"Thank you! Thank you, thank you, Felix!"
"I was just doing my job."
"That doesn't matter. Not one bit. you saved my daughter's life." George Stacy shook hands with Felix as though he was a prophet.
"Mary Jane Watson will be coming in the coming weeks too," Felix told him.
"Really? I thought she was too busy…"
Felix put a hand on the father's shoulder. "Just take care of her, okay?"
He exited the building, briefly waving at George. Felix was glad to see his smile. Gwen was where she was supposed to be.
A limo awaited him, driven by Samantha. The super soldier opened the door him, even though it wasn't necessary, and then entered the driver's seat.
He had a lot of cars and vans. As always, the limo was the most cozy. He kicked his legs up and tugged on his collar. He watched the building out the window.
It was a long, long drive from New Jersey to New York. However, it was necessary for Felix to return. There was a mini-fridge in his limo from which he took a carton of chocolate milk from. It was tall and lengthy and held precisely a litre. He drank it all, while his contact lens showed cameras of Gwen Stacy's new community. Different angles, different camera shots.
Hopefully, he didn't have to check on her too much. Ultimately, this would be good for Gwen. She'd be well-protected and well-loved.
A weird feeling settled in his heart. Gwen Stacy, the original Spider-Woman, his primary inspiration. His sister hero who had become corrupted by the red Symbiote.
'What do we think?'
Rash took hold of the Hulk to kill Gwen. He feared her.
So how about now?
'Weak.'
Yeah. Weak. Was it the high-frequency sonic waves that the SHIELD helicopter dispersed that led to this state? Elsa Brock understood Symbiotes better than almost anyone. Super sonic frequencies designed specifically for Symbiotes could be life-altering and not just something to shrug off.
'Hobie could probably beat her as she is now.' Not that Hobie was weak. However, what was previously a herculean effort and fighter was reduced to…something manageable.
Czarina was currently sending him written details on her time there. As Dr. Pyro, she worked with other scientists to gather data and to suppress the Symbiote. With Elsa Brock's research, it became easier, it seemed. The high-frequency devices were installed in Gwen's cell. They never had to use them save for her first hour of arrival.
'From the data Czarina is sending me…' His pupils dilated as he read and read. 'Chocolate and a healthy diet. Sleeping for days at a time…' That last part was interesting. It seemed that Gwen entered a hibernation state on her fourth day.
Felix stroked his chin.
'There's also the matter of the Control Symbiote inside her.'
He didn't want to go up to her and just extract it from her with his tendrils. It would have to be via surgery.
'Indeed. It may…cause unwanted side-effects in her. We should schedule a surgery ASAP.'
Agreed. Surgery was the best option for her. 'I want things to be normal for Gwen. For her to be stable. Maybe after, maybe after, she and I can work together as a team or something.'
Within the interface of his contact lens came a phone call. It was Hobie. He answered the call. "Yes?"
"Yo, bro! You need to come ASAP!"
"You got some news on Anderthrop Henton's memories?"
"Yeah! But ya need to be here in person! Trust me!"
Hobie wasn't the type to tell tall tales for fun. Actually, no, wait, he was exactly that type. Still. It didn't sound like this was a joke and Felix planned to return at this time anyway. It took five-ish days to digitize Anderthrop Henton's memories into video format, and then scan those memories to find something actually useful.
It was a lifetime worth of memories after all. Ten days was not too long and not too short, even for supercomputers.
"I'll be there." He tapped at the window connecting him and the driver. "Samantha, do you mind if we speed up? You can cross red lights if you want. I'll pay for the tickets."
The limo jerked forward and started speed. Getting comfortable, he got another litre-carton of chocolate milk and drank it. Gulp, gulp, gulp. He wiped the brown liquid with his sleeve. God, he was hungry. The milks he kept in his limo and now around his office area were specially made by Herbie. Chemically, it was vastly more chocolate than milk. It was a thick, crunchy drink that his saliva burned down without needing to bite.
He got another litre carton anyway.
At this rate, he was going to become a chocoholic.
***
"According to the software system here, it's telling me you drank all the chocolate milk, Felix."
"Don't, uh, worry about it, Samantha."
"Okay, okay. Regardless, we are almost here," said his loyal super soldier driver.
Felix read out that the same graffiti as Samantha slowed at a red light beside a lot. They entered the lot and came up on a chain-link fence. The old station sign above it was half-swallowed by graffiti: 18th STREET. Samantha eased the car up onto the curb, threw it into park, and studied it.
"Is this it?" Samantha asked.
