Christine Supreme AU

[drpalmer]

In all the infinite universes, there was sure to be one in which Stephen Strange didn't survive his car accident, and in this, particular version of such an event, Christine had been with him. It had been a different path that led her to magic. The universe needed a new sorcerer, be it Stephen or someone else.

She had trained and devoted herself to the mystical arts just as she had devoted herself to medicine. Healing magic and defensive spells came most naturally for her, it was in her blood to help. In this universe Christine Palmer became an incredible power, she saved countless lives.

Of course, she had never truly stopped mourning Stephen, but she carried on and fought in his memory.

When the walls between universes started to crack it was as if a call was put out for all the Sorcerers in every universe to find ways to help repair the cracks.

Something was coming and she could feel it. She was pacing around the Sanctum, whatever was on the way was going to come here, of that she was certain.

Comments

[drpalmer]

"It's Christine." Her voice is gentle, attempting to offer comfort to whatever bits of human remained.

This will be much easier if she can reach some portion of the man that used to be there. She would rather not fight him, though she is confident that she could.

"Stop you from what?"

[mysticaldoctor]

"Stop me from bringing her back..." He hissed. "Who is that? Like I'm supposed to know who that is."

Frankly that's something this Strange had known better. He didn't want to break... his own timeline entirely - at least that wasn't the intention.

"Yes, but - you're breaking a key pillar of Time Itself, and it's causing... a degrading of it. It's affecting this world, and others around it. In the end you won't get anything you want - and you'll be alone." Stephen would try to reason with him, first. He wouldn't put his shields down entirely. "Didn't the Ancient One warn us about a fixed point?"
He heard hissing and his instincts to hiss back had to be contained.

"He's not here anymore..."
So. Different timeline entirely.

[drpalmer]

She's not even entirely sure what she's watching right now.

There's a temptation to use the time stone, to wind this back to where there was still some human left to try to stop this before it started.

"Right. This is going well."

[mysticaldoctor]

"He hasn't killed us yet." Though that was hardly reassuring, at present. "He's ... er - a different timeline entirely, I'm sure you can gather."

He left his shields up. "You do know... you won't get her back, right - if you destroy that - you won't save her, or anyone else - you'll destroy yourself. Her death is why... you became a doctor. Why you don't take no for answer from a university rejection."

"What do you know about it?" It was suddenly too quiet and he felt it snaking through the half-light and put up his wings in defense, and reached out tentacles to grasp at whatever darkness there was.

"More than you know."

[drpalmer]

Christine casts a soft light, something to at least reveal a bit of what they are facing.

Though she is sure she doesn't want to see. She bolsters her shields, a ring of magic glowing around her before fading.

"What should I do, Stephen?"

[mysticaldoctor]

"Give him a choice. He can stop this, and undo the spell he's cast, or - he can be contained. Forever. In a universe of his own making."

He felt the creature hiss and struggle. "That or you can at least have some things to amuse yourself instead of the nothingness and vastness of space."

He didn't think this Stephen would want to - help. "Think of this - there is a future, for this world, where your sister would be reincarnated, properly. There's also multiverses where ... she's still alive, perhaps - that you could keep from destruction. There is not the "no future without her" that you currently feel. It is a Fixed Point, not even you can change that."

He can tell what was once Strange might be torn over this. It's a pity his soul is so corrupted, that even splitting it would be risky.

[drpalmer]

"He's telling the truth. If this world crumbles so does every other world. Every world where she's still alive, every world where you aren't plauged like this. You're still a doctor."

She doubts she will be able to get through to him, but she needs to try, she will always try to save him, in any version.

[mysticaldoctor]

Stephen had to struggle to hold on to whatever mist that the man once was. His wings unfurled and his arms grasped at almost nothing - a mist. "It's all... right, Doctor. It's going to be all right." He felt the lie - he hated telling anyone this - when it wasn't.

There was a lot of inner turmoil, the Strange of this world did not want to let go of her. "Think of what she would want... would she - want this?"

[drpalmer]

She hates the lie just the same. From her days in medicine, knowing better but still needing to keep someone calm.

"She wouldn't want this, she loved you."

[mysticaldoctor]

He felt this version of Strange scream and struggle with agony, and it was difficult to hold him when he almost was formless. He definitely will need Christine's help with this because - he felt the pain of loss as well. "She's alive in another world, and she's safe."

"You can't -"

"Well, the Christine on my world is dead, and the Stephen on hers is."

