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xp_logsOur heroes move forward, unto the breach, but find themselves facing a very, very disconcerting storage closet... and then Lyton trips over a brazier in her effort to escape them, waking someone they all wish she hadn't.
Stepping through the portal had been bizarre, mostly because Clint wasn't used to not being able to see where he was going. The odd drop in his stomach didn't bother him nearly as much as the moment it took for his eyes to adjust to the strange lighting on the other side. It was dim, initially — and then suddenly it wasn't as much.
Something set his nerves abuzz, leaving him tensed with his bowstring drawn taut and an arrow already nocked as the others followed behind him.
Funny how in her top ten worst decisions, going through an unknown portal and walking into what could only be described as "if creepy were a place" didn't even rank. Topaz, unfortunately, wasn't gifted with the blessing of super eyesight; she snapped her fingers, bringing a small ball of light to life, and looked around curiously. The light flew ahead, briefly illuminating their path and the shelves that lined it. In the moment of darkness, a shiver went through Topaz, and swore she could hear whispers in the back of her head. She ignored them as the light flew back to her, hovering over her head.
The place felt… odd. Perhaps it wasn't all that odd and it was just his body's reaction to going through the portal, but Matt didn't think so. The air seemed… off. It was almost like how it felt right before a hurricane or similarly bad storm hit, but not quite. "Is the sky green?" he asked, which was seemingly random, but somehow, it felt like the sky being green would make sense. At least it would mean that everything else was as off as what he felt. The noises were off, the air was off… maybe it was langoliers? He was pretty sure this was what Stephen King had described in his horror book phase.
"There is no sky." Namor's voice was flat and controlled, but in a way that lacked any of its usual arrogance.There was a scratchiness to it as well. He paused for a moment, searching, before grabbing a water bottle off Clint's bag and taking a long swig. "It is much like an undersea cave mixed with one of your episodes of Storage Wars," the Atlantean added, as if that show was Matt Murdock's fault and failing.
Topaz ignored all three of them, walking forward slowly. Creepy, yes, but all things considered, it could have been worse. The light floated out again and swooped down, lighting up the floor. "Convenient," she muttered, starting forward. "You three coming?"
Clint padded forward on silent feet, already tracking the footprints in the dust and dirt that Topaz's light had more clearly illuminated for those without enhanced sight. "Don't go getting ahead of yourself, T. Lyton's given us the slip twice today and God only knows what she could do with whatever she finds in here." He caught movement out of the corner of his eye, body moving without conscious thought as he twisted and raised his bow — only to find nothing and no one there.
"You okay there, Clint?" Matt called, turning and responding to his brother's movements without conscious thought, though he only got so far as to pull his billy club. "Did you see something?" Because he hadn't heard anything. Or felt anything other than the movement and noise Clint was making. The stillness beyond their bodies was disconcerting and he felt like his powers strained to feel anything and yet, nothing.
"I thought — " Clint blinked, then shook his head. Something flickered on the his other side, just out of his peripheral vision and he jerked in that direction, only to be met with shelves full of seemingly random, dusty odds and ends. "What the fuck?"
"That just appeared," Matt replied, not looking at the shelving, but now that there was more to the space, his sonar could bounce off things and worked much better. The stillness overall was still disconcerting, but at least he understood his surroundings slightly better. Since his hearing was a 360-degrees thing, he didn't have to turn to 'see' something as it were. It was odd to get used to at first, but he was well used to it by now.
Namor was looking up as they walked instead, peering at the high, endless shelves. The thirst was still nagging at the back of his throat, and his voice was even more scratchy as he idly speculated, "I do not often play scout, but we don't know the terrain."
He hovered a little, not really waiting for an answer, but then he gaze was drawn down another isle. He blinked, distracted, and then floated away from the group toward something particularly shiny.
Topaz was still moving ahead, not particularly paying attention to what the three men behind her were saying or doing. She could still hear the whispers in her head, and she imagined this was what it would be like if her telepathy were a bit stronger, but it didn't… bother her. It was off-putting yes, and she'd rather live without it. But the creepiness just wasn't fully registering. She wondered if she was just becoming numb to weirdness.
A crash and a scream in the distance broke Topaz out of her reverie, and she looked up quickly, reaching out mentally and finding confusion, panic, anger, fear, all mixed together somewhere ahead of her. She snapped her fingers and the light stopped bobbling along, instead coming straight up and zooming ahead, locking on to the emotions and acting as a guide. "How the hell did I end up in front?" She muttered, assuming the others would catch on and follow.
Still twitchy, Clint muttered, "I told you not to get ahead of yourself, which implied the rest of us." Shaking his head, making himself ignore the flickers that persisted despite his reflexes and the reassurance that nothing was actually there when he looked, he sped up and overtook Topaz. Just because his eyesight was going hinky on him didn't mean he could afford to freak out entirely. There was some other weird shit happening and they were seriously unprepared.
"We should get backup," Clint said, checking his comm to see if he could radio back to Ev and Molly. All he got was static — good to know magic wrecked havoc with that sort of thing across portals. "Okay, since that's not an immediate option…" He pulled his phone from his jacket and set it to record audio, then slid it back into his pocket. There were a lot of things they should be doing differently, but there was another pool of light up ahead and, as he pulled the string on his bow taut again, he heard what sounded like someone being choked.
Namor, meanwhile, was out of the light and beginning to regret it thoroughly. He'd never admit it, but without the illumination he could no longer find the item he'd thought might be Atlantean. Instead, he was gripped with a cold shiver as the scratchiness in his throat expanded in the welcoming dark, becoming fingers and claws against his skin. He shuddered, feeling completely alone, before declaring, "The enemy is all around us!"
