Due to the time difference between New York and Kathmandu, it was already late at night when they arrived in Kamar-Taj. The inner courtyard lay quietly before them. Only in a building at the far end of the square, were still lights burning.

"There's light in the library," Peter noted.

"Yes," Stephen was optimistic. "I hope Wong's there."

Silently they walked towards the library, but they didn't get far – a cage that consisted entirely of burning mandalas light up around them. "Identify yourself, intruder!" a voice demanded in the dark.

"It is me, Stephen Strange! With me, I bring friends who I wish to keep safe."

A dark-skinned man in a dark green tunic stepped into the pale moonlight.

"Mordo!" Stephen murmured. "What are you doing here?"

"I told you, didn't I?" The sorcerer in green ignored Strange. "That there would be a price to pay? That the bill comes due? You didn't believe me! And now the Titan succeeded! Half the universe's dead!" Mordo paced around the cage angrily.

"How do you know that?"

"Wong told me!"

"Wong's alive?" Stephen asked relieved. "Praise the Vishanti! Wait... What did you do to him?"

"I did nothing to him. He and the other masters are in the library. I immobilized them, but I did not harm them. At least not more than I had to."

"Do you have a plan?" Peter whispered behind Stephen's back quietly enough that Mordo didn't hear it.

"As soon as we're free, take May, run to the library and free the others," Stephen answered under his breath.

Calmly, he stepped forward and put a hand on the burning mandalas, which kept them captive.

"You will not be able to break my spell!" Mordo exclaimed.

"How bold of you to assume you already captured me." With that, he looked around the courtyard. From behind every pillar surrounding them, emerged an exact copy of Strange.

"I see, you mastered the Images of Ikonn," Mordo noted smiling.

"Yes. My times as sorcerer's apprentice are long past. Are you sure you want to face a Sorcerer Supreme?" all the Stranges chanted simultaneously.

"That is creepy," May murmured, while Peter tried his best to shield her with his own body.

Mordo hissed, "Heresy! You are not the Sorcerer Supreme!"

Determined, the Stranges closed their circle around the other sorcerer. "Think what you want. I prefer to let my actions speak for themselves." One of the Stranges caught Mordo off guard and managed to grab the Staff of the Living Tribunal form Mordo's back and hit him with it. That distracted the other sorcerer so much that Stephen was able to dissolve the cage that trapped them.

Without hesitation, Peter grabbed May's hand and ran with her towards the library.

Stephen didn't look back. He trusted Peter and his abilities to protect both of them blindly. Instead, the doctor concentrated on Mordo. He and all his copies tried to bind his old mentor with the Crimson Bands of Cyttorack, but Mordo was able to block them with a shield spell.

Mordo managed to strike down the Strange-copy who had taken the staff and reclaimed his weapon. With the help of the Vaulting Boots of Valtorr, he jumped onto the nearest roof.

Stephen looked after him and cursed. He missed the Cloak of Levitation painfully. Quickly, the doctor portaled himself to the top of the roof. When he arrived, Mordo was nowhere to be seen. Alert, he watched his surroundings, but couldn't find anything out if the order.

Suddenly, the sound of smashing roof tiles drew his attention to the opposite side of the roof. He sprinted to where the noise had originated from and could see a piece of green fabric disappearing around the corner.

"Gotcha!" the doctor murmured. He knew the Kamar-Taj well enough to know how to cut him off. Another portal transported him right in front of Mordo, where he struck the other sorcerer with the most potent sleeping spell he knew.

Breathing heavily, Stephen stood next to Mordo when he saw people running towards them. Wong and Peter were the first ones to arrive.

Stephen hugged the librarian. "Wong! Good to see you. Are you alright?"

"Yes, thanks to your young friend. Mordo managed to take us by surprise when we were most vulnerable. Good to see you are among the living, too."

"We need to talk. In the library, where we have a bit more privacy," Stephen suggested.

Wong nodded.

"What about Mordo?" asked Peter.

"Master Hamir and the others will take care of him," Wong said, and a sorcerer with only one hand nodded in return.

"So… there are evil wizards, too?" May asked when she was alone with Peter, Strange and Wong.

"Yes. But have no fear. He usually comes only after other sorcerers," Wong explained casually. "Now, come along."

May, Stephen and Peter followed Wong to a cozy room full of old books and scrolls.

After he had closed the door, the doctor turned to the librarian. "This might be an unusual request, but is there a spell to tell if I am in the right universe?"

"The right Universe?"

"Yes! A spell that shows me that I am in the universe where I belong and originate from, or if I am accidentally in the wrong one."

"Why do you want to know that?" Peter asked.

"To be sure."

"But you said you were sure!"

"Yes. About eighty percent."

"You sounded very sure when you told Tony and Pepper!" the teenager noted.

"Well, that is something you learn as a doctor - radiating absolute confidence, even if you are only about three-quarters sure."

"Can someone please explain to me what's going on?" Wong interrupted both of them.

"I think, we are from another universe and I want proof," Stephen told the irritated librarian.

"Okay. Wait here." Wong disappeared behind a bookshelf, while May, Peter, and Stephen waited. After a while he reemerged. "I found something. It's quite a simple spell." He drew a glowing rune into the air between them. At first, nothing happened, but then the doctor and his son started emitting pale blue light.

"You are from a parallel universe!" exclaimed Wong surprised. "But you're not?" he asked May.

"No. I'm from Queens."

Wong turned to Strange. "You owe me an explanation!"

"Of course, my friend. But first I have to ask you if it is possible that Mrs. Parker stays here for a while. I fear for her safety if she remains in New York alone by herself."

