(Six months after the events of WandaVision)

Who could have predicted that something like this could happen?

WAKANDA

Dressed in an outfit worthy of a funeral, Stephen Strange watched as the funeral procession passed him by. Sitting at his side, Wong was just as still as he was, dressed the same way. All around the duo, a crowd of people, dressed in different African clothing styles, sadness on their faces. Today, the world was experiencing a huge loss and Wakanda was the place where this burial was taking place. Marching in front of Stephen was an entire group of men and women, dressed as warriors, holding spears, along with a multitude of sacred objects.

The procession lasted several minutes, before the two sorcerers could finally see a dozen men who had arrived with a huge golden coffin encrusted with precious stones and where two huge panthers had been engraved. And the man who lay inside was none other than T'Challa, the King of Wakanda. His death had shocked the world. The man had fought alongside the Avengers to restore half the Universe at the hands of the Mad Titan Thanos. Therefore, when this battle had taken place no less than a year ago, who would have guessed that the King of Wakanda ended up being forced to stop, when he had to face a tumor in the brain? Regardless of his superhuman powers and the advanced technology of Wakanda, the man had eventually passed away peacefully in his sleep, leaving the country once again without a king.

Letting the entire motorcade pass in front of him, Stephen soon followed, as did Wong and the rest of the crowd surrounding them. It was true that the Master of the Mystic Arts had not developed any real relationship with the King of Wakanda. Nevertheless, considering him a comrade during the battle against Thanos, the former Sorcerer Supreme had felt obliged to attend his funeral, out of respect for his courage and his decisions which managed to maintain the peace of his country. However he was not the only Avenger to attend the funeral.

Stephen spotted an elderly Steve Rogers among the pallbearers, as did Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson. Finally arriving in front of a cliff, the procession disappeared inside a huge cave. Walking a few more minutes the procession ends its walk by arriving in a cavity, where mysteriously, a baobab tree was. At its foot, a dozen tombs lay, showing the number of kings that Wakanda had known and who had had the honor of being buried in this sacred place. Then, the people at the head of the procession moved aside and formed two perfect columns to let the coffin pass.

Heading towards a hole already dug, the pallbearers began to gently place the coffin in the hole. Standing among the crowd, Stephen saw Okoye hitting the ground with her spear, while letting out a chant. Imitating her, the other warriors of Wakanda struck the ground with their spears whilst letting out an identical chant. Repeating this gesture twenty times, they ended up stopping when the coffin was sat at the bottom of the hole. Then, the new priest of Wakanda advanced towards the hole, before beginning to formulate a prayer whose properties will be able to allow the soul of T'Challa to be able to join the world of the spirits where the ancient heroes of Wakanda reside.

Observing all this, Ramonda, T'Challa's mother, Queen of Wakanda kept her head held high and managed to maintain a stoic demeanor during the burial of her child. Beside her, Shuri, the younger sister of T'Challa was unable to imitate her, a handkerchief hid her eyes, while tears were visible on her cheeks. At the end of the prayer, various sacred objects were placed above the coffin. And finally, the earth began to cover the resting place of T'Challa. In just a few moments the hole had been completely sealed. Still standing in front of the tomb, the priest crouched down and used his finger to make rustic designs in the earth. Then, getting up, he declared.

"Wakanda, today is not a day for our tears to flow. On the contrary, let us rejoice that the soul of our king can join the world where resides the spirit of the great heroes that Wakanda had the choice to know. But, I am certain that his soul will remain with us, until the ceremony is over. Therefore, do any of you have something to say to him before his ultimate journey into the beyond?"

Ramonda, Shuri, Okoye and M'Baku all gave a speech about T'Challa, celebrating his accomplishments and what he meant to each of them. Finally Steve Rogers stepped forward, giving a slight bow to Ramonda before speaking.

"The first time I met T'Challa we were playing on opposite sides of the field. The Sokovia Accords had just come into effect which caused a divide within the Avengers. Tony Stark believed that the Avengers should've been a private organization, operating under the supervision of a United Nations panel, only when and if that panel deemed it necessary. I on the other hand believed that the Avengers should've been given the right to choose. Even after going against the accords and becoming a fugitive, T'Challa offered to help my closest friend and opened Wakanda up to me."

