Quirks and magic

Chapter 17: That Which Corrupts

"Are you ready, Izuku?" Strange asked as he stood before his apprentice in the Sanctum's foyer, his back to the staircase. "We're still going to keep it small, staying within the confines of just my Sanctum for this exercise."

"I'm ready!" Izuku said with a firm nod. He was clad in his red apprentice tunic with his personal Cloak of Levitation clasped firmly around his shoulders.

Nodding back, Strange raised his right arm and gave a swift chop to the space before him. The air seemed to shatter like glass and Izuku's ears were filled with the sound of violent cracking. Izuku remained calm and stood his ground as the cracks spread outward, enveloping the entire visible room before churning and fading like a kaleidoscope that stopped working. Izuku knew the transition posed no danger to him or Strange, but phasing into the Mirror Dimension never ceased to fascinate him.

"The Mirror Dimension is the perfect training ground if you wish to prepare for an opponent like Ikiji," Strange said as he began hovering in the air. "In here I can manipulate space as readily as he can in the real world."

Strange raised two fingers and the entirety of the foyer began to undulate and ripple as if it had adopted a strictly fluid-like state. The ripples extended outward, with Strange as their epicenter. The foyer began to grow and stretch, the steps of the staircase trickling endlessly like a wild stream to the floorboards, which also burbled tumultuously.

Izuku steeled himself and focused his mind, syncing himself with his cloak as per Strange's instructions and allowing it to feel his crystal clear intent. Izuku jumped into the air as the burbling floorboards reached his feet and he managed to sustain levitation, his green cloak fluttering lightly behind him.

It's as I suspected, Izuku thought as he watched the ground beneath him wash away in a tumultuous sea of swirling tile. Ikiji can only spatially manipulate solid matter but not the air itself! If I remain levitating in the air then that should negate his advantage over the terrain!

"Feeling safe, Izuku?" Strange's voice sounded out from somewhere within the turbulent maelstrom he had created. Snapping back to attention, Izuku saw his master was nowhere to be seen; he had already hidden himself in the disorienting maze. "You may have long since figured out a limitation to spatial manipulation, but victory is by no means assured. You know the rules, Izuku!"

"Right!" Izuku responded. "Stay off the ground no matter what!"

The foyer had expanded rapidly and the staircase alone looked as if it were hundreds of feet wide, the elongated steps cascading down like stone rapids. Seemingly far behind him, the door into the Sanctum loomed large as if the Sanctum were now home to giants. The faraway walls and ceiling all rippled like water blown by wind, and Izuku knew he could be struck by anything and at anytime. And Doctor Strange was concealed in this dimension...somewhere. Waiting to be found, or waiting to strike.

Figuring he could maximize his advantage in the center of the room, Izuku flew in that direction, keeping his eyes and ears peeled for any sudden movement, though that was easier said than done when everything was seemingly moving.

"Placing yourself in the very center of the room?" Izuku could hear Strange's voice, but couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. "Not necessarily a bad strategy...if I were an amateur."

Izuku paled as the cascading staircase suddenly surged upward, rising far above him like a tiled tidal wave, nearly scraping against the ceiling as it accelerated back down.

"But placing yourself in the dead center of the room makes you equally susceptible to an attack from any direction!" Strange proclaimed as the stone wave crashed down, forcing Izuku to hurriedly fly through the tunnel to avoid capture.