Disclaimer: I do not own Thor, nor The Avengers or any other Marvel movie.
Chapter 3 – The Sorcerer Supreme
The following morning saw the return of Tony who came to take Jane back to his lab in Stark Tower so they could work on a way to get them all to Asgard. This suited Thor just fine as it meant Jane would be safe while he and Loki went to search for their father, though they were far from alone. Aside from the Sorcerer Supreme who they'd be meeting up with, Natasha would be joining them and Vision was on standby in case he was needed, though they all agreed he was very conspicuous and for now they'd rather draw as little attention to themselves as possible. Jane and Tony spent the majority of the day in his lab and came up with several ideas based on her research, though all of them were missing one key thing: a power source. Jane's research on the Tesseract, and the research she'd done since, gave them what they needed to create a device that would channel power into creating a door in space, much like the device Thor had used to return him and Loki to Asgard after the battle of New York. However, that device had used the Tesseract to power it and without the Space Stone or something similar they were at a loss. The use of the Mind Stone was discussed several times, its power equalling the other Infinity Stone, but they could not find a way to alter the Mind Stone's power into creating a door in space, not even with Vision's help.
This was the problem they were still working on when F.R.I.D.A.Y. informed them that they had visitors. Leaving the lab they went upstairs to the living room/bar and came faced to face with some of the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre's most wanted.
"Steve!" Jane greeted warmly, happily giving the man a hug. Thor had asked both Tony and Steve to look after her while he was gone after the Ultron incident and while Tony had declared himself her babysitter and annoyed her quite often, Steve had spent time with her as a friend, further developing the friendship they had started after the battle of New York, and she had quite enjoyed his company.
"Hello Jane." He replied with a smile before releasing her to say hello to Clint, Sam and Wanda, before turning to the two others who were with them, one she didn't know at all, and one she recognized but had yet to meet.
"I'm Scott Lang." The one she didn't know introduced himself. "Also known as Ant Man."
"Ant Man?" That was one she hadn't heard of.
"Why had no one heard of me?" He muttered, feeling somewhat insulted. "I did kick butt at the airport." That made only a little more sense. Tony had told her only very briefly of the events leading up to some of the Avengers' exile, talking about his clash with the Captain and Rhodey's injuries instead of going into details about the battle.
"Jane. Nice to meet you." She replied and left it at that, turning to the other man. "Your Highness." She greeted the Wakandan King.
"Jane Foster." T'Challa seemed happy to see her, much to her surprise. "Steve has spoken highly of you and has told me much about your research."
"What I understand of it at any rate." Steve butt in, though T'Challa ignored him beyond a fond smile.
"I am quite interested in speaking to you about it, if you will grant me the time."
"Of course. I'd be happy to."
"Uh, what about my research?" Tony then spoke up. "If he mentioned the midget's surely he told you of my brilliance." That seemed to be the opening Steve had been waiting for.
"Tony." Cap held out his hand and Tony hesitated for barely a second before shaking it, the two sharing a meaningful nod that said everything they needed it to. Clint and Wanda were more grudging in their hellos to the man who they had initially seen as responsible for their incarceration and exile, but they'd mostly gotten over it.
"I'll let you get one free swing in, Robin Hood. Then we're even."
"Done." Said Clint and though Tony hadn't expected him to, he took a swing now, landing a punch cleanly across Tony's face.
"Uh…ow." Was the only reaction he got but it was enough.
"Well, I feel better now."
"Hello Vision." Wanda was more interested in the synthetic being she'd been friends with than in any kind of revenge against Tony.
"Wanda." He greeted with a small smile, glad to see that the woman wasn't taking their last meeting personally, even though they had both said and did things they regretted.
"So where's Thor? I thought this was his gathering?" Steve got down to business.
"He and Loki are out with Natasha looking for Odin." Said Jane, which was apparently the wrong thing as both Steve and Clint tensed and turned to face Tony.
"You forgot to mention Loki was back." Clint all but spat.
"Did I? Maybe cause I was already worried you'd not come and that would be the final push." Tony didn't seem at all unrepentant, though the sincerity in his voice told them he had actually been concerned that they wouldn't come after what had happened.
