9268/A team of Mistfits invade the sanctum

A team of Mistfits invade the sanctum
Date of Scene:	20 September 2019
Location:	Sanctum Santorum - Base Floor
Synopsis:	Two teams invade the sanctum and two baddies leave.
Cast of Characters:	Loki, Doctor Strange, Wonder Woman, Hogarth Hart, Scarlet Witch, Captain America, Swamp Thing, Raven
Tinyplot:	Asgard's Requiem

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Loki has posed:
The Sanctum sits quiet and innocently on the street, as it always has. The energy around it is bleak, though: anyone with a magical inclination can tell that something is wrong, even if they might not be able to put a finger on the pulse of exactly what it is.

They can tell that the pulse is more faint, though. Perhaps the Sanctum itself is weakened.

Outside, there are new strange sections of stonework along the doors and edging the roof line: some kind of addition to the masonry that's not extremely subtle. What function it may serve is hard to determine just with a glance, or even with magic: the whole place is so magical, it may be hard to pick out that one magical thread among so many others.

The door, if attempted, continues to use the revolving intruder spell: anything that comes in is redirected back out, as if through a pocket in space, making the door itself rather worthless for most people.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen has taken the time to go around as quietly and mundanely as possible in order to keep from creating a magical paper trail. He's been gathering allies for the past few weeks. He didn't have a plan beyond gathering and yet as he spoke to those he knew, something began to form.

    Two teams. One to go into the sanctum via a hopefully secret route, and the other, to stand outside the sanctum and wait for the defenses that have been errected to fall, if the interior team can successfully breach.

    Or that's how Stephen explained it to those that he's gathered for this rag tag invasion of a brownstone in Greenwich.

    Having gained entrance to the mansion in Westchester by pulling a string or two with an old friend, Stephen and a small group stand in Kitty's room with ... a basic looking outfit and a small green and gold haired cat at his feet, brushing against the man's pant leg before moving to someone else in the room as Stephen speaks. "So that's the plan." He finishes, "Go in, break the spell on the door, get everyone else inside, and then we go from there to repel Loki himself." Strange says before he puts his hand on the glass of the mirror, praying to magic that it lets him through, and as it has always, the wizard steps into the Sanctum into a former friend's room he himself had designated before she gave it away.

    As he enters the mirror and disappears from Westchester, a sound of a scream can be heard as the wizard is sucked into a portal and is gone in an instant.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana had walked through the interior of the Xavier's School building in her armor and eagle cloak, thankfully the school was mostly all in class so there had been very few curious eyes from people inside the building's mostly empty halls though!

Now, gathered inside the bedroom of a student of Xavier's and of Strange's, she is prepared to proceed ahead. "This is a very odd arrangement, to have a portal between the Sanctum and this School like this. It seems like an obvious security risk... for both locations." The Princess quietly says in her accented English.

As Strange proceeds ahead though, Diana moves to follow, with her blue cloak gently swaying around her body.

Hogarth Hart has posed:
     Hogarth had arrived to Xavier's in what seemed to be normal clothing for an American in 2027, but once he made it into the school and the interior room of one Kitty Pryde, he preferred to don a more normal attire for himself.

  Arrays of blue appeared at the ends of his hands and he waved those strays over himself. Now he had his blue Order robes on, looking much more like the Doctor did, and always prepared with his staff on his back and those boots he always wore. "Got it."

  The 29 year old took the staff from the sling on his back and the two foot amber colored weapon extended to six feet without much finagling. "I have to agree." He commended before Diana had made her way through the portal.

  Holding the extended wooden staff to his back, he followed Diana and Stephen through the portal.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
The Scarlet Witch moved with the others to the room, passing through the halls that have grown more familiar to her over the preceding months. The tails of her costume sway behind her as she enters the room, glancing about. A green and cream comforter on the bed gets a brief look from Wanda, and the purple plush pillow set beside it that has an indentation on it as if a pet has been sleeping there. "The purple is such a better color," she comments in her softly accented English before turning back to the others.

Wanda moves forward, telling Doctor Strange, "I'll follow your lead, just let me know where I can help best," she says. She looks over to the others present, giving them nods, familiar with Diana, and having introduced herself to Hogarth before now, no doubt. Wanda follows, gathering the aura that is her mutant power about her hands as they step through the magic mirror.

Loki has posed:
The sanctum doesn't appear to react to the arrivals at first. No extreme alarms blare, no metal doors collapse to separate the rooms, no flashing red lights to suggest self-destruct: none of that.

However, to assume Loki would be unaware of someone coming in and out of the Sanctum may have been a stretch of faith.

The guest room the mirror let them into is pleasant enough, empty and dark, as the group arrange themselves within it. But then it starts to bend. The walls start to pull, stretched, the whole of it seeming longer than it used to be, and the ground starts to feel sloped, as reality begins to seemingly reject them. The bed in the room slides down towards the group, a sudden projectile of heavy oak, though the tilt feels like it is more gravity swing than actually being lifted.

