The trio dashed through the portal onto the streets of Hong Kong; and Maya sucked in a sharp breath.

"We're too late." She whispered in horror as they looked at the utter destruction all around them.

Streets had been ripped into and buildings blown to pieces; crushed metal signs blinked on the remains of cars while water from burst pipes rained down on them. People were running, screaming; others were crying on the ground as their life ebbed away. More unmoving bodies lay on the streets and debris, past the pain now as their eyes stared emptily into nothing.

And in the distance, a terrible blue-purple energy swallowed the tops of the building Master Tina Minoru had been tasked to protect. A task she would not have failed except at the cost of her own life. Maya's breath caught; she couldn't bear more loss today. And yet, it seemed she already had.

"The Sanctum has already fallen."

Maya barely heard Stephen as she watched the energy swallow even more of the building, of the city, than it already had. The power she could feel coming from the source was almost more than she could bear, it was so strong, so oppressing… so cold.

"The Dark Dimension." Mordo whispered in horror. "Dormammu is coming. It's too late. Nothing can stop him."

The truth in Mordo's words echoed within Maya. All her lessons on the Dark Dimension seemed to consume her as she stared up at the attacking foe in despair. Because what could possibly beat death itself?

"Not necessarily."

At first, Maya didn't understand Stephen's words. Then she realized he was responding to Mordo, that something had occurred to him. She glanced at him curiously, wondering what was going on in his head: and then she saw the green stone still hanging around Stephen's neck activate.

Maya's breath caught; he wasn't-

A familiar energy, weaker than the power approaching them through the Dark Dimension but still strong, suddenly approached them. Maya turned quickly to see Kaecilius running down the streets from the Hong Kong Sanctum, heading straight for Stephen. It was clear the man had seen what Stephen was about to do with the Eye of Agamotto; and it was even clearer that he was going to kill Stephen before he could do it.

"No!"

Maya leapt into Kaecilius's path, her magic surging forth and creating a shield. Kaecilius's first blow hit her shield and his shard weapon shattered. Maya then turned to block his second attack. But he surprised her with a fast twist of his upper body… and Maya gasped as a Space Shard punctured her right through the stomach.

"Maya-!" She heard Mordo scream while Kaecilius's eyes glinted with triumph and he made to turn over her body to stab at Stephen.

And then she was fine, standing perfectly unharmed right next to Stephen. Maya inhaled deeply with a gasp, sucking in air like she'd been drowning. And she kind of had been; or at least, she'd been on the brink of death. She patted herself down incredulously before glancing around to where the rest of the world was moving backwards as time wound back.

"Are you all right?" Stephen huffed urgently as he let his arm drop from where he had removed Maya from the time spell although the spell's green energy continued to circle around his forearm as the rest of the spell continued its work.

Maya turned to stare at him in shock while his eyes darted all over her; clearly he had seen what had happened moments before he apparently began to turn back time. Mordo stood just slightly behind Stephen, staring at Maya and then all around him in utter disbelief. Maya didn't blame him; it was a lot to take in as buildings started to build themselves, water flooded back into burst pipes and people ran backwards or were thrown upright from their deaths.

"I never taught you that." She blurted out. Relief flooded his features and Stephen laughed a little.

"No. You didn't. Bet you wish you did."

He took her hand before she could respond and started running with her toward the Sanctum.

"Come on - we've got a second chance-!"

Maya spotted something behind them and she yelled, "Stephen!"

He turned just as she pushed him at the same time his cloak hauled him out of the way as a broken emergency staircase went flying by on its way to being reattached to a nearby building. It would have crushed him if Maya and his cloak hadn't pulled him away; his cloak, which now pushed him upright as he flailed to remain upright after being so startled.

"Stephen!"

Maya's second warning cry came just as Kaecilius, who had broken free from the spell with help from the Dark Dimension, kicked him right in the chest. Stephen went crashing down while Maya tackled Kaecilius before the man could attack Stephen again. Kaecilius struggled against her but she wasn't going to let him hurt Stephen; besides, she was pissed at him.

"You tried to kill me!" Maya spat as she punched Kaecilius right in the face.

He took the blow and tried to catch her fist before she could withdraw; but she moved too quickly, slipping past him and she launched a kick at him. This he blocked, and his gaze met hers.

"It wasn't personal." He used the leverage he had on her to swing her around and he grabbed her foot before he slammed her onto the ground. Maya groaned in pain. "This was."

"Maya!"

Stephen grabbed Kaecilius and hauled him back… right into the path of a car driving backwards on the street as it was pulled back toward the site where it had originally sped away from. Stephen hastily let go of Kaecilius as he dodged the car; Kaecilius, ever more graceful, dodged the car and punched Stephen in the face for good measure. Kaecilius was then forced to duck as an upended car that had been nearby suddenly flew right over their heads, returning to the site from where it had been blown up before.