"We'd never be so petty as to endanger innocent people simply cause we had a fight." Steve's tone was reprimanding, which Tony duly noted.
"Speaking of your fight, should you guys be so out in the open? It's only been three months. I doubt things have died down that much." That thought had just occurred to Jane and she was now worried that task forces would be storming the building soon. However, she apparently needn't have worried as Tony merely laughed.
"Oh please, Janie, what do you think I am a novice?" He used the nickname he'd given her which he knew annoyed her most. "The Joint Counter Terrorist Centre is no better had keeping me out of their systems than S.H.I.E.L.D. was. I had the surveillance devices they 'secretly' planted hacked to show only what I want them to show within minutes of them being set up. The new windows I had put in are also essentially a one-way mirror, but better cause I designed them; we can see out, no one can see in." Her worries assuaged, Jane let the subject drop and she, Tony and Vision got down to explaining just what was going on. They took it about as well as expected, each of them instantly ready for the fight they had been asked to be a part of.
"Sir, Mr. Parker has arrived." F.R.I.D.A.Y. interrupted them over an hour later.
"Let him up F.R.I.D.A.Y." A few minutes later the elevator opened to reveal the last person they expected to see: a nondescript young man who seemed quite in awe as he looked around.
"Oh wow! Mr. Stark this is so cool!" He gushed and he hadn't even set eyes on the people in the room. When he did though, he immediately dropped his backpack – no doubt full of homework, this kid was that young – and rushed to Tony's side, raising his fists as he stared as his gaze shifted from Steve to the others he'd fought a few months ago. "I got your back, Mr. Stark!"
"Woah! Woah! Easy there, Underoos!" Tony moved to stop him. "We're on the same team now."
"Oh really? Cool!" The turnaround was quick and absolute as he took Tony's word for it, not requiring any kind of explanation. "In that case…it's an honour to meet you Captain." He stuck out his hand for Steve to shake, who did so with no small amount of confusion, though he was clearly amused as well. "And I'm sorry about what happened the last time we met." It took a moment but Steve eventually placed the voice.
"You're the kid from the airport."
"Peter Parker, sir." He confirmed.
"Wait, the kid with the weird web thing?" Sam asked, and Peter nodded, not surprised they didn't recognize him as he had been in the suit.
"What's he doing here, Tony?" Jane's voice was cold as she glared at their host, though she honestly already knew the answer.
"The kid's a certified genius. Not on my level of course, but close, so he's here to help us get to Asgard." Tony readily admitted. "And to fight with us." He quietly muttered the last bit though Jane still heard him.
"He's a kid!" She was incensed that he would even consider bringing a kid into this fight. Everyone else was an informed, consenting adult who knew exactly what they were getting in to; this Peter Parker was not. She was not the only one who was upset about it either, as he was receiving stern looks from almost everyone. "He should be hanging out with his friends after school and complaining about doing homework, not having his childhood stolen from him!"
"Hey I'm not a kid!" Peter protested. "Though I mean no offense Miss Foster, you're work on the convergence is absolutely amazing, I'm such a fan. I even reviewed one of your papers for my science class last semester." His entire countenance changed in an instant from defensive and a bit angry to star struck and then back again. "But I'm not a kid. I'm Spider Man."
"I see no one teases him about picking a name after a bug." Scott muttered.
"Shut up Tic Tac." Sam said.
"I hear where you're coming from Jane. But like he said he's not a kid." Tony tried to placate. "Besides if what you say is true then this fight will make or break everything. If we don't stop her in Asgard then Hela comes to Earth next and we can't fight her here. Not at half strength, not when the worlds' governments are looking for half of us and we'd have to fend them off as well as Hela. Our best chance is to stop her before she comes to Earth and we're going to need every little bit of help we can get."
"Stark is right." Loki's voice spoke out across the room and everyone whipped around to face him; he was quite alone. "And we must leave now."
"Where's Thor?!" Jane demanded, coming to stand before him, fire in her eyes. "What have you done with him?!"
