Swapping and Swapping

"Old man, you owe me an explanation!" Lin Xu huddled in a chair, shivering beneath a yellow robe.

"Your spiritual power is very strong." The Ancient One was reading.

"I'm talking about you dumping me on that snowy mountain!"

"People with strong spiritual power are well suited to practicing the mystic arts." The Ancient One continued reading.

"I nearly died on that mountain! I still have so much money I haven't spent!!"

"You can stay at Kamar-Taj and train under me." The Ancient One put down her book and looked at Lin Xu seriously.

"Have some tea, Master." Lin Xu smiled.

Creak~

The door opened, and a chubby Asian man in his thirties walked in, his expression solemn and serious.

"Master!"

"Master Wong, this is Lin. He just arrived today. Show him around, and get him a copy of Essentials of the Mystic Arts and a Sanskrit-to-Chinese Translation Dictionary while you're at it."

"All right!" Wong remained expressionless.

Lin Xu was puzzled. "Can't you just translate it into Chinese?"

"The dictionary is there to help you understand the meaning. But the direction of every stroke in every character of the original, along with its standard pronunciation, is something you need to commit to memory." The Ancient One rolled her eyes at Lin Xu and continued, "Take the Daoist Five Thunder Talisman and 'Supreme Lord Lao, hasten as the law commands,' for example. Could you write that in English, or simply chant 'pew pew pew'?"

"...All right, I'll accept that explanation." Lin Xu took a sip of tea that tasted distinctly different from the one he'd just had, then got to his feet.

"Oh, right, this Sling Ring, could I..."

"Get out!"

"Fine, don't trade. Why so fierce?"

Lin Xu muttered under his breath and casually slipped the Sling Ring into his pocket. His eyes darted, and he threw an arm around Wong's broad shoulders.

"Old Wong, come on! Show me around!"

"Let go!" Wong remained expressionless.

"Don't be so distant. We'll be colleagues from now on, seeing each other all the time!" Lin Xu pretended not to notice Wong's face darkening and kept his arm around him as they walked out.

"Huh? Why does your ring look different from mine?" As he spoke, he reached for it~

Smack~~

"I just want a look. Don't be so stingy. I'll buy you a meal sometime."

Wong stopped in his tracks, and Lin Xu distinctly felt the man's stiff shoulders relax a little.

There's a chance!!!

"Hehe, I have two Chinese restaurants and a Western restaurant in Manhattan. Tell me whatever you want to eat. I don't have bear paws, but I can still get bird's nest and shark fin. I'll get you a lifetime membership or something too..."

Before he could finish, Lin Xu looked down and saw that he had something in his hand: Wong's Sling Ring!

"Let me make this clear first. I'm not doing this for the food. I intend to give you feedback. The restaurant business hasn't been easy these past two years!"

"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm!" Lin Xu laughed wildly in his heart, but his face gave nothing away. He quietly took the Sling Ring out of his pocket and put Wong's ring in its place.

"Ahem, I've had a look. They're identical, no difference at all. Here you go."

"Huh? Why is it wet?" Wong asked in surprise as he took the Sling Ring.

"Young men run hot!"

"Huh?"

"Uh, I mean, my hands sweat a lot."

"Why does it smell strange too?"

"It's sweat. It's perfectly normal for it to have a bit of a smell!"

"Your hands sweat that badly? Then get your hand off my shoulder, quick!"

"Mm, okay!"

A basement somewhere in New Jersey.

Several green-skinned aliens were bustling around a huge vessel. Inside it, a clear, transparent nutrient solution was still bubbling.

The door was pushed open, and Hill walked in carrying Christine, whose face was somewhat mangled.

"Is it ready?"

"Mm!" One of the Skrulls nodded slowly.

"Good." Hill carefully placed Christine inside the vessel.

Christine's somewhat pale skin regained its color before their eyes, and the wounds on her body healed rapidly.

