The White Phoenix 12: A Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Fanfiction

Chapter 6: The Illuminati Will See You Now

Stephen awoke, seeing the glowing cuffs lit up with a green glow on his wrists. He stood to his feet to see America banging on the clear wall of the cell next to him. When he turned, America turned to him. 

'This universe sucks,' she said. 

'Ditto,' a voice said, and Stephen turned to see Adelaide with a power restraining collar around her neck and the same green cuffs on her wrists. Stephen looked around. 

'Cloak?' he called out. He tried to do some magic but was unsuccessful. He turned to me. 'Did you try your magic?' 

'Been there, done that,' I said with a humourless chuckle. He sighed in anger, and turned to the clear glass, knocking on it to get the attention of one of the scientists working below him. 

'Hey, hey. Labcoat. Where the hell are we? Look, I don't know who you are or what you think you're trying to do here, but... These situations don't usually work out for a nameless scientist, so just...' A woman turned around, causing Stephen to stall in his tracks. 'Christine?' 

'Hello, Stephen,' she said softly. 

America Chavez muttered something in Spanish upon seeing the scientist. I stood.

'You know her?' I asked.

'Miss Chavez, Miss Lehnsherr,' she said to the both of us, and my brows furrowed at the greeting. 'To answer your question, you are in a highly secure research facility. The three of you, along with your sentient cloak... are here for surveillance and testing.'

'Testing?' Stephen asked in confusion.

'Well, yes. You're visitors from another universe. Your magnetic signatures could be radioactive - you may be carrying diseases we just don't have treatments for. Hence these amazing polycarbonate fish bowls.'

'Oh hell no!' I shouted, banging on the glass. 'You will let me out of here, woman! I did not sign up to this to play lab rat.'

'Unfortunately I can't do that.'

'Fuck,' I growled, and went to sit in a corner of my personal cell, still glaring at Christine.

'I assume I have you to thank for these, then,' Stephen said, gesturing to the green glowing cuffs.

'Yes. I developed those using the Sands of Nisanti. One of 838 Stephen's magical relics.'

'838 Stephen? Is that some kind of cyborg me, or...' Stephen asked, now in visible confusion.

'Our universe is 838, and we've designated yours 616.'

'So, wait - there's more of me?' I asked. 'Like there's more of him?'

'You guys sure know a lot about the multiverse, if you've got someone going around naming realities.'

'Yes. Me,' she said. Stephen and I looked at each other, then at her. 'I'm a senior fellow with the Baxter Foundation, and I specialise in multiversal research.'

'So, how'd you end up working here? Wherever here is,' Stephen asked.

'I volunteered,' Christine replied simply. 'At your funeral.'

'Thank you for going.'

'Your injuries,' she said, pulling up a scan of Stephen's hands from the car accident, they're similar, but not identical. It's fascinating.'

'What were we to each other in this universe?' Stephen asked.

'We never quite figured that out.'

'Yeah... Well, that's something we got in common.' She softly chuckled. 'Christine, you've got to let us out of here. Everyone's in real danger. Look, I know you don't know me...'

'And I don't want to,' she snapped. 'Whatever I was to you in your universe does not matter.'

'Why not?' She sighed, stepping up to his box, looking up at him.

'Because you're dangerous, Stephen.' Stephen knelt to meet her eyes.

'Someone from my universe wants that girl -' Stephen replied, 'and she's gonna rip this place apart atom by atom... until she gets what she wants. So I don't care if you're the Avengers or SHIELD...'

'We're neither,' a voice said, and we all looked to see Karl Mordo enter the room with a bunch of robots that looked oddly familiar.

'Then what?' I stood. 'Are you HYDRA?'

'The Illuminati will see you now,' he said.

'The Illumi-what-y?' I asked. Suddenly, mine and Stephen's cuffs stitched together via a short bar. Our doors opened and the robots came up to us.

'Don't let anyone hurt that kid,' Stephen said sharply to Christine. She said nothing as the bots led us out with Mordo in the lead. He turned to America. 'It's going to be okay.'

Meanwhile...

A portal opened on top of a snowy mountain, and the Sorcerer Supreme, Wong, followed by Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, stepped through. The wind and snow blew all around them, but it wasn't so intense. Ahead of them, they saw a mountain that looked unnatural. Something that was carved into the side of the mountain.

'You couldn't portal us up there?' Wanda asked impatiently.

'My magic can only take us so far. Masters of the Mystic Arts weren't meant to tread upon the forbidden grounds of Wundagore.' Wanda's hands flamed with magic, and she levitated herself and Wong to the heart of the mountain. They landed at the entrance, walking inside. 'Eons ago, the first demon, Chthon, carved his dark magic into this tomb,' Wong explained. 'These same spells were later transcribed into the Darkhold.' Wanda held up her hand, a eerie red light emanating from her hand and leading the way through the forgotten structure. 'There's no telling what soulless monstrosities lie within.' Turning, she lit all of the large bowls with fire, and Wong moved backwards slightly in surprise when a large monster roared at him. He opened up his shields, and Wanda levitated onto the large rock platform, preparing for the inevitable fight. Unexpectedly, upon seeing her, the monsters knelt at the edge of the platform.

'They've been waiting for me,' she said, then turned to the inscription on the wall behind her. The Scarlet Witch was engraved into the wall. 'This isn't a tomb. It's a throne,' she said, lighting her chaos magic again.