And the protectors in the sanctum are activated. All over the sanctum, 'life', energy, starts to flow into the guardians of the space. And a particular protector, in possession of an object to summon him, will get news of it too. The sanctum is ready for war, the 'fires' are lit.

Captain America has posed:
It's a bit like a cell phone's buzz in combination with a quick flip-flop of tingling cold to wash of heat in the pocket of his jeans. The Captain coughs slightly on his coffee in the breakroom of the Triskelion and sets the mug on the counter as he fishes around to find the flattened ovaloid emerald. Pulling it out, he stares down at it with an expression transparently stricken before the mask hardens to the mulish rue he tends to wear around the Trickster God.

"Goddamnit..." he mutters before ditching his coffee. A brisk pace back to his office means collecting the vibranium shield and only after he's zipped on his thick leather motorcycle jacket does he pinch the stone between thumb and forefinger. Reality warps around him like a watercolor melted in the rain and he ends up deposited in the middle of the foyer of the Sanctum. Beneath his feet, the wooden mosaic tiles span outwards, and he looks himself over. No longer wearing simple Midgardian clothing, he looks like a stand-in for the Einherjar, royal guardians of Asgard. The shield itself retains its silver spangled star, but the colors have shifted from patriotic to gold and green. Even the interior of the cloak at his pauldrons shimmers in aureate hues against the verdent outer layering. Thick black leather covers skin where armor doesn't.

However, enough of his face remains visible and recognizable despite his helmet, and so it's Steve Rogers standing centrally and waiting at the end of the hallway when folks leave that borrowed bedroom, with a soldier's cool patience, to enact his final favor to the Trickster God. His voice carries well enough.

"Don't wanna be here, folks, so 'm only gonna say this once: just don't."

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen is no where to be seen in the stretching room that reaks of magic. The former sorcerer supreme is trapped away inside of an alternate plane where the others can not follow, nor trace.

    The room rolls and pitches as though it belonged in a boat that housed a funny crooked house. The door among the far end reaches away from the heroes and heroines.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana isn't phased by the shifting fun-room of madness. Its not the kind of visual or gravitational effect that would cause the Princess of Themyscira any nausea as her physical form is made to resist these kinds of things, she yet remains completely fine, other than sad to see that the security of this place would require it to be such an unappealing display, even if makes sense... her dealings with magic have shown that it often does wild things such as this.

"Where is Stephen?" Diana asks the others as she starts to move toward the exit wherever it can be spotted. Once she steps further into the Sanctum, this... armored Captain Rogers appears and it draws her gaze. "Steve?" Diana asks, recognizing his face, the star on the shield, if not the rest of his attire seeming very unlike him.

His words are heard, her eyes glance to the others before she looks back to him. "None of us want to be here." She responds. "But we have no choice. Loki must be questioned, must be made to understand the folly of his choices in how he has handled... whatever it is he is doing here."

Diana's shoulders move within her blue robe, she lets it drop off of her back, her body encased inside of her Eagle Armor. She reaches for her lasso at her hip. "I plan to ask him a great many questions, myself..."

Hogarth Hart has posed:
     Hogarth holds out his left hand, a magical array appearing on the end of that outstretched hand.

  An ethereal blue ball of energy shoots out to the attacking bed. "First time in the Sanctum, and the beds start attackin'." He comments, his slight Maine dialect showing itself. "No idea..." He says, moving alongside her to the rest of the Sanctum.

  "There are consequences to Loki's actions, changed the Order for the worse. The Sorcerer Supreme is not a title to collect like a bauble."

  Hogarth takes his staff and holds it to his side, slamming it down on the end with a loud crack and sparks shoot from the end as it makes contact with the floor.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda looks around for Stephen Strange as she steps through the mirror and checks their surroundings. "I... do not know," she says, turning her head in a manner similar to how people often do as they are listening to something. Though in this case, it isn't her ear she is turning in any direction, but some other sense.

"There is too much magic about to sense where he might have gone," the Scarlet Witch says with a frown. She glances to Hogarth and says, "Not to mention, if the Sanctum is weakened, what ramifications it could have for the Earth."

Wanda trusts to Hogarth to deflect the bed aside, her hands glowing as she lifts slightly from the floor and turns to look towards the figure of Steve Rogers before her, clad in Loki's colors. "Put your own face back on, Loki," she says to Steve. "There is no way Steve Rogers would ever help you. And besides you didn't even manage a good likeness of him. Steve's..." Wanda waves a hand towards the Super Soldier's derriere, "... a more rounded individual, than your faked appearance gives him credit for," she says.

Loki has posed:
The sanctum itself is starting to shed little protectors inside. Magical denizens built to protect it in the event of intruders. They aren't magical dancing broomsticks, but they are various objects, much like Beauty and the Beast in nature - except with teeth. They are starting to gather in the hallway, and some of them vanish into the mix of illusion that Loki is, indeed, very known for.

Who doesn't want to be chewed up by invisible inanimate objects that might be people?

