Chapter 21: Diminuendo Chapters: The Wizard Turns On . . .
Tony's arms felt like they were about to crack off at the joints and drop to the floor. They scrubbed those floors for centuries and Tony wanted to take a nap.
Thanks to that wizard shit face, he didn't get any rest. So, Tony was exhausted and he followed Steve around the stupid kamar-dojo of lame and scrubbed the floors. Strange went in the opposite direction from the duo.
He was lost in his own thoughts and he didn't need Tony's loud mouth interrupting him. Tony was told that he couldn't use his technology "to leave". Well, he tried out his music and he became overjoyed when he was able to listen to the ultimate playlist of all time.
It was much easier for him to perform tedious, tiresome, and irritating manual labor when he had some tunes. Tony and Steve went around one of the buildings and Stephen Strange scrubbed along the other side. The path looped around so they ended up meeting in the middle.
Three wooden buckets were set in one section, and the people using them all stopped and stared. It was odd for all of them to see one another in that position. Tony wanted to call up a company called 'Merry Maids' and be done with all of it.
He thought that his fingers were about to split open. Tony stood up and he stretched his arms backward. He stretttttttchhheddd out his tired bones and sighed. Then, he yawned and stretched again. He was over it ten hours ago. Tony looked down at Steven R and Stephen S. That thought amused him and he smiled.
"The floors look beautiful and shiny. Time to go." Tony looked about for some Kamar- taj spy. Or, an exit. He was very hungry and very bored. The music amused him for only so long.
"We haven't even touched that section over there Tony. Get back to work." Steve wasn't in the mood for Tony's impatience. The soldier just wanted to scrub the floors until he was told to do something else.
"Oh come on STEVE. This is bogus." Tony touched his chest a couple of times and he skipped to a better song. He needed something that was more upbeat. Ooh, he found a good one and it got him grooving immediately.
Stephen Strange tossed his scrubber into the bucket and he stared at Tony. He watched him do his silly little dance moves. He thought that the person in front of him was ODD. His eyebrow arched as he continued to stare.
He started to think about their rooftop encounters. His mind went there and he remained on the subject for a short while. Tony started to notice that two semi-sorta attractive people were staring at him.
Semi-sorta. He laughed at the thought and he looked at the nearest door. He needed to vacate as soon as possible before questions started happening. He knew his hubby, and those questions WERE ON THE WAY.
"Gotta pee." He friggen took off. He left the two in his dust and he headed toward his old room that he had when "trained" there. Tony ditched the hotties and when it seemed like no one was looking, Tony brought up a screen. He started to scan the Kamar-taj for that amulet. It was called the Eye of Agamotto... or whatever.
Tony wanted to know what it was made out of. His system ran a scan of the area and he turned his music down. He didn't turn it off, fuck that. He needed a cure for the boredom pill that MRS. BALDY-PANTS made him swallow. He scanned away and did as he pleased.
Steve and Stephen watched Tony take off. That left the two of them, alone. The men glanced at one another for a moment and then they both turned to those very interesting wooden buckets. Strange really focused on it. He looked around the floor to see what else needed a good scrub.
"So, Dr. Strange. What's your story? I've heard a thing or two, but, I'd rather hear it from the source." Strange was brought out of his thoughts and he turned his focus to Steve.
His story? Strange blinked and looked back down at the bucket of suds. The water was very filthy at that point.
"My, well.. what exactly do you want to know?" Stephen Strange wasn't very good at small talk. He was good when the conversation allowed him to show off his knowledge. He was a nerd for music. That was an easy ice breaker for him.
But, his history? That was a strange subject for Strange. He never really knew how to explain it without becoming a total downer.
"I'd like to know who you are. Do you have a family? Do you have any pets? Where are you from? Things like that." Steve just smiled at him. He didn't mean to throw him off. Strange looked a little bewildered.
Steve watched him focus his thoughts and then he went back to his scrubbing.
"I was born in Philadelphia. But, I'm from Nebraska. I guess Wong can be considered a pet. My mother's name was Beverly and my father's name was Eugene. I had two siblings. Donna was my sister and Victor was my brother. They are all dead. So, no. I do not have a family." Strange always hated to answer questions like that.
Those were icebreaker questions for some and he dreaded them. He glanced at Steve Rogers and then he went back to his business with the floor. Steve winced a little bit and he regretted his choice of questions.
