The next morning Inside the Sanctum's frozen walls, Stephen is focusing on reading a few dozen books to cover his curiosity as a human wizard bundled up in warm Jackets and sweatshirts. His wonderful girlfriend is spending time with her son downstairs by the foyer. They just came in from the park. Staying out too long would change his skin color to a light blue without the feeling of being cold. Wong was packing his suitcase wearing a big fluffy jacket on the second floor. He has important work to do other than the New York Sanctum. Peter arrived at the front door prepared to ring the doorbell, but the doors opened for him on their own. Wearing his black and green flannel and some black jeans he came in holding on to his phone which gave him directions to the Sanctum.
Peter waved to the two individuals shoveling snow in a bucket, "Hey, I'm..."
Wong teleported himself downstairs carrying his suitcase, "The most famous person in the world. I know, Sakura won't shut up about it. Neither will the news. Try not to slip, we don't have liability insurance. The names, Wong."
Sakura runs down the stairs in her long pajama robes, "Peter, we weren't expecting you. It's so nice of you to drop by." She hugs him.
"Hey, so what's going on? Are you having a holiday party?"
"No, the rotunda gateways connect to Siberia opened, and a blizzard blasted through." Wong replied.
"We've had to live in these conditions for a while," Sakura sighed.
Stephen floated down from the upstairs holding a cup of hot brew, "Because someone forgot to cast a monthly maintenance spell to keep the seals tight."
"That's right, he did, because he forgot I now have higher duties."
"Higher duties?" Stephen questioned.
"The Sorcerer Supreme has higher duties. Yes. If you weren't so 'busy' fooling around with your girlfriend, maybe you would have remembered to cast the monthly maintenance spell."
"Wait, I thought you were the Sorcerer Supreme?"
"No, he got it on a technicality because I blipped for five years."
"Oh, well, congratulations."
"If I'd been here, then-"
"You'd burn the place down," Wong said pointing to the two in the background, "Hey, nobody told you to stop shoveling."
"What brings you here, Peter?" Sakura asked.
"Right, I'm really sorry to bother you guys.I know how busy you are, sir."
"Please, I think we're past you calling me, sir."
"Okay, uh, Stephen."
"That feels weird, but I will allow it."
"When Mysterio revealed my identity my entire life got screwed up and I was wondering-I mean I don't know if this would actually work, but I was wondering if you could maybe go back in time and make it so he never did?"
"Did something else go wrong," Sakura asked."
"My friends and I were rejected from college because of my status as Spider-Man."
"Not even MIT?" Sakura asked.
"No," Peter quietly responded.
"Peter, we tampered with the stability of space-time to resurrect countless lives. You want to do it again now because yours got messy?"
In the middle of the conversation, Sakura received a phone call from Druig. Her phone buzzed a calm tune in her pocket. She gently tapped Stephen's shoulder and moved on to have another conversation in the upstairs bedroom. She can still hear them talking clearly from the echoes of the big hall after leaving the door wide open.
"It's not about me. This is really hurting a lot of people. My Aunt May, Happy, my best friend, my new girlfriend. You saw it firsthand how it hurt Sakura and Nari. All of their futures are ruined just because they know me, and they've done nothing wrong."
"I am so sorry, but even if I wanted to, I don't have the Time Stone anymore."
"That's right. I'm really sorry if I wasted your time. Just forget about it."
"No, you didn't."
Wong opened a portal to Kamar-Taj to carry his bags inside one after the other, "Oh, he will. He's very good at forgetting things."
"Wong, you've actually generated a good idea."
"What?"
"The Runes of Kof-Kol."
"The Runes...of Kof-Kol?" Peter questioned.
"Oh, it's just a standard spell of forgetting. Won't turn back time, but people will forget that you were ever Spider-Man."
"Seriously?"
Wong sighed, "No, not seriously. That spell travels the dark borders between known and unknown reality. It's too dangerous."
"We've used it for a lot less. Do you remember the full moon party at Kamar-Taj?"
"No."
"Exactly. Come on, Wong. Hasn't he been through enough?"
"Just leave me out of this," Wong said, leaving through his portal.
"Fine."
"So, how do we begin this Rune of Kof-Kol?"
"In the basement. Plenty of room to work."
"Wait, what about Sakura?"
