Stephen levitated high above Kaecilius. He slowly and menacingly made a motion with his hands and summoned another whip of orange electricity, which he whipped towards Kaecilius. Kaecilius caught it with his blade and pulled with all his might. And was almost as if they were in a game of tug-of-war with the electric rope. Kaecilius gave one more hard to hug and Stephen went flying towards him. Stephen fell to the ground and Kaecilius moved to attack him. Before Kaecilius could stab him however, the cloak was pulling Stephen backwards. The cloak dragged him to the back of the room.
The cloak of levitation pinned him against the wall. Stephen look to his side and saw a large axe wall next to him. Stephen tried running towards it, but he didn't move an inch because the cloak was pulling him back.
Stephen stopped moving and glared at the cloak. It fell around his shoulders and stopped pulling on him, so Stephen try running towards the ax again. However, the cloak pulled on him again and he didn't move at all. He and the cloak stood there for a long time, the cloak pulling him one way and Stephen leaning the other way.
A few people laughed at how silly it looked.
Kaecilius smirked and started approaching him. The cloak jerked Stephen back again and pointed towards something on the wall. Realization flooded Stephens eyes and he lunged for a relic that was made up of chains. Stephen turned and threw it at Kaecilius.
Kaecilius was just about to attack when the relic landed on him. The chains opened up and started grabbing him by his legs and his arms. It wrapped around his torso and his neck and forced him onto his knees with his arms stretched out at his sides. More chains wrapped themselves around Kaecilius's mouth in a muzzle.
"Your cloak is a genius!" Clint cheered. "Hey, Bruce, Tony, you two should invite the cloak into your Super-Secret-Science-Bros-Club-Thing."
"That cloak has no manners and will never be in our club." Tony pouted like a child. Bruce just looked confused. "However, Shuri and Peter are both invited."
Peter started jumping up and down with an ecstatic look on his face. "I get to be a Science Bro, I get to be a Science Bro, I get to be a Science Bro." He sang.
At the same time Shuri had an eyebrow raised and a confused look on her face. "Uhh, no thank you."
Kaecilius started speaking, but the muzzle muffled his words.
"What?" Stephen asked. He walked over and tore off the muzzle.
"You'll die here." Kaecilius laughed weakly.
"Oh, stop it."
"You'll die here… oh wa ah ha Dormammu tel nah…"
"What is he even saying?" Rhodey asked.
"I have no idea." Stephen sighed.
"I said, stop it!"
"You cannot stop this, Mr. Doctor." He said.
"Why… look, I don't even know what "this" is." Strange sighed.
"It's the end and the beginning. The many becoming the few, becoming the One."
"Look, if you're not going to start making sense, I'm going to put this back on." Stephen gestured at the muzzle in his hand.
"Tell me, Mr. Doctor." Kaecilius smiled weakly.
"Alright, look. My name is Dr. Stephen Strange." Stephen growled.
"You can't tell supervillains your name." Peter said. "That's the whole point of a secret identity!"
"I don't have a secret identity." Stephen said. "In fact, I think you're the only one here with a secret identity."
"That's not true…" Peter said. "There's… um… uh…"
"I rest my case." Stephen said.
"You are a doctor?"
"Yes."
"A scientist. You understand the laws of nature. All things age. All things die. In the end, our sun burns out, our universe grows cold and perishes. But the Dark Dimension… it's a place beyond time." Kaecilius explained
"This guy is really depressing." Peter sighed.
"That's it. I'm putting this thing back on." Stephen grabbed the muzzle and made his way towards Kaecilius.
"This world doesn't have to die, Doctor." Kaecilius insisted. "This world can take its rightful place among so many others, as part of the One. The great and beautiful One. And we can all live forever."
"I guess he's not exactly lying on his description of the Dark Dimension." Thor said with an eyebrow raised. "But does he really think that the eter-"
"SPOILERS!" Clint yelled and threw a pillow at Thor.
"How many pillows do you have?" Natasha asked. She looked behind Clint's chair to see he had built something resembling a bird nest out of many, many pillows. "I'm not even surprised."
"Really?" Stephen asked doubtfully. "What do you have to gain out of this New Age dimensional utopia?"
"The same as you. The same as everyone. Life. Eternal life. People think in terms of good and evil, but really, time is the true enemy of us all. Time kills everything."
"What about the people you killed?"
