With cautious politeness, Shang-Chi listened attentively to Dr. Strange’s tale. The warrior had been summoned by The Sorcerer supreme to his Sanctorum. It was for what was thought to be an urgent matter. Anyone who knew of it, respected Strange’s reputation and that respect had brought him to the sorcerer’s abode. Strange had been completely hospitable and provided him with a comfortable chair and Wong prepared food. The Master of Kung still found something, forgive the pun, strange in the way the sorcerer was acting. He paced around the immaculate, but dimly lit, dining room as Shang-Chi ate. He seemed nervous and the thought of what could make Strange nervous caused Snag-Chi to become tense.
Tapping sweat off his forehead, Strange said, “You have my utmost gratitude for making the long journey here. I hope Wong’s tea is found satisfactory.”
“It is,” Shang-Chi replied. “But I must ask. Why was I summoned in the first place?”
Strange stopped to ponder Shang-Chi’s question and after a moment said, “Terrible nightmares have plagued me for weeks and unfortunately I believe them to be prophetic in nature. After much thought and meditation I have come to the conclusion it involves the Elixir Vitae.”
Hanging down his head, Shang-chi had to fight back a laugh. It always came back to that. The Elixir Vitae was a curse that kept reoccurring in his life. It was the black cloud that would not go away.
“Many men have pursued that destructive substance Strange. It has left behind many corpses in its wake,” Shang-Chi said. The Elixir Vitae had consumed his own father and now he felt that he saw the beginnings of such a thing in Strange.
Strange acknowledged Shang-Chi’s comment with a thoughtful nod and said, “All the more reason for me to believe it figures into my dream. How much of the elixir’s history do you know?”
“Truthfully, I know all that my father decided to tell me. So I’m not sure just how much that really is,” Shang-Chi answered. His feelings towards his father had always been ambiguous. He had indeed loved his father, but he had lived a dishonorable life. Trying to reconcile those two things had always been a difficult task for The Master of Kung-Fu.
“You’ve touched the Elixir Vitae before have you not?” Doctor Strange asked.
Shang-Chi nodded. “Yes, but I never took it. I felt it dishonorable considering the way my father attained it.”
“Understood,” Strange said as he held out his hands. “But I think we can find out more about the Elixir together.”
A shadow of a threat echoed in Strange’s mind and he quickly turned to the door of his dining room. A large spike of hellfire burst up from the floor tiling and out of it stepped a seductive woman garbed in black clothes that seemed more fitting for a rocker than a princess of Hell.
“You don’t need to find out anything about the Vitae. I can tell you all you need to know.”
“And just how is that Satana?” Dr. Strange asked viciously. His mystical wards should have kept her out.
Seeing the sorcerer’s evident anger, Satana laughed and said, “Don’t worry. I only got through your wards because I mean you no harm. Like I said, I know all you need to know about the Elixir Vitae?”
“And how is that?” Strange smugly inquired.
Satana’s face contorted into a quivering snarl. “I lost my realm because of it.”
=====
KREE SPACE VESSEL THE ACCUSIATE
The Kree merchant trembled under the tight grip of the intruder. He was staring into the wolf-like face of Lucian, the alien warrior known as Blackwulf. The Kree knew of the planet of Armechadon and the vicious warriors that it had produced. Blackwulf stood amongst the most famous of them.
“Where is my father?!” Lucian roared only inches away from the ship captain’s face. Spittle covered the scared Kree. He was the only one of his crew that Blackwulf had chosen to interrogate. The rest his partner had tied up.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” the captain muttered and he was immediately slammed face first into the metallic floor of the ship. He cried out as three of his teeth cracked.
“I’m not playing here! I swear I’ll pull out your eyes and chew them if you don’t tell me what I need to know!”
An aged Homodur finished tying up the last crewmember and stood to his feet. He looked upon the injured captain with practiced pity and said, “You must may/perhaps/possibly want to do what he says. Blackwulf possesses/owns/has The Black Legacy. It will kill/die/annihilate you with just a touch.”
The Kree captain found the alien’s language strange and asked, “What the hell are you supposed to be?”
Blackwulf pressed his hand against the captain’s head harder and growled, “He’s the finest warrior of his race. You’re not even worthy to lick his boot. Now where is my father?”
One of the crewmembers, a female, said, “They’re going to Earth.”