Stephen dodged the car too, before he turned in alarm as he heard Kaecilius coming at him again. But Kaecilius stopped mid-attack to block Maya as she launched a kick at him. It hit him in the arms, forcing him back a step while she flipped back onto her feet. And then it was harder for Stephen to follow as he was forced to dodge backtracking motorcycles and running people while the other two engaged in a close fist fight that didn't sound like it was going well for Maya; he heard too many of her grunts for her to be winning. Or so he thought.

Stephen had just dodged another car and was heading over to help Maya when Kaecilius went flying back and crashed into the path of a brick wall that was rebuilding itself.

"NO!" Kaecilius roared but he was quickly covered up and sealed in the newly rebuilt stone wall. Maya watched before turning away; it wouldn't kill him, but it would keep him down for a moment at least.

"Maya!" Stephen gasped, hurrying over to her. "Are you hurt?"

"Only bruised." Maya answered through gritted teeth as she held her side where Kaecilius had landed a solid kick right before she'd used it against him to throw him into the wall. "How about you?"

"I've been better, but still okay." Stephen answered as Mordo joined them from where he had dispatched Kaecilius's other two followers in a similar manner as Maya had.

The trio gathered closer instinctively as most of the city returned to normal and the Sanctum, the first thing that had been destroyed, began to be restored. Mordo looked on the verge of saying something, when a large pile of nearby debris began to unpile itself as it was rebuilt into the Sanctum… and revealed Wong lying dead, stabbed through the heart by a broken pipe.

"Wong!" Stephen gasped as the trio hurried over just as Wong was pulled off the pipe and returned to a fighting stance in front of them.

Stephen quickly undid the spell on Wong, releasing him from the effects. Wong blinked at them, momentarily thrown off by their abrupt (in his perspective) appearance, before he noticed what was going on all around them. His eyes returned to Stephen in disbelief and Stephen grimaced.

"Breaking the laws of nature, I know." He grumbled.

But Wong surprised him as he looked around before answering dryly, "Well, don't stop now."

Wong moved to stand beside Maya. With another glance around, he asked in a low voice, "The Ancient One?"

"She didn't make it." Maya answered tersely. Wong's face flooded with sympathy but he said nothing else; they had more important things to do first.

"So, what now?" Wong asked, looking between Maya and Stephen.

Maya looked to Stephen, surprising Wong just slightly. They didn't notice as Stephen took the lead, saying quickly, "When the Sanctum is restored, they'll attack it again. We've got to defend it. Come on!"

Stephen began to lead the dash back toward the Sanctum… when Maya suddenly felt a prickling surge of energy from behind. She whipped around to see Kaecilius had broken free from his prison and was gathering a surge of energy above his head.

"Guys-!" Maya yelled as she quickly created her eldritch whip and launched it at Kaecilius.

The others turned quickly at her shout but they were too late; before Maya's whip could grab him, Kaecilius launched the energy into the ground. An orange glow erupted briefly around Maya as she realized she was too late, making Kaecilius frown slightly in confusion; but it was gone as soon as it appeared as the whole ground shook as the energy rippled the very reality of the pavement they stood on before it imploded and threw Maya and the others to the ground.

Maya's head smacked against the ground and she gasped as pain erupted from the sight. For a moment, she was too disoriented to realize where she was and then Maya realized she was lying beside Stephen, while Wong was not far to her other side. Their fall had apparently broken the time spell too with Stephen's attention shattered, although it had apparently frozen time instead of releasing it. Maya groaned as she pushed herself to her feet, staggering upright and she glanced back to see that the Sanctum was still breached - the Dark Dimension still had an entry point. And they couldn't hold time forever.

Maya turned her attention back to the front where Kaecilius approached with his newly freed Zealots, just as Mordo and Wong clambered to their feet too.

"Get up, Strange." Mordo ordered as Stephen remained on the ground. "Get up and fight! We can finish this."

Maya ducked down to kneel beside Stephen as he struggled to get on his knees, his back to Kaecilius while Kaecilius stepped closer.

"You can't fight the inevitable." Kaecilius told them confidently.

Maya shot him a look of anger and fear as she helped Stephen to his feet; he clutched onto her for balance more than she liked and she worried he'd hit his head too hard although his gaze seemed to be clearing quickly now that he was upright. Kaecilius barely noticed them as his eyes lifted instead to the Dark Dimension that shimmered above them from where it was entering their world.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Kaecilius murmured. "A world beyond time. Beyond death."

"Your idea of beauty is corrupted, Kaecilius." Maya spat back. His eyes came to rest on her.

"You sound like your mother, Maya." Kaecilius murmured, making Maya flinch. Stephen felt her but his mind was elsewhere, Kaecilius's words ringing in his ears.