"Tiny, momentary specks within an indifferent universe. Yes. You see, you see what we're doing? The world is not what it ought to be. Humanity longs for the eternal, for a world beyond time, because time is what enslaves us. Time is an insult. Death is an insult. Doctor… We don't seek to rule this world. We seek to save it, to hand it over to Dormammu, who is the intent of all evolution, the Why of all existence."
"Typical super villain." Peter smiled and shook his head. "Giving their typical evil monologue. First they tell you their plans in detail. Next, they'll try to get you to join their cause."
"The Sorcerer Supreme defends existence." Stephen argued
"What was it that brought you to Kamar-Taj, Doctor? Was it enlightenment? Power? You came to be healed, as did we all. Kamar-Taj is a place that collects broken things. Join us. Dormammu can help you in ways she can not."
"Called it." Peter said.
"We all come to Kamar Taj with the promise of being healed, but instead, the Ancient One gives us parlor tricks. The real magic she keeps for herself. Have you ever wondered how she managed to live this long?"
"I... I saw the rituals in the book of Cagliostro." Stephen stuttered.
"So, you know. The ritual gives me the power to overthrow the Ancient One and tear her Sanctums down, to let the Dark Dimension in because what the Ancient One hoards, Dormammu gives freely. Life, everlasting. He is not the destroyer of worlds, Doctor, he is the savior of worlds."
"Supervillain! Awesome magic bald lady is a supervillain!" Peter shouted.
"No! She just-" Stephen protested.
"Well…" Wong said.
"She's not! All that happens is-"
"SPOILERS!" Clint yelled. Natasha ripped the pillow from his hands before he could throw it.
"No. I mean, come on. Look at your face." Stephen gestured at the scales surrounding the dark purple. "Dormammu made you a murderer. Just how good can his kingdom be?"
Kaecilius tilted his head back and started laughing.
"You think that's funny?" Stephen snarled.
"No. No, Doctor. What's funny is that you've lost your sling ring."
Stephen touched his pocket to notice that his sling ring was gone Stephen turned around really quick, and a knife flew out of nowhere and buried itself in his chest.
Many people cried out in surprise.
"Ow…." Peter said. "I hate getting stabbed."
"When did you get stabbed?" Tony asked.
"Oh, every now and then. Maybe every few weeks when I'm on patrol. It's no big deal, though, I have super fast healing."
"No big deal?" Tony asked incredulously. "No big deal? No big deal? No big deal?!"
"Yes, Tony, we all heard you the first time." Rhodey said.
" We are going to talk about this." Tony whispered.
"Awww." Peter sighed and sunk lower into his seat.
Stephen gasped and fell to his knees. He grabbed the knife and pulled it out, crying out in pain as he did so. Stephen tried to block the blood that was bubbling out of it with his hand.
One of Kaecilius's henchman came running up the stairs, just emerging from a portal. He grabbed Stephen by his collar and threw him down the stairs. Stephen tried to walk away, but collapsed to the ground. He weekly tried to crawl away, grunting in pain and whimpering.
Stephen road to his side to see the henchmen approaching him with a smirk on his face. Stephen tried to crawl away but couldn't go fast enough. The henchmen summoned another knife and raise it high above his head. He brought it down, aiming it for Stephens heart. In one quick motion the cloak of levitation disarmed the henchmen and wrapped itself around his head. The cloak flew around banging the man's head on the side of the wall in an attempt to protect Stephen. The man tried to pull the cloak off, but the cloak wouldn't budge. The cloak threw the man to the ground and Stephens sling ring went flying. It landed right next to Stephen, who immediately grabbed it and slipped it into his fingers.
"Yeah!" Peter cheered. "We should make the cloak an Avenger too! It'd make an amazing Avenger."
"We are not letting an article of clothing onto the team." Tony said. The Cloak of Levitation swatted Tony's on the back of his head, slightly offended.
Stephen slowly got to his feet; using the wall to steady himself. As the cloak and the henchmen continued fighting behind him, Stephen made slowly used his sling ring to open a portal, whimpering in pain as he did so.
Stephen gasped and clutched his wound as a new spike of pain shot through it. He stumbled through the portal and into what appeared to be a storage room. He knocked over a cart that was full of supplies as he tried to steady himself.
Stephen quickly threw open the door of the closet and stumbled into a busy hospital hallway.
"Sir, can I help you?" A nurse asked. She gasped at Stephens wound, which he was trying to block with his hand.
"Dr. Palmer, where is she?"
"Sir, we need to…" The nurse grabbed his arm and started to lead him away. Stephen jerked his arm out of her grip.
"Where is she?"
