A/N Disclaimer: I most definitely do not currently own neither Marvel nor BBC Merlin. I don't even have one single share of Disney - much less autonomy over an entire series.
Not exactly my best chapter - but it had to be done for the real fun to start.
Quote is from The Spell by Kamelot.
-oOo-
"Where has all the magic gone
Lost behind or lost along
A victim of the pulse of our society
Don't you miss the ancient times
The riddles and the subtle signs
A relative perspective on reality"
-oOo-
TITAN, 2018 A.D.
"Who the fuck are you?"
The man blinked at the question, startled.
Blue eyes flicked to look at Stark with an unreadable, but obviously unperturbed expression before shifting their focus back to Strange. The only young-in-appearance man's gaze unnervingly seemed to see through the other sorcerer, past his carefully worn masks and ego, picking him part and evaluating his very essence down to the core. The doctor tensed, preparing to defend his mind from a psionic assault, yet found not even a lick of magic probing at his mental defenses.
The man suddenly cocked his head to the side, inquisitively.
"You're not the Ancient One,"
The matter-of-fact, standard Queen's English accented statement sounded as out of place in the deadened silence of Titan's ruins as a flamingo in Antarctica.
Stephen blinked.
"Since the last time I checked, no."
The doctor narrowed his eyes, unsure of whether to be reassured or disquieted by the man's knowledge of his former mentor. "But who exactly, may I ask, are you?"
The man opened his mouth in preparation to ask what was obviously another question, but closed it when Strange doubled down on his suspicious glare. He scrunched up his nose slightly, realizing that he wouldn't be able to get any answers without at least some kind of response. He glanced around, searching for a reply that wouldn't give himself away entirely - the sketchiness of the action not escaping the notice of the heroes.
Inspiration struck him a moment later and he brightly declared;
"I am who I am, I am who I was, and I am who I always will be," He nodded sagely, as if it would validate the axiom.
The group collectively gaped for a moment at the sheer audacious uselessness of the statement.
"That's not an answer, Yoda!" Tony eventually spluttered.
"Isn't it though?" the sorcerer mused, attempted to plow on before he could be further interrogated. When all he received were unamused glares and a tightened hold on weapons from everyone around, save for Drax - who was nodding in agreement - the man sighed in defeat.
"Fine," he conceded, running a hand through obsidian hair "You can call me," he glanced away from Strange, warring with himself internally for a brief moment before making a decision, "...Emrys,"
The man sharply looked up at the doctor as if waiting for a reaction. When there was none save for a hint of vague recollection entering his eye, 'Emrys' seemed to simultaneously both relax and frown in confusion.
"Is that like, an outlaw name?" Quill asked, oblivious to the exchange "Because if it is, its not a very good one."
"Yeah, " Tony concurred with the Ravager, for once "You don't really look like an 'Emrys'..." Iron Man rubbed his chin thoughtfully "Maybe more like a Laurence or something. No, wait!" he mock gasped, raising a gauntleted palm to his mouth "A Matthew! Oh yes, a Matthew," he nodded his head in agreement with himself "That works; It's an actual name, you know."
"Well it is a name, alright?" Emrys snarked back with an eyebrow twitch "And it's not like I gave it to myself! By the definition of a name, someone bloody else gave it to me," he irritably waved a hand in the air.
"Do you really think that I just woke up one morning, looked in the mirror and thought 'Oh! You know, what? 'Emrys' is just such a brilliant name! I think I'll start going by it because what a tremendous idea that would be!' And anyways, you," he gestured towards the heroes "asked for a real answer, so then I gave you a real answer! But now, now it seems that I have given you one, that you don't actually want it?" He threw his hand ups in exasperation, looking for all the world like an annoyed teenager rather than an evil sorcerer "I swear, there's just no pleasing people sometimes!"
"Well, excuse us" Stark irritably retorted "For wanting to check that you're not working for a genocidal maniac! Because really, you haven't been giving us any reasons so far as to why we shouldn't just blast you to kingdom come, Mr. Tornado of Oz!"
"So... what?" Emrys inquired slowly, entirely unaffected by the threat upon his life "Do you just go around, obliterating whatever poor soul just so happens to cross your path?" he glanced at the heroes askance "Do you require printed identification - or something - just not to savagely murder people?" Emrys gaped at the group incredulously.
"Because that's just plain rude, for one - and also rather authoritarian, if you ask me." Emrys glanced around the ruins of Titan, his blue not-leather, but not-synthetic coat billowing in the breeze "And I'm pretty sure this planet wasn't a dictatorship, so its not like you have any grounds to be a tyrannical despot, either." He shook his head and let out a exaggerated, put upon sigh "Honestly, I swear, people these days just have no manners."
"So," Stark stated disbelievingly at the sheer nerve of the man who honestly looked like he couldn't be out of college "You just want us to believe that you coincidentally happened to be vacationing on a ruined wasteland - just as we got here to fight a homicidal maniac?"
