A/N: I can't believe Multiverse of Madness came out two months ago. Time really flies. Super hyped for Thor: Love and Thunder this week!
Disclaimer: I do not have DID. This portrayal is based on internet research with the intent of writing it true to the character and with respect.
Steven cradled a hot cup of tea in his hands, watching the steam rise from its surface. The ghost of a dog stared at him with big soulful eyes. Other than the dog, he was alone in the room, which was rather cozy with armchairs and a fireplace, though it was too warm for it to be lit. Antiques decorated the mantle. Even the tea tray that sat in front of him looked at least a hundred years old.
Gingerly, Steven reached out to pet the dog and felt a twinge of disappointment when his hand passed right through.
"We're in a lot of trouble," Steven breathed.
Yeah. Yup, was about to say the same thing, Marc replied. That bastard lied to us. We still belong to Khonshu. Marc really wanted to hit something which meant Steven also wanted to hit something. He put down the teacup because it would be a shame to break it, and slammed a fist into the side of the chair. The dog didn't seem fazed.
"And we're not alone," Steven added. He ran his hands through his hair and huffed out an unamused laugh. "Just when I thought we'd got everything sorted. I even cleaned up the flat and everything." A life without Khonshu in it, one where he could just be a normal bloke with a normal job. Of course he should have known that was too good to be true.
I can't hear him, Marc said. Not like I could hear you at first. You were this…this feeling. I'm not getting that from…
"Yeah, me neither." He just wanted to go home. He didn't want to be in some wizard's house drinking tea. This wasn't right.
The far door creaked open and the wizard appeared. The dog got up and trotted over to him. "I watched him for you, Doc. His heart's a lot calmer now."
"Good boy." The wizard's hand twitched as if he'd been about to ruffle the dog's ears then thought better of it. "How do you like the tea?"
Steven grabbed the cup if only to keep his hands occupied. "'s good," he said and took a small sip. It really was, especially with that touch of honey. He ignored the underlying coffee craving, which was Marc's.
"I'm Dr. Stephen Strange." The man took a seat opposite him. "You're not Marc, are you?"
That was exactly what he needed. Another doctor. Maybe this one would diagnose him with insanity and lock him up in a padded cell for his own good. Sounded quite nice, actually. Marc sent him disapproving vibes. "It's Steven Grant, actually. Steven with a V," he added automatically. They had the same first name. That was weird.
Not that weird, Marc said.
"Steven Grant, people don't steal from the Sanctum."
Steven winced. "I'm sorry. That was my…" How could he admit there was an alter inside him, someone he knew nothing about? He'd been labeled crazy for less.
"The item you tried to steal is a relic known as the Third Eye of Horus," Dr. Strange explained. He reached out a hand and plucked an object out of thin air. A bird mask in gold and lapis lazuli. "Do you know anything about this?"
Steven tapped a finger against the teacup. "The eye of Horus is a symbol for protection in Egyptian mythology. It refers to the sky god Horus. But why…?" Why did Khonshu want it? Steven had the weird urge to grab the object out of the doctor's hand but he fought it down.
Dr. Strange nodded. "This relic, when worn, lets the wearer see things normally unseen."
"What kind of things?" Marc asked.
"The paths of magic, auras, beings outside the physical realm and the shadows they leave behind. Spider-Man told me he and your alter had an encounter with a sorcerer this afternoon. I looked into it and your alter was telling the truth about the people who died. Some of them were sorcerers who'd gone missing years ago. They were all servants of Dormammu and should be locked in the Dark Dimension but clearly not."
"Why are you telling me this?" Marc put the teacup down. He wished it were coffee instead. Or maybe something stronger. Yeah, way stronger after the day he'd had. He kept expecting the furniture to start flying around the room again.
"Because he saw something that needed fixing where I didn't. If he had looked through this, he would have seen where that sorcerer drew his power. Dormammu."
I've never heard of that one, Steven said.
"Who is that?"
Dr. Strange sat back, examining the relic in his hands. "A being of immense power and a threat to this universe and others." Marc couldn't help but notice the old scarring along his hands and the way they trembled almost imperceptibly.
"It doesn't have anything to do with me," Marc said. "This life, fighting gods, I gave it up."
