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Chapter Text

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear..."

        H. P. Lovecraft

Stephen.

He covered his face again. They were calling.

Stephen.

Stephen felt numb: he travelled through so many pools of water, fire and all kinds of other materials, from earth to sky, from sea and to those that he never knew and never will. The entire Multiverse was opening in front of him, only to disappear in quick slashes of unrelated images.

In one image, he saw himself...bleeding.

Stephen!

The voices called again. 

Stephen!

It's in vain. a female voice spoke. The visions: they make him deaf to our words.

He must see them, a deep and solemn voice spoke. What proof can we offer him instead of them?

Quiet! All of you! 

A tall figure of light appeared in darkness. If we are arguing amongst ourselves, we will never tell him anything!

Hold him!

Stephen felt a stillness in his legs. 

What is happening? the solemn male voice said.

Hold him!

Stop! a female voice said, with worry in her tone. Let go a bit. You will hurt him!

I am trying to! the hard voice said. Help me!

We can't hold him!

Stephen felt everything change around him.

No!

He lost his ground and fell into infinite blackness.

Stephen!

It was the same as if he didn't open his eyes. Complete darkness surrounded him. Utter sense of void grabbed him like a fly caught in the net of a spider.

There was no light. No sound. No feeling in his hands.

Stephen immediately moved his fingers, terrified of the thought that he lost his hands again. 

My hands, he thought to himself. My hands!

The fingers moved. He felt them.

He exhaled in relief. Yes, there was no light, there was no sound and there was no object he could grab except the floor, but he had his hands.

"Leonardo!" he called, his heart beating faster than usual. "Raphael! Donnie, Mikey? Where are you?"

"Beneath Donnie!" Mikey's voice answered, to Stephen's relief. "And you always complain I fall on you!"

"I don't see anything!" Donnie added. "What is this?"

"My eyes, Donnie!" Raph yelled. "The thing you are poking are my eyes!"

"Then I guess it is what I'm smelling, too." Leo said.

All four of them were there. At least he didn't fail and he wasn't alone in the darkness.

"Hold on!" Stephen said to them. "Let me just stretch out my hand and...there!" The light born from his hand drove away the darkness. Now, he could see everything around. The Turtles also, quite annoyed.

"Get off of me, guys!" Mikey said and pushed them away, his brothers all falling in front of him. Raph rubbed his neck, surprised.

"Wow! I never knew you're that strong, Mikey!"

"Why do you think you always win? I let you."

"Oh, really?" Raph seized Mikey and pulled him up from behind.

"What the...put me down!" he kicked in the air, though Raph was still holding him. "Ah!" he yelled frustrated.

"Hah! That was just a momentum. I knew it!"

"Stop!" Leo commanded, and Mikey, and even Raph, obeyed. "We don't know where we are. We can't play in here."

"I don't think that's the only reason we shouldn't play in here." Donnie said, touching the wall. "These are some kind of hieroglyphs. Look." 

Stephen turned his light towards the wall. It showed symbols in humanoid shapes. Hundreds of people carrying gifts and bowing before dozens of different figures. Some of these were red, with horn and wings that had fire. Others were more animalic, like the one that looked like an oceanid creature, with tentacles and wings, a king of the seas, crowned and adorned. On other sides were winged beasts, resembling dragons. 

But one figure on the wall overshadowed all others: a dark, humanoid shape, with a crown of three white dots, taller and greater than even animalic figures. It was also the only figure that had a title above it's head.

"Asaroth?" Donnie said. "No, it's not that." 

"What?"

"Something is written above that figure, but I am not sure what."

"I am." Stephen said, looking at the symbols. He stared at them like a dead man. "It says: Azathoth." 

He regretted saying that name. Hideous, cursed and demonic name. Name cursed in every tongue, hated above all else. Despised and terrifying. 

He read it in the Darkhold and realized there what it meant.

"Do not touch it!" he pushed Donnie's hands away, so hard it hurt.

"Ouch! What is wrong with you?"

"Don't touch it."

Stephen Strange.

He blinked.

Possessing a dead body, they continued, is forbidden.

"No." he stumbled. "Not again!'

"What? Okay, I won't touch it." Donnie raised his hands in frustration, only to notice Stephen suddenly walking with a limp. "Stephen?'

"They are calling!" he fell to his knees, covering his ears. "They are calling me again!'

"Who?" Leo reached for Stephen, but he pushed him away, unknowingly. It didn't seem like he even heard Leo. 

