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Overanalyzing Anime
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“The Doctors” takes place shortly after the events of “Doctor Strange” (2016), but before the events of “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018).
Doctor Stephen Strange sat at the desk in his chambers reading over an ancient manuscript he had obtained from the Kamar-Taj’s library. While the language in most of the libraries disquisitions were difficult to get through – mostly due to the fact that they were written in languages that no longer existed – this one was proving particularly difficult for Stephen.
This particular treatise dealt with the nature of transfiguration, and how, with the correct balance of natural and spiritual energy, one could reshape objects from their natural form into something entirely different. The concept wasn’t new to Stephen – transfiguration was a key part of his original training when he originally arrived in Kamar-Taj. However, while he was able to transfigure the world on a macroscopic level – by using items such as the sling ring – he wanted to see if he could be more precise; transfiguring on a microscopic, or even atomic level.
A particularly interesting paragraph caught his eye, and with the flick of his index finger, the quill that rested beside the manuscript gracefully levitated in the air. Another stroke of his finger moved the pen above the script, and a few more allowed him to scribble an annotation on the side before his last stroke returned the quill back to its original spot atop the desk. Wong would be irritated with him for writing in the text, but Stephen had grown accustomed to his friends oddities regarding the ancient texts.
He chuckled at the precision of his movements; at how neat the words looked – far neater than when he would write them with his hands. He pondered how it might feel to perform surgery by clasping the surgical instruments with his imaginary limbs – would his surgical technique be improved by using his mystic fingers instead of his real ones. He doubted it. His technique was flawless before the accident – no amount of magic could have served to improve it.
A flick of his finger lifted the bottom edge of the page and turned it over, revealing the next. He let his eyes wander to the top to begin reading, but stopped when he heard the sound of a bell ringing from outside his window.
Once, then twice, then again.
The bell was a tool that was often used in Kamar-Taj; each chime of the bell held a different meaning – ranging from a single chime up to four chimes in sequence. Two chimes in sequence had little barring on the everyday coming and goings of the Sorcerers. A single chime would signal to everyone that it was time for a meal and two chimes signified that someone would be leaving the compound. It was the third and fourth chimes that were a concern.
Three chimes alerted everyone to the presence of someone trying to break through the magical barriers that surrounded the compound. Stephen had only heard this particular chime on two occasions, once when one of Kaecilius’s few remaining zealots tried to stage an attack on the compound – of which they failed, miserably. Without Kaecilius there to disarm the numerous traps that lay awaiting them, they were forced to call off their attack before they could even reach the main compound.
The fourth chime was one he had never heard before. In fact, before he had left, Mordo had told him that the fourth chime had only been rung on one occasion – on the night Kaecilius had come and retrieved the spell to revive Dormammu; it was rung upon finding the body of Wong’s predecessor, the former Librarian.
At the sound of the third chime Stephen hastily rose from his seat and pulled his sling ring from his pocket. Just as he slid the ring over his fingers, he caught a glimpse of the Cloak of Levitation racing towards him. He felt a gentle breeze hit his back as the sentient garment draped itself atop his shoulders. With his ring and cloak in tow, he held his right hand out and quickly traced a circle in the air. As he moved his hand through the air it left a trail of fiery magical energy that seemed to burn the air around it.
Before him he saw his bookshelf – filled to the brim with books he had not yet returned to the Library – and a chifforobe which sported dozens of outfits that were seemingly identical to one another; however, with each movement of his hand the room changed. Where there was once wooden floors, he now saw aging stone, riddled with naturally occurring fractures; gone was the bookshelf, in its stead he could see the steps leading to the monastery; his chifforobe, too, had phased out of view, as Wong appeared, his eyes fixated on something just to the left of where Stephen would appear.
Just as he stopped his hand and lifted his foot to pass the mystical threshold, he heard the sound of a fourth chime.
The cold wind immediately enveloped him as he teleported into the main court of the compound.
“Stephen,” Wong greeted him.
“Wong,” Stephen said as he scanned the area. There were multiple sorcerers present – many of them with relics in tow, ready to face the foe that had apparently moved past all of their defenses, “what’s going on?”
