Chapter Two

Stephen paced anxiously in the Hall Of Memories at Kamar-Taj, rolling the paintbrush around in his hands, uncharacteristically quiet. His brow furrowed, worry, and Cloak fluttered from his shoulders in exaggerated billows of its' own making, excitement.

Wong, wearing his usual scowl, stood with folded arms. He had bought some weaponry along, just in case Stephen's attempts to locate Master Jade inadvertently allowed dangerous beings to enter their dimension.

Hank Pym squinted at his tablet, working out the final calculations, and randomly flicking a mistrustful eye toward Wong.

Wong responded by not taking his eyes off Dr. Pym.

'Explain, again, how this will work?' Wong rumbled, and Hank looked up, adjusted his glasses,

'Theoretically, when Doctor Strange opens a gateway in the area where your Master Jade exited this reality, and I introduce a deviant of my particle solution, a corridor will open to her reality.'

'Theoretically,' Wong repeated, tone flat, and Hank nodded.

'Why do you require her paintbrush?'

'I'm hoping it's molecular structure will...'recognize', if you will, the trail back to where it's from, and open the corridor. If we got it right, it will have a whirlpool, a vortex, effect, and pull whatever is in it right thru to the other side. Point A to point B.'

'What if that doesn't work like that?' Wong insisted, 'What if this takes Strange somewhere else, entirely? Or, nowhere at all?'

His implication was that the entire venture could turn deadly.

Stephen stopped pacing, alarmed, looking between the two men, obviously waiting for the reply.

Clearly, that possibility hadn't occurred to him.

Hanks' expression went completely blank as he said, looking at Stephen,

'I recommend having a sudden exit strategy.'

After a few moments of thought, he pointed at Stephen, advised,

'If this works, don't close your gateway. We might not be able to reopen it from this end.'

He shifted his feet, admitted, with a grimace,

'Or, you, from your end.'

Wong rolled his eyes, barked,

'This is a bad idea, Strange.'

'Probably,' Stephen nodded, agreement, as he stepped away from them, to stand where he had last seen Master Jade, gripping her paintbrush.

Pulled on his sling ring, then looked back, tossed a sharp nod to Hank.

Hank laid aside his tablet, pulled a vial of red liquid from his jacket pocket. Eyebrows raised, he returned the nod, said, solemnly,

'Good luck.'

Wong readied a weapon from his stash, conjured a shield, and fell into a battle stance in the hall.

Stephen closed his eyes, took several deep, calming breaths. Recalled, as closely as possible, the exact sounds he'd heard, the mental picture he had of Master Jade, stepping in to the gateway.

Cleared his mind of all other images, but that one.

Cloak grabbed tightly to his shoulders, ostensibly so as not to loose its' Chosen on this untried, and possibly unsafe, venture.

With one last giant breath, Stephen opened his eyes, raised his hands, and began to spin open a gateway.

It sparked, fizzled, and Stephen gritted his teeth, leaned into it, determinedly.

The gateway began to form, and, when it had reached what he considered a viable circumference, Stephen snapped,

'Now!'

Hank lobbed the vial in.

Immediately after, Stephen tossed the paintbrush.

The gateway suddenly roared, as if alive. The normally golden orange glow blazed into a sanguine halo, then rapidly widened enough so that it was large enough to step thru. Unlike a normal gateway, where one could see the destination, the only view provided was a seemingly endless crimson-black tunnel.

Without a backwards glance, Stephen stepped in, and disappeared, like a stone dropped into a pond.

The gateway continued to rumble and blaze, and Wong exchanged apprehensive looks with Hank.

'How do we know if it worked?' Wong insisted, still at the ready.

Hank shrugged, eyebrows knotted in concern, admitted,

'I have no idea,' as he stared at the roiling crimson tunnel.

Stephen was jerked off his feet by the waves of energy washing thru the incarnadine conduit. The effect was disconcerting, dizzying, like being swept along in a violent ocean, and the power surge was so strong it took his breath away.

Luckily, it seemed the journey was over in a few seconds, and Stephen tumbled out the other end, landing on hands and knees.

He spent a few moments with eyes closed, attempting to recover from the vertigo his trip had caused, and very nearly afraid to take a breath, just in case he was somewhere without breathable atmosphere.

Cloak gave a firm ruffle, and he opened his eyes, looking down at a smooth rock floor, grained white marble, under his hands.

He took a tentative breath, and, when he didn't choke, took another.

Looked up, and sat back on his heels, jaw dropped in astonishment.

He'd landed in a fairly large room, a cave, made entirely of white marble, apparently carved from whatever mountain stood above. There were no windows, and only one door, which was closed. The room was unlit, save for the ring of his gateway, which cast an undulating ruby glow, and the fire that crackled on a hearth to his left. A bed stood close to the fireplace, and a form lay there, unmoving.

The remaining accommodations were very Spartan; a table and chair, a pantry, a small kitchen, but not much else.

He clambered to unsteady feet, squinted toward the figure, which was difficult to see in the low light.

He took a step closer, recognized Master Jades' physical form, arms folded tightly around the Staff.

Stephen nearly leapt for joy, but settled for a fist pump and a sharp,

'Yes!'

