"What?!" Tony barked into his phone, his voice tight with alarm. "Pepper, slow down. Take a deep breath and tell me what's happening." The satisfaction from defeating the Water Elemental had evaporated, replaced by a cold dread.
Pepper's hurried, panicked voice came from the other end. She couldn't explain what she was seeing, this tear in reality, but she knew it was fundamentally wrong.
"Okay, listen to me," Tony said, his tone shifting into command mode. "Go to the armory. Now. Get into the armor I made for you and get everyone out of the building. Stay away from that damn thing! I'm on my way."
"Okay," she replied before hanging up.
Natasha walked over, Mjolnir in hand. "What happened?"
Tony lowered his phone, his face grim. "New York is in trouble. Pepper said the sky is… coming apart. Being swallowed by something dark and strange, and it's expanding. It's already taken out several buildings."
Natasha's expression hardened. She turned and shouted across the riverbank, where Mysterio was scanning the ground for any remnant of the elemental's core. "Beck! Get over here!"
Mysterio flew over, and Tony quickly relayed Pepper's frantic report.
A grave look crossed Mysterio's face. "It seems Strange has failed."
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking," Tony complained bitterly. "He's always just a little unreliable, isn't he?"
"Then we need to go," Captain America urged, his voice cutting through the speculation. "Let's get back and see what we're dealing with."
"Agreed," Tony said, his armor sealing around him. "I've got a bad feeling about this."
The team scrambled back to the Quinjet and began the high-speed flight back to the States.
Meanwhile, in a reality fractured by chaos, Doctor Strange stared at the encroaching abyss, his mind racing for a solution. A portal shimmering with golden sparks opened beside him, and from it stepped the Ancient One.
"So, it has come to this," she said, her voice calm as she gazed at the Dark Dimension bleeding into their world. She sighed, a sound filled with the weight of centuries.
Strange's despair was instantly replaced by a surge of hope. "Sorcerer Supreme! What do we do?"
The Ancient One did not answer his question directly. Instead, she looked at him, her eyes searching. "Have you read the Book of Cagliostro, Stephen?"
He nodded, confused by the question but answering truthfully. Kaecilius had not yet torn out the final pages when he'd studied it. "Yes. All of it."
"Then you know of the Eye of Agamotto. You remember what the book says of its true purpose?"
Strange froze for a moment, his photographic memory replaying the ancient text. "Yes… I remember everything."
"Good," she said. "Return to the Sanctum. Go to Kamar-Taj. You must retrieve the Eye. To defeat Dormammu, you will need its power."
"The Eye of Agamotto?" Strange was stunned. "But that's your weapon. Your burden."
The Ancient One's gaze was serene. "The duty of the Sorcerer Supreme is to protect the Eye and guard the Earth against such invasions. If I should fall here, you will be the next to bear that title."
"But…" Strange started to protest.
She cut him off gently. "Go, Stephen. You do not have much time. Use that power, and use it well."
As she finished speaking, she raised her hands, and a complex, golden mandala condensed between them. With a graceful push, the magic circle expanded, flying towards the sky and pressing against the edge of the dark space, slowing its advance. When she was done, she turned back to Strange, and for the first time, he saw it—the same dark, cracked sigil that marked Kaecilius now pulsed faintly on her forehead.
"I do not know how long I can hold it back," she said, her voice sincere. "I am counting on you."
In that instant, Strange understood everything. The source of her unnaturally long life. The reason she had said she couldn't hold on much longer. She had been drawing power from the Dark Dimension to sustain herself for centuries. It was a painful, corrupting torture. Just looking at what it had done to Kaecilius, turning him into something neither human nor ghost, told him the price she had paid. He couldn't comprehend her sacrifice, but he could respect it.
Perhaps this was what the prophecies had meant. The time was finally ripe for the mantle to be passed. The thought of her leaving this world filled him with a profound, unexpected sadness. In the few years he had known her, she had become his most respected teacher. Now, she was likely about to die.
Without another word, Strange summoned his sling ring and opened a new portal, its fiery sparks leading to the tranquil courtyards of Kamar-Taj.
Seeing him leave, the Ancient One allowed herself a small, sad smile. She then turned her gaze back to the sky, her expression hardening with resolve. She brought her hands together, forming a seal at her chest. The golden mandala in the sky pulsed and expanded dramatically, covering a dozen city blocks and bringing the encroachment of the Dark Dimension to a complete halt.
At the same time, General Ross was on the phone, screaming at his subordinates, demanding to know what the hell was happening and if this was another alien invasion. All heavy firepower deployed in New York was aimed at the sky, ready to unleash a saturation attack at a moment's notice. Fighter jets scrambled from every nearby air force base.
In Washington, Nick Fury was caught completely off guard by Ross's call. He had focused all of his attention on the Elementals. When he pulled up the live feed from New York, his face grew grim. The horrifying, bizarre scene was clearly not the work of any known enemy.
Fortunately, moments later, the golden spells flared to life in the sky, stopping the darkness from spreading further. His expression softened slightly. He recognized the magic from Strange's previous exploits. He still had no idea what that strange, dark place was, but he knew who to ask. He immediately tried to contact Wanda, hoping she could shed some light on this new nightmare.
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