Chapter 122: The Evil Doctor Strange Does a Very Evil Deed
Shortly after Ryan's group departed, Peggy Carter arrived at Hell's Kitchen Pier with a full S.H.I.E.L.D. tactical team.
"Tony, where's Ryan?" she called out, scanning the area.
Tony had removed his helmet and was mentally cataloging necessary improvements to the Mark III's waterproofing and drainage systems. At Peggy's question, he replied casually, "He's gone. Something must have gone wrong with his experiment—Ryan was in a wheelchair when I arrived. He's probably permanently disabled now."
"What?!"
Peggy Carter was genuinely surprised by this development, but quickly recovered her composure. "Keep the investigation active. Even if he's paralyzed, we need to find him. A man with his knowledge is too dangerous to leave unsupervised."
For weeks afterward, S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't locate even a trace of Ryan's whereabouts.
Of course, Ryan hadn't actually vanished into thin air—he could stand directly in front of Peggy Carter and she wouldn't be able to see him. Loki's illusion magic was simply that effective when wielded properly.
Two weeks passed quickly.
In a secluded suburban villa outside New York City, Ryan was directing Cassie through the intricate stages of genetic research.
"We need to be extremely careful during this step," Ryan instructed from his wheelchair. "Even the slightest error in the methicone compound ratios will cascade through the entire experiment and cause total failure."
Cassie nodded with careful concentration. Using the precision extractor, she slowly added the chemical agent drop by drop into the beaker. The liquid immediately began reacting.
The originally azure-blue solution suddenly shifted to deep purple, with luminescent particles swirling within it like a miniature galaxy—reminiscent of the cosmos itself.
"Perfect," Ryan said with satisfaction. "Now we wait for the serum to complete its reaction cycle, then run the full analysis. If the data matches our projections, we can proceed to the next phase."
Having successfully retrieved the Thanos blood sample from his hidden cache, Ryan had eagerly begun the gene repair experiments that would restore his paralyzed body.
However, Cassie's relative lack of advanced laboratory experience meant she frequently made small mistakes at critical steps, leading to repeated experimental failures.
Ryan didn't lose patience—he'd been in exactly the same position as Cassie when he first started this work under far worse conditions.
With a viable sample of Titan physiology at his disposal, his genetic restoration was merely a matter of time and persistence.
After several grueling hours of concentrated work, Cassie clearly needed a break. They left the laboratory, and through the window Ryan could see Anthony meticulously maintaining the property's landscaping, while Wanda was presumably upstairs in her bedroom practicing chaos magic manipulation.
"Let's go outside for some fresh air," Cassie suggested.
She released the wheelchair's locks and pushed Ryan outside. There was a small private lake not far from the villa—peaceful and isolated.
Arriving at the lakeshore, Cassie set the wheelchair brake and settled onto a nearby bench to admire the serene surroundings.
The intense laboratory work had left her mentally exhausted, and she desperately needed to decompress.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Cassie asked wistfully, "Ryan, do you think I'll ever see my family again?"
"Of course you will," Ryan assured her with genuine confidence. "Once my body is fully repaired, I'll work on convincing Wanda to open a dimensional portal back. Not just for you—Anthony deserves to go home too. And even if Wanda refuses, I'll find another method."
Wanda's reason for refusing to open portals back to their original universe was straightforward: she feared Arishem the Judge and the Celestials would track them across dimensions and follow them here.
Wanda had truly come to regard this timeline as her permanent home, and she absolutely would not permit anything to endanger it.
Especially not the Celestials, who could casually obliterate entire planets. Even with a 0.01% probability of detection, she considered the risk unacceptable.
Ryan added reassuringly, "Besides, I've noticed something interesting about how these parallel timelines operate. The temporal displacement between when I left our universe and when I returned was almost negligible. There's a strong possibility that when you do go back, virtually no time will have passed there at all."
Cassie tossed her hair playfully, looking over at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Honestly? It's not entirely bad this way. At least while you're wheelchair-bound, you can't run off on dangerous missions constantly. You have to stay right here beside me."
Ryan's expression shifted with surprise. "Are you... confessing romantic feelings right now?"
Cassie shrugged with deliberate nonchalance. "You could interpret it that way if you wanted."
Meanwhile, back in their original universe, the reality was quite different from what Ryan imagined.
Ryan had been able to return specifically to 2008 because Wanda's chaos magic could access not just parallel universes, but also different points along the Sacred Timeline itself.
However, returning to Celestial Island wouldn't freeze time there—the weeks Ryan had been gone had passed normally in his absence.
Celestial Island's deterrent power and global influence had diminished somewhat without Ryan's direct leadership, but it remained Earth's single most powerful military and technological force.
While Earth's human population had been catastrophically reduced by the zombie apocalypse, the United Government's centralized resource allocation had actually united surviving humanity in unprecedented ways, unleashing greater collaborative potential for reconstruction and advancement.
