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Chapter Text

The multiverse was out for him.

More specifically, the multiverse was out for Wong's tuna sandwich. Sometimes, it was a Hulk. Sometimes, it was a She-Hulk. Sometimes, one of the apprentices would accidently teleport the Sorcerer Supreme's comfort food to a dimension full of screaming banshees. And sometimes, it was a big wooden box that somehow managed to get through the Santum's defences.

The blue box that was the size of a phone booth had definitely seen better days. Smoke seeped through the closed doors. There were numerous scratches and dents criss-crossing its surface. The words 'Police box' were written on the top, like some of those public booths he'd seen in some places in London when he visited their Sanctum.

The question was, what on earth was this thing doing here?

His question was answered (perhaps not quite answered) when the door of the box opened and a man stepped out clutching a crumpled card.

"Hello there! D'ya happen to know a Tao? I ha....." The man collapsed. Wong barely had time to shift the armchair under him to cushion his fall.

Well, there goes the sandwich. Again.

There was a card clutched in the man's outstretched hand just as he had collapsed. A card that was now giving readings of an artifact that no longer existed. An infinity stone.

"Is it real?"

"Oh, it's definitely real. It's got her aura over it. But not just that."

"What else?"

"I picked up traces of the... stone as well."

"That's impossible, Wong. You know it."

"Why would I lie?"

"The stones are gone, Wong. Every last trace of it. I saw it with my own eyes. They no longer exist in this universe."

Stephen and Wong looked at each other, an unspoken conversation passing between them. Wong broke the silence first.

"We should ask him."

"You could, but for that.... He needs to wake up,"

"What do you think happened to him, Stephen?"

"Probably sleeping off the effects of something. He doesn't look hurt."

It was right about then that the man stirred. Stephen waved his fingers in the direction of the armchair just as its occupant woke up and tried to stand up. In an instant, the man was stuck to the armchair.

"Huh?" Obviously not happy at his predicament, the man started struggling against the invisible force. Stephen watched him in mild amusement for a moment or two before deciding to take pity on him.

"You've been enchanted." He spoke, by way of greeting.

"Sorry, what?"

"Encanted to be stuck in that armchair until you've answered all our questions."

"Enchanted?" He asked, looking incredulous. "What, like magic? That doesn't exist." Englishman, Stephen figured from the accent.

"Believe that if you want," Wong spoke, "But magic is real for us and it is not a force to be played with. So you are going to answer some very important questions regarding yourself and your arrival in the Sanctum Sanctorum. Starting with your name."

"Oh, I'm the Doctor."

"That's a title." Stephen spoke, annoyed. "What is your name?"

"Well then," he said, pulling out a little black card from a pocket of his trenchcoat, "My name's John Smith, Doctor of ah, everything, really. See for yourself."

Sure enough, there was writing on the card that confirmed whatever 'John' was saying, but Stephen knew better.

"You know John Smith is one of the most common names in existence, right? You really should have chosen a better cover identity."

The Doctor smiled guiltily. "You're right, my name's not John. But you also refuse to believe my actual name, which is the Doctor, so what am I supposed to do?"

"Alright, let's leave names aside. What dimension are you from, then?"

"Well, according to my very reliable screwdriver's readings, I'm in the wrong universe, apparently."

"Now there's an answer one does not hear everyday." Wong commented.

"Really?" Stephen remarked.

"It's true. You would know that if you actually spent your time performing your duties as a wizard."

"Reading the ancient tomes is a perfectly reasonable way to both amass knowledge and better protect the Sanctums. Honestly, Wong, weren't you the chief librarian of Kamar-Taj? I expected better from you."

"I have never been against amassing knowledge, Stephen, only against the fact that you often neglect your duties. If you could have performed your Sorcerer Supreme duties alongside your recreational activities, I wouldn't be lecturing you right now."

"Ow, Wong. You wound me."

"You'd be always wounded then."

"Sorry to interrupt, but can you ask your cloak to stop tickling me?"

Chapter Text

"Perhaps the fact that he claims to be from another universe may have something to do with the traces of the stone."

"You think it still has traces of Time because he's from another universe. Which means he wouldn't have been affected by Thanos. Am I right?" Stephen replied.

Was there something in that idea?

"It's a wild theory, Wong."

"I'm open to new ideas, Stephen."

Time to test it, then.

