X-Men #7: The Master of Black Magick

 

I’m not sure I like superheroes. They look larger than life. They dress in clothes that make them larger than life. They act larger than life, which is a good indicator of clinical narcissism, and I should know. I’m Doctor Strange, Master of Black Magic and there are few people as narcissistic as I am.

When the Fantastic Four came to my mystic domain; my Sanctum Sanctorum, I had a feeling there was a bull in the china shop, but I thought it would be the big rocky guy and not the young brother and of Susan Storm. He came into my “castle” with a Yoo Hoo. That Yoo Hoo, by the way, ended up all over the pages of the Darkhold, the most evil book in existence. If Shuma Gorath shows up with a chocolate milk mustache, I’ll never forgive that boy.

So of course, when the X-Men showed up and I didn’t know what to expect, I was a little guarded.

They were great, though. They were polite, respectful, genuinely humble, and they weren’t at all what I expected from superheroes. The brought a large rust colored helmet that belonged to the criminal Juggernaut and asked if I might be able to free the villain of his curse.

First I had to deduce the origin of the helmet. I improvised my best Sherlock Holmes, and discovered that the helmet was from the Crimson Cosmos, home of the entity Cyttorak. I told them that two of them would have to go into the Crimson Cosmos and retrieve the sacred ruby gem. Suddenly, my house spoke to me. It was allowing the X-Men to choose a tool to fight the evil that was coming. Wolverine picked up my grandfather’s pocket watch. Wolverine never needed to use it but it could quite possibly turn back the aging process or advance the years of entities living in other time altering dimensions. Marvel Girl decided to use my Black Mirror. It’s normally a scrying tool, but if need be, it can serve as a doorway, or an eldritch shield. Cyclops simply chose the great Eye of Agamotto for his champion’s weapon, and I’m glad he did because as Marvel Girl and Wolverine were stepping into Cyttorak’s Crimson Cosmos, Cyttorak’s demons were attacking my little country home. I held open, the door between worlds, while Havok, Cyclops, and Mystique battled Crimson denizens in my own front yard.

Finally, Wolverine and Marvel Girl returned with the Ruby but without Juggernaut’s helmet. It was the only way. The outcast Xorak could only give something if something was given. Of course, in the event that the gem wasn’t traded for fairly, he will likely come into this realm to get it back. Thankfully, the X-
Men look like the kind to do things the fair way. I think I’ve made some new friends. Superheroes or not, they can count on Stephen Strange next time they need him. Unless its to fight gargoyles in my yard. They really tore up my new botanical sculptures.

But wait, by the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth, a gray mist in the center of the Eye of Agamotto swirls like a storm cloud gaining momentum. An image forms of two men in dark suits and hats. They have weapons and are looking for someone on the Xavier property. This should be interesting.