The doorbell chimed. Dave froze. He hadn't told Balthazar or Li Feng that he'd invited Becky over. For the rare chance to be alone with his longtime crush, he cleared his throat, nerves rattling his voice.
"Look, if you don't want to sit through the most awkward rom-com ever filmed, maybe… vanish for a bit?"
Balthazar's brow furrowed. He was ready to lecture—Horvath was still at large, the world hanging by a thread—when Li Feng swayed. His face had gone pale, hands trembling as sweat rolled down his temples. He clutched Balthazar's sleeve like a lifeline.
Becky noticed immediately. She pointed at him, alarmed. "Shouldn't we get him to a hospital?"
Balthazar's eyes narrowed. Not illness. The quantum energy inside Li Feng was flaring again. He shot Dave a withering glare, then hauled Li Feng out the door.
Dave hesitated—torn between helping his teammate and the once-in-a-lifetime chance to impress Becky. The decision took him all of a tenth of a second. He stayed.
Outside, Balthazar steadied Li Feng, drawing on practiced spells to calm the raging current. His voice was sharp. "Impossible. I already smoothed the time energy in you. Unless—" His tone turned to steel. "You kept experimenting after I left. Maybe I should let you suffer. You need to learn—magic isn't a game."
Panting, Li Feng braced against his knees. Should he finally come clean? If anyone could help him find his way home, it was Balthazar. At last, he muttered, "It's not time energy. It's quantum."
Balthazar froze. Quantum—science, not mysticism. Yet the connections snapped into place. Quantum wasn't time itself, but it brushed against it. That explained the turbulence. He hadn't struck the root, so his spells had always unraveled. And for a sorcerer of his caliber, failing to tame something so small was humiliating.
Curiosity lit his eyes. "Go on. Explain."
So, Li Feng did. Haltingly, awkwardly, he told the truth—he wasn't from this world.
At first, Balthazar scoffed. But then he remembered the boy's strange spells, the astral projection no sorcerer here had mastered. Doubt gave way to understanding. He raised his Sling Ring, carved a circle of orange light in the air.
"You came here because of this, didn't you?"
Li Feng gazed into the glow, at the image of a parking lot beyond, and nodded. "In theory, portals can cross worlds. But only if the conditions are exact."
Balthazar finished the thought. "You must know the destination. The clearer the image, the faster the spell. If it's vague, it collapses."
That was why sorcerers here never traveled beyond Earth. Without knowledge of other realms, their portals failed. Otherwise, the Masters of the Mystic Arts would be explorers, not just guardians.
Li Feng smirked. If they could, Dormammu would've been a footnote—flattened by the first Archmage passing through.
Balthazar's gaze sharpened. Maybe this "quantum energy" was the missing piece. He pressed a hand to Li Feng's forehead and felt it: threads tying him to the great river of time, weaving through Earth itself. His eyes widened.
Li Feng asked quietly, "Can I ever go back?"
Balthazar answered without hesitation. "Yes." But in his heart, awe burned. The quantum energy wasn't just time. It tethered Li Feng to Earth's entire timeline. With portals layered atop it, he wasn't bound to one era. He could appear on any Earth, in any age. That was his destiny, not Balthazar's. Envy flickered in the old sorcerer's eyes.
Li Feng licked his lips, daring to hope. "So… as long as there's an Earth, I can reach it?"
Balthazar sighed, gesturing at the portal. "You'll need power to sustain the crossing. Worlds of pure science may be closed. But those touched by magic? Those should open."
Li Feng's grin spread wide, unstoppable. Infinite Earths, each with its own secrets. The thought made his head spin.
Balthazar rolled his eyes, tossed him a handkerchief. "Wipe the drool before I tell you how. You're embarrassing yourself in another universe."
Li Feng wiped his face cheerfully. Dignity meant nothing next to hope.
"Now," Balthazar said, stroking his chin, "focus. Calm the energy. Hold the quantum surge at bay and open a portal. I'll stabilize it. Let's see if you can return."
Li Feng shook his head. "Tried. The portal wouldn't form—just an orange blur. No exit."
Balthazar wasn't surprised. "Because you're missing the current. You crossed here on the river of time. To return, you need that river again. Combine your quantum energy with the Sling Ring."
He placed his palm on Li Feng's chest, agitating the current deliberately. Pain ripped through him like his body was being torn apart. Li Feng grit his teeth, refused to cry out, and flung his hand forward.
A portal burst open. Not orange—but blue-white, threaded with a faint green filament twisting endlessly like a river.
The pull came instantly. A suction from beyond. Li Feng braced, but the portal lunged like a living thing and swallowed him whole.
What the hell…don't I get to say goodbye? A thank you? Even a wave? You can't just eat me!
Balthazar clenched his fists, watching him vanish. To the empty air he whispered, "Once Morgana is ended, I'll return to solitude. But someday, Austin… someday, we'll meet again."