Emrys nodded in agreement - somewhat hastily.
"And it has absolutely nothing to do with Thanos?" Quill asked mockingly.
Emrys frowned "Who?"
"Thanos, the Mad Titan," Quill stated slowly in disbelief.
Emrys stared at him blankly, looking for all the world as if he had absolutely zero idea who Quill was talking about
"Seriously?" Star-Lord asked incredulously "Everyone who's someone knows who he is." Drax nodded in solemn agreement.
"Ugly, wrinkly, likes to make fancy speeches?" Quill clarified "The guy you're working for?"
Emrys frowned in confusion.
"Tall, purple, and genocidal?" Tony added helpfully, reiterating the Guardian's earlier description of the Titan.
Emrys still looked mostly baffled, though he did appear to have a vague recollection of the galactically renowned madman.
The group gaped at him.
Emrys eventually shook his head "Alright, well, even if I did serve some barmy shriveled prune, you've seriously got me at a disadvantage here - there's six of you, and only one of me! Just what could I possibly do to you?" he blinked innocently "That's really kind of unfair, you know."
"The most powerful people don't always look like the most threatening ones" Spiderman stated wisely, before adding; "And this dude has Infinity Stones - that automatically makes him and his minions Ultimate Unbeatable Bosses."
"Like Jackie Chan!" Mantis piped in.
"Yeah," the other 'Smarter-More-Charismatic-Peter' concurred "Thanos singlehandedly wiped out Xandar with just one stone, and now he has three of them. In terms of power alone, I'm pretty sure that we won't be too much of a problem for him and his goons,"
Although the Ravager was cocky and loved to boast about his skills and accomplishments, as a Terran in a galaxy full of far stronger, much smarter, and way more durable species - Quill survived by knowing his limits and weaknesses well: by working to either strategically plan around or utilize them to his advantage. Star-Lord knew that against a man wielding three infinity stones, there was just no way in hell that they could win against that kind of power with brute force alone.
The other man though, had stopped listening after the first sentence.
"w-What?" Emrys swiveled to face him, eyes blown wide.
"What, what?" Quill retorted irritably.
Emrys picked up his jaw from where it was hanging agape "H-he did... what?" he stumbled over his words, soundlessly opening an closing his mouth a couple of times before settling on a horrified "Xandar?"
Quill frowned in confusion for a moment before realizing what the man was asking, and belatedly elaborating. "Xandar was the first place Thanos went through to get to the Power Stone. He wiped out most of the planet's surface in the process."
Emrys stared at him in horror as he tried to process the mortifying statement. Iron Man and Spiderman looked shocked as well, uncomfortably realizing that Thanos managed to wipe out an entire planet that was far more technologically advanced than their own - with only one infinity stone in his arsenal.
"But, what about the Nova Corps?" Emrys asked weakly after a moment, thoughts of all the friends and colleagues he made over the years on the planet rushing to the forefront of his mind "Shouldn't they have fought him off, or at least evacuated the planet?"
"Apparently not," Quill grimaced, temporarily forgetting that the other man was probably an enemy "I guess that their forces were too scattered with the recent Kree border tensions and on top of the fact that they didn't really expect anyone to actually attack the capital of the empire..." Star-Lord trailed off and shook his head slightly in an unusually solemn gesture for the Terran "Thanos overwhelmed them on multiple fronts with three armies separate of fresh Chitauri, Outriders, and some hired Saakaran Mercs. There were just too many of them. The Corps tried their best with what they had, but once that asshole got the power stone, it was game over for everyone. Last time I checked, reports said that over 80% of the population is still unaccounted for."
"By the goddess…" Emrys muttered, the reality starting to sink in.
The powerful and mystical arcane aura that the man had going about him had completely vanished. He simply looked like a lost boy now, as expressions of horror and grief fought for dominance on his countenance, unseeing eyes staring ahead as he tried to reconcile the complete annihilation of a planet he once might've called home.
Despite still being unaware of the man's exact intentions, in that moment, the heroes realized that he couldn't be working for Thanos nor have been aware of the Mad Titan's actions - a reaction as devastated as his just simply couldn't be faked.
A beat of solemnity passed before Quill quietly questioned "Wait, how are you just hearing about this now? Thanos attacked Xandar almost a week ago."
Emrys looked up and blinked a couple times, struggling to school his expressions into a neutral façade "I was in the Siminian Galaxy, news travels slow there," he swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing "I-I knew that someone was collecting the stones, but I had no idea that it had gotten this bad." he shook his head slightly, a trace of guilt in his eyes. Before any of the others could ask him what he meant by that, he suddenly stopped, seeming to realize something, and looked up.
"Wait," he said, looking at Quill and the rest of his crew scrutinizingly "Aren't you those people who saved Xandar from that barmy Kree guy a couple years ago? The, the guardian-something's?"
