The next day, ten in the morning.
Manhattan, Greenwich Village.
Stephen Strange stood punctually at the entrance to 177A Bleecker Street.
He looked up at the quaint building, so distinctive amid the modern city, and gently knocked on the door.
The door opened at once.
Homelander was inside and tipped his chin at him.
"You're right on time, my disciple. Come in."
Stephen stepped into the foyer and approached Homelander.
Homelander looked at Stephen but did not rush to take him to meet Ancient One.
Before handing him over to Ancient One, he decided to give this future Sorcerer Supreme some "ideological education," lest the guy cause some irreparable disaster trying to revive his girlfriend.
"Stephen, Tony told me a few things about you," Homelander said evenly. "About that car accident, and the person you lost."
"I don't want to talk about it, Anthony."
"I understand." Homelander's expression grew solemn as he switched into life-coach mode.
"I just want to tell you that life is a one-way road. As we keep moving forward, we also keep losing things."
"Death is never the end. It is merely another form of companionship..."
"For the sake of what you cherish most deeply, do not let the past bind you and stop you in your tracks."
"Explore, transcend, and you will eventually find your own brilliant future, along with the answers!"
Homelander's meaning was clear: do not grieve over what had already been lost and stop moving forward. Keep it in your heart as a memory. You still had important things to do, so pull yourself together and keep going. As long as you did not give up, a better future was certain to await you!
Death was not the end? Do not be bound by it? Transcend for the sake of what he