"Not all of you did."
Marc pressed his lips together and ignored Steven's urge to fidget. "Whoever he is, he doesn't matter. You can keep your Horus. I'm glad you stopped him because I don't want him to succeed. You hear me, Khonshu? I want you to fail. I want you to get out of my life." There was no answer from Khonshu. Figured. The coward.
"I see. In that case, thank you for the warning and I'd appreciate if you didn't come back."
"Wasn't planning on it." Marc stood and headed for the door.
But maybe he could help us, Steven insisted.
Like Doc Harrow helped us?
I'm just. I'm tired of fighting Khonshu alone.
Marc missed a step. "You're not alone."
You know what I mean. Steven's anxiety prickled. What if there's more?
Now Marc did stop. More of us, he was saying. How many fragments had his trauma-riddled past broken him into? Who was he when even he didn't know anymore?
He can't help us. They'd figured each other out, hadn't they? They'd just have to do it again.
But last time we had to die.
Dr. Strange followed him out into the foyer where the others were chatting. They stopped to stare at him as he walked past. He stuffed his hands in his pockets. The girl looked like she wanted to say something to him, then redirected to Dr. Strange at the last second.
"Hey Stephen, can I order pizza?" the girl asked.
"Sure."
"Sweet. Are you…?"
"Not staying," Marc answered. When he got to the door, the doctor's Cloak was already pulling it open for him. There was a time he would have found it weird. As it was, he was glad to get out of there. He needed room to breathe and time to think. He wanted to go straight back home and resume his life but this kind of problem wasn't just going to go away on its own.
Marc walked down the street to a little bakery, ordered coffee, put Steven's preferred amount of cream in it by mistake, and sat on a bench outside to drink it.
"We don't have to die," Marc said. "There are healthier ways to deal with it." Like the therapist they'd left behind in London.
I just keep thinking, wherever he is, he's not afraid.
Marc watched cars zip by, driven by normal people living their normal lives. He'd thought things would get better now that the two of them had learned to see eye-to-eye but the problems kept surfacing. He'd cleaned up the flat, managed to maintain it for two days, and then lost all motivation to keep it that way. He spent way too much time searching for his phone and doing his shopping only to find out the shopping had already been done. He had nightmares about dying. It wasn't always Harrow who killed him. Most times it was a stranger with dark eyes.
I'm scared what it'll mean, Steven said. Khonshu was a whole 'nother level of stress he did not need right now. Things had been so much easier when he was just a guy who worked in a gift shop. The coffee didn't seem to be working too well because he was so tired. What he wouldn't give for a good night's sleep, such a rarity these days.
Steven glanced to his left and nearly had a heart attack when he saw the kid sitting next to him. He would have sloshed coffee on himself except the cup was now a third full.
"Whoa. Geez, are you okay?" It was the kid from the wizard's house. He wore a jacket and jeans now.
Steven glanced around, noted he hadn't moved from his place on the bench. "Who are you?"
"Um. Peter?" he said like he wasn't sure himself. "I was just saying that Stephen, er, Dr. Strange isn't really that mad and if you don't want to, like, travel, he can portal you home."
"What?" Now that he was back in control, he scowled and internally directed the look at Marc. Anger rolled through him. Where was he?
"Oh it's just this thing he does," Peter explained, making a circular gesture with one hand. "He can magically teleport you anywhere."
The little wave of anger washed away as quickly as it came over him. "Really?"
"I'm not going back there," Marc said, cutting off whatever Peter was about to say.
Marc! What happened?
Don't ask me. You got distracted.
"If you don't want to talk to Dr. Strange, we can go to America. She knows how to do the portal thing. Man, I be that's really convenient. I wonder if I can get him to show me how to do that."
"Look, Peter, I get you're trying to be helpful," Marc said. "And I appreciate it. But let's leave it, alright?"
"Oh. Um. Okay." He looked disappointed. He wasn't the only one. Steven was absolutely dying to see the portal thing.
"Uh-oh," Peter said, standing up. "I think you're going to regret sticking around for the coffee."
Marc scrunched his brow and was about to ask why but the answer came readily enough.
