A sense of foreboding..

[Doctor Strange]

“The Necronomicon. How did it end up over here?”

Wong shifted most precariously at the top of the ladder, the wooden contraption at least half as old as most of the relics in the Sanctum Sanctorum. Propping the handle of his feather duster in between his teeth, he carefully began to pull out the book – though it seemed the book had a mind of its own. The covers of the tome seemed to flap open like the wings of a bat, and with an awful screeching noise it flew forward with enough force to knock Wong from his terribly high position.

But of course, one didn’t train to become the assistant to the Sorcerer Supreme without preparing for such a thing, and Wong managed to gracefully roll into a flip in mid air, his hand outstretched to grab the book. His fingers closed deftly around the spine of it, and soon his feet were planted evenly on the freshly polished wooden floor. It was a scene that would have fit into any Wuxia flick.

Wong’s performance was met with mild applause, and the manservant turned to see the amicably amused figure of Stephen Strange, master of the mystic arts. “Ah, master,” the man greeted with a deep and respectful bow, but Stephen merely raised a hand as if to say the gesture wasn’t necessary.

“Good afternoon, Wong,” Stephen greeted. He then folded his arms behind his back as he looked over the fine work Wong had done in dusting the bookshelves. It was truly magic how one man managed to keep the Sanctum Sanctorum in such polished condition. For a moment, Stephen considered lapsing into some idle small talk before he cut to the chase, but Wong was already expectantly waiting for what the doctor had to say. He had noticed the somewhat troubled air the mage had about him, despite his usually relaxed demeanor. “As I was looking through the Orb of Agamotto, I detected a number of magical disturbances. Unfortunately, I can’t pinpoint them just yet.”

Wong nodded, understanding Stephen’s meaning, and waited for him to continue.

“Until I can clarify what’s happening, we will need to take every precaution. I have already begun to tighten the seals on the Sanctum, however I would like it if you could finish the work for me while I use the Orb to investigate further.”

Wong nodded again, before pressing the palms of his hands together in front of his chest and bowing deeply once more. “I shall see to it at once.”

Stephen offered his thanks as the manservant quickly headed out to perform the task at hand. Once Wong was out of sight, he turned and placed his gloved fingers to his chin, stroking it in thought. There was something vile about the whole situation he detected, and that something was obscuring the Orb’s vision was quite troubling indeed.

[Hercules]

(takes place after Ladies, Libations, lacerations)
Inexplicably, and perhaps eerily, a loud pounding came to the door as the Prince of Power chose to forsake the use of the door mounted knocker in Lu of his large, strong fist. It wasn't normal for the Lion of Olympus to seek aid so expediently and readily, but he had decided what had just happened was most assuredly NOT simply a bar room brawl between himself and some random super villains whom had a grudge on him.

He wasn't one to barge in normally, but as it started to rain outside and was getting quite gusty- this happening quite suddenly as a matter of fact- blowing his somewhat damp auburn locks about, giving him the look of some 80's hair band all together with his costume being as outrageous as it was.

As it were, he didn't see the harm in slipping in unobtrusively and waiting in the door way simply to get out of the rain, he and Stephen were friends after all.

As he did he couldn't help but feel a sense of regret in doing so, upon opening the door and setting foot in it, all things went black as if he'd set foot into the darkest corner of space, and then he appeared as if in a dark, desolate desert of black sand. He was confused and felt a sense of foreboding as he readied himself for the repercussions of his hasty actions, and really, anything.

He'd heard in passing the extent of potency of the fabled "security system" of Doctor Strange's, but never thought he'd be on the receiving end of it. As he stood there and called out "Stephen?!" trying to call to his friend, a panther leaped at him, he caught it, forcing it to it's hind legs as they grappled "silly feline, you are nothing but a kitten compared to the Nemean Lion." as it growled at him, he growled back, head butting it and pressing it over his head. A more showy flashy move of a wrestler than he'd normally do, but as he lifted the creature and threw it, sending it soaring away he couldn't argue with the results.

"Stephen, I'm here for advice friend! call off your guards!" however it seemed the panther morphed into a large black bull, running at him full force as the back round itself changed to that of a medieval castle. As he braced himself akimbo for the impact of the Bull's horn, it collided with him seeming to do minimal damage.