Running forward at the sound, Matt stopped a few meters away as it dissipated. "There's nothing," he growled, frustrated. "We can't trust our senses," which was terrifying for him. He relied on them for nearly everything.
From the stacks to the left a voice split the silence like a gunshot. The words themselves were unintelligible, but they had the rising tone of someone repeating an unanswered question.
Namor shot up through the dark, guided back toward Topaz's hovering light around the endless shelves. As he rose, he could better make out the other flicking light — a circle of braziers with two figures. One more person than they had been expecting to find.
There was an arm around Lyton's neck and another at her waist. Something nearby scraped the stone as her attacker braced against her instinctive resistance: a heavy, metallic sound from whatever she'd just knocked over in the dark. Her ear burned under his breath as he spoke in a language that sounded vaguely Germanic. His urgency seemed to intensify even as the pressure around her throat increased.
Janet couldn't stop breathing heavily or keep her hands from trembling, which seemed like a moot point once she'd been dragged out of the circle of light. Was that a brazier she'd knocked over? She had no idea. Trying to scream or cry out was impossible when she felt his claws (and those couldn't be hands could they? They were so strong…) tighten around her neck, tighten around her waist… her shuddering gasps could barely make their way down her throat, and she squeezed her eyes against the oppressive darkness, wishing, hoping, praying…
Clint skidded to a halt just behind Matt, eyes widening as he took in the scene before them. "Unknown male has Lyton," he called over his shoulder. Stepping in front of his brother as the others arrived behind them — Namor airborne while Topaz followed on foot — Clint held his hands out in a calming gesture. He hadn't recognized the language the man had spoken, but it wasn't Slavic in nature, so he wasn't gonna be any help.
Wishing he'd thought to grab Doug, he asked, "Any of you guys know what he just said?"
Topaz caught herself on one of the shelves, wide-eyed at the scene in front of her. "No, but I'm pretty sure you're not going to placate him," she mumbled, trying to focus on emotions and pick things apart. It was easy to push the three men she knew aside, but harder to pick through Lyton's 'terrified of dying' scared and find the man's 'frustrated angry' scared. It was like trying to see through fog. She gritted her teeth, closing her eyes, trying to find anything that might help them, but all she saw was a jumbled flash of images. Stupid, useless telepathy.
It took all of Matt's self control not to reach for his brother, just to reassure himself that he was there and real. He was an adult and he was fine. Or at least, he was fine enough to deal with this for now. "Tell me we're not fucked."
"I'll get back to you on that," Clint muttered, taking a half-step backward to put himself slightly in front of Matt. It was instinct, he couldn't help it. Barney'd taken hits for him when they were growing up, after all, and he'd continued the big brother tradition when Andre and Steve took Matt in.
Clint's caution was unnecessary; the stranger's full attention had fallen on Topaz. His eyes widened briefly, then narrowed. His grip around Lyton tightened as he barked a short, sharp phrase that sounded like a question.
Topaz jerked back as the man's eyes fell on her, his emotions saying in volumes what his foreign words couldn't. He was surprised, he was paranoid, he was… panicked? "What…" She breathed. But there was no time for anything else.
With all of this heavy introspection and brotherliness, the group may have missed the sudden whoosh as Namor, still airborne, dashed from above, knocking loose a few errant scrolls from the shelves as he raced to place himself between the two combatants. It was simple to take the direct approach when one was extra durable.
The stranger's eyes snapped to Namor.
It seemed to happen in a single movement. The man shoved Lyton towards his attackers, and as he did, the fist at her waist turned inward — only then did they see his hand had not been empty.
In the space of an instant the man had disappeared into the stacks and Janet Lyton was stumbling forward, stomach opened from hip to rib.
Clint stood frozen for a moment before his training kicked in. "Fuck — shit. Okay." He looked at the people he had with him, then came to a quick decision even as he rushed toward Lyton. He could tell even before he reached her that it wasn't just a cosmetic sort of gutting, if you could call a similar-looking wound something like that. The smell alone was enough to let him know they had a real problem. "T, stay here with her." He dropped his voice as he backtracked a little, catching Topaz's eye. "Don't think there's much to be done, but…"
Topaz had gone stiff at the sight of the blood, eyes not quite focused, mouth half-open as if to say something but never quite managing."I…" Her head swiveled around to look at Clint, and she shook her head furiously — not in response to him, just to clear her suddenly foggy mind. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll stay." It was stupid and irresponsible, letting three men who had a knack for getting in trouble go after the magic bloke alone. She'd take the heat later, if there was any.
"Thanks," Clint muttered, then lifted his chin to find Matt and Namor. His voice completely sincere, he asked, "Your Majesty, would you take the high road while my brother and I follow on foot?"
Namor didn't even choose to acknowledge Clint's infrequent use of his rightful title. He floated there, unphased and deathly serious, having caught Lyton before she hit the floor. He cradled her as she bled out onto him, eyes flicking between his teammates and the direction the man had fled, before he very carefully set the woman down. He met eyes with Topaz, and he commanded, jaw locked and inviting no argument, "This magic is as old as my Kingdom, and not as kind. Make her last moments comfortable."
With that, he was in the air and after the unknown man.
Following on foot, Matt was grateful that it was Topaz staying behind. It wasn't that she couldn't help, it was that she was best for magic and this would likely be more brute force. Well, brute force and highly specialized training. Still, that was more them, less her. Glancing back toward Clint, he pulled his billy club from its thigh holder.
Unable to get the image of just how gentle Namor had been with Lyton out of his head, Clint hooked his bow over his arm and across his chest, then raced after his brother. None of this had gone as they expected — a milk run'd turned upside down, halfway into another dimension, and he was gonna have to call Phil to send something official over to Interpol about Lyton's death.
