Time's Up, Joker.

More advance chapters on [email protected]/Saintbarbido.

::--------------------------::

-General P.O.V-

The air was thick with tension as Michael and Mordo circled each other on the training grounds.

Michael's stance was loose but guarded, body coiled with restrained power. The slight grin he wore displayed full confidence.

Mordo's eyes, on the other hand, blazed with focus and intensity. To him this was not simply a fight, but a road to redemption.

Everyone was watching. His colleagues and friends. For Kamar-Taj, he couldn't lose.

Without warning, Mordo launched himself at Michael, a crackling bolt of yellow lightning bursting from his heel as he moved.

The ground splintered and tore, dust and rock trailing the Sorcerer's step

"Diiiee!!!"

Mordo yelled, punching out with a fist covered in similar yellow lightning.

"Whoa..."

Michael barely had time to jump back, Mordo's strike tearing the ground where he'd just stood.

Neatly landing near the sparring circle's edge, he frowned at the fresh gouges in the earth.

"When did this turn into a spell fight?" Michael muttered, half to himself.

Mordo scoffed, his tone dripping with condescension. "Typical. Ignorant to the core."

The Sorcerer swept his hands through the air in a kung fu stance, a trail of shimmering energy sparking from his fingertips. "You think martial arts at Kamar-Taj are just fists and kicks? At the highest level, every strike, every move is empowered by the mystic arts. As a Master, I am skilled enough to call upon the Bolts of Balthakk to infuse my strikes. A fiendish being like you wouldn't understand refined discipline."

Unfazed, Michael smirked. "And still, I'm not impressed."

"You will be once I'm through with you!"

A furious Mordo re-initiated the battle with faster and more devastating attacks. In response, Michael simply dodged and weaved around Mordo, mocking him to the delight of the crowd.

"Kick his Ass!"

A female apprentice cheered.

"Beat Mordo's face in!"

"Make me more money Michael!"

-0-

"Quite a show you're putting on. Though everyone seems to hate your guts, Mordo. I can understand that..."

Kaecilius chuckled to himself, invisible to the crowd below.

His eyes fell on Michael's form.

"What I don't get is why they're cheering for you, Outsider..."

As a whole, sorcerers were a prideful lot. To see them accept someone like Michael baffled him.

"No matter."

A sly smile stretched across Kaecilius' face as he observed the rising dust cloud, signaling the escalating clash.

Everything was perfectly falling into place. His people were in position as well. The only thing remaining was 'her' response.

His gaze slid to the balcony where the Ancient One sipped her tea, her calm face turned toward the training grounds.

She was watching, but not interfering.

Kaecilius knew she was aware of his plan, but that was part of the game.

His suspicion was confirmed when she raised a hand, casting a boundary spell around the combatants, sealing off their duel to protect the spectators from stray attacks.

The barrier shimmered like a veil of translucent energy around Michael and Mordo.

Kaecilius took a slow breath, steeling himself, and whispered under his breath, "It's time."

Then, he stepped through a portal, disappearing into the dust-laden fray.

Inside the barrier, the battle had grown fiercer. At least in terms of Mordo's attacks.

Michael would retaliate by evading the destructive attacks and then taunting Mordo with a series of gags like flicking his forehead, slapping his face, or tripping him.

"Enough! Stop playing around and face me like a real man!!"

Mordo raged, breathing heavily.

Michael stopped. His grin spread, stretching his hands out to expose his chest. He couldn't lie to himself. He was having fun.

"Okay Mordy. Give it your best shot."

Mordo didn't waste time. He poured everything he had into his hand and drove a lightning-infused punch straight at Michael's chest, the air crackling with raw energy.

BAAAM!!!

Michael took the blow, his muscles tensing as the impact drove him a few feet back.

Yet, to Mordo's shock, Michael appeared unharmed.

Michael's strong body had absorbed the entire impact. He only needed a bit of Hellflames to neutralize the borrowed energy of Balthakk.

Mordo stumbled backward, his face twisted in disbelief. "Impossible! How can you withstand lightning from Balthakk's realm?"

"Balthakk? I don't give a fuck if it came out of Zeus' backend. That shit was weak."

Without hesitation, Michael's hand shot out, gripping Mordo by the throat, his grip unyielding.

Flames flickered around his fingers as fiery chains erupted from the ground, snaking around Mordo and forcing him to his knees.

Michael leaned close, his voice a low, mocking growl. "Pathetic. You couldn't defeat me with your power, so you borrowed from someone else, and you still failed. Is that all Kamar-Taj's so-called discipline can muster?"

Just then, a voice cut through the haze. "Except he didn't fail."

'The Trap. Finally. Just as I was getting bored with Mordo.'