Steve sighed slightly. "It was only then I realized how similar we were, two men, fighting for what they believed in. T'Challa was one of the bravest and most humble men I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Not only did he help his people of Wakanda…he also saved the world when it needed him the most, and for that, myself and the Avengers are forever grateful. Not only do I consider him an Avenger…"

Crouching down, he placed his hand on T'Challa's grave, he declared.

"I consider him a friend. I wish him eternal rest. Farewell my friend."

Steve then placed a heart-shaped Herb on his grave, symbolizing the power of the Black Panther. Seeing him get up, Okoye nodded, before hitting the ground again with her spear. The warriors immediately let out battle cries, while the rest of the crowd began to chant.

"Thanks for coming."

Shaking hands with Steve Rogers, Stephen Strange affirmed.

"Every hero deserves the recognition he deserves."

"Ever since returning to the Past I've spent most of my time here in Wakanda so I haven't kept up much with outside news. The deaths of Tony and Natasha still affect me even now, you'd think that being gone for so long I would have moved on. But I still think of them every day."

"It was a difficult time for everyone." Stephen admitted as he leaned back against the wall. "Clint has officially retired to focus on his family, same goes for Scott, though as far as I'm aware he's still active."

"You know for a while I thought of Scott as immature, but after what happened, we would've never been able to complete our plan without him."

"On a brighter side I heard Bruce's arm is beginning to heal, it seems the Gamma within his blood has bypassed the damage that the Gauntlet did. Last I heard, his arm should be fully healed within a couple of years. As for Thor, he's gone back into Space, haven't heard from him since."

"After the Decimation happened, Thor got hit the hardest, I hope wherever he is now he finds peace in knowing that we won."

"And as for Stark Industries I heard that the entire company has been handed over to Tony's wife, Ms. Potts."

Steve let out a light chuckle as he sighed. "I miss them all, what we had. Even when we fought. We were a team. Nothing will change that."

"Strange."

Stephen turned his head and saw that Wong had created a teleportation circle. Knowing it was time to go, he shook Steve's hand. Wong walked through the portal and Stephen followed from behind, but before leaving he turned to Steve one last time.

"Take care Cap."

NEW YORK

"They didn't mention the events related to Westview and Wanda…" Wong remarked.

"I don't think anyone knows where she is, I haven't been able to locate her even with tracking spells." Strange stated. "Only Vision could have known. If you ask me, her guilt prevents her from returning to the Avengers."

Walking down a corridor, Stephen stopped in front of a chessboard. Removing two white pawns, he declared.

"Wanda Maximoff and T'Challa. After Clint Barton, Vision, Natasha Romanoff and Tony Stark, our numbers are down again."

Nevertheless, seizing a red pawn and placing it on the chessboard, he asked.

"How's your newest recruit?"

"Shang-Chi? Let's say we're still teaching him the true history of our world and all the potential dangers he'll face. When it comes to his training, I believe Kamar-Taj is the best place for him to improve his new skills. Though the rings his father possessed do intrigue and worry me."

"So we can hope he will join our ranks." Strange remarked, looking at the opposite side of the chessboard, which was completely empty. "For now, the black pawns have disappeared along with Thanos. However, evil will never go away and is ever-present around us. Letting go of our guard and foolishly thinking that Thanos' death will bring peace will only bring death closer from us. "

"Words filled with wisdom. I'm glad to see you're still the same, Master Strange." A strange voice spoke.

Startled somewhat, Wong immediately turned around. On the contrary, being perfectly stoic, as if expecting to hear this new voice, Stephen turned around most calmly, while affirming.

"It's Doctor, Doctor Strange."

Opposite the duo had just appeared the Ancient One, their former master. The person who saved Stephen from his emotional self-destruction and granted him the right to give him a new reason to live. However, her body, far from acting like that of a living being, was transparent like a ghost. Still, that didn't stop the woman from smiling at Stephen.

"You haven't changed a bit, Doctor Strange."

For his part, Wong positioned his hands in prayer, before greeting the Ancient One.

"Ancient One, it is a huge honor for us to receive your visit."

"A visit that, I imagine, hides an alarming reason." Stephen stated, suspecting that his former master would never have come here for a simple courtesy visit. "Aside from using Dark Magic, I thought it was impossible to be able to communicate with the dead."

"Indeed, normally this should be impossible."

"How did you manage to appear in front of us?" Wong asked.