So of course now he was running off after a seemingly crazy dude who thought it was totally normal to just rip people open down the middle — Clint had to stop that train of thought when he realized the footsteps he and Matt were following through the dust had veered off toward the shelves they were passing, then returned to the center. As they continued to follow him, the footprints swerved to either side of the path several more times, empty spaces in the dust on the shelves indicating that items had been removed in a hurry — and then the whole world shook as a violent rumble echoed toward them.
The men rounded a corner just in time to see the stranger paused between the shelves. He did not turn to acknowledge the oncoming footsteps or the small artifacts shuddering from the nearest shelves. Instead, he uttered the final syllables of an incomprehensible chant and slashed the reddened knife before him like a man splattering paint. The air thickened with the hot, coppery scent of blood.
Where the drops of blood caught, the air burned. Reality peeled back, and what had been an aisle was suddenly empty space. There was the briefest whiff of wet concrete, a whisper of distant traffic noises, and then he was gone. He never even looked back.
"Motherf — " Clint broke off yet again, catching the briefest glimpse of what lay beyond the hole in the universe before the copper-wet-hot-thick feel to the air disappeared. It seemed as though it was all drawn toward a point on the wall at the end of the aisle, but he couldn't be sure. The only reason he thought that might be the case was because a moment later, the air there split open to reveal a grassy knoll beyond a weathered stone archway.
The feel of the air shifted, pressure dropping and rising as the scent of ozone permeated everything. "The fuck," Matt grumbled, disliking how it affected him, but continued, "He's gone and… grass?"
"Goddammit," Clint growled, voice flat as he rubbed at his eyes. Glancing upward to find Namor, he continued, "We'd better check out wherever that goes."
Meanwhile, Molly and Ev reach a disturbing conclusion about the portal.
Molly had circled the portal about eight times, played Candy Crush on her phone, and counted sixteen birds as she and Ev waited for the others (or anything else) to come back. Picking up the silver box that the key was in, she looked it over for the fourth time, studying the markings.
"Is it too much to hope for like… a troll or something? This is boring."
Ev grinned at her. "This is honestly the best-case scenario right now, Agent Hayes. Hopefully it means they're having some success on their side. At the very least, better to be bored than hurt — or worse."
Molly made a face at Ev's optimistic outlook. "I'm totally happy they're okay but… I haven't been on a mission in like… forever. I was kinda hoping to fight something," she said with a shrug, then glanced down at the box.
Ev cocked his head at the box she was holding. "Discern anything new and fun about that yet?"
"There's something about it. It's kinda bugging me. I can't put my finger on it, though."
"Bugging you how?" He leaned over to get a better look at the box, though he knew he had nothing to offer himself. "Does it remind you of something?"
Molly squinted. "Yeah, actually. It… looks a lot like some of tech I saw in Asgard," she said, pulling out a pair of enhancement goggles from her bag to put on. "It's not as advanced, but… it could be used to funnel magic without needing a human or mutant spellcaster. Like a regulator."
Ev raised an eyebrow. "Way above my paygrade. Where would the power come from, if there's no proper spellcaster? It would have to pull it in from somewhere, and I'm no mage, but I do know there's typically not enough abundant magic energy to do that."
Molly lowered the box, turning it over in her hands. "No, there's not," she said thoughtfully, the wheels in her mind turning. Her experience with being cursed made her more interested in researching magic, so she'd spent a lot of time brushing up on it a little… just in case.
"There's got to be a something that keeps the portal open. It's the same with the Asgardian tech. The portal probably runs on a limited supply, so the key — or the key and the box — would keep track of that. Whenever the magic runs out, the box won't have anything to regulate." Molly stared up at the portal with dawning realization.
"And they'll get stuck," Ev concluded.
Molly turned toward him, then pulled out her communicator. "Hey, uh guys — ack!" The communicator made a loud, screeching noise. "The magic might be interfering with the comms. We gotta tell 'em," Molly said. "Are you okay with staying here? I can go tell 'em. If things go pear shaped you're more… authorized to call people in and stuff with your Agentness."
Ev had come to that realization just as she did. Bad enough to venture through a mystery door, even worse to be trapped forever without notice, like the world's worst game of musical chairs. He almost asked her why she was still standing there. "Yes, go! I've got this covered."
Molly gave Ev a salute, sprinting through the portal. "Catch you on the flipside, Agent Thomas!" Hopefully she could get to the others in time to warn them before it was too late.
Topaz attempts to give Lyton what comfort she can.
Topaz had stripped off her sweatshirt, leaving her wearing only her t-shirt and shivering just a little; she pressed it against the gaping wound in the woman's abdomen, doing her best not to look too disgusted, or throw up. Useless, useless, useless, useless, — no. She shook her head, blowing out a long breath. "Okay, you are… not going to be okay," she said honestly. "What the hell did you get into?"
Janet had no idea what was going on. There was a sensation of heat and pain radiating from… everywhere, but she was surprised at how calm she felt. This was normal now. This was her new normal.
Looking down, she lifted her hand lazily in the air and twirled it, looking at the gloss from the blood intertwined with various fluids and what Janet thought was maybe feces. Blinking slowly, she turned towards Topaz. "I'm sorry, who are you again?"
"An overworked, underappreciated magical intern," Topaz muttered. She closed her eyes, counted backwards from ten, and opened them again, a little calmer. "My name's Topaz. My friends and I blew out your tires and chased you off the road and then you ran into… here. Do you think you can move?"
"Um…" Janet looked around and coughed, sending another stream of blood gushing from her midsection. "I don't know. Do I have to?" She felt heat on her face, and at first she worried she was bleeding more, but it was only tears.