Seeing Hill's surprised expression, the tallest Skrull explained, "Z9-5 Healing Solution, a technology we Skrulls developed 900 years ago. Strictly speaking, it's actually a failure."

"Doesn't it look quite successful?" Hill was even more surprised to hear that.

"It is indeed a failure. Z9-5 solution is a product of combining biological genes with natural magnetic fields. It can rapidly heal any injury in an extremely short time, and can even keep the brain, muscles, bones, and blood alive. But because it's too potent, it also destroys the biological magnetic field while healing the organism, leaving the user in a permanent vegetative state."

"Afterward, the technology was never developed further. It was used only on fallen Skrull warriors, to give them a complete, presentable body..."

"Actually, if her body had been brought in earlier, before its biological magnetic field dissipated, the CH-325 Regenerative Drug would have been the best choice for her."

"Destroys the biological magnetic field?" Hill murmured, then nodded in agreement. She was even somewhat relieved. If not for that side effect, wouldn't the Skrulls have conquered the universe? An immortal army was frightening to think about.

As for CH-325, she knew about that too. It was a healing drug developed by the S.H.I.E.L.D. research center using Kree blood, also known as Project TAHITI. After the Battle of New York, Coulson had been healed with CH-325.

When Coulson had been sent to the medical team, he had been dead for less than half an hour, so there had been plenty of time. But this one...

"All right, I can keep watch here. You can go back to the ship."

"All right!" The Skrulls nodded and left the room.

Soon, Hill was alone in the room. She slowly walked up to the vessel and stared at Christine inside, standing motionless.

This was the task Nick Fury had given her: keep watch all night. The next morning, Coulson, who had been resurrected by Project TAHITI, would take over.

Ten minutes later~

A green light suddenly flared in the dim basement, and a rune that looked remarkably like the State Grid logo appeared above the vessel.

Bang~ Bang~ Bang~

At the same time, Hill's expression turned grave. She quickly drew the pistol at her waist and, without calling out or issuing a warning, emptied the magazine.

The bullets passed through the rune and struck the wall, but the rune remained.

"Nick, we have an unusual situation! Requesting backup! I repeat, unusual situation, requesting backup!"

"Stay safe, I'll be right... bzzt..."

"Nick... Nick...?"

Hearing the static in her earpiece, Hill knew the connection had been cut. Without a word, she quickly pulled out a spare magazine, loaded it, and aimed!

Suddenly, Hill frowned deeply. A foul stench reached her, a rotten odor mixed with the strong smell of sulfur. Then a red light blazed forth, faintly holding its own against the green light.

A roar came from within the red light: "Who is it!!!"

"The Eye of Agamotto?"

"Ancient One, don't push your luck! No, there's no dark aura. You're not the Ancient One. Who are you? The aura of time, a future guardian of Earth. Crossing time like this, aren't you afraid time will collapse?"

The green light swayed gently. "Mephisto, hand over Christine's soul, or die!!!"

"Arrogant! You're still within the timeline, and you used a forbidden art to forcibly drag me here from the Hell Dimension. How much strength do you have left?"

"You can try!"

"...Fine, I'll give you Christine. Let me go."

A shadowy figure flew out of the red light and drifted slowly toward the green light. Then, under the green light's protection, it slowly merged into Christine's body. "Get lost!"

The red light said nothing more and quickly vanished from the basement. In a word, cowardly. In two words, very cowardly!

"Strange of this timeline has yet to become a sorcerer. Christine can't stay here, or it won't serve the purpose of deceiving the timeline. I'm sorry, Christine! You'll have to lose more than a year of your life!" A weary voice slowly emerged from the green light. Then the entire giant vessel vanished along with the green light, as though it had never appeared at all.

Only a faint curse came from the void: "Damn it, I still had to do it in the end. Shouldn't this kind of thing be left to St—"

Hill, who had watched... listened to the whole drama, passed out at the same time.