No-One But You (The Zephyr Endeavor)
Chapter 73: The Beautiful People (Part 3)
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"STOP. TESTING. ME."
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Stephen Strange powered through the storm of his own illusion. The jig was up, so he started slowly approaching his baby brother. Stephen's approach came to a quick stop when he eventually heard the sound of his voice.
Victor was rejecting the reality that the former Sorcerer Supreme had conjured up. That rejection was paired with an outburst of sorts, and Stephen could see that he was very upset.
The baby Strange could feel his brother's immense energy as he entered his sense of space. Once again, that enormous presence had made its grand debut...
Victor dropped his hands from his eyes after some time, and he saw how his oldest sibling always looked… powerful, mighty... supreme.
That jealousy thing began to smolder around in Victor's mind like before, and these intrusive thoughts about their family started forming in his head once again…
There was always this, darkness… to Victor that had a tendency to show up when things weren't going right. Stephen could see it, and he felt it looming around his brother off and on as he grew up.
Channeling the Vishanti was a way to push out all of that darkness. Some might say it's the best way, and it's something that Donna and Stephen were always trying to accomplish.
The "former" Sorcerer Supreme slipped the two of them into the Mirror Dimension, so they could hopefully talk alone and get Victor's emotions in check…
He was testing him, so Stephen didn't bother speaking out against what was said. His little brother figured it out, and Stephen was afraid that it came at a cost…
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"Thor and I can't work together, Vic, so it was just a task to test the vibe…"
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"Fuck vibes, and fuck you. I'm not meant to do this, and you know it.."
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Victor's voice strengthened, and Stephen could feel it as if he was standing close. His brother was far away from him, and his body continued to float.
The Cloak of Levitation was holding him up, and it seemed like Victor's body wanted to sink down, or turn…
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"You are more than capable of being the Sorcerer Supreme, that's what you've been unable to see.."
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"You're so full of shit. I'm not YOU, and YOU'RE THE ONE who's supposed to be doing this. I'm not even supposed to be alive, remember?"
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Fucking JERK. Victor was very well aware that he was supposed to be DEAD and friggen buried. Donna was supposed to be dead, their PARENTS were supposed to be what? OH YEAH, DEAD…
Stephen slowly closed his eyes when he heard his brother speak. Once again, Stephen's selfish desire to keep his family alive was back to haunt him. He altered his own timeline, BUT he already paid the price for doing that….
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"Victor, you're supposed to be DEAD because you CAN be the Sorcerer Supreme. Agamotto doesn't want to be challenged, why can't you understand that?"
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Stephen knew that there was more to the story, and he could see that his brother was in too much mental pain…
His body even turned clockwise, literally like the hands of a clock while Stephen responded to their sudden argument. Victor had his arms crossed over his chest, and he was actually upside down as he listened to his brother. He stopped turning when Stephen's voice got all loud…
Victor kinda looked like … a bat boy, or something. Stephen had seen him do that at the Sanctum Santorum several times, when he was reading and stuff...
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"Stop fighting with me, because I know this has absolutely nothing to do with how you're really feeling. Something else has upset you, and you're taking this shit out on me.."
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Stephen wasn't going to let Victor behave like a damn brat. He wanted to spin his baby brother back into a "normal" position, but he didn't. The older brother just made a mental note about what he was seeing, and he pressed on..
Victor slowly arched an eyebrow as Stephen continued BARKING AT HIM, because his brother was technically right, yet technically, he was totally WRONG.
All of it upset him, but being tested like a child reminded him of some family bullshit that he wanted to rehash and bury.
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"I'm such a fucking failure, Stephen. Seriously… I don't know why you're putting so much faith in me, especially around Clea and Sofia. It'll probably get us all killed…. I just proved that to you today, but, you're not getting it.."
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There was… so much pressure, and Victor knew what he was doing, but being tested by his brother and pushed into doing it just rubbed him the wrong friggen way…
Clea could have actually died, because taking on someone like Hela was no joke. They all could have died today, if it was real..
That's why Victor decided to fight him, but inwardly the baby Strange wanted to retreat. He wanted to hide in his room, and more than anything, all he wanted to do… was… work stuff out.. with…
…
….
Oh, his baby heart couldn't take talking about what happened with his friendly ex-boyfriend/roommate, so… it felt better to address his thoughts about being the Sorcerer Supreme.
Stephen's emotions caught up with him in that moment as well, because what his brother said finally struck a chord. He heard his brother, and atleast a million different thoughts and scenarios began to play out in the sorcerer's mind…
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"I still need you with me, Vic, in some shape or form. You can't disappear on me, because I will be worried sick.."
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No fooling. Stephen could not have his brother slip into some sort of depressive void. He saw it coming in that moment, and thankfully, Victor's body started turning clockwise once again.
Stephen could actually look him in the eyes when he stepped in a little closer. His baby brother stopped fighting, and his face softened up just a bit…
Chapter: END
Thanks for reading.