He said then with a light smirk "The mighty hand of Atlas has been stopped by my brute force, think such a creature as you could fell the Lion of Olympus!?" He grabbed it by it's horn and said then jovially " time to grab this bull by the horns!" He began to wrestle with it before heaving it over his back and onto it's own, then grabbing it by it's nasal piercing he punched it with a powerful fist, knocking it out.

He clenched his fist a bit, the knuckles in it cracking, he'd just been in a brawl with super powered villains who's powers had been amplified to the umpteenth degree, he was a bit spent. It was then that, as he had his back turned, the creature morphed into a large many eyed alien looking creature of gigantic gaping maw and barbed tentacles with hooks on the end, hundreds of them, one cut his shoulder slightly, alerting his presence to the beast as it's tentacles wrapped about him. He let out a resounding "Zounds!" and grabbed for a sword on the coat of arms hanging on the wall.

With each powerful swing he lobbed off dozens, maybe hundreds of tentacles, and still a set was able to coil around his waist, it's barbs cleaving his flesh if only slightly. With a few more powerful swings he said then "tentacled b*stard!"

Landing as he cut himself free from the tentacles he jumped, using his powerful legs, to land atop the creature, Lobbing it's eyes out sequentially and then finally with a bit of an angry "die beastly scum!" drove the sword in, seemingly killing the creature after moments of thrashing.

[Doctor Strange]

Stephen had long ago given up on relying upon such mundane measures such as “ADT” or “Brinks”. Not to mention, break ins to the Sanctum Sanctorum would typically be difficult to explain to the police. The measures that Stephen had put into place might have been a little ‘extreme’ as Wong or even Clea might like to point out, but when housing an assortment of magical relics the likes of which were rarely seen, there was no such thing as too much security as far as Stephen was concerned.

The doctor was, however, quite surprised to detect that his security measures had been triggered so soon after asking Wong to tighten the magical seals of the Sanctum. The coincidence was.. uncanny. Stephen had to wonder if whatever malevolent force he was dealing with had the foresight to realize as much, and made to attack the Sanctum posthaste. The very thought caused the creases in Stephen’s forehead to deepen, and he immediately called his Cloak of Levitation to him with a gesture and began to make his way towards the ‘holding area’.

As he began to descend through the black shroud that encompassed the pocket dimension that he utilized for his home security endeavors, the good doctor called out, “Who dares to invade the..” Then, as the figure of the slaughtered beast and the triumphant Hercules came into view, Stephen’s tone immediately eased into one of affability. He greeted, “Oh, Hercules. Good afternoon, old friend. What brings you out to my neck of the..” He made a slight gesture to the less than agreeable atmosphere and commented, “..desert.” Stephen allowed himself a slightly amused grin as his feet touched the sandy ground, and he added, “Please forgive the rude welcome. I’ve had to do some tinkering with the Sanctum’s security protocols after it had been broken into one too many times.” He lightly rubbed his shoulder. It seemed to have a phantom pain to it ever since the last one of such – a man boasting ‘Hitler’s handgun’ had broken into the Sanctum not long ago to steal a magical potion from Stephen, successfully shooting the doctor while doing so. There’d also been the time some years ago when some religious nut bag stabbed him and held Clea hostage. Foul memories, those.

“Seeing how you’ve so easily dispatched of this creature, perhaps I should consider upping my efforts,” Stephen said, as he turned and looked to the downed beast. It was oozing some peculiar green liquid, and the look of it made Stephen loft an eyebrow in curious disgust. “Though.. I wouldn’t expect anything less from a Son of Olympus.”

[Hercules]

Hercules turned then with sword in hand and readied himself in stance for his opponent as he heard Stephen, as his mind recognized the man's voice and formed as it appeared, all things in the room disappeared and returned to being Stephens opulent and rather cozy homestead. He waved the Sorcerer Supreme's apologies off and spoke "No it was my own rudeness and audacity that facilitated this, I had wanted to get out of the rain...I apologize for breaking your...security system..."

Looking then to the felled creature and continued then "Though in truth my friend this is not a social call. I wonder if I could have an audience with you and pick your brain about two incredibly odd occurrences, namely an ambush on my personage by the Wrecking Crew, and the seeming return of Thor from the dead."