He didn't know, so how could he possibly know? He wondered how old Dr. Strange was when he lost his entire family. Steve started to think that it happened all at once .. that was a hefty amount of people to lose. Steve realized that he was staring so he stopped.
"I'm sorry I asked you that. I had no idea.." Steve also lost his parents. They passed away when he was very young. He assumed that Strange felt the same way he did. Alone. Luckily, he had Bucky Barnes. Steve began to wonder who Strange had to help him through it.
He wasn't sure what to say any longer. Once the conversation headed in that direction it was hard to shift it around. He needed Tony to come back and change the mood. Steve glanced in the direction where he took off.
"Hey, it's fine. You wanted to know who I am, right? Maybe the entire story will tell you exactly who you're looking at." Strange gave up the scrubbing. He gave Steve Rogers his full focus and he decided to open up about his family.
Steve wanted the whole picture? Strange decided to give it to him.
"My younger sister drowned when I was nineteen. My mother got sick while I was in med school. She passed away and I buried my reaction to it. I filled up all my time with school. Everything else was more important."
Strange finished his first thought and Steve just stared at him. He digested what was being said. Strange had a very negative opinion of himself. Steve could see it in the way he explained his family.
"I ignored my father. I barely even spoke to him. He died two years after my mother. I ignored that as well. I didn't even go to his funeral. My younger brother confronted me and told me that I wasn't human. I wasn't "normal" and I had no grief. I ignored him too. He got in an accident and he joined the club."
Strange sounded cruel. He spoke that way on purpose because he didn't want to feel. He didn't want to internalize their deaths. Steve could see that as he spoke. The soldier just listened to him. He really could not believe what he heard him say.
"I thought I was going to join them when I got in my accident. But, I didn't. I lost the use of my hands and I ended up here. I went from being a neurosurgeon to whatever this was. I wasn't a wizard, you can tell Tony that. Now, I'm scrubbing the floor. I suppose that answers your first question about me?"
Was that, who he was? Strange seriously shrugged and he stood up. He dumped the water out of his bucket and he left to pump some more in it. He had all kinds of thoughts to work out and he didn't mind scrubbing the floor. It was actually therapeutic for him.
Steve was left with that. He watched the man leave and he began to rub his hands. He had pain within them from all the scrubbing but it wasn't too bad. It was fading for him anyway.
He was being forced to feel. The Ancient One was doing it on purpose but Steve began to wonder if it was a good thing. If Strange took in all that trauma, he might not have finished school. If he internalized the repeated deaths then he might have never been a neurosurgeon.
Steve started to think that he wasn't supposed to feel those things back then, but he needed to feel it now? Steve grabbed his bucket and he followed. He didn't know his way around the Kamar-taj, but he managed.
Tony was on the opposite side of the others. He scanned away but his tech was unable to focus on a damn thing. Tony felt something and he came to a stop. He looked back at the screen to try and make sense of it.
"I was hoping that you would go snooping." Tony heard the voice of the Ancient One and he kinda freaked out. He was startled and he stomped his foot.
"I wasn't snooping. I was shopping." Tony grinned and he put away the screen. He turned his music off and he looked at the taller bleached faced YODA. She was beside a tree. Tony made his way to her and he stopped several feet in front.
"I'm not scrubbing the floors anymore. I want to know what you really want." Tony put his hands on his hips and he gripped them tight. They were kept alive for a reason. All of that shit was going on for a reason, right?
Tony was the most impatient of the three. Because of the demise of his older self, he felt like he didn't have time to waste any longer.
"I want to explain something to you. It might be confusing for some but you're very intelligent. You're more intelligent than Stephen Strange." The Ancient One didn't give him any time to ponder her words. She distracted him from it immediately. She took Tony to the mirror dimension. He had to take a step back and he gasped as this other place enveloped around him.
The Ancient One needed to be alone with Tony. She intended to speak to each of them, one by one. When the thrill of the location change subsided, Tony relaxed and he just waited to hear what she had to say.
She got closer to him and she looked him over.
"We met before Anthony. When you were very young. We met very briefly because my decision about you was made right away." Tony looked down and he started to feel a bit uneasy. Something felt familiar all of a sudden and his nerves began to spazz out beneath his skin.
The Ancient One touched his hands. She gripped both of Tony's wrists and she brought his hands up to view. Tony gasped because of the deja vu that he began to feel and she looked into his eyes.