Stephen halted where he stood and called out to her upstairs, "Sakura, we'll be downstairs..."
Sakura muted her phone to approach the wooden bars by the stairs to speak to them, "Okay, be careful, Stephen."
Stephen winked, "I'm always careful."
"What does that mean?" Peter questioned disgusted.
He followed him downstairs to perform this spell Stephen is so excited to perform for him in the dark depths of the Sanctum's small section of the basement where he likes to perform questionable spells. If this works everyone will forget Peter Parker is Spider-Man. They will only remember them as two different entities like before. Sakura lifted her cell phone up to her cheek, "Hey, sorry Stephen is planning on casting a spell for Peter Parker in our basement here."
"Don't involve yourself in anything too dangerous."
"Why have you called me so early? I was planning on dropping by this afternoon."
"Nari woke up crying when he realized you weren't here. I felt the same way, so we wanted to call you."
"I know you said you don't like technology very much, but maybe you should at least purchase a phone, so I can contact you more instead of using Phasto's phone."
The Sanctum shook violently dropping anything on a pedestal. An object rolled over the back of her legs forcing her to fall and drop her phone. Stephen followed Peter back to the first floor pointing to the door and yelling at him to leave. He teleported him outside and shook his head. Sakura overheard Druig calling out to her on the other side. She reaches for her dusty phone slowly crawling her way back to her feet.
"I'm alright, I'm alright. I'll be there as soon as I can. Something went wrong, and I am going to fix it like I always try to do. Bye, my love."
A thin gong hanging from the ceiling falls and takes a swing at Sakura. Hiting her on the hip she falls sideways directly on the banister. The gong sound is ringing in her ears. Large pieces of wood chucks are falling with her. Strange catches her midair while the wood crashes and crumbles. He has a bright smile across his perfect face. Tiny loose hairs are flowing gently as he floats down. Both blue eyes are sparkling in total slowmotion. Seemed like it was straight out of a movie before they landed.
"Hey, sorry about that," Stephen said before he gently helped her back on two feet.
"What happened? Why did you push Peter away?"
"He changed my spell more than three times. It was out of control."
"Did you contain the spell?"
"For now, yes. Kicked him out after he said he didn't speak to the schools about reconsidering him yet," Stephen said revealing a miniature spell compacted in a ball circled by runes. He's struggling to hold on as it bounces around.
"Okay, harsh. Let me find something to put that in," Sakura leaves the room tussling through mounds of objects in closets, "You were a little too hard on him. He hasn't done this before."
"I know, but he should have pleaded his case before asking me to brainwash the entire world."
Sakura returns holding a seal in the shape of a box, "Wait, what? He wanted to brainwash the entire world? That would mean I'd forget who he is. You'd forget who is. I'd that what you really want? I surely don't want that."
"That's how he broke the spell. He kept asking me to make it so that a few people would remember, but changing the spell over and over almost broke the fabric of reality."
"I can't believe this... how do we fix this? Can we undo the spell?"
"I don't know. I'll have to keep it safe until I can figure out a plan."
"I have faith you can fix this, Stephen. You always have been able to," Sakura's finger tips began to glow when she released her grip on the seal. The box floats in front of her, and unlocks itself from the inside out. Stephen shoves the spell inside and locks it shut. They both take a deep breath watching the snow gently float down.
Mesmerized by her beauty and kind words, Stephen caressed her cheeks, "I love you."
"I love you too."
"If I can find the correct spell,maybe, just maybe..."
"Maybe we should take a break, lunch perhaps," Sakura giggled walking towards the door, "Come on."
The two passed through the barrier to the outside world giving them both new looks to enjoy. Sakura has a gorgeous elegant black top puffy on the shoulders. A large golden belt holding her tight thin black cotton pants. Her beauty shimmers in the bright sun. Stephen is wearing his blue flannel over a nice pair of pants. He doesn't need much to look stylish taking a stroll down a busy sidewalk. Nothing out of the ordinary yet. The walk was less than a mile to a small cafe covered in beautiful petunias and tulips of all colors.
"So I should probably thank you for saving the planet." Stephen smiled.
"Honestly the last time I felt this terrified was five years ago. What was it like to be gone for such a long time?"
"Like no time passed at all."