“I don’t know.” Wong said.
“Well, someone has to know,” Stephen looked towards the bell, its tassel still gently blowing in the cold wind, “who rung the bell?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, has someone been attacked?”
“I don’t know.”
Stephen turned to Wong, annoyed at his lack of information, “what do you mean you don’t know?”
“I mean that I don’t know, Strange,” Wong did not bother to meet Stephen’s gaze, instead choosing to continue scanning the area. Stephen took note of his tone – he sounded worried, or afraid. It was the same tone Stephen had heard him use the night they fought alongside one another in Hong Kong.
While Stephen understood the seriousness of four consecutive chimes, he couldn’t help but feel more confused than worried. He was one of the few individuals who was in tune with the magical barriers surrounding the compound; if someone had broken through, he would have felt it. That’s not to say that someone couldn’t have just bypassed them all together – that’s exactly what Kaecilius did. Even still, he didn’t manage to remain hidden for very long – the malevolent nature of Kaecilius’s dark magic caught the attention of the Ancient One within moments of his arrival and the other monks weren’t far behind.
However, try as he might, Stephen couldn’t feel any disturbance in the mystical energy within, or even surrounding, Kamar-Taj. He had trained vigorously in the art of reading an individual’s intent based on their energies; it allowed him to recognize evil with ease. And yet, as he stared at the faces surrounding him, he could sense nothing but fear.
But what was it they were so afraid of? There was absolutely no evidence that anything had happened outside of the chimes. And, even then, no one seemed to know who rung the bell in the first place.
Stephen, tired of parsing the situation in his mind, turned his attention to the group of sorcerers and spoke loudly, “Okay, so did anyone see who rung the bell?”
A sea of confused faces turned to him, none of them saying a word.
“Oh, come on,” Stephen said as he placed a hand on his hip in frustration, “someone rung this stupid bell. Who did it?”
“I did.”
The booming sound of the metallic voice caused every muscle in Stephen’s body to inadvertently stiffen. Stephen was sure that whatever had made that noise couldn’t have been human, but as he willed his body to turn around he found that it had, in fact, come from a person. Or, at the very least, the being before him had taken on the appearance of one.
Before him, over a dozen meters away and slowly closing, stood a tall man clad in what appeared to be some sort of full bodied armor, not unlike Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit. However, this one was a dark grey and appeared more medieval – as though someone had retrofitted a relic from the middle ages with modern technology. Atop the armor was an emerald colored tunic with a brown leather belt fitted across the waist. A golden pin was fastened to each of his shoulders, with a chain hanging from them both that came down around his chest. Stephen could see that, behind him, an equally emerald cape swayed in the wind, which was attached to a hood that obscured most of his face. However, from what Stephen could tell, it seemed as though the man was wearing some sort of mask..
“You do not belong here.” Stephen said, attempting to sound far more confident than he actually felt. He summoned his weapons of choice, the Tao Mandalas, and struck a fighting pose. In the corner of his eye he could see Wong doing the same, and behind him he could hear the crackling sounds that accompanied a summoning as the other sorcerers readied themselves for battle.
“You’re mistaken,” the masked man said as he continued to walk towards them, “it is you who does not belong.”
“I would have to disagree,” Stephen said, “I am Doctor Stephen Strange, the new Sorcerer Supreme, and you are an intruder in our home. You need to turn around and leave. Now.”
Stephen heard a whisper from his side, as Wong said, “do not call yourself that.”
Without turning to face his friend, Stephen whispered, “don’t call myself what?”
“The Sorcerer Supreme. You are not the Sorcerer Supreme.”
“Does that really matter right now?”
“You can’t just lie about that, Strange. It’s not right.”
Stephen turned to him, his head tilted quizzically, “Is that really important right now? I mean, seriously?”
Wong, as serious as ever, responded, “Seriously.”
“Sometimes, Wong, I just,” Stephen let out a sigh, “there is a time and place, you know?”
“Well there’s never a time and a place for telling lies like that Strange.”
“You know what,” Stephen pursed his lips and turned back to the approaching assailant, “never mind.”
“I care not what you call yourself, Doctor,” the masked man stated, “it bears no consequence to what will transpire here.”