"Hey, Doctor, how did you come into possession of this card anyway?" Stephen asked.

It was then the man, who had been valiantly attempting (and failing) to get out of the armchair he was currently stuck in calmed down and slowly turned towards them. His teeth had clenched and he smiled a little awkwardly.

"I was hoping you wouldn't ask that."

"Why? 'Cause you stole it off someone else?"

"What? No, of course not. I can't answer your question because I don't have an answer. I don't know how I came into possession of that card."

Stephen laughed, but it lacked any mirth. "Right, because this card randomly appeared out of nowhere in your pocket."

The Doctor only stared expectantly, as if waiting for Stephen to put the puzzle together.

"You're not making this up, are you?"

"I haven't made up anything so far. Why would I suddenly lie to you, especially considering the fact that I am currently residing in your... house? Office? What exactly is this place? My screwdriver's readings are all over the place."

He was rambling. So Stephen turned to Wong away from the Doctor who now seemed to have fixated on the architecture and was now talking about its similarities to some medieval European works.

"Maybe she enchanted the card to exist at all points in his personal timeline." Stephen proposed.

"That still doesn't explain why he doesn't remember anything related to the card."

"Maybe it's like a perception filter." The third voice spoke.

The Doctor was still stuck in the armchair, but had now fully turned his body towards the sorcerer duo. Stephen turned to look at him.

"What's that?"

"In our universe, a perception filter is a little device that sort of, nudges your perception a bit."

Stephen raised an eyebrow. "Nudges your perception?"

"It tells others to ignore anything or anyone wearing the device."

"So, like an invisibility spell, but you're not actually invisible." Wong surmised.

"What does the perception filter thing have to do with the card?" Stephen asked.

"I don't think it has to do with the card itself. I think it has to do with my memories of the card."

"You're saying someone altered you're memories? So that you dont know when or how you got the card?" Wong asked.

"No, I don't think that's what happened. I have a theory of my own."

"Which is?"

"I don't know how I got that card because I haven't gotten it yet."

"What?"

"I told you, I'm a time traveller. Not everything happens to me in the correct order."

The Doctor continued.

"I think, a future me gets that card from this Tao, and does some timey wimey stuff to ensure that that card now exists throughout my personal timeline as an emergency contact. And, to ensure past me doesn't end up destroying the card out of confusion, future me put some sort of perception filter on my memories of the card so that I didn't care about it much unless absolutely necessary. Aha, that's it!"

Huh. That made absolutely no sense to Stephen, but the Doctor looked like he just discovered the equation of life.

"You realize everything you just said was an incomprehensible mess, right?"

"Maybe to you humans, but I'm sure your Tao will agree with me."

"You humans?" Stephen raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

Well, that explained some of it.

"I don't know about your universe, Doctor, but here, aliens have come to earth with both good and bad intentions. And we're the defenders of this planet. It is our sworn duty to safeguard the earth from all sorts of mystical threats."

"Oh no, don't worry. I'm not a mystical threat or anything like that. I'm a scientist, you see. Most brilliant job in the universe. Definitely not someone who waves wands and flies on broomsticks. Oh, I have more style than that."

"I'm guessing that's your ride sitting in the middle of our Santum, then? The blue phone box from England?"

"The one you collapsed out of?" Wong added helpfully.

"Yes, that's my girl. My TARDIS. Takes me, ah, not quite wherever I want, but she's a sturdy one. I must have bumped into this universe in my personal future, then. The temporal signature must have drawn her here. The walls between universes are still healing after...." He paused.

"After what?" Wong asked.

"There was this battle. In our universe. A race of killing machines called the Daleks caused it. And in doing so, they weakened the barrier between universes. The cracks are still healing, and I must have slipped through one of them."

"How exactly did you slip thorugh them?" Wong pressed on.

"Well, there was this tropical planet. Unfortunately, the Emperor of said planet was..... unfriendly, to say the least. So, I may have, somewhat, ah, nudged the natives to a revolution and one thing led to another and now I had a bounty on my head. So, I told my old girl to run. But they managed to capture me, only for a short while, of course, but they managed to drug me. Nothing a little nap couldn't fix."

"Told ya." Stephen whispered.

"But then it happened." The Doctor's tone suddenly became serious.

"What?" Wong asked.

"I remembered."

Chapter Text

The long way round.

He was going to Earth. At least, that was the original intention. This was merely a small diversion.