"I'm going to die, aren't I?" Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "I only wanted to find the truth. And for everyone to stop laughing at me — I showed them! I showed them all — I was right! It exists! All of it! All I had to do was find the key." Another coughing fit, and Janet's head lolled backward, her breathing going ragged.
Yes. Yes, she was going to die.
Topaz gritted her teeth for a moment before gently sliding into Janet's panicked mind, finding the right buttons to push to calm the hysterical woman. "What were you trying to prove exists? This place? Where are we?"
Janet was only barely aware of Topaz's presence. "Avalon…" She drifted off for a second before being roused by the excruciating pain. Did something else burst inside her? She looked down and cried some more. "I've never broken a rule in my life. I've never crossed the street when I wasn't supposed. I just wanted the research, I wanted it, and I paid… my life savings… my notes… everything I've learned — and I found the key! I found it, I opened the portal with the key, with the words."
Another shuddering gasp escaped her before Janet was able to shudder, "I was right… I got the translations… I did. I have them. Don't use them!" She cried out. "There's nothing here for you, it should have stayed a secret." More tears streamed down her cheeks as she tried to hug herself, her arms covered in gore. Was it going cold? She felt cold. "There's more… so much more… I was right…"
"More of what?" Topaz pushed, trying to keep the emotions from overwhelming Lyton. They were strong enough that she was starting to tap into thoughts, which were equally useless. Panicked flashes of what she had done, thoughts about what would happen now, how she had just wanted to prove that she was right, she was right, she was right…
Topaz shook her head before she could fall down that spiral, looking around. Avalon. She committed the name to memory. "What else did you find?" The woman didn't have much time left. She could feel her fading, and there was nothing Topaz could do for her. If Amanda had been here, maybe… god why was she so useless… she shook that thought off as well, forcing herself to focus.
Janet turned to Topaz and managed to focus her eyes. Who was this person again? Oh right… she helped… didn't she? Oh god, she was going to die. She started to cry again, silent, exhausted tears this time. "He was right," she half-sobbed. "He was right to keep it buried. It's all dangerous. This vault should have burned."
It was getting harder to breathe, and Janet couldn't feel anything anymore. She tried to lift her arms but they just fell by her sides. "The Veil of Sorrows, Fail-Not, the Stone of Giramphiel… none of it's worth dying for… DON'T TOUCH IT," she suddenly shrieked, only to begin choking on her own blood a moment later.
This time, she couldn't stop choking. Janet tried to reach for the younger woman and failed, catching her eyes but unable to say another word. She knew this was the end. Thank god I'm not alone. Her last breath left her on a low sound, a soft rattle leaving her before Janet's lifeless body slumped sideways.
Topaz stayed in Janet's head right until the end.
She couldn't offer anymore comfort than that. She couldn't even safely stay. She didn't want to know what would happen if she was still connected to someone as they died. She snapped back into her own head right as Janet Lyton took her final breath, shaken and slightly disconnected from reality for a moment. She didn't pull her hands away.
The Vault, the Veil of Sorrows, Fail-Not, the Stone of Giramphiel… none of it made sense. The ravings of a dying woman? A clue? What the hell had this poor idiot gotten herself into?
"There you are!" A voice shouted, cutting through the silence as the sound of Molly's footsteps arrived soon after. "I found out what the key does and — oh." She stopped abruptly, staring down at the woman on the ground, and had to take a step backward to avoid stepping in the puddle of blood. Blinking, she drew in a breath, turning her head away from the massive distraction.
"I — um… we gotta get out of here. The portal's running out of magic and, if we don't go through one of them, we'll be trapped."
Topaz barely noticed Molly for a moment as she tried to re-orient herself. Those last moments had felt just like the Mindless Ones in the Dark Dimension… she shuddered, shaking her hands. There was nothing readily available to clean them, so she settled for scrubbing them on her jeans before standing. Someone had to know how to get blood out of clothes, and if they didn't, well… her wardrobe needed to be updated anyway. She left her sweatshirt with Lyton — no need for Molly to see how bad the damage was.
"You have the key, you get the others." Her voice in her ears sounded like it was coming down a long tunnel. "I'll head back the other way."
One last look at Janet Lyton, then Topaz turned, jogging off in the direction Molly had come from.
Molly finally reaches Clint, informing him of the potential danger regarding the portal's stability, and he calls Matt and Namor back so they don't get trapped halfway around the world.
Clint had stayed near the portal they'd come through on the grassy knoll, since a) they didn't need random people wandering into it and b) it gave him the high ground so he could give Namor and Matt suggestions on where to look. Given what they'd seen, though, he was more than 90% sure Mr. Hack & Slash was far beyond their reach now. Raising his hand to his ear, he prepared to activate his comm to tell the others their search should probably wrap up soon.
How many words could Molly Hayes get across while running at full speed and yelling at the top of her voice? Sure, there were probably plenty but time was not their buddy right now. At least, if her theory was correct.
"Hawkeye! Portal bad. Need to go now!" she said, skidding to a stop.
"Huh?" Clint said, hand freezing even as he turned on his heel to look back through the portal to look at Molly's rapidly approaching self. "What's wrong with the portal?"
Molly glanced behind him, then to the side of him, trying to see if she could see the others. She made a face.
"Okay so like… the box we found? It reminded me of some of the tech on Asgard. I think the box is like… a regulator, but for magic. It's keeping the portal open. Trouble is… I have no idea when the magic is going to run out. Could be five minutes, could be five hours. Either way, if it runs out and you guys are still here — or in there… hope you like being somewhere with weird food or being stuck freaky magic caves," she said.
"Ugh," Clint said. Getting stranded on the other side of the portal was not in his plans for the day. Pressing his comm so his brother and Namor could hear him, he said, "Guys, Molly says the portal's… unstable. It could close at any moment. Let's head back so we don't wind up in a foreign country without the proper paperwork."
