WHAT IF…the MCU was in the Tournament of Power
ACT I - CHAPTER 1
Six months after the events of WandaVision, Doctor Stephen Strange and Wong, the Sorcerer Supreme of the Masters of the Mystic Arts are currently in Wakanda attending King T'Challa's funeral. His sudden passing had shocked not only the world but also the kingdom of Wakanda. The nation was now once again without a leader. Ramonda, wife of T'Chaka, and mother of T'Challa and Shuri, was now the surrogate ruler of Wakanda. Stephen and Wong were not the only Avengers to attend the funeral as James Rhodes, Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes and an elderly Steve Rogers had all gathered for the passing of the once great king. The funeral procession lasted for what seemed like an eternity.
The nation of Wakanda mourned for their king as his specially designed royal coffin was placed gently beneath a baobab tree as T'Challa's spirit now entered the A'aru, The Field Of Reeds. When the funeral concluded, Stephen and Steve sat down with each other and conversed about the happenings in the world. Society had seemingly returned to a somewhat state of normality following The Battle of Earth. Steve discloses that the deaths of Tony and Natasha still affect him greatly, and now that T'Challa has passed, it's as if all of his friends are starting to leave him behind. They then talk about the current state of the Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The OG Avengers had officially disbanded as a new phase of heroes had risen to take their place.
Stephen remarks that Bruce Banner's arm is slowly beginning to heal as the Gamma within his blood is starting to bypass the damage that was done by the Nano Gauntlet. Clint Barton has officially retired and is now focusing his time on his family. Thor has given his title as King of New Asgard to Valkyrie and went into Space with the Guardians of the Galaxy. The entirety of Stark Industries has been handed over to Pepper Potts and following Tony's funeral, Nick Fury's whereabouts are currently unknown. After reminiscing, Stephen and Steve give a farewell to each other as the two sorcerers return to the Sanctum Sanctorum in New York via a teleportation circle. Upon returning to their home Stephen noticed that no one had mentioned the events relating to Westview, meaning it was much more of an isolated incident than previously anticipated and should be kept as such to avoid panic.
Stephen arrives at a chessboard, with each piece resembling a past (Black), present (White), or potential (Red) Avenger. Stephen changes Wanda's white piece to black as he believes that she may never return to the Avengers. Wong reveals that even with tracking spells they've been unable to find her, meaning wherever she is, she doesn't want to be found. Stephen asks Wong how his latest recruit is fairing, in which the Sorcerer Supreme states that he excels in all aspects of his training and that the best place for him currently is at Kamar-Taj. Their conversation is cut short when they both sense an immense presence enter the Sanctorum, a power very unfamiliar to them.
They are both met by a short sky blue skin male with white slicked back hair. He possesses what appears to be a blue-colored halo that autonomously floats above him instead of hanging around his neck. The figure announces himself as the Daishinkan (The Grand Priest) to the duo, an Angel serving as a close adviser and guiding figure to Zeno and Future Zeno. The sorcerers are dumbfounded by his remarks. The Daishinkan realizes that they've never heard of such beings. He then begins to explain the origins of the Universe. Billions of years ago before the Multiverse was created, Zeno created four 'Pseudo-Universes'. His main goal was to experiment on these Universes and record their data so that when the time came, he could begin creation on the Multiverse. Each Pseudo-Universe was different from the last, however, what made them all unique was that they were deityless.
Meaning no true gods watched over and preserved the nature of these Universes, thus they quickly fell into ruin and were soon wiped out. With the blueprints in place, Zeno would go onto creating the Multiverse, eighteen separate Universes with their own unique traits. However, whilst all of this was happening, the last remaining Pseudo-Universe was forgotten to Zeno, the Sorcerer's current Universe. Stephen was skeptical at all this information but Wong could sense that the Grand Priest was telling the truth. In light of recent events regarding the Infinity Stones, the Pseudo-Universe has been brought back to Zeno's attention, not because of the constant usage of the snaps, but the inevitable fate that soon approaches them.
The Daishinkan states that because of the continual meddling with the Infinity Stones, the Universe is now on a collision course of destruction. Stephen is angered by this, stating that they saved the Universe from Thanos' hand. The Daishinkan reveals that Thanos might have averted the Universes' destruction. Through a holographic presentation, he says that eliminating half of life briefly brought balance to the Universe and greatly extended it's time frame, However, after restoring said life, the Universe was shifted out of balance once again and brought them back to where they were before. Stephen goes irate and proclaims that destroying half of the Universes natural resources was not the answer and that he looked into the future and witnessed their outcome. The Daishinkan says that he researched the major events of the Universe prior to his arrival and witnessed the battle against Thanos.
He states that he saw Stephen's fourteen million separate outcomes of Thanos' victory and questions him on why the 'Mad Titan' had won so many times. Was it fate? Was the Universe in some way trying to save itself through Thanos? Both Sorcerers remain silent, contemplating on everything that had just been said. The Daishinkan then brings the deityless Pseudo-Universes back up once again, stating that it was a 'slight' lie, as each Pseudo-Universe was granted one Angel. An Angel created by the Daishinkan himself. The first Angel ever created was called Sarandiel, or they may know him as The Living Tribunal. Wong reveals that in some of the oldest scriptures at Kamar-Taj, there were whispers of such a being that watched over the Universe. The Daishinkan confirms this, stating that Sarandiel's purpose was to bring life to the Universe so that Zeno may study it.
And so, Sarandiel formed the Celestials, who not only created the Stars, Planets and Galaxies that they see today, they also created Mortal life. Thus, Sarandiel's objective was complete and he became a mere watcher of his creation and reported any ongoings back to Zeno. A sudden realization hit Stephen, throughout his time as Sorcerer Supreme, one of his main missions was to watch over any potential threats to the Realm. What Stephen had failed to take into account during that time was that in the background, there was always someone that was watching. To most he looked like a mere bystander. But a bystander wouldn't be seen multiple times over the course of thousands of years. Some had called him by the name of Stan Lee, but Stephen quickly realized that this seemingly harmless old man was none other than The Living Tribunal himself, watching his work unfold.
It was at that moment that Stephen realized the Daishinkan was telling the truth. It had now hit both sorcerers, their Universe was once again in danger and it looked like this time, there was nothing they could do to stop it. That is until the Daishinkan offers them a proposal.