A diversion to another universe, yes, but when had that stopped the Doctor?

The TARDIS was annoyed, that much was obvious. Travelling through universes made for turbulent flights. But there was something going on here. She'd picked up readings of some serious time travel and there was definitely something tugging at the Doctor sense of Time.

So he'd set off and where did he wind up? Back in the Sanctum. Time for his visiting card, then. He stuck his hand into his bottomless pocket-

Wait.

Where is it?

His pockets may have been messy, but he couldn't have lost it now, could he? He wasn't that careless. Not with somthing that valuable. Unless-

Ah. Of course.

"Back so soon, Doctor?" a voice asked from behind him.

He turned. There was a bald woman, clad in flowing cloth, similar to what Strange and Wong were wearing the last time he had met them. Clearly, she was a sorcerer (he didn't believe that, of course.)

"I did not realize I was this famous. I take it you've met me before, then."

"Moments ago, actually. Do you not recognize me?"

Moments ago? Was that the time travel signs the TARDIS was picking up?

"About that," He continued. "Things do not always happen to me in the right order."

"You warned me about that. I just had a wonderful introduction you, or a version of you, so to say. And then I walk down the stairs and see the blue box again. "

"Who are you?" He had a sneaky suspicion who this could be.

"I have gone by many names over the years, but for you, Tao should suffice."

Bingo.

"Now, where's the card?"

Why does everyone keep asking for things he couldn't explain?

"It's gone. And since you clearly know a lot about what's going on here, I think you know what that means."

The loop.

"I need to complete the loop. Of course. Today seems to be a day full of loops."

"Why is that?"

"A man came on the rooftop of the Sanctum and asked me for a very powerful artifact. I gave it him, and moments later another man returned it to me."

A time loop? One that wasn't his?

Something big was going on here.

"Here it is," Tao broke his rumination. She'd pulled a piece of paper with a short note written in cursive. 'The Doctor is a friend.' There was a sigil below that. (Her sign, perhaps?) It floated in the air, as Tao did a series of complex hand movements that the Doctor couldn't help but find interesting.

As he watched, a strange locket that Tao wore started glowing green. And his head suddenly hurt.

"Ow!" he winced.

Why did it hurt?

The card disappeared.

He blinked. The pain was gone.

It was like the waves parting to reveal land. Why couldn't he find the card before if it was with him this whole time?

He stuck a hand into his pocket and there it was, like he'd never lost it.

"I suppose it worked, then, now that you have the card."

"What was that?" the Doctor asked, pointing at the necklace.

"Oh, just an artifact that deals with Time. I used it to enchant that card to exist for you whole timeline. And based on what you last told me, I added a little spell to make sure you only use it for emergencies. This universe doesn't deal with the multiverse for now."

"Thank you. I think I've had enough now. I should probably get going."

"I concur. Is your blue box still using a pocket dimension?"

He smiled.

"Actually, I might stay for a little bit." This was getting interesting.

"Care for a cup of tea, then?"

"Of course."

Chapter Text

"What did you remember?"

"That I had an emergency contact in another universe, apparently."

Wong raised an eyebrow. Stephen and Wong exchanged another look.

"Right, and we're supposed to believe you on that." Stephen spoke.

The Doctor sighed. "You don't believe me, do you? I know you don't. I can see it in your eyes. But I really have told you everything I know uptil now, uptil this moment in my personal timeline." He replied, utterly serious.

"A word, Wong?" Stephen pulled the other sorcerer into a portal that led to the other side of the Sanctum.

"What are we going to do with him?"

"So far, I can see only one solution: get him to leave. We do not know this man, or anything about him. Dealing with such elements from the multiverse is not an easy task, even for the most skilled of sorcerers. Keeping someone like that around is a risk, Stephen."

"Yeah. That's true. We should try and figure out-"

"Oh, lovely!"

"Hmm?" Stephen turned to see the Doctor renew his attempts to get out of his enchanted armchair, only this time it was out of excitement. "You do understand the meaning of being stuck to that armchair by sorcery, right? You're not going to move until I want you to, so talk."

"Well, I really must get moving, actually. Places to go, worlds to save, all that. And no, sorcery does not exist. This is just a really advanced form of technology. Force fields, perhaps?"

"He also loves hearing himself talk."

"Oi! I'm still here, I can hear you!"

"Why are you trying to get up, anyway?"