The captain looked up angrily at the woman and shook his head in disappointment. Blackwulf smiled, rose to his feet, and a black lance materialized in his hand. It was his weapon of choice, the Shadowlance. A bright beam of yellow energy appeared at the tip of it and blew the Kree captain’s head to pieces. The crewmembers screamed at the sight.
Another crewmember, fearing for his life quickly said, “He wasn’t going to straight to Earth. Said something about finding The Vimana.”
Blackwulf looked up to his gray-skinned partner with anger. “Century, that’s my father’s ship. If he’s got that then he’s probably already on Earth.”
“Then we don’t have much time. If The Tudora and Tantalus ravage Earth I will never forgive myself,” Century said.
The two began to walk away from the incapacitated crew knowing that it would only be a few hours before someone found them. They were in high traffic Kree space. Besides, they didn’t have time if Tantalus had indeed found The Vimana. Blackwulf hated the idea of his father, who he fought so hard against, regaining power so quickly.
“We won’t let that happen Century. Not if I have anything to say about it.”
=====
“So you know why the Doc wanted to talk to this guy?” Bloodstone asked as she stepped out of the shower with a red towel wrapped around her.
Moving across the wet floor, she wiped the foggy mirror with one hand and got her first actual glimpse at how tired she looked. Doctor Strange had sent her on a mission to retrieve Shang-chi nearly two weeks ago and had been on a non-stop quest to find him. Even for someone who possessed supernatural powers that kind of mission took its toll. Of course Elsa wouldn’t admit that to herself.
From behind the closed door, Amanda gave her a response. “It has something to do with a dream he’s been having, but who ever really knows. Doctor Strange marches to his own drum.”
Sefton and Bloodstone had learned that lesson quite thoroughly in the time they had been with Doctor Strange. Ever since the heroes died after Onslaught, the world had been in disarray. Doctor strange had brought the two women into his fold to help relieve that disarray. A world without The Avengers or Fantastic Four was a world in danger. Strange recognized that fact and decided to do something about it. Sefton and Bloodstone had been happy to join with the Sorcerer Supreme in his mission. Bloodstone because she wanted to honor her father’s legacy and Sefton because she wanted to learn more of the arcane arcs that Strange was so adeptly skilled in.
“I didn’t even think the man slept,” Elsa joked.
Plopping herself on her bed, Amanda answered, “It depends on the day. I’ve seen strange stay up for three days straight before. He’s on his on own schedule.”
Elsa stepped out of the steamy bathroom with a black thong on and a low cut shirt to match with the words Bite Me! etched into it. She sat on the bed next to Amanda and asked, “Do you think we made the right choice coming here?”
“Of course. Despite his obvious flaws, the man is dedicated to filling in the gap. He’s got good intentions.”
Bloodstone sighed. “It’s not him. It’s me. I just want to do right by my Dad and I’m not sure if this is where I need to be.”
Amanda sat up in the bed and leaned on one elbow as she said, “Your father loves you Elsa. You don’t have to earn that. If this is where you want to be then let it be, but if not -- we’ll still be friends.”
The monster hunter smiled. “ And leave you alone with the Doc? I’m not that damn mean.”
Sefton was glad that Elsa wanted to stay. It had been awhile since Amanda had a friend who she could relate to on almost every level. She would have to entertain herself with Wong if Elsa wasn’t around.
Suddenly, the astral form of Strange appeared in front of the two women as he said, “Come downstairs. We have things to discuss.”
Amanda looked over to Elsa and shrugged. “Guess he didn’t notice your thong?”
“I don’t think he’s noticed anything on a woman in years. You think he masturbates?” Elsa asked with a playful smile.
“Eww! That’s definitely not something I want to think about,” Amanda replied as she got off the bed to slip into something more presentable. It’s not that she didn’t think Strange was a handsome man because he was but she looked at him as a father figure. Thinking about his sexual acts was too awkward a subject matter.
“Seriously?” Elsa implored. “I mean c’mon! He hasn’t had a girlfriend in years. He’s either got balls bluer than Neptune or he’s doing a lil hocus pocus to help his hands out.”
Amanda laughed. “Can we not talk about this? You know he’s probably still listening.”
“So?” Elsa shrugged. “When is he not listening?”
