Chapter 6: Oh no, I almost became Stephen Strange's substitute.
In Kamar-Taj, within the Sorcerer Ancient One's exclusive sanctuary, after once again repelling Dormammu of the Dark Dimension, who was like an obsessed pervert, the exhausted Ancient One was finally planning to get some good rest.
Sitting in her sanctuary, sipping a cup of top-grade green tea, which Marvel fans call 'infinite refill tea,' Ancient One felt that her recent fatigue seemed to vanish without a trace, accompanying the tea's aroma.
She habitually manipulated the Time Stone within the eye of agamotto, wanting to see the future she had already confirmed countless times, but it was precisely this habitual action that made Ancient One discover something different.
The predetermined future, which was originally like a movie, began to become blurry, as if enveloped in a mist, and even the optimal solution that had already been confirmed now looked like a tangled mess.
Ancient One, upon discovering the change, let out an astonished 'Oh,' as her long life and broad perspective rarely allowed anything to pique her interest; this was the only time in hundreds of years that she had felt surprised.
Driven by curiosity, Ancient One began to re-organize the timeline, and soon, Ancient One discovered the anomaly and also found out who the figure shrouded in mist, covering the optimal solution, truly was.
It was our protagonist, Sherlock. The moment she saw Sherlock, Ancient One showed immense surprise, because this was someone who had never appeared before!
According to the World's original trajectory, this little fellow, Sherlock, should have been just an ordinary person, and after parting ways with Tony at the only party they attended, they never had any further contact.
Even after Tony became Iron Man, to protect this only relative, he never had much interaction with this relative until he snapped his fingers.
But now, in the future-related scenes, this little fellow's figure was omnipresent. Not only that, this originally ordinary little fellow seemed to have gained some extraordinary power. Ancient One even saw scenes of this little fellow standing with the Avengers.
In her surprise, a strong curiosity arose in Ancient One's heart, and without further hesitation, she directly opened a portal.
This led to the scene at the beginning, where Sherlock saw one of the two bald people he least wanted to see: Sorcerer Ancient One.
Compared to Ancient One's overflowing curiosity, Sherlock at this moment felt only discomfort. Sherlock, who had always been extremely cautious, had only used potions three times and had never even used magic once. He didn't know why Ancient One would notice him.
Looking at Ancient One, who was wearing the eye of agamotto, and the Time Stone within the eye of agamotto, emitting a green light, Sherlock swallowed hard.
His mind had even begun to rapidly simulate how he should deal with Ancient One so that this great demon king wouldn't discover any clues.
Should he pretend not to know, like an irritable ordinary person, roll down the car window and curse Ancient One as a cross-dressing lunatic?
Or should he pull out his wand and fight Ancient One, then retreat while fighting, trying to find some powerful gear in his cargo box, and if it came to it, go down together?
Or should he get out of the car, kneel on both knees, hug Ancient One's thigh, and directly call her 'Papa'?
At that moment, Sherlock's mind was in turmoil, with countless strange thoughts constantly popping up.
But looking at that green Time Stone, Sherlock ultimately gave up on his immature little ideas and obediently parked the car, got out, and stood beside the car, watching Ancient One walk towards him.
There was no other way; the Time Stone was an absolute bug. This thing could be said to not kill you but exhaust you. The only time-related artifact in Harry Potter was the Time-Turner.
But compared to the Time Stone, that thing was like a father meeting his son; there was simply no comparison. Sherlock believed he didn't have Dormammu's capabilities.
Watching Ancient One approach, Sherlock pondered for a long time but ultimately did not pull out his wand. As Ancient One got closer and closer, Sherlock could only sigh and respectfully bow to this big shot who could arm-wrestle Odin.
"Sorcerer Ancient One, hello."
Sherlock honestly greeted Ancient One.
Ancient One didn't seem surprised at all that Sherlock knew her title. With curious eyes, she looked at Sherlock, who was standing a bit uneasily.
"New magic power? A fascinating little fellow!"
As Ancient One saw through his trump card with just one glance, Sherlock wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and awkwardly smiled at Ancient One, unsure how to respond.
The green light of the Time Stone within the eye of agamotto grew increasingly vibrant as Ancient One looked at Sherlock. Just as Sherlock was pondering what to say to ease the awkward atmosphere,
The eye of agamotto suddenly closed, and its dazzling green light vanished without a trace. Only then did Ancient One look at Sherlock, who was standing before her, with an expression of admiration.
"Your own magic and magical power? Little fellow, you truly are surprising."
To Ancient One's exclamation, Sherlock could only give an awkward smile and scratch the back of his head.
Not knowing what Ancient One was truly up to, Sherlock could only awkwardly say things like "you flatter me."
Looking at the little fellow across from her who was still trying to be cute, Ancient One just smiled calmly and then asked Sherlock a question that almost made Sherlock drop his jaw.
"Do you want to become the Sorcerer Supreme?"
At Ancient One's sudden question, Sherlock almost thought he had misheard or something. He looked at Ancient One standing opposite him with horror, his mouth opening and closing, unable to say anything.
What the hell, shouldn't the successor to the Sorcerer Supreme be Doctor Strange? When did it become me? And honestly, Sherlock didn't want to take on any position like Sorcerer Supreme. Not to mention things like Thanos, just the Dark Dimension alone was enough to make Sherlock's scalp tingle.
After confirming that he had not misheard, Sherlock quickly waved his hands, refusing Ancient One's suggestion without any hesitation.
Ancient One seemed to have anticipated Sherlock's refusal and didn't say much. Instead, she pulled out a Sling Ring and tossed it to Sherlock, instructing him that he could come to Kamar-Taj to exchange magic if he had time.
After speaking, she turned and stepped into the portal, disappearing from sight.
Accompanying Ancient One's disappearance, before Sherlock could even relax, the surrounding environment shattered like glass, then gradually vanished, finally returning to its original state.
Seeing this, Sherlock almost couldn't stand still. He had been in a Mirror Dimension just now!
And he didn't even know when he had entered the Mirror Dimension!
If he had actually fought Ancient One just now, he might have been done for this lifetime.
Feeling a palpitation, Sherlock practically leaned on his car to climb inside. After sitting in the car for a while, he gradually recovered, looking at the Sling Ring quietly lying on the passenger seat.
Sherlock took a deep breath and finally picked up the Sling Ring, putting it on his left hand. After all, from Ancient One's performance just now, she didn't seem to have any ill intentions towards him.
So, this Sling Ring should also be a safe item.
Just as Sherlock was celebrating that he had survived one of the two bald-headed individuals, Ancient One, back in her sanctuary, smiled and picked up her teacup, taking a sip before sighing.
"What an interesting little fellow."
What Sherlock didn't know was that in that short period of time, Ancient One had already fought Sherlock hundreds of times through the Time Stone, and Sherlock's so-called trump cards had been completely stripped bare by Ancient One.