[drpalmer]

She reaches a spell out to help hold the dark, shapeless void.

"Infinite possibilities."

Christine knows they aren't going to be able to convince him to undo whatever he's done. She can help somewhat, but the Strange she's brought with her is significantly stronger than she is.

[mysticaldoctor]

"Infinite threats." He moved to hold the shapeless void into a world of his own making, trying to find out if intelligent life still existed or - if it didn't. He might have consumed it all in his quest for power and breaking an Absolute Point.

He drew power all around him and confined the darkness to that, trying to hush the troubled entity at least into something calmer - for the present.

"We're going to need to patch the cracks into your world, Christine."

[drpalmer]

"The cracks are just getting worse."

She can feel it, all the energy flowing and moving in ways it shouldn't.

"We need to get back. I need your power to help stabilize it." All that time consuming entities is finally going to actually save Christine, just a different one.

[mysticaldoctor]

He tried, but the entire mentality of this Strange was unstable, as well as his forms.
His tentacles shrunk the form down to a manageable level, as he had before. It was going to collapse on itself, the other Strange had pulled too much power from it. If they took him out of the equation it might work. He drew a portal and his wings around her. He liked this sensation, and he was trying not to. The entities liked it too, of the power they were capable of unleashing. It was definitely her world, her Sanctum.

He was keeping the entity confined, it didn't really like it.

[drpalmer]

There are cracks that glow in the sky outside of the windows, they need to get out of here.

She's pulling at the cracks while she can, but the drain on her energy leaves her a bit disoriented.

She's not sure if they've used a portal or if she's just died at this point.

[mysticaldoctor]

He's pulled her in with him, and the Strange that caused it tucked under him a bit. "Christine?" He touched her face with claws and then pulled back, into the shadows with his other ... more troubled self. "Are you alright?"

He closes the portal, and draws back the power a bit. It hurt more than usual, which probably shouldn't strike him as odd.

He still looked a bit ... monstrous, and he knew it.

[drpalmer]

Her head leans into the touch, out of instinct. She nods.

"I'm alright, that was just draining."

She steps into the shadows with him, repeating his actions and touching his face in return.

"Are you okay?" She accepts him in a way his Christine would have never been capable of.

[mysticaldoctor]

He rumbled slightly, a growl of -- slight confusion, despite the nodding of his head. "You're not... afraid of me."

Slowly he drew what he had back into himself, even though he appeared... not quite normal.

"That's different." He wanted to stay with her, then - more than - before. "Do you need..." He wasn't sure what he could give her of his power that wasn't ... monstrous in some way, and he felt awkward even making the offer.

The void presence struggled within his prison.

"Some... healing energy, I expect."
He drew it and presented it, rather than - throwing it at her, forcing her to accept it.

[drpalmer]

"No." And she's not, "I have the utmost confidence that you won't hurt me."

After everything he did to try to bring back his Christine, she knows he's likely to be protective of her anyway.

"I'll be okay." But he's drawing his own energy and offering to her, she takes it with a little smile, "Thank you. Should we try to save reality then?"

[mysticaldoctor]

He nodded. "What do you think, seal off this world and the others from his?"

He still had his other self confined after all. "Then you can decide what to do with him. He may be beyond reason."

[drpalmer]

"Yeah. That should work. Can we protect you in the process?" She doesn't want him to just cease to exist.

She casts her own protection spell on him, Christine's runes shimmer with the lightness of her magic.

"Protection spell, you're welcome." There's a sly little smile on her lips. "As long as he can't do any harm, we can leave him be for a while."

[mysticaldoctor]

"That should hold. It's a small bubble universe. He'll hate it but maybe being alone with only his own monstrous thoughts will be good for him."

He smiled a little at the glowing magic around him. It had been sometime that he felt like he'd been kissed by sunshine.

[drpalmer]

"Feels a bit wrong, but the safety of literally everyone else seems a bit more important."

At least for now. Right now they needed to make some stability and to reinforce the cracks.

"Tell me what you need, you've had a bit more time with magic than I have."

[mysticaldoctor]

"Yes, it's - about saving lives, I think you'd say... that's why you - got into this, isn't it?"
He magicked some buildings, though they might resemble a previous world that no longer exists.

"How about that? I'll hold it, until you can reinforce it and then we'll fill in the cracks, send those back that don't... belong."

[drpalmer]

"It is."

She does as asked, letting her magic reinforce what he's done, they seem to work together, their magic intune almost immediately.

"That's looking a but better."