[ New York Sanctum ]
Satoru, the Ancient One, Wong, and the other master stepped through the gateway from Kamar-Taj's central hall into the relic room of the New York Sanctum.
As they made their way down the hallway, Satoru leaned toward Wong.
"Hey, Wong. Any idea what this is about?" Satoru whispered, nudging him with an elbow. "This isn't about the floor tiles? You've seen our spars. Mordo's the one whipping his relic around like he was trying to demolish the place."
Wong didn't look at him, though there was clear amusement in his expression. "If this were about the tiles, we wouldn't have come all the way to New York, Satoru. You're overthinking it."
"Am I?" Satoru looked up at the ceiling, his hands buried deep in his pockets. "Hmm. Maybe I am. Speaking of New York, I saw on social media that there's a famous pastry here called the Cronut. Everyone keeps posting about it. It's like a croissant and a donut had a sugar-powered baby."
He glanced sideways at Wong. "While we're here, you want me to pick you up anything?"
Wong considered it for a moment. He was, admittedly, a little hungry. "Yeah, sure. If you don't mind, you can get me something from a nearby deli."
Satoru pulled one hand from his pocket and held it out expectantly. Wong looked at the open palm, then back at Satoru's sunglasses in confusion.
"Where's your money?" Satoru asked.
Wong blinked and slowly shook his head.
"Seriously?" Satoru's brow furrowed. "You don't have any money?"
Wong straightened shamelessly, and adopted a sage, dignified tone. "Attachment to the material is detachment from the spiritual."
Satoru let out a long, exhausted sigh. "I'll be sure to tell that to the guys at the deli. Maybe they'll make you a metaphysical ham on rye."
Wong paused, then he began patting down his robes. "Oh. Wait, wait, wait. I think I have two hundred."
Satoru raised an eyebrow in confirmation. "Dollars?"
"Rupees," Wong answered meekly.
"Which is?"
"Uh, a buck and a half."
Satoru sighed again, shoving his hand back into his pocket. He relented; he'd take the tab on this one. "Fine. What do you want?"
Hearing that, Wong rubbed his hands together in anticipation, a small grin finally breaking his stoic mask. "I wouldn't say no to a tuna melt."
Unlike his relationship with the rigid Mordo, which often turned into heated moral banters that would inevitably end in spars, Satoru's bond with Wong was much more chummy.
Wong didn't nitpick Satoru's every move or lecture him about what he should or shouldn't be doing. He mostly tolerated Satoru's antics with dry humor, which made him one of the few people in Kamar-Taj Satoru genuinely enjoyed being around.
They reached the top of the grand staircase overlooking the foyer. The Ancient One came to a halt. Beside her, the other master named Kaecilius, the Master of the New York Sanctum, stopped as well.
The Ancient One turned back to the group, her gaze landing on Wong and Kaecilius.
"Wong, Kaecilius," she said, her voice quiet but firm. "Leave us for a moment."
Wong and Kaecilius both bowed.
Wong gave Satoru a quick, sidelong glance before he and Kaecilius stepped away into the shadows of the upper hallway, leaving Satoru alone with the Sorcerer Supreme at the top of the stairs.
Satoru watched them disappear around the corner before leaning his elbows on the wooden railing of the staircase. He looked down at the empty foyer, then back at the Ancient One, who was staring out through the window with the Seal of Vishanti overhead.
"So," Satoru started, popping the 'p' as he spoke. "No tuna melt for you? I'm guessing this isn't a social call."
The Ancient One didn't turn around immediately. Her gaze remained fixed on the darkening sky outside. "Satoru, what do you know of the Infinity Stones?"
Satoru tilted his head and blinked for a moment, not expecting that to be what this was about. "Infinity Stones? Other than knowing that the Time Stone—that I 'willingly' swore an oath to protect—is one of them, I don't know much." He shrugged.
"The Infinity Stones are the remnants of the singularity that birthed this universe," she said, finally turning to face him. "Six stones, each tied to a fundamental aspect of existence. Any one of them holds enough power to reshape reality as we know it. In the wrong hands, even a single stone could be catastrophic."
She didn't need to say more; Satoru already understood. Even so, she continued. "We guard the Time Stone, but another has surfaced. A former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. made contact with us and gave word that there's a consciousness fueled by the stone that threatens to unravel the global order."
Satoru had personally dealt with mystical threats and cosmic horrors spilling in from other dimensions during his years as a sorcerer of Kamar-Taj. In some ways, its purpose was not so different from that of jujutsu sorcerers. Both stood as hidden defenders of humanity against supernatural threats.
The difference was that Kamar-Taj operated far more covertly, and the threats it faced were greater both in number and scale.
As far as Satoru knew, S.H.I.E.L.D. was one of the few organizations even aware it existed, and their relationship seemed built on a silent understanding: you stay out of our business, and we'll stay out of yours.
