Interlude
(*Cues: Wiz & Boomstick - Brandon Yates*)
Wiz: The art of magic is a perplexing thing. Only those with the right knowledge, talent, and willpower can truly claim to be the most powerful wizards of all.
Boomstick: Like Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme of Marvel Comics.
Wiz: And Doctor Fate, DC's defender of cosmic order.
"Looks like another magic fight" Yang said
"Yep" Blake said
Boomstick: He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.
Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.
Doctor Strange
Wiz: Doctor Stephen Strange wasn't just any brilliant neurosurgeon, he was the very best.
Boomstick: Too bad he was also a prick, who cared more about the money he made than the patients he worked on.
"Why does that not surprise me" Weiss said knowing a certain mustached A-hole who deserves to be behind bars.
Strange: Sensational patients bring recognition, recognition brings money, and money keeps Well Haven's doors open.
"Wow what a jerk" Ruby said
"Yeah no kidding" Yang said
Boomstick: Can't blame him though. When your entire family kicks the bucket one by one like Stephen's did, it's kinda hard to get attached to anybody else. Also, money's just great!
"Well money can't buy anything" Blake said
Wiz: Strange's talent at the operating table earned him celebrations worldwide, his work became more expensive, and his bank account rose into the millions.
Boomstick: And then...
(Strange horrifically crashes his car.)
"Oh man can't say he deserved it though but it was his fault" Weiss said
Boomstick: Don't text and drive kids. Strange survived, but his hands got terrible nerve damage, making them useless for complex tasks like, oh, I don't know, surgery! Pretty inconvenient...
"Yeah I don't know what I do if I lost my hand" Yang said.
Wiz: To find a cure, Strange spent his entire fortune and traveled the globe until he found the Ancient One. He had heard of this man's befuddling mystic healing powers, and at this point, he was up for trying anything.
Boomstick: But the old dude refused to cure him. Instead, he offered to teach Strange how to use magic himself and become a superhero! Who needs hands when you have magic?
"People need hands to do magic" Ruby said
Wiz: Through his training, Strange discovered many secrets of the universe, along with plenty of handy spells. He has learned so many charms, jinxes, enchantments, conjurations, hexes, and incantations that it would be impossible to list them all now, but he certainly has his favorites.
Boomstick: Like the nearly unbreakable Bands of Cyttorak. Unless you're super strong like The Hulk or Thanos, no way you're snapping these chains!
Wiz: He can surround foes in everlasting fire with the Flames of Faltine, launch energy shots called the Bolts of Balthakk...
Boomstick: Did you just say ballsack?
Weiss just facepalmed herself while the two half sisters and even Blake laughed at that.
Wiz: Knock out foes with the Mists of Morpheus, and shield himself using the Seven Rings of Raggadorr.
Boomstick: Who the hell came up with these spell names? Whatever happened to plain old "Abracadabra!"? Everybody loves that one!
"Yeah who doesn't love that" Ruby said.
Wiz: Other techniques of his include illusions, hypnotism, protective force fields, telekinesis, immortality, time manipulation, power stealing, teleportation, dimensional travel, transmutation, spell nullification...
Boomstick: And he can turn himself into a ghost! Woooh!
Wiz: That's his astral form, a projection of Strange's soul, separate from his body, which defies the laws of physics.
Popup: With the Ring of the Ancient One, Strange can perform all the same abilities in his astral form as in his physical body.
Boomstick: Look Wiz, he can go through walls and fly around, that's a ghost.
"He's not wrong" Yang said.
Wiz: To invoke these spells, Strange audibly calls on the powers of the Vishanti, three godly beings of enormous power.
Popup: Other deities he invokes include the Octessence, the Olympian gods, and Dormammu.
Boomstick/Ruby: Aww, that one's a kitty!
Doctor Strange: I summon forth the shielding powers of the Vishanti!
(He blocks laser blasts.)
Spider-Man: Impressive! He sure puts Mysterio's hocus pocus to shame!
Boomstick: Anyway, after many years of study, Strange's mentor was slain by a creepy hentai monster, and Strange was granted the title of Sorcerer Supreme, which is like a normal sorcerer with all the toppings.
Wiz: As Sorcerer Supreme, Strange was deemed the most powerful magic user, and defender of the world. To better perform his duties, he carries numerous magical artifacts which assist him in battle.
Boomstick: The Cloak of Levitation lets him fly without magic and has a mind of its own, like Aladdin's magic carpet, but way more stylish. The Wand of Watoomb amplifies his powers, and the Axe of Angaruumus...whatever, cuts through mystical beings. Fun fact, Strange found that axe in my ex-wife's old witch cave. I mean, apartment.
