Sorcerer in the Marvel Universe

"Boss... I’d really like to ask you to reconsider."

Sarah stood beside Evenson, choosing her words with remarkable diplomacy.

"Are you absolutely certain you intend to perform the operation yourself?"

Evenson glanced up from the ritual platform.

"If not me, then who? You?"

He was currently holding a small surgical knife over Peggy Carter’s chest, carefully judging where to make the incision.

A heart transplant was still a heart transplant.

The old one had to come out before the new one could go in.

Unfortunately, that required opening the chest.

"The problem," Sarah said without mercy, "is that I don’t recall you ever studying anatomy or surgery."

She folded her arms.

"In fact, the closest thing you possess to surgical experience is Skinning."

She paused.

"And may I remind you that the last time you tried to descale a fish... you cut your own hand."

Clack.

Evenson slapped the knife onto the table.

"I’ve always maintained that descaling fish belongs under Cooking."

He picked the blade back up with all the confidence of someone who absolutely shouldn’t have been holding it.

"Besides..."

"Warlocks and the Scourge’s necromancers have exchanged more than a few ideas over the centuries."

"They know quite a lot about... processing bodies."

"I’ve studied the theory."

Sarah looked unconvinced.

"I also came prepared."

Evenson produced two Healthstones and placed one into each of Peggy’s hands.

Then he took out a smooth violet gem and gently rested it against her forehead.

Purple wisps immediately seeped from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth before flowing into the stone.

"There."

"Now she can’t die."

It was a Soulstone.

One of a warlock’s greatest miracles.

In theory, it could restore the dead to life.

In practice...

The requirements were painfully strict.

The target had to carry an activated Soulstone before death so their soul could be captured the instant it left the body. Otherwise, prolonged separation would damage the soul beyond repair.

After that came repairing the body itself.

If the corpse couldn’t be restored, resurrection usually meant coming back as some variety of undead instead.

Finding an entirely new body was technically possible...

Finding one perfectly compatible with the original soul was almost impossible.

It was like searching for someone with identical fingerprints.

And then there was the biggest obstacle of all.

The dead couldn’t perform any of the necessary steps themselves.

Someone else had to finish the process.

Expecting a paranoid warlock to entrust their own resurrection to another person...

Well.

Most preferred not dying in the first place.

Fortunately, Peggy’s situation was much simpler.

This was only a heart transplant.

Her body would remain alive throughout.

The Soulstone was merely insurance.

Hopefully...

It wouldn’t even be necessary.

Slice.

Evenson drove the knife downward.

The Soulstone flashed.

Everyone froze.

Evenson slowly looked up.

"...I think..."

He swallowed.

"...I may have gone a little too deep."

"A little?"

Saloras stared at him.

"The Healthstones in her hands never even activated."

"The Soulstone triggered immediately."

"And you’re calling that ’a little deep?’"

Cold sweat rolled down Evenson’s neck.

His very first incision...

Had instantly killed the patient.

Considering the circumstances, perhaps this outcome wasn’t entirely shocking.

A man with no surgical experience...

Armed with a dagger...

Inside an abandoned warehouse...

Attempting a heart transplant on a ninety-year-old woman.

It had always been flirting with catastrophe.

Evenson coughed awkwardly.

"Let’s agree that..."

"No one ever tells anyone about this."

He glanced around the room with genuine menace.

"Or I’ll be very upset."

Oddly enough, the operation became much easier after that.

There was no longer any reason to be delicate.

He opened Peggy’s chest completely, removed her original heart, and carefully placed the prepared demonic heart into its place.

Rather than stitching the incision closed, he flooded the wound with life energy.

Muscle.

Blood vessels.

Bone.

Skin.

Everything knit itself back together naturally.

When he finished, he stepped aside.

"And now..."

He looked toward the Eredar Twins.

"It’s your turn."

Restarting Peggy’s body wasn’t the difficult part.

The real danger was the Doomguard’s heart.

Compared to a mortal human body, it possessed overwhelming demonic power.