The couple held hands at a stop light. A small young woman on her way back home from her part time job pressed the civilian button to allow them to cross the street. Blaring beeping came from the gadget on the crosswalk sign. A few more civilians approached from behind waiting patiently for the cars to go by. The light turned green for civilians and no one hesitates to cross the road. No one hesitates, but the sorcerers who feel something unusual. Both have eyes on hot steam gently emerging from a manhole in the middle of the street by the crosswalk.
"Do you feel that?" Doctor Strange asked.
"What is it? What's in there?"
"I don't know..."
A burst of steam threw the manhole cover ten feet up in the air landing on a nearby car. Disturbing Deep gurgling groans can be heard from deep underneath the tunnels. Sakura slowly stepped up to the hole feasting her eyes to total darkness. She sees something moving, so she kneels on one leg. Suddenly from the dark yellow lizard eyes gazed directly at her, and rotten stinky teeth. The lizard emerged from the sewers ever so slowly baring its fangs. He's a lizard, but with a human figure. As if this beast was once a man. Stephen pulled her away from the beast then shielded them. The lizard's head hit the sparkling shield, and it fell back landing on its own two feet. Stephen continued to shield them as this monster whipped its tail, throwing them over a pile of construction rubble. Sakura pulled out her daggers aiming for its chest and swung them. Her willpower outweighed her strength. Lizard backed away and flung his tail to remove the daggers from her grasp. She was defenseless once more as he stood above her tall and feared by all.
"Where is Peter Parker? Who are you?"
Stephen sighed, "We were going to ask the same question. Who are you?"
"What do you want with Peter Parker?" Sakura asked.
The Lizard stepped back confused, "What is this? Where am I? I was just standing at the top of Oscorp tower fighting Peter Parker, and... I don't remember...."
"Oscorp?" Sakura questioned.
"He's from another universe." Stephen said.
The lizard picked up a Bobcat throwing it at Sakura, and bolted back to the sewers from which it came, "You're lying,"
Sakura created a huge mythical table saw to cut the machine in half as it tries to land on her. The two pieces fell beside her and slid through massive piles of dirt. They followed the creature deep in the sewers tracking it for thirty minutes. Sakura spotted him climbing an old metal ladder to another manhole. Stephen casted another spell to try and trap him in a mythical net tied around it. He pulled the chain links and held him down with his shield while Sakura webbed him down limb from limb. The beast laid there without much of a fight. He accepted his fate.
Sakura kneeled to take a look at his beaten lizard face, "We will have to contain you until we know what to do with you. We're only trying to help you."
"Help me? Humanity is doomed without me."
"Not in this universe, pal." Stephen teleported the three of them to the basement. In front of them he casted a spell of creation to build prison cells. He teleported the lizard in one cell and set his body free to roam his tiny cage. The rest of the prison cells were completely empty waiting for more victims of the multiversal spell. Both Stephen and Sakura returned back to latex and robes for any further attack that may happen.
"Why did you build so many cells?"
Doctor Strange waved his arms over his head and performed a new spell to search for Peter in New York. Once he spotted him he faced Sakura and smiled, "Because he's not the only one who came here from another universe looking for Peter Parker."
Stephen teleported Peter right between them. He's distraught and confused wearing only half his destroyed nanotech spider suit. A man was teleported in another prison cell. Body of an old man, but with six robotic arms. This guy definitely has seen better days. Peter's pain flushed down the drain after looking at Sakura in her suit and crown. Her lip was split open, and her eyelid was cut by the debris during the attack. She didn't even notice. Mesmerized by her beauty he could barely speak a word to her. Stephen placed his hand on Peter's shoulder.
Peter trembled and quickly turned to see poor Stephen was having a bad day too, "Doctor Strange..."
"Be careful what you wish for, Parker." Stephen said.
The trapped old man wearing metal arms slammed his fists on the invisible field, "Let me out of here!"
"Can you please explain to me what is going on?" Peter asked.
"That little spell that you botched where you wanted everyone to forget you were Peter Parker's Spider-Man, it started pulling everyone who knows Peter Parker from every universe into this one."
"From every universe?"
Sakura sighed, "Peter, what did you do?"
The old man calls out, "Who are you? Where am I?"
"I think it's better we don't engage with them because, frankly, the multiverse is a concept about which we know frighteningly little."
"The multiverse is real?" Peter said.