"Sure you do" Weiss said
Wiz: But most versatile of all is the Eye of Agamotto. With this amulet, Strange can perceive any truth, absorb massive amounts of energy, enhance his psychic powers, and fire a light that can weaken and obliterate magical entities.
Popup: In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Eye of Agamotto merely contains an Infinity Stone. This is untrue in Strange's primary comic continuity, where the Eye instead possesses its own power.
"Woah okay that's pretty cool" Yang said
Boomstick: If you haven't noticed, Doctor Strange is super powerful, with all this magical mumbo jumbo, he's taken on some of the biggest threats in the universe!
Dormammu: Set me free!
Strange: No. I've come to bargain.
Boomstick: And if he ever gets stuck, he basically just rewrites the rules of reality, which is probably what happens when you divide by zero.
Wiz/Weiss: That's not even possible.
Boomstick/Yang: Exactly! It's magic, Wiz!/Weiss! Anything can happen!
Wiz: Strange's astral form has traveled across the planet in, quote, "precious seconds", putting him at several million miles per hour.
Boomstick: Even better, when Adam Warlock once used an Infinity Gem to banish Strange to the far reaches of the universe, Strange just cast a spell that zoomed him all the way back! So yeah, f you, Adam!
Wiz: Given what we see here, Doctor Strange was most likely sent to a void, or a large empty area between galaxies. The void where our galaxy resides is about two billion light-years in diameter, with the Milky Way set relatively close to the center. Based on Strange's conversation here, we can assume a generously short time frame of five seconds, so Strange must have moved over 4.2 septillion miles per hour, that's six quadrillion times the speed of light!
Boomstick: Damn! Oh, how about that time he ripped the soul out of his arch-nemesis and sent him back in time? Or when he restored his Cloak of Levitation from mere scraps? Or when he beat up Galactus, and totally scrambled his brain?
"Man this guy is really powerful" Yang said.
Popup: Repairing the Cloak was a test from the Living Tribunal, the second most powerful being in Marvel and arbiter of all creation.
Wiz: With his immense magical prowess, Strange has survived blasts from Voltor, a robot with the power to move stars, and even withstood a supernova. At minimum, an exploding star outputs over three-hundred fifty septillion gigatons of TNT, that's six octillion times greater than the Tsar Bomba, the most powerful nuclear weapon ever made.
"Dang" RWBY said
Popup: Even Death herself feels it would be too difficult to claim Strange's soul.
Boomstick: Not impressed yet? Well, Strange can manipulate and detonate stars himself, that's right, this guy uses supernovas as weapons.
Wiz: Strange is exceptionally clever, and while his physique is not superhuman, it is worth noting that he is a talented athlete and martial artist, this is important, as the use of magic can wear down the magician's body if it is unfit. His immortality has also proved incredibly useful.
Boomstick: I'll say, he's looking pretty good for a guy born in the 1930's.
Wiz: More than that, at one point, Strange was recruited by the Vishanti to fight in a magical war, which lasted five thousand years!
"Woah that's awesome!" Ruby said
Boomstick: Holy shit! I hope he got some really good veterans benefits after that, but for real, this guy has the power to protect the universe and reshape it however he wants. I know which doctor I'm calling the next time I'm sick.
Dormammu: Who are you?
Strange: I’m Doctor Strange, Sorceror Supreme!
Doctor Fate
Wiz: Tell me, Boomstick, do you believe in fate?
Boomstick: I only believe in one thing, Wiz. Eighteen-year, one hundred proof whiskey.
"And I believe in cookies" Ruby said as she took a bite of her cookie.
Wiz: Well, after accompanying his father on an archaeological expedition in Mesopotamia, twelve-year-old Kent Nelson certainly did.
Boomstick: Instead of digging up boring old artifacts, like tools or pottery, Kent uncovered a ten billion year old god! Too bad waking him up also... gassed Kent's dad to death.
Wiz: This slumbering god was Nabu, a Lord of Order born from the very beginning of the universe. While Nabu normally cares little about the universally inconsequential concerns of individual humans, this time was different. Nabu took the newly orphaned Kent under his wing and taught him the ways of magic.
Boomstick: Oh, sweet! I'd take a god dad over an ordinary one any day, but really, I'd just take any dad...
"Well our dad is fine the way he is" Yang said.
Wiz: Though Nabu wasn't too keen on the actual parenting part of the deal. So he just magic'd Kent to a full grown adult over the course of a week.
