And the butterflies that burst from your fingertips

Five: Mordo, elemental master

Stephen stumbled to his feet, having dove through the portal, and didn't even spare a thought for how weak his magic had seemed. Right now, he needed to worry about Mordo. Perhaps even trap him in the mirror dimension until he could deal with him properly.

"Tony!" he yelled, trying to locate him, but he was met with silence. He could hear distant explosions, and the whir of machinery. He stumbled forwards, thankful that he'd portalled into the hallways of the Compound, and not one of the rooms that FRIDAY would have locked down the moment the battle started.

"Tony!" he called again, trying to flick his comms back online but receiving no answer. Panic began to set in, and he tried to move faster, a little disoriented from the bad portal trip he'd taken moments before.

"ANTHONY EDWARD STARK!!!" Stephen yelled, still stumbling down the winding hallways of the Compound, knowing how much the man hated his full name. Still nothing.

Stephen forced himself to move faster again, and let out a sigh as he spotted the entry to the Compound. He pushed himself to move faster upon seeing it, rushing over to yank the door open and run out into the street.

"TONY!" he yelled, trying his comms again; they finally crackled online, and Stephen let out a small sigh of relief before the voice on the other end spoke.

"The battle's shifted to the next street over. Good to know you're coming, Doctor Strange."

"I'll be right over, Sam," Stephen replied, heart thumping in his chest. He resisted the urge to ask if Tony was okay; he feared the answer he could get given. Instead, he just hurried down the street and over to the next as quickly as he could.

The sight that met his eyes was as followed; Mordo was a whirlwind of power, using the specialities of all the sorcerers whose powers he'd stolen. Thor was conjuring up a storm, not that it was doing a lot against Mordo. Peter was hanging back on the fringes, pulling civilians to safety and aiding in the fight where he could. Sam was darting in and out, flying in on his mech falcon wings and using Cap's shield- now his- as a makeshift weapon, trying to make a dint in Mordo's magic.

Natasha was doing what she could to aid the fight, while also helping Peter get the civilians out. Carol was ramming the whirlwind of power surrounding Mordo, her own magical abilities ablaze as she did so. Bruce had Hulked out, and was throwing numerous things in the direction of Mordo. Rhodey was there too, shooting at Mordo from a distance. Covering his back was... Tony.

Stephen let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding at the sight of the familiar red and gold armour. Then Thor spotted him, and grinned wide.

"He has arrived!"

"You have, Strange?" came Sam's voice through the comms again. Stephen just raised an eyebrow.

"Unless I'm watching some illusion of you slamming your shield against Mordo's magical whirlwind, then yes, I'm here."

"Well would you mind lending us a hand? You're the magical expert here."

"Right, right," Stephen replied, taking a moment to analyse the spells Mordo was using. The rogue sorcerer was channeling elemental power, fire and earth and water swirling around with the aid of a hurricane of wind. It was a deadly combo, and Stephen quickly registered that there were only two ways to shut it down.

The first way, and the most obvious, was to cut it off at the source; Mordo. But with Stephen's weakened magic, and the very whirlwind of power they wanted to stop defending Mordo, that option was out of the question.

The second way was to try and perform a vacuum, or a magic disabling spell. The vacuum spell was harder but would be more effective, whereas a magic disabling spell could easily be reversed by another sorcerer. Stephen knew it would be too dangerous for him to attempt a vacuum spell at the moment; until he sorted out the butterfly issue, his magic wouldn't be strong enough for such a spell.

Stephen's comm with Tony crackled back online. "Sorry, Strange. My comms went offline for a moment."

"That'd be Mordo's magical interference," Stephen said slowly, internally sighing in relief as he heard Tony's voice once more. It was verbal proof that Tony was okay, alongside what his eyes had told him moments before.

"You got any clue how to shut this thing down?" Tony asked, and Stephen heard the noise of his repulsor through the comms. "Without draining yourself, of course."

"Possibly. So long as it works, then yes."

"That's not convincing or reassuring but we're out of options, Dumbledore, so be my guest."

Stephen slowly exhaled, then began to run through the motions of the spell. After a moment, it seemed to be working; Mordo's magic was faltering. Then a butterfly burst from Stephen's palm, and the spell weakened.

Stephen's eyes narrowed as he focused. The spell was almost done. If he could just-

Another butterfly burst from his hands, and the spell he'd been casting crumbled completely. Mordo turned, and Stephen could see him grin even through the whirling elemental hurricane around him.

"Stephen Strange!" Mordo's voice seemed to be everywhere, echoing from around him and ringing inside of Stephen's head. "How nice to see you again!"

"Wish I could say the same about you, Mordo," Stephen yelled back, and Mordo's grin seemed to widen.

"Not so powerful now, are we?" Mordo rose off the ground slightly, hovering midair. "And the Ancient One believer you were the best of us."

"I can still beat you," Stephen said quietly, and Mordo just grinned like he'd heard. Stephen continued with, "After Dormammu and Thanos, you're just the next minor threat for me to take down."

Mordo's eyes narrowed. "You're going to regret that."

Then Mordo's hands began to move at a rapid pace, casting a spell Stephen couldn't place; he began to weakly try and summon shields to defend himself, but he was too slow, his magic too drained.

A lightning bolt hit him square in the chest, knocking him backwards, followed by a flurry of fire and rock. The world seemed to tilt and twist around him. He could briefly hear Tony yelling his name through the comms as he came crashing down to the ground, and the world turned black.