Invitation
The alarms of the Mystic Arts flared across New York. Wards and wards of layered spells shivered awake as Li Feng tumbled back into reality through a rubbery conduit, still slick with quantum energy. To the guardians, he was the worst kind of red flag: dimensional breach, foreign signature, raw power.
And to the Ancient One, his return was impossible to miss. Quantum energy burned so bright to her senses it was like trying to ignore a lighthouse in a midnight harbor.
Daniel, the watchman of the New York Sanctum, rushed to trigger a full-scale alert. Before he could, the Ancient One appeared at his side, her calm voice cutting through the shrieking wards.
"Daniel. There's no need."
He blinked, baffled. "No need? Then… either the intruders are too strong for us to fight, or—"
He stopped himself. Sorcerer training was expensive, and green disciples rarely survived Dormammu's realm long enough to return stronger. Most snapped like glass. If she was stopping him, it meant something else.
Her lips curved faintly. "This isn't an invasion. Someone simply… returned from a trip."
Daniel froze. "A trip? You mean… someone actually left this plane? Crossed into another world—and came back?"
The Ancient One nodded. "And he used a Sling Ring to do it. Which makes him one of ours."
Daniel's jaw nearly hit the floor. Portals across worlds? He'd only ever glimpsed reflections through the mirror dimension. Whoever this was, their mastery put him to shame. His heart burned with curiosity.
But the Ancient One read the thought on his face. "Don't sulk. You'll meet him with me. You already know him, after all."
Daniel frowned. "I do?"
He rifled through memories until the alert's location clicked. Chinatown. His eyes widened. "Li Feng."
For two years, every ripple of magic in Chinatown had been his beat. He'd checked on the boy personally more than once. He thought he knew every trick. How had he missed this?
The Ancient One confirmed it with a nod. Daniel rubbed his temples. Either I've made the mistake of my career, or I've gone blind in my old age.
Without delay, she swept her hand, opening a portal of golden sparks. She hadn't planned to intervene—until the raw temporal ripples of Li Feng's crossing demanded it.
Meanwhile, Li Feng was on his knees in his apartment, still naked, retching onto the floor. The nausea of quantum travel hadn't faded when he felt a ripple of power behind him.
He turned and saw the robed, bald figure of the Ancient One, Daniel just behind her.
Forcing a grin, he shuffled toward his wardrobe, one hand clamped over himself. "Wow. Big shot. Next time maybe call first? Or send an email? My place is a mess, not exactly guest ready."
The Ancient One clasped her hands behind her back, studying him with the detached patience of someone examining a specimen. His nudity didn't faze her. She'd seen centuries of worse. And judging from the soft belly he carried, he was hardly a threat.
By the time he scrambled into clothes, she already knew what she needed to know. She was waiting only for him to say it aloud.
Daniel stepped forward, unable to restrain himself. "Li Feng—how did you do it? How did you cross into another world?"
Ah, Li Feng thought. So that's why they're not just spying from rooftops anymore.
He scratched his brow, lifting the battered grimoire Balthazar had given him. "Straight to the point, huh? Not even introductions?"
The Ancient One's lips curved faintly. "Didn't you already call me 'big shot'? And as for Daniel—" She nodded toward the dead black monitor in the corner. "You've been aware of his eyes on you, haven't you?"
Daniel winced. Subtle surveillance? Apparently not.
"I learned about you from my grandfather's notes," Li Feng said quickly. Better to head off her curiosity before she reached for the Time Stone and peeked deeper.
The Ancient One accepted with a nod. Many disciples kept notes; her presence was recognizable enough to show up in any.
When another wave of quantum pain wracked him, she raised a hand and wove a calming spell. Relief hit like cool water. Li Feng bowed. "Thank you."
She waved it off. Daniel leaned forward eagerly. "So? How did you manage dimensional travel?"
Li Feng hesitated, then repeated Balthazar's lesson—the river of time, the quantum vessel carrying him, and portals as harbors.
Daniel blinked, lost. But the Ancient One's eyes gleamed. She understood. The quantum energy inside him wasn't the current—it was the ship. A vessel bonded to his soul during the accident. And the Sling Ring portals weren't the river—they were docks. Harbors. But not every dock could receive every ship. He could only land in worlds with the right resonance—worlds touched by magic.
Her mind sharpened. No one else can ride that vessel. It belongs to him alone.
Daniel sagged. Cross-world travel wasn't in his cards. With a sigh, he bowed and stepped back through a portal to the Sanctum.
The Ancient One lingered. "Come to Kamar-Taj," she said at last. "Bring Sun Long's grimoire. In return, I will teach you myself."
Li Feng didn't let her finish. He whipped out his phone. "Hi, landlord? Yeah, I'm moving out. Loved Chinatown, but I found a better place. Effective immediately."
He stuffed a few clothes into a bag and stepped through her portal without hesitation.
His path was set: travel the worlds, learn their magic, and grow strong enough to claim the Infinity Stones before Thanos. Or better yet—become so strong he wouldn't need the Stones at all.
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