"They are calling me!" Stephen yelled, so loud that Mikey flinched. 

Raph and Donnie seized Stephen from behind. "I will die!" he yelled and screamed. Turtles were horrified. He spoke, but that wasn't Stephen's voice. It was like a primal, beastial cry. They could barely make out the words. "I will die the final death!"

Slap!

Leo thought it was smart, but it was the last thing he should have done. 

Stephen hissed at him, almost howling like a beast. His face was changed. Darkness fell upon it and it twisted in rage. Shadow emitted from his eyes and when he opened his mouth to yell, his teeth were all sharp, like that of a dog. He got free from their grasp.

The monsters were holding him.

No. I banished you!

Possesing a dead body is forbidden, Stephen Strange.

Forbidden, forbidden.

Yes, it is forbidden.

Keep away from me! 

"Stephen!" Leo slapped him again.

His eyes were opened. Turtles were there in front of him. The souls of the Damned silenced their screams.

"What...what happened?"

Turtles looked at each other confused. "You don't remember."

"What did you," he stood up, Donnie helping him, "see me do?"

"You..." Leo tried to find the words, but even remembering what happened made him feel uneasy.

"You crawled on the ground." Raph said. "You were screaming, but it didn't sound like you. It sounded like a sick chihuahua."

"More like a sick snake." Mikey commented.

Like a dead man, he thought. When he made one step forward, Turtles made one step back.

"What? Guys I am..." he coughed. "...I am fine now. It's okay." 

He looked back up at the wall. The words, the images. The voices were no longer heard, thank goodness, but the memory of them was horrible enough.

"Let's go." he said and paused, to feel. 

There was nothing.

"What?" he said. He paused again, raising his finger as sign to silence the Turtles. Still nothing.

"What?" Mikey asked.

"Do you feel anything?" he asked them. "Another one of those guys: do you feel them here? Any itch or slight whisper?"

Donnie glanced around the room. "I feel nothing."

The others nodded in agreement. Stephen tried once more. Still, he felt nothing.

"I...I don't understand!" he punched the nearby wall. "There must be something!"

"Maybe the Portal simply sent us to a wrong universe?"

"Mikey, Uatu made that portal through his own essence." Donnie said. "Basically: he peeled off a part of himself to create it. I don't think the Portal can send us anywhere except where it is supposed to send us."

"I say we leave." Raph said. "None of us feels anything: not even Strange, though he should feel it better than us. If we feel nothing, there is nothing."

"I will not open the Portal for naught." Stephen said. "No. We will explore this place until we feel something."

"Are you joking? Even if there is some lost buffon in this universe, we could be on a completely wrong planet or even in the wrong galaxy."

"The Portal sent us here." Stephen insisted. "They must be here. In this...temple."

"Okay." Leo said. "We will put it to a vote: who thinks we should stay?"

Everyone except Raph raised their hands. 

He sighed. "Fine. But don't you dorts tell me I didn't warn you."

They proceeded to walk walk through the temple. The corridor was long, majestic in a way, but also terrifying. The architecture was far beyond what any of them had seen before, ultimate high point of craftsmanship and skill.

And yet, though it caused wonder, there was a feeling of mortal, black dread, gnawing at the back of their heads. The poisonous fly of doubt was chasing them, making them tremble and turn around at every step they took. Every noise, from buzzing to gnawing of rats, made them all flinch. 

They came upon a single door. It looked rather odd in this temple, because it was simple and modest. There was nothing on them. No symbol, and no inscription. Just a simple black door with a round knob.

"So, who wants to open it?" asked Mikey.

"'Want'," started Donnie "is an incredibly bad way to say it."

"I am not feeling anything." said Stephen. "As if nobody is here."

Raph scoffed. 

"Right then." Leo said. "Let's open it."

Everyone shook their head.

"No." Stephen said.

"Not even in a thousand years." Donnie added.

"Find other dorts, Lion." 

"If there is one thing you shouldn't do in a horror movie," Mikey said. "it is to enter a door that frees a horror!"

"What the...are you guys so afraid? We aren't in a horror movie!"

"No, I think real life is more terrifying than horror movie, obviously."

"Call yourselves to reason! There is nothing behind those doors."

"Leo, every time you act all confident, something happens!" Raph said.

"I've had my fair share of 'nothing bad is gonna happen' situations." said Stephen. "They all turned out the same. Especially that time with a memory wipe for Peter."