The conquest and integration of Wakanda had ushered in a revolutionary wave of technological progress.
The combination of vibranium and adamantium metallurgy, along with Wakandan technological databases, had created possibilities previously considered science fiction. The United Government's first priority had been global militarization—ensuring humanity's survival against future existential threats.
However, while their technological capabilities had increased exponentially, the quantity and quality of super-soldiers hadn't kept pace. No one except Ryan possessed the genetic expertise necessary to decode and synthesize truly stable enhancement serums.
Secretary-General Ross of the United Government had even made a special diplomatic visit to Celestial Island specifically to address this strategic weakness.
"Mayor Payne," Ross began formally, "can Celestial Island provide access to more advanced super-soldier serums? Our current formulas are... inadequate for the threats we're facing."
Payne, understanding Ross's underlying political motivations perfectly, shook his head firmly. "I'm afraid not, Secretary-General. We're already using our most advanced available serum formulas. As for Commander Ryan's personal laboratory, no one can access it—not even Celestial Island's leadership. We lack the authority."
Ross replied with barely concealed irritation, "But we're constantly preparing for threats from beyond Earth. We need substantially larger numbers of enhanced soldiers, and our current production pipeline is insufficient."
"That doesn't change the situation," Payne stated flatly. "No one can access that laboratory until Commander Ryan physically returns."
Even if Payne had been willing to grant access—which he wasn't—Ross couldn't possibly enter the laboratory's core research area. That section was guarded by Cheems the enhanced Shiba Inu and thirty cybernetically-augmented Dobermans with adamantium-reinforced skeletal systems. Anyone who attempted unauthorized entry would be instantly torn to pieces.
The truth was that Ross wanted to cultivate his own elite combat forces independent of Celestial Island's control. He desperately wanted to eliminate this particular check on his authority.
The more powerful an individual becomes, the less they tolerate having another power structure positioned above them in the hierarchy.
Currently, Earth's apex-level combat power was concentrated in two locations: Asgard and Celestial Island. While Ross controlled the mundane governmental structures of ordinary humanity, he also wanted absolute authority over the enhanced and superhuman communities.
Just as Ross was preparing to make another argument, a circular sling ring portal suddenly materialized nearby, sending Payne into immediate tactical alertness.
WHOOSH—
The sorcerer named Wong leaped through the portal and announced with evident urgency, "Gentlemen, our reality is facing a catastrophic threat. I need Celestial Island's assistance immediately."
Payne frowned skeptically. "I apologize, Master Wong, but Celestial Island and the Masters of the Mystic Arts aren't exactly allies. We have no formal cooperation agreement."
"While our relationship may be... complicated, this threat transcends politics," Wong insisted gravely. "Our world has been invaded by an extremely dangerous entity—a corrupted variant of Doctor Stephen Strange. If we don't eliminate him quickly, our entire reality risks dimensional collapse at any moment."
"You're saying Doctor Strange has become evil?" Payne asked carefully. "Or is this an alternate Strange from another universe?"
"Another Strange," Wong confirmed. "One who has mastered forbidden dark magic from the Darkhold and other corrupt sources. He wields power far beyond anything our Sanctums can counter."
During Ryan's battle against Arishem the Judge, Earth's mystical protective barriers had been severely damaged, leaving dimensional weaknesses that compromised the planet's natural defenses against dark dimensional entities.
To properly repair these barriers, Doctor Strange had needed to search the multiverse for the legendary Book of Vishanti—the antithesis of the Darkhold.
Unfortunately, while traversing the dimensional boundaries, Strange had inadvertently opened a rift that attracted the attention of an Evil Strange variant—a corrupted version from a dark timeline who had given himself over entirely to forbidden magic.
This Evil Strange had immediately followed the rift back to the Sacred Timeline.
Recently, the Masters of the Mystic Arts had been desperately hunting Evil Strange, engaging him in several confrontations—but they were hopelessly outmatched.
If this situation continued, Evil Strange would accumulate enough dark dimensional energy to potentially cause a dimensional implosion that would destroy Earth entirely.
With no other options remaining, Master Wong had come to Celestial Island seeking military assistance.
Payne remained silent for a long moment, then said carefully, "I'll need to convene an emergency council meeting. Leave me your contact information, and I'll reach out once we've made a decision."
Wong nodded with sincere gratitude. "Thank you, Mayor Payne. Every moment counts."
He still needed to seek assistance from Asgard as well, so he didn't linger. After exchanging secure communication protocols, he immediately opened another portal and departed.
After the portal sealed shut, Ross turned and asked suspiciously, "Do you actually believe what he's saying? This could be a ploy."
"I can't make this decision unilaterally," Payne admitted. "I need to consult with the other council members. Best-case scenario, this is a false alarm and nothing happens. Worst-case scenario, if Wong is telling the truth and we ignore it..." He trailed off meaningfully.
