The teaching of Time

Part 1

Stephen felt every vein in his body burn and burst, as Dormammu once again killed him, before the pain vanished, and he remained standing a few feet away from the entity.

He sighed, of all the ways to die, the last one was his least favorite. Dormammu has used hundred of different ways to kill him, each more painful than the last, but each repeating itself at some point or the other. Stabbing, impalement, reduced to atoms by his shouts, spikes piercing each and every inch of his skin, crushing him with his bare hands, boiling his blood until he felt everything in his body burn.

He sighed at that, of all the ways, he hated the boiled blood the most. The pain was excruciating. At least until he died, and the loop set again.

As it was now, Stephen looked at the spell on his forearm, ready to turn and fly to face the entity again, when he heard a sudden shout.

"Stop!"

He didn't give it another thought; his mind had been shouting it continuously with each passing second. And Stephen couldn't even guess from where he was getting this will to not just leave everything and go back.

So, he was surprised when he found out that he couldn't move, that everything around him had stopped.

"Why do you do this, again and again?" The voice questioned, and Stephen frowned, looking around.

"Who is this?" He asked out aloud, trying to find the source.

"It matters little." the voice said simply. "Why do you continue to sacrifice yourself again and again?"

Stephen thought to himself at that. Why was he doing it? Before the answer flashed in front of his eyes. Wong, his friend; Christine, the only constant he had in his life, the one he pushed away; the people back there, the innocents who would die if he didn't. "I can't let them all die. I can't let him win."

The voice released a sort of noise that could be interpreted as a pained grunt. "What do they give you in return? You keep dying for them. Yet none of them would know, none of them would even remember you. They won't honor your sacrifice!" The voice yelled at him, as if trying to get him to understand.

Stephen released another breath, "It isn't about me." He said simply, remembering her words, the words that had given him a new purpose.

"You are stubborn," the voice complained, "and an idiot." It told him, and Stephen wanted to take offence, but someone calling him names didn't matter to him much, not after what all he went through, not after what he was still going through.

"I am trying to do my best." He told the voice instead, and heard it grumble in return.

"A fool, as I said. I have a plan."

Stephen furrowed his brows, trying to think, "Who are you again?"

***********************

"Good morning, Boss, it is 13th of May 2017. The temperature is 52 degrees, with no precipitation. The weather is sunny, with windspeed of...."

Toni droned the information out, sitting up on her bed, rubbing her head as the headache remained persistent.

"Fri, baby girl, do I have to do this today?" She questioned, remembering the meeting that was scheduled today. The return of rogues. She groaned to herself at that. Just what she needed.

"Shall I ask Miss Potts to reschedule?" Her AI questioned innocently, and Toni felt her headache grow at that. Rescheduling? Not possible, not after she had already delayed meeting them as much as possible.