Captain America has posed:
With a slow, resigned sigh and incredibly Steve-like roll of his shoulders, the Captain in his color-marked armor then subtly sets his back foot. His eyes flick from Diana's reach to her hip -- he remembers the lasso well enough, that impossible golden length of rope he touched those decades back -- and then he looks to Wanda.

"'m not disagree that it's been a rough week, but give a man a break, Maximoff," he grumbles, hefting his shield on his arm. The shifting magics around him sound like large insects on the move and he keeps down the shiver even as the fine hairs on his neck rise. This building is //uncanny//, especially in how it begins to morph of its own accord in the hallway's stretch. "I did my squats this morning in the gym. Look, all of you: I don't want to fight you. Leave the Sanctum 'nd we can discuss this later."

Steve's still not making the first move, apparently.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    The upholstry, the drapes, the carpets, the armoires and even the cutlery. Everything seems to be coming alive and moving to converge upon the intruders, like white blood cells to an infection. The Sanctum will defend itself. Moving down the main hall of the wing, as the objects approach the doorway into Kitty's room in the Sanctum, the semi-animate objects pass a barrier of Loki's desgin and vanish from sight before pushing into the room and around Steve, the sounds of variour materials touching and scraping against each other and the hard wood floors approach the room.

    The bed is splintered and the mattress is ejected by the force from Hogarth's spell and it soars above their heads before smashing against the dresser against the wall. The room is getting awfully crowded.

    THOOOOOOM

    The roof shakes and the force of something hitting the Sanctum causes the whole structure to rattle, and shake violently. Dust rains down from the ceilings and rafters, while the walls and objects rattle within.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana had bee on the other side of the room from the flying bed, but she had looked to it as Hogarth magically stopped it, which got a nod of approval out of the Princess toward the wizard.

But once Wanda joined Diana outside of the bedroom and confronted this version of Steve, her eyes sweep from one Avenger to the other--in Loki's armor? "A trick... Of course it is a trick." She says, and a moment later her lasso unravels at her hip and comes to life with a bright golden glow!

But before she can fling it, a rather large wooden and metal clock sweeps past her, trying to ram the Princess, forcing her to have to jump out of its way! Once she avoids this obstacle though, her lasso is sent outward to try to ensnare Steve in his fancy Asgardian gear! "We need answers, not more tricks!"

Hogarth Hart has posed:
     Hogarth's staff segments itself into pieces, now connected by the same blue light that was once on his hands. He strikes at the incoming bed with the whip-staff. It cracks with a loud boom at a particularly angry candelabra and desk clock, snapping with heavy force. He allows Diana to do what she needs to, he will keep the angry house-Staff at bay for the while.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda doesn't seem to believe the figure before her is Steve Rogers, even as Loki-in-disguise, as she thinks, manages a very good Steve Rogers voice. "I will cover you," Wanda tells Diana as she moves her arms in a swirling motion, gathering in chaos energy to her before unleashing it upon the room before her. Floorboards curl up and throw themselves away from her in a flurry of wood to hit whatever is before them, visible or not. One of the casualties, a floor lamp with a Chicago Bears theme that has grown arms is suddenly impaled by flying hardwood, the end of the floorboard going right through Walter Payton's forehead on the lampshade.

Loki has posed:
If Loki is indeed present, and not pretending to be an exceptionally good (if deflated) version of Steve, he hasn't revealed himself in an apparent way. Still, other magic starts to move in the deeper areas of the Sanctum, as the building is stressed by the sudden demands placed upon it by the Supreme.

Loki, that is.

Captain America has posed:
Whatever impacts the Sanctum has Steve needing to catch his balance before he glances up towards the ceiling. Dust falls in small cascades and he blows a soft whistle. "Takes me back," he mutters to himself before turning his attention back to the others now engaged with living house decor. It is like Beauty and the Beast on Hammer-film steroids -- adrenaline makes him feel like he's hooked up to a live wire.

A tea kettle sacrifices itself to the first throw of Diana's golden lasso and Steve drops the shield to watch. The object whistles and splutters, foaming at the spout as if gone rabid as it fights the tightened loop around it. Spoiler alert, folks: this tea kettle hates Oolong tea, how DARE anyone try and brew it?! A shame to admit this.

Shards of wood bounce off his spangled shield from Wanda's defensive use of her magic. He drops it to shout into the room, "Turn around 'nd get out of here, before the house goes mad!" He seems to genuinely wish for the group to escape before things escalate!

Doctor Strange has posed:
    The house goes mad. The walls begin to take on the patterns of the floor, and the ceiling begins to take on a mirror sheen until it is indeed a mirror. A slow crawling sensation beneath everyone as the floors of the hallway shift into their own mirror like substance, as though the T-1000 spread out across the whole house.

    Hogarth's fight is interrupted by a sucking, wretching sensation as the room literally vomits those inside of it out into the hallway which starts to conveyor belt everyone through the hall and out into the foyer of the Sanctum.

    Framed by the three stair cases, one in the middle, sweeping and ornate and two iron ones against the east and west walls, leading up to the mystical museum of artifacts collected by Sorcerers Supreme ancient and past.