"The Guardians of the Galaxy" Star-Lord corrected absentmindedly, ignoring Stark's scoff at the moniker "You know of us?" Quill asked, somewhat surprised.
"Well yeah," Emrys stated as if it were obvious "I wasn't there myself, but when a group of people stop an entire planet from being destroyed by grabbing an infinity stone with their bare hands, it tends to be kind of famous,"
Quill puffed out his chest with pride, happy to be recognized for his achievements despite the dour circumstances.
"Also, you've got like, a 5 million unit bounty on you." Emrys tacked on casually "Every bounty hunter from here to Shi'ar is talking about cashing in on it."
Quill cursed loudly - in an assortment of languages.
In the brief, intentionally created chaos that erupted between the guardians as to whose fault the gargantuan capture award was, Strange turned to address Emrys once more "You still have not answered our question, if you do not serve Thanos - then what is your purpose here?"
Emrys looked at him and cocked his head to the side once more, the closer proximity this time around baring a thin, hypertrophic scar that ran medially along the side of his neck. "Are you so arrogant as to assume that your Order are the only ones concerned about the abuse of the Infinity Stones, and their impact on the Balance?" he questioned, old eyes twinkling "The Eye of Agamotto has many protections on it - some of which are invisible to the scope of the Mystic Arts,"
Strange narrowed his eyes "If that is so, then why did you - nor anyone else like you - notice anything amiss about a year and a half ago?"
"Was that it, then?"
"Was that what?"
Emrys sighed, steeling himself before looking up to meet the eyes of the other sorcerer.
"She would not have given up the Eye unless she was absolutely certain it would end up in the hands of her successor so, was that it then?" Too-old eyes locked onto Strange with a resigned expression pinching youthful features.
"The Ancient One indeed passed on at that time," Strange stated evenly, watching the other man closely for his reaction.
Emrys nodded slightly, as if it were exactly what he was expecting. He bowed his head down in respect to the last Sorceress Supreme. In a light, phantomesque whisper he muttered "In drúte gerest," under his breath.
A beat of silence passed, which despite the latent tension in the air, no one outside of the bickering guardians - who had managed to pull Peter Parker in as a mediator - dared to interrupted.
After a respectful moment, Strange softly stated "You don't sound too surprised about it,"
Emrys shook his head lightly "All things must come to an end," he sighed softly "Especially those that have been foretold,"
"May I ask how exactly it is that you knew her?" Strange inquired.
Emrys contemplated for a second before stating; "I suppose you could say that she was an Old Friend," his lips twitching slightly, as if privy to some joke that only he knew of.
After a moment, Strange answered "I'm sorry for your loss," the words came out solemn and somewhat awkward (condolences really weren't his thing).
"Don't be," Emrys replied "for anyone's but your own," the other man smiled wistfully "Once one has lived that long, life and death no longer hold quite the same meaning," he looked briefly away, storm-blue eyes lost in the remembrance of times long lost to the minds of mortals.
Dr. Strange studied him consideringly.
The entire time that Emrys spoke Strange had listened carefully, attempting to glean whatever he could about the man's origins from his speech since he only vaguely recognized the name, his eidetic memory yielding no useful information about it. It wasn't exactly an easy task due to the fact that Emrys' accent was perfectly indecipherably - revealing no distinct class or regionalistic indicators that the doctor could tell. Although Stephen was by no means a Brit himself, he'd met enough people to realize that the standardness of the accent in of itself was odd. The man's diction was honestly too perfect - the pronunciation carefully measured in a way that only came from learning a language as a non-native speaker. As he had listened further, Strange was able to detect a very slight undercurrent to the man's speech despite his careful efforts - an abstruse accent that occasionally managed to seep its way in on the consonants. It vaguely reminded him of the slight Celtic inflection he'd sometimes heard the Ancient One speaking with. The Doctor highly doubted that the accent originated from any modern tongue (1).
An idea suddenly occurred to him, unbidden, and the sorcerer blurted "You're a druid,"
Stephen berated himself for not having guessed it sooner. Although, it wasn't entirely his fault with all dealings with the druids taken over by Master Hamir after the Ancient One's passing, and the New York Sanctum Master himself never having had any reason to meet any of the other secret orders of sorcerers.
"Close," Emrys acquiesced with a mysterious smile "Same magic at least." he smirked, the mischievousness of the expression making him look closer to his apparent age.
Strange narrowed his eyes suspiciously, slightly thrown by the statement "Then, what are you?"
"Not a druid," Emrys retorted, infuriating smile widening.
The Cloak of Levitation flared slightly as the Sorcerer opened his mouth in preparation to ask another question when Stark interrupted the impromptu interrogation.