“And what exactly do you think is transpiring here?”
“You will hand over the Eye of Agamotto to me. Now.”
Doctor Strange let out a dry laugh, “I think not.”
“I care not what you think, Doctor. You will either willingly give me the stone,” the man stopped, only a few meters away from them now, “or I will take it by force.”
“Take it by force, you say?” Stephen smirked, “you must not have heard of me. I am the sorcerer who-”
“I am well aware of who you are, Doctor Strange. You are the man who faced Dormammu with-”
“Ah, so you’ve heard of that,” Stephen interrupted, his tone dripping with hubris, “and you still feel confident enough to face me?”
The masked man stood quietly for a moment, clearly vexed by being interrupted, before continuing, “the man who faced Dormammu with the power of an Infinity Stone and could do no more than keep the entity at bay with a parlor trick.”
Stephen opened his mouth to speak, but quickly shut it, suddenly unsure of how to respond. It wasn’t the fact that the words were technically true so much as he had never told that version of the story to any one – not even Wong.
“What is he talking about, Strange?” Wong asked, “you defeated Dormammu with a trick?”
“That’s really a gross oversimplification of how it transpired.” Stephen responded.
“You said that you waged war with Dormammu, that you battled him and used every ounce of magical training to vanquish him to the darkest depths of the Dark Dimension.”
“I mean,” Strange tilted his head to the side, “in all fairness I didn’t actually say any of that. You kind of came up with it and I didn’t correct you.”
Wong glared at him, “Have you always been a liar, Strange?”
“Okay, so I embellished a little? Geez, Wong. Is this really what we should be focusing on, you know, what with this guy here?”
Wong shook his head, “I don’t even know who you are anymore, Strange.”
Stephen rolled his eyes, “oh whatever, Wong.”
“Your bickering is testing my patience,” the masked man chimed in.
“Oh, well, sorry for the inconvenience,” Stephen replied, “where are my manners?’
Stephen extended his right arm forward and, by making a fist, willed his Tao Mandala to expand slightly. Then, by releasing his fist, he directed his circular weapon to change shape again, this time forging long strands of magical energy around its rim. Dozens of these strands writhed in the air; each one mimicking the movement of a snake, poised and ready to attack. It wasn’t until Stephen snapped his index finger inward, towards the palm of his hand, that the mystical filaments lunged towards the masked man, surrounding and binding him several times over, until only his hooded head remained in view.
With the orange glow of the Tao Mandala now surrounding the masked man, Stephen was finally able to see beneath the hood. He examined the mask, which seemed to be made of the same metal as the rest of the armor. It appeared to have two layers – the first a thin layer that covered his entire face, and then an added layer that vaguely took on a T-Shape, as it added an extra layer of protection for his chin, mouth, nose, eyes, and forehead.
“Comfortable?” Stephen asked, sarcastically.
“Disappointed,” the masked man responded, seemingly unaffected by the firm grip of the Tao Mandala.
“You say, as I have you confined in my trap.”
The masked man scoffed, “You think me confined by such rudimentary magic?”
“Rudimentary? What are you-”
Before Stephen could finish his sentence, he felt the stability of his weapon waver, as the enlarged Tao Mandala before him began to fluctuate between a circular and ovate shape. He had never seen his weapon behave in such a way, and as he was unable to sense the masked man in front of him emitting any magical energy, he couldn’t wrap his head around what was happening.
Was the intruder using some sort of magic that Strange wasn’t familiar with? Was that even possible?
As Strange used his fingers to try and regain control of his disk, he swore he could hear the masked man chuckling to himself.
How could he disrupt Stephen’s magic while bound in such a way? Magic required movement on the users part – whether it was the stroke of a finger, or the movement of an entire appendage. The more powerful the magic, the more it required physical energy to supplement the magical energy that needed to be produced – at least that’s how Stephen had always interpreted it.
But there was absolutely no way the masked man before him was moving, and furthermore, Stephen had never heard of magic that could directly affect another users spell in such a way.
None of it made sense.
Just as Stephen called out to Wong, imploring his assistance, he felt the connection between he and his weapon sever, as the Tao Mandala – and the magical binds that branched off it – shattered and evaporated in the air.
