The Wind Elemental had clearly underestimated Captain Marvel. The gale force winds, cold enough to freeze oceans, had no effect on her. After blasting through the icy tempest, she slammed her energy-wreathed fist into the creature's chest.
The elemental's massive body trembled, but it held. Carol was stunned. She had not expected the seemingly insubstantial creature to possess such incredible defense. The impact felt like striking a mountain of cotton; her immense physical power was simply absorbed and dissipated by its formless nature. The energy crackling around her fist impacted it, yes, but was immediately canceled out by the elemental's own chaotic power.
"Don't use physical attacks!" Rhodey yelled, swooping in to fire two repulsor blasts. "They have no effect!" He was right. Thor's physical strength far exceeded Carol's, and if brute force had been an option, the God of Thunder would have already torn it apart, absorbed lightning or not.
Captain Marvel understood instantly. She put distance between herself and the creature, her body flaring with power as she entered her Binary Form, ready to unleash a long-range energy barrage. With the situation now in her capable hands, Thor and Max broke away, streaking towards New York to face the other crisis.
In the quiet library of Kamar-Taj, Strange saw the Eye of Agamotto resting on a pedestal. He also noticed the pile of rubble on the floor—the last remnants of the New York Sanctum, a grim trophy from a battle already lost.
He took the ancient amulet and hung it around his neck, its weight both a comfort and a burden. He closed his eyes, recalling the forbidden text from the Book of Cagliostro.
"Alright," he whispered to himself. "First… open the Eye."
As he began to weave the intricate hand gestures, the metal eyelids of the amulet on his chest slowly parted, revealing the glowing green Time Stone within.
"Whoa," Strange breathed, the gem's light feeling strangely familiar. He shaped his palm like a flower petal and began to slowly twist his wrist. A green, clock-like mandala of light appeared before his hand. He gave it a tentative twist. In front of him, the pile of rubble shifted, its pieces flying backward to reassemble, then shattering again as he twisted his hand the other way.
"Is this… the manipulation of time itself?" he wondered, a sense of profound awe washing over him. The feeling was intoxicating, but the thought of the horror unfolding in New York brought him crashing back to reality. This was not a toy to be studied. It was a weapon to be wielded.
He opened a portal and stepped back into the ruins of the New York Sanctum. The street outside was pandemonium. Citizens were fleeing in terror from the dark, cancerous growth that was consuming the sky. High above, within the Dark Dimension, Dormammu stared coldly at the golden barrier holding him at bay, unleashing torrent after torrent of dark energy against the shield created by the Ancient One.
The barrier was cracking. She was weakening, and it was clear she could not hold out for much longer.
Not far from her, a portal slowly opened.
On another side of the city, Pietro helped a pale and wounded Wanda stumble out of the Mirror Dimension, only to be stunned by the apocalyptic scene before them.
"Dormammu," Wanda gasped, her face ashen. "He is coming."
"Damn it! What can I do?" Pietro asked, supporting her with one arm while pulling out his phone with the other, trying to contact Captain America. The call connected quickly. He learned they were still en route but already knew about the anomaly. Pietro had no choice but to explain the rest: the name Dormammu, the dimensional demon, the failed defense.
In the Quinjet, Captain America listened, his shock growing with every word. He relayed the news to Tony, who responded with a string of curses so foul that Steve didn't even have the heart to tell him to watch his language. All he wanted was to get back to New York.
Strange raised the Eye of Agamotto again, channeling its power. He twisted his wrist, and this time, the green mandala expanded, washing over the entire city. In an instant, the world stopped. Fleeing citizens were frozen mid-stride. Falling leaves hung motionless in the air. The Avengers' Quinjet, kilometers away, stopped dead in the sky. Farther still, Captain Marvel and War Machine were frozen in their attack on the Wind Elemental.
Strange began to turn back time, focusing the power on the destroyed Sanctum.
High above, the Ancient One felt the power of time manipulation and allowed herself a faint smile. But her hands did not relax. Dormammu was an entity beyond time. The spell had no effect on him. Realizing someone was attempting to repair the damage, he grew even more furious, his attacks on her barrier intensifying. The cracks spread, and the shield groaned under the strain.
Behind her, Kaecilius, who had been frozen with one foot just stepping out of a portal, suddenly broke free from the temporal lock. Realizing what was happening, he condensed two swords of dark energy and, without hesitation, plunged them into the Ancient One's back.
She couldn't dodge. She wouldn't. The barrier was all that mattered.
"Ah!" A scream of pure agony tore from her lips. Even as she was impaled, she summoned the last of her strength, extending a hand to conjure a mystical fan and swatting Kaecilius to the ground.
"Hypocrite!" he snarled, getting to his feet.
The Ancient One didn't look at him. The golden barrier now had several massive fractures spiderwebbing across its surface. Furious at being ignored, Kaecilius rushed forward and kicked her.
She fell from the building, and as she plummeted towards the street below, she watched the barrier in the sky finally shatter. With a silent sigh, she closed her eyes.
The Dark Dimension, now unopposed, surged into the Earth.
In the Sanctum, Strange felt the shift in power and rushed to the street, only to see the protective magic in the sky was gone. He felt a sudden, sickening dread. Before he could turn, a figure lunged from the shadows and kicked him hard from behind. Strange crashed to the ground, the green halo on his wrist vanishing as the Eye of Agamotto snapped shut.
Time lurched back into motion. The citizens, who had been experiencing a dizzying reversal of the past few moments, looked up in confusion at the restored buildings, then screamed as they saw the sky. The dark space pulsed, a Cthulhu-like nightmare resurrected.
Lying on the ground, Strange turned to see his attacker. It was Kaecilius, his eyes burning with dark energy, having rushed from murdering the Ancient One to stop her successor.