I have added this story to my Patreon. You can support me and read the 40 latest and advanced chapters there. It also fed and motivate me to write more chapters!
Link: Patreon.com/Heroicverse
—------------------—
Yet, she felt afraid.
After all, this man came from another Universe.
Did all of this truly belong to her? Was this an illusory dream?
She was afraid that once she nodded, the dream would wake up, leaving behind only deeper pain.
"This truly is a touching moment." Mordo coughed softly at the side, breaking the silence.
He glanced at his watch and urged, "Christine, accept him. Time is tight, the members of the Illuminati are still waiting for us. Accept his proposal, and then I will put handcuffs on him. Everyone is happy."
Mordo was eager to complete the mission.
He did not care about love; he only cared about sealing the magic of this dangerous variant before him as soon as possible.
Christine ignored Mordo and just quietly watched Strange, who was kneeling on one knee.
She saw the expectation in his eyes and his hands trembling slightly from nervousness.
Screw the multiverse.
Screw the variant.
Christine said to herself in her heart.
At this moment, the man in front of her was her Stephen.
He made up for the promise that was late by many years.
Christine bit her lower lip and nodded heavily.
"I do." She said softly, with a slight nasal tone.
Strange smiled with relief, tears flashing at the corners of his eyes.
He carefully took out the diamond ring and gently slid it onto the ring finger of Christine.
At the moment the ring fit against her skin, the tears of Christine finally burst forth like a broken dam.
She took the bouquet of red roses and held them tightly in her arms, as if holding her entire lost youth.
"Alright, the romantic time is over." Mordo strode forward, "It is time for business, Stephen. Hands out."
Strange stood up, gave Christine a deep look, and then calmly extended both hands.
Mordo nimbly fastened the magic-suppressing handcuffs onto the wrists of Strange.
With a crisp click, the runes on the handcuffs lit up.
Strange felt an inexplicable power isolate his spiritual perception.
His connection with the magic dimension was also instantly severed.
He was not depressed, and even smiled as he shook the handcuffs on his wrists at Christine.
"Alright, Romeo." Mordo waved his hand, "We are taking you to the Illuminati to face trial and interrogation. After a vote by the members of the Illuminati, you will be given a fair result."
Two ultron robots stepped forward, holding the arms of Strange from the left and right.
"Do not worry." Strange shouted back to Christine, his face beaming with a happy smile, "After the interrogation is over, we will go pick out a wedding dress!"
The ultron robots escorted Strange out of the interrogation room, with Mordo following closely behind.
The metal door closed again.
Christine stood alone in the empty room, looking down at the diamond ring on her ring finger.
The diamond refracted a gorgeous glow under the light.
She slowly sat down, but the unease in her heart grew stronger and stronger.
After a moment, Christine suddenly stood up, gritted her teeth, and followed.
...
Escorted by the ultron robots, Strange walked through the long corridor and finally arrived in front of a huge double metal door.
The door opened to both sides, and Strange was pushed in.
This was an extremely spacious circular hall, surrounded by rows of huge pillars.
At the very high front of the hall, seven imposing high-backed chairs were placed.
The design style of the entire hall was stern and solemn, fully displaying a sense of condescending oppression.
Six people were currently sitting in the seven chairs.
Strange stood below, his gaze sweeping across those figures on the high platform.
Except for Mordo, Strange did not know a single one of the other five people.
Sitting to the left of Mordo was a man wearing a black uniform, with a Strange symbol resembling a tuning fork printed on his forehead.
He was expressionless, with tightly closed lips, giving people an extremely oppressive feeling.
This was the leader of the Inhumans, Black Bolt.
Next to Black Bolt was a bald old man sitting in a wheelchair full of technological sense.
He wore a crisp suit, and his eyes were wise and gentle.
This was the spiritual leader of the Mutants, Professor X Charles Xavier.
Sitting to the right of Mordo was a man wearing blue tights, with a prominent number 4 printed on his chest.
Absolute rationality and calmness shone through his eyes, looking at Strange as if looking at an experimental specimen.
This was Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards.
Next to Reed was a Black female.
She wore a red and blue tight-fitting uniform, with a golden star-shaped pattern on her breastplate, and her eyes were full of aggressiveness.
This was the Captain Marvel of this Universe, Maria Rambeau.
When the gaze of Strange fell on the last member, he could not help raising his eyebrows.
That was a woman wearing tight-fitting clothes.
She was heroic and spirited, her uniform color scheme was identical to Captain America Steve Rogers, and she even held a circular Vibranium shield in her hand, except the pattern on the shield was changed to the Union Jack.
This was Captain Carter.
"Whoa." Strange looked at Captain Carter and could not help teasing.
"I really did not expect that in this Universe, Captain America Steve Rogers even changed his gender?"
Hearing the name Steve Rogers, the expression of Captain Carter moved slightly. But it quickly returned to firmness.
"Stephen Strange. Your appearance has disrupted the space-time order of the multiverse."
Reed Richards, sitting on the far right, spoke first. He leaned forward, his hands crossed on his knees.
"Traveling casually between Universes is not allowed. This will not only bring irreversible harm to your current Universe, but may even cause both Universes to perish together."
"I understand your concerns, Mr. Fantastic."
"More importantly, I have made a decision. I have decided to stay here and will never open the Universe barrier again to return to my Universe. Moreover, I can act as the Guardian of this Universe to make up for my fault."
The Illuminati members on the high platform did not change their expressions because of his words.
"We do not need your help." Captain Marvel Maria snorted coldly, "The Illuminati can handle any threat, and we do not need a ticking time bomb staying by our side."
"Stephen." The gentle voice of Professor X slowly sounded, "The reason we established the Illuminati was initially initiated by you in this Universe."
Strange looked at Professor X and nodded: "I roughly guessed it."
"You of this Universe, in order to fight Thanos, privately practiced the darkhold." Professor Charles continued to state the history, "Although he eventually found a way, he was also corrupted by black magic, triggering a collision event. Countless lives perished as a result. Finally... we of the Illuminati voted for his Execution."
"I have already learned about this matter through Christine." Strange raised his hands locked by the magic-suppressing handcuffs.
"But I am different. As long as you let me stay by the side of Christine, I can give up all this magic. Be an ordinary person. An ordinary person without threat..."
"Enough." Mordo interrupted him expressionlessly.
"Your personal will is meaningless in the face of the life and death of the multiverse. Whatever your subjective intent may be, your very existence is a destruction of the rules. The laws of the Universe will not change because of your love."