"I have done nothing, I assure you." He said in his usual snarky tone. "Hela's forces ambushed us. She has taken Thor. And the assassin." He added as an afterthought.
"Natasha and Thor were kidnapped?" Clint demanded, becoming actively involved now that his oldest and dearest friend was missing.
"Yes."
"Why didn't she take you too?" Was the next question.
"This was not a mission of force, but one of stealth. Her disciples had little time and too few numbers to subdue us all. No doubt they deemed me the lesser threat, thinking I would not try and stop their mistress and simply allow her to have Thor."
"Then why did they take Natasha?" Clint wanted answers.
"Luck of the draw, I'm afraid. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got pulled through the portal alongside my brother."
"And how can we trust you?" Steve asked, stepping forward. "After what you did how do we know you're not just lying to us and this isn't some great ruse to kill us all?"
"Believe me, mortal, had I wanted you dead you would already be so." He snarled. "Suffice it to say that the old adage 'better the enemy you know than the one you don't' applies here. I want Hela gone as much as you do. Once the unknown enemy is defeated, however, I can get back to destroying the enemy I do know. Until then we are allies."
"And Odin?" Jane remembered the reason they were on Earth in the first place.
"We were unable to find him. We shall have to fight this battle without the Allfather. Now can we get things moving? Preferably before she launches an attack on Earth?" They still weren't sure if they could trust him, but they really didn't have much of a choice.
"You will bring him back to me." Jane's voice was quiet, she spoke only to Loki, though in the dense silence her words carried. "I want your word that you will do all you can to bring him back safely."
"And why would I do that?"
"Because you owe him. If not for him, Thanos would have squashed you when your attack on New York failed." He looked at her surprised. "I may have been out of it with the Aether coursing through me but I heard your little confession on the way to Svartalfheim. It's because of Thor that Thanos' hold on you wasn't strong enough to summon you to him to die for your failure. You owe Thor your life so you will bring him back to me. Understand?" Loki stared at her for a minute. He did not think Thor had even heard him when he'd muttered that bit of information during their discussion, and he had certainly thought the woman was out cold.
"Very well." He said after a moment. "I give you my word I will do all I can to bring him back to you." It was said grudgingly but it was enough for Jane. The others looked to her like she was crazy for trusting his word, this was the god of mischief after all, but Jane knew that in this instance he would not go back on his word, even though she wasn't entirely sure how she knew. "Can we go now?" He then asked. "We have not much time."
"We still haven't figured out how to get you there." Said Jane. "But Hela somehow sent her forces to Earth so there has to be a way. Tell me everything you can." She led Loki down into Tony's lab leaving the others simply standing there.
"Right…" Said Steve. "I guess the rest of us will suit up." Fifteen minutes later they were all down in the lab, listening to Jane talk a mile a minute with only Tony and Peter able to keep up and offer input.
"Enough!" Loki finally snapped, not understanding half of what they were saying simply because of the terminology they used; things had different names in Asgard and if you didn't know Earth's terms it was like listening to a foreign language. "What is the key issue here?
"We have no power source strong enough to create a space door."
"Is that all?" With a wave of his hands he brought out a cube many were familiar with.
"You…you didn't tell us you had the Tesseract!" Jane snapped.
"You never asked. Besides did you really think I would leave an Infinity Stone just lying in wait for her to collect?" Jane sent him a glare but with the Tesseract brought into play once more this wouldn't take long. Within an hour – thanks to Tony's equipment – they had re-created one of the devices Jane had invented and with a bit of added help from Loki had created a portal strong enough to send them all through.
"Let's go." Said Steve, ready to be the first through the portal.
"Hold up a sec, Cap." Tony stopped him and went quickly to retrieve something from a safe against the wall, the item instantly recognized by all. "You dropped this last time I saw you." Steve took the vibranium shield, taking in it's pristine condition, which was not how it looked last time he saw it; Tony had clearly cleaned it up.
"It looks just as good as when your dad first gave it to me." It was a risky move bringing up Howard Stark given what had happened, especially now as they were heading off to war, but Steve felt he needed to know and was glad when Tony didn't disappoint him.
