"Hello, is this Fury?" Ethan called.
"Ethan, why are you calling directly? Why not use video communication?" Fury's voice came through, laced with mild surprise.
"I didn't have a choice. You know how remote Kamar-Taj is. The signal is garbage. If this weren't a S.H.I.E.L.D. phone, I'd have to climb a mountain just to find a bar of service," Ethan grumbled.
"But I heard Kamar-Taj recently installed Wi-Fi?" Fury questioned. Where there was Wi-Fi, the signal couldn't be that bad.
"Don't even start. I just tested it—it's so slow I thought I'd traveled back to the '90s. I might as well be trying to browse the internet in a war zone." Ethan sighed in frustration.
"And does it even matter if it's video communication? It's not like I ever see your actual office. Besides, even if I got closer, you wouldn't see anything anyway."
Fury frowned.
"Wait, hold up. What do you mean by 'if I got closer, you wouldn't see anything'?" His tone darkened.
"Huh? What are you talking about? The signal's bad, maybe you misheard me." Ethan immediately changed the subject.
"Anyway, did you read the 'Evaluation Report on the Magic World' I just sent over?"
"Yeah, I read it." Fury exhaled heavily.
He was already juggling a potential extraterrestrial crisis, and now he had this to deal with.
"Are you sure about this plan? It seems a bit extreme."
"Relax. I already discussed it with the new Sorcerer Supreme. Why? Got a problem with it?" Ethan challenged.
"Not exactly. Kamar-Taj is in Nepal—if you move quietly, there won't be any political backlash," Fury said, his tone shifting to a more neutral one.
It wasn't like anyone in that region had the power to oppose S.H.I.E.L.D. meddling, especially not when the world had bigger problems.
"I'm going to push the World Security Council to mobilize an aircraft carrier fleet from the Indian Ocean to the Bay of Bengal for support," Fury continued matter-of-factly.
Under normal circumstances, he might have hesitated over international relations.
But with magica motherfucking monsters, aliens and Voldemort-wanna be casually showing up on Earth like it was a vacation hotspot, he no longer had the patience for bureaucratic red tape.
If anyone had a problem with it, they could take it up with the Security Council.
And if they had the guts, they could go take on the five most powerful nations that ran it.
Otherwise, they could shut up. Fury had bigger things to deal with—like keeping the planet from getting blown up.
"That's it. I'll handle the logistics. Coulson's on your side—he'll assist you where needed." With that, Fury hung up.
"Are you done with your report yet?" Katie, who had been lounging nearby, looked up with a bored expression as Ethan walked in.
As a tech-savvy girl, being stuck in a place like Kamar-Taj—a mystical stronghold that barely acknowledged modern technology—was torture.
"How long are we supposed to keep living like this?" she groaned, gripping her hair in frustration.
"Two more days, probably." Ethan tapped his fingers against his arm, thinking.
Moving an aircraft carrier took time.
Meanwhile, Kamar-Taj's magical defenses could hold off the swarming enemy forces for a couple more days.
Doctor Strange just needed a little more time to prepare for the final showdown with Baron Mordo.
"You don't have to look so defeated. We can kill some time with a movie or something," Ethan said, trying to cheer Katie up as he took the data panel from her.
However, the moment he saw the download speed struggling to reach 100KB per second, his expression froze.
"Are you kidding me? Kamar-Taj's internet speed is straight out of the Stone Age!"
·······
And so, in the agonizing existence of digital deprivation, Ethan and Katie barely survived the next two days.
Finally, Doctor Strange made his move.
When Ethan led the others to the city gates, Strange was already there, standing at the forefront with a squad of sorcerers, all prepped for battle.
Beyond the shimmering barrier of the magic circle, the enemy forces were visible.
The winged creatures had been gnawing at the magic field, and their numbers had surged back to the terrifying levels they were at when Ethan and his group first arrived—if not worse.
The swarm looked even more overwhelming now, and as their numbers increased exponentially, the barrier flickered and trembled under the pressure.
On the ground below, the Mindless Ones, monstrous foot soldiers, had noticed the weakening defenses.
They had been gathering in massive numbers beneath Kamar-Taj, biding their time, waiting for the moment the barrier collapsed so they could swarm the city.
"Ethan, besides your mutant allies, where's the rest of the backup?" Doctor Strange turned to him as he approached.
"Should be here any minute now," Ethan replied, glancing toward Coulson.
"The bombers have already taken off from the aircraft carrier stationed in the Bay of Bengal," Coulson reported, pressing a finger to his communicator.
"ETA: ten minutes. The ship's missiles are also locked and ready. If needed, we can initiate ground strikes immediately."
"And the civilians?" Ethan leaned in, lowering his voice.
"Evacuated long ago," Strange confirmed.
