The scene unfolding before Li Feng sparked déjà vu.
This looks exactly like The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Merlin's disciples, Balthazar and Horvath were sealed inside an urn after their duel. Horvath breaking free first, hurling the urn from a skyscraper in hopes of trapping Balthazar forever.
Back when he saw the film, Li Feng laughed. Both men had enough chances to end each other but never did. They fought less like enemies and more like estranged lovers.
Now, standing in the middle of this crossover nightmare, he rolled his eyes. Still, he lifted his left hand, tracing shaky circles with his right. A half-formed portal flared.
His plan was simple: pull Balthazar out early. Earn his trust. Then...just maybe he could learn more than glowing shields. Fireballs. Energy stored in the body instead of borrowed from dimensions. Merlin's focusing rings. That ion cannon spell. Maybe even time magic.
In Marvel, only the Ancient One and Strange ever touched time. If I could speed it up, slow it down… His pulse quickened.
The soap-opera love triangle? He couldn't care less. If he could help, fine. If not—he'd grab popcorn and enjoy the show.
Balthazar reached for the balcony—only to fall through the glowing circle Li Feng had spun beneath him.
"Aw, hell—!"
He crashed into Li Feng. The urn followed, slamming down—yet instead of crushing him, it passed straight through, landing intact on the street.
Balthazar scrambled up, eyes narrowing at the naked young man before him, Sling Ring gleaming on his hand.
"Thanks for the save. But next time, rookie, pick a safer method. That urn nearly shattered." He squinted. "What is this, performance art? First-year sorcerer?"
Li Feng barely heard him. His dazed stare was locked on the urn. "Wait… did I just phase through that? Am I a ghost?"
Balthazar exhaled, pressing a steadying palm against him. Stabilizing magic flowed. "You're tangled in temporal energy. Small problem—but hasn't your teacher warned you about casting carelessly?"
Relief flooded Li Feng as the pain in his body ebbed. Temporal energy? From where? Unless… the abandoned station. The surge when I opened that portal—did I stumble right into the Ancient One's experiments?
Great. First portal, first boss fight.
Balthazar's gaze flicked again to Li Feng's bare stomach. With a sigh, he shrugged off his cloak and dropped it over him.
"This isn't the place to stand around gawking."
Li Feng looked at the crowd staring up at them. "Then where am I supposed to gawk? I don't even know where I am."
I don't have time for this, Balthazar thought. Aloud he said, "I've got business. Maybe we'll meet again. Goodbye, rookie." He strode toward the Empire State Building.
Li Feng hurried after him, barefoot. "No way you're ditching me without teaching me. You're Balthazar Blake, right? I know who you are—and what you're after."
"Rookie, go home to your master. What I'm facing isn't for you."
"I don't have a master," Li Feng shot back. "Just my grandfather's spellbook. Portals, mirror dimension, astral projection—I taught myself."
That stopped Balthazar cold. He turned, eyes narrowing. "Astral?"
The word carried weight. For Balthazar, "astral" meant Morgana's spirit rituals, her path to summoning an undead army. If this boy was dabbling in that…
He studied Li Feng closely. No mentor. No guidance. Raw and reckless. Without his intervention a moment ago, the boy might've been erased completely.
Li Feng caught the suspicion and blurted, "By astral, I mean projection. The spirit leaving the body for a time. It's not necromancy. The soul influences the body, sure, but they're separate. Stay out too long, you risk collapse—but it's not death."
Balthazar eased. Not undead sorcery. Something else. Something that might even help him save Veronica—the woman who had sealed Morgana away at the cost of her own freedom.
He asked, "What's your name?"
"Li Feng. Or Austin. Either works."
Balthazar made his choice. He was already searching for Dave, Merlin's true heir. One apprentice more or less changed nothing. And keeping this Austin close was safer than letting him wander into darkness.
"All right, Austin. You're with me. But I'm short on time, so keep quiet and keep up."
Li Feng shrugged. "Fine. Silent mode. Let's go. You're rescuing Dave, right? He should be getting chased by wolves about now."
Together they climbed the Empire State Building. Balthazar raised a hand, locking onto Dave's position. A stone eagle peeled itself from the tower, wings spreading wide.
He mounted and beckoned. "Hurry, rookie. Time is short."
Li Feng scrambled aboard, grinning.
Below, Dave sprinted along subway tracks, wolves snapping at his heels. Horvath watched from the shadows, top hat gleaming, grin sharp.
"Not today," Balthazar growled. With a snap, the wolves shrank into harmless pups. The eagle dove at Horvath.
"Look out!" Dave shouted.
Balthazar twisted, hurling a torrent of water. At the instant it struck, time itself thickened around Horvath, every motion dragging.
Li Feng's eyes widened. That energy—he recognized it. The same temporal drag from his portal mishap.
Balthazar pulled Dave onto the eagle. They'd question him later about Morgana's nesting doll.
As the eagle climbed skyward, Li Feng glanced back at Horvath, frozen in slow-motion yet still escaping.
Really, Balthazar? You say you love Veronica, but you keep sparing Horvath. One fireball and it's over. Instead, you two circle each other like doomed lovers.
