"That's right, it is exactly like that!"
At this moment, Wanda also spoke up. She said, "I didn't rely on the Mind Stone to awaken my Chaos Magic. I awakened it on my own!"
She finally understood. She and her brother Pietro were born with this energy in their bodies; some just happened to have the opportunity to release it, while others did not.
On the screen, Wanda got what she wanted, placing America on the altar. She ignored America's pleas for help.
"This isn't what your child wants!" America cried out.
Wanda simply circled her slowly and said, "They will never know!"
"Maybe not..." America said coldly. "But you will!"
At this point, the scene shifted again. Doctor Strange and Christine had arrived in a ruined world that seemed to be disintegrating, a truly terrifying sight.
It looked like the aftermath of two worlds colliding, with devastation everywhere.
The space was inverted, and a deathly silence reigned.
At that moment, the audience witnessed for the first time the horrific consequences of two universes colliding.
Faced with this scene of utter devastation, Doctor Strange sought out another version of himself from a different universe—a clone's clone's clone, if you will.
He arrived at a shattered Sanctum, a place that also bore the scars of an apocalypse. Everything was in ruins.
Doctor Strange ascended the spiral staircase step by step, reaching the second floor. The space was a desolate, ashen gray, appearing completely empty.
But a moment later, a voice stopped him.
"Halt. How did you get here?"
"Stumbled upon it," Doctor Strange replied.
He stared coldly at the figure descending the stairs. It was none other than another Doctor Strange from a parallel timeline.
"Who are you? What are you?" the Ruined Timeline Doctor Strange asked, his voice laced with confusion.
"I'm just... one of us," Doctor Strange replied, struggling to describe their connection.
The audience watching the screen felt a bit numb. How many Doctor Stranges were there now?
Besides their own Doctor Strange, there was the one from the Sacred Timeline, the Dark Doctor Strange who eventually turned evil in an attempt to reverse time and destroyed the entire universe, the Braided Doctor Strange, the one from Earth-838, and now this one from the Ruined Timeline.
It was truly mind-boggling. An ordinary person would never meet a variant of themselves from a parallel universe in their entire life, but for Doctor Strange, meeting his parallel counterparts seemed as simple as eating and drinking.
"From the Multiverse?" the Ruined Timeline Doctor Strange asked on screen.
"That's right," Doctor Strange nodded and confirmed.
"Provide proof," the Ruined Timeline Doctor Strange demanded.
Doctor Strange fell silent for a moment before saying, "We have a sister, Donna, but she... died when we were children."
"How did she die?" the Ruined Timeline Doctor Strange pressed, descending the stairs as he spoke.
"We were playing on a frozen lake. She fell in, and I couldn't save her!"
Recounting this heartbreaking memory, Doctor Strange's voice choked with emotion.
Even Stephen Strange, watching from outside the scene, couldn't help but feel a wave of grief. His eyes reddened. It had happened so long ago, and he thought he had buried the memory, but now it came flooding back.
His decision to study medicine had been partly fueled by the guilt he carried from that day.
"Sounds right," the Ruined Timeline Doctor Strange said. "But I'm afraid we're not talking about that, are we?"
"No, we aren't. I'm guessing your world wasn't always like this, was it?" Doctor Strange asked, gesturing to the desolate wasteland outside.
"No, I imagine it was just like yours. Until... until I lost my way," the Ruined Timeline Doctor Strange replied softly.
"Because of whom?" Doctor Strange demanded.
Only now could everyone see his appearance more clearly. He looked far more aged, as if he had endured some colossal catastrophe, and his voice was tinged with a slight hoarseness.
An instinctive realization dawned on everyone: *Could the destruction of this timeline be connected to this Ruined Timeline Doctor Strange?*
If there was indeed a connection, it meant Doctor Strange had once again destroyed a universe.
The Dark Doctor Strange, who had been obsessed with resurrecting Christine, had already destroyed one universe. Then, the Doctor Strange from Earth-838 had destroyed another. And now, this Ruined Timeline Doctor Strange had claimed a third.
By their count, three universes had already completely collapsed because of Doctor Strange.
No wonder the people of Earth-838 said that the truly dangerous one wasn't anyone else, but Doctor Strange himself.
Even Thanos hadn't caused such horrific consequences.
"What do you want?"
Faced with Doctor Strange's question, the Ruined Timeline Doctor Strange didn't answer directly, but instead asked in return.
"I just want to go home," Doctor Strange replied.