"Yeah. Thanks for being so understanding."
"I hope you know what you're doing."
"I do, I do. Don't worry."
"I will worry. It is my job."
Felix chuckled. He hadn't told Samantha the truth yet. At some point, he would. 'Sorry, Samantha. It's just because of Maria.'
Maria was clear on making sure people of Earth 65 did not know about Earth 2099. He tried to explain that it was Captain freakin' America. Maria didn't care. She was a tad cynical about trusting people and he did not push the matter too far.
Samantha killed the engine.
"Stay put," Felix said, already reaching for the door handle.
"Understood."
Through the oval-shaped fence gap was the staircase down to the subway station. All that dark, grimy stuff.
Except, as Felix got out and his eyes narrowed, there was a figure next to the fence. Okay, weird. But it wasn't like it was illegal to be here. Hell, homeless people lingered or used the bathroom or rebels went down to paint the train tracks and the walls with graffiti. Some guy standing next to the hole in the fence was not at all a cause for alarm.
'Spider-Sense isn't going off either.'
Getting closer, his Spider-Sense continued to stay calm. This rather broad man was just standing there, his hair short and his fit dark red and loose. They were like robes from a prophet.
"Hello." His accent was thick too. Which part of Asia was he from? Was he student maybe? He looked to be in his forties and his moustache and goatee were light. He didn't give off student-vibes. He felt like a professor.
"Hi?" Felix replied.
From behind, Samantha (figuratively) kicked open the car door and jogged to his side. She was on-guard.
"Oh. You."
Or…not?
Upon seeing this red-robed man, Samantha put her fists down and relaxed.
"Master Wong?"
'Master who?'
"I'd like to speak to this young man, please." He gave this lip-disappearing smile and nod. It looked like he had been standing here for hours and was glad to get this over with.
"You're a long way from home, my old friend." Samantha crossed her arms and looked Master Song up and down. "Is this important?"
"Very."
"And you are…?" Felix asked carefully.
"I am Wong. Sorcerer Supreme, Master of the Mystic Arts, and librarian of Kamar-Taj."
"...what?"
Sorcerer Supreme? Mystic Arts?
"I thought magic was…"
Gone, according to Bast.
"Magic is real, I can assure you," Wong affirmed. "After all you've seen, do you not believe magic can exist, my friend?"
"It's the truth. He is who he says and what he teaches," said Samantha. "He approached me a little after I defeated M'Baku. He's trustworthy."
Did that comfort him? Actually, yes. Yes, it did. Spider-Sense wasn't going off and, call him naive, but he trusted Captain America's word.
"Okay, uh, that's great. Great to meet you, Wong," Felix said, mostly out of politeness. "Why are you here?"
"A lot of reasons. Like a lot." Wong sucked in a long breath, hands still folded. "We first sensed your arrival in India—"
"We?"
"A fellow Master of the Mystic Arts. I wasn't there myself."
"What, you have a network of spies then?"
"I wish." Wong scoffed. "There's not many of us left, so when we notice special people, we notice them and inform each other. And you, my friend, are quite special." Wong looked him up and down. "The divine energy, your unique connection to the Earth…it's all quite special and eye-catching."
'The Sheatttth,' said Rash.
'And Bast,' Felix supplied.
"There was also that other woman. White-hair, pretty gal. She was more slippery and not as strong, so we focused our efforts on you. And well…" Wong shifted one foot to turn and gestured one hand toward the fence and the train station within. "I was led to this. An influx of interdimensional power, all focused here."
"...are you here to stop me?" he asked. Because frankly, he was guilty as charged.
"So it's true?" Felix nodded and Wong folded his hands. "How?"
"How what?"
"Where is the interdimensional device? I've been searching for three days now!"
'For three days!? What the hell is security doing!?'
Wong was sharper than he looked and quickly rescued his fears: "Oh, don't worry, there's nothing wrong with your security. I have been using the Eye of Agamotto."
"The Eye of…what?"
"It is an instrument of truth. With it, I was scouting this area in the comfort of my home in Kathmandu, Nepal." Why were both Wong and Samantha acting like what he said was normal? It wasn't.
'What do you mean he has an eye that can help him see across continents? What, does every Master of the Mystic Arts have this power?'
The world really was a big place. Sometimes, Felix didn't know how to respond when it grew.
"So, I ask again, how did you do it? Where is it? What is your purpose for it? Are you, uh, trying to create interdimensional travel for everyone? Is this a business endeavour formed by the Earth's finest intellectuals? A private one?" Wong posed question after question. There was this grave tone and yet this passive casualness to it. As though he was talking to a friend he could easily dissuade.