On the rooftop of the Empire State Building, Dave all but tumbled off the stone eagle, gasping, trying to convince himself that wolves, Horvath, and everything else he'd just seen were nothing but hallucinations.
Li Feng lingered, replaying the moment in the subway when Balthazar had slowed Horvath. That drag on time—it had felt uncomfortably familiar.
While Balthazar lectured Dave on the danger of Morgana's nesting doll, Li Feng muttered under his breath, "Where did that time energy on me come from?"
The answer hit when Dave's storage chest clicked open, revealing Merlin's dragon ring.
Quantum. In this universe, time and the quantum realm were inseparable. Ant-Man trapped for five years, living only hours. The Avengers using it to rewind the clock, reclaim the Stones.
Li Feng groaned, slapping his forehead. No way. Don't tell me the moment I opened my first portal, I picked the exact spot where Elihas Starr's quantum tunnel exploded—and during the blast itself?
Quantum meant time. A Sling Ring meant space. Together, they had flung him across worlds.
He rubbed his temples. Maybe it's not bad luck. If I can cross into other universes… maybe I can get back home. Hear my kid call me dad again. But here? Only with the Stones in my hand do I stand a chance.
All I want is to go home. Why does it have to be this hard?
Dave, meanwhile, wanted nothing to do with sorcery. He only agreed to help when Balthazar promised that once the doll was secured, he'd disappear from Dave's life.
Seizing the lull, Li Feng leaned close. "You're really going to waste this? You don't want to be a sorcerer?"
Dave's smile was brittle. "You don't get it. You know what it's like having a mental disorder named after you? I changed schools to escape it, but it followed. People joke about 'Dave Stutler syndrome' like I'm cursed. I just want normal. No Arcana. No magic. Normal."
Li Feng clapped him on the shoulder, smirking. "You'll change your mind. Ten cents says so."
Dave scoffed. "You don't even have a penny."
Before Li Feng could answer, Balthazar cut in: the doll's trail led to the city center. And so would Horvath. They had to move fast.
Li Feng already knew—Chinatown. After two years, it was practically his backyard. From here he could see its skyline.
He stepped ahead of Balthazar, hand rising. A shimmering portal spun into existence.
Planting his feet, one hand theatrically resting on his belly, he gestured with the other. "Tell me—what beats this for transport?"
Balthazar arched a brow but stepped through without a word.
Dave stared at the gateway, muttering, "I must be insane," before following.
They emerged into Chinatown ablaze with lantern light. A dragon dance twisted through the streets. Firecrackers split the air.
The festival pierced Li Feng's heart. His throat tightened as he thought of his wife, his child. Watching the crowd's joy, he whispered, "Happy New Year. Are you okay? I miss you…"
The din swallowed the words.
Dave tugged his sleeve. "Austin, you all right?"
Li Feng rubbed his face, forcing a smile. "Fine. Where's Balthazar?"
Dave pointed to an acupuncture clinic above the street. "He went up after the doll. Told us to watch for Horvath."
Li Feng frowned. So Horvath should already be inside. Disguised as an old woman…
Before the thought finished, a half-naked sorcerer with braided hair and a dragon belt crashed onto the street in front of him.
Li Feng's eyes widened. Sun Long. One of the sorcerers sealed inside the doll. In the film, Horvath had been the one to release him.
Which meant Horvath was here.
Before Sun Long could rise, Li Feng lunged—kick to the head, hand ripping the magic stone ring free.
At last—his first real prize. A magic stone. With it, true sorcery would come easier. Without it, Sun Long was just a man. A man now pummeled under a flurry of street-fighting kicks.
To sell the act, Li Feng shouted, "All you do is gamble! Lost the shirt off your back and still betting! You've got a wife and kid—my sister!—and you dare treat her like this? Today I'm teaching you a lesson!"
The bystanders, mostly Chinese locals, exchanged uneasy looks. Brother-in-law disciplining a gambling addict? Best not to intervene.
Upstairs, Balthazar paused at the window. Sun Long already unconscious. The warning on his lips died.
What's the point of telling them to run when the fight's finished? Better I warn him not to kill in public.
He turned back inside, located Horvath, and bound him with practiced ease. Moments later he leapt down, doll in hand.
"Let's go."
Li Feng spat on Sun Long, tugged the stunned Dave along, and added, "Scum. Gamble again, and I'll make sure my sister divorces you."
The crowd muttered among themselves. A gambler with nothing left but his chest bare? Divorce him now, not later.
Dave, meanwhile, felt his worldview collapsing. Sorcerers weren't elegant masters of mystic arts. They were lunatics who kicked, spat, and insulted.
This isn't a sorcerer, he thought, eyes wide. This is a barbarian playing wizard. Well—sometimes. Like the portals. That's wizard mode. The rest? Pure barbarian.
Li Feng glanced up at Balthazar. That's twice you've spared Horvath. I swear, heaven and earth as my witnesses—you two definitely have something going on. Veronica? She's just your cover. Honestly, I'd really like to know—what role does she play between you and Horvath?
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