The moment the intruder reached into the earth dimension, Stephen Strange felt its presence. He had not been prepared the last time it had meddled in his reality's affairs. This time he was waiting. He put down the knife and fork he had been using to eat a magnificent prime rib, and gently excused himself from the dinner party he had been attending on the lower east side.
He stepped out into the street, and rounded the corner into the alley that ran behind the prominent row of brownstones. A curling mist enveloped him as he went, and when he stepped out again, he found himself in a place he had not had cause to visit in a very, very long time, a place on the other side of the world from Manhattan.
Transia was a volatile place in the best of times. The fact that the elder evil Chthon was imprisoned beneath Wundagore, its largest and most central peak, was what made the place significant to him now. And, as expected, someone had brought the book back to this place to try to pull the ancient god into the dimension of mortals.
Finding himself in the middle of an immense laboratory, Dr. Stephen Strange, sorceror supreme of the earth dimension, assessed the scene before him.
A six-armed woman lay prone and beaten on the polished floor nearby. He recognized her. He looked up and noted that much of the domed ceiling of the lab had been blasted away. He closed his eyes and saw the echo of the actions that had caused all the destruction in this place. Victor von Doom had tried to take the Darkhold for himself.... but he had not succeeded. Which meant....
Gazing into the astral plane, he soon spotted the telltale sign of the cursed grimoire. Having probed the auras of each of the heroes in the chamber, first the man-wolf Fenris, then the demon Incabulos, and lastly Brand, the infernal-touched elemental, he found what he was looking for. The ancient, ghostly remnant legends named Phantasm had hidden herself inside the elemental. She was known to take possession of the living from time to time. Her aura was not the same as when last he had seen her, though. The subtle variations would have eluded even the most sensitive of psychics, but not the sorceror supreme.
The same shadow hung over the ghost that still lingered in the mind of the six-armed sorceress that lay senseless before him. The situation called for a bit of surgery, and although he no longer practiced medicine, he felt more than up to the challenge.
Before Brand/Phantasm cold react, Dr. Strange telekinetically pulled the satchel containing the Darkhold to his hand and reached out with his mind to eject the possessing spirit from the body of her fiery host. In a moment, the meld was undone, and the two were once again separated.
If what he had seen was correct, the Evolutionary had left this place forever. Without the being that had once been Herbert Wyndham to protect the mountain from intruders, the book could no longer be left here. With a thought, the Darkhold was transported to a new, hollowed spaced between realities until he could decide what to do with the indestructible artifact. Once the book was safely out of reach, he saw that Phantasm was quickly recovering her senses.
Satisfied that the immediate threat had been addressed, Stephen Strange took stock of the battered heroes that remained.
"A great calamity was avoided here today. I commend each of you for your tenacity, and for your bravery," he began, as he so often did in these situations. "It seems that the Evolutionary mistakenly blames himself for what ultimately transpired here, although none on the earth, including myself, were able to see the true spider at the center of the web until the spider chose to strike."
He turned to the prone female. "Rise, and be whole," he commanded, and the woman returned to consciousness, fully healed. "You, too, were manipulated by the power of Chthon. In time, we will discuss both where you have come from and what the effects chthon's will have had on you."
"For now, however, Transia needs a new guardian. As it turns out, you will need a new stronghold, as well. None on the earth crave vengeance so much as does Victor von Doom. He will seek a reckoning. Here you may be able to defend against it.
"If you accept this responsibility, I will train you to better defend yourself and the people of this place. I have not had an apprentice in many years, and it seems now is the correct time."
"Do you accept?"
The woman returned the sorceror's inscrutable gaze with her own.
"Very well, it is done."
"New Men and Knights of Wundagore, will you accept Lady Spiral as your mistress?"
The warrior named Charnel stepped forward. "We will accept her, upon your word, Stephen Victor Strange," he growled. "But if she proves unworthy . . . "
"So be it."
"The rest of you may remain here, if you choose, or you may return with me to New York City. It seems that almost as much mischief was done there with the power of the Darkhold, as was done here. You may either fight as Lady Spiral's champions against the enemies of Transia, or return to carry on the fight against Chthon's machinations with me. At least for a time."
The heroes looked at each other, and weighed their choices carefully. One at a time, they elected to return stateside, to see what adventures awaited them next.
(published July 21, 2013)
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