“I did not expect much from you, Doctor Stephen Strange, but, I did expect more than this.”
“Damnit,” Stephen said to himself, “this shouldn’t be possible.”
“That kind of magic,” Wong muttered to himself, “I know that I have seen it before. Somewhere…”
Stephen quickly turned to him, “are you saying that you know what that was?”
Wong kept his eyes on the intruder and, seemingly ignoring his friend, continued “But where?”
As Stephen called out to Wong again, trying desperately to get his attention, he caught a glimpse of one of the monks, a young boy by the name of Jing, leap forward, Tao Mandalas equipped, towards the masked intruder.
Stephen knew the young boy didn’t stand a chance – Jing had only just learned how to use the Tao Mandalas – and Stephen was in no position to halt the young boys’ advancement.
Stephen called for the other Sorcerers, ordering them to attack the enemy together – hoping that their numbers would be enough to, at the very least, scare him. He may have been able to disrupt Stephen’s magic, but it wasn’t as though he had done it quickly – it had taken time, and with dozens of sorcerers attacking at once, with a mixture of both long and short distance attacks, they might be able to deal some damage.
Jing was the first to reach him. His final leap put him only a couple of meters from the masked man, who had not moved an inch since escaping from the clutches of Doctor Strange’s own Tao Mandala. Jing cocked his fist back and then, with a quick flick of his index finger, created a flurry of spikes that covered the front of his flat weapon. He then proceeded to bring his fist and arm forward, hoping to finish the intruder with one devastating blow.
However, upon connecting, the circular weapon shattered – just as Stephen’s had moments ago.
Jing, seemingly undeterred, swung with his other Tao Mandala –which he had also equipped with a similar design of spikes - and, just as the other had only a second ago, the weapon shattered upon making contact with the intruder’s armor, leaving the masked man both unharmed and un-phased. Jing took a step backwards, the reality of the situation becoming suddenly and entirely apparent.
“I admire your bravery, child,” the masked man said, “however, you’re a thousand years too early to confront someone such as myself.”
And, with speed that was difficult to keep up with, the masked man took the back of his hand and brought it across Jing’s face, sending the boy’s head – and body - straight to the ground; rendering him unconscious with a single smack.
“Oh no,” Wong said, his words catching Stephen’s ear amidst the screams of his fellow sorcerers jumping past them and towards the assailant. Stephen felt a tinge of guilt watching his comrades take on the enemy without him, but gathering intel was going to be crucial if they intended on defeating this enemy.
Stephen turned to Wong and asked, “Who the hell is this guy, Wong?”
“I,” he aggressively shook his head, as if physically trying to shake the thoughts from his mind, “I don’t know.”
“That couldn’t be further from the truth,” Stephen shouted, his voice slightly drowned out by the sounds of battle cry’s – or screams, he thought, “who the hell is he?”
“I have a theory, but it couldn’t be him. I saw him die over three decades ago.”
“Who, Wong?” Stephen was frustrated, “Who did you see die?”
Wong finally turned to him, his face conveying a level of fear that made Stephen feel even more uneasy. His friend was truly terrified, so much in fact that he struggled to even do so much as say this particular individuals name.
“Wong, I need you to tell me who you’re talking about,” Stephen made sure his tone was measured, “who do you think this man is?”
Wong took a deep breath, looked Stephen in his eyes, and said, “I think that this man may be-”
Suddenly, Wong was frozen; not in fear, but by some form of magic. And he wasn’t the only one. Where once there was the sound of battle cry’s filling the air, Stephen could now only hear the sound of his heart pounding in his chest. He turned away from his friend and surveyed the area. It appeared as though everyone, except for himself, had fallen prey to whatever magic was currently affecting the area.
Stephen quickly looked down at his chest, wondering if he had somehow unintentionally activated the Eye of Agamotto and, while the Infinity Stone was emitting an unusually bright green light, its protective shield was still active and restricting most of its power from seeping out. There was no way that the Eye was causing this sort of disturbance - which meant that there was only one person here who could unleash magic like this.