"Yes, Peter. The Multiverse is as real as you and I with infinite possibilities. Our worlds have collided because of the spell." Sakura replied.
Stephen sighed, "This shouldn't be possible."
"I thought you stopped the spell." Peter asked.
"No, I contained it, but it would appear that a few of them squeaked through. After you left, I detected an otherworldly presence. I pursued it into the sewers, where I caught that slimy green son of a gun..."
Huddled in a fetal position the growling lizard beast is silently groaning. The old man in the cage next to the lizard is still trying to make conversation with them. He pokes the magical field keeping him contained and it sparks him like a small kinetic shock. The three stood in front of him observing his strange features. Round glasses and old shorty grey hairs. He is wearing an old lab coat that somehow doesn't interfere with those three pronged metal arms.
"Spell? As in magic?" The old man asked, listening in on this conversation. What is this, a birthday party? Who is this clown? What is this madness?"
"Do you know Peter Parker who's Spider-Man?" Stephen asked.
"Yes, yes I do."
"Is that him?"
"No."
"See? Okay, here's what we gotta do. I don't know how many visitors we've got—"
"I saw another one," Peter remembered, "On the bridge. He was like a flying green elf."
"He sounds jolly. Start with him. I need you to capture them, and bring them here while I figure out how to get them back before they destroy the fabric of reality, or worse Wong finds out."
"Uh, Doctor Strange. My friends and I just got a second chance to get into MIT, and if the school sees me fighting these crazy monsters—"
The old man slams on the invisible field, "Hey, watch your mouth."
"Are you seriously still talking about college?"
Stephen performed a Telekinesis spell to snatch Peter's nanotechnology from his wrist and attached it to his own arm. Waving his finger tips to cast a spell on the object it transformed into a magical relic. Glowing symbols appeared on the cuff prepared to cast its first spell.
"Hey, what did you just do?" Peter asked.
"This," Stephen pulled his arm in front of himself and a magic spark struck Peter. The spark disintegrated him and teleported his body to a nearby cell with invisible fields.
"How did you do that?" The old man asked.
"Lots of birthday parties."
Doctor Strange turned his back on the old man and walked away to a large device made of heavy stone on a stone podium. He twisted the device and pushed the center of it releasing this invisible field keeping Spider-Man caged inside cold cell walls. Peter tripped as he was released, and his nanotechnology cuff returned to his body completely brand new casted with an unusual spell.
"If we do this we might be able to undo this, but it will take us time to learn how." Sakura mentioned.
Stephen signed, "One shot, send them here, move on. You're welcome. Get to work."
"I'm sorry, I truly am. I know this is my mess, and I swear to you I'll fix it, but I'm gonna need help."
"From who?" Sakura questioned.
"They've helped me fight villains before. I need them."
"MJ and Ned."
"Can I bring them here?"
Stephen looked closely at Sakura's sad facial expression, but he didn't much care, "Sure, kid. Make it quick."
"Thank you, sir. You guys won't regret this." Peter cried out as he rushes out of the Sanctum to pick up his friends. His footsteps echo up each step he takes climbing up the small staircase. When he left everyone was silent. Not even a single peep from the villains trapped by Doctor Strange's spell. The silence was almost unbearable Stephen slowly made his way to the staircase.
"Why did you accept his request?"
"Because you are the love of my life. I will not lose you to a child. I know you were once in love with Peter before MJ came along, you still are. I need you."
"I want you to know at the end of the day I will always choose you, Stephen. You're not part of any fallback plan. It's always been you. I will always run back to you."
A small portal opening to the upstairs second floor showed up in front of Stephen. He smiled and walked right through the portal thinking about everything she had said to him. Words can be more powerful than spells. Behind her the man slammed his fists on the force field once more trying to escape while Doctor Strange was no longer hovering. He thought wrong, and continued to stay right where he was. So instead he observed Sakura from a short distance. He noticed something odd about her figure. A small change anyone can notice.
"You're pregnant. It's hard to believe a man like that could possibly father a child. He's some kind of a real wizard. I bet that terrifies people."
"My personal life is none of your business, monster. Besides, I shouldn't be speaking with the likes of you."
"I am not a monster, I dedicated my life to help people."
"Who are you?"