"Does it make a difference?" Felix asked.
"If it's the efforts of academics, we cannot do anything about it. It is simply the will of humanity. However, if this is the efforts of a fool that does not know what he is doing…" Wong's eyes narrowed and Felix's fingers twitched reflexively. "My job is to temper these fools."
"Hn. Kill them?"
Wong did a double-take. "What? No. No, no, no, I meant a memory wipe! If the knowledge and outcome are misaligned, then it's best to forget it. Killing would cause unnecessary problems. If a group of secret magicians like us went about killing people, we'd have a thousand men tracking us down for a revenge plot. I prefer to avoid that."
...fair.
"But, we certainly don't want some idiot creating a hole in the dimensional barriers and inviting Mephisto. Hence why I'm here."
Wong gave this grand gesture over himself. Smiling and saying, "See? I'm harmless."
Felix looked at Samantha, then back to Wong and carefully asked, "What's a Mephisto?"
"Oh Lord. See?" Wong pointed, glad that he was making a point. "Do you know what you're doing? Do you?"
"Look, look, wait. I do know what I'm doing." Wong did not look convinced, so Felix changed tactics. "You're the Sorcerer Supreme, correct?"
"As I said, yes."
"I assume you're pretty powerful. Pretty informed. Pretty, uh, knowing about cosmic stuff?"
"I am. Afterall, I am one of the last of my kind."
"Then maybe you also detected the opening of the dimensional portal and the arrival of outsiders some years back."
Recognition lit up in Wong's eyes. "I did. Oh."
"Yeah." Nod, nod. "I'm just taking them back home. That's all."
"That's all?"
"That's all."
It wasn't a lie in the slightest even when taking the Big Man into account. Ultimately, Felix's goal was to fight him and everything he trickled in out.
"Really?" Wong gave a side-eye. "You're taking the outsiders back home…and that's it?"
"You have your magic, I have my science. And science says it is not wise to keep them here. It could upset the balance of reality. They don't operate at the same frequency we do. It's all maybes and probabilities. I doubt the Earth will be blowing up. But…better safe than sorry, right?"
Felix's Spider-Sense still did not go off even as Wong stared at him intensely.
"Let's see then."
A third eye suddenly opened on his forehead. Felix flinched, his Spider-Sense lighting up. It wasn't danger but it was definitely something. The golden eye turned red ever so briefly and then disappeared.
"Phew. That's that then." Wong wiped the invisible sweat off his brow. "The Eye of Agamotto says you are not lying or deceiving me in any sense. You are on the side of good. And since Captain America is with you…" He gave a nod. "I'm inclined to leave this in your capable hands, Dr. Faeth. See you later."
Wong's two-finger mystical ring suddenly glowed. With the glowing hand and ring, he drew a wide circle and instantly created a portal to somewhere else. From Felix's perspective, he saw a wide perspective shot of Kamar-Taj. A sprawl of rust-coloured, East Asian hip-and-gable rooftops. The street was empty and deserted. It was like an endless stretch of brown and terracotta.
In the distance was what he assumed was the main temple.
However, Felix could not discern details, as Wong stepped through and the portal promptly disappeared. Felix's mouth opened and closed. "How in the …physics…he just…"
Wong entered it from the other side…even though Felix could literally see what was on the other side too.
"But how!? How!? How did he...?"
"That's magic for you," Samantha said.
"Y-you knew? You've seen...all...that?"
"By all that, do you mean magic, the portal, or Wong?" Samantha asked, fully sincere.
"...nevermind." It wasn't like he was unfamiliar with magic or the mystics. He once nearly died from the gauntlets of Thor. Many of the items sold by Jefferson Davis in his auction were said to be mystic. He didn't get to test them out, obviously. "Is he trustworthy?"
Wong looked trustworthy and laid-back. His Spider-Sense didn't go off the entire time he was speaking too. Up until the Eye of Agamotto stuff. He suspected it was moreso fear of the unknown. His Spider-Sense wasn't screaming at him to run but to be weary. Anyway, whatever that golden eye was, it left the strangest buzz in his head.
"Yes. Absolutely," Samantha told him. "Master Wong is a man of the highest quality and moral character. I'd trust him with my life."
"Really?"
Samantha nodded. "I swore not to tell SHIELD of his existence and he has aided me when I have needed it ever since."
"Wow. You'll have to tell the story of how you met then someday."
Samantha chuckled. "Someday then, Felix."