Leo waved in dismissive gesture. "I am opening!"

"No...!" they yelled, but Leo just quickly opened the door. Stephen prepared his magic, and Turtles raised their weapons. But there was nothing behind the door. Just a simple wall. They stared at it for a while.

"See?" he said. "You were being silly for nothing." he sighed. "Let's take another turn."

Then, something else.

It did not come from the door, however, but from the corner of the corridor. Stephen stepped forward first, Turtles making few steps behind him. Stephen approached a tall pillar in front of them. When he listened better he realized: the sound was that of weeping. 

As soon as he understood that, he glanced behind the pillar. And there he was, a boy, not more than five years old. 

He raised his eyes at them, dark and tired. His skin was pale as snow, though his hair was also as dark as his eyes. He had a small nose, thin cheeks and body, as if he hadn't eaten for weeks. He recoiled at the sight of them, his eyes watery.

Stephen and Turtles put down their weapons, all of them feeling pity for this boy. Even Raph eased himself, slightly sad.

Stephen approached the boy and crouched beside him. The child still recoiled and was about to cry.

"It's okay!" he said, smiling gently. "It's okay, we won't hurt you."

The boy didn't trust them, though he still didn't cry.

"Are you lost, buddy?" said Mikey. "Where are your mom and dad?"

He looked down. "Gone." he said, in such a frail and weak voice. "Mom and dad are gone. Forever. I'll never see them again."

Stephen sighed. That's gonna be hard. "Were they okay the last time you saw them?"

The boy sniffed. "I...yes. They were."

"So they could be out there now, too?"

He paused for a second. "Yes."

Stephen and Turtles all smiled lightly to ease him. "Then we will help you find them. It's okay. We won't hurt you. I am Stephen, and these are my friends: Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael. I know how they look like, but trust me, they are good."

This was the first time Turtles didn't protest at him introducing them. 

"What...what are you?" he asked them.

"Turtles!" Mikey exclaimed. "You know: green, live in their shells, that kind of thing."

"Though we're a bit bigger."

"What's your name?" Leo asked.

The boy looked at them again, probably thinking if he should trust them or not. "Artano."

"We won't hurt you, Artano. We promise." said Leo.

"Come." Stephen offered his hand. Artano stared at them, still afraid. But, apparently, they gained his trust, because Artano took it.

"Do you know the way out?" Stephen asked. "Out of this place?"

"I don't know." he said. "Maybe. I...I think could find if I walked a little, but I was too afraid."

"It's okay now, friend." he said. "We are here for you."

"Behind your back, buddy." Mikey said.

"I suppose those door there are useless?" said Leo.

"Yes." Artano answered. "But...we could go back. I think..."

"Okay." Stephen patted him on the shoulder. "Let's go."

"Come on buddy." Mikey said and took the boy's hand. "You needn't be afraid of us. We don't bite. Well, except Raph, he is always whinging.'

Raph gritted his teeth. "You are lucky there's a kid here, Mikey."

"Oh really? As if you would behave differently?"

"You forgot something, brother?"

Leo leaned in to Stephen's ear  "Is he the..."

"No." Stephen said. "What would you have me do? Leave him."

"Heavens, no!" Leo said. "I just asked."

As they left the place, the boy continued being distant. They all wanted to make him more comfortable.

"So, Artano," asked Leo, "where do you live?"

"Yeah. Where do you come from, dude?"

"We live in a sewer." Donnie said, "It's not that bad of a place, especially when you get used to it."

"I just want to point out," said Stephen, "I live in a normal home."

"Ah, yes." Leo said. "The 'normal' people have self-aware cloaks and fire sparkling from their hands."

"Well they most certainly aren't oversized Turtles trained in ancient martial arts!'

"Oversized!" Donnie protested. "Pardon, I have an almost perfect figure!"

"Guys." Mikey coughed, bringing their attention back to Artano.

"Uh, yeah...sorry kid." Leo said.

The boy just nodded. "Where do I live..." he said, as if he didn't hear what they said. They waited for him to finish the sentence, but he left them without a response for a while. "In a desert." he said only after a few seconds of silence.

They went further into the temple, entering a huge hallway. Once again, Stephen felt that there was an eerie feeling in the air. 

Raph, however, felt as if a knife was plunged into his back, a knife of darkness and terror.

Mikey then realized.

"We...were here before." he said.