"Doctor Otto Octavious. I spent years working on clean and sustainable sources of energy that could change the world forever. When my work became too dangerous I built these bionic arms to help me."
"You control these bionic arms? How?"
"I speak to them, and they speak to me."
"I think I understand what happened to you. I'm afraid those arms also control you."
"What?"
"I'll be back. I have some business to attend to," Sakura said, opening a portal to the second floor grand staircase.
On the other side she sees Doctor Strange leaning on the brand new banister he repaired. She left the dungeon and stepped into the light to kiss his soft cheeks. The twosome stepped downstairs holding hands to enjoy the warmth of the fireplace. Some of the first floor has been shoveled, but natural defrosting must take place to save the furniture. The big doors of the Sanctum opened and three people came through. Peter came in first with a big smile across his face knowing he can finally introduce everyone. His friend, Ned, entered next wearing a small tan backpack and a blue and gold Jersey over a shirt. Anyone can tell by the look on his face that this day is the best day of his life. Mj cautiously entered wearing her long sweater under a dark brown jacket and a dark brown hat. She appears to be a little worried to be here.
"Whoa, I can't believe I'm in the Sanctum Sanctorum." Ned said.
"Neither can I...." Stephen said, walking away.
Ned waved to Sakura who was still standing beside Stephen, "Hey, Sakura. We haven't seen you in a long time."
"Likewise." Sakura grinned.
"So how did you know you were a man of magic because my nana says that we have it in our family, and sometimes I get these tingles in my hands-"
"Talk to your physician." Stephen says guiding Sakura back up the stairs before she says anything she may regret.
"So sorry for dragging you into this. You just have to help me find these guys." Peter said.
"You don't have to apologize. You got us a second shot at MIT, its fine." MJ said.
"So how did the bad guys get here?" Ned asked.
"We screwed up a spell trying to get you into college." Doctor Strange said.
"Wait, what? I thought it was the MIT lady you saved?" MJ questioned.
"No, that was after I saved her...Listen, let's just focus on the good news, okay?"
From the top of the grand staircase Stephen still had plenty to say while holding on to Sakura very loosely, "No, let's just focus on the bad news. As of now, you have detected zero multiverse trespassers, so get on your phones, scour the internet, and Scooby-Doo this shit."
"You're telling us what to do even though it was your spell that got screwed up. Meaning that all this is kind of your mess. You know, I know a couple of magic words myself, starting with the word, please."
"Excuse you..." Sakura said.
Stephen interrupted her, "Please Scooby-Doo this shit. You can work in the undercroft."
"The undercroft?" Ned asked.
Stephen pulled Sakura to the next room to hide her away from the children. She's pacing back and forth burning up with rage. Daggers magically appeared in her hands, and she threw them on the wall. Her bubbling anger was getting the better of her. Stephen grabbed her wrist and looked at her very concerned.
"How rude of her to speak to you with such disrespect. Behavior like that in Asgard is punishable."
"On Earth we allow children to learn from their own mistakes. Leave her, she's a high school kid trying to stand up for her boyfriend. Exactly like what you are doing now."
"That is not true. I am merely telling you that you shouldn't allow a child to disrespect you."
"I really don't care as long as they agree to finish this before Wong finds out."
Before Stephen walked away again the spell bounced out from under his robes striking anything in its path. Glass containing some of the most dangerous relics have been shattered. So much ringing in their ears after heavy metal began to crash on solid wood. Stephen shielded them from the bouncing spell, but only made the damages to the Sanctum worse. When it bounces from the ceiling the framework is torn. He creates a thick whip from his hands and snatches the tiny spell back to his own shaking hands. The box that once contained it was destroyed and deemed unusable. Sakura used her Asgardian magic to hover the spell in front of her trying to hold it down the best she can.
'Stephen held her in his arms, "Are you okay?"
"I've been through worse. I was almost crushed by volcanic rock."
"I'm not going to ask."
From the grave of fallen relics he snatched a square metal relic with symbols on all four sides matching the symbols to the Sanctum. The relic opened and consumed the spell. Sakura glanced at her feet to find old daggers. These don't belong to her, so where did they come from? She held them in her hands enjoying the smoother details on them. Stephen is watching her carefully.
"Put those down. We don't have a lot of time here to be fooling around."
"What are they? So many of them."