"Okay, sorry to break up the hocus pocus party," Iron Man cut in "But we still don't know who the hell he-" Tony gestured towards Emrys who was currently sporting a far-too innocent expression on his countenance "-is, and what it is that he's actually here for,"
"Did you come here to steal the stone too?" Spiderman asked "Because I think Voldemort did enough jewelry robbing for today,"
"Yeah, you really don't wanna steal an infinity stone," Quill added "Trust me, those things are waaay more trouble than they'reworth,"
Emrys frowned, wrinkling his nose at the thought as if it were somehow repulsive "Why would I ever want to do that?".
Stark raised an incredulous eyebrow "Uh, I can think of a couple of reasons why someone would want a super powerful shiny rock that literally see into the future and probably do freaky shit like time travel and stopping aging. Honestly, its the Sorcerer's Stone, and who wouldn't want that?"
Emrys let out a surprised laugh.
The heroes looked at him as if he were crazy as he rapidly devolved into a fit of hysterical giggles. After noticing the incredulous looks he was receiving, Emrys amended "hah -Sorry, its just tha- hAh -sorry," he clutched at his side from mirth, shaking his head slightly as he snorted one last time.
"Precognition is a burden that only a conceited fool would think brings personal reward." Emrys glanced towards the Eye of Agamotto hanging around Strange's neck before locking eyes with the doctor, ancient orbs bearing an unspeakable certainty "It is a burden meant only to be taken up out of necessity, not hubris. Our Old Friend bore that burden well," his lips twitched up in a small, self-deprecating smile as he glanced away "Far better than most..." Emrys muttered softly under his breath, not meant to be heard by the others but heard all the same.
"Time," Emrys' tone shifted back to intensely grave within an instant "Endless in of itself, is a curse that I would wish upon no one."
The words seemed to hang in the deadened air for a moment before he brightly added; "Besides," the sudden mood shift was disorienting "Even if I did get the stone, it's not like I would be able to use it anyways,"
"What do you mean you wouldn't be able to use it?" Tony sharply questioned, before wrinkling his nose "Is it even possible to get infinity stone ED?"
Ignoring Stark entirely, the warlock continued on "Tell me Sorcerer," Emrys began, knowing eyes focusing on Strange "In all of the futures I presume you've looked into, did I appear in even one of them?"
Strange stared at him silently before regretfully stating "No," to the disbelief of the other heroes "I cannot say that I have even caught a glimpse of you," the doctor narrowed his eyes "And why exactly, is that?"
Emrys shrugged "How should I know? It didn't exactly come with an instruction manual,"
The doctor raised an incredulous eyebrow.
The warlock sighed "I suppose that what always was and always will be written in fate cannot be seen, nor subjected by, the force of definite probability and what may be," Emrys snorted. It was a harsh, bitter thing lacking even the slightest trace of humor "And of course, when would Destiny ever be so kind as to let me know what I'm actually supposed to do?"
"Thanks," Stephen flatly stated "That really just clears things up,"
Ignoring the sarcasm, Emrys smiled a tight, grim smile "Following that, if I don't even appear within the possibilities the Eye shows, do you really think that I would actually be able to use it?"
Strange considered that, and conceded the point outwardly with an incline of his head - though he still kept some doubts and emerging theories about the anomalous man in his mind.
"However," Emrys said, glancing towards the candidate for Sorcerer Supreme "If you saw a preferable outcome to this battle from what you have viewed - then I could still just leave, and you can go back to doing that without old me messing around with the timeline."
Strange paused to look at him consideringly.
The sorcerer had looked into 14,000,605 possible futures and versions of reality. For most of them, the doctor only saw brief, fast-forwarded glimpses of what could be. He only used to stone to glimpse the major turning points - the main events and characteristics that defined whether a particular version of reality could even be considered. He was lucky, in a way, for most of the truly horrendous outcomes he saw as but a nay glimpse - clear enough to haunt his nightmares for years to come, but not long enough to truly experience and understand the sheer suffering and agony that encompassed the entire universe in those versions of reality.
On some of the others, maybe less than one percent out of the unfathomable millions, he stayed longer. In the ones where there had been even a fraction of hope and a chance at victory - he'd watched them down to their most minute details, engraving each and every peculiarity into his eidetic memory so that he could guarantee its successful replication if necessary. In those realities Stephen kept searching further and further down the line, years ahead, needing to make absolutely sure that the inter-dimensional backlash from playing with forces of infinity and tweaking the Balance to fit mortal vision didn't come back to haunt them later on.
In so, so many realities they had victoriously won the war against Thanos, yet had to watch as reality crumbled around their feet as the fabric of their universe unraveled itself down to shreds, unable to cope with the price of the violations of nature that had occurred. Their victory was always short-lived and came at far too high a price to even be considered. And although the realities he examined closely weren't many out of the grand total he viewed - less than one percent of fourteen million still numbered in the thousands. And through those, he'd collectively lived a lifetime of failure.