Hearing this, the Ruined Timeline Doctor Strange replied coolly, "Believe me, I've been trying to leave this place for a long time."
At that moment, Doctor Strange noticed a book clutched in the Ruined Timeline Doctor Strange's hand—none other than the Darkhold.
It was clear that the Doctor Strange of this universe had also found the Darkhold, and the reason the entire world had ended up this way was precisely because he had used it.
"The Darkhold? You're guarding the Darkhold in this universe?" Doctor Strange asked.
"Yes, and for good reason," the Ruined Timeline Doctor Strange replied.
"This is just the beginning. I can use it to help me communicate with my own universe!" Doctor Strange seemed to have found a glimmer of hope, but he also felt something was off. The version of himself standing before him exuded a menacing, sinister aura.
"Be careful. The Darkhold causes severe casualties," the Ruined Timeline Doctor Strange warned.
"I'm not being reckless," Doctor Strange retorted. "How much worse could the casualties possibly be?"
"Not just to its reality, but to its readers!" Ruined Timeline Doctor Strange warned.
"I'm sorry it couldn't save your timeline, but perhaps you can help me save mine!" Doctor Strange tried to persuade another version of himself.
"Are you happy, Stephen?" Ruined Timeline Doctor Strange asked, backing away as he spoke.
"What?"
Doctor Strange was a bit confused. What did that mean?
"Are you happy, Stephen?"
Ruined Timeline Doctor Strange walked to the window, looked down at Christine below, and said, "Christine Palmer asked me that question at her wedding. I told her, 'Of course I'm happy. I'm a powerful sorcerer, how could I not be happy?'
Then I came back to this godforsaken house, sat down, and wondered why I lied. I never wanted any of this to happen. I was looking for a different world, one where I have Christine, where I am happy. But I never found it. I only found more of us. So I helped those Stephens. Have you ever had that dream of falling, as if you were pushed off a tall building? That was probably me!"
The crowd drew a bone-chilling conclusion from his words: this Doctor Strange from the Ruined Timeline had even turned on his other selves, pushing them off buildings—a descent into madness even deeper than Wanda's.
As if on cue, a third eye tore open on his forehead, a mark of doom. There was no doubt this was a direct consequence of his use of the Darkhold.
The Ruined Timeline Doctor Strange sought to trade the Darkhold for Christine, his obsession having fully consumed him. But Doctor Strange refused, and the two immediately clashed, launching an assault using musical notes as their weapons.
Their power was evenly matched, but in the end, Doctor Strange managed to land a decisive blow, sending his counterpart hurtling backward. The Ruined Timeline Doctor Strange impaled himself on the spikes of a fence, dying instantly.
Below, Christine watched, completely stunned. What had just happened?
Meanwhile, the audience outside the screen slapped their foreheads in exasperation. *Great, another one dead.* Stephen Strange, in particular, felt completely numb.
It could be said that except for the one who was the protagonist, all the other versions of himself were extremely radical. Each had committed grave sins, even causing the destruction of at least one multiverse.
Calculating it this way, he had even witnessed the deaths of four versions of himself. Although they were merely counterparts from parallel universes, it still left him with a very bitter taste in his mouth.
He thought of the concept mentioned in Lin Feng's diary—the protagonist halo?
*Without the protagonist halo, do you really have no human rights?*
"I guess these might all be Stephens who went down the wrong path, or rather, those who aren't on the correct timeline!" Black Widow Natasha said. "With so many multiverses and timelines, not everyone in every universe can walk the right path. If they stray, they become Evil Stephen!"
Everyone nodded in agreement. If this were the case, it was highly likely that throughout the long course of history, there might also be evil variants of themselves.
For example, an Evil Iron Man, a Hydra Captain America, a Hulk who ruled the world, or a Thor who slaughtered everyone in the world.
-----------------------
Completed English PDF of this fan-fic on my Patreon shop if you want to support and own the full fan-fic in one go. Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!
Guys, I've uploaded some High Quality english translated fanfic on my Patreon shop! Feel free to check it out-if you're interested, you can grab a copy and support me there.
Here are a few titles of recently uploaded fanfics:
New Addition
" Marvel: Trading Across Worlds, Starting from Ninja World "
" Marvel in Dragon Maid "
" Marvel: The Strongest Magneto "
"Marvel, I Am a Kamen Rider "
many more are available 150+
Your support means a lot-thanks in advance, legends!
patreon.com/SuperTL
(End of Chapter)