The Mighty Thor #4

"Diligence"

The ability to stick to a task no matter what is to come your way, that was a rare quality which not many possessed. This was something which could be seen as almost none existent , especially in a day and age when it was so much easier to walk away from something rather then try and stick it out.

Thor had once again decided to visit the world of the Midgard in the guise of Doctor Donald Blake, while he was tending to his patients he had gotten a message from Doctor Stephen Strange. Donald checked his voicemail and heard the message play back to him "Donald it's Stephen I have a patient here which can only be helped by doctors of our particular expertise, this is beyond the reckoning of any mere mortal".

Donald knew this could only mean one thing, something extra ordinary was at work.

Even though both Strange and Thor were doctors in their time away from being hero's they very rarely crossed paths unless it was something that only the two of them could handle. In all things ethereal there were only a handful of people Thor trusted, Doctor Strange was among that small list.

Thor as Doctor Blake headed to the hospital to meet with Doctor Strange, when he arrived Doctor Strange was already there. "It's good to see you old friend, I would have asked spider man on this however you know as well as I do that pithy jokes and web slinging does not work well against the dark arts".

Donald Blake looked around the building "I definitely think it was a good move on your part to start a private practice right out of your own building and it certainly does not hurt that many of the staff here were people who were already working for you" he said motioning to Wong, Doctor Strange's ever faithful servant.

Doctor Strange smiled "it keeps many inquirers away, unfortunately not many people are horribly understanding when you tell them your the sorcerer supreme, you know as well as I do that they tend to treat you as if you belong in an asylum".

Donald Blake laughed "I would assume it goes over as well as telling them that I'm a norse deity when I smack my cane on the ground". Both men shared in the laughter, of the many hero's that graced the world there were very few who could relate to each other on the scale that Strange and Thor did.

"So about this patient of yours, what can you tell me?" Donald Blake asked.

"It's like nothing I've seen, one minute she's a twenty three year old woman coming to me to fix a series of pains she'd been having, the next she's well........see for yourself" Doctor Strange said as he lead Doctor Blake into the room she was being kept in. Doctor Blake couldn't believe what he was seeing, there was not a twenty three year old woman there but an old woman looking more to be in her late nineties.

***************

Thor and Doctor Strange had seen many strange things in their lifetime however this one was infinitesimally strange. "How is something like this even possible? how can a person have the youth siphoned out of them?" asked Doctor Blake.

"I have a theory however I have yet to see if it's right, that is why I asked you here today" said Doctor Strange as they both examined the patient.

"You see there are certain kinds of magic which can drain an individual of their soul energy in turn making them frail and weak like this poor woman" said Doctor Strange. "So there was a reason I was brought down here, not so much as Doctor Blake but as Thor" said Doctor Blake smiling at Strange.

"That was part of it, however I will need the expertise of your years as a doctor to help when we reverse the deadly spell that has been cast on her" said Doctor Strange as they started walking out of the patients room and into another room where there was a large dimensional portal.

"You told me that you had a theory on who or what was responsible, care to fill me in Doctor? said Blake half sarcastically. "I believe the hand of the person behind this to be one both you and I are aquainted with, I believe it to be the hand of Mephisto" said Doctor Strange.

Blake then smacked his staff upon the ground becoming the awesome thunder god Thor "Mephisto, I should have seen his hand in this foul deed".

Strange shook his head "No my good friend, this time he has gotten help, help which he could have only gotten from Mordo, hence why both of us are needed in this particular case".

Thor looked to Strange "Tis what Mephisto would have done, he wouldst most likely promise him and army of his own".

"Exactly" said Strange "however I fear that the both of them have ulterior motives, we both know these two would not even think of aiding each other unless there was a pay off for them".

Thor nodded "I wouldst say that we travel to the realm of Mephisto's hell, maybe we shalt recieve some answers there". Strange shook his head again "I doubt that Mordo would just be hanging out with Mephisto plus Mephisto would be heavily guarded. I suggest instead that we focus our search on Mordo, he will be easier to deal with plus he should be our key into getting into Mephisto's hell".