"Well at least he doesn't have to learn all those spells for a long time" Blake said
Boomstick: Does that mean he got hit with all those years of awkward puberty all at once? My God, talk about a mood swing.
Wiz: To master the mystic arts, Nabu granted Kent three ancient relics. First and foremost, Kent donned the Golden Helmet of Fate.
Boomstick: While Kent woke up the physical body, Nabu's soul is actually inside this helmet. So when Kent put it on, his spirit merged with Nabu's, and they became Doctor Fate.
"Wait he can't be a doctor yet he's still a kid" Yang said
Fate: I am an Agent of Order.
Boomstick: Wait, he's twelve! Technically, he can't be a doctor yet, right?
"That's what I said" Yang said
Wiz: Well, in time, he became a trained physician and achieved a PhD in archaeology.
"Oh well that clears it up" Weiss said
Boomstick: Good for him! Anyway, he's also got the Cloak of Destiny, which gave him flight, super strength, and superhuman durability.
Wiz: Lastly, he received the Amulet of Anubis, a talisman which increases Fate's powers, counters opposing magic, and can launch an intense beam of magical firepower. It also houses its own pocket dimension, where the souls of past Doctor Fates reside.
Boomstick: Oh yeah, lots of people have worn that shiny helmet, and not all of them were Doctors. Even Kent's wife Inza got in on the magic action! But Kent is, like, the main one, so we're sticking with him.
Wiz: As Doctor Fate, Kent became the immortal champion of the supernatural Lords of Order, in their fight against the vile Lords of Chaos.
Boomstick: And he learned tons of wacky wizard skills he can use with just a thought, perfect for putting chaos gods in their place.
Wiz: Fate can use telekinesis, cast illusions, erect force fields, hypnotize foes, read minds, teleport vast distances, create an astral projection of himself, travel through time and dimensions, and even manipulate matter on a molecular level.
"Cool" Ruby said
Popup: As Fate, Kent has stated "all I do is visualize what I want to happen...and it happens!" In addition, Inza has said "if that's how I believe it, then that's how it works."
Boomstick: Let's face it, Wiz, he's so powerful, he can basically do whatever the hell he wants, like that time he did a Freaky Friday body swap with Blue Beetle like it was nothing, he can even conjure up Superman's Kryptonian powers for himself, that's right, this guy can just decide to be Superman for a day.
"Okay that is pretty amazing" Weiss said
Wiz: With his mighty magic, Fate has turned buildings into dust, thrown a planet into a sun, and physically held back the destruction of the universe.
Boomstick: The helmet, just the helmet, once flew through space so fast, it reached the velocity of God, and then bounced off the edge of the universe. What the hell does that even mean!?
Wiz: Fate has regenerated his body from a single thought, withstood hits from the likes of Superman and Ultraman, and somehow survived in a dimension of reality where literally nothing exists.
"Dang he's tough" Yang said
Boomstick: Who the hell is writing this crap?
Wiz: Also, when DC decided to reboot their entire comic line, Fate was one of the only characters to survive the crisis that literally collapsed the multiverse.
Popup: The Lords exist in a higher dimension "above" the multiverse, which may explain Fate and the Tower of Fate making it through Crisis of Infinite Earths.
Boomstick: But he does have one big weakness. The helmet is Nabu, and Nabu is the source of Fate's powers, so if you remove the helmet, he loses his magic.
Popup: If Nabu chooses, the host may have no memories of their time as Fate once the helmet is removed.
Wiz: For the most part, Kent does possess some magical ability of his own, like telekinesis and super strength, but he's not even remotely close to the potential of Dr. Fate.
Popup: Without the helmet, Kent has flown between the Earth and the moon, had his strength compared to Superman's, and spent several years as a crime fighter.
"Wouldn't he need to air since there's no air in space" Blake said.
Wiz: And even further from the True Fate. When the souls of a man, a woman and a god come together; in this case Kent, Inza and Nabu, they create Dr. Fate's ultimate state of being. An entity with enough power to rip the universe apart and effortlessly overpower other Lords of Order and Chaos.
Popup: The Lords which Fate defeated were strong enough to "disrupt" and "reshape" the entire infinite multiverse with their combined power.
Boomstick: Sadly, like all ménage à trois scenarios, keeping this going for too long could destroy all three of them. So Fate doesn't go final form unless he absolutely has to.
Wiz: Still, the people of the cosmos can sleep easy knowing Fate is on their side.
Fate: Your fate is utterly binding.
Clark Kent: Who are you?
Fate: Let me show you, my friend.
Death Battle
Doctor Strange is seen walking around the Sanctum Sanctorum before hearing a quick flash. He turns around to find a glowing Ankh symbol form in the center of his building.
