"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear..."
H. P. Lovecraft
Stephen.
He covered his face again. They were calling.
Stephen.
Stephen felt numb: he travelled through so many pools of water, fire and all kinds of other materials, from earth to sky, from sea and to those that he never knew and never will. The entire Multiverse was opening in front of him, only to disappear in quick slashes of unrelated images.
In one image, he saw himself...bleeding.
Stephen!
The voices called again.
Stephen!
It's in vain. a female voice spoke. The visions: they make him deaf to our words.
He must see them, a deep and solemn voice spoke. What proof can we offer him instead of them?
Quiet! All of you!
A tall figure of light appeared in darkness. If we are arguing amongst ourselves, we will never tell him anything!
Hold him!
Stephen felt a stillness in his legs.
What is happening? the solemn male voice said.
Hold him!
Stop! a female voice said, with worry in her tone. Let go a bit. You will hurt him!
I am trying to! the hard voice said. Help me!
We can't hold him!
Stephen felt everything change around him.
No!
He lost his ground and fell into infinite blackness.
Stephen!
It was the same as if he didn't open his eyes. Complete darkness surrounded him. Utter sense of void grabbed him like a fly caught in the net of a spider.
There was no light. No sound. No feeling in his hands.
Stephen immediately moved his fingers, terrified of the thought that he lost his hands again.
My hands, he thought to himself. My hands!
The fingers moved. He felt them.
He exhaled in relief. Yes, there was no light, there was no sound and there was no object he could grab except the floor, but he had his hands.
"Leonardo!" he called, his heart beating faster than usual. "Raphael! Donnie, Mikey? Where are you?"
"Beneath Donnie!" Mikey's voice answered, to Stephen's relief. "And you always complain I fall on you!"
"I don't see anything!" Donnie added. "What is this?"
"My eyes, Donnie!" Raph yelled. "The thing you are poking are my eyes!"
"Then I guess it is what I'm smelling, too." Leo said.
All four of them were there. At least he didn't fail and he wasn't alone in the darkness.
"Hold on!" Stephen said to them. "Let me just stretch out my hand and...there!" The light born from his hand drove away the darkness. Now, he could see everything around. The Turtles also, quite annoyed.
"Get off of me, guys!" Mikey said and pushed them away, his brothers all falling in front of him. Raph rubbed his neck, surprised.
"Wow! I never knew you're that strong, Mikey!"
"Why do you think you always win? I let you."
"Oh, really?" Raph seized Mikey and pulled him up from behind.
"What the...put me down!" he kicked in the air, though Raph was still holding him. "Ah!" he yelled frustrated.
"Hah! That was just a momentum. I knew it!"
"Stop!" Leo commanded, and Mikey, and even Raph, obeyed. "We don't know where we are. We can't play in here."
"I don't think that's the only reason we shouldn't play in here." Donnie said, touching the wall. "These are some kind of hieroglyphs. Look."
Stephen turned his light towards the wall. It showed symbols in humanoid shapes. Hundreds of people carrying gifts and bowing before dozens of different figures. Some of these were red, with horn and wings that had fire. Others were more animalic, like the one that looked like an oceanid creature, with tentacles and wings, a king of the seas, crowned and adorned. On other sides were winged beasts, resembling dragons.
But one figure on the wall overshadowed all others: a dark, humanoid shape, with a crown of three white dots, taller and greater than even animalic figures. It was also the only figure that had a title above it's head.
"Asaroth?" Donnie said. "No, it's not that."
"What?"
"Something is written above that figure, but I am not sure what."
"I am." Stephen said, looking at the symbols. He stared at them like a dead man. "It says: Azathoth."
He regretted saying that name. Hideous, cursed and demonic name. Name cursed in every tongue, hated above all else. Despised and terrifying.
He read it in the Darkhold and realized there what it meant.
"Do not touch it!" he pushed Donnie's hands away, so hard it hurt.
"Ouch! What is wrong with you?"
"Don't touch it."
Stephen Strange.
He blinked.
Possessing a dead body, they continued, is forbidden.
"No." he stumbled. "Not again!'
"What? Okay, I won't touch it." Donnie raised his hands in frustration, only to notice Stephen suddenly walking with a limp. "Stephen?'
"They are calling!" he fell to his knees, covering his ears. "They are calling me again!'
"Who?" Leo reached for Stephen, but he pushed him away, unknowingly. It didn't seem like he even heard Leo.
"They are calling me!" Stephen yelled, so loud that Mikey flinched.
Raph and Donnie seized Stephen from behind. "I will die!" he yelled and screamed. Turtles were horrified. He spoke, but that wasn't Stephen's voice. It was like a primal, beastial cry. They could barely make out the words. "I will die the final death!"
