Next Time, For Sure

Feeney smiled bitterly to himself. He had always thought his most invincible, most powerful skill was the Golden Great Deduction Technique, the source of his confidence that he could fear no one in the future. But in that moment, the Ancient One had shattered that belief.

But right after, he realized he was getting caught up in the wrong thing.

He'd only been seven at the time. How much power could he have had? Even now, he couldn't imagine the limits of the Golden Great Deduction Technique. Comparing his current abilities to the Ancient One, who had lived for nearly a thousand years and wielded one of the Infinity Stones, was simply unfair.

So the Golden Great Deduction Technique was still invincible. I'm just too weak right now.

Feeney corrected his beliefs, and his confidence in his future invincibility returned. He looked at the Ancient One and gave her a calm nod. "Thank you for helping me back then, Master Ancient One."

The Ancient One had no idea how much Feeney had just thought through in the blink of an eye. Hearing his words, she smiled modestly. "I took it upon myself to help. Fortunately, it didn't affect you."

After that, the atmosphere gradually fell quiet.

Now that the Ancient One had brought it up, Feeney didn't dare bring up learning magic again. He was worried she might demand the Golden Great Deduction Technique in exchange for teaching him.

The Ancient One didn't look like that sort of person, but he didn't know her well enough to be sure.

The system's description had identified the Golden Great Deduction Technique as magic in the first place. It wouldn't be very convincing to call it a superpower in front of a big shot from the Magic Side—especially when she'd already helped him use it.

Most importantly, he'd obtained this power through the system. If the Ancient One really asked him to teach it to her, he simply couldn't.

He could teach someone how to make Sumire's Fried Chicken Roll, at least. He had the recipe: prepare the ingredients and follow the steps. At worst, it might not taste quite as good.

While Feeney wondered what to do, the Ancient One slapped the dust off her robe and stood up. With a casual wave, she drew a circle, and a ring of sparks appeared in the air before them. Through it, he could make out an antique room.

A portal!

Feeney's eyes lit up. It was one of the two spells he most wanted to learn.

To be honest, he wasn't particularly impressed by Marvel's close-combat magic, but there were two spells he really liked. One was this portal, which could even cross the galaxy. The other was the Mirror Dimension, which didn't affect the material world.

With a portal, you could escape from anyone you couldn't beat. With the Mirror Dimension, you could keep anyone you could beat from escaping.

"It was a pleasure meeting you today, Mr. Hailsaiz!"

As Feeney gazed longingly at the portal, the Ancient One walked over and spoke, seemingly ready to leave.

Feeney was stunned. Seeing her about to step through the portal, he quickly came to his senses and called out, "Wait!"

But the Ancient One didn't stop. She walked straight toward the portal, and Feeney, not caring about anything else, hurriedly shouted again, "Master, I want to learn magic from you!"

Only then did the Ancient One glance back. She gave him a meaningful smile, stepped through the portal, and disappeared.

In the dilapidated factory, Feeney stood frowning. Even now, he couldn't figure out why the Ancient One had come, or what she'd meant by those few words.

"Could it be because of Possessed by Evil Spirit!?" If there was anything unusual about today, it was definitely Possessed by Evil Spirit. And the Ancient One had arrived just after he'd deactivated the skill. Feeney refused to believe that was a coincidence.

The Ancient One didn't have the word "coincidence" in her dictionary!

"Could the future version of me turn evil? Did she come to warn me in advance!?" Feeney let his thoughts run wild. With so little information, there were countless possibilities. But every Sorcerer Supreme was tight-lipped, and trying to get information out of them was less useful than wild guessing.

And what had that last smile meant? Was she going to teach him magic or not?

Feeney's head began to ache. The Ancient One's sudden appearance had disrupted his relatively peaceful life. Not knowing what she was after only made him even more uncertain about what to do next.

"Forget it. I'll go ask her."

Feeney finally gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

If she could come find him, why couldn't he go to her? Kamar-Taj was a little far away, but there was a shortcut in New York. He could go straight there through the New York Sanctum.

Having made up his mind, Feeney didn't stay long at the Secret Base. Once he'd regained his strength, he went home.

As soon as he walked in, Skye, who'd been keeping an eye out for him, spotted him. Seeing him covered in dirt and looking exhausted, she was alarmed and hurried over, anxiously asking, "What happened? Did those two people tell anyone?"

"Should we run away first? But what are we supposed to tell Mom and the others? I know a few people online who make fake IDs. Maybe we should get some fake identity cards first. Oh, and I have a few friends in the Netherlands. We could probably hide out there..."

Looking at Skye, who had suddenly panicked and started planning their escape, Feeney couldn't help laughing. He reached out with his dust-covered hand and gently pinched her soft cheek. Once he'd gotten her attention, he reassured her, "It's fine. I just fell off my bike. Nobody saw anything, so don't make such a fuss. Even if someone did find out, I'd know how to handle it. Don't worry."

Before today, if S.H.I.E.L.D. had discovered him, Feeney really wouldn't have had a good way to deal with it. Most likely, he would've had no choice but to find a way to join them. But after today, things were different.

When in doubt, go to the Ancient One!

When the Ancient One left, he'd called her his master, and she hadn't outright refused. That meant he had an organization behind him now, and it was also why he dared to go looking for the Ancient One.

Seeing that Feeney looked sincere, Skye finally relaxed. Then she questioned him sternly, "Where did you go today? I don't believe you just fell."

"I'm going to take a shower first!"

Seeing that Skye had calmed down, Feeney cheerfully changed the subject. Before she could reply, he hurried straight to the bathroom, leaving Skye looking unhappy.

When Feeney came out after washing up, Skye was still sulking. He knew she was mainly worried about him. Considering what he planned to do in the near future, he thought it over, then sat down beside her.

"Really, I didn't do anything. I just went out to exercise a little."

Feeney didn't spell it out. He knew Skye would understand.

After the bizarre events of the previous day, Skye obviously didn't think he meant jogging or anything like that. She couldn't help worrying. "How are you going to train? Aren't you afraid someone will see you? Why didn't you let me come with you? At least I could've kept watch."

"Next time, for sure. Next time, for sure."

Feeney solemnly resorted to the art of putting things off.

When it came to Skye, Feeney had some concerns too. He hadn't thought much of it when she'd first arrived at their home. But later, when Skye refused to change her name, he started to think the name "Skye" sounded familiar. He gradually remembered that, back when he'd learned about Marvel movies, there'd been a girl with that name in one of the spin-off shows.

He'd wondered if it was just a coincidence, but as Skye became more and more obsessed with finding her parents, he'd become fairly certain that this girl was the one with the Alien Gene.

He vaguely remembered that in the show, neither of her parents was doing very well. In the end, she also gained Vibrational Power because of some kind of Obelisk.

But he didn't know much beyond that. The show was too long, so he hadn't finished watching it.

As for the Ancient One, I personally think she was really powerful. Like most people, I think that in the movie, she wanted to die herself; it wasn't because her defense stat was too low!