“Good point,” Amanda said as she slipped on a purple shirt that advertised the old gypsy carnival she use to be a part of as a child. It’s where her adopted brother, Nightcrawler, did all of his acrobatic performances. She was a long way away from those days back when she was Jimaine Szardos. That name no longer meant anything to her. It reminded her too much of the corrupted mother she had. Amanda Sefton distanced her from those memories and that’s the way she wanted it.
As she slipped on a pair of denim jeans, Elsa complained. “I just got the shower too. I was so ready to head to sleep.”
“It can wait another thirty minutes,” Amanda replied as she combed her hair.
“It’ll be an hour if you keep combing your hair,” Bloodstone teased as she ran out of the door and down the stairs.
Amanda continued combing her hair when she heard Elsa yell out.
“OH SHIT!!”
=====
OLYMPUS
Apollo approached the throne of Zeus in absolute humility. Most mortals would burn into a crisp simply gazing upon the glory of Lord Zeus’s seat of power. Apollo was favored enough to call Zeus his father, but even children of the gods had to pay their respect. Zeus would accept no less.
The golden god of the sun bowed down in front of his eternal father and asked, “Did you summon me, father?”
Zeus’s response resounded throughout the open gathering so reminiscent of the Athenian democracy. “Yes, I did, son. There is an urgent matter, I have chosen you to address it.”
Quickly standing to his feet, Apollo said without a moment’s hesitation, “I shall take of it for you father. Any enemy of Olympus will be smote beneath my fiery sword!”
The thunder god smiled like a proud father would and replied, “No need for such haste yet, my son, though I take great pride in your courage. I’m afraid my aunt and yours is about to plunge Earth into a great darkness.”
“Who amongst us would take part in such folly?” Apollo asked as he ran through a list of potential candidates in his mind.
Zeus’s face turned solid and thunder cracked in the background. “Not amongst us. Yet, still one of us. The Fear Lord, Nox. Her brethren have joined hand in hand with gods not of Earth.”
“Shall I put her in her place?” Apollo asked eager to deal a blow out to the deplorable Fear Lords.
“Not alone you won’t. There are champions already gathering to face the threat she poses. I want you to insert yourself among them and let them know everything that I have told you. Nox must be stopped. I will not have her black legacy shaming us.”
Apollo knew what his father meant. He didn’t want any other pantheons, particularly Asgardian, having to deal with Nox. Better to keep it all internal and not have to worry about answering to other gods. At least that was how Zeus felt about the matter. The sun god wasn’t quite so sure.
“I will do as you ask father. Do you want me to bring her to you?”
Zeus leaned back in his throne, contemplated his son’s question, and said without any emotion, “I care not how my aunt is disposed of. I just want her disposed.”
Apollo bowed again. “I will do as you ask father. But what champions must I find?”
“The Sorcerer Supreme is whom you shall have to seek. Upon arrival tell him to summon forth the beings known as Century and Blackwulf. They have needed knowledge against Nox’s allies. I would do it myself, but such interference might catch the attention of The Celestials. Nox already puts all of us at risk.”
“Of course father. I understand. I will take care of this matter.”
Zeus smiled. “I know you will. That’s why I called you over Ares or Hercules. Your mastery of prophecy will prove quite crucial in this matter. I simply can’t allow Nox and The Fear Lords to decimate Earth. Much luck and success be on you, my son.”
“Thank you father. I will not fail you,” Apollo said as he turned away from Zeus and stepped onto a cloud to fly away from the thunder god’s place of solitude. The sun god had much to prepare for and little time to do it.
ELSEWHERE
“Zeus has noticed us. I knew my nephew would. Him to acting, .that I did not foresee,” Nox said as she sat around a jagged black table with the rest of her fellow Fear Lords. Of all of them, Nox was perhaps the only one that could be considered to hold any degree of beauty.
Nightmare gave a devilish cackle at Nox’s comment. “Zeus is taking no action. Like a coward, he sends his children into battle.”
“It doesn’t matter. Apollo won’t be enough to stop us. We are more than a match for him. It is the Sorcerer Supreme that I’m concerned with,” the Lurking Unknown said.
Nox smiled. “We’re going to let Tantalus remove that little problem for us.”
NEXT ISSUE: Tantalus is headed to take out Dr. Strange, but not if Apollo has any say in the matter.