Slap!
Leo thought it was smart, but it was the last thing he should have done.
Stephen hissed at him, almost howling like a beast. His face was changed. Darkness fell upon it and it twisted in rage. Shadow emitted from his eyes and when he opened his mouth to yell, his teeth were all sharp, like that of a dog. He got free from their grasp.
The monsters were holding him.
No. I banished you!
Possesing a dead body is forbidden, Stephen Strange.
Forbidden, forbidden.
Yes, it is forbidden.
Keep away from me!
"Stephen!" Leo slapped him again.
His eyes were opened. Turtles were there in front of him. The souls of the Damned silenced their screams.
"What...what happened?"
Turtles looked at each other confused. "You don't remember."
"What did you," he stood up, Donnie helping him, "see me do?"
"You..." Leo tried to find the words, but even remembering what happened made him feel uneasy.
"You crawled on the ground." Raph said. "You were screaming, but it didn't sound like you. It sounded like a sick chihuahua."
"More like a sick snake." Mikey commented.
Like a dead man, he thought. When he made one step forward, Turtles made one step back.
"What? Guys I am..." he coughed. "...I am fine now. It's okay."
He looked back up at the wall. The words, the images. The voices were no longer heard, thank goodness, but the memory of them was horrible enough.
"Let's go." he said and paused, to feel.
There was nothing.
"What?" he said. He paused again, raising his finger as sign to silence the Turtles. Still nothing.
"What?" Mikey asked.
"Do you feel anything?" he asked them. "Another one of those guys: do you feel them here? Any itch or slight whisper?"
Donnie glanced around the room. "I feel nothing."
The others nodded in agreement. Stephen tried once more. Still, he felt nothing.
"I...I don't understand!" he punched the nearby wall. "There must be something!"
"Maybe the Portal simply sent us to a wrong universe?"
"Mikey, Uatu made that portal through his own essence." Donnie said. "Basically: he peeled off a part of himself to create it. I don't think the Portal can send us anywhere except where it is supposed to send us."
"I say we leave." Raph said. "None of us feels anything: not even Strange, though he should feel it better than us. If we feel nothing, there is nothing."
"I will not open the Portal for naught." Stephen said. "No. We will explore this place until we feel something."
"Are you joking? Even if there is some lost buffon in this universe, we could be on a completely wrong planet or even in the wrong galaxy."
"The Portal sent us here." Stephen insisted. "They must be here. In this...temple."
"Okay." Leo said. "We will put it to a vote: who thinks we should stay?"
Everyone except Raph raised their hands.
He sighed. "Fine. But don't you dorts tell me I didn't warn you."
They proceeded to walk walk through the temple. The corridor was long, majestic in a way, but also terrifying. The architecture was far beyond what any of them had seen before, ultimate high point of craftsmanship and skill.
And yet, though it caused wonder, there was a feeling of mortal, black dread, gnawing at the back of their heads. The poisonous fly of doubt was chasing them, making them tremble and turn around at every step they took. Every noise, from buzzing to gnawing of rats, made them all flinch.
They came upon a single door. It looked rather odd in this temple, because it was simple and modest. There was nothing on them. No symbol, and no inscription. Just a simple black door with a round knob.
"So, who wants to open it?" asked Mikey.
"'Want'," started Donnie "is an incredibly bad way to say it."
"I am not feeling anything." said Stephen. "As if nobody is here."
Raph scoffed.
"Right then." Leo said. "Let's open it."
Everyone shook their head.
"No." Stephen said.
"Not even in a thousand years." Donnie added.
"Find other dorts, Lion."
"If there is one thing you shouldn't do in a horror movie," Mikey said. "it is to enter a door that frees a horror!"
"What the...are you guys so afraid? We aren't in a horror movie!"
"No, I think real life is more terrifying than horror movie, obviously."
"Call yourselves to reason! There is nothing behind those doors."
"Leo, every time you act all confident, something happens!" Raph said.
"I've had my fair share of 'nothing bad is gonna happen' situations." said Stephen. "They all turned out the same. Especially that time with a memory wipe for Peter."
Leo waved in dismissive gesture. "I am opening!"
"No...!" they yelled, but Leo just quickly opened the door. Stephen prepared his magic, and Turtles raised their weapons. But there was nothing behind the door. Just a simple wall. They stared at it for a while.
"See?" he said. "You were being silly for nothing." he sighed. "Let's take another turn."
Then, something else.
It did not come from the door, however, but from the corner of the corridor. Stephen stepped forward first, Turtles making few steps behind him. Stephen approached a tall pillar in front of them. When he listened better he realized: the sound was that of weeping.
