Marvel’s Most Normal Man: Just Let Me Make Coffee!

Chapter 9: "The Day Doctor Strange Became Just… a Doctor"

The moment I stepped outside to take out the trash, reality ripped open in front of me.

A golden portal swirled into existence just a few feet away, crackling with mystical energy. A man in a red cape and fancy robes stepped through with the kind of dramatic presence that screamed, I take myself very seriously.

Doctor Stephen Strange. Sorcerer Supreme. Master of the Mystic Arts.

I sighed, adjusting the trash bag on my shoulder. "Buddy, this is a public sidewalk. Can you not?"

Strange barely spared me a glance as he looked around with a frown. Then, without a word, he floated a few inches off the ground and glided toward my café's entrance.

Or at least, he tried to.

The moment his foot crossed the doorway, he dropped like a rock.

Thud.

I blinked. He blinked. Loki, who had been lounging near the window, burst into laughter.

Strange groaned, pushing himself up. His cape tried to lift him, only to flop uselessly onto the floor.

He turned to look at me, eyes wide. "What just happened?"

I scratched my head. "Uh… gravity?"

Strange narrowed his eyes and snapped his fingers. Nothing happened. He frowned and waved his hands dramatically. Still nothing.

His expression slowly shifted from confusion to mild horror. "No. No, no, no—" He ran back outside.

The moment he stepped out, WHOOSH.

His cape lifted, golden runes glowed around his hands, and the air crackled with magic.

Strange took a deep breath, then slowly—very cautiously—stepped one foot inside the café again.

Magic: Gone.

His eye twitched.

Loki was howling with laughter now. Thor, still grumpy over his Mjolnir issue, grunted, "Ah. You as well?"

Strange turned to him. "Wait… you can't use your powers either?"

Thor sighed. "Not while I am inside." He gestured to his hammer, which lay on the floor like an ordinary lump of metal.

Strange looked at me again, this time with full-on suspicion. "What are you?"

I frowned. "A guy trying to take out the trash?"

Loki smirked. "He doesn't even realize it."

Strange took a deep breath. "You… are disrupting the fundamental forces of the universe just by standing here."

I snorted. "Sounds fake, but okay."

Hela, sipping her tea from her usual corner, chuckled. "I really do love this place."

Strange exhaled sharply. "This is—this is impossible."

I shrugged. "Or maybe you just need coffee."

Loki clapped Strange on the back. "Welcome to the club, Sorcerer Formerly Supreme."