Chapter 7

"Today we'll be doing 2 mini lessons since they are both short and don't take as long as the others" explained Dr. Strange, as we both stood in his library.

 "Is that why you asked me to bring my briefcase? So I can work on my magician skills when we're done?" I asked, setting the briefcase on the small wooden table that stood next to me. He simply shook his head.

"No, that's not why; For one of the lessons, I'm going to teach you how to use one of the items in there". 

"But I already know how to use everything I store in my briefcase," I protested. 

Stephen let out a small chuckle. 

"Not everything". 

I narrowed my eyes at him.

Are you talking about the Mimic Deck of cards? 

He slowly nodded his head yes, as if he was reading my mind. I turned to my briefcase and opened it up, revealing all of my magic props I store in it. 

"Isn't this pack just a plain old deck of playing cards?" I asked, taking the deck out of the briefcase and sliding out the cards into my left hand.

 "No, they're much more than that; They are Mimic cards".

I raised an eyebrow at him. 

"Mimic cards?". 

"Yes. These cards are more than they appear" replied Dr. Strange, taking the deck from my left hand. 

"They can mimic almost anything you can imagine". The cards began to levitate in his hands, before they all came together to create a duplicate of my black briefcase. I stared at the replica in awe.

 "These special cards can make things look and feel like the real thing, when it really isn't".

"So, will these cards be helpful in almost any situation I'm in?" I asked as I watched the cards disassemble themselves and stacked back into a deck of cards again. 

"Yes, once you've mastered them" replied Stephen as he gently set the deck into my hands again. 

"Master them? But aren't the Mimic cards easy to use since it requires a good imagination?". 

Dr. Strange shook his head. 

"You don't just need a good imagination; You also need to concentrate. The clearer the picture, the faster the cards will form your command".

He turned around to the bookshelf behind him, pulled an old book off of it and faced me again. 

"You can practice using those later. Shall we move on to the next mini lesson?" asked Stephen, flipping through the book in his hands, before looking up at me with a grin. I shrugged my shoulders. 

"Sure".

 "For this lesson, I'm going to test your knowledge about different villains". 

"But why? I already know about a lot of villains" I stammered.

 "Good, then you can tell me who this is," replied Dr. Strange, holding up the open book to face me, with the spine resting on his chest.

"That's Loki, adoptive brother of Thor". He flipped the page and held up the book again. 

"What about this one?". 

"That's Thanos; He's from Titan". 

"And this one?". 

"Ugh, that's a horrible photo of Ebony; an alien-like creature from space. A follower of Thanos".

 "I guess you know all of the recent troublemakers," concluded Dr. Strange, as he shut the book with only one hand. He turned his back to me to put the book back in its place. 

"Really? You're not going to ask me about that Nazi guy who fought Captain America or The Abomination Hulk?" I questioned, shifting my weight from my right leg to the left.

"Well, no. A bunch of threats that feature in the book are dead" he explained, as Stephen slipped the book in between two other books on the shelf. Then another name came to mind. 

"What about Dormammu?".

 Dr. Strange spun around quickly to face me. 

"Where did you learn that name?" He asked, with concern in his voice as he stared at me.

 "I-I-I-I just read it in the book of Cagliostro: I stammered. 

"So you've seen the rituals". 

I slowly nodded my head. "Yeah". 

Dr. Strange leaned closer to me.

"Don't ever try those; You'll never be the same again". 

We locked eyes for a moment, before we both broke away, with red cheeks.

"Um, I've got to go do something; Practice using those mimic cards for a bit".

 He gave me a quick smile before he left me in his library, alone. Shrugging my shoulders, I slid the mimic cards out of the case and into my soft slim hands. 

What should I attempt to create first? 

I thought as I stared down at the cards in my hands. 

Something easy to start off with....maybe some twenty dollar bills?

In my mind, I pictured my right hand full of stacked twenty dollar bills; About as much as I can hold in one hand.

When I opened my eyes, the cards that were once resting in both of my hands, were now green twenty dollar bills neatly stacked in my right hand. I let out a soft chuckle. 

That was easier than I thought it would be. 

Suddenly a future vision came to be, instantly taking my vision of reality away from me. 

Oh no, not again.

In it, I was standing on a cracked sidewalk on Broadway Avenue, watching the traffic of vehicles and pedestrians go by.

A huge, tall white truck with a rectangular trailer trailing behind it caught my eye and I could feel my heart starting to race as it drove by me. 

Why am I terrified? 

After it passed, I understood why.

A four story furry blurred creature bursted out of the white trailer, sending a shower of bits of serrated metal down on cars and people within 12 feet around it. After the shower, came the destruction. As people screamed and ran for their lives, the beast started to rampage through the city, spitting up green slime and pounding its heavy paws down on whatever got in its way.

I tried to move my feet, but they've been swallowed up by a river of green slime. As I tried to wiggle free, a human figure that was riding on the back of the creature pointed something long at me for a moment, before the animal moved towards me.

 I jerked my legs harder, as I heard the beast's paws getting louder and louder with every step. When it got to me, I had a waterfall of tears coming down my cheeks. I watched in horror as its jaws opened wide and clamped shut on my shaking body, breaking every bone in my body.