Ross, having failed to achieve his objectives, departed for United Government headquarters aboard a secure transport.
Payne, as mayor of Celestial Island, immediately summoned the other council members to the command center to discuss the Masters of the Mystic Arts' emergency request for military intervention.
Meanwhile, the very threat they were discussing—Evil Strange himself—was currently in a dark sewer tunnel beneath New York City, addressing a shambling undead figure.
"I must say, I've never encountered anything quite like you before, Steve," Evil Strange said with dark fascination, his third eye gleaming with eldritch power.
"RAAAHHH!"
The zombie Captain America, bound tightly by Evil Strange's crimson bands of Cyttorak, could only roar with mindless hunger and rage.
The three-eyed Evil Strange clicked his tongue twice in morbid appreciation, then opened the corrupted Darkhold tome chained to his waist and began an incantation.
"By my will and the authority granted through darkness, I summon the energies of Chthon to grant corrupted resurrection."
As he intoned the forbidden spell, vast waves of dark dimensional energy surged from the void between realities, converging between Evil Strange's outstretched hands. It seemed as if countless tormented souls were screaming within the concentrated power.
"Accept this gift!"
Evil Strange compressed the mass of soul fragments together and violently forced them into the zombie Captain America's decaying corpse.
The undead super-soldier roared in absolute agony, the sound echoing through the entire sewer system.
After several agonizing moments, zombie Captain America gradually stopped thrashing. The two pinpoints of light in his skull sockets suddenly blazed with restored consciousness.
"Ryan..." the revived Steve Rogers growled, his voice thick with hatred. "Ryan must die!"
The three-eyed Evil Strange smiled with malevolent satisfaction. "Welcome back to consciousness, Captain America—Steve Rogers. I believe we have much to discuss regarding our mutual enemy."
Ryan, far away in the 2008 Sacred Timeline, naturally had no awareness of the developing crisis back in his home universe.
He remained focused entirely on guiding Cassie through the experimental process.
After countless trial-and-error iterations, they'd finally created a semi-complete restoration serum. It was only semi-complete because it still required one critical final step: atomic-level genetic sequencing.
Atoms are extraordinarily tiny substructures that are nearly impossible to observe directly—they can only be matched through sophisticated chemical reaction analysis and quantum resonance patterns.
To properly repair his paralyzed body, Ryan would need to create a genetic serum that precisely matched his own corrupted cellular structure—which was functionally impossible given the complexity and instability.
So Ryan had conceived an alternative approach: rather than repair, he would enhance. He'd take his existing Thanos-derived genetic template and push it to the next evolutionary stage.
It was similar conceptually to how normal humans first used super-soldier serum—upgrading the entire baseline genetic system rather than fixing individual corrupted sequences.
Ryan wasn't certain this plan was viable, but he was convinced it was necessary to attempt.
After finishing their work for the day, Ryan and Cassie emerged from the laboratory and encountered Anthony, who had just returned from another of his mysterious outings.
"Boss," Anthony greeted him with characteristic formality.
Recently, Anthony had been disappearing for hours at a time whenever he had free moments, and Ryan hadn't bothered asking what occupied him.
Today, however, Anthony—usually taciturn—voluntarily explained his recent activities.
"Boss, I've been proactively gathering intelligence about this timeline. I've compiled dossiers on several proto-Avengers and located information about General Thaddeus Ross's current military experiments. Ross is actively recruiting enhanced soldiers right now, and I suspect he's preparing to capture Bruce Banner—the Hulk."
Ryan nodded approvingly. "Good work. Continue monitoring the situation, but don't interfere directly. If we cause significant butterfly effects and Vision doesn't manifest properly, Wanda will absolutely turn on us."
It was currently 2008, and Vision wouldn't be created for another seven years. Ryan couldn't afford to interfere with major events, but he also had to ensure the timeline progressed toward the correct outcomes.
The thought of carefully managing this timeline's integrity for potentially seven years made Ryan feel exhausted.
The irony was that this was entirely his own fault.
He'd created the enhanced Kingpin and super-soldier Frank Castle. He'd brought Peggy Carter forward through time to this era. He'd caused Captain America Steve Rogers to be discovered and awakened decades prematurely.
Ryan had fundamentally altered the course of history in his original timeline.
If he wanted Vision to be born successfully so Wanda could have her happy ending, he would need to proactively guide events back toward their canonical outcomes. It was an exhausting responsibility.
"Start building our own dedicated intelligence network," Ryan instructed. "Focus surveillance on S.H.I.E.L.D. operations and tracking the proto-Avengers who've already emerged publicly. But absolute priority: don't get discovered. We need to remain completely off their radar."
"Understood, boss," Anthony confirmed. "I'll maintain operational security."
End of Chapter 122
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