A solitary man strode down the street with the air of someone for whom the rules didn't apply. Cars came rushing down the street in both directions and he thought for sure he was about to witness the guy becoming a pancake. But as soon as any vehicle neared him, there was a disorienting shift and the car zoomed right by without touching him. This happened again and again, each car he would swear was on a collision course just scooted harmlessly out of the way. The whole street was moving, stretching along the middle where the man walked so that each car continued on either side of him before their lanes snapped back into alignment past him. The drivers seemed oblivious to the shift.
As if sensing their stares, the man looked right at Marc. The skin around his eyes was stained purple and the intensity of his gaze rooted him to the spot.
I've seen him, Steven whispered. He was in our dream.
The man kept walking and it didn't take a genius to figure out where he was going.
Peter moved first, walking down the sidewalk and keeping pace with the man, always keeping him in sight.
Neither Marc nor Steven wanted to stick around but Khonshu must have known what he was doing when he picked them as his avatar. Neither could leave a possibly volatile situation alone, it seemed. And besides, they wanted to know why they had dreamed of a man they'd never met.
"Even gods are not enough," the stranger had said to them. He'd killed them in a flash of light.
Marc matched Peter's steps, keeping a careful watch on the man who's powers didn't seem to be hurting anyone. The way he subtly shifted space around him should have been impossible.
Sure enough, the man's steps took him to the Sanctum. The door opened and Dr. Strange stepped out as if he'd sensed his approach. He warily stepped down onto the sidewalk but didn't do anything magical. Maybe there wasn't going to be a fight after all.
I love your optimism, Marc said.
I don't really trust Khonshu to save us a second time, Steven replied.
Third time.
"You're looking well for a corrupted, Mindless One, Kaecilius," Dr. Strange called out lightly. "Or I could just call you out for what you really are. Dormammu. What's with the puppet act?"
"My followers gave themselves to me in exchange for power," Kaecilius or Dormammu or whatever said in a grating voice that could not have been good on the vocal cords. "With them, I can go anywhere in your worlds."
"Okay, you have my attention. Now what do you want?"
Kaecilius/Dormammu put his hands behind his back and stood casually in the middle of the street as if this were the most normal thing in the world. "This multiverse is full of potential. Worlds without end all at my fingertips. Yet all out of reach just the same. My followers are willing but they are weak. Their bodies crumble. I require a vessel more…substantial."
Dr. Strange actually laughed. Marc didn't see what was so funny. "You came here to take my body? You'll find that a hard fight to win."
"Don't flatter yourself, Doctor. Your body would turn to dust in an instant. The one I require is stronger. You're going to help me get it."
"Mmm, I think not."
"I could always try on one of your allies, then. Maybe I'll try my luck and I won't shatter their minds. Do you think that girl is strong enough?"
Dr. Strange's expression hardened in an instant and he shifted his posture, better to protect the teen at his side. She and the other young man stood in the shadow of the doorway watching the proceedings.
"No, she's weak like you. So is that one. And that one." He turned so Marc could better see his face. By Marc's side, Peter stiffened.
Then Kaecilius' gaze fixed on Marc and he hesitated. "Strange. There is power inside you. It could be enough." He blinked and cocked his head. "I killed you. In another universe, another you begged for your life. I didn't grant it to him."
What is he talking about? Steven asked. Another universe? Wasn't it enough that aliens and superheroes were real and hell, even the Egyptian gods were real. Yeah, okay, other universes weren't so farfetched now, come to think of it.
"Hey, you're talking to me now," Dr. Strange said. Trying to take Kaecilius' attention away from Marc? "We've done this dance before and that gained you nothing."
"But now you've lost you're bargaining tool. You don't have the power to stop me." His voice cracked under the strain of Dormammu's voice. "None of you have the power to stop me. Even gods are not enough." He thrust out a hand and power exploded in his palm, sending white light searing toward Marc.
It's the dream was all he could think.
Pavement slammed into Marc's shoulder at the same time the beam of light shot straight up into the air and shut off. He was alive. At least he thought he was alive. Was he alive?
I think so, Steven confirmed.
"You're okay, you're okay," Peter said. Somehow he must have pushed Marc out of the way. He bolted upright.