"It just looks like that." Leo said. "This entire place looks the same everywhere!"

"There's even a term for that, I think." Donnie said.

"No." Raph said. "Mikey's right. Look!"

Raph pointed at the door in front of them. It was exactly like the door they saw before.

Stephen couldn't believe. "This is true. Artano, are you..."

"No!" he said, almost laughing. "This isn't the same door. It's the door which my mother and father walked through when they left. It is the way out!"

He ran to the door and quickly opened them. "Artano, wait!" Stephen yelled and they ran after him. On the other side of the door was complete darkness and Stephen had to make use of the light again.

"Artano!" Stephen yelled. The kids always gave him headaches.

"Hey, kid!" called Raph.  "Where are you?"

Then, the door behind them was shut.

Chapter Text

"Artano!" Stephen hit the door. 

"What the shell happened?" Donnie said. "Open the damn door!"

"How do you imagine I can do that!"

"You're a freaking wizard!"

"There are limits to what I can do!"

"What the...Why is that excuse always there when we need magic the most!"

"Calm down, everyone!" Leo said. "Remember, we are used to dark. We're ninjas."

"Well I'm not!" Stephen yelled and tried to form a light from his hands. As he called upon the threads of the Cosmos, the darkness around them seemed to choke his light. It reached for his hands like a net for a fish and his light could not grow. 

He hissed at that. Whatever forces ruled in this place, they could hold back his light. But he would not let them win so easily.

"That's it!" he said. "I hate these shenanigans. Enough of it!"

He raised his hands, calling upon other forces, keeping the ballance and control in his mind and body. The Turtles noticed everything around them started to shake.

"What is going on?" Raph yelled. "Do you want to kill us?"

"No. At least not yet." he said and leviated above the ground. "I am taking control of this! There is a way to turn this into our favour: I am opening the Mirror Dimension."

Mikey felt his legs become hard and he fell to the floor and in it, he saw a reflection of himself. Then to his right and to his left and above him another. He turned around, only to see Stephen and his brothers present in every corner of the room. He walked backward, only to fall through water. At least he thought so, for when he fell, he was in the same position as before, Stephen and his brothers around him...and he.

"Try and reverse this, you jerks." Stephen whispered with a smile.

As you wish.

He didn't have the time to react to the answer, for everything around him started to turn once more. The images of himself flashed before his eyes. 

The first one. The second one. The third one.

He could feel them grow faster and faster by every turn. Behind, he could hear the Turtles grunting in pain, falling over and over into the same face.

The tenth. The eleventh. The twelveth.

"Donnie!" Leo screamed, trying to catch Donnie who was falling from a height. Leo didn't notice that he lost the reach as well and he fell into the abyss. Above himself, he could hear Donnie calling him and saw him reaching. 

The twentieth. The twenty-first.

Stephen felt as if his mind was spreading over a large, endless sea. But it was not empowering: it was agonizing, for he could feel some unseen force keeping him down, as if stepping it's foot on his throat.

The ninety-ninth.

The hundreth.

Turtles and Stephen were now spread and thin like bagel, unrecognizable and lost. In that moment they could not remember anything, not even their own names, only the excruciating pain, confusion, agony and terror this change of shapes gave them. The only thing that didn't change were their voices, screaming as a forgotten slave of agony.

This was not supposed to happen. Stephen tried to seize control of the threads that formed the Mirror Dimension around him, but...

You think we will retreat so easily?

Now he couldn't feel anything. Not even pain.

You won't banish us! We are here!

This is OUR place!

"And this is MY body!" he yelled, desperate to gain back the control. He reached with his non-existent hands and formed a field of deadly brotherhood of elements: fire, water, destruction, stream and all other powers of the Cosmos known to him combined. Then, he absorbed the power, feeling the pain again. It was horrible, but he found comfort im the fact that at least he had his senses back. While the Turtles remained shapeless balls of mass, Stephen regained his body or at least a shape similar to it. For he did not look like himself: he was shinning with all the colors of the Cosmos. A few shadows were flying around his figure, the demons and spirits of the Damned.

They were the ones terrified now. 

Stephen seized them, the light from his hands burning them and tormenting them. If he had his true body back, their screams would have been the most horrible sound in all of existence. But now, they were the ones suffering. They wouldn't go down without a fight, though, for one of them broke free and struck Stephen, making him release his grasp on the others. The other Damned followed and struck him too, leaving scars on his spiritual body. They raised their voices in a dim, dark and horrible tone, almost singing and then retreated.

