Doctor Strange #1

"The illusion of power part 1"

Doctor Stephen Strange had started out the day pretty routine, he had gone and done his rounds with a few of the patients he'd received, many of them seemed to be on the fast track to recovery.
Strange glanced at his watch, it was now 12:36 AM, "time to call it a night" he thought to himself.

But then suddenly Strange received a premonition as if someone or something was watching the building. Strange couldn't sense exactly who it was as they masked their presence by using a magic that was ultimately alien to him.

"I must investigate this matter further" Strange thought to himself.

Strange took a look around the building but could find nothing, he even tried using his amulet however even that proved to not be enough. "Whoever is out there is really trying their very best to make sure that I do not unmask them" Strange thought to himself.

"I must keep my defenses up for if they are able to mask their presence who knows to what other deeds of evil they aspire to"

Strange then started chanting an ancient protection spell so that the residents within would not be harmed by the malevolent forces trying to find their way within. He hoped that for a time this would serve to protect them until he could find out who was watching the building and why.

Strange knew there was only one thing he could do, wait for this force to make a move and then he would have to confront it by whatever means possible, he only hoped that it would be enough.

With the protection spell being finished Strange decided to do one last round and then call it a night, he knew the force would not reveal itself until it felt he was sufficiently distracted.

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

John Pike had been all over the world seeking a way to help his condition get better, John had a tumor in his brain and no one else could help him, one of his friends in town had said for him to try the new clinic which had been opened by a Doctor Stephen Strange.

John had heard of this Strange however not in a good light, in fact many of the others he'd talked to said he was a mysterious man who dabbled in many unusual things. However John was desperate as this tumor threatened his life, so at this point he would have been willing to go to Baron von Doom if it meant a chance at him living.

When John had met Strange he seemed an able enough man, compitant,caring, very good bed side manner, in some cases funny as he seemed to have a sarcastic humor which many others did not seem to get.

John could see that he was a good doctor however he still wondered if even Strange could help him no matter how good a doctor he was. Just then John had noticed that Strange had decided to call it a night and let them all rest. John tried to make himself drift off to sleep but he could not do it, there were way too many things on his mind keeping him awake.

Suddenly John could see a flashing green light coming from the window next to his bed, John was not sure what to make of it. John got up to investigate, though he believed it to be some teenagers playing around with a laser machine. He remembered the kind, the one's he used to go and see with his ex-girlfriend whenever they would see a Def Leppard concert.

When John got to the window the flashing seemed to stop, he looked around however it seemed as if the flashing was gone and any trace of it had disapeared. John then shook his hed and then went back to bed. "Probably just going insane to top everything off" he thought to himself.

Just then John saw a shadowy figure come to his bedside. "Please do not fear me, I have heard of your plight and I have come to help you" said the figure. "How do I know I can trust a strange person who's snuck into my room?" said John.

"Because I have the very thing which can help you, something that none of the doctors you have gone to can accomplish, I have the key to your cure" said the figure.

"Don't toy with me, too many people have told me my whole life that I could make it that my life didn't have to be cut short, however every single time they failed me, what makes you so different?" John asked the figure with a frustrated tone.

"This is no joke, for years you have been praying for a way to be able to rid yourself of this tumor, I have a way and it will also grant you powers beyond your reckoning, I want you to be my herald, my aid, someone who will help me to reshape this world. You and I both know this world is heading into a downward spiral, people treat each other badly, they steal, they murder, they rape.
I am offering you a way to help me turn this world into a place that all can call a utopia, there is still some goodness in this world John, will you help me spread my message" said the cloaked figure.

"It all sounds so great yet I still have a hard time believing it, how do I know that you'll be true to your word?" John asked the figure.

"I shall give you a sample" the figure said then came over to John and touched his hand. Just then John no longer had the lingering headaches which had been plaguing him for years, he once again felt as he had in his youth.

"This.....This is a miracle, no one's been able to do such a thing for me, truly you are blessed, oh please I'm sorry I doubted you, if you can keep this permenant I will gladly join you and your mission" said John in awe of this mans power.

"Very good, then kneel before me and I shall knight you" said the figure.

John knelt before the figure "I am humbly your servant" he said to him.

The figure then produced a sword and placed it on Johns right then left shoulder "I dub thee Syrel, knight of the mighty Ashtor, he who would be savior of this land".

With that John felt a surge of energy go through him, almost as if he were becoming part of the cosmos itself, he could literally sense the power flowing through him. His body then started to glow a bright gold and when the process was over no longer did John Pike stand but Syrel Knight of Ashtor.

Syrel formally known as John looked at himself, he was now clad in a gold armor from head to toe, it seemed to him that he looked like something straight out of one of those old king arthur movies. He was now holding a large crimson blade, this to him seemed closer to a combination of a lightsaber from Star wars and Excalibur the legendary blade that was bequeathed to King Arthur by the lady of the lake.

Ashtor now took off his cloak revealing his appearance, he was wearing a golden crown and had fiery red hair almost reminding Syrel of the kings of old. "Now I will take you to my kingdom where you and I can plan the future of this entire world, come my most holy knight".

Syrel walked over to Ashtor and then Ashtor waved his hand and spoke "mists of time, mists of space, take us back to the one holy place". And with that the two of them were transported away in a mist of green smoke.

Syrel could have sworn that he had seen the face of Doctor Strange looking back at them as they departed.

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

Doctor Strange had finished his rounds and had headed to his bedroom, he took the opportunity to make it seem as if he was heading to bed for he knew that there was more afoot that was trying to be hide from him.