The instant circulation resumed, that power would begin corrupting Peggy from within, transforming her into a demon.

The twins’ task was simple in theory.

Prevent the inevitable.

"Trust us."

Saloras sounded completely confident.

"This is hardly difficult."

"We’ve done far more complicated work than this."

"Hurry up, then."

Aurecess sounded impatient.

"I’d like to finish before I remember I have better things to do."

Evenson picked up the Soulstone.

He gently opened Peggy’s mouth.

Then crushed the crystal.

A faint violet light drifted into her body.

Peggy arched violently off the table.

A long, desperate gasp tore from her lungs.

She inhaled with the desperation of someone who hadn’t breathed in quite some time.

Which...

She hadn’t.

Then everything changed.

Her skin darkened.

Low, guttural sounds echoed from her throat.

Her fingernails thickened into claws.

Sharp fangs pushed through her teeth.

The transformation had begun.

The demonic heart awakened.

"Za!"

"Trma!"

The Eredar Twins spoke in unison, chanting words that belonged to no mortal language.

They raised their hands.

One beam burned crimson.

The other shimmered with pure Shadow.

Both streams plunged into Peggy’s body.

The corruption slowed.

Her convulsions eased.

The claws receded.

The fangs shortened.

Bit by bit, every visible sign of demonic transformation disappeared until she looked completely human once more.

"I told you."

Saloras folded her arms with satisfaction.

"Nothing difficult."

No one understood demonic ascension better than the Eredar.

They had witnessed countless races transformed into demons.

They had undergone the process themselves.

Suppressing it...

Accelerating it...

Either was second nature.

"Well."

Aurecess smoothed her hair.

"That was certainly something new."

She yawned.

"I’m tired."

"We’re heading back."

"You can handle the rest."

"No problem."

Evenson nodded.

Tired?

Please.

He knew perfectly well what the twins intended to do once they returned.

Fortunately for them, demon physiology was remarkably resilient.

Otherwise, their preferred recreational habits would have killed them long ago.

"Oh."

Before they left, Evenson pointed toward the sleeping Dottie.

"Take her with you."

"Train her."

"I want her combat-ready as soon as possible."

Saloras glanced at Dottie with obvious disinterest.

A sphere of condensed Shadow appeared lazily above her palm.

"I could make her tremendously powerful right now."

"It would take less than a minute."

"And she’d stop looking human."

Evenson shook his head.

"I don’t just need muscle."

"I need a spy."

"Someone who can disappear into a crowd."

"Someone who can attend diplomatic events, infiltrate organizations, and gain people’s trust."

"Keeping her appearance matters."

Saloras thought for a moment.

"...Three days."

"She already has excellent training and combat experience."

"Otherwise, it would take longer."

Her tongue briefly traced one sharp canine.

"But..."

"She’ll have to forget her old fear."

"And learn a new one."

"Three days..."

Evenson smiled thoughtfully.

"Then she should still make it in time for the party."

"...Speaking of the party."

Aurecess suddenly remembered something.

"We convinced the old man."

"He’s planning to make quite an entrance."

Then her expression became serious.

"But your part..."

"I still think it’s too dangerous."

"I don’t approve."

Saloras abruptly changed the subject.

"We used your money to buy a car."

She sounded genuinely pleased.

"It isn’t the fastest way to travel."

"But it is the most comfortable."

Evenson blinked.

That wasn’t where he’d expected the conversation to go.

"Since you’ve served us so faithfully..."

Saloras tossed him a small object.

"Consider it a gift."

Evenson caught it.

A ring.

He examined it curiously.

"This is..."

"My old earring."

Saloras waved dismissively.

"I’ve never understood why mortals insist on wearing it as a ring."

"And then someone gave it that ridiculous name..."

She sighed dramatically.

"’Saloras’s Black Strike.’"

"It’s embarrassing."

Evenson stared at the piece of jewelry in silence.

So...

Sometimes money really could solve everything.

Apparently all it took to earn a legendary artifact from Azeroth...

...was buying two ancient Eredar a luxury car.

...

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