Chapter Text
Stephen Strange's eyes opened wide as he awoke from yet another nightmare.
Stephen: "Every night..."
Stephen stood in a vast, empty white field, looking up at a darkened Sanctum Sanctorum.
Stephen: "I dream the same dream."
The doors of the dark Sanctum opened up, revealing a large staircase that led up through a gigantic, vast landscape that was partly covered by clouds.
Stephen: "And then..."
A yellow glass shattered on a floor. In a large, open area, an explosion burst on the ground, sending sorcerers and archers flying in different directions, while others tried to scramble to protection. Stephen was with Vanitas Jordan, and the two stared up with horrified expressions on their faces. There were multiple pillars, something attached to those pillars, and two tentacles from that something holding up a person within, before it released energy that glowed bright. That person being held up ended up looking into the roaring face of some kind of monster.
A person that looked exactly like Stephen, but with his grey hair in different spots, yelled out as he spun around in what looked like a vortex. He went in circles before he shifted into normal Stephen gasping, pushing himself up into a sitting position in his bed. Stephen gasped and covered his face in surprise.
Stephen: "The nightmare begins."
Stephen looked over at his bedside table, where his cracked watch from Christine was resting.
Stephen: "I did what I had to do."
Stephen stood in the upper level of the Sanctum Sanctorum, and waved his hands around. Various items rose up, glowing black in a form of Dark Magic, and a bright red from Chaos Magic. Stephen sucked the magic towards himself so it was in his hand, then slammed it into the ground, releasing the magic.
Stephen: "To protect our world."
There was a landscape shot of New York, with many newer buildings recently constructed out in the distance, rising high up into the sky.
Wong and Stephen were sitting together in a lodge, with Wong having his face slightly cut up as Stephen looked at him with a pleading expression on his face.
"You cannot control everything, Strange," Wong informed him.
Stephen was standing on a rooftop, looking out in the distance as the city changed before his eyes. The sky was grey as lots of structures floated up in the air and dissolved into pieces that went in different directions.
Wong: "You opened the door between universes..."
Wong was standing with other sorcerers, staring in horror at something in the distance.
Wong: "And we don't know who or what will walk through it."
Christine Palmer walked out of a chapel wearing a white dress, a surprised expression on her face as she stared forwards with the crowds in surprise.
In the streets of a city, people were running as fast as they could between the parked cars of traffic, a young woman named America Chavez with them as she tried to get away from the threat.
In a darkened room, Wanda Maximoff sat cross-legged and floated in the air, her hands out as if she was meditating. There was a circle of candles on the floor around her as she was dressed in her new Scarlet Witch outfit, which included sleeves and a darkened color, courtesy of the other witch watching from the corner with a wide, evil smile on her face.
Wanda opened her eyes on her blank face.
Stephen: "Wanda..."
Stephen was walking with Wanda, along with Roxas Cooper and Xion Eclipse. The small group was walking through the trees back to Wanda and Vision's house, with Wanda, Roxas, and Xion sharing small smiles while Stephen tried to keep his face serious.
"What do you know about the Multiverse?" Stephen asked Wanda as they walked. "Between our lessons, you must've done your own research."
"Not much," Wanda admitted, looking at Stephen. "Just the stuff we heard from Ven and the boys last Christmas. But, Vizh does have his own theories."
Stephen and Wong stood together at a temple with other magical beings. They all ran forwards in front of the temple as they watched winds surging towards them, forming a gigantic grey storm.
Wanda: "Of course, he believes that it's dangerous."
The sorcerers and magical beings stood up and watched the surging clouds, including a minotaur. The clouds got closer and started to cover the ground they were standing.
Stephen: "He was right."
Stephen stared out in surprise at the new development at the temple.
Wanda was with Stephen, Roxas, and Xion, standing together just outside her and Visions house.
"If I have to come out of retirement, I will," Wanda promised Stephen. She looked down. "But..."