In the one future he saw where the inter-dimensional backlash wasn't entirely catastrophic and universe-ending, there still wasn't exactly a good outcome to their battle. In the one acceptable future, the doctor had to lose the battle to win the war. The sorcerer broke his oath to give up the time stone to Thanos in the hopes that Stark would live and reverse the decimation down the line and timing it perfectly within the twenty second window of a Quantum Realm experiment - and the price of that future was great.
Half the Universe had to die first by Thanos's hand before their victory could arise from the ashes and dust five years later. Although he was unable to view it personally since he had died in the snap, he knew that in the meanwhile, countless people died as an indirect result of the decimation. Suicide rates increased exponentially for the ones left behind in that post-apocolyptic world, the people who had watched the ones they loved turn to dust before their eyes ending their own lives because they had nothing left to live for, and simply could not bear the agony and loneliness any longer. Wars erupted between scapegoating nations with gangs vying for power where politics and government crumbled - none having any regard to the numerous innocents caught in the struggle. Thousands of crops rotted away in fields and warehouses with no one to care for or harvest them, and millions of people died of starvation despite the excess of resources due to breakdowns in delivery and distribution chains.
His one acceptable future was hell on Earth for those left behind in the dust. Despite that, humanity had endured. People were simply too stubborn not to, and managed to pick themselves back up and carry on because their lives weren't over just yet.
But of course, once the world had finally managed to move on and piece itself together into a barren, saddened shell of what it once was - the Avengers came, snapped their fingers, and erased it all once again.
Millions of deaths were caused by the blip itself. People reappeared in the middle of roadways and high traffic areas and crosswalks only to become roadkill mere moments later, others un-dusting high in the upper troposphere where their planes no longer flew, raining down from the sky like human meatballs.
After the initial chaos, heartfelt and hated reunions, Earth buckled under the new strain - the ecosystem's carrying capacity suddenly unable to cope with the spontaneous doubling of its entire sentient population. Resources were scarce, with the entire world's logistics and production chains readapted to fit only half of the new population. Housing and jobs were even scarcer. Refugee and internment camps popped up around the globe and terrorist organizations ran rampant in the fight for freedom and a good life that simply could not exist in the New World. Hospitals were overrun and unable to save many due to the severe underproduction of supplies and sheer lack of beds to admit people. After the blip, the suicide rates among the populace were even higher than they were during the decimation.
And that was just on Earth.
For the Sorcerer's decisions in the here and now, affected the entire universe. And for as terribly as Terra took the events of the decimation, many worlds had it far, far worse than their own. The blood of trillions would be on the doctor's hands because of his inability to find another way. And he wished he could. Doctor Strange would have done anything (already had done, had looked millions upon millions of times) within his power to avoid that winning future and what it entailed.
And now, it seemed that there could be another way out. Right before him were new, limitless, and unpredictable possibilities branching out from the epicenter that was the enigma of a sorcerer before him.
A couple of years ago, the doctor wouldn't have given the man before him the time of day. Due to his young, eclectic, and generally non-important demeanor, the accomplished neurosurgeon would probably have spared him a brief glance, before judging him irrelevantly unimportant and moving on with his life. But that was not true anymore. The doctor's third eye told him a completely different story, one that Stephen now knew how to listen to. His metaphysical senses saw something more, something… else in the being in front of him. There was something ancient, intangibly powerful, and undeniably wise hiding behind that harmless, youthful mask. Something that told him that the odds may just be in their favor - despite the doctor not knowing exactly just what those odds may be anymore.
It was a chance. Stephen hated chances. Strange liked to be in control, preferred to make decisions and directly and assuredly manipulate his fate and his environment - it was partly why he became a surgeon instead of going into any other specialty. Once the ex-neurosurgeon had decided to operate on a patient, he always knew that he would succeed. He always had a plan, and there was just no room for failure or helplessly watching patients die because they had denied treatment.
But this - this was definitely out of his control. It was flying in the dark - surrendering a considerable chunk of his and the universe's fate to an entirely unknown entity on the faint hope that things just may work out based on instinct, because the Time Stone was being infuriatingly unhelpful at showing him the right path at the moment.
It was definitely one of the riskiest bets he'd consider taking. Yet still, the minute hope of its incalculable success far outweighed the alternative.
Stephen made his decision. Whether he would live to regret it, well, only Time would tell.
"You may remain," the sorcerer stated with finality, the Cloak of Levitation flaring dramatically for effect.
Emrys nodded solemnly, not saying a word for they weren't necessary.
The words heavily hung in silence for a moment, the weight of a significant, pivotal change in the timeline occurring before-
"Well, as fascinating as all this Zoltar LARPing has been" Tony cut in "could we maybe do this some other time? Like you know, when a genocidal maniac isn't coming to kill us?"
Strange glared at him but ultimately remained silent, knowing that he was right. The other sorcerer though, had a different idea.