"It's easy to explain. There is a barrier between the world of the dead and that of the living. Normally, nothing can break this barrier and allow the dead to join the living. However, a rift has appeared in this immense wall."

"How can this be explained?"

"This phenomenon must have something to do with the constant use of the Infinity Stones. You see, prior to Thanos collecting them they had never been brought together fully. Thus when Thanos used them to decimate half the universe, that was the first time they had been used in unison. This sudden outburst of immense power is what started this crack in the space-time continuum and weakened the wall that separates the dead from the living. And only five years later, both Bruce Banner and Tony Stark snapped once again, one restoring the universe, the other wiping away Thanos and his army. This is what fully awoke the rift. Not even the gods did not foresee such a phenomenon taking place."

"The gods?" Stephen asked curiously.

"That's why I came to join you. Stephen, I think I should take this moment to tell you about the creation of the Universe."

"Are you talking about the appearance of the Infinity Stones?"

"In truth, the Infinity Stones have nothing to do with the appearance of the Universe."

The two men in front of her looked at each other then back at their old master, as they seemed to struggle to take in her revelation.

"Sorry?" they said in unison.

"Do you know what the Multiverse is? A concept of which we know frighteningly little. Though I can confirm that our universe is just one among others. Like a galaxy, our universe is surrounded by other universes. All of this is possible because of one god. The One Above All."

"The One Above All…I've heard rumors of such a being but never thought it to be true." Said Wong.

"We call him The One Above All, they call him Zeno. The Omni-King."

"You talk about universes similar to ours but...how many are there exactly?" Stephen asked.

"There are currently twelve separate universes that we know of. And compared to what you think, they are not actually similar to each other. In truth, they are very different. Billions of years ago, Zeno created them with the purpose of being able to use them to form the perfect society. He had consciously made mistakes when forming the first universes, to know how to improve the quality of his later universes."

Using her powers, she then showed a hologram of a universe before creating others. "Nevertheless, to enable this, Zeno entrusted this mission to his deities: the Kaiōshin, whose role is to create life and the Hakaishin, whose role is to destroy it."

"Destroy?" Strange repeated.

"Creating life is not simple." Explained the Ancient One. "Consider creation as a painting. Sometimes the painting is perfect and its creator decides to keep it. Other times, he makes a mistake and lets his colleague destroy it to form a better one. Those are the roles of the Kaiōshin and Hakaishin. Thus, many universes were created, but many were also destroyed by Zeno's hand. Only twelve survived, the most successful. But none of them managed to obtain the title of the perfect universe. Of course, Zeno could have destroyed them, but the Daishinkan, an Angel serving as a close adviser and guiding figure to Zeno, persuaded him that these pseudo-universes had the right to live and that, with any luck, one of them could become the perfect universe."

"So we're one of those twelve universes." Wong understood.

"Not exactly. Prior to the creation of these universes, Zeno had created four pseudo-universes. Four prototypes, where he had decided not to incorporate any deities." She showed a hologram of four orbs, which she arranged in a row. Showing their creation, letting time scroll until one of them disappeared.

"Unfortunately, Zeno quickly realized that without a god to maintain peace and order, these pseudo-universes were doomed to disappear. And without the need to destroy them..." Two other pseudo-universes disappeared. "Only one has survived until today. Ours."

"So why did you come to tell us about this?" Strange asked, trying to take in everything that had just been said to him. "Is, by any chance, our universe also threatened with extinction like the others?"

As if to answer his question, another spirit appeared. This time it was an old man, whose aura seemed to belong to that of a great veteran.

"For that, let me continue to explain to you what you don't know."

Then, greeting the two men, he declared. "I am Odin, father of Thor."

"I remember. I helped your sons find you when you were on Earth. However, if I remember correctly, you were supposed to be dead too." Said Stephen.

"As the Ancient One said, it is now easy for the dead who gained powers while alive to be able to pass through the breach into the world of the living."

Hearing this, Wong looked concerned.

"Is Thanos capable of doing this? Best to avoid his return, even in astral form."

"Fortunately for us, Thanos is in a place that has taken him further away from the world of the living, compared to us." the Ancient One assured. "He will never be able to take advantage of this breach. Yet, casually, Thanos may have almost saved our universe."

Startled, Strange and Wong looked at the former king, before asking. "What?"

