Natasha did not answer.
She drove her right foot into the ground and shot toward Kaecilius like a spring released after being compressed to its limit. Flowing patterns of light rippled across her silver-blue armor as she charged. The Square Hammer, wrapped in denser arcs of lightning than before, went straight for his chest.
Kaecilius twisted aside and swept his Space Blade across her flank. But the instant its tip touched Natasha's shoulder armor, dark red light surged in from the side.
Wanda Maximoff entered the fight from the far end of the street.
Her long chestnut hair whipped in the night wind. Her dark red tactical suit hugged her waist, shoulders, and back, while a rapidly spinning mass of Chaos Magic gathered at her fingertips.
With a flick of her wrist, the dark red light unfurled like silk. It wrapped around Kaecilius's right arm and yanked it outward.
Chaos Magic wrenched his arm behind his back, and his joints gave a dull crack. He grunted, reversed the Space Blade in his left hand, and slashed at Wanda.
Wanda did not dodge.
She thrust out her left hand and spread her fingers. Another burst of dark red light erupted from her palm, forming a shield of Chaos Magic that met the Space Blade head-on.
Dark purple energy struck the shield and blasted out a visible shockwave, sweeping broken glass and rubble off both sides of the street.
Wanda slid back half a step, her shoes scraping a shallow mark across the fractured pavement. Her shield remained intact.
"You..."
Kaecilius's pupils contracted sharply.
Where his Space Blade pressed against the shield, its edge was slowly melting. The dark red light devoured the dark purple energy bit by bit, transforming and unraveling it.
A faint smile touched Wanda's lips. She turned her