[center][color=00a651][h1][center][b]Dr. Strange[/b][/center][/h1][/color]
[color=ed1c24][h1][center][b]Holiday Special CONCLUSION[/b][/center][/h1][/color]
[img]https://i.pinimg.com/736x/5e/b4/36/5eb43667211bffa2b0089dc24829ec3f.jpg[/img][/center]
Strange found the Cantor Gifts location inside the Mall of Babel completely empty, not an employee in sight. The shelves were unevenly stocked with impossible objects, one section had dozens and dozens of untouched Klein bottles gathering dust, another large display for Penrose Triangles was completely empty. Almost all of the things had gone out of style long ago; petering out when people no longer thought it was hilarious to give someone something from the Non-Euclidean Naughtiness section. The anti-theft wards were trivial to dispel, but Strange thought it important to do everything above board. He found a hold pickup shelf with his package sitting on it, but no matter how long he waited no one came to the counter, and his mystical sense confirmed the store was empty. With a heavy sigh, he carried his package to the self-checkout station and read off the runes above the checkout sigil to open a connection to customer service.

Strange could see that the signal from the speaking stone was being routed to Mephisto’s realm. Apparently Mephisto had been quite aggressive in the call center outsourcing business. The connection was crackly, possibly due to the sound of brimstone in the background. The voice on the other end said “Hi thank you for calling Cantor Gift’s customer service, my name is Pieter. How may I help you?”

“Hi Pieter, I have an invoice in my possession for an object that was shipped to this store. I found it in the pickup area but there were no employees. Can you handle my purchase?”
“Certainly, just give me a second to process some things.”

Pieter thought he had muted himself, but Strange was able to hear the conversation that went on while he waited. “If I have to take another call about people not showing up to work 
in the Mall of Babel locations I don’t know how I’m going to get through these eons of punishment. Hey Nicolae! Shut up! I’m trying to work here and I don’t care if you’re on break you and your buddy Enver can go discuss your Marxist babble somewhere else.” 

“Uhhm, yes sir I’ve made the changes in the system. Just wave the item over the checkout sigil one more time and the anti-theft wards will be released. Is there anything else I can assist you with?”

“That will be all. Thank you.”

Before he left the store, Strange opened the package and stared at it, scanning the complexities of its form. This was a work of fine craftsmanship by a skilled interdimensional smith, a crystalline structure filled with literally infinite fractal paths inside of it. Every one of the infentismally small passages bent light in its own distinct way, creating a shimmering effect like nothing else. Every second, every angle of view, and every change in light condition produced an entirely unique effect, nothing about it was static, nothing about it was exhaustible. Even if one could examine it on a microscopic level they would see new things, never before seen patterns, inside the truly infinite interior space. For all of its wondrous complexity, it was ultimately a curio, of no use other than admiring its aesthetic charms. Perhaps that was why it had been left to gather dust in the backroom of a mall store, a rare piece only appreciated by a few eccentrics. Strange himself had gotten it for Clea, who had memories of seeing one her mother owned when she was young. Clea had only been able to see it once, as soon as Umar heard how much she loved it she hid it away, thinking it was unbecoming of her daughter to be in awe of something so tacky when she could direct her energies towards more productive efforts. 

Even though they were apart, Strange still cared for her, and wanted to give her something to help her cope with the stress of running one side of an endless Dark Dimension civil war. He didn’t expect anything back, he didn’t even really have a deeper intention, and he just wanted to practice a little generosity. 
There was a rumble from the other side of the room. It was a low, quiet one but it was still the loudest sound Strange had heard during his entire trip to the Mall of Babel. He focused his senses in that direction and felt something that should geometrically impossible, like the space was entirely filled but warped, and whatever this disruption was emerged in one sudden moment, too fast to track. He concentrated further to try and see what it was, but in that time it had grown to the point that even his eyes alone were enough to see it: A mass of thousands of tentacles, from ones thicker than tree trunks to narrow as snakes, shooting out from the largest storefront. One glimpse told him all he needed to know, and in an action too quick to be perceived he opened a portal to another part of the mall, lightyears away from the mass.

As soon as the portal closed he heard the rumbling again, and knew it was coming. From the single sight of it he got he could tell exactly what he was dealing with: One of the Many 
Angled Ones. He didn’t know if it was Shuma-Gorath itself or another of its ilk, but all were equally terrifying, devouring beasts from beyond reality. They wanted nothing more than to tear existence asunder, to devour it whole with their infinite appetite, ancient minds beyond reason or morality. Even for one as mighty as Strange fighting them was a hopeless endeavor, a fact he remembered when his invocation of the Winds of Watoomb failed to even slow the next mass of tendrils before he teleported away again. The Many Angled One knew nothing more than a desire to engulf the entire Mall of Babel, and from there it would free to spread to even more realms, connected to an uncountable number thanks to the Mall’s vast network.

Strange was running away even though he knew there was no safe place at the rate it was growing, all it wanted was more room to grow, and Strange could feel it seeping forth from the place between universes, holding open a hole from its home dimension. In his haste he remembered he was still carrying his gift for Clea and he began to think. With one more jump through a portal he sighed and solidified his plan.

The first spell he cast was a simple one aimed at the monster, a mental spell to open the mind. It was safer than trying a direct mental attack on the creature, merely allowing it feel the ambient emotions. Next he reached across the universes and focused his mind on one shining concept: generosity, the idea of giving without expecting anything back. He drew these emotions from countless being and brought them here, across space and time, filling the whole room in a sea of them. That was when he saw the creature stutter for the first time, struggling to process the unknown emotion that was now flooding in. Strange knew it would be only a momentary pause, so that was when he made his final move, one that didn’t require casting a spell. As he saw a tendril reach out he took Clea’s gift in both hands and tossed it towards it, then watched and smiled as the tentacle traced a path inside the fractal structure of the crystal. More tendrils followed, and soon the whole monster was rushing inside it’s newfound gift, and Strange felt it’s presence recede from the mall. Once it had all moved inside, Strange threw the gift back through the portal from which the Many Angled One came and sealed it up. Mall Security would hear about the incident, possibly even give him a gift card for his service to the community, but Strange doubted he’d be back. His gift for Clea was gone, and although she would’ve done the same if she had been in his position, he was still left with a touch of sadness. Life would go as normal, with her none the wiser about what happened that day, and Strange headed back to his solitary work, knowing that someday all would be well and he’d be able to find another worthy gift.