Even the newly independent Avengers probably knew little, if anything, about them. But from the sound of it, that was about to change.
Satoru's grin softened into a thin line as he fell into thought when he heard that.
Over the years of this new life, despite all his prayers for a normal one, Satoru had come to realize that this world ran on a far broader, messier set of rules than his old one ever had.
Back in his past life, power was almost exclusively tied to Cursed Energy, born from human emotion and refined through technique. Here, the sources were scattered and chaotic.
The moment he got his hands on a phone, he wasted no time researching this new world.
He had spent time scrolling through international forums and watching leaked satellite footage through the years, piecing together a picture of a planet where 'power' could mean anything.
He'd seen reports of people born with genetic mutations that allowed them to control weather or teleport, individuals who gained abilities through botched lab experiments, and others who used highly advanced technology to fly.
There was no 'Heian Era' history here. Instead, there were legends of super-soldiers from the 40s and gods from Norse mythology who turned out to be aliens with hammers.
The lack of any unified power system fascinated him. In spite of himself, it made him want to know more.
In this world, energy didn't always come from within; sometimes it came from something conventional, sometimes from a suit of armor, and sometimes from ancient artifacts like the ones kept in Kamar-Taj or the ancient books he knew quite a lot about.
It was a world of infinite variety, where anything imaginable could exist alongside a billionaire in a tin suit.
He distinctly remembered a recent clip going viral about an advanced AI that Tony Stark created went rogue, a man that he knows quite well because of how frequently the dude was featured in the media and his gang called the Avengers.
"I saw reports earlier about the Avengers causing a ridiculous amount of property damage in Seoul while fighting a sentient toaster. Was that related?"
The Ancient One smiled amusingly at his choice of words, but she still nodded and continued. "Yes, that 'sentient toaster' is called Ultron. The Avengers tried to stop him, but they failed. He secured a physical synthetic body, and he possesses one of the Infinity Stones, the Mind Stone. Against the Avengers in their current state, that makes him nearly unstoppable."
"And you've brought this to me why, exactly?" Satoru asked, tilting his head with mock confusion. "Where do I fit into this? The way you're framing it, it sounds like you want me to clean up their mess. I could've sworn you told me that we deal with the mystical stuff while the guys in spandex handle the 'material' threats in the physical world. What changed? Did the toaster start practicing the Dark Arts?"
"Because this threat transcends both." The Ancient One smiled mysteriously. "I promised you years ago that in exchange for your oath to protect the Eye of Agamotto, I would show you a path you've always sought, one that exists outside the vacuum of strength. While I cannot see your future because of your... particularity, we have spoken enough of your past for me to deduce where you might find what you seek, this is one of them."
Satoru let out a quiet sigh at that.
He didn't doubt her. Over the sixteen years he had spent in this reality, he had come to see the woman before him as a teacher, perhaps even something more than that.
That wasn't to say he saw her as above him in every way. In raw power, he still believed he was stronger. Give her the Time Stone, and the fight became far less certain, but without it he was confident he would win.
From what he had come to know, she was a Celtic mystic who had cheated time for centuries, a being of immense weary knowledge who had become the closest thing he had to a confidante in this world.
He had shared pieces of his old life with her, the burden of being a pillar for a world that refused to grow up, and expressed a sense of fulfillment in having lived on his own terms, alongside a lingering feeling of isolation that his strength defined him.
In this world, she was the only one who truly seemed to understand that beneath his flamboyant personality was a man searching for a reason to belong to a world that did not need him to hold up the sky.
She claimed that if he helped settle this crisis, he might find something he had been searching for. That alone was enough to make Satoru treat it as a priority, no matter how troublesome it might be.
"Fine, fine," Satoru said, raising his hands in a playful surrender. "I'll go play babysitter for the guys in spandex."
He straightened up. "So, what's the play? Do I just drop in, dismantle the toaster, and grab the shiny pebble? Or is there a specific way you want me to introduce myself to Earth's Mightiest Heroes?"
The Ancient One didn't answer immediately. Instead, her eyes drifted toward the entrance of the Sanctum below.
Right on cue—
Knock! Knock! Knock!
There was a firm knock at the door. Satoru had already sensed her, his Six Eyes picked up a woman outside.
Satoru turned to the Ancient One, his expression flat behind his glasses.
"Seriously?" he asked. "Did you foresee this too?"
The Ancient One didn't look surprised, she only smiled in response to Satoru. "I foresaw the possibility of you agreeing, so I took the liberty of confirming their request for aid when an Avenger agent contacted us a few hours ago."
Satoru groaned. "Color me surprised, I should've expected that."
He headed down the stairs. "Great. I hope they have sweet pastry to snack on. By the way, I kinda promised Wong I'd buy him a tuna melt at a nearby deli, can you do that instead? Thanks."
Not waiting for a response, he disappeared.