"Beyond Time…"

Maya glanced at Stephen curiously as he muttered the words aloud to himself, but her attention was drawn back to Kaecilius as he continued without hearing Stephen's soft words.

"But she lied to you, to all of us. She fed from the Dark Dimension too."

Kaecilius stretched out his hand toward her and his gaze beneath the horrible markings all over his face was so familiarly gentle that it squeezed her heart.

"Join me, Maya. Let us be together once more. A family."

Maya inhaled sharply at his words; pain flared and then anger overtook it. "Never-"

She was interrupted as Stephen suddenly launched forward into the air… toward the opening to the Dark Dimension.

"Strange!" Mordo yelled while Maya screamed, her tone laced with terror as she slowly realized what he was doing, "Stephen!"

Stephen heard them, but he forced himself onward. He didn't trust himself not to falter if he looked now. It was only when he was too far away, high above the Earth below, that Stephen glanced back. He knew instantly he had been right not to look back sooner as he immediately wished he hadn't looked at all.

Mordo's expression of betrayal he could have lived with because he wasn't doing what Mordo thought. But Maya's face… Stephen was sure he'd never forget the way she looked as she watched him disappear. Amber eyes were almost orange in the glow of the flames from the explosions around them but there was none of the fire that usually existed in her gaze. Instead, there was fear and heartbreak as she stared after him with wide eyes, her face extremely pale under tanned skin and giving her an ashen complexion. She knew, he saw that instantly; she had figured out what he was trying to do and she didn't think he would ever come back.

"Stephen!" Maya screamed as he disappeared from view, her voice filled with anguish.

Mordo stood in shock beside her, but he didn't understand her pain; neither did Kaecilius it seemed as the man murmured, "He's gone. Even Strange has left to surrender to His power."

Mordo seemed to stagger at those words; but Maya turned on Kaecilius with burning orange eyes.

"You're wrong. He's stronger than you."

"Such faith, Maya." Kaecilius observed her with not unkind eyes. "You once held such faith in me."

"And I was wrong to." Maya's hands clenched into fists before her eldritch war fans appeared in her grasp with an unusually bright orange tinge. "But I know I'm not wrong about him!"

Kaecilius's eyes narrowed while Maya lifted her fans in a classic duel stance.

"And I won't let his sacrifice be in vain!"

In the Dark Dimension, Stephen glanced warily about at the cold dark world he found himself in. The darkness was never ending, the dimension stretched unchangingly as far as he could see, and the only light seemed to be in the power that pulsed around the rotund shapes of energy that floated all around. Stephen finally gingerly landed on one such shape, and not knowing how much time he had, he quickly cast a spell using the Eye of Agamotto.

It wasn't a moment too soon that the familiar green spirals appeared around his forearm before he felt a presence appearing behind him. Slowly, Stephen turned and he found himself face to face with… a face. That was all he could do to describe the thing that appeared out of the very darkness, out of the very energy of the dimension. Stephen swallowed as the face shimmered and settled into something that looked too much like a reflection to be coincidence.

Still, he pushed down his fear as he called with more confidence than he felt, "Dormammu! I've come to bargain."

"You've come to die." Dormammu answered in a deep voice that seemed to reverberate throughout the whole dimension it was so powerful even if it wasn't necessarily loud. "Your world is now my world, like all worlds."

Stephen barely reacted in time, lifting his Tao Mandalas just in time to protect himself as shards not unlike the ones Kaecilius used shot down at him from all directions. Desperately, he protected himself; but Dormammu became impatient and shot a beam of energy from his mouth down at Stephen. Stephen tried to keep the energy at bay… but eventually, he was overcome. His Tao Mandalas disappeared, shattered beneath such power and with a scream of pain, Stephen was blown into mere atoms.

"Dormammu!" Stephen called as he looked up from his spell-bound arm to the enormous face that was the manifestation of the Dark Dimension. "I've come to bargain."

"You've come to die." Dormammu answered in a deep voice that seemed to reverberate throughout the whole dimension it was so powerful even if it wasn't necessarily loud. "Your world is now my…"

Dormammu trailed off as he sensed the repetition; sensed the power.

"What is this?" Dormammu demanded, looking around as if trying to find the source of the energy he could feel before he looked back at Stephen. "Illusion?"

"No, this is real." Stephen answered grimly.

"Good." Dormammu hissed, peering at Stephen with hatred.

This time, Stephen wasn't fast enough and he gasped as he was pierced by two spikes that shot out of the ground beneath him; he died moments after the pain that spliced through him.

"Dormammu!" Stephen called as he looked up from his spell-bound arm to the enormous face that was the manifestation of the Dark Dimension. "I've come to bargain."

