Age Of Miracles | Pietro Maximoff

Chapter Eighteen: Truth My Shield, Knowledge My Armour

Music is "Strange Days Ahead" by Michael Giacchino from the Doctor Strange OST.

Picture is Doctor Strange.

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"Faith is my sword.
Truth my shield.
Knowledge my armour."

- Stephen Strange, Doctor Strange

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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Luckily, the quick trip to New York was uneventful; thanks to Loki, we were there in seconds. He drops the seven of us down right in front of the Sanctum Sanctorum, the home of the famous Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme. Stephen Strange, once a renowned neurosurgeon, is one of the most powerful allies to the heroes of Earth and beyond. He, along with his partner Clea, have been part of the army that protects our world from mystical threats.

He's also the man I trusted to keep the Soul Gem safe after returning from my home Earth, the parallel world I originate from: we call it Origin Earth, as opposed to the world I live in now which is Marvel Earth.

See, as you might recall from my origin story, when you travel between the parallel Earths, there is a short period of time between when you arrive and when you and your counterpart of the other world are combined together. As the universal law is, there cannot be two of the exact same people in one universe. This is one of the main reasons that the Gloria Northern from the Marvel Earth left to live on Origin Earth; if she had stayed, we would have been drawn together and combined. This is also why it took a few days for Pietro, upon arriving after his apparent "death," to start losing his speed. He was beginning to conform to the laws of my universe.

The same could be said for the Gregory Killbane of Origin Earth and the Black Death of Marvel Earth; both are the same person. I used the Infinity Stone to bypass the wait period between arrival and combination to instantly cause the Killbanes to combine upon arrival to Origin Earth. I did this because Black Death is extremely powerful, and if left alone for the waiting period, he could destroy Origin Earth and everyone on it. When I used the Soul Gem to combine the bodies and souls of both Killbanes, I forced him to take the younger, and therefore stronger, body: the young man who I had dated for a little while on Origin Earth.

Killbane had been using this trick for millenia. He'd used the Soul Gem to travel between parallel universes whenever he pleased, whether it be when he's close to death or when he needed a new start. All he had to do was wait to be combined with the younger and stronger version of himself. In doing the same thing to him, I used his own tool against him.

After that disaster, after I witnessed Gregory Killbane be convicted to a terribly long sentence into Maryland State Penitentiary, I returned to the Marvel Earth with Pietro. I gave Stephen the Infinity Stone to keep safe and away from the Avengers; I've read the comics and I know how even the best of people with the best of intentions can be lead astray with the temptation of the Infinity Stones.

In the process of arrival, we unintentionally set off several alarms. A sphere of golden sigils surrounds us, swirling around us. "Fantastic job, Loki!" Thor shouts, holding his hammer tightly in his hands. "Are there any other traps you wish to set off?"

"It is not as trivial as it looks to travel a third time across long distances!" the mischief god replies, angrily. "Would you like to try?"

"I would--!"

"--Boys!" Katie shouts, pulling the tops off her water canteens to pull out the liquid.

Before anyone can say anything else, we're transported inside the Sanctum to a large holding cell with sigils and symbols surrounding the cage. It's some sort of mystic prison. "Great," Vlad sighs.