To say that Steven Grant was astonished to find a sparkly orange portal smack in the middle of his flat would have been a huge understatement, because even after everything that had happened, even after Harrow and Ammit and his death in the Duat, Steven had never expected anything of what was happening.
Steven gawked, hands shaking awkwardly and mouth agape as the portal hissed and snarled like a wild cat. It was just big enough for him to fit through, displaying the front doors of what Steven could only assume was the New York Sanctum Sanctorum on the other side. He took a tentative step forward. Then another, suddenly aware that he was still in his bedware.
"Steven?" Marc called, and Steven turned to find him standing wearily behind the closest mirror. The system had opted to keep a lot of those for convenience. "What's going on?"
"Morning sleepyhead." Steven greeted. "Looks like Doctor Strange wants us to pay him a visit." he said, unable to hide the amused excitement bubbling up in his throat. Marc perked at that, standing straighter behind Steven's reflection, his eyebrows furrowing with intent.
"Steven, switch with me." he said. Steven hesitated.
"That would be alright now, wouldn't it?" he said, pushing back his disappointment. "I mean, why should you get to meet them, eh?"
"What do you mean? You aren't seriously saying what I think you're saying, are you?"
"I mean, yeah." Steven said with a shrug. "I mean, I could suit up, get all Mister Knight and all that. I doubt they've seen us before so-"
"And what? When the bloodshed starts what are you gonna do?"
"I-"
"Leave this stuff to me, Steven. This is what I'm good at."
"What, teamwork?"
"Steven."
Steven pouted, turning back towards the portal with a considerably less amount of excitement.
"Alright… Alright, alright." he said, reluctantly allowing his mind to fall back into the headspace.
-----
Marc both relished and resented the sensation of fronting, focusing minutely on the ground beneath his feet. He could sense Steven's presence seep into the dark, and notice Jake's grow closer, ever protective over the system. He could feel the wrap of his suit snaking around his body, forming around his arms and face, Konshu's looming presence growing stronger as it did.
"Are you sure you want to do this, my son?" the bird-faced deity asked, and Marc turned away from the portal to look him in the face.
"The world may be at stake." was all he said, and Konshu seemed to understand.
"Then go knowing that I will protect you." he answered, and if the god weren't such a jerk all the time, Marc would have actually smiled in response. Instead, he nodded his head, turning around and stepping onto the other side of the portal.
Marc didn't bother knocking, reaching out to push open the wooden doors when all of a sudden he was stumbling forward. The doors were gone. He was in a room filled with unfamiliar faces, and they were all tilted at him.
"Off to a great start already, bud." Jake said, and Marc cursed the man under his breath. He looked up at the small crowd seated before him, immediately catching the eyes of Doctor Stephen Strange. They were situated in a room similar to where Strange had taken him during their last encounter, but bigger, with twice the amount of armchairs and a plushy green couch backed against the wall. Strange smirked.
"Moon Knight." he said almost jovially. "Glad to see you could make it."
Marc didn't satisfy Strange with an answer, regaining his posture and peering around the room. Most of the figures were foreign to him, and out of the six— excluding Strange, he recognized one; Captain America, Sam Wilson. Formerly known as the Falcon, the man sat immediately to Strange's right, his shiny American shield a bright beacon in the otherwise damp setting. Marc could feel Steven come up to the forefront, his excitement meddling into Marc's irritation to create an emotion he couldn't put into a word.
Beside Captain America was a man with long wavy hair and a messy stubble. Marc glanced over a metal arm, quickly turning his gaze away as Steven reminded him that it was rude to stare. He shortly took inventory of the rest of the group; A girl in a denim jacket, another in a purple sport-suit with a bow rested at her side. A boy in blue and red spandex and a woman with short blonde hair sipping at a bottle of whiskey. Overall, not what he had expected of the supposed 'team'.
"Have a seat." Strange urged, gesturing towards a bright red armchair, and this time Marc obliged.
"So. Anyone mind filling me in?"
"We're still waiting for someone." Strange said without missing a beat, and as if on cue, the door to Marc's left swung open to reveal a tall Asian man plaid in a material Marc didn't recognize and a woman dressed in similar fashion carrying a bow. They were followed by a shorter, balder man in deep maroon robes.