"Time?" Emrys inquired casually "Well that can be arranged,"
Cyan eyes flashed briefly with a blaze of molten gold and before the heroes could so much as flinch at the unknown power, reality and awareness suddenly shifted.
Reminiscent of the ethereal few seconds in a car crash, where the victim could only watch detached from an odd, third person view as their world sickeningly contorted out of control - light stretched out and bent spectrally into infrared microwaves as air and oxygen became scarily immovable with the distortion in perceived space-time and experienced motion. The sickening malformation of reality lasted only for a fraction of a second - so quick that it might not have been there at all - before suddenly, dimensional reality stabilized and the heroes' perspective abruptly ground to a halt.
Or rather… the world around them ground to a halt.
Time stood at a perfect standstill.
Even if the heroes hadn't been starkly awake to witness the unnatural, distortive transformation of reality - the false simulacrum of normalcy they were trapped in was disturbing enough to indicate what had just occurred.
Dust - which when in motion was rather unremarkable - stood out like a siren; each individual particle eerily hanging suspended in mid-air, warm orange light catching on every granule. The previous faintly whistling planetary breeze had halted, inducing an unnatural staleness to the air. The once distant, yet ever-present creaking and moaning of the ancient metallic behemoths lying in ruin had ceased entirely, creating a perverse silence outside of the heroes' own quickened breathing.
The complete, portrait-like stillness of the world around them was as beautiful as it was haunting.
After a moment of gaping, Quill spluttered in a strained voice "You just stopped time" he stated incredulously "Time," he emphasized, as if that would somehow make it more real.
"That shouldn't be possible, right?" The other Peter said cautiously in the unnaturally quiet atmosphere "Right?" He asked uncomfortably, starting to question the laws of physics in a way that not even Cap's shield had quite managed him to.
"It's not," Strange stated "because he didn't stop time,"
The doctor looked at Emrys inquisitively, the fire of working through a theory to a puzzle's solution caught in his eye "You moved our point of observance to a location outside of time. You didn't stop time, you stopped our perception of it,"
Emrys chuckled lightly "What is reality, if not perception?" he mused before stating "It's the Observer Dimension," he continued on to explain "It runs parallel in Space to the normal world, but the fundamental laws of Time differ. Time only exists within the Observer Dimension from the point at which the dimensional barrier is breached, and elapses proportionally to the outside world exactly at the rate it is perceived to flow upon entering. The way its currently set, hours will pass in here during which a span of mere seconds will elapse in the outside world." Emrys smirked "So I'd say we have about all the time in the world right now,"
"Well that's..." Stark began in a slightly strained voice despite his best efforts to keep it neutrally unaffected "...handy" The genius shook his head slightly "But what exactly is our plan for facing Thanos now?" he asked more confidently as he managed to block out the sheer absurdity of their situation "I assume that we're going to need a different one now that we picked up Frat Boy Gandalf here,"
After a moment of contemplative silence, Emrys spoke up "We should head to where the other stone is and concentrate our efforts on protecting them both together" his voice took on a strategic professorial tone that sounded as if he'd somehow done this type battlefield planning on hundreds of occasions before "- you never separate your forces during a siege, and that is exactly what the fight for the stones is going to be,"
"Siege?" Stark questioned sardonically "What is this, Game of Thrones?"
Emrys stared at him unimpressed.
"But why don't we just keep the fight on Titan?" Quill added, tone slightly miffed from not understanding the pop culture reference "We already came up with one half-decent plan, and with an extra person we're only gonna be more likely to succeed,"
Strange shook his head in disagreement "We're not. There is no feasible way that we can truly win against Thanos by fighting him on Titan."
"Wait," Stark frowned in confusion "What about that 'one' future you saw, huh? What about that?"
Strange carefully measured his words "We still lose the battle on Titan," before Stark could question just what the hell that meant for them, Stephen stated "I propose that we head to Earth and concentrate all our forces on protecting the remaining stones,"
Mantis nodded her agreement, antennae bobbing with the movement.
"Uh" Peter Parker began, tentatively raising a hand "I agree with Mr. Doctor Wizard too. Sorry Mr. Stark,"
"Uh-uh" Stark cut him off "You're not supposed to be here, so you don't get a say in this,"
Peter dejectedly lowered his hand.
The Cloak of Levitation detached itself from Strange's shoulders to float on the left side of the sorcerer, raising a corner of fabric in the air to signify a vote in its own favor - thus bringing the vote count back up to where it was.
"Oh no," Iron Man groaned incredulously "Magic Carpets don't get to vote either,"
The Cloak sharply turned its lapels towards him, red fabric fanning out and billowing majestically in a threatening manner that clearly said 'You wanna go?'.
Stark raised his hands placatingly "Okay, fine. I guess Aladdin's rug gets a ballot,"
"Yeah, well, I'm gonna have to agree too." Quill said "It's not exactly what I was expecting for my first time going back to Earth, ever - but alright."
