Hi all!
I'm excited for this new story I've been writing! I hope you all enjoy it as much as I have!
...
Prologue: Spirit in the Sky
"Oh set me up with the spirit in the sky
That's where I'm gonna go when I die
When I die and they lay me to rest
I'm gonna go to the place that's the best
Go to the place that's the best"
...
POV: Doctor Stephen Strange
Time.
All that exists is time.
I sit, meditating in the sanctum. My eyes block out the light from the normally dim room. The absence of sound creates a soft ambience.
I know I won't be disturbed here. My manipulation of time makes my meditation take but seconds in linear time.
So I give in completely.
I give myself to Time.
Time rules over being, over space. At a given time there is no universe, no galaxy. The twisting turning push and pull of the outer reaches of space itself happens within the confines of time.
This is where I cast my consciousness.
To the edge, the furthest reaches of existence. To where space and matter end.
Therein lies possibility.
Therein is multiplicity.
Therein is the multiverse.
I breathe in slowly, deeply.
The power pulsing from the Eye of Agamotto choes into my awareness. It's not a visual power or something I can detect with any senses. Rather the energy of my soul has become intertwined with the luminous stone. I simply know it's there.
Almost like I am a swimmer and the stone is the ocean.
Deep, bottomless in some places, mysterious, and altogether breathtaking.
I drink in its depths until I drown.
There is infinite knowledge, endless eternities.
Like seeing the Earth from space makes one realize how small a human life is, comprehending the length of eternity nearly causes my mind to implode when contrasting it against the insignificance of a single moment.
Time isn't truly linear as human life would suggest. Time is the entire construct of all that is, all that was, and all that will ever be. The stone testifies of this eternity.
It is well to be named an Infinity Stone.
I continue to allow the stone complete control of my consciousness. A few more moments and I reign my awareness back to myself. Now we are two, separate bodies surrounded by and endless dark void. I take the form of myself in a plain blue tunic. The stone takes a form it is most comfortable with. It spreads out in thin emerald lines and interlocks with itself. The lines give off light as they cross, grow, and spread until it resembles an almost spider-web like image of multiple overlapping clocks. It's massive size dwarfs me as I gaze at it.
Beautiful...
It isn't living...but at the same time it isn't just an inanimate object. The strands of thin green sway lightly and some shift around the circular shapes. It certainly has a presence in the space we occupy, much like nature, alive, growing, deadly powerful, but not something you can communicate with.
Not unless you have access to the mystic arts.
I furrow my brow as I conjure a thin line of gold between my fingers, similar to the gem's current form. Twisting back, I build up momentum and then fling the stream towards the green web of time.
The collision is spectacular.
In an instant, the green and gold morph around each other like two dragons fighting in the air. Beautiful reds and oranges erupt in tendrils from the chaotic mesh.
I'm so awestruck it takes me several moments to realize another oddity forming from the explosion.
Thousands of small circles of light fizz and then pop. They grow and expand until they very nearly form a wall, much like a stained glass window, around me. Each circle frames something different. As I shake myself from my aw, I detect familiarity in several of them.
In one circle I see a countryside.
In another I see the ocean.
Yet another reveals a city I once visited on business.
The scenes flash before my eyes. I'm barely able to take one in before it flickers and changes to another. There are hundreds I recognize and even more I don't.
A pulse of reasoning resonates through my mind.
...go through the doors…
I take a hesitant step towards the nearest opening. By now, several of the circles have grown large enough that I could walk through. They look almost exactly like the portals sling rings create, except the Time Stone makes its presence manifested in them by green sparks mixing in with the gold.
A few more steps and I'm a breath away from the portal. It connects to about a dozen others in a chain, but I'm more focused on what's through its doorway. All I see is gray buildings and lines of streets. I close my eyes and step through.
A wall of sounds crashes into me.
Cars.
Horns honking.
The thunder of a hundred people walking across streets.