    The house shakes violently, the living crystal chandelier tinking against itself above, and the rain of dust starting anew before a voice echos out from no where and everywhere at once. "Sorcerer Supreme, you eternal fool." Deep, hollow and haunting.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana's lasso of truth is wrapped around, a tea pot, and she can barely believe her own eyes. But then again, this is the house that she found filled with sand once, and the house that she ended up sucked inside of a television and ended up in an episode of Cheers, then Star Trek where she was promptly hit on by the tall one with the beard. Anything is possible in the Sanctum... so Diana has come know.

As things start to get more crazy, with the scenery shifting around them. She steps up off of the ground and starts to hover while her lasso is pulled back toward her. Since stepping into this house, they'd already lost Stephen and now found a Captain America who was encased in AsSgardian armor and acting not-very-much like Steve Rogers (as she would feel at least) which is starting to make this feel like it was a bad idea.

Diana, even while flying is swept to the foyer where her lasso is whirled around again in the air about her form, keeping it moving and ready to strike out once more, and should Armored Steve be near, he will once more be a target for the whipping rope's grasping entwinement!

Hogarth Hart has posed:
     Hogarth is thrown from the room to the hall with the others, making a disgusted looking face. "Okay, that was just gross."

  The less experienced sorcerer gets back up to his feet, grasping the staff, which has now connected back together to six feet. "That...doesn't sound good." He comments, remaining steadfast and ready to strike.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda Maximoff goes from hovering in the air above the floor, to bouncing down a the hallway floor and out into the foyer of the Sanctum. She pops back to her feet again, though not without a grimace for a spot along her side where there will be a bruise tomorrow. If she doesn't heal it first.

"Stephen, we could use a bit of your assistance now," she calls out to the house as she looks up. Hoping that her concerns about what a Sanctum being misused could open the door to. Wanda turns towards the threat she can do something about for now. Asgardian Steve. Or maybe Loki Rogers?

Wanda brings her hands around, gathering up chaos energy which animates a pair of thick cords attached to the windows. They whip out towards Steve Rogers, trying to ensnare his limbs to give Diana an easier time lassoing him.

Loki has posed:
Loki was busy, if the truth must be known. But the deep, haunting voice? That's going to get some primary attention.

And the plans for the particular situation are going to get moved up a little bit. Just a bit.

The Sanctum starts to do something that is quite familiar to those that have been studying the leylines recently: it's starting to 'pull', as if it were hungry for magic itself.

Towards what? What maw rests deep inside the Sanctum?

Captain America has posed:
Steve's balance jolts and he rocks in place, a hand spread out to one side, as the hallway moves them all into the vast foyer. Under the stained-glass gaze of the stylized Eye of Agamotto, the chaos continues. He grunts as a desk runs past him on four legs, aiming at anybody foolish enough to stay on the shifting floor of the Sanctum itself -- but the thing is charging in a straight line, easy enough to avoid, and sure to dent itself if not a wall if it misses everyone entirely. He tries to keep an eye on Diana as she lifts from the ground -- oh crap, how did he forget she can fly?! -- and stays low, trying to use the guardian furniture around him for cover. It's one hell of a game of cat and mouse as the loud voice booms and menaces.

Oh great, giant disembodied voices. He's not being paid enough for this gig.

Wanda's interference with the window cords take Steve off-guard from behind. He grunts and yanks; the enchanted armor he wears fights at the chaos magic surrounding the lengths of braided cords and the visible backlash is snapping magnesium-white sparks.

However, it slows him enough and splits his attention. His lifted wrist, free of the shield, is an easy target. The golden lasso links about his wrist and snares at the leather at the base of his forearm. Turning in place, the Captain grunts and plants his feet to bring all his strength to bear against Diana. It's likely a stalemate for now with the lasso singing.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "You will halt these actions Sorcerer!" The voice booms once again and as it does so, the window above the combatants explode and a rains shards of not glass but reality upon the warriors. A black smoke rains in through the open window and seems to rush down through the top floor and seeks out a specific target.

    The house itself reaches out with the curtains and drapes to catch and grasp at the smokey figure and yet it comes up empty, as the thing flees above and out of sight. The Sanctum itself feeling bottled up and a tense heat washes across all, like, a fever boiling up inside the house.

    Magic. Reality. Time.

    They're all sick.

Wonder Woman has posed:
With chaos all around them, furniture alive and the house itself acting like they're a bad Chinese food dinner trying to expel them back out to the city (one could hope that where it is trying to send them at least), Diana manages to get the lasso about the wrist of Steve's arm with the help of Wanda's magic touch.

Diana is about to ask a question when the window above shatters and glass rains down and all around them. Some of the shards slice past the Princess and actually cut and scrap her skin, but she doesn't react to that. Instead she just raises her eyes up, her dark hair wild around her shoulders.

"Where is Loki?!" She demands of the man as she tugs hard on the lasso, its length throwing hot to compel Steve to answer her question. "Why are you doing this??" She asks further of the man in the shiny Asgard gear.