Cloak gave an excited flutter, and a bump of its hem to Stephen's fist.

Quickly, Stephen scanned the rest of the room, hoping to spot Master Jades' astral form, but obviously she was somewhere else.

It was then he heard the sounds of battle, outside the door.

Despite being muffled by the stone walls, he recognized the hideous, enraged screams, heard the distinctive blast of conjured weapons.

Without hesitation, he bolted for the door, jerked it open, stepped out into a blinding swirl of dust and ephemeral light.

He threw an arm up in front of his eyes, struggling to make out what was happening in the confusing maelstrom. It was dark, save for the light given off as eldritch weapons were used. Bolts of multi-colored light flashed in the dust hazed atmosphere, like lightning leaping thru clouds, and the ground shook. The noise was unreal, and he couldn't see any combatants, just the afterglow of their weapon strikes.

Cloak held its edges up as best it could, attempting to protect its Chosen from the buffeting, dirt-filled windstorm.

Suddenly, a fireball materialized, headed straight toward Stephen. He barely managed to dodge, and was blasted off his feet, showered by debris. Cloak threw itself over him, a protective tent.

From the swirling dust, a voice called, disbelief,

'Doctor Strange?'

Cloak pulled away enough for Stephen to see a blurry figure coming his direction.

Master Jades' glowing astral form swam into view, holding an energy shield up between her, Stephen and...something.

Something huge.

He couldn't make out what it looked like, but even in this wind, Stephen could smell it's reek, like carrion.

Stephen crawled to his feet, and she yelled, over her shoulder,

'What are you doing here?' struggling to keep the shield large enough to defend them both. The monster in the storm kept up a nearly continuous assault, hurling oozing violet black balls of energy at Jade.

Immediately, Stephen attempted to conjure his own shield, but she snarled, furiously,

'That's useless. In this dimension, you can only battle on the astral plane. You need to leave, before you get killed. I can't protect both of us.'

Stephen shook his head, protested, over the howl of the wind,

'No! I came here to help you!'

'You can't,' she snapped.

For a split second, she deflected her attention from the battle, and threw an energy bolt a him. Cloak attempted a block, but it was a useless gesture. The basketball sized bolt struck Stephen square in the chest, blew him back, thru the doorway of the cave, and into the still open gateway.

The return trip was a lot rougher ride.

Stephen flew backwards out of the gateway, hit hard, in the Hall at Kamar-Taj. It drove the breath out of him, and he watched the gateway snap closed, like a trap, with an angry scarlet flash.

He lay on his back, held a hand to his chest, panting, and met Wong and Hanks' startled stares.

'Your tunic may be on fire,' Wong offered, causing Stephen and Cloak to vigorously slap the smoking garment into submission.

'What happened?' Hank burst out, as Stephen found his feet, rubbed his aching chest where Master Jades' energy bolt had hit, examining the black scorch marks on his tunic. Cloak left Stephens' shoulders, gave a vigorous shake, throwing off dust, gave a sharp flick of its' collar, as if sneezing, before returning to its Chosen.

'You were gone only a few seconds. Did you find her?'

Confused, Stephen shook his head,

'Seconds?'

Wong and Hank both nodded.

'On my end, it was minutes,' Stephen informed, and Hanks expression lit up,

'That proves at least part of the theory!'

Wong powered his shield off, lay his weapon aside.

Stephen nodded, a bit dazed, said,

'Yes, I found her.'

Hank gave an excited laugh, and clapped his hands,

'More great news!'

Wong was considerably less demonstrative.

Indicating Stephens somewhat bedraggled appearance, he asked, flatly,

'What happened?'

Stephen gave an odd half grin, said, confused,

'She sent me back. Rather forcibly, as you can see.'

'I thought you were trying to help her?' Hank said, and Stephen winced as he rotated his shoulders.

Lips pursed, he shook his head, replied,

'I'm not exactly sure what was going on. I need to think.'

He met Hanks eager gaze, apologized,

'I'm sorry, Dr. Pym. I am not attempting to appear ungrateful. I will be happy to share with you every detail that I recall, but I need a little time to process it all. If I might have an appointment, tomorrow?'

Hank nodded, patted Stephen on the back, said,

'Absolutely, I understand. Remember, I've done a bit of other dimensional travel, myself. The first few times are a bit disconcerting.'

Stephen offered a smile, suggested,

'If you wouldn't mind, Wong, could you see that Dr. Pym gets home?'

'Certainly,' Wong agreed, watching as Stephen made his way down the Hall.

Stephen stopped in front of Jades' portrait, eyebrows knotted in confusion. Carefully, with shaking fingers, he traced her sad smile, captured forever on the canvas, and sighed, quietly,

'Why wouldn't she accept my help?'

Cloak wrapped a comforting edge of its' hem around Stephens forearm, curled its collar just a little bit closer, and gave a ruffle, its' version of a compassionate sigh.

Despite his disappointment, the slightest hint of a smile curved his lips.

He turned, squared his aching shoulders, raised his hands, spun up a gateway to the New York Sanctum.

'No, we're not giving up,' he assured his scarlet companion, and stepped back home.