As soon as he understood that, he glanced behind the pillar. And there he was, a boy, not more than five years old.
He raised his eyes at them, dark and tired. His skin was pale as snow, though his hair was also as dark as his eyes. He had a small nose, thin cheeks and body, as if he hadn't eaten for weeks. He recoiled at the sight of them, his eyes watery.
Stephen and Turtles put down their weapons, all of them feeling pity for this boy. Even Raph eased himself, slightly sad.
Stephen approached the boy and crouched beside him. The child still recoiled and was about to cry.
"It's okay!" he said, smiling gently. "It's okay, we won't hurt you."
The boy didn't trust them, though he still didn't cry.
"Are you lost, buddy?" said Mikey. "Where are your mom and dad?"
He looked down. "Gone." he said, in such a frail and weak voice. "Mom and dad are gone. Forever. I'll never see them again."
Stephen sighed. That's gonna be hard. "Were they okay the last time you saw them?"
The boy sniffed. "I...yes. They were."
"So they could be out there now, too?"
He paused for a second. "Yes."
Stephen and Turtles all smiled lightly to ease him. "Then we will help you find them. It's okay. We won't hurt you. I am Stephen, and these are my friends: Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael. I know how they look like, but trust me, they are good."
This was the first time Turtles didn't protest at him introducing them.
"What...what are you?" he asked them.
"Turtles!" Mikey exclaimed. "You know: green, live in their shells, that kind of thing."
"Though we're a bit bigger."
"What's your name?" Leo asked.
The boy looked at them again, probably thinking if he should trust them or not. "Artano."
"We won't hurt you, Artano. We promise." said Leo.
"Come." Stephen offered his hand. Artano stared at them, still afraid. But, apparently, they gained his trust, because Artano took it.
"Do you know the way out?" Stephen asked. "Out of this place?"
"I don't know." he said. "Maybe. I...I think could find if I walked a little, but I was too afraid."
"It's okay now, friend." he said. "We are here for you."
"Behind your back, buddy." Mikey said.
"I suppose those door there are useless?" said Leo.
"Yes." Artano answered. "But...we could go back. I think..."
"Okay." Stephen patted him on the shoulder. "Let's go."
"Come on buddy." Mikey said and took the boy's hand. "You needn't be afraid of us. We don't bite. Well, except Raph, he is always whinging.'
Raph gritted his teeth. "You are lucky there's a kid here, Mikey."
"Oh really? As if you would behave differently?"
"You forgot something, brother?"
Leo leaned in to Stephen's ear "Is he the..."
"No." Stephen said. "What would you have me do? Leave him."
"Heavens, no!" Leo said. "I just asked."
As they left the place, the boy continued being distant. They all wanted to make him more comfortable.
"So, Artano," asked Leo, "where do you live?"
"Yeah. Where do you come from, dude?"
"We live in a sewer." Donnie said, "It's not that bad of a place, especially when you get used to it."
"I just want to point out," said Stephen, "I live in a normal home."
"Ah, yes." Leo said. "The 'normal' people have self-aware cloaks and fire sparkling from their hands."
"Well they most certainly aren't oversized Turtles trained in ancient martial arts!'
"Oversized!" Donnie protested. "Pardon, I have an almost perfect figure!"
"Guys." Mikey coughed, bringing their attention back to Artano.
"Uh, yeah...sorry kid." Leo said.
The boy just nodded. "Where do I live..." he said, as if he didn't hear what they said. They waited for him to finish the sentence, but he left them without a response for a while. "In a desert." he said only after a few seconds of silence.
They went further into the temple, entering a huge hallway. Once again, Stephen felt that there was an eerie feeling in the air.
Raph, however, felt as if a knife was plunged into his back, a knife of darkness and terror.
Mikey then realized.
"We...were here before." he said.
"It just looks like that." Leo said. "This entire place looks the same everywhere!"
"There's even a term for that, I think." Donnie said.
"No." Raph said. "Mikey's right. Look!"
Raph pointed at the door in front of them. It was exactly like the door they saw before.
Stephen couldn't believe. "This is true. Artano, are you..."
"No!" he said, almost laughing. "This isn't the same door. It's the door which my mother and father walked through when they left. It is the way out!"
He ran to the door and quickly opened them. "Artano, wait!" Stephen yelled and they ran after him. On the other side of the door was complete darkness and Stephen had to make use of the light again.
"Artano!" Stephen yelled. The kids always gave him headaches.
"Hey, kid!" called Raph. "Where are you?"
Then, the door behind them was shut.