(*Cues: A Strange Fate - Brandon Yates)
Doctor Fate emerges from the symbol and yells loud enough for the Sanctum to rumble.
Fate: STEPHEN STRANGE!
Strange prepares for his opponent by casting miniature spells in his hand to light them up. Fate slowly descends to the ground.
Fate: It has come to my attention that there are two Sorcerer Supremes in this existence...
Nelson hovers above the floor, kicking up wind as his hands become engulfed in blue flames.
Fate: I am here to resolve this embarrassment.
Strange: I see somebody needs a lesson in manners...
"Oh it's about to get good" Yang said
The two sorcerers take their stances and face off against each other.
FIGHT!
Strange starts by firing the Bolts of Balthakk, however they didn't hit home as his opponent teleported out of the way and reappeared behind him. Fate landed some magic-charged punches and kicks on the Sorceror Supreme, even rebounding him off the wall and knocking him in the air with a diving stomp.
Fate: Pitiful.
The Cloak of Levitation halts Strange, giving him his second wind. He quickly casts a rumic circle underneath Fate.
Strange: Taste the Flames of the Faltine!
No sooner he said that, the green flames erupt from the circle and engulf Fate entirely. Strange laughs, confident with gaining the upper hand.
Strange: How's that for embarrassment?
"He's not out yet" Weiss said
The Lord of Order vanishes into a glowing blue Ankh, taking the flames with him, only to reappear in tact.
Fate: Fool. You are merely a doctor... I am a god.
Fate charges more magic, giving off a startling, radiant effect. And once he raised his arms, pillars were rapidly rising up from the Sanctorum floor in great numbers. Strange outsped and dodged the attacking spires before opening a portal to get behind Fate. The Eye of Agamotto begins to channel magic of its own and as Strange raises a fist....the scene suddenly changes to Liberty Island where a crowd gathers round the Statue of Liberty. Channel 6 News Anchor, April 'O Neil was reporting live.
April: This is April 'O Ne-
She was interrupted by the loud clash as the two mystical doctors appeared in the sky, Then they clashed again with Fate grapping ahold of his adversary, attempting to smash into the statue's face. But again, they were teleported. This time, they were both in the deep sea. Stephen regains consciousness and bursts out of the waves, reciting an incantation.
"This is so cool" Ruby said
The waves crash at the screen leading to...
Strange bringing Fate to Mos Eisley's Cantina, much to the Lord of Order's confusion. Kent charges in a knee strike and again they exit the scene and into...
The Bifrost Bridge of Asgard.
Stephen recites another incantation, sending both of them into Asgard's throne room. Fate has already had enough and charged at full force, his opponent doing the same. The resulting collision warped them into dimension, the sheer force leaving some devastation.
The masters of mystic arts now find themselves facing each other off, on the back of a dragon, flying through a blood-red sky over a red abyss-like realm.
Stephen is without his cloak, but he's not worried. He's got his rival figured out.
Strange: Aha! I understand your power now.
The cloak, as part of Strange's plan, floated from underneath the dragon towards Fate. But he noticed too late as the cloak ensnared his head and tugged hard to relieve him of his helmet. Kent shook off the mystical cloth, at the cost of his helmet, severing his connection with Nabu. The helmet itself rolled along the dragon's back before disappearing over the edge into the red abyss below.
Now just Kent Nelson, he staggered with strain, from losing touch with Nabu. The floating cloak returns to its master, who starts to belittle the man behind the helmet.
Strange: So the god is just a man in disguise. Let's see how you fare without--
A mean, right jab from Kent interrupts him, sending him flat on his back.
"I this we all know who's gonna win this" Weiss said.
Fate: Shut up!
Stephen quickly summons one of his most powerful spells
Strange: Oshtur, grant me the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak!
Red streams of light surged from his hand and bounded Kent. Stephen got back on his feet.
Oddly, Kent seemed calm.
Fate: A friend once told me the helmet doesn't make the man...
Stephen looked puzzled, unaware that his trapped foe was using telekinesis to call forth the helmet from the abyss. It rockets towards them, zooming pass Strange and only halted, when hovering over Kent's head.
Fate: But I will use it!
The helmet lands on Kent's cranium, reuniting him with Nabu's magic again. With a mighty burst of magic, Fate broke free from the bands, sending his former captor back at a distance.
Fate: Witness your true fate!
"Ha!" Yang said
The Lord of Order decides to use his trump card. With his own incantation, he summons the souls of Kent, his wife Inza Cramer and Nabu, represented as symbols, and fused them together to transform himself into the True Fate.