"What's wrong?" Stephen asked.
Wanda sighed out.
"You break the rules, and become the hero," Wanda admitted. "I do it, and become the enemy. I don't wanna sound like a sad kid, but... that doesn't seem fair, does it?"
"She's got a point, Strange," Xion admitted.
"Yeah, despite everything she's done, she still gets a pretty bad wrap," Roxas agreed. "Honestly, I can see why she wouldn't have come back."
Stephen stood with Wanda and Vision, both of them giving him determined expressions. He looked over at Roxas and Xion, who also had determined expressions on their faces.
"You guys don't have to do this," Stephen said. "I mean, the Multiverse is something that we know frighteningly little about, and I can't guarantee your safeties. It'll be dangerous, and there's a chance countless lives could be lost if we fail."
"Hmm, let me think about it," Roxas remarked.
He looked up for a second before looking back at Stephen.
"I'm still in," Roxas said.
"Me, too," Xion agreed. "If our friends are going headfirst into danger, then we're gonna do what we can to help."
Stephen stood with America Chavez and Christine, and they all looked up at a metal door with a crank as it opened up. They all looked through that door to see the nexus between universes, which included various structures, along with a large brick station.
There was a flash of green fire, causing a large blast. Roxas and Xion yelled out as they were tossed aside, and Maleficent's evil laughter cackled through the flames, which also knocked Vision aside. Stephen, America Chavez, and Xion tried rushing forwards, but they were restrained by red energy, before green fire blasted them back once more. With another loud flash, the green fire flared brightly, and the room became still.
Vanitas Jordan and Riku Boreanas winced as they pressed their hands against the ground, pushing themselves up. The two Keyblade Masters got to their feet and looked around, seeing the vast city of Quadratum around them, the buildings reaching up high into the sky, possibly even higher than New York.
"This is it..." Riku said, looking up into the sky.
"Quadratum," Vanitas agreed.
Riku and Vanitas then stood on a large, brick structure that was floating in the sky, along with Stephen, Vision, Roxas, Xion, and America Chavez.
"I don't come and mess with you when you're on your missions, pal!" Vanitas angrily snapped at Strange.
"Please, V, something really bad is happening," Roxas insisted. "And Strange seems to think you're the best hope we've got."
"Why do I need to be here?" Riku asked.
"Maleficent's back," Xion informed them.
"Oh, so, you need people with experience fighting her," Riku assessed.
"Where's Wanda?" Vanitas asked with a curious frown.
Stephen, America, Vision, Roxas, and Xion shared worried looks, which Riku and Vanitas obviously noticed. Stephen looked at Vanitas.
"That's what we need your help with," Stephen said.
His eyebrows still furrowed, Vanitas's eyes widened in worry for his partner in telepathy.
Vanitas was now standing with Stephen in a room at the Sanctum, Karl Mordo standing nearby in green robes, his hair made into dreadlocks.
"I'm sorry, Stephen," Mordo said, not sounding sorry at all.
Stephen stood in the streets of New York, watching through the grey sky as the buildings all shifted and changed in response to something big.
Mordo: "Your desecration of reality..."
Stephen and Vanitas both had clamps put around their wrists, restraining them both since Vanitas would be a "witness"
Mordo: "Will not go unpunished."
Stephen and Vanitas were surrounded by many robots that reminded Vanitas too much of Ultron, and they were led through a grand room and up a large set of stairs. The two heroes looked around in confusion as the robots led them up the stairs. They walked through a corridor out into a gigantic room with a raised wall on the end. There were many stairs on top of the wall, and a gigantic window behind the chairs, illuminating the people sitting in the seats.
Stephen and Vanitas's eyes widened at the people, and they even cocked their heads to the side in surprise.
A Man with a British accent: "We should tell them the truth."
"Something tells me I'm gonna be saying this a lot," Vanitas said, his eyes still wide as he stared up at the British man. "But what the fu..."