Hogarth Hart has posed:
     The chaos in the Sanctum is palpable, and something Hogarth hasn't experienced before, it takes a while for him to get his bearings before he remembers the directive from Doctor Strange.

  Hogarth starts to run for the door of the Sanctum. His worn leather boots starts to equip blue arrays to their bottoms as he rises to run on rising air, dodging the incoming desk by an inch.

  Once he is clear, the arrays dissipate and he is able to get to the doors, reaching out to them and pulling to open them for the others to enter.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda throws up a protective shield of magic before her, the shards of glass turning to little more than sand as they hit it. The woman looks up at the smoke billowing in from outside, her auburn-hair blowing in the rush of air that accompanies it. "This seems, very bad," she says, concerned her fears about the Sanctum are being realized.

Wanda rises up into the air, seeing Hogarth make for the door. Wanda sends a hex bolt into a picture frame that was flying across the room towards Hogarth, shattering it as the man reaches the door and opens it.

Wanda turns her attention back to the smoky figure, and as it begins to move off through the house, the Scarlet Witch blasts herself into the air on plumes of red light. "I'm giving chase," she calls to Diana and Hogarth as she flies after the figure.

Captain America has posed:
Flinching away at the shattering window, Steve feels pieces of extradimensional glass bounce off his shields in atonal clangs and chimes. He looks it briefly, his bicep still raised in tension against the pull of Diana's lasso, to see the vibranium surface now scarred in places. It looks as if someone took a scalpel and carved asymmetrical moon-curves in the unyielding metal.

The sudden burning glow of the lasso has him clenching his teeth visibly, but he's quick enough to answer the woman's terse questions. "I don't know where Loki is," Steve grits out. " -- and I owe the punk a favor, this is fulfilling it!"

Doctor Strange has posed:
    The smoke wrapped figure shoots down the hall up stairs, seemingly unaware or uncaring of Wanda's approaching behind. The creature slips down a hallway and the sanctum itself feels like it's trying to reverse the path of the newest intruder. "You will die now sorcerer!" The voice cries out as it follows the pull of magic towards Loki.

    The two left to battle Steve are still doing so while having to dodge furniture and utensils from the kitchen and the artifacts from the second floor rattle against their glass cages they desire to join the battle.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana keeps the lasso pulled and taut around Steve's wrist. She isn't trying to pull him toward her, she doesn't need him close to her right now. What she needs here are answers. With the entirety of the Sanctum Santorum fighting back against their mere presence within, she's forced to be a bit pulled in her own attentive directions, needing to slip aside from item flying through the air at her, or raise her free hand to block something with a brace-encased forearm, causing a shower of deflection sparks to pour around her body as she does so.

"What are Loki's plans here, why did he do this to Stephen Strange and what favor do you owe the Trickster Prince?!" Diana calls out the next barrage of questions as she glances toward the chasing Wanda. "Be careful!" She warns the Scarlet Witch, knowing that she likely already is being as carefully as she can be... but concern is thick in this very tense situation.

A glance is given to Hogarth, but he yet remains a bit of a rogue element to her, not knowing him but for a brief introduction back at Xavier's School, so Diana's gaze returns to Steve and she ducks beneath a set of cutlery flying through the air past her!

Hogarth Hart has posed:
     "Go for it!" Hogarth turns around from the door and flicks out his staff again, becoming whip-like. He strikes out at the utensils with the one hand, and flies bolts of magic out with the other, relatively small, but he only needed to stave off the onslaught of objects attacking him and Diana.

  Changing the staff's form back to six foot, Hogarth starts to swing around the staff with a less magical approach, and a more martial arts style. It was enough to fight flying cutlery with teeth at least, trying to keep them away from Wonder Woman.

  He jumps and spins on a flourish, clanging with objects trying to defend the Sanctum against him.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda trails behind the smoky figure, flying up above the ascending stairs and then through the display area and into hallways. The Scarlet Witch is not making any move to stop the being, instead using it to follow towards the one controlling the Sanctum that the invader seems able to sense.

Not the most accomplished of fliers, Wanda sees a spear swing by a suit of armor at the last second, managing to push herself higher into the air as she barrel rolls over the spear, then pushes off above her to avoid hitting the ceiling. She is not bothering to stop and deal with the animated decoration, instead leaving it behind as she zooms through the familiar building. In hot pursuit.

Loki has posed:
In the center of the Sanctum is a weird, spinning Solarium room. The room has no real ceiling, but opens into an ethereal 'sky' of cosmos and stars. The huge planet in the center isn't earth: some other place of blue and green life, serene. The solarium doesn't have traditional doors or entrances: the place exists but doesn't, folded into space like some kind of Harry Potter room of requirement. However, it has to be present now, as it arrives, solid, to draw in the magic being siphoned. The room itself becomes corporeal, and digs magical fingers deep into the lines of magic throughout the sanctum.