Stepping through the portal had been bizarre, mostly because Clint wasn't used to not being able to see where he was going. The odd drop in his stomach didn't bother him nearly as much as the moment it took for his eyes to adjust to the strange lighting on the other side. It was dim, initially — and then suddenly it wasn't as much.
Something set his nerves abuzz, leaving him tensed with his bowstring drawn taut and an arrow already nocked as the others followed behind him.
Funny how in her top ten worst decisions, going through an unknown portal and walking into what could only be described as "if creepy were a place" didn't even rank. Topaz, unfortunately, wasn't gifted with the blessing of super eyesight; she snapped her fingers, bringing a small ball of light to life, and looked around curiously. The light flew ahead, briefly illuminating their path and the shelves that lined it. In the moment of darkness, a shiver went through Topaz, and swore she could hear whispers in the back of her head. She ignored them as the light flew back to her, hovering over her head.
The place felt… odd. Perhaps it wasn't all that odd and it was just his body's reaction to going through the portal, but Matt didn't think so. The air seemed… off. It was almost like how it felt right before a hurricane or similarly bad storm hit, but not quite. "Is the sky green?" he asked, which was seemingly random, but somehow, it felt like the sky being green would make sense. At least it would mean that everything else was as off as what he felt. The noises were off, the air was off… maybe it was langoliers? He was pretty sure this was what Stephen King had described in his horror book phase.
"There is no sky." Namor's voice was flat and controlled, but in a way that lacked any of its usual arrogance.There was a scratchiness to it as well. He paused for a moment, searching, before grabbing a water bottle off Clint's bag and taking a long swig. "It is much like an undersea cave mixed with one of your episodes of Storage Wars," the Atlantean added, as if that show was Matt Murdock's fault and failing.
Topaz ignored all three of them, walking forward slowly. Creepy, yes, but all things considered, it could have been worse. The light floated out again and swooped down, lighting up the floor. "Convenient," she muttered, starting forward. "You three coming?"
Clint padded forward on silent feet, already tracking the footprints in the dust and dirt that Topaz's light had more clearly illuminated for those without enhanced sight. "Don't go getting ahead of yourself, T. Lyton's given us the slip twice today and God only knows what she could do with whatever she finds in here." He caught movement out of the corner of his eye, body moving without conscious thought as he twisted and raised his bow — only to find nothing and no one there.
"You okay there, Clint?" Matt called, turning and responding to his brother's movements without conscious thought, though he only got so far as to pull his billy club. "Did you see something?" Because he hadn't heard anything. Or felt anything other than the movement and noise Clint was making. The stillness beyond their bodies was disconcerting and he felt like his powers strained to feel anything and yet, nothing.
"I thought — " Clint blinked, then shook his head. Something flickered on the his other side, just out of his peripheral vision and he jerked in that direction, only to be met with shelves full of seemingly random, dusty odds and ends. "What the fuck?"
"That just appeared," Matt replied, not looking at the shelving, but now that there was more to the space, his sonar could bounce off things and worked much better. The stillness overall was still disconcerting, but at least he understood his surroundings slightly better. Since his hearing was a 360-degrees thing, he didn't have to turn to 'see' something as it were. It was odd to get used to at first, but he was well used to it by now.
Namor was looking up as they walked instead, peering at the high, endless shelves. The thirst was still nagging at the back of his throat, and his voice was even more scratchy as he idly speculated, "I do not often play scout, but we don't know the terrain."
He hovered a little, not really waiting for an answer, but then he gaze was drawn down another isle. He blinked, distracted, and then floated away from the group toward something particularly shiny.
Topaz was still moving ahead, not particularly paying attention to what the three men behind her were saying or doing. She could still hear the whispers in her head, and she imagined this was what it would be like if her telepathy were a bit stronger, but it didn't… bother her. It was off-putting yes, and she'd rather live without it. But the creepiness just wasn't fully registering. She wondered if she was just becoming numb to weirdness.
A crash and a scream in the distance broke Topaz out of her reverie, and she looked up quickly, reaching out mentally and finding confusion, panic, anger, fear, all mixed together somewhere ahead of her. She snapped her fingers and the light stopped bobbling along, instead coming straight up and zooming ahead, locking on to the emotions and acting as a guide. "How the hell did I end up in front?" She muttered, assuming the others would catch on and follow.
Still twitchy, Clint muttered, "I told you not to get ahead of yourself, which implied the rest of us." Shaking his head, making himself ignore the flickers that persisted despite his reflexes and the reassurance that nothing was actually there when he looked, he sped up and overtook Topaz. Just because his eyesight was going hinky on him didn't mean he could afford to freak out entirely. There was some other weird shit happening and they were seriously unprepared.
"We should get backup," Clint said, checking his comm to see if he could radio back to Ev and Molly. All he got was static — good to know magic wrecked havoc with that sort of thing across portals. "Okay, since that's not an immediate option…" He pulled his phone from his jacket and set it to record audio, then slid it back into his pocket. There were a lot of things they should be doing differently, but there was another pool of light up ahead and, as he pulled the string on his bow taut again, he heard what sounded like someone being choked.
Namor, meanwhile, was out of the light and beginning to regret it thoroughly. He'd never admit it, but without the illumination he could no longer find the item he'd thought might be Atlantean. Instead, he was gripped with a cold shiver as the scratchiness in his throat expanded in the welcoming dark, becoming fingers and claws against his skin. He shuddered, feeling completely alone, before declaring, "The enemy is all around us!"
Running forward at the sound, Matt stopped a few meters away as it dissipated. "There's nothing," he growled, frustrated. "We can't trust our senses," which was terrifying for him. He relied on them for nearly everything.