Stephen was now left alone with the Mirror Dimensions gone mad. Finally, he could find the threads and regain control, but only for a short while, for he realized Mirror Dimensions didn't work in this place at all, at least how it is supposed to work.

The Damned speeded up the process, but this would have happened anyway.

So he attracted the threads, attaching them to a small net, slowly calming them down. But a second before the Mirror Dimension was closed, a face appeared all around them: a pale face that might have once belonged to human, but not anymore, for this face was pale like a dead man's, bloody and scarred. The eyes were as black as the sky of the night, and the horrible jaw was four times longer than normal. The creature was horrible to behold.

As soon as they placed their eyes upon it, the Mirror Dimension was closed. 

Raph stood up, feeling as if he was walking on a cloud. He didn't realize he had his body back. 

"Ouch." was all he could say in response. "I was about to say: 'Told you so.' But I figured it'd be a bit cliched, no?" 

"What was that?!" Leo was the only one of them not stumbling. "You could have killed us!"

"Leonardo," Stephen said, surprisingly calm towards Leo, "I swear, I did not know this would happen. This wasn't supposed to..." a quick attack from the shadows interrupted them, a strong and powerful hand pushing Stephen away. Something else entered the room, appearing in the midst of them. The Turtles jumped back, looking at the huge, giant figure, as tall as Rintrah, but thin, with unnaturaly long arms. Mikey was staring at it, not believing how corpse-like this looked like, worse than the zombies they meet on that other world. There, zombies had a hint of life inside of them and their bodies, though horrible, were human and not alien. This, however, was a horrible monstrosity, that looked completely dead...but it wasn't dead in the least. Mikey didn't realize the very look at it made him puke.

The creature covered its face, yelling as if it was being tormented. Sobs of pain and grief could be heard, but none of them could feel sorry for it, for those sounds were horrible and demonic, repeating in echoes. 

Raph peeked a bit to see what the creature was hiding. As soon as it relaxed and put down its hands a bit, he could see its face. That was the trigger.

Not even one heartbeat later, the creature attacked, striking Stephen with its long, sharp nails and scaring the Turtles away. The feeling of dread and terror that entered the Turtles made them freeze in the place. Their bodies refused to move, even to the cries of their spirits, that were already resistant. 

But they did not flee. Raph was the first to break the hold and attack.

Stephen sent light to aid them, but his eyes despised that choice more than the darkness itself. One look at the creature made his bones shake. 

Raph felt terrified, pummelling the creature in the back to turn its attention away from Stephen. This turned to nothing once the creature waved and sent him away, hitting the wall. The other Turtles struck instead, with Leo breaking his rule and going for its body, to stab it or slice it.

But one hit made his eyes widen. The skin deflected the blade, as if he hit stone and not meat. The monster struck him and he felt as if he was stabbed by a thousand needles. His swords were gone and his hands wandered through the darkness.

Donnie tried to send it away by hitting in the back, but the monster let out a horrible scream and grabbed him by the throat. He couldn't think nor speak. The only thing he felt and saw were the creature's fiery, evil eyes.

Raph and Mikey defeated their fear and grabbed the creature from the back, pulling it away by the hands. "Get off of him, freak!" 

At that, the creature yelled, piercing their ears with a sharp sound. 

Stephen grew sick of it. He got up and formed a belt with his hands, throwing it at the creature, grabbing it by the throat like it caught Mikey. He sent a burning surge of power into the belt and then, the Pale Man let go of Donnie. 

The creature turned once towards Stephen and waved at him, but it didn't make more effort to hit him. It merely screamed again and ran away, weeping and sobbing.

"Here!" Leo yelled, with a cracking sound following him. The door behind him were open.

The four of them ran towards it and when they left the room, they shut the door.

They all fell to their knees, with Donnie and Stephen both collapsing.

"Donnie." he heard the voice calling out from the darkness, feeling something pushing him. "Donnie, wake up." 

Donnie recognized Mikey's voice everywhere, including now. He scratched his head, easing the pain as best as he could.

"Was it a nightmare? Please Mikey, tell me it was a nightmare."

"No, rabbits." Raph said, "It wasn't."

Stephen groaned. "What happened?"

"We shut the door and all of you collapsed." said Raph. "Sooner or later: both Leos first, of course."

"Very funny, Raph."

"The...the door..." asked Donnie. "...are we still..."