"Once the barrier goes down, there's no guarantee we can keep all of these creatures out. I've moved all the non-magical descendants of sorcerers into the temple at the mountain's peak. As for the apprentices who aren't strong enough for battle, they're inside the sanctum maintaining order."
A surge of magical energy coiled around Strange's hands, and in an instant, he conjured a massive, double-edged battle axe.
His grip tightened around it as he turned to face the battlefield.
"It's time to settle things with Mordo."
Ethan, however, was less concerned with Strange's determination and more fixated on the enormous weapon now in his hands.
"Hold on. Haven't you considered using a weapon more… appropriate for a sorcerer?" Ethan asked, raising a skeptical brow.
"I mean, an axe? Wouldn't a magic tome or a staff make way more sense?"
Strange hesitated for a moment, his brows furrowing in thought.
Then his eyes lit up with sudden inspiration. "Oh, you mean like one of those grimoires with chains? The kind you can swing around and launch at enemies?
That's actually not a bad idea! Now that I think about it, the London Sanctum recently developed a sentient, razor-toothed spellbook. Maybe if I combined that with—"
Ethan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You know what? Never mind. Kamar-Taj's sorcerers are beyond saving..."
"Boom, boom!" The massive black wings struck against Kamar-Taj's magical barrier like relentless whips.
Each impact sent violent tremors through the protective field, which had been holding for so long but was now barely hanging on.
Meanwhile, though many of the Wing Mark perished each time they crashed into the barrier, their sheer numbers made the losses meaningless.
Worse still, every strike siphoned a portion of the barrier's magic, fueling their ranks and allowing them to multiply at an alarming rate.
"Everyone, get ready. The barrier won't hold much longer," Doctor Strange warned, his face grim.
As if on cue, the glowing magical runes embedded into the city walls flickered wildly before shattering into dust.
A low, resonating hum filled the air—like the final breath of a dying titan—before the barrier dissolved into nothingness.
A piercing, ear-splitting screech rang out as the winged horde surged forward, no longer held back.
The raw magical energy radiating from the gathered sorcerers was like a beacon, an irresistible lure.
Like a black tidal wave, the creatures poured down from the sky, a suffocating storm of darkness.
On the ground, the monstrous Mindless Ones let out guttural roars and charged for the city gates.
Towering like prehistoric behemoths, their brute strength alone was enough to flatten any structure without magical reinforcement.
"Johnny, John—are you both ready?" Ethan called out, his sharp gaze fixed on the descending swarm.
Compared to the Mindless Ones, the airborne enemies were the bigger threat.
Their sheer resilience and aerial advantage made them a nightmare to deal with. The sooner they were eliminated, the better.
"We've more than ready." Johnny grabbed John by the arm, and in an instant, hellfire erupted from his body, engulfing them both in an infernal glow.
John, born with the mutant ability to control fire, had already adapted to the flames of hell.
"Ahh!" John let out a cry as the infernal energy surged through him.
His mutant genes responded to the power boost, awakening a deeper reserve of strength.
His control over fire surged to new heights.
A moment later, under his command, the flames of hell coalesced into a towering fire giant—nearly a hundred feet tall.
It loomed in front of the city walls, a roaring titan standing between Kamar-Taj and the abyss.
With a deafening explosion, the first wave of Wing Mark collided with the infernal colossus, only to be instantly vaporized.
Yet, their mindless nature made fear an alien concept.
They simply kept coming, swarming in relentless waves, their sheer numbers pressing the fire giant to its limits.
Ethan frowned as he watched. Even with their combined power, Johnny and John wouldn't be able to hold them off indefinitely.
A sudden gust of wind stirred behind him.
With a faint hum, two swirling vortexes formed at his back, resembling ethereal wings.
With just a slight push from his feet, Ethan shot into the air effortlessly.
Flying was no longer a challenge for him—not when he had complete mastery over the wind.
His wind-wings didn't possess any offensive capabilities, but mobility alone was enough for what he had planned.
"Time to turn up the heat." With a flick of his wrist, an invisible force surged forward.
The fire giant, already struggling to maintain its form under the endless assault, shattered apart.
But instead of extinguishing, the hellfire scattered into the sky like embers in a hurricane.
Fueled by Ethan's winds, the scattered flames engulfed the entire airborne swarm in an instant.
Like a spark hitting gasoline, the winged horde erupted into an inferno. The cursed flames spread uncontrollably, turning the black swarm into a sea of burning embers.
Their wretched screeches filled the air as they were consumed, the hellfire devouring them mercilessly.
Meanwhile, as Ethan focused on the sky, the army of Mindless Ones had already reached the city walls.
"For Kamar-Taj!" Doctor Strange bellowed, gripping his double-edged battle axe tightly.
Without hesitation, he leaped from the walls, leading the charge against the monstrous horde.
No grand elemental spells. No forbidden magic of mass destruction.
Only the glow of reinforcement spells illuminating his body as he prepared to carve a path through the abyss.
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Word count: 1779
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