Chapter 3. Lords of Order
As soon as Doctor Strange stepped through the door, it slammed shut behind him, vanishing entirely to reveal nothing but a blank wall.
"Not strange at all," he remarked dryly, surveying his surroundings. The interior glowed with a golden hue, contrasting with the ancient stone walls that towered above him. He was clearly inside a vast tower, the ceiling stretching high into shadows, while spiraling stairs ascended to hallways and doors leading to unknown places.
Given the size of the mansion he had just left, Strange realized this room was impossible unless...
"This is another dimension," he concluded, the pieces falling into place.
He recalled the recent weeks spent battling breaches in reality and threats that could unleash a mystical apocalypse. Then came this entity with a golden helmet, appearing out of nowhere and calling himself Doctor Fate—or something along those lines. His unsettling familiarity with the mystic arts made Strange uneasy; it was a type of power that he didn't like to admit he didn't fully understand.
And what about this mansion? It had seemingly materialized just a week ago, despite the residents' claims of familiarity with the place. The attendants and neighbors said it belonged to the Fates, yet no one could recall seeing the parents—only their son, Kade Fate.
As the Sorcerer Supreme, it was Strange's duty to protect Earth from mystical dangers. If this Doctor Fate, posed a genuine threat, Strange wouldn't hesitate to intervene.
"Let's uncover what secrets you're hiding," Doctor Strange thought as he floated upward through the tower, his Cloak of Levitation billowing around him. He remained cautious, aware that Kade might be more astute than he appeared—especially since he had indirectly led Strange to this tower. What if Kade was actually Doctor Fate?
Strange brushed the idea aside for the moment, partly due to his own ego. Mastering the mystic arts required years of training, dedication, and talent. Kade didn't give off any mystic aura, or look old enough to wield such immense power, especially at the level of Doctor Fate.
Unless, of course, he was a powerful ancient entity masquerading as a teenager. But Strange preferred to think of Kade as an innocent kid, taught to avoid his parents' study without permission. It was a more comforting explanation, but it didn't completely silence the nagging feeling that he was gravely mistaken.
"Who dares enter the Tower of Fate?" a chorus of ancient voices boomed through the tower, echoing harshly in Strange's ears. He was used to this—after all, the Vishanti summoned him in a similar manner.
"My name is Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, and I demand to know who you are and what your business here is," he replied boldly.
"Doctor Strange…" the voices whispered in unison. "We are the Lords of Order, and you are not worthy of our presence."
"Is that so? Well, you are not welcome in my dimension," Strange retorted, opening the Eye of Agamotto and preparing for a confrontation. He sensed that things were about to get heated.
As expected, a golden portal materialized before him, and Doctor Fate emerged, helmeted and cape billowing, ready for battle.
First was a physical battle, with Fate ramming into Dr. Strange, fist locked for his cheekbone, but Dr. Strange had Kamar-Taj's brand of martial arts in his blood. He dodged slightly, grabbing Fate by the arm in Jet Li's Tai Chi style and swinging him away. Fate spun for a bit from his own momentum and resolved not to engage in a physical battle just yet.
"Feel the hand of Fate," Doctor Fate declared as a golden symbol—a cross turned bowtie and the size of an average human—glowed and charged at Doctor Strange.
"By the Vishanti!" Doctor Strange shouted, arms outstretched as a beam of mystical power surged forth to neutralize Fate's attack.
Both recoiled to avoid being tossed about by the aftermath of their spell collision. Doctor Fate immediately supercharged for another attack, while Strange prepared a counter and a counter-attack in the process.
Meanwhile, in a different reality, Peter Parker was subconsciously recording, comparing, and estimating the typical number of minutes one was supposed to be on a bathroom break.
"You seem distracted, Peter," MJ finally voiced her concern about Peter's absentmindedness. "Do you need a break?"
"Mh?" Peter glanced up from his workbench. MJ sighed.
"Well, Kade's not here. We might as well take five until he gets back," MJ suggested, walking over to play a match against Flash.
"I'll go grab some more snacks," Peter said, slipping away. He headed for the bathroom, changed into his Spider-Man costume, and located the hallway through the ceiling vent, all the while ensuring that nothing could connect Spider-man to Peter Parker.
