THE APPRENTICE (DOCTOR STRANGE STORY)

7

"Uh..hello?!" Hazel asked as she walked down the jail cells, exploring the monastery. There was screaming. Screaming filled her ears; horrid and terrible cries that sounded like someone was being tortured "hello?! Is anyone there?"

Further into the rows of cells and doors, she walked to investigate the sound she was hearing, with wide eyes and shaky hands. Her eyes laid on a man with brown hair and eyes, wearing the classic, red robes, screaming.

"A-are you okay?" She asked hesitantly, but was ignored "hey! Are you okay?" She once again inquired, but banged on the cell to grab his attention.

His head whipped towards her, an irritated look on his face. After he's investigated her, his face dropped; the muscles relaxed and his jaw hit the floor.

"Uh...no?" Hazel asked, and he didn't respond. "Okay... I should not have come here" she thought out loud and started to back away slowly.

A loud bang sounded throughout the whole floor, the door from his cell gone. He looked left and right, then his eyes stopped to Hazel. She took it as a queue to immediately run away, her legs moving as fast as they could, her heart beating out of her chest.

"Ah!" She cried as she felt her leg trapped, slowly being pulled towards the man. Waiting anxiously, she kicked his knee with all her might and got up to run away again.

Accessing the shields of mandala, she stopped when she heard him growl.

"You're not gonna get away from me, and don't think for a second that you are capable of anything!" He hissed angrily, coming for a strike on her face

"Woah- what's your deal?!" She cried as she blocked a hit from him. He let out a loud scream and ran into her, the two sparring for what felt like forever.

Being fed up, Hazel took a deep breath, gathering all of her might. She stomped her leg on the ground with frustration, sending a big wave of golden light surging through the place.

"No!" The man cowered as she got on top of him "don't look at me! Don't look at me!" He turned his eyes away from hers and squirmed.

Hazel felt herself get pushed to the side roughly, her body slamming into the wall

"Stop it!" Strange's voice thundered around the room as he beat him down into a pulp. The man hissed and groaned, Strange yanking him towards his cell.

"This isn't over! Don't think this is over! I'm gonna kill you, you hear me?! I'm gonna kill you!" He enraged bitterly as Stephen locked the cell doors with a spell, rolling his eyes

"Yeah yeah, good luck trying to escape now." He said dismissively, the sighed, looking at her "you. Come with me."

* * * *
The two walked up to building, Strange not speaking a word to her, his head up high and his face was timid. Looking around, a huge wave of relief took over her when she saw Wong join them, just in case Strange goes too hard on her.

"What did you do." He simply asked, his voice firm and pissed, his teethe gritted and his hands behind his back.

"I-I only-" she whispered, her voice shaky and her eyes wide in fear

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that man is? Do you know what could've happened if he got his hands on you? You could've gotten killed!" His eyes glowered with anger as Hazel glued to the floor "look at me!"

"B-but I had the upper hand anyways!" She debated nervously

"That's not the point!" He boomed, making her jump "what if you didn't, hm? What if that man was more powerful than you thought, and you ended being badly hurt or dead, because of your hard head?! You're young, you wouldn't know, but at least have some common sense!"

"I just wanted to help!" She immediately blurted our before he could say something else "I heard him screaming and stuff, so I thought he was in danger!"

"So you let him out?" He scoffed "you heard a man in a cell screaming, so you let that man out and chase you, and try to kill you?" He ridiculed

"No, why would I let him out?" She asked, almost offended, crossing her arms "I just looked at him then he gave me a weird look, so I left, then he broke out and tried to chase me"

"Did you say anything?" Wong surveyed, his eyebrows furrowing as he walked closer to her

"N-no. I only asked if anyone was there, and if he was okay, I swear I didn't say anything to offend him" she showed her hands in surrender and furiously shook her head "maybe he's possessed"

"Possessed, why would he be possessed?" Strange scoffed at the idea and rolled his eyes "you said or did something to anger him, and we don't know why-"

"Maybe he just took it out on her" Wong suggested, making him glare at him for interrupting whatever he was saying

"Anyways," he continued "Wong, just keep her away from him. Hazel, I don't want you anywhere near the cells, not even close."

"Y-yes, yeah, okay. I'm sorry." She said with her head down, and walked back into her room.