Xion stood with Roxas and Vanitas, and all three of them looked at her hands in amazement as bright, golden lights surged around her hands, becoming solid and gaseous more and more by the second. The lights faded, and Xion looked up, sharing stupefied expressions with Roxas and Vanitas.
"Okay, that's on me for not figuring out sooner that Sora could have been an Enhanced," Vanitas admitted.
"But... what was that?" Xion asked.
"Golden energy," a familiar voice called out.
The trio turned around, and their eyes widened.
A man a bit taller than all three of them walked forwards, followed by a brunette young woman. The two of them were wearing the same black leather suits that Vanitas and Roxas wore during battle, with the man having orange lines and a shurikan on the chest of his suit, while the woman had pink lines and a heart on the chest of her suit. The main thing that garnered their attentions was that the man looked exactly like Roxas, with the same blonde hair on a slightly more mature face.
"I think I can explain a few things to you guys," this taller Roxas said as he and the woman reached the trio.
Roxas, Xion, and Vanitas all looked up in amazement and surprise at the two newcomers.
"Again," Vanitas said. "What the fu..."
Stephen and America Chavez dropped down through part of a forest, and Stephen grabbed onto her as they dropped through the Mirror Dimension, trying to protect her. The sorcerer yelled out as the Mirror Dimension made lines across his face, pushing the very fabric of his body around.
Riku stood with Roxas, Xion, and Vanitas on the brick structure in the nexus between. Vision stood behind them as they all looked out at the surging land, each of them still surprised from what all had just happened.
"We go to another dimension for five minutes, and everything goes to shit," Riku commented.
"Actually, you guys have been gone for two and a half months," Xion admitted.
"Really?" Vanitas asked. "Man, time works especially weirdly between dimensions." He winced. "Man, I hope that Sora's not older than me now."
"That's the first thing that comes to mind with you?" Roxas asked.
"This is important to discuss?" Vision asked the quartet of teenagers, annoyed at their banter in this serious situation.
"Sorry," Riku, Vanitas, Xion, and Roxas all simultaneously said, flushing in embarrassment.
Stephen stood in what looked like the the observatory in the Sanctum Sanctorum, but it was much darker. The entire back wall was gone, revealing the swirling storms caused by the Multiverse. Strange watched as a Variant of himself, one dressed in dark robes and with a paler face, stepped across the other side of the room, holding his hands behind his back. Stephen looked at the darker Strange in surprise, while Strange smirked at him.
"Things just got out of hand," Strange said in a cracky voice, smirking at his less evil counterpart.
A figure similar to Captain Marvel burst through a wall and flew forwards. She flew towards Wanda and blasted out energy. Wanda raised her hand and cast a shield to block, and ended up getting knocked back when the energy hit her shield.
"I can't do it, I don't have the strength!" Vanitas shouted to Stephen.
At the temple, energy burst throughout the area, sending people flying as they were knocked through the air from the blast. America stood with two others, staring up in wide eyed surprise at the situation.
Stephen held his side and looked up at the same thing that the archers were pointing their bows at.
Maleficent: "Thanks to the Darkhold, you do not have the power to defeat me, not when I am much stronger than when we last met."
"Look out!" America shouted to Stephen, pointing at something behind him.
Stephen turned around to see Gargantos lift up a city bus with his tentacles. The large squid monster threw the bus at Stephen, but he cast magic to make a shield appear around himself. He then turned that shield, changing it to a buzz saw that cut the buss in half, so that it didn't harm him or America.
Maleficent: "And with my power over your friend..."
Stephen looked up at a statue of himself in front of the Sanctum Sanctorum. He frowned at it.
Roxas, Xion, and Vision all frowned at Maleficent as she stood across from them in a large, open field. Wanda was standing behind Maleficent in her darker suit, frowning at the three of them. There were sparks of green flames over her eyes, showing the full range of Maleficent's control.