"I know he all but worshipped the ground you walked on, so I couldn't let it stay all scratched up could I?" He seemed to have gotten over his anger against the Captain, at least, though how he felt about Bucky and the events of their last encounter remained to be seen. They'd have to talk, that was unavoidable, but at least Steve knew Tony wouldn't let what happened interfere here. With a simple nod, Steve placed his shield back where it belonged on his arm and turned back to the portal.
"Good luck." Jane said as they stepped through one by one.
-/-
Jane allowed herself to wallow in her worry for the last few hours of the day, though no longer than that. Not wanting to go back to her empty apartment she'd commandeered Stark Tower for herself knowing Tony wouldn't mind, as evidenced by F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s cooperation and, dare she say, care of her. She spent the next two days almost exclusively in Tony's lab trying to come up with a way to find Odin. This was not something she could go to the police about and she doubted that a standard search party would be useful at any rate. This was the Allfather, the king of gods for all intents and purposes; if he didn't want to be found it would be difficult to do so. She had come up with a working theory that as Odin was Thor's father she might be able to find him by genetics; however, she couldn't figure out how to make it work. Having Thor's biological signature on file, as all the Avengers did, she could certainly compare his to his father's to try and find a match, but that served no functional purpose as she'd still have to find him on her own as it would only be once she'd found him that she could use his bio signature to confirm it was him, which she suspected she could do anyways. Sometimes it was frustrating not having power or magic like Thor did.
On the second day she remembered that it would probably be a good idea to text Darcy and Erik and inform them of what was happening. Erik was still recovering from Loki's mind control though had made great progress since the convergence and was back to work, albeit with less responsibilities. He was currently away assisting Maria Hill on a project and so she had to leave him a message. Darcy was another matter entirely and she was not surprised that her old annoying assistant turned friend showed up not thirty minutes after getting her text.
"Miss Lewis is here to see you, Miss Foster." F.R.I.D.A.Y. informed her.
"Let her in, thank you F.R.I.D.A.Y." She left the lab and went to meet the elevator arriving just in time for the doors to open and Darcy to fly at her.
"Oh my god, Jane!" She was crushed in one of Darcy's hugs and struggled to breathe for a moment, though she supposed she'd brought it on herself. "What the hell?! You send me a text saying 'Thor was here, but got kidnapped. Ragnarok has started' and nothing else?!"
"It's not exactly something you say in text, Darcy." For the third time in as many days Jane launched on the tale of what Thor had told her, culminating in Loki's assistance with the Tesseract to take the Avengers to Asgard to fight Hela and get Thor and Natasha back.
"Wow." Was all Darcy could say when she was done. "That's like…bummer."
"Bummer?" Jane was not impressed with that assessment. "I tell you that Asgard is all but destroyed and this Hela might be coming to Earth next and all you can say is bummer?" She's gotten up and begun to pace.
"Well what do you want me to say, Jane?"
"I don't know! But something more than bummer when my boyfriend has been kidnapped and could be dead for all I know!" That was what Darcy had been waiting for. She'd known and stuck by Jane for years now, and no matter how smart, logical and analytical her mind was, when it came to Thor she was just like every other woman in love.
"He'll be ok, Jane."
"How do you know that?" Tears began to form in her eyes despite her will for them not to. She'd allowed herself an evening to wallow in misery, she didn't need to cry anymore.
"Because he'd never leave you." Darcy got Jane to sit down again and even to allow her to offer comfort. "Out of the hundreds or thousands of years that thunder god of yours has lived he never once fell in love until you came along. Then he worked hard to be reunited with you and waited for you until you could be together again, not once straying though he was literally a world away. Did he go through all that just to leave you now? I don't think so." Although she'd offered no real evidence that Thor would be ok, her meaningless reassurances were exactly what Jane needed, though she inexplicably broke down in tears.
"I'm sorry." She murmured after she'd cried herself out, Darcy having held her the entire time. "I don't know why I was crying." Darcy gave a her look she'd seen too many times in recent years, the one where Darcy became the teacher.