"Behind you, Donnie." 

Donnie didn't even look, just flinched and moved away as if from a demonic presence.

"We...slept here?" Stephen said. "Are you crazy, Raph? How long..."

"Do I look like I have phone or watch? And even if I did, how do you know it would work? Besides, yes, I let you sleep. And nothing happened, see? Or is my mortal eye missing something?"

Donnie sighed. "The...the thing. It grabbed my neck." he reached for it. "It was choking me."

"Those eyes." Leo said. "Those black, soulless eyes..."

"We needa get out of here." Mikey said. "Out of this temple, planet, universe, or whatever it is. We get outta here!"

"No." was all Stephen said. 

"No?" Mikey repeated. "No?! Are you insane?! WE GOT OUR ASSES KICKED AND FRIGHTENED!"

"We have all been hurt worse before than what that...thing had done to us!" Stephen said. "Much worse!"

"I don't care." Leo said. "Bluntly, Stephen, I don't give a damn! I would rather get back to those zombies!"

"You are forgetting why we are here!" Stephen said. "I don't know about you, but I almost got a heart attack because of that monster! We all did, because we came here to find them and I will not leave until we do! Will you?"

Turtles all gritted their teeth. "Bah!" Leo said. "You are right. I hate you for that, but yes, you are."

"So where are they?" Mikey asked. "Let me guess: that thing is going to kill the people we are looking for."

"No." Stephen said, not believing his own words. 

"Then what is it?"

"That thing is who we are looking for."

Chapter Text

Leo was the first to approach the door, with others a few steps behind him.

"Be still, all of you." Stephen said. "We just need to enter and catch it immediately."

"Say that again." Mikey said. "That will be easier than doing it."

Leo laid his hand on the knob, with sweat on his forehead. He tried to make himself squeeze it and pull it. 

"I can't!" he said, panicking. "I can't do it! What if it lashes out! What if it comes out and butchers all of us!"

"Like sweet turtle meat!" Raph said. "And eats us for dinner!"

"And then leaves me as the dessert." Stephen added.

"I don't wanna do it!" Donnie said. "I don't want to! Please! I don't want to see that creature again! I can't look at it again." Donnie grabbed Stephen by the shoulders. "Please, Stephen! There has to be another way! There has to be!"

"I...maybe..." Stephen gave it a thought, but..."No! We go in there and get it out! We can't give up now!"

"We have faced that monster once!" Leo said. "Why must we do it again! Why can't we find another way?!"

"You think I am going to jeopardize everything because you guys don't wanna do something? Are we in school or something?"

"Oh, and you want to see it?"

"Not in the least!" he said. "But I will!"

"Be my guest, dear wizard!" Leo pointed at the knob. "Fearless leader!"

"Well, you bet I will!" he said and laid his hand on the knob. He even squeezed it, but then just stood there, paralyzed. He felt as if his brain didn't, couldn't and wouldn't even think about opening that door.

I am the Sorcerer Supreme. He paused. Okay, I were the Sorcerer Supreme.

I fought Thanos and won. I fought Dormammu, I fought Wanda, I fought an evil version of myself, I fought an army of demons, I endured Peter Parker...there is nothing I can't endure.

"I can't!" he said. To himself or to the Turtles? Probably a bit of both. "I can't! I don't want to see that creature again!"

"Ahh!" screamed Mikey. "Now you are all being silly. Booyakasha!" he yelled and pushed Stephen away, opening the door. All they could do was yell: "No!" at him, but Mikey instantly turned away and closed his eyes. 

"Don't stare at it!" he said. "Don't!"

"Yes, we know it's scary, but..."

"No, no, no!" he gathered them all in a circle. "You don't get it! I think I know why it got so agressive when seeing us."

"Why?"

"The face! Listen!"

From the corner of the dark room, they could hear the creature screaming in pain and agony. It was a horrible and unpleasant sound, but they could describe it as one thing: sobbing.

"He attacked us because we looked at his face." Mikey said. "At least I think so."

"How can you know that?" 

"Do you wanna try?" 

A sudden scream sent shivers done their spines, as the creature raised its face to cry at them. Then it turned back, covering itself.

Stephen left out a small, childish sound of fear. "Dear heaven."

"Mamma!" Donnie whispered.

"He hates to be looked at." said Mikey, looking at its back. "As long as we don't look at his face, we will be fine."

"Well, we agree on that one." Leo said and chuckled frightened.

