THE APPRENTICE (DOCTOR STRANGE STORY)

38

It was 3:00 am in the morning when Hazel woke up from her slumber. Head still pounding, she quietly got out of her room, making sure to tip toe around the house.

She made her way into the training room that was huge, to say the least. It was completely dark, but the light bulbs were still fading to grey, which meant someone had just left the room.

Hazel stretched her arms and covered the whole floor with the mirror dimension, just in case.

"This is it," she muttered to herself and took a deep breath. This was her chance to save Stephen.

Hazel conjured different figures of masters from the monasteries to fight with her. She liked it that way, since she wasn't hurting anyone but they were still as predictable as any.

"Hm," she muttered and stared at the 2 masters, Wong and Hamir, then thought: I should fight with the best. She slowly conjured up Strange and sucked in a deep breath.

The masters got in a fighting stance to mark the start, so she conjured up a weapon and the three lunged in.

Wong threw a scythe blade towards her direction, making her duck. The blade was quick and unexpected which lead it to cut her cheek bone on the way down.

Hazel, taking advantage of her position, conjured the whip and pulled at Wong's leg, tugging him and making him fall. She straddled him and punched him in the face continuously, but was stopped when a shield hit her face. Hamir was getting ready for a big strike when she rolled away and kicked at his feet.

Hazel got up and so did the two. The two combatted her intensely, until strange joined in. He restrained her leg with a whip then gave it a pull, which made her fall. Strange slowly pulled her towards him, and Hazel conjured Crimson Bands that wrapped around the other two masters, then blades that pierced their chests. Just like that, they vanished into thin air.

Hazel got up whilst being dragged and took a huge step back. Her weight didn't make strange fall, but he did stumble. Taking advantage, Hazel ran to him and gave his stomach a kick and his neck an elbow.

Strange and Hazel sparred for almost forever. It wasn't until she made the floors move around like gears that they took a break.

Their sparring ended up having them shield to shield, looking each other in the eyes.

"You're tired?" He asked as he struck her once again, sweat dripping from her forehead as she nodded "You're gonna give up? You're gonna let the enemy win?" He pressed hard against her as he cornered her, the shield getting in the way

"No!" She hissed

Memories from when she first joined flooded her mind when she looked into his eyes. Hazel let out a cry and fell to one knee at the sight, making Strange kick her down, straddle her, and punch her on the face multiple times.

'This is it. This is your chance to save him' Hazel thought. 'And you're down on the floor the day you will be? Don't give up, don't let the enemy win'. She couldn't bear to let her emotions get in the way of her skills. Nothing's gonna stop her from saving him, not even herself.

The anger and determination brewed inside her, making her growl. Slowly, her eyes turned bright green once again, and she banged her fists on the floor, which released a power surge in the entire floor "argh!" She let out a scream as she released it.

"Woah!," a voice called from behind her, revealing Rocket (who has fallen down), Rhodey, Steve, and Natasha, who were holding on to the benches for dear life. Rhodey hushed him, as if Hazel didn't already see.

"What're you guys doing here?," she asked as she took steps towards Strange.

"Hey, we were here first," Steve said with a smile and a teasing tone "you entered before we could even leave,"

"Hazel, this is-this is all so beautiful," Natasha's jaw was on the floor as she recalled the spells she had witnessed and the fight before her eyes.

Hazel gripped Stephen's head and transferred her energy to him. It was taking a lot longer than usual, one, having the stone gone and two, Strange's body being used to the stone. But once it took over, he vanished.

"Thank you." Hazel responded lately to Natasha, and made the floors stop moving. The three held on to a bench at the sudden halt and stood up.

"Hey, you wanna get patched up?" Steve said as he pointed to his own face to refer to the cuts on hers.

Hazel looked at a wall in the dimension and saw how her cheekbones and forehead had a cut. She sensed some pain in her left elbow and saw that it was injured, too.

"Nah." She shook her head "Magic inflicted wounds heal faster than regular ones. I'll be fine,"

"You never told us you could do that," Rhodey commented "I-we never thought you could do that,"

"Well, I told you I could do magic, didn't I?," She tilted her head and pat her body with a towel.

"Well that's an understatement," Rocket muttered

"Wait- what're you guys doing here?,"

"You're not the only one who wanted an early start," Steve answered "it's a habit for us. You can't be too prepared,"

Hazel nodded and put the mirror dimension down, the four watching with big, child like eyes. Hazel chuckled at this; seeing magic for the first time always made people awestruck.

"What's all this?," Natasha asked and touched the dimension curiously.

"The mirror dimension. To the outsiders, we're nothing but an empty space, invisible. It keeps the threats in to protect the outside world and keep civilians out to prevent interference,"

"I wish I had that when I met Tony," Natasha commented, which made them laugh a little.

"Well...I appreciate the audience, thank you for being quiet and for the sneaking upon my session." Hazel awkwardly said as she habitually gave a little bow.

The three left the room, but Steve walked slower to pace with Hazel.
"You've got a strength to you, kid," he pat Hazel's back and she gave an awkward smile. "I saw how you looked at him. It's not easy fighting someone you love for the greater good, believe me."

OKAY GUYS, THE REAL STUFF IS ABOUT TO BEGIN! ONCE AGAIN, THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR ENDGAME.