Peter's gift: Eight-in-one shampoo

"WTF? Another Strange?" Tony glanced suspiciously at the empty room behind him, then back at the surveillance feed.

If he hadn't seen Strange leave with his own eyes, and if not for the two men beside this Strange, he would have thought it was a prank.

"Sir, they appear to be Stephen Strange, Wade Wilson, and... from another universe."

"I know. Logan, right?" Tony knew of Logan and Wade, though he had never interacted with them.

How had these three ended up together? And what did they want with him?

Tony soon got his answer.

Wearing his classic suit, Wade dragged over a stool he had swiped from somewhere, climbed onto it, and pressed his face right up against the camera.

"Hey~ Mr. Stark, can you hear me? You there?" His obnoxious voice rang out. He waved, thought for a moment, breathed on his suit, then wiped the camera lens.

"Hey, Mr. Stark! We're looking for a Superman named Lin Yi~! Cumberbatch said he was here! Is he in?"

"Nobody home?" Wade hopped down from the stool.

"Cumberbatch, are you sure this Lin Yi guy is here? Stark doesn't have much time left. If we don't find Lin Yi soon, that woman's gonna break him, haha!"

"Oh, I'm so jealous... no, no, nothing to be jealous of. Too scary." Wade shuddered, as though remembering something terrifying.

In the New York Sanctum, the Ancient One sipped hot tea as she waited quietly.

For the past two days, she had been holding the Time Stone and checking the timeline every day.

That morning, she had detected another unknown distortion rippling through the timeline and knew the three of them should return that day.

But dinner had come and gone without anyone appearing, and an uneasy feeling rose in her heart. Had something else gone wrong?

Just as the Ancient One held the Time Stone, preparing to take another look, light suddenly flared inside the Sanctum.

Hum.

The light brought four figures with it, and the Ancient One breathed a sigh of relief. They were a little late, but at least nothing had gone wrong.

Wait, four figures?

The Ancient One looked at the calm-faced Lin Yi, Strange with his faint smile, and Peter grinning happily, before finally resting her gaze on a bewildered Morgan.

"You succeeded? Congratulations." The Ancient One raised her teacup with a smile.

Lin Yi curled his lip, walked over, plopped into a seat, and poured himself a cup of tea, beckoning Morgan Stark to sit with him.

Back in his own universe, even if it was the wrong timeline, he felt a different sense of security.

At least he was reasonably familiar with everything here.

"So you've figured it out again, Sorcerer?"

"Did you see the future?"

"No." The Ancient One smiled mysteriously and pointed to her head.

"You seem to have a prejudice against me, Mr. Lin. I am capable of thinking."

"I cannot see your timeline, but your expressions and the appearance of this... young child are enough to deduce that you obtained what you wanted."

In other words, she was telling Lin Yi that she had a brain.

Lin Yi rolled his eyes. He wanted to point out that before they left, she had said Peter would be of some help. And how had that turned out?

But saying that would probably hurt Spider-Man's feelings, so he let it go.

The Ancient One looked at Morgan again. "Could you tell me what happened?"

Lin Yi waved a hand. "Let Strange and Peter tell you. I need to adjust Morgan's Nano Time Suit."

"We need to get back to the future as soon as possible. The longer we stay, the more variables there are."

From Lin Yi's perspective, he had already been running around for a long time. Though he had only been gone from the future for a few seconds, he still couldn't help worrying.

Lin Yi had two Nano Time Suits on him. One was the suit he had used to return the stones this time, and the other was the suit whose Time Navigation Device had been destroyed in the Quantum Realm on his previous trip.

He only needed to replace the Time Navigation Device, but Lin Yi had simply taken a new suit instead. The old one had stayed in his pants pocket. With everything that had happened, he hadn't had time to swap it out, so he had kept carrying it.

...Hey, don't get the wrong idea. It wasn't that he hadn't changed his clothes. He couldn't just leave this thing in another timeline, where it might affect things, so he had always remembered to bring it along.

"I only wore this one once. Hope you don't mind. We need it to get back to the future timeline." Lin Yi took out a wristband and slipped it onto Morgan's wrist.

Going back to the future to fetch a brand-new suit just for this would have been far too fussy.

Morgan shook her head to show she didn't mind. She recognized it, though she had only seen one in Daddy's workshop, and knew it was a device for traveling through time.

The suit he gave her was the one with a functioning navigation device.

When the time came, Lin Yi would hold her and envelop them both in his biofield. Even without his own navigation device, Morgan would be able to take him through the correct Quantum Tunnel.

"This timeline is in 2012. We came here to return the stones, and it was only with the Ancient One's help in this timeline that we managed to reach your universe."

As Lin Yi adjusted the wristband's settings, he noticed Morgan looking as though she wanted to ask something and took the initiative to explain.

"That bald sorcerer over there. Once Strange and Peter finish telling her everything, we can return to our own timeline."

Morgan's silence didn't mean she wasn't curious. She had simply become a little reserved after realizing she was in another universe.

Still, it was like a cat settling into a new home. Once she got used to it, she would probably go right back to being the "little terror" she had been before.

The three men's experiences over the past few days didn't require much elaboration and wouldn't take long to recount. The Ancient One listened quietly as Strange told the story.

She offered no opinion on the other two Ancient Ones, but she did have a theory about why Lin Yi had been unable to open a portal.

She said it was likely that some of the beings silently watching Blue Star had intervened, but for some unknown reason, they didn't dare act too directly.

As for why, her theory was that the Tony of that universe was probably something like its final pillar. As long as he remained alive and kept trying, the universe could hold on.

They needed Tony gone, but certain restrictions prevented them from acting too directly.

If something happened to Morgan, that final pillar would develop an even larger crack, and might even shatter on the spot.

Of course, this was all speculation.

After an hour of talking, going over every question and everything they had experienced, Lin Yi and the others stood together again.

"Well, we'll be heading back now, Sorcerer." Lin Yi, Strange, and Peter said goodbye to her.

The Ancient One nodded. "Remember to proceed with caution. The cosmic virus isolation device can only buy you some breathing room. You must not let your guard down."

"Got it, Sorcerer!" Lin Yi waved, took Morgan Stark's hand, and donned his Nano Time Suit along with the other three.

"Oh, wait, Mr. Lin Yi!" Peter suddenly called out.

"I almost forgot! I bought the Ancient One a gift. Could you give it back to me now, Mr. Lin Yi?"

Oh, right! I nearly forgot about that. Spider-Man bought the Ancient One a gift, and it's still in my pocket dimension.

Lin Yi took out the wrapped gift box and handed it to Spider-Man without saying a word. He was afraid he would burst out laughing.

Spider-Man solemnly placed it on the table in front of the Ancient One, then quickly ran back.

"Until we meet again, Sorcerer!"

Encased in their Nano Time Suits, the four of them rapidly shrank and slipped into the Quantum Realm.

Only after watching them disappear did the Ancient One's smile slowly fade.

She looked at the gift box on the table, considered it for a moment, then began unwrapping it.

Peter even brought me a gift from another universe? What a thoughtful child.

But when she saw what was inside, the Ancient One froze.

[Gulele fresh-scented eight-in-one multipurpose shampoo: shampoo, face wash, conditioner, body wash, toothpaste, mouthwash, cleaner, and deodorizer]

She remained stunned for quite a while, until a strange fluctuation beside her brought her back to her senses.

Looking at the three men before her, the Ancient One stared for a moment before shaking her head with a rueful smile. "You're a moment too late."