Wong nodded, and Stephen sent Peter to show May the guest quarters. Meanwhile, Stephen used the time to tell Wong his story.

"Now we have to find out if your Strange was right. I mean, he contacted me. That is proof that they are somewhere out there. Our task is to figure out if there is anything we can do to bring them back," Stephen concluded his report.

The other masters of Kamar-Taj had joined them by now, and Stephen noted sadly that there were only three of them left.

At this moment Peter too slipped back into the room and sat down beside Stephen.

"What are we going to do about Mordo?" Master Hamir asked. It was so rare to hear the master speak that most people thought him to be silent.

"We ask him to help us," Stephen declared.

Wong stared blankly at Strange.

"I know what you are thinking, but to imprison Mordo will not help us. He is a mighty sorcerer, and there is a strong demand for those at the moment. We need him," Stephen explained.

Wong didn't answer, but he snorted angrily.

"I don't expect you to be best friends with him, but you should consider at least a truce. Temporarily. You need for example a replacement as the guardian of the New York Sanctum."

"Why would you leave the sanctum?"

"Because as Sorcerer Supreme I might have other duties to perform."

Wong laughed.

"What's funny?" Stephen wondered.

"You are not the Sorcerer Supreme."

"Yes, I am. There was a tournament held by the Vishanti. I participated, I won, they declared me Sorcerer Supreme. We had a nice party afterward, and you were drunk as hell," Stephen recounted with a warm smile.

"He's right. You and Rhodey hat this stupid drinking game that got out of hand," Peter laughed.

"What exactly qualifies the boy to take part in this meeting?" one of the other masters asked displeased.

"He's my son. I say he belongs here. And that's the end of it!"

The other master looked grim. "You are not Strange. Who are you?"

"Oh, I am Strange. Not the one you know, but Strange, nonetheless. Furthermore, I am the acting Sorcerer Supreme of this realm at the moment, so when I say he stays, he stays."

The other master looks over to Wong. "What he says is true. I vow for him."

Stephen let out a frustrated snorting. "Now is not the time for petty disputes!" He turned to the three masters. "I trust you with the safety of Kamar-Taj, while Wong and I try to find out every single Information we can get about the Infinity Stones."

The masters nodded and left the library.

"Where do we start?" Peter asked and looked at the vast number of bookshelves.

Wong walked over to a shelf and handed Peter and Stephen a couple of old tomes. "How good is your Sanskrit, Spider-Boy?"

"I'm still learning. My teacher says I'm making progress."

"Who is your teacher?"

"You."

Wong looked intrigued, while Stephen smiled secretly behind his book.

-–-

Hours later, it was already afternoon; they had huge stacks of books piled around them.

"This book says that all who fall victim to the Soul Stone don't simply die. They end up in a dimension that is called 'Soul World' here," Peter summarized finally.

Wong added, "Yes, but we can't just go in there and bring them back here because their physical bodies have been turned into dust,"

"Also, bringing half the population of the universe through portals back to their homes just isn't feasible," Stephen sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "We would need the Infinity Gauntlet to reverse what Thanos did."

"Yeah. We go to the Mad Titan and ask if he gives the gauntlet to us..." Peter joked with a humorless tone. "It would be easier to collect the stones from our universe and bring them here. Thanos dead and no one else is looking for them. Except we know that five of them have been destroyed in a gigantic explosion."

"But are they really destroyed?" Wong asked suddenly.

"What?"

"These stones are nearly indestructible. I'm not sure if a simple explosion could break them."

"A simple explosion? That blast was strong enough to demolish a celestial body double the mass of our moon and kill Iron Man!" Stephen had screamed the last sentence without noticing.

Wong looked at him with sad eyes.

"Spare me your pity, Wong. I don't need it!"

"I think you should talk to someone about this."

"Thank you, Wong. If I need a life coach, I know where to find you," Stephen snarled sarcastically.

The librarian shook his head, but he left the subject for the moment.

"What I meant is: Those stones are tough enough to outlast the blast of a supernova. I fear if that explosion were big enough to destroy the stones, there wouldn't be anything left of your earth either. It would have wiped out the whole solar system."

Stephen felt a chill run through his heart. He hadn't thought about that before.

"We have to make sure it is still there!" Peter said panicked.

Stephen nodded, put on the sling ring and started to draw a circle into the air, but nothing happened.

"What's wrong?" Wong asked.

"I don't know. I cannot get through. Something is blocking me."

Peter whimpered, "It's gone?"

"No! It is not gone! I can feel it! It is there... but I can't reach it..."

"Are you sure?" Wong inquired.

Strange nodded.

"How can you be so sure?"

"I can't explain it. I simply know it, deep in my soul." Stephen looked at his hands and shook his head. "Maybe I'm just too tired to cross the barrier between universes. We should get some rest. We're supposed to meet the Avengers in less than six hours, after all."

"That might be a wise decision," the librarian agreed.

Strange stood and walked to the exit. "Will you come with us to the meeting?"

"If you want me there."

"Thank you." Without another word, he left.

"Good night, Wong," Peter said quietly and followed him.

Notes:

After seeing Avengers: Endgame, I think I should clarify something:
The Marvel Wiki says Thanos was born on Titan, a moon of Saturn. That would mean it should be located in our solar system, but in Endgame Tony told in his recorded message to Pepper they were stranded a thousand lightyears from the earth, which is undoubtedly an exaggeration, but sounds like they are much farther away than Saturn.
Anyways, when I wrote this chapter, I hadn't seen Endgame, so I went with Titan, the moon of Saturn and I'll keep it that way.