"Even before Thanos was born, I suspected something like this would happen." The Ancient One revealed. "Our universe, since its creation, is only a prototype destined to disappear. For a long time, Zeno has been trying to improve other universes by experimenting on ours. And one of these tests was to reduce our population by two."

"What was the purpose of this test?"

"Without a Hakaishin, the so-called 'bad planets' are not destroyed and the population of the universe continues to increase while the resources they need decrease. To allow the survival of our universe, Zeno wondered if reducing our population would avoid the death of all. Hence the presence of Thanos who, after the destruction of his planet, received a premonition from The Living Tribunal." Said Odin.

"The Living Tribunal?" Strange repeated.

"I've heard of this being." Wong declared. "There is a myth about the presence of a supreme being within our universe."

"Indeed. The Living Tribunal is a being who receives orders from Zeno or the Daishinkan, when tests are to take place. He is also the one who reports on the consequences of these tests. He is not a real deity, but I think it's needless to say that his powers easily surpass ours."

"So this being allowed Thanos to create a plan to erase half of the universe and did nothing to help us stop him." Strange said, annoyance in his tone.

"Unless Zeno or the Daishinkan orders him to, he has no right to interfere in the mortal affairs." The Ancient One explained. "Furthermore, he created Celestials who in turn created the stars and worlds we see today, but that's all the Tribunal is. Just like our universe, he is a prototype of true deities."

"Thanos did nothing to save the universe." Strange retorted. "He only created chaos when the population of each planet found themselves unable to live without their loved ones. Deleting half of the universal population created many additional issues and halted the advancement of technology."

"Short term maybe." Odin agreed. "But if we had waited…we may have seen the universe still present, and not destroyed as it was intended."

"The universe...would have been destroyed?" Wong repeated.

Seeming angry to hear that, Strange growled. "So what? Those who fought to revive us did it for nothing? Those who passed died in vain?"

"We understand how you feel." Odin assured. "Unfortunately, this has only brought us closer to the horrible fate that awaits us."

"Fate can be changed." Strange retorted.

Suddenly, Stephen's soul was ripped from his body and his astral spirit found itself transporting away from Earth. No more than a few moments passed as he found himself in front of a being of immense size. So large in fact that Stephen was nothing more than a spec compared to the massive giant. The being floated in the middle of the void, Stephen noticed that there were no stars, no suns, nothing. The two floated in an endless black void. Separated from the rest of its body, its head consisted of three connected faces that hovered above its shoulders, whilst the being had nothing resembling a neck. Initially motionless, the giant eventually lowered its eyes somewhat, before using telepathy to communicate with Stephen.

"Stephen Vincent Strange."

For the first time, the superhero didn't know who he was talking to. When he was the Sorcerer Supreme, Stephen's role was to watch over the entirety of reality and watch for threats that may be a threat to the universe. Asgardians, Deviants, Skrulls, Dark Elves, Xandarians. Stephen knew of them all, yet had never seen anything like this on such a scale before.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"In your language, they call me The Living Tribunal."

Hearing this, Stephen frowned. But before he could say anything, the Tribunal spoke.

"I sense anger emanating from your mind."

"You are supposed to manage life in this universe and you dare let half of living beings disappear? What god are you to let that happen?"

"What is better: Save one and let a thousand die, or save a thousand for the life of one?"

"You mean you would gladly sacrifice half of us?"

"You are a Sorcerer are you not? You know the role that you must partake, as goes the same for I."

"Gods. It's always the same. You play with the very fabric of space-time like it's your own playground, without any care of what implications might come from it. You create just to destroy, have you even tried to step in and help the very mortals you aim to protect."

"Can mortals defy death? Can they prevent the destruction of a sun so that a new one may take its place? Can they change the outcome of an already predetermined destiny? Mortals do not have this kind of power. If you were like me, you would understand that what I'm doing keeps you alive."

"I refuse to live knowing that people died to allow this. What do you think we are? We mortals are able to face fate and change it to allow the future to become better. Among fourteen million possibilities we were to succumb to the devices of Thanos, yet we mortals came together, changed fate and won. No matter what trials we face, no matter the danger, we will always succeed in preserving what we have."

The Tribunal was quiet for a moment before speaking up again.

"Oh? In that case, I may have something that could preserve your universe and avert its imminent destruction."