Impeccable," Alex laughed as the two of them landed in the crater, which was all that was left of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. "Now we just need to figure out a new base of operations now that the White House has been destroyed."

"Actually, Alex …" Wanda's eyes had a special sort of gleam in them. "I have a special place in mind."

Alex had a feeling of trepidation at the thought of what Wanda would consider a special place.

"Mind showing me the Pandemonium Cube?" Wanda said. "It's not really any use without Mephisto's direct utilization, so I might as well reforge it into something useful."

"Sure," Alex nodded. "What are you going to make it into?"

"How about a slave collar?" She asked casually. "I'll designate you as the controller so that you can put it on anyone you want."

"How is that the first thing that comes to your mind?" Alex asked with a laugh as he pulled the suppressed cube from his ‹Inventory›.

"I just remembered how you have so many issues when it comes to telepaths. I'll modify it into a collar so that you can subdue a telepath and have them do what you want."

"Damn, this would've been so useful a few hours ago …" Alex mumbled. "How long will it take you to make this?"

"A few days," she said while examining the cube in her hand. "It has some potent authorities that I need to work with. Why would this have been useful a few hours ago?"

"I am working with a variant of Emma Frost at the moment. It's taking a shit ton of my EP to maintain the use of the Mind Stone to prevent her from probing into my head."

"Oh …" Wanda didn't seem particularly interested. "Since it isn't urgent, you can put it back for now. I'll make the collar when we set up base."

***

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