"You..." Dormammu answered in a deep voice that seemed to reverberate throughout the whole dimension it was so powerful even if it wasn't necessarily loud. And then the being trailed off as he sensed the repetition.

"What is happening?"

"Just as you gave Kaecilius powers from your dimension, I've brought a little power from mine." Stephen called back, lifting his forearm where his spell circled his arm clearly for Dormammu to see.

"This is Time. An endless… looped... time."

"You dare!" Dormammu roared in fury, rearing back. The darkness rippled as the being was suddenly given a body's form and Stephen watched in dismay as a giant hand started to come down straight toward him.

"Oh, f-"

"Dormammu!" Stephen called as he looked up from his spell-bound arm to the enormous face that was the manifestation of the Dark Dimension. "I've come to bargain."

Dormammu narrowed his eyes at the sorcerer before he determined, "You cannot do this forever."

"Actually, I can." Stephen corrected. "This is how things are now. You and me, trapped in this moment. Endlessly."

"Then you will spend eternity dying." Dormammu threatened and Stephen shrugged.

"Yes. But everyone on Earth will live."

'She will live.' He added silently to himself.

"But you will suffer." Dormammu hissed. But his words didn't bother Stephen.

"Pain's an old friend." He replied, his eyes momentarily losing focus as he recalled the years after his sister's death and then the months following the accident that had ruined his hands. Months that only became lighter after he met her.

Stephen looked back at Dormammu in time to see him blast him again with the same energy he had the first time. And he was decimated into atoms with a scream of pain.

"Dormammu!" Stephen called as he looked up from his spell-bound arm to the enormous face that was the manifestation of the Dark Dimension.

He died, stabbed to death.

"I've come to bargain!" Stephen called as he looked up from his spell-bound arm.

"End this!" Dormammu ordered as he smashed Stephen with one of the floating energy shapes that looked (and felt) like a small moon.

"Dormammu!" Stephen called as he looked up at the manifestation of the Dark Dimension.

He died, stabbed through by several spikes.

"Dormammu!"

He died being ripped apart by vines of energy.

"Dormammu!"

He died losing his head - literally.

"Dormammu!"

He died, blasted to pieces.

And it hurt.

It hurt like nothing he had ever experienced before. Because, obviously, he had never died before, let alone again and again and again. And Dormammu was proving quite creative in destruction as every time he thought of a new way to kill Stephen, and slowly but surely the methods became slower and more painful.

But each time as the pain felt unbearable and Stephen wished for nothing more than to end the loop and go back, he forced himself to remember everything that he had left behind to protect.

The desecrated city of Hong Kong, just the first of the whole Earth that would fall if Dormammu won.

Christine and the Metro-General Hospital staff he had worked alongside for years, even damned Nicodemus West.

Wong and Mordo standing determined to fight to the death, which Wong had already done once.

And of course… her.

Each time Stephen struggled with the repetitive and endless cycle of death, he closed his eyes and pictured Maya. The way her lips puckered when she was cross although he would never dare say she was pouting. How she folded her arms across her chest and smirked at him whenever she beat him; how her eyes danced with humour even beneath her stoicism when she managed to outwit him in an argument. And then he drew on the image of her as he had rarely known her. The light smile and bright eyes that laughed at him before becoming clouded with confusion when he made a (very clever, he might add) joke that she didn't get. The glimpses he would get of the woman she had been before Kaecilius's betrayal left her bitter and jaded with the world. The woman who had locked herself away but not enough that her old self couldn't shine through on occasion - which he was proud to say was because of him.

It was that smiling face that Stephen pictured now as he painfully pushed himself off the ground where Dormammu had thrown him down yet again, although he wasn't dead this time. Yet.

"You will never win." Dormammu growled as he watched Stephen push himself to his knees.

"No…" Stephen agreed, speaking with the most honesty he had ever done in his life as he got up again wearily. Wearied but no less determined as soft amber eyes flashed through his mind's eye.

"But I can lose. Again," he pushed off one knee painfully, "and again," he pushed off the other knee with a groan, "and again," his back straightened with much protest, "and again, forever. And that makes you my prisoner."

"No." Dormammu hissed as he stabbed Stephen to death again. Only for Stephen to come flying back.

"Stop!"

Dormammu killed him this time before he could even open his mouth. And then Stephen was coming back again.

"Make this stop! Set me free!" Dormammu howled.

"No." Stephen answered as he looked up at the manifestation of the Dark Dimension. "I've come to bargain."

"What do you want?" Dormammu finally demanded.

A twinge of relief filled Stephen but it didn't show as he answered in a steely voice, "Take your Zealots from the Earth. End your assault on my world. Never come back."

Dormammu growled but Stephen raised his arm where the spell continued to shimmer tantalisingly.

"Do it, and I'll break the loop."

Dormammu snarled.