From the stacks to the left a voice split the silence like a gunshot. The words themselves were unintelligible, but they had the rising tone of someone repeating an unanswered question.
Namor shot up through the dark, guided back toward Topaz's hovering light around the endless shelves. As he rose, he could better make out the other flicking light — a circle of braziers with two figures. One more person than they had been expecting to find.
There was an arm around Lyton's neck and another at her waist. Something nearby scraped the stone as her attacker braced against her instinctive resistance: a heavy, metallic sound from whatever she'd just knocked over in the dark. Her ear burned under his breath as he spoke in a language that sounded vaguely Germanic. His urgency seemed to intensify even as the pressure around her throat increased.
Janet couldn't stop breathing heavily or keep her hands from trembling, which seemed like a moot point once she'd been dragged out of the circle of light. Was that a brazier she'd knocked over? She had no idea. Trying to scream or cry out was impossible when she felt his claws (and those couldn't be hands could they? They were so strong…) tighten around her neck, tighten around her waist… her shuddering gasps could barely make their way down her throat, and she squeezed her eyes against the oppressive darkness, wishing, hoping, praying…
Clint skidded to a halt just behind Matt, eyes widening as he took in the scene before them. "Unknown male has Lyton," he called over his shoulder. Stepping in front of his brother as the others arrived behind them — Namor airborne while Topaz followed on foot — Clint held his hands out in a calming gesture. He hadn't recognized the language the man had spoken, but it wasn't Slavic in nature, so he wasn't gonna be any help.
Wishing he'd thought to grab Doug, he asked, "Any of you guys know what he just said?"
Topaz caught herself on one of the shelves, wide-eyed at the scene in front of her. "No, but I'm pretty sure you're not going to placate him," she mumbled, trying to focus on emotions and pick things apart. It was easy to push the three men she knew aside, but harder to pick through Lyton's 'terrified of dying' scared and find the man's 'frustrated angry' scared. It was like trying to see through fog. She gritted her teeth, closing her eyes, trying to find anything that might help them, but all she saw was a jumbled flash of images. Stupid, useless telepathy.
It took all of Matt's self control not to reach for his brother, just to reassure himself that he was there and real. He was an adult and he was fine. Or at least, he was fine enough to deal with this for now. "Tell me we're not fucked."
"I'll get back to you on that," Clint muttered, taking a half-step backward to put himself slightly in front of Matt. It was instinct, he couldn't help it. Barney'd taken hits for him when they were growing up, after all, and he'd continued the big brother tradition when Andre and Steve took Matt in.
Clint's caution was unnecessary; the stranger's full attention had fallen on Topaz. His eyes widened briefly, then narrowed. His grip around Lyton tightened as he barked a short, sharp phrase that sounded like a question.
Topaz jerked back as the man's eyes fell on her, his emotions saying in volumes what his foreign words couldn't. He was surprised, he was paranoid, he was… panicked? "What…" She breathed. But there was no time for anything else.
With all of this heavy introspection and brotherliness, the group may have missed the sudden whoosh as Namor, still airborne, dashed from above, knocking loose a few errant scrolls from the shelves as he raced to place himself between the two combatants. It was simple to take the direct approach when one was extra durable.
The stranger's eyes snapped to Namor.
It seemed to happen in a single movement. The man shoved Lyton towards his attackers, and as he did, the fist at her waist turned inward — only then did they see his hand had not been empty.
In the space of an instant the man had disappeared into the stacks and Janet Lyton was stumbling forward, stomach opened from hip to rib.
Clint stood frozen for a moment before his training kicked in. "Fuck — shit. Okay." He looked at the people he had with him, then came to a quick decision even as he rushed toward Lyton. He could tell even before he reached her that it wasn't just a cosmetic sort of gutting, if you could call a similar-looking wound something like that. The smell alone was enough to let him know they had a real problem. "T, stay here with her." He dropped his voice as he backtracked a little, catching Topaz's eye. "Don't think there's much to be done, but…"
Topaz had gone stiff at the sight of the blood, eyes not quite focused, mouth half-open as if to say something but never quite managing."I…" Her head swiveled around to look at Clint, and she shook her head furiously — not in response to him, just to clear her suddenly foggy mind. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll stay." It was stupid and irresponsible, letting three men who had a knack for getting in trouble go after the magic bloke alone. She'd take the heat later, if there was any.
"Thanks," Clint muttered, then lifted his chin to find Matt and Namor. His voice completely sincere, he asked, "Your Majesty, would you take the high road while my brother and I follow on foot?"
Namor didn't even choose to acknowledge Clint's infrequent use of his rightful title. He floated there, unphased and deathly serious, having caught Lyton before she hit the floor. He cradled her as she bled out onto him, eyes flicking between his teammates and the direction the man had fled, before he very carefully set the woman down. He met eyes with Topaz, and he commanded, jaw locked and inviting no argument, "This magic is as old as my Kingdom, and not as kind. Make her last moments comfortable."
With that, he was in the air and after the unknown man.
Following on foot, Matt was grateful that it was Topaz staying behind. It wasn't that she couldn't help, it was that she was best for magic and this would likely be more brute force. Well, brute force and highly specialized training. Still, that was more them, less her. Glancing back toward Clint, he pulled his billy club from its thigh holder.
Unable to get the image of just how gentle Namor had been with Lyton out of his head, Clint hooked his bow over his arm and across his chest, then raced after his brother. None of this had gone as they expected — a milk run'd turned upside down, halfway into another dimension, and he was gonna have to call Phil to send something official over to Interpol about Lyton's death.