I reopen my eyes to take in the fresh surroundings. All around me is a jungle-like cluster of buildings stretching on until my vision is blocked by them. The bright sunlight glints off window panes and corners of buildings. Vendors yelling on the streets and the persistent smell of cigarette smoke invade my senses.
...New York, 2018…
The Time Stone once again pushes into my awareness. I take a second look around. The infinite knowledge in the Time Stone is undebatable however, this is NOT the New York I know.
The air is much cleaner than the city I reside in. Brightly colored posters line almost every wall. Although still old and needing repairs, the streets aren't littered with garbage and filth.
As if the Stone could read my mind, a reassurance echoes my thoughts.
...not your New York...multiverse…
Of course.
This is not my reality.
I hum in appreciation. What I'm currently experiencing is beyond all rational thought and reason.
Drinking in the sight for a third time, I duck back to the portal behind me. There are many more doors to explore and much to learn.
The wall of portals is cavernous and compelling, even after a glimpse of an alternate New York. I scan over the hundreds of openings, debating on which to enter.
...there…
The stone pulls my attention to a particular entryway on the far side from where I am. Greenery and bright light shine through it. I approach it without a second thought, my tunic rustling at the movement.
Stepping through the portal, I am unexpectedly hit with an unbearable amount of heat. This causes my breath to catch for a moment. If not for a dense line of trees and the chain linked fence separating the parking lot I've stepped into from them, I would have thought the stone brought me to a different planet.
Loosening my collar, I begin trudging through the parking lot. It takes all of three seconds for sweat to form on my brow and my breathing to become labored. Rows upon rows of cars bake in the heat of summer. The light reflecting off them pains my eyes.
Once again, although incredibly similar to the world I'm used to, something about this place feels odd...
A magazine on the ground catches my attention. I stoop to pick it up, but I continue walking. A large building, almost like a gym, dominates the far side of the lot. It casts a relieving lengthy shadow against the ground by its entrance. I slow to a stop under a forest green awning.
The magazine I picked up looks relatively new, probably dropped on accident. I flip through the pages. A date in the top corner reads:
JUNE 2017
This only furthers my feelings of this world being off from my own.
...continue...learn…
I obediently respond to the stones command by taking a seat on a nearby bench and delving into the magazine.
15 minutes pass, then another. Before I know it, an hour has gone by. The magazine turned out to be Time Magazine (ironically) and was full of news stories from this world. They each compellingly resembled events that occurred in my world.
The only difference?
No Avengers.
No S.H.I.E.L.D.
No aliens or advanced technology.
No magic.
I have no explanation as to why the stone wants me to know about this place in the multiverse. Part of me wonders if the stone even has power here. After all, if what I'm reading is true, that would lead me to believe that none of the Infinity Stones exist in this realm.
...a safe place...for protection…
Protection? From what? I muse to myself.
...from...the others…
I shut the magazine and set it gently to my side.
Whatever the stone meant by that, I can tell it doesn't wish to share more. After waiting a few more seconds, I stand and proceed to march back across the humid parking lot. The portal takes up a parking stall on the other end of the lot waiting to return me to the gateway of multiverse.
I almost make it.
I don't know why I turned around.
Maybe it was because I heard familiar voices and glanced back in curiosity.
Maybe it was the Time Stone pressuring me to see.
Regardless, I turn back.
What I see stops me dead in my tracks.
What on Earth?
...
Aaaaaaannnnnnnndddd that's the prologue! Again, I hope you've enjoyed!
This story will be about 10 chapters long. Most of it has already been written. It's mainly Peter Parker centric (even though he's not in this prologue at all), with Tony Stark as a secondary main character.
I am very grateful to those of you who have read my stories before and to those of you who continue to read them. Authors say this all the time, but the support means the world to us!
Let me know what you think by leaving a comment! More will be coming soon so stay posted! I don't want to give too much away about where the story is going yet, but I can assure you, it will be a fun ride!