Loki himself, dressed in his regal battle gear - complete with golden horned helmet, and the same styling he wore to assault New York City - shoves through into the room's center from a blue portal, taking on the 'strings' of magic like a puppeteer in his grasp. Loki IS sweating from the focus all of this requires; a lot more is going on behind the scenes than what those having feeble battles inside the sanctum may see.

Above Loki, at the ceiling, though, Loki jerks two fingers, and yanks downwards: opening a portal above, and allowing Dr. Strange to return from where he'd been banished, unloading the ex-Supreme before him into the hallway.

Why there? Well, it is RIGHT between him and the ghostly black shape. It wants a sorcerer, and Dr. Strange was on hand. Sort of.

"I was going to make a remark about uninvited guests, which, while true, is so /cliche/," Loki remarks, his snark dry. "Even sarcastically saying that I appreciate you 'dropping in' feels so ...tacky, uninspired."

Captain America has posed:
Steve himself is forced to dance as best he can around the scrum of interior furniture. It makes for a truly ridiculous instance of tug-o-war. The cutlery threatening Diana arcs down in some wending of gravity and he ducks behind the shield. It's a cocophany of sound, like defending against the temporary clattering of an AR-15, and he emerges again with a breathless sound against the burn of more questioning leveled at him.

"Loki's trying to bring back Asgard -- the whole world -- 'nd he needs the power of the Sanctum!" He has to pause to duck the blurring swat of a tall vase attempting to throw itself willy-nilly towards Hogarth. "Had to boot the Doctor to do it -- 'nd he told me to guard him 'nd the Sanctum against ill will!"

The exact words of the Trickster are thrown back at Diana.

"'nd I //said// that I didn't want to BE HERE!" The Captain is sure to add in sheer cussed petulance.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    The portal appears before Strange giving him very little time to stop his fall with a spell pushing forth from his wrists before the mandalas and stops his fall just before he hits the floor, looking like a sort of magical based iron man. "Loki." Stephen begins speaking before he looks over his shoulder and dispells the flying spell with a shake of his wrists.

    "One moment." Stephen says as he turns to face the smoke demon. "You are not permitted on this plane, now if you must, give me a moment to fix something." With a quick snap of his arm, Strange curls his fingers into a tight fist to smash Loki in the nose if he can while demanding. "Give me back my F**king cloak."

    Down stairs the furniture is still having a full assault on Diana and Hogarth as the battle upstairs just begins.

Swamp Thing has posed:
    The towering form of green and brown, of moss and wood and living vegetation gave a snarl as he barged into the Sanctum, larger than his normal form, this was something he'd been growing and cultivating for some time, a body grown and developed specifically for this conflict. Across his face a wooden skull-like shape, with his deep red eyes almost sunken into, and the top of that skull swept up almost like antlers. Not as impressive as Loki's golden horns, of course, but noticeable. In his right hand was a massive 'club' that had once been a tree trunk or part of an old log before it was weaponized. Looking about, the being spoke in a powerful booming voice, one that rattled nearby walls and windows with the timbre of it. Around him, wasps buzzed angrily, even as he left mossprints behind him...all over the hardwood floors and any carpets that were placed down.

Oh no, not the carpets!

    Yes. Yes, the carpets.

    "I'VE LITTLE PATIENCE...FOR PETTY WARS BETWEEN...MEN. LET THIS CONFLICT BE...ENDED. PREFERABLY...WITH GREAT HASTE."

    The sheer echo and reverberation of his extremely outdoor indoor voice caused a nearby painting to fall off the wall, off of its ancient and weakened nail.

Raven has posed:
    The doors open, and in that moment, things get just that much more dark.

    Raven is not someone to be trifled with, and being given the job of cavalry is not something she takes very lightly. For some time, Raven has been waiting outside, across the street from the Sanctum proper. She has been... For lack of a better term, spreading her wings. She has been manifesting the whole of her Soul-Self throughout the entire waiting period outside of the door.

    When the 'portal' is finally open what surges into the foyer of the Sanctum is a sort of living darkness, made into the shape of a great bird, its wings outstretched, its beak opened in a glorious expression of some kind of anger. In the doorway, shrouded in a light from outside that for the moment, with the walls of the sanctum's interior slowly being painted in the black anti-light of Raven's ethereal being, arrives a woman in a hooded sweater. Her eyes are not visible, shrouded in a corona of light and covered in an opaque, jet black.

    Very soon, she begins -pulling.- Sucking objects into the blackness as they fling themselves about the room- but the material is not all that Raven's soul-self effects- hostility, hatred, violence... Raven devours the emotions of war voraciously. There is likely much -to- devour, but it is not hard to appraise that Captain America, gone native or not, is not the enemy here. If given the chance, she'll stop him from feeling like fighting for a while.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana watches the events unfold with the door opening and the others having freedom to rush inside the Sanctum. Its then that her eyes shoot back to Steve and she releases him from the grasp of the lasso.

"I am disappointed in you!" Diana says loudly through it all to Steve, words that she never thought she would ever to say to him, she turns then and moves toward those entering the Sanctum. "We must catch up with Wanda!" She shouts to them over the madness inside of the Sanctum, her own shield coming off of her back now to raise up and block her from swirling chaos, metal objects bouncing off of the Themysciran forged round shield.