Kaecilius had lost his footing but not by accident. Five orange glowing streaks of light hurled from Kaecilius like freak Frisbees. The young man caught them on his arm and as they lost their glow, Marc saw they were rings. Whoa.
"This world and everyone in it is protected," Dr. Strange said. "You attack any of them, you deal with us."
"I have more followers than those you saw that day," Kaecilius said, getting to his feet. His voice was rapidly descending into a whisper. "I took them as per our deal but that no longer suits me. Like I said, you lack the power to enforce your will on me. My followers could be anywhere and through them, I exist. In all universes where mortals worship me. You can't be everywhere at once but I can. I can kill you in universe after universe. I can kill your loved ones over and over and over." Again he looked over at Marc. "You are the only one here worthy of the challenge. Most times you didn't die alone. There was always a woman."
Marc froze. He couldn't be implying what Marc though he was implying. Sometimes in his dreams, there was screaming and it wasn't his own.
"Sometimes she begs for your life and offers hers in exchange. I oblige her and then kill you anyway. Maybe I'll find her in your universe and make you watch."
When Marc came to, he was in the middle of the road. Cars zoomed past him but none of them hit. He felt…off. Sounds struck him at odd angles and echoed unnaturally.
"Steven?" His knuckles ached with the familiar pain of punching things. He looked down to find them bloodied.
Steven hesitated. It was him, wasn't it?
Marc swallowed. "Yeah."
Everyone else was gathered around and looked a little worse for wear themselves. Peter had a scratch along his forehead and the girl had a split lip. Kaecilius was on the ground, looking very unwell. In a daze, Marc wandered over.
"You have won nothing," Kaecilius whispered.
"What are you talking about? We just kicked your butt," the girl said. "That wasn't even a fair fight."
"And you can forget about marching your other followers to my door or anyone else's," Dr. Strange added. "I won't help you."
"Ah but that's…the thing," Kaecilius breathed. "You already…have." With a sigh, his body collapsed into itself, skin going dry and gray before flaking into dust.
"That's…not good, is it?" Peter said.
"It's like he didn't care if we beat him," the young man said. "He didn't try very hard. Except when he tried to kill you."
All eyes turned to Marc. Were they expecting some kind of explanation? An admission of guilt? The revelation that he was apparently having prophetic dreams now and had foreseen his own attempted murder?
He shrugged. "I've no idea," said Steven.
"He said you were a god. But that's crazy…right?"
"You saw how he wailed on the guy," the girl muttered, not quietly enough to escape his attention.
Great. Now we're wailing on people, Marc said.
You always did that.
At least I remembered doing it. But this…not a fan.
Now you know how I felt.
Marc had no reply for that.
"It's…complicated," Steven said. Talk about understatement of the year. Where did he even begin? With the alters, with his resurrection, or with the literal god living in his head, a god he had expressly told to get lost?
"Nevertheless, the fact that Dormammu killed you in other universes just proves my theory." Dr. Strange slipped something over his fingers and spun a sparkly ring of energy over the curb. He stepped through.
"What theory?" The girl followed him. There seemed to be no ill effects and since everyone else went through, Steven followed. The portal thing didn't seem to have teleported them anywhere but the air felt somewhat different and noise carried more clearly.
"That we're not on our own and that's why Dormammu will lose. Because we know a thing or two about the multiverse and that gives us an edge."
"So your plan to recruit the Avengers," the young man said, "It's because you want to go after him and his followers. You want to stop him in other universes?"
Dr. Strange opened the heavy doors to the Sanctum. "It's not about stopping him. Dormammu's right. We can't be everywhere at once. But maybe we can see everywhere."
Steven hesitated on the doorstep. This wasn't supposed to happen. He was supposed to find a new job, go to therapy, and take Layla out somewhere nice. This was…
We don't have to go, Marc said. We can turn back and forget this ever happened.
They could, yeah. But… I think we have to, Steven said. I think…if things go bad and we didn't do anything to stop it, it's like it'll be our fault.
Marc sighed. Alright, alright. I should've known a normal life was too much to ask for.
Steven's lip twitched into a small grin. When had they ever been normal? With a shake of the head, he stepped over the threshold and entered the Sanctum.
For better or worse, they were all in now.