Like Teacher, Like Student /// A Doctor Strange Fanfiction

Chapter 2

Casey stared at the appropriately named Doctor Strange. How did he know who she was? And how had he appeared in the middle of the workroom? Was the cloak alive? And what was with all the drama? She shook her head and pointed her crowbar at him. "I do not have time for this, you psycho. Get lost."

The guy seemed taken aback by her lack of enthusiasm over his epic arrival and declaration. It wasn't like he was Captain America, so she wasn't sure what he was expecting. "I really am here to help. You need me for this since you'll have to admit it's a tad out of your league."

"Was that a baseball pun?" She wasn't going to stand here arguing with this guy. Backing up, she pushed through the swinging door and looked around the half-destroyed shop. The shotgun had done some serious damage by blowing apart a few showcases, scattering memorabilia and bits of old baseball posters.

"Gramps!" she called as she stepped over shards of glass, hoping he would appear from behind one of the support beams, grumpy but just fine. Her heart plummeted, and her hands tightened around the crowbar.

Her grandpa was gone.

That Arpath guy must've kidnapped him or worse. Casey snatched up her cellphone from the clerk's counter and started to dial 911, but the phone was plucked out of her hand by Mr. Weird.

"I know this is hard to understand, but that's not going to work," he said, but if he was going to say anything else, he was abruptly cut off as he had to dodge Casey's wicked crowbar swing. "Casey--"

"Give me that phone right now!" she demanded, taking another swing at him. She needed that phone so she could call back-up to rescue her grandpa, and this jerkwad was in her way with his attitude.

This time the crowbar collided with a sparky bar of light that Cape Guy held between his hands. He wrapped the light around the crowbar and pulled it out of her grip, catching it in his own right hand. Casey skittered back, looking for a new weapon, but a new rope of sparks appeared and wrapped around her legs, holding her fast. Don't panic, don't panic, act as if encountering magically appearing sparkler ropes was an everyday, normal occurrence.

"All right, here's the deal. I'll let you go and give this back, but only if you promise not to try and hit me with it anymore," he said, extending the crowbar to her tentatively. He held up his free hand and pulled the crowbar back a little. "Also, you have to listen to me so you can understand what's happening."

Casey could have screamed she was so frustrated, but she knew she was running out of time. Also, Cape Guy didn't seem interested in hurting her. He was just overly eager to help out or whatever, which probably meant he was a superhero hopeful trying to earn that cape he was wearing. Plus there was the issue of the shiny ropes.

Outstanding.

"Fine, tell me what's going on," she finally said, "Please." There wasn't anything else she could do, and she needed to help her grandpa. He needed her, and she was wasting time with this guy unless he really could help. In any case, he wasn't going to let her go until he said his peace, so the faster she heard him out the quicker she could get away.

"You'll have to walk and listen if we're going to save your grandfather," he said, retracting the sparkler ropes from around her legs. He held the crowbar out to her. "Remember, use that against me and you lose it. Understand, Casey?"

"How do you know my name?" she asked as she took the crowbar from him, "Who are you?"

"I told you, I'm Doctor Stephen Strange," he said, "Come along." He pushed the door open and headed down the street, his clothes seeming to morph around him into jeans, a t-shirt, and a coat, something less ostentatious than the cloak outfit from earlier.