It didn't take him many crawls to find the golden door from earlier. His senses blared at the sight of it, curiosity, premonition, and concern etched behind his mask. There was no vent leading into the room, so he used his webs to open the door and swung in fast like a missile.
Back in the Tower of Fate, the battle between the two masters of magic was escalating to a level of chaos.
"The Seven Rings of Ragaddor!" Doctor Strange barked, and the seven rings surrounded Dr. Fate, temporarily nullifying his magic. He followed this with the Crimson Bands of Cytorrak to bind Dr. Fate.
Fate looked up at Strange, unwilling to admit that the Master of the Mystic Arts could be his match. His helmet glowed as he supercharged, golden rays of magic shining from him. The Amulet of Anubis, a relic dangling around his neck, glowed brighter with his might.
"Enough of this, mortal!" Fate boomed as he broke free. "Your time among gods is over."
Normally, Dr. Fate never used incantations to perform magic—only runes, ankhs, symbols, and movements. But to show Dr. Strange just what he was capable of:
"JARDUAN SHIELD!" Fate exclaimed, weaving a powerful shield around himself that broke free from the Seven Rings and the Crimson Bands.
"Winds of Watoomb!" Dr. Strange declared, attempting to ensnare Dr. Fate in a tornado, but Fate was already mid-process of creating his own.
"Kadduk, and the Winds of Azagoth!" Dr. Fate's spell produced a massive tornado that swallowed up the Winds of Watoomb and ensnared Dr. Strange.
Before Strange could use the Eye of Agamotto to manipulate time to his advantage, Dr. Fate moved like a streak of light, summoning a Jarduan Spear in his hand and thrusting it toward Strange's Eye of Agamotto.
Dr. Strange screamed as the spear made contact, his eyes glowing with a blinding white light as if he was about to be obliterated. Then, in a swift instant, his form dispersed, leaving behind nothing but waves of lingering mystical energy.
"You have done well, Son of Pharaoh," commended the voices—the Lords of Order, speaking from all directions, intangible yet omnipresent within the Tower of Fate. "We chose our champion wisely."
The Lords of Order were unseen, merely voices that commanded their will to be done.
As Dr. Fate removed his helmet, he inquired, "Now that the deed is done, is my debt repaid in full?"
"You have pleased us by defeating the Sorcerer Supreme of this world," the Lords of Order replied. "Now you shall take over the role until Order is fully restored."
'Figured you'd say that,' Dr. Fate thought silently, his face now clear in the light of the Tower. 'But only a while longer.'
"Your will is my command," he said aloud, before soaring away.
---
Kade's "parents'" study looked… innocent. Spider-man couldn't figure out why, for the life of him, his spider-sense had blared when he approached the door. But once inside, he felt calm, almost guilty for trespassing.
There was nothing unusual—just a desk, shelves, books (nothing digital, though), and a few artifacts, older than the ones displayed elsewhere in the mansion. And, of course, the helmet… or should I say, _helmets_. Several identical ones, most gold-colored, some more mundane, but all resembling the one he'd seen Kade with. Nothing seemed out of place, and Spiderman had been there long enough to be sure.
His spider-sense went off again as the door to the study creaked open. He jumped to the ceiling, concealing himself in the shadows as he watched Kade enter, looking around.
"I thought I heard someone in here," Kade mumbled before shrugging it off.
"Phew! I thought Mom and Dad came back before I replaced the helmet I took," Kade said, relieved, closing the door behind him as he walked away. Spiderman listened to his footsteps fading and found himself feeling a bit foolish. It seemed like Kade was just a curious teenager who had borrowed one of his parents' helmets.
Guilt washed over Spiderman. He started justifying the collection of helmets, convincing himself that maybe Kade's parents—being archaeologists—had seen or heard of Dr. Fate and become obsessed, gathering similar helmets in their search for something. With how preoccupied Spiderman had been lately, he figured anyone could get caught up like that.
But then, a troubling thought crossed his mind. _Could Kade's parents have been so obsessed with Dr. Fate that they even changed their name to "Fate"_?
"Maybe my spider-sense was just off this time," Spiderman thought, doubting his intuition. "Maybe I'm just exhausted from all the studying and juggling Spider-Man duties."
He turned to go back to the study, but then stopped, eyeing the helmets one last time. "But what if..."