So of course now he was running off after a seemingly crazy dude who thought it was totally normal to just rip people open down the middle — Clint had to stop that train of thought when he realized the footsteps he and Matt were following through the dust had veered off toward the shelves they were passing, then returned to the center. As they continued to follow him, the footprints swerved to either side of the path several more times, empty spaces in the dust on the shelves indicating that items had been removed in a hurry — and then the whole world shook as a violent rumble echoed toward them.
The men rounded a corner just in time to see the stranger paused between the shelves. He did not turn to acknowledge the oncoming footsteps or the small artifacts shuddering from the nearest shelves. Instead, he uttered the final syllables of an incomprehensible chant and slashed the reddened knife before him like a man splattering paint. The air thickened with the hot, coppery scent of blood.
Where the drops of blood caught, the air burned. Reality peeled back, and what had been an aisle was suddenly empty space. There was the briefest whiff of wet concrete, a whisper of distant traffic noises, and then he was gone. He never even looked back.
"Motherf — " Clint broke off yet again, catching the briefest glimpse of what lay beyond the hole in the universe before the copper-wet-hot-thick feel to the air disappeared. It seemed as though it was all drawn toward a point on the wall at the end of the aisle, but he couldn't be sure. The only reason he thought that might be the case was because a moment later, the air there split open to reveal a grassy knoll beyond a weathered stone archway.
The feel of the air shifted, pressure dropping and rising as the scent of ozone permeated everything. "The fuck," Matt grumbled, disliking how it affected him, but continued, "He's gone and… grass?"
"Goddammit," Clint growled, voice flat as he rubbed at his eyes. Glancing upward to find Namor, he continued, "We'd better check out wherever that goes."
Meanwhile, Molly and Ev reach a disturbing conclusion about the portal.
Molly had circled the portal about eight times, played Candy Crush on her phone, and counted sixteen birds as she and Ev waited for the others (or anything else) to come back. Picking up the silver box that the key was in, she looked it over for the fourth time, studying the markings.
"Is it too much to hope for like… a troll or something? This is boring."
Ev grinned at her. "This is honestly the best-case scenario right now, Agent Hayes. Hopefully it means they're having some success on their side. At the very least, better to be bored than hurt — or worse."
Molly made a face at Ev's optimistic outlook. "I'm totally happy they're okay but… I haven't been on a mission in like… forever. I was kinda hoping to fight something," she said with a shrug, then glanced down at the box.
Ev cocked his head at the box she was holding. "Discern anything new and fun about that yet?"
"There's something about it. It's kinda bugging me. I can't put my finger on it, though."
"Bugging you how?" He leaned over to get a better look at the box, though he knew he had nothing to offer himself. "Does it remind you of something?"
Molly squinted. "Yeah, actually. It… looks a lot like some of tech I saw in Asgard," she said, pulling out a pair of enhancement goggles from her bag to put on. "It's not as advanced, but… it could be used to funnel magic without needing a human or mutant spellcaster. Like a regulator."
Ev raised an eyebrow. "Way above my paygrade. Where would the power come from, if there's no proper spellcaster? It would have to pull it in from somewhere, and I'm no mage, but I do know there's typically not enough abundant magic energy to do that."
Molly lowered the box, turning it over in her hands. "No, there's not," she said thoughtfully, the wheels in her mind turning. Her experience with being cursed made her more interested in researching magic, so she'd spent a lot of time brushing up on it a little… just in case.
"There's got to be a something that keeps the portal open. It's the same with the Asgardian tech. The portal probably runs on a limited supply, so the key — or the key and the box — would keep track of that. Whenever the magic runs out, the box won't have anything to regulate." Molly stared up at the portal with dawning realization.
"And they'll get stuck," Ev concluded.
Molly turned toward him, then pulled out her communicator. "Hey, uh guys — ack!" The communicator made a loud, screeching noise. "The magic might be interfering with the comms. We gotta tell 'em," Molly said. "Are you okay with staying here? I can go tell 'em. If things go pear shaped you're more… authorized to call people in and stuff with your Agentness."
Ev had come to that realization just as she did. Bad enough to venture through a mystery door, even worse to be trapped forever without notice, like the world's worst game of musical chairs. He almost asked her why she was still standing there. "Yes, go! I've got this covered."
Molly gave Ev a salute, sprinting through the portal. "Catch you on the flipside, Agent Thomas!" Hopefully she could get to the others in time to warn them before it was too late.
Topaz attempts to give Lyton what comfort she can.
Topaz had stripped off her sweatshirt, leaving her wearing only her t-shirt and shivering just a little; she pressed it against the gaping wound in the woman's abdomen, doing her best not to look too disgusted, or throw up. Useless, useless, useless, useless, — no. She shook her head, blowing out a long breath. "Okay, you are… not going to be okay," she said honestly. "What the hell did you get into?"
Janet had no idea what was going on. There was a sensation of heat and pain radiating from… everywhere, but she was surprised at how calm she felt. This was normal now. This was her new normal.
Looking down, she lifted her hand lazily in the air and twirled it, looking at the gloss from the blood intertwined with various fluids and what Janet thought was maybe feces. Blinking slowly, she turned towards Topaz. "I'm sorry, who are you again?"
"An overworked, underappreciated magical intern," Topaz muttered. She closed her eyes, counted backwards from ten, and opened them again, a little calmer. "My name's Topaz. My friends and I blew out your tires and chased you off the road and then you ran into… here. Do you think you can move?"
"Um…" Janet looked around and coughed, sending another stream of blood gushing from her midsection. "I don't know. Do I have to?" She felt heat on her face, and at first she worried she was bleeding more, but it was only tears.
"I'm going to die, aren't I?" Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "I only wanted to find the truth. And for everyone to stop laughing at me — I showed them! I showed them all — I was right! It exists! All of it! All I had to do was find the key." Another coughing fit, and Janet's head lolled backward, her breathing going ragged.