"She has gone this way!" Diana turns then and intends to fly off in the direction she'd seen Wanda go, intending to leave Captain Asgardian behind, if possible.

Captain America has posed:
"How do you think I feel?!" Steve shouts back over the orchestra of chaotic noise around them. It's about time to get away from the sudden appearance of a swamp-being and the dark hole appearance of somebody else throwing reality around like a foam ball. He beats feet -- booted feet -- across the foyer and after Diana as if it were his sole job to stop her.

And maybe it is.

With a grunt, he lunges up onto a bucking table, jumps to a nearby cabinet currently spewing books at people, and then up at Diana, intending to tackle her out of midair.

Loki has posed:
"Watch your hands; you'll break them off trying to harm me, little human," Loki snarls. He does take the punch - he wasn't able to dodge due to his casting needing his total steady focus, which means Dr. Strange got a very satisfying blow across Loki's face.

It doesn't wipe off the smile, though, nor does it seem to physically injure the powerful Asgardian. It causes the jade green eyes to turn from focused into a deathly, fierce glitter. Loki might give the shadowy horror behind Dr. Strange a run for it's money on evil, for just that moment.

"Of course: happy to grant that wish," Loki says, with a twitch of a few fingers as his other spell completes.

From the left, the red cloak comes soaring in-- flung at Dr. Strange's face, ideally to wrap around his head and suffocate. Deserved, for daring to touch Loki's godly countenance.

The sudden arrival of the cloak covers Loki stepping back, pulling the last of the magic towards himself and his portal... and then taking one more step backwards through it, dragging all of the siphoned magic with him in a haze of energy. A strange, mystical blue cube, pulsing with energy of the infinite, appears just for a moment in his hands as he draws them across his body.

"I'm done here, anyway; enjoy the after-party," Loki bids. With a flash and twist of magic, Loki's victorious smile, though battered, is there, before the portal closes, leaving the Solarium empty of Loki, of cosmos, of planet, and of magic.

Swamp Thing has posed:
    For his part, the once-man looks around surveying the situation, ignoring the spoons and knives and tea kettles that smash against his form, until he surveyed the armored Rogers leaping at the Amazon. She sung to him, her form. Something deeper than skin or blood or bone, something he recognized in himself, and the earth itself, the clay in the dirt that is sculpted into something better. On a more civilized day he'd be more curious about this sensation.

    But for now, he wanted to make his way toward the commotion. He took two massive steps until an empty suit of knight's armor stepped into the Swamp Thing's path, clobbering him in the face with a spiked morningstar. It bent, the empty knight helmet looked at it quizzically, and soon the suit was reduced to a flattened steel pancake as that massive club smashed down upon it. It was kicked across the room casually by the plant creature, before he looked up, opened his mouth, and let the rest of the numerous wasp hives within his body loose, all of them interested in a very specific target: The armored Super Soldier.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    The cloak falls to rest on Stephen's shoulders as Loki disappears using the 4d cube and Stephen's eyes squint with a frown following the show. "That's not a good sign." Stephen says with a frown before turning his attention back to the figure in smoke. "You-"

    "I will rule this dimension Sorcerer, you can not stop me." Dormammu's avatar says with a firey face appearing through the smoke briefly before what could pass as arms cross before it's chest and then with a wave of his hands, Strange steps forward and dismisses the avatar of his greatest foe.

    "I think I need to fix a few things." Strange says as he reaches out to touch the door frame of the Solarium. Frowning deeper still at the turmoil feeling building up in the house.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana sensed Steve's approach before it happened and as he lunges at her she's already turning to face him and raising her shield up to block his incoming tackle! She is collided into by his powerful form in that heavy armor, but all it manages to do is send her sliding on booted feet back many feet before she stops and looks down at him past the brim of her shield.

"You are not sound of mind." She tells him. "You do not want to do this, Captain." She warns him before she glances to the others to make sure that they are still progressing onward to go find this Solarium, Strange, Wanda and whatever else lies ahead.

A look back toward Steve and Diana flexes her powerful thighs, then lunges at HIM with a charging shield bash, intending to knock him back across the foyer floor and to the other side of the house if landed!

Captain America has posed:
The initial collision with Diana is shield to shield and it resonates in the foyer like metallic thunder! Sparks fly and with a grunt, Steve lands and stumbles back a few steps. Resetting his balance, he scowls at Diana over the edge of his own shield.

"It's like Grasse all over again -- nobody listening because the place is full'a fireworks 'nd broken glass," he grumbles. "Do it anyways, Diana," he says more loudly for the woman to hear. With a squint and curl of shoulder behind his shield, he waits for the impact of Wonder Woman's dash at him.

The resonance is spectacular this time around. There goes Steve, through the air, smashing through a table in the process and then through another set of doors across the width of the foyer. He takes one with him and leaves the other hanging off one hinge. What slowly-moving figure the wasps find lets out a quiet, whistling groan and mumbles something to himself in Gaelic. Their stings bounces from the borrowed Asgardian armor lent by the Trickster God and zaps at them with little arcs of lightning.