Stephen swallowed the lump in his throat. "Okay. I will seize him and you will not look at him."

"Perfect!"

"Go, dude!"

"Seems like the best option!"

"Yeah!" said Leo. "We will watch your back and...uh...be the emotional support!"

"Yeah, thanks a lot." Stephen said and patted him on the back.

He made few reluctant steps forward, looking back at the Turtles three or four times. Every time the creature exposed as much as a forehead, Stephen would look down or close his eyes. "Don't stare, don't stare." he kept whispering to himself, feeling the sweat go down his forehead and cheeks. 

He tried to calm himself, but the fear continued to linger. Instinctively, Stephen just raised his hands and quickly formed fiery circles around them. This caused the creature to flinch, making Stephen look away. He couldn't see, but the creature seemed to have only taken a look and went back to its weeping.

Stephen then prepared to fire the magic at it. Now or never, he thought to himself. But someone else came in.

Stephen Strange.

Everything around him was no longer heard. Not even his own heartbeats.

You cannot run from us.

Possessing a dead body is forbidden!

Get away! he commanded. Get away, now! You are the last thing I need!

And we need you!

He could see their thin threads forming around him, red and black shadowy lines only he could see. 

"Get away!" he managed to say out loud in a low voice. "What did I do to you? Why don't you leave me?!"

You broke a law of the Cosmos, Stephen Strange.

A sacred law.

You invited us.

Called us!

Summoned us!

We helped you do it!

"What do you want from me?" he chuckled desperately. "What the hell can I even give you?"

Long has passed since we had our bodies, Strange.

Very long.

We have been bodiless for centuries.

We want to feel it again.

Stephen realized with horror.

The warmth of the wind.

The taste of food.

The passions of flesh.

The knowledge.

The feeling!

We remember them! their voices sounded desperate. We remember all of those feelings. We remember every touch and every deed and every sensation. But...we do not feel them.

We want them! We want all of it back!

We are not living, but neither are we dead!

We have been undead and unliving FOR AGES!

If we cannot die, we will live!

Stephen gave them a hint of sympathy and compassion. But only a hint. No! he responded. It is not any better than what I did with the dead body! i regret that and I am sorry for releasing you. But this...This is MY body and MY body alone! It belongs to me! I will NOT share it! 

Suddenly, he felt an angry energy emanating from them.

You will not share?

You will not give us your body?

No. Never.

He could see skull-shaped ghosts rising in his mind.

So be it!

You have made your choice.

If you will not let us be among the living, then neither shall we let you!

As they said so, they gathered together in a cloud of power and struck the creature. "No!" he cried, right before the creature raised its eyes up and made contact with Stephen's. Then, it spread its freakish jaws and screamed.

Turtles reacted as soon as they could, striking with their weapons. Leo, with the greatest combination of his skill and strength he could find, managed to hit the creature in the eye with the sword, sending drops of blood around the room. The Pale Man screamed in pain, covering its right eye, but continuing to scream and grabbing, obviously, Donnie for his head. 

"Of course." was all Donnie said.

Stephen retreated away from the fight. He almost decided to open the Mirror Dimension, but remembered how it turned out the last time.

"Get away from me!" he yelled.

"Oh, really!" Raph said. "Might wanna lend us a hand instead!"

"Get away!" 

Accept us in.

"No! Never!"

"Never what?"

"Strange, to whom are you talking to?!"

Then die!

The creature released itself from the Turtles and reached out for Stephen, tearing his Cloak. The Cloak then, on its own will, attacked and enveloped the Pale Man's face. 

Donnie pulled Stephen closer. "What is wrong with you?"

"Stop!" Stephen yelled. "Their voices are bad enough, I can't listen to you as well."

"The...the voices?"

"I said shut up!" Stephen fired a light at the wall, lighting the entire room and scaring the Turtles.

That will not banish us, Strange.

We are everywhere.

And nowhere.

You can see us.

But not find us.

"Stop this now!"

The creature threw the Cloak away, incapacitating it. It grabbed Leo next.

"I said stop!"

Never.

The creature squeezed Leo' neck, while other Turtles jumped to save their brother.

"You freak!" Raph yelled. "Let him go!"

"Strange, do something!"

"Stop! Please..."

Not until you give us your body.

"I don't even know how to do that!"

Then you shall die!

No! We shall not let you die!

Yes, yes...

You will join us! You will join us, Stephen Strange!