"You may be book smart, Jane, but you've got a lot to learn about the heart. And I'm afraid it doesn't always make sense." A variation of this conversation was held frequently since the two met given Thor's many lengthy disappearances. Jane was used to not only taking care of herself but taking care of everything and everyone around her – often taking the latter to the point where she neglected herself – but at these times she felt quite useless and she was secretly happy that Darcy had taken it upon herself to take care of her when she was like this. True to form, Darcy then demanded to know when she'd last eaten, a question she couldn't answer but one that F.R.I.D.A.Y. was only too happy to supply. Not saying a word of complaint as Darcy began her rant about how bad it was to lose herself in her work like this, Jane led her to the kitchen and helped make lunch for the two of them.
"I haven't been able to come up with any way to find Odin." She said as they were finishing up, having spent the time talking to Darcy about her latest project. "At least not one that I can do, given I don't have magic."
"It's too bad you couldn't get that supreme sorcerer guy to help you." Darcy said quite flippantly, though her words were the missing link Jane had needed.
"Oh my god! Darcy you're brilliant!"
"Of course I am. Why am I brilliant?" The former assistant apparently had no idea what she'd just said, and Jane shook her head at the typical Darcy. Without so much as an explanation Jane began packing her bag and led the way out of Stark Tower, Darcy following behind demanding answers.
"I can't believe I didn't think of it before!" Jane cried as they took the elevator up to Jane and Thor's apartment. "The Sorcerer Supreme. He was already helping Thor look for Odin and he has magic. I'm so stupid!" When they got to the apartment Jane ran to their bedroom and returned with a bloody shirt, glad that she hadn't had time to clean up.
"And why do we need a bloody shirt?"
"It's Thor's blood. Hopefully he'll be able to find Odin with it as he's Thor's father." Although she was still barely grasping the concept, Darcy obediently followed Jane back down to the street and into the subway. Jane remembered the address that Wong had given them and that was where she was headed.
"177A Bleecker St." She muttered as they arrived at the address. It was a relatively unassuming building for one that was supposedly the home of a powerful sorcerer. There was no bell and knocking on the door provided them with no answer yet they found it unlocked. Not caring that they were technically trespassing given the circumstances, the two went inside.
"Hello?" Jane called out loudly, hoping to gain the inhabitant's attention. "Hello?"
"Are you not even the least bit worried this building is haunted?" Darcy hissed, sticking to Jane's side like glue. While haunted had not crossed her mind abandoned did as they ventured further and came across nothing and no one. Jane was beginning to wonder if Wong had lied to them when they reached the top floor and found a lone man standing in front of a large circular window, looking out onto the city.
"Hi." Jane said, wondering why he hadn't responded to her calls before and hoping coming here hadn't been a mistake. "We're looking for someone called…the Sorcerer Supreme." She realized now how stupid that sounded. Such things made more sense when surrounded by Thor and the Avengers but in the normal world it just made her sound crazy.
"What do you want with him?" The man finally spoke, still not turning to face them. Jane and Darcy had been creeping closer, trying to get a good look at the man who's silhouette was all they could see against the bright sun shining in, and though it was still hard to make out much they could see enough to know they were indeed in the right place.
"You mean what do we want with you?" Jane returned, having gotten close enough to see his strange robe like clothes, similar to Wong's, though he also wore a cape over top. The man finally did turn around now and was even smiling at them.
"Very astute."
"The robes were a dead giveaway." Jane said. "You're the Sorcerer Supreme?" This man was younger than she expected. Given the amount of power he supposedly had, she'd honestly expected an old Merlin-like mage, not a man who couldn't be much older than her.
"What can I do for you ladies?" Was the only confirmation they got.
"We need your help to find King Odin of Asgard." She didn't beat around the bush and his interest was clearly piqued. "I'm Jane Foster, this is my friend Darcy. You were helping my boyfriend, Thor, look for his father a few days ago."