"You were so mistreated. I was so concerned when I saw you. I thought you were going to give in." She held his wrists and she brought one of them to her chest. Tony's heart began to race. What the?
Tony knew in his heart that she could only be talking about one thing. One event that happened when he was young and stupid.
"You were there? You saw me in the cave? How? I was so out of it, I didn't.." Tony looked at her eyes and he felt something familiar. None of it made sense to him, but her eyes reminded him of that nightmare cave.
"When I found out that the Mandarin intended to recruit you, I infiltrated his mind very briefly. I needed to see you in person so, I was the one that picked up your hands. I pitched his plan to you so I could hear your reaction." Tony told the Mandarin that he would have to kill him.
Tony chose to die instead. He was a very brave young man and the Ancient One knew that he would not give into the Mandarin. He had a long journey ahead of him. But, she knew that he wouldn't falter.
"I left you there as soon as you refused the offer. I saw all that courage, and all of that iron in your blood. I made a decision at that moment and I knew that I would see you again, right here." She smiled again and the Ancient One closed her eyes.
It was such a missed opportunity and she refused to let the three of them slip away. She looked back at Tony and decided to pitch the same thing to him.
"Everyone wants what your brain can develop. They want what your hands can forge. You young man are going to be a prisoner to that for the rest of your life."
The Ancient One revealed the words that she said to Tony. He almost started to cry. He felt the tears show up. Those words haunted him. They haunted him everyday of his life.
"You will never be safe with your ability to create. So if you make weapons for me, if you join my army, I promise that no future harm will come to you."
She pitched the same exact words to him. She held his wrists and spoke very gently. Those words were the reason why his daughter was given a different name. Tony stared at her and he tried to understand.
"Are you just taking me down memory lane? Or, are you actually asking me that question?" Tony needed the whole truth.
"I am asking you to forge weapons and artifacts for the mystic arts. I need you to embody one of the three Vishanti. You will learn all about the tiger in your training, if you accept." The Ancient One intended to align Tony with the powerful entity named Hoggoth. His fire matched perfectly.
Each one aligned perfectly. It was a once in a lifetime sort of thing. Steve Rogers held the same sense of judgement and temperament to align with Oshtur. And, The Ancient One was already working on Stephen Strange. His alignment was with Agamotto, but he wasn't ready at that point.
"Will you do it? Will you let go of the life that you have and join a new world? It is asking everything from you." She knew what it meant. Tony also knew what it meant. It took that adorable little notion of being an "Avenger" and kinda tossed it out a window.
It meant some serious business. Tony inhaled and heard. Now, it was time for him to process. He wondered if his older self would have accepted. Could the mystic arts afford the services of Tony Stark?
He thought it over and he thought about Sarah. He thought about Steve and his chunky baby boy.
"Would I be like Strange? He still has freedom, I think. But, I also believe that his emotions keep him a little too focused on the wizard shit."
"Anthony, you will be exactly as you are. Strange is exactly as he has always been. He does have freedom. He has the ultimate freedom actually. But, he puts himself in a prison. You'll understand at some point, if you want."
Tony looked at his surroundings again. The mirror dimension disappeared and his hands were released. Tony made his decision pretty quickly. He looked down at the floor that they hadn't scrubbed and he smirked.
"I'll join you. I'll do whatever you need me to do." Fuck yeah he would. Tony was born to forge. He was born to create. If he could do that on some mystical, higher level then so be it.
Tony smiled and so did the Ancient One.
"Tell the other two that you all can wash up. I'll feed you and have a discussion with the other two." She had a feeling that one individual might not join the fold. Steve Rogers was a man on a different caliber. The Ancient One walked away from Tony and she left him with his thoughts.
Tony booked it to Steve. Hoo hooo he headed off to find his hubby. He needed to tell him all the crazy shit he just agreed to. He ran around the corner and screeched to a stop. He saw Steve and Stephen in the middle of a little chat.
Uhh.. he hoped that some dream kissing wasn't the subject. Tony laughed and just slowly walked over to them. Ayyyy he grinned at them both and he looked at their fresh, shiny, and fully filled water buckets.
Fuck that. Tony stared at the buckets and he looked up at the two.
"We get to bathe and eat. Drop that shit and let's go. We can all shower together?" Tony asked with a grin. He was in the middle of a step as he spoke.
Strange rolled his eyes and Steve just shook his head. That wasn't going to happen Tony. They ditched the buckets and followed Tony's lead.
Chapter End:
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