You will be damned, just as we are!

Those last words echoed in his mind. Join us...just as we are...He raised his eyebrows. He got an idea.

The creature scratched Raph in the face, but that did not stop him from stabbing it in the elbow with his sai. The arms seemed resistant, but the elbow bled and the monster hissed in pain.

"As you wish, guys." Stephen said and grabbed the Damned by their long tails. They looked back at him, surprised.

What are you doing?

You cannot banish us, fool! the undead laughed confidently. How can you not understand that?

"Oh, I do." he said. "I am not banishing you at all." 

He sent his power, binding their tails to his own body and pulling them closer and closer to himself.

What?

What are you...

They paused, and he could feel their realization.

No.

No. You cannot!

You must not!

It is forbidden!

"Yeah." he said. "I hear that a lot."

The creature, once again, broke their hold and ran towards Stephen, but Mikey caught its hand with his nunchaka, pulling it away. "You're going nowhere, Shy Guy!"

The Turtles paused at that. "The...Shy Guy?"

"What?" he asked. "He doesn't like to be looked at, so I thought..."

"Just pull!"

Stephen was absorbing their power, ignoring their screams. 

No!

It burns! It burns!

"Nice to feel something again, is it?"

Let us go!

We will kill you! As soon as you lose attention, we will peel the flesh off your bones!

We will devour you!

Just like we devoured al-Hazred!

"Right." he said, through gritted teeth. "But first, I will devour you!"

They resisted, kicking, striking and clawing with their spiritual forms, trying to latch onto Stephen or run to the monster. But he was the one who gained the upper hand, pulling the beasts into his own body. In one moment, he shone with a sharp red light, so strong that even the Turtles saw it.

At the moment, he felt as if he was standing on a mountain, looking down on the world bellow. The feeling of power was tempting. He could now grasp many things and realities he couldn't before. His senses were larger, his knowledge spread. But then came the pain.

Stephen felt the third eye, rising above the other two and once again the surge of pain returned. The eye was just the beginning.

The black magic enveloped him, twisting his face beyond the point of recognition. His body was bent forward, breaking the bones of his back. Something was growing from behind but he could not know why. As if something was stabbing him from the inside out and making its way out of his skin.

It hurt. It burned. It was agonizing. But he had the power.

The Turtles, who were until then staring at the monster, now stared at him, confused.

"Let him go." he commanded. "Now!"

They didn't wait for a second time and the moment they let the creature, it charged at Stephen. He grabbed it by the hands and, for the first time, confusion could be glimpsed behind the soulless eyes of the creature. It screamed at him and in response, Stephen, in his monstrous form, left out a roar and he pulled the creature into a bloody embrace.

They wrestled, clawing, bitting and punching each other. The Turtles only looked in horror, with Mikey's stomach turning. Stephen felt only pain. Not even anger or fear, just pain. He had the faintest idea of what he was doing, but pain was the primary feeling in his body and mind. The Damned screamed in some corner of his mind, but he turned a deaf ear to that.

Stephen finally grabbed the creature by the throat, squeezing it. The creature kicked in the air and begged for breath. Stephen was staring directly at its face and it was crying in misery and pain. He hissed at it, which made it cry even louder.

It was afraid of him.

He commanded threads and bound the creature in golden, burning chains. He put such great power into those chains that the creature continued crying in agony.

Now we have you!

The Damned returned, clawing at the tip of his skin, killing him.

You will become one of us!

His screams were horrible, echoing in the cursed temple.

"Press the buttons." Donnie said to Leo. "Now! We all do it!"

"What..." Leo said, panting in fear. "But what if there is someone else..."

"Look at him..." said Mikey. "He is..."

"DO IT, IDIOTS!" he yelled and they pressed the symbols.

No!

The portal formed right above them, now stronger than before. The creature screamed louder, the Damned screamed louder and Stephen screamed louder. It hurt, but the four couldn't think of it now. The Turtles grabbed not the creature, but Stephen, and, with all their remaining strength and will, jumped, pulling him up.

Then they were all gone.

Scary, right:)

I hope I succeeded in scaring you, possibly disturbing you or terrifying you in the process. In the spirit of Halloween, of course. 

Please tell me what you think. There will be a bit longer pause this time around, but a return to the adventures of Turtles and Strange is a top priority.

See you later and sleep well tonight:)

Link to the next Sanctum chapter: https://archiveofourown.org/works/39661320/chapters/110392186