Stephen turned back to where he had last seen the masked man. Dozens of frozen bodies obscured his view, so, while Stephen was sure that the masked man was the cause of this, he couldn’t be sure if he was still at the compound. Perhaps he felt overwhelmed and retreated. However, that seemed unlikely. None of their magic seemed to even phase him, so why would he feel the need to retreat?
No, he was definitely still there.
The frozen bodies before him glowed with an eerie violet hue as they began to slowly lift from the ground, into the sky. The bodies rolled and spun, some knocking into each other as they lifted higher in the sky, but not a single one changed positions. Stephen was able to see some of their faces now; most of them exhibited a look that was something between anger and fear, while others just displayed the latter.
“As I thought,” Stephen felt his blood chill as he heard the voice of the masked intruder; he immediately turned his gaze from his floating comrades back to the masked man, who still appeared unscathed. “the Time Stone managed to shield you from even mymagic. Very impressive, indeed.”
Stephen took note of the man’s left hand, which, while at his side, was also covered in the same violet hue that his comrades were covered in. It was the first outward sign of the man using magic, but while the bodies continued to slowly rise in the air just above their heads, the man’s hand was motionless, aside from the fluctuating purple aura that surrounded it.
“How are you doing all of this?” Stephen asked.
“How?” the man scoffed, “such information is irrelevant. Your limited intellect could not begin to decipher the complexities of true magic. Besides, it isn’t the ‘how’ that you should concern yourself with, Doctor Stephen Strange; it’s the ‘why.”
Stephen fought back the urge to roll his eyes, “well then, ‘why’ are you doing this?”
“Because I am going to save this world – and all worlds – from a being who seeks to gather all six Infinity Stones for himself.”
“By gathering them first?” Stephen replied.
“Precisely,” the violet aura surrounding the masked man’s hand dissipated, and with it, the aura surrounding the bodies did as well – however Stephen noticed that the bodies continued to hang in the air, though they didn’t seem to be rising any more. With the aura gone, the masked man began walking towards him, “and after discovering each of the Stones locations, it became abundantly clear that the Stone requiring the least amount of effort to obtain was the Time Stone.”
“You’re saying you think it’ll be easy to take this Stone?”
“How astute of you, Doctor.”
“How rude of you, asshole.”
“Your rhetoric is as a trite as your sorcery, Doctor Stephen Strange.”
As offended as the statement left Stephen feeling, he couldn’t deny the legitimacy of the argument. Just ten minutes ago he was impressed with the fact that he could lift a pen with the stroke of his finger, but here, this man, was able to lift dozens of body with nothing more than his willpower. The difference between them was undeniably stark, and as the man continued his advance, Stephen wondered how he would possibly get out of this situation alive.
Yes, he had the power of an Infinity Stone, but using the stone meant releasing the spell that was currently keeping it protected. However, Stephen wasn’t sure if such a spell even mattered to this man – as he was clearly immune to the type of magic taught at Kamar-Taj. In fact, the power of the Eye might be Stephen’s only choice, as it had already proven to be powerful enough to negate the effect of the masked man’s magic.
Stephen made his decision.
He quickly recited the incantation and performed the hand seals which opened the Eye and allowed the radiating light of the Time Stone to shine brilliantly.
“So, have you decided to give me the stone,” the man stopped, “or will I have to rip it from your corpse?”
“I, nor you, will be doing either of those things,” Stephen said as he summoned an pair of emeraldTao Mandala to his hands, “the only thing left for you is to reverse all that you’ve done and face the consequences for your actions.”
“So you’ve decided the latter,” the man said, as if unphased by the fact that Stephen was now wielding the power of an Infinity Stone, “such a fool. But, so be it.”
Each of the masked man’s arms glowed the same violet hue as before.
Stephen took a deep breath, “Tell me, what is your name?”
“You have been so focused on uncovering my identity - as if it will bring you some level of comfort to know who it is that has taken your life,” the masked man scoffed, “however, if it’s so prudent for you to know, I’ll give it to you. The man you face today is Lord Viktor Von Damme,” Viktor brought his arms towards his chest and crossed them, “But you, Doctor Stephen Strange, will soon come to know me as your Doom.”
End Part One
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