40. Shuma-Gorath's Proposal

As far as the eye could see, there was a desolate Gobi wasteland. Forget animals—there were hardly even any plants. Wong stared blankly at the scene before him, not snapping out of it even after Rajiv patted his shoulder several times.

"Wong? Wong?! Hey, snap out of it!"

Calling twice still got no response. Left with no choice, Rajiv gave Wong a smack to the back of the head with a tendril of psychic power. Under the sharp pain, Wong finally came back to himself. He did not blame Rajiv for hitting him, but instead took two deep breaths to calm himself down.

Rajiv was not as shaken as he was. As always, he stayed calm. That was one of the reasons he could serve as an instructor at Kamar-Taj. But when he lifted his head, the three suns hanging in the sky still made Rajiv bare his teeth and suck in a cold breath.

"Well, this is really something out of a nightmare." Rajiv rubbed his wrist and pressed his lips together. "By the Ancient One, odds are the two of us aren't getting back."

Wong did not argue. Instead, he used a reconnaissance spell inscribed in Sequence One on himself—an All-Seeing Eye. Two faint points of white light lit up in his eyes. A few minutes later, Wong nodded to Rajiv with an ugly expression.

"I agree with you, Rajiv. Odds are the two of us aren't getting back. The space inside the Sanctum Sanctorum was moved artificially. This is another dimension. Now I know why Strange wasn't responding to our messages. Also..."

With a zing, a blade of light sprang out from the side of Wong's right hand. The blade of pure energy made the air begin to warp. He said to Rajiv, "I'm afraid this place