"She is mine," Maleficent cockily announced, nothing but pure insanity in her voice.
"Get away from her, you bitch!" Roxas growled to Maleficent, a little internally happy that he did a movie reference without help from Vanitas.
"Give me back my wife!" Vision shouted at Maleficent, trying not to become lost in his anger.
Roxas and Xion charged together to face Maleficent, who was laughing cockily and insanity. The evil sorceress raised up her staff, which was dispersing green flames. Roxas twirled his Keyblades and jumped up into the air, while Xion gripped her Keyblade in one hand, and made a golden shield appear over her other arm. The two heroes lunged towards the villain, ready to do everything to help their friend.
Wanda sat cross-legged in the living room of a house that resembled hers from Westview. The living room was slightly wrecked as she sat with her eyes closed, looking like she was meditating. Another Wanda stepped up to Wanda in surprise, especially at the expression on her other self's face. The Wanda sitting down had a very sad expression on her face with her eyes closed, and Wanda from this universe stepped up to her, a scratch on her face.
The normally dressed Wanda placed her hand on the face of the Wanda in the battle suit. She frowned when she looked into the battle-suited Wanda, and heard her own voice very faintly yelling, "Help me! I'm not in control!"
Stephen and Vanitas backed up from Mordo, who swung a blade at them. Stephen caught the blade with his shackles, using it to try to break out.
The temple exploded in a large blast.
America charged forwards, jumping off of a large table. She yelled out as she raised a fist and swung it at someone.
Vision yelled out in pure rage as he blasted a laser out of his forehead at Maleficent.
A large gathering of red energy was dispersed, sending two people flying back through the air.
Gargantos was in the city of New York, and a Variant of Stephen was facing off against him. There was an orange rope of energy around him, and the Defender Strange jumped forwards in flips, dodging the large squid's tentacles as he kept fighting.
Roxas and Xion both rolled forwards to dodge a blast of green fire. The battle couple worked together, with Roxas blasting lightning out of his fingers at Maleficent before Xion raised a golden shield in front of both of them. She then made a platform appear behind herself. The couple shared a quick peck of their lips before Roxas used that platform to jump up in the air, going over Maleficent's head to strike at the villainess from above.
A Wanda dressed in normal clothes had blood on half her face. She held up her hand and released some magic, trying to face off against something.
"Strange!" Wong bellowed, holding onto the side of a mountain.
A different variant of Strange, one that was much more pale skinned and looked like a zombie, stood in a grey area and had black wisps resembling demons flying around itself. Riku yelled out as he lunged at this version of Strange and swung Braveheart, but this evil Strange ducked underneath the strike, letting Riku roll across the ground away from him.
A figure that looked even more like a zombie floated up into the air, using Dark Magic to make four extra arms appear on each side of its body. This figure yelled out as Dark Magic surged out from around him. Riku and Ares, the God of War, stood on the ground in front of this figure, their hands raised as they held onto their weapons. Riku was holding Braveheart and Ares was wielding a large, two handed sword, both of them ready to protect the others.
Doctor Strange and the Keybladers in the Multiverse of Madness
Vanitas: "My name... Is Vanitas Francis Jordan..."
Everyone looked at Vanitas in amazement as energy that he had never wielded before was released, showing just how powerful he was at the moment. The villains looked at him with their jaws dropped in surprise, while the heroes softly gasped in relief.
Ares smiled in pride at his son.
Vanitas raised his hand up and summoned his Keyblade, his eyes glowing slightly from his energy.
"I am..." Vanitas said. "The youngest Keyblade Master in decades... A wielder of the Infinity Stones... an Avenger... a very good friend... A son of Ares, the god of war..."
He looked up at the villains and frowned in determination.
"And the whooper. Of all. Your. Asses!"
Vanitas twirled his Keyblade in preparation and held his weapon out to the side. The ravenette charged forwards and yelled out in preparation as he lunged forwards, ready to face all of these threats and protect his friends.