The thought passed through Michael. He whipped around, smile gone, eyes narrowing as six portals materialized around him.

Kaecilius stepped out of one, flanked by his followers, their faces obscured by the swirling dust.

They formed a circle, wearing triumphant smirks as they regarded Michael with a predatory gleam. Michael kept his face blank, but inside he was excited at what their Trap would be.

'Maybe they'll launch a Single powerful spell for an all out attack? They're all decently strong. No no, maybe they'll target Fate's spell and banish me like J'onn said? Likely. Or is it something else..?'

Michael's eyes were glazed over in thought.

His unfocused expression however, appeared to Kaecilius like he was frozen in fear.

Relishing it, the Sorcerer's voice held a dark glee as he spoke. "The plan was never for Mordo to win, Rider. The plan was to separate you from the Ancient One's protection."

As he spoke, Kaecilius's followers took out knives and sliced open their palms, their dark blood dripping onto the earth.

The ground began to glow, intricate lines of crimson forming a spell circle around Michael and his enemies.

"Mission accomplished."

Kaecilius's eyes gleamed with malicious satisfaction as the circle pulsed with energy, creating a rift beneath their feet.

Michael was broken out of his thoughts when the ground under him rumbled. He looked down and blinked in confusion.

"Huh? What's..."

VWOOP!

The whole group disaappeared.

-0-

Afterwards, the dust settled to reveal a bowl like crater in the middle of the training grounds, confusing everyone present as to what had happened to the fighters.

The Ancient One remained on the balcony, her gaze unwavering as she stroked the fur of a green-furred creature sitting beside her—a disguised J'onn.

She took a sip of her tea, the faintest of smiles gracing her lips.

"Release me," J'onn growled, his body vibrating with the effort to break the space-lock spell that held him.

His gaze was locked on the training ground, searching for his missing master. He couldn't feel his mind anywhere in Kamar-Taj. "I should have been down there, protecting Michael."

He had failed. Once again.

The Ancient One's voice was serene as ever. "Michael sought a true challenge. Fate has aligned to provide him one. Having you by his side would only lessen the test. He needs this moment to grow."

J'onn's jaw clenched. "That still doesn't justify keeping me here by force."

She chuckled softly. "Let's just say I enjoy our conversations, J'onn. Besides, I'm protecting you too."

Her words struck a nerve, and J'onn narrowed his eyes. "You're talking about that dark presence I sensed within Kaecilius and his followers, aren't you? Does that mean you know where they took him?"

Her own expression darkened, her calm façade giving way to a hint of regret. "I failed Kaecilius as a teacher. My shortcomings led him to seek answers where only death and darkness await. Because of that, both Michael and Mordo might never return. Where they are, even I would struggle to survive."

J'onn considered attempting to break the spell again, his paws twitching with suppressed power. But he hesitated. Even if he succeeded, the Ancient One's power was formidable, and truth be told, he did enjoy their exchanges.

He let out a resigned sigh. 'Forgive me, Michael. I trust Yao has her reasons. When you return…you'll be stronger for it. I'm sure.'

---

-Michael's P.O.V-

The ground shifted under me, and suddenly the warmth of Kamar-Taj's morning sun was gone, snatched away like a trick.

My stomach lurched as I realized I was no longer in the real world.

Instead, I was standing on a torn chunk of the training grounds, floating in a vast, purple-hued void.

All around me were broken fragments of land—jagged rocks, glowing crystal mounds pulsating with energy, twisted pieces of alien structures, and bits of unrecognizable architecture, scattered and drifting in space like twisted reminders of past worlds.

Off into the distance were dozens of shattered planets, giving credence to my observations. I was in a graveyard of worlds.

And it all looked familiar.

On the chunk I was on, I found Kaecilius and his followers, positioned around the edges, heads bowed to something behind me.

The sight of their reverence alone sent a chill crawling up my spine.

And then, a heavy suffocating pressure settled over the air, a dark presence that made the Rider within me shift, restless and uneasy.

A voice thundered through the void, deep and terrible, each word resonating through me like an earthquake. "At last, we meet, Rider."

My fists clenched as I fought the instinct to create a portal and escape, because now I knew where I was.

Turning, I faced the being behind me—and there it was: a monstrous face of pure, rippling energy, a mass of purple light with eyes that radiated nothing but malice and POWER.

"Dormammu," I breathed, barely above a whisper, feeling the weight of his name like a rock sinking into my gut.

It all fell into place, the pieces of the puzzle that I had ignored out of a need for a worthy challenge.

Well, it doesn't get any more challenging than the fucking Lord of the Dark Dimension.

My jaw tightened. "So… you were the trap."