"At the nurses station."
Stephen nodded and rushed over to the nurses station.
"You can't just teleport yourself to a hospital. That's not how it works." Tony said.
"Why cant he?" Peter asked.
"Yeah, why can't I? It sure seemed to work." Stephen said.
"Because that's not how it works." Tony said.
"And he never paid." Christine added.
"Christine!" Stephen called weakly.
"Stephen? Oh my god. What…" Cristine rushed over, her eyes filling with horror when she saw the dark blood bubbling out from beneath his hand.
"We need to get me on an operation table now." He gasped.
"Just you."
Christine gave him a cautious look.
"Now! I don't have any time!" He pleaded. Christine nodded and hurried him into a surgery room. Stephen grunted and laid down on the table as Cristine readied the needed equipment.
"What happened?"
"Stabbed. Cardiac tamponade."
"What are you wearing?" She asked as she took off the clothes surrounding the stab wound.
"Seriously, he's dying and your asking fashion questions?" Wanda asked.
"Put yourself in my shoes, okay?" Christine said. "He was gone for months, and then just mysteriously shows up wearing this weird dress, and jewelry, and all this crazy stuff… can you really blame me for being a little stressed out?"
"It's a tunic, not a dress." Stephen said.
"If your wearing a one piece outfit that goes over your legs, it's a dress." She argued.
"It's a tunic!"
"It's a dress." Wanda said. Shuri nodded in agreement.
"It is not a dress!" Stephen shouted and threw his hands in the air. "Wong, back me up here."
"It is kinda a dress." Wong shrugged.
"Wha- you're wearing one too!" Stephen said.
"Actually, Wong is wearing robes." Shuri said. "What your wearing is a dress."
"It is not a dress! It's a tunic! T-U-N-I-C!"
"Their just messing with you." Peter whispered. Stephen crossed his arms and pouted.
"The chest cavity is clear. The blood... is in the pericardial sac." Stephen mumbled, each word weaker than the last. He slowly closed his eyes and his head rolled off to the side.
"No. No no no no no no no! Stephen! Stephen!" Christine shouted. She got a large needle and started to put it together as she anxiously looked at Stephen.
"Augh." Stephens astral form burst out of his body. He floated around for a moment, confused. Next to him, Christine was getting ready to inject him with a syringe. Stephen looked around frantically before making himself visible to her.
"Just a little higher." Stephen whispered. Christine screamed and jumped back. Her eyes darted between Stephens body, and the Stephen ghost thing, Stephens body, and the Stephen ghost thing. "Please be careful with the needle."
Multiple people burst out laughing.
"It's not funny." Christine said. "He terrified me!"
"Stephen?" Christine's voice squeaked. "Oh lord, oh lord. What am I seeing?"
"My astral body." Stephen said casually.
"You're speaking way too casually." Bucky said. "You just showed up as a freaky ghost thing, and you're just acting like it is no big deal."
"Are you dead?"
"No, Christine, but I am dying."
"Right. Right. Yeah. Alright." Christine said and leaned back over the stab wound. Stephen pointed his finger to where she should inject the needle.
"I've... I've never seen a wound like this before. What were you stabbed with?"
"I don't know."
Back in the sanctum, the henchmen was still fighting with the cloak. He suddenly projected himself into his astral form, leaving his body limp with the cloak. The henchman looked behind him at the portal that Stephen had left open and floated through it. He followed the trail of blood through the hallway, unseen by the doctors and nurses in the hall. He floated through a wall and made eye contact with Stephen.
"There was another ghost in the room with us?" Christine squealed, shocked.
"It's not a ghost, it's an astral projection." Stephen corrected.
"Same difference."
"I'm going to have to vanish now." Stephen said to Christine.
"No, I…"
"Keep me alive, will you?" Stephen said before disappearing.
"Okay! Okay. Uh huh. Okay."
The henchmen and Stephen fought; they threw each other across the room and kicked and punched. On hit from the henchmen sent Stephen flying backwards, moving a cart next to Christine slightly and causing her to flinch. The henchmen kept lunging for Stephens unconscious body, but his astral form kept pulling him away. Slowly, each punch Stephen threw was weaker, and the henchmen found it easier and easier to attack him. One last punch to the head left Stephen floating with his eyes rolled back in his head.
The heart beat monitor next to Christine went still, letting out one long 'beep'.
"No! That beep noise means you're gonna die!" Peter said. "I dont want you to die!"
"He's gonna be fine." Tony said.