"This seems a difficult task however we must be diligent, for if you and I can not defeat this evil the fate of the galaxy wouldst be at stake" said Thor with fervor. "I couldn't have put it better myself" said Doctor Strange as he started scanning the various dimensions to find Mordo.

"I've found him" said Strange "believe it or not he's actually not far away at all, he's here in the city, which does worry me as I'm starting to believe that he actually wants to be found". Thor nodded at this "It would seem so, I too am worried that this mayhap be a trap of some sort".

Thor then looked to Strange "unfortunately we need to get to the bottom of his evil deeds and I see no other way, we may have to walk into this trap". Strange smiled "not exactly, if Mordo wants to set a trap then why not give ourselves some insurance as well".
Strange then looked to Wong "I want you to constantly watch Thor and I as we go to find Mordo, if he has something up his sleeve I want you to aid us however stay out of sight, use an invisibility spell if necessary".

Wong then bowed to Strange "it will be done master".

Strange then opened a portal and motioned Thor towards it "This will take us right to him, saves us the trouble of having to run through the whole city".

Thor nodded "let us then hope that our plan is superior to the plan that Mephisto and Mordo hath concocted".

*********************

Mordo waited in the shadow of a dark factory, it had once been a warehouse for rare and precious artifacts however due to a bad economy and the fact that the owner had been found doing human sacrifice in this building caused the government to shut it down. Mordo figured this would be a fitting place to get both Strange and Thor, the deal he had struck with Mephisto would ensure that with them out of the way the various planes of reality would be ripe for the taking.

Mordo looked around and saw the pointy haired silhouette of Mephisto come from out of the corner of the room.
"I have been waiting for over an hour, what could have possibly kept you this long?" demanded Mordo.

"Patience my hot headed friend, plans of this scale require time and the means to carry them out, it's hard enough to vanquish one hero but two is an entirely different process" said Mephisto with a twisted grin.

"Especially when the heroes we wish to vanquish are Doctor Strange and Thor" said Mordo "I agree that these two will be trouble however if we are to be discovered before we've set everything in place our plans will be ruined before we've even managed to get started".

Mephisto smiled "you worry too much my friend, everything is ready and in place, before long our hated enemies will be destroyed".

"I hope so, I'm starting to regret that we made this deal in the first place Mephisto, I need an ally which I can count on" Mordo said slightly irritated. Mephisto then stared straight at him "do not take my help lightly Mordo, your magic is as nothing compared to my power, if I so wished it I could make your life forfit here and now, I simply have need of your talents so do not test my patience".

"Understood" said Mordo he then turned away and uttered under his breath "just you wait till we have crushed Thor and Doctor Strange then you will truly tremble before me".

"What did you say?" asked Mephisto.

"Just saying how glad I'll be when we are victorious" said Mordo.

"Good, let us keep it that way" said Mephisto with a smile.

******************

Thor and Doctor Strange stepped through the portal and were automatically sent to an abandoned factory at the other end of town, as they stepped out they both took a look around "this bodes ill, tis ghostly quiet" said Thor.

"I figured as much" said Strange "they want us here and are more then happy we came this quickly".

"You are more right then you know" said the voice of Mordo "welcome to what will be the destination of your deaths". Thor and Strange looked to Mordo "where is Mephisto? for we know that thou didst not suck the youth out of the people alone" said Thor.

"Why I am right here my gullible foes" just then Mephisto came from out of the shadows, he also had two people with him. Thor and Strange tried to pierce the veil of blackness to see who Mephisto was holding hostage, to their horrors Strange and Thor found out that it was Wong and Fandral.

"You fiends" said Thor "thou knew that the both of thee could not overtake Strange and I so now thou resorts to blackmail". Mephisto smiled at this "you call it blackmail and I call it results, you see in chess whoever makes the best play wins, I've made the best yet".

