The Multiversal Road-Trip: Book Five

9

Loki and Scott had exchanged a glance, but Stephen knew what he was doing. He readied his magic, summoning a hell of a lot of it, to perform his spell. It had been a while, but he remembered how to do it. How could he forget? He'd learned it off by heart earlier this year.

"How exactly do you plan on doing this?" he barely heard Scott say.

"He's going to use that spell we used to track Mordo and his buddies down with," Loki said before Stephen could even decide whether to answer. "Strange, are you insane? You know you won't find the right dimension first time. There are thousands more than last time. Millions, probably."

"That's why I'm using trial and error," Stephen answered, curtly, not taking his concentration away for a second. He didn't want to hear why this was a bad idea.

"Don't you remember how much energy it took out of you when you did it once?" Loki continued, but Stephen wasn't listening. Not in this mood.

"Wait, don't we need to hold hands for this spell?" Scott asked, as the air around them started to go hazy.

Stephen scoffed. "That was a joke last time. We are not holding hands. Not now."

At that moment, everywhere went black and white and static, and their hair started whipping around in that non-existent wind. Stephen started searching for a dimension, and realised, compared to last time, there were in fact more. Choosing a random dimension, he seized the spell in what he was going to name Dimension 000001AAA.

Scott blinked and looked around. Everything appeared to be the same. "Is that it? Are we here?"

Stephen shook his head and bought the magic back again. "Nah. It's not this one."

The air went staticky and black and white again before he chose Dimension 000001AAB. Now they were in the same place, only it was pouring with rain outside. It still didn't feel right. "Not this one," he muttered, doing the spell for the third time. Dimension 000001AAC. Nope.

He sped up the process, barely even leaving it a second before switching dimensions again. Stephen closed his eyes in concentration, screwing up his face in what was probably a very unattractive way. But he didn't care.

All that mattered right now was finding her. He didn't care if it took every ounce of his energy to do so either.

"Strange..." he heard Loki say, as though through glass. "Strange, you know this isn't a good idea."

He didn't reply. At this point he couldn't tell if he even could talk.

Things started flashing, the light reaching him from his closed eyelids. He didn't dare open them to see what it was. That's even if he could. Was he even in charge of his own body at this point?

No, just find Wanda, worry about that later.

"Strange," Loki said, and it sounded like a warning, and the fact that he could even hear the nervousness in his voice said a lot. But that was nothing compared to Scott.

"Stephen?!" Scott practically squeaked, his voice so high-pitched it could have broken glass. "Oh crap, is he OK?"

"Strange, this is not a good idea, seriously," Loki warned, but Stephen couldn't have stopped if he'd wanted to. His magic was actually overtaking him at this point.

How many dimensions had this been now? A few hundred maybe?

"Strange! You're trying to use too much power, you're seriously going to self-combust if you keep at this," Loki said, and though he heard the words, they didn't seem to get through to his brain. Like the connection between his ears and brain had been short-circuited.

"Self-combust?!" Scott repeated, if possible, more high-pitched.

The flashing became much quicker, and Stephen soon realised that actually he physically couldn't do anything. Like, anything. He couldn't open his eyes, talk, even move his hand at his own accord – he was completely controlled by this spell.

Involuntarily, he started to panic, and Loki and Scott's words turned into nothing more than indistinct worried mumbles. He couldn't stop. Or even remember what dimension this was. Oh God, now he'd screwed up – he couldn't actually stop!

But then something, or someone grabbed his wrists, tight enough to shock his eyes open. The light and static clouded his vision, but to his surprise, he made out Loki's face in front of him. "Stephen, stop," he said, calmly.

Whether Loki was channelling some of his own magic into him, or it was the shock of Loki's appearance, or Loki's use of his first name, it worked. The magic coursing through him dulled until he was able to overcome in entirely, ceasing the spell after making sure they returned to their own dimension.

The air returned to normal around them, no longer staticky, and they were back in Wanda's cottage. Stephen felt his senses, and more importantly, the control over his senses, return again. Loki still had a firm grip on his wrists, and only let go when Stephen remembered to breathe again. As he let go though, the consequences of his actions set in and he'd have face-planted the floor if Loki hadn't still been standing in front of him to catch him just in time.

But Stephen was too drained to feel awkward or angry as Loki caught him, supporting his body up against his. He felt someone else, probably Scott, also take on his weight, and they carried him over to the sofa, laying him down on it despite it being too short for him. But the second he could move, the cloak left him and he curled up in a ball and faced the back of the sofa.

For some reason, he really didn't want to talk to them right now.