"Favor's gotta...be fulfilled by now," he groans as he slowly gets to his feet, heavily favoring one leg in the tea room beyond the foyer.

Raven has posed:
    There is in that moment a startling cry from Raven. It is not one of fear or pain, but one of authority, a booming command to all present in a way that she normally does not speak. This command echoes throughout the Sanctum, one of the few tricks Raven can still perform with the erstwhile 'consent' of the Sanctum itself.

    "This. Ends. NOW."

    Raven is not a formidable being in many ways, but in the realm of manipulating emotions, there are few that are likely anywhere within her sphere. This... Pull of hers, causes little flits of shadow to start to eek their way around the participants. In and of themselves, they are harmless, like licking flames made of naught but void. However, they are manifestations of Raven not just consuming, but replacing emotions within the room.

    Raven's Empathy allows her many tricks, and this one is particularly potent- especially now that Raven seeks to influence not one person, but -all- combatants. It doesn't free anyone from mental control, of course- but it does replace hostility... With lethargy. Instead of wanting to fight, some may find themselves unable to muster the will to continue.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen steps to the door and gives a pat of his newly injured hand on Wanda's shoulder as he passes her first. "Thanks for the help. Come, rest with everyone else." Stephen says as he expects them all to be back to normal as Loki is gone. The wizard steps out and is on the second floor looking down at the carnage as Rachel washes the building with her own powers of empathy.

    Strange sighs softly as he leans against the banister and clutches at his hand, feeling the swelling already begin. That is going to be very sore tomorrow he notes to himself while looking over his group of people he can call, friends.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda Maximoff lets herself relax finally as Dormamu's shade is gone. "So Stephen. I'm thinking maybe you should invest in a guard dog. Possibly ADT? I understand they have a special on door sensors," Scarlet Witch says to Doctor Strange as she moves to join him on the upper landing.

"So... if Loki was here... was that actually Steve down in the foyer?" she asks, eyes widening a bit. She flew out of the room before hearing her teammate's answers as to why he was there under the compulsion of Wonder Woman's lasso.

Wanda pauses a moment, letting her eyes unfocus as she senses instead the room around her, and the world around the building. "How much do you think it has harmed our world, what he has done? So much energy was taken," Wanda says. She reaches over to the railing along the landing, taking hold of it herself as if wanting the support of it.

Swamp Thing has posed:
    By now the situation has become less dire. Swamp Thing, seeing that the fight is no longer as necessary, has tossed the massive tree-branch filled with termites and ants aside to clatter along a nearby floor and wall, even as the creature lumbers along. He glances around, before bellowing out again. It wasn't so much 'yelling', but the volume was enough for a person to feel in their feet.

    "Have we finished here...Doctor? The objects are no longer...flying and attacking us."

Captain America has posed:
With the house having gone still, and this odd sense of lethe overtaking his already battered body, Steve appears in the tea room doorway. Dragging his leg, he leans heavily on the splintered jamb for a second. His shield hangs held slung low against the shine of dented Einherjar armor.

Panting, his lip split, he shakes his head once and then peers up at the second story. "Hey, Doc...?" His voice might carry well enough in the open air of the calmed mansion. "Got...something to show you."

Steve makes to hold up a flat ovaloid stone pinched between his fingers, a green emerald, that suddenly shines like a beacon. The Captain's face goes blank in shock before his person is completely subsumed by a swirl of magic, shimmering like a green-tinged heat wave...

...and he's gone, shield and armor and all.

Wonder Woman has posed:
After sending Steve across the house like a speeding bullet train, Diana lowers her shield and stalks out into the foyer again, her armored boots pausing just in front of the grand staircase. She reaches for her coiled-lasso once more and holds it in her leather clad rigt hand while her shield is held in her left.

When the objects in the Sanctum drop and land all across the floor, the Princess' eyes scan about and take in the sensation of the atmosphere in the home shifting to a less hostile environment... there's a sense of relief there inside of her.

But for now she stands there in the center of the foyer, her shoulders and biceps cut and slashed by various flying objects, as well as more scrapes and cuts along her exposed thighs, but she's otherwise fine and ready for any response from the Captain that she'd launched across the Sanctum a moment ago.

"It is over." Diana announces, though that is somewhat of an assumption.

Raven has posed:
    Raven is rather swiftly calming herself down.

    Her hands, which had temporarily exited her pockets, slip back into them. Her eyes reappear from behind the shimmering blackness that had enveloped them the whole of the time she'd been in the Sanctum. Calmly, she drifts towards the floor, and though her eyes had just been revealed, she takes a moment to close them, and avail herself of a deep breath. Then, she responds to Wanda before anything else.

    "However much we estimate, it is surely worse."

    She states this, and then the lethargic Steve enters the room. Raven looks, for a moment, as if she is about to address him- and then he's Un-Steved. That is dismaying, but admittedly, she just blames it on Loki and, somehow, Colette.