Strangelove [1] Stephen Strange

12. Destruction & Faith

Stephen and Genevieve walked back into the New York Sanctum. It was in ruins. They saw Mordo just standing there, not knowing what to do.

"She's dead." Stephen stated.

"You were right. She wasn't who I thought she was." Mordo didn't turn around to look at them.

"She was complicated, Mordo. You know that." Genevieve attempted to reason with him.

Mordo turned around to look at them, "Complicated? The Dark Dimension is volatile. Dangerous. What if it overtook her? She taught us it was forbidden, while she drew on its power to steal centuries of light."

"She did what she thought was right." Stephen told him.

"The bill comes due, Strange. Don't you two see it? Her transgressions led the zealots to Dormammu. Kaecilius was her fault. And here we are, in the consequence of her deception. A world on fire." Mordo spoke.

"Mordo, the London Sanctum has fallen. The New York one has been attacked twice. You know where their going next." Genevieve spoke with urgency.

"Hong Kong." Mordo said.

Stephen approached him, "You told me once to fight like my life depended on it because one day it might, well today is that day. I cannot defeated them alone."

Genevieve looked at Mordo, "I'm with him. Are you?"

Mordo looked between the both of them and nodded. Stephen then opened a portal to Hong Kong.

They stepped through and saw Hong Kong and the Sanctum in ruins.

"The Sanctum's already fallen." Genevieve stated, looking at the mess around them.

"The Dark Dimension. Dormammu is coming." Mordo spoke, "It's too late. Nothing can stop him."

Stephen began thinking, "Not necessarily."

Genevieve looked at Stephen, "What?"

Stephen began to open the Eye and unleashed the Time Stone. Kaecilius saw this and started to run towards the trio with his zealots behind him.

Everything around Stephen froze in one whole second with Kaecilius in midair with a dagger out. Everything then began to reverse.

Stephen unfroze Mordo and Genevieve. Genevieve looked around her and felt a sense of hope around her that what Stephen was doing would work.

"The spells working." Stephen said aloud as people bumped into Genevieve and Mordo, "We've got a second chance!"

Stephen, Genevieve, and Mordo then began to run through the street. Kaecilius and his zealots got themselves out of the spell and went after the three.

A large piece of metal that was setting itself back in place almost took Stephen out, who dodged it. Kaecilius knocked him down.

The two zealots made their way toward Mordo and Genevieve. One of the zealots was knocked down and sent into a tank of water.

Genevieve watched as everything slowly began to turn itself around. The dead man that laid next to Mordo was pulled back into his car that had hit a pole and moved backwards.

Genevieve could only imagine that the terror she was experiencing were the awful things her parents had gone through when they were in Vietnam and when they had died. She only hoped that this wasn't how she, or Stephen, died.

Genevieve was so lost in thought that she hadn't noticed that Mordo had grabbed her and pulled her up onto a wooden structure.

She refocused and helped Mordo attack the remaining zealot. She had gotten stuck behind a sturdy glass panel inside of a building.

Mordo looked down at the street below him as Genevieve focused on Stephen. A large sweep of dust flew into the street and she lost sight of him.

Mordo grabbed the woman again and jumped into the street with her. The dust finally pasted and Genevieve saw Stephen still in combat with Kaecilius.

Mordo pulled out his chain and pulled Kaecilius off of Stephen. He was thrown into a wall that began to retile itself.

Genevieve ran to Stephen and hugged him tightly. Her face was stuffed in his chest.

"I thought I was gonna loose you." She sniffled into his chest and he kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back lightly.

The loud noise of the rumble caused Genevieve to pull her face out of Stephen's chest. There they saw their friend.

"Wong!" Stephen yelled as they ran over to him.

Wong then hopped out of the rumble that held him down and stood in a defensive position. Stephen broke him out of the spell.

Wong looked around and then to the three people in front of him.

"Breaking the laws of nature, I know." Stephen said to Wong.

"Well, don't stop now." Wong told him as he stood by his side.

"When the Sanctum's restored, they'll attack it again. We've gotta defend it. Come on!" Stephen said and the four of them began running towards the Sanctum.

Kaecilius managed to get himself out of the wall and saw the four sorcerers running down the street. He made the ground beneath them shake, catching all of their attention.

They all fell to the ground, so when Stephen hit the ground, the spell paused.

Mordo struggled to stand up, "Get up, Strange. Get up and fight! We can finish this."

Genevieve crawled her way over to him, trying to help Stephen up.

"You can't fight the inevitable." Kaecilius creeped closer to them, "Isn't it beautiful? A world beyond time. Beyond death."

Stephen began to whisper, causing Genevieve to look at him oddly as she helped him up, "Beyond time. Beyond..."

"Strange! Genevieve!" Mordo yelled at the two.

Stephen then flew away. Mordo ran to Genevieve and picked her up. She looked up into the sky and could feel the tears forming in her eyes.

Mordo held her close as she began to cry, stroking her hair softly.

"He's gone. Even Strange has left to surrender to his power." Kaecilius spoke.

"No he hasn't." Genevieve cried softly in Mordo, "He wouldn't."

Mordo could only shush her as he too hoped that Kaecilius wasn't right. Stephen knew what he was doing and they only needed hope to see that he could accomplish that. He could save the Sanctum and the world itself from Dormammu and his darkness.