"Daggers of Daveroth. Be careful of those relics. They were once used by villains who have tried to kill me with them, and clearly did not succeed."
"What relic is in your hand holding the spell?"
"This is The Macchina Di Kadavus. A powerful relic that can hold even the most dangerous of casted spells." Downstairs you can hear the children stumble about having a conversation on catching the next villain on their list. The children sound excited to meet whoever is next. Sakura and Stephen approached the banister and watched them.
"Hey, we found one. We're attaching my phone to my chest so they can help me from inside the Sanctorium." Peter said.
"I guess that's one way to do that," Sakira added with a concerned look on her face, "Hurry up before it does more damage than good."
"Right, I'll be back," Peter runs out the door wearing his suit inside out with all the electrical wiring exposed.
His friends hurried back downstairs to help Peter find whoever is next on this list of multiversal villains. Stephen picked up the Macchina Di Kadavus and sighed, "I apologize for wrapping you in this mess."
"We're a team, Stephen. Don't forget that."
"Yeah, we are," Stephen kisses her on the lips, "Are you ready to help me do some research?"
"To dissolve this spell and bring these beasts back from wherever they came from."
"Correct,"Inside the Sanctums second floor library contains many living books on spell casting and spell reversals. Some teach you of other worlds beyond our own, and the history of magic on Earth. Possibilities are endless when performing different spells with shields and weapons. Some you can make objects beyond someone's creativity. Stephen tossed her a book with a tentacle leg hanging from the books interior. Disgusted, she lifted the page using only magic to prevent touching it. The little monster jumped out and frightened her.
"Don't worry, it's harmless," Stephen laughed.
They spent hours sitting upstairs searching for an answer. Only Stephen can fully understand this foreign language. He found a book he was interested in and searched its contents for more answers. Stephen lifted up the book and shoved it in front of her like a rag doll. A massive book stained yellow. Made of old trees from the Nile River this book is as ancient as the Eternals. He flipped through the pages and pointed to the page for her to read. A single page on reversing a catastrophic spell such as this one. In order to reverse the spell a similar and or improved spell must be performed to overpower the original one. She spent a couple of minutes reading the pages multiple times to see a loop hole with no luck at all.
"I don't understand. What spell does it want us to cast?"
"In order to properly send everyone back I have to make it so that everyone forgets who Peter is. Only then will they return to their universes, and the rest of them will stop trying to push their way inside our planet.
"You mean to cast a spell to have everyone forget who Spider-Man."
"No, we will forget Peter Parker."
"Are you serious?"
"I'm sorry."
"What will happen to us? I can't believe this," Sakura cried, "This can't be the only way to stop this from happening. Can't we just send them back and reverse the spell. What about May? He will be all alone by himself."
"Some spells cannot be reversed. Changing the spell again will make everything worse. I'm sorry, but there's no other way."
"Why do I feel like this is my fault? Peter was so distracted by his grief, and losing me."
Stephen wiped her tears with a handkerchief he found in his pocket, "Pull yourself together, okay. I'll do what I can, but no promises. I can sense more threats within these walls. He found the rest of them. We should move."
"Okay, I'll follow your lead."
Stephen teleports them back down to his dungeon for villains to face a new group of faces standing with Peter and his friends. He interrupted their deep conversation, "Oh, good, you've caught another one," He teleported the man to his cage.
"Strange, he's not dangerous. What is that?"
"It's an ancient relic. The Macchina Di Kadavus. I trapped your corrupted spell inside, and once I finish the proper ritual it'll reverse the spell and then send them back to their universe."
"Then what?" Asked Doctor Octavious panicking, "We parish?"
"No thanks, I'll pass on that," Said another man wearing a yellow vest still conducting electricity from his body.
"Let me out of here, Peter!" Green Goblin screamed.
"Strange, we can't send them back. Not yet." Peter said.
"Why?" Stephen questioned.
"Well, some of these guys are gonna die."
"Parker, it's their fate."
"Come on, Strange, have a heart. Sakura, tell him there has to be another way."
Sakura says in a soft voice, "Peter, we've searched for hours to find an answer, but..."
"In the grand calculus of the multiverse, their sacrifices means infinitely more than their lives. I'm sorry, kid. If they die, they die."