Yes. Yes, she was going to die.
Topaz gritted her teeth for a moment before gently sliding into Janet's panicked mind, finding the right buttons to push to calm the hysterical woman. "What were you trying to prove exists? This place? Where are we?"
Janet was only barely aware of Topaz's presence. "Avalon…" She drifted off for a second before being roused by the excruciating pain. Did something else burst inside her? She looked down and cried some more. "I've never broken a rule in my life. I've never crossed the street when I wasn't supposed. I just wanted the research, I wanted it, and I paid… my life savings… my notes… everything I've learned — and I found the key! I found it, I opened the portal with the key, with the words."
Another shuddering gasp escaped her before Janet was able to shudder, "I was right… I got the translations… I did. I have them. Don't use them!" She cried out. "There's nothing here for you, it should have stayed a secret." More tears streamed down her cheeks as she tried to hug herself, her arms covered in gore. Was it going cold? She felt cold. "There's more… so much more… I was right…"
"More of what?" Topaz pushed, trying to keep the emotions from overwhelming Lyton. They were strong enough that she was starting to tap into thoughts, which were equally useless. Panicked flashes of what she had done, thoughts about what would happen now, how she had just wanted to prove that she was right, she was right, she was right…
Topaz shook her head before she could fall down that spiral, looking around. Avalon. She committed the name to memory. "What else did you find?" The woman didn't have much time left. She could feel her fading, and there was nothing Topaz could do for her. If Amanda had been here, maybe… god why was she so useless… she shook that thought off as well, forcing herself to focus.
Janet turned to Topaz and managed to focus her eyes. Who was this person again? Oh right… she helped… didn't she? Oh god, she was going to die. She started to cry again, silent, exhausted tears this time. "He was right," she half-sobbed. "He was right to keep it buried. It's all dangerous. This vault should have burned."
It was getting harder to breathe, and Janet couldn't feel anything anymore. She tried to lift her arms but they just fell by her sides. "The Veil of Sorrows, Fail-Not, the Stone of Giramphiel… none of it's worth dying for… DON'T TOUCH IT," she suddenly shrieked, only to begin choking on her own blood a moment later.
This time, she couldn't stop choking. Janet tried to reach for the younger woman and failed, catching her eyes but unable to say another word. She knew this was the end. Thank god I'm not alone. Her last breath left her on a low sound, a soft rattle leaving her before Janet's lifeless body slumped sideways.
Topaz stayed in Janet's head right until the end.
She couldn't offer anymore comfort than that. She couldn't even safely stay. She didn't want to know what would happen if she was still connected to someone as they died. She snapped back into her own head right as Janet Lyton took her final breath, shaken and slightly disconnected from reality for a moment. She didn't pull her hands away.
The Vault, the Veil of Sorrows, Fail-Not, the Stone of Giramphiel… none of it made sense. The ravings of a dying woman? A clue? What the hell had this poor idiot gotten herself into?
"There you are!" A voice shouted, cutting through the silence as the sound of Molly's footsteps arrived soon after. "I found out what the key does and — oh." She stopped abruptly, staring down at the woman on the ground, and had to take a step backward to avoid stepping in the puddle of blood. Blinking, she drew in a breath, turning her head away from the massive distraction.
"I — um… we gotta get out of here. The portal's running out of magic and, if we don't go through one of them, we'll be trapped."
Topaz barely noticed Molly for a moment as she tried to re-orient herself. Those last moments had felt just like the Mindless Ones in the Dark Dimension… she shuddered, shaking her hands. There was nothing readily available to clean them, so she settled for scrubbing them on her jeans before standing. Someone had to know how to get blood out of clothes, and if they didn't, well… her wardrobe needed to be updated anyway. She left her sweatshirt with Lyton — no need for Molly to see how bad the damage was.
"You have the key, you get the others." Her voice in her ears sounded like it was coming down a long tunnel. "I'll head back the other way."
One last look at Janet Lyton, then Topaz turned, jogging off in the direction Molly had come from.
Molly finally reaches Clint, informing him of the potential danger regarding the portal's stability, and he calls Matt and Namor back so they don't get trapped halfway around the world.
Clint had stayed near the portal they'd come through on the grassy knoll, since a) they didn't need random people wandering into it and b) it gave him the high ground so he could give Namor and Matt suggestions on where to look. Given what they'd seen, though, he was more than 90% sure Mr. Hack & Slash was far beyond their reach now. Raising his hand to his ear, he prepared to activate his comm to tell the others their search should probably wrap up soon.
How many words could Molly Hayes get across while running at full speed and yelling at the top of her voice? Sure, there were probably plenty but time was not their buddy right now. At least, if her theory was correct.
"Hawkeye! Portal bad. Need to go now!" she said, skidding to a stop.
"Huh?" Clint said, hand freezing even as he turned on his heel to look back through the portal to look at Molly's rapidly approaching self. "What's wrong with the portal?"
Molly glanced behind him, then to the side of him, trying to see if she could see the others. She made a face.
"Okay so like… the box we found? It reminded me of some of the tech on Asgard. I think the box is like… a regulator, but for magic. It's keeping the portal open. Trouble is… I have no idea when the magic is going to run out. Could be five minutes, could be five hours. Either way, if it runs out and you guys are still here — or in there… hope you like being somewhere with weird food or being stuck freaky magic caves," she said.
"Ugh," Clint said. Getting stranded on the other side of the portal was not in his plans for the day. Pressing his comm so his brother and Namor could hear him, he said, "Guys, Molly says the portal's… unstable. It could close at any moment. Let's head back so we don't wind up in a foreign country without the proper paperwork."
