Home Is Where The Heart Is

24

Eventually, after almost an hour of doing absolutely nothing and messing around like complete idiots, you all hop inside the portal to the multiversal sanctum.

Sorcerer Ned and a Doctor Strange had gone to chat in an office whilst you waited outside of it like some school kids waiting to see the principal after misbehaving.

It seemed that the tag you'd found on the beast was very interesting to them and clearly more important than you originally thought.

I mean, it was just a piece of metal.

You guessed that it must have some sort of significance to the creatures owner and universe destroyer, Geurok or whatever her name was.

You wondered what she'd look like in real life even though you hoped you'd never have to meet her.

The waiting room was quiet although there were other people as well as you and your friends.

Some looked friendly and some looked the complete opposite.

You try giving a smile to a child sat in the corner but when he saw you he turned his face inside out, revealing a fleshy mesh of teeth and bones.

You flinch a little, making the child smirk as if pleased by what he'd done.

Maybe the people around weren't as nice as you originally thought. Maybe they were bad people from around the multiverse?

You feel your throat tightening just as Peter 3 spoke and broke the silence.

"So how long are we going to sit here for? Because.. you know.. it's kind of a pain having to be silent for so long."

"We don't have to be silent," Peter 2 says shrugging, "There aren't any rules here. At least, I don't think so."

"Maybe we-" You stop speaking as the door to the office swings open, revealing a shocked Doctor Strange and a bewildered sorcerer Ned.

The Doctor Strange looked very similar to the one from Peter 1's universe but you weren't in any place to assume. The multiverse was a complicated place.

He held the tag you had taken from the monster and was holding it up in the air as if to display it.

"These tags.." Doctor Strange says, looking almost stressed, "They.. they're important."

He quickly opened a portal and raced through it, returning after thirty seconds with not just one but crate-full of tags.

It was quite a funny thought to imagine Doctor Strange running around and ripping tags from dead carcasses across the multiverse but now wasn't the time for that.

He started magic them into the air, mixing them around and trying to find an order.

"What are they like hieroglyphics?" Peter 1 asks, touching one of the floating tablets.

"Sort of." Doctor Strange says, scrapping the order and starting again.

"Can you read them?" You ask, eyes wide with curiosity.

"When they're in order." Doctor Strange says, continuing to meddle.

After a long ten or so minutes, Doctor Strange finally stepped away from his work and clapped his hands together in delight.

"What is it?" Sorcerer Ned asks, "What does it say?"

"It..." Doctor Strange squinted a little, looking at the tags in disbelief, "It's a location."

"Where?" Peter 1 asks, "And why?"

"I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that it could be where Geurok is?" You say, not wanting to sound stupid in front of all the inter-dimensional wizards.

Doctor Strange took a deep breath before admitting, "Actually, I think you're right."

"Well there's only one way to find out for sure."