"So you're the woman he wouldn't shut up about." He muttered. "We weren't able to find Odin. And I'm sorry to have to tell you but Thor was-"
"Kidnapped. Yes, I know. Loki returned and took the Avengers to Asgard to try and save him. But we still have to find Odin. Will you help us?" He stared at them for a few moments, looking like he was trying to determine something, much like Wong had, before coming to a conclusion.
"Doctor Stephen Strange, at your service. Though yes, I am known in some circles as the Sorcerer Supreme."
"What kind of title is that?" Darcy demanded suddenly.
"Darcy!" Jane hissed, though Stephen merely laughed.
"It is quite strange I agree."
"Yeah so is your name." It was clear she was trying to make a joke. "Ha! Cause his last name is Strange, get it?"
"Yeah, we get it, Darcy." Although she was entirely annoyed, Stephen at least appeared slightly amused so Jane let it go. "Anyways, how did you search for Odin when you were looking for him with Thor?"
"Through his magic." He answered readily. "Odin is the king of the gods, his power should be immense…or so I thought. We found barely a trace to follow."
"That doesn't surprise me, Odin was very weak when Loki banished him to Earth. If you were searching for something as strong as what led you to Thor you wouldn't find anything."
"Even two years after the fact?" Stephen was truly curious as well as a bit sceptical.
"I believe so, yes. Contrary to human mythology they are not gods; they're born, they live, they die. Some have power, some don't, and of those with power some have innate magic and some don't."
"And you're saying that Odin, king of the gods, for lack of a better term," He amended. "Doesn't have innate magic?"
"Of course he does, gods or not he is still the King of Asgard. But from what Thor's told me it was always his mother, Frigga, who had powerful innate magic, not so much Odin." Jane tried to explain it as Thor had her, hoping she got it right. "Magic she taught Loki, but not Thor when he took more after his father. Just like Thor relied heavily on Mjölnir for the source of his power, Odin relied heavily on Gungnir, a powerful spear belonging to Asgard's King. Without Gungnir Odin was weakened, and after his fight against the Dark Elves and Loki both, what innate magic he has would be weakened as well."
"With Thor standing beside me I could sense his power, but it would be difficult to locate from a distance. Loki's power, on the other hand, lit up like a Christmas tree." Stephen caught on. "If Odin is like Thor, it would be hard for me to detect him, he'd be like any other person in the street without Gung..whatever its called."
"You're a sorcerer right? Like an actual wand waving, objects turning into animals, broom flying sorcerer?" Jane wanted to clarify something.
"Well I myself have never used a wand, and honestly never met one who did-"
"But it is magic you do? Magic like in fairy tales."
"That's putting it simply, but yes."
"And you're using your magic to search for similar magic?"
"Yes."
"Odin's magic is relatively weak, but his power his great. Do not underestimate him or assume that because he doesn't have a great deal of magic similar to yours that he would be helpless without Gungnir." Jane wanted it made clear that it would be more than unwise to assume that Odin would be powerless simply cause he doesn't have his weapon.
"So you're making the assumption that magic and power are two different things." He was intrigued.
"They can be, yes. And in this case I think they are. You can't track Odin's magic because he's weak and isn't a powerful sorcerer to begin with."
"Assuming I'm following this…what do we do now?" Darcy demanded when the explanations got too long for her liking.
"I do not know a way to search for his power." Said Stephen. "It may take some time to find one."
"How about searching for his biological signature?" Jane asked, taking out the bloody shirt. "This is Thor's blood and Odin's his father, his bio signature will be similar. And he's the only Asgardian currently on Earth, so it should be even easier as their biology is different than humans. Is there a spell or something that could work?"
"I myself have not studied blood magic, but there are certainly books on it." He took the shirt from Jane and led the way to a door they had not previously seen and they walked quickly to keep up. The door was apparently a portal of some kind as they were clearly no longer in New York when they stepped through. There were two identical looking doors next to the one they came through, though they were not heading through one of them.
"Uh…where are we?" Darcy asked.
"Kamar-Taj. Home to the Masters of the Mystic Arts." They passed by a pedestal, holding a no doubt mystical object and down a few stairs into a library.
"Ah, Stephen." Wong came out from the bookshelves. "And guests."
