The Hunter

What defines what a monster is? Is it it's nature to feast on the flesh of others? The innate nature to attack all that moves? To feef upon the souls of others? Or is it to wipe out entire ethnic groups so that one can stand atop their bones? Monsters are so easy to mistake, one could call a normal a monster and be mistaken. Another could point out a lion eating on another animal and call it a monster and would be wrong. A true monster is not so easily defined, they are not creatures who stalk you from the shadows. They are those who hide behind flesh and bone, behind the eyes of those who would smile at you while holding a dagger yo your back. A true monster does not attack, they plot, they scheme, they prepare for your downfall. A real monster would never reveal themselves...until your end is a certainty by their own hands. That is why I exist, to kill monsters, to hunt down those who would bring death to us all. Whether they be the animals that I see....or the monsters who hide in sheep's clothes.

{New York City, Dr. Strange}

The Sorcerer Supreme floated above the floor, meditating and using the Eye of Agamotto to peer into possible futures. The year was 2013, and he had sensed a disturbance. It was like a wave of arcane energy being sent across the whole of Earth, to the point that it was like a tidal wave of emotions. Stephen Strange felt these emotions, he could sense it despite it being faint. It had been 6 months sense he felt it, and when trying to discover the source of it, all he found were the remains of a cultist group that Strange had never seen before. The bore the mark of an Elder God that he had only found myths and Legends about. Said Elder God was known as Chthon, Chaos personified. During the ancient days when there were no Sorcerers like Strange, Agamotto used the entirety of his magics to banish Chthon from their dimension.

Now it seemed that Chthon has faithful followers who have been killed. When Strange had investigated their corpses, he only found dry soulless husks. Their bodies shriveled up like they had been sucked dry of their blood and all. Of course, this did little to tell Strange who had done this. Though he did find something that gave him a clue, a sarcophagus of unknown make and model. Upon trying to research it, he only found one name that went along with this Sarcophagus. "Hunter", a name that is obscured in history and only mentioned several times. With little to no information on what or who was out and about roaming the Earth, the Sorcerer Supreme was now using the Eye of Agamotto to peer into the future. His face contorted into a frown, then confusion as he found a future pertaining to this "Hunter. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in trying to crawl away from something...or someone

The Sorcerer Supreme's eyes widened as he took in the environment around him. He found that he was in the Sanctum Santorum, his home. It was ruined, the walls having been destroyed from recent battle and fires erupting all over the place. Stephen could even see outside of how New York looked, the city was burning with people screaming in pain. He could see Eldiritch creatures that littered the streets, slaughtering the populace left and right. The Sorcerer Supreme felt the very ground tremble, then watched as through the clouds a massive entity stomped their foot doen onto a nearby building. Standing over 100 meters tall was a dark blue skinned, red eyed, and tendril faced monstrosity. A dark laugh escaped it's shadows mouth, red mystical rays of light spewed out of it's and destroyed an entire city block in seconds.

Stephen was horrorifed by what he was seeing. This was one of the worse futures that he had seen yet, to the point that he didn't know how to prepare for it. That was when he heard a croaking cough, he turned to find himself laying face down in the middle of the now ruined Sanctum Santorum. He met his future self's eyes, the other weakened and bloodied Strange was staring at his past self. A gleam of hope could be seen in his eyes, as if he were hoping for this to happen. "Y-you..." The Future Strange croaked then winced in pain, "You have to find him...find the Hunter...bring him back...or this future is set.."

The Past Strange nodded then went to speak, but was interrupted when he heard the sound of boot heels approaching. Looking to the doorway, he found a tall 6"5 male marching their way inside of the Sanctum Santorum. They wielded twin blades of unknown design and model, one was shorter than the other but both were covered in crimson blood. Strange took in the man's appearance closely, watching him with an attentive glare. The man had bronze brown skin, long hair that reached past his shoulders, and a firm beard that looked trimmed. His eyes were oozing out green vapor while his irises hued with jade emerald Eldricth magic. Strange took notice behind the man, noticing the decrepit and dead forms of several heroes who he knew. His eyes widened once he recognized them, despite their bodies being carved up and mangled. He saw the young Magik, her arm having been cleaved off and her chest pierced through by a blade of sorts.

A young man who Strange knew was Johnny Blaze's protégé, a Ghost Rider. The young man's name was Robbie Reyes, and his body had been cut in two. His upper half laid faced first into the pavement while his lower half was on the other side of the street oozing out blood and guts.

Beside the bodies of Magick and Ghost Rider was a blonde haired and bearded man. Stephen knew the man was Thor's Earthly ally, Thunderstrike. A man who was capable of lifting Mjölnir and proving to be worthy. He laid dead with a missing head and his body littered with cuts and stab wounds.