The resulting transformation was so powerful that it was visible from the dragon's back. Strange shields himself with the Shield of the Seraphim but he was struggling to cope with the power of such energy.
Knowing he would be overwhelmed, he had to come up with something and quick.
Strange: I can't stop you here... But maybe... in there!
Activating astral projection, Stephen sends his own soul straight into Fate's helmet, heralded by Nabu's agonizing scream. Once inside the dimension where Nabu resides, the Sorceror Supreme looked around in confusion. This dimension looked like something straight out of Ancient Egypt. Pyramid included.
Strange: By the hoary hosts of Hoggoth. Where am I?
The ominous voice of Nabu answered his question.
Nabu: Doctor Strange. Welcome to our home.
And just before Stephen's eyes, the souls of Kent Nelson and Inza Cramer manifest in front of him. Already startled, he noticed another soul appearing behind him, the soul of Nabu himself.
Trapped, Strange could only watch in horror as all three souls were charging up on magic.
Nabu: Welcome to the end!
Nabu unleashed a devastating stream of magic onto Stephen, followed up by Kent and Inza's magic. The punishing overkill was just too much for his soul, as it deteriorated piece by piece until there was nothing.
Back on the physical plane, Doctor Fate has already withdrew his power and stands triumphantly over the pale, lifeless body of the late Doctor Strange as it crumbles to dust.
"Looks like fate is the winner" Blake said
KO!
Results
(Cues: A Strange Fate - Brandon Yates again)
Boomstick: So, uh, don't doctors take an oath to never take a life or whatever?
Wiz: Analyzing this matchup was bizarre. You might even say it was.. strange?
"Leave the puns to Boomstick" Yang said
"Yeah he's funnier than you Wiz" Ruby said
Boomstick: Save the puns, Wiz, that's my job. But yeah, both these doctor wizards were so stupidly powerful, trying to find their limit was like looking for a needle in a haystack, but nobody remembered to put the needle there in the first place.
Wiz: With their maximum potential seemingly unmeasurable, it's easy to make an argument for either one to win. If given the chance, Strange could've certainly, say, stolen Fate's powers, or maybe even just willed him out of existence.
Popup: Draining magical energy from others could be dangerous for Strange. Fate could do the same, and counter it, with no such downsides.
Boomstick: I bet plenty of Strange fans are letting us know how in the comments below.
Wiz: And that's fine, but Death Battle looks at the larger picture, to find the most likely outcome of them all, and Fate simply held the advantage at a grander scale.
Boomstick: Strange may have fought a five thousand-year war, but Nabu's been around since the beginning of the universe, over ten billion years. He definitely had way more experience.
Wiz: Fate also had the advantage in casting the majority of his spells non-verbally, while many of Strange's required specific hand movements and incantations. Still, it was only a matter of time until the Eye of Agamotto informed Strange of Fate's one weakness.
Popup: Fate has also developed numerous counters to protect the helmet and the host should it be removed. It is no longer the weakness it was in older stories.
Boomstick: Depowering him wasn't as easy as you'd think. He had his own magic and his superhuman strength was something Strange didn't have at all. Basically, anything Strange could do, Fate could do it too, but even more.
"They were evenly matched in every category but fate had the upper hand." Weiss said
Popup: Even if Strange had the Time Stone from the MCU, the outcome would not likely change. Both Strange and Fate have performed Time Manipulation feats without such a stone.
Wiz: Remember how Strange cast a spell which moved him six quadrillion times the speed of light?
Boomstick: Yep. Now remember how Fate's helmet flew from Earth to the edge of the universe and back?
Wiz: It took about one year to make this trip. Given the estimated scope of the observable and unknown universe, a trip of this magnitude would require the helmet to fly nearly twenty-eight decillion times the speed of light. That's over four quintillion times faster than Strange.
"So that means Dr. Fate is faster than strange" Ruby said
Popup: The helmet's actual speed is likely faster. The universe's maximum extent is generally estimated to be 3×1023 times the radius of the observable universe, but some estimates claim it's far larger than that!
Boomstick: Look at it this way: Stange was a man borrowing the powers of a god, while Fate's a god borrowing a man. Plus, that power boost with Inza's soul from the amulet put Fate on a level above the gods in his universe. Something Strange can't really do himself.
Wiz: Both Doctor Strange and Doctor Fate possessed incomprehensibly impressive magic, but Fate held more experience, greater physical abilities, and a wider range of talents.
Boomstick: Which left Steven stuck with a strange twist of fate.
Yang laughed at the pun while the other groaned.
Wiz: The winner is Doctor Fate.