"Wong was easy to come by, you see Mordo and I had already figured you would send him to watch out for you two however Fandral was the tricky part, it's very hard to pierce the veil between Asgard and this world however once we did we figured who better to use as a pawn then one of the fabled Warriors Three, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA" said Mephisto with glee.

Mordo smiled "you have no choice, surrender to our will and we will spare these two, if you do not then we will be forced to end their pathetic lives".

Thor and Strange looked to each other "we will yield" said Thor.

"Do not do this thing Thor" said Fandral "die a warriors death, forget about me and destroy these base villains". Wong nodded "I have to agree, our lives are not worth what would happen should the two of you fall".

Thor shook his head "a victory at the cost of the lives of others is not a victory at all".

Mephisto let out a twisted laugh "hahahahahaha the two of you are powerless, you both will be destroyed and the various planes of existence will be without it's two greatest champions". Mordo smiled as well "it's good enough for me that Strange will be out of the way, no longer will he haunt me".

Mephisto looked to Mordo "Do not also underestimate the god of thunder, should he have been allowed to fight us you would have seen the fury of ages, either way now they will both die".

Mephisto and Mordo were about to unleash a spell to destroy Thor and Strange when both Fandral and Wong nodded to each other almost as if to signal the start of a plan. Wong then back kicked Mordo in the gut and Fandral used his momentum to toss Mephisto right into Mordo.

Thor and Strange then saw their opportunity and rushed in to aid their comrades, Thor struck Mephisto with his uru hammer sending across the room while Strange hit Mordo with a fireball knocking him to his knee's.

"Thou art done making the innocent suffer, whilst I yet have breath within me I will make positive that none shall bring harm to the people of Midgard" said Thor to Mephisto. "Boast while you may thunder god however I am not entirely helpless" said Mephisto as he tried to blast Thor with an attack spell.

Thor managed to dodge the attack and hit Mephisto once again with his mighty hammer "No Mephisto, only truth,strength and diligence will win the day. The only weapons thou wielded was hate,deceit and avarice".

Meanwhile Strange was on the opposite side of the building dealing with Mordo.

"You vex me Strange, a person as weak and tenderhearted as yourself should not have ever been allowed to be sorcerer supreme, that title was rightfully mine and you took it away from me" said Mordo. "No" said Strange "that was something you did yourself, by lusting for power and only seeking battle you had forgotten that a sorcerer's role is to help mankind not to rule it".

"Then let my magic do the talking" said Mordo as he unleashed a volly of shots at Strange. Strange managed to dodge most of them however one of them ripped through the cuff of his sleeve hurting his wrist. "You can not dodge me forever Strange, you know I was always the better sorcerer, the ancient one merely took pity on you" said Mordo with a laugh.

Strange then smiled at Mordo "your arrogance has always been your downfall, there is a difference between winning a fight and thinking you have won". Just then Strange powered up his fist with a magical light and sent Mordo flying across the room rendering him unconscience. "That was a little trick I learned from The Immortal Iron Fist" said Strange.

All four comrades then came together and talked amongst each other. "Tis a great day today comrades, we were challenged with what seemed unbeatable odds however through diligence we hath all managed to vanquish our dreaded foes" said Thor. Strange smiled "I couldn't agree more my friend, I will admit at first I didn't know if we would be able to pull this off however I should have known better then to doubt that all the elements of goodness would prevail".

Fandral smiled as did Wong "whilst Mephisto and Mordo were busy planning thy deaths Wong and I had decided that we wouldst help thee in a all or nothing gamble, we knew it was risky however in the end we had decided it was worth it to save the galaxy entire".

Wong merely nodded at this being the man of few words that he always was "I say that we put these ruffians away where they can not hurt anyone and we head home".

Thor smiled "even better, we shalt feast in the glorious halls of Asgard, where we will be given a hero's due".