Drax nodded sagely before strongly declaring; "I care not where I battle, only that I may slaughter Thanos,"
The warrior stood tall, muscles bulging ferociously as he added "But I too, wish to see what kind of planet is required to produce an entire species as pathetic as Quill,"
"What? Hey!"
Ignoring the Guardian's feud, Tony frowned slightly as he was overruled by such a large majority. The genius accepted it though - his logic telling him that it was probably their best option at this point. Another thought suddenly occurred to the billionaire.
"Well, in case you haven't noticed," Stark said, interrupting Quill's and Drax's argument "- we're not exactly in Kansas anymore. How the hell are we supposed to get to Earth from here faster than the guy who has the actual space stone?" The genius suddenly remembered that he'd lost Roger's flip phone during the New York battle "And for that matter, how do we even find Vision and the mind stone? They could be anywhere by now."
"We can portal," Strange replied, ignoring Stark's annoyed expression at the mention of magic "And both the Vision and the Stone should be located in Wakanda, at the moment"
"Wakanda?" Tony incredulously questioned, ignoring Underoo's gasp of excitement at the name "Great, that's just even harder to get to! Unless you can do some hocus pocus and point an Ouija Board straight through advanced cloaking technology, I don't see how the hell we're supposed to get there before Thanos does."
Mantis leaned over towards Quill "Wakanda?" she asked with a whisper, antennae turning inwards inquisitively "Is that in Missouri?"
"No," Quill began, also whispering "But I think I know where it is. I know I haven't been on Earth in like thirty years so I guess I can't say for sure..." Star-Lord thoughtfully rubbed his chin, ignoring the steadily brewing argument between Dr. Strange and Tony Stark "...but I think it's in Poland."
"Then we must battle Thanos at the Land of Poles!" Drax loudly declared.
"No, Drax!" Mantis unsubtly whispered before a cringing Quill could correct them. "It's called coal -land."
"Wait, what? No! That's not-"
"Ah, I see!"
Quill was willing to bet all of his units that Drax did not in fact, see.
"We shall ignite the land of ancient decayed flora and victoriously burn Thanos to the ground!"
Star-Lord facepalmed, sighed, and gave up before tuning back to the conversation of the other humans on Titan.
"-doesn't work like that." An annoyed Strange was stressing to Tony Stark. "I need to at least know what a place looks like to make a portal to it. You're asking me to do the magical equivalent of driving a golf cart into a garage the size of a fox den, on a curvy mountain road full of potholes, surrounded by 60mph winds in a hurricane, while blindfolded." Strange paused to suck in a breath.
"The only way around portaling without knowing the final destination, is if I do a preparatory spell, which will be complex and time-consuming considering the fact that we are literally in another galaxy. Do you really want to waste energy on that when we're about to go fight Thanos over the fate of the entire universe? No?" he drawled.
"So, Stark," Strange calmly emphasized "Do. You. Have. A Photo or A Map. That I could use?"
Tony irritably took a step towards the sorcerer and snapped back "You think that I don't know what's at stake? Do you? But why the hell do you think that I would just randomly carry around pictures of Wakanda for wiz -"
"I can do it."
All heads - except for Mantis and Drax, who were currently staring at a bird shaped rock - snapped towards Emrys.
"Well," he amended, shifting nervously "Unless the city has expanded a lot recently, I should be able to give you a usable memory impression of the outskirts of Birnin Zana" he paused for a second "...if you don't mind?" he glanced towards Strange, trying to ascertain the other sorcerer's consent for the telepathic nature of the spell "It'd probably still be best if you made the portal yourself, because I really, really don't think you'd like my way of travelling."
There was complete silence for a moment while the present company took in the implications of that statement.
"You've been..." Tony began skeptically while waving a hand vaguely in his direction "...to Wakanda?"
If he - Tony Stark - had never managed to broker a visit, he doubted that some random dude that they just found on an alien planet would have.
"-I believe that is what the witch-man has implied-"
"-A couple of times" Emrys replied simultaneously with Drax.
Stark glared at him skeptically.
Merlin smiled innocently.
Emrys and Stark continued to stare off, with Tony's glare deepening by the second as Merlin's smile progressively grew cheekier.
When the dimpled grin started to reach the point of shit-eating, and he caught Strange stifling a smirk in his peripheral vision, Tony frowned and doubled down on his glare.
He was Tony Stark.
He was Iron Man.
There was absolutely no friggin' way that he would give in to the plan of some crazy kid that the billionaire still didn't believe could be over twenty.
Ten minutes later (and did it really count as 'minutes' if time was near stopped for them?) and Tony found himself questioning how the hell some weird wizard - no, warlock - had managed to convince him to magically teleport halfway across the galaxy.
Well… at least Peter seemed excited about it. Almost too excited.