In his hand Stephen owns the Macchina Di Kadavus to release the spell. The green goblin called out for Peter's help. The others backed up in fear screaming for someone to save them. Sakura faced Strange with tears rolling down her cheek. As if she felt bad for these villains. As if she trusts Peter to do what's right. Stephen faced her watching her sad facial expressions hurt him emotionally.
"Stephen..." Sakura cried.
A moment later Peter webbed the relic and snatched it away from him. He teleported Stephen to a prison using his magical device. Sakura ran to the tabletop relic to release Strange from his binds. By then it was too late. Peter was running up to the first floor of the Sanctum hallways. Ned stood there feeling defenseless. His girlfriend held her arms out believing she could prevent them from running after him. Sakura growled at her, prepared to do anything to push her aside. She conjured her daggers and clashed them ready for the easiest fight of her entire life.
Strange pointed to Sakura, "This is why I never had kids. Stay here, and make sure they don't do anything stupid."
"Stephen, I'm sorry."
"Save it, we'll talk later."
The cloak of levitation guides Stephen through a portal to Peter Parker while Sakura stands firm in front of the children who defied her. No one knew what to say to her. She was in an awkward position fighting her own emotions. Ned sat down at his laptop and turned it off. He closed the screen and picked up the light machine to hide back in his bag. Sakura watched him closely from afar. Ned only came closer to her to start a new conversation while everyone waited for Stephen and Peter to return safely.
"Why are you helping Doctor Strange? Aren't you supposed to be rebuilding Asgard in a completely different time zone?" Ned asked.
"I left that life behind me."
"You left it behind to be with Peter. What happened?"
"Peter was grieving Tony Stark, and we both ended up moving on. I formed an alliance with Doctor Strange, and here I am. A Sorceress of the Mystic Arts now."
MJ jumped in the conversation, "We're here for Peter if you like it or not. He can help them. I believe he can."
"I believe he can too, but what's the point in saving someone who's going to die anyway? Giving someone false hope is cruel."
"Don't think of it as false hope. These guy's are in pain, and if we can relieve that pain maybe we can save them from their own futures. If we can't save them then at least they will die peacefully. If Doctor Strange pulls the cord now they will die agonizing deaths. If we have a chance to help we want to help."
"Too many people have died horrific deaths to sacrifice themselves for our survival. Nobody deserves to die a painful death."
A portal opened nearby, and Peter jumped out holding the Macchina Di Kadavus and sling ring. On the other side Stephen is trapped in webbing crying out to Peter. If he's left inside without his sling ring he will be lost forever. Sakura made the split decision to jump in the mirror dimension to save his life. Before the gateway closed Peter Parker turned his head to face them, "I have to try."
"Go, Peter. I'll take care of Strange."
"Thank you..." Peter replied.
Sakura jumped through the portal to face Strange who's webbed up above her. She floats up to face him with love not anger. Tears rolled down her soft peach skin. She's never seen him so vulnerable before. His eyes watered, and didn't appear to be in a good mood. Sakura gently rubbed his face, and fixed his hair to make him look less like a bum.
"Stephen..."
"You knew it was the only way, yet you hesitated. You let them go."
"Did you see the look in their eyes?"
"That's not our problem. Frankly, I don't care. It's not my job to fight physical threats to our universe. So forgive me if I don't give a shit if they live or die."
"What if it was me?"
"Don't do that."
"You'd sacrifice me to save the universe. Wouldn't you hesitate?"
Stephen hung there speechless. His cloak casually swayed from the high winds making it impossible to move in the opposite direction. Sakura felt as if her heart broke in two pieces.
She understood his reaction and stepped out of the portal back to the Sanctum.
Stephen stumbled to make proper words, "That's the life we signed up for. We live and die as heros. Unless you live long enough to become a villain"
"I'm sorry, Stephen."
"What are you doing? Please, don't."
"I'll make it up to you, I promise."
"Sakura, no!"
The portal closed behind her. She let out a hefty sigh, and turned to face Peter holding Stephen's sling ring and the Macchina Di Kadavus. All the caged monsters took a step closer to watch what will happen next as their life may depend on it. These beasts are terrified of Sakura. All eyes of all species appear to be looking at her. The lizard growled and curled back in the corner of his prison cell. No one knew what to say to her other than ask questions. Somehow she truly believes humanity is worth saving. To amend her evil past she will help them without hesitation.