There were others of course, other heroes who had something to do with the supernatural side of the world. Dead at his very doorstep, and all contributed by this singular man. When Strange looked to see where the man had marched to, he found the man lifting his future self into the air by the throat. "This...i-is not....you..." Future Strange croaked, then watched as the man tilt his head to the side as he gave Strange a dark glare. Then his voice came out, distorted from demonic to human at the same time.

"This has always been me Strange...you have just failed to realize it." The man uttered, then pierced Future Strange through the heart without warning. Past Strange watched with widened eyes, knowing the future, but not how it gets there. Then took a step back when he saw the man glanced his way. It was as if the man was sensing him or smelling him out. Strange didn't want to stick around to find out if he could find him, so quickly undid the spell to use Agamotto. Right as the man had dropped his Future self's corpse and lunged at him with their blade poised to cut him down.

Strange closed his eyes, then opened to find himself back in the present day. He gasped as he got to his feet and took a few deep breaths. Wong came into the room with a look of confusion, his ever faithful companion in the mystic arts. "Strange, what did you see?" The Asian Sorcerer questioned, and found the Sorcerer Supreme slowly look at his friend with eyes filled with terror.

"Wong...we need to find someone", Stephen stated, "Someone whose going to help us, because what I've seen is a future that makes me want to puke. To find this person we need to go to the one person who has any idea who they are."

Wong narrowed his eyes at Strange, giving him a warning glare. "She rides the lines between light and dark Strange", Wong warned, "What makes you think that she will not attack or turn against us?"

"Blind dumb luck and faith in knowing that the future has her dead too?"

"Hmmm...that may work."

{Salem, Massachusetts}

Stephen Strange appeared through a portal made by his talents in the arcane. He stepped through and looked around to find nothing but a forest surrounding him. It wasn't dense, but it was active with animals. The Sorcerer Supreme looked around for a moment, then faced forward to use the Eye of Agamotto. Using the specific hand signs, the Eye of Agamotto revealed to him what could not be seen by anyone else. What he saw still made him smile with elation. The forest in front of him faded away, and gave way to a small village. It looked somewhat modern, what with all the different statues and lanterns that hued with blazing light. At the far end was a large cathedral like building, the symbol that was plastered atop the entrance made Strange scrounge up his nose. 'The Order of the Midnight Sun, meant to continue the work that the original Midnight Sun did', The Sorcerer Supreme thought.

The moment that he stepped inside of this secret village, his body was wrapped up in a violet Eldricth tendril. It moved around him to the point that he felt as if a snake had constricted around him. Strange's eyes widened in surprised, then slowly calmed down after realizing who had done this to him. "It's alright, I am not here looking for trouble." Stephen spoke aloud.

"Trouble follows you wherever you go Stephen", stated a feminine voice, "Even if you actually do have food intentions, you are trouble for all who study in the mystical arts or are just affiliated with the supernatural. So I ask you this...what are you doing here?"

When the female asked that question, a woman in her mud to later 40s appeared out of thin air. Her hair was black, long, and curly with white streaks going through it. Her robes were dark violet and reached past her ankles, and a stern look was on her face as she glared at the Sorcerer Supreme. Stephen knew her as the second greatest Sorcerer, though that was due to ego on his part.

"Hello Agatha.." Stephen greeted.

"Answer my question Stephen, I am not in the mood for small talk." Agatha warned.

"Right...I have glimpsed into the future-"

"Like your predecessors."

"And have seen a dark future awaiting us...something that we weren't ready for."

"How so?"

"We're all dead, and demons running about killing people left and right", Stephen said and watched Agatha give him her full attention, "It was like something from a nightmare, I saw myself get killed too. I even saw who did it, the only warning that I got was to find the Hunter. I don't know who that is...I was hoping that you did."

Agatha's expression changed, it contorted from confusion to concern. Stephen raised a brow, picking up on the fact that she may know who he was referring to. "What did this individual in the future look like?" The violet witch questioned.

"Long haired, brown skinned, and had glowing green eyes...ring a bell?" Stephen asked, and watched as Agatha averted her eyes. The immortal witch pondering on that description as a hrim look came over her. With a wave of the hand, she released Strange from his bindings. The witch looked to Stephen with an odd look before taking in a deep breathe.

"I know who you speak, though I had wished for them to never again have to take up the sword.." Agatha stated solemnly.

"Alright....so who's the Hunter?"

"The Hunter is a man, half Demon and half man to be exact", Agatha explained, "He was a warrior who did what you did, though he was far more physical in his application of it. He was the first Midnight Sun, the first champion of the supernatural. He...was my nephew, and he is suppose to be dead."

