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Chapter 25

As soon as they jumped through the portal, they were met by chaos. People screaming, running around, water lines burst and buildings wrecked. What had happened?

Where the Sanctum should've been there was now nothing. There was only the Dark Dimension. Kaecilius was coming towards them.

"The Sanctum has already fallen," Mordo said. "The Dark Dimension. Dormammu is coming. It's too late. Nothing can stop him.

Stephen knew that he had the Eye of Agamotto with him. A plan formed in his head, but would it work?

Quickly, he opened it and started to cast a spell. Kaecilius and his two Zealots realized what he was trying to do and started to run towards him. He was aiming for the kill.

Just as he was about to lunge forward and attack, the spell was cast. Time started to flow backwards. Water flew upwards, people ran backwards, and debris attached itself back to the buildings.

"Spell's working," Stephen said. "We've got a second chance."

He and Mordo ran towards the Sanctum, dodging people and debris that were flying everywhere. Kaecilius and the Zealots continued walking backwards. There was no way they would break free.

Right?

Stephen and Mordo didn't notice, but behind them, just after passing them, Kaecilius and the Zealots managed to break free of the spell. From moving backwards, they turned around and started running towards them.

After a person running backwards crashed into Stephen, he turned...only to see that his spell had failed.

He dodged a lunge from one of the Zealots, only to be kicked backwards by the other. Kaecilius lunged towards Mordo.

The fight continued, as did the flow of time backwards, which wasn't helping. People were getting in the way, and water was splashing everywhere.

At one point, it got hard to see, since there was so much dust flying around. When it cleared, both Mordo and Stephen could see Wong, lying impaled on the ground.

"Wong!" Stephen shouted, for fear that he was dead. Nope. Time flowing backwards just managed to resurrect him. He looked at Stephen with confusion. 

"I'm breaking the laws of nature, I know," Stephen acknowledged.

This time, Wong didn't reprimand him. "Don't stop now," he said.

All three of them looked towards the Sanctum. "When it's restored," Stephen said. "They will attack again."

"We have to defend it," Wong said. "Come on!"

They started running towards the Sanctum, hoping to beat the Zealots and Kaecilius, all three of which they had trapped. Temporarily. Kaecilius had now broken free. He raised his hands, and brought them down. When he did, there was a huge shockwave. Stephen, Mordo, and Wong all fell to the ground. 

The spell stopped. 

Time stopped. 

Instead of going backwards or forwards, it stood still. People were frozen in their tracks. Water stopped running. Only the Dark Dimension was still alive, writhing inside. 

Stephen thought none of this. The shockwave had pushed him so hard to the ground, he wasn't sure if he could stand up.

"Get up, Strange," Mordo encouraged him. "Get up and fight!"

Wong stood up. "We will finish this," he said.

Stephen did manage to stand up, although extremely shaky. He turned to face Kaecilius.

"You can't fight the inevitable," Kaecilius said.

He turned to look towards the Dark Dimension. "Isn't it beautiful?" he asked. "A world beyond time. Beyond death."

The words had sparked an idea inside Stephen's mind. He wasn't sure if it was going to work, but he also wasn't dragging anyone else into his plans.

The Cloak lifted him up and flew him towards the Dark Dimension. He could hear Mordo faintly shouting his name, but he didn't turn around. 

He had to do this, for the sake of humanity.