Strange's Discovery

Strange closed his eyes in exasperation, unable to hide his exhaustion. He dropped onto the sofa across from Lin Yi and poured himself a drink.

"Quit laughing. Tell me how things went on your end. Find anything important?"

"I did." Lin Yi looked away and briefly recounted everything that had happened that day, along with his suspicions.

This universe's history appeared to closely match their own. The divergence seemed to have occurred after the incident involving Zombie Thanos and the mutated Cosmic Virus.

The Cosmic Virus had swept across the universe, but Tony Stark had used some unknown technology to keep it from reaching Blue Star.

"That's about all I found out today. Some of it's guesswork, though I'm fairly confident. Tomorrow, I'll stick to our original plan and meet Morgan to verify it."

"As for what's beyond Blue Star..." Lin Yi's gaze darkened, and his tone grew cautious.

"Don't go out there yet. I can faintly sense a lot of eyes watching Blue Star."

Those gazes were well hidden. If his scalp hadn't tingled now and then, Lin Yi might never have noticed them.

Until he understood more, he wouldn't leave Blue Star recklessly.

"Your turn. Didn't you take Peter to Kamar-Taj? How did you get... slapped?"

He was too curious not to ask again. Who could slap Strange?

Strange clearly didn't want to talk about it. He had his pride.

Peter, however, had no such reservations. His hand shot up.

"I know! The Ancient One did it!" Peter said excitedly.

"Mr. Lin Yi, you weren't there, so you don't know. This Blue Star has two Ancient Ones!"

"One has hair, and one doesn't. The one without hair slapped Doctor Strange!"

"When we got to Kamar-Taj, the Ancient One without hair was muttering something. Doctor Strange went up to her, and before he could say a word, she slapped him!"

Strange's scalp tingled as Peter rattled on like a machine gun. He hurriedly raised a hand to stop him.

"That's enough, Peter. It wasn't exactly my finest moment. Drop it."

Lin Yi laughed to himself. "So your biggest discovery today was that Strange got slapped?"

"He fought the Ancient One with hair, too!" Peter added, raising his hand again.

"I—mmph..." Peter tried to continue, only to find he couldn't open his mouth.

Strange lowered the hand he'd used to cast the spell. "Enough. I'll tell him."

If he let Peter keep talking, they wouldn't get to the point all night.

His expression turned serious as he laid out what he had learned.

"Some of my findings overlap with yours. Whether we call it the Zombie Virus or the Cosmic Virus, I'm certain the virus in both universes is the same thing."

"The Ancient One confirmed that for me."

Lin Yi gave him a strange look. "Can you trust her? Didn't we agree not to blindly trust anyone or anything familiar? That..."

That handprint on your face isn't very convincing.

Strange waved him off. "Magic doesn't lie."

...!

The man certainly wasn't short on confidence.

"From what I saw, both Ancient Ones were pretending to be mad."

"The Ancient Ones were pretending to be mad?" Lin Yi found the phrase awkward to say.

"Yes. There's nothing wrong with their souls, but their behavior was wildly abnormal. It was as if they were putting on a show for someone."

Strange thought back over their strange behavior. "I suspect they were performing for those eyes you mentioned—the ones watching from beyond Blue Star."

"The Ancient One confirmed that through a special means of passing information to me."

"What means?" Lin Yi asked curiously.

Strange's face darkened. "Don't ask. I can't tell you."

Huh?

Lin Yi frowned, then guessed the answer. Could it have been the slap?

"Stop staring! You're making me feel like a clown!" Strange snapped. Wherever he turned, Lin Yi followed the handprint with his eyes, as though it were the real Strange.

"Fine, fine. Anything else?" Lin Yi spread his hands.

Strange shook his head helplessly. "I spent the whole afternoon fighting the other Ancient One."

"I'd meant to ask about Peter's condition. Tony suspected the virus was connected to the Quantum Realm, so why did it disappear from Peter's body after he went in? Shouldn't it have gotten worse?"

"But neither Ancient One was in any state to hold a normal conversation, so I had to give up for now."

"I have a question!" Peter finally tore away the thin layer of magic sealing his mouth.

When they looked at him, Spider-Man grinned. "Why don't we enter the Quantum Realm from this universe and go back to an earlier point in time?"

Both men drew sharp breaths.

They exchanged a look, each seeing the other's astonishment.

"You're a genius, Peter!"

"Only you would come up with something that risky!"

"A strange virus, an unknown universe, and you want us to rush into the Quantum Realm? You think we aren't drawing enough attention already?"

Strange rolled his eyes. He could hardly be bothered to say more.

Traveling through the Quantum Realm to go back in time could inadvertently create new Parallel Universes.

Even in a normal universe, they wouldn't take that risk unless they had to. This one was clearly a mess, full of unknown watchers.

They could obtain the information they needed now. Going back would only show them what had happened in the past. It might help, but the risks far outweighed the benefits.

"Oh... I just wanted to help." Spider-Man hung his head in embarrassment.

"Save that brainpower for your studies." Lin Yi patted Spider-Man on the shoulder, probably intending to comfort him.

"Enough of that. I'm going to Stark Tower to see Morgan tomorrow. Strange, what's your plan?"

Strange answered without hesitation. "I'll go back to Kamar-Taj, then try to contact the Dark Dimension from this universe. There are still a few things I need to verify."

"And Peter's coming with me!" He gave Peter no chance to object. What he needed Peter along for was anyone's guess.

Still, with Peter following Strange, Lin Yi would have one less thing to worry about.

"All right. Let's get some rest tonight. This suite has three bedrooms, so take the other two. You can order room service if you haven't eaten."

Strange nodded, steered a reluctant Peter into one bedroom, then went into the last one himself.

"Oh, right. I almost forgot!" Strange turned back at the door and said gravely to Lin Yi, "Be careful while you investigate. Something terrible seems to be hiding on Blue Star, and it could be extremely dangerous..."

He patted the Magic Cloak behind him. On their way to Kamar-Taj, the Cloak had conveyed a sense of something alive, enormous, dangerous—and frightening.

Early the next morning, Lin Yi went out, raised his middle finger at the drone above the clouds, and headed straight for Stark Tower.

After their first encounter, Tony had withdrawn the satellite and replaced it with a drone. He wasn't even trying to hide what he was doing anymore!