{Sacred Grounds, Abbey}

Stephen Strange walked alongside Agatha Harkness, his near equal in the mystical arts. She allowed him in, simply because he was able to peer into the future with the Eye of Agamotto. As well as being able to identify her nephew which still shocked the Sorcerer Supreme. He wasn't aware that this immortal witch had family, or friends for that matter. Putting that aside, he was more interested in this hunter. After hearing the brief explanation of her nephew, Stephen wondered why none of the Sorcerer Supremes before him ever made a recording of the man. From whay he understands, this Hunter or original Midnight Sun was a mythical hero who fought the darkness of the ancient world single handedly.

As if reading his mind, Agatha spoke up. "My nephew was not alone, he along with the Knights of Wundagore were all that stood in the way of the many dark foes who wished nothing more than man's damnation." Agatha revealed.

'Now that's a name that i know..' Stephen thought, knowing full well who the Knights of Wundagore were. They fought all many of beast and sorcerers, protected the world along with the previous Sorcerer Supremes. Though they unfortunately died out due to the rest of the world viewing them as monsters themselves. Causing the heroic order of Knights to either disappear or die out.

Stephen and Agatha would soon arrive at a large tomb. The steps leading up to it having been recently swept. The Sorcerer Supreme stared up at the tomb's door, then looked to Agatha. "Want to tell me how he died?" Strange questioned, then found Agatha wrap her arms around herself.

"To know what happened to him is to know what he was fighting", Agatha began to say solemnly, "My nephew was our greatest defense against the darkness that shrouded the Earth. Creatures of the Night roaming freely and spreading like wildfire. Enemies all around us with little to no mercy for human life. Then came my nephew, a warrior birthed and trained to defeat all who would endanger us all. He faced many adversaries, hunted many monsters and demons. Until he fell at the hands of his most dangerous adversary..."

Stephen looked to Agatha, invested in what she was telling him then faced forward. "Well, if it isn't so much to ask", Stephen began to say, "Why not bring him back?"

Agatha flinched when gearing that request, she sent a warning glare to the Sorcerer Supreme before speaking in a low tone. "My nephew has fought long and hard, he has earned his rest..."

"Look I got a dead body in the future that says that he has something to do with it. So either we wake him up, burn his corpse, or make sure that he really is dead."

Agatha turned to the Sorcerer Supreme, stared at him then slowly closed his eyes. She began to ponder on a few things that Stephen obviously knew nothing about. When her eyes opened, her violet irises bore into Strange's. "If we bring my nephew back from the afterlife, know that it is up to him if he truly wishes to fight once again or not...for he perished fighting for this world and was not remembered for it." The witch said, making Stephen nod.

The two then turned to the tomb of the Hunter, and walked up the steps. Once they were at the top, Stephen pushed the tomb doors open and felt compressed air inside blow right into his face. Before him was a large sarcophagus, it had the same symbols as the one that he found with the dead cultists. The biggest differences were that this one had golden markings and also that it was sealed shut. Stephen moved to one side of the sarcophagus, then got ready to use a resurrection ritual. Agatha did the same, the both moving their hands and fingers and the right positions before they began chanting together in ancient Babylonian. Within moments, their magics began entering the sarcophagus. The symbols on it began to hue a golden glow as well as shake. The lid that kept the sarcophagus sealed shut slowly lifted up.

Strange continued to chant and watched as a body was being lifted up. It was rotted and decrepit with ancient armor over it. Nothing like the man who he saw in the future. The Sorcerer and Witch continued their chants, watching as the Hunter's bones whitened. Then came the muscles atop of them, not long after that, flesh formed over his muscles. Strange then saw the man who was in the future, the Hunter's hair grew out quickly along with an untrimmed beard. In the next minute, they heard the man inhale then exhale. What shocked the both of them was that the Hunter's eyes shot up and his head leaned up with a snap. He uttered one word, a word that Stephen was trying to understand. It was in Babylonian, but the Sorcerer Supreme studied the ancient language. After having revived the Hunter, Strange and Agatha used their magics to gently place the man back down in the Sarcophagus.

Both watched him attentively, before Stephen looked to Agatha with a confused look. "Agatha, he said something that doesn't make sense to me...", Strange said and watched her body tense up and her face contort into worry, "It was in Babylonian but he said...mother. What does that mean? Whose mother is he talking about?"

Agatha slowly looked to Stephen, she pursed her lips before speaking to the Sorcerer Supreme. "He speaks of another immortal witch who is by far the most dangerous sorcereress to have existed. Even moreso than your new apprentice Wanda. Her name was Lilith, and she is the mother of my nephew. She is the one who conjured the many monstrosities that we faced in the past. The reason that my nephew now rests in this very sarcophagus. It was said that the battle between mother and child made the very mountaintop that they stood upon explode."

Stephen slowly nodded, then looked to the Hunter once again. He took in the man's appearance and wondered how the future came to be. How did it turn out so dark, so chaotic? "Does he have a name?" The Sorcerer inquired.

"My nephew's name is Matthias...son of the great king Gilgamesh."