He looked to the Sorcerer supreme and awaited an answer to his request for an audience, he knew the man was busy but he also knew he was probably the best man outside the Delphi Oracle to ask such questions of mystical mystery and intrigue of. He continued then "Unless I am intruding, You are probably busy with some sort of...whatever it is the Sorcerer Supreme does busy himself with." he laughed then heartily not sure what else to say.

[Loki]

Honestly, earth was far from the most friendly habitat for any Asgardian, at the moment. He grasped the paper sack in his hands a bit tighter, once he slipped through the overwrought protection around the Sanctum. Astral projection had been an ability he hadn’t utilised in quite a long time. This occasion reminded him how much out of practice he truly was. Loki had sought out the Wrecking Crew earlier and given them a “little update,” but other than that, his interaction with earthlings this visit had been at a minimum. The funny fact was that he had decided to don earth clothing just in case.

He was a bit more neurotic than usual, blame it on Thor. Blame everything on Thor.

Strange appeared to be out for the moment, and Loki hardly had the patience to wait for him. He began his search, travelling room to room, leaving no nook upturned. Why he had come here wasn’t too hard to understand; Loki was the sorcerer supreme by default of Asgard, before it’s destruction. While he wasn’t keen on seeking out the “advice” of Strange, he didn’t mind asking a few questions.

In response to the blatant apathy concerning his arrival, he pulled one of the delicious pieces of mortal food called a ‘McBurger’ out of the sack. Removing the wrapper, he devoured the circular object in one bite, followed up by five more.
After a brief scan of the dimensional space of the Sanctorum, Loki located Strange…and another. At least it was Strange. For a moment, he feared a long span of time had passed and there was another.

“I have all[/b] day, Strange.” His words were not spoken aloud, but mentally projected. “So if you can drop the pocket dimension sometime today, maybe we can talk of dimensions and destruction. That is, if you’re able to digest such a serious topic, such as the destruction of the dimension of Asgard.”

Loki tugged on his green panama hat for a moment, pulling on it so it concealed his ethereal green eyes. Wong finally had found him, probably considering him an intruder, but Loki would have none of that. With a few shooing movements of his hands and an obviously dismissive “shoo,” Strange’s manservant left the room, whether or not he had willed his legs to move.

[Doctor Strange]

“Quite the contrary,” Stephen responded to Hercules, “You’ve come at an opportune time. Perhaps the..”

It was then that Stephen heard a terribly familiar voice pierce the steadily dissolving shroud around himself and Hercules. It was one voice that he hadn’t heard in quite some time, but it was unmistakable in his memory.

“So if you can drop the pocket dimension sometime today, maybe we can talk of dimensions and destruction. That is, if you’re able to digest such a serious topic, such as the destruction of the dimension of Asgard.”

Stephen’s brows knit together in deep concern as his gaze focused in on Hercules. How ironic that he would mention both the Wrecking Crew and Thor, only for Loki to make his presence known. However, as ironic as it was, Stephen did not at all think that it was just some bizarre coincidence. And, when taking into consideration what had him so keyed up earlier – the magical disturbances that he couldn’t quite place – everything seemed to fall into place like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

The shroud that surrounded Stephen’s pocket dimension dissolved completely then, allowing for the Sanctum’s parlor room to seemingly assemble itself in front of the trio. Stephen eyed Loki’s astral form, which was peculiar both in its modern garb and that it seemed Asgard’s own sorcerer extraordinaire harbored a secret love for hamburgers. But what overshadowed all of it was the statement Loki had bid to deliver. Stephen considered beginning with a, “Loki? To what do I owe the pleasure?” But really, all three of the members of that room were beyond that. And so, he opened with, “Destruction of Asgard? ..Are you referring to Ragnarok? If so, I was under the impression that it was a natural occurrence.”

A terrible, but natural occurrence as far as Stephen was aware. He knew of the cycle that Asgard was trapped in, but it was simply that – a cycle, wasn’t it? Thor and Loki’s presence should have been proof of that. Stephen knew better than to blindly trust a trickster god, but there was something about the way Loki was relating all of this that seemed odd. He cast a glance to Hercules to see what he made out of all this. Hercules and Thor had been friends.. perhaps he could shed some additional light upon all of this.