"Spoilers!" Clint shouted. Tony swatted the incoming pillow to the ground without looking away from the screen.
"Stephen, come on." She readied the defibrillator and pressed them against Stephens chest.
As soon as she defibrillated him, Stephens astral forms eyes shot open. In a blast of electricity he sent the henchmen flying. Stephen looked at his hands for a moment before materializing next to Christine.
"So that's why you wanted me to keep shocking you." Christine said.
"Hit me again!" He said. Christine screamed and jumped back again.
"Stop doing that!"
"Up the voltage and hit me again."
"No, your heart is beating!"
"Just do it!"
Cristine prepared the defilibrator and prepared to shock him again. Stephen grabbed the Henchen and forced them against the wall. Christine pressed the defibrillator against his chest and shocked him again. With another, more powerful, burst of electricity Stephen knocked back the Henchmen. Hard.
Back at the sanctum the henchmen's body started jerking around.
Stephen astral form sent all the electricity he had to the Henchmen, and suddenly, the henchmen's astral form disintegrated.
Back at the sanctum, the henchmen's head rolled to the sided, and his empty eyes stared straight ahead, unmoving.
"Did you just…" Christine gasped.
"It… that was an accident…" Stephen said slowly. "I never meant to do… that…"
"Doctor, don't you know it's not polite to kill people?" Peter scolded. "You should be ashamed. You can't just do that."
"It was an accident." Stephen argued.
"It's impolite." Peter said.
Cristine looked at stephen unconscious form warily. Suddenly his eyes shot open and he gasped loudly.
"Oh god!" He cried.
"Are you ok?" Christine asked. Stephen turned his head and smiled at her weakly.
"Hey there." He smiled.
Christine stitched up his wound and shook her head. "Okay. After all this time, you just show up here, flying out of your body?"
"Yeah, I know. I missed you too, by the way. I wrote you emails, but you never responded."
"Why would I?" She said sadly.
"Christine, I am so, so sorry. For all of it. And you were right, I was a complete jerk. I treated you so horribly and you deserved so much more."
"Stop." Christine raised a hand to stop him before turning back to the wound. "You... you're clearly in shock. I mean, what the heck is happening? Where have you been?"
"Well, after Western medicine failed me, I headed East, and I ended up in Kathmandu."
"Kathmandu?"
"Yeah."
"What, like the Bob Seger song?"
"1975, Beautiful Loser, side A. And then, I went to a place called Kamar-Taj and I talked to someone called the Ancient One, and…"
"Oh. So you joined a cult."
The group laughed again, and a few people shot Christine amused glances.
"No, I didn't. Not exactly. I mean, they did teach me to tap into powers that I never even knew existed."
"Yeah, that sounds like a cult."
"It's not a cult."
"Well, that's what a cultist would say."
"She has a point." Tony shrugged. "Mister Doctor: The Cultist."
"It is not a cult." Stephen sighed. "And don't call me Mister Doctor."
"That's exactly what a cultist would say." Peter whispered.
Stephen groaned and sunk low into his seat. This was gonna be a long day.
Stephen turned his head and laughed, but then look of dread filled his face. "Oh, no." He whispered. He turned and pulled himself into a sitting position before swingin his legs of the table.
"Wait, Stephen... what do you think you're doing?"
"I'm late for a cult meeting." Stephen smiled and made weak, unsteady steps towards the door. Christine slipped her shoulder under his arm and helped him walk down the hallway.
"This is insane." she sighed.
"Yeah."
"Where are you going?"
"Uhm…"
"Just tell me the truth?
"Well, a powerful sorcerer, who gave himself over to an ancient entity who can bend the very laws of physics, tried very hard to kill me, but I left him chained up in Greenwich Village, and the quickest way back there is through a dimensional gateway that I opened up in the mop closet." Stephen pointed to the entrance of the mop closet.
More people laughed.
"Yeah, that doesn't sound far fetched at all." Sam said sarcastically.
"I was telling the truth." Stephen shrugged.
"Okay. Don't tell me. Fine." She shrugged her shoulders.
Stephen smiled and pushed open the door of the closet, revealing the portal. Christine gasped and looked at it with wide eyes.
Stephen leapt through the portal and turned to her. "I really do have to go."
Stephen backed away and closed the portal behind him. Christine slowly turned around and stood there for a moment. Suddenly, a mop fell down and hit the ground with a crash, causing Christine to jump back and scream.
"Ooh, a mop! Scary!" Clint teased. Nat glared at him and whacked him over the head with a pillow.