Shit. He'd probably have to give the kid some basic lessons on trusting strangers. And on how technology and science are real, and magic is not. And that magic doesn't pay for MIT tuition.
Damnit.
From inside the Milano - which Emrys had promptly assumed was named after the city, mortifying Quill and unintentionally starting a very not-needed debate about who was the best actress of the eighties - Tony watched as Emrys whispered something under his breath, a glimpse of gold flashing before he closed his eyes and bowed his head down slightly.
Almost immediately, Strange sharply inhaled. The other sorcerer blinked a couple of times, pupils dilating and un-focusing for a moment, before sharp gray-green eyes adjusted and rapidly darted about to take in the crystal clear memory of a location far, far away from the interior of the Milano and the planet of Titan in both time and space.
Stephen shook his head slightly to dispel the telepathic image, keeping only the impression of its defining features and unique energy signature in mind as he unclipped his sling ring from his belt and began the necessary spellwork needed to move an object the size of the Milano into another galaxy. The doctor's scarred hands and arms confidently moved in the practiced motions of the Mystic Arts, the sparking orange traces of Eldritch magic laced throughout the air. Stark noticed that the man's current moves looked much more complicated than the brief swirling gesture the genius had seen him use to shoot projectiles at Squidward in New York.
After a couple of moments, the effects of the spellwork became more apparent. From outside of the bridge's main viewport, orange-gold sparks began swirling in the air in a perfect circle, spiraling out and solidifying into an image of the familiar, cloudless blue skies of Earth - or more specifically, Wakanda - with both Peters muttering a "So cool," under their breath at the sight.
Tony sighed, exasperated as he stared at the magical blue puddle in the sky. Why exactly did he agree to this, again? Han Solo, Wizards and Universe-Ending Bling? Apparating across the galaxy like a Harry Potter fan's wet dream? The billionaire scowled as he looked towards the patch of sky blue that could almost be normal if it weren't for the fact that it was levitating mid-air on an alien planet.
Well, it wasn't like he could just back out now.
It had been too late to back out for the past six years, ever since he'd flown through a portal - not like this one, get it together - and had caught a glimpse of the real endgame that they were playing towards.
And now it was here. The time had arrived, and all that he had dreaded had come to pass. There was no running from it, no more preparing now.
Tony Stark could only hope to face it - without hesitation, and without debilitating fear. Those were weaknesses that he simply could not afford. Not now, and not ever.
Stark Men were made of Iron, after all - and Tony Stark wasn't about to let himself to falter now.
At least, not visibly.
"Alright, lets get this shit-show on the road!" Iron Man declared just as Quill opened the ship's throttle and the Milano accelerated towards the gaping clear blue at a rate that really should have left them as sticky splatters on the hull plating (he needed to invent inertial dampeners. Stat).
-oOo-
(1) I wanted to incorporate the RP English accent used in BBC Merlin in a way that it would make sense for Merlin to have learned and speak in modern times. With Merlin having to constantly learn and relearn languages as he moved around the globe throughout the centuries, I think it would make sense for him to go for the most easily understandable and non-traceable version of an accent he could find (so that no one from a particular region whose accent he happens to be using could question him on assumed commonalities).
The language spoken in Camelot during the sixth century would have been somewhere in the transition between Insular Celtic/Brittonic to Early Welsh. I'm just going to describe Merlin's accent as 'Celtic' because it probably would only very vaguely resemble a modern Welsh accent after 1500 years of linguistic evolution and influence from various groups such as the Saxons (I do have some reasons for why he wouldn't have 'grown into' newer languages after Camelot along with their pronunciation changes, but that comes later). So, I'm just going to describe Merlin's occasional accent slips as a 'Celtic accent' and leave it up to the reader's interpretation of what that would sound like.
In the MCU, the Ancient One is described as being Celtic and never talking about her past. And although I think the Ancient One is still older than Merlin by a thousand years at the most (which would be the earliest Roman records of the group), I think that their accents would still be more similar to each others than they would be to those of modern languages, assuming the fact that the Ancient One was a Insular Celt/Briton and not a Continental Celt - because despite the conception that they are the same group, they most definitely would not have thought of themselves as similar nor likely would been able to communicate with each other due to language barriers.
TLDR; For convenient plot purposes, I'm writing that when Merlin and the Ancient One speak modern English, they both occasionally have vague 'Celtic Sounding' accent slips. If there are any people with a background in linguists actually reading this; I am so sorry.
I'm also still going to use the Old English that was used as the 'Language of the Old Religion' in the show (which, being an Anglo-Saxon language - wouldn't actually have been spoken by Merlin and co.) because I want to keep fandom continuity and also because I have absolutely zero idea how to translate Early Welsh or any other language.
Anyways, thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed so far! I'm honestly surprised at what a great response this fanfiction has gotten with barely a prologue out so far. You guys are truly awesome, kudos to you!
Next up, Wakanda!