Doctor Strange #5

"The Fugitive Doctor Strange?"



Strange could see by the look of his house that it had been ransacked he also noticed the shadow behind him "I can't let you take me no matter how things may look" he said.

The shadowy figure stepped forward revealing his old friend Captain america "I'm sorry Doctor but come hell or high water, I have to bring you in".

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Doctor Strange had begun his day on a hectic note, not only was his patient list full he also had done some extra work for the avengers since they were up against Thanos yet again. Most times it was not a problem however due to the fact that he was getting spread so thin his strength was not what it used to be.

Strange had also been dealt a blow by Thanos which had cracked his ribs, he knew his magic could heal him however he would still not be up to his full strength for at least a few days. Strange knew that he had to get in some rest however he did not want to neglect his duties as both a protector of mankind and a Doctor.

Strange figured he should at least get a few hours sleep and replenish some of his strength for he would be utterly useless in the state he was in at present. Strange came to his Sanctum Sanctorum and went upstairs to get some much needed sleep however upon his entering he had gotten the mysterious feeling that he was somehow being watched.

Strange then formed a glowing green orb in his hand and then quietly whispered a spell to find whom was watching him. Strange knew that it had to be someone with a decent amount of power as there was no novice who would cause him such distress.

Strange could feel that the origin was indeed from a distant dimension.

"Well I guess getting some rest in not in the cards today" Strange said shaking his head.

Strange then opened a portal and entered what appeared to be a dark swampy land, the kind of place no mortal would ever dare venture into. Strange knew that whoever was watching him was obviously not human.

The swamp was thick and very hard to cross, it felt almost as if he were walking thru a vat of molasses. Whoever it was that wanted to get Strange's attention it sure was someone who wanted to make sure that Strange had to work extremely hard to get there.

To make matters worse because of Strange's recent injuries the added effort was slowly taking it's toll on his strength. It was starting to get very hard for him to breath and his legs started to feel like lead weights on his body.

Upon finally reaching some solid ground or at least what Strange thought was ground he stooped down to have a brief respite. "The very air itself is stifling, I must do something in order to make ease of my path" said Strange as he looked around.

Strange then started chanting a spell to help him regain some of his lost strength "by the rings of raggador please help this servant of the vishanti rise from the floor". Unfortunately it was to no avail as the spell seemed to not even take effect. "Whoever rules this place wants to make sure that I spend all my energy searching for him" Strange thought to himself.

Strange could barely lift himself off of the ground with as much energy as he had spent getting to his current location. "It would seem that I was meant to use up my energy, I've been a fool" Strange whispered to himself.

"I could not have put it any more concise" said a voice that was all too familiar to the good doctor.

Strange looked ahead and sitting on a dark throne with gargoyle handles was the face of his old enemy Nightmare. "It's good to see you Strange, you have indeed guessed my plot however you are too late to stop it for by the time you have recovered your strength everything I have planned will have already have been put into motion".

Strange then glared at Nightmare "not while I still have an ounce of strength left, I will fight you till I can no longer go on, besides the world needs to be rid of your stench" said Strange with a small strained chuckle.

Nightmare smiled "still defiant to the end I see, as I said my plan is already in motion, I've tuned this enviroment to drain you of your much needed energy, I doubt you could barely even lift your arms at this point".

Strange could not deny the fact that his energy had been sapped, even at that moment his eyes were starting to blur.

Nightmare smiled at this "that's right Strange, drift off to sleep for the nightmare you are about to recieve will be as nothing compared to the nightmare you will awaken to".

And with that Strange went unconscience and his world ultimately went black.

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When Strange finally awoke he could see that he was back in the physical world, as his eyes readjusted he could see that he was in an alleyway, a person was only about five feet away from him. He took a closer look and could see this person was dead "oh my god, I've been set up" said Strange as he tried to get up and hide.

Unfortunately it was too late as he was spotted by a couple of onlookers who immediately notified the police. "I have to get to safety and then hide myself away" said Strange to himself. He then cast a spell of invisibility so that he could safely make it back to his Greenwich village retreat.

Strange could clearly see that he was no longer safe at the moment as the entire police force seemed to be coming after him now. He finally made it back to his home, took off the invisibility spell and started to search the place for some artifacts that could help him.

Strange could see by the look of his house that it had been ransacked he also noticed the shadow behind him "I can't let you take me no matter how things may look" he said.

The shadowy figure stepped forward revealing his old friend Captain america "I'm sorry Doctor but come hell or high water, I have to bring you in".

"Captain I admire your commitment to your duty however even you must know that not all things are as they seem, do you really know me as a person who kills in cold blood?" asked Strange as he turned to face Captain america.

"Strange you also know that I just can't let you go in good conscience, if you have nothing to hide then come with me and I will make sure nothing happens to you" said Captain america as he stepped forward.

"You know as well as I do Captain that they simply will not let me clear my name, the mob mentality is always the same, you are guilty until proven innocent. If you really want to help me old friend, help me to clear my name for I know exactly who has done this to me" said Strange.

Captain America sighed "I want to believe you Strange but you were found in an alleyway next to a body, it's hard to look the other way in this situation".

Strange looked to Captain America "I know it's a tremendous thing to ask and you would be taking an extreme amount of heat for it Captain however you are one of the few that would believe me and at this point I don't want to involve anymore people then the two of us for if this doesn't work out the way I hope then we will both be in trouble".

Captain America looked to Strange "Where do we start?" he asked with a grin.

Strange smiled back "we first have to find the book of the vishanti, that was one of the artifacts that Nightmare had stolen for he knows that with the knowledge in that book I could seal him up".

Strange then looked to Captain America again "the only problem is both him and the book are in two different locations, seeing as how we need the book to stop him we will have to go after that first, though I do warn you that he's hidden it in the realm of shadows".

Captain America was puzzled "I haven't seen it however I'm assuming this realm of shadows is every bit as dangerous as it sounds?".

Strange shook his head "it's worse captain, these creatures can suck the very life essence out of you".

Captain America then smiled "what are we waiting for then Doctor, I'll let you lead the way".

TO BE CONTINUED

Jared you really had me going, I thought you going one way with Cap's appearence but instead you went the other way nice work

It's a funny thing when you are writing, I actually had the intention of having Strange run for his life throughout the course of this story however as I was fleshing it out so to speak I changed my mind from that course and ultimately decided a team up was the better route to go.