"Wong." Stephen greeted. "I need all the books you have on blood magic. Specifically anything that can be used to find someone using blood magic." He held up the bloody shirt. "We may have a way to find Odin." Wong nodded and went back into the bookshelves and Stephen took a seat at a nearby table, simply waiting. Jane and Darcy took seats opposite him and they sat in silence for about ten seconds before Darcy could stand it no longer.
"So are you like the master of the Masters of the Mystic Arts or something? I mean, with a title like Sorcerer Supreme…"
"Darcy!" Jane again hissed. "You don't just go around asking people that!"
"Well duh. It's not like you come across many people called the Sorcerer Supreme." Stephen could not keep the amusement off his face and so Jane took that as a sign that he wasn't upset or offended at her questions.
"It's alright. Yes, as Sorcerer Supreme, I am the leader of the Masters of the Mystic Arts."
"And how does one become the Sorcerer Supreme?"
"The old one died. Or should I say the Ancient One died." He gave them a very brief history of the Ancient One and of the battle against Dormammu, knowing Wong would return shortly. "After the battle the other Masters named me the new Sorcerer Supreme."
"Why?"
"Aside from being extremely gifted in the mystic arts," Wong continued for Stephen as he returned with a stack of books, which they both immediately began pouring over. "He is the only one in centuries who has been able to use the Eye of Agamotto."
"I'm certain the Ancient One could have as well." Stephen said.
"Admittedly the Ancient One never tried. At least not that anyone is aware. So far as we know, Stephen is the first since Agamotto himself to open his Eye; the Infinity Stone within chose him."
"Infinity Stone?!" Jane gasped, that being a term she was very familiar with.
"You know of the Infinity Stones?" Wong looked up from his book, more interested in this topic then researching blood magic.
"I don't only know of them, I have personal experience with them. I did a great deal of research on the Tesseract, the Space Stone, for S.H.I.E.L.D. and had a run in with the Aether, the Reality Stone, when it invaded my body. The Mind Stone currently resides in Vision's – one of the Avenger's – forehead."
"It is not a coincidence that so many Infinity Stones have appeared, nor that they are in such close proximity." Wong seemed worried, and Jane's next words did nothing to ease it.
"A great evil named Thanos is searching for them. It's just another reason we need to find Odin. If anyone knows how to stop him it will be the King of Asgard and protector of the nine realms." Thor was concrete in his belief that this was true, thus the reason he'd gone back to Asgard to speak with his father when the Mind Stone had first appeared.
"And he's probably gonna come here if you've really got one of those stone thingys." Darcy added. "So be careful." Wong said no more and returned to searching through the books with Stephen. The Sorcerer Supreme had not looked up from the books as they talked, but he'd certainly been listening.
"Here!" Wong said after nearly a half hour. Stephen took the book and looked at the spell within before flipping to the back.
"Always check for warnings in the back of the book." He muttered, which seemed to amuse Wong. Finding nothing troubling he closed the book and led the way back to the door they'd first come through.
"Stephen." Wong stopped them before they could leave. He was standing in front of the pedestal looking pointedly down at the object which Jane now noticed resembled an eye. "Take it. It chose you and will be safest with you." Stephen hesitated for a moment but eventually agreed and went over to take the Eye, placing it around his neck.
"Let the other Masters know we may soon have a fight on our hands." He instructed Wong. "I'll return as soon as we've found Odin to see what cane be done." Turning, he walked back to the door, which opened automatically for him, and the three returned to New York.
A/N - I know in the movie Stephen technically became the protector of the New York Sanctum and not the new Sorcerer Supreme, but in the comics (at least one version of them according to wikipedia) he becomes Sorcerer Supreme when the Ancient One dies, which did happen in the movie, so I'm going with it. Also I have no idea how the Sorcerer Supreme is actually chosen, but I don't think it farfetched that the Masters vote on it, nor that they'd choose Stephen given that he can use the Time Stone, for as we know only immensely powerful beings can use them.
The magic and power being two separate things will be delved into more next chapter, and I hope it is (or will be) explained well enough.
Review please!