"My ship," he pointed to the blue box, "She was a little banged up by the multiversal trip, but she's healed now. So, I should get going."

"You can't be leavi-" Stpehen saw Wong mutely shake his head. Let him leave.

"Oh no, it's fine. It's a little odd that the TARDIS decided to land here in the first place, seeing as she generally likes sticking to our universe."

"So do you crash though people's rooftops all the time?"

"Oh no, not always. Sometimes I make my entrances through the window."

"Because that's so much better."

"Well," the Doctor contemplated, "I suppose it's not that necessary. But where's the fun otherwise?"

"What do you actually do, Doctor? And don't give me that obviously enchanted medical license."

"Medical license? What do you..." the Doctor pulled out his little black card again to take a second look at it and seemed to realize something. "Ah, so that's what you saw. You are right, I'm not a medical doctor. Well, actually, I am, but I'm also a doctor of other things too. The Doctor, if you will."

"And here I thought you were the arrogant one, Stephen."

"And you're making me blush." Stephen deadpanned.

"Can you please just let me go?"

"No." "We might."

"Listen to Wong, is that right? Listen to Wong, Cloakman. I told you, I've had enough adventure for a lifetime now and I....I'll be on my way." He smiled a little. "I promise."

"You really will go back to where you came from?"

"Well, erm, I didn't say that."

"So you're not actually going to leave, are you?"

"Stephen, right? Stephen, what if someone gave you the opportunity of a lifetime to explore more than you've done before, see more than you can imagine and have your little human mind blown? Well, right now I'm in another universe, one that I'm not sure I might ever see again. Tell me, what would you two do in my position?"

"You're not going to convince us with cheesy metaphors." Stephen replied.

"Yes, neither of us would have actually been in this position in the first place. Aren't you supposed to be a criminal on the run?"

"I've always been a criminal on the run." The Doctor replied proudly.

"Who are you?" Stephen asked, shaking his head.

"Just a traveller."

"Not a valid answer."

"Let him be, Stephen."

"Why are you supporting him?"

"Because so far, he hasn't tried to take over the world, or violently murder innocents. So yes, he seems to be on our side for the time being. If not, then he will not be spared. I can assure you of this, Stephen."

"A rather roundabout way of supporting me, but thanks!"

"Don't thank me yet. Just because I think better of you than my peer doesn't mean I trust you."

"I take back my thanks."

"Look, if we were to, say, let you go on the one condition that you don't overstay your welcome, will you promptly leave?"

"I might think about it. But since you've been asking so nicely, maybe I'll even show you a little bit of my magic."

"Which is?"

"The TARDIS, of course!"

Five minutes later, the trio were standing in front of the big blue box in the Sanctum. Well, if one were to be technical about it, only two were standing. The third had practically draped his body around the box and was smelling its wooden surface for.... something.

"Did you miss me?" The Doctor whispered to the blue box.

"What a drama queen."

"Pots and kettles, Stephen?"

"Nah, he's worse."

"Well, welcome to the TARDIS, then." The Doctor interrupted their tirade again and he opened the door, disappearing inside.

"Are you sure he realizes that there wouldn't be a lot of room for all of us in there?"

"I'm going in," Wong declared and opened the door and walked in.

"Here goes nothing," Stephen murmured and followed him.

And Stephen's perspective of reality was upended again.

For inside the doors was a hidden world. A dimension, perhaps? There was a giant coral structure in the centre that was surrounded by what looked like a scrapyard of controls. The Doctor did say this was his ship and it now seemed that he wasn't making any of it up after all. There were corridors and stairs going away the main landing they had arrived on.

"A maneuverable pocket dimension. Interesting." Wong commented.

"That's.... a brilliant answer, Wong! And also, quite accurate. I really like you."

"This place does have some fascinating aspects of science and sorcery." Stephen added.

"Well, if you both are impressed, how about a trip?"

"You can do that?"

"Only if you want me to."

Stephen and Wong exchanged one last look.

"We get to see what he's capable of." Wong whispered. "Your worries can be quashed."

"That's.... actually not quite a bad idea then."

Stpehen turned to the Doctor. "Just one trip. We have responsibilities, unlike you." He spoke.

"Oh yeah, yeah, I get it. I'll drop you off two minutes after you left."

"Okay, what are you waiting for, now?"

"Well, then.... Allonsy!"