Marvel: I'm a Symbiote

Symbiote 0335: Abrupt Crisis

“What’s wrong?” Peter asked hurriedly, looking worried.

“You okay?” Laura was confused as she looked at the man’s glowing eyes that looked out of focus, with his pupils dilated to the maximum.

Doctor Strange didn’t respond, but his body shook as his hands involuntarily rose, releasing an obscene amount of spiritual energy from his palms. Solid runes manifested in front of him as he poured energy into them, calling upon greater forces. Moments later, he grunted in pain as blood poured out of his nose, yet he didn’t relent.

“We should get out of here …” Peter said. “Agatha can instantly detect such a massive energy fluctuation with the resources available to her. It doesn’t matter how we are in a magically suppressive zone, this fluctuation can be sensed from halfway across the world.”

“We will,” Laura nodded. “I’ll make preparations. The moment he finishes … whatever he’s doing, we’ll take him away.”

“They’ll instantly track us if we use portals,” Peter said.

“Do you have a better option?” Laura asked, mentally calling Alex, but to no avail. “I don’t know what he’s doing, but by the time he’s done, he’s going to be incapacitated. I don’t have the confidence to face Agatha for too long.”

“But you can stall her?” Peter asked as his eyes grew hopeful.

“Yeah … Probably. It’s not like I’ve ever seen her battle. With all her death and necromancy stuff going on, for all I know, she can instakill me as long as she hits me with a beam.”

“If anyone arrives, stall them,” Peter said. “I’ll make preparations to take us away. He taught me a spell in case I needed to escape without letting others detect me.”

“Fine,” Laura said. “Just hurry up.”

As they’d expected, within seconds of Peter using his spiritual energy to create a circular rune on the floor of their house, five sorcerers, dressed in Kamar Taj robes, arrived to apprehend them.

“Traitors!” One of the bald monks exclaimed. “Surrender now, or face our wrath. The Sorcerer Supreme will arrive soon. If you value your lives, come with us.”

As the man spoke, the four beside him were already casting spells, sending out red chains made of runes of Chaos energy. Two chains went for Doctor Strange, while one went for Laura, and the last for Peter.

“Don’t just ignore me like that. It hurts my feelings,” Laura smiled menacingly as her clothes extended over all of her exposed skin, dressing her in her sleek Apex outfit that, for now, left her head visible. Since Alex was busy, she didn’t have the complete enhancement that was afforded to her when he was supporting her, but that was fine. Even without it, her strength and speed were enough to kill these mages before they could even react. Fortunately, she had access to almost all of the abilities they used together, which gave her the confidence to face Agatha if she came.

Her dual claws extended from her knuckles before she let out a loud battle cry and charged into the five mages. Before the sound of her cry could reach them, Laura was upon the five mages, slicing through their magical chains as if they were butter before pirouetting and slashing three of the mages with her claws. They fell to the ground lifelessly before even realizing what hit them, as the other two mages promptly reacted to summon a shield to defend against Laura’s secondary strike.

As Laura’s claws collided with their crimson shields, the sonic boom generated from her movement finally caught up and threw the entire place into disarray, shattering the windows and destroying most of the furniture. The only reason the building survived was that it was made of brick and mortar instead of wood. With the rudimentary Spider-Sense she got from Alex, Laura could sense Peter’s disbelieving expression and smiled smugly. Spider-Man also had a superhuman physique, but Laura’s was already touching upon the threshold of a real Cosmic physique that could destroy entire planets.

“You have to understand that the unknown factor is the most dangerous of the bunch.” Laura smiled menacingly as her claws crackled with lightning, zapping the two survivors into dropping their shields. Still, they were trained combatants; they used the moment of the shield’s dispelling to make it explode and push Laura away. As she landed on the ground, they were ready with their shields in one hand as they prepared to cast another spell and mumbled their chants under their breath. One of them released crimson bands from his hands while the other released some kind of crimson mist from his hands that focused on Laura.

“Don’t try to cut through those bands,” Peter advised. “They have bound the Hulk.”

“No problem,” Laura smiled, amplifying her speed with lightning to Mach 2 before she appeared behind the two mages and sabbed their throats with her claws, instantly killing them.

Another sonic boom was generated from her movements as the air got wildly displaced. This time, the walls started chipping away the plaster, revealing the bricks and cement below.

“Told you, no problem,” Laura smiled as the two mages dropped dead, their blood evaporating from her claws as she retracted them.

“You … fight like a beast,” Peter observed. “It’s raw … Yet there is no hesitation in your movements as if you’ve trained them to perfection.”

“My trainer practically grinds me down until I can’t move a muscle,” Laura said. “Now, continue. I don’t know when Agatha will show —“ As of on cue, both Laura’s and Peter’s sixth senses flared, making Peter jump away from his spot as Laura did the same.

Two beams of solid grey energy passed through both of their previous positions, spreading an aura of decay and death all around them as they impacted the floor before dissipating as if it never existed.

“My, you’re fast ones, aren’t you?” A woman’s malevolent voice made goosebumps rise along both Peter’s and Laura’s necks.

“Peter,” Laura gave her companion a look before turning to the source of the voice.

[Alex … I could really use your help right about now.]

Laura’s pleas didn’t result in any response other than an instinctive communication from their bond that told her that Alex was currently occupied with something huge, but that he would step in if things got truly dire.

Just the suppressed feeling of assurance she could feel from their bond calmed Laura as she faced a foe who really could instantly kill her with a beam of energy.

“Hello,” Laura smiled. “You must be the new Sorcerer Supreme.”

“You’re not of this world,” she said with a scrutinizing gaze. “I wonder what would happen if you were to run into your counterpart in this world.”

“Nothing,” Laura chuckled. “I am protected against such a scenario. Interacting with my variants doesn’t affect either me or them.”

“Is that so?” Agatha smiled. “How about this, then… My feud is against those two. If you leave, you might get to live.”

“Scared?” Laura asked.

“Cautious. You have someone behind you, after all. I don’t want too much trouble.”

“You’re already embroiled in the trouble, lady.” Laura shook her head, disappearing from her spot and appearing behind Agatha, with the only traces of her movements being the lightning that she discharged into the air around her, which showed a clear path of her movement. “Well, your owner, actually.”

“I see …” Agatha didn’t react even as Laura’s claws collided with her, impacting a barrier instead that created sparks. It seemed that she’d sent the five mages to probe the unknown variable and set up countermeasures. With the impact, Laura felt her sixth sense flare and jumped back as the point of contact exploded in the same gray energy as the beam from before. “What a pity. We could’ve been allies.”

Agatha created seals with her hands, and a crimson magic circle appeared underneath Laura. Suddenly, ropes similar to the bands summoned by the previous sorcerer appeared from the circle, attempting to bind Laura. With no other option, she took to the air as the bands followed her, using lightning to supplement her movements.

“Tsk …” She noticed that the circle was moving under her even as the ropes approached her to bind her.

“You were already marked when you struck me, child,” Agatha said apathetically. “Your life belongs to me. As for you…” She glanced at Peter, who was completely focused on finishing the magic circle, chanting something under her breath.

“Don’t underestimate me,” Laura growled at the woman as crimson streaks took form in her sleek black suit. Suddenly, her mere presence suppressed the relentless bands as their speed slowed, allowing her to shoot a bolt of lightning to interrupt Agatha.

“Chaos …” The witch narrowed her eyes, unfazed by the lightning as it impacted her protection spell and dissipated, but it served its purpose of drawing Agatha’s attention away from Peter. “Trouble indeed … Unfortunately, this means I’m already embroiled in the thick of it.”

Taking advantage of Agatha’s momentary lapse, Laura used lightning to propel herself down. She summoned her spiritual energy, which was now tainted with Chaos energy, and released it in a burst as she reached the ground, destroying Agatha’s magic circle that kept following her.

Agatha, however, was relentless and summoned a gray mist in her surroundings that spread a dark and dreary feeling in Laura’s heart, making her feel hopeless and depressed.

“Goodbye, I hope the retaliation is not swift,” Agatha condensed the mist as it approached Laura, who was currently going through an existential crisis.

“Yes!” Peter exclaimed as the magic circle he was working on glowed brightly.

“Goddamnit …” Agatha sped the mist up to at least get rid of Laura’s figure, but she recovered from her daze sooner than Agatha had anticipated and used her lightning to speed away from the approaching death. That was all the time the spell needed to teleport Doctor Strange, Peter, and Laura away from their spot.