Doctor Strange then weaved an invisibility spell so that he could peer from a distance into the other room without being detected by outside forces. What he saw astounded him, it seemed as if someone wanted to get the attention of his newest patient John Pike.

Strange could barely make out the man but he could tell that this person was from a distant realm from the type of energy he was emitting. He couldn't hear the conversation but he already knew what was happening, he knew that this stranger was offering to help John with some kind of miracle cure or spell.

Strange hated doing this but he knew that he had to stay hidden so as to find out the plot that was being made here. He would wait till their conversation was over and then follow their trail to whatever dimension they were heading to.

Strange then saw a blinding light and when he looked again John was standing with golden clad armor and a large crimson blade. "This does not smack of any of good tidings" Strange thought to himself. He then waited and as he had anticipated John and the man who now revealed himself to be some sort of king were on their way and disapeared in a mist of green smoke.

Strange then used his magic to trace where the spell was coming from "by the eye of Agamotto, by the Hoary hosts of Hoggoth I command the way be opened for me". Just then Strange was able to open up a portal which lead to the very place he was seeking.

Doctor Strange went through the portal and when he came out the other side he looked around and could see he was in a vast kingdom. It was very remeniscent of ancient Avalon, a great spralling town with many citizens very much in the medevil fashion. All of this was made complete by the great towering castle in the backround.

"If I didn't know any better I would think I was in an Errol Flynn movie" Strange said to himself with a chuckle. Strange then heard a voice behind him.

"You there, what do you think you are doing in these lands? Answer me tresspasser before I have you brought to the king in chains" said the voice behind Strange. He looked around and saw a huge guard clad in armor, reminiscent of a foot man of old.

"Well sir" said Strange "you wouldn't believe me if I told you".

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

Doctor Strange was lead by a troop of guards over to the castle which he had spotted before "are you going to give me the grand tour or do I just get the run through?" asked Strange. "Save your smart comments for the king, he's demanded to see the unusual tresspasser who has appeared out of nowhere" said the head guard.

"I didn't exactly come from nowhere, I came through a portal" said Strange sarcastically. The guard glared at him "I said keep quiet" the guard demanded as he rammed the handle of his sword into Strange's left shoulder.

Strange smirked to himself, he could see this guard had a short fuse which he thought may be of use to him later. Strange was lead into the main throne room where the king awaited him, Strange could see it was the man from before who had taken John with him.

"Is this the intruder?" the king asked.

"Yes it is sire, we found him on the outskirts of the town and he will not tell us where he comes from, I believe him to be a spy or worse a member of that wretched resistance group" said the head guard.

The king looked Strange over, trying to get a feel for what kind of man this person was, Strange was a hard man to read and the king could see this. "Is this true what my captain of the guards tells me? or you indeed a spy or a member of the resistance?" asked the king.

"I've come here myself, I'm looking for a patient of mine by the name of John Pike, he was under my care and I have come to see if he is here, you see I am his doctor" said Strange studying the kings reaction.

"I have not heard of this John Pike as you call him and frankly your story is flimsy at best. I believe some time in our dungeons will help you to find the truth also my captain has been wanting to try out some of our latest torture techniques. We will get the truth from you even if it takes breaking every one of your bones" said the king with a twisted grin.

Strange expected this reaction, he seemed to him to be another vain pretender, he had learned to wield some power so in turn he abused it. He tried to come off as a gracious benevolent ruler however in reality he was but a cruel heartless dictator.

The guard took tremendous pleasure in tossing Strange into the dungeon, Strange could tell that this particular guard had a short fuse and he intended to use that to his benefit at a later time.

Strange then caught a glimpse of John Pike in his new armor "John it's me Stephen Strange, your doctor". Syrel looked to the dungeon "Doctor Strange? what are you doing here? I would have never thought to see you here".

"It's a long story John, but the short of it is that I've come to bring you home and away from here, I fear that you have been tricked" said Strange.

"To the contrary doctor and it's Syrel, my new name along with my new title as knight of the realm, you see I'm going to help king Ashtor make our world into a better place" said Syrel to Strange.

Strange then shook his head "he's not what you think he is".

"It's unfortunate that you have come here doctor and I will speak on your behalf however there is nothing you can do to convince me this man is nothing less then my savior" said Syrel as he left the dungeon leaving Strange to ponder what the hell he was going to do.

TO BE CONTINUED

You may have noticed that I altered Strange's personality and made him a Doctor again. The Doctor thing is just me being picky because he's called Doctor Strange, the personality on the other hand I felt was necessary because as much as I love his old personality as the wise guru I just felt that it was the very thing keeping him as a side character then as one of the Marvel big shots.

So I felt in an effort to make him appeal to a wider audience I would give him more of an intellectual smartass type of personality.

With that out of the way please enjoy the story.

You have a good start, but you need to separate paragraphs of dialogue. At times I thought Dr. Strange had two lines of dialogue, but one turned out to be a guard or someone else.

Dr. Strange's voice is different between his internal dialogue (where he is rather formal) and his spoken dialogue (where he is casual and even joking). Was this intentional?

I did try to show who was speaking however you are right it's most likely just better to separate it altogether and yes it was intentional the way he speaks, I actually patterned his speech and way of thinking after mine, I think way more formally then I speak.

Jared this is nice work. I really like how you are trying to make Dr Strange's personality a little more human and relatable. I do agree with Nik on the Paragraph trouble but its your first issue and I know you will get better. Great job dude

I guess this is true with a lot of writers but I tried to make Strange's personality more like mine. I didn't really think that the mystic guru thing was working for his character, I saw a lot of untapped potential in his character that in my personal opinion was getting squandered.