"Took you long enough, Wong." Strange said in greeting, and the other clicked his tongue, guiding his companions to their seats.
"You are too impatient." he hissed.
"Well, now that we're all here-"
"Excuse me, umm, Stephen." the spandex kid piped up, raising his hand like a student trying to grab his teacher's attention. "But, what exactly are we here for?"
"Like I explained to each of you individually, the multiverse is in danger." Strange answered, turning his head irritably. "Beings not of this dimension are finding ways to crawl their way into our world. What we have on our hands is a multiversal war-"
"Hold on."
The blonde placed her now empty bottle of whiskey on the table, her accent prominently Russian.
"But some of us aren't the best equipped for a- a multiversal war as you so put it. Not everyone is as magical as you."
"And that's why you guys will be fighting on the ground." Strange said. "Me, Chavez, Wong and others will be in charge of everything else."
He gestured to the girl in denim to his left, and she waved awkwardly at the crowd, a cheeky grin making its way to her features.
"Why the kid? No offense." the Asian man asked, and Strange sighed.
"The kid has the ability to traverse the multiverse, a skill that will obviously come in handy." he said. "Anything else?"
Marc kept quiet, as did the rest of the team, and Strange took that as a sign to continue.
"The reason I gathered all of you here is because in this multiveral war, there will no doubt be casualties. As Yelena said, most of you aren't equipped for what's in store, so I won't ask any of you to come with me. If I'm being honest, you'll just be in the way."
Marc tensed, quietly sitting up and leaning back.
"You are here because when it all comes down, our reality will be in real, physical danger. Something you all specialize in. You are here to do what you do best; Protect the earth."
Strange ended there, and for a minute, there was only silence.
"I know this is a lot to take in." the man in the maroon robes— Wong, spoke up. "But we are counting on you to keep the casualties to a minimum."
"What caused this?" Marc asked, surprised by his own brashness.
"Excuse me?"
"What caused this? I mean, this couldn't have just happened, right?"
Strange bit his lower lip, looking between Wong and Chavez before answering.
"A lot of things, Mister Spector-"
"Nah, nah. Don't give me that freaking crypticism. I want to know the reason I'm fighting."
The crowd stirred, and all eyes seemed to turn to Strange expectantly, awaiting his response. Strange took in a deep breath and held it in.
"I didn't lie when I said a lot of things, Marc." he practically snarled, the use of Marc's first name leaving Marc a bit agitated himself. "One of those things… is me. I used a spell, one of a dangerous nature and high caliber, but I can't remember why I used it."
"Hold on hold on." the purple archer said. "You're saying you caused this?"
"To… some extent, yes."
"Great. So, what? We're supposed to clean up your mess, Strange?"
Captain America stood from his seat, and the doctor shook his head.
"You're supposed to protect this world." he said. "Now, I don't expect you to forgive me. I don't need any of you to like me, I just need you to comply. Is that understood?"
The silence returned, much more excruciating than it had been the last time, and once again, it was Marc who spoke up.
"Yeah." he said. "Whatever."
"Good… I promise I am doing everything I can I… I just need… I just need a little help."
He sounded exhausted, irritated, and defeated, desperation spilling from his lips like rain from the sky, and for a split second, Marc felt a pang of sympathy for the guy.
"Well, now that that's settled, I suppose there's nothing else to discuss. We'll meet again tomorrow to acquaint ourselves and discuss tactics, if that is alright with you all."
Everyone nodded, either too confused or too exhausted to answer verbally. Marc was a mixture of both.
"Wong will escort you back to your respective portals." Strange said, and Wong snarked something about having to do everything himself under his breath before guiding the crowd through the hall. Marc purposefully secluded himself at the back of the crowd, taking a moment to catch his reflection in one of the shiny mystical jars.
"What you think?" he asked. "We sure we can do this?"
His reflection nodded at him, and he knew then that he was seeing Steven.
"I mean, honestly, Doctor Strange is a bit of a sod for messing up the multiverse and all that, but he seems like he's trying his best."
"You think so?"
"I do."
"And Jake agrees?"
"Not in the slightest, but he's too tired to argue